//------------------------------// // Paynimry // Story: Prevention // by Mind Matter //------------------------------// --- “Do you think it’s wise to actually attend this, Princess?” Shining asked, his barrier around the large chariot keeping him from needing to yell over the wind. “We could just hammer them like Ponyville. If I threw a barrier up, nopony would-“ “We do not wish to hammer them, Shining.” The Princess cut him off. “The ponies seemed fearful of us, after our demonstration in Ponyville. We cannot allow them to view Twilight as a viable alternative.” “You’ve ruled for over a millennia, Princess, I doubt the general populace wants to oust you now.” “Before now, our opponents have wished ruin upon Equestria. The Ponyvillians seemed to view Twilight as a savior, not a destructor, even after they were shown the devestation that her rebellion would bring.” Celestia shook her head. “I do not pretend to understand my ponies’ view on many things, but this I can see clearly. Another violent act would only engender more sympathy for Twilight’s Charter.” “As I’ve reminded you, sister, there are ways of weeding out insurrection among our subjects.” Luna spoke. She stood, literally, in her sister’s shadow, her eyes closed instead of focused on the barely-visible town ahead. “A few bad dreams can prove useful, but true action may need to be taken at a greater scale than you allow. We do not wish a resurgent Nightmare…” Celestia nodded. “We shall see, sister.” She closed her eyes as well, and Shining was left to watch the two sit in silence. A memory from the morning peeked out of his mind. “Are you going to bring Auntie home, Daddy?” “I’m going to try, sweetie. Auntie’s very sick right now, and Auntie Celestia and Luna and I need to go see if we can make her better before we bring her back here.” “But the castle has a better doctor than out there! Why can’t you just bring Auntie back?” “It… It’s not that kind of sickness, Dazzle. Auntie Twilight is… she’s not seeing things right, her thinking is all fuddled. She thinks that us Princes and Princesses aren’t good ponies.” “That’s not right! Auntie said she’d always love me, you can’t love somepony if you think they’re bad! She doesn’t think I’m a bad pony, does she?” “Oh, Dazzle, no, no, of course not. Like I said, Auntie’s sick. She’s saying weird things that she doesn’t really mean. She still loves you, just like she still loves me.” That last line had bile rising in Shining’s throat, both as he spoke about it and as he recalled it. Lying to his daughter was not something he was anywhere near good at, though she was still too small to openly recognize his falsehoods. It might not be false, though. Some growling, scheming part of his mind said. If she hates you like she clearly does, she probably hates Dazzle the same. Like Celestia and Luna and Cadance and everypony else she’s foisted her own problems onto. Shining very quickly quashed the voice, though it got in a last little half-sentence before retreating to the corner of his mind that it regularly occupied. If it makes the bitch easier to kill… Shining shook his head, opening his eyes almost before he noticed he’d closed them. Luna stared at him from the side, her one visible brow raised. He shrugged back at her, and she returned to her own thoughts. The chariot touched down several minutes later, a reasonable distance from Appleloosa; not far enough for an uncomfortable walk, not close enough to risk a ball of liquid flame as their greeting. Twenty carriages touched down a few seconds later in a circle, guardsponies quickly filing out of eighteen and removing supplies from the remaining two. While Celestia and Luna attended the guard preparations, Shining followed his orders and promptly galloped to the second-most important vehicle present, and the two ponies it had carried. “Ah still think flyin’s overrated.” Applejack said, sparing a loving pat for the dirt beneath her hooves. Fluttershy nodded behind her. “We didn’t want to risk the train, it could have been sabotaged. That left a flight or a much-longer walk.” Shining explained. Applejack snorted. “Let’s just get this over with.” She began walking to the Princesses, Fluttershy meekly tailing her. Shining stared after the pegasus; by Applejack’s word, she’d been absent from the Riot and Spike’s resurrection. Her cottage had been under the barrier, as had Sweet Apple Acres, but both claimed that Twilight hadn’t attempted any meetings with either of them after Applejack’s threat. The little growly voice spoke up again. The bitch can’t use the Elements now, not with these two against her. Fluttershy’s not against anypony. She’s neutral for now. Though I doubt they’ll let her stay that way… “Captain Armor!” A hard voice spoke up. Shining turned, quickly trotting over to the Princesses and Element Bearers. “Yes, your Highness?” “We are ready to begin.” Luna said. Celestia nodded beside her. Shining nodded back, sending up a flare. The scout pegasi shot out, flying ahead several hundred metres. At a cloud signal, the rest of the force moved out. The Appleloosan Reclaimation consisted of fifteen earth ponies, twenty-five unicorns, and twenty pegasi. Twilight’s forces were estimated at the fifty who had been missing from Ponyville (thirty earth ponies, fifteen unicorns, five pegasi) plus the Appleloosan population (est. one-hundred-eighty earth ponies, less than forty pegasi and unicorns combined). Sixty guardsponies versus two-hundred-seventy civilians. If it came to it, it would be a massacre. Spike will even those odds a bit. And the flatheads are tougher than us. Earth ponies fall pretty easy when their legs are broken. And we have the Princesses. Shining gritted his teeth as one of the scouts sent up another signal. “Princess, we have incoming.” He called to Celestia, yelling over the din despite his short distance from her. She nodded, spreading her wings and bringing the group to a halt. She, Shining, and Applejack stepped forward out of the protective lines of guardsponies, standing tall as two pegasi brought the unknown pony forward. “Well, if’n I knew ya’ll were gonna be comin’ like this, we’d’a set the carpet out.” Applejack gave an odd groan, taking a few steps forward to take a look at the escorted stallion. “Braeburn, what in the hay are y’doin’ out here?” “Jus’ came by t’say hi, cuz.” Applejack’s cousin gave her a grin, one that slowly slid off as he watched her face. “Ah, c’mon now, don’t be like that…” “Braeburn?” Shining said. The Apple stallion turned to look at the guard captain, his eyes lighting up in recognition. “Hey, Cap’n Armor!” He flicked his eyes to the Princess, bowing almost overdramatically. “And of course yer Highness. Apologies fer scarin’ y’all’s escort. Y’an’ the Guard’re still mighty appreciated fer-” “Apparently y’didn’t hear me, cuz. What in the hay are y’doin’ out here?!” Applejack repeated, louder. Braeburn winced, turning to her. “Just makin’ sure y’know that there’s a lot of ponies who ain’t under Twilight’s hoof ‘round these parts. I don’t know what her letter said, but most of us high-tailed it when we saw a damned dragon dragged back from Tartarus waltz int’ town a week ago. Maybe forty or fifty stayed, the ones with more’n four appendages for th’most part, an’ that number ain’t grown from my knowledge.” Shining looked the stallion up and down. “You’ve been out of Appleloosa for a week? Twilight hasn’t attacked you?” “No sir.” Shining’s eyes grew harsher. “Why didn’t you send for help? A week’s ample time.” Braeburn gave a sore grin. “Well, we don’t have many pegasi in our camp, mostly ol’ folk or young’uns born t’non-flyin’ parents. Same with unicorns, and we ain’t stupid enough t’try to trek t’the main cities with Twilight’s pegasi patrollin’ an’ with few supplies besides.” “I see.” Shining gave another appraising glance at Braeburn. The cowpony tipped his hat at Celestia. “As I was sayin’, Princess, we ‘round these parts ain’t given t’traitorism, an’ yer help with the buffalo put a serious gratitude inta us. We got a camp a little ways away from the town that Twilight an’ her ponies ain’t known about yet. “Y’give us yer permission, we’d like t’help ya’ll take back our town.” The three stared, eyebrows raised, at the rather enthusiastic farmpony. Shining flicked his eyes at Celestia. “Check him?” Celestia nodded, calling for her sister before stepping back. Braeburn glanced between her and Shining, his grin faltering. “Hold on, what’re y’all chec- hey now!” His question was cut off as the pegasi grabbed hold of him, pushing him down to the ground and holding him prone. He spat out a small glob of grit, giving an alarmed look at Shining. “What the hay are-“ “Guardspony business. Stay still and you won’t get hurt.” Shining glanced at Applejack, who bore a mix of anger and surprise. “Don’t interfere in this.” “Ah won’t, if y’give me half an understandin’ on what yer doin’!” Shining raised an eyebrow. His horn glowed, and Braeburn stiffened for a moment before falling slack. The pegasi stepped away from him as Luna approached; she sat in front of the unconscious stallion, her own horn glowing into a small wash of magic over Braeburn. Shining turned back to Applejack, whose expression had gained far more confusion than anger. “We don’t know if he’s telling the truth. Princess Luna is checking him.” “Ah would’a told ya he was sayin’ right, if y’d’a let me!” “Yes, you would. Maybe even if he wasn’t. He’s your cousin, and Apples are strong on familial integrity if my memory serves.” Applejack bit back a response, her face souring. Shining motioned to the Princess. “This is a more precise understanding of his motives, past ‘true or false’. We trust you, but-” “-but we need as much advantage as we can get. Luna can gain much knowledge from a pony’s dreams, should she shape them properly.” Celestia finished. Applejack looked at her, then nodded, swallowing and sparing her cousin a worried glance. “So how long are they stayin’ like that? Out here we’re like poles just waitin’ fer horseshoes t’hit us.” “It should not be much longer; time passes as days in seconds during dreams. Luna has never taken very long to weed out guilt in those who can hold it.” Luna’s horn had stopped glowing at ‘guilt’, and she had stepped into Celestia’s shadow by ‘it’. The Princesses looked at each other for a few seconds before Luna nodded and Celestia smiled. Shining let out a breath. “He’s clear. Bring him back, wake him up.” The pegasi nodded, grabbing the still-disoriented Braeburn and flying him to the Princess’ place in the formation. Shining turned to Celestia. “Are we letting them help?” “We shall employ them as needed; they may hinder more than help in a battle.” “There may be traitors within their ranks, as well.” Luna intoned. “Young Twilight is not one to ‘not know about’ such a thing as the majority of Appleloosa’s population staying in an area within hours’ distance.” Both Celestia and Shining nodded in thought. Applejack glanced between the three before sighing and walking back into the guardspony lines. --- “What did Braeburn mean? My guardsponies didn’t help with the buffalo. That was all on Twilight and her friends.” “Timeline differences, I guess. In my timeline, after the train tracks got destroyed and some Appleloosans got gored, among other things, Twilight called us in. We surrounded the buffalo camps, arrested the lot of them, and sorted the criminals out of them – the ones that had attacked ponies and Equestrian property.” “What did you do with the ‘criminals’?” A cough. “Mostly we just executed them cleanly, that was about twelve of them, but a few tried to rush us so we had to take off their legs first. Then we had to deal with some of the other buffalo that got ornery about us killing the ones that had tried to kill us.” Silence. Another cough. “We ended up having to kill just about all of them except… thirteen? Fourteen? The chief’s daughter stepped in after I took off her dad’s leg, ordered the ones that were left to stop fighting. They did, we stopped defending ourselves, and it ended up with one-hundred-seventeen buffalo and eighteen guardsponies dead.” A sigh. “You don’t approve of the toll?” “Of course not, eighteen guards died. And we should only have needed to kill fifteen of the hairy cows, but it just… ‘warrior honour’ or some horseapples pulled the rest in. The chief was yelling about honour when he attacked his daughter, the bastard tried to kill his own daughter for stopping the fighting, but I managed to block him and blow his head up before he could do any damage. Bloody cow…” “Buffalo aren’t cows.” “Why should I care? They’re extinct now anyways.” “Not here.” “Good for you, then…” “What happened to the rest of them in your timeline?” “They ran off into the badlands. We sent pegasi to keep track of them, but they went far enough that they weren’t a risk anymore. Can’t remember what happened to them after that, probably starved or something.” “Didn’t you try to negotiate?” “We offered Equestrian citizenship, but they refused. You even came down yourself, Princess, but they bolted when they heard ‘the sun-pony’ was coming.” “I meant initially. Surely there could have been a peaceful resolution.” “Twilight tried, but neither side was much up for it after Pinkie’s song. Plus, some buffalo got sick and blamed it on the ponies, so they nailed the Sherriff’s head to the town sign in response.” A snort. “They left his body in the road, but the chief had cut off his cutie marks, wore them like some kind of trophy on his belt-thing. Actually, that was probably what got Twilight to call us in – there was some violence between the groups before that, but I’d think seeing a head thirty hooves or so above its body would be a pretty good indicator that she was out of her league.” A silence. “Did the townsfolk harm any buffalo, before you arrived?” “Of course they did. They were defending their legally-obtained territory, though, they never went to the camp and set any of those tent-things on fire.” “I see. Please, continue.” “By your command, Princess…” --- Appleloosa was barricaded on all sides, piles of stone and wood mixing with walls of cooked sand; as Shining had expected, the train station was completely shut down, the tracks cleanly removed starting four kilometres away. It was also the only way to enter the town, barring small paths to and from the apple orchards, and was guarded by about a dozen ponies, all in the darkened armour that they’d found siblings to in the Ponyville guardspony station. Each also bore some type of physical weapon, even the unicorns. “Dang, they work fast…” Braeburn whistled. Behind him stood three other ponies from Appleloosa, one from each tribe; the unicorn was apparently the only one that had left, a fact that made Shining groan inwardly. Shining and six guards stood behind them; the party was advancing cautiously to the ‘gate’ into Appleloosa. About thirty metres away, a harsh yell from inside both stopped them and caused the tan-armours to bristle. “That’s far enough!” The gate swung open theatrically, a blue pegasus emerging flanked by two brown earth ponies. The small group approached, allowing Shining to recognize the non-flyers as the pair from Spike’s first (re-)appearance. The pegasus’ rainbow mane, however, was easily identifiable from any distance. “I’m guessing that you’re here to meet with Twilight? She’s been itching to talk with the alicorns.” Rainbow said, almost over-enunciating ‘alicorns’ in her attempt to speak it without reverence. Shining snorted. “Rainbow Dash. How ironic, that the Element of Loyalty speaks for traitors.” “I’m loyal to the one that didn’t betray us!” The pegasus growled sharply. Her guards snorted and tensed, but she waved them off with a wing. “Answer the question or leave, murderer.” Shining took the accusation coolly. “I’m here to guard the Princesses. They’re here to speak to the leaders of Appleloosa about certain grievances that they have with Celestia’s rule and decisions relating to the town. Whether Twilight is the appropriate pony to speak to is irrelevant.” Rainbow looked him up and down, dismissing him with a huff before turning to Braeburn. “Have you decided to rejoin your town?” “I’m still part of my town, li’l lady. I’m only here t’get it back from the ponies that stole it.” Braeburn said, his grin not faltering. Rainbow blinked at him before muttering something under her breath. She turned back to Shining. “Twilight wants you, Celestia, Luna, Applejack, and Fluttershy. Nopony else is allowed.” Shining turned his eyes to the sky. Several pegasi hovered above him. He looked back at Rainbow. “That isn’t happening. Your forces are estimated at between seventy and ninety ponies. You want the five of us to walk into the middle of your occupation without any guards of our own?” Shining’s horn glowed, and a barrier arose around the sand wall that blocked the main road. A sharper glow, and the barrier constricted on every side, lifting out of the ground and crushing the wall back into small particles. He released it, and the sand fell down into the hole, leaving a small mound. He turned back to Rainbow, who was gaping at the suddenly-open road into town. “We brought forty guardsponies. That’s what we’re bringing in.” Her eyes turned back to him, a sudden angry fire behind them. She opened her mouth and drew in a breath, her wings flaring out to balance her from the large shout she was preparing. A voice emanating from slightly behind Rainbow froze her. “Leave him be, everypony.” Shining involuntarily put his attention on the voice’s owner as Rainbow stiffly stepped out of the way. A sight that still filled his veins with ice followed. “Come in, brother.” Twilight rasped. She had deeply sunken eyes, and what little of her wasn’t swathed in a tan cloak and overcoat looked washed-out. His eyes met hers, and he suddenly felt slightly sick. She broke the look, her gaze travelling to a spot behind him. “And bring them with you.” Twilight very suddenly turned to the side, walking around the station to the former location of the wall. She paused in front of it for a moment before continuing; the ground rumbled several seconds later, as the road was suddenly obstructed by a large purple-green dragon. Twilight nuzzled at him before levitating onto his head; the dragon growled and turned, his tail destroying a large area of the train station’s roof. Fluttershy and the Appleloosan ponies stared at Spike in open awe and terror, as did several of the ‘guards’ in tan armour. Shining felt his back legs go numb (He’s BIGGER than last time) but made sure that nothing showed on his face. He knew from experience that Celestia and Luna were doing the same, though they had the benefit of being able to fight the dragon off – the best he’d likely be able to do would be to try to tear Spike’s head apart from the inside. “D’ya really think that’s Spike?” Shining jumped, slightly, and turned to see Applejack staring down Rainbow Dash. The pegasus was looking the earth pony up and down, clearly unsure as to what she was on about. “Uh, yeah, AJ. Of course it is.” Applejack snorted. “When was the last time he ate?” “I dunno, it’s not my-“ “Dragon like that, he’d eat a tonne of gems a day, literally, unless he was hibernatin’.” Applejack continued, ignoring Rainbow. “He’s quite clearly awake, an’ last Ah checked, the Everfree an’ Appleloosa ain’t the best gem huntin’ grounds. So how much time did Rarity spend searchin’ fer gems in the outskirts of the Everfree, an’ how many gems did ya cart over here with ya?” Rainbow blinked, again, and her brow furrowed. She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Applejack’s voice dropped to a growl. “Ah thought so.” Rainbow flared her wings, glaring at the farmpony. Shining tensed, but Celestia raised a hoof. “Just because he’s not like he was-“ “Rainbow, Spike is dead. That’s his body all right, but it’s bein’ dragged around like a doll. Spike ain’t in there anymore.” “But-“ “Applejack’s right, Rainbow Dash.” A softer voice said. Both mares turned to see Fluttershy. Rainbow immediately softened herself. “Fluttershy, Twilight brought him back. He’s Spike, he’s just… he just wants to help Twilight more.” “No, Rainbow. That roar, that wasn’t a roar of happiness, or celebration, or even anger. That was a roar of pain.” Small, dark lines cut into Fluttershy’s face. “Twilight… I can’t imagine how horrible she felt, but doing that to Spike…” The pegasus shook her head, tiny movements that were somehow even more forceful than her earlier ones. “If necromancy worked, do you think I would ever have let my little friends die, Rainbow?” The other pegasus was staring at Fluttershy, her eyes unsure for the first time Shining had seen. “But… but he’s…” “Have you heard him talk, Rainbow? Has he made any jokes, talked about old times? Has he done anything for Rarity that she didn’t ask Twilight about?” Rainbow Dash was silent, her eyes on the ground. Fluttershy took in a breath. “Has he done anything by himself? Or does he… does he…” “Does he just sit around, like a puppet who isn’t gettin’ its strings pulled?” Applejack finished, her hard voice cutting in contrast to Fluttershy’s. “When Twilight ain’t around, how does he act? Tired? Knocked out?” Her eyes narrowed. “Maybe… lifeless?” Rainbow’s head shot up at that, and she flicked her eyes between Fluttershy and Applejack several times. She opened her mouth, gave a sound that could best be described as a squeak, and shot into the air, flying to the centre of town, where Spike had sat down in front of (and possibly on top of) the town hall. The other guards simultaneously ducked into the station, shutting the now-useless gate tight. The two mares walked back to the main group with the Appleloosans and Shining. Applejack glanced at the still-shaky Fluttershy and sighed. “Sorry ‘bout makin’ y’do that, sugarcube…” The yellow pegasus shook her head. “I wanted to. Rainbow’s put her loyalty into Twilight, and Twilight’s not in a good state of mind right now. If I can get her to come back, then maybe we can get Rarity, and Pinkie, and everypony else to. Everything can go back to normal.” Shining and Celestia shared a glance. Celestia shook her head, and Shining nodded. “Forward march, squared formation, keep an eye on the skies! We’re in hostile territory!” Shining barked at the gathered guardsponies. They immediately jumped, forming a two-pony-thick barrier around himself, the Princesses, the Appleloosans, and the two Element Bearers. The Appleloosans shared a glance between themselves and the Princesses, Braeburn clearing his throat. “Erm, Princess, d’you want us t’remain outside durin’ this? It seems mighty personal, now I’m thinkin’ on it.” “Nonsense.” Celestia replied, a small smile on her face as she gave the ponies a comforting look. “This is your town, as you’ve said. We shall attempt to negotiate with her, in which case we need you to present your claims that she forcibly removed you, and if it comes to violence we need to ensure that you are within our protection so that the villainies of my former student may be related to everypony in Equestria.” “If you’re outside, you might get attacked by Twilight’s pegasi.” Shining clarified. “With us, you’re beside the Princesses and a pony whose special talent is making magical shields. You’ll be fine.” “A’right, then…” Braeburn said, glancing at his fellow townsponies again. One of them – the unicorn – coughed. “Might I ask, completely respectfully a’course, what the other Appleloosans’re doin’ when we’re in there? If you dispatched those other guards to bring ‘em back, then maybe one of us should stay out t’make sure they know what t’do if something goes wrong?” “We would like to keep the townsfolk out of harm’s way – though I know that you and your fellows are proud homesteaders, the guardsponies are actually trained in inter-pony combat. An addition of the townsponies into any fighting would simply muddle things up, unfortunately.” “Ah. Thank y’kindly, Princess.” The unicorn nodded. Shining glanced between the ponies before nodding at Celestia, who spread her wings slighty and began to walk forward. The entire group moved with her, many faces gaining a determined look. Every door and window was shut and shuttered as they moved up the main road; the town looked distinctly abandoned, though it was meticulously clean of debris or destruction of any kind – Spike’s tail appeared to have done the most damage to any actual building mere minutes before. The road was clear of wagons and detritus, as were the alleyways between the buildings. They, too, appeared to have gotten a fresh coat of paint, or at least a wash – there was a distinct lack of dust or dirt on the outer walls, nor were there signs that any of the buildings had ever actually been used. The Appleloosans muttered amongst themselves, their heads swinging back and forth as they surveyed their town after a week of Twilight’s rule. Shining thinly grinned as he noticed that they sounded more disturbed at the orderliness than appreciative. The square broke as they entered the area in front of the town hall; Celestia and Luna gave a graceful flying leap over the heads of the guards in front, who opened up the square to allow the other ponies to join the Princesses; the guards at the back corners pushed in fluidly, turning the square into a rough semicircle. Shining, Fluttershy, and Applejack joined the Princesses as they walked forwards; the Appleloosans stayed slightly back, though they did stay closer to the Princesses than the guards. Across the empty crossroads Twilight stood, with Rarity and Pinkie Pie on one side, Rainbow Dash and several vaguely familiar ponies on the other, and Spike behind her. The dragon gave an earth-shaking snarl as Shining approached. “That’s far enough!” Twilight called. She began walking forwards, the three other Element Bearers following her. Celestia’s group stood as Twilight’s approached; the two sides stared each other down until Twilight stopped several metres from Celestia. “Hello, Princess.” The unicorn said, her voice light but clearly strained, still rasping. “Hello, Twilight.” Celestia replied, her voice soft. “I must ask you, once again, that you stop this foolishness and return to us. We do not wish to harm you, but you need to submit to our aid.” Twilight gave a laugh. “And what aid would you give us? Shackles, that we may not rise above our stations again? Minds clouded to your ills and failings? An iron hoof to steer us in life and crush those who stray from your guided path?” “No, Twilight. You have blinded youself in your anger, unwilling to see the suffering you have caused and that you will cause.” Celestia gestured to the Appleloosans. “You have forced these ponies from their homes, Twilight. They live now as those bovine tribals once did, because of your attempt to ‘free’ them.” “I provided them the freedom to choose their path. They chose to leave. It is not my fault if they suffer of their decision.” Twilight turned to look at Applejack and Fluttershy. “Have neither of you seen the damage wrought to Ponyville and its citizens by Celestia’s attack?” “They are not your-“ “Wait, Princess. Please.” Applejack looked at Celestia, who took several seconds before nodding. The farmpony turned back to Twilight. “Ah’ve seen what happened when everypony was under that dome’a yers, Twilight. Ah didn’t like it much.” Applejack stared Twilight directly in the eye. “Y’can blather on about ‘freedom’ an’ those horseapples, but yer doin’ more harm than good, here.” Applejack glanced at Rainbow and Pinkie, pointedly skipping Rarity. “All y’all are doin’ is scarin’ ponies an’ makin’ yer friends an’ families get worried.” “But what Celestia did-“ “She was fixin’ the mess you made.” “I was protecting everypony!” “You were throwin’ a fit because you didn’t get your way!” “Appleja-“ Shining began. “I was throwing a fit because SPIKE DIED!” Twilight screamed. She rapidly twisted her head, as if expecting him to have disappeared with that comment. “And Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom, and… and…” The purple mare began hiccoughing. There was an almost silent period for several seconds, broken only by Twilight’s sobs. Applejack turned her head, glancing between Celestia, Shining, and Fluttershy before taking a step towards the unstable mare. Twilight turned her head back to face Applejack, and bore an expression of betrayal. “And I know how to fix them, to make everypony happy and safe again, and you wouldn’t let me, and you told me that you hated me…” “Ah don’t hate you, Twilight.” Applejack said softly. It somehow managed to carry to Twilight, because the unicorn gave a confused, hopeful look at the earth pony. “None of us here hate you. But we want to stop you, because you ain’t alright. You need help right now, more’n any of us.” Twilight took in a few breaths. She stared at Applejack through drowning eyes. “I don’t need help, Applejack. I need friends.” “An’ Ah’ll be perfectly happy bein’ yer friend, Twilight. Ah just need you t’calm down, an’ stop this.” Applejack took another step towards the unicorn. “Why?” Twilight asked, her voice cracking. Applejack’s ear flicked. “Because yer puttin’ ponies in danger, an’ yer scarin’ the horsefeathers outta all’a us.” “No, no…” Twilight waved a hoof, swaying slightly. “Why did you burn the barn? I could, I could have saved Apple Bloom, just like I saved Spike, like I’m going to save Sweetie, but you, when I told you that, you said that we weren’t friends anymore. You said you’d kill me if I came back.” “Applejack, you should-“ Shining tried again. This time it was the earth pony who overtalked him. “Ah’ll admit that Ah wasn’t in the most calm state’a’mind when Ah said that. But, Twilight, you… you haven’t saved Spike from nothin’.” Twilight gave a weak laugh. “Of course I did, silly. Look at him, my big dragon friend, he’s sitting right behind me.” Twilight gestured to Spike, who released a growl. “No, Twi. He’s not. His body is there, but Spike’s dead. So is Sweetie Belle,” An odd gasp from Rarity, “and so is Apple Bloom. Just because Spike’s walkin’ around don’t mean he’s any more alive than my sister.” “Yes, he is.” Twilight reasserted. “He’s alive, I brought him back, I saved him, and if you hadn’t burned Apple Bloom I could have brought her back too-“ “Dammit, Twilight!” Applejack yelled. “Spike is dead! You can’t just shoot magic at him an’ have him come back! What you have there is a corpse, strung up like some damned puppet show by magic that has no right to exist!” “Spike is not a corpse! Spike is alive, Applejack, no matter what lies you’ve been fed!” “Then prove it!” Applejack stomped her hoof. “Have Spike do somethin’ independent a’you! Show us that that dragon’s still a livin’ bein’, without yer magic helpin’ him along!” “How about this?” Silence. The booming timbre of the new voice echoed across the desert air. Slowly, Shining’s eyes rose to stare at the dragon’s mouth, as did everypony else’s. Spike swung one ear forward. “Would you call this ‘intelligence’, Applejack?” “No…” Celestia breathed. Spike laughed, a rough, repeated growl. “Twilight figured it out, Celestia. She’s surpassed you. You locked immortality away, and Twilight freed it.” “This cannot be…” Celestia said. She glanced down at Twilight, whose horn shone radiantly. “If you are truly alive, then you should act free of Twilight’s influence!” “I cannot. I am alive, but Twilight keeps me alive.” The large eyes turned to Shining. They were still dull and dead. “Being shot in the chest will do that to someone.” “Do you see now, Applejack?” Twilight said. She wore an almost too-wide grin. “I’ve delivered us from under Celestia’s hoof! She no longer controls us, we are equal and greater than her! Can’t you see what we can accomplish?” Her gaze flicked to Fluttershy. “If you join us, we can use the Elements against her, we can remove her corruption, the festering rot of those who would oppress us, and bring all of Equestria into pure, true harmony! Nopony has to be harmed!” She turned her head slightly, staring at Shining. “Join me, Shining! You’ve been controlled by Celestia for years, but if we broke Chrysalis’ hold, then we can break hers! You and Cadance and Dazzle can live without their hooves on your shoulders, you can be unafraid of reprisal!” Her voice raised, and she suddenly, somehow, gained her youthful voice. “Please, Big Brother, Best Friend Forever!” Shining looked at Twilight. He looked at Spike. At Twilight. At Spike. At his sister. At what she’d done. He closed his eyes. “Applejack, it’s a trick!” Shining yelled. “Twilight’s still-“ “Hold on a minute, Shinin’.” The orange mare said, her voice somewhat absent. “Ah’m thinkin’.” A lump of ice landed in Shining’s stomach. He heard Fluttershy step forward. “Applejack-“ “Ah said wait!” Applejack barked. Fluttershy shrunk back, wimpering, and Applejack flicked her eyes to Spike. “S’that really you, Spike?” “Of course. Who else would it be?” The dragon replied. Applejack’s eyes fell to a still-grinning Twilight. “Ah have some ideas.” The farmpony waved a hoof. “An’ a few questions, if y’don’t mind.” “Go ahead. I have nothing to hide.” “Good.” Applejack brought a hoof to her head, scratching at it. “So could y’tell me just what y’told me when Ah took Rarity on our first date out in the open?” The dragon gave another rumbling laugh. “Of course. I said that while I still liked Rarity, I’d rather see her happy with you than sad alone. Though you seem to be perfectly fine with the latter.” “Ah promise you, there’s nothin’ more Ah’d like than to sweep that mare off her hooves an’ treat her like a Princess the rest’a our lives.” Applejack said. Shining could hear Rarity give an odd mix of a gasp and a sigh, despite the physical distance between them. “But she chose t’go with Twilight instead of stayin’ with me. Ah’m not such a fool that Ah won’t let her make her own choices.” “Then come with us, Applejack!” Twilight called, her voice elated. “You value freedom, choice, yet you remain under the repressive hoof of Celestia! Join us, be happy again!” “Ah’d like to. Ah really would.” Applejack sighed. “But you said the wrong thing, Twilight.” “What?” Twilight’s ear twitched, as did her smile. “What did I say wrong?” “Well, not you, physically. But that air y’pushed up Spike’s throat, t’make him sound like he’s talkin’, y’formed the wrong words with it.” “What?” Twilight asked again, her voice strained. Shining saw Celestia and Luna move, slowly walking sideways, opposite directions, rotating to the edges of the common area. He slowly began to walk forward as well, stopping a head short of Applejack’s position. The mare snorted at Twilight’s repeated question. “Spike didn’t tell me he wanted t’see Rarity happy with me. That’s what he said he was gonna tell you.” Twilight’s eye twitched, but she maintained her smile. She looked up at Spike, who shrugged. “My memory’s mixed up, I guess. Sorry, Twilight.” “No, no, don’t be sorry, Spike, it’s not your fault-“ “Dangit, Twilight!” Applejack shouted, stomping a hoof. “Drop the act! It ain’t foolin’ us!” Twilight swung her head back to the farmpony. “Spike is alive, Applejack! He’s different in some ways now, but he’s still the same dragon that came down to Ponyville with me!” “No he ain’t, Twilight! Faust-dammit, pull the hay from yer ears an’ listen!” Shining winced as Faust’s name was taken in vain; he glanced at Celestia warily, but she seemed to have ignored the insult to her mother. Twilight placed most of her focus on the curser; there was silence for a few moments while she and Applejack stared each other down. The earth pony took a breath. “If Spike’s alive now, if you really brought him back from the dead, then why’s he totally dependent on you for what he does?” “Because I need to keep my magic on him, so that he doesn’t slip back; I don’t know what went wrong, but I just need to study it more, and I can make the necromancy work like it’s supposed to. I at least improved it so that his mind is returned.” “Dangit, Twi, y’didn’t do that! The necromancy on him’s the same that Sombra was usin’! It don’t bring the dead back, it makes ‘em puppets!” She shook her head. “Earlier, Rainbow… implied, Ah guess, that Spike never talked, at least before today. That he doesn’t exactly act all up an’ about when y’aren’t around.” “I’m big. I can’t exactly be ‘up and about’ without knocking down buildings.” The dragon’s voice came down. Applejack glared at him. “Fine. Y’know what? Ignore everythin’ else. If y’can do this one thing, Spike, Ah’ll join with Twilight.” “And what’s that?” “First, lean yer head down here.” Applejack motioned to the ground with a hoof. The dragon complied, Twilight’s horn glowing slightly brighter as the dragon’s head neared the ground. Applejack waited until his neck was touching the ground before turning to Shining. “Put a barrier around us.” “Wait!” Twilight shouted. “I’m not going to let-“ “Y’can put a barrier around us too, if y’want. Ah just want t’make sure what Ah’m sayin’ stays between him an’ me.” Twilight’s brow furrowed, but she nodded. Her barrier came up first, a bubble encompassing the entire area around Spike and Applejack. Shining grunted, putting a thinner barrier around Twilight’s, his magic’s colour mixing with hers into a dark purple. Applejack waved at both of them, her mouth opened wide, but nothing being heard. After several seconds of this, she nodded to herself, moving to the side of Spike’s head that neither Shining nor Twilight could see. There was a half-minute of no movement before Applejack reappeared, tapping on the barrier; both Twilight’s and Shining’s fell at the same time, and Applejack took several steps away as Spike’s head raised. The mare glanced up at the dragon. “Go on. Do what Ah asked.” Silence. Spike didn’t move. Twilight put on a smile again, walking over to Spike’s leg. “Go on, Spike. Show Applejack that you’re still there.” Still nothing. Twilight twisted her head, glancing up at the dragon. “Spike?” “Come now, Spike. Don’t y’want me with ya? Just say it, say the words I said inta yer ear.” Applejack’s gaze flicked to Twilight; the unicorn maintained her eyes at the dragon’s head. “Spike, what’s wrong? Just say what Applejack told you to say. I don’t care what it is.” The dragon’s mouth opened. A small laugh escaped Twilight. “Come on, Spike. You can do it.” “No, Twilight, he can’t.” Applejack addressed the unicorn, who shifted focus to the farmpony. “Yes he can! He’s just thinking! Come on, Spike!” Twilight’s horn glowed brighter. Spike closed his mouth, then opened it again. “Spike!” “Twilight, listen t’me.” Applejack had softened her voice, though it was still loud enough for Twilight to hear. “He can’t say it because you didn’t hear it.” “Yes he can! Spike! Say it!” “No, Twilight, he can’t. Ah was talkin’ t’a dead dragon, there. Spike’s body is dependent on you because without you it don’t have anypony t’pull its strings. He’s not there, Twilight, no matter how hard y’want him t’be, just like Apple Bloom an’ Sweetie Belle.” “SPIKE!” “Twilight, Ah swear on my Element of Honesty that Spike is dead.” Applejack swallowed, her eyes starting to wet. She turned away from the other mare, walking slowly back to Celestia. “An’ no matter how y’try, y’can’t bring him back, sugarcube.” The air was still. Rainbow gave a wide-eyed look at Spike and Twilight, as did Pinkie. Twilight herself seemed poleaxed; her face had frozen with a smile half-faded, and she didn’t seem to even be breathing after Applejack’s announcement. Rarity wore a face frozen in shock; she was the first to thaw, however, beating a mad gallop to Twilight and turning the purple mare’s head to face her own. “Twilight, that doesn’t mean anything, does it?” The fashionista begged, shaking the mare in her hooves. “Spike’s just… he’s just…” Rarity reached for words that weren’t there, taking in hitched breaths. Applejack took a step forward, raising her hoof, but Rarity seemed not to see her. “You can still bring Sweetie back, right? Twilight?!” “That reminds me, Rarity.” Celestia intoned, calling to the white unicorn. “Your parents are extremely worried about you, and both yours and the Cakes are fearing for your safety, Pinkie. Rainbow Dash, there’s a young mare in Ponyville who could really use your presence right now.” “Twilight, please. You’re not well.” Shining himself addressed his sister. “You need help, but first you need to let this go.” He motioned to Spike. The dragon had frozen with his puppeteer. “Spike is dead, and you can’t-“ “SHUT UP!” Twilight screamed. Rarity stepped back with a whinny as the unicorn exploded. Twilight’s horn cracked audibly with magical energy, small bolts leaping off of it into the air. She glared at Shining, then at Celestia. “I don’t, I don’t know what you did to him, why Spike can’t hear her, but it stops NOW!” The guards behind Shining bristled. Spike roared roughly. Celestia and Luna lowered their horns, Luna aiming at Spike and Celestia at Twilight. “Twilight Sparkle, I am ordering you as your ruler-“ “You do not rule me! NOPONY RULES ME!” Twilight shrieked. Her horn crackled again, the bolts arching off of it and turning some of the ground to char. Celestia’s and Luna’s horns began to glow. “Twilight-“ The doors of Appleloosa’s town hall burst open, as did every door bordering the square. A veritable flood of ponies rushed out of each building, filling the square and easily surrounding the guardsponies, Ponyvillians, and Appleloosans. Celestia and Luna dropped their spells in shock, and Shining had to grit his teeth to remind himself of his duties. “Princess, get back here!” He shouted over the din. Both royals responded, ducking into position as Shining raised a barrier around the guardspony group. He could hear one of the Appleloosans muttering several curses in a fear-raised voice as the sheer numbers of the ponies outside blocked the view of Twilight; only when she was lifted up on a dragon’s palm did they see the crazed, joyous expression on her face. She yelled, amplified by magic enough to be heard through the barrier. “And you don’t rule these ponies either!” A collective roar rose from the mob, emphasized as Spike’s other paw lifted to reveal the ponies that had gathered behind Rainbow. Two of them wore defiant expressions, the third a worried one. It was the latter that Shining recognized. “Princess, that’s the Mayor of Hollow Shades.” Celestia and Luna both put their eyes on the stallion, who shrunk back behind the other two. Before they could say anything, Twilight began yelling again. “These ponies of Dodge Juction, Appleloosa, Hollow Shades, and Trotown have thrown off the tyrannical cover of your royalty, Princess. They now walk in the light of the Revolution, of democracy, of freedom!” Another collective roar. Twilight reared, her overcoat’s cape flaring out dramatically behind her. “I hereby declare the formation of the Pony's Democratic Front, to overthrow your regime and install the true government of Equestria’s citizens! No longer is anypony beholden to your oppressive regime, Celestia! We shall rise as one, a wave to destroy your grip on Equestria, and bring with us equality, freedom, and safety for all!” A third roar from both the crowd and Spike punctuated the large ball of ice that materialized in Shining’s stomach. He vaguely heard Fluttershy crying and Applejack trying to comfort her, focussing instead on the grim expressions that Celestia and Luna wore. “Princess-“ “Send up the signal.” Celestia sighed. “Appleloosa is lost.” Braeburn and the other Appleloosans turned to face Celestia. “Hey now, what’d’ya mean, ‘lost’? This is our town!” “I do not disagree, but there are at least five-hundred ponies plus a dragon outside of this barrier that would.” Braeburn blanched at Celestia’s words. “Shining, do it now.” The guard captain nodded, his horn glowing. He held the spell a few moments before opening a small hole in the top of the barrier and shooting it through. Straight into a pegasus. The mare barely had time to register the contact before the ball of magical energy ripped through her barrel; Shining, and everypony else inside and outside the barrier, watched in shock as her wings gave one final twitch before her body fell, slamming into the barrier with enough force to send feathers (and most of a wing) flying through the air. The rest of her body slid down, the ponies nearest it backing away as it hit the ground in another sudden thud. Beyond anyone in town’s notice, the spell exploded, giving a vibrant blue glare to the still body and rapidly growing pool of blood. For several seconds, nopony moved. There was a small cry, and a unicorn foal pushed its way through the crowd’s legs. The young filly stared blankly at the corpse for several more seconds, before a shriek ripped its way up her throat and out into the air. Then several things happened at once. The crowd gave off a scream of rage that rivalled Spike in volume, rushing at the barrier and slamming themselves into it. Twilight was yelling again, though the barrier and the crowd made her words indistinguishable, and Spike took in a large breath before spewing liquid fire across the upper part of the barrier. Shining gritted his teeth, his horn glowing harder as he poured more magic into the barrier. Behind him, Applejack started yelling. “What the buck was that supposed t’do?!” “The pegasus was an unintentional casualty, Applejack.” Celestia stated. “That was a signal for our reinforcements.” “Reinforcements? Y’mean the pegasi y’sent t’guard the Appleloosans?” “No.” Celestia gave a grim grin. “I mean the one-hundred reserve guardsponies with crowd- and dragon- control weaponry.” A small pink spot appeared in the sky, a fair distance away from Appleloosa. Celestia glanced at it. “They’ve landed. Captain Armor, I would recommend that we more out soon. I do not want you to overexert yourself.” “I need Spike to breathe fire again, I’m not putting the barrier down until he does.” Shining replied. Applejack twisted her head, and the Appleloosans stared at Shining as if his horn had leapt off of his head and started tapdancing. Luna also gave him a quizzical stare, but Celestia nodded, glancing at the ponies blocking the road out of Appleloosa. “I see. Faust, may you bring them a merciful end…” There was a period of relative silence in the barrier, broken only by the thumping of angry hooves and weapons on the barrier, and the shifting of guardspony armour. Shining watched Spike, bracing the barrier as he saw the dragon’s chest expand. “Get ready to run!” He shouted. Spike opened his mouth, and a small jet of flame cut through the air, speeding towards the barrier. Shining’s horn glowed, and the top of the barrier dropped several metres. The dragon’s fire sailed over the new height of the barrier, crashing into the ponies on the other side. A portion of the crowd’s roar became a shriek of agony. Shining lifted the barrier on the fired side, wincing as the screams and stench of burning flesh hit everypony. The guard unicorns held themselves together enough to begin pushing bodies, both alive and dead, away from the centre of the road and into the stunned and reeling crowd that had escaped the concentrated fire’s full force. The Appleloosans all stared in horror at the desolation, the unicorn retching his last meal onto the ground in front of him. Shining shifted his gaze to the Element Bearers, sighing in a small relief that Applejack was already running up the road with the earth pony guards and the Princesses, an unconscious Fluttershy laying across her back. He gave a telepathic push to the Appleloosans, getting them moving before the crowd’s sense returned. What was left of his barrier began to crack, and both he and the unicorn guards ran up the road, spinning on their hooves as they reached the foundations of the former sand wall. “Ready…” Shining shouted. The guards set themselves. “Aim…” The barrier began to crumble, small portions of magic dissipating under the repeated stress. Shining gritted his teeth, letting the magic go, his barrier fully disappearing. Several of the crowd ponies fell off balance, glancing up in surprise at the fifteen glowing horns lined up and aimed at them. “FIRE!” A loud unified crack was the entirety of the warning given to the crowd before blades of magic ripped through their semicircle of a front rank. More screams entered the air as ponies suddenly found themselves missing legs, wings, ears, jaws, eyes. Shining whistled, and the second rank of ten unicorns put their horns forward as the first fifteen bolted to catch up with the Princesses. “FIRE!” Shining shouted again, and this time many of the ponies had the good sense to cringe before the unicorns let their spells fly. This second salvo arced more into the centre of the crowd, balls of magic that waited several seconds before detonating and sending ponies flying, trailing blood from various new holes and freshly-severed limbs. Shining activated another barrier, this time encompassing the entire Appleloosan town square, doubled in strength of his last one. He tied it off instead of holding it, turning and galloping as fast as he was able in an attempt to put as much distance between himself and Twilight’s dragon as he could. The first rank of unicorns ran slightly ahead of him and the second slightly behind, their armour jostling but not impeding their movement. He and the unicorns were just reaching the undamaged rails when Shining felt the spell break. He turned and stopped, sending several blades of magic across the ground he had just removed his hooves from; uneven trenches erupted from the ground, wide enough to trip up a charge by the undisciplined horde. The fire had burned many, but only in the centre of the crowd; the edges would likely get away with superficial burns if that. The blades and blasts were intimidating, but they’d done less damage than the fire, and once Twilight realized that she’d only lost one-tenth of her force at most… As Shining watched, panting with exhaustion, no crowd appeared over the horizon. Just a large purple-green blur whose roar gave the ground a light rumble. Shining turned to the unicorns, all twenty-five of whom had for some reason stopped with him. “What the buck are you still doing here?!” “Sir, we thought-“ “GET YOUR PLOTS MOVING!” Shining shouted. They quickly glanced amongst themselves before quickly nodding at their captain, galloping as fast as they could. Shining turned to gain a quick look at Spike again before following them. For about a minute the group of unicorns ran, the dragon easily but slowly gaining on them. Shining was panting hard enough to set his ears ringing, his hooves numb and his eyes blurred from lack of moisture. He heard Spike roughly inhale mere seconds before the ground beneath him erupted, and he was sent flying accompanied by a stallion’s scream. Landing roughly on his side, Shining lay, a trickle of blood blurring the vision in his eyes further. He turned his head as a shriek of agony sounded beside him, seeing a blurred shape that vaguely resembled the bottom half of a pony. Shining turned towards the next sound, a wet roar, and he tried to set off a magical shot towards it before a spike of pain lanced into the root of his horn. Another scream cut through the desert air, piercing through the ringing pain. “HEY!” Shining shouted, every word sending his head pounding. “Hey, you bucking overgrown lizard! I’m right here! I’m the one she wants!” He managed to get his hooves under him, swaying slightly before an aura of magic grabbed him. He closed his eyes, trying to get at least one clear memory of his family before Spike bit him in half. Instead, three inequine shrieks tore the air above him, and as he opened his eyes three explosions sent shockwaves slamming into him. The magical grip tightened, and he felt himself pulled backwards. He noticed passing a dark blue blur before the black border around his vision expanded, and he lost awareness of his surroundings accompanied by a fading roar. ---