//------------------------------// // Chapter 15: The First Choice // Story: The Impossible Choice // by FireMaster //------------------------------// ~ April 17th, 1020 ME ~ ‘Late Evening‘ Upon arriving back to Equestria, I was in no mood to go anywhere and the floor was comfortable enough to curl up on and die within myself. I was so close to being... well... me again. Yet the one that stole a part of my life the first time had the audacity to do it again, while teasing me with the possibility of returning to Earth; a return to normalcy. I mind my own business and get punished for something I didn't do... to be fair that does sound like Jesus paying the price for the forgiveness of others, but I just need a degree so I can get a job and settle down. An adventure is one thing, but trying to adapt to an entirely new everything makes doing nothing very appealing. Everypony was standing around waiting for something to happen, or for Blazing to share whatever important news he held. The last pony anyone expected to speak up was Fluttershy, yet she was the first to address Blazing. "I will make sure Discord knows better than leaving you in such a state the next time we share tea... you look awful." "I just lost my world for a second time..." "What was that sugarcube?" Applejack asked "Discord stole everything... twice." The elements of harmony looked very confused by this revelation, but Pinkie Pie being the way she is gasped by the sudden accusation. "He told us there was some important news we needed to relay to the other princesses, but he never said it had anything to do with him. He turned himself in and wanted you to tell us?" Twilight questioned. "That's hardly the full truth. No... he took me to a place on Earth, shared vague information that could very well be a lie, and turned me back into my human self. To make matters worse he brought me back here to rub it back in my face how little control I have. Discord took credit for making your spell act in the way it did, Twilight. Seemingly he altered it to affect me because I'm somehow important for the future of Equus. Something major is being written by the strings of fate, and I have the potential to alter the course of history. " "Hold on that doesn't make much sense... Chaos magic is hardly ever permanent, but so little is known about how it infuses with the different magical consistencies. Magic essentially has different frequencies, but the effects of chaos magic especially on transformation are only temporary. As far as him returning you to human, its hardly likely that he altered your current DNA which of course I still haven't researched compared to a pony born as a unicorn, but he is also implying that he somehow knows the future... Time travel has hardly been perfected in the forward direction and barely works backwards without creating loops and paradoxes, and not even Starswirl the bearded cou-" "Twilight you're making my brain hurt just processing the fact that these theoretical concepts exist. Can we slow down for a minute? I still haven't recovered from Discord yet, and I'm not sure I ever will." "Well regardless if you have the strength we should still head to Canterlot to inform the princesses of whatever else Discord said, and stay for a few days for your safety. The capitol seems like a better place for you to be right now after what happened last night." "Don't remind me. I can't think about all the events of the last few days at once, because each new day is crazy enough in itself. Do I get any say in this?" "What do you propose as an alternative?" "As much as I just want to sit here wallowing in my sorrow... I got nothing. Whether Discord was lying or not, you guys deserve to know what to prepare for. I'll go... but that means I will either need a place to sit alone and let out my frustrations, or I will need lots of ice cream." "That can be arranged." 'Princess Celestia' I decided to adjourn day court early when I received a letter from Twilight that Discord abducted Blazing. For when Chaos was on the move, even a reformed version of said being, it becomes necessary to expect the unexpected. Which is exactly why it came as no surprise that the Elements were on the way to the capitol. "Sunflower can you please send for my sister to be awoken early today for a meeting with the Element bearers. If there's any resistance, inform her I will cover her early morning duties tomorrow." "Yes your majesty." It's about time I prepare the Crystal Empire for high alert. If we need any backup from Princess Cadance or Shining Armour in the north it would be better if it wasn't a surprise. I'm sure Twilight hasn't seen her brother in far too long, and we could use a military leader such as Prince Shining in a time like this. Of course they have a family now so perhaps it's better we don't put on the full stress all at once... "Your majesty." "What is it Commander Storm?" "Our troops stationed in the cities of Baltimare, Manehattan, and Vanhoover have detected a higher presence of Changelings within the city. The spells we use to monitor since the last invasion have been used to keep tabs on their presence in public areas. However, it seems strange for any spike to happen unless far more Changelings have joined the independent Hives to live amongst the populous. Your majesty, Captain Silver Shield thinks some of these may be some of Queen Chrysalis' drones, as they are unidentified and they continue to blend in with no way to distinguish them from another pony." "And what do you think?" "I would have to agree with him princess. The Changeling resistance against Chrysalis' leadership is far too small to amount to this." "And what of Canterlot? No reports from the local patrols?" “Nothing of concern your majesty. Things are surprisingly quiet, although the citizens are a little unsettled by the higher levels of guards. They know something is going on." "That is rather disturbing news... Commander inform the captain to interrogate Changelings in those areas for any information they can get, and incarcerate any found to be a part of the Queens hive for trespassing in Equestrian cities until further notice. Sombra's on the move, and if the reports you have are true, Chrysalis is not far behind." "At once your majesty." My commander never lies to me... but either he left something out of that report, or Canterlot is not as it seems. As Celestia was running through her thoughts in the near empty throne room aside from a few stationed guards, she was startled by a sudden voice right behind her. "Alright Tia, what is it that had to pull me from my slumber this time? We presume it is connected to the events of last night?" Luna walked up beside Celestia looking surprisingly more alert than normal. Usually when she was awoken in the middle of the day she would remain grouchy for a few hours, but she must have sensed the potential urgency of the situation. "Sister the Elements of Harmony are on the way with Blazing Waters. It would seem Discord has been hiding things from us for a reason that escapes me. From Twilight's letter it sounds like Blazing has yet again had his life significantly altered. Whatever Discords motivation may be, I'm also concerned with the potential threat of Queen Chrysalis' hive. Commander Storm informed me that we have detected more Changelings on the move, but I think they are closer to home than the reported cities. We may need to screen our staff again so we don't have anything similar to Cadance's wedding." "Nay sister, after what we did to Chrysalis last time I doubt she will be back anytime soon. Perhaps you are a little paranoid from all the years with the crown hmm?" "I am not, sister! But I am willing to take any precautions necessary to protect my little ponies, and at the moment I don't even know if they are safe from themselves; safe from those closest to them." "For being a peaceful land since my return from the moon perhaps you should consider taking a diplomatic approach to all this as opposed to using the guard to assert control." "That is much easier to say if we knew who we were dealing with, and you know as well as I do that sometimes progress comes at a cost. Difficult choices are the hardest to make, but they can have the biggest impact." "Perhaps, but they are not without repercussions as you are no doubt aware of Celestia." Alone... I don't even want to think about that lonely leadership period... How did I survive without her... "Alright Luna I will default to you until after the meeting tonight, in which we will get the insight of more ponies to decide what direction our future course of actions is to take." Informed decisions seem like the easiest to make, but in reality they can very well make things even more difficult, because there is always a consequence. "Princess Twilight, you are expected. You may enter. Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna will be waiting for you in the throne room." As the group began to enter the castle the guard lowered his spear in front of their path startling all but Applejack. "Your company however must wait outside." "Now hold on just one moment you private who looks like every other guard around here! The Princesses are expecting all of us, and if you don't think we will go to another entrance just so we can find a guard that's been properly informed, you've got another thing coming. Either we all go or none of us do!" Rainbow Dash loudly exclaimed. "Rainbow Dash! I know you're loyal to friends, but that was quite rude to this poor stallion who has been standing in front of this door all day! Excuse me sir, if you could please give us entry, or ask a higher up about our presence being necessary that would be darling." said Rarity. "My apologies ladies, I simply am told to take extra precautions due to Changeling threats. If you would just let me scan you momentarily you can be on your way." The guard lit up his horn and began casting what appeared to be a detection spell, but Twilight being the element of magic could feel something fishy, as she knew how to use the scanning spell personally and this wasn't it. Should she say something now, or inform the princesses later? Maybe she should let one of the guards know in the inner corridors... or maybe... "Hey since you so kindly double checked that we're not changelings, you wouldn't mind if I checked your magical signature would you?" "Not at all Princess Twilight, but that really shouldn't be necessary." "It will just take a second. Just honoring the security measures and all right?" "Certainly, your majesty, but I'm actually about to go off duty for the day so habanero will be taking over soon. Perhaps if I could take a rain check?" "Don't worry this will only take a second!" Twilight scanned the guard and tried to hide a face of being uncomfortable. "In fact, since your post is about to be taken, would you be willing to escort us to the Princesses? We can never be too careful right?" "Actually it's my time to leave!" His horn powered up and he summoned smoke at the ground. Rainbow Dash took quick action to disperse the smoke with her wings, but when the smoke cleared he was gone. "There's no way that changeling was strong enough to teleport himself. I should have just played that cool and went to get someone else to handle the situation, before I made it obvious I knew of the trickery." Just as Twilight finished saying that a group of guards ran out of the front entrance and began to question the group . It turns out Habanero was the next one on shift, but not for a few more hours, and the one that had supposedly been stationed at the gate was West Front. "So much for heightened security" Blazing whispered under his breath. 'Princess Celestia' Composure. Keep your composure. It's just a bad day. It could always be worse. There's just one Changeling infiltrating your staff, and we are aware of the situation right? Sometimes keeping a serene composed smile was tough. Especially when it felt as if the world was out to get you, which in some cases it was. Twilight had just finished giving an overview of their encounter at the palace gates, and word was traveling fast through the staff and guard to conduct testing to ensure there were no more impostors among them. It seemed as though things were going from bad to worse, but Blazing had yet to share his perspective on the day's events, and Celestia was really starting to think the chocolate ice cream he was feasting on looked good. "Disregard my words from earlier about diplomacy sister... no one will get away with impersonating and kidnapping our staff with so little regard for the ponies they might hurt. The way we see it the Queen has officially declared war on the nation." "Just as you encouraged me not to be rash Luna, I will tell you that we must be careful and patient with our actions. Rushing into things could leave us more vulnerable and exposed. The ones targeting us are too coordinated and direct. Its not a coincidence that we keep running into trouble. Our attention is being split." "Celestia, you sound like a military general the way you are talking. What are you proposing?" Twilight queried. "We aren't left with many options... it could come down to forcing the enemy's hand to see more of their cards. As much as I don't like it, and I fear the turmoil it could cause, we need to inform allied countries of a possible war so that we can out supply any foe and assert our control over the situation." "Princess Celestia I may know something revolving around this... I don't like it any more than you will, but you deserve to know. The information I have is part of the reason I was forced to be here after all in more ways than one." "You will be commended for your service to the crown." "Yeah actually sending me home would be better, but here goes nothing. This morning someone you are quite familiar with, the Lord of Chaos, Discord, stole me from my coffee taking me to a place on Earth... a place I would no doubt recognize I might add. I thought his antics would be the worst part of the situation, but it turns out that he altered Twilight's spell that brought me here with Chaos magic. I was very confused during this encounter because he turned me back into a human for the conversation, but as you can imagine I was very pissed to receive this news. I had been told that there was intent behind my arrival to a different universe..." Blazing telekinetically took another massive scoop of his ice cream before continuing. "I didn't really know what to think, but I couldn't do much because I was essentially immobilized on top of a statue. The news that followed was what has the biggest impact on your world, but I'm hesitant to share because of what it could mean for me... Discord acted as though he had seen possible futures. He told me that Equestria had almost no chance of ending up in a good state without my arrival, but I somehow... assuming he wasn't making up a bunch of bs... have increased the likelihood of Equestria remaining somewhat normal by 10x. From a 5% chance to a 50% chance. He didn't mention exactly what you ponies would have to deal with, so I didn't believe him... but now considering what happened yesterday, and all the talk about Changelings, I can at least accept that things aren't looking so great for you guys right now. Since Discord brought me here however, I'm hoping he can return me home for good, because I see no reason why I could make any difference in a war between individuals with so much power as you Princess'." Celestia responded, "and what do you fear sharing this information could mean for you Blazing?" "That you wouldn't make Discord send me home. That you would use me as a device for your agenda." "I see no reason why we have led you to believe us to be of that character. If it is your wish to return back to your world, the place you call America then so be it. I will not be the one to stop you." “Nor I" Luna stated, using the proper pronoun. The elements looked at each other and there was no debate. "We would be sorry to see you go, but friends do what's best for each other, so we will honor you doing what you feel is the right course of action. We will also feel happy for you knowing that you are home." Twilight spoke on behalf of her friends, although visibly showing a hint of sadness in doing so. "I expected this to be a lot harder for me to bear, with more resistance. You guys are something special, you know that? I can see why you've come to embody aspects of friendship." "So that's it then? Nothing else to share from Discord?" Pinkie asked. "Well there was one more thing... he talked about destiny forming ties to ponies cutie marks. He said that by earning one myself I have a link with this world. Something about representing a choice and a destiny. He also said that may have to do with why I was targeted. My assumption is that he already knows about Sombra. He said they are afraid of my ability to control my own destiny. I know this sounds strange but it kind of felt like all of the storms and natural disasters represented by the elements in my cutie mark make me a surprise... something that can appear at a moment's notice." "Blazing most people spend their whole life trying to figure out the entirety of their cutie mark and their identity, but you have just thrown out this possibility in a week! That's incredible!" Twilight announced excitedly. "I find it cool as well, but I don't intend to keep it around once I return. It may be a bit out of place. Speaking of which If you are giving me the choice in this matter, I can be returned to a human when I return right?" "I'm sure we can make sure Discord follows through with that transformation, however I don't know if his chaos magic would be permanent in reversing your species, but we will find a solution. We still don't completely know the depths of the complex transfiguration magic that altered you to become a unicorn." Celestia replied. "Oh... That would be a bit of a problem." "I think you look nice in this form, I'm sure other humans wouldn't mind as well." Fluttershy said encouragingly. "Oh no. Nope! No way! I most definitely will not become a part of a research project on alien biology! I would never fit into society like this." "It would be quite difficult but I find myself to be quite proficient in transformative spells, I could likely assist in the process if I knew what you looked like." Luna commented "Likely? Something about that doesn't sound very encouraging." "Discord, stop eavesdropping, and join this conversation. You need to explain yourself anyway." "Aw Celly, how did you know of my presence?" "Don't call me that Discord. I could sense your ambient energy. You leave a large trail of it floating around. You also make a point to be in the know. When I have an important meeting I can assume you are there uninvited." "Hah I wouldn't dare go to some of your meetings! They're sooooo BORING! I can't see how you can put up with some of those diplomats and stuffy nobles." "What do you THINK you're doing here after what you DID to me! You never even apologized. I try to love my enemies and forgive those who persecute me... but you have crossed a line Discord. You tortured me with false hope." "Perhaps it was a little too strong of a joke for you to handle, but everything I said was important, and you have done a fantastic job relaying it all despite not offering me any ice cream, but that is forgivable as I have some cotton candy in here somewhere..." "You call that a JOKE-" "PLEASE... stop bickering when there may be lives at stake. We will make this right. Discord first order of business... Can you send Blazing home, and make him a human?" Celestia questioned urgently "Sort of..." "No hinting around the subject can you or can you not reverse the physical changes you have brought to Blazing that have brought him trauma." "It is not easy to do, but with the help of Alicorn level magic I can. I can complete the cross dimensional teleportation with ease, but I cannot return him to being human permanently without pony magic. However, I don't think you realize what's at stake, and reversing this will also require a tremendous amount of power." "It doesn't matter. Blazing should get to decide. Since the day he arrived he has hardly had a choice. Although many things are at stake, and my ponies are my main priority, his life is not mine to use for my will. It is his free will, and I will allow him to use it." After this comment everybody was expecting Blazing to make the choice he had practically already made. He was ready to go home. All he had to do was say the word. Everypony began staring at Blazing expectantly. Was Celestia actually standing up for him? The one to raise the sun of Equus was giving him the choice to return home and possibly seal Equestria's fate if Discord was to be believed. It was so strange… He had no doubts that home is where he would much rather be. Comfortably laying on his bed right now catching up on his YouTube subscriptions and classes, preparing to graduate, as well as filling his time with books, growing his faith, and abusing technology. All in all it was some pretty low key ways to spend his time in a fast paced Earthen society. Wow Earthen sounds so strange when you reference it from a different planet. He was strongly in favor of getting this over with and going straight home to let all these crazy ponies deal with their own problems. 'Yet these crazy ponies cared for him...' 'no don't get compassionate now...' 'remain sensible, you don't belong here.' 'This isn't home!' 'But home will still be waiting.' 'Yes but I may not be able to get another opportunity if I stay.' Blazing's mind was internally fighting with himself over what to do. The obvious choice was home... but if more than one individual suffered because of that would he feel guilty? Would he be able to forget? If things are worse for me but I'm able to bless others is it worth it? At what cost is it too great? Would I be trying to prove something? To meet some kind of standard? At this point his thoughts were becoming too much to bear and he just wanted to let out a yell of frustration but instead he took a deep breath counting to five while the anticipation in the room continued to build. Finally Blazing spoke, "Would I still be granted passage home if I was here for a few weeks until things settle down a little bit?" This question came out of left field, and nobody had been expecting it. Celestia handled the response. "Our doors are always open and as long as we're still around, we will mend the damage we caused you at any time." "Good... and don't think this has anything to do with pleasing you Discord because it doesn't, but I'm going to hang around and stand up for my new... friends. I may not be willing to do whatever it takes, but I care about more than myself, so I will serve the crown until further notice... for the people of Equestria... no for the ponies of Equestria! Also this feels like it should be in a movie, and I know you don't have those, but this will make an entertaining story when I go back. Got to be honest it's never about the reward, but if things do turn out well I wouldn't mind a few gems to take home as well." Perhaps not the most noble request I've ever made, but screw it... I'm staying here for some stupid reason, so I might as well get the best of it! "Also be careful what you say around me, because with the way my thoughts are processing right now that could very well change my mind!" "Very well... we can accommodate this request. Now we must address the possibility of more changelings roaming the castle. Luna, what do you propose we do to monitor our subjects more closely?" Celestia turned the conversation in order to not damage a touchy subject. The meeting continued like this, discussing issues and possible plans to resolve problems. Many letters were sent every which way from notifying allies, to sending commands to soldiers, and requesting the presence of Cadance and Shining Armor. Ultimately everypony was experiencing some of the same thoughts at the end of the night. The gist of it was: Please don't let us regret any of our decisions; for everypony knew the effects of their actions would be felt far and wide... for better or for worse.