Collision Code

by SSJRandomMaster

Act 3 Chapter 46

Act III: Collision of Wills
Chapter 46: Our Respective Paths
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Corey had remained on the balcony after John departed. He still couldn’t believe what the name of the one who almost killed him turned out to be. However, he hadn’t dwelled on it for long. With John having returned to the others, Corey stared out into space once again. His thoughts began to swim back to him; specifically, the memories of what he assumed was a vision.

He said to seek out the light, Corey thought, Just what did he mean by that?

Esper Wisdom was a pony from millennia ago, for sure. Corey knew that if he had somehow encountered the real deal when he’d had that vision, then he had made contact with an expert on runic magic. It would be easier to figure out what he meant if he’d still had the book, Corey realized. He didn’t now, so all he had to go on was his thoughts.

The light… the light… Corey continued to think on it further. His gaze turned from Ponyville to the sky above. It was night out; the stars and moon gleamed brightly in the light. The night, while no longer associated with nightmares, was still pretty dark. Below, he could see lights from ponies that had yet to go to bed, households that had yet to go still for the night.

The light… Could he have meant the sun? Corey thought, freezing as the idea struck him. Or rather, the one who moves it?

Corey’s gaze lowered until he was staring straight out towards the horizon. Was that what Esper meant? Seek out Princess Celestia? The description “the light” fit, but how long was Celestia really the ruler? At least a thousand years. That couldn’t have been far back enough to when runic magic was still around, right?

But it’s also the only thing that makes any sense, Corey reasoned, She’s the one in control of the sun. Light, in other words. If night is dark, wouldn’t day be the light?

He continued to look out into the distance, his head slowly scanning around random locations. It made sense, but only because it was the only possible conclusion. As he continued to think over his newfound conclusion, his gaze fell on the library and stuck there. His mind returned him further and further back in time, to the day he first arrived in Equestria.

The day he’d met Princess Celestia face-to-face, due to a series of misunderstandings.

In the situation I was in, I was unbelievably nervous. No, scared. I didn’t know what would happen, now that she’d arrived. With all the various misunderstandings, things didn’t look good. But she was just as kind as I thought she’d be. When she appeared… all my fears vanished. Bit-by-bit, as I explained the situation to her. By the end of it, I’d felt…relaxed. In fact, at the time, it was the most relaxed I’d felt in a while…

Corey paused, realizing something. Like a warm light, to a cold, piercing darkness…

Corey stopped leaning on the railing, standing up to walk back inside. Worth a shot, at the very least…
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Corey wasn’t entirely sure of what was going to happen once he asked. All he knew was, he had to ask. He trudged through the hallways of the castle, letting his gut instincts guide him through the castle. It wasn’t long before he was right back where he started. However, as he passed the door to the throne room, he realized something was off. The doors were wide open, exposing the inside. Most of the others were still there, chattering to themselves about something; Corey was a bit too far away to make out any specific details of the conversation. However, he could plainly see something—or rather, someone, was missing.

Not there, huh? Corey thought, walking past the door frame. No one seemed to notice him when he paused there. As he slowly surveyed the inside of the room, trying to see if perhaps she was just out of frame, his ear twitched as he registered something. He wasn’t quite sure if he imagined it, but he heard something…shifting. Confused, Corey turned around, not seeing what was going on at first. Then, he happened to look down.

The smooth surface of the floor appeared to be shifting in place. The guards nearby took notice, one of them letting out a slightly unamused grunt.

“I hope he puts it back this time…” another guard complained.

Corey blinked, trying not to process what he was just told. If this was helping him, then it was going to help him. He took in a deep breath, part of his subconscious aware he was essentially doing a trust fall at this point, and proceeded to follow the arrow. As he did so, more of the floor began to shift, forming more arrows that guided him through hallways.

He slowly followed the laid-out path, picking up the pace after a few moments. He didn’t seem to be being lead in circles, nor towards any overt shenanigans of any kind. Maybe the castle was responding to his need again, but that didn’t seem likely—his runes had not gone off once. Was it really possible?

Before he could really expand on that question further, however, Corey stopped, standing just over an arrow in front of a slightly ajar door. Corey looked inside, and saw a very familiar flowing mane within. Taking a deep breath, Corey clenched his hands. Swallowing a bit of nervousness, Corey stepped forward, raising one hand to push the door open.

The door creaked loudly as Corey pushed in, but he only halted for one moment as he walked inside. Naturally, since she heard the noise, Princess Celestia looked up, startled at the sudden intrusion. However, once she saw who it was, she merely blinked in surprise, once, then twice.

“Of all the ponies that would have pushed the door open without knocking, you weren’t the first pony that came to mind,” she remarked, looking slightly down back to a stack of papers that Corey only realized was there. Off to Celestia’s left, another, open piece of parchment was floating.

The first thing that was on Corey’s mind? “I forgot to knock.”

“Please don’t get discouraged, I’m sure you had a reason,” Celestia proceeded to look over the parchment and the stack of papers, adding in a much quieter tone, “Besides, hardly the worst manners I’ve seen… now let’s see… Did I get everything?”

Corey took a couple of steps forward, making sure to shut the door behind him. How was he going to word any of this? The vision he’d had? The light thing he may or may not have correctly concluded? The fact he did need teaching?

“You know,” Celestia said, and Corey’s thoughts froze instantly, “I am quite surprised at this request Pinkie Pie made.”

Corey blinked. Was that what the other paper was? “What… what about it?”

“It’s something I’ve not seen before, and requires quite a few resources,” Celestia said, “I merely have to set out these orders and she’ll have what she needs.”

“Believe me when I say this,” The next two words sounded really awkward coming out of his mouth, but he didn’t stop now, “Princess Celestia, but she’s made quite a few things I’ve seen before, back where I came from.”

The memory of the initial scare he and John got when they saw Pinkie’s grenade came back to Corey at that point. Looking back, he still couldn’t believe it.

“Really, now?” Celestia asked, raising an eyebrow, “I wonder if you’ve ever seen something like this? I’d show you, but I’m sure you know by now how Pinkie Pie gets about surprises.”

There was a brief pause, before she spoke up again. “However, the more I think about it, the more I wonder if she can manage to put this together before the month is out.”

Yet another brief pause, Corey taking one last chance to collect his thoughts. This was it.

“Though I’m sure you didn’t walk in here to talk just about that,” she said, finishing up with the papers in front of her, “Was there something you wanted as well?”

“Y-yes!” Corey stood up slightly straighter once again, taking in one last deep breath, “I do have a request. Princess Celestia, please… t-teach me, for the next month?”

“Teach you?” Celestia asked.

“Yes,” Corey said, “I may at least have physical training, but I’m still untrained overall. I may have the magical ability now, but I still can’t control it, even with Twilight’s help. So…”

Celestia’s magic coiled up Pinkie’s scroll and safely set it off to the side as she stood up. “I understand what you want. And over the years, I have taught dozens of ponies. I can teach you as well…”

“Wait…” Corey said, “Maybe… maybe ‘teach’ wasn’t the right word. I do need help with control. But I never learned it through tutoring. Every time I reached a breakthrough, it was because my body physically forced itself to produce the results I needed. ‘Teach’… why did I say it like that?”

“Then… tell me, what do you mean?” asked Celestia, her voice suggesting that she already knew.

“When…” Corey said, “When was the last time you trained someone…for a war?”

At this, Celestia slowly began to walk out from behind her desk, her expression now stern. “I understand now. But I want you to understand what it is you just asked as well.”

Only when she was away from her desk did she keep speaking, standing straight up as well. Corey instantly was reminded once again of how tall she was compared to the others. She wasn’t as tall as John, probably not even Big Mac, but she definitely had at least a few inches on most ponies he’d met.

“I am not connected to the sun simply by name, but by potential. I have heard it before,” said Celestia, “That my presence, much like the sun, beams a ray of warmth to those who stand below it. But if left unchecked, even that gentle glow can become something to fear.”

Corey blinked. Celestia’s horn had barely flickered, and the temperature in the room seemed to increase ever so slightly. A second blink, and Corey could see the faintest traces of a fire around the sun princess’s form. A mere few seconds later, the flame went outwards, coating Princess Celestia in its aura entirely. The temperature swelled a bit more as Corey felt himself starting to sweat just a little.

“My magic, while under control, still has the potential to harm those around me,” Celestia continued, “If I were allow it to slip, even for a moment, it could very well harm you as well.”

Corey’s eyes snapped open, though the heat had yet to abate. That definitely sounded familiar to him. Only, in his case, the fire wasn’t… like this. Yet, it still had the same quality of one that was poorly tended. For a while now, he’d tried and tried to get it under control with no success. And now…

And now someone who could teach me, show me how to is standing right in front of me. Someone who’s controlled it for centuries, never visibly losing control... not even when confronted with real evil.

Seemingly unknowing of his epiphany, Celestia continued, “Are you prepared for something like that?”

Corey finally corrected his posture, even taking another step closer, feeling the heat increase slightly as he did so. As soon as she saw this, Celestia immediately started to reign herself back in.

With the temperature in the room cooling off, Corey found it in him to speak, “You’ve managed to control something I only dreamed of controlling. A fire inside of me that can… and has, hurt those around me.”

Corey’s hand unconsciously went to his chest as he felt himself relive that feeling of uncontrolled anger. It was never pretty, but if he could get through this, it wouldn’t matter anymore.

“You are exactly who I need to help me to control the fire,” Corey said, “Maybe… maybe that’s what he meant…”

“‘He’?” Celestia asked, “Who are you talking about?”

“Esper… Esper Wisdom,” Corey said.

Celestia blinked, her face contorting as she tried to search through her memory for anypony she knew that had that name.

“He wrote the book we found out in the Everfree Forest,” Corey said, “I don’t know how he did it, but he… he sort of saved me. I had suffered through a curse for so long I’d forgotten everything. He reached out… and talked to me…”

“Magic is certainly a strange force, especially runic magic,” Celestia said, “I feel like I have heard the name before, but...”

She paused, realizing something. “Yet…there’s something else I also don’t understand. You have lived in this world for a very short time, and yet twice now you’ve uncovered names that by all rights no one should know.”

Celestia studied him intently. “What did this ‘Esper’ tell you to do, exactly?”

“He told me to seek out the light,” Corey said.

Celestia blinked. A memory of days so far gone from her returned. She did not fully remember who said it to her, but she never truly forgot what they said.

“One day, you will become the light of this world, and someday, there will be those who seek your guidance. Be sure not to shy away from them…”

“I guess you found ‘the light’, then,” Celestia said, “I must warn you now. With time so short, and with us no doubt having no time to cover things in detail, I’m afraid I cannot go easy on you.”

“That’s fine,” Corey said, nodding as he closed his eyes. It hasn’t been easy since I got here in the first place…
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John had managed to joke not long ago, even bring himself to laugh for a short while. But that moment was fleeting. Now, he could feel himself sinking back down. Try as he might, he couldn’t push Kurama out of his mind for very long, and when it finally hit him, it hit hard.

“Dammit,” John hissed as he stared down at his shaking hand. The very hand that not only ended the battle, but ended another life. Even now that it was clean and had been for quite a while now, he could still see blood on it. He had been like this since he awoke, one moment he could be fine, smiling, enjoying the company of others.

But then, at any given moment, the bitter chill of what he’d done would wash over him once again. He would then be locked in battle with his own mind, trying desperately to ease himself, to convince himself that he shouldn’t feel this way. It was a hard battle, one never won, only stalled until the next moment. To this point, there had only been one thing that could make the trembles stop. Unfortunately, he was void of that contact, or so he thought.

“There you are,” John could feel two arms wrap around his neck, holding him gently. The result was almost instant, the trembling chill of his hands overtaken by the new warmth that held him.

“Thank you, Rainbow,” John said closing his eyes, letting out a small sigh.

“Glad I could help,” Rainbow had seen the moments when John would lose control of his nerves, when his body trembled. Fortunately for him, she seemed to be able to stop them, even if it was just for a short time. And while more than happy with helping him through it, it didn’t help that he wandered off each time his moments hit.

“So what are you gonna do now?” Rainbow asked. By now, all but two of the group had made their plans for the month known. The other two were still making up their minds at this point.

“I’m not sure,” said John, “I could go back and train with Luna. She did help me once already, after all. But some part of me thinks I need to try something different, to branch out this time. As much as she helped me last time, she could only really teach me how to fight… well, like a pony.”

“And that’s not what you are,” Rainbow said.

John nodded. He had tried to integrate his draconic abilities into his fights: claws, fire breath, but only when he felt each could be used. But that was it, he didn’t know how other dragons fought.

And the only way I could find out is if I… John’s eyes opened slightly, an idea taking form until…

“There you are!”

At the sound of the voice, Rainbow jumped and stepped away from John, her face flushed. The two of them quickly turned around to see Pinkie with her hands to her hips and tapping her foot.

“Oh, Pinkie, what’s up?” Rainbow asked.

“What’s up is that I had to search all over for you two,” Walking up to them, she began to quite effortlessly pull them along with her, “We can’t start until everyone is there!”

“Start what?”

Pinkie paused and let out a gasp, looking back at them as if they should have already known the answer.

“The party, of course!”
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Everyone involved, even Celestia, was gathered in the castle’s dining room. They were all enjoying each other’s company in the party that Pinkie had prepared in secret. Most would say this was no time for a party and that any and all festivities could wait for when this was all over. For those in the room, though, this was more welcomed than anything. After today, these friends who had stood by each other’s side for this game would soon part and go their separate ways. So right now, they talked, they laughed, treating this night like any other night as though the whole crisis hadn’t hit yet.

“I’m telling ya, I’m gonna be so fast after this the Wonderbolts will beg me to join them,” Rainbow gloated as per the norm. Rarity and Applejack simply rolled their eyes.

“Yes, darling, then you’ll marry Applejack like she’s always dreamed,” Drinking her cider with an unamused look, Applejack wrapped her arm around Rarity and pulled her in hard for a headlock.

“K-kidding,” Rarity said, tapping on Applejack’s forearm and trying to pull herself free, “I was kidding!”

Rainbow couldn’t help but laugh at Rarity’s expense.

“Do it again, do it again!” Pinkie laughed as she bounced in place in front of Fluttershy. She gave a small sigh and looked to Pinkie, staring at her with her usual gentle eyes. But then, her eyes shifted in an instant, her other side taking over and her eyes looking more hardened. Pinkie’s reaction was to grab at her sides and laugh as she fell to the floor.

“Okay, I draw the line here,” Fluttercruel said, pointing at Pinkie, but she continued to laugh. Cruel let out a small sigh before turning to the table. She was out now. She might as well get a drink.

Oh come now, she’s not that bad, Shy said in their head.

“Yeah, well… she still bugs me,” Cruel heard her gentler side giggle lightly.

You’ll get used to it, you’ll have plenty of time to get to know her, Cruel didn’t respond, simply downing her drink. But as she pulled the cup away, she couldn’t hide the small smile that appeared.

“Axe, spear, her hand…” John, meanwhile, was filling Celestia in on the various scars that Luna managed to give him while she trained him, “Blasted me in the back when I wasn’t looking,” John turned and pointed on the large one with his tail, “Passed out when I got that one.”

His casual tone did little to offset Celestia’s shock. She looked slightly horrified at the amount of damage he’d taken.

“Luna never really had much of a grasp on holding back,” she said.

“I don’t know, the results were worth it,” John said, flexing his muscles. Behind him, unknown to him, Rainbow stared at him as he did so.

“Seems everyone’s having fun,” Corey observed. He and Twilight were sitting off to the side watching everyone’s antics. Pinkie was trying to get Fluttercruel to dance. Rarity was putting Rainbow on blast, having caught her staring. John, still completely oblivious to that, was telling Celestia a tale that was clearly worrying her, her eyes opening wide. It was like the crisis had already ended without a trace.

“Considering what we’ve been through and what’s to come, I’d say we earned one night to remember what ‘fun’ feels like,” said Twilight. That was why they were there, after all. But she still looked worried, “There’s no telling what could happen in the future.”

Corey looked at Twilight with furrowed brows. Then, he looked down to her hand and gulped, already second-guessing himself. He managed to muster enough courage to place his hand over hers after a few seconds. Twilight quickly looked down at the contact. Seeing Corey’s hand caused her to start blushing.

“I… I can’t really say much about the future. But I do know the past. The things you’ve overcome with your friends and… and the things we’ve overcome together.”

Corey paused, trying to collect his thoughts a bit more as Twilight stared at him.

“What I’m trying to say is, we have no reason to think that we won’t win in the end. Because, while we don’t have the Elements, we do have what’s always been there: each other,” His words seemed to hit Twilight hard, her look of worry seemingly being banished and replaced with a smile. Soon enough, she started to laugh.

“You’re right,” she said, “Hard to believe I didn’t see that.” The two continued to sit there for a while in silence. Soon enough, Twilight decided it was his turn to make a move and began to pull at Corey’s arms.

“Come on, let’s dance,” she said. Corey immediately looked fearful.

“Um, I-I’m not much of a dancer,” He tried to say.

Twilight giggled. “Oh, I could tell you stories, but that doesn’t matter. We’re here to have some fun, and we can’t do that sitting down.”

Soon Corey couldn’t resist Twilight’s pull any longer, and he allowed her to lead him to the dance floor. She was right. This was a party. He might as well enjoy himself.

After tonight, it would be a long time before he could again.
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All parties eventually come to a close, even ones thrown by Pinkie. It was quite a few hours into the night, and the others were preparing themselves for bed. For better or for worse, they would wake up tomorrow morning and begin their first day of training. Among their ranks was one who couldn’t wait for the sun to rise in the morning. He stood at the balcony of the castle, staring off into the distance.

“I see you actually decided to tell someone this time,” Corey said, walking up behind him, told in advance where and when to meet John, “Does anyone else know you’re leaving this time?” It wasn’t an unreasonable question. The last time John left he hadn’t left much notice. Their only source of information had been Rainbow, who had managed to find him before he could leave.

“To be honest, I hadn’t even known until recently,” John said, “Didn’t know what I was going to do or where I would go. But a small talk with Rainbow made that clear to me, and now I know exactly what I’ll do,” Turning around, John held out a parchment and allowed Corey to take it. Corey looked it over for a few seconds before finding the area circled. It was an island, a large one far removed from Equestrian territory.

“Is that…”

“Yeah,” John cut in, taking back the map and putting it in his pocket, “It may be a little risky and a lot crazy, but I can’t see myself going anywhere else. I can’t imagine any other way to produce results.” A strong gust of wind blew past them and John opened his wings to feel it flow through them.

“You’re not the only one who had a crazy idea, I can tell you that,” said Corey, “But I guess crazy just works for us, huh?” John chuckled. There was no way to deny that.

“Well, we won’t see each other for a month. You’ll be the last friend I see before I leave, so how about you be the first I see when I get back,” Turning back to Corey, John held out his hand, “One month from now, we’ll meet here, then we’ll see how much we’ve grown in that time.”

Corey held out his own without a second thought. “Deal.”

In that moment, Corey felt John’s grip tighten slightly. Looking up, he could see John smirking. Corey returned it quickly, his hand glowing with runes as his own grip strengthened to match John’s.

“Until then,” Releasing his grip John waved one final goodbye before jumping off the balcony and flying off into the horizon. Corey watched him with arms crossed, a sudden surge of energy hitting him now. It was now that he understood John’s resolve better. Taking up a stance, Corey took in a deep breath, and allowed himself to relax. His whole body glowed with his runes.

Every second counts.

Author's Note:

And there we have it. The next chapter's the last of Act 3. Next time, we see how everyone chooses to spend their month. And...that's probably it. Stay tuned next week for the last chapter. Hope you're enjoying this ride so far. There's still hope at the end of it all.