//------------------------------// // Chapter 192 - The Plan // Story: Dadonequus Discord (Book 2) // by CrazedLaughter //------------------------------// While chairs did have to be pulled up towards the Cutie Map for a few others to sit on, everyone was pretty much here. You, Spike, the six, Starlight, Sunburst, And… Trixie. Lunch was pretty much huge sub sandwiches catered to everyone’s tastes. Cept' for yours, because Fluttershy had to make sure you ate healthy. Then again, you couldn’t complain, not with Sunburst lifting his sandwich, looking at it with a frown as syrup dripped from it.  Sunburst had to adjust his glasses to be sure of it. Then he gave it a lick. Yup, syrup. “Ahrm, e-excuse me, I don’t mean to be rude, but why does my sandwich have pancakes in it?” “You said you missed your lunch, silly. So I combined your lunch together with breakfast and made the ultimate brunch sandwich! Now you can be ready for dinner without a super grumbly tummy.” Pinkie said with excitement as she bit into her huge ass sandwich, which as far as you could tell, was filled with every kind of oat, grain, cheese, green, and you swear to god, some bits of candy. “O-oh, I see. I guess that makes sense. I didn’t even know breakfast could be made up like this. Hrm…” Sunburst then took a bite, and immediately, he flinched. He slowly chewed, noticing there were indeed more than just pancakes within his sandwich, and it didn’t mix with everything else at all. He slowly nibbled, swallowed, and then tried to reason with himself that it was meant to taste this way. “I-I think this is the proper taste for a mixed meal. I…” He then places it on his plate and pushes it away as he awkwardly smiles. “...Think I’ll just take it home with me. Just one bite was enough to fill my, er, stomach! Yes, that’s right. It filled it right up.” "Okay then! Wow, Sunburst, you must have a really small tummy. Wait..." Pinkie then began to frown. "How are you supposed to enjoy delicious deliciousness if you can only take a couple bites of anything?" Sunburst looked at his sandwich and nearly turned green before looking back at Pinkie with a false smile. "Oh, I-I manage. I don't think taste is that important anyway." Pinkie then suddenly narrowed his eyes at him, looking at him suspiciously. "Riiiiiight." She then snuck up on Twilight, and whispered. "I think he doesn't want us to see him eat it. Look at him, he wants to just eat it like a piggy wiggy. Which is fine." Pinkie said with a sudden bright giggle. “Oh, Pinkie, I have to admit. These personalized sandwiches are simply divine, however did you manage to make them all in so little time?” Rarity asked, impressed by her own sandwich, which seemed to be made with the highest quality of ingredients. “Well, they’re just sandwiches.” Pinkie said with a shrug. “You just get some bread, stuff to put between the bread, and a hungry tummy and what do you get? Lunch!” “Thank you, Pinkie.” Twilight said to her with a warming smile. Then giggles as she noticed Spike scarfing his sandwich down. “Spike, don’t eat so fast, or else you won’t be able to enjoy your sandwich.” “Sorry, Twilight, I can’t help it. I don’t even know where Pinkie found all these gems.” Spike said, drooling. “So many kinds, so many flavors, it's hard to hold back, y’know?” “It’s alright, Spike.” Twilight said with a nod, looking to her friend with a smile, happy that he was enjoying himself. But, after what happened outside, you had already passed along the news to Twilight. And she began to look around the table with an ever growing look of seriousness. She finally put her sandwich aside, cleared her throat, and called for everyone’s attention. “Everypony, I’m glad we’re all here to enjoy lunch together. But, there is a bit of news that has come to my attention that we need to discuss.” “Oh my, is it bad news, Twilight?” Fluttershy asked, with worry in her voice. “Whatever it is, can’t it wait til’ we’re done eating? I’m starving after flying for so long. I deserve this sandwich, considering I won the race.” Rainbow Dash said as she took a huge chomp of her sandwich. Wut? “Uh, but we got to the stadium first. You didn’t even get there.” “Yeah.” Starlight said, narrowing her gaze at Rainbow Dash “And don’t go saying it’s because we lost the jet. We still got there before you. So it goes without saying that if we had the jet, we would have finished even sooner.” “Look, I’m just saying the jet couldn’t handle it, that’s the real reason you lost it, right? In the professional world of sports, we call that a disqualification.” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk. “Rainbow Dash!” Rarity called out, stomping her hoof in a way that grabbed herself attention in a startled fashion. “I do believe there is also a certain something in the ‘professional world of sports’ called sportsmanship. Furthermore, I don’t believe you get to make the rules on this sort of competition. In fact, I do believe the only rule was merely reaching Manehatten and back. That is correct, isn’t it?” “Er… But, the whole thing was trying to prove their jet was better than me.” Rainbow Dash said, rather sheepishly, before regaining her confidence. “And they lost it, it means I won.” “Actually, that is rather incorrect. Having read a few books on the matter of competitions, especially in non-official events, the rules are governed by what is agreed upon. Ergo, unless it was agreed upon that they had to finish in the jet, then you do in fact lose.” Sunburst interjected. “Hey!... What does ‘ergo’ mean?” Rainbow Dash asked, confused. “Because if it means that I lost, then-” But then Rainbow Dash suddenly gets cut off, by Twilight of all ponies. “That’s enough!” Twilight then shot a nasty look towards Rainbow Dash. “Rainbow Dash, I know you had an awful time pushing yourself so hard for that race. But technically? You lost, period. The point was to prove how fast the jet was and despite everything else that happened, that particular detail was proven! You're still the fastest pegasus ever, so drop it! Now…” Twilight tried to relax herself, trying to get to the news she wanted to talk about. “There is something really important we have to discuss.” Rainbow Dash, knowing everyone was against her now, fell quiet, and slowly bit into her sandwich. “What’s the matter, Sugarcube? Ya lookin’ pretty ornery right now. Been awhile since ah seen you explode like that.” Applejack said, noting how irritable Twilight seemed to be. “That’s because it’s finally happening. Everypony, listen, Chrysalis is finally making her move.” Twilight announced. Everyone gasped, except for you and Pinkie, who was just calmly eating her sandwich. “What?! Then what are we sittin’ around here for?! We gotta go stop her right now!” Applejack said, already demanding swift action. “We don’t have to do that right now.” You said, speaking up. “She’s starting her attack tomorrow morning. It gives us plenty of time to prepare for her attack instead.” “Exactly. We have to be very careful on how we do this. Not only do we have to prevent her attack, but we have to do it in a way that doesn’t provoke her into hurting anypony. Furthermore, we have to use this opportunity to show her that we don’t hate her. Remember, we’ve talked about this before.” Twilight explained. “We have, but after so long, darling, it almost felt like we were wasting some of our resources. The guards have expressed concerns themselves, given how long Chrysalis has been taking.” Rarity explained. “Be that as it may, it has given us all this time to prepare. We only really need to discuss how we plan to actually pull off tomorrow. Where we’re going to place the guards, reconnaissance, and how we plan to help Chrysalis herself. One of my plans was to stay in the castle where it’d be safe for everypony else, closing off most of it to make sure Chrysalis can’t sneak in from a spot we wouldn’t expect.” Twilight said. "This means there can't be a reason for me to go to the school. Not one." “Wowie! Twilight! That’s an amazing plan!” Pinkie said with applause. “That would make it where she could only show up through one door, right?” “Exactly! But…” Twilight lets out a heavy sigh, then looks at you. “Anon, you know her better than any of us. If you have any plans of your own, now is the time to tell us.” “Hmmm…” You began to ponder to yourself. You only really needed to catch Chrysalis for her plan to fail. Putting someone in harm’s way would be bad, but if you could simply catch her out in the open, then everything should be fine. That’s right, you only really needed her to be known for her plan to be stopped, as her element of surprise would be taken from her. “Ok, so your plan so far sounds pretty good. But how about some traps? Like, cages that could fall right on top of her here in the castle?” “Ah, yes, that sounds like a splendid idea! Pinkie Pie, if you could lend me some help with the construction of the traps themselves, I could set them around the castle using a string so strong, and yet so thin, that Chrysalis would never be able to notice tripping one until it is too late. I could certainly clear my schedule for the rest of the day for something like this as well, my customers will understand.” Rarity said, wanting to take part in that section of the plan. “Okie dokie loki! I have lots of stuff from some old pranks I could use to make some traps.” Pinkie said, delighted to help. “Ok, good! Alright, Rainbow Dash, I need you to gather the Wonderbolts to do some air reconnaissance. Basically, just try to keep your eye on anypony who seems suspicious or out of place. If you see two of the same ponies at the same time, surround them and just call out to them. Don’t try to stop Chrysalis with brute force, just make it known that she’s there.” You explain. “What?! I’m a look out? C’mon, that’s dumb! Why can’t I just fight her? I can take her down!” Rainbow Dash said, not happy at all with the position you suggested. “One, I don’t want anypony fighting her because…” You show the shackles on your hooves and clack them together. “And two, the idea is to stop her, not hurt her. Even if you spot her, I don’t want you beating her up, okay?” “C’mon! Twilight, this is your life here. I get the whole ‘reform’ thing, but this is really serious. How can we be so sure she’ll stop just because we told her to? What if the traps can’t hold her?” Rainbow Dash asked, just wanting to put Chrysalis down. Not for glory, but because she was genuinely worried about Twilight getting killed. “Then I’ll hold her off myself. I know she is nowhere near as strong as she usually is, so I shouldn’t have too much trouble as long as she doesn’t blindside me. Rainbow Dash, please understand, we’re trying to help her. As long as we play our parts, she won’t be able to get near me.” Twilight says, trying to assure her. Rainbow Dash huffed and rolled her eyes. “Fine, whatever. But if she lays a hoof on you, she’s going down!” You really had to hope Rainbow Dash didn’t screw this up. You weren’t really expecting too much from the Wonderbolts really, but if any one of them can spot Chrysalis, then there’d be no way for her to sneak up on Twilight. “Ok then. Applejack, Aunt Fluttershy, you’re on ground detail. Applejack, can you direct the guards around town to be on the look out for Chrysalis?” “Ah reckon I can. But how are we gonna tell her apart from anypony else?” Applejack asked. Thankfully, it seemed she was part of the program this time. Probably already noted she was not going to win an argument on this one. “You probably won’t be able to. But if the castle is closed off to everyone, then all you all really have to do is make sure nopony tries to slip inside.” You explain. “Ah, now that makes a whole lot of sense. Just gotta be on the lookout for any suspicious types going towards the castle.” Applejack said, instantly understanding the plan. "Like a weasel tryin' to get into a chicken coup." “Exactly. Aunt Fluttershy, you don’t have to, but if you can, I need you to gather the animals that can sniff scents out best. The idea here is to just have them go around town trying to find a pony who smells like a bug.” You explain. “Oh, well, as long as they can’t be hurt, then it shouldn’t be a problem to ask my animal friends for that kind of help. Very good idea, Anon, I’m so proud of you.” Ah, Fluttershy. You couldn’t help but blush in embarrassment from her praise. “Ah, well, heh, y’know. Erm.” You then look over to Starlight and Sunburst. “Hey guys, would you mind just staying inside the castle and watching over Twilight? Maybe whip up some defense spells or be ready to trap Chrysalis in a barrier or something? I think that would help in case she gets by the other traps. Spike, you too, I just want you to fly around the castle in spots you wouldn’t be spotted and keep an eye o-WOAH!” Suddenly, Scrappy falls from the ceiling to the middle of the Cutie Map, spooking everyone as he stomps up to you and stares at you, eye-to-eye.  “Applejack gave me the job to watch over Twilight! So I’ll be sneaking around, watching for the queen, waiting to greet her before I bark the ‘bark of incoming intruders’! A bark I’ve been learning to both warn of intruders and mailponies alike!” Scrappy said, looking back at Applejack with pride. “I’ve been working really hard on it!” He said happily, wagging his tail. “Ah, er, Scrappy, and that’s real good and all. But Anon ain’t saying you can’t watch over Twilight, he’s just makin’ sure you have some help. Now you don’t mind help, do ya? Ah know you liked to work together with your changeling siblings, right? Is workin’ with Spike and the others so bad? They’re your friends.” Applejack was questioning him just to make sure he understood, while also trying to speak to him in a way that wouldn’t upset him. Scrappy whimpered as he turned to look at Applejack, his ears drooping. “Y-yes… I guess so. But I want everypony to know right here, right now. I’ll be the one to spot the queen, warn Princess Twilight, and make my family proud!” “Aw, Scrappy, c’mon now, we’re already proud of ya.” Applejack said with a cheerful smile. “Oh...  THEN I WILL DO IT TO PROVE I AM THE BEST! BWHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Scrappy cackled, continuing his laughter as he sprouted wings from his doggie back and began to slowly ascend around the roots above him to get to the ceiling of the room. “Yep… Never gonna get used to him ever.” Starlight said, just staring. “Yeah… Erm, anyway. I think that’s everypony cove-” But again, you are interrupted by a loud and obnoxious clearing of the throat. “And what about I? THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!” Trixie exclaimed in bombastic fashion. Fuck, you completely forgot she was here. … … … “Uhhhhh, I… Uh… Oh! You can watch the outskirts of Ponyville, make sure… Er, Chrysalis, erm, doesn’t try something there.” Good god, you really couldn’t figure out anything for her to do, nor did you want her near Chrysalis anyway. Chrysalis would probably end her life just to end hers. “An adequate plan, but Trixie has come up with something better. Why doesn’t Princess Twilight just hide in another town, or in the big city? Chrysalis would never be able to find her there, meaning she’d fail in her plan with no risk to anypony at all.” Trixie explains before letting out an arrogant chuckle. “Trixie doesn’t understand why none of you even thought of that. It seems pretty obvious to me.” … Holy shit, that is a pretty damn good plan. But then Twilight shook her head. “I have to be here, Trixie. I have to let Chrysalis see I’m willing to face her, and be there for her. She has to see that despite her want to destroy me to get back at Princess Celestia, that I’m still willing to forgive her.” “Oh, right, we’re reforming her. Hmmm…” Trixie stopped for a moment to think, then stood up, grabbed her sandwich, and began to walk out. “Well, Trixie is stepping out now. I decided to hide and wait with a bucket of water in case she manages to destroy you and burn this castle to the ground.” And with that, she opened the doors, and made her exit. “But, the castle is made of crystal? Oh, wow, that statement is confusing me.” Sunburst didn’t know what to make of it. Starlight sighed and put her head down. “Oh, I get it. Mmmm, I guess it’s fine though, it’ll keep her out of trouble. So, is that all, Anon? Nothing else?” “No, I think that's it. Everypony understands their part of the plan, right?” You asked. Everyone but Rainbow Dash answered with a resounding “yeah!”. Well, she did say ‘yeah’, she just wasn’t enthused about it. Hopefully you can still count on her. Nah, you probably could, Spitfire would make sure she stays in line. Fluttershy then suddenly let out a cute “Oh!” as she looked to you, a idea bright in her head. “Anon, why don’t you ask your father for help? I’m sure he’d be able to do something.” NOPE! You really just couldn’t. Chrysalis hated him. Even if Discord managed to be courteous and good, this was still the guy who tormented her and locked her up in the basement in the first place. “Um, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Chrysalis REALLY hates dad. I don’t like it, but every time she talks about him, it’s never anything good.” “Oh… I see…” Fluttershy looked disappointed, hell, you could feel it. You couldn’t figure out why she was so sad about it though. Unless she felt Discord could have made sure Chrysalis wouldn’t have given her a chance to hurt Twilight at all. “Well, I suppose he can be hard to get used to if you don’t get to know him. B-but, that’s why we’re helping her, so she can see that friendship really is a wonderful thing.” and there she went, trying to perk herself back up. She didn’t want you to see her sad, if only because she didn’t want you to blame yourself for upsetting her. Bah, you decide to take your sandwich into your mouth, holding it, and getting off your seat to join Fluttershy. Looking up at her like a cat, trying to signal that you wanted to sit in front of her. She moves back on her seat the best she could to let you up. It was kinda tight, but she welcomed you nuzzling back into her as she held you close. You spit out the sandwich onto her plate, something you then realized was kinda gross, but she didn’t mind, she just cuddled you close, thinking she was comforting you, when really you were comforting her. It was a moment that grabbed the attention of nearly everyone in the room with a group “Awww.”. Except for Rainbow Dash, who was just into finishing her sandwich. All that was left was to eat lunch and then… Well, maybe you could use this time to meditate and figure things out, prepare yourself for tomorrow, and hope Chrysalis reforms even the slightest bit.