Avalanche from a Flurry

Twilight stepped out of the tunnel between the Crystal Empire and its train station, and unexpectedly found Cadence waiting for her. Cadence stepped up to her and asked, "What was so urgent that you hopped on the overnight train from Manehattan as it passed through Ponyville at 2 AM, but not so urgent that you would use the gateway?"

To avoid meeting you, frankly. But that's obvious enough. Let's get to the heart of it. "When you brought Flurry to me, just what were you doing? You had some… 'special' concern beyond simply what she was asking about, didn't you?"

Cadence swallowed, recognizing the validity of the accusation. After a deep breath, she explained, "There was a miasma around the Crystal Empire and she needed to get out of it."

"Well, she brought it with her and spread it to Ponyville."

"You didn't mention that when you visited a few days ago."

"I didn't know as much about it then. By comparing notes with somepony who dealt with it up here, I figured out what was going on down there was not normal. Did it at least get weaker here since her visit?" When Cadence nodded, Twilight added, "Flurry did still seem somewhat affected when I was here. Or perhaps it's her personality coming out, if she's simply a reincarnation of princess Skyla."

Cadence flared everything - eyes, wings, nostrils, and pulled out a pretty decent Royal ~~Canterlot~~ Crystal Empire Voice - "No! She is not, and she isn't going to be, either!"

Twilight thought for a moment, then mused out loud, "'Isn't going to be'? So, by 'miasma' do you mean the spirit of Skyla, that was trying to possess Flurry Heart, and you were trying to confuse it by taking Flurry away from it. It came to Ponyville, and has set up residence? Just how was that okay to not mention?"

"I broke it into hundreds of parts. Attached to an adult, they would barely do anything. I thought she would be absorbed into the populace as a few fragments of memory or inclination, that would fade away."

"That… isn't how it worked out."

"So I see."

"Why didn't you tell me? I could have put a ward around Flurry, or done something!"

Cadence fretted, but couldn't say.

Twilight guessed, "If I knew, I would be resisting. I wouldn't be absorbing it. It'd flow right back out and into Flurry, and I'm sure you, of all ponies, warded her already. But I personally didn't need to absorb it, did I? It could have been spread around town." I'm probably still missing something about that, but she can't share it, for whatever reason? Moving on. "Okay. Well, I think this is not a satisfactory solution in the long term. So maybe I should get on with the thing I came up to do, aside from meet you: meet one of Skyla's associates. What you said changes things, but maybe in a useful way."

Cadence boggled. "Useful? To have a malevolent spirit trying to possess ponies?"

"Not exactly. It's not malevolent, it's just trying to be reborn. It wants to be whole. How did you split it up?"

Cadence showed her the spell, holding it almost-cast. Twilight examined it for several minutes, commenting, "Interesting design. Been thinking how to fight Sombra? Or perhaps it's more against the Mycophantom? Creates temporary disruptions as it cuts, to prevent reintegration before the parts are even separated… and when its power level increases, that burns it again. Hmm. This can't be the main mechanism of suspension of effect, or Celestia would have had a recurrence on the same schedule as anypony else."

Cadence snapped in alarm. "Celestia?"

"Yes. It kind of got all over the place. So, we need to gather it back together."

"And then what, who will it take over? We can't just offer anypony up to it!"

"Perhaps it will move into my unborn foal."

Cadence gasped. "You're having a foal?"

"Not yet. If bearing her myself will get Skyla out of the ether and off of Flurry's back, and moreover alive and well again, I'll do it. Or some other volunteer."

Cadence considered. "I suspect that's what she was trying to do with Flurry Heart, but failed for some reason. If you can get it to stick… then we do have an option other than disperse it, after all."

After a few seconds of no further comments, Twilight asked, "By some strange chance, do you happen to know a crystal mare named Specula?"

Cadence cocked her head. "I know of a telescope store with that name on it. Shall we head over? Why are you interested in her?"

As they left the tunnel area and headed out into the not-yet-busy city, in the direction of the store she remembered, Twilight explained, "She knew Skyla and… worked with her against Sombra. She may remember something useful."

"The crystal ponies have never been able to remember anything useful."

"They remember their professions. I'm hoping to access something similar."

After a few minutes, they came to The Score Mark and Specula Glass and Lens Shop. It was not yet open, but the home above showed signs of life, so they went around to the back and Twilight knocked.

Twilight immediately recognized Specula from the vision when she opened the door. She blinked. "Princesses! To what do I owe the honor?"

Twilight swallowed. "I have need of a skill you may have. I do not suppose that you remember anything from… before. Do you?"

Specula shook her head. "I woke up and knew my name and how to make telescopes and binoculars. I had to deduce who my husband and foal were from where we were and how I felt about them."

Twilight nodded. "If you remember skills… perhaps there is a skill you had that I could definitely use. Imagine with me, please: you are in princess Skyla's resistance army, and you have managed to capture your father, who was held by Sombra. How do you free him?"

Specula boggled. "I was in a resistance army?"

Twilight nodded.

Specula looked down. "We lost."

"Not right away. You were able to fight. And you were able to free ponies from Sombra. So, think. Maybe don't try to visualize it. Just think of it as a problem to solve. You have a pony who is trying to free her father from Sombra's control. How do you do this?"

Specula frowned, and stared at the wall. She began to blush, and then swallowed. "Er. I haven't the foggiest idea. Sorry!"

Twilight laughed. "If you're blushing, then I think you know." Spying a pony walking by, she asked, "May we come inside?"

Specula raised a hoof to her face and held it for five seconds. Lowering her hoof, she frowned and said, "I don't know enough to be useful. I have a dim expectation of taking notes while a pony was meditating, dictating instructions. So I'd suggest that." A deep breath. "I, ah, have the odd feeling that it involved a gesture like this:" She sat on her haunches and pressed her forehooves together in front of her teats, then raised them high, then separated them and drew them down wide, then together again back where they started.

Twilight took a deep breath and nodded. "Thank you."

Specula frowned at her hooves. "This… I think it wasn't good. It was what we did, but I don't think we should have." After a few seconds, she added, "I don't have anything else."

Twilight nodded. "Thank you. If you do remember anything else, please convey it to Princess Cadence, and she'll forward it to me immediately." She backed away, and Specula re-closed the door.

Cadence gave her a serious look. "What's your plan?"

"Hopefully, enough of Skyla is in me that I can meditate and figure out what to do. It's certainly a big lead."

"Would you like to go to the palace to use the gate back to Ponyville?"

"No. I think a train ride would be good for meditation. Better than Ponyville. And I think I should avoid Flurry for now."

Cadence nodded. They hugged, and Twilight walked back to the train platform before heading up. She sat down and remembered what she'd read about meditation, and what Zecora had taught her. She'd barely ever attempted it, but she recalled the principles.

Emptying her mind… focus on something in her… quell distracting thoughts. Notice a distraction, discount its importance.

She was looking for instructions… but perhaps she couldn't receive them if she was looking for them?

"Ah, princess Twilight!"

Her eyes jerked open and she found Flim. There went her meditative mood. "What're you doing here?"

She figured out what it must have been just before he replied, "Well, we sold our prototype to a customer. But we underestimated the difficulty of three day delivery, so I'm here to stall for time. On top of that, we are having a hard time tracking this customer down. She's… well, that brings me to why I contacted you. I think she is a criminal."

Twilight closed her eyes and thought about how to handle it. "What happened?"

"She came in, acted very tough, and then like she might invest. Asked some questions about skirting the rules. We declined to entertain such notions, of course."

"Naturally."

"She didn't quite lean on us to pay protection money, but she definitely tried to be intimidating and push us into an exploitable position. She went by the name Bearytwist."

Twilight sighed. "Did she threaten you?"

"Not exactly."

"Did she actually break any laws?"

"No, but I really don't feel comfortable with the possibility that she or the organization she represents…" He trailed off, seeing her expression. He seemed about to ask something, then stopped.

Twilight sighed and explained. "She was an off-duty officer I sent to check on you. Not for criminality, but to see if I'd infected you with something. We have found that it is not contagious. While she visited… she decided to screw around with you."

Flim coughed and muttered, "You could say that, yes…"

"When she described what she'd done, I was not too pleased."

Flim took a deep breath. "I see. Then do you happen to know where we can deliver it? We only just found out that 'Bearytwist, the Crystal Empire', is not a valid address."

"Then address it to her, care of Commander Tempest Shadow, of the Arctic Rangers. I can ensure it is properly routed from there."

"Thank you." Flim began to turn, then stopped. "Your highness?"

Twilight forced a smile. "Yes, Flim?"

"Really, thank you. I… I think I have an idea of how to repay you in a way for what you've done for us. Not only giving us critical advice, but you also sent us our biggest customer in some time."

Twilight nodded hesitantly.

"It's how to spot a con."

"Please, I can spot a con. I spotted you."

"We were purveyors of at-times substandard goods, which is entirely different. Everypony knows to be skeptical of salesponies. A con artist doesn't come selling something. They seek to maneuver you, misleading you into feeling the wrong things so you let down your guard. And in many cons, the one who misleads is not the one who's taking your money. So look out for when somepony says or does something that reveals an opportunity or changes what you want, especially if it's quickly, be it a thing that suddenly seems…" Flim trailed off as he saw that Twilight had jerked back as if stung.

Changes what I want quickly.

"Your highness?"

"I… if you… What are some general ways of avoiding a con?"

Flim sat back. "Well, there's the saying 'you can't con an honest pony', which isn't true, but it definitely limits their options and changes their approach. Rather than dangling a quick bit in front of you, they have to appeal to wanting to save somepony, say." He stopped as she gulped visibly, then went on. "When you're checking things that seem suspicious, make sure you're not just asking somepony who's in on it, or been thoroughly fooled already. Flam saved us from being conned twice that way. Go through official channels if you can. Look up their business in the town hall."

Twilight waited expectantly, then as he took his time, gestured to urge him on.

After a few seconds, he chuckled. "Patience. I mean, don't rush into things. If somepony is rushing you, refuse to go along."

Twilight gulped. I've felt so rushed lately. I can explain it rationally, but I have to remember to take the time to think. "It could be on the up and up, but it's hard to tell. I… may… be being scammed by a thousand year old ghost?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "That's a new one. All right, princess. Lay it on me and we'll see what we can figure out."

Twilight closed her eyes and thought. I still can't really trust him. But what would he do with this information? Nopony would believe him. "I will think about it."

"Fair enough. Just explaining it to somepony else should help. It doesn't need to be me."

He's almost certainly not in on it. We went to him in an unpredictable way. So at least there's that.

Twilight was still mired in indecision when Flim asked, "A ghost, though? I thought those weren't real."

"Sombra did magical research into it, and made one. A few." Her and himself, at least. Others? What if this isn't Skyla herself? What if it isn't even a ghost? Why was I so sure there would be a ghost, anyway? Oh, right, the memory potion. So I do expect there ought to be one…

Twilight got up. "I… I need to go to think. And ask some questions. And go home and sleep."

"Before you go… there is one other thing I'd like for you to look out for."

"Oh?"

"A popular rumor is that the reason Princesses Celestia and Luna stepped down and then back up is… blackmail." Twilight laughed, but he pressed on. "Enough ponies had their dirty laundry that they had too many ponies they couldn't bring to justice. So they quit and brought on a fresh new face. Once they were just private citizens, they could hunt down their blackmailers and force them to destroy the evidence because now Equestria didn't depend on their being respected. After three years, they'd finished that and came back and requested the rotation you have now."

Twilight rejoined, "Orrrr they were just really tired of being in charge all the time and thought it was time to retire, but that was too much free time and I was happy for the help. You know, just because it's the official line doesn't mean it's not true."

"Fine. Doesn't change the advice - make sure that if anypony reveals what you've done in private, they look much, much worse than you do."

That goes against the 'fuck my whole family' plan.

Twilight said, emphatically, "Thank you. Now, I will be going." Screw it, I'm taking the portal back. I need sleep. And to hoof off.