Feeling a terrible pain in her heart, Violet Velvet looked across the table at the unicorn foal known as Firelock. She could see that the foal was being brave about this, her lip was quivering, her ears trembled, and Violet could see the pain in Firelock’s eyes.

Nothing in the room burst into flames. There was no great rush of heat. The papers on the table did not ignite. The only notable thing that happened was a loud but subdued sigh that slipped out of the filly.

“Are you going to be okay?” Violet asked after several long minutes of silence.

Firelock sniffled, nodded, and then she made a shuddering reply. “Yes.”

“Your parents had to do—”

“I don’t want to talk about this,” Firelock said in a shrill, strained voice.

The words in Violet’s mouth died. She didn’t want to talk about this either. While it might have needed to be said, presenting the logical reasons for abandonment did nothing to help Firelock feel better, it did nothing to soothe the hurt, it did nothing to make the pain go away.

“What happens now?” Firelock asked after she wiped her nose with her fetlock.

“You stay here, at the school, in this regard, not much will change. You will continue to see Doctor Mawu and you will continue to learn how to harness your gift,” Violet replied.

“Is there any chance I can talk to them again?” Firelock gave Violet a hopeful look.

A swell of anger rose up inside of Violet, but it did not break the calm surface that was her face. She hated that she was about to break Firelock’s heart just a little more. “Your parents have chosen to block all communications. They wish to begin the grieving process of losing a foal, you, in this case, so they can move on with their lives.”

“But I’m not dead.” Firelock’s eyes were shiny with tears now and her whole body shook. Her barrel began hitching. “It was an accident…”

“I know that—”

Violet was interrupted by the door opening. She turned around and saw two griffons entering. Two familiar griffons. Violet’s eyes narrowed as she peered at Lugnut and Spanner. Lugnut stood in the doorway, looking quite upset, while Spanner wasted no time and ran forwards to Firelock. The foal slipped out of her chair and tackled Spanner in a fierce hug. After squeezing him, the foal began wailing.

“This is a private meeting,” Violet said in a calm voice.

“Our assistant did not show up for work this morning. We were worried. Rising Star told us what was going on,” Lugnut said as his crest rose. “Spanner, she’s crying. We can’t have her crying, do something.” Sooty, dirty, greasy, Lugnut lifted his head high. “She is going to need parents.”

“We’re still sorting out the legal issues and custody.” Violet gave the griffon a shrewd look and then with an almost mechanical motion, she looked over at Spanner, who was every bit as filthy as his partner. Spanner was now sharing his grubbiness with Firelock, who had been quite clean, at least up to this point. Violet, a quick mind, began to calculate the odds of this working. “Look, there are going to be some complications—”

“We get it. We’re griffons. We’re flamingly fabulous. She’s a foal. A pony foal.” Lugnut lept up onto the table, landing right in front of Violet. He looked the mare in the eye, and as he did so, one greasy feather fell from his wing. He left sooty paw prints on the wooden tabletop.

“I think both of you are fantastic parents.” Violet leaned her head forward, going nose to beak with Lugnut. “I am going to issue an order.”

“Is that so?” Lugnut asked.

“Yes. Both of you are going to get cleaned up. You are going to get Firelock cleaned up. Both of you are going to get Sprocket and Cog. And then the entire lot of you are going into Ponyville to try and make Firelock feel better. Both of you are going to show me what sort of capable parents you are. And the community. Drop in and see Bon Bon. Maybe go to Sugarcube Corner. Just see that she has a nice time,” Violet replied.

“Hey Spanner, how would you feel about going to the Ponyville Tea Room?” Lugnut turned his head and looked at his partner.

“I’ve been wanting to go there for a while,” Firelock said, snuffling as she wiped her nose against Spanner’s neck.

“I know. I heard you talking about it the other day when Spanner was showing you how pistons work.” Lugnut’s feathers fluffed out and he sat down upon the tabletop, his tail twitching in feline aggravation.

Violet leaned forward a little more, until her muzzle was inches away from the side of Lugnut’s head. “Thank you… I owe you one. Try to make her feel special and loved.”

The griffon, looking at the foal and his partner, nodded.

Sunset Shimmer looked at the pony in the hat and the overcoat. His face seemed blank, emotionless, his eyes almost seemed lifeless. She felt a growing sense of worry the longer she looked at him.

The strange visitor had been welcomed in and now stood in the middle of the room of the ground floor of Bucky’s tower. And that was all he did. He stood there. He did not look around, he did not take in his surroundings, the strange pony just stood there.

The door opened and Scorch stepped in, followed by Heifer Aestus. Scorch, in minotaur form at the moment, crossed his arms over his chest and stood by the door. Aestus crossed the room and then sat down upon the sofa, the wooden frame creaking beneath her immense bulk.

“Speak,” Scorch commanded. “Tell us, what brings you here, Observer.”

“I have come with information,” the strange pony replied.

“Breaking the rules again.” Aestus grinned.

“You have no idea, bovine creature. We approach a civil war within our ranks. Every day more of us agree that we can no longer sit back and watch. We approach a crisis.” The strange pony backed himself into an overstuffed chair and sat down. “It is turning out as some have said it would.”

“So what is going on?” Sunset Shimmer asked.

“Recently, you investigated Endovelicus Pharmacological Research Labs…”

“Yes,” Sunset replied.

“And no doubt, you have become aware of some troubling truths. But these are only the beginning.” The strange pony reached up and removed his broad brimmed hat and then placed it upon the small, ornate wooden table beside his chair. “Endovelicus Pharmacological Research Labs doesn’t just exist in this reality, Sunset Shimmer. They also exist in the reality in which you found yourself when you were exiled.”

“I see.” Sunset’s ears perked forwards.

“I know you have encountered Doctor Caballeron.” The strange pony’s words were a statement, as if he was presenting a fact. “What if I told you that the Doctor Caballeron you encountered was not this world’s Doctor Caballeron?”

“What?” Sunset Shimmer’s jaw dropped open.

“This world’s Doctor Caballeron is dead.” The strange pony’s voice was blank, emotionless. He announced the news with no feelings whatsoever. “The Doctor Caballeron encountered in Baltimare was born as a human. He now roams several worlds, making himself quite powerful and wealthy. He acts as a broker. I know for certain that he has made some deals with the mirror travelers that plague you. He was here in Equestria overseeing the making of magical drugs and then smuggling them back to the world right next door to this one, the one you found yourself exiled in.”

“But magic—”

“Does work in that world. Under special circumstances. That world is magic weak, but magic still exists. The magical drugs lose their potency at an alarming rate. Magical elixirs that cure diseases, ease injuries, and a new drug called ‘Bliss’ that is now plaguing that world.”

“Bliss? Hey, I heard of that while I was there, it was on the television, it was supposed to be some kind of new miracle cure for depression,” Sunset Shimmer said.

“Bliss is more than a cure for depression. It makes people, human beings, weak minded and weak willed. It makes them content, happy, it blanks out their minds and makes them very easy to manipulate. Makes them complacent.”

“I don’t like where this is going,” Aestus said.

“It is a chemical compound discovered from the study of changeling drones. It took a long time before it began to work on humans. We first became aware of its existence almost a decade ago, and it was first being developed to work on ponies, a work funded by one of your noble houses. The experimentations were a failure and the earth ponies it was tested on all became violent and unstable. It did nothing to make them docile and complacent.”

Scorch grunted and shook his head, his lip curling back into a snarl.

“The human known as Doctor Caballeron found a weak place in between realities when he was studying some forgotten temples in a jungle. He found a door, so to speak. He and others began to study it. They learned to replicate its strange energies that they did not understand. It started a secret technological revolution, a paradigm shift in that world’s technical understanding. As they laboured, others took notice of them. Sensing opportunity, a group of rogue draconequus went to that world, posed as aliens from another planet, duped the humans into cooperation, and assisted them with their technological leap.”

“All for the chaos that it is causing, no doubt.” Aestus shook her head.

“Correct.” The strange pony nodded. “The instability is spreading and now it is becoming a threat to multiple realities. I can no longer sit back and watch. I feel the need to do something.”

“So this Doctor Caballeron is working as a smuggler, a go anywhere agent that moves between worlds, striking up deals, working as a messenger…” Sunset’s words trailed off and she looked confused. “To what end? Why do this?”

“Wealth. Greed. The conglomerate that owns Endovelicus Pharmacological Research Labs is set to make over a trillion dollars in profits this year,” the strange pony said.

Sunset Shimmer staggered backwards, her legs buckling. Scorch lunged forward, caught the stumbling mare, and steadied her. He stroked her back, patted her, and then straightened himself back up.

“So they are helping the mirror travelers?” Aestus asked.

“Yes. When it is profitable for them to do so. They are not allies, not in the strictest sense, but the secretive society that is seizing control of the entire planet now works with several off-world agencies, the mirror travelers included,” the strange pony replied.

“So we not only have mirror travelers posing a threat, but interdimensional crime as well,” Scorch said in a low, rumbling growl.

“This instability that you mention.” Sunset Shimmer shook her head as she spoke. “This is caused by the mirror travelers, correct?”

“No.” The strange pony looked at Sunset Shimmer, his eyes blank.

“No?” Sunset’s ears fell back against her head.

“The pony most responsible for the instability between realities is Star Swirl the Bearded. His early days of interdimensional jaunts were done with unstable portal generators. He did not make a nice, neat, clean portal. He made rips, tears, he sundered the fabric of reality and allowed one reality to bleed into the next. And then, long after he was gone, his technology saw continued use by Princess Celestia, who traveled through the mirror to visit a nearby reality, where she continued her relationship with good king Sombra. Which led to the mirror crisis that almost destroyed both Equestrias, this one and the one ruled by the formerly Good King Sombra.”

Sunset Shimmer closed her eyes and let out a groan.

“Yes, Sunset Shimmer, that mirror that Twilight Sparkle is using to visit the world next door is causing irreparable damage to both worlds. The mirror that is being used to transfer letters between you and your friends on the other side.”

With a thump, Sunset Shimmer’s backside fell to the floor. She sat there, looking stunned. She blinked a few times and then her eyes flooded with tears.

“Don’t give up hope,” the strange pony said, focusing his eyes upon Sunset Shimmer. “I will be your letter carrier. I can see how much this means to you.”

“Thank you,” Sunset said. She looked at the Observer and wondered if he felt anything, anything at all.

“There is still much to discuss.” The strange pony blinked. “I’m going to tell you everything I know…”

Author's Notes:

Draconequus posing as aliens from another world...

Or as typos from the second dimension.