To Devour the Seventh World

D27 collapsed onto the floor of his castle. Since the floor was not level, he began to slide to one end, much to the amusement of the proto-golems wandering aimlessly through the labyrinthine halls. He was already restoring energy, but his poor mood was caused by more than depletion of magic and the loss of a significant portion of mass.

The situation in Equestria was worse than he had expected. It was still in the grips of the influence of the Lords of Order, at least in the bizarre sense of a kind of historical echo. Worse, in his haste, D27 had failed. The Heart would most likely be even more heavily guarded next time, let alone how heavily the Finality Core might be protected, assuming it even still existed.

It was not a total loss, though. At least D27 had learned the nature of one artifact. The Heart itself was not so much a danger to his plans anyway as it was a danger to those around it, anyway. There was no chance that it could regenerate into a full Lord of Order, at least in theory. The presence of an alicorn was a disturbing development, though; it meant that even without a mind the Heart was capable of influencing ponies down to a genetic level to achieve its own goals, even across generations. Of course, D27 doubted that Lords of Order had ever truly been sentient.

“What do you think?” he asked a passing proto-golem. It only grumbled.

“You’re right,” said D27, drawing his foam-like body into a singular shape, restoring himself to a smaller version of his normal bipedial shape. “A lack of intelligence- -hey, wait. Did you just insult me?”

The proto-golem laughed, but D27 knew that despite the play on words, it was correct. He had no idea what was going on in Equestria. He did not fully understand the situation, or the inhabitants. That made military action difficult, especially in his limited state. The only logical recourse was to acquire more information about them. This conclusion was motivated both by a desire to better understand the tactical weaknesses of pony armies, but also out of pure curiosity. D27 had very rarely been able to exist in two evolutionary epochs, and he strongly desired to know how the world had changed while he had been dormant.

For this, he had a plan.

The portal sealed behind him, and the three crystals floated amongst each other. D27 extended his spike-like arm toward them, and they burst downward with tremendous force, imbedding themselves into three moss-covered rocks at the bottom of the forests. Monohorns had advanced substantially since his own time, and there was a risk that they would be able to detect he magic of the portal, even when inactive.

Slowly, he made his way through the forest, hoping that there were no zebras this time. As he did, he focused on what he needed to do. It would be difficult, but not beyond his ability, or so he hoped.

It only took a few minutes until he reached the edge of the forest, where the gray light became bright and colorful. In the distance, a pony settlement was visible, and D27 could even see several ponies in the far distance, laughing and smiling as they went about their daily lives, unaware that they were being watched by a Choggoth.

D27 took a breath, somewhat surprised that he possessed lungs instead of the normal gill-like structures. Then he put his arms to the ground and focused on the physical structure of his body.

His mass and shape shifted, moving as he commanded. His arms and legs thickened and developed a clear structure, the ends dulling and retracting into claws, and then finally into hooves. His body thickened, and extended a pseudopod that became a neck, and then a head. His triangular organs moved to his newly formed head, and twisted and narrow, becoming black triangular pupils in the center of wide, round, white eyes. A mouth separated, and D27 felt the presence of teeth and a tongue.

The sensation was uncomfortable to say the least, and required a significant compression of mass. If D27 had been any heavier, he would not have been able to do it; he made a mental note that as long as he sought to maintain this form, he would have to limit his mass to three tons.

When he was finished, he licked his teeth. That was a strange sensation, and to his dismay, he found that what should have been broad, flat teeth were wide-spaced and viciously pointed. Likewise, hair had been difficult to render; instead of a mane, he had a set of pointed ridges that ran along his head and spine that contained the synthetic organs that he used to project Order Magic. Likewise, his tail had come out segmented and hairless.

“Coprolite,” he said to himself. “I look like a trihorn.”

It would have to do, though. Although D27 could be loosely defined as a shapeshifter, his normal function was to adjust organs and structures in response to hostile environments; he was not remotely adept at replicating physical forms. He was relatively sure, though, that he resembled a pony at least closely enough to be accepted as one as long as no one looked too closely.

Slowly, he stepped forward, stumbling and shaking. Hooves were surprisingly difficult to walk with, and having four legs on the ground at the same time was difficult to coordinate. It was actually somewhat ironic that a creature that had laid siege to a pony city almost effortlessly could hardly even walk as a pony; D27 realized this irony, and smiled at it.

After several minutes of practice, he finally gained adequate dexterity to walk somewhat slowly toward the town.

Twilight burst through the grand crystal door, and, still somewhat unaccustomed to her newfound alicorn magic, nearly tore it free of its hinges, frightening the royal guards who had been tasked with guiding her into the castle.

Her eyes darted across the room, and fell on Cadence and Shining Armor. Both looked haggard and tired, as though they had not slept in days. Cadence in particular looked pale, and one of her wings was in a sling.

“Shining! Cadence!” cried twilight, galloping to them at full speed. “I’m so glad you’re okay!” She wrapped her brother in a hug, and then hugged Cadence, who winced as her broken wing was compressed.

“I’m sorry!” cried Twilight.

“It’s okay,” said Cadence.

“When I heard from the princess that the Crystal Empire had been attacked, I came as soon as I could.” That was actually somewhat incomplete of a statement; when she had heard, she teleported several times, moving as fast as she could toward in the Crystal Empire, and flew the remainder of the way before her wings had given out and she had been forced to take the train. “Are you alright? You’re wing- -”

“Broken,” said Cadence, “but it’s a simple fracture. It will heal within a few days.”

Twilight turned to Shining Armor. “How could something get past the guards?” She instantly regretted mentioning it, as Shining Armor’s face sunk. He could not bear to bring himself to look at his sister or his wife; it was clear that he blamed himself for what happened.

“I’m- -I’m sorry,” said Twilight. “I’m just so glad you are both okay.” She hugged them again. “But what happened? Princess Celestia only said that something invaded the kingdom.”

“That is what we are here to determine,” said a voice from the far side of the room. Twilight turned to see two tall, narrow figures entering the room.

“Princess Celestia!” she said, surprised. “And Princess Luna!”

The two alicorns strode into the room, and Twilight started to bow before recalling that she, too, was a princess now.

“Princesses,” said Shining Armor, bowing. “The threat has been repelled; there is no need for you to have come all this way.”

“And if it returns, it will not stand against four princesses,” said Luna.

“But concentrating all of you here is dangerous. Without you, Canterlot’s defenses will be significantly lacking.”

“Not to worry, Shining Armor,” said Celestia, smiling, her motherly voice seeming to calm him. “I left it in capable hands.”

“Whose hands?” asked Shining Armor.

“Discord’s,” said Celestia.

“Discord!” cried Shining Armor, his face contorting in anger. “After what he did to Cadence, to you two? To me, and to Twilight? To all of Equestria?”

“Do you doubt your Princess?” said Luna, raising her voice harshly.

“No, your highness,” said Shining Armor, lowering his head.

“Should anything attack Canterlot,” explained Celestia, “Discord’s orders were to use his chaos magic to summon me there instantly.”

“He can do that?” asked Twilight, in awe.

“Discord can do a great many things,” replied Celestia. “Now, Cadence and Shining Armor: please take a seat, and explain what happened here.”

They took their seats around a table, and Shining Armor relayed the situation with all the detail of the military reports he was accustomed to. Cadence spoke less, but filled in the parts of the story where Shining Armor had not been present. They both described in great detail the bizarre creature that had entered the kingdom, and how it had attempted to steal the Crystal Heart, and how it was defeated, only for the shade of King Sambra to rise from its shadow.

“King Sambra?” said Twilight in disbelief. “But I thought he was…you know…dead.” She hesitated to use the word, because it implied that Cadence had been the one to slay him; that was arguably justifiable, but Twilight could not bear to place the blame for such an act on her beloved sister-in-law.

“It is not truly possible to destroy a shadow,” said Luna. “One may be lit, and it may appear to be gone, but when the light fades, it may appear again. This is, perhaps, our own failure, for having not slain him completely when Celestia and I originally defeated him with the Elements of Harmony.”

“He was dead long before he stepped out of that shadow,” said Cadence with a coldness in her voice that caused the others to all look to her. “Whatever it was that came out, it wasn’t alive anymore. It was…empty, in pain.” She shivered, and Shining Armor put his foreleg around her. “Even Sambra…even he didn’t deserve a fate like that.”

“And you managed to defeat him?” said Luna.

“Yes,” said Cadance. “I came too just in time to stop him from reaching the Heart…it was…” She shivered again, this time far more powerfully, and she put her hooves to her face.

“Sambra’s form was incompletely reconstructed,” said Celestia, inferring as to what had happened. “I understand what destroying him must have been like, and I am sorry you had to see that, but you did the right thing.”

“I know,” said Cadence. “But the blood…”

Twilight gasped, and a vision of what had probably happened surfaced to her mind. She understood enough magic to know what King Sambra’s resurrecting body was like, and she knew her own abilities well enough to know what alicorn magic could do to such a weak physical form. The result, even in her mind, was terrifying and left her feeling sick.

“That does beg the question,” said Luna. “If Sambra was so weak, how did he manage to summon the creature you described?”

“I’m not aware of any creature like that,” said Twilight. “I mean, I can check my books again, but I don’t recall coming across one like that before…”

“Neither do I,” said Celestia. “Although I do not think it was something of Sambra’s creation. More likely, Sambra simply followed it inside when it broke through the Crystal Empire’s barrier.”

“There are a number of individuals and creatures that would like to use the Crystal Heart for their own gain,” said Luna, “although very few that could pierce the barrier protecting it.”

“It didn’t want to use the heart,” said Cadence.

“Then what was it trying to do?” asked Shining Armor.

“It…it spoke to me.”

“It spoke?” said Twilight in disbelief. The idea of speech piqued her curiosity, and also somehow terrified her. She had read accounts of ponies in the distant past having created golems from inanimate material, and that was what she assumed this particular creature was, although she was not confident enough to say so in front of Celestia. Golems could not speak, though; the ability for this creature to speak implied sentience, which made its existence even more frightening.

“It said that its goal was to destroy the Crystal Heart. It said it was trying to cure me?”

“Did it say from what?” asked Luna.

“No.”

They were all silent for a moment. Then Celestia spoke. “This is disconcerting. I am not sure, but this might be what Discord meant.”

“Discord?” said Shining Armor. “If he is responsible for this, I will personally shove his mismatched horns down his throat!”

“Shining,” said Twilight. She had never seen her brother like this.

“I’m sorry, Twilie,” he said, his expression softening slightly, “but you didn’t see it. That thing- -it could have destroyed us. It could have killed Cadence, and my men.”

“I have been watching Discord closely,” said Celestia.

“Not closely enough,” muttered Luna.

“And he is not responsible for this. However, he did come to me several days ago. He was agitated, more so than I have ever seen him.”

“Fluttershy said the same thing,” said Twilight, surprised. “She said that something was bothering him during their weekly tea meeting.”

“I can’t say for sure that this is what he was so concerned with,” said Celestia. “But the two may relate.”

The conversation continued. The potential nature of the monster was considered further; Luna and Celestia seemed to believe that it was something of natural occurrence, while Shining Armor brought up the possibility that it might have been something of changeling origin. They also discussed the recourse for the problem; Celestia would send soldiers to bolster the Crystal Empire’s defense, just in case there was another attack. They also began to coordinate a search grid, even after Shining Armor’s soldiers had failed to find the monster in the wasteland that surrounded the Crystal Empire.

Twilight had some difficulty focusing, though. She kept looking to her brother and her sister-in-law, the latter of whom had become terribly silent and forlorn as the conversation had gone on. Their lives, it seemed, were plagued by disaster, specifically from ancient evils from various sources. There had been the changeling queen at their wedding, and then King Sombra, and Lord Tirac; now there was another one. Twilight could not help but feel like the world was collapsing around her. She was afraid, and found herself wishing to go back to what she had once been. She had no idea that the burdens of being a princess would be so much to bear, and the crushing, inescapability of it only exacerbated her feelings of dread.

In time, the meeting ended. Luna was due to raise the moon, and the sun was already setting in the western horizon. Plans had been laid, and things would be done, but Twilight knew that nothing would really be accomplished. There would be the moving of soldiers, and the initiation of searches, but those were perfunctory responses. Nothing would be accomplished, because nothing could be accomplished, at least not yet.

The two elder princesses bid farewell, and left the others. As the door closed behind them, Twilight found that she was not sure exactly what to say.

“Don’t worry,” she said, forcing a smile, “the princesses seem to be taking the threat really seriously. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

“I know,” said Shining Armor. “We know. It was just a really close.”

“I can stay here, if you want me to,” said Twilight. “I’m sure there’s a lot that needs to be done and damage to be repaired. The crystal ponies are probably terrified.”

“The Crystal Heart is dangerously weak,” said Cadence, speaking for the first time in nearly an hour. “My people are frightened, and that prevents the Heart from working properly.”

“If they hadn’t seen us repel the enemy…” said Shining Armor.

“I would rather not dwell on that,” said Cadence. She turned her large eyes toward Twilight. “But no. You shouldn’t stay here.”

“But Cadence…”

“If it attacks again, you might need to use the Elements of Harmony against it.”

Twilight understood the implication. Alone, she was only as powerful as a strong unicorn. With her friends, though, their combined power was significantly greater. From Cadence and Shining Armor’s description of the creature, it seemed like something that would require as much power as possible to defeat.

“Alright,” said Twilight. “But don’t worry. Defeating evil monsters has kind of become a career for me.”

“Shining?” said Cadence.

“Yes?” said her husband, who had before been lost in thought, perhaps planning battle plans or the best grid pattern to search the tundra outside.

“Could you bring me some tea?”

“Of course.” Like the gallant gentalcolt that he was, he departed the room to find her a source of tea.

“Twilight,” said Cadence after he had left.

“What is it?”

“I don’t think the creature is evil.”

“How could it not be evil?” Twilight laughed humorlessly. “After what it did to the Crystal Empire- -after what it did to you?”

“You’re more like your brother than you know,” said Cadence, smiling. Her smile then slowly collapsed into a frown. “My memory is scattered. When that…whatever it was…tried to take the heart, there was a kind of reaction.”

“A coronal decomposition field, most likely,” noted Twilight.

“It was a violent reaction, as if the Heart were trying to protect itself. A pair of ponies- -a mother and her filly- -got to close…”

“Oh Celestia!” gasped Twilight. She knew at least theoretical what coronal decomposition was like, and what it could do to any pony who came to close to it. “They weren’t- -”

“No. The creature protected them, at great personal cost to itself.”

“What kind of cost?”

“I think that…if it had let those two die, it would have succeeded at taking the Heart.”

“But why would it protect them? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I don’t know either,” said Cadence. “Right now, all I want to is drink my tea, go to bed, and have Shining hold me until I fall asleep.” Seeing the look of discomfort on Twilight’s face, she added “Sorry.”

“No, I understand,” said Twilight. She understood that they were married, and also recalled numerous times in her life times that she had wished that she had somepony to hold her when she was sad or frightened.

“Just be careful, Twilight.”

“You are hiding something, sister,” said Luna.

“What would make you say that?”

Luna paused, and looked out at the crystal windows at the setting sunset. Even as her sun was lowered, it was still so beautiful. “One cannot know somepony for three millennia without learning them well. We are sisters, after all.”

“I have suspicions,” said Celestia, “but none are concrete enough to act upon.”

“And you don’t care to share them with me?”

“There simply is nothing to share yet,” said Celestia, calmly.

“It concerns before, doesn’t it? Before we were…this…”

“It may.”

“You are surely aware that I have no memories from before our mutual apotheosis.”

Celestia paused, and looked directly into her sister’s eyes. “Please, Luna, understand me: that is a blessing.”

“I know,” said Luna, lowering her head and staring out at the sunset. Celestia placed her wing around her younger sister.

“I do not know what this creature is,” she said. “But I know of one who might.”