Chapter 34 Border Line of the Edge

"I've calibrated the memory spheres to retract memory from synthetics instead of giving it." Nexus was explaining to us. "It'll then pick through all the evil memories and delete them. Your Courser Magistrate will wake up to memories of herself before she was ever evil after her good memories are returned to her through the orb. It'll work like a grenade on the lesser models, but a Magistrate must willingly hold it and activate it."

"Can you make one of them orange?" asked OJ. "I think I can convince her to use one if she thinks it's a real memory."

"I can make one orange, just hold it here," he held it out to Orange Juice but he shrank back.

"Is it safe to touch?" asked Buck.

"Are you evil?" asked Nexus with a knowing smile on his face.

"I suppose not. Go ahead OJ," he said.

"Okay!" OJ nodded and gingerly he took the orb.

"Now think of a memory. It can still hold memories. Let it do so."

"Oh! I know the perfect one."

"Remember, OJ, you can never tell anyone what we are doing here today."

I was following the pink mare, Prissy she had told me her name was. It was only my second time being queued and it was my second time with her. We hadn't done any of the silly things they'd taught us in the nursery. Prissy was more practical than that. She liked to have company, and she took solace in the company of stallions. Whatever that meant. She liked to talk and I liked to listen, but I didn't know what half the stuff she said meant.

"My sister would be pissed if she found out," Prissy was saying.

"Who's your sister?" I asked her.

"You really don't want to know." she shook her head.

"Oh tell me tell me!" I was jumping up and down.

"Enough UP," she said. "You'll get us both in trouble." but she was laughing. Why was she laughing if she was worried we would get in trouble?

The doors to the room she'd brought us to opened. Inside were a few buffet tables with white cloths on them. I saw food galore in here and my eyes nearly jumped out of my head. My mouth was surely watering and I licked my lips. Prissy said, "Go ahead and find a few things to eat, it's my special treat to you."

"What did I do to deserve this?"

"You shouldn't have to deserve it, UP." she said. Then she sucked in a deep breath, "Unfortunately this is the way…Every so often I come across a stallion who's special like you."

"I'm special?" I said around a bite of cake, my words skewed by the crumbs. I smiled at her with cake in my mouth. It was the best thing I had ever tasted and I couldn't ever get enough.

Prissy smiled and made a laughing noise deep in her throat, "Heh, yes UP, I think you're special. Does that come as a surprise?"

I swallowed my cake and licked the frosting from my lips. "I think…a little bit!" I nodded vigorously.

"You are very silly UP, and that's what I like about you."

"You like that I'm silly? But any other mare would be disappointed." I looked down at my hooves and frowned.

"I'm not disappointed in you! Don't you ever think otherwise," she put a hoof under my chin.

I popped another bite of cake in my mouth and smiled, "Okay!"

Priscilla was the reason why my existence in the Stable wasn't the worst thing ever. She made sure only very specific mares were allowed to queue me, something I didn't find out until much later. She was like my protector, my guardian angel. I was lucky to have her. The Stable was lucky to have her. Thank you Prissy…

Orange Juice

Prissy dropped the sphere and I caught it in my hoof. We had come to Clydesdale Valley to see her and I had convinced her to watch the memory. Now she was blinking in surprise and staring at me. "OJ…I'm so sorry for everything I've done!"

"Wait, Nexus said you wouldn't remember being evil." said Cherry. "Can we trust her if she remembers?" he was looking around at all of us.

"I remember my deeds only because OJ gave me one good memory in the midst of it all. I assure you, I won't be evil unless that moonstone is near. It isn't, is it?"

Blitz walked up, "Sounds like you have an addiction. I know just the pony to talk to about that!"

"The moonstone is nowhere near here," said Ashe Erza, "We have ensured you will never see it again."

"That is good." Priscilla was nodding her head. She seemed very relieved. "What magic was that that saved me from myself?"

"We got these memory spheres straight from the Institute." barked OJ.

"The Institute…" Prissy looked down at the ground. "The Institute! Oh, I have to get back to the Institute!"

"Why's that?" Cherry snapped, still paranoid.

I nudged him a little, sticking out my tongue, "Leave her alone, she's not evil anymore." I stared between the two and said, "Right Prissy?"

"I ran into Circle of Ash and Ritual of the Moon, they're who made me evil. They're planning an attack on Double Diamond City!"

"How do you know this?" Buck asked, shoving past Cherry to get to the front. He looked very concerned.

"They know the only way to defeat them is to merge with their better halves. They are pre-synths, they really shouldn't exist. But if they manage to kill Double Diamond and Party Favor, they will be alicorn synths, no longer mortal and very hard to kill. We'll be fucked if I'm putting it quite bluntly." Prissy put her hooves on the bars. "I was to be the one leading the assault, that's how I know. But they'll have known by now that I'm compromised. There's no way of knowing how soon the attack is to happen!"

"That is foreboding," Ashe was stroking her chin.

Blitz stomped a hoof and it clacked on the concrete, "I know who we should go see. Does anypony have any chems? I know it sounds weird but…"

"I have some chems I picked up in the factory!" Pumpkin cheered. She held out a few drugs to show us. It was quite a bit.

"Pumpkin Spice!" Buck had a condescending tone.

"Whattt? I couldn't help myself." she was giggling.

"Those are highly addictive and dangerous," said Buck. "What do you need them for, Blitz?" he looked over to Blitz.

Blitz grabbed a few of the drugs Pumpkin was carrying. "I want to take Priscilla to see Mama Madmare. I'm sure she could see when this battle is to take place."

"I don't know if that's quite a good idea!" laughed Combat. "She's off her rocker when it comes to chems!"

"And you would know," said Blitz.

Combat only continued to laugh, "That I would!"

"I'll go, if it means saving Broncston. But after I must speak with the Maker. Only he would know how to merge pre-synths with their truest selves. I will come bearing that knowledge after."

"Sounds good!" I yipped and tapping my horn to the bars, I unlocked her cage.

Ravager Blitzfire

"Ah, so you've come at last!" Mama Madmare was smiling at us, rocking back and forth in her rocking chair. She set down her knitting when we approached.

"You knew we were coming?" I asked.

"I know a lot of things, colt." she chuckled. "Did you bring chems? I'm thinking to ride the Sight today, we need a dose of Dash."

"I have some," I nodded to her and searched through my saddle bags. I saw Press Pierce shaking his head from across the way at the Community Center, but I just had to ignore him. I knew he didn't approve of Mama's drug addiction, but she had never led us wrong before.

"I can see…something…my Sight is dark…it is something evil and it is coming fast!" her eyes rolled back and she looked up toward the sky. "Yes I see more clearly now…the one you call Circle of Ash and the Ritual of the Moon will perform the dark rite during the witching hour tonight! They are already preparing to take the city and will be there within the hour! You must go! GO! AND DEFEND DOUBLE DIAMOND AND PARTY FAVOR!" she was screaming now and waving her hooves all about. Pumpkin Spice had a big ol' smile and was mimicking Mama. It was kind of funny but I didn't know if it was right to laugh. "If either DD or Party Favor die, regardless of whether the other lives or not, the ritual will be complete. You must protect them with your lives or Broncston will fall to chaos and anarchy forever." Mama's eyes returned to normal and she looked at us. She took a deep breath, "I mean, they'd prefer to kill both of them but one is enough." she gave a curt shrug. Then she picked up her knitting needles.

"Prissy was right!" OJ gasped.

"Yeah she was and boy oh boy is it a doozy," Pumpkin Spice's head was spinning round on a cork screw neck then unspun back to normal. Her eyes were wobbling all about in her dizziness. She was a cooky one. "Don't call me cooky!" she stuck her tongue out at me. I rolled my eyes but stuck my tongue out back. We both laughed.

"Times are dire," said Ashe Erza.

"That they are," Mama agreed.

"I will not allow Circle of Ash to succeed." Combat stomped a hoof, a cloud of dust billowing. It made Cherry standing next to him start coughing.

"Go now, and your chances of winning are much higher," said Mama.

"We will, thank you Mama," I nodded my thanks to her and yet again we all stepped through the fast travel gate. Salem decided he was going to stay behind. He was preparing to head back to the Sand-Sun house. We bid him farewell then stepped through.

"How went finding the Institute?" Piper asked after we had emerged from Double Diamond City's fast travel gate.

"It went pretty well. Met my ex best friend who's now my second coltfriend…it's complicated…" I shrugged. "He almost killed me but we realized all those feelings of hate were only in the way of something else."

"That kind of makes sense, I guess." Piper shrugged. "I mean, you can be poly all you want, doesn't bother me."

"Good, because that's the route we decided to take," Capper said. He was holding Cheshire's hand.

"Looks like you found yourself some…one as well." Piper glanced Cheshire up and down.

"He's actually been around for a long while, since Cumber actually." Capper shrugged. "Just didn't realize our feelings until we made it through the Wonderland program in the Institute, where Chessie got himself a real body."

"He was made purely of alicorn magic before," I told her.

"Oh, I see." she was nodding. "You guys are wild!"

"They really are," Wonder said. "I know I couldn't do it. I want OJ all to myself." the two of them nuzzled up to each other and OJ murmured under his breath.

"Merrr…"

"Come on you guys!" called the Guardian. "We need to speak to Double Diamond and Party Favor at once."

"They're in their house at the top of the mountain. It was built recently," said Piper.

"Thanks," said Buck.

We made our way to the big house at the top of the mountain where we found them in the middle of kissing each other! "Whoa!" I smiled as we approached.

"Hey now!" Party Favor was blushing furiously.

"We come here to be alone!" said Double Diamond. "It's our house, there is a doorbell."

"Right! Sorry!" I gasped.

"I'm not," Pumpkin was staring at them, her face upside down, and she was smiling wide.

"What's up anyway, dudes?" asked DD.

"Yeah, what brings ya?" Party had as wide a smile as Pumpkin and he was laughing at her. She stuck her tongue out at him as her head righted itself.

"We came to warn you," Ashe stepped to the forefront and Pumpkin backed away.

Party frowned, "Warn us? About what?"

Buck said, "Circle of Ash and Ritual of the Moon are coming to kill you."

"Right off the bat eh, my dude?" Double Diamond patted Buck on the shoulder. "You couldn't have put it anymore lightly?"

"I mean, it's a warning, how light can ya really get?"

"We already know the ritual, we just didn't know when. I'm glad somepony does though!" Party announced. "Our asses are saved, Double Diamond!"

"Not just yet. It's going to take all of us working together to stop your bitter halves."

"Bitter, I like that. It's not better, it's bitter!" Pumpkin was snickering in the background. That made Party laugh too.

"Me and her could get along well," Party said to his coltfriend.

"Oh hush." DD shook his head. Then he turned his attention on our group, "How soon until they get here?"

"Mama Madmare said within the hour!" OJ called.

"That was about half and hour ago," said Ashe Erza.

"So soon…" DD backed up and turned around, leading us to a room full of computers. On the monitors were camera views of all of Double Diamond City. "I'll have my guards double up the patrols and be on high alert. Party, can you get my walkie?"

"Yes, babe," Party winked and cantered off. When he came back he was carrying a radio. He handed it to DD.

"Come in Squad Leader," he said into the walkie.

"This is Squad Leader, over."

"This is Double Diamond. I need you to double the ranks, get every available guard to patrol the city. Be on the lookout for the ponies that look like Party and I. Their tell are their eyes. Red for Party Favor and white for me. That'll tell you dudes if it's us or not."

"Red eyes or white eyes bad, got it, boss!"

"If you see them, report at once. Over and out!" DD handed the talkie back to Party.

We headed outside, heading down the side of the mountain when dark black clouds rolled in, shrouding the city in darkness. "I wonder if this is it…" Pumpkin Spice ogled at the clouds.

"It's definitely not clowns," Capper lifted a paw.

"Get behind us," Ashe Erza stepped in front of the Mayor and the Secretary of Arcane Arts. "If this is it, best not to give them an opening."

Down below the fast travel gate began to crackle with a strange energy. It was visible all the way up here. Red electricity bolted from it, crackling between the spinning circles of magic. That's when Circle of Ash and Ritual of the Moon stepped through. There were a bunch of guards down there and they all surrounded the two at once. Circle's voice boomed, "It took us awhile to crack the arcane science behind your nifty little gates but we finally managed to break through. Neat trick, Princess Ashe!"

"Do not call me that!" snapped Ashe, her voice just as booming. They must be enhancing them with magic.

"Right, right, Boudica, Warrior Queen."

"You have no right to speak those words either."

"Fine, I'll just call you by your name, I was only trying to be formal and polite."

"Nothing from your lips is polite."

"Just because I'm evil doesn't mean I don't have manners!" he exclaimed.

"Stand down at once and none of you will get hurt." said Ritual of the Moon. His voice was way too eerily similar to Double Diamond's.

"We don't answer to you." said one of the guards.

"Very well!" Ritual snapped. He spread his hooves wide and a blue magical circle appeared beneath him. He was beginning to cast something big. It spread out and the guards all down below shifted uncomfortably. Before they could do anything about it a burst of white magic shot out in circumference and blasted all the guards surrounding the two. "How do you like us now, my dudes?" he was laughing evilly, very unlike Double Diamond.

"Summon the darklings, my ashlings have already overtaken the city." said Circle of Ash, quite off-hoof.

"How dare you speak in that manner! We will stop you." Ashe called down to him and he lifted a hoof, yawning.

"You bore me. You'll stop us? The eleven of you? Against my army of ashlings?" Circle lifted a hoof, showing off the ashlings now stepping from the shadows and side streets. One of them came out with Piper in hoof, she was struggling but he held on firmly to her.

"Look, dude, we even have a hostage!" Ritual laughed at us and then he turned and kissed Circle of Ash.

"You disgust me!" Ashe Erza spat.

"Want me to get him?" Joy was bouncing on his hooves, ready to enter Exceeded form at any time.

"I think we'll take on the ashlings, the six Elements of Harmony must battle Circle and Ritual." she said. Then she backed up and started discussing plans with the group.

"I think you're right!" said OJ, stepping forward. I stepped up next to him. Capper and Cheshire were right by my side. Pumpkin Spice was next to OJ and Buck was next to her. Then Combat budged his way through me and OJ, shoving his way to the front. He yelled as loudly as he could, which was pretty loud, "How dare you show your face to me again Circle of Ash. You're in for one hell of a beating when I get my hooves on you."

"Go ahead and try."

"NOW!" Ashe yelled and Joy jumped into the air. Felia was already performing her magic and Joy's wings appeared. He swooped down the side of the mountain, going into a nosedive. The snatched up Piper and carried her away to safety. Then he picked up Ashe as she put on her Winged Beast Armor. She was aerodynamic as Joy brought her down to do battle. Her wings began to flap and she was in the air, slashing her sword at the ashlings in her bath. There was blood, and a lot of it.

Felia was straining but she could do it! She Exceeded everypony that wasn't an Element, so Wonder and Cherry too. They swooped down and joined in the fray. "So it's a battle you want!" Circle yelled. "I'll gladly deliver Combat. Oh, and sorry not sorry I chose Ritual over you. He's much more evil." Circle licked his lips and the red energy crackled around the fast travel gate. A new gate appeared right in front of us and we had to jump back as Circle and Ritual came through. A few darklings came through as well.

"Time to giddy-up!" Orange Juice yelled. Pumpkin Spice giggled at that.

"Let's get em!" she yelled.

"Aye to that!" Combat yelled back and he was the first one to meet Circle head on…