Chapter 33
The throne room of the palace of the Crystal Empire was colder, lonelier than Twilight Sparkle had remembered. Much of this, she told herself, was due to circumstances. Even so, as she sat stewing inside of the tall, high crystal walls, she could not help but shiver. Or was it fear, not grief, not cold, that made her quake? I don't know, she told herself. I don't know anything any more.
Celestia, sitting in the throne at the room's head, could not conceal her grief. “What news, Cadence?” she asked.
Even Cadence, who in all the times that Twilight knew her had erupted in great warmth and love, was dour, lovely pink coat, candy-stripéd mane seeming flat and muted. “We've... we've managed to accommodate all the Equestrian ponies.” She gestured to a window; through it, all who looked could see huge towers hastily sprung up from fast-grown crystal. “It's cramped in the tenements- it can't help but be cramped- but everypony has some space. The crystal ponies have taken in those they can fit inside their homes.”
“What of my white-tails?” asked Falalauria, blinking twice her sightless eyes.
“We've got a tenement for them, too... I'm afraid the Chief Crystal Engineer didn't make it as spacious as the Equestrian tenements. I argued with him about it- I... he's fired now.” Cadence sighed and sunk into her haunches. “I'm so sorry, my lady.”
“No matter. You have done what you could.”
Silence reigned in long and heavy moments. Finally, Fluttershy could no more stand the quiet. “What do we do now?”
“We... we have to regroup, of course,” said Celestia. “We must plan a counteroffensive-”
“There's nothing to do,” said Pinkie Pie, bandages now supersaturated with the blackened fluid, such that it was seeping down her back. “There's nothing to do! We've lost!”
“Don't say that, Pinkie Pie,” Celestia said.
“She's got a point,” said Twilight. “We've been driven out- and most of Equestria is being taken over by Reiziger.” Her purple eyes grew narrow. “We should have stayed and fought!”
“Twilight, we did not have the power,” said Luna. “Nor was it safe to unleash what power we did have with civilians so close at hand.”
“Always with that excuse! And look where it's gotten us! We've lost! We lost Cloudsdale, we lost Manehattan, we lost Fillydelphia, and now we've lost Canterlot! We keep losing! I'm tired of it!” Tears sprang to her eyes. “I'm tired of seeing Reiziger destroy my country!”
“Twilight, that is why you all must continue to strengthen your Elements of-”
“My Element of Magic is more than strong enough, but it hasn't done us any good! And in case you haven't noticed, the Element of Loyalty and the Element of Generosity are in Reiziger's control! We couldn't use the Elements even if we wanted to!”
“We will cleanse them, Twilight,” said Celestia. “We must... somehow, we must.”
“Somehow? That's all you've got for me? Somehow?”
The glare that Twilight fixed upon her broke Celestia's heart. There had for so long been a wideness, an openness to Twilight's eyes. They had seemed constantly vast as she looked everywhere, eager to learn and to absorb all information that she could out of the world. Now her eyes were hard, and closed. There was a fierceness in them that reminded her of-
Everyone's horns and antlers suddenly itched- and no wonder, for with a flicker the Deer Elders stood there in the throne room, Fëanor and Nordeshang, Glorfindel, Nona, Decima and Morta. Celestia's breath drew in as Fëanor's gold eyes lit onto her. “You have failed.”
“Fëanor, I-”
“You have failed!” he roared. “Your plan has failed, and Equestria has paid the price for your foolishness!”
“We have not failed, I swear it. There is still time for the Elements of Harmony to set things right.”
“Two of them are in the Herd Lord's possession. A third is far abroad on a hopeless quest for reinforcements. And one of them is infected with the Herd Lord's black rot- she is not long for this world. So I ask you, Celestia, what Elements do you speak of? It cannot be the Six.” Ominously, Pinkie started coughing, hacking up black goo.
“I... I shall not give up...” Celestia's voice caught within her throat. “I still have faith.”
“Faith is for fools,” snarled Fëanor. Nordeshang made a face, but did not speak.
“Celestia,” said Glorfindel, “surely you must admit that thus far, your faith has not been rewarded.”
“One does not possess faith by virtue of reason,” said Falalauria. “It is knowing beyond knowing, a certainty beyond even the reaches of Long Sight.”
“We hate to see you in such distress, Falalauria,” said Decima.
“How do you feel?” asked Nona.
“Well enough, save that I have neither sight nor Sight.” She sighed. “I can... perceive dimly using magic, and my other senses. I feel lost, though. I... I know nothing now.”
“But could you fight if you had to?” Fëanor asked.
“I... perhaps, maybe.”
“You may have no choice.”
“I say you have no choice to fight,” said Celestia, face twisting with anger. “You are still forbidden from using your battle magic in Equestria.”
“Your country is gone, Celestia. You are no longer princess of anything, and thus you have no authority with which to stop me.”
Celestia stepped off her throne. “I can stop you right now.” Her horn began to shimmer with the golden light of dawn.
Curling up his lip, Fëanor advanced. Bronze-gold power played upon his antlers. Twilight felt the crystal palace begin trembling gently. Celestia and Fëanor drew nearer to each other; wrath was smoldering between their eyes-
Suddenly a cool blue light enveloped both of them, and they were both dragged backward. “Enough!” bellowed Nordeshang. “Enough! We are friends, remember?”
“I have no time for friendships with fools,” snarled Fëanor. “Even as we speak, the Herd Lord is swallowing up Equestria. He is draining it of life and getting stronger all the while! Morta, show them.”
Morta stepped forward. Her eyes became now dark and filled with stars, but then, in a move Twilight had not seen before, she projected those stars outward in a warm galactic cloud. The stars then bloomed and brightened, becoming a white field, and then that white field gave way to a terrifying sight. From above, a shadow was enveloping Equestria. It was spreading out from Canterlot (had already eaten Ponyville), moving north, moving south, moving east, moving west. Then the vision shifted, swinging down into the dark. Changelings buzzed and drained the life and love of woodland creatures. Wyverns scorched the grass and trees. Fell beasts nested in the mountains, ungoliants wove webs of darkest shadow. Above it all there swooped the thestral and the mythicorn, silently surveying what was now owned by their master.
The vision broke apart; Morta's eyes returned to normal. Fëanor's own eyes grew narrow. “You see? We must act. We must wipe the Herd Lord off the face of the Earth, no matter the consequences of our assault!”
“Um, actually-”
“What?”
Fluttershy squealed and jumped back twelve paces, wings aflutter. Fëanor's eyes lit into her, piercing her, terrifying her. And yet... she felt she had to speak. She took a deep breath, tried to keep from shaking, and stood up. “Princess Celestia has a point, d-doesn't she? I mean, what good is it to destroy Equestria to destroy Reiziger? In the end, he's already done his job, and our home is ruined.”
“Equestria is already lost, Bearer of Kindness. My concern now is for the world as a whole- and for all worlds beyond it.”
“B-But you weren't able to destroy Reiziger last time, right?” Fluttershy was slowly standing taller. “And even once you sealed him a-away, the world was ruined. If the Wills That Draw The World hadn't made things better, nopony would have been alive, and the Earth would have ended.”
“But Fluttershy,” said Twilight, “if we don't stop Reiziger he'll drain the life of everything on Earth! The whole world will be lost if we don't act!”
“But if you do act, the world will still be lost,” Fluttershy turned now to Twilight. “Even if you defeat Reiziger, the destruction he's caused will stay around. Even after he's gone, Equestria will still be ruined, and only the Elements of Harmony can fix it. So we'll still need them, even if you fight. Why abandon them now?”
“Because if we don't act now there won't even be land to save! We've already waited too long! We've waited and struggled and tried to make our Elements stronger, but it hasn't worked!”
“Yes it has. Our Gifts are all more powerful than they used to be.”
“We can fix Equestria after we've annihilated Reiziger and all his forces!”
Anger flashed in Fluttershy's soft heart. “Two of our friends are part of his forces now. Have you forgotten about that? Or were you planning on killing them, too?”
Twilight's eyes went wide, then narrowed up again. “How dare you. What's wrong with you, Fluttershy?”
“I...” her ears drooped. “I can't understand what's happened to you, Twilight. The Twilight who's my friend wouldn't talk the way you're talking.”
“I've changed. I've had to change. In case you haven't noticed, all of existence is in danger!”
“You're in danger too, can't you see that?”
“Stop it stop it stop it!” moaned Pinkie, hooves clutching her head. Fluttershy and Twilight stood apart now, only by a few feet, but the distance might well have been miles. Twilight glared across at Fluttershy, while Fluttershy's eyes had become turquoise depths of sadness and regret. The whole throne room- even Fëanor- had stood and watched the argument. Celestia and Cadence had been wincing at most everything Twilight had said.
“My my my, what a dour company.” Time and space rippled a bit. “Turn those frowns upside-down!”
Balloons, streamers, and dancing ponies wearing bunny ears suddenly burst into existence. A cake emerged within the middle of the throne room. It jiggled, it wiggled, and then from it burst Discord, a party hat upon his head.
“Ta da!” he exclaimed. He looked around. Nopony had laughed. “Whew, tough crowd.” Then he turned, and saw the deer, and grinned. “Why if it isn't Fëanor! How are you, old grumpy guts?”
“Hello, Chaos Lord,” Fëanor growled.
“Still as charming as ever, I see.”
“Discord, where have you been?” asked Fluttershy. “I've been worried about you!”
“Oh, I've been going to and fro across the world, walking all up and down it- that sort of thing.” He slithered from the cake and wound into the air. “The doings here in Equestria have most creatures very spooked. They're talking about the end of the world.” He dragged his paws down his long face. “Oh, my. It's a perfect time to have a party! Wouldn't you say, Pinkie Pie?” Pinkie did not answer, curled up and muttering as she was.
“It is not time for a party,” growled Twilight. “How dare you mock all this!”
“Mock? I'm serious. We celebrate at funerals too, after all. And-”
“You know, Chaos Lord,” barked Fëanor, “if you truly are reformed, why don't you just magic the Herd Lord out of existence?”
Discord put his paw upon his chin. He floated there, thinking- or pretending to. “Hmm... nah.”
The throne room gasped. “But Discord, why not?” asked Cadence.
“Because the deerfolk haven't learned their lesson yet. Why interrupt divine teaching?”
“Lesson?” said Morta.
“The Herd Lord has nothing to teach us!” barked Glorfindel.
“Come on now, chuckles,” said Discord, plopping a party hat down on Glorfindel's head. “Think about it. The Wills That Draw The World could have stopped him at any time, if they'd really wanted to. I mean, they did work to undo all his destruction once he'd been sealed away. Doesn't that mean they allowed all that destruction in the first place?”
“But... I...” Decima stammered.
“Which means, of course, that the reason Annatar wreaked such havoc is because the Wills allowed it. That seems like they were doing some teaching. Hmm hmm, they basically gave you all a spanking.”
“Glorfindel is correct- we have nothing to learn from the Herd Lord,” Fëanor said.
“Oh, really?” Discord said, voice dropping an octave. “Because from where I'm floating,” he swirled closer to Fëanor, streamers and confetti following behind him, “it seems to me that he's merely taken the deerfolk's philosophies of superiority to their logical conclusion.”
“That's absurd,” said Nona.
“Is it, though? You all believe that the deerfolk, the six species, are superior to every other race and culture and folk- that's how you justified dominating and enslaving them, right?” The Elders said nothing. Discord nodded. “Well, if we take this idea as true, then it stands to reason that within the deerfolk, there are some species superior to the others, right?”
“That doesn't follow!” barked Fëanor.
“Doesn't it? Why shouldn't the high deer have cracked down on the common deer? And even more, why shouldn't it be the case that even within the high deer, there were some families, some groups, that were superior to the rest of those four species?” Discord waved his paw. “And so on, and so forth, on down and down, until you reach the point where there is one deer superior to all the rest. Hence Annatar and his delightful megalomania.”
“You're talking nonsense,” Glorfindel said. “The heights the deerfolk ascended to don't mean that there should have been division between the six species.”
“Ha!” Discord laughed, but then he made a face. “Oh, you're serious, aren't you? My goodness, how can you be centuries old and still so naive?”
“Stop joking around, Chaos Lord!” snapped Fëanor.
“Oh, you want me to stop joking? Fine.” Discord's voice again grew low, and dangerous. “I know the Wills That Draw The World better than anypony who is and was and will be. I know what they're after, and it's obvious to me that the deerfolk haven't learned a thing. Not even Falalauria has learned enough,” he said, to gasps from Luna and Celestia. “So the unjoking truth, Fëanor, is that you all, you six species, have deserved everything that's happened to you- every bit of it. And I'm determined to see that you keep on suffering until you finally learn your lesson, or until you've been completely wiped off the face of the Earth... whichever comes first.” The silence deafened. Discord shrugged. “Wow, now this is a tough crowd. Ta-ta, everypony! Oh, and Pinkie Pie, do feel better.” Then he vanished in a burst of light.
Nordeshang sighed deeply.
“My lord...” Nona began, but stopped.
“Enough! Forget him! He has at least agreed not to intervene, and that is enough for me.” Fëanor glanced out upon the throne room. “We are going to move against the Herd Lord. We shall take what allies will join us, right here and now. Celestia?'
“Never.”
“Unsurprising.” Fëanor's eyes drifted downward. “Luna, I know you cannot approve of your sister's decisions. You were always the more practical one. Surely you can see that the time for hoping and praying has passed, that-”
“Dost thou think to separate me from my sister?” Luna said. “Nay, Lord Fëanor. I...” she glanced sidelong at Celestia, sighed, and bowed her head, “I indeed have had my disagreements with Celestia. But I am with her to the end, regardless. If she will not join thee, neither shall I.”
“Very well.” Fëanor again swept round his head. “Falalauria, what of you?”
Again she blinked her sightless eyes. “I... cannot See, any more. I no longer have the gift of foresight. I can say nothing for certain.” Her blank black eyes grew narrow. “But I can smell, and touch, and taste, and hear, and all those senses speak to me of your disaster. I shall not join you, my lord.”
“Fine,” snarled Fëanor. His gaze settled on Cadence. “You... what was your name again?”
Cadence rolled her eyes. “So you want me to help you, but you don't even care enough to know who I am?”
“Forgive me, O alicorn princess, I simply have not had the time to learn of you. But I think... Cadence, yes?”
“Well, at least you know my name.” Cadence's cutie mark sparkled for a moment, and pain ran cross her face. “You claim you want to cause all this destruction for the good of the world, but that's not what I sense. Your heart is filled with hate, Lord Fëanor, and nothing good can come of that. I've always sworn not to kill, and I won't be changing that now. The answer is no.”
“Hate is sometimes necessary,” Fëanor responded. “But I shall respect your decision. And at last... Twilight Sparkle?”
All eyes in the crystal throne room swiveled onto her. She took a deep and final breath, then said, “I'll join you.”
“But Twilight!” exclaimed Fluttershy.
“Twilight, I know you're angry, but this is a bad idea,” said Cadence. “Please, think of what he's asking you to do.”
“I have to do what I feel is right. I'm sorry,” Twilight said.
“I know that, Twilight Sparkle,” said Celestia. “I know...” her face twisted in sorrow, “I know you have always, always wanted what is best for Equestria. But this is not the way to go about it. Twilight, listen-”
“No, you listen!” snapped Twilight, whirling on her mentor and her teacher, eyes ablaze. “You lied to me. You've lied to me all my life! You've kept things from me, held things back, not just the truth about the deerfolk but so many other things! But when I learned about them, one by one, I still trusted you, because I thought you knew best. I thought that if I put my faith in you, things would work out. But now... now everything is gone! Everything's lost! I put my trust in you and all that's left is ashes!” She twisted up her hoof and sharply turned, showing Falalauria and all the ponies her back. “Fëanor is right. You have failed. Now I have to do what has to be done.”
Celestia breathed hard in and out... but then she hung her head. “I won't stop you, then.”
Fëanor could scarce conceal his grin. “Well said, Twilight. Come here- you don't know where our stronghold is, so you will have to hold tight while I teleport to it.”
“Yes, my lord,” she said. She trotted to him and she wrapped a hoof around his lower leg. Twilight spared a final glance back at the gathered folk. All of them were staring at her with a longing and regret that nearly made her reconsider. But then anger rose again within her heart, and her soft eyes grew hard.
“My offer still stands; we shall not attack for several days,” said Fëanor. “In the meantime, if anyone wishes to join us, come to the highest mountain left in Equestria. I shall keep my eyes on it. Farewell.” The power rose around him. All the air was tingling.
Twilight glanced one last time back upon her friends and allies. She saw Celestia with empty, haunted gaze. She sighed. “Goodbye,” she said. Then Fëanor vanished, and she did as well.
Nona, Decima, and Morta likewise winked out one by one, Glorfindel right after them. Nordeshang remained for a few moments, blue eyes shimmering with sorrow. “Forgive us,” he said, then he teleported far away.
The moment they were gone Celestia lost all composure. She bowed her head, her shoulders shook, and soon her weeping filled the throne room, golden tears drip-dripping on the crystal floor.
“Everything is over now,” said Pinkie, trotting down the crystal steps. Out of the palace she and Fluttershy came down, the latter wincing as the black rot seeped to gushing out of Pinkie's bandages. Pinkie's colors had grown seriously dark, her pinks and hot magentas seeming more and more like sunlight's final gasp before the setting. “We're doomed.” She tripped, and tumbled down the steps, rolling in a heap onto the courtyard stones. “We're doomed!” she bawled, thrashing where she lay.
“Pinkie, I don't think so.”
“I can feel the end coming, oh gosh I can feel it! Can't you hear it? The crunching and the cracking of the bones of the world? The sun's gone dim, the sky's turned black! Shadow, shadow everywhere!”
“Pinkie, I think-”
“Wrath and destruction and hate are all that grow now. No plants, no animals, no life- only death!” She was crawling on her belly, scraping cross the stone into a garden where the crystal shimmered in between the lovely flowers and the blossoming tall trees. She looked about it and then vomited black bile. “So awful, so terrible.”
“Pinkie, we need-”
“This is it, the last and final winter of the pony race. The end is here! This is it! Everypony will die, and all that will be left is a smear across the stars! We'll all be dumped into the jaws of the Beast, the Thing that blotted out the sun and smashed the moon! There is no-”
“Pinkie!” At last, the writhing pony stopped her motions. She turned onto her back and looked up. Fluttershy was standing in the sunlight. It might have been a twinkle of the light- or might have been some twisting of her vision brought on by the rot of Reiziger- but now the butter yellow pegasus appeared to glimmer. It was a faint thing, barely noticeable, like the half-seen spark when flint strikes flint. In an instant, half an instant, Fluttershy seemed brighter, somehow. Then she sighed, and the soft spell was broken. “Pinkie,” she said gently, “ we have to leave.”
“L-Leave?”
“We have to leave the Crystal Empire. I... I don't know how I know that, but I do. W-We have to go back into Equestria, and keep training our Elements. We have to keep training our Gifts.”
“Why? Why bother?” Pinkie cried black tears. “Don't you get it, Fluttershy? It's over! It's done! The Elements of Harmony have failed!”
“I can't believe that. I won't believe that. I'm still here, and so are you, and we're still friends, and as long as there's a friendship between two of us, the Elements haven't failed. Not yet.”
“I... I can't see... I can't see anything good!”
Fluttershy sat down, was quiet for a moment. Then she gently said, “I... I know that I don't do much... or talk much. I know that sometimes I'm... scared. But one of the things that happens when you sit back and watch... so much... is that you realize how much things work out, in the end. Darkness never lasts forever, Pinkie. The sun always rises. The stars always come out. The rain breaks up, the rainbow comes. It happens even when you've forgotten that it ever did before.” Fluttershy went to Pinkie and rested a gentle hoof upon her cheek. “Hope isn't lost, Pinkie Pie. Faith hasn't failed.”
Pinkie glanced downward. “I don't have any faith left.”
“You don't have to. All you need to do now is come with me.” She smiled sheepishly. “I mean, if it's okay with you.”
Pinkie looked up into Fluttershy's deep eyes. They were wavering, quavering- she was not as confident as she was forcing herself to appear. But there was, just so, a strength somewhere, deep down underneath the fear. Pinkie breathed out. “I'll come.”
“Yay!” cheered Fluttershy. She turned around and showed her back to Pinkie. “Now, hop on. It'll be faster if we fly.”
Rising on her creaking limbs, Pinkie clambered atop Fluttershy, wrapping all four legs around her torso. Fluttershy spread out her wings. “Are you sure you can carry me, Fluttershy?” Pinkie asked. “Are you strong enough?”
Fluttershy sighed. “I'll try to be.” She flapped her wings. At first she gasped, for Pinkie's weight was no small thing, and even after all the training she had done to make the waterspout, she wasn't a strong flier. But she did not give up. She kept on flapping, kept on pushing, and finally she rose into a hover. Pumping her wings harder still, she rose into the air, and with a twist around into the south, both ponies flew away, off into the shadow that had eaten the horizon.
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"There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil."
--Gandalf
--SYA, The Horse
Somewhere deep within the recesses of The Return of the King Lies the title of this tale. Specifically, during the Frodo/Sam walk into Mordor bit.If not that, it is something Gandalf says during the "deep breath before the plunge"
EDIT: well don't I feel the fool. LOTR Fellowship of the ring in Kazhad Dum/Moria (done without accent marks)
EDIT 2: Ask a bunch of nerds about a LOTR reference and you get it faster than expected
Title origin: Gandalf's speech to Frodo in the Mines of Moria:
Obviously, the reason that the Will's have yet to stop Reiziger is that even their hands are tied, by a vast force that binds even them. The vast, uncaring entity known as Haz'bro, which employs the Wills, for it's own profit!
5980391 why should anyone assume Rarity has anything left of herself? Oh sure she's sparing people. But the villain Sue has been able to manipulate everyone perfectly so far. No, he's just letting people think that, so they'll welcome her back to the fold eventually and then she can betray them all
Oh, that's simple: "There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought."
This means that Rainbow Dash and Rarity are meant to fall under the Shadow for a while. Twilight is meant to follow an arrogant fool. Pinkie is meant to be in pain because it will teach her wisdom. Applejack's faith in the other races is meant to be rewarded. Finally, somehow or other, evil's will shall evil mar.
5992621 let evil mar itself before it slashes good to bloody ribbons, scaring and crippling it forever.
if whatever decides what's meant to be decides that this kind of shit is necessary, it's just as bad as the actual evil and deserves to be stomped just as hard
5992580 this isn't on their heads, this is 100% Jetfire2012
5992673 It isn't nearly that simple. Also, this whole "Wah, wah, wah, they should be able to steam-roll over any obstacle" thing is just as unrealistic as what a lot of people seem to think is happening.
5992697 says you. I know the Mane 6, I know their personalities and skills when written well. And nothing of this Reiziger is impressive except the lengths the author goes to put him up. Frankly this story is an insult to the show and the characters in it
So, the Wills That Draw The World are allowing Reiziger to murder thousands of innocent ponies and putting all the life of the planet on risk,just to teach the deerforlk a lesson on humility ?
5992731 Read your mythology....the Gods have always been massive diameter dickholes.
I can't remember when I noticed the title was a LoTR reference, but it was quite awhile ago. I also didn't want to say anything in case it might spoil something.
5992580 nah, Haz'bro has no power here.
5992735
then why should anyone stick to their plans? They're going to let everything be destroyed unless the deer learn a lesson? Why? What's the positive if Reizinger wins because they don't?
5992796 They get to start over again.
5992735 honestly, in real mythology I can't think of any apocalyptic scenarios where everything relies on the heroes. Heroic quests are for glory, or to get rid of something that's a threat to some individuals or maybe a kingdom. Not, do this or everything that exists perishes.
5992812
then skip the suffering mortals and just start over if you're willing to do that
Well I see Discord's got his head screwed on straight.
... Sort of.
And I see Twilight basically didn't hear it. She certainly didn't listen, anyway.
5992879
there is a little problem of how they're trying to teach the deer they aren't superior though.
If the deer don't learn they aren't the most important thing on the planet the Wills will allow a deer to conquer everything and then apparently wipe the world away and start over.
So.... the most important thing is the world at the moment... is the deer?
Suddenly, a random TVTrope page appeared!
5992963
I was more referring to how Reiziger's philosophy is just the conclusion of their philosophy... But, I imagine the reason why the ponies are set to solve the Reiziger problem is because the deer cannot...
It IS very old-god to punish everyone for one race's arrogance, though.
5993089
In a plot like this? With the gods actually admitting to their reasoning at least somewhat? If the ponies beat Reizinger without the deer learning their lesson, the gods would find a way to re-empower him so he would only lose once the deer learned
5992997
Coooooool.
5992723 If you feel this way so vehemently, then why do you keep reading?
Just happened to be reading that chapter in Lord of the Rings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frodo: I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
God bless the Professor.
There are many forces in the world, Frodo, Besides the will of Evil.
~Gandalf from the film The Fellowship of Ring.
Faith is something hope for we cannot see but it is true. Plus, by doing so grows faith.
This is what I read from the theme of the story.
Took the words right out of our mouths.
I would not be surprise if Twilight failed this assault. But I am hoping that Ponykind will still prevail.
5993154 some people look at horrifying car wrecks, I can't completely get away from fiction that pisses me off
and honestly, I'm more skimming and reading the comments than anything
Pretty sure others mentioned that it was something like "There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil." But what doesn't seem to work is that the original was meant to be an encouraging thought in the darkness, that someone up there was looking out for you. What this quote fails to mention is if any of those other forces are good. Indeed, look at the High Deer, jackasses, the lot of them. Heck, I appreciated that Discord tell the deers to stuff it, and damn if the fact that Eru takes the time to say you're an arrogant asshole this way isn't cool in some way. BUT when the highest authority in the universe says millions must die and countries must fall to teach a bunch of racists old immortals a lesson, well, we get into truly bleak stuff. Besides the will of evil, I see... well, other wills, period.
In times like these, the logical reaction of the people is to say "screw that" and try to bring about the Twilight of the Gods.
All seriousness aside... WHO do I root for here? Fluttershy? She's basically the only one that I could try liking anymore. Twilight is growing unlikeable too, even if she's starting to make a little bit too much sense. Why do I get the feeling I'll be meant to cheer Celestia and Luna at the end as those wise ponies that knew better when they did so little? Having your character say "I held the Idiot Ball for 1600 years" and then doing nothing is just plain insulting. I had some hopes for Rarity, but that thing with "Fate says" and it's all going according to plan really rubs me the wrong way.
Applejack? ...Why should the ponies in the next neighborhood matter against Deer Morgoth at this point?
...Following, but it's by a thin thread.
Well, I suppose Twilight had to go work the stupid out of her system somehow, and she sure isn't letting it go without a fight. Or possibly a beating, maybe even from Dash and/or Rarity. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe that's part of Rarity's plan, to catch Twilight and administer that beating but in a non-lethal way. Alternatively, maybe Twilight's going to go get herself captured just like Dash did.
I don't really buy Discord's theory about the Wills That Draw The World, because if he is right then oh my god is that lesson currently being taught to the wrong target. "Hey deerfolk, you still need to learn humility so let's allow an unrelated civilization of a completely different species be torn to the ground and slaughtered wholesale. That'll teach you!" I'm a little surprised that nobody—not even Fluttershy, his supposed first friend ever—didn't call him on it.
I wonder if Fluttershy's talent once fully expressed might be able to heal Dash and Rarity's current status. She isn't having much luck with Pinkie and what I'm assuming is something kind of similar, but maybe that will change too.
Congratulations by the by. You've made me hate every single character in this story. Aside Fluttershy for no apparent reason, and Discord, because I can't hate Discord even when he's being actually evil in some stories.
5993507 the choices are: try to help ponies dying now, or wait for things to work out in the end. How is what Twilight is doing dumber than what Celestia is doing?
...and any sort of good feeling I got out of the previous chapter is utterly destroyed. Like any hope of this story ending well.
Let's face it. The deerfolk will never learn their lesson. Their leader is way too proud for that (and too much of a control freak for a rebellion to take place). Twilight is already under his hoof, Pinkie is sick, Rarity and Rainbow Dash are corrupted (and anyone who has read Tolkien know that there's no coming back from THAT) and Applejack is looking for reinforcements (but what they can do against a being that can mind-rape an entire country without any effort). And as if that wasn't enough, Discord isn't going to do anything.
Seriously, you wrote yourself in a corner.
5993602 They aren't going to go help ponies that are dying now, they're going to go sit in Fëanor's stronghold and kill time for several more days. If this was Twilight acting to save the innocent, she would have left with Fluttershy and Pinkie instead. Given that this is the same pony that two chapters ago nearly vaporized Dash and Rarity, she is pretty clearly just interested in releasing her anger through violent action and Fëanor is the one who is providing her the opportunity to act on it so she is going with him.
But the main reason she is acting stupidly is that she is still reacting to Reiziger's trick in Canterlot from however many chapters back it was.
She is mad because she was left out of the 5000 year old irrelevant secret that ponies were slaves so long ago that it does not matter in the slightest. Who the hell cares, it's the apocalypse, other things are going on that are actually important!
5992580 But who gave Haz'bro that power? For are not we the ones who support it, drawn in by its promises of colorful horses and giving them that power which makes the world go round?
Sorry, just thinking about the Heart of Walmart from South Park. I'm good now.
5993089
For the gods, arrogance is less of a sin because makes mortals to be assholes with each other, and more because they consider it their divine privilege.
If they fight, equestria is doomed, and if they don't, equestria is still doomed. Fluttershy and Twilight say as much in the beginning. That being the case, the logical course is to value the time you have left, in which case Twilight should be joining Pinkie and Flutters, the dirty traitor. Still, can't blame a mare for trying.
5992731 Not just them, but all the beings that have, do, and will live. That no one can rule over others, no matter the race/species.
Twilight tho, is an idiot. Who knew that even after hearing about the Deer being slavers, she still willingly becomes a slave to her master, for no reason at all. Out of all the characters, I hate her the most now.
5994312
From my point of view, it is not arrogance, but merely having a viewpoint of millenia instead of years. The Wills do not care about this generation or the next, but merely what happens in the LONG long term. They will probably stop Reiziger before he eliminates a species, but what are individual lives to a god?
No night or day will ever last forever. Reiziger simply cannot destroy the world. Therefore, his rule would be mostly irrelevant to the Wills.
It is not arrogance, the same way it is not arrogant of us to care about individual ants.
the deer's plan doesn't offer immediate action, but it offers more immediate than what Celestia's seems to.
And Fluttershy and Pinkie didn't seem like they were going to do anything until after Twilight left.
Yay for Fluttershy being cool.
5994553
Twilight is under Faenor's influence, as implied in their previous encounter.
While this is a good fic, I might have to stop reading it. I've got some serious RL depression atm and the way this is being written, I cannot see any possibility of a happy ending. I;m hoping jetfire has some ace up her writing sleeve though.
5992838 The problem with a hard reset is that nobody remembers the lesson they were supposed to learn the first time around, so the whole damn process starts over again. Another age of deer (or whatever) dominance and superiority, another first dark lord Reiziger, another first cataclysm that brings low the original oppressors, until finally we get back to the chance to get it right. The deer are learning the lesson because in the end, having faith that there's a happy one that will be provided by the Wills and Rarity's Sight, where their races failed to grow and adapt and be faithful, where they failed to love, the ponies whom many still consider inferior beings even though they are sapient will triumph. They will win back their enshadowed Elements. They will heal their wounded Laughter and Magic. And in doing so, in winning with the Power of Friendship, they will triumph over the deerfolk's greatest shame and their greatest power all in one fell swoop. The lesson will be learned, remembered, taught and passed on, and finally will not have to be repeated.
Totally speculative addition: Who knows, maybe there was already one hard reset with a dark griffin lord. Or zebras. Or minotaurs. Maybe the Wills keep hard-resetting the world, hoping to find that one race that will shine in the darkness rather than succumb to its violence. Maybe ponies will finally get to be that race for them.
5994554
Which makes them Evil. Whether they like or not. Any protestation they might make of being "beyond good and evil" merely confirms it, since no creature that has EVER made such a claim was anything other than Evil - by sheer dint of just making them claim. If you are "beyond good" you are then Evil, especially since it is ALWAYS used to justify "I don't have to care about "lesser" beings because I Know More Stuff and/or I am older and/or of a different species." Which is Evil.
If Discord is right, if they are allowing this to happen just to teach the deer a lesson, then they are Evil - and worse, the self-delusional sort. No ifs, no buts, no "but I'm a diety", they are Evil. Because at that point, it's not even the flimsy Valar excuse of "we can't interfere because collateral damage" (and frankly, I consider that a risible excuse for any being - ANY being - to hide behind, fictional, mortal, divine or otherwise).
I personally like the fact that you had fluttershy less passive, because it is assumed that kindness is a weakness. I would very much like it if Flutters removes the darkness from Rarity and Rainbow.
Great story, keep it up
I vehemently dislike the way this story is going. Especially since the author repeatedly stated his intentions to have an happy ending.
Let's get my major problem with it out first: the heroes will win Because It Has Already Been Seen. Rarity, with her Omniscient Morality License, can be a huge problem for the story if she is actually right: if handled improperly she can be the worst kind of deus ex machina. If written with some skill? She single-handedly destroys the agency of every other character in the story.
So, let's hope she's dreadfully wrong and gets beaten the hubris out of her.
Another thing that bugs me is the conflation of pragmatism with evil, especially in this last chapter. Fluttershy is being terminally naive here, deluding herself that Annatar will stop at Equestria. What good it does to destroy Equestria to stop the Dark Lord? Simple: everyone else does not die and gets to rebuild, bloodied but stronger for it. Her line of reasoning, especially in light of Celestia's track record in fighting the Dark Lord, puts everything on Rariry's vision, and as I said above this can be horrible storytelling.
Hopefully Annatar doesn't take the Idiot Ball from Celestia and presses on his attacks. Who knows, maybe the genocide of the zebras will make Fluttershy see reason?
As for Twilight, let's hope she can surpass Feanor in strength and thus break free of his conditioning. He is the one with the better plan so far (i.e. let's not let everything die), but is clearly using Twilight as a tool as much as Annatar is doing with Rainbow Dash.
Still, the world needs Magic. Against Annatar surely, but most of all it needs the imposition of Will on reality against the stillness Rarity's Sight brings with itself.
And speaking of things sorely needed, Discord and the Wills need the mother of all bitchslaps. Any entity willing to let a species suffer and die to punish another one, to theach it a lesson, deserves to be in the collective crosshairs of both. The Wills that Draw the World have shown their evil; after Annatar has been dealt with, one way or the other, they need to be taken out permanently.
This is all personal preference, so I won't downvote (yet; as I said, Rarity can easily break the story), but I really, really don't like where this is going...
5995413
Then what to me is neutral, to you is evil. Very well.
I am not claiming they are beyond good or evil. What I am saying is that individual lives become insignificant as your viewpoint widens. Imagine that you would perceive the world in a way where a month feels like a second. Lives go by in maybe 10 minutes. Eras are over in hours. How long can you care about individual lives?
I am not saying that this can't be evil. It is very well possible that you see it as such, and I would not judge you for it.
However, the Wills are not of evil intent. They simply do not care.
To me, non action I would never consider evil. That is my point of view. I do not condemn anyone for not doing good when they could, nor for judging differently.
Finally, this is still my personal interpretation of the Wills. I have no idea if it's correct or not, as their true nature remains unknown.
5995404 then the Wills should learn their lesson and not create a species with that sort of attitude, if they don't like it.
And I'm kind of glad you mention Twilight, because a lot of people seem pretty upset with her for disagreeing with Celestia and siding with the deer, and caring about the history of ponies and deer.
I consider this pretty damn ridiculous considering the number of ponies who cared enough about it to let themselves get enslaved to evil. Including the Element of Loyalty
Anyway, to me Celestia seems pretty OOC with her whole having FAITH thing. She's very much an earn your happy ending character. She had FAITH when Nightmare Moon returned... that Twilight could make some friends and activate the Elements of Harmony, Her FAITH was always in the ponies around her, now it's seemingly that they'll somehow get a happy ending? Just NO.
5993792 In supporting Hasbro, we dug into our wallets too greedily and too deep, awakening a darkness in the Discovery Channel: Rainbows and Friendship.