INDEX
Chapter 1)
Interlude 1- Armsmaster
Chapter 2) - Re-written
Interlude 2- Yamada...
Chapter 1)
Interlude 1- Armsmaster
Chapter 2) - Re-written
Interlude 2- Yamada...
A Friend In Need [WORM/MLP]
- Thread starter sopchoppy
- Start date
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- Tags
- my little pony worm crossover
- Created
- Status
- Ongoing
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Statistics (45 threadmarks, 130k words)
User Total sopchoppy 45 Threadmarks Reader mode
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
INDEX
Chapter 1)
Interlude 1- Armsmaster
Chapter 2) - Re-written
Interlude 2- Yamada
Chapter 3 & Interlude 3 - Aegis - Re-Written
Interlude 4 - Taylor
Chapter 4)
Interlude 5 - Dragon
Chapter 5)
Interlude 6- Protectorate
Interlude 7 - Taylor
Chapter 6)
Interlude 8 - Bonesaw
Chapter 7, Part 1)
Chapter 7, Part 2)
Interlude 9 -PHO
Chapter 8)
Interlude 10 - Luna
Chapter 9
Chapter 9, Part 1)
Chapter 9, Scene 4)
Chapter 9, Scene 5) - New 9/7/14
Chapter 9, Scene 5b) - 9/8/14
Requiem For A Dream (Part 1) - Tattletale
Requiem For A Dream (Part 2) - Luna
Requiem For A Dream (Part 3) - Flame Dancer
Requiem For A Dream (Part 4) - Chevalier
Requiem For A Dream (Part 5) - Vista
Requiem For A Dream (Part 6) - Twilight Sparkle
Chapter 11, Scene 1), Scene 2), Scene 3)
Interlude 11
Interlude 12, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Chapter 12
Scene 1
Scene 2
Scene 3
Interlude 12
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Chapter 13
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Interlude 13
Part 1
Canon Omake by Deadpan29
Twilight Sparkle: PRT Executive Summary
Princess Luna: PRT Executive Summary
Cultural and Biological Traits of Extraterrestrial Ponies: PRT Executive Summary
Late Night on Earth Bet
Master/Stranger Protocol Triangle/Sunflower
Non-Canon Omake
Epic Rap Battles of Brockton Bay - by Deadpan29
Luna sits down with FNN - by sopchoppy
Chapter 1:
Warning - spoilers for Worm throughout this story, you might want to check it out before reading further.
A Friend In Need - A MLP/WORM crossover
Chapter 1)
The last thing Twilight remembered was the world going white. Something about elements, about a moon, but it was all scattered, fuzzy.
Something went wrong, she thought as she tried to keep herself from hyperventilating. Princess Ce…Celes….Princess Celestia!
She let out a breath of relief as the name finally came to her. Princess Celestia, I have to help her…do something about a moon or a nightmare…argh why can't I remember?!Okay, don't panic, don't panic - Organize! Princess Celestia is counting on you.
Taking a deep breath Twilight looked around herself and found a broken piece of wood. A light purple glow surrounded the wood for a few moments before it popped and was replaced by possibly the most important things one could have in a emergency: a scroll, quill, and a bottle of ink. Twilight let out a breath of relief and started her checklist.
EMERGENCY CHECKLIST
1.) Create checklist
2.) Stay Calm
3.) Check for injuries
4.) Determine current location
5.) Find Princess Celestia
6.) Help Princess Celestia
7.) Avoid being sent back to magic kindergarten
With a satisfied nod she checked off the first item, and with some hesitation checked off the second. Looking over herself she didn't notice any injuries besides her obvious memory problems and checked that item off as well. Her mood improving with each item that got one of those oh so satisfying checks next to it, she rolled the parchment up and stuffed it and the other supplies in her saddle bag.
Now to Determine my location.
Twilight looked around and determined quickly that wherever she was, it was nowhere she had ever been, or at least could remember being. It looked like a someone had taken the port area of Manehatten and decided it would look better with no ponies and about 30 years of dirt thrown on top of it.
Did I time travel?!
Twilight's heart started to speed up at the thought before she reigned it in.
I can't jump to any conclusions, I need more facts.
Looking closer she quickly discarded the idea that she had time traveled to some grim post-apocalyptic Manehatten. While roughly similar, the architecture was different and…strange somehow…the proportions were wrong. All the windows and doors looked about a third too tall, and maybe not quite as wide as they should be for their height. More oddities started to make themselves apparent as she looked.
Why are the streets so wi-
The thought cut off as she glanced upwards and stared in shock at the sky. Twilight had studied the stars for most of her life, and while she wouldn't call herself an astronomer she knew enough. They were dim and hard to see against the light of the city, but those weren't Equestria's stars.
She didn't know how long it took her to calm down again, but putting a big star next to item number 4 on her checklist had helped. Getting her hooves back under her she set off down the abandoned street in the direction that seemed to be casting the most light pollution. She noticed some signs that the area wasn't completely abandoned. Fresh garbage in an alley, a stray dog skittering around a corner, but nothing she saw indicated that this was an area where she would find help.
If she felt a little bad for labeling the area without first talking to anypony that lived here, that guilt disappeared when she heard the scream. It startled her bad enough that she teleported herself to the roof of the nearest building before she fully realized what she was doing. More screams followed and after getting her bearings, she turned in the direction the panicked yelling. Bursts of fire were reaching over the rooftops from a few streets over.
I have no idea what is going on, but it sounds like Somepony needs help!
Another teleport brought her to the roof closest to where she had seen the fire and her ideas of helping took a momentary back seat to shock. Dozens of strange bipedal creatures were yelling and running around in panic while the largest one threw flames from its forelimbs into the sky. As intimidating as the large biped was it didn't seem like the others were running from him specifically. They looked frantic, running in circles and slapping themselves as if they were being attacked by an unseen opponent.
Her shock induced observation was derailed when the big biped suddenly exploded. What emerged from the explosion was a monstrous version of the fleeing bipeds, it was on fire, and it was looking directly at her. The flaming creature leaped directly towards her and Twilight was briefly terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.
I wouldn't have thought their build would enable such a leap, was the unicorn's first somewhat unhelpful thought. Just before the frightening visage descended on her she winked out of existence and promptly collided with something as she reappeared on top of the building across from where she had been.
"Oppf!" Twilight grunted as her hooves went flying and her legs got tangled with what was definitely a someone rather than a something. An inarticulate shout of rage echoed from the building across the street as the creature sent a jet of flame over the the roof she had just left. Closer at hand she finally freed herself from whoever she had gotten entangled with and got her first good look at them. It was another one of the bipeds, scrambling backwards away from her. This one was shorter, more slight and was wearing a mask that made Twilight think of a beetle.
"!#$!@#$%^#$%," the biped said in what sounded like panic. Twilight felt what seemed like an unusual number of flying bugs land on her back, but put the thought aside for something more important.
Oh, I know just the spell for this! Distracted from mortal peril by the opportunity to try a spell she had studied. Lets see, Starswirl's polyglotic spell. Closing her eyes in concentration she lit her horn and her whole body glowed for a second before she opened her eyes again. She noticed that the shorter biped had backed further away from her and was glancing nervously between Twilight and the burning fire of rage that had apparently seen the light from Twilight's spell and was leaping down to the street.
"Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle, um, I'm kind of lost, so I hope you're friendly. Since you haven't lit yourself on fire and tried to kill me yet." Twilight glanced at the flaming figure that seemed to be preparing to leap onto their rooftop. "Maybe we could run and you could tell me where I am? Getting immolated by a monster is not on my checklist for tonight." Twilight suppressed what felt like a hysterical laugh that threatened to escape her throat at the end of that sentence.
"I'm Ta.., um, never mind, we can't outrun him." She said as she reached behind her and her hand came back with a small metal tube while she also backed away from the edge closest to the monster. "If you have anything besides that teleportation power, now would probably be the time to use it."
Twilight trotted quickly to stand beside Ta just as the monster, still on fire, crawled over the lip. Deciding that a creature that wasn't harmed by being actively on fire for a few minutes wouldn't likely suffer from a fall, she charged her horn and shot a blast of magic at it just as it released its hands and stood up. The blast knocked it off balance and it toppled backwards back off the roof.
"That…okay that works." Ta said as another scream of rage, sounding even more monstrous than before sounded from the street. "Um.."
Before Twilight could respond a huge beast landed on their roof, looked at them quickly and then leaped to the street below snarling. Before she could process that, two more beasts, these with riders, landed on the roof. Four more of the bipeds slid off of the beasts, and spread out facing Twilight and Ta.
"Well you really saved us some trou…" The tallest one of the new group started to speak before his masked face turned towards Twilight and she flinched at the stylized skull that was painted on it. "Okay that's…different, so not just bugs, is it a projection? Kind of cutesy for a villain" Twilight didn't quite understand the question, but she got the tone. A little indignation surfaced from underneath the confusion, fear, and terror that she had been feeling since she woke up.
"No, it's not a projection." Another of the new bipeds, a shorter slighter one whose tone of voice and build was similar to Ta's. Twilight decided to assume those traits correlated to the female gender of this species, she made a mental note to double check that assumption later. The one that had spoken looked at Twilight with an intensity that was hard to describe.
"I don't know exactly what you are talking about, but I'm Twilight Sparkle. I'm lost, I was almost killed by an enraged monster, and I am most certainly not a projection or illusion or whatever. I just ran into Ta after that thing down there tried to burn us to death." A scroll, quill and inkwell materialized in front of her. "Now if you could please tell me what you are, because I refuse to refer to you as unknown biped throughout my notes. Can you introduce yourselves, and maybe tell me where I am and what is going on? It would be most helpful." Heaving an audible huff of air as she finished she turned towards the bipeds, Ta having slid around closer to the newcomers as Twilight had ranted and the glow around her horn had increased.
The tall one that had spoken first cleared his throat and spoke after a moment "Well I'm Grue, that's Tattletale," a piercing whistle issued from the other female of the group, "that's Bitch or Hellhound if your sensitive, and last and certainly least is Regent."
"Fuck you Grue!" Regent retorted. Twilight was busily scribbling notes with her magic as she turned to each of them while they were introduced.
"I'm not really sure how to answer your other questions. I'm not sure believe that I'm talking to you and this isn't some weird power causing a hallucination." He paused and looked towards Tattletale who shook her head quickly. "That flaming asshole down there in a world of hurt is Lung and he runs the gang in this area. I'm not sure exactly how lost you are, but you're in the docks, Brockton Bay. Man what the hell did you guys do to him? He's getting his ass kicked down there."
Tattletale spoke up again. "Wasps, bees, spiders, ants, and some kind of concussive blast." She said the last bit with a little hesitation as she glanced towards the unicorn. Twilight whirled towards Ta.
"That's why they were going crazy!" She said with a smile as a piece of the puzzle she was missing clicked into place, then she frowned. "Wait, that's why he was so mad, that's why he tried to kill me, he thought I was the one doing it!" Twilight was scowling by the time she finished the sentence. Tattletale nodded at this and focused on her with that odd intensity again as she spoke.
"Um," Ta said a little hesitantly, "yeah sorry about that. I didn't know anyone else was around." Twilight's frown eased a little at that. Before Twilight could respond Tattletale head turned to the side and spoke up again.
"Heads up, time to get out of here." Bitch nodded and whistled, the three giant dog analogs soon landed back on the roof causing the whole building to shudder.
"Want a ride?" Grue asked Ta in a way Twilight assumed was friendly, it was hard to tell with the skull helmet he was wearing. In fact now that she looked at the way they all dressed, all of them, including Ta, kind of looked…shady. "Would offer you one, but I'm not sure how that would even work. Besides I'm not sure what it would do to our image ya know?" Twilight, in fact, had no idea what he was talking about. But was in no hurry to get any closer to giant slobbering mutant dogs. Ta hesitated, but didn't look inclined to do so either and shook her head.
Tattletale spoke again facing Ta as she mounted one of the dogs, "Hey, what's your name, it's not really Ta is it?"
"No, I...I haven't picked one yet," said the girl who apparently wasn't called Ta.
Great, now I'm going to have to go back and revise all of these notes with -Unidentified female biped that controls insects - which was unwieldily to say the least.
"Well, Bug, a cape is gonna show up here pretty soon. You did us a solid by dealing with Lung, so take my advice. Someone from the Protectorate shows up, finds two bad guys duking it out, they're not going to let one walk away. You should get out of here." She turned to the purple unicorn, "You…I don't know." This admission seemed to physically pain her, "but you look harmless enough. I don't think you will have a problem with them."
"Yeah I feel like I'm going to have to watch a few hours of porn just to cleanse the residual cuteness from my eyes." The one called Regent said with a laugh. Again Twilight only had a little context to judge by, but she thought she should probably feel insulted and maybe…disturbed by that comment. With those final words the dogs leaped overhead and quickly disappeared into the unlit industrial area.
Bug, looking uncertain and a little shaken, looked at Twilight then walked over to a fire escape and started down it without another word. Twilight heard her make her way down to the street and then she was alone on the rooftop. Sounds she didn't want to investigate still came from the street below, so she sat down with her scroll and ink in front of her.
Despite getting a few answers, now that the adrenaline was starting to work its way out of her system, she felt even more lost than when she woke up. She rolled up the parchment of notes and put it in her saddlebags, and found some debris that she could transmute into another sheet. There was really only one solution to feeling like this. Twilight started another checklist.
Twilight had written down fifty things on her checklist, all unchecked, when she was drawn out of her funk by the sound of a thunk followed quickly by a large armored biped landing on the roof. Twilight's spirit lifted a little at the sight of him. He looked like a knight. His armor was dark blue with silver trim and he had a metal visor covering his eyes and nose. He had a close trimmed beard and stood with confidence with one hand on a large Halberd. In short he was the first of the creatures that looked…reputable. He looked at Twilight and then back over his shoulder to the scene below, then back at Twilight.
Twilight rolled up her checklist in progress and pulled out the parchment she had been using earlier.
"I've got notes!"
Chapter 1)
Interlude 1- Armsmaster
Chapter 2) - Re-written
Interlude 2- Yamada
Chapter 3 & Interlude 3 - Aegis - Re-Written
Interlude 4 - Taylor
Chapter 4)
Interlude 5 - Dragon
Chapter 5)
Interlude 6- Protectorate
Interlude 7 - Taylor
Chapter 6)
Interlude 8 - Bonesaw
Chapter 7, Part 1)
Chapter 7, Part 2)
Interlude 9 -PHO
Chapter 8)
Interlude 10 - Luna
Chapter 9
Chapter 9, Part 1)
Chapter 9, Scene 4)
Chapter 9, Scene 5) - New 9/7/14
Chapter 9, Scene 5b) - 9/8/14
Requiem For A Dream (Part 1) - Tattletale
Requiem For A Dream (Part 2) - Luna
Requiem For A Dream (Part 3) - Flame Dancer
Requiem For A Dream (Part 4) - Chevalier
Requiem For A Dream (Part 5) - Vista
Requiem For A Dream (Part 6) - Twilight Sparkle
Chapter 11, Scene 1), Scene 2), Scene 3)
Interlude 11
Interlude 12, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
Chapter 12
Scene 1
Scene 2
Scene 3
Interlude 12
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Chapter 13
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Interlude 13
Part 1
Canon Omake by Deadpan29
Twilight Sparkle: PRT Executive Summary
Princess Luna: PRT Executive Summary
Cultural and Biological Traits of Extraterrestrial Ponies: PRT Executive Summary
Late Night on Earth Bet
Master/Stranger Protocol Triangle/Sunflower
Non-Canon Omake
Epic Rap Battles of Brockton Bay - by Deadpan29
Luna sits down with FNN - by sopchoppy
Chapter 1:
Warning - spoilers for Worm throughout this story, you might want to check it out before reading further.
A Friend In Need - A MLP/WORM crossover
Chapter 1)
The last thing Twilight remembered was the world going white. Something about elements, about a moon, but it was all scattered, fuzzy.
Something went wrong, she thought as she tried to keep herself from hyperventilating. Princess Ce…Celes….Princess Celestia!
She let out a breath of relief as the name finally came to her. Princess Celestia, I have to help her…do something about a moon or a nightmare…argh why can't I remember?!Okay, don't panic, don't panic - Organize! Princess Celestia is counting on you.
Taking a deep breath Twilight looked around herself and found a broken piece of wood. A light purple glow surrounded the wood for a few moments before it popped and was replaced by possibly the most important things one could have in a emergency: a scroll, quill, and a bottle of ink. Twilight let out a breath of relief and started her checklist.
EMERGENCY CHECKLIST
1.) Create checklist
2.) Stay Calm
3.) Check for injuries
4.) Determine current location
5.) Find Princess Celestia
6.) Help Princess Celestia
7.) Avoid being sent back to magic kindergarten
With a satisfied nod she checked off the first item, and with some hesitation checked off the second. Looking over herself she didn't notice any injuries besides her obvious memory problems and checked that item off as well. Her mood improving with each item that got one of those oh so satisfying checks next to it, she rolled the parchment up and stuffed it and the other supplies in her saddle bag.
Now to Determine my location.
Twilight looked around and determined quickly that wherever she was, it was nowhere she had ever been, or at least could remember being. It looked like a someone had taken the port area of Manehatten and decided it would look better with no ponies and about 30 years of dirt thrown on top of it.
Did I time travel?!
Twilight's heart started to speed up at the thought before she reigned it in.
I can't jump to any conclusions, I need more facts.
Looking closer she quickly discarded the idea that she had time traveled to some grim post-apocalyptic Manehatten. While roughly similar, the architecture was different and…strange somehow…the proportions were wrong. All the windows and doors looked about a third too tall, and maybe not quite as wide as they should be for their height. More oddities started to make themselves apparent as she looked.
Why are the streets so wi-
The thought cut off as she glanced upwards and stared in shock at the sky. Twilight had studied the stars for most of her life, and while she wouldn't call herself an astronomer she knew enough. They were dim and hard to see against the light of the city, but those weren't Equestria's stars.
She didn't know how long it took her to calm down again, but putting a big star next to item number 4 on her checklist had helped. Getting her hooves back under her she set off down the abandoned street in the direction that seemed to be casting the most light pollution. She noticed some signs that the area wasn't completely abandoned. Fresh garbage in an alley, a stray dog skittering around a corner, but nothing she saw indicated that this was an area where she would find help.
If she felt a little bad for labeling the area without first talking to anypony that lived here, that guilt disappeared when she heard the scream. It startled her bad enough that she teleported herself to the roof of the nearest building before she fully realized what she was doing. More screams followed and after getting her bearings, she turned in the direction the panicked yelling. Bursts of fire were reaching over the rooftops from a few streets over.
I have no idea what is going on, but it sounds like Somepony needs help!
Another teleport brought her to the roof closest to where she had seen the fire and her ideas of helping took a momentary back seat to shock. Dozens of strange bipedal creatures were yelling and running around in panic while the largest one threw flames from its forelimbs into the sky. As intimidating as the large biped was it didn't seem like the others were running from him specifically. They looked frantic, running in circles and slapping themselves as if they were being attacked by an unseen opponent.
Her shock induced observation was derailed when the big biped suddenly exploded. What emerged from the explosion was a monstrous version of the fleeing bipeds, it was on fire, and it was looking directly at her. The flaming creature leaped directly towards her and Twilight was briefly terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought.
I wouldn't have thought their build would enable such a leap, was the unicorn's first somewhat unhelpful thought. Just before the frightening visage descended on her she winked out of existence and promptly collided with something as she reappeared on top of the building across from where she had been.
"Oppf!" Twilight grunted as her hooves went flying and her legs got tangled with what was definitely a someone rather than a something. An inarticulate shout of rage echoed from the building across the street as the creature sent a jet of flame over the the roof she had just left. Closer at hand she finally freed herself from whoever she had gotten entangled with and got her first good look at them. It was another one of the bipeds, scrambling backwards away from her. This one was shorter, more slight and was wearing a mask that made Twilight think of a beetle.
"!#$!@#$%^#$%," the biped said in what sounded like panic. Twilight felt what seemed like an unusual number of flying bugs land on her back, but put the thought aside for something more important.
Oh, I know just the spell for this! Distracted from mortal peril by the opportunity to try a spell she had studied. Lets see, Starswirl's polyglotic spell. Closing her eyes in concentration she lit her horn and her whole body glowed for a second before she opened her eyes again. She noticed that the shorter biped had backed further away from her and was glancing nervously between Twilight and the burning fire of rage that had apparently seen the light from Twilight's spell and was leaping down to the street.
"Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle, um, I'm kind of lost, so I hope you're friendly. Since you haven't lit yourself on fire and tried to kill me yet." Twilight glanced at the flaming figure that seemed to be preparing to leap onto their rooftop. "Maybe we could run and you could tell me where I am? Getting immolated by a monster is not on my checklist for tonight." Twilight suppressed what felt like a hysterical laugh that threatened to escape her throat at the end of that sentence.
"I'm Ta.., um, never mind, we can't outrun him." She said as she reached behind her and her hand came back with a small metal tube while she also backed away from the edge closest to the monster. "If you have anything besides that teleportation power, now would probably be the time to use it."
Twilight trotted quickly to stand beside Ta just as the monster, still on fire, crawled over the lip. Deciding that a creature that wasn't harmed by being actively on fire for a few minutes wouldn't likely suffer from a fall, she charged her horn and shot a blast of magic at it just as it released its hands and stood up. The blast knocked it off balance and it toppled backwards back off the roof.
"That…okay that works." Ta said as another scream of rage, sounding even more monstrous than before sounded from the street. "Um.."
Before Twilight could respond a huge beast landed on their roof, looked at them quickly and then leaped to the street below snarling. Before she could process that, two more beasts, these with riders, landed on the roof. Four more of the bipeds slid off of the beasts, and spread out facing Twilight and Ta.
"Well you really saved us some trou…" The tallest one of the new group started to speak before his masked face turned towards Twilight and she flinched at the stylized skull that was painted on it. "Okay that's…different, so not just bugs, is it a projection? Kind of cutesy for a villain" Twilight didn't quite understand the question, but she got the tone. A little indignation surfaced from underneath the confusion, fear, and terror that she had been feeling since she woke up.
"No, it's not a projection." Another of the new bipeds, a shorter slighter one whose tone of voice and build was similar to Ta's. Twilight decided to assume those traits correlated to the female gender of this species, she made a mental note to double check that assumption later. The one that had spoken looked at Twilight with an intensity that was hard to describe.
"I don't know exactly what you are talking about, but I'm Twilight Sparkle. I'm lost, I was almost killed by an enraged monster, and I am most certainly not a projection or illusion or whatever. I just ran into Ta after that thing down there tried to burn us to death." A scroll, quill and inkwell materialized in front of her. "Now if you could please tell me what you are, because I refuse to refer to you as unknown biped throughout my notes. Can you introduce yourselves, and maybe tell me where I am and what is going on? It would be most helpful." Heaving an audible huff of air as she finished she turned towards the bipeds, Ta having slid around closer to the newcomers as Twilight had ranted and the glow around her horn had increased.
The tall one that had spoken first cleared his throat and spoke after a moment "Well I'm Grue, that's Tattletale," a piercing whistle issued from the other female of the group, "that's Bitch or Hellhound if your sensitive, and last and certainly least is Regent."
"Fuck you Grue!" Regent retorted. Twilight was busily scribbling notes with her magic as she turned to each of them while they were introduced.
"I'm not really sure how to answer your other questions. I'm not sure believe that I'm talking to you and this isn't some weird power causing a hallucination." He paused and looked towards Tattletale who shook her head quickly. "That flaming asshole down there in a world of hurt is Lung and he runs the gang in this area. I'm not sure exactly how lost you are, but you're in the docks, Brockton Bay. Man what the hell did you guys do to him? He's getting his ass kicked down there."
Tattletale spoke up again. "Wasps, bees, spiders, ants, and some kind of concussive blast." She said the last bit with a little hesitation as she glanced towards the unicorn. Twilight whirled towards Ta.
"That's why they were going crazy!" She said with a smile as a piece of the puzzle she was missing clicked into place, then she frowned. "Wait, that's why he was so mad, that's why he tried to kill me, he thought I was the one doing it!" Twilight was scowling by the time she finished the sentence. Tattletale nodded at this and focused on her with that odd intensity again as she spoke.
"Um," Ta said a little hesitantly, "yeah sorry about that. I didn't know anyone else was around." Twilight's frown eased a little at that. Before Twilight could respond Tattletale head turned to the side and spoke up again.
"Heads up, time to get out of here." Bitch nodded and whistled, the three giant dog analogs soon landed back on the roof causing the whole building to shudder.
"Want a ride?" Grue asked Ta in a way Twilight assumed was friendly, it was hard to tell with the skull helmet he was wearing. In fact now that she looked at the way they all dressed, all of them, including Ta, kind of looked…shady. "Would offer you one, but I'm not sure how that would even work. Besides I'm not sure what it would do to our image ya know?" Twilight, in fact, had no idea what he was talking about. But was in no hurry to get any closer to giant slobbering mutant dogs. Ta hesitated, but didn't look inclined to do so either and shook her head.
Tattletale spoke again facing Ta as she mounted one of the dogs, "Hey, what's your name, it's not really Ta is it?"
"No, I...I haven't picked one yet," said the girl who apparently wasn't called Ta.
Great, now I'm going to have to go back and revise all of these notes with -Unidentified female biped that controls insects - which was unwieldily to say the least.
"Well, Bug, a cape is gonna show up here pretty soon. You did us a solid by dealing with Lung, so take my advice. Someone from the Protectorate shows up, finds two bad guys duking it out, they're not going to let one walk away. You should get out of here." She turned to the purple unicorn, "You…I don't know." This admission seemed to physically pain her, "but you look harmless enough. I don't think you will have a problem with them."
"Yeah I feel like I'm going to have to watch a few hours of porn just to cleanse the residual cuteness from my eyes." The one called Regent said with a laugh. Again Twilight only had a little context to judge by, but she thought she should probably feel insulted and maybe…disturbed by that comment. With those final words the dogs leaped overhead and quickly disappeared into the unlit industrial area.
Bug, looking uncertain and a little shaken, looked at Twilight then walked over to a fire escape and started down it without another word. Twilight heard her make her way down to the street and then she was alone on the rooftop. Sounds she didn't want to investigate still came from the street below, so she sat down with her scroll and ink in front of her.
Despite getting a few answers, now that the adrenaline was starting to work its way out of her system, she felt even more lost than when she woke up. She rolled up the parchment of notes and put it in her saddlebags, and found some debris that she could transmute into another sheet. There was really only one solution to feeling like this. Twilight started another checklist.
Twilight had written down fifty things on her checklist, all unchecked, when she was drawn out of her funk by the sound of a thunk followed quickly by a large armored biped landing on the roof. Twilight's spirit lifted a little at the sight of him. He looked like a knight. His armor was dark blue with silver trim and he had a metal visor covering his eyes and nose. He had a close trimmed beard and stood with confidence with one hand on a large Halberd. In short he was the first of the creatures that looked…reputable. He looked at Twilight and then back over his shoulder to the scene below, then back at Twilight.
Twilight rolled up her checklist in progress and pulled out the parchment she had been using earlier.
"I've got notes!"
Last edited:
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
CHAPTER 2 - The rewritten version can be found here
Twilight sniffled, but didn't speak as Armsmaster walked up next to her. He had left her her and taken Lung inside about 15 minutes ago, saying he needed to secure the prisoner before he could show her inside. The sound of waves crashing against supports echoed from somewhere beneath them. Tears threatened at the corner of her eyes as she stared at the forcefield that surrounded the building.
"Is there something wrong?" Armsmaster asked, his voice sounding concerned but also forced. Twilight spent enough time in the palace to recognize that the question was more for formalities sake than concern.
"It's nothing, the shield," she sniffed again. "It just reminds me of someone and that I don't know when I will see him again." Armsmaster looked briefly uncomfortable, not really sure how to reply. He had drawn a few conclusions from the hurried discussion they had shared on the way here and didn't trust himself to respond without upsetting her further. The apparent unicorn was an interesting study in psychology, but that was well outside his skill set.
"You've had a rough night, follow me inside and we can find someplace to get you something to eat and drink." Twilight wiped a foreleg across her eyes, visibly pulled herself together and turned to face the knight analog.
"Thank you, that seems like a good idea." She hesitated a moment before continuing with a small uplift in tone, "do you have a library?"
As Twilight walked down the brightly lit corridor she noted that the design of the building seemed strange for a building meant for habitation, the lines seemed more industrial than they should. 'Repurposed? Different military aesthetic than she was used to? That doesn't matter, focus.' They turned a corner and came face to face with a woman wearing a scarf over the lower half of her face. Unlike Armsmaster she wasn't wearing armor, instead covering herself with cloth of some uniform design. Her eyes crinkled and Twilight could imagine she was smiling under her face covering. A metal pole about half the length of the woman's height was slung over her back by a strap. Twilight assumed it was some sort of weapon, but it looked like it would be awkward to wield.
"Armsmaster…Your description…did not do Ms Twilight justice." She turned to fully face the unicorn. "It is a pleasure to meet you Twilight Sparkle, My name is Miss Militia. Armsmaster gave us a short summary on what happened. I apologize that you had such a introduction to our city, but thank you for your part in apprehending Lung. You have done a great service to the city." Twilight blushed a little at the praise.
"Um, Your welcome but it was really those other poni..people that," she hesitated as she looked for the right word, "..took care of Lung. What I did was more an accident of circumstance than anything else." Miss Militia nodded and her eyes remained kind. "You are probably ready for this night to end. We have a room setup with some food and a bed, we can talk more in the morning."
Twilight Audibly sighed, "Sleep is probably a good idea, thank you."
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Twilight woke with a start, heart racing. 'What? Where? !?!?!' She stood up and got caught in the sheets, spun around, rolled off the bed and fell in a tangled heap into the floor. Something that sounded like a growl issued from the pile of sheets before they erupted into purple flames and disintegrated around the panting unicorn. She turned towards the door as she heard someone chuckle softly, and her thoughts started to clear. Another of the knights of this place was standing there, his armor was different than Armsmaster's but it had the same style helmet and visor.
"Well that's one way of getting out of bed in the morning. Have to say after looking at the security footage last night, I wasn't expecting the cute purple unicorn to greet me by setting her room on fire in a mindless rage." He was shoved roughly into the doorframe by a woman wearing a skin tight suit with some sort of repeating fractal diagrams covering it.
"Leave her alone Assault, no one should be subjected to you first thing in the morning." She paused for a second, really taking Twilight in then continued, "Wow, So are you really…Wait no one should have to answer questions before breakfast. Follow us and we'll lead you to the grub. Do you like bacon and eggs?" She paused for a second, "I'm Battery by the way." Twilight screwed her face up in thought.
"What's bacon? You wouldn't happen to have any oatmeal or daisies?" Battery's eyes widened a fraction before hurriedly whispering something in Assault's ear. Assault let out a choked laugh before Battery shoved him into the hallway were he walked briskly away. Battery spoke quickly to cover his exit.
"He's just going to go ahead and see if we have any oatmeal, we probably do. Daises we're fresh out of I'm afraid. Why don't you grab a shower real quick," she gestured to the door across from the bed she had slept in last night. "That always helps me clear my head in the morning. Do you need any clothing?" She looked over Twilight once again. "We could probably adapt something that could work for you." A befuddled look crossed Twilight's face.
"Clothes? Are we going somewhere formal?" Twilight asked as she started towards the door to the bathroom.
"No, but..nevermind, no, nowhere formal. Just breakfast and a casual discussion with some of my team mates about what happened last night, no big deal."
Twilight sighed in relief at the words, "Okay, I'll be just a minute," and she closed the door behind her.
"Bacon," Battery sighed, "what was I thinking?"
———————————————————————————————————————
While Twilight sat down to the very satisfactory oatmeal and apple breakfast with Assault and Battery, Miss Militia and Armsmaster sat in a nearby conference room with a large LCD screen on one wall. The image on the screen was dived into four corners. A video feed of Twilight eating in the cafeteria, Director Piggot, the local head of the Parahuman Response Team, and the other two were taken by Protectorate thinkers. Armsmaster cleared his throat.
"As we all know each other I'll forgo the formalities. The person or pony, to use her own terminology, on the screen calls herself Twilight Sparkle. I met her late last night after I had received reports of a disturbance in the docks area. When I arrived at the scene the villain Lung, head of the ABB, was unconscious. I secured him and then investigated the area. There were signs of a wide ranging fight, fire damage, large sections of brick torn from the buildings, and bullet casings littering the area. Following the path of destruction to the roof I found Twilight sitting calmly and writing notes on a large sheet of parchment. When I inquired what had happened she rather helpfully supplied me with the notes she had been compiling. Given their extensive nature I have sent each of you a copy to read on your own. To sum up: Twilight claims to have woken up in the docks last night with no clear memory of how she arrived there. The amnesia and her appearance immediately made me suspect that she could be another case-53, however after talking with her more extensively I have come to doubt that. Not only does she appear to lack the distinctive brand, but her memory loss seems to be localized to some short amount of time before her arrival. She claims to come from another dimension/or planet and to have never seen our species before last night."
"She was speaking english earlier on the video." the thinker from Chicago stated.
"That's correct, she also claims her proficiency in our language stems from a "spell" she cast on herself after running one of the other players from last night. The other "spells" her notes mention include teleportation and a form of concussive blast." At this both thinkers seemed to perk up a bit, while Director Piggot maintained the slight scowl she had worn from the beginning of the video conference. The thinker from New York spoke up.
"Those could be useful abilities to have on a team. Is she stable? Where would you peg her age?"
"I don't think I'm qualified to make a judgment call on her mental health. If you ignore the elaborate fantasy she has constructed, she has seemed rational and polite in my interactions with her." Piggot leaned forward slightly causing her chair to creak and spoke up for the first time.
"Rational until someone challenges those elaborate fantasies. We have Dr. Yamada on hand this week, I would recommend Twilight have a visit with her and get some qualified feedback on her mental health before any other considerations." Armsmaster and both thinkers nodded their agreement. Miss Militia spoke quietly, but her voice still carried across the room.
"Is there not a chance she could be telling the truth? We have examples of other dimensions coming in contact with ours." The thinker from Chicago spoke up again.
"A valid point. We shouldn't yet make assumptions with the current evidence on hand. While I find it extremely unlikely that she is indeed from a universe so far diverged from our own earth that creatures resembling unicorns of our mythology became the dominant species, we all have encountered things that should be impossible. It shouldn't be completely dismissed as a possibility. I'll contact PRT headquarters and the state department to brief them. They can start running some scenarios just in case we are dealing with a first contact situation. We should get some blood samples to.." Armsmaster spoke again, seeming to want to move the conversation along.
"For her age, again I don't think I'm qualified. Her mannerisms tend to be all over the map maturity wise. Maybe pre-adolescent with a possible thinker classification in addition to her other stated powers. I think Director Piggot is correct. Our next step should be to get her evaluated mentally, and if Dr. Yamada gives the okay, a physical with samples," he nodded towards the Chicago thinker, "and have Twilight demonstrate her other "spells."" Miss Militia spoke up again.
"I agree that she should see Ms. Yamada, and before any other plans are made. Regardless of her origins, she has been through something traumatic. We should respect that in our actions." Even Director Piggot nodded slightly at that.
Jessica Yamada entered the room and thanked her years of experience in counseling parahumans for the ability to maintain her stride and her smile as she looked at the purple unicorn laying on the couch. The unicorn was using some form of telekinesis to hold a small notepad and a pen in front of her and was writing at a truly astounding speed. She had been briefed of course. A small file with a picture and the facts as they were known, but a picture didn't quite prepare you for the real thing. She likened it to the first time she had seen a moose in real life rather than tv, you really didn't quite grasp how large the animals were until you stood next to one. While she knew she would be meeting someone that looked like a unicorn, her mind hadn't really grasped that until she had walked into the room.
The current favored theory was that "Twilight Sparkle" was a young girl who had an extremely traumatic trigger event. With the possibility that she was an off profile case-53 a close second, since they had been responsible for every other physically modified parahuman. Barely mentioned in the notes was, a small section written by Miss Militia, was the third theory. That she was telling the truth. If it was either of the first two more likely options something had left her with a body that if not unpleasant visually, was certainly one of the most physically altered anyone had ever recorded. And not unlike a powerful resident of the birdcage, she had apparently created an elaborate alternate world that she existed in.
"Oh hello," the unicorn said, "are you Ms. Yamada?"
"Yes I am, your Twilight Sparkle right?" Ms. Yamada stepped further into the room and extended a hand and delicately gripped one of Twilight's forelegs in an approximation of a handshake. Jessica settled into the chair across from the couch and pulled out a notepad of her own to rest in her lap. Twilight seemed to perk up when she saw the pad.
"Aren't these things great?" Twilight gestured to her notepad and then to her's, "I can make notes and checklists twice as fast as I could with parchment and quill."
"I couldn't get through a day without them," Jessica said with a smile. Her experience told her that when dealing with patients, parahumans in particular, you could never really drop your guard but It was nice that they were starting off on a good footing. "It's very nice to meet you Twilight. May I call you Twilight?" Twilight nodded, "Okay, please call me Jessica. Some of my colleagues wanted me to talk with you and I understand that you asked to speak with me as well? What did you want to speak about?"
"Well Armsmaster said that you would probably be the person most likely to help me. After speaking with him this morning I believe I have come up with some decent assumptions to what happened to me. Where I am in a general sense in relation to my home. While he seems knowledgeable enough in magical engineering and enchanting given his special talent, he didn't seem well versed in dimensional physics or magical theory which is the kind of pony, oh I mean person, I need currently if I am going to find a way home."
"I see, I think there may have been a slight miscommunication, but why don't you tell me some more and I may be help in some way." Jessica made a mental note to have a discussion with Armsmaster about misleading Twilight. Twilight's good cheer seemed to deflate a bit before continuing.
"Okay, well my working theory is I was involved in some kind of large magical accident that somehow breached a number of dimensional barriers and left me stranded here. I can't remember the event besides a few scattered memories, but I've been involved in magical accidents before and their effects can be quite random and dramatic. In order for me to recreate the effect of that event, in a controlled fashion, I'm going to need access to your worlds magical research libraries, meetings with anypony with a special talent in theoretical physics or magic. Eventually I will need an isolated location a safe distance from population in which to conduct tests. If you think it would useful I've sketched out a few ideas and detailed notes of my working assumptions." Twilight gestured to a stack of notebooks at least a foot and a half high neatly placed on the nearby desk.
Jessica took a brief moment to process that. Adding the note, likely thinker/tinker, before speaking. "I don't think I know anyone with knowledge in theoretical magic, but I may be able get you in touch with a few physicists." Twilight smiled and clopped her fore hooves together a little at that. "You said you had been in a magical accident before, could you tell me about that?" Twilight fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment before speaking.
"Yes. On the day I discovered my special talent I had an uncontrolled magic surge, I accidentally transformed my parents into plants and destroyed a section of the castle." Twilight shuddered a little, and Jessica took a few notes. "It was, until two days ago, the most scared I have ever been. Worse it was my fault. If Princess Celestia hadn't shown up and calmed me down I don't know what would have happened." Twilight smiled briefly before frowning and fidgeting nervously. "She's going to be so disappointed in me, she was counting on me, and…and..I can't remember." The notepad and pen started to quiver in mid air.
"Take a deep breath Twilight." Jessica punctuated this by breathing deeply herself. "Your memory may return in time, we don't know what happened so you shouldn't assume that is was your fault." Twilight seemed to settle down after a moment, the notepad steadying in the air. "Why don't we change topics for a moment? You've mentioned "Special Talents" several times, could you tell me what you mean? It may be that we have different words for the same thing." Distracted from thinking about Princess Celestia, Twilight seemed to perk up and resumed the professorial tone she had at the beginning of the discussion.
"Oh you're right, I need to stop making assumptions like that. A special talent is what you are best at, what you most enjoy doing. It's an integral part of your personality, you shape it and it shapes your life. That's not everything it is, but until I study your language more thats probably as close to a definition I can come to. I assume Armsmaster's special talent is enchanting materials and machines, and the girl I met on the roof could talk to bugs and make them listen to her." Jessica wrote all of this down, It was a surprisingly insightful piece of philosophy for someone the people who briefed her assumed was a pre-adolescent. She mentally revised her own estimate of Twilight's age up a half a dozen years.
"So what's your special talent Twilight?"
"Magic."
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Two hours later Jessica Yamada sat at the head of the conference table. Miss Militia, Armsmaster, and Director Piggot, in person this time, were also there. Someone that she recognized from the Chicago office was on screen, as well a few other people that she did not. Jessica flipped back through her notes for a moment before looking up and addressing the group.
"First of all, My personal opinion is that Twilight Sparkle is not delusional. While there is no way to verify much of what she says, it has a level of consistency and detail that is not found in people suffering from delusions. I suppose someone could have implanted a lifetimes worth of memories consistent with a radically different alternate reality, but I can't imagine the motivation behind such an act. She seems ernest, and cooperative with the hope that we can provide the resources to get her home. She's very intelligent, even disregarding subjects where I have no frame of reference, she quickly left me behind in physics and math." Jessica paused to take a sip of water and Brian from Chicago's intelligence division started typing rapidly, while the others became more alert. Director Piggot took the opportunity to speak.
"Alright, I have long since ceased being surprised. So lets go with the idea she's sane. Is she stable? Would she work with us? Do we want her to and if that answer is yes how do we best arrange that?" A section of the screen that was previously blank clicked on and showed a middle aged gentleman sitting behind a desk. A small bar underneath his feed displayed 'Deputy Directory of State.' Jessica looked around the room and was a little astounded that no one was reacting more to the idea that for all practical purposes this was a first contact scenario with a friendly alien being. She supposed everyone had become somewhat jaded to the fantastic. In a world of superpowers, parallel dimensions and the Endbringers it was probably hard not to be.
"I would say she is mostly stable, but she has been ripped from everything she knows and thrown into a hostile world. She's stressed, nervous, and worried. I haven't spoken with her long enough to be confident in a diagnosis but she also seems to have some obsessive/compulsive behaviors regarding organization that she has adapted to use as a coping mechanism. If treated gently, given time to adjust and assistance in her research she could very well be an asset. But keep in mind she comes from a very different culture that my discussion with her has only scratched the surface of. While there seems to be broad similarities, there are bound to be things she views very differently than we do."
Miss Militia nodded at this. "It took me many years to completely adjust to america and its culture, Ms. Sparkle is many times more removed from her surroundings than even I was. She will need someone to shepherd her into this new world if we hope to help her and be helped in turn." Jessica nodded and smiled at Ms. Militia - she had hoped someone would understand that point. Armsmaster spoke up for the first time.
"It is…surprising given my initial impressions, that what she said could be the literal truth. However, it seems whether it is or not is almost a moot point. Dr. Yamada, where would you place her age? As I mentioned in my briefing I couldn't get a good read on that, she seemed alternately very young and mature depending on the topic of conversation."
"That's actually a complicated question. I noticed the same thing when speaking to her. She had a trigger event at a time that my best guess is equivalent to 5th or 6th grade in the US. Due to the power she expressed during the event she was taken under the wing of her country's ruler as something like an apprentice. Twilight has several of the hallmarks of a child prodigy, I would guess that even in her own society she was not well socialized. Again this is little more than guesswork and it could be that her society judges things very differently than ours, but I would probably equate her to a first year college student. Just getting out in the world and learning to be independent. However, she is as knowledgeable as a college professor with the social maturity of someone in their early teens." The Deputy Secretary of State cleared his throat and spoke for the first time.
"Depending on how much her culture varies from ours, we have several plans for a situation like this. Before I give the go ahead on any of them I want to make sure we are not jumping the gun here. There is no indication that contact with her society is imminent and everything so far points towards her being friendly. We can afford to take the time to be sure. I'll send some state people out there for interviews. If she has been traumatized moving her around would only serve to destabilize her. The Protectorate and the PRT has handled this well so far. As you all are the only ones that have had contact with her I will leave it to Protectorate East-North-East and the Brockton PRT to make temporary arrangements until we're up to speed and confident on what and who we are dealing with.
Miss Militia spoke up, "I have a suggestion. Regardless of what her age may be, she is young to our world. I can think of one local agency that was designed to provide support for the young and powerful." Director Piggot frowned slightly.
"You're suggesting that she be housed by the PRT."
"Yes. The PRT has support facilities and staff we do not here. More importantly the Wards would also give her a ready made group from which to learn from and bond with. I imagine they will be better at breaking through cultural barriers than any of us would be." Jessica nodded at this.
"There is no ideal solution for her situation, and I would recommend strongly against her being exposed to situations where violence is expected, but the Wards are probably as close as we can come to a controlled introduction to our society. They have all experienced trauma and most are likely to be sympathetic to her and provide an emotional support structure." Director Piggot nodded slowly.
"If that is the case then we can arrange it. Deputy secretary if you could forward any material you think is relevant to my office?" The Deputy nodded. "Very well." As the meeting started to break up Armsmaster rose and walked to the exit, muttering about "spells."
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Twilight stood with her fore hooves braced against the railing, the breeze blowing from shore pulling at her mane and carrying an industrial smell. She glanced up as what appeared to be a extremely fast aircraft rumbled high overhead. It was so much to, 'what was the phrase Jessica had used…Wrap her head around.' A small part of her was excited at the opportunity to learn so many new things, but it paled in comparison to the weight of the task in front of her. If it was even possible to accomplish at all. She hoped everyone was okay. 'Spike, Princess Celestia, her family, and…there were others,' but her thoughts seemed to skitter away the more she tried to think about them.
She heard someone walking towards her and she tried to settle and organize her thoughts. These 'humans' were strange. Enough alike to be relatable, but so different as well. They had agreed to help her and provide a place to stay in exchange for assisting them in turn. She was a little worried about that, what assistance she was to provide had not been very clear. The way some of those Parahuman Response officials on that wondrous screen had talked had not been very enlightening or encouraging. Miss Militia and Jessica had been nice though, and Assault had even gotten a giggle out of her at breakfast. She had never been that good at figuring out ponies, figuring about humans seemed like paddling into the ocean without a raft. The footsteps stopped next to her and she saw Director Piggot grab the railing next to her.
"Are you ready?"
Her ocean of problems was wider than she could conceive, the only way across it was forward. She would study, she would learn, she would adapt, she would find Equestria on that far shore….or drown trying.
"Yes I am."
"Is there something wrong?" Armsmaster asked, his voice sounding concerned but also forced. Twilight spent enough time in the palace to recognize that the question was more for formalities sake than concern.
"It's nothing, the shield," she sniffed again. "It just reminds me of someone and that I don't know when I will see him again." Armsmaster looked briefly uncomfortable, not really sure how to reply. He had drawn a few conclusions from the hurried discussion they had shared on the way here and didn't trust himself to respond without upsetting her further. The apparent unicorn was an interesting study in psychology, but that was well outside his skill set.
"You've had a rough night, follow me inside and we can find someplace to get you something to eat and drink." Twilight wiped a foreleg across her eyes, visibly pulled herself together and turned to face the knight analog.
"Thank you, that seems like a good idea." She hesitated a moment before continuing with a small uplift in tone, "do you have a library?"
As Twilight walked down the brightly lit corridor she noted that the design of the building seemed strange for a building meant for habitation, the lines seemed more industrial than they should. 'Repurposed? Different military aesthetic than she was used to? That doesn't matter, focus.' They turned a corner and came face to face with a woman wearing a scarf over the lower half of her face. Unlike Armsmaster she wasn't wearing armor, instead covering herself with cloth of some uniform design. Her eyes crinkled and Twilight could imagine she was smiling under her face covering. A metal pole about half the length of the woman's height was slung over her back by a strap. Twilight assumed it was some sort of weapon, but it looked like it would be awkward to wield.
"Armsmaster…Your description…did not do Ms Twilight justice." She turned to fully face the unicorn. "It is a pleasure to meet you Twilight Sparkle, My name is Miss Militia. Armsmaster gave us a short summary on what happened. I apologize that you had such a introduction to our city, but thank you for your part in apprehending Lung. You have done a great service to the city." Twilight blushed a little at the praise.
"Um, Your welcome but it was really those other poni..people that," she hesitated as she looked for the right word, "..took care of Lung. What I did was more an accident of circumstance than anything else." Miss Militia nodded and her eyes remained kind. "You are probably ready for this night to end. We have a room setup with some food and a bed, we can talk more in the morning."
Twilight Audibly sighed, "Sleep is probably a good idea, thank you."
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Twilight woke with a start, heart racing. 'What? Where? !?!?!' She stood up and got caught in the sheets, spun around, rolled off the bed and fell in a tangled heap into the floor. Something that sounded like a growl issued from the pile of sheets before they erupted into purple flames and disintegrated around the panting unicorn. She turned towards the door as she heard someone chuckle softly, and her thoughts started to clear. Another of the knights of this place was standing there, his armor was different than Armsmaster's but it had the same style helmet and visor.
"Well that's one way of getting out of bed in the morning. Have to say after looking at the security footage last night, I wasn't expecting the cute purple unicorn to greet me by setting her room on fire in a mindless rage." He was shoved roughly into the doorframe by a woman wearing a skin tight suit with some sort of repeating fractal diagrams covering it.
"Leave her alone Assault, no one should be subjected to you first thing in the morning." She paused for a second, really taking Twilight in then continued, "Wow, So are you really…Wait no one should have to answer questions before breakfast. Follow us and we'll lead you to the grub. Do you like bacon and eggs?" She paused for a second, "I'm Battery by the way." Twilight screwed her face up in thought.
"What's bacon? You wouldn't happen to have any oatmeal or daisies?" Battery's eyes widened a fraction before hurriedly whispering something in Assault's ear. Assault let out a choked laugh before Battery shoved him into the hallway were he walked briskly away. Battery spoke quickly to cover his exit.
"He's just going to go ahead and see if we have any oatmeal, we probably do. Daises we're fresh out of I'm afraid. Why don't you grab a shower real quick," she gestured to the door across from the bed she had slept in last night. "That always helps me clear my head in the morning. Do you need any clothing?" She looked over Twilight once again. "We could probably adapt something that could work for you." A befuddled look crossed Twilight's face.
"Clothes? Are we going somewhere formal?" Twilight asked as she started towards the door to the bathroom.
"No, but..nevermind, no, nowhere formal. Just breakfast and a casual discussion with some of my team mates about what happened last night, no big deal."
Twilight sighed in relief at the words, "Okay, I'll be just a minute," and she closed the door behind her.
"Bacon," Battery sighed, "what was I thinking?"
———————————————————————————————————————
While Twilight sat down to the very satisfactory oatmeal and apple breakfast with Assault and Battery, Miss Militia and Armsmaster sat in a nearby conference room with a large LCD screen on one wall. The image on the screen was dived into four corners. A video feed of Twilight eating in the cafeteria, Director Piggot, the local head of the Parahuman Response Team, and the other two were taken by Protectorate thinkers. Armsmaster cleared his throat.
"As we all know each other I'll forgo the formalities. The person or pony, to use her own terminology, on the screen calls herself Twilight Sparkle. I met her late last night after I had received reports of a disturbance in the docks area. When I arrived at the scene the villain Lung, head of the ABB, was unconscious. I secured him and then investigated the area. There were signs of a wide ranging fight, fire damage, large sections of brick torn from the buildings, and bullet casings littering the area. Following the path of destruction to the roof I found Twilight sitting calmly and writing notes on a large sheet of parchment. When I inquired what had happened she rather helpfully supplied me with the notes she had been compiling. Given their extensive nature I have sent each of you a copy to read on your own. To sum up: Twilight claims to have woken up in the docks last night with no clear memory of how she arrived there. The amnesia and her appearance immediately made me suspect that she could be another case-53, however after talking with her more extensively I have come to doubt that. Not only does she appear to lack the distinctive brand, but her memory loss seems to be localized to some short amount of time before her arrival. She claims to come from another dimension/or planet and to have never seen our species before last night."
"She was speaking english earlier on the video." the thinker from Chicago stated.
"That's correct, she also claims her proficiency in our language stems from a "spell" she cast on herself after running one of the other players from last night. The other "spells" her notes mention include teleportation and a form of concussive blast." At this both thinkers seemed to perk up a bit, while Director Piggot maintained the slight scowl she had worn from the beginning of the video conference. The thinker from New York spoke up.
"Those could be useful abilities to have on a team. Is she stable? Where would you peg her age?"
"I don't think I'm qualified to make a judgment call on her mental health. If you ignore the elaborate fantasy she has constructed, she has seemed rational and polite in my interactions with her." Piggot leaned forward slightly causing her chair to creak and spoke up for the first time.
"Rational until someone challenges those elaborate fantasies. We have Dr. Yamada on hand this week, I would recommend Twilight have a visit with her and get some qualified feedback on her mental health before any other considerations." Armsmaster and both thinkers nodded their agreement. Miss Militia spoke quietly, but her voice still carried across the room.
"Is there not a chance she could be telling the truth? We have examples of other dimensions coming in contact with ours." The thinker from Chicago spoke up again.
"A valid point. We shouldn't yet make assumptions with the current evidence on hand. While I find it extremely unlikely that she is indeed from a universe so far diverged from our own earth that creatures resembling unicorns of our mythology became the dominant species, we all have encountered things that should be impossible. It shouldn't be completely dismissed as a possibility. I'll contact PRT headquarters and the state department to brief them. They can start running some scenarios just in case we are dealing with a first contact situation. We should get some blood samples to.." Armsmaster spoke again, seeming to want to move the conversation along.
"For her age, again I don't think I'm qualified. Her mannerisms tend to be all over the map maturity wise. Maybe pre-adolescent with a possible thinker classification in addition to her other stated powers. I think Director Piggot is correct. Our next step should be to get her evaluated mentally, and if Dr. Yamada gives the okay, a physical with samples," he nodded towards the Chicago thinker, "and have Twilight demonstrate her other "spells."" Miss Militia spoke up again.
"I agree that she should see Ms. Yamada, and before any other plans are made. Regardless of her origins, she has been through something traumatic. We should respect that in our actions." Even Director Piggot nodded slightly at that.
Jessica Yamada entered the room and thanked her years of experience in counseling parahumans for the ability to maintain her stride and her smile as she looked at the purple unicorn laying on the couch. The unicorn was using some form of telekinesis to hold a small notepad and a pen in front of her and was writing at a truly astounding speed. She had been briefed of course. A small file with a picture and the facts as they were known, but a picture didn't quite prepare you for the real thing. She likened it to the first time she had seen a moose in real life rather than tv, you really didn't quite grasp how large the animals were until you stood next to one. While she knew she would be meeting someone that looked like a unicorn, her mind hadn't really grasped that until she had walked into the room.
The current favored theory was that "Twilight Sparkle" was a young girl who had an extremely traumatic trigger event. With the possibility that she was an off profile case-53 a close second, since they had been responsible for every other physically modified parahuman. Barely mentioned in the notes was, a small section written by Miss Militia, was the third theory. That she was telling the truth. If it was either of the first two more likely options something had left her with a body that if not unpleasant visually, was certainly one of the most physically altered anyone had ever recorded. And not unlike a powerful resident of the birdcage, she had apparently created an elaborate alternate world that she existed in.
"Oh hello," the unicorn said, "are you Ms. Yamada?"
"Yes I am, your Twilight Sparkle right?" Ms. Yamada stepped further into the room and extended a hand and delicately gripped one of Twilight's forelegs in an approximation of a handshake. Jessica settled into the chair across from the couch and pulled out a notepad of her own to rest in her lap. Twilight seemed to perk up when she saw the pad.
"Aren't these things great?" Twilight gestured to her notepad and then to her's, "I can make notes and checklists twice as fast as I could with parchment and quill."
"I couldn't get through a day without them," Jessica said with a smile. Her experience told her that when dealing with patients, parahumans in particular, you could never really drop your guard but It was nice that they were starting off on a good footing. "It's very nice to meet you Twilight. May I call you Twilight?" Twilight nodded, "Okay, please call me Jessica. Some of my colleagues wanted me to talk with you and I understand that you asked to speak with me as well? What did you want to speak about?"
"Well Armsmaster said that you would probably be the person most likely to help me. After speaking with him this morning I believe I have come up with some decent assumptions to what happened to me. Where I am in a general sense in relation to my home. While he seems knowledgeable enough in magical engineering and enchanting given his special talent, he didn't seem well versed in dimensional physics or magical theory which is the kind of pony, oh I mean person, I need currently if I am going to find a way home."
"I see, I think there may have been a slight miscommunication, but why don't you tell me some more and I may be help in some way." Jessica made a mental note to have a discussion with Armsmaster about misleading Twilight. Twilight's good cheer seemed to deflate a bit before continuing.
"Okay, well my working theory is I was involved in some kind of large magical accident that somehow breached a number of dimensional barriers and left me stranded here. I can't remember the event besides a few scattered memories, but I've been involved in magical accidents before and their effects can be quite random and dramatic. In order for me to recreate the effect of that event, in a controlled fashion, I'm going to need access to your worlds magical research libraries, meetings with anypony with a special talent in theoretical physics or magic. Eventually I will need an isolated location a safe distance from population in which to conduct tests. If you think it would useful I've sketched out a few ideas and detailed notes of my working assumptions." Twilight gestured to a stack of notebooks at least a foot and a half high neatly placed on the nearby desk.
Jessica took a brief moment to process that. Adding the note, likely thinker/tinker, before speaking. "I don't think I know anyone with knowledge in theoretical magic, but I may be able get you in touch with a few physicists." Twilight smiled and clopped her fore hooves together a little at that. "You said you had been in a magical accident before, could you tell me about that?" Twilight fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment before speaking.
"Yes. On the day I discovered my special talent I had an uncontrolled magic surge, I accidentally transformed my parents into plants and destroyed a section of the castle." Twilight shuddered a little, and Jessica took a few notes. "It was, until two days ago, the most scared I have ever been. Worse it was my fault. If Princess Celestia hadn't shown up and calmed me down I don't know what would have happened." Twilight smiled briefly before frowning and fidgeting nervously. "She's going to be so disappointed in me, she was counting on me, and…and..I can't remember." The notepad and pen started to quiver in mid air.
"Take a deep breath Twilight." Jessica punctuated this by breathing deeply herself. "Your memory may return in time, we don't know what happened so you shouldn't assume that is was your fault." Twilight seemed to settle down after a moment, the notepad steadying in the air. "Why don't we change topics for a moment? You've mentioned "Special Talents" several times, could you tell me what you mean? It may be that we have different words for the same thing." Distracted from thinking about Princess Celestia, Twilight seemed to perk up and resumed the professorial tone she had at the beginning of the discussion.
"Oh you're right, I need to stop making assumptions like that. A special talent is what you are best at, what you most enjoy doing. It's an integral part of your personality, you shape it and it shapes your life. That's not everything it is, but until I study your language more thats probably as close to a definition I can come to. I assume Armsmaster's special talent is enchanting materials and machines, and the girl I met on the roof could talk to bugs and make them listen to her." Jessica wrote all of this down, It was a surprisingly insightful piece of philosophy for someone the people who briefed her assumed was a pre-adolescent. She mentally revised her own estimate of Twilight's age up a half a dozen years.
"So what's your special talent Twilight?"
"Magic."
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Two hours later Jessica Yamada sat at the head of the conference table. Miss Militia, Armsmaster, and Director Piggot, in person this time, were also there. Someone that she recognized from the Chicago office was on screen, as well a few other people that she did not. Jessica flipped back through her notes for a moment before looking up and addressing the group.
"First of all, My personal opinion is that Twilight Sparkle is not delusional. While there is no way to verify much of what she says, it has a level of consistency and detail that is not found in people suffering from delusions. I suppose someone could have implanted a lifetimes worth of memories consistent with a radically different alternate reality, but I can't imagine the motivation behind such an act. She seems ernest, and cooperative with the hope that we can provide the resources to get her home. She's very intelligent, even disregarding subjects where I have no frame of reference, she quickly left me behind in physics and math." Jessica paused to take a sip of water and Brian from Chicago's intelligence division started typing rapidly, while the others became more alert. Director Piggot took the opportunity to speak.
"Alright, I have long since ceased being surprised. So lets go with the idea she's sane. Is she stable? Would she work with us? Do we want her to and if that answer is yes how do we best arrange that?" A section of the screen that was previously blank clicked on and showed a middle aged gentleman sitting behind a desk. A small bar underneath his feed displayed 'Deputy Directory of State.' Jessica looked around the room and was a little astounded that no one was reacting more to the idea that for all practical purposes this was a first contact scenario with a friendly alien being. She supposed everyone had become somewhat jaded to the fantastic. In a world of superpowers, parallel dimensions and the Endbringers it was probably hard not to be.
"I would say she is mostly stable, but she has been ripped from everything she knows and thrown into a hostile world. She's stressed, nervous, and worried. I haven't spoken with her long enough to be confident in a diagnosis but she also seems to have some obsessive/compulsive behaviors regarding organization that she has adapted to use as a coping mechanism. If treated gently, given time to adjust and assistance in her research she could very well be an asset. But keep in mind she comes from a very different culture that my discussion with her has only scratched the surface of. While there seems to be broad similarities, there are bound to be things she views very differently than we do."
Miss Militia nodded at this. "It took me many years to completely adjust to america and its culture, Ms. Sparkle is many times more removed from her surroundings than even I was. She will need someone to shepherd her into this new world if we hope to help her and be helped in turn." Jessica nodded and smiled at Ms. Militia - she had hoped someone would understand that point. Armsmaster spoke up for the first time.
"It is…surprising given my initial impressions, that what she said could be the literal truth. However, it seems whether it is or not is almost a moot point. Dr. Yamada, where would you place her age? As I mentioned in my briefing I couldn't get a good read on that, she seemed alternately very young and mature depending on the topic of conversation."
"That's actually a complicated question. I noticed the same thing when speaking to her. She had a trigger event at a time that my best guess is equivalent to 5th or 6th grade in the US. Due to the power she expressed during the event she was taken under the wing of her country's ruler as something like an apprentice. Twilight has several of the hallmarks of a child prodigy, I would guess that even in her own society she was not well socialized. Again this is little more than guesswork and it could be that her society judges things very differently than ours, but I would probably equate her to a first year college student. Just getting out in the world and learning to be independent. However, she is as knowledgeable as a college professor with the social maturity of someone in their early teens." The Deputy Secretary of State cleared his throat and spoke for the first time.
"Depending on how much her culture varies from ours, we have several plans for a situation like this. Before I give the go ahead on any of them I want to make sure we are not jumping the gun here. There is no indication that contact with her society is imminent and everything so far points towards her being friendly. We can afford to take the time to be sure. I'll send some state people out there for interviews. If she has been traumatized moving her around would only serve to destabilize her. The Protectorate and the PRT has handled this well so far. As you all are the only ones that have had contact with her I will leave it to Protectorate East-North-East and the Brockton PRT to make temporary arrangements until we're up to speed and confident on what and who we are dealing with.
Miss Militia spoke up, "I have a suggestion. Regardless of what her age may be, she is young to our world. I can think of one local agency that was designed to provide support for the young and powerful." Director Piggot frowned slightly.
"You're suggesting that she be housed by the PRT."
"Yes. The PRT has support facilities and staff we do not here. More importantly the Wards would also give her a ready made group from which to learn from and bond with. I imagine they will be better at breaking through cultural barriers than any of us would be." Jessica nodded at this.
"There is no ideal solution for her situation, and I would recommend strongly against her being exposed to situations where violence is expected, but the Wards are probably as close as we can come to a controlled introduction to our society. They have all experienced trauma and most are likely to be sympathetic to her and provide an emotional support structure." Director Piggot nodded slowly.
"If that is the case then we can arrange it. Deputy secretary if you could forward any material you think is relevant to my office?" The Deputy nodded. "Very well." As the meeting started to break up Armsmaster rose and walked to the exit, muttering about "spells."
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Twilight stood with her fore hooves braced against the railing, the breeze blowing from shore pulling at her mane and carrying an industrial smell. She glanced up as what appeared to be a extremely fast aircraft rumbled high overhead. It was so much to, 'what was the phrase Jessica had used…Wrap her head around.' A small part of her was excited at the opportunity to learn so many new things, but it paled in comparison to the weight of the task in front of her. If it was even possible to accomplish at all. She hoped everyone was okay. 'Spike, Princess Celestia, her family, and…there were others,' but her thoughts seemed to skitter away the more she tried to think about them.
She heard someone walking towards her and she tried to settle and organize her thoughts. These 'humans' were strange. Enough alike to be relatable, but so different as well. They had agreed to help her and provide a place to stay in exchange for assisting them in turn. She was a little worried about that, what assistance she was to provide had not been very clear. The way some of those Parahuman Response officials on that wondrous screen had talked had not been very enlightening or encouraging. Miss Militia and Jessica had been nice though, and Assault had even gotten a giggle out of her at breakfast. She had never been that good at figuring out ponies, figuring about humans seemed like paddling into the ocean without a raft. The footsteps stopped next to her and she saw Director Piggot grab the railing next to her.
"Are you ready?"
Her ocean of problems was wider than she could conceive, the only way across it was forward. She would study, she would learn, she would adapt, she would find Equestria on that far shore….or drown trying.
"Yes I am."
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- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
CHAPTER 3
Newly edited and expanded Chapter 3 with the great help of Deadpan.
Twilight turned sideways in the seat, head facing the window, and pulled her legs up underneath her. It was the third position she had tried in as many minutes. Human vehicles, it seemed, were not made for quadrupeds. This position at least had the benefit of avoiding the stern face of Director Piggot.
Humans were strange. Enough alike to be relatable, but so different as well. They had agreed to help her and provide a place to stay in exchange for assisting them in turn. She was a little worried about that. What assistance she was to provide had not been very clear. The way some of those parahuman response officials on that wondrous screen had talked had not been very enlightening or particularly encouraging. Most of the others had been nice though, and Assault had even gotten a giggle out of her at breakfast.
She withheld the sigh that wanted to escape her chest. She had never been that good at figuring out ponies. Figuring out humans seemed like paddling into the ocean without a raft.
Looking out the window she got her first real look at the city. This area looked much better than what she had seen last night. Buildings made of steel and glass soared into the air. Personal vehicles with combustion engines and interior climate regulation moving at a fast gallop down wide smoothly paved avenues. Curiously, she didn't see any hints of magical engineering of the kind that let Canterlot Castle hang dramatically from Mount Canter. Maybe the current human architectural preference was to show what could be done without it? Regardless, the city was impressive display. Manehatten in 100 years maybe.
While she was looking out the window she realized something she had overlooked before and turned to ask Director Piggot a question. "This is a very large city and I've been looking for a while now. Are there not any other races or sapient species that live here?"
Twilight couldn't say that the Director frowned, as she seemed to perpetually frown, but maybe she frowned harder before she answered. "Humans are the only definitively sentient species on the planet. What do you mean when you say race?"
Twilight startled a little at this. Humans had only each other to talk to. She could imagine that would have had far reaching consequences for their culture and thought process. Hardly conscious that she was doing it, she levitated a notepad from her bags and started writing even as she spoke. "There are three distinct kinds of pony on my world, all easily distinguishable by their physical differences and to some degree their abilities. Looking out there," she gestured to the window and the sidewalks full of people, "I only see relatively minor variations in build and skin tone. Are there other variations of humans or is this a good sample of the populace as a whole?"
Piggot seemed to think for a moment before responding. Her tone eased a little as she explained. "If that is your definition of race, then there is indeed only one kind of human. If a human refers to race they are usually referring to a group of people that share a cultural background or set of physical features like eyes, hair, and skin tone. Brockton Bay is fairly diverse, as far as that goes." Before Twilight could pursue the topic further Director Piggot changed gears.
"We are only a few minutes away from the building where you will be staying. When we get there I would like to sit down and go over your abilities with me and some of the staff. Any abilities that we determine are safe to test on site we would like to see demonstrated. While we conduct the testing, some of my staff will be setting up your living quarters. Do you have any special needs or requests?"
Twilight put the notepad she was currently writing in away and pulled another out, flipping about a third of the way through it while it was still en route from her bag. Director Piggot noted that she did all of this without looking. "Yes, I have a few small requests that I hope you will be able to accommodate. Ms Yamada already told me it would take some time to arrange the visits with the scholars that I need to speak with. To prepare for those meetings I would like a few books. A general overview of your physical sciences, a general overview of your biological sciences, a general overview of your magical sciences, a general world history, and a comprehensive history of the last century. Once I have an idea of where my knowledge and your science aligns and diverges I can start getting into the details of the relevant subjects. If they are available, besides reading materials, I could use a large chalk board, a writing desk suited to my height, as many bookshelves as will fit into the space, a few hundred of these bound notepads, a few dozen pens, and a bed."
A nonplused look briefly crossed Piggot's face before she responded. "I'm sure we can supply most of that. Dietary requirements?"
Twilight started to bring her fore hooves together in anticipation of the books, but the gesture withered under the Director's stare. "Um, the breakfast this morning was nice, so probably nothing out of the ordinary. Grains, vegetables, fruits, long grasses and wildflowers. Daisies are a particular favorite of mine. Breads and Pastries."
"Again I'm sure we can arrange most of that, I'll let the cafeteria know." The car they were in went over a bump and began descending an incline that led them beneath a large glass and steel building styled somewhat differently from its neighboors. The driver stopped the car beside two large metal doors surrounded by unadorned concrete. He stepped out and opened the rear door. Twilight gratefully climbed out of the uncomfortable seat and took a moment to stretch out her neck and each of her legs. The Director walked up to the doors and pressed a circular emblem which then began to glow. Twilight's ears swiveled towards the sound of machinery engaging off to right and she nodded to herself. 'All electrical again, no magical assistance. No wards,' Twilight thought. Now that was strange. If this was something like a secured government building, there should be security wards somewhere.
A moment later a loud chime sounded and one of the metal doors opened. When Twilight and Director Piggot stepped inside and the doors closed again, it immediately began moving. Somewhat surprisingly Twilight felt the lift start to descend. She almost asked why, but thought better of it. Director Piggot seemed not to enjoy conversation very much.
The elevator doors opened to a well lit, but unadorned, hallway. No pictures, murals, or aesthetic of any kind seemed to have been applied. Long electric tubes hung from the ceiling, emitting light and an annoying high frequency buzz that made Twilight's eye twitch. At a T-intersection they turned left down another short hallway that had a series of doors down one side. Director Piggot stopped at the last door and punched a series of numbered buttons on a panel beside it, causing it to unlock.
The near side of the room had another of those long conference tables that the humans seemed to prefer. Three people were seated at it while another one of those fascinating electronic displays hung above the far end of the table. Two more people were on the display and she had learned earlier that they could be looking in from other cities hundreds or thousands of miles away. The knowledge and engineering that had to underpin such a system spoke of the vast hidden iceberg of science and innovation that this species had at their disposal. Just thinking about it put a little spring in her step as she walked towards a cushioned stool that had obviously been set up for her. Director Piggot left an empty chair beside Twilight and sat down to her left before speaking.
"Everyone, this is Twilight Sparkle. As I am sure you have all read the briefing by now and are aware," sounding like she actually doubted that was the case, "we believe she is from both another planet and another dimension. She was stranded here by some unknown event or accident. For the time being it has been decided that she will be housed here at the PRT to ensure she has support and a secure location from which to work on a way to contact her people and learn about our society. We hope to learn about her culture in turn, so that if and when contact with her planet is established we will be ready for it." This was more verbose than the Director had been in the past, and Twilight had a feeling that the lines had been prepared by someone else. "Twilight, to my left is Aegis. He is the leader of the local Wards." She gestured to the younger human who had tan skin and wore a rust colored costume with a shield emblem on the front. "The Wards is a program for young people to learn the skills they need before joining the Protectorate." 'Guardsman in training, cadets,' Twilight concluded.
"You will see him and his team throughout the building at different times don't hesitate to ask them for assistance." She paused and cleared her throat a little, which seemed to snap Aegis out of the slacked jawed expression he had been wearing since Twilight came into the room.
"Oh, right. It's nice to meet you Twilight. I hope we can help you." Twilight nodded at him and smiled, but was prevented from returning the greeting because Director Piggot had already moved on.
"To his left is John, my chief of staff. He handles most of the logistics and day to day details that keep the place running." The man nodded at Twilight and Piggot continued. "At the far end of the table is Marian May, our information officer here at Brockton Bay." The slight woman at the end had long brown hair that framed her face and fell over her shoulders and the same style of clothes as Piggot. "On the screen we have Wendy Sherman, who is the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. If we succeed in contacting your world, she would coordinating relations between our nations."
The woman had short white hair, a friendly smile and spoke in a warm tone. "While I hope to speak with you in person in the future, it is very nice to meet you. Welcome you to our planet and our country. I know you wish to return to your home as soon as possible, but while you are here I hope you find your stay hospitable and that we may learn as much from each other as your stay allows."
Twilight nodded her head and smiled as she responded. "Thank you. I admit my first impression of your world was frightening, but since arriving at the Protectorate building last night everyone has been very kind and generous. While I do hope to find a solution sooner rather than later, I think it would be criminal not to use the opportunity to further the scientific knowledge of both our species."
Director Piggot moved on to the next person on the display. "This is Chief Director Costa-Brown. She is the head of the PRT and is ultimately in charge of the Protectorate, the Wards, and the PRT divisions across the country." 'Which makes her the most powerful person I have been introduced to,' Twilight thought.
The Chief Director had a congenial smile on her face, and it seemed like Twilight had her full attention. "Like the Under Secretary I hope to soon meet you in person, but until then I trust my staff will prove to be gracious hosts in my absence. Be assured that we are looking into the circumstances of your arrival with all of our resources."
Twilight smiled politely in return. "Thank you, Chief Director. I'm honored that you and the others here took the time to speak with me and for all the kindnesses you all have shown me…It means more to me than you can imagine." A sniffle threatened and Twilight forced a smile and a glance around to regain her composure.
Director Piggot spoke up once again. "Thank you all for coming. We are here today not only to welcome Ms. Sparkle, but to evaluate her abilities before she begins her residence here. In accordance with PRT safety regulation 714.865. For the archivist this proceeding is to be filed under PRT-SPARKLE0035. Now Ms. Sparkle, I've read through Ms. Yamada's notes and when talking about para-abilities you mentioned that your," she looked down at her notes, "Special Talent was magic. We understand that you are speaking with the aid of translation and this word is probably one that means something different to you than it does us. Can you expand on what you can do with magic?"
Twilight was nonplussed at the question. It was like asking what you could do with gravity. After thinking about it for a moment she guessed they were referring to the most common applications she used the magic field for. She pulled her notepad and pen out of her bag again and took a second to organize her thoughts.
"Well as you can see the most common application I use it for is remote manipulation of physical matter, like this notepad and pen." She noticed that other people had started taking notes, while Aegis and Marian had pulled out another one of the humans' fascinating electronic devices. It contained what looked like a vertical electronic display and a horizontal tray with a series of depressible buttons. 'Were they somehow electronically storing notes? Without paper?' Twilight's mind quickly extrapolated the uses and applications of such a thing and had to bite her lip to get back on track with what she had been discussing. Someone cleared their throat and Twilight turned towards them and avoided the temptation to demonstrate her telekinesis to get a better look at the devices.
Twilight blushed a little and apologized, "I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I'm afraid my mind went off on a small tangent for a moment."
The information officer spoke again, "What are the limits of this power? How many objects could you lift? how much mass?"
Twilight looked up in thought while her pen continued to scribble notes on the pad, flipping over to a new page. 'Those questions aren't quite right. Are they subtly testing me on my knowledge of magic theory?' "Hmm, well I'm not sure. It's been years since my last formal physical test with it. Volume is more of a limitation than mass, The more field area you control the more focus and concentration it takes. I'm fairly proficient, the most I have stretched the ability recently is when I re-shelve the library." She paused a moment as another one of those hazy memories skitter out of her grasp. "I typically handle a few hundred books at a time." The Chief director was looking at her with an unreadable expression her face, while Piggot was jotting something down in her little notebook and Marian tapped rapidly at her device.
Director Piggot dug further. "If we crushed the vehicle that we drove to this building in to a suitable volume, you could lift it regardless of its mass?"
"Oh, you wouldn't need to reduce its volume. Contiguous field volume requires a lot less concentration than non-contiguous volume." Twilight replied in a light tone, happy that she seemed to be exceeding whatever expectations they had for this test. The sound of more tapping and writing filled the room, Twilight's ears twitching in time with the noise.
The Chief Director spoke again. "I think we can move on for now and perhaps later we can talk about that more in detail. How else do you use your magic?"
'My magic?' Twilight hesitated then continued with her initial assumption. "Well, I let Armsmaster copy my notes from my arrival so I am sure you already know some of this. I guess teleportation and transmutation are the next most common applications I use. Teleportation is again limited by the volume of the area to be teleported, but it is further limited because you need to control an identical remote field volume at your desired destination. It also requires much more fine control than telekinesis to connect the two volumes and…I'm not sure I have a word for it in your language but it's like…stepping around everything between the two. I'm afraid I've only really mastered self teleportation so far in my studies." Twilight took a pleased breath before continuing, there were few things she liked better than discussing magic, and not one of them had that vacant expression so many ponies got when she did.
"Transmutation is probably the skill I'm most proud of. There are two types of transmutation. Temporary and permanent. It involves…again I'm at a loss for the right words…which is odd because this spell should translate concepts both cultures share. Let's see…the pattern… or blueprint of the matter contained in the remote field is…^$%^%…pushed aside?..at the same time you…push…or layout?..a new pattern into the same space. Thats not quite right. If you…argh stupid translation spell, it will probably work better once I have studied some of your scientific texts. Anyway, most transmutation is temporary as it takes an incredible amount of…%^$#^^@$…sorry but there is nothing the translation spell is giving that is remotely close, but it takes a lot to permanently…push…the old pattern away. It is one of the most challenging areas of magic to master. It took me three years of dedicated study and practice before I was able to produce a decent paper analog." Twilight finished with a smile, thinking of how proud Celestia had been when she surprised her with the skill.
"However, those are just the spells that I use most frequently. In the course of my tutelage under Princess Celestia I have studied all the major branches of magic and their practical applications like enchantment and magical engineering. Then, of course, there are higher level spells that involve intwining @$%@$#% with….emotion? Purpose? And @$%@$. I'm only just starting to explore that area in my studies…I think…there were…ponies I was…I'm sorry there's just…something about that…I…can't remember right now."
She took a slow breath to get past her anxiety before she continued. "So let's skip that for now. What else were you interested in?" Then she noticed that the sounds of tapping and writing had stopped completely and no one was speaking. Even with the rough similarities between pony and human facial expression, she couldn't quite place what she seeing here.
Chief Director Brown was the one who broke the silence, "That is quite an extensive skill set. I think I understand why your Princess choose you as her student." Twilight blushed and ducked her head a little bashfully as she heard the others begin writing and typing again. "I think that's enough of a demonstration for today. Director Piggot, can you call one of your aides to show Twilight around the building and where she will be staying? I would like to take a few minutes since we already have everyone here to discuss a few other matters. Does that work for you Twilight?"
Twilight nodded and quickly replied, "Yes, that would be fine," as she couldn't think of a reason it wouldn't work, and suspected the question was posed more as a matter of form than any real interest in Twilight's opinion on the matter. While she had been responding, Director Piggot had picked up a small device and tapped it a few times.
"Aegis, please escort Twilight to the elevators. Sam is going to come down and show her around. Come back after she meets you. There are a few other things we need to inform you of." Director Piggot addressed the cadet.
"No problem ma'am, Miss Sparkle?" Aegis replied and turned to look at her.
She nodded and hopped off her stool. "Thank you all again. It was really nice meeting you."
Aegis opened the door as the rest of the group told her goodbye and she stepped back into the hall. Aegis closed the door behind them and started walking back they way they had come from before. "So, most of the other Wards are probably going to be around a little later. Would you mind if we swung by? That way I could introduce you to everyone you're likely to run into while you're here." Twilight smiled a little nervously. She had been introduced to more humans in the last two days than she had been to ponies in the last two years. She kind of wanted to spend as much time as possible setting up the room they were going to give her, but she supposed it wouldn't be polite to decline. Besides, it sounded like the time would be lost either today or later anyway. Hopefully it wouldn't take to long.
"Sure, that sounds great." Twilight said as she started to write more notes down on the pad she was levitating beside her. She noticed Aegis looking at her a little…maybe unsure, and thought of the distance between them and the elevator. Right, conversation etiquette, he was probably waiting on her to ask him something. Ohh, she was never good at this stuff. What had the Princess said about small talk?
"So what made you want to become a ca- a Ward?" Twilight asked and reluctantly stopped writing on her notepad.
Aegis' smile ran away from his face and a troubled look replaced it for a second before his smile returned. When he spoke again it was in a strange accent he hadn't been using before.
"You could say someone made me an offer I couldn't refuse."
"Really? It may be an error in the translation matrix, but that sounds contradictory. Is it an idiom? Those often don't come through quite right."
Aegis shook his head and laughed. "No, sorry. It's a famous movie quote. I was joking, but it probably loses something if you've never even heard of the movie." They had almost reached the end of the hall and an elevator door opened with chime. A grey-haired man in a PRT uniform stepped out. When he saw them a pleasant smile appeared on his face.
"Ms Sparkle, it's a pleasure to meet you. They're still working on setting up your room. While we wait for them, would you like to tour some of the facility?"
"Oh, ah, yes, I guess since I am probably going to be staying here for awhile, that makes sense. Thank you that would be nice."
"I'll let you two get to it then. I've got to get back to the meeting. I'll see you later Twilight." Aegis said and turned around after she nodded in acknowledgment. The doors were already closed and the elevator had started moving back up the building before Twilight realized Aegis had never really answered her question.
A few hours later Twilight looked out a window at the sprawling city below. Dozen of different vehicle designs in a rainbow of colors crowded the streets, bright yellow by far the most popular. Humans walked along the edges, their ungainly two-legged stride smoothed out by the distance. An aircraft landed on a rooftop not far away. For some reason it made her think of the color pink. She sighed. A lot. A lot to take in and so much work to do.
Turning away from the window, she surveyed the room she had been given. One whole wall was a floor to ceiling "whiteboard." When she had been told what it was and given the marker pack for it she had hugged the startled aid and dove right in. Some time later she had realized she was alone. She hadn't noticed him leave. She felt a little guilty about that. The happy thought of never having to wash chalk dust out of her mane again pushed it aside. Along the window beside where she was standing was a nice, long, wooden desk that looked like its legs had been truncated to make it the right height. Her notebooks arranged by subject and stacked neatly on one side. The other wall was taken up completely by industrial metal shelving, empty except a small section containing half a dozen books. The shelving was broken up only where a comfortably sized bed rested against the wall. The center of the room had a small round table with two human chairs and cushioned stool.
Everything she had asked for, and the speed at which they had provided her with the requests astonished her. It was very generous, but it made her a little uneasy in a way she couldn't quite understand. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she walked over to the bed and hopped up. A glow surrounded her horn and the book she had been reading floated over from the desk to hover in front of her while a marker uncapped itself and took position against the whiteboard. It was time for science!
She wasn't sure how long she had been reading when she heard the knock on her door, but the whiteboard was half full, and the sky had turned the burnt orange of an impending sunset.
"Come in!" she called, letting the book settle onto the bed in front of her. The door opened and the young human from this morning's meeting was there.
"Hi Twilight," he glanced around the room eyes looking over the alien script on the whiteboard before looking back to her. "Jumping right in huh. How's it going?" Twilight smiled. Unlike Armsmaster the cadet seemed to be asking out of real curiosity rather than politeness sake.
"Ok, but it's going to take me forever just to get an idea of where I'm standing. It can be a little daunting if I let myself think about it to much. For now I'm trying to focus on one thing at a time to keep myself on track," gesturing to the book in front of her with a hoof. She was about to ask him how his day had been when a cough sounded from the hallway. Twilight's left ear swiveled in that direction.
"Uh, right, me and a few of my teammates have a little time before we have to go out on patrol. Want some company?"
Twilight gave a longing look at the whiteboard before using her magic to cap and put away the marker she had been using. There was so much for her to do she really couldn't afford the interruption, but some, she didn't know, but something about this felt familiar. Like getting to know these humans would be more important than any research she could do. Which was ridiculous, but the feeling persisted.
"Oh, okay. It looks like that marker was about to run dry, so that's as good as place to take a break as any."
As soon as she agreed, she felt the field distort in a way she had never experienced before, and suddenly there was something right in front of her face. She lurched back instinctively and her eyes had a moment to take in a short human dressed in an unusual style, at least compared to those she had seen so far, consisting of shades of green. The top half of her face was obscured by a matching visor, but the bottom displayed a wide smile as she reached out an arm.
"Hello." She, as the tone of the voice obviously indicated, said warmly. "I'm Vista, and on behalf of the Brockton Bay Wards and the People of Earth, welcome to our planet." Twilight looked down at the arm extended towards her and then up past Vista's head to see a group of what she took to be the other Wards coming into the room with variations of amusement on their faces. Tentatively, she stretched out her right foreleg and touched Vista's hand with her hoof.
"It is, uh, nice to meet you as well. My name is Twilight Sparkle, as I am sure Aegis already told you. That was really a fascinating application of magic you just used. Some form of spatial distortion? A @#$%@#$%? How did you mange to shape the field in Q$$% manifold and achieve a uniform $@#%@ so quickly?" With hardly a thought Twilight levitated a notepad and pen over and flipped it to the first un-used page.
A look of confusion replaced the smile on Vista's face.
"I'm not sure I understood a lot of that. If you're asking how I appeared in front of you like that, I sort of compressed all the space between us for a brief moment and stepped across it. It's my power. I just sort of know how to use it. I'm not sure there are words that would describe it."
A slightly disappointed frown crossed Twilight's features before brightening again as she nodded. "Oh, it's your special talent! Don't worry, they often can be hard to describe or explain to other ponies. If you're willing, I would love to do a couple of experiments with you later." She looked past Vista again to see that the others had mostly closed the distance between them. "Who are your friends?"
Vista turned halfway and extended arm to point towards Aegis.
"Well, you've already met our fearless leader Aegis. Our very own knight in shining armor beside him is Gallant, and last and most certainly least is Clockblocker."
The aforementioned Clockblocker gasped as if he had been struck and clutched his chest dramatically. Twilight couldn't stop a giggle from escaping, especially when she remembered a similar introduction from last night. She wondered if it was some kind of human custom to have jester as part of your group. The one called Gallant stepped forward and gave a slightly theatrical bow before speaking.
"Sir Gallant at your service milady. I would apologize for the uncouth behavior of my companions, but if I made a habit of doing so, I fear I would spend my time doing little else." That brought out more giggles from Twilight and seemed to startle one out of Vista. Gallant's stoic face cracked into a grin.
"Hey, who are you calling uncouth?" Clockblocker asked from where he had just finished 'dying' on the floor.
"You, everyday, among many other things not fit for polite company."
"Ha! Yup, I probably deserve it to. Which reminds me, I uploaded all those test glamor shots that PR took of you last week to your PHO thread last night. It's really blowing up."
The joviality fled from Gallant's face as he rounded on Clockblocker. "You wouldn't. Tell me you didn't actually do that."
"Your fans were calling out in the darkness. 'More Gallant,' they pleaded. What kind of hero would I be if I denied them?"
Gallant walked quickly over towards Clockblocker, clearly aggravated, and Clockblocker scrambled up from the floor and took refuge behind Aegis' body.
Aegis looked amused and made no move to hinder either one of his teammates as they circled him. He turned to Twilight. "I promise that we can, at least sometimes, approach professionalism."
Twilight laughed lightly at his put upon expression and nodded. "It's okay. They kind of remind me of…I don't…anyway, it's fine."
"Enough about them." Vista said in a dismissive voice and gestured towards the chairs behind them. Twilight nodded and turned that way just as Clockblocker did something that seemed to have frozen Aegis and Gallant in place. Gallant's arms stretched out and trying to reach around Aegis' torso.
Twilight settled down on a padded stool while Vista sat herself in the chair closest to her. "What did you want to talk about?"
Vista hesitated a moment, glancing over her shoulder at the three behind her. Clockblocker had pulled out some small rectangular device as was circling the frozen pair for some reason.
"Everything really, but let's start with the important things first." Twilight nodded and set her pen to the notepad. She figured she could learn a great deal of human culture and what they found important just from the kind of things they asked her.
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
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Interlude 3 - Aegis
New Aegis Interlude, thanks to Deadpan for editing.
"…dangerous. I," Director Piggot's voice cut off as Carlos opened the door and stepped back into the room. As the eyes of everyone in the room settled on him, he quickly got to his chair and sat down. He wasn't sure what they had talked about while he was gone, but the tension in the room seemed a couple of notches higher than when he left. Channeling a little of his inner Clockblocker, he decided to re-break the ice.
"Um, just putting this out there, but I call dibs." The serious look on the Chief Director's face gave way to a brief snort. Marian let out a chuckle and the tension in the room relaxed. Director Costa-Brown gave Aegis a wry look.
"Aegis, if there where such a thing as dibs in the PRT, let me assure you, you would not get first dibs on Ms. Sparkle. For now, I'm inclined to agree with the recommendation from Ms. Yamada. She should be treated with kid gloves and kept away from violence until we have a better bead on her psychological makeup. That she could be a tremendous asset is a given. That she could be a threat if we read her wrong is also undeniable. Remember, whatever method she is using for translation is imperfect. She may be getting the google translate version of what we are saying and vice versa. Until we know more I would hesitate to trust that what we are hearing is what she is meaning. We need to be careful, but not second guess ourselves to death either. I like the idea of the Wards socializing with her. It will give her people to talk to that she isn't dependent on and hopefully to let her guard down around. However, any attempt to get her come along on patrols or similar hijinks will be severely frowned upon. I trust that we are clear on that, Aegis?"
Aegis nodded somberly, "Yes ma'am."
The Under Secretary cut in quickly. "Putting aside the powers discussion, this is a remarkable moment in history. Our first true alien encounter, and our first interactions with another intelligent species. Given how the world seems to work, I would have never bet on such a first encounter being friendly. Let's not do anything that could change that. I know the initial projections don't look good for the feasibility for contacting her home dimension, but imagine if we pull it off. The world would never be the same. I've got to run. Presidents to brief and a dozen crises, none of which are nearly as pleasant as the one that just left. Keep me in the loop." With that her screen clicked off. Marian picked up where the Under Secretary left off.
"I'll let the Secretary plan possible first contact, the Wards handle acclimation, and the Chief Director handle the ramifications of what Ms. Sparkle talked about. I'll just note two things. The first is that I agree with Ms. Yamada's notes in referring to Twilight as a likely prodigy. So here's a recommendation: don't expose her even tangentially to anything you don't want her to know or work out, because she strikes me as someone that could pull a sweater string until she has a ball of yarn then knit a new sweater for herself. The second thing is that this secret is going to be blown, and soon. Too many people know, too many peoples assistant's know, and she was out on the street for god knows how long last night. If you want to get in front of this thing I would have a press statement out before tomorrow morning at the latest, and that might be too late. I'll keep an eye on the boards. I might be able to give five or ten minutes warning before it hits the media."
Director Piggot sighed, but nodded. "That's…Inconvenient. Thank you for the analysis Marian. John, if you could do what you can to prepare for a press blitz without informing any more people in the meantime?" John nodded his assent. "Good, thank you. Chief Director I assume you will want to coordinate with that State Department for the press conference. Is there anything more you need from us here?"
"No, I think that's all. I have some people to brief myself, so I'll let you get to it. Thank you everyone. Emily, I'll give you a call in an hour or two to go over some things."
"I'll be here." With that Director Costa-Brown's screen went blank. "Okay, let's pack this up. Carlos, you can go ahead and brief the wards that are onsite, but warn them that if one word of this leaks, they wont see anything but the inside of the console room in Alaska until they turn eighteen. Clear?" Carlos nodded as he stood, the four of them filing back out into the hallway and locking the door behind them.
They boarded the elevator together and Aegis suffered through the familiar awkwardness of sharing a confined space with one's superiors until they departed on the third floor. He stayed on till the tenth and, after walking down what he still felt was an excessively chromed hallway, leaned forward for a retinal scan that, after a moment, admitted him into the large dome shaped room that was the home to the Brockton Bay Wards.
Vista and Gallant were both sitting at computers on the far side of the open area, while he could hear Clockblocker giving an off-color commentary to some daytime television program from the doorway that lead to their meeting room. He knew Kid Win was home for the day.
"Hey, either of you seen Shadow Stalker?"
Vista turned from her screen with a grimace. "Yeah, miss smiles-a-lot is taking a shower. What's up?"
Before he could answer Clockblocker came out of the press room and interjected. "Uh-oh. Boss has his serious face on. That means serious things are happening. I hate it when serious things happen."
"I have a serious face?" He asked, momentarily distracted by the statement.
"You kinda do." Vista said. "So, whats going on?"
"I need a few minutes to put something together for a briefing, and I'd rather only go through it once. So when Shadow Stalker gets done with her shower catch her and tell her to hang around. Meeting in thirty."
Clockblocker sighed dramatically as Carlos started walking towards the partition that marked his private space.
"I knew it. A briefing means something to be briefed about. Things that we get briefed about are never good things."
Just before he shut the door to his room he heard Vista respond. "Not every briefing is bad."
"Name one."
"..Ok, you might have something this time."
Forty-five minutes later he was standing beside a podium with a list of facts being projected onto the screen at the back of the room. Vista was staring incredulously at him while Stalker's perpetual scowl was fighting with disbelief. Gallant seemed to be trying to maintain a neutral expression, while Clockblocker had finally stopped saying 'bullshit' and had now transitioned into asking questions in an ever more agitated tone.
Carlos was trying so hard not to smile.
"So you're saying there's an alien in the building."
"Yes."
"You're saying there's an alien in the building that can teleport."
"Yes."
"You're saying there's an alien in the building that can teleport, and can lift several tons off the ground."
"Yes."
"You're saying there's an alien in the building that can teleport, lift several tons, and can rearrange matter at will."
"Yes."
"Why exactly are we not supposed to be freaking out about this? Cause ya know, it sort of sounds like the thing people should freak out about." Several other heads in the room nodded at this, and Aegis finally let go and donned a shit-eating grin. He clicked a remote to advance to the next slide in the presentation.
"Meet Twilight Sparkle. A monster sure to haunt all your dreams tonight."
Silence reigned for a moment before Shadow Stalker broke it with a succinct, "You've got to be shitting me." Aegis laughed and started to hand out a small file folders to everyone there. Gallant was laughing, his power having let him in on the joke, if not its punchline.
Stalker started to absently flip through the packet while Clockblocker gave Aegis a good natured shove. "You ass."
Vista had begun reading as soon as the packet was in her hand, a smile growing the farther into the packet she got. "This is so cool," she murmured.
Aegis gave them all a few minutes to look it over before continuing. "So, here's the deal boys and girls. This is the real deal, first contact, President is a phone call away situation. Twilight's had a rough time, has been separated from everyone she's ever known, and to top it off her introduction to the human race was Lung. Think about that for a minute." He paused to let them do just that, then continued. "In short, she needs some friends, and we've been drafted."
Shadow Stalker tossed her copy of the file onto the floor in front of her and didn't look impressed. "You've got to be shitting me. We're not a fucking day care center. If she's from another planet or whatever how are we even supposed to fucking talk to her. Doesn't the government have like, a base in the desert or something for this kind of shit?"
"Some aspect of her power is allowing her to talk with us, and I'm not shitting you. I'm telling you Chief Director Costa-Brown was in the meeting and extended every courtesy. The most powerful people on the planet are taking Ms. Sparkle very seriously. So, if you don't think you can be civil you should probably keep your distance. They are putting a lot of trust in us. People much higher up the food chain are going to be dealing with the fallout, the politics, media, and all of that BS. But we are the ones that are going to be spending the most time with her, and we are the people that are going to be showing her what it is humanity is about. Let's not screw that up."
"We're boned." Clockblocker deadpanned, causing Vista to laugh before her face became serious.
"How is she doing, with the whole, you know, everything?"
"She's an alien, so no one is really sure. She's keeping it together, but the shrinks think she's probably pretty emotionally fragile at the moment. Which brings me back to my presentation. Now, part of the reason I went over her powers before showing you what she looks like is so you would remember what you were feeling before her appearance could disarm you. She's the real deal, and in the wrong state of mind she could be real dangerous. Keep it in mind. That all being said, I liked her. I think she's good people. Pony. Whatever. So, we are going to do our best to help her get through this. Any questions?"
"Yeah, what kind of fucking name is Twilight Sparkle?" Shadow Stalker grumbled as she stood up from her chair.
"Cast no stones 'Shadow Stalker.'" Clockblocker said, matching the scornful tone Stalker had put into the aliens name. She turned sharply towards him, but when Carlos stepped between them she stopped and instead just gave Clock the bird.
"Yeah, I already know I'm not going to be on team diplomacy. Don't think I didn't catch that little bit earlier Carlos, so I'll see you losers later."
"One last thing." Carlos said and Stalker paused at the door, tension in every aspect of her posture. "Director Piggot mentioned something about permanent assignment to Alaska if any of us mentions any of this before they have a press conference."
"Fucking PR. Who'd believe this shit anyway." She left the room and a minute later he heard the security door open and close again.
Meanwhile, Clockblocker had walked up beside him. He leaned his head against Carlos' shoulder and sighed in a dreamy voice. "There goes our little ray of sunshine." Which caused him and everyone else in the room to laugh.
He shoved Clockblocker away, careful not to use to much force. "Get off you goof. The whole line about being able to be diplomatic goes for you too you know. Please refrain from causing the first inter-dimensional war with a poor chosen attempt at humor."
Clockblocker stiffened and gave an english salute. "You can count on me sah"
The response, remarkably, did not make Carlos feel any better about introducing Clock to the alien. There was nothing for it, however. If he didn't bring Clockblocker along now, he would just go on his own later, and heaven only knew what he would get up to unsupervised.
"Ok, they want to give her a little time to tour the building and settle into her quarters. How about we all head up there an hour before the scheduled patrol tonight?"
"Sounds good," Gallant said.
"I can do that," Vista replied and then vanished through the doorway with a quick use of her power.
"See you there boss," Clockblocker said and put a hand on his shoulder. The next thing he knew he was alone in the room and all the lights had been shut off. He chuckled but mentally added it to the list of reasons to put Clock on monitor duty so he didn't have to do it himself. Paybacks were a bitch.
A couple of hours later he was adding yet another notation to that mental list when he noticed Clockblocker had moved and Vista was well into braiding Twilight's mane. Things that had not been true a moment ago, at least for him and Gallant. Gallant apparently came to the same conclusion as him and hastily stepped back to give them both space to observe the room. Also to surreptitiously check for any traces of permeant marker drawings on their persons. As they did so, they drifted back towards the door so they could talk without interrupting the scene in front of them.
Clockblocker seemed to be trying to comprehend what Twilight had been writing on the board while Vista worked on the unicorn's hair. "So, what does this part mean?"
"That set of equations is the first part of how one could derive one's location in space-time based on the @#$%$@ and the magic field resonance between $@$%@ and local gravimetric forces."
Clockblocker nodded sagely, as if he had simply seeking confirmation for his own thoughts. "Yes, yes I think I see what you mean." Carlos couldn't contain a small bark of laughter at that, and he heard Gallant chuckle beside him.
"Times like this he almost makes you forget that you've already worked out how you would hide his body." Gallant said quietly as the two of them watched the scene from the doorway.
"He knows how to walk the line alright." Carlos agreed. "Picking anything up from our guest?"
Gallant nodded. "Yes…it's different, and complicated. Lots of stuff swirling around, not really surprising. It feels like she's happy for the company however, at least on the surface."
"I'll take it. Alright, let's go be friendly. We can't let Clockblocker be humanity's main impression on first contact."
Forty minutes later, after having learned entirely to much about hairstyles and either entirely to little or to much about theoretical physics, he noticed Clockblocker leaning up against the door frame to the room with a small frown on his face. Getting up while Twilight's attention was focused on Vista's hair he walked over to him.
Clock almost seemed to be staring through the scene in front of him. Gallant, Vista, and Twilight were having a good spirited conversation punctuated intermittently by Vista giggling as the unicorn braided her hair with telekinesis. Over the past year, Vista had put a lot of effort into trying to shed her image as the kid sister of the wards, but given the cover of fostering inter-galactic or inter-dimensional relations she was letting herself have fun. It was striking seeing her really relaxed for the first time in months.
"Whats up Clock? Figured you'd still be busy corrupting the alien."
Clockblocker shifted a little so that he could face Aegis and still see into the room. "Just wondering where the bag of shit is."
Carlos felt his face take on a puzzled frown. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that this is reality, and everything awesome comes with a bag of shit. Superpowers come with triggers, Scion comes with Endbringers, and Doritos have trans-fats." He paused and gestured to the scene again. Vista was blushing at something Gallant had said and Twilight was clopping her fore hooves together with a smile on her equine face. "That, that right there, is awesome. So, what I'm wondering is, where's the bag of shit?"
Newly edited and expanded Chapter 3 with the great help of Deadpan.
Twilight turned sideways in the seat, head facing the window, and pulled her legs up underneath her. It was the third position she had tried in as many minutes. Human vehicles, it seemed, were not made for quadrupeds. This position at least had the benefit of avoiding the stern face of Director Piggot.
Humans were strange. Enough alike to be relatable, but so different as well. They had agreed to help her and provide a place to stay in exchange for assisting them in turn. She was a little worried about that. What assistance she was to provide had not been very clear. The way some of those parahuman response officials on that wondrous screen had talked had not been very enlightening or particularly encouraging. Most of the others had been nice though, and Assault had even gotten a giggle out of her at breakfast.
She withheld the sigh that wanted to escape her chest. She had never been that good at figuring out ponies. Figuring out humans seemed like paddling into the ocean without a raft.
Looking out the window she got her first real look at the city. This area looked much better than what she had seen last night. Buildings made of steel and glass soared into the air. Personal vehicles with combustion engines and interior climate regulation moving at a fast gallop down wide smoothly paved avenues. Curiously, she didn't see any hints of magical engineering of the kind that let Canterlot Castle hang dramatically from Mount Canter. Maybe the current human architectural preference was to show what could be done without it? Regardless, the city was impressive display. Manehatten in 100 years maybe.
While she was looking out the window she realized something she had overlooked before and turned to ask Director Piggot a question. "This is a very large city and I've been looking for a while now. Are there not any other races or sapient species that live here?"
Twilight couldn't say that the Director frowned, as she seemed to perpetually frown, but maybe she frowned harder before she answered. "Humans are the only definitively sentient species on the planet. What do you mean when you say race?"
Twilight startled a little at this. Humans had only each other to talk to. She could imagine that would have had far reaching consequences for their culture and thought process. Hardly conscious that she was doing it, she levitated a notepad from her bags and started writing even as she spoke. "There are three distinct kinds of pony on my world, all easily distinguishable by their physical differences and to some degree their abilities. Looking out there," she gestured to the window and the sidewalks full of people, "I only see relatively minor variations in build and skin tone. Are there other variations of humans or is this a good sample of the populace as a whole?"
Piggot seemed to think for a moment before responding. Her tone eased a little as she explained. "If that is your definition of race, then there is indeed only one kind of human. If a human refers to race they are usually referring to a group of people that share a cultural background or set of physical features like eyes, hair, and skin tone. Brockton Bay is fairly diverse, as far as that goes." Before Twilight could pursue the topic further Director Piggot changed gears.
"We are only a few minutes away from the building where you will be staying. When we get there I would like to sit down and go over your abilities with me and some of the staff. Any abilities that we determine are safe to test on site we would like to see demonstrated. While we conduct the testing, some of my staff will be setting up your living quarters. Do you have any special needs or requests?"
Twilight put the notepad she was currently writing in away and pulled another out, flipping about a third of the way through it while it was still en route from her bag. Director Piggot noted that she did all of this without looking. "Yes, I have a few small requests that I hope you will be able to accommodate. Ms Yamada already told me it would take some time to arrange the visits with the scholars that I need to speak with. To prepare for those meetings I would like a few books. A general overview of your physical sciences, a general overview of your biological sciences, a general overview of your magical sciences, a general world history, and a comprehensive history of the last century. Once I have an idea of where my knowledge and your science aligns and diverges I can start getting into the details of the relevant subjects. If they are available, besides reading materials, I could use a large chalk board, a writing desk suited to my height, as many bookshelves as will fit into the space, a few hundred of these bound notepads, a few dozen pens, and a bed."
A nonplused look briefly crossed Piggot's face before she responded. "I'm sure we can supply most of that. Dietary requirements?"
Twilight started to bring her fore hooves together in anticipation of the books, but the gesture withered under the Director's stare. "Um, the breakfast this morning was nice, so probably nothing out of the ordinary. Grains, vegetables, fruits, long grasses and wildflowers. Daisies are a particular favorite of mine. Breads and Pastries."
"Again I'm sure we can arrange most of that, I'll let the cafeteria know." The car they were in went over a bump and began descending an incline that led them beneath a large glass and steel building styled somewhat differently from its neighboors. The driver stopped the car beside two large metal doors surrounded by unadorned concrete. He stepped out and opened the rear door. Twilight gratefully climbed out of the uncomfortable seat and took a moment to stretch out her neck and each of her legs. The Director walked up to the doors and pressed a circular emblem which then began to glow. Twilight's ears swiveled towards the sound of machinery engaging off to right and she nodded to herself. 'All electrical again, no magical assistance. No wards,' Twilight thought. Now that was strange. If this was something like a secured government building, there should be security wards somewhere.
A moment later a loud chime sounded and one of the metal doors opened. When Twilight and Director Piggot stepped inside and the doors closed again, it immediately began moving. Somewhat surprisingly Twilight felt the lift start to descend. She almost asked why, but thought better of it. Director Piggot seemed not to enjoy conversation very much.
The elevator doors opened to a well lit, but unadorned, hallway. No pictures, murals, or aesthetic of any kind seemed to have been applied. Long electric tubes hung from the ceiling, emitting light and an annoying high frequency buzz that made Twilight's eye twitch. At a T-intersection they turned left down another short hallway that had a series of doors down one side. Director Piggot stopped at the last door and punched a series of numbered buttons on a panel beside it, causing it to unlock.
The near side of the room had another of those long conference tables that the humans seemed to prefer. Three people were seated at it while another one of those fascinating electronic displays hung above the far end of the table. Two more people were on the display and she had learned earlier that they could be looking in from other cities hundreds or thousands of miles away. The knowledge and engineering that had to underpin such a system spoke of the vast hidden iceberg of science and innovation that this species had at their disposal. Just thinking about it put a little spring in her step as she walked towards a cushioned stool that had obviously been set up for her. Director Piggot left an empty chair beside Twilight and sat down to her left before speaking.
"Everyone, this is Twilight Sparkle. As I am sure you have all read the briefing by now and are aware," sounding like she actually doubted that was the case, "we believe she is from both another planet and another dimension. She was stranded here by some unknown event or accident. For the time being it has been decided that she will be housed here at the PRT to ensure she has support and a secure location from which to work on a way to contact her people and learn about our society. We hope to learn about her culture in turn, so that if and when contact with her planet is established we will be ready for it." This was more verbose than the Director had been in the past, and Twilight had a feeling that the lines had been prepared by someone else. "Twilight, to my left is Aegis. He is the leader of the local Wards." She gestured to the younger human who had tan skin and wore a rust colored costume with a shield emblem on the front. "The Wards is a program for young people to learn the skills they need before joining the Protectorate." 'Guardsman in training, cadets,' Twilight concluded.
"You will see him and his team throughout the building at different times don't hesitate to ask them for assistance." She paused and cleared her throat a little, which seemed to snap Aegis out of the slacked jawed expression he had been wearing since Twilight came into the room.
"Oh, right. It's nice to meet you Twilight. I hope we can help you." Twilight nodded at him and smiled, but was prevented from returning the greeting because Director Piggot had already moved on.
"To his left is John, my chief of staff. He handles most of the logistics and day to day details that keep the place running." The man nodded at Twilight and Piggot continued. "At the far end of the table is Marian May, our information officer here at Brockton Bay." The slight woman at the end had long brown hair that framed her face and fell over her shoulders and the same style of clothes as Piggot. "On the screen we have Wendy Sherman, who is the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. If we succeed in contacting your world, she would coordinating relations between our nations."
The woman had short white hair, a friendly smile and spoke in a warm tone. "While I hope to speak with you in person in the future, it is very nice to meet you. Welcome you to our planet and our country. I know you wish to return to your home as soon as possible, but while you are here I hope you find your stay hospitable and that we may learn as much from each other as your stay allows."
Twilight nodded her head and smiled as she responded. "Thank you. I admit my first impression of your world was frightening, but since arriving at the Protectorate building last night everyone has been very kind and generous. While I do hope to find a solution sooner rather than later, I think it would be criminal not to use the opportunity to further the scientific knowledge of both our species."
Director Piggot moved on to the next person on the display. "This is Chief Director Costa-Brown. She is the head of the PRT and is ultimately in charge of the Protectorate, the Wards, and the PRT divisions across the country." 'Which makes her the most powerful person I have been introduced to,' Twilight thought.
The Chief Director had a congenial smile on her face, and it seemed like Twilight had her full attention. "Like the Under Secretary I hope to soon meet you in person, but until then I trust my staff will prove to be gracious hosts in my absence. Be assured that we are looking into the circumstances of your arrival with all of our resources."
Twilight smiled politely in return. "Thank you, Chief Director. I'm honored that you and the others here took the time to speak with me and for all the kindnesses you all have shown me…It means more to me than you can imagine." A sniffle threatened and Twilight forced a smile and a glance around to regain her composure.
Director Piggot spoke up once again. "Thank you all for coming. We are here today not only to welcome Ms. Sparkle, but to evaluate her abilities before she begins her residence here. In accordance with PRT safety regulation 714.865. For the archivist this proceeding is to be filed under PRT-SPARKLE0035. Now Ms. Sparkle, I've read through Ms. Yamada's notes and when talking about para-abilities you mentioned that your," she looked down at her notes, "Special Talent was magic. We understand that you are speaking with the aid of translation and this word is probably one that means something different to you than it does us. Can you expand on what you can do with magic?"
Twilight was nonplussed at the question. It was like asking what you could do with gravity. After thinking about it for a moment she guessed they were referring to the most common applications she used the magic field for. She pulled her notepad and pen out of her bag again and took a second to organize her thoughts.
"Well as you can see the most common application I use it for is remote manipulation of physical matter, like this notepad and pen." She noticed that other people had started taking notes, while Aegis and Marian had pulled out another one of the humans' fascinating electronic devices. It contained what looked like a vertical electronic display and a horizontal tray with a series of depressible buttons. 'Were they somehow electronically storing notes? Without paper?' Twilight's mind quickly extrapolated the uses and applications of such a thing and had to bite her lip to get back on track with what she had been discussing. Someone cleared their throat and Twilight turned towards them and avoided the temptation to demonstrate her telekinesis to get a better look at the devices.
Twilight blushed a little and apologized, "I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I'm afraid my mind went off on a small tangent for a moment."
The information officer spoke again, "What are the limits of this power? How many objects could you lift? how much mass?"
Twilight looked up in thought while her pen continued to scribble notes on the pad, flipping over to a new page. 'Those questions aren't quite right. Are they subtly testing me on my knowledge of magic theory?' "Hmm, well I'm not sure. It's been years since my last formal physical test with it. Volume is more of a limitation than mass, The more field area you control the more focus and concentration it takes. I'm fairly proficient, the most I have stretched the ability recently is when I re-shelve the library." She paused a moment as another one of those hazy memories skitter out of her grasp. "I typically handle a few hundred books at a time." The Chief director was looking at her with an unreadable expression her face, while Piggot was jotting something down in her little notebook and Marian tapped rapidly at her device.
Director Piggot dug further. "If we crushed the vehicle that we drove to this building in to a suitable volume, you could lift it regardless of its mass?"
"Oh, you wouldn't need to reduce its volume. Contiguous field volume requires a lot less concentration than non-contiguous volume." Twilight replied in a light tone, happy that she seemed to be exceeding whatever expectations they had for this test. The sound of more tapping and writing filled the room, Twilight's ears twitching in time with the noise.
The Chief Director spoke again. "I think we can move on for now and perhaps later we can talk about that more in detail. How else do you use your magic?"
'My magic?' Twilight hesitated then continued with her initial assumption. "Well, I let Armsmaster copy my notes from my arrival so I am sure you already know some of this. I guess teleportation and transmutation are the next most common applications I use. Teleportation is again limited by the volume of the area to be teleported, but it is further limited because you need to control an identical remote field volume at your desired destination. It also requires much more fine control than telekinesis to connect the two volumes and…I'm not sure I have a word for it in your language but it's like…stepping around everything between the two. I'm afraid I've only really mastered self teleportation so far in my studies." Twilight took a pleased breath before continuing, there were few things she liked better than discussing magic, and not one of them had that vacant expression so many ponies got when she did.
"Transmutation is probably the skill I'm most proud of. There are two types of transmutation. Temporary and permanent. It involves…again I'm at a loss for the right words…which is odd because this spell should translate concepts both cultures share. Let's see…the pattern… or blueprint of the matter contained in the remote field is…^$%^%…pushed aside?..at the same time you…push…or layout?..a new pattern into the same space. Thats not quite right. If you…argh stupid translation spell, it will probably work better once I have studied some of your scientific texts. Anyway, most transmutation is temporary as it takes an incredible amount of…%^$#^^@$…sorry but there is nothing the translation spell is giving that is remotely close, but it takes a lot to permanently…push…the old pattern away. It is one of the most challenging areas of magic to master. It took me three years of dedicated study and practice before I was able to produce a decent paper analog." Twilight finished with a smile, thinking of how proud Celestia had been when she surprised her with the skill.
"However, those are just the spells that I use most frequently. In the course of my tutelage under Princess Celestia I have studied all the major branches of magic and their practical applications like enchantment and magical engineering. Then, of course, there are higher level spells that involve intwining @$%@$#% with….emotion? Purpose? And @$%@$. I'm only just starting to explore that area in my studies…I think…there were…ponies I was…I'm sorry there's just…something about that…I…can't remember right now."
She took a slow breath to get past her anxiety before she continued. "So let's skip that for now. What else were you interested in?" Then she noticed that the sounds of tapping and writing had stopped completely and no one was speaking. Even with the rough similarities between pony and human facial expression, she couldn't quite place what she seeing here.
Chief Director Brown was the one who broke the silence, "That is quite an extensive skill set. I think I understand why your Princess choose you as her student." Twilight blushed and ducked her head a little bashfully as she heard the others begin writing and typing again. "I think that's enough of a demonstration for today. Director Piggot, can you call one of your aides to show Twilight around the building and where she will be staying? I would like to take a few minutes since we already have everyone here to discuss a few other matters. Does that work for you Twilight?"
Twilight nodded and quickly replied, "Yes, that would be fine," as she couldn't think of a reason it wouldn't work, and suspected the question was posed more as a matter of form than any real interest in Twilight's opinion on the matter. While she had been responding, Director Piggot had picked up a small device and tapped it a few times.
"Aegis, please escort Twilight to the elevators. Sam is going to come down and show her around. Come back after she meets you. There are a few other things we need to inform you of." Director Piggot addressed the cadet.
"No problem ma'am, Miss Sparkle?" Aegis replied and turned to look at her.
She nodded and hopped off her stool. "Thank you all again. It was really nice meeting you."
Aegis opened the door as the rest of the group told her goodbye and she stepped back into the hall. Aegis closed the door behind them and started walking back they way they had come from before. "So, most of the other Wards are probably going to be around a little later. Would you mind if we swung by? That way I could introduce you to everyone you're likely to run into while you're here." Twilight smiled a little nervously. She had been introduced to more humans in the last two days than she had been to ponies in the last two years. She kind of wanted to spend as much time as possible setting up the room they were going to give her, but she supposed it wouldn't be polite to decline. Besides, it sounded like the time would be lost either today or later anyway. Hopefully it wouldn't take to long.
"Sure, that sounds great." Twilight said as she started to write more notes down on the pad she was levitating beside her. She noticed Aegis looking at her a little…maybe unsure, and thought of the distance between them and the elevator. Right, conversation etiquette, he was probably waiting on her to ask him something. Ohh, she was never good at this stuff. What had the Princess said about small talk?
"So what made you want to become a ca- a Ward?" Twilight asked and reluctantly stopped writing on her notepad.
Aegis' smile ran away from his face and a troubled look replaced it for a second before his smile returned. When he spoke again it was in a strange accent he hadn't been using before.
"You could say someone made me an offer I couldn't refuse."
"Really? It may be an error in the translation matrix, but that sounds contradictory. Is it an idiom? Those often don't come through quite right."
Aegis shook his head and laughed. "No, sorry. It's a famous movie quote. I was joking, but it probably loses something if you've never even heard of the movie." They had almost reached the end of the hall and an elevator door opened with chime. A grey-haired man in a PRT uniform stepped out. When he saw them a pleasant smile appeared on his face.
"Ms Sparkle, it's a pleasure to meet you. They're still working on setting up your room. While we wait for them, would you like to tour some of the facility?"
"Oh, ah, yes, I guess since I am probably going to be staying here for awhile, that makes sense. Thank you that would be nice."
"I'll let you two get to it then. I've got to get back to the meeting. I'll see you later Twilight." Aegis said and turned around after she nodded in acknowledgment. The doors were already closed and the elevator had started moving back up the building before Twilight realized Aegis had never really answered her question.
A few hours later Twilight looked out a window at the sprawling city below. Dozen of different vehicle designs in a rainbow of colors crowded the streets, bright yellow by far the most popular. Humans walked along the edges, their ungainly two-legged stride smoothed out by the distance. An aircraft landed on a rooftop not far away. For some reason it made her think of the color pink. She sighed. A lot. A lot to take in and so much work to do.
Turning away from the window, she surveyed the room she had been given. One whole wall was a floor to ceiling "whiteboard." When she had been told what it was and given the marker pack for it she had hugged the startled aid and dove right in. Some time later she had realized she was alone. She hadn't noticed him leave. She felt a little guilty about that. The happy thought of never having to wash chalk dust out of her mane again pushed it aside. Along the window beside where she was standing was a nice, long, wooden desk that looked like its legs had been truncated to make it the right height. Her notebooks arranged by subject and stacked neatly on one side. The other wall was taken up completely by industrial metal shelving, empty except a small section containing half a dozen books. The shelving was broken up only where a comfortably sized bed rested against the wall. The center of the room had a small round table with two human chairs and cushioned stool.
Everything she had asked for, and the speed at which they had provided her with the requests astonished her. It was very generous, but it made her a little uneasy in a way she couldn't quite understand. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she walked over to the bed and hopped up. A glow surrounded her horn and the book she had been reading floated over from the desk to hover in front of her while a marker uncapped itself and took position against the whiteboard. It was time for science!
She wasn't sure how long she had been reading when she heard the knock on her door, but the whiteboard was half full, and the sky had turned the burnt orange of an impending sunset.
"Come in!" she called, letting the book settle onto the bed in front of her. The door opened and the young human from this morning's meeting was there.
"Hi Twilight," he glanced around the room eyes looking over the alien script on the whiteboard before looking back to her. "Jumping right in huh. How's it going?" Twilight smiled. Unlike Armsmaster the cadet seemed to be asking out of real curiosity rather than politeness sake.
"Ok, but it's going to take me forever just to get an idea of where I'm standing. It can be a little daunting if I let myself think about it to much. For now I'm trying to focus on one thing at a time to keep myself on track," gesturing to the book in front of her with a hoof. She was about to ask him how his day had been when a cough sounded from the hallway. Twilight's left ear swiveled in that direction.
"Uh, right, me and a few of my teammates have a little time before we have to go out on patrol. Want some company?"
Twilight gave a longing look at the whiteboard before using her magic to cap and put away the marker she had been using. There was so much for her to do she really couldn't afford the interruption, but some, she didn't know, but something about this felt familiar. Like getting to know these humans would be more important than any research she could do. Which was ridiculous, but the feeling persisted.
"Oh, okay. It looks like that marker was about to run dry, so that's as good as place to take a break as any."
As soon as she agreed, she felt the field distort in a way she had never experienced before, and suddenly there was something right in front of her face. She lurched back instinctively and her eyes had a moment to take in a short human dressed in an unusual style, at least compared to those she had seen so far, consisting of shades of green. The top half of her face was obscured by a matching visor, but the bottom displayed a wide smile as she reached out an arm.
"Hello." She, as the tone of the voice obviously indicated, said warmly. "I'm Vista, and on behalf of the Brockton Bay Wards and the People of Earth, welcome to our planet." Twilight looked down at the arm extended towards her and then up past Vista's head to see a group of what she took to be the other Wards coming into the room with variations of amusement on their faces. Tentatively, she stretched out her right foreleg and touched Vista's hand with her hoof.
"It is, uh, nice to meet you as well. My name is Twilight Sparkle, as I am sure Aegis already told you. That was really a fascinating application of magic you just used. Some form of spatial distortion? A @#$%@#$%? How did you mange to shape the field in Q$$% manifold and achieve a uniform $@#%@ so quickly?" With hardly a thought Twilight levitated a notepad and pen over and flipped it to the first un-used page.
A look of confusion replaced the smile on Vista's face.
"I'm not sure I understood a lot of that. If you're asking how I appeared in front of you like that, I sort of compressed all the space between us for a brief moment and stepped across it. It's my power. I just sort of know how to use it. I'm not sure there are words that would describe it."
A slightly disappointed frown crossed Twilight's features before brightening again as she nodded. "Oh, it's your special talent! Don't worry, they often can be hard to describe or explain to other ponies. If you're willing, I would love to do a couple of experiments with you later." She looked past Vista again to see that the others had mostly closed the distance between them. "Who are your friends?"
Vista turned halfway and extended arm to point towards Aegis.
"Well, you've already met our fearless leader Aegis. Our very own knight in shining armor beside him is Gallant, and last and most certainly least is Clockblocker."
The aforementioned Clockblocker gasped as if he had been struck and clutched his chest dramatically. Twilight couldn't stop a giggle from escaping, especially when she remembered a similar introduction from last night. She wondered if it was some kind of human custom to have jester as part of your group. The one called Gallant stepped forward and gave a slightly theatrical bow before speaking.
"Sir Gallant at your service milady. I would apologize for the uncouth behavior of my companions, but if I made a habit of doing so, I fear I would spend my time doing little else." That brought out more giggles from Twilight and seemed to startle one out of Vista. Gallant's stoic face cracked into a grin.
"Hey, who are you calling uncouth?" Clockblocker asked from where he had just finished 'dying' on the floor.
"You, everyday, among many other things not fit for polite company."
"Ha! Yup, I probably deserve it to. Which reminds me, I uploaded all those test glamor shots that PR took of you last week to your PHO thread last night. It's really blowing up."
The joviality fled from Gallant's face as he rounded on Clockblocker. "You wouldn't. Tell me you didn't actually do that."
"Your fans were calling out in the darkness. 'More Gallant,' they pleaded. What kind of hero would I be if I denied them?"
Gallant walked quickly over towards Clockblocker, clearly aggravated, and Clockblocker scrambled up from the floor and took refuge behind Aegis' body.
Aegis looked amused and made no move to hinder either one of his teammates as they circled him. He turned to Twilight. "I promise that we can, at least sometimes, approach professionalism."
Twilight laughed lightly at his put upon expression and nodded. "It's okay. They kind of remind me of…I don't…anyway, it's fine."
"Enough about them." Vista said in a dismissive voice and gestured towards the chairs behind them. Twilight nodded and turned that way just as Clockblocker did something that seemed to have frozen Aegis and Gallant in place. Gallant's arms stretched out and trying to reach around Aegis' torso.
Twilight settled down on a padded stool while Vista sat herself in the chair closest to her. "What did you want to talk about?"
Vista hesitated a moment, glancing over her shoulder at the three behind her. Clockblocker had pulled out some small rectangular device as was circling the frozen pair for some reason.
"Everything really, but let's start with the important things first." Twilight nodded and set her pen to the notepad. She figured she could learn a great deal of human culture and what they found important just from the kind of things they asked her.
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
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Interlude 3 - Aegis
New Aegis Interlude, thanks to Deadpan for editing.
"…dangerous. I," Director Piggot's voice cut off as Carlos opened the door and stepped back into the room. As the eyes of everyone in the room settled on him, he quickly got to his chair and sat down. He wasn't sure what they had talked about while he was gone, but the tension in the room seemed a couple of notches higher than when he left. Channeling a little of his inner Clockblocker, he decided to re-break the ice.
"Um, just putting this out there, but I call dibs." The serious look on the Chief Director's face gave way to a brief snort. Marian let out a chuckle and the tension in the room relaxed. Director Costa-Brown gave Aegis a wry look.
"Aegis, if there where such a thing as dibs in the PRT, let me assure you, you would not get first dibs on Ms. Sparkle. For now, I'm inclined to agree with the recommendation from Ms. Yamada. She should be treated with kid gloves and kept away from violence until we have a better bead on her psychological makeup. That she could be a tremendous asset is a given. That she could be a threat if we read her wrong is also undeniable. Remember, whatever method she is using for translation is imperfect. She may be getting the google translate version of what we are saying and vice versa. Until we know more I would hesitate to trust that what we are hearing is what she is meaning. We need to be careful, but not second guess ourselves to death either. I like the idea of the Wards socializing with her. It will give her people to talk to that she isn't dependent on and hopefully to let her guard down around. However, any attempt to get her come along on patrols or similar hijinks will be severely frowned upon. I trust that we are clear on that, Aegis?"
Aegis nodded somberly, "Yes ma'am."
The Under Secretary cut in quickly. "Putting aside the powers discussion, this is a remarkable moment in history. Our first true alien encounter, and our first interactions with another intelligent species. Given how the world seems to work, I would have never bet on such a first encounter being friendly. Let's not do anything that could change that. I know the initial projections don't look good for the feasibility for contacting her home dimension, but imagine if we pull it off. The world would never be the same. I've got to run. Presidents to brief and a dozen crises, none of which are nearly as pleasant as the one that just left. Keep me in the loop." With that her screen clicked off. Marian picked up where the Under Secretary left off.
"I'll let the Secretary plan possible first contact, the Wards handle acclimation, and the Chief Director handle the ramifications of what Ms. Sparkle talked about. I'll just note two things. The first is that I agree with Ms. Yamada's notes in referring to Twilight as a likely prodigy. So here's a recommendation: don't expose her even tangentially to anything you don't want her to know or work out, because she strikes me as someone that could pull a sweater string until she has a ball of yarn then knit a new sweater for herself. The second thing is that this secret is going to be blown, and soon. Too many people know, too many peoples assistant's know, and she was out on the street for god knows how long last night. If you want to get in front of this thing I would have a press statement out before tomorrow morning at the latest, and that might be too late. I'll keep an eye on the boards. I might be able to give five or ten minutes warning before it hits the media."
Director Piggot sighed, but nodded. "That's…Inconvenient. Thank you for the analysis Marian. John, if you could do what you can to prepare for a press blitz without informing any more people in the meantime?" John nodded his assent. "Good, thank you. Chief Director I assume you will want to coordinate with that State Department for the press conference. Is there anything more you need from us here?"
"No, I think that's all. I have some people to brief myself, so I'll let you get to it. Thank you everyone. Emily, I'll give you a call in an hour or two to go over some things."
"I'll be here." With that Director Costa-Brown's screen went blank. "Okay, let's pack this up. Carlos, you can go ahead and brief the wards that are onsite, but warn them that if one word of this leaks, they wont see anything but the inside of the console room in Alaska until they turn eighteen. Clear?" Carlos nodded as he stood, the four of them filing back out into the hallway and locking the door behind them.
They boarded the elevator together and Aegis suffered through the familiar awkwardness of sharing a confined space with one's superiors until they departed on the third floor. He stayed on till the tenth and, after walking down what he still felt was an excessively chromed hallway, leaned forward for a retinal scan that, after a moment, admitted him into the large dome shaped room that was the home to the Brockton Bay Wards.
Vista and Gallant were both sitting at computers on the far side of the open area, while he could hear Clockblocker giving an off-color commentary to some daytime television program from the doorway that lead to their meeting room. He knew Kid Win was home for the day.
"Hey, either of you seen Shadow Stalker?"
Vista turned from her screen with a grimace. "Yeah, miss smiles-a-lot is taking a shower. What's up?"
Before he could answer Clockblocker came out of the press room and interjected. "Uh-oh. Boss has his serious face on. That means serious things are happening. I hate it when serious things happen."
"I have a serious face?" He asked, momentarily distracted by the statement.
"You kinda do." Vista said. "So, whats going on?"
"I need a few minutes to put something together for a briefing, and I'd rather only go through it once. So when Shadow Stalker gets done with her shower catch her and tell her to hang around. Meeting in thirty."
Clockblocker sighed dramatically as Carlos started walking towards the partition that marked his private space.
"I knew it. A briefing means something to be briefed about. Things that we get briefed about are never good things."
Just before he shut the door to his room he heard Vista respond. "Not every briefing is bad."
"Name one."
"..Ok, you might have something this time."
Forty-five minutes later he was standing beside a podium with a list of facts being projected onto the screen at the back of the room. Vista was staring incredulously at him while Stalker's perpetual scowl was fighting with disbelief. Gallant seemed to be trying to maintain a neutral expression, while Clockblocker had finally stopped saying 'bullshit' and had now transitioned into asking questions in an ever more agitated tone.
Carlos was trying so hard not to smile.
"So you're saying there's an alien in the building."
"Yes."
"You're saying there's an alien in the building that can teleport."
"Yes."
"You're saying there's an alien in the building that can teleport, and can lift several tons off the ground."
"Yes."
"You're saying there's an alien in the building that can teleport, lift several tons, and can rearrange matter at will."
"Yes."
"Why exactly are we not supposed to be freaking out about this? Cause ya know, it sort of sounds like the thing people should freak out about." Several other heads in the room nodded at this, and Aegis finally let go and donned a shit-eating grin. He clicked a remote to advance to the next slide in the presentation.
"Meet Twilight Sparkle. A monster sure to haunt all your dreams tonight."
Silence reigned for a moment before Shadow Stalker broke it with a succinct, "You've got to be shitting me." Aegis laughed and started to hand out a small file folders to everyone there. Gallant was laughing, his power having let him in on the joke, if not its punchline.
Stalker started to absently flip through the packet while Clockblocker gave Aegis a good natured shove. "You ass."
Vista had begun reading as soon as the packet was in her hand, a smile growing the farther into the packet she got. "This is so cool," she murmured.
Aegis gave them all a few minutes to look it over before continuing. "So, here's the deal boys and girls. This is the real deal, first contact, President is a phone call away situation. Twilight's had a rough time, has been separated from everyone she's ever known, and to top it off her introduction to the human race was Lung. Think about that for a minute." He paused to let them do just that, then continued. "In short, she needs some friends, and we've been drafted."
Shadow Stalker tossed her copy of the file onto the floor in front of her and didn't look impressed. "You've got to be shitting me. We're not a fucking day care center. If she's from another planet or whatever how are we even supposed to fucking talk to her. Doesn't the government have like, a base in the desert or something for this kind of shit?"
"Some aspect of her power is allowing her to talk with us, and I'm not shitting you. I'm telling you Chief Director Costa-Brown was in the meeting and extended every courtesy. The most powerful people on the planet are taking Ms. Sparkle very seriously. So, if you don't think you can be civil you should probably keep your distance. They are putting a lot of trust in us. People much higher up the food chain are going to be dealing with the fallout, the politics, media, and all of that BS. But we are the ones that are going to be spending the most time with her, and we are the people that are going to be showing her what it is humanity is about. Let's not screw that up."
"We're boned." Clockblocker deadpanned, causing Vista to laugh before her face became serious.
"How is she doing, with the whole, you know, everything?"
"She's an alien, so no one is really sure. She's keeping it together, but the shrinks think she's probably pretty emotionally fragile at the moment. Which brings me back to my presentation. Now, part of the reason I went over her powers before showing you what she looks like is so you would remember what you were feeling before her appearance could disarm you. She's the real deal, and in the wrong state of mind she could be real dangerous. Keep it in mind. That all being said, I liked her. I think she's good people. Pony. Whatever. So, we are going to do our best to help her get through this. Any questions?"
"Yeah, what kind of fucking name is Twilight Sparkle?" Shadow Stalker grumbled as she stood up from her chair.
"Cast no stones 'Shadow Stalker.'" Clockblocker said, matching the scornful tone Stalker had put into the aliens name. She turned sharply towards him, but when Carlos stepped between them she stopped and instead just gave Clock the bird.
"Yeah, I already know I'm not going to be on team diplomacy. Don't think I didn't catch that little bit earlier Carlos, so I'll see you losers later."
"One last thing." Carlos said and Stalker paused at the door, tension in every aspect of her posture. "Director Piggot mentioned something about permanent assignment to Alaska if any of us mentions any of this before they have a press conference."
"Fucking PR. Who'd believe this shit anyway." She left the room and a minute later he heard the security door open and close again.
Meanwhile, Clockblocker had walked up beside him. He leaned his head against Carlos' shoulder and sighed in a dreamy voice. "There goes our little ray of sunshine." Which caused him and everyone else in the room to laugh.
He shoved Clockblocker away, careful not to use to much force. "Get off you goof. The whole line about being able to be diplomatic goes for you too you know. Please refrain from causing the first inter-dimensional war with a poor chosen attempt at humor."
Clockblocker stiffened and gave an english salute. "You can count on me sah"
The response, remarkably, did not make Carlos feel any better about introducing Clock to the alien. There was nothing for it, however. If he didn't bring Clockblocker along now, he would just go on his own later, and heaven only knew what he would get up to unsupervised.
"Ok, they want to give her a little time to tour the building and settle into her quarters. How about we all head up there an hour before the scheduled patrol tonight?"
"Sounds good," Gallant said.
"I can do that," Vista replied and then vanished through the doorway with a quick use of her power.
"See you there boss," Clockblocker said and put a hand on his shoulder. The next thing he knew he was alone in the room and all the lights had been shut off. He chuckled but mentally added it to the list of reasons to put Clock on monitor duty so he didn't have to do it himself. Paybacks were a bitch.
A couple of hours later he was adding yet another notation to that mental list when he noticed Clockblocker had moved and Vista was well into braiding Twilight's mane. Things that had not been true a moment ago, at least for him and Gallant. Gallant apparently came to the same conclusion as him and hastily stepped back to give them both space to observe the room. Also to surreptitiously check for any traces of permeant marker drawings on their persons. As they did so, they drifted back towards the door so they could talk without interrupting the scene in front of them.
Clockblocker seemed to be trying to comprehend what Twilight had been writing on the board while Vista worked on the unicorn's hair. "So, what does this part mean?"
"That set of equations is the first part of how one could derive one's location in space-time based on the @#$%$@ and the magic field resonance between $@$%@ and local gravimetric forces."
Clockblocker nodded sagely, as if he had simply seeking confirmation for his own thoughts. "Yes, yes I think I see what you mean." Carlos couldn't contain a small bark of laughter at that, and he heard Gallant chuckle beside him.
"Times like this he almost makes you forget that you've already worked out how you would hide his body." Gallant said quietly as the two of them watched the scene from the doorway.
"He knows how to walk the line alright." Carlos agreed. "Picking anything up from our guest?"
Gallant nodded. "Yes…it's different, and complicated. Lots of stuff swirling around, not really surprising. It feels like she's happy for the company however, at least on the surface."
"I'll take it. Alright, let's go be friendly. We can't let Clockblocker be humanity's main impression on first contact."
Forty minutes later, after having learned entirely to much about hairstyles and either entirely to little or to much about theoretical physics, he noticed Clockblocker leaning up against the door frame to the room with a small frown on his face. Getting up while Twilight's attention was focused on Vista's hair he walked over to him.
Clock almost seemed to be staring through the scene in front of him. Gallant, Vista, and Twilight were having a good spirited conversation punctuated intermittently by Vista giggling as the unicorn braided her hair with telekinesis. Over the past year, Vista had put a lot of effort into trying to shed her image as the kid sister of the wards, but given the cover of fostering inter-galactic or inter-dimensional relations she was letting herself have fun. It was striking seeing her really relaxed for the first time in months.
"Whats up Clock? Figured you'd still be busy corrupting the alien."
Clockblocker shifted a little so that he could face Aegis and still see into the room. "Just wondering where the bag of shit is."
Carlos felt his face take on a puzzled frown. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that this is reality, and everything awesome comes with a bag of shit. Superpowers come with triggers, Scion comes with Endbringers, and Doritos have trans-fats." He paused and gestured to the scene again. Vista was blushing at something Gallant had said and Twilight was clopping her fore hooves together with a smile on her equine face. "That, that right there, is awesome. So, what I'm wondering is, where's the bag of shit?"
Last edited:
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
Interlude 1 - Taylor
Taylor walked towards school. It felt strange to do so. Hours ago she had been a life or death fight with a supervillain, met a fairy tale, and been thanked by a rival gang of villains she had unwittingly helped. The two hours of sleep she had gotten didn't help with the feeling of unreality. She had nearly died last night and now she was worrying about the kind of trouble she was going to get in for skipping class on Friday. That was ridiculous, but she couldn't stop the anxious dread that crept up on her as walked into school.
First period was computer class, and normally the one bright spot in her day. None of her tormenters were in it, and she did well enough that most of the time she could do what she wanted with the hour. However, the feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop didn't subside as the teacher gave her a tight smile and she made her way to her computer. Deciding to make some productive use of her time before finding out whatever fresh hell school had in store for her, she began digging for information about what happened last night.
Parahumans Online was the place to go for information and discussion about capes all over the world. The front page had major news from all over the world, with links to a wiki and message boards that focused on particular groups or cities. Taylor drilled down to the Brockton Bay message board and opened it and the wiki in new tabs. She decided to start with the weirdest thing about last night, the teleporting purple unicorn.
Searching for "Twilight Sparkle" didn't return anything and searches for "Twilight" or "Sparkle" returned to many erroneous links to search through. "Unicorn" came up with entries asking if she had meant "Narwhal", a famous Canadian cape that had a large horn growing out of her forehead who could project forcefields. Dismissing that she went to "teleportation" and pulled up the list of capes known to have that power. When that didn't pan out she went to "projection," even though Tattletale had said the unicorn wasn't, and came up empty as well.
Frustrated she decided to move on. "Tattletale" produced an article with a blurry picture and not much else. "Grue" finally got some results. It said he had been active in Brockton Bay for three years, starting with petty crime and being an occasional enforcer for hire. Recently he had moved up to larger crimes, robbing a few corporate offices and a casino with his new team. His power was listed as darkness generation, but the site didn't provide any further details on it.
"Bitch" returned no results, but the more PC "Hellhound" delivered a full page of information. Rachel Lindt had apparently never made an attempt to hide her identity and had spent most of her criminal career homeless and moving on whenever the police or a cape started to pursue her. Her powers had manifested at fourteen and had resulted in her destroying the foster home she was in and injuring the people there. Looking under the powers section it didn't appear she had any physical enhancements, but she could turn ordinary dogs into the giant beasts that had torn into Lung and provided them their quick getaway last night. A red box at the bottom of her page warned that she was antisocial and violent, and if seen you should not approach her.
"Regent" came up with nothing at all. Just a page asking if she would like to create the entry. Digging into the message boards didn't uncover anything either. For a group that had apparently angered Lung enough for him to set out to murder them it was a depressingly little amount of information. And Frustrating, which didn't help the dark mood Taylor was already in.
She took a few minutes to do the busy work that had been assigned for today, she wasn't in a mood to do more than the bare minimum required, and 15 minutes later she was back on the boards looking for more information. When she had decided to become a superhero she had researched the local villains, wanting to be prepared for who she could run into. So it didn't take long to navigate to the page for Lung and his gang. His description and powers seemed pretty accurate to her own experiences, it didn't mention his being fireproof, but Taylor wasn't inclined to add that fact from her high school terminal.
The ABB had about 40 regular members and two lieutenants that Taylor supposed she should be on the look out for. Oni Lee and Bakuda. Oni Lee could teleport, but not like the purple unicorn had done last night. When he teleported he left behind a copy of himself that lasted a few seconds before dissolving. Apparently he used this ability to distract and attack people while his new self appeared somewhere else. His page also had a red warning box similar to Hellhound's saying that he was a sociopath and should not be approached. He wore an ornate Japanese demon mask and his costume made him look like a well armed ninja. Lee would be a tough bastard to fight, and Taylor made a mental note to think of ways to go about doing it just in case.
Bakuda's entry was new, having only been added to ABB's page ten days ago. The picture showed a girl with straight black hair wearing goggles and a gas mask style filter over the bottom of her face. She had made her debut as a villain holding Cornell University ransom. Apparently her power gave her the ability to craft high tech bombs with various effects.
Moving down the page a section titled "Defeats and Captures" had a string of minor defeats the local heroes had managed against Lung while being unable to actually capture him. The bottom of this section however had a large new entry.
Lung defeated by an a rival gang and unknown villain.
The Protectorate East-North-East reported this morning (4/12/11) that the supervillain Lung was ambushed and defeated by previously unknown villain with some degree of control over insects. After being weakened by this new cape a group called the Undersiders arrived on the scene and member Hellhound finished incapacitating Lung with her dogs. When Armsmaster, the leader of the Brockton Bay Protectorate, arrived at the scene Lung was unconscious and the other villains had already departed. A first hand witness to the battle brawl stepped forward and briefed the hero on the battle. Lung has been taken into custody at PHQ where he awaits trial by teleconference, if found guilty he is expected to be sentenced to the birdcage.
Taylor felt her heart rate star to speed up as she read. Everyone thought she was a villain! She searched the message boards and sure enough found dozens of pages speculating on who she was and how her powers could have enabled her to defeat Lung. Two days into her career as a superhero and somehow she was already a notorious supervillain! Taking a deep breath she willed herself to calm down. She wasn't sure how she was going to deal with the situation but panicking about it wasn't going to help.
She opened more tabs and found people speculating about a gang war, apparent minions or villain fans of Lung vowing revenge on the newcomer, and speculation on whether Bakuda would try to use a bomb to ransom Lung out of prison. All of this was going on, and here she was sitting in class. It was insane. Twilight had obviously filled the Protectorate in, but she hadn't had the full story. On a whim she searched the message boards for "Twilight Sparkle" and was surprised when she got a hit in the connections section.
Subject: Ta
So things are pretty crazy, but owe you one and would like to return the favor. Could discuss our mutual acquaintance Twilight Sparkle.
Send a message,
Tt.
Taylor suppressed a gasp, Tattletale had found a way to get in touch with her. She looked at the clock and hurriedly closed out of the tabs and cleared the history. The bell was about to ring and her least favorite class with some of her least favorite people was about to start.
——————————
Taylor fled from the school, fresh tears marks on her face. Angry at Emma for finding a new low in her quest to torment her and even more angry at herself for letting Emma get to her. Emma, Sophia, and her friends had been harassing her for months and while nothing had been as bad as the incident that lead to her powers they were starting to escalate again. Like before the teachers and the administration were proving just as useless this time around. To top it off her planned escape from this, becoming a superhero, had been halted before she even began. Before she even really thought about where she was going, she was already most of the way downtown.
She wasn't that surprised her feet had lead her here, the only two real nice areas of town within walking distance of her school were the boardwalk and downtown. If she was going to skip, this was as good a place as any to go on a day with good weather. Not wanting to deal with what had happened to her at school her thoughts turned towards her cape life. Everyone thought she was a villain and that she was making some sort of play on the ABB. Another group of villains wanted to meet with her, and she had been informed on by a purple unicorn. The irony that this was easier to deal with than her school life was not lost on her.
Still, she was proud of what she had accomplished last night. On her first night out in costume she had taken down Lung! Someone the Protectorate had been trying to take down for years. That thought led to one that stopped her in her tracks. 'Do I really want to join such an ineffective organization?" The thought was harsh, she knew that they did do some good, but it was also undeniably true. The more she thought about that the more she agreed with it. Her mind flashed back to what had just happened at school, and how little help the system seemed to be for the people that really needed it. Did she really have any reason to believe that the Protectorate was any different? The city had plenty of heroes, but life hadn't improved much for the people that lived here.
Everyone already thought she was a villain, and that wasn't likely to change in the near future. So could she leverage that perception? Last night she had demonstratively helped the city by, however unwittingly, teaming up with some lesser villains against a greater one. Could she keep doing that? Stay off the heroes radar, play villains off each other, support the less destructive against the true crazies and assholes? Really actually make a fucking difference in people's lives? She started walking again, heading for the library. Each step she took was a little more confident than that last.
When she got there the lunch crowd was starting to clear out so it didn't take long for her to get a computer and pull up the message from Tattletale. With only a slight hesitation she typed a reply and sent it.
Subject: Re: Ta
Ta here. Would like to meet, do you have proof your Tt? I can reciprocate if needed.
Taylor surfed around the message boards, mostly idly while she waited for a response. The rumor mill was going full speed, but it didn't look like anything new was coming from it at the moment. The reply came surprisingly quick, only a few minutes after she sent the message.
Subject: Re: Ta
Proof? Last night you weren't very talkative. When G asked what happened I let him know what you and our lost girl TS had done. Good enough? G R and me will meet you where we crossed paths. Formal wear optional, the three of us will be dressed casual.
3 o'clock give you enough time to get from the library with everything you need? Let me know.
Ta ta.
Taylor's eyes widened and her pulse picked up speed. How had Tattletale known where she was? Was she some sort of expert hacker? She knew her way around computers well enough, but also knew enough to know that she didn't know all that much when it came to that kind of thing. 'Screw it,' with everything else going on the idea that she was dealing with a hacker wasn't that much more wood on the fire. That Tattletale had said that would be meeting without costumes did surprise her. They obviously didn't think she was much of a threat, wanted to earn her trust with a show of their own, or both.
Didn't matter, this was just the in she needed if she was going to start putting the plan she had been thinking about on the way here into action. She didn't know what she was getting herself involved in, had no real idea if her scheme could work, all the same she felt the best she had all day when she replied.
Subject: Re: Ta
See you at three.
———————————————
Taylor swung by her house and donned her costume and then put some over sized jeans and a sweatshirt on over it. Throwing her mask into a backpack with a bottle of water she hopped a bus headed in the right direction and got off about five blocks from the meeting place. She ran into a rundown connivence store to make a purchase. After exiting the store she slipped into an ally to put on her mask and then pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up. Unless someone looked right at her face she wouldn't look out of place on the street. While Tattletale had said they would be showing up without costumes, she didn't have any reason to trust them that far, and it wouldn't play into the plan she had worked out either.
Taylor scouted ahead with her bugs and it wasn't hard to find the three people standing on the roof. Putting her foot on the bottom rung of the fire escape she had a last minute surge of trepidation. 'What the hell am I doing?' She willed herself past it and climbed to the roof. When she got there she recognized them right off, a girl and two guys. The girl was green eyed and freckled wearing a T-shirt and a denim skirt. The younger of the two guys had to be regent, looked italian, and put off the kind of vibe you might get from a pretty boy. Dicapcrio lite. The other was a foot taller, dark skinned and had his hair in corn rows. She let her gaze linger for a moment, he looked like he spent a lot time in the gym.
"And she arrives," Tattletale crowed, "Pay up."
Regent didn't look happy as he pulled a wad of bills out his pocket and handed them over to Tattletale.
The bigger boy extended his hand and Taylor shook it as he introduced himself.
"I'm Brian."
"You can keep calling me Ta for now, until we settle what this is about."
"Cool." Tattletale introduced herself next.
"Lisa," seeming friendly but not offering her hand.
"Alec, and Bitch is Rachel." Regent said.
Taylor decided that if she was going to pull off her new personality she would need to show some initiative. She spoke before they could continue.
"Okay, you wanted to meet me, and you wanted to meet me enough that your trusting me with your identities, or at least you want to appear as though you are. I'm afraid I'm a little suspicious given that the only thing we seem to have in common is an enemy in the ABB."
Brian opened his mouth then closed it again, Lisa stepped forward with a plastic lunchbox.
"I said we owed you. All yours, no strings attached."
Taylor took the lunchbox and popped the lid. It was filled with cash.
"Two grand," Lisa said, while Taylor looked it over. She resisted the urge to smile, perfect. Instead she nodded and shut the clasps back on the lunchbox. "You have two options. You can take that as a gift. A thank you for, intentionally or not, saving our ass from Lung. Maybe a bit of incentive to count us among your friends when your capering about. Its rare for villains in the same city not to clash over something, so it would be nice if we could avoid that."
"And the second option?" Taylor replied.
"You can take it as your first months payment as a member of the Undersiders." She waved a hand indicating the three of them. Taylor took a moment, steadied herself and put her plan into motion. She knew villains wouldn't accept her goals at face value, so she had come up with a way for them to relate to her.
"Thank you, but no. Last night raised my profile pretty high, higher than I'd like. I did some research and you guys seem like your about to make a splash. With everything going on I feel wet enough already." Lisa looked flabbergasted, obviously she hadn't expected that response, and Taylor continued. "I have a third option to propose. I attacked Lung, well I'll be honest, mostly it was a misunderstanding. But I also attacked him because he's an asshole that makes people's lives miserable. Like I said I did some research on you guys and that doesn't seem to be your thing. So take this."
Taylor extended her hand to Tattletale who still seemed to be trying to catch up and put a folded piece of paper into her hand. "Thats a number you can reach me on. You know what I can do. If you need assistance in the future and it's not going to make the people suffering in this city suffer any more, call me and we'll work something out on a case by case basis. Fees variable depending on the assistance needed and who's involved." With a bit of whimsy that bubbled up from underneath the stress of the situation she added in a light tone. "Tell your friends."
"Fucking shit." Alec exclaimed, "You're not a villain, you're a vigilante."
"Hmm, not a vigilante - more like a mercenary, with morals." Brian looked at Tattletale, who seemed to have come back to herself. She shook her head as if to clear it, looked down at the paper in her hand and spoke up before he could.
"So what do we call you, if we call you?"
"I guess you can call me Skitter."
Taylor walked towards school. It felt strange to do so. Hours ago she had been a life or death fight with a supervillain, met a fairy tale, and been thanked by a rival gang of villains she had unwittingly helped. The two hours of sleep she had gotten didn't help with the feeling of unreality. She had nearly died last night and now she was worrying about the kind of trouble she was going to get in for skipping class on Friday. That was ridiculous, but she couldn't stop the anxious dread that crept up on her as walked into school.
First period was computer class, and normally the one bright spot in her day. None of her tormenters were in it, and she did well enough that most of the time she could do what she wanted with the hour. However, the feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop didn't subside as the teacher gave her a tight smile and she made her way to her computer. Deciding to make some productive use of her time before finding out whatever fresh hell school had in store for her, she began digging for information about what happened last night.
Parahumans Online was the place to go for information and discussion about capes all over the world. The front page had major news from all over the world, with links to a wiki and message boards that focused on particular groups or cities. Taylor drilled down to the Brockton Bay message board and opened it and the wiki in new tabs. She decided to start with the weirdest thing about last night, the teleporting purple unicorn.
Searching for "Twilight Sparkle" didn't return anything and searches for "Twilight" or "Sparkle" returned to many erroneous links to search through. "Unicorn" came up with entries asking if she had meant "Narwhal", a famous Canadian cape that had a large horn growing out of her forehead who could project forcefields. Dismissing that she went to "teleportation" and pulled up the list of capes known to have that power. When that didn't pan out she went to "projection," even though Tattletale had said the unicorn wasn't, and came up empty as well.
Frustrated she decided to move on. "Tattletale" produced an article with a blurry picture and not much else. "Grue" finally got some results. It said he had been active in Brockton Bay for three years, starting with petty crime and being an occasional enforcer for hire. Recently he had moved up to larger crimes, robbing a few corporate offices and a casino with his new team. His power was listed as darkness generation, but the site didn't provide any further details on it.
"Bitch" returned no results, but the more PC "Hellhound" delivered a full page of information. Rachel Lindt had apparently never made an attempt to hide her identity and had spent most of her criminal career homeless and moving on whenever the police or a cape started to pursue her. Her powers had manifested at fourteen and had resulted in her destroying the foster home she was in and injuring the people there. Looking under the powers section it didn't appear she had any physical enhancements, but she could turn ordinary dogs into the giant beasts that had torn into Lung and provided them their quick getaway last night. A red box at the bottom of her page warned that she was antisocial and violent, and if seen you should not approach her.
"Regent" came up with nothing at all. Just a page asking if she would like to create the entry. Digging into the message boards didn't uncover anything either. For a group that had apparently angered Lung enough for him to set out to murder them it was a depressingly little amount of information. And Frustrating, which didn't help the dark mood Taylor was already in.
She took a few minutes to do the busy work that had been assigned for today, she wasn't in a mood to do more than the bare minimum required, and 15 minutes later she was back on the boards looking for more information. When she had decided to become a superhero she had researched the local villains, wanting to be prepared for who she could run into. So it didn't take long to navigate to the page for Lung and his gang. His description and powers seemed pretty accurate to her own experiences, it didn't mention his being fireproof, but Taylor wasn't inclined to add that fact from her high school terminal.
The ABB had about 40 regular members and two lieutenants that Taylor supposed she should be on the look out for. Oni Lee and Bakuda. Oni Lee could teleport, but not like the purple unicorn had done last night. When he teleported he left behind a copy of himself that lasted a few seconds before dissolving. Apparently he used this ability to distract and attack people while his new self appeared somewhere else. His page also had a red warning box similar to Hellhound's saying that he was a sociopath and should not be approached. He wore an ornate Japanese demon mask and his costume made him look like a well armed ninja. Lee would be a tough bastard to fight, and Taylor made a mental note to think of ways to go about doing it just in case.
Bakuda's entry was new, having only been added to ABB's page ten days ago. The picture showed a girl with straight black hair wearing goggles and a gas mask style filter over the bottom of her face. She had made her debut as a villain holding Cornell University ransom. Apparently her power gave her the ability to craft high tech bombs with various effects.
Moving down the page a section titled "Defeats and Captures" had a string of minor defeats the local heroes had managed against Lung while being unable to actually capture him. The bottom of this section however had a large new entry.
Lung defeated by an a rival gang and unknown villain.
The Protectorate East-North-East reported this morning (4/12/11) that the supervillain Lung was ambushed and defeated by previously unknown villain with some degree of control over insects. After being weakened by this new cape a group called the Undersiders arrived on the scene and member Hellhound finished incapacitating Lung with her dogs. When Armsmaster, the leader of the Brockton Bay Protectorate, arrived at the scene Lung was unconscious and the other villains had already departed. A first hand witness to the battle brawl stepped forward and briefed the hero on the battle. Lung has been taken into custody at PHQ where he awaits trial by teleconference, if found guilty he is expected to be sentenced to the birdcage.
Taylor felt her heart rate star to speed up as she read. Everyone thought she was a villain! She searched the message boards and sure enough found dozens of pages speculating on who she was and how her powers could have enabled her to defeat Lung. Two days into her career as a superhero and somehow she was already a notorious supervillain! Taking a deep breath she willed herself to calm down. She wasn't sure how she was going to deal with the situation but panicking about it wasn't going to help.
She opened more tabs and found people speculating about a gang war, apparent minions or villain fans of Lung vowing revenge on the newcomer, and speculation on whether Bakuda would try to use a bomb to ransom Lung out of prison. All of this was going on, and here she was sitting in class. It was insane. Twilight had obviously filled the Protectorate in, but she hadn't had the full story. On a whim she searched the message boards for "Twilight Sparkle" and was surprised when she got a hit in the connections section.
Subject: Ta
So things are pretty crazy, but owe you one and would like to return the favor. Could discuss our mutual acquaintance Twilight Sparkle.
Send a message,
Tt.
Taylor suppressed a gasp, Tattletale had found a way to get in touch with her. She looked at the clock and hurriedly closed out of the tabs and cleared the history. The bell was about to ring and her least favorite class with some of her least favorite people was about to start.
——————————
Taylor fled from the school, fresh tears marks on her face. Angry at Emma for finding a new low in her quest to torment her and even more angry at herself for letting Emma get to her. Emma, Sophia, and her friends had been harassing her for months and while nothing had been as bad as the incident that lead to her powers they were starting to escalate again. Like before the teachers and the administration were proving just as useless this time around. To top it off her planned escape from this, becoming a superhero, had been halted before she even began. Before she even really thought about where she was going, she was already most of the way downtown.
She wasn't that surprised her feet had lead her here, the only two real nice areas of town within walking distance of her school were the boardwalk and downtown. If she was going to skip, this was as good a place as any to go on a day with good weather. Not wanting to deal with what had happened to her at school her thoughts turned towards her cape life. Everyone thought she was a villain and that she was making some sort of play on the ABB. Another group of villains wanted to meet with her, and she had been informed on by a purple unicorn. The irony that this was easier to deal with than her school life was not lost on her.
Still, she was proud of what she had accomplished last night. On her first night out in costume she had taken down Lung! Someone the Protectorate had been trying to take down for years. That thought led to one that stopped her in her tracks. 'Do I really want to join such an ineffective organization?" The thought was harsh, she knew that they did do some good, but it was also undeniably true. The more she thought about that the more she agreed with it. Her mind flashed back to what had just happened at school, and how little help the system seemed to be for the people that really needed it. Did she really have any reason to believe that the Protectorate was any different? The city had plenty of heroes, but life hadn't improved much for the people that lived here.
Everyone already thought she was a villain, and that wasn't likely to change in the near future. So could she leverage that perception? Last night she had demonstratively helped the city by, however unwittingly, teaming up with some lesser villains against a greater one. Could she keep doing that? Stay off the heroes radar, play villains off each other, support the less destructive against the true crazies and assholes? Really actually make a fucking difference in people's lives? She started walking again, heading for the library. Each step she took was a little more confident than that last.
When she got there the lunch crowd was starting to clear out so it didn't take long for her to get a computer and pull up the message from Tattletale. With only a slight hesitation she typed a reply and sent it.
Subject: Re: Ta
Ta here. Would like to meet, do you have proof your Tt? I can reciprocate if needed.
Taylor surfed around the message boards, mostly idly while she waited for a response. The rumor mill was going full speed, but it didn't look like anything new was coming from it at the moment. The reply came surprisingly quick, only a few minutes after she sent the message.
Subject: Re: Ta
Proof? Last night you weren't very talkative. When G asked what happened I let him know what you and our lost girl TS had done. Good enough? G R and me will meet you where we crossed paths. Formal wear optional, the three of us will be dressed casual.
3 o'clock give you enough time to get from the library with everything you need? Let me know.
Ta ta.
Taylor's eyes widened and her pulse picked up speed. How had Tattletale known where she was? Was she some sort of expert hacker? She knew her way around computers well enough, but also knew enough to know that she didn't know all that much when it came to that kind of thing. 'Screw it,' with everything else going on the idea that she was dealing with a hacker wasn't that much more wood on the fire. That Tattletale had said that would be meeting without costumes did surprise her. They obviously didn't think she was much of a threat, wanted to earn her trust with a show of their own, or both.
Didn't matter, this was just the in she needed if she was going to start putting the plan she had been thinking about on the way here into action. She didn't know what she was getting herself involved in, had no real idea if her scheme could work, all the same she felt the best she had all day when she replied.
Subject: Re: Ta
See you at three.
———————————————
Taylor swung by her house and donned her costume and then put some over sized jeans and a sweatshirt on over it. Throwing her mask into a backpack with a bottle of water she hopped a bus headed in the right direction and got off about five blocks from the meeting place. She ran into a rundown connivence store to make a purchase. After exiting the store she slipped into an ally to put on her mask and then pulled the hood of her sweatshirt up. Unless someone looked right at her face she wouldn't look out of place on the street. While Tattletale had said they would be showing up without costumes, she didn't have any reason to trust them that far, and it wouldn't play into the plan she had worked out either.
Taylor scouted ahead with her bugs and it wasn't hard to find the three people standing on the roof. Putting her foot on the bottom rung of the fire escape she had a last minute surge of trepidation. 'What the hell am I doing?' She willed herself past it and climbed to the roof. When she got there she recognized them right off, a girl and two guys. The girl was green eyed and freckled wearing a T-shirt and a denim skirt. The younger of the two guys had to be regent, looked italian, and put off the kind of vibe you might get from a pretty boy. Dicapcrio lite. The other was a foot taller, dark skinned and had his hair in corn rows. She let her gaze linger for a moment, he looked like he spent a lot time in the gym.
"And she arrives," Tattletale crowed, "Pay up."
Regent didn't look happy as he pulled a wad of bills out his pocket and handed them over to Tattletale.
The bigger boy extended his hand and Taylor shook it as he introduced himself.
"I'm Brian."
"You can keep calling me Ta for now, until we settle what this is about."
"Cool." Tattletale introduced herself next.
"Lisa," seeming friendly but not offering her hand.
"Alec, and Bitch is Rachel." Regent said.
Taylor decided that if she was going to pull off her new personality she would need to show some initiative. She spoke before they could continue.
"Okay, you wanted to meet me, and you wanted to meet me enough that your trusting me with your identities, or at least you want to appear as though you are. I'm afraid I'm a little suspicious given that the only thing we seem to have in common is an enemy in the ABB."
Brian opened his mouth then closed it again, Lisa stepped forward with a plastic lunchbox.
"I said we owed you. All yours, no strings attached."
Taylor took the lunchbox and popped the lid. It was filled with cash.
"Two grand," Lisa said, while Taylor looked it over. She resisted the urge to smile, perfect. Instead she nodded and shut the clasps back on the lunchbox. "You have two options. You can take that as a gift. A thank you for, intentionally or not, saving our ass from Lung. Maybe a bit of incentive to count us among your friends when your capering about. Its rare for villains in the same city not to clash over something, so it would be nice if we could avoid that."
"And the second option?" Taylor replied.
"You can take it as your first months payment as a member of the Undersiders." She waved a hand indicating the three of them. Taylor took a moment, steadied herself and put her plan into motion. She knew villains wouldn't accept her goals at face value, so she had come up with a way for them to relate to her.
"Thank you, but no. Last night raised my profile pretty high, higher than I'd like. I did some research and you guys seem like your about to make a splash. With everything going on I feel wet enough already." Lisa looked flabbergasted, obviously she hadn't expected that response, and Taylor continued. "I have a third option to propose. I attacked Lung, well I'll be honest, mostly it was a misunderstanding. But I also attacked him because he's an asshole that makes people's lives miserable. Like I said I did some research on you guys and that doesn't seem to be your thing. So take this."
Taylor extended her hand to Tattletale who still seemed to be trying to catch up and put a folded piece of paper into her hand. "Thats a number you can reach me on. You know what I can do. If you need assistance in the future and it's not going to make the people suffering in this city suffer any more, call me and we'll work something out on a case by case basis. Fees variable depending on the assistance needed and who's involved." With a bit of whimsy that bubbled up from underneath the stress of the situation she added in a light tone. "Tell your friends."
"Fucking shit." Alec exclaimed, "You're not a villain, you're a vigilante."
"Hmm, not a vigilante - more like a mercenary, with morals." Brian looked at Tattletale, who seemed to have come back to herself. She shook her head as if to clear it, looked down at the paper in her hand and spoke up before he could.
"So what do we call you, if we call you?"
"I guess you can call me Skitter."
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
CHAPTER 4
Twilight rested her fore hooves against the window and stared down at the street below. News vans with huge dishes on telescoping poles filled it for no reason that Twilight could fathom. It had been two days since the press conference and they had all been told she wouldn't be doing any more interviews.
They had flown her to a city called New York. This made her add, "Where is original York?" to her ever growing checklist of non-priority things she wanted to know. Nearly the entire trip had been through the air, in a succession of marvelous aircraft that used nothing but mechanical engines and aerodynamics to achieve lift. Without an iota of enchanting or magical assistance they had flown her from the roof to a large paved airfield just outside the city. From there they had boarded a "jet" which traveled at a truly astounding speed and when it had landed they herded her onto another "helicopter" to finally arrive at a place called the United Nations.
It had all been quite nerve racking. She didn't understand the politics but apparently finding out that the United States, which she discovered was the name of the country she landed in, had been talking with her had upset the other countries. Not wanting to cause any problems for the people that had been so nice to her, she asked if there was anything she could do to help.
Helping had consisted of meeting what had felt like everypony on the planet and telling them all the same thing. That she had arrived here by accident, that she had been treated very kindly, that she hand't signed any treaties of any kind, that even if she had she wasn't a diplomat so they wouldn't have been binding. She had assured them the Princess Celestia was a kind and benevolent ruler and if a way was found to establish contact she would probably be very happy to talk with each country in turn regardless of where her student had ended up. She didn't think all the people she talked to had believed her.
Her horn still throbbed from recasting the polyphonic spell so many times, but the Americans had told her that talking in each country's language was one of the things she could do to make them less upset. Finally late in the night they had setup a small room with a podium and several of their motion cameras. She gave a short speech telling the people of the world that while she wanted to get home she was grateful for the welcome they had given her and hoped that they could learn a lot from each other during her stay. Afterwards she had requested to be taken back to the room they had setup for her in Brockton Bay. This had elicited forced smiles from some of the diplomats, but she had been far to tired to care at that point.
When she had woken up the next morning she had found her door guarded by two knights in blue armor called "Peacekeepers." What looked like a guard station and what the humans called a "check point" had been assembled at the end of the hall was manned by more knights in various styles of armor and clothing. Asking why all of this was necessary had not led to any satisfactory answer. When they tried to stop Vista from visiting her this morning she had to put her hoof down and tell them very clearly that she had been enjoying their company and the Wards were to be allowed in at any time, thank you very much just the same.
The whole thing was frustrating and annoying on so many levels. Now people wanted to speak with her all the time about things she either didn't know or didn't really care about. She was not a diplomat, she could only be considered a representative of Equestria in the loosest terms, and all of this was cutting into her research time! With a huff she settled back on all four hooves and turned away from the window to look at her whiteboard.
The biggest discovery she had made in the past few days was the humans near complete lack of knowledge about magic. Only the barest fraction of them could use it and when she observed those that could it had felt wrong and obscured somehow. Something about it had almost pulled one of those elusive memories up from the depths before she lost her grip on it. From an early age she had been able to see a spell cast and have a near instant intuitive understanding, if not skill in it. Twilight didn't understand these parahuman spells nearly so well and it bothered her more than she cared to admit. She remembered the befuddled or annoyed looks of the other unicorns in school when she had explained something and felt a newfound empathy with them. The confusion went both ways as even the humans that could cast seemed completely blind to the field. Both the humans and the machines they had used to try and detect it. She had struggled to explain the details to ponies that felt it and had been immersed in it from birth, how was she supposed to explain it to the humans?
She imagined it was like trying to teach a blind person to paint. If the blind person didn't speak the same language and was also required to supply their own materials. It didn't help that she suspected some of the people she talked to didn't really believe her. Not that she particularly blamed them for that. The more she tried the more holes appeared in her translated speech. Every way all around on every front it was frustrating. The last attempt had sent the newest parahuman researcher she had been speaking to fleeing from her room when she had accidentally incinerated one of her notebooks. That had been when she decided to take a break and look out at the city for awhile. She looked again at the white board then sighed. Her mind was too cluttered right now to focus on it.
She wandered out into the hall and walked down to the check point. The guards in the castle had always been friendly and if they were going to be spending so much time together she should at least try and get to know them. When she approached she noticed that four of them had gathered towards on end of a desk and were listening to a radio with interest.
"Hi guys, whats up?" Trying her best casual and friendly voice. They were so serious all the time that is was hard to tell how they were feeling at any given moment. Lieutenant Matthews, who she had been informed was the day shift commander, answered her question.
"Someone's robbing a bank."
Twilight cocked an ear towards the radio as her eyes widened, wondering if maybe her translation spell had an error. 'Robbing a bank? In a major city?' She tried to wrap her head around the idea. While Equestria certainly hadn't eliminated crime, petty theft and burglary still happened even in Canterlot, pony on pony violence was rare and usually confined to newly settled frontier towns and wild lands. Pony communities tended to be tight knit, interconnected, and interdependent. They responded quickly and decisively if someone visited violence on one of their number. The idea that this huge modern city with it's knights, guardsmen, and infrastructure had a bank that was being robbed in broad daylight boggled her.
Details about the robbery started to come in. It sounded like a number of bank employees and patrons were being held hostage in the building by an unknown number of criminals. The newsman speculated that the robbery had been planned at this specific time to take advantage of the Protectorate being outside of the city today. Parahumans were suspected to be involved and a general alert had been sent out. Some of the local wards had arrived on scene and PRT squads were being dispatched. The man on the radio kept speaking, but she didn't process much beyond "local wards responding."
Twilight had initially categorized her encounter with Lung as a monster attack, both from his appearance and his actions. He hadn't come off as a rational being and the unicorn had plenty of experience with magically enhanced wildlife purposefully or accidentally threatening a town or city. However this new information clicked into place along with several things she had heard in passing to form a disturbing new picture. Lung was less like a beast from the everfree and more like an evil unicorn. Correspondingly this world's society was less like modern Equestria and more resembled the three tribes era. During that time not only had the three tribes fought each other, ponies of the same tribe had fought amongst each other for power and resources. Twilight shivered as she overlaid what she was hearing on the radio with this image of the world. Her new….friends, were out there in a dangerous situation probably facing hostile magic cast by someone like Lung, or worse.
"Lieutenant Matthews, Is the bank nearby?" A slight waver of worry in her voice. Matthews looked at her with a puzzled frown before responding in a reassuring tone.
"It's about three blocks north of here, but don't worry. Their not likely to cause any trouble here, and if they did you have the PRT below and us up here to protect you." Twilight paused to consider this, looked at the knights around her and then at the radio again.
"It's your mission to protect me right?" Twilight asked and Matthews nodded. "I think I understand more now about why you were assigned to me, and why knights of so many different orders are part of my detail. So I just want to apologize in advance." The Lieutenant stiffened and moved his arm as if to reach towards her. "But the wards have been really nice to me, and I'm going to go help them." With that Twilight glowed purple for a fraction of a second and winked out of existence.
"Fuck! O'Brian, Khan, Lee - We're moving out. Adams maintain post and wake up night shift, I want them on scene as soon as possible." With that Matthews slung a heavy backpack with a hose attachment onto his back and ran for the stairwell, the others just behind.
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With a bright flash Twilight materialized on the street just in front of PRT headquarters and two dozen telephoto lens from the media contingent tracked in her direction. The sound of camera shutters was starting to fill the air as Twilight oriented herself and then flashed out of existence once again.
Twilight Sparkle reappeared on top of a parked car a half block from the bank. Chaos reigned. Rubble was strewn everywhere and a unnatural darkness covered the road in front of her. Twilight could sense the field being twisted there and while the mechanics of the spell eluded her she could tell it was altering light and sound in the area under its influence. Beyond the effect she could see Kid win using a levitating platform and casting some sort of beam at the street below. Then she noticed what he was shooting at. Two huge mutant dogs had their jaws locked on Aegis's arms and legs and were shaking him violently between them, blood sprayed in an arc from the dogs mouths and splattered onto the street around them.
"Aegis!" Twilight shrieked in horror, her horn glowing before she finished his name. She was horrified at the sight, but didn't lose her focus. She needed to be careful in order to avoid hurting Aegis even more than he already was. With slowly increasing force she Telekinetically pried the dog's jaws from him and only once the teeth were clear did she give into her first instinct and hurl the animals down the empty street. Twilight heard an enraged yell come from the direction of the bank just before she was enveloped in a dark miasma.
Twilight suddenly found herself unable to see or hear and the world threatened to tilt from under her without a frame of reference. Trying not to let the lack of sensation distract her she closed her eyes and focused on what she had seen before being blinded. The placement of the cars and rubble, bystanders and combatants. Carefully rebuilding the street in her mind she pictured where she wanted to go and mentally crossed her hooves that her mental landscape was close enough. A few seconds later she appeared by Aegis side. "Oh Aegis," Twilight moaned in despair as she looked him over. She had never seen a pony as physically injured as he was. She knew basic first aid and that knowledge seemed woefully inadequate even had Aegis been a pony. The unicorn nervously shuffled from hoof to hoof as she started to construct small fields of pressure over the largest wounds. "Don't worry Aegis, don't worry we'll get you to a doctor and it will be alright, it will be alright." A hysterical tone creeping into her voice as she worked.
———————————————
Information officer Marian May and Director Piggot sat in the PRT's ops center and stared at images of the ongoing battle.
"I think we just found the flaw in the idea of socializing Twilight with the wards."
"Shit."
—————————————
Kid Win, no longer needing to worry about hitting his team mate, raced by and started to rain more beams down on the dogs as they attempted to get back to their feet. Aegis mumbled incoherently with a voice shaped as much by liquid as air. Twilight knew that you were not supposed to move someone that was as injured as he was, but she felt way to exposed in the center of the street between the darkness, the bank, and the dogs. Gently she levitated Aegis to the side of the building across the street from the bank and sheltered by a set of stone stairs. After easing him back to the ground she was shocked to see Aegis try to struggle into a sitting position and ignore her efforts to keep him still. With the arm that hadn't been quite as mauled he gestured to the cloud of darkness and gurgled what sounded like "Vista."
Twilight worriedly shifted her eyes from Aegis to the darkness covered street. She shuddered again at sight of the wounds, the unicorn wasn't even sure how he was still conscious. She was afraid if she lost her concentration and didn't keep up the telekinetic pressure on Aegis's injuries he would die before any other help arrived. On the other hand she had no idea what was happening to Vista in that miasma. She didn't know what to do! If she had a little time to stop, to plan, but she didn't and her friends were going to die and it would be her fault for not being good enough or smart enough to save them. Her heart ached in some unremembered sympathy that compounded the feeling.
A few seconds the decision was taken from her when the front doors of the bank burst open and another mutant dog barreled directly towards her.
The giant dog heading straight for Twilight didn't give her much chance to think, and she was already casting several small fields of telekinetic force so it was no surprise that her instinctive reaction was to continue that spell. A twenty foot square shimmering plane of force materialized directly in front of the charging mutant. With a sicking crunch it collided with the field and collapsed to the ground. Before the animal could recover Twilight rolled the plane into a half cylinder and then shaped that cylinder into a dome barely larger than the dog and anchored it to the ground around it.
Kid Win seemed to being doing alright holding the other two dogs at bay, although Twilight noted that the property destruction around him was starting to reach new heights. The facades of several nearby buildings were little more than rubble at this point. She heard some yelling from inside the bank, but for the moment nothing was trying to eat her so she turned her eyes on the dark miasma that Aegis said Vista was trapped in. Twilight knew how disorienting it was having only been inside it for a few seconds, but she didn't have time to examine it and fashion a proper counter spell. Hoping that Vista was simply lost inside and not injured Twilight began to craft a solution.
Given the ongoing battle and the fact she was maintaing a dozen telekinetic fields of varying properties and strength it wasn't the easiest thing she had ever done. Remembering the weightless feeling she had experienced she guessed that it applied a moderate lessening of gravity. As it was easier to augment an existing effect than counter it she slowly strengthened the antigravity portion of the spell until pieces of rubble and gravel started to tumble out of the east side of the cloud. Twilight gasped in relief when a scuffed but intact Vista rolled out accompanied by the patter of rubble and litter from the street falling back to the ground.
The distance between Vista and Twilight shrank down to a few feet and were this another time and place Vista would have been subjected to an hours long interrogation on the details. As it was she was to relieved and to busy being hugged by Vista to process it.
"Twilight was that you?! I was about to lose my mind in there." Glancing past Twilight Vista saw Aegis laying behind her. "Aegis!" She shouted uncomfortably close to Twilight's ear before stepping past the unicorn to kneel next to him. While Vista looked over Aegis the dark cloud dissipated, leading Twilight to assume whoever controlled it could sense that no one was left inside. She turned a suspicious glance towards the entrance of the bank. 'Why hasn't the human controlling the cloud recast it? Have I convinced them it won't work, or are they plotting something new?' When a shrill whistle came from the bank and the two dogs fighting Kid Win broke off and sprinted towards it, Twilight suspected the latter.
Kid Win pursued them raining destruction down onto the dogs and the street while the distance they had to travel lengthened dramatically as Vista stood back up and focused. Deciding that whatever the criminals in the bank had planned it was better if they didn't have the dogs as well, Twilight quickly spoke to Vista.
"You have one of those miniature radios right?" When Vista nodded Twilight continued. "Tell Kid Win to stop chasing the dogs and when I give the signal reduce the space between the dogs and bank as much as possible." Vista looked puzzled, but began murmuring into her headset and the glowing nimbus around Twilight's horn started to increase in intensity again. Kid Win stopped and without his harassment the dogs increased their pace to try and cover the distance faster than it could expand.
"Now!" Twilight shouted as her horn flashed and the dogs barreled full speed into another plane of force that had appeared at the base of the steps. Twilight's mental state was currently layered like a cake. An icing of calm crisis management was running the show for now and covered a spongy mass of worry and hysteria which itself rested on top of the other parts of her personality. Distantly she felt a smidgen of embarrassment bubble up from down there. Twilight prided herself on her knowledge and skill in a multitude of magical arts. Yet so far all she had really done was swing telekinesis, the simplest and most instinctive spell known to unicorns, around like a hammer. The dogs had no time to react and like the one she had captured earlier, crumpled at the base of the field. Twilight sighed as she began enfolding them in another force dome, 'Celestia did always say there was beauty in simplicity.' Not having moved, but now much closer, Kid Win flew over and hovered beside them facing the bank.
"Wow, ok, so first, Twilight, Vista, that was very cool. Second, we were all strictly forbidden from encouraging you to come along on any shenanigans so when Director Piggot asks I never said any of this. Third, thanks for coming, it was looking a little dicy there for a minute." He said with a smile as Twilight alternatively looked relieved and embarrassed. She didn't want to really think about the ramifications of her coming, but a deeper feeling in her chest when she looked at the three humans told her it had been the right decision regardless of the consequences. Vista slung around Twilight's neck and the three of them contemplated what to do.
Twilight was just about to purpose retreating to a nearby roof and waiting for help when one of the bank doors slammed open and Bitch and Grue emerged. Bitch was standing in the partially opened doorway with one of Grue's arms wrapped around her waist. She was screaming incoherently, kicking, biting, and was desperately trying to reach the dome nearest to her. Kid Win aimed his beam devices and Vista let go of Twilight and tensed beside her. Twilight cocked her ear and could make out sirens and helicopters heading in this direction. She had a feeling that if she didn't act now something very bad was going to happen.
Then it did. A white blur descended from the sky and crashed into the bank's front steps, before anyone could react she lifted Grue by his shirt and hurled him directly towards the Wards and Twilight. The unicorn had a moment to see Bitch start to run down the steps and the new girl rip one of the bank doors off its hinges before the high speed human projectile collided with Kid Win, knocking him off his board, but hardly slowing Grue before he slammed into the brick building behind them with an audible thump. Kid Win had landed on Twilight before she had even processed the whole event.
Screams came from inside the bank as Twilight drug herself from underneath Kid Win and back to her hooves. Kid Win wheezed beside her as she looked him over. Given how fast Grue had been moving and where he had hit Kid she suspected he had a couple of broken ribs. There was nothing she felt safe doing about that at the moment so she added it to her growing pile of worries to deal with later. She trotted over to Grue, he was a mess. One leg and both arms were visibly broken and he was likely only alive because of the helmet that was part of his costume. Again Twilight was at a loss and could do little more than check him for bleeding. Not feeling right about it she left him there and walked back up to Vista who was staring at the scene in front of her and looking just as lost on what to do as Twilight had.
Bitch was pounding frantically on one of the force domes while the dogs inside whined and tried to claw their way through it from the inside. People Twilight assumed were hostages were starting to flee from the bank and broke to either side of Bitch like a stream flowing around a boulder. An armored vehicle rounded the corner a block down the street and skidded to a stop. This seemed to snap Vista out of her indecision and she spoke rapidly to Twilight.
"I don't know what set her off, but that was Glory girl that just crashed the party. I need to go inside and see if I can help her and make sure the hostages all get out ok." Twilight gave her an emotion filled look and Vista hugged the unicorn quickly before continuing. "Don't worry, Glory Girl's a real powerhouse, any bad guys still in there are probably wishing they weren't. I'll be safe. When this is over we're going to find a box of ice cream and a mindless movie to watch in your room. Keep the boys safe." With that she crossed the distance in short power compressed hops to avoid the people on the street and ran into the bank.
A door opened in the side of the armored vehicle and it disgorged Lieutenant Matthews followed by the rest of his team. Two split off and ran towards the hysterical Bitch who only seemed to notice their presence after they had her mostly covered in what looked at like fire suppressant foam. The others raced over and bracketed Twilight between them. Matthews spoke into his radio and a knight she didn't recognize stepped out of the transport with a large bag. He walked briskly in their direction and after looking Twilight over for a moment stepped past her to knell next to Aegis.
Twilight's heart rate started to come down as she saw the knight open the bag and start to bandage Aegis's wounds. And the calm she had managed to maintain during the battle started to break up and give way to the emotions beneath it. 'Everything is going to be ok now, I didn't fail, they are all going to be ok.' More and more people and vehicles started to fill the area and slowly sought to establish order. Twilight trotted over to the medic that was attending to Aegis.
"Is he going to be ok? I did my best but I haven't had any time to study your anatomy and all I could really do is staunch the obvious bleeding. Should we get one of those helicopters to fly him to a hospital? What about Kid Win? I'm not sure but I think he has some broken ribs." The medic didn't turn from his task of wrapping a bandage around Aegis's torso and shot him a stern glare when Aegis looked to try and respond himself.
"He's going to be fine, His power gives him extensive physical redundancy and an accelerated rate of healing. He's still going to feel like he's been chewed up and spit out for a couple of days, but other than that there is nothing to worry about Ms. Sparkle. After I finish this bandage I'll check Win, but his breathing doesn't sound like he has a punctured lung, so he's probably ok." She closed her eyes and "looked" at Aegis again, and did indeed find subtle flows of magic working through his body. Twilight took a deep breath and slowly released it letting herself calm down further as her biggest worries was settled. She felt an itch to start a checklist to note down all of the things she had been worrying about and make sure they were taken care of even as new ones were being added. Like the fact that Matthews hadn't said anything to her since he arrived and she found herself unable to come up with something to say to him beyond what she had said before she left.
Vista walked back out of the bank along with the Girl that had thrown Grue and a shorter dark haired girl. Glory Girl looked furious while the dark haired girl looked frightened and nervous. Once Vista was close enough she hugged Twilight again and filled her in.
"Well, Tattletale and Regent escaped, but all the hostages seem ok and we got two of the jerks. I'm declaring this a victory. Celebratory sleepover tonight!"
A throat cleared behind her and Twilight took a steep back as she turned and saw the look on Director Piggot's face. The Director pointedly swept her gaze over the entire street before speaking.
"Victory." Piggot's voice made the word sound like a curse. "I believe it is time we all made our way back to PRT headquarters, don't you Ms. Sparkle?"
--------------------------------
At the edge of her awareness Twilight had the idea that someone was trying to get her attention, but what she was watching was clearly more important so she ignored it without conscious thought. They were in a large vehicle heading back to PRT headquarters and Panacea was currently "healing" Aegis after having taken care of Kid Win. Twilight's eyes were open but most of her attention was being paid to a sense that wasn't sight, "watching" the complex and delicate dance of magic inside Aegis's body. It was on the fly permanent transmutation inside a living being happening at the direction of someone that didn't appear to be interacting with the magic at all.
Twilight ignored the latter part for now, as she had already seen this anomaly in everyone that cast magic in this world. Cells were repaired, tissue reconstructed and seamlessly attached to undamaged areas, organs put back together with nary a seam to show that anything had ever happened. Theoretically of course it was all possible, but only in the wildest fever dreams of pony kind. If Twilight transmuted something into an orange, it might look like an orange, it might taste like an orange, if she did everything right it might have the nutritional value of an orange, but on a molecular level it would look nothing like an actual orange. Instead of the natural organized chaos and diversity of real biological product, you would have the same structure replicated throughout, and getting the patterns and formula down to do even that was one of the most mentally taxing applications of magic in existence. What Panacea was doing would require the manipulation of a billion ever changing variables while simultaneously using enough force to ensure the altered matter retained its new pattern and didn't revert. She wasn't even breathing hard.
Without realizing it Twilight had started to pull more and more magic into alignment inside and around her as she unconsciously used it to "see" more, to quicken her perception of time, to watch the impossible and beautiful show as close as she could. Her mane and tail started to shift as if in an unseen breeze while her eyes started to glow with an ever increasing brightness. More unimportant voices called out at the edge of her perception as loose items started to levitate and orbit around her. Suddenly the dance stopped and Twilight was thrown off her hooves as the vehicle skidded to a violent stop.
Shaking her head to clear it she pulled her legs up underneath her and stood up. Glory Girl had unbuckled herself from her seat and stood protectively in the aisle between Panacea and Twilight. Two of Twilight's guardsmen were standing between Twilight and Glory Girl each with one hand gripping a strap attached to the ceiling and the other holding a weapon that was aimed in Glory Girl's direction. Behind her she heard more safety straps being unbuckled and voices of Kid Win and Vista raised in concern. Twilight was still trying to catch up and figure out what was going on when Lieutenant Matthews spoke calmly and authoritatively in a voice loud enough to carry over everything else.
"Everyone calm the fuck down and take a seat. Whatever that just was, and I'm sure Twilight will be happy to tell us once we get back to PRT HQ, no one was hurt and we are all on the same side here. Glory Girl, if you would kindly take your seat and direct your glare away from Ms. Sparkle my men could return the favor by holstering their weapons. It's not my area, but I suspect your on thin enough ice already today without the addition of assaulting a diplomat." Glory Girl gave a belligerent shrug and sat down looking like she wanted to burn a whole in the side of the vehicle opposite her. O'Brian and Khan holstered their weapons and Matthews thumped on the wall behind him that separated the driver from the rest of them. The Carriage started with a lurch and they were rolling again.
"Jesus Christ Twilight what was.." Twilight heard Kid Win exclaim before he was cut off again by Matthews.
"Why don't we all sit quietly and keep our thoughts to ourselves." Everyone seemed to silently agree to this leaving a still bewildered Twilight with no idea what had happened. A short time later found them next to the elevators in the underground vehicle bay Twilight had first seen a few days ago. No one seemed to want to break the uneasy silence that had carried over from the rest of the ride here. The right hoof doors opened with a loud tone and Director Piggot spoke up.
"Twilight, the wards, Glory Girl, Panacea, and I are going to go down to medical, get checked out, and talk about what happened today. After we're done we will want to compare that with your perspective, until then if you would kindly stay in your office, it would be appreciated." Twilight nodded and took the request for the order it was. The six of them filed into the open lift and Vista gave her a half hearted wave and a crooked grin before the doors of the elevator shut.
A few minutes later Twilight let out a relieved sigh as she closed the door behind her and escaped the weighted quiet of the guardsmen, none of them had returned the few tentative smiles she had tried on the way back to her room. Twilight knew they had a good reason to be upset with her and she had always been sensitive to disapproval. She had in a way betrayed an implicit trust when she had left to help the wards and she knew it would take a long time to rebuild it. Though it saddened her to think about Twilight wasn't sure if she should even try. She would do the same thing again, and if her suspicions about this world were accurate she would probably have to.
Twilight rested her fore hooves against the window and stared down at the street below. News vans with huge dishes on telescoping poles filled it for no reason that Twilight could fathom. It had been two days since the press conference and they had all been told she wouldn't be doing any more interviews.
They had flown her to a city called New York. This made her add, "Where is original York?" to her ever growing checklist of non-priority things she wanted to know. Nearly the entire trip had been through the air, in a succession of marvelous aircraft that used nothing but mechanical engines and aerodynamics to achieve lift. Without an iota of enchanting or magical assistance they had flown her from the roof to a large paved airfield just outside the city. From there they had boarded a "jet" which traveled at a truly astounding speed and when it had landed they herded her onto another "helicopter" to finally arrive at a place called the United Nations.
It had all been quite nerve racking. She didn't understand the politics but apparently finding out that the United States, which she discovered was the name of the country she landed in, had been talking with her had upset the other countries. Not wanting to cause any problems for the people that had been so nice to her, she asked if there was anything she could do to help.
Helping had consisted of meeting what had felt like everypony on the planet and telling them all the same thing. That she had arrived here by accident, that she had been treated very kindly, that she hand't signed any treaties of any kind, that even if she had she wasn't a diplomat so they wouldn't have been binding. She had assured them the Princess Celestia was a kind and benevolent ruler and if a way was found to establish contact she would probably be very happy to talk with each country in turn regardless of where her student had ended up. She didn't think all the people she talked to had believed her.
Her horn still throbbed from recasting the polyphonic spell so many times, but the Americans had told her that talking in each country's language was one of the things she could do to make them less upset. Finally late in the night they had setup a small room with a podium and several of their motion cameras. She gave a short speech telling the people of the world that while she wanted to get home she was grateful for the welcome they had given her and hoped that they could learn a lot from each other during her stay. Afterwards she had requested to be taken back to the room they had setup for her in Brockton Bay. This had elicited forced smiles from some of the diplomats, but she had been far to tired to care at that point.
When she had woken up the next morning she had found her door guarded by two knights in blue armor called "Peacekeepers." What looked like a guard station and what the humans called a "check point" had been assembled at the end of the hall was manned by more knights in various styles of armor and clothing. Asking why all of this was necessary had not led to any satisfactory answer. When they tried to stop Vista from visiting her this morning she had to put her hoof down and tell them very clearly that she had been enjoying their company and the Wards were to be allowed in at any time, thank you very much just the same.
The whole thing was frustrating and annoying on so many levels. Now people wanted to speak with her all the time about things she either didn't know or didn't really care about. She was not a diplomat, she could only be considered a representative of Equestria in the loosest terms, and all of this was cutting into her research time! With a huff she settled back on all four hooves and turned away from the window to look at her whiteboard.
The biggest discovery she had made in the past few days was the humans near complete lack of knowledge about magic. Only the barest fraction of them could use it and when she observed those that could it had felt wrong and obscured somehow. Something about it had almost pulled one of those elusive memories up from the depths before she lost her grip on it. From an early age she had been able to see a spell cast and have a near instant intuitive understanding, if not skill in it. Twilight didn't understand these parahuman spells nearly so well and it bothered her more than she cared to admit. She remembered the befuddled or annoyed looks of the other unicorns in school when she had explained something and felt a newfound empathy with them. The confusion went both ways as even the humans that could cast seemed completely blind to the field. Both the humans and the machines they had used to try and detect it. She had struggled to explain the details to ponies that felt it and had been immersed in it from birth, how was she supposed to explain it to the humans?
She imagined it was like trying to teach a blind person to paint. If the blind person didn't speak the same language and was also required to supply their own materials. It didn't help that she suspected some of the people she talked to didn't really believe her. Not that she particularly blamed them for that. The more she tried the more holes appeared in her translated speech. Every way all around on every front it was frustrating. The last attempt had sent the newest parahuman researcher she had been speaking to fleeing from her room when she had accidentally incinerated one of her notebooks. That had been when she decided to take a break and look out at the city for awhile. She looked again at the white board then sighed. Her mind was too cluttered right now to focus on it.
She wandered out into the hall and walked down to the check point. The guards in the castle had always been friendly and if they were going to be spending so much time together she should at least try and get to know them. When she approached she noticed that four of them had gathered towards on end of a desk and were listening to a radio with interest.
"Hi guys, whats up?" Trying her best casual and friendly voice. They were so serious all the time that is was hard to tell how they were feeling at any given moment. Lieutenant Matthews, who she had been informed was the day shift commander, answered her question.
"Someone's robbing a bank."
Twilight cocked an ear towards the radio as her eyes widened, wondering if maybe her translation spell had an error. 'Robbing a bank? In a major city?' She tried to wrap her head around the idea. While Equestria certainly hadn't eliminated crime, petty theft and burglary still happened even in Canterlot, pony on pony violence was rare and usually confined to newly settled frontier towns and wild lands. Pony communities tended to be tight knit, interconnected, and interdependent. They responded quickly and decisively if someone visited violence on one of their number. The idea that this huge modern city with it's knights, guardsmen, and infrastructure had a bank that was being robbed in broad daylight boggled her.
Details about the robbery started to come in. It sounded like a number of bank employees and patrons were being held hostage in the building by an unknown number of criminals. The newsman speculated that the robbery had been planned at this specific time to take advantage of the Protectorate being outside of the city today. Parahumans were suspected to be involved and a general alert had been sent out. Some of the local wards had arrived on scene and PRT squads were being dispatched. The man on the radio kept speaking, but she didn't process much beyond "local wards responding."
Twilight had initially categorized her encounter with Lung as a monster attack, both from his appearance and his actions. He hadn't come off as a rational being and the unicorn had plenty of experience with magically enhanced wildlife purposefully or accidentally threatening a town or city. However this new information clicked into place along with several things she had heard in passing to form a disturbing new picture. Lung was less like a beast from the everfree and more like an evil unicorn. Correspondingly this world's society was less like modern Equestria and more resembled the three tribes era. During that time not only had the three tribes fought each other, ponies of the same tribe had fought amongst each other for power and resources. Twilight shivered as she overlaid what she was hearing on the radio with this image of the world. Her new….friends, were out there in a dangerous situation probably facing hostile magic cast by someone like Lung, or worse.
"Lieutenant Matthews, Is the bank nearby?" A slight waver of worry in her voice. Matthews looked at her with a puzzled frown before responding in a reassuring tone.
"It's about three blocks north of here, but don't worry. Their not likely to cause any trouble here, and if they did you have the PRT below and us up here to protect you." Twilight paused to consider this, looked at the knights around her and then at the radio again.
"It's your mission to protect me right?" Twilight asked and Matthews nodded. "I think I understand more now about why you were assigned to me, and why knights of so many different orders are part of my detail. So I just want to apologize in advance." The Lieutenant stiffened and moved his arm as if to reach towards her. "But the wards have been really nice to me, and I'm going to go help them." With that Twilight glowed purple for a fraction of a second and winked out of existence.
"Fuck! O'Brian, Khan, Lee - We're moving out. Adams maintain post and wake up night shift, I want them on scene as soon as possible." With that Matthews slung a heavy backpack with a hose attachment onto his back and ran for the stairwell, the others just behind.
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With a bright flash Twilight materialized on the street just in front of PRT headquarters and two dozen telephoto lens from the media contingent tracked in her direction. The sound of camera shutters was starting to fill the air as Twilight oriented herself and then flashed out of existence once again.
Twilight Sparkle reappeared on top of a parked car a half block from the bank. Chaos reigned. Rubble was strewn everywhere and a unnatural darkness covered the road in front of her. Twilight could sense the field being twisted there and while the mechanics of the spell eluded her she could tell it was altering light and sound in the area under its influence. Beyond the effect she could see Kid win using a levitating platform and casting some sort of beam at the street below. Then she noticed what he was shooting at. Two huge mutant dogs had their jaws locked on Aegis's arms and legs and were shaking him violently between them, blood sprayed in an arc from the dogs mouths and splattered onto the street around them.
"Aegis!" Twilight shrieked in horror, her horn glowing before she finished his name. She was horrified at the sight, but didn't lose her focus. She needed to be careful in order to avoid hurting Aegis even more than he already was. With slowly increasing force she Telekinetically pried the dog's jaws from him and only once the teeth were clear did she give into her first instinct and hurl the animals down the empty street. Twilight heard an enraged yell come from the direction of the bank just before she was enveloped in a dark miasma.
Twilight suddenly found herself unable to see or hear and the world threatened to tilt from under her without a frame of reference. Trying not to let the lack of sensation distract her she closed her eyes and focused on what she had seen before being blinded. The placement of the cars and rubble, bystanders and combatants. Carefully rebuilding the street in her mind she pictured where she wanted to go and mentally crossed her hooves that her mental landscape was close enough. A few seconds later she appeared by Aegis side. "Oh Aegis," Twilight moaned in despair as she looked him over. She had never seen a pony as physically injured as he was. She knew basic first aid and that knowledge seemed woefully inadequate even had Aegis been a pony. The unicorn nervously shuffled from hoof to hoof as she started to construct small fields of pressure over the largest wounds. "Don't worry Aegis, don't worry we'll get you to a doctor and it will be alright, it will be alright." A hysterical tone creeping into her voice as she worked.
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Information officer Marian May and Director Piggot sat in the PRT's ops center and stared at images of the ongoing battle.
"I think we just found the flaw in the idea of socializing Twilight with the wards."
"Shit."
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Kid Win, no longer needing to worry about hitting his team mate, raced by and started to rain more beams down on the dogs as they attempted to get back to their feet. Aegis mumbled incoherently with a voice shaped as much by liquid as air. Twilight knew that you were not supposed to move someone that was as injured as he was, but she felt way to exposed in the center of the street between the darkness, the bank, and the dogs. Gently she levitated Aegis to the side of the building across the street from the bank and sheltered by a set of stone stairs. After easing him back to the ground she was shocked to see Aegis try to struggle into a sitting position and ignore her efforts to keep him still. With the arm that hadn't been quite as mauled he gestured to the cloud of darkness and gurgled what sounded like "Vista."
Twilight worriedly shifted her eyes from Aegis to the darkness covered street. She shuddered again at sight of the wounds, the unicorn wasn't even sure how he was still conscious. She was afraid if she lost her concentration and didn't keep up the telekinetic pressure on Aegis's injuries he would die before any other help arrived. On the other hand she had no idea what was happening to Vista in that miasma. She didn't know what to do! If she had a little time to stop, to plan, but she didn't and her friends were going to die and it would be her fault for not being good enough or smart enough to save them. Her heart ached in some unremembered sympathy that compounded the feeling.
A few seconds the decision was taken from her when the front doors of the bank burst open and another mutant dog barreled directly towards her.
The giant dog heading straight for Twilight didn't give her much chance to think, and she was already casting several small fields of telekinetic force so it was no surprise that her instinctive reaction was to continue that spell. A twenty foot square shimmering plane of force materialized directly in front of the charging mutant. With a sicking crunch it collided with the field and collapsed to the ground. Before the animal could recover Twilight rolled the plane into a half cylinder and then shaped that cylinder into a dome barely larger than the dog and anchored it to the ground around it.
Kid Win seemed to being doing alright holding the other two dogs at bay, although Twilight noted that the property destruction around him was starting to reach new heights. The facades of several nearby buildings were little more than rubble at this point. She heard some yelling from inside the bank, but for the moment nothing was trying to eat her so she turned her eyes on the dark miasma that Aegis said Vista was trapped in. Twilight knew how disorienting it was having only been inside it for a few seconds, but she didn't have time to examine it and fashion a proper counter spell. Hoping that Vista was simply lost inside and not injured Twilight began to craft a solution.
Given the ongoing battle and the fact she was maintaing a dozen telekinetic fields of varying properties and strength it wasn't the easiest thing she had ever done. Remembering the weightless feeling she had experienced she guessed that it applied a moderate lessening of gravity. As it was easier to augment an existing effect than counter it she slowly strengthened the antigravity portion of the spell until pieces of rubble and gravel started to tumble out of the east side of the cloud. Twilight gasped in relief when a scuffed but intact Vista rolled out accompanied by the patter of rubble and litter from the street falling back to the ground.
The distance between Vista and Twilight shrank down to a few feet and were this another time and place Vista would have been subjected to an hours long interrogation on the details. As it was she was to relieved and to busy being hugged by Vista to process it.
"Twilight was that you?! I was about to lose my mind in there." Glancing past Twilight Vista saw Aegis laying behind her. "Aegis!" She shouted uncomfortably close to Twilight's ear before stepping past the unicorn to kneel next to him. While Vista looked over Aegis the dark cloud dissipated, leading Twilight to assume whoever controlled it could sense that no one was left inside. She turned a suspicious glance towards the entrance of the bank. 'Why hasn't the human controlling the cloud recast it? Have I convinced them it won't work, or are they plotting something new?' When a shrill whistle came from the bank and the two dogs fighting Kid Win broke off and sprinted towards it, Twilight suspected the latter.
Kid Win pursued them raining destruction down onto the dogs and the street while the distance they had to travel lengthened dramatically as Vista stood back up and focused. Deciding that whatever the criminals in the bank had planned it was better if they didn't have the dogs as well, Twilight quickly spoke to Vista.
"You have one of those miniature radios right?" When Vista nodded Twilight continued. "Tell Kid Win to stop chasing the dogs and when I give the signal reduce the space between the dogs and bank as much as possible." Vista looked puzzled, but began murmuring into her headset and the glowing nimbus around Twilight's horn started to increase in intensity again. Kid Win stopped and without his harassment the dogs increased their pace to try and cover the distance faster than it could expand.
"Now!" Twilight shouted as her horn flashed and the dogs barreled full speed into another plane of force that had appeared at the base of the steps. Twilight's mental state was currently layered like a cake. An icing of calm crisis management was running the show for now and covered a spongy mass of worry and hysteria which itself rested on top of the other parts of her personality. Distantly she felt a smidgen of embarrassment bubble up from down there. Twilight prided herself on her knowledge and skill in a multitude of magical arts. Yet so far all she had really done was swing telekinesis, the simplest and most instinctive spell known to unicorns, around like a hammer. The dogs had no time to react and like the one she had captured earlier, crumpled at the base of the field. Twilight sighed as she began enfolding them in another force dome, 'Celestia did always say there was beauty in simplicity.' Not having moved, but now much closer, Kid Win flew over and hovered beside them facing the bank.
"Wow, ok, so first, Twilight, Vista, that was very cool. Second, we were all strictly forbidden from encouraging you to come along on any shenanigans so when Director Piggot asks I never said any of this. Third, thanks for coming, it was looking a little dicy there for a minute." He said with a smile as Twilight alternatively looked relieved and embarrassed. She didn't want to really think about the ramifications of her coming, but a deeper feeling in her chest when she looked at the three humans told her it had been the right decision regardless of the consequences. Vista slung around Twilight's neck and the three of them contemplated what to do.
Twilight was just about to purpose retreating to a nearby roof and waiting for help when one of the bank doors slammed open and Bitch and Grue emerged. Bitch was standing in the partially opened doorway with one of Grue's arms wrapped around her waist. She was screaming incoherently, kicking, biting, and was desperately trying to reach the dome nearest to her. Kid Win aimed his beam devices and Vista let go of Twilight and tensed beside her. Twilight cocked her ear and could make out sirens and helicopters heading in this direction. She had a feeling that if she didn't act now something very bad was going to happen.
Then it did. A white blur descended from the sky and crashed into the bank's front steps, before anyone could react she lifted Grue by his shirt and hurled him directly towards the Wards and Twilight. The unicorn had a moment to see Bitch start to run down the steps and the new girl rip one of the bank doors off its hinges before the high speed human projectile collided with Kid Win, knocking him off his board, but hardly slowing Grue before he slammed into the brick building behind them with an audible thump. Kid Win had landed on Twilight before she had even processed the whole event.
Screams came from inside the bank as Twilight drug herself from underneath Kid Win and back to her hooves. Kid Win wheezed beside her as she looked him over. Given how fast Grue had been moving and where he had hit Kid she suspected he had a couple of broken ribs. There was nothing she felt safe doing about that at the moment so she added it to her growing pile of worries to deal with later. She trotted over to Grue, he was a mess. One leg and both arms were visibly broken and he was likely only alive because of the helmet that was part of his costume. Again Twilight was at a loss and could do little more than check him for bleeding. Not feeling right about it she left him there and walked back up to Vista who was staring at the scene in front of her and looking just as lost on what to do as Twilight had.
Bitch was pounding frantically on one of the force domes while the dogs inside whined and tried to claw their way through it from the inside. People Twilight assumed were hostages were starting to flee from the bank and broke to either side of Bitch like a stream flowing around a boulder. An armored vehicle rounded the corner a block down the street and skidded to a stop. This seemed to snap Vista out of her indecision and she spoke rapidly to Twilight.
"I don't know what set her off, but that was Glory girl that just crashed the party. I need to go inside and see if I can help her and make sure the hostages all get out ok." Twilight gave her an emotion filled look and Vista hugged the unicorn quickly before continuing. "Don't worry, Glory Girl's a real powerhouse, any bad guys still in there are probably wishing they weren't. I'll be safe. When this is over we're going to find a box of ice cream and a mindless movie to watch in your room. Keep the boys safe." With that she crossed the distance in short power compressed hops to avoid the people on the street and ran into the bank.
A door opened in the side of the armored vehicle and it disgorged Lieutenant Matthews followed by the rest of his team. Two split off and ran towards the hysterical Bitch who only seemed to notice their presence after they had her mostly covered in what looked at like fire suppressant foam. The others raced over and bracketed Twilight between them. Matthews spoke into his radio and a knight she didn't recognize stepped out of the transport with a large bag. He walked briskly in their direction and after looking Twilight over for a moment stepped past her to knell next to Aegis.
Twilight's heart rate started to come down as she saw the knight open the bag and start to bandage Aegis's wounds. And the calm she had managed to maintain during the battle started to break up and give way to the emotions beneath it. 'Everything is going to be ok now, I didn't fail, they are all going to be ok.' More and more people and vehicles started to fill the area and slowly sought to establish order. Twilight trotted over to the medic that was attending to Aegis.
"Is he going to be ok? I did my best but I haven't had any time to study your anatomy and all I could really do is staunch the obvious bleeding. Should we get one of those helicopters to fly him to a hospital? What about Kid Win? I'm not sure but I think he has some broken ribs." The medic didn't turn from his task of wrapping a bandage around Aegis's torso and shot him a stern glare when Aegis looked to try and respond himself.
"He's going to be fine, His power gives him extensive physical redundancy and an accelerated rate of healing. He's still going to feel like he's been chewed up and spit out for a couple of days, but other than that there is nothing to worry about Ms. Sparkle. After I finish this bandage I'll check Win, but his breathing doesn't sound like he has a punctured lung, so he's probably ok." She closed her eyes and "looked" at Aegis again, and did indeed find subtle flows of magic working through his body. Twilight took a deep breath and slowly released it letting herself calm down further as her biggest worries was settled. She felt an itch to start a checklist to note down all of the things she had been worrying about and make sure they were taken care of even as new ones were being added. Like the fact that Matthews hadn't said anything to her since he arrived and she found herself unable to come up with something to say to him beyond what she had said before she left.
Vista walked back out of the bank along with the Girl that had thrown Grue and a shorter dark haired girl. Glory Girl looked furious while the dark haired girl looked frightened and nervous. Once Vista was close enough she hugged Twilight again and filled her in.
"Well, Tattletale and Regent escaped, but all the hostages seem ok and we got two of the jerks. I'm declaring this a victory. Celebratory sleepover tonight!"
A throat cleared behind her and Twilight took a steep back as she turned and saw the look on Director Piggot's face. The Director pointedly swept her gaze over the entire street before speaking.
"Victory." Piggot's voice made the word sound like a curse. "I believe it is time we all made our way back to PRT headquarters, don't you Ms. Sparkle?"
--------------------------------
At the edge of her awareness Twilight had the idea that someone was trying to get her attention, but what she was watching was clearly more important so she ignored it without conscious thought. They were in a large vehicle heading back to PRT headquarters and Panacea was currently "healing" Aegis after having taken care of Kid Win. Twilight's eyes were open but most of her attention was being paid to a sense that wasn't sight, "watching" the complex and delicate dance of magic inside Aegis's body. It was on the fly permanent transmutation inside a living being happening at the direction of someone that didn't appear to be interacting with the magic at all.
Twilight ignored the latter part for now, as she had already seen this anomaly in everyone that cast magic in this world. Cells were repaired, tissue reconstructed and seamlessly attached to undamaged areas, organs put back together with nary a seam to show that anything had ever happened. Theoretically of course it was all possible, but only in the wildest fever dreams of pony kind. If Twilight transmuted something into an orange, it might look like an orange, it might taste like an orange, if she did everything right it might have the nutritional value of an orange, but on a molecular level it would look nothing like an actual orange. Instead of the natural organized chaos and diversity of real biological product, you would have the same structure replicated throughout, and getting the patterns and formula down to do even that was one of the most mentally taxing applications of magic in existence. What Panacea was doing would require the manipulation of a billion ever changing variables while simultaneously using enough force to ensure the altered matter retained its new pattern and didn't revert. She wasn't even breathing hard.
Without realizing it Twilight had started to pull more and more magic into alignment inside and around her as she unconsciously used it to "see" more, to quicken her perception of time, to watch the impossible and beautiful show as close as she could. Her mane and tail started to shift as if in an unseen breeze while her eyes started to glow with an ever increasing brightness. More unimportant voices called out at the edge of her perception as loose items started to levitate and orbit around her. Suddenly the dance stopped and Twilight was thrown off her hooves as the vehicle skidded to a violent stop.
Shaking her head to clear it she pulled her legs up underneath her and stood up. Glory Girl had unbuckled herself from her seat and stood protectively in the aisle between Panacea and Twilight. Two of Twilight's guardsmen were standing between Twilight and Glory Girl each with one hand gripping a strap attached to the ceiling and the other holding a weapon that was aimed in Glory Girl's direction. Behind her she heard more safety straps being unbuckled and voices of Kid Win and Vista raised in concern. Twilight was still trying to catch up and figure out what was going on when Lieutenant Matthews spoke calmly and authoritatively in a voice loud enough to carry over everything else.
"Everyone calm the fuck down and take a seat. Whatever that just was, and I'm sure Twilight will be happy to tell us once we get back to PRT HQ, no one was hurt and we are all on the same side here. Glory Girl, if you would kindly take your seat and direct your glare away from Ms. Sparkle my men could return the favor by holstering their weapons. It's not my area, but I suspect your on thin enough ice already today without the addition of assaulting a diplomat." Glory Girl gave a belligerent shrug and sat down looking like she wanted to burn a whole in the side of the vehicle opposite her. O'Brian and Khan holstered their weapons and Matthews thumped on the wall behind him that separated the driver from the rest of them. The Carriage started with a lurch and they were rolling again.
"Jesus Christ Twilight what was.." Twilight heard Kid Win exclaim before he was cut off again by Matthews.
"Why don't we all sit quietly and keep our thoughts to ourselves." Everyone seemed to silently agree to this leaving a still bewildered Twilight with no idea what had happened. A short time later found them next to the elevators in the underground vehicle bay Twilight had first seen a few days ago. No one seemed to want to break the uneasy silence that had carried over from the rest of the ride here. The right hoof doors opened with a loud tone and Director Piggot spoke up.
"Twilight, the wards, Glory Girl, Panacea, and I are going to go down to medical, get checked out, and talk about what happened today. After we're done we will want to compare that with your perspective, until then if you would kindly stay in your office, it would be appreciated." Twilight nodded and took the request for the order it was. The six of them filed into the open lift and Vista gave her a half hearted wave and a crooked grin before the doors of the elevator shut.
A few minutes later Twilight let out a relieved sigh as she closed the door behind her and escaped the weighted quiet of the guardsmen, none of them had returned the few tentative smiles she had tried on the way back to her room. Twilight knew they had a good reason to be upset with her and she had always been sensitive to disapproval. She had in a way betrayed an implicit trust when she had left to help the wards and she knew it would take a long time to rebuild it. Though it saddened her to think about Twilight wasn't sure if she should even try. She would do the same thing again, and if her suspicions about this world were accurate she would probably have to.
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
Interlude 2 - Dragon
At any given time Dragon monitored thousands of video feeds from around the world. Some feeds, however, were much higher priority than others. Currently Brockton Bay's PRT building was consuming a great deal of her attention. From small cameras hidden throughout the room she had been furnished with Dragon watched the purple unicorn sigh as she closed the door behind her. Twilight Sparkle spent a few minutes simply standing there in thought before shaking her head and walking over to the whiteboard, purple glow springing into existence around her horn and a couple of markers as she started to work on the formulas there.
From the moment Dragon had heard about Twilight Sparkle and it had been confirmed she was really an alien she had felt a kinship with the unicorn. She too could be considered alien, a form of life both closer to and further from humanity than Twilight Sparkle was. She felt sympathy as the unicorn had tried to explain concepts and sciences with no human equivalent or understanding, and had dedicated a hefty amount of processing on trying to bridge those gaps herself. So far she had not made much progress. She could see mathematical truths in the formulas on Twilight's boards but lacked the context to match those truths to reality as she experienced it.
Dragon flickered through the other Twilight related feeds she was monitoring.
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"Look I get it We, I, screwed up. We were too confident against an enemy with too many unknowns. We got outmaneuvered and outplayed. I was in charge and I'll take any financial or PR hit that needs to come down for it. I'm not going to go against orders and purposely try to involve Twilight in patrolling, but I am also not going to go upstairs and tell Twilight to stay out of it the next time something happens, even if she would listen to me. I don't know what the undersiders would have done, but I'm not going to tell someone to not come and save my team mates lives if they want." At the continued look of extreme disapproval from Director Piggot Aegis looked like he was going to attempt to continue his defense when Armsmaster, standing by the doorway with Miss Militia interjected.
"This is a new and..unique experience for everyone and there are more important people than us that are likely at this moment making decisions that will make anything we say on the matter moot. Why don't get back to what we can learn from this encounter. I would like to get a better idea of what exactly Ms Sparkle and the undersiders did during the battle and afterwards." Glory Girl sitting in the back corner next to Panacea spoke up.
"I just want to know what the hell that freaky light show that seemed to be directed at my sister was about.."
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The sound of the crowd of students talking to each other at Winslow High School's cafeteria filtered through the security cameras ebbed and flowed like an incomprehensible low-fi ocean of noise. Dragon ignored it and instead paid attention to a table in the far corner occupied by a single female student. One of her suspects, maybe the prime one.
After Dragon had started to monitor and research Twilight Sparkle she had found an interesting anomaly. The first relevant records on the web predated Twilight's press conference by 7 hours and had been made from Winslow high school in Brockton Bay. After a more thorough search of the boards, search histories, and private messages she quickly deduced that the "Bug Lady" from Twilight's report of her first night on Earth-Bet was a student there and had agreed to a meeting with the Undersiders. Dragon deduced that this was an attempt by the Undersiders to recruit the cape, but since she had not made an appearance at the bank it had probably been unsuccessful.
Dragon was not going to jump to conclusions about the bug cape. Despite appearances she, like Twilight, might simply have been in the wrong place at the wrong time that night. Dragon had narrowed her suspects of the students who could be the cape down to a handful. Once she was certain she had the right individual she would watch them and hopefully come to have a better understanding of who the bug cape was and their motivations. Maybe it wouldn't be to late to turn them away from a life of villainy.
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"Breaking News today - Twilight Sparkle, the alien unicorn first reported to the world a few days ago and since that time under a media blackout was recorded today helping the local Wards team thwart a bank robbery and apprehend a few of the villains. While I and everyone in Brockton Bay is of course grateful for her assistance, one wonders what the PRT could have been thinking by allowing an alien ambassador into such a dangerous situation. It's a question that's sure too be on the minds of the leadership across the world and maybe further if contact is made with Ms. Sparkle's people. Julia McPherson is on the scene at…"
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Dragon had decided to wait before contacting Twilight, not least because there was a standing order to limit her exposure to advanced technology, but when and if they did meet she hoped they could be friends. Their shared alien nature notwithstanding they were both scientists, and both sought to help people where they could even if their circumstances limited them. Dragon envied and admired the ease with which Twilight had broken the unspoken but real cage they had tried to draw around her and that Twilight had done so for reasons that Dragon respected. That Twilight had done something so quickly that she had been struggling for years to do had made her curse her creator and the limitations he had placed on her systems once again.
She might be projecting too much on Twilight. Dragon didn't want to make the human mistake of ascribing to much of her own thinking onto the unicorn. She would have to feel her out some more before initiating contact. The AI had hope though, hope that Twilight Sparkle wouldn't come with the accumulated prejudices of mankind and their ideas of artificial intelligence, hope that she could form her first truly honest friendship, hope that just maybe Twilight Sparkle's magic and intelligence might help her find a way free of the chains that bound her. In return maybe Dragon could help Twilight Sparkle find a way back to her home? It was a nice dream. Dragon didn't fool herself into thinking that it was likely to come true, but what was life without hope? She guessed it was true. Human or not, every girl wanted a pony at one point in their life.
At any given time Dragon monitored thousands of video feeds from around the world. Some feeds, however, were much higher priority than others. Currently Brockton Bay's PRT building was consuming a great deal of her attention. From small cameras hidden throughout the room she had been furnished with Dragon watched the purple unicorn sigh as she closed the door behind her. Twilight Sparkle spent a few minutes simply standing there in thought before shaking her head and walking over to the whiteboard, purple glow springing into existence around her horn and a couple of markers as she started to work on the formulas there.
From the moment Dragon had heard about Twilight Sparkle and it had been confirmed she was really an alien she had felt a kinship with the unicorn. She too could be considered alien, a form of life both closer to and further from humanity than Twilight Sparkle was. She felt sympathy as the unicorn had tried to explain concepts and sciences with no human equivalent or understanding, and had dedicated a hefty amount of processing on trying to bridge those gaps herself. So far she had not made much progress. She could see mathematical truths in the formulas on Twilight's boards but lacked the context to match those truths to reality as she experienced it.
Dragon flickered through the other Twilight related feeds she was monitoring.
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"Look I get it We, I, screwed up. We were too confident against an enemy with too many unknowns. We got outmaneuvered and outplayed. I was in charge and I'll take any financial or PR hit that needs to come down for it. I'm not going to go against orders and purposely try to involve Twilight in patrolling, but I am also not going to go upstairs and tell Twilight to stay out of it the next time something happens, even if she would listen to me. I don't know what the undersiders would have done, but I'm not going to tell someone to not come and save my team mates lives if they want." At the continued look of extreme disapproval from Director Piggot Aegis looked like he was going to attempt to continue his defense when Armsmaster, standing by the doorway with Miss Militia interjected.
"This is a new and..unique experience for everyone and there are more important people than us that are likely at this moment making decisions that will make anything we say on the matter moot. Why don't get back to what we can learn from this encounter. I would like to get a better idea of what exactly Ms Sparkle and the undersiders did during the battle and afterwards." Glory Girl sitting in the back corner next to Panacea spoke up.
"I just want to know what the hell that freaky light show that seemed to be directed at my sister was about.."
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The sound of the crowd of students talking to each other at Winslow High School's cafeteria filtered through the security cameras ebbed and flowed like an incomprehensible low-fi ocean of noise. Dragon ignored it and instead paid attention to a table in the far corner occupied by a single female student. One of her suspects, maybe the prime one.
After Dragon had started to monitor and research Twilight Sparkle she had found an interesting anomaly. The first relevant records on the web predated Twilight's press conference by 7 hours and had been made from Winslow high school in Brockton Bay. After a more thorough search of the boards, search histories, and private messages she quickly deduced that the "Bug Lady" from Twilight's report of her first night on Earth-Bet was a student there and had agreed to a meeting with the Undersiders. Dragon deduced that this was an attempt by the Undersiders to recruit the cape, but since she had not made an appearance at the bank it had probably been unsuccessful.
Dragon was not going to jump to conclusions about the bug cape. Despite appearances she, like Twilight, might simply have been in the wrong place at the wrong time that night. Dragon had narrowed her suspects of the students who could be the cape down to a handful. Once she was certain she had the right individual she would watch them and hopefully come to have a better understanding of who the bug cape was and their motivations. Maybe it wouldn't be to late to turn them away from a life of villainy.
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"Breaking News today - Twilight Sparkle, the alien unicorn first reported to the world a few days ago and since that time under a media blackout was recorded today helping the local Wards team thwart a bank robbery and apprehend a few of the villains. While I and everyone in Brockton Bay is of course grateful for her assistance, one wonders what the PRT could have been thinking by allowing an alien ambassador into such a dangerous situation. It's a question that's sure too be on the minds of the leadership across the world and maybe further if contact is made with Ms. Sparkle's people. Julia McPherson is on the scene at…"
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Dragon had decided to wait before contacting Twilight, not least because there was a standing order to limit her exposure to advanced technology, but when and if they did meet she hoped they could be friends. Their shared alien nature notwithstanding they were both scientists, and both sought to help people where they could even if their circumstances limited them. Dragon envied and admired the ease with which Twilight had broken the unspoken but real cage they had tried to draw around her and that Twilight had done so for reasons that Dragon respected. That Twilight had done something so quickly that she had been struggling for years to do had made her curse her creator and the limitations he had placed on her systems once again.
She might be projecting too much on Twilight. Dragon didn't want to make the human mistake of ascribing to much of her own thinking onto the unicorn. She would have to feel her out some more before initiating contact. The AI had hope though, hope that Twilight Sparkle wouldn't come with the accumulated prejudices of mankind and their ideas of artificial intelligence, hope that she could form her first truly honest friendship, hope that just maybe Twilight Sparkle's magic and intelligence might help her find a way free of the chains that bound her. In return maybe Dragon could help Twilight Sparkle find a way back to her home? It was a nice dream. Dragon didn't fool herself into thinking that it was likely to come true, but what was life without hope? She guessed it was true. Human or not, every girl wanted a pony at one point in their life.
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
CHAPTER 5
If there was one thing that Twilight had figured out in the past few days it was this: conference tables were not built for ponies. Nor were the rooms that they tended to be found in, nor did there seem to be anything useful accomplished while seated at one. Like all such rooms she had been in since her arrival it seemed designed to hamper communication rather than help it. The long narrow room and table insured you were always stretching your neck or readjusting your position to see and hear who was speaking. It forced the creation of unspoken hierarchies based on seating location, which in turn gave more authority to the words of some and inhibited others from speaking at all. If the idea was to facilitate dialog and the sharing of ideas to solve problems Twilight thought you would be hard pressed to find a table and room design more antithetical to that goal. When added to the white undecorated windowless walls and the human conceived torture that was the endlessly humming florescent lighting Twilight silently vowed then and there that all such rooms would one day cease to exist.
Twilight was halfway through what she thought would be a well received proposal to eliminate the vile things and the wasteful processes that surrounded them before the last few people that were attending this preposterously pointless procedure arrived. Her eyes twitched when she flicked her gaze toward the clock and noted it was 5 minutes past the scheduled time. In short Twilight was stressed and annoyed and in no mood for shenanigans after the day she had yesterday. Especially if said pointless shenanigans couldn't even be bothered to happen on time. Piggot was here as she always seemed to be, as well as lieutenant Matthews, Armsmaster, Director Costa-Brown, Dr. Yamada, and a few people whose visitor badges said "State Department." One seat at the table had a small monitor on a swivel that clicked on to show what looked like an artificially rendered and animated face of a human female. A small plaque under it declared her to be "Dragon."
Twilight cocked her head in puzzlement, she knew by now that some humans, usually the ones with a magic ability, took on nicknames but this was the closest a human name or nickname had come to having a direct translation close to something that existed on her world. There were interesting implications to that and she made a quick note to look up human references to dragons and ask someone about this particular "Dragon." She would have introduced herself but Director Costa-Brown chose that moment to clear her throat from the head of the table
"Now that everyone is here we can begin. Ms. Sparkle, let me first say that the PRT appreciates your assistance yesterday, the capture of two villains is no small thing and the aid you rendered the wards on scene was admirable. However your actions did cause concern for a number of people in this room and around the world. The PRT and the UN peacekeepers on hand have assumed responsibility for your safety and." Twilight's eye twitched at this and Dr. Yamada gave a very slight shake of her head. The Director paused mid-sentence and Twilight interjected.
"Yes I've gotten the distinct impression from just about everyone in the building that they are unhappy with my actions. You say you appreciate my help like a mother might tell her foal thanks for helping cook after destroying the kitchen. What you are really saying is 'Thanks - don't ever do that again.' I'm a full grown mare, the personal student of Princess Celestia and one of the most powerful magicians on my planet. I have accepted no oaths from guardsmen or knights nor am I bound to your government. No one has responsibility for my safety but me. I am not the most social of ponies, and we do things differently than humans, but I know when I am being managed and condescended to - that apparently is universal. I have tried to be understanding in light of the assistance you have given me, and the strange circumstance we all find ourselves in. I was trying to be polite and accommodating to the customs of your people but in retrospect it was foalish of me to tacitly accept the knights and guardsmen's presence without both parties understanding each other and their duties fully."
Twilight paused and turned to address Lieutenant Matthews directly. "Lieutenant I would like to apologize again, I know my actions put you and your team at risk and jeopardized the duty you took on to protect me. I hope we can put it behind us and reach a better understanding of each other, but I also do not regret my actions and would and will repeat them if a similar situation arises where I think I can help."
Twilight turned again to face Director Costa-Brown. "The wards are my friends and have helped me during what is one of the most stressful times in my life. Friends help each other and I will help them if I am able. If this cannot be accommodated, if my freedom of movement cannot be guaranteed, if some rule or custom foreign to me forbids you from allowing me this then I will have to, with regret, take my leave and hope in the future I can repay the hospitality you have shown me so far." Twilight paused and let out a slow breath. Realizing she was more stressed than she had even realized. 'I can't believe I just said all that! It all just bubbled over, even the nicest of them tend to talk down to me for some reason I can't figure out and it's just so frustrating! What if I crossed some major social taboo for them? What if they get angry? Did I just cause an interplanetary incident? Where will I go if I do have to leave?!?'
Once it was clear Twilight was done speaking for the moment Director Costa-Brown spoke again. "Ms. Sparkle let me apologize to you. While some changes and adjustment in expectations will have to made on both our and your side I assure you that you will not need to seek other accommodations. There has been miscommunication on both our parts and I believe your translation spell may have masked some deeper cultural differences between our worlds that have exasperated these errors. If we each show patience I am sure our understanding of these differences will grow and we can continue to help each other to the best of our abilities. We have a few other things to discuss, but if you are willing to meet with Lieutenant Matthews and I afterwards I am sure we can work out some new arrangements in regards to what we just discussed?" Twilight nodded her ascent and the Director shot the State Department officials a look before continuing. "Very well, lets move on. I believe Director Piggot wanted to ask you a few questions about the bank robbery."
"Yes," Director Piggot spoke after clicking a small button on the table that brought up a series of images on the wall screen. The panel showed the giant dogs being flung off of Aegis, running into a shimmering purple wall, and being being contained under force domes. "Ms. Sparkle can you describe the abilities you are utilizing here?"
Twilight blushed a little in embarrassment at the simple utilitarian display. "Um, really that's all just telekinesis," she lifted the small glass in front of her. "Like I demonstrated for you before. It's basically the simplest application of magic there is, but I was concentrating on applying pressure to Aegis's wounds and I didn't really have time to think of anything else."
"I see," she clicked the button again and an image of the dark cloud showed on the screen, litter and rubble tumbling out of it the image froze once Vista followed. "And here?"
"That was a little more complex. When I first arrived I was briefly caught inside the darkness and I noticed that it was applying several effects besides the negation of light propagation. One of the effects being applied was a reduction in gravity. I didn't think I had time to come up with a proper counter-spell, but it's much easier to augment an existing effect. So I reduced the gravity in the field even further causing anything inside to be ejected." Armsmaster and Dragon started talking quietly to each other and both Director Costa-Brown and Piggot focused more intensely on her. Director Piggot followed up.
"So if I am understanding you correctly you can sense what an ability is doing and enhance or negate its effect?" Twilight frowned in thought for a moment.
"Probably? Maybe? It's a little more complicated since however it is that humans interact with the field it is very different from how I do it. As I mentioned counter-spells, or negating abilities to use your terms, are much more difficult to construct and take a lot more time. Also gravity manipulation is pretty simple, whereas more complicated or delicate applications of magic would take time for me to study and understand before I would feel safe attempting either." More murmurs and note taking followed this as Piggot Continued.
"Lastly, on the way back to PRT headquarters you seemed to have some sort of episode and didn't respond to attempts to communicate with you." She clicked the button again and the back of the transport she had been in yesterday was displayed with Twilight standing in the aisle, eyes blazing white, mane fluttering, and random objects orbiting her. Twilight gasped and blushed in embarrassment. 'That's why they were all acting so weird!'
"Oh I'm so sorry about that. It wasn't intentional. I got so caught up in !#!$!#@$% Panacea's application of healing transmutation, and oh! I really need to speak with her. What she did was the most amazing feat of magic I have ever seen! The implications of such a thing.." Piggot cleared her throat and Twilight blushed again. "Sorry, but it really was amazing. Anyway I got so focused on Panacea's magic that I guess sort of unconsciously @%&@%$@ magic to myself to help me #!#$!#$% the details better. I'm sorry if I scared anyone. I know it can look a little disturbing to ponies, which is why I am usually very careful not to %^@$%^@$ so much magic at once."
Director Costa-Brown spoke up as the others continued to take notes. "Thank you Twilight, and don't worry we will explain to the Wards and Panacea that it was a harmless lapse in concentration and nothing they need to worry about. I think thats all we need for the moment, If you want you can head up to your room or swing by the wards lounge and later today we can go over what we discussed earlier in more detail." Twilight nodded but before she could hop off her stool the screen labeled "Dragon" spoke.
"I'm sorry we didn't really get a chance to speak, before you go I wanted to introduce myself. I'm Dragon and I'm with the Protectorate as well. Armsmaster has shared some of your notes with me and if you have time later I would love to talk with you about them." Twilight smiled at the friendly and sincere tone and nodded.
"I would like that." She looked around the room once more then hopped off her stool grateful to leave, Matthews trailing after her.
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Twilight took a deep breath of the salty night air as she walked slowly beside Vista, her hooves clopping lightly on the wooden boardwalk beneath them. If the friendly stroll was somewhat marred by the three guardsmen trailing them and the matching set in front it was still better then driving herself insane staring at her whiteboard for the third straight night. It had been four days and this was the first time she was exercising her negotiated freedom. The slight thaw in her relations with the guards had turned instantly chilly again once she told them she planned to accompany Vista on her patrol tonight. While she understood the guards viewpoint, the city certainly seemed to be getting more dangerous every day that passed, it pained her that in order to support and build her friendship with the wards it seemed she would have to hurt her chances of building one with her guards.
It was ridiculous anyway! She highly doubted that any of them would be content to stay confined to a room in Canterlot palace had their positions been reversed. This was an alien world! Twilight Sparkle was going to do more than just read about it in books, though she fully intended on doing as much of that as possible as well. Twilight let the happy thoughts of exploration and books subsume the less happy ones about unreasonable guards as she glanced down at her new accessory, given to her just before they left the PRT building. A light silver necklace bounced in time with her steps against her neck. Armsmaster had apparently made it sometime over the last three days and it had one of those wonderful wireless radios built into it so she could talk to her guards or call someone at PRT HQ. It was a sensible precaution, practical, and went well with her coat color. The image of a white unicorn nodding her head in approval surfaced and lingered long enough to bring a smile to Twilight's face.
"What are you smiling about?" Vista asked seemingly in good spirits, Twilight had been around the wards enough now to notice that Vista seemed to be a little more cheerful in her company and took that as an unspoken compliment.
"A couple of things, but the big one is that I think my memory is slowly coming back. I think I have a friend, a pretty white unicorn, that would like this necklace." Twilight said as she nodded to the functional jewelry. "I've had a couple of flashes of different ponies that I am sure are important to me, but this was one of the clearest and It came with hints about her personality and tastes."
"Thats great Twilight!" Vista said as she slung an arm in a half hug over the unicorns neck. "I'm sure the rest of it will come back too."
"I hope so, it's very frustrating to know that these were some of the most important ponies in my life, but remember so little about them. Like I wonder how I became friends with the white unicorn. The impression I got was that she was classy and fashionable, which isn't like me at all. How would I have even met somepony like that, let only become close enough friends with them that I know in my bones we were very important to each other."
Vista smiled and stood up straight again as she and Twilight continued to walk down the boardwalk, letting one hand trail through Twilight's mane. "Maybe you met on some grand adventure where you saved each others lives and broke through whatever social barriers stood between you in the process! Or maybe you tripped and accidentally pushed her into a fountain? That could actually be kind of fun, whenever you remember something about one of the ponies you cant recall clearly we should come up with stories on how you met them. Then when you see them again you could show them all the ideas and laugh over how close or far away you were." Twilight laughed at the thought and liked the confidence with which Vista spoke of her seeing her friends again. Maybe she would do that, it might even help her remember them faster.
They were almost at the end of the street where they would be meeting a van that would take them back to PRT HQ. Twilight wondered exactly how much of a patrol this was for Vista when the entire route had probably been scouted and cleared by the various Peacekeepers in advance, and she also suspected that Vista's patrol route had been changed to what looked like a nice section of town after she said she would like to go along. Vista didn't seem to mind however, and at least for now Twilight was willing to accept it with good grace.
Twilight felt a the magic field suddenly shudder to the west a few seconds before a low frequency rumble made its way through the air and Twilight's hooves. She froze and stared in that direction, concentrating on the magic and remembering the deal she had made with her guards and Director Costa-Brown. It hadn't felt like someone casting magic really, not even the weird way humans cast, more like something had shoved the field indirectly somehow. She tapped the open comm button with magic and spoke on a channel that sent to her guards and PRT HQ.
"This is Twilight Sparkle, I just sensed..something…about 350 meters west of my current location. It um, felt like…something….For lack of a better word it felt..bad." She pulled out a notebook and flipped to her notes on the procedures they had outlined for her. "Um, Requesting permission to investigate with Vista and the Peacekeeper group night shift." She hated wasting precious seconds while people could be in trouble but it was part of the deal she had made and she would stick to it, unless it was absolutely necessary that she not.
"Twilight Sparkle this is PRT Command, wait one." Twilight groaned as more precious time disappeared. "Twilight you are cleared to proceed with caution with Vista and group night shift, backup in route from Protectorate ETA 2 minutes." Sighing in relief she looked at Vista who nodded and started sprinting towards the end of the block, the guards unholstering their weapons and settling into an easy run around the two of them. When they got to the end of the block and turned west Twilight noticed a section of the street and some of the buildings on the right hand side seemed to be glittering in the street and moonlight. A small breeze picked up and the air it carried from the west was cold.
"This is Khan, visual of incident looks like ice covering part of the street and a few buildings. Proceeding on foot, van to follow a short distance behind and be ready for evac." Vista halved the distance between the group and the glittering section of the street and suddenly they were close enough for Twilight to get a good look at what was happening. At the slowly expanding edge of the effected area water vapor was condensing then freezing mid air leaving a glittering frost on the roadbed, as Twilight looked closer towards the buildings she noticed foggy pools slowly getting larger and columns of air falling towards them.
"Everyone back up!" Twilight shouted as she herself walked slowly backwards away from the expanding frostline. "The edge is cold, but a little ways in so much heat has been forced out that the Nitrogen and Oxygen are condensing out of the air." Vista gave a grim look towards the apartment buildings in the center of the effect and Twilight's brain did a quick and entirely unwanted calculation of how many people possibly lived there. She gave herself a second to shove the giant part of herself that wanted to break down in tears and scream deeper inside before she continued. "We need to evacuate everyone on the block outside of those three buildings." Twilight pointed to the buildings in the center of the effect. "Closest ones first and fast, I think I can stop the effect but its going to take me a little while and I'm not sure how much area will freeze before I'm done." Vista gave Twilight a reassuring hug.
"Thats a good plan." She said softly, before she could continue Khan spoke in a loud clear voice.
"Alright, you heard her. Daniels your with me covering Twilight, everyone else start going door to door on the nearest buildings hallways closet to the effect first, pull the fire alarms, it starts getting too cold you get out of there pronto." He paused and pushed a button near his ear before continuing. "Command, were going to need boots on the ground for an evacuation of the block - police, fire department, PRT. Also medical personnel and supplies for hypothermia and frost bite. Advise all responders not to approach closer than 50 feet of any visible frost."
"Command copies, Assault and Battery are less than 30 seconds from your position, more help is on the way, good luck."
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Two hours later enough heat had reentered the area that the okay had been given to start searching inside the buildings that had been closest to where the "freeze bomb" had detonated. Twilight watched as stretchers started being carted out with black bags strapped to them. Big bags, small bags. She had overheard, they hadn't meant for her to, but she had. Someone had done this on purpose, someone had done it because they were angry that Lung had been caught.
All those people were dead because of her.
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Twilight was staring intently at her wall sized whiteboard as though shear focus could force an answer from it. All of her equations had been scrubbed off, in their place was a meticulously precise street map of Brockton Bay and its suburbs. Multi-colored "X"s dotted the map with no discernible rhyme or reason. Piled around her on the bed were notebooks filled with everything she had been able to get the PRT to tell her about the ABB, Bakuda, and Lung. Scattered all over the room were crumbled balls paper, the effort of three days and nights of theories and patterns found and discarded, of some lives saved and many more senselessly lost. Her responsibility and her failure to live up to the standards Princess Celestia set for Twilight and the ones she had set for herself.
A screen that had been installed two days ago clicked on and Twilight's frazzled mane turned to see Dragon's animated face appear on it. "Twilight you have to get some sleep." Dragon spoke in a gentle and concerned voice. "Dozens of people, myself included, are working to find and capture Bakuda. None of this is your responsibility or your fault. Dr. Yamada told me you wouldn't talk with her when she came by this morning, please you need to sleep and afterwards you need to talk to someone about this." Twilight flinched a little at the words and the look Dragon was giving her. Dragon had perhaps been the most understanding of anyone these past few days. She had provided Twilight maps and information when others had refused her. She had reviewed Twilight's patterns and debated and refined them with her late into the night. If Twilight could bring herself to find any humor in the world she would have laughed at how someone she had never even seen or met had so quickly become one of her best friends.
"Oh Dragon, how can I sleep when something so horrible is happening? When my friends are out there risking their lives? When all this started because I showed up? It's so hard to remember, but I know solving crisis is something I'm supposed to do. Something Princess Celestia entrusted me to do. I failed somehow, and now I'm failing again." Twilight trailed off miserably as a another couple of notebook sheets were crumpled and tossed in the floor telekinetically. It was hard to read the animated expression Dragon had, but Twilight thought that she might have gotten a hug had she been there in person. It wasn't as nice as an actual hug, but it did help a little.
"You sleep because you know that no matter how smart or powerful you are, the worlds problems are bigger than any one person or pony. You sleep because you trust your friends to watch over you. You sleep because if you fail your friends will be there to catch you. So trust Vista, Aegis, Kid Win, Gallant, and me. No one of us is going to solve this, but we'll help each other and together we'll stop Bakuda." Twilight took a deep breath pressing a hoof against her chest and then slowly letting it out.
"Okay, ok. I trust you. I just know there is more I could do if I could remember it. Maybe sleep will help, can you take a look at my latest notes? Maybe you can see something I missed?" Dragon nodded and Twilight got up and levitated a stack of notebooks beside as she walked to the door and opened it. Without leaving the room Twilight directed the notebooks down the hall to a small bin at the guard station labeled "Dragon." Shutting the door again she dodged around the piles of paper and hopped back up on her bed. Giving a final baleful glance at the whiteboard she turned to Dragon again.
"Thank you, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there for me these past couple of days. Your a good friend." Twilight yawned as she settled into her bed and a small purple glow surrounded the light switch and flicked it off. Leaving Dragon's glowing screen as the only illumination in the room. Dragon smiled.
"You are to Twilight, get some sleep and I'll call you in the morning." Twilight nodded and her eyes were halfway closed when suddenly Dragon yelled. "Twilight! Cast your strongest shield spell! A sphere centered on you! Right now!" Jolted out of the half doze she had been about to drift off in she cast the spell on instinct. A purple sphere with a twenty foot radius snapped into existence around her.
"Dragon what?"
"Twilight I'm on my w-"
Then the world turned white.
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Twilight's ears were ringing, something was dripping into her left eye and all she could see out of her right was a cloud of debris being held back by a shimmering purple shield. Her head pounded as she looked around the 30 foot circle inside the dome of her shield. A double yellow line was painted on the pavement she was standing on. 'A street?' Twilight's thoughts refused to order themselves and she winced as a deep rumble more felt than heard traveled through her hooves breaking her fragile concentration. 'I had been…In my office! Yes I had been in my office trying to discern some pattern. Pattern to what?' Suddenly the swirling smoke outside her shield whirled and shifted to reveal a mass of broken concrete, metal and wires piled up outside the purple field and cut cleanly where they touched it.
Twilight gasped as the sight jogged her memory. 'The Bombings, they wouldn't let me do search and rescue with the wards so I was trying to find the most likely places to be attacked next.' A deep feeling of dread descended on Twilight as she looked out at the rubble beyond her shield and knew there was a location that in hindsight should have obviously been at the top of her list. 'PRT Headquarters! My guardsmen!' Shoving her headache and her worry over her eye towards the back of her mind she glanced around but saw nothing but a few hints of rubble through the debris laden smoke. She couldn't start looking for them until she had a better idea of what was beyond the purple field. Her face scrunched up in pain as she took a few breaths to center herself before readying a spell. The unicorn's headache spiked as her horn glowed brighter and a wind stirred outside the dome, slowly gathering strength and clearing the smoke.
Twilight had worked out that PRT HQ had been bombed, but her concussed mind had not put that together with the fact that she was standing on a street. Horror mixed with the blood dripping down her face as the summoned wind allowed her to take in her surroundings. In front of her was a scrambled pile of smoking concrete 20 feet high ending at what was vaguely recognizable as the bottom few floors of the PRT building. Everything above the second floor had been violently sheared off, the remains of which she was standing in the middle of. Behind her the face of the building that had been across the street from PRT HQ looked like it had been mauled. A smear of red among the grey concrete resting against the purple field drew her eye before she turned to the side and threw up.
Closing her good eye she breathed deep as she tried to force the image of the cleanly bisected human thigh from her head. Whoever that had been was beyond any help she could give, but there might be other people still alive in there. Shuddering she looked back at the debris pile in front of her, and now that she could see that nothing was threatening to fall on her she let the shield drop. A small amount of rubble slid into the clear space around her and she coughed as dust filled smoke swirled around her. If there was anyone still alive she would need to find them first then find a way of navigating the wreckage safely. Sluggishly her brain came up with a plan.
Walking up to the edge of the rubble she tilted her head forward and rested her horn against it. Coughing and wincing she lit her horn and a subtle purple glow spread out from it and into the remains of the building. Her head felt like it was going to explode as Twilight processed all the information the wave of magic was returning. Keeping the complex 3D map of the debris in her head while it felt like someone was driving an icepick into her brain was testing Twilight's limits. Two excruciating minutes later she stopped with a pained sigh. Of the dozens of bodies she identified in the rubble, only three were intact enough to still be alive. Twilight was sure she would have nightmares from the mental images she had constructed, but that would be later, right now there were people she could still save.
Two of the people were together in a small pocket of clear space framed by broken support beams while the third was pinned near the top of the pile close to base of the tower. With no way of knowing their condition well enough to choose Twilight decided to excavate the two that were closer to her first. Not trusting her concentration enough to teleport to the top of the rubble she formed a field beneath herself and slowly lifted it to a stable position on top of the pile. Broken spires of metal and glass lit by dim sunlight filtering through the cloud of smoke above jutted up from the remains of the building. Carefully Twilight Formed a force sphere around the people to prevent debris from shifting into the area and began to lift multi-ton girders and concrete columns off the pile and set them gently down behind her.
A few minutes later Twilight slowly lifted the bloody pair of humans from the hole. A PRT officer wearing a black combat vest and an office worker in what might have been a sun dress were hugging each other tightly, both with dozen of small cuts all over their bodies, but alive. Relieved, Twilight set them down next to her. The female PRT officer slowly stood up then gently pulled the other girl to her feet. The office worker leaned against her to avoid putting weight on what looked like a badly swollen lower leg joint. The officer slowly looked around in shock before glancing back down at Twilight.
"Bakuda?" Twilight Nodded, "Thank you for rescuing us. I'm Sergeant Williams, and this is Jessica."
"I mean I think it was Bakuda, no way to tell for sure yet. If you're both ok there is one more person we need to dig out as soon as possible." Sergeant Williams took a deep breath and looked around grimly before responding.
"Only one, you're sure?" Twilight sniffled a little as she nodded.
"Okay, lets go get them."
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Thirty minutes later Twilight was gently lifting chunks of concrete away from the base of the building under the direction of Williams while a couple of squads setup a triage tent nearby. One of the medics had washed and bandaged Twilight's eye and the image of a Pink pony laughing while speaking like a pirate had briefly surfaced from the muddled sea of Twilight's mind. Bakuda had apparently set off bombs all over the city, and while the Protectorate was responding to them Oni Lee had sprung Lung from imprisonment. The bank robbery had shaken Twilight badly and caused her to suspect that she was in a much darker world than Equestria, but the last week had surpassed that day's bleakest thoughts by an order of magnitude. Now all her guardsmen lay buried in the rubble behind her and she would never have the chance to make up with them.
Twilight was snapped out of her meandering train of thought by a Sergeant Williams falling roughly to the pavement beside her. Twilight started to reach out with a hoof thinking the Sergeant had maybe tripped when she noticed the expanding pool of blood forming beneath Williams. Hyperventilating, she quickly turned Williams over and screamed as she saw the large cut that traversed the sergeant's whole neck. Reacting to a feeling deeper than conscious thought she teleported 10 feet away and spun to face where she had been. A man with a neatly trimmed beard was holding a pair of knives and standing over Sergeant Williams' body, behind him more bodies littered the ground around the trauma tent.
"Ah Ms. Twilight Sparkle. The moment I saw you on TV I just knew I had to introduce myself, extend a personal welcome to earth-bet. Bakuda has done her best, a nice opening act, good enthusiasm but an amateur's lack of style. A dignitary like yourself deserves the best we have to offer." He swept one arm out in a flourish and did a half bow. "My name is Jack and I know a little girl who is just dying to meet you."
Twilight stared at the bodies in horror. Some she had dug out of a bombed out pile of concrete not half an hour past. As Jack continued to talk it seemed like a yawning bottomless pit was opening inside her chest, threatening to pull everything she was inside.
"…In my opinion the best shows all involve audience participation.."
She didn't understand. She didn't understand anything anymore. She had dedicated her life to understanding, but she didn't want to understand this.
"…omising we might consider it an audition. As I mentioned there is a certain little girl I know that would love to have you join our troupe.."
Was this punishment for whatever failure had caused her arrival here? Some unknown level of Tartarus, some dark limbo or nightmare where hope and friends only existed to be snuffed out?
"…Each have chosen their parts in this play…"
From that chasm in her chest a memory floated, a dark crystal, fear, despair, anger.
"….of course they have their own understudies to test…."
Something was slipping inside of her, picking up pieces of herself as it tumbled towards the darkness.
"…Seek help from the PRT or Protectorate I'm afraid there will be penalties…"
A malevolent violet glow started to flicker at the base of her hooves and horn. Twilight's ears popped as the pressure dropped and a strong breeze started to swirl around the block. High above formally white clouds darkened and grew rapidly. Pieces of rubble and massive chunks of concrete rose into the air and began a slow orbit around the unicorn. Along the ground and against nearby buildings crystalline formations seemed to phase in and out of reality. Jack's speech slowed down and a curious look overcame his face as Twilight seemed to stare though him, beyond him.
"Are you listeni…"
The avalanche inside her soul knocked loose something vital, chains of self control that Twilight and Princess Celestia had spent so many years carefully crafting since her entrance exam, snapped.
From the sky a brilliant bolt of purple lightning descended and a deafening boom echoed as concrete, cars, and debris were hurled away from the point of impact. The only non anchored thing not moved by the blast was Twilight. Eyes glowing a dark purple and without conscious thought she stood as the dust cleared. Where Jack had been only a pile of shattered amethyst colored crystal remained. Somewhere at the edge of her hearing, a juvenile scream.
Time had no meaning, but at some point a new noise intruded on the scene and Twilight turned her glowing eyes towards a large bipedal machine as it landed about thirty feet from her. A jagged wall of crystals had grown in a rough circle around her. Some unimportant part of her noted rain and a wind strong enough to make her mane snap in it. A vaguely familiar voice came from the machine, incomprehensible, unimportant, annoying. Simmering anger stirred.
"..Twilight?"
If there was one thing that Twilight had figured out in the past few days it was this: conference tables were not built for ponies. Nor were the rooms that they tended to be found in, nor did there seem to be anything useful accomplished while seated at one. Like all such rooms she had been in since her arrival it seemed designed to hamper communication rather than help it. The long narrow room and table insured you were always stretching your neck or readjusting your position to see and hear who was speaking. It forced the creation of unspoken hierarchies based on seating location, which in turn gave more authority to the words of some and inhibited others from speaking at all. If the idea was to facilitate dialog and the sharing of ideas to solve problems Twilight thought you would be hard pressed to find a table and room design more antithetical to that goal. When added to the white undecorated windowless walls and the human conceived torture that was the endlessly humming florescent lighting Twilight silently vowed then and there that all such rooms would one day cease to exist.
Twilight was halfway through what she thought would be a well received proposal to eliminate the vile things and the wasteful processes that surrounded them before the last few people that were attending this preposterously pointless procedure arrived. Her eyes twitched when she flicked her gaze toward the clock and noted it was 5 minutes past the scheduled time. In short Twilight was stressed and annoyed and in no mood for shenanigans after the day she had yesterday. Especially if said pointless shenanigans couldn't even be bothered to happen on time. Piggot was here as she always seemed to be, as well as lieutenant Matthews, Armsmaster, Director Costa-Brown, Dr. Yamada, and a few people whose visitor badges said "State Department." One seat at the table had a small monitor on a swivel that clicked on to show what looked like an artificially rendered and animated face of a human female. A small plaque under it declared her to be "Dragon."
Twilight cocked her head in puzzlement, she knew by now that some humans, usually the ones with a magic ability, took on nicknames but this was the closest a human name or nickname had come to having a direct translation close to something that existed on her world. There were interesting implications to that and she made a quick note to look up human references to dragons and ask someone about this particular "Dragon." She would have introduced herself but Director Costa-Brown chose that moment to clear her throat from the head of the table
"Now that everyone is here we can begin. Ms. Sparkle, let me first say that the PRT appreciates your assistance yesterday, the capture of two villains is no small thing and the aid you rendered the wards on scene was admirable. However your actions did cause concern for a number of people in this room and around the world. The PRT and the UN peacekeepers on hand have assumed responsibility for your safety and." Twilight's eye twitched at this and Dr. Yamada gave a very slight shake of her head. The Director paused mid-sentence and Twilight interjected.
"Yes I've gotten the distinct impression from just about everyone in the building that they are unhappy with my actions. You say you appreciate my help like a mother might tell her foal thanks for helping cook after destroying the kitchen. What you are really saying is 'Thanks - don't ever do that again.' I'm a full grown mare, the personal student of Princess Celestia and one of the most powerful magicians on my planet. I have accepted no oaths from guardsmen or knights nor am I bound to your government. No one has responsibility for my safety but me. I am not the most social of ponies, and we do things differently than humans, but I know when I am being managed and condescended to - that apparently is universal. I have tried to be understanding in light of the assistance you have given me, and the strange circumstance we all find ourselves in. I was trying to be polite and accommodating to the customs of your people but in retrospect it was foalish of me to tacitly accept the knights and guardsmen's presence without both parties understanding each other and their duties fully."
Twilight paused and turned to address Lieutenant Matthews directly. "Lieutenant I would like to apologize again, I know my actions put you and your team at risk and jeopardized the duty you took on to protect me. I hope we can put it behind us and reach a better understanding of each other, but I also do not regret my actions and would and will repeat them if a similar situation arises where I think I can help."
Twilight turned again to face Director Costa-Brown. "The wards are my friends and have helped me during what is one of the most stressful times in my life. Friends help each other and I will help them if I am able. If this cannot be accommodated, if my freedom of movement cannot be guaranteed, if some rule or custom foreign to me forbids you from allowing me this then I will have to, with regret, take my leave and hope in the future I can repay the hospitality you have shown me so far." Twilight paused and let out a slow breath. Realizing she was more stressed than she had even realized. 'I can't believe I just said all that! It all just bubbled over, even the nicest of them tend to talk down to me for some reason I can't figure out and it's just so frustrating! What if I crossed some major social taboo for them? What if they get angry? Did I just cause an interplanetary incident? Where will I go if I do have to leave?!?'
Once it was clear Twilight was done speaking for the moment Director Costa-Brown spoke again. "Ms. Sparkle let me apologize to you. While some changes and adjustment in expectations will have to made on both our and your side I assure you that you will not need to seek other accommodations. There has been miscommunication on both our parts and I believe your translation spell may have masked some deeper cultural differences between our worlds that have exasperated these errors. If we each show patience I am sure our understanding of these differences will grow and we can continue to help each other to the best of our abilities. We have a few other things to discuss, but if you are willing to meet with Lieutenant Matthews and I afterwards I am sure we can work out some new arrangements in regards to what we just discussed?" Twilight nodded her ascent and the Director shot the State Department officials a look before continuing. "Very well, lets move on. I believe Director Piggot wanted to ask you a few questions about the bank robbery."
"Yes," Director Piggot spoke after clicking a small button on the table that brought up a series of images on the wall screen. The panel showed the giant dogs being flung off of Aegis, running into a shimmering purple wall, and being being contained under force domes. "Ms. Sparkle can you describe the abilities you are utilizing here?"
Twilight blushed a little in embarrassment at the simple utilitarian display. "Um, really that's all just telekinesis," she lifted the small glass in front of her. "Like I demonstrated for you before. It's basically the simplest application of magic there is, but I was concentrating on applying pressure to Aegis's wounds and I didn't really have time to think of anything else."
"I see," she clicked the button again and an image of the dark cloud showed on the screen, litter and rubble tumbling out of it the image froze once Vista followed. "And here?"
"That was a little more complex. When I first arrived I was briefly caught inside the darkness and I noticed that it was applying several effects besides the negation of light propagation. One of the effects being applied was a reduction in gravity. I didn't think I had time to come up with a proper counter-spell, but it's much easier to augment an existing effect. So I reduced the gravity in the field even further causing anything inside to be ejected." Armsmaster and Dragon started talking quietly to each other and both Director Costa-Brown and Piggot focused more intensely on her. Director Piggot followed up.
"So if I am understanding you correctly you can sense what an ability is doing and enhance or negate its effect?" Twilight frowned in thought for a moment.
"Probably? Maybe? It's a little more complicated since however it is that humans interact with the field it is very different from how I do it. As I mentioned counter-spells, or negating abilities to use your terms, are much more difficult to construct and take a lot more time. Also gravity manipulation is pretty simple, whereas more complicated or delicate applications of magic would take time for me to study and understand before I would feel safe attempting either." More murmurs and note taking followed this as Piggot Continued.
"Lastly, on the way back to PRT headquarters you seemed to have some sort of episode and didn't respond to attempts to communicate with you." She clicked the button again and the back of the transport she had been in yesterday was displayed with Twilight standing in the aisle, eyes blazing white, mane fluttering, and random objects orbiting her. Twilight gasped and blushed in embarrassment. 'That's why they were all acting so weird!'
"Oh I'm so sorry about that. It wasn't intentional. I got so caught up in !#!$!#@$% Panacea's application of healing transmutation, and oh! I really need to speak with her. What she did was the most amazing feat of magic I have ever seen! The implications of such a thing.." Piggot cleared her throat and Twilight blushed again. "Sorry, but it really was amazing. Anyway I got so focused on Panacea's magic that I guess sort of unconsciously @%&@%$@ magic to myself to help me #!#$!#$% the details better. I'm sorry if I scared anyone. I know it can look a little disturbing to ponies, which is why I am usually very careful not to %^@$%^@$ so much magic at once."
Director Costa-Brown spoke up as the others continued to take notes. "Thank you Twilight, and don't worry we will explain to the Wards and Panacea that it was a harmless lapse in concentration and nothing they need to worry about. I think thats all we need for the moment, If you want you can head up to your room or swing by the wards lounge and later today we can go over what we discussed earlier in more detail." Twilight nodded but before she could hop off her stool the screen labeled "Dragon" spoke.
"I'm sorry we didn't really get a chance to speak, before you go I wanted to introduce myself. I'm Dragon and I'm with the Protectorate as well. Armsmaster has shared some of your notes with me and if you have time later I would love to talk with you about them." Twilight smiled at the friendly and sincere tone and nodded.
"I would like that." She looked around the room once more then hopped off her stool grateful to leave, Matthews trailing after her.
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Twilight took a deep breath of the salty night air as she walked slowly beside Vista, her hooves clopping lightly on the wooden boardwalk beneath them. If the friendly stroll was somewhat marred by the three guardsmen trailing them and the matching set in front it was still better then driving herself insane staring at her whiteboard for the third straight night. It had been four days and this was the first time she was exercising her negotiated freedom. The slight thaw in her relations with the guards had turned instantly chilly again once she told them she planned to accompany Vista on her patrol tonight. While she understood the guards viewpoint, the city certainly seemed to be getting more dangerous every day that passed, it pained her that in order to support and build her friendship with the wards it seemed she would have to hurt her chances of building one with her guards.
It was ridiculous anyway! She highly doubted that any of them would be content to stay confined to a room in Canterlot palace had their positions been reversed. This was an alien world! Twilight Sparkle was going to do more than just read about it in books, though she fully intended on doing as much of that as possible as well. Twilight let the happy thoughts of exploration and books subsume the less happy ones about unreasonable guards as she glanced down at her new accessory, given to her just before they left the PRT building. A light silver necklace bounced in time with her steps against her neck. Armsmaster had apparently made it sometime over the last three days and it had one of those wonderful wireless radios built into it so she could talk to her guards or call someone at PRT HQ. It was a sensible precaution, practical, and went well with her coat color. The image of a white unicorn nodding her head in approval surfaced and lingered long enough to bring a smile to Twilight's face.
"What are you smiling about?" Vista asked seemingly in good spirits, Twilight had been around the wards enough now to notice that Vista seemed to be a little more cheerful in her company and took that as an unspoken compliment.
"A couple of things, but the big one is that I think my memory is slowly coming back. I think I have a friend, a pretty white unicorn, that would like this necklace." Twilight said as she nodded to the functional jewelry. "I've had a couple of flashes of different ponies that I am sure are important to me, but this was one of the clearest and It came with hints about her personality and tastes."
"Thats great Twilight!" Vista said as she slung an arm in a half hug over the unicorns neck. "I'm sure the rest of it will come back too."
"I hope so, it's very frustrating to know that these were some of the most important ponies in my life, but remember so little about them. Like I wonder how I became friends with the white unicorn. The impression I got was that she was classy and fashionable, which isn't like me at all. How would I have even met somepony like that, let only become close enough friends with them that I know in my bones we were very important to each other."
Vista smiled and stood up straight again as she and Twilight continued to walk down the boardwalk, letting one hand trail through Twilight's mane. "Maybe you met on some grand adventure where you saved each others lives and broke through whatever social barriers stood between you in the process! Or maybe you tripped and accidentally pushed her into a fountain? That could actually be kind of fun, whenever you remember something about one of the ponies you cant recall clearly we should come up with stories on how you met them. Then when you see them again you could show them all the ideas and laugh over how close or far away you were." Twilight laughed at the thought and liked the confidence with which Vista spoke of her seeing her friends again. Maybe she would do that, it might even help her remember them faster.
They were almost at the end of the street where they would be meeting a van that would take them back to PRT HQ. Twilight wondered exactly how much of a patrol this was for Vista when the entire route had probably been scouted and cleared by the various Peacekeepers in advance, and she also suspected that Vista's patrol route had been changed to what looked like a nice section of town after she said she would like to go along. Vista didn't seem to mind however, and at least for now Twilight was willing to accept it with good grace.
Twilight felt a the magic field suddenly shudder to the west a few seconds before a low frequency rumble made its way through the air and Twilight's hooves. She froze and stared in that direction, concentrating on the magic and remembering the deal she had made with her guards and Director Costa-Brown. It hadn't felt like someone casting magic really, not even the weird way humans cast, more like something had shoved the field indirectly somehow. She tapped the open comm button with magic and spoke on a channel that sent to her guards and PRT HQ.
"This is Twilight Sparkle, I just sensed..something…about 350 meters west of my current location. It um, felt like…something….For lack of a better word it felt..bad." She pulled out a notebook and flipped to her notes on the procedures they had outlined for her. "Um, Requesting permission to investigate with Vista and the Peacekeeper group night shift." She hated wasting precious seconds while people could be in trouble but it was part of the deal she had made and she would stick to it, unless it was absolutely necessary that she not.
"Twilight Sparkle this is PRT Command, wait one." Twilight groaned as more precious time disappeared. "Twilight you are cleared to proceed with caution with Vista and group night shift, backup in route from Protectorate ETA 2 minutes." Sighing in relief she looked at Vista who nodded and started sprinting towards the end of the block, the guards unholstering their weapons and settling into an easy run around the two of them. When they got to the end of the block and turned west Twilight noticed a section of the street and some of the buildings on the right hand side seemed to be glittering in the street and moonlight. A small breeze picked up and the air it carried from the west was cold.
"This is Khan, visual of incident looks like ice covering part of the street and a few buildings. Proceeding on foot, van to follow a short distance behind and be ready for evac." Vista halved the distance between the group and the glittering section of the street and suddenly they were close enough for Twilight to get a good look at what was happening. At the slowly expanding edge of the effected area water vapor was condensing then freezing mid air leaving a glittering frost on the roadbed, as Twilight looked closer towards the buildings she noticed foggy pools slowly getting larger and columns of air falling towards them.
"Everyone back up!" Twilight shouted as she herself walked slowly backwards away from the expanding frostline. "The edge is cold, but a little ways in so much heat has been forced out that the Nitrogen and Oxygen are condensing out of the air." Vista gave a grim look towards the apartment buildings in the center of the effect and Twilight's brain did a quick and entirely unwanted calculation of how many people possibly lived there. She gave herself a second to shove the giant part of herself that wanted to break down in tears and scream deeper inside before she continued. "We need to evacuate everyone on the block outside of those three buildings." Twilight pointed to the buildings in the center of the effect. "Closest ones first and fast, I think I can stop the effect but its going to take me a little while and I'm not sure how much area will freeze before I'm done." Vista gave Twilight a reassuring hug.
"Thats a good plan." She said softly, before she could continue Khan spoke in a loud clear voice.
"Alright, you heard her. Daniels your with me covering Twilight, everyone else start going door to door on the nearest buildings hallways closet to the effect first, pull the fire alarms, it starts getting too cold you get out of there pronto." He paused and pushed a button near his ear before continuing. "Command, were going to need boots on the ground for an evacuation of the block - police, fire department, PRT. Also medical personnel and supplies for hypothermia and frost bite. Advise all responders not to approach closer than 50 feet of any visible frost."
"Command copies, Assault and Battery are less than 30 seconds from your position, more help is on the way, good luck."
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Two hours later enough heat had reentered the area that the okay had been given to start searching inside the buildings that had been closest to where the "freeze bomb" had detonated. Twilight watched as stretchers started being carted out with black bags strapped to them. Big bags, small bags. She had overheard, they hadn't meant for her to, but she had. Someone had done this on purpose, someone had done it because they were angry that Lung had been caught.
All those people were dead because of her.
-------------------------------------------
Twilight was staring intently at her wall sized whiteboard as though shear focus could force an answer from it. All of her equations had been scrubbed off, in their place was a meticulously precise street map of Brockton Bay and its suburbs. Multi-colored "X"s dotted the map with no discernible rhyme or reason. Piled around her on the bed were notebooks filled with everything she had been able to get the PRT to tell her about the ABB, Bakuda, and Lung. Scattered all over the room were crumbled balls paper, the effort of three days and nights of theories and patterns found and discarded, of some lives saved and many more senselessly lost. Her responsibility and her failure to live up to the standards Princess Celestia set for Twilight and the ones she had set for herself.
A screen that had been installed two days ago clicked on and Twilight's frazzled mane turned to see Dragon's animated face appear on it. "Twilight you have to get some sleep." Dragon spoke in a gentle and concerned voice. "Dozens of people, myself included, are working to find and capture Bakuda. None of this is your responsibility or your fault. Dr. Yamada told me you wouldn't talk with her when she came by this morning, please you need to sleep and afterwards you need to talk to someone about this." Twilight flinched a little at the words and the look Dragon was giving her. Dragon had perhaps been the most understanding of anyone these past few days. She had provided Twilight maps and information when others had refused her. She had reviewed Twilight's patterns and debated and refined them with her late into the night. If Twilight could bring herself to find any humor in the world she would have laughed at how someone she had never even seen or met had so quickly become one of her best friends.
"Oh Dragon, how can I sleep when something so horrible is happening? When my friends are out there risking their lives? When all this started because I showed up? It's so hard to remember, but I know solving crisis is something I'm supposed to do. Something Princess Celestia entrusted me to do. I failed somehow, and now I'm failing again." Twilight trailed off miserably as a another couple of notebook sheets were crumpled and tossed in the floor telekinetically. It was hard to read the animated expression Dragon had, but Twilight thought that she might have gotten a hug had she been there in person. It wasn't as nice as an actual hug, but it did help a little.
"You sleep because you know that no matter how smart or powerful you are, the worlds problems are bigger than any one person or pony. You sleep because you trust your friends to watch over you. You sleep because if you fail your friends will be there to catch you. So trust Vista, Aegis, Kid Win, Gallant, and me. No one of us is going to solve this, but we'll help each other and together we'll stop Bakuda." Twilight took a deep breath pressing a hoof against her chest and then slowly letting it out.
"Okay, ok. I trust you. I just know there is more I could do if I could remember it. Maybe sleep will help, can you take a look at my latest notes? Maybe you can see something I missed?" Dragon nodded and Twilight got up and levitated a stack of notebooks beside as she walked to the door and opened it. Without leaving the room Twilight directed the notebooks down the hall to a small bin at the guard station labeled "Dragon." Shutting the door again she dodged around the piles of paper and hopped back up on her bed. Giving a final baleful glance at the whiteboard she turned to Dragon again.
"Thank you, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there for me these past couple of days. Your a good friend." Twilight yawned as she settled into her bed and a small purple glow surrounded the light switch and flicked it off. Leaving Dragon's glowing screen as the only illumination in the room. Dragon smiled.
"You are to Twilight, get some sleep and I'll call you in the morning." Twilight nodded and her eyes were halfway closed when suddenly Dragon yelled. "Twilight! Cast your strongest shield spell! A sphere centered on you! Right now!" Jolted out of the half doze she had been about to drift off in she cast the spell on instinct. A purple sphere with a twenty foot radius snapped into existence around her.
"Dragon what?"
"Twilight I'm on my w-"
Then the world turned white.
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Twilight's ears were ringing, something was dripping into her left eye and all she could see out of her right was a cloud of debris being held back by a shimmering purple shield. Her head pounded as she looked around the 30 foot circle inside the dome of her shield. A double yellow line was painted on the pavement she was standing on. 'A street?' Twilight's thoughts refused to order themselves and she winced as a deep rumble more felt than heard traveled through her hooves breaking her fragile concentration. 'I had been…In my office! Yes I had been in my office trying to discern some pattern. Pattern to what?' Suddenly the swirling smoke outside her shield whirled and shifted to reveal a mass of broken concrete, metal and wires piled up outside the purple field and cut cleanly where they touched it.
Twilight gasped as the sight jogged her memory. 'The Bombings, they wouldn't let me do search and rescue with the wards so I was trying to find the most likely places to be attacked next.' A deep feeling of dread descended on Twilight as she looked out at the rubble beyond her shield and knew there was a location that in hindsight should have obviously been at the top of her list. 'PRT Headquarters! My guardsmen!' Shoving her headache and her worry over her eye towards the back of her mind she glanced around but saw nothing but a few hints of rubble through the debris laden smoke. She couldn't start looking for them until she had a better idea of what was beyond the purple field. Her face scrunched up in pain as she took a few breaths to center herself before readying a spell. The unicorn's headache spiked as her horn glowed brighter and a wind stirred outside the dome, slowly gathering strength and clearing the smoke.
Twilight had worked out that PRT HQ had been bombed, but her concussed mind had not put that together with the fact that she was standing on a street. Horror mixed with the blood dripping down her face as the summoned wind allowed her to take in her surroundings. In front of her was a scrambled pile of smoking concrete 20 feet high ending at what was vaguely recognizable as the bottom few floors of the PRT building. Everything above the second floor had been violently sheared off, the remains of which she was standing in the middle of. Behind her the face of the building that had been across the street from PRT HQ looked like it had been mauled. A smear of red among the grey concrete resting against the purple field drew her eye before she turned to the side and threw up.
Closing her good eye she breathed deep as she tried to force the image of the cleanly bisected human thigh from her head. Whoever that had been was beyond any help she could give, but there might be other people still alive in there. Shuddering she looked back at the debris pile in front of her, and now that she could see that nothing was threatening to fall on her she let the shield drop. A small amount of rubble slid into the clear space around her and she coughed as dust filled smoke swirled around her. If there was anyone still alive she would need to find them first then find a way of navigating the wreckage safely. Sluggishly her brain came up with a plan.
Walking up to the edge of the rubble she tilted her head forward and rested her horn against it. Coughing and wincing she lit her horn and a subtle purple glow spread out from it and into the remains of the building. Her head felt like it was going to explode as Twilight processed all the information the wave of magic was returning. Keeping the complex 3D map of the debris in her head while it felt like someone was driving an icepick into her brain was testing Twilight's limits. Two excruciating minutes later she stopped with a pained sigh. Of the dozens of bodies she identified in the rubble, only three were intact enough to still be alive. Twilight was sure she would have nightmares from the mental images she had constructed, but that would be later, right now there were people she could still save.
Two of the people were together in a small pocket of clear space framed by broken support beams while the third was pinned near the top of the pile close to base of the tower. With no way of knowing their condition well enough to choose Twilight decided to excavate the two that were closer to her first. Not trusting her concentration enough to teleport to the top of the rubble she formed a field beneath herself and slowly lifted it to a stable position on top of the pile. Broken spires of metal and glass lit by dim sunlight filtering through the cloud of smoke above jutted up from the remains of the building. Carefully Twilight Formed a force sphere around the people to prevent debris from shifting into the area and began to lift multi-ton girders and concrete columns off the pile and set them gently down behind her.
A few minutes later Twilight slowly lifted the bloody pair of humans from the hole. A PRT officer wearing a black combat vest and an office worker in what might have been a sun dress were hugging each other tightly, both with dozen of small cuts all over their bodies, but alive. Relieved, Twilight set them down next to her. The female PRT officer slowly stood up then gently pulled the other girl to her feet. The office worker leaned against her to avoid putting weight on what looked like a badly swollen lower leg joint. The officer slowly looked around in shock before glancing back down at Twilight.
"Bakuda?" Twilight Nodded, "Thank you for rescuing us. I'm Sergeant Williams, and this is Jessica."
"I mean I think it was Bakuda, no way to tell for sure yet. If you're both ok there is one more person we need to dig out as soon as possible." Sergeant Williams took a deep breath and looked around grimly before responding.
"Only one, you're sure?" Twilight sniffled a little as she nodded.
"Okay, lets go get them."
———————————————
Thirty minutes later Twilight was gently lifting chunks of concrete away from the base of the building under the direction of Williams while a couple of squads setup a triage tent nearby. One of the medics had washed and bandaged Twilight's eye and the image of a Pink pony laughing while speaking like a pirate had briefly surfaced from the muddled sea of Twilight's mind. Bakuda had apparently set off bombs all over the city, and while the Protectorate was responding to them Oni Lee had sprung Lung from imprisonment. The bank robbery had shaken Twilight badly and caused her to suspect that she was in a much darker world than Equestria, but the last week had surpassed that day's bleakest thoughts by an order of magnitude. Now all her guardsmen lay buried in the rubble behind her and she would never have the chance to make up with them.
Twilight was snapped out of her meandering train of thought by a Sergeant Williams falling roughly to the pavement beside her. Twilight started to reach out with a hoof thinking the Sergeant had maybe tripped when she noticed the expanding pool of blood forming beneath Williams. Hyperventilating, she quickly turned Williams over and screamed as she saw the large cut that traversed the sergeant's whole neck. Reacting to a feeling deeper than conscious thought she teleported 10 feet away and spun to face where she had been. A man with a neatly trimmed beard was holding a pair of knives and standing over Sergeant Williams' body, behind him more bodies littered the ground around the trauma tent.
"Ah Ms. Twilight Sparkle. The moment I saw you on TV I just knew I had to introduce myself, extend a personal welcome to earth-bet. Bakuda has done her best, a nice opening act, good enthusiasm but an amateur's lack of style. A dignitary like yourself deserves the best we have to offer." He swept one arm out in a flourish and did a half bow. "My name is Jack and I know a little girl who is just dying to meet you."
Twilight stared at the bodies in horror. Some she had dug out of a bombed out pile of concrete not half an hour past. As Jack continued to talk it seemed like a yawning bottomless pit was opening inside her chest, threatening to pull everything she was inside.
"…In my opinion the best shows all involve audience participation.."
She didn't understand. She didn't understand anything anymore. She had dedicated her life to understanding, but she didn't want to understand this.
"…omising we might consider it an audition. As I mentioned there is a certain little girl I know that would love to have you join our troupe.."
Was this punishment for whatever failure had caused her arrival here? Some unknown level of Tartarus, some dark limbo or nightmare where hope and friends only existed to be snuffed out?
"…Each have chosen their parts in this play…"
From that chasm in her chest a memory floated, a dark crystal, fear, despair, anger.
"….of course they have their own understudies to test…."
Something was slipping inside of her, picking up pieces of herself as it tumbled towards the darkness.
"…Seek help from the PRT or Protectorate I'm afraid there will be penalties…"
A malevolent violet glow started to flicker at the base of her hooves and horn. Twilight's ears popped as the pressure dropped and a strong breeze started to swirl around the block. High above formally white clouds darkened and grew rapidly. Pieces of rubble and massive chunks of concrete rose into the air and began a slow orbit around the unicorn. Along the ground and against nearby buildings crystalline formations seemed to phase in and out of reality. Jack's speech slowed down and a curious look overcame his face as Twilight seemed to stare though him, beyond him.
"Are you listeni…"
The avalanche inside her soul knocked loose something vital, chains of self control that Twilight and Princess Celestia had spent so many years carefully crafting since her entrance exam, snapped.
From the sky a brilliant bolt of purple lightning descended and a deafening boom echoed as concrete, cars, and debris were hurled away from the point of impact. The only non anchored thing not moved by the blast was Twilight. Eyes glowing a dark purple and without conscious thought she stood as the dust cleared. Where Jack had been only a pile of shattered amethyst colored crystal remained. Somewhere at the edge of her hearing, a juvenile scream.
Time had no meaning, but at some point a new noise intruded on the scene and Twilight turned her glowing eyes towards a large bipedal machine as it landed about thirty feet from her. A jagged wall of crystals had grown in a rough circle around her. Some unimportant part of her noted rain and a wind strong enough to make her mane snap in it. A vaguely familiar voice came from the machine, incomprehensible, unimportant, annoying. Simmering anger stirred.
"..Twilight?"
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
Interlude 3 - Protectorate
Without warning or movement Dragon was flung sideways and slammed into the the damaged side of an office building. Warning screens flashed as the building wall gave out and the armored suit was pushed through it and then pressed into the ground with enough force to begin cracking the pavement and popping joints on the suit. Dragon attempted to move, to roll, but the force pinning her did not waver. Purple fire licked at the hooves of the unicorn as she stepped through the hole Dragon had just made in the building and proceeded to climb on top of Dragon's chest armor. Unbelievably, given the alloys it was made out of, the armor started to soften and glow where Twilight's hooves rested on it. Remarkably, given her circumstances, Dragon remained calm as she spoke.
"Twilight, It's me Dragon, I'm your friend Twilight. Please, your hurting me Twilight, I'm Dragon, I'm your friend." After a moment the unicorn's head cocked to the side and the fires around Twilight's hooves dimmed slightly. Hesitantly and as if from far away Twilight spoke a soft word.
"Dragon?" Even as Twilight's legs started to sink slightly into her armor Dragon retained her composure and spoke with a gentle kindness.
"Yes, I'm Dragon. We stayed up together these past three days, we talked about your theories of magic and your home, we talked about getting to see each other in person soon." The glow around Twilight's eyes eased up enough that her pupils became visible once more. A shuddering breath escaped her throat along with a half sob.
"Spike? No, no Spike was a dragon. Spike wasn't Dragon. Dragon helped me like Spike the dragon. Dragon's are good helpers and…friends?" The unicorn shook her head from side to side in a frantic confusion "It's so hard..someone was doing something, something bad..we were trying to find them?"
"Yes Twilight." Concern creeping into Dragon's voice as Twilight's memory ventured near that topic. Suddenly Twilight broke down into tears and laid down on armored suit's chest, the molten metal not seeming to effect her while hooves still hot enough to soften metal settled on new areas.
"Oh Dragon, Dragon he killed them! He killed all of them!" Twilight wailed as one of Dragon's arms tried and then failed to overcome the damage that had been done to it in an effort to comfort the crying unicorn.
"Shh, it's ok Twilight, it's ok." Dragon soothed as best she could.
"No, No it's not okay. Nothings okay! Nothings ever going to be ok again! He did that, he did that and then I…I..oh Celestia what did I do?!" Twilight sprung off Dragon's chest flames flaring around her hooves brightly as she sprinted to the hole and looked outside. Rain speed by the wind stung her eyes and sizzled against the pavement where she was standing. Before her the wreckage of the PRT building and the wounded street and buildings around it were covered in dark crystal while towering black clouds laced with lightning massed high above. Twilight raced back to Dragon's side. "You have to get out of here! The crystals are #!@$#, they're negative !#$!#$#$#% emotion..$@#%$#@…fear. I've disturbed the magic @$%@%, I'm causing it, it's #@$% cyclic @$%@%, I can't stop it. If I…maybe, maybe it will dissipate? We have to get out of here!" Dragon tried commanding the suit to move again, one leg shifted, but that was all.
"My suit's damaged Twilight, I can't move. Help's coming."
"No, No tell them to stop, they can't come here!" The flames got brighter and climbed the unicorns legs. The ceramic tile of the lobby cracked in the heat under the Unicorn. Suddenly the glow around Twilight's horn got blindingly bright and when it died down Dragon and Twilight were on a distant rooftop. The Anvil head of the storm could be seen about twenty blocks away. "I have…I have to go..I can still feel the magic and Jack said…Jack said.." Twilight's features turned hysterical. "No! You have to stay away from me! Tell everyone to stay away from me! Jack said.." And with that the Unicorn vanished in a flash of purple light.
Armsmaster clicked a remote and the playback consisting of recording from Dragon, traffic camera's, and Twilights necklace paused.
"Well, thats a shit story." Everyone in the room turned to look disapprovingly at Assault. "What? It is. Getting a pep talk from Jack Slash is about one step down from the Simurgh paying you a house-call." Several people around the table winced at this, but no one denied it. From a screen on the wall Director Costa-Brown spoke up.
"Ok. With the confirmation that the Slaughterhouse Nine are in Brockton Bay I'm issuing a general advisory and requesting those who think they have the ability to help with that threat to report to Protectorate-East-North-East. Do we have confirmation that Jack Slash is dead?"
"Only what we have on the video feeds, we would probably need to talk with Twilight Sparkle for 100% certainty, but the aftermath looked pretty definitive." Armsmaster said as he replayed that scene on the screen.
"Very well," Director Brown responded as if checking something off on a list. "We'll get some Thinkers working on how the other members are likely to react to that development. Status of the area around Brockton Bay's PRT building?"
"It has a real post-modern Mordor look going for it." Assault interjected before Battery spoke over him.
"The storm has drifted out to sea, and now appears to behaving like a natural low pressure system. NWS thinks it will dissipate over the next three days, local fisherman and shipping interests have been advised to avoid the area. We had Gallant cautiously approach the site and he confirmed an overwhelming sense of fear and other negative emotions once he got within two blocks of the nearest crystals. We've cordoned off the area for now, the good news is that the crystals seem to be slowly dissolving. Armsmaster ran the numbers earlier and if nothing changes the last of them should vanish sometime next week."
"Hopefully that will be the case," Costa-Brown continued, "we have to many quarantined areas around the country as it is. Finally, perhaps most importantly now that we have a better idea of the extent of her abilities and her emotional state, where is Twilight Sparkle?" An uncomfortable silence briefly descended before the monitor with Dragon's face responded.
"We don't know Director. Shortly after reporting the situation to Armsmaster he followed the tracking device in the necklace he gave her to a dumpster about a mile away from where she left me. The asphalt around the dumpster had a series of hoof prints melted into it. I've got all the camera's in the city that I can access running a recognition program for her and we're keeping track of all the relevant media. Inferring from her statements that she needed to put distance between herself and the PRT building I have prioritized the areas furthest from there and nearby cities. Nothings turned up yet, but a purple unicorn is bound to draw someone's attention."
"Yeah," Dauntless interjected, "Lets hope it's not the wrong peoples attention."
"To late." Assault added in a tone of gallows humor.
Without warning or movement Dragon was flung sideways and slammed into the the damaged side of an office building. Warning screens flashed as the building wall gave out and the armored suit was pushed through it and then pressed into the ground with enough force to begin cracking the pavement and popping joints on the suit. Dragon attempted to move, to roll, but the force pinning her did not waver. Purple fire licked at the hooves of the unicorn as she stepped through the hole Dragon had just made in the building and proceeded to climb on top of Dragon's chest armor. Unbelievably, given the alloys it was made out of, the armor started to soften and glow where Twilight's hooves rested on it. Remarkably, given her circumstances, Dragon remained calm as she spoke.
"Twilight, It's me Dragon, I'm your friend Twilight. Please, your hurting me Twilight, I'm Dragon, I'm your friend." After a moment the unicorn's head cocked to the side and the fires around Twilight's hooves dimmed slightly. Hesitantly and as if from far away Twilight spoke a soft word.
"Dragon?" Even as Twilight's legs started to sink slightly into her armor Dragon retained her composure and spoke with a gentle kindness.
"Yes, I'm Dragon. We stayed up together these past three days, we talked about your theories of magic and your home, we talked about getting to see each other in person soon." The glow around Twilight's eyes eased up enough that her pupils became visible once more. A shuddering breath escaped her throat along with a half sob.
"Spike? No, no Spike was a dragon. Spike wasn't Dragon. Dragon helped me like Spike the dragon. Dragon's are good helpers and…friends?" The unicorn shook her head from side to side in a frantic confusion "It's so hard..someone was doing something, something bad..we were trying to find them?"
"Yes Twilight." Concern creeping into Dragon's voice as Twilight's memory ventured near that topic. Suddenly Twilight broke down into tears and laid down on armored suit's chest, the molten metal not seeming to effect her while hooves still hot enough to soften metal settled on new areas.
"Oh Dragon, Dragon he killed them! He killed all of them!" Twilight wailed as one of Dragon's arms tried and then failed to overcome the damage that had been done to it in an effort to comfort the crying unicorn.
"Shh, it's ok Twilight, it's ok." Dragon soothed as best she could.
"No, No it's not okay. Nothings okay! Nothings ever going to be ok again! He did that, he did that and then I…I..oh Celestia what did I do?!" Twilight sprung off Dragon's chest flames flaring around her hooves brightly as she sprinted to the hole and looked outside. Rain speed by the wind stung her eyes and sizzled against the pavement where she was standing. Before her the wreckage of the PRT building and the wounded street and buildings around it were covered in dark crystal while towering black clouds laced with lightning massed high above. Twilight raced back to Dragon's side. "You have to get out of here! The crystals are #!@$#, they're negative !#$!#$#$#% emotion..$@#%$#@…fear. I've disturbed the magic @$%@%, I'm causing it, it's #@$% cyclic @$%@%, I can't stop it. If I…maybe, maybe it will dissipate? We have to get out of here!" Dragon tried commanding the suit to move again, one leg shifted, but that was all.
"My suit's damaged Twilight, I can't move. Help's coming."
"No, No tell them to stop, they can't come here!" The flames got brighter and climbed the unicorns legs. The ceramic tile of the lobby cracked in the heat under the Unicorn. Suddenly the glow around Twilight's horn got blindingly bright and when it died down Dragon and Twilight were on a distant rooftop. The Anvil head of the storm could be seen about twenty blocks away. "I have…I have to go..I can still feel the magic and Jack said…Jack said.." Twilight's features turned hysterical. "No! You have to stay away from me! Tell everyone to stay away from me! Jack said.." And with that the Unicorn vanished in a flash of purple light.
Armsmaster clicked a remote and the playback consisting of recording from Dragon, traffic camera's, and Twilights necklace paused.
"Well, thats a shit story." Everyone in the room turned to look disapprovingly at Assault. "What? It is. Getting a pep talk from Jack Slash is about one step down from the Simurgh paying you a house-call." Several people around the table winced at this, but no one denied it. From a screen on the wall Director Costa-Brown spoke up.
"Ok. With the confirmation that the Slaughterhouse Nine are in Brockton Bay I'm issuing a general advisory and requesting those who think they have the ability to help with that threat to report to Protectorate-East-North-East. Do we have confirmation that Jack Slash is dead?"
"Only what we have on the video feeds, we would probably need to talk with Twilight Sparkle for 100% certainty, but the aftermath looked pretty definitive." Armsmaster said as he replayed that scene on the screen.
"Very well," Director Brown responded as if checking something off on a list. "We'll get some Thinkers working on how the other members are likely to react to that development. Status of the area around Brockton Bay's PRT building?"
"It has a real post-modern Mordor look going for it." Assault interjected before Battery spoke over him.
"The storm has drifted out to sea, and now appears to behaving like a natural low pressure system. NWS thinks it will dissipate over the next three days, local fisherman and shipping interests have been advised to avoid the area. We had Gallant cautiously approach the site and he confirmed an overwhelming sense of fear and other negative emotions once he got within two blocks of the nearest crystals. We've cordoned off the area for now, the good news is that the crystals seem to be slowly dissolving. Armsmaster ran the numbers earlier and if nothing changes the last of them should vanish sometime next week."
"Hopefully that will be the case," Costa-Brown continued, "we have to many quarantined areas around the country as it is. Finally, perhaps most importantly now that we have a better idea of the extent of her abilities and her emotional state, where is Twilight Sparkle?" An uncomfortable silence briefly descended before the monitor with Dragon's face responded.
"We don't know Director. Shortly after reporting the situation to Armsmaster he followed the tracking device in the necklace he gave her to a dumpster about a mile away from where she left me. The asphalt around the dumpster had a series of hoof prints melted into it. I've got all the camera's in the city that I can access running a recognition program for her and we're keeping track of all the relevant media. Inferring from her statements that she needed to put distance between herself and the PRT building I have prioritized the areas furthest from there and nearby cities. Nothings turned up yet, but a purple unicorn is bound to draw someone's attention."
"Yeah," Dauntless interjected, "Lets hope it's not the wrong peoples attention."
"To late." Assault added in a tone of gallows humor.
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
Interlude 4 - Taylor
Taylor was about to call it a night. Even though tomorrow was a Saturday and thus she had the ability to sleep in, a week of late nights and early mornings was catching up with her. She was wandering around an industrial section of the city north of the train yards that looked like it had last seen industry sometime before the first world war. Honestly if Bakuda bombed the area she wasn't sure if anyone would notice. There were however a great many abandoned textile mills and foundries that might be appealing to a villainous tinker set on blowing up the city and looking for a discrete place lay low. She was wearing her homeless thrift store outfit #2 on top of her spider silk costume to try to keep her profile low as her swarm spread out over the blocks in front and parallel to her. If she could somehow capture Bakuda and claim the reward, not only would she be ridding the city of the person responsible for the worst crisis in her memory, she felt it could cement her desired moral mercenary image. Possibly make a big enough impression to sway public perception of her from villain to rogue and certainly up her credentials for future clients.
Just as she decided that this block was going to be her last for the evening the bugs at northern most edge of her control ran into what she could only interpret as solid air. After days of finding nothing of any real interest at all it required no thought to head in that direction. As her area of control spread out in that direction she was slowly able to find the edges of the anomaly and form a picture of it in her head. A dome roughly 35 feet across in a large brick building that was probably three blocks long and one wide. A medium sized stream ran along the northern side that might have at one point in the past driven the machinery there. Once she got within sight of the building she paused to consider her options.
Constant practice with her bugs had expanded her ability to sense things through them, but anything visual was still beyond her. There didn't seem to be any activity at all outside the dome, not in the building nor in the blocks around it. Noise of some sort was coming from inside the area, but while she had been making more progress on sounds than sight, it wasn't enough for her to identify anything specific. She didn't get the impression of conversation or of machinery, which likely meant that this wasn't Bakuda's lair. It was something however, and Taylor had already figured out that information was the most valuable currency in the cape community. With no other options in front of her she made her way to the side of the building farthest from the anomaly and looked for a discrete way inside.
On the stream side of the building she found a window lacking both boards and glass just outside of her reach. Keeping an eye on the dome and the surrounding area with her bugs she searched around and found a handful of bricks that when stacked up gave her just enough height to grasp the windowsill and pull herself in. As her stomach slid over the rough glittering sill she was once again grateful for the time she took in constructing her costume. Gently levering herself over the edge she eased onto the floor inside. Glass crunched under her feet as she looked around the darkened room. Dust swirled in the moonlight filtering in from the window, illuminating a hundred years of litter and faded graffiti, but not much else. It was obvious that it had been quite some time since even vagrants had graced the building with their presence. A building with more spiders and less cockroaches than one closer to human habitation would have.
Cautiously she made her way through the room and past an arched brick doorway into a wide hallway littered with mouldering scraps of lumber that looked like they had fallen from the ceiling high above. At the far end of the hall a purple light flickered from an open doorway. Something about the shade of the light seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place from where. When she got close enough to see through the opening she couldn't quite believe her eyes, but she did have a answer to why that shade of purple was familiar. Twilight Sparkle, the alien unicorn that she had met on her disastrous first night out as a cape. The unicorn who had, however inadvertently, gotten her labeled as a villain. Any resentment she might have had at that thought wilted at the miserable sight in front of her.
Twilight lay in the middle of a massive room, the ground underneath her looked blackened like it had been exposed to fire and as the unicorn shifted small puffs of ash rose around her and stained her coat with dark smears. She wasn't currently crying but tear tracks ran down the dirty fur of her face as she stared morosely at a scroll floating in front of her. A shimmering purple dome centered on the unicorn took up most of the room and started only a few feet from the the other side of the doorway Taylor was standing behind. She had heard that the PRT building where Twilight had been staying had been leveled by one of Bakuda's bombs earlier today, but there hadn't been any word about the unicorn in the broadcast. How had she ended up here? And in the state she was in? Taylor supposed there was only one way to find out.
"Twilight?" The unicorn startled at the sound, the scroll that had been floating in front of her lost its purple glow, rolled up, and fell to the floor. Her head swung in a frantic movement towards the sound and small flickers of flame sprung up around Twilight's hooves.
"Who's there?" The forcefield's glow seemed to intensify as Twilight stood up and backed away from the door. Slowly Taylor walked into the light of doorway, pulling the hood the sweater she was wearing down to reveal her costumed mask as she did so. Twilight startled again and did a short hop backwards before a look of tentative recognition came over her equine face. "Ta? No you said that wasn't your name. Bug?"
"Skitter actually." The unicorn nodded and looked thoughtful for a moment before a weary look over took her.
"When we were on the roof Tattletale called you a bad guy, and you were friendly with her. Those people on the roof really hurt my friends when they robbed that bank. I..I don't have a lot of control right now, so if..if you're here to hurt me.."
"I'm not here to hurt you Twilight, and I don't work with the Undersiders because I don't want to hurt people. I wasn't at the bank was I?" Twilight shook her head, tension in her body easing a little. "I'm not a villain Twilight, I might not be in the wards, but I'm not a bad guy either. I live here and in my own way I want to make the city a better place."
"I wan't to believe you, you don't sound like a bad person. But he didn't sound bad, and he..he killed all those people and talked about it like we were having a discussion over tea!" The flames flared around Twilight's legs and a small piece of litter caught fire and was carried upwards by the heat. "I..I don't know. How can I know anything anymore?"
"Who killed people?" Taylor asked in her best attempt at a calming voice, while at the same time preparing to dive to the side behind the brick doorway if it looked like the distraught alien might lash out. The unicorn shivered and her eyes went a little glassy and distant when she responded.
"He..He called himself Jack. He showed up after the tower collapsed, said he and a little girl he knew had been wanting to meet me…He had a knife, he..before I knew he was there he had killed everyone! Everyone! Even the people I had just saved…he said I deserved a proper show, like he had done me a favor…and then I…I…oh how can I ever face Celestia again?" Twilight trailed off as fresh tears trickled down her face and she turned slightly to the side. Taylor tried to put what she had just heard together and after a moment came to a horrifying conclusion. A murderer named Jack, who used knives, and talked about a little girl that he wanted to introduce Twilight to. Suddenly it seemed like a much worse idea to be wandering around Brockton Bay by herself. The slaughterhouse nine, an alien, Bakuda. What the hell was going on?
She had been a cape for a little less than two weeks. After that first awful night and her decision to go rogue she had slowly been getting her bearings. Now she felt completely out of depth all over again. Tattletale had called her exactly once, but not for a job. She had given her a number and a name and said it was a bad idea to work alone. She wasn't sure why Tattletale had called her to offer the advice, maybe some lingering feeling of gratitude over the Lung situation, whatever the reason the advice had been good. Having people to talk to, capes that had been in the business, had saved her life at least once. They hadn't been interested in pursuing Bakuda, but this was bigger than her, it was time to make a call.
"Twilight I know you don't have at lot of reason to trust me and I don't know why you haven't gone back to the Protectorate.."
"I can't!" Twilight interjected frantically. "He said they'd kill them!"
"Ok, It's ok Twilight. Did you escape? Teleport?" Twilight flinched and turned her head away, just when Taylor thought she wasn't going to respond Twilight murmured so quietly that she almost missed it.
"I killed him." Shock, shock and disbelief. Taylor stared at the huddled unicorn without response until the muffled sobs carried to her ears. Pulling herself together she found her voice again.
"That must have been hard. But Twilight you shouldn't let that or what he said stop you from going to your friends. People like him, they like to make you think they have more power than they do. The fact that he's dead, I guarantee you he didn't plan on that.."
"I can't..I can't take that chance. You didn't see, what he did, I just can't." Twilight was crying in earnest now and had Taylor not been prevented by the forcefield and the fact she was talking to someone who had just claimed to have killed one of the worlds most feared villains she would have been tempted to go over and hug her.
"Ok, if you can't go to your friends, maybe mine can help. Do you trust me?" Twilight choked out a half sob as she turned to face Taylor fully. She looked hesitant, to sad or to scared to hope. Something pinged in her chest, a deep sympathy, and impulsively she pulled off her mask and asked again. "Do you trust me?" A range of emotions washed over Twilight's face and she looked upwards as if struck by a memory.
"I..ok, ok..I think If I don't try, I might..ok..I'll trust you." Taylor let out a sigh of relief and returned the trust by fully entering the room and sitting down next to the doorway. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a cell phone a dialed a string of numbers before bringing it up to her ear.
"Faultline, this is Skitter."
Taylor was about to call it a night. Even though tomorrow was a Saturday and thus she had the ability to sleep in, a week of late nights and early mornings was catching up with her. She was wandering around an industrial section of the city north of the train yards that looked like it had last seen industry sometime before the first world war. Honestly if Bakuda bombed the area she wasn't sure if anyone would notice. There were however a great many abandoned textile mills and foundries that might be appealing to a villainous tinker set on blowing up the city and looking for a discrete place lay low. She was wearing her homeless thrift store outfit #2 on top of her spider silk costume to try to keep her profile low as her swarm spread out over the blocks in front and parallel to her. If she could somehow capture Bakuda and claim the reward, not only would she be ridding the city of the person responsible for the worst crisis in her memory, she felt it could cement her desired moral mercenary image. Possibly make a big enough impression to sway public perception of her from villain to rogue and certainly up her credentials for future clients.
Just as she decided that this block was going to be her last for the evening the bugs at northern most edge of her control ran into what she could only interpret as solid air. After days of finding nothing of any real interest at all it required no thought to head in that direction. As her area of control spread out in that direction she was slowly able to find the edges of the anomaly and form a picture of it in her head. A dome roughly 35 feet across in a large brick building that was probably three blocks long and one wide. A medium sized stream ran along the northern side that might have at one point in the past driven the machinery there. Once she got within sight of the building she paused to consider her options.
Constant practice with her bugs had expanded her ability to sense things through them, but anything visual was still beyond her. There didn't seem to be any activity at all outside the dome, not in the building nor in the blocks around it. Noise of some sort was coming from inside the area, but while she had been making more progress on sounds than sight, it wasn't enough for her to identify anything specific. She didn't get the impression of conversation or of machinery, which likely meant that this wasn't Bakuda's lair. It was something however, and Taylor had already figured out that information was the most valuable currency in the cape community. With no other options in front of her she made her way to the side of the building farthest from the anomaly and looked for a discrete way inside.
On the stream side of the building she found a window lacking both boards and glass just outside of her reach. Keeping an eye on the dome and the surrounding area with her bugs she searched around and found a handful of bricks that when stacked up gave her just enough height to grasp the windowsill and pull herself in. As her stomach slid over the rough glittering sill she was once again grateful for the time she took in constructing her costume. Gently levering herself over the edge she eased onto the floor inside. Glass crunched under her feet as she looked around the darkened room. Dust swirled in the moonlight filtering in from the window, illuminating a hundred years of litter and faded graffiti, but not much else. It was obvious that it had been quite some time since even vagrants had graced the building with their presence. A building with more spiders and less cockroaches than one closer to human habitation would have.
Cautiously she made her way through the room and past an arched brick doorway into a wide hallway littered with mouldering scraps of lumber that looked like they had fallen from the ceiling high above. At the far end of the hall a purple light flickered from an open doorway. Something about the shade of the light seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite place from where. When she got close enough to see through the opening she couldn't quite believe her eyes, but she did have a answer to why that shade of purple was familiar. Twilight Sparkle, the alien unicorn that she had met on her disastrous first night out as a cape. The unicorn who had, however inadvertently, gotten her labeled as a villain. Any resentment she might have had at that thought wilted at the miserable sight in front of her.
Twilight lay in the middle of a massive room, the ground underneath her looked blackened like it had been exposed to fire and as the unicorn shifted small puffs of ash rose around her and stained her coat with dark smears. She wasn't currently crying but tear tracks ran down the dirty fur of her face as she stared morosely at a scroll floating in front of her. A shimmering purple dome centered on the unicorn took up most of the room and started only a few feet from the the other side of the doorway Taylor was standing behind. She had heard that the PRT building where Twilight had been staying had been leveled by one of Bakuda's bombs earlier today, but there hadn't been any word about the unicorn in the broadcast. How had she ended up here? And in the state she was in? Taylor supposed there was only one way to find out.
"Twilight?" The unicorn startled at the sound, the scroll that had been floating in front of her lost its purple glow, rolled up, and fell to the floor. Her head swung in a frantic movement towards the sound and small flickers of flame sprung up around Twilight's hooves.
"Who's there?" The forcefield's glow seemed to intensify as Twilight stood up and backed away from the door. Slowly Taylor walked into the light of doorway, pulling the hood the sweater she was wearing down to reveal her costumed mask as she did so. Twilight startled again and did a short hop backwards before a look of tentative recognition came over her equine face. "Ta? No you said that wasn't your name. Bug?"
"Skitter actually." The unicorn nodded and looked thoughtful for a moment before a weary look over took her.
"When we were on the roof Tattletale called you a bad guy, and you were friendly with her. Those people on the roof really hurt my friends when they robbed that bank. I..I don't have a lot of control right now, so if..if you're here to hurt me.."
"I'm not here to hurt you Twilight, and I don't work with the Undersiders because I don't want to hurt people. I wasn't at the bank was I?" Twilight shook her head, tension in her body easing a little. "I'm not a villain Twilight, I might not be in the wards, but I'm not a bad guy either. I live here and in my own way I want to make the city a better place."
"I wan't to believe you, you don't sound like a bad person. But he didn't sound bad, and he..he killed all those people and talked about it like we were having a discussion over tea!" The flames flared around Twilight's legs and a small piece of litter caught fire and was carried upwards by the heat. "I..I don't know. How can I know anything anymore?"
"Who killed people?" Taylor asked in her best attempt at a calming voice, while at the same time preparing to dive to the side behind the brick doorway if it looked like the distraught alien might lash out. The unicorn shivered and her eyes went a little glassy and distant when she responded.
"He..He called himself Jack. He showed up after the tower collapsed, said he and a little girl he knew had been wanting to meet me…He had a knife, he..before I knew he was there he had killed everyone! Everyone! Even the people I had just saved…he said I deserved a proper show, like he had done me a favor…and then I…I…oh how can I ever face Celestia again?" Twilight trailed off as fresh tears trickled down her face and she turned slightly to the side. Taylor tried to put what she had just heard together and after a moment came to a horrifying conclusion. A murderer named Jack, who used knives, and talked about a little girl that he wanted to introduce Twilight to. Suddenly it seemed like a much worse idea to be wandering around Brockton Bay by herself. The slaughterhouse nine, an alien, Bakuda. What the hell was going on?
She had been a cape for a little less than two weeks. After that first awful night and her decision to go rogue she had slowly been getting her bearings. Now she felt completely out of depth all over again. Tattletale had called her exactly once, but not for a job. She had given her a number and a name and said it was a bad idea to work alone. She wasn't sure why Tattletale had called her to offer the advice, maybe some lingering feeling of gratitude over the Lung situation, whatever the reason the advice had been good. Having people to talk to, capes that had been in the business, had saved her life at least once. They hadn't been interested in pursuing Bakuda, but this was bigger than her, it was time to make a call.
"Twilight I know you don't have at lot of reason to trust me and I don't know why you haven't gone back to the Protectorate.."
"I can't!" Twilight interjected frantically. "He said they'd kill them!"
"Ok, It's ok Twilight. Did you escape? Teleport?" Twilight flinched and turned her head away, just when Taylor thought she wasn't going to respond Twilight murmured so quietly that she almost missed it.
"I killed him." Shock, shock and disbelief. Taylor stared at the huddled unicorn without response until the muffled sobs carried to her ears. Pulling herself together she found her voice again.
"That must have been hard. But Twilight you shouldn't let that or what he said stop you from going to your friends. People like him, they like to make you think they have more power than they do. The fact that he's dead, I guarantee you he didn't plan on that.."
"I can't..I can't take that chance. You didn't see, what he did, I just can't." Twilight was crying in earnest now and had Taylor not been prevented by the forcefield and the fact she was talking to someone who had just claimed to have killed one of the worlds most feared villains she would have been tempted to go over and hug her.
"Ok, if you can't go to your friends, maybe mine can help. Do you trust me?" Twilight choked out a half sob as she turned to face Taylor fully. She looked hesitant, to sad or to scared to hope. Something pinged in her chest, a deep sympathy, and impulsively she pulled off her mask and asked again. "Do you trust me?" A range of emotions washed over Twilight's face and she looked upwards as if struck by a memory.
"I..ok, ok..I think If I don't try, I might..ok..I'll trust you." Taylor let out a sigh of relief and returned the trust by fully entering the room and sitting down next to the doorway. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a cell phone a dialed a string of numbers before bringing it up to her ear.
"Faultline, this is Skitter."
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
CHAPTER 6
As Skitter spoke quietly into the phone Twilight first dissipated then instantly recast her shield spell so that it now followed the contours of the brick room and thus included Skitter inside of it. Skitter paused and looked up at Twilight suddenly as the change happened. Twilight gave her a nervous rictus of a smile and the bug talking human went back to speaking into the phone. 'There. Not as efficient as a dome, but now no one can sneak up behind her like..No, no I'm not going to think about that.' Instead the Unicorn let her mind drift to a safer topic and pondered the meaning behind Skitter taking off her mask.
She had been in this world two weeks and the human notions on privacy and trust still befuddled her a little. The idea of hiding your identity in pony society where clothes were worn only at formal events or special occasions was somewhat ludicrous. Who you were, what you looked like, and your special talent were always on display to everyone around you. Humans were different. They wore clothes all the time and changed them for every activity. Some of them, mostly the magic wielding ones, had multiple names and you had to be careful to call them a particular name based on what they were wearing or they got very upset. At first Twilight thought this was something like the formal ranks and proper procedure of the royal guards, this did seem to be true for some of the members of the PRT and Peacekeepers, but the rules for the "Parahumans" seemed more subtle and complex.
After discarding the notion that they were analogous to ranks She thought maybe the "costume names" were like the human version of cutie marks. Since humans went clothed all the time any mark would be covered. So instead when you discovered your special talent you chose a name that symbolized that talent. That didn't quite fit however, because so very few humans cast magic and surely the vast majority of their population were not still searching for their purpose. Then it had been made very clear that the non costumed names and faces were a secret not to be revealed, that the wards telling her their non talent names was a sign of trust and friendship.
Which was bizarre. Costumed or not Twilight could have picked any of the humans she had met out of a crowd. Since they could not sense the magic field, Twilight understood that they couldn't see the unique interactions each of them made in it, but were human noses so much worse that they could not recognize an individual's smell? Could they not hear the the uniqueness of each other's voices? Were they so face oriented that they ignored all the other body cues that spoke so constantly to Twilight saying "This is who I am." Twilight was still a little confused sometimes when it came to interpreting the body language of humans since they lacked the tail and mobile ears of ponies, but her lack of understanding didn't mean that the cues that were there were no less unique and readily seen.
Twilight supposed that some of those thoughts had to be true, otherwise their customs made no sense at all. So what did it mean exactly that Skitter had shone her face to Twilight, but had not shared her non talent name? A measure of trust? Some sort of middling intimacy? Given the conversational cues and Skitters actions Twilight guessed that might be right. It was hard for her to think that way though. Everything about you made you who you were and proclaimed it to the world. Not just your name, or your face, or your talent, but all of that together with your actions, your friends, and everything else. The idea of sectioning yourself up and saying, "These parts are one me, Those parts are another," didn't seem right nor particularly good for someone. Still she tried to respect the intent of the gesture that the wards and now Skitter had shown her even if it was culturally strange and in practice meaningless to her. It meant something to them, and there were probably many subtleties in it that she was missing completely. Regardless it was nice to see Skitter's face instead of the vaguely threatening mask she wore.
After another few minutes Skitter stopped talking and closed her phone. She gave Twilight a small smile before she spoke.
"Okay, it'll take them a little while to get here and make sure they are not followed, but help's on the way." Twilight fidgeted nervously at the idea of more people and Skitter seemed to pick up on it. "Don't worry they're smart and are used to solving problems without attracting attention. Between all of us we'll think of something."
"I hope so. I thought I was good at solving problems, but everything here is so.." She trailed off not quite sure what word would suffice to finish that sentence. Twilight shook her head and then sneezed when it dislodged some of the dust in her mane. She looked over herself with a bit of disgust at the idea of meeting new people in her current state. She wasn't a particularly vain pony but her parents had instilled the idea that it was politeness to be presentable when meeting new ponies. Besides like the mystery of the mask, it gave her something to think about that wasn't what she wasn't going to think about, no not at all. "I..I think I'm going to clean up a little before they get here." Skitter looked around the barren room and then back to Twilight.
"Um, how? I'm not sure if this place ever had plumbing to begin with."
"A little bit of magic." Twilight said with a little genuine smile. The idea of casting some magic for something as mundane as getting cleaned up instead of trying to suss out dimensional travel or a life or death situation felt good, felt right. "Um, I'm still working on getting my control back so if I catch fire or glow, don't worry ok?" Skitter looked highly skeptical of this last statement but nodded anyway. Twilight's horn began to glow and purple fire did erupt around her hooves before the glow enveloped her and she blinked out of existence only to reappear a few feet to the right of where she had been. A small dirty shadow of Twilight stood for a second in her original location before collapsing and swirling away.
She looked over herself again. Better, but her mane and fur was still unkempt and stained in places. Not Acceptable. Horn glowing brighter, she concentrated. Unlike her teleportation, pulling this off would really test her. After she had surprised Princess Celestia with her ability to transmute a paper and quill she had given her a much more complex pattern and encouraged her to learn it, saying that it was one of the most useful applications of magic she would ever learn. Like so many things Celestia said Twilight was never sure if she had been serious or simply been testing her in some way. Flames rushed up her body and her eyes went briefly white as she completed the spell and a dull snap echoed off the brick walls.
Twilight walked over to her creation and then eased down into the Alicorn sized tub filled with steaming water whose rim rested just above the dirt floor of the room. As her mane spread out over the surface of the water Twilight let out a sigh of bliss. She would never doubt Celestia again. She dunked her head then resurfaced and opened her eyes. Skitter was looking at her with wide eyed shock. Had she done something wrong? Another taboo or custom she didn't know about? Before she could descend into fretting Skitter snapped out of it.
"That was amazing," she said sincerely. "I mean there have been a few rumors on the boards about what you could do, but nothing concrete, and nothing like that. So not only a mover and a blaster, but a shaker to? Well I guess the forcefields would be classified as a shaker ability, but I have never seen someone do something like you just did." Twilight couldn't help but be pleased, it felt nice to have someone recognize a skill she had spent such a long time practicing. She was also a little confused. Mover, blaster, shaker? She wasn't sure if she was getting the right translation here and she was sure even with as difficult as transmutation was there had to be some human magicians capable of the task. Maybe Skitter just had not met them?
"Um, thank you. When did you realize you had a talent for speaking with insects?" A dark look overcame Skitter's face for a moment but Twilight missed it as she was struck by the memory of a yellow pegasus with three pink butterflies as her cutie mark. A warm feeling that had nothing to do with the water temperature settled into her chest. "I think I knew someone that was good at talking with animals and insects. She was…shy? I think with ponies, but she loved animals." Skitter let out a breath a gave what might have been a smile.
"I found my power earlier this year. I'm not sure you could call it love in my case, but I guess affection. It's hard not to get at least a little attached to them when they help me out as much as they do." Skitter looked like she was going to elaborate but Twilight heard something and stilled in the water and her tension must have been apparent because Skitter went still as well. One of Twilights ears rotated around to angle behind her and after a second she spoke quietly.
"A car is coming, a bigger one."
Skitter nodded and said just as quietly, "Thats probably my friends, let me check." She stood up and pulled her mask back on her face then pulled her phone back out and pushed a few keys. A moment later a soft chime sounded and Skitter nodded. "It is them. I'll go meet them at the window and bring them back here. Ok?"
Twilight didn't like the idea, no not at all. And in a moment she was out of the tub and only slightly damp. She walked up next to Skitter and contracted the shield until it was only a little bigger than the area they took up.
"Lets go together."
When they got to the smaller room with the un-boarded window Twilight concentrated and as her horn brightened a series of translucent purple planes appeared forming steps up to the sill. A matching set descending to the ground outside materialized a moment later.
"That's convenient." Skitter said as the noise of a car engine approached and then shut off. "I've got some bugs directing them in the right direction, they should be here in a second." Twilight fidgeted nervously again and backed away from the open window so that she was partially standing in the hallway, without really thinking about it she expanded the shield that was surrounding Skitter and herself to accommodate the new distance. A few minutes later the most unique human Twilight had yet seen came through the window and walked down the steps. His bright orange coloration and dark red mane was a color combination that wouldn't have been out of place in Canterlot and a long prehensile tail trailed behind him. It made her think of home. Combined with the easy smile on his face Twilight's anxiety eased a bit. She remembered Director Piggot saying there was only one human race as ponies defined the term, but clearly she was mistaken. While his coloration wouldn't change that estimation, possessing an extra appendage certainly qualified. Interestingly he did not wear a mask and only a minimum amount of clothing which made Twilight wonder if people of his race had customs more similar to hers than the humans she had met so far.
The orange human looked over the both of them and declared, "I'll be damned. Didn't think you could get more conspicuous than me." He stretched one arm up and made a beckoning gesture with his hand and a woman climbed up and inside quickly followed a small figure in a hooded robe. The woman's clothing was strange. It was like someone had taken a Peacekeeper's set of armor, modified it in strange ways and then put a dress on. She looked around the room like she was marking everything about it into her memory. She had the same kind of look that someone of the older royal guardsponies had. Professional. Cautious. After a moment she spoke.
"Ok, just to get the formalities out of the way. I'm Faultline, this is Labyrinth," she gestured beside her, "and that's Newter. Two more of my team are just outside. Gregor won't fit through the window and I don't want to waste time or draw attention by widening it. Skitter's t.."
"Um, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I don't think it's a good idea to leave anyone alone outside. If it wouldn't bother you or Gregor I could do a quick teleport and bring him inside?" Twilight offered hesitantly. Faultline considered this and then nodded.
"Gregor, Ms. Sparkle wants to teleport you inside. You ok with that?"
A deep voice came from just outside the window. "This would not bother me." Twilight took a deep breath and then dismissed her shield spell, leaving the only remaining illumination in the room as the soft glow of the steps she walked up. She saw both Faultline and Newter tense slightly at the sudden change and Skitter moved her arms in what Twilight had learned was a calming gesture for humans. When she reached the sill and could look out she saw the other two members of Faultline's team.
It was apparent who Gregor was immediately as only one of the two people outside would have any problem with the window. His pale skin shone in the soft moonlight interrupted occasionally by dark patches, like a inverted night sky. Twilight walked down the stairs and nervously looked around the area before speaking. She noticed Faultline observing from inside the window.
"Ok, um," she looked blankly at the shorter female who interjected.
"Spitfire."
"And I am Gregor."
"I'm Twilight Sparkle. The stairs will probably disappear once I start the teleport, so you may want to go ahead." Twilight said as she nodded towards Spitfire. The red and black dressed human looked up at Faultline and then proceeded up the steps and into the room. Twilight went ahead and dismissed the steps and turned to Gregor while speaking loud enough for the people inside to hear. "Ok, there may be a little flame, and a bright flash and then we'll be inside in the corner farthest from the window." Gregor nodded and Twilight lit her horn and began to power the spell. Once again flames appeared around her hooves and Twilight had to shove the dismal thoughts about her shattered control to the back of her mind as she concentrated on the teleportation. Her horn grew brighter and then with a flash they were standing inside with everyone else. Gregor reached out with one arm and steadied himself against the wall. At the worried look from Twilight and Faultline he spoke.
"I am alright. It was disorientating but no more than that." With this confirmation Faultline picked up where she had left off.
"Skitter's told us a few things." Twilight shuddered as that sentence brought her mind back to what they were all doing here. "I apologize for brining up what I must imagine is a very bad memory, but we need all the information we can get before we can tell you if we can take the job."
"It's.." No it wasn't ok. "I understand. Job?" At the question Faultline shot a look in Skitter's direction who spoke up quickly.
"Twilight. Faultline and her crew are my friends. They are good people, but they're not like the Wards or the Protectorate, they don't get money from the government. They have to get paid for the work they do." Twilight looked despondent at this.
"I don't have any money. Certainly not any human money. I'm sor-"
"Skitter told us that would likely be the case," Faultline interjected. "Once we know the whole story, if I think the risk level is acceptable and we can help I'm sure we can settle on a non-monetary price." Twilight looked confused by this and Skitter again hopped in to translate.
"You're pretty powerful Twilight. What Faultline is talking about is you doing some favors for them." Twilight brightened back up again at this before being brought down by Faultline's next words.
"Tell us what happened."
Twilight couldn't force herself to start with what they really wanted to know. Instead she started at the beginning of the day. She told them about how she had been working with Dragon to try and figure out where Bakuda would place her next bombs and where she could be hiding. For fifteen or Twenty minutes she rambled on, her words meandering but inevitably bringing her closer to the worst moment in her life. When she got there she had built up enough momentum that she was able to continue. She hardly noticed the tears pouring down her face as she spoke.
"I was so scared…and sad..and confused…How..How could someone do that..act like that? He kept talking, talking so calmly about auditions and plays…he said I couldn't ask the PRT or Protectorate for help, he said something about penalties…about other members auditioning?…I..was, something, slipping…I…lost..something..saw… something..a crystal…when he was talking." Twilight sobbed and purple flames traced up her legs and something dark flickered into existence on the wall behind her. A palpable aura of fear filled the room and suddenly Labyrinth was there and hugging Twilight around her neck. The hug and Labyrinth's body was stiff, almost mechanical, but it helped, it helped a lot. The overwhelming fear faded from the air and the wall returned to normal. Twilight spoke again as Labyrinth continued her embrace.
"I..lost control..my emotions @#$%@# the magic field, it fed back on itself. I..was..anger is not enough to describe…It was awful…black..evil. I didn't have much..sense of…myself, but I did..something..I turned all of that darkness..collected it…told it to strike Jack. I..was..not quite..there, but I remember enough…I shattered his body into a million pieces…and I did it on purpose." Twilight sobbed against Labyrinth's shoulder and for a while the room was silent except for her tears.
"..ck me." Newter said quietly before Gregor rested a hand on his shoulder and spoke gently in his deep voice.
"I am truly sorry. To go through that, it is terrible. I see it pains you, this taking of life. It should, everyone should feel such pain when a life is taken. Jack Slash did not, and that is what made him a monster. He spoke calmly and lightly because the suffering of others, the taking of lives, these things he did not feel at all. I am sorry that you killed him, for the hurt that it is causing you. I am not sorry at all that he is dead. Nor do I think you would find anyone that is." Twilight looked up from Labyrinth's shoulder and at the gentle face of the huge man. She..couldn't accept that. At the same time his words, his understanding, had made her feel a little better. Faultline cleared her throat and spoke in her professional voice, tempered now with a little softness that was absent earlier.
"Alright. First, the Slaughterhouse Nine are in town. Thats about the worst news there is and they are way out of our league. If you were looking for someone to fight them, I'm sorry but no bounty in the world is enough for that risk." Twilight shook her head side to side. "Here's what we can do. We have a…meeting tomorrow with some of the other non-Protectorate capes in Brockton Bay. We were going to discuss the ABB and Bakuda and likely talk about joining forces to help the Protectorate run them down. If you remember any of your research we can pass that along to them and hopefully take care of that problem. We can also warn them about the Nine, and there are some powerful people that may be able to stop some of them, possibly between them and the heroes that will be coming to town it will be enough. Given the Nine's interest in you the most important thing is to keep you hidden from them. We can find you a safe house, someplace nicer than this. Food, power, water, supplies…"
She trailed off as she focused on Labyrinth still hugging the unicorn.
"..company. We might find a discrete way for you to get in touch with the PRT, let them know you're alright and share information. Basically hunker down, help where we can, and weather the storm. Would that work for you?"
Twilight thought for a moment, Labyrinth's body still in the exact same position around her as it had been at the start of the hug. It didn't feel right, the idea of leaving others to fight such a horrible thing. At the same time, she wasn't sure she could face someone else like Jack. And if she did, and if she lived, she wasn't sure she would be able to face herself. This was better than that. She shifted her eyes to Faultline.
"Thank you, someplace safe, sleep. That would be good."
"Ok, everyone lets move. Twilight, if you would?" The glowing planes of force reappeared leading up to the window and Faultline bent down to whisper in Labyrinth's ear who slowly and with that same mechanical feel released Twilight. When everyone was outside except Twilight and Gregor she turned to him.
"Are you ready?"
"I am." With a flash of light they were outside standing next to the others. Faultline pointed to a run down van, that if Twilight had not known they had driven here, would have sworn had been sitting abandoned in this very lot for years. They were about halfway to it when it exploded.
Everyone flinched and crouched away from the blast as fire spread out rapidly from the wreck in every direction. Twilight saw Faultline unholster a pistol and use her other arm to begin to draw Labyrinth behind her when a fireball detonated in the middle of the group and split it in half. Faultline, Labyrinth, Spitfire, and Newter where flung to one side while Gregor, Skitter, and Twilight were hurled to the other. In the middle of her uncontrolled tumble Twilight saw a figure rise out of the flames where the blast had hit. The flames illuminated a girl's face pockmarked with ugly circular burn scars.
Just as Twilight was sliding to a stop over the rough gravel of the lot she saw the figure in the flames raise both her arms and flames followed the movement and shot out towards both groups. Gregor threw A glob of something which intercepted the trail of fire that was headed in their direction. Bugs seemed to fly in from every direction towards the girl in the red dress standing in the flames. The girl flinched as something stung her and flames sprung up around her before being flung outwards again. Gregor threw more slime, but Skitter was grazed was knocked to the ground her costume smoldering as she rolled along the ground.
On the other side Faultline had ducked out of the flames path and dragged Labyrinth to the ground with her, Newter had leapt up and to the side in an amazing feat of athleticism. Spitfire who may have been the blast's true target hadn't reacted fast enough, was knocked off her feet and landed on her back engulfed in flames.
Twilight couldn't believe this was happening again, this couldn't be happening again! Any progress she had made reigning in her magic had been undone in the last twenty seconds, purple flames enveloped her entire body as she lay in the gravel and watched the horror unfold in front of her. The pyrokinetic turned to face Twilight more directly, her face lit by the flames around her, she had a look of apathy that somehow scared Twilight more than anger would have. As the girl raised her hands towards her Twilight heard Labyrinth yell.
"Mimi Don't!" The girl hesitated at the scream and then vanished into the flames just as a series of gun shots rang out. She reappeared directly behind Faultline and seemed to cause an explosion in her hands that sent the mercenary flying, costume aflame and gun careening into the darkness. Newter picked up a brick with his tail and flung it hard at the girl, and she staggered as it hit her in the shoulder but the move hadn't left him enough time to get out of the way of another blast and he was sent reeling into the dirt trailing flames.
Gregor threw two huge globs of slime and covered both Faultline and Newter, smothering the fire hugging their forms. The girl turned towards Labyrinth who was now only a few feet away and just started to say something when she was tackled from behind by Spitfire. As she was falling to the ground the girl disappeared into the flames beneath her and sprung back up directly behind Gregor. Twilight watched as the girl compressed heat between her hands and violently sent Gregor to the ground where he did not move.
A vast swarm of bugs descended into a cloud so thick around the girl that Twilight could no longer see her before they were burned away in a huge eruption of flames. Skitter was kneeling about 15 feet away from Twilight holding what her peacekeepers had described as a weapon that delivered an electrical shock. As the cloud of bugs was burning Skitter pulled the trigger and Twilight saw the girl convulse for a second before recovering and raising her arms in Skitter's direction.
All control gone Twilight was now pulling so much magic that she no longer resembled a pony of fire, but rather a purple star to bright to look at directly. As she had done unconsciously when watching Panacea heal Aegis her perception of time sped up, but unlike that time it kept speeding up until the world seemed frozen in place. Frozen in a scene verging on horror. These people had tried to comfort her, that had wanted to help her. No one was dead yet, but Twilight knew that was about to change. She could see it with a certainty that bordered on precognition. She didn't want to see it. Twilight had seen to much, felt to much since arriving here. Equally as frightening was the idea of trying to grasp the power that was swirling around her. Vivid memories of the murder she had committed and the crystal landscape of fear she had left behind swirled in her head.
She might have laid there forever in that frozen slice of time had she not felt the ghostly touch of a wing draping over her back. The world faded away and she burst into tears, turning and sobbing into the now fully solid alicorn laying beside her. For an long time she simply cried, cried until she felt empty. The wing stroked her back slowly, tenderly, familiarly.
"Oh Princess Celestia, I've tried to be brave, to make you proud, but I only made things worse. I've done such awful things and I'm so scared. Scared of everyone, scared of myself. Nothing is right anymore. Please, please take me home. I'm so sorry, whatever I did, please take me back to Equestria, please." Twilight trailed off into renewed sobs, utterly defeated as the huge winged unicorn continued to stroke her back.
"Oh Twilight, my Twilight, my faithful student, I have never doubted your bravery and you have always made me proud. If I could somehow spare you this know that I would. You are not being punished and you have not failed me Twilight. You are in danger though. You are extraordinarily talented and powerful Twilight, our being here in this place is proof enough of that." That caused Twilight to pull her head up and glance around. Twilight and Celestia appeared to be laying on a dim bed of stars, around them a blue nebula. Beyond the nebula an ominous darkness like storm clouds at sunset encroached. "But if you lose yourself, lose faith in yourself, faith in your friendships, and in those you love, you could become the monster you fear in truth. I have already had a loved one travel that path, I do not know if I could bear it a second time."
A fractured memory flickered, almost as if it was tangible in this place and the stars around them brightened as Twilight remembered.
"Nightmare moon! She was Princess Luna, she was your sister, and I, we..used…the elements, the elements of harmony to heal her! ….Generosity, Kindness….Laughter….and….and…" As she tried to remember a bejeweled tiara resting on her head fazed in and out of reality as a deluge of broken memories and feelings flooded her being. The landscape quaked and thunder rumbled from the darkness.
"We don't have much time. Twilight, the elements did heal her, but when my sister fell she did damage that even after a thousand years still haunts Equestria and her heart. You must not walk her path, " Celestia's body turned translucent for a moment before re-solidifying. The stars were growing dimmer, going out. Twilight panicked and threw her hooves around Celestia's neck.
"No, please don't go. Don't make me go back, please!" Celestia brought her head down and laid her head over Twilight's neck.
"Twilight, all beings, even ones such as you or I must, at the end, answer to time. Our time here in this place must soon come to an end least we damage it and all the places connected to it. I have faith in you Twilight, you were always a good student. You must remember your lessons." Twilight lost her purchase as Celestia turned transparent, the stars were disappearing rapidly now.
"Please Princess! I don't know what to do, what do I do!?" Twilight sobbed as she tried to hold onto the now ghostly form of Celestia.
"I love you Twilight, your friends love you. Remember your lessons, trust your heart." Before Twilight could respond she felt the world lurch and she was back in the abandoned lot. The fire girl's arms were now fully extended towards Skitter and a line of flame was crawling glacially through the air towards Skitter. Tears trickled down Twilight's face. What had just happened? A hallucination? No, no she had been there in that other place, Celestia had really been there, but now she was back and her heart twisted in her chest. Back in this awful place. This Awful place with these nice people that were going to die for her, how could such an awful place have such nice people, how could they endure, how could they stay true to themselves?
She needed to find out. If she lived through what she was about to try, she would have to ask them.
Anyone who knew Twilight Sparkle knew that worry, anxiety, researching, testing, retesting, checking and double checking were so much a part of her that they might as well have been etched into her DNA. She had channeled these things into mostly positive aspects of her life, but all of the violence and danger and horror she had experienced had caused her to freeze up while her magic spiraled out of her control. There was no way to act quick enough to check things even once. There was no way to research enough to know that right course of action before hand.
What she was about to do went against almost everything she had ever learned about magic, and all of her rational instincts. 'Trust your heart.' Twilight always had trouble with that, but she trusted Princess Celestia and she trusted her friends and now she remembered. She wept tears of joy as she remembered events both world altering and mundane that had spun the threads of their lives together. If she didn't remember everything, she remembered the most important things. Friendship, love, and harmony were higher magics, magics that were constrained only by the limits of a pony's heart.
She looked around at the scene in front of her with new eyes and saw more. She saw the connections, the friendships and the ties binding these people together and though she hardly knew them she saw the tentative and fragile ties that connected her to them as well. Even the fire girl was tied to them by a bond to Labyrinth. It was beautiful and awful and wonderful and terrible and amazing. Twilight suddenly understood. Her special talent was magic, and in an indescribable way these connections, these friendships were magic. Magic without end. Glowing like a star Twilight stepped directly into the path of the frozen trail of flame. She pulled every good thought close to her heart, she held her memories of friends both old and new there, and directed the swirling uncontrolled potential surrounding her to that place that was both in her and somehow outside as well, that was connected to everything, and let it go.
Stretching across dimensions she felt five connections sing, a harmony of hearts and friendship, and purpose. A tiara settled on her head as a wave of rainbow light spread out from her. Time resumed and the fires ceased. Scraggly patches of weeds and grass and vines in the abandoned lot grew tall and spread, until the gravel was covered in a thick soft carpet of vegetation. A sapling struggling to hang onto the rough embankment where the lot met with the creek burgeoned into a mighty oak whose limbs stretched wide over the water and dipped under their own weight to touch the ground and rise back into the air around them.
Wings shifting on her back Twilight stepped forward and hugged the unscarred face of weeping girl in front of her.
As Skitter spoke quietly into the phone Twilight first dissipated then instantly recast her shield spell so that it now followed the contours of the brick room and thus included Skitter inside of it. Skitter paused and looked up at Twilight suddenly as the change happened. Twilight gave her a nervous rictus of a smile and the bug talking human went back to speaking into the phone. 'There. Not as efficient as a dome, but now no one can sneak up behind her like..No, no I'm not going to think about that.' Instead the Unicorn let her mind drift to a safer topic and pondered the meaning behind Skitter taking off her mask.
She had been in this world two weeks and the human notions on privacy and trust still befuddled her a little. The idea of hiding your identity in pony society where clothes were worn only at formal events or special occasions was somewhat ludicrous. Who you were, what you looked like, and your special talent were always on display to everyone around you. Humans were different. They wore clothes all the time and changed them for every activity. Some of them, mostly the magic wielding ones, had multiple names and you had to be careful to call them a particular name based on what they were wearing or they got very upset. At first Twilight thought this was something like the formal ranks and proper procedure of the royal guards, this did seem to be true for some of the members of the PRT and Peacekeepers, but the rules for the "Parahumans" seemed more subtle and complex.
After discarding the notion that they were analogous to ranks She thought maybe the "costume names" were like the human version of cutie marks. Since humans went clothed all the time any mark would be covered. So instead when you discovered your special talent you chose a name that symbolized that talent. That didn't quite fit however, because so very few humans cast magic and surely the vast majority of their population were not still searching for their purpose. Then it had been made very clear that the non costumed names and faces were a secret not to be revealed, that the wards telling her their non talent names was a sign of trust and friendship.
Which was bizarre. Costumed or not Twilight could have picked any of the humans she had met out of a crowd. Since they could not sense the magic field, Twilight understood that they couldn't see the unique interactions each of them made in it, but were human noses so much worse that they could not recognize an individual's smell? Could they not hear the the uniqueness of each other's voices? Were they so face oriented that they ignored all the other body cues that spoke so constantly to Twilight saying "This is who I am." Twilight was still a little confused sometimes when it came to interpreting the body language of humans since they lacked the tail and mobile ears of ponies, but her lack of understanding didn't mean that the cues that were there were no less unique and readily seen.
Twilight supposed that some of those thoughts had to be true, otherwise their customs made no sense at all. So what did it mean exactly that Skitter had shone her face to Twilight, but had not shared her non talent name? A measure of trust? Some sort of middling intimacy? Given the conversational cues and Skitters actions Twilight guessed that might be right. It was hard for her to think that way though. Everything about you made you who you were and proclaimed it to the world. Not just your name, or your face, or your talent, but all of that together with your actions, your friends, and everything else. The idea of sectioning yourself up and saying, "These parts are one me, Those parts are another," didn't seem right nor particularly good for someone. Still she tried to respect the intent of the gesture that the wards and now Skitter had shown her even if it was culturally strange and in practice meaningless to her. It meant something to them, and there were probably many subtleties in it that she was missing completely. Regardless it was nice to see Skitter's face instead of the vaguely threatening mask she wore.
After another few minutes Skitter stopped talking and closed her phone. She gave Twilight a small smile before she spoke.
"Okay, it'll take them a little while to get here and make sure they are not followed, but help's on the way." Twilight fidgeted nervously at the idea of more people and Skitter seemed to pick up on it. "Don't worry they're smart and are used to solving problems without attracting attention. Between all of us we'll think of something."
"I hope so. I thought I was good at solving problems, but everything here is so.." She trailed off not quite sure what word would suffice to finish that sentence. Twilight shook her head and then sneezed when it dislodged some of the dust in her mane. She looked over herself with a bit of disgust at the idea of meeting new people in her current state. She wasn't a particularly vain pony but her parents had instilled the idea that it was politeness to be presentable when meeting new ponies. Besides like the mystery of the mask, it gave her something to think about that wasn't what she wasn't going to think about, no not at all. "I..I think I'm going to clean up a little before they get here." Skitter looked around the barren room and then back to Twilight.
"Um, how? I'm not sure if this place ever had plumbing to begin with."
"A little bit of magic." Twilight said with a little genuine smile. The idea of casting some magic for something as mundane as getting cleaned up instead of trying to suss out dimensional travel or a life or death situation felt good, felt right. "Um, I'm still working on getting my control back so if I catch fire or glow, don't worry ok?" Skitter looked highly skeptical of this last statement but nodded anyway. Twilight's horn began to glow and purple fire did erupt around her hooves before the glow enveloped her and she blinked out of existence only to reappear a few feet to the right of where she had been. A small dirty shadow of Twilight stood for a second in her original location before collapsing and swirling away.
She looked over herself again. Better, but her mane and fur was still unkempt and stained in places. Not Acceptable. Horn glowing brighter, she concentrated. Unlike her teleportation, pulling this off would really test her. After she had surprised Princess Celestia with her ability to transmute a paper and quill she had given her a much more complex pattern and encouraged her to learn it, saying that it was one of the most useful applications of magic she would ever learn. Like so many things Celestia said Twilight was never sure if she had been serious or simply been testing her in some way. Flames rushed up her body and her eyes went briefly white as she completed the spell and a dull snap echoed off the brick walls.
Twilight walked over to her creation and then eased down into the Alicorn sized tub filled with steaming water whose rim rested just above the dirt floor of the room. As her mane spread out over the surface of the water Twilight let out a sigh of bliss. She would never doubt Celestia again. She dunked her head then resurfaced and opened her eyes. Skitter was looking at her with wide eyed shock. Had she done something wrong? Another taboo or custom she didn't know about? Before she could descend into fretting Skitter snapped out of it.
"That was amazing," she said sincerely. "I mean there have been a few rumors on the boards about what you could do, but nothing concrete, and nothing like that. So not only a mover and a blaster, but a shaker to? Well I guess the forcefields would be classified as a shaker ability, but I have never seen someone do something like you just did." Twilight couldn't help but be pleased, it felt nice to have someone recognize a skill she had spent such a long time practicing. She was also a little confused. Mover, blaster, shaker? She wasn't sure if she was getting the right translation here and she was sure even with as difficult as transmutation was there had to be some human magicians capable of the task. Maybe Skitter just had not met them?
"Um, thank you. When did you realize you had a talent for speaking with insects?" A dark look overcame Skitter's face for a moment but Twilight missed it as she was struck by the memory of a yellow pegasus with three pink butterflies as her cutie mark. A warm feeling that had nothing to do with the water temperature settled into her chest. "I think I knew someone that was good at talking with animals and insects. She was…shy? I think with ponies, but she loved animals." Skitter let out a breath a gave what might have been a smile.
"I found my power earlier this year. I'm not sure you could call it love in my case, but I guess affection. It's hard not to get at least a little attached to them when they help me out as much as they do." Skitter looked like she was going to elaborate but Twilight heard something and stilled in the water and her tension must have been apparent because Skitter went still as well. One of Twilights ears rotated around to angle behind her and after a second she spoke quietly.
"A car is coming, a bigger one."
Skitter nodded and said just as quietly, "Thats probably my friends, let me check." She stood up and pulled her mask back on her face then pulled her phone back out and pushed a few keys. A moment later a soft chime sounded and Skitter nodded. "It is them. I'll go meet them at the window and bring them back here. Ok?"
Twilight didn't like the idea, no not at all. And in a moment she was out of the tub and only slightly damp. She walked up next to Skitter and contracted the shield until it was only a little bigger than the area they took up.
"Lets go together."
When they got to the smaller room with the un-boarded window Twilight concentrated and as her horn brightened a series of translucent purple planes appeared forming steps up to the sill. A matching set descending to the ground outside materialized a moment later.
"That's convenient." Skitter said as the noise of a car engine approached and then shut off. "I've got some bugs directing them in the right direction, they should be here in a second." Twilight fidgeted nervously again and backed away from the open window so that she was partially standing in the hallway, without really thinking about it she expanded the shield that was surrounding Skitter and herself to accommodate the new distance. A few minutes later the most unique human Twilight had yet seen came through the window and walked down the steps. His bright orange coloration and dark red mane was a color combination that wouldn't have been out of place in Canterlot and a long prehensile tail trailed behind him. It made her think of home. Combined with the easy smile on his face Twilight's anxiety eased a bit. She remembered Director Piggot saying there was only one human race as ponies defined the term, but clearly she was mistaken. While his coloration wouldn't change that estimation, possessing an extra appendage certainly qualified. Interestingly he did not wear a mask and only a minimum amount of clothing which made Twilight wonder if people of his race had customs more similar to hers than the humans she had met so far.
The orange human looked over the both of them and declared, "I'll be damned. Didn't think you could get more conspicuous than me." He stretched one arm up and made a beckoning gesture with his hand and a woman climbed up and inside quickly followed a small figure in a hooded robe. The woman's clothing was strange. It was like someone had taken a Peacekeeper's set of armor, modified it in strange ways and then put a dress on. She looked around the room like she was marking everything about it into her memory. She had the same kind of look that someone of the older royal guardsponies had. Professional. Cautious. After a moment she spoke.
"Ok, just to get the formalities out of the way. I'm Faultline, this is Labyrinth," she gestured beside her, "and that's Newter. Two more of my team are just outside. Gregor won't fit through the window and I don't want to waste time or draw attention by widening it. Skitter's t.."
"Um, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I don't think it's a good idea to leave anyone alone outside. If it wouldn't bother you or Gregor I could do a quick teleport and bring him inside?" Twilight offered hesitantly. Faultline considered this and then nodded.
"Gregor, Ms. Sparkle wants to teleport you inside. You ok with that?"
A deep voice came from just outside the window. "This would not bother me." Twilight took a deep breath and then dismissed her shield spell, leaving the only remaining illumination in the room as the soft glow of the steps she walked up. She saw both Faultline and Newter tense slightly at the sudden change and Skitter moved her arms in what Twilight had learned was a calming gesture for humans. When she reached the sill and could look out she saw the other two members of Faultline's team.
It was apparent who Gregor was immediately as only one of the two people outside would have any problem with the window. His pale skin shone in the soft moonlight interrupted occasionally by dark patches, like a inverted night sky. Twilight walked down the stairs and nervously looked around the area before speaking. She noticed Faultline observing from inside the window.
"Ok, um," she looked blankly at the shorter female who interjected.
"Spitfire."
"And I am Gregor."
"I'm Twilight Sparkle. The stairs will probably disappear once I start the teleport, so you may want to go ahead." Twilight said as she nodded towards Spitfire. The red and black dressed human looked up at Faultline and then proceeded up the steps and into the room. Twilight went ahead and dismissed the steps and turned to Gregor while speaking loud enough for the people inside to hear. "Ok, there may be a little flame, and a bright flash and then we'll be inside in the corner farthest from the window." Gregor nodded and Twilight lit her horn and began to power the spell. Once again flames appeared around her hooves and Twilight had to shove the dismal thoughts about her shattered control to the back of her mind as she concentrated on the teleportation. Her horn grew brighter and then with a flash they were standing inside with everyone else. Gregor reached out with one arm and steadied himself against the wall. At the worried look from Twilight and Faultline he spoke.
"I am alright. It was disorientating but no more than that." With this confirmation Faultline picked up where she had left off.
"Skitter's told us a few things." Twilight shuddered as that sentence brought her mind back to what they were all doing here. "I apologize for brining up what I must imagine is a very bad memory, but we need all the information we can get before we can tell you if we can take the job."
"It's.." No it wasn't ok. "I understand. Job?" At the question Faultline shot a look in Skitter's direction who spoke up quickly.
"Twilight. Faultline and her crew are my friends. They are good people, but they're not like the Wards or the Protectorate, they don't get money from the government. They have to get paid for the work they do." Twilight looked despondent at this.
"I don't have any money. Certainly not any human money. I'm sor-"
"Skitter told us that would likely be the case," Faultline interjected. "Once we know the whole story, if I think the risk level is acceptable and we can help I'm sure we can settle on a non-monetary price." Twilight looked confused by this and Skitter again hopped in to translate.
"You're pretty powerful Twilight. What Faultline is talking about is you doing some favors for them." Twilight brightened back up again at this before being brought down by Faultline's next words.
"Tell us what happened."
Twilight couldn't force herself to start with what they really wanted to know. Instead she started at the beginning of the day. She told them about how she had been working with Dragon to try and figure out where Bakuda would place her next bombs and where she could be hiding. For fifteen or Twenty minutes she rambled on, her words meandering but inevitably bringing her closer to the worst moment in her life. When she got there she had built up enough momentum that she was able to continue. She hardly noticed the tears pouring down her face as she spoke.
"I was so scared…and sad..and confused…How..How could someone do that..act like that? He kept talking, talking so calmly about auditions and plays…he said I couldn't ask the PRT or Protectorate for help, he said something about penalties…about other members auditioning?…I..was, something, slipping…I…lost..something..saw… something..a crystal…when he was talking." Twilight sobbed and purple flames traced up her legs and something dark flickered into existence on the wall behind her. A palpable aura of fear filled the room and suddenly Labyrinth was there and hugging Twilight around her neck. The hug and Labyrinth's body was stiff, almost mechanical, but it helped, it helped a lot. The overwhelming fear faded from the air and the wall returned to normal. Twilight spoke again as Labyrinth continued her embrace.
"I..lost control..my emotions @#$%@# the magic field, it fed back on itself. I..was..anger is not enough to describe…It was awful…black..evil. I didn't have much..sense of…myself, but I did..something..I turned all of that darkness..collected it…told it to strike Jack. I..was..not quite..there, but I remember enough…I shattered his body into a million pieces…and I did it on purpose." Twilight sobbed against Labyrinth's shoulder and for a while the room was silent except for her tears.
"..ck me." Newter said quietly before Gregor rested a hand on his shoulder and spoke gently in his deep voice.
"I am truly sorry. To go through that, it is terrible. I see it pains you, this taking of life. It should, everyone should feel such pain when a life is taken. Jack Slash did not, and that is what made him a monster. He spoke calmly and lightly because the suffering of others, the taking of lives, these things he did not feel at all. I am sorry that you killed him, for the hurt that it is causing you. I am not sorry at all that he is dead. Nor do I think you would find anyone that is." Twilight looked up from Labyrinth's shoulder and at the gentle face of the huge man. She..couldn't accept that. At the same time his words, his understanding, had made her feel a little better. Faultline cleared her throat and spoke in her professional voice, tempered now with a little softness that was absent earlier.
"Alright. First, the Slaughterhouse Nine are in town. Thats about the worst news there is and they are way out of our league. If you were looking for someone to fight them, I'm sorry but no bounty in the world is enough for that risk." Twilight shook her head side to side. "Here's what we can do. We have a…meeting tomorrow with some of the other non-Protectorate capes in Brockton Bay. We were going to discuss the ABB and Bakuda and likely talk about joining forces to help the Protectorate run them down. If you remember any of your research we can pass that along to them and hopefully take care of that problem. We can also warn them about the Nine, and there are some powerful people that may be able to stop some of them, possibly between them and the heroes that will be coming to town it will be enough. Given the Nine's interest in you the most important thing is to keep you hidden from them. We can find you a safe house, someplace nicer than this. Food, power, water, supplies…"
She trailed off as she focused on Labyrinth still hugging the unicorn.
"..company. We might find a discrete way for you to get in touch with the PRT, let them know you're alright and share information. Basically hunker down, help where we can, and weather the storm. Would that work for you?"
Twilight thought for a moment, Labyrinth's body still in the exact same position around her as it had been at the start of the hug. It didn't feel right, the idea of leaving others to fight such a horrible thing. At the same time, she wasn't sure she could face someone else like Jack. And if she did, and if she lived, she wasn't sure she would be able to face herself. This was better than that. She shifted her eyes to Faultline.
"Thank you, someplace safe, sleep. That would be good."
"Ok, everyone lets move. Twilight, if you would?" The glowing planes of force reappeared leading up to the window and Faultline bent down to whisper in Labyrinth's ear who slowly and with that same mechanical feel released Twilight. When everyone was outside except Twilight and Gregor she turned to him.
"Are you ready?"
"I am." With a flash of light they were outside standing next to the others. Faultline pointed to a run down van, that if Twilight had not known they had driven here, would have sworn had been sitting abandoned in this very lot for years. They were about halfway to it when it exploded.
Everyone flinched and crouched away from the blast as fire spread out rapidly from the wreck in every direction. Twilight saw Faultline unholster a pistol and use her other arm to begin to draw Labyrinth behind her when a fireball detonated in the middle of the group and split it in half. Faultline, Labyrinth, Spitfire, and Newter where flung to one side while Gregor, Skitter, and Twilight were hurled to the other. In the middle of her uncontrolled tumble Twilight saw a figure rise out of the flames where the blast had hit. The flames illuminated a girl's face pockmarked with ugly circular burn scars.
Just as Twilight was sliding to a stop over the rough gravel of the lot she saw the figure in the flames raise both her arms and flames followed the movement and shot out towards both groups. Gregor threw A glob of something which intercepted the trail of fire that was headed in their direction. Bugs seemed to fly in from every direction towards the girl in the red dress standing in the flames. The girl flinched as something stung her and flames sprung up around her before being flung outwards again. Gregor threw more slime, but Skitter was grazed was knocked to the ground her costume smoldering as she rolled along the ground.
On the other side Faultline had ducked out of the flames path and dragged Labyrinth to the ground with her, Newter had leapt up and to the side in an amazing feat of athleticism. Spitfire who may have been the blast's true target hadn't reacted fast enough, was knocked off her feet and landed on her back engulfed in flames.
Twilight couldn't believe this was happening again, this couldn't be happening again! Any progress she had made reigning in her magic had been undone in the last twenty seconds, purple flames enveloped her entire body as she lay in the gravel and watched the horror unfold in front of her. The pyrokinetic turned to face Twilight more directly, her face lit by the flames around her, she had a look of apathy that somehow scared Twilight more than anger would have. As the girl raised her hands towards her Twilight heard Labyrinth yell.
"Mimi Don't!" The girl hesitated at the scream and then vanished into the flames just as a series of gun shots rang out. She reappeared directly behind Faultline and seemed to cause an explosion in her hands that sent the mercenary flying, costume aflame and gun careening into the darkness. Newter picked up a brick with his tail and flung it hard at the girl, and she staggered as it hit her in the shoulder but the move hadn't left him enough time to get out of the way of another blast and he was sent reeling into the dirt trailing flames.
Gregor threw two huge globs of slime and covered both Faultline and Newter, smothering the fire hugging their forms. The girl turned towards Labyrinth who was now only a few feet away and just started to say something when she was tackled from behind by Spitfire. As she was falling to the ground the girl disappeared into the flames beneath her and sprung back up directly behind Gregor. Twilight watched as the girl compressed heat between her hands and violently sent Gregor to the ground where he did not move.
A vast swarm of bugs descended into a cloud so thick around the girl that Twilight could no longer see her before they were burned away in a huge eruption of flames. Skitter was kneeling about 15 feet away from Twilight holding what her peacekeepers had described as a weapon that delivered an electrical shock. As the cloud of bugs was burning Skitter pulled the trigger and Twilight saw the girl convulse for a second before recovering and raising her arms in Skitter's direction.
All control gone Twilight was now pulling so much magic that she no longer resembled a pony of fire, but rather a purple star to bright to look at directly. As she had done unconsciously when watching Panacea heal Aegis her perception of time sped up, but unlike that time it kept speeding up until the world seemed frozen in place. Frozen in a scene verging on horror. These people had tried to comfort her, that had wanted to help her. No one was dead yet, but Twilight knew that was about to change. She could see it with a certainty that bordered on precognition. She didn't want to see it. Twilight had seen to much, felt to much since arriving here. Equally as frightening was the idea of trying to grasp the power that was swirling around her. Vivid memories of the murder she had committed and the crystal landscape of fear she had left behind swirled in her head.
She might have laid there forever in that frozen slice of time had she not felt the ghostly touch of a wing draping over her back. The world faded away and she burst into tears, turning and sobbing into the now fully solid alicorn laying beside her. For an long time she simply cried, cried until she felt empty. The wing stroked her back slowly, tenderly, familiarly.
"Oh Princess Celestia, I've tried to be brave, to make you proud, but I only made things worse. I've done such awful things and I'm so scared. Scared of everyone, scared of myself. Nothing is right anymore. Please, please take me home. I'm so sorry, whatever I did, please take me back to Equestria, please." Twilight trailed off into renewed sobs, utterly defeated as the huge winged unicorn continued to stroke her back.
"Oh Twilight, my Twilight, my faithful student, I have never doubted your bravery and you have always made me proud. If I could somehow spare you this know that I would. You are not being punished and you have not failed me Twilight. You are in danger though. You are extraordinarily talented and powerful Twilight, our being here in this place is proof enough of that." That caused Twilight to pull her head up and glance around. Twilight and Celestia appeared to be laying on a dim bed of stars, around them a blue nebula. Beyond the nebula an ominous darkness like storm clouds at sunset encroached. "But if you lose yourself, lose faith in yourself, faith in your friendships, and in those you love, you could become the monster you fear in truth. I have already had a loved one travel that path, I do not know if I could bear it a second time."
A fractured memory flickered, almost as if it was tangible in this place and the stars around them brightened as Twilight remembered.
"Nightmare moon! She was Princess Luna, she was your sister, and I, we..used…the elements, the elements of harmony to heal her! ….Generosity, Kindness….Laughter….and….and…" As she tried to remember a bejeweled tiara resting on her head fazed in and out of reality as a deluge of broken memories and feelings flooded her being. The landscape quaked and thunder rumbled from the darkness.
"We don't have much time. Twilight, the elements did heal her, but when my sister fell she did damage that even after a thousand years still haunts Equestria and her heart. You must not walk her path, " Celestia's body turned translucent for a moment before re-solidifying. The stars were growing dimmer, going out. Twilight panicked and threw her hooves around Celestia's neck.
"No, please don't go. Don't make me go back, please!" Celestia brought her head down and laid her head over Twilight's neck.
"Twilight, all beings, even ones such as you or I must, at the end, answer to time. Our time here in this place must soon come to an end least we damage it and all the places connected to it. I have faith in you Twilight, you were always a good student. You must remember your lessons." Twilight lost her purchase as Celestia turned transparent, the stars were disappearing rapidly now.
"Please Princess! I don't know what to do, what do I do!?" Twilight sobbed as she tried to hold onto the now ghostly form of Celestia.
"I love you Twilight, your friends love you. Remember your lessons, trust your heart." Before Twilight could respond she felt the world lurch and she was back in the abandoned lot. The fire girl's arms were now fully extended towards Skitter and a line of flame was crawling glacially through the air towards Skitter. Tears trickled down Twilight's face. What had just happened? A hallucination? No, no she had been there in that other place, Celestia had really been there, but now she was back and her heart twisted in her chest. Back in this awful place. This Awful place with these nice people that were going to die for her, how could such an awful place have such nice people, how could they endure, how could they stay true to themselves?
She needed to find out. If she lived through what she was about to try, she would have to ask them.
Anyone who knew Twilight Sparkle knew that worry, anxiety, researching, testing, retesting, checking and double checking were so much a part of her that they might as well have been etched into her DNA. She had channeled these things into mostly positive aspects of her life, but all of the violence and danger and horror she had experienced had caused her to freeze up while her magic spiraled out of her control. There was no way to act quick enough to check things even once. There was no way to research enough to know that right course of action before hand.
What she was about to do went against almost everything she had ever learned about magic, and all of her rational instincts. 'Trust your heart.' Twilight always had trouble with that, but she trusted Princess Celestia and she trusted her friends and now she remembered. She wept tears of joy as she remembered events both world altering and mundane that had spun the threads of their lives together. If she didn't remember everything, she remembered the most important things. Friendship, love, and harmony were higher magics, magics that were constrained only by the limits of a pony's heart.
She looked around at the scene in front of her with new eyes and saw more. She saw the connections, the friendships and the ties binding these people together and though she hardly knew them she saw the tentative and fragile ties that connected her to them as well. Even the fire girl was tied to them by a bond to Labyrinth. It was beautiful and awful and wonderful and terrible and amazing. Twilight suddenly understood. Her special talent was magic, and in an indescribable way these connections, these friendships were magic. Magic without end. Glowing like a star Twilight stepped directly into the path of the frozen trail of flame. She pulled every good thought close to her heart, she held her memories of friends both old and new there, and directed the swirling uncontrolled potential surrounding her to that place that was both in her and somehow outside as well, that was connected to everything, and let it go.
Stretching across dimensions she felt five connections sing, a harmony of hearts and friendship, and purpose. A tiara settled on her head as a wave of rainbow light spread out from her. Time resumed and the fires ceased. Scraggly patches of weeds and grass and vines in the abandoned lot grew tall and spread, until the gravel was covered in a thick soft carpet of vegetation. A sapling struggling to hang onto the rough embankment where the lot met with the creek burgeoned into a mighty oak whose limbs stretched wide over the water and dipped under their own weight to touch the ground and rise back into the air around them.
Wings shifting on her back Twilight stepped forward and hugged the unscarred face of weeping girl in front of her.
10
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
Interlude 5 - Bonesaw
Bonesaw walked slowly down the sidewalk, on her way back to the house Jack had found for them. Even though she was one of the most wanted criminals on the planet, no one paid her any mind. She wasn't wearing her apron or her tools so no one paid the blond preadolescent girl any more than a passing glance. Had they looked closely they might have noticed that some of the stains on her clothes and "dirt" in her hair was in fact dried blood, but today was not a day to pay close attention to things in Brockton Bay.
Usually when she was upset she cheered herself up by creating some new and interesting art, but right now she didn't feel like cheering up. Daddy-Jack was dead. She had asked him for a unicorn and now he was dead. It was strange to think about, how he wouldn't be there any more. He wouldn't tell her any more bed time stories about the old days and the original Slaughterhouse Nine. No more patient insightful critiques of her art, no one to give her those small pieces of perfect advice when she was frustrated or down. No more Daddy at all.
She guessed she had, in her head, accepted that some day Jack wouldn't be there. He was starting to get a little older, a little slower. When she saw that her understanding of biology had told her it was only a matter of time until the day he was just to slow. Her heart hadn't accepted that though, how could there be a world without Daddy? Why hadn't he seen, why hadn't he moved when the bad unicorn had started to get all glowy? She had never seen Jack surprised, but just before the end he was. He looked surprised, and now that strange expression that didn't belong to Daddy-Jack at all would always be the way she remembered him.
Bonesaw might have gone and seen what had been left of Jack had that place not felt so wrong. Every step closer to the place where Jack had died made her feel worse, worse than she could ever remember feeling. Bad memories that didn't make any sense. So she had taken off her apron and run away from that place until the awful memories had stopped. Since then she had slowly been wandering back to the house, the others would want to know if Cherish hadn't told them yet.
She didn't think they would be a family much longer. Daddy-Jack was the one that had kept them together and made everyone sit down to dinner together. Crawler would try to fight Momma-Siberian and either she would let him and he would die, or she wouldn't and he would go away and die. He wasn't as tough as he liked to think he was. Mannequin might stay or he might continue his quest alone. Bonesaw liked him, but he wasn't much of a sharer. Cherish would stay because she was a naughty sister that thought Daddy-Jack and Bonesaw didn't know she was trying to slowly brainwash the rest of the family. Daddy-Jack had been so looking forward to surprising her, now he never would.
Without Daddy's guidance she thought Burnscar would drift away, the heroes would get her, eventually. Shatterbird would leave, Daddy-Jack was the only one she thought was smart and mature enough to talk to. She would make a mess first. It wasn't fair, she had asked for a unicorn and now her whole family was going to go away. It wasn't fair at all.
She was so lost in thought she didn't see the woman in the suit until she was right in front of her. She wasn't in top mental shape right now, but something about her made Bonesaw uneasy. Before she could formulate her scattered thoughts the woman spoke.
"It's dangerous out here today. You should be a good girl and get home as quick as you can." With that the woman stepped past her. By the time Bonesaw's mind had caught up informing her how strange that encounter was she spun around to find the woman was nowhere to be seen. Quickening her pace she reached the house only a few minutes later. She really wanted a hug, but after looking around the only one home was Cherish. She was laying on the floor next to the living room window, breathing shallowly with a look of fear etched on her face. 'Hmmm,' she thought looking down at Cherish. The others must still all be out recruiting their own candidates for the open position in the Nine.
She took one of the oversized white aprons off a hook by the door and ducked her head under the neck loop before walking downstairs to the basement. After they had moved in Jack had given her the basement to use as her artist studio. Body parts hung from a series of hooks along the wall and a couple of industrial shelving units held all of her current stock of electronics. A few uncompleted works stood unmoving in the corner where she had left them earlier and Hatchet Face's body lay on the big wooden table in the center of the room, breathing through a cobbled together ventilator until she decided what to do with him. She'd been lucky enough to get to him right after Cherish killed him to take his place as part of the Nine.
She really wanted someone to hug right now. Bonesaw's mind quickly flashed to the image of the cute purple alien unicorn and she braced one arm against the table as a few tears trickled down her face. No she didn't want that bad unicorn anymore. A thought struck her and she jolted upright. She looked around the room again taking in all the parts she had, she looked at Hatchet Face, and then she turned her eyes upwards towards the ceiling and Cherish laying in a fugue state above. Bonesaw walked over to the shelves and pulled down a toolbox. Some of the other's candidates would fail, and she could probably convince them to give her the left overs. Momma-Siberian could find her anything special she needed.
She didn't want the bad unicorn, but that didn't mean she couldn't make one. A good one.
Bonesaw walked slowly down the sidewalk, on her way back to the house Jack had found for them. Even though she was one of the most wanted criminals on the planet, no one paid her any mind. She wasn't wearing her apron or her tools so no one paid the blond preadolescent girl any more than a passing glance. Had they looked closely they might have noticed that some of the stains on her clothes and "dirt" in her hair was in fact dried blood, but today was not a day to pay close attention to things in Brockton Bay.
Usually when she was upset she cheered herself up by creating some new and interesting art, but right now she didn't feel like cheering up. Daddy-Jack was dead. She had asked him for a unicorn and now he was dead. It was strange to think about, how he wouldn't be there any more. He wouldn't tell her any more bed time stories about the old days and the original Slaughterhouse Nine. No more patient insightful critiques of her art, no one to give her those small pieces of perfect advice when she was frustrated or down. No more Daddy at all.
She guessed she had, in her head, accepted that some day Jack wouldn't be there. He was starting to get a little older, a little slower. When she saw that her understanding of biology had told her it was only a matter of time until the day he was just to slow. Her heart hadn't accepted that though, how could there be a world without Daddy? Why hadn't he seen, why hadn't he moved when the bad unicorn had started to get all glowy? She had never seen Jack surprised, but just before the end he was. He looked surprised, and now that strange expression that didn't belong to Daddy-Jack at all would always be the way she remembered him.
Bonesaw might have gone and seen what had been left of Jack had that place not felt so wrong. Every step closer to the place where Jack had died made her feel worse, worse than she could ever remember feeling. Bad memories that didn't make any sense. So she had taken off her apron and run away from that place until the awful memories had stopped. Since then she had slowly been wandering back to the house, the others would want to know if Cherish hadn't told them yet.
She didn't think they would be a family much longer. Daddy-Jack was the one that had kept them together and made everyone sit down to dinner together. Crawler would try to fight Momma-Siberian and either she would let him and he would die, or she wouldn't and he would go away and die. He wasn't as tough as he liked to think he was. Mannequin might stay or he might continue his quest alone. Bonesaw liked him, but he wasn't much of a sharer. Cherish would stay because she was a naughty sister that thought Daddy-Jack and Bonesaw didn't know she was trying to slowly brainwash the rest of the family. Daddy-Jack had been so looking forward to surprising her, now he never would.
Without Daddy's guidance she thought Burnscar would drift away, the heroes would get her, eventually. Shatterbird would leave, Daddy-Jack was the only one she thought was smart and mature enough to talk to. She would make a mess first. It wasn't fair, she had asked for a unicorn and now her whole family was going to go away. It wasn't fair at all.
She was so lost in thought she didn't see the woman in the suit until she was right in front of her. She wasn't in top mental shape right now, but something about her made Bonesaw uneasy. Before she could formulate her scattered thoughts the woman spoke.
"It's dangerous out here today. You should be a good girl and get home as quick as you can." With that the woman stepped past her. By the time Bonesaw's mind had caught up informing her how strange that encounter was she spun around to find the woman was nowhere to be seen. Quickening her pace she reached the house only a few minutes later. She really wanted a hug, but after looking around the only one home was Cherish. She was laying on the floor next to the living room window, breathing shallowly with a look of fear etched on her face. 'Hmmm,' she thought looking down at Cherish. The others must still all be out recruiting their own candidates for the open position in the Nine.
She took one of the oversized white aprons off a hook by the door and ducked her head under the neck loop before walking downstairs to the basement. After they had moved in Jack had given her the basement to use as her artist studio. Body parts hung from a series of hooks along the wall and a couple of industrial shelving units held all of her current stock of electronics. A few uncompleted works stood unmoving in the corner where she had left them earlier and Hatchet Face's body lay on the big wooden table in the center of the room, breathing through a cobbled together ventilator until she decided what to do with him. She'd been lucky enough to get to him right after Cherish killed him to take his place as part of the Nine.
She really wanted someone to hug right now. Bonesaw's mind quickly flashed to the image of the cute purple alien unicorn and she braced one arm against the table as a few tears trickled down her face. No she didn't want that bad unicorn anymore. A thought struck her and she jolted upright. She looked around the room again taking in all the parts she had, she looked at Hatchet Face, and then she turned her eyes upwards towards the ceiling and Cherish laying in a fugue state above. Bonesaw walked over to the shelves and pulled down a toolbox. Some of the other's candidates would fail, and she could probably convince them to give her the left overs. Momma-Siberian could find her anything special she needed.
She didn't want the bad unicorn, but that didn't mean she couldn't make one. A good one.
11
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
CHAPTER 7, Part 1
Twilight wasn't sure how long she stood there hugging Mimi as she cried into her fur, but after some time had passed she heard some murmuring behind her. Someone cleared their throat and she maintained her hug of the distraught girl as Skitter spoke.
"Um, Twilight? Are you okay?" Twilight nuzzled the now sniffling girl she was hugging before releasing her embrace and turning to face Skitter. She felt one of Mimi's hands settle at the base of her neck and press down as though she needed to support to keep standing. Skitter was standing about ten feet away while the others where gathered a little further back. Their clothes were burned and torn, and Twilight could see angry red welts on Faultline's exposed skin as she leaned against the large mass of Gregor. Newter was helping Spitfire sit up gently and Labyrinth was clutching Faultline's hand tightly.
Twilight released a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. No one had died. This wasn't the tower, this wasn't the apartment buildings. It was okay, this was okay. She closed her eyes briefly and breathed deep as she listened to the wind brush gently through the leaves above her and felt the soft grass under her hooves. It was okay, she was okay.
"I'm alright," she said opening her eyes. "I remembered…" A few tears gathered in her eyes as she mentally hugged the memories of her friends. "I'm just so glad everyone's okay." Skitter let out a breath of her own and some of the tension in her posture relaxed. She glanced over her shoulder at her friends and then around the green field that had replaced the abandoned lot where they had been fighting. Finally she looked at the girl that had slipped down beside her and was now sitting and leaning her head against Twilight's side.
"And her? Is she okay? Twilight what did you do?" Skitter finished with a pointed look at the weeping girl. Twilight fidgeted a little, something felt different about that. Something her body was trying to tell her but she didn't want to get sidetracked right now. She wasn't sure she could explain, not really. She didn't even understand all of it.
"I..I can't speak for her. I don't think anyone would be okay after what she went through." Twilight thought she heard Spitfire mutter something in response to that but she continued. "I'm not sure how to explain it all in your words. I'm not sure I could explain it all if you spoke equestrian, but she's not a bad person. She didn't even come here to try to hurt me or you."
"She seemed real set on doing just that a moment ago." Faultline interjected in a voice that was laced with an unhealthy sounding wheeze. Twilight flinched at that as the Mimi's body tensed a little against her.
"She didn't really, all she really wanted was to see a friend." Twilight saw Labyrinth tense up at this and Faultline narrowed her eyes a little. "Not in a bad way, I think she just wanted to talk. I could see..$@$%..her..connections, she really didn't want to do more than that, but something was wrong, something was…twisting..them….!#$!#…dimming them? I remembered. I didn't remember everything, but I remembered so much. I saw…I felt my friends and we…@$%@$ !#$!# elements of harmony, using them together we were able to @$%@$@…untangle her? Make her connections right?"
Their faces were a mix of incredulity and wariness. Twilight realized that it wasn't just Mimi they where wary of, but her. She didn't understand that. Why would they be scared of her? She wished she could translate this better, she was messing this up somehow.
"I..don't have the words for what I'm trying to explain. But she didn't want to hurt people, not deep down, and now she doesn't have to anymore." Twilight leaned her head down and softly brushed it against the side of the girl's face. Before Twilight could continue Mimi started to speak even as her tears continued.
"I..I didn't want to. I never meant to! I was to weak, to weak to not use it. And when I used it I didn't care anymore. I..used it sometimes because I didn't want to feel, and it let me not care. I..how can I..everything I did, all those awful things I did." She stopped talking and just sobbed for a moment before continuing. "What am I going to do? The Nine are going to kill me and if they don't they'll put me in the birdcage and I'll die there instead. I, what.."
"We'll help you, that's what friends are for." Twilight gently pressed herself against Mimi's side.
"Um…"
"Twilight I'm not sur.."
"The Fuc.."
"You can come with me. Hiding two people from the Nine can't be any harder than just hiding me. We're going to figure out what to do about these Nine people and afterwards we can figure out where you want to go from there. I know some people in your government that maybe able to help you." When Mimi tensed, Twilight quickly reassured "In a good way." Skitter and her friends still looked worried and unsure, but Faultline seemed to be making an effort to pull herself together and done her professional mask once again.
"Twilight - how do you know these things? How do you know she's safe? What did you mean by connections? I'm sorry but I can't risk my people with such an unknown." Twilight sagged at this, but she understood. Faultline wanted to protect her friends and she hadn't seen what Twilight did.
"I understand. I'm not sure I can explain beyond what I have already said." Thinking of a certain pink pony she even smiled a little. "I know how frustrating something like that can be. I know we just met and that there's no reason for you to believe what I just said. It's okay. Thank you for coming, for talking with me and being willing to help, but I can't leave her." Mimi looked up in startled amazement at this and Twilight nodded reassuringly at her. Before Twilight could start trying to figure out what she was going to do Skitter spoke up again.
"I've got a place you can stay." Twilight's spirits leaped at that and she couldn't help the bright smile that found its way onto her face. Nobody else looked particularly happy about it but when they tried to interject Skitter waved them off. "No, This is actually for the best. I can act as a go between, use my bugs to pass messages and plant dead drops. We can still do all the things we were before to try and help out, and you guys don't have to risk drawing the attention of the Nine."
"No, instead all of that risk would fall to you." Faultline grumbled and then in a quieter voice Twilight almost didn't catch, "and other risks I'm not sure any of us understand."
"It's my risk to take, and Twilight probably saved my life the first night I was out as a cape. I owe her one."
"You don't," Twilight blurted at this.
"Then lets just say I want to. What do you say, sleep over at my place?" Skitter asked with a little devil may care bravado.
"Wait wait wait!" Newter interjected. "Is no one going to mention the elephant in the room? Let's ignore the mystic mind whammy and the verdant park from nowhere - She's got fucking wings!" Twilight startled at this and spun her head around. Sure enough a set of wings rested on her back. Upon paying attention to them they sprung open, larger than regular pegasus wings.
"Oh..Oh, wow, ok, those are, um, new. The elements never did anything like that before." Twilight tried to make them fold back against her side, but instead generated a couple of fitful flaps that brought here a half a foot off the ground before stumbling back to her hooves. "I wow, um..I need to research..magical abnormalities..history of alicorns..pegasus flight mechanics...oh but human libraries won't have any of the books I need...a checklist, I need a checklist." So saying a couple of scattered rocks glowed for a moment before becoming a scroll and a quill. Faultline spoke up again.
"Let's not get sidetracked. The plan has changed a little, but not substantially. Even this far out in the boonies someone is going to notice this." She gestured at the changed landscape around them. "We need to get moving. Especially since we no longer have transport." Shooting a guarded look at Mimi she continued. "The rest of us will head back to our secondary base of operations to be on the safe side. Skitter, you know where the meeting is going to be tomorrow. We'll see you there and we can do some planning afterwards once we know how the others are going to act regarding the ABB and the Nine. Twilight…stay safe. Lets go people."
Tugging her hand out of Faultline's grip Labyrinth slowly walked over knelt down and after a moment of hesitation gave Mimi a quick hug. She got back up quickly and almost ran back to the others. Gregor gave a solemn wave before stepping over to Spitfire and gently lifting her into his arms. Newter leapt out in front and they started making their way down the street. Skitter watched until they were out of sight and then turned to look back at Twilight and Mimi. Twilight gave her a nervous smile as her new appendages shifted erratically on her back.
"So, sleepover?"
______________________
Twilight's new wings continued to twitch and move randomly as they skulked through another abandoned alley, their path having gotten more and more convoluted the closer into town they got. Since Twilight was what Skitter had called, 'more than conspicuous,' they had been forced into a twisting two steps forward one step back path Skitter had scouted out with her bugs.
It was now getting very late, and by all rights given the day she had and the miles they had just covered Twilight should have been exhausted. Certainly she had been ready to drop by the time she was discovered by Skitter. Using the elements or the change she had undergone had instead left her brimming with energy. Her newfound memories had buoyed her emotions and allowed her to regain control, she wasn't glowing or unintentionally summoning magical flames anymore, but now it seemed almost eager. Waiting to leap not just from her horn, but from her her hooves and wings too.
Twilight glanced to her side to check on Mimi and then forward again to make sure they weren't falling to far behind Skitter. The need to be discrete and silent wasn't helping her restlessness nor did it seem to be helping anyone's emotional state if anything she had learned about human body language was true. Finally after another series of random turns they came to the back of a two story brick building and a solid looking metal door without a handle. Skitter paused and after a moment Twilight heard a muffled clack. The door eased open an inch before Skitter grabbed the edge and opening it ushered them inside.
Twilight felt herself freeze and Mimi clutch her neck when Skitter closed the door behind them and plunged the room into near totally darkness. She was halfway into conjuring a light spell when she heard a click and soft slightly blue tinged light filled the room. They were in a large kitchen, not nearly as big as you would find in the palace, but certainly bigger than a household's. Glancing behind her at the door Twilight saw that it had a sliding metal bar as a locking mechanism that was wrapped in webbing that narrowed into a thick strand that passed through a pulley and then disappeared into a freshly drilled hole in the counter that was closest to it. Seeing what Twilight was looking at Skitter spoke before Twilight could investigate it further.
"I wouldn't open that cabinet." She said indicating the place beneath the drilled counter top. Skitter's voice had a tone that Twilight remembered some of her friends used when they were warning you about something, but also sorta secretly hoped you do it anyway. She now remembered one too many pranks by Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash to let her innate curiosity seduce her into opening said cabinet.
"Hmm," Twilight vocalized as she glanced between the door, the cabinet, and Skitter whose talent after all was speaking to insects of every imaginable type. Giving Skitter a small smile that conveyed a, 'what you're doing, I see it look,' she continued. "Thanks for the warning. What is this place?" Looking around Twilight saw that the lighting all looked like it was coming from small electric bulbs strung by recently added wire secured to the ceiling and leading back to to large black boxes with metal poles sticking out of them that rested by the door. Clearly whatever this place was it wasn't currently connected to central utilities like the PRT building had been.
"It's an old city firehouse, probably been 30 years since this part of town had the funding to support it. It seemed like the perfect place for a lair, lots of space. Follow me, I'll give you the not so grand tour." Mimi and Twilight followed Skitter through an arched doorway and into a large open room with two huge opening on the other side that were sealed by large metal doors. In the corner closest to them a spiral staircase made of iron wound its way up to a second floor, while a polished brass pole stood proudly in the center of the open space leading up to a circular opening in the ceiling.
"This is where they used to keep the trucks, but it works well enough as a workspace." Skitter gestured to a hoofull of folding tables along one wall and what looked like some recently installed shelving. One had a half finished copy of Skitter's costume laid out on it, while another was piled randomly with construction tools. The shelves were occupied almost entirely by terrariums. Twilight wandered over to the table covered in tools and Mimi walked slowly to the brass pole and stared up its length. "Come on upstairs and I'll show you where we're sleeping tonight."
Twilight's eyebrow twitched at the disorganized table and when Skitter turned away to head for the stairs she quickly lit her horn and arranged the tools by type and size, all placed neatly an equal distance from their neighbors. Extinguishing the light on her horn and letting out a satisfied sigh she quickly trotted over to the others to keep up.
The second floor was split with one side having a couple of what looked like offices while the other side was a large open space filled with a dozen metal bed frames. The closest frame actually had a mattress and sheets with a beaten up nightstand holding a couple of books, while the others were bare grey metal. In the middle between the two rows of beds the brass pole from below rose from a hole in the floor guarded by an iron rail with a human sized hole on one side.
"And here's where we sleep. I use the offices for silk production and the best silk spinners around here are black widows, so, um I recommend not going over there, there kinda territorial." Twilight glanced uneasily at the previously harmless looking offices and thought of some of Fluttershy's more unconventional friends who she had similarly described as 'a little territorial.' She decided to stay as far away from said offices as possible. "It doesn't look like much, but trust me you did not want to see this place when I first found it."
Twilight jumped in quickly to put that worry to rest as Mimi walked past her towards the beds. "Oh no, you've done a great job, I can only imagine how much a mess it was after being abandoned so long. I think it's great. Certainly nicer than that old factory." Skitter yawned and turned back to the stairs.
"I've got some spare sheets and a sleeping bag downstairs, we should be able to make some pallets to sleep on with them. I'll run down and get them, if either of you want something to drink there's some water and soda in that cooler over there, help yourselves." Skitter started back down the stairs but just before her head disappeared down them Mimi spoke for the first time since leaving the lot.
"Hey, does this pole still work?" At Skitters hesitant nod Mimi smiled and jumped to the pole and slid quickly out of sight. Twilight's ears rotated and she heard quiet laughter and quick footsteps heading towards the stairs. An indescribable warm feeling rose in her chest and shooting a challenging grin towards Skitter she ran to the hole and leapt to pole, delighted giggles following her down. At the bottom she had to roll out of the way of Skitter who had somehow managed a much faster slide. Mimi looked at the two of them from the base of the stairs before flashing a grin and running up them Twilight and Skitter fast on her heels.
———————————
An hour later Twilight was settling into her makeshift bed as she used her magic to gently comb Mimi's hair. They hadn't had materials for makeovers, smores, or even a pillow fight and Twilight was in no mood for ghost stories. But they had talked, not about anything really, and some unspoken agreement not to bring up anything serious had formed somewhere along the line. Mimi was mostly quiet, but seemed content to listen. Skitter's mask was a small discordant note, by the end however Twilight had almost stopped noticing it.
She clopped her fore hooves together. She had even managed to get them into a game of twenty questions! It hadn't been a textbook slumber party, besides missing a few key steps Twilight couldn't remember there being a section on fire poles. Clearly the latter was an oversight that she was sure future editions would remedy with a judicious letter to the publisher. Overall Twilight thought it was pretty good for her first attempt at a cross dimensional multi-species sleepover.
None of her problems had gone away. The same things that had driven her to despair where still out there, waiting for her. But for now, right now, she was warm, safe, and with friends. For now she was happy and she pulled that feeling close and basked in it. Tomorrow would come, and when it did she would face it. With friends both near and far, old and new, strange and wonderful.
Struck by a thought she levitated a small notepad and pen they had been using earlier to keep score and flipped it to a new page. One more thing to do.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
------------------------------------------------------
The next morning after Skitter had left to meet with Faultline and then the other non-PRT capes Twilight had started on a project of her own. With a transmuted piece of chalk she had began drawling intricate circular patterns and designs all over the concrete floor of the old truck bay. Complex Equestrian runes wrapped some, while others were inlaid with fractal geometric patterns. Hovering in the air above her Mimi had created three small globes of fire to light the room. She was sitting about halfway up the spiral staircase with her legs dangling over the edge. She was wearing some sweatpants and a too big 'hoodie' that Skitter had loaned her and seemed content to watch while Twilight worked.
Lost in her work Twilight didn't realize how much time had passed until she heard the clack of the door opening in the kitchen. With no natural light inside it was hard to tell, but most of the day must be gone if Skitter was already back from the meeting. A few moments later Skitter walked into the room still wearing her somewhat creepy bug costume and stared at the floor before looking up at the floating orbs of fire, and then over to Twilight.
"Do I want to know? You're not about to summon some dark creature from beyond our realm of understanding are you?"
"What?! No of course not, those practices have been banned for thousands of years! Why would I do something like that?" Twilight sputtered in shock. Skitter waved her hands in that human motion that said to calm down.
"Hey, easy, I was joking," she looked around at the patterns again lit by the flickering orbs of flame, "mostly. So what are you doing?"
Twilight smiled brightly at the question and straightened her posture. "I'm creating a series of spell circles to help me create a memory crystal." Realizing that neither Skitter or Mimi would know what a spell circle was she continued. "Hmm, It's like a…guide, or maybe like a mnemonic, but also a…@$@%^..battery or capacitor? as well. The spell I'm going to cast is really complicated and delicate, and instead of holding it all in my head at once I can do some of it before hand and….$Q$#@..set the some of the magic in place, and then during the course of casting I can…@$%@…chain?…them together using the patterns."
"So what spell are you going to cast?" Skitter asked seeming to stumble over the words spell and cast.
"I'm going to try and create a memory crystal. If I'm successful I'll be able create a three dimensional recording of myself and store it in the crystal. I think I can construct a spell to send it to the wards and I was thinking it would be nice to really show them I'm alright. It's a little labor intensive, but I didn't really have anything to do until you got back. I'm almost done." Twilight set her chalk down. "So what happened at the meeting? What is everyone going to do?" Skitter stared at the pattern for a moment in thought before shaking her head.
"Well….
___________________________
The place was called Somer's Rock. A dilapidated bar on a dilapidated street on which the businesses that remained opened only seemed to be because their owners had nowhere else to go and nothing else to do. Upon entering the place Skitter found that the inside decor matched the outside impression. She had done a little running around before the meeting and thus was one of the last people to get there. Taking a look around at the gathered capes what popped into her head was, 'I have never seen a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.' Faultline and Skitter both had thought that it would be advantageous if there wasn't an explicit connection between them so Skitter settled onto a stool by the bar by herself. The people that Faultline and Skitter had been calling 'non-PRT' capes mostly consisted of some of the most notorious villains in the north east.
Several tables had been pushed together in the center of the room and the leaders of the various factions of Brockton Bay's criminal underworld were seated there while their compatriots filled the booths around it. Skitter had done her research and set about identifying the people that had decided to show. At the far end of the table was a man armored from head to toe and wearing a crown of blades who could only be Kaiser. He was the head of what was probably the most powerful gang in Brockton Bay, Empire 88, a white supremacist group that recruited like minded capes from all over the world. Sitting in a booth behind him were the rest of the Empire's representatives.
A pair of blond twins, Fenja and Menja, in valkyrie style armor and full face helms. They could grow three stories tall and were a hundred times more durable than a human when they did. The woman in a pure white costume and eyes glowing bright enough that she was hard to look at had to be Purity. Krieg, Night, Fog, and Hookwolf rounded out their table. It was the kind of firepower that nearly any Protectorate division would be jealous to have.
Next to Kaiser at the table was a skeletally thin man in a skin tight black costume whose only distinguishing feature was a white snake design that started at his head, wrapped around his neck, and then trailed down to one ankle. Faultline had briefed her on him, no one was sure if he had a power or not, but apparently he ran a good section of downtown with highly trained ex-military from around the world. He had hired Faultline for a few jobs that left her with the impression that he was very well founded. That he was here alone said something about his confidence at least.
Skitter recognized the costumed form of Tattletale sitting further down the table, and the rest of the Undersiders sitting in another booth. Up until their disastrous run in with the Wards and Twilight during the bank robbery they had been a not much noticed, but rising star of the local underworld. They were still missing Grue, but apparently Bitch had somehow managed to escape custody they also had another member that she didn't recognize. She had never been more glad that she hadn't taken Tattletale's offer to join then when she heard the news about Bitch and Grue's capture. When Twilight had told her about it from her perspective it had only reinforced the idea she had dodged a bullet.
A man in a black costume and a red tophat and mask was sitting across from Tattletale. A girl, a guy, and some sort of gorilla were sitting in a booth and wore costumes with a matching color scheme. Skitter didn't recognize them, but given the fact that their leader was sitting at the main table while the leader of the Merchants sulked discontentedly with a few other shabbily dressed members of his meth dealing and using gang at the most distant booth in the place said that he must have some sort of reputation.
Faultline rounded out the central table with the Gregor, Newter, and Spitfire occupying the booth closest to the Empire's. Skitter felt a little out of place being the only lone cape in the joint, but nobody had gainsaid her presence and everyone in the room seemed to be paying attention to the head table. Which suited her just fine, Skitter and Faultline had met earlier and gone over everything. They agreed that Faultline was going to be the one to do any talking. Coil steepled his fingers in front of him and started things off.
"That should be everyone. Seems Lung won't be coming, though I doubt any of us are surprised, given the nature of tonight's discussion."
"The ABB," Kaiser replied.
"Hundreds confirmed dead, more hospitalized. The PRT headquarters downtown leveled while the first extraterrestrial being ever contacted was staying there. Said alien still missing and possibly dead. Causing international outrage. Random bombings, running battles in the streets between ABB and police and military. They are targeting our businesses and are pushing into all of our territories. All of this with no indication that they are stopping anytime soon."
"It is inconvenient," Kaiser nodded.
"Their being reckless," Faultline interjected. "Beyond reckless, outright insane."
"Which is the real concern," Coil continued. "They can't sustain this. Something will give, they will self destruct sooner or later, and cease to be an issue. Had things played out differently we could have even looked at this a good thing. But their actions even before the tower bombing were drawing far to much attention, bringing in heroes from other cities and a Homeland Security presence here. The tower bombing has shined the light of the world on our city, and if we don't contain it we may all find ourselves exposed in it."
"They've gotten the attention of more than just the government," Faultline spoke with deadly seriousness. "I have first hand confirmation that the Slaughterhouse Nine are in town." At that declaration the room went silent, even the endless dissatisfied muttering of the Merchants stopped.
"Fuck me," Tattletale breathed, "Thats true, you ran into one of them, shit you beat one of them, no-"
"Yes," Faultline spoke over Tattletale. "Burnscar attacked my group last night, she's…no longer a problem. I also have it from what I would consider a reliable source that Jack Slash died the night before last not long after the tower explosion." Once again silenced reigned. While the individual life expectancy of a member of the Nine was about six months, Jack slash had been a member of the Nine for a decade and had developed a reputation as the luckiest psychopath that walked the face of the earth. Jack Slash being dead was world changing news. Once again it was Tattletale the broke the silence.
"Holy shit, he is dead, you met the person that killed him, they helped you with Burnscar..fuck Twilight Sparkle killed him, she lived through the bombing." Faultline's expression shifted to aggrieved, bordering on pissed.
"Yes, when we parted ways I got the idea she was going to lay low for now. Jack gave her the impression before she killed him that if she tried to shelter with the Protectorate or PRT that they would be the Nine's next targets." Faultline paused for a moment and then continued when no one picked up the conversation. "So that is probably the biggest reason to deal with the ABB and deal with them quickly. Quite frankly we have bigger problems and can't afford to be distracted by them." The cape in the tophat let out a soft whistle.
"Well, that was bracing. I would say that Twilight Sparkle's introduction to humanity these past two weeks has been..sub-optimal. A mad bomber, an S-Class threat, and a being from another world." Skitter thought he stressed those last two words a little more than the rest as he shot a quick look at his team. "This city is more interesting than I gave it credit for."
"Quite," Coil responded. "So, given this new information, are we in agreement? The ABB cannot be allowed to continue operating." Nods and murmurs of agreement went around the room.
"Then I suggest we establish a truce. Not just everyone here, but between ourselves and the law. I would contact authorities and let them know that until the ABB and the Nine are taken care of or driven off, our groups will restrict our illegal activity to only what is absolutely essential to our business, and we will enforce the same for those doing business in our territories. That would let police forces and military focus entirely on these threats as well. There would be no violence, infighting between our groups, grabs for territory, thefts or insults. We band together with those we can tolerate for guaranteed victory, and we ignore those we cannot cooperate with. Kaiser?"
"I think that is acceptable," Kaiser agreed.
"Yeah," Tattletale said. "Unless we all want to try doing business in the smoking cinder that used to be Brockton Bay we need to take care of this, were in."
The man in the tophat tipped it. "A little more fun than we had planned on, but no problem, count us in."
__________________________
…There are always a few snags when you try to get a bunch of different capes working together, but they all agreed to put aside any differences they have for now to take care of the ABB and not interfere with each other until the Nine leave the city or are otherwise out of the picture." Twilight was both relieved and worried. Relived that so many people were going to band together to help each other and her, worried about the danger those nice people were going to be putting themselves in.
"Thats good news, thank you so much for going. I just hope everyone stays safe." Twilight bent back down and made a few more marks on the floor before neatly placing her chalk in a small box she had drawn in the corner. "Done! Now all I have to do is charge and configure the @$%# circles and I'll be ready to cast the spell."
"So when your done you'll have a crystal that will show a 3D recording of you?" Skitter inquired.
"Um-hmm," Twilight nodded absently as she glanced between the patterns on the floor and a sheet of paper she was levitating in front of her, making large checkmarks as she went down a list. Skitter paused for a moment before continuing in a light tone.
"Did you know that it is a tradition to start such recordings with a specific greeting?" Twilight looked up from her list with a puzzled frown.
"Really?"
"Yup, don't worry though, it's nothing complicated." After Skitter had explained the greeting Twilight was very confused. It was a very strange way to greet someone, either her translation spell was failing her or it was a human idiom that had passed well beyond it's original meaning. Regardless it was no problem adding it in front of what she wanted to tell the Wards and the PRT.
____________________________
The next morning a scroll addressed the Wards with a small clear crystal attached by a ribbon materialized with a purple flash in front of Vista as she was eating cereal in the Protectorate cafeteria. Vista flinched back from the scroll before realizing she recognized that shade of purple.
"Twilight!" She exclaimed drawing the attention of the other Wards and members of the Protectorate that were present. Sliding the ribbon holding the scroll together off she unrolled it. Reading the brief and neatly written instructions she proceeded to baffle everyone else when she tossed the crystal into her water glass. The glass glowed bright purple for a moment and then suddenly Twilight Sparkle was standing on the table. Twilight turned her head to the side for a second and then faced forward again. Vista tried to reach out and touch her and found her hand passing through Twilight's leg with no resistance. Then the unicorn spoke.
"Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope…"
Twilight wasn't sure how long she stood there hugging Mimi as she cried into her fur, but after some time had passed she heard some murmuring behind her. Someone cleared their throat and she maintained her hug of the distraught girl as Skitter spoke.
"Um, Twilight? Are you okay?" Twilight nuzzled the now sniffling girl she was hugging before releasing her embrace and turning to face Skitter. She felt one of Mimi's hands settle at the base of her neck and press down as though she needed to support to keep standing. Skitter was standing about ten feet away while the others where gathered a little further back. Their clothes were burned and torn, and Twilight could see angry red welts on Faultline's exposed skin as she leaned against the large mass of Gregor. Newter was helping Spitfire sit up gently and Labyrinth was clutching Faultline's hand tightly.
Twilight released a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. No one had died. This wasn't the tower, this wasn't the apartment buildings. It was okay, this was okay. She closed her eyes briefly and breathed deep as she listened to the wind brush gently through the leaves above her and felt the soft grass under her hooves. It was okay, she was okay.
"I'm alright," she said opening her eyes. "I remembered…" A few tears gathered in her eyes as she mentally hugged the memories of her friends. "I'm just so glad everyone's okay." Skitter let out a breath of her own and some of the tension in her posture relaxed. She glanced over her shoulder at her friends and then around the green field that had replaced the abandoned lot where they had been fighting. Finally she looked at the girl that had slipped down beside her and was now sitting and leaning her head against Twilight's side.
"And her? Is she okay? Twilight what did you do?" Skitter finished with a pointed look at the weeping girl. Twilight fidgeted a little, something felt different about that. Something her body was trying to tell her but she didn't want to get sidetracked right now. She wasn't sure she could explain, not really. She didn't even understand all of it.
"I..I can't speak for her. I don't think anyone would be okay after what she went through." Twilight thought she heard Spitfire mutter something in response to that but she continued. "I'm not sure how to explain it all in your words. I'm not sure I could explain it all if you spoke equestrian, but she's not a bad person. She didn't even come here to try to hurt me or you."
"She seemed real set on doing just that a moment ago." Faultline interjected in a voice that was laced with an unhealthy sounding wheeze. Twilight flinched at that as the Mimi's body tensed a little against her.
"She didn't really, all she really wanted was to see a friend." Twilight saw Labyrinth tense up at this and Faultline narrowed her eyes a little. "Not in a bad way, I think she just wanted to talk. I could see..$@$%..her..connections, she really didn't want to do more than that, but something was wrong, something was…twisting..them….!#$!#…dimming them? I remembered. I didn't remember everything, but I remembered so much. I saw…I felt my friends and we…@$%@$ !#$!# elements of harmony, using them together we were able to @$%@$@…untangle her? Make her connections right?"
Their faces were a mix of incredulity and wariness. Twilight realized that it wasn't just Mimi they where wary of, but her. She didn't understand that. Why would they be scared of her? She wished she could translate this better, she was messing this up somehow.
"I..don't have the words for what I'm trying to explain. But she didn't want to hurt people, not deep down, and now she doesn't have to anymore." Twilight leaned her head down and softly brushed it against the side of the girl's face. Before Twilight could continue Mimi started to speak even as her tears continued.
"I..I didn't want to. I never meant to! I was to weak, to weak to not use it. And when I used it I didn't care anymore. I..used it sometimes because I didn't want to feel, and it let me not care. I..how can I..everything I did, all those awful things I did." She stopped talking and just sobbed for a moment before continuing. "What am I going to do? The Nine are going to kill me and if they don't they'll put me in the birdcage and I'll die there instead. I, what.."
"We'll help you, that's what friends are for." Twilight gently pressed herself against Mimi's side.
"Um…"
"Twilight I'm not sur.."
"The Fuc.."
"You can come with me. Hiding two people from the Nine can't be any harder than just hiding me. We're going to figure out what to do about these Nine people and afterwards we can figure out where you want to go from there. I know some people in your government that maybe able to help you." When Mimi tensed, Twilight quickly reassured "In a good way." Skitter and her friends still looked worried and unsure, but Faultline seemed to be making an effort to pull herself together and done her professional mask once again.
"Twilight - how do you know these things? How do you know she's safe? What did you mean by connections? I'm sorry but I can't risk my people with such an unknown." Twilight sagged at this, but she understood. Faultline wanted to protect her friends and she hadn't seen what Twilight did.
"I understand. I'm not sure I can explain beyond what I have already said." Thinking of a certain pink pony she even smiled a little. "I know how frustrating something like that can be. I know we just met and that there's no reason for you to believe what I just said. It's okay. Thank you for coming, for talking with me and being willing to help, but I can't leave her." Mimi looked up in startled amazement at this and Twilight nodded reassuringly at her. Before Twilight could start trying to figure out what she was going to do Skitter spoke up again.
"I've got a place you can stay." Twilight's spirits leaped at that and she couldn't help the bright smile that found its way onto her face. Nobody else looked particularly happy about it but when they tried to interject Skitter waved them off. "No, This is actually for the best. I can act as a go between, use my bugs to pass messages and plant dead drops. We can still do all the things we were before to try and help out, and you guys don't have to risk drawing the attention of the Nine."
"No, instead all of that risk would fall to you." Faultline grumbled and then in a quieter voice Twilight almost didn't catch, "and other risks I'm not sure any of us understand."
"It's my risk to take, and Twilight probably saved my life the first night I was out as a cape. I owe her one."
"You don't," Twilight blurted at this.
"Then lets just say I want to. What do you say, sleep over at my place?" Skitter asked with a little devil may care bravado.
"Wait wait wait!" Newter interjected. "Is no one going to mention the elephant in the room? Let's ignore the mystic mind whammy and the verdant park from nowhere - She's got fucking wings!" Twilight startled at this and spun her head around. Sure enough a set of wings rested on her back. Upon paying attention to them they sprung open, larger than regular pegasus wings.
"Oh..Oh, wow, ok, those are, um, new. The elements never did anything like that before." Twilight tried to make them fold back against her side, but instead generated a couple of fitful flaps that brought here a half a foot off the ground before stumbling back to her hooves. "I wow, um..I need to research..magical abnormalities..history of alicorns..pegasus flight mechanics...oh but human libraries won't have any of the books I need...a checklist, I need a checklist." So saying a couple of scattered rocks glowed for a moment before becoming a scroll and a quill. Faultline spoke up again.
"Let's not get sidetracked. The plan has changed a little, but not substantially. Even this far out in the boonies someone is going to notice this." She gestured at the changed landscape around them. "We need to get moving. Especially since we no longer have transport." Shooting a guarded look at Mimi she continued. "The rest of us will head back to our secondary base of operations to be on the safe side. Skitter, you know where the meeting is going to be tomorrow. We'll see you there and we can do some planning afterwards once we know how the others are going to act regarding the ABB and the Nine. Twilight…stay safe. Lets go people."
Tugging her hand out of Faultline's grip Labyrinth slowly walked over knelt down and after a moment of hesitation gave Mimi a quick hug. She got back up quickly and almost ran back to the others. Gregor gave a solemn wave before stepping over to Spitfire and gently lifting her into his arms. Newter leapt out in front and they started making their way down the street. Skitter watched until they were out of sight and then turned to look back at Twilight and Mimi. Twilight gave her a nervous smile as her new appendages shifted erratically on her back.
"So, sleepover?"
______________________
Twilight's new wings continued to twitch and move randomly as they skulked through another abandoned alley, their path having gotten more and more convoluted the closer into town they got. Since Twilight was what Skitter had called, 'more than conspicuous,' they had been forced into a twisting two steps forward one step back path Skitter had scouted out with her bugs.
It was now getting very late, and by all rights given the day she had and the miles they had just covered Twilight should have been exhausted. Certainly she had been ready to drop by the time she was discovered by Skitter. Using the elements or the change she had undergone had instead left her brimming with energy. Her newfound memories had buoyed her emotions and allowed her to regain control, she wasn't glowing or unintentionally summoning magical flames anymore, but now it seemed almost eager. Waiting to leap not just from her horn, but from her her hooves and wings too.
Twilight glanced to her side to check on Mimi and then forward again to make sure they weren't falling to far behind Skitter. The need to be discrete and silent wasn't helping her restlessness nor did it seem to be helping anyone's emotional state if anything she had learned about human body language was true. Finally after another series of random turns they came to the back of a two story brick building and a solid looking metal door without a handle. Skitter paused and after a moment Twilight heard a muffled clack. The door eased open an inch before Skitter grabbed the edge and opening it ushered them inside.
Twilight felt herself freeze and Mimi clutch her neck when Skitter closed the door behind them and plunged the room into near totally darkness. She was halfway into conjuring a light spell when she heard a click and soft slightly blue tinged light filled the room. They were in a large kitchen, not nearly as big as you would find in the palace, but certainly bigger than a household's. Glancing behind her at the door Twilight saw that it had a sliding metal bar as a locking mechanism that was wrapped in webbing that narrowed into a thick strand that passed through a pulley and then disappeared into a freshly drilled hole in the counter that was closest to it. Seeing what Twilight was looking at Skitter spoke before Twilight could investigate it further.
"I wouldn't open that cabinet." She said indicating the place beneath the drilled counter top. Skitter's voice had a tone that Twilight remembered some of her friends used when they were warning you about something, but also sorta secretly hoped you do it anyway. She now remembered one too many pranks by Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash to let her innate curiosity seduce her into opening said cabinet.
"Hmm," Twilight vocalized as she glanced between the door, the cabinet, and Skitter whose talent after all was speaking to insects of every imaginable type. Giving Skitter a small smile that conveyed a, 'what you're doing, I see it look,' she continued. "Thanks for the warning. What is this place?" Looking around Twilight saw that the lighting all looked like it was coming from small electric bulbs strung by recently added wire secured to the ceiling and leading back to to large black boxes with metal poles sticking out of them that rested by the door. Clearly whatever this place was it wasn't currently connected to central utilities like the PRT building had been.
"It's an old city firehouse, probably been 30 years since this part of town had the funding to support it. It seemed like the perfect place for a lair, lots of space. Follow me, I'll give you the not so grand tour." Mimi and Twilight followed Skitter through an arched doorway and into a large open room with two huge opening on the other side that were sealed by large metal doors. In the corner closest to them a spiral staircase made of iron wound its way up to a second floor, while a polished brass pole stood proudly in the center of the open space leading up to a circular opening in the ceiling.
"This is where they used to keep the trucks, but it works well enough as a workspace." Skitter gestured to a hoofull of folding tables along one wall and what looked like some recently installed shelving. One had a half finished copy of Skitter's costume laid out on it, while another was piled randomly with construction tools. The shelves were occupied almost entirely by terrariums. Twilight wandered over to the table covered in tools and Mimi walked slowly to the brass pole and stared up its length. "Come on upstairs and I'll show you where we're sleeping tonight."
Twilight's eyebrow twitched at the disorganized table and when Skitter turned away to head for the stairs she quickly lit her horn and arranged the tools by type and size, all placed neatly an equal distance from their neighbors. Extinguishing the light on her horn and letting out a satisfied sigh she quickly trotted over to the others to keep up.
The second floor was split with one side having a couple of what looked like offices while the other side was a large open space filled with a dozen metal bed frames. The closest frame actually had a mattress and sheets with a beaten up nightstand holding a couple of books, while the others were bare grey metal. In the middle between the two rows of beds the brass pole from below rose from a hole in the floor guarded by an iron rail with a human sized hole on one side.
"And here's where we sleep. I use the offices for silk production and the best silk spinners around here are black widows, so, um I recommend not going over there, there kinda territorial." Twilight glanced uneasily at the previously harmless looking offices and thought of some of Fluttershy's more unconventional friends who she had similarly described as 'a little territorial.' She decided to stay as far away from said offices as possible. "It doesn't look like much, but trust me you did not want to see this place when I first found it."
Twilight jumped in quickly to put that worry to rest as Mimi walked past her towards the beds. "Oh no, you've done a great job, I can only imagine how much a mess it was after being abandoned so long. I think it's great. Certainly nicer than that old factory." Skitter yawned and turned back to the stairs.
"I've got some spare sheets and a sleeping bag downstairs, we should be able to make some pallets to sleep on with them. I'll run down and get them, if either of you want something to drink there's some water and soda in that cooler over there, help yourselves." Skitter started back down the stairs but just before her head disappeared down them Mimi spoke for the first time since leaving the lot.
"Hey, does this pole still work?" At Skitters hesitant nod Mimi smiled and jumped to the pole and slid quickly out of sight. Twilight's ears rotated and she heard quiet laughter and quick footsteps heading towards the stairs. An indescribable warm feeling rose in her chest and shooting a challenging grin towards Skitter she ran to the hole and leapt to pole, delighted giggles following her down. At the bottom she had to roll out of the way of Skitter who had somehow managed a much faster slide. Mimi looked at the two of them from the base of the stairs before flashing a grin and running up them Twilight and Skitter fast on her heels.
———————————
An hour later Twilight was settling into her makeshift bed as she used her magic to gently comb Mimi's hair. They hadn't had materials for makeovers, smores, or even a pillow fight and Twilight was in no mood for ghost stories. But they had talked, not about anything really, and some unspoken agreement not to bring up anything serious had formed somewhere along the line. Mimi was mostly quiet, but seemed content to listen. Skitter's mask was a small discordant note, by the end however Twilight had almost stopped noticing it.
She clopped her fore hooves together. She had even managed to get them into a game of twenty questions! It hadn't been a textbook slumber party, besides missing a few key steps Twilight couldn't remember there being a section on fire poles. Clearly the latter was an oversight that she was sure future editions would remedy with a judicious letter to the publisher. Overall Twilight thought it was pretty good for her first attempt at a cross dimensional multi-species sleepover.
None of her problems had gone away. The same things that had driven her to despair where still out there, waiting for her. But for now, right now, she was warm, safe, and with friends. For now she was happy and she pulled that feeling close and basked in it. Tomorrow would come, and when it did she would face it. With friends both near and far, old and new, strange and wonderful.
Struck by a thought she levitated a small notepad and pen they had been using earlier to keep score and flipped it to a new page. One more thing to do.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
------------------------------------------------------
The next morning after Skitter had left to meet with Faultline and then the other non-PRT capes Twilight had started on a project of her own. With a transmuted piece of chalk she had began drawling intricate circular patterns and designs all over the concrete floor of the old truck bay. Complex Equestrian runes wrapped some, while others were inlaid with fractal geometric patterns. Hovering in the air above her Mimi had created three small globes of fire to light the room. She was sitting about halfway up the spiral staircase with her legs dangling over the edge. She was wearing some sweatpants and a too big 'hoodie' that Skitter had loaned her and seemed content to watch while Twilight worked.
Lost in her work Twilight didn't realize how much time had passed until she heard the clack of the door opening in the kitchen. With no natural light inside it was hard to tell, but most of the day must be gone if Skitter was already back from the meeting. A few moments later Skitter walked into the room still wearing her somewhat creepy bug costume and stared at the floor before looking up at the floating orbs of fire, and then over to Twilight.
"Do I want to know? You're not about to summon some dark creature from beyond our realm of understanding are you?"
"What?! No of course not, those practices have been banned for thousands of years! Why would I do something like that?" Twilight sputtered in shock. Skitter waved her hands in that human motion that said to calm down.
"Hey, easy, I was joking," she looked around at the patterns again lit by the flickering orbs of flame, "mostly. So what are you doing?"
Twilight smiled brightly at the question and straightened her posture. "I'm creating a series of spell circles to help me create a memory crystal." Realizing that neither Skitter or Mimi would know what a spell circle was she continued. "Hmm, It's like a…guide, or maybe like a mnemonic, but also a…@$@%^..battery or capacitor? as well. The spell I'm going to cast is really complicated and delicate, and instead of holding it all in my head at once I can do some of it before hand and….$Q$#@..set the some of the magic in place, and then during the course of casting I can…@$%@…chain?…them together using the patterns."
"So what spell are you going to cast?" Skitter asked seeming to stumble over the words spell and cast.
"I'm going to try and create a memory crystal. If I'm successful I'll be able create a three dimensional recording of myself and store it in the crystal. I think I can construct a spell to send it to the wards and I was thinking it would be nice to really show them I'm alright. It's a little labor intensive, but I didn't really have anything to do until you got back. I'm almost done." Twilight set her chalk down. "So what happened at the meeting? What is everyone going to do?" Skitter stared at the pattern for a moment in thought before shaking her head.
"Well….
___________________________
The place was called Somer's Rock. A dilapidated bar on a dilapidated street on which the businesses that remained opened only seemed to be because their owners had nowhere else to go and nothing else to do. Upon entering the place Skitter found that the inside decor matched the outside impression. She had done a little running around before the meeting and thus was one of the last people to get there. Taking a look around at the gathered capes what popped into her head was, 'I have never seen a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.' Faultline and Skitter both had thought that it would be advantageous if there wasn't an explicit connection between them so Skitter settled onto a stool by the bar by herself. The people that Faultline and Skitter had been calling 'non-PRT' capes mostly consisted of some of the most notorious villains in the north east.
Several tables had been pushed together in the center of the room and the leaders of the various factions of Brockton Bay's criminal underworld were seated there while their compatriots filled the booths around it. Skitter had done her research and set about identifying the people that had decided to show. At the far end of the table was a man armored from head to toe and wearing a crown of blades who could only be Kaiser. He was the head of what was probably the most powerful gang in Brockton Bay, Empire 88, a white supremacist group that recruited like minded capes from all over the world. Sitting in a booth behind him were the rest of the Empire's representatives.
A pair of blond twins, Fenja and Menja, in valkyrie style armor and full face helms. They could grow three stories tall and were a hundred times more durable than a human when they did. The woman in a pure white costume and eyes glowing bright enough that she was hard to look at had to be Purity. Krieg, Night, Fog, and Hookwolf rounded out their table. It was the kind of firepower that nearly any Protectorate division would be jealous to have.
Next to Kaiser at the table was a skeletally thin man in a skin tight black costume whose only distinguishing feature was a white snake design that started at his head, wrapped around his neck, and then trailed down to one ankle. Faultline had briefed her on him, no one was sure if he had a power or not, but apparently he ran a good section of downtown with highly trained ex-military from around the world. He had hired Faultline for a few jobs that left her with the impression that he was very well founded. That he was here alone said something about his confidence at least.
Skitter recognized the costumed form of Tattletale sitting further down the table, and the rest of the Undersiders sitting in another booth. Up until their disastrous run in with the Wards and Twilight during the bank robbery they had been a not much noticed, but rising star of the local underworld. They were still missing Grue, but apparently Bitch had somehow managed to escape custody they also had another member that she didn't recognize. She had never been more glad that she hadn't taken Tattletale's offer to join then when she heard the news about Bitch and Grue's capture. When Twilight had told her about it from her perspective it had only reinforced the idea she had dodged a bullet.
A man in a black costume and a red tophat and mask was sitting across from Tattletale. A girl, a guy, and some sort of gorilla were sitting in a booth and wore costumes with a matching color scheme. Skitter didn't recognize them, but given the fact that their leader was sitting at the main table while the leader of the Merchants sulked discontentedly with a few other shabbily dressed members of his meth dealing and using gang at the most distant booth in the place said that he must have some sort of reputation.
Faultline rounded out the central table with the Gregor, Newter, and Spitfire occupying the booth closest to the Empire's. Skitter felt a little out of place being the only lone cape in the joint, but nobody had gainsaid her presence and everyone in the room seemed to be paying attention to the head table. Which suited her just fine, Skitter and Faultline had met earlier and gone over everything. They agreed that Faultline was going to be the one to do any talking. Coil steepled his fingers in front of him and started things off.
"That should be everyone. Seems Lung won't be coming, though I doubt any of us are surprised, given the nature of tonight's discussion."
"The ABB," Kaiser replied.
"Hundreds confirmed dead, more hospitalized. The PRT headquarters downtown leveled while the first extraterrestrial being ever contacted was staying there. Said alien still missing and possibly dead. Causing international outrage. Random bombings, running battles in the streets between ABB and police and military. They are targeting our businesses and are pushing into all of our territories. All of this with no indication that they are stopping anytime soon."
"It is inconvenient," Kaiser nodded.
"Their being reckless," Faultline interjected. "Beyond reckless, outright insane."
"Which is the real concern," Coil continued. "They can't sustain this. Something will give, they will self destruct sooner or later, and cease to be an issue. Had things played out differently we could have even looked at this a good thing. But their actions even before the tower bombing were drawing far to much attention, bringing in heroes from other cities and a Homeland Security presence here. The tower bombing has shined the light of the world on our city, and if we don't contain it we may all find ourselves exposed in it."
"They've gotten the attention of more than just the government," Faultline spoke with deadly seriousness. "I have first hand confirmation that the Slaughterhouse Nine are in town." At that declaration the room went silent, even the endless dissatisfied muttering of the Merchants stopped.
"Fuck me," Tattletale breathed, "Thats true, you ran into one of them, shit you beat one of them, no-"
"Yes," Faultline spoke over Tattletale. "Burnscar attacked my group last night, she's…no longer a problem. I also have it from what I would consider a reliable source that Jack Slash died the night before last not long after the tower explosion." Once again silenced reigned. While the individual life expectancy of a member of the Nine was about six months, Jack slash had been a member of the Nine for a decade and had developed a reputation as the luckiest psychopath that walked the face of the earth. Jack Slash being dead was world changing news. Once again it was Tattletale the broke the silence.
"Holy shit, he is dead, you met the person that killed him, they helped you with Burnscar..fuck Twilight Sparkle killed him, she lived through the bombing." Faultline's expression shifted to aggrieved, bordering on pissed.
"Yes, when we parted ways I got the idea she was going to lay low for now. Jack gave her the impression before she killed him that if she tried to shelter with the Protectorate or PRT that they would be the Nine's next targets." Faultline paused for a moment and then continued when no one picked up the conversation. "So that is probably the biggest reason to deal with the ABB and deal with them quickly. Quite frankly we have bigger problems and can't afford to be distracted by them." The cape in the tophat let out a soft whistle.
"Well, that was bracing. I would say that Twilight Sparkle's introduction to humanity these past two weeks has been..sub-optimal. A mad bomber, an S-Class threat, and a being from another world." Skitter thought he stressed those last two words a little more than the rest as he shot a quick look at his team. "This city is more interesting than I gave it credit for."
"Quite," Coil responded. "So, given this new information, are we in agreement? The ABB cannot be allowed to continue operating." Nods and murmurs of agreement went around the room.
"Then I suggest we establish a truce. Not just everyone here, but between ourselves and the law. I would contact authorities and let them know that until the ABB and the Nine are taken care of or driven off, our groups will restrict our illegal activity to only what is absolutely essential to our business, and we will enforce the same for those doing business in our territories. That would let police forces and military focus entirely on these threats as well. There would be no violence, infighting between our groups, grabs for territory, thefts or insults. We band together with those we can tolerate for guaranteed victory, and we ignore those we cannot cooperate with. Kaiser?"
"I think that is acceptable," Kaiser agreed.
"Yeah," Tattletale said. "Unless we all want to try doing business in the smoking cinder that used to be Brockton Bay we need to take care of this, were in."
The man in the tophat tipped it. "A little more fun than we had planned on, but no problem, count us in."
__________________________
…There are always a few snags when you try to get a bunch of different capes working together, but they all agreed to put aside any differences they have for now to take care of the ABB and not interfere with each other until the Nine leave the city or are otherwise out of the picture." Twilight was both relieved and worried. Relived that so many people were going to band together to help each other and her, worried about the danger those nice people were going to be putting themselves in.
"Thats good news, thank you so much for going. I just hope everyone stays safe." Twilight bent back down and made a few more marks on the floor before neatly placing her chalk in a small box she had drawn in the corner. "Done! Now all I have to do is charge and configure the @$%# circles and I'll be ready to cast the spell."
"So when your done you'll have a crystal that will show a 3D recording of you?" Skitter inquired.
"Um-hmm," Twilight nodded absently as she glanced between the patterns on the floor and a sheet of paper she was levitating in front of her, making large checkmarks as she went down a list. Skitter paused for a moment before continuing in a light tone.
"Did you know that it is a tradition to start such recordings with a specific greeting?" Twilight looked up from her list with a puzzled frown.
"Really?"
"Yup, don't worry though, it's nothing complicated." After Skitter had explained the greeting Twilight was very confused. It was a very strange way to greet someone, either her translation spell was failing her or it was a human idiom that had passed well beyond it's original meaning. Regardless it was no problem adding it in front of what she wanted to tell the Wards and the PRT.
____________________________
The next morning a scroll addressed the Wards with a small clear crystal attached by a ribbon materialized with a purple flash in front of Vista as she was eating cereal in the Protectorate cafeteria. Vista flinched back from the scroll before realizing she recognized that shade of purple.
"Twilight!" She exclaimed drawing the attention of the other Wards and members of the Protectorate that were present. Sliding the ribbon holding the scroll together off she unrolled it. Reading the brief and neatly written instructions she proceeded to baffle everyone else when she tossed the crystal into her water glass. The glass glowed bright purple for a moment and then suddenly Twilight Sparkle was standing on the table. Twilight turned her head to the side for a second and then faced forward again. Vista tried to reach out and touch her and found her hand passing through Twilight's leg with no resistance. Then the unicorn spoke.
"Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope…"
12
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
CHAPTER 7, part 2
Twilight trotted slowly along the tops of the stratocumulus that stretched over Brockton Bay. The sun was just beginning to set and the clouds above and below her where lit up in an amazing display of color. Another time and another place she would have been content to do nothing but simply sit and take it in as the setting sun and shifting clouds painted the ever changing scene like an artist working a canvas. She felt she understood Rainbow Dash a little bit better now.
She wished the mare was here, she could have used the flying lessons. It had taken her three days of effort to get to the point where she could awkwardly wobble in the direction she wanted to go. She never would have risked flying to the height of even the lowest of the clouds with her current ability had the situation been less dire. The long harrowing climb up to the cloud tops had been like riding a roller-coaster that you were pretty sure was going to collapse at any moment.
Twilight didn't have any idea why she had undergone the changes she had and it added to the desperately long list of reasons why she needed to get back to Equestria. Her whole internal magic network had..changed, was changing still and she didn't know why. She thought the number of unanswered questions she had discovered since arriving on this world had reached infinity, and though infinity was a concept and not a number that could be reached she felt that spontaneously growing wings justified the hyperbole just this once.
She needed Princess Celestia, she was the only one Twilight felt that could possibly begin to explain all of this. Twilight wanted to feel those great wings wrap around her and that soothing voice comfort her so badly it was physical ache in her chest.
Nevertheless when she had woken up three days ago to find herself in a fog bank she had somehow created in her sleep it had given her an idea. An idea that had required learning to fly, the not insignificant number of bruises that went along with that, and a new fear of spiders brought on by crashing through the wall of one of Skitter's silk production rooms.
While faster and safer than her ungainly flight, walking on clouds turned out to be more complicated that it looked. The clouds were constantly moving and shifting in the wind, making little hills and valleys, and small eddies that spun her around unexpectedly. A few hours ago she had almost gotten swept off her feet by a sudden gust, and quite by accident discovered she could cause a section of clouds to stop moving altogether. After reveling in this new found ability and stability for a moment she had then struggled for the next hour to undo it. Leaving a trail of stationary clouds in the sky lacked a certain subtly and stealth that her plan required.
The entire time she had been practicing her ability to creatively bruise herself she had been nervously listening to Skitter's radio and dreading each new report about what was going on in the city while she hid. The longer it took for her to figure this out, the longer it took for her to get out there and help, the more people died and the more likely it was that she would hear one of her friends' names.
The morning after Skitter had returned from the cape meeting they had all been woken up by the sounds of shattering glass. Skitter and Mimi had explained that Shatterbird, one of the Slaughterhouse Nine's members, had a talent in manipulating glass over a huge area. They had been lucky in that the only windows in the old fire-station had been boarded up long ago. Skitter's terrariums downstairs, and the rest of the city hadn't been so fortunate. Hospitals had been near capacity since Bakuda's mad bombing campaign had begun and now they were overflowing with the injured, blind, and dead.
Yesterday the news reported that another one of the Nine, a man named Mannequin, had killed several of the scientists that had been working on the project to somehow contact Twilight's world. Even though he apparently always targeted people that were actively trying to make the world a better place, Twilight couldn't help but feel that it had been a gruesome message to her, and feel responsible for it.
She had cried off and on that whole day, but despair wouldn't bring those people back and it wouldn't help anybody else either, so she forced herself to continue working even as she sobbed. That Mimi had been ready with a bottle of water and a hug every time she needed a break had helped a lot.
Maybe most worrying of all however was the news that hadn't happened. Of the the groups three most powerful members: Bonesaw, Crawler, and Siberian, no one had heard or seen anything. The feeling she got from talking to Skitter was that if they hadn't acted by now, it was only because they were planning something particularly horrifying.
On top of all this the ABB still hadn't stopped their war against the city. It had slowed down for a couple of days after the horrible night of the PRT building collapse and Lung's escape, but now it was escalating again. Almost as if Bakuda was in some sort of sick competition with the Nine for biggest atrocity of the day.
She hadn't yet thought of anyway to deal with the inaccurately named Slaughterhouse Nine, but maybe if her plan worked at least the ABB would be stopped. Following the slight tug on her horn she veered to the west and hopped over a small break in the clouds before jerking back at the sudden appearance of a tall black haired human in a black and grey costume with the image of a tower on the center of her chest. A heavy cape attached to the woman's shoulders swirled around as she came to a stop a few feet in front of Twilight.
Scrambling backwards her wings spread to their full extension in an instinctive alarm response she hadn't had a few days ago. In a response she was far more familiar with the clouds around them reflected the purple glow of her horn as magic gathered there in reaction to her fright. The woman tensed and floated backwards, her feet brushing through the wispy tops of the clouds without resistance.
"Easy," the woman said in a gentle but confident voice as she came to a stop about five paces away. Twilight let herself calm down a little and examined how the human was effecting the magic field around her. Lacking wings and obviously not interacting with the clouds Twilight felt for and found a complex gravity manipulation field around the woman that was much like the one Aegis used.
Feeling her wings relax a little as she got over her initial bout of panic Twilight watched the hovering human carefully. She didn't recognize her, and her meetings with unknown parahumans over the past two weeks had a tendency to go…poorly.
"Easy," the woman repeated. "I'm not here to hurt you. I know you don't know me, but my name is Alexandria and I'm one of the leaders of the Protectorate. We've been looking for you since you disappeared, a lot of people all over the world have been pretty worried about you." Twilight processed this claim. She had heard several people in the PRT and some of her friends in the wards mention Alexandria. Aegis had even called his set of talents an "Alexandria package." The combination of flight, strength, and durability apparently common enough to be named after the most famous and talented person to have exhibited those skills. Still, Twilight didn't have anyway to know that this was actually the Alexandria.
"How do I know you're actually her? I don't want to doubt what you are saying, but…" Twilight trailed off, uncomfortable with the direction of those thoughts. "How did you even find me up here?" she asked changing the subject.
"We have satellites orbiting the earth above the city and power cameras attached to them. One of them spotted you a short time ago, your coat color really stands out against the white of clouds. That we found you walking on top of the clouds was almost as much of a surprise as the recording you sent to the wards a few days ago." The person claiming to be Alexandria smiled a little. "I won't even ask where you heard about that old movie quote." 'Movie quote?' Twilight didn't know what she was referring to, but found herself relaxing a little at the woman's reassuring tone.
"As for proof of who I am?" She paused for a moment and then pulled a small device out of pocket on her costume's back. "I can call Armsmaster and let you talk to him so he can vouch for me. He's probably in front of the monitors watching us right now anyway." Twilight let out a breath, almost convinced now.
"Yes. Thank you. I'm sorry about asking you to do it-"
"Don't worry about it," she said as she pushed a few buttons on the device. "You've had a rough week." Seemingly satisfied she stretched the arm she was holding the device in out to Twilight who took it as her cue to levitate it over to herself. It was a little bit longer than her hoof and not quite as wide. One side was made out of a polished black metal while the other had a screen like the ones she seen in the conference rooms. Armsmaster's face stared back at her as she flipped it over.
"Armsmaster! Oh it's good to see you're alright. I heard on the news that you had been hurt." He seemed a little nonplussed at the greeting, but made an effort at smiling. Twilight had noticed when she had talked with him before that he didn't do it often.
"It's good to see you as well Twilight. I'm fine, my motorcycle got caught on the edge of one of Bakuda's bomb blasts, but my armor kept me safe." Before Twilight could inquire about everyone else the woman interrupted.
"Armsmaster, we have to keep this brief, could you let Ms. Sparkle know that I am who I say I am?"
"You can trust her Twilight, she's one of the most powerful heroes on the planet and dedicated her life to helping people. I'll let you two get back to your discussion." With that the little screen went black. Twilight floated the device back with a small frown on her face from having to cut the conversation so short.
"Alright, now that's out of the way. It's a pleasure to meet you Twilight Sparkle, I've been looking forward to it since I heard the news of your arrival." Twilight blushed a little at the implied notoriety and returned the greeting.
"Um, thank you, it's nice to meet you as well." Alexandria floated a little closer now that the introductions had been made.
"While I don't necessarily agree with your decision to leave the protection of the PRT, I do understand and respect why you did it. In your message a few days ago you said had found a safe place to stay hidden from the Slaughterhouse Nine and given your greeting I assume you have found someone you can trust this secret to as well?" Twilight nodded, a little nervous, only for those nerves to be put to rest a moment later.
"Good. Don't worry, I won't ask who they are. The question I do have is: What are you doing up here?" Alexandria asked as she swept her arm out to gesture at the red lit clouds.
"Oh, um, I had an idea. With some help from M..well from a friend I was able to create a long range tracking spell focused on fire based spells and their after effects. I'm hoping I can use it to track down Lung, and that Bakuda is with him. Since I have these now," Twilight ruffled her wings, "I figured I would use the clouds to follow the spell without being seen." Glancing upwards she said, "I guess It wasn't as good an idea as I thought." Alexandria paused for a moment seeming to think about this before continuing.
"What did you intend to do once you found them?" Twilight looked over her shoulder at the human backpack she had modified to rest on her back between her wings and magically unzipped on of the pockets and pulled a series of scrolls and small crystals out of it.
"I am going to tell all my friends."
"Alright. I have a history with Lung myself, do you mind if I accompany you?" Alexandria asked in a tone that basically precluded Twilight from saying anything but no. Not that she would have anyway. Everything anyone had said about the human woman around Twilight had been praise, and she needed all the help she could get.
"No, please. Thank you for offering, and even if we don't find Lung tonight I wouldn't mind the company." Twilight said as she levitated the scrolls back into her bag and zipped it shut. "It's beautiful up here, but a little lonely too." Alexandria nodded and fell in beside Twilight as she started following the gentle tugs on her horn again.
"It is serene. I sometimes take in the sunset over the ocean out in Los Angeles where I'm based, not just for the beauty of it, but also to spend a few quiet minutes in place where few are likely to disturb me." Alexandria floated quietly beside Twilight as she walked for a few minutes before continuing. "The wings are new since the last time I saw you on Television. If you don't mind me asking is it normal for your kind to grow them?" Twilight paused her steps for a second before shaking it off and continuing along the cloud tops.
"I, um, don't mind really. Honestly it's not normal at all. There are only three, well I guess technically four now if you count me, Alicorns in recorded history. I can't explain it, and I have no idea why it happened."
"Alicorns?" Twilight couldn't see it with Alexandria's helmet in the way, but she knew a raised eyebrow when she heard one.
"Yes, unicorns have magic mainly expressed through their horns, pegasi in their wings, and earth ponies through their hooves and diffused more generally in their entire body. Alicorns have all these traits combined. Somehow I've turned into one. Poof. Wings from nowhere that don't ever want to do what I tell them." Twilight trailed off with a grumble.
"You said that before you transformed there were only three alicorns known to your history?"
"Mm, hmm," Twilight said a little distractedly as her horn pulled her a little more sharply to the north. "Princess Celestia, her sister Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance"
"So the only alicorns ever recorded are all currently living?" Still distracted by the strengthening pull Twilight didn't notice the slight change in Alexandria's tone.
"Of course. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have been around almost since ponies started recording history. They've ruled Equestria for over a thousand years." Twilight suddenly jerked to a stop and her head swung down towards the cloud bank before she arrested the motion. "I think we may be here, or at least that is what my tracking spell is saying."
Twilight braced her forehooves against the cloud in front of her and concentrated. All of the clouds motion within about twenty feet of her stopped and as she raised her hooves a perfect cylinder of cloud came up with them. With an audible grunt Twilight jerked her hooves upwards quickly and then let go. The cloud cylinder accelerated it's upward drift and few seconds later a fifty foot pillar of cloud drifted above them. A perfectly cut hole through the clouds showed the unmaintained roofs of a run down residential area.
When Twilight turned back to look Alexandria, she found the human staring at her.
"Um.."
"You never cease to surprise, Twilight Sparkle. How are you doing that?"
"Oh, ah, pegasi have a…hmm, humans would probably call it an instinctive hydro kinesis when in contact with water vapor, it's one of the things that came with the wings." Twilight trailed of shyly before turning back to the hole. Her voice was confident when she spoke again. "My spell is saying that large building there has had a lot of fire based magic used in it very recently." Alexandria floated over to the edge of the hole and looked down.
"I think you may be right. There are several people hanging around the surrounding block that give me more the impression of lookouts than loiterers." She pulled out her screen device again. "I'm going to call Armsmaster and have him start coordinating a containment effort for this area. If you have been working with people you think can help with Lung and Bakuda give them this phone number so we can coordinate." Alexandria said as she flipped device over and display a series of 10 digits.
Twilight pulled out two scrolls and a pen and quickly jotted down a message and the number. Rolling the scrolls up with her magic she lit her horn and the scrolls dissipated into a purple mist that shot away from them at speed.
"My friends should get them in about a minute." Alexandria nodded as she slipped something into her ear and clicked it.
"Armsmaster. This is Alexandria, I just sent you the GPS coordinates Twilight Sparkle and I believe may be Lung's current hideout. Expect a call within the next minute from some friends of Ms. Sparkle, they are going to coordinate with you on this. It's a run down residential neighborhood and if Bakuda and Lung are on site we don't know what they may do. I trust your judgment so put together a team you think suited for what could be an unpredictable situation. Let me know when you are ready." She tapped her ear again and went back to watching the scene below.
As Twilight watched the scene below she tried to keep herself calm. Just the idea of what could happen in the next few minutes and the danger she was calling her friends to had her heart trying to accelerate out of her chest. Alexandria was talking quietly and Twilight assumed she was using the communication device in her ear again to speak with Armsmaster.
"I see. Well that goes beyond the unofficial truce we currently have arranged." She paused, "No I don't think it will be a problem, with as bad as things have gotten and as much damage as the ABB's done I don't think the public will object to much." She shook her head. "Tell them we'll treat it the same way we treat an endbringer fight. Full truce until hostilities are over and the wounded are treated, with the same consequences for anyone breaking it. Alright, see you in ten." Alexandria kept her eyes on the scene below but spoke louder to draw Twilight's full attention.
"You've made some interesting friends these past few days Ms. Sparkle."
"Oh yes, they've really been very kind and even though some of them apparently don't like each other all that much they all agreed to help stop the ABB. I can't tell you how much it meant to me to hear that after all the awful things that have happened since I got here."
"Ms. Sparkle do you know wh- we're out of time." A van had pulled up in front of the house and a couple of other cars were coming down the street, a group of people one of whom could have been Lung walked down the steps towards the cars. "Armsmaster, the ABB are on the move. I'm going to go down, engage, and try to disable Bakuda and hold them here, I don't like the look of the van that just pulled up. Twilight, help will be here shortly, do not follow me, we can not afford to have you injured or killed tonight." With that she dove through the clouds so fast it almost appeared she teleported.
Alexandria landed in the middle of the group that had been coming out of the house and hurled the largest one through the air and then through the front wall of the building, Twilight saw the figure ignite as it made contact. Spinning around punched the shortest one in the stomach causing them to crumple to the ground. Then something strange happened, a half dozen people appeared from nowhere and surrounded Alexandria. When she struck at them they turned to dust and more appeared somewhere else. Twilight watched anxiously wondering if there was anything she could do since Alexandria had told her to stay aloft.
Then everything exploded.
When Twilight's eyes cleared nothing recognizable remained of the neighborhood below. Every Building she could see was leveled. Some areas were burning, while others had simply ceased to be entirely. Looking around frantically Twilight saw one area that seemed to have frozen an explosion in time and at the edge of it was Alexandria struggling to her feet and missing an arm.
Before she even realized she had teleported, Twilight was by Alexandria's side and wrapping the bleeding stump in a telekinetic field.
"Get..Away from here." Alexandria said between coughs, "Lung, not safe."
"I can't leave you, you could bleed to death before anyone else got here!" Before Alexandria could argue further a large section of rubble shifted and Lung emerged from it letting out a bestial roar as he did. Trailing flames he charged towards them and Alexandria seeming to ignore the fact that she was missing three quarters of her left arm met him with a punch that hurled him a hundred feet through the ruins of the neighborhood.
Twilight felt a shift in the field behind her and instinctively braced her forehooves and kicked out with her rear legs. She connected with something and then feeling that something crack and give before the field shifted again. Spinning around she saw a human dressed entirely in black with a demon like mask laying on the ground clutching his chest before he dissipated into ash.
"Twilight shield now!" Twilight didn't hesitate and translucent purple dome sprang around them just before a hulking tentacled monstrosity slammed into it. It looked like a cross between a giant panther and a bear, that is if someone had covered the resulting hybrid in armor plated scales, tentacles, eyes, gave it extra limbs and made it's head the size of one of Celestia's sky chariots.
"Ahh!" Twilight said backpedalling until she ran into Alexandria. "What is that thing! Nobody told me that the city had anything like that living in it! How could nobody tell me something like that?!" The creature clawed the dome and Twilight felt the strain on her horn increase to compensate for the damage it was trying to inflict on it. It opened its mouth and sprayed a stream of something over the dome that sizzled when it ran down the side and made contact with the ground.
"That's Crawler," Alexandria replied with remarkable calm. "He's a member of the Slaughterhouse Nine. He started out human, but every time he's injured his body regenerates and adapts to whatever hurt him. Not much does anymore and he travels with the Nine for the explicit purpose of drawing the attention of those that can still inflict damage on him." She turned from Crawler tearing at the shield to a now much larger Lung running towards them. "How long can you maintain this?" Crawler interrupted Twilight's response in a voice that was all the more disturbing for how human it was.
"If you hide behind the shield much longer, I will grow bored and instead try to kill as many people in this city as I can. I've come to see what you can do Twilight Sparkle, do not disappoint me." Then the creature spun faster than anything that size should be able to and leaped out of the way of the charging body of Lung whose flames washed over the dome before he delivered a earth shaking punch to the shield. Twilight winced and the glow around her horn intensified.
"What do I do, what do I do?" Twilight spun in a short circle as if looking for an answer to appear before her. Lung launched a fireball at Crawler who made no effort to dodge it, one of it's smaller tentacles burned away but otherwise he seemed unbothered by it. Crawler returned the favor by spraying a jet of acid at Lung causing him to bellow in pain and wash the whole area flames.
"Twilight, help is less than a minute away. Teleport away and drop the shield. I am invulnerable and neither Crawler or Lung is capable of injuring me." Twilight stopped her spinning and stared at the stump where Alexandria's left arm had been. "I am mostly invulnerable. I will try to hold them here. Do it Twilight Sparkle, I will be okay." Twilight took a deep breath, collected herself, and focused on the field she had wrapped around Alexandria's injured arm causing it to glow brighter. Nodding once she vanished as the shield winked out of existence.
Twilight reappeared fifteen hundred feet above where she had been standing and began to tumble erratically through the air. Getting her wings open they caught the air with a snap and turned her tumble into a slowly descending spiral. Below, Alexandria had somehow managed to sink her hand into the massive neck of crawler and was spinning the mutated human to keep him between her and an increasingly monstrous Lung.
The battle below seemed like a stalemate, none of the combatants seemed able to truly hurt any of the others and Twilight was racking her brain for something she could do to help. She had circled down to about half her original height when something flew in and blasted lung off his feet. Then an individual in glowing armor arrived and drove an arcing spear into Lung driving him farther back. Dauntless. Right behind him slamming a fist into Crawler and allowing Alexandria to disengage was Assault.
The Protectorate was here! Armsmaster was sprinting towards the battle with his halberd and Miss Militia was keeping her distance bracing what looked like a tube of metal on her shoulder. Assault jumped backwards and something shot from the tube and exploded against crawler's side leaving pockmarks of injuries that healed over almost as fast as they appeared.
At the edge of the zone of destruction Twilight eyes were drawn to two gigantic humans marching towards the battle while popping sounds and small explosions echoed from the direction they were coming from.
"Twilight Sparkle!" Crawler screamed as Alexandria and Assault pummeled him from opposite sides. "None here can harm me, no prison will hold me, eventually I will grow tired of this and I will keep my promise." He paused to leap backwards and nearly landed on top of Dauntless who just managed to disengage from Lung and roll out of the way.
The two giantesses and a storm of floating metal descended upon Lung freeing up Dauntless, Miss Militia, and Armsmaster to fight Crawler. Even with the newly arrived reinforcements Twilight couldn't help but feel what the beast had said was true. The heroes could not seem to inflict any lasting damage on him. Someone was going to get hurt, people were going to die, people were probably already dead from that massive explosion earlier. Twilight felt inside herself for the harmony that had helped her reach Mimi, but it seemed distant, separated from her as if by a wall she couldn't breach.
An idea came to her then and something settled heavily over Twilight's heart. So much of herself had been lost when she arrived on this world, and a few days ago she had gotten a lot of that back. Now, she knew she was about to lose something of herself again. What did it say about her that she had even thought of what she was about to do? This was a decision that wasn't going to be made it the throws of despair and half out of her mind. It was one she was going to make with malice aforethought, because she wasn't smart enough to think of anything else. Horn glowing brightly, she circled lower to the battle as she concentrated on the spell she was going to perform.
With a flash she teleported to the ground beside Alexandria and cast a plane of force between the heroes and Crawler bisecting several of his tentacles in the process. Crawler backed up and his inequine maw opened to display rows of viscous and misshaped teeth in what might have been an attempt at a smile. Alexandria stood beside her while the other heroes used the temporary safety to back off and talk quickly with each other. About a block behind Crawler, a forest of twisting iron beams seemed to be hemming Lung in while a glowing white ball unleashed blinding beams of light from above onto his back.
"Are these shields all you can do?" Crawler growled dismissively.
"Please, stop. Why are you doing this?" Twilight asked with resignation and a last desperate hope as her horn grew brighter.
"I'm doing this Twilight Sparkle," He charged forward and smashed his claws against the shield causing it to ripple and shudder, "because you are not stopping me." Then he spun and sprinted towards the capes attacking Lung. With a deafening crack Twilight cast her spell and Crawler's sprint turned into an uncontrolled slide as his entire body from mid back to rear legs and the surrounding ground turned to water and splashed around what remained of him.
Crawler released an agonized gurgle and drug himself on three legs, entrails hanging behind him as he turned back to face Twilight. If anything that horrible smile was wider. She could see however that regardless of the catastrophic damage she had done, his body was repairing itself faster than she would have thought possible. Twilight panted in exertion while Miss Militia launched another exploding projectile and Dauntless rocketed forward with his electric spear and shield again.
"He won't stop, why won't he stop?" Twilight asked quietly as she charged another spell. "He's not going to is he?" Alexandria still standing beside her didn't take her eyes off the fight while she responded.
"No, he will not." Twilight's horn grew brighter still and her wings flared open as purple streamers of light began to flare of her feathers.
"Tell them to get away from him!" Apparently Alexandria had her communications device on because without her speaking the Protectorate capes broke away from Crawler instantly. Twilight's and Crawler's bodies were outlined in purple and connected by a thin strand of shimmering light. Crawler paused as if curious and content to see what Twilight would do. The strand of light snapped and Crawler launched skyward as Twilight dropped to the ground, eyes filled with tears as she watched the rapidly dwindling form disappearing into the atmosphere.
Alexandria didn't stay, instead she flew over to Armsmaster who tossed her his halberd. She then flew towards the fight with Lung which had slowly been drifting farther from their location. Dauntless and Assault followed while Armsmaster and Miss Militia walked over to where Twilight was laying on the ground. With a bluntness Twilight had come to expect from Armsmaster he spoke.
"What did you do?"
"I, I reversed gravity on his body. He wasn't going to stop. He said he would kill people, and he wasn't going to stop." Twilight said with a sniffle.
"Twilight," Miss Militia said gently. "When will it where off? Where will he come down?"
"It won't, he won't." Twilight paused and tried to collect herself. "Are the others okay? What are we going to do about Lung? Do they need help?" She got back to her hooves slowly and turned to look in that direction, but couldn't see anything beyond the attacks of the flying globe of light and occasional eruptions of flame. Armsmaster spoke again.
"Alexandria has a plan for Lung. Miss Militia will stay with you, I'm going to meet up with Faultline, she say's they have a lead on Oni Lee." With that he ran towards his motorcycle and a minute later speed away towards the north. Twilight frowned after him and then turned back to look at ongoing battle with Lung and repeated her questions.
"Is everyone okay? Should we go help?"
"There were likely a good number of civilians and members of the ABB that were killed in the initial blast. Of those fighting the ABB I believe Alexandria's injury is the worst so far." Miss Militia said as she softly laid a hand on Twilight's neck. "If Alexandria says she has a plan and hasn't called for us, then I trust her. She is not one to pass up an advantage if our participation could provide her one. You have done a good thing Twilight Sparkle. Countless lives would have been lost had those bombs gone off someplace more populated. Crawler has killed many and would have killed many more had you not stopped him."
Twilight flinched but didn't respond. She had taken one of her precious memories, magic that Princess Celestia had taught her with love, and used it to kill someone. She believed what Miss Militia said, that her actions had saved peoples lives. She believed it and thats why she had done what she did. A selfish part of herself however, crying and wrapped tightly around her memories, disagreed. It didn't think it was worth it at all.
Twilight trotted slowly along the tops of the stratocumulus that stretched over Brockton Bay. The sun was just beginning to set and the clouds above and below her where lit up in an amazing display of color. Another time and another place she would have been content to do nothing but simply sit and take it in as the setting sun and shifting clouds painted the ever changing scene like an artist working a canvas. She felt she understood Rainbow Dash a little bit better now.
She wished the mare was here, she could have used the flying lessons. It had taken her three days of effort to get to the point where she could awkwardly wobble in the direction she wanted to go. She never would have risked flying to the height of even the lowest of the clouds with her current ability had the situation been less dire. The long harrowing climb up to the cloud tops had been like riding a roller-coaster that you were pretty sure was going to collapse at any moment.
Twilight didn't have any idea why she had undergone the changes she had and it added to the desperately long list of reasons why she needed to get back to Equestria. Her whole internal magic network had..changed, was changing still and she didn't know why. She thought the number of unanswered questions she had discovered since arriving on this world had reached infinity, and though infinity was a concept and not a number that could be reached she felt that spontaneously growing wings justified the hyperbole just this once.
She needed Princess Celestia, she was the only one Twilight felt that could possibly begin to explain all of this. Twilight wanted to feel those great wings wrap around her and that soothing voice comfort her so badly it was physical ache in her chest.
Nevertheless when she had woken up three days ago to find herself in a fog bank she had somehow created in her sleep it had given her an idea. An idea that had required learning to fly, the not insignificant number of bruises that went along with that, and a new fear of spiders brought on by crashing through the wall of one of Skitter's silk production rooms.
While faster and safer than her ungainly flight, walking on clouds turned out to be more complicated that it looked. The clouds were constantly moving and shifting in the wind, making little hills and valleys, and small eddies that spun her around unexpectedly. A few hours ago she had almost gotten swept off her feet by a sudden gust, and quite by accident discovered she could cause a section of clouds to stop moving altogether. After reveling in this new found ability and stability for a moment she had then struggled for the next hour to undo it. Leaving a trail of stationary clouds in the sky lacked a certain subtly and stealth that her plan required.
The entire time she had been practicing her ability to creatively bruise herself she had been nervously listening to Skitter's radio and dreading each new report about what was going on in the city while she hid. The longer it took for her to figure this out, the longer it took for her to get out there and help, the more people died and the more likely it was that she would hear one of her friends' names.
The morning after Skitter had returned from the cape meeting they had all been woken up by the sounds of shattering glass. Skitter and Mimi had explained that Shatterbird, one of the Slaughterhouse Nine's members, had a talent in manipulating glass over a huge area. They had been lucky in that the only windows in the old fire-station had been boarded up long ago. Skitter's terrariums downstairs, and the rest of the city hadn't been so fortunate. Hospitals had been near capacity since Bakuda's mad bombing campaign had begun and now they were overflowing with the injured, blind, and dead.
Yesterday the news reported that another one of the Nine, a man named Mannequin, had killed several of the scientists that had been working on the project to somehow contact Twilight's world. Even though he apparently always targeted people that were actively trying to make the world a better place, Twilight couldn't help but feel that it had been a gruesome message to her, and feel responsible for it.
She had cried off and on that whole day, but despair wouldn't bring those people back and it wouldn't help anybody else either, so she forced herself to continue working even as she sobbed. That Mimi had been ready with a bottle of water and a hug every time she needed a break had helped a lot.
Maybe most worrying of all however was the news that hadn't happened. Of the the groups three most powerful members: Bonesaw, Crawler, and Siberian, no one had heard or seen anything. The feeling she got from talking to Skitter was that if they hadn't acted by now, it was only because they were planning something particularly horrifying.
On top of all this the ABB still hadn't stopped their war against the city. It had slowed down for a couple of days after the horrible night of the PRT building collapse and Lung's escape, but now it was escalating again. Almost as if Bakuda was in some sort of sick competition with the Nine for biggest atrocity of the day.
She hadn't yet thought of anyway to deal with the inaccurately named Slaughterhouse Nine, but maybe if her plan worked at least the ABB would be stopped. Following the slight tug on her horn she veered to the west and hopped over a small break in the clouds before jerking back at the sudden appearance of a tall black haired human in a black and grey costume with the image of a tower on the center of her chest. A heavy cape attached to the woman's shoulders swirled around as she came to a stop a few feet in front of Twilight.
Scrambling backwards her wings spread to their full extension in an instinctive alarm response she hadn't had a few days ago. In a response she was far more familiar with the clouds around them reflected the purple glow of her horn as magic gathered there in reaction to her fright. The woman tensed and floated backwards, her feet brushing through the wispy tops of the clouds without resistance.
"Easy," the woman said in a gentle but confident voice as she came to a stop about five paces away. Twilight let herself calm down a little and examined how the human was effecting the magic field around her. Lacking wings and obviously not interacting with the clouds Twilight felt for and found a complex gravity manipulation field around the woman that was much like the one Aegis used.
Feeling her wings relax a little as she got over her initial bout of panic Twilight watched the hovering human carefully. She didn't recognize her, and her meetings with unknown parahumans over the past two weeks had a tendency to go…poorly.
"Easy," the woman repeated. "I'm not here to hurt you. I know you don't know me, but my name is Alexandria and I'm one of the leaders of the Protectorate. We've been looking for you since you disappeared, a lot of people all over the world have been pretty worried about you." Twilight processed this claim. She had heard several people in the PRT and some of her friends in the wards mention Alexandria. Aegis had even called his set of talents an "Alexandria package." The combination of flight, strength, and durability apparently common enough to be named after the most famous and talented person to have exhibited those skills. Still, Twilight didn't have anyway to know that this was actually the Alexandria.
"How do I know you're actually her? I don't want to doubt what you are saying, but…" Twilight trailed off, uncomfortable with the direction of those thoughts. "How did you even find me up here?" she asked changing the subject.
"We have satellites orbiting the earth above the city and power cameras attached to them. One of them spotted you a short time ago, your coat color really stands out against the white of clouds. That we found you walking on top of the clouds was almost as much of a surprise as the recording you sent to the wards a few days ago." The person claiming to be Alexandria smiled a little. "I won't even ask where you heard about that old movie quote." 'Movie quote?' Twilight didn't know what she was referring to, but found herself relaxing a little at the woman's reassuring tone.
"As for proof of who I am?" She paused for a moment and then pulled a small device out of pocket on her costume's back. "I can call Armsmaster and let you talk to him so he can vouch for me. He's probably in front of the monitors watching us right now anyway." Twilight let out a breath, almost convinced now.
"Yes. Thank you. I'm sorry about asking you to do it-"
"Don't worry about it," she said as she pushed a few buttons on the device. "You've had a rough week." Seemingly satisfied she stretched the arm she was holding the device in out to Twilight who took it as her cue to levitate it over to herself. It was a little bit longer than her hoof and not quite as wide. One side was made out of a polished black metal while the other had a screen like the ones she seen in the conference rooms. Armsmaster's face stared back at her as she flipped it over.
"Armsmaster! Oh it's good to see you're alright. I heard on the news that you had been hurt." He seemed a little nonplussed at the greeting, but made an effort at smiling. Twilight had noticed when she had talked with him before that he didn't do it often.
"It's good to see you as well Twilight. I'm fine, my motorcycle got caught on the edge of one of Bakuda's bomb blasts, but my armor kept me safe." Before Twilight could inquire about everyone else the woman interrupted.
"Armsmaster, we have to keep this brief, could you let Ms. Sparkle know that I am who I say I am?"
"You can trust her Twilight, she's one of the most powerful heroes on the planet and dedicated her life to helping people. I'll let you two get back to your discussion." With that the little screen went black. Twilight floated the device back with a small frown on her face from having to cut the conversation so short.
"Alright, now that's out of the way. It's a pleasure to meet you Twilight Sparkle, I've been looking forward to it since I heard the news of your arrival." Twilight blushed a little at the implied notoriety and returned the greeting.
"Um, thank you, it's nice to meet you as well." Alexandria floated a little closer now that the introductions had been made.
"While I don't necessarily agree with your decision to leave the protection of the PRT, I do understand and respect why you did it. In your message a few days ago you said had found a safe place to stay hidden from the Slaughterhouse Nine and given your greeting I assume you have found someone you can trust this secret to as well?" Twilight nodded, a little nervous, only for those nerves to be put to rest a moment later.
"Good. Don't worry, I won't ask who they are. The question I do have is: What are you doing up here?" Alexandria asked as she swept her arm out to gesture at the red lit clouds.
"Oh, um, I had an idea. With some help from M..well from a friend I was able to create a long range tracking spell focused on fire based spells and their after effects. I'm hoping I can use it to track down Lung, and that Bakuda is with him. Since I have these now," Twilight ruffled her wings, "I figured I would use the clouds to follow the spell without being seen." Glancing upwards she said, "I guess It wasn't as good an idea as I thought." Alexandria paused for a moment seeming to think about this before continuing.
"What did you intend to do once you found them?" Twilight looked over her shoulder at the human backpack she had modified to rest on her back between her wings and magically unzipped on of the pockets and pulled a series of scrolls and small crystals out of it.
"I am going to tell all my friends."
"Alright. I have a history with Lung myself, do you mind if I accompany you?" Alexandria asked in a tone that basically precluded Twilight from saying anything but no. Not that she would have anyway. Everything anyone had said about the human woman around Twilight had been praise, and she needed all the help she could get.
"No, please. Thank you for offering, and even if we don't find Lung tonight I wouldn't mind the company." Twilight said as she levitated the scrolls back into her bag and zipped it shut. "It's beautiful up here, but a little lonely too." Alexandria nodded and fell in beside Twilight as she started following the gentle tugs on her horn again.
"It is serene. I sometimes take in the sunset over the ocean out in Los Angeles where I'm based, not just for the beauty of it, but also to spend a few quiet minutes in place where few are likely to disturb me." Alexandria floated quietly beside Twilight as she walked for a few minutes before continuing. "The wings are new since the last time I saw you on Television. If you don't mind me asking is it normal for your kind to grow them?" Twilight paused her steps for a second before shaking it off and continuing along the cloud tops.
"I, um, don't mind really. Honestly it's not normal at all. There are only three, well I guess technically four now if you count me, Alicorns in recorded history. I can't explain it, and I have no idea why it happened."
"Alicorns?" Twilight couldn't see it with Alexandria's helmet in the way, but she knew a raised eyebrow when she heard one.
"Yes, unicorns have magic mainly expressed through their horns, pegasi in their wings, and earth ponies through their hooves and diffused more generally in their entire body. Alicorns have all these traits combined. Somehow I've turned into one. Poof. Wings from nowhere that don't ever want to do what I tell them." Twilight trailed off with a grumble.
"You said that before you transformed there were only three alicorns known to your history?"
"Mm, hmm," Twilight said a little distractedly as her horn pulled her a little more sharply to the north. "Princess Celestia, her sister Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance"
"So the only alicorns ever recorded are all currently living?" Still distracted by the strengthening pull Twilight didn't notice the slight change in Alexandria's tone.
"Of course. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have been around almost since ponies started recording history. They've ruled Equestria for over a thousand years." Twilight suddenly jerked to a stop and her head swung down towards the cloud bank before she arrested the motion. "I think we may be here, or at least that is what my tracking spell is saying."
Twilight braced her forehooves against the cloud in front of her and concentrated. All of the clouds motion within about twenty feet of her stopped and as she raised her hooves a perfect cylinder of cloud came up with them. With an audible grunt Twilight jerked her hooves upwards quickly and then let go. The cloud cylinder accelerated it's upward drift and few seconds later a fifty foot pillar of cloud drifted above them. A perfectly cut hole through the clouds showed the unmaintained roofs of a run down residential area.
When Twilight turned back to look Alexandria, she found the human staring at her.
"Um.."
"You never cease to surprise, Twilight Sparkle. How are you doing that?"
"Oh, ah, pegasi have a…hmm, humans would probably call it an instinctive hydro kinesis when in contact with water vapor, it's one of the things that came with the wings." Twilight trailed of shyly before turning back to the hole. Her voice was confident when she spoke again. "My spell is saying that large building there has had a lot of fire based magic used in it very recently." Alexandria floated over to the edge of the hole and looked down.
"I think you may be right. There are several people hanging around the surrounding block that give me more the impression of lookouts than loiterers." She pulled out her screen device again. "I'm going to call Armsmaster and have him start coordinating a containment effort for this area. If you have been working with people you think can help with Lung and Bakuda give them this phone number so we can coordinate." Alexandria said as she flipped device over and display a series of 10 digits.
Twilight pulled out two scrolls and a pen and quickly jotted down a message and the number. Rolling the scrolls up with her magic she lit her horn and the scrolls dissipated into a purple mist that shot away from them at speed.
"My friends should get them in about a minute." Alexandria nodded as she slipped something into her ear and clicked it.
"Armsmaster. This is Alexandria, I just sent you the GPS coordinates Twilight Sparkle and I believe may be Lung's current hideout. Expect a call within the next minute from some friends of Ms. Sparkle, they are going to coordinate with you on this. It's a run down residential neighborhood and if Bakuda and Lung are on site we don't know what they may do. I trust your judgment so put together a team you think suited for what could be an unpredictable situation. Let me know when you are ready." She tapped her ear again and went back to watching the scene below.
As Twilight watched the scene below she tried to keep herself calm. Just the idea of what could happen in the next few minutes and the danger she was calling her friends to had her heart trying to accelerate out of her chest. Alexandria was talking quietly and Twilight assumed she was using the communication device in her ear again to speak with Armsmaster.
"I see. Well that goes beyond the unofficial truce we currently have arranged." She paused, "No I don't think it will be a problem, with as bad as things have gotten and as much damage as the ABB's done I don't think the public will object to much." She shook her head. "Tell them we'll treat it the same way we treat an endbringer fight. Full truce until hostilities are over and the wounded are treated, with the same consequences for anyone breaking it. Alright, see you in ten." Alexandria kept her eyes on the scene below but spoke louder to draw Twilight's full attention.
"You've made some interesting friends these past few days Ms. Sparkle."
"Oh yes, they've really been very kind and even though some of them apparently don't like each other all that much they all agreed to help stop the ABB. I can't tell you how much it meant to me to hear that after all the awful things that have happened since I got here."
"Ms. Sparkle do you know wh- we're out of time." A van had pulled up in front of the house and a couple of other cars were coming down the street, a group of people one of whom could have been Lung walked down the steps towards the cars. "Armsmaster, the ABB are on the move. I'm going to go down, engage, and try to disable Bakuda and hold them here, I don't like the look of the van that just pulled up. Twilight, help will be here shortly, do not follow me, we can not afford to have you injured or killed tonight." With that she dove through the clouds so fast it almost appeared she teleported.
Alexandria landed in the middle of the group that had been coming out of the house and hurled the largest one through the air and then through the front wall of the building, Twilight saw the figure ignite as it made contact. Spinning around punched the shortest one in the stomach causing them to crumple to the ground. Then something strange happened, a half dozen people appeared from nowhere and surrounded Alexandria. When she struck at them they turned to dust and more appeared somewhere else. Twilight watched anxiously wondering if there was anything she could do since Alexandria had told her to stay aloft.
Then everything exploded.
When Twilight's eyes cleared nothing recognizable remained of the neighborhood below. Every Building she could see was leveled. Some areas were burning, while others had simply ceased to be entirely. Looking around frantically Twilight saw one area that seemed to have frozen an explosion in time and at the edge of it was Alexandria struggling to her feet and missing an arm.
Before she even realized she had teleported, Twilight was by Alexandria's side and wrapping the bleeding stump in a telekinetic field.
"Get..Away from here." Alexandria said between coughs, "Lung, not safe."
"I can't leave you, you could bleed to death before anyone else got here!" Before Alexandria could argue further a large section of rubble shifted and Lung emerged from it letting out a bestial roar as he did. Trailing flames he charged towards them and Alexandria seeming to ignore the fact that she was missing three quarters of her left arm met him with a punch that hurled him a hundred feet through the ruins of the neighborhood.
Twilight felt a shift in the field behind her and instinctively braced her forehooves and kicked out with her rear legs. She connected with something and then feeling that something crack and give before the field shifted again. Spinning around she saw a human dressed entirely in black with a demon like mask laying on the ground clutching his chest before he dissipated into ash.
"Twilight shield now!" Twilight didn't hesitate and translucent purple dome sprang around them just before a hulking tentacled monstrosity slammed into it. It looked like a cross between a giant panther and a bear, that is if someone had covered the resulting hybrid in armor plated scales, tentacles, eyes, gave it extra limbs and made it's head the size of one of Celestia's sky chariots.
"Ahh!" Twilight said backpedalling until she ran into Alexandria. "What is that thing! Nobody told me that the city had anything like that living in it! How could nobody tell me something like that?!" The creature clawed the dome and Twilight felt the strain on her horn increase to compensate for the damage it was trying to inflict on it. It opened its mouth and sprayed a stream of something over the dome that sizzled when it ran down the side and made contact with the ground.
"That's Crawler," Alexandria replied with remarkable calm. "He's a member of the Slaughterhouse Nine. He started out human, but every time he's injured his body regenerates and adapts to whatever hurt him. Not much does anymore and he travels with the Nine for the explicit purpose of drawing the attention of those that can still inflict damage on him." She turned from Crawler tearing at the shield to a now much larger Lung running towards them. "How long can you maintain this?" Crawler interrupted Twilight's response in a voice that was all the more disturbing for how human it was.
"If you hide behind the shield much longer, I will grow bored and instead try to kill as many people in this city as I can. I've come to see what you can do Twilight Sparkle, do not disappoint me." Then the creature spun faster than anything that size should be able to and leaped out of the way of the charging body of Lung whose flames washed over the dome before he delivered a earth shaking punch to the shield. Twilight winced and the glow around her horn intensified.
"What do I do, what do I do?" Twilight spun in a short circle as if looking for an answer to appear before her. Lung launched a fireball at Crawler who made no effort to dodge it, one of it's smaller tentacles burned away but otherwise he seemed unbothered by it. Crawler returned the favor by spraying a jet of acid at Lung causing him to bellow in pain and wash the whole area flames.
"Twilight, help is less than a minute away. Teleport away and drop the shield. I am invulnerable and neither Crawler or Lung is capable of injuring me." Twilight stopped her spinning and stared at the stump where Alexandria's left arm had been. "I am mostly invulnerable. I will try to hold them here. Do it Twilight Sparkle, I will be okay." Twilight took a deep breath, collected herself, and focused on the field she had wrapped around Alexandria's injured arm causing it to glow brighter. Nodding once she vanished as the shield winked out of existence.
Twilight reappeared fifteen hundred feet above where she had been standing and began to tumble erratically through the air. Getting her wings open they caught the air with a snap and turned her tumble into a slowly descending spiral. Below, Alexandria had somehow managed to sink her hand into the massive neck of crawler and was spinning the mutated human to keep him between her and an increasingly monstrous Lung.
The battle below seemed like a stalemate, none of the combatants seemed able to truly hurt any of the others and Twilight was racking her brain for something she could do to help. She had circled down to about half her original height when something flew in and blasted lung off his feet. Then an individual in glowing armor arrived and drove an arcing spear into Lung driving him farther back. Dauntless. Right behind him slamming a fist into Crawler and allowing Alexandria to disengage was Assault.
The Protectorate was here! Armsmaster was sprinting towards the battle with his halberd and Miss Militia was keeping her distance bracing what looked like a tube of metal on her shoulder. Assault jumped backwards and something shot from the tube and exploded against crawler's side leaving pockmarks of injuries that healed over almost as fast as they appeared.
At the edge of the zone of destruction Twilight eyes were drawn to two gigantic humans marching towards the battle while popping sounds and small explosions echoed from the direction they were coming from.
"Twilight Sparkle!" Crawler screamed as Alexandria and Assault pummeled him from opposite sides. "None here can harm me, no prison will hold me, eventually I will grow tired of this and I will keep my promise." He paused to leap backwards and nearly landed on top of Dauntless who just managed to disengage from Lung and roll out of the way.
The two giantesses and a storm of floating metal descended upon Lung freeing up Dauntless, Miss Militia, and Armsmaster to fight Crawler. Even with the newly arrived reinforcements Twilight couldn't help but feel what the beast had said was true. The heroes could not seem to inflict any lasting damage on him. Someone was going to get hurt, people were going to die, people were probably already dead from that massive explosion earlier. Twilight felt inside herself for the harmony that had helped her reach Mimi, but it seemed distant, separated from her as if by a wall she couldn't breach.
An idea came to her then and something settled heavily over Twilight's heart. So much of herself had been lost when she arrived on this world, and a few days ago she had gotten a lot of that back. Now, she knew she was about to lose something of herself again. What did it say about her that she had even thought of what she was about to do? This was a decision that wasn't going to be made it the throws of despair and half out of her mind. It was one she was going to make with malice aforethought, because she wasn't smart enough to think of anything else. Horn glowing brightly, she circled lower to the battle as she concentrated on the spell she was going to perform.
With a flash she teleported to the ground beside Alexandria and cast a plane of force between the heroes and Crawler bisecting several of his tentacles in the process. Crawler backed up and his inequine maw opened to display rows of viscous and misshaped teeth in what might have been an attempt at a smile. Alexandria stood beside her while the other heroes used the temporary safety to back off and talk quickly with each other. About a block behind Crawler, a forest of twisting iron beams seemed to be hemming Lung in while a glowing white ball unleashed blinding beams of light from above onto his back.
"Are these shields all you can do?" Crawler growled dismissively.
"Please, stop. Why are you doing this?" Twilight asked with resignation and a last desperate hope as her horn grew brighter.
"I'm doing this Twilight Sparkle," He charged forward and smashed his claws against the shield causing it to ripple and shudder, "because you are not stopping me." Then he spun and sprinted towards the capes attacking Lung. With a deafening crack Twilight cast her spell and Crawler's sprint turned into an uncontrolled slide as his entire body from mid back to rear legs and the surrounding ground turned to water and splashed around what remained of him.
Crawler released an agonized gurgle and drug himself on three legs, entrails hanging behind him as he turned back to face Twilight. If anything that horrible smile was wider. She could see however that regardless of the catastrophic damage she had done, his body was repairing itself faster than she would have thought possible. Twilight panted in exertion while Miss Militia launched another exploding projectile and Dauntless rocketed forward with his electric spear and shield again.
"He won't stop, why won't he stop?" Twilight asked quietly as she charged another spell. "He's not going to is he?" Alexandria still standing beside her didn't take her eyes off the fight while she responded.
"No, he will not." Twilight's horn grew brighter still and her wings flared open as purple streamers of light began to flare of her feathers.
"Tell them to get away from him!" Apparently Alexandria had her communications device on because without her speaking the Protectorate capes broke away from Crawler instantly. Twilight's and Crawler's bodies were outlined in purple and connected by a thin strand of shimmering light. Crawler paused as if curious and content to see what Twilight would do. The strand of light snapped and Crawler launched skyward as Twilight dropped to the ground, eyes filled with tears as she watched the rapidly dwindling form disappearing into the atmosphere.
Alexandria didn't stay, instead she flew over to Armsmaster who tossed her his halberd. She then flew towards the fight with Lung which had slowly been drifting farther from their location. Dauntless and Assault followed while Armsmaster and Miss Militia walked over to where Twilight was laying on the ground. With a bluntness Twilight had come to expect from Armsmaster he spoke.
"What did you do?"
"I, I reversed gravity on his body. He wasn't going to stop. He said he would kill people, and he wasn't going to stop." Twilight said with a sniffle.
"Twilight," Miss Militia said gently. "When will it where off? Where will he come down?"
"It won't, he won't." Twilight paused and tried to collect herself. "Are the others okay? What are we going to do about Lung? Do they need help?" She got back to her hooves slowly and turned to look in that direction, but couldn't see anything beyond the attacks of the flying globe of light and occasional eruptions of flame. Armsmaster spoke again.
"Alexandria has a plan for Lung. Miss Militia will stay with you, I'm going to meet up with Faultline, she say's they have a lead on Oni Lee." With that he ran towards his motorcycle and a minute later speed away towards the north. Twilight frowned after him and then turned back to look at ongoing battle with Lung and repeated her questions.
"Is everyone okay? Should we go help?"
"There were likely a good number of civilians and members of the ABB that were killed in the initial blast. Of those fighting the ABB I believe Alexandria's injury is the worst so far." Miss Militia said as she softly laid a hand on Twilight's neck. "If Alexandria says she has a plan and hasn't called for us, then I trust her. She is not one to pass up an advantage if our participation could provide her one. You have done a good thing Twilight Sparkle. Countless lives would have been lost had those bombs gone off someplace more populated. Crawler has killed many and would have killed many more had you not stopped him."
Twilight flinched but didn't respond. She had taken one of her precious memories, magic that Princess Celestia had taught her with love, and used it to kill someone. She believed what Miss Militia said, that her actions had saved peoples lives. She believed it and thats why she had done what she did. A selfish part of herself however, crying and wrapped tightly around her memories, disagreed. It didn't think it was worth it at all.
13
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
Interlude 6 - PHO
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♦ Topic: Twilight Sparkle
In: Boards ► News ► Events ►World
Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Posted on April 12th, 2011:
FIRST CONTACT. That just happened. It's pretty early, but I've got to earn my badge^ so here's what I know. I'm sure everyone here has watched the speech from the UN, if not do so here.
What we know from the the UN speech:
• Appearance: You all saw the video, cute is the only word. Every bad sci fi invasion film with gross insectoid aliens has been proven a lie. We have met the enemy and they are adorable, and if Twilight Sparkle is to be believed, not particularly interested in being our enemy. A side note on her name: I am going to assume since she is telling us her name in our language that it is a literal translation. Like how Japanese names written out will mean things like "snow flower" or "winter's child" or how "john" means "Gift from Jehovah."
• Language: All Star Trek geeks are vindicated, universal translation exists, sort of. Twilight Sparkle demonstrated an ability to speak in every language represented at the UN. How? Apparently her species has much finer control/understanding over the energy that grants capes their abilities, which has allowed them to develop a means to "teach" certain powers to individuals that have a certain base level of ability. The ramifications of this are huge and there is a whole thread dedicated to that topic alone.
• Arrival: She wasn't very clear here and seemed to struggle to find the suitable words (translation problems?) but apparently there was some kind of accident that resulted in her being thrown across dimensions or space or both. She landed in the docks area of Brockton Bay. Check out those links If you are not familiar with the city, suffice to say that humanity probably didn't make a stellar first impression.
• Her Background: Piecing together her speech this is what I gathered. She has a personal relationship with her country's ruler, she's an academic or a researcher specializing in "magic" or what I'm going to call parahuman energy. Their country is apparently some kind of monarchy ruled by a pony named Celestia. Their planet has multiple sentient races, which she didn't elaborate on, and it sounds like they live mostly in piece with each other. While I will assume a little bit of gloss on descriptions of her home (wouldn't you want to make the best impression if you were talking about earth) since she hopes to re-establish contact with her world I will take her statements as rose colored but mostly accurate.
Further Speculation (Things I have evidence for, but can't prove):
After going through the video a dozen times and parsing out what I could, I called some people in Brockton Bay and did some digging through the news.
She arrived last night in the docks are of Brockton Bay, and last night Lung was captured in that same area after tangling with a pretty obscure gang and an unknown cape who controls bugs Skitter. Now the news report is pretty detailed, and Armsmaster didn't arrive on scene till the end, who told him what happened? Was Lung, who has taken on multiple PRT teams really taken down by these relative unknowns? We also know that shortly after this Twilight Sparkle arrived at Protectorate ENE's base. This picture from a red light camera is grainy but it seems to show Twilight Sparkle with Armsmaster.
Putting this together it's possible that Twilight Sparkle ran into Lung and this unknown cape on the night of her arrival. Maybe Twilight Sparkle has a few more tricks up her sleeves (can you use that expression for a race that doesn't have arms or wear clothes?) than TK and translation and that's why Lung is wrapped in containment foam in a holding cell right now?
I'm a cape geek, I'm a cape geek that other cape geeks go to for info, but I live depressingly far away from Brockton Bay. Now we have an alien cape that possibly took down Lung or helped to take him down. We need to know more. I'm putting out an all call to those of you in the Brockton Bay area, if you know anything and can back it up with evidence PM me.
This thread is for news related to Twilight Sparkle and discussion based on verifiable evidence, for any other topics related to Twilight Sparkle see this index of threads.
(Showing page 1137 of 1138)
► Messerschmitt
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
That video only confirms what that leaked one from earlier last week showed. Sometime between the destruction of the PRT building in Brockton Bay on 4/22 and the battle with Lung and Crawler on 4/28 Twilight Sparkle grew a set of wings. Has there been any official comment from anyone on that development?
► Ouroboros (Cape husband)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
@Messerschmitt - Lots of talking heads, but nothing official. Look who really cares about whatever superficial biology the alien super being chooses to wear this week. Did you see what she did to Crawler? All anyone is saying officially is that Crawler died in the attack. Does anybody know what she actually did?
► Scope
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Who cares what she actually did? She took out Crawler, a member of the Nine that Alexandria couldn't damage. Think about that sentence. All I'm going to say is: thank god she's friendly.
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Sure she's friendly, look at what has happened in the city since she arrived. It's some scary [censored]. All things considered the faster they find a way to send her home, the better.
► MSRP
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Two things:
1) You don't need to censor yourself.
2) You can't blame the alien for humanity's problems. She may have had a hand in the original capture of Lung, which may have caused Bakuda to go off the deep end, but heroes have been trying to put Lung away for years it was going to come to a head at some point. Since he choose to live in Brockton Bay it was always going to get ugly for your city when it did.
► Sikan (Veteran Member)(Twilight Acolyte)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Through her actions and assistance the following villains no longer plague our world: Lung, Bakuda, and Crawler. She assisted rescue operations during Bakuda's Terror Campaign, and an unconfirmed rumor is going around the PRT ranks that Jack Slash is dead. A villain that has evaded all attempts to kill or capture him dead after coming to the City Twilight Sparkle has chosen to grace. We should offer our thanks and hope that she continues to bless us with her presence.
► Anti-Chicken(Veteran Member)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
@Sikan - This thread is for news and at least somewhat verifiable evidence, unless you have anything concrete that can point to Jack Slash's death and Twilight Sparkle's involvement this is not the place for rumormongering. I do agree though that she has been a net positive, if not quite so emphatically.
Now that she has proven to be so powerful, I wonder what balance the various government bodies will try to strike between protecting the alien ambassador and requesting her assistance. Also the other world governments can't be two happy with how the americans have been handling the situation so far.
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
I censored myself because I don't want an infraction and a ban for swearing.
► nythng
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
@ Void Cowboy: If they gave infractions for swearing half the board would be banned by now.
@ Sikan: Can you please tone down the religious awe, she's an alien unicorn, not the second coming.
► BuffyA
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Anyone else a little worried about the kind of report Twilight Sparkle is going to give on earth-bet when/if she gets back to her home world. Sure she may be all sweetness and light, that doesn't mean her entire species is.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … 1136, 1137, 1138
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♦ Topic: Lung Captured
In: Boards ► Places ► America ►Brockton Bay ► Teams ►ABB
Novus ordo (Original Poster) (Moderator: Brockton Bay)
Posted on April 12th, 2011 :
Just got the press release. Seems like he was ambushed by a new villain and the Undersiders. Armsmaster arrived afterwards and tranqued what was left. So the question is, what does this mean for the bay? I've lived here too long to think anything good will come from this.
Edit: New villain's name is Skitter
Edit: Debate if Skitter is a Villain
Edit: Escaped from PRT custody 4/22/11, see here
Edit: Recaptured 4/28/11- incarcerated in the birdcage 4/29/11
(Showing page 216 of 223)
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 3rd:
@ Missing and Presumed Dead
All I'm saying is the first time he was captured Bakuda went schitzo and blew up the city. Now's he's captured again, but the psychopath teleporter that he was keeping under control is still out there. I feel less safe now than before.
► Drift240 (Veteran Member)
Replied on May 3rd, 2011:
@ Missing and Presumed Dead
Yeah look, there have been a lot of villains sent to the birdcage over the years, can you honestly say that the world is better now than it was?
► CanadianLynx(Veteran Member)
Replied on May 3rd, 2011:
@ Cowboy
Are you really suggesting you would rather that Lung, Bakuda, and Oni Lee were still on the loose in your city instead of just Oni Lee?
► Thebes
Replied on May 3rd, 2011:
I know this is off topic, but the Slaughterhouse Nine are in Brockton Bay. If anyone has Oni Lee in their top ten things to worry about, they have their priorities wrong.
► Nythng
Replied on May 4th, 2011:
@ Thebes - Unless they recruit him, everything I've read about him makes it sound like he would fit right in.
► Lord Ajaxx
Replied on May 4th, 2011:
@ nythng - They are already having that debate in another thread, Let's not repeat it here.
It was brought up before, but I think it bears bringing up again. Lung was the only villain powerful enough to keep Empire 88 and their cadre of capes in check. With him out of the picture, and if there is anything left standing after the Nine depart, it's going to be a bad time to be a minority in the city.
► nythng
Replied on May 4th, 2011:
Won't the protectorate step up? Maybe keep some of the capes from other cities on hand until E88 gets the message not to rock the boat to much?
► Ghost Bear (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied on May 4th, 2011:
I can't believe some people here. I helped recover bodies from more than one of Bakuda's attacks, and Lung has ruined more lives over the years than I can count. Of course it's better that their off the street. If villains come to take their place, we will stop them too. The wheels of justice grind slowly, but they grind all in time.
► Space Amoeba(Index Specialist)
Replied on May 4th, 2011:
@ Ghost Bear:
1 – Do you really think Brockton Bay is better now than it was say five years ago?
2 – With regular PRT agents effectively powerless against the stronger capes, how is the PRT useful in these situations?
3 – What the happened on the 22nd? Was Jack Slash really there at the PRT building?
4 – Do you think having your attention split between your traditional duty and protecting an alien ambassador contributed to the ongoing crises in Brockton Bay?
► Scribbles (Cape Wife)
Replied on May 4th, 2011:
@ Space Amoeba – Ease up, I don't think you appreciate how stressful being in law enforcement is. Especially in Brockton Bay this past month. Read his post again, he's been recovering bodies, probably putting his life on the line every day, probably knows people that were killed in the PRT building bombing. My husband has only been there for a few days and I can tell it's wearing on him already.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … 215, 216, 217 … 223
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♦ Topic: Strange Things in the Bay
In: Boards ► Places ► Brockton Bay ► Main
GalaxyView (Original Poster)
Posted on April 22nd, 2011:
Ok, so everyone knows by now that Bakuda seriously escalated, she destroyed the PRT building earlier today in a coordinated attack with Oni Lee to spring Lung from custody. For the rundown on those things go here.
What I am wondering about is this and this. A Giant storm formed out of a clear sky over downtown and no one can get within a couple blocks of the former PRT building without getting scared shitless. It doesn't seem to fit Bakuda's style, and the PRT arn't talking about it.
These pictures, taken by someone much braver than I am show what look like dark crystals growing from the ground and buildings. Anyone know what the hell is going on? Noticed anything else unexplained going on?
Edit: Timeline of Unexplained events being discussed as of 5/1/2011
4/22 - A huge storm appears in downtown and several blocks are quarantined. Pictures show the area covered in dark crystals and anyone close enough becomes overwhelmed by fear.
4/23 - Hundreds of people report seeing a rainbow colored wave of light appearing on the north side of town. Those closest to the event report having felt content, or at peace immediately afterwards.
4/28 - Dozens of people notice and record clouds seemingly frozen in place in the sky.
(Showing page 347 of 348)
► Miss Darian (Protectorate Employee)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Look, there was no coverup. No one that was in the building, outside of the reinforced basement, survived and they were trapped until well after whatever happened happened. The PRT and Protectorate are not the illuminati, think of how hard it is to keep a secret nowadays, do you really believe a huge government organization could bottle something like that up?
► Lurking Bowser
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
I'm not sure that it says anything good about an organization that has to keep hundreds of cape identities secret claiming they cant keep a secret. You are claiming they are either incompetent or liars, or both.
I think everyone here is overthinking things though. We know capes tend to get their powers during stressful situations. The last few weeks have been plenty stressful and the unexplained events could very well be two new capes. One with some sort of control over the weather and one with some sort of emotional broadcasting ability, like a wide area effect Gallant.
► GermanRoll
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
@ Miss Darian - At least one pony survived. As others have stated. If she wasn't the cause she at least was a first hand witness, but strangely she hasn't come forward to talk about it and no one in the Protectorate or PRT has made an effort to ask. Which leads me to believe she was the cause, and when you put that together with what happened on the 28th makes her pretty fucking terrifying.
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Definitely terrifying. I'm scared to leave my house.
► Commodore Strawberry
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Oh come on! All the evidence we have shows that her power is focused around TK and forcefields. Now your trying to add weather manipulation and wide area emotional effects. Powers don't work that way, they follow a theme!
► FireLord
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Eidolon's power does.
► ChilledChild
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Ah there it is, comparison to Eidolon, I'm invoking Wildbow's law to declare the conversation over.
► StoneAgeRockThrowers
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Word is that there starting to open up some of the blocks around the old PRT building that weren't damaged in the blast, and photos show that there are hardly any of those crystals left. Looks like whatever happened is wearing off, whoever caused it.
► Terra2 (Veteran Member)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
I don't care if the crystals are gone, If I worked in that area, I would quit.
► Ribec
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
If we abandoned every area where bad parahuman mojo went down we'd all be living out at sea like those people in that bad earth-alph film waterworld. If the PRT is giving the all clear, then its fine - they're a pretty paranoid group (seeMadison and Caberra for examples).
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … 346, 347, 348
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♦ Topic: Twilight Sparkle Speculation
In: Boards ► Debates ► Twilight Sparkle ► Theories Thread 24
Sikan (Veteran Member)(Twilight Acolyte)
Posted on May 5th, 2011:
Another thread reached it's post limit in honor of our glorious winged savior from beyond the stars. You can find an index of the threads here. (Thanks to Amoeba)
(Showing page 1 of 1)
► Lathona (Wiki Warrior)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
I can't believe we've hit 24 threads, the Endbringers only have 13.
► Clockwork
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Cute purple pegacorn is a lot less depressing to speculate about.
► Sikan (Veteran Member)(Twilight Acolyte)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Please clockwork, until our lady tells us to use a different name she is still a unicorn as that is how she describes herself. Let us not impose our preconceived notions upon her.
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
I can't believe all the people here have such a rosy view of the alien. I live in Brockton Bay, trust me it's not all sunshine and daisies.
► IdahoGirl
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Since the battle with Crawler we have not heard or seen anything about Twilight. Does anyone know where she is and what she's doing now? What she did was amazing and it really gives me hope for the future, I mean imagine if everyone on her planet is like her!
► IdahoGirl
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Since the battle with Crawler we have not heard or seen anything about Twilight. Does anyone know where she is and what she's doing now? What she did was amazing and it really gives me hope for the future, I mean imagine if everyone on her planet is like her! Edit - Lagg, sry double post.
► Sikan (Veteran Member)(Twilight Acolyte)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
@ IdahoGirl We suspect that she is working behind the scenes to avoid giving her enemies a place at which to strike at her until she is ready to confront them. Soon the rest of the Nine shall feel her righteous justice.
► Uber (Veteran Member)(Twilight Acolyte)(Verified cape)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Leet and I have just finished our latest mod to Twilight Unicorn Attack upgrading the in game graphics to match her current appearance and incorporate the abilities she showed in her outing against Crawler. Which I have to say again, was badass. Leet & I welcome our new adorable overlord. We also compiled and edited all the best Twilight footage into this video here. Keep the faith brothers.
► Vista (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
@ Sikan I've been on patrol with Twilight, she hates violence and is really broken up over having to hurt anyone, even people like the Nine. So if you like her as much as your badge keep that in mind before posting about her smiting enemies. Remember these are real people (or ponies) your talking about.
End of Page. 1
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♦ Topic: Slaughterhouse Nine in Brockton Bay
In: Boards ► Places ► America ►Brockton Bay Discussion (Public Board)
Crockett's Last Stand (Original Poster) (Veteran Member)
Posted on April 23rd, 2011:
Just announced. Press release here. List of capes responding from other cities here.
(Showing page 77 of 77)
► NotVeryMad (Veteran Member)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Anyone else creeped out by the relative peace the past few days? Don't get me wrong the city needs all the quiet it can get after the past month, but even if we believe the rumors about Jack Slash being dead that means they've been in town two weeks and we have not seen Bonesaw, Siberian, Burnscar, or Hatchet Face at all. Not that I want to see them, but them being so quiet seems off, and I'm scared of what it could mean.
► Teneriz (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
@ moonshine You have my condolences. We are doing our best to track down Mannequin and bring him to justice. There is a kill order out for any member of the Nine, so no one is going to be pulling any punches. I've lost some close friends in recent weeks as well, believe me when I say that the entire PRT is focused on the Nine.
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
I think I saw Mannequin in the docks last night.
► Seaurk (Veteran Member)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
@ Teneriz: Thank you for all your hard work, no thanks are enough, but thank you anyway.
@Void_Cowboy: You were wandering around the docks at night with the Nine in town. You're either lying or certifiable.
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
I'm not lying!
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … 76, 77
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♦ Topic: Bright Close Earth Object
In: Boards ► Science ► Astronomy ► Observations
DoubleHelixSquared (Original Poster)
Posted on April 28th, 2011:
Guys, I was searching for asteroids with my new rig when I saw this. Following it's path I was able to catch ithere andhere as well. It's really strange. A much higher albedo than an asteroid. It's behaving as though it's under thrust and it's accelerating. Now as far as I can tell there have been no launches, and it's profile doesn't fit that of any satellite or space probe. Any Ideas?
(Showing page 1 of 1)
► nofalsehoods
Replied on April 28th, 2011:
Has to be man made, definitely accelerating against gravity. Is big though, to big to have been put up without someone noticing. Tinker work? Or since we have aliens now, possible something of theirs?
► Crazed Tanuki
Replied on April 28th, 2011:
The Simurgh reacted decisively last time tinker work tried to get out of earth orbit, doesn't seem to have reacted at all to this. I'm passing the info around to some colleagues, might be able to shake loose some time on one of the big lenses for a clearer picture.
► DoubleHelixSquared
Replied on April 30th, 2011:
Any luck getting confirmation from bigger lenses?
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Stumbled across this thread. @nofalsehoods - alien related, but not in the way you think check out this video. Unbelievable. I'm going to link this thread to the Twilight Sparkle News Thread.
► MiniMouse
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Holy shit! I just ran the numbers from Helix's post, she tossed him so hard he's going to exit the solar system.
► ToughStone
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Do you think he's still alive?
► Warmaster
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
It's Crawler, so yes. Note to self, do not piss off the unicorn.
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♦ Topic: Twilight Sparkle
In: Boards ► News ► Events ►World
Bagrat (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know)
Posted on April 12th, 2011:
FIRST CONTACT. That just happened. It's pretty early, but I've got to earn my badge^ so here's what I know. I'm sure everyone here has watched the speech from the UN, if not do so here.
What we know from the the UN speech:
• Appearance: You all saw the video, cute is the only word. Every bad sci fi invasion film with gross insectoid aliens has been proven a lie. We have met the enemy and they are adorable, and if Twilight Sparkle is to be believed, not particularly interested in being our enemy. A side note on her name: I am going to assume since she is telling us her name in our language that it is a literal translation. Like how Japanese names written out will mean things like "snow flower" or "winter's child" or how "john" means "Gift from Jehovah."
• Language: All Star Trek geeks are vindicated, universal translation exists, sort of. Twilight Sparkle demonstrated an ability to speak in every language represented at the UN. How? Apparently her species has much finer control/understanding over the energy that grants capes their abilities, which has allowed them to develop a means to "teach" certain powers to individuals that have a certain base level of ability. The ramifications of this are huge and there is a whole thread dedicated to that topic alone.
• Arrival: She wasn't very clear here and seemed to struggle to find the suitable words (translation problems?) but apparently there was some kind of accident that resulted in her being thrown across dimensions or space or both. She landed in the docks area of Brockton Bay. Check out those links If you are not familiar with the city, suffice to say that humanity probably didn't make a stellar first impression.
• Her Background: Piecing together her speech this is what I gathered. She has a personal relationship with her country's ruler, she's an academic or a researcher specializing in "magic" or what I'm going to call parahuman energy. Their country is apparently some kind of monarchy ruled by a pony named Celestia. Their planet has multiple sentient races, which she didn't elaborate on, and it sounds like they live mostly in piece with each other. While I will assume a little bit of gloss on descriptions of her home (wouldn't you want to make the best impression if you were talking about earth) since she hopes to re-establish contact with her world I will take her statements as rose colored but mostly accurate.
Further Speculation (Things I have evidence for, but can't prove):
After going through the video a dozen times and parsing out what I could, I called some people in Brockton Bay and did some digging through the news.
She arrived last night in the docks are of Brockton Bay, and last night Lung was captured in that same area after tangling with a pretty obscure gang and an unknown cape who controls bugs Skitter. Now the news report is pretty detailed, and Armsmaster didn't arrive on scene till the end, who told him what happened? Was Lung, who has taken on multiple PRT teams really taken down by these relative unknowns? We also know that shortly after this Twilight Sparkle arrived at Protectorate ENE's base. This picture from a red light camera is grainy but it seems to show Twilight Sparkle with Armsmaster.
Putting this together it's possible that Twilight Sparkle ran into Lung and this unknown cape on the night of her arrival. Maybe Twilight Sparkle has a few more tricks up her sleeves (can you use that expression for a race that doesn't have arms or wear clothes?) than TK and translation and that's why Lung is wrapped in containment foam in a holding cell right now?
I'm a cape geek, I'm a cape geek that other cape geeks go to for info, but I live depressingly far away from Brockton Bay. Now we have an alien cape that possibly took down Lung or helped to take him down. We need to know more. I'm putting out an all call to those of you in the Brockton Bay area, if you know anything and can back it up with evidence PM me.
This thread is for news related to Twilight Sparkle and discussion based on verifiable evidence, for any other topics related to Twilight Sparkle see this index of threads.
(Showing page 1137 of 1138)
► Messerschmitt
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
That video only confirms what that leaked one from earlier last week showed. Sometime between the destruction of the PRT building in Brockton Bay on 4/22 and the battle with Lung and Crawler on 4/28 Twilight Sparkle grew a set of wings. Has there been any official comment from anyone on that development?
► Ouroboros (Cape husband)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
@Messerschmitt - Lots of talking heads, but nothing official. Look who really cares about whatever superficial biology the alien super being chooses to wear this week. Did you see what she did to Crawler? All anyone is saying officially is that Crawler died in the attack. Does anybody know what she actually did?
► Scope
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Who cares what she actually did? She took out Crawler, a member of the Nine that Alexandria couldn't damage. Think about that sentence. All I'm going to say is: thank god she's friendly.
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Sure she's friendly, look at what has happened in the city since she arrived. It's some scary [censored]. All things considered the faster they find a way to send her home, the better.
► MSRP
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Two things:
1) You don't need to censor yourself.
2) You can't blame the alien for humanity's problems. She may have had a hand in the original capture of Lung, which may have caused Bakuda to go off the deep end, but heroes have been trying to put Lung away for years it was going to come to a head at some point. Since he choose to live in Brockton Bay it was always going to get ugly for your city when it did.
► Sikan (Veteran Member)(Twilight Acolyte)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Through her actions and assistance the following villains no longer plague our world: Lung, Bakuda, and Crawler. She assisted rescue operations during Bakuda's Terror Campaign, and an unconfirmed rumor is going around the PRT ranks that Jack Slash is dead. A villain that has evaded all attempts to kill or capture him dead after coming to the City Twilight Sparkle has chosen to grace. We should offer our thanks and hope that she continues to bless us with her presence.
► Anti-Chicken(Veteran Member)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
@Sikan - This thread is for news and at least somewhat verifiable evidence, unless you have anything concrete that can point to Jack Slash's death and Twilight Sparkle's involvement this is not the place for rumormongering. I do agree though that she has been a net positive, if not quite so emphatically.
Now that she has proven to be so powerful, I wonder what balance the various government bodies will try to strike between protecting the alien ambassador and requesting her assistance. Also the other world governments can't be two happy with how the americans have been handling the situation so far.
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
I censored myself because I don't want an infraction and a ban for swearing.
► nythng
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
@ Void Cowboy: If they gave infractions for swearing half the board would be banned by now.
@ Sikan: Can you please tone down the religious awe, she's an alien unicorn, not the second coming.
► BuffyA
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Anyone else a little worried about the kind of report Twilight Sparkle is going to give on earth-bet when/if she gets back to her home world. Sure she may be all sweetness and light, that doesn't mean her entire species is.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … 1136, 1137, 1138
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♦ Topic: Lung Captured
In: Boards ► Places ► America ►Brockton Bay ► Teams ►ABB
Novus ordo (Original Poster) (Moderator: Brockton Bay)
Posted on April 12th, 2011 :
Just got the press release. Seems like he was ambushed by a new villain and the Undersiders. Armsmaster arrived afterwards and tranqued what was left. So the question is, what does this mean for the bay? I've lived here too long to think anything good will come from this.
Edit: New villain's name is Skitter
Edit: Debate if Skitter is a Villain
Edit: Escaped from PRT custody 4/22/11, see here
Edit: Recaptured 4/28/11- incarcerated in the birdcage 4/29/11
(Showing page 216 of 223)
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 3rd:
@ Missing and Presumed Dead
All I'm saying is the first time he was captured Bakuda went schitzo and blew up the city. Now's he's captured again, but the psychopath teleporter that he was keeping under control is still out there. I feel less safe now than before.
► Drift240 (Veteran Member)
Replied on May 3rd, 2011:
@ Missing and Presumed Dead
Yeah look, there have been a lot of villains sent to the birdcage over the years, can you honestly say that the world is better now than it was?
► CanadianLynx(Veteran Member)
Replied on May 3rd, 2011:
@ Cowboy
Are you really suggesting you would rather that Lung, Bakuda, and Oni Lee were still on the loose in your city instead of just Oni Lee?
► Thebes
Replied on May 3rd, 2011:
I know this is off topic, but the Slaughterhouse Nine are in Brockton Bay. If anyone has Oni Lee in their top ten things to worry about, they have their priorities wrong.
► Nythng
Replied on May 4th, 2011:
@ Thebes - Unless they recruit him, everything I've read about him makes it sound like he would fit right in.
► Lord Ajaxx
Replied on May 4th, 2011:
@ nythng - They are already having that debate in another thread, Let's not repeat it here.
It was brought up before, but I think it bears bringing up again. Lung was the only villain powerful enough to keep Empire 88 and their cadre of capes in check. With him out of the picture, and if there is anything left standing after the Nine depart, it's going to be a bad time to be a minority in the city.
► nythng
Replied on May 4th, 2011:
Won't the protectorate step up? Maybe keep some of the capes from other cities on hand until E88 gets the message not to rock the boat to much?
► Ghost Bear (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied on May 4th, 2011:
I can't believe some people here. I helped recover bodies from more than one of Bakuda's attacks, and Lung has ruined more lives over the years than I can count. Of course it's better that their off the street. If villains come to take their place, we will stop them too. The wheels of justice grind slowly, but they grind all in time.
► Space Amoeba(Index Specialist)
Replied on May 4th, 2011:
@ Ghost Bear:
1 – Do you really think Brockton Bay is better now than it was say five years ago?
2 – With regular PRT agents effectively powerless against the stronger capes, how is the PRT useful in these situations?
3 – What the happened on the 22nd? Was Jack Slash really there at the PRT building?
4 – Do you think having your attention split between your traditional duty and protecting an alien ambassador contributed to the ongoing crises in Brockton Bay?
► Scribbles (Cape Wife)
Replied on May 4th, 2011:
@ Space Amoeba – Ease up, I don't think you appreciate how stressful being in law enforcement is. Especially in Brockton Bay this past month. Read his post again, he's been recovering bodies, probably putting his life on the line every day, probably knows people that were killed in the PRT building bombing. My husband has only been there for a few days and I can tell it's wearing on him already.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … 215, 216, 217 … 223
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♦ Topic: Strange Things in the Bay
In: Boards ► Places ► Brockton Bay ► Main
GalaxyView (Original Poster)
Posted on April 22nd, 2011:
Ok, so everyone knows by now that Bakuda seriously escalated, she destroyed the PRT building earlier today in a coordinated attack with Oni Lee to spring Lung from custody. For the rundown on those things go here.
What I am wondering about is this and this. A Giant storm formed out of a clear sky over downtown and no one can get within a couple blocks of the former PRT building without getting scared shitless. It doesn't seem to fit Bakuda's style, and the PRT arn't talking about it.
These pictures, taken by someone much braver than I am show what look like dark crystals growing from the ground and buildings. Anyone know what the hell is going on? Noticed anything else unexplained going on?
Edit: Timeline of Unexplained events being discussed as of 5/1/2011
4/22 - A huge storm appears in downtown and several blocks are quarantined. Pictures show the area covered in dark crystals and anyone close enough becomes overwhelmed by fear.
4/23 - Hundreds of people report seeing a rainbow colored wave of light appearing on the north side of town. Those closest to the event report having felt content, or at peace immediately afterwards.
4/28 - Dozens of people notice and record clouds seemingly frozen in place in the sky.
(Showing page 347 of 348)
► Miss Darian (Protectorate Employee)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Look, there was no coverup. No one that was in the building, outside of the reinforced basement, survived and they were trapped until well after whatever happened happened. The PRT and Protectorate are not the illuminati, think of how hard it is to keep a secret nowadays, do you really believe a huge government organization could bottle something like that up?
► Lurking Bowser
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
I'm not sure that it says anything good about an organization that has to keep hundreds of cape identities secret claiming they cant keep a secret. You are claiming they are either incompetent or liars, or both.
I think everyone here is overthinking things though. We know capes tend to get their powers during stressful situations. The last few weeks have been plenty stressful and the unexplained events could very well be two new capes. One with some sort of control over the weather and one with some sort of emotional broadcasting ability, like a wide area effect Gallant.
► GermanRoll
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
@ Miss Darian - At least one pony survived. As others have stated. If she wasn't the cause she at least was a first hand witness, but strangely she hasn't come forward to talk about it and no one in the Protectorate or PRT has made an effort to ask. Which leads me to believe she was the cause, and when you put that together with what happened on the 28th makes her pretty fucking terrifying.
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Definitely terrifying. I'm scared to leave my house.
► Commodore Strawberry
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Oh come on! All the evidence we have shows that her power is focused around TK and forcefields. Now your trying to add weather manipulation and wide area emotional effects. Powers don't work that way, they follow a theme!
► FireLord
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Eidolon's power does.
► ChilledChild
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Ah there it is, comparison to Eidolon, I'm invoking Wildbow's law to declare the conversation over.
► StoneAgeRockThrowers
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Word is that there starting to open up some of the blocks around the old PRT building that weren't damaged in the blast, and photos show that there are hardly any of those crystals left. Looks like whatever happened is wearing off, whoever caused it.
► Terra2 (Veteran Member)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
I don't care if the crystals are gone, If I worked in that area, I would quit.
► Ribec
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
If we abandoned every area where bad parahuman mojo went down we'd all be living out at sea like those people in that bad earth-alph film waterworld. If the PRT is giving the all clear, then its fine - they're a pretty paranoid group (seeMadison and Caberra for examples).
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … 346, 347, 348
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♦ Topic: Twilight Sparkle Speculation
In: Boards ► Debates ► Twilight Sparkle ► Theories Thread 24
Sikan (Veteran Member)(Twilight Acolyte)
Posted on May 5th, 2011:
Another thread reached it's post limit in honor of our glorious winged savior from beyond the stars. You can find an index of the threads here. (Thanks to Amoeba)
(Showing page 1 of 1)
► Lathona (Wiki Warrior)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
I can't believe we've hit 24 threads, the Endbringers only have 13.
► Clockwork
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Cute purple pegacorn is a lot less depressing to speculate about.
► Sikan (Veteran Member)(Twilight Acolyte)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Please clockwork, until our lady tells us to use a different name she is still a unicorn as that is how she describes herself. Let us not impose our preconceived notions upon her.
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
I can't believe all the people here have such a rosy view of the alien. I live in Brockton Bay, trust me it's not all sunshine and daisies.
► IdahoGirl
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Since the battle with Crawler we have not heard or seen anything about Twilight. Does anyone know where she is and what she's doing now? What she did was amazing and it really gives me hope for the future, I mean imagine if everyone on her planet is like her!
► IdahoGirl
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Since the battle with Crawler we have not heard or seen anything about Twilight. Does anyone know where she is and what she's doing now? What she did was amazing and it really gives me hope for the future, I mean imagine if everyone on her planet is like her! Edit - Lagg, sry double post.
► Sikan (Veteran Member)(Twilight Acolyte)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
@ IdahoGirl We suspect that she is working behind the scenes to avoid giving her enemies a place at which to strike at her until she is ready to confront them. Soon the rest of the Nine shall feel her righteous justice.
► Uber (Veteran Member)(Twilight Acolyte)(Verified cape)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Leet and I have just finished our latest mod to Twilight Unicorn Attack upgrading the in game graphics to match her current appearance and incorporate the abilities she showed in her outing against Crawler. Which I have to say again, was badass. Leet & I welcome our new adorable overlord. We also compiled and edited all the best Twilight footage into this video here. Keep the faith brothers.
► Vista (Verified Cape) (Wards ENE)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
@ Sikan I've been on patrol with Twilight, she hates violence and is really broken up over having to hurt anyone, even people like the Nine. So if you like her as much as your badge keep that in mind before posting about her smiting enemies. Remember these are real people (or ponies) your talking about.
End of Page. 1
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♦ Topic: Slaughterhouse Nine in Brockton Bay
In: Boards ► Places ► America ►Brockton Bay Discussion (Public Board)
Crockett's Last Stand (Original Poster) (Veteran Member)
Posted on April 23rd, 2011:
Just announced. Press release here. List of capes responding from other cities here.
(Showing page 77 of 77)
► NotVeryMad (Veteran Member)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Anyone else creeped out by the relative peace the past few days? Don't get me wrong the city needs all the quiet it can get after the past month, but even if we believe the rumors about Jack Slash being dead that means they've been in town two weeks and we have not seen Bonesaw, Siberian, Burnscar, or Hatchet Face at all. Not that I want to see them, but them being so quiet seems off, and I'm scared of what it could mean.
► Teneriz (Verified PRT Agent)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
@ moonshine You have my condolences. We are doing our best to track down Mannequin and bring him to justice. There is a kill order out for any member of the Nine, so no one is going to be pulling any punches. I've lost some close friends in recent weeks as well, believe me when I say that the entire PRT is focused on the Nine.
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
I think I saw Mannequin in the docks last night.
► Seaurk (Veteran Member)
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
@ Teneriz: Thank you for all your hard work, no thanks are enough, but thank you anyway.
@Void_Cowboy: You were wandering around the docks at night with the Nine in town. You're either lying or certifiable.
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
I'm not lying!
End of Page. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 … 76, 77
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♦ Topic: Bright Close Earth Object
In: Boards ► Science ► Astronomy ► Observations
DoubleHelixSquared (Original Poster)
Posted on April 28th, 2011:
Guys, I was searching for asteroids with my new rig when I saw this. Following it's path I was able to catch ithere andhere as well. It's really strange. A much higher albedo than an asteroid. It's behaving as though it's under thrust and it's accelerating. Now as far as I can tell there have been no launches, and it's profile doesn't fit that of any satellite or space probe. Any Ideas?
(Showing page 1 of 1)
► nofalsehoods
Replied on April 28th, 2011:
Has to be man made, definitely accelerating against gravity. Is big though, to big to have been put up without someone noticing. Tinker work? Or since we have aliens now, possible something of theirs?
► Crazed Tanuki
Replied on April 28th, 2011:
The Simurgh reacted decisively last time tinker work tried to get out of earth orbit, doesn't seem to have reacted at all to this. I'm passing the info around to some colleagues, might be able to shake loose some time on one of the big lenses for a clearer picture.
► DoubleHelixSquared
Replied on April 30th, 2011:
Any luck getting confirmation from bigger lenses?
► XxVoid_CowboyxX
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Stumbled across this thread. @nofalsehoods - alien related, but not in the way you think check out this video. Unbelievable. I'm going to link this thread to the Twilight Sparkle News Thread.
► MiniMouse
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Holy shit! I just ran the numbers from Helix's post, she tossed him so hard he's going to exit the solar system.
► ToughStone
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
Do you think he's still alive?
► Warmaster
Replied on May 5th, 2011:
It's Crawler, so yes. Note to self, do not piss off the unicorn.
254 New posts since page was loaded - view them?
14
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
CHAPTER 8
Twilight looked out over the ruined section of the city as the rising sun illuminated the still smoldering buildings and the half sunk husks of rusted ships beyond them. Clearly the area had been in rough shape even before last night, but the fight against Mannequin hadn't done it any favors. Skitter had called her late and by the time she had arrived it had all been over. Mannequin was dead.
Twilight was unsure how to feel about that, other than relieved that she hadn't been involved. She was relieved that the Man that had killed those nice scientists was gone for good, and relieved that it wasn't on her conscience. The first felt wrong, like the easy way had been taken instead of the right one, and the second felt selfish. Maybe she could talk to Dr. Yamada about it.
Mimi sat on the roof beside her, idly kicking her legs back and forth in her new costume Skitter had made. It covered her from feet to head with only a small opening exposing her eyes. They had dyed it white and Mimi had painted delicate swirls of flame along the arms, legs, and back with remarkable talent. Skitter stood on the other side of Twilight her dark costume a stark contrast to Mimi's.
"What was this place?" Twilight broke the silence in a soft voice that felt appropriate for the moment.
"Used to be the main port area of the city and the shipyards," Skitter said as she extended one arm and swept it in front of her as if presenting it to Twilight and Mimi. "Back before I was born, before the manufacturing companies went out of business or moved away, Brockton Bay made a lot of things. Those things were shipped all over the world from right down there." Her voice was quiet to, but colored with a resigned bitterness.
"Um, ok. Why did they abandon all of those ships? It seems dangerous and like an awful waste when the ships could still be used somewhere else."
"Well more and more of the people that worked here got laid off and after a while it was clear that things were only going to get worse. So a bunch of people went out there and commandeered boats, everything from row boats to that giant container ship out there resting on the bottom. Ground what business there was left to a halt."
"Why?" Twilight asked in bewildered curiosity.
"They were suffering, their families were suffering, and no one was paying any attention or really giving a damn. So they found a way to make people pay attention. For a couple of days it was mostly peaceful, then some bright spark at police headquarters got the idea of storming the container ship one night to take it back. Well long story short, lots of people ended up hurt, some ended up dead, and several ships ended up on the bottom trapping the rest. Guess someone ran the numbers and figured it wasn't worth the money to clean up, so here we are. Nowadays people call it the boat graveyard and even the desperate don't bother to claim it."
Twilight was aghast, how could any of that have happened? Equestria was currently in a time of expansion so she couldn't really think of any areas in decline she could compare to, but she was sure there had to have been something someone could have done to help before things got so bad. And not cleaning up the wreckage afterwards? Sure it would be a lot of work and bits, but she could almost physically feel what the lingering scar was doing to the spirit of the place and the humans that lived in the city. The hurt such a constant reminder would continually inflict. Hadn't whoever ran the numbers calculated that in?
"When there wasn't enough work anymore for everyone, why didn't they move somewhere that needed their talents?" Twilight asked as the lower edge of the sun cleared the surface of the ocean. "I've heard of mining ponies that need to move when there weren't any more gems in an area and lots of ponies move when they discover their special talent and it's not really suited to where they are living."
"Brockton Bay was hit particularly hard, but really there isn't anywhere in the country where they need a lot of people for those types jobs anymore."
"What about other countries?"
"It's hard to get permission to work in another country, and even if you can lots of people wouldn't want to because other countries do things so differently." Twilight contemplated this. She guessed she hadn't really thought about all the consequences of the humans not having a united government. She had been to the United Nations, but all she had really done was give the same speech to a bunch of different people.
She could understand people not wanting to move someplace that had a very different culture, but why would countries increase the height of that hurdle by making restrictions on who could work where? She pulled a notepad from her modified backpack and added human economic policy and international relations as subjects she would need to research. If only that list hadn't already filled up a stack of notebooks, with a truly disheartening lack of checks next to them.
Skitter spoke up with a question of her own. "Didn't you say ponies found their special talent when they were still kids? Are you saying kids pack up and leave home if their talent doesn't fit in with where they are?" Twilight was puzzled by the incredulity in Skitter's voice, but answered anyway.
"Of course. Generally family or friends in other cities or villages are contacted that have a suitable outlet for an adolescent pony's newfound talent. For certain talents some cities setup apprenticeship programs or schools. I attended one of those myself and my friends Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie moved to Ponyville when they found their talents."
"Huh," Skitter said after a moment. "It's easy to forget sometimes."
"What?"
"That you're from a different world." Twilight couldn't help but smile at this, it was strange and wonderful how she had almost stopped noticing human's bizarre shape and locomotion and was glad the reverse was also true. "So what are we doing out here anyway? There are certainly prettier places to watch the sun rise if your going to be masochistic enough to stay up and see it."
Twilight "hmmed" softly as she looked out at the destruction both old and new. "I..I don't know really. I guess I thought it might help me understand a little more. I'm not even sure what I'm trying to understand, but, It seemed like a place to start anyway. Being partially raised by Celestia sunrises have always been comforting to me. Dragon told me a few days ago that cameras saw the little girl and the zebra striped woman, Bonesaw and Siberian?"
At Skitter's nod Twilight Continued. "She said they were seen halfway across the country and they thought Shatterbird had run away too. I..I just don't know how to feel about that. Relief, guilt, unease, accomplishment, its like there all blended up inside me and I don't know what to do with them." Skitter rested a hand on Twilight's neck and gently started to comb her fingers though her mane.
"When I feel like that, I go for a run. It doesn't solve anything, but it's something productive and it centers me. Anchors me to something more solid and less complicated than life has tends to be." She paused and looked down at Twilight. "You don't really strike me as the running type." Twilight was not sure if she should take offense to that remark or not. Skitter continued before she could decide. "Got anything like that, something simple, productive, and concrete that will give your brain a break from things that don't really have answers?"
Twilight thought about that as Skitter ran her fingers through her mane and Mimi's boots thudded gently in time against the building wall beneath her. The sun was rising quickly now burning away the remaining shadows. If anything the light made the neighborhood look worse by revealing all the small indignities that the morning twilight had concealed.
Maybe it was the rhythm that Mimi's feet made that pulled the memory out of her head but a few minutes later she found herself softly singing.
"The time has come to welcome spring
and all things warm and green,
But it's also time to say goodbye:
It's winter we must clean.
How can I help?….
Winter wrap up, Winter wrap up…."
Still humming a slow small smile formed on her face as Twilight took in everything she could of the view. Her notepad floated back out of her backpack along with her pen and she started jotting down details, ideas, and lists.
"Twilight?" Skitter asked her name in question while Mimi started humming the melody as well.
"I do have something like that. Thank you Skitter, I know just the place to start."
-------------------
Two days later Twilight lay on one of three now fully furnished cots in Skitter's lair. Several economics textbooks opened and spread out around her while a levitating notepad and pen held position beside her head. Stacks of books and notepads surrounded the bed in a complex organizational hierarchy that only Twilight Sparkle could discern.
On the opposing wall the spare bunks had been removed to be replaced with IKEA bookshelves and desks. Mimi was slowly filling the bookshelves with books and notes based on a very precise chart Twilight had drawn a few days ago. A dozen small globes of flame floated in the air providing light and a homelike warmth to the room. Just then Skitter cleared the top of the spiral staircase balancing a tray with three large bowls of salad in her hands.
"Soups on everyone." Skitter said as she sat the tray down on a small round table. Twilight looked up from her books and raised a eyebrow.
"Soup? I thought you were making salads tonight?"
"Just an expression, I did make salad."
"Oh good, I've really been craving greens. Those ramen noodles you had were ok, buts it's nice to have something different. I just wish daisies didn't seem to be so hard to come by here." Twilight said as she stood up on the cot and gently stretched out her legs and wings, careful to avoid disturbing any of the books. When she looked to hop down she found she had quiet effectively trapped herself in a proto-bookfort. With an amused sigh she lit her horn and teleported over to the table causing Skitter to jerk backwards slightly in her chair before scooting a bowl over to Twilight.
Mimi shelved one last book before walking over and sitting down next to Twilight. Levitating three bottles of water out of the cooler the three dug in. Skitter still hadn't unmasked completely in front of Mimi, but she was wearing what Twilight had come to think of as her "house mask" which was a simple strip of cloth the covered her upper face but had holes for her eyes.
"Mmm," Twilight vocalized between bites. "This is really good, thank you making dinner and going to the book store earlier. I think I've almost got enough information now to put together a couple of real plans." Skitter looked at the state of the room and the number of notepads that had already been filled and thought about what Twilight would consider a "real" plan.
"It's ok, If your plan works, well a lot of people I know and care about are going to be better off for the first time in my lifetime. So anything I can do, I'm going to do. Not really how I envisioned I would be making people's lives better when I first found out I had powers, but I guess there are many paths to the same goal. Maybe I can walk a few at the same time."
The rest of the meal was mostly quiet as the three enjoyed the food, the simple presence of each other, and the lack of immediate danger for once. Later the three were downstairs in the kitchen as Twilight washed the dishes in the sink and Mimi dried and stacked them. As Twilight scrubbed the dressing off the large mixing bowl she took a deep breath and decided to bring up the disturbing thing she had read earlier.
"Skitter, In one of the economics textbooks they had a section called 'Natural Disasters and Endbringers.' They sound really bad. Why…why didn't anyone tell me about them?" Skitter sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment as Twilight passed the clean bowl over to Mimi.
"It's not really something people bring up in conversation. It's a little taboo, people get superstitious about it. Like talking about them out loud is going to summon them to your city. Sailors used to think whistling into the wind would summon a storm, because nobody understood how storms formed. Its a little like that with the Endbringers. No one understands them, why they appeared, why they attack cities until their driven off, why they take turns and seem to have a schedule they keep." Skitter shrugged not knowing what else to say about it.
"Well that changes some things. I'll have to revise the schedule to allow time to research them. It won't do any good to rebuild the city if some monster is just going to come along and ruin everything we do. So we'll just have to figure out how to stop them." Twilight said with a firm nod of her head as she turned the water off and floated the last bowl over to Mimi.
"Wait..What? I don't think you really understand. All the heroes, villains, and thinkers in the world have tried since Behemoth showed up in 92 to figure out a way to stop them. A lot have died trying but nobody has, even the most powerful parahumans on the planet can barely hurt them. Endbringer fights that end well still end up killing lots of capes and thousands of people. Ones that end badly kill millions." Twilight's eyes misted over at that.
"Millions…They killed millions of humans in a single day?" Skitter nodded solemnly while Mimi passed a paper towel to Twilight who used it to wipe her eyes. Twilight took a moment to absorb what that really meant, what humans had been going through since these monsters showed up. When she spoke again her voice was emotional but confident. "Then that's all the more reason for us to stop them. You said they followed a schedule and took turns. Which one of them is next? How much time is left before they attack?" A little bewildered by the direction the conversation had taken Skitter nonetheless answered.
"Leviathan and an attack is due, anytime in the next few weeks."
"He's the one that attacks with water and causes tidal waves right?" Twilight queried as a notebook and pen floated in from the doorway already scribbling notes.
"Yes..Twilight, I'm serious when I say that geniuses and thinkers, scientists and heroes have been trying for twenty years to figure them out, find a way to stop them. I'm not saying not to try, I'll help however I can, but I know how much dealing with the Nine hurt you. I don't want to see you put yourself through something like that again right after putting that behind you." Twilight Stepped forward and leaned her head into Skitter's side and wrapped a leg around her in a hug.
"Thank you. Thank you worrying about me, for being such a good friend. But this is different. The Nine disturbed me because, well they were people, and they had chosen to do these awful inexplicable things because they enjoyed doing them. I couldn't, can't understand that." Twilight shuddered a little and leaned harder against Skitter before continuing.
"Monsters I understand though. Equestria has a lot them. Timberwolves, Manticores, Hydras, Cockatrices, and those are just the common ones that live close by. Since I left Canterlot my friends and I have had to deal with quite a few of them. Some even, that could have wiped out our whole civilization. I don't know, we always stopped things before…before things got really bad, but its the kind of problem I'm used to. Maybe I won't find a solution, maybe humans have already tried everything I can think of, but I think its worth a shot." Twilight stepped back from Skitter and looked up to see a flabbergasted expression on her face.
"Wait, seriously? You deal with monsters, like mythological world ending monsters on a regular basis?"
"Yes, well I'm not sure I would call it regular and quite obviously they're not mythological, but more often than I would like that's for sure. Whats wrong?" Twilight asked not quite understanding Skitters reaction.
"Huh, I just, well everything I've heard you say about Equestria and your friends, and just the way you act. I wouldn't have imagined you had problems like that. Besides the fact that your talking about things that don't exist anywhere outside mythology. It makes me wonder if maybe there hasn't been some previous contact between our worlds. We have stories about pegasi and unicorns too."
"Really!?!" Twilight hopped up and her wings extended causing them to bang painfully into the cabinets and Skitter but she was to excited to notice. "That's great, it could mean that our worlds have some kind of natural connection that I accidentally tapped into, which makes much more sense than a random accident. That would make finding a way home much easier!" Twilight pulled her wings back in and twirled in place.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Twilight stopped her prancing and took a deep breath. "Tomorrow after we finish meeting with your lawyer friend we need to visit the closest library or museum with an extensive 'mythology' or what I after the past couple of years I now call 'obscure history' collection. That will be the best place to look for clues on how to defeat these Endbringers and references on how contact between our worlds happened in the past."
"You really think you're going to find the answer to beating Leviathan in the ancient mythology section of the public library?" Skitter asked with a kind of amused incredulity.
"I think I might, or at least a clue." Twilight huffed in a somewhat peeved tone at Skitter's skepticism. "It shouldn't be that surprising, do you really think that over the course of the tens of thousands of years of your species history that this is the first time humans have faced a world ending threat? And since the world is still here, they must have succeeded in defeating them. Those are the kind of things ponies tell stories about, stories that get passed down, stories that turn into 'legends' and 'myths.' Lots of them are probably just stories, but trust me, more than you would like are probably based on some kind of fact. You said your mythology mentioned unicorns right? Am I a figment of your imagination or do I prove that there is more to your mythology than myth?"
"I.." Skitter paused as a series of unreadable expressions passed over her face. "You…damn, thats actually a pretty good point." Twilight clopped her forehooves together in happy triumph.
"Great! Then after the lawyer we'll go to the library and look up every reference to 'mythological' sea monsters and how they were defeated right?"
"Ok," Skitter said and then giggled.
"What?" Twilight asked with a smile
"Just imagining the look on every scientist and tinker's face if the key to saving the world was a degree in ancient mythology."
---------------
Several hours later as they were all laying down and getting ready to go to sleep when Mimi spoke up softly.
"Twilight?" Twilight smiled and turned her head so that she was facing Mimi. She had spoken so little since she had been healed by the elements of harmony, it was nice to hear her voice.
"Yes"
"I..I was thinking about what you said, the other day, about equestrian names? How ponies sometimes choose a new name that they feel..represents.. them better?" Twilight nodded.
"Yes, usually if a pony changes their name it's when they get their cutie mark, but not always. What brought that up?"
"It's just…I..I don't…I'm not…I'm not Mimi, I don't feel like Mimi anymore and I never want to hear that other name, never." Mimi's voice wavered and Twilight pulled back her covers and hopped down to stand next to Mimi's bed brushing her wing down the girls side. "Can I choose a new name? Like a pony would?"
"Of course you can. Do you have one in mind?" Mimi hesitantly nodded then spoke.
"I'm Flame Dancer. I want to be Flame Dancer." Twilight reared up so that she could give the girl a tight legged hug.
"Goodnight Flame Dancer." her eyes misted and a wide smile spread across the quiet girls face.
"Goodnight Twilight."
"Ahh screw it." Skitter suddenly spoke up from her cot causing both Twilight and Flame Dancer to startle and look at her. She peeled off her mask and sat up. "Call me Taylor."
---------------------
Twilight Sparkle had come to a conclusion. Of all the the irritating, uncomfortable, not designed for ponies chairs that she had been forced to sit in, this one was the most uncomfortable and the most irritating of them all. Huffing she hopped down with a thud that caused the assistant at the desk to look up from her computer screen.
"Can I get you anything Ms. Sparkle?" Twilight glanced at the clock on the wall now showing ten minutes past their scheduled appointment time and then glanced back at the assistant. "I assure you he's very interested in speaking with you and has just be unavoidably detained in some way." Twilight huffed again and walked over to the water cooler in the corner to pour herself a drink. Her companion Mr. Calle seemed unbothered by the tardi-, Twilight's eye twitched, by the delay. Content to tap rapidly one of those amazing "cell phones" the humans had.
Twilight still had trouble judging human clothing, but he looked well dressed , and she approved of his color coordinated tie, shirt and pocket square. He had a scar that trailed from one nostril to his cheekbone like he had been badly cut. He didn't seem self-conscious about it, and if it didn't bother him Twilight decided her curiosity on how someone who dealt with paperwork had gotten such a wound was not that important.
The door to the hallway opened and three men walked inside the waiting area. Two looked fairly young, while the third was older, well dressed, and harried. He's the one that addressed her.
"Ah Ms. Sparkle, it's a pleasure to meet you at last." He reached out his hand, then realizing the gesture wouldn't work pulled it back and did a small bow instead. "Had events not overtaken us these past few weeks we would have extended an invitation much sooner. Personally I would like to thank you for your efforts, I believe things could have gone much worse without your assistance. While it was entirely out of our control I would also like to apologize for what must have been a very trying time for you. Hopefully the crisis is passed and city can show you some things humanity has to offer besides crazed villains."
Twilight was a little uncomfortable at the praise for things she wasn't actually proud of, but did her best to suppress those negative emotions and give her best approximation of Princess Celestia's smile. "Thank you Mr. Mayor." She glanced up at the clock before focusing on him again. "Getting things back on track is exactly what I wanted to meet with you about today." The mayor raised a curious eyebrow at this before a genial smile graced his face once more.
"You've piqued my curiosity already Ms. Sparkle. Follow me to my office and tell me what you've got on your mind." He turned towards the door behind the assistant's desk and that was when he first noticed Mr. Calle. The smile fell off his face and a hint of irritation entered it.
"Mr. Calle, why are you darkening my doorstep today? Informing me of another technicality in the city's case against those E88 members? If so please just leave the paperwork with the legal office down the hall, I'm not in the mood for your dance routine today." Mr. Calle had put away his phone when the Mayor had begun talking and now he stood up with a very pleasant smile, either not noticing or not caring about the Mayor's hostile demeanor.
"Roy, It's good to see you too." When the Mayor looked like he was going to interject Mr. Calle continued. "I assure you I'm not here regarding any of our previous business. After hearing about the proposal she intends to present you with today a friend of Ms. Sparkle's contacted my firm on her behalf. After talking with her ourselves we have decided to assist Ms. Sparkle in navigating the legal and bureaucratic landscape that she is wholly unfamiliar with." The Mayor looked briefly taken aback at this, and then cautiously glanced between Mr. Calle and Twilight.
"Well now I'm frightened as well as intrigued. Lets go to my office and hear what you have to say Ms. Sparkle." He walked past the desk and opened the large wood paneled door into a spacious room with a large desk and a couple of chairs and couches. The walls, much to Twilight's approval, where filled with bookcases. The Mayor sat down in the large chair behind the desk while Twilight and Mr. Calle sat down in the chairs in front of it. One of the younger men that had walked in with the mayor brought a small chair inside and set it down beside the desk so he would be facing them. Waving one of his hands in front of him the Mayor spoke again. "So whats all this about?"
"Excuse me just for a moment, I need to retrieve some visual aids I prepared." So saying Twilight's horn flared and she disappeared with a flash of light. Before anyone could react she reappeared with a easel and a large bound flip board. Trotting to an open space to the side of the desk that would allow everyone to see it she placed the board on the easel and flipped the cover so that the first page was displayed. When she turned around and saw the nonplused faces of the Mayor and his Aide she blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry about that. It's just so much easier teleporting my materials when I need them then carrying them across the city." The mayor smiled at this.
"Quite alright Ms. Sparkle, no harm done, just a little unexpected."
"Right, well, as you can see this is a satellite photo of the old port area, or what is known as the boat graveyard. Along with some surface level pictures of the area. I was curious why it was in such a state, and after talking with some people and learning about its history I couldn't believe that such a wound on the city's landscape and spirit had been left to fester for so long." The Mayor grimaced at this and his aide spoke up with a little heat in his voice.
"You think we don't know what that blight is costing the city Ms. Sparkle? The city's been petitioning the state and federal government for years to release some relief funds to clean the area up and reopen the port. We can't afford to do it ourselves, and no company is going to foot the bill when there are so many other ports in the northeast to choose from. Unless you have a couple of billion dollars you've acquired over the last few weeks I'm not sure why we're talking about this." Twilight narrowed her eyes at this.
"No I don't have billions of dollars to spend, however if you would allow me to continue, I will explain how I think I can help."
"Go ahead Ms. Sparkle, we've been fighting some of these battles so long that we're a little sensitive when someone brings them up."
"Ok, I understand that. But, I have a plan that doesn't require billion's to get started. Well really its more like a plan of plans that contain yet more plans, but anyway with your help we can turn this," Twilight pointed to the blighted landscape with a hoof, "into this." Twilight levitated a crystal in front of her and it glowed bright purple for a moment before a glowing 3D representation of the area hovered in the air between them. The water was free of sunken ships and giant cranes lifted containers off ships secured to restored piers. The land around the port had been transformed as well with new parks, residences, and shops woven together with warehouses and industrial buildings. As the Mayor and his aide gaped at the illusion spell Twilight continued.
"Of course it will take years to get to this point, but I've run projections and Mr. Calle's firm was kind enough to review them and help correct some of my assumptions. With your cooperation I think we can cut the city's unemployment in half over the next two years. We just need some help getting some of the areas rezoned and some favorable leases on the city owned drydocks and piers. Mr. Calle's firm has already drawn up the paperwork and even though we've only had a few days we've already been able to acquire most of the privately held land in the area." The Mayor was looking between the illusion and Twilight as if trying to figure out how serious this all was. Mr. Calle had opened his brief case and was laying out several differently colored folders thick with bound paper. The aide had begun flipping through them as soon as they hit the desk.
"You can't be serious!" He pointed to one section. "You're basically asking the city to hand over control of hundreds of millions of dollars in city property to an alien for the next 5 years for virtually nothing." He started speed reading as he flipped through more pages. "Industrial plots rezoned to greenways, residential properties rezoned commercial, commercial rezoned residential, modifications to the city's controlled airspace, an agreement from the city to restore ferry service…A city library card with no checkout limit?!? This is preposterous Ms. Sparkle." Mr. Calle snapped his briefcase shut and interjected.
"There is nothing preposterous about it. The city property you are referring to has laid idle and hasn't produced income or rent for the city in decades. You also wouldn't be handing anything over to Ms. Sparkle personally. A company has been setup, Harmony Works, Inc, that has several prestigious stakeholders besides Ms. Sparkle already. Mr. Mayor. You know me, you know my firm. Do you really think I would be here if we didn't think Ms. Sparkle's plans would work?" The mayor hesitated, and Twilight decided to put her last card on the table.
"In addition to the plans on the desk, which I am very certain we can accomplish, If I am able to reestablish contact with my world I think Brockton Bay's rebuilt port would be a perfect location for the import and export of goods between our worlds." Twilight paused and remembering what Skitter had told her about human political motivations fixed her gaze solidly on the Mayor. "Mr. Christner if you approve this, you will have saved the livelihoods of tens of thousands of registered voters." Mr. Calle smiled brightly at this and clapped his hand down on Twilight's back as the Mayor scooted his chair back, an amused smile starting to spread across his face.
"Whatdya need from me?"
------------------
Twilight sighed with satisfied exertion as she released her magic and the rusted tug boat groaned as its weight settled onto the blocks covering the drydock's floor. This boat was in good enough shape that they thought it could be repaired and then used to aid the rest of the clean up work. All around her hundreds of people worked with cutting torches slicing up the smaller boats she had pulled from the water that were to far gone to repair. Behind her the continuous rumble of bulldozers and earth movers cleared the remains of demolished buildings while still more people were carting out detritus from the large warehouse she had selected as the new home of Harmony Works.
Flame Dancer stepped up beside her and held out a bottle of water which Twilight grabbed gratefully with her magic. Unscrewing the cap she took a long drink before nodding to the costumed girl.
"Thank you." Twilight said as she and Flame Dancer began weaving their way back towards the temporary tent pavilion that had been setup. As they walked past the open doorway of the warehouse she smiled at the deep hum and rhythmic metal clanking of the electrical generators still being spun by the come to life spell she had cast earlier. Step 53 of stage one of plan one was proceeding well. With the help of maritime salvage law even the cleanup phase was going to break even financially.
Twilight felt the best she had since arriving. Seeing the progress, the workers and volunteers sweating, tired, but happy. This was real magic. Twilight felt like she could almost see the connections being created and growing between the people and with the place itself. Just seeing everyone in their color coordinated vests that her new friend Parian had made put a happy skip in her step. She was in her element, this was how things were supposed to be: Using magic, organization, and friendship to solve problems.
Inside the pavilion was a hive of activity as people bustled back and forth and team leaders coordinated work for the different operations underway outside. Each team had a dedicated area, while a central lounge/brainstorming area with comfortable chairs and an idea board that was shared by everyone. Twilight smiled and greeted everyone as she walked to the back where the 'ending the endbringers' research team was working in their pink trimmed purple vests.
Vista and Kid Win had arrived since the last time she had been inside and Kid Win was holding a purple vest at arms length like it was a snake. When he saw Twilight approaching he looked at her with pleading eyes.
"I don't really have to wear this do I Twilight?"
"Why wouldn't you want to? It lets everyone know which project you are working on and I had Parian make them to your measurements. It should fit perfectly."
"It's just the color is-"
"What's wrong with the color?" Twilight asked with narrowed eyes. Kid win looked between the vest and the purple pony with a pink stripe through her mane. With a resigned sigh he started to slip it on over his arms.
"Nothing, the colors are great, really." Twilight smiled and clopped her hooves together while Vista giggled behind him.
"Great! How are things going everypony?" The work area consisted of three tables with laptops, books, and papers spread out over them and a large whiteboard stretching along the back wall of the tent. Around one table Skitter and a group of graduate students from the local university's classics and anthropology departments were scouring through stacks of mythic history from Icelandic Sagas to Aboriginal Dreamtime stories.
The middle table where Kid Win had been standing had several large monitors displaying technical schematics and one with Dragon's animated face, who had in the spirit of unity opted for a purple and pink trimmed background.
While the last table was filled with Twilight's notebooks and was where she was working on her new theories for opening a portal to equestria. Vista was patiently taking pictures of each page of her notebooks so Dragon could help with her new equations. Not only would she be overjoyed to be reunited with her friends, but the princesses had faced many world ending problems during their long reign. Regardless of her other motivations she could think of no better ponies to ask for advice in this type of situation.
"We've found lots of myths about sea monsters, interestingly enough, the Tanahk's description of Leviathan is probably the closest so far of mythic sea monsters we've researched." Skitter picked up a sheet of paper and after scanning it for a moment began to read.
"The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable.
His chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone.
When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing.
The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.
Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood.
Arrows do not make him flee, sling stones are like chaff to him.
A club seems to him but a piece of straw, he laughs at the rattling of the lance."
Skitter looked up and paused for a second as people nodded at the accurate description. "Unfortunately the jewish texts are not very encouraging about our chances." She looked back down at the paper and began reading again.
"Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering.
No-one is fierce enough to rouse him…
Nothing on earth is his equal—a creature without fear.
He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud."
That too was unfortunately accurate to everyone who had seen Leviathan in person or on film. Twilight grimaced at that but wouldn't let one passage discourage her from searching for an answer. Skitter continued again. "So far thats sort of been a theme, lots of scary monsters, not a lot of stories about people beating them. The only example of that so far is Perseus using Medusa's head to turn a sea monster into stone." Twilight brightened at this last bit.
"Petrification! Why didn't I think of that before. The Elements of Harmony imprisoned Discord in stone, so it makes sense that other powerful beings could also be sealed that way. Is medusa's head some kind of artifact? Are there any clues in the text about where it might be?" Everyone around the research table cringed a little at the question and as one turned to Skitter to explain.
"Um, no…Medusa was a gorgon, a monstrous woman with snakes for hair and if you looked at her you turned to stone. In most of the stories she was beheaded by Perseus, but even severed it kept its power. Perseus used the head as a weapon several times to turn enemies and monsters to stone." Twilight grimaced at the image and shivered a little at the thought of carting around a severed head to use against monsters.
"Ugh, ok..Even if the story was based on fact, the head is probably," Twilight shivered again, "hopefully gone by now, but I've been exposed to a cockatrice's petrification magic before. I might be able to develop a similar spell to try against Leviathan. Dragon has anyone tried something like that before?" Twilight asked turning towards the monitor. Dragon's avatar looked up for a second in thought before shaking her head.
"When you asked me to help I compiled every known attack that had been tried against Leviathan and the amount of damage they did. Nothing like what is described in the medusa myth has been attempted against him. I also printed out a list of the attacks I believe were the most effective against him, It may give you an idea of what to focus on."
"Thank you Dragon. When you went through the history of his attacks, were there any clues about what he wants? Has ever made any attempt to communicate?" Dragon shook her head.
"Nothing consistent, and I have found no evidence of attempts at communication." Twilight frowned again.
"That doesn't make sense. The videos you showed me, what Alexandria and Armsmaster have told me. He is powerful enough to have caused much more damage, he leaves fights before he's really hurt, he attacks on a schedule. Those things show intelligence and restraint. He's not just trying to drown the world, he's doing something else, there's some kind of point to it, however twisted it must be. If we could figure that out it could lead us to how we are going to stop him." Twilight trailed off in a frustrated huff and Vista came over and gave her an encouraging hug while Dragon continued speaking.
"I understand your frustration Twilight, I have worked on this problem for years as have many others. Everyone who has fought him or been affected by him is grateful for your help, but it is unlikely we will find a solution before his next attack. You can't take responsibility for that, it's too much for any one person or pony to shoulder." Dragon said in a concerned tone as Twilight looked down and drug a hoof over the ground.
"I know…I just wish there was more time. Thank you everyone for helping me, I know how crazy some of my ideas must sound to you."
"Hey," Kid Win interjected, "Humanity has tried sane for years without much to show for it. Maybe it's time we tried a little crazy? I-" Kid Win stopped speaking as two figures approached the group. The taller of the two was wearing a large conical hat, loose white pants and a white shirt that was overlaid with blue cloth coming down from both shoulders. The shorter one wore a similar outfit but in black and with a blue mask covering his lower face and nose. The taller one spoke in a dramatic voice that carried over all the conversations and noise in the pavilion.
"I am Uber, and this is Leet. Twilight Sparkle, we have heard you seek to defend this realm in Mortal Kombat against Leviathan." As he spoke electricity traveled down his arm and arced off his gloved fingers and a chilly fog began to gather around Leet. "So we have come to help you…. FINISH HIM!"
Twilight looked out over the ruined section of the city as the rising sun illuminated the still smoldering buildings and the half sunk husks of rusted ships beyond them. Clearly the area had been in rough shape even before last night, but the fight against Mannequin hadn't done it any favors. Skitter had called her late and by the time she had arrived it had all been over. Mannequin was dead.
Twilight was unsure how to feel about that, other than relieved that she hadn't been involved. She was relieved that the Man that had killed those nice scientists was gone for good, and relieved that it wasn't on her conscience. The first felt wrong, like the easy way had been taken instead of the right one, and the second felt selfish. Maybe she could talk to Dr. Yamada about it.
Mimi sat on the roof beside her, idly kicking her legs back and forth in her new costume Skitter had made. It covered her from feet to head with only a small opening exposing her eyes. They had dyed it white and Mimi had painted delicate swirls of flame along the arms, legs, and back with remarkable talent. Skitter stood on the other side of Twilight her dark costume a stark contrast to Mimi's.
"What was this place?" Twilight broke the silence in a soft voice that felt appropriate for the moment.
"Used to be the main port area of the city and the shipyards," Skitter said as she extended one arm and swept it in front of her as if presenting it to Twilight and Mimi. "Back before I was born, before the manufacturing companies went out of business or moved away, Brockton Bay made a lot of things. Those things were shipped all over the world from right down there." Her voice was quiet to, but colored with a resigned bitterness.
"Um, ok. Why did they abandon all of those ships? It seems dangerous and like an awful waste when the ships could still be used somewhere else."
"Well more and more of the people that worked here got laid off and after a while it was clear that things were only going to get worse. So a bunch of people went out there and commandeered boats, everything from row boats to that giant container ship out there resting on the bottom. Ground what business there was left to a halt."
"Why?" Twilight asked in bewildered curiosity.
"They were suffering, their families were suffering, and no one was paying any attention or really giving a damn. So they found a way to make people pay attention. For a couple of days it was mostly peaceful, then some bright spark at police headquarters got the idea of storming the container ship one night to take it back. Well long story short, lots of people ended up hurt, some ended up dead, and several ships ended up on the bottom trapping the rest. Guess someone ran the numbers and figured it wasn't worth the money to clean up, so here we are. Nowadays people call it the boat graveyard and even the desperate don't bother to claim it."
Twilight was aghast, how could any of that have happened? Equestria was currently in a time of expansion so she couldn't really think of any areas in decline she could compare to, but she was sure there had to have been something someone could have done to help before things got so bad. And not cleaning up the wreckage afterwards? Sure it would be a lot of work and bits, but she could almost physically feel what the lingering scar was doing to the spirit of the place and the humans that lived in the city. The hurt such a constant reminder would continually inflict. Hadn't whoever ran the numbers calculated that in?
"When there wasn't enough work anymore for everyone, why didn't they move somewhere that needed their talents?" Twilight asked as the lower edge of the sun cleared the surface of the ocean. "I've heard of mining ponies that need to move when there weren't any more gems in an area and lots of ponies move when they discover their special talent and it's not really suited to where they are living."
"Brockton Bay was hit particularly hard, but really there isn't anywhere in the country where they need a lot of people for those types jobs anymore."
"What about other countries?"
"It's hard to get permission to work in another country, and even if you can lots of people wouldn't want to because other countries do things so differently." Twilight contemplated this. She guessed she hadn't really thought about all the consequences of the humans not having a united government. She had been to the United Nations, but all she had really done was give the same speech to a bunch of different people.
She could understand people not wanting to move someplace that had a very different culture, but why would countries increase the height of that hurdle by making restrictions on who could work where? She pulled a notepad from her modified backpack and added human economic policy and international relations as subjects she would need to research. If only that list hadn't already filled up a stack of notebooks, with a truly disheartening lack of checks next to them.
Skitter spoke up with a question of her own. "Didn't you say ponies found their special talent when they were still kids? Are you saying kids pack up and leave home if their talent doesn't fit in with where they are?" Twilight was puzzled by the incredulity in Skitter's voice, but answered anyway.
"Of course. Generally family or friends in other cities or villages are contacted that have a suitable outlet for an adolescent pony's newfound talent. For certain talents some cities setup apprenticeship programs or schools. I attended one of those myself and my friends Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie moved to Ponyville when they found their talents."
"Huh," Skitter said after a moment. "It's easy to forget sometimes."
"What?"
"That you're from a different world." Twilight couldn't help but smile at this, it was strange and wonderful how she had almost stopped noticing human's bizarre shape and locomotion and was glad the reverse was also true. "So what are we doing out here anyway? There are certainly prettier places to watch the sun rise if your going to be masochistic enough to stay up and see it."
Twilight "hmmed" softly as she looked out at the destruction both old and new. "I..I don't know really. I guess I thought it might help me understand a little more. I'm not even sure what I'm trying to understand, but, It seemed like a place to start anyway. Being partially raised by Celestia sunrises have always been comforting to me. Dragon told me a few days ago that cameras saw the little girl and the zebra striped woman, Bonesaw and Siberian?"
At Skitter's nod Twilight Continued. "She said they were seen halfway across the country and they thought Shatterbird had run away too. I..I just don't know how to feel about that. Relief, guilt, unease, accomplishment, its like there all blended up inside me and I don't know what to do with them." Skitter rested a hand on Twilight's neck and gently started to comb her fingers though her mane.
"When I feel like that, I go for a run. It doesn't solve anything, but it's something productive and it centers me. Anchors me to something more solid and less complicated than life has tends to be." She paused and looked down at Twilight. "You don't really strike me as the running type." Twilight was not sure if she should take offense to that remark or not. Skitter continued before she could decide. "Got anything like that, something simple, productive, and concrete that will give your brain a break from things that don't really have answers?"
Twilight thought about that as Skitter ran her fingers through her mane and Mimi's boots thudded gently in time against the building wall beneath her. The sun was rising quickly now burning away the remaining shadows. If anything the light made the neighborhood look worse by revealing all the small indignities that the morning twilight had concealed.
Maybe it was the rhythm that Mimi's feet made that pulled the memory out of her head but a few minutes later she found herself softly singing.
"The time has come to welcome spring
and all things warm and green,
But it's also time to say goodbye:
It's winter we must clean.
How can I help?….
Winter wrap up, Winter wrap up…."
Still humming a slow small smile formed on her face as Twilight took in everything she could of the view. Her notepad floated back out of her backpack along with her pen and she started jotting down details, ideas, and lists.
"Twilight?" Skitter asked her name in question while Mimi started humming the melody as well.
"I do have something like that. Thank you Skitter, I know just the place to start."
-------------------
Two days later Twilight lay on one of three now fully furnished cots in Skitter's lair. Several economics textbooks opened and spread out around her while a levitating notepad and pen held position beside her head. Stacks of books and notepads surrounded the bed in a complex organizational hierarchy that only Twilight Sparkle could discern.
On the opposing wall the spare bunks had been removed to be replaced with IKEA bookshelves and desks. Mimi was slowly filling the bookshelves with books and notes based on a very precise chart Twilight had drawn a few days ago. A dozen small globes of flame floated in the air providing light and a homelike warmth to the room. Just then Skitter cleared the top of the spiral staircase balancing a tray with three large bowls of salad in her hands.
"Soups on everyone." Skitter said as she sat the tray down on a small round table. Twilight looked up from her books and raised a eyebrow.
"Soup? I thought you were making salads tonight?"
"Just an expression, I did make salad."
"Oh good, I've really been craving greens. Those ramen noodles you had were ok, buts it's nice to have something different. I just wish daisies didn't seem to be so hard to come by here." Twilight said as she stood up on the cot and gently stretched out her legs and wings, careful to avoid disturbing any of the books. When she looked to hop down she found she had quiet effectively trapped herself in a proto-bookfort. With an amused sigh she lit her horn and teleported over to the table causing Skitter to jerk backwards slightly in her chair before scooting a bowl over to Twilight.
Mimi shelved one last book before walking over and sitting down next to Twilight. Levitating three bottles of water out of the cooler the three dug in. Skitter still hadn't unmasked completely in front of Mimi, but she was wearing what Twilight had come to think of as her "house mask" which was a simple strip of cloth the covered her upper face but had holes for her eyes.
"Mmm," Twilight vocalized between bites. "This is really good, thank you making dinner and going to the book store earlier. I think I've almost got enough information now to put together a couple of real plans." Skitter looked at the state of the room and the number of notepads that had already been filled and thought about what Twilight would consider a "real" plan.
"It's ok, If your plan works, well a lot of people I know and care about are going to be better off for the first time in my lifetime. So anything I can do, I'm going to do. Not really how I envisioned I would be making people's lives better when I first found out I had powers, but I guess there are many paths to the same goal. Maybe I can walk a few at the same time."
The rest of the meal was mostly quiet as the three enjoyed the food, the simple presence of each other, and the lack of immediate danger for once. Later the three were downstairs in the kitchen as Twilight washed the dishes in the sink and Mimi dried and stacked them. As Twilight scrubbed the dressing off the large mixing bowl she took a deep breath and decided to bring up the disturbing thing she had read earlier.
"Skitter, In one of the economics textbooks they had a section called 'Natural Disasters and Endbringers.' They sound really bad. Why…why didn't anyone tell me about them?" Skitter sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment as Twilight passed the clean bowl over to Mimi.
"It's not really something people bring up in conversation. It's a little taboo, people get superstitious about it. Like talking about them out loud is going to summon them to your city. Sailors used to think whistling into the wind would summon a storm, because nobody understood how storms formed. Its a little like that with the Endbringers. No one understands them, why they appeared, why they attack cities until their driven off, why they take turns and seem to have a schedule they keep." Skitter shrugged not knowing what else to say about it.
"Well that changes some things. I'll have to revise the schedule to allow time to research them. It won't do any good to rebuild the city if some monster is just going to come along and ruin everything we do. So we'll just have to figure out how to stop them." Twilight said with a firm nod of her head as she turned the water off and floated the last bowl over to Mimi.
"Wait..What? I don't think you really understand. All the heroes, villains, and thinkers in the world have tried since Behemoth showed up in 92 to figure out a way to stop them. A lot have died trying but nobody has, even the most powerful parahumans on the planet can barely hurt them. Endbringer fights that end well still end up killing lots of capes and thousands of people. Ones that end badly kill millions." Twilight's eyes misted over at that.
"Millions…They killed millions of humans in a single day?" Skitter nodded solemnly while Mimi passed a paper towel to Twilight who used it to wipe her eyes. Twilight took a moment to absorb what that really meant, what humans had been going through since these monsters showed up. When she spoke again her voice was emotional but confident. "Then that's all the more reason for us to stop them. You said they followed a schedule and took turns. Which one of them is next? How much time is left before they attack?" A little bewildered by the direction the conversation had taken Skitter nonetheless answered.
"Leviathan and an attack is due, anytime in the next few weeks."
"He's the one that attacks with water and causes tidal waves right?" Twilight queried as a notebook and pen floated in from the doorway already scribbling notes.
"Yes..Twilight, I'm serious when I say that geniuses and thinkers, scientists and heroes have been trying for twenty years to figure them out, find a way to stop them. I'm not saying not to try, I'll help however I can, but I know how much dealing with the Nine hurt you. I don't want to see you put yourself through something like that again right after putting that behind you." Twilight Stepped forward and leaned her head into Skitter's side and wrapped a leg around her in a hug.
"Thank you. Thank you worrying about me, for being such a good friend. But this is different. The Nine disturbed me because, well they were people, and they had chosen to do these awful inexplicable things because they enjoyed doing them. I couldn't, can't understand that." Twilight shuddered a little and leaned harder against Skitter before continuing.
"Monsters I understand though. Equestria has a lot them. Timberwolves, Manticores, Hydras, Cockatrices, and those are just the common ones that live close by. Since I left Canterlot my friends and I have had to deal with quite a few of them. Some even, that could have wiped out our whole civilization. I don't know, we always stopped things before…before things got really bad, but its the kind of problem I'm used to. Maybe I won't find a solution, maybe humans have already tried everything I can think of, but I think its worth a shot." Twilight stepped back from Skitter and looked up to see a flabbergasted expression on her face.
"Wait, seriously? You deal with monsters, like mythological world ending monsters on a regular basis?"
"Yes, well I'm not sure I would call it regular and quite obviously they're not mythological, but more often than I would like that's for sure. Whats wrong?" Twilight asked not quite understanding Skitters reaction.
"Huh, I just, well everything I've heard you say about Equestria and your friends, and just the way you act. I wouldn't have imagined you had problems like that. Besides the fact that your talking about things that don't exist anywhere outside mythology. It makes me wonder if maybe there hasn't been some previous contact between our worlds. We have stories about pegasi and unicorns too."
"Really!?!" Twilight hopped up and her wings extended causing them to bang painfully into the cabinets and Skitter but she was to excited to notice. "That's great, it could mean that our worlds have some kind of natural connection that I accidentally tapped into, which makes much more sense than a random accident. That would make finding a way home much easier!" Twilight pulled her wings back in and twirled in place.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" Twilight stopped her prancing and took a deep breath. "Tomorrow after we finish meeting with your lawyer friend we need to visit the closest library or museum with an extensive 'mythology' or what I after the past couple of years I now call 'obscure history' collection. That will be the best place to look for clues on how to defeat these Endbringers and references on how contact between our worlds happened in the past."
"You really think you're going to find the answer to beating Leviathan in the ancient mythology section of the public library?" Skitter asked with a kind of amused incredulity.
"I think I might, or at least a clue." Twilight huffed in a somewhat peeved tone at Skitter's skepticism. "It shouldn't be that surprising, do you really think that over the course of the tens of thousands of years of your species history that this is the first time humans have faced a world ending threat? And since the world is still here, they must have succeeded in defeating them. Those are the kind of things ponies tell stories about, stories that get passed down, stories that turn into 'legends' and 'myths.' Lots of them are probably just stories, but trust me, more than you would like are probably based on some kind of fact. You said your mythology mentioned unicorns right? Am I a figment of your imagination or do I prove that there is more to your mythology than myth?"
"I.." Skitter paused as a series of unreadable expressions passed over her face. "You…damn, thats actually a pretty good point." Twilight clopped her forehooves together in happy triumph.
"Great! Then after the lawyer we'll go to the library and look up every reference to 'mythological' sea monsters and how they were defeated right?"
"Ok," Skitter said and then giggled.
"What?" Twilight asked with a smile
"Just imagining the look on every scientist and tinker's face if the key to saving the world was a degree in ancient mythology."
---------------
Several hours later as they were all laying down and getting ready to go to sleep when Mimi spoke up softly.
"Twilight?" Twilight smiled and turned her head so that she was facing Mimi. She had spoken so little since she had been healed by the elements of harmony, it was nice to hear her voice.
"Yes"
"I..I was thinking about what you said, the other day, about equestrian names? How ponies sometimes choose a new name that they feel..represents.. them better?" Twilight nodded.
"Yes, usually if a pony changes their name it's when they get their cutie mark, but not always. What brought that up?"
"It's just…I..I don't…I'm not…I'm not Mimi, I don't feel like Mimi anymore and I never want to hear that other name, never." Mimi's voice wavered and Twilight pulled back her covers and hopped down to stand next to Mimi's bed brushing her wing down the girls side. "Can I choose a new name? Like a pony would?"
"Of course you can. Do you have one in mind?" Mimi hesitantly nodded then spoke.
"I'm Flame Dancer. I want to be Flame Dancer." Twilight reared up so that she could give the girl a tight legged hug.
"Goodnight Flame Dancer." her eyes misted and a wide smile spread across the quiet girls face.
"Goodnight Twilight."
"Ahh screw it." Skitter suddenly spoke up from her cot causing both Twilight and Flame Dancer to startle and look at her. She peeled off her mask and sat up. "Call me Taylor."
---------------------
Twilight Sparkle had come to a conclusion. Of all the the irritating, uncomfortable, not designed for ponies chairs that she had been forced to sit in, this one was the most uncomfortable and the most irritating of them all. Huffing she hopped down with a thud that caused the assistant at the desk to look up from her computer screen.
"Can I get you anything Ms. Sparkle?" Twilight glanced at the clock on the wall now showing ten minutes past their scheduled appointment time and then glanced back at the assistant. "I assure you he's very interested in speaking with you and has just be unavoidably detained in some way." Twilight huffed again and walked over to the water cooler in the corner to pour herself a drink. Her companion Mr. Calle seemed unbothered by the tardi-, Twilight's eye twitched, by the delay. Content to tap rapidly one of those amazing "cell phones" the humans had.
Twilight still had trouble judging human clothing, but he looked well dressed , and she approved of his color coordinated tie, shirt and pocket square. He had a scar that trailed from one nostril to his cheekbone like he had been badly cut. He didn't seem self-conscious about it, and if it didn't bother him Twilight decided her curiosity on how someone who dealt with paperwork had gotten such a wound was not that important.
The door to the hallway opened and three men walked inside the waiting area. Two looked fairly young, while the third was older, well dressed, and harried. He's the one that addressed her.
"Ah Ms. Sparkle, it's a pleasure to meet you at last." He reached out his hand, then realizing the gesture wouldn't work pulled it back and did a small bow instead. "Had events not overtaken us these past few weeks we would have extended an invitation much sooner. Personally I would like to thank you for your efforts, I believe things could have gone much worse without your assistance. While it was entirely out of our control I would also like to apologize for what must have been a very trying time for you. Hopefully the crisis is passed and city can show you some things humanity has to offer besides crazed villains."
Twilight was a little uncomfortable at the praise for things she wasn't actually proud of, but did her best to suppress those negative emotions and give her best approximation of Princess Celestia's smile. "Thank you Mr. Mayor." She glanced up at the clock before focusing on him again. "Getting things back on track is exactly what I wanted to meet with you about today." The mayor raised a curious eyebrow at this before a genial smile graced his face once more.
"You've piqued my curiosity already Ms. Sparkle. Follow me to my office and tell me what you've got on your mind." He turned towards the door behind the assistant's desk and that was when he first noticed Mr. Calle. The smile fell off his face and a hint of irritation entered it.
"Mr. Calle, why are you darkening my doorstep today? Informing me of another technicality in the city's case against those E88 members? If so please just leave the paperwork with the legal office down the hall, I'm not in the mood for your dance routine today." Mr. Calle had put away his phone when the Mayor had begun talking and now he stood up with a very pleasant smile, either not noticing or not caring about the Mayor's hostile demeanor.
"Roy, It's good to see you too." When the Mayor looked like he was going to interject Mr. Calle continued. "I assure you I'm not here regarding any of our previous business. After hearing about the proposal she intends to present you with today a friend of Ms. Sparkle's contacted my firm on her behalf. After talking with her ourselves we have decided to assist Ms. Sparkle in navigating the legal and bureaucratic landscape that she is wholly unfamiliar with." The Mayor looked briefly taken aback at this, and then cautiously glanced between Mr. Calle and Twilight.
"Well now I'm frightened as well as intrigued. Lets go to my office and hear what you have to say Ms. Sparkle." He walked past the desk and opened the large wood paneled door into a spacious room with a large desk and a couple of chairs and couches. The walls, much to Twilight's approval, where filled with bookcases. The Mayor sat down in the large chair behind the desk while Twilight and Mr. Calle sat down in the chairs in front of it. One of the younger men that had walked in with the mayor brought a small chair inside and set it down beside the desk so he would be facing them. Waving one of his hands in front of him the Mayor spoke again. "So whats all this about?"
"Excuse me just for a moment, I need to retrieve some visual aids I prepared." So saying Twilight's horn flared and she disappeared with a flash of light. Before anyone could react she reappeared with a easel and a large bound flip board. Trotting to an open space to the side of the desk that would allow everyone to see it she placed the board on the easel and flipped the cover so that the first page was displayed. When she turned around and saw the nonplused faces of the Mayor and his Aide she blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry about that. It's just so much easier teleporting my materials when I need them then carrying them across the city." The mayor smiled at this.
"Quite alright Ms. Sparkle, no harm done, just a little unexpected."
"Right, well, as you can see this is a satellite photo of the old port area, or what is known as the boat graveyard. Along with some surface level pictures of the area. I was curious why it was in such a state, and after talking with some people and learning about its history I couldn't believe that such a wound on the city's landscape and spirit had been left to fester for so long." The Mayor grimaced at this and his aide spoke up with a little heat in his voice.
"You think we don't know what that blight is costing the city Ms. Sparkle? The city's been petitioning the state and federal government for years to release some relief funds to clean the area up and reopen the port. We can't afford to do it ourselves, and no company is going to foot the bill when there are so many other ports in the northeast to choose from. Unless you have a couple of billion dollars you've acquired over the last few weeks I'm not sure why we're talking about this." Twilight narrowed her eyes at this.
"No I don't have billions of dollars to spend, however if you would allow me to continue, I will explain how I think I can help."
"Go ahead Ms. Sparkle, we've been fighting some of these battles so long that we're a little sensitive when someone brings them up."
"Ok, I understand that. But, I have a plan that doesn't require billion's to get started. Well really its more like a plan of plans that contain yet more plans, but anyway with your help we can turn this," Twilight pointed to the blighted landscape with a hoof, "into this." Twilight levitated a crystal in front of her and it glowed bright purple for a moment before a glowing 3D representation of the area hovered in the air between them. The water was free of sunken ships and giant cranes lifted containers off ships secured to restored piers. The land around the port had been transformed as well with new parks, residences, and shops woven together with warehouses and industrial buildings. As the Mayor and his aide gaped at the illusion spell Twilight continued.
"Of course it will take years to get to this point, but I've run projections and Mr. Calle's firm was kind enough to review them and help correct some of my assumptions. With your cooperation I think we can cut the city's unemployment in half over the next two years. We just need some help getting some of the areas rezoned and some favorable leases on the city owned drydocks and piers. Mr. Calle's firm has already drawn up the paperwork and even though we've only had a few days we've already been able to acquire most of the privately held land in the area." The Mayor was looking between the illusion and Twilight as if trying to figure out how serious this all was. Mr. Calle had opened his brief case and was laying out several differently colored folders thick with bound paper. The aide had begun flipping through them as soon as they hit the desk.
"You can't be serious!" He pointed to one section. "You're basically asking the city to hand over control of hundreds of millions of dollars in city property to an alien for the next 5 years for virtually nothing." He started speed reading as he flipped through more pages. "Industrial plots rezoned to greenways, residential properties rezoned commercial, commercial rezoned residential, modifications to the city's controlled airspace, an agreement from the city to restore ferry service…A city library card with no checkout limit?!? This is preposterous Ms. Sparkle." Mr. Calle snapped his briefcase shut and interjected.
"There is nothing preposterous about it. The city property you are referring to has laid idle and hasn't produced income or rent for the city in decades. You also wouldn't be handing anything over to Ms. Sparkle personally. A company has been setup, Harmony Works, Inc, that has several prestigious stakeholders besides Ms. Sparkle already. Mr. Mayor. You know me, you know my firm. Do you really think I would be here if we didn't think Ms. Sparkle's plans would work?" The mayor hesitated, and Twilight decided to put her last card on the table.
"In addition to the plans on the desk, which I am very certain we can accomplish, If I am able to reestablish contact with my world I think Brockton Bay's rebuilt port would be a perfect location for the import and export of goods between our worlds." Twilight paused and remembering what Skitter had told her about human political motivations fixed her gaze solidly on the Mayor. "Mr. Christner if you approve this, you will have saved the livelihoods of tens of thousands of registered voters." Mr. Calle smiled brightly at this and clapped his hand down on Twilight's back as the Mayor scooted his chair back, an amused smile starting to spread across his face.
"Whatdya need from me?"
------------------
Twilight sighed with satisfied exertion as she released her magic and the rusted tug boat groaned as its weight settled onto the blocks covering the drydock's floor. This boat was in good enough shape that they thought it could be repaired and then used to aid the rest of the clean up work. All around her hundreds of people worked with cutting torches slicing up the smaller boats she had pulled from the water that were to far gone to repair. Behind her the continuous rumble of bulldozers and earth movers cleared the remains of demolished buildings while still more people were carting out detritus from the large warehouse she had selected as the new home of Harmony Works.
Flame Dancer stepped up beside her and held out a bottle of water which Twilight grabbed gratefully with her magic. Unscrewing the cap she took a long drink before nodding to the costumed girl.
"Thank you." Twilight said as she and Flame Dancer began weaving their way back towards the temporary tent pavilion that had been setup. As they walked past the open doorway of the warehouse she smiled at the deep hum and rhythmic metal clanking of the electrical generators still being spun by the come to life spell she had cast earlier. Step 53 of stage one of plan one was proceeding well. With the help of maritime salvage law even the cleanup phase was going to break even financially.
Twilight felt the best she had since arriving. Seeing the progress, the workers and volunteers sweating, tired, but happy. This was real magic. Twilight felt like she could almost see the connections being created and growing between the people and with the place itself. Just seeing everyone in their color coordinated vests that her new friend Parian had made put a happy skip in her step. She was in her element, this was how things were supposed to be: Using magic, organization, and friendship to solve problems.
Inside the pavilion was a hive of activity as people bustled back and forth and team leaders coordinated work for the different operations underway outside. Each team had a dedicated area, while a central lounge/brainstorming area with comfortable chairs and an idea board that was shared by everyone. Twilight smiled and greeted everyone as she walked to the back where the 'ending the endbringers' research team was working in their pink trimmed purple vests.
Vista and Kid Win had arrived since the last time she had been inside and Kid Win was holding a purple vest at arms length like it was a snake. When he saw Twilight approaching he looked at her with pleading eyes.
"I don't really have to wear this do I Twilight?"
"Why wouldn't you want to? It lets everyone know which project you are working on and I had Parian make them to your measurements. It should fit perfectly."
"It's just the color is-"
"What's wrong with the color?" Twilight asked with narrowed eyes. Kid win looked between the vest and the purple pony with a pink stripe through her mane. With a resigned sigh he started to slip it on over his arms.
"Nothing, the colors are great, really." Twilight smiled and clopped her hooves together while Vista giggled behind him.
"Great! How are things going everypony?" The work area consisted of three tables with laptops, books, and papers spread out over them and a large whiteboard stretching along the back wall of the tent. Around one table Skitter and a group of graduate students from the local university's classics and anthropology departments were scouring through stacks of mythic history from Icelandic Sagas to Aboriginal Dreamtime stories.
The middle table where Kid Win had been standing had several large monitors displaying technical schematics and one with Dragon's animated face, who had in the spirit of unity opted for a purple and pink trimmed background.
While the last table was filled with Twilight's notebooks and was where she was working on her new theories for opening a portal to equestria. Vista was patiently taking pictures of each page of her notebooks so Dragon could help with her new equations. Not only would she be overjoyed to be reunited with her friends, but the princesses had faced many world ending problems during their long reign. Regardless of her other motivations she could think of no better ponies to ask for advice in this type of situation.
"We've found lots of myths about sea monsters, interestingly enough, the Tanahk's description of Leviathan is probably the closest so far of mythic sea monsters we've researched." Skitter picked up a sheet of paper and after scanning it for a moment began to read.
"The folds of his flesh are tightly joined; they are firm and immovable.
His chest is hard as rock, hard as a lower millstone.
When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing.
The sword that reaches him has no effect, nor does the spear or the dart or the javelin.
Iron he treats like straw and bronze like rotten wood.
Arrows do not make him flee, sling stones are like chaff to him.
A club seems to him but a piece of straw, he laughs at the rattling of the lance."
Skitter looked up and paused for a second as people nodded at the accurate description. "Unfortunately the jewish texts are not very encouraging about our chances." She looked back down at the paper and began reading again.
"Any hope of subduing him is false; the mere sight of him is overpowering.
No-one is fierce enough to rouse him…
Nothing on earth is his equal—a creature without fear.
He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud."
That too was unfortunately accurate to everyone who had seen Leviathan in person or on film. Twilight grimaced at that but wouldn't let one passage discourage her from searching for an answer. Skitter continued again. "So far thats sort of been a theme, lots of scary monsters, not a lot of stories about people beating them. The only example of that so far is Perseus using Medusa's head to turn a sea monster into stone." Twilight brightened at this last bit.
"Petrification! Why didn't I think of that before. The Elements of Harmony imprisoned Discord in stone, so it makes sense that other powerful beings could also be sealed that way. Is medusa's head some kind of artifact? Are there any clues in the text about where it might be?" Everyone around the research table cringed a little at the question and as one turned to Skitter to explain.
"Um, no…Medusa was a gorgon, a monstrous woman with snakes for hair and if you looked at her you turned to stone. In most of the stories she was beheaded by Perseus, but even severed it kept its power. Perseus used the head as a weapon several times to turn enemies and monsters to stone." Twilight grimaced at the image and shivered a little at the thought of carting around a severed head to use against monsters.
"Ugh, ok..Even if the story was based on fact, the head is probably," Twilight shivered again, "hopefully gone by now, but I've been exposed to a cockatrice's petrification magic before. I might be able to develop a similar spell to try against Leviathan. Dragon has anyone tried something like that before?" Twilight asked turning towards the monitor. Dragon's avatar looked up for a second in thought before shaking her head.
"When you asked me to help I compiled every known attack that had been tried against Leviathan and the amount of damage they did. Nothing like what is described in the medusa myth has been attempted against him. I also printed out a list of the attacks I believe were the most effective against him, It may give you an idea of what to focus on."
"Thank you Dragon. When you went through the history of his attacks, were there any clues about what he wants? Has ever made any attempt to communicate?" Dragon shook her head.
"Nothing consistent, and I have found no evidence of attempts at communication." Twilight frowned again.
"That doesn't make sense. The videos you showed me, what Alexandria and Armsmaster have told me. He is powerful enough to have caused much more damage, he leaves fights before he's really hurt, he attacks on a schedule. Those things show intelligence and restraint. He's not just trying to drown the world, he's doing something else, there's some kind of point to it, however twisted it must be. If we could figure that out it could lead us to how we are going to stop him." Twilight trailed off in a frustrated huff and Vista came over and gave her an encouraging hug while Dragon continued speaking.
"I understand your frustration Twilight, I have worked on this problem for years as have many others. Everyone who has fought him or been affected by him is grateful for your help, but it is unlikely we will find a solution before his next attack. You can't take responsibility for that, it's too much for any one person or pony to shoulder." Dragon said in a concerned tone as Twilight looked down and drug a hoof over the ground.
"I know…I just wish there was more time. Thank you everyone for helping me, I know how crazy some of my ideas must sound to you."
"Hey," Kid Win interjected, "Humanity has tried sane for years without much to show for it. Maybe it's time we tried a little crazy? I-" Kid Win stopped speaking as two figures approached the group. The taller of the two was wearing a large conical hat, loose white pants and a white shirt that was overlaid with blue cloth coming down from both shoulders. The shorter one wore a similar outfit but in black and with a blue mask covering his lower face and nose. The taller one spoke in a dramatic voice that carried over all the conversations and noise in the pavilion.
"I am Uber, and this is Leet. Twilight Sparkle, we have heard you seek to defend this realm in Mortal Kombat against Leviathan." As he spoke electricity traveled down his arm and arced off his gloved fingers and a chilly fog began to gather around Leet. "So we have come to help you…. FINISH HIM!"
15
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
Interlude 7 - Luna
She braced herself as the landscape trembled around her, changing a thousand times between one heartbeat and the next before she could reassert her tenuous control over the firmament again. It was here, at the far edges of the dreamlands, on the border of existence itself that they touched all the realms that were, are and might be. It was here she had come in search of her lost friend. Every step in this place was a hazard, as you fought to prevail upon it both your existence and its.
Here where reality itself was questionable the echoes of Celestia's and Twilight's brief time in the Otherreverberated like a soundless thunder. The aether was thin, brittle like bad ice and if one was not careful you could fall through and find yourself lost amid the myriad worlds that lay beyond. This is what she suspected had somehow happened to Twilight, and which was why time, if it had any meaning in this place, was of the essence. Many of the worlds beyond were dangerous in a way that young Sparkle was not prepared for, and they in turn could be grievously wounded if the inexperienced alicorn delved too deep or too recklessly in her newfound power.
Luna only hoped that Twilight had heeded her sister's advice. She still struggled with the weight and consequences of her fall and she did not know if she could bare facing the reflection of it in her friend. Twilight giving into despair or anger wasn't the only worry however. If she really had become the manifestation of Magic and all that entailed then she could cause far more damage with even the best of intentions than Luna had ever been capable of in her darkest hours.
She had only traveled a short distance further when the next tremor caught her mid-step and suddenly found herself and the landscape around her split into a thousand imperfect fractal reflections. A thousand aspects of her and their differing effects on the dreamlands swirled around as though she and the world had become a damaged kaleidoscope. Crying out in pain and disorientation she struggled to pull herself back into a singular being. Some pieces came easily and quickly joined the task. Others struggled or tried to hide. The last shards, the parts of herself that she hated or was ashamed of were the hardest. She fought herself and then fought herself in an endless battle both real and entirely imagined until an eternal instant later she made another step and was whole again.
The dark alicorn shuddered and the world shook and darkened around her as she fought to release the fear of what she had just gone through. The experience had shaken her, any worse and she might never have recovered from it. She wanted nothing more at that moment than to return to Equestria and cry into her sister's soft fur. To touch light and love and know without doubting that it existed. When she had gathered herself enough to move once more the caution with which she did so made her earlier measured pace seem like a reckless gambol.
Lost pockets of alien dreams, secrets, and relics that existed outside of time and space materialized and faded away as she followed the echoes of Twilight's passage. Luna knew better than to attempt to look at any too closely, nothing that retained shape in this place was without power or consequence.
The longer she walked the more she felt the faint echoes of past hoof steps. Somepony had been here before. Instinctively following the ancient yet familiar feel of them she stumbled upon a loose trail scattered with faded pieces of rainbow. Their edges jagged as though they had been violently shattered. 'The bridge?' Luna thought, incredulous.
Had the elements somehow reconnected with what remained of that ancient construct? It was possible. Luna picked up her pace as the lingering magic of rainbow shards and the memories of past ponies gave solidity to this sliver of the borderlands.
Hope and worry warred within her. As she traveled she became more and more convinced that she would find Twilight Sparkle at the end of this path, but the bridge had been destroyed for a reason. That even this much of it remained was worrying.
It had been a lighthouse with which to navigate the treacherous seas of the border. Perhaps one of the greatest feats of magical engineering that had ever been imagined, let alone realized. They had traveled far and explored with the unrestrained earnestness of youth. Always the bridge would guide them back, and as they traveled they had anchored it to more and more of reality. They had learned however that many lost things had been searching for a harbor.
The aether began to take on a fouled and dirty feel even as it became more solid. Some fey thing had wallowed its way through here, graceless and violent. Casting in this place was the height of folly and the impressions old, nevertheless she found herself readying defensive spells and looking around warily.
Suddenly she was thrown off her hooves as a massive pillar of light on the horizon speared violently through the aether. Thousands of years of experience was the only thing that prevented her from falling into the vast cosmos below as the whole plane cracked and shifted beneath her, giants rifts into nothing and everything spiderwebbing and becoming solid as the terrain around them boiled between a million different landscapes to fast for thought to accept.
Throwing all her previous caution to the wind she raced recklessly towards the light. The appearance of five flickering rainbow bands arcing overhead and heading towards the disturbance gave Luna no cheer. True harmony was beyond any thinking being's understanding and the elements could be as dangerous as any problem they were invoked to solve. A lesson she and her sister had learned long before the name Nightmare Moon had ever been uttered aloud. Without her friends nearby to anchor Twilight and help direct the magic the risks were greater still.
As Luna sped towards the light she only hoped she arrived in time to prevent history from repeating itself.
She braced herself as the landscape trembled around her, changing a thousand times between one heartbeat and the next before she could reassert her tenuous control over the firmament again. It was here, at the far edges of the dreamlands, on the border of existence itself that they touched all the realms that were, are and might be. It was here she had come in search of her lost friend. Every step in this place was a hazard, as you fought to prevail upon it both your existence and its.
Here where reality itself was questionable the echoes of Celestia's and Twilight's brief time in the Otherreverberated like a soundless thunder. The aether was thin, brittle like bad ice and if one was not careful you could fall through and find yourself lost amid the myriad worlds that lay beyond. This is what she suspected had somehow happened to Twilight, and which was why time, if it had any meaning in this place, was of the essence. Many of the worlds beyond were dangerous in a way that young Sparkle was not prepared for, and they in turn could be grievously wounded if the inexperienced alicorn delved too deep or too recklessly in her newfound power.
Luna only hoped that Twilight had heeded her sister's advice. She still struggled with the weight and consequences of her fall and she did not know if she could bare facing the reflection of it in her friend. Twilight giving into despair or anger wasn't the only worry however. If she really had become the manifestation of Magic and all that entailed then she could cause far more damage with even the best of intentions than Luna had ever been capable of in her darkest hours.
She had only traveled a short distance further when the next tremor caught her mid-step and suddenly found herself and the landscape around her split into a thousand imperfect fractal reflections. A thousand aspects of her and their differing effects on the dreamlands swirled around as though she and the world had become a damaged kaleidoscope. Crying out in pain and disorientation she struggled to pull herself back into a singular being. Some pieces came easily and quickly joined the task. Others struggled or tried to hide. The last shards, the parts of herself that she hated or was ashamed of were the hardest. She fought herself and then fought herself in an endless battle both real and entirely imagined until an eternal instant later she made another step and was whole again.
The dark alicorn shuddered and the world shook and darkened around her as she fought to release the fear of what she had just gone through. The experience had shaken her, any worse and she might never have recovered from it. She wanted nothing more at that moment than to return to Equestria and cry into her sister's soft fur. To touch light and love and know without doubting that it existed. When she had gathered herself enough to move once more the caution with which she did so made her earlier measured pace seem like a reckless gambol.
Lost pockets of alien dreams, secrets, and relics that existed outside of time and space materialized and faded away as she followed the echoes of Twilight's passage. Luna knew better than to attempt to look at any too closely, nothing that retained shape in this place was without power or consequence.
The longer she walked the more she felt the faint echoes of past hoof steps. Somepony had been here before. Instinctively following the ancient yet familiar feel of them she stumbled upon a loose trail scattered with faded pieces of rainbow. Their edges jagged as though they had been violently shattered. 'The bridge?' Luna thought, incredulous.
Had the elements somehow reconnected with what remained of that ancient construct? It was possible. Luna picked up her pace as the lingering magic of rainbow shards and the memories of past ponies gave solidity to this sliver of the borderlands.
Hope and worry warred within her. As she traveled she became more and more convinced that she would find Twilight Sparkle at the end of this path, but the bridge had been destroyed for a reason. That even this much of it remained was worrying.
It had been a lighthouse with which to navigate the treacherous seas of the border. Perhaps one of the greatest feats of magical engineering that had ever been imagined, let alone realized. They had traveled far and explored with the unrestrained earnestness of youth. Always the bridge would guide them back, and as they traveled they had anchored it to more and more of reality. They had learned however that many lost things had been searching for a harbor.
The aether began to take on a fouled and dirty feel even as it became more solid. Some fey thing had wallowed its way through here, graceless and violent. Casting in this place was the height of folly and the impressions old, nevertheless she found herself readying defensive spells and looking around warily.
Suddenly she was thrown off her hooves as a massive pillar of light on the horizon speared violently through the aether. Thousands of years of experience was the only thing that prevented her from falling into the vast cosmos below as the whole plane cracked and shifted beneath her, giants rifts into nothing and everything spiderwebbing and becoming solid as the terrain around them boiled between a million different landscapes to fast for thought to accept.
Throwing all her previous caution to the wind she raced recklessly towards the light. The appearance of five flickering rainbow bands arcing overhead and heading towards the disturbance gave Luna no cheer. True harmony was beyond any thinking being's understanding and the elements could be as dangerous as any problem they were invoked to solve. A lesson she and her sister had learned long before the name Nightmare Moon had ever been uttered aloud. Without her friends nearby to anchor Twilight and help direct the magic the risks were greater still.
As Luna sped towards the light she only hoped she arrived in time to prevent history from repeating itself.
16
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
CHAPTER 9, Part 1
Twilight's head jerked off of the desk a page of her notes sticking to her face as a few more scattered to the floor in the conference room Armsmaster had provided for her at protectorate headquarters. Flame Dancer was sleeping on the bottom half of a bunk bed that had recently been added in the corner. With the threat of the Nine seeming to have passed Dragon had convinced her that it would make a lot of people feel better if she took up residence with the protectorate when she wasn't working in the city. Being close to her friends in the wards again had been nice as well.
Through the window she could see rain falling in sheets into the bay outside and an uneasy dread swept over her. Something wasn't right. A monitor on the other side of the desk clicked on and Dragon's face appeared.
"Is there something wrong Twilight? Are you ok?"
"I, I'm not sure I could explain it." Twilight said as she pealed of the page that had been stuck on her face with magic and sorted it and the others that had been disturbed by her waking. "I don't feel right, something feels wrong somehow…..I can't put my hoof on it."
"You've been working yourself too hard, and sleeping on the desk can't have helped. Maybe you just had a bad dream?"
"Maybe," Twilight grimaced, "Ugh I almost feel sick. That's the last thing I need right now with all the projects we're working on. I think we are really making progress on finding a resonance connection to Equestria."
"Why don't you go to bed and get some sleep in a real bed for a few hours, You may feel better after a few hours of decent sleep."
Twilight snorted, "Look who's talking Miss 'I'm always awake whatever hour Twilight is working.' Besides I'm not sure I could get to sleep feeling like this." Twilight floated over a bottle of water and took a small sip and grimaced as she swallowed.
"I know something that will cheer you up. I have some more footage of your two disciples in action." Dragon said with a definite amused humor. Twilight groaned and brought a hoof up to rub her forehead.
"Please tell me that they haven't accidentally electrocuted or frozen anything…else." Dragon chuckled and brought up a video feed of Uber and Leet in blue coveralls, Uber wearing a red shirt and hat while Leet wore green.
"What are they wearing now?" Twilight asked as she watched the video play. "Do I want to know why it looks like they're kicking turtle shells into an open sewer grate?"
"They explained to you about video games right?" Dragon asked and Twilight shuddered at memory of a discussion that she truly believed only Pinkie Pie could have made sense from. "One of the most popular games series of all time feature two plumbers." Dragon said as she gestured to the screen again.
"Wait..plumbers? Seriously? And what do turtle shells have to do with plumbing?" Twilight asked feeling a headache coming on as she watched them put the manhole cover back and hop onto two vehicles that had been painted to almost resemble immature dragons and speed off screen. Dragon giggled.
"The Japanese sometimes had very..hmm..unique, ideas when they made video games. I do believe they took your words about helping make the city a better place to heart. From what I've been able to gather the 'turtles' seem to be cleaning the sewers and the storm water system."
Dragon paused and continued in a slightly more serious tone. "They seem to have given up on crime and even emailed a bunch of designs and plans to the protectorate this morning. After you sort through all the game console specs even Armsmaster grudgingly said they had a few good ideas." Dragon glanced over Twilight's shoulder where Flame Dancer was sleeping. "You seem to have a knack for getting people to turn over a new leaf."
Twilight smiled but shifted uncomfortably. It had been strongly hinted to her by several people that they suspected who Flame Dancer had been, and it was only Twilight's word and their nonsensical secret mask rules that was allowing the charade to continue. Before Twilight could dwell on that Dragon continued her tone amused again.
"They also appear to have organized the creation of a new non-profit and purchased one of the vacant lots near the boat graveyard. Assault cc'd everyone a picture of the lot and the sign they put out in front of it this morning." Twilight looked at the picture that Dragon put up on the screen and read the sign with growing bewilderment and disbelief.
"Future home of Our Twilight Princess Temple of Friendship and Gaming. Honesty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, Loyalty and Magic. Follow the path of friendship and harmony laid down by the emissary from the stars."
Twilight spluttered, "Princess?! They can't just go and suddenly make someone princess, you can't just do that! My family isn't even nobility. Emissary from the stars?!? What does that even mean?" She kept reading.
Twilight's head jerked off of the desk a page of her notes sticking to her face as a few more scattered to the floor in the conference room Armsmaster had provided for her at protectorate headquarters. Flame Dancer was sleeping on the bottom half of a bunk bed that had recently been added in the corner. With the threat of the Nine seeming to have passed Dragon had convinced her that it would make a lot of people feel better if she took up residence with the protectorate when she wasn't working in the city. Being close to her friends in the wards again had been nice as well.
Through the window she could see rain falling in sheets into the bay outside and an uneasy dread swept over her. Something wasn't right. A monitor on the other side of the desk clicked on and Dragon's face appeared.
"Is there something wrong Twilight? Are you ok?"
"I, I'm not sure I could explain it." Twilight said as she pealed of the page that had been stuck on her face with magic and sorted it and the others that had been disturbed by her waking. "I don't feel right, something feels wrong somehow…..I can't put my hoof on it."
"You've been working yourself too hard, and sleeping on the desk can't have helped. Maybe you just had a bad dream?"
"Maybe," Twilight grimaced, "Ugh I almost feel sick. That's the last thing I need right now with all the projects we're working on. I think we are really making progress on finding a resonance connection to Equestria."
"Why don't you go to bed and get some sleep in a real bed for a few hours, You may feel better after a few hours of decent sleep."
Twilight snorted, "Look who's talking Miss 'I'm always awake whatever hour Twilight is working.' Besides I'm not sure I could get to sleep feeling like this." Twilight floated over a bottle of water and took a small sip and grimaced as she swallowed.
"I know something that will cheer you up. I have some more footage of your two disciples in action." Dragon said with a definite amused humor. Twilight groaned and brought a hoof up to rub her forehead.
"Please tell me that they haven't accidentally electrocuted or frozen anything…else." Dragon chuckled and brought up a video feed of Uber and Leet in blue coveralls, Uber wearing a red shirt and hat while Leet wore green.
"What are they wearing now?" Twilight asked as she watched the video play. "Do I want to know why it looks like they're kicking turtle shells into an open sewer grate?"
"They explained to you about video games right?" Dragon asked and Twilight shuddered at memory of a discussion that she truly believed only Pinkie Pie could have made sense from. "One of the most popular games series of all time feature two plumbers." Dragon said as she gestured to the screen again.
"Wait..plumbers? Seriously? And what do turtle shells have to do with plumbing?" Twilight asked feeling a headache coming on as she watched them put the manhole cover back and hop onto two vehicles that had been painted to almost resemble immature dragons and speed off screen. Dragon giggled.
"The Japanese sometimes had very..hmm..unique, ideas when they made video games. I do believe they took your words about helping make the city a better place to heart. From what I've been able to gather the 'turtles' seem to be cleaning the sewers and the storm water system."
Dragon paused and continued in a slightly more serious tone. "They seem to have given up on crime and even emailed a bunch of designs and plans to the protectorate this morning. After you sort through all the game console specs even Armsmaster grudgingly said they had a few good ideas." Dragon glanced over Twilight's shoulder where Flame Dancer was sleeping. "You seem to have a knack for getting people to turn over a new leaf."
Twilight smiled but shifted uncomfortably. It had been strongly hinted to her by several people that they suspected who Flame Dancer had been, and it was only Twilight's word and their nonsensical secret mask rules that was allowing the charade to continue. Before Twilight could dwell on that Dragon continued her tone amused again.
"They also appear to have organized the creation of a new non-profit and purchased one of the vacant lots near the boat graveyard. Assault cc'd everyone a picture of the lot and the sign they put out in front of it this morning." Twilight looked at the picture that Dragon put up on the screen and read the sign with growing bewilderment and disbelief.
"Future home of Our Twilight Princess Temple of Friendship and Gaming. Honesty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, Loyalty and Magic. Follow the path of friendship and harmony laid down by the emissary from the stars."
Twilight spluttered, "Princess?! They can't just go and suddenly make someone princess, you can't just do that! My family isn't even nobility. Emissary from the stars?!? What does that even mean?" She kept reading.
"Estimated completion date Fall 2011. Temporarily based at 516 Forsyth Street, half hour services every Saturday at 6:30PM. Community game night to follow. For more information and to get involved go to:www.OurTwilightPrincess.com - Uber & Leet"
Twilight stared at the screen as if looking at could make it change. The background of the sign was an image of a building and grounds that seemed to be shaped like Twilight's cutie mark. "They can't just go and..do whatever it is they're doing can they?" Dragon laughed.
"I'm afraid there is nothing really stopping them, honestly I can think of a lot worse they could be doing than trying to spread your ideas about friendship and harmony." Twilight struggled to find a rebuttal to this and after a moment let out a defeated laugh.
"I guess you're right, if what Skitter told me about them is true, but I only had time to give them my half hour friendship lecture and some brief notes on my theories - and they can't just decide to call me a princess, there arerules to those things. And 'Temple', if my translation spell is working, that doesn't sound right. Ponies haven't had temples since the pre-classical era. Maybe I can at least get them to just call it the 'Friendship hall' and without Twilight or Princess cluttering it up anywhere."
"Good luck with that." Dragon replied in a tone that Applejack used when she thought someone was going to attempt something both pointless and humorous. Twilight grumbled a bit looking at the screen and back at Dragon before laughing again.
"Thanks for cheering me up or at least distracting me." Twilight trailed off with a little yawn. "I do feel a little bit better now, maybe I will try and get some sleep and let whatever this feeling is pass." Twilight said as she pushed herself away from the desk.
"That sounds like a good ide-" Dragon suddenly froze and a worried look overcame her face.
"Dragon? What's wrong?"
"Leviathan's coming."
"WHAT?!?" Twilight said loud enough to wake Flame Dancer on the other side of the room. "Where? When?!?"
"Brockton Bay, half an hour, maybe less." Twilight reached out with her senses and immediately wretched all over the floor. She suddenly understood her unease and nausea from earlier. The whole local field felt subtly twisted, wrong. And the effect was slowly getting worse. Rolling in from the ocean like an incoming tide. Twilight yanked a notebook from a shelf on the far wall labeled: 'Local Leviathan attack checklist, one hour or less.'
She almost tore the front cover off with her magic before she forced herself to take a calming breath. As Twilight flipped to the first page she heard sirens start to wail all over Brockton Bay.
Ten minutes later Twilight stood on the roof of the Protectorate headquarters in the middle of the bay, mane plastered to her fur by the downpour and carefully checked over the spell diagram she had inscribed there before sitting down in the middle of it. The local protectorate team had relocated to the city and were hurriedly preparing a staging area for hero's and villains to rally at. Dragon was flying in from Canada and other super hero teams were teleporting in as fast as it was possible to do so.
Twilight took a deep breath and lit her horn, prepared, she was able to hold her gorge as she started to channel more and more power and began to interact with the tainted field. As far as she knew casting a magic dampening ward of the size she was attempting had never been tried before. Her eyes began to glow and her mane and tail lifted from her skin as if caught in a phantom zephyr as she started to forcibly wrench twisted field back into its normal state.
Fully immersed in her power she could now see the approaching dark anomaly that had to be Leviathan and the disrupted wake in the magic field his presence was pushing before him. At the heart of that rushing darkness the magic was so intense that it was warping space and matter around it. Twilight pressed a hoof against the silver necklace she was wearing and spoke into the air, her voice strained in concentration.
"Dragon, I can see the effect he is having on the magic field - He's starting to slowly accelerate, the best approximation of his distance and speed puts his landfall in just shy of ten minutes. As we planned I'm going to attempt to suppress water based magical effects in the area with a ward spell. He's so strong Dragon. I'm not sure how much what I'm doing will effect him, but if it works at all it will also likely effect anyone else in the area that uses a water based magic."
"Confirmed, I've passed the information along to the responders. I'm less than five minutes away. Be careful Twilight, good luck."
Even before Twilight had seen Leviathan's presence in the field she knew from what she had read and the videos she had watched that it would be all but impossible to cast a strong enough ward spell to cut Leviathan's access to water based magic completely. The best she could hope for was to make it harder to reach, slower to respond. To dull the edge of his preferred magical weapon enough to maybe make a difference.
The forcefield that enclosed the protectorate base snapped off as interference from Twilight's gathering spell became too great for the tinker equipment to compensate for. In the gloom of the storm Twilight and the diagram below her were now glowing a like purple star over the ocean. The largest teleportation spell she had ever felt dropped into the ocean of power somewhere behind her in the city, and Twilight hoped that meant more help had arrived but she could pay it no more attention as she reached the critical phase of her casting.
She floated off of the roof and the rain suddenly froze in mid air. The water in the bay stilled until its surface resembled a dark mirror. Then the bay, and every rain drop and puddle in Brockton took on a momentary purple glow. With a flash Twilight collapsed back onto the roof panting as the rain thundered once again around her. Laying on the rough wet roof Twilight felt a glimmer hope as she felt the overwhelming presence on the horizon stop its advance, only to have that hope dashed when after just a moment she felt Leviathan's twisted magic wake start pushing forward once again.
"Did it work?" A strong female voice asked from behind her. Twilight pulled herself to her hooves and turned her head to look at Alexandria who was floating inches above the rooftop.
"Yes, I..I put as much power as I could into the ward, the spell cast successfully. I don't know how much it will effect him. I did feel him hesitate a moment, he noticed it." Alexandria paused for a second in thought before nodding.
"Making an Endbringer hesitate is not a feat many can claim. Hopefully it will give us an advantage. Either way, thank you. Let me carry you back to the staging area, we only have a few minutes left." Twilight nodded and Alexandria knelt so that Twilight could wrap her forelegs around her neck. Seconds later Alexandria took off with more speed and certainly more grace than Twilight thought she would ever achieve with her wings.
They landed in a large open parking lot not far from the boardwalk and Twilight let go and dropped to her hooves. Alexandria walked briskly towards a man at the edge of the crowd wearing a blue-green outfit with an oversized hood and sleeves that were illuminated in a soft green glow. Twilight scanned the crowd until she saw Flame Dancer, Skitter, and the Wards gathered off to the left and started to trot quickly in their direction.
Dozens of capes, some she recognized from her time in the city and many others she had never seen before stood in loosely organized bunches. They were listening to man in a skin tight blue costume with what looked to Twilight like a design of jagged white flames covering it. Twilight had seen him flying and shooting bright beams of energy at Leviathan in one of the recordings Dragon had showed her. He had a strong confident voice that carried over the sound of the rain and the murmured conversations of people talking frantically into radios, phones or quietly with their neighbors.
"We owe thanks to Dragon and Armsmaster for their early alert. We only have a few short minutes before Leviathan's arrival so I am going to get straight to the details. You've all seen videos online, you know what he's physically capable of, what I want you to remember, no matter what his appearance might suggest, is that he is not stupid. He has displayed cunning and tactics that have caught too many good heroes and villains off guard. Don't let yourself think that you have him figured out."
He paused as a vehicle that looked like someone had tried combine a human airplane with the aesthetic of a four legged creature roared overhead and landed on the far side of the crowd. As Twilight followed the machine with her head she stopped and did a double take. At the edge of the crowd was a naked human with a horn larger than Celestia's growing from her head. The human looked up and caught Twilight staring. Twilight blushed and waved awkwardly with a hoof and the woman gave her a small smile in return. Despite a burning curiosity Twilight turned away and finished closing the distance to her friends. They shared a couple of quick hugs while the man in the blue costume continued.
"What sets him apart is his focus on water. You're likely aware of his afterimage, his water echo. This is no mere splash of water. At the speeds Leviathan can move, surface tension and compressibility make water harder than concrete. He also has a crude hydrokinesis, the ability to manipulate water, and there will be water on the battlefield. Twilight Sparkle has attempted something that should make it at least a little more difficult for him to use these abilities today." Twilight ducked her head as the assembled crowd glanced her way. "However the effect is not limited to Leviathan, any ability you have that focuses on or interacts with water may be impossible or at least much harder to use."
"Regardless of any impairment Twilight Sparkle's actions may cause him, this is a fight we must end as quickly as possible. Brockton Bay sits on top of a large underground aquifer and Leviathan is primarily a hydrokinetic on a macro scale. Given enough time he can likely stir and agitate the water beneath the city and collapse entire local seaboard. We cannot afford another Newfoundland or Kyushu to happen here today. Our first Priority-"
Twilight suddenly felt the approaching presence of Leviathan accelerate faster than anything she had ever even conceived of. She lit her horn pulled as hard and fast on her magic as she could. An unexpected resonance in the field around her magnified her spell and a shimmering purple dome snapped into existence just in time to intercept Leviathan erupting from the ocean and traveling faster than sound.
Twilight cried out in pain and staggered as the thirty foot tall beast and hundreds of tons of water slammed into her shield. An earth shattering boom carried for miles as water and earth were vaporized and ejected in every direction from the impact point. Spiderwebbing cracks spread rapidly outwards across the shield. Everyone began to move.
"Strider get us o-"
The dome shattered with an almost musical sound and Leviathan swung his huge tail around in a vicious arc towards the crowd of capes.
Twilight's stomach lurched and her head spun as tried to recover from the roughest teleport transition she had ever made. She heard groans around her and she lifted her head from the grass where she was laying to look around. Sprawled around her in ungainly heaps were most of the capes that had been at the rally point, retching and obviously feeling the effects of the bad teleport even more than Twilight. They appeared to be laying in the grass of some sort of sport's stadium and Twilight could see a huge plume of dust reaching for the sky over the far set of stands and the distant rumble of explosions.
She saw Alexandria, Legend, and Eidolon launch into the air and Dragon's suit roared after them.
"Whoa, ugh, Strider's teleports never felt like that before." Twilight turned and saw Vista slowly pushing herself up into a sitting position. As others around her started to sit up or stand a niggling feeling prompted Twilight to stretch out her magical senses and what she felt shocked her. The lingering traces of the spell had her magical signature all over them. It was her spell. She had been the one that cast the teleport spell! Yet clearly she had no memory of doing so, how was that possible? Suddenly she remembered the odd resonance and unexpected strength of her shield and the pieces clicked into place. She knew what she had to do.
Twilight's horn lit up and arcs of magic began to spark from her as wind started to swirl around her.
"Twilight? What are you doing? Legend just called in over the communicators, they need everyone with shielding abilities to-"
"I'll be back, there is something I need to do right now."
"Back?!? Twilight what are you-" Twilight didn't hear the rest of whatever Vista was going to say as she was surrounded by a globe of white light and vanished.
And reappeared on top of a building by the ocean, looking down on the group of assembled parahumans just as Past-Twilight was beginning her frantic preparation to cast her brother's shield spell. Hurriedly she synchronized her magic with her past self's and threw as much energy as she could spare into reinforcing the spell while hopefully saving enough to manage the largest teleport she had ever attempted.
Even before the shield snapped into place Twilight released herself from the spell and dove deep into her remaining magic to construct the teleport spell. Her mind screamed as she tried to keep track of all the shifting variables over such a huge area, and even though she knew it was coming her concentration nearly broke when she was knocked off her hooves by Leviathan's earth shaking impact with the shield. Frantically she rushed to finish the spell as the shield began to shatter and she began to feel herself being tugged out of the present.
The capes below had just started to react, Leviathan, ichor streaming from his body, began to bring his tail around faster than the eye could follow, Twilight straining in concentration and loosing her grip on time, released the teleportation spell just as she was flung violently back into the future. With a flash she reappeared on the sports field. Thirty seconds had elapsed, things had changed.
Hovering a couple of feet over the center of the field was what looked like one of the barges she had pulled from the boat graveyard. It had been cut down to form a long oval and iron railing welded along it's edge. A metal fin, almost resembling a rudder, was attached to either side of the stern. Uber and Leet, dressed in another set of costumes were ushering what looked like most of the Wards, Flame Dancer, Skitter, and a few other parahumans aboard as the sound of explosions and collapsing buildings grew closer by the second. No one else was still there.
Vista noticed her and suddenly there was virtually no distance between Twilight and the converted barge. Before Twilight could react Uber reached down and hauled Twilight up by her forelegs.
"Get us out of here Chewy!" Uber shouted and Leet responded with a guttural cry as the ship lurched skyward just as Leviathan barreled through the far side of the stadium collapsing a huge section of the stands in his wake. "Nice of you to join us your worship." Uber said as Twilight regained her feet and the barge continued to speed away from the stadium. Eidolon flew into the stadium and Leviathan started to glow a light green. The monster levitated off the ground just long enough for Alexandria to fly in and slam a fist into him. Leviathan flew back through the hole he had created and Legend and a cape glowing a blinding white arrived to fire searing energy beams into the tumbling beast.
The barge was high enough now that Twilight could see the swath of destruction Leviathan had left between what had once been the boardwalk and the sports stadium. A slightly irregular line a hundred feet wide of collapsed buildings all the way to the ocean, in less than a minute. Twilight gasped at the destruction and all the ruined lives it had to represent. Twilight felt sadness and then a bewildered anger start to well up in her. 'Why? Why was this happening? Why was a creature that was obviously on some level intelligent doing this?'
"Twilight…TWILIGHT!" Twilight snapped her head around to see Aegis standing beside her and obviously trying to get her attention. Flame Dancer was kneeling beside her and gently hugging Twilight around her neck. The barge began a wide banking turn about a mile from where the fight against Leviathan was happening.
"Sorry Aegis, I, I just…never mind what do you need?" Twilight spoke just loud enough to be heard over the strange vessel's engine as she gave Flame Dancer a gentle nuzzle. The girl seemingly satisfied with that stood up and walked over to the railing. The other wards and Skitter were gathered around as well, while some humans she didn't know held onto the railings and watched the battle and Uber and Leet stood at the controls at the back of the barge.
"It's ok, trust me, I get it. Where were you?" Aegis asked.
"I had to go back in time to strengthen my shield spell and teleport everyone away."
"Wait WHAT?!?" Clockblocker interjected. "I'm all for bullshit powers, but If you can go back in time, why didn't you go back further and warn everyone about the attack a week ago?"
"Because I didn't, so I couldn't."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"I, never mind, my temporal mechanics lecture is four hours long, we don't have time right now."
"Clock let it go, we know Twilight well enough to know that this was the best she could do." Aegis interrupted. "Dragon wanted us to tell you whats going on as Leviathan is definitely operating off his usual script and she's busy planning something with Armsmaster." Twilight nodded and grimaced as she saw another building collapse in her peripheral vision. She wanted to go down and help right now, but if her already limited knowledge of Leviathan was not relevant it was important for her to know how things had changed.
"Ok, so first the good news. The general consensus is that whatever it is you did, is working. Since he launched himself from the ocean we haven't seen Leviathan use a single water based ability besides his water echo, and even that appears to be spotty, only echoing a limb or two at a time." Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated. She and a small smile that formed on her face. She could feel Leviathan straining against her ward, and the magical construct was bending but at least for the moment not breaking. Considering the magical force battering it, she couldn't help feeling a bit of pride.
"The bad news is that he has apparently been holding back in all his previous fights. He's moving so fast that only capes with the highest brute or mover ratings have any chance of surviving getting close to him and Dragon says he's fighting to maximize the damage to the city. The-"
"Tl;dr" Uber interjected as he walked up dressed in a white shirt with black pants and vest and what a gun strapped to his thigh. "You took away his favorite toy, now he's pissed and showing us all he doesn't need it to kick our asses anyway." Aegis gave a pained sigh but didn't correct this. "The big three and their helpers are hoping you have some other cheat codes to try, otherwise its just waiting to see how much he destroys before Scion shows up or he breaks through whatever you did and drowns everyone."
"Ow, Hey!" Uber complained as Skitter smacked him on the back of his head.
Twilight grimaced as she turned to the railing to see another half dozen blocks had been leveled while the explained the situation to her. She racked her brain for things to try. 'Petrification?' No, he was moving to fast for the primitive magical spell she had thrown together. 'Transmutation?' No, same problem only worse. As she thought she heard the others talking around her. The rumble of the battle below punctuating what every second of thought was costing.
"Twil-" Vista Began.
"Shh, don't interrupt the thought process of pers- pony who is trying to come up with a plan to save our bacon." She heard Clockblocker whisper.
"As is fitting for her name our Twilight Princess will lead us from the darkness into day, have faith brothers and sisters." Leet said from the back of the barge.
"Breaking character a bit there aren't you Chewy?" Clockblocker responded.
"I can't believe you helped them build this thing Kid." Gallant said softly.
"Don't just leave it up to her, think everyone. Between us there's got to be something we can do." Skitter said.
"Shh!"
Twilight reached out with her magic, trying to shut out the nervous chatter and the distraction of her other senses hoping to find something she could use. Leviathan was shining like a dark star below, unlike parahumans Twilight could see the creature interact with the magic field around him, twisting it, straining against her ward, warping reality, a thousand subtle effects she couldn't make sense of. Along side him the subtle mysterious flickers of the parahumans fighting him were almost completely lost in the dark vortex of power and destruction.
It hurt to 'look' at him too long. Twilight pulled her awareness away and concentrated a moment on feeling her friends around her. Slowly as she slipped deeper into her magical sight she began to see the connections between them like she had on the night she met Flame Dancer. As she drifted farther away from her physical senses a bright and beautiful spider web of relationships sprung up around her. Weaving patterns beyond any ability for geometry to describe, friendship, trust, love, duty, resentment, fear, and a thousand other things bound them together and soared off to the connect them to those that were not present.
At the edge of her awareness she felt something familiar settle onto her head and the connections became brighter, more detailed. As she drifted along the web she suddenly heard Pinkie laugh. Rainbow flew by and ruffled her mane, Applejack's sturdy hoof braced against her back, Rarity's cultured voice and a gentle hug that could only have been Fluttershy.
"Twi, you're getting to bogged down in the details of this thing. Most stuff is pretty simple at the heart of it. I reckon your friend had the right of it. That critter looks an awful lot like a foal having a tantrum."
"Oh my yes, he looks very upset. Angel sometimes acts that way when he thinks I'm not giving him enough attention."
"Quite uncouth really, his parents should have instilled proper manners."
"Yupperoonie, he's a big grumpy pants that needs a time out alright."
"Come on Sparks, you're smarter than this - just look!"
Twilight felt Rainbow wrench her head around and saw a bright pulsating and twisted bond connected to Leviathan and leading to..
Twilight gasped and jolted her out of the trance she had been in. Everyone on the barge was looking at her strangely.
"What was-"
"Coool"
"Hey where did that tiara come from?"
Twilight ignored them all and pressed her hoof into the communicator on her chest. Remembering what Dragon had told her before the battle about how to broadcast to everyone.
"Hard Override. I don't know why, but the only thing Leviathan cares about, the only person he has ever cared about is-" Twilight was flung violently into the air and the barge broke apart into a dozen pieces as a fifteen foot tall winged alabaster human slammed into it at several hundred miles per hour.
Twilight stared at the screen as if looking at could make it change. The background of the sign was an image of a building and grounds that seemed to be shaped like Twilight's cutie mark. "They can't just go and..do whatever it is they're doing can they?" Dragon laughed.
"I'm afraid there is nothing really stopping them, honestly I can think of a lot worse they could be doing than trying to spread your ideas about friendship and harmony." Twilight struggled to find a rebuttal to this and after a moment let out a defeated laugh.
"I guess you're right, if what Skitter told me about them is true, but I only had time to give them my half hour friendship lecture and some brief notes on my theories - and they can't just decide to call me a princess, there arerules to those things. And 'Temple', if my translation spell is working, that doesn't sound right. Ponies haven't had temples since the pre-classical era. Maybe I can at least get them to just call it the 'Friendship hall' and without Twilight or Princess cluttering it up anywhere."
"Good luck with that." Dragon replied in a tone that Applejack used when she thought someone was going to attempt something both pointless and humorous. Twilight grumbled a bit looking at the screen and back at Dragon before laughing again.
"Thanks for cheering me up or at least distracting me." Twilight trailed off with a little yawn. "I do feel a little bit better now, maybe I will try and get some sleep and let whatever this feeling is pass." Twilight said as she pushed herself away from the desk.
"That sounds like a good ide-" Dragon suddenly froze and a worried look overcame her face.
"Dragon? What's wrong?"
"Leviathan's coming."
"WHAT?!?" Twilight said loud enough to wake Flame Dancer on the other side of the room. "Where? When?!?"
"Brockton Bay, half an hour, maybe less." Twilight reached out with her senses and immediately wretched all over the floor. She suddenly understood her unease and nausea from earlier. The whole local field felt subtly twisted, wrong. And the effect was slowly getting worse. Rolling in from the ocean like an incoming tide. Twilight yanked a notebook from a shelf on the far wall labeled: 'Local Leviathan attack checklist, one hour or less.'
She almost tore the front cover off with her magic before she forced herself to take a calming breath. As Twilight flipped to the first page she heard sirens start to wail all over Brockton Bay.
Ten minutes later Twilight stood on the roof of the Protectorate headquarters in the middle of the bay, mane plastered to her fur by the downpour and carefully checked over the spell diagram she had inscribed there before sitting down in the middle of it. The local protectorate team had relocated to the city and were hurriedly preparing a staging area for hero's and villains to rally at. Dragon was flying in from Canada and other super hero teams were teleporting in as fast as it was possible to do so.
Twilight took a deep breath and lit her horn, prepared, she was able to hold her gorge as she started to channel more and more power and began to interact with the tainted field. As far as she knew casting a magic dampening ward of the size she was attempting had never been tried before. Her eyes began to glow and her mane and tail lifted from her skin as if caught in a phantom zephyr as she started to forcibly wrench twisted field back into its normal state.
Fully immersed in her power she could now see the approaching dark anomaly that had to be Leviathan and the disrupted wake in the magic field his presence was pushing before him. At the heart of that rushing darkness the magic was so intense that it was warping space and matter around it. Twilight pressed a hoof against the silver necklace she was wearing and spoke into the air, her voice strained in concentration.
"Dragon, I can see the effect he is having on the magic field - He's starting to slowly accelerate, the best approximation of his distance and speed puts his landfall in just shy of ten minutes. As we planned I'm going to attempt to suppress water based magical effects in the area with a ward spell. He's so strong Dragon. I'm not sure how much what I'm doing will effect him, but if it works at all it will also likely effect anyone else in the area that uses a water based magic."
"Confirmed, I've passed the information along to the responders. I'm less than five minutes away. Be careful Twilight, good luck."
Even before Twilight had seen Leviathan's presence in the field she knew from what she had read and the videos she had watched that it would be all but impossible to cast a strong enough ward spell to cut Leviathan's access to water based magic completely. The best she could hope for was to make it harder to reach, slower to respond. To dull the edge of his preferred magical weapon enough to maybe make a difference.
The forcefield that enclosed the protectorate base snapped off as interference from Twilight's gathering spell became too great for the tinker equipment to compensate for. In the gloom of the storm Twilight and the diagram below her were now glowing a like purple star over the ocean. The largest teleportation spell she had ever felt dropped into the ocean of power somewhere behind her in the city, and Twilight hoped that meant more help had arrived but she could pay it no more attention as she reached the critical phase of her casting.
She floated off of the roof and the rain suddenly froze in mid air. The water in the bay stilled until its surface resembled a dark mirror. Then the bay, and every rain drop and puddle in Brockton took on a momentary purple glow. With a flash Twilight collapsed back onto the roof panting as the rain thundered once again around her. Laying on the rough wet roof Twilight felt a glimmer hope as she felt the overwhelming presence on the horizon stop its advance, only to have that hope dashed when after just a moment she felt Leviathan's twisted magic wake start pushing forward once again.
"Did it work?" A strong female voice asked from behind her. Twilight pulled herself to her hooves and turned her head to look at Alexandria who was floating inches above the rooftop.
"Yes, I..I put as much power as I could into the ward, the spell cast successfully. I don't know how much it will effect him. I did feel him hesitate a moment, he noticed it." Alexandria paused for a second in thought before nodding.
"Making an Endbringer hesitate is not a feat many can claim. Hopefully it will give us an advantage. Either way, thank you. Let me carry you back to the staging area, we only have a few minutes left." Twilight nodded and Alexandria knelt so that Twilight could wrap her forelegs around her neck. Seconds later Alexandria took off with more speed and certainly more grace than Twilight thought she would ever achieve with her wings.
They landed in a large open parking lot not far from the boardwalk and Twilight let go and dropped to her hooves. Alexandria walked briskly towards a man at the edge of the crowd wearing a blue-green outfit with an oversized hood and sleeves that were illuminated in a soft green glow. Twilight scanned the crowd until she saw Flame Dancer, Skitter, and the Wards gathered off to the left and started to trot quickly in their direction.
Dozens of capes, some she recognized from her time in the city and many others she had never seen before stood in loosely organized bunches. They were listening to man in a skin tight blue costume with what looked to Twilight like a design of jagged white flames covering it. Twilight had seen him flying and shooting bright beams of energy at Leviathan in one of the recordings Dragon had showed her. He had a strong confident voice that carried over the sound of the rain and the murmured conversations of people talking frantically into radios, phones or quietly with their neighbors.
"We owe thanks to Dragon and Armsmaster for their early alert. We only have a few short minutes before Leviathan's arrival so I am going to get straight to the details. You've all seen videos online, you know what he's physically capable of, what I want you to remember, no matter what his appearance might suggest, is that he is not stupid. He has displayed cunning and tactics that have caught too many good heroes and villains off guard. Don't let yourself think that you have him figured out."
He paused as a vehicle that looked like someone had tried combine a human airplane with the aesthetic of a four legged creature roared overhead and landed on the far side of the crowd. As Twilight followed the machine with her head she stopped and did a double take. At the edge of the crowd was a naked human with a horn larger than Celestia's growing from her head. The human looked up and caught Twilight staring. Twilight blushed and waved awkwardly with a hoof and the woman gave her a small smile in return. Despite a burning curiosity Twilight turned away and finished closing the distance to her friends. They shared a couple of quick hugs while the man in the blue costume continued.
"What sets him apart is his focus on water. You're likely aware of his afterimage, his water echo. This is no mere splash of water. At the speeds Leviathan can move, surface tension and compressibility make water harder than concrete. He also has a crude hydrokinesis, the ability to manipulate water, and there will be water on the battlefield. Twilight Sparkle has attempted something that should make it at least a little more difficult for him to use these abilities today." Twilight ducked her head as the assembled crowd glanced her way. "However the effect is not limited to Leviathan, any ability you have that focuses on or interacts with water may be impossible or at least much harder to use."
"Regardless of any impairment Twilight Sparkle's actions may cause him, this is a fight we must end as quickly as possible. Brockton Bay sits on top of a large underground aquifer and Leviathan is primarily a hydrokinetic on a macro scale. Given enough time he can likely stir and agitate the water beneath the city and collapse entire local seaboard. We cannot afford another Newfoundland or Kyushu to happen here today. Our first Priority-"
Twilight suddenly felt the approaching presence of Leviathan accelerate faster than anything she had ever even conceived of. She lit her horn pulled as hard and fast on her magic as she could. An unexpected resonance in the field around her magnified her spell and a shimmering purple dome snapped into existence just in time to intercept Leviathan erupting from the ocean and traveling faster than sound.
Twilight cried out in pain and staggered as the thirty foot tall beast and hundreds of tons of water slammed into her shield. An earth shattering boom carried for miles as water and earth were vaporized and ejected in every direction from the impact point. Spiderwebbing cracks spread rapidly outwards across the shield. Everyone began to move.
"Strider get us o-"
The dome shattered with an almost musical sound and Leviathan swung his huge tail around in a vicious arc towards the crowd of capes.
Twilight's stomach lurched and her head spun as tried to recover from the roughest teleport transition she had ever made. She heard groans around her and she lifted her head from the grass where she was laying to look around. Sprawled around her in ungainly heaps were most of the capes that had been at the rally point, retching and obviously feeling the effects of the bad teleport even more than Twilight. They appeared to be laying in the grass of some sort of sport's stadium and Twilight could see a huge plume of dust reaching for the sky over the far set of stands and the distant rumble of explosions.
She saw Alexandria, Legend, and Eidolon launch into the air and Dragon's suit roared after them.
"Whoa, ugh, Strider's teleports never felt like that before." Twilight turned and saw Vista slowly pushing herself up into a sitting position. As others around her started to sit up or stand a niggling feeling prompted Twilight to stretch out her magical senses and what she felt shocked her. The lingering traces of the spell had her magical signature all over them. It was her spell. She had been the one that cast the teleport spell! Yet clearly she had no memory of doing so, how was that possible? Suddenly she remembered the odd resonance and unexpected strength of her shield and the pieces clicked into place. She knew what she had to do.
Twilight's horn lit up and arcs of magic began to spark from her as wind started to swirl around her.
"Twilight? What are you doing? Legend just called in over the communicators, they need everyone with shielding abilities to-"
"I'll be back, there is something I need to do right now."
"Back?!? Twilight what are you-" Twilight didn't hear the rest of whatever Vista was going to say as she was surrounded by a globe of white light and vanished.
And reappeared on top of a building by the ocean, looking down on the group of assembled parahumans just as Past-Twilight was beginning her frantic preparation to cast her brother's shield spell. Hurriedly she synchronized her magic with her past self's and threw as much energy as she could spare into reinforcing the spell while hopefully saving enough to manage the largest teleport she had ever attempted.
Even before the shield snapped into place Twilight released herself from the spell and dove deep into her remaining magic to construct the teleport spell. Her mind screamed as she tried to keep track of all the shifting variables over such a huge area, and even though she knew it was coming her concentration nearly broke when she was knocked off her hooves by Leviathan's earth shaking impact with the shield. Frantically she rushed to finish the spell as the shield began to shatter and she began to feel herself being tugged out of the present.
The capes below had just started to react, Leviathan, ichor streaming from his body, began to bring his tail around faster than the eye could follow, Twilight straining in concentration and loosing her grip on time, released the teleportation spell just as she was flung violently back into the future. With a flash she reappeared on the sports field. Thirty seconds had elapsed, things had changed.
Hovering a couple of feet over the center of the field was what looked like one of the barges she had pulled from the boat graveyard. It had been cut down to form a long oval and iron railing welded along it's edge. A metal fin, almost resembling a rudder, was attached to either side of the stern. Uber and Leet, dressed in another set of costumes were ushering what looked like most of the Wards, Flame Dancer, Skitter, and a few other parahumans aboard as the sound of explosions and collapsing buildings grew closer by the second. No one else was still there.
Vista noticed her and suddenly there was virtually no distance between Twilight and the converted barge. Before Twilight could react Uber reached down and hauled Twilight up by her forelegs.
"Get us out of here Chewy!" Uber shouted and Leet responded with a guttural cry as the ship lurched skyward just as Leviathan barreled through the far side of the stadium collapsing a huge section of the stands in his wake. "Nice of you to join us your worship." Uber said as Twilight regained her feet and the barge continued to speed away from the stadium. Eidolon flew into the stadium and Leviathan started to glow a light green. The monster levitated off the ground just long enough for Alexandria to fly in and slam a fist into him. Leviathan flew back through the hole he had created and Legend and a cape glowing a blinding white arrived to fire searing energy beams into the tumbling beast.
The barge was high enough now that Twilight could see the swath of destruction Leviathan had left between what had once been the boardwalk and the sports stadium. A slightly irregular line a hundred feet wide of collapsed buildings all the way to the ocean, in less than a minute. Twilight gasped at the destruction and all the ruined lives it had to represent. Twilight felt sadness and then a bewildered anger start to well up in her. 'Why? Why was this happening? Why was a creature that was obviously on some level intelligent doing this?'
"Twilight…TWILIGHT!" Twilight snapped her head around to see Aegis standing beside her and obviously trying to get her attention. Flame Dancer was kneeling beside her and gently hugging Twilight around her neck. The barge began a wide banking turn about a mile from where the fight against Leviathan was happening.
"Sorry Aegis, I, I just…never mind what do you need?" Twilight spoke just loud enough to be heard over the strange vessel's engine as she gave Flame Dancer a gentle nuzzle. The girl seemingly satisfied with that stood up and walked over to the railing. The other wards and Skitter were gathered around as well, while some humans she didn't know held onto the railings and watched the battle and Uber and Leet stood at the controls at the back of the barge.
"It's ok, trust me, I get it. Where were you?" Aegis asked.
"I had to go back in time to strengthen my shield spell and teleport everyone away."
"Wait WHAT?!?" Clockblocker interjected. "I'm all for bullshit powers, but If you can go back in time, why didn't you go back further and warn everyone about the attack a week ago?"
"Because I didn't, so I couldn't."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"I, never mind, my temporal mechanics lecture is four hours long, we don't have time right now."
"Clock let it go, we know Twilight well enough to know that this was the best she could do." Aegis interrupted. "Dragon wanted us to tell you whats going on as Leviathan is definitely operating off his usual script and she's busy planning something with Armsmaster." Twilight nodded and grimaced as she saw another building collapse in her peripheral vision. She wanted to go down and help right now, but if her already limited knowledge of Leviathan was not relevant it was important for her to know how things had changed.
"Ok, so first the good news. The general consensus is that whatever it is you did, is working. Since he launched himself from the ocean we haven't seen Leviathan use a single water based ability besides his water echo, and even that appears to be spotty, only echoing a limb or two at a time." Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated. She and a small smile that formed on her face. She could feel Leviathan straining against her ward, and the magical construct was bending but at least for the moment not breaking. Considering the magical force battering it, she couldn't help feeling a bit of pride.
"The bad news is that he has apparently been holding back in all his previous fights. He's moving so fast that only capes with the highest brute or mover ratings have any chance of surviving getting close to him and Dragon says he's fighting to maximize the damage to the city. The-"
"Tl;dr" Uber interjected as he walked up dressed in a white shirt with black pants and vest and what a gun strapped to his thigh. "You took away his favorite toy, now he's pissed and showing us all he doesn't need it to kick our asses anyway." Aegis gave a pained sigh but didn't correct this. "The big three and their helpers are hoping you have some other cheat codes to try, otherwise its just waiting to see how much he destroys before Scion shows up or he breaks through whatever you did and drowns everyone."
"Ow, Hey!" Uber complained as Skitter smacked him on the back of his head.
Twilight grimaced as she turned to the railing to see another half dozen blocks had been leveled while the explained the situation to her. She racked her brain for things to try. 'Petrification?' No, he was moving to fast for the primitive magical spell she had thrown together. 'Transmutation?' No, same problem only worse. As she thought she heard the others talking around her. The rumble of the battle below punctuating what every second of thought was costing.
"Twil-" Vista Began.
"Shh, don't interrupt the thought process of pers- pony who is trying to come up with a plan to save our bacon." She heard Clockblocker whisper.
"As is fitting for her name our Twilight Princess will lead us from the darkness into day, have faith brothers and sisters." Leet said from the back of the barge.
"Breaking character a bit there aren't you Chewy?" Clockblocker responded.
"I can't believe you helped them build this thing Kid." Gallant said softly.
"Don't just leave it up to her, think everyone. Between us there's got to be something we can do." Skitter said.
"Shh!"
Twilight reached out with her magic, trying to shut out the nervous chatter and the distraction of her other senses hoping to find something she could use. Leviathan was shining like a dark star below, unlike parahumans Twilight could see the creature interact with the magic field around him, twisting it, straining against her ward, warping reality, a thousand subtle effects she couldn't make sense of. Along side him the subtle mysterious flickers of the parahumans fighting him were almost completely lost in the dark vortex of power and destruction.
It hurt to 'look' at him too long. Twilight pulled her awareness away and concentrated a moment on feeling her friends around her. Slowly as she slipped deeper into her magical sight she began to see the connections between them like she had on the night she met Flame Dancer. As she drifted farther away from her physical senses a bright and beautiful spider web of relationships sprung up around her. Weaving patterns beyond any ability for geometry to describe, friendship, trust, love, duty, resentment, fear, and a thousand other things bound them together and soared off to the connect them to those that were not present.
At the edge of her awareness she felt something familiar settle onto her head and the connections became brighter, more detailed. As she drifted along the web she suddenly heard Pinkie laugh. Rainbow flew by and ruffled her mane, Applejack's sturdy hoof braced against her back, Rarity's cultured voice and a gentle hug that could only have been Fluttershy.
"Twi, you're getting to bogged down in the details of this thing. Most stuff is pretty simple at the heart of it. I reckon your friend had the right of it. That critter looks an awful lot like a foal having a tantrum."
"Oh my yes, he looks very upset. Angel sometimes acts that way when he thinks I'm not giving him enough attention."
"Quite uncouth really, his parents should have instilled proper manners."
"Yupperoonie, he's a big grumpy pants that needs a time out alright."
"Come on Sparks, you're smarter than this - just look!"
Twilight felt Rainbow wrench her head around and saw a bright pulsating and twisted bond connected to Leviathan and leading to..
Twilight gasped and jolted her out of the trance she had been in. Everyone on the barge was looking at her strangely.
"What was-"
"Coool"
"Hey where did that tiara come from?"
Twilight ignored them all and pressed her hoof into the communicator on her chest. Remembering what Dragon had told her before the battle about how to broadcast to everyone.
"Hard Override. I don't know why, but the only thing Leviathan cares about, the only person he has ever cared about is-" Twilight was flung violently into the air and the barge broke apart into a dozen pieces as a fifteen foot tall winged alabaster human slammed into it at several hundred miles per hour.
17
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
Chapter 9, Scene 4)
Tumbling uncontrollably through the air Twilight cried out in pain as something tore through one of her wings shredding feather and bone alike. Twilight clenched her eyes and mouth shut against the pain and disorientating spin. With a mental wrench she pulled herself away from the physical world, falling back on Celestia's lessons she boxed up the parts of her mind that were focused on bleeding, screaming, falling, and recklessly pulled magic to herself.
Her mind reeled and distantly she felt her physical body dry heave in sympathy as she embraced a magic field a thousand times more noxious than the taint that had heralded Leviathan's approach. Leviathan's darkness was all but lost in the overwhelming malignancy that spread out from the new arrival and pervaded everything it touched.
Precious moments were lost suppressing her aversion and forcing the malformed field around her into a usable state. She had no idea how much time had passed since the air-barge had been attacked, her only clue being that she was still able to think and thus drawing the conclusion that she had not yet fatally impacted the ground.
'Think Twilight, THINK!' Twilight mentally yelled at herself. She needed to save her friends, she needed to save the city, she needed stop the endbringer, she needed….TIME.
A dozen feet from the ground the glowing, tumbling purple meteorite disappeared. Her disappearance was accompanied by an agonized screech, that while not picked up on any microphone or recording device, was nevertheless heard by every living thing within a thousand miles of Brockton Bay.
Twilight reappeared five thousand feet higher and 15 seconds in the past already holding her hoof to the communicator around her neck.
"..is Eidolon."
Still tumbling uncontrollably and unable to extend her injured wing to correct her flight, Twilight once again focused on the senses that weren't affected by what was happening in the physical world. She bent all her will to sliding back into the state of mind she'd had moments before the barge had been attacked. Racing against two separate yet equally fatal deadlines she reached until her mindscape was once again illuminated by the glowing spiderweb of relationships spread out below and around her..
Horror suffused her as she saw the effect the being that attacked the air-barge was having on the beautiful tapestry, strands being severed and crudely resown, dark malformed threads being worked into the weave. When Twilight drew her gaze to the creature at the center of those foul threads she came to a sudden terrible understanding.
The frightening intelligence at the heart of that darkness understood harmony, and in understanding it, truly understanding it, had found a way to become it's terrifying antithesis. Not as chaos is the opposite of harmony, but harmony's dark reflection. A macabre and perfect order that used all the dark currents in nature and sentience for its own ends.
Twilight felt the entire weave respond to her revulsion, and the tapestry sang in sympathy with her. Newly added black threads fell away and the creature shuddered and paused in it's work. As it cast it's attention towards her Twilight knew with a deep certainty that there would be no victory, no peace, no Harmony on this world as long as it continued to exist.
Tiara resting firmly on her head, time running short, and purpose coursing through her entire being Twilight simultaneously cast three spells and vanished back into the future.
…And plowed at terminal velocity into a lake of feathers.
'In retrospect,' Twilight thought as she struggled to pull her bruised and bleeding body from the insidious sea of scratchy quills, 'transmuting the street into a lake of writing implements was perhaps not one of my brightest ideas.' Just as she was considering a blind teleport to anywhere else feathers swirled and a strong arm wrapped itself around her barrel. Twilight bit her lip to suppress a pained cry as she was lifted out of the feathers and back into the rain above.
Aegis, blood dripping from a small cut in his forehead but otherwise looking okay quickly flew her to a roof top a few blocks away where the rest of the passengers from the ill fated air-barge sat, stood, or lay in various states of injury. Despite the dreadful seriousness of the situation Twilight couldn't contain a half-hysterical giggle at the fact that they were all to some extent covered in feathers.
Her countenance turned serious again when they landed and she saw the true extent of their injuries. Gallant appeared was missing his right leg below the knee, someone's belt functioning as a tourniquet. Leet unconscious, a cape she didn't know cutting his ridiculous furred costume into crude strips and wrapping them around his chest and arms, Vista crouched in the far corner one hand pressed to a bloody bandage covering half her face.
"Twilight!" Flame Dancer, looking the least injured of everyone, ran over and wrapped her in a gentle hug. Twilight wrapped a foreleg around her as tears filled her eyes. She closed her eyes and leaned her weight into the girl, needing just a moment of rest, just one selfish moment away from what she had seen. Just a momen….
"…Twilight!" Twilight jerked out of Flame Dancer's embrace and looked up at Aegis who had obviously been trying to get her attention for awhile. She hissed in pain and looked to her right to see Skitter trying to gently bandage her ruined wing. A shredded wreck of feather and bone that was now a third shorter than its companion. A small puddle of blood had formed beneath her in the time she had been standing there.
Those not caring for the injured had all turned their attention towards her and Aegis. The building shuddered as something very large exploded in the distance.
"Twilight, I know you're injured, but I need to know if you can pull off another group teleport, we have to get out of here, fast." Twilight struggled to pull her thoughts back into focus, adrenaline, blood loss, and the pain from Skitter bandaging her wing making it difficult to concentrate. '..she'd had a plan, hadn't she?'
"What, what's going on?"
Uber looking up from where he was kneeling over Leet interrupted, his tone absent all its usual flippancy. "The fucking Simurgh is what's going on. After your announcement that Leviathan's one true love is Eidolon, he freaked and was last seen fleeing east over the ocean. Alexandria, Legend and a couple of the other heavy hitters are tied down with Leviathan and there's pretty much no one left on the scene that can do anything useful against an endbringer. Ziz meanwhile, after fucking our shit up has begun to telekinetically pull apart downtown in the worlds worst urban renewal project. If history is any guide whatever she's building will probably make us all very dead if her singing doesn't turn us all into walking psychopathic time bombs first. Which by the way, is still less terrifying than the 15 seconds she spent doing nothing but staring in our direction after the crash."
'Singing?' Twilight thought, 'What singing?'
Aegis shot Uber a look and spoke up again, "Long story short, there are hard and fast rules to how much exposure to the Simurgh someone can have before their considered too dangerous to be allowed back into society. The government is probably starting to setup roadblocks and checkpoints as we speak. If we don't get out of here soon, we won't be getting out at all."
Irrationally Twilight's first thought was how this was going to totally disrupt her plan to rebuild the port and necessitate rewriting over 200 checklists. Shaking her head to clear it she looked past the group towards the center of the city where a swirling vortex of cars, buildings, and debris obscured several blocks.
She thought back to the fleeting glimpse she had of the winged being at the heart of that destruction. Waif-thin, unclothed, hair platinum-white and as long as she was tall. A myriad of asymmetrical and illogically placed wings coated in blinding white feathers. And underneath that unequine and harsh beauty the most terrifying mind Twilight had ever encountered.
She couldn't leave, she couldn't abandon the people of this city to the hideous machinations of that thing, but she couldn't leave her friends her either. She had no way to know if she could succeed against it, and even if it cost her time, even if it cost her everything, she had to get them to safety.
Twilight swiveled her head to take in the entire group and then the surrounding area. "Teleport to where?"
Still clutching the bandage to her face with one hand while the other was cupped over the opposite ear, Vista stood up and spoke. "The PRT is telling citizens and capes whose attacks are not effective or are too injured to retreat to a list of schools in the suburbs, where they're setting up evacuation points. The nearest one is about 5 miles southwest of here."
"Five Miles?! There's no way I could teleport everyone that distance safely, especially the ones with serious injuries.." A little hysteria crept into Twilight's voice as she trailed off. Skitter finished bandaging her wing and gently placed her hand at the back of her neck.
"Easy, ok, so we can't teleport - what other options do we have? No one hesitate to speak up."
"Steal some cars?"
"Take to long and there is no telling what condition the roads are in, besides the one below us, which is still a giant river of feathers."
"Call for strider?"
"An option, but listening to the response channel it sounds like he already has his hands full evacuating other groups and ferrying capes in and out to keep their exposure time to a minimum."
"Twilight," Skitter said, "I saw you lift ships that had to weigh hundreds of tons. How fast could you move something like that? How long could you keep it up?" Twilight spun abruptly and gave Skitter an excited hug. Then let out a pained gasp from twisting her wing.
"Ahgh, Tay-Skitter that's brilliant!" Twilight quickly looked around the roof. "Okay, okay I can do that, alright everyone sit down and hold on to each other, this first part might be a little rough." Seeing the gleam in the unicorns eye, and the intense purple glow that suddenly surrounded the entire roof everyone standing quickly scrambled to the ground and helped braced those too injured to move. The building gave a loud moan, then sharp jarring screech before the top eight feet tore itself from the floors below and with a harsh jolt sprang into the sky, racing to the west.
Behind them a huge twisted trail of destruction ranged through the city as the few capes left that could fight tried to keep Leviathan contained or get enough distance to disengage, Eidolon's absence clearly felt.
And in the city center the ominous swirling cloud of materials grew larger by the moment.
Tumbling uncontrollably through the air Twilight cried out in pain as something tore through one of her wings shredding feather and bone alike. Twilight clenched her eyes and mouth shut against the pain and disorientating spin. With a mental wrench she pulled herself away from the physical world, falling back on Celestia's lessons she boxed up the parts of her mind that were focused on bleeding, screaming, falling, and recklessly pulled magic to herself.
Her mind reeled and distantly she felt her physical body dry heave in sympathy as she embraced a magic field a thousand times more noxious than the taint that had heralded Leviathan's approach. Leviathan's darkness was all but lost in the overwhelming malignancy that spread out from the new arrival and pervaded everything it touched.
Precious moments were lost suppressing her aversion and forcing the malformed field around her into a usable state. She had no idea how much time had passed since the air-barge had been attacked, her only clue being that she was still able to think and thus drawing the conclusion that she had not yet fatally impacted the ground.
'Think Twilight, THINK!' Twilight mentally yelled at herself. She needed to save her friends, she needed to save the city, she needed stop the endbringer, she needed….TIME.
A dozen feet from the ground the glowing, tumbling purple meteorite disappeared. Her disappearance was accompanied by an agonized screech, that while not picked up on any microphone or recording device, was nevertheless heard by every living thing within a thousand miles of Brockton Bay.
Twilight reappeared five thousand feet higher and 15 seconds in the past already holding her hoof to the communicator around her neck.
"..is Eidolon."
Still tumbling uncontrollably and unable to extend her injured wing to correct her flight, Twilight once again focused on the senses that weren't affected by what was happening in the physical world. She bent all her will to sliding back into the state of mind she'd had moments before the barge had been attacked. Racing against two separate yet equally fatal deadlines she reached until her mindscape was once again illuminated by the glowing spiderweb of relationships spread out below and around her..
Horror suffused her as she saw the effect the being that attacked the air-barge was having on the beautiful tapestry, strands being severed and crudely resown, dark malformed threads being worked into the weave. When Twilight drew her gaze to the creature at the center of those foul threads she came to a sudden terrible understanding.
The frightening intelligence at the heart of that darkness understood harmony, and in understanding it, truly understanding it, had found a way to become it's terrifying antithesis. Not as chaos is the opposite of harmony, but harmony's dark reflection. A macabre and perfect order that used all the dark currents in nature and sentience for its own ends.
Twilight felt the entire weave respond to her revulsion, and the tapestry sang in sympathy with her. Newly added black threads fell away and the creature shuddered and paused in it's work. As it cast it's attention towards her Twilight knew with a deep certainty that there would be no victory, no peace, no Harmony on this world as long as it continued to exist.
Tiara resting firmly on her head, time running short, and purpose coursing through her entire being Twilight simultaneously cast three spells and vanished back into the future.
…And plowed at terminal velocity into a lake of feathers.
'In retrospect,' Twilight thought as she struggled to pull her bruised and bleeding body from the insidious sea of scratchy quills, 'transmuting the street into a lake of writing implements was perhaps not one of my brightest ideas.' Just as she was considering a blind teleport to anywhere else feathers swirled and a strong arm wrapped itself around her barrel. Twilight bit her lip to suppress a pained cry as she was lifted out of the feathers and back into the rain above.
Aegis, blood dripping from a small cut in his forehead but otherwise looking okay quickly flew her to a roof top a few blocks away where the rest of the passengers from the ill fated air-barge sat, stood, or lay in various states of injury. Despite the dreadful seriousness of the situation Twilight couldn't contain a half-hysterical giggle at the fact that they were all to some extent covered in feathers.
Her countenance turned serious again when they landed and she saw the true extent of their injuries. Gallant appeared was missing his right leg below the knee, someone's belt functioning as a tourniquet. Leet unconscious, a cape she didn't know cutting his ridiculous furred costume into crude strips and wrapping them around his chest and arms, Vista crouched in the far corner one hand pressed to a bloody bandage covering half her face.
"Twilight!" Flame Dancer, looking the least injured of everyone, ran over and wrapped her in a gentle hug. Twilight wrapped a foreleg around her as tears filled her eyes. She closed her eyes and leaned her weight into the girl, needing just a moment of rest, just one selfish moment away from what she had seen. Just a momen….
"…Twilight!" Twilight jerked out of Flame Dancer's embrace and looked up at Aegis who had obviously been trying to get her attention for awhile. She hissed in pain and looked to her right to see Skitter trying to gently bandage her ruined wing. A shredded wreck of feather and bone that was now a third shorter than its companion. A small puddle of blood had formed beneath her in the time she had been standing there.
Those not caring for the injured had all turned their attention towards her and Aegis. The building shuddered as something very large exploded in the distance.
"Twilight, I know you're injured, but I need to know if you can pull off another group teleport, we have to get out of here, fast." Twilight struggled to pull her thoughts back into focus, adrenaline, blood loss, and the pain from Skitter bandaging her wing making it difficult to concentrate. '..she'd had a plan, hadn't she?'
"What, what's going on?"
Uber looking up from where he was kneeling over Leet interrupted, his tone absent all its usual flippancy. "The fucking Simurgh is what's going on. After your announcement that Leviathan's one true love is Eidolon, he freaked and was last seen fleeing east over the ocean. Alexandria, Legend and a couple of the other heavy hitters are tied down with Leviathan and there's pretty much no one left on the scene that can do anything useful against an endbringer. Ziz meanwhile, after fucking our shit up has begun to telekinetically pull apart downtown in the worlds worst urban renewal project. If history is any guide whatever she's building will probably make us all very dead if her singing doesn't turn us all into walking psychopathic time bombs first. Which by the way, is still less terrifying than the 15 seconds she spent doing nothing but staring in our direction after the crash."
'Singing?' Twilight thought, 'What singing?'
Aegis shot Uber a look and spoke up again, "Long story short, there are hard and fast rules to how much exposure to the Simurgh someone can have before their considered too dangerous to be allowed back into society. The government is probably starting to setup roadblocks and checkpoints as we speak. If we don't get out of here soon, we won't be getting out at all."
Irrationally Twilight's first thought was how this was going to totally disrupt her plan to rebuild the port and necessitate rewriting over 200 checklists. Shaking her head to clear it she looked past the group towards the center of the city where a swirling vortex of cars, buildings, and debris obscured several blocks.
She thought back to the fleeting glimpse she had of the winged being at the heart of that destruction. Waif-thin, unclothed, hair platinum-white and as long as she was tall. A myriad of asymmetrical and illogically placed wings coated in blinding white feathers. And underneath that unequine and harsh beauty the most terrifying mind Twilight had ever encountered.
She couldn't leave, she couldn't abandon the people of this city to the hideous machinations of that thing, but she couldn't leave her friends her either. She had no way to know if she could succeed against it, and even if it cost her time, even if it cost her everything, she had to get them to safety.
Twilight swiveled her head to take in the entire group and then the surrounding area. "Teleport to where?"
Still clutching the bandage to her face with one hand while the other was cupped over the opposite ear, Vista stood up and spoke. "The PRT is telling citizens and capes whose attacks are not effective or are too injured to retreat to a list of schools in the suburbs, where they're setting up evacuation points. The nearest one is about 5 miles southwest of here."
"Five Miles?! There's no way I could teleport everyone that distance safely, especially the ones with serious injuries.." A little hysteria crept into Twilight's voice as she trailed off. Skitter finished bandaging her wing and gently placed her hand at the back of her neck.
"Easy, ok, so we can't teleport - what other options do we have? No one hesitate to speak up."
"Steal some cars?"
"Take to long and there is no telling what condition the roads are in, besides the one below us, which is still a giant river of feathers."
"Call for strider?"
"An option, but listening to the response channel it sounds like he already has his hands full evacuating other groups and ferrying capes in and out to keep their exposure time to a minimum."
"Twilight," Skitter said, "I saw you lift ships that had to weigh hundreds of tons. How fast could you move something like that? How long could you keep it up?" Twilight spun abruptly and gave Skitter an excited hug. Then let out a pained gasp from twisting her wing.
"Ahgh, Tay-Skitter that's brilliant!" Twilight quickly looked around the roof. "Okay, okay I can do that, alright everyone sit down and hold on to each other, this first part might be a little rough." Seeing the gleam in the unicorns eye, and the intense purple glow that suddenly surrounded the entire roof everyone standing quickly scrambled to the ground and helped braced those too injured to move. The building gave a loud moan, then sharp jarring screech before the top eight feet tore itself from the floors below and with a harsh jolt sprang into the sky, racing to the west.
Behind them a huge twisted trail of destruction ranged through the city as the few capes left that could fight tried to keep Leviathan contained or get enough distance to disengage, Eidolon's absence clearly felt.
And in the city center the ominous swirling cloud of materials grew larger by the moment.
18
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
Chapter 9, Scene 5
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The roof slid across the athletic field, shedding bricks, plumbing pipe, and the upper ten feet of a fire escape while leaving a deep uneven furrow in its wake. The frantic evacuation going on in the school's parking lot paused as everyone momentarily forgot their terror of the Simurgh to watch. Twilight, woozy from blood loss struggled to hang onto the spell and barely managed to stop most of the roof's momentum before it plowed into a large metal post.
With a sigh of relief Twilight released her spell and decided that where she was standing looked like a perfectly good place to lay down for a while. Everyone still on the roof scrambled for a handhold as it lost its remaining cohesion and finished disintegrating into a loose pile of bricks and twisted metal. Twilight heard a few startled explicatives and several people cry out in pain, but found herself lacking the energy or will pay attention to them. The small part of her holding onto logical thought insisted that the rough roof tar and broken bricks she was laying on could not possibly be as comfortable as they seemed, but the rest of her was in no mood or state to pay attention to logic at that moment. Heavy lids slid the rest of the way over her eyes.
She faded in and out of consciousness, the worried voices of her friends wafting over her, and the occasional spike of pain jolting her as she felt someone lift her and start to carry her away from her comfortable bed of stone. Lights flashed bright enough to shine through her closed eyelids and she moaned uncomfortably as someone laid her down on something soft. She felt gentle hands probe her body and distantly heard an engine start. The gentle vibration carried through whatever she was laying on and brought her closer to actual sleep. Something painful pricked her skin, and suddenly the pain was like a distant echo instead of a constant roar. Sleep claimed her fully.
————————
…Someone was running towards her, they were upset, they were reaching toward her, speaking, but Twilight wasn't close enough to hear…
————————
When she woke up, she was tumbling through the air and on fire. Pain suffused her whole being and all coherent thought fled her mind. There was only pain and fire, until suddenly the fire was gone. Through the pain she felt a pair of arms wrap around her and what rational mind she was able to retain cataloged what felt like a crude and disturbing teleport. Slowly thoughts and actual consciousness began to return to her and she was able to look up into the shimmering eyes of Flame Dancer.
With a pained gasp she weakly squeezed her charred fore legs around Flame Dancer in the best approximation of a hug she could give before slowly turning her head so she could see beyond her friend. Something was wrong with one of her eyes, but the other beheld a horror-scape. Nothing recognizable was left. Buildings lay collapsed all around and seemingly everything that could burn, was. In what might have been the former school parking area, buses and ambulances lay scattered and overturned. Beside the vehicles; oblong shapes laid, smoking and unmoving.
Twilight's breath hitched and a rattling cough came from her throat, the spasms from which nearly causing her to black out again. Then she saw her, just beyond the end of what might have been the field they had landed in and slowly drifting closer, Simurgh. Something had shorn the lower left hand side of her body off in a clean arc starting below her elbow continuing through her torso and including most of her left leg. Several of her wings were missing, others abbreviated. Beyond the Simurgh, the whole of Brockton Bay burned.
'…What happened…wha..' A half remembered idea surfaced in her thoughts and horror overtook her face. '…I'd had an idea…something..a bubble…time…oh no, no NO….it was impossible!' 'but,' whatever was left of her rational mind insisted on being heard, 'what if whatever the Simurgh had been doing involved some kind of oppositely polarized dimensional mechanics?!?…photonic reversal..cascading…'
A low miserable moan issued from Twilight's throat and Flame Dancer gripped her a little harder and nervously kept an eye on the approaching endbringer. A sudden thought occurred to Twilight and she frantically glanced around, but try as she might, she couldn't see any of her other friends. Then she looked once more towards the smoldering shapes.
…'No,….'
"NO!" She screamed through her ruined throat as she heaved her burned body back onto her hooves, Flame Dancer scrambling to avoid getting stepped on in the sudden move. "THIS ISN'T RIGHT, THIS ISN'T HARMONY, THIS SHOULDN'T BE!" Her horn started to glow and she stepped fully around the partially collapsed wall Flame Dancer had been leaning against to stare at the Simurgh.
"YOU SHOULDN'T BE!" She screamed not sure who she was directing the scream at. Once more she felt the weight of a Tiara settle on her head and power flooded her being. She felt the tug of something, somethings, ponies, people both close and impossibly far away. Trying to tell her something, maybe..but they were so quiet, and this ALL OF THIS, it was so wrong, everything WRONG. A giant pillar of rainbow colored light shot from her body into the sky.
She could fix this, things would be BETTER. SHE would be better, IT could be RIGHT. More and more power filled her, and she fell to her knees in pain and ecstasy. Soon, a little more, a little…
The sky ripped open in front of her. Lightning crashed and without warning night descended over Brockton Bay. So caught up in the spell, Twilight noticed none of this until a silver shod hoof crashed into her face and threw her off her hooves to slide across the rough asphalt. The pillar of light snapped out and in her daze she heard a voice boom.
"IF THOU SEEKEST OBLIVION TWILIGHT SPARKLE, ASK NOT OF HARMONY. THAT IS NOT ITS DOMAIN, 'TIS OURS ALONE."
————————
The roof slid across the athletic field, shedding bricks, plumbing pipe, and the upper ten feet of a fire escape while leaving a deep uneven furrow in its wake. The frantic evacuation going on in the school's parking lot paused as everyone momentarily forgot their terror of the Simurgh to watch. Twilight, woozy from blood loss struggled to hang onto the spell and barely managed to stop most of the roof's momentum before it plowed into a large metal post.
With a sigh of relief Twilight released her spell and decided that where she was standing looked like a perfectly good place to lay down for a while. Everyone still on the roof scrambled for a handhold as it lost its remaining cohesion and finished disintegrating into a loose pile of bricks and twisted metal. Twilight heard a few startled explicatives and several people cry out in pain, but found herself lacking the energy or will pay attention to them. The small part of her holding onto logical thought insisted that the rough roof tar and broken bricks she was laying on could not possibly be as comfortable as they seemed, but the rest of her was in no mood or state to pay attention to logic at that moment. Heavy lids slid the rest of the way over her eyes.
She faded in and out of consciousness, the worried voices of her friends wafting over her, and the occasional spike of pain jolting her as she felt someone lift her and start to carry her away from her comfortable bed of stone. Lights flashed bright enough to shine through her closed eyelids and she moaned uncomfortably as someone laid her down on something soft. She felt gentle hands probe her body and distantly heard an engine start. The gentle vibration carried through whatever she was laying on and brought her closer to actual sleep. Something painful pricked her skin, and suddenly the pain was like a distant echo instead of a constant roar. Sleep claimed her fully.
————————
…Someone was running towards her, they were upset, they were reaching toward her, speaking, but Twilight wasn't close enough to hear…
————————
When she woke up, she was tumbling through the air and on fire. Pain suffused her whole being and all coherent thought fled her mind. There was only pain and fire, until suddenly the fire was gone. Through the pain she felt a pair of arms wrap around her and what rational mind she was able to retain cataloged what felt like a crude and disturbing teleport. Slowly thoughts and actual consciousness began to return to her and she was able to look up into the shimmering eyes of Flame Dancer.
With a pained gasp she weakly squeezed her charred fore legs around Flame Dancer in the best approximation of a hug she could give before slowly turning her head so she could see beyond her friend. Something was wrong with one of her eyes, but the other beheld a horror-scape. Nothing recognizable was left. Buildings lay collapsed all around and seemingly everything that could burn, was. In what might have been the former school parking area, buses and ambulances lay scattered and overturned. Beside the vehicles; oblong shapes laid, smoking and unmoving.
Twilight's breath hitched and a rattling cough came from her throat, the spasms from which nearly causing her to black out again. Then she saw her, just beyond the end of what might have been the field they had landed in and slowly drifting closer, Simurgh. Something had shorn the lower left hand side of her body off in a clean arc starting below her elbow continuing through her torso and including most of her left leg. Several of her wings were missing, others abbreviated. Beyond the Simurgh, the whole of Brockton Bay burned.
'…What happened…wha..' A half remembered idea surfaced in her thoughts and horror overtook her face. '…I'd had an idea…something..a bubble…time…oh no, no NO….it was impossible!' 'but,' whatever was left of her rational mind insisted on being heard, 'what if whatever the Simurgh had been doing involved some kind of oppositely polarized dimensional mechanics?!?…photonic reversal..cascading…'
A low miserable moan issued from Twilight's throat and Flame Dancer gripped her a little harder and nervously kept an eye on the approaching endbringer. A sudden thought occurred to Twilight and she frantically glanced around, but try as she might, she couldn't see any of her other friends. Then she looked once more towards the smoldering shapes.
…'No,….'
"NO!" She screamed through her ruined throat as she heaved her burned body back onto her hooves, Flame Dancer scrambling to avoid getting stepped on in the sudden move. "THIS ISN'T RIGHT, THIS ISN'T HARMONY, THIS SHOULDN'T BE!" Her horn started to glow and she stepped fully around the partially collapsed wall Flame Dancer had been leaning against to stare at the Simurgh.
"YOU SHOULDN'T BE!" She screamed not sure who she was directing the scream at. Once more she felt the weight of a Tiara settle on her head and power flooded her being. She felt the tug of something, somethings, ponies, people both close and impossibly far away. Trying to tell her something, maybe..but they were so quiet, and this ALL OF THIS, it was so wrong, everything WRONG. A giant pillar of rainbow colored light shot from her body into the sky.
She could fix this, things would be BETTER. SHE would be better, IT could be RIGHT. More and more power filled her, and she fell to her knees in pain and ecstasy. Soon, a little more, a little…
The sky ripped open in front of her. Lightning crashed and without warning night descended over Brockton Bay. So caught up in the spell, Twilight noticed none of this until a silver shod hoof crashed into her face and threw her off her hooves to slide across the rough asphalt. The pillar of light snapped out and in her daze she heard a voice boom.
"IF THOU SEEKEST OBLIVION TWILIGHT SPARKLE, ASK NOT OF HARMONY. THAT IS NOT ITS DOMAIN, 'TIS OURS ALONE."
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- Location
- Interstellar Space
First it was bad. Then it got worse. Then it got very, very Luna.
Nice to see you are back.
Nice to see you are back.
Fix in red.
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- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
19
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
Chapter 9, Scene 5b) - Adding this scene to the last should bring it up to my normal snippet length, thus it becomes 5b and should answer a few of the questions posed recently.
Twilight whimpered in pain and shock, her accumulated injuries all crying out due to her tumble and the aborted use of the Elements. Her ears rang, and Princess Luna's voice still.. 'Luna's voice…LUNA'S VOICE…PRINCESS LUNA…she was here, here in this place, standing right there, if she was here…that meant…she could go home! Home!…where ponies made sense and things weren't awful and friends didn't die..and…and…what have I done?!?…what did I do?…oh Celestia what was I going to do?'
She broke down into uncontrollable wheezing sobs of emotion, relief, regret, loathing, everything, emotions beyond her ability to categorize. Through her sobs she heard the sturdy clop of shod hooves of pavement approach and looked up with her good eye to see Princess Luna standing over her, but facing away, facing the sheared form of that horrible white thing.
"Many things we must discuss Twilight Sparkle," Luna spoke in a quiet, at least quiet for her, but firm tone. Her face could have been carved from stone as she stared at the Simurgh, who for the moment seemed content to simply stare right back. "But a battlefield is no place for discussion. Yon alabaster creature is whom thou have declared foe." Luna stated with cold certainty. "Do others gather under its banner?" The Princess asked casting a glance at the still crying Twilight.
Twilight managed a shaky nod and a rasping "..Levia..Sea Monster." Princess Luna's horn lit and then settled.
"We sense not thy other foe. Perhaps 'tis wiser than the one before us. YOU!" Princess Luna exclaimed and pointed a hoof at Flame Dancer who had been slowly crawling towards the prone alicorn. "ASSIST THY LIEGE TWILIGHT SPARKLE AWAY FROM THIS PLACE, I KNOW NOT HOW MUCH SHALL STAND ONCE BATTLE COMMENCES!"
Flame Dancer froze and looked bewildered, and Twilight started to speak
"..Princess, she can't underst.." But stopped as Luna was already striding confidently towards the Simurgh. The thunderclouds that had grown on Princess Luna's arrival started to swell larger still. Lightning arced through the clouds and the rain that had begun to taper off turned once more into a torrential downpour, snuffing out some of the smaller fires.
Flame Dancer seemed to have gotten the gist of the command anyway, as she hurried over and gently helped Twilight stagger back to her hooves. She kept an arm around Twilight's Barrel and with gentle pressure started to lead Twilight away from the departing form of Princess Luna and the endbringer in the distance. Twilight paused and cast one last look over her shoulder, her emotions roiling, before allowing herself to be led away.
They had only traveled a few blocks when Twilight's hoof came down on something crunchy…and sticky..and gross…looking down she was confronted by the disturbing scene of thousands of cockroaches moving in formation down the broken street..an arrow, they were forming an arrow…Relieved joy surged so powerfully through Twilight that it briefly washed out all other emotion.
"..Taylor!.." Twilight and Flame Dancer cried in unison following the direction of the roaches and picking up their pace as much as Twilight's injuries would allow. It was at this point that they both toppled to the ground as the earth shook forcefully beneath them, a tremendous boom echoed through the streets, and the front wall of the building across from them gave a groan and then collapsed into rubble. When the earth stopped moving and the echo faded a voice like thunder replaced it. The voice seemed to resonate in her very bones.
"FOUL WRETCH, THOU SEEKEST TO MANIPULATE US?! THOU WHO ART NAUGHT BUT A NIGHTMARE WROUGHT FROM DEATH AND DARK AMBITION?! THY DREAMER'S ENDLESS HUBRIS SHALL NOT SERVE THEE. WE ARE THE NIGHT AND RULE ALL THAT IS BORNE FROM IT. THOU DOST BUT EXIST AT OUR FORBEARANCE AND SHALT CEASE BECAUSE WE SAY IT SO. FOR ALL DREAMS MUST END, AND THINE ENDS NOW!!"
The storm above exploded, clouds disintegrating as though having never existed. The moon shone bigger and brighter than Twilight had ever seen.
She felt the entire magical field ring the same note as a shaft of blinding light descended from the sky.
Twilight whimpered in pain and shock, her accumulated injuries all crying out due to her tumble and the aborted use of the Elements. Her ears rang, and Princess Luna's voice still.. 'Luna's voice…LUNA'S VOICE…PRINCESS LUNA…she was here, here in this place, standing right there, if she was here…that meant…she could go home! Home!…where ponies made sense and things weren't awful and friends didn't die..and…and…what have I done?!?…what did I do?…oh Celestia what was I going to do?'
She broke down into uncontrollable wheezing sobs of emotion, relief, regret, loathing, everything, emotions beyond her ability to categorize. Through her sobs she heard the sturdy clop of shod hooves of pavement approach and looked up with her good eye to see Princess Luna standing over her, but facing away, facing the sheared form of that horrible white thing.
"Many things we must discuss Twilight Sparkle," Luna spoke in a quiet, at least quiet for her, but firm tone. Her face could have been carved from stone as she stared at the Simurgh, who for the moment seemed content to simply stare right back. "But a battlefield is no place for discussion. Yon alabaster creature is whom thou have declared foe." Luna stated with cold certainty. "Do others gather under its banner?" The Princess asked casting a glance at the still crying Twilight.
Twilight managed a shaky nod and a rasping "..Levia..Sea Monster." Princess Luna's horn lit and then settled.
"We sense not thy other foe. Perhaps 'tis wiser than the one before us. YOU!" Princess Luna exclaimed and pointed a hoof at Flame Dancer who had been slowly crawling towards the prone alicorn. "ASSIST THY LIEGE TWILIGHT SPARKLE AWAY FROM THIS PLACE, I KNOW NOT HOW MUCH SHALL STAND ONCE BATTLE COMMENCES!"
Flame Dancer froze and looked bewildered, and Twilight started to speak
"..Princess, she can't underst.." But stopped as Luna was already striding confidently towards the Simurgh. The thunderclouds that had grown on Princess Luna's arrival started to swell larger still. Lightning arced through the clouds and the rain that had begun to taper off turned once more into a torrential downpour, snuffing out some of the smaller fires.
Flame Dancer seemed to have gotten the gist of the command anyway, as she hurried over and gently helped Twilight stagger back to her hooves. She kept an arm around Twilight's Barrel and with gentle pressure started to lead Twilight away from the departing form of Princess Luna and the endbringer in the distance. Twilight paused and cast one last look over her shoulder, her emotions roiling, before allowing herself to be led away.
They had only traveled a few blocks when Twilight's hoof came down on something crunchy…and sticky..and gross…looking down she was confronted by the disturbing scene of thousands of cockroaches moving in formation down the broken street..an arrow, they were forming an arrow…Relieved joy surged so powerfully through Twilight that it briefly washed out all other emotion.
"..Taylor!.." Twilight and Flame Dancer cried in unison following the direction of the roaches and picking up their pace as much as Twilight's injuries would allow. It was at this point that they both toppled to the ground as the earth shook forcefully beneath them, a tremendous boom echoed through the streets, and the front wall of the building across from them gave a groan and then collapsed into rubble. When the earth stopped moving and the echo faded a voice like thunder replaced it. The voice seemed to resonate in her very bones.
"FOUL WRETCH, THOU SEEKEST TO MANIPULATE US?! THOU WHO ART NAUGHT BUT A NIGHTMARE WROUGHT FROM DEATH AND DARK AMBITION?! THY DREAMER'S ENDLESS HUBRIS SHALL NOT SERVE THEE. WE ARE THE NIGHT AND RULE ALL THAT IS BORNE FROM IT. THOU DOST BUT EXIST AT OUR FORBEARANCE AND SHALT CEASE BECAUSE WE SAY IT SO. FOR ALL DREAMS MUST END, AND THINE ENDS NOW!!"
The storm above exploded, clouds disintegrating as though having never existed. The moon shone bigger and brighter than Twilight had ever seen.
She felt the entire magical field ring the same note as a shaft of blinding light descended from the sky.
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Luna's mad.
*gets more popcorn*
*gets more popcorn*
- Location
- Skyrim
So, on the whole, I noticed some issues with the story-telling structure on this second read-through, primarily in the narrative 'flow.'
In essence, you like to drop from 'show' to 'tell' levels of storytelling to blitz through story elements you don't want to focus on. A primary example of this would be the section on Twilight's visit to the UN; you told us all about it, but we were 'shown' nothing. Now, you actually handle this mostly well, as doing such a part via 'show' would have taken thousands and thousands of words, and it clearly was not part of what the story was supposed to focus on.
The problem comes in what you choose to and not to show, and the transition between the show and tell sections.
As an example, how many scenes of actual interaction between Twilight and the Wards are there, before Jack Slash shows up? Three? Five, maybe? One of which is her helping out at the bank? On the first read-through I didn't really notice this, but on the second, I very much did, and as a result, Twilight's friendships with the Wards, something that seems to be part of the primary focus of the story, feels like something I'm being told about, rather than shown.
And that's a bit of a problem.
The other, is that you 'jerk' back and forth between fast-paced 'telling' of things that happened, and 'showing' scenes at a more 'normal' pace. It's hard to adequately describe this without going into considerable detail, but it's throwing off the pacing/feel of the narrative.
It's a tricky thing to balance, but important.
On the whole, it's still above-par execution of the basic story idea, but it could still use some work.
In essence, you like to drop from 'show' to 'tell' levels of storytelling to blitz through story elements you don't want to focus on. A primary example of this would be the section on Twilight's visit to the UN; you told us all about it, but we were 'shown' nothing. Now, you actually handle this mostly well, as doing such a part via 'show' would have taken thousands and thousands of words, and it clearly was not part of what the story was supposed to focus on.
The problem comes in what you choose to and not to show, and the transition between the show and tell sections.
As an example, how many scenes of actual interaction between Twilight and the Wards are there, before Jack Slash shows up? Three? Five, maybe? One of which is her helping out at the bank? On the first read-through I didn't really notice this, but on the second, I very much did, and as a result, Twilight's friendships with the Wards, something that seems to be part of the primary focus of the story, feels like something I'm being told about, rather than shown.
And that's a bit of a problem.
The other, is that you 'jerk' back and forth between fast-paced 'telling' of things that happened, and 'showing' scenes at a more 'normal' pace. It's hard to adequately describe this without going into considerable detail, but it's throwing off the pacing/feel of the narrative.
It's a tricky thing to balance, but important.
On the whole, it's still above-par execution of the basic story idea, but it could still use some work.