//------------------------------//
// Bitter Choices (Chapter 27, Battle for the Rift, part 8) 
// Story: Meta Gamer in Equestria: The Blight of Bane. 
// by reflective vagrant 
//------------------------------//

"Don't move until I finish talking.  I don't want to have to use this on you, battle brother."  I tried to flex my tone on the words "battle brother" to give him a hint to cue him in, but I couldn't tell if I did it right.
Turning to the crowd for just a moment, then my gaze back on him, I called out loudly.
"And the rest of you hear me out to the end too, because I have a lot to say and you need to hear all of it.  I have no further desire to seal this rift.  I don't really care if it will end the war."
I could see Tempest, the prince, Fluttershy, even Discord and a handful of other creatures nearby become disturbed by this, but Speaks with Talons called out with an upraised talon. "Let him speak all of his peace before we judge him."
I gave a slight smirk on the cheek facing the griffon, while also shaking a little at the chill from Discord's fire breath not quite reaching my shoulder as he waited menacingly.
"I don't care if I have a death sentence hanging over my head.  I don't care about the lives it will save, not right now at least."
I looked at the young princess who was apparently one of the special element bearers as well.
"I don't care if all the princesses and the leaders of every nation in this alliance came down here and groveled at my feet, begging me in the most undignified ways to close the rift.  As a matter of principal, I wouldn't do it."
Speaks with Talons tensed a little on this, but held his ground.
"I don't mind trying to play by the rules where I can, but I hate being a tool.  I hate being manipulated like a puppet, used and misled."
I could see Wild Storm's draconic eyes widen and his jaw slack at this, as if realizing something.
I looked down at Fluttershy, who would have put an arrow through my heart with the tears rolling down her face, had I not been expecting them.
I locked eyes with her, working on removing as much as my anger from my face while also not letting any sadness show.  While doing so, I just waited expectantly with my mouth just agape enough to let the audience know I wasn't finished.
As Fluttershy stepped forward to meet me, I knelt down and brought my free hand to her head.  Her pleading look was burned into my mind as I closed my eyes and nuzzled her forehead with my own.  Even in her sheer disappointment, there was not a single trace of rage or accusation.  She had a pained confusion, sure, but otherwise I could only see kindness coming from her.
Tears were in my eyes too as I broke out of the nuzzle.
With a calm smile, I spoke only loudly enough for us and the creature's immediately around us to hear.
"But my dear friend Fluttershy need only ask."
Fluttershy's positively glowing smile would have caused me to just cave in right then and there, had I not steeled myself against it.
She stared at me expectantly for a few moments as I stared back at her stoically, save for the tears.  Finally, I broke the silence.
"You're going to have to say it.  I'm not doing it otherwise."
I could see a sudden chunk of anxiety nearly overcome her. She closed her eyes for a moment and swallowed the lump in her throat.  With a brave face, she took a few shallow breaths and I could see her tapping into the well of inner strength I knew her for in her eyes.
With an uneasy voice, powered both with fear and sheer will, she asked me, "Please, Moss, could you close the rift?"
I lowered my wand, which had practically been held up for posterity more than anything else at this point, and gave her a simple smile.
"OK."
I turned around and got the device from my pocket.  With Archimedes's help, I started pouring my spell slots into forcing the quintessence within me to work towards sealing up the rift.
As I felt the spell slots become expended one by one, I saw the rift starting to shrink, and the section that let the other world be visible become smaller and smaller.
There wasn't anything special about it, grand magic being released or otherwise showing off.  The process was behaving more like a tool that had the broken parts in it replaced and the correct fuel added.  It was simply working smoothly, but nothing special otherwise.
Shortly before the visible section was closed off, I heard the priest call out to Archimedes.
"We will never see each other again, old friend, but I do wish that once you finish your mission, you manage to see her again."
Upon hearing this, I could feel a sense of bitter sweet joy come through the active bond from Archimedes that was normally just filled with disdain.
With my spell slots expended, I stepped back to let the element bearers and pillars of light take over.
Discord met me just as soon as I was cleared from the central area.  As the rainbow light show that was far more dramatic and full of flare ran on behind me, I could see Discord looking right at Archimedes in shock.
"You bastard!"  He whispered in frustration.
With tears forming a moment later, he pulled up a claw for Archimedes to land on.
He whispered again as Archimedes landed on the perch he offered.
"You sweet, goody two shoed, romantic bastard.  You've come back after all this time?"
Archimedes, gently gnawed at the claw he was on and asked me, "Could you tell him that I say 'It's been a long time, old 'frenemy' of mine?'"
After relaying the message, I asked Discord, "You know him, then?"
Discord looked at me and nodded in an embarrassed fashion.
"He's my old rival from the rebellion in the first rift war.  One of the ones that jumped through the last rift alongside our leader, Harper, to buy us time to close the rift right."
He let Archimedes come back to my shoulder as he stood up again.
"His beloved was a mortal of this land.  A  gentle hearted healer who died late into the war."
Discord hesitated for a moment before Archimedes gave him a nod to continue.
"He's here to join her in this world's afterlife after he finally dies."
When I turned to Archimedes, he just closed his eyes and bowed.
"Luna can attest to this from my astral judgement.  Likewise, she knows I was the one that approached Oghma and convinced him that this world would be more useful to him if left untouched."
When the light show behind us died down, Discord looked up and dashed in to the mix.
As I turned around, I saw him cradling a collapsed Fluttershy.  Her main had extra streaks of color in it along with multiple renditions of her cutie mark all over her body.
Looking out, the rest of Fluttershy's friends were fine, but perfectly normal in appearance save for the golden necklaces they wore.  Among the pillars of light, a large stallion wielding a shovel, and the two pegisi wielding the rusted shield and blindfold were likewise collapsed like she was with their friends rushing to them.  Although they showed none of the added markings like Fluttershy.
A moment later, a wisp of energy quickly passed over Fluttershy and she was back to normal, though still faint.
"They gave too much," the changeling that was checking the other pegasus mare called to us,  "They will be fine, but they will also be bedridden for several days now."
The collapsed were carried away as the specialists came forward and brought forth devices.  Dragons promptly swooped in and took the devices from the ponies.
With carefully measured breath, the dragons pushed their flames into the devices, which in turn produced an almost ethereal thread.
The unicorns among the group promptly started taking this thread and weaving it into the space the rift had occupied just minutes before.
The dragon nest leader, Wild Storm, came up too, but he did not take a device from the ponies.  Instead, he carried what looked like a staff made of a tall, petrified sapling with feathers, scales and odd looking shells dangling from the top.
He put the staff before him, bowed his head and began chanting.
"Mother, please lend these healers your energy, and make the stitches they now weave into your wound last for as long as they can."
When he finished, a green mist seemed to flow out where his staff touched the earth.  The mist quickly moved to the rift and moved along with the threads the ponies were weaving, like dolphins swimming along side a boat.  It didn't get in the way, but just its presence seemed to make the process smoother.
When Wild Storm was finished, he turned to me, gesturing Speaks with Talons over.
"I must say, little fish monkey, you started to scare us there when you pulled out your wand, but it all ended well."
I stared at the staff he was holding, pressed my amulet again and simply spoke what came to my mind,  "You're one of the servants?"
He smiled and hugged the staff close.  "Yes, I am one of the stewards of this world that are often called the servants of the Animus Mundi by mages.  Although, before me there hadn't been one among dragons in three generations.  From what I have heard, I am a bit of an oddity."
Speaks with Talons came up to me and gave a brief bow.  "You have accomplished the task set to you, and so the Fey will honor their end of the deal.  You are pardoned of all past crimes committed in the domain of the Fey.  However, on penalty of death, your banishment from the realm of the Fey is still in effect."
He paused for a moment, wiping a tear of relief.  "You are free now, battle brother."
The dragon gave a soft roar of approval then spoke as well, "Congratulations, cousin."
I looked at him oddly.  "Cousin?"
The dragon shut his eyes tight and gave a smile thick with merry embarrassment.
"You may not know this, but we servants have our own language.  The term battle brother is a fairly accurate translation of what the griffin would actually call you if he were high enough in the order to learn it.   However, the term only applies to the two that fought directly beside each other in camaraderie.  I cannot rightly call you battle brother.  You are, however, the battle brother to my fellow servant.  Loosely translated, the term would mean the battle brother of my brother in servitude.  The translation breaks apart when we try to place it into a single word of the common tongues.  To put it simply, to any who respect Speaks with Talons among the servants, your bond with him is to be honored much in the way a cousin would be.  So that is the word we can best use to describe our respect for you."
I pondered over this for a moment, ultimately forcing the word off my tongue again, this time with feelings of uncertainty.
"Cousin..."