Approaching Apotheosis

The metal-ringed crystal felt cold as ice in my hooves. A striking crack bisected it diagonally, ruining its perfect shape.

“We got lucky this time,” Pharynx was explaining. “I viewed this crystal, and… Quickly made the decision that only you can view these records.”

“How many were recovered?” I asked.

Naper adjusted his glasses, “We’re working on five promising finds, in varying states of degradation. This was the least degraded, both magically and physically.”

“And we got lucky,” Pharynx repeated. “King Sombra didn’t appear in this one. But he might in any other one.”

“And he manifests through any image of himself,” I acknowledged. “I didn’t think of that– you’re right, Pharynx, only I can view these records. I am still Chrysalis in his eyes, a loyal servant.”

He half-smiled, “I may not be a philosopher or scientist, but I know how to read an after action report, and made sure to be up to date on this bastard.”

“So, what is this crystal about?”

“Best you see for yourself,” Naper said. “Somethings are better felt than just described. This one might be the last in Nisir’s timeline, I’ll give you that much. What Prince Pharynx described… I’d love to experience the ride myself, but this gate is only unlocked by a royal’s key. Your personal key, Ph–”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I sighed, trying to relax in the small chair.

The ancient stone thing had been padded with pillows, but that didn’t change the fact that it was designed for drones and ponies half my size.

Luna changed topics, “Pharynx, is Nisir ready to cooperate with the Royal Guard to start on defenses?”

“It’s ready to be expanded, yeah. The next wave of colonists can come in, get the forges ready, start cleaning the ruins up more, and the ponies can start throwing up their houses in the fields outside. Gonna cold as shit, though.”

“There shall not be anything as permanent as houses out there,” Luna explained. “But that is good news. I shall relay it to Captain Shining Armor. It is high time that the scouts and engineers began preparations for the anterior defensive lines, and start marking out where the Royal Guard shall defend outside the city.”

“Not joining our little fortress?” Pharynx asked, raising an eyebrow.

“There will be Royal Guard presence within the city, of course,” Luna nodded, “but we need to make sure that the Nightmares simply do not wander past Nisir. As it so happens, we have more ponies with spears and armor than we know what to do with. It will be cold, but that’s what magic, protective layers, and firewood is for.”

“The sooner, the better,” I agreed.

“It would be best if we learn more about Panar’s Gift, that crown atop the remains of the ancient Emperor of the changelings,” Luna reminded us all. “If we can control it, we can control the containment spell and funnel the Nightmares into our trap. So, Phasma, quit stalling, stallion up, and hop hooves first into your spooky vision crystal. These are our best leads.”

“One spooky vision crystal vision coming up,” I sighed, and tried to pick it up with my magic.

It flashed orange along the crack as the world faded to black.

“Log One-hundred-forty-six-dash-gamma. The quarantine has failed. The scourge has appeared in the Western Quarter, taking five dozen souls in the first night. An additional eighty perished from exposure to the crystal residue creeping up from the lower hive quarters in the North. Or, at least, so the guards say. I know for a fact that they just barred those warrens off and declared everyling dead inside. In time, they will be made correct. Seven hundred dead this week alone. Tiamat Station has found a cure, but given that we only have news of this cure and no actual cure… this is just the latest of the Dragon Fly’s propaganda pieces. The Emperor has a firm grip on what everyling hears these days.”

Princess Arista’s pale gold eyes shut as she rubbed her temple, fatigue eroding her posture.

“No word from Prince Spiracle. It’s been two moons since his last letter. I don’t know what to tell Ant. She keeps asking about him. What in the Nine Halls am I supposed to say? That it was likely slow and painful? That his body might be host to something other than his soul?! No, no. She cannot know. The truth will break her. It certainly hurts me, and I am over a century old. Goddess, I can just picture him walking through that door, asking me if I know what uttu tastes like.”

She paused to rub her eyes.

“Emperor Megatypus won’t make the announcement. Spiracle’s name will not be carved into the Hall of Remembrance, not until his body is found. As far as the Hive is concerned, Prince Spiracle is still alive. Everything is fine, so the official status goes. It’s only a matter of time before the scourge reaches the Palace. All four quarters will be lost in a moon’s time, and Panar shall not spare us the rod for our foolishness.”

She rose from her desk, grabbing the crystal and walking with it. The small circle of reality moved with her, revealing a wall with a large stained glass window. She reached up and pressed a hoof against it, staring out of the room.

“It’s him. I know it was his doing. Subject 001. Him and the subjects like him. Nisir is strangled by the malignant magics that pool in the Umbrums’ presence. The barrier between worlds grows–”

The scene shifted suddenly.

An abrupt cut replaced the calm atmosphere with a hectic, frantic message. Princess Arista lay on the ground, levitating the crystal up to her eyes. The room shook, dust fell from the ceiling, and distant banging sent Arista flinching.

“–over. Ten thousand stood, ten thousand died. I don’t know if the rest got out, there’s no way to follow them. The twins shut the way behind them– and damned the rest of us. Panar bless them, they may have saved the Hive Eternal. But I know it’s here, in the Palace. That Which Devours, Subject 004. I didn’t see it– of course I didn’t– but I found the hollowed out remains of Panar’s Finest. I think they were protecting–”

The room shook again, and Princess Arista looked around her frantically.

“– Dragon Fly. I don’t know where my father is, I imagine the throne room, but I know that thing is between me and the Emperor. And… and… he was there. I saw him with that thing. He wore shadow like a cloak, but I know those eyes anywhere. He will kill me. I know it. I feel it! He’s hunting me, even now. Mi amore, my ancient flame, my own husband… Spiracle. Ant is… Where is Ant? Sh-she was was with me. Y-yes, we were flying for Tiamat Station…”

Arista grimaced and pounded the top of her head with a hoof.

“N-no! Subject 004 was there! Think, think, think! Where is Ant?! She was with me! I remember… her screaming…”

“There you are,” a gravelly voice from outside our perspective drawled out. “My love, why did you hide from me? Didn’t you miss me?”

The crystal was levitated away from Arista, dropped into a drawer of a white wooden desk, and pushed shut. The voices continued outside of view.

“P-Prince Spiracle! Ah! I w-was just… thinking of you!”

“We know, love.”

“Y-yes, of course. I was just thinking of you.”

“You already said that, my dear.”

“Of Ant!”

“I’m sure you were. Come, Arista. The stars are beautiful tonight. Why don’t we watch them together, just like old times? We can make a new Ant…”

“Th-that sounds lovely. Goddess, I missed you, Spiracle.”

There was a sound of stones, metal, and chitin dragging against stone. Then, a gasp as the vision cut off abruptly.

Slowly, I lifted my head and blinked my eyes open.

“–putting together a puzzle. A blank puzzle. A blank puzzle with multiple incorrect solutions. But we don’t know if they are incorrect until the whole thing is finished. See what I’m getting at?”

“I do, thank you, Sting. Patience shall be the virtue at which these ancient messages are brought back to us– ah, Phasma. How was your nap?”

I rubbed my head as Luna walked up to me and helped me out of the chair.

“Ugh. That was… quite a lot to take it,” I grunted, taking a flask of water that Luna offered. “Thank you.”

“Twas nothing, love,” she smiled back. I recoiled slightly, which drew immediate concern from the alicorn, “What is the matter?”

“The vision,” I said, drinking more water.

“Yes, Pharynx filled us in during your absence. You will show me later tonight in full detail, but are you well?”

I nodded slowly, “Yeah, yeah. That one was… painful to leave.”

“Likely due to the damaged crystal structure,” Naper theorized. “Not only that, it seems quite clear that the crystal’s original contents were haphazardly overwritten.”

“The final words of this kingdom, I suspect,” Luna mused, looking around the room. “Unless somepony else was creating magical recording gems capable of withstanding ten thousand years of degradation. Who knows?”

'First a plague, then the demons came. It ended suddenly, too, with changelings being possessed, and... hollowed out? I don't know what That Which Devours does, but I don't want to know.'

Naper cleared his throat, “Prince Pharynx was kind enough to transcribe the vision. Here, please read it through and correct any errors or add any other details you noticed, Your Majesty.”

A small stack of papers were levitated over my way, and the group continued their conversation as I tried to ignore my pounding headache and go over the words scrawled on paper.

‘This hoofwriting is atrocious– ahhh right, changelings only recently got paper. Not that mine is… any better…’

“Bit bold of you to tell a King what to do,” Sting not-so-quietly fobbed off Naper.

“I am sure the King will have no complaints when I take charge. Errr, respectfully.”

“Just had to squeeze that in there, huh?” I muttered.

The pony winked, “I know just where to squeeze.”

“Walked into that one,” I sighed, going back to checking the transcripts.

Grabbing a nearby quill, I scrawled some notes in the margin, and quickly tuned out the surrounding conversation for a time.

“What next, Phasma?” Luna asked suddenly.

“Next?” I repeated, slowly looking up from the papers.

“Three teams, A, One, and Blue. Three presentations. All done. Now what?”

I set the papers down, straightening up, “Huh. That’s a question. I suppose with work out of the way, we have a weekend together, don’t we? Hmm, if only there was a resort town nearby where we could–”

Luna nuzzled into my neck, splaying her wings further out. The large primary feathers floated gently on top of the hot water, even as her inner wings sank below, dragged down by the heavy liquid. She purred contently, mumbling into my chitin.

“You look like a dead animal when you are on your back like that,” she cooed, shutting her eyes.

“Habit,” I replied. “Plus, it lets me hold you tight. Couldn’t do that if we were both on our bellies, hmm?”

I proved myself right by pulling my alicorn in for a close hug, rubbing her back gently.

“Mmmfff. Good point…” she whispered. “... Y’know… usually at a winter resort, you are supposed to go out and enjoy the winter.”

“Yeah but it’s cold outside,” I complained, resting my head back on the edge of the hot tub. “Inside, I get to be with you. And not freeze to death.”

“I shall inform my sister of a new defensive protocol against changeling incursions: setting the cooling of the Palace to below freezing.”

I pressed a fetlock to my forehead, “You wound me! To think, my own marefriend, plotting to get rid of me! We’re like bed bugs, Luna. You’re never gonna be rid of us.”

The mare seized up at that, hackles raising, “Feigh! Do not dare to even mention that pest! Those monstrosities are Faust’s most wretched curse!”

“There’s no spell to get rid of bugs like that?”

Luna opened her eyes, glaring up at me, “There are spells a’plenty for removing a pest infestation from one’s home. But bed bugs? Those things have a natural resistance to magic!”

A shiver went up my spine, shaking Luna as she rested on top of me, “Euck! On one hoof, that is horrible, Luna! On the other, I wonder if it is possible to make armor out of bed bugs…”

“They would have to be alive for that feat to be in effect.”

“I’mma chalk that up as a ‘no,’ then.”

She sighed, “Phasma… We really should get back to our duties in Canterlot. We cannot abscond from leadership. You yourself have received three important tasks since arriving up here. We cannot hide forever.”

I tried to shrug– then stopped when it threatened to topple Luna over into the water.

“I will address them when I get back. The only urgent message came from Celestia, and she even started it with ‘when you return.’ Nothing truly time sensitive.”

That didn’t deter her, “Perhaps. But I have also received missives, have I not?”

“No, I only get them because I stalk my employees in their dreams, making sure they never truly have time off from work.”

Luna pursed her lips, “That has got to be against an ancient treaty or law…”

“If you can come up with an instantaneous communication method that cannot be intercepted, let me know. Radios are still a long way from being secure, let alone ubiquitous.”

“Regardless, your drone’s report on the findings of the E.U.P and the Legions infighting is of great concern. It will take us outside of Canterlot just as we arrive. That is going to be a headache to schedule when we are going to be behind on our tasks.”

“There’s a simple solution to that,” I ventured. “One of us goes, the other stays in Canter–”

“No.”

“Luna–”

“No.”

I sighed and sat up, dislodging the princess from her perch atop my pecs. My neck, actually, but that didn’t work with the alliteration.

“Luna, we have to talk about this. We cannot go everywhere attached at the hip. It just isn’t feasible–”

“Feasible?! Phasma, you were nearly assassinated! In ages past, I would have confined you to our chambers until the threat was truly passed!” She pressed her forehooves against my chest, pushing me back against the tub’s ceramic edge, “The only reason why there are not two dozen guards with us at this moment is because of my presence at your side! Your order to increase security in Nisir shall not go into effect for potentially weeks, and it does nothing for security in Shimmervale.”

“I’ve got six Infiltrators on watch in this small town,” I pushed back, both literally and figuratively. “We’ve scoped out every native, and keep an eye on visitors.”

“... Truely?”

I nodded, “Of course. This town is right next to Nisir, Luna. Wouldn’t do to let Division-P set up shop under our noses.”

“Why was I not informed about this? Am I not your handler– ah, that is to say, your liaison for infiltrations?”

“It’s a low-level infiltration,” I deflected. “You don’t get notified about anything like that.”

“That is true.” Her emotions and expression soured, “But that does not change my decision to stay at your side! I will not lose you!”

I reached up and gently held her hooves, “I appreciate the concern, Luna. I really, really do. I’m not gonna lie and say it’s okay, that I’m fine, or that I’m not scared. But you know this can’t go on. We need to be all hooves on deck to take out these bastards, and we can’t do that when both of our schedules are handicapped. I need some freedom, there is simply no alternative.”

With a groan, the splayed-out alicorn shook me off and rose to her hooves in the water, doing her best to level a stinging glare down at me. You didn’t have to be an empath to tell she was getting annoyed.

“Phasma. This is not up for debate. Safety is paramount!”

I stood up, towering above my marefriend, “Those who dare, win. This is not the first time I’ve put myself at risk to win, and it shall not be the last time. I’m scared, Luna, but not helpless. How many times are we going to have this argument?”

“How many times will you insist on bringing it up?” Luna scowled.

I shut my eyes and growled in frustration.

‘It would be so easy, wouldn’t it? Accepting the rear command position, sitting pretty behind a row of guards. Never letting the enemy get close. Never being personally threatened. But we can’t fight with two hooves tied behind our backs, not when the whole world is on the line.’

“I’m ready to die, Luna.” I opened my eyes, taking in her shocked expression and flinch. “If that is the price I must pay, then so be it. At least this time my life will be worth something. We have to defeat Division-P before the Umbrum threat arrives. If we don’t it’s game over. That means putting ourselves in risky positions in order to accomplish everything we can as fast as we can.”

She pulled away from me, “Now is no time for dangerous thinking, Phasma.”

“You know I’m right,” I continued. “We can’t pull our punches, Luna. All. Hooves. On. Deck.”

She left the tub, drying off in silence as my stare bored holes into her back. Slowly, I followed her, flash drying with a spell.

“Everything or nothing at all, Luna. We fight for everyone depending on us. We fight for each other. We fight for ourselves.”

“You act as if we are at war,” Luna said softly, staring out the window at the stars beyond. “The hearth crackles quietly, the stars twinkle above, the ponies drink and celebrate without a care, but we are at war. These are the words you are saying. I see no fire, only a challenge on the horizon.”

“Do you deny it? Division-P is an enemy within our borders. They will sabotage us, willingly or unwillingly, in our fight against the Umbrum. We have to crush them.” I took a deep breath, “No cost too great, no price too high. We have to do everything we can to smoke those bastards out and kill every last one of them!”

At last, Luna turned to face me. Her face hardened, and I tasted cold pain ebbing from her, poisoning her warm love.

“You are too quick to draw your blade, Phasma. Things are not so desperate.”

“How can you say that when the Umbrum plan on killing all life?”

“Because they will fail!”

I shook my head, “You say that with such certainty.”

She lifted a hoof, frog upturned, “The Umbrum are not the first to make for such barbaric goals. Nor shall they be the last. Monsters, tyrants, and despoilers mark the epochs of our world. Yet for every would-be conqueror, there is always a heroine who stops them. Take a step back and breathe, Phasma.” She flicked her hoof, as if something was stuck to it, “The world is not ending today, nor shall it end tomorrow. Blood will be shed, aye, but I have faith in Harmony. You should have faith in your Goddess that victory will be ours.”

I sneered at her, baring my fangs, “I have tasted death, pony. I have seen a world dying slowly with each passing day. I have stared down demons, monsters, and killers. This world is not perfect. Harmony is not a promise, it is an endless work that we toil for. A republic, if we can keep it.”

“If we let fear govern our every actions, we will tread the path of tyrants–”

“Oh!” I scoffed. “Well! You were quick to jump from fearing my death to preaching about not fearing defeat!”

“And you are quick to preach about harmony after calling for the death of all those who oppose us!” She countered.

Slowly, we circled each other, trading barbs like blows.

“We stand to lose everything! How can we justify holding back and risking defeat?!”

“Because we are stronger than this! We have endured, and we shall always endure. It is our duty! You, young welp, are still learning the pace of things! Harmony is not easy, it never was! We take things in stride and protect those under our wings when the storms come!”

“I can’t believe you are making this argument,” I said, throwing my hooves up exasperatedly. “How can you say there has ever been a threat like the Umbrum?! How close has the world come to ruin in the past?”

“It fell to ruin when Discord crushed every civilization from horizon to horizon! Cities fell, demigods were cut down, and the world stopped making sense! And yet, my sister assisted me in ending that threat and restoring the world. At the end of the day, Harmony always wins.”

“And did Discord bring an Army with him?! No, he was one target, one person you could use the Elements on! King Sombra has laid waste to two kingdoms already. You think he doesn’t have the numbers to destroy a third when his forces have the power of necromancy?!”

Luna shifted her posture, dismissing the threat as much as she dismissed my words, “I recognize he is a threat, but I will not fall from the light to burn away every shadow he casts. You let fear guide your actions far too much, love.” She then stepped closer, fixing me with a glare as anger entangled with pain, “This is what led to you killing Double Dealings. This is what led to you trying to assassinate Tarsus. This is what led to you murdering your own father.”

I clenched my teeth to prevent them from shivering in the cold. I backed up slowly, slipping into the unicorn disguise I had arrived in. Luna studied my movement, blue eyes tracking each step towards the door.

“There are seventeen thousand changelings left,” I broke the silence. “That’s fewer people than the town I was born in. Every day, the love reserves shrink, and we grow closer to starving again. Every damn day, those bastards who tried to have me killed are free to walk about, targeting my people, attacking my businesses, plotting with politicians to kick me out. You say the world isn’t ending? The walls have been closing in on changelings for ten thousand years. When the end comes, we will stand when all others fall.”

I ripped the door open with my magic, and left.