Fruit Crunch was so excited he was almost shaking.
This is it! This is really it! Grinning, he looked back at where Cleansweep was healing Lex, the stallion climbing to his hooves with a groan. We’re gonna fight together with him, and take down the princesses! The thought made him want to prance in place, and he was only barely able to keep the urge down, not wanting to look ridiculous in front of his hero. After this, he’ll HAVE to take me-, er, us as his apprentices! In the meantime, the most important thing was that they all made a good showing of themselves so that Lex didn’t chastise them later.
“Everypony, form up around Lex!” he yelled, making sure to keep his eyes on Princess Luna as he walked backwards, stepping carefully until he was right in front of Cleansweep. A moment later Straightlace, Fiddlesticks, and Feathercap joined him, along with their spirit animals…save only for Ulespy, Feathercap’s owl, who was currently circling high overhead. Looking back at Lex, Fruit Crunch tried not to grin like an idiot as he spoke. “Are you alright?”
“What are you doing here?” growled Lex, a baleful look on his face. “I told you I didn’t want you putting yourselves in danger anymore!”
One hoof still against his side as she channeled more healing energy into him, Cleansweep rolled her eyes. “Sorry we came to rescue you,” she muttered sarcastically. “You can chew us out after we’ve helped you win.”
Venin twisted around Cleansweep’s belly, moving so her head was near the filly’s ear. Respect, she chided gently. The Lord Sovereign’s words are borne of concern for you, not scorn.
Straightlace shot Lex a grateful look. “In that case, you don’t need to worry. I’ve made everyone a lot harder to hurt, and Fiddlesticks did this thing so that we’re all a lot tougher than normal.”
The proper term, corrected Nemel, Fiddlesticks’ badger, is that she infused you all with a supply of vital essence, so that-
“Princess Celestia’s moving!” whispered Feathercap. He wasn’t looking up as he said it; in fact, his eyes were closed, and Fruit Crunch knew that he was looking through Ulespy’s eyes, surveying the battlefield from above.
Sure enough, Celestia landed next to Luna a second later. “Are you alright, Sister?”
“I won’t be using my horn anytime soon,” admitted Luna, “but otherwise I’m fine.” Despite her words, one hoof came up to rub at her stomach gingerly. Even so, she kept her eyes on the half-dozen ponies standing across from them. “Something’s wrong with those children, though. They have powers they shouldn’t be in possession of.”
“I’d noticed,” murmured Celestia as she glanced at Fiddlesticks. But her gaze hardened a moment later as she raised her head. “ALL ROYAL GUARDS!” she called, her voice suddenly stentorian, “TO MY POSITION!”
Lex tensed, as did the Knights. “We’ve got incoming!” whispered Feathercap, his eyes closed again. “There’s six…ten…twelve guards heading this way! And those ones you guys knocked down before are getting back up!”
But it was at that moment that Cleansweep took her hoof away from Lex. “Okay, you’re all patched up!”
“Yes!” Fruit Crunch pumped a hoof in triumph before looking at Lex expectantly. “Okay, so what’s the plan?” When Lex didn’t answer immediately, Fruit Crunch followed his eyes to where he was looking, seeing Severance held in his aura high above them. “Ooh! Is it time to call down the thunder on them?!” He wasn’t sure why Lex was holding Severance in reserve, but he had no doubt that there was a good reason for it, and that when the time was right he’d bring it out and totally take Celestia and Luna out! And then, after we’ve won, he’ll sit down and talk things out with them and everything will be A-okay! After all, that was how it always went in the comic books whenever new heroes met each other. They always got into a fight for some reason, and then worked things out afterward.
There was no further time to ponder the matter as Lex suddenly spoke up. “Both of you,” he roared at Celestia and Luna, “stand down immediately!” He pointed a hoof at Cleansweep. “This filly has healing magic! If Silhouette is still alive, she might be able to save him!”
Luna’s reaction to his proposal was immediate. “DON’T YOU DARE SAY HIS NAME!” she screamed, suddenly furious.
The bizarre exchange was enough to make Fruit Crunch look at his friends, seeing the same confusion on their faces that he knew was on his. “Wait, what’s going on with Silhouette?” he murmured, looking back at Lex. He intended to ask a follow-up question, but didn’t get a chance as he caught something out of his peripheral vision, looking down to see a trickle of blood running down Lex’s foreleg from where the barbed wire was wrapped around it. Huh? But Dust Bunny said she healed all his wounds…
Oblivious to the foals’ confusion, Celestia stepped forward, her face hard as she glared at Lex. “You’re not trustworthy,” she announced, even as members of the Royal Guard started to form up around her, all of them sending hateful looks Lex’s way. “You pledged to meet with us in peace, only to make a cowardly attempt on my sister’s life. You brought children onto a battlefield to fight for you when you realized you couldn’t defeat us alone. Do you truly expect us to believe that you have noble intentions now?”
The answer made Lex’s eyes flash, the green and purple flaring brighter in reaction to his mounting anger. “You idiots!” he roared. “This is more important than your petty animosity! We have to act now, while there’s still a chance of saving an injured pony’s life!”
But Celestia appeared unmoved. “You-” She stopped talking as the last of the Royal Guard joined her, the stallion moving in close and whispering something in her ear before joining his fellows. The message made Celestia close her eyes for a moment, a look of grief crossing her face before she composed herself. “There’s no chance of that now,” she announced sadly. “The doctors here just pronounced Silhouette dead.”
Lex’s eyes narrowed at the news, and he looked upward at Severance again, a hateful expression on his face. His lips parted, but he didn’t have a chance to say anything as Luna took a single step forward, tears in her eyes and fury in her words. “You,” she proclaimed in a voice replete with dark judgment, “are a murderer, unfit to live in the presence of good and decent ponies, let alone rule over them!” She pointed a hoof at Lex, and all of the Knights flinched at the gesture, though Lex didn’t. “Now you shall face justice for what you’ve done!”
Celestia moved forward so that she was standing alongside her sister. “For all your pretensions of grandeur, you’re no better than the last pony who possessed that horn of yours. But we are.” She copied Luna’s gesture then, pointing at him ominously. “Send those children away, and surrender that weapon you’re holding, and you’ll be allowed to live out the remainder of your days in Tartarus. Continue resisting, and I cannot guarantee what will happen to you.”
Fruit Crunch gulped. All of a sudden this wasn’t fun anymore. But it was Feathercap who spoke up, looking at Lex nervously. “What’re they talking about, Lex? What’s going on?”
That doesn’t matter! came Altaer’s sharp rebuke, causing the foals to flinch. Have you all so little faith in the First Convoker that you would allow your hearts to be shaken so easily?
Indeed, added Lyden gruffly, the wolf padding over to stand in front of Lex both physically and symbolically. After having proven his honor so many times, the High Alpha deserves your trust.
Cleansweep bit her lip, looking between Lex, the alicorns, and back at the train station uncertainly. “Yeah, but-”
“I can bring Silhouette back!” shouted Lex. The statement was enough to make everyone around him fall silent, the foals’ eyes widening in amazement at the claim. Across from him, Celestia and Luna were quite obviously far more skeptical, wearing matching frowns. But Lex was undeterred, reaching back toward one of his saddlebags. “I have a magic item in my possession that can-, NNNNGH!!!” But his explanation was interrupted as, moments before he touched the fabric of the bag, the barbed wire on his foreleg began to rotate quickly, the sharp points slicing through his skin as easily as if it was paper, sending gouts of blood flying.
Fruit Crunch cried out in shock at the sight, and he wasn’t the only one. All of his friends were equally horrified, and across from him he was peripherally aware of almost all of the Royal Guards gasping and watching in wide-eyed horror. Even Celestia and Luna looked stunned, jaws hanging open at the gory display.
“L-LEX!” yelled Fruit Crunch, running toward him only to stop as he realized he had no idea what to do. Desperate, he looked around until his eyes fell on Cleansweep. “Dust Bunny! Do something!”
“Huh?” She sent him an uncomprehending look, clearly still struggling with the shock of what was happening.
“Heal him!” yelled Fruit Crunch.
“N-no!” Lex’s refusal was given around gritted teeth, his eyes blazing brighter as he forced himself to stand up straight. “I…can bear this!” he snarled. “My will…takes precedence here…! Not that…miserable nag’s…!” Breathing heavily, he reached back and dug through his saddlebag, the cloth immediately turning red as the wire sped up its rotation around his leg. But Lex wouldn’t be deterred, and although his expression was one of controlled agony, he slowly withdrew a large ruby, holding it out toward the princesses shakily. “With this…” he rasped, “I can bring…Silhouette back…to life…!”
Celestia and Luna shared a look, the two of them visibly unnerved at the display. But a moment later they’d regained their resolve, and Luna spoke up. “Whatever game you’re playing…whatever trick this is, it won’t work. Silhouette will be restored to life, but by Cadance, not you.”
“For the last time, stand down,” added Celestia. “We won’t warn you again.”
Lex held his position for a moment, as if silently confirming their positions, and when neither alicorn said anything else, he slowly lowered his hoof. As soon as he did, the barbed wire ceased to move, but the only sign Lex gave that he’d noticed was a quiet grunt. Instead, he put the ruby back into the bloody bag before giving the Royal Sisters a dark look. But his next words weren’t for them, being spoken quietly enough that they didn’t carry more than a few feet. “I want all of you to leave here immediately. Go hide in the train station until-”
“No way.”
Looking over at Fruit Crunch, Lex scowled. “What did you say?”
The question was quite clearly a warning rather than a query, but although the colt was still pale because of what had just happened, he met Lex’s gaze straight on. “A little while ago I asked you to give me a chance, to give all of us,” he waved a hoof at his friends, “a chance. But right now, those two,” he pointed at Celestia and Luna next, “aren’t giving you a chance.” He took a step closer to him then. “I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but I’m not going to run and hide while you’re out here fighting for your life.” He stomped a hoof then. “Even if you yell at me again later, I’m staying right here and fighting alongside you!”
Well said. A smile could be heard in Lyden’s mental voice as he moved to stand next to Fruit Crunch. That’s the spirit that earned the Supreme Predator’s recognition.
Lex glowered at the pair, but before he could say anything, Fiddlesticks stepped forward. “It’s thanks to you that my little brother is okay now. When he grows up, I don’t want to tell him that I didn’t do anything when the pony who saved us was in trouble.”
Nemel trundled forward, coming to a stop between the filly’s forelegs as she looked up at Lex. When any one of us makes a stand, the others will always come to their aid, especially when it’s you, Exalted Primogenitor.
“E-even if you use that power of yours to send our animals away, w-we’ll just come back as soon as it wears off,” added Feathercap timidly, half-hiding his face behind his binoculars even as he stepped forward.
As it sensing the importance of the moment, Ulespy fluttered down and settled on the colt’s back. We’re resolved to see this through to the end alongside you, Grand Vizier, ventured the owl.
Fluttering her wings enough so that she was hovering in the air, Cleansweep gave Lex an helpless shrug. “Well, if my friends are staying, then I guess I’m staying too.” She stuck her tongue out at him playfully then. “Just don’t curse us for this later, okay?”
Coiled carefully around Cleansweep’s middle so that she didn’t interfere with her wings, Venin leaned her head forward. You are our benefactor, Lord Sovereign. Even if it means being disobedient, we would never abandon you.
Straightlace smiled, the expression not diminishing his look of resolve. “I was always quoting my dad before, but from now on I’m going to make some quotes of my own, starting with this one: the Night Mare’s Knights don’t run. Ever.”
From his perch on one of Straightlace’s outstretched forelegs, Altaer fluttered his wings. These young ones are your disciples, First Convoker. Please allow them to honor you now.
Lex didn’t respond immediately, looking at the foals and their animals, then the alicorns – who tensed in readiness, the guards alongside them doing the same – and finally up at Severance before returning his gaze to the Knights. “This isn’t what I wanted,” he growled bitterly. “And if I had the ability, I’d force you all to leave right now…” His gaze lingered on Feathercap, clearly remembering what the colt had said about them returning even if he used the Night Mare’s power to make the animals chase them away. Finally, he sighed, turning back to the alicorns even as he kept speaking to the foals.
“You all focus on the guards. Leave Celestia and Luna to me.”