//------------------------------// // United We Stand // Story: The Cloudsdale Chronicles // by Boltstrike58 //------------------------------// Swift's prediction during his little public standing turned out to be correct. Both the unicorns and the earth ponies had been coaxed into taking action to save Equestria, thanks to ponies who'd been students of Twilight's school, most notably Sandbar. In addition, the rest of the Student Six had convinced their races to join in the fight, wanting to help the ponies who had accepted them. Swift had to admit, they were good at this, even if they weren't his favorite character from the show. With the unicorns combing their magic for mass teleportation, and Chancellor Neighsay directing them where to go, the army that would rescue the Mane Six grew and grew. Somepony suggested swinging by the Peaks of Peril to grab the kirin as well, and it turned out they wanted to help, too. Swift had to force himself not to squee at the sight of Autumn Blaze, a character he really liked. Soon enough, the army was ready. Every major and minor character from Friendship is Magic, every background creature, even Tempest Shadow (or Fizzlepop Berrytwist) from the movie, even the Flim Flam brothers. Everyone was there. "Now, we're betting Princess Twilight and her friends are already there," said Neighsay, "but we don't know how long they'll be able to hold out. Remember, protecting them is our priority." "We're ready to do our part," said Thorax. "Yaks ready to smash!" chimed in Prince Rutherford, punctuating it with a stomp. Swift Wing swallowed, grateful he didn't have to be the leader of this team. Stepping up once was hard enough. The journey to Canterlot was quick, but not entirely painless. Swift's experience with instant teleportation was nonexistent before that day, and then he had to go through about seven in a row. Being teleported left him disoriented and kind of nauseous, but thankfully, the effects were brief. After arriving in the hills outside Canterlot, the unicorns acted fast, throwing up a magical shield around Spike and the Mane Six, saving them from the villains' attack. Swift briefly wished he had a camera on him so he could've taken a picture of Tirek's face once he saw that all of Equestria had come together to stop him and his allies. He briefly wondered how Cozy Glow had become an alicorn, Chrysalis had grown weird crown-like protrusions, and what the floating bell was, but it didn't matter. Neighsay and Spitfire pointed, prompting every creature to charge forward. Swift joined the pegasi and other flyers, zooming towards the villains and beginning to whip up a fog to blind them. The changelings zipped down, shape-shifting into the Mane Six as a distraction. Swift darted to a fro, using the training he'd gained from his job, while weaving between the magic beams cast by the villains. To say he wasn't afraid would've been a lie, because he was quivering internally. He was within spitting distance of three of the worst villains in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and they would take him out without a second thought. But he understood he had to do his part for Equestria, his adopted land. So he flew like he'd never flown before. Suddenly, Swift noticed Tirek reaching out with his hands. Chrysalis and Cozy Glow had taken flight as well, attempting to infiltrate the wall of pegasi and snatch them out of the air. The changeling queen in particular was gaining on Derpy, and baring her fangs. Swift knew somebody had to act fast, and he had no way of knowing if anyone else saw it. So he made a quick u-turn, looped around and flew straight at Chrysalis, driving both forehooves into her surprised face before she could react. "That's for a Canterlot Wedding, bug-face!" he snarled. Unfortunately for Swift, he'd left himself open, a fact Tirek took advantage of, grabbing the crimson pegasus with one large hand. The centaur didn't waste time on words, opting instead to yank Swift up close to him, and preparing to suck out his magic. Swift cringed in fear, knowing what was next. As it turned out, he needn't have worried. Garble the dragon came to Swift's rescue by ramming his shoulder into Tirek's spine, forcing Tirek to release his grip. The centaur was soon blinded by a swarm of fireballs hurled by angry niriks. Swift flew backwards, breathing a sigh of relief. "Thanks, buddy!" he called out to Garble. The red dragon rolled his eyes, presumably at being chummy with a pony, but he nonetheless rejoined the fight. Swift returned to fog-making duty, trying to blind the villains again and dodging a laser from Cozy Glow in the process. Unfortunately, that was cut off when Tirek reared back and punched the ground, sending out a shockwave of magical energy that sent Swift and all the other ponies around them flying. Swift flew back and crashed into the unicorn shield that had been formed around the Mane Six and Spike. "Hey, girls," he grunted, as he slid down the shield like a water drop off a car window. Twilight politely acknowledged him with a wave. After Swift hit the ground, he turned around to find that Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy had thrown off the creatures that were plaguing them. The unicorn brigade didn't look like they could hold the shield any longer, but Twilight didn't seem to mind. She took to the air, and fired a magic beam, stopping the villains in their tracks. Ascending higher, Twilight launched into the customary speech about how every creature had reminded her of the power of friendship and all those important things. Swift thought it certainly sounded like something that would be present in a Friendship is Magic finale, especially for the whole series. That feeling grew when he saw the Student Six, the rest of the Mane Six, and Spike begin to glow white, and the Pillars of Old Equestria teleported in. It was a bit cheesy, of course, but standing alongside an army to vanquish evil was something he'd never experienced on Earth. It was sort of amazing to be part of. Then, three massive rainbow lasers came from the Pillars, the Mane Six, and the Student Six, converging on Twilight. Her own rainbow laser blasted the windigos from the sky, along with their winter storm, and brought down the power of harmony on the villains, changing them back to their normal selves. Chrysalis, naturally, attempted to bite back with some evil rant, only for Pinkie Pie to take Discord's magic and drop a castle-sized cupcake on the three of them. Swift didn't know why Discord's magic was trapped in a bell, but he took it back fast enough, along with restoring Celestia's and Luna's. Then the three of them combined their magic and turned the villains into a single, stone statue, imprisoning them forever. Swift breathed a huge sigh of relief, and from the sounds he heard around him, he wasn't the only one. It was finally over, and no creatures had died in the action. Now, after everything, he just wanted to go home and lie down. Unfortunately, it seemed life had other ideas, as Swift was suddenly teleported out of the crowd of creatures down to where the main cast stood. "Wait, what?" he asked, even though nobody had spoken to him in particular. In fact, nobody seemed to have noticed him. Twilight and Celestia were talking, and the rest of the Mane Six were standing around looking proud. "Sorry about this, Swift," came a haughty voice from behind him. Swift turned around, to find that Discord had slithered up beside him. "I was hoping you'd cover for me while I sneak off? I imagine they're not too happy with me, still, seeing how this was at least partially my fault." "Your fault? What are you talking about?" Swift asked. Then, as he remembered the conversation they'd had at his apartment, his eyes narrowed. "Discord, what did you do?" "Oh, that's right, you're not in the loop," replied the draconequus, smiling nervously. "Well, you see..." He proceeded to relay his recent activities to Swift, whose eyes grew wider and wider with each word. "You pretended to be Grogar, resurrected King Sombra, recruited those three, and planned to attack Twilight's coronation...to support her?!" he yelled. "Discord, what were you thinking?! Were you thinking?! You didn't see any possible negative outcomes to doing that?!" "Um, Swift?" "I mean, seriously! You didn't think they'd use the ability to work together against you?! You even told them where the real Grogar's bell was?! What possible reason could you think that was—" Swift stopped, noticing that Discord was pointing behind him. He slowly turned around, finding that the Mane Six, Spike, Celestia and Luna were all staring at him, no doubt wondering what he was doing there. "Uh, hi, everyone," he mumbled. "Yeah, Discord kinda warped me over here. He's hoping I'll distract you while he runs away." "Traitor," Discord snarled under his breath. Fluttershy gave Discord a brief Stare, before turning her attention back to Swift. "Thanks for being part of this, Swift," she said. "You seem to have found your place among ponies." "You could say that," admitted Swift. "It's not perfect, but I'm making progress." "I'll say!" added Rainbow. "You managed to get a Cutie Mark, that's a big step!" Swift tilted his head. "Cutie Mark? What are you talking about?" "She's right, Swift," added Twilight. "Look!" She pointed at his flank with one hoof. Swift turned, discovering that the pants he always wore had been torn at some point during the battle. Indeed, on his flank, there was some image, causing Swift to pale a little. He hurriedly yanked the pants off with his teeth, discovering that the mark was one pony foreleg reaching out for another, grasping it the way humans would shake hands. Also, the first leg seemed to be lifting the owner of the second upwards. "WHAT?!" he shouted, then immediately regretted it. "I don't...how...why...?" "You didn't even know you had that?" asked Applejack. "It must've been really recent, then. Did you ever feel anything from your flank?" "Well, yeah. I felt this buzzing on it when I..." Swift's ears dropped, as he realized exactly when it must have appeared. "Oh, no..." "What? What's wrong?" asked Pinkie. "It's a Cutie Mark! I don't know what it means, but you found what you're good at! Doesn't that make you happy?" Swift swallowed. "I wasn't hoping for something like this." He briefly explained what had happened back in Cloudsdale, how he had to stand up to convince the pegasi to fight alongside the others. "Just my luck. I get a Cutie Mark in public speaking, something I absolutely hate doing." Twilight started talking about how fascinating it was, the implications of a being not from their dimension obtaining a Cutie Mark, but Swift wasn't listening. He knew it was bad, but the urge to give in to despair was getting to him. He'd stepped up when other ponies needed him, but now he was forever branded as being good at that, like it was something he was supposed to do with his life. It was something he'd done in the heat of the moment, not something he wanted to do full-time. "I don't think it's public speaking you're good at, Swift," commented Celestia. "From the incident you described, it sounds more like your special talent is bringing ponies together. What you did in the Colosseum was brave, and Equestria clearly needed you. You stepped up when other ponies needed you." "But I don't want to be that kind of pony!" exclaimed Swift. "I wanted to live a quiet, safe life in Equestria as a regular citizen! What am I supposed to do with this, now?! Are ponies gonna start expecting me to be someone who stops conflicts between them?! Or am I gonna have to become some kind of...of..." He was running out of words. All the others were looking at him, with undecipherable emotions in their eyes. Even Twilight had stopped her geeking out. It made him angry, thinking they were pitying him again, but then he took a couple of deep breaths, and that calmed him down a little. He spread his wings out and lied down on the grass, trying to relax. "I just...I wasn't expecting anything like this," he admitted. "When I came to Equestria, I never thought I'd be part of your adventures, but I was okay with that. I wasn't so arrogant to think I'd become part of your crazy lives. However, this is the second time I've been dragged into one of these escapades, and now I have this mark, and I have no idea what to do with it." Rarity came up to Swift, and used her magic to give him a small pat on the back. "I don't think any of us could tell you for sure what to do with that mark, Swift," she said in a comforting tone of voice. "But nopony ever said you had to do the job of your Cutie Mark for a living. My talent is gem-finding, but that's sort of a supplement to my career." "Are you still seeing your counselor?" asked Twilight. Swift nodded. "I would talk to them about it. I'm sure they can help you decide what it is you want." "I guess," Swift replied. He didn't say anything, but he was beginning to wonder if he should confess the whole truth to Dr. Feather. After all, it wasn't like she could go to the authorities, considering all the princesses already knew everything about him. \ He looked back at Twilight and the others. "Sorry about Canterlot Castle," he said, pointing to the ruins of what had once been the pony capitol building. "That looks almost as bad as the damage the Storm King did." "It's nothing we cannot rebuild," said Luna. "Are you certain you're doing well, Swift? I have been staying out of your dreams to avoid disturbing you, but have you been having nightmares?" "Surprisingly, no. At least, none that have remained in my head the day after. I promise you all, I'm doing great." It wasn't entirely a lie, but it wasn't entirely truthful, either. "Very well, then." Swift turned to Discord. "Now, can you please send me back before someone gets suspicious? The last thing I need is for all these creatures to find out my secrets." "Oh, fine," Discord acquiesced, readying his fingers for a snap. "Buzzkill." With a pop, Swift was teleported back to his place in the army that had saved Equestria. Every creature had been too engrossed in their conversations with each other to notice he'd left for a few minutes. Swift released another relieved sigh, before stretching his wings. He set out through the crowd, looking for Bow and Windy, or perhaps Thunder Snow. For the moment, he just wanted to be an average pony, albeit one who'd been part of something very special. The debacle about his Cutie Mark could wait, at least for now.