Starfallby Ghosted NoteChaptersPrologue - Baptism of Fire1 - Starfall2 - CorporealPrologue - Baptism of FireStarfall Prologue: Baptism of Fire Earth has historically been a chaotic place, marred by calamities both natural and created by its dominant inhabitants, the humans, as they try to work out their place in the universe. Despite the various strengths of this species, their ingenuity, determination in the face of adversity, capacity for true compassion in the face of horror, and all of the others, they haven't quite managed to ascend past the flaws that keep them from unifying as a species, habitually striking at each other, mostly out of one sort of fear or another. It is no small irony that in human history, one of the most effective unifying forces has been fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of death, fear of losing that which was held dear, all of these tended to be very effective methods of bringing together the masses against a common perceived enemy. This was one such time. When magic resurfaced on earth, lying dormant after some distant catastrophe rendered its ley-lines inert, chaos ensued. It did not come as a trickle, but as an explosion, and a few ordinary people suddenly found themselves with power they did not understand, nor could they control, and it was no small amount. Fighting erupted almost overnight as some sought to use the newly ascended mages, seeing benefit to either themselves, their governments and societies, or humanity as a whole, while others sought to eradicate them, seeing the terrifying power, the lack of control, and the lack of moral restraint some mages had as they abused their power to subjugate the world around them. It culminated in the United Nations issuing a declaration that all magic users must be registered and regulated, with harsh punishments for those who did not comply, up to and including summary execution. While this act did help to reduce some of the chaos, many mages felt persecuted, and sought to break away from the society that had begun to treat them as criminals for circumstances beyond their control. The most accomplished magic users in the land banded together to raise an island out of the Atlantic Ocean, and thus the nation of Avalon came to be, a refuge for those who wished to escape the conflicts surrounding magic. Of course, this display of power did not go unnoticed, and the ability to raise an island sparked the question of how difficult it would be to push land back under the sea, and in unifying fear once again, chaos became outright war as the mages struggled to defend their new haven against the encroaching forces and the mages who had submitted to them... The High Chancellor smirked triumphantly at the surprised looks on the faces of the U.N. soldiers around her and the four other mages with her. "Greetings gentlemen. Shall you surrender now, or must this get messy?" she said smugly, idly twirling a string of flame around her fingers. Without a word, the soldiers began to lay down their arms as the group began to walk briskly through the bunker until they finally reached the room they sought. Within it was an unsurprisingly well-furnished room, complete with expensive-looking paintings, a lush crimson carpet, a well-stocked bookcase, and all of the other trappings that came in the office of a person who was important on the international level. The room was occupied only by a single well-dressed man in a sharp suit, smoking a cigar. This was Jeremy Foxglove, a resident of Britain responsible for forming and commanding the U.N.-sanctioned team whose real name, like most data on them, was classified, though they were more colloquially known as the Witch Hunters by many a mage. As the team entered, Foxglove opened a small case and turned it around to present its contents. "Cigar?" he asked in a polite tone. The mages weren't amused, and their leader stepped forward with a hand of flame outstretched. "You are coming with us to answer for your crimes against our kind. Will you surrender peacefully, or will we have to take you by force? We don't need all of you intact, we just need you to be able to stand...or sit... trial." The High Chancellor wasn't surprised when the arrogant fool's first response was to laugh, but what he said next caught her off guard and chilled her to the bone. "Well, I suppose you got me. Bravo. We knew that the body doubles wouldn't do a damn thing against your scrying, even if we could make your vision a little bit murkier with our own assets. You'd only come for the real thing, and with a target so juicy, you'd send your best. So, congratulations, you got me. Care to see what you've won? Or should I say, what your friends back at Avalon have won?" The reaction was instantaneous. Two of the mages vanished and Foxglove found himself unceremoniously flung and pinned to the wall by a third, the cigar falling from his mouth to smolder on the floor. The High Chancellor stepped forward and placed a hand on his throat. "What. Did. You. Do?" Foxglove shrugged as best as he could in his position. "Well, bullets certainly weren't working. Even the least of your folks could block them. That's why we favor explosives so much down here. More raw force and more surface area to shield. Of course, Avalon had far too many skilled mages to just waltz a bomber or two in and level the place. So, a few of ours managing to worm our way into citizenship with Avalon, and we were ready to take out those responsible for keeping the shields on Avalon functional. Some of you are a little beyond our means of just killing, especially when you're in your home turf, so the easiest solution was to draw you out. You didn't have many military minds in your camp to back up that raw power, do you?" "You're speaking in past tense," one of the two mages behind the leader commented warily. "That's because, as your other two friends have likely found out by now, we smuggled in a little surprise while you were gone. With the threat you pose, we decided to take the nuclear option, quite literally. This fight's over. Your kind won't ever threaten humanity again." Foxglove dropped to the floor unceremoniously as the High Chancellor fell to her knees. "You...you just murdered thousands of civilians, people who didn't have a part in the conflict and just wanted to get away... And you're here now, telling us about it like you're life's not on the line. What sort of sick creature are you?" Her hollow voice rang through the air as her companions stood in shock. The response she got was another infuriating chuckle. "You remember D.C.? Or how about how half of Australia's now a wasteland? What about all of the frozen corpses strewn about Russia? A few of you decide we're beneath you, and MILLIONS die. I couldn't give a damn about a few thousand time bombs exploding a bit early. That's a pretty good cause to die for in my book." Several seconds of silence passed before she got back on her feet, and turned to her two companions, speaking in a dead voice. "Go, try to find any survivors. He's right. It's all over." She turned back to Foxglove, her gaze passing right through him and settling on some unknown point that seemed a thousand miles away. "You said you don't mind dying for your beliefs?" He nodded, and she surrendered to the wave of hurt and anger that she had barely been containing before her last companions had teleported away. "Damn right." "Good." 2 Weeks Later The smell of burning flesh was so strong she could taste it. The screams of the dying had been drowned out by the constant thud of distant impacts long ago, the tell-tale beat of her last war-drum as the meteors fell from the heavens and impacted across the land, rendering the land as broken and ruined as the island that had once housed all of her friends, family, and anyone she had ever cared about. As she surveyed her empire of rubble, flame, and corpses, she knew that there was nothing worth saving. The magic flowed through her once more, surrounding her, supplanting her sense of self as she kept channeling the power as though she hoped it would override everything else within her. In the distance, they almost looked like falling stars. 1 Year After As the two scavengers fled into the distance, their words echoed in her mind. 'Get away from us!', 'Leave us alone, please!' She vaguely registered their meanings, and something in her broken mind clicked into place. She had to get away. The fire inside had eaten her away, it seemed, and the vague urge to survive kicked in as her mind decided it was finally time to crawl and scrabble its way against what had been consuming it. At this point she couldn't stop channeling the magic if she tried, and the air around her sizzled and shimmered with power. She had gotten her wish, and it was all she could do to process anything besides the sheer power that had been gradually ripping away at her sanity, and more recently, her body, as the magic she held within her became too much for her frail human body to handle. Parts of her skin had started to burn away, leaving lesions and sores that leaked blood and wispy blue streams of raw magical power, and she had lost the use of her eyes months ago as they burned away, leaving her to see with nothing but the same power that was both sustaining her and killing her. She had to get away. This thought became internalized, and upon this foundation was the lean-to of her mind reestablished, memories being recalled and vaguely connected as she began her task. Being immersed within her own magic for so long had its benefits, despite all things, and she could just as easily see the threads of space and time like her eyes could pick out the weave of a fabric before they had become the black pits they were now. She didn't know exactly what she was looking for, but she searched anyway, operating on some base, primal instinct as she cast her consciousness into the nether to try and find some place where the magic might have a harder time eroding what was left. She couldn't tell how much time had passed, nor was she entirely sure what time was anymore, but something within her pulled her towards a small ripple in the fabric of reality. She dipped the toe of her consciousness into it, and found it inviting, but something held her back as she pushed and pulled and struggled to immerse herself within this strange place. She had to have it though. Every time she touched it, it was like a balm to her very soul, a refuge from the fire. She needed to find a way in! Like an animal desperately fleeing its predator her mind raced, a thousand fractured thoughts rising up like roots to break her stride until finally she felt a snag and understood. She had to leave behind these frayed and torn clothes, else the thorns within would forever catch upon them and keep her from escaping into this bliss. With a final cry that leaked out of her mind and through her mouth, she ripped herself from her own rapidly combusting body and escaped into the void. Princess Luna watched silently from her balcony. Her unsurpassed mastery over the night sky made it into a canvas for her to paint upon, and now her subjects at last had started to look upon her work in awe and admiration, as the brilliant sparkle of starlight and the cool glow of the moon reached out across the land. She was content, a feeling unknown to her before she had returned from her banishment. Never before had life been so good to her, nor had she ever known so many friends, like Twi- She paused her reflections, a frown marring a face that many would claim to be an example of the epitome of Equestrian beauty. Nopony would know it wasn't hers, but she knew the moment she saw a shooting star make its way across the sky that it wasn't hers, and that it was significant. As the star impacted in the White Tail Woods to the southwest of Canterlot, she was already out of the room, intent on waking her sister and getting to the bottom of this matter. The things that appeared in the dark of the night were often dangerous, and she was their warden, ever vigilant to keep her subjects safe as they slumbered. She would not ever fail them those subjects again. Author's Note So yeah, gonna try and get back into the swing of things. Wish me luck. Need to find a new proofreader as well. 1 - StarfallChapter 1: Starfall She looked up to her mother, who had a frown etched upon her face as the TV lit up with the news, and an arm draped protectively around her daughter. Her young mind didn't really understand the significance of the words coming out of the TV, but it was making her mother unhappy, and that was enough to make her unhappy as well as she clung to the leg beside her. Her mother was on the phone now, using phrases like 'side effects' and 'quarantine. She could gather that there had been some sort of accident not far from where she lived, and that it was changing people, and that this change was becoming more and more common even in places nowhere near the accident. She tightened her grip on her mother. She had been feeling a little funny lately, and the thought wormed its way into her head that someone might take her away from her family. Her parents would never let that happen without a fight, though. They'd protect her. Princess Celestia idly flipped through some of the never-ending paperwork endemic to her position while she waited for the third addition to their early morning conference, occasionally pausing to sign here or make an annotation there. Princess Luna stood nearby, considerably less composed as she paced impatiently, her ethereal mane a restless trail of stars on an azure field as she tossed her head before speaking. "'Tis most unlike your former pupil to be late, and at such a time as this..." Celestia raised her head from her work to respond, only to have the necessity vanished as the latest addition to their little alicorn family appeared in a flash of light. Twilight Sparkle's frazzled mane and unshorn fetlocks were a far cry from the two other ponies in the room, who even at their least composed maintained a regal air of authority. "Sorry! Sorry! I just was caught up in a research project and didn't notice your letter until about five minutes ago. I was testing the thaumic reactivity of quicksilver in a vacuum conditions and I found some really interest-" "Twilight," Celestia chided gently, ceasing the incoming lecture before it had a chance to begin. "We have more pressing matters at hoof." Twilight nodded with a blush before taking her seat, one of the castle servants discreetly arriving with a brush to attend to her mane. "Luna, if you would," Celestia prompted when she was sure all parties were ready. Luna nodded and positioned herself in front of the other two princesses. "Last night, I had just gotten done weaving the night sky and was inspecting it from my balcony, when a most unusual and disturbing event occurred. A shooting star, not of my own make, but clearly caused by very powerful magic, appeared, and landed in the White Tail Woods. I have already sent some of my guard to quarantine the area, but I feel this matter deserves our personal attention as the amount of magical power present might pose a danger to less powerful beings." Celestia echoed Luna's nod as an assent. "I too felt this falling star, and I was about to ask Luna about it when she came to me asking for this meeting to convene." "I didn't sense it, as I was in my shielded lab at the time," began Twilight, "But if it's power is strong as you say, then it follows that it might pose a threat to other ponies, or better yet, maybe some magical resource that could be helpful." "I agree wholeheartedly," said Luna, "Therefore, I propose that we depart immediately, with orders for a hazard containment unit to follow with the proper tools to contain magical blights and leakage. Are we united in this decision?" "Yes," replied Celestia, "Though I feel that a magical analysis expert should also be included in the team." "Agreed," Twilight said with a nod. "It's settled then." The three departed not long after, teleporting to the outskirts of the forest and taking wing for the rest of the trip. It wasn't a long one, and the smoking crater left a trail visible for miles. When they got to the clearing its shockwave had created, they beheld fractured ground, seeping with ethereal blue, almost smoke-like trails in a spiderweb of cracks that conjoined at the center of the crater, where amidst the smoke the faint outline of some sort of creature thrashed and spasmed without ceasing. The trio doubled their pace and glided down to the bottom of the crater, stopping a few feet away from something they most certainly did not expect to see. "What...what is it?" queried Twilight. "It looks like it's made of magic, nothing else... just... magic." "I am not sure," replied Celestia, casting a wary eye to the tip of the soft pastel rainbow that was her mane, which, though its colors and its movement didn't quite seem to synchronize, was clearly beginning to be drawn towards the being. Looking over to Luna, her sister's mane appeared to be in a similar state. "Whatever it is, though, it is clearly in great pain, and I suspect that it might be draining the local magic into itself. If we are to help this creature, though, we must understand it more clearly, lest we do more harm than good." The other two nodded in assent, and Luna's eyes lit up like lanterns for a brief moment before she responded. "This creature is either not of this world, or if it is, has suffered a traumatic severing of its innate magic from the planet's ley-lines. I think that in the absence of this connection, and without being able to draw sufficient magic to sustain itself, it has begun to self-cannibalize." "That's horrifying to think about," said Twilight shakily moving a bit closer to inspect the fragments of light occasionally fracturing from the thrashing figure, "But it makes sense. I think it gets more complicated though. I don't think this is its natural form, and it can't contain its own magical essence. It's both dissolving and eating itself at the same time, and I don't think its able to do anything about it." Celestia brought herself forward to stand beside Twilight, her face ever the picture of serenity in the face of trouble. "We have a course of action, then. We must assist it in linking to our planet's ley-line network, so that it might sustain itself long enough for us to take further steps. Past that, I believe the priority is finding some way to fabricate a different form that can better contain its not-inconsiderable power. For now, Luna and I will erect a barrier around it, to help it contain itself while Twilight binds it to our world." With that, the two royal sisters positioned themselves on either side of the visitor, and a shifting silvery bubble appeared around it. Twilight stepped forward until she was inches away, and closed her eyes, extending her senses. The world around her was a psychedelic panorama of colors, different streams of magic twisting and weaving around her in a vivid rainbow that had a few colors she suspected didn't actually exist. They wavered and looped around each other, mixing and mingling occasionally, but invariably, they all streamed towards where she knew the nearest of the various rivers of magic that flowed all throughout the world in a network referred to as ley-lines. The creature was different, though. The violent white-blue flames of the creature's power flared and roared like the creature's soul was being immolated, and where there should have been a gentle aura that gathered together into a link that fed from the world's magic, there were only jagged edges and streams of wild, uncontained power that disrupted everything around it. Working carefully, she tapped into her own primal link to the world's magic, one of the strongest in existence ever since her own considerable magical potential was transformed into a representation of magic itself by the powerful artifacts known as the Elements of Harmony. Though they had been returned from whence they came, the link remained as strong as ever, and the world's magic recognized her as kin. Using this to her advantage, she began coaxing and channeling a branch of the nearest ley-line towards her patient, simultaneously shaping the wild bursts and flares of the newcomer to meet it. When the two met, there was resistance though, as the planet rejected the foreign body like an incompatible transplant. Ignoring the sweat dripping from her brow, Twilight opted for a different plan, and began carefully weaving strands of her own power into both streams, creating a small segment that more easily connected to each side. She released her grip, and after a few heart-pounding seconds of instability, the alien's aura seemed to even out, and she could see a painfully slow shift in the colors of its link as it started to properly assimilate. Finally, her work was done for now. She unceremoniously plopped her rear onto the ground, exhausted. When she opened her eyes a few seconds later, she found that the sun was at its apex, and there were ponies in anti-magic suits bustling to and fro around her. "How long was I at it?" Luna got back on her hooves, having been relieved by the Royal Guard's Magical Anomaly Containment Unit. "Three hours," replied Luna, taking advantage of the fact that her control of the moon meant that she was intimately familiar with what was arguably the world's largest and most accurate clock, as both sisters instinctively knew exactly when sunrise and sunset were, and exactly how long until they each occurred. "My sister has returned to Canterlot to make arrangements at the castle for the proper containment of the creature so that we might better study its afflictions and learn how to cure them. Speaking of which, your spellcraft was absolutely splendid to behold. The Elements and my sister both chose well, it seems. Using your magic as a link between the two was quite resourceful." A blush played upon Twilight's face, and she chuckled awkwardly. "Uh, thanks. I'm sure you'd have found a way if our positions were reversed. After all, you and Celestia are infinitely more experienced than I am." "Don't undervalue your talents," chided Luna gently in response, "Experienced we may be, but our power is not limitless and the fresh perspective of youth often reaches into places that our thousands of years of established habit might bar us from treading. My sister did not jest when she declared you our equal. Twilight nodded in response before casting her gaze back to the creature she had just made progress in saving. "It's bipedal with two arms...Kinda reminds me of those versions of everypony in the mirror world that Sunset Shimmer lives in, though the proportions are a little different. Maybe they're a variant?" "It's possible," replied Luna thoughtfully. "Existence is infinite, and so are its configurations. It might be that this poor creature pierced the veil between realities, but did not have the means to safely traverse it. Maybe we can find out more from the creature itself after we have relieved its afflictions. By the end of the day, the alien had been transported to a specially prepared chamber in the previously defunct mines below Canterlot, the capital's wealth of bright minds and resources making it easy to assemble a full team to study it. The princesses themselves stayed personally involved with the project as often as their duties would let them, though it would be weeks before a breakthrough was made in restoring physical existence to it. Twilight Sparkle sat in her study, surrounded by data readings and charts mailed to her castle in Ponyville from Canterlot. Her assistant and, for all intents and purposes, adoptive brother, a dragonling named Spike, diligently sorted through papers by the types of information they contained before Twilight suddenly perked up, catching her assistant's eye. "We've been going about this all wrong. I think I know what the problem is." Author's Note I really did miss writing, you know? 2 - CorporealChapter 2: Corporeal "Come down from there at once, young lady!" her mother scolded her. Her only reaction was to giggle and stick out her tongue as she stood upside down on the ceiling. The coming of her strange new abilities was scary at first, and her parents told her that she shouldn't tell anyone about it, but in the house, she had a bit more leeway to explore the possibilities. That of course, didn't mean her mother wanted her to do anything risky, like standing on the ceiling in such a way that if her powers gave out it would land her with a broken neck. After a few more seconds, she relented, floating down into her mother's arms and smiling. To her credit, her mother managed to maintain the scowl for twice as long as usual before the sight of her daughter's smiling face broke her defenses yet again. Another brief lecture on safety and a hug before she was free to go again, with a promise of punishment if she did it again. An assurance and a returned hug later, and she was back to playing and exploring their new house. Maybe this time they would get to stay a while before moving. Princess Luna idly shifted through a stack of papers as she contemplated what was to come with the evening. Twilight would arrive for yet another attempt at stabilizing the creature's physical form. At their last meeting, the youngest alicorn had postulated a promising theory. The entire time that Canterlot's best and brightest had been working under Twilight's supervision to solve the problem, they had been trying to discover and recover its original form, and there had been, for all intents and purposes, no progress at all. They couldn't get a sense of what the creature should look like past the burning silhouette which it currently displayed from the creature's mind (though it vaguely reminded Twilight of her adventures in the alternate universe where she had fought and befriended Sunset Shimmer), as any attempts to delve into its thoughts had been rebuked by strong wards placed by an obviously powerful unicorn. Its dreams were a bit more vulnerable, but they were so chaotic and disjointed that all Luna's dreamwalking gleaned from them was a powerful headache, leaving her to believe that what was left of their subject was probably not sane, which made it more pressing to stabilize the creature before any sort of magic surge or other disaster originated from it. The likelihood of damage being caused or anypony getting hurt was slim, but for all Luna knew the alien might dispel Twilight's work and accidentally destroy itself, and that would be just as tragic after all it had obviously been through. When it came to magical creatures, safer was better. Everything had led Twilight to believe that the creature's old body was beyond their reach, at least for practical purposes. For that matter, judging by its current state, its old body might not have been sufficient to contain its power anyway, which raged and pushed against any container they tried to force upon it. No, their solution would come in making an entirely new body for it to inhabit. Thus, Twilight had, about a month ago, started the construction of a golem, the most ambitious and advanced of its type. Anypony who looked at it or touched it would be able to distinguish it from the real thing easily, though it still retained the general shape and look of a unicorn. Of course, the golem wasn't complete yet, lacking most movement and a working focus for performing magic, but it was complete enough to contain the creature and at least allow it to perceive and speak. This had come at no small expense to the crown, but Celestia was likely the most shrewd investor in Equestria, and the potential knowledge and diplomatic benefits of rescuing an alien were too good to pass up, along with the fact that it was simply unthinkable to leave the creature to suffer a slow death via mana burn. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the thick oaken doors on the other side of the room. Luna put aside the tax budget for this year's public works, and adopted the look of regal serenity that her sister had mastered and that she only had a decent imitation of. "Come in," she said. The door opened, and she saw her sister and Twilight Sparkle flanked by her door guards, prompting her to relax the facade that they all held for their subjects somewhat. "Oh, hello. I presume it is time?" They wouldn't be merely observing the ritual that would seal the creature inside of the golem, but powering it. Not only were they more magically powerful than any mere unicorn, but it was also much cheaper this way, saving the crown many bits on what was very expensive. Twilight nodded. "Everything is in place. It will likely take another month to get it up and moving, but for now we can move forward with the first step." The trio then proceeded through the castle, eventually leaving behind the marble floors and lavishly decorated walls to a deeper, sturdier part of the castle, built when surviving sieges was still a concern for the then-recently-founded capitol. Nowadays, this section was used in times of trouble to evacuate citizenry, or to contain dangerous magic and creatures away from the populace. For a high-powered ritual that needed the magic of three alicorns, it would be the most ideal location to ensure that nothing went catastrophically wrong. They arrived in the ritual chamber a few minutes later, a large, domed room made entirely of obsidian and rune-etched stone enchanted to absorb magic. In the center was the wraith-like apparition, contained in a translucent silver dome. Sustained as it was, it didn't writhe in agony like it once had, but it didn't respond to outside stimulation either. Luna hoped having a new body would change that. The golem was wheeled in not long after, and the ritual began, Twilight leading it. She stepped up to a dais that had been placed in front of the containment field, and began to draw power from her fellow princesses. Using the magic to construct a secondary containment field that encompassed the golem and the creature, she prepared to make the transfer. Deep within the golem, she could feel the gemstone cores that held the enchantments which would power the golem. The interface had been somewhat inspired by her earlier efforts to connect the creature to Equestria's magic, shifting the magic of the enchantment to fuse with its new occupant. Satisfied that all was in order, Twilight lowered the first containment field, using her borrowed power to stream the creature's wispy form towards the golem. Like a seamstress threading so many needles, she gradually connected the swirling eddies of power to the golem's cores, letting the primary core, the 'heart', draw in the greater portion of the alien's essence. Performing one last check-up of her work before finishing, she primed the core responsible for activating the others, and finally let her magic's purple glow wink out. "There...that should do it," she said, walking towards the golem. "Hello? Can you hear and understand me?" she asked, gazing into the glowing sapphires it had in place of eyes, to which she got no response. Tilting her head in confusion, she began running a full diagnostic of her work. "I don't understand...Everything looks like it's working, but..." Celestia hemmed and hawed for a moment before speaking up. "Perhaps it is damaged in more ways than are visible. It could be that its memories might have suffered during its transition. Maybe it forgot how to speak, or perhaps there is some deeper problem which renders it oblivious to things outside of itself." "As good a theory as any," replied Luna, striding up towards the motionless golem and pressing her horn to it. "I shall attempt to enter its psyche. My dreamwalking should be able to find some purchase from which to examine what exactly is the problem." Twilight balked a little, "But entering a damaged mind can be dang-" Luna didn't hear the rest, as she had already made her decision. Entering the creature's mind was easier than expected, but much to her dismay, the disarrayed fragments of memories and feelings were indecipherable. Her ability to enter the minds of the unconscious also shielded her from most things a mind could conjure up, but that didn't even come close to solving the biggest problem. She didn't even know where to start as she was bombarded with an unfocused, unrestrained flood of everything the creature was experiencing and remembering at that moment. None of it was pleasant. Pain, confusion, loss, and rage all battled for control and guilt tied them all together. It took what seemed like an eternity, but finally, Luna found a memory cohesive enough to construct a dream around, and give some solid ground in this chaotic whirlwind. It was a memory of a grassy field overlooking the ruins of a city. In front of her was the fuzzy, unstable projection of the creature's self that its taxed mind had conjured to fill the false memory. Luna slowly approached it, like a photographer trying not to spook a bird. "Hello? Can you understand me?" The last question was a little redundant, as language wasn't really necessary in a thought-to-thought conversation, but little mannerisms like going through the motions of talking helped make the dream seem more real and less likely to break apart. The bipedal figure turned to Luna. It closely matched depictions of the 'humans' that Twilight had encountered while tracking Sunset Shimmer, but somehow seemed...off. A smaller head, a less slender body, different muscular proportions. It looked like a human that needed to survive a more hostile environment. Its eyes glowed a sickly blue, eerily similar to the sapphires it now had. Opening her mouth, for it seemed that if the anatomy was anything like the humans, it was a female, it let out a soundless scream before falling to its knees. The dream shifted for just a few seconds, and the city was whole again, seemingly unaware of what was coming as the first meteoric conflagration screamed down towards it. Right as it would have impacted, the dream reverted, leaving only ruins. The woman was lying on the ground, thrashing and holding her head as if she were trying to rip out her own brain. Luna frowned in sympathy. "You poor creature. You are the survivor of some cataclysm destroying your home, aren't you? You have more than enough. Rest easy, for we shall mend you." Satisfied that she had established some sort of baseline, Luna began the long task of piecing the visitor's mind back together. Author's Note This was difficult to write. Been out of it too long.
Prologue - Baptism of FireStarfall Prologue: Baptism of Fire Earth has historically been a chaotic place, marred by calamities both natural and created by its dominant inhabitants, the humans, as they try to work out their place in the universe. Despite the various strengths of this species, their ingenuity, determination in the face of adversity, capacity for true compassion in the face of horror, and all of the others, they haven't quite managed to ascend past the flaws that keep them from unifying as a species, habitually striking at each other, mostly out of one sort of fear or another. It is no small irony that in human history, one of the most effective unifying forces has been fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of death, fear of losing that which was held dear, all of these tended to be very effective methods of bringing together the masses against a common perceived enemy. This was one such time. When magic resurfaced on earth, lying dormant after some distant catastrophe rendered its ley-lines inert, chaos ensued. It did not come as a trickle, but as an explosion, and a few ordinary people suddenly found themselves with power they did not understand, nor could they control, and it was no small amount. Fighting erupted almost overnight as some sought to use the newly ascended mages, seeing benefit to either themselves, their governments and societies, or humanity as a whole, while others sought to eradicate them, seeing the terrifying power, the lack of control, and the lack of moral restraint some mages had as they abused their power to subjugate the world around them. It culminated in the United Nations issuing a declaration that all magic users must be registered and regulated, with harsh punishments for those who did not comply, up to and including summary execution. While this act did help to reduce some of the chaos, many mages felt persecuted, and sought to break away from the society that had begun to treat them as criminals for circumstances beyond their control. The most accomplished magic users in the land banded together to raise an island out of the Atlantic Ocean, and thus the nation of Avalon came to be, a refuge for those who wished to escape the conflicts surrounding magic. Of course, this display of power did not go unnoticed, and the ability to raise an island sparked the question of how difficult it would be to push land back under the sea, and in unifying fear once again, chaos became outright war as the mages struggled to defend their new haven against the encroaching forces and the mages who had submitted to them... The High Chancellor smirked triumphantly at the surprised looks on the faces of the U.N. soldiers around her and the four other mages with her. "Greetings gentlemen. Shall you surrender now, or must this get messy?" she said smugly, idly twirling a string of flame around her fingers. Without a word, the soldiers began to lay down their arms as the group began to walk briskly through the bunker until they finally reached the room they sought. Within it was an unsurprisingly well-furnished room, complete with expensive-looking paintings, a lush crimson carpet, a well-stocked bookcase, and all of the other trappings that came in the office of a person who was important on the international level. The room was occupied only by a single well-dressed man in a sharp suit, smoking a cigar. This was Jeremy Foxglove, a resident of Britain responsible for forming and commanding the U.N.-sanctioned team whose real name, like most data on them, was classified, though they were more colloquially known as the Witch Hunters by many a mage. As the team entered, Foxglove opened a small case and turned it around to present its contents. "Cigar?" he asked in a polite tone. The mages weren't amused, and their leader stepped forward with a hand of flame outstretched. "You are coming with us to answer for your crimes against our kind. Will you surrender peacefully, or will we have to take you by force? We don't need all of you intact, we just need you to be able to stand...or sit... trial." The High Chancellor wasn't surprised when the arrogant fool's first response was to laugh, but what he said next caught her off guard and chilled her to the bone. "Well, I suppose you got me. Bravo. We knew that the body doubles wouldn't do a damn thing against your scrying, even if we could make your vision a little bit murkier with our own assets. You'd only come for the real thing, and with a target so juicy, you'd send your best. So, congratulations, you got me. Care to see what you've won? Or should I say, what your friends back at Avalon have won?" The reaction was instantaneous. Two of the mages vanished and Foxglove found himself unceremoniously flung and pinned to the wall by a third, the cigar falling from his mouth to smolder on the floor. The High Chancellor stepped forward and placed a hand on his throat. "What. Did. You. Do?" Foxglove shrugged as best as he could in his position. "Well, bullets certainly weren't working. Even the least of your folks could block them. That's why we favor explosives so much down here. More raw force and more surface area to shield. Of course, Avalon had far too many skilled mages to just waltz a bomber or two in and level the place. So, a few of ours managing to worm our way into citizenship with Avalon, and we were ready to take out those responsible for keeping the shields on Avalon functional. Some of you are a little beyond our means of just killing, especially when you're in your home turf, so the easiest solution was to draw you out. You didn't have many military minds in your camp to back up that raw power, do you?" "You're speaking in past tense," one of the two mages behind the leader commented warily. "That's because, as your other two friends have likely found out by now, we smuggled in a little surprise while you were gone. With the threat you pose, we decided to take the nuclear option, quite literally. This fight's over. Your kind won't ever threaten humanity again." Foxglove dropped to the floor unceremoniously as the High Chancellor fell to her knees. "You...you just murdered thousands of civilians, people who didn't have a part in the conflict and just wanted to get away... And you're here now, telling us about it like you're life's not on the line. What sort of sick creature are you?" Her hollow voice rang through the air as her companions stood in shock. The response she got was another infuriating chuckle. "You remember D.C.? Or how about how half of Australia's now a wasteland? What about all of the frozen corpses strewn about Russia? A few of you decide we're beneath you, and MILLIONS die. I couldn't give a damn about a few thousand time bombs exploding a bit early. That's a pretty good cause to die for in my book." Several seconds of silence passed before she got back on her feet, and turned to her two companions, speaking in a dead voice. "Go, try to find any survivors. He's right. It's all over." She turned back to Foxglove, her gaze passing right through him and settling on some unknown point that seemed a thousand miles away. "You said you don't mind dying for your beliefs?" He nodded, and she surrendered to the wave of hurt and anger that she had barely been containing before her last companions had teleported away. "Damn right." "Good." 2 Weeks Later The smell of burning flesh was so strong she could taste it. The screams of the dying had been drowned out by the constant thud of distant impacts long ago, the tell-tale beat of her last war-drum as the meteors fell from the heavens and impacted across the land, rendering the land as broken and ruined as the island that had once housed all of her friends, family, and anyone she had ever cared about. As she surveyed her empire of rubble, flame, and corpses, she knew that there was nothing worth saving. The magic flowed through her once more, surrounding her, supplanting her sense of self as she kept channeling the power as though she hoped it would override everything else within her. In the distance, they almost looked like falling stars. 1 Year After As the two scavengers fled into the distance, their words echoed in her mind. 'Get away from us!', 'Leave us alone, please!' She vaguely registered their meanings, and something in her broken mind clicked into place. She had to get away. The fire inside had eaten her away, it seemed, and the vague urge to survive kicked in as her mind decided it was finally time to crawl and scrabble its way against what had been consuming it. At this point she couldn't stop channeling the magic if she tried, and the air around her sizzled and shimmered with power. She had gotten her wish, and it was all she could do to process anything besides the sheer power that had been gradually ripping away at her sanity, and more recently, her body, as the magic she held within her became too much for her frail human body to handle. Parts of her skin had started to burn away, leaving lesions and sores that leaked blood and wispy blue streams of raw magical power, and she had lost the use of her eyes months ago as they burned away, leaving her to see with nothing but the same power that was both sustaining her and killing her. She had to get away. This thought became internalized, and upon this foundation was the lean-to of her mind reestablished, memories being recalled and vaguely connected as she began her task. Being immersed within her own magic for so long had its benefits, despite all things, and she could just as easily see the threads of space and time like her eyes could pick out the weave of a fabric before they had become the black pits they were now. She didn't know exactly what she was looking for, but she searched anyway, operating on some base, primal instinct as she cast her consciousness into the nether to try and find some place where the magic might have a harder time eroding what was left. She couldn't tell how much time had passed, nor was she entirely sure what time was anymore, but something within her pulled her towards a small ripple in the fabric of reality. She dipped the toe of her consciousness into it, and found it inviting, but something held her back as she pushed and pulled and struggled to immerse herself within this strange place. She had to have it though. Every time she touched it, it was like a balm to her very soul, a refuge from the fire. She needed to find a way in! Like an animal desperately fleeing its predator her mind raced, a thousand fractured thoughts rising up like roots to break her stride until finally she felt a snag and understood. She had to leave behind these frayed and torn clothes, else the thorns within would forever catch upon them and keep her from escaping into this bliss. With a final cry that leaked out of her mind and through her mouth, she ripped herself from her own rapidly combusting body and escaped into the void. Princess Luna watched silently from her balcony. Her unsurpassed mastery over the night sky made it into a canvas for her to paint upon, and now her subjects at last had started to look upon her work in awe and admiration, as the brilliant sparkle of starlight and the cool glow of the moon reached out across the land. She was content, a feeling unknown to her before she had returned from her banishment. Never before had life been so good to her, nor had she ever known so many friends, like Twi- She paused her reflections, a frown marring a face that many would claim to be an example of the epitome of Equestrian beauty. Nopony would know it wasn't hers, but she knew the moment she saw a shooting star make its way across the sky that it wasn't hers, and that it was significant. As the star impacted in the White Tail Woods to the southwest of Canterlot, she was already out of the room, intent on waking her sister and getting to the bottom of this matter. The things that appeared in the dark of the night were often dangerous, and she was their warden, ever vigilant to keep her subjects safe as they slumbered. She would not ever fail them those subjects again. Author's Note So yeah, gonna try and get back into the swing of things. Wish me luck. Need to find a new proofreader as well.
1 - StarfallChapter 1: Starfall She looked up to her mother, who had a frown etched upon her face as the TV lit up with the news, and an arm draped protectively around her daughter. Her young mind didn't really understand the significance of the words coming out of the TV, but it was making her mother unhappy, and that was enough to make her unhappy as well as she clung to the leg beside her. Her mother was on the phone now, using phrases like 'side effects' and 'quarantine. She could gather that there had been some sort of accident not far from where she lived, and that it was changing people, and that this change was becoming more and more common even in places nowhere near the accident. She tightened her grip on her mother. She had been feeling a little funny lately, and the thought wormed its way into her head that someone might take her away from her family. Her parents would never let that happen without a fight, though. They'd protect her. Princess Celestia idly flipped through some of the never-ending paperwork endemic to her position while she waited for the third addition to their early morning conference, occasionally pausing to sign here or make an annotation there. Princess Luna stood nearby, considerably less composed as she paced impatiently, her ethereal mane a restless trail of stars on an azure field as she tossed her head before speaking. "'Tis most unlike your former pupil to be late, and at such a time as this..." Celestia raised her head from her work to respond, only to have the necessity vanished as the latest addition to their little alicorn family appeared in a flash of light. Twilight Sparkle's frazzled mane and unshorn fetlocks were a far cry from the two other ponies in the room, who even at their least composed maintained a regal air of authority. "Sorry! Sorry! I just was caught up in a research project and didn't notice your letter until about five minutes ago. I was testing the thaumic reactivity of quicksilver in a vacuum conditions and I found some really interest-" "Twilight," Celestia chided gently, ceasing the incoming lecture before it had a chance to begin. "We have more pressing matters at hoof." Twilight nodded with a blush before taking her seat, one of the castle servants discreetly arriving with a brush to attend to her mane. "Luna, if you would," Celestia prompted when she was sure all parties were ready. Luna nodded and positioned herself in front of the other two princesses. "Last night, I had just gotten done weaving the night sky and was inspecting it from my balcony, when a most unusual and disturbing event occurred. A shooting star, not of my own make, but clearly caused by very powerful magic, appeared, and landed in the White Tail Woods. I have already sent some of my guard to quarantine the area, but I feel this matter deserves our personal attention as the amount of magical power present might pose a danger to less powerful beings." Celestia echoed Luna's nod as an assent. "I too felt this falling star, and I was about to ask Luna about it when she came to me asking for this meeting to convene." "I didn't sense it, as I was in my shielded lab at the time," began Twilight, "But if it's power is strong as you say, then it follows that it might pose a threat to other ponies, or better yet, maybe some magical resource that could be helpful." "I agree wholeheartedly," said Luna, "Therefore, I propose that we depart immediately, with orders for a hazard containment unit to follow with the proper tools to contain magical blights and leakage. Are we united in this decision?" "Yes," replied Celestia, "Though I feel that a magical analysis expert should also be included in the team." "Agreed," Twilight said with a nod. "It's settled then." The three departed not long after, teleporting to the outskirts of the forest and taking wing for the rest of the trip. It wasn't a long one, and the smoking crater left a trail visible for miles. When they got to the clearing its shockwave had created, they beheld fractured ground, seeping with ethereal blue, almost smoke-like trails in a spiderweb of cracks that conjoined at the center of the crater, where amidst the smoke the faint outline of some sort of creature thrashed and spasmed without ceasing. The trio doubled their pace and glided down to the bottom of the crater, stopping a few feet away from something they most certainly did not expect to see. "What...what is it?" queried Twilight. "It looks like it's made of magic, nothing else... just... magic." "I am not sure," replied Celestia, casting a wary eye to the tip of the soft pastel rainbow that was her mane, which, though its colors and its movement didn't quite seem to synchronize, was clearly beginning to be drawn towards the being. Looking over to Luna, her sister's mane appeared to be in a similar state. "Whatever it is, though, it is clearly in great pain, and I suspect that it might be draining the local magic into itself. If we are to help this creature, though, we must understand it more clearly, lest we do more harm than good." The other two nodded in assent, and Luna's eyes lit up like lanterns for a brief moment before she responded. "This creature is either not of this world, or if it is, has suffered a traumatic severing of its innate magic from the planet's ley-lines. I think that in the absence of this connection, and without being able to draw sufficient magic to sustain itself, it has begun to self-cannibalize." "That's horrifying to think about," said Twilight shakily moving a bit closer to inspect the fragments of light occasionally fracturing from the thrashing figure, "But it makes sense. I think it gets more complicated though. I don't think this is its natural form, and it can't contain its own magical essence. It's both dissolving and eating itself at the same time, and I don't think its able to do anything about it." Celestia brought herself forward to stand beside Twilight, her face ever the picture of serenity in the face of trouble. "We have a course of action, then. We must assist it in linking to our planet's ley-line network, so that it might sustain itself long enough for us to take further steps. Past that, I believe the priority is finding some way to fabricate a different form that can better contain its not-inconsiderable power. For now, Luna and I will erect a barrier around it, to help it contain itself while Twilight binds it to our world." With that, the two royal sisters positioned themselves on either side of the visitor, and a shifting silvery bubble appeared around it. Twilight stepped forward until she was inches away, and closed her eyes, extending her senses. The world around her was a psychedelic panorama of colors, different streams of magic twisting and weaving around her in a vivid rainbow that had a few colors she suspected didn't actually exist. They wavered and looped around each other, mixing and mingling occasionally, but invariably, they all streamed towards where she knew the nearest of the various rivers of magic that flowed all throughout the world in a network referred to as ley-lines. The creature was different, though. The violent white-blue flames of the creature's power flared and roared like the creature's soul was being immolated, and where there should have been a gentle aura that gathered together into a link that fed from the world's magic, there were only jagged edges and streams of wild, uncontained power that disrupted everything around it. Working carefully, she tapped into her own primal link to the world's magic, one of the strongest in existence ever since her own considerable magical potential was transformed into a representation of magic itself by the powerful artifacts known as the Elements of Harmony. Though they had been returned from whence they came, the link remained as strong as ever, and the world's magic recognized her as kin. Using this to her advantage, she began coaxing and channeling a branch of the nearest ley-line towards her patient, simultaneously shaping the wild bursts and flares of the newcomer to meet it. When the two met, there was resistance though, as the planet rejected the foreign body like an incompatible transplant. Ignoring the sweat dripping from her brow, Twilight opted for a different plan, and began carefully weaving strands of her own power into both streams, creating a small segment that more easily connected to each side. She released her grip, and after a few heart-pounding seconds of instability, the alien's aura seemed to even out, and she could see a painfully slow shift in the colors of its link as it started to properly assimilate. Finally, her work was done for now. She unceremoniously plopped her rear onto the ground, exhausted. When she opened her eyes a few seconds later, she found that the sun was at its apex, and there were ponies in anti-magic suits bustling to and fro around her. "How long was I at it?" Luna got back on her hooves, having been relieved by the Royal Guard's Magical Anomaly Containment Unit. "Three hours," replied Luna, taking advantage of the fact that her control of the moon meant that she was intimately familiar with what was arguably the world's largest and most accurate clock, as both sisters instinctively knew exactly when sunrise and sunset were, and exactly how long until they each occurred. "My sister has returned to Canterlot to make arrangements at the castle for the proper containment of the creature so that we might better study its afflictions and learn how to cure them. Speaking of which, your spellcraft was absolutely splendid to behold. The Elements and my sister both chose well, it seems. Using your magic as a link between the two was quite resourceful." A blush played upon Twilight's face, and she chuckled awkwardly. "Uh, thanks. I'm sure you'd have found a way if our positions were reversed. After all, you and Celestia are infinitely more experienced than I am." "Don't undervalue your talents," chided Luna gently in response, "Experienced we may be, but our power is not limitless and the fresh perspective of youth often reaches into places that our thousands of years of established habit might bar us from treading. My sister did not jest when she declared you our equal. Twilight nodded in response before casting her gaze back to the creature she had just made progress in saving. "It's bipedal with two arms...Kinda reminds me of those versions of everypony in the mirror world that Sunset Shimmer lives in, though the proportions are a little different. Maybe they're a variant?" "It's possible," replied Luna thoughtfully. "Existence is infinite, and so are its configurations. It might be that this poor creature pierced the veil between realities, but did not have the means to safely traverse it. Maybe we can find out more from the creature itself after we have relieved its afflictions. By the end of the day, the alien had been transported to a specially prepared chamber in the previously defunct mines below Canterlot, the capital's wealth of bright minds and resources making it easy to assemble a full team to study it. The princesses themselves stayed personally involved with the project as often as their duties would let them, though it would be weeks before a breakthrough was made in restoring physical existence to it. Twilight Sparkle sat in her study, surrounded by data readings and charts mailed to her castle in Ponyville from Canterlot. Her assistant and, for all intents and purposes, adoptive brother, a dragonling named Spike, diligently sorted through papers by the types of information they contained before Twilight suddenly perked up, catching her assistant's eye. "We've been going about this all wrong. I think I know what the problem is." Author's Note I really did miss writing, you know?
2 - CorporealChapter 2: Corporeal "Come down from there at once, young lady!" her mother scolded her. Her only reaction was to giggle and stick out her tongue as she stood upside down on the ceiling. The coming of her strange new abilities was scary at first, and her parents told her that she shouldn't tell anyone about it, but in the house, she had a bit more leeway to explore the possibilities. That of course, didn't mean her mother wanted her to do anything risky, like standing on the ceiling in such a way that if her powers gave out it would land her with a broken neck. After a few more seconds, she relented, floating down into her mother's arms and smiling. To her credit, her mother managed to maintain the scowl for twice as long as usual before the sight of her daughter's smiling face broke her defenses yet again. Another brief lecture on safety and a hug before she was free to go again, with a promise of punishment if she did it again. An assurance and a returned hug later, and she was back to playing and exploring their new house. Maybe this time they would get to stay a while before moving. Princess Luna idly shifted through a stack of papers as she contemplated what was to come with the evening. Twilight would arrive for yet another attempt at stabilizing the creature's physical form. At their last meeting, the youngest alicorn had postulated a promising theory. The entire time that Canterlot's best and brightest had been working under Twilight's supervision to solve the problem, they had been trying to discover and recover its original form, and there had been, for all intents and purposes, no progress at all. They couldn't get a sense of what the creature should look like past the burning silhouette which it currently displayed from the creature's mind (though it vaguely reminded Twilight of her adventures in the alternate universe where she had fought and befriended Sunset Shimmer), as any attempts to delve into its thoughts had been rebuked by strong wards placed by an obviously powerful unicorn. Its dreams were a bit more vulnerable, but they were so chaotic and disjointed that all Luna's dreamwalking gleaned from them was a powerful headache, leaving her to believe that what was left of their subject was probably not sane, which made it more pressing to stabilize the creature before any sort of magic surge or other disaster originated from it. The likelihood of damage being caused or anypony getting hurt was slim, but for all Luna knew the alien might dispel Twilight's work and accidentally destroy itself, and that would be just as tragic after all it had obviously been through. When it came to magical creatures, safer was better. Everything had led Twilight to believe that the creature's old body was beyond their reach, at least for practical purposes. For that matter, judging by its current state, its old body might not have been sufficient to contain its power anyway, which raged and pushed against any container they tried to force upon it. No, their solution would come in making an entirely new body for it to inhabit. Thus, Twilight had, about a month ago, started the construction of a golem, the most ambitious and advanced of its type. Anypony who looked at it or touched it would be able to distinguish it from the real thing easily, though it still retained the general shape and look of a unicorn. Of course, the golem wasn't complete yet, lacking most movement and a working focus for performing magic, but it was complete enough to contain the creature and at least allow it to perceive and speak. This had come at no small expense to the crown, but Celestia was likely the most shrewd investor in Equestria, and the potential knowledge and diplomatic benefits of rescuing an alien were too good to pass up, along with the fact that it was simply unthinkable to leave the creature to suffer a slow death via mana burn. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the thick oaken doors on the other side of the room. Luna put aside the tax budget for this year's public works, and adopted the look of regal serenity that her sister had mastered and that she only had a decent imitation of. "Come in," she said. The door opened, and she saw her sister and Twilight Sparkle flanked by her door guards, prompting her to relax the facade that they all held for their subjects somewhat. "Oh, hello. I presume it is time?" They wouldn't be merely observing the ritual that would seal the creature inside of the golem, but powering it. Not only were they more magically powerful than any mere unicorn, but it was also much cheaper this way, saving the crown many bits on what was very expensive. Twilight nodded. "Everything is in place. It will likely take another month to get it up and moving, but for now we can move forward with the first step." The trio then proceeded through the castle, eventually leaving behind the marble floors and lavishly decorated walls to a deeper, sturdier part of the castle, built when surviving sieges was still a concern for the then-recently-founded capitol. Nowadays, this section was used in times of trouble to evacuate citizenry, or to contain dangerous magic and creatures away from the populace. For a high-powered ritual that needed the magic of three alicorns, it would be the most ideal location to ensure that nothing went catastrophically wrong. They arrived in the ritual chamber a few minutes later, a large, domed room made entirely of obsidian and rune-etched stone enchanted to absorb magic. In the center was the wraith-like apparition, contained in a translucent silver dome. Sustained as it was, it didn't writhe in agony like it once had, but it didn't respond to outside stimulation either. Luna hoped having a new body would change that. The golem was wheeled in not long after, and the ritual began, Twilight leading it. She stepped up to a dais that had been placed in front of the containment field, and began to draw power from her fellow princesses. Using the magic to construct a secondary containment field that encompassed the golem and the creature, she prepared to make the transfer. Deep within the golem, she could feel the gemstone cores that held the enchantments which would power the golem. The interface had been somewhat inspired by her earlier efforts to connect the creature to Equestria's magic, shifting the magic of the enchantment to fuse with its new occupant. Satisfied that all was in order, Twilight lowered the first containment field, using her borrowed power to stream the creature's wispy form towards the golem. Like a seamstress threading so many needles, she gradually connected the swirling eddies of power to the golem's cores, letting the primary core, the 'heart', draw in the greater portion of the alien's essence. Performing one last check-up of her work before finishing, she primed the core responsible for activating the others, and finally let her magic's purple glow wink out. "There...that should do it," she said, walking towards the golem. "Hello? Can you hear and understand me?" she asked, gazing into the glowing sapphires it had in place of eyes, to which she got no response. Tilting her head in confusion, she began running a full diagnostic of her work. "I don't understand...Everything looks like it's working, but..." Celestia hemmed and hawed for a moment before speaking up. "Perhaps it is damaged in more ways than are visible. It could be that its memories might have suffered during its transition. Maybe it forgot how to speak, or perhaps there is some deeper problem which renders it oblivious to things outside of itself." "As good a theory as any," replied Luna, striding up towards the motionless golem and pressing her horn to it. "I shall attempt to enter its psyche. My dreamwalking should be able to find some purchase from which to examine what exactly is the problem." Twilight balked a little, "But entering a damaged mind can be dang-" Luna didn't hear the rest, as she had already made her decision. Entering the creature's mind was easier than expected, but much to her dismay, the disarrayed fragments of memories and feelings were indecipherable. Her ability to enter the minds of the unconscious also shielded her from most things a mind could conjure up, but that didn't even come close to solving the biggest problem. She didn't even know where to start as she was bombarded with an unfocused, unrestrained flood of everything the creature was experiencing and remembering at that moment. None of it was pleasant. Pain, confusion, loss, and rage all battled for control and guilt tied them all together. It took what seemed like an eternity, but finally, Luna found a memory cohesive enough to construct a dream around, and give some solid ground in this chaotic whirlwind. It was a memory of a grassy field overlooking the ruins of a city. In front of her was the fuzzy, unstable projection of the creature's self that its taxed mind had conjured to fill the false memory. Luna slowly approached it, like a photographer trying not to spook a bird. "Hello? Can you understand me?" The last question was a little redundant, as language wasn't really necessary in a thought-to-thought conversation, but little mannerisms like going through the motions of talking helped make the dream seem more real and less likely to break apart. The bipedal figure turned to Luna. It closely matched depictions of the 'humans' that Twilight had encountered while tracking Sunset Shimmer, but somehow seemed...off. A smaller head, a less slender body, different muscular proportions. It looked like a human that needed to survive a more hostile environment. Its eyes glowed a sickly blue, eerily similar to the sapphires it now had. Opening her mouth, for it seemed that if the anatomy was anything like the humans, it was a female, it let out a soundless scream before falling to its knees. The dream shifted for just a few seconds, and the city was whole again, seemingly unaware of what was coming as the first meteoric conflagration screamed down towards it. Right as it would have impacted, the dream reverted, leaving only ruins. The woman was lying on the ground, thrashing and holding her head as if she were trying to rip out her own brain. Luna frowned in sympathy. "You poor creature. You are the survivor of some cataclysm destroying your home, aren't you? You have more than enough. Rest easy, for we shall mend you." Satisfied that she had established some sort of baseline, Luna began the long task of piecing the visitor's mind back together. Author's Note This was difficult to write. Been out of it too long.
