//------------------------------// // Subject 85: She Will Never Seize The Throne // Story: Interviews With Equestrians // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// It was the voice of Quick Draw! Her mane had become snakes due to her Gorgon costume. Some of her S’s were also heavily emphasized due to it as well. Even still, I kept my focus on Daybreaker, because I refused to allow her to escape my sight. From afar, I heard Luna speak to her. Did she manage to break free of the costume curse somehow? I wonder if the same could be done for Celestia. “No, wait,” she said cautiously, “Allow him to continue.” “What?!” she shouted, “But that’ssss ridiculousss! Pale can’t do thisss on his own! He needssss us!” Luna continued to persuade her. “Heed me, child. Your friend has tapped into that weakness of hers.” “What? But how is that posssssible?!” “Shh,” the blue alicorn replied, “Do not distract him. We will jump in if necessary…” Wait, a weakness? Was it possible that this godly pony did indeed have some flaws? If so? What were they? I needed to find out, and fast, lest I allow her to do as she pleased and take over the world. Daybreaker must not have heard them, but she instead chose to snidely chortle in my face. “Hmhmhm. Oh you common ponies thinking you have what it takes to stop someone such as myself. In reality, you and I are not so different. That is why I want you as my king.” I raised an eyebrow. This witch was completely off of her rocker. “Are you serious?” “Even now, you’re tossing away what makes you a pony in favor of complete, unbridled fury,” she persisted with her smug little mouth full of fangs on full display. “I can hear it. I can feel it. Oh it’s so thick and palpable that it’s getting me riled up even as we speak! You’re a monster, Pale. Embrace that side of you. Stop being a fool fighting an eternal battle of hate!” “That’s where you're wrong.” It was her turn to raise an eyebrow. “Am I?” “You are a fool. A coward even. You have taken the easy way out by doing just that,” I sneered right back, “Rejecting your sense of ponymanity, and refusing to take responsibility for your own feelings...you have damned yourself. Anypony can simply toss away what made them who they are, and claim to be something else. But it takes true discipline and pride in oneself to actually care enough about yourself first, then everypony else around you. Do you understand that?” Silence. Daybreaker took a moment to shut her eyes. Did my words have any affect on her? It must have. She had taken a minute to reflect over what I said, and was going to respond with something different, right? As much as I hated to admit it, she didn’t. And I knew she wouldn’t. She put both of her silky, scorching hooves on my shoulders. “Is that how you truly feel?” “I do,” I responded, “But how does it make you feel?” At last, she opened her eyes with newfound hatred. “...I feel as if you are too callous with your words. You deserve to be replaced!” I felt a sudden weight press down on me that came from her hooves, and I was locked in place. The demonic alicorn’s horn lit up, and the last thing I saw was a flash of light bare down at me. And the last thing I heard was Luna’s voice. “SISTER! NO!” Two beams were fired at me. One, a solar beam of pure, molten plasma directly from Daybreaker’s horn. Another from Luna, a blue beam of...well, I had no idea what it was. I felt so much pain that I couldn’t even scream. My particles were being displaced and rearranged on the subatomic level--or at least, that’s what it felt like. The truth is...I was being broken apart. Just like the stallion whose story my costume was based on, I felt my body become displaced. My “good” half, so to speak was my kindness, ambition, and protectiveness that aided me in doing what was right. My “negative” or “bad” half was my untamed hatred, malice, and bloodlust. The two had been perfectly balanced within me, for the most part, but now...they had been gutted for her sick, sadistic kicks. Just as Sombra had been split in half as well. I came to, and watched as my other half, the Blood Viper had been ripped out of me. He--it? It was a black mass of hatred with red eyes, almost the same as Sombra’s demented half, except for the eye color. I, meanwhile, was bare with my costume having disappeared entirely. Though now, my coat was a shade of milk white instead of pale gray. And all it was able to say was one word. “Bleed.” “Ahahaha!” Daybreaker let out a satisfied, maniacal cackle. “Just like me, your repressed, primal urges are far more attractive than the limp, sad little piece of you tainted by emotion! He will be my new king while you get to watch all of your friends become slaves! And then maybe I can put you in a torture dungeon...say, ran by the mare of your dreams?!” “No!” I squealed, “You leave Cheerilee alone you bitch!” I heard Quick Draw shout at Luna. “What the crap just happened, Luna?!” “I...I zapped him with Nightmare energy,” she explained, “A bit of alicorn magic was the only way that he could survive an alicorn’s attack. But now...no. No more of this!” I watched as Luna flew between myself and Daybreaker, “Sister! Celestia! I know you’re in there! Fight back against this madness! This isn’t who you--” With a flash of the fiery alicorn’s horn, Luna was cut off by an explosive blast of magic that sent her flying into a nearby tree! “AAAGH! OOF!” Luna slammed against the tree hard enough to cause it to fall over. “Ow…ack!” she let out a cough as she lied there in a pile of splinters and smoke. “Take a hike, foolish sister. I have business to attend to. Now…” Corkscrew stood in front of me next, not a single word uttered. His mechanic’s jumpsuit was in tatters from the burns as it flapped in the wind. “...” Daybreaker scoffed. “Begone! I have no need of you!” In that moment, he dashed forward, and dragged his sharp, killer’s feather diagonally across her neck. It barely caused a scratch, but it was actually enough to harm her! She let out a small yelp, and her horn flashed. “Gah! You! Begone!” In an instant, Corkscrew flew through the air, and landed next to Luna. But it didn’t stop there. Directly after, Flash Drive made one powerful charge with his Tartaraiser chains out and flying. One wrapped around her horn, and a few wrapped around her body. “HAAAAA!” “What the--?!” “FEEL THE POWER OF SADDLE LAO!” Neon joined his brother with the force of a golden dragon as he delivered a punch directly to the side of her abdomen. Daybreaker grunted. Still wasn’t enough to cause lasting damage, but it was more than enough to irritate her. “You’re really pissing me off, you lowlife maggots!” BLAM! With a shield-like explosion from her body, the alicorn melted away the chains, and repelled the both of them. They were sent flying as well, and took a tumble as they rolled across the ground. “MISSION FAILED! WE’LL GET ‘EM NEXT TIME!” Flash Drive screamed as his back slammed into a massive boulder. “THE WAY OF THE HOOF WILL NOT BE DETERRED!” Neon yelled and was flung through one of Town Hall’s glass windows with a crash. Daybreaker scoffed, and dusted herself off like it was nothing. “Hmph. Not bad for--” ZAP-BANG! She looked up, and so did I. Guttersnipe was on top of a cloud. “Whoops! Sorry about that!” It started to literally rain on the alicorn’s parade, which...didn’t do as much damage as we expected. As soon as the droplets came into contact with her body, they instantly evaporated into steam. “...What?!” “Are you finished?” she asked arrogantly, her horn lit up once more, “Now die!” “...!” Daybreaker’s plasma beam was met with a massive, beam-like blast of water from Guttersnipe’s hooves. “Nghh! I won’t...stop here...I won’t...lose...not again!” “Struggle...feel the pain! DIE! Ahahahahaeee!” The alicorn continued to laugh as she watched her orange and red pillar of flame consume, and destroy Guttersnipe’s blue blast. “No...no…” For the first time since I’ve known her, there was genuine panic on Guttersnipe’s face. Her eyes became fearful pools with her pupils shrinking down to the middle. The struggle was harsh, and she looked like her body would give out at any moment now. But then she bailed. Guttersnipe fled, and flew off to check on the others that had received damage as a result of the alicorn’s attacks. This made Daybreaker even more haughty, and arrogant than before. “Oh? She chose to give up? Smart little filly. Now she won’t die as fast…” her gazed returned to me. “Now you...I offer you one more chance to live with me as we take over and spread true Harmony through the known universes. Are you in, or are you dead?” I rubbed one of my hooves against the ground as I stared at the miasma that made up my own dark side. “...It is you who is already dead.” “WRONG ANSWER!” It charged at me. I knew myself well. It wouldn’t act without a plan. Though without it, I was without my capacity to fight back. All I could do was dodge and defend against every attack the miasma of myself. I also knew that it needed me to survive since I was the only one that could control...me. “You…” I muttered as I evaded a punch, “It’s me! I mean, you’re me. Gah, you know what I mean...wake up, dammit!” It continued to assault me without relent as it repeated the same words over and over. “Kill...kill...kill…” This was not going to work. The bout I had with myself was moved to another side of the makeshift arena from how much I backed up, and avoided each attack thrown at me. Behind it, I could see Luna and my friends all trying their best to attack the fiery alicorn. But even with power boosts from Luna, they could only just barely match up to her and not get tired. Though, I could’ve sworn that I saw the slightest hint of enjoyment on Luna’s face as she squared off with her much stronger sister. Firing off spells infused with the power of the moon and gravity to redirect her sister’s beams of rage and control how much the environment weighed must have really been fun to her. Even Quick Draw got in on the action with an endless supply of cobras at her disposal. Eugh...how gross. But this little skirmish against my inner feelings had become more and more of a waste of time as the minutes passed. I had no will to return any blows, and the black, vapor-like substance continued to attack me. But that’s when I realized. I had been running from myself. The entire time just then, it was an allegory for part of my own life as well as Daybreaker’s. In this battle, I chose to avoid and run away from myself because I felt as if I wasn’t strong enough to face myself. But that wasn’t true. I could face myself. I just had to accept it as a part of me, and acknowledge that it isn’t a bad thing to have a side of yourself that you’re not proud of. Did I like that I had the capacity to kill? No. I didn’t. Killing in general wasn’t something I enjoyed doing, and I only saved it as a last resort. Svengallop for instance, was a special case in which I had been ordered to carry out such a task. But at the same time, I also had to be honest with myself and take note of the fact that ending the life of one may save the lives of hundreds of others. Was it ideal? Of course not. But the world was not black and white. “...Just like us,” I stopped moving, and looked down at my body that had turned white as snow from the extraction of my personality. I looked up at the jet black mass of myself with red eyes. Its hoof was just about to make contact with my face before it stopped on a dime. Instead, now it reached its hoof out. As if it was looking for me to shake it? The word it said made things clear. “...Live.” That’s right. Living through the ups and downs, smiles and frowns, love and hate. It was something that we all had to do. Whether or not we allowed it to drive us mad was entirely dependent on us, and us alone. And I would not succumb to the safe fate as Celestia. Nor would I allow it to continue. My friends, they loved me. Corkscrew, Guttersnipe, Neon, Flash Drive, Quick Draw. They had all been there for me since day one, and accepted me for who I was. Not who I pretended to be. Just as well, Cheerilee and Cozy Glow both loved me for how much I impacted their lives and changed them for the better. Others included Tree Hugger, Limestone Pie, Ember, Twilight, Shining Armor, Cadance, and Flurry. I was valued in some form or another. Whether it be a familial connection, workplace connection, or some other connection, I mattered. Man, this...representation of me knew me well, huh? I grabbed its hoof, and absorbed the black mass back into my own body. We mixed, and my coat color returned back to its natural, debonair pale gray color that I adored so very much. My costume had even returned as well. Funny, I remember the ending of Dr. Jockey and Mr. Hide’s story followed a similar, albeit darker path. Because his two sides could not coexist, he would either be executed or commit suicide. Yeah, a very sad ending, indeed. But this was no novella. I had only managed to tame my darker self through acceptance, and assurance that it was loved, and cared for. That’s when it hit me. I had approached this entire situation from a completely wrong angle from the start. “I will bring the life of that unhappy Daybreaker to an end.” With a new plan, I started galloping with full speed towards the alicorn. I shouted, “FALL BACK! MOVE IT!” at everypony else. “...?!” They all gasped and looked at me, but Quick Draw was first to heed the order. “You heard the man, move!” she yelled. Everyone, even Luna ducked out of the way. This caused the red hot alicorn to look around in confusion. “Uh--wh--what’s going on here--?!” Before she could say another word, I tackled her with enough force to stagger her for a moment. I was unable to tip her over to the ground, but that was fine. I put a hoof around her neck, and refused to allow her to speak again. I pressed my lips against hers...and time felt like it stopped all around us.