The Celestia Code

by iisaw

Rating: teen
Tags: Adventure, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Changelings, Original Character, Mystery
Length: 65770

Princess Twilight Sparkle discovers a centuries-old mystery hidden in the Royal Archives.

Princess Twilight Sparkle discovers a centuries-old mystery hidden in the Royal Archives. Her investigation leads through layer after layer of deception and misdirection, setting her hooves on a path that seems to be leading to a mysterious secret. Along the way, she learns that some friendships can be very, very strange.

Book 1 of the Alicorn Adventure series. Prequel to The Luna Cypher

AUDIOBOOK by VisualPony
Featured at the Royal Canterlot Library
TV Tropes Page (Courtesy of Sandtalon)
Goodreads Page (Courtesy of Facedeer)
Equestria Daily Page

WARNING: Major spoilers in the comments. Takes place several months after the end of season four. (Not a Da Vinci Code crossover, BTW!)

Do you see a dark tag? No, you don't. Not dark. Well, okay, there are a couple of dark-ish bits, but that's all. Not enough to warrant a tag. Speaking of tags, there really ought to be "Badass Twilight" and "Friendshipping" ones.

A hardbound two-volume set of the Adventureverse stories can be ordered from The Ministry of Image.

My editor for the first edition of this story was Gogito, and I can't thank him enough for all the hard work he did. My editor for the revised version was PresentPerfect, and he did a terrific job of getting the story into excellent shape.

Published 2013-10-27 19:40:05 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-29 18:00:44 UTC

1 The Treasure Room

The Celestia Code

by iisaw

Chapter One
The Treasure Room

As I watched the books burn among the ruins, I couldn't help the near-instinctive urges that jolted through me like electricity. I could save them! A small shield spell around the fire would starve it of oxygen almost immediately, and when the heap had cooled enough not to reignite, I could—

But I had set them burning for a reason, and it was already too late to save them. The fire wasn't small, like the countless ones I had set in the fireplace of my bedroom above the library. Those fires had been comforting, their heat gentle, their flames waving slowly—almost like Celestia's mane, when back-lit by the sun—I shook my head to clear it and brought myself back to reality.

The bonfire hissed and roared, flames and burning bits of paper leaping skyward. The heat was sharp and uncomfortable, even at a dozen lengths' distance. My mane fluttered in the breeze caused by the air rushing in to feed the blaze, as if in mockery of the ethereal motion of Celestia's. I felt nauseous again.

If I could reverse the chemical reaction—flip entropy around—perhaps the Fail-Safe spell? No, it was beyond my power. I was just panicking in a silent, cerebral way. What had been done could not be undone.

Even books that had been written by some wooden-headed ideologue, who wouldn't know the scientific method if it bucked her in the teeth, were nearly sacred to me. My reverence didn't stop me from adding a note of scathing commentary in the margins, but to actually, deliberately destroy a book? It was unthinkable.

Until that night. Until I set fire to scores of unique manuscripts that bore knowledge recorded nowhere else in the world, destroying them forever. It was a crime I could never forgive myself for, but it was an act that was unquestionably necessary.

"Twilight!" came a voice from the darkness behind me. "Twilight! Where are you?"

I groaned and squeezed my eyes shut. Unquestionably necessary—but impossible to explain or justify.

Only a few short days before, I couldn't even have imagined this appalling situation.

= = =

The whole adventure began when I discovered the obscure back room in the Canterlot Archives under a royal seal. It was a very powerful and carefully crafted seal: Only a princess could open it. Even the guardponies patrolling the Archives couldn't disable the magical lock. I had only tried it on a whim, because I was certain that Celestia would have made the distinction between a Divine Highness and a Royal or Serene Highness when setting up the spell. But, much to my surprise, the door had sighed open at the briefest touch of my magic. Evidently, I was enough of a princess for the mystical gatekeeper even though I was lowest on the alicorn totem pole.

Should I have immediately closed the vault and told Celestia that there was an oversight in her security? Absolutely. Could I have possibly resisted the urge to take "just one little peek" at the treasures within? Anypony who thinks so doesn't know me at all. I wish Spike had been with me. He would have told me to shut the door and to mind my own business. It was just barely possible that I might have listened to him.

The scrolls and books within the vault were ancient. There were a few small boxes intermixed with the manuscripts and nothing seemed to have a title or label. I touched a large volume gently with my magic and tugged it from its place. It seemed to be sturdy and well-preserved, so I carefully opened it. It was the personal diary of Coperneighcus. Next to it was a scroll of essays by the feared Fireflower of Serpent's Spire, with margin notes that looked very like the quillwork of Clover the Clever. I tried not to hyperventilate. Just then, I think I understood how a dragon might feel when it discovered a huge, unexpected cache of gems and gold.

I could lock myself in—teleport food and water directly into my stomach so I wouldn't have to look away from the pages to eat—send a note to Celestia and my friends with some lame excuse that would explain a half-year's absence.

I sighed and returned the scroll to its place on the shelf. I took a deep breath and began to formulate a rational plan. The first thing to do would be to tell Celestia I'd found the vault, and hope that the fact that it opened to my magic wasn't a mistake. I reluctantly sealed the vault and teleported to the entryway of the throne room. Morning Court had just ended, and when I asked Celestia for a few moments of her time, she suggested we walk in the upper garden as we talked.

I couldn't bear to draw out the situation with polite small-talk, so we had barely set hoof to grass before I blurted out, "That sealed room in the archives that's under the East Turret? I took a look in there this morning and... uhmn... I was wondering if I should have. I mean, I didn't know if I was allowed to."

Unless I imagined it, Celestia looked a bit surprised for an instant. "Well, you didn't have any difficulty opening it, did you?"

"Oh, not at all," I assured her.

She nodded thoughtfully and took a moment before replying. "Feel free to browse as you wish. I would ask only that you don't take any of the items away from Canterlot. It has been so long since I have looked in there, that I couldn't give you a very clear idea of the contents, but most are very rare, and many are unique."

I suddenly felt twenty pounds lighter. "Oh, thank you, thank you! Is there a list of the contents somewhere? An index, or something?"

She grinned at my enthusiasm. "I don't believe so, Twilight. Perhaps that is a task you would like to take on?"

Oh, she knew me so very well! The thought of cataloging a room full of historic manuscripts, books, and other items made me go a bit light-headed. "I'd be delighted," I said.

= = =

That afternoon, I returned to the archives and began working out a scheme and timetable for recording the vault's contents. As much as I hated to admit it, because of my already busy schedule, my visits to the vault would have to be irregular and relatively brief. I summoned a notebook, quill and inkwell from my study in the library tower, and sketched out a diagram of the layout of the room, with case and shelf numbers assigned clockwise and top-to-bottom. Then I labeled the following pages, one for each shelf, which probably left enough space for a short description of each item. (If I needed extra room, I could always use endnotes.)

I recorded the contents of the first shelf and then forced myself to quit, even though I still felt a desperate need to devour everything I touched. Just on the first shelf alone, was the history of a pre-Equestrian trading empire I'd never even heard of, and a small box being used as a bookend containing an astrolabe fashioned by Starswirl himself. Not to mention an illustrated volume on batpony anatomy! I carefully sealed the vault and sent my notebook to the bedside table in my chambers.

I was distracted and spacey at that evening, and at dinner, Luna asked me if I had met anyone special.

"Huh?" I pulled myself out of my self-indulgent revelry. "I mean... I beg your pardon, Luna?"

"You are furlongs away tonight, Twilight Sparkle," she said with a sly grin. "I know well the most common cause of such distraction."

"Oh, no! Nothing like that!"

"Nay? But now comes color to your cheeks! Tell me truly, is he a worthy stallion?"

I sputtered a bit before replying, "No, honestly, Luna—"

"Oh, Luna!" Celestia broke in, "Don't tease her like that! If Twilight wants to keep her lover a secret..."

I gave an inarticulate squeak of outrage when I realized what was going on. "Oh, you two are impossible!"

They both broke out into laughter, and, after a short period of grumpy-face, I joined them.

"I'm afraid," said Celestia, addressing her sister, "that Twilight reserves her true passion for the printed word."

"Indeed?" Luna raised an eyebrow, then turned to me. "I could arrange a romantic, moonlit evening for you and a well-proportioned bookshelf, if you wish."

"Ha. Ha."

There were a few moments of silence as the soup course was removed and the salad served, and then Celestia said to me, "Joking aside, Twilight, is there anypony you're interested in, in that way?"

"Oh. Well... I mean... uhmn... no. Not that I haven't noticed a few stallions." I felt my cheeks warming again and I shrugged. "But when would I have the time to get to know one? I study more than ever, now... I have my official duties... and I'm trying hard not to neglect my friends..."

"A romantic partner can also be a friend, Twilight," Celestia said quietly. "In fact, a relationship works best if friendship comes first."

I nodded. "I'll put 'make more stallion friends' on my to-do list."

The sisters broke out into laughter again.

"What?"

= = =

It was only a few weeks later when I found the journal. I was about seven-eighths of the way through cataloging the Vault of Treasures, as I had privately named the room of precious books, when I encountered it. Yes, weeks may seem like a long time to make a glorified list, but I was trying to be very precise and thorough, not to mention I was shuttling between Canterlot, the Castle of the Two Sisters, and my own castle in Ponyville during that time. Admittedly, I had gotten sucked into some of the more interesting pieces and lost several hours of cataloging time to fascinating sidetracks.

With my notebook and quill floating by my side, I pulled another volume from the shelf I was working on and flipped open the cover. So many of the manuscripts just started abruptly, and it took some skimming and reading to determine what their subjects were, so I was relieved to see a neatly written title page. The inscription read:

Property of

Professor Sharphoof

Crinet College Chair of Archaeology

Canterlot University.

Third Badlands Expedition

Volume II

Below that was a stamped image of a torch crossed with a writing quill. Most likely the professor's cutie-mark, I assumed. It certainly didn't match any of the university's college crests.

An archaeologist? That was odd. The name was very familiar, and as I recalled, she was a rebel or revolutionary from the eighth century of Celestia's reign, mentioned briefly in... I couldn't bring the title of the history to mind. Maybe I was confusing her with another pony of the same name. But, according to the dates in the journal, the time period was roughly the same.

I flipped through the pages and was struck by the high quality of the amazing maps, diagrams, and drawings of things that the expedition had found. The illustrations were beautifully detailed and conveyed even the texture of the items they depicted—sandstone, pottery, glass—though only black ink had been used to create them.

Then one illustration hit me like a physical blow. It was a picture of a bas-relief that covered an entire wall. The central figure was obviously Celestia, and surrounding her was a multitude of tiny creatures, mostly ponies. It wasn't uncommon for ancient art to wildly exaggerate the size difference between the Princess and her subjects, or even to place them beneath her hooves as a symbol of her sovereignty over them, but this carving was—different. The ponies beneath her hooves were obviously in pain, as if being crushed by her weight. And those surrounding her were not bowing in reverence but, rather, cowering in fear. Oh, the difference was very subtle, yes, but unmistakable nonetheless. Even conveyed second-hoof, the artist who had done the drawing was skilled enough to make the distinctions clear.

I was horrified. Who would have dared depict Celestia in such a way? Maybe Sharphoof was a rebel of some sort and she had distorted the sculpture through her drawing for... some political reason I couldn't fathom? But crude propaganda hidden away in academic notes? It didn't make any sense at all.

I hadn't considered removing any of the works from the vault before then, but I knew I couldn't rest until I had gotten to the bottom of this mystery. I could have simply asked Celestia, of course, but the mere thought of confronting her with that obscene illustration made my stomach knot up. I tucked the journal, along with the rest of my materials, into my saddlebag and sealed the vault. On the way out of the archive building, I asked the reference librarian on duty to compile a report on whatever was known about an eighth century pony (or ponies) named Sharphoof, and have it delivered to me as soon as possible.

"Of course, Your Highness!" the saffron-colored mare assured me. "I will see to it personally and immediately!"

Sometimes, it's very handy being a princess.

= = =

=

2 My Trusty Side-Kick

Chapter Two
My Trusty Side-Kick

The more I studied Sharphoof's journal, the more I wondered if there was some magical spell I hadn't heard of that enhanced a pony's drawing ability or ensured its accuracy. Modern photography made such a spell unnecessary for general use, but I couldn't help thinking that even photographs wouldn't be able to do such a good job of recording clear images in cases where the lighting was bad or uneven. I hunted down a pottery shard at Crinet College's museum that had been collected by the expedition and compared it to the drawing in the book. The illustration was perfect, down to the little scratches and cracks in the surface, which meant that the ghastly depiction of Celestia was that much more likely to be accurate.

I found out several other interesting things that evening. The Crinet manuscript collection had three copies of the first volume of the expedition journal, but none of the second. There wasn't even any indication that a second volume existed. The rolls of the College listed the dates related to Professor Sharphoof's tenure, but there seemed to be no other information or records about her. Holding a department chair almost mandated a portrait, to be hung somewhere along the dim hallways of the college, but there was none to be found.

Then I had a minor brainstorm. I asked Jigsaw (the undergraduate that had been assigned to me as a guide) if any of the available faculty of the Archaeology Department could cast an age-evaluation spell. The sky-blue mare tossed her yellow mane nervously and toed the floor with one hoof. "Well, ma'am... I can do it. My accuracy is only within ninety five percent, though, so if you'd like one of the senior faculty..."

"No, that's not necessary. I'm sure you can help me." I hated being called "ma'am" but it was the best I could argue her down to from "Your Serene Highness." Pointing out that she was at least a couple of years older than I was didn't help a bit.

"What would you like me to evaluate for you, ma'am?"

"Where is the Office of the Chair of Archaeology?"

"Ma'am?"

Jigsaw was understandably puzzled, but I didn't want to have to explain my half-formed plan. Fortunately for me, being a princess also meant that most ponies would gladly respond to any request, no matter how odd. She led me to the office, which was unoccupied at that late hour. "Can you scan a wide area with your spell?" I asked when we had entered the room.

"Mm... not very wide, ma'am. About this size," she indicated a roughly pony-sized area with her hoof.

I nodded. "I would like you to scan the room, beginning with the desk. Look for items that are about two centuries old. Stop and point them out to me when you detect any."

She was a fairly bright mare and realized pretty quickly that we were on some sort of treasure hunt. I would have bet my crown that she had read the Daring Do novels and secretly wished that real archaeology was more like what was depicted in the books. She couldn't suppress a grin as she happily chirped, "Yes, ma'am!"

Unsurprisingly, in an office belonging to the head of the Archaeology Department, there were several two-hundred-year-old knick-knacks lying around, but nothing I was interested in at first. Then we hit the jackpot.

"There's something on that shelf," Jigsaw announced, pointing.

"One of the books?"

"Mm... no. Perhaps there's something behind them." She had gotten so enthralled with the search that she had been forgetting to add "ma'am" to every sentence. Thankfully.

I levitated the books off the shelf and set the stack down on the desk.

"Nothing. I'm sorry, but I thought—" she began.

"No, you were right!" I almost stomped my hooves in glee. "You see that horseshoe mark on the back of the shelf? Push it, and it'll open a secret compartment."

"Really?"

I nodded. "It seems like almost every library I've been in has at least one of them." I gestured to the shelf with my horn. "Would you like to do the honors?"

Her grin went so wide it nearly met at the back of her neck. "Yes, ma'am!" Her horn lit briefly, there was a click from the shelf, and the panel rose up to reveal a large wooden scroll tube, heavy with dust.

We exchanged looks of victory and anticipation as I cleared the dust off of the tube and floated it over to the desk. My assistant closed the secret panel and returned the books to the shelf to make room.

The tube was unmarked, except for a small carving on one end, a torch crossed with a quill. "Yes!" I actually did do a little stomp of joy then. "That's Sharphoof's cutie-mark."

"You're kidding me! Oh... I mean... forgive me Your Highness... but how do you know all this?"

I was just about to give her a brief explanation when something else popped into my mind, one of my favorite lines from Daring Do and the Griffin's Goblet. I flashed her what I hoped was a dashing grin and said, "I'm just that good!"

Wow! I certainly hadn't expected such a reaction from her. She gaped at me, speechless, while a rather pretty blush blossomed on her cheeks. Definitely a fan-filly! I was going to have to get her an autographed copy of the new book as a thank-you gift when it came out.

I lifted the tube and slowly twisted off the cap. Inside was a large roll of paper. I gently probed it to determine how fragile it was. It seemed in good condition. I used a trick that one of my first teachers at Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns had taught me for handling possibly delicate scrolls, holding the paper still while pulling on the tube with a very slight twisting motion. The scroll came free and I put it down on the desk, setting the tube aside. "Now, I just need to do a little conservation spell to make sure it doesn't crack when we unroll it..." I caught my tongue in my teeth at the corner of my mouth as I concentrated on convincing the fibers of the paper that they were just as supple as they had been when they were put into the tube a couple of centuries ago.

The heavy paper settled and began to unroll of its own accord. I helped it along and it revealed a detailed map of a quality to rival the illustrations in Sharphoof's journal. "Gotcha!" I whispered in triumph. Yes, that's another of Daring Do's catch-phrases, usually reserved for when she acquires whatever rare doo-dad is the culmination of her adventure. That's another good thing about being a princess: nobody but close friends will call you a geek for stuff like that.

The pony who had drawn the map had been meticulous. It had a very detailed key and was clearly labeled. "Crook-Tail Canyon Ruins and Environs," Jigsaw read over my shoulder, "Third Badlands Expedition." She looked over at me in confusion. "But... the Badlands are one of my focused areas of study, and I know that there aren't any ruins there by that name."

"No recorded ruins," I corrected her. "I think somepony's trying to hide something." I took the copy of the first volume of the expedition's journal that I had borrowed from the college's library out of my saddlebag and flipped to the last page. "Although the expedition did not find any signs of ancient habitation," I read, "we did uncover some evidence of old trade routes which may be of some use in future explorations. —Professor Sharphoof, Expedition Leader."

I felt Jigsaws's magic take hold of the page and turn it to the previous entry. "No summation. That's very unusual. And..." She flipped the page back, squinting closely at the writing. "I think that's different quillwork."

I hadn't told her about the second volume. I was reluctant to let anypony know about its existence. But it seemed she might not need to be told.

She turned to me with a thoughtful expression. "Ma'am, this journal was used to the very last page. Combined with the other irregularities, it may mean—"

"Yes," I said, nodding, "There is a second volume. That last entry was obviously intended to hide that fact. Very impressive deduction, by the way." I fully intended to write a letter of commendation to the mare's superiors in the morning. But meanwhile...

Jigsaw's expression turned from glowing pleasure to dismay as I rolled up the map and began to put everything into my saddlebags. "Ma'am... shouldn't we—"

"You've been very helpful, Jigsaw," I said as I fastened the flaps of my bags. "I think I have enough information to continue my research."

She just gaped at me.

"Thank you very much," I said, with a little nod of my head indicating that she should open the office door so that we could leave.

"But... but..."

I could have just winked out and appeared back in my chambers, but that would have been pretty rude, and Celestia's "Graciousness is Never the Wrong Choice" lesson[1] prodded at me. "Would you be so kind as to escort me off the university grounds? We can chat as we walk."

[1] Celestia's guidance after my ascension was never that structured, of course, but that is how I like to mentally organize things.

Jigsaw gave me a full, formal bow and opened the door, without replying. It made me deeply uncomfortable. I could sympathize with her. Her name and cutie-mark (three mismatched puzzle pieces) meant that her special talent almost certainly was putting together disorganized information—solving puzzles, in other words. And I had just offered her a glimpse of a fantastic mystery. She had to be aching to get her hooves on it. But the drawing that had triggered my investigation—no, that was something I wasn't willing to share with anypony until I knew what it meant. (And, quite possibly, not even after that.)

I felt horrible for excluding her, but she was so respectful and deferential to me, the least of Equestria's royalty, that I could only imagine the mental melt-down she would undergo if she saw the vile depiction of Celestia.

= = =

My investigation into Sharphoof didn't go much of anywhere. The reference librarian from the archives had gotten me every bit of information available and it didn't even amount to a stack as high as my hoof. Sharphoof the Archaeologist had been a fairly ordinary pony in the field. She had made no major discoveries but still contributed substantially to the wealth of general knowledge about Equestria's past. Her major strength seemed to be that she got along well with just about everypony. Her elevation to the Chair of Archaeology seemed to be because she was less disliked than the other candidates, rather than any personal merit.

Sharphoof the Rebel was a different matter. Less than fifty years after her death, there was a strong faction among the chroniclers that claimed she was an entirely different pony than the academic, but the dates lined up just too well. I was certain that Sharphoof had gone into the desert a respectable researcher and teacher and had come back a wide-eyed fanatic, determined to overthrow Princess Celestia by any means. Details of the brief (very brief) rebellion were almost non-existent. Sharphoof's reasoning and grievances were recorded exactly nowhere—as was her fate.

That was all.

I sighed and closed the last book. The only clues I had left were the journal and a few cryptic notes on the map. The map was on too large a scale to give the location of the ruins in relation to the surrounding wasteland, but it did have a very detailed layout of the buildings themselves. Most intriguingly, it had a building near the center that was labeled Library- very well preserved, many masterful reliefs. And after that line, a tiny sun had been added in red ink.

I went back to the journal and re-examined the illustration of the Celestia bas-relief with a magnifying lens. As I'd noticed before, there was an incredible amount of detail. So much that, with the aid of the glass, I was able to see that what I had thought was a mere decorative ribbon actually carried lines of text.

Above her, partially entwined with her mane, it read: Celestia, Majestie of the Sun, doth guide her little ponies, step by step, that none shall falter, nor go astray. "Hmn... that doesn't seem very sinister."

"Huh? What was that, Twilight?"

I hadn't realized that I'd spoken aloud. "Sorry, Spike. I'm just doing a little..."

"Research?" he grumbled. "Gee, what a surprise!"

I whapped him with a pillow. He pulled it over his head (and ears) and went back to sleep.

The section of ribbon that wound around Celestia's legs read: Brightest lights oft cast deepest shadows, but the suns shall discover the truth. Now that was a bit more in keeping with the subtly twisted imagery. But the last bit—when ponies used the sun as a metaphor for Celestia, they usually capitalized it. And plural "suns?" That didn't make much sense.

I sighed again. I just wasn't well-versed enough in the time period or the culture of the Badlands ponies. I needed an expert. I needed Jigsaw.

= = =

=

Author's Note

4 Surprises

Chapter Four
Surprises

The first part of our journey in the true wasteland began south of the end of the rail line in Dodge Junction. It was territory that was actually familiar to me. We crossed a steep, crumbling ridge of rock early one morning and caught a hot breeze from the plains below.

"Oh my goodness!" cried Jigsaw. "What is that awful smell?"

"The gate to the underworld," I told her.

She looked back at me with a weird expression. "You're not kidding, are you?"

"No, not at all!" I smiled. "And if you think it's bad now, you wouldn't believe what it's like close up! Without magical protection, the fumes could knock you out. Really. I saw birds drop right out of the sky! Fortunately, we're not heading in that direction."

"So..." Jigsaw hesitated and cleared her throat. "When were you near the gates to the underworld?"

I chuckled. "I actually had to go all the way down to the mouth of Tartarus to get Cerberus chained up again. It's kind of a funny story..." I told her all about my little misadventure with the time spell, and she listened very attentively, but kept giving me these weird looks.

"And you did this alone," she said once I had finished. "Before your ascension, when you were just a unicorn like me?"

"Yes," I replied. "All my friends were busy trying to disaster-proof the rest of the kingdom."

"I remember that," Jigsaw said thoughtfully. "The dean had us locking up the more 'interesting' volumes in the library, and the Theoretical Magic department had to suspend all upper-level demonstrations and experiments for a week."

I gave her a sheepish smile. "All my fault, I'm afraid."

She was quiet for a long while after that. I supposed she had been terribly inconvenienced by my little freak out, and now that she had somepony to blame it on, she was a little miffed. I didn't blame her.

When we had gotten beyond the range of the stench of the underworld (or the wind had shifted in our favor), we stopped for lunch. Jigsaw was still a bit subdued, but at least she was talking to me again. I wish I was better at reading subtle body language. It seemed to me that she was being—shy? Embarrassed? That couldn't be right.

I used a bit of magic to summon up some fresh watercress sandwiches, which I knew she liked, as a sort of apology.

She smiled at me and said, "Thank you, Princess."

"Hey," I said. "We're on an adventure here! No need for formalities."

"I know," she replied. "But I can still call you 'Princess' when I feel like it." She took a bite of her sandwich and made an appreciative mmmm. She swallowed and said, "And right now I feel like showing a little respect, okay?"

I shrugged. "Uhmn... sure." I was so confused. So, I started in on my own meal. Sandwiches are simple and immediately understandable.

= = =

Toward evening, we came across a few huts at the base of a towering rock spire. A number of wary burros watched our approach.

Once they had satisfied themselves that we were no threat, they welcomed us, and offered us a place to stay for the night.

They weren't really organized enough to have an official mayor, but there was one of their number named Oatman that most of them seemed to defer to. I invited him to share our supper with us, and he took us to a mesquite wood ramada overlooking an arroyo. There were several rugs spread out beneath the woven roof, and a low table where we could set out our food.

Over the meal, I asked him if he could give us advice on how to proceed or possibly guide us for part of our journey.

Oatman made the strangest faces when he was thinking hard. He studied my map carefully while he sucked air through his teeth. "Yeh don't wanna go there," he said, tapping the paper with a hoof. "Big ol' dragon lives up inna cave right 'bout there."

"I'm afraid we have to," I told him. "Where, exactly, is this dragon's cave? Is it hard to get to?"

He gave me a long look before he replied. "Lemme see if I unnerstand yeh," he said. "Yeh wanna know whar th' dragon lives, yah?"

"Yes, that's right."

"An that's 'cause yeh want to make shur ta avoid 'im, yah?"

"Oh, no, no! We want to talk with him! If he lives near the ruins, he might have valuable information for us," I clarified.

Oatman turned to Jigsaw. "Is this here filly right in th' head? Dragons ain't much fer talkin'. They's more inclined to roast and eat folk who come a-knockin' at their doors. I'd hate to see such fine ladies as yerselves get all et up." He winked at her while making a little clucking sound out of the corner of his mouth.

Oatman had been very helpful to us, but I was a bit put off by his flirting by way of expressing concern for two young mares wandering alone out in the big bad desert. I decided it was time for a little demonstration. "Do you see that boulder down there?" I pointed at a big chunk of sandstone in the arroyo below us.

"Yah," he looked at me skeptically. "Yeh ain't tellin' me a sweet little thing like you kin' lift that big ol' rock with yer magic, are yeh? Thing must weigh a couple hunnert tons, at least!"

I didn't even bother to look at the boulder as I lifted it, spun it around a few times, and put it back down. It was much better watching the expression on Oatman's face. "Well, I'll be a mule's uncle! Heh... come to think on it, I am a mule's uncle!"

Before he could imply how much he'd like to be a mule's daddy, I snapped my head around and hit the boulder with a full-power blast of magic. I was cheating a little because I had noticed when I picked it up that the bottom was damp from where it had been buried in the sand of the arroyo. I aimed my blast right at that spot and got more bang for my bit from the resulting steam explosion.

It took all my willpower to maintain my imitation of Celestia's Serene at All Costs expression in the face of Oatman's utter shock and amazement. I raised a shield over the ramada to fend off the gravel and hoof-sized chunks of stone that began to rain down and said, "The dragon won't be a problem. Now, where, exactly, is he?"

= = =

I was very disappointed when it became apparent that the dragon had decided to kill me. It was depressing to recall how seldom logic had worked when negotiating with various creatures during my journey. I had explained that we would only be in his territory for a brief while, that I needed just a bit of information about the old ruins to the south, and that I would provide the dragon with several superb emeralds for its cooperation. Both parties would benefit from the transaction.

The dragon heard me out, smiled, and took in a deep breath preparatory to roasting me alive.

I sighed and slammed the dragon's head against the roof of the cave with a burst of telekinetic magic. Blue fire and a howl of pain burst out of the dragon's serrated jaws and curled harmlessly around the stalactites. He snarled and swung a blow at me with a massive foreclaw.

I shook my head sadly as my shield spell stopped the blow several body lengths away from where I stood. "All right. If you don't want to be sensible, let me put it this way." I'm ashamed to admit that I actually got a fair bit of pleasure out of the next few moments of bouncing the dragon around the inside of its cave like a pebble in a vigorously shaken jar. It wasn't because I enjoyed causing harm, even to a pony-eating monster, but because it took a fair bit of precision to inflict a suitable amount of violence without causing any lasting damage. I always love getting practice in practical applications of my magic.

When the dragon regained consciousness, it found me laying on its snout, forelegs casually crossed, wings neatly folded, with a look of mild sympathy on my face. "Now that I've explained things properly, do you think we can come to a peaceful agreement? Don't nod."

I tried not to chuckle at the expressions that flashed across the dragon's face. It wasn't just because the cross-eyed puzzlement, doubt, and confusion were funny-looking on a gigantic predator, but the twitches and ripples of muscle in the dragon's snout beneath me tickled a bit.

"Okay," the dragon finally said as softly as it could manage. "But... uhm... do I still get to keep the emeralds?"

"Of course!" I levitated the gems out of my left saddlebag and set them down in front of me. The dragon's eyes crossed even further. I lifted a large scroll out of the other bag and unrolled it. "I need to find a very old library. Now, let me show you this map..."

= = =

Jigsaw peered up over the boulder outside the cave where she had taken cover during my "discussion" with the dragon, her eyes wide. "Holy Stars, Twilight! You smacked him around like he was just a misbehaving puppy!"

"What?" I feigned shock. "Jigsaw, I'll have you know that I would never mistreat a poor dog like that!"

That got a giggle out of her. "What about a post-grad? I hear your reviews can be pretty rough, sometimes."

"That's different. I'm preparing them for the savage world of academia."

Jigsaw chuckled. "That's so kind of you. No wonder all the students call you 'best princess, ever!'"

I almost fell for it. But of course they didn't. It was obvious, and not just because I had once overheard some Magical Theory majors calling me 'Nightmare Twilight', either. I settled on a derisive snort for my reply.

We followed the steep trail back down the edge of the mesa, away from the dragon's cave, until we reached a switchback that overlooked the broad alluvial fan to the south. The sun was getting low in the sky, casting long shadows across the desert. I lifted a spyglass out of my bags and scanned the horizon. "I think I can see the edge of the canyon. Just to the left of that little spire of rock. That's where the dragon said the ruins would be." I passed the glass to Jigsaw while recording the compass heading and estimated distance in my notebook.

Jigsaw lowered the glass and turned to me. "Are you going up for some reconnaissance? I'll meet you at the bottom of the mesa."

I shook my head. "Too late in the day. The bottom of the canyon will be in deep shadow by now." I wasn't exactly telling the truth. I didn't want to do a fly-over because I felt a strong reluctance. I wasn't really sure I wanted to get where we were headed. I still hadn't told Jigsaw about the depiction of Celestia I had discovered. I knew I should tell her, but somehow I kept putting it off. "Besides, I'll stand out there, lit up by the sun when most of the landscape is falling into shadow. No sense in attracting attention, right? Lot of things out there that are worse than our scaly friend in the cave." I gave her what I am sure was a sickly grin. "Right?"

She hesitated a second before replying, "Right." Then she slowly turned away and we resumed the descent.

Big, brave, dragon-bashing princess, that's me. Scared of a picture in a book.

= = =

The next day was uneventful, and Jigsaw and I mostly passed the time with Canterlot gossip and archaeology stories. In the evening, we made camp on a little rise above a spring where willows and cottonwoods grew around a tiny pond of clear water.

In the morning, Jigsaw took our canteens down to the oasis pool to fill them while I scanned the desert with my spyglass. The landscape was completely lifeless for miles around. That's the nice thing about a big, empty desert, I told myself: It's really hard for things to sneak up on you. Not like the Everfree, where there could be who-knows-what around every bend in the path.[1]

[1] By the way, these thoughts had nothing to do with the timing of the subsequent attack. That's pure superstition.

Since we had visited the dragon's cave, I had come up with another half-dozen plausible reasons for not taking to the air, though I did fly us up out of the box canyon we had wandered into. Even dragging my hooves, it was only going to take another day or so to reach the ruins. I sighed. Ferreting out knowledge was what I was all about. Why did I think I could change the outcome by delaying? I sighed again, put the glass away, and went to help Jigsaw. And that's when the monsters attacked.

The first one erupted out of the wet sand in front of Jigsaw and grabbed her with its huge, bony talons. She was still sucking in breath for a scream when I hit the thing in the head with both forehooves. I hadn't even thought before lunging at it, flapping with all my strength to increase my speed. Its head snapped back, giving me a way too close view of its shark-like maw, and it released Jigsaw, who fell to the sand with a heavy thump and a gasp.

I heard, rather than saw, the second creature as it burst out of the water behind me. I bucked instinctively and felt my hooves skitter off something hard and thin, most likely a reaching claw.

Jigsaw yelled as the first bunyip recovered and tried to grab her again. The thing looked like a cross between a giant crab and a shark—only uglier. We were in a very bad position—and the best thing to do when in a bad position is leave.

I jumped on Jigsaw, wrapping my fore-hooves around her barrel, and flapped hard. We shot straight up as the claws of the creatures ripped through the air below us. I took a quick look around and spotted a large spire of rock a short distance away. I angled my wings and slid down through the air until we gently touched down on its flat top.

"Are you okay?" I asked Jigsaw.

She winced and took a deep, shuddering breath. "Yeah, I... ah, ouch!"

"What's wrong? Are you hurt? Let me see!"

"It's okay, Twilight, really. I'm just scraped up a bit." She took another deep breath and winced again. "I think my ribs are going to be sore for a while, though. Holy stars, you're strong!"

I groaned and smacked myself in the forehead. I'd probably hurt her worse than the monster! "The earth pony part of me," I explained, lamely. "I'm not quite used to it yet. I'm really sorry, Jigsaw! I should have just teleported us away from there when the first monster let go of you. I don't know what I was thinking!"

She shook her head. "You got us out of there in one piece! I'm the one who messed up. I walked right into a perfect bunyip ambush spot. Things have been going so well up until now that I got careless. We should have stuck to small, rocky waterholes."

"I read the same books that you did. I should have realized it, too."

"Yeah, but I'm the one who—"

"Okay, I'm pulling rank, Jigsaw! I'm the princess, and I say I'm the one who's to blame!"

She stood there for a second, with her mouth open, and then snapped it shut. "Okay, then."

"Good." I nodded.

"Right." She nodded.

"I'm glad that's settled."

"Oh, it isn't settled yet, Princess."

"What?!"

"I'm keeping the expedition journal." She smirked at me. "So I get to write this up. You're going to be a hero whether you like it or not."

We stood there glaring at each other for about a second and then we began to laugh. We laughed until tears streamed down our faces. We laughed until we both collapsed. The bunyips peered up at us from far below. They must have thought we were crazy.

= = =

I rubbed some healing salve I had gotten from Zecora on Jigsaw's ribs when we made camp for the night after the bunyip attack, on solid rock and far from the nearest water hole. I expected her to protest, but she let me make a fuss over her without comment. In fact, she didn't say a word.

Then, as I was laying out my bedroll across the fire from where she lay, she spoke up.

"Twilight?"

There was something in her tone of voice, a plaintiveness that surprised me. "Yes, Jigsaw?"

"Could I... I mean... Would you mind if I..."

I waited for her to go on, but when she kept silent, I asked, "What is it?"

She shook her head. "Never mind."

That made me even more concerned. I stood and walked around the fire to her. She turned her head away and said, "No, really... I'm fine."

I reached out and lay a wingtip across her withers. She was trembling. "Jigsaw!"

"It's... it's just a delayed reaction. I'm a grown mare..."

Yep, that's me: Princess Clueless Sparkle. I'd become so inured to horrific evil in the last few years that I hadn't even considered how Jigsaw must have felt about the bunyip attack. She'd probably never been in mortal peril before in her life.

I brought my bedroll around the fire and smoothed it out next to hers. Then I lay down next to her and wrapped my wing around her. She leaned against me, still shivering occasionally.

"I still have nightmares about the Tirek thing, sometimes," I told her.

"Really?"

"Really." I pressed my head against her neck and stroked her back with my wing as I whispered into her ear. "But I've got a secret weapon to keep the bad guys away: Friends. Friends who will watch my back, friends who will listen when I'm concerned, and friends who will just be there when I need them to be."

I held her until she stopped shivering and her breathing slowed and deepened, and then I was able to sleep, too.

= = =

All day, I had been feeling like somepony was watching us. I even flew a search spiral around the place we had chosen to stop for lunch. Cactus and coyotes—not much else.

"Everything okay, Twilight?" asked Jigsaw as I landed.

"Well, I didn't see anything out of the ordinary," I replied. "Except that the canyon is very near now. We should get to the edge by nightfall." I frowned and dug the tip of my hoof into the sand. "But I still can't seem to shake this feeling that there's something out there."

"We're almost to the ruins. It's probably just nerves."

I grinned. Jigsaw was getting to know me pretty well. "Probably," I agreed.

"So," she stood up and levitated the lunch things back into her pack. "Let me excuse myself for a moment, and then we should hoof it! Best thing for nervousness is to get it over with."

I had to agree with her. I took care of my own business and then we struck out on the final leg of our journey.

= = =

The Daring Do books skip right over the hours and hours of just putting one hoof after the other, which comprise the largest part of any adventure. It seems like a very sensible thing to do.

= = =

The canyon was pretty impressive. It was deep and twisty and had lots of spires and side rifts: very picturesque. On top of one very large, isolated mesa in the loop of a very large meander of the canyon was the ruined city. It had been built out of local stone and looked almost as if it had grown out of the rock. It would be a short flight across the canyon to reach it. I could even teleport us both across with minimal effort.

Jigsaw stood close by my side, saying nothing. She hadn't said much since lunch, content to just trot along behind me. "Well," I said. "Why don't we get a good night's sleep and start fresh in the morning?"

She gave me a brilliant smile. "That sounds nice."

I made a fire and put the tea kettle on while Jigsaw laid out our bedrolls. I still had the weird feeling that had been plaguing me all day, so I swept the desert behind us with the best detection spell I knew.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

We ate our dinner, and only then, I noticed that Jigsaw had set out our blankets right next to each other. I wasn't sure what to say. Or if I should say anything. I delayed a bit, cleaning and stowing the dishes. Jigsaw went to her blanket and lay down, watching me. When I'd finished, she smiled at me again, and patted the blanket next to her.

I usually read a bit before going to sleep, so I carried a small book over with me, lay down, and opened it to my bookmark. Jigsaw shifted over until she was pressed against my side and then lay her head across my neck.

"Uhmn... are you okay, Jigsaw?" I asked, more than a bit confused by her actions.

"Mm-hm." She sighed. "As long as I'm next to you, Princess."

Oh. Oh, no.

I set my book aside. "Jigsaw..." I hesitated. What could I say? How had I given her such a wrong impression? What should I do? Should I do anything?

"Yes, Your Majesty?" She shifted her head and began to gently nibble behind my ear.

"I... uh..." I think I was on the edge of panic. "Don't... don't call me that."

She moved again, and her soft lips began to work down along my jaw line. "But, why not? You are majestic. So beautiful, so strong."

Okay, full-blown panic mode. What had I done? What had I said? It had to be my fault somehow. Why else would she suddenly act so—

Oh. Lovey-dovey. Yeah.

I pushed her head away and locked eyes with her. "You know I like being called 'mistress.'"

There it was: a split-second of surprise. Just a flash of uncertainty, and then a slow, seductive smile. "Of course, mistress. How can I serve you?"

I grabbed all four of her hooves and hauled her up into the air in front of me. She gasped in shock and I'm sure she could feel my anger at that point, but she made one last try, anyway. "Oh, mistress! Please be gentle with—"

"Shut up!" I gave her a shake and then hit her with a short blast from my horn. Her disguise peeled away from the black chitin underneath, revealing her true form. "Where is she? Did you hurt her? Tell me!"

The changeling struggled in my grasp, her wings buzzing and her fanged mouth snapping. "Let me go! I can call the swarm and they will—"

"Call them," I hissed. "Bring them here and I will burn them from the sky!" I had to stop and close my eyes for a second. The rush of adrenaline had me shaking and nauseous. I took a deep breath and continued, "You have just one chance to survive the next few seconds, and that is to tell me where Jigsaw is, right now!"

The bug believed me. Which was very good for both of us. "Alright, alright!" she gasped, "I'll tell you, if you promise to let me go."

"If you tell me where she is," I said in a cold, shaking rage, "and she is unharmed, I will let you go free. I give you my word as a princess of Equestria."

"How do I know you will—"

I lifted a hoof-sized rock up next to her head and poured energy into it until it became molten. The changeling cringed away from the heat. "You don't have any choice," I snarled.

= = =

Jigsaw threw her hooves around my neck, still covered in green goo from the cocoon she had been trapped in. "Thank you, Twilight, thank you! I was so scared!" She had been trapped since noon when the changeling had caught her alone, just after lunch.

I stroked her mane, not caring at all that I was being covered in noisome slime. "It's okay, Jigsaw. You're safe now."

"You promised to release me!" the still-bound changeling called from behind me.

Jigsaw flinched away from the creature. I turned around slowly, and the changeling flinched away from me.

"You... you promised!" she whined.

I began to slowly pace towards her.

"No! No, please!" she cried.

= = =

=

5 Into the Ruins

Chapter Five
Into the Ruins

"You were pretty hard on that changeling, Twilight," Jigsaw said, her voice heavily laden with sarcasm.

We were back at the camp above the canyon. (A known location gave me a reliable teleport target, and though it took quite a bit of energy to cover the distance, I thought it was worth it.) I was heating a third kettle of water to finish off the job of getting the disgusting green goop out of our hair.

"As I said, I gave my word that I wouldn't hurt her," I reminded Jigsaw.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe she would have preferred a few broken limbs to a stern talking-to and being sent home with a note for her mother!" Jigsaw tossed the dirty cloth she had been using to clean herself with quite a bit more force than was necessary. "Still, she really thought you were going to stomp on her for a second there. That's something."

I sighed. I could understand Jigsaw's anger. I could understand it because my own had been on a rather volcanic scale. But I wasn't just anypony anymore. I was a princess of Equestria, and that meant I had to think of the benefit to all ponies, and not just how good it would have been to feel that disgusting parasite's chitin cracking under my hooves.

"Her 'mother' is the queen of the changelings, and the 'note' is a diplomatic communication."

"So you said." Jigsaw didn't look up as she spoke. "An official protest. My, how that must have stung."

I was getting a little bit angry myself at that point. "Look, I know how frightened you must have been, and I understand that you wanted revenge on that thing, but..."

While I was talking, Jigsaw walked around the fire and looked down to where our two bedrolls lay side-by-side. She glanced up at me, but when she saw that I was looking at her, she turned her head, avoiding my gaze. She lifted her blankets, moved them to the other side of the fire, then lay down on them.

Like stepping out of a nice, hot sauna into a cold pool, I went, shockingly, from anger to deep embarrassment. I wasn't even sure exactly why. Talking didn't seem to be doing any good, so I decided to try not talking. I finished cleaning myself, put up a small shield over the camp, wrapped myself in my own bedroll, and pretended to sleep.

= = =

"Twilight!"

I must have fallen asleep at some point, or I wouldn't have been capable of being rudely awakened. "What? What?" I jumped up, scattering my blankets, and looking wildly around for signs of imminent peril.

The sun was fairly well up in the sky, and Jigsaw was shaking a piece of paper in my face. I snapped into action with an immediate assessment of the situation.[1]

[1] I blinked and said, "Huh?"

"This..." Jigsaw kept waving the piece of paper, so I couldn't really see what it was. "This is a copy of the note you sent with the changeling?"

I gave up trying to focus on the paper. "Well, of course I made a copy. It's an official document, after all."

Jigsaw sat down with a thump. She released the paper, and I caught it in my magic before it had a chance to blow away. She lowered her head until her muzzle was nearly touching her chest and mumbled, "I'm sorry."

"What? No... Jigsaw, you have nothing to be sorry about! You're not used to..." I waved a hoof around in a vague gesture. "All this. Monsters, travel... stupid princess stuff. I never used to understand when Celestia did something I thought was illogical, or just plain dumb, in the name of politics. So when I let that monster go, you had to be thinking that I was crazy. And on top of that, sending a note? I can see how you..."

"Oh, stop it, Twilight!" Jigsaw looked up and I could see she was on the verge of tears. "You trusted Celestia, didn't you? Even when you didn't understand. But I didn't trust you. That note was probably one of the sweetest things anyone has ever done for me! I can't believe I was angry at you for not killing an intelligent creature... even if it was an overgrown tick."

"I... wait... you think the note was sweet?" I looked down at what I had written and couldn't find any sweetness in it:

Unto HRM Queen Chrysalis of the Changeling Swarm, greetings from HSH Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria.

Your Majesty,

Since the late unpleasantness in Canterlot, it has been assumed that yourself and your subjects would be sufficiently wise enough to realize that choosing ponies as a focus of your attentions would be a very bad idea. But, as of tonight, I now have direct and personal evidence that this is not the case.

Thus, if I may be so bold, I wish to explicitly inform Your Majesty that to target any ponies in future would be very unwise, indeed. As the pony who has defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord, among many others, and who has grown stronger by an order of magnitude since we last met, I will take a very personal interest in seeking direct retribution for any further such incidents.

And (you will forgive me if I put too fine a point on the matter), if your subject had injured the pony she attacked tonight in any significant way, I would have ripped open your festering hive, and done such unspeakable things to your Royal person, that all civilized beings would spit on the ground in utter disgust and horror at the mention of my name, for generations to come.

I earnestly hope that this missive will completely clarify the matter, and that there will be cordial relations between our peoples in future.

Yours, Absolutely Sincerely,
Princess Twilight Sparkle

Jigsaw sniffed and wiped a hoof across her eyes. "Yes, it was sweet." Then she gave me a wan smile. "For a given value of 'sweet.'"

Ah, math-related jokes. I guessed she was going to be alright. "Well, I still feel like I should apologize," I told her. "For something."

She nodded. "And I know I need to apologize for being pointlessly angry and jealous about the whole thing."

"Then why don't we just take the exchange of apologies as a given, and get on with our expedition? We're getting a pretty late start as it is."

Her equipment and supplies rose from the ground and began sorting into the various pockets of her saddlebags. "Sounds good to me!"

Wait—jealous?

= = =

We appeared in a small plaza near the edge of the ruins. We had examined it from the opposite rim of the canyon with my spyglass and a detection spell, and it had seemed to be perfectly safe as a point for materialization. It was a bit small, and the tumbled buildings around it gave cover for creatures that I might have missed with my detection spell, but it was the best place to teleport to, given all the variables.

As we emerged from the interstitial void, I guided the corona of dissipating magical energy into a shield spell around us, thereby saving a considerable amount of energy, and giving us near-instant protection.

"That's a neat trick." Jigsaw commented.

"Thank you!" I beamed. "Now, let's take a closer look at these buildings."

"But, shouldn't we head right for the library? We've wasted half the morning as it is."

"Just go charging in, and trust to our reflexes to save us from traps and ambushes?"

"Uhmn..." Jigsaw hesitated. "You do know that there are nowhere near so many traps and such in real ruins, right? A. K. Yearling tends to... exaggerate."

"Of course! But I like being thorough and meticulous." I gave her a slow grin. "Besides, wouldn't you feel silly if we ran into ceiling alligators?"

She couldn't help but smile back, but she waved a hoof at the surrounding half-walls and rubble. "No ceilings," she remarked, dryly.

"Fine." I sighed, and dropped the shield.

Jigsaw held up the map and turned it to match orientation with the ruins. I never understood why ponies do that, by the way. "The library is that way. But it looks like the easiest route will be down that street."

I swept one wing out in that direction. "Lead the way."

I kept a little behind Jigsaw, scanning the ruins with brief bursts of magic. There were a few small creatures scuttling around, but nothing more than that. I had time to admire the intricate carvings on the stones, mostly abstract and decorative, but every once and a while I spotted a fragment of a figurative relief. Once, I saw a full sculpture of a unicorn's head, though the slab it adorned had fallen over and was upside down.

"Twilight," Jigsaw said, after we had been walking for about ten minutes.

"Yes?"

"This place is a lot bigger than I had thought from studying the map. How many ponies do you suppose lived here?"

I did some quick mental calculations. "Well, given the apparent density of the housing we've observed so far, and assuming it's typical of the rest of the city, I would estimate between four and five thousand. Why?"

"Well..." She looked back at me uncertainly. "There are some things about this place that seem odd."

"How so?"

"Professor Sharphoof dates this place to the Early Classical Era, and everything I've seen here supports that. Which means that there would have been a U/A ratio of about one to five."

"Sorry," I told her. "I'm not really an archaeologist, I just own a pith helmet."

"Urban-to-Agrarian ratio," she explained. "That means how many farmers are needed to support one town-dweller. In the ECE, it was about five farmers to every town dweller, so..." She looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

"Roughly twenty-five thousand farm ponies were needed to feed the ponies in this city." It wasn't until after I'd said it out loud that I realized why that was so strange. "And they would have to be..." I waved my hoof at the barren desert beyond the canyon rim. Okay, earth ponies were great at getting stuff to grow in harsh conditions (e.g., Appleoosa), but that was ridiculous!

Jigsaw nodded. "Exactly. Okay, maybe there are some eighty-odd villages out there buried in the sand, but even if this area was a lot wetter, they would still have to cover a really large area to grow enough food. Something should still be visible!"

"That is odd."

"And there's another thing." She swept a hoof at the walls around us. "Have you noticed the carvings?"

"Yes. They seem very skillfully done."

"Unicorns."

"Uhmn... yes?" There was something I'd missed. What a strange feeling!

"They're all unicorns! Every carving that features a pony has a horn."

"Oh! You're right." I shrugged. "That is a little odd, but lots of cities have a predominance of one type of pony, so perhaps..."

"No, no no!" Jigsaw interrupted me, shifting into full lecture-mode. (It was actually quite charming.) "In the ECE they were obsessive about being egalitarian. With the tribes having united within living memory, everypony was trying to out-do each other to show how un-bigoted they were! If they put up a statue of a famous unicorn, there would be a pegasus and an earth pony right next to it. A mural or mosaic that depicted a crowd scene would have exactly the same number of ponies from each tribe. Trust me on this, Twilight: This isn't just odd, it's downright bizarre!"

Then it hit me. Yes, I'm a polymath, an expert in many fields, most particularly magic and magical theory. I also have a working knowledge of an even larger number of disciplines. But that doesn't mean I am familiar with all the endeavors of ponykind, nor do I have an aptitude for a great number of things. And, thanks to a very dear friend of mine, I am painfully aware that among the things I am terrible at, art may be at the top of the list.

= = =

"Oh, no!" Rarity gasped. "Dear, don't clump up the bunting like that! Here, let me..." She took the streamers out of my grasp and began to re-arrange them along the sides of the hall.

I had volunteered to help her decorate the hall in my castle where she was holding a get-together (she called it a soirée) with some of her important clients.

I couldn't see much difference in the arrangement, but it was her party. I turned to the flowers and began setting out the vases on the tables. There was a little, half-suppressed squeak from behind me. I turned to see Rarity biting her lower lip.

She had been very patient with me. She carefully explained to me about the "three-level" effect, and then I got it wrong by putting the candles in ascending order. (Isn't that the most organized way?) But I had to give up and admit defeat when she looked over at the way I had set out the first three vases on the end table (tallest in the center, and the lowest nearer the door) and said, "Oh, dear! No, no... those colors don't complement at all!"

She was so afraid I would be offended, but I just laughed it off and said, "Let's face it, Rarity, I'm aesthetically blind! I'll ask a couple of the palace staff to come down and help out."

= = =

So, even though I'd examined the illustration of the Celestia relief half a hundred times, I'd never noticed—

I yanked the book out of my saddlebags and flipped it open to the right page. Yes, Princess Artistically-Incompetent Twilight had missed the glaringly obvious: All the ponies were unicorns. There were some mules, cows, and even a couple of griffins mixed in, but not a single earth pony or pegasus. I groaned in embarrassment and dropped my forehead to the page, hiding my face.

"Uh... Twilight?" Jigsaw asked hesitantly. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes. No. I..." I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I suppose it's time I showed this to you. You're going to see it anyway, once we get to the library. It's just that it drives me to the edge of panic whenever I even think about it!"

Jigsaw walked toward me with a look of concern on her face. "Hey, it's okay. Is it those pages in the journal you didn't want me to look at?"

I nodded. "Yes, and I should have shown them to you earlier, I should have trusted you. Agh!" I stomped the ground in frustration, sending up a puff of dust. "I'm such a moron!"

Jigsaw chuckled. "What ever else you may be, Your Highness, you are most certainly not a moron! Besides..." The smile fell from her face, and she hesitated before continuing. "If it's the Tyrant Celestia picture you're worried about, I've already seen it. It's not that big a deal."

"You... you..." I sputtered.

"I went looking for the copy of the note this morning. I couldn't sleep and I just wanted... I don't know, I was just upset." Jigsaw lowered her head and turned a bit away from me. "The note was stuck in the book. At that page." Her head sunk even lower. "I'm sorry I disobeyed you."

I took a deep breath.

I took three deep breaths.

"It's alright, Jigsaw," I told her. "We're partners on this expedition and I should have trusted you from the start. I just didn't want this—" I thumped the book with a hoof. "—to get out. Celestia portrayed as evil? What would ponies think?" I considered her words for a moment. "But you said it's not a big deal. Why is that?"

"The Tyrant Celestia thing?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Well... it isn't that uncommon. I've seen dozens of them... Twilight? Twilight? Oh my goodness, are you alright?!"

= = =

=

6 Conspiracy Theories

6 Conspiracy Theories

Chapter Six
Conspiracy Theories

"Careful, it's still hot."

I nodded, blew across the top of the tin mug, then gently sipped. It was good tea.

Jigsaw sat back and gave me a thoughtful look. We were in the street, right where we had been when she had casually toppled one of the pillars of my world-view. She'd gotten me to stop hyperventilating, unpacked the kettle, pot, and mugs, lit a small fire, and had made me tea.

I drank half the mug before I trusted myself to speak. "So..." It came out as a half-strangled squeak. I cleared my throat and tried again. "So, there are other... depictions of Princess Celestia, like that one?" I pointed to the book that still lay open beside me.

"Yes," she replied cautiously. "They aren't well-known outside of archaeological and historical circles, of course. I can understand how you might not have encountered them before. I believe you specialized in Physics, Magical Theory, and Mathematics, right?"

"Yes, but I've also read History, and, believe me, there's nopony else I know who's as interested in the Royal Alicorns! Why did I never even get a hint of this?"

Jigsaw shrugged. "Probably because History, as Equestria knows it, is in shambles. It's a complete mess: Part legend, part folklore, part guesswork, and part unreliable documents written by ancient revisionists. Just in the time I've been in university, we've had a legendary boogeymare turn out to be real and a long-lost princess, had a mad trickster-god return to life from a statue, and had an entire forgotten empire pop up out of nowhere! Half the history books written before last year are complete garbage now."

I nodded in sympathy, thinking how upset I'd be if the rules of mathematics and magic changed every few years. "So, the depictions..." I couldn't bring myself to utter the words "tyrant" and "Celestia" in the same breath.

"They crop up in various places," Jigsaw said with a shrug. "Mostly where somepony or some group of ponies had a grievance that they blamed on the Princess, either for causing or for not alleviating. That said, it's pretty rare to find one carved into stone, particularly in a civic building like a library."

I thought of the Sun-in-Glory that had been painted on the ceiling of the Golden Oak Library in Ponyville. "What could be so bad that it would make ponies turn against the Princess?" I wondered aloud.

"How about that she and Discord were actually co-rulers of Equestria and she turned him into stone in a fit of jealous rage when she caught him in bed with Luna and a..."

"What?!"

"Whoa there, Twilight!" Jigsaw held up her fore hooves. "It's just one of the silly stories. A conspiracy theory that some ponies took a little too seriously."

"They'd have to be complete and utter idiots to believe such nonsense!"

Jigsaw shrugged. "It all happened more than a thousand years ago. Where's the evidence for or against?"

I was about to say that I knew Celestia, and that she would never do something so awful, when I stopped myself. Argument-by-assertion was for foals. I took a deep breath and gathered my thoughts.

"Such actions on the part of Princess Celestia would be extraordinarily out of keeping with her known character, and so would require extraordinary evidence to merit any consideration at all. Lack of any evidence is a definite strike against that theory."

"Wow." Jigsaw's eyes widened a bit. "I wish you had been around when I was cramming for my debate class!"

I grinned. "Professor Magnolia always said I could argue the wheels off a train."[1]

[1] Or, failing that, simply lecture it to death.

"Well..." She got to her hooves and grinned. "Now you've got a chance to disprove another conspiracy theory. But first, you've got to decrypt the mysterious code and figure out what it is that needs disproving!"

"Well, when you put it that way..." I got up and helped her put away the tea things.

She started off down the street toward the library, looked back over her shoulder, smiled mischievously, and called back to me, "C'mon! Adventure awaits!"

"Oh, so now, you're in charge?"

"I've got the map, and I'm out front! Try to keep up!" She stuck her tongue out at me. "Princess."

= = =

The library had an arched stone roof that was still intact. Protection from the weather plus the dry desert air had preserved the interior quite well. We lit our horns as we entered, and both looked up at the ceiling. I can't speak for Jigsaw, but my motivation was to check the apparent soundness of the stonework and to examine any decorative carvings. Alligators had nothing to do with it.

It nearly broke my heart to see the empty shelves lining the walls. What a wealth of knowledge must have rested there at one time! Just an account book from that long-ago era would have opened a window into their culture.

The building was in a rough Y shape with a central rotunda. It was in that large circular space that we found the bas-relief of Celestia. We stood for a long time, looking at it until Jigsaw finally broke the silence. "Yep, definitely not so bad. I've seen ones with dripping fangs!"

I couldn't help a snort of laughter, though I'm sure she was just making light of the situation to help me with my—there had to be a name for a phobia of having an idol debased, but I couldn't bring it to mind. Yes, I've read Psychology, too, but I can't be expected to remember every little detail. I knew it was going to bug me until I looked it up.

Above the carving was a line of small suns near the ceiling. There were ten on each section of wall between the doors leading to the wings of the building. I brought out my notebook that had the key that I'd worked out for decoding the rays. "Okay, let's see if this works!" I picked a sun over the middle of the wall and started working.

HEDEMONOFCHA

"Hede monof cha?" I squinted at the paper. "That doesn't—"

"Demon!" shouted Jigsaw.

I whirled around, horn blazing with magical energy. "Where?" I cried, looked around for some unearthly fiend to unleash my magic on.

"No, no! The word! Look at your notebook: HE DEMON OF CHA! Your decoding scheme works. You just started in the middle of a sentence."

"Oh. Oh, of course!" I lifted my eyes from the page to meet Jigsaw's. "You're never going to let me forget this, are you?"

She had a really wicked smile sometimes. "Not in a thousand years, princess... but I will keep it our little secret."

"I suppose I will have to be satisfied with that," I pouted. "Now let's see if I can find the starting point." I got out the journal and opened it to the page with the illustration of the sun. I held it up and compared it to the line of carved ones. They all looked pretty much the same to me.

"May I?" Jigsaw asked.

I shrugged and passed the book to her. She found it within seconds. The original sun was right over Celestia's head. Pretty obvious in retrospect.

"How do you do that?" I asked her.

"I... I just look at them. It seems obvious to me. It may be because of my special talent for working out puzzles, I suppose."

I shook my head. "I think it's more that I'm artistically tone-deaf." A sudden thought struck me, and I chuckled.

"What is it?"

"Oh, nothing really. I just realized that Trixie could have beaten me without breaking a sweat. You see, I got into a magic duel once with a unicorn named Trixie. 'The Great and Powerful' Trixie, to be precise."

"Hey, I've seen one of her shows! She's really talented." Jigsaw frowned. "You fought a duel with her? A real duel? Not just the party-popper stuff the young nobles get up to in Canterlot?"

I shook my head. "Not at all. Trixie is a fairly powerful magician in her own right, and she was using an ancient amulet to boost her power to the highest levels."

"Did you...?" Jigsaw drew a hoof across her throat.

"Oh, no! No, everypony was fine afterward." I bit my lip. "Uh... it's a long story. The point is, she specializes in illusion magic and pyrotechnics. She could have won with the first cast if she had challenged me to a duel of illusions. I've got powerful magic but no talent for artistry. The best I could have come up with would look like animated crayon scrawls."

Jigsaw thought about it for a second and then asked, "So if I challenged you to a magic illustrating-pottery-shard-patterns duel..." I gave her the stink-eye and she broke off, chuckling.

"My point is," I said, "sheer power isn't always the best tool to use on a problem. Even sheer brain-power. It always helps, but training and talent are often more useful."

Jigsaw gave me a crooked smile. "So, being a genius alicorn isn't all it's cracked up to be?"

I just rolled my eyes and got back to the job at hoof. I re-decoded the first sun, just to make sure it was the correct one:

LADYCELESTIA

Then the next:

FREEDUSFROMT

The next sun was the one I had already done:

HEDEMONOFCHA

"The demon of chaos?" Jigsaw guessed. "That must be a reference to Discord!"

I nodded non-committally[2] and continued decoding.

[2] One of Luna's tricks. She's a wealth of princessly techniques.

OSBROUGHTBYU

"Looks like you were right," I said, and continued on.

NITINGTHETHR

I kept going, just concentrating on each letter until I had made a complete circuit of the room. Then I recopied the message in a more understandable script:

Lady Celestia freed us from the demon of chaos brought by uniting the three pony tribes. But when we would go again to our rightful place, she bid us yet to live among our lessers and kept upon her brow the treasure of the unicorns. So we came away in secret to this place and crafted anew the magic of old. In time of great need, seek it beneath the cornucopia. It alone holds the power to cast down the false princess and she calls for our enslavement.

"Unicorn supremacists." Jigsaw sneered in disgust. "I hate unicorn supremacists."

"No mention of Luna," I noted. "The jerks."

"They seem to think uniting the tribes brought about Discord's reign somehow."

"Logic isn't the strong suit of those sorts," I observed.

Jigsaw read ahead and pointed to the last sentence. "What's with the 'and' there?"

"I'm guessing it's used archaically for 'if.' They had to make the message come out to multiples of twelve letters, I suppose."

"So, they ran off sometime after the defeat of Discord, when it became clear Celestia was going to keep Equestria united and the tribes equal," Jigsaw said.

"Right," I agreed. "And they seem to think Celestia kept a 'treasure' of theirs, 'on her brow.' A crown maybe?" We both looked up at the relief. "It's edge on, so it's kind of hard to tell, but it looks like the Element of Magic! It's certainly not the crown she wears now."

"The unicorns thought the element belonged to them? Why would that be?"

"No clue," I said. "We'll come back to that. The interesting bit is that they claim to have made a magical artifact or weapon, capable of defeating Celestia, and they hid it under 'the cornucopia.'"

"Cornucopia," Jigsaw repeated. "The mythical ram's horn that gave a never-ending supply of food. Maybe there's a statue or mural somewhere and they hid the thing under it?"

A sudden thought hit me. "Wait. What if the cornucopia wasn't mythical? It would be a pretty useful thing to have in a desert city where there's no decent farmland or earth ponies to grow food, right?"

Jigsaw's eyes lit up. "Now, wouldn't that be something to take back to the university!"

I nodded in unambiguous agreement that time. "Not to mention the magical weapon they created. Although, that would be better off sealed in Canterlot Tower or maybe one of the vaults in the Royal Archive."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Jigsaw asked, pulling the map out of her saddlebag. "Let's lay out a search pattern! You can do an aerial sweep over the city to spot anything obvious, and I'll double-check the map and journal."

I had to smile at her sudden enthusiasm, though I was getting excited myself. "Alright, a simple outward spiral should do it. I'll be back soon!" I headed for the door.

I had gotten out of the rotunda when Jigsaw called me back. "Uhmn... Twilight?"

"Yes?" I asked, poking my head back into the big room.

"I..." She hesitated. "I... just thought..."

"Yes?"

"M—maybe it isn't such a good idea to split up. I know there's probably nothing dangerous in the city, and I'm sure... uh..."

Tartarus! How could I have been so insensitive? The last time we'd been out of sight of each other a changeling had jumped her!

"You're right!" I said with conviction, "Why don't we save the bookwork for tonight and go flying while we've still got light?"

Her relief was obvious, but then she frowned. "Are you strong enough to carry me? I mean, yes, I know you're strong enough, but will it be awkward? Will I get in the way?"

I shrugged. "We can do it a few different ways. I can carry you, or I can give you some temporary wings of your own, or..."

= = =

"Woo-hoo!" cried Jigsaw, her mane and tail whipping in the wind. She was holding her fore legs out from her sides like ersatz wings and leaning back and forth as I banked. I was levitating her as I flew, holding her above and slightly behind me.

"Hey, Wonderbolt," I called up to her, "I know it's fun, but keep scanning the ruins!" I couldn't really blame her; I remembered all too well those giddy days when I first got a real feel for my new wings.

"Yes, ma'am!" she yelled back, and nearly conked herself on the forehead as she tried to salute at speed.

We spent a few hours covering the city. There were several mostly intact buildings and statues, but nothing remotely resembling a giant horn full of fruit. We kept it up until the sun got low in the Western sky, then I put us down at the library and we both gulped at our canteens.

We gave the building another, more thorough search and then I sealed each of the two doors that lead to the outside with rubble from a collapsed wall. "Just to be on the safe side," I explained to Jigsaw as we settled down to examine the map and journal.

"Fine by me," she said with conviction.

It wasn't long after that that we began to yawn. I don't know who started it, but we soon couldn't help ourselves, even though it was still early in the evening. "I guess I didn't get much sleep last night," I said.

"Lucky you!" Jigsaw replied. "I didn't get any!"

"None at all?" I asked, surprised.

"I... was kind of upset."

"Yeah, I noticed, but—"

"And I was also a bit ticked off at myself. I knew I was being unfair to you—"

"Hey, we're good now, okay?"

She nodded, then yawned again. "It's kind of funny," she mumbled as she rolled the map and replaced it in its tube, "we've been talking and joking like old friends all day..."

"I hope we are friends," I told her as I put the journal and my notebooks away.

She gave me a broad smile at that. "Me, too. It's just that, a little while ago, I was completely in awe of you. I never would have dreamed..." She waved a hoof around in a vague gesture. "All this."

"That I'm a whole lot less awesome, close up?" I snorted. "Any of my Ponyville pals could have told you that!"

She yawned again as she shook her head. "No, still some awe there... just... I don't know... too tired to think." She leaned over and gave me a one-legged hug and a light kiss on my cheek. "G'night Twilight. Thanks for taking me flying." She lay down and pulled her blanket over her.

She was deeply asleep before I had unfrozen from the effects of her kiss. It was just a social thing, right? Completely casual. Of course it was. Right. Casual.

Our bedrolls were next to each other, set out that way for convenience while we studied the documents together. If I moved mine away, would she take it as an indication of... what? I didn't even know. I settled for shifting it just far enough so that I wouldn't hit her if I flopped a wing out in my sleep.

I raised a shield around us, giving it about half a day of magical charge. It turned out to be a very good thing I did so.

= = =

=

7 Explanations

Chapter Seven
Explanations

I was trying to get things organized and not making much progress. The desk was covered with books, scrolls, notepads, inkwells, quills, blotters, pen knives, pencils, and loose paper, all scattered around in complete disorder. I tried sorting the items first, but the pages of loose paper slid off onto the floor and the cups of quills and pencils kept tipping over and spilling. The towers of books wobbled and fell, and I couldn't seem to use my magic correctly, causing mid-air collisions more often than not.

In the midst of this chaos, I was interrupted by Luna, who entered the dingy room and nodded to the desk. "I ken thou hast received a rare gift, Twilight Sparkle."

"What?" I looked back at the desk and saw a small porcelain figurine of a unicorn resting on a stack of books. Even with my limited sense for fine art, I could tell that it was beautifully made. The lively pose conveyed the energy and grace of the young sky-blue and yellow mare and the glaze was perfect and luminous.

As I admired it, the books underneath shifted and the figurine tumbled off the stack. I barely caught it before it hit the stone floor. I tried to find a clear spot to set it down, but the desk was completely covered in research materials. I went to settle it on another stack of books, but that one toppled even before I had let go of the figurine, so I hurriedly snatched it back.

One of books that had fallen from the stack hit the corner of the desk and bounced, heading straight for the open fireplace. I reached out for it with my magic but the figurine wobbled in my grasp, threatening to slip away.

"No!" I cried in frustration, watching the book collide with the burning logs and begin to smolder.

"Canst thou not properly care for this gift?" Luna inquired, with a regally lifted eyebrow.

"Yes, yes!" I insisted. "I just need to make some room! There... there doesn't seem to be any place to keep it!"

"'Tis a treasure beyond price, Twilight Sparkle. Thou must keep it safe from harm!"

"I... I know... I just—"

"If there be no place, then thou must make a place!" Luna's eyes grew huge and lambent and her magic lifted a great pile of books and paper off of the desk and moved it toward the fire.

"No!"

The mass stopped moving and Luna turned her glowing stare on me. "Make a place, or reject it, Twilight Sparkle! High or low, close or distant, thou must decide."

"I... I don't know—"

"Decide!"

"I... I can't—"

"DECIDE!"

Her thunderous voice caused the towers of books and papers to come crashing down, burying me beneath the avalanche.

I woke with a start, tossing my blanket to one side and sitting up fast enough to make my head spin. The fire had died to embers, leaving the rotunda a dim landscape of shadows and red highlights. I looked over to where Jigsaw lay, still asleep, and saw the faintest glimmer of starlight in a nimbus surrounding her.

I gritted my teeth. It seemed Her Majesty of the Moon was in a mood to meddle. At least Jigsaw didn't seem to be having a nightmare. She smiled and murmured in her sleep, moved her legs slightly... not at all like she was in a dream of running... and, once, she stretched out like a lazy cat in front of a fire.

Luna's little dream nudge had been pretty ham-hoofed as far as I was concerned. Did she really think I had any romantic interest in Jigsaw? I thought I had made myself clear. Jigsaw had become a good friend, and, as such, I was certainly going to make room for her in my life. As I was often in Canterlot, not to mention guest-lecturing at the university, I would have ample opportunities to visit her. And when we were apart, we could exchange letters about books, archaeology—whatever interested us. It all came together quite neatly. I had decided.

I retrieved my blanket and went through some breathing exercises designed to relax me enough to go back to sleep. I was wondering if there was a spell that was the mental equivalent of a Do Not Disturb sign when I finally drifted off.

= = =

I stretched and sat up slowly, feeling surprisingly well-rested. I opened my eyes and, for a second, had no idea what I was looking at. Then, my brain finally processed the unexpected images and returned a verdict: Changelings. Hundreds of them. They had us completely surrounded, nearly blocking out the morning light.

"Oh come on, Luna!" I yelled, "Would you please knock it off?!"

There came the eerie susurration of changeling laughter from beyond my shield, but no appearance from Luna. I was suddenly, horribly sure that I wasn't dreaming.

"Twilight? Wha..." Jigsaw sat up, blearily blinking her eyes into focus. "Aaaahhhhh!"

"Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake," came a voice like velvet death from beyond the mass of drones. "Twilight Sparkle! How kind of you to visit my domain." The mass of changelings parted to reveal the form of Queen Chrysalis, striding lazily forward. "Oh! Have I surprised you? I'm terribly sorry!"

Jigsaw had a death-grip around my waist and was trembling from horn to hoof. I stroked her back with a wing and whispered, "Everything is going to be just fine." Then I straightened and gave the crowd a sweep of the Imperious Disapproving Glance[1] before I addressed their queen.

[1] One of Celestia's, believe it or not.

"Chrysalis." I narrowed my eyes. "Didn't you get my note?"

"Oh, I most certainly did!" She sneered at me in contempt. "How could you think I would allow such an insult to pass, unpunished? By the way, don't try to escape. I've warded this whole area with my magic. You won't be able to teleport an inch!"

I thought of several other things I could try, but Chrysalis was very powerful, and I didn't know what she'd be able to stop. One failure would probably be my last.

"Your magic?" I asked in a polite voice that, nevertheless, managed to convey utter scorn. "It doesn't seem to be able to do much about my shield spell."

"Oh yes," the queen sneered back at me. "You pathetic, soft ponies are very good at hiding behind things, aren't you? Well, you'll discover that I am very patient. I can wait until you get too thirsty, tired, and hungry to maintain your shield. And then..." She just smiled, baring those awful carnivore's fangs.

"Twilight..." Jigsaw began in an urgent whisper.

"It'll be okay." I stroked her again and she fell silent.

I didn't take the big bug's word for it. I tried several quick test spells to determine the extent and power of her wards. She was right: They were powerful and well-wrought. Teleportation was out, as was suddenly increasing the size of the shield in an effort to mash the changelings against the walls of the library. The shield moved with me, but the mass of changelings surrounding it could hold it in place by sheer weight of numbers pressing against it. If I dropped the shield for even an instant, I wouldn't be able to re-create it. It was only because I had already cast it that—ah! That line of thought led to a more fruitful series of mini tests. So, I couldn't cast any new spells outside the shield, but I could modify the one I already had going, if I was clever about it. If I changed the—

"Is that the pony you mentioned in the note?" Chrysalis prodded. "Pathetic little thing. It's a wonder you—"

"Shut up, you overgrown cockroach!"[2] I snapped at her. "I'm thinking!"

[2] Oops. Forgot about the "Graciousness is Never the Wrong Choice" lesson, there.

She reared back and sputtered for a second before shrieking at me, "Your death will be slow and agonizing, you presumptuous little grub! I'll have your friend ripped apart right in front of you! I'll... I'll... what? What are you doing?"

"Something I've wanted to try for a while, actually," I said as the shield began to slowly rotate.

"You can't escape! Exhaust yourself trying, but—"

"You are the one who should be worried about escaping. If you start now..." I added more angular momentum to the shield and began to tessellate it. "You could get a head start."

The shield still operated within the limits Chysalis's wards had imposed on it. It couldn't expand or change its spherical shape, and it had to remain centered on me. Well, so what? I often find that limits are spurs to creativity. A so-called spherical shield is defined by a formula describing points arrayed around a center. But, with the indefinite number of points required to describe a smooth sphere, the limiting spell couldn't specify any fixed number of points. I was free to alter the number of points as I chose.

A tetrahedron is, topologically, identical to a sphere.

I levitated Jigsaw and myself up until the shield was clear of the floor, then added more vectors of motion to it, as well as a lot more momentum. The shield began to hiss as it spun. A couple of drones tried to shove against the sphere and were flung aside. Fortunately for them, they hadn't tried that after I reduced the number of defining points to four.

When that was done, Jigsaw and I were floating at the center of what was, for all practical purposes, a spherical buzzsaw.

I began to move us toward Chrysalis, carrying the shield with us. "I'm sorry you didn't take my note seriously, Your Majesty," I told her, having to raise my voice to be heard over the shrieking of the shield's points slicing through the air. The shield contacted a hoof-size chunk of granite rubble, instantly reducing it to a high-speed spray of sand.

It was hard to believe, but Chrysalis's eyes got even bigger.

I had been riding the high of my own cleverness for a while there, but the thought of what was about to happen made me queasy. "Don't look, Jigsaw," I said, and then to Chrysalis, "I'm really sorry about this."

= = =

"I'm sorry I ever doubted you, Twilight," Jigsaw said, as we sat together in the sunlight, enjoying a light meal on the steps of the library.

"You woke up surrounded by a swarm of vicious predators," I replied, as I selected an oat roll from the bag, "You had every reason to be terrified."

"And one big reason not to," she insisted. "You were there!"

I sighed and put the roll back down. "And I'm the reason we were in that mess in the first place. If I had just squashed that changeling like you wanted me to, that would have put an end to it. Like most despots, Chysalis values her own pride over the lives of her subjects. I should have known my note would goad her into something regrettable."

"I'll bet she regrets it: She lost a good piece of her tail before she got away! I'm amazed at how fast she can fly with those flimsy bug wings."

Jigsaw still had no idea how narrowly we had escaped death, and I certainly wasn't going to enlighten her. She'd been through enough as it was. Chrysalis had locked me down very thoroughly, and if I hadn't come up with a structural loophole that depended on knowledge of advanced shield theory, we would have been goners. There was one very important task I needed to complete to avoid another life-threatening situation.

I got out my writing things and began to compose another note.

"What are you doing?" Jigsaw asked.

"I'm writing a letter of apology to Queen Chrysalis."

I just had to laugh at the completely stunned expression on Jigsaw's face. She nearly fell over backwards. "You're what?!"

"Jigsaw, the whole ambush thing happened because I was angry and trying to be clever when I wrote that note. It wounded Chrysalis's pride and threatened her in a way she couldn't not take seriously. This morning, I frightened and embarrassed her in front of her entire swarm. Do you think she just going to crawl back into her hole in the ground and sulk?"

"Oh. When you put it that way..." Jigsaw's expression turned thoughtful. "But do you think she will accept an apology and let it go at that?"

I shook my head. "Certainly not. Not with an apology alone."

"So...?"

"Let me finish this and I'll explain."

Unto HRM Queen Chrysalis of the Changeling Swarm, warm Greetings from HSH Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria.

Your Esteemed Majesty,

I wish to offer my sincere apologies and heart-felt regret for the terrible misunderstanding that I have caused between us. My original letter to you was written in the heat of anger, and its tone and content were reprehensible and unbecoming of a princess of Equestria.

Likewise, my actions and words this morning were colored by my emotional turmoil, though I admit that is a poor excuse for my behavior. On sober reflection, I realize I should have treated you with the respect due to your station, and attempted a diplomatic solution to our differences.

"Oh, suffering stars, Twilight!" Jigsaw groaned as she leaned over my shoulder to watch me write. "I think I may throw up!"

I flicked the end of her nose with the feather end of my quill. "Not on the letter, please: I'll have to start all over."

I earnestly wish that there be peace and understanding between our peoples, and, to that end, I hope that we can serve as examples for them to follow. I offer my hoof to you in friendship, in hopes that such a relationship will serve as a guiding light for all who know us.

"Jigsaw, will you please stop making gagging noises?"

Again, I offer my abject apologies for my words and actions, as well as my intrusion into your territory. I am completely and utterly at fault in this matter.

I and my assistant have come here on a peaceful, scientific expedition, but if you wish us to remove ourselves from your lands you have only to command it.

Yours Sincerely,
Princess Twilight Sparkle

P.S. As part of our research, early this evening, I will be excavating a part of the mountain that is eight leagues West by North of Your Majesty's hive. Please keep any of your subjects well away from the area, as operations of this kind can be dangerous. A safe zone of three leagues should be sufficient. Also, it would be inadvisable to look directly at the mountain during this time.

"Uh..." Jigsaw wrinkled her nose in confusion. "What's that last bit about?"

"The indirect stick that goes with the obvious carrot," I said. "And a slightly subtle way of telling her I know exactly where her hive is."

"I don't understand."

"Let me just make a clean copy of this letter and send it. Then I'll explain."

When I'd finished the copy, I rolled it up and sealed it.

"So..." Jigsaw said slowly. "Explanation?"

I nodded. "I know where the changeling hive is because, fortunately, Chrysalis poured all her magical power into getting away and let her wards collapse, enabling me to shape the magical spatter from my dismissed shield spell into several tracking spells. It was random, because Chrysalis could detect a directed spell, not that she was probably concerned with that at the moment, but it took fairly well on a large number of the drones. That's also how I know that there are at least a half-dozen of them spying on us at the moment."

Jigsaw gave a startled whinny and her mane stood on end as she looked around at the apparently empty ruins. "Holy stars, Twilight! Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to worry," I explained. "And I'll need one to deliver my message."

I got out my spyglass and aimed it at a weathered tower a couple of blocks from where we were. The changeling I had detected there ducked out of sight when she saw me swinging the glass toward her, but the tip of her horn was still visible above the wall. I snorted. "Chrysalis has got to get herself some better minions."

I teleported the drone over to where I sat and gave her a moment to get over her panic at suddenly appearing in front of the nasty little pony who had almost shredded her queen. "I'm terribly sorry to inconvenience you," I said. "But could you please deliver this letter to Queen Chrysalis? I would be very grateful."

The drone didn't reply or make a move to take the letter, so I tucked it into one of the holes in her right foreleg. "There! Could you please deliver it as soon as possible? It contains some time-sensitive information."

I released the drone from my telekinetic grip and she fled.

"Wow," Jigsaw said. "They are fast little buggers, aren't they?" She dropped the hoof she had been shading her eyes with and turned to me. "Now what about this 'excavation' thing?"

"Remember when you were listing my specialty subjects? You forgot a particular favorite of mine: Astronomy."

Jigsaw cocked her head and squinted at me. "Are you trying to confuse me?"

I grinned. "Maybe just a little bit. Your nose crinkles up in such a cute way when you're puzzled by something."

She rolled her eyes at me, but I detected a slight blush under her blue coat. Point to Twilight.

"Originally, I made the mistake of making a big threat with no evidence to back it up. 'All talk, no action', right? Now I'm going to do the exact opposite... and here's how I'll do it..."

= = =

=

Author's Note

Twilight's Tetrahedron Trick

(Ouch!) :twilightoops:

8 The Music of the Spheres (Percussion Section)

Chapter Eight
The Music of the Spheres (Percussion Section)

As night began to fall, I closed my eyes and opened my magical sight, directing it upward. The glowing traceries on the great crystalline spheres beyond the sky resolved themselves into intricate paths and epicycles that defined and controlled the movements of all the celestial bodies. The great twin wheels of the sun and moon turned ever so slowly as I watched. I could easily have lost myself in the overwhelming beauty of it all (as I had done several times since my ascension), but I had a job to do and a very definite time limit in which to do it.

I was sure that Celestia and Luna would understand my meddling in their realm when I explained it to them later, but I needed it to go undetected for the next couple of hours. Which meant I had to get it all over with before sunset, when they would turn their attention to the heavens. If either of the sisters noticed, they would undoubtedly "fix" my adjustments.

I sought out the long, faint curves of the smallest elliptical orbits, sorting and discarding them as I weighed each line for the exact parameters I desired. At last I found what I needed. It was a little bigger and a little farther than was ideal, but I was resigned to pushing myself. I took hold of the skeins of the tracery and twisted, deforming the orbit of the little chunk of rock until it intersected the planet. I poured magical energy into it until it sped up and the orbit flexed away from where I wanted it. Then I readjusted the orbit and added more velocity.

It was a tedious, recursive, and tiring process, getting the rock to arrive at the time and place I wanted, but I eventually did it. I dropped my perceptions back into the normal world and flopped down, not caring that the dust of the plaza was sticking to my sweaty back.

"Did you do it?" Jigsaw asked.

"Yeah, it's done. Whew! I don't know how the sisters manage to keep the sun and moon going each and every day. I'm exhausted!"

"How big is it?"

"Relatively small. About the size of a one-bedroom cottage. Is there any cold tea left?"

Jigsaw passed me the flask of green tea. It wasn't cold any longer, but I didn't have the energy left to chill it down again.

"Leaving aside your definition of 'small' for a moment, do you think it's big enough to have the impact you want?"

"'Impact', ha-ha." I rolled my eyes. "But, yes, it should be pretty showy. It's the velocity that counts. Kinetic energy scales as the square of the velocity, after all, and I gave it a whole lot of velocity!"

Jigsaw opened her mouth to say something and then shut it again, shaking her head.

I got up and stretched. "We should head over to the edge of the city, where we can see the mountain."

We walked slowly, for my sake, while I drank more tea and ate a couple of oat rolls to replenish my strength. I picked a spot on the edge of the mesa where the target mountain was clearly visible and a low stone wall gave us cover. "This looks good." I squinted upward. "Seventeen minutes until impact. That gives us some time to go over the map."

I unrolled the map and studied it quietly for a while. The city was set out in a very orderly fashion with a large, central plaza surrounded by what looked like governmental buildings. There was nothing that looked like a castle or palace, which I found odd.

I cleared my throat and pointed at a large building on the central plaza not too far from the library. "I saw this place earlier and it seems like a good spot to begin our search. Most of the larger and intact structures are clustered around that area. It's unlikely that the 'cornucopia' would be out in a peripheral residential area, don't you think?"

I looked up when Jigsaw didn't answer and saw her gazing at the mountain on the horizon, shuffling her hooves nervously.

"Hey," I asked quietly, "are you okay?"

She sighed and turned her head to face me. "Yeah, I'm okay. It's just that today has been, and continues to be, a bit scary. For a lot of reasons. I think I may be out of my league, here."

I rolled up the map and put it away. I moved into the shelter of the wall and lay down, gesturing for Jigsaw to join me. "Jigsaw, you are my friend... a very good friend, and I will not let anything happen to you, I promise!"

She lowered herself next to me and nodded. "Yes, I believe you. After this morning's demonstration and that—" she tossed her head, indicating the mountain. "—I'm pretty sure that the heavens themselves couldn't save anypony who made you mad. And that's part of why I..."

I waited for her to go on, and several times, it looked as if she would. But then she would sigh and look away, silently.

"Do you want to go home?" I asked her. "I can teleport us in stages and have you back in Canterlot in—"

"No, it's not that."

I waited again but she remained silent.

After a while I said her name and waited for her to look at me. When she did, I said, "Trust me. You can tell me what's wrong and I won't laugh at you or dismiss you. I care about you very much, and I hate seeing you upset." Her lips quivered and her eyes glistened but she didn't say anything. "Please?" I urged.

She took a deep breath, then leaned forward and kissed me full on the mouth.

And the world disappeared in a burst of radiant light.

No, really. That wasn't a metaphor. The whole plaza lit up so brightly that I couldn't see a thing but white. My little message to Chrysalis had arrived.

When the light died away enough, the first thing I saw was Jigsaw's face with—no, I'm sorry, but the expression she wore was utterly indescribable. I assume my own face was much the same. Avoidance is a wonderful coping mechanism, and it was fortunate that we had a very good excuse to not talk about what had just happened. We stood and turned to look out over the desert.

I've seen a lot of terrifying things in my life, but watching that roiling bulb of fire rise over the shattered mountain topped them all. Cold equations just couldn't prepare me for the reality of a major meteorite strike. "I think I used a little too much velocity," I whispered.

I levitated us off the pavement to avoid the ground shock wave, and grimaced as the old ruins around us shook and crumbled even more. Then I cast a shield to protect us from the air blast that followed, which wasn't so bad, but surprisingly loud.

We watched in awe as the gigantic explosion evolved. The rocky debris rained down on the surrounding desert, and the cloud of fire rose and cooled until it was just an enormous mass of smoke and ash, distorted by the high altitude winds. The heat of the impact site kept dust and smoke flowing upward in a thick column for a long while afterward.

"I hope I never, ever have to do something like that again," I said, my voice shaking.

"You can do something like that..." Jigsaw's quiet voice came from slightly behind me and to my left. "And yet it horrifies you. That's just one of the reasons why I love you."

Oh. That.

Damn.

But I had to face it sometime.

"Jigsaw..." I didn't turn to face her. "We should go back to the library. It will be dark soon, and... and we should talk."

I wanted time to think, but Jigsaw started to talk while we walked. "I had a dream about you last night," she began.

"Mn?" Non-committal, that was best.

"I thought I'd be having nightmares about that changeling, but instead, you were with me... though I think Princess Luna was there for part of it, too."

"Meddling moon-butt," I grumbled under my breath.

"But, mostly, the dream was about you," Jigsaw continued, not having heard me. She sighed. "It was a wonderful dream."

I didn't reply. What could I possibly say to that? After a few seconds, Jigsaw stopped walking and I turned my head to face her. She had her head down in a submissive pose but was looking up at me. The setting sun had turned the explosion's cloud into a smear of blood on the sky behind her.

"Twilight?" She was blushing. I could see it even in the dim light.

"Yes?"

"I'd very much like to kiss you again."

Stare down a changeling swarm? Yeah, I can do that. Blow up a mountain? No problem! But face a mare with a serious crush on me? I panicked.

Now, most ponies who know me well will tell you that I can sometimes get just the teensiest bit crazy when I'm pushed beyond my comfort zone. Frenetic might be a better word. But I also have another panic mode: petrification. They're both related in that they share a common effect: My brain stops working properly.

Jigsaw lifted her head and stepped forward. I didn't move.

"Twilight?"

I didn't move.

"Don't... don't you want to...?" I could see the tears start to well up in her eyes.

Oh, Sun and Moon! She deserved better of me than that! I forced myself to speak. "Jigsaw, you... you are one of the most beautiful and intelligent mares I know."

She dropped her gaze and the tears began to spill down her cheeks. "But," she said flatly.

I went to her and wrapped my fore legs and wings around her. I didn't bother telling her not to cry. I wasn't that stupid. "You are athletic and clever," I whispered to her as she sobbed. "You have a wicked sense of humor and a set of talents that I honestly envy." I hugged her tightly and lay my cheek on the top of her head, behind her horn. "You are a mare in a million."

She sniffed and sighed, "But, you don't want me—"

"I do want you!" I interrupted her forcefully, "I want you as a colleague and an adviser and a traveling companion and a dear, dear friend!" I leaned back and lifted her muzzle up with a wingtip until she was looking at me. "If I was into mares, I'd never let you out of my sight!"

When she smiled, she looked worlds better. Red, wet eyes, runny nose, and all.

There was only one more bit of comfort I could offer. "C'mon, let's get back to the library and I'll make us some tea."

= = =

Fortunately, the library hadn't suffered much from the shock wave. I spent a bit of time fusing stone blocks, shifting rubble, and otherwise making sure the building wouldn't fall on us during the night. I also cast two shields around us, one inner and one outer, with a few additional properties woven into the spells. I was fairly sure my egregious display of force would make Chrysalis think twice before attacking us again, but I wasn't going to take any chances.

Jigsaw helped me a bit, both of us pretending to be more relaxed and happy than we actually were, and we settled in for the night with our bedrolls nearby, but facing each other. I briefly wondered if there was some sort of accepted geometry of such things to reflect the exact nuances of the relationship of any two ponies. But then, I'm like that.

= = =

Luna silently gestured with a wingtip at the broken, smoldering mountain on the horizon.

"I had a bad day," I explained.

"My sister and I are a bit concerned, Twilight."

"Sorry for messing with the celestial mechanisms, but I really needed to. Everything is fine now... Well, except for..."

Luna looked up from where she was making swirls in the smoke with her wing tip. The mountain had evidently shrunk to the size of a pony—or Luna had grown. It was hard to tell in a dream. "Yes?"

"I... oh, this sounds melodramatic, but I think I broke Jigsaw's heart."

"She is young and strong-minded, Twilight, I believe she will mend quickly. These were decisions that were best made quickly."

"What was there to decide? I'm not gay."

Luna scooped up some of the bigger fragments of the mountain and dumped them into the crater. She didn't reply, just glanced back at me over her shoulder and twitched her mouth—just so.

Luna can be infuriatingly elliptical sometimes. I took the mountain away from her and put it back on the horizon where it belonged. Her fiddling with it was distracting. "You could just straight-out tell me what you mean!"

"Such things are hardly ever black and white, and the language of dreams does not lend itself to directness." Slices of cheese began to fall from the sky. They melted as they hit the ground and started to form puddles. The stars in Luna's mane became little chopped bits of mushroom, onions, and bell pepper, and fell into the cheese puddles.

"Oh, stop it!"

"When I walk in dreams, do you know what I encounter much more often than fear?" She turned fully to face me and mantled her wings, filling my vision. She leaned forward and said one word, in a long, drawn-out whisper, "Desire."

I woke up with a craving for pizza.

= = =

The morning was awkward, but not nearly as awkward as it might have been. Jigsaw and I were used to the camp routine and went about things quietly and efficiently. We even approximated something like good spirits.

"The big building first," I said, tapping the map with the feather end of my quill. "Don't you think?"

Jigsaw nodded. "Yes, definitely. Depending on its condition, we might have time for one or two others today."

"Your Majesty?" came a hesitant voice from the doorway to the street.

Jigsaw flinched, and I involuntarily lit my horn for an instant. In the doorway stood one of the changeling officers. I'm not sure of the ranks they use, but she was wearing blued steel armor.

I stood and faced her. "The proper usage is 'Highness'. What can I do for you?"

The changeling bowed. "Please forgive me, Your Highness. I bear a message from my queen."

I cautiously lowered the outer shield and slipped out through the inner one, leaving Jigsaw behind. I approached the changeling close enough to loom over it a bit. "Yes?"

She produced a roll of something like paper from a tube at her side. I took it in my magic and unrolled it. There was no greeting or preamble. The message was only three lines and it read:

Apology accepted.

Your proposal might have some merit. I will consider it.

Refrain from any further excavations in my realm.

-C

I smiled. I had acquired a completely new perspective since becoming a princess, and I now had a lot more sympathy for Chrysalis than I had had[1] a few years ago. That didn't mean I didn't enjoy winning, but at least I could be gracious about it.

[1] i.e., none whatsoever.

"Please give Her Majesty my thanks, and my assurances that there will be no further disturbances of the sort that occurred last evening."

"Yes, Your Highness." The changeling bowed and turned to go.

On a sudden impulse, I stopped her. "Your people are very well acquainted with the emotion of love, aren't they?"

With the helmet and chitinous face, it was impossible to tell if the changeling was puzzled by my question or not, but she sounded cautious when she answered. "Yes, Your Highness."

"The love of friends, close friends... is it different than the sort between... uhm... lovers? Weaker? Or... I don't know... different?"

The changeling didn't answer for a moment. Then she said, "It is usually different, Your Highness, to varying degrees. It is often weaker but can be stronger." She paused for a longer time, and I thought she had finished what she had to say, when she added, "Please forgive me if I offend you, Your Highness, but I find that it is no less nourishing."

I wasn't offended, just a little bit squicked. "It isn't nourishment in the sense you mean it, but I find that just the presence of my friends strengthens me in a way." I paused, and the changeling waited attentively for me to go on. I wasn't sure if I was crazy or not, but I went with my immediate feelings. "So, please tell Her Majesty that my offer of friendship was completely sincere. I am willing to meet with her and... try to get to know each other. Perhaps a true friendship would be better than one based on deception... and mutually beneficial. At least, I think it's worth finding out... if it's possible..." I trailed off lamely. "At least, we should talk."

"I will convey your message, Your Highness."

"Thank you."

The changeling bowed and departed.

= = =

Jigsaw was showing me how to use an enhancement spell to bring out the faint letters carved into the doors of the large building we had chosen for our first search when I heard a changeling approaching.

It was the same officer I had spoken to earlier. She landed and bowed. "Your Highness, I have another message from Her Majesty."

I expected her bow to be perfunctory, as it had been when we first met, but she remained kneeling. "Please rise," I said.

She did so. "Her Majesty wishes me to thank Your Highness for Your Highness's words this morning and to give Your Highness Her Majesty's assurances that Her Majesty is intrigued by Your Highness's proposal and will formally contact Your Highness to arrange a meeting."

It took me a second to parse all the Majesties and Highnesses. I grinned. "Tell Chrysalis that Twilight Sparkle is delighted!"

"Uh... yes, Your Highness." She pulled another roll of not-quite-paper out of the carrying tube and held it out to me. "Her Majesty also wishes me to deliver this to Your Highness."

Unlike the one in the morning this scroll was sealed with a hard glob of greenish substance. I broke the seal and unrolled it.

The scroll read:

Be cautious. The city has killed many and driven others mad.

-C

= = =

=

9 Fallout

Chapter Nine
Fallout

"Well," Jigsaw observed dryly, once the changeling had departed. "That's not in the least bit disturbing. Do you think she's just messing with you?"

I rolled Chrysalis's note back up and put it in my saddle bag. "I can't be sure, but I think she's telling the truth."

"So, now what?"

"I think returning to Canterlot would be wise."

Jigsaw sputtered for a second before flattening her ears and shouting, "What? Are you crazy? All this way, to just turn around?"

"I don't have the right to risk your life just to satisfy my curiosity."

"Well, it's my curiosity, too!" She snorted and stamped. "Have you forgotten the bunyips and changelings? I've already been in danger!"

I took a few seconds to work out a decision grid in my head. "Column C is the only responsible choice," I muttered.

"You are crazy, Twilight! What the heck are you talking about?"

I levitated a pebble and used it to draw out the grid in the dust at our hooves. "Two rows for the two possible situations: Row One, the ruins are relatively safe. Row Two, the ruins are dangerous, you see? Now, I make three columns to represent three possible courses of action: A, continue on. B, continue using extreme caution. C, return to Canterlot. In each of the six boxes, I put the most pessimistic outcome of the action matched with the situation."

I filled in the boxes:

A, continue B, caution C, return

1 safe safe waste time safe

2 dangerous death high risk safe

"In this case, I've chosen the C column, not because it has the most desirable outcome, but because it eliminates the possibility of the worst. It's the only logical choice to make." I put the pebble down at the top of column C.

"Oh, yes, of course!" Jigsaw still had her ears pinned back and was showing a lot of teeth. "We will just hot-hoof it back to Canterlot and forget about finding the cornucopia and the weapon! Just leave something that is supposed to be able to defeat Princess Celestia in the territory of the changelings! Brilliant, Twilight, just brilliant!"

I was shocked by her sudden anger. I was—well, hurt by it. I was only thinking of her safety and she had misunderstood me, at that. I had to make myself clear. "Uh... not we, Jigsaw, you. You are going back to Canterlot. I can contact Luna and—"

Jigsaw's ears had been nearly wrapped around the back of her head and her lips drawn up in an absolutely feral snarl—and then, suddenly, she was crying. "I'm sorry, Twilight! I'm really, sorry! I didn't want to make you uncomfortable and I wasn't trying to push you into something you didn't want to do. I swear by the sun and moon, I thought you were returning my little signals! I'll sleep outside the library, or... I'll... I'll do whatever you want, just don't send me back, please!"

Did you ever have one of those moments when you realize that you and another pony are talking about two very, very different things? And that you've been seriously misunderstanding one another for quite some time? It's kind of like cantering into an invisible brick wall, isn't it?

"Look," Jigsaw went on as I tried to get my mental hooves under me again. "I can help keep us safe!" She kicked open the bronze door of the building so hard it bounced off the wall before a hinge gave way and it wrenched to a wobbling halt, half-open. Then she leaped into the dark of the entrance way and stomped on the flagstones of the floor. "See? No traps! No danger! I knew there wouldn't be because of the mark on the door frame! You didn't even notice it, did you?"

"Jigsaw, wait..." I began.

"And who's going to document the exploration? Sure, you can describe things well, but you can't manage to draw a half-way decent stick figure! Look at this..." She pulled her own journal out of her bag, flipped it open, and held it out for me to see. The pages held a very detailed pencil drawing of the library rotunda and precise, close-up sketches of the border of suns with the letters that I had decoded below them.

"Stop, stop!" I tried to interrupted her. "It's my fault—"

"I don't care whose fault it is, I just don't want to be sent home!"

I wanted to calmly explain to her exactly how we had come to this misunderstanding, but it seemed the situation called for something more direct. "Alright! You're staying!" I shouted.

For about three breaths, Jigsaw gasped like she had just galloped five miles and then burst out crying again. "Th—thank you, Twi... I mean, Prin... I..."

What could I do? I wrapped my wings around her and made wordless, soothing sounds until she calmed down. "Let me explain something to you," I said, when she had quieted to the point where I thought she would be willing to listen to me. "I am probably less experienced in social subtleties than a mare half my age. Even when I do pick up on 'signals', half the time I convince myself I'm mistaken, and the other half, I'm too paralyzed by indecision to respond correctly. None of this was your fault, and I would be the biggest hypocrite in Equestria if I held any of it against you!"

She shifted as if she wanted to pull away from me, but I held my embrace just a while longer to make a point. "You don't make me uncomfortable at all![1] I don't mind holding you like this, do I? As long as you understand it doesn't mean I'm promising or wanting anything more..."

[1] Yup, a teensie white lie, there.

"I'm getting snot all over your chest."

Oh.

I let her slip out from between my wings so we could both get clean cloths and some water from our supplies.

"You said something about a mark on the door frame?" I asked as I wrung out my wet cloth and picked up one to dry myself with.

"Yes," she nodded, blinking and wiping her eyes one last time. "It's a sign used by expeditions to mark areas that have been examined. Two horseshoe shapes touching at the tips of the toes, with hash marks indicating the level of possible interest or significance. An X means some danger and a zig-zag means deadly danger. The library has three hash marks. There are several other symbols, too."

"I've never heard of them," I said.

"Well, it's not like they're official or anything. They're just something that developed in the field, I guess."

I brought our bags into the building and set out things for lunch. It was a bit early, but we would both benefit from a bit of food and some Canterlot First-Aid.[2] Again, I summoned up some watercress sandwiches and a few cinnamon buns for desert. I didn't like to do that often, because it drove my chef nuts when food disappeared from her kitchen, but dried rations were a world away from what anypony would consider comfort food.

[2] Tea.

After lunch, Jigsaw and I were just as excruciatingly polite and careful toward one another as we had been that morning, but it felt ever so much better. The Town Hall turned out to be just as safe and uninteresting as Jigsaw had predicted, based on the one-hash-mark sign on the door frame. It may have held interesting documents and bits of art at one time, but it was bare of even furniture by the time we arrived. There were the ever-present carvings of unicorns strutting around, of course, and they were done with quite a bit of artistic merit, Jigsaw assured me, but I'd gotten tired of them after the first few rooms.

As we left the building, Jigsaw got out the map and made a mark next to the building that was a twin to the one carved on its door frame.

"I wonder why the original expedition didn't do that," I observed. "There's one on the library, but none anywhere else I can see."

"That is odd," Jigsaw agreed. "Usually they mark the map at the same time they mark the buildings. It's not like there aren't other marked buildings. Look there." She pointed at the smaller structure beside the one we had just left.

I spotted the mark easily, now that I knew what to look for: two horseshoes, no hash marks. "Even less interesting than the Town Hall, it seems."

Jigsaw tapped the map thoughtfully and said, "Maybe we should just update the map... Walk around looking for survey signs in the most likely areas. Then we could do a more focused search based on better information, tomorrow."

It was a good plan and how we spent the rest of the day. I kept probing the ruins with little bursts of magic while keeping a nearly-completed matrix for a shield at the back of my mind. I wasn't going to let my guard down for a second. If something happened to Jigsaw after I could have sent her home to safety, I'd never forgive myself.

The wind shifted near sunset and brought smoke and ash from the broken mountain drifting into the city. When we got back to the library, in addition to my double shields, I improvised a filtering spell that kept us from having to breathe the stuff.

Jigsaw and I left our bedrolls where they had been the night before and spread out the map between us. We both agreed to start the next day with the long building that had been marked with four hash marks. We both had wanted to chuck the plan and go in right away when we'd found it, but it would have been foolish to do so with only an hour of daylight left.

We finally settled in and pulled the blankets over ourselves. Just before I fell asleep, I thought I heard Jigsaw say, ever so quietly, "Thank you for letting me stay." But I might have imagined it.

= = =

I half-expected a visit from Luna that night, holding forth in archaic Equuish as she tended to do when she was moody or upset, but I didn't even remember my dreams. I awoke to the smell of breakfast cooking.

"Good morning, Twilight," Jigsaw said very cheerfully as I blinked sleep from my eyes and sat up. "The tea is almost brewed. Would you like raisins and cinnamon in your oatmeal?"

Ah. We were Pretending It Never Happened. That was fine with me. That was a game I was good at. "Yes, thank you. And a teaspoon of honey, please."

"The wind must have changed during the night, because the sky is pretty clear. There's about an inch of dust covering everything, though, so it would be wise for us to wrap all the food carefully before you drop the shields or we'll be eating grit for the rest of the trip. Do you want honey in your tea, too?"

I let her chatter away while I got out my hairbrush and wrestled my rat's nests back into some semblance of a mane and tail.

We were both eager to get to the four-hash-mark building, but I was determined to be extra cautious for the rest of the time we were in the city, so we went slowly and I frequently cast detection spells, even on ground we had already covered. If we traveled any faster than a slow walk, we kicked up a lot of dust, anyway.

As we approached the central plaza, a stone fell off a nearby wall. It was probably unbalanced by the weight of the dust that had settled on it during the night, and was finally toppled by the vibrations from our hooffalls. I snapped my head to the side before I even realized what I was doing, and released a blast from my horn. I not only vaporized the stone, but most of the wall behind it. And the one behind that.

"Roadapples, Twilight!" Jigsaw swore as most of the surrounding masonry collapsed with a rumble and I quickly began flapping my wings to keep the cloud of dust off of us.

"Sorry," I muttered. "I guess I'm a little twitchy."

"You think?" Jigsaw caught herself. "I mean... I guess it's better to over-react than... than whatever—"

"Than to freeze up and maybe get killed? Definitely better." I had certainly learned that lesson the hard way. So many ponies considered me to be something special. Certainly more special than I really was. But I knew how close and how many times I had come to being nopony at all. Only the combination of hard work, good friends, and a lot of luck had gotten me through the dangerous times that had come all too often.

I sighed. I was trying to tell myself how hard I'd had it and instead I was getting nostalgic for all the adventures I'd had with my friends. Which was stupid, because there I was having a brand new adventure with a brand new friend. I swear, sometimes my brain has a mind of its own.

"Sorry for snapping at you, Jigsaw," I told her as we got away from the newly ruined part of the ruins. "But I'm going to keep a few spells on a hair-trigger until we get out of this place and you're safe again."

"Mm... no, that's fine, Twilight. Just try not to do that to any priceless artifacts, okay?"

"I'll try," I said solemnly. "But no promises. If a golden chalice has to die to keep you safe, so be it." That got a chuckle out of her.

The long building was one street away from the plaza, but lined up with it, like the spoke of a wheel. The two big, double doors opened outward and were set high enough that we could open them without disturbing the dust in the street. Just to be extra cautious, we stood well back, and I swung them open with my magic.

The building was empty.

Well, not exactly empty. The floor was made of heavy flagstones that stretched to the other end of the building, where there were two more doors identical to the ones we had just come through. There were two deep grooves worn into the flagstones that were spaced just about right to have been made by the wheels of carts or wagons. Halfway down the narrow enclosure was what appeared to be a half-round space set off to the left side.

The walls held the ubiquitous carvings of unicorns as well as a lot of imagery I normally associated with harvest festivals in more arable lands. The real surprise awaited us when we got close enough to see the curved walls of the demi-tower halfway down the length of the structure. There, the decoration was a mosaic, rather than a bas-relief carved from stone. Even to my unappreciative eye, it was a masterpiece. Jigsaw whipped out her journal and immediately began sketching away.

The mosaic depicted a chaotic mass of fruits, grains, and vegetables, pouring from a huge symbol of magic that topped the wall. The colors were intense, even after a millennium.

Jigsaw paused in her drawing and pointed with a hoof. "Look, Twilight! The highlights on the grapes... and the drops of dew on the apples... I think they're diamonds! And the grains of wheat are citrines! And there's more... I think half that mosaic is gemstones!"

She was right. The art was not only a masterwork, it was worth a rather large fortune in materials alone. But more importantly, it was all about one thing: food.

"Jigsaw," I said quietly, as my eyes tracked downward where the depiction of the food flowed. "I think we've found the cornucopia."

Raised above the floor of the building was a carved pedestal about chest-high on me. The face of the pedestal, too, carried a bejeweled mosaic of produce, but its top was plain granite, polished to a mirror smooth surface. And on it, rested—nothing.

"Or... where the cornucopia used to be," Jigsaw said, her book and pencil slipping from her grasp and plopping to the floor.

It wasn't fair! "I bet this never happens to Daring Do," I grumbled.

"Her adventures get edited." Jigsaw sighed. "Welcome to the real world, princess."

= = =

=

10 Uninvited Guests

Chapter Ten
Uninvited Guests

"It all fits," I said, pointing to the ruts worn in the floor. "The grooves on this side of the turret are deeper than the other."

Jigsaw nodded sadly. "Empty wagons coming in, loaded wagons going out. It must have been an amazingly powerful artifact."

"Well, the cornucopia may be gone now, but we still have the magic weapon to find. 'Seek it beneath the cornucopia,' was what the code said. So..." I examined the granite slab closely. It seemed to be set into the wall as well as connected to the pedestal beneath it. There was no obvious way to lift it without destroying the surrounding mosaic. "Maybe we can access the space underneath from outside the building, or maybe there's a tunnel."

"Or maybe there are instructions written on the wall?" She seemed awfully cheerful all of a sudden.

"Not funny, Jigsaw."

She just smirked at me. And kept on smirking. I looked at the mosaic. I looked at the walls to ether side. No obvious text, no coded suns—well there was one sun, but it was part of the picture, and all of its eight rays were nearly identical. But Jigsaw definitely had noticed something I hadn't.

"I don't see it," I finally admitted.

"I never would have noticed it if we hadn't discovered the sun code first," Jigsaw admitted. "Take a closer look at the two bunches of grapes just above the slab."

"Mhn... twelve grapes in each cluster and..." I squinted, trying to see any other differences. "The highlights are on different sides of the grapes?"

Jigsaw couldn't contain herself any longer. "Yes! The little bits of diamond are either correct for the overall lighting of the piece or they're wrong: one binary difference! The sapphires are not a range of colors but two distinct shades: second difference! And the stones are slightly oval... not in varying orientations, but either exactly vertical or horizontal!"

I had to look very closely to see the differences, but she was right. It had to be another code. I turned and smiled at her. "You're a genius, Daring Do!"

"Oh, please! I'm way better than that slash-and-burn cowpony!" she said, ostentatiously polishing a hoof against her chest. "Now that I've done the hard part, would you like to decode the message?"

I already had my notebook and quill out. I started with the same sequence for the letters as before, and I assumed that the grapes would be read top to bottom and left to right. I just needed to discover which order the three differences came in. It took about ten minutes.

PRESSTHEPEAR THENTHELEMON

There were lots of pears and lemons in the mosaic but only one of each on the pedestal.

"Dibs on the lemon," Jigsaw said.

"Wait." I held out a wing to block her path. "I want us to be very careful here. Let's get out of the building and then start pushing buttons that are connected to Celestia knows what."

"They'd never set a trap that might damage that amazing mosaic!" Jigsaw protested.

"How much damage would, say, poison gas do to the gemstones?"

"Oh, all right!" She rolled her eyes. "But I'm pretty sure that from the door to the pedestal is out of range of my horn."

"Well, I'll have to do the heavy lifting, then. You can have the honor of... uh-oh."

"What is it?"

We had just emerged into the sunlight when I felt a little twinge of my tracking spell. "Changelings. Quick, let's get to the plaza!" I swung the large doors shut and smoothed the dust flat behind us as I trotted away from the cornucopia building. Jigsaw understood immediately what I was doing and kept close by my side without any questions.

When we reached the plaza, Jigsaw got out her journal and began sketching the rather dull pediment of the no-hash-mark building, and I surreptitiously searched the sky as I moved rubble away from the base of the wall. "The password is 'banana,'" I hissed to her out of the side of my mouth.

She frowned in puzzlement for a second before nodding. "Right," she replied. "Banana."

There were six of them flying in a ragged formation toward the city. At least they weren't trying to sneak up on us. As they got closer, I could see that two of them were in armor and that the leader was considerably larger than the others—about the same size as me, actually.

I made a show of noticing them and telling Jigsaw when they were about a furlong out. They landed a respectful distance away, advanced a few paces, and then bowed to me.

"Please rise," I said, with a gracious little nod that I'd perfected after closely watching Celestia do it for years.[1]

[1] I had yet to master Luna's You've Got Exactly One Minute to Convince Me Not to Trample You nod. Fortunately, I've never had much use for it.

It was impossible for me to tell the drones[2] apart, but I was pretty sure the smaller one in armor was the officer I'd talked with the day before. One of the others must still have had a remnant of my tracking spell attached. I'd have to try to renew it on them if possible.

[2] Or maybe they were workers? I still hadn't gotten the divisions of the changeling hive figured out.

The larger, armored changeling rose and spoke, "Good morning, Your Serene Highness. Queen Chrysalis sends her regards."

I gave her the #1 Celestia nod again and said, "I hope Her Majesty is well."

"She is, indeed, ma'am."

O—kay, then. This changeling knew Equestrian protocol pretty well and was making sure to be on her best behavior. Sad to say, it made me instantly suspicious. "I'm glad to hear it. May I know your name?" I said it without thinking. In court it was often all but impossible to know the names of every supplicant that came to be heard, even with an aide or seneschal whispering in my ear, and there were lots of clever circumlocutions that would let me get through a session without ever having to refer to a pony directly. But Celestia always asked the names of the ponies that came before her, and she always seemed to remember them.

"I am proud to be the General of the Swarm, ma'am."

Ah. No given names, then. We were keeping this formal. Or changelings didn't have given names. I really didn't know. Maybe—I mentally headed myself off, took a deep breath and said, "General of the Swarm, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"And an honor for me, ma'am."

"Thank you for saying so, general."

"Not at all, ma'am."

I wanted to scream, but I didn't. "I would offer you some refreshment, but my assistant and I are, unfortunately, poorly provisioned while at work."[3]

[3] Translation from Toffee-Nosed to Plain Equuish: "We're busy! Take a hike, sister!"

"I wouldn't dream of imposing on you, ma'am," the general replied. "In fact, Her Majesty has sent us here with direct orders to aid you in your endeavors by whatever means possible."[4]

[4] "We're staying. Get used to it."

So we were stuck with a half-dozen changelings tagging after us, with a big, tough, and, worst of all, clever leader.

Damn.

= = =

Of course, we didn't go back to the cornucopia building. There was no way I'd risk a hint of the powerful magical weapon getting back to Chrysalis. But I wasn't going to pretend to examine buildings I knew were empty all day, either. That would just be a contest to see who would snap first, me or Jigsaw.

So, I decided we would poke around a cluster of two-hash-mark buildings a few blocks from the main plaza. I let the drones move stones and clear away debris, and gave the honor of entering the structures to the general. None of them were marked as dangerous, or I couldn't, in good conscience, have let her walk blindly in. But you never know, right?

We actually uncovered quite a bit of interesting stuff, including a couple of small books! I carefully wrapped them up and stowed them away, intending to work as many restorative spells into them as I could manage before attempting to read them.

Then there was a large carving in deep relief of two unicorn stallions, locked in savage combat, which was quite unexpected. Weren't all of the master race supposed to be unified in their superiority? It certainly wasn't anything as ritualized as horn-fencing or wrestling. They were obviously battling to the death. There might have been names carved into the base of the wall at one time, but they were sand-blasted and worn into illegibility. Their cutie marks were in decent shape, but without some sort of reference, those weren't much help. Jigsaw plopped herself down in front of it and began a serious drawing.

I wanted to explore what appeared to be a large underground vault, but Jigsaw was lost in her work and wasn't going to finish any time soon. I was going to have to cool my hooves or take a risk. Considering all that had gone before, I was nearly 100% certain that the changelings wouldn't dare to hurt either one of us—but a little reminder wouldn't hurt.

"General?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

"I wish to take a look down those stairs, but I hesitate to leave my companion alone here." I gave the general a look that I'm sure Luna would have pulled off much more effectively,[5] and said, "She is very important to me, you understand."

[5] Really. I once saw Luna give Prince Blueblood a case of the cold sweats just by raising an eyebrow at him.

"Of course, princess! I will remain here to watch over her."

I have to admit, I hadn't expected that. I took the precaution of trailing a light tracking spell across the back of the general's armor under disguise of levitating a water bottle over to Jigsaw. If the big changeling made any sudden moves, I'd know and be able to react instantly.

I still hesitated. "General, I would like to speak frankly with you for a moment." I motioned her over to a place where the others wouldn't overhear.

"I would welcome it, ma'am."

"I'm sure you have your orders concerning us that you won't be sharing. Perhaps those orders include trying to replace Jigsaw or holding her hostage against my good behavior. If you try to carry out any such orders, you will fail. You saw what happened to the mountain I used as an example. Let me assure you that I am just as subtle, precise, and clever as I am powerful. I am not boasting, and I am not threatening, I just want you to get some idea of what an appalling price you and your kind will pay for an attempted betrayal."

The general broke out into a broad grin. As her teeth were the jagged fangs of a carnivore, the expression was not a reassuring one. "Since we're speaking freely, I'd just like to say that I like you a lot better when you're being a cold-hearted bitch... ma'am."

I actually didn't know whether to be pleased or not. "Just so long as we understand one another."

"Alright, then. Since we're not playing pretend nicey-nice any more, I will tell you straight out that my Queen has sent us here to spy on you. Big surprise, huh? She didn't believe you could be interested in all this old trash..." She swept a perforated hoof around at the ruins in general. "And she thought you were here as some sort of prelude to an attack on the hive. After the mountain, she changed her mind. Why be sneaky when you could just turn our home into a smoking crater? She still doesn't know what you're up to but is entertaining the idea that you might not be hostile. So she wants to know more about you, generally and specifically. One of her direct orders was to do absolutely no harm to either of you, whatsoever, for any reason... not even to defend our own lives. You can believe that or not. Your choice, princess."

I held her gaze for a while before I answered, "I believe you, General."

She nodded and turned to the other armored changeling, shouting, "Captain! Escort the princess!"

I still kept all my defensive spells on a hair-trigger as we descended into the vault. It was right next to a marked building but had no mark itself, which could mean that it hadn't been explored and might be dangerous.

It was a storeroom of some sort, that had several side bays with intricately intersecting, pointed-arched ceilings. All the niches set into the walls that had been meant to hold goods were empty or had only mounds of unidentifiable rubble in them. I sifted through the detritus with a sieve-like web of magic, looking for anything slightly interesting and grinding my teeth at the thought of the real treasure waiting for me just a few blocks away.

I stopped at the end of the main hall and realized that something was off. There had been a bay on each side of the room all the way to the end, but where the vault stopped, there was only one bay to my left. On the other side was relatively smooth wall.

But the stones were a slightly different color than the rest.

I hesitated, debating with myself whether to go and get Jigsaw to share in my moment of discovery, but finally decided to go ahead without her.

"Captain," I said to my escort. "Please come over here and stand next to me."

The changeling had given a little start when I'd spoken and was hesitant about approaching me. I realized that she was scared of me! "It's all right, "I reassured her. "I'm going to open up this wall, and I want you near me so I can teleport us both away if there's any trouble."

She moved over to my side, not quite touching me, and I turned my attention to the wall.

I took hold of the stones in a triangular patch and moved them all together, leaving a hole that I thought would be unlikely to collapse. I set the stones aside in a neat pile and directed a beam of light from my horn into the dark space beyond.

The first thing I saw was the pony skeleton.

I didn't scream. Okay, I took in a big gasp of air that would be the perfect thing to scream with, but I let it out again in more of an outragey-sound. The skeleton was a bad one. Poorly made, I mean. It was bits of white-washed wood strung together with wire, and had a board hung around its neck with a message scrawled on it in charcoal:

GOTCHA!

Crinet College Chargers

Class of '37

Oh, ha-ha-ha. Pranked by some two-hundred-year-old Sophomores! I stomped in embarrassment. Still—I was going to have to tell Rainbow Dash about this when I got back. Setting up a practical joke that might not pay off for centuries? That was dedication. On second thought, knowing how Rainbow hated to be outdone, I felt that maybe I shouldn't tell her. Who knew what it might lead to?

I carefully replaced the stones in the hole so that it appeared pretty much as it had when I'd found it. Why waste a good prank? The changeling was looking at me.

"Did you have a question, captain?" I asked her.

"This—" she pointed at the wall I'd just replaced "—is a sort of joke?"

"Yes, we call it a practical joke or a prank. Not very subtle, I admit."

"Ponies would plan such a thing so many years in advance? Just to imagine the humor of an event they would never witness?" Her expression was hard to read, but the tilt of her head suggested puzzlement.

"Oh, we usually like to be around for the pay-off, but there's a certain style to this one, I have to admit."

"I see," was all she said.

We climbed back up to the daylight to discover Jigsaw in close conversation with the general. There's a certain body language when two ponies are having a casual talk and a very different one when they are discussing something very important. They didn't seem to be chatting about the weather.

"Well," I called out to them, "that was a waste of time!"

Jigsaw gave a little jump. A guilty little jump, it seemed to me. The general merely looked up and nodded a greeting.

Maybe I was imagining things. Maybe.

But that didn't stop me from getting Jigsaw off to one side as soon as possible and whispering to her, "Password?"

"Banana," she replied without hesitation.

So she was the real Jigsaw. I was just being paranoid. But the last time I had been paranoid around a changeling, I had also been right. I was determined to shake off our watchers as soon as possible and ask Jigsaw some questions.

That turned out to be harder than I thought, for reasons I would never have imagined.

= = =

=

11 Accept No Substitutes

Chapter Eleven
Accept No Substitutes

"Well," I said, looking west to where the sun neared the horizon, "I think that's all we can accomplish today. General, will we have the pleasure of your company, tomorrow?" Please say no, please say no, please say no.

"The captain and I will remain in the city tonight."

Worse than I had expected. "I'm afraid we don't have much in the way of provisions. I don't even know what you eat besides..." I left it unsaid, but we both knew what I was referring to. What else did changelings eat when they weren't sucking the love out of poor, deceived ponies?

"We sometimes enjoy flesh." She said the word with a hiss as if she were imagining the taste. Eww!

"We don't have any of that to share," I said, striving to keep my revulsion from showing.

She chuckled low in her throat. "No matter. We have our own... provisions."

"Oh?" I hadn't seen any saddle bags, and I was curious, despite myself.

The general nodded to where the four smaller changelings stood, waiting. "They will nourish the captain and myself."

"What?!" I couldn't stop myself from reacting, and the instant I saw the general's lips twitch, I knew she had deliberately been probing me. I got hold of myself and said, as calmly as I could, "I'm afraid that we ponies find cannibalism distasteful, so you will forgive me if Jigsaw and I return to the library to dine alone."

The general actually laughed out loud at that. "Oh, nothing so crude, princess! In fact, I think you will find this very interesting. It is something that I do not think any outsider has ever seen before."

She certainly knew how to get my attention.

She turned to face the drones and began to dance. No, really, that's the best way to describe her movements, even though they weren't anything like any dance I'd seen before. Two of the drones responded, moving and stepping in patterns that matched or complemented the general's. They moved nearer and nearer to each other until their horns were nearly touching. I felt—something. Not like magic of any kind I knew, but definitely an energy of some sort. After a few moments the general lifted her head and stepped back. The drones sank to the ground, clearly exhausted.

"Aaah," the general sighed with satisfaction.

The captain repeated the whole procedure with the remaining two drones, while I observed closely and Jigsaw scribbled furiously in her notebook.

Afterwards, the general dismissed the drones, and they flew off, fairly unsteadily, in the direction of the changeling hive.

"Thank you, General," I said. "That was very interesting indeed."

"My pleasure, Princess! And now we can spend the evening together, getting to know one another better."

Oh, goodie.

= = =

After dinner, we lay around the fire going over our findings of the day.[1] I soothed and coaxed the little books I had found back into some semblance of flexibility while Jigsaw showed me her sketches and notes. Her drawings were really exceptional. "I'll go over them in ink when we get back to Canterlot," she told me. "They'll look even better then."

[1] With the exception of the cornucopia building, of course.

"May I ask why you are so interested in a failed civilization?" the general asked.

"You don't think there is any worth in studying the past?" I replied.

"We have our traditions," she said. "Stories of past victories, of tactics and tricks that have served well. Such things are worth remembering. But the ponies of this place were failures. They died out or fled. What can you learn from such as they?"

I bit my lip for a moment. I had to force myself not to go into my standard tirade about the value of all knowledge. "If we discover why they failed, it might help us to avoid making similar mistakes."

The general considered that for a moment. She motioned at the books in front of us. "Statues, old walls, and trash will tell you that?"

I really clamped down on the anger that had risen in me when she'd pointed at the old books and said "trash." I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Each piece, alone, might mean little, but, together, a larger picture can be built up. It's a method that has been proven again and again."

"I see," the general said. "But it still seems like a great deal of trouble to go through for such uncertain gain."

Jigsaw jumped into the conversation. "Some of us enjoy the process for its own sake. Isn't there something you enjoy doing, just for the joy of doing it?"

The general smiled. "A few things, yes. Though, perhaps, you would not appreciate or understand them... as I do not understand your 'archaeology.'"

"I would like to try to understand," Jigsaw replied.

She seemed to be having better luck at communicating with the general than I had, so I contented myself with half-listening to them talk as I opened one of the books.

The smaller one, bound in red embossed canvas, turned out to be a foal's picture book. My spells had restored the colors of the illustrations somewhat, but they were still slightly faded. It was the story of a young colt, who wanted to make a special gift for his mother on her birthday. He tried many different things, always failing in humorous ways, until he finally asked his grandmother for advice. That's when the racist propaganda started.

It was startling. The book had been so simple and pleasant until then. But wise old grandmare imparted the following wisdom to the little colt:

"Unicorns do not make, my dear! The lesser races make and we take!"

"How can I do that, Grandmother? I am so small and weak."

"With magic, size does not matter. Our wise leaders have given us the means to take all that we need! Come, and I will show you."

The opposite page was a picture of the two of them walking through the city. I flipped to the next page—and then hurriedly flipped right back. I looked up, but Jigsaw and the general were still deep in conversation and hadn't seen the cartoony, but unmistakable, picture of the interior of the cornucopia building.

I needed to get rid of the changelings.

I set the book aside, yawned and stretched. "Oh, my! I'm pretty worn out from all the excitement today. I'm sure the rest of you are tired, too. Shall we turn in?"

They all looked at me, Jigsaw with a puzzled expression.

Okay, so I'm not the most convincing actor in Equestria. I hurried on. "General, I'm sure you won't take it amiss if I put up my shields as I usually do. I'll be using a double enclosure technique, which will take up quite a bit of room, so you may find it more comfortable outside?"

Yes, it was pretty lame. But I was improvising on the spur of the moment. Even if the general didn't believe me, I hoped she'd take the hint that the ponies needed some alone time. What I didn't expect, was that Jigsaw would be the one to object.

"You can set the shields to let me in, right? Because, I'd kinda like to keep talking with the general for a while." Jigsaw flicked the big bug a look and then stood up. "We can go outside so we don't disturb you. Maybe walk around a little."

I was stunned. This was the pony that had been so terrified of the lone changeling that she'd wanted me to kill it? She was seriously proposing to take a casual stroll around the dark ruins with one of Chrysalis's chief thugs? I was speechless for a moment, and then, "I... don't... uhmn... do you really think that's a good idea?"

Jigsaw bit her lip and looked away for a moment. "Yes, I think so. They're not like us, Twilight... but they're not stupid. The general would have nothing to gain by harming me."

Before I could reply, the general stuck her own oar in. "What she says is true. I would give you my word... but we both know my word is worthless. I would betray any oath if to do so would gain advantage for my hive."

"Uh... If you're trying to reassure me, that's not helping," I said.

"Honesty is valued among ponies, is it not?" she said as she rose from the floor.

"I'll be fine, Twilight," Jigsaw said. "We won't—"

"Wait." I got up and walked over to her, my horn glowing to life.

Jigsaw shied away from me slightly. "What are—"

"Hush," I said, a bit sternly. "Stand still. I need to touch you for this to work."[2] I tapped her poll with the tip of my horn. "There! Now I'll be able to tell where you are for the next few hours. I will also know if you become upset, afraid, or angry... and I'll be able to... respond." I turned to the general. "Have a nice walk."

[2] I didn't, of course. That was a lie for the general's benefit.

I settled back down and picked up my book, trying not to grind my teeth. Jigsaw stood where she was for a long moment and then walked away, the general following her. When they had gone, I looked up. The captain was laying about as far away from me as possible while still being in the rotunda. I sighed. I might as well go through with the rest of the charade.

"Captain?"

She flinched. "Y—yes, Your Highness?"

"Could you please move out into the hall? I'm going to set up the shields, and they will pretty much fill the room."

She scrambled up and darted through the doorway. Out of the light of the fire, I could only see the eerie blue of her eyes in the darkness. I felt a little guilty for causing such fear in her. But I guess that was the whole point of my "demonstration", wasn't it? I couldn't have it both ways.

I shoved aside the growing fear that I was messing up the whole expedition somehow and began raising the shields. Precision work was even better than deep breathing exercises for calming me down. I wove in the exception,[3] specifying a female unicorn, which might have been too particular, but it took more concentration, which was good for me right then.

[3] A matrix designed by my BBBFF, BTW.

The second, outer shield was more in the way of a responsive energy shell, with a few additions based on what I'd improvised the morning the changelings had surrounded us. In theory, it would allow me to create new spells, even when under an abjuration. I was pretty sure I wouldn't use it, but it was good to get practice casting it, as I was sure I'd be experimenting with it when I could do so in more controlled circumstances.

I rolled out the city map and put a couple stones on it to hold it open. I moved my saddlebags so that it was hidden from the hallway where the captain was and cast a simple linking spell. Two marks appeared on the map: a horseshoe for Jigsaw and an X for the general. They were in the street outside, moving slowly away from the library. I mentally traced a boundary of a few blocks radius. If they got further away out than that, I'd teleport out to check on them.

With that done, I went back to the foal's book. Yes, the illustration was definitely the interior of the cornucopia building. What's more, it was just as Jigsaw and I had found it: no magical horn—just an empty pedestal.

I would have smacked my head into the book with angry embarrassment if it hadn't been so relatively fragile. Every time I made an unwarranted assumption, it came back to bite me. Because it was called a cornucopia, I had assumed it would be a curled ram's horn, like in the legends. But it had been named for what it did, not what it looked like.

In the book, the grandmare showed the colt how to use the device. She stood before it and held a strong mental image of what she wanted, in this case, a fresh apple. "May I have an apple, please?" she said, and one appeared on the pedestal.

That was about what I expected. Magical synthesis of food from hydrocarbons, based on existing patterns, was pretty impressive, but I knew it was perfectly possible in theory.

Then, in the book, the colt tried asking for a necklace for his mother. I expected a series of comical, ugly results, looking like a young pony's bad drawings of a necklace. But, again, my assumptions were way off target.

The colt got nothing. On several attempts. Then his grandmother advised him to think of how much he loved his mother, imagine how beautiful she would look wearing a fine necklace, and to try again. That time it worked. The last page was a large drawing of the colt hugging his mother, who was wearing an exquisite, bejeweled choker. Yes, it was a child's book, simple and cartoony in its style, but the last page had been drawn with a great deal of care, and it was obvious that the jewelry was much more detailed than could be imagined by a young pony.

Magic just didn't work that way. Without conscious guidance, an exact template was needed. Was the foal's book an exaggeration? Or was I missing something? All very possible. But the only way to find out for sure was to get my hooves on the cornucopia, and that wasn't going to happen as long as our changeling keepers were shadowing us.

That thought made me glance at the map. Jigsaw and the general were only a street away, and no longer moving. I looked over at the hallway and saw that the captain was lying in the doorway, alert but still and silent. I sighed. I could just whip up a hard shield around the city tomorrow, flinging out our unwanted guests, so that we could get on with our investigations. I could—but there was a chance for something to come out of this situation. An understanding? Maybe an alliance? Whatever it might be, it would be worth a little[4] frustration, even if just for the outside possibility.

[4] Okay, a lot.

I decided to look through the second book and found a ledger of debts and payments that were, oddly, enumerated in hours and grouped by "item." I went through it looking for patterns, but found nothing immediately obvious. It had many names and cutie marks noted, and a couple of lines that were abruptly truncated with the words "debt forgiven," but nothing else of interest.

I put the ledger aside and thought about brewing a small pot of tea. There was no way I was actually going to go to sleep until Jigsaw came back. I glanced at the map again: They hadn't moved. Well—maybe just a little. The horseshoe and the X were nearly overlapping. I squinted at the map thoughtfully. No signal had come from the tracer I had put on Jigsaw that would indicate she was fearful, but—there was something there. Something not quite right. I cursed myself for not specifying broader limits on the spell when I had cast it, but I had only intended it for an alert, not general surveillance.

I got up and walked through the shields. The captain leaped to her hooves and backed away from me. I almost winked out right there, but I reconsidered for a moment. If I suddenly popped into existence right next to the general without cause, she would know I was a lot more nervous and affected by the situation than I was comfortable revealing. They were only a street away. I could walk.

"I'm going out for a short while, captain," I said to the cowering changeling.

"I will accompany you, Your Highness," she said.

"No need. I won't be long."

"I... my orders..."

I really felt sorry for her. Who knows what would happen to her if she disobeyed her orders? So—purely for the selfless motive of helping her out of her quandary, I slapped a small gas-permeable shield around her.

"I've drunk a lot of tea tonight, and there are some things ponies prefer to do in private, Captain. I'll let you out when I come back. Please feel free to tell your... superiors that you were prevented by me from following your orders to the letter." I trotted out the door to the street.

I decided I would brew up a pot of tea to share with her when I got back. Maybe I could get her to relax a little. Did changelings drink tea? I knew that Chrysalis had when she was disguised as Cadance, but did they like it? Well, I could find out.

I went around the block the long way, thinking I might just take a peek around the corner without letting Jigsaw and the general know I was there. If I was being a silly worry-wart, I could just back off without disturbing them. I didn't want to derail what seemed to be the beginnings of a promising understanding between our species, after all.

When I got to the corner, I heard no conversation, but, rather, muffed noises that sounded very like some sort of struggle. I brought up three offensive matrix patterns as I stepped around the corner—and froze, my jaw dropping in shock. There, half-way down the block, was Jigsaw, passionately kissing—me!

= = =

=

12 Opening Up

Chapter Twelve
Opening Up

I ducked around the corner and scrabbled backwards. It's a good thing the thick dust on the ground muffled the sound of my hooves, because I was not thinking about being stealthy right then. What was she doing?! Okay, okay, yes, I knew what Jigsaw was doing: That had been pretty darned obvious. But—but—she knew that—that insect wasn't me! How could she—

I bumped tail first into the low edge of a fountain and almost toppled into the dry bowl, making a ridiculous eep noise as I scrambled to keep my balance. Mind control? Was that it? It must be! I formed a teleport matrix, intending to wink in right next to the general and buck her ugly, pointed teeth down her throat before she could blink—and I felt the matrix break up because I hadn't properly formed the interstitial entry vortex. It was a foal's mistake. I just wasn't thinking properly.

Not thinking properly, right. Mind control didn't really make any sense, not with me still around. So, how could the general feed off of Jigsaw if Jigsaw knew she wasn't the pony that she—Oh, Celestia!—loved? Why would the general need to feed off of Jigsaw, anyway? How did she convince Jigsaw to—to—I felt bile rise in my throat. I stumbled and almost fell.

Where was I? I had staggered blindly away from the fountain and I must have turned a corner somewhere. I dropped to the street, driving a huge puff of dust into the air. I knew I had to do something—but what? I tried deep breathing to calm myself and began choking on the dust. My dust. The literal fallout of my actions.

I'd turned Jigsaw down after letting things go on far too long. I'd explained the situation to her in my careful, oh-so-logical way, so everything should be fine, right? All better; no hard feelings, right? Of course not. Right.

I spit out the dust in my mouth, got up, and shook myself. I had to face it. Jigsaw hadn't been tricked or mind-controlled. Whatever she thought she was doing, she was doing it willingly. I looked around until I got my bearings and then plodded toward the library. I had no right to spy on her, and I would certainly be in the wrong to interfere—even if I had the slightest idea what to do or say.

I had another good shake before entering the building and then released the captain as I went by her. "Do you drink tea?" I asked her. "I'm thinking of brewing another pot." She didn't reply, so I glanced back to see her crouching on the floor, eyes huge and staring. Just brilliant, Sparkle. Another notch in the old friendship scoreboard, for sure!

Sleep? With my heart pounding in my chest like Pinkie Pie with a new drum set, it wasn't likely. Study, then. The ledger must have something more I could glean from it. But I couldn't seem to focus on the figures. They all wavered and ran together into a blobby mess.

Sometime later, I felt them approaching the library, so I put my head down and pretended to sleep. There were a few words exchanged between the captain and the general, too softly for me to make out. Otherwise, no one spoke. Jigsaw slipped through the shields and lay down on her bedroll.

It was a very long time until my pretense became a reality.

= = =

Four new changeling drones arrived with the dawn. They crowded into the hall with the general and captain, waking me with the noise of their chitinous hooves clattering on the marble floor.

"Lunch that delivers itself. That's handy," I muttered, rubbing too-little-sleep from my eyes.

"Sorry, Twilight, I didn't catch that."

I looked up to see a cup of tea hovering in front of me. I took it in my own magic and had a sip before I could trust myself to speak. "Thank you, Jigsaw."

"Do you want some oatmeal? I'm not hungry, but I'll make some for you if you want."

I looked up. She wasn't looking very happy. That was odd, considering.

"No, thank you. I'm not hungry, either."

"Oh," she said. "Alright."

We drank our tea in silence.

"What are the plans for today, princess?" the general called from the hallway.

I set my cup down, very carefully. I stood up and dropped the shields. "Let's speak outside, general." I made a short teleport out into the street and called back through the doorway, "Now, if you please."

The general emerged from the doorway with the captain close behind her. I popped the captain back inside and slapped a shield over the whole building.

The general looked back at her subordinates, struggling to get out of the library, and then back at my expression. "Ah." She nodded. "I thought I heard something last night. I want you to know that Jigsaw and I—"

I whipped a loop of telekinetic force around her muzzle and cinched it tight. Her eyes slitted down and she struggled, her horn flaring to life. I hit her with a disruptive blast that staggered her and made her horn flicker out. Then I pulled tighter on the loop, forcing her head down so that she had to look up at me.

"Don't."

She stopped struggling, but her eyes blazed.

"What passed between you two is no concern of mine, and I don't wish to hear any more about it." I let her go.

"I offer my apologies," the general hissed. "In accordance with my orders."[1]

[1] Best non-apology apology I'd heard to date.

"I hope your orders allow for an early return to your hive. Or you can buzz around outside the city, if you like." I waved a dismissive hoof. "Just so long as you and your little swarm stay a long way away from here."

The general drew herself up haughtily. "We comprise a 'cluster', princess. Do I take this to mean that you are rejecting our queen's generous offer of diplomacy?"

I gritted my teeth. Why couldn't things ever be simple? "Quite the contrary, general. We will be conducting some tests today that have the unfortunate side-effect of causing changelings to explode. I'm just concerned for the safety of Her Majesty's subjects. You can return tomorrow, two hours after dawn."

"I see," she replied flatly. "Will Jigsaw be here when we return?"

That blindsided me. "What? Why wouldn't she be?"

The general shrugged. "You are her monarch and she has displeased you..."

I thought I couldn't get any angrier. I was wrong. "We ponies are not like that!" I hissed through my teeth.

"Ah..." She blinked slowly. "I am glad to hear it."

I waved away the shield around the library. "Take your cluster and get out."

The general sketched a bow, never taking her eyes off of me. "As you wish, Your Serene Highness." She made it sound like a curse.

They buzzed off into the sky and disappeared in the direction of the hive. I could sense the tracking spell on the general for a while longer, and it didn't seem like she intended to circle back. That was good, because casting and maintaining a shield over the entire city would be exhausting.

"Twilight?" It was Jigsaw, standing in the street outside the library. She must have heard most, if not all of our talk from the doorway.

I collected myself before I turned to face her. "Jigsaw, I've bought us a day without changeling spies and we need to make the most of it. Grab your kit. We're going to the cornucopia."

"I—"

I teleported us both back into the library and began loading up my saddlebags. "Get your stuff."

"Twilight, I—"

"Jigsaw!" I stomped my hoof. "We will talk about it as much as you like, but later. The cornucopia is there! It was right under our muzzles, but we missed it! We've only got a day to figure it all out and I've risked a breach with the changelings to get us that much time, so we shouldn't waste any of it. Okay?"

She nodded and put her things together. As she was settling her bags across her back, she said, "Please, Twilight. There's just one thing I need to know first."

Oh, sweet Celestia, did I not want to open that door, but she looked so serious—"Yes?"

"Do you despise me for... last night?"

"What? No! No, of course I don't! Jigsaw, I admire you... for many, many reasons!"

"But, you were so angry with the general—"

I almost used the mouth-zipper on her. "Later," I said. "You know that 'one thing.' Now we need to get busy!" I teleported us directly to the cornucopia building. "First thing is to see if it's still working."

I visualized one of Applejack's best Red Delicious apples and said, "May I have an apple?" Nothing. I tried again, taking more time with my visualization, even imagining the smell of the apple. "May I have an apple?" Still nothing. Well, the mechanism was over a thousand years old, it wouldn't be surprising if it no longer operational.

I got out the storybook and flipped to the last pages. And laughed. Yeah, maybe I laughed a little bit too much. I had a lot of tension to burn off.

"Are you okay, Twilight?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, Jigsaw." I shook my head ruefully. "I just forgot the magic word!" I turned back to the pedestal and said, "May I have an apple, please?"

There was a brief flash and a soft pop, and a perfect Red Delicious apple appeared on the stone slab.

"Woo-hoo!" cried Jigsaw, "Let me try!"

"Wait, wait!" I held up a hoof to stop her.

"What is it?"

"That energy dissipation... it was an interstitial exit vortex!"

"Uh... in plain Equuish, please?"

"That apple wasn't created, it was teleported from... somewhere else."

"Wait... you mean..." Jigsaw was one bright mare. It only took her a few seconds to extrapolate the consequences. "They stole all their food? That would be hundreds of tons of produce a year!"

"Not just their food." I passed her the storybook.

I waited while she flipped through the pages. When she'd finished she threw the book down on the floor. "What an adorable little thief!" She sneered. "That choker probably cost some poor artisan a big bag of bits for the metal and gems, and months to make! I'm glad these screwheads died out!"

"Jigsaw!" I gasped.

"Hey, I'm a unicorn, I can use the S-word if I want! Besides, I've never known a group so deserving!"

I didn't feel much like arguing with her. "I was prepared to be very impressed with their ability to create food, and now..."

"But you can do it, so why would you be impressed?"

"No," I shook my head. "There are theoretical methods, but nopony's ever been able to actually accomplish it."

"But, I've seen you do it! Watercress sandwiches... Wait, are you trying to tell me you were stealing food?"

"No, I wasn't stealing it!" I assured her. "I localized the entry vortex to the rough area of Ponyville... can't really get it more precise than that... so the only place that exact sort of sandwich can come from, with a target-specific teleport, is the kitchen of my castle there. I don't like to do it very often because Chef Soupçon gets irritated when things disappear on her. She's sort of fussy that way."

Jigsaw smiled at that. "So... how wide of an entry vortex could you make? If that's the right terminology. To get enough food to sustain them, these ponies must have covered a big area."

"It can be non-specific. Then the spell will just pull the desired item from the nearest source. Saves energy."

Jigsaw thought a bit more. I had my own ideas, but it was a pleasure to watch her rip through the possibilities, and it was entirely possible that she'd come up with something I hadn't thought of.

"So..." she said, slowly. "If you can teleport things over that sort of distance, why did we walk all this way?"

"Ah, well, it's a bit technical, but if I were to vastly over-simplify—"

"Please, do."

"Quantum uncertainty makes point-to-point transference less and less precise over really long distances. Trying to jump us to my castle would deliver us somewhere within a two-league diameter sphere. Not very useful, and, considering that half that sphere is underground, pretty darned dangerous. But with object-specific teleportation... uhmn... this is easier to explain with math. How's your calculus?"

"Not up to the task, I expect. Can you give me the Athletic Scholarship Version?"

"Well... within a specified but indeterminate area, the spell acquires all potential targets of the desired type. When the twin transfer vortices are activated, the entrance waveform collapses to the location of an actual object, usually the one in the lowest energy state, and it's linked to the exit vortex at a specific point. Easy to do on the receiving end, because that's where the spellcaster is located."

"Uh... right."

"Sorry." I grinned sheepishly. "Maybe if I explain about the relationship between physical objects and their Plodonic Ideal, which sets a limit on the..."

"No, no!" Jigsaw waved her hooves at me vigorously, "That's okay! I think I get how it works if not exactly why. Long-range teleports to someplace not well known are difficult and dangerous, but it's possible to do from someplace if you don't want a specific object... just one of a general type. Is that right?"

"Well... it's not wrong," I admitted.

Jigsaw nodded. "Close enough for me. So how much power does this take?"

"Rather a lot. Exponentially more by the distance, even without factoring in the uncertainty of the target. Another reason I don't do it very often."

Jigsaw nodded. "So what powers this thing? It must have used a ridiculous amount of energy when it was feeding and furnishing the whole city!"

"That... that is a really good question!"

She beamed at me. "Thank you! And there's only one way we're going to find out, isn't there?" She clopped her forehooves together and rubbed them up and down. "Let's open this baby up!"

"Uh... Jigsaw?" I didn't quite like the gleam in her eyes. "We should take some precautions..."

"Of course, we should," she said as she pressed the bejeweled pear on the pedestal. There was a faint click.

"Wait!" I cried.

"Duck and cover, princess!" she said, with what I'm going to classify as 'insane glee', as she firmly pressed the mosaic lemon.

There was a second, much louder click, and then the rumble of ancient machinery coming to life.

= = =

=

13 That Old Black Magic

Chapter Thirteen
That Old Black Magic

The flagstone under me dropped, and I instinctively gave two big flaps to get airborne, then moderate ones to hold my position. Jigsaw had been standing directly in front of the pedestal, and so was clear of the section of moving floor. Successive stones sank down, each a bit further than the last, forming a stairway leading down below the building.

"Oooooh!" Jigsaw did a little dance on tippy-toes. "This is gonna be great!" I made a mental note to invite her to the Castle of the Two Sisters when we got back to Equestria. If a secret stairway thrilled her that much, she was going to love all the mechanisms built into the old place for the amusement of a couple of fun-loving alicorns.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" She had descended three steps before I could grab her and pull her back.

I held her up in front of me and shook her. "Jigsaw! What are you doing? There could be anything down there!"

She scowled and crossed her hooves over her chest. "Yeah? And isn't that exciting?"

"Well... yes," I admitted. "But we are still operating in Column B, under the assumption that there are things in the city that could kill us. And where better to put a trap than where your most valuable artifact is?"

Jigsaw sighed. "Twilight, no matter how much we like to joke around, this isn't a Daring Do 'novel'. Yearling exaggerates the hay out of everything! There aren't traps every five steps!"

"It's the sixth step that worries me!" I landed beside the stairway and set Jigsaw down. "I'm responsible for your safety, and unless you promise me to be as careful as possible, and let me go first into any doubtful areas, you're going to stay up here while I investigate on my own, understand?" I gave her my This is Serious Business glare.[1] "Will you promise me?"

[1] The one that even works on Pinkie Pie, sometimes.

She scowled at me in silence for a moment, and then replied, "Sure. If you promise me to stop being such a jerk!"

"What?" I reared back like I'd been slapped. "What..." I floundered for an appropriate response. I had just stopped her from throwing herself down some stairs into who knows what sort of danger. And for that, I was being a jerk? "Jigsaw... I was just... I was concerned for you..."

"Just now, or last night?"

Oh. "Okay... why don't you tell me why you're upset with me. Clueless bookworm, remember?"

"I thought you wanted to put it off until later."

"Not if it's going to make you behave recklessly." I swallowed nervously, "I'll admit that looming deadlines tend to make me hyperventilate, but if this is so important to you, we need to talk it out now."

Jigsaw didn't look at me for a while and then said, "You humiliated the general in front of her cluster. Hadn't you just told me the day before what a stupid thing that was to do to Queen Chrysalis?"

"Wha... I... but that's different!"

Jigsaw cocked an eyebrow at me. "Really? How?"

"She... you... she seduced you! She tricked you into..." I trailed off, wondering why Jigsaw was laughing.

"Oh, Twilight! You are a shut-in, aren't you?"

I trampled down my anger at that. This was about making things right between us, not contesting over which of us was more worldly. "I know you were willing, but she was still taking advantage of you! You were upset... just getting over—"

"Willing? Twilight, I was the one who asked her!"

Oh. I was getting really tired of being unpleasantly surprised. "I see." I thought furiously for a moment. "And... I was angry at her for something you did. I can see how that was unfair."

Jigsaw shook her head again. "No, Twilight, you're just not getting it. It doesn't matter who you were angry with. What you did to the general... in front of all of us... you were being a jerk and a bully! That wasn't the way anypony should ever treat a friend!"

"A... friend?"

"Yes, a friend!" Jigsaw was obviously trying to control her temper—and failing. "Maybe you don't like her, but I was starting to get to know her, and I think that she and I could have been friends. That's probably not going to happen, now."

I sat down with a thump. Thankfully, there was no carpet of dust inside the building. I was in shock. She was right. I had been angry because I was revolted—and, somehow, hurt by the whole thing. I honestly didn't know how much of it was being protective of Jigsaw and how much of it was embarrassment that she was using—my image, I suppose, to—to—

= = =

Rarity, Fluttershy, and I were having cocoa and cookies at Sugarcube Corners when Rainbow Dash zoomed in through the doors and came to a stop, hovering at our table. There was a large roll of paper tucked in the crook of her foreleg.

"Heya gals!" Rainbow called out. "Wait'll you see what I've got!"

"Let me guess," I said. "A new Wonderbolts poster?"

"Nope!"

"This week's weather schedule?" Rarity guessed. "It's only two days late."

Rainbow Dash blew air through her lips, dismissively. "Clear and cold all week, everypony knows that! No, this is really cool!"

There was a crash of dropped cookie sheets and, for some reason, the sound of a cowbell from the kitchen, and Pinkie Pie called out, "Is it that new perfume advertisement that Fluttershy posed for?"

Rainbow Dash gave a cry of outrage. "Darn it, Pinkie! How did you know?"

"Lucky gue... ooh... ahrhg... no! Put that down!" More noises, indicating a baking mishap and things best not looked into, came from the kitchen. "I'm okay, I'm okay! But don't come in here!"

We all looked at each other, shrugged, and turned our attention back to the poster that Rainbow Dash was unrolling. "Ta-da!"

This was a month or so after Fluttershy had quit modeling. Mostly, she had fallen out of the public eye, but a few photos that she had shot previously showed up in magazines and on products occasionally. That particular poster was for a perfume line called Innoscents [sic][2] and featured Fluttershy, in a diaphanous little wrap dotted with silk cherries, stretched out on a velvet day-bed. Her eyes were looking directly at the viewer, wide and wary, as if some ravening beast was stalking toward her.[3]

[2] Several times, I've asked Celestia to introduce laws about such things, but she just chuckles and shakes her head.

[3] Admittedly, if some ravening beast were stalking toward Fluttershy, she would probably have jumped up to comfort the ghastly thing—but, you know what I mean.

"Oh, my!" Rarity said. "You look positively adorable in that shot, Fluttershy! The nightie isn't bad work, either. I wonder who made it?"

"Yes," Fluttershy said. "It's... nice. Um... are there very many of those posters around?"

"Oh, yeah." Rainbow Dash nodded. "Lots! They're giving 'em away at Barnyard Bargains as a promotional thing."

Fluttershy, predictably, gave a tiny gasp of dismay and lowered her head, letting her hair fall in front of her face.

"Don't worry, dear." Rarity patted her on the shoulder. "I'll lend you my hat and scarf... and a pair of dark glasses, so you can get home incognito."

"Th—thank you."

"Yep," Rainbow Dash kept on, oblivious. "There's gonna be a whole lot of colts holding up this poster with one hoof, tonight!"

I thumped my cocoa mug down on the table and glared at her. Rarity rolled her eyes and said, coldly, "Do you have to be so crude, Rainbow Dash?"

Fluttershy peered out from behind her hair, with a puzzled frown. "I... I don't understand."

Rainbow Dash, the ever-helpful, completely clueless Rainbow Dash, mimed it for her.

"Oh! Oh my! Oh... I..." Fluttershy tried to slide under the table. Her cheeks could have set my cocoa to simmering.

"Rainbow!" Rarity growled, putting a comforting and restraining leg around Fluttershy.

"What? It's true!"

We didn't hear from Fluttershy for a week and a half after that, when she sent a bluejay into town with a note for Rarity, asking if everypony had forgotten about the posters yet.

= = =

I promised myself that, when I got back, I was going to treat Fluttershy to a full day at the royal spa for even thinking about snickering at her back then. I could feel my own cheeks beginning to glow.

"I'm sorry, " I said. "You're right. I did overreact, and it was wrong of me. I'm sorry for treating your friend that way. I'll apologize to the general when she gets back."

"Oh." Jigsaw blinked. She obviously hadn't expected me to agree with her so quickly. "Uh... well, thanks, I guess. I hope the general does come back."

"I'm pretty sure she will," I said with assurance.

"Why do you think that?"

"I guess you couldn't hear from behind the changelings, but the general was a bit concerned that I was going to kill you. I assured her I wasn't. She seemed relieved to hear it."

"Really?" Jigsaw blinked again.

"Yep," I nodded. "I think she likes you. And I think that's a good thing."

Jigsaw frowned and her eyes narrowed. "Are you messing with me?"

"No, not at all."

Jigsaw's frown softened but she still seemed suspicious. "So, you're okay with me and the general—"

"No, not at all."

"Wait... what?"

"You two, having a physical relationship? I'm fine with that.[4] It's the general wearing my body I'm not okay with. It's demeaning, and I don't think it's healthy for you, either."

[4] As long as I didn't have to think too much about it. Ewww.

"Oh." It was Jigsaw's turn to blush. "Well, I guess I'm the one who wanted to clear the air."

"I promise I'll treat her like a friend from now on if she will stop... well, I... I guess I should ask if it will still work for her if she doesn't look like me."

Jigsaw gave a bitter bark of a laugh. "Twilight, it didn't work even when she was being you! She couldn't... uhg... feed is such an ugly word, but I guess there isn't a better one. If changelings could eat lust, she would have gotten a bellyfull, but I guess they're more finicky than that."

Lust? Oh, sweet stars, I could feel my cheeks burning. "Then... why..."

Jigsaw shrugged. "It started out as an experiment, really. No, don't interrupt me! That's my story and I'm sticking to it." She swallowed nervously. "Anyway, she told me that she could feel something while were were just talking, but nothing more when we... uh..." She made little twirly motions in the air with one hoof.

"So," I said, feeling just the tiniest built guilty for enjoying her embarrassment. "Further experimentation is warranted?"

"As long as you're okay with it, I guess."

"I'll be fine, I promise. Just make sure the general imitates somepony else. I'm serious about this: I was really creeped out by it. Isn't there some celebrity or model you like that you don't know personally? Fleur de Lis or..." A sudden thought hit me. "Not Fluttershy! Uh... just... whatever," I finished, lamely.

Jigsaw nodded, not looking up. "Thanks, Twilight. Sorry for being so..."

"Yeah, me too." I paused for a second. "So... mysterious crypt?"

She looked up, grinning, "Sure thing! How do we play this?"

"You go first, because you've got the more experienced eyes. But, I'm covering us with a mobile shield. It's form-fitting and a bit stiff, but shouldn't restrict our movements much. It will give us a good measure of protection."

"Proof against ceiling alligators?"

I was glad she felt comfortable enough to kid around again. "Guaranteed."

So, down we went.

The stairs continued much further down than the movable stones. There was a touch-crystal to reset them but we both agreed that leaving our avenue of escape open would be wisest. Almost a hundred steps later, Jigsaw hesitated.

"What is it?" I asked.

"This step is... not like the others. Lots of tiny differences."

"A trap?"

"Oh, Twilight! You sound almost eager!" Jigsaw shook her head. "I keep telling you, traps are rarer than hen's teeth!"

"Did I ever tell you about the time I ran into a cockatrice? They've got teeth."

Jigsaw sighed. "Okay, if it's a trap, there should be something different about the ceiling or walls or... or... hey! Well, roll me in clover and call me a foal! Will you look at that!"

"What?" I couldn't even spot the difference in the step, let alone whatever else it was she'd noticed.

"Metal studs in the walls to either side of the step. They've been greased and coated with powdered stone so they'll blend in."

"Wow, you've got good eyes!"

"Trained eyes," she said. "What do we do now? Jump over?"

I thought about it for a few moments. "If I was a fanatic separatist concerned about Celestial agents sneaking around, I might just put an obvious trap first and then a better hidden one, just after. Why don't we back up a ways and I'll push down on the steps?"

We did that. When I pushed down with about a pony's weight worth of force on the odd step, violent arcs of pure magic jumped between the metal studs to either side.

"Wow!" Jigsaw gasped. "Pretty impressive! Your shield would have stopped that, though. Right, Twilight? Uh... Twilight?"

The black streams, wreathed in roiling purple eruptions and green discharges, were immediately familiar to me: dark magic. "Jigsaw, we need to be more careful."

"Oh," was all she said.

Our procedure changed. I wove grounding cantrips into our shield and put more power into it. As we continued, I pressed down on each stair about three pony lengths before we reached it.

There was a second trap just a few steps behind the first. The step itself was a fake. It was made out of layers of paper glued together and coated with rock dust. When I pressed down, it crumpled and fell into the hidden pit underneath.

We peered down into the pit. There were long spikes at the bottom. "Too narrow for a pegasus to flap her wings. Too short a fall for most unicorns to be able to to react with magic. Nasty," I observed. "I really wish I could bring myself to use the S-word."

"Oh," Jigsaw said, "You want to fully express your distaste, princess?"

I merely nodded.

"Well, how about calling them roadapple-eating daughters of..." She went on like that, getting more and more vulgar, until she ran out of breath.

"Jigsaw..." I was—well, impressed can carry both positive and negative meanings, so that will have to suffice. "I think it's a good thing a pony can't get a cutie mark for that sort of talent!"

She shrugged. "It comes in handy sometimes. All my talent for track-and-field got me was a partial scholarship. Not much call for javelin tossing nowadays."

"You're a mare of many talents," I said with as neutral a voice as possible.

"Hey! Maybe there'll be a third griffin war! Then, I'll be pegging those buzzards like..."

"Enough with the racial slurs, if you please! 'Different countries, different customs; mustn't be prejudiced, Peachy.'"

She giggled with joy at the Barnyard Tipling reference. "I'm so glad you read something besides Yearling's dreck! You know I'm not really prejudiced, right?"

I nodded. "Yes, you're just blowing off steam after witnessing the shocking evidence of some ponies' callous disregard for equine life." I really wondered what she had against the Daring Do books, but decided to save that discussion for another time.

"Yeah, let's go with that."

We continued downward for a long ways, encountering only one more trap. It was a simple affair, with spring-loaded steel blades. It had corroded badly and only moved about a hoof-width when I hit the step. Jigsaw marked it with a large zig-zag chalk mark, anyway, just as she had done for the others.

At the bottom of the stairs was a large landing and a stone doorway. The doorway had once been filled with a thick, iron-bound door, but it had rusted and crumbled nearly to dust. It was a bit puzzling. Such a door should have survived a thousand years fairly well in such a protected place, if there wasn't some corrupting force acting on it.

Jigsaw got a look through the doorway first. Her head went up and her ears went back in shock. "Holy..."

I quickly joined her, and the corrupting influence was explained. There, in the center of a truly huge cavern, was an enormous black crystal, set vertically on its long axis and rotating slowly. Sheets of magical dark energy rippled over its surface, hissing and shimmering.

I instantly dropped our shield and whispered urgently to Jigsaw, "Whatever you do, don't use your magic in here!"

She rolled an eye back at me, and I could see white all the way around her iris. "Madness and death?" she whispered back.

"Or worse," I told her.

= = =

=

14 Ancient Evil

Chapter Fourteen
Ancient Evil

I walked out into the half-natural cavern that contained the crystal, and Jigsaw followed at my shoulder, nearly touching me. It was difficult to judge the scale, but the thing was certainly huge, at my first estimate nearly two-thirds the height of the Crystal Empire's palace—but nowhere near as beautiful. In fact, it was downright hideous. It was jagged and asymmetrical, with smaller spurs and stubby branches sticking out of its sides. Flickers of pale green and purple force leaped from point to point. When I got to the lip of the ledge the door opened onto, I could see the pierced dome of corroded bronze and glass that encircled its base. The top of the gigantic crystal was hidden in shadows, but I was fairly sure the point at its apex lay just below the pedestal of the cornucopia.

"I'm betting we've found the power source," I said quietly.

"Ya think?" I'm sure Jigsaw meant it to sound glib and confident, but the tremble in her voice kind of spoiled it. "So... what now?"

To our left, there was a short set of stairs, leading down to the cavern floor. At their base was a free-standing arch, and a rough trail led from there, across the cavern, to a door in the bronze dome at the crystal's base. I moved toward them.

"Wait!" hissed Jigsaw. "If we can't use magic in here, how are we going to check for traps?"

"Let me try something. Stand away from me in case this doesn't work."

She jumped away from me like I'd suddenly become red hot. "Wait! What are you—"

I concentrated and brought up an ancient matrix that was a subversion of everything I'd learned while growing up. It was a dark, unsympathetic power that my dear teacher Celestia had revealed to me, perhaps unwittingly, or perhaps with some long purpose in mind. I could never quite decide which was most likely.[1]

[1] And there are some things that a pony just doesn't discuss with The Alicorn of Sunshine and Purity.

I felt the surge of thick, heavy power flow through me, leaving my horn more like smoke than radiance, as I cast it out across the stairs and the floor of the cavern. Then I breathed out and let the energy gutter and ebb away.

"Holy stars, Twilight," Jigsaw gasped. "Your eyes! They went all..."

"Yes, I know. It's the same sort of magic as in that crystal. Doesn't seem to evoke a reaction, which was what I was hoping for. The stairs and path should be safe. Let's go."

She followed me without another word, and we crossed the floor of the cavern. The crystal towered over us oppressively, long before we neared the door in the dome. As we passed between a pair of stalagmites, I felt a sudden surge of fear: I had missed something! I suddenly knew that I had made a disastrous mistake that was going to cost both of us our lives. I nearly jumped from the crudely flattened path and bolted into the field of razor-edged crystal spikes that littered the cavern's floor before I caught myself. I bit my lip, hard. The feeling passed. Looking down, I could see the twin purple crystals embedded into the backs of the stalagmites. Nasty. I told myself to widen my parameters on my next sweep for traps.

I turned and faced Jigsaw. "When you step between these stone spikes, you're going to feel an irrational fear. Just keep going and I'll help you through it. It's... not quite a trap, more like a discouragement, but it'll be dangerous if you panic. Are you ready?"

Jigsaw's ears swiveled back. "That's the fear I'm feeling right now?"

I shook my head. "No, what you're feeling right now is perfectly reasonable and rational fear. Come on." I motioned her forward with a hoof. "I'll make sure you're okay."

She took a deep breath, nodded, and stepped forward. Suddenly her pupils shrunk to pin-points and she cried out, "No! No! Sesseressia! What are you doing?"

I hooked her forelegs with mine and pulled her forward, snapping her out of her hallucination. "You're okay! You're okay! It wasn't real!" I hadn't expected the charm to hit her so hard.

Her eyes darted around wildly for a moment and then she fixed them on my face. "Not real?"

"It wasn't real," I nodded. "It's all over. Take deep breaths. And... who or what is Sessa... whatever?"

"Sesseressia," she said. "That's the general's name."

"Oh." I frowned. "What was she doing to you?"

"She wasn't doing anything!" Jigsaw blurted. "It was... uh... You know, I'd rather not talk about it."

"That's fine. Are you okay now?"

She just nodded.

"Alright. Just a little farther to go."

When we got to the dome, we found the doorway twisted and deformed. The door itself lay to one side, obviously wrenched from its hinges and tossed aside. "Looks like we may not be the first outsiders down here," I observed.

Jigsaw tapped my shoulder. When I turned to look at her, she pointed to the side of the path opposite from where the ruined door lay.

The pony skeleton was still wrapped in desiccated hide, and wisps of brittle hair clung to it where the mane and tail used to be. It certainly was no student's prank. The stub of the horn was cracked and blackened.

Jigsaw pressed her shoulder against mine. I reached out and lay my wing across her back. After a moment, I said, "I want to go on, but if you—"

"I'm good."

I didn't ask her if she was sure. I just nodded and turned to the doorway. Another pulse of dark magic on my part told me that there was no immediate threat awaiting us, so I walked into the dome, Jigsaw following closely.

The giant crystal narrowed drastically as it passed through the tightly-fitting hole in the roof of the dome, and ended in a very sharp point just a hoof's span above the floor. Surrounding the point was a large confusion of bronze loops and struts that reminded me of the big orrery that stood near the palace in Canterlot. But it only took a moment for me to determine that this structure didn't represent the mechanism of the heavens. There were no epicycles or ellipticals, and instead of spheres and points representing the stars and planets, there were oddly shaped tablets and plaques at seemingly random points.

As the huge crystal turned, arcs of dark magical energy leaped from its jagged edges to various places on the bronze structure, casting eerie green and purple shadows on the curved walls.

I scanned the room, looking for anything else of interest. Opposite the door, there were dark shapes on the floor, but it was impossible to make out what they were with the bronze mechanism in the way. I pointed the shapes out to Jigsaw with a wingtip and she nodded. I don't know why I was reluctant to speak, but I went with my instincts. I moved around the periphery of the room to the left, keeping as far away from the mechanism as possible, and motioned for Jigsaw to follow behind. We weren't far from the shapes by the time we could make out that they were bodies.

Funny. Just a short while before, I'd started and almost screamed at a silly wooden skeleton. But, at that time, looking down at the desiccated remains of several ponies, I just felt a deep sadness. Behind me, I heard Jigsaw draw in a sharp breath.

I carefully built up the energy for a spell, ready to respond instantly at any sign of an unexpected reaction from the tangle of bronze or the crystal point turning slowly within. Black vapor flowed from my horn, drifting toward the mechanism as if carried by a slight breeze, rather than being propelled by my will. It brushed the metal and nothing happened. I curled wisps of the dark magic around the biggest piece of bronze, a flat, nearly level arc that ran half-way around the room, and squeezed gently. Nothing happened. I stepped closer and pushed more forcefully against the top surface of the arc. Beneath the flaking corrosion, tiny gems lit up in lines and patterns. I withdrew my magic and the lights faded.

"Twilight," Jigsaw whispered to me, "I know you're curious about that thing, but something killed those ponies, and I'd feel a lot more comfortable if I knew what, exactly, it was."

I'd gotten lost in my own head again, and hadn't thought of what Jigsaw might be thinking. I'd already figured out the most likely scenario that had led to the death of those poor ponies and had gone on ahead with my own experimentation.

"Sorry," I said, quietly. "I'm pretty sure that it was their own magic that got them killed, but... hmn... I think there's a safe way to confirm it. Stand back a ways."

I didn't have to tell her twice. I think she was a lot more disturbed by the whole situation than she let on. When she was a good distance away, I used the dark magic to raise a barrier of black, magic-reflecting shards all around me, similar to the trap that had been set by King Sombra at the top of the Crystal Empire's palace. Only, this time, I was the one controlling it. Then I let the dark energy fade away and brought up a simple spell I'd known since foalhood. It was the one that most unicorns learned first: a soft glow of light from the tip of the horn. It was enough to see by, but not enough to draw attention. Just perfect for sneaking into the kitchen, late at night, on a cookie-jar raid.[2]

[2] Of course, I first learned to turn the pages of a book with a shaky pulse of levitation. The light spell came soon after, though—just after I realized it would make a perfect under-the-covers booklight for illicit reading after bedtime, in fact.

The response was immediate and violent. A blast of black force wreathed with green lightning slammed into the black shards protecting me, crackling and hissing, making the crystalline surface pop and spatter as it went molten from the impact. I dropped the light spell instantly, and the room went dark.

"Yeah, that's about what I thought would happen," I said, trying very hard to sound like a mare who hadn't been on the edge of leaving a puddle beneath herself. I dismissed the black shards and turned to Jigsaw, who I could barely see with my dazzled eyes. "You okay?"

"Fine," she said in clipped tones. "No using magic down here. Got it."

I resumed poking at the strange bronze structure with dark magic. I cleared away as much of the crumbly verdigris as I safely could, and began playing with the lights again. I soon realized that they were controls of some sort, but they weren't arranged in any sort of pattern that made sense to me, so I avoided changing their position or orientation. I wondered if the bronze not-orrery could be the weapon mentioned in the code, but there didn't seem to be any obvious way of directing it. The energy of the immense crystal could certainly do harm to Celestia, but the unicorns couldn't have depended on luring her down into the cavern to use it, could they? Perhaps there was some way to open the roof of the cavern above and fit some other sort of device to direct its energy? But it would still be a very short-range weapon.

While I turned the possibilities over in my mind, Jigsaw crossed behind me, and went to examine the bodies. She looked down and tapped something with a hoof-tip. It was a large box that bore the crests of Canterlot University and Crinet College. There were two other boxes among the corpses. "Twilight, these are specimen crates. Can you open them?"

I turned away from the mechanism and looked at the—at the pile I had been avoiding looking at. I carefully tried to unlatch the hasp on the first crate, but it crumbled under my touch. The iron had corroded until it was just layers of rust in the shape of a metal strap. I gently probed the crate and then backed away. "It looks like these were carefully sealed. The contents might still be okay, but the metal and wood is about as sturdy as spongecake. The boxes will come apart if I try to move them."

"Could you teleport them to the surface?"

I considered that. "Yes. I don't think the crates will survive it, but the contents might. I don't see that we have a better option."

"Void take the contents, Twilight! Can you do it safely?"

"Oh, right." I tried to make it into a joke. "Safe as houses, Peachy!"

Jigsaw gave me the stink-eye. "The Mare Who Would be Queen didn't turn out so well for Peachy and Dandelion, did it? As I recall, Dandelion got decapitated and Peachy went mad."

"Okay, bad example." I shrugged. "How about this? I'll take all the notes I can about the controls on the mechanism first, and then you can carry our stuff up the stairway. When you're safely out of the cavern, I'll wink the crates and myself up to the surface. How does that sound?"

"Terrible! You're going to take all the risks yourself? What if something happens and I'm not there to help you?"

"But, if you stay, you'll be in danger, too!"

"I'm not just thinking about myself, Twilight!" She stomped a hoof for emphasis. "I care what happens to you."

"I—"

"How about this instead?" Jigsaw steamrollered right over me. "When we're ready to go, you raise the biggest, jaggedy black shield you can around both of us and the boxes, and then pop us all up to the surface?"

It wasn't a bad plan. I saluted. "Yes, Sergeant Dandelion!"

She tried, only partially successfully, to turn the snort of laughter into one of derision. We went to work.

While I fiddled with the mechanism, Jigsaw gently examined the bodies. They were even more fragile than the crates and would have crumbled to dust long ago if it weren't for the dry, still air of the cavern. We couldn't give them any sort of burial, but Jigsaw found a way for us to give them a sort of memorial. Just before we left, she pointed out their saddle bags. They had clasps and embossing that were almost certainly representations of their cutie marks. When we returned to Canterlot, we could find out who they had been and record the circumstances of their end. Maybe they had descendants we could contact.

There was one of them who wouldn't need to wait, though. The bags of the big mare nearest the mechanism bore a design stitched in gold thread: A torch crossed with a writing quill. Now we knew what had become of the famous rebel, Sharphoof. Had she returned to claim the weapon when her rebellion had failed? Or had she had nowhere else to go when she had been banished from Equestria? Did it even matter?

I sighed. "I think we're doing this archaeology stuff wrong, Jigsaw. Too much gloom and doom. Why aren't we running into colorful villains with strange accents to fight?"

Jigsaw rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and why don't we totally destroy a few priceless pre-classical sites while we're at it? Ruin any chance of learning anything of historical significance just to grab a shiny doodad and write a sleazy book full of half-truths about it for a stack of bits!"

"Wow." I shied back from her sudden outburst. "You really don't like Daring Do, do you?"

"She's a—[3]."

[3] I absolutely refuse to even hint at the word that Jigsaw used. Just hearing it was like a bucket of ice-cold water to the face.

I guess my gasp and flaming cheeks was enough to make Jigsaw realize how shocked I was. "Sorry," she said sourly. "But, yeah, I really don't like her."

"Why? It can't just be her books," I finally managed to say. "Or her approach to archaeology."

Jigsaw sighed and pressed a hoof to the bridge of her nose. "I'll explain it to you when we're not standing next to an incredibly powerful artifact of ancient evil, okay? The thing makes me nervous."

"Oh." I grinned sheepishly. "Right." And I began to go through the preparations to get us and the boxes out of the cavern in one piece.

For once, nothing went wrong.

= = =

=

15 Panic

Chapter Fifteen
Panic

The crates survived the transit in better condition than I'd expected. They slumped and crumbled a bit but were still recognizable when they arrived on the floor of the cornucopia building.

"Let me do this, Twilight," Jigsaw spoke up, "I know the way these crates are put together."

I stood back and watched as she gently brushed away the decayed wood and iron top of the first box, revealing a thin sheet of lead. She probed carefully with her magic and then peeled away the soft metal like she was pulling an old quilt off of a bed.

Books.

The crate had been tightly packed with scores of books. Okay, I admit it—I squealed like a school-filly. Jigsaw grinned and gave me a look. "Weren't you hoping for a priceless golden idol or the dreaded Eye of Argon?"

"Oh, please!" I snorted. "I'd trade the legendary treasure of Queen Majesty for another crate like that one!"

Jigsaw's grin got even wider. "Okay then..."

She went to work on the second crate and soon revealed another trove of books, then a third. "Breathe, Twilight," she admonished me as she continued working on the boxes, carefully peeling away the sides. "Oh by the way, that's one Queen's Hoard you owe me."

I started to reach out with my magic but had to take a moment to stop the field from wavering. I gently touched a volume that had been in the first crate and was surprised to find it in pretty good condition. "Sharphoof's group must have done some conservation work on these before they packed them up," I guessed.

Jigsaw nodded. "That's pretty much standard procedure for delicate items, and it looks like the lead was good protection." She lifted a thin black book out of the pile she was working on and flipped it open. "Hey! I think we're in luck!"

"Yes?"

"Yep! Standard procedure also calls for making a catalog of items sealed up for transport." She waved the little book at me. "And this appears to be it."

"It's like Hearth's Warming, my birthday, and my coronation all wrapped up together!"

Jigsaw laughed and floated the catalog over to me. "Happy birthday, Princess!"

It got even better.

According to the catalog, the books were mostly on Magical Engineering and specifically about the particulars of the infrastructure of the city. There were scores on crystal growth, management, and charging; more than a hundred on practical and theoretical application spells; at least a dozen on autonomic control schemes for dissimilar magic devices; a few that had puzzling titles; and exactly one on "Military Applications."

Thanks to the excellent organization of the boxes, I was able to locate that last book in a matter of moments. I opened the book and my throat tightened as I read the title page:

Military Applications

of the

Great Crystal Engine

by Lord Commander Sombra

"Twilight? Are you alright?"

I shook my head. "I just discovered where an old enemy learned his craft, that's all. A bit of a shock."

"Are we going to have to worry about this enemy showing up? 'Cause, what with the changelings and all, our dance cards are getting kinda full..."

"Oh, no," I assured her. "Cadance burned his rotten soul away, back when the Empire returned."

Jigsaw's grin turned a bit sickly. "Uh... the Alicorn of Love did what, now?"

I shook myself out of my reverie. "Oh, no! It wasn't exactly on purpose... more of a side effect of replacing the Crystal Heart. She's really a very sweet pony!"

"More crystals..." Jigsaw said, thoughtfully. "I'm beginning to think that messing around with crystals leads to a short life-expectancy."

"More like dark and light magic not playing well together," I said, just vocalizing some half-formed thoughts of my own. "Engines and batteries of incompatible types..."

"You seem to be able to do both pretty well," Jigsaw observed.

"Mmn." I really didn't know what to say to that. As far as I knew, Celestia, Luna, and I were the only ponies in the modern age to be able to work with both forms. Dark Magic wasn't exactly evil, it was just unconstrained, which made it very difficult to control.

Thinking about magical control led me to the bronze device around the base of the "Great Crystal Engine." One of the books must have information about it. I almost put aside Sombra's book before something my brother had once told me popped into my head.

= = =

One snowy evening during Winter Break from the Guard Academy, Shining Armor had badly trounced me in a pillow fight by making my toys and books dance around the room, distracting me from his fluffy missiles. At that point, my magic was very well-developed, stronger than his, and I could have easily taken him in an honest feather-filled slugfest.

"It's all about threat-assessment, Twily!" He grinned at me as I spit out clumps of goose down. "Take care of the spear... uh... pillow that's headed your way before looking anywhere else!"

"Thanks for the advice, Shiny," I said sourly.

"No problem, Sis!" He grinned smugly.

"Oh, hey!" I said, turning to my bedroom window. "Is that Cadance? She said she'd drop by sometime this week!"

"Really? Where?" Shining Armor rushed to the window to look down at the street.

I walloped him solidly in the back of the head with my favorite pillow.

I always was a quick study.

= = =

"I think I should start with this one," I told Jigsaw. "Why don't you go through the others and see what you can find? The sun is setting and we only have until a couple of hours after dawn to read undisturbed."

"Sounds good to me!" She didn't quite have the same relationship with books that I did, but she sounded pretty eager to pull an all-nighter anyway.

I turned to my own book and pretty soon I was having a hard time keeping my temper. I'd disliked Sombra just for what he'd put the poor crystal ponies through. After reading his own words, and having it shoved in my face how bigoted, arrogant, and down-right callous he was, I thoroughly loathed him.

And that was just the foreword.

In the body of the book, Sombra advocated for more unicorn-only settlements, laying out a plan for settling or conquering crystal-rich areas and building more of the dark crystal engines, until all of the "pathetically misguided" lands were under unicorn control. He named Equestria specifically, noting that it would be wise to surround the kingdom with crystal outposts before attacking it directly.

Suddenly, a unicorn king of an earth-pony empire made a lot more sense.

The text began to go into details and I steeled myself to plow through a lot of unpleasantness. The first paragraph in the tactics section made my head swim. I couldn't take it in. I had to re-read it, and pause for the full horror of the words to sink in.

Of course, once we are able to get her within range, we can easily dispose of our greatest enemy by removing the safety restraints on the cornucopia and commanding, May I have the heart of Princess Celestia, please?

I dropped the book, turned my head, and vomited out everything in my stomach.

"Twilight?" Jigsaw dropped her own book and stood up. "Twi, are you all right?"

I couldn't reply. I was still dry-heaving and sobbing and shaking and nearly paralyzed by the sheer evil of it. That the crystal below us could have so violated the constrains of pure magic as to—to—No! Not could have—but still could! The device that constrained it, so that a careless or angry pony couldn't get it to do something damaging, was nearly corroded away. Anypony—or anything with the knowledge, could go down to the cavern and kick it apart—and—and—

Jigsaw approached me slowly and tried to put a leg around my shoulders. "It's okay, Twilight. Tell me what's—"

"No!" I shoved her away from me. "No, you don't understand! It's evil! It's not just wrong... not just theft! The whole city is evil!" I swung a hoof around in a wild, dramatic gesture, "They were all bad ponies!"

Jigsaw backed away and stepped on the corner of Sombra's book. She glanced down and then raised it up, no doubt wanting to read what had sent me off into such a fit of temper. I wrenched the book out of her grasp and then stared around me at the piles of books.

Magical Engineering.

Mana Control Systems.

Crystal Growth.

With those books, any half-way competent team of unicorns could create another dark crystal engine. With Sombra's tactic, they could wield the most terrible weapon known to ponykind. Facing an avenging army? "May I have ten thousand pegasus heads, please?" I nearly vomited again.

I turned to Jigsaw. "What did you read?" My voice sounded desperate and strained, even to my own ears. "What was it?"

"W—water magic." She flinched back from me. "Hydraulic spells to pull water up from deep below the desert, if I understood it right." She backed away a couple of steps. "Twilight, please calm down! Just breathe, okay? Deep breaths..."

I did breathe deeply, then. She hadn't seen anything important—no clues as to how the core structure of dark magic worked or how crystals were created. But I didn't calm down much.

"Threat assessment!" I nodded. "Yes! Shining was right, I have to eliminate the threat!" I wrapped all the books in my magic and lifted them up, gathered them close to me.

"Twilight!"

"No! I have to do this, Jigsaw!" I don't know if she understood my words fully, because I was half-choking on my own sobs. "I have to save her!"

"Please, Twilight! Just tell me—"

I teleported away.

= = =

As I watched the books burn among the ruins, I couldn't help the near-instinctive urges that jolted through me like electricity. My horn blazed to life several times by pure reflex, and I had to fight to damp it down again. I desperately wanted to save the books, even though I knew they were the key to a monstrous evil. The bonfire threw blood red light up across the sculpture of two unicorn stallions, fighting to the death. I was violating my dearest beliefs to keep safe my dearest—

"Twilight!" came a voice from the darkness behind me. "Twilight! Where are you?"

I groaned. How was I going to justify what I'd done to Jigsaw? "Over..."

I broke off and coughed until my throat was free of smoke. "Over here, Jigsaw!"

She'd probably seen the light of the fire. Maybe she'd spotted some of the burning pages as the updraft had taken them into the sky. She was a very smart mare, after all.

She was also a good friend. She didn't say anything when she saw the bonfire, she just stared at it for what seemed to me to be a very long while. Then she walked over to me and sat down close beside me. I leaned against her.

I didn't cry. There were no sobs. It was just my eyes—they wouldn't stop leaking all over everything.

When the fire began to burn down, Jigsaw used her magic to mound it up, pushing half-charred books into the center to make sure they were all completely consumed. She didn't even know what was going on—she was just helping. Much later, she stirred the ashes, getting air to the last bits of glowing paper and canvas. Then she turned to me and wiped my face with a clean cloth she'd pulled from her saddlebags. "Back to the library, now. I'll make you some chamomile tea and then tuck you in."

"I can't sleep."

"I'll sit with you until you can."

"I had to do it."

"Okay."

I started to protest, to tell her she had to understand. But, of course, that's the one thing I didn't want her to do. Nopony could understand. Nopony could know. And nopony would know, because the knowledge was gone. All that remained—

"The crystal!" My head shot up in alarm.

"Shh!" Jigsaw tried to soothe me. "The crystal will still be there in the morning, Twilight. You need to rest."

"That's the problem! The crystal! We've got to destroy it!"

"How?"

That was like a kick to my gut. I had no idea how to destroy it. I couldn't just drop another meteorite on it. The amount of dark energy bound up in that gigantic crystal would do incredible harm if released all at once. Yes, we were in a nearly-uninhabited desert, but uncontrolled dark magic could do worse things than kill living beings. A few scattered ounces of Discord's "seeds" had made the whole Everfree Forest into a malignant entity with the power to capture the two most powerful ponies in Equestria. What horrors could hundreds of megathaums of undirected, maleficent magic do? How much magic was bound up in that crystal, anyway? I just couldn't do the math in my head. I needed to sketch out an amplituhedron, but I couldn't remember where I'd put my notebook and quill.

"Twilight," Jigsaw said softly.

I jerked my head around to stare at her. "What?"

"Is it urgent? Does it have to be done right now? Are we in danger?"

No," I said. "Well... no. Maybe." I shook my head, which gave me a brief dizzy spell. "No... I guess not. Not right now."

She nudged me in the direction of the library. I took a step and then stopped. She shoved me until I began walking. "Tea, then bed," she insisted.

"But, I—"

"Tea," she said, quietly, but firmly. "Then bed."

The tea was good. I don't remember falling asleep.

= = =

=

16 Détente

Chapter Sixteen
Détente

The sight of the Golden Oak Library burning was something I had mixed feelings about. The leaves had already ignited and flown up into the sky, trailing embers, and the limbs were beginning to char. From where I stood in the street, I could see Celestia on my stargazing balcony, glaring down at me. The tips of her primary feathers were beginning to blacken and smoke. I knew she wasn't going to save herself, so I reached out with my magic to teleport her away, but I couldn't get a grasp on her. The only part of her that seemed reachable was her heart.

I tried to fly up to her, but the ashes falling down became so heavy that they fouled my feathers and forced me back to the ground. I tried to walk forward, but I couldn't see the library any longer, and the gray ashes were so deep that they made moving difficult. Soon the dust was up to my chest and I struggled to take even a single step. I floundered and tried to use my wings to lift me up, but they found no purchase, slamming down into the dust without effect. I strained and raised my face up to the black sky, but I was still sinking into the dust, and there was nothing in sight but a small blue-green orb.

I felt, rather than heard, a hoof slam down on the ground beside my head and turned to look. A platinum shoe, studded with fire opals, encased the end of a long black leg that reached out for me, lifting and turning me, still wrapped in a blanket of dust. Pitiless dragon eyes looked down into mine, as she gathered me into her forelegs like a foal.

"Luna..." I gasped, the breath leaving my lungs like it was being pulled by some magic.

She lowered her huge head and breathed for me, filling my lungs with something that was not quite air—something that roiled with her strength.

"Oh... so young," she whispered without taking her lips away from mine. "And yet so powerful. So powerful, and yet so hesitant. So hesitant, and yet so determined. So determined, and yet so inexperienced."

"Luna, stop fooling around!"

"I am not she," the Nightmare hissed, her breath carrying her words into me. "I am the one she cannot save you from, Twilight Sparkle."

"Who... what..."

She melted into me, filling my vision with those huge, luminous eyes, and my heart with a dreadful desire in the instant before I awoke.

= = =

"Twilight!" Somepony nudged my shoulder gently. "Twilight, you should really wake up now."

The tone in Jigsaw's voice jolted me into full consciousness. I reflexively brought up the pre-matrix components for a shield spell before my eyes were even fully open and had a second spike of adrenaline as I realized that, in my distress, I hadn't raised one the night before.

And, oh brother, had I picked the wrong night to get lax with the security precautions. There, in the doorway to the rotunda, flanked by the general on one side and the captain on the other, stood Queen Chrysalis herself.

"Your Majesty," I heard my mouth saying. "I regret I was not awake to properly greet you." I bowed, never taking my eyes off hers. For me, protocol[1] was no less an instinctual reaction for having been learned.

[1] Court formalities are as much a shield, social lubricant, and safety valve as anything else. Ponies who think they are outmoded affectations haven't looked deeply enough into the subject. (I have books I can recommend.)

Chrysalis waved away my words like the matter was of no importance to her. "I merely wished to see how you were getting along."

So, she hadn't immediately attacked us: That was a good sign. "Quite well, thank you," I said. I left the "until now" part of the sentence unspoken.

If the rigid postures of her subordinates were anything to judge by, this was the farthest thing imaginable from a casual visit. The general, in particular, was braced like a royal guardspony awaiting a dressing-down for a major foul-up.

"Really?" She drew out the word and gave me the You're a Lying Cow[2] smile. "There seemed to be a rather large fire in the city last night. I shudder to think what your research might look like when it isn't going well. And speaking of things going poorly..." She made a peremptory gesture with her hoof and the general took one step forward. "My general has displeased you..."

[2] Slight word-substitution, there, though it begins with the same letter. No offense intended to any of my bovine citizens.

"Oh, no!" I interrupted, "No, not really."

"Indeed?" There was that smile, again. "What she told me makes me think otherwise. Mm... now I don't know whether to punish her for disobedience, or for lying to me." Her voice was laden with menace.

The general didn't budge, but I could see the captain shiver. I had no doubt that the punishment would take a very physically unpleasant form.

"I would take it as a great favor if you would show mercy, Your Majesty," I improvised. "What happened yesterday was a simple misunderstanding, and I am, actually, quite pleased with the conduct of your citizens."

"My subjects, you mean." Chrysalis wasn't smiling. "They know as well as I, that mercy is just a polite word for weakness."

O-kay. The nicey-nice approach wasn't working so well, so it was time to think like a changeling—a cold, brutal, deceitful insect.

"Please!" I sneered at the queen. "Do you really expect me to believe you're going to damage such a valuable officer? I know you're much more intelligent than that. Can we just cut to the chase, here?"

Chrysalis blinked and lifted her chin a bit. Then, she glanced at the general, who gave her a knowing look and nodded slightly.

"Well, well, well..." There was a bit of a chuckle in her tone. "Cutting and chasing... words I like better." She looked around the room. "No shield, today. Are you getting careless, or has something affected your magic?"

Uh-oh. Well, as Applejack would never say, when yer bettin' th' farm on a bum deal, all y'all kin do is bluff. "I've come to trust your people completely," I said, flicking a brief glance at a completely insignificant spot just inside the doorway.

Chrysalis snickered, then threw back her head and laughed. It was a much more pleasant sound than I'd remembered. "Ah! You ponies are not as practiced at deceit as you may think. Perhaps I could give you a few pointers."

"I might enjoy that more than you'd think."

"Mm..." Chrysalis considered that for a moment. "So, you have no objection to the continued presence of my subjects?"

"None," I assured her. It was a simple, not completely inaccurate answer to a complex issue.

"Very well." She turned to go and then casually said, "I will speak with you again. Soon." She didn't wait for an answer.

Everyone, ponies and changelings, relaxed quite a bit when she was gone.

"So..." Jigsaw slowly exhaled. "Anyone for tea?"

= = =

The general and Jigsaw were quite surprised when I assigned them to comb through the ruins together, in search of more documents, but they didn't object. Of course, I attached another monitoring spell on Jigsaw before they left, adding quite a bit more functionality to it than the last one.

The captain, on the other hoof, was less than happy at being left behind with me. I had pretty much given up hope of putting us on friendly terms, but I thought I could try putting her at ease.

"You have a name besides your title, don't you? May I know it?"

The captain looked startled and then said something I couldn't be sure I'd heard correctly. "Uhmn... did you say 'Sherry?'"

"Csharreee, Your Majesty," she corrected.

I tried it again a couple of times, insisting to the captain that I wanted her to correct my pronunciation. "And please, call me Twilight Sparkle," I told her.

The captain was horrified. "The queen would chew my head off if she heard me being so disrespectful to royalty... even pony royalty." I got the distinct impression that she wasn't employing hyperbole or metaphor.

"Just when we're alone," I insisted. "You can 'Highness' me all you want in front of others."

"I would be more comfortable not—"

"It's a royal command. You'll get used to it."

Csharreee swallowed hard. "I understand, Twilight Sparkle."

"Good!" I chirped at her. "Now, I need to do some calculations that will keep me busy for quite a while, and I'd like you to help out."

"I will do whatever you ask of me, Twilight Sparkle. I keep track of troop strength, so I can do sums quite well."

Oh dear. "No, I don't need help with the... uh... sums, actually. I'd just like you to keep a pot of tea going and provide me with food occasionally, so I don't have to break my rhythm. I have a little dragon that usually does that sort of thing for me, back home."

"Dragon?" Csharreee gasped.

"Just a little one. Hardly more than a baby."

She gave me a sideways look, probably trying to decide whether or not I was telling the truth, and said, "Of course, Twilight Sparkle."

It turned out I had to teach her how to make tea, and which parts of our supplies were food and which were wrappings, but she was attentive and picked things up quickly. I was soon laying out an approach to calculating the amount of dark energy held by the great crystal.

"Pardon me, Twilight Sparkle," Csharreee asked after she'd set down a plate of oat rolls beside me. "But may I ask a question?"

"Sure!" I replied. She wasn't really interrupting: I was just copying over the results from my first set of calculations prior to arranging them into order for the second round.

"Is that some sort of figuring?" She pointed to the Finemare diagrams and amplituhedrons I had set down in my notebook.

"Yes, actually." I knew that my work would be far beyond her understanding, but I thought that giving her a sketchy idea of the concepts would be the polite thing to do. "You see, some 'figuring' is much easier when you use a geometrical analog... uh... a shape. Like ratios, for instance."

She frowned. "I do not understand. I see how a shape might have sides of certain dimensions, and that two shapes placed together might be measured to determine a sum, but this..."

I was pleasantly surprised. "That's right! That simple idea is really the basis of all I'm doing here. But the shapes can be used for many other calculations. Here..." I flipped to a page of path integrals that had some blank space and began to sketch. "If I make a right triangle..."

= = =

Sometime later, I heard Jigsaw and Sesseressia chatting cheerfully as they entered the library.

"Whoa!" Jigsaw exclaimed as she saw the floor of the rotunda, which was completely littered with pieces of paper cut into varying shapes. "What in the hay happened here? Did you two decide to make paper snowflakes... and fail miserably?"

"Oh, hi guys!" I said. "General, did you know that Csharreee here is a mathematical genius? She's really got a handle on basic geometry and is already starting on algebra after only... oh... oh dear, why is it so dark in here?"

"Sundown, Twilight," Jigsaw said, grinning.

"What, already?"

Jigsaw turned to Sesseressia and said, "You see what I mean?"

"Wait..." I glared at her, suspiciously. "What have you been telling her?"

Jigsaw only grinned wider. "Just that you can get lost in formulae and diagrams and forget to eat... and other stuff that only everypony knows about you."

"But mathematics is fun!" I protested. "Why can't anypony see that?!"

"I can," Csharreee said quietly from behind me.

Jigsaw cracked up. A serious fit of giggles overtook her, and the rest of us all stared at her like she was a madpony.

I sighed. "Well, at least you're in a cheerful mood." I turned to the big changeling. "Did you have a good day, general?"

Sesseressia nodded. "I, too, am in a pleasant frame of mind," she said, in a tone of voice about as warm as a cobblestone before dawn.

"Oh." This day was not going as planned. "I'm glad to hear it, but did you find anything interesting?"

"Oh, yeah!" Jigsaw gasped out, trying not quite successfully to stop her chuckles. "You should see some of the mosaics in the public baths! You won't need a chart to decode what's going on there!" She dissolved into another squirming fit of laughter.

I was just about to bop her on the snoot with a bag of dried apples when four more changelings arrived, all drones. One of them stepped forward, making a slight stridulating noise that I supposed served them as a substitute for a clearing of the throat.

Sesseressia turned to look at her. "Yes?"

The one who had stepped forward gave a quick bow. "General, we are here for you."

"Ah, yes," the general sounded mildly surprised. "I have no need of you. Attend to the captain."

"Actually," Csharreee said a bit hesitantly, as if she were only just realizing the fact behind her words. "I'm not hungry either."

Jigsaw stopped laughing and Sesseressia whipped her head around. Nearly simultaneously they both said, "What?"

= = =

So the two bugs had gotten something from our association without even trying. That was very interesting. It wasn't love. I mean, it couldn't be, could it? Yes, I love my friends, but I still didn't really consider Csharreee a friend, even though it was delightful to see her latch onto mathematical concepts like Pinkie Pie on a fresh cinnamon bun. Yes, we had a great time together but—but what? I didn't know. I just didn't have enough background knowledge, and nopony else had any clue what was going on.

As Jigsaw and I ate dinner and shared tea with the changelings, I decided to do some subtle questioning of Csharreee the next day, in between tutoring sessions.[4]

[4] And working on my own calculations, of course. It wouldn't do to forget the monster lurking in the basement.

It was a bit difficult getting to sleep because I really didn't want a repeat of my dreams from the night before, but I eventually slipped into a sound, dreamless slumber.

= = =

=

17 Filling in the Gaps

Chapter Seventeen
Filling in the Gaps

The next morning, all my scheduling was thrown into disarray when I woke to the sound of Sesseressia screaming in horror.

Sometimes, I wonder why I even bother making plans.

"My legs!" Sesseressia shouted. "My legs!"

I scrambled up and stared at her, shaking with an adrenaline rush. I hadn't separated us with a shield before going to sleep. The changelings had been even more shocked at that than they had been to discover they'd actually gotten nourishment from Jigsaw and I without noticing it.

The general had gotten to the heart of the matter with her usual directness. "Why?"

"Because friends trust each other," I said. And because I'm taking a calculated risk, I did not say out loud.

With all the possible ways my choice could have gone wrong, it was pretty surprising I had slept as soundly as I had. Maybe it was Jigsaw humming a bit of the Hearth-Warming Carol just as I was drifting off: The fire of friendship lives in our hearts... Of course, the rude awakening to panicky yelling wasn't the best capper to a restful slumber I could ask for.

Sesseressia was staring down at her own legs in horror, skittering around like she was trying to shake them off. It was weird, because I couldn't see anything wrong with them. They were smooth and whole and—

Oh, wait. Whole, not hole—or holes. There weren't any. Holes, I mean. The general's legs no longer had the decayed-looking gaps in them that seemed to be a common feature of the changelings. A quick glance at her wings told me that they were also—whole.

"Sesseressia, stop!" Jigsaw said, rushing forward and taking hold of her shoulders. The general's head jerked up, her eyes still wild with fear but she stopped dancing around. "Are you in pain?"

"I... I... no." Her breathing began to slow. "It doesn't hurt. But look at them!"

Jigsaw glanced down. "Nice," she said. "Long, strong... very nice, actually."

"W—what?" Sesseressia stopped moving, and stared at Jigsaw. "This isn't funny!"

Jigsaw nodded. "No, you're right, it isn't, but it might not be a bad thing, either."

I had looked over Csharreee, and she seemed perfectly normal—well normal for a changeling, that is. "General?" I asked. "May I examine you? I might be able to—"

"Did you do this?" Sesseressia whirled on me, pulling out of Jigsaw's grip. She lunged forward, horn-first—and pulled up at the last instant.

I hadn't moved. I could have stopped her with a tiny fraction of my power, but I let her make her own decision. She had made the right one. "May I?" I asked again, quietly.

Her jaw muscles tightened, and she nodded.

I probed her with my magic. The lack of holes wasn't an illusion. The changes were real and physical. Her chitinous hide seemed softer and more pliable as well, and her horn, while still not straight, was merely wavy instead of jagged.

"Hmn," I considered for a moment. "Csharreee, could you stand next to the general, please? Put one of your hooves next to one of hers."

The captain was obviously a bit wigged-out by the whole thing. She had even carefully checked her own limbs for signs of change as I had examined the general. She walked stiffly forward and lowered her hoof to the floor, taking care not to actually touch her superior officer, as if the lack of perforations might be catching.

"Yes," I said. "There's a color change as well. You're now a dark charcoal gray instead of jet black."

"Why is this happening?" The general asked. "And what, exactly, is happening? Why am I changing like this?"

I turned my snort of laughter at a changeling asking why she was changing into a clearing-my-throat noise. "That's something else we should check. Can you try changing into somepony else, please?"

She managed it, but only barely, and it took her much longer than it should have.

"Still," Jigsaw said, no doubt trying to lighten the situation. "Great legs."

Sesseressia had taken on the form of a tall, willowy unicorn mare. She looked down at herself and hissed in dismay. "This is not the body I was trying for!"

I made another mental note and then said, "Okay, you can change back now." The word I should have used was "may," instead of "can," because the general nearly couldn't. It took her almost thirty seconds, and she was back at the edge of panic before she finally managed it. Her changeling form still lacked holes.

"Take a few deep breaths," I told her. "Then tell me what you were actually trying for. Maybe there's a reason you were forced into that form. Who was it you were copying?"

"I don't know!" the general hissed through her teeth. "I've never seen a pony that looked like that!"

I turned to Jigsaw. "Maybe a fantasy mare of yours, that she... intuited somehow?" I was almost certain that changelings weren't capable of telepathy.

"Uhm," Jigsaw said, a blush coming to her cheeks, "actually, she spent a good bit of the day yesterday looking like Countess Coloratura."

Oh.

Okay—not thinking about that, I shook my head. "Well, I can't figure it out, exactly, but I'm betting it's connected with the feeding phenomenon we noted last evening. Maybe friendship—"

"But," Csharreee interrupted me, "I, too, was nourished by your friendship, and I am unaffected!" She briefly flashed into a copy of Jigsaw to demonstrate.

"Well," Jigsaw said, her blush deepening. "Unless you and Twilight were doing a different sort of multiplying than I thought you were, Sesseressia and I were being quite a bit more friendly."

Continuing to not think about that, I came up with a suggestion. "Sesseressia." Both the general and Jigsaw looked a bit startled that I'd called the changeling by name. "I can't be sure that whatever has happened to you won't continue to progress if you remain in our... well, in Jigsaw's company. Maybe you should return to your hive."

She hesitated and pawed at the ground, uncertainly. "No," she finally said. "I have my orders." She glanced up at Jigsaw briefly. "And I do not want to leave. Not yet."

"Perhaps Csharreee could carry a message to the hive?" I suggested. "Queen Chrysalis may have some knowledge about this phenomenon."

"But what about algebra?" the captain protested.

I couldn't help grinning. "Algebra will still be here when you get back," I reassured her.

= = =

I set Sesseressia and Jigsaw to searching the ruins again. With me for a chaperone. I'd pick out an area for them to go through and then settle down to work on my calculations. Thanks to the magic of multitasking, I was catching up on my original schedule.

Since they could concentrate on the job, instead of each other, Jigsaw and the general even found a few books. I destroyed the first two when the general wasn't looking. I might have been much calmer than the night of the bonfire, but I still felt my decision was sound—appalling and very possibly evil, but sound.

The third book was another ledger. It was most likely safe, so I hit it with a conservation spell instead of crumbling it to dust. It was very like the first one I had found except it had been kept by somepony who was interested in more than just names and figures. And so, I learned what the phrase "debt forgiven" meant. It meant death.

In a society that stole everything physical it needed, what could it possibly use for currency? Turns out it was magic. Not just spells, but pure magical energy. Each citizen owed a certain amount of it to feed the dark crystal, and so it could be used as a medium of trade. Unicorns who fell into debt, who had no way to repay what they owed, were—drained. Completely.

I silently raised my disdain for their whole racist culture another few notches and made the book fall to ashes. Then I picked up my notebook and went back to calculating how to destroy the last great artifact of their civilization.

= = =

The answer was appalling. I went back and did a quick recheck of my methodology and found nothing wrong. Then I did a very rough estimate using an alternative method and found the original answer well within the new margin of error. The dark crystal held so much energy that releasing it all at once would make my little meteor strike look like a wet firecracker.

I thought about burning it all away by looping something heavy through the cornucopia, like tons of sand or boulders. But whatever I chose to teleport would need to be removed from the pedestal before it could be used again. A few quick calculations told me that it would take seventeen months to deplete the dark magic by that method, and that was only if I could keep shifting tons of material twenty four hours a day.

There had to be a better way.

Before I had any more time to think about the problem, another one arrived: the Royal Majesty of the changelings herself. Csharreee followed in her wake, looking even more jittery than on the night I'd caught the general and Jigsaw together.

I carefully tucked my notebook away before rising and bowing to Chrysalis. "Your Majesty," I said, in a casual tone.

She nodded to me, but she was looking at Sesseressia. "Princess," she replied distractedly.

The general dropped what she was doing and approached her queen. Before she could bow or offer an obeisance, Chrysalis grabbed one of her forehooves in her magic and pulled it up to examine it. She dropped it and then circled the general, examining her in minute detail, her horn flashing to life occasionally.

She stopped when she was in front of the general again and pointed to Jigsaw. "That is the pony you have been associating with?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"Tell me everything about your relationship," she commanded sternly.

"Hey!" Jigsaw protested. "I'm standing right here, you know!"

"You can leave if you wish," Chrysalis said, still locking eyes with the general.

Jigsaw stomped to the corner of the building and then stopped and looked back at me. "Aren't you coming, Twilight?"

Under different circumstances, I wouldn't have wanted to hear details of what went on between Jigsaw and her changeling friend. No, actually, even then, I didn't want to hear them, but I felt I needed to. "I... I have to stay, Jigsaw. This could be very..."

Jigsaw fled without saying anything. I'm pretty sure she was crying.

The queen's questioning was very thorough and very embarrassing. It was also very enlightening. As far as I could tell, if it was love that had fed the general, it wasn't based on any sort of deception. From what she said, it was much more likely that it was plain old camaraderie, a budding friendship, that had wrought the change in her.

Chrysalis shook her head angrily. "What's the difference? Love of any kind feeds us no matter how we get it! Why should it do this?" She waved a hoof at the general.

It came to me in a sudden flash of insight. "It's all the difference in the world!" I went on as she turned her angry glare at me. "Without the exact ingredients, magic won't work properly, and a crucial part of friendship... true friendship, is honesty. Your people's way of deception can only take the most basic sustenance from the ponies they deceive. With open and knowing consent, the love of a friend isn't just nourishing, it's transformative![1]

[1] Okay, so maybe I was waxing hyperbolic there, but I get excited when I'm on the trail of a new discovery.

I expected a reaction, but I had no idea that my words would literally stagger her. "I... I could be..." She regained her balance and looked away from me as she stopped speaking. Her last words were so quiet that I couldn't be anything like certain, but I thought they were, "...beautiful again."

"I beg your pardon, Your Majesty?" I asked quietly.

"Nothing!" she hissed. She waved Csharreee forward and snapped, "Rejoin the ponies and do not leave them again. Do whatever the princess commands of you. I will send two drones to bear messages if necessary, and will visit each morning in person." She caught herself, as if something had suddenly occurred to her, and turned to me. "Does that suit you, Your Highness?"

What would have suited me right then would have been a giant-crystal-sized garbage can, and two first-class airship tickets to Canterlot, but I learned long ago to work with what I had to hoof. "That's fine, Your Majesty, but I would ask one more thing of you."

"Yes?" she asked warily.

"We are here among our trusted inner circles and there is no need to be formal. Would you please call me Twilight Sparkle?"

I half expected her to protest, and she hesitated for a good while, but she finally said, "I will do that, Twilight Sparkle. And I ask that you call me Chrysalis... as long as there are no peasants or drones present."

Work with what you have to hoof, Sparkle. "Of course, Chrysalis!" I nodded happily.

= = =

We returned to the library and I took a few sheets of paper and drew up a review quiz and worksheet to keep Csharreee busy. Then I touched the magic trace to locate Jigsaw. She was out by the edge of the mesa near where we had watched the meteor hit.

"She's still pretty angry, so I don't think we should gang up on her," I told Sesseressia. "Just one of us should go to her now."

Sesseressia nodded. "It should be me. I think... I hope I can convince her to forgive me."

"I'm sure you can."

She made as if to go and then stopped. "I... I don't mind admitting that I am afraid."

"Of losing her friendship?" I asked. "Or of... changing more?"

Sesseressia laughed. "Both, I suppose."

"Well," I said, "seeing as how those two might be mutually exclusive, you're going to have to face your fear. One of them, at least."

She nodded. "Of all the things I had thought to face in the service of my queen..."

"Life's like that sometimes," I said. "In fact, life's like that a lot."

I walked out of the library with Sesseressia and watched as she tested her changed wings. "They don't work as well," she grumbled. "No holes, and they're less functional?"

"If it helps," I told her, "I promise to use any powers at my command to help you through—whatever changes you're going through." It didn't sound very reassuring, even to me.

"Thank you... Twilight Sparkle." She wobbled away into the sky.

= = =

=

18 Changes

Chapter Eighteen
Changes

While I tutored Csharreee, I kept a bit of my attention on Jigsaw's monitoring spell. When her mood turned positive, I relaxed quite a bit. When it turned happy, I let my focus slip away, my own mood brightening considerably.

"Is this right?" Csharreee asked me, holding up her worksheet.

"Not quite," I told her, and made a slight correction. "Say! There's a really good way to remember this formula: You can sing it!" I hesitated, "Uhmn... you can sing, can't you?"

"Yes, it is part of our training."

O—kay. "I'll go through it once and then you join in, okay? We can even sing it as a round!" I took a deep breath and tapped out time with my hoof. "Neg-a-tive bee, plus or minus rad-di-i-cal, bee squared minus four ay-y cee, all o-ver two ay."

She sang it through and then I showed her how to come in after "radical". We flubbed up a couple of times, laughing, and then got the song going really well. We kept it up, grinning our heads off, until we were interrupted.

"Holy stars, Twilight! Are you guys actually singing math?"

We broke off and turned to find Jigsaw and Sesseressia in the doorway. "The quadratic equation, to be precise," I told her.

"You ponies are very strange," Sesseressia observed, dryly.

"Hey!" Jigsaw said. "Don't lump me in with the eggheads! I'm a jock at heart."

I made an attempt to apologize to Jigsaw, but she waved it off. "I understand, Twi. I was just embarrassed."

I didn't know what to say, so I just hugged her.

"So," Jigsaw asked as we broke off the hug. "What's the plan, Princess?"

"We only have a few hours until sundown, so I think you two ought to relax and enjoy yourselves."

"Yes, ma'am!" Jigsaw beamed.

= = =

The two drones showed up just after dark. Sesseressia explained to them about not needing to be fed, and while she was talking, one of them openly stared at her legs.

"Take a good look," Sesseressia hissed, shoving her hoof under the drone's muzzle. "And remember that even though I don't need to feed right now, I could still suck you dry just for fun!"

Jigsaw leaned over and whispered to me, "Isn't she cute when she's all forceful and menacing?"

The general was right. Ponies are strange.

We stayed up late, for several reasons. I think Sesseressia was nervous about what she was going to look like when she woke up; Jigsaw was having too much fun;[1] and Csharreee and I were called upon to repeat our musical performance, eventually convincing Jigsaw to join in. Sesseressia flatly refused. "I am the general of a great army," she said with immense dignity. "I don't do campfire songs."

[1] I had no idea she had packed a flask of apple brandy. It certainly wasn't on any of the checklists.

= = =

It wasn't surprising that I dreamed that night, but it was a bit odd that I knew I was dreaming right from the start. It had happened to me before, so I just went with it, curious to see what my subconscious would come up with. My good mood from the evening had certainly carried over into the Dream Realm.

I was in the Castle of the Two Sisters, back when it had still been completely in ruins. Nightmare Moon lounged on the dais in the throne room, idly swinging a hoof over the edge.

"Hiya, Black Snooty!" I called to her cheerfully. She looked up at me and, suddenly, I felt a lot less flippant.

"It's the little princess," she sneered. "Come to poke at me."

"Uhmn... I didn't mean to be disrespectful," I told her. "I meant it casually... like between friends."

She scowled, and her pupils slitted down to thin, vertical lines. "I think I will kill you now."

Despite the chill that ran down my spine, I replied calmly, "Sorry, but I know this is a dream. You can't."

"Oh, but I can! That is one of the few good things about being trapped in this realm." She rose slowly and paced toward the short stairs down to the floor of the hall. "I can kill you... not just once, but again and again!"

Oh. It was going to be one of those nights.

One of the most valuable things Celestia ever taught me is not to do anything without my whole heart behind the effort. So, when I decided that talking wasn't going to do any good, I flung a bolt of magical energy at Nightmare Moon's face in the very next instant. Without waiting to see if it struck, I teleported to one side, tripled the gravity around her, and then heaved chunks of the shattered roof into the top of the increased gravity field. The stones slammed down with horrific force, powdering on impact.

The dust fell out of the air with the speed of raindrops, revealing a perfectly unharmed Nightmare. She smiled. "I've always loved mares with fighting spirit. I..."

I fed momentum into the flagstones beneath her and enough energy to make them go semi-molten, then I flipped the gravity field and they leaped skyward in brilliant red streaks. The rock spattered off of her like it was mere frosting.

"You can't hurt me," she sneered, advancing slowly. "My armor was forged in..."

Armor. Right. If that was the problem, then it was also the key to the solution. I hit her peytral with a surge of magic, sheathed in a blaze of force to conceal the true, analytical nature of the spell. I found that the armor was made of a magic-charged, crystalline metal-and-carbon lattice, insanely strong on a mere physical level, and when woven through with the right spells and thaumophobic traces, absolutely impenetrable. There was no way I could harm her while she was wearing it.

While she...

I teleported the armor off of her. 10,000 feet straight up put it out of play for a good long while, and was a place where she wouldn't be likely to locate and retrieve it. Not that I was going to give her time to do anything like that. I immediately winked in a five-point pattern around her and let loose blasts of fire, ice, electricity, cutting wind, and conjured spears each time I appeared for a fraction of a second.

Nightmare Moon gasped, "That's my girl..." as she collapsed to the floor.

I was appalled. I rushed to her side and picked her up in my hooves, but she was beyond help. My tactic had succeeded all too well. "I—I'm sorry!" I wailed.

"Never apologize for being strong," Luna said, as the body of Nightmare Moon melted away and sank into the stones of the floor.

"This is a stupid dream!" I shouted, whirling to face her.

Luna shrugged. "You conjured it, Twilight Sparkle, I am just here out of curiosity."

I stomped my hooves in frustration. "Why do I have to have anxiety dreams? I'm anxious enough when I'm awake!"

Luna tilted her head, considering. "Remember that the language of dreams is rarely direct. Perhaps this is more than it seems."

"Don't you dare go all pizza-mare on me again," I grumbled. "What I need right now are answers, not appetizers!"

Luna smirked at me. "But that is exactly what your dream has given you, Twilight Sparkle." And she vanished in a flash of moonlight.

I frowned in puzzlement for a moment and then turned my head straight up to see what was making the whooshing/whistling sound.

It was the empty armor.

= = =

I started awake, the clanging of metal on stone still ringing in my mind. It was full dark, and I had evidently not cried out, because everypony else was still asleep—and two of them were softly glowing.

Sesseressia and Csharreee were each surrounded by a pale blue nimbus. I slowly got to my hooves and moved closer to them, taking care to step as quietly as possible. Csharreee was closest, and I could see that the holes in her legs had become mere dimples. Sesseressia was behind her, and I craned my neck to get a good look at her. She was nearly completely equine, and she looked very like the tall unicorn mare she had imitated the previous day.

I stood and observed until the Eastern sky began to lighten and the glow around the changeling officers faded away. Then I nudged Jigsaw awake with a gentle push of magic, muffling her grunt of annoyance as she tried to roll over and go back to sleep. When she finally looked at me, I made a shushing motion and pointed at Sesseressia and Csharreee.

I touched Jigsaw's lips with a hooftip to keep her from exclaiming, and motioned her into the empty hall leading off of the rotunda.

"Okay," I whispered to Jigsaw. "Sesseressia is going to be upset when she wakes up, so you need to reassure her—"

"Upset?" Jigsaw whispered back. "Did you see those legs? And that rump! If the magic of friendship can do that..."

"Would you please be serious!"

"Twilight, I am deadly serious. I will reassure the living hay out of her!"

"Jigsaw, this is about more than your libido! How would you react if you woke up as a changeling?"

She held up a hoof. "Whoa, there! Twilight, she and I talked about this last evening before we came back for dinner. She's not stupid, and it was pretty clear where this... process might end up. She's not entirely happy about it, but... um... I promised her some things."

I nodded. "Okay. I hope you're prepared to keep those promises, because I have a feeling that if she completely becomes a pony, it'll be permanent."

She frowned at me. "Don't worry, I'll... we... will be okay."

"Okay," I said. "Good."

"What about your little study buddy?"

"I'll talk to her when she wakes up. I'll explain the options—"

"Suffering stars, Twilight! You're hopeless!"

"What?"

She sighed and then told me, "Okay... here's what you're going to do..."

= = =

"Sesseressia?" Jigsaw said softly, reaching out to stroke her cheek gently. "Sessi? You should wake up now."

I lay facing Csharreee, pretty much copying Jigsaw's words, but with a lot less intimacy on the physical side of things.

Sessiressia's eyes opened and she smiled when she saw Jigsaw. Jigsaw put a gentle hoof under her jaw to keep her from looking down. "You've changed, Sessi. You're more of a pony now. A pretty impressive pony, in fact."

"Ah... I thought I might... " She pulled back a little. "Let me look. No yelling this time, I promise."

I helpfully summoned up a reflective rectangle in the air for her to use as a mirror, while I was breaking the news to Csharreee. She didn't take it nearly as well, but she didn't outright panic.

"It's all right," I told her, while wrapping a comforting wing around her. "I believe the change will reverse itself if you are away from my... influence, I suppose."

"I don't want to be a pony," she said so quietly it was almost a whisper.

It was weird. I felt bad about that. It was her choice, but... I mentally kicked myself. "When the queen gets here, I will ask her to take you back to the hive."

"But I like math!" she cried.

I chuckled, even though it wasn't funny. "Don't worry, Csharreee, I will send you lots of books to study."

"It won't be the same," she said shaking her head sadly. "I liked learning from you. I liked the singing. I... I liked... being your friend."

I was surprised to feel my eyes getting a bit misty. "I liked being your friend, too. And we can still be friends... just at a distance for now. There's no need to make permanent decisions yet."

"I suppose not."

"Twilight?" Jigsaw interrupted us.

"Yes?"

"Do you think one more day together will complete the transformation?"

I looked Sesseressia over. She still had little fans of wing material at her shoulders, ridged flesh where the flexible bands of her thorax used to be, and slightly jagged teeth, but most of the rest of her was entirely pony-like. "Yes, I think so... but there's one odd thing."

"What is it?" both Jigsaw and Sesseressia said together.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh for Celestia's sake, Jigsaw! Did you ever hear the expression about missing the forest for the trees? Have you really been so busy staring at the curve of her butt that you didn't notice she has no cutie mark?"

"Ah..."

"I'll take that as a 'yes.'" I smirked at her, and then said to Sesseressia, "I can see why you like her: She's really cute when she blushes."

"She certainly is." The almost-pony grinned back at me.

Jigsaw sputtered for a second, put on a show of annoyance, even though I'm sure she was secretly pleased, and then said, "What does it mean, then? Why no mark?"

That was easy. "A new life means a new destiny, and she hasn't found hers yet." I turned to Sesseressia. "How does it feel to have a whole world of possibilities in front of you?"

"Terrifying," she dead-panned.

= = =

Chrysalis arrived about an hour later. Once she saw Sesseressia, she went very quiet and still. The rest of us, even the drones, held our breath.

"She..." Her voice nearly broke and she took a moment to get herself under control. "Her wings are nearly gone. Why is that?"

"I don't know, Your Majesty," I replied, mindful of the drones in the room. "I don't even know why she seems to have an affinity for that particular body shape. She might just as well have become a pegasus."

"No," Chrysalis said, as if thinking to herself. "A unicorn is right, I suppose."

Huh? "How so, Your Majesty?" I asked.

"She is my spawn. My bloodline. It makes sense."

Not to me, it didn't, and I didn't think Chrysalis wanted to be pressed on the subject. But when has that ever stopped me? "I don't understand, Your Majesty. Could you explain it to me?"

She snapped out of her reverie to glare at me. Then she looked around at the rest of the room's occupants. "All of you," she snapped, imperiously. "Get out!"

I nodded to Jigsaw and she fled with the rest of them.

"You ponies value your word, do you not?" Chrysalis asked when we were alone. "Especially a noble princess such as yourself."

"That's true, Chrysalis."

"Then give me your word you will not reveal what I am about to tell you to any living being. Neither will you write it down, or..." She seemed to be grasping for some other way I could weasel around a promise.

I reached out with my magic, brushing her horn in invitation. She hesitantly called up her own tendril of magic and intertwined it with mine. "I swear to you on the sun and moon, on my own magic, and on my life and honor, that your words will be safe with me, Chrysalis. May the light in my eyes go out, if I betray your confidence," I said. The magic between us flared briefly and then went out.

She blinked at me, and then stood there, just looking at me for the longest while.

"I would not have asked that of you," she finally said.

"I just wanted to make sure you didn't feel any need to hold anything back."

"Very well, Twilight Sparkle," she said. "I will tell you how I came to be."

= = =

=

Author's Note

Yes, the quadratic equation really can be sung to the tune of Hey, Ho, Nobody Home... and several other tunes, I believe.

20 A Sudden Sense of Urgency

Chapter Twenty
A Sudden Sense of Urgency

"They had flaws; serious flaws, sure, but they didn't deserve to die..." I began.

Chrysalis shrugged. "Then they shouldn't have killed each other."

I wanted to argue as dozens of rebuttals leaped to mind, but I could see it would be useless. So, a debate was out. I shuffled my wings back down to smoothness and shrugged. "I suppose. Anyway, it was a long time ago." Just save up all your horror and have screaming nightmares tonight, I told myself, that'll get it out of your system.[1]

[1] Yes, sometimes I'm sarcastic and snarky to myself.

"Hmm... yes," she said, tilting her head and giving me a considering gaze. "So that brings us to now. Now, my general out there is nearly equine, and I want to know why and how. You say it's honest and open friendship, but knowing what happened here more than a thousand years ago, are you so sure? Are you sure it's not belief?"

"The old spell you mentioned? What are the chances that it's still working after all this time?"

Chrysalis grinned. "You are truly amazing, princess! So strong, so clever, and yet you are the most terrible liar I've ever met! You couldn't manage to deceive a new-hatched grub!"

"I guess I need more practice," I grumbled.

She laughed, and for the first time that day it sounded like simple amusement, untainted by any—baggage. "First rule: If you don't think you can sell the lie convincingly, just snort or roll your eyes. A simple angry word will do. Most ponies like to avoid conflict and won't push. It wouldn't work on me, obviously, but it's still a good tactic."

"Uh... thanks, I guess," I said, frowning. "It's not like I plan on using the information, but it is interesting. What's the second rule?"

"Change the subject, of course!" Chrysalis laughed again. "Maybe all you do need is practice!"

I grimaced. It had been worth a try, but I wasn't surprised Chrysalis hadn't let me get away with it. "Alright, yes, I know the cornucopia is still working. It gave me a very nice apple, when I asked politely. Do you still use it?"

Chrysalis snorted derisively. "It can't create love, and it's dangerous. We stay away from the city unless there is a compelling reason to come here."

"Well, I still don't think it has much, if anything, to do with the general becoming a pony. It took the thoughts of thousands of unicorns to change you, right?"

"Mm, yes. And it took a very long time for me to transform."

"Right." I nodded. "And for Sesseressia, it's only been a few days."

Chrysalis lifted an eyebrow. "On a first-name basis with my most feared commander, are you? How nice."

I paused, just a second before replying. "Yes. It is nice, Chrysalis. I almost got her to sing campfire songs with us last night."

Chrysalis blinked, and then squinted at me. "Either you've gotten much better at lying in the last few minutes, or whatever is changing her body is also affecting her mind."

"I said, 'almost.' She's still the same steel-minded officer inside. She just has friends now, and ponies sometimes do dumb things for their friends that they might not do ordinarily."

Chrysalis snickered. "Oh, I've twisted enough stallions around my hoof to know that's true!"

"Uhmn... that's not quite the same... ugh, never mind." It was time to cut to the chase. "You're interested in all this because you want to go back to how you were before, right?"

She looked at me coolly for a moment before replying. "The possibility had occurred to me," she said. "If my general and a captain can begin to change in just a few days, then surely I can do the same."

"You'd give up ruling your swarm that casually?"

"Look at me," she hissed through bared fangs. "I'm a decayed husk of what I once was! Would I give up being queen of a festering hole in the ground? This..." She reared up and green magical fire swirled around her body. "...this is what I lost!"

She was right. She had been astoundingly beautiful, once. Her coat was lavender with subtle shades of blue, like the ocean on a cloudy day. Her bearing was haughty and imperious, but she was no less stunning; hers was a cold beauty. Her cutie mark was a cluster of three asymmetrical stars of four, five and six points, in colors that complemented her coat.

The green fire blossomed again almost immediately, returning Chrysalis to her debased form. Her head dropped and she panted as if the transformation had cost her a large amount of effort. "I never can... hold it for long," she gasped. "I can be anything... but myself. A truly vile curse, don't you think?"[2]

[2] I thought it was perfectly understandable, given the obvious attitude of the ponies that had unconsciously directed the magic that had caused her metamorphosis. There was no need to drag superstitious nonsense like curses into it.

I made a non-committal sound and nodded. "You were very beautiful," I said. It was just filler conversation to me: I was trying to buy some time to think.

"And, with your help, I could be again," she said. When I didn't immediately reply, she went on. "It would be advantageous for both of us. You will eliminate the threat of changelings forever, simply by becoming my friend. It shouldn't be difficult. We have many things in common. We are both royalty... magic users of great skill and power..."

"Maybe you could give me some fashion tips, as well."

"Of course! I..." She stopped and dropped her phony half-smile. "Ah... perhaps you will tell me what is wrong with my plan, then?"

I sighed. I was stuck. Celestia could have phrased everything just right. She could have massaged the words that needed to be said into something soft and pleasant. Maybe with a few centuries of practice, I'd be able to do the same thing on the spur of the moment. Unfortunately, right then I was stuck with the bare, unvarnished truth.

"Friendship isn't like a faucet that you can turn on and off anytime you like. Now that I know what you've been through, I have a great deal of sympathy for you, and that goes a long way toward getting me to forgive you for the things you've done in the past. But, even though there are some things about you that I find likable... and I am certainly willing to be your friend... that doesn't mean I am your friend. The real problem is... honestly... I don't think you like me at all. Real friendship is a two-way street."

"I see."

I ignored the icy cold tone of her voice and floundered on. "And there's something else. You said that if you regain your original body, that will end the changeling threat. How does that work, exactly?"

"Without a queen, they will have no direction," Chrysalis said carelessly, with a toss of her head. "No cohesion, no hope. They will eventually starve, be killed, or simply die. Without me to produce more of them, they will be extinct in a generation."

"Nice."

"So your sympathy now extends to the hordes that would have devoured your kingdom?"

"I... I honestly don't know. If Sesseressia and Csharreee had suddenly shown up in Equestria, I would have blasted them without hesitation or remorse. But now..." I groped for the right words for a moment as Chrysalis stood there, looking down her snout at me. "I've seen the good in them and... yes, they are friends, okay? Of a sort, at the very least. And that seems to be enough to... to lift the curse they've inherited from you. So, what about the rest of your hive? Don't they deserve the same chance at redemption, too?"

Chrysalis glared at me and then, without warning, suddenly whirled and stomped out of the library. I followed her into the street where she leaped into the air and flew away without a word.

I stood there, watching her get smaller and smaller until she was lost in the sky. Good going, Sparkle, I thought. You served that proud and selfish queen just the right amount of condescension. Any more, and she would have tried to rip your head off. Any less, and she might have stayed to talk.

Jigsaw and the changelings had seen the queen's furious exit from where they had been waiting down the street. They approached slowly, except for Jigsaw, who cantered up to me and skidded to a stop. "Is everything alright, Twilight?"

"I lectured her."

"You... oh stars above, really? Did you... I mean... how bad was it?

"Bad enough."

"Roadapples!" she cursed quietly.

"Yep."

By that time, the changelings had arrived, and the general simply cocked her head at me.

I shook my head. "No, she didn't leave any instructions for you guys. She was in a bit of a hurry to get a long way away from me."

"Can we expect an attack?" Sesseressia asked. Well, that's a military pony for you: Always concerned about the most direct form of diplomacy.

"I wouldn't be surprised. She was pretty mad."

Sesseressia considered for a moment and then said, "With your magic and my knowledge of tactics, we should be safe enough if we prepare well."

That brought a hiss of angry surprise from the drones. Sesseressia didn't bother turning to face them when she spoke. "I will not strike at my queen, but neither will I allow her to harm my new friend... my new… tribe. You can go tell her that if you wish."

I turned to them and pointed a hoof at the one on the left. "Yes, you! Go and convey the general's message. And add that Twilight Sparkle is still willing to try to find some way to be friends. Got that?" I didn't wait for an answer. I pointed at the other drone. "You stay here in case we need to send another message."

"And me?" Csharreee asked.

That was a very good question. "What do you want to do? No, scratch that. What do you think would be the best thing to do?"

She thought about it for a long time. "I will return to the hive in order to know my queen's wishes," she said, sounding not all that happy about her decision.

I just nodded. I didn't trust myself to speak.

When Csharreee had gone, I told the remaining drone to wait in the library until I sent for her. Then I led Jigsaw and Sesseressia toward the center of town. At a gallop.

"Okay, Sessi, I hope your decision back there wasn't some sort of deception, because I'm pretty sure that what we're going to attempt now would cause Chrysalis to completely lose it."

"Oh? You're not just here for the broken pots? What a surprise. And, by the way, I'd prefer it if you didn't call me Sessi."

"If I need to scream for your help, five syllables is way too long. Deal with it."

"Will there be screaming?"

"There usually is. Maybe this time will be different."

"Maybe you should fill in the details for me?" she suggested.

"No time. In short, there's a gigantic crystal filled with dark magic under the city center. It's still active, but it's defective, unstable, and really, really dangerous! We're going to try to... deactivate it," I explained between breaths.

"It must have been there for a very long time. Why the sudden urgency?"

"Because it responds to the thoughts of the ponies around it, and if Chrysalis starts a magical slug-fest with me, the thing might react badly. Very badly."

"So," Jigsaw interjected. "You've figured out how to drain the crystal without blowing up the mesa and poisoning the whole desert?"

Sesseressia made a sort of strangled noise, which I ignored. "I... I have a working hypothesis," I said.

"That's not a 'yes!'" Jigsaw pointed out.

"I was hoping you wouldn't notice." I was grinning like an idiot for some reason. Sometimes I react strangely to stress.

I threw open the doors to the cornucopia building and we galloped inside, skidding to a stop in front of the pedestal. I paused for a second to slow my breathing and then said, "May I have a quarter mile of seven strand copper cable about the diameter of a bit coin, please?"

The coil of wire that appeared still had a Baltimare Light & Power inventory label on it. Jigsaw and Sesseressia moved the heavy coil to one side to clear the pedestal for my next order and I continued stealing valuable equipment from all the cities of Equestria that were in range. I made a mental note to try and reimburse any companies or individuals that had suffered unexplained thefts of like items on that day when I got back home. It was going to completely mess up my budget.

I double checked the pile and, when I was satisfied that I hadn't forgotten anything, I pressed the two bejeweled fruit on the pedestal that opened the secret stairway, and motioned for Jigsaw to precede me. "Down we go! I'll teleport the stuff down to us when we get to the bottom. Remember about the traps."

"Why don't you just teleport us all?" Sesseressia asked.

"The crystal doesn't play well with normal magic. I did a teleport out of the cavern but, since I'll have to... err... translate the matrices for the spell on the fly, it will be too dangerous to risk teleporting living beings into that environment.," I explained. "Oh, that reminds me! Don't use your magic down there or the crystal will kill you."

"You are completely crazy," she said.

"It's the world that's crazy!" I snorted, pushing her ahead of me toward the stairs. "Sometimes I think I'm the only sane pony in it!"

= = =

=

Author's Note

Thanks to Gogito for his excellent help editing this chapter!

21 Some Disassembly Required

Chapter Twenty One
Some Disassembly Required

I touched the crystal that sealed the stairway and watched a wall of stone blocks slide steadily upward, slamming into place like the doors of a tomb.

"A light spell is okay to use here," I told Sesseressia. "Just drop it when we get to the bottom. There's enough light from glow spots in the cavern to see perfectly well."

Her horn glowed—a soft peach color rather than the normal changeling green—and she followed Jigsaw down the stairs.

"What is the plan, Twilight?" Jigsaw called back to me as she descended. "Please tell me you're not just improvising."

Oh, I definitely had a plan. But I certainly wasn't going to tell her it had come to me in a dream. No sense in making her nervous. Okay, more nervous. "I noticed that the reactive blasts from the crystal came from the spikes on its surface. I'm pretty sure they're designed for that purpose. A coating of little spurs and branches that act defensively, like armor against potentially hostile magic."

"Uh... if you say so. You're the expert, I guess." The doubt in her voice was in no way comforting. "How does that affect us?"

"It means that step one is to strip the armor away from the central core of the crystal. Then we can access the dark energy directly. It should be fairly easy."

I saw the pool of light cast by Jigsaw's horn jerk and come to a stop. "Easy?" she asked, sounding just a teensy bit outraged. "When were you going to tell me—"

"Hold your horses, Jigsaw. Draining the crystal is still going to be difficult and dangerous. We need to be as cautious as possible even during the so-called easy bits."

She continued to descend, remaining silent—at least for the time being.

"As for draining the dark energy away," I continued. "I've come up with a way to neutralize most of it."

"Ah," Sesseressia quipped. "Finally, some good news. It… is good news, isn't it?"

"Pretty much," I said, in clipped tones. "Considering that the amount of dark energy that crystal could release into the land, even non-explosively, would turn it into an environment that would make the Everfree Forest look like a potted geranium? Yes, it's good news."

There was a long pause where the only sound was that of hooves on stone, then Jigsaw said to Sesseressia, "This is the first trap, here where the chalk marks are. Just don't put a hoof on that step and you'll be fine. There's a pit a few steps lower, but it's uncovered and obvious."

Once we were past the treacherous staircase, Sesseressia spoke up again, this time with considerably less sarcasm in her voice. "So, we remove the 'armor,' then drain and neutralize the crystal's energy—is that all that needs to be done?"

I had debated with myself whether or not to share my other concerns with Jigsaw and the general. They deserved to know what they were getting into, but worrying them with a possibly nonexistent menace wasn't fair, either. Telling them that one of the unicorns who had probably built the monstrous crystal below us had also booby-trapped an entire city to disappear for a thousand years—well, I just couldn't see how that would be helpful.

"Hopefully," was all I said. And then, so they wouldn't start asking uncomfortable questions,[1] "The main difficulty will be in placing the grounding spikes exactly. In order to get the waveforms to cancel each other out, their location will be critical. On top of that, you two can't use your magic to help because the spikes and cables need to be in place before I strip off the armor."

[1] Rule Two: Change the subject.

"Are you sure—" Sesseressia began.

"Hang on," Jigsaw interrupted her. "Twilight, what do you mean by waveforms canceling each other?"

I took a deep breath. "Well, magical energy produces pulses in five dimensions at certain wavelengths determined by the granularity of the field substrate of the originating dimension and matrix..."

Jigsaw held up a hoof to stop me and said, "Yep, I think she's sure."

I grinned. "I'll be standing by to smooth out any rough spots, using my own dark magic to flatten out any unexpected surges."

"Your dark magic?" Sesseressia asked incredulously. "I thought you Equestrians were all sweetness and light."

I noticed, with no small degree of satisfaction, that she hadn't said 'you ponies.' "'Brightest lights oft' cast deepest shadows,'" I quoted, for lack of any better reply.

"What have I gotten myself into?" she muttered.

I didn't have a good answer for that, either.

When we got to the cavern, we followed the same rough path toward the dome at the crystal's base. I let my horn smoke and simmer with dark magic as I passed through the delusion trap with no effect whatsoever. That was one of my guesses proven correct, at least. I back-kicked one of the little crystals that powered the trap and it shattered with a puff of purple smoke and a spatter of green sparks. Should have thought of that last time, I mentally rebuked myself. Too busy gaping at the giant crystal, I guess.

When we got into the dome, I realized that we would have to clear away the remains of Professor Sharphoof and her colleagues in order to make room for arranging the cables. I thought we ought to try to bring them back to Canterlot for a proper burial, so I tried to shift them as gently as possible. Unfortunately for me, they pretty much fell to dust and leather as soon as I touched them with my magic. Dark magic just doesn't have the capacity for fine control, and fine control isn't my strong suit even when I'm using normal magic. I set all of the remains down in a jumbled heap, far away from the bronze control hoops, trying hard not to think about what exactly I was levitating.

"Twilight, look," Jigsaw said, as I turned away from my grisly task.

On the floor, where the body of Professor Sharphoof had lain, was a flat, mummified-looking chunk of thick fabric. It took me a second to realize that it was one of her saddlebags. She must have fallen on it when she died, and her body had protected it from the full influence of the crystal. I brushed at it with my magic, but it held together. There was no time then to examine it, so I bundled the whole thing into my own saddlebag and got on with the preparations.

"You two stay in the dome," I told Sesseressia and Jigsaw. "I'm going to teleport all the equipment down to us, and the walls should provide you with some protection if something goes wrong."

Everything arrived intact, with no untoward side-effects. "Remember," I said, as my two companions peered out of the dome's doorway. "Use teeth and hooves only! Unpack that crate of grounding rods and take them and the reel of thin wire inside the dome. I'll work out here for now. Let me know when you're finished."

We got everything laid out pretty quickly, and then I got down to the delicate part of the operation. I couldn't bring myself to trust the others to make the necessary measurements with the fine degree of accuracy that was required, so I had to do that myself while they waited and conversed in low voices.

After I'd triple-checked all my distances and angles, I began driving the long copper rods into the hard stone of the cavern. I had cut to length several sections of the heavy cable and Jigsaw and Sesseressia pulled them into place as I worked on the rods. When we finished outside, we continued inside the dome, pulling in the free ends of all the heavy cables and attaching them to a big electrical bus that I'd placed under the center of the crystal. I would have preferred a ring-shaped piece of brass or copper, instead of the oblong of copper and insulating material, but evidently nothing of that description had been within the crystal's range.

I began driving in the rods that would hold the web of finer wire that would act as a resonating guide. When I stopped to re-measure one rod and changed its location by less than a straw's width, Jigsaw couldn't help but comment.

"Twilight, it looks like you're just sticking these things in at random! Does it really need to be that exact?"

I could have told her that a mistake the length of an eyelash[2] might get us all vaporized, but I really didn't want to worry her. "You know how fussy I am about stuff like this," was all I said. It seemed to relax her a bit.

[2] The mean length of a pony eyelash is 1.63 inches, so that's really a fairly decent safety margin.

When I was finished, and the connections had been all checked one last time, I went to the controls of the bronze hoops. "I'm turning off the limiters, now, so please try to think nothing but happy thoughts... and don't say anything from now until the crystal is dead, okay?"

The two of them looked at each other and then back at me, nodding.

After I'd removed all the safety constraints on the dark crystal, I led us all out of the dome and picked out a big stalagmite half way across the cavern floor. "We'll take cover behind that," I said. I carried several extra rods and a spool of light wire along with me. If anything got badly out of tune, I figured I might be able to re-balance it from a distance.

Once we were safely behind the stalagmite, I settled in and really let my dark magic flow free. Sesseressia took a couple of steps away from me, and even Jigsaw flinched. Jigsaw's reaction I could understand, but the ex-changeling? Considering where she'd grown up, I was a bit miffed that she considered me anywhere near spooky.

I reached out and touched the now-dead limiting mechanism, stretching and pulling at the interlinked hoops until they were all large enough to slide upward around the crystal, but not large enough to avoid the spikes and spurs. Then I did the gravity vs. momentum trick I'd come up with in my dream. I kept putting energy into the opposing forces until the cavern was echoing with the crackle and hiss of excess power spattering the inside of the dome.

Then I flipped the direction of the gravity. I had really wanted to directly observe the result, and had planned to raise a shield around us to protect from stray energy and shrapnel, but everything happened too quickly. The hoops became a golden blur along the height of the crystal as they obliterated the branching bits and then slammed into the ceiling of the cavern. Rubble and stalactites began to fall, most missing the crystal, but quite a number bouncing off of its now smoother surface. The rotating mass wobbled just a fraction. Not a good thing.

I quickly reached out with my dark magic and stabilized it, then took what I figured was the biggest risk of the day: I sent a lance of pure, normal magic at the base point of the crystal to crack it. If I had been mistaken about the spikes and spurs being the only source of reactive counter-measures, I would have been... well, toast, as Rainbow Dash likes to say. Fortunately, I was still un-toasted after my attack. Even better yet, the dark power in the crystal was rushing out, being channeled away by my system of energy drains.

"Is it working?" Jigsaw gasped as she peered around the edge of the stalagmite.

I really wish I had prepared some clever quip for the occasion, but all I could say was, "Yes, it seems to be."

I reverted to the use of dark magic and gently probed the web of copper we had set up. The surges of varying pulses were canceling each other out perfectly. I waited for any imbalances to show up, but the system was operating just the way I'd designed it, magical energy phasing away into simple, non-specific forms. Light, heat, vibration, and sound that dispersed almost as soon as it was created. Looking upward, we could even see the dangerous magic bleeding away. The top of the crystal was going gray, and even white along the edges. At the rate the color change was traveling down the crystal, I estimated it would only be twenty minutes or so before it was a just dead chunk of mineral.

Of course, we didn't get nearly that long.

The crystal wasn't quite two-thirds drained when the ceiling fell in. The earlier falling debris was nothing compared to the weight of paving stones, tiles, and gems that crashed into the top of the big crystal, causing it to wobble even more than before. Worse still were the cracks that shot down the length of it, because when they reached the level that still held dark magic, it began to leak.

The beautiful, falling hum of dark magic harmonizing itself into random energy became a throbbing heterodyne of mismatched tones that made my teeth ache. Jigsaw shrieked in surprise and Sesseressia cursed. I was far too busy to indulge in either of those tension-relieving activities. I took hold of the crystal with my magic, first trying to stabilize its erratic wobble and then attempting to seal the still growing cracks.

I might have been able to do it if I hadn't had to fight off the attacking changeling drones.

They swarmed down out of the hole in the ceiling, spreading out into the cavern as they searched for us. It didn't take them long to spot the alicorn whose horn was blazing with black and green magic.

They had spellcasters working as they flew, using warding and canceling magic, no doubt designed to work against what they knew of my shield and offensive spells. Luckily, they hadn't ever even considered fighting against dark magic. With an aching jaw due to clenched teeth, I swatted them out of the air and pinned them to the cavern floor with roiling blobs of thick black goo that instantly bonded with the rock of the cavern. I hit them in bunches, and it only took a minute or two to clear the air and imprison them all.

I turned my attention back to the crystal just before the second wave of changelings poured into the cave, but it was too late. The top third of the crystal sheared off and toppled, crashing to the cavern floor with a bone-jarring impact.

The cavern lit up in ghastly shades of actinic green as the remaining dark energy erupted from the ruined crystal. Changelings sparked and vanished in midair as tendrils of the dark power hit them, but some lucky ones were able to retreat back up through the hole where the cornucopia mosaic had been.

I couldn't do much but try to protect the three of us from the deadly bolts and lashes that were ripping at every surface in the cave. My shield held firm, but I could see that the dark magic was already distorting the fabric of reality around us. Stalagmites began to move and writhe—a couple of trapped changelings started to grow sucker-and-eye-covered tentacles—and that, I knew, was just the beginning of the horrors to come.

= = =

=

Author's Note

An illustration for the last scene of this chapter can be found here: Final Showdown at the Dark Crystal Engine.

Special thanks to Gogito for an excellent editing job on this chapter. The guy has a gift for sniffing out the clunky phrasing and mixed tenses that I am prone to.

22 A Matter of Perspective

Chapter Twenty Two
A Matter of Perspective

Simply defending us from the dark magic was an untenable position. In a very short time, it would have made our environment too hostile to survive, even if I could cover every possible angle of attack while the flood of dark magic mutated the very ground I was standing on. I had to deal with the source of the problem. I told Jigsaw and Sesseressia to get into the lee of the stalagmite and stay there, then I dropped my shield.

I planned to deal with each part of the problem in descending order of how appallingly dangerous it was—and got stuck on the very first one. I found that the increasingly erratic wobble of the broken crystal would shortly cause it to completely shatter, releasing all the rest of the energy within in a single blast. Nothing in the city could possibly survive an event like that. I tried using my dark magic to stabilize it, but found that the fallen top fragment was still exerting a strong magical pull on the rest of the crystal. The contagion effect was making it want to reconnect with the main body of the crystal with a force that I didn't have the strength to directly resist. I needed some way of nullifying it before I could do anything else. I remembered the wire and grounding rods I had brought with me. If I could make a connecting circuit from the fallen fragment, through me—

The problem was that I had to fend off the blasts from the lower part of the crystal and occasional creeping horrors at the same time. I needed help.

"Jigsaw!" I screamed, while simultaneously stomping an obstinate tentacle that used to be a changeling's foreleg.

I gave that mare full credit for bravery, because she was at my side in an instant, despite having to expose herself to the howling chaos of the disintegrating crystal.

"The wire!" I shouted at her. "Wrap one end around my rear hoof, and the other around a spike. Then send the spike over to the fallen piece of the crystal and—whoa!" I had to pause to blast the multi-legged, fanged thing that reared up in front of us. "Try to get the spike in contact with the crystal, even if you can't embed it."

Sesseressia joined us and stood by Jigsaw, using her own magic to blast away at the smaller nasties that were crawling and slithering towards us. When Jigsaw had attached both ends of the wire, she took the rod in her mouth and started to make for the fragment.

"Jigsaw, stop!" I yelled. "Use your magic!"

She shook her head. "It's too far... out of range of my horn for something this heavy! I'll have to carry it closer."

"You're not going out there!" Sesseressia hissed at her, and moved to block her path.

"Just what do you expect me to do? Throw the stupid th.... oh... right." Jigsaw dropped the spike and caught it in her magic. "Sessi, spread out the coil of wire so it won't tangle when it gets pulled out fast. Yeah, like that."

Jigsaw hefted the spike, muttering, "Heavy... not quite the same length as a javelin... sucky balance... oh well, here goes nothing!"

She set her self in a solid stance and lifted the copper bar over her head, letting it drift back until it was above her shoulders. The magical connection from her horn to the long spike became a series of many light, elastic threads, and then there was another pulse of her magic, anchoring the rear of the spike to the ground behind her with a solid, inflexible bond. I had no idea what she was up to, but she certainly seemed to know what she was doing.

"Stand clear of the wire!" She yelled before leaping forward with all of her strength. Her magic tether to the ground prevented the spike from moving. It was the stretchy part between her and the copper rod that lengthened until it couldn't elongate any more. When that happened, it brought her up short, making her rear up and arch her back. Just as I thought she might topple over backwards, the muscles of her neck, chest, belly, and haunches all tightened in sequence, snapping into hard definition beneath her blue coat, as she let go of the anchoring part of her magic. I understood, then: She had constructed the magical equivalent of a slingshot. Who knew that sports could be so scientific? All the potential energy stored in the connection between her horn and the copper rod was suddenly translated into motion, and the spike flashed up and across the cavern, pulling the wire behind it with a hissing sound.

We all watched it fly. Even some of the monstrous things squelching among the stalagmites turned their heads to follow it. The spike arched down, right on target, and buried itself into the crystal fragment.

"Woo-hoo!" screamed Jigsaw, dancing in joy. "Score one for the gal with the athletic scholarship!"

Things began to happen in rapid sequence after that. I stabilized the crystal's wobble by feeding back its own energy through the wire to the fallen fragment. Once the danger of imminent vaporization was gone, I worked on sealing the open face of the crystal that was pouring out dark energy.

As soon as the black tendrils and green whips of wild magic began to die away, the next squad of changelings began to emerge from the hole in the ceiling. We were caught between stopping the dark magic and fighting the army of Queen Chrysalis.

I had to let just enough magic leak out to keep the changelings out of the cavern, while trying to redirect most of the flow down the sides of the crystal to my system of energy drains. A controlled flow wasn't enough to deter the enemy troops, and a full flood was going to fill the cavern with deadly energy and—things. So I alternated letting the crystal erupt and taming its magic in a pattern that was, hopefully, random enough that the changelings wouldn't risk a sudden rush.

If I hadn't had Jigsaw and Sesseressia with me to battle the newly-spawned monsters I couldn't spare attention for, it would have ended right there. Anyone who thinks we equines are placid, gentle creatures would have been stunned by the ferocity and determination of those two magnificent mares that day. When their magic guttered low, they used their horns, hooves, and teeth. Celestia bless them, they kept me safe.

It was a good tactic and it might have even worked. What we would have done when the crystal and all of us were exhausted, and the changelings swarmed in, I'm not certain. But I'm sure I would have thought of something.

As it happened, we never got the chance to find out. There was still a perilous amount of dark magic in the remains of the crystal when it shattered into millions of pieces. The alternating stresses caused by my manipulation of its energy flow had fatigued its very structure to the point where it simply disintegrated. One second, a web of tiny cracks appeared all over its surface, and the next—

That tiny moment between fracturing and disintegrating gave me barely enough time to react. I was channeling a large amount of the dark magic through myself to keep the crystal stable and it was a simple matter to shut off the conduit that bled it away. That meant that I could pull in the sudden explosion of energy and contain it—possibly. I'd once absorbed the power of three other alicorns, hadn't I? Could a flood of dark magic be much worse? Given any time to think, I would have concluded that it was ludicrously dangerous, but time was a luxury I didn't have as I instinctively absorbed all the remaining dark magic the crystal had left.

It felt—nice.

I smiled and kicked off the grounding wire.

What had I been worried about?

Oh, there were some pathetic little creatures assaulting my friends and I, but it was a trivial task to remove them all. So I did.

I looked up to the hole in the ceiling where the changelings had begun to pour in, so earnest in the service of their queen—adorable, really. I rose to meet them, and when they saw me, they turned and fled.

I emerged into the ruined and roofless cornucopia building where there was considerable confusion and turmoil among the changeling ranks. They obviously needed to be organized.

"BE SILENT," I told them. The outer wall of the building fell away and threw a great cloud of dust into the air. I removed the dust. It wouldn't do for my new subjects to be distracted by trivialities. They all cast long shadows that spread out in a big fan shape behind them. It was pretty.

I swept a hoof out, indicating a line in front of me, and said, "APPROACH." They all cringed for some reason, but several moved to obey. Others milled about. Still others fled. I thought perhaps I should start with basic protocol and then ease them into more strict formations later.

"YOU MUST BOW BEFORE ME," I instructed them.

That was better! A large number flattened themselves to the ground. But there was one group in particular that didn't seem to understand. One of them shouted, "We obey none but our queen, you monster!"

Oh dear. Split authority? That hardly ever worked out well. "YOUR QUEEN?" There she was, surrounded by a knot of larger, armored troops, glaring defiance at me. Well, no schoolroom could operate efficiently with two teachers intent on using different materials. She would have to go.

"I AM YOUR QUEEN, NOW," I explained.

One of the armored officers charged at me. I removed her.

I turned my attention to Chrysalis. She set her stance and looked me directly in the eyes, her head held high and proud. That was nice. She was strong and brave. I respected that, and I thought that perhaps I would miss her when she was gone.

Before I could act, a smaller changeling in armor flew up in front of Chrysalis and held her hooves out toward me as if she could fend me off somehow. That was funny. She was afraid and her hooves were trembling badly. Her hooves. That was odd—all the other changelings had big holes in their hooves, but the one that tried to protect the queen had only small dimples on her legs.

Oh.

I—

Oh.

Suddenly, I didn't want to remove the frightened little changeling. But—I needed to—

I was confused. I didn't like being confused.

It had been simple. Then it wasn't simple any more. That made me angry. They shouldn't thwart me! Who knew better than I, how things should be organized? I had knowledge. I had experience. I had been in this situation many times before, only—only, I had been on the other side. They couldn't win, but they were defying me. That was silly.

"STOP THAT," I told them. I swept out a wing, and the blade of black energy it shed tore away a section of the city. It fell into the canyon with a rumbly noise that should have cheered me up. It didn't.

Chrysalis reached out and pushed Csharreee aside. "There is no need for you to die," she whispered to her. Chrysalis thought I couldn't hear her, but I could. She took several steps toward me and spoke loudiy, "If you are their new queen, you must care for them... better than I have done."

I wished she would stop looking at me.

"Please, Your Highness!" Csharreee cried out. "Don't!"

I unleashed my power.

All those carved unicorns melted into slag. The ground buckled and warped, quartz paving stones exploded like fireworks, and sudden black smoke billowed up into the clear desert sky. It felt good, even though I had turned aside from the target I really wanted to smite. The changelings backed hurriedly away from the part of the city that was slumping into a shapeless mass. I suppose it had gotten a trifle warm.

I glanced back at Chrysalis. She was still looking at me. That made me want to melt other things, so I took to the air and flew down the canyon, re-sculpting it as I went. I knew I wasn't going to be happy until I fixed the changeling situation, but I kept going, farther and farther from the city, burning everything that passed beneath me.

When I started to feel light-headed, I thought it was because I was becoming less upset. But I was wrong. It meant I was about to pass out. The last thing I felt was my wings thrashing wildly in the turbulence as I tumbled from the sky.

= = =

The sand was probably real. It was too boring to be a dream.

The sand tasted real. I tried to spit it out, but my mouth was too dry. I ended up just making pathetic little pthoo noises. I thought about standing up and that's when I started to hurt all over. I attempted to summon up a palliative spell, but my magic was gone. I was completely drained.

The sensible option was to continue to lie where I was and try not to think about hurting so much. Since I didn't have the energy to do much else, that's what I did. To keep from thinking about the pain, I thought about other things. Like what I had just done, for instance.

It takes energy to be terrified, outraged, and ashamed, so I just lay there and thought about it. I was glad I hadn't killed Chrysalis and Csharreee in my madness, but there had been others—no, I decided I'd rather think about the pain.

I thought the buzzing was in my head at first, but then I saw the black shadows rippling over the sand as the changelings came in for a landing in the arroyo. I supposed I wasn't going to be hurting for much longer.

"Is she dead?" Chrysalis asked. It didn't sound like she cared much, one way or the other.

It was Csharreee who bent down and looked into my face. I blinked to show her that I was still alive. She levitated over a gourd filled with water and dribbled some on my lips. I licked it away and she dribbled some more.

Chrysalis walked over and settled down in front of me. "Kick her in the horn if she tries anything," she told a subordinate.

"Hi, Chrissy," I croaked.

She scowled at me. "You just had to destroy my only hope, didn't you?"

"Nuh-uh," I said. It was kind of funny. I guessed I was still a bit loopy. I would have laughed if I hadn't been sure it would be agonizing to do so. "It wasn't the crystal. I told you that. Stupid dark magic can't do anything good..." I broke off and coughed. My following scream of pain was so loud that it echoed off of what was left of the canyon walls for several seconds.

Chrysalis pinned her ears back, looking irritated, and gave a peremptory jerk of her head. I felt a cool sensation wash over me, and the pain subsided. I tried to thank her, but my throat was too dry and I just coughed again. Thankfully, it caused only a moderate amount of pain that time.

Csharreee gave me more water and I swallowed gratefully. "It's friendship, Chrysalis," I said. "The magic of friendship. I know you think that's sentimental foolishness, but it's the only explanation that fits all the facts. So, go make a friend. Be beautiful again."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. She looked away from me for a while and gazed off into the sky. Then she seemed to come to a decision and stood up. She motioned to a couple of drones to lift me up. "You should be on your feet for this," she told me.

I gritted my teeth and set my legs in a good, wide stance before the drones let go of me. I wasn't going to let myself fall again. If Chrysalis could look her own death in the eye, I certainly couldn't do anything less.

= = =

=

Author's Note

Thanks to Gogito for another superb editing job, particularly in straightening out the kinks in my descriptions of magical goings-on that were very much less than clear.

23 Conversations, Pleasant and Otherwise

Chapter Twenty Three
Conversations, Pleasant and Otherwise

"If you're going to kill me now, can I ask something of you? A last request?"

Chrysalis seemed startled by my question, and made no reply but to cock an eyebrow at me.

"Tell Celestia..." I broke off in a coughing fit, and struggled to keep on my hooves.

Chrysalis smirked at me. "Tell her what? That you died bravely?"

"No," I didn't shake my head for fear of making myself too dizzy to stand. "No, not that. Tell her who you really are. Tell her what happened to you. She might—"

"Oh, I've had enough of this nonsense," Chrysalis snapped. "I release you from your oath! You can tell her yourself!" She pointed over my shoulder.

"Uh... what?" Sparkling Repartee Sparkle, that's me.[1]

[1] I have since learned that our ambassador to Zebrica is named Sparkling Repartee. No offense or implied family connection was meant.

The sand at my feet stirred and whirled in little spirals as a gentle downdraft of air pushed across it. At the edge of my vision, I saw the tip of a huge pearlescent-white wing gently touch the sand on a down stroke and then draw away. I carefully turned my head, and saw Princess Celestia herself, folding her wings away, looking concernedly at me as she did so.

Before I could say anything, Princess Luna slammed into the ground next to her sister and snapped her wings shut. She turned just enough to glare at the changelings out of the corner of her eye and addressed them with what can be best described as a snarl. "Begone, insects!"

Chrysalis returned the glare through slitted eyes and raised her wings.

"No, wait!" I gasped. "It's okay... really. She... uhmn... they really aren't all that bad."

Celestia and Luna gave each other worried looks and then Celestia asked me gently, "Did you hit your head, Twilight?"

"No, I... well, yes. I mean, I think I hit my everything."

Celestia's horn began to glow, and a magical aura the color of afternoon sunshine washed over me. I instantly felt much better but also quite sleepy. "Wait," I mumbled, "Jigsaw and Sessi... they're still in the cave."

"'Sessi?'" Chrysalis asked, slightly bemused. "The changeling I know would kill anyone who referred to her that way."

"Things change," I said, and then yawned hugely.

"Where is this cave?" Luna asked. "I will rescue them."

"General Csharreee," Chrysalis ordered, with a sigh in her voice. "Show the princess to the cave."

My study-buddy must have gotten a promotion. I was going to congratulate her, but the horizon went all wobbly and my eyelids became too heavy to hold open. Celestia lifted me up in her magic, cradling me as she hadn't done since I was a little filly.

It felt—nice.

= = =

When I woke up again, there were dancing suns overhead. A gentle breeze made the silk fabric of the pavilion slowly ripple, moving the decorative border in long waves. I looked carefully at their rays, but they were all symmetrical. No hidden secrets, then.

"Those suns are boring," I said.

"Indeed," Luna said from my bedside. "I find that moons are much more interesting."

I looked around. I was in one of Celestia's big field pavilions. It was sparsely furnished but richly decorated. Light linen curtains divided the space I was in into a sleeping area, but were pulled back to allow the breeze in. There was nopony else present.

"Where are we?" Sometimes the most obvious questions are the best ones to ask.

"Still in the desert city." Luna put her book down and gently brushed me with her magic the way a pegasus or earth pony mother might hold a hoof to a sick foal's brow. "You have healed well, I think."

"Where is everypony else?"

"Sister and the bug queen are holding council," Luna replied with obvious disapproval in her voice. "Your friends are likely exploring what's left of the city or each other. That is all they have done besides take their turns at your bedside these last three days."

A wave of panic rippled over me as Luna’s words set in; how much had I missed?

"Yes, three days, Twilight Sparkle. You needed the time to let the healing magic work. We have brought some of the household guards and traveling things to make it comfortable during your recovery."

"Chrysalis is talking with Celestia?" I asked. "That's good news."

Luna gave a non-committal grunt and asked, "Jigsaw's companion... she was truly one of those parasites?"

"Definitely," I assured her.

"She is now wholly a pony, by any measure, sight, touch, or magic. 'Tis passing strange."

"I'sooth," I replied, grinning.

"Ah," said Luna. "Mockery. You are feeling better."

I grinned fondly, before realizing exactly how much I owed the mare in front of me. "You saved me, Luna. I want to thank you for that."

She waved the gratitude away with an errant flick of her hoof. "I think the insects would not have slain you, even if we had not arrived when we did."

"That's not what I meant... but how did you know to come charging to the rescue?"

"We felt it, Twilight Sparkle! When you unleashed the dark magic, every unicorn in Equestria took note!"

Oh, great. I'd perturbed the entire kingdom. Again. I hoped that no unicorns had been lifting anything heavy or fragile when the magical pulse hit them.

"Well, if not for the dream you sent me, I wouldn't have been able to deal with the dark crystal. The armor idea is what did it."

"Yes... that," Luna paused to collect herself, which was very unlike her. "That was not I. Nor was it wholly a creation of your own mind, as I first thought. It was truly her who trod your dreams."

"Th—the Nightmare?"

Luna gave me a sickly smile and replied, "I'sooth." I suppose it was her attempt to lighten the moment. It didn't work.

"Why did she... what did she want?"

"I do not know, and that troubles me. She has done well by you, but hers is not a generous spirit. It will have been but one small move in an invisible game; of that, we may be sure."

"What can I do about it?"

"Be on your guard. She is imprisoned, weakened, and holds little power, even in your dreams, but she is dangerous, nonetheless. The game against her will be a long one, I fear."

"Why can't life ever be simple?" I groused.

"Why, then 'twould be boring, Twilight Sparkle!" Luna leaped to her hooves. "Arise, slug-a-bed! Let us go rescue dear sister from the clutches of the bug queen's dread conversation!"

"Will there be cake?" I asked as I stood and stretched my still slightly sore limbs.

"Hast thou ever known a Royal Council to lack confections? Celestia's yacht Sunbeam arrived yesterday evening, fully supplied. There is cake of three kinds and cool lemonade and cider besides!"

I grinned. "This trip is starting to look up!"

= = =

It turned out that I didn't have to do all that much explaining to the royal sisters. Jigsaw had kept copious notes about our adventure and Chrysalis, Csharreee, and Sesseressia were very forthcoming about their parts in it all. Very forthcoming. I was glad to have been unconscious while they related the whole thing in excruciating detail.

I was put through a thorough exam by the doctor who was a specialist in magical maladies aboard the royal yacht Sunbeam, which was holding station above the city. I was pronounced "perfectly healthy but abnormal in some regards."

When I pressed the doctor for more specifics, she shook her head. "All alicorns are unique, and I'm assuming that your structural differences are just something to be expected. For a pony who did a head-plant from three thousand feet up, you are in ridiculously good shape."

I still made her give me copies of my X-rays. I couldn't make out what was odd about them, but maybe with a little research... well, that was something for another day.

From Sunbeam's promenade deck, the city lay beneath me like a model—a model that some malign little colt with a love of war stories had been abusing. The northeast quarter was a slumped mass of congealed black lava. The waves in the air above it indicated it still hadn't shed all the heat that had gone into melting it in the first place. To the west a huge section was simply sliced away—a razor-clean cut had dropped buildings, mesa, and all down into the canyon below. Of the part that was left, which was less than a third of the original city in my estimation, not much was in very good shape.

The buildings that were near where the cornucopia were scorched and shattered rubble. I didn't remember any sort of explosion going off there, so that was a bit of a mystery. As for the cornucopia and cavern, Celestia and Luna had sealed it under a black glass dome and containment spell. The cave itself was far too contaminated to cleanse. It could only be isolated.

"Hey, Twilight," came a soft voice from behind me. "You're even harder on ancient sites than old Daring Doo-doo."

I grinned and turned to see Jigsaw and Sesseressia approaching around the curve of the airship's hull. Jigsaw had a many-pocketed vest and saddlebags on, and Sessi wore a light summer robe that was a surprisingly feminine choice of clothing for her. It certainly showed off her legs, though.

"Hello girls," I greeted them. "Been enjoying yourselves?"

Jigsaw grinned shamelessly. "Yup. We sure have! Even so, I'm ready to go home. You haven't left much in the way of non-rubble for us to explore, and I'm looking forward to showing Sessi around Canterlot."

"You know..." I said, thoughtfully. "...you've never told me what it is you've got against Daring Do. It can't just be her propensity for property damage. And how is it that you know about her pen name?"

Jigsaw scowled. "Oh. That."

"Yes," I replied, giving her a look that told her I wasn't going to let her dodge the question this time. "That."

She sighed. "A. K. Yearling was my thesis adviser. Her nom de guerre was sort of an open secret in the department." There was a long pause.

"Go on."

"Well... this was just before the return of Night... uh... I mean, Princess Luna, and old Doo-doo was pretty much instrumental in the choosing of my topic for my thesis."

Another long pause. I raised an eyebrow.[2]

[2] Luna would have been proud of me.

"Okay, okay!" Jigsaw snapped, and spit the rest all out in a rush. "The title of my thesis was 'The Lunar Legend: An Equinomorphic Personification of Adolescent Jealousy,' and it was published by the university press just one week before Luna came back and made me look like a complete idiot, and Professor Yearling thought it would be a hilarious prank to send a copy to the princess!"

I tried not to laugh. In Celestia’s name, I really did.

Sessi gave me a death glare and I thought for a moment that Jigsaw might actually explode.

And all that was before Luna spoke up from behind them both. "Jigsaw. I thought that name sounded familiar!"

I stopped Jigsaw from flinging herself over the railing to the flight deck in an effort to escape, and we all went into the yacht's saloon and got everypony calmed down with frosty glasses of fruit juice, though Jigsaw was still practically glowing with embarrassment.

Luna dismissed the whole thing with a flick of her hoof. "I never actually read it," she explained. "Twilight Sparkle is the scholar, not I. My secretary Shadow Quill mentioned it to me as a curiosity. I told her to burn it and... ah... forgive me Jigsaw, but do you recall having any particularly bad dreams around that time?"

"After I found out what Do had done? Well, of course, Your Highness. It's understandable: I was pretty upset about the whole thing."

"Oh." Luna cleared her throat, nervously. "Well... let us consider the matter resolved and forgotten, shall we?"

"Of course, princess. That's very generous of you."

"Not at all. Would you care for more..." Luna broke off and turned to me. "And just what are you snickering at, Twilight Sparkle?"

= = =

"I don't like you, Sparkle," Chrysalis said with equanimity. "But it seems to be in the best interests of my hive to cooperate with you."

We stood on the edge of the mesa, making our farewells after the signing of the formal treaty of cooperation. The others had withdrawn a ways to give us a bit of privacy.

"That's fine with me, Your Majesty," I replied. "As long as we have mutual respect, I think the future of our peoples will be a good one."

"Yesss..." Chrysalis looked like she had bitten into something sour. "You do have my respect, for some reason I can't quite understand. I don't like that, either... but I will survive it, I suppose."

"No chance of friendship?" It was a ridiculous question, but I had to ask.

"With you?" She barked out a short, harsh laugh. "As many times as we've tried to kill each other, I think that's not very likely." Then, after a pause, she said, "I have been talking with your friend Jigsaw, though... and she assures me that there are many ponies in Equestria who might be willing to strike up a friendship with me, some even likely to do so, though I find that hard to believe."

Ponies are very strange, sometimes. "Actually, I think that's a definite possibility. In any case, your subjects who will be openly visiting Equestria will be paving the way for enough mutual goodwill to transform you all... I hope."

"And I will be queen no longer," she said quietly.

"Yeah," I rolled my eyes. "You'll be just a plain, garden-variety, drop-dead gorgeous alicorn. Excuse me while I wipe away tears of pity."

"Have I mentioned that I really don't like you, Sparkle?"

"Yep, but I think you really enjoy not liking me, so no pity there, either, Chrissy."

It was her turn to sigh and roll her eyes. We take what victories we can: If I couldn't make a friend, a frienemy would have to do.

= = =

After all of the gear had been loaded and the passengers had boarded the airship, everyone settled in for the journey back home. Before long, I got a chance to have a quiet conversation with Celestia in the privacy of her stateroom.

Trying to describe what it felt like to be possessed by the dark energy was... difficult. I gave her some of the details but I just couldn't convey the sheer impact of it altogether. "It was chaos," I finished up lamely. "Pure chaos. Discord would have been proud."

"Don't bet on it, sweet-cheeks!" came a sarcastic voice from behind me. Oh sun and moon, why had I even mentioned his name?

He was holding a tall drink with an umbrella in it and a tennis racket was tucked under one wing for goodness knows what reason. "My brand of chaos is always fun. Yours was icky! You've got a lot to learn about chaos, Princess Twinklebutt! Call me if you need lessons: I'm in the book." There was a snap of light and he was gone.

What book? I wondered. If he's messing with my library—

Celestia chuckled behind her hoof.

I sighed. "I suppose he's right. I couldn't even do chaos well. Believe it or not, I was trying to organize the changelings. I gave in to my best impulses in the worst way."

"Well..." Celestia said. "...that is the way dark magic can corrupt a pony. It can be a very useful tool, but it is all too easy to rely on. When it fully takes hold, only impulse or desire is left. Sombra was nearly mindless when he returned... focused only on his need for more crystals to complete another dark magic engine. You were just as driven... but you managed to break free of the dark magic's influence. I'm very impressed and ever prouder of you, Twilight."

I shuffled my hooves. I'm always a bit embarrassed by direct praise from her. "Most of the credit goes to Csharreee. I can't imagine the bravery it took to stand up to a super-charged, mad alicorn. She's the one who snapped me out of it... partially, at least. I'm really sorry about glassing so much of the desert ecosystem. I think I did even more damage to the landscape than when I fought Tirek."

Celestia just smiled gently at me. "Oh, I don't think you have to imagine that kind of bravery at all, Twilight."

I cleared my throat and tried to change the subject. "Speaking of Sombra, its lucky for us that the city didn't send out more warriors to set up other dark outposts. He must have left the city just before Chrysalis and her swarm drained all its ponies of love."

"Or just after, considering how he treated the poor crystal ponies," Celestia said quietly.

Oh. Trust her to be able to put her hoof on the heart of a matter. Power untempered by love... I shuddered.

It was Celestia, herself who changed the subject then. She could see I was getting moody and began to entertain me with the latest gossip from the capital. We chatted happily until she had to lower the sun.

= = =

When I was directed to my cabin that evening, I found that all of my expedition gear had been cleaned and neatly stowed there. I was pretty worn out and wanted to flop down on my bunk and drift off to sleep, but I couldn't help noticing my saddlebags. The inner side of each bag was scorched, and the backstrap had been entirely burned away. I quickly checked the contents, but found they were mostly unharmed.

Professor Sharphoof's mummified bag was very, very tempting. I decided I would just take a quick peek at the contents. The tiny amount of of magical energy I used to soften and strengthen the fabric made me a little bit woozy. It was obvious I hadn't fully recovered. I began to lift up the flap, carefully separating it from from the contents, but I had to pause for a huge yawn that I couldn't suppress.

Just a bit more... just a peek.

The writing on the cover of the big book was still legible:

Private Journal

Dr. Sharphoof

It was a good measure of my exhaustion, that I didn't even consider going to work on the journal with conservation spells. At that point, I was completely unable to keep my eyes open. It would have to wait until the next day.

I fell asleep to the soothing hum of Sunbeam's engines as we flew on into the night.

= = =

=

Author's Note

Thanks again to Gogito for another excellent editing job! This story would be much the poorer without his assistance.

24 Going Home

Chapter Twenty Four
Going Home

I was just finishing up brushing out my tail when a steward knocked gently on my cabin door.

"I thought you might like some breakfast, Your Highness," the steward said when I opened the door.

There was a carafe of coffee, a toasted cinnamon-raisin bagel so fresh it was still steaming, maple yogurt, and fresh fruit on his little cart. "Oh, bless you!" I said. "That is exactly what I need right now."

"You're very welcome, ma'am. If there is anything else you'd like, just use the speaking tube," he pointed to a little brass pipe that ended in a slight flair, like the mouth of a trumpet, on the bulkhead of my cabin. "Ask for the galley."

Adventure was all well and good, but civilization was wonderful!

I savored my breakfast to the last bite as I watched the several pegasi guards change their respective watches. One flew out to where the pegasus from the night watch was keeping pace with Sunbeam, and they flew together for a couple of minutes; exchanging orders and news, I assumed. The now off-duty guard flew back to the airship, making a sweeping bank. A quick glide around the big starboard lateral fin later, and he disappeared from my view into the flight deck below.

When I'd finished eating, I refilled my coffee mug, stirring in sugar and cream as I opened my cabin door. I wanted to find a large surface to spread out my work; my cabin was well equipped, but very small nonetheless.

I tried the saloon first, but saw through the round port in the door that Luna, Sessi, and the two changeling drones we had brought along were inside, deep in conversation. Luna willingly sitting down in the same room with changelings? The world was changing, no doubt about it.

I reversed course and headed forward to the main cabin. The main feature of the cabin was a large table where crew and passengers usually took their meals, if not eating in their own cabins. I entered to find the doctor who had treated me after my magic-fueled meltdown with her own paperwork spread out at one end of the table.

"Good morning, Dr. Feverfew," I called to her. "No, don't get up. I'm here for the same reason you are, apparently." I put down my mug, notebooks, quills and journal on the other end of the big slab of wood.

"We have a little more than an hour and a half to work here, Your Highness," she explained. "That's when the crew takes their first meal."

"That's fine, I'll probably need a break by then, anyway."

She nodded and went back to her own work.

It only took a few minutes to return the pages and cover of the journal to strength and flexibility, but the binding was decayed beyond repair, so I had to deal with loose sheets. I used my quill to number them as I read, so that I could put them back in order if need be.

The reason for Sharphoof's rebellion was soon explained. Her expedition had discovered the cornucopia and were able to use it, but they never understood how it worked. The food that it produced for the members of the expedition allowed them to stay in the city for many months longer than they had planned. At first, they thought that they had made a wondrous discovery that would change all of Equestria. Then, when they uncovered documents that revealed Celestia knew about the cornucopia, they wondered why she hadn't shared such a bounty of riches with her subjects.

And slowly, day-by-day, Professor Sharphoof's quillwork changed. It decayed.

Soon, the speculation in her journal was as to why Celestia was deliberately denying her ponies the wealth that was free for the taking. The members of the expedition began to believe that the propaganda of the ancient unicorns must have some basis in fact, and that Celestia might be a tyrant behind a mask of kindness. Many months spent in the presence of the dark crystal had given its poisonous influence time to work on their minds, and slowly their suspicions and speculations took on the strident certainty of unthinking fanaticism.

Fueled by utter certainty, and the belief that their wild speculations were self-evident truths, they returned to Canterlot, determined to expose Celestia's evil plans.

The rebellion, such as it was, lasted all of an afternoon. They were academics, not soldiers, and when they attacked the palace guard, it brought a swift end to their crusade. The High Court took into account their states of mind at the time—even offering to moderate their sentences if they would submit to mind-healing magics. They refused. To alter a pony's mind against their will has always been a cultural taboo, even from the earliest days of the kingdom, and so their choice was imprisonment or banishment.

They chose to return to the city in the desert. I couldn't imagine why anypony would willingly choose a life that meant they would never see a field of green grass again, but it was clear that they were still under the influence of the crystal.

They were archaeologists, not engineers. When they discovered the trove of technical books, they couldn't use or even understand most of them. But Sombra's book, they understood.

The mind-altering properties of the crystal evidently continued to erode Sharphoof's sanity in a horrible feedback loop, and by the end of the journal, the text was barely legible. There were long sections of paranoid ramblings about the need to hide and preserve the "truth", about the assassination teams that Celestia had surely sent to prevent them from freeing all ponies from the solar tyranny, and about the generations to come that would treat the journal as a holy book once the world was back under the rightful domination of the unicorn tribe. It was probably the same effect that had driven the ancient unicorn magicians to hide their secrets in encoded sculptures. The truth had to survive, no matter what might happen to them personally.

The last entry detailed Sharphoof's mad plan to change the crystal's limiter to allow transport of entire ponies—to kidnap engineers and convince or compel them to build a new crystal engine in a location closer to Canterlot—close enough to bring an end to Celestia's reign. That explained why they had cataloged and crated up all the books: They never intended to remain in the desert city. They were on a holy crusade.

With the poison built into their greatest creation, the ancient unicorns caused the downfall of their own civilization. But worse than that, the evil lived on, claiming more lives, long after the city had fallen to ruins. When Sharphoof had reached out to free the crystal from its constraints... well, I hoped that she had been so insane by then that her death had been a mercy.

"Your Highness? Are you in pain?"

I blinked and looked up at the doctor standing by my side. I hadn't realized until then that I had been crying. "No, I'm alright," I said, as I sniffed and wiped my eyes. I waved a hoof at the loose pages spread across the table. "Just a very sad story. An old, stupid tragedy that didn't need to happen."

"If you would like to come to sick bay I could—"

"No, really," I assured her. "I'm fine." I teleported my papers and quills back to my cabin, and stood up. I left the mug where it was; The coffee had gone cold.

"Your Highness," the doctor said in the sort of gentle/stern tone that doctors everywhere use on uncooperative patients. "According to your friends, before you blasted a crater in the desert with your skull, you were channeling so much magical energy that you lit up like a small sun. You were throwing off streams of pure force from your wings and hooves as well as your horn that pretty much annihilated anything they touched. Why you are not now a princess-shaped lump of charcoal is a mystery that I am completely unable to fathom. So, if you won't be sensible and go back to bed for a month, will you at least promise me to try to take things easy?"

"I'll try," I said, smiling sheepishly as I was reminded once again of how lucky I was to even be alive.

Dr. Feverfew didn't smile in return. "Thank you, Your Highness." She pushed her glasses back up her nose and went back to her paperwork.

I rushed out of the main cabin and went forward, not really heading anywhere. When I saw the unicorn guard in mirror-bright armor outside the door to the observation lounge, I knew that Celestia must be inside. The guard clicked his rear hooves together and saluted smartly; reminders that Sunbeam, despite all her sumptuous luxuries, was still indeed a military ship. The guard moved to one side to allow me to enter the lounge and opened the door for me.

I didn't really want to see Celestia right then, but I thought it would look silly if I just turned around and left, so I went in. She was surrounded with her own paperwork, sorted into several neat piles on the deck around her. She looked up, a welcoming smile on her face—and then the smile disappeared, to be replaced with a look of concern.

She moved the papers aside and placed a large cushion next to her, opening one wing in a beckoning gesture. "Come here, Twilight. Tell me what's wrong."

She didn't ask me if I was sick or hurting. One look, and she knew that what was wrong with me wasn't physical.

With a comforting wing wrapped around me, she let me babble for a while, directing my rambling with a few soft-spoken questions from time to time, until I started to run down.

"So many poor ponies have suffered for no good reason... and the changelings, too! It isn't fair!"

I don't know exactly what sort of reply I expected from Celestia but it certainly wasn't what I got.

"You are a princess of the realm, now, Twilight," she said in a serious tone of voice, "You cannot afford a naïve view of the world." She rose and walked forward until she was gazing through the big, curved windows at the land slipping by beneath us. "It is our duty to see the world with unclouded eyes. Our actions must be guided only by what is real, not what is expected, desired, or hoped for."

I followed her and looked down. The countryside below was dry but much less arid than the desert behind us. The were copses of oak and cottonwood scattered along the watercourses. I estimated our position and speed almost by reflex. I calculated that we would make landfall at Canterlot sometime in the early evening.

"Then... it's our duty as rulers to be strong for those who cannot be strong for themselves; to bear the burdens that our subjects hardly even know exist?" I asked after a minute or two.

Celestia nodded slightly. "Yes, but that is only a small part of it. The greatest and most difficult part, is to make sure that life is fair. As fair as it can be. The world is uncaring and unjust by nature. Kindness, loyalty, honesty..." She broke off and gave me a tiny grin. "Well, I'm sure you know the rest of the list. All of that, and more, comes from us. The world will only be as good as we make it. It is not an easy task.

"A beautiful rose seems like such a simple thing," Celestia continued, still looking at the countryside below, "but it is the culmination of a long, long process—as any good gardener will tell you. So much goes into producing the best roses, and all of it must be done again and again... all building anew, each year. Siting, nourishing, watering, protecting from parasites, and pruning. All necessary. A lapse of attention, a period of neglect, and years of work will slip away."

My wings suddenly felt a lot heavier.

"You have the strength, you have the intelligence, and you have the courage in you, Twilight Sparkle. With your scientific knowledge, you uncovered and destroyed a terribly dangerous artifact that I was only able to avoid and suppress for a few centuries. With the will to dedicate your life to the task, you will make Equestria bloom as it never has before."

= = =

Epilogue
Judgment

"She steals them all before I can get my share!" the saffron-colored mare insisted.

"Then y'all oughta get up earlier, lazybones!" the aqua blue mare replied.

"It ain't laziness! Sizzleberries don't ripen before noon! That marmalade you make isn't a patch on mine!"

I lifted a hoof to interrupt them before things could degenerate further and cleared my throat. "I think I understand the problem, and I believe that there are a few possible solutions. Since the sizzleberry patch is on crown lands, I could grant the harvest rights to the highest bidder in a blind auction... or I could divide the patch into two equal parts... or I could hold a contest to see which of you produces the best marmalade and award the patch to the winner... or you two could merge your businesses and save a lot on expenses and capital costs." I paused to let the options sink in.

Finally one of them spoke up. "Which one are y'all gonna chose, princess?"

"Oh heavens! I'm not going to choose..." Pause for effect. "...you two are going to make the decision."

"Huh?"

"Beg pardon?"

"Both of you are going to come back to court at this time next week and let me know which solution you've agreed on. You don't have to pick one of mine... anything sensible is fine, as long as you both agree."

They looked at each other doubtfully. "Uhm..." the saffron mare asked, hesitantly. "What if we can't agree?"

"Well," I said quietly, smiling and leaning forward on the dais so that they had to bend their necks back to look up at me. "Then I will be very unhappy."

Before they could quite get up the courage to ask me to clarify, I had thanked them for presenting their concerns before the court and granted them permission to depart. I'd shown them the possibilities for cooperation or competition and provided them with a common enemy. I gave them about an eighty-five percent chance of coming back to me with a decent compromise.

"Anything else this morning, Periwinkle?" I asked my secretary.

"No ma'am," she replied. "Lunch with your friends is scheduled for twelve-thirty, so you have almost an hour of free time before then."

I went down to the lawn where lunch was being set out under a sunshade. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were already there, so I got a good chance to catch up with them before we sat down to eat. I told them about the two farm ponies that had come to court that morning.

"Why didn't you just lay down the law on them, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You know what would work best, right?"

"Because one or the other or both of them would have been resentful against the other," I replied. "They may not come up with the most efficient solution, but they will come up with the solution that makes them both happiest... or least unhappy, anyway."

"They're still gonna be a mite resentful of you for pushin' them into it, sugarcube," Applejack observed. "They'll each think they coulda got a better deal if you decided in their favor."

"I know, but that's fine with me." I shrugged. "It's just part of being a princess."

Applejack and Rainbow Dash started to debate who had the best hoofball team that year, and I let my thoughts wander. I wondered if there would ever be a statue carved of me trampling poor, oppressed ponies underhoof. Given the half-solar, half-lunar style of ruling I was developing, I decided that it was almost inevitable.

And I was okay with that.

= = =

THE END

Author's Note

A hardbound, two-volume set of the Alicorn Adventure books and side stories can be ordered from The Ministry of Image.

= = =

Thanks again for all of the superb editing help from Gogito, and thanks to PresentPerfect for the excellent revised edition editing!

For those of you that would like to try your hand at cracking (or just using) the sun code, here's the cover without Little Princess Kick-Ass in the way:

And here's the solution and the key:

3 The Suns Shall Discover the Truth

Chapter Three
The Suns Shall Discover the Truth

I had many other duties that kept me from devoting all the time I wanted to studying the journal. It was the second day after I had visited the university and I was marking up a new tariff proposal from the Guild of Merchants. I wrote in the margin in red ink, "Never try something like this again, or I will drop you into the heart of the Everfree and you can try bribing the timberwolves and manticores!" There was a knock at the door.

"What is it?" I snapped, flinging the door open and turning to face it. There was nopony there. Well—just a unicorn guard, standing to the side, almost out of sight. He cleared his throat and pointed downward. Jigsaw was in a bow so deep, she was doing a good imitation of a doormat.

"Oh! Ah... forgive me, Jigsaw! Please, get up!"

"Forgive me, Your Serene Highness! If I am interrupting, I can come back—"

"No, no, no, no, no! I sent for you! Please get up!" I said, and to the guard, "Have some tea sent up, please."

"Really, Your Highness, I can come back later if..."

I took hold of myself and mentally went through the Taking Charge of the Situation checklist. I took a deep breath and in a calm, quiet voice, I said, "Rise and enter, Jigsaw." She practically leaped to her hooves and trotted into the room. I gently shut the door behind her and continued, "You will forgive me for my outburst.[1] I am angry at the Guild of Merchants and my temper got the best of me for a moment."

[1] Notice I wasn't asking? Can't deny a princess when she commands you to forgive her. Neat trick, huh? Incidentally, it was Luna who taught me that. She's a little more monarch-y than Celestia.

"Oh, yes! Yes, of course, Your Serene—"

"And you are not to address me as Your Serene Highness unless we are in court. A single 'Your Highness' will do when we first meet in public, and 'Ma'am' thereafter, understood?"

"Yes... ma'am."

I sighed. "Though I would very much prefer it if, when we are in private and working together, you would simply call me 'Twilight'."

She took a moment to compose herself. "I understand, Twilight." Then her grip on her composure slipped a bit. "Wait... working together? We're going to be working together?!"

I nodded, trying not to let her sudden smile infect me. "Yes, I've arranged with the college for you to work part-time for me as an adviser on matters archaeological. Think of it as an internship of sorts. You'll be paid, and also get credits for the work."

"It's about the map and the journal, isn't it? Isn't it?" She was so excited, she did a little dance in place. I couldn't help but smile then.

"Yes, it is. Now, while I finish threatening the Guild of Merchants, why don't you take volume two of the journal and start reading? When you get to the bookmark, stop. Don't look at anything past that point."

It was an odd request, but she just nodded. "Yes, Your... uh... yes, Twilight."

I pulled the journal out of my desk and gave it to her. She settled down right where she was and dove into the book.

"Wouldn't you like a more comfortable place to read?"

She grunted something vaguely negative without looking up from the text. I grinned. She was a filly after my own heart. I waited a minute or so and then lifted her up and slid a cushion under her. She didn't even notice.

I went back to my own work with determination but considerably less enthusiasm. It was a situation that would set the tone for most of the rest of our adventure.

= = =

"There's something odd about this sun," Jigsaw said.

I looked up from the court schedule I was organizing for Luna. "What do you mean?"

Jigsaw tapped the page with a hooftip. "This is part of the decorative edge of a relief in..." She glanced down at the figure's caption. "...the library. The text says the entire border is just a series of identical suns, but..."

The plural "suns" made my ears stand straight up. "Yes? But what?"

"Look at the drawing."

I moved over and sat next to her. "Well, it's not the usual heraldic sun." In other words it wasn't a copy of Celestia's cutie-mark.

"No," Jigsaw agreed. "It has far too many rays for one thing."

"And the rays are irregular," I said as I noticed that fact.

"Yes, that's what caught my attention. If this was a modern journal, I'd think that the artist had just been sloppy. But not... mn..."

"What is it?"

"Look at the hatching on the rays. Some have it, some don't."

I fetched my magnifying glass and hovered it over the image. I also grabbed my notebook and started recording our observations. "They're not irregular," I breathed softly. "The variations are on purpose!"

"Oh, sweet stars, you're right, Twilight!" Jigsaw's cheek pressed against mine as she stared avidly though the glass. "Two different lengths... two different textures... and... yes! Some rays have three bends, some have four. That's three sets of binary differences. It's not mere decoration..."

We looked up at each other and simultaneously said, "It's a code!"

My brain went into overdrive, trying to correlate this new data with everything else I knew about the mystery. It was only a few seconds before I groaned and put a hoof over my face in embarrassment. "Discover," I muttered, "dis-cover!"

"I'm sorry...?" Jigsaw peered at me in confusion.

"The archaic use of the word discover, meaning to purposely uncover or reveal. There's another clue in the journal. Another... umn... carving that's labeled, 'The suns shall discover the truth.' I thought it was something to do with Celestia finding out secrets or something, but now it's obvious that the text was pointing to the information encoded in the border of suns! The suns will reveal the truth, would be more accurate!"

"That's great!" Jigsaw actually trembled with excitement. "Is there a drawing of the whole border later in the book?" She took hold of the volume with her magic, beginning to turn the pages, but I stopped her. She looked up at me, questioningly.

"I'm sorry, Jigsaw. There's no image of the whole border. The artist didn't bother to copy down what she thought was just a decorative edge."

Jigsaw's brow furrowed. "That's so unfair! With only this little sample, we'll never be able to break the code, and with the rest of it missing anyway—"

"No," I interrupted thoughtfully. "If it was hidden in plain sight with a clue pointing at it, I doubt that the code will be that hard to break. I think it was meant to be found by certain ponies. It's probably based on one of the old ciphers that the alchemists of Starswirl's time used to send messages... hmn..."

I started scribbling in my notebook. Twenty rays. Five digits in binary would be necessary to encode all the Equuish letters. That meant three sets of differences could encode twelve letters per sun. Twelve sequential letters should be enough to confirm if I'd gotten the decoding system right, even if they wouldn't convey much information.

"Might as well start with the obvious," I said, and began to write in my notebook:

1st Cycle (First Assumption)
Long Ray = 1, Short Ray = 0

00000 = A
00001 = B
00010 = C
00011 = D

—and so on.

It took me nearly two hours, but I finally cracked it. At the end of several pages of gibberish, the twelve letters had finally resolved themselves into something intelligible:

LADYCELESTIA

"That is so cool!" Jigsaw actually clopped her hooves together.

I sat back and looked at the words with very mixed feelings. I tapped the notebook and said, "You know what this means?"

She looked up at me in surprise. "You can get something out of just those two short words? Twilight, you're amazing!"

I made a sour face. "It isn't the words, it's my addiction to knowing all the answers. Depending on the ordering of the elements, it could also be, 'CELESTIALADY' but I can't know for sure unless I have access to the rest of the sequence. It means I'm going to have to find out what the suns reveal. It means..."

"Oh, please take me with you! Please, please, please! I know all about the Badlands! I mean, I've read all about them. I've been on two student digs and I've studied—"

I held up a hoof to stop her flood of words. Jigsaw looked up at me, her lower lip trembling in fear that I would dismiss her. But who else was I going to take? I didn't dare ask Spike or any of my friends: There was no way I was going to explain the situation to them.

"Well, in The Ring of Destiny, Daring Do has some help on her adventure, so I guess I could use a partner, too."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you..." She actually leaped forward and hugged me. Then she suddenly stiffened and jumped back with a gasp. I thought she was going to profusely apologize for violating the corpus principessa, but she surprised me. "Wait! You like Daring Do?"

"Uh... yes?" I said, with an uncertain little grin. I had thought Jigsaw was a fan, too. She had chuckled whenever I'd used a catch-phrase. Why would she do that if she wasn't a fan? Unless she hadn't read the books and thought I was just being clever.

Wow, the fighting emotions that flitted across her face were something amazing. She finally settled on a neutral mask. "Oh, no reason. I've never had time to read the books."

Even I could tell there was something more going on there, behind her One Does Not Disagree With a Princess attitude, but I could see that it wasn't something she wanted to talk about, so I let it go.

= = =

Taking an interest in archaeology, that was my excuse. Perhaps cataloging the buffalo tribes and—wouldn't it be nice if Dodge Junction had a visit from a princess?

When I stopped to take a breath, Celestia chuckled and said, "Of course, you can take a few weeks off, Twilight! You've been doing a superb job lately and I'm sure the kingdom won't collapse if you take a little time for yourself."

I didn't want to argue against myself, but I couldn't help thinking of all the disasters in recent memory and the importance of guarding the Tree of Harmony. I suppose my expression gave me away. I'm not very good at hiding my feelings.

"Don't worry, Twilight! I think we've cowed all the evil forces likely to threaten us in the near future." Celestia paused and gave me a sidelong look. "Even the Guild of Merchants are behaving themselves for a change."

= = =

At night court, Luna was a bit more reluctant. "Everything goes so much smoother when you are here, Twilight Sparkle."

"When I handle the boring bits and paperwork, you mean? Shadow Quill is a perfectly capable secretary."

She gave a dismissive toss of her head. "She often makes me read things. As you say, it is my other duties I care for. Is there aught else on tonight's schedule?"

"Only a petition from the mayor of Los Pegasus for your presence at their Moon Viewing festival next—"

"Granted. Court is adjourned. Herald..."

I scrambled to gather and neaten the paperwork as the pony below the dais stomped his fore hooves and announced to the otherwise empty throne room. "Night Court is hereby at an end! Make way for Her Divine Highness, Luna, Princess of the Night, Mistress of the Moon, and Regent of Dreams!"

I cleared my throat.

"Ah... also make way for Her Serene Highness, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship!"

Luna is big on formality, and I wouldn't have wanted her to blame the herald for forgetting me. That's all it was. Really.

"Will you be taking a large retinue?" Luna asked as we walked together toward her wing of the castle.

"No, just the one assistant."

"I see." Luna glanced back at me out of the corner of her eye. "And what does he look like, this assistant?"

"Luna! Why do you assume my assistant is a stallion? And what would it matter what he looked like?"

Luna shook her head sadly. "Twilight Sparkle, I despair of you! Would not a well-favored companion make the journey more enjoyable?"

"Well..." I decided to give Luna a dose of her own medicine, "Jigsaw is a very pretty mare. She's quite fit... on an athletic scholarship, in fact. She takes good care of her coat and mane..."

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Ah, you jest."

I snickered as quietly as possible and we walked on in silence until we came to Luna's Chamber of Dreams. She tossed her mane and stretched her wings. "And now to the portion of my duties I truly enjoy! I bid you goodnight, Twilight Sparkle."

"Goodnight, Luna. Sweet dreams!"

"But of course! I have my pick, after all." She swung the heavy door open, then paused. "Twilight Sparkle?"

I turned back to her. "Yes, Luna?"

"If you were truly enamored of your assistant, or some other mare, there would be no shame in it. You would have my blessing, i'sooth."

That was so unexpected, it kind of choked me up. I cleared my throat and tried to make light of it. "Well, look at you! All modern and liberal-minded. Except for that 'i'sooth' bit, that is."

"Modern? Fie! Tis' a vile calumny!" She tried to hold her stern face but broke out into a broad grin. "Truly, though, I want you to know that I'm only hoping for your happiness. However it comes to you, I will be glad."

"That's very sweet of you, Luna. If I ever get a special somepony, you will be one of the first to know, I promise. But right now, what's going to make me happy is a little adventure!"

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19 Metamorphosis

Chapter Nineteen
Metamorphosis

Chrysalis walked over to the bas-relief of Celestia and gazed at it for a moment. "I remember seeing this when I was little. The ponies here were afraid of her then."

I bit my lip to hold in the flood of questions that immediately leaped into my mind. I had the distinct feeling that Chrysalis wasn't one to be pushed into anything. If she had been here when the city was inhabited, that meant she was old. And that meant she was experienced and dangerous. More dangerous, actually.

"Your dear mentor..." Chrysalis looked back over her shoulder at me. "...was feared and hated."

I really hoped that there was some balm for badly chewed lips somewhere in our provisions.

After receiving no reply from me, the changeling queen turned back to the carving. "I was as beautiful as her, once... would you believe it?"

Of course I wouldn't. I managed not to snort in disbelief.

Chrysalis ran a hoof through the lank, greasy strands that served her as a mane, in a grotesque parody of a gesture I'd seen Rarity do a thousand times. "At that time, the city was one of the jewels of the world. The unicorns created such grand artwork, sculpture, poetry, and music that they were renowned for it, but what made them rich was the trade! Magic-made material and items flowed out, and food and gold flowed in. Caravans came with treasures from beyond the seas to trade. A guild master could command a cart full of emeralds for a single, perfect amulet. It was..." There was a sudden hitch in her voice. "...paradise."

She turned back to me and said, "I was born to a noble family." She watched me carefully for any reaction.

I kept my expression neutral as I replied, "A normal birth?"

"Yes." She grinned. "Perfectly normal, but not average. I was exceptional... gifted, even among the most powerful magicians of the city. I suppose you might understand what that was like."

I nodded cautiously.

"But I was also a great beauty. I was athletic, poised, graceful... admired and desired by the ponies around me. You will just have to imagine that, I suppose."

Her barb missed the mark. I had never been obsessed with shallow nonsense of that sort. I imagine she only said it out of habit, anyway.

"I began to create my own unique spells when I was still quite young. Art and adornment was my specialty. I made living jewelry, makeup, and clothing, amulets that created illusory costumes for masked balls, and ones that hid flaws for the vain and less perfect than I.

"And then, I created my masterpiece! A spell that would change not just a pony's appearance, but their very substance! There would be no more ugliness, no flaws, The richest city in the world would have citizens to match its beauty!"

She didn't quite go into "Mwa-ha-ha" mode, but there was a definite, unrestrained passion in her voice.

"Can you guess what happened then, Twilight Sparkle?"

I swear, I wasn't trying to be flippant, but sometimes these things just pop out of my mouth. "All the diet and fashion magazines went out of business?"

Chrysalis flared her nostrils at me and narrowed her eyes. "Not a very good guesser, are you? I'll give you another hint: A young, magical prodigy creates an amazing new spell for the benefit of all the ponies around her... and perhaps a bit of fame. She directly touches the great source of magic that flows through the universe... its very life blood... and molds it in a new way, never before known to pony kind." She flipped her tail, brushing my wing tips with its end, "Take another guess... princess."

Oh, no. It couldn't be. Not her. I guess my expression showed my dismay, because Chrysalis laughed in delight.

"Yes, yes! Late to the party, Twilight Sparkle, but at least you've finally arrived!"

"What... how..."

"Ah! Very good questions, indeed!" Chrysalis smiled at me again and her gaze held a hint of madness. "But first, I'd like to ask one of my own."

"S—sure. Go ahead."

"What did the ponies of this place hate above all else?"

"Non-unicorns?" I hadn't put much thought into my answer. I was sure Chrysalis was just playing with me, and I just wanted to keep her talking.

"Mudstompers and featherbrains? Oh, no, the unicorns just despised them as lesser beings... felt pity for them, even." Chrysalis backed away toward the wall and continued. "No, what they hated more than anything else, was her!" She whirled and slammed a hoof into the neck of the stone image of Celestia.

"She dared to preach equality of the tribes, and even worse, she was the very living symbol of that equality! In her own body, she polluted and debased the superior blood of the unicorns with that of earth pony and pegasus! She was an abomination!"

Suddenly I could see the chain of events running forward. I understood what Chrysalis had gone through upon her ascension. Instead of being welcomed and guided by a beloved mentor, and celebrated by her friends and family— "Oh, sweet sun and moon, no!"

"Oh, yes! When I was transported to that place... that celestial realm... she was there to greet me. The great enemy of my tribe. I had no idea what was happening to me and, of course, I wouldn't listen to her. But that didn't stop my ascension.

"When I reappeared in the city, I was the living image of the thing most feared and hated by everypony I'd ever known. If they hadn't been so stunned by shock and horror, they might have killed me before I got away. Fortunately, my own great spell came to my aid and I hid among them until... until..." She trailed off and her neck bent. Her lank mane slid down across her face and she stood silently.

"I... you may not believe this, but I'm so sorry! That shouldn't have happened to anypony," I said, with utmost sincerity.

She lifted her head to look at me, and there was quite a bit more than a hint of madness in her gaze. "Oh, but the best is yet to come!" She slowly walked forward as she spoke, and I couldn't help backing away. "Such a plain mare as yourself may not understand, but I had my choice of the stallions of the city, and the one I claimed was magnificent! He was the first son of the highest of families, and we were to be married! But we couldn't wait, you see? He was so handsome and I was so beautiful, and we were so perfect together!"

"I... I don't understand," I gasped.

"We didn't wait. We shared our love... and on the day I ascended, I was already with foal."

I didn't know what was coming next, but I knew it wasn't going to be good.

"I went to him. I knew he would understand. He loved me."

Oh, yeah, not good. Chrysalis had backed me against the wall by then, and I was having serious doubts about her sanity. I readied myself to teleport away in an instant, but she turned away from me and went on as she walked aimlessly around the room.

"His hatred was as great as his love. He could have fled, he could have shouted for help, but he was a brave fool. He tried to hold me... pin me with his magic, even though he knew how strong I was... or had been." Chrysalis turned her steps back toward the image of Celestia and glared at it as if were her long-ago lover. "As an alicorn, I was even stronger! He fought but I broke free. He tried to... to... and I..." She lunged forward and slammed her horn into the carving, just behind Celestia's shoulder, where her heart would be.

Then her head fell away, her horn scraping out of the divot she'd made in the stone. She stood silently, swaying slightly and making an eerie keening noise that I desperately hoped I would never hear again.

I wondered if she were truly mad. None of what she'd told me lined up with the evidence I'd found in the city. Okay, maybe the part about the bigoted unicorns hating an alicorn that suddenly appeared in their midst, was believable, but the artisans and trade? Everything I'd seen indicated that the ponies of the city merely took what they wanted via their dark crystal.

Wait.

There had been a book I'd cataloged in the vault in Canterlot. About a trading empire I'd never heard of before. There were caravan routes in the south—and a port town where the Hayseed Swamps were now. Oh, why hadn't I read the whole thing when I'd had the chance? And—

I was afraid of how she might react, but anything was better than the horrible noise she was making, so I asked her the most obvious question. "If you became an alicorn, then... how did you...?"

Chrysalis shook herself like an old, sick mule, trying to shrug off a biting fly. "How did I... what? Survive? Oh no, that was simple! I fled the city and took refuge in the abandoned gem mines to the west. With my magic, it was easy. I planned to stay there, stealing what I needed until my foal was born and old enough to travel. Then I would go north to where the other alicorns lived... Celestia and Luna... they must be the true superior race, if that was what I had become! If I was evil, I would revel in it!" She began to chuckle, and I figured out pretty quickly that her mirth might go on for an appalling length of time if I didn't interrupt.

"What happened? Why are you—"

"Yes, yesss!" Chrysalis hissed in irritation. "It's my story to tell, Twilight Sparkle! Let me tell it in my own time."

"Of course. Please go on."

"A few months later, something began to... affect me. I didn't know what it was at the time. I thought that it might be some of the natural effects of pregnancy. My joints ached and my skin burned. I was so sleepy, nearly all of the time. Then one day I fell unconscious and didn't awaken for a long, long time.

"I didn't figure out what had changed me for a long while after that. All I knew was that, when I awoke, I was the amazing creature that you see standing in front of you now!"

"But you did find out why it happened, didn't you?" I asked, trying to ignore the acid tone of her words.

"Oh yes, I did." Chrysalis smiled—or maybe she was snarling. It was difficult to tell. "You see, the great magicians of the city had perfected a spell, or perhaps it was a device... I never knew exactly what it was... something, at any rate, that made trading and most labor unnecessary. It could be operated by anypony, simply by wishing. Anything they wanted, delivered in an instant."

Uh-oh. This was getting to be familiar now. But she said she didn't know what "it" was, That was something, at least.

"But there was one little trick that they needed to operate the spell. Any pony who wanted to partake of the wondrous cornucopia, had to be very good at visualizing what they wanted... believing in it. Making it live in their minds was a necessity, and so all the citizens were trained in that skill. Making thoughts into reality... what a wonder!"

Okay, so she knew. At least she knew the name. But she didn't seem to know how it really operated.

"There was just one little problem," Chryslais continued. "Whoever built the thing was sloppy. It didn't just take in a pony's thoughts when they wished for something... it did it all the time! And it leaked. Do you see now?"

I just shook my head.

"No, of course not. Let me spell it out for you," she said, condescendingly. "A short while after this amazing device began to operate, the city was shocked by my ascension. They were horrified by the murder of one of their most honored citizens by the monster that I had become. An alicorn? An abomination, rather. A monster, a parasite, an impostor among them! That is what they all thought of me, Twilight Sparkle, that is what they all believed!"

Oh, stars above, I saw it then. The dark crystal was even more evil and dangerous that I had known.

"Oh, my," Chrysalis purred. "I do believe you're beginning to get the picture. They did this to me. I became what I am because of them. When I awoke and crawled out of the chrysalis I had been wrapped in, I nearly went mad."

Nearly?

"But I was left with three things from my past life," she went on. "The magic of my greatest spell was now innate in me. I could change my form with only a thought. And my only regret... that became part of me, too. My lost love... the desire for that love... it had become a hunger. One that I have never been able to satisfy."

"That's only two." I nearly bit my tongue after saying it. What she told me made me wish I'd bitten it before.

"Oh, yes... mustn't forget the most important thing!" She leaned in close and gave me an vicious grin. "The joy of birth!"

"B—birth?" I was having a hard time breathing. "Y—your foal...?"

"Foal? No. My spawn... hundreds and hundreds of them! All like me... all with my power and my hunger!"

I wanted to throw up. "You... you're the reason they died out, aren't you?" I knew it wasn't wise but I just couldn't stop myself. "You and your... your descendants infiltrated, invaded... devoured them!"

Chrysalis laughed musically, "Oh, no, no! Well, not exactly, anyway. No, we just took their love. We took every last drop. And when it was gone, what do you suppose happened to a town full of powerful, arrogant unicorns who had not one whit of love left in their souls?"

"Without love, there can be no friendship, no compassion, no mercy," I said numbly.

"Indeed." The changeling queen's smile was a horrid imitation of kindliness as she spoke her final words on the subject. "It only took them a few days to destroy each other. I didn't kill them, Twilight Sparkle. They did it to themselves."

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