A female guard pulled a red phone off the hook in a panic. “Code red! Code red! Massive containment breach; Warehouse 97! Hello?”

“That phone isn’t operational,” Silvertongue said, twirling a cut wire in his magic. He had dropped his Shroud disguise shortly after arriving in the Warehouse, allowing all within to see his true form. It was the least he could do for them since none of the personnel here would be leaving alive.

The woman drew her gun, the gem in her forehead sparkling with power. “Don’t try anyth-”

She was dust in a flash of silver energy.

Silvertongue frowned. He did not take pleasure in doing the dirty work himself, that was usually what servants were for. Unfortunately, given the unique circumstances of this particular mission, he was required to be present for all the proceedings.

He had systematically killed all the guards and people with access to communications. They would not be calling for help, though he only had roughly ten minutes to act before the automatic alarms would trigger elsewhere from a lack of vocal contact.

The plan was to wrap things up in five.

The facility was teleport-proof, as all advanced government facilities should be. Silvertongue respected their preparedness, but they clearly had not expected someone with the power of four minor gods to plow through the defenses by sheer brawn alone.

Even this filled him with distaste. Raw power was… inelegant. But he needed speed over form today, and it was not like his rampage was without purpose.

He drilled a perfectly cylindrical hole in the ground, going deep into the earth, past numerous levels of reinforced concrete and magical wards designed to keep a single prisoner from escaping. There were many other prisoners in Warehouse 97, but this particular one… she was the most important.

Wings spread, he flew down the hole before he had finished digging it. He came out the other side with a golden shield raised, stopping the black radiative fire from consuming his flesh.

There was a young woman in the middle of the fire, surrounded by so much radioactive power that the very air rippled and occasionally ionized. Her eyes brimmed with a sickly green-blue that vaporized all flesh they gazed upon.

Silvertongue was the first being she had physically looked upon in years.

“Who are you…?” she rasped.

“I am Silvertongue. Calm yourself, I am here to end your pain.”

“End…?” the woman smiled. “End…”

Silvertongue had no need to say anything or set up any rituals - she did not resist. As he drained every last ounce of magic from her body she let out a sigh of relief and laid down on the cold ground of her cell, a content smile on her face.

In her last moments, the pain had lifted.

Silvertongue did not have time to appreciate what had just transpired - he had eight minutes now, three if he kept to the five minute goal. He forced her radioactive essence deep into his spirit, using the others he had absorbed to keep the uncontrollable radiation in check. The green that had been shining through his eyes left before he returned to the ground level.

Already he could feel the vibration of the very atoms around him, a deep connection to the reality of Earth Shimmer...

He had one more prisoner to visit. He galloped down a hall and blasted a cell door off its hinges.

Inside was an immensely tall man with muscles that belonged more on a monster than a human. He glared at Silvertongue with a deep, burning anger. “Why have you freed me?”

“That is none of your concern,” Silvertongue said. “Our goals do not align.” A sword flashed into existence, falling into the man’s hand. “But know this, Red Bull: your Tirek lives, and is currently living in peace with Chrysalis’ ‘Wholesome’. You know he must face justice.”

Red Bull gripped the sword’s hilt, narrowing his eyes. “I don’t trust you.”

“You can confirm my words for yourself at the Wholesome. You are wise not to trust me, but I am giving you a chance to do what you want. I am asking for nothing else, not even a future favor. You will likely never see me after this day.”

Red Bull took one look at Silvertongue, contemplating the wisdom of engaging the alicorn in combat. In the end, he decided Silvertongue was right. With a grunt, he ran out of the cell as fast as his legs could carry him.

One minute, Silvertongue thought, taking a white orb out of his shirt, laying it on the ground. It was a gift distilled from the holy magic of angels, made by the spiritual Arul rather than himself. It would do nicely to vaporize the entire Warehouse and mask Silvertongue’s magic signature. Only Red Bull would have any idea he had been there, and that variable was accounted for.

He began to arm the holy explosive, but something caught his senses. There was a small human man standing at the entrance to this room, shivering. His skin was a dark, sickly green and oblong gemstone shapes poked out of his flesh in numerous places seemingly without pattern.

“Curious…” Silvertongue said, deciding it was worth going over five minutes to investigate this man. “I did not release the containment procedures on any other cells. How did you get out?”

“They stopped telling me to stay,” he said with a voice barely more than a whisper. “Do you know why?”

“I’m likely the reason, seeing as I killed or disabled all the workers here.”

“...Can you tell me what to do?”

Silvertongue furrowed his brow. Interesting… “Tell me your name.”

“Shivershackles.”

“And why are you here?”

“To keep bad people from telling me what to do.”

“And what do you do?”

“Whatever you want.”

Silvertongue decided a test was in order. “Shivershackles… destroy that wall.”

“Yes, master.” Shivershackles placed a hand on the wall and let out a scream of pain. There was no explosion, no flash of light, nothing more than a surge of dark, inky magic and the rock that made up the wall shattered in several places, revealing the next cell over that contained a woman with eyes all over her body. She didn’t respond to the sudden lack of wall.

“Shivershackles…” Silvertongue handed the man the holy bomb. “Set this to go off in precisely two minutes and twelve seconds to vaporize this entire facility and everything in it.”

“Of course,” Shivershackles said. Even though there was no way he could possibly know how to set the bomb, all he did was touch it and it did exactly what Silvertongue had wanted.

Silvertongue laughed. “What fortune! A perfect servant!”

“P-perfect?”

Silvertongue detected a dip in Shivershackles’ internal magic the instant he registered the praise.

Ah, so there’s the catch…

“Only for this instance,” Silvertongue said, forcing his smile to vanish. “You will no doubt be woefully inadequate soon, as all servants inevitably are.”

“Oh…” His magic increased once more.

“Get on my back. We must leave this place before we are destroyed.” Silvertongue shifted his form back into an unassuming pegasus, allowing Shivershackles to climb on. “Don’t say anything, don’t fidget. Stay perfectly still and if you so much as twitch you will learn what it means to disappoint Shroud.”

As the man whimpered in agreement, his internal power only soared.

Silvertongue spread his wings and took off, timing his exit to perfectly coincide with the detonation of the bomb. He teleported away just as a cloud of pure holy energy engulfed the Warehouse and all the bunkers beneath, destroying all the dangerous magic contained within utterly. They would be a blight on Earth Shimmer no more.

More importantly, the immense blast masked all evidence of Silvertongue’s magic within the purge. Shimmy would definitely feel the explosion, but she would have no idea who had done it or why.

Shivershackles?

Now, he was just a bonus.

Shimmy’s avatar arrived seconds after the bomb went off. She got to feel the secondary shockwave and feel the light brush over her. Aside from some mild discomfort, she was completely unaffected.

Physically.

The massive crater in her planet was more than enough of a scar to feel like a lash across her heart.

“Why…” she breathed, drifting down into the crater. It was immense, large enough to take out all of Warehouse 97, including support buildings, bunkers, the perimeter… the only evidence that there had ever been anything here was the road that led right into the gaping hole. Shimmy could hardly sense any of the dark magics that had been contained there. Even the radiation from the girl was weak.

That girl…

She didn’t deserve this. She deserved to be cured… the Merodi had just gotten here, they would have been able to do something! Take her to a mundane universe for therapy or something.

But she was gone. Her life began with tragedy, lived through hell, lived through confinement, and then died because… because what?

Shimmy didn’t know. She held out her hand, trying to trace the source of the holy explosion. To her annoyance, the attacker had been prepared for her: it had been a remote detonation, prepared prior to coming to the Warehouse. There was no trail to follow, just a heaping helping of sickening brightness.

Think, Sunset, think, Shimmy racked her mind. Light magic was generally wielded by those who were either on the side of ‘good’ or at least thought they were. One of those angels, maybe, Merodi Universalis did have a few of those. Why would an angel attack?

...To purge the world of evil.

They probably thought they were being a hero by destroying this place.

Shimmy clenched her firsts. “Not all of them were monsters… we were so close to helping so many of them… whoever you are, I am going to find you. And I am going to make you pay.”

A few government helicopters appeared above the crater, descending to the place she was standing. A woman in a black suit and sunglasses walked out, standing next to her. “What happened?”

“I’m not sure…” Shimmy admitted. “My best guess is some ‘hero’ thought they would purge the world of its greatest darkness…” She turned to the agent. “There must have been a security breach. Even most of the Merodi Overheads didn’t know about this place. Find out where that happened.”

“We’re already on it.”

Shimmy nodded, frowning. “I’ll… I’ll assist you how I can. Just hold on a minute.”

She teleported back to the cafe and sat down in a chair next to Twilight, hand to her forehead.

Twilight put a hand to her mouth. “Oh no…”

“What happened?” Brook asked.

“Warehouse 97 is a crater now. Everyone inside - everyone - is gone.”

Rarity and Applejack gasped. The rest of them had no idea what she was talking about.

Shimmy frowned. “I suppose there’s no way we’re keeping it a secret now… everybody’s going to notice that crater. Warehouse 97 was a secret U.N. base that contained the most dangerous manifestations of magic. Walking nuclear bombs. Magic murderers. And a few… ‘monsters’.” She folded her arms. “We kept them there in… in hopes that we would be able to help them one day, but also to keep them from endangering the public. A few of the guards used to call it Sunset’s Mercy....” She took a breath, grinding her teeth. “Now we’ll never be able to help them. Someone killed every last one of them.”

“That’s terrible!” Sequin cried. “I… Who would do such a thing?”

“A hero,” Cinder sighed. “A hero who saw a bunch of villains…” Cinder furrowed her brow, as if she wasn’t entirely sure of her own deduction.

Shimmy nodded. “That’s what I think too.” She let out a deep breath. “I’m going back to help. I just… I just need to sit for a minute.”

Twilight put her hands on Shimmy’s back. “We can help.”

Shimmy didn’t object. She hung her head back and tried to force herself to relax. A silver lining presented itself to her - she no longer had to manage reality while emotionally compromised like this. She could just… let it go for a moment, and everything would be fine when she came back.

...Not fine. But the same.

Twilight’s phone rang, shaking Shimmy out of her seat. “What is it!?”

Twilight answered the phone, frowning as she listened to the voice on the other end. “I’ll see what she says…” She put the phone down. “Blumiere has a lead on the silver tongue prophecy. He wants you to be there when they go over it.”

“The silver tongue…” Shimmy began to pace around the chair. “We knew something like this was going to happen. Everything’s coming together.”

“That’s probably why we’re here,” Cinder admitted.

“Right,” Shimmy clapped her hands. “I’m going to the silver tongue meeting. You are going to help the others investigate the crater. Twilight, you’re in charge. Rest of you, congratulations, you suddenly have Earth Shimmer clearance.”

“...Even us?” Brook asked.

“If you’re going with them.”

Sequin frowned. “I’m not so sure…”

“Rarity, we’re here,” Brook said, putting a hoof on Sequin’s shoulder. “We can’t just walk away, can we?”

Sequin let out a bitter chuckle. “No… No I suppose we can’t. We have a problem, don’t we?”

“Maybe.”

Twilight stood up, looking at Shimmy in concern. “You sure you don’t have to be here?”

Shimmy put her hands behind her back. “This silver tongue thing is going to be important, I know it. I’ll be back with you as soon as it’s over. Don’t worry about me - worry about finding out who did this.”

Twilight nodded. “Okay. Take care of yourself.”

“If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s taking care of things.” She vanished in a puff of white magic.

Twilight adjusted her glasses. “Well. Rarity, Applejack? Can you use your connections to check the underground for hints of a security leak?”

Rarity smirked. “Of course, darling.”

“Ah’m still bothered that we know the underground,” Applejack muttered.

“Unfortunately necessary given the Carousel and other unsavory types trying to run us under… I’ll give you a call if we get anything.”

“Good.” Twilight turned to the two Sweeties, Sequin, and Brook. “We are going to the crater directly. Hope you’re ready for a long-range teleport.”

Celia, Squiddy, Seren, and Nira were led to the throne room of Queen Blackburn of Hope’s Point at gunpoint. The guard consisted mostly of pegasi; fit pegasi in sleek armor at that. They didn’t get to see much of the city itself for they were led mostly through underground passages and backways to keep them out of the eyes of the public.

But Celia did get to catch one glance of the surface - a city that, despite its half-destroyed state, was still filled with happy ponies and life. A few of them walked tentatively, glancing up at the barrier-tinted sky as if it might explode at any moment, but for the most part it was respectable if a bit densely packed and dusty.

Queen Blackburn herself was a larger-than-average gray pegasus who didn’t bother with things like crowns or regalia - she wore a simple but high-quality pilot’s coat and had some sort of magitech weapon affixed to one of her hooves. Her mane was long, blue, and sharp - well maintained, but simply so.

Despite being taller than the Queen, Celia still felt as though she was being looked down upon.

Beside Blackburn was a much smaller pale pegasus in a simple hat. One of his wings was bent in an awkward position, heavily damaged. Celia suspected he was related to the Queen in some way, though he didn’t give off the aura of a King.

Celia bowed to Blackburn, an indication for the rest of her team to do so as well. “Greetings, Queen Blackburn. Thank you for seeing us so expediently.”

Blackburn spoke with a level tone that was fast, but clearly pronounced nonetheless. “Never receive calls like that. Had to be something important if bothering me. Did not need to know more secondhoof info, wanted to meet you personally. Guards, stand down.”

The guards listened to their Queen, lowering their weapons.

“Leave us.”

The guards left without another word.

“Pretty trusting of us…” Squiddy said.

“She’s not,” Celia corrected. “She just knows the guard would not be able to stop us if we wished to harm her, and she’d rather not have us on edge while discussing.”

“Correct,” Blackburn confirmed. “You state that to put me on the defensive, having judged my character. Subtly declaring yourself a fit opponent.”

“I would prefer the term ‘like-minded ally’, if you would, your highness.”

“Earn that title.”

“I have every intention of doing so.”

Blackburn nodded. “You know me. This is Lockwood. You?”

“Chalcedony, Celia. This is Nira, Squiddy, and Serendipity.”

“Second name disposition, an unknown, a nickname, and a name that is regularly shortened to save time. Seren, yes?”

Seren blinked. “Wow. She’s good.”

Celia nodded. “Quite. Am I right in assuming you and Lockwood are related in some fashion?”

Lockwood blinked. “Well. Looks like you might have just found your match.”

“That remains to be seen. Lockwood is my fiance. Would have been married sooner, recent events bar it. Not worth discussing right now.”

“Understood,” Celia admitted. So he is to be the King, interesting…

Blackburn spread her wings and flew to Nira. “Only actual pony in the group - unicorn. Remove your hood.”

Nira glowered at her, but did as asked, revealing her darker mane and the true extent of her many scars.

“Horn shows signs of constant use, high-class spellcaster. Darkened mane and coat, indicative of Dark magic, but not as extensive as expected. Scarring implies blood mage. Expression - prideful, annoyed. Does more than blood magic.”

“Yes, congratulations, we love your deduction skills,” Nira grunted. “You could just ask, you know.”

“Yes.”

“Just let her do her thing,” Lockwood said, sitting back. “She does it to everypony she meets.”

“Even if they are not a pony,” Blackburn observed, moving on to Seren. “Species unknown, but part unicorn. Young, much younger than the others. No familial relation. Fingers… fine, pointed nails, not from care but constant use. Continually distracted by my weapon and other technology. Engineer, perhaps, though the scepter indicates possible mage.”

“Cool!” Seren said. “You’re good at this!”

“Tell me something I don’t know. Scratch that, don’t, I’ll figure it out myself.” She moved to Squiddy. “Squid-like, though physiology is far removed. Only one carrying weapons, but also only one without magic. Tense stance, suggests soldier, always ready for a fight. Weapons filled with white ink substance, perhaps produced naturally, given color of tentacles. Singular non-ink weapon. Possible lethal last resort?” Noticing Squiddy’s expression twitch, Blackburn nodded. “An attempt at a pacifist soldier. Admirable, but an immense drain on mental resources.”

Squiddy let out an incoherent grumble that was probably an insult.

“Celia,” Blackburn said, moving to the tall pony. “Leader, politician, careful speaker. Skilled at lying, but isn’t, far as I know. Not actually pony: no fur, body is sleek. Dress is manifested with magic, likely to conform with local dress requirements, indicating that form is fluid. Gem is cracked, likely the source of power and source of the body. Natural form is not that of a pony, but the pose is too comfortable for one who shifts appearance regularly. Analytical, constantly measuring the situation, looking for advantages. Calm. Not intimidated, unlike the others.”

“Queen Blackburn,” Celia said. “Logical, almost rationalist in behavior. Abhors lost time and yet spends excess brainpower on deductions for the sake of sharpening her wits and making a statement. Has deduced several more important things about my team, but holds them back out of what she tells herself is a sense of caution, but is more about impression than she cares to admit. Ruler of a city under constant threat from invaders who attack from the sky. The shield recently failed, the city survived. Injuries were sustained. Her weapon also serves as a brace for her leg, and her wings have remained folded to her side, unusual for a pegasus in her position of authority. Nonetheless an honorable mare.”

“How do you know that?”

“Intuition.”

“Foolishness.”

“I would respond with a comment in relation to where I come from, but I believe you were saving that particular observation to make a point?”

Lockwood, Squiddy, Nira, and Seren were staring blankly at the two of them.

Blackburn nodded toward Celia with respect. “You would do well in Hope’s Point.”

“I have to do well everywhere.”

“It is your job.”

“Naturally.”

Blackburn took a few steps back, taking all four of them in at once. “All similar in appearance, variations on a theme. Would suggest family, but the race difference makes that impossible. All four contain some kind of impossibility. Team colors worn intentionally? Variations in Celia’s eyes and Sqiuddy’s tentacles oppose this. Deduction is clear - from different worlds. Not surprised at this point.”

Lockwood shrugged. “Same.”

“You’ve had other dimensional travelers?” Seren asked.

“Yes. Recently,” Blackburn answered. “Part of the reason Hope’s Point is in this situation.”

Celia nodded. “But you don’t blame them.”

“No. The true source of our problems is a pony from this world. Lord Silvertongue of New Pandemonium City.”

Celia moved to say something, but Blackburn held up a hoof. “I will get to the point. You are here as explorers seeking peaceful discussion. You shall receive that. We need help. You know how to travel the multiverse. We do not.”

“This Silvertongue, he did?” Celia asked.

“Yes. He played us. Had us create the portal for him. Him and those who had the knowledge to operate the portal vanished within.” She growled in distaste. “I didn’t see it coming. Didn’t even know he was involved. He stayed distant until the last possible moment. He plans to use the world Equestria Prime to bring about his perverse idea of ‘perfection’.”

Squiddy lit up. “Sounds right up our alley.”

Celia smirked. “We are known to hunt down villains. I believe you are a mare of your word, and that you have not lied to us. We shall seek this Silvertongue out and bring him to justice.” She looked to Lockwood. “We will save those he has taken with him as well, if possible.”

“...Thank you,” Lockwood said, surprised. “But… you’re helping us just like that?”

“It’s what they do,” Blackburn said. “They have the same glint in their eyes those six mares had.” She turned her gaze back to Celia. “The dead portal sits at this world's south pole, within Zeb’ra’den. We shall journey there.”

“How long will that take?” Nira asked.

“With my ships? Under a week. But you have better.” Blackburn ruffled her wings. “Show me.”

Celia nodded. “Yes, your majesty.” She pulled out a dimensional device. “I should warn you, they may not be what you’re expecting.”

“Open it.”

Celia dialed Swip, opening right to the lounge. A second later Burgerbelle flew out, covered in a ton of illegible receipts. “I have been… receiptrocated…” she declared before passing out at Blackburn’s hooves with a comical squeak. The word WASTED appeared over top of her.

“...Huh,” Blackburn said.

The Crown Princess stood once again in front of the Beacon of Harmonia. Once, she was told, it had shot a beam of pure light into the sky. No more - it hardly glowed at all, struggling to hold on to the light of harmony.

In front of it there was a metal ring with a pink crystal at the top, dormant. In theory, it would work if enough magic was surged into it at the right frequency, but that was not the Crown Princess’ plan. Even the jewels in the Crown would be taxed giving life to this ring.

She was just going to use the dimensional travel spell on the coordinates the gate last accessed.

She had several dozen swords and spears pointed at her by zebra guards, and Zircon himself stood nearby, watching her closely. They did not trust her, a fact that annoyed her immensely - but they would learn their error soon enough.

“I found the coordinates,” she said, flapping some dust out of her wings. “I will open a portal now. Ready?”

“For both this gate and tricks unknown
I am ready for what you’ve sown.”

The Crown Princess nodded. She decided not to make an ordeal out of the spell - it would be more jarring if she showed how truly effortless a proper dimensional portal really was. She lit her horn… and a white ring popped into existence, leading to a forest in another world. “There you go. Equestria IV, as promised.”

Zircon gawked.

“I recognize this sight I see
This is where Silvertongue did flee!
My doubts you’ve shown quite unfounded
My gratitude is unbounded.”

“I’m not done yet,” the Crown Princess said with a smirk. “We’re going in. Those of you staying behind, remember what I told you of the Merodi. Those of you coming… be ready for anything from this Silvertongue.”

She and a few dozen zebras stepped through the ring, coming out into what the Crown Princess knew was a version of the Whitetail Woods. The portal popped closed, and they were alone.

“I’ll check for dimensional signatures…” the Crown Princess said, lighting her horn once more. “This might take awhile if he moved far awa-”

She was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a Celestia and Luna, both in battle stances.

Zircon raised his sword.

“To me, my kin, against our foes!
Let none stop us ending our woes!
Alicorns, know this day was when
You faced the might of Zeb’ra’den!”

“We will let no others threaten our world!” Luna shouted back.

“WAIT!” the Crown Princess flew between them. “We aren’t here to invade! We’re looking for Silvertongue!”

Celestia calmed immediately. “You do not serve him?”

Zircon spat on the ground.

“That treacherous deceiving rat
Deserves in his eye to be spat
Venom from nineteen kinds of snake
I’d die before serving that rake.”

Celestia waved a hoof, getting Luna to stand down. “I am sorry to disappoint you, but he has already moved on to Equestria III. It took us weeks to open one portal to follow him…”

“I know how to track him,” the Crown Princess said, tapping her horn. “Just show me where he left, it’ll take all of a few minutes.”

Luna turned to Celestia. “Should we…?”

“There can be no harm in letting them see,” Celestia said. “Stay still, it will take a moment to teleport this many…”

A moment turned out to be about twelve seconds, at which point all of them appeared in the middle of the Everfree Forest where the Tree of Harmony had once been. There was a pile of rubble in the middle of the cavern and seven pony statues.

Zircon ran up to the statues, his eyes focusing on one in particular.

“What travesty do I behold?
Whose heart could be this frozen cold
To turn fair Rarity to stone
On his quest for immortal throne?”

He spun, pointing at the Crown Princess.

“You, traveller from afield
I have seen that which you wield!
I beg you this, restore this mare
From stone to flesh, from wretch to fair!”

The Crown Princess went through the library of spells she had stored in her crown. She did know the de-petrification spell, though she questioned why the Princesses hadn’t already used it. She turned to them, raising an eyebrow in an unspoken question.

Celestia sighed. “They have no magical energy in them anymore. Silvertongue drained them dry. They would need some kind of supplement…”

“Oh, that I can do,” the Crown Princess said. “Just need to drain some life force, and Everfree Forests are full of things like that.”

Celestia glanced at her with a curious expression. “Draining life is a dark art, little one.”

“And you’re lucky I know it.” The Crown Princess checked Celesita’s face for recognition - there was no Capricious Crown in this world, right?

“...I suppose we are,” Celestia said with a cautious nod - no recognition in her eyes. “How much do you need?”

“I’ll just go drain a random grove, be right back…” the Crown Princess teleported to a lake in the middle of the Everfree surrounded by beautiful, luscious trees. She didn’t light her horn. Instead, she focused on the gems within her crown, reaching out with magic until she could touch the very essence of the life around her. Animals, plants, fungus, and magical creatures… all of them felt her.

The Crown’s magic had originally been intended to drain minds and subsequently control them, but it could easily be adapted to something far more sinister. Tales of rams being turned to dust to fuel the Crown were not exaggerations. Now that it was fused with Sweetie, using the magic in such a way would be suicide, but that did not mean the draining power could not be used at all.

All it took was a little nudging and its attention could be shifted elsewhere.

All the trees and animals within several yards turned to dust once the spell was completed, blowing their ash-like remains into the wind. The crystals of her crown were shining brightly now, more like headlights than simple gemstones. She teleported back to the statues. “Got enough.”

Luna and Celestia felt the energy billowing off of her. Only Luna visibly reacted with disgust, but the Crown Princess knew Celestia well enough to tell when she was stifling her emotions.

No matter. Celestia would thank the Crown Princess for bringing her precious student back. With a flash of magic, the life force was divided up between the seven mares coupled with a de-petrification spell. The stone fell away with ease, revealing the six Elements of Harmony… and a strange blue-green unicorn who looked pissed.

“Where is the bastard!?” the unicorn shouted, whipping her head left and right. “I’m not playing your games anymore, you daf-”

“Tick Tock, calm yourself,” Celesita said. “He has already left. It has been a few weeks since that day.”

“Wh…”

“Celestia!” Twilight shouted, rushing her mentor into a hug.

Zircon approached Rarity, bowing his head.

“Fair Rarity, my heart delights
That you have been set to your rights.
A soul like yours is distinguished
And should never be extinguished.”

“Oh! My knight in shining armor!” She moved to embrace him - but she stumbled over her hooves. “Wha…?”

“I… feel…” Pinkie shook her head. “Weak…”

“We were stuck in stone, of course we’d be weak, Pinks,” Rainbow said, huffing from her position in the air.

“Actually, you are probably significantly weaker,” the Crown Princess said. “SIlvertongue drained you dry. The power of the Elements isn’t in you at all.”

“Oh.” Pinkie drooped. “Guess that’s why everything feels… normal.”

Fluttershy gasped. “Normal? Oh, Pinkie…”

The Crown Princess turned away from the statues. “There you go. Your ponies are back.”

“Thank you…” Luna furrowed her brow.

“Just call me the Crown Princess. I travel the multiverse, warning those who will listen of Merodi Universalis - a society that conquers by friendship. I have much more to tell you of them, in time, but we need to chase Silvertongue.” She lit her horn, feeling for the dimensional signature with her magic.

“Where are the others?” Twilight asked, looking around.

Celestia frowned. “Havocwing and her sisters were able to traverse the barrier with our power. They left earlier today in pursuit. It looks as though you will get to join them soon.”

The zebra held out a hoof.

“Celestia, hold yourself back.
I too wish to go on attack
But these six mares were for a week
Unable to move, breathe, or speak.
They are brave, I have not a doubt
But must rest before setting out.”

Rainbow glared. “Wanna say that to my face, bub?”

“He just did, Rainbow,” Rarity pointed out.

“He has a point,” Twilight admitted. “But… even like this, I can’t just let Silvertongue go. I don’t know all that’s happened while we were petrified or how we’re going to chase him, but we need to be there.” She frowned. “Celestia, the Void...?”

‘“Is encroaching on our world, yes,” Celestia admitted with a sigh. “It has been strengthened by the arrivals you see before you, but even now our world tends closer and closer to the abyss without the Tree and Discord.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, he was necessary,” Luna admitted.

“All the more reason to deal with Silvertongue now,” Twilight said.

“Now?” Tick Tock laughed. “How are we going to do it now? We don’t have the power, the resources, the time, or a bloody portal! Nopony’s explained the plan!”

The Crown Princess demonstrated by opening a portal back to Equestria V effortlessly.

“...What in the…” Tick Tock gawked.

“I am the Crown Princess. I come from universes far beyond what you know. I know a simple, elegant spell for dimensional travel - I just need dimensional signatures.”

Tick Tock gawked. “You… You can take us right to Equestria Prime! Just a few jumps.”

“I do need the signatures…”

“I’m a Chronomancer, I have all of those. Here, try this.” The Chronomancer lit her horn, and the signature went directly into the Crown Princess’ horn. A second later, the portal to Equestria III was open. “You’re right amazing, you are…” Tick Tock shook her head. “No time to gawk. EVERYPONY THROUGH!”

“Zebra too,” Fluttershy added.

Zircon frowned at her, concerned.

“I admire your devotion
But you’ve suffered much commotion.
I had hoped that you could now rest
Must you join us on this quest?”

Rarity nodded. “Powerless or no… we’re seeing this through until the end.”

“We shall stave off the Void as long as we can,” Celestia called. “Return quickly.”

“We will!” Twilight called, jumping through the portal.

A Chronomancer, a Princess, a troop of zebras, and six powerless mares entered Equestria III all at once.

The local Spike noticed them instantly. More ponies to eject...

“Rarely ask this,” Blackburn said as she observed Burgerbelle chase Rachel around Swip with a palm frond. “What is she?”

Suzie chuckled. “She’s what’s called a Flat, from a universe where reality was based more on imagination and even that was little more than a suggestion. There are not many beings that can leave their worlds and bring their physics with them, but Flats are one of them.”

“She defies understanding.”

“That’s… kind of the reason she’s here, admittedly.” Suzie leaned back on the wall. “She’s so out there we rarely come across people who are able to comprehend what she is. She baffles, confuses, and is able to trick people into thinking she’s an imbecile. Whatever you think about her, it’s probably wrong.” Suzie chuckled. “I’m under no illusion that I fully understand her, and I’m one of her closest friends.”

“Must be exhausting.”

“At times. The trick to being around her is to just go with the flow.”

“And not ask questions.”

“Eh, more like ask the right questions. ‘How’ or ‘What’ tend to be pointless, but ‘Why’ is often a good bet.”

“Why is she chasing Rachel around?”

“Fun, mostly,” Suzie said. “Also to get a reaction out of you.”

Blackburn nodded slowly. “You run this ship like a family.”

“Let me guess: sloppy?”

“Yes. But admirable. Risky as well.”

“It works well enough for us.”

“Your entire crew is not here.”

Suzie nodded - not even bothering to ask how Blackburn had deduced that. “Cinder, our newest, and Blink, our sneak. They’re attending a bit of a celebration at our capital city. An unstable universe recently became stable.”

“You can stabilize universes. Good. Ours is in danger of falling to the Void.”

“Oh?”

“We have been experimenting ever since Silvertongue left. We have not opened a portal yet. We’ve detected the Void. It was eating our world. Suddenly stopped for no apparent reason shortly before you arrived. Not a coincidence.”

“Usually opening portals destabilizes universes… but I’m not the technician. And since Seren’s down there at the moment… Swip?”

“Yes?” Swip asked, turning one of the nearby walls into a screen, displaying a bored avatar. “This better be good if you’re keeping me from watching Rachel.”

“You can divide your attention. Perform a search: universes that stabilize with dimensional activity.”

“Finished before you completed the question. They’re rare, but they do exist. Starbeat writes papers on them, looks like the phenomenon is linked to ka in some way. Universes that fizzle out when the ‘importance’ leaves.”

Blackburn stared at Swip, wordless.

“Why is she looking at me like that?”

“She’s smart,” Suzie answered. “She likely won’t just ignore what doesn’t make sense like most others do.”

“Ka. Unknown word. Spoken of in relation to ‘importance’, spoken in air quotes. Implies a tangible force of destiny. Seems illogical, but given the absurdity of events in Equestria V…” She put a hoof to her chin. “Interesting theory. I assume you have books on the topic?”

“Tons. We should probably ease you into it, though…”

“I don’t do ‘ease’.”

“Figures. Swip, look u-”

“Incoming call,” Swip said, switching the display away from her avatar and on to Celia.

“What is it?” Suzie asked.

“So, minor problem down here in Utopia,” Celia coughed. “Utopia itself is very welcoming to us, and the new Warden is ecstatic that we’re here. Only… one problem. The Beacon is located in Zeb’ra’den and they’re not letting us anywhere near it.”

“And you couldn’t talk your way through them?”

“I tried, believe me. Even imitated their rhyming scheme - the meter was difficult, don’t get me started on that. I did manage to figure out why they won’t let us in.”

“...I’m not going to like this, am I?”

“The Crown Princess was here before us.”

Suzie blinked. “Ah. That’s unfortunate.” She turned to Blackburn. “She was a Sweetie who resented us for saving her world too late to save her sister. Fused her mind with an ancient artifact by accident. Has been going around making things difficult for us, calling us ‘conquerers by friendship’.”

“You are.”

Suzie frowned. “You have the right to refuse our interference in most cases.”

Blackburn nodded. “What are you going to do?”

“How urgent is it that we get to Silvertongue?”

“Very. Worlds could end.”

“How powerful is Zeb’ra’den in this world?”

“Among the weakest despite their warrior culture.”

“Good.” Suzie adjusted the cuff of her uniform’s sleeve. “Celia, come on back. We’re going to the beacon if they like it or not.”

“Got it.” The transmission cut.

“You might want to get off,” Suzie commented. “I doubt it would be politically adviseabl-”

“I am not going anywhere. We are chasing down Silvertongue. Lockwood can handle my duties for a while.” She lowered her head and growled. “I don’t like being made a fool, Suzie.”

Suzie smirked. “Welcome aboard, Blackburn. Let’s hope this doesn’t start a war.”

Spike the Changeling - that was to say, the mind of all the changelings - surrounded the interdimensional visitors composed mostly of zebras. The changelings lit their horns…

“Get out of here,” Spike said. “We d-”

“Are you daft!?” Tick Tock shouted. “What are you doing trying to send us into the Void? What happened to your Chronomancer!?”

Spike ignored her. “Bye.” He opened the portal…

But before it could fully form, the Crown Princess sealed it shut. “We have a mission, changelings. We are not getting ejected from your universe because of it.”

The changelings stared at her in shock.

“You’re using Chronomancer spells!” Tick Tock shouted. “Spill, buggers!”

“Clockwork’s gone,” the changelings said as one. “We are acting in his place since Silvertongue took him.”

“Right, that’s it, all we need to know…” Tick Tock sent another pulse to the Crown Princess. “Moving on… Equestria II…” She growled. “Somethin’ better have stopped him here.”

The Crown Princess focused her magical energy and ripped another portal through reality. “...You were right to be cautious, changelings. Not all visitors are your friends. Beware the Merodi.”

And then they were in Equestria II, a vast, dead, brown wasteland.

“High radiation levels,” the Crown Princess observed. “Nothing lethal, but we shouldn’t stay here long.”

“We’d know if he made it to Equestria Prime…” Tick Tock said, scratching her chin. “Reality wouldn’t be the same if he’d already gotten there. Something either stopped him here or in Equestria I.”

"Wait..." Applejack said.

"Don't question the numbering system, I didn't make it."

“Can you scan for his magic?” Twilight asked.

“I can, but I’m not getting anything,” Tick Tock muttered. “He probably masked it.”

The Crown Princess sniffed the air. “Something’s wr-”

Suddenly, there were seven purple alicorns surrounding them, a red pegasus mare riding one of them. “GOTCHA!” she shouted.

“...Bell Tower?!” Tick Tock gasped.

“...Tick Tock!?” Bell Tower flapped off the top of the alicorn. “What are you doing here?”

“I was hunting Silvertongue!”

“I’ve been waiting weeks for him, prepared an army and everything!”

“But he’s already here. We just discovered that he left Equestria III!”

“I’ve been watching the fabric of reality like a hawk ever since the call went through. There haven’t even been any natural storms!”

“...Then where is he?” Tick Tock asked.

“He could have moved stealthily, maybe?” Twilight suggested. “Curaçao had the ability to go invisible and was able to sneak into Hope’s Point…”

“Psh,” Tower said, rolling her eyes. “I’d see him, Chronomancer’s honor. He’d have to be quite clever to get past me.”

“He is,” Tick Tock and Twilight deadpanned.

“Fine. Say he did get past me. Why not go to Equestria I? I’m the last line of defense, there's nothing really to stop him after this. Equestria I isn't exactly... defensive.”

“He waited a thousand years to strike on Equestria V,” Tick Tock said. “He could be waiting.”

“For what?”

“An opportunity to access Equestria Prime or I? Natural portal, perhaps.”

Tower scratched her chin. “That might be it…”

“We could draw him out of hiding by making a portal of our own,” the Crown Princess suggested.

“All right... signature for Equestria I coming right up. And no, I'm not bloody giving you the signature of Equestria Prime."

The Crown Princess nodded. “Understandable precaution. Here, I’ll just teach you the spell, it'll save time if we need to later.”

“We don’t have time to teach m-” Tick Tock stopped short, for the spell was suddenly in her mind. “...What the?”

“Learning spells are quite useful,” the Crown Princess said, smirking. “Go ahead, cast it yourself.”

Tick Tock nodded slowly. “Okay… Everyone, get ready! He might come out of nowhere!”

Zircon rose his sword high.

“The foul cur endangered our home
But today we will end his roam!
For right and hope my blade does thirst
Come Silvertongue, and do your worst!”

Bell Tower turned to her alicorns. “Everyone’s still in position right? Okay… let’s do this. ON THREE!”

“TWO!” Tick Tock shouted,

“ONE!”

Tick Tock activated the portal remarkably easily, opening a portal to the normal-looking version of Ponyville in Equestria I.

Silvertongue did not appear. No unusual magics came from the other side of the portal, either.

“...Where in the multiverse is he?” Tick Tock asked, closing the portal with a pop.

Bell Tower took a deep breath. “We might… need to go to Headquarters to sort this one out.”

“Joy…” Tick Tock deadpanned.

“Is that bad?” Twilight asked.

“For me and Tower? Yeah, we’re probably going to get reprimanded something fierce. You all? ...Boring, I guess? The suits are pretty stuffy.”

“I’ll make the call,” Bell Tower said, shivering. “With any luck Silvertongue will appear out of nowhere and cut off my head before I utter a single sentence.”

“...Gruesome…” Twilight said.

“Try living in Equestria II. Nothing but war, raiders, ghouls, blood, guts, and guns. It’s all great fun.”

Cinder kicked a rock. It tumbled down the edge of the crater. It got too small for her to see before it hit the bottom.

“...Discord never did anything like this,” Brook said, grimace deepening. “He never even tried to do something like this.”

Sequin was conflicted. “As terrible as he is… I have to admit, you’re right. He never would have.”

“Sometimes… one person’s hero is another’s villain.” Cinder stared deeply into the crater. “Twilight - human Twilight, sorry - how could this have happened?”

“We don’t know,” Twilight said, adjusting her glasses. “There were hundreds of security protocols in place. Whoever it was disabled them all and managed to do this within the ten-minute window we have set up for vocal confirmation of ‘all’s well’. Transmissions went dead at 2:31 and by 2:37 there wasn’t a Warehouse anymore. There were no outgoing calls, and we can’t scan for magic signatures because that bomb wiped everything. There was a girl in the deepest containment we had who gave off nuclear-reactor energy. We can barely detect that she was ever here.”

Blink sighed. “Holy purging indeed. ...Suzie wouldn't like this.”

“Hmm?” Cinder asked.

“Never mind.” Blink tossed her mane back. “I’m going down there. Tell your government agents not to shoot me.”

“They know. What do you plan to do?”

“I’m the Witch of Void,” Blink said simply. “I should be able to manipulate the nothingness and learn… something. Never been that good with the more ‘out there’ uses of Void, honestly. But I can at least try.”

Blink took off her sunglasses and handed them to Cinder. “Hold these.”

“Blink…?”

“I need to see clearly.” She smirked. “Get ready for a show! If all goes well this’ll be impressive.” She jumped off the edge of the crater and started floating down to the bottom.

“What is she doing…?” Brook asked.

“I have no idea,” Cinder admitted. “I thought her Void was just ‘make things invisible and intangible’ and ‘make them visible and tangible.’ Guess there’s something else to it?”

Twilight nodded. “The Aspect of Void is tied directly to the idea of nothing - that includes secrets, lost information, objects that don’t exist, and even events hidden from sight.”

Cinder cocked her head. “I thought that was a weird thing from Skaia’s Dream, how do you know about it?”

“The Aspects are not unique to Skaia’s Dream,” Twilight said. “They’re one of the many magic systems that have been… incorporated here. My current theory as to why amounts to ‘the Tower just really likes us for some reason’.”

“I’d like to see this Tower some day,” Sequin said, wistful. “I understand it’s not exactly a vacation destination… but still. It must be impressive.”

“Oh yes,” Cinder said, shivering slightly. “I’ve only seen it in vi- what the…?”

Blink was standing at the bottom of the crater, barely more than a white speck in their vision. However, she was glowing with a dark blue energy that poured out from her hooves, swirling around her in six curved bursts. Her empty eyes were marked by trails of similarly colored energy. The fog of Void thickened, surrounding Blink like a tornado… she became difficult to see, even though she wasn’t invisible, rather skewed from reality.

She floated up slightly…

Unceremoniously the swirls of Void popped and she dropped out of the air, landing flat on her face in the dirt of the crater. With a grunt, she lifted herself up and floated back to the group.

“Well. That didn’t work,” she muttered, rubbing her head. “Ow…”

“Did you get anything?” Twilight asked.

“Got the radiation girl,” Blink said, taking her sunglasses back. “She, uh… well, she died painlessly. That’s all I know.”

“That’s... something at least.”

“Is it possible any of the… guests survived?” Sequin asked. “Surely some had the power…”

“...Shivershackles, perhaps, if someone was around to tell him to survive…” Twilight mused. “But otherwise, no, even the ‘light’ magic entities in there couldn’t have made it through this. This wasn’t a purification, this was a purge. No one survived.”

“That’s… unfortunately not true.”

A human in an official looking uniform walked up to them, her coloration shifting to changeling black and green. Cinder let out an ‘eep!’ and hid behind Sequin.

“...They hire you?” Blink asked.

“They know we’re in their network already,” she said. “Better to have one of us as an ally than otherwise. And I’m... I was familiar with some of the faces in this place. Almost was one myself.”

Blink let out a sharp sigh. “Looks like everyone’s taking the ‘let’s pretend like secrets don’t matter!’ option. First the Everykid and now this, what’s everyone coming to?”

“I thought the Merodi don’t have many secrets?” Sequin asked.

Blink facehooved. “I know, I know. Just… I’m Void, okay? I deal with secrets.”

“Off track,” Brook and Twilight said at the same time. They turned back to the changeling, Brook allowing Twilight to do the talking. “You were saying?”

“We caught sight of Red Bull. He’s headed right for the center of the Wholesome.”

“Red Bull got out…?” Twilight frowned, not able to make sense of this.

“How’s that possible?” Blink asked. “You saw this destruction!”

“He was closer to the surface than many of the others. Maybe in the panic…” Twilight shook her head. “Not important right now, the important thing is that he’s a mass killer. But why would he be after you?”

“We don’t know,” the changeling said. “Chrysalis believes we can take him, but we would likely lose more than a few people in the process.” She closed her eyes. “I... worked with him back in Tauros, I don’t think she understands... point is, we’ll probably need help.”

“We’ll be right over,” Twilight said, closing her eyes and focusing. “Brook, Sequin, I’m going to try to drop you off back at the dine-”

The changeling’s eyes went wide with panic. “He’s attacking now! He must ha-”

Twilight didn’t let her finish - she dropped the complex teleport spell and took them all directly to the center of the Wholesome. It looked like a normal street corner in the city, save for the large amount of black and green people screaming at the sight of an immense muscular man holding a giant sword impaled through a unicorn-aspect human’s body.

Sequin managed not to faint at the sight.

The look Red Bull gave them made her wish she had.

He swung his sword, tossing the body off to the side with the jerking motion. A bright power built up in the blade, creating a wide arc that sliced through the air toward them. Twilight blocked it with a barrier almost effortlessly.

But the intent of that attack was not to kill - it was to deceive. The shockwave kicked up immense amounts of rubble at Twilight’s feet, creating a cloud that hid Red Bull from sight. When Twilight forced the shroud away, Red Bull had already charged into the building.

“Stop him!” one of the Wholesome called, desperate.

None of them - not even Sequin - had to be told.

“Yep, that Beacon makes it impossible to wormhole there,” Swip said. “We’re charging in guns blazing.”

“Shields, Swip, shields,” Suzie said with an exasperated sigh. “Only the warships of New Pandemonium City actually have weapons that could dent us, we’re not going to attack. Just… invade.”

“Zebras will not see it that way,” Blackburn pointed out.

“Yes, well, I’m more concerned about my government reviewing this later,” Suzie admitted.

“More concern about an ethics committee than a zebra nation.”

“Yes.”

Blackburn let out a thoughtful hum, but otherwise made no response.

“Can I go yet?” Swip asked. “Everyone’s on board. We’re not exactly waiting for permission.”

Suzie nodded, laying her hands on her console. “Take it away, Swip. Remember, no guns.”

“Yes, captain.”

Swip fired her engines, opening a portal as close to the Beacon as she could. Instantly her shields were battered and buffeted with a south pole snowstorm. The effect was negligible, though it meant the people watching from the bridge were having an issue seeing much.

Swip had no such issue. Her advanced sensors could pierce the snowy veil easily, marking the magical center of the Beacon just over a kilometer away. She fired her engines and rushed forward at speeds faster than any natural bird, approaching supersonic but never quite attaining it.

“Surprise!” she called as she passed over the walls of Zeb’ra’den protecting the Beacon. Magic arrows went flying impacting her shields with all manner of colorful explosions.

“Yawn…” Swip commented. “Scanning for dimensional signatures…”

A flaming boulder hit Swip’s shields and bounced right off.

“Their honor will never recover,” Blackburn observed.

“Tough luck,” Swip laughed. “They’re going up against Swip! Found the coordinates, by the way. Next stop: Equestria IV!”

Swip opened a portal and flew right through, entering the blue sky of Equestria IV. She swerved into the upper atmosphere and performed scans.

“That was easy,” Blackburn commented.

“They’re just warrior zebras,” Swip said. “Nothing all that impressive.”

“Nah, they were pretty impressive,” Rachel said, taking a break from walking around and passing out cookies. “You were just that much better.”

“Hah! Take that, Swip’s just that good.”

“Inferiority and superiority complex simultaneously,” Blackburn said.

“Psychoanalyze me again and I eject you into space.”

“Understood.”

“Glad we’ve come to this understanding. Ahem, scans in this world are much easier. Got two instances of dimensional travel, and here’s the kicker - one of them’s to that world Celestia City was in a few days ago.”

Suzie shook her head. “...Really?”

“Yep. I’m guessing the other one’s Equestria II. And that signature is much more recent. Like, hours recent. Probably the Crown Princess.”

“Silvertongue went to your City,” Blackburn deduced.

“That’s… probably bad,” Suzie admitted. “Swip, call the League, tell them to be looking for a gray alicorn going by the name Silvertongue.”

“Calling… hey, that matches the whole ‘silver tongue’ prophecy Bot was freaking out about a few days ago.”

Suzie paled. “Ah. This might be bigger than we thought.”

“Prophecy?” Blackburn asked.

“There’s thi-”

“Okay, bad news!” Swip said. “Dimensional communication is jammed!”

“What? How!?”

“If I had to hazard a guess? The ships outside that are distorting spacetime something fierce.”

Suzie looked at the screen to see four clouds floating toward them - that weren't really clouds, but ships disguised to look like clouds.

“We are the Chronomancers!” a booming voice called from all directions. “You will power down your shields and surrender to us!”

Suzie tapped her finger to her console. “Seren, analysis?”

“I could win,” Swip said.

“Asked Seren.”

Seren’s voice came from engineering. “She could probably take the four of them. But there’s going to be more. Probably a lot more.”

“I’m of the mind we shouldn't upset a possible Class 3 Society,” Celia offered. “Silvertongue is their enemy too, remember? They will likely understand.”

Suzie nodded. “This is Captain Suzie Mash of the League of Sweetie Belles. We surrender ourselves to you. I wish to make it known that we are in pursuit of Silvert-”

“Power down your shields and submit for inquiry. No further action requested at this time.”

Suzie twitched. “Fine then… Swip, shields and weapons down. Let’s figure out what these Time Lord ripoffs have to say.”

Chronomancer Headquarters liked the color purple.

The Crown Princess knew about Gallifreyans and had noted their similarity to Tick Tock and Bell Tower easily, so she had naturally expected red and gold everywhere.

Instead, everything was purple. Grand towers of a smooth, plastic-like material grew from the edges of the ovoid-shaped realm, large discs protruding from them like some kind of demented abacus. Their ships generally took the form of soft purple cylinders floating around the discs, continually landing and taking off. Rarely - very rarely - one would enter or leave through a dimensional portal.

Since Chronomancers only used natural portals for direct travel except in emergencies, and ships were rarely needed, the fact that the Crown Princess saw any ships leaving or returning at all meant they were scrambling.

Normally, they wouldn’t even be there, but the Crown Princess’ unique ‘abilities’ provided “not only an opportunity to test the validity of purely magical forced translation, but also facilitate a face-to-face interaction.”

The Chronomancers had refused the zebra troops, naturally, so of their number only Zircon remained, but all of Twilight’s friends were still with them since Tick Tock had been… adamant about their inclusion in the whole thing.

They were led into one of the large discs. There were no doors in the place, only ovoid hallways that never felt flat enough for the Crown Princess’ hooves. She withstood the temptation to complain, but only barely.

Eventually, they arrived in a large room ringed by ponies sitting in seats a full floor above them. In the center floated a hologram composed of numerous circles. One circle was far larger than all the others, everything else seeming to branch from it, no doubt Equestria Prime. Four circles in a line branching away from Equestria Prime had red exclamation marks on them.

No doubt Equestria II - V. Where the whole Silvertongue thing was going down.

“We have no time for introductions,” a stuffy old stallion said, leering at them. “Agents Tock and Tower, where are Turner and ‘Work?”

“Time Turner is dead,” Tick Tock declared. “Clockwork was ‘taken by Silvertongue’, but this is only secondhoof information.”

“And all of this… from a stallion we didn’t even know existed until a few weeks ago?”

“The entire bloody planet thought Silvertongue was dead, Magister. That’s how he wanted it.”

“Mmm…” The Magister pressed his hooves together. “And now Silvertongue is… missing?”

“Uh… yep,” Tower rubbed the back of her head. “Nothing in Equestria II, but he left Equestria III, so…” She shrugged comically.

“And Prime remains unharmed.” The Magister huffed. “Bother, the greatest threat to the multiverse we have ever known just vanishes. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“He could have left your local multiverse,” the Crown Princess said.

The Magister looked at her. “You… the anomaly. We have searched the records for you. Sweetie Belles are well known to us. But as for that artifact you wear… Fork Eleven, sub-fork two, Equestria XIX. The only known instance of the Capricious Crown.”

“Please tell me it’s destroyed. The multiverse doesn’t need another power hungry crown.”

“Data is outdated, Chronomancer Pendulum hasn’t reported in for a century. The affairs of single worlds are not our concern, however. You are an anomaly.”

“I told you. I come from the wider multiverse.”

“And how many universes are in this ‘wider’ multiverse, child?”

The Crown Princess twitched. “Ten quintillion, though that number changes regularly.”

“You jest.”

“I do not jest. The multiverse is a massive place, filled with more worlds than any could imagine. Some, like your worlds, are secluded from the rest of the multiverse, growing up without knowing anything of the outside expanse. Others are thrown into the games of higher societies without a choice. There are those who code the very reality they occupy, play games with planets, conquer for the sake of feeding their industrial machine, or just demand to be worshipped so they may increase their power. There are great horrors out there, Magister, and sometimes the greatest among them are those that pretend to be friends.”

“This is off topic,” an older mare said.

“I believe it is relevant,” the Magister said. “Pretend friends?”

“The nation I am most familiar with is Merodi Universalis, a collective well over a hundred universes strong. They use their power to enter weaker worlds, charm them with gifts, aid, and promises of a brighter future. Few worlds refuse their call, and soon enough… their civilizations are assimilated and become nothing more than footnotes. They are known to end wars, manipulate, and guide entire universes to a ‘better’ existence. An existence that, invariably, leads to them.”

“An appropriate warning, if it were real,” the older mare snorted. “Clearly this ‘Crown Princess’ is delusional.”

“She has a spell that grants her access to the universes…” the Magister said, pressing his hooves together. “I say we should give her words credence.”

“Ahem,” Twilight coughed, drawing attention to her. “Yes, the Crown Princess is telling the truth. We still need to find Silvertongue.”

“Right, of course…” The Magister cleared his throat. “Left the local multiverse, Princess?”

The Crown Princess nodded. “If he left Equestria III, but didn’t go to Equestria II or IV, he must have found another connection somehow. Perh-”

“MAGISTER!” a pegasus said, flying into the room, panic on his face.

The Magister growled. “This better be important…”

“We just apprehended a ship in Equestria III! It isn’t one of ours, and they claim to be from… outside the known multiverse!”

The Crown Princess’s calm smile vanished. “No…”

“They, uh, call themselves Merodi Universalis.”

“And let me guess…” the Crown Princess grumbled. “The captain’s name is Suzie.”

“Uh… yeah!”

“You know them?” Tick Tock asked.

“You could say that. They’re the ones who ruined my universe.”