//------------------------------// // Chapter Forty Six: Checkmate // Story: Cure For a Toxin // by RadBunny //------------------------------// “Let me know how it goes!” Gelliana said, giving her favorite stallion a nudge on the shoulder as they walked. Their routine was starting to seem almost normal, outside of the nightly terrors. But even those, after another week or two, were starting to border on ‘expected and manageable.’ Gelliana would be lying to herself if she wasn’t nervous. But Toxic would have some of his top guards with him in the shadows and a dozen royal guards in addition to that. All out of sight of course, and a hair-trigger for an emergency portal. It was almost overkill considering he’d be meeting his friend in the shadow of Canterlot Castle, a stone’s throw from the Princess’s. “I haven’t seen Wire Strip since…well, before all of that,” Toxic said thoughtfully, “playing chess was a way for him to get out and about, I think. From what Celestia said, he’s doing ok though.” “I’ll be here! Icait found some books to show me. She’s so happy now, so independent,” she paused at that, ears flicking to her skull briefly. “A lot has changed over these months.” Toxic reached over, kissing Gelliana on the cheek. “Not all bad changes, though.” A shy mumbling was the gryphoness response, Toxic giving her another nudge with his shoulder. “Just a few hours, if that. Then I’ll be back. Besides, tonight we get to watch that meteor shower Luna is planning.” That perked up Gelliana, the gryphoness abruptly giving her stallion a tight hug. “Have fun,” she managed to say. “I’ll be back before you know it.” And, with another brief kiss, Toxic was whisked away in a brief portal. Gelliana swallowed the nerves that threatened to overtake her. Instead, she took a deep breath and quickly set off towards the library to check on Icait. He’d be back in a few hours. The outdoor diner was a welcome sight. Toxic was able to actually feel normal for a brief moment. Other ponies ate their meals, completely unaware that most of the ponies nearest one table were disguised guards, another dozen situated on rooftops. Overkill? Perhaps. But better safe than sorry. “I’ve m-missed this, Toxic,” the stallion across the table admitted. Wire Strip managed a weak smile as he spoke, voice hitching with emotion. “A silly thing, I know.” “I’ve missed this too, Wire,” Toxic replied, gesturing to the chess table in front of them. “Even if you usually beat me.” “Usually. But you’ve gotten significantly better,” the other stallion mused. “And yet sometimes I feel like you let me win,” Toxic chuckled. “How are you doing by the way? I know there was some unpleasantness when I was gone.” The other unicorn nodded, wincing as he rubbed a forelimb. “Yeah, they had to run a bunch of tests,” he explained, “apparently, I was exposed to some sort of shadow energy. So, I had a bunch of scans taken periodically. It wasn’t too bad, but really unnerving.” “I don’t blame you.” Toxic then sighed, gesturing to the board. “You’re going to check-mate me in two moves, aren’t you?” The other stallion grinned, shrugging innocently. “I mean, I might…” Shaking his head, Toxic tipped his king over in defeat. “One more game then?” Varti stared at the various screens, one of his ears twitching in thought. Something didn’t add up. The broadcasts from Canterlot weren’t random; he had ruled that out. Something being transmitted that was heavily encrypted, almost in another language. The odder thing is that it had been present for some time. It passed off as interference in most of his scans and analysis, but that result didn’t sit right with the studious Yak. “So, we know the signal started before Toxic was even captured. That means it could just be some weak, blanketed spell over Canterlot. But why be present in the Canterlot communications?” he said, talking out loud as the various screens displayed multiple graphs, diagrams, and summaries of the odd signal. “Maybe it is just a bad alignment with their spell matrix setup. A wire crossing over an input when transmitting between nations,” he muttered. He then froze, eyes widening. “A wire crossed…the input,” Varti muttered. It was a crude theory, but there was indeed something that could be causing the interference. Hooves dancing across the large keyboard, the Yak let out a smirk as a ‘Match Found’ icon popped up. “Got you,” he growled. Opening a side file, Varti began to write a terse message to Celestia herself, or Luna if she was up. He couldn’t help but feel a thrill of pride as the analysis continued. There was indeed someone helping the Shadow King, and they were in the Castle. Unfortunately, they had gotten sloppy. The interference matched exactly with a device used in the Gryphon provinces to monitor, encode, and transmit key-word conversations. It was a simple matter to clamp it to a wire underneath a desk, and the end-user could hear any related conversations, classified or not. That would explain why the Bringer had been so cocky in Equestria’s non-interference. They had a direct line to most of their communications and had known the Ponies would stay out of it. As to who, in this case, there were only a few individuals who had the technical know-how to find the correct wires, and had access to the Control Center in Canterlot Castle. Very few in fact. It was a simple matter to cross-reference available individuals and knowledge, along with where the device was located. A cocky spy was the easiest to catch, after all. And the Shadow-King had that in abundance. If they had been trying to be as sneaky as possible, the device was likely attached to their own station within the Command Center. It would raise as few questions as possible and provide an ideal cover for any questions. Varti was interrupted by the flashing of red lights; the indication of a spell gone haywire somewhere across Equestria. The various sensors they had placed alerted the Organization of any potential incidents they needed to respond to. The Yak’s hoof froze over the keyboard, his eyes locked onto the single name that pulsed on the screen. The only individual who had both the knowledge and security clearance to place the monitoring device. “Warning. Temporal freeze spell detected.” Varti’s chest felt as though a vice was tightening around his heart. Calls to Fide or Clari went unanswered. Hooves punched a series of keys, the red lights dimming as the reactor in the lab began to hum at a dangerous level. “Emergency Punch-Through Protocol enabled. Warning. Temporal destabilization causing interference.” Even as the nearest ships sped towards the targeted area, Varti knew they’d likely be too late. The emergency portal slowly began to sputter, the usually-instant spell shrouded by layers of countermeasures. The spy hadn’t been inexperienced at all. They had all been played for fools. Clari and Fide glared at the two red eyes in front of them, the pair held in a never-never land between realms. “You cannot hold us here forever,” Fide growled, “and now we can find you with ease!” The Shadow-King grinned, fangs showing in a genuine expression of mirth. “You can try. But I think you’ll have more pressing matters to attend to. I don’t need to hold you here for long, after all.” “So, I heard you got some big organization up and running? They kept it kinda hush-hush,” Wire Strip asked, moving a piece on the chessboard. “In a sense. Just a way to take some of the weight off, if that makes sense,” Toxic admitted. “Slow and steady going, but it’s a nice side project to be involved in, especially since it runs itself.” “Ah, right. You’ve got Varti and a bunch of others helping out. That has to be nice,” Wire mused. “And then there’s this gryphoness? I think congratulations are in order?” he added with a smirk. Toxic waved a hoof disarmingly, but finally settled with a nod. “Gelliana? Yeah, well, that’s a whole different story, but thank you,” the stallion admitted. Wire chuckled, watching the chessboard as they went back and forth with a few moves. His brow furrowing, Toxic moved a piece and glanced up. “That’s check…and mate?” he asked, genuinely surprised. “It seems so. But sometimes you have to lose a game to win the war,” Wire mused. His mouth then widened in an unnatural, almost eager smile. “And I do believe it’s checkmate for you.” “What-” Toxic’s speech cut off as something ice-cold slid across his chest, the stallion drawing in a sharp breath. The entire world spun, but through the dizziness, he could see the guards within a stone’s-throw not moving. A bird flying above was likewise frozen; the localized time-stretch spell crafted to be just around one table. “We only have a minute or two before it wears off, but that’s enough,” Wire said casually. The concealment spell dropped, the stallion’s sharpened teeth now fully visible as he stood up and walked over to Toxic. “I doubt you’ll be able to move. That spear just injected enough chaos-poison to make your initial dose almost incomparable. Flopping off the chair, Toxic now caught a glimpse of the concealed syringe-like weapon embedded in the table before his gaze drifted to Wire. The armor that usually would have appeared on his body simply didn’t respond; the time spell effectively removing the pair from reality. “Why?” he managed to gasp, Wire shrugging. “Really? Why? That’s the first thing you ask?” the stallion huffed, “I expected more from you. Isn’t the answer obvious?” Wire gestured around. “There’s no side motive, no family that is on their deathbed where I make some asinine pact with a demon. It’s much simpler than that, Toxic.” He then trotted over, moving Toxic’s head so Wire could look at him properly. “Power, Toxic. It’s that simple,” he explained. “I’m so sick of it. Aren’t you? Always powerless to do anything? Isn’t that why you started that organization? When the Shadow-King approached me, I could have banished him in his weakened state. But why would I?” Wire laughed, shaking his head. “Why would I throw away a golden opportunity to have it all? Come now, Toxic, you can’t be that surprised. Why settle for a world where I’m the odd one out? I can make a world where I’m King! The Shadow has no use for mortals, but oh, I can think of many!” he laughed, a mirthless sigh leaving his mouth. “Such a simple equation. And I have to say this was a lot of fun, probably the most fun I’ve had in ages. So many strategies and finally a worthy opponent! I can’t wait for what comes next!” he crowed. “You…are my friend,” Toxic gasped, coughing up some purplish tar that fizzled on the ground. “And for that, Toxic, I am sorry,” Wire admitted. “I saw you as my friend too, one of the few who didn’t think I was just quiet and weird. And I appreciate that. But it’s simple math, a balancing of the scales. One pony’s friendship can’t simply stand in the way of what was offered. I could have made your death much more painful, but our friendship is why you’ll just slip away. A merciful death from one of the few worthy opponents I’ve encountered.” Wire bowed his head in almost genuine thanks. “Goodbye, Tox-” “YEAAAAAAARRRRRRR!” With a battle-cry warped by the fading time spell and a fractured portal, Varti appeared with a *SNAP*, the double-bladed battleax already ready to swing. With a sickening *THUD*, the weapon buried itself into Wire Strip’s torso, nearly cutting the pony in half. Coughing up some black sludge, the Unicorn’s horn flashed- and then he was gone. As the guards galloped towards the prone stallion, Varti fished out a large, triple-needle syringe from his saddlebags. “Hang on, Toxic.” Gelliana’s claws were still shaking. Any tears were long since shed, the gryphoness now waiting outside of the large room. You said you’d be back in a few hours. That had been this morning. Now in the evening, the full scale of the events had quickly been realized. Clari and Fide had only appeared briefly, the two actively cornering the Shadow King. That had come as little comfort to the gryphoness. Back on the Island, Toxic was, at least for the moment, safe. That was what Varti had said. It wasn’t what he had meant. Suspended in one of the many bunkers in the island, Toxic floated in a healing pod. The stabilization and preservation spells could keep him alive…for now. The poison in his veins would eat him up. It may take a few weeks, a month or two at most, but Toxic was dying. Even Discord, whose magic had indirectly led to this, had confirmed that much before leaving. He had appeared genuinely disturbed, for what that was worth. Celestia herself was on her way here, and Gelliana had a sinking feeling of what one of the topics would be. I promised I wouldn’t let them do that to you. The gryphoness found more tears now tracing down her cheeks. She had promised, and she wasn’t about to break it. But if Toxic got to live… She couldn’t go down that road. No assuming, only confronting the options. “She’s here,” Varti said simply, waving the gryphoness inside. Walking with the Yak, Gelliana noticed how he hadn’t bothered to wipe away the tears on his face. Varti had locked himself in the lab for hours, the Yak drawing on every tool in the Organization’s arsenal to try and stave off the poison and had come up empty. The room was barren save the medical equipment and a smattering of chairs and supplies. Celestia sat next to the green, fluid-filled pod in which Toxic floated. Clari and Fide sat across from her. To Gelliana’s partial surprise, Celestia’s jaw was clenched, unshed tears making her eyes shimmer. “What are the options, Varti?” the Alicorn asked. “Twilight, as of yet, can’t find anything to counter the poison.” “Nothing I have can either. But we must keep trying,” the Yak replied, beard betraying the quivering of his face. “I have permission from his parents to use whatever means necessary to save him. They were here an hour or two ago as I explained the situation,” Celestia said. Her eyes refused to look at anyone, instead locked onto the floor. “Toxic’s mother will never forgive me for letting this happen, and I do not disagree.” “The spell was of a craft never before seen. The planning to set up that one ambush was years in the making. The table itself was installed before…” Varti’s words trailed off, the Yak realizing that at that point, it was all moot. “The Shadow-King will not escape. He and his host have only a few places left to run. The few creatures he has at his disposal are fading,” Fide reported. The mare wasn’t able to look at Varti, and Gelliana saw an angry fire in the Yak’s gaze. “So how do we save him?” Gelliana asked. “What do we have to do?” There was silence, Clari being the one to look at Celestia. “She knows. And it is the only remaining option.” Gelliana instinctively knew what the spectral mare was talking about, but now a trickle of anger, absolute rage was beginning to enter her heart. Why Toxic? Why was it always him? Celestia levitated a scroll over, placing it on the ground. “I vowed to not use this,” the Alicorn said. “But what choice do we have?” “He was right. That’s an ascension spell, isn’t it?” All eyes turned to the diminutive gryphoness as none of them countered Gelliana’s words. Her beak was half-open in shock. “Toxic always thought you had a way to keep him alive no matter the cost. You couldn’t afford to lose him. None of you can.” “I forbade her from using it,” Clari said, eyes still not able to meet Gelliana’s. “It was not something that I would allow to work. But even our magic won’t counter this. Toxic being a Guardian is not enough. That’s the only reason he’s still alive, if I had to guess. If this will save Toxic, I can’t disagree to the spell’s use.” Gelliana was quiet, her sides beginning to shake. Varti seemed to sense what the others couldn’t, moving a few steps away as tears began to stream down the gryphoness’s face. She didn’t appear to see him anymore. “WHY CAN’T YOU JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE?!” Gelliana’s voice reverberated through the small room, armor wrapping itself around her frame. Pink sparks flew from her eyes, breastplate shedding energy as the gryphoness cried. Two ethereal beings and an Alicorn visibly cowered in shame as she glared at them. “This is all your fault. This is all on you,” she hissed, the rage now a torrent, a river that tore through any dams of logic and self-restraint. Logic took a back seat, the gryphoness far beyond caring as the love of her life slowly died in front of her. “You’re all guilty of using him, of leading to this. You know he won’t say no! Toxic always wants to help! He can’t stop. He can’t say no even if it kills him! But I’m not him! I’m so sick of accepting all of this, of this nightmare we have to go through!” Turning to Celestia, the gryphoness bared her beak, glaring at the Alicorn. “I know you guys made up…but you used him. You used him for his entire life. And he’s hurting from that! Why is his organization looking for a replacement? Why did you stop? Why does Toxic have to be the one to try and fix the damage you did to him? What did you expect to do after he died? Why are his guards the only ones who can protect him? You had the Shadow-King right next to you, and you couldn’t even see it! And now Toxic is the one who pays the price!” Celestia had no response, the Alicorn who could call upon the very sun utterly cowed by the furious gryphoness in front of her. Shame made Celestia’s shoulders and wings slump, the mare having no answers to the rapid-fire questions. “Gelliana,” Clari said, the gryphoness turning and snapping her beak at the entity, the mare’s widening in shock. “You!” Gelliana growled, walking right up to the two mares. “You two. I don’t care what convoluted plan of good and evil this is. What sort of balance has to be kept. You two saved our lives once…but I’m so sick of being a pawn, of having Toxic being your warrior while you stay back and watch! Where was your help in building Toxic’s organization up from the ground if you knew he was going to be your Guardian? Where were your defenses when he got attacked? You only saved him that one time after teaching me some lesson!” Clari held up a hoof, the gesture making Fide wince. “We can’t intervene. If we-” “I DON’T CARE!” Gelliana bellowed, the armor spitting sparks that ate into the concrete floor. “The Shadow King doesn’t seem concerned with balance! It’s why Toxic is floating half-dead! You all hide behind that balance garbage to use us to fight your battles! Do it yourself for once! Stop using him!” she yelled, eyes narrowing to slits, her gaze seeming to pin both Fide and Clari in place. “You saving me, saving him…it’s all a means to an end. You’re no better than the Shadow-King, sending a mortal to do your dirty work,” the gryphoness hissed, the two mares stiffening in shock as Gelliana then gestured to all three of them. “This is all on you.” The rage abruptly began to gutter out, the armor’s glow fading in intensity. Tears began to stream down Gelliana’s cheeks, rebellious sobs making her sides shake. “Just when we were relaxing. When we were starting to deal with it all,” a tender smile that threatened to unleash the anger again twitched at her beak. “I was going to ask him. And now I can’t, now I don’t even know if…” She turned to glare at the individuals again. “I wasn’t even there to protect him. None of you were! And now you have a spell to keep him alive, but it’s not for Him, is it? It’s because of how useful he is! Am I wrong?” Celestia wouldn’t look at the gryphoness, shame written over her entire expression and demeanor. Gelliana turned to look towards Fide and Clari, the fire starting to ignite behind her gaze again. “You owe him. Save Toxic and let him go. Take back your armor and all of your ‘help.’ It just seems to lead to something worse. Just save him and leave us alone.” Fide initially bristled, but then her shoulders slumped with a barely-imperceptibly nod. Clari’s eyes brimmed with tears, only able to look at Gelliana briefly. Her words had cowed the pair, neither mare voicing any arguments to the gryphoness’s accusations. Fide was the one to answer her, however. “You are right. But we can’t.” “Can’t? Or won’t?” Gelliana growled. “Can’t,” Fide stated, remorse now punching holes in her usually stoic demeanor. “We aren’t all-powerful, Gelliana. Far from it. The poison is not as easily extracted as the last time. If we tried to the same methods, it would certainly fail.” Gelliana turned to Celestia, the Alicorn meeting her gaze briefly. “If you,” she then turned to look at the other two mares, “any of you, use that spell, Toxic will never forgive you. And neither will I.” The armor lit up again, Gelliana yanking out a dagger despite her claws shaking. “I promised him that I’d try to stop you,” she whispered, “I don’t know if I can even do anything, but I’ll try. He was afraid of this. He knew you’d try something.” Celestia shook her head at that, a single set of tears now leaving her eyes as Gelliana voiced the result of countless failures on the Alicorn’s part. “That won’t be necessary. I won’t use the spell, Gelliana. I refuse to place the burden of an ageless life on another like that. There must be another way.” Despite having regretful tears brimming in her eyes, Clari seemed to perk up slightly at that. A simple, slight nod of approval was all the mare sent Celestia’s way. “And yet the modified ascension spell is the only thing that will save him,” Fide said bluntly. “Only that spell can burn out the poison, as it is designed around altering both physical and magical bodies.” Putting the dagger away, Gelliana sat down, emotional energy utterly spent. “What does the spell do, exactly?” she asked. “How does it work?” As the gryphoness listened, a peaceful, almost serene calm settled over her shoulder. The armor began to glow a soft pink, Gelliana unable to stop crying, but this time with a smile on her face. She asked a simple question, and Fide nodded immediately, Clari joining her. “Of course. We owe you so much more than that.” Gelliana then set off through a portal. She had both some creatures to talk to, and some thinking to do. There was a lot more of the former needed than the latter. It was a simple choice.