Divergence

by RQK

10 - Groundwork

Canterlot Castle’s tallest tower, billowing smoke and sporting several gashes and holes, tumbled over with a crack and a loud roar. The city itself rumbled and then outright shook on its foundations as the country’s highest pinnacle slammed into the ground, throwing up dust and debris in the process.

Fires dominated large portions of the city, their smokes further clouding the once clean air. Some of the darkened clouds hanging above the city, however, originated from the dozens of airships now idly hanging above the city and surrounding mountain.

Many streets lay empty now. The most they contained were the occasional abandoned carts, toys, food, and other various items. Glass shards gathered underneath the remains of windows, and a few doors lay ajar at odd angles, hanging onto the frames from their remaining hinges.

There were even a few late ponies slumped against walls and strewn across the ground, some wearing armor and others wearing flower shirts, and even fewer late Storm Guards.

Through these deserted streets walked a chain gang accompanied by several living Storm Guards. A mare in the middle, Raven, noted that the clouds above the city now weren’t quite as thick as the ones created by Flim Flam Industries back in the day, but this bode far worse.

She shuddered. She was Raven, aide to the princesses. At least, she had been that this morning. But that didn’t matter anymore. Who she was didn’t matter. She was here, along with the other ponies, functionally indistinguishable from the next.

At least they had the decency to place her large, square glasses over the muzzle weighing down her head, but the right lens had a gigantic crack across its middle which she was sure, now with this turn of events, would never be fixed. The cuffs around her neck and midsection had just about made themselves comfortable by now. She wondered if they’d ever come off again.

She looked toward the other side of the street where she indeed spotted a trio of ponies sitting idle in their cages. Without muzzles of their own, she could fully see their sorrowful and frightened frowns.

The one in the middle caught her eye, however. She was a white-ish pegasus mare with a large, pinkish bow in her mane which had many strands of the gold and black variety, and completely obscured her eyes. Raven immediately recognized her as Songbird Serenade, Equestria’s most popular singer.

And she too was enslaved, just like the rest of them. Songbird sat there, completely catatonic. The two ponies in the cages flanking hers didn’t seem to care that she was there; they simply watched the chain gang pass by with pale looks of terror on their faces.

Raven shuddered and turned her eyes forward again. Here she had been thinking they had averted a crisis, for the Nameless’ seal had been satisfied. But this was the crisis, and the crisis had already concluded. This was the true end.

One of the ponies ahead of her tumbled and fell face-first onto the stone street. When he didn’t immediately get up, one of the Storm Guards sauntered over and kicked him in his abdomen and barked something in a language she didn’t readily recognize. The stallion groaned and climbed to his hooves.

This was the new reality. Raven could do nothing but walk as these Storm Guards marched them into an unknowable future.

---

Sunset Shimmer’s world of black gradually dissolved into a world of color and sound. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, groaning as if she had just woken up.

The library of Twilight’s castle greeted her. Morning sunbeams streamed through the window and the sweet smell of tea hung in the air. She breathed it in, sniffing it for the taste.

She finally looked across the room to see all the bodies looking back at her. Her people from Canterlot High were there. Her ponies and dragon from this world were here. Tempest and her team were there.

Adamantine nodded and stepped back.

And Twilight Sparkle subsequently stepped forward. She paused for a few moments. “Sunset,” she said at length.

Sunset steeled herself.

Twilight swallowed. “I just… it was you…”

Sunset nodded and scanned their faces again. They all wore frowns and she could see the slightest hints of indignant fire in their eyes. “I know…” she croaked. “I know… that I’m the one responsible… for you dying, for the unponies dying, for everyone suffering right now… for me… it’s all me.”

No one spoke in return.

Sunset dragged a hoof across the floor and sighed. “I didn’t want to believe it either. I wouldn’t have dreamed that I’d be the one that came up with the idea behind all this. But… I spent my time thinking really hard about this, as I do… and this is where it got me.”

After a moment’s pause, Twilight sighed and stepped forward. “Do you think we can do it?”

“Do what?”

“Well, fix everything. That’s what this is all for. We… could save the other timelines… and fix this mess.”

Starlight waved. “Which I’m all for that,” she added.

Sunset nodded. “I think we can do it. I think that if we pull this off… everypony will make it out just fine. Is…” She wilted. “Is that okay?”

Twilight nodded. “Well, Sunset… I trust you. And… I want this to work too,” she said with a smile.

The others nodded in agreement.

Sunset grinned in return, feeling a weight in her chest lift.

The crystal ball sat on one of the tables. Within it, Grimb’vltr hummed. “To think… that the solution… which even I thought was impossible… is already almost in place.” It paused. “But… I must suspect that there are still things left to do, and there are some preparations still to be made, hmmm?”

“That’s right. Uh, since we’re all here… can we talk about that?” Sunset asked.

Princess Celestia stepped forward. “Alright, Sunset Shimmer. This is your operation. You tell us what you want us to do, and we’ll do it to the best of our abilities.”

A few others shared affirmative hums.

Sunset couldn’t help but smile. Everyone was looking to her for guidance. They were looking for her leadership.

They were looking, confident that she would get them through this.

She proudly puffed herself up and nodded. “Okay. Let’s do this. First,” she said, pointing to Tempest and her four teammates, “you all have your thing, and you’ll want to get that going. And then…”

Sunset looked around and laid her eyes on the chalkboard. She trotted over, picked up a piece of chalk with her magic, and then turned to face the room again as everyone rotated positions to arc around her. “On the Consensus side, I’ll need to make final touches on the algorithm and make sure we’re actually able to pull it off. Twilight, Starlight, Adamantine… you can help me with that.” She looked at the crystal ball. “Grimb’vltr, you too.”

She then wrote a few words on the board. “For everyone else, the name of the game is coverage. We need to spread the stones to as many places we can think of. For you,” she said, pointing at her human world friends, “I’m talking stones in C.H.S., at your houses, Camp Everfree, or wherever. We have to make sure those places are preserved. For here,” she said, turning to Twilight, “you yourself cover a lot of area—”

“Which I have confirmed to be the case,” Grimb’vltr interjected.

Sunset paused. “Right… But we will need to cover places like Griffonstone, and the Crystal Empire, and Seaquestria. We have to make sure those places make it through this okay.”

Twilight chuckled. “It’s still pretty weird to think of myself as a weight in all this. But I guess I won’t complain.”

Adamantine nodded. “It should be doable. Certainly…” she said as she turned to Princess Celestia, “if you need assistance with getting to places, especially the far away ones, I can help with that.”

Princess Celestia smiled. “Of course, Adamantine. That would be wonderful.”

“We oughta get the Canterlot Guard in on this, then,” Applejack said. “That’s a heck of a lot of stones to spread ‘round the world.”

Fluttershy frowned. “Oh, goodness, yes. I remember it took us three whole days to get the one we were getting,” she quivered.

Twilight turned to face them. “Yeah… Uh, maybe you could all not go that far this time.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. “Really? You sure?”

Twilight made a noise as she smiled. “Eh, I’d feel better if you stayed close.”

Applejack trotted forward with her comforting smile and lay a hoof on Twilight’s withers. “Don’t you worry none, Sugarcube. We’ll play it safe. Ah promise.”

“Good.”

Princess Luna looked up. “We should… probably try and talk with those other nations. We could cover them ourselves, but… things will go so much better with their help.”

“Ah,” Adamantine said as she turned to them, “I believe I could assist with that as well.”

Princess Luna blinked. “Are you sure?”

Adamantine swayed from side to side. “I have this feeling that they might be willing to listen to me.”

The other Twilight adjusted her glasses. “Just so I’m sure, we have to put eight stones in each spot we want to save?”

“Yeah,” Sunset replied. “Seven or eight. That way you can dominate the average.”

“Uh, yeah. I have a question, actually,” Starlight said as she stepped forward. “Like, I get that we’re pretty much choosing our timeline for the average to look like.”

“Okay.”

“But what about the other layers? What are we going to look like when we merge with them?”

Sunset frowned. “Uh, I just imagined it would be an average of all layers.”

“Okay, but they’re all doing the same thing we are. Won’t we average with them?”

“A-ah, yeah, I would just imagine that, since the worlds follow each other, the average looks like us anyways.”

“That… sounds like a slippery slope.”

“I can see it,” the other Twilight said. “It’s just taking an objective average of… uh, N very much identical realities, in the limit that N goes to infinity.”

Sunset hesitantly raised a hoof into the air and eventually pointed at the other Twilight. “Yeah… exactly!”

Rainbow Dash frowned. “Uh, what?”

Sunset pointed at her. “Yeah, exactly.”

The other Twilight blushed.

“It works out,” Twilight said. “Trust me. Well, trust other me too.”

Sunset nodded and then floated the crystal ball over. “There’s that. And it kinda looks like every layer out there is more or less doing what we’re doing right now, so we should be okay.”

The other Applejack let out a long exhale. “Shucks, if ya say so.”

Sunset looked into the crystal ball. “And then… Grimb’vltr?”

Grimb’vltr looked up. “Yes?”

“We’ll try to give you the list of things we’ve learned about you and the unponies here, so you can replicate all of that stuff,” Sunset said.

“That would be good. While there are things that I can glean about the state of your reality from my position, having a ready list of things would be helpful.”

“Sure.” Sunset looked up, scanning their faces one more time. She then pointed over each of the groups, mentally checking them off. And then she nodded. “I think that’s the gist of everything. Everyone knows what they’re doing, right?”

A chorus of “Yeah”s and “Uh-huh”s met her in response.

Sunset smiled. “Good.”

With a sigh and a solemn frown, Twilight stepped forward. “Sunset?

Sunset looked over. On seeing Twilight, her smile faded. “Yeah?”

“This is great, and all, but there’s still one thing we haven’t cleared up yet—”

“Yeah?”

“—and it’s the most important thing.”

Sunset straightened herself up. “What’s that?”

After a moment’s pause, Twilight sucked in a breath. “When all of this is said and done, and we’ve saved all the realities out there… do we get you back?”

At that, many in the room exchanged glances and then looked at Sunset for an answer. The friends of the human world trotted a few steps closer, just about staring holes into Sunset. Starlight also inched forward, followed shortly by her friends.

Adamantine’s muzzle twitched and she turned to stare thoughtfully into space.

Sunset scanned their faces, watching their eyes twinkle with hope. But she didn’t smile in return; she didn’t even reply immediately.

“Sunset?” Principal Celestia asked.

Sunset backpedaled. “A-ah… actually… if I’m being honest… I hadn’t even thought about that.”

Yes, in seven timelines, she still existed in the human world, outside the seal. And yet, right now, she herself existed in the seal across all eight. On average, here she was sealed away. Sunset’s frown loosened up. Once the seal was done, however, and had no reason to keep her anymore… could she leave?

Sunset blinked and slowly nodded. She let her eyes fall onto them again. “I don’t know. But honestly… yeah”—she saw them immediately liven up at that—“I think… there might be a chance.

“If this all goes well, and we do this right… I might be able to come out.”

* * *

Twilight Sparkle adjusted her glasses as she and the other remaining members of the Rainbooms climbed onto the stage. The six friends meandered into the center where the rest of the gymnasium could see them. A little over a hundred bodies dotted the floor below; most were teenagers their age, but a few teachers were clumped up to the side. The midday sunlight mixed with the overhead lights.

Applejack placed a hand on Twilight’s shoulder and nodded. That prompted Twilight to nod in return and then step forward.

“Hi, everyone,” Twilight began. “Thanks for coming on such short notice.”

“Hey!” cried a voice in the front. “Sunset’s actually okay?” Flash Sentry looked up at them, his hands balled into fists.

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Kind of, more or less.”

Many within the crowd, including Flash himself, gave relieved sighs.

“Yes,” Twilight agreed. “She’s… not quite here, still. She’s… still sealed away. But they found some techniques that allow her to interact with us, at least. So we have that.”

“Where is she?” Trixie asked. “I must know!”

“She’s back in Equestria. But, right now, she has a lot on her plate. She’s asked us to take care of a really important job.” Twilight straightened up and scanned the crowd. Every face within was looking at her intently, waiting for whatever she would say next. “There are a lot of things that we have to get through and explain. Here’s what’s happening—”

Pinkie Pie suddenly zipped forward. “Sunset Shimmer wants to solve all of existence. You all remember those stories she told us about alternate timelines and, like, infinite worlds? Turns out that Sunset wants to try combining all of that into one single world!” she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. As the others flinched away from her, she continued, “It kinda turns out that it was kinda happening anyway but we figured it out and stuff. But it’s going to be a thing where because we’d only be one world, it’s going to try to average every world out there and try to find the best one and so—”

“What Pinkie Pie is gettin’ to,” Applejack cut in, simultaneously placing a hand over Pinkie Pie’s mouth, “is things are gunna happen, and we got a way to make sure what we end up lookin’ like looks just like all this here.” She motioned to the entire gymnasium. “And to do that, we gotta put a buncha things in places.”

“Ah…” Twilight started, wilted, and then sighed. “Yes. That’s the gist of it. Fluttershy, can you show them?”

Fluttershy nodded and then slung her backpack off her back. She reached in and fished out a small and opaque orb carrying a faint white glow, coated by what seemed like a thin, glassy layer. Fluttershy held the stone up for everyone to see.

Applejack pointed at it. “Y’all’ve probably heard about these things before, but that’s a stone.”

A few gasps washed over the crowd, and some even glanced between each other.

“We’ll be bringin’ more of these things over in a bit,” Applejack continued. “But these things right here? We are gunna use these to, uh, keep everything the way it is.”

And then a bit of grainy quality music echoed throughout the gym; it sounded like a group of female singers singing to a peppy and confident tune. “Got the music in our hearts! We’re here to blow this thing apart! And together… we will never… be afraid of the dark!”

Rarity squealed and she fished her cell phone from her pocket. She looked at it and then glanced up. “It’s Vignette Valencia. I should take this.”

Rainbow Dash made a shooing motion with her hands.

Rarity smiled, turned, placed the phone to her ear, and began walking backstage. “Hello! Vignette! Oh, thank you so much for returning my call…”

“Anyway,” Rainbow Dash said, stepping forward, “we gotta take these things and spread them to as many places as we can. We’ll need to cover places like Camp Everfree and stuff.”

“Right. And any other places all of you can think of,” Twilight agreed. “We’re going to need all of your help to make it happen.” She paused. “Any questions so far?”

The whole gym remained silent and still.

Twilight sighed. “Good. Let’s start talking about what places we’d all like to cover…”

* * *

Adamantine followed Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s lead and bowed.

King Thorax, who sat on his throne, stood up and walked over to them. The floor, which had the same organic nature to it as the walls did, bore depressions from his hoofsteps, leaving a trail in his wake. He approached the three of them in silence, keeping his eyes on Adamantine all the while.

A few other changelings, all standing to the side, also watched the three of them. They remained silent except to occasionally buzz their wings in anticipation.

“So, you are Adamantine,” Thorax said. “You are the queen of the unponies.”

Adamantine lifted her head up and, as Celestia and Luna rose to their hooves, stood up as well. “Former queen, yes.”

Some sad wetness flashed across his bug-like eyes for a moment and then he straightened up. “Ah, y-yes. My mistake. Former Queen Adamantine. I have heard of you, especially within the last few days.”

Adamantine. “I am glad to know that you know who I am.”

Thorax looked at Celestia and Luna for a moment, considering their presence, and then turned his eyes back to her.

“And you’ve come here with them?” Thorax asked.

“Yes. That is correct,” Adamantine replied.

* * *

“Isn’t it true that these ponies more or less sentenced your people to death?”

Adamantine winced. Dragon Lord Ember, who still sat on the rocky throne before her, spoke with a tone that could slice through solid rock. What she had just said definitely sliced through her.

She sucked in a breath. “It is true,” Adamantine said.

Ember’s claw tightened around the crystalline staff she held. She narrowed her eyes even further. “And here you’ve come, in their company? What are you doing with them?”

“I… I have forgiven them,” Adamantine replied. As Ember’s expression twisted into one of visible confusion, she continued, “I must imagine that it is somewhat difficult to grasp. They did what they had to to protect their ponies, just as I did mine. I recognize that it put us at odds. I recognize that it made us enemies. But I know…”

Adamantine paused to look at Celestia and Luna who stood behind her. She looked back at Ember. “I know that, if things had been a little different, if we had all not been in such a terrible situation as that, I know they would have helped me and my people. For a time… that is what they even tried to do. So I am confident in that assertion.”

Ember’s frown deepened. She then flapped her wings as she rose from her throne, hovering across the shattered rocks that made up the floor to land in front of them. “That’s ridiculous. That’s insane.”

“It is the truth. Truth is often very strange,” Adamantine said. “And I stand by what I have said to you just now.”

* * *

Grampa Gruff ground his beak together as he considered her words. The thread hanging off his fez swished in time with his movements.

A couple of female griffons watched from the side. The one with the brownish coat and the white head feathers snorted and sat back. The grayish one, meanwhile, continued rocking back and forth with wide-eyed wonder.

Gruff finally said, in his gravelly voice, “What do you want?”

Feeling herself swell (and noting Celestia and Luna do the same), Adamantine straightened up. “I must imagine that you are aware of a Sunset Shimmer. You have met her not too long ago, correct?”

“I did. Briefly. Go on.”

“I am here in her stead. There are things about to happen. There are possible changes coming to our world. There will be an event in a few days that will affect all of us.” She paused. “This event has been in the works for thousands of years. It happening and the assurance of it happening… is why my people and I existed in the first place.”

Gruff paused. The wrinkles in his face creased as he hummed with confusion. “This has something to with the Nameless, hmmm?”

“Yes. I know you have finished dealing with something related to it recently.”

“Feh. I’ve heard there have been a number of other things that have to do with it. Why don’t you all just put an end to it?”

“That is the goal. I can assure you that this is the last thing that needs to be done. After this, everything will be truly resolved.”

Gruff’s beak turned downward but he said nothing.

She leaned forward. “But, to make sure that this comes to pass, we must ask for your assistance.”

* * *

“And why should we help you?” Queen Novo, who floated in the water before them, said. “Queen Adamantine, you must realize that we seaponies haven’t had the best relations with Equestria. I’m only hearing you out because you being the one to come forward is of exceptional interest.”

“And I recognize that,” Adamantine replied. She bowed. “Again, thank you for agreeing to see me. I must stress that this event… it is bigger than all of us.” Her frown deepened. “And, if my understanding of recent events is in order, it is what will see us safely through tomorrow.”

Novo tilted her head. “How so?”

“Are you aware that there is a campaign launched by the Storm Kings of the alternate timelines to conquer those timelines?”

The seapony next to Novo, sporting a yellowish body with light blue fins, whimpered and drew close to her mother. Novo sucked in a breath and pulled her daughter close.

“I am aware of it,” Novo replied.

“The worst has come to pass,” Celestia interjected, stepping forward. “They have already conquered the other Equestrias, and it is our understanding that they are preparing to invade ours.”

Novo paled. “N-no.”

A few of her seapony guards, also floating in the water with her, exchanged uncertain glances.

“Alas, it is true,” Luna said solemnly.

After sucking a breath, Novo leaned forward. “And? Is there anything that can be done? Can they be stopped?”

Adamantine nodded. “We have a plan. There is a team about to set out to defeat them. Princess Luna”—she motioned to Luna—“will be among them, even. But if we can get this event I have told you about to pass, then not only will those Storm Kings all be stopped, all of their damage will also be reverted.”

* * *

“Hmmmm,” Prince Rutherford hummed as he pulled on his long yak beard. “Yak still not sure. Yak no like this.”

Adamantine shivered; the Yakyakistan air was cold enough without the snow falling on them, and the eternally cold stone seats around this fire (which did help) hurt things. “I know you have hesitations about working with Equestria again. I understand the distrust that you have developed as of late. I have been where you are now, where I have not been so keen to take their side.

“I have found it in my heart to forgive them, because I still know that they have always done everything they could to benefit everyone, pony or otherwise… even if they have not always succeeded. They are good ponies. I would dare say… that I might have perhaps not approached them if I believed that not to be the case.”

Despite the locks obscuring his eyes, the shift in Rutherford’s jaw betrayed his otherwise stoic appearance.

“I recognize that circumstances have divided us. But there is one thing that I know for sure…” Adamantine stood up, making herself as tall as she could. “When we all come together… as one… as friends and allies, and…” She paused and then cleared her throat. “Amazing things happen. We can all accomplish so much… together.”

She leaned forward. “We have something we wish to do, and we will be much more capable if we had your help. You would enrich us in ways we could not accomplish on our own.” Adamantine cracked a smile. “I know you would be able to help us greatly… since I am aware that the yaks are the best at all things.”

Rutherford laughed. After a moment, he replied, “Unpony makes good point. And unpony is correct: yaks are best at all things.”

Adamantine clasped her hooves together but said nothing.

After a moment’s thought, Rutherford nodded. “Among things yaks are best at is forgiveness. Yaks best at forgiving. What is plan that unpony have to tell? Tell Rutherford what event we must prepare for.”

Adamantine smiled. “You see, it goes like this…”

* * *

“So,” Tempest began, facing the four bodies at the table with her, “in order to do this, we have two options: one, we sneak onto the ships while they are docked, or we try and parachute in. Given we’re not all natively ponies,” she said, casting a glance on Wallflower, “and I doubt most of us have been parachuting before, I’d like to avoid the second option.”

Luna hummed. “Those honestly don’t sound like easy options. The parachuting, obviously… Sneaking in… we can’t really blend in there, but you’re—” she turned to face Discord, “—especially conspicuous.”

Discord placed a claw against his chest and puffed himself. “Oh, I know. I’m worth noticing.”

“I am prepared to take a third option,” Tempest said.

Luna looked up. “And that is?”

“We straight-up fight our way onto that ship.”

Wallflower shrunk down. “Please no…”

Tempest chuckled. “Well, I fight, you three probably help me,” she said, motioning to Luna, Discord, and Stygian before centering on Wallflower again. “You just stay out of the way and let us protect you.”

Wallflower squirmed in her seat and looked up at the others.

“When we head out, we’ll want to portal in at a safe distance. That means not right next to the boundary of the magic field,” Tempest said. “I want to make sure we can immediately get out of there if we’re spotted before we’re ready.”

Discord’s thumbs up detached from his hands and bounced across the table.

“And then, another thing…”

Tempest trailed off as Twilight and Princess Celestia walked through the library doors, the former levitating several crystal balls behind her. Both of them meandered over to the table that Sunset, Starlight, and Adamantine were sitting writing things down on. Twilight set six of the balls onto the table where it joined the one showing Grimb’vltr and Genesis as they dismantled the large towers that stood in the corners of the room. Twilight briefly trotted over to Sunset and presented the eighth and final one to Sunset who looked up and started into for a few moments. The images within that crystal ball flashed for a moment. Finally, the flashing stopped, Sunset nodded at Twilight, and then Twilight and Celestia approached Tempest’s table.

“We got Grimb’vltr onto this ball for you,” Twilight said, turning to Tempest. “That way, it can help you while you’re out there.”

“Good,” Tempest said. “Thank you, Twilight.”

“Ah, what is going on in there?” Luna asked, leaning forward to see within.

Within that crystal ball, Grimb’vltr tiptoed over the many hoof-sized orbs littering the floor. The orbs all had glassy layers to their outsides. Genesis, meanwhile, stood next to a cylinder of stone about half his height. Energy swam through lights on its surface, all streaming toward the top where a hot, glowing object slowly rose from a cavity in the stone. The object eventually condensed into the shape of a small orb.

Genesis lit his horn and lifted the orb from the machine. The orb cooled, revealing it to be just like the several thousand already occupying the floor.

“Huh,” Luna said as she observed the activity within. “So that is how they are formed.”

Twilight took a moment to observe the activity within as well, smiling in the process. “Oh wow, you’re right. Truly fascinating…”

Sunset blinked and looked up. “Wait, really?”

Twilight held it up. “Yes! Come look!”

“Oh!” Sunset sprang to her hooves and trotted over. She joined them at the table to peer inside.

Genesis said a few words in an unfamiliar language. Grimb’vltr glanced over and said a few words of its own in what had to be the same language. They exchanged a couple more sentences and then fell silent once more, returning to their devices.

Starlight came over at that moment. “Wow, that’s sure something.”

Grimb’vltr glanced up. “Yes. I found it prudent to develop different facets in each timeline. I shall perform the full implementation later, with some help from some alignment protocols I am also developing.”

Starlight blinked and then looked into the ball. “Wait. You can see us?”

“Of course I can. Remember that I am a single entity spread across the timelines. My crystal ball in the chamber you are familiar with still looks at you.”

Starlight frowned and briefly looked up. “Uh…?”

“Of course, you understand that. I know that you do.”

Twilight nodded. “I do! You’re physically present across all of them at once, so you can respond to us from any of them.”

“I get it too,” Sunset said. “Remember how there’s a single seal spanning all eight timelines?”

“Anyway,” Tempest cut in, standing up, “given that, you can alert us if we are about to be found out. We will need you to scout out the area as we go in.”

Grimb’vltr paused. “That is something I could do, but I am not a part of your team.”

“You could be.”

“I am not.”

“…We could still use your help.”

“I have very important things to take care of. I should keep my focus on bringing Consensus to fruition.”

A blood vessel popped in Tempest’s head. “Yes, so you should do what you have to make sure we can safely pull it off on our end. We can’t do Consensus if we’re all dead.”

Wallflower flinched.

Grimb’vltr looked up. “That is obvious.”

“Then help us be not dead. Help us make Consensus happen.” Tempest paused.

Sunset nodded. “I agree. Grimb’vltr, we’re all working toward the same goal here. You help them out, then there’s no chance they’d be able to stop Consensus from happening.”

Grimb’vltr stroked its chin. “I suppose that is a fair point.”

Stygian chuckled. “Hmmm. I wonder if you’re unsure you could even help us.”

After a pause, during which the whole room turned to face him, Grimb’vltr snorted. “I assure you that I can.”

“Really? Because it sounded, just a moment ago, that you just couldn’t peel your attention away from Consensus, even for this. It sounds like you felt you couldn’t do both.”

“That is not the case.”

“Oh, but if it is, maybe you should just keep your efforts focused here.” He looked up, his expression firm. “We’ll do just fine without you.”

Celestia frowned and raised a hoof. “Ah, I’m sorry. Stygian—”

“Do not presume what I am and am not capable of,” Grimb’vltr said with a sharp tone.

“Well, remember that we’re here, right now, because you were incapable of splitting these realities correctly the first time.”

A flurry of gasps circled the room as they all considered what he had just said.

Adamantine shot to her hooves. “That sounds like quite enough! I will not tolerate that sort of talk here!”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, agreed. Stygian, we should be a little more—”

Grimb’vltr thrust one of its legs into the air. The crystal ball sitting on the table flashed once before a spectral hoof of blackish slime shot out of it. The hoof, several times the size of the crystal ball itself, rammed right into Stygian, propelling him across the room where he slammed into the bookshelves. The report from the blow dwarfed his cry of pain as it hit him, he hit the books, and then tumbled down to the floor.

Tempest shot to her hooves, letting some sparks arc across her broken horn. Wallflower fell backward with a yelp. Luna went wide-eyed and flinched, as did Twilight. Sunset and Starlight gasped but remained standing where they were. Celestia flared her horn and extended her wings to their full length but otherwise did nothing. Discord cooed with delighted interest. And Adamantine remained as before.

The spectral hoof fizzled into nothingness, leaving the room silent.

At once, all eyes, all widened with shock, turned to the ball.

Stygian groaned and, with some strain, looked up. “Ugh… what…?”

Grimb’vltr put its foreleg back down. “I will not tolerate that either. Learn how to talk to your betters.”

Stygian blinked. He lit his horn, wrapping his brilliant green aura around himself to pull himself up and set himself back in front of the table. “W-what the devil did you just do to me!?” he cried. He blinked. “H-how did you do that…?”

Twilight sucked in a breath. “That… was you, Grimb’vltr?”

“Perhaps it was me,” Grimb’vltr replied with a smirk.

“How did you do that?” Sunset asked. “Like, seriously, how did you do that?”

“Oh! What fun!” Discord exclaimed, throwing his appendages into the air. “Bravo, Big G! Simply incredible!”

Grimb’vltr’s smirk faded. “What did you call me?”

Celestia shot a hoof into the air. “Now now! There’s no need for us to become violent with each other!”

“Yes!” Twilight screeched. “Let’s not let this get out of hoof.”

“Seriously, though,” Sunset said. “How did you do that? You practically reached across a few tens of thousands of layers and… punched him!”

“Perhaps I did,” Grimb’vltr replied.

“How?”

Grimb’vltr straightened up. “Perhaps there are ways for me to interact with other layers. Perhaps I put something in place to go off at that exact moment. Or perhaps I have truly reached across time and space to put you in your place.”

Stygian swallowed. “W-well? Which is it?”

“I have decided that I will not tell you. Simply remember that I am a master of time and space. Do not contradict me again.”

“That was still quite uncalled for,” Celestia countered. “We do not do that here.”

“Uh, I dunno,” Starlight interjected. “That was pretty rude.”

“My point still stands,” Celestia said.

“That was uncharacteristically rude,” Luna said. “I agree. Stygian, that isn’t you. That’s not like you at all.”

Discord narrowed his eyes and floated down to the floor. “You know… I was just thinking that. Something is very off about you.” His eyes popped out of their sockets and orbited Stygian now.

A drop of sweat formed on Stygian’s brow. “W-what? I’ve only spoken the truth!”

“But you laced it with venom, and that is something I will not have,” Grimb’vltr replied with a sharper tone. Its features tightened up, and it craned its neck. “So, allow me to set you straight, and impart some wisdom on you. For the future.”

Grimb’vltr tilted its head toward the ceiling; at the same moment, the thousands of small orbs scattered across the ground rose up and slowly circled Grimb’vltr. Those closest to it flowed around it, leaving it room to stand in the middle of the chamber. Grimb’vltr even followed one with its eyes.

“You would do well… to remember… that I am known as the greatest monster that has ever threatened Equestria. That is, I believe, what I will be known for long after this is said and done and I have perished.”

Grimb’vltr looked up. “With that being the case… If you… any of you… should step out of line…” It smiled. “I will gladly show you exactly how monstrous I can be!”

Everyone held their breaths. Many of them exchanged uncertain glances. Stygian, for his part, looked as white as a sheet. Even Discord kept his silence.

At that point, the various orbs orbiting Grimb’vltr streamed toward the sides of the room, forming piles along the outer wall. That left much of the floor clear again. It straightened up.

“Now, with that out of the way, let us get back to business. Just so that I have your plan straight, once you are on the main ship, and you locate that throne fragment, you, Tempest, will destroy it. You, Wallflower, will erase the memories of the opposing forces so that they forget their alliance, and then the rest of you will wreak chaos, turning their forces on each other.”

Tempest let out a breath, sat back down, and nodded. “That is the plan.”

“Good. I will help you then… but under one condition.”

Tempest leaned forward.

“Because we cannot have information about the nature of Consensus falling into the hands of the enemy, my condition is simple. Before you leave… which I must suspect will be tonight”—Grimb’vltr paused to observe their affirmative nods—“the five of you will wipe your memories of the details of Consensus.”

Luna went wide-eyed. “What!? Grimb’vltr! You can’t be serious.”

“I am. I know that you can do it.”

“B-but…” Wallflower stammered. “That’s insane…!”

“I am not asking you to forget about Consensus entirely. You may keep that. But all these privy details, you must do away with. It is vital.”

“Why?” Tempest asked.

“Plausible deniability. In case of a worst-case scenario.”

Adamantine finally stood up and trotted over to them. After a pause, she said, “Wallflower Blush…?”

Wallflower looked up.

Tempest leaned forward, folding her hooves together and resting her muzzle against them.

“You can do that, yes?” Adamantine asked.

Wallflower sucked in a breath before producing the Memory Stone and setting it on the table in front of her. She looked back up. “Uh, yes, I could! But…”

Tempest nodded. “We’ll do it,” she said simply.

Discord slithered through the air and landed right beside Tempest. “Fizzlepop, dear, are you so sure about that?”

Tempest looked up. “I am.”

Discord groaned uncertainly and looked back at the crystal ball. “I don’t know. Big G did just put out a threat.”

“I know. And I know a thing or two about being seen as a monster. A lot of us at this table do.” She turned. “Grimb’vltr, I trust you. We will do it.”

Now Grimb’vltr paused. Its features gradually softened as it seemingly looked up to see her now. “You do?”

Tempest nodded. “Yes.”

Twilight smiled. From her lead, a few others smiled as well.

Grimb’vltr remained silent for a few moments more. It eventually reached up to scratch its chin and hummed thoughtfully.

Eventually, it nodded affirmatively. “Acknowledged. Well then…” it said with a softer tone than before, “let us commence our talks.”

Comments

[Thought Prism]

And so we resume, making preparations for the trilogy's climax. Honestly, Sunset really shouldn't be blaming herself. To begin with, all of this was Starlight's fault for resorting to a convoluted time magic based revenge scheme and thus destabilizing all of reality instead of just, like, killing the mane six's parents or something.

[EchoWing]

It lives! Huzzah!

Lots of moving parts, here. Got a bad feeling that something's gonna go wrong.

[Biglulu]

Stygian 🤔
Pic unrelated.
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