Chapter 21
(Reminder that I own nothing!)
‘Thought’
“Dialogue”
“Words in a foreign language.”
“Quoting in thought”
***
A loud thump rang out in the deserted Ponyville Guard garrison, specifically in Commander Spitfire’s cubicle. The usually fiery mare was sitting at her desk, an occasional thump coming from a little rubber ball she was despondently bouncing off her wall.
With a long, suffering sigh, Spitfire caught the rubber ball as it returned to her and dumped it into one of her desk drawers. Her office chair squeaked as she leaned back in it; she ignored the annoying noise in favor of looking around her workspace at the various little knickknacks she had decorated it with. Most of them were mementos from her time as Captain of the Wonderbolts and she couldn’t help but allow a little smirk to shine through her gloomy attitude when she looked at one particular photo of her two closest friends, Soarin and Fleetfoot. In it, they were both on either side of her. Spitfire had had to wrestle Soarin into the frame for the picture and still had to keep a hoof hooked around his neck so he couldn’t try to run away. Fleetfoot had stood just as calmly and silently as she ever did and Spitfire couldn’t help but wonder how she had always managed be so collected and on top of things. All three of them wore different variations of a smile, hers was a big, happy smile while Fleetfoot’s was a tiny smirk she always favored and Soarin’s was more of a pained, fake grin than an actual expression of mirth.
Spitfire sighed once more as she tore her mind from the good old days and returned her attention to the current state of affairs. She was a successful member of the Royal Guard, in charge of a hundred soldiers and the entire valley that Ponyville resided in. Her two best friends had made the journey with her in her country’s time of need and were still by her side. She had the favor of at least one of the princesses and had been promoted to her current rank by none other than Princess Celestia herself. She was a good soldier, they told her she was a good leader and until recently she thought she was a good pony.
That last point was the entire reason for her self-induced depression. The actions that had led to her promotion, her rise in status and the favor of the princesses had also led to one of her closest friends almost getting kicked out of the service and an innocent po- person locked in a cell and half-starved. There were so many justifications for Chris’ poor treatment that it was a wonder she could still feel bad about it, but there it was, glaring right at her. She had been the facilitator of a terrible act of cruelty on a creature who had tried to peacefully communicate with her, just before she forced him to flee and end up in a cell where he had been imprisoned for weeks.
Spitfire let her head flop lifelessly onto her desk and stared at the wall opposite her. After a moment, she spared a glance at the clock hanging across from her. The princesses were supposed to start the conference any minute now. With another long sigh, she stood and donned her armor and smoothed over the small imperfections in her appearance before heading out the door and started on her way to the Town Hall. Maybe, if she was lucky, she could talk to Chris and apologize for her part in all of the terrible events that had plagued the poor fellow.
The trip to Town Hall was quiet as most of the townsponies were already at the conference. After only a short walk across the square, Spitfire strolled up to the outer doors of the large, circular building and held out her hoof to be prodded with an enchanted needle by the soldier at the door. She didn’t recognize him, but then again she hadn’t been in charge long enough to learn the names and faces of every soldier under her command. After the test was finished, she quietly stepped through the doors and made her way to the auditorium. Spitfire tried to walk as silently as she could without the clanking of her silver plates making too much noise as she slipped through the door but several ponies still turned their heads to the source of the disruption. With a few muttered apologies, she made her way to the end of the aisle where her two teammates were already standing and watching the proceedings.
“Hey, what did I miss?” she whispered, coming to stand next to Soarin and Fleetfoot.
“Not too much. Princess Celestia made a speech about accepting those who are different from us, blah blah blah. The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony stood around and looked pretty. Oh, and the human told everypony he lied about his name. That was hilarious, you should have seen the look on the Bearers’ faces.” Soarin grinned sideways at her, trying not to turn his head. Fleetfoot only frowned slightly at Soarin and shook her head.
The frown on Spitfire’s face almost matched that of their silent friend’s. “You know Soarin, I’ve known you for years, why are you acting like a much bigger jerk than usual all of a sudden?” Spitfire tapped on the edge of his armor with a hoof to help emphasize her words.
Soarin sighed and rubbed the side of his head under his helmet. “Sorry, I’ve just been in a really bad mood since that mission in the forest. Something about these humans gives me the creeps and I don’t really know what it is. Almost getting booted out of the service didn’t help either.”
Spitfire shook her head. “Soarin, almost getting kicked out was your own fault and the humans seem to be perfectly well behaved. I don’t know why they would scare you.”
“I'm not scared!” Soarin squawked. Several ponies in the audience shot them looks and quiet shushes before turning back to the human nervously talking on the stage.
“... and I guess I would just like to thank you all for helping Elly and I and for showing your support. We really appreciate it and... uhm, sorry. I didn’t really expect to have to make a speech today and I'm not much of a speaker.” The human chuckled nervously along with the quiet rumble of laughter coming from the crowd.
Spitfire couldn’t help but laugh for a slightly different reason. “Come on Soarin, you just admitted they give you the creeps.”
“Well I- What I mean is- Ugh. Damn it, Spitfire.” Soarin dropped his head in defeat.
Spitfire patted her longtime friend on the back. “Don’t worry about it. I admit, they are a little weird compared to the other things running around Equestria these days. I mean, people who can’t be exposed to magic at all or it makes them sick? Crazy! But we need to make room for them, the same as we have for dragons and gryphons.” Spitfire nodded to herself.
Soarin’s retort was drowned out completely as the princesses returned to the stage and called for questions. The press ponies who occupied the first few rows of seats all leapt into the air and shouted for attention, drowning out almost every sound with frantic yelling. Nopony happened to notice a single Equestrian regular looking through a crack in one of the side doors suddenly turn and vanish in a small flash of green.
***
Our little group chatted amicably as we walked down the cobblestone road back toward Twilight’s library. Well, at least the ponies chatted, Elly and myself were mostly quiet as I huffed along behind them. I couldn't help but wonder why the ponies had been dragging me around town with wounds that still hadn’t fully healed. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had left right after the conference was over; Pinkie had said something about “fixing a sign” and Rainbow had just vanished. That left Eleison, myself (now thankfully known as John to everyone), Princesses Celestia and Luna, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and most of the Apple family. Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom had stopped to talk to Applejack after the conference and she had dragged them along, leaving our final count at ten.
After leaving Town Hall, we were practically swarmed by various ponies with notepads and cameras, all taking snapshots and shouting for interviews. Celestia asked them politely to contact her PR department back in Canterlot but the crowd refused to back off. I was surprised when Luna stomped out in between the group and the swirling mass of vulture- I mean newsponies all scattered when she threatened them all with nightmares for a month if they didn’t clear off.
Now we were coming up on the library and a small contingent of golden armored guards waited outside standing beside one of the gilded deathtra- I mean, chariots.
“What do you think those guys are here for?” I asked, jabbing a thumb at the golden armored pegasi and turning to shoot a questioning look at Celestia and Luna, who were walking side by side and whispering amongst themselves. I had very little contact with the these troops and most of that had been on the wrong end of me defending myself, so they didn't make me as nervous as they could have. Of course, thinking back to the chase through the forest after my escape from my imprisonment, and now knowing that the magic they had been using wasn't meant to kill me but would have anyway, gave me very mixed feelings.
“That would be our escort back to Canterlot,” Celestia replied after finishing her whispered conversation with her younger sister.
“You’re leaving?” Twilight asked from behind me, her voice sounding a little upset.
“I'm afraid so, my faithful student, we have been away from our usual duties for too long.” Celestia brushed a wingtip over the top of Twilight’s head in a gesture that seemed more like a parent with their child than a teacher with their student.
“Humph,” Luna snorted. “We must return before the nobles set fire to our capitol like unsupervised children you mean.” With a toss of her mane, she headed for the chariot with the rest of us following her over to the flying death trap.
“Well, we really must be going, though I do plan to keep at least occasional correspondence with the two of you.” Celestia nodded to Elly and I before stepping onto the chariot next to her sister. “If you are so inclined to reply or if you require any aid, you may ask my student to forward letters to me,” Celestia said while giving Twilight a warm smile.
“Rest well for the time being and try to recover your strength,” Luna spoke up from her place, impatiently waiting for the conversation to be done with. “I do not believe the appearance of you or your city will go unnoticed for much longer in the international arena and the appearance of a new species, particularly one with such unique attributes, will no doubt garner much attention for the two of you.”
I grimaced at the thought of being played with as pawns for a kingdom of little horses on the chessboard of whatever medieval style politics they practiced.
“Speaking of potential political problems,“ Princess Celestia began, “you are certain you have secured the weapons you spoke about? It would not be a pleasant turn of events if such things fell into the wrong hooves.”
I nodded and ran my fingers through my hair in thought. I had hidden a few of the handguns and smaller rifles while I had been watched by Celestia and Luna “Yes, I think they’re pretty safe for now, though I’ll admit I didn’t think about having to hide them from international spies. After we get settled in a little more, I’ll go back and gather up all I can find and make sure they’re someplace safe,” I reassured the princesses. Of course, I had only allowed myself to be observed hiding the weaker armaments and I would have to go back and figure out a better place to stash the more powerful stuff when I could be sure no one would be watching.
A thought struck me as I was thinking about places I could effectively hide the small arsenal of firearms Jolton had; it was a thought I had given some serious consideration to while I had been imprisoned, mostly to pass the time and keep my mind occupied, but it hadn't crossed my mind in the whirlwind of events that followed my escape. “But no matter what I do, there are some dangerous things in town that I won't be able to protect you from,” I said with as much gravity as I could convey. Even the basic concepts of technology or methodology could revolutionize the way this world functioned and even while locked up and starved, I had been thinking of ways to prevent ponies from blowing up the world I now had no choice but to live on.
“We are well aware of the potential-“ Luna began before I interrupted her.
“I'm sure you think you do,” I said, shooting Luna a look. “Just be careful, not everything humans have tucked away can be used for the good of all pony kind,” I said, this time with a sarcastic bite. There was a moment of silence as the gathered ponies all gave me a look. “Well…” I said after a moment, “I guess it could, sort of. But be freakin’ careful.”
“Ah'm sure everythin’ will be all right, there ain’t no reason to get jumpy,” Applejack said from the rear of the group.
“We understand, and we will be as cautious as possible,” Celestia said while Luna gave a little huff of impatience. “And we will be sure to consult you on our findings. I hope that will be enough to assuage your fears.”
I nodded and sighed deciding to, despite our terrible first impressions, give the beings who were responsible for the day and the night the benefit of the doubt. “Yeah, that’s fine. I just didn’t want to get settled down only for you guys to start throwing nukes around because you didn't know any better.”
“What exactly is a ‘nuke’?” came the curious voice of Twilight from my right and I had to almost slap myself for blurting that out.
“Err, don’t worry about it, forget I mentioned anything,” I said quickly turning my attention back to the departing princesses. “Yeah, umm so long, don’t forget to write,” I said in a nervous rush, trying to steer the conversation back onto less dangerous topics. I quickly stepped over and leaned tiredly against the tree-turned-library and naturally Elly was at my side as we watched the rest of the little group say their farewells to their rulers.
It wasn’t too long after that that I felt a tugging on my sleeve. “John, I'm hungry,” Eleison said from her spot next to me.
“You’re always hungry,” I shot back playfully with a small smile. She just nodded at me. The sound of the chariot lifting off signaled the departure of Celestia and Luna. “This time I’ll agree with you, I'm hungry too,” I said massaging my stomach. I wasn't in much of a hurry but I wanted to get home soon, or else risk picking at my stitches for lack of anything else to do.
Finally the group of ponies joined us over at the tree-library-thing and Twilight motioned us all into the fairly cramped doorway. I headed in first, followed shortly by Eleison. Once inside, I squinted at the inky darkness that spread out before me, my frayed nerves from recent events causing me to stiffen at the thought of having a bag shoved over my head and being carted off. I frowned at my own reaction to a simple dark room and forced my rising panic back from whence it came. “Do you have a light switch or something around here?” I called back to the group of ponies, Twilight only now sticking her head in behind Eleison.
“It’s on the right,” Twilight replied pointing a hoof at some point in the darkness.
I felt around in the dark for a moment, not wanting to venture any deeper inside until I was certain I wasn’t going to step on, or tip over, or smack my head on anything hiding in the dark. With a tiny ‘click’, the various candles came to life, illuminating the library with a welcoming, warm glow. I turned around to take in the odd building where a sign draped over a table filled with all kinds of junk food read ‘Welcome John and Eleison’, where a clearly visible ‘Chris’ was marked out in red marker and ‘John’ quickly scribbled above it.
“SURPRISE!”
***
Elly frowned at the various ponies chatting and drinking delicious looking punch and eating delicious looking food. After the sudden shock of almost a dozen ponies leaping out from behind various things around the room, her John had had to sit down and breathe for a good five minutes just to calm himself. Pinkie had set up this party to make John happy but all she did was make him very scared.
Eleison didn't like it when the ponies did something to John that he didn't like.
Fluttershy was sitting behind them and the nice pony was talking to her John and making him feel better. Eleison liked Fluttershy, she made them dinner and her John always seemed to be at ease around the butter-colored pony. Eleison watched as the kind pony pushed her face into his shoulder and say some more kind things before walking away around the edges of the room.
Elly, wondering if her John felt better because of what the pony did, nuzzled her head into her John’s shoulder. When John didn't pull away or make up an excuse to leave the room, Elly smiled and snuggled a little closer. She looked up at him with emotion in her eyes, she didn't think she could make a 'concerned' face yet but she hoped the intention was obvious. Her John looked like he wasn't happy after Pinkie had scared him, his eyes had darkened and he seemed less alive than she was used to.
"Elly?"
Elly had to shake herself out of her own thoughts when she noticed her John was speaking. She felt happy inside when he smiled down at her in spite of how... wrong he currently looked. She really liked it when he spoke kindly to her, it made her feel very warm and like she never wanted to move from this very spot as long as he kept saying nice things.
"Elly I thought you were really hungry?" John asked, raising an eyebrow like he sometimes did when he asked a question.
Eleison nodded but remained next to her John. She was really hungry, as demonstrated when a loud gurgle reached the various ponies in the room and they looked at the two humans in shock and some of them laughed. But Elly was determined to make her John feel better, even If she had to stay here and not get a chance at those yummy looking cupcakes.
When her most favorite pony walked up carrying a tray of cupcakes and a pair of cups filled with punch, Eleison couldn't help but squeal with delight and quickly snatched one while giving the pink pony what she hoped were appreciative looks. She and her John seemed to be talking about something but Elly was far too busy enjoying the sweet food to really pay attention.
Pinkie was Elly's favorite pony by far, the rest of them always seemed so... so lifeless when compared to Pinkie, even when she looked sad like right now.
Eleison chewed her sweets happily, thinking about all of the interesting things she wanted to try with her John and her favorite pony Pinkie. As she reached out for another cupcake, another whisper from that... thing she ate so long ago crept into her mind and Elly almost wanted to scream in frustration. The thing wanted her to feel afraid of the ponies, to feel like they would never let her be happy, she was so sick of it! She screwed her eyes closed and forced most of what had bubbled to the fore of her mind back into the dark where she could keep it away from her... most of the time.
When Elly opened her eyes again, her John and Pinkie were both looking at her in concern.
"-ou okay?"
Elly's head swam as her mind gathered itself. She heard the voices of her John and her favorite pony again.
"Elly?"
"I am okay, it was only head troubles, I am okay," Elly said, finally shaking off the mental fog she had been trapped in for a moment.
"You sure?" John raised an eyebrow in that way he sometimes did.
Thinking the facial gesture was too funny, Elly reached up and started touching her John's eyebrows as he sputtered and tried to pull away. The moment soon degraded into a game that she had just came up with, she would try to hold onto John and he would bat at her arms and try to get away. She couldn't help but giggle when John's face turned red and he stuttered while trying to get her to stop.
Almost as soon as the game started, her loud giggling and happy squeals drew all the eyes in the room. John looked like his head was going to explode with the added attention but Elly was having way too much fun to stop. She lunged at him with the intent of knocking him to the ground where she would no doubt be able to win her made-up game. John was a lot sturdier than she thought, though, and he didn't fall, instead, he caught her and tried to keep the weight from making him fall anyway.
A sudden loud clearing of someone's throat drew Elly's attention. John was still stuttering and red-faced when the noise from the white and purple pony drew her attention to the whistles coming from the, err... stallions? There were also the blushing and scandalized looks and a few glares directed at their male counterparts coming from the mares.
Not to mention a Twilight that looked like she was about to set her parchment on fire with the speed she was scribbling.
"Ahem, not to interrupt your... 'fun', darlings, but don't you think this is a bit, umm... public for that?" the white and purple pony asked with a funny face that looked like a cross between a smile and looking like she was hungry.
The room quieted to the point where you could hear a pin drop, only for the silence to be shattered when the front door opened to admit one of Elly's least favorite ponies, if only because her John didn't like the brightly colored armored mare.
"Umm... I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" came the armored mare's voice from the door.
***
Spitfire looked around at the odd scene she had walked in on. Eleison, the other human she hadn't really had a chance to interact with, was hanging off of John like they had been in the middle of some kind of raunchy dance or ritual. John was looking like he had completely checked out, brain likely overloaded with embarrassment, judging from the bright blush that was plastered all over his face and his thousand yard stare.
Spitfire's armor clanked as she made her way over to the odd couple. The rest of the ponies in the room were whispering to one another, trying to guess why Spitfire had decided to crash the party. The most common thing being whispered had something to do with 'public indecency' but Spitfire really didn't want to try and guess what had been going on before she had arrived.
Suddenly, Spitfire's world turned to pink as the local party icon known as Pinkie Pie appeared in her vision.
“Heya, Spitfire! Glad you could make it to the party!” Pinkie stopped mid jump and rubbed her chin. “But how did you get an invitation? Celestia said you would be working.”
"Umm, thanks Ms. Pie, but I was just dropping by to speak with John for a second." Spitfire grinned nervously at the party pony. She flinched as Pinkie unhooked from the air and landed in front of her with a thump.
"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie bounced away to do something at the refreshment table, showing no signs of being upset about her party turning into... whatever this was. Lowering her head slightly to hopefully avoid any more interruptions, the fire-themed mare trotted over to the two humans, still frozen in their strange position.
"Hello...?" Spitfire asked as she walked up to the frozen pair. The female, Eleison, was glaring at her from her odd position, which consisted of being stuck to John like a limpet. John looked like he had been rendered brain dead by something, probably their odd position. When neither of the humans answered her, Spitfire looked around the room. The ponies attending the party had all stopped what they were doing to stare at the spectacle the human pair had made out of themselves, while the Bearer of the Element of Magic, Twilight Sparkle, stood just off to the side with a small mountain of parchment covered in her neat writing that she was adding to at an alarming rate. Meanwhile, throughout all of this, Pinkie Pie hopped from pony to pony, refilling punch and hoofing out sweets.
The situation had decidedly taken a turn for the bizarre, but Spitfire had dealt with bizarre before, she was on a team with Soarin and Fleetfoot after all. "Excuse me, John?" She prodded him with a hoof, trying to shake him out of whatever trance he seemed to be in.
John shook his head and sleepily looked around before noticing the girl he still held in his arms. With the raging blush already on his face, he quickly set Eleison back down. Spitfire couldn't help the wry smile on her face when the red maned human mare whined at the loss. When his attention finally turned to Spitfire, she couldn't help but get in a shot at the situation.
"For future reference, you might want to keep those kinds of activities to private places," Spitfire said, sending John into a stuttering fit.
"I-I-I'm s-sorry, won't happen again, officer!" the flustered human finally managed to squeak.
Spitfire hid a snicker behind a hoof. "As fun as this whole thing is," Spitfire spun a hoof over her head to indicate the entire party,"It isn't the reason I came."
"It isn't?" John asked with a quirk of the eyebrow. His face had managed to start returning to a normal color now that he had something to occupy his mind. That was until his face reddened once again when Eleison giggled at the expression on his face.
A small rumble of laughter swept through the gathered ponies, making John's face return to its former lobster red state.
"Ahem!" Spitfire cleared her throat loudly, quieting the ponies in the room and returning John's attention to her. "I just came to apologize for my part in what happened to you."
"Really?" John raised his eyebrow again, ignoring the fit of giggles from Eleison he managed to keep a serious expression on his face.
Spitfire nodded, adopting an apologetic expression. "I can't really apologize for doing my job, but I just wanted you to know that if there is anything you ever need, I'll be happy to help."
John looked surprised for a long moment before reaching up and running a hand through his brown mane. "Wow, that's pretty mature of you, thanks," John said, still fidgeting but looking grateful for the gesture.
"Wha-" Eleison opened her mouth to add to the conversation when she was interrupted by the door of the library slamming open. In the doorway stood a brown stallion, fully dressed in the same silver armor Spitfire herself was wearing.
"Commander Spitfire!" The unnamed stallion shouted from the doorway. "The Town Hall is on fire!"
***
Elly ran along behind John out of the library and towards a light in the distance. Many ponies had left the library before them, moving ahead of them towards the bright light.
When they arrived, the street was filled with ponies looking on at the burning structure in the center of town. The Mayor pony they had met the day before was shouting orders and ponies were moving rain clouds over the other buildings in the square, dousing them with water. Elly was confused, why would you put water on something that was not burning?
John had turned around and was speaking quickly to the armored pony that had interrupted the fun she had been having earlier. At a loss about what to do, Elly looked around at the various ponies running here and there. She noticed another pony she didn't like flying around in the air, the rainbow and blue one was pushing clouds around much faster than the rest.
Bored with watching the flying ponies, Elly shifted her eyes onto the various ponies she didn't know and the few she did as they ran about. She was content to watch this odd show until an uncomfortable feeling came over her. It was like there was something inherently wrong with what she was looking at. When her eyes locked onto the Mayor pony, the feeling intensified, bringing with it a sense of ice cold dread that seemed to want to drown her entire world in fear. As she looked at the grey and tan pony, the world around that spot seemed to fold in on itself until there was a hole. A screaming, bleeding, hole.
“Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong!” She couldn't even bear to look at the all consuming pit of blackness that occupied the same space as the Mayor pony but when she turned her eyes to the ground to escape the terrible sight, the feeling of wrongness and dread only got stronger. When she returned her eyes to the Mayor, “Wrong, terrible!” she only found that the bleeding hole was closer. Confused and terrified, she did not immediately realize that her feet were carrying her toward the screaming pit of fear that was the Mayor. No! She didn't want to go closer, she wanted to run away! She wanted to find her John and never leave his comforting presence again.
As her treacherous feet brought her ever closer, tears streaked down her face; she wanted to scream out and curl into a ball but her body seemed to act all on its own. She feared what would happen when she touched that infinite black. Would she lose herself? Would she end? Would she be trapped in its terrible presence for eternity?
As her hand reached out for the screaming pit, she tried once more to force her body back under control. Her effort was in vain as her limb plunged into the blackness. She registered her fist closing around something stringy and light and somewhere under the blinding fear she wondered what she had. Was it the strings of her own existence? Was she about to tear out her own heart, to sacrifice her masterpiece she had grown so attached to to this evil black bleeding hole in the world?
Her mind barely picked up on the fact that she had wrenched something into the air with all of her strength. A loud, wet, crack brought sweet sweet relief. The all consuming fear vanished from her mind suddenly and she collapsed to her knees. She could hear running and shouting behind her and felt the warm, soothing comfort of her John's arms wrap around her. It was like he wrapped her entire existence in a warm blanket of safety and she never wanted to let go.
Over his shoulder she could see the broken body of the thing, the monster that had been the Mayor. The black and green creature had broken down the middle, snapped like a twig against the lamppost she had flung it against with all of her strength.
Her arms ached as she finally tore her crying eyes away from the corpse. In front of her, she saw many ponies had stopped and were staring at her. Ignoring the staring, she buried her face in her John's arms. She was tired and lost and she hurt. As her eyes closed, the last thing she saw was her favorite thing in the world looking down at her with concern and fear in his eyes.
Co-Author’s Note: They told me it couldn’t be done! They said it was impossible! But I proved them wrong, I proved them all wrong! I talked Radon18 into WRITING!
Author’s Note: grumble grumble grumble.
On a serious note sleeping meds make you want to sleep ALL THE TIME!
Also I'd like to thank JBL for all of his help in going back and fixing all of the previous chapters. On that note brace for major reuploads!
One last thing... No, Elly was not grinding on John at Pinkie's party.
...
...
...much.
ladies and gentlemen, we have been featured...
WOOOO!!!!!!
*Proceeds to do silly dances in the middle of the hotel lobby*
3331366 A whole, small town, and three months. But otherwise yes.
Glad to hear you're enjoying the story.
3331366
What Admari said.
Also the "mesa" is just areas where the land didn't really mesh properly. Think about picking up two circular pieces of land and swapping them, there are places where the elevations and such don't match correctly.
As for him being bonkers, well I suppose its there but its subtle. He was pretty good at keeping himself sane. (Mostly through hours and hours of manual labor.)
I'm glad to see I surprised you. (I hope it was a pleasant surprise.)
3331424
Eh, its all Soarin's fault.
He acted against his own orders because he thought he saw an opportunity to "End a threat before it began." Spitfire goes along with it simply because she isn't about to let one of her teammates potentially risk his life without backup. (Even if he is being a great big idiot.)
3331528 Hm.
It's possible the format might have gotten eaten when JBL went back and checked over the initial chapters.
I have class early tomorrow so I can't look into it quite yet, if you could mention a specific chapter or scene that would be appreciated. Thanks for pointing it out.
w00t update! sweet chapter bro. i imagined Elisons changeling throw looking a lot like most of my play through of prototype
3331620 By definition, a contrail is the trail formed by water droplets collecting on the exhaust of an aircraft. In general use it's any visible trail left in the sky (at least around here).
RD leaves a rainbow streak pretty much everywhere she flies if she's going even moderately fast, although it is most exaggerated when she performs a Sonic Rainboom.
3331661
Well it was illegal where most HiE protagonists come from and considering at least a fraction of them are yanked out from under the umbrella of protection such laws provide against their will, they are probably just clinging to what they feel should protect them even though there is no chance of that.
3331632
Ive never played Prototype but I hear good things.
And she did throw the thing into a lamppost hard enough to pretty much snap the thing in half... Also glad you liked the chapter! It took too long but eh, thats the way the world works.
3331424
That's why Soarin is in a giant shithole-filled-with-trouble right now. He deliberately broke (And did so without there being a reason to, such as a civilian under threat) a direct order from the Princess.
He was VERY close to being thrown out of the military for that stunt.
3331686 life gets in the way sometimes, s'all g. as long as the chapter comes out at some point i'm sure it'll be good.
Sweet! They now have a Changeling detector!
3331794
Nope, that researcher knew exactly what they were talking about.
3331867
Yeah, a Changeling detector that is so terrified of them that she has hallucinations when ever she is faced with one and is subconsciously driven to commit acts of brutal violence.
Wow, this updated?
I'm hoping to get into the Christian parts, soon. I want to see John explain it :P not even a believer, but that's going to probably be the most interesting part of the story for me.
Right, I'm successfully caught up, and I have to say this is a pretty decent fic.
I have to say, however, that John has to be aware now that Eleison is not actually human. The last time she did something, he was completely out of his gourd, due to magic exposure, numerous severe injuries, blood loss, and caffeine overdose. Now she's just thrown a Shetland Pony-sized(?) insect across the street, and into a lamppost hard enough to split it in two. Ignoring the fact that, as far as could be told, it was a normal pony before she did that, _that is not something humans can do_.
Now, if I were to do some theorising, I would guess that Eleison's boss is what happens when you introduce fossil fuels to wild magic. Except that means mini versions of it are brewing in every single motor vehicle in that town.
Also, when John inevitably 'breaks up' with her, there are going to be some very ... unpleasant consequence.
3331552
Ah - no, I haven't seen that text in use anywhere in the story. I'll assume that all of it is being translated, now that John has the blue crystal thingy, but the most obvious example would be the chapter where he's attacked by the Wonderbolts. I'm fairly certain that, for at least part of that chapter, we're listening from John's perspective, but it all looks like it is in English.
3331633
I see. I was not aware of that second useage, and obviously it would make no sense for the first to be applied here... At least, not without a nice, heaping dose of "it's magic!"
3331908 Meh! Details details, look at it from this angle, The Detector both detects as well as ummm, "take care" of the changelings it detects, sure said detector might be scarred mentally but that's nothing a Little candy and some quality time with Pinkie can fix!
3332020
You scare me bro...
3331992 That would point to the format being eaten. I'll look into it tonight.
3332020
Nah - you don't want them dead, you want them captured. Because then you can interrogate them for information, which may prove useful. If you have enough of them, and Chrysalis isn't as heartless as she seems to be, you could even hold them hostage.
Besides, brutally murdering them where the press and little kids can see will cause problems. Best to just do it in private, and tell people later.
The Changelings are attacking! Things are starting to heat up. I look forward to see where this goes. Congrats on being featured. Keep up the good work.
3331992
I'm pretty sure John should have had suspicions much earlier. He should have asked her how she'd been surviving this whole time; she obviously hadn't been in the town or he would have seen her, so she must have been scrounging for food in the woods. She would have had to make some sort of home base, or left a trail of bushes stripped of berries, or something like that. If I recall, he just assumed that she'd been in the town and he'd somehow never stumbled across her even after he spent every day walking through it.
And here I was hoping for grinding... disappointment all around.
3334573
Loneliness can make someone overlook things, sometimes big things if it means they can have someone to talk to.
Perfect example is Wilson from Cast away. He isn't even a real person.
If John had been left alone much longer he probably would have started talking to a basket ball named Spalding or something.
3334564
Thanks, that's a really big achievement for me. I never really thought this fic would be as successful as it is. Hope you continue to enjoy reading this story!
3334651
I know man, I feel your pain.
Took me a couple of days due to work but I just went though your story and I liked it a lot! Keep it up good sir!
Really curios what the would Elly and what ever it really is would become at the end. Would it devolve into another monstrosity, or will be something more.
3338746
Well I'm glad you liked it!
You wana rephrase that second bit ?
3339502
Well whatever that thing is in Everfree City is can be classified as an Eldritch Abomination with a Tabula Rasa mindset, or at least that's how I see it. What I'm wondering is what would become of her/it, would it become a monster or would it become something else?
Well whatever it is, its definitely a yandere.
Politics.... Blech! It looks like the changelings are feeling out the situation for themselves. Maybe they are also involved in the platinum shenanigans?
In any case this was an excellent chapter. I wonder what the damage will be with pony relations now that they have seen first hand the "predatory" sort of damage she is capable of. ( I do not mean anything misanthropic about humanity this is just an observation of this situation. )
Cue the horror! The horror!
3339622
Not sure if it is truly a yandere or just too different to judge properly. More bacon vs necktie in it's moral reasoning than just violent. Obviously it has an infatuation or at least a need for him. I am not sure that it craves or needs to do violence either. I think it just does what it thinks is effective and doesn't think about what it is doing too much beyond getting what it wants/thinks it needs.
Kind of like a kid. They tend not to have empathy and will simply do what they think is effective to get what they want. They just do what they "need" to do.
Whelp enough rambling from me anyway.
3339622
Well to truly answer that question would spoil the end of the story so I think you'll just have to continue to read.
I would suggest, as an exercise to understand Elly's character better, that you look at the world she is now a part of from her perspective.
3339761
I take it that's a good thing then? Well until the impending war for resources XD.
...So...the changling that was impersonating the mayor is dead?
congrats, i haven't got a comment for this chapter. :)
3340359
Err yeah... I mean can you survive being cracked against a light pole like a twig on someone's knee?
3340900
Thanks!
And I guess it's just nice to know your still reading.
Ok guys, until next time!
3341550
i think you misinterpreted my last comment what i meant by it is that i am physically nervous/ mildly scared to read this story because i dont know whats going to happen, when this shits gonna hit the fan and whats gonna happen afterwoods
3343782
Ha! Well I don't think you'll be disappointed. There will be massive quantities of fecal matter hitting the fan at some point, I won't say exactly when but it will happen.
3378505
Well I'm glad you find it pretty interesting at least. If you would like to point out any specific things you feel detracts from the story I will try to make sure to keep an eye out for similar flaws in the future.
As for the religious aspect of the story. I will be getting more into it as the chapters progress. The tone of how it's mentioned won't change much, sure the ponies are probably going to question it but that is getting into spoiler territory.
3381527
Was there ever any question that arrogance and stupidity was something that all sapient creatures have to deal with?
Another big problem shared by all those who are intelligent (and even some who aren't) is greed.
The only reason ponies would want more humans is simply so that humans can create more advances for the ponies.
What is probably going through many minds in Equestria is that ponies can continue to stagnate both culturally and technologically, or they can employ humans (who, to the ponies, probably look like they have an almost supernatural knack for progress) to stir things enough for growth to occur.
And for many of those thinking such a thing, any means are justified for such an attractive end.
3436633
Don't worry about it, but you might want to avoid starting too many fights. As you read this story your going to find a lot of comments just like that one, simply because there are a ton of controversial things that happen in this fic as moral ambiguity is one of my favorite themes.
What is right? What is wrong? Does it depend entirely on the situation at hand, or must you follow an inflexible code?
There are as many opinions about the events in this story as there is people who have read it and you are more than free to argue your point but remember its a debate and there is no definitive answer for many of the issues that are part of and surround this story.
3436701
As I stated, I won't comment on the matter further. I dislike conflict of any sort, it goes against my nature. I felt the need to 'speak,' so I spoke. I don't intend on starting any arguments. If someone would like to debate with me, I invite them now to do so over private messaging and spare your comment page the trouble.
On another note... (conspiratorial whispering) there are... conspiracies... afoot.
3436902
I know, just making sure you were aware. Please don't restrict yourself from debate if you see anything you want to talk about, I love a good debate. (Part of the reason I have 13 pages of comments. 1/2 of them are mine!)
And there are much, much more than just conspiracies running amok in this story.
3436933
That's exactly what you'd say...
...if you were a conspirator!