A Piece is Lost Before the War
“Cuz, is that you?” Braeburn tried to get a better look into the deep shadows. The large pony moved closer, a dark coat keeping him out of view.
“Eeyup. We can’t talk here. Ah have a room nearby.” Big MacIntosh left the shadows, head kept low, and started making his way up the street.
“You know him?” Daring asked Braeburn.
“Yeah, he’s my cousin on my mother’s side, but I have no clue what he’s doing here.”
“Can we trust him?”
“Of course,” Braeburn said. “Come on.” They followed Big Mac down the road and to a nearby pub where he was renting a room for the night. When the door was closed, he tossed the coat aside and visibly relaxed.
“Alright, cuz, what’s going on? Why the note and all the hiding.”
“Well, uh, ya see,” Big MacIntosh glanced away and shifted his weight uncomfortably. “Ah may be a wanted stallion around here.”
Braeburn blinked. “A... wanted stallion? Like, a criminal?”
“Eeyup.”
“But, you’re an apple farmer. How did you end up a criminal in some neighboring kingdom?”
“Well, Ah was aboard this pirate ship and—”
“Ya what now?” Braeburn asked in shock.
Big Mac held a hoof up in a placating gesture. “Now, hold on just an apple pickin’ minute. There was a good reason for it.”
“What reason could you have for joining a pirate crew?”
“Well, the princess asked me to, for starters.”
“Wait,” Daring Do said. “Princess Celestia? She asked you to turn pirate?”
“Eeyup.”
“But why?” Braeburn asked.
“‘Cause she knew Miss Sparkle was going to be ponynapped, and she wanted me to be there and make sure she stayed safe. Ah didn’t know why she picked me to go at first, but Applejack got ponynapped too.” Big Mac glanced down at the floor. “That was a mighty awkward reunion.”
“Anyway, when we landed, the Crystal Ponies arrested all the pirates. Ah managed to escape through the lower hatch, but not without bucking one of them upside the head. That’s why Ah’m being careful not to be seen, and why Ah had you meet me somewhere else, in case somepony found the note.”
“Wait, wait,” Daring said. “Did you say the princess knew her student was going to be ponynapped, and she didn’t do anything to stop it?”
Big MacIntosh nodded. “That brings me back to the message from the princess. Your letter to her got intercepted, but not a whole lot gets by her. She knows you were trying to contact her about some coin, and that ya should know even more by now.”
“Yeah,” Braeburn said. “We met some other ponies who’re also looking for them. They told us about Nightmare Moon.”
Big Mac nodded. “You’ll need to tell me what you know later on. The princess only told me enough to deliver the message. Ya’ll need to get all the coins together with the ponies they represent.”
“We already know that,” Daring said. “And you still didn’t explain why she let her student get ponynapped if she knew about it.”
“She didn’t really know about it so much as plan it herself,” Big Mac said.
Daring and Braeburn stared at him blankly.
“She’s the one who gave the pirates the idea, ya see. Secretly, of course, Miss Rarity probably thinks she came up with it on her own.”
“But why?” Daring half-cried in frustration.
“Oh, sorry. Two of the pirates are the ponies yall need for the coins. So are two of the bounty hunters she hired. She did it to get everypony in one place, far away from Canterlot.”
“But she’s the princess. Why didn’t she just sound out her guards to round everypony up?”
“She said she was being watched. It was another reason why she asked me to send the message, nopony would suspect an apple farmer to carry secret messages. It looked like a normal delivery to the castle.”
“The shadowbolts were watching the princess?” Braeburn asked.
Bid Mac shook his head. “Some ponies the shadowbolts convinced to side with Nightmare Moon. The princess isn’t sure who she can trust. If she does anything, it might force their hooves. That’s why she had to rely on other ponies to get Miss Sparkle to safety.”
“So, the princess knows Nightmare Moon is almost free, but can’t do anything because she’s being watched, so she came up with some crazy plan to get everypony together without having to lift a hoof for herself,” Daring summarized. “And then she sent you along because nopony would suspect you, and because we need to know which ponies can help us.”
“Eeyup.”
“But I don’t get it, cuz,” Braeburn said. “What could Nightmare’s allies possibly do to the princess?”
“They have a spell ready to use on her,” Big MacIntosh said. “The only reason they haven’t yet is because it’ll be stronger during an eclipse. If she lets them know that she knows about it by getting these ponies together or evacuating Canterlot, they’ll cast it early.”
“Evacuating Canterlot?” Daring asked with a worried frown.
“It’s a big spell,” Big Mac clarified.
“Is anypony going to be hurt?”
“Ah don’t think so,” he answered. “The way she described it, Canterlot was gonna just disappear while the spell is working, and the spell would last longer if it was cast during an eclipse.”
“Keeping Celestia and Twilight Sparkle from interfering,” Daring concluded. “But the princess managed to get Twilight to safety, so we can still stop Nightmare Moon.” She smiled. “Starting tomorrow, we’ll be back on track. First, the mares, and then the coins.”
“You’re right,” Braeburn said. “We’ll just... wait, when’s the eclipse?”
“I’m not sure,” Daring said. Her eyes went wide a moment later. “Derpy and Time Turner.”
“Who and what now?” Big Mac asked.
“The friends who told us about Nightmare moon. They went back to ask the princess how to get through the Amaranthine Tempest,” Daring explained. “They should be arriving in Canterlot tonight. I need a calendar.” She began rifling through the nearby drawers before rushing out of the room.
“They have one of the coins with them,” Braeburn said. “If they get caught when Canterlot disappears, we’ll lose it. With our luck, the eclipse will be tomorrow.”
*****
“Derpy, are you sure these charts are right?” Time Turner asked.
“Yes,” she answered, doing her best to give him an angry look. “Just as sure as I was an hour ago.”
“I’m just saying, we’ve been sailing in circles all night, and this map says we should be right on top of Canterlot.”
“Maybe we’ll be able to find it now that the sun is coming up,” Derpy suggested.
“Hopefully. We don’t have time to waste.” Time Turner set the chart aside and moved out toward the edge of the deck. The sunlight traveled swiftly across the ground below as the sun rose above the horizon. A patch of shadows caught his eye. An odd curved protrusion into what should have been bathed in morning light. Time Turner looked up, thinking maybe some clouds were casting a shadow, but the sky was clear.
“That’s odd. Derpy, take us up higher?”
“Huh? Why?”
“I want to get a better look at something.” Derpy nodded and moved inside. After a minute or two, the ship began climbing.
“That’s very, very odd,” Time Turner said once they’d doubled their altitude and the sun had come fully above the horizon.
“What are you looking at?” Derpy asked, joining him near the edge of the deck and glancing overboard. She glanced up in confusion and then at the sun. She pursed her lips and looked back down. “I don’t get it.”
“Me either,” Time Turner said. Far below was a humongous shadow darkening the ground. It was an almost perfect circle. “It almost looks like the penumbra from the eclipse a few days ago.”
“There wasn’t an eclipse,” Derpy said, frowning.
“Oh, not where we were,” Time Turner said. “The sun and moon weren’t at the right angle for us to see it. But anypony as far North as Las Pegasus would have seen at least a partial eclipse, and this area would have seen almost a total one. But why would the shadow stick around?”
“I dunno,” Derpy said. “But don’t we have other things to worry about?”
“Right, of course. Well, let’s get to it then, we have a princess to talk to and a world to save. Now, do you have any other maps?”
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The pieces are coming together!
Or, y'know, getting lost. That, too.
Oh shi
Now things go down
Very good cant wait to see more my only complaint was this took me less then 2 minutes to read so please write bigger chapter please I'm begging you here.
how the hell is this not tagged random?
I know I already said this, but I so seldom get to be right.
*ahem*
I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEEEEEEEW IT~
KING KNEW IT!
I F
Ok, I'm done. Moar please. And I think the Doctor is gonna want to be ready to do some running.
Not a fan of all knowing, manipulative Celestia who was behind everything.
2171778
Oh c'mon, who doesn't love Xanatos Roulette? Celestia certainly does.
2171965
Celestia as chessmaster can be okay (see The Immortal Game) but I feel that in this case it undercuts the intelligence of everyone else and demeans their accomplishments and deflating whatever tension the story had built; and going above and beyond my limit for, to use a trope, Willing Suspension of Disbelief for a variety of reasons.
And of course there's a government conspiracy
I think that's the most I've seen Big Macintosh say in any fic I've ever seen.
2172115
All she did was arrange for the heroes to be in the right place (or at least not be in the wrong one). It's basically the same thing she did in the show, except in a more actiony/adventure kind of way. It's not demeaning of anyone's intelligence besides the pirates she tricked (and it's not THAT hard to leave juicy bait for criminals), since she's relying on the heroes to succeed with her gone.
I wish chapters were longer, since the story's getting a lot more exciting.
...
Oh dear. Well, at least Derpy didn't get stuck inside it. Although, with the disappearance of such a major landmark, I daresay she will be lost for some time.
Oh my, dear author. You have me caught in your web. Liked and faved, eagerly awaiting more!
chillingkoala.com/fs/i/2012/08/25/b83ac9a617cdcbcf72bc15634f233f.gif
Oh crap...
THIS BETTER NOT END IN A CLIFFHANGER LIKE IN http://www.fimfiction.net/story/40021/1/displacement/a-painful-start
2171778
I agree, in general, but really, how is she any more "all-knowing and manipulative" here than she would have to have been in the lead-up to the canon NMM incident? Her plan only seems preternaturally good because she's had a thousand years to perfect it and set it up.
2187660
Mostly because in canon all she did was give a nudge to Twilight to go make friends, after making sure she had the tools to succeed available to her in information and introductions and having faith in the result. Nothing more. Anything else is fanon. Everything that happened after was up to Twilight. No manipulation of the actual events. No, hey, I told Twilight the idea straight up to go make friends with these specific ponies, then use those ponies in tandem with the elements of harmony to defeat NMM and then sent someone to make sure it'll all be fine either way. It speaks of a lack of faith in the characters, which calls for more direct manipulation hence Big Mac.
Here, it has too many variables that you can't predict no matter how long you have. What if Rainbow killed all the pirates, what if Rarity killed Twilight before Big Mac was around, what if they killed Fluttershy, what if they all died in an airship crash from damage sustained, what if they got caught quick and dragged back to Canterlot, What if Rainbow didn't take the job, what if Iron Will captured them, what if they made the exchange somewhere other than the Crystal Empire (netural ground? really...? I can't believe Rarity believed that. she should know the extradition laws way better if she's a pirate.) and those are the ones just off the top of my head. Especially the variables when one factors in the SEVEN pieces of eight which apparently includes Love/Cadence.
Honestly, the whole chapter just shattered my suspension of disbelief, destroyed any tension the story had built up, and pissed me off. I then downvoted, unfavorited and this is me explaining why I downvoted and am now ignoring this whole story.
2188183
What if Nightmare Moon killed them all before they could reach the Elements of Harmony? What if Twilight locked herself in the library and didn't make friends. What if the friends she did make didn't fit the elements so well? In both cases Celestia pointed the main characters in the right direction before being locked away by Nightmare Moon, and could only hope for the best.
DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUN! The plot thickens!!!
2188578 True words, friend. Nay, I suspect that it's only this contorted or contrived or what-have-you because anything less would be easily seen through. The best webs are made with overlapping strings, you know. The worst trap is a straight line, as the one who needs to follow it may wander. Plan for the wandering, ponder the thoughts, plot the course. Change the map, switch the key, coin a phrase, turn the page. If you're not a step ahead, then you're dead. If you're a step behind, your life is mine. If you're a step aside, you'll stay in stride, and with your lane so wide, you can race with pride. Being on equal ground is irrelevant; if one can stand on quicksand while the other sinks, the one standing still wins. All of these different sayings and cross-examined statements and fractures of quotes are all what you'd have to plan around. That's why webs are so tangled and distorted. Discordance in an orderly fashion. Controlled Chaos. A freestyle orchestra in perfect harmony. I'm not making sense, I know, but it isn't supposed to make sense. If it did, then you wouldn't think. You'd nod, and say you understand, and not think of what this means. Once this makes sense, then you know why chess is seen as a truly intense sport. Maybe you already saw, or maybe you thought so, but now your eyes are open wide. Shut tight against the outside world, or pulled open like a camera, unblinking, recording and archiving everything. No one can or should do either. Life is like a fresh-bought pencil. It has no point till you give it one. And, also like a pencil, you can sharpen and refine that point, or you can break it, and reform a new point for its existence. All of these are true, but some are also half-truths. Which are full which are not? Who knows? Who would want to know? Think on this, all who read this, or ignore it and move on. I'm going to go back to my philosophy homework now that I've caught up on this awesome story again. Goodbye!
hmmm, interesting
i like it, an eclipse allowing the use of the moons power during the day. clever