Crusader Ponies (Romance of the Six Counties)

by swirlstar

Chapter 8: I Undertake and I Achieve

I Undertake and I Achieve

“Cadence, tell me about the beginnings of Princess Celestia again!” young Twilight Sparkle bubbled with anticipation of her favorite story.

Princess Cadence rolled her eyes. “My, my, you never are bored of that story!”

“Whatever! I wanna hear it!”

Cadence swooned in mock resignation. “Oh, alright. Now, a long time ago, Princess Celestia was a Royal Princess ruling over a small kingdom in Discord’s large empire. But one day, there was a terrible argument between her and Discord. In a rage, the cruel Discord cast her out into the deep, dark Everfree Forest, where he was sure she would perish, alone and forgotten.”

“Oh no! Was the Princess alright?” Twilight acted as though she had only just heard the story for the first time.

The alicorn chuckled. “Oh, Twilight… anyway, our Princess was made of stronger stuff than that! And despite everything, the Princess was not one for giving up! So for years, the Princess stayed within the Everfree Forest, slowly perfecting her magic, slowly plotting her revenge against the evil dragonequus. But she soon came to realize one thing: her powers would never be strong enough to beat Discord, the Lord of Chaos. No, what she needed was a willing partner, a fellow pony, one that could help her lift the evil fog over Equestria once and for all!”

“Tell me now, Cadence, who did she find!”

“Now, now! And so, the Princess sneaked out of the Everfree Forest, travelling across the land of Equestria, searching high and low for any ponies that shared her dream! And for years and years she looked. She searched high and low, near and far, village to dell. The Princess searched everywhere, but nobody even came close to what was needed.”

“And why not, Cadence?”

Cadence herself was slowly getting absorbed in her own fantasy. “It was because: she never found a pony that was strong enough, or clever enough, or subtle enough to defeat that ultimate horror. Discord could easily crush them in his paws within a second! After so much effort, the Princess began to lose hope… but she then realized a truth!”

“And what was that?”

“Princess Celestia realized that what she needed wasn't the strongest pony, or the cleverest pony, or even the most all-rounded pony: what she needed, was that pony who could get closest to Discord! She needed somepony who could approach Discord where he thought he was safe; and that pony turned out to be… Princess Luna!”

Twilight ritually opened her eyes wide. “Princess Luna?”

“Yes, Twilight; her own sister, Princess Luna, Discord’s most trusted Royal Princess in the land! But slowly and patiently, Princess Celestia, using all of her magic and cunning, gradually drove Luna and Discord apart. A few stolen bits here, a few small insults there… and soon, Princess Celestia had, by herself, discorded Discord!”

“Oh Cadance, oh Cadence, what happened then?” the baby unicorn was to hear that well-worn ending.

“And on one dark and stormy night, Princess Luna silently let Princess Celestia into the palace. They opened the bedroom door to find that big evil dragon sleeping so soundly on his couch, totally unaware that he was about to get his just desserts! And so, they crept up to him and- oh no! Discord woke up and captured them!”

“What!?” Twilight squealed in disbelief. "That's not what happened!"

“Gotcha!” Cadence rolled on the floor, laughing. “Of course not! The two Princesses, using the Elements of Harmony, turned the terrible Discord back into stone - that big, mean dragon only realized what was happening when his neck was turning into granite! And ever since, Equestria has been free of his evil rule, and ponies have lived happily ever after under Princess Celestia's just rule! The End. Now are you happy?”

“You!” Twilight was unforgiving. “You ruined it!”

“Like you’re ruining my bedtime, little filly!” Cadence stuck a tongue out. “Go to bed now, Twilight Sparkle!”

“No, no, you have to tell me what happened to Princess Luna! You promised last time! You promised!” Twilight screamed.

“Twilight, go to bed;” Cadence commanded, turning off the lights and shutting the door. Young mares shouldn't know about the unforgiving nature of the real world; at least, not now…

*

“… w-wha-?” Twilight awoke with a start, finding herself slumped over her desk. Celestia’s Sun, peeking over the distant mountaintops, indicated that it was dawn. The warm rays slowly caressed her purple coat.

“Darn it,” she mumbled, blearily rubbing her eyes. Welcome to reality.

She sighed. “Back to work, I guess,” she mumbled, looking down at the papers squashed below her frame.

She groaned again as she prepared to sort through the pile, gazing the topmost piece of paper, covered with vengeful scribbles of “5 against 1”.

Well, there was no escaping that fact: it was five against one. Twilight couldn't best that kind of opposition. And even worse, according to the laws of ducal succession that Twilight herself drew up, a liege could be deposed should all her vassals oppose her on any issue. Twilight herself was fast losing all love for the position, but she sure as hay wasn't going to hand the position over to these traitors and rebels. But how - how in the name of Equestria - can I eject them?

“Urgh... Celestia help me,” Twilight flopped back onto the desk. Another defeat. Another failure.

She needed something to blame. The answer came in the form of a nearby Equestrian Philology. The bookish mare levitated the tome with her magic and tipped it over the windowsill. Yet the thoughts did not go away. Failure again. And so soon after Princess Celestia herself visited. I really deserve-

Wait. Princess Celestia. I… wait… oh! The dream! The dream!

Hastily clearing away the mounds of paperwork carefully laid out on the desk, the purple mare pressed her hooves against her head. Desperately, she locked her eyes shut in total concentration, trying to recover those memories, so many childhood moments, that she had committed to the fire. Yes... yes... now I remember… Celestia… Discord… Luna…

When she was younger, Twilight had always thought that the moral exhibited within that story was to never give up, even in the face of insurmountable odds. Well, I guess you do see things differently when you grow up.

*

“Hey, I can’t be sorry for what I did, but… I never meant it to be against you,” Rainbow Dash rationalized, giving Twilight a weak smile.

“No worries! We’re friends, right?” Twilight grinned maniacally, as if yesterday’s events had never happened.

“Uh, sure,” Applejack grimaced, trying not to remember the last time Twilight suffered such a drastic mood shift. “You alright, Twi’?”

“Oh, of course I am! I’m just glad that we’re going to finally put this sorry episode right behind us,” Twilight chirped. “And that’s why I decided that it should just be us three discussing this issue, since, you know, we are the ones who matter here.”

“Well, alright;” Rainbow Dash seemed suspicious. “Let’s hear the solution.”

Twilight took a deep breath. “Alright, so let’s see if you think this is a good idea. After thinking about it for a long time, I realized that since Fluttershy doesn’t want the land, and you two have already entered her territory, it’s probably best if we just let things be-”

“Finally,” Rainbow Dash interrupted.

“- but, that still leaves the current status of the county unresolved. I mean, both of you are only occupying forces, right? I trust you’re not planning to annex the land yourself… ”

There was a brief silence. Applejack and Rainbow Dash shot uneasy glances at each other.

“Uh, Twi’,” Applejack began at last. “So you’re just gon’ leave the county with no ruler? Isn’t that gon’ be even worse than now?”

“Oh, Applejack,” Twilight remarked patronizingly. “Of course I don’t intend to leave the county leaderless. I just want to keep the current borders intact, that’s all.”

Applejack cocked her head in confusion. “Uh-huh. I get it,” she lied.

Rainbow Dash nodded along with her orange friend.

“Oh, this is perfect!” Twilight said, clapping her hooves in joy. “Now since we’re all in agreement, I’m sure nobody will have a problem with what I’m going to propose. After all, you know, what I’m going to say will have the rule of law.”

“Uh, ok, let’s hear it.” Applejack was becoming more wary by the second, dimly perceiving that this was not how the unicorn usually did things.

Yes! “I’m so glad all of you agreed! Less argument is always good, right?” Twilight grinned strangely again, to the increasing concern of the two other ponies.

The Duchess continued. “In that case, I have decided that, in light of her initiative and actions, to award the entire county to Rainbow Dash!”

A shocked silence.

“Yes!” Rainbow Dash abruptly jumped into the air for joy.

Applejack’s jaw went temporarily slack as she digested Twilight’s words. “Uh, what ‘bout me, Twi’?” she mentioned, trying to recover.

“You? And why do you think you should get a slice of the county?” Twilight turned towards the country pony innocently.

“Well, ‘cause it was me who wanted Flutter- ” the orange pony swallowed her words, realizing that they might not put her in the best possible light. “- uh… I also helped secure parts of the county!”

Twilight broke into another creepy smile. “Well, I guess now that the county is secure, you can move your forces back home.”

“I… but… ” Applejack was lost for words. Twilight immediately saw the farm pony’s disappointment and confusion. Time to take control of her thoughts.

“Ahem,” the purple pony cleared her throat. “Now, I have decided to reward the county to Rainbow Dash because, as mentioned earlier, I have been very impressed by her initiative and her actions. After all, it was she who saved Fluttershy, she who proposed the solution, and she who actually - at great personal risk - forced my hand in favor of said solution. All these achievements are hers alone, and I think it is more than just for me to give the county to her, to be held in perpetual personal union with her existing territories.”

Rainbow Dash let out a squee, oblivious to the reactions of the farm pony, where disappointment and confusion were rapidly giving way to something more sinister.

Twilight prepared to land the killer blow. “Unfortunately, since Applejack’s army is now in Rainbow Dash’s territory, this will mean that she will have to be held financially responsible to Rainbow Dash for all the damage and disruption her forces caused during the occupation- ”

“What?” Applejack, face now a faint crimson, yelled abruptly. “No!”

Twilight pretended to be taken aback. “Applejack, I’m sure that a little money between friends is nothing compared with- ”

“No! I can’t- I ain’t… ” Applejack’s pent-up rage lashed out at the only target possible. “You!” she roared at Rainbow Dash, jolting her into the air. “You! You made all of this up! You used me! How dare you do this to me!”

“Wha- what?” Rainbow Dash couldn't understand where this outburst came from.

“You wanted to take over Fluttershy’s county - so you used me as an excuse to take over her lands! RD, I… I can’t believe this! I trusted you!”

Rainbow Dash instinctively hit back “Hey, look who’s being a sore loser, now that they didn't get anything! And I did all of the work!”

“You did all the work you wanted to do!” Applejack was shaking with impassioned ire. “All that stuff I told you to do - all the stuff that would have saved us - you wouldn't even listen!”

“I don’t listen to people who only whine and whine and do nothing!” the prismatic mare hissed, sticking her tongue out as an additional insult.

“Why, I… I… what do you mean, I did nothin’?! I’m your fall pony! For everything you did - and I told you not to do them - I get all the blame! Without me, you wouldn't have an excuse in the first place!”

“Oh yeah? Well, did you hear that time Twilight actually came and yelled at me for a whole hour for even suggesting this to her?”

“Oh, right, so now you finally admittin' that you've been lyin’ all this time!”

“That’s because you were too much of a chicken to handle it yourself!”

“Oh, so you think I’m a chicken?” Applejack’s spirit was fast spiraling out of the control of reason. “Well fine, let’s see what y’all think about this! I ain’t leaving my bit of Fluttershy’s county - let’s see you come over and fight for it, if you think I’m so scared of you!”

Twilight, successfully hiding her glee, further stoked the flames. “Applejack, but under the terms- ”

“Forget the terms!” the farm pony shouted. “I ain’t recognizin’ Rainbow Dash’s gains! That land shouldn’t be hers! I’d rather Fluttershy come back than her!”

“Oh really?” Rainbow Dash wasn't prepared to back down. “Well, I don’t recognize your gains as well! And neither does Twilight! So give what’s mine back!”

“I ain’t givin’ nothin’ back!”

“Will do!”

“Will not!”

Twilight slithered out of sight from both ponies, grinning half-crazedly as Rainbow Dash and Applejack methodically wrecked years of trust and friendship. Oh Celestia, how knew that the power of discord would be so great?

Author's Note:

I undertake and I achieve - Pergo et Perago - Motto of North Borneo.

[Original Cover Picture - Fluttershy as Kiev]

1st Revision: 16/5/2013

Comments

[TyTyTech]

Twilight is being a megalomaniac who thinks her actions and her's alone are the best for everypony.