Fate of the Mad
“You’re a witch?” Sweetie Belle asked. Already Luster Dawn was surrounded by suspicious robots, three of them Sweetie Belle.
“Not like them,” said Luster Dawn. “There’s mind fiber besides the Book of Shadows. Some scraps of the other spellbooks remain.”
Luster took out a tattered piece of paper stapled to two others even worse the wear to create the poorest condition ‘book’ Sweetie Bell had ever seen.
More recently, Sweetie Belle had gotten some education about these things, so she already knew what Luster Dawn was saying. Another similar group, the liches, often had such artifacts in their possession. ‘Lesser’ witches were far rarer. There was simply a huge gap between these and the fully intact spellbooks Twilight made.
“Auntie Eclipse hates ‘fake’ witches like us.” Luster closed her eyes and put her ‘book’ back into her cloak. “For the longest time, she’s hunted down ponies who have spell fragments like this. My family had several… and…”
Luster’s pained expression as she put the ‘spellbook’ away was something Sweetie could relate to all too well.
“Well, she has my sister hostage right now,” Luster concluded.
Sweetie was about to suggest they team up, but Saccharine spoke first.
“I have researched our enemies,” Saccharine declared. “It is true Eclipse engages in such practices.”
Luster looked up at Saccharine, her face brightening however slightly.
“However, it is also true she always has some filly as her apprentice,” said Saccharine. “And we have not yet seen said familiar.”
“You’re not saying there’s a chance–” Sweetie Belle's eyes watched Luster carefully.
“There’s no way I’d ever work for Eclipse!” Luster growled. “Do you have any idea what that monster’s done?! How dare you even suggest such a thing!”
Saccharine watched her cautiously but didn’t press the issue forward, taking anger as the correct response to the accusation.
“Look, if you don’t trust me, fine. I’ll do this on my own.”
Indignant, Luster turned and sped down the hall.
“Wait!” Sweetie Belle called after her, but she was much too fast to catch up to.
Worse, she could hear voices and hoof steps from up above. Ponies were approaching fast.
“It’s coming from down here.”
“You’re hearing things.”
“Batton said to investigate everything. Rainbow Dash has all kinds of tricks up her sleeve, look for anything out of place.”
It was already too late to try getting away! Three adults had already come down and spotted Sweetie Belle!
“It’s another one. Sound–”
The pony, and those around him, fell asleep before he could sound anything. Turning back, Sweetie saw Luster had returned, holding those scraps again.
“Can you at least not blow my cover?” Luster glared at them. “I can only put so many ponies to sleep before they realize something is wrong. More will be coming any second now.”
“You were the one shouting!” Sweetie Belle raised her voice, then covered her mouth. “Look, I think we can agree we need your help.”
Sweetie Belle looked at Saccharine who said nothing. They had no other option.
“Of course you do. But how are you going to help me?” Luster asked. “I could let them catch you. Then they might think it was just you. I mean, if I’m evil enough to work for somepony like Eclipse…”
“Look, I’m sorry,” Sweetie whispered. “I live here. I know every part of this castle. There are secret passages if we can get to them. I can even connect to some of the machines here and scout places out. There’s a couple more of these robots hidden, though we’d have to turn them on.”
Sweetie Belle looked at her other body. Luster walked up to it, Sweetie giving her a wave through it. The unicorn turned and pointed to Sweetie, who pointed to herself then the Sweetiebot. Luster’s ears pinned back in slight amazement at the realization Sweetie Belle was controlling a second body.
“Wait.” Luster studied it. “How are you doing that?”
“I don’t think we have time to–”
“I might have thought of a way you can help me.”
“Oh. Well, There’s a thingy in my brain that does it.” Sweetie Belle pointed to her head. Knowing that didn’t sound cool at all, she elaborated. “It’s um! Right. An RFI transmission beacon.”
Sweetie nodded, certain that sounded a lot smarter. She remembered Rarity saying that’s what it was.
“Do you know how it works?” Luster Dawn asked. “What does it use to send signals? What does RFI stand for?”
Oh no!
“It’s uh!” Sweetie was glad she couldn’t sweat anymore.
“Resistance Field Interferometer,” Saccharine answered for her. “It was reverse-engineered against an original model created with mad science. Not even Rarity fully understands how it works.”
“Yeah,” said Sweetie.
“Resistance fields?” Luster smiled. “Then I was right. I may just be able to use this to cast a spell that will put the entire castle to sleep.”
“Wuh?”
An even larger group was coming at them now.
“Er. Also maybe can you show me where a secret passage is?” Luster asked. “That sounds like too many.”
It seemed they were a team now. Sweetie Belle showed the general direction they should go in, but getting away in time wasn’t going to be easy.
“So it’s actually inside Oaken Field?” Dust squinted at the sight. “Guess that’s convenient for us.”
To Dash, it was somewhat familiar. She’d seen all the desperate factions standing together about a year ago. They were back and then some. The only group that was missing was Ghost Adder, the mercenary group who’d been their main force the last time.
It also seemed they’d been through a major fight themselves. Parts of their makeshift wall had been destroyed; a few fires sent smoke up over the town. But from the looks of the ponies still present, on guard but not in action, they had won.
Indeed, they might be able to stay out of harm’s way.
“Did they build the town on top of the element on purpose?” Derpy asked. “And is waking it up going to destroy the place?”
“No and probably no,” said Applejack.
Dash hooted.
“Look nopony can be completely sure what will happen.” Applejack took off her hat.
Dash hooted again.
“The whole problem is that it’s all lethargically like.” Applejack put it back on. “A real stick in the mud you can’t pull out so easy, you know? It ain’t the getting out of bed type let alone the destroying a town type.”
That sounded close enough. Maybe.
“I’d appreciate it if we got on with this either way.” Applejack poked at the needle in her foreleg. The wound had grown by less than an inch. “Just ask to go back to the real world whenever you’d like.”
Dash had already made up her mind to try and observe this, at least for a little while. It was hard to say when she would and wouldn’t be able to do something to turn the tides.
They entered the shadow realm once more, not wanting to take the chance of being detained or attacked by those on guard. It sounded like the math had turned against Dash what with the death of Screwball and potentially Twilight.
The buildings in the town itself were barely visible now, even compared to the shadowy forms objects normally took in the shadow realm. The chains covered most of the ground, forcing you to constantly step over them, and warped any object they went through making it impossible to make anything out, only that it was there.
Interestingly, these chains had a massive ball attached to them, one sitting near the center of the city, near where Moondancer’s tree should be. Did she know? Somepony had to plant it on that spot on purpose.
Applejack trotted towards the ball of the chain, limping along, the needle and spreading wound still in her leg. Nothing seemed to be waking up just yet.
Three times had Dash seen such heavy alicorn chains. Nightmare Moon. The Darklord. Honesty…
And the way the fragment of Magic was talking about ‘family’…
“I should probably ask before we wake anything,” said Dash. “Who chained this thing up and why?”
“Same ponies,” said Applejack. “Same reason.”
“Because I kind of noticed a trend here.” Dash got ahead of her. “Nightmare Moon is connected to Starfeather, right? The Darklord, her, this thing. They’d be father, daughter and grandchild. ‘Your’ side of the family like it said.”
“You already know there was a fight a long time ago.” Applejack shook her head. “The Darklord and the Radiant Champion fought. The other side of the family won. That don’t mean they were right.”
“I guess that makes sense.” Dash stopped walking long enough for the others to catch up.
“The Element of Magic, like Laughter,” Applejack went on, “I suppose is from the other side as well. Must have some animosity towards us.”
But if Magic was considered on that side, then Twilight…
“Would Honesty help Twilight, then?” Dash asked. “I’m sensing there’s still some bad blood here.”
“Would it help anything is the real question. I gotta answer that first.”
They arrived at the center, what Dash initially thought to be the ball to go with this chain. But this close up she soon realized this had to be the Element of Honesty. That wasn’t metal, but a layer of rough sediment covering something. From beneath, coming out like a dim fire, Dash could see something like an iris.
It was a massive eye. A closed one, in a sense.
Though Dash was having some second thoughts about waking it up, Applejack already acted. She tore the shining needle out of her foreleg and plunged it into the orb. That ignited the dim flames making up the iris. Suddenly, the image of an eye beneath became strongly visible, the covering unable to contain the light any longer.
Then it twisted and swirled, but the chains violently stopped it from making a complete spin in any direction. The sediment cracked and fell off, but not entirely, giving it the appearance of an eyelid, one that sloughed on and off instead of opening and closing.
There was nothing fleshy about it. It had a sheen and smoothness about it as though carved from a massive gemstone. It made sense as all the others were technically gems, though this one was so much bigger than the others.
And it wasn’t the only eye that opened. Thousands, perhaps more suddenly surrounded them, appearing all around. They weren’t eyeballs, yet they were eyes. They were simply two-dimensional representations of an eye. Or perhaps it was slightly less than two dimensions as they were only visible from one side. One turning meant becoming invisible, as they were on the back.
No two were exactly alike, some appeared very similar to an actual eye but in every color imaginable, most were monochromatic green whose forms flickered heavily like holographic constructs.
One thing they all had in common was that they vanished as soon as they blinked, only to be replaced by a new eye nearby.
The main form’s gaze fell squarely onto Applejack. That orange iris burned briefly before stopping. Near all the other eyes fell upon Applejack as well, save one pair each for the remaining ponies. No matter where Dash looked, she was unable to break contact with those teleporting eyes.
“Why have you opened my eye?” It had a reluctant voice. One that started and stopped frequently, lingering too long on certain words and rushing through others before breaking in mid-sentence, like it had to push itself to complete even that short sentence. “I don’t want to see anything anymore.”
“You chose a weird look if that’s the case.,” said Dash. “Don’t you guys decide what you look like? And you chose to be a bunch of eyes?”
“Should we be calling it out right away?” Derpy asked Dash.
“It’s gonna hear our thoughts anyway.” Dash shrugged. “Or was that just Laughter who could do that? If so whoops.”
“I cannot deny who I am,” Honesty answered. “I am the embodiment of truth. Fact. Reality. Objectivity. I cannot deny this.”
“Then why are your eyes closed?” Applejack asked. “We need you! Your family needs you.”
“You think you’re part of my family?” It asked.
“Even if I’m not–”
“I cannot deny what you are either… Applejack. You are inconsequential. My grandfather The Darklord has seen so many of you die. Disposable. You too can be replaced. Even being a pawn is too much for you to aspire toward.”
“I’m important to the ponies who are important to me.”
“Like your father was important?” Honesty asked. “He died and you moved on. If he was so unimportant to you imagine how worthless you must be to gods and time.”
“Don’t you talk about my pa like that!” Applejack stepped forward, defiant. “I’d do anything for him or any of my family if I could. I’m not the one who just closes my eyes here!”
“And yet there is nothing you can do for any of them,” said Honesty. “You might as well. It is all pointless. That you even have sight is a cruel joke.”
Dash was starting to see how it was. It was from the ‘other side of the family’. The opposite of Laughter. Pessimism rather than optimism.
“So the things an edgy teenager,” Dust put it more bluntly. “Oh what? Let me guess. You see bad stuff happening and want to close your eyes, huh? You know I witness messed up crap happening all the time and I don’t give two bucks. So I guess I’m wiser than you? Do I win the thing?”
Dash didn’t stop that little tirade because there was no way of knowing if it’d work. Who knew what Honesty wanted to hear? Though the idea of Lightning Dust gaining its powers left Dash… conflicted, to say the least.
“You?” It looked to Dust. “All of your hard work, all of your fighting, all the things and people you sacrificed. And yet you are still just as vulnerable. Some delusion that you have grown strong may hide that from a fool like yourself but never from me. You will never get what you desire, what you sought, the respect…”
“What are you even talking about?” Dust laughed it off. “I’m famous, doofus.”
“And your parents? Do you still think they were right about you?”
“I don’t care what those losers think!”
“Lies?” It said coldly. “You see? It was all for nothing. Wasted.”
Dust growled, hardly able to restrain herself. Dash could relate to her well enough, and clearly, it struck some kind of nerve.
“Calm down. It’s just trying to make you upset,” Dash pleaded to her.
Dust ruffled her feathers and withdrew, still smoldering. Then Honesty turned its eyes toward Dash.
“Well?” Dash stepped forward confidently. “Aren’t you going to call me useless and weak like half the bucking planet has my whole life? Tell me I made more trouble than I’m worth? Aren’t you going to doubt me? I’m waiting.”
Dash put a hoof over her ear and smiled cockily at it, knowing it had no real ammunition against her. She’d already faced this demon. It stared too long.
“No.”
“Tch.” Somehow this thing did know exactly what to say to get you.
“I see many things, Rainbow Dash. Every possibility. I see your greatest possible self. You think you’ve reached some plateau of enlightenment but that is but the first step of a foal.”
Dash shifted her eyes left and right, genuinely caught off guard by this creature of all things acknowledging her above all others.
“Don’t you want to know the potential that lies within you?” Honesty asked, its eyes drawing closer. “What would your element be?”
“I… sure?” Dash looked at Applejack who didn’t stop it. She might as well.
“It is this: the Element of Loyalty. The antithesis of Starlight’s Element of Faith. Where she takes strength from others, you empower those around you. Such an artifact will give you the true realization of this. The power to always have the perfect ally at your side no matter the situation. Those who follow you will become inspired to push beyond any potential they could have had otherwise. In a mere day, you will have gathered the greatest army the world has ever seen. None could oppose you.”
The thought did give Rainbow Dash pause. She understood better who she was now and that sounded… right. Perhaps that was what she should strive to be. And to be posed as the opposite of Starlight. It all fit.
“I know the secrets to forging an alicorn feather into an element of harmony. You need only the feather and a hammer now underneath where Pinkie’s house once stood. And it will be made for you, perfectly compatible. You came to me seeking my aid. Shall I grant you this power?”
Dash stared breathlessly at the Element of Honesty for a moment. Part of her still wanted that kind of strength. But then she remembered and shook her head with a smile.
“I already have that power,” said Dash with a pound against her chest. “The greatest army the world has ever seen? Just wait.”
“Do you not see that there is one too few feathers. There will be none for you if you don’t take this now. You alone will be left behind. You will fail without my wisdom.”
“Oh, yeah. Nopony’s ever said something like that to me before.” Dash rolled her eyes. “Pfft! Wisdom. I don’t get it. You seem obsessed with everything being pointless, so why? Why are you even making this offer? What do you get out of this?”
“Nothing but to prevent other paths from being taken. To stop more from entering my sight.” Though the main eye remained firm, the others began to lose direction, turning every which way, more often becoming invisible than anything else. “I see so many paths stretching out in every direction. If you do this. If you do that…”
Other paths? Dash had to think about that one since it didn’t seem Honesty was going to answer that part.
“Hey, me next!” Dust, having already recovered stepped up with an eager smile.” what would my element be out of curiosity? It doesn’t sound like a pony’s gotta be any better than Starlight to get one. Maybe–”
Dust smirked, elated at the chance to get back at Honesty.
“Oh, I get it!” Dust pointed up at her. “You want Dash to get the element because you’re scared of what I’d do with it. So nopony else can.”
Dash looked up. That had to be it. She really should stop being surprised that Dust was smarter than she came off as at first.
“Who?” Dash asked. “Who do you want to stop from getting it?”
It didn’t answer.
“You’re literally the embodiment of honesty and you’re going to keep stuff from me? What? Is Honesty just about insulting people and telling them mean things?”
“Honesty is but a word. I am wrapped in truth, reality, and objectivity. I see all paths and bend them. I do not need to tell you anything.”
“I’m not going along with any plan of yours if you can’t be straight with me,” Dash threatened.
“There is no way for me to convince you of anything meaningful on our current path.” It seemed to try to close its eye, but the sediment merely sloughed off more. “I won’t try.”
“What?” Dash pulled her head back in surprise. “Then why did you even start? Did you not see this coming back then?”
“I grow tired of this optimism of yours. Your pointless questions. Begone.”
Dust, Derpy, and Dash. A black flame began creeping up their right forelegs, threatening to consume them. Though her leg disappearing caused Dash no pain.
Derpy waved her hoof trying to put it out in vain. Dust took out a blade, looking about ready to cut her leg off. Dash wondered which of those was the better idea.
She turned to Applejack who had begun to be consumed by flames but put it out somehow.
“Don’t worry! It’s just sending you back to the real world,” Applejack told them. Not that it was much comfort. Still, it meant with Applejack’s ability she could persist in this realm while the others could not.
Dash really didn’t want to give in to the hopelessness that seemed to surround it. Something about Honesty’s attitude just ticked her off.
How could anypony live up to such a thing? Your life had to have ‘meaning’ in the eye of some nihilistic foal? How could you even live with such a thing? Even that tiny fragment seemed to be having a horrible effect on that filly.
She wanted to declare it impossible to get the acceptance of any element. So how did Starlight…?
Dash remembered! She ran over to Applejack, not knowing how much time was left.
“Applejack.” Rainbow Dash put a hoof on her shoulder. “I think… Starlight gave me the answer by accident. When she told me her story she said, ‘I made faith a virtue’. It’s not about you becoming worthy of it.”
After just a brief moment, Applejack nodded with understanding. It would have to be enough because Dash faded from the shadow realm a moment later.
“It seems like we’ll be safe in here.” Luster Dawn looked out from their peephole.
One of the many portraits of Sweetie Belle was partially transparent from one side, allowing them to overlook the central hall. Behind it was only a cramped room, hardly big enough for even a group of fillies. Even narrower corridors led off in either direction.
The Cartel had yet to find all of these passages it seemed.
Though Sweetie Belle’s mistrust had faded, Saccharine kept her guard up. Anger was the correct response to a false accusation, but Saccharine was hardly the only one to know that. If Luster was plotting something, it had to involve the RFI transmission beacon.
To that end, Saccharine made precautions against such a plan. Sending a low-level communication to Sweetie Belle she readied the kill switch in the transmitter. She also took precautions to stand behind Luster Dawn, ready to strike her down at a moment's notice if anything appeared off.
Luster slowly walked around Sweetie Belle once, the latter trying to focus the resistance field interference on her. The filly put a crystal on one side of Sweetie, what she claimed to be a source of energy needed to cast a spell normally too advanced for her.
“Good. Just like that.” Luster held a hoof out to her. “Focus on me. Then, when you feel the spell coming at you, push out in every direction at once. You’ll act as a prism. The magic sources will focus on you, then spread out in every direction like a prism.”
That wasn’t even how prisms worked!
“I’m ready,” said Sweetie Belle.
Luster began to cast the spell, her horn and the crystal glowed both. Despite her best efforts, Saccharine couldn’t see anything wrong. It really did look like Luster was casting a massive sleep spell. The energies were the same as that Saccharine had analyzed before.
The energy coalesced on Sweetie Belle. Then it happened!
Saccharine opened fire on Luster Dawn as a second pony teleported into the room. Luster put up a shield around herself, forcing Saccharine to rush into with her buzzsaws. That they were unable to cut through meant this was no lesser witch.
Meanwhile, the new pony, who Saccharine now knew was Auntie Eclipse had already cast a spell on Sweetie Belle, freezing her and the magic around her in place. The witch wasted hardly a glance for Saccharine. A mere flick of her hoof shattered Saccharine’s leg and sent her into the narrow passage.
Eclipse instead looked over at Sweetie Belle, speaking only to Luster.
“Frozen in stasis one second before doing her part to act as a conduit for a spell,” said Eclipse. “Only when I unfreeze her it will be the prepared artifacts channeling into her, and the azoth spell I cast. I really don’t understand why they were so reluctant to cooperate.”
If that much energy flooded into her, Sweetie would be unable to use the kill switch in time! Saccharine had to come up with some other plan.
“But you.” Eclipse turned her eye to Luster from on high. “There is something different about you. A different air to your magic. Did you do something foolish, girl?”
“I certainly hope not.” Luster again put a hoof into her bag. “What you’re sensing is alicorn magic.”
“Hm?” Eclipse frowned deeply and widened her eyes. “What alicorn magic?”
Luster pulled something out rather than her scraps of a spellbook. A white feather. She had gotten that, too?! Saccharine struggled to stand up!
“An alicorn feather?” Eclipse wasted no time pulling it from her. This seemed a rare occasion that her cool countenance was broken by genuine amazement. “I searched so long for one of these. I knew Twilight was supposed to have one but–”
Soon remembering herself, Eclipse turned again to suspicion.
“Where did you find this when I could not?” Eclipse asked.
“It was in Twilight’s house. The MSC ponies found it,” said Luster. “I just took it from them before they realized what it was.”
Eclipse watched her with suspicion.
“You can keep it,” Luster offered.
“Hm.” Eclipse considered the opportunity of this too great. “With this, I could–”
Saccharine charged at Eclipse on the slim chance hitting her might somehow interrupt the stasis for even a second. It did get her attention, but nothing else.
Static electricity gripped Saccharine, holding her in the air.
“I really hope you didn’t think there was anything you could do,” said Eclipse.
She threw Saccharine through the portrait where a group of guards had gathered at all the commotion. In mid-air, Saccharine’s’ body began to explode. This might be it…
And yet Luster Dawn caught her eye at the last moment. Casting a single spell on Saccharine.
Somehow the three pegasi ended up higher than Dash would have expected, up on a branch protruding from Moondancer’s tree mansion, one hanging out over the front lawn. She and Derpy all but face-planted. Dash nearly fell off, but Dust pulled her back on and toward some leaves ready to fall.
At least it gave her a better look at Oakenfield’s present state. Fighting must have erupted all over the place. Dash remembered something about demons attacking. There didn’t seem to be any path of destruction, just buildings broken at random. Even Moondancer’s home had a few scars dug into it.
One last piece of luck gave itself to Dash. Moondancer was already here! Just below them, surrounded by a small group of mish-mashed ponies. The downside was that she and a few other ponies were talking to a pony wearing a yellow uniform and a gas mask. A pony from the Mad Science Cartel. Behind him was a small wagon filled with all kinds of horribly illegal things.
While the MSC sales pony kept talking, a psychic tapped Moondancer on the shoulder and looked right to where the three of them had landed.
“Oh, we’re hardly in the clear yet, now are we,” he said. “MSC has plenty of weapons left to sell you. In fact, I have an amazing deal for one hundred giant cockroaches. All one hundred of them for just one hundred thousand bits. I’ll even give you an interest-free loan.”
Moondancer stayed with him and his horrible offer and looked dead in Rainbow Dash’s direction. Dash’s mind reeled searching for the best way to reveal she wasn’t a threat without getting immediately shot at.
And then she got immediately shot at.
Everypony moved against them at once. Dust’s body cowled as a flurry of incoming attacks launched at them at once. She managed to drag Dash away from danger and behind the side of one of those large tree homes.
Moondancer wasn’t relenting, either. She had already brought up numerous skeletons to surround the two. The skeletons began moving in.
“Cool it!” Dash shouted out. “It’s me, Rainbow Dash. We’re not here to–”
Dust undercut her point by shattering one of the skeletons and sending the electrified bones scattering back toward their attackers. She gave Dash a strained look. True, that thing would have hit them. But still!
“Oh, crap! That’s Lightning Dust!”
That was enough for them to adopt a more careful stance against the two. At least it meant they weren’t attacking at that exact moment.
“That’s the worst one!”
“I am?” Dust blinked, surprised, before returning to her usual demeanor. “I mean, of course I am! I take that as a compliment, you know!”
Dash jabbed her to little effect.
“Was that supposed to hurt?” Dust asked.
Actually, Dash might be able to make this work.
“Yeah, think about that.” Dash tapped her hoof against the ground and pointed it winningly at Moondancer. “I brought you Lightning Dust! Eh?”
Dust repeated the gesture and the two smiled at the crowd who stared back non-plussed or else utterly confused.
“We hate Lightning Dust,” Moondancer said bluntly. “She’s ‘arrested’ or assaulted many of our friends.”
“You mean your friends who were a danger to–?” Dust only half-rolled her eyes before Dash stopped her.
“Can it!” Dash shot at her.
Dust shut up, turning a hoof up.
“You see?” Dash smiled at Moondancer again. “I have the situation under control! Not sure how up-to-date you are through all the wanton destruction but I defeated Flash Bang. Nearly half of her forces defected and are following me now.”
“We’ve been busy.” Moondancer swept her eyes across the destruction a second time. “But yes, I’ve heard Flash Bang is out of the battle. I suppose you have our thanks for that.”
Not too much thanks from the looks of things. These ponies hardly let up even after that.
“Yeah! So that’s twice I saved you all from Flash Bang!” Dash called out loud enough for them to hear, slowly sweeping her hoof across the ponies, still ready for a fight. “From that time she was going to bring in an army down here to fight Trixie? Who I also got rid of?”
“Oh!” The MSC pony took off his little gas mask to give Dash a cruel smile. “I remember that one. You saved us from the very ponies who are following you now. From her, for example.”
He came about as close as anypony would dare to Lightning Dust.
“You were part of the army coming to burn down the homes of everypony here, weren’t you?” He lowered his head. “Did you have a sudden change of heart?”
“No,” Dust admitted readily enough.
“Then shut up!” Dash scolded her. And it worked for now.
“Moondancer! Friends!” He turned his head around. “Need I remind you all that Batton Pass is willing to honor the bounty on Rainbow Dash? Could she possibly be worth more than all the weapons you could buy from us with that money? Weapons you were just desperately telling me you need!”
Dash could tell this pony wasn’t going to make things easy for her. They were considering that offer and Dash couldn’t entirely blame them.
“Yeah!” Dash nodded a little too fast, not sure how to salvage that one. “And the whole demon thing? I totally took care of that one too.”
“How, exactly?” Moondancer asked. “I think that was mostly Starlight.”
Dash struggled to recall the events exactly, on the spot.
“Flash Bang would have made us sit back and let the demons tear you all to shreds,” Dust reminded her. “Dash was the one who led us into the fight. So yeah, she helped more than any of you did, I’m sure.”
“Yes!” The MSC pony clapped his hoof against the ground. “That’s a trend, isn’t it? You take credit for defeating Trixie, too while we all know that was actually Twilight! Who is presently and perhaps permanently gone.”
Not long ago that would have gotten to Dash. But now she bared it all with determination.
“Look! Did I personally defeat Trixie?” Dash asked. “No. Minuette? Also no. I can’t do something like that on my own. And I beat myself up about that way more than you ever could. But through it all, I also learned that nopony can do this on our own.”
“Except Twilight,” he snarked.
“Not even Twilight!” Dash shot back. “She’s an incredible pony, the most incredible I ever met, but not even her. Do you all think she doesn’t have any problems? Do you think being strong means she doesn’t need anypony else? Twilight needed help more than even I did. That’s why she’s in trouble now. Just because she’s the strongest doesn’t mean she’s the only one who matters or doesn’t need the rest of us.”
“Well that is how the world works. In case you haven’t noticed, the strongest ponies are the ones who get to be in charge. Does anypony here question that?”
“Well, that’s not how it should work!” Dash proclaimed. “And it won’t be how things work when I’m done! I’m asking you to stand with me. Twilight gave me the power to fight against the likes of Trixie. I’m asking all of you to give me the power to change the world!”
“Oh, wow!” His claps cut Dash off immediately. “We’ve got two apocalypses about to come crashing down on us and half the city is on fire but thankfully we have your little speeches on friendship and working together. Do you think we just needed a pep talk? Or worthless promises? ‘Work hard to forge a better tomorrow! Eat your vegetables! Follow me and I’ll turn the ocean into lemonade.’ You see? I can do it too.”
Dash resisted the urge to sic Dust at this guy.
“I have to agree,” said Moondancer. “I’m willing to give you a chance.”
Some disagreement emerged behind her, most noticeably an indignant scowl from Dash’s adversary, but she quieted it down.
“I’m willing to consider your offer, given what you’ve accomplished in the past. That you’ve defeated Flash and brought so many of our enemies under your control. But if you want our aid, you’ll need to give us a better offer than Batton Pass.”
That was something!
“Er.” Dash really should have done a bit more research before rushing into this. “What was Batton’s offer again?”
“Batton Pass is offering us independence from Equestria,” said Moondancer, “and will not allow any slayers into the Everfree without permission. Furthermore, she appears to be perfectly positioned to destroy our two main enemies. With Eclipse, whoever wins between Starlight and–”
“Yeah, yeah.” Dash waved that away. “I heard that part already.”
“Then what will you do?” Moondancer asked. “If you win?”
“Oh, let me guess! She’s going to ‘make the world a better place’, right?” The MSC pony cooed. “I’m surprised nopony else ever thought of that.”
Dash cast her head down as everypony watched her with suspicion more than anything else, Dust perhaps most of all. She couldn’t punt this any longer or make broad claims about general reforms to make life easier for ghosts and mad scientists. She had to make concrete promises now.
“I will work with Nailbat to completely remake the government of Equestria,” said Dash. “Between him and Sunset, I’ll try to make this compromise: that the slayer won’t be completely abolished but won’t have the direct political influence they have now.”
She really was walking a thin line here. Would have to make both these ponies and those like Dust happy enough to at least tolerate it. But then that was why she was here. If Dash could bridge this gap she could make it all the way.
“Does anypony here doubt that I will fight for the rights of ghosts, mad scientists, and everypony unfairly declared ‘monsters’?” Dash asked, turning squarely to her main detractor, who had to bite his tongue for the moment. Next, Dash preempted what was sure to be Dust’s silent objection. “And I know that I can’t just change everything overnight no matter how much I want to. But if I’m in charge you can bet that I’ll push Equestria far past what it’s ‘ready’ for. Hard enough they’ll be forced to grow.”
They were considering Dash words at least. The hostility was letting up however slightly. One rather heavily armed mare was the first to speak.
“You know, planting Rainbow Dash at the top of Equestria would be one of the best outcomes for us,” she said. “But are you really going to be able to deliver on half of your promises?”
“Like I said, I got Dust on my side already.” Dash gestured towards her, presenting her almost. “
“You are! I’m not going to stand in the way of any of this,” said Dust.
Ponies were generally flabbergasted by her statement. Finally, Dust was carrying her weight.
“Did Nailbat or Batton Pass manage to get any of your detractors on their side? Having either of them in charge won’t stop everypony from seeing you as monsters or harassing you. I think I’ve proven myself as the only sympathetic party who can take control of the tide against you.”
“And our independence?” Moondancer pressed.
Dash hesitated. She felt she was on a role for a second there, too. This was a big promise. But on the course, she was on…
“I will grant it,” said Dash, quickly adding, “but isolating yourselves won’t bridge all the hate that’s built up! I want us to work together. I want to show the slayers and Equestrians you’re not monsters. As I said, the SA or whatever comes after will always be a threat to you unless the kind of change I’m talking about happens. They’ll keep attacking you. It might even get worse if they become lawless. And I want to show you that we can change. That’s why I want us to fight together.”
She heard immediate grumblings from Dust upon mentioning independence. She knew it was a bit more than the other extreme Dash was trying to straddle would accept. But she also knew they’d care more about results than anything else. If Dash could keep it up…
“I suppose your goal is acceptable,” said Moondancer. “Though I doubt any of us would say it’s more than simply equal to what Batton Pass offers.”
Moondancer looked out to the room to find general agreement. Though Dash couldn’t help but feel they were slightly more ambivalent towards her if anything. Not too quick to bury the hatchet with an old enemy and embrace friendship, as Dash would have it.
“So the next question is: are you any better in getting us to your vision?” Moondancer asked. “I don’t want bluster or motivational speeches. Tell us exactly how you plan to deal with Starlight and Crater Cemetery both. Your vision is meaningless if they stand in your way.”
Having always taken things one step at a time, Dash didn’t have concrete plans to get rid of either one. It really just got everypony back together and then…
“I dunno the details.” Dust briefly noticed Dash’s expression, then looked out the window. “But Spitfire and Flash Bang had some kinda plan to kill Starlight when she ‘ascended’ or whatever. Most I could get out of it. They wanna be all mysterious about it.”
“Yeah!” Dash pointed to her. “We still got that mystery plan!”
“The mystery plan?”
Dash… really didn’t know too much about it. Spitfire had mentioned it but said it would be impossible at the moment. She also wanted to keep quite about it for now. But that might be just enough for Dash to bluff her way through this.
“There’s something Starlight doesn’t know… that she doesn’t know,” Dash repeated the words Spitfire said to her and got mostly the same reaction Dash gave upon first hearing those words. Saying that made her feel like Starlight. “Look! I know this isn’t a good look, but I can’t tell you the plan or Starlight might counter it. Especially not when that guy is around!”
Dash pointed to the MSC representative.
“Be that as it may.” Moondancer idly twirled her hoof around. “Even if we just take your word on this that still leaves Crater Cemetery, who may win the coming confrontation.”
“They are the true enemy!” A random pony, one of the cult leaders suddenly blurted out. “When the Bloodmoon rises next, on the True Hallowed Evening, we are all doomed. Not even Starlight could stand in her way.”
Dash frowned at that pony. She’d heard as much from Fluttershy and Sonata. Some star alignment would allow Nightmare Moon to escape her chains or something. And then…
“First of all, Starlight already failed with that whole Azoth spell thing. And if that’s what you all want, well why can’t Twilight cast the azoth spell?” Dash stepped forward. “If Eclipse can… then she can ten times better!”
“She isn’t here.” Moondancer shook her head. “There’s no guarantee she will be. I need a guarantee for this.”
“And didn’t you say you could save us either way?” Another interjected.
“Sunset then!” Dash stammered out. “No matter how bad things get, I will find a way! You asked me what good I am. That’s your answer! That’s what I’m good at.”
“As I said, I want action, not promises,” said Moondancer. “But I also said I will give you a chance. If you can defeat either of the two witches now aligned with Batton Pass. If you can get Sunset to agree to compromise with Nailbat, removing SA control of the government. Fulfill both these conditions and you’ll have our support.”
It was a hard question which of those would be harder? Taking out a witch without Twilight around, especially considering Eclipse was the second toughest, was obviously a major task in itself. But Sunset saw the SA as inherently good. Her version of the new ways couldn’t allow her to see it as anything else. Sure, she wanted to reform it… but Dash would have to make her go far beyond that.
But even with such a difficult path before her, Dash could hardly feel anything other than excitement. There was a path before her now. She didn’t know what lay on it or how to get to the end, but just that much meant it was possible now.
“I can do it!” Dash boldly promised. “Come on, Dust. Derpy!”
Derpy fell out of the tree, looking awkwardly at the other ponies around. It quickly became clear who had and hadn’t noticed there was a third pony there.
The MSC sales pony looked in dismay from Moondancer to Dash, then told his subordinate something before watching the three of them march off. They’d have company soon, it sounded like.
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The thing about Auntie Elicpse isn't that she's the second strongest; It's that she is an absolutely ruthless bitch who will happily do anything in the name of victory. Truth be told, if the Element of Magic had decided to bond with her it would have achieved its desired goal pretty easily. However, it seems like Luster might be able to prove that she is a much more capable student then her mentor believes her to be.
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Magic cares about maximum potential more than anything else. It's fusion with Eclipse would be incredibly unstable if Luster, whose potential max is even higher, is anywhere near by.
Another great chapter! Few FICS get me excited to see updates like this one does. Can't wait to see all these storylines converge and shit get even more crazy
Moondancer is demanding a lot when she doesn't have very much to contribute at the moment. Though her cooperation is pretty important to Dash's long term goals of friendship and ice cream equality. In complete fairness, both the things she's demanding are things Dash was going to have to do anyway. So I'm kind of 'meh' on her and all her people at the moment. We'll see if they get to pull a 'Charge of the Rohirrim' at the last minute or not.
I like that Rainbow was called out on being vague in speeches. Once again, another great chapter, seriously this is fantastic storytelling.
Derpy as always coming in clutch
unironically love how we've reached a point where the characters already can figure out what's going to happen, sometimes being subverted
Another awesome chapter, 👏 and rainbow dashs charisma build is still paying off
That's the battle that created gremlins?
Back-face culling!
I've somewhat thought about Dash inheriting Starlight's element from meta reasons: there's 8 OG feathers --- two ponies + 6 probable elements. Generosity and kindness are completely off, the rest we've already seen. Loyalty is left and if we believe Starlight's story about Bloodstorm and laughter that makes some sense. Although, honestly I was almost sure Starlight's lying and her element is not one of 8 original feathers. But she seems to systematically being surprisingly honest about some stuff
I don't understand why didn't she one-punched her.
Man, cockroach market surely underwent a recession recently.
Is knowledge of who Sunset is that public already? Knowledge of her being good at magic probably is, but that's almost directly saying that she's a witch.
And there's the confirmation I've been waiting for! Rainbow Dash, across the entire series, has always been a very loyal pony in more ways than one.
Through her cleverness, resourcefulness, and above all, a lovable personality, she's come so much farther than anyone expected, and it wasn't because of some outlandish abilities or because she was the strongest one in her family, it was because of the loyalty she had in herself, and her friends. Dashie is the pure athanasius of this words mindset for that exact reason.
That being said, I'm not sure how long Dashies decision on not making the Element will last since this series so far has been building towards the mane 6, Dashie, Twilight, Fluttershy, AJ, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie forming Elements of Harmony. Yet, I understand the hesitation from Dash and Twilight to become an element barer given what happened to Starlight.
This series just keeps getting more and more interesting as it keeps going and I'm so excited for the next chapter! Keep up the great work Delta! ^^
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Yes, actually.
It's the real feather. I'm 99% sure I mentioned that they left it at Rarity's house because they didn't want all the alicorn magic in one spot and Scootaloo doesn't need it anymore.
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I wouldn't say that. Dash was vague in what Sunset could do agaibst Craterhoof. The general consensus in that matter is the Azoth spell. One that only requires enough power, which can be partially supplied externally, and skill. Both Sunset is known to have without revealing her to be a witch.
In the same manner as Starlight is able to cast it, without actually being a witch.
Starswirl ascended into an Alicorn and became Discord. That's why Twilight thinks he hates what he's become and it's up to her to put him out of his misery. That's why she already had a plan to kill Discord too, because she knows who he is.
That's my theory and I'm sticking to it
Interesting...very interesting
Is Trixie still alive? I don't remember there being a mention of her since the fight with demon summoner (which we don't even know how it ended)
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Trixie didn't die, she just jumped off the airship. Her plan was to make it look like she ran away so she can try to rescue Scootaloo and Applebloom.
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Ah yes, the Starswirl is Discord theory. It’s been quite a long since I last heard of it (probably 2012)