27-TD and the Mirror Pool: The Invasion of Canterlot
Oh it can be such a drag having useless servants.
Imagine what it's like, being born as one of the ultimate paragons of the pony race in every conceivable way, but then you have to be reduced to barking orders at dullards all day as if it is some job of some sort that life forced upon you. I mean, servants are there to make the lives of us superiors even better! They can hardly do that when they fail at even the most menial tasks provided. Then when you rightfully reprimand them for it, all they can say is "yes, Prince Blueblood" and "I'm sorry, Prince Blueblood." Then comes the groveling. I would think that Auntie Tia would hire far better. She is the ruler of all of Equestria! I surmised that she was smarter than to hire rabble.
But no, my lunch is slightly burned once more.
I sigh and push my plate away from me. I understand what they mean when they say that life can be miserable. There is no reason that I should be tortured so. Could this day get any worse? I walk towards the window and stare out it, the wind blowing slightly through my immaculate mane. I don't understand why life must be so difficult. We live in a utopia, in no small part because Equestria has some of the best royalty in the history of existence. It's not as though we live in fear of wa...AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!
No.
N-no.
I lean forward and squint in the direction of the train station. It looks like... the Gala Human. Not completely ridiculous in base theory, I suppose. Auntie Tia and Auntie Lulu did state that he was not able to go back to the barbaric lands from whence he came but... did he just begin breeding? Theoretically preposterous as there aren't any other humans here, but...
There are dozens, hundreds even, of him. They're pouring off of the train like an unstoppable tide! They're... they're coming straight for the castle.
Well, the servants must have cooked my food more poorly than I previously surmised if this is what I'm hallucinating. I mean, an army of Gala Humans coming straight for the castle like this... it's ridiculous. There's no way in Equestria that... that...
Uh...
Whuh....
"AUNTIE TIIIIIAAAAAA!!!!!"
I turn tail and run straight to Auntie Tia's throne room where I know she is holding court. She can solve this and send... all of him to the moon!
I burst into the throne room and slide a few hooves across the waxed floor, almost running into some undesirables, which would have just made the whole thing worse, quite frankly. Auntie Tia was sitting on her throne and giving me a puzzled look when she should have been gearing for war. Of course, in all fairness, I had yet to tell her the issue. I ran up to her and gave her a quick, customary bow before pointing wildly towards the nearest window.
"Auntie Tia a crisis is occurring! The Gala Human has arrived!"
Now, there were several different ways that she should respond to this piece of distressing news: anger that he dare set hoof in our beautiful city, a call to war to defeat him, and so on. Irritation towards me is not the proper way! She doesn't have to frown at me!
"Prince Blueblood, while TD is not technically an Equestrian citizen, I have granted him all of the rights of one. He is more than welcome to come to Canterlot whenever he desires."
My pupils shrink to pinpricks and my left eye and ear twitch. "A-Auntie Tia, surely you jest. The Gala Human is not allowed to come to Canterlot whenever he desires to invade!"
Ah, now there is the proper reaction! She looks far more bothered now. Her frown is one of confusion, and she's looking out the window as if she's not sure whether or not to believe me. Well, she should believe me because I'm right! That beastly thing has come with an army of his theoretical lessers and is coming to take over Canterlot! She slowly stands up and gives her full attention to the window.
"Prince Blueblood, I know that you and TD, and that is his name and I'd like for you to refer to him as such from here on out, have not always gotten along, especially after the Gala, but to say that he is 'invading' is a little strong, wouldn't you say?"
"NO!" I wail. "He brought an army! They just left the train station!"
This really confuses her, and I admit that I'm just as confused by her confusion. What part of what I just said did not make sense?! The Gala Human is attacking with an army of his ilk! We're all doomed unless she does something posthaste! She walks over to the window, looks out the window in the direction of the train station, and screams.
Yes, I never thought I'd hear my Auntie Tia scream, but it seems she just did. It was a short scream, and she covers her mouth with her hoof immediately, but she screamed nonetheless.
"I'm sorry. So sorry, everypony," she says with a little quickness. "It seems that TD has found a way to multiply himself and is marching upon Canterlot." She gives a little chuckle that rightfully holds no humor and turns to the senior most guard member. "Lieutenant, assemble a token force to meet this army. I want to know what he's doing and why."
The lieutenant saluted and ran off with three other guards following behind him. I let out a most princely whimper and look up at Auntie Tia, not afraid, per se, of looking through the window again, but I surmise that it might be a poor choice. I got enough of a shock when I saw the army of humans the first time, thank you very much. I begin following Auntie Tia out of her throne room.
"Auntie Tia, are you sure that fighting the human is wise? I mean, wouldn't it be more prudent to send him to the moon where he doubtlessly belongs?" I flatten my ears and look towards a window. "He really should be banished from Canterlot at any rate. You know I'm right!"
Auntie Tia glowers at me and continues walking towards what turns out to be the direction of her room. "Prince Blueblood, I don't have time for your nonsense at the moment. TD will not be sent to the moon. He will explain why he cloned himself in such a manner, but you must remember that he hasn't even done anything yet."
As if on cue the next thing that the two of us hears is screams and the sounds of a battle outside of the castle walls. We gasp and rush towards a window to see that the army of humans is right outside of our doorstep and the token force is lying in a battered heap at the army's hooves. I let out a, I assure you, most princely scream when I see that the humans in the front of the army have all changed their forelegs, or whatever the heck they have, to other animal's limbs, ensuring their easy victory.
"This is horrendous, Auntie Tia," I mutter. "You can't beat all of them, can you? There are far too many!"
"Prince Blueblood be silent or remove yourself from this hall!" Auntie Tia ignites her horn and the large gate to the castle begins closing. The guards standing outside of it quickly rush inside, the last making it in just as the gate slams shut. The human horde begins pounding on the gate to try to smash it down, but Auntie Tia puts a protective shield over it. They won't get in so easily! It seems like we have won the day!
* * * *
I do not understand.
TD has been fine, from what Twilight has been telling me. A little depressed, perhaps, particularly in the first few days since his return, but on the whole he has been doing well from what I understand. But this? This is not something that I expected. This is not something that I even thought was possible! How could TD clone himself to this degree? It doesn't seem like something that he has the means to do! He is not a magical being, and there is no way that Twilight would agree to clone him like this. Though for that matter, I'm not sure which TD is the original. Upon closer examination, the one who seems to be leading them does not look exactly like TD. Mostly like him, to be sure, but not exactly like him. His hair his brighter red, and he has a goatee. Of course, TD is by no means barred from growing facial hair or dying his hair, so it could still very well be TD.
It matters not, I suppose. I still have to figure out how to repel the invaders and get to the bottom of all of this. I turn to my nephew. "Prince Blueblood. Go get Princess Luna. I do not care if she is tired, tell her that it is an emergency. TD is attacking the castle for reasons yet unknown to us."
Prince Blueblood bolts down the hallway towards Luna's room. Good. At the very least that gets rid of him for a brief moment. The last thing that I need right now is Blueblood. An army of TDs is trying to break down the gate to Canterlot Castle, and I need to find out why. I take wing and fly out to one of the battlements to see TD's army trying to smash down the gates. I land above them and take a deep breath, letting a feeling that I had not let fester inside of me for quite a while go.
"BE STILL!"
Even clones of a sometimes insufferable human cannot ignore the Royal Canterlot Voice from the goddess of the sun. They all cease pounding on the gates with their changeling hands and stare up at me in awe. I give them all my most impressive glare and flare out my wings. "Explain yourselves at once! Where is the real TD?!"
The group of TDs look at each other and, to my great annoyance, smirk and laugh. The one with the fiery hair and goatee pushes himself up to the front of the crowd and looks up at me. He is holding TD's staff and has TD's knives, so he is admittedly the best candidate for the original.
"We'll call me the original, TD, Celestia, and I'm here with my fellows to make sure you answer for what you did to me."
My mouth twists into a snarl and I motion to the unconscious soldiers. "And them? What did they do to you?"
"They got in my way," he replies with an irritating amount of ease and nonchalance. "I wasn't here for them, I'm here for you." His smug smile widens ever so slightly and he taps his staff on the castle gate. "I will do the same to any who get in my way. I'm here for you, Celestia, and I will not be denied my prize."
"I am no prize!" I snap. "You will disband your army at once! Surrender, or face the consequences!"
"Consequences?" He laughs and shakes his head. "The consequences are for you not surrendering, not me. You and that sister of yours are to come out of the castle for us to do with as we please. You will not be killed or sexually abused, but beyond that I make no promises." His eyes narrow and he slams his staff on the ground. "You didn't respect me, Celestia! I was a chess piece to you! I was just something for you to lord over! Something to not take seriously, and now you will face the consequences!"
"I have no idea what you are talking about, TD!" I snarl. "I have nothing but the utmost respect for you! I have tried to do nothing but help you in every way that I could!"
"Lies!" he snaps. "It's all lies! You tore me from everything I knew and loved and I just sat there and took it like a wimp! I should have done this six years ago!" TD lets out a growl and slams his staff into the palace gate, sending a ripple through the shield I have put up. "Your day of reckoning is upon you, Celestia. It's time to pay your dues."
It is at that point that Luna lands beside me, glaring at the army of TDs on the ground as well. She has undoubtedly heard what he has been saying, and she doesn't like it any more than I do.
"Thou art being foolish, TD Powell!" Luna shouts. "We have no ill will towards thee, now or ever!"
TD laughs again and his army joins in. "Well, that's too bad, then, because I have every bit of ill will towards you two that I can muster, and that is quite a lot, let me tell you." His amused expression fades and his expression once again turns to anger. "Come out and face your judgment day! Your payment to me is long overdue!"
"You could not beat us in a fight, even with your numbers!" Luna insists. "Beyond that, we do not even have a wish to fight thee!"
TD stares up at the two of us, giving us impressive glares. We say nothing for a solid minute, but eventually he sighs and nods. "Very well. On your head be it." He turns to face his army. "We have the entirety of Canterlot before us, boys. Celestia and Luna are too busy hiding, so they clearly don't care what we do with it. Burn it. Burn it all."
Luna and I gasp. This is truly not the TD that we know. He would never callously do something like this. He would never do anything like this at all. I turn to Luna. "Assemble the guard and tell them to attack. We must protect the citizens of Canterlot at all costs. If TD hurts a single one of my little ponies, I will make sure that he is severely punished." Luna nods and flies off.
It is time for war.
* * * *
I will give TD this: he is well armed, well trained, and resilient. His order to attack the ponies of Canterlot and burn the city was just a ruse, a ruse that I should have seen through. It was all to get me to open the gate. I should have known. The second that we rallied our soldiers and opened the gates so that our earth pony and unicorn soldiers could get through, he ordered a mass charge to get through the gates. My soldiers fought valiantly, but in the end they were not trained to fight beings like TD. As a matter of fact, they are not used to fighting in general. Now that I think on it, they were defeated this easily when the changelings invaded Canterlot as well. That aside, the army of TDs is larger than my soldiers, more numerous, they are armed, they have opposable thumbs, they have changeling powers themselves, and a ferocity that my little ponies have not seen before. The ones not airborne found themselves quickly overpowered, and my shield spells could only do so much against such a tide. I rue that TD's army suffered barely anything resembling casualties. A few superficial spear wounds hardly amounts to anything that I would call positive.
It is getting ugly, and I'm not sure what to do.
To make matters worse, the army has taken civilian hostages of my staff. If Luna and I are seen fighting, then they will harm my staff and then begin burning Canterlot as promised. There are too many to stop. They are after our surrender. Nothing less.
For now, we are holed up in my throne room with what is left of my guard and staff trying to keep the army out. Luna and I are holding the doors shut with our magic, but they are pounding on the doors. I fear that they will soon break them down.
"This is hopeless, Tia," Luna whispers. "We could fight, but he has his forces patrolling Canterlot to begin sacking it for that very reason."
"I know, Luna, let me think." I sit on my throne and stare at the only entrance to the throne room. The very door is shaking as the army pounds on it. All around me the moans of wounded soldiers echo, reminding me of what's at stake and that I really do need to train my army to actually fight. If this was a threat that was willing to kill, we would not be in such a good position. That is saying something, considering that we are in an extremely poor position. I have sent six letters to Twilight, but I have received no responses.
If I fight then they harm my staff and burn Canterlot. I have no illusions that I'd beat the army, of course. They're not magically more powerful than I am. However, what would the cost be? Most of my staff maimed and half of Canterlot in flames? If I fire up my horn in defense of my ponies, this will be the result. I do not want to give in to a terrorist, but it seems that I have few other options.
"Lulu, What are we going to do?"
BANG. BANG.
The pounding on the door is getting louder. My shield spell will hold, but I do not know how long it will be before TD decides to sack Canterlot because we do not surrender.
"We cannot just surrender to him, that would show that we are weak and give opposing forces a blueprint to defeating us."
BANG. BANG.
"And I do not wish to fight, for it could lead to the deaths of too many of my subjects." I slowly get to my hooves and walk over to my sister who is staring at me, unblinking. Her eyes betray her worry, and I know that she is just as scared as I am.
BANG. BANG.
"The city may be lost, Tia." Luna looks to the door and flattens her ears. "We are unsure of how to defeat this foe. His forces are too numerous and well trained. We do not wish to give in to him, but at the moment, that seems to be the only option."
"I refuse to believe that, Luna!" I snarl. BANG. BANG. "I refuse to believe that our situation is completely hopeless! We can defeat TD if we just think! There has to be some situation that we have not considered!"
BANG. BANG.
The guards and servants whimper as the banging on the doors gets louder. They are trying harder to break down the doors now. They won’t, not with my magic, but I'm worried that he will order the burning of Canterlot if we do not come out soon.
"But We do not wish to give in to a terrorist such as he!" Luna snarls. "To do so would present ourselves as weak and ensure that he does not come to justice for this most heinous of crimes!"
"I know, Luna, but the fact remains that right now it's going to take a miracle for us to get out of this.
That's when I hear a phoenix caw.
* * * *
"Thanks, Oswald. Now they all know we're here. Thanks a lot."
Twilight smirks and walks up next to me. Our army is exiting the train that thankfully returned to Ponyville right after it dropped off the army of TDs. Pretty convenient for us, but I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, no pun intended.
"It's okay, TD," Twilight says, "Now Celestia knows we're here too. She'll try to send help our way so that we don't have to do all of the fighting ourselves."
I snort and cross my arms. "Really? Because Goatee's army has probably wiped out the guard already. Our best bet was the element of surprise." I wave my hand and shake my head. "It doesn't matter. We have the weapons."
I take a few steps back and look back over at the Ponyville army that has assembled. Most of the town showed up and is wielding whatever weapons and armor they could muster: Brooms, pots, pans, sticks, cooking ladles, tennis rackets, the list goes on. I'm worried that they're going to get hurt, but if Twilight's plan goes right, then casualties should be very minimal once the other TDs discover what they're up against.
I take a deep breath and look over at Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom is wielding a hammer in her mouth and Sweetie Belle has a croquet mallet in her telekinetic grasp. Rarity and Applejack originally tried to dissuade them from coming, but considering that Scootaloo was in danger, there was no talking them out of it. They geared up with the rest of the town.
Of course, one might wonder what advantage the townsponies have over the changeling powers of my clones. Well, Twilight did it. She figured out a way to fuse her anti-Mirror Pool magic to the weapons. One hit from any one of the weapons and the clones go straight back to the mirror pool. My goal is to get a small force to Celestia to explain things to her, then have her use the same magic to give us extra firepower. It's our best bet against a frankly superior fighting force.
But we can't think of that right now. It's time to begin fighting. The ponies begin lining up in their battle formations and I take my place in front of them. I look out into the city. My clones fill the streets, many of them holding torches and harassing the Canterlot citizens. Apple Bloom leans in close to Sweetie Belle "Courage, Sweetie Belle, courage fer Scootaloo."
I growl and adjust my helmet, relishing the feeling of my armor on despite the fact that I wanted my adventuring days to be behind me. I turn to the gathered ponies and begin jogging up the line.
"Rainbow Dash and Applejack, take your group around the edge of the city and look for Spike and Scootaloo."
Rainbow Dash salutes with both her wing and the large stick she has for a weapon. "Group ready."
"Pinkie Pie and Rarity, follow Twilight down the center. Fluttershy, take your group directly to the castle to try to contact Celestia." The other ponies salute and I quicken my pace. "Forth, and fear no darkness! Arise! Arise ponies of Ponyville! Pots may be shaken, sticks may be splintered! A sword-day, a red-day! Ere the sun rises!"
The TDs have noticed us now. They are beginning to form a battle line directly to where we're about to charge. Most of them have changed their hands to something more powerful, and they're giving war shouts of their own. Apple Bloom leans in next to Sweetie Belle again. "Whatever happens, we gotta stick together. We're Cutie Mark Crusaders. We'll look after each other."
I take my own charged weapon, a tent pole, and run down the line, tapping the extended weapons of the gathered Ponyvillians because this is so cool and I really just crossed something off of my bucket list. "Charge now! Charge now! Charge! Charge for ruin, and the world's ending!" I swing around and point my makeshift spear at the gathered army of TDs. "DEEEEAAATH!"
I expect to hear a loud, rallying response, but all I hear is silence. I turn around, a bemused expression on my face, and see that my army is looking at me with equally bemused, and in a few cases utterly terrified, expressions.
"Uh, what's that about 'death,' TD?" Applejack asks. "Ah mean, we ain't exactly plannin' in dyin' here."
I groan and facepalm. "No... I don't mean literal death. I was just being cinematic. I..." I wave my hand and turn around. "Whatever. Let's just try it again." I clear my throat and raise my tent pole high. "VICTORY!"
This time it has the desired result after a few moments. The ponies seem to gather what I'm doing, and they respond in kind. "VICTORY!"
"VICTORY!"
"VICTORY!"
"VIIIICCCTOOOORRRRYYY!!!!!"
"VICTORY!"
I swing my tent pole forwards. "Forth ponies of Ponyville!"
And with that, the charge begins.
"VICTORY!"
I can almost hear the theme music playing as the army of Ponyvillians charges forwards towards the mass of TDs. The ferocity of their war cries and shouts is having the desired effect, and I can see a slight bit of nervousness behind the expressions of the TDs on the front line. Still, they stand fast with their own makeshift weapons and changeling hands. Well, more's the pity for them. Twilight planned for that. As we get closer, Twilight, who has no weapon, ignites her horn and levitates dozens upon dozens of stones off of the ground. With another burst of her horn, they become charged with anti-Mirror Pool magic.
"Hold!" I shout. She's not quite in range yet. Close, but we need to be really close to get the maximum effect. They have no idea what's coming. "Hold!" Closer now. More TDs are coming. Geez, how many of me did this guy make? "HOLD!" We're ready. I turn to Twilight. "NOW!"
With another burst from her horn, Twilight rockets the rocks towards the front line of TD clones. The vast majority of them connect, and the TDs that are hit instantly expand and evaporate into bright light that begins traveling back towards the Mirror Pool. The best part is that she doesn't need a large stone or a direct hit. Any touch of the magic sends them right back. As such, the first line of TDs is almost completely wiped out. Twilight lifts more rocks and sends out another volley, sending many more back to the Pool.
It's by that second volley that they understand what is happening, and my clones begin to retreat. The genius of Twilight's plan, though, is that by this point we are close enough that we can start running them down. The clones are quickly overtaken because ponies, particularly pegasi, are faster than they are. Weapons come down and TD clones are quickly sent back to the Pool. Given that I am wearing armor and have Oswald next to me, Twilight knows darned well which TDs are not me, and she acts accordingly. She is blasting them left and right.
The TD army is in full disarray. They didn't expect to come up against a foe that could just blast them aside without a second thought. Most of them aren't even attempting to fight, and the ones that are are only fighting for a second before getting tapped by whatever weapons the ponies have and sent back to the pool. Since the spell doesn't send back things that aren't from the pool, the armor is also enchanted, so any attempts to strike the ponies also gets them sent back to the pool.
Long story short, we're winning. Easily.
I run towards the castle, smashing any TDs that get in my way. Obviously Twilight started out the battle with the highest KO count, but I am going to give her a run for her money if I have anything to say about it. Besides, I have a score to settle with a certain goateed somebody who I surmise is in the castle trying to get to Celestia. I follow Fluttershy's small strike team towards the castle and see that the gates are conveniently opened for us already. I hold my tent pole in one hand and a charged rock in the other. It's time to end this madness.
I run into the hallways of the castle and see even more TDs. The strike team and I quickly engage them, and the TDs soon learn how we broke through the main army with such ease. With our enchantments, they don't stand a chance, and it is not more than five minutes before we have them routed and running. We advance towards the throne room with little trouble.
There he is.
We round a corner, and there he is: the source of all of my problems thus far. Goatee. He is standing in front of the throne room door, organizing a group of TDs to try to pound it down as Celestia is presumably inside. Beside him is Blondie who has his arms wrapped around Spike and Scootaloo, both of whom are being guarded by four TDs armed with royal guard spears.
"GOATEE!!"
He spins around and sees me standing there with the strike team beside me. Well, part of it, anyways. I have ordered Fluttershy to take a few ponies to fly around to the throne room windows to try to contact Celestia. He glares at me and tightens his grip on Reginald. "YOU! I thought I made it quite clear that you were to stay out of my way if you did not want to join me!"
"And I thought I made it clear that your idea to invade Canterlot was stupid!" I retort. "And I'm right! Your army is in shambles! Any high ground you have is gone!"
He smirks at me and chuckles. "Oh, I doubt that. Even if you broke through, I doubt that there is really a way for your rag-tag team to actually break my army. We'll win the day."
"Oh yeah?" I return his chuckle and take the enchanted stone out of my pocket. "If that's what you really think."
I wind back and throw it as hard as I can. It connects with one of the TDs guarding Spike and Scootaloo, and with a scream he is sent back to the Mirror Pool.
Well, I can hazard a guess that Goatee didn't see that coming. His jaw is dropped and his eyes are widened in surprise at the blatant loss of one of his troops like that. "It's like that all over Canterlot," I say with no small hint of smugness. "My Ponyville army has wiped out your Mirror Pool one, and we'll be sure to destroy the Pool after this." I take a step towards him and twirl the tent pole. "You can't win. You have already lost."
Goatee blinks once and closes his mouth. He looks between me, then back to Scootaloo and Spike. His eyes narrow and he points at Scootaloo. "Kill her!"
Oh no he didn't! Bad side or no, I'm not letting him do that. With a battle cry, I swing my tent pole down and it connects with the head of the TD about to stab Scootaloo. He is sent back to the Pool just as I spin and hit the TD standing next to him. The strike team is engaging the meager amount of TDs around Goatee, and I have just hit the fourth TD, leaving Spike and Scootaloo free.
"Run!" I call to them.
They waste no time in doing so. Blondie lets them both go, and they bolt in the opposite direction away from Goatee, who would have already killed me if looks could kill. He lets out a scream of utter fury and runs towards me, swinging Reginald as he does. Well, it won't do him too much good. I'm just as good with this tent pole here, and I only need one good shot. I charge towards Goatee, readying my weapon for the final strike that will put an end to all of this. Once the mastermind is down, the whole thing can end. All we really need to do is mop-up anyway.
Of course, he still has one more trick up his sleeve, one that I didn't see coming.
As we reach each other, he suddenly drops Reginald and slides on the ground. I swing downwards to hit him, but I play into his hands. He wraps his arm around Blondie and uses him as a human shield. My blow connects with the side of Blondie's head. He doesn't even have time to grunt before he evaporates into light.
Okay, I know that Blondie probably would have had to go back to the Pool anyway, but... DUDE!!! Not cool!
I don't have time to think about that, though. What did Tycho teach me? Be prepared for anything. He'd be disappointed in me if he could see me now. Goatee uses my shock to pull out one of my knives and swing it at me. I thankfully notice just in time what he was up to, but I didn't pull back soon enough to avoid injury. It is the Diamond Dog knife, so it slices right through my glove and into my hand. I gasp in pain and drop my weapon. Goatee swings the knife again, but I jump back and it glances off of my armor.
Oh, it is on now.
He uses a guard spear and slaps my tent pole away and I dive towards Reginald. I pick it up and leap to the side just as he starts wildly swinging the knife and the spear at me. I don't care if the spear hits me, I'm wearing armor and he's wielding it one-handed, meaning he can't get a good swing with it, but the knife is a separate issue. That could cause some serious damage. I already suspect that I'll need some stitches to my hand. Or phoenix tears.
As if on cue Oswald begins flying around his head, doing his very best to annoy him. Oswald isn't really all that fond of beings that try to hurt me, and this guy did just that. Oswald pecks at Goatee's head, forcing him to swing his weapons at Oswald, who easily dodges. I, in turn, slam Reginald into Goatee's head. He flies back into the wall, clutching his head and dropping his weapons. I run over to my knife and quickly pick it up so that he cannot use it. He tries to get up, but I slam Reginald into his head again.
He is down for the count, and I could not be happier about it.
I groan and lean Reginald against the wall. I undo my gloves and look at the knife wound on my left hand. Yeah, that's another scar for me. Oy. Because I don't have enough of those already. Would this one count as being self-inflicted if it's by a clone? I have no idea.
Whatever, I need to find my tent pole so I can send this guy back to the Mirror Pool where he belongs. I look around for a moment and see it lying a few feet away from him. I walk over to it just as the door to the throne room opens up and Celestia walks through it. I give her a glare and pick up the tent pole. "About time you got involved."
"He threatened to burn Canterlot if I did. Considering I had no army, I did not see a way for me to feasibly get involved without bringing harm to civilians."
I scoff and tap the tent pole on the ground. "Really?" I roll my eyes and rub my temples. "Whatever. It doesn't matter now. Ponies from Ponyville solved the problem themselves once again, leaving you to--"
"TD WATCH OUT!"
Fluttershy's voice rings through my ears and I turn around to see Goatee standing behind me, a knife raised high. His look of pure fury is unlike anything that I ever thought possible from myself, and I shamefully admit that I freeze for a brief second. A brief second being, of course, all he needs to do whatever he wants. He swings the knife down directly towards my neck.
All of a sudden, I hear the sound of something colliding with flesh and bone. Something that sounds like a rock, as a matter of fact. I see Goatee rapidly expanding as all TDs do when hit by anti-Mirror Pool magic, and before I can process exactly what has happened, Goatee has evaporated into a ball of light that is zooming towards the Mirror Pool back in the Everfree Forest.
The hallway is silent as everypony stares in awe at the pony who just saved my life. I myself never imagined that Cheerilee would ever look like that. She's standing in front of me, her foreleg extended as though she just threw something. Something like the glowing rock at my feet. Her mane is disheveled, she's littered with small cuts, bruises, and dirt, and a long cut is running down her face from the middle of her forehead halfway down to her jaw. She has a glowing guard's spear in her mouth, and I imagine that she would have thrown that if she could have or had the time.
Slowly Cheerilee opens her mouth and the spear, which I have no doubt that she used, rolls out and clatters on the floor. She glares at the spot where Goatee used to be. "Nopony. Threatens. My. Students."
And with that, Cheerilee turns tail and nonchalantly walks away.
Wow.
Guess it doesn't matter that Scootaloo hasn't been Cheerilee's student for a good two or three years now. Once Cheerilee's student you always get her seal of protection. So I guess if somepony hurts Sweetie Belle thirty years from now Cheerilee's going to put out a hit on that person.
Wow.
I turn to Celestia and blink twice. "Well... there you go. I think that's all of them. He was the leader for sure."
Celestia shakes her head and runs a hoof through her mane. "So you are the real TD, yes?" I nod. "I figured as much based on Oswald's behavior and Fluttershy's testimony."
I nod. "Yeah, real me. I went into the Everfree Forest after Fluttershy's chickens and fell into the Mirror Pool."
"Ah." Celestia closes her eyes and lowers her head. "The Mirror Pool. I should have known. That does make sense." She opens one eye and looks over at me. "So you fell in and it produced him?"
I nod. "Yeah, and the blonde one, whom I guess you didn't see. Basically falling into the Mirror Pool produces your good side and bad." I shrug. "From what I could tell, Goatee was the side of me that harbored resentment for everything and wanted revenge against you. He--"
I'm cut off when Twilight runs up to Celestia. Well, more like limps. I can see that she has a cut across one of her cheeks and a few bruises, but a rather nasty gash on her leg. However, she doesn't seem too concerned with any of that. I can't imagine why. We've won, after all. She looks really scared, actually. Like the whole world is about to come crashing down. "Princess Celestia! We... have to..."
Twilight collapses on the ground in front of Celestia and Celestia sits in front of Twilight, wrapping her in her wings. "Twilight, what's the matter?! What happened?!"
Twilight takes a few deep breaths and points out to the window. "S-statue garden. W-we have to get the Elements of H-Harmony now!"
I frown and tilt my head. "Why?" I look out the window. "Does it have anything to do with those cotton candy clouds? Because I didn't do that."
"Cotton candy clouds?" Celestia's eyes widen. "Discord!"
It is right then that I vanish from the throne room.
Yes, I have a reason for Discord in the story.
We also have here our first piece of TD fan music!
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This one was murder to edit, not because it was so long, but because I had my wisdom teeth removed earlier today. My entire jaw is in pain, and I can hardly eat anything through my swelling lower lip. At least my tongue has stopped swelling by now, so it is slowly improving as time goes by, but it is still rather difficult to edit when you're coping with so much pain and the remaining effects of the laughing gas they gave me with the sedatives.
It's painful man.
And just to get it out of the way:
CURSE THEE CLIFFHANGER ENDINGS!
Still.... Discord! Blech.
Unless TD immediately stabs him in the eye.
Flied? I think you mean flew.
3730231 They're done when they're done.
3730257 Flies, actually. Hit the wrong button.
I do hope this Discord shows this TD the other realities.
DAAAAAAAAAAAMN
That, sir, was a great chapter. I cried laughing when he went all Theoden and my laughter could be heard in the whole city when the ponies just went 'wot m8'. Thank you for making this morning a hell of a lot better for me
.
3730287 Comedy tag. So, was TD and the Mirror Pool everything you were hoping for?
this chapter.....WAS GLORIOUS!!
3730129 Luckily for me, I was born without wisdom teeth.
Yah! go Cheerilee.
Oh and very nice update.
Missing quotation mark at the end.
Missing quotation mark at the beginning.
Either Unnecessary quotation at the end or missing quotation at the beginning
Not sure if second courage needs to be capitalized
Is Applejack supposed to be at two places at once?
Missing quotation at the beginning
Might need a period after Twilight. Not entirely sure
Needs a period between are and weapons. Or weapons needs to be lower case if that is a comma
things
They
I look out the window. "Does it have...
Also
LOTR reference FTW.
3730540 Fixed. Oy, editors with missing wisdom teeth.
I only have one question and one question does Oswald will develop a crush on Philomina?
I would guess this amount of chaos would awaken Discord.
Well, can't wait to see what happens next chapter.
Huh, so DIscord wasn't freed for the second time yet...
3730564 no. He wouldn't. I'm all for him and cheerilee, though
YYYYEEEEAAAAAHHHH!!!!
Eh, TD will just knee Discord in the crotch.
I really hope that this story will have Discord acting more like he does in Cannon then he does in Breaking of a Non-Brony.
Other then that this chapter was quite awsome, only kinda wished that Celestia had gotten to utterly ruin Goatee for hurting so many of her little ponys, and I dont mean send him back to the pool, but just tear him to shreds for in a manor that would make the real TD never look at her in the same way again. I cant be the only one who thinks that hurting her subjects is the fastest way to get Celestia really mad, can I?
Dang this is really good!
Croquet Mallet?
img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/tune_in_drop_out/Oh%20So%20Random/Shining5.jpg
TD army is best army.
And now... Discord.
3730846 NO! IT SHALL BE CANON!
3730983 What do you want canon? Me shipping him with Applejack?
3730906
Could've been worse, could've been exact copies of TD.
God damn. TD just doesn't get a fuckin' break, does he?
3730727
I know it isn't listed as one but I think this series can count as Alternate-Universe or maybe Discord did get let out while TD was gone and got shoved back in for some reason.
Either way this should be interesting.
3731055
For sure.
HAHAHAHAHA! YOU KNOW WHATS FUNNY!? HA! I just finished watching The Lord of The Rings extended versions, and when you did the whole battle scene and when TD hit all the "spears" it damn as well reminded me of that scene in the third movie! Ha! Hilarious! Also... Don't watch the LoTR extended versions in one sitting. Bad for your health. Trust me.
3730264 so I take it that in the tdverse not only did twilight not become princess but discord was never reformed either??
3731005 ship AJ NOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW
Well... shit. He just had to get involved somehow, didn't he? TD, kick his ass.
3731137 No it isn't.
3731137 It reminded you of that scene because it was a direct homage of that scene. It is one of the best scenes in cinematic history. One of my all time favorites, and I knew I had to do it.
3731475 I was being silly. Having said that, why Cheerilee? I stated a long time ago that he'd start a relationship, but why her?
3731586 There was no "Applejack joke" specifically, I just picked her randomly because it makes the least sense for TD to date her based on their established relationship.
3731641 Ah. Well, I guess you know I won't ship him with AJ, then, but I've been pretty secretive on the whole of who I'm going to ship him with in that I've flat-out told nobody except my fiance.
3731654 I know the answer to my last question was probably yes. I guess I just wanted to see you confirm it is all. Anyway I kinda like how you redo season four episodes in the td alicorn
. But ill leave that up to you.
story. Almost like it could make for a nice seperate fic on its own.
Ha, I love how you write Blueblood.
The battle speech by TD was funny. The dumbfounded looks and silence of Ponyville was just great.
Wouldn't touching the tent pole in any way have sent him back to the mirror pool?
Cheerilee is badass!
Oh shit Discord! I'm so looking forward to the next chapter!
~Have a good one.
So you broke cannon, since Discord is supposed to be reformed and Fluttershy friend by this time in the story...
Also, you already did Discord and TD...
3731832
And the next paragraph seems to imply that Goatee was wielding the pole at some point. Wait, what?
3731654 TD and Cheerilee.
[youtube=gVOhftjx4bg]
Also: Y no "stop hitting yourself" joke? It would have been glorious.
3730983
3730783 Okay, both of you, say it with me: canon.
Cannon is a type of gun.
i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/6859207168/h06DE2031/
Wierd, this chapter didn't show up in my watch page
3731409 Well you go ahead and try it out. It was a fun experience, but it was a hell of alot to do it all without a single break.
3731474 Wow... Amazing my friend. I applaud for the homage you have given us for the greatest scene in the movie!
3732628 Er... I already have, seeing as I have them on DVD, and it only took about 2 minutes to change discs.
Greaaaat, because we needed something else to go wrong. WAY TO GO, DISCORD!
But, this chapter was all levels of awesome. Ponyville went to war, and won. Well, at first, anyway. I wouldn't want to be Discord right now, because somepony's gonna have a few words for him.
And Jesus guys! It's spelled CANON.
Cannon is a weapon. CANON is fact within a fictional universe. Ugh.
3732493
I'm going to borrow your link, because these people didn't seem to get it the first time. (And by that I mean I'm going to use it to prevent further infractions because I can.)
i.chzbgr.com/maxW500/6859207168/h06DE2031/
3732660 I know it only takes two blooming minutes to change a damn disc! I mean watching them all the wat through with no break was a challenge. To me at least. Not alot of people can sit for 13+ hours you know.