Errant Finale

by Doug Graves


9 The Forsaken

Doug’s hand slips behind Luna’s head, burying itself in her flowing mane. The hair resists - as any physical object would - but only just so, allowing him easy access to gently stroke the back of her neck while not allowing her to retreat. He presses forwards, enjoying the velvety caress of her muzzle, though his mouth remains closed when her tongue flicks out against his lips.

“Adaptable as always,” Luna smirks, though she finds she can’t quite pull away without forcing Doug’s arm. Instead, his hand tightens around her neck - though not painfully, not that he stood a chance of physically injuring her - instead maneuvering her head to rest on his shoulder. She stays there obediently; after several seconds and a short pat later his hand leaves her neck, finding her horn and carefully massaging the tender base while his other hand finds its way under her wing. She raises it just a fraction, allowing him access to the powerful muscles.

But instead of starting the massage that would quickly get his pegasi in the mood, his hand rests along her side. His thumb continues tracing the base of her horn while the rest of his hand cups her head, flicking her ear back and playing with the expressive extension. She giggles, pulling her head back the barest amount to meet his eyes.

“You make it incredibly difficult to resist,” Doug says alluringly, though his voice betrays resignation and regret. “A mare as luminescent as the moon, eager and willing? She’s rich, smart, powerful. Bit of a playful streak.” He sighs, mournfully. “It’s almost too good to be true. Pity I’d have to give it up.”

His arms go to push her away, though this time it is her that resists. Her head remains against his, her neck pushing into his shoulder. “Thou would? Merely because we wished it so?”

“Well, what are you looking for?” Doug’s hand reaches as far as he can, barely able to slap her flank in a manner most unbecoming of royalty. “A quick romp in the hay? A foal? If that’s what you want, and all you wanted, then fine. I'll see you at the start of March. You could even wait; I’m sure Celestia will have the spell down that if you found the perfect stallion, then he should be able to become your Consort.”

“That is… not our desire,” Luna unsteadily replies. Her muscles go limp, more weight resting on Doug, nearly enough to send them both to the floor. And yet he braces, holding them both up.

“If it’s companionship, intimacy? I can see you having trouble making that sort of connection with others. Like you said, how do you know they are interested in you, and not just your station? It’d be nearly impossible.” Doug huffs as he corrects himself, “Okay, you could spy on their dreams, but that seems like such a breach of trust that it would ruin the whole point.”

“We always thought we worked best alone,” Luna confesses, glancing at the balcony doors. “But when we drove our Sister away, we could not cope with the loss.” She turns, pulling her head back as her strength returns. “And now, we find ourselves losing our Sister again, but for the opposite reason.”

Doug looks at her, confused.

Luna sighs as she explains. “In a thousand years she has barely wavered; she has kept the traditions she can, and discarded the ones she can’t. Ponies have changed around her, yet she tries to remain steadfast. She did it for us, for me, so that when I returned I would not be so out of touch as to never recover. But now that I have returned, and perhaps in preparation for my return? She is moving forward. Taking chances, risks. Ones that will further separate us if we, if I do not likewise pursue.” She smiles at the floor. "And we do believe we wish to pursue along with her."

“Luna, I…” Doug takes a deep breath. He gently pushes the alicorn away from him.

Luna turns, expecting a tender smile and instead seeing a cold, calculating gaze in his eyes. Her mouth opens a fraction, her voice catching in her throat.

“You asked me to say no to you.” Doug shakes his head as he stands. “I told you that I might. A maybe.” He walks to the door, turning to regard her one last time. “I’ll think about it.”

Doug shuts the door behind him, leaving Luna alone with her thoughts.

*

Applejack gulps, slowly tugging the Element of Honesty from around her neck. Her smile, crooked, meets Fancy Pants as she drops the necklace inside the bucket for bits, joining the two already inside. She casually pushes the bucket underneath her cart, grinning up at the unicorn.

“Ah don’t suppose you have any, ahem, friends who might be interested in something similar?” Applejack grins as Fancy Pants considers, his eyes turning towards many of the other nobles. Neither notices the orange of Applejack’s coat fading, turning gray, as they head towards a few that might be interested.

*

Pinkie Pie’s grin grows, and grows. “These ponies don’t need a party,” she maniacally intones, dropping the Element of Laughter under the table. “They want a calm, orderly get together where they can see their business associates and partners in the guise of a party, but instead of partying they use the setting to close deals under the table and thus tighten the hold they have around the necks of the common pony!”

A single hoof smacking against the floor draws a few pony’s attention, but not for very long. Pinkie Pie mutters to herself, “So, in order to become the hero these ponies need, I need to give up my Laughter. I need to become that which I fear most, in order to strike understanding into the hearts of those who belittle the common dances as trite fodder for the masses! I must become…”

Pinkie Pie twirls, a cloud of confetti covering her transformation. No longer clad in her bright pink and white dress, the dull pink mare is now in stark black and white. One hoof pretentiously holds an empty cup, limiting her gait to three steps at a time. She dances towards the band, her face set in a tight smile.

“The Waltz!”

*

Rarity shakes her head. “I didn’t come all this way, and spend so much time on all these dresses, just to hide away!” She drops the Element of Generosity onto the arena, shaking her dress free of any of the dirt that might have accumulated. She needs to be perfect! And this is hardly the place to do that!

She flips her rapier into the dirt, perfectly inside the necklace. She turns her nose up as she struts away, pausing only to make sure that the Prince is following her. His horn is lit, cleaning and sheathing his two rapiers. She turns away, not noticing as Lunaris slips the Element of Generosity inside his bag, strapping it to his side as he hurries after her.

Rarity smiles as the sound of music gets closer, a pleasant waltz lilting through the air. “I think the main ballroom would be the perfect place to show off these dresses, don’t you agree?”

*

Fluttershy pulls off the Element of Kindness, stashing it underneath a tree. Her smile grows dark, rubbing her hooves together, not noticing as the brightness fades from her coat.

“Gotcha!” Fluttershy menacingly scowls at the green jay cowering in one of the nearest shrubs, her dull yellow wings fluttering behind her. Her voice comes out nasty and mean. “It’s okay. I promise not to hurt you.” Her teeth filled grin belies her words as she readies herself, about to pounce. “I just want to be your friend…”

Fluttershy charges forwards, only for the green jay to take flight, a warbling cry of terror and alarm. Fluttershy huffs in annoyance before she notices a group of bunnies hiding behind a wallaroo. “I’ll catch you yet, my pretties...”

*

“I’ll do it.”

Spitfire raises an eyebrow as she looks at Rainbow Dash. “Excuse me?”

Rainbow Dash stares at the Element of Loyalty in her hoof. She closes her eyes, her hoof shaking as she drops the necklace on the table. It makes a loud clank as it settles down, drawing more than a few confused whispers.

“Being a Wonderbolt has been my dream since, well, since I can remember my dreams.” Rainbow Dash puffs her chest up, confidently staring Spitfire in the eye. “I’ll make the Wonderbolts my highest priority. If there’s a practice, or a show, or a poster signing event, and you need me there? I’ll be there.”

Spitfire gapes, many of the other Wonderbolts joining in. “Dash, there’s no way we’d make you put a poster signing event over saving Equestria. That’s-”

That’s exactly what I’m willing to do. You all aren’t requiring it, I’m offering. Big difference.” Rainbow resolutely nods even as the blue fades from her coat. “Chocolate rain or shine, I’ll be there.”

“Gee, Dash, I don’t know what to say.” Spitfire gulps to herself; can she really turn down Rainbow Dash now? More importantly, would Celestia roast her like her namesake knowing what’s happening to one of the Elements?

*

Twilight Sparkle is no stranger to long days of taking notes, copying formulas, and then later that night summarizing her findings into long essays that don’t fit on one scroll of parchment. And when her horn got tired, and it almost never got tired, she would swap to her hoof. And when that got tired, it was generally the next day and hopefully she didn’t have as rigorous a day and could let horn and hoof rest.

But today, after far too little time, her hoof is getting tired. And yet the line of ponies waiting to shake her aching hoof stretches down the stairs, out the main entrance, and probably halfway to Ponyville! Okay, maybe not that far, but at least as far as she can see!

And every effort to converse with Celestia has been interrupted before she can get three words out! This isn’t at all what she was hoping for; not even close! She has to find some way to get away from this, if only to preserve her sanity! How does Celestia possibly keep up with it all?

The next stallion is dressed particularly chaotically, with no two pieces of his suit matching color, fabric, or cut. Even the closest thing he has to a twin set - two yellow bells hanging from his ears, one bright, the other dull - merely hurt the eyes with their discordance. And yet, he seems so excited to meet Princess Celestia that he can hardly keep still, twitching madly. He bows, Princess Celestia returning a brief nod and greeting. Twilight respectfully offers her hoof, only for him to shake her so violently that it leaves her head spinning.

“I have brought you glory!” the stallion shouts, raising his hooves to the ceiling in victory. “Revel in it!” A flash of light later and Discord is standing there, complete in jagged red and black armor that threatens to impale anypony who gets close. The two yellow bells transform into Lemon and Meringue, strapped to his horns. He dances in place, throwing his arms to the left and right as he glances down at Twilight, smirking as her fright turns to anger.

“Hmm,” Discord says slowly as he stops dancing, as if he noticed just now how serious everypony around him is. The ones not fleeing in terror, that is, so it's really just the two mares in front of him. A claw flicks away the burst of purple forming on Twilight's horn. “It seems there is much to teach you.”

“The only teaching here is going to be learning what it feels like when my hoof hits your face!” Twilight shouts, rearing back to buck at one of the few unarmored spots on Discord's body.

He takes the hit, square on the jaw, laughing uproariously as he catapults backwards. He flips through the air, ponies scattering every which way as their cover is now decidedly less concealing. “Is this all you can do?” He conjures up little bits of color into swords and arrows, mock battles with everypony taking place all around him. “Imagine how much better you could do if you put your efforts into actually fighting!”

Twilight’s horn flares, a beam of magic lancing towards Discord. He merely splits his head in two, half a grin from each side of his face. “He-h-you’re not good at this, are you?

“Rrraaghh!” Twilight shouts as she pours more magic into a wide burst, only for Discord to swap places with Celestia. Her burst smashes into a golden shield, Celestia’s horn flaring.

“Stop!” shouts Celestia as Twilight, focused only on attacking the creature in front of her, ramps up her power. Another powerful blow slams into the shield, Celestia skidding several paces backwards. “STOP!!”

Twilight’s beam ceases, her mouth gaping as she realizes that she was attacking her mentor. “Celestia! I’m so sorry! I didn’t-”

Discord idly kicks Twilight in the flank sending her sprawling to the floor. “Oh, please, spare me your concern.”

“Hey, um,” Lemon says from her spot clinging to Discord’s horn. “I don’t suppose you can be nice to her?”

Discord’s eyes roll. “Fine.” He gazes condescendingly at Twilight and Celestia, the white alicorn helping Twilight to her hooves. “Perhaps you need a rest?”

Twilight grits her teeth, saying nothing as she steadies herself, wobbling a bit even with Celestia for support.

Discord regards everypony as he motions with an arm, the battles around them ceasing. “Go! And tell the others of the victory I have won here.” He plops down on a lawn chair, flipping on a pair of shades and opening up a tanning mirror as he basks in Celestia’s smoldering gaze.