EVERFREE: A Post-Skaian Story

Chapters

1: I'm On Fire (I'm Okay)
2: I Must Be Fine, Cuz My Heart's Still Beating
3: Red Squirrel In the Morning
4: Ugly Human Heart, Part 1
5: Ugly Human Heart, Part 2
6: Ugly Human Heart, Part 3
PROLOGUE: AND YOU WOULD GO TO MYKONOS

1: I'm On Fire (I'm Okay)

Celestia stood at the balcony that led into her room, tired from a long day of work. She had elected to stay up a little late in order to enjoy Luna's weaving of the night sky, as a little treat for herself. She stood vigil over the landscape before her, sipping idly at her cup of white lotus tea, watching the skyline with a simple joie de vivre.
Then, there over the Everfree forest, a bright green portal appeared above the Everfree, and Celestia witnessed unwarranted disaster unfold before her eyes. First, it unleashed an object that careened into the earth, landing with a loud explosion, as if it had been travelling at speeds not seen outside of Rainbow Dash's stuntwork.

By this point, Celestia had moved to her telescope to get a better look at the situation.
Next, four objects flew out from the portal, hovering in an idle circle Celestia's fur prickled as she observed their forms. Grotesque statues that were combinations of flesh and metals, pulsating as they hovered a ways above the Everfree. They scattered off in four perpendicular directions, leaving trails of putrid smoke in their wake.

And finally, monsters. Monsters of all shapes and sizes burst out from the gate, some not quite making it in time and being visibly bisected by the portal's departure, where they burst like piñatas and dropped some strange looking objects she couldn't quite make out in the dark of the night. After a minute or so, they emerged from the woods in four directions, moving along the paths that the strange bio-mechanical objects left behind. Unfortunately, this meant that a wave of monsters was dead set upon Ponyville, and it wouldn't be long until they struck. She took a deep breath, and then moved with haste into the castle.

It wasn't long until the entire population of Ponyville was roused from their sleep. They were initially shaken awake by the explosion from the Everfree, followed by the strange blood-red creatures that emerged from the woods and began to cut a swathe of havoc as they made their way into town. Initially, it was only little imps that could only more or less get into dangerous mischief, but soon, massive alien ogres and basilisks began to wreck property with the intent to harm. Ponies scrambled to avoid being hurt, shrieks and croes of fear ringing across town.

The Elements of Harmony were barely able to handle a bugbear together, and despite their relatively strong power when combined, they were not making a dent in the invasion. Too many small fries, backed up by dangerously big fries, and it resulted in the group being split up.

Fluttershy was alone in the middle of a destroyed thoroughfare, fleeing for her life. She seemed to at least the ability to hold sway over the imps the same way she could talk to animals, but that barely mattered when she had been trying to avoid being crushed by a cyclops brandishing a tree. She shrieked, and tried to get away, hiding behind a house that the giant clumsily gripped its hands around to try and find her. She landed onto her hooves with a running start and scurried across the street, only for the cyclops to throw the tree in her path. She stumbled to a stop, and turned to see the beastly monster staring her down with its massive eye.

"FLUTTERSHY! GET DOWN!"
Without question, she followed the command ducking as far down as her body would allow, and suddenly a torrent of arrows flew sailing over her and into the monster, a few piercing its eye, to which it screamed in sudden rage and agony. A bottle, stuffed with cloth and lit on fire, arced above the ogre's face, and one last arrow hit its mark and set the other arrows aflame as it exploded upon the monster, engulfing it in fire, where it exploded into large chunks of strange material objects.

"Sick shot CD!" A new voice cried out.
A set of hooves jumped over the tree and landed by her with heavy thuds. She turned to thank her savior, whoever this marksmare was, only to find separate pairs of legs, standing a bit tall in front of her. Once crouched down, startling her somewhat, and her fear only grew stronger when she saw this creature covered in blood, staring directly at her with ice-blue eyes.
"Fluttershy, are you hurt?" the creature asked.
"N-n-n-no, I'm okay."
"Cool. We'll take care of the big fuckers, you should regroup with your friends at-"
She stopped and looked around, trying to find where the nearest landmark would be.
"I guess where the Library used to stand. Commune with any imps you find along the way, they'll help you fight back the big shits. Okay?"
"O-okay.." she responded, confused. Fluttershy's eyes flicked to the other creature, and noted that both of them looked eerily similar. Like twins, or something. The other one was lighting up another bottle of that potently flammable liquid. Then she realized something.
"W-wait. How do you know my name..?"
"Ask later. We got shit to kill. I'm sorry." The first one replied, and scurried off, carrying a weirdly complex archer's bow with her as she ran deeper into the town. Fluttershy shuddered, and got moving.

"A portal?!" Luna shrieked.
"Above the Everfree." Celestia replied, donning her armor. "Things flew out of it."
Night court had been cancelled swiftly when she heard the news, and guardsponies were already gearing up for a major battle. Celestia held her breath and gave a silent prayer as she, her sister, and the available barrack's worth of pegasi soldiers took flight into the night towards Ponyville.
"What things, sister?" Luna shouted above the wind.
"I'm not sure. And I believe discretion may be in order, Luna. If it was what I fear it was.. A Skaia gate."
"Say it not so! Do not tell me that the end of days hath reached our world!"

Rarity was trying desperately to save her sister from the disaster. She had managed to find Sweetie Belle, along with some of her more valuable fabrics, and stuffed the latter into a random saddlebag. She didn't have much time though, as massive claws burst from the windows and reached for Sweetie Belle. In a very unladylike gesture, Rarity swooped in and bit the claw as hard as she could, making the offending monster scream outside.

She scrambled out of the shop with Sweetie Belle, who screamed in fear when she saw a giant, salamander-looking creature crawling over the exterior walls, its many tongues flitting across the panelling of the boutique. She fired little sparks of magic at it, trying hard to hurt it from a distance, but her lack of magical control and a clear weak point meant she had power, but no precision.

"GO FOR THE EYES, KID!" A voice shouted at Sweetie Belle. She momentarily paused to see her who messenger was, which unfortunately allowed another basilisk enough time to sneak up on the unicorns from behind. Sweetie Belle yelped, and blasted the thing in the eyes with a column of magical energy. It flailed and scurried away, and Rarity turned to face the one that was still on her shop. A two-legged thing jumped and scrambled up the wall of the Boutique and onto the basilisk. She cracked a large wine bottle against its head, stunning the thing, with glass digging into its red skin. The stranger then grabbed the shard of glass, and shoved it in the throat of the beast. It wriggled and writhed as it found itself suddenly unable to breathe.
The stranger flipped off somersaulted from the creature, onto the ground, and then threw a lit bottle of alcohol at it, the creature catching bright fire. The monster shrieked and hissed, and threw itself off the building in an attempt to escape, only for the fire to consume it.

Rarity spun in rage at the stranger, and shrieked, "You ruffian! You nearly burned down my shop!! Who do you think you are, throwing bottled flame around like that you, you.." She trailed off, and observed the cyan ichor on the stranger's bare skin. "Are you bleeding?" She asked.
"Hmm?" The stranger looked at the blood stains on her face and outfit. "Oh, yeah, forgot about that. Don't worry about me dear. Go find your-"
"Oh, no, if you're the one that saved our lives, the least I can do is repay the favor. Here-" She magically wrapped some of the fabrics she had collected and wrapped them about the body of this person.
"It's hardly sanitary, but until you can see a proper medical professional about it, the least I can do is staunch the flow, less you pass out while trying to help us."
"Oh, dope! Thanks, dear. If you see any more ponies, tell them that the uh.. Elements? Are gathering at the ex-Library. Where the big tree used to be, whatever the hell you call it."
"Oh! Splendid, thank you, Miss..?"
"Delta Carol. Let's hope this isn't the last time we meet, yeah? Later!" She waved goodbye with her strange hoof, and ran down on the street on her weird legs.

The rest of the Elements found themselves saved serendipitously by those strange two creatures, and soon, thanks to their regrouping and planning, they had established a safe zone from the monsters. Ponies from across town kept showing up in the area, explaining that the 'weird tall thing' saved them and told them to meet at the place.
Celestia nearly careened into the crowd in desperation to find her protege. Ponies were shocked by this sudden lack of decorum, but bowed as was tradition. Celestia called them off politely, and requested to speak to Twilight and her friends.
Her frantic heart settled down a touch when Twilight and her friends approached, relatively safe and sound. Soldiers quickly got to work tending wounds and moving out to scout the town and take it back from the monsters.

"Thank goodness you're alright." She said softly while she nuzzled her Faithful Student, who gladly reciprocated the gesture.
"Do you know what's happening, Princess?" Twilight asked as the hug came to a close.
"I believe I have an idea, but I would like to confirm my hypothesis first. Has anypony strange or unusual arrived in the town since this began?"
"Oh!" Twilight spoke up, "Now that you mention it, there's somepony who's been helping! Well, not somepony... But I managed to get a quick sketch of her before she ran off to help more ponies."

Celestia peered down at Twilight's sketch, and narrowed her eyes. Her right eyelid twitched, just a little, but it was enough for her star pupil to notice.
"Princess..? What's the matter?"
"I am afraid rough times may be ahead of Twilight.." She turned, and announced to the guards ponies, "If you see this human, apprehend her immediately and bring her to me. She has a lot to answer for."

2: I Must Be Fine, Cuz My Heart's Still Beating

Ponyville had certainly seen better days.
That's really all there was to say on the matter.

Ponies had gathered at a somewhat disheveled town hall per the request of Princess Celestia, who stood patiently, awaiting her quarry's retrieval. Everypony else in the room felt cold, as if Celestia's radiance had turned bitter and dark. They silently prayed that it wouldn't stay like that for long.

The guards brought in that two-legged creature, the human, who seemed confused and scared.
She dropped to her knees and stared up at the Princesses.

Then more guards entered the scene, carrying a slightly different human, except this one was kicking and screaming, shouting things like, "I helped you ungrateful little shits out!" and "Let go of me!" This one was covered in cyan blood, for some reason, and the wounds were wrapped in what seemed to be fabrics from Rarity's boutique.
The other human, the one with red blood, shuddered and clutched the metallic pearl on her necklace, and the blue one shifted suddenly into the other. Everypony gasped, as they saw the fabric wrapped around one head transfer to the other.

Her facial expressions suddenly warped and twitched, anger and grief mixing and smearing into the general muddy emotions of fear. She slammed a fist against her own head, and the ponies all recoiled, not sure what was going on.

=> C-Side: Get Delta to shut the fuck up.

You two have an internal argument about who should front and handle the situation. The one who knew about etiquette and political positions of this society, or the one who wouldn't crumble in the face of an authority figure. It takes a lot of deliberation, and some self harming, to get Delta to see that maybe she shouldn't make like Icarus and taunt the Sun, literally.
Not to mention that the Moon and the Stars were right there.

The human stared up at Celestia with suddenly heterochromic eyes, and said nothing. Celestia decided this was the best moment to test her hypothesis.
"Name and Rank, human."

The human shivered again, and her face screwed up again for a moment. She shook her head, and spoke.
"C-Side Disco, Seer of Blood."

Checkmate, Celestia thought. Her face grew darker.
"C-Side Disco. You, in your reckless actions, have brought a dire threat to Equestria, her crowns, and her ponies. What say you in your defense?" Celestia asked with an uncharacteristically cold tone.

"Uh.." The human stammered, shaking, standing there like an absolute dolt.

"This wasn't part of the plan...!" C-Side screamed internally.
"No shit, huh! What're you gonna do about it, C-Side? Kiss her ass? Brownnose that fucker?" Delta countered.
"Maybe! Yeah, maybe! Most villains of Equestria don't pull the 'let me fix this' card!"
"Yeah, uh huh. Did you forget what the denizen said?"
"Fuckin.. choose to squander one world or another, I know. Trolley problem thing, I get it."
"It's either this place, which hates us already, or something new, maybe better."
"We can make them like us! It's what we do."
"Sure. Fine, go ahead, but don't come crying to me when they opt to hang us."

"We plead guilty, your majesty."
"You-" Celestia faltered for a second. "Plead guilty..?"
"Like.. yeah. This was our fault. We screwed up. We didn't know that monsters and constructs from our Skaia session were following us when we escaped it. Everything that happened here tonight, and the following few days? Our fault. And I'm not in a position to justify it.. but we only came here to find a place to call home."

Luna tilted her head upward a bit and stared down at the human. "You know the purpose of a Skaia session, do you not? Why wouldst thou do such a thing?!"
"..Yeah, we do. We left it because it.." The human seemed to flinch away some tears. "Failed." She finished.
Celestia and Luna looked at each other, their gazes softening just a bit.
"It failed," Delta continued her face moving sharply from grieving to steely eyed, "And we had nowhere else to go. We didn't want to be made into literal nothing. So we came here."

Twilight and her friends huddled up. "Okay girls," Twilight whispered, "Does anypony know what a Sky-uh session is?"
The girls muttered and uttered, and came up with a general 'no'.
"I thought they were just talking about the sky. Like just," Rainbow Dash waved vaguely upward, "That. The sky. And she just fell from it? Like.. Pchoooo, pbbt." She mimicked the sound of somepony falling flat on their face from a long distance, slowly lowering a hoof while doing so. The girls giggled a bit.
"Well, wha'd'y'all think is gonna happen? They ain' just gon' send her back there or somethin', do ya?" Applejack mused.
"Well we can't just let that pony get punished for something she didn't mean to do! That'd be really mean!" Pinkie frowned a bit.

The gang looked at her with bemused looks.
"Pinkie, do you need glasses? That ain't no pony I ever seen." Applejack said.
"Uh, yeah, Pinkie. From what I can remember from my studies, that's a.. Human? And I don't think they've been in this world for millennia - even before Princess Celestia and Luna's time." Twilight tacked on a few facts. "Though I will admit - I'm not sure where the second human comes in.. From the symptoms she displayed when combined like that.. I wonder if it's multiple personality disorder.."
"Multiple personality disorder?" Rainbow Dash cocked her head. "Woah, woah, woah, what are you saying? The two humans becoming one human.. was once just.. One human? That split up her brain?"
"..More or less. However, it seems she's found a way to cope, judging by her ability to manifest her alter to work alongside her. So technically, we're dealing with two humans."
"No! C-Side's a pony! Duuuh!" Pinkie argued, "You can't see it, but she's a caring pony and her brain buddy is a sweet dragon! I plan to throw them both a party if they get to stay!"
The others stared at her.

"Well.. regardless of whatever she is.." Rarity tried to get back on track, "Delta, the other one, she gave me her name, and C-Side did put their well-being on the line to ensure our safety, as well as everypony else's. So I believe I agree with Pinkie, as ridiculous as that may sound. No pony or.. human.. should be punished for a good deed."
"Uh, yeah! She did all these insane moves and stuff! She knows how to kick some serious flank! I don't want her getting banished to the moon or whatever." Rainbow Dash concurred.
Applejack hummed. "I guess she did work mighty hard to keep my farm safe. Kept my sweet ol' granny from gettin' hurt too. I don' see why she's gotta go."

Twilight looked to Fluttershy. "How about you? What do you think of C-Side Disco?"
"...I'm really torn.." She meekly replied.
"How so, darling?" Rarity asked.
"The first thing she did when she saw me was attack that big cyclops and save me, and.. I don't know.. That was her first instinct. She's been trained to fight.. but it's not good for her... and.. she apologized when she said she was going to kill the monsters.. oh, I don't know." Fluttershy looked over to the trial, and was silent for a minute. "She knew my name. I don't know how, but she seems to know a lot. Way more than is possible.. I don't know how to feel about that. Rainbow, she knew you'd be impressed by flashy moves. Applejack, she knew you'd be on her side if she helped save your family and farm. She knows a lot about us!"
"Uh, she knows about us because we're awesome, obviously!" Rainbow Dash interjected.
"No, Rainbow, that's not it. She's not.. from here." Fluttershy tried to hold her ground. "Didn't you hear her? She was talking about 'coming here', and finding a new place to call home. I think.. I think she's from somewhere that nopony in history has been to - not even the Princesses. And wherever she came from made her really powerful. I don't want her to hurt anypony.. but I don't think she wants to either.."
The group was quiet for a little bit.

"And if we have any say in what will become of us.. the primary thing is that we want to fix this. Please just let us fix this." C-Side offered.
Celestia opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. Her mane seemed to float over her eyes. "You started a chain of events that could lead to the end times, and you think you can fix it. Explain how."
"Uhm.. the Denizen we had warned of something." C-Side began, "It said that we would.. make a choice. Squander a world's safety in exchange for another's."
"Those exact words?" Luna asked.
"To the letter." Delta affirmed.

Celestia solemnly shook her head.
"I am afraid I cannot tolerate what you've done. For the safety of my ponies, my loved ones, and my world, I must-"
"WAIT!" Twilight shouted.
And wait she did. She slowly turned to look at Twilight, who moved along with her friends to form a protective formation in front of the human.
"What if what she says is true? What if our world is in danger, and that we need her help to fix it?" Twilight posed the question.
"Hey, wait-" C-Side began.
"Yeah! If it weren't for her help, both of them-" Rainbow Dash faltered a little, not sure if the human counted as one or two, "Then Ponyville would've been wiped off the map!!"
"And she did say she didn't *mean* to do it.." Fluttershy added.
The other ponies, including other citizens, argued their cases, Pinkie being exceptionally adamant that "nopony comes to Ponyville and gets away without a party".

"No, this is our fault-" C-Side kept trying to interject, growing more and more agitated, before Delta screamed, "NO! SHUT UP! THIS IS OUR FAULT, DAMMIT!"
Everypony in the area stopped and stared at the human, clutching her head in her strange, claw like hooves.
"We were never supposed to come here, we were TOLD that, but we made the choice to, and now look at this shitshow we've caused!" Delta's voice suddenly switched to C-Side's, "We released four ancient anti-magic statues upon a place that literally relies on magic!! And if magic equals friendship and friendship equals harmony, therefore magic equals harmony, we just let loose FOUR DOOMSDAY DEVICES ON YOUR WORLD! We fucked up! I didn't want to end this fucking world! Fuck! God! Dammit!"

She kept slamming her fists against her head, the wound on which suddenly reopened. Blood trickled down into her eyes, and she shut them tight, and shuddered.
She lifted two of her arms, pointing in two separate directions. Another set of arms, belonging to Delta, appeared and pointed in the perpendicular.
"The four Dark Hearts are in these directions." They announced simultaneously. "Please, allow us to collect them, dispose of them, and leave your world in peace." before suddenly resuming a more normal posture, and wiping the blood from her eyes.

Celestia blinked. Stars and stones, this mare is all sorts of damaged. She thought, and then said aloud, "Luna, what say you?"
Luna pondered it darkly, before realizing something critical, and slowly approaching the human, the other ponies skirting out of the way.
"How wilst thou thwart the Dark Hearts, lest they bring magical creatures of all sorteth low, as you say?"
"Oh, humans aren't innately magical." Delta replied.
"Allow me to test that.."
Luna suddenly charged a magical bolt, and shot it at the human, to seemingly no effect at all. C-Side blinked, and patted her chest down to see if she was still alive.
"Just as thou said. Then there be my answer, sister. She is the only one who can take care of this problem thusly. However, as everypony can see, she is gravely wounded, and shan't be able to fight on her own. She will need.. assistance."

The entirety of the crowd gasped and murmured to each other.
"Not the Element Bearers, please."
Luna turned her head, confused. "And why not?"
"If we fail.. The closer the Elements are to their bearers, the longer it'll take for the inevitable snowstorm."
"You think it'll be a snowstorm. For what reason?" Celestia asked.
"Well, disharmony means big yum yum for Windigos." C-Side answered.
The other ponies murmured and nodded their agreements. Disharmony DID mean big yum yum for Windigos.
"You are quite well versed for somepony from another world. Twilight? What do you and your friends say?"
"We say she stays to help!" Twilight declared, her friends concurring.

Celestia nodded, her expression still a little dark. "Very well. You start your travels tomorrow morning. You will be assigned one assistant and some chaperones to monitor you in your endeavor. This impromptu court is adjourned!"

As the ponies in the room departed, Celestia stood and waited until she and the human were alone. She slowly approached CD, who noted they were similar in height. Despite that, C-Side couldn't help but feel intimidated as Celestia stared her down.
"Do Not. Screw. This. Up."

3: Red Squirrel In the Morning

Sunrise.
Your prediction came faster than you thought. As foretold, you stayed awake until the dawn, and you're not even sure why. Your heart rate hasn't slowed down, despite the fact that the moment has long since passed. Probably because this is one of those out of the frying pan, into the fire sorta situations. You've been pacing under a random tree out in the fields for hours. Not even a set of fresh clothes is helping. The crowns were at least tolerant enough to have their field medics tend to your wounds, which now ache underneath gauze, disinfectant, and suture. Right now, you're surrounded by guards on all sides, but they seem to be leaving you alone. Perhaps they're only here to act as canon fodder if you freak out and try to attack somepony. You wonder if any of them would be made into your assistant.

You're not even sure who you're gonna be working with, you just feel like they're gonna hate your guts immediately.
"That's just the anxiety talking, C-Side." Delta thumbs through your captchalogue deck, trying to find something.
"Delta, whatcha looking for?" You ask.
"Oh, you know."
"... No, I don't."
The deep purple cards flicker above you, shuffling through a menagerie of random junk and bullshit. You find that some of your cards still hold the alchemy machinery that you packed with you - you honestly forgot about those!
But they're so heavy and cumbersome on your modus, each machine takes a whole song to summon. You'd be better off pulling those out when-
*If*. If you get a place to call home. Delta's eye twitches.

"There you are." Fluttershy interrupts your reverie. She nods a greeting at the guards, who at least seem to know her by reputation, seeing as they let her through without protest. You look over to her and nod your head in a casual greeting.

"Howdy."
Fluttershy stares up at your modus, concerned.
"...Hi.. I uhm...I wanted to ask-"
"How we know your name, right?" You dismiss the deck and it pops away back into whatever hammerspace you keep that fetch modus in. She blinks, and then returns to the ask at hand.
"Yes. And how you knew to get Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity on your good side."
"Hm.. I've got a few answers. All technically true. But a lot of them are existential doozies."
"Well.. I'll take the least doozy one, please."

You tap your chin thoughtfully.
"As a Seer.. we.. see." You slap your palm on your forehead, and that particular gash stings, threatening to reopen.
"I mean, duh, that's obvious." Delta interrupts you. Fluttershy is a little taken aback by your headmate's remarks. It's probably more the fact that, from an outside perspective, you're talking to yourself.
"Delta, lemme finish. Like I was saying, we have visions. Really deep and involving ones. And when we were a kid... we saw this world, a lot."
"Saw it..?" Fluttershy says in a barely audible whisper.
"Yeah. Almost like little stories. We'd sit down, kick back, and relax as we had the sights and sounds of Equestria blasted into our brain. So .. creepy as it is to say, we've seen a lot of Ponyville. That includes the events that involve the Elements of Harmony."

=> Delta: Get bored and wander off.

Your most prized item, Disco II, flashes against the morning sunlight. The light seems to almost bounce in patterns and formations, and through these little flashes, you emerge.
And wander off. You think you hear C-Side call out to you, but you don't really pay attention. She stops, and you assume she's giving you the space you need.

You don't really mind the fact that C-Side is hyperfixated on ponies - hell, you're not above admitting you find some of the dragons cute - but man, you never thought that you'd have to play the game by their namby pamby rules.
At least Skaia had your work cut out for you. You shuffle through the cards on your fetch modus, and finally find your quarry.
Booze. You were happy that you didn't have to summon the alchemy shit to make any new alcohol, or worse, ask where the nearest liquor store is.
Until all this mess was over, the cans you had in your inventory would last you.
Hopefully.

=> C-Side: Chastise your alter.

"Seriously, Delta?? We have a job to do and you're drinking?"
She ignores you, mutters the lyrics to the song on your modus, and glugs down a swig of some bitter brew. You taste it - which is honestly the worst part of your weird clone item. You cough and spit, trying to get the taste out of your mouth. Fluttershy steps back a bit, confused by everything.
You shake yourself back into focus and hope you can explain to Fluttershy before you get wasted.
"Sorry, about that," you clear your throat, "where were we? Your name?"
"Uhm, yes."
"Yeah, it's like I said- we witnessed a lot of you and your friends work."
Her face blanches a bit.
"Nothing personal, mind. It was more.. unique moments of.. greatness in regards to your aspects." You give a sheepish grin, and you know by her disturbed expression that she's not believing you. Her eyes flick to Dorothy having more drink, and you choke back the cough. Your heart rate is speeding up again.
"Like uhm...the time you and Tree Hugger went to the Gala and Discord was kind of an asshole about it?"
She flinches, and then blinks. "You saw that..?"
"Yeah."
She steps back again. Shit, shit, shit. Heart's pumping real heavy now.
"Look, I.. I don't have any designs on this place if that's what you're worried about."
Delta's eyes fix on yours, and her thoughts rattle in your mind.

"C-Side, you dork. She's already got enough high level powercreep shenanigans in her life. You need to appeal to her grounded side of life."

You decide to trust her on that.
"Like.. all I used to do before all this stuff happened was cleaning animal reserves."
She perks up. "Really?"
You nod, and then your breath catches. Saying you worked at a private lab that tested on animals would be a very bad idea. You consider the other possibilities. Zoo. Animal shelter. Pet sitter. Reserve care technician.. Yeah fuck it, zoo. Don't appeal to her too hard.

"Yeah, it was a zoo." You say nonchalantly.
"Oh.. oh, dear, those poor things were probably in tight cages.."
"No, actually." You lie. They totally were. "The macaques alone had an enclosure the size of a two story home!"
They were like nine cubic feet and you know it. "It was mostly because there was a lot of parts of the world that like.. the animals that those places came from? Weren't habitable anymore. There were a lot of extinction prevention programs like that at home."
Liar. They were bred en masse to be test subjects for medical experiments. You're pretty sure that one time, they literally put the rabbits in one test room on cocaine for research.

"Extinction prevention...?" she asks.
Shit. You sigh, and decide that's a perfect way to merge into the truth.
"Our society didn't really.. respect nature. Sure, there were humans who fought tooth and nail for it, but the ones in charge only saw nature reserves as real-estate in waiting.."
"Oh..."
"Yeah. It.. it sucked. A lot. That's just like the tip of the iceberg in terms of suck. So.. when.. I left home," You don't have the heart to tell her that your world ended. She doesn't know what a Skaia session is, and it'd be better to not have that burden. "When I left home, this place seemed.. so, peaceful, and welcoming, and kind in comparison, that I thought, 'Well hell, there'd be plenty worse places to try and call home'."
"I see..."
She's quiet for a bit.

"... You and Delta... mentioned a Skaia session. What is that?"
Before you can answer, Delta's voice rings out across the field.
"It's what happens at the predestined end of the world!"
God dammit, Delta, why.
Fluttershy looks back to you, horrified.
"Is that true?"
Your face scrunches up, which answers your question.
"Your world ended?!" She squeaks.
"Y-yeah. It was.. dying. It was just its time to go."
"Oh.." Framing it like it was a dying animal helped her realign, it seems. "So, what's Skaia then?"
"It's an entity responsible for.. ensuring the circle of life continues. It takes the old, dead, universe.. it selects a few people from the universe to participate in its rebirth.. to.."

Your mind wanders to your friends.
You can't control your breathing. Fluttershy looks to Delta, who is comparatively calm, if a bit agitated looking. She takes another drink. Bitter whiskey dances on your tongue. You can't stop it. Horrible taste, horrible person.
"C-Side?!" Fluttershy yelps.
"S sorry. Sorry. Sorry."
Who's saying that?
"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry,"
Oh, it's you.
You keep repeating, "sorry, sorry, sorry."
Delta is approaching. She's growling.
She snatches you up and pulls you into her.

=> Delta: Take over.

C-Side disappears into your body and is tucked away in the back of your mind. You sneer, and look down at the little butter pegasus.
"She was panicking. I took care of it."
You can tell she likes you less. You take another swig of that sweet liquor.
"You should probably head on home, hon." You advise the mare.
"Uh- alright- are you sure C-Side will be okay?"
"We'll live."
"..Alright then."
She practically turns tail and runs, were it not for the fact that she took flight not long after. The guards move to make a protective formation in her direction, but it's all for naught. You sit down against the tree, very deliberately on the side of the trunk that wasn't facing the morning sun. You yawn, and close your eyes for some quick shut-eye.

"Helloooo? Equestria to C-Side Disco, you in there?!"
The Rainbow pony is yelling in your face. You blink against the harsh mid-day sun and sneer. How come the only pony who's been nice to you is the fancy one?
"Delta Carol. C-Side was having a panic attack. You're stuck with me, pride flag."
"What did you call me?!" She glares.
"Nothing." You grin. "Whatcha need?"
She rolls her eyes. "Whatever.. I'm here to bring you your new partner. She's gonna be the one helping you get those weird freakish hearts back."
You look down. There's a unicorn there, surrounded by guards escorting her. Your eyes strain from the bright golden fur and mane that looked like a freeze frame of flame. You also note her horn is locked in some weird chastity ring.
Probably something to make sure she doesn't pull some bullshit.

You try to recall this mare's name, but you're not the one with the hyperfixation on Equestria - C-Side is, and she's still recovering from her breakdown. You don't really want to deal with her shit right now, so you just hold out your hand to shake it.
"Pleasure to meet you. Name's Delta Carol. You?"
The mare looks up at you with a weary gaze, and then sticks out her hoof to shake it. Goddamn, nice and firm. Respect!
"Sunset Shimmer. Ex-protege of Celestia."
One of your eyebrows arcs upward. Isn't this mare from the weird human AU? You remember that, at least. But that was in a mirror world, so what's she doing here?

Rainbow Head blows a whistle, making you both flinch, and derailing your train of thought.
"Since you're both in hot water with Equestria, you two will be working together to earn your collective redemption. To that end, you'll both be monitored by two specialist ponies assigned by Princess Celestia herself. You'll meet at the train station at 12 O' Clock, Sharp!"
"And what time is it right now?" You ask.
"11:54." Rainbow answers you.
"Dooooopeee." You sarcastically cheer, and take another swig of drink. "Thanks for making us late. Which way to the station?"
She points vaguely in a direction near the center of town. You shrug, and motion to Sunset to follow, and start jogging along. Some of the guards follow in your wake.

It sure was a train station.
That's really all there was to say on the matter.

Your eyes glaze over the hubbub of apprehensive ponies giving you a wide berth, very clearly afraid of you. You feel C-Side's voice despairing in the back of your head, and hush her. You look for anyone that would look like a "specialist", but it's just a bunch of ponies going about their day.

The sun looms directly overhead, right above you, so it's definitely noon. And you're sticking out like a sore thumb, so you're not sure what the next course of action is. You feel a strange breeze, and an honest-to-god manila folder smacks you on the back of the head. You grab it, inspect it, and see no real sign of its sender on the surface. Sunset looks at you with a puzzled look as you finger it open, and pull out two train tickets to someplace called the "Crystal Empire", and a letter that has actual ransomware-magazine-cutout text.
It takes you a moment to decipher the actual text, because the variant capitalization makes your eyes glaze over the actual message the first few times.
"Board the train. We will meet you at your seats."
You hand it to Sunset, who inspects it, the tickets, and looks around for any signs of somepony lurking in the shadows or crowds. No such luck. "Whoever threw this at you is really good at blending in, I guess."
You and your companion shrug, and show the tickets to the conductor. He looks suspiciously at you both, but punches the tickets without complaint. You follow the seating number to the near back of the train, and walk inside the car.
There's no one in here. You roll your eyes, and splay out on one of the uncomfortably small, backless seats.
You rest your head on your arms, folded up against the window in a relaxed position.

"So!" You huff a sigh. "What are you in for?"
Sunset takes her seat on the other side of the car. She flips her hair - mane? - somewhat dramatically, and sighs. "Oh, you know, the usual. Tried to use my magic to lead an invasion into Equestria by stealing Princess Twilight's crown. You?"
"Unleashed four anti-magic statues that probably will spell doom for the world unless they're dealt with."
"Oh, so *you're* the reason that they're considering my freedom?" Sunset chuckles. "Guess I owe you one. I dabbled in a bit of anti-magic spells to try and take on Twilight since I knew she'd be coming for me, but, you can see where that got me." She taps her horn. "They probably think I can help you with that."
"So, what, they'll let you outta jail?"
"Jail? Oh, no, they just slapped this thing on me and have me on probation. The only thing that changes if we succeed is that this thing finally comes off."

"IF." A new mare interrupts you both. You look over, and there's some pony hiding mysteriously behind a comically huge newspaper. There's another mare sitting next to her, in a real snazzy fucking suit and sunglasses. A real MIB looking pony. You grin in amusement, and the mare hidden behind the newspaper lowers it slightly to eye you and Sunset up. The mint lady looks way more excited to meet you.
"IF you succeed at this."

C-Side's voice, still wavering a bit, but finally back to coherence, whispers exhaustedly to you. "Agents from S.M.I.L.E. It looks like Lyra and Bon Bon, but they shouldn't know that we know that. They'll get on edge if you do."
You groan internally. They're fucking feds. Greeaaaaaat.

"Don't need to tell me twice." You reply out loud, both to "Bon Bon" (seriously, what kind of name is that??), and your headmate. You shift your focus to the mares, and grin a bit wider when you see that they look like a futch/futch lesbian couple. The suits really sell that impression.
"You ladies got names?"

The minty toothpaste looking mare pops up. "I'm L-" She clears her throat. "Agent Heartstrings." She glances over to the other mare, who stares you down.
"Secret Agent Sweetie Drops."
"Charmed, dear." You nod. "Welcome to the team, I guess."
Bon Bon gives you some kinda sneer. "Let me get one thing straight- we are not here to help you. We're only here to monitor your progress and make sure neither of you try anything funny. We have direct contact with our superiors at all times, and are trained in hoof-to-hoof combat. If you step out of line, your flank's on the chopping block. Got it?"
She's trying so hard to be intimidating. It's cute! You decide to humor her, and lean back.
"Yeah, I know, if you say jump, I say how high."
She glares daggers at you, but you couldn't care.

The train whistle sounds off in the distance, and the floor rumbles a bit as the car lurches into motion. You stretch a bit more, and settle as best you can into the seat for a nap. Before you can, though, you're prodded by a hoof. You snap one eye open and look at your assailant.
It's Heartstrings. And she's grinning wider than the Joker.

"Hiii..! I'm just doing a bit of research on humans. For Agency purposes. You see, humans haven't been encountered in a long, *long* time. And, uhm, I personally volunteered to interview you about your society! Would you mind answering a few questions?"
Oh, shit. Humans are her hyperfixation. C-Side made jokes about this back when you watched the show with her.

"C-Side," you whisper internally. "You there?"
Nothing. She went back to sleep.
God dammit, C-Side, why.
"Sssssure! But I'd really like to nap first-"
"Oh, it won't be too long at all, trust me." She interrupts you and produces a college textbook worth of paper, chock full of questions, and a pencil, freshly sharpened.
"Okay, question one.. how come you have a mane, but no coat?"
You have the feeling you're not gonna get sleep anytime soon.

4: Ugly Human Heart, Part 1

"Question 123A, section IV: are there any food accommodations that ponies should be aware of for humans? Do you eat anything that ponies do not?"
You've been at this for hours now. Your head is clutched in your hands. You're about to snap. You suddenly look up and stare this mare down and bare your teeth.
"M E A T." You growl. Heartstrings reacts appropriately this time, abject concern and wariness. You feel yourself growing worked up, escalating from agitation to rage. The other lady, Sweetie Drops, is getting ready to fight. You can feel her heart quickening.
"We ate SO much meat. Fish. Cows. Chicken. Pigs. Mixtures of meat! Buffalo! Bear! Deers! Cats! Dogs! If it got bad enough, we ate EACH OTHER! There were entire industries dedicated to meat!! And buddy, I haven't eaten any meat in a long damn time! So if you don't step the fuck off, I'M GOING TO-"

=> C-SIDE: TAKE OVER NOW

You reach out from the back of Delta's mind and yank her back, sending your collective body into the seat as your mind takes over. Disco II flashes, and you're now dressed as you'd usually look.
"Holy fuck sorry I didn't realize how agitated Delta was until I heard her yelling. I'm good. We're good. Sorry about that." You pepper the mare in apologies. She blinks at you. Sunset also blinks at you. Wait, Sunset Shimmer is here? You guess she's here. You're not sure why, Delta isn't in much of a state to fill you in, and your memories tend to be spotty unless you're both at the front of the mind.

"Did- are you- are you somepony else? Your voice is different." Lyra asks you. "Your clothes are different!"
"Uh- oh, god, yeah. Multiple personality disorder. C-Side Disco now, not Delta Carol. As for the clothes - it's a Skaia thing."
She grins, and flips through her paperwork.
"Okay! 'Question number 302a: Do you have any illnesses or disorders that affect your mental health or stability? MPD'..." she jots down that, then looks back up at you. "Anything else?"
"Depression. Anxiety. Probably PTSD?" You answer. "You know, you took my headmates freakout in stride pretty well."

Lyra beams at you. "Don't worry about me, I've dealt with some real pieces of work on this job. Honestly, I expected you to snap way earlier. This questionnaire tests for irritability and hostility in the face of mundanity, along with a lot of other things." She flips through the paperwork, and writes down, "Outburst at question 123A-IV.. swiftly deescalated by alter C-Side Disco.. Okay! You good to pick up where we left off?"
"Actually.. if it's all the same with you, Miss Heartstrings, I haven't gotten much sleep in the past day. We gotta get some shut eye. Can we get this done later?"

She nods, writes down one last note and starts magically packing up her assortments of paper and writing tools. She returns to Bon Bon, who is still warily brandishing a grappling hook and aiming squarely at you. It takes a bit of reassurance to get her to calm down.
Your headmate really isn't helping your reputation, it seems. You curl up into a ball on your seat and get comfy..

You step off the train, and immediately, your stomach drops in fear.
It was snowing.

No, no, this wasn't apocalyptic snow, but you'd been asleep for so long you didn't realize you crossed an entire climate area overnight. Damn, these ponies know how to make the trains run.
Regardless, you know where you are - the Crystal Empire sure does live up to the name.
This shit is more Crystal than that blue lady from Star Fox.

The cold bites at your fingers, and your initial panic returns. You hate the cold. A lot. Not even just because of the fact that it's how your world ended, the snow is just a miserable fucking thing to trudge through.
Your body shivers violently, and you clutch your arms tight to your chest. You summon your cards and shuffle through them, looking for the right card. The rest of the group observes you with a bit of trepidation.
A really, really long song starts to play in your head. And it's the entire thing.
Delta groans. You mutter the lyrics, and pull out your thick winter jacket from your Karaoke Fetch Modus.
"Ain't getting out of here alive / Ice V has arrived.."
Lyra points up at your fetch modus with shock and wonder. "What is that?"
You wave her off. "I'll tell you about it later. We got hotter irons in the fire." You throw the coat on over your chest and zip it up.

The group was about to ask the locals if they had seen any suspicious activity when Sunset pointed at the mountain range.
"Holy Toledo..." Lyra peered over her glasses.
"Looks like we found our target." Sunset answered.
In the distance, one of the higher mountain peaks was covered in a slick, gooey substance, like tar or oil, perhaps both, and maybe more. The stench itself could be picked up on from where the group stood, and CD grimaced.

"Augh, it smells like a junkyard."
"..What kind of horrific junkyards have you been to?" Sunset asked.
"Human ones." C-Side replied, and she began to walk in the direction of the mountain.
"Hay! Hold on!" Sunset shouted as she moved to catch up with the human, getting in the way to stop her. "I'm gonna need some details here. What was usually in those junkyards? And how come they're showing up on that mountain?"
C-Side gave a groan. "Well, if you HAVE to know, a lot of electronic and mechanical waste. Crude oil, rusted metal, chemical waste and runoff.. Real poisonous shit."

"MORE Details! I can't work with just 'chemical waste' and 'crude oils'!! That can mean so many different things, and if we walk in preparing for acids and get mercury, we'd be screwed!!" Sunset stamped a hoof on the ground.
"Dude-" She looked over to Sunset. "I really can't say. It was just fucked. Humans were not good at handling chemical waste. We had catastrophic spills every other year, becaus-"
"Okay, FINE! Fine! Let's go with a physically impossible hodgepodge of sludge. Now WHY are they showing up on the mountain?!"

"That, I can answer. It's the effect of one of the Dark Hearts, which were.. involved in a quest I had before coming here. Each one had some unique weird aura around it that made it dangerous to approach. This one was just.. The Sludge™."
"The.. Sludge, TM?"
"You didn't want it anywhere on you. It ate through skin like salt in water. You couldn't breathe it in, or else you'd pass out from the fumes really quickly. And then die. Obviously."
"Okay, see, now we're going somewhere. We're gonna need hazmats and gas masks."
You huff a sigh. "Yeah, unfortunately, I don't have an HEV suit lying around."
"A what?"
"H.E.V. Hazardous EnVironment suit. It'd be perfect for a situation like this.. I could alchemize one if we had a picture of it.."
CD began to pace back and forth, looking through her inventory. Sunset peered up at the cards, trying to figure what each object was.

Lyra and Bon Bon watched their charges brainstorm from a few meters away. Lyra idly chowed down on a recently purchased bowl of street food, occasionally spilling some on her freshly laundered suit.
"Couldn't we get hazmat equipment from our connections with the Crystal Empire?"
"No." Bon Bon answered.
"Why not?"
"We're not supposed to help them."
"Why not?" Lyra asked again, more pointedly.
"Because we were ordered not to. Specifically."
"Ugh, come on, Bon. Every time we blindly follow orders, somepony gets hurt. Don't you remember Operation Cosmic Crisp?"
Bon Bon grimaced. "Lyra! I thought we agreed to NEVER talk about Operation Cosmic Crisp again!"
"I'm not talking about it, I'm using it as relevant intel! My point being that we should help them, even if that goes against the will of our superiors!"
"Okay, fine. YOU can help them. But don't say I didn't warn you. The higher ups are gonna know we asked for equipment."
"I know." Lyra confidently called in to the magical radio tucked away in her suit jacket. "Agent Heartstrings reporting in and requesting mission critical equipment."

It took a minute, but someone from HQ responded.
"That is a 10-4, Heartstrings.. Viquemare would like to know what equipment is necessary and why?"
"Reconnaissance reports show high quantities of nonspecific toxic substances currently covering a mountain near the Crystal Empire capital. Said mountain is believed to contain Anomaly One, which will be unobtainable without proper hazmat equipment."

There was silence for a bit.
"Anomaly Zero will have to obtain her own equipment, but the Crystal Guard may be able to supply some to you, Agent Drops, and the Assistant in short order. A message informing them of this request shall be sent shortly."
"Ten four, Heartstrings out." She clicked off the radio with a flair.
"Since when did you know comms babble so well?" Bon Bon smiled.
"I learned from the best!" Lyra joked, gently elbowing her partner with a wink.

CD was suddenly behind the two agents. She was keeping quiet, but observing. Bon Bon tensed up when she noticed her presence.
"WOAH!" Lyra yelped. "Hey, maybe talk next time?! Don't sneak up on us like that!"
"You were on the phone. I don't interrupt folks on the phone. It's rude. Anyways, you guys got some hazmat gear?"
"Uhm.. yeah, but not for you. I mean, not for any malevolent reasons, you're just not a pony."
C-Side's eye twitched. "Yeah, that's fine - I just need to borrow one for like a minute."

A massive machine crunched into the ground as CD awkwardly read off the lyrics on the captchalogue card. C-Side at least had the courtesy to explain what a fetch modus was at all, going into a minor lecture about the different kinds of modi that existed, and the intricacies of why almost each modus was a bitch to use.

For starters, she used the words "fetch modus", "captchalogue", and "inventory" interchangeably, and furthermore explained that certain modi can be weaponized in combat by hurling items at enemies from the card.
Lyra dutifully took notes on everything. And then she asked the question that C-Side had been dreading.
"So... what's yours, then?"
"Ugh. Karaoke." CD answered. Sunset giggled.
"But you don't sing. You just mutter the lyrics?" Lyra said, confused.
"Yeah." C-Side answered. "It's a long story."

She captchalogued a hazmat suit, and flipped the card over to show a strange sequence of numbers and letters. She pressed those numbers into a blank card, which punched an array of holes in it. She then dug around through her inventory and pulled out another card with one of her human outfits inside it.
She overlapped the elements of each one, represented by an && symbol on the machine she was working with, and produced a fresh suit that, despite its gaudy appearance, would definitely protect her body from the toxins. The pony head even remained, which made her look like some weird bipedal pony when she had it on.
And just like that, she handed the original suit back to Lyra.

"Sweet Celestia! How did you get your hooves on this technology?" Lyra was extremely fascinated, and Sunset wasn't far behind. "Captchalogue cards, and this.. big machine! What did you call it, an alchemiter?"
"It's a long story." C-Side answered as she captchalogued the outfit.
"You keep saying that!"
"Well, it is!"
"Alright, wiseguy, why don't you explain it on the way to the mountain!" Sunset taunted.

=> Years in the past, by a vaguely small yet unknown amount..

Fetch modi were a new invention. A finicky one, at that. Some Homestuck fan went into the field of quantum coding and came out the other end with the first ever successful instance of what was essentially a pocket dimension. And instead of selling it off to a military junction, she marketed it to civilians first and foremost, especially other fans of Homestuck who still couldn't get that narrative out of their head.
It was like a resurgence of the HTML geocities craze, where people were showing off their custom made modes of captchaloging, comparing notes and trying to figure out what the best method would be for storing bigger or more items, preferably both.

Ours was a relatively simple number. The larger or more numerous items got longer song lyrics, which needed to be sung to retrieve.
Our roommate was Lune Cobalt, and she chose something relatively simple, mimicking the file explorer that came standard with any computer. Yes, I know, your kind doesn't have computers. That's a whole other can of worms that I don't wanna open right now, so just imagine a book made of electricity that had access to a lot of human knowledge.

Right. So that's where captchalogue cards came from. As for the alchemy machine..

The country I lived in, the United States, had befallen a snowstorm like nothing seen before, and it had completely fucked everything up.
I had been stuck at home for weeks. A huge blizzard made it impossible to actually drive with our rickety ass van, which made food delivery equally as hard, and it sure didn't help that we lost our job and funds were dwindling on the daily.
With most people unable to leave their homes, those who could suddenly became true essential workers. A violent economic struggle began to form between union reps and the companies responsible for coordinating the deliveries to people's houses. All you could really do was sit back, play video games, and hope that your money outlasted the blizzard.

We had just downloaded a game called DNGEON onto our computer, a game that our friend Pine was extremely adamant on playing. We hooked up to one of our friends sessions. She was the host, we were the client. And then, something rumbled near our room, shaking the floor. We went out into our apartment to investigate, and Lune was playing the game with us, so she tagged along. We all headed downstairs, and right there - my heart stopped, and I grew sick with dread when we saw that mechanism of doom in our living room.
It was a fucking alchemiter from Homestuck.
I remember just whimpering, in horror, "No. Oh gods, no. Why? Why us?"

I spent as much time as I could saying goodbye to everyone I ever knew, knowing what was coming next for them. Miserable, freezing deaths that couldn't be avoided, wouldn't be avoided. Even people I hadn't been particularly fond of, for one reason or another, like family, all received heartfelt truthful messages. "Goodbye," I ended each ranting departure, "I'll miss you."
Some tried to call, some texted. Some never gave a response. Some proclaimed their love for me. Some spoke the truth about how much they detested me and people like me. Some felt like I was acting irrationally, like it wasn't the end of the world.
I cried, either way, for all of them.

"Hey, wait, you just skipped over how you got the technology!!" Bon Bon protested.
Lyra looked up from her notes. "Huh? No, she got it from the cursed game that she and her friends were playing!"
"How can a game make items appear in the real world like that??"
"Cursed. Game." Lyra responded, adding a bit of dramatic flair to her enunciation.
Bon Bon eyed up CD. "And what was with the sob story at the end there?"
Sunset nodded. "You did kind of vaguely ramble about what happened to you."
CD just shrugged. "That's what got us the alchemiter. Dunno what to tell you. You had to use it to get into the medium and escape.. the apocalypse."
Bon Bon grimaced. "Seriously?"
"Yeah. Seriously."

The gang had taken shelter inside a cave, with the mountain not too far away. The noxious fumes had already begun to grow unbearable, and so everyone had taken the chance to put on their protective gear before they pressed onward. They sat in a circle, tending to a fire that didn't need to be burning bright, since the group was already bundled up, with the hazmat suits layered on top.

"What's Homestuck?" Sunset asked.
CD grimaced and flinched. "It's.. a long story."
"Again, you keep saying that!" Lyra said.
"No, we're serious this time. Homestuck is a comic that was like.. literally, a million or so words long. Twilight would get a kick out of it."
"Well, what's it about? Maybe I read some of it." Sunset offered.
"You.. definitely did not read it."
"Try me."
"Four kids play a computer game together, said computer game ends the world, and they have to team up with an alien species to survive freakish enemies and the perils of paradox space in order to create a new universe?"
"...Nnnno. Definitely haven't read it. It would've stuck with me for sure."
CD chuckled. "Yeah, so imagine my horror when that fiction became a reality for me."

Bon Bon jerked to attention for a moment. "WAIT A MINUTE- No. N-nevermind."
CD stared at her with a sort of curious expression, and then looked around, as if looking for something, then back to her. "What? What's up?"
"No, nevermind, it'll sound insane if I say it out loud." She waved a hoof and looked away, deep in thought.
"Compared to everything else I've been saying today?" C-Side countered. Bon Bon didn't reply for a minute.
"You're allowed to say insane roadapples, Disco. I'd prefer to at least stay somewhat sane."
Heartstrings snickered. After a while, the group decided they'd rested for long enough, and continued up the mountain.

5: Ugly Human Heart, Part 2

Delta was ranting about the Donner Party.

"And that's when the cannibalism started!" She declared, mimicking one of her favorite podcasters.
"So - you weren't lying! If things got bad enough, you did actually eat each other?!" Sunset asked.
"Not a bluff, girl! Humans are BRUTAL creatures!"
"Oh, PLEASE." Bon Bon interrupted. "We've had cases of cannibalism in our own society. Knowledge of it is restricted, but ponies can be brutal."
"Oh, yeah? Does this country have capital punishment?"
"What?"
"The death penalty. Execution. The ultimate punishment for the most heinous of crimes."
Lyra whistled low. "Sweet Celestia, I'm not sure which would be worse. Being cursed into a living statue and staying there for the foreseeable future, or just straight up death."
"Okay - I'll give you that, that's pretty brutal." Delta conceded. "But I still think the actual methods of execution we had take the cake. You ever hear of the electric chair?"

Before they could continue, a loud screech stopped everyone in their tracks. They were inside a sort of mini-valley, where sharply angled walls surrounded them on either side, almost a tunnel but not quite.
The crew looked up to see rusted, jagged metal jut out from the wall up ahead, It twisted and gnarled into a series of knotted patterns, and then stopped.
"It just made a fence." Sunset observed. "Why did it make a fence?" She gingerly approached the rusted iron and tapped it with a protected hoof. "It's really barbed too. Climbing it would be difficult, and leave openings in our gear.."

Then, another fence exploded from behind the group, locking them in against the sheer face cliffsides. That's when a rumble came from the far end of the valley, as rancid sludge spilled its way down straight towards the crew.
"It's a TRAP!" CD shouted.
Bon Bon wasted no time throwing up her grappling hook to the top of the cliff face, only for the end of the rope to be too high up above her to reach when it successfully hooked. She hissed a little swear, and then looked around for any other ideas.

That's when CD hoisted her round the barrel.
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Bon Bon shouted.
"Getting you to safety! Grab it!" before CD hurled Bon Bon upwards towards the rope.
Reacting just in time, Bon Bon latched onto the rope and scrambled up, and then she saw that both Lyra and Sunset had been thrown up, too, and had managed to grab hold of the rope. However, they were unable to climb, so Bon Bon took advantage of her innate strength to pull the two mares up along with the rope itself.
That left CD alone in the trap.

=> CD: Time to put your sick combat skills to the test. Figure out a way out of here.

The both of you look around for any semblance of cover, but years of cruel winter wind had made these walls relatively smooth. There weren't any obvious footholds, so climbing was out of the question. You wouldn't have the time either way.
You slip a bit on the sloped ice while darting your head around a little.
Sloped ice.

You look back to the fence at the entry and realize that it's lower than the one up top. A high enough jump would clear it relatively easy.

"Hardcore parkour! Hardcore parkour!" You both begin to chant to yourselves, hyping and pumping up the adrenaline.
The mares above you peer over the edge, and watch as you sprint down the path and jump, and scramble along the side wall to jump over the fence. You manage to mostly clear it, the tip of your boot catching on a piece of rebar and bowling you over forwards. You tumble onto the ground, and hear a sickening crunch sound as you continue to fall a ways down the slope. Thankfully, your tumble comes to an end a few meters away from where the sludge is cascading down the mountain.

Your acrobatic fucking pirouette was a minor success. You test your limbs to see what, if anything, broke, only to taste blood pooling in your mouth. On instinct and impulse, you try to stick your finger in there to assess the damage, only for it to bump up against your respirator. As a secondary measure, you swirl your tongue around. One of your incisors has chipped something fierce it seems. You swallow the blood, and the loose chunk of tooth, and suppress the urge to constantly lick it like you did with your wisdom tooth surgery. No choice but to tough it out for now. You start to climb back up the mountainside.

"THE PRESTIGE!" CD shouted as she regrouped with the mares, raising her arms up in victory.
Bon Bon didn't really give much in terms of celebration. She was busy studying the path, trying to figure out how and why the Dark Heart attacked so swiftly.
"..." Delta gritted her teeth. "You're WELCOME, by the way. For getting you out of danger."
"Oh, yeah. Thanks." Sunset held up a hoofbump. "That was some quick thinking."

The hazmat gear made it slightly awkward.

"It's our job to think fast, as a Seer. So thanks."
"A Seer? Any chance you can tell the future?" Sunset asked jokingly.
CD shook her head. "We're a Seer of Blood - it doesn't work like that." Delta replied.
"Well, do you see any blood?" Lyra joked.
"Not yet. We'll keep you posted."
Bon Bon snorted. "Alright, is there anything you can 'see' from where you're standing?"

=> Seer: Portend.

⚄⚃

It's not like how most Seers - at least, the documented instances - portend. Rose Lalonde had vision in her eyes as a Seer of Light. Terezi Pyrope could see multiple possibilities through her Mind's eye. You have vision, where else, but in your Blood.
You call it Shivers, named after the skill in Disco Elysium. Because of course you would call it that. And it works for you to treat it like that, because you're taking word from the narrative itself, in a sense, finding specific truths and knowledge that others would ignore, if only because they were already established long before. It's useful for looking into other past timelines, other "narratives" as you call them.
You attempt to explain your abilities to your companions, but they don't seem to get it for the most part. What with it being a Skaian ability, it would probably make more sense in the environment it was actually built for.

Gut feelings, chills down your spine, hunches and aches in your bones. You breathe, and your lungs take on the filtered air, warmth somewhat clouding up your eyesight. Not your vision.
Three other beats of warm breath drum along next to you, and you reach out further.
And there, you feel it. Another breath, haggard, heavy, desperate, resides deeper in the mountains.

"Someone else is on the mountain."

"Weird question." C-Side finally asked after a good few minutes of her in blissfully quiet contemplation. Bon Bon's ear twitched. "How long has it been since Twilight's ascension to Princess status?"
"Uhm.. why?" Bon Bon asked.
"I'm just trying to find a point of reference for where we are in the timeline."
"Timeline???"
"Just humor me."
"Well, it's been a month or so now." She finally answered.
"..Okay, cool, cool. How long since... Cranky Doodle Dandy's wedding?"
"That's really specific."
"It's a landmark event, alright? I'm just trying to figure something out."
"Does it pertain to the mission?"
"Yes! Actually!" C-Side gave a small shout. "If somepony else is, and this is noteworthy, higher up on the mountain, then it'll mean one of two things. One: somepony is dying up there. Or two: somepony is trying to control that Heart, and that's why we fell into that trap."
"And how would you know that?"

"A few weeks before Doodle and Matilda's wedding, Twilight and company ventured out into the northeast part of Equestria and found an isolated village that celebrated absolute conformity - by magical removal of each pony's cutie mark."
Bon Bon stopped. "That. Is classified information." She growled.
Delta sneered. "Okay, well, we're a Seer. We just know shit, okay? Get used to it."
They stared at one another, one suspicious, one challenging.
"The point being," C-side continued, forcing Delta to surrender the contest for now, "Chances are, if she's been traveling alone this whole time... I think we know who's up there."

The peak of the mountain had been carved into some sort of grand arena, almost. Twisted rebar and thick chunks of rusted metal were pressed up against the surrounding stone walls, ensuring that there was only one way in, and one way out. The wind howled above the opening above them all, and Bon Bon felt at least somewhat happy to be out of the bitter gale.

There, in the center of the room, being held aloft by stilts of slick goo, was Starlight Glimmer, looking worse for wear. Her fur was matted and burnt from contact with the acidic goo, with the Heart of Lead attached to her chest, wrapping vines of disgusting substance around it. Her face snapped up with an unnatural sound, passively observing the team as they kept their distance.

"Aight, you two stay outside." Delta said, and Lyra tilted her head. "What? Why?" She asked.
"Because you have your orders to not help us, duh." Delta replied.
"Oh, thank Celestia." Bon Bon half-sincerely said, as she lay down in a relatively safe spot.
"Oh, come ON!" Lyra exclaimed. "It's total roadapples that we can't help you with this stupid thing! I'm going in there to help!" She immediately started to trot into the center of the arena.
"Hey, wait-!!" Sunset and CD shouted at the same time.

b-THUMP, beat the heart.
Suddenly, the area around Lyra's horn fell into darkness as she collapsed to the ground and gasped in shock, her suit being the one thing protecting her from the ooze. Bon Bon instantly snapped back onto her hooves and threw her grappling hook towards her partner, who weakly caught onto it.
The Heart of Lead beat faster against Starlight's chest. Slick tendrils ripped out underling monsters from CD's session up from the snow. The crimson red monsters surrounded Lyra and the hook, preventing her from leaving the area. Sunset and CD had no choice but to fight.

"Aight Sunset.. Anti magic. Your specialty." C-Side said.
"Shit!" She shouted.
"Good observation, Shimmer!" Delta jeered.
"Shut up and let me think!" Sunset yelped, before dodging out of the way of a freshly spawned tentacle. "Okay! The heart started beating faster after it took Heartstrings's magic, and then spawned monsters from under the snow - which means that if anypony approaches it and has their magic taken, it grows stronger!"
"Shit!" Delta concurred. "We just thought they negated the magic - not take it!"
"You'll thank me later! Get that heart! I'll get Heartstrings!"

The duo charged in, and Delta brandished more bottles of flammable liquids. She quickly stuffed a rag into one, and lit it up. Grinning and roaring with the might of a physical instrument, Delta chucked it hard at one of the tendrils, which exploded into a brilliant oil slick flame. The fires quickly spread, only for the tentacle to purposefully amputate itself and burn away while the rest of the entity remained untouched. Regardless, Delta cackled in delight at the fire. She quickly got to producing more bottles and prepping them to throw, shouting, "I AM THE MILKMAN! MY MILK IS DELICIOUS! SPECIAL DELIVERY TODAY!"

Sunset quickly dove into a fracas with the underlings, still able to kick flank with the best of them despite her limitation. She took care to not let herself be bit, lest a tear in her suit cause severe chemical burns. She acted primarily as a distraction for Lyra and Bon Bon to regroup, taunting the monsters and leading them away from CD's section of the fight.
But when she was able to get a kick in, she reveled in it, making sure the monster didn't get back up - which apparently was easy to tell, because these monsters exploded into novelty sized pieces of candy when defeated.

Bon Bon reeled Lyra back to safety and checked her vitals, before silently chastising her partner for recklessly entering the fray. The heavy breaths fogged up against Lyra's suit, indicating that she was breathing, if nothing else. She looked up at Sunset, who was definitely not winning, but not losing either - yet. She grimaced, and knew that if she walked in, she'd fall victim to the anti-magic.
Her orders were to not help. Don't interfere, don't move out of line.
She was paralyzed.

Each tentacle exploded in flame after flame, the noxious fumes coating the arena in a smog that was hard to see in, but at the same time, each one meant that Starlight was losing ground. She gasped some sort of whickering swears at the human, wailing whatever tentacles she had left, before suddenly swinging one at Sunset, who was unable to see it due to the smog - knocking her against the ground and killing some of the remaining monsters, before it exploded, leaving Starlight standing in the snow by herself. The Heart on her was racing now, as she lit up her horn, and grabbed CD in it, who suddenly found themselves unable to move. And then she brought CD up close to her deranged face, and growled, "Spar....kle....." before grabbing hold of CD's mask.

Starlight is ripping your mask off.
Your heart is pumping. You feel the toxic gas sting your lungs as her grip on your limbs tightens. You can't move anything but your mouth.

Oh, hey, your mouth. It's still bleeding!
You spit blood into Starlight's eyes. She screams, and loses her grip on you as she tries to wipe out the ichor from her vision. It's the chance you needed, and by Dolores Dei, are you gonna take it. You sweep your leg under her hooves, knocking her prone, and claw at her exposed chest to rip the heart out. It makes a horrid schlick noise at it struggles to stay attached to its host, but when you pull it out far enough, you simply captchalogue it to cut it off from the world. You can feel it try to break free from its prison, but nothing stops quantum code.
Nothing could hope to beat quantum code in a containment-off. It is simply the best there is.

The toxic fumes finally begin to dissipate, sludge vanishing into the aether upon your collection of the heart. The mountain is clean again, and you stretch your limbs and pop your spinal bones in celebration.
You hold the card aloft, and shout a victory cry.

C-Side: Check on Starlight.

You return to your senses after Delta's victory roar. You have a sneaking suspicion as to why exactly Starlight took that heart, and you move to test your theory. You wipe the blood from her eyes and press your fingers against her nose, checking for signs of breath.
She's not breathing. You gasp, and decide there's only one course of action to take. You get down on your knees, roll her onto her back, and try to perform CPR.
You're not certified, of course not. The only thing even approaching knowledge was watching a shitty training video your job at a retail store made you watch. You remember one thing about it, and that was to use a song with a beat of with a BPM of roughly 103.
Like Stayin' Alive. You hate irony sometimes.

Your headmate emerges from your body, now that it's safe to walk around without gear. This is a mistake she'll probably regret, because you're still up on a snow smothered mountain, and you're the one wearing a jacket. But she's putting on her usual tough girl facade. Or maybe it's the facade of the white boy who walks out into freezing temperatures in shirt and shorts and claims it's "Not that cold."
Maybe she's just actually not bothered by the cold? Either way, she's confused by your own actions.

"Why are you giving her CPR?"
You don't respond, mostly because you don't really hear her question. She shrugs, and moves to collect the grist and materials that the underlings dropped.

You try to remember everything you can about CPR, though you're not sure how you personally feel about mouth-to-mouth with three other mares watching. In other scenarios it may be scintillating, but you're pretty sure they wouldn't care for that sight right now.
Luckily for you, she jolts upright, and starts coughing something fierce. You tap her on the back to help her dislodge whatever's in her throat, which results in a toxic looking glob of.. something.. to fly from her mouth. She pants, and you move to her front side. She yelps, and her horn lights up.
"Hey, hey, easy, easy. I'm just checking up on you. How many fingers am I holding up?" You flex them out, she blinks, and stares at you and your weird ass hands.
"..Uhm.. sssiiix?"
"Okay! Cool. Could you just follow this one with your eyes for me?" You move one finger back and forth, to make sure her vision isn't horribly impaired. Her pupils track along, albeit slightly slowly, and once you're satisfied, she frowns at you.
"What was.. what was that for?" Starlight asks.
"I'm checking to see if you're okay." You answer.

Delta tilts her head in confusion. "What? She just attacked us, why are you helping her?"
"Cuz I'm not a bastard that believes in the death penalty, Delta."
Starlight's eyes dart from you to the agents, who are inspecting the area post-disinfection. Lyra in particular is ensuring her magic was rightfully returned, visibly relieved to see it back, but still repeatedly testing it to make sure.
Starlight blanches, realizing that the only exit is right behind them, clearly aware that she's a wanted mare sitting in front of two royal agents.
And before she can formulate an escape plan, they spot her. She looks devastated.

"Hey, so," you begin. She looks back at you. "Were you gonna use that Heart to fight Twilight and her friends?"
You didn't think she was capable of getting even more pale than she already was. "Easy, easy," you assure her, "You weren't in your rightest of minds. It's all good."
She shivers and looks at Sunset Shimmer, who's shaking snow off her coat.
"I'm probably going to be thrown in a dungeon for this..!" Starlight grieves, and hides her head in her hooves.
"Well, Sunset and I are all kinda in the same boat as you. Wanna join our team?" You ask.

The crew began to trudge back down the mountain, taking their pace relatively slow as they were all exhausted by the ordeal. Funnily enough, it seemed that C-Side and Delta could walk for longer distances than the mares, which they used to their advantage to scout ahead whenever the ponies needed to rest for a break.

"She was clearly overtaken by the rotting power of the Heart of Lead. She wasn't in control of her actions, and so I feel like she should't be culpable." C-Side argued.
"Isn't this the cultist bitch?" Delta objected. "Are you sure we want her to just walk free?"
"And what does that make Sunset? The other 'cultist bitch'?" C-Side retorted.

The two continued to bicker back and forth as they continued to travel down the mountain, Sunset keeping an eye on Starlight, who looked exhausted and traumatized.
"So... you too, huh?" Sunset opened.
"What do you mean, me too?" Starlight asked.
"Well, we both tried to make a huge grasp at control. Apparently you're the cultist bitch." she joked.
"I am not-! Okay, well-! Maybe! But-"
"Nah, I get it. Don't worry."

Starlight looked away for a moment, then back at Sunset. "What did you do...?"
"So, you know that magic school in Canterlot? I.. failed the entry exam, and wasn't let in. In my rage, I studied obscure anti-magic enchantments in the Manehattan school of magic, and, well.. When the elements were in town, I stole Twilight's crown and tried to take her and her friends on in a bid for power, and kinda.. used corrupting magic to have some of the students under my control."
"Huh. That sounds like would've made for a solid plan."
"Yeah, well, it failed. I didn't account for anti-magic spells also knocking all of the magic out of me. Which made me lose control of my own thralls, left me in a six-on-one brawl, and, well," She tapped the anti-magic device on her horn, "My own creation was used against me."
Starlight was silent for a bit.

"They're probably not gonna let me go free, huh?"
"Probably not. Buuuut.. if C-Side over there wants you on the team, arguing your case for you.. it could probably earn you your freedom."
"...Why? Why would she want me around? She doesn't know me at all!"
"Beats me. She just.. knows shit. It's weird, but she does."
Starlight squinted at the two humans walking next to each other. "...Wait. Which is C-Side?"
"The one with the.. uhm.." Sunset snickered. "Kinda wimpier voice? She's slightly shorter than Delta, and her hair curls up tighter."
"Aaand.. why are you helping them again?"
"If I help them, the anti-magic ring comes off. They're the ones who let that weird statue loose on Equestria; there's three more of them, too, and if they're not dealt with, the world will end. Apparently. I wasn't really given much briefing, which, pfft. Of course I didn't."

Bon Bon sidled up next to them, and began to whisper. "Not to speak out of line, but no, I'm in the same boat as you all. Almost nopony really told me or my partner what was going on. I'm just trying to keep a straight face with these humans because they're - well, they're confusing! I want at least one of them to tell me their entire story, but I feel like they keep purposefully holding back information!"
Delta's eye twitched. Lyra joined in on the whispering. "Maybe it's because she feels like she can't trust us?"
"Maaaaybe." Sunset scrunched her nose a little. "Maybe it's because of where she came from?"

"Sunset, do you know what a Skaia session is?" Bon Bon asked. "It's technically classified information, but apparently discretion has gone out the window with Delta and C-Side."
"I studied a small amount of it. More or less whatever dissertations from Starswirl the Bearded were available in the Manehattan Library's restricted archives. Something about the end of the world, right?"
"Right. Not even the usual threat that most villains promise, we're talking absolute endgame. It's almost a formality, according to what I was told by Princess Celestia."
"Princess Celestia?" Sunset and Starlight asked at the same time.
"Oh, yeah, she was all sorts of mad." Lyra gave a nervous grin. "Like you couldn't see it if you weren't trained for picking up on emotional tells, but she was furious."

"So.. do you think, maybe, just maybe, the world actually will end because of her actions? And that she's not telling you all everything because.. she thinks we'll be dead soon?" Starlight shuddered.
The group looked up at the humans, who'd merged back into one body, and was now eerily quiet.
"Well.. I hope not." Sunset replied. "..I know you said you're not gonna help us, Agent Drops, but.."
"Ugh, no, those were just orders that she's still trying to abide by." Lyra rolled her eyes. "I think you're gonna need all the help you can get. You can count me in on trying to stop this Skaia thing."
"Thanks, Agent Heartstrings."
"Ah, just call me Lyra."

=> CD: Don't cry. Don't cry. Don't cry.

It takes a lot of fucking effort not to cry. You have a tendency to just dissociate entirely when both of you are stressed out and neither side can front. You know that vaguely, the group booked a few hotel rooms to rest and recuperate from the fight.

You remember something about Lyra calling into HQ to report Starlight Glimmer's apprehension, and her proposal to add you to the team of outlaws tasked with this mission. You think they said they'd have a verdict in the morning.

There's some food on the table. You don't remember ordering food, but it's there. You're not even really aware of what time it is. A part of you was mentally gearing up to play Hobocop and sleep in the nearest dumpster.
Your body shivers.
STUCK ALL NIGHT ON BLINK AND BREATHE AND SWALLOW. KEEP IT UP UNTIL I AWAKE.

The crew gathered up at the Crystal Empire train station. Lyra and CD were using a combination of Intel and Shivers to triangulate the location of the next dark heart. They opted to try for the one in the western parts of Equestria. They set their sights on Las Pegasus.

Bon Bon approached the still-apprehensive Starlight and took off her glasses to make direct eye contact with the new convict.
"Well, congratulations, Miss Glimmer." Bon Bon began, we just received word of your verdict, and thanks to CD's suggestion, you're now part of the team. Welcome aboard. You can call me Agent Sweetie Drops, you already know Lyra and Sunset."
"..Okay, but why?! Why did this come about?" Starlight exclaimed, and then pointed at CD. "You, in particular! You had the idea!"
"We can't explain why, but, you're kind of important..? And for reasons we can't say, you being on our side is good..?" C-Side began, but then she suddenly clutched at her mane and yanked on it, before Delta emerged from C-Side's form performing the same gesture.
"RRRGHH! WE SOUND LIKE FUCKING MANIACS! DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF RIGHT NOW?!" Delta whirled around to scream at C-Side, who was shocked.

"THE MORE YOU KEEP UP THAT PLEDGE OF WITHHOLDING THE TRUTH ABOUT ALL THIS SHIT, THE WORSE IT'S GONNA GET! I'M SICK OF IT! I'M SICK OF BEING SCRUTINIZED BY FEDS AND ROYALTY AND WHATEVER ELSE THEY HAVE HERE! SICK OF IT!"

"Delta-" C-Side tried to appease, but a sharply pointed finger and bared teeth stopped her effort, as Delta screamed, "SHUT THE FUCK UP! YOU KNOW HOW LONG I'VE BEEN TIRED OF THIS? OF EVERYTHING?! ALL I WANTED WAS TO FIND AN ISLAND AND DRINK BOOZE AND SMOKE WEED UNTIL MY LIVER GAVE OUT AND EXPLODED FROM THE POISONING. BECAUSE I'M TIRED OF LIVING, AND ESPECIALLY, I'M TIRED OF LIVING WITH YOU!"

C-Side was shaking, and began to tear up.
"OHHHH, DON'T. DON'T FUCKING START. DON'T CRY AND SOB AND WAIL ABOUT HOW LIFE'S SO MISERABLE FOR YOU. I WAS FINE WITH HELPING YOU BACK THEN, WHEN I FIRST STARTED TALKING IN YOUR HEAD, BUT AS THE YEARS WENT ON, I JUST HAD TO BEAR WITNESS TO EVERY STUPID MOVE YOU PULLED, CLEANING UP THE MESSES YOU MADE, AND COMING TO THIS UNIVERSE WAS THE LATEST AND GREATEST OF ALL YOUR FUCKUPS! YOU- YOU- YOU FUCKING HORSE!!"
The surrounding mares gasped. Delta didn't care. She kicked C-Side in the shin, and stormed aboard the train, roaring to herself.

Starlight tried to readjust herself, and whispered to Sunset, "What in the ten layers of Tartarus is wrong with her?"
"I don't really know. She's just all sorts of messed up, I guess." Sunset replied.
The agents weren't really sure what to do about the situation. Emotional support was not their strong suit. C-Side silently boarded the train, before dissipating into Disco II, leaving the group with only an enraged Delta, who pulled out another can of booze from her inventory and chugged it.

It was gonna be a long ride.

6: Ugly Human Heart, Part 3

It took a few days worth of travel, but Delta eventually calmed down. However, you yourself didn't reemerge for a while. During the journey, Delta begrudgingly answered more of Lyra's questionnaire about humans. She explained the concept of things like animated television shows, smart phones, computers, cars, and other such marvels of human technology.

Nothing about Skaia, however, which you could tell she was still grumpy about. Inside, you hushed her, afraid that you already said too much when you explained that Homestuck was originally fictional in your universe.
Along the way, the group began to bond with one another over the more mundane aspects of life - Sunset and Starlight seemed to enjoy the fact that they both tried to take Twilight on, trying to figure out why the hell they lost. The answer was obviously friendship, but they didn't want to admit that.

Bon Bon and Lyra were of course already good friends, but Bon Bon was a lot more hesitant to open up to the other mares, much less yourself and your alter. However, the mare found a sudden spark of kinship in the strangest of places with Sunset - punk rock music. The two swapped their favorite bands together, and eventually considered the idea of going out to see a rock festival together, should all of this mess finally be resolved.
Lyra just seemed interested in the dubious actions of Starlight and Sunset, passing no judgement to either of them for their actions, which seemed to be a breath of fresh air for the both of them.
Delta was content was hanging off to the side, only really talking when asked to.

By the time that the group had arrived at Las Pegasus, the SNAFU had already began.
The Heart of Gold had attached itself to Prince Blueblood, who had gone on a gambling stint in Las Pegasus and lost a significant chunk of bits. In his desperation to regain his money, the heart of gold stole the magic of ponies around him and started turning everyone in a nearby radius into gold, each statue connected by liquid gold to the shining heart on his chest.
At some point, Starlight's magic had been taken to continue to this process, nearly turning the agents into golden statues. It resulted in Delta and Blueblood clashing in a mad race to stop the transformations.
Sunset, however, remembered that gold makes for one hell of an electric conductor, and Lyra was all too happy to cast a bolt of electricity on the parts of her body that were metal.

The defeated Blueblood had begged the group to join, seeing that the team consisted mostly of convicts, but everyone gave him the cold shoulder afterwards, mostly because he couldn't stop calling the group "peasants". Worse still for Blueblood, the recently restored workers of the casino were not happy with his Midas Touch in the slightest.

Now you board the train with two Dark Hearts in your inventory. The Heart of Lead, and the Heart of Gold.
You've dissociated heavily, and are barely coming back to your senses. Delta's still probably pissed at you, but she's been fronting for a while at least. You can tell because you feel buzzed from alcohol, and, devastatingly, she's put on a pair of pants. You quietly mourn the temporary retirement of your delightful skirts, and observe what's going on.

Delta shoved herself into a seat where her back was turned to the gang. She figured she didn't have much to say, as usual.
"You know, it's weird to say, but my legs are still a little numb from that Heart turning my body to gold!" Lyra exclaimed as she sat back in her seat. "I'm glad you were able to remember that really specific niche fact."
"Mm." Sunset nodded, climbing onto the seat that had CD on the opposite side. The other mares took their respective places.
"I'm guessing you had to learn about the conductive properties of metal when making your anti-magic stuff?" Lyra asked, not meaning to offend, but offend she sorta did.
"Can we like, not talk about that?" Sunset glared.
"Sorry, I was curious! I just find it interesting that unicorns like us just use magic to amplify their talents, and you just seem so.. knowledgeable about magic interacting with the materials of the world!"
"Yeah, or like how I perfected the art of mind conditioning!" Starlight affirmed.

The other mares stared at her blankly. Delta looked over her shoulder.
"What?! I'm proud of that! Do you know how long it took to study and apply all of that?" Starlight exclaimed, "When I originally started, it took a few weeks to break ponies, but before Sparkle showed up, it only took a few days! It was hard work! I couldn't just magically alter everypony I met, I had to automate!"
"A few days?" Lyra asked, curious to prod further in case she needed to make a report.

Delta suddenly stood up, walked around the seat, and plopped down next to Sunset, head resting in one hand, the elbow firmly planted on her leg, the other leg bent on the floor to accommodate for the lack of height in the seats. Her intensely curious and eager face made the mares stare back at her, Starlight clamping her mouth shut.

"What?" She said, "Keep going, this sounds interesting! You were talking about mind control stuff?"
Starlight looked side to side, caught off guard by the human. "Uhm, yeah, actually? Why, are you interested? Why are you interested?"
"Well, yeah. Forgive me for sounding probably extremely weird, but I personally have a thing for mindplay and hypnosis and the like. We used to study magic of the mind with a.. witch coven back on our planet."
"...I thought you said humans were not magical?" Lyra asked.
"Oh, well, I'm not human." Delta grinned.
The mares gawked at her. She burst into laughter and bowled over. "Oh, oh my god, you should've seen the look on your faces!" She kept laughing for a while, before recovering back into a normal posture and raising her hands in a placating gesture. "No, no, I'm fucking with you. Yes, humans are inherently non-magical, but it was still there, affecting our lives, weakly."

"People did study it, though the practice wasn't as prevalent in modern times as it is here. The most impactful career you could have that was even remotely close to magic was either a pastor or an electrical engineer."
"You.. harnessed electricity?!" Sunset asked. "Without the help of unicorn magic?" Starlight followed up.
"Mhm! Fossil fuels, steam engines, generators, solar panels - we had so many ways to get it!"
"Wait.. but you mentioned an electric chair back on the mountain when talking about death penalties.." Bon Bon remembered.
Everypony blanched as Delta's grim grin grew greater.
"No." One of the mares gasped.
"Yeah! And it was really bad at its job! Imagine the sight of someone having survived the initial shock, looking like charcoal and-"

"Hey! I just realized! I don't wanna talk about this anymore! You said you were into mind control magic?" Starlight interrupted.
Delta chuckled and relaxed. "Yeah. And dream magic. Before Skaia, C-Side was really interested in that stuff. When we... split," she gestured with a chopping motion atop her head, "Well, I picked up that aspect and ran with it. But she used to be able to whip up lucid dreams for herself."
"Why?" Lyra asked.
"She's.. well, not the happiest mare in the world. She grew up in a rough place and sorta.. dissociated, from reality. A few weeks after the Skaia session began, she was just going to off herself. That's when I came around and just.. started taking care of her. And we had to use that lucid dream magic to stave off the Horrorterrors whispering dark secrets to us when we slept."
The girls blinked, and none dared to ask what a horrorterror was. Not yet, anyway, but Lyra jotted that particular bit down in her notes.

Delta frowned a bit and looked past Sunset out of the train window, and sighed. ".. Do you girls think I was rough on her, earlier?"
Everypony was silent, save for Sunset, who bluntly answered, "Yeah."
Delta blew a raspberry. "Figures. I'm just so.. frustrated with her!" She growled, flexing her fingers. "I want to tell you everything we know, but she's convinced that it'll lead you all to existential crises at best. Rifts in the narrative timeline at worst."
Bon Bon tapped her hoof against her chin and then readjusted her tie.
"Does this have to do with.. that Homestuck thing?" she asked.
"Yeah, more or less." Delta replied.
"Does it have to do with the fact that it was originally a work of fiction for you all, before it suddenly took over your life?"
"Yeah."
"Does it have to do with the fact that she knows a lot of details about Equestrian society and history despite the fact that you two had never stepped hoof on Equestrian soil until very recently?"
"Yeah."

Bon Bon locked eyes with Delta for a bit.

"Okay, yeah, I can see how that would make a less composed mare freak out." Bon Bon nodded. "That kind of knowledge would absolutely ruin anypony who wasn't ready for it."
"Are you gonna tell the rest of us what it is?" Lyra leaned forward in curiosity.
"No."
"Why not?!" The other three mares shouted in protest.
"Because of two reasons: One, I don't wish to jump to conclusions yet and I'd like to get the truth in detail before I report on it. And two, I hate to say it, but I think I understand C-Side's reasoning here, if I'm correct.. and if it doesn't cause existential maladies, the more curious ponies like Twilight, or.. Lyra..." she paused.
"Lyra, you'd start asking a lot of uncomfortable questions."
Lyra snickered. "Okay, you know what? Fair, that's totally fair. Hey! Speaking of questions.."
Delta's smile faded at the sight of the Paperwork Pile rearing it's ugly head once again.
"You wanna keep at it?"

Delta sighed and rumbled a groan. "Fine. Knock yourself out."
Lyra smiled and turned the pages to find her last stopping point.
"Questions 435 a and b: What was your economy like? Do you have any criticisms about it?"

Deltas grin returned.
"Ohhhh, boy. You're gonna regret this one, actually."
"Why?"
"Lemme open with this: Imagine if you lived in a world where you had to pay for the water."
Sunset and Starlight looked absolutely bewildered.
"And if you didn't?" Sunset asked.
"No water! Simple as that. Pay up or die."
"That sounds.. really cruel." Starlight said.

Her grin widened even further. "Honey. You're in for a wild ride. I haven't gotten to rant about capitalism in a looong time."
Lyra stared challengingly at the human, and pulled out writing tools and spare papers from her briefcase.
"I'm listening."

=> FOUR HOURS LATER.

"HOUSING! SCHOOLING! FOOD! HEALTHCARE! NOT A SINGLE ASPECT OF YOUR LIFE WAS SAFE FROM BECOMING A COMMODITY! EVERYTHING WAS A MARKET, AND PRICES CONTINUALLY RAISED AGAINST WAGES THAT DIDN'T."

Delta was pacing back and forth frantically, waving her arms around as she did, hunched over from the energy of the mood she found herself in, before she suddenly stopped in the middle of the train car and held her arms out wide. "And suddenly! Get this! Imagine, if you will, that no one can afford everything anymore, and business start to lose profits - not even struggle, just that they're not making as much as they *want* to make. What does the government do?!"

She began to slap the side of her hand against her other palm in a chopping motion. "Give the businesses economical bailouts instead of helping out the populace that has been living paycheck to paycheck for decades on end!! Because our shit ass government wanted to keep us poor so that we'd consider loans or joining the military!"

Starlight and Sunset looked on in grim fascination of this aspect of human society. Lyra had been in deep concentration, writing down everything that Delta has been ranting about, including an extensive section about their healthcare system, to which Delta had pulled out some sort of device from her captchalogue and made them watch a thirty minute educational video about insurance terms.

Incidentaly, the mares were intrigued by the mere prospect of video recording, something that had been barely achieved in Equestria, and here the humans had crisp video with sound. Bon Bon had used technology that was close, but used magically enchanted crystals instead of the circuitry that Delta had gone off on a minor tangent about.

"And you know what's the funniest fucking thing of it all?"
".. What?" Lyra asked after finishing the most recent observation of notes.
"None of it mattered! The world ended! And instead of spending their lives enriching themselves, loving each other in harmony, the system they lived in brewed hatred like beer makes marmite! And then, poof. It was all gone. All those profits, all the suffering and exploiting, every single aspect of capital DIED. And yet I remain! Me! And C-Side!"

Delta's eyes began to dilate, her breath rapidly quickening, a bit of drool dripping from her lips. "We are the only human left from our world in this timeline, and therefore we are the representative! The Ambassador! And I choose to paint the narrative of humanity from the eyes of a working class lady like us, because we were miserable! And every single playboy billionaire that ran our lives from the cream of the crop deserves nothing but to remembered as the MONSTERS THEY WERE!"

Delta panted, trying to catch her breath before she suddenly lost her footing from where she was standing, collapsed to the floor, and passed out. Lyra finished writing up her notes, looking exhausted, and put everything away. Her horn was slightly burnt from overuse, which Bon Bon pulled out some medication for.

"Soooo..." Sunset began, "I think it's safe to say that I'm very glad I don't live in that place."
"Oh, yeah, definitely." Starlight concurred.
They stared at Delta's prone body.
"Should we like, get her to a doctor?" Sunset asked.
"Ooh, I dunno.. she doesn't have insurance." Starlight joked. The mares giggled to one another. Sunset moved from her seat to check her breathing. Steady and stable, so there wasn't a problem. She just exhausted herself, it seemed.

"Okay, but, seriously," Bon Bon began, as she tended to Lyra's burnt horn. "What in Tartarus is wrong with her people? Now I understand why she told Celestia that Equestria looked like a way better place to live!"
"Yeah.. she seemed almost, excited, about the fact that everypony - every human? - she knew is dead. Like she's happy for them if only because their suffering is finally over." Sunset grunted as she lifted CD up into a seat to rest a bit more comfortably. "Sheesh, she's heavy."
"..Poor girls.." Lyra muttered sleepily, exhausted from the heavy writing.
"Well.. if we succeed and stop the end of the world.." Starlight said, "I wouldn't mind her sticking around."
"Why, are you interested in her?" Sunset teased.
"No!"
Sunset raised her eyebrows in disbelief.
"Maybe! Platonically!!" Starlight admitted. "Can you blame me? If she was able to talk about her home world's economy for hours on end like that, I wanna see what else is running around in her mind!"
"Ooorrr you just want to talk mind control with Delta." Sunset jabbed jokingly.
"I can do both!"
The girls laughed together, and Starlight blushed a bit before joining in and giggling along.

Out in the southern depths of the Everfree forest, the guards that had been tasked with culling the legions of monsters that CD had brought stumbled upon a building. They began to excavate it, and eventually managed to pry their way inside. They found incomprehensible technology within, panels upon panels of maps and graphs that seemed to show analytical data of two planets. One that the guards immediately recognized, that being Equus, and the other one a mystery.
There was a panel in between them, with a timer, counting down.

Lyra and Bon Bon moved into the next train car and flicked on their crystal transmitter.
Princess Celestia, Luna, and Twilight awaited contact on the other side, and Bon Bon was on time as usual.
"Agent Heartstrings. Agent Sweetie Drops." Twilight greeted, nodding in acknowledgement of their secret identities. She was trying her best to remain calm, and it was not working, as even through the magical feed, strands of her mane were disjointed and frayed, and her eye twitched. "A pleasure to see you reporting in."
"Tell us, how fares the humans' endeavors?" Luna asked.
"We're halfway there, your majesties." Bon Bon reported as neutrally as she could.
Lyra noticed Celestia wince.
"I see. We suppose it's only fair that you remain informed about the situation at hoof -" Luna began, "Scouting parties have found a construct in the Everfree. A building that was not there before, and within it contains a multitude of display panels, curious machineries, and.. a timer."
"A timer?" Bon Bon asked.
Celestia looked away momentarily. "Yes. A timer, that we believe to be a countdown to the end of the world."
"How.. how much time do we have left?"
"Approximately two days." Twilight said with a bit of weight on her heart.
"Two days?!" Lyra squawked, and Bon Bon took a deep, shuddering breath.
"Yes. We are not sure what will occur, but there are already reports of Windigo activity. It's possible they've been, as C-Side predicted, seeking out the remaining statues." Celestia followed up.
"We won't have the time to make it." Lyra groaned.
"We are aware of this. We have sent another team to attempt to capture the heart to the east, but we fear the efforts may prove to be in vain. Regardless, we can only hope to prevail." Luna said.
"..Shiiit.." Lyra muttered.
"Shit indeed." Celestia nodded, and gave a weak smile.
"Well, nothing left to it but to keep going." Bon Bon sighed.

"Let us move on to lighter topics." Luna shook her head, "Agent Heartstrings, hast thou gathered any information about human society?"
"Boy, have I!" Lyra proudly declared, producing the hastily bound book about Delta's critical teardown of her home country. "This is just about their economy alone!"
Twilight's eyes shone even through the crystal display. Celestia and Luna just looked intimidated.
"That.. much..?" Luna gasped. "Verily, she fulfills her role as a Seer of Blood!"
"As a warning, it's extremely biased and spoken from her personal point of view." Lyra admitted. "Still, it was interesting watching her ramble about privatized healthcare for an hour."
"Privatized Healthcare? Like what some nobles have been trying to push for ever since its inception in Manehattan?"
"Eeyup. It looks like a pretty bad idea!" Lyra added. "Delta hated it with the burning passion of a dragon!"
"Hah, she really is a weird case, huh?" Twilight chuckled.

"That actually reminds me.." Celestia tilted her head. "Agent Sweetie Drops.. what say you in your judgement of C-Side's behavior?"

Bon Bon had to simmer on that one.
"I will admit - her behavior has remained consistent in regards to caring for others. She has risked herself multiple times in order to assure the safety of everypony else on the team, and even went so far as to perform impromptu CPR on known convict Starlight Glimmer."
"We sense an interjection.." Luna said.
"But.. it is obvious she's not well. She's more or less admitted it, and, she drinks. A lot. Her alter, Delta Carol, is a concerningly intensive alcoholic, and has been drinking.. ever since she arrived in Equestria, as far as I'm aware. Sobriety is.. rare for her. And furthermore.. she just knows too much! You all would agree with me when I say that Starlight Glimmer's actions are hidden behind royal discretion, right?"
"We should hope so!" Luna protested.
"And yet, C-Side was insistent that Glimmer earn her redemption alongside herself and Sunset. She even said, for reasons she can't explain, that 'Starlight being on our side was important'."

"No, no, that's definitely a Seer of Blood thing." Celestia hummed to herself, before returning to the conversation. "Actually.. what do you two think of her involvement with.. Skaia?"
"Hm... well, whenever we mentioned it," Lyra mused, "She grew quiet and upset. Especially when we speculated on it's uh.. role, around the universe, as you briefed me in beforehoof."
Celestia braced herself for the big question. "Do you think.. she came here, as an envoy for it?"
"... No." Agent Sweetie Drops said matter-of-factly. "Skaia, as far as we are aware, has not had any influence on Disco and Carol since their arrival, beyond it haunting her. In fact, they seem to be much more influenced by.. Equus and- Lyra, what's her home planet again?"
"Earth."
"What, just Earth? That's it?"
"Yup. Just Earth!"
"I could've sworn it.. okay, Earth."

"So what do you mean by Equus being an influence on Disco?" Celestia asked curiously.
Lyra gave a thoughtful hum, rolling her eyes and scrunching up her face in thought. "C-Side seems intent on respecting equine culture, going so far as to say things like 'everypony' and 'foalhood'."
"And Delta seems to be a dichotomous opposite, using human terminology where she can." Bon Bon followed up. "Everyone or everybody, childhood, on hand, footsteps.."
"Interesting..!" Twilight started. "Fluttershy recently told me that C-Side was somehow able to see into Equestria as a child.. it's possible that C-Side is something of a foreign dignitary, almost!"
Bon Bon blinked.
"Honestly, she feels more like an asylum seeker." Lyra joked, then paused in realization of what she just said.
Everyone was lost in thoughtful contemplation for a moment.
"But that doesn't make sense.." Bon Bon chewed her lip. "She tried to explain her Seer powers to us, and mentioned she didn't develop them until the start of her session.. and she was an adult by then."
"So she is actually hiding a specific truth from us." Lyra nodded.
"Her alter, Delta, is upset about that, though. She's stated that she wishes to tell us everything, but is being held back by C-Side." Bon Bon muttered.. "Do you think..?"
Lyra looked at her quizzically.
"No, nevermind. As for my judgment of C-Side and Delta.." Bon Bon sighed. "I suppose they could be worse, considering the hostilities of their home planet."
Celestia nodded darkly. "I see. Very well, i will keep that in mind should she succeed. Please keep us updated if you can."
Suddenly, she yawned wide enough to pop her jawbone a bit, and looked a thousand years older. "I am up far too late. I'm turning in for the night. Goodnight everypony."
She got up without much decorum and left the scene.
"Uh.. Goodnight, Princess." Lyra had to hold back a giggle.
"I must return to the night court, unpopulated though it may be. Fare thee well, Agents.. and good luck." Luna declared before disappearing in a magical flourish.
This left Twilight all by herself in the room, and she fidgeted a bit before fully focusing on Lyra.
"If you girls don't mind.. Lyra, I'd love to hear everything you've gathered on human society so far!" Twilight eagerly requested, ruffling her wings.
"Sure! I'll see you in the morning, Bonnie." Lyra nodded to her partner, who left the train car to rest.

A few minutes into the report, Lyra heard a scream come from the other car.

=> Minutes in the past, but not many..

C-Side stared out the window as the landscape rattled on by. The train would occasionally jostle a bit as they traveled through the night, but it was never of a concern. She actually felt nostalgic for a time she'd never lived in, and here she was, living it. Music danced around her as she listened to one of her favorite albums, passively mourning every great artist that she knew she'd never hear from again - not in this timeline, anyway.

She idly sat back in her seat, and felt somewhat chilly, if anything. She wasn't sure why, as they were moving south in pursuit of another Heart, which meant warmer weather. Either way, she got up from her seat and shook herself to warm her limbs, hoping that a faster bloodflow would help fight the cool air. And then, one of her favorite songs came on her phone, and she couldn't help but feel the need to dance.

She kicked her way down the aisles silently as the mares slept soundly next to her, losing herself to music and letting the shine of the Disco Ball light up the train car. She smiled, and she felt a strange accumulation in her limbs as she moved, but didn't think to question it as she let it flow through her bloodstream. She spun in place, and suddenly struck a pose as the song reached a crescendo. She opened her eyes and saw Bon Bon passively observing her from the train car door. C-Side immediately caged her heart back up and ripped down her headphones, shoving everything back into her inventory.

"Why are you awake??" C-Side whispered.
Bon Bon furrowed a brow. "Why are you?"
"Agh - what, a girl can't be a bit of a night owl?"
"Not this late. It's almost, what, two in the morning?"
"Oh. Didn't realize it got that late. I'm not used to sleeping consistently."
"Why?"
"Eh.." CD scratched the back of her head. "Skaia kinda made it so that you had to be on both sides of consciousness."
"Okay, I'm not gonna let you vaguely gesture your way out of that one. What does that mean?"
The human sighed.

"So, back out in my session, there were two.. moons. Derse and Prospit. On those moons were perfect copies of our bodies that, when we fell asleep, they'd wake up and we'd be conscious in that body. There were a lot of shenanigans you had to get up to in it - messing with the queen and agents of your respective moon, getting information from less than reputable sources.. and.. In worst case scenarios, making it to the Sacrificial Slab before that body died, so you could ascend to God Tier."
"..'God tier'?"
"Yeah. God Tier."
"..Like an immortal being?"
"Yeah."

"..Are you?" Bon Bon asked, moving to her bed.
C-Side shuddered a bit violently. She grunted in discomfort, and quickly reached into her inventory to grab a bottle of water. She muttered the lyrics on her captchalogue card, and took a long drink of her water, before finally answering after a quick gargle and a cough - "Not in this timeline."
Bon Bon raised her eyebrows. "This timeline? There's other times where you showed up here as a god?"
"Just one, put those eyebrows back down.." C-Side made some kinda placating gesture. "It's weak, so much so that I can actually see where it stops. It's you, Lyra, and Us in the desert south of Appleloosa hunting down one of the Dark Hearts.. We died by an unknown force. Whoever they were, they had a gun, and they were with other humans from my Earth. That's all I can really see. And it's fading fast because this timeline is overtaking its place."

"Some god you were." Bon Bon scoffed lightly, half joking.
"Hey, she was new to the job. Cut her some slack, she died trying to save your flank."
"Well.. I don't know that me. So.. eh." Bon Bon shrugged. "I guess I appreciate that?"
"..You take time shenanigans like that really well." C-Side observed.
Bon Bon shrugged. "I've had.. similar experiences with time travel. Comes with the job."
"I won't pry." C-Side said as she nursed her water.

A silence hung in the air as C-Side continued to somberly stare at the landscape.
"I uh.. I guess you guys have been wondering why I'm not telling you everything."
Bon Bon raised an eyebrow and cocked her ear.
"I.. It's mostly because there's.. SO much. To being in a Skaia session. I feel like if I told you every single detail, you'd lose the important bits. Like I could ramble for hours about Derse and Prospit alone, much less God Tiers or the ways that our session differed from others. And, I'mma be real, you don't need to know everything, not unless.. The newest Skaia session does start soon."
Bon Bon rolled her eyes. "That's why I want to know. Knowing is half the battle, Disco, and you deliberately withholding information that could save lives - or at least prolong them - is infuriating me."
"Well-"
"And!" Bon Bon hoisted an accusatory hoof at CD, "Not to mention the fact that you really haven't explained yourself, properly! You've been deliberately hiding the truth about how you know about Equestria! I just learned from Princess Twilight that you mentioned you *saw* Equestria to Fluttershy, when you were a kid, which.. that doesn't add up, Disco. You said you were an adult with a roommate when your Skaian session began, so how does that work? And why did you come here, really?"
C-Side stammered a bit. "Well, uhm, I feel like I can't tell y'all that. Like you'd find it weird if I did."

Bon Bon sighed. "Please, C-Side. The least you can do is help me figure you out a little more. Why were you capable of seeing Equestria long before you developed those abilities..? Whatever makes you shudder violently and portend?"

C-Side suddenly shuddered violently.
"Like that!" Bon Bon said.
"Somethin' major just happened."
"What do you mea-?"
Before Bon Bon could finish her question, C-Side suddenly looked out the window and pressed her hand to it.
"Hey, what season is it?"
"Huh? Spring, why?"
"It's snowing out there. Really heavily."

Suddenly, she screamed, which woke up everyone else, and made Lyra burst into the train car, with the feed still active, showing everything to the Princess.
A silvery heart was floating right outside the window. This heart was quite possibly the most "normal" looking out of all of the ones seen thus far, save for the fact that it sported a pair of lips, and a shit-eating grin.
"Ah! If it isn't Chelsea and Dolores." It spoke, though the motion of its lips didn't match the sounds it was making. The mares looked confused, giving each other looks, save for Lyra, who stood defiantly in front of the human, and yelled, "Their names are C-Side and Delta now!"
"Ah.. yes.. CD, for short. I am amused to see you kept the moniker-play of Compact Disc, because it means that I can play with it, too! I shall call you.. Cowardly Defector. How does that sound, hmm?" The heart tittered.
CD's eyes shrank to raging pinpricks.
The mares grouped up to prepare for a fight, the word "STRIFE!" momentarily appearing above everyone.
Before they could even begin, however, The Heart of Silver swept up most of the magic around the ponies, which immediately drained them down to just their last reserves.
"Now, now, that would hardly be sporting. This human has simply used you all for her own gains, don't you know? You shouldn't fight her battles for her. I had seen the envoy your precious princesses had sent, and I am not to be detained by anyone other than the correct player. Hence why I am here, now - to make an offer that may satisfy everyone.." The Heart chastised.

Sunset slunk into the shadows, not noticed by the talking statue.
"What the fuck do you want?!" CD shouted.

"I am simply here to give you an ultimatum. You can still repent, sinner. All you must do is end your miserable life. After all, you are the only reason we all are here - and if you die, then Skaia will have no use for us being in this universe. We will leave this planet alone, and allow these miserable horses to live in what they call peace."

Starlight looked up at CD. Something grimdark was hidden behind her heterochromatic eyes, and Starlight began to fear that maybe, just maybe, CD would take up that offer.
"Delta.." she whispered.

"After all, you know you weren't supposed to come here. And yet you did, and in the process, killed all of your precious friends. And what is a Blood player without their friends, hmm? Nothing. And that's what you are. Nothing. And it's alllll your fault."
The Heart opened its mouth wide, and deep within the maw of the Heart were visions of CD's friends. Troll and Human alike, each one begging her to stop.

"CD?! What are you doing, man?!" A human, raising his arms in a defending gesture.
"Dolores, Chelsea, co^^e on! You're better than this! Stop-!!" A troll, an alien creature with gray skin, yellowed eyes, and candy corn colored horns, who pronounced their M's strangely, before a brutally violent end.
"chelsea! please!" another human, fruitlessly raising a shield.
"Fumi! Get down, I'll protecct you!" Another troll, before both the human named Fumi and the troll were obliterated.
"(<∅>) i could have prevented this. i could have stopped Her." Lamented a troll with a third eye, which had been cut open as they bled out.

The entire car was forced to be subjected to CD's past, and suddenly, everyone saw why she was so tight-lipped.
That was the last straw, as CD suddenly charged at the heart, screaming profanities, and throwing herself through the window toward the Heart of Silver. The glass shattered, and CD, blind with rage, fell to the rapidly passing dirt below her. Magic enveloped her body, pulling her up just in time as she was mere inches from the ground and deadly train tracks. Starlight and Lyra pulled her back in through the glass, and promptly passed out, the last of their magic spent.

"Oh, and look at that. You just put two more of your friends out of commission." The Heart of Silver floated in through the window, grinning, "How many more of your friends will you lay to waste before you're finally aware that you deserve to be alone, hmm?"

CD tried her best to ignore the Heart's remarks and grabbed at it with a captchalogue card, but the Heart ABJURED capture.
"Did you forget I still play by Skaian rules? As do you! All is fair in Strife and Grief! You are, after all, nothing but a player of the Game!" The heart laughed. "Honestly, my idiot brethren would've fared so much better if they just thought for once in their existence, but no, they are all consumption, all the time."

Sunset emerged from the darkness and spun a roundhouse kick right into the teeth of the statue.
"ARGH! WHAT THE DEVIL?!" The Heart turned to face Sunset, who jumped up and threw another punch into the Heart's quicksilver flesh. "You!" It hissed. "How are you still standing?!"
"I don't have any magic to lose right now, dumbass!" Sunset roared, throwing punches, kicks, and bucks, forcing the Heart to retreat from the train car. Its grimace cracked back into a smug grin.
"Gracious, I'd never think to see a magically impaired unicorn. Curious, amusing even! Perhaps this is how you've made it this far, but it will not save you. I shall leave you to my last sibling, the Heart of Iron. If I'm lucky, I need not raise an artery to finish your pathetic existence. Ta-ta, Cowardly Defector!"

The Heart flew further down the train tracks, outpacing the engine, out into the Appleloosan desert.
CD cracked open another can of booze, and chugged, before crushing the empty can against her head, and throwing it out the window in her anger.

Author's Note

what's good. welcome back to this mess
probably one of my bigger chapters I've ever written, and I'm hoping it's not a case of too much broth and not enough veggies.
anyways. hope y'all enjoyed

PROLOGUE: AND YOU WOULD GO TO MYKONOS

EVERFREE

PROLOGUE: AND YOU WOULD GO TO MYKONOS

=> Begin.

A young, heavily injured human woman stands in the debris and wreckage of her escape pod. Twenty-six years ago, she was given the white elephant of life, and a name to go along with it. She left the name behind, but kept the life around. She figured she needed that.

Unfortunately, this lady is gonna need a name, along with the friend she brought along with her. That should probably be dealt with.

=> Enter name[s?]

_
C-SIDE DISCO
DELTA CAROL

Yeah. That'll work.

=> CD: Examine surroundings.

Your names are C-SIDE DISCO and DELTA CAROL. You were one of the unfortunate few to be chosen for a SKAIA SESSION in your home universe. As with all Skaian sessions, your universe died to serve as fresh fertilizer for any potential new universes.

From there, you entered THE MEDIUM, otherwise known as PARADOX SPACE, a world BEYOND and IN-BETWEEN REALITY AS YOU KNEW IT. You developed MAD COMBAT SKILLS and POWERS RELATED TO YOUR GODTIER. But that is OF NO USE TO YOU NOW. As if to compound your misery, past fuckups led to the session failing. Everything and everyone you know is dead. You SEE BLOOD. ALL OVER YOU. ESPECIALLY YOUR HANDS.

You decided to take up a friend's dying offer and managed to ALCHEMIZE TECHNOLOGY that could jump out of PARADOX SPACE into a REALITY.
You CHOSE EQUESTRIA. Delta said she'd prefer it there because she'd get to meet other dragons. You had your own reasons.

The good news is you made it to your intended destination, relatively speaking. The bad news is you are heavily injured, exhausted, and smack dab in the middle of the Everfree forest.
The worst news is that along with your arrival, many SKAIAN ENTITIES, such as your GODTIER BED, your QUEST ITEMS, and MONSTERS came with your arrival. GOOD JOB. DUNKASS.
You stand in front of the wreckage that was your escape plan, and ponder your options. Seek help? Find water and shelter? See if your powers still work?

=> CD: Find your friend Delta.

Oh, not to worry, she's right behind you.

=> Cool. Get a move on then.

You try to get a hold of your surroundings, and put your powers to the test. You dig deep into the world, and figure out what direction Ponyville would be, relative to the Everfree forest. Your veins feel little wisps of the winds against your skin, and you SHIVER.
It's hard to describe your SKAIA GIVEN ABILITIES, but the gist of it is that you can portend.. truths, for a lack of better word. And as such, you find that Ponyville is somewhat northwest of Everfree forest.
The only issue now is figuring out which way North would be. You begin to walk around, keeping your eye on the landmark that is your crash site. You hope to find another landmark that would be noticable from a distance, like the old castle.
Delta stops you for a moment.

"Hey. C-Side." She growls passively.
You look at her.
".. That's the name you chose right?"
"Yeah."
"Dope. Anyways, don't you think a major meteor strike in the middle of.. this place, would attract some attention?"
"Yeah. For better and for worse," you answer, "manticores and timberwolves could be licking their chops at any moment."
"Let's give it an hour." She bargains. "I really don't feel like walking."
You sigh, return to the crash site, and sit under a tree.

=> CD: Watch the stars.

They're beautiful. Unlike the stars on your home planet, these ones aren't blotted out by light pollution, nor the devastating cataclysm that ended your world. They're so bright and densely populated, that even in the thickened canopy of the Everfree, light shines down on the ground and allows you to see just how alone you two are right now. You shiver, and scoot closer to the fire of your wreckage.

For twenty six years of your shared life, you've been struggling with the looming feeling that the other shoe is going to drop. Even when it would, it seemed that some horrorterror eldritch asshole with the thousands-scooting-fresh-drip would have another pair to dangle and Damocles right over your person. The failure of your session had been the latest of a long line of shoes cascading, usually followed by you scrambling to pick up and fix the mess as soon as possible.

The last one was, more or less, the one time you let the shoes plunge into the abyss, and now all that is left is mostly void and partially stars, the night sky passing you by unabated. For once, you have no idea where or when the disaster will strike again. And that scares you more than you could've ever thought.

"So look at the fleeting stars with fleeting eyes, and feel how the earth beneath you gives. It is all a temporary manifestation of particles, and it is all unraveling back to particulate silence. The bustle of the human day will come and will go. And then there will be night." -Esteemed Radio Host Cecil Baldwin

That is like one of your favorite quotes from Night Vale. Shame the writers of the show are dead. It means that giving that show a relistening will sting twice as hard.

And then, you hear screaming in the distance.
You have the feeling that you're gonna be up till sunrise.