Celestia is involved; Decisions are made.
Two days later...
Twilight felt her eyelids flutter as her brain slowly woke up, pain making itself known in vague, dull aches as well as a dryness in her mouth and throat. Dragging one eyelid slowly open, she winced as the hospital light blinded her once again. Squeezing it shut momentarily, she opened it again before blinking to allow her vision to adjust. As she did, her hearing seemed to synch in with her still-drowsy brain, assaulting her with beeps, hoofsteps, breathing and various volumes of chatter. After opening her other eye and adjusting it, she blinked owlishly before trying to push herself up, relenting easily and wincing when a soft force pushed on her tender ribs.
"Easy, my faithful student," a familiar voice soothed, "You must rest." Blinking a little harder to rid herself of stars, Twilight angled her head to her blurry mentor.
"Prin...cess... Cel...es...tia?" Twilight rasped, the cool, sterilized air wreaking havoc on her desert-like throat, before a glass of water held aloft by a golden glow guided itself to her side, the straw poking towards her mouth.
"Take a few sips, Twilight. Then, we shall talk," Celestia said in a gentle tone, much softer than the motherly tone she usually spoke, pleased as the bedridden, bandaged unicorn did as she asked. When the glass was nearly half empty, Celestia pulled it away and set it on the bedside stand before setting a neutrally stern, yet tender gaze upon Twilight.
"Now, Twilight. I wish to hear everything you've seen of the one that did all of this. Please, leave nothing out," she said, the statement from Luna and, through her sister, the statements of the Elements of Harmony, Shining Armour, Doctor Beating Heart and Lieutenant Steady Shield fresh and swirling in her mind. Twilight swallowed a few times, as the IV, as yet unnoticed, continued to drip the painkiller into her bloodstream to remove the searing agony that her half-burnt coat and skin, to say nothing of her internals, sent to her brain. By her mane, Celestia could've sworn she'd spotted a few cracked ribs through the raw flesh when the doctor had pulled the bandages away, the non-sticky spell interwoven into the cloth preventing it from possibly doing more harm, to change them.
With a shuddering breath, Twilight began her story of the creature. In her drug-addled mind, she never took note of what she said. Nor the slight guilt over her teachers face, nor the subtle glow of her horn as the truth spell did its job. From the first encounter in the forest; to fighting and killing the Ursa Major (based on Twilight's description, Celestia guessed that it was an adolescent); to it leaving, only for Pinkie to follow; to searching with Princess Luna, which led to the fight and the trip to Ponyville Hospital, along with the events leading to the Hospital having two holes blown out of it.
After her pupil's story was done, Celestia cast a spell to lull Twilight back to sleep before leaving to meet with her sister. On the way, she passed the other rooms holding the victims of the creatures attack. Though the ponies that were in the path of the blast suffered blunt force trauma from the concussive wave as well as the debris, the ones truly affected were those in the room. As she made her way to her destination, she snuck glances in to ensure that they were doing well, despite having made that her first priority. What she saw burdened her heart with grief, just as the first time she bore witness.
Rainbow Dash; Young Fliers winner, athlete and future Wonderbolt. Laying on her side with little more than a stump of her left wing remaining and both hind legs being pieced back together with magic. She was demanding to see what was behind the sheet that shielded her gaze from her new disability. As Celestia continued, she heard a shrieking howl of agony and despair.
Applejack; hard-working, dedicated and farmer. With a severe amount of damage to her forelegs that could mean never bucking apples again. She lay almost comatose, clouded eyes hidden and withdrawn under her mane as her family tried to console her.
Rarity; polite, well-meaning and an excellent eye for fashion. Her mane and tail burnt away, and her right side bore intensive scarring from debris kicked up from the explosion. She was sobbing quietly as she hugged her sister, her mother and father standing close for support.
Fluttershy; meek, compassionate and lover of all creatures, great and small. Never able to see again from her left eye, with barely a fifty percent of seeing at all. She was still asleep, some of her smaller animals, including her pet rabbit Angel and Celestia's own Philomena, standing vigil on her bed.
Pinkie Pie; giggling, random and the best party-thrower she's ever seen. With an extensive and intricate device wiring her jaw shut to heal, along with her ribs. Despite the discomfort she must have felt, she continued playing with a pair of foals that the Cakes brought with them.
Beating Heart and Steady Shield took varying hits similar to the aforementioned Elements, but Shining Armour took the full brunt, as he had been the closest to the explosion, as well as protecting Twilight at the last moment. His entire left foreleg was gone at the knee, massive scarring was all over his chest and, worst of all for a unicorn, a crack ran the length of his horn, small chips already having fallen away. Cadance sat next to his bed, stroking his remaining forehoof as her lip quivered while they talked quietly.
Screwing her eyes shut, Celestia paused momentarily to take a deep, calming breath before blinking away tears. Once she was as calm as she could be, she entered Luna's room. Her sister looked up from where she sat, her injuries almost entirely recovered as the door was closed and a soundproofing spell cast.
"Well, sister? Did thou find what thou were looking for?" Luna asked, rising up with a slight wince.
"I did, Luna." Celestia's tone surprised and confused Luna momentarily; why was it so full of disappointment?
"Sister? Whatever is the matter?"
"Twilight told me the whole story, Luna," Celestia said, fixing a steady gaze at her younger sister, willing herself to stay calm, "and while I'm unhappy that she broke her word, something I never imagined she'd do, I can understand that. What I cannot understand," and here, her voice coloured with slight anger and sorrow, "is why you attacked that creature for no reason?"
"N-No reason?!" repeated a shell-shocked Luna, spluttering like a fish before declaring, "It refused to tell Us of it's intentions, it refused to leave when We asked it to, and it raised its voice at Us! It was clearly as hostile as Twilight described it!" Luna continued on her rambling, Celestia patiently waiting for her to finish.
Once her sister pantingly paused for breath, Celestia spoke, "And did it not occur that, perhaps, it was telling the truth, dear sister? And that it yelled because it was frustrated?" Seeing Luna prepare to launch another speech, she cut it off, "Much as you, yourself, have done since your return?"
Her mouth still open to retort, Luna's mind whirled as it grabbed at thoughts, reasons, arguments, excuses; anything to prove her sister wrong. Yet, Celestia's undeniable logic cut clean through each and every one with surgical precision. Seeing that Luna was still fighting logic, Celestia continued her attack.
"If it wanted to harm Twilight and her friends, why not do so when they met? Or even allow the Ursa to continue unopposed? If it wanted to harm you, why did it answer? Why not simply attack?" Seeing Luna waver, Celestia moved another piece closer, "If it was truly a monster as you, and the others call it, why did it leave Ponyville alone?"
Luna's mind grabbed at this last piece before working it over and delivering. "If it weren't a monster, then why destroy Ponyville Hospital? Why not simply jump out the window?"
Celestia's eyebrow rose. "This, from the filly who, a few thousand years ago, decided to try and level the maze to find the centre for the prize?" Luna's cheeks flushed at the memory.
Celestia struggled to keep her emotions under control as she moved her next piece in her strategy, "Luna, if you had spoken to the creature, rationally, what could have happened?"
Luna hesitated as she thought it over. We could have learned about its home, its culture. We could have sent it home, with a sinking feeling as truth slowly dawned in her eyes, to Celestia's sorrowful approval, We could have avoided this mess.
"Luna," Celestia gently intoned, eyes closed to hold back tears as she claimed checkmate, "All the ponies that are injured today are the result of your actions." With a choking sob, Luna threw herself into Celestia's hooves as she began to bawl into her mane while her sister patted her back and let her own tears slip almost silently.
"Tell me, Lulu," Celestia whispered, "Why?"
"Be-because w-we wh-where... af-af-afraid," Luna said, gulping air between sobs, "Th-the cr-creat-ure... th-there wa-was so-so much... p-power a-and i-it was s-so... c-cold and s-sc-scary, w-We f-felt th-that... it cou-could only be da-danger-rous..." As she spoke, Celestia stroked her mane soothingly. When she seemed to run out of things to say, Celestia pulled her head back after a few minutes of silence.
"While I am upset with you, Luna, I do not blame you. If you had known this would happen, would you have fought that creature?" Luna shook her head, unable to speak through the sniffles escaping her mouth, tears reddening her eyes and streaking down her face, "Then you are not at fault for the events that led to this. However," Celestia looked her nocturnal counterpart in the eyes, "We will be discussing punishment later." Luna nodded slightly in agreement.
A loud knocking at the door interrupted the moment. Motioning Luna to the bed, Celestia opened it, keeping the bed obscured with her body and disabling the spell, not bothering with the tears that dripped down her face still. The Royal Guard that stood at the door said nothing, but a sympathetic look let Celestia know the mare understood what had happened.
"Yes?" Celestia's voice came out a little rough.
"Your highness, some of our scouts have spotted a dragon approaching Ponyville. He seeks an audience with you."
Celestia nodded, stepping through and, sending one last look at her sister's quivering back, closed the door with a soft click.
"What can you tell me of the dragon?" Celestia asked as they walked towards the entrance of the Hospital, resolutely keeping her eyes from the doors of the Elements of Harmony. Rainbow Dash's room still yielded harsh sobs, however.
"He said he was attacked by the same monster that did all this," Flower Storm said, her wings subtly relieving themselves of an itch on the armour she wore, "And I'm inclined to agree." They remained silent until they reached the stairs, the elevator having been damaged in the creature's escape. As they made their way down, Celestia glanced at her guide before asking, "Do you have any siblings, Sergeant Storm?"
Flower's pace paused momentarily, before continuing on. "Yes, ma'am. Younger brother, just out of school," Her eyes misted over slightly, "Little Hard Head, heh, we'd always get into so much trouble... and he'd find his own brand of it sometimes too. We call him Headbutt or Ram, he's always charging head first, literally..." The two mares shared a brief chuckle before Celestia noticed something.
"You're not as formal as the other guards."
"No, ma'am," Flower responded with a slight smirk, "I figure that you get enough flank-kissing from the prissy nobles and some of the other guards, that I can be a bit more... relaxed." Celestia allowed a small smile to lift her mouth as she nodded with, "Thank you. It means more than you know that you act this way."
At Flower's blushing face at being thanked by the Princess of all ponies, Celestia remarked, "Just make sure to keep in line; I wouldn't like you to be thrown out for something so trivial."
Flower nodded, a small grin breaking the stoic Royal Guard face as she said, "Will do. And anyway, I'm no good at keeping up the whole 'stern Guard' look."
=========================
Garble growled as he slowly dragged himself towards the heart Ponyville, having become more or less used to the pain by now, surrounded by so-called Royal Guard. What he wasn't happy about was that here he was, a Dragon, dragging himself to a town of pansies. He should've been diving from the sky before crashing into the ground feet first to show all those weak ponies that Dragons are superior, before giving his demands.
Instead...
"Oh, dear. You truly did meet it."
Garble snapped out of his internal raging to glare up at Princess Celestia, his rage at not standing above her adding itself to the list of things he was pissed about. At the sight of his eyes, Celestia rose an eyebrow before stating, "For a dragon of your stature, being angry at me isn't going to help you."
Garble huffed before spitting to the side, a small pout on his mouth as he avoided Celestia's gaze. Thus, he didn't notice as her horn shone gold. He certainly noticed the gold light surrounding him as they teleported, and when the light faded, he found himself in a white room reeking of sterility and medicine.
"Where are we?" he asked, confused and embarrassed as Celestia's magic encased him before lifting the dragon onto the bed which creaked alarmingly until the Princess cast a spell.
"Ponyville Hospital. I felt that you would prefer not being seen by my, what was it?" Celestia said, tilting her head a little while looking off the side, "My 'weak, prissy, pansy" ponies?" As she finished, she looked at Garble with a slightly steely gaze.
Garble was a little taken aback by this, and so had no answer while Celestia spoke, "Yes, I know of your species' thoughts on my subjects, Dragon. While I am not happy, nor can I do anything, about it outside Equestria's borders, here you will treat my little ponies with the mutual respect that is deserved of all creatures. Otherwise, this as far as this meeting goes. It that agreeable?" Garble could only nod dumbly in agreement.
"Excellent," a smiling Celestia said, "Now then; I am Princess Celestia, Solar Monarch of Equestria. What might your name be?"
"G-", Garble began before coughing to clear his throat so that it didn't crack, "Garble."
"Garble?" Celestia's eyebrow rose at this, "As in Garble, that Spike wrote to me about the time of the Dragon Migration? The one who ordered him to smash a phoenix egg? That Garble?"
"Yep," was the response she received, along with an undercurrent of smugness. While she was interested to hear why a dragon would request an audience outside of diplomacy, nevermind what the situation was, this was something she felt she had to address.
"Now, while I'd like to know why a dragon was crawling to Ponyville after supposedly meeting with the creature, I feel I should make something clear," Celestia, speaking her mind, intoned before giving a slight glare that Garble returned.
"Phoenixes are somewhat rare enough in that world, that Equestria is effectively a safe haven for them. They are calm, they do not attack unless provoked and are rather friendly. Therefore," and here, Celestia's expression changed from slightly angry to calmly staring, "While you are within Equestria's borders," her eyes closed as she spoke, "You will not harm them, nor their eggs." Her mouth slid into an easy smile as she opened her eyes slightly to view Garble. "Is that understood?"
Garble was currently pale as he lay trembling under the Princess's gaze. How anyone could seem so terrifying while smiling contentedly was beyond him.
=========================
Retsu Unohana sneezed, a somewhat dainty sound, as she and Lieutenant Isane Kotetsu walked towards the First Division.
"Unohana-taicho, are you alright?" Isane asked worryingly as she handed her superior a handkerchief. Thanking her Lieutenant with a nod, Unohana took the offered cloth before quietly blowing her nose.
"I am, Isane. I suppose Shunsui and Jushiro are talking about me again."
=========================
After hearing Garble's story, and then, to her scepticism then disapproval, the whole story, of meeting with the creature, Celestia left him with the doctors to tend to his wounds. While Dragons had naturally regenerative abilities, the damage was still extensive.
As she walked, she reflected on what she'd learned of this creature; Not only was it something completely unknown, it was strong enough to bring down both an adolescent Ursa, her sister Luna and seven dragons, to say nothing of the magically strengthened chains she herself tested. It had also, inexplicably, used its 'magic' while having no less than six magic draining cuffs on its body with no sign of being even slightly stopped. She was even starting to doubt that it even could be described as magic, after she examined the traces back at ground zero where the creature had been chained.
Absentmindedly, she glanced around to find that she had ended up in the corridor housing the rooms the Elements of Harmony, Shining Armour, the three Royal Guards, Doctor Heart and her sister. Staring contemplatively at the wall at the end of the hallway, she made up her mind.
She needed to meet the creature. From there, she only dared hope what would happen.
=========================
As a Changeling zipped towards a gleaming onyx fortress, it was stopped by a set of four guards decked in spiked iron armour that intimidated even the Changelings that lived within the mountain. After delivering its message, the Changeling was granted access. After flying at full speed the past two days, it was relieved to have made it home. It gradually made its way through the forts courtyard to the throne room, towards the series of spikes that made up the throne where it collapsed just inside the formidable set of three doors. Rising to its feet, it stumbled the rest of the way.
Kneeling down in front of the throne, the Changeling, panting, buzzed in it's tongue, "My... Queen, I... have news."
Chrysalis, the Queen of the Changlelings, strode from behind her throne to take her seat, lounging in the softness of the black velvet that the Changelings had acquired during her... brief stay in Canterlot.
"What is it, my dear Changeling?" she asked, feigning interest while admiring her hoof. Which changed to full attention when she heard of what had happened in Ponyville. Thinking it over as the Changeling began to feel the fatigue catching up, she came to a decision. Looking at the Changeling, she said, "You may go now. And as a reward for your loyalty, I, Queen Chrysalis, hereby name thee..." Delving into the Hive Mind that connected all Changelings, she browsed quickly through who he was, before finishing her statement, "Whisper Wing."
The newly dubbed Whisper Wing stared in awe of his Queen, before falling to his knees and thanking her profusely before turning and walking out of the throne room to his quarters.
Chrysalis sat upon her throne, thinking hard. As ideas and plans began to click into place, she gave a smug smirk.
"Well, well, well. 'Twould seem that I have a soldier to recruit... and a ponydom to conquer."
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Finally the Vasto Lorde proven innocent in his actions as self-defense
she will be a like a bug on a windscreen
Grim, indeed. I noticed the narrative wasn't very clear on Twilight's injuries. Burns and cracked ribs, but not whether she's got some permanent disability as well. And those look like they will be permanent, unless Orihime or Captain Mom (liked the cameo btw) turns up.
Not sure what to think of Chrysalis' plans. On the one hand, the ponies screwed the pooch pretty badly with him, so if she picks her lies carefully, she might make some headway. On the other, Hollows do not generally take orders from all but those stronger than them. And using mind control on them could... end badly.
3244949
Shining took most of the attack, meaning Twilight managed to get away with just burns and whatnot. More on the injuries in the next chapter or two.
Thanks, I thought a touch of humour'd bring the story's overall feel from being completely in the negative.
If are hollow friend actually joins Chrysilas the ponies better prepare for the Shit-Storm that be a brewin.
weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/there-be-a-shit-storm-a-brewin.jpg
The only way for an hollow to follow you is having more power then it. Which the whole of Equis lacks in.
I enjoy seeing Luna get taken down a notch in this sad at the injuries interested in what celestia will do and terrified at what Chrysalis will do.
I do enjoy it more please before I burn down my house.
3246433 WOAH WOAH WOAH!
No need to get THAT drastic! O.o
3244718 After she meets with Ichigo, Chrysalis is gonna need a visit from kindly old Dr. Foot.
About time the Elements of Harmony got a dose of reality. I like them individually, but hate how arrogant they are.
Seriously, the only reason they ever defeated any of their opponents was because said opponents were morons who practically let the Mane 6 win. Nightmare Moon followed them and tried to get them to turn around instead of: A) attacking them directly, needing only to incapacitate one, or B) Go ahead to her old castle, take the Elements and hide them. Same with Discord, he had every advantage and lost only because of his own stupidity, heck he could have turned to air in their lungs into putting or popped them to a bottom of a mountain, OR simply not give them the Elements back.
The fact that they were so greatly outmatched but didn't realize it is ridiculous, they have no right to think they can handle half the stuff they do, nearly all of it being more on the side of luck than any real skill.
The Mane 6 are kind of like Mr. Satan (Hercule) in regards to there arrogance.
Anyways, enough ranting. Good chapter and I hope Ichigo kills Chrysalis. A side note, if only the girls would have relied on the Elements of Harmony to face Ichigo from the beginning, they probably would have restored him to a non-hollow state and things would be peachy keen.
My mind keeps seeing a c e r o against cellys ''solar beam''
3246979 ... All I had to read was, 'dose of reality' and my mind immediately went, 'Op, there goes gravity'. My bad. But yeah, I had the same view on the whole thing. Granted, RD shows enough arrogance for maybe a block of Canterlot nobles, but for the most part the arrogance is unintentional. Shit just goes their way for some bloody reason. Also, in regards to Elements on Ichigo; Perhaps. *non-committal shrug* Perhaps not.
3247337 ... Heh heh heh heh.... Ohhhh, I've got something similar planned, don't you worry about that.
Check the blog for a sneak peek, at the Tartarus Chapter I have planned.
what a TWEEST!
3255740 Ah, thanks for that! Damn, I musta overlooked it... I'll edit that in.
Again, thanks for catching that.
E: Well. that's fixed.
3255679 Ha.
Time for some updates!
3300681 On its way, I promise. Another day or two, brain's been a little finicky with some of the details...
omg really she really will try to recruit the vasto lord R.I.P the changeling race idiot to the very end
LOLZ!!!
*Sigh*
You know, the beginning of this chapter would, in pretty much any other story, be an incredibly powerful and moving moment with the innocent ponies facing the consequences of their actions, and it would be a moment that makes a story great.
But. Yes, there's always a but.
But the only problem, is that why should any of the readers care? I mean, you pretty much out right state in the chapter itself that the only reason the fight happened in the first place is because of plot contrivance and not because of believable, in-character reasons. Since the entire series of events leading up to this moment are entirely forced and break SoD, it just makes it impossible for the scene to have any impact. Also, pointing out the massive idiot balls and conflict balls needed to force the conflict in the story doesn't excuse the fact that it was done in the first place. If anything, it just reinforces the idea that all of this drama is happening because why not, and that's just not the right way to do it.
Now, it was still written very well (I'll give you that much), but that's about it. In all honesty, I almost wished it wasn't written so well, because at least that way I wouldn't be bothered by the knowledge that this great scene is tainted by everything leading up to it.