“Princess?” I asked, knocking on the door to the private cabin.
“Enter.”
I slid the door open and walked inside, closing it behind me again. Celestia's private cabin on the train was pretty similar to Luna's, just with different colors.
The Princess in question was sitting looking out the window.
“...Celestia...I...” I started to say as I paused, watching her.
“You were right,” She answered, cutting me off, “I.. It's my fault.”
I paused at that and looked up at her, her eyes were shining with unshed tears, “Celestia, that's not...”
She turned and looked down at me, “But it is. I locked the changelings away and considered it handled. I set Cerberus alone to guard Tartarus and then left it. I was the one that decided the Crystal Mirror didn't need to be guarded or even really locked away. I risked Equestria and allowed myself to be captured on the chance that Twilight would be able to free my sister from the madness.”
Frowning I settled down next to her before leaning against her side with a small sigh, “I'm at least thankful for that last one.”
Celestia smiled softly and sighed too, “It worked well. But it could have ended so much worse. And it was my fault that she fell to it in the first place.”
“You have lived for a long time,” I answered after a second, “Actions have consequences, all of them do. Often we can't choose what they will be or even know beforehand. We just need to do what we think is right at the time. In the end, that's all we can do.”
She regarded me for a long moment before a wing settled across my back in a hug, “Wise for your age.”
I smiled slightly at that, “I like to think I'm wise for any age.”
That got a snort before she sighed, “I was still wrong.”
“Hindsight is twenty/twenty.”
“True,” Celestia said and frowned down at me, “But the more power you have, the more your decisions have the risk of hurting ponies.”
I just nodded, leaning against the side of the large alicorn. She was right about that, that's for sure. To rule for that long, with that much power... it didn't matter how experienced you were, how wise or intelligent you were. Things would go wrong and in a catastrophic manner sooner or later. I guess this might just have been a period of perfect storm.
We stayed like that for a long moment, just being there for her as I let her think. She finally spoke up.
“Pink.”
I shifted, lifting my head from her shoulder to blink up at her, “Huh?”
“Before my power release changed my mane color. It was pink.”
I looked up at her for a moment before I smiled, “You were white and pink?”
That caused a frown, “Yes?”
“That's a really girly color combination.”
Celestia narrowed her eyes at me, “I'm not above following my sisters example of biting your ears.”
“I'll be good,” I said with a grin, “Pinky.”
She decided to be the adult one and stick her tongue out at me. It was so good to see her smile again.
It didn't last though and she turned serious again, “Tirek.”
“Tirek,” I agreed, nodding with a sigh as I settled back down, “Shit.”
Her wing tightened around me for a second as she nodded with a sigh, “Your thoughts?”
“Go to Earth, contact whoever is president at the time and convince him to loan you a Trident. Then nuke the fucker.”
Celestia tilted her head, “We have tridents here. What is a nuke?”
I shook my head, “Big explosive. Kinda. But it wouldn't work anyway, the mirror is closed and it would take too long anyway. Besides, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't fit through even if it would work here. I don't know what to do. I'm just an author, Celestia. You and Luna are the ones with the experience and knowledge. I can throw shit at the wall and maybe something will stick, but you guys actually know what you are doing... or at least closer to it than anyone else around here.”
“You sell yourself short.”
“I like to think of it as knowing my limits.”
That got another snort, “Such as yelling at Princesses?”
“Well, I saw something that needed doing.”
Celestia smiled sadly with a sigh and nuzzled at my ear, “I think we might have,” before she smiled down at me, “But I believe I need to talk to my sister and Cadence. Would you please go get them? I'm not sure it will work, but I want their opinion. You were right about one thing... I need to talk to ponies about big decisions.”
I smiled up at her, “You figured out a way to defeat him? If Discord doesn't find him in time?”
She shook her head, “No. But I think I have a way that might make it possible in the future and keep him from winning. I'm sorry, Page, but I don't think I should tell you anymore until I've discussed it with Luna and Cadence. I believe it will work, but the time to make decisions hastily is over. There are more Princesses in Equestria now. ”
I moved to get up, but Celestia squeezed me tight with her wing for a moment before letting me up, “I'll find them.”
“Thank you, Page.”
(DOOM 2016 THEAM PLAYS)
Too bad Page hasn't had much experience yet thinking tactically about magic. A 10 megaton missle is a first step at thinking outside the box, but there has to be ways of hammering him from outside Big T's line of sight with nonmagical things, get him to burn up magic while keeping out of reach...
Risked the live of all people all over again:
[youtube=D01NHPnLrVs]
And she is sorry
At least that's how it feels to me. But it is a solution that page hasn't to apologize.
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Hmm.....
What will happen. will Page have a part in this blobby battle or will he be the last straw to break when shit hits the fan? Find out in the next chapter!!!
Well, at a glance, I approve of the direction this is taking. There is no reason to assume that Blank Page would have any effect on this battle whatsoever. We've been floating ideas, but really these are desperation moves when all hope is seemingly lost. Normally he'd not be anywhere near it, since he is so outclassed. After all, if he can't measure up to Luna, why would he be risked against Tirek, who can take on Luna handily?
That's not to say he shouldn't have an impact, but this early into it why should he be treated as a military genius who can solve the issue?
7391092 sniper rifles for example.
That's some nice character development... Pinky
Three thoughts on things:
1. It would fit the story if Page was incapacitated along with everyone else and he played no part.
2. It would also fit the story if Page came up with a unique perspective that was in some way helpful to the defeat of Tirek.
3. What will happen to Page sans magic? Will he be incapacitated, will he become human again, what?
7391092
Given magic, how long would it take to make a few Browning M2 .50s or M103 Vulcans? Even if they didnt have the (al)chemical knowledge to make the propellant there could still be a magical way (crystals?) of firing the bullets. Both weapons massively out range his magic eating power so the only question would be how mych magic does he need before his body becomes resistant to 7.62s and then .50s?
"nuke the fucker." I think I like the way Page thinks.
7391199 While I'm all in for big booms her and there. It's not worth the radioactive fall out.
7391177 This guy right here. He(she?idk) is a genius. And I believe that this is how the story will roughly go.
Good chapter I await another-BFBL
7391180 Better yet...How much magic before he becomes immune to C-14 Impaler Gauss Rifle?
The feats of this hybrid coil-gun is ridiculous. I highly doubt Tirek can stop 500 8mm in diameter metal projectiles travelling at High-Hypersonic to Ultrasonic speed (if we based on its feat of damaging a Starfighter flying at 50ish km above ground).
My point is He can create a magical Rail-gun.
I wonder if he'll approve of their plan. I assume it will be the same as the original plan, since that was actually an okay tactic.
On one hoof, it leaves Tirek without their power.
On the other hoof, it doesn't take it away from him permanently, and leaves them defenceless.
Knowing Page, he will be against it, unless it's modified.
7391556 maybe just a browning machine gun, or an ant-tank rifle? You don't need to take things too far when It come to big guns.
Page backup plan:
So we know horn nullifiers are a thing from Sunset.
We know Tirek will eventually come to the castle.
Page has access to changelings and therefore changeling goop.
Therefore, ambush Tirek when he comes to the castle and immobilize him with the changelings/goop until you can get some horn nullifiers on him.
Luna has enough jealousy issues even without you starting to feel up her beau, Celly.
7391686 I'm pretty sure you would need a couple hundred to stop his magic.
Try again....
Tirek eats magic. I say fine, Lets find his upper limit on that rate of consumption, then ramp that up by several orders of magnitude and force feed him like a goose with a funnel....
7391567
You mean pre-emptively giving their magic to Twilight?
What if Blank Page points out that Twilight has too many weaknesses in terms of friends and family that could be threatened, and suggests Sunset Shimmer instead? Somepony with nothing to lose.
7391960 Sunset is a bit of a security risk though, isn't she?
7392042
If I had to choose between Sunset and Discord, I'd go Sunset every time. She is a security risk, but there is potential there for being a decent pony. She just never was in the right mindset before.
I wonder if Page is gonna have second thoughts about writing Terminator after he's experienced being the victim of an unstoppable, unkillable juggernaut.
At first I thought he would get all of the alicorn magic like Twilight did, But then I thought no, this story does not have a gore tag.
7392091 We aren't picking between Sunset and Discy, we're picking between Sunset and Twily.
Beyond that, I just realized. Wasn't Twily the one to get all their magic because non-Alicorns can't handle that much power without blowing up? She would be the ONLY choice in that case, and it makes sense in canon, even. There's also the possibility that a pony getting the power of 3 (4 if Twily joins in) Alicorns would become an Alicorn themselves, just as a way to handle that power. There's no guarantee that they would lose their Alicorn status upon returning the magic. If that's the case, Page himself is a good candidate (or possibly Shiny).
7392156
Don't forget that each of the Terminator movies have the enemy terminators in question being defeated, so in that respect it's actually rather hopeful and empowering, over something that honestly couldn't be defeated. Or so it seemed. Maybe putting ponies in the mindset that big bads can be defeated with some thought is a good one.
Page you don't need a trident, a Davy crocket tactical nuclear riffle would be more than sufficient
7391856
Couple hundred what? Changelings or horn nullifiers? That might be doable.
Nerd hat on now.
We know that at full pony population plus Discord he was the equal of 4 Alicorns (assuming equal power levels, which seems unlikely). So I'm not sure you would actually need that many horn nullifiers (depends on how it scales I guess), just 4 times an Alicorn grade horn nullifier plus safety margin. It also doesn't have to last that long, just long enough to employ other countermeasures (pointy things!), or just goop up his mouth/nose until he passes out.
7393442 Horn Nullifiers.
Also, this is where one's head cannon can mess things up a bit, as for my head cannon, a mundane nullifier cannot handle the extreme levels of magic an alicorn holds since the magnitude of magic in their bodies is so high that the nullifier in question would shatter at the mere use of magic.
7391147
Cause he was a human form what I can assume was a first world country. We're kinda violent.... like we know how to destroy all sorts of things. Hell, I'm a freshman in college and I have a rudimentary understanding of rail guns, with magic it would be easy-ish to make. And Nuclear bombs might be easier with magic as well. Time they don't have but planning a head....
7391180
Or rail guns.
7391627
7391556
7391960
Page would be a good choice as well, human violent tendency anyone? If he didn't die from all that magic, he would be a decent candidate.
7393108
Also smashing any stained Windows with alicorn twilight.
7392156 I think he's going to regret not having done the Terminator series FIRST--at best, he's going to look like he's merely plagiarizing current events rather than plagiarizing stories from his home world.
7391897
As I recall, that strategy worked fine for Goku, when one of Bobbidi's minions, Yakon, was killed from sucking up to much of Goku's energy (this was before Bobbidi had stolen enough energy to set Majin Boo free from his ball). Granted, that was a completely different series, but hey, none of this story's characters seem to have a better idea.
First of all, you are missing an apostrophe in "sister[']s". Second of all, Princess Celestia, you are not allowed to do that! Only Luna gets to nip these sonic babies!!!
On a related note, did anyone else get a feeling that Celestia and Page were *way* too close? I mean, she had her wing draped around him, he was leaning into her, and she was teasing him in a very Luna-like way. They may as well have kissed or something.
I have a reaction to this line, but I wish someone could explain it to you all like Robbin Williams. Oh, wait...
s.quickmeme.com/img/92/923773f5e6566e692260861157e5730bf978052418233001e843666ee84e8908.jpg
(Feel free to mentally replace "he" with "she".)
8984570
Goku is also, a low class inbred monkey who thinks only of fighting, has zero education and suffers brain damage from being literally dropped on his head off a cliff as a baby.
Granted he is an idiot savant in combat, and one of my favorite characters, but brains arent exactly his strong point.
9494143
I'm not sure I'd call him an "inbred" monkey, since we know so little about his parents. (Then again, there are several Dragonball-related shows and manga that I've not watched/read, so maybe I missed something.) Also, you can't really blame him for only thinking about fighting. Between his Saiyan nature and his post-concussion upbringing (Master Roshi making him carry boulders several times his own size, the Red Ribbon Army, et cetera), his obsession with fighting was inevitable.
As for his lack of education, you make a fair point. That said, it honestly surprises me that nobody ever thought "hey, lets send Goku to school and teach him how to read, write, math, and generally know things." Seriously, the fact that nobody thought to educate him is kind of messed up. Heck, Chichi could have had him learn right alongside Gohan at any time.
LOL he's going to die when he learns of their plan.
9496818
I know I'm replying to a more than a year old comment, but I think I can provide some insight into Goku's character. His parents have been featured periodically and there's no sign that he's inbred.
As for him only thinking about fighting, Goku enjoys a simple life and for him, that means fighting, training, eating, and having a good time with his friends, usually involving the first three things. Fighting is just what Goku enjoys doing, for notably a different reason than Vegeta, since while Vegeta is motivated by pride, Goku enjoys getting stronger and fighting strong guys for its own sake.
As for education, both Master Roshi and Grandpa Gohan gave him the best education they could and neither were in a position to enroll him in school. For Roshi, that education was part of Goku's training, strengthing his mind as well his body; while Gohan simply lived too far away to do so. As for Chi-Chi teaching him alongside Gohan, based on what little we see from before the plot kicked off and forced Goku to be away for the next 12 years or so, Goku spent most of the day doing things like gathering wood and ingredients for dinner. And it's not like Goku isn't rather knowledgeable in applicable areas, he's apparently very well versed in how to make medicine using what's available around his home. On top of that, Goku is a combat genius, he's not just winning on instinct and luck, his knack for copying techniques is his own unique skill not really shared with anyone else in the series. So yeah, Goku's not as stupid as most people think (Though a lot of recent writing hasn't helped that) Plus Dragon Ball Super: Broly actually showed Goku to be greatly empathetic when he picked up how Broly wasn't a bad person and that they didn't have to fight. (Of course, Gokou still wanted to fight Broly, but under better circumstances.)
10375396
I didn't realize how long that comment was until I posted it...
A nuke is way overkill.
Use magic to accelerate a 5kg tungsten rod to mach 5. There is no man-made object which can stop that.
10663832
Kinetic bombardment is what you are referring too, correct?
Cant they try the Hellsing way? Walters wires/cables would be awesome right now...
ROLL CREDITS
Solution: only care enough for revolutions to not happen
I'm always puzzled as to why nobody tries to explain nukes in terms Celestia should understand. Like, how her pet fucking star works, maybe.
I love how most comments have Page creating weapons by magic.
How about this scenario instead:
Pegasi pulling chariots carrying unicorns and small, sharp objects (rocks, broken pottery, etc), flying above Tirek's range.
Have the unicorns "fire" the objects one at a time as hard, and fast, as they can.
Since they're small, that much thrust would make them extremely fast, maybe even supersonic.
Being hit by a LOT of those from a distance he can't hit back at = OUCH !
Page, please tell Celestia that her plan (in Twilight Kingdom) is the dumbest idea in the show's cannon
When ponies screw up, than the human looking like a pony makes suddenly perfect sense.
Noone expect a cute pony to slit some fuckers throat when he is laughing in victory ♤
11616056
There are dumber ideas in canon.
Can't think of one out the top of my head but there are.
I guess we can't teleport him into a mountain or the middle of the ocean?