The next day was colder, but slightly less cloudy. The Pegasi seemed to have gotten the weather partly under control and stabilized it for the time being. The morning had been chilly and damp, and the smell of decomposing leaves was almost overwhelming. Ponies in town were busy raking up the debris from the last few days’ storms, and others had filled town square to sell largely inedible fall-themed produce like gourds, pumpkins, and colorful corn.

Diamond Tiara largely ignored these. She had not, as far as she knew, slept in two days or eaten real food in three. Her mother would probably have looked approvingly upon the latter, although of the two conditions, it was the one affecting Diamond Tiara the worst. Sleep was not really an issue; if Harvestor was real, whatever he had done to her mind had made her less tired. The world seemed much more orderly and bright, and even pleasant- -but deep down, Diamond Tiara knew that it would not last.

So she marched through town, her drone-servant in tow. She had taken the time to prepare herself, setting her freshly polished tiara on her well-combed hair and putting on a jacket that cost more than most ponies in that town would make in a lifetime. At the same time, she wore thick glasses despite the partly cloudy skies and applied heavy makeup to disguise how fail and sallow she was becoming.

For the second time in two days, she made her way toward the Palace of Friendship. This time, though, she was not interested in more lectures from Twilight or Starlight. Her target was instead the library.

As per tradition, the doors to the lower levels of the castle were not locked. Diamond Tiara easily made her way into the inner area, and was glad that Twilight was likely engaged elsewhere. Despite not having a number of rare books, Twilight’s library was legendarily extensive, with only Celestia’s private library of forbidden magical tomes rumored to be more extensive. That was exactly what Diamond Tiara needed.

Usually, the library was filled with at least a moderate number of ponies. Now, though, it was completely empty; students had finished their exams and projects and were preparing for the prom, and others were engaged with winterizing their homes and preparing for the oncoming cold season. The only ponies present were some of the many generic-looking Ponyville citizens that Diamond Tiara had never bothered to learn the names of- -citizens who looked over their books at Diamond Tiara with unusually dead looking, unblinking eyes.

Diamond Tiara ignored them. Her first task was to locate a number of books on various subjects. Her original objective had been to research the nature of interdimensional travel, something that Twilight was apparently unexpectedly well versed in. Twilight had written a number of treatises on the subject, and many of them referenced work by Starswirl the Bearded. Diamond Tiara consulted his work, but quickly found not only that it was written in Old Equestrian, but that his math was exponentially beyond her understanding or that of her drone. None of it was useful, not even the pictures.

That was actually to be expected. Diamond Tiara quickly left those musty books behind and moved into what was the equivalent of the library’s basement. Years ago, before Mayor Mare had retired and the Ponyville town hall become the Ponyville museum, the town records had been moved to the Castle of Friendship in preparation for it taking on a role as the town’s administrative center. The records were stored below the main library.

The space down there was cramped and smelled like old, slightly moist paper. The light was wholly inadequate, but fortunately the drone came equipped with a light source powerful enough to provide a modicum of illumination.

Despite the heavy disorganization, Diamond Tiara was able to find a set of files. Assuming that Fluttershy was in her early thirties, she looked at records from that era, specifically at criminal reports. There were not many; Ponyville was not known for crime.

There was not much information. Fluttershy had not been born in Ponyville, so there was no record of her birth. There was, however, a reference to a pony named Carnation Bloom who had taken up residence around that time and obtained a permit to set up a florist shop on the east side of the town. That was itself not unusual, except that she stopped paying taxes only a few months after arriving, meaning that she either moved…or vanished.

This was not much information to go on, but Diamond Tiara packed it up into neat folders and put it in the drone’s saddlebags. She was intending to cross-reference it with the microprint article recorders upstairs, or to medical records if she could manage to bribe them out of one of the less ethical town nurses if she had to.

On her way up, she passed once again through the crystal stacks of seemingly endless books. This time, she was alone, save for the drone and for one blue-colored pony ignoring the mobile ladders and instead flying to the top shelves by the power of her own wings.

“Rainbow Dash,” said Diamond Tiara, briefly startling the rainbow-maned Pegasus pony.

“Hey…you,” said Rainbow Dash, turning and smiling but also clearly forgetting Diamond Tiara’s name. Diamond Tiara sighed. Rainbow Dash’s reaction was somewhat to be expected. The two of them had very rarely had dealings with one another. Diamond Tiara had generally considered her to be loud and just arrogant enough to be annoying. “You’re one of Scootaloo’s friends, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” said Diamond Tiara, with some hesitation. She had not always been that way; in fact, when she had been younger, she had been quite terrible toward the three ponies that were now some of her last friends.

Diamond Tiara looked at a the section that Rainbow Dash had been peruising, and noticed that it was adventure fiction.

“Looking for the latest Daring Do release?” she asked.

“Oh no, of course not. I get those on pre-order, straight from the author. We’re, like, pretty much best friends at this point. No, I wanted to get a copy of ‘Daring Do and the Black Flock’ for Scoots. She’s still trying to catch up on the series.”

“Of course,” said Diamond Tiara, knowing full well that Scootaloo actually detested adventure stories but was, in fact, probably reading them anyway for Rainbow Dash’s sake.

“Who’s your friend there?” said Rainbow Dash, eyeing the mute drone that was following Diamond Tiara. It eyed Rainbow Dash wearily, and even in its pony-hologram form it still looked slightly threatening and strange.

“A servant,” said Diamond Tiara, oversimplifying.

“Wow. What is it with your family and hiring huge dudes?”

“Rainbow Dash, I have a question.”

“Oh. Okay. Shoot.”

“Fluttershy. Was she adopted?”

Rainbow Dash frowned. Her exceptionally energetic cheerfulness seemed to collapse, and she landed, looking Diamond Tiara in the eye. “Why would you ask me that?”

“You grew up with her. I assumed you would know.”

“I do know. But that’s not something you just ask a pony.”
“Is it true or not?”

“Yeah. It is. But I’m only telling you so you don’t go and try to ask her. It’s not something she likes to talk about, or even think about. She never knew her biological dad, and her mom abandoned her as a foal. Fluttershy never really forgave them for it.”
“What if her mother didn’t abandon her? What if she- -”
“Sent a letter? Called? Showed up even once? She never did. Trust me, kid. Her adoptive parents are her real parents. They actually loved her.”

“Must be nice,” muttered Diamond Tiara.

“What’s that?”

“Never mind. Just go back to whatever it is you were doing.”

“What I was doing was being awesome,” said Rainbow Dash, floating off the ground. “It’s all I ever do. And don’t bother Fluttershy.”

“Trust me, I have my own problems to deal with.”

The microfilm was not especially helpful. Diamond Tiara spent hours looking at it, flipping through various articles and newspapers that were all over thirty years old. They were comparatively complete- -apparently, some unfortunate pony had had the unfortunate special talent of converting newspapers to film at some point- -but most of the newspapers did not bother with covering disappearances. They preferred to focus on the latest gossip- -now all thirty years out of date- -or on recipes or whatever the royalty was doing. Diamond Tiara had seen more pictures of baby Blueblood than she had ever wanted to, but nothing about Carnation Bloom.

When that line of inquiry went nowhere, Diamond Tiara left the library and returned outside. She had taken some copies of the information with her, as well as several books on interdimensional travel that she had no way to translate, all stored in the drone’s core memory. She was not sure if it would be helpful or not, but it was worth taking.

Outside, it was early afternoon. The trees lining the leaf-covered green hills had been oranged perfectly, and the cleanup crew had been mostly replaced with laughing children and townsfolk. Diamond Tiara could not help but feel mixed emotions about this: she wished that she could be like them, free and happy, and hated them because she could not. Not until she found a way to fix herself. She knew that jealousy was wrong, but she could not stop herself from feeling it.

The Castle of Friendship largely overlooked the town, standing at the end of what was rapidly becoming the new central street of Ponyville. It was filled with all kinds of shops and restaurants, as well as quaint Ponyville homes. This time of year, it was beautiful, but Diamond Tiara decided to avoid it. There were too many ponies- -or, as the case might have been, too few. Instead, she took the paths that led behind the castle into a park that had come to be accepted as the Castle’s main grounds. There were still ponies there, especially children, but few enough that Diamond Tiara had time to think.

After several minutes of walking though the winding paths, Diamond Tiara found herself in a relatively isolated area. Though no ponies appeared to be around, however, Diamond Tiara became aware that she was not alone. An unusual scent of cinnamon filled the air, and she heard a soft ticking following just behind her.

She suddenly stopped and turned to where the leaves were blowing behind her.

“Come on, Pick. What do you think you’re doing?”

The dirt path behind Diamond Tiara remained blank for a moment, and then the air seemed to distort as Pick’s invisibility field collapsed.

“But I was invisible…how did you know I was there?”

“Because I’m not an idiot. And because I know you. You’ve been pulling the same trick for years.” Diamond Tiara turned around, facing Pick. The drone watched on, as if mildly amused. “What do you want? Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be snuggling Silver Spoon right now? Or did you move on to the whole CMC?”

“Eew. No. Frankly, I’m surprised they managed to get dates to the Prom…well, not Silver Spoon. She’s actually attractive. I suppose the werewoad would be, too, if she did not reek of impending death.”

“Buck you,” said Diamond Tiara, turning around. “I don’t know what I ever saw in you.”

There was a flash of light, and Pick teleported in front of Diamond Tiara. Diamond Tiara looked down at him. He seemed so small, but looking at him made her extremely sad. “Get out of my way, Pick.”

“No. You asked me why I’m here, didn’t you? Well, I’m here for you.” Diamond Tiara just glared at him, but did not order the drone to force him out of the way. She doubted it even would if she had asked it. “I’m scared, Diamond. You probably can’t tell because of the mask but I’m quaking in my high-grade steel-toed boots.”

“Why? Did Silver Spoon finally give you the swamp fever?”

“Can you take me seriously for one second?” snapped Pick. “I get it, I really do. I’m not blind. I know that to you, I must be some kind of monster. That you probably can’t even stand to look at me. I know I’m not pretty, and I can’t even touch you without my support architecture to keep me alive. You probably only agreed to be my fillyfriend because your parents forced you into a political relationship to connect our family’s industries.”

“Pick, I didn’t- -”

“But I really did love you. I do love you. Every day I wish to the Underking that I could take this suit off and look you in the eye like a normal pony, but I can’t. But it’s okay that you don’t love me. I can stop loving you if I have to, but please…you were my first friend, I can’t lose that. Somethings wrong, and you won’t tell me, and you won’t tell Silver Spoon…I’m afraid, Diamond. I don’t want to lose you.”

Diamond Tiara stared at him for a moment. The manifold valve on the lower part of Pick’s mask was clicking more than usual, indicating that he had winded himself saying his peace. Diamond Tiara chose to let him stew just a bit longer. Then, without any sort of explanation, she climbed a nearby berm to where a large beech tree had been planted.

Pick, confused, followed her. Diamond Tiara pointed to the grass below, where it combined with the three’s roots. “Sit,” she said.

Pick obeyed, sitting down in the grass. Diamond Tiara sat down beside him and leaned against the tree. They were overlooking an uneven field where several large trees were surrounded by grass. Some fillies and colts were running, chasing each other. Another was flying a kite. Several couples sat on benches or on blankets, oblivious to the world around them. In the distance, standing beside one of the trees in plain view, stood Harvestor, watching. Diamond Tiara ignored him.

The pair of them sat there for several minutes, just watching the ponies go.

Diamond Tiara pulled up her collar against the autumn breeze. “So,” she said, not looking at Pick. “You’re saying you never touched Silver Spoon.”

“No more than you have.”

“Fair enough.” Diamond Tiara paused. “Who felt better?”

“You have less developed muscle mass, and therefore are softer to hug or otherwise embrace. As I have previously stated, I prefer you.”

“At least you don’t have to hug metal,” said Diamond Tiara, leaning against the tree. She looked up at the drone, which was waiting patiently. “Ieiah, diey’hie eiaihiea ieh,” she said, trying her best to replicate the necessary command inflection.

The drone responded by turning around and walking off.

“You gave it coordinates,” said Pick. “What did you just do? Why did you do that?”

“I ordered it to go to the spa and reserve my usual,” said Diamond Tiara. “Except for two.”

“Spa? I don’t understand. Why would you…” There was a literal click as the translation dial in Pick’s chest fully translated what she had just said. Diamond Tiara could almost see him blushing, even though his face was covered in metal to protect him from the temperatures of surface environment. “You don’t mean- -”

“Yeah. I do.” She reached out and awkwardly pulled him toward her. Being smaller, he leaned his head on her shoulder and fell silent as the pair of them looked out over the beautiful autumn landscape. For the first time in days, Diamond Tiara actually felt good. A familiar feeling crept over her, and she found herself wishing for the same thing she had always wished for since as long as she could remember. Her parents had drilled into her that all that mattered was wealth, power, and social station, but all Diamond Tiara had ever wanted was to be normal. To have a normal life where she did not have to pretend to be better than everypony else, to have a normal coltfriend, to not have her sanity slowly shattering around her. This was as close as she had come to that ideal- -and she could feel that whatever Harvestor had put in her head was fading, and that this would not last.

“I accept your apology,” she said. “I’ve been having…problems. I’m sick.” She looked down at him, and his optics flicked up at her. “I don’t know if I can get better, either. Are you sure you want a lover like that? Even if I don’t make it out of this?”

“You will. You’re Diamond Tiara.”

“Don’t dodge the question.”

“Of course. You are my best friend.” He gestured toward the slowly revolving device in his chest. “It is your diamond that clicks in my second heart. I have stuck with you since you were a child, and I do not intend to leave you until the day you choose to send me away.”

“Yeah,” said Diamond Tiara, holding him closer. He was warm against the cold wind. “I’m pretty much the best you can do, aren’t I?”

“Unless your mother gets a divorce, yes.”

Diamond Tiara jabbed him in the shoulder. He reacted as though it hurt, even though it was almost impossible for him to feel anything through the armor that kept him alive. The world really did feel normal.

Looking up, Diamond Tiara saw that Harvestor had moved. He was now closer, standing roughly in the center of a playground as children played around him, each one instinctively avoiding the space where he was actually standing. He continued to stare unblinkingly. Diamond Tiara held Pick closer; she was not sure if it was because she was afraid, or as a taunt to Harvestor, who could not approach morlock technology.

“Hey,” she said. “I did have a question, though.”

“Yes, hybridization between morlocks and surface ponies is possible.” Pick looked up. “Oh. That wasn’t your question.”

“Eew. Stop trying to ruin the moment.” She sighed. “No. It’s just that, when we looked at that hologram, you saw Twilight, and you said something.”

“What I said is not important.”

“It is to me. It was when you saw that she was an alicorn. Why?”

Pick released a low hissing sound, his version of a sigh. “It’s nothing, really. A minor mistake.”

“I don’t understand.”

Pick looked out into the distance. He paused for a long moment. “Do you know why my family is unique, even among morlocks?”

“Aside from the inbreeding?”

“We’re not that inbred. No. It is because we are and have always been the only family to live above the Upper Shield.”

“I remember,” said Diamond Tiara. It had never been something critical to her knowledge of morlock society, just something mentioned in passing. “It protects Geoterra.”
‘ “Yes. But it’s not just metal, or a wall. It was built before anypony can remember, even the elders, assuming they are still alive. None of us even know how it was created, or how it works. The technology was lost to us.”

“Why? To protect you from the plants, the ones that almost…” Diamond Tiara trailed off.

Pick shook his head. “As far as any of us know, it was built before them. At that point, it becomes legend. They say that the ancients built it to protect us from a great threat. Exactly what is lost to history.”

“And you think alicorns have something to do with it?”

“No. Of course not,” said Pick. “That’s the misunderstanding. The phenomenon that the Upper Shield was built for roughly translates to Red-White Sphere. In our language, that is a homophone for bisymmetric, or alicorn. I was just confused.”

Pick was surprisingly good at lying. It was one of the reasons why Diamond Tiara admired him. Still, he was not good enough at it to fully fool Diamond Tiara. He was not lying outright, but she could tell that he was not telling the truth- -but she decided to let it go. He was telling the truth about Silver Spoon. On some level, she had always known that.

So she let the conversation trail away. There was no need for it to continue. Instead, they just sat there, watching the world go by but doing it together. This was the happiest Diamond Tiara had felt in a long time, yet, somehow, she still found tears rolling down her cheeks.

The decay continued. The boundaries were breaking down. Time passed, but Diamond Tiara was beginning to lose the ability to tell exactly how much. She knew it had not been more than a week, but it was not clear if she had passed through hours, minutes, or days. Whatever was in her head seemed to always be producing a strange buzzing sound, and sometimes she would realize that she had forgotten to do anything except stare into space for indeterminate amounts of time.

For the whole time, Diamond Tiara could not remember if she ate or slept. It was becoming increasingly difficult to tell at any point if she actually was asleep or awake, or had eaten. This did not mean she did not try, though. The world seemed to be collapsing around her, but she still held on. A number of interpersonal interactions passed by her in a blur, and she had the impression that she was at least partially mimicking what it meant to live a real life.

Eventually she found herself in the Ponyville Spa. Being inside was easier for her, and this place was almost normal, perhaps because it was one of the few places that she had been to enough for it to become completely familiar.

Her perception finally stabilized- -mostly- -as she was walking through a long hall. She was accompanied by two earth ponies. They were the twins that owned the spa- -or at least Diamond Tiara had always assumed that they were twins- -Aloe and Lotus. Their unusually bright and contrasting colors gave Diamond Tiara a headache, but the sweet smell of the spa made her feel just a little bit better- -even if it was tinged with a sour, rotting wet smell that had never been there before.

“Business has been booming recently,” said one of the twins. Her voice, like the voices of everyone in her family, was heavily accented. Diamond Tiara had no idea where they were from that would produce that kind of an accent, and had actually come to think of it as a chosen affectation more so than an actual part of their normal speech.

“But most of eet has been with preparing the hairdos and thee hoofs for the Prom. Not many are using the sauna.”

“Which is terrible waste, considering the weather. But this is a good thing for you! You should have the better part of two hours.”

“Good,” said Diamond Tiara, eyeing the walls. She could not remember what they had looked like, but for some reason they now appeared to be peeling, painted brick. Out of the corner of her eyes, she was becoming conscious of the modifications made to Aloe and Lotus’s bodies, the perfectly symmetrical mutilations and protruding metal. Diamond Tiara did her best to will the image of living rot out of her mind, until she could only sometimes see the glint of steel in the spa pony’s spines or the outline of the ports in their sides. Even that was enough to be horrible, though, because Diamond Tiara knew that even if she refused to admit their existence, those modifications were real.

Diamond Tiara shook her head, trying to clear the image. “I’ve been terribly stressed recently.”

“Oh, of course.”

“Considering all the work you have done for the Prom.”

“We have heard you selected an absolutely stunning historical venue near Canterlot.”

Then, in unison. “Our Prom was at Sweet Apple Acres. It wasn’t exactly…our thing.”

“Right,” said Diamond Tiara. She adjusted the towel over her hair. “Also, I’m expecting a guest.”

“Ah, yes,” said Lotus- -probably- -“We will prepare little Silver Spoon’s favorite oils and have them brought to- -”

“It’s not her. Expect a colt.”

Aloe and Lotus’s respective eyes widened, and they looked at each other.

“Is something wrong?” asked Diamond Tiara.

“Well, it’s just that…”

“You are one of our best customers, second only to Rarity, but…”

They frowned to each other uncomfortably, then looked at Diamond Tiara. “Having a mare and a stallion in the same sauna…it’s something we usually frown on, because…”

“You know…”

Diamond Tiara sighed, and produced a small back stuffed completely full of bits. Aloe and Lotus’s eyes immediately zeroed in on it, their ears pricking to the sound of jingling coins. “I am willing to pay a bit…more.”

Lotus snatched the bag away quickly.

“Of course!” said Aloe, now smiling widely. “We will bring him right in!”

Lotus mumbled something through her mouth full of bits. Aloe looked at her, translating her sister’s muffled words effortlessly. “And for such a generous customer would you like us to give him anything…else? A special massage, perhaps, if that is something he would like?”

“No. Just bring him to me, and then make sure nopony disturbs us. Also, I’m sure you two understand the value of discretion.”

Lotus mumbled.

“Oh, yes,” added Aloe. “If there’s one thing we understand, it is value!”

At about that time, they reached the door of the spa. Lotus spat the small sack of coins out of her mouth- -appearing for a moment that she may have swallowed at least one of the coins- -and pulled open the door, releasing steamy air that almost felt like a wall of warmth. Her sister checked the gauge that controlled the steam, and finding it in working order, gestured for Diamond Tiara to enter.

“Just tell us if you need anything. Anything at all.”

“And we do mean ANYTHING.” Lotus winked.

Diamond Tiara entered the room, and they closed the door behind her. The sudden change from the relatively cool, fall-scented air of the spa to the heat of the sauna was quite jarring, but not uncomfortable. Diamond Tiara’s headache had been growing steadily for days, and despite the number of pills she had been taking this heat was the only thing that had even been remotely able to assuage it. Likewise, the implants in her body had started to feel unusual- -or feel at all, despite Harvestor’s previous insistence that they were generally painless. The steam made them feel better too.

The sauna itself was a mostly round room made from benches of hardened local oak. Even with updates having been made to it in recent years, it had been kept relatively traditional in design. Next to the door was a valve system that controlled the level of the steam, and in the center of the benches sat a small bowl of hot stones suspended over a fire. A ladle and been provided to pour water on said stones, even though that was technically redundant considering the external steam source.

Diamond Tiara immediately adjusted the controls, driving the temperature as high as it could go. Once she was satisfied, she sat down on the nearest of the benches. She hesitated for a moment, closing her eyes and trying to clear her mind. The world was breaking apart around her, but in here, everything seemed even and stable. The benches never moved, and the air could be controlled by a valve on the wall- -there was nothing more to it. After a few moments, Diamond Tiara began to feel somewhat calmer. The buzzing in her head even slowed down to a dull and almost musical hum.

Then she opened her eyes, and hesitantly removed the towels that were covering her. She knew, obviously, that ponies were normally naked almost all of the time. Cultural decorum, however, dictated that a pony should always wear her towel when in the spa. It was even harder for Diamond Tiara because she had left her tiara in the locker room; without it, she was substantially more naked than she usually was.

She eventually decided that she just could not managed to do it. She removed the towel from her head, but kept the other around her body. Despite the sauna calming her down, her heart was beating quickly.

After being left alone with her thoughts, eventually, the door slowly slid open. Diamond Tiara’s heartrate- -which had been slowing- -suddenly accelerated. She looked through the door to see Pick awkwardly standing in the gap- -and Harvestor watching silently over his shoulder.

“Are you going to come in or what?” said Diamond Tiara to Pick. “Close the door before you let something in.”

“Sorry,” said Pick, closing the door behind him. He immediately paused. “Oop. My optics just fogged.”

“I’m surprised the twins let you in here with that suit on.”

Pick looked down at his armor. The ragged cloak-like garment that he normally wore had been removed, but otherwise he was still plated in dark-colored shielding. “Yeah, they were unhappy,” he admitted. “But I don’t think they wanted to see what I look like under here.” He looked up. “Wait, twins? How can those two be twins?”

“Um…because they are?”

“But one was actually rather pretty, and the other just so…homely. I don’t know how two ponies so different could be related.”

The room fell silent, and Diamond Tiara and Picked stared at each other awkwardly.

“Well?” said Diamond Tiara. “Are you going to take off your clothes or not?”

“Oh…right,” said Pick. He prodded the dial in his chest. “Oh, wow. It’s warm in here. That explains why you are so sweaty.”

“I am NOT sweaty!”

“Yes you are. Is this temperature safe for you?”

“Is it for you?”

“It’s a little low, but it should be okay. Hold on.”

Something clicked inside his armor, and his dial rotated as the interlocks in his armor opened. He stepped out of it from behind, leaving it standing exactly where he had left it. Even then, he had only removed the surface coating. His internal support system was still connected to his body.

Pick took a deep breath. “Yeah. I can breathe this. This will work.” He looked up at Diamond Tiara, who was staring intently. “It does make it harder that you’re ogling me, though.”

“Hey, I paid for this. I’ll ogle as much as I want.”

Pick grumbled, and then disengaged the interlocks on his internal armor. There was a slight warning tone as the metal fell away and Pick stepped out. Diamond Tiara had only seen him unarmored once before, when they were much younger. He was bigger now, but not by much. Without his armor, he looked relatively similar to a normal pony. His relatively sparse coat was pale green, and his mane and tail both straw-colored. Although his proportions were different from a normal pony and his features a bit different- -including his wings, which were the only part of himself that he generally left exposed- -but he really did look at least mildly attractive in an insect-like sort of way.

Seeing him without armor, though, made Diamond Tiara feel strange. Again, she knew that ponies were almost always naked. She had seen everypony she had ever known naked before; it was not unusual. With Pick, though, it felt strange and new.

Pick removed the dial from his internal armor, causing the thermal elements to cease glowing. He placed it on his chest, where it attached like a broach.

“You’re not going to leave that behind, are you?”

“Unfortunately, I can’t. It’s part of my duty as a noble.” He crossed the sauna and pulled himself next to Diamond Tiara, folding his legs underneath his body and sitting like a loaf. “I’m pretty lucky, though. I can still take it off if I want to.”

“Why wouldn’t you be able to?”

Pick’s small, yellowish eyes flicked up at Daimond Tiara. Even in the low sauna light, his pupils were compressed tightly into slits. “Technetium mining is hard on a pony, even a morlock. Those exposed to it directly…well, they’re not entirely ponies anymore.”

“And you?”

“I’m a redundant sibling. A reject. Although I would say I am most definitely an adorable reject. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“You’re really small without your armor on. I kind of feel like a pedofilly.”

“I’m seventeen. You are.”

Diamond Tiara jabbed him in the shoulder. It was surprisingly soft, and from the way he winced, Diamond Tiara realized that she may have actually hurt him. Her towel slipped slightly, and she squeaked in surprise.

“Kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?” mused Pick, even as he was shielding his own body almost entirely with his overly large, plate-like wings. He shrugged. “Probably better for me, though. Without the polarization matrix on my lenses, you’re color is really quite jarring. I mean, seriously, pink? PINK? That and the cellulite…”

“Oh, really? Like green is any better. Actually, why don’t you go and put your clothes back on? It’s not like looking at an evolutionary reject is my idea of fun, you know. Or should I just put a bag over your head?”

“I actually brought one. I intended it for you, though.”

“Only an uncultured moron would want to hide this perfection. You should be begging me take this towel off.”

“I don’t beg. If I really wanted to see you naked, I would either visit your werewoad friend’s farm to view porks or I would offer to pay you, as your father did for your mother.”

“You would be thinking about my mother right now, you perverted freak!”

Unable to control herself, Diamond Tiara tore off her towel and leapt onto Pick. He initially squeaked and chirped as he tried to scramble away, but Diamond Tiara gripped him tightly before he could escape. Despite his appearance, he was amazingly soft, like velvet.

After overcoming his initial fear of pony contact, Pick held onto Diamond Tiara tightly in the most awkward possible way. At this point, Diamond Tiara was not really sure what she wanted to do, so she started kissing him. Doing so was actually somewhat difficult; his mouth was far wider than a normal pony’s and full of several rows of lethally sharp teeth. He seemed to respond well to it, though, and submitted easily to Diamond Tiara’s will. That was somehow unsatisfying, and Diamond Tiara came to wonder if he was just incapable of lifting her off of himself without the power assist in his suit.

Something felt strange, though. Diamond Tiara felt her heart beating faster, in part because of the audacity of what she was doing and in part in anticipation of where this might go- -but something else seemed to be growing inside her. She felt sick, and a ringing sound was growing in her head, a single and inescapable tone. It drove into her skull and spine, bringing searing pain with it. Diamond Tiara ignored it, trying to focus on what she was doing, knowing that it very well might be her last chance.

Then, in an instant, the entire world seemed to shatter around her. It was not so much an explosion as an absolute collapse of every assumption that allowed her mind to have any bearing in the real world. She screamed- -or thought she had screamed- -and felt herself falling.

She struck the stone floor of the sauna with substantial force, and the wind was knocked from her lungs.

“P- -Pick?” she said, standing shakily. Now she was afraid, and wanted to hold him far more than she had before. She reached up to take hold of him- -and found him gone, replaced by a dark stain on the moldering wooden bench.

Diamond Tiara backed away in shock, feeling cold sweat running down her naked body. It was then that she realized that she was, in fact, horribly cold. There was no heat, and no humidity; it was as though the sauna had been turned off, and not recently. She turned to the pipes on the wall, and saw that they were incomplete- -and at the same time, oxidized and corroded by what appeared to be centuries of use.

The sauna, likewise, was no longer empty. Sitting on the benches above where Diamond Tiara and Pick had been making out were several pony skeletons, their bones blackened and overgrown by the fungoid growths that populated the cracking and unwaxed wood.

Many of them seemed to just have collapsed, slumping over sideways. One, however, stood near the door, collapsed. A thin red-brown trail lead from his remains to the bowl in the center of the sauna, which instead of holding coals now held nothing but dust and stains. The material that had been stored there had apparently been used to write on the wall; wherever the strange ink had touched now appeared blackened, showing a combination of symbols and foreign lettering that Diamond Tiara could not even hope to recognize.

Diamond Tiara shivered. She was nude, alone, and cold, and she did not know where she was.

“H…Harvestor?” she whispered. “Anypony?”

The only response was a high, distant warbling that was almost a voice that drifted in from the partly open door. Diamond Tiara froze, wonder what exactly that had been, but not wanting to find out. Slowly, she stepped across the dirty stone of the floor and started to push on the door. It was badly rusted, and did not initially move. When it finally did, it made a horrible creaking noise that echoed throughout the perfectly silent spa.

The hall outside was long, far longer than it should have been, and made of dirty painted brick. The floor was dirty, covered in dust and debris. The air was cool, if not cold, but smelled strange. Somehow, Diamond Tiara had the impression that she was underground.

Perhaps more ominously, the hallway did not terminate where it should have. The spa was not especially large, but in this version, instead of ending up back in the front lobby, the brick hallway took a sharp turn and continued. Diamond Tiara paused at the intersection, noticing how the bricks now looked just a little bit different, a little older- -but had nowhere else to go. She started walking slowly into the older section.

This continued, and Diamond Tiara became acutely aware of the progression. At first, she just seemed to be wandering a maze of cold, nearly industrial hallways, sometimes passing doors that would not open or empty, perfectly square rooms. After a time, though, the nature of the hallways seemed to change. The bricks became less brick like, and more as though they had been carved from a single substance. They became thickly coated in moisture, and more uneven.

The floor and walls became increasingly organic looking, and what had formerly been debris was now imbedded into them in a way that made the shards of glass and shards of building materials look oddly like teeth. At the same time, the thick and unpleasant smell that Diamond Tiara had first detected upon exiting the sauna had grown much more intense as the air had grown warmer and more moist. That, and somehow, Diamond Tiara was sure she could feel it oscillating. As though something large was breathing deeper within.

Worse, Diamond Tiara was getting increasingly lost. Her sense of direction was normally good, but nothing here was logically constructed. Hallways backtracked on themselves, or turned gradually in long spirals that were almost imperceptible. Sometimes, Diamond Tiara found herself passing places that she had been before even though it should have been possible with the path she was taking.

She was beginning to grow more desperate and panicked when she noticed something unusual on the calcium-thickened walls. Carved into the dark grime at one corner was a system of symbols. Diamond Tiara approached, expecting to see another random array of runes, but was surprised to see that it was actually written in Equestrian.

Diamond Tiara lifted her hoof and wiped away some of the material covering the markings. It was thick, and the marks had been eroded by time and moisture, but they were still mostly legible. They appeared to rudimentary map, as well as directions. Many of it had been crossed out and re-drawn, apparently being painstakingly carved with magic.

Whoever had made it, despite being careful, had apparently been as terrified as Diamond Tiara was slowly becoming. There were parts where the information trailed off, or where it could not be read, either because of erosion or because of whoever made it had been distracted by something. The map seemed good, though, and Diamond Tiara did her best to commit it to memory.

Once she thought she understood the instructions clearly, Diamond Tiara followed them. Slowly, the hallways began to change back to the way they had been. There were more markings, too; other incomplete maps, or arrows and notes burned into the walls, including some that apparently had nothing to do with the building. They were just ramblings.

The only time Diamond Tiara slipped up was when she took a wrong turn, misinterpreting a map segment that had apparently been drawn inverted for some reason. That almost cost her dearly- -she ended up in an area where the hallways widened vastly and the light inside them vanished completely, leaving them large and dark. The breathing sound had been almost deafening, and Diamond Tiara only barely stopped herself in time when she heard the sound of things moving in the void.

Eventually, though, she returned to the correct path and, in time, found her way out. The final door was hanging askew on its hinges, but for some reason took an immense effort to open. It slid silently, and though it resisted, Diamond Tiara eventually got it open- -and found herself under a familiar sky.

“No, not this again…”

Once again, she found herself in a twilight version of Ponyville. The spa stood behind her, looking almost like it did in the real world but darkened and strange. The rest of the town stood similarly ominous and sterile in abject silence.

“Hello?” called Diamond Tiara. As expected, there was no response, and she took to the street. The only sound as she moved between the buildings was her hooves clacking on the wet and uneven cobblestone streets. She remembered what Lucy had said, that the town was a bad place, and being in the shadow of those crowding buildings, Diamond Tiara knew that it was true.

Suddenly, the dim light of the unnamed and collapsing suns overhead was replaced by a bright surge of blue. Diamond Tiara shielded her eyes, and looked up to see lightning streak across the sky. Or, at least, lightning was what she thought of it as. It did not operate remotely similar to the way lightning traveled in the real world; instead, it slid horizontal across the sky, dividing and recombining as it traveled.

Then, instead of collapsing into thunder, the lightning remained, illuminating the sky in silence for an extended duration before erupting into an array of fractal curves that bathed the land in blinding blue light. The rapidly expanding energy did not produce thunder per se, but rather an electrical vibration that seemed to bored into Diamond Tiara’s skull. She cried out in both pain and shock- -and fear at the bizarre things hiding amongst the buildings that the burst of energy had suddenly illuminated.

Diamond Tiara closed her eyes, and when she opened them, the town lay in ruin. She blinked, confused. There had been no sound of an explosion, no flying debris or fragments. On close inspection, Diamond Tiara saw that the damage was, apparently, not at all recent. Buildings were crumbling and rotting, overgrown with mold and stone-like vines, and from the look of them had been for decades.

The air grew increasingly cold, and Diamond Tiara shivered as the sky seemed to darken. Then, as the lightning overhead began to fade and separate into independent decaying lights, she saw movement in the town.

Spectral ponies emerged from the void. Their bodies were incomplete and translucent, without facial features or clear identifying marks. They moved slowly and without sound, trudging through the debris and falling embers of lightning. They moved as though they were actual ponies walking through town on their daily business, but they had none of the joy that normal ponies did. They did not prance or smile, and none of them interacted with each other. They just seemed to drift.

Diamond Tiara backed away, not understanding what was occurring. They did not seem to be threatening, but at the same time, they did not seem safe to make contact with. The way they ambled slowly, or turned their faceless, incomplete heads toward Diamond Tiara as they passed was unnerving.

“Ghosts,” said a voice. It was not a loud voice by any means; in fact, it had spoken quite softly. But in the populous silence of the tattered remains of this alternate Ponyville, it was deafening.

Diamond Tiara jumped and squealed, turning as she came back down to see Lucy standing approximately behind her.

“You- -it’s you!” she said, putting her hoof to her chest. As relieved as she was to see Lucy, the sudden surge in her heart was almost more than she could take.

“Some days, yes,” responded Lucy. She ran her hoof through the part of her long red hair that emerged from the hood she was wearing. “But some days…I don’t know.”

She stepped forward and, after a long hesitation, wrapped Diamond Tiara in a hug. The familiar smell of carnations once again surrounded Diamond Tiara, and as strange as it was, Diamond Tiara hugged back. It made her feel a little better.

“I thought I had lost you,” said Lucy. “I was alone again…I don’t know for how long.”

“It’s only been a few days back in Ponyville,” said Diamond Tiara. She looked up and realized that Lucy was genuinely crying.

Lucy’s eyes widened. “You- -you went back to Ponyville? How?”

“I don’t know,” admitted Diamond Tiara.

Lucy’s expression fell. “Then I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have come back. Not to this place. Not here.”

“I didn’t really have much of a choice.”

“I’m so glad to see you, but…no, this needs more thought. Conclusions cannot be reached at this time.”

“Yeah,” said Diamond Tiara. “I know the feeling.” She looked out at the town, and then up at Lucy. Lucy looked down at Diamond Tiara, and then away. She smiled, but it was a sad smile. “So you were here, what, waiting? I thought you said the town was a bad place?”

“They are. But not always. Things are cyclic. Except when they’re not. I was waiting. For you. For myself, perhaps. I don’t know.”

“Waiting? How long?”

“Months? Perhaps years. Time…time doesn’t work well here. Sometimes it runs…strangely.”

“Is that what these are?” Diamond Tiara pointed out at the ghosts that were now surrounding them, watching.

Lucy nodded. “Yes. I don’t really know what they are, but I think they were ponies. Or perhaps will be. Some part of them. A shadow, or a mirror. Of ponies that are, were, or will be.”

“Are they dangerous?”

“Not sure. They’re new. I think they’re okay, though, as long as there’s not a lot of them.”

“Why are they looking at us?”

“For the same reason we look at them.” Lucy seemed slightly nervous. She looked up at the sky, where distant lightning was forming. “Come on,” she said. “We should go.”

“Yeah,” said Diamond Tiara. “I don’t like it here.”

The two of them started to walk, being careful to avoid the ghosts. Lucy seemed to know her way through Ponyville, but she did not take a logical course. She seemed familiar enough with the idiosyncrasies of this version, but would occasionally stop on wide roads or pathways that should have been open to travel and turn in a different direction. Diamond Tiara thought this was strange, but Lucy seemed to know what she was doing.

“We need to get inside,” said Lucy, looking up at the sky. “The storms are getting worse.”

“Inside? No, we’re not doing that. I thought you said the buildings were dangerous?”

“They are. But not all of them. I’ve been inside most of them. Almost died in some, found my way out of others. Except that one time…” Lucy paused. “Oh, wait. I made it out of that one too. I forgot I survived that.”

“The markers,” said Diamond Tiara, turning back to the hulking wreckage of the spa. “You made them, didn’t you?”

“I’ve made a lot of things. But yes.” Lucy frowned and stopped abruptly. “Wait, you saw markers? I only leave markers in the ones that change. Those are the worst, because they’re not really buildings. You were inside one?”

“Yeah. I was in the spa in Ponyville, then the one here.”

“Oh. And you got out?”

“No,” said Diamond Tiara, sarcastically. “I died.”

“Well that’s unfortun…oh.” Lucy smiled. “You are more tenacious than I initially expected. I admire you slightly more. You will do well here, I think. Perhaps better than I did.” She looked down at Diamond Tiara, and then out at the town. “There,” she said. “That one. That one is safe, usually.”

“Usually?”

“Certainty is a precious luxury.”

Lucy led Diamond Tiara across a rocky area toward a building on the edge of town. Unlike the others, Diamond Tiara did not recognize this one- -at least not at first. It was somewhat larger than the others, and more angular, built in a style vastly different than the one that was aped by the deformed and now destroyed buildings of the false-Ponyville. It seemed more angular, and stone-like, and the rocks that had been used to construct it seemed old. Also unlike the others, it was not built on the land so much as half submerged into it, tilting and partially sunk in the damp and jagged rocks below.

Diamond Tiara initially did not know where she had seen it before, but then it occurred to her. The last time she had been here, when she had almost drowned, she had seen buildings like it emerging from the black water- -and had the impression that those were just towers of a much larger structure that had been lost to time beneath the contaminated sea below.

“What is that?” said Diamond Tiara.

“I don’t know,” said Lucy. “I never did. It’s one of the older things here.”

“I’ve seen something like it before.”

Lucy nodded. “There are many. Most are buried, sometimes very deep, and a number of them are infested, badly. They make me wonder if there were others here, at one point. Someone who built them. But that must have been so long ago. Or…these could just be the dead ones.”

Diamond Tiara shivered, looking back at the town behind them. The ghosts had now mostly congregated on the edge, watching Diamond Tiara and Lucy go silently from the edge of their town. Lucy seemed to largely ignore them, instead focusing on the growing disturbance in the sky. A sound like distant thunder was approaching, and Diamond Tiara thought she could see something like clouds on the horizon.

The building did not have doors, but Lucy quickly ducked through a narrow gap where one might once have hung, lighting her horn as she entered. Diamond Tiara followed, and tried to maintain her balance on the slanted and rotting floors. She quickly realized that although the building was somewhat strange on the outside, it was not much different from the buildings in Ponyville. It was spacious, but otherwise quite ordinary.

Lucy climbed across the floor toward the high side of a wide and empty room toward a dirty window. She looked out and up at the sky, which was rapidly growing thicker and brighter from the increased lightning. Fragments of light were beginning to fall from the sky from the decaying arms of the storm, and Diamond Tiara could smell the scent of oncoming rain.

“The storms have been very bad lately,” said Lucy.

“What are they?” asked Diamond Tiara, awkwardly ascending the wooden floor to stand next to Lucy. Outside, the strangeness of the now web-like network of energy discharges was beautiful but at the same time clearly ominous. Visibility was decreasing quickly, though, as though night were falling.

“Roots. No. Folds. Yes. That’s better. They are disruptions. Or connections.” She looked down at Diamond Tiara. “Sometimes, things fall through them. Like I did, and you did. And sometimes they dredge up things. Things best left buried.”

“Like the ghosts.”

“And the shifts. And…other things.”

Lucy backed away from the window and ascended a narrow staircase. Diamond Tiara paused, and then followed her as well. Climbing the staircase was difficult because of its strange angle, but Diamond Tiara managed. As she did, she noticed that the stone-block walls of the stairwell were covered in deeply engraved runes and spell construction. They looked extremely similar to the ones that were in Lucy’s cave out in this world’s version of the Everfree Forest.

“What is this?” she asked.

Lucy looked back, and her blue eyes looked to the marks. “More plans. More failure.”

“It looks like a spell.”

“It was. And is. Part of a network of them. I built it…a long time ago. To create my own storm, to get out. It failed. I almost died.”

“You’ve been trying to escape.”

“No. I stopped a long time ago. There is no way out of this place.”

“I seemed to manage it.”

Lucy smiled, but it was a very sad smile. “You did.” She reached into her bag and removed the device she used to produce her equivalent of fire. She also removed something made of cloth. “Here,” she said, levitating it toward Diamond Tiara.

“What is this?”

“Clothing. You were shaking when I found you. The artifact generates light, but not much heat. And sometimes whatever is on the other side of the storm makes it very cold here.”

Diamond Tiara took the garment in her hoofs. It was made of rough, somewhat dirty fabric that looked like it had been salvaged from several sources but sewn together with great care. It was, essentially, a cloak, but with a part that would extend down over its user’s chest like a shirt. It was not unlike part of the far more complex system or armor and multiple layers that Lucy wore. Notably, though, it appeared to have been fit for Diamond Tiara, who was slightly shorter and wider than Lucy.

“Thanks,” said Diamond Tiara, sliding the cloak on. If somepony had tried to give something like that to her in Ponyville, she would never even have looked at it for more than the time needed to make a disgusted expression and perhaps berate the pony trying to give it to her. Here, though, she was actually starting to grow cold, and it was better than nothing.

Lucy laid out a thin cloth mat, and then set her star fragment on it. She lit it with her horn, but did not charge it as powerfully as before. The room was lit with a pleasant dim light that seemed to pulsate slightly, almost as though it were from a real fire. Lucy then reached into one of her saddlebags one more time and removed to cracked glasses and a small bottle.

“Here,” she said, pouring out some of the contents into what appeared to be the remnants of a measuring cup. Diamond Tiara immediately recognized the appley smell. “I don’t get a lot of this. It’s heavy, but I haven’t been able to get rid of it. Perhaps you would like some?”

“Cider? Sure, why not.” Diamond Tiara took the measuring cup as Lucy poured some for herself into a dirty jelly jar. Diamond Tiara immediately drained half of her portion. It was sour and slightly oxidized, but it did its job. She then took the cup between her hooves and resolved to drink the rest more slowly.

Lucy sipped her own, levitating it in her olive-green magic. “I remember when I first came to Ponyville,” she said. “It was the autumn, before I got sick and…well…came here. There was a couple out on the edge of town who used to make fresh apple cider. I’d always had cider when I was younger, but that cider…there was nothing like it.” She looked into her cup at the vastly lower quality fluid that it contained. “I wonder if they still do that. You know, they had a son. He was just a little bit older than my Fluttershy…he’s probably a grown stallion by now…”

Diamond Tiara looked down into her own drink. She then looked up at Lucy, and was once again surprised by how much she looked like Fluttershy. Her coat color was a few shades darker, and her hair was red instead of pink, but the resemblance was uncanny.

“I was looking for records of you in Ponyville,” she said, after a long pause. “Do you know the name ‘Carnation Bloom’?”

Lucy immediately frowned, and seemed to become agitated. “No no no no no…That’s not my name. It…I remember it, yes, but…that’s…” She paused, trying to regain her composure. “Yes. That is what I was called when I was young and pretty, like you. But it’s not me, not anymore. Whatever is left of me is not the same. I don’t want to think about…about what might have been.” She looked over to one corner of the empty room, and shifted where she was sitting. “But…”

“What?”

“You had a chance to go back. Even if you didn’t, you’re still so new. Which makes me very sad. But…Fluttershy. My Fluttershy. How is she?”

“She’s happy,” said Diamond Tiara. “She has lots of friends, and animals.” She looked up into Lucy’s blue eyes. “And she misses you.”

Lucy smiled. “You’re a bad liar.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Not about the first part, no. But the last part…I can tell. How could she miss me? How could she love the mother who was never there for her? She must hate me.”

“But none of it was your fault!”

Lucy shook her head. “Do you think that matters? I failed her. And it is better this way. If she hates me, she will not miss me. I’ve already missed so much of her life…and I’m going to miss the rest too.”

“You’re an idiot.”

Lucy’s eyes widened. “I am?”

“You’re really just going to give up like that?”

“Wouldn’t you?”

Diamond Tiara was about to retort, but then realized that what Lucy described was exactly what she had been doing all along. “No,” she said, again lying.

“Something is wrong. Is something wrong, Diamond Tiara?”

Diamond Tiara nodded. “They say I’m dying. That I’m going insane. I can’t tell anymore. I just…I don’t know…”

Lucy nodded. “I’ve been insane for years. A product of being alone for so long. There’s nothing I can do about it. It’s by no means fun, but you can live with it. Most of the time.” She paused. “Sometimes I wonder if any of this is even real…”

“I’m real.”

Lucy looked up. “But then am I?”

Diamond Tiara shivered slightly at the thought, and tried to change the subject. “In Ponyville, I’ve been having hallucinations. At least, I think they are. I don’t know anymore.”

“Of what?”

Diamond Tiara laughed, even though it was anything but funny. “Alicorns. One named Harvestor…doing experiments on all my friends. Did you ever see them, when you…were like me?”

Lucy shook her head. “The only alicorns I know are the four Princesses. And I’m pretty sure they have forsaken us.”

“They’re Princesses. Not helping is kind of their thing.” Lucy smiled and let out a small giggle. Diamond Tiara had not known her very long, but it seemed like the first time in a long time that she had done something like that. “Besides. I tried talking to Twilight. She just said I was insane. And to be honest, I think I might be.”

“You seem pretty normal to me.”

“Yeah. Considering you just admitted to being bat-butt crazy yourself, that doesn’t mean much.”

“Of course it does. I know madness better than anypony. I’ve been staring it in the eyes for a long, long time.” She paused, and her expression fell. “I think…I think I will be looking at it forever…”

Diamond Tiara sighed. “Now THAT is annoying.”

Lucy glanced up. “What?”

“How you just give up like that.”

“You have no idea how hard I’ve tried to get out of here,” snapped Lucy. “The things I’ve had to do just to stay alive- -”

“Well, clearly, you didn’t try hard enough. Or else you wouldn’t be here, now would you?”

Lucy’s eyes narrowed and she suddenly stood up, glaring at Diamond Tiara. For a long moment, she just paused unblinking in the slowly pulsing light. Then her horn charged, and a beam shot out.

Diamond Tiara squealed and covered her head, realizing that she must have sounded just like some kind of pig. The beam missed her, though, and she looked down beside her to see a half-destroyed crab or spider-like creature shrieking as it pulled itself back into the floorboards by flailing its exorbitantly long hooked legs, trailing flaming and fragments of its body behind it as it escaped.

“What- -what the buck was that?”

“Best not to ask,” said Lucy, shrugging. “Apart from that, though, you may be right. It’s been so long, maybe I’ve gotten complacent with my torment. Also, don’t breathe the smoke off that thing unless you want your lungs to be on the outside of your lung-hole.”

Diamond Tiara moved several feet away from where the spider had escaped through a hole between the dry and nearly petrified floorboards. Lucy sat back down, and her expression had changed. She seemed more lost in thought, sometimes looking at an area of the room that was empty, as though something was there. At the same time, though, Diamond Tiara had the impression that she seemed happier than before. Hopeful, perhaps.

They remained awake for what felt like several more hours. Conversation with Lucy was by no means easy. She would occasionally stop in the middle of conversations and stare, or diverge completely onto a different topic or into manic, rapid-fire assertions that made next to no sense. When things like that happened, though, she usually realized it and corrected herself, or Diamond Tiara would just listen and sip her cider. She was not a pony that Diamond Tiara would normally have ever associated with in Ponyville, but she was actually surprisingly charming. Talking to her was fun.

The conversation began to slow as the wind outside seemed to grow. Through the window, Diamond Tiara saw that the world had gone almost completely black, save for the numerous small glowing fragments of expended lightning that swirled around the building. The sound of the wind and what might have been rain- -and a bizarre third sound, one that was almost like distant voices that Diamond Tiara did not want to contemplate too deeply- -caused Diamond Tiara to slowly realize just how long she had gone without sleep.

Noticing this, Lucy set out a blanket for Diamond Tiara. She herself did not sleep, but did not mind dimming the flame-like light generating device enough for Diamond Tiara to at least try to sleep. The blanket was relatively crude and dirty, but as soon as Diamond Tiara pulled one end of it over herself, she immediately dropped into sleep.

The dreams started almost immediately with a vengeance. Diamond Tiara immediately found herself standing in the middle of a familiar desert, surrounded by numerous plants that sprung forth from the rocky, sandy soil, drawing water from some deep and unseen source.

Except this time, there was a structure on the horizon of the desert. Diamond Tiara approached it slowly- -painfully slowly, and yet somehow quickly- -and quickly recognized it. The enormousness of it, combined with its variable structure formed from eternal additions built onto an ancient fort for over one thousand years- -some of which Diamond Tiara had designed herself. It was where she had spent her last seven summers, and where she had met Diamond Pick- -and where she had acquired the worms that were destroying her mind.

In the distance, the sun started to set quickly, turning crimson as it approached the horizon and the crystalline white glow of the crescent moon began to approach from the opposite end of the sky. The world was cast into shadow, and every plant bloomed in unison, filling the air with a heavenly scent. With the smell came the voices. Diamond Tiara could hear each and every one, all speaking in different voices but saying the same thing, a phrase or message that she could not fully understand.

Then, slowly, the pain washed over her, small and distant at first but growing rapidly into piercing pain between her eyes. Around her, the world suddenly seemed to collapse and rupture- -and from the desert arose a new landscape.

Suddenly, Diamond Tiara found herself shivering against the cold as snow fell in the shadows of Cyclopean concrete structures. Stained and enormous brutalist towers appeared around her, gray and cold like the drifts of snow that formed against their sides. Though enormous beyond anything built by pony hooves, their stony and jarringly practical facades were all that surrounded Diamond Tiara. There were no ponies, no voices. The only sound was the muted crackling of the snow falling around her.

Diamond Tiara looked up through the storm, and saw that the sky had no true sun- -but instead was lit by a hideous blue light. High above stood something, but what it was nearly escaped description. At times, it appeared to be a flower, and at others, a writhing mass of silver tentacles, and always hemorrhaging frigid dark-blue light.

“Diamond Tiara,” whispered a voice. Diamond Tiara turned to find herself staring up into the blank, narrowed pupils of an enormous gray alicorn, his cracked skin leaking blue light from within.

“Diamond Tiara!”

Diamond Tiara awoke with a start and found herself staring into a pair of blue eyes. She was about to protest, to wonder why Lucy had woken her up when she was finally able to sleep- -but then she saw the terror in those blue eyes, and knew something was wrong.

“What- -what happened?”

“We’ve been compromised! We have to get out! NOW!”

Diamond Tiara stood up, groggy and confused. The storm was still raging outside, but the room looked normal. Nothing looked wrong, and for a moment Diamond Tiara wondered if Lucy was having some sort of a break from reality. With all she had been through, that was not unlikely.

Not understanding, Diamond Tiara reached down for the blanket she had been sleeping on.

“NO! LEAVE IT!”

It was too late. As soon as Diamond Tiara’s hoof touched the edge, the blanket suddenly shifted, pulling up off the ground. The blanket rose quickly, and in seconds something was standing beneath it. Something tall and narrow that towered over Diamond Tiara, its form and nature completely obscured by the blanket that covered it.

Whatever was beneath moved, turning with the most delicate subtlety, and Diamond Tiara became aware that it was facing her. She felt magic swirl around her, and Lucy pulled her back.

“What is that?!” cried Diamond Tiara as she was thrown down the stairs.

Lucy did not answer. She was instead mumbling to herself rapidly. She held up one of her hooves, where a metal band was inscribed with various complex runes. As she spoke, the runes began to glow.

“Hold on,” she said. “I’m going to try something!”

Without any more warning, she leapt on Diamond Tiara, tackling her to the ground. As they fell, Diamond Tiara saw the thing beneath the blanket standing at the top of the stairs, watching. Then, there was a sudden feeling of floating that was all too familiar. Diamond Tiara reached out for something to hold onto, but only found Lucy. She held on tight as the world seemed to vanish with a loud whooshing sound- -and then slam back into existence with a loud thundercrack of magic.

Immediately, Diamond Tiara felt the familiar distortion of recent teleportation seep into her mind. Distantly, she was aware of darkness and cold wind, and that her clothing was slightly singed. Lucy lay on the ground beside her, not moving.

“Lucy?” said Diamond Tiara, standing up and nearly falling over. She had only teleported a few times in her life, and every single time Pick had been the one doing it- -and every single time, she got sick.

Lucy stirred, and slowly stood.

“Oh, wow,” she said, looking down at the metal ring over her left hoof. The runes were still glowing red from the heat of the reaction. “That was not a good idea.”

“No, yah think?” Diamond Tiara reached down and helped the older mare to her feet. Lucy seemed shaky and groggy from the spell, even more so than Diamond Tiara. “Have you even teleported before?”

“No.” Lucy winced and doubled over, grabbing her chest. “Oh wow…and I think I might have left some of myself back there.”

“Do we need to go back and get it?”

“That’s not how it works. Besides, if I can still talk I didn’t need it.” She stood up, ignoring the pain, and looked around. Diamond Tiara did the same, bundling her cloak around herself against the wind. She was glad that Lucy had given it to her, but it was not completely adequate for the strange wintry air that drifted downward from the electrical storms above.

“This doesn’t look good,” said Diamond Tiara. “We probably would have been safer with the…um…”

“Not much here has names. I sure don’t have the time to come up with them. Probably a vug.”

“Is everything here trying to kill you?”

“Oh no. Almost nothing is. That’s the problem.”

“Well, this storm’s going to do it for them if we don’t do something.” Diamond Tiara looked around. “Where the buck are we, anyway?”

“I don’t know,” said Lucy. “I can’t see- -hold on.” She lit her horn, and cast a shield spell around them. The wind immediately calmed, and though the air was still cold, Diamond Tiara felt some relief in the warmth of Lucy’s horn.

Lucy looked around, her eyes slowly scanning across the darkened landscape. “Yes,” she said. “Yes. I know.”

“How can you see anything in this?”

“I can’t.”

Lucy stepped forward, and Diamond Tiara followed- -and then the storm was behind them. Diamond Tiara looked back to see its edge in the distance, as though in a single step they had crossed hundreds of yards. Lightning and energy sparked overhead, swirling in an enormous vortex upward. Out where they now were, the wind was still present, but weaker, and the visibility was slightly better.

Diamond Tiara did not even bother to ask how they had moved so quickly, because she already knew that they had not. Space and distance, like time, were strangely malleable in this world.

They now found themselves on the edge of a grove of strange trees. These trees were not like those that created the endless forests of this realm; instead of being massive, decaying carving-like structures, these appeared to be actual trees. Instead of leaves, though, they had a number of perfectly straight limbs, all facing exactly upward. They did not look like any trees that Diamond Tiara recognized, but the setting did.

“This…this is Sweet Apple Acres,” said Diamond Tiara, looking across the fields of grass that waved contrary to the wind toward an old collapsed house in the distance.

“No. It’s not,” said Lucy. “Not yet…or not anymore.” She looked at the trees and sighed. “We’ll be safe from the storm in there.”

“It’s not the storm I’m worried about. Actually…” Diamond Tiara turned back and looked at the storm. It appeared to be moving away from them, but there was no way to know if that meant it was approaching or departing. “Couldn’t we just use it to get back? I mean, I came through it- -”

“NO! No- -I’m sorry,” said Lucy. “But that’s a bad idea. A really, really bad idea.”

“No it isn’t,” said Diamond Tiara, defensively.

“Yes it is. I don’t know exactly what causes the tempest, but I know that a great many of the holes do not go to Equestria. Sometimes the strangest things come through. Sometimes things that can’t have been made in habitable places.” She started walking toward the thick grove. “Come on.”

“Come on? What do you mean ‘come on’? I really don’t want to go in there!”

“Well, too bad, because that’s where I’m going, and so that’s where we’re going.”

“Is it even safe?”

“No, of course not. But sometimes I come here for food that’s not, well, me.” She looked back, over Diamond Tiara’s shoulder. “That, and the storm is not nearly done…and even when it is, well, we have to deal with the things that washed up from the bottom. And you don’t want to be out in the open when they come. Look.” She pointed, and Diamond Tiara looked out at the grass between her and broken house in the distance, and noticed the gleaming eyes of jellenheimers emerging from just over the top of the grass. Worse, the silhouette of something strange appeared in the growing fog, towering over the remains of what must have only marginally resembled Applebloom’s house.

“Does this place ever stop?” groaned Diamond Tiara.

“Oh, yes,” said Lucy, cheerfully. “As soon as you die. I think. Actually, don’t quote me on that.”

With that, Lucy vanished into the trees. Diamond Tiara looked back at the horde of smiling faces, and then quickly followed Lucy into the trees.

Diamond Tiara was not a farmer, but she knew apple trees well enough to know how to recognize one- -and she could immediately tell that these trees were most definitely not apple trees. They were not even pear trees. Aside from having no leaves, their bark was rough and nearly black, and coated with moss that connected to the ground, which was not so much dirt as it was mostly flattened cut stone. They did have fruit- -at least Diamond Tiara thought that it was fruit. Swollen, ball-shaped objects hung from the upward bends of some of the tree branches on long, narrow tendrils. They did not look edible.

Despite the disgusting appearance of the fruit, Lucy reached up with her magic and pulled one off. She immediately bit into it, and a thick yellow fluid ran down her chin.

“You want one? It tastes like…well…what it is, I guess.”

“Um, no,” said Diamond Tiara, feeling nauseous.

“More for me,” said Lucy, shrugging. She finished the fruit and dropped the stem on the ground.

“Where exactly are we going?” asked Diamond Tiara.

“Deeper.”

Diamond Tiara looked back, and realized that they were already a substantial distance into the grove- -she could no longer see where they had come in, or even where the path was supposed to be. The orderly rows of the trees seemed to be vanishing as well, replaced with a random mass of much taller specimens that blotted out much of the dim light from above. Lucy was forced to light her horn to illuminate the way, causing the trees to produce long and strange shadows that moved as the pair of mares walked amongst them.

“You know,” said Lucy. “Somewhere in there, there’s a werewoad tree.”

“A werewoad?” Things just seemed to keep getting worse. “You mean there’s actually a wearwoad in HERE? Why the buck did you take me in here, then?”

“I said a werewoad tree. Which I guess is still a werewoad. Just…old.”

“You’re not making any sense.”

“You ever seen a wearwood? Terrifying things. They start out okay, like normal ponies. Then one day they just snap. Agonizing pain and all. Usually in a crowded place. Anypony who makes it out alive with a bite gets sick. Then, after a few decades, the werewood just takes root. The one here must be thousands of years old, if not older. I’ll show it to you sometime. I wish I were a werewoad.”

“No, you don’t.”

Diamond Tiara looked around. Almost all the trees by this time seemed identically huge, and Diamond Tiara wondered what exactly that strange tree must have looked like, or where it was- -or how Lucy somehow managed to memorize its location in this place. Worse, though, was a nagging suspicion. They were in this world’s version of Sweet Apple Acres, and somewhere on the grounds stood the arboral remains of a werewoad. It was impossible for Diamond Tiara to just dismiss that as a coincidence.

While considering this, Diamond Tiara’s attention was suddenly drawn toward a strange flash of light in the far side of the trees. At first, she dismissed it, either as a fragment of lightning that had blown in from the storm or some alternate and probably carnivorous version of a firefly. When it happened a second time, though, Diamond Tiara stopped.

She looked between the trees where they formed a network of tall trunks. Beneath their leafless canopy, the darkness was so thick that it was almost impossible to see very far- -but in the distance, moving behind the trees, Diamond Tiara suddenly noticed the hazy images of ponies.

“We’re not alone,” she said.
‘ “Yes we are. Or you are, perhaps. This is a ghost storm.”

Diamond Tiara took a step toward the trees, to where numerous ghosts now seemed to be walking silently, all in the same direction. Lucy put a hoof on her shoulder. “You don’t want to do that. It’s not a good idea to get near them.”

“Why?”

“Just trust me.”

Diamond Tiara almost did, but then pushed Lucy’s hoof away. Lucy seemed to tolerate it, and followed Diamond Tiara through the grove. Apparently, approaching the ghosts was not a fatal kind of mistake.

Approaching them, however, proved to be more difficult than expected. They were consistent, but surprisingly ephemeral. When Diamond Tiara approached, she would suddenly once again find no ghosts in her immediate area. It was like standing in the center of a fog bank and trying to reach the edge.

What quickly became apparent, though, was that these ghosts were not like the ones that Diamond Tiara had seen in the ruins of the false-Ponyville. They were clearer, and the few times Diamond Tiara could get close enough to see them semi-clearly, she saw that they actually had some semblance of faces. More telling, though, was the fact that they did not move like normal ponies. They drifted as ghosts were apt to do, certainly, but as they walked their legs splayed out to the side from their vertically compressed bodies.

Then, just as Diamond Tiara was about to give up, one of the ghosts passed within inches of her, and she realized her suspicions were true. Even with a translucent, poorly-defined body, it was immediately apparent that these were the ghosts of morlocks. Hundreds of them.

They all walked silently through the forest, all in the same direction. From what Diamond Tiara could see of them, they were all dressed in the remnants of both cloth and armor in unfamiliar styles. Almost all of it was badly broken; it appeared burned or torn. Helmets were smashed in, and exosuits were ruptured, exposing the sallow and ghostly skin and faces of the ponies within.

Another one passed close to Diamond Tiara. Her face was exposed through a half-fractured helmet, and the remnants of what must have once been an elaborate dress worn over her armor trailed behind her, singed and burnt. Although it was difficult to tell, Diamond Tiara was pretty sure that the morlock mare had no eyes. Just blank, staring holes.

That was not what drew Diamond Tiara’s attention, though. In the center of her chest plate, the morlock held a far more important hole. She had no technetium dial. None of them did.

The morlock mare seemed to slow, and then looked down at Diamond Tiara for just a moment before continuing her march toward the west. Hundreds more surrounded her, walking with her through the grove: mares, stallions, fillies, colts- -all walking in a never-ending line.

A sound slowly began to fill the air, like a weak and distant song.

“What is that?” said Lucy, her ears pricking. “I’ve never heard something like that before.”

“It’s morlock,” said Diamond Tiara. She looked around quickly. It was clear that there were multiple voices speaking from all sides, but they were all nearly silent- -it was coming from everywhere, but no specific morlock.

“You mean that’s a language? Seriously?”

Diamond Tiara nodded, shushing Lucy and trying to listen. “Iei’aiei…ie…ueyiheia’a…iyuihaeie…”

“What does that mean?”

“It’s hot…it hurts…why does it hurt?” said Diamond Tiara, shivering at her own translation. “The light, it hurts so much…and a word I don’t know. ‘C’e’ia.” Diamond Tiara paused. That word sounded familiar. “They just keep repeating it. The same phrases, over and over again.”

“The poor souls. They remember…”

“Remember what?”

“The reason they’re here. Trapped.” Lucy looked at the direction that they were walking. Diamond Tiara did too.

“Where are they going? What’s that way?”

“It goes on. Forever. For all eternity. I have tried to walk it. Spent years…decades…longer…walking in one direction. It’s not all like this. The forest gives out, and becomes desert. Where the tall ones walk, and the world runs out long before it continues farther. There is a reason I stay here. Where they are going, it is not a place meant for the living. Not even the dead.”

“You mean…”

Lucy nodded. “These ones are. And from the look of them, something terrible must have happened.”

Diamond Tiara realized that Lucy must have been right. She watched the ghosts go, and then suddenly noticed that a thin colt was standing at the edge of her range of sight. When Diamond Tiara looked up at him, he looked back just slightly, and then slowly turned to look at something off in the distance to Diamond Tiara’s right. Then he turned back and started marching silently back toward oblivion.

“Did you see that?” said Diamond Tiara.

“It depends on what it was,” said Lucy, now looking up at the trees. “Because I definitely saw something up there…”

“No, over there.” Diamond Tiara looked around, and then walked toward where the ghost had stopped to stare. As she did, it occurred to her that the trees in that area were different. They were the same species, but they were more gnarled and sickly, like something had badly contaminated the area around them.

After a few moments of searching, Diamond Tiara reached a small clearing. At first, it did not appear that there was anything unique about that area except for a nearly bare spot with a few uneven and unhealthy saplings- -until a glint of metal caught Diamond Tiara’s attention.

“Diamond Tiara, please don’t wonder off,” said Lucy, galloping up behind her. Diamond Tiara ignored her and knelt by an area overgrown with vines. She pulled them away, feverishly digging for the metal object that they obscured.

When Lucy saw what it was, she stepped back. “What…what is that thing?”

Diamond Tiara smiled, and then laughed. Not because anything was funny, but because for the first time since being here she had seen something that she instantly knew was actually real, something she recognized. Half-buried in the dirt and stone were the remains of a badly damaged morlock drone.

“It’s…it’s a drone!” laughed Diamond Tiara, pulling away more of the tough vines. She did not know why she was so happy. The drone seemed to have been lying out for an impossibly long time. It’s metal body was not only covered in vines and moss, but corroded and pitted from exposure. There was no chance that it could possibly be operational, but somehow, that did not matter.

The drone itself was unusual, though. Diamond Tiara had dealt with a number of the Niobus family’s drones, including the one that Pick had brought to Ponyville. They staffed her family’s desert house, and were an integral part of Pick’s family’s profession of mining. Diamond Tiara had seen numerous different types, but they all looked close to the same. This one, however, was remarkably different. It was much larger, and instead of being covered in exposed metal and ceramic plates it was fully armored in interlocking plates of a goldish metal. The shape was also off too; unlike traditional morlock drones, it was less pony shaped. This was most noticeable in the head, which was reduced and flattened and covered in numerous sensory apertures. There was also some evidence that it had at one time possessed numerous effector arms held folded inside its body.

“It looks like a statue,” said Lucy. “There’s a lot of statues here…but none like that.”

“It’s not a statue.” Diamond Tiara ran her hooves over its metal surface. As she wiped away the semi-organic crust and sludge that covered it, she noticed that its surface at least was in quite good condition. An idea occurred to her, and she started searching for its manual release.

“What are you doing?” said Lucy, sounding increasingly panicked. Her eyes were darting around quickly, scanning the darkness. Diamond Tiara was so focused, she did not notice that the ghosts had vanished.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m trying to open it up. There should be a memory core in here- -there we go!” The front plate of the drone pulled open.

“You…you can do that?”

“Of course I can. I’ve been working with these things for most of my life, I think I can…oh sweet Celestia’s thunder-thighs…”

Diamond Tiara finally saw what was inside the drone, and realized that she might have been in over her head. This drone was infinitely more complicated inside than anything Pick’s family could even dream of having. Every bit of clockwork and circuitry was impossibly minute and packed into the drone’s body at bizarre and oblique angles. It made what Diamond Tiara knew of morlock technology look absolutely primitive.

“Wow…why don’t I have one like THIS?” complained Diamond Tiara. “Imagine what this thing must have been able to do…”

“I’d rather not.”

Despite the complexity, Diamond Tiara figured that she should at least try to get to the internal cube. She started pulling and pushing the parts to get at it.

“Diamond…” said Lucy. “We need to go. Right no.” She looked around frantically. “I think I made a mistake again…”

“I’ve almost got it,” said Diamond Tiara. “I wish I had some bucking tools, though…”

An echoing cry rang out through the trees. It did not sound animal in origin, but rather almost like some kind of large string instrument played poorly and quickly. Then a second sound came as the branches of the trees began to move- -even though there was no wind.

“Diamond Tiara….”

“Hold your self,” said Diamond Tiara. She had now nearly accessed the cube, but it appeared to be stuck by some kind of an internal safety locking mechanism. There was surprisingly little technetium in the internal circuitry, but Diamond Tiara knew that she was exposing herself to more than her fair share of radiation. It did not matter, though. She needed that core.

She looked up, and all around her the forest suddenly illuminated with golden light. The tree branches began to wave and pulse, and their tips glowed intensely. The sound grew louder as it echoed throughout the forest.

A fruit, still attached to one of the trees, dropped in front of Diamond Tiara. It shifted, and then split open down the center as the back of it pulsated and throbbed. Inside it was a large, bloodshot eye that twisted around, first taking account of Diamond Tiara, then Lucy, and then its surroundings. Higher in the trees, the rest of the eyes flicked open as well.

“DIAMOND TIARA!”

“Got it!” Diamond Tiara fell backward as she pulled the core out sharply with her teeth. She spat it into her hoof, and saw that it was surprisingly small and impossibly ornate, made out of an ornate and technologically florid pattern of gold and technetium. It was obvious that, like the drone it had come from, this was something far more advanced than Diamond Tiara was used to.

Diamond Tiara stood up and looked at the plants. “You’re worse than your daughter. It’s not like I haven’t dealt with an army of living plants before.”

“What, the trees? No! They’re not dangerous, but the light- -when they make the light, it’s a defense mechanism!”

“A defense mechanism?” Diamond Tiara looked up at the lights. They were bright, but not otherwise harmful. She started walking toward the trees to get a closer look. “Against what?”

It was at that time that she realized that something really was wrong, although unfortunately not on a conscious level until it was already too late. She had approached a small group of trees that appeared not to be lit, and found herself standing amongst a surprising amount of darkness. She looked up into the shadows, and realized that the trees had not turned off- -they were just dim. Or, rather, they were shrouded in shadow.

“NO! STOP!”

Diamond Tiara took one more step, and her hoof landed on the hard border of the darkness. She shivered, because it seemed to have a feeling. As if it were squirming beneath her weight.

Then, suddenly, two intense white lights erupted in the center of the darkness, a pair of eyes that opened with an intense electrical fizzling sound that was only audible in Diamond Tiara’s head. Both she and Lucy cried out in pain, covering their ears, even though the forest itself was perfectly silent.

The luminescent white eyes beamed down at Diamond Tiara, and more flashed open in the darkness between the trees of the grove, each producing the same sound as the shadows awakened. They began to advance between the trees, trailing silent darkness as they moved. They had no apparent substance, but when they touched any tree that was not sufficiently lit to defend itself, it dissolved and corroded in their presence.

Diamond Tiara jumped back, but it was already too late. The shadow closest to her extended outward, surrounding her. Then it closed in and, before she could even try to figure out a way to stop it, climbed up her legs toward her face.

The effect was sudden and intense, and Diamond Tiara found herself screaming- -but the volume she could produce was nothing like the noise that was suddenly rammed into her mind. As the mycelium of the shadow crept into her body, cutting into her, part of its mind was relayed to hers. She saw endless images of violence and war, of a dead world of crystal and a very different world consumed in fire. She saw battles, and felt the pain and sorrow of endless ponies sacrificed with no meaning. Within her mind, she found herself staring into the well of souls itself as they swirled in eternal torment.

Within it all, there was a voice. Something was speaking, but it was too loud and fast for Diamond Tiara to understand. The shadow was not consuming her, but it almost seemed to be trying to speak- -and that attempt at communication was killing her. The force of its consciousness was tearing hers apart, to the point where she could no longer remember exactly who she was, where she was, or why any of it mattered.

The only thing that saved her was a different voice, one that belonged neither to her nor the shadow. It came from within, pushing back the psychic tempest of the shadow and protecting what it could of Diamond Tiara’s mind. It was strong, but already losing its grip when Diamond Tiara felt herself suddenly thrown aside.

She hit the ground painfully, and the wind was knocked out of her. The world swam, and although the sound in her mind was gone, she was still confused and disoriented. Through this fog, though, she saw Lucy being slowly lifted off the ground. She had pushed Diamond Tiara out of the shadow’s grasp, but in doing so had taken her place.

Lucy screamed and struggled as the shadow lifted her to eye-level and stared unblinkingly at her. Lucy suddenly lit her horn, and the shadow lurched back from the magical light, dropping Lucy. She strained, and increased her light- -but in doing so, only made her own shadow more intense. That was where the shadow struck, swirling behind her and connecting to it.

There was a sudden surge of red mist around Lucy as the shadow attacked her, tearing into her. Lucy cried out and her light faltered. The other shadows seemed to understand, and silently moved forward.

Diamond Tiara’s mind had cleared enough to realize that she needed to do something. She was not a unicorn, though, and had no spells that she could use to save her friend. So, instead, she looked around- -and saw the broken and half-buried drone.

She scrambled across the ground and grasped some of the cables that were protruding from the drone’s open access panel in her mouth. At the same time, she pulled out the core she had salvaged and, with shaking hooves, began to quickly reconnect them.

“Come on, come on,” she said through a mouthful of wires. “A mining laser! You had better have a mining laser, or whoever built you is a COMPLETE IDIOT!” The cube connected, and without looking up to see if Lucy was even still alive, Diamond Tiara manipulated the facets of the cube. The internal systems of the drone glowed and revved as she took command. “Hold on hold on- -THERE!”

Diamond Tiara twisted and locked the cube, and the front half of the drone split apart to reveal the aperture of whatever minor defense system it had installed. Diamond Tiara looked at it, and for a moment wondered why the structure inside the drone did not look like a normal mining laser, or why it was so large.

This, as it turned out, was a mistake. The laser fired, and Diamond Tiara was instantly blinded by the intense white light. She closed her eyes and covered them with her foreleg, and at the same time, she felt herself being picked up by the blast and thrown across the grove. Through what little of her vision remained, she saw the shadow holding Lucy suffer a direct impact and disintegrate completely, save for its eyes. Lucy was thrown from its grip and tumbled through the air, striking her chest against a tree with an audible cracking sound.

Diamond Tiara was thrown against the rocky ground and knocked unconscious. She was not sure exactly how long, but it only felt like a few seconds. For a moment, she opened her eyes and groggily looked around the field outside of Ponyville where she was lying- -and then blinked and found herself staring at a grove of now dark alien trees.

Her vision was still cloudy, but managing to return slowly. Through the foggy mass in the center of her vision, she saw the drone, now sparking with dissipating energy. On the other side, she where there had used to be trees. Now, instead, there was a thirty-foot wide hole torn through the grove in a perfectly straight line as far as Diamond Tiara could see. Even the ground had been cut away, leaving a semi-circular trench where the rock was still glowing and slowly dripping into the bottom.

“Okay,” said Diamond Tiara, wincing as she sat up. “Definitely NOT a mining laser.”

She crossed the clearing slowly, finding that she had hurt one of her ankles in the impact. She quickly picked up the cube-core, disconnecting it from the now mostly destroyed drone. “What the hay is this thing?”

The only answer that Diamond Tiara got was a low moan from behind her.

“Lucy!” cried Diamond Tiara, becoming fully conscious of what had just happened. She turned and raced to Lucy’s side. “Are you- -are you- -”

“Dead? No,” said Lucy. “I hope not, at least.” She tried to stand, and then collapsed back into the pool of fluids below her. “Buck…I’m messed up, though.” She coughed, and wiped away the resulting blood with her hoof. “Those shadows, they get in your clothes and…it’s bad. And I’m pretty sure the tree broke a few of my ribs.”

“I don’t know what to do- -do you have a first aid kit or something?”

“Are you a doctor?”

“Do I look like a doctor to you?!”

“I don’t know. I actually have no idea what you do.” Lucy tried to stand again, and fell again. “I have materials for this…some. A stockpile, near here.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Diamond Tiara knelt down and picked up Lucy, helping her stand. “Eew…you’re totally staining my coat!”

“I’m actively trying to bleed less. I kind of need that blood. For blood things.”

“Just point the direction.”

“Right…” Lucy pushed forward, leading Diamond Tiara back into the grove. She was badly wounded, and Diamond Tiara was limping, but together they were able to move with some efficiency.

Before they vanished into the trees, Diamond Tiara looked back behind her. In the distance, she could see hundreds of white eyes standing amongst the trees. They were not advancing, or menacing. They were just watching in silence.

The distance to Lucy’s outer base was not far, but getting there felt like an eternity. By the time they finally reached it- -a large tent built into a rocky outcropping amongst dribbling, moss-infested streams- -Diamond Tiara was covered in sweat and exhausted. She was so tired, she essentially dropped Lucy into the tent and promptly collapsed.

“Oh wow,” said Diamond Tiara. “You’re heavy.”

“No. You are out of shape. Clearly you do not have a job involving manual labor.”

“I’m Filthy Rich’s daughter.”

Lucy’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“Explains a lot.” Lucy turned over with a moan and started to unlatch the various straps and buckles that held on her armor. “You might want to look away for this part.”

“It’s not like I haven’t seen a mare naked before.”

“Oh,” said Lucy, pulling off one of her boots. “I didn’t know you went that way.”

Diamond Tiara blushed, but continued to watch Lucy disrobe, mostly out of curiosity to know what she actually looked like. As Lucy continued to remove her makeshift warning, though, Diamond Tiara wished she had taken the warning.

The wounds that Lucy had suffered were severe and deep, but not life threatening. What was more surprising- -and more disturbing- -was the number of already healed injuries she had. Despite her age, her body was amazing, looking at least thirty years younger than Lucy actually must have been- -or would have been beautiful, had it not been for the scars that covered her body. Old burns, lacerations, and cuts covered her body and legs- -including some that were too deliberate to have been made by accident. The scariest part, though, was what those scars implied: the life that had given them to Lucy was the life Diamond Tiara was slowly realizing that she would soon be facing.

“Behind that rock,” said Lucy, rummaging through her bag and removing her light source. “Wrapped in a tarp…I need that.”

“Sure,” said Diamond Tiara, having difficulty taking her eyes off Lucy. She went to the rock and retrieved the package, and as she did looked behind Lucy and saw that her cutie mark was a flower, as was expected, although the center of it looked curiously like an eye.

Lucy took the supplies in her magic and began applying them. Diamond Tiara moved the light generator into position, and Lucy lit it.

“There we go,” said Lucy, applying bandages around her torso and casting spells to the best of her ability to heal herself. She giggled. “I can’t believe we just did that.”

“Just did that- -are you insane? No, wait, I already know the answer- -we almost died! YOU almost died!”

“I’m always ‘almost died’. But if I had been there myself, I would have been WHOLE dead. That thing you did with that statue thing- -that was amazing!” In her excitement, she over-strained herself and coughed. “Oh. Wow. Need to watch that. But looking at it, I’m not even that bad off, considering. And you got out with what, a twisted ankle? From the SHADOWS.”

“What were they?”

Lucy paused, considering her answer. “They’re like the ghosts, but different. Ghosts are kind of like ponies, and the shadows are like…something else. That’s all I know, except that they’re sometimes the worst thing here.”

“Sometimes?”

“If they attack you, you die. Horribly. I’ve seen beasts the size of a building stripped clean in seconds. But they don’t always attack. I think they might have some modicum of intelligence.”

“And the storm brought them?”

Lucy shook her head. “No. They’re not from here, I don’t think, but they’ve been here a long time.”

“When it touched me, I saw things…”

“It’s best not to think about those. Seriously. It produces progressive madness. Contaminated memories.”

“But it felt like it was trying to say something…”

“To me, it just felt like pain.” Lucy looked down at her wounds, which seemed to have largely stabilized. “Although it’s not like I’m not used to it.”

“What happened to you, Lucy?”

“I survived. That is all. That is all I have ever done.” She looked Diamond Tiara in the eye and smiled. “But…for so long, I survived because of ME. There was nothing but me, but today it was YOU. You saved me.”

“You saved me.”

“You watch my back and I’ll watch yours. I think I said that once. It was the first time I ever had a chance to say that to somepony.”

“Yeah,” said Diamond Tiara. She sat by the artificial fire, and suddenly found herself thinking about Silver Spoon. “You’re my friend. The only one I’ve got here. I didn’t always appreciate other ponies, but I think I do now. Thank you.”

Diamond Tiara lifted her hoof, and saw that it was shaking. She realized that she was terrified. It was not the same kind of fear that came with the monsters, the sort that motivated her toward survival. Instead, it was something deeper and more pervasive. A more cerebral fear that came with the slow realization of her situation.

“Lucy,” she said after a long pause. “Do you think that any of this is real?”

“Every day. And every day I come to the same conclusion: that it does not matter.”

“I wish it was that easy for me.” Diamond Tiara sniffled, and once again found herself thinking about her friends, and about how she had treated them- -and about how Lucy was right. Either way, there was a good chance that she would be forced to leave them behind.

Unable to control herself, Diamond Tiara suddenly burst into tears.

“Diamond- -”

“It’s just not FAIR! Why us? What did WE ever do to deserve this? I don’t want to be stuck here! I just want my life back! A normal pony LIFE!”

Diamond Tiara’s momentary anger collapsed into sobbing, and Lucy looked at her awkwardly. Then she sighed and scooted across the stone floor and put her foreleg around Diamond Tiara and laid her head on the younger pony’s shoulder.

“I’m just so afraid,” said Diamond Tiara. “Every second, I’m more terrified than I’ve ever been- -and I’ve been through a lot. I just can’t take it. I can’t take it!”

She wrapped her hooves around Lucy and cried into her shoulder.

“I know the feeling,” said Lucy. She paused, and let Diamond Tiara cry. Then, after a few moments, as Diamond Tiara began to slow, spoke again. “You know…I think I’m a terrible pony.”

“You’re not,” said Diamond Tiara, her head buried in Lucy’s now tear-soaked shoulder. She sniffled and smiled. “I can’t believe I’m doing this…if anypony saw me like this…”

“But I AM,” said Lucy. “When you came here- -you probably couldn’t tell. When I first saw you, I didn’t think you were real- -but you ARE. I was so happy. Ecstatic. I’ve been alone so long. I resigned myself years ago to the fact that I would never see another living pony for as long as I lived…you don’t know what it’s like to have to accept that. That you will never have a friend again. That you will never be loved.” Lucy sighed and wiped her own eyes with one of her scarred hooves. “But that’s wrong. It’s selfish and wrong. Because you don’t deserve this. You had a whole life ahead of you…and if I could go back to being alone- -if you could go back- -I would.”

“Lucy…”

Diamond Tiara looked up at Lucy, and the older pony down at her. Lucy smiled weakly, and then looked off to the side. “Diamond Tiara…there’s something I want to do, but I’m not sure if I even should…and I don’t know how you’ll feel about it…”

“What?”

Without warning, Lucy leaned forward and pressed her lips against Diamond Tiara’s. Diamond Tiara was immediately taken aback, and too surprised to pull away. After a few seconds, though, she found herself letting it happen- -and then kissing her back.

Diamond Tiara allowed herself to be pushed onto her back and Lucy started helping her remove her clothing. Once again, Diamond Tiara allowed it. She knew that this was wrong, but the way Lucy was holding her so tight made her fear lessen greatly. Despite her age, Lucy was surprisingly strong, and Diamond Tiara felt secure in her strong and protective grasp.

Lucy rolled, putting Diamond Tiara on top, and Diamond Tiara managed to pull her head away. She gasped, and found that her mouth tasted exactly like carnations.

“I can’t do this,” she said, sitting up. Lucy joined her and continued kissing Diamond Tiara’s neck. “I…I have a coltfriend…”

“I know,” whispered Lucy, putting her hooves around Diamond Tiara’s back.

Lucy continued what she was doing, and Diamond Tiara did not stop her. There was a long moment where Diamond Tiara paused, and wondered what to do next. She looked out at the darkness surrounding them, into this strange and infested world. She felt afraid again, and once again secure with Lucy. With her heart beating even faster, she gently pushed Lucy back to the ground and started kissing her again. She held her tightly, because she was afraid to let go.

The light from the fragment of a star flickered in the darkness, illuminating the scavenged cloth walls of the tent with long shadows. Diamond Tiara sat in the light, slowly twisting the sides and apertures of the morlock core.

She looked back behind her, to where Lucy was apparently asleep. Based on what Lucy had told her, this was the first time she had slept in years if not decades- -because it was the first time she had had somepony else to watch for the monsters. Looking at her, Diamond Tiara could not help but think about Silver Spoon, the only other pony she knew that looked nearly perfect while sleeping.

Which was not to say, of course, that Diamond Tiara actually found Lucy attractive. On some level, she probably was, but Diamond Tiara was not attracted to mares- -and the only emotion she felt after what she had done was regret.

She had allowed it. It had felt good while it was happening, but now she just felt dirty and ashamed. It was not Lucy’s fault, though; Diamond Tiara was acutely aware that the responsibility was hers and hers alone. Normally, this would be a time when she would drown the bad emotions with cider. Not having any cider, though, she busied herself with attempting to figure out how to use the morlock cube, or to get it to do anything at all with its body no longer intact.

Lucy whimpered slightly, and her legs started to twitch as though she were chasing something- -or running from something. Admittedly, that was adorable, but the sudden motion put pressure on her broken ribs and she winced. She then looked around, somewhat confused, and smiled when she remembered what had just happened.

She sat up and put her front legs around Diamond Tiara and kissed the younger pony’s neck. “Hey,” she said.

Diamond Tiara gently pushed her away. “Stop. Don’t do that.”

“Oh,” said Lucy, seeming to understand. She sat back on her haunches. “Sorry.”

Diamond Tiara groaned. “I can’t believe I just did that…with Fluttershy’s mom…”

“It wasn’t good?”

“It’s not that, it’s just- -you’re a mare! And old enough to be MY mom!” Diamond Tiara winced. “Crap, Pick was right. I do have mommy issues…” Diamond Tiara’s eyes widened, and she nearly dropped the cube she was holding. “Pick…how am I supposed to look him in the eye after this?” That thought made Diamond Tiara want to cry again.

“I’m sorry,” said Lucy, backing away. “I didn’t…crap. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I was coming down off a near-death experience and I guess I got…carried away…” She sighed. “That makes it sound to simple…I messed up. It won’t happen again.”

“It wasn’t your fault. Well, not entirely. Just…” Diamond Tiara paused and stared into the cube. She considered just ignoring Lucy, but that would not help. “We’re just friends. Alright?”

Lucy nodded. She paused, staring at Diamond Tiara’s flank, and then looked up at her face. “If it’s any consolation…no, it isn’t, I guess, but your coltfriend is a very, very lucky stallion. Is he a unicorn?”

“No.”

“A shame. You have a talent for hornwork. Even more so than…” her face froze, and then her expression fell. “Well, you know.”

“Your husband.”

“Yeah.” Lucy paused. “Sometimes I miss him. Really bad.” Her eyes flicked up at Diamond Tiara. “Not that I was using you as a surrogate. I was just…can you forgive me?”

“If we can avoid talking about it, probably,” lied Diamond Tiara.

Lucy smiled, and sat down next to Diamond Tiara while keeping a respectful distance.

“So,” said Diamond Tiara, trying to change the subject. “Your husband…Fluttershy’s dad?”

“Who else would her father be?”

“Well, sorry. There’s no need to get snippy.”

“Sorry, sorry. Defensive. Odd, I haven’t been defensive for a long time. In conversation at least. Newish. But yes. My husband. The first colt I ever loved. He was…” She struggled, as if trying to remember. “Yes. He was an all-white unicorn. His name was Avalon.”

“And Fluttershy came out a Pegasus? That’s kind of weird.”

“Yeah,” laughed Lucy. “It was quite a surprise, and you have no idea how much it hurt to give birth to a foal with wings. But when she came out…they were so tiny, and so soft…”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Diamond Tiara absentmindedly- -but then she blushed when she realized that that actually conceivable COULD be something she would need to concern herself with. Or would have, it she still had any chance of living a normal life after this.

“And your coltfriend?”

“Diamond Pick. A little effeminate jerk.” Diamond Tiara twisted the cube harshly, and then paused. “No…I don’t mean that. The effeminate part, at least. And really insensitive, and just…” Diamond Tiara sighed and tried to hold back her tears. “I really wish he was here…”

“A Pegasus?” said Lucy, trying to keep the conversation on track. Diamond Tiara was grateful, and shook her head.

“No. Morlock.”

Lucy’s expression was largely blank. “I don’t know what that means.”

“Those ghosts? Like one of them. Except way smaller, and alive.”

“Wait…” Lucy pointed out into the darkness. “Those are actually REAL THINGS? And you- -” She shivered. “You actually…eew…”

“We’re childhood friends!” snapped Diamond Tiara. “And our families are in business together. And it’s not like…not like he’s unattractive. He’s definitely no Silver Spoon, but I can work with what he’s got…”

“Ah, I see.” Lucy looked down at the object that Diamond Tiara was holding. “And that…that’s something that fell through. It’s something his people made?”

“I think so,” said Diamond Tiara, biting the edge of it. “I mean, it’s like the ones I’m used to. He showed me how to use those…although I’m way better at it than he is…but this one is different.” She spat it into her hoof. “I just don’t know…it’s like its way more compact, and defiantly heavier. It’s like it’s more advanced or something, I don’t know.”

“And you are trying to open it because…?”

“Why? Mainly to get my mind off cheating on my coltfriend with a probably insane old mare…”

“I thought you said we weren’t supposed to talk about that. Unless I hallucinated that part. I hallucinate a LOT. Also, if you’re right about the timeline, I’m barely in my fifties.”

Diamond Tiara cringed. “Yeah, there goes my self-esteem. You’re just lucky you smell so good.”

Lucy looked suddenly shocked. “S- -smell? What do you mean smell?”

“You know, like you just rolled in a barrel of flowers or something. Carnation I th- -”

The cube that Diamond Tiara had managed to mostly open suddenly lurched in her hoof, slamming shut and bursting outward with a surge of light. Diamond Tiara cried out, and Lucy ducked behind a rock with surprising speed. The white light splashed over the area, causing the light source to flicker and die out. Then it pulled backward into the cube, and a bluish beam shot out over the center of the tent. It shifted and widened, and within seconds resolved into the life-sized image of a female morlock.

Diamond Tiara blinked and looked up at her. She was translucent, but not a ghost- -in fact, she looked almost identical to a much larger and much better resolution version of the drone-recorded hologram that Pick had shown her days earlier.

The morlock, however, was very different from any that Diamond Tiara had ever met. Her body was, roughly, normal for a morlock mare, although slightly larger. Her armor and clothing, however, was much more extensive. It was disproportionately thick, making her look much wider and imposing than she likely actually was, and draped with ornate cloth constructed from a system of hexagons. In her chest sat a triad of circles that Diamond Tiara realized must have been some version of technetium dials.

“What…what the hay is that?” said Lucy, peeking out from behind her rock.

“Language recognized,” said a voice from within the cube. Oddly, Diamond Tiara recognized it. It was the uniform, mechanical voice of the drones- -except instead of a system of mechanical encoded clicks, it came out as actual words. “Translating…running…”

The hologram shifted, and the dials in the morlock mare’s chest suddenly started ticking. She started moving, stepping forward and staring at Diamond Tiara with her four optical apertures. Then she spoke, her voice perfectly recorded within the cube.

“Date 7789.65. I am Yttros Xenotime, First-Tier Princess of the Mantelic Empire,” she said, her voice measured and almost military. It was clear that she was not addressing a pony specifically, though. “I am creating this recording to document my situation. Perhaps, in time, this will stand as a grand historical artifact to our people of our most trying time.” She paused. “But…I know that it will not. It can’t. Not anymore.”

There was a long pause. “The recordings are unambiguous,” she said at last. “Every city has been identified and confirmed as lost. They’re gone. All dead. It…it shouldn’t be possible, but I was THERE. The only unconfirmed loss is the research station Geoterra. I lost contact with them shortly after the disaster…and I pray to the Underking that the experimental shield array was completed in time.” She took a long, gasping sigh through her filter manifold. “But I cannot hold out hope. I am quite possibly the last burrowing-Pegasus in existence. I am alone.”

There was another pause. The morlock in the image did not seem especially emotional, but Diamond Tiara was able to see through that easily. Female morlocks, especially those higher up in their convoluted and draconian hierarchy, were not expected to show emotion. This mare- -this Xenotime- -still had far more composure than any pony Diamond Tiara had ever witnessed, assuming what she said was true.

Xenotime continued. “Which brings me to my current situation. I was on an assault mission in the region of the Tree of Harmony when I was ambushed by White-Sphere forces. I successfully defeated many, but was overrun and unable to retreat. Which was when I received the transmission…that the Red-Sphere had attacked us. No. Not attacked. Massacred. As if…it was as if we were nothing. As if all of our civilization, as if countless millennia of culture and technology were…nothing. Nothing in the face of magic…

“I had no choice but to open an interdimensional rift. I escaped, taking on heavy assault drone with me. Only…I am not sure where I went. This area appears to be an independent basin-dimension, and there is no way for the Red or White Spheres to reach me here…but…” She paused and looked into what Diamond Tiara interpreted as being her drone. “The method I used to get here was experimental. I reached this location, but there is no egress. I cannot manage to escape. Not with my current armament.

“However…I am the First Princess. I do not know what this place is, nor do I care. I do not intend to stay here long. I created the system that brought me here, and I can create a system to return me to my world. It is my duty as the last of my kind. The Underking’s Incarnation was not completed in time to defend us, but I doubt the Red-Sphere was able to reach it. I am the only one capable of completing my species’ work. I will escape this prison, and the Underking WILL rise. The Red-Sphere will be extinguished, and the Demon-Queen Celestia will perish for her crimes against us. We will have our vengeance. This, to this lonely drone, and to myself, I swear.”

The recording flickered as it ended, and the image faded, retracting back into the cube. With the morlock field diminished, the magical light-source reignited, if only partly, filling the room with a much darker blue than it normally did.

Diamond Tiara looked at the cube, which was now terribly cold in her hoof and slowly frosting over. She then turned to Lucy, who was staring back at her wide-eyed, still clinging to the back of a rock.

“What…the actual buck…was THAT?” she asked in a whisper.

“I…I don’t know,” said Diamond Tiara, looking down at the icy cube. “But I think I must be some kind of a genius. Oh, who am I kidding- -I AM a genius.”

“Indeed,” said Lucy, eyeing the cube suspiciously. She looked back to where the cube was, and then increased the intensity of the light. “She…she was here,” she said in awe. “Maybe she still is…maybe there are more. What if…what if there are?”

“I don’t know,” said Diamond Tiara. “But I think there might be more.” She reached down to the cube and tried to shift it. Most of the facets were now frozen closed, but they were starting to have some give to them.

“Maybe we shouldn’t,” said Lucy, suddenly. “I don’t…I’m not sure if…things here, nothing is what it supposed to be, and she doesn’t- -”

Diamond Tiara suddenly froze, and Lucy’s voice continued to drone on unintelligibly, as though it were coming from deep under water. The light around her seemed to dim, save for the suddenly apparent glow of hundreds of white eyes staring from beyond the edge of the false-fire’s glow. An agonizing wave of pain shot through Diamond Tiara’s head, and the world swam. Distantly, she felt herself falling forward, the cube dropping from her hoof and clicking across the rocky floor.

She felt the world seeming to move slowly for a moment, and then saw Lucy crossing the ground near her.

“Diamond Tiara!” she called, sounding as though she were on the other side of a wall. “Diamond Tiara- -”

“- -know. I did. But you can’t escape it. And you can’t do this alone. You have friends, Diamond Tiara! Let us help you!”

Diamond Tiara’s eyes snapped open, as though she had taken an unusually long time to blink. Her head was still throbbing, but not explicitly painful. Lucy was gone- -as was the world where she had been. Instead, Diamond Tiara found herself standing in dim, mottled light of the Everfree Forest, the leaves of the enormous trees whispering in the fall wind overhead.

Confused, Diamond Tiara turned and saw Applebloom standing beside her- -and then the memory clicked. She knew where she was.

“Oh no no no no,” she whispered, stepping back from Applebloom. Confusion seemed to wash over her. “This- -this isn’t right.”

“Diamond Tiara?” said Applebloom. “What’s wrong?”

“This- -no. I can’t be here!”

“You’re the one who asked us to come out here,” protested Applebloom. “Diamond, I was trying to have a serious talk with you. This isn’t some kind of joke, is it?”

“Yeah, I heard,” said Diamond Tiara. She had heard it close to three days ago- -just before she had woken up over Applebloom’s shattered remains. She did not remember this part, though. “We need to get out of here!”

“Hey!” cried Applebloom as Diamond Tiara grabbed Applebloom and pulled her off the path and into the forest around them. She was not sure where she was going, but she knew that she needed to get out.

Panicking, Diamond Tiara sprinted through the trees and underbrush. It scratched along her body, and as much as it hurt, she just kept going, driven by adrenaline that came from a powerful foreboding fear of something completely unknown. Applebloom followed effortlessly, the branches having no effect on her covered skin- -skin that Diamond Tiara knew was hardened into bark-like plates, a fact that she should not have known.

It occurred to her that perhaps she had been wrong- -perhaps the illusion had convinced her of its reality. It must have been a hallucination, all of it- -every second of it. It had all felt real, but none of it could have happened- -except that it must have happened. There was a distinct possibility that there really was no Lucy, and no Harvestor, that it had all been produced by Diamond Tiara’s mind in a fraction of a moment. Diamond Tiara forced herself to accept that possibility, but she could not dare accept the thought that she had gone absolutely insane.

“Diamond Tiara, wait! I don’t understand!” cried Applebloom, sauntering up beside her. Diamond Tiara was galloping at full speed, but Applebloom did not even need to try to pass her. “What’s wrong?!”

“I know it sounds crazy,” gasped Diamond Tiara, “but I’ve lived this before- -and you’re going to…” she could not finish the sentence. “We just need to get out of the forest, or something bad is going to happen!”

Diamond Tiara looked to the side, and she saw Applebloom’s face. Perhaps Applebloom tried to hide what she was feeling, but she did it poorly. Diamond Tiara remembered the conversation that they had been having, about the worms burrowing into her brain- -about her slowly going mad. Now she knew that Applebloom truly believed it.

In her undefined terror, Diamond Tiara did not watch where she was going. She tripped over a root and smashed into the ground hard. Something in one of her ankles popped, and a sharp pain slashed through her leg- -the exact same pain that she had experienced in a different world days in the future when she had faced the living shadows in Lucy’s world.

Applebloom cringed. “Diamond Tiara…are you okay?”

“Do I look okay?” Diamond Tiara lifted herself out of the mud and tried to straighten her tiara. “I just…” She trailed off when she looked into the woods. She had been running toward what she thought was the border of the forest. The Everfree Forest was a confusing place, though, and instead of a shortcut back to Ponyville, Diamond Tiara had actually gone far deeper into the trees- -to the exact place she had been trying to escape from.

“Oh Celestia, no,” said Diamond Tiara, watching as wisps of blue light started to creep in the cold darkness beyond the trees. “No no no not here!”

“Diamond, for the last time, I think you need professional help! This isn’t- -”

Pain suddenly shot through Diamond Tiara’s head, and the ground shook beneath her. This time, though, it was not an illusion. Applebloom cried out and gripped a nearby shrub. “What- -what’s happening?!”

“Applebloom, please!” cried Diamond Tiara. “We have to get back to Ponyville! I- -I couldn’t save you last time, and I don’t know if I can now either!”

Applebloom nodded, and tried to help Diamond Tiara up- -but was immediately thrown back as a flash of curving blue energy struck the nearest tree, detonating it into a blast of blue energy and splinters.

“Applebloom!”

“Ahm alright,” said Applebloom, standing up and rubbing her head. A thin line of greenish liquid ran down from her hairline. “Come on, we need to…to…”

The storm suddenly went silent, and the forest around them darkened. Strange light crept through the trees, and Applebloom backed away from it. To her, it must have been alien and terrifying. To Diamond Tiara, though, it was all too familiar.

There was a final surge of blue light, and a few yards away, something heavy and wet fell against the ground. The forest suddenly went silent, save for the electrical sound of the remaining and weakening sparks of energy. There were no bird songs, and no insects. Diamond Tiara and Applebloom froze, looking toward where that last surge of light had been. It felt like they stared for a long time, hearing nothing but the sound of near silence. Then total silence. Then, slowly, the sound of a long croak like splitting wood- -and slow, wet footsteps toward them.

“Diamond Tiara, I’m going to need you to run,” said Applebloom.

“I can’t just leave you here,” snapped Diamond Tiara.

“Ah can take care of myself.” She looked down at Diamond Tiara, who was still lying in the mud. Applebloom’s infected green eyes were more serious than Diamond Tiara had ever seen them. “I couldn’t forgive mahself if I let you get hurt. So MOVE!”

Diamond Tiara resisted for a just a moment, but then nodded and stood- -only to fall back down. “My- -my ankle,” she said, realizing with sickening terror that it was likely broken. “I- -I can’t run!”

There was another croaking sound. This time, it was closer- -and behind them. Diamond Tiara turned toward the trees just in time to see something tall standing behind them, just barely obscured by the trunks. She shrieked in surprise.

“What- -what is that?” asked Applebloom, backing away but not leaving Diamond Tiara alone.

“I- -I don’t know! They were…they were always in the shadows, I never saw- -” Diamond Tiara realized that, instinctively, she really did know what it was. That the portal worked both ways.

Then it moved. Diamond Tiara almost vomited when she saw it more clearly as it stepped beyond the trees. It was pony-like, but only in the vaguest sense. It stood on four legs, but the legs were long and narrow, supporting a tiny torso. It did not have a clear head, but rather something else in its place, but it was moving too fast for Diamond Tiara to tell. Its skin appeared to almost liquid, a slimy substance that dripped from its body in chunks, and further extraneous appendages writhed close against its body.

What was worse than its disgusting appearance, though, was its gait. It did not move like any living creature in Equestria. It did not follow a logical pattern, but rather seemed to lurch and spasm its way across the forest floor with excessively exaggerated movements and lethal efficiency.

It stopped and stood perfectly still, its body dripping and several breathing sacks slowly inflating and deflating. A pair of bloodshot eyes looked down at Diamond Tiara, and then shifted to Applebloom.

“You have to go!” hissed Diamond Tiara. “It won’t hurt me, but- -”

“Like HAY!” shouted Applebloom. She stepped forward toward the creature with a level of confidence that perhaps only a dying mare could have. She looked up at it. “I don’t care what the buck you are, but you’re NOT going to hurt my friend!”

“Friend…” gurgled the creature, mimicking Applelboom’s voice almost perfectly. It focused all of its attention at her, and then suddenly froze completely. It did not even breath. Then it lurched forward.

Applebloom did not back down. Instead, she took a defensive stance and bared her unusually sharp teeth. The creature jumped at her, but quickly grabbed the ground and nearly fell to its side. It released a high scream of agony, and stepped back. Its torso writhed, and it tried to claw at itself futilely with its exorbitantly long legs.

Then, suddenly, it vomited a plume of dark-colored, reeking fluid. Applebloom jumped out of the way, but several drops of the substance spilled onto her, fizzling through her clothing. She winced, but the acid did not seem to be able to penetrate her wood-like skin.

Diamond Tiara tried to stand up, not sure if she was going to run or try to fight- -but she found herself unable to do either. Instead, she looked up at the creature and saw that it was bleeding something pure black. The substance poured out from cracks and fissures in its body, but did not drip or run. Instead, it moved over its body, and wherever it touched the creature’s flesh seemed to corrode to the bone, replaced with darkness. Then a pair of white eyes flashed open from the shadow, and another, and several more- -and Diamond Tiara understood.

“Applebloom! Don’t let it touch you!”

“What do you mean ‘don’t let it touch me’? What the buck will happen if- -”

Applebloom had her head turned toward Diamond Tiara, and did not notice the creature’s leg come swinging toward her. The force of it was surprisingly great, and it picked Applebloom up off the ground and slammed her hard into a tree. It was unclear if the blow had been a deliberate attack, or if had simply been from the creature thrashing in its alien version of pain its body was slowly consumed. As soon as it attacked Applebloom, however, all of its attention seemed to turn toward her. It roared in agony, and then sprinted toward her.

Diamond Tiara was powerless to stop it. Before Applebloom was even on her feet, the amalgam of shadow and rotting flesh picked her up and slammed her into another tree. The wind was knocked out of her, and she bit down hard on its leg, tearing off a chunk of decaying flesh. The creature did not seem to notice and threw her into the ground. It then leapt on her, slamming its front legs against her, striking again and again, tearing into her as it screamed.

The shadows did not seem to react much. They simply watched, content with the meal that they were enjoying- -and knowing fully well of the one they would soon have access to. Except that they did not seem to be terribly interested in Applebloom. Instead, their unblinking luminescent eyes were focused entirely on Diamond Tiara.

There was nothing Applebloom could do. Her werewoad body was stronger and more durable than that of a normal pony, but the creature was far stronger. It kept tearing at her and slamming its full weight against her, screaming as it did so. Diamond Tiara watched in horror, unable to intervene and unable to look away.

Finally, the creature- -which was now quite thoroughly dead, but retained its animation by the strength of the parasitic shadows alone- -picked up Applebloom. She was bloodied and broken, but still was able to turn her head toward Diamond Tiara.

“Just…run,” she said before passing out. The shadows saw their opportunity, and swarmed over her as the creature dropped her.

Diamond Tiara was now crying, and the creature seemed to suddenly notice her. It convulsed toward her, watching, prepared to repeat what it had just done. There was nothing Diamond Tiara could do to escape, and on some level, she knew that it would be better if she just let this happen.

The creature raised its legs and brought them down. Diamond Tiara braced for the pain, but a solid ball of translucent blue magic formed around her, incinerating the creature’s legs as they attempted to pass through it.

To her left, Diamond Tiara looked up and saw a tall salmon alicorn standing beside her. On some level, she realized that he had been there the whole time, almost beyond her range of perception, just watching the events unfold with mild amusement.

The creature screamed in pain and pulled itself backward on its rear legs and the stumps of its front ones. The shield faded, and Harvestor stepped forward, looking up at it as though he was bored.

“Gloame wraiths,” he said. “Interesting indeed, and most unexpected. I will have to take a sample for- -”

The creature promptly vomited acid onto him. Diamon Tiara jumped back, but Harvestor did not even try to dodge. At first, Diamond Tiara assume that he was resistant to the corrosive material like Applebloom was- -but that was far from the case. As she watched, half of Harvestor’s body fizzled and burned, liquefying off his frame and revealing the white bone and innumerable steel implants beneath his skin.

Harvestor did not seem especially perturbed, or to show any signs of pain. He lifted one of his now stripped hooves and contemplated the slowly dissolving musculature. “Well…this is unfortunate.” He turned his attention toward the shadow-covered creature, and the tip of his horn glowed with blue light. There was a thunderous blast as the space around the creature imploded, compressing it into oblivion and creating a surge of magic that vaporized all remaining shadows.

Like that, the threat was over. Harvestor did not seem especially phased by it, even with half of his body missing. He just seemed somewhat bored. After several seconds, he seemed to notice that he was damaged. His horn glowed again, and new flesh sprang from his wounds in tendinous ropes. In seconds, he had repaired himself. Even his uniform knit itself back to completion, keeping his long wings covered with official stiffness.

Diamond Tiara froze in shock for several moments, but then crawled toward Applebloom. She was sunk deeply in the mud, and Diamond Tiara already recognized what she had known from the start, even if she refused to accept it.

“No,” she said, picking up Applebloom’s limp body and feeling her sap seep into her coat. “You can’t be- -I could have saved you- -Applebloom, please! Don’t do this!”

There was no response. She did not breathe, or move, or react in anyway. Even her bleeding had slowed, and she smelled strongly of fresh-cut wood. Diamond Tiara started weeping. Applebloom and her had never been especially close, but they were friends- -and having to witness this a second time was too much.

Over her shoulder, Harvestor walked closer, watching the scene unfold. It was the first time Diamond Tiara had ever seen him walk before, and it was strangely similar to watching the creature he had just vanquished moving.

“You!” she said, looking up at him, her makeup running down her face. “You have to do something! She- -she has a family, a life, it can’t- -it can’t happen like this! Not because of me!”

Harvestor stared at her for a long moment. “I find it interesting that you blame yourself for this,” he said at last. His horn glowed, and several translucent interface panels opened around him. “However, this is in fact our fault. We anticipated that the anomalies might have lethal interactions with the native population. Since this death is due to an error on our part, we will reset her to a previous save-point.” He looked over his screens. “However, we have no intention of affecting her laurelanthropy.” He clicked at the panel with his magic, and then closed it. “Done.”

“You- -you can do that?” gasped Diamond Tiara, still hugging Applebloom’s body. “Just…just like that?”

“Of course. We recognize that you mortals are not as durable as us. Resurrection is a relatively trivial task. For most of you.”

“Most of us?”

“The alicorns of this world are irreplaceable. And you have become too corrupted to repair. I advise you to avoid dying.”

“But she’s…she’s still here.” Diamond Tiara cradled the remains, coating herself in more sap. Applebloom looked almost like she was sleeping, despite her injuries. Still, she was growing colder by the second.

“Yes. She just died. A different one is on her way back to Ponyville, confused as to where you suddenly vanished to. I should not need to explain this.”

“This- -this is how it happened,” said Diamond Tiara, setting down Applebloom and stepping back. “When I got back- -she was there, alive- -that was YOU.”

“Yes, it was.”

“But that was three days ago!”

“Yes, it was.”

“But how- -”

“Time is destabilizing. This is an indication that the barrier is further decaying, and I’m afraid there is nothing we can do to stop it.”

“But you’re here.”

Harvestor looked down at her. “We already operate on a curvilinear timestream. I synchronized myself to you. Since I am genetically nearly your sibling, it was not a difficult task.”

Diamond Tiara vaguely understood what he was saying- -but could not help wonder if she was just slipping back into her madness. Either way, she was tired. She looked back at Applebloom’s body. “We can’t just leave her here. Not like that.”

“You already have,” said Harvestor.

Space flickered, and suddenly Diamond Tiara found herself in a different location. She looked around, confused, and quickly realized where she was- -and where she had perhaps been for a long time. She was standing on the edge of a grassy hill, looking out toward the remains of a long-abandoned, decrepit castle.

“The castle of the two sisters,” she said, looking up at Harvestor, who had appeared beside her. “How did- -how did we get here?”

“Such strange questions. I did enjoy our relationship better when you could not talk.” Harvestor lowered his horn to Diamond Tiara’s ankle, and a blue glow surrounded it. The pain mostly vanished. He then looked at her, holding one of his enormous yellow eyes with its not-quite-round pupil uncomfortably close to her face. “Come.”

Diamond Tiara initially wanted to resist, but realized she probably did not have a choice. She started walking. Beside her, Harvestor’s hooves lifted off the ground and he slowly floated beside her. It was eerie and strange, because he was not using his wings so much as levitating himself. For his unusually thin body, though, it actually made more sense for him to drift silently instead of walking. It was like he was a ghost.

“Why are we here?” she asked, eyeing the rickety rope-bridge across the deep gorges that rimmed the area around the castle.

“You need more modifications. More than I can do alone.”

“So, what, you’re leading me to an abandoned castle? Why not just drive up in a dirty van or something at that point?”

“I assumed you had some minor level of intelligence for a mortal. It’s one of the reason we bothered to put so much of our resources into a simple default-pony like yourself. Your mind is trapped in flux, yet you insist on seeing only what you find familiar.”

Diamond Tiara looked out at the castle, and she understood what he meant. She blinked and focused, and the world shifted. Suddenly the fall day grew deeply cold, and Diamond Tiara shivered. She realized that she was walking through deep snow, and more was falling heavily from the blue-lit sky overhead. The only sound was the quiet white noise of the snow falling. Diamond Tiara looked behind her at the forest of frozen, dead trees, and then forward toward the castle.

The ruins of the former home of Celestia and Luna had vanished. In its place stood a massive brutalist pyramid, hulking from the snow and obscured by the windless blizzard.

“This…this is your world.”

“No. The flux between realities is between Equestria and an unnamed basin dimension. The Blue Glow remains unaffected. It is impossible that anything from either would be able to reach or perceive our reality. This is something in between.”

“And it’s just been here? For how long?”

“Since we first became aware of the existence of your world. Centuries. Barely a blink in time for an alicorn. And yet in such a short time as one thousand years, we have gotten so much done. So very much.”

Diamond Tiara approached where a rope bridge would have been in her own reality. Here, there was nothing but a gap. Harvestor went ahead, lighting his horn and projecting a translucent magical bridge. Diamond Tiara took a step onto it hesitantly, and found that it had roughly the texture of glass. Realizing that it was sturdy, though, Diamond Tiara quickly followed Harvestor.

“Your response is interesting,” said Harvestor. “I have spent a great deal of time studying you, and based on your personality, I would have expected you to distrust me.”

“Who said I trust you? Look, the only reason I’m even bothering to talk to you is for answers. And that’s not a request. I expect you to tell me what in name of Celestia’s flowy vanilla-scented tail is going on here!”

“It is not actually scented of vanilla. We checked. But of course, I can respect the desire to ask questions. In that sense, you and I are alike. It is one of very few such senses.”

“So you’ll actually answer me if I ask you something?”

“If it is reasonable. If not, then no. I will refuse, or erase that section of your memory so that you do not know you asked it. I have already done that six times so far in the past minute alone.”

“Okay,” said Diamond Tiara, stopping short of the edge of the bridge. “Don’t do that.”

Harvestor looked back at her. “You are not really in a position to bargain with me, Diamond Dazzle Tiara Rich.”

“Oh yeah? What are you going to do? Drop this bridge? Let me fall and break every bone in my body on those rocks down there?”

“No. Of course not. I’m not programmed for cruelty. Well, not explicitly. Besides.” He lowered his head, and suddenly flashed to being within inches from Diamond Tiara’s face. “I’m an alicorn. I have enough magical power to erase every one you ever knew from existence with a thought. If I wanted you gone, I would make you gone.”

“Go. AHEAD.”

Harvestor paused, and then a thin smile crossed his face. “This, this is why I like being assigned to you. I like you. Quite substantially. I suppose, in a sense, it is an honor to at least partially be you.” He floated back into the air and continued on his way. “I can’t actually do that, though. My rank is not adequately high.”

Diamond Tiara stood her ground for a moment, but then, seeing that Harvestor appeared to be departing without her, chased after him, bounding through the frigid snow drifts.

“What actually happened back there? You said Ponyville was collapsing- -how? To where?”

“This region is currently in flux. Matter occasionally transitions between here and…elsewhere.”

“Where? I’ve been to that other place- -it’s the place that THING came out of. And there’s more there. A lot more.”

“That is what we have been trying to determine. We don’t know, apart from the fact that the region immediately adjacent to Ponyville is attempting to merge with this so-called ‘elsewhere’.”

“I’ve seen it. On the other side. Storms, like curving lightning…sort of…”

Harvestor looked down at her. “Yes. That is residual arcing from our pylons. It stabilizes the broad area, but at the cost of strong local anomalies.” He looked up at the sky, and so did Diamond Tiara. For a moment, the snowy winter sky flashed to a gray, nearly stormy autumn one. “Including your world’s weather.”

“But it’s failing.”

Harvestor nodded solemnly. “Further, the disturbance seems to have a focal point. On you.”

“Why me?” It was the question that Diamond Tiara had most wanted to ask.

“Why? Frankly, it could be random. That is unlikely, however. There is something unique about you.”

“There are worms, in my head- -”

“Yes, we are aware of the symbionts. But they are just that. They do not have the capacity to cause the level of dimensional damage that we are currently seeing.”

“No, but they could have driven me completely insane. This could all just be a bizarre hallucination.”

“True.”

“You’re not helping.”

“My job was never to help you. I thought you would know that by now.”

They had by this time reached the edge of what should have been the ancient, crumbling walls of the Castle of the Two Sisters. Instead, looming overhead was the gray, hulking mass of a silent concrete pyramid. The long gray stains on its sides were the only evidence that it had stood unmoving and unchanging for longer than all save two ponies had been alive.

“Harvestor,” said Diamond Tiara, suddenly realizing the implication of that thought. “How old are you, exactly?”

“Eight months.”

“Eight- -eight months?” Diamond Tiara had been expecting something far more grand, like an entire immortal lifetime of stories and experiences. Instead, he had only been alive since January.

“I am an alicorn,” he said slowly, as if he were explaining it to a foal. “We are not born from mothers. We are created. All the skills and knowledge we need are ingrained the instant we begin consciousness.” He shrugged slightly. “That probably seems strange to you. It shouldn’t.” He looked up at the door of the pyramid, a vast and gaping square hole. “Shall we enter?”

“S…sure,” said Diamond Tiara, following him into the silent darkness.

Inside the structure was not much different from the outside. It was still concrete, rimmed with oxidized metal that was possibly aluminum. There was no clear source of light, yet, somehow, the area was well lit with a kind of gray, empty light. The air inside was just as cold as outside, if not colder. Harvestor did not seem to notice, or to care, but Diamond Tiara was beginning to shiver.

Hervestor’s eye flicked toward Diamond Tiara, and she suddenly found herself covered in a liquid blue light. It coated her rapidly, providing her with warmth like some unseen blanket.

“Thank you.”

“It was not an act of altruism.”

“I know. I may not be an alicorn, but I’m not an idiot. You were scanning me.”

Harvestor’s eyes widened. “How did you know?”

“Because you’re researching me. You’re researching all of us, doing weird experiments. Like I said, not an idiot.”

“No,” said Harvestor, almost to himself. “No, indeed you are not.”

“But I just want to know, why? Is it all to prevent Ponyville from ‘collapsing’? Because I don’t think it is.”

“No. Of course not. This is a relatively recent development. We are not.”

Diamond Tiara looked down the wide hallway. She saw motion, and on the edges of it, saw tall alicorns floating by or standing. They all looked identical to Harvestor, although their colors seemed to vary. They all looked washed out and grayed, as if they were only just barely there. They were all watching the pair, and some moved to make way. “You’re alicorns. Why do you even care about us?”

“Your statement is an oversimplification. You could not understand why we do what we do.”

“Oh really? Why don’t you tell me that to my face? That just means YOU are bad at explaining.”

Harvestor smiled again, and dropped to his feet. His hooves echoed through the long hall as they touched the concrete. With motions that were just as graceful as they were unnatural, he walked beside Diamond Tiara. “Perhaps you can know. Maybe you can understand.”

“Not if you keep evading the question.”

“Simply put, your world is better than ours.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“If you had seen our world, it most likely would. Our reality, the Blue Glow, is entirely uninhabitable. Nothing whatsoever can possibly dwell there.”

“Clearly not. I mean, look at all of you.”

“We are alicorns. Immortals. We are not alive, not really. We only persist because it is the will of the Blue-Lit Machine. It is, I suppose, our equivalent of your Celestia.”

“No, it isn’t,” said Diamond Tiara.

Harvestor paused. “No. I suppose not.”

“A giant machine that fills up the whole sky,” said Diamond Tiara as though she were reciting something she had memorized long ago. “Metal and light, squirming and shifting, like a flower- -but not a flower, watching, willing, but never participating.”

Harvestor stopped walking. His eyes widened and his pupils narrowed. “How did you know that?”

“I just do,” said Diamond Tiara. “It’s true, isn’t it? That you came from it, that it made you?”

“Yes,” said Harvestor. He started walking again, but slowly. “It gave us life, and magic, and knowledge.”

“Then why come here?”

“Because that is all it gave us. Imagine our surprise when we came to this word. A world with real trees instead of lab-grown failures, with animals. Birds. Fungus. Moss. THINGS. And you.” He looked down at her. “Not you specifically, but your kind. Ponies. Ponies who live beyond the will of a silent god.”

“So, what? You fall in love with us and then start poking us full of holes?”

“We have to understand. We have to know how you work, to watch your world and understand how it came to be. My kind, we do not have history. We simply came into existence one day and silently built a civilization in a matter of weeks. Everything is the same. We cannot change. But you can.”

“But you have everything.”

“We have NOTHING. We believe that your world is critical to our evolution. That your genetics will allow us to build a better alicorn.”

“Our genetics…” Diamond Tiara froze. A thought had suddenly occurred to her- -a terrible though. “Harvestor,” she said. “You were born in January…”

Harvestor stopped walking and looked back at her, and she saw in his eyes that he knew what she was going to say next. He did not normally show emotion, but now, he looked ashamed. “Yes,” he said, simply.

“My birthday was in January. My eighteenth birthday. You were- -you were trying to- -”

“Ms. Tiara. Please calm down. The situation is logical if you- -”

“You’re trying to BREED WITH US!”Harvestor cringed slightly, either because he had been interrupted or because of his shame. “You- -you were going to bred with ME! You might already have- -you sick son of a- -”

“It isn’t like that!” snapped Harvestor.

“Then what is it like?!”

Harvestor sighed. It was an oddly rasping sound, and the first one he had actually made with his mouth that Diamond Tiara could remember hearing. “I will not lie to you. Yes, we do attempt to breed with your kind. And yes, you are on our rotation. But we have not attempted you, specifically, yet. Admittedly, though, we have made numerous attempts with your mother.”

“Don’t you dare touch my mother!”

“Do you think this is some kind of fetish? Look at me. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not a stallion. Nor am I a mare. I don’t even have genitals. None of us do. Alicorns are by definition sterile. Or so we thought…”

“You mean Flurry Heart.”

“Mi Amore Cadenza is the only known fertile alicorn, even in your world. She is absolutely priceless, and we cannot simply go and experiment on her.”

“But you can on us? Us REGULAR ponies? Is that what you’re saying?”

Harvestor seemed to be getting more frustrated. “You would not even be conscious of the failures. Remember, your people do not even know that we exist. Even if we had succeeded, it would just look like immaculate conception to you primitives. Or you would think it was one of yours. It is not as though you have genetic testing technology yet.”

“And how do you think I would feel if you succeeded? If I just popped out an alicorn baby one day, when you didn’t even ASK?”

“You mean instead of the morlock halfbreed you were attempting to make?!”

“How dare you,” hissed Diamond Tiara. “I will have a foal with whoever I want. It’s MY choice, not yours. I’m DONE. I’m going home. Maybe I’ll ACTUALLY make that ‘halfbreed’ foal, and I’ll raise him better than the defective machinery that made you. Assuming I’m not already pregnant with one of your bastard mutants!”

She turned to leave, but found that there was no longer any exit. In fact, what should have been a hallway as now a wide, circular room. The edges were shrouded in shadow, but as Diamond Tiara looked around in confusion, she saw numerous washed-out alicorns arise from the darkness.

“You seem to have misunderstood the change in paradigm,” said the largest of them. Like Harvestor, he did not move his mouth when he spoke. “Your status has changed.”

Diamond Tiara suddenly found herself being lifted into the air, suspended with her front legs outstretched. She tried to resist, but found that she could not move. Behind her, there was a sound of saws and drills, and she felt something drop away from the back of her head.

“Harvestor- -what are they doing to me? What are you doing to me?”

“Modifications,” said Harvestor, simply.

“You’re trying to stabilize the collapse,” said Diamond Tiara, feeling the distant pain as numerous implants penetrated her body. “You’re trying to stabilize it with ME.”

Harvestor looked at her, and then away. “No.”

“We no longer desire stabilization of the dimensional barrier,” said another alicorn. He- -or she- -sounded exactly like Harvestor. They all did.

“What?” demanded Diamond Tiara. “What do you mean you no longer want to stabilize it? If you don’t, Ponyville will- -”

“Collapse into the basin dimesion, yes. Quite possibly. Or the issue may resolve. We do not know.”

“You are unique, Diamond Tiara,” said Harvestor. “And because you are unique, you are valuable.”

“What are you doing to me?!”

“We are accelerating the fluxion. You will act as an antenna, a catalyst to accelerate the dimensional interaction.”

“There is so much we can learn,” said another alicorn. “So much about physics that we did not know.”

“It might allow us to perform successful interdimensional travel.”

“To open a new world to conquer.”

“To allow us to form our bodies in this world completely.”

“You- -you want to take it for yourself,” said Diamond Tiara. She glared at Harvestor, the only one of them she could see clearly. “You lied to me!”

Harvestor directly at her. “Did I?”

“But if this works- -you’ll lose Ponyville!”

“We are equipped to evacuate the Protothebe if it is required. She is the only one of true value. The remainder are expendable.”

“I’m expendable, then?”

At that, Harvestor was forced to look away. One of the others spoke for him. “If the area survives, it will have been successfully stabilized. He will be stripped of your DNA and reconfigured for the one called Silver Spoon. Her personality is not ideal, though.”

“Most likely,” said Harvestor, his voice heavy, “we will attempt to breed her with the morlok.”

“You’re sick. You’re all sick!”

“No. We are correct. You are overreacting.”

“Overreacting?! Don’t try to gaslight me! I’ve been to the place you’re trying to drop Ponyville! They won’t make it there! The ponies- -”

“There are over three million ponies in Equestria. Ponyville has a population of less than six hundred. The expense will be minimal.”

“But those are my friends!”

“I know,” said Harvestor. “I know.”

The surgery completed. The saws stopped, and Diamond Tiara was dropped roughly onto the ground. The other alicorns, now silent, began to walk away, returning to their duties.

Harvestor looked down at her. “The next time you generate a stabile flux, there will be no coming back. It will be your final transition, and it will be permanent. You will never be able to return to Equestria.” Then, perfunctorily, he added, “I’m sorry.”

“No your’re not.”

“You are correct. No, I am not.”

Diamond Tiara lunged at him. She did not know what she expected to happen- -except maybe to touch him, and know that he was real, and if he was hurt him for what he was doing to her. Instead, though, she passed through him as though he were not there and landed hard on a cold tile floor.

Looking around, Diamond Tiara realized that she was no longer in the pyramid. Instead, she was in her Ponyville home, lying on the floor of the foyer. The air was warm and smelled sweet, like Applebloom’s family recipe for apple pie but tweaked just slightly by Silver Spoon’s modifications to the amount of nutmeg.

“Damn you, Harvestor,” swore Diamond Tiara. She stood, shaking, and noticed that a dark pool had spread across the tile beneath her- -and that it was quickly vanishing, evaporating into unseen space, save for a slight yellow discoloring of the grout. Her body ached from what they had done to her, the final preparations for her final journey. Despite this, Diamond Tiara ignored the pain and stood.

“Diamond Tiara?” said a voice. Diamond Tiara turned and glared at the owner of the voice, who she quickly saw was Silver Spoon, attracted by the sound of a pony in the entranceway.

“Diamond Tiara?!” cried a different voice from farther behind Silver Spoon. There was a scuttling sound, and Pick appeared. He poked his head out from around the entranceway and moved to give Diamond Tiara a hug- -but stopped when he saw the expression on her face. “Diamond? Is something- -”

“How long?” demanded Diamond Tiara. “How long was I gone?”

“Gone?” said Pick. “I- -I don’t know. I just got back from the spa five minutes ago. So, maybe thirty minutes?”

Diamond Tiara’s eyes widened. “The spa. Do you remember what happened?”

“Yeah, mostly. We were…” he looked at Silver Spoon. “Well, you know. And then something happened- -”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” said Silver Spoon. “A lot of colts have that prob- -”

“WHAT HAPPENED?” snapped Diamond Tiara, her desperation beginning to creep into her speech.

“Eep! I- -I don’t know! I- -I can’t remember! They told me there was some kind of chemical leak, something from the boilers! It’s blurry, and…the last thing I remember was being led out by one of the employees. He said the air was contaminated, but my dial didn’t detect- -”

“He?”

Pick nodded. “Yeah. Not the pretty mare, or the ugly one. A really big stallion.”

“That must have been Bulk Biceps,” said Silver Spoon. “He works there. Gives one heck of a massage. Big, white Pegasus? Scootaloo-esque wings?”

“White? No. I can’t see color properly, but I know he wasn’t white. And he wasn’t a Pegasus either. Nor was he bulky. In fact, he was- -”

“Really tall and thin,” whispered Diamond Tiara. “With a long horn and a black uniform.”

Pick stared up at her through his optics. “How did you know that? Did he pull you out too? Diamond Tiara, I was so worried about you. I didn’t know where you were, and I couldn’t find you, so I came back here to see if you returned, but- -”

“Is Applebloom okay?”

Pick stopped talking, and Silver Spoon blinked. “Um, yes?” she said. “I just passed her in the market. She’s as fine as she ever has been. What does Applebloom have to do with this?”

“What do you think I’m covered in, Silver Spoon?”

Silver Spoon and Pick looked down at Diamond Tiara’s chest, then back up at her. “Um, what?”

Diamond Tiara looked down, and realized that she was perfectly clean. There was not a drop of sap on her coat, or traces of anything, really. She did not even have a detectable smell.

“No, he didn’t, he couldn’t have- -but wat if, no, no it couldn’t…” Diamond Tiara started mumbling to herself, and then looked up at Silver Spoon and Pick. She realized that she was sounding more and more like Lucy. Thinking about Lucy, though, caused another memory to surface. Diamond Tiara looked at Pick, and then looked away. The shame was overwhelming- -unless it really only had been nothing more than a bizarre and feverish dream.

“Diamond,” said Silver Spoon. “I love you. More than literally any other pony I know. And I’m saying this as a friend. You’re not well. You need help.”

“Like you could possibly understand.”

“No, I can’t. None of us can, because you won’t TELL US ANYTHING!”

“Diamond Tiara,” said Pick, more calmly. “We’re just worried. You don’t- -you don’t need to do anything you don’t want to. But you’re scaring us.”

“Pick…” Diamond Tiara’s expression hardened. “I don’t need help. Just get me the drone. I have to go through.”

“Records? What records?”

“The records I stored in the drone. You know, when I went to the library. I need to look up a pony named Avalon…”

“The drone doesn’t contain any records,” said Pick.

The room went silent.

“What did you just say?” asked Diamond Tiara.

“I- -I checked it. There isn’t any stored data, apart from the visual longs…and…”

“What?” said Diamond Tiara. “WHAT?”

“Please don’t YELL AT ME! I don’t like it!”

“JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION!”

Pick backed away, and fumed for a moment. Then he looked up at Silver Spoon, and she nodded. “It’s you. The visual record records you. In the library, yes, but just…sitting there. Scrolling through microfilm recordings…or trying to…”

“What do you mean ‘trying to’?”

“They’re blank, Diamond Tiara,” said Silver Spoon. “You spent six hours scrolling through empty pages. There was nothing there.”

Diamond Tiara just stared. “You…you’re lying.”

Silver Spoon did not need to respond. The look in her eyes said everything. She was telling the truth.

“Oh,” said Diamond Tiara. “Never mind. I guess…I guess I’m just tired. Yeah. I need to go to bed, I think.” She pushed past the others, not sure if they would believe her even if she was able to tell them- -or if they were actually even real.

“Diamond- -”

“Just…leave me alone. And…I’m sorry.”

Diamond Tiara took one last look at them, and walked past them, leaving her friends behind.