Jeremy spent his last day before Celestia’s arrival SAVING as much as he could. It would be his first fight since the climactic final battle with that other version of himself in the System Defenses of Tartarus, and he needed to get himself ready.
He knew it was going to be a fight, for starters. He wasn’t about to let what had been done to his friends slide, and if he knew Celestia from the documents she had written, she would be hard-pressed to admit she was wrong. And, for once, he had the opportunity to get ready for it instead of just rushing in blindly. But how would he ready himself for a fight with the Princess of the Sun? And how would he figure out how to show her mercy in a way that would help her see what she had done wrong? All this and more Jeremy ruminated over, as he and Chrysalis sat on the throne. Chrysalis sensed his apprehension, and had apparently ordered every changeling to let them be as he mulled over it, again and again.
“I just don’t see how this is going to work,” he muttered after he had rolled it around in his head for the fifth time.
Chrysalis sighed. “If you were any other person, I’d suggest going for her horn. But defeating Celestia in a pacifist manner… that’s going to be hard,” she agreed.
Jeremy sighed, and went back to thinking.
But, no matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn’t think of anything. I suppose I’ll just have to wing it like usual, Jeremy sighed mentally.
Wing what, my King? A drone curiously asked.
N… nothing, Jeremy hastily answered, having accidentally projected his thoughts. This crown sure was strange sometimes.
Tirek stomped in after a few hours, causing Jeremy to sit up straight and attempt to look like he wasn’t bored out of his mind.
“What’s up, Tirek?” Jeremy asked politely.
“I heard through the grapevine you were looking for a way of beating Celestia,” the centaur rumbled.
Jeremy sighed. “No, Tirek, we can’t steal her magic.”
Tirek rumbled some more, and it took Jeremy a moment to realize that he’d gotten Tirek to laugh for the very first time since they met. “No, you moron. I was thinking of training,” Tirek clarified.
“Oh. How so?” Jeremy wondered, interested.
Tirek put up his fists. “Fight me,” he demanded.
“Wait, what? I’m not fighting you!” Jeremy refused in alarm.
“I don’t mean try to kill me, I mean to make sure you’re still as skilled at dodging as you were before,” Tirek explained.
“Oh... And you’re sure this is a purely friendly fight?” Jeremy asked.
Tirek slapped a massive palm to his forehead. “Just get out here so I can punch you,” he commanded.
Jeremy snorted with laughter, disrobing and taking off his crown before hopping off the throne. “Guards, you may want to stand back,” he warned. The Guards obediently fled to the walls of the cavern. “You too, Chrysalis. I don’t want a stray blast hitting you,” he ordered.
“But I want to watch!” Chrysalis whined.
“You can watch… from over there,” Jeremy insisted, pointing.
Chrysalis grumbled something, and reluctantly complied, flying over with a buzz of her gossamer wings to the edge of the throne room. That done, Jeremy squared off against Tirek.
“Okay, big guy,” he began. “Let’s dance.”
Tirek lowered his horns in a battle stance, but paused, looking up in confusion. “Oh, right,” he remembered. “This cavern is lined with magic-blocking material. Let’s take this outside,” he ordered. Jeremy shrugged and followed him.
They went to the very top of the hive, Chrysalis and the Guards following behind to watch as Jeremy once again entered the old, destroyed throne room. Tirek took up his position at the far end, and Jeremy nervously surveyed the ground below. If he went flying from this distance… Tirek, noticing his glance, cast a spell of his own, encasing the area in a translucent orange dome.
“You won’t have to worry about falling off,” Tirek informed him, putting up his fists again.
“Excellent,” Jeremy answered. “Now let’s dance.”
It was a long and exhausting fight, as Tirek relentlessly pursued him with blast after blast of lasers. If Jeremy got too close, Tirek would add in some punches and kicks with his giant hooves and fists as well, more often than not sending Jeremy flying across the room. Occasionally, Tirek would call out advice, such as “You keep dodging to your left, it’s predictable!” or “That does not mean only dodge to the right, stupid!” or even “Stop pausing to see if I’m okay!”
Finally, Tirek stopped attacking him, breathing heavily and looking slightly smaller than he had before.
“Are you okay?” Jeremy immediately asked again.
If looks could kill, the glare Tirek shot him would have erased him from reality itself. “I’m fine,” the centaur insisted, panting slightly. “What matters is that you’re still good enough at dodging, and I think you are. Now get some food and sleep, you’re going to need your energy for tomorrow,” he ordered.
“Sir, yes, sir,” Jeremy muttered, smiling and making his way back into the hive.
“Do you really have to go to bed so soon?” Chrysalis asked, pouting as they entered her room after dinner.
“Sorry, girl, I’m exhausted,” Jeremy panted, throwing himself onto the bed.
“Okay… I still have to finish up some things. I’ll send Nightmare Moon up to keep you company,” Chrysalis offered.
Jeremy smiled at her. “Okay,” he answered, glad that she was showing interest in Nightmare Moon’s part of the relationship.
The lunar alicorn herself arrived shortly, so much so that Jeremy suspected she had rushed up upon hearing he needed company.
“Hey,” Jeremy greeted from the bed.
“Greetings,” Nightmare Moon returned.
She gently took a seat on the bed next to him, where Chrysalis would normally lay, and Jeremy immediately snuggled into her belly. “Tired?” she asked, and Jeremy hummed in confirmation. “Tirek must have given thee quite a sound thrashing. Will thou be alright come morn?” she asked.
Tired as he was, Jeremy took a moment to translate her words. “Yeah… I’ll be fine,” he dismissed, smiling.
Nightmare Moon hummed happily as she draped a wing over him, gently rubbing his back with a hoof. Jeremy drifted off, content to cuddle his new platonic lover. He really had to think of a new name for their relationship…
Hours later, Jeremy awoke to find himself being cuddled on two sides. Nightmare Moon was on one, having shifted position so that her wings, hooves, and hair were wrapped around him as she contentedly nuzzled his forehead, almost purring as she tried to make as much surface contact as possible with his body. On his other side was Chrysalis, attempting to do much the same with her smaller body. Her wings would occasionally buzz as she slept, and her expression indicated pleasant dreams. Her tongue would occasionally flicker out, licking him on the cheek as she giggled softly. One of her hooves, draped across his belly, rubbed up and down slowly, and Jeremy smiled as he looked down at it. Eyes returning to the ceiling, he took a moment to collect his thoughts, surprisingly lucid despite having just woken up.
Celestia had built a massive laboratory inside Tartarus for experimentation purposes. Presumably, she was trying to find a way to recreate the Harmony Barrier, but it seemed she had chosen an alternative tactic of using runestones instead. She had kidnapped and essentially tortured Tirek, with the full knowledge that nobody would come find him or care. Luna, while aware of the project, was seemingly not aware of its darker implications according to some of the logs he had found. The Royal Guard patrolled Tartarus, or… they had, at least, and a good majority of them had died and become spirits through an unspecified event. The prisoners, despite being present during this attack, neither recalled any Guard getting killed or any attacker roaming around.
Tartarus itself might have had something to do with that, Jeremy mused. Space and time weren’t quite linear in Tartarus, with many things often overlapping or canceling out altogether. Euclidean geometry was not always present, and neither was a logical, linear sequence of events. Alternate selves could be encountered, Jeremy knew that much from his final battle with himself, and Tirek appeared to have some knowledge of timelines other than his own. Though Jeremy had never quite worked up the courage to ask what, precisely, Tirek knew.
And then there was his own ability. It had presumably started the instant he had fallen into Tartarus, though he had no way of knowing if he had always had it, having never died before. Every time he became fatally injured, he could simply ‘turn back the clock’ and reappear at the time and place he last pushed the SAVE button, thus allowing him to re-do events infinitely until he succeeded. It had allowed him to befriend what many in Equestria would regard as ‘irredeemable,’ the worst of the worst. But why did he have this ability? Who had given it to him, and to what end?
During his journey through Tartarus, he had become less and less careful to avoid his own demise. Occasionally, he had thrown himself into death out of pure frustration, while other times he had been able to stay on his toes long enough to win. Though, throughout his whole time there, he’d never once considered fighting back against any of the villains he'd encountered, at least not any of the physically real ones. He’d always picked one of the other four options. SPARE, FLIRT, DO NOTHING, or rarely RUN.
And at the end of his journey… he’d met other humans, for the first time. He’d been shocked then, and he was still surprised now. If he wasn’t the only human here, did that mean that Earth and Equestria were each aware of the other’s presence now? And what had Discord meant by Celestia’s ‘human collection?’ Jeremy didn’t want to believe it, but all the evidence pointed towards Celestia actually being evil. Maybe she was collecting humans to experiment on them too. After all, he’d been practically immune to magic attacks, a useful talent to someone looking to defeat and capture Equestria’s aggressors. Perhaps these other humans were having that ability… extracted from them, in some painful fashion. Jeremy cringed at the thought, and Chrysalis murmured from his side, frowning slightly as she nuzzled his chest. Slowly, Jeremy relaxed. If his friends, the ones he’d laughed with, fought beside, and loved with all his heart… if they were the worst Equestria had to offer, how bad could Celestia be?
And then… his current life. He was a King, the first human King ever in Equestria. Possibly the first human in Equestria, though without consulting the other humans he’d seen, he could never be sure. He was probably going to be written into history books, though Jeremy still didn’t know if he was one of history’s ‘good characters’ or ‘bad characters.’ History was written from the perspective of the winner, after all, and until Jeremy made sure that Celestia understood what she did wrong, she was still effectively the ‘winner’ of the strange game they had been playing.
A wry thought occurred to him, perhaps born of his current state of semi-lucidity. Someday, somewhere, schoolchildren would write an essay about him. They’d research his deeds, and furiously make up things to reach the word count. Perhaps, assuming things worked out that way, they’d even interview him. Jeremy chuckled quietly, and Chrysalis licked his cheek, a smile appearing on her own muzzle. Jeremy closed his eyes, content at least for the moment. They opened a second later, a sudden urge striking him, and he opened his menu, pressing buttons randomly to see if anything had changed. Strangely, the space in [TALK] that had once been dedicated to the useless 'Call Ruby' function was now saying “Call *&^$ (ERROR: OBJECT MISSING).” Curious, Jeremy pressed it, only to find that it did nothing. A ‘game error,’ now that he was outside Tartarus, perhaps? Jeremy elected to ignore it, moving on to the SAVE button. He pressed it, once again feeling that strange lurch as reality righted itself from an unseen tilt, and closed the menu. Finally, he closed his eyes again, hoping that tomorrow would go well.
Jeremy woke up again, feeling groggy and cold. Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon had both left some time ago, the sheets rumpled and unmade, and as Jeremy slowly came to his senses he wondered where they had gone. He stumbled his way over to the bathroom that Chrysalis had made for him, and set about cleaning himself up for the big day ahead.
As he stepped out of the shower, it occurred to him that he could simply ask his changelings where they were. He mentally slapped himself in the face for forgetting such an important ability of his, crossing to his room and putting on his crown to address the Hive.
Does anyone know where the Queen is? He asked.
In the throne room, your Majesty. It has been some hours since she awoke, and she has been preparing us for the arrival of Queen Celestia and her entourage. They have been spotted on the horizon, a drone relayed to him, ‘sounding’ quite far away – a scout at the perimeter, Jeremy surmised.
How many accompany them? he asked, making his way to the throne room as quickly as he could.
Too many to count… and they are armed, the drone answered, confirming Jeremy’s fears.
Your orders, sir? Another wondered.
The Queen told us to look to you for guidance, as she fears her advice is insufficient, yet another drone added.
...Whatever you do, do not engage them, even in conversation, Jeremy answered, thinking fast. Lead them to me, I will speak with them.
What do you plan to do? Chrysalis chimed in, a hint of worry in her ‘voice.’
Talk to them, of course, Jeremy answered. And can you do me a favor? He added, recalling something important.
Sure, what? Chrysalis asked.
Evacuate the younglings and those who are not attending, Jeremy ordered. Just in case.
Chrysalis closed the link between them, but Jeremy could still ‘hear’ her voice giving out orders to the other drones.
He stepped out onto a ledge, hundreds of feet above the ground. The wind whipped loudly around him, and he squinted to make out the approaching army in the oncoming sunlight. For a moment, he wondered if he could simply engage every single one of them in a battle scene at once. No, that would just be stupid, he mused. Celestia’s chariot was in front, its golden armor winking in the sunlight as two Royal Day Guards pulled it along as fast as they could. Luna’s was not far behind, cloaked in matching armor of midnight blue. Finally, just behind Luna’s chariot, there appeared to be an unmarked purple chariot, possibly either Twilight’s or Cadance’s. A feeling of dread began to settle in Jeremy’s stomach as he watched them arrive, and he somehow felt that they were watching him back, magical eyes trained on him to scrutinize his expression. Unable to think of any expression to give that wouldn’t make them further suspicious of his motives, Jeremy elected to silently turn around, making his way back into the Hive as he traveled to the ground floor.
Chrysalis was waiting for him there, surprisingly wearing the dress she had received from the three changeling fashion designers they had spoken to just a few days ago.
“Any ideas?” she whispered nervously, motioning at his other three friends, who stared at him with wide, alarmed expressions.
Jeremy shook his head. “I think we might just have to do things the old-fashioned way… talk to them, and hope everything goes right. And if not… I can always try something else, he added in his head.
Chrysalis nodded thoughtfully. “As for the three of you… do me a favor, and wait here. It’s best we don’t overwhelm them by bringing all four of you out at once,” Jeremy commanded.
“Sound reasoning,” agreed Nightmare Moon.
“Sound, my left flank! We can take them,” Sombra insisted, sounding as though he’d brought this up before.
“Sombra…” Tirek groaned in annoyance.
“I told you, we wouldn’t fight them! Jeremy’s not the only one allowed to show mercy, you know!” Sombra retorted.
“And yet, he doth possess the most skill at it,” Nightmare Moon shot down.
“Let him do his job,” Tirek ordered. “Things will look much better if it seems like he can ‘control’ us.” Sombra glared at Tirek, but remained silent.
Jeremy approached the shadow unicorn. “I know, I know. You don’t want to look like my ‘servant’ or something. But sometimes, no matter what you say, people will get angry if you try to assert yourself first,” he tried. “But if they make the first move, they might just feel a bit better about it?”
Sombra grumbled something that Jeremy couldn’t hear.
“What?” he asked.
“Okay, fine. We’ll stay here. But you better let me prove to Cadance that I’m good now,” Sombra demanded.
Jeremy laughed, a hint of relief permeating his tone. “I promise, I will.”
With that, he and Chrysalis headed towards the exit of the Hive, accompanied by several changeling Guards. It was showtime.
The chariots slowed to a halt several hundred feet away, and ponies began to climb out of them. Princess Celestia was the first to appear, her golden regalia glinting in the sunlight as she leaped out of her chariot and glided downward, angling her wings to land as daintily as possible. Luna was next, though she was much more violent than graceful as she landed hard enough to shake the earth around her. Finally, an assortment of ponies began to exit the larger chariot behind them, though at this distance Jeremy could not tell who they were. Guards began lining up in two rows to either side of the Princesses, a trumpet’s call sounding as they began striding forward.
“Announcing Her Royal Majesty, Princess Celestia! And Her Royal Majesty, Princess Luna!” a Guard called.
Is this normal? Chrysalis asked, watching the display of grandeur.
It’s very… formal, Jeremy decided. They probably either want to impress or intimidate us, quite possibly both.
Princess Celestia strode up to him, looking much less intimidating now that she was up close.
“Are you not going to announce your presence?” she inquired regally.
“Hi, I’m Jeremy,” Jeremy returned casually, some of the changeling guards stifling giggles before being elbowed by the more stoic ones.
Celestia turned up her nose at him. “A pleasure to meet you… ‘Jeremy.’ We have arrived to speak with Queen Chrysalis, among others, on their intentions for the future of Equestria,” Celestia began. “We have also arrived to question your arrival as it pertains to the-“ she elaborated further, but was cut off by an infuriated Princess Luna, panting in rage as she got up in Jeremy’s face.
“Where is she?!” Luna demanded, her voice ringing like steel. “Where is that wretched scum, that vile filth that dares to call herself my doppelganger?”
Jeremy, meanwhile, was thankful that Nightmare Moon had not accompanied them out – judging by her expression, Luna would have attacked her counterpart on sight. “My friend is somewhere safe,” he calmly replied. “And she is sorry for what she did to you.”
Luna growled at him. “And what did she tell you? That she forced me to betray mine own sister? Got us both banished to the moon for a thousand years?!” Luna demanded, evidently expecting this information to surprise him.
“That and more, actually,” Jeremy answered.
Luna narrowed her eyes, before flaring out her wings in an impressive display. “Tell. Me. Where. She. Is,” the Princess of the Night growled between clenched teeth.
“No,” Jeremy replied, still as outwardly calm as ever. Why was he so calm, anyway? He should be terrified. Here stood a mare who had enough magic in her to move the moon, he should be quaking in his boots at the sight of her! But somehow, he was still in control. Maybe it was because he’d already died so many times that it didn’t matter?
Luna, meanwhile, had stepped back, squaring her withers and lowering her head. “Then so be it,” she muttered.
“Sister!” Celestia chided, stepping in between them. “We are here for peaceful talks! Would you resort to violence so easily?!”
Luna pushed her away. “Anyone who consorts with that demon means us nothing but harm!” she roared, and sprang forward.
To Luna’s surprise, she was immediately thrown back by a green shield that had erupted in front of her, Chrysalis’ horn lighting up an emerald green as she cast the spell.
“Don’t you dare hurt my King!” Chrysalis screeched.
Chrysalis… Jeremy warned.
What else can I do? She was going to hurt you! Chrysalis retorted, allowing her spell to dissipate.
“Chrysalis, I appreciate it, but… go inside,” Jeremy commanded.
“What?! And leave you out here?!” Chrysalis exclaimed in outrage. She glanced at Luna, who was readying another attack.
“I know you’re scared. But please go inside, Chrysalis. I can’t lose you, not now,” Jeremy whispered.
Chrysalis stared at him for a moment longer, then reluctantly bowed her head. “You promise you’ll win?” she asked quietly.
“I promise,” Jeremy affirmed.
Without another word, Chrysalis turned and retreated, a single nod of her head causing the changeling Guard to follow after her, whispering to themselves. Jeremy sighed as she went – he didn’t like it, but it had worked last time…
Luna watched, a flicker of interest passing across her expression as she signaled to her Lunar Guards, who had been encircling her chariot. They formed a circle around the three of them, Jeremy, Luna and Celestia, closing ranks so that none could escape.
“She did as you asked,” Luna noted.
“Well, I did say ‘please,’” Jeremy joked back, a small smile coming to his face.
“Why? Why send her away when she was protecting you?” Luna wondered.
“I didn’t want her to get hurt,” Jeremy answered truthfully.
Luna narrowed her eyes. “You… you’re only pretending to be friendly!” she accused. “It’s all just a ploy to get us to lower our defenses! But I am not so simple-minded as that, foal!” Luna shouted.
“Then I’ll just have to prove it,” Jeremy shrugged, nonplussed.
Luna glared at him suspiciously, and charged forward again, horn pointed directly at his chest. Jeremy stepped out of the way, but Luna had been expecting it, thrusting out a hoof to her left and punching him in the stomach. To Jeremy, it felt as though he’d just been hit by a train. Looking over at his health counter, he noted that that one punch had taken out just a little under half his health – he couldn’t afford to get hit like that again.
Or, maybe… he could?
Jeremy made his choice, the five options disappearing as he picked an option he’d almost never had to use before. Luna circled around, crouching low to the ground before springing forward, hooves outstretched. Jeremy did nothing to dodge, and was promptly tackled to the floor as Luna began smacking him around with her front two hooves. Inwardly, he wondered why Luna was fighting so… dirty. He’d always assumed her to be a graceful fighter, but here she appeared to be using street rules as she pummeled him.
“Where is she?!” Luna screamed, stomping a hoof down on his ribs. Jeremy felt something crack, and a whole new kind of pain blossomed inside his chest as he fought to stay conscious. Why had he made this stupid choice, again?
“Where is she?!” Luna repeated her crazed question, bringing another hoof down on his torso.
“Why won’t you fight back?!” Luna screeched, growing even angrier as she leaped off of him.
“Sister, stop!” Celestia cried, and Jeremy dazedly remembered that Celestia had been there the whole time, too. Had she just been standing off to the side, doing nothing? He looked back, finding that Luna had apparently summoned a wicked-looking metal spear with her magic, levitating it over her shoulder.
“We don’t need you,” Luna hissed, stalking towards him.
“ENOUGH!” Celestia cried, the dusty plain reverberating with the sheer power of her voice. “Luna, this is not what you said you would do!”
Luna struggled as Celestia attempted to pull the spear away from her with her magic. “He is merely pretending to be a pacifist! He will surely strike us the moment our backs are turned!” Luna shouted back.
“I will not!” Jeremy asserted, managing to get to his feet and swaying slightly from the pain of his injuries. “I will not hurt you. No matter what you do, even if I die today, I will not hurt you.”
Luna appeared surprised at this, and her magic faltered. Celestia, who was still trying to pull the spear away from her sister, managed to yank it out of her magical grasp… only for it to go sailing into the air, heading straight for one of the Guards that had encircled the three of them.
In the split second Jeremy took to watch the spear flying through the air, he knew he had to act fast, despite his splitting headache, despite the pain that threatened to topple him every time he breathed.
He raced forward, time slowing to a crawl as he headed straight for the lone Guard that was in the way of the unfortunate spear, knocking him over.
The last thing Jeremy felt was a terrible pain in his back, and then all was silent.