The Redemption of Jericho Swain
Chapter 16: Weapons of Choice
Rarity passed out two folders to her audience before sitting down opposite of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie at the coffee table in the middle of the room. “This one’s just you two. Twilight’s been contracted for a Dominion match, and Applejack’s with another team today. You’ll be fighting with Alistar, Anivia, and Vayne, and you’ll be against Caitlyn, Blitzcrank, Lee Sin, Malzahar, and Renekton. Now, this is a pretty physical team so be sure to buy-”
“Wait,” interrupted Pinkie, “Isn’t Renekton...?”
Rarity sighed. “Yes, Pinkie. I trust that won’t be a distraction from your objective? If Nasus can fight him without holding back, you can too, no matter how sad the story between them is. Of course, we’re already familiar with Malzahar, so that shouldn’t be a point of contention. I will be watching him very closely, though.” Pinkie nodded, but fidgeted uncomfortably, her hair drooping ever so slightly, in synch with her lips.
Rainbow Dash was more businesslike as she poured through the pages within the folder in her hands. “I’m not sure how well I’ll do against Lee Sin. That much mobility seems a little impossible for a blind man. I wouldn’t believe it if Applejack hadn’t already met him.”
Rarity nodded, and the trio continued to discuss the matchup for about an hour until it was time for the match to start.
- - - -
“I need a round trip ticket to Zaun, on the fastest airship you have. Money is no object.” Though his tone of voice was as calm and collected as always, the poor ticketmaster in the booth in front of Nasus was almost cowering in terror as he checked a nearby schedule for giant in front of him. The entire display would have annoyed Nasus fifty years ago, but he had long since been accustomed to the tendency of Runeterrans to perceive everything as a threat, and since his public appearances had been quite limited, most denizens of Valoran were more frightened of him than even the cutthroat champions of Noxus, who could at least be relied upon for being overly violent. Nasus was an unknown, however, and that was infinitely scarier..
“U-um, we have two clippers docked right now, scheduled to in ten minutes. The recently refitted Tailwind is the fastest we have, t-tickets for 119 silver, but for only twenty silver more, the Bounty of Zaun is designed for small quantities of discerning customers, and offers exquisite luxuries, including an all you can eat buffet,
p-private suites, and more. Considering the volume of champions travelling to and from the Institute of War, we’ve also recently installed a team of professional weapons and armor smiths, who will, for free, service your weapons and armor, and recharge any enchantments on your equipment. It is slower than the other ship by a fair margin, but most people agree that the services more th-”
“Tailwind, please.” Nasus counted out the coins and placed them on the ticketmaster’s counter, who, after looking at Nasus for a moment, decided not to continue his pitch, and handed over the ticket.
The ride itself was fairly uneventful, if a little rough. The scarred and repainted vessel had been refitted from being a racing ship to after being replaced by the latest model, and it showed through in the sheer speed of the vessel, as well as the limited comfort. Nasus settled in as best as he could in the undeniably human-sized accommodations, and closed his eyes to meditate.
Renekton had been having more and more moments of lucidity ever since the six girls had appeared on Valoran. Whether the two were related was currently unknowable, but Nasus suspected a connection between them. It was as if they brought a bit of Equestria with them. Even the grass on the Fields of Justice seemed more lively as of late. There seemed to be an aura of peace around them, and even stranger, when two or more of them were together, the signatures of their life force intermingled freely with each other, in a manner not unlike traditional blood pacts commonly made between soldiers to lend each other strength.That would have to wait for a while, though. More important to him at the moment was his brother’s strange behavior. He undoubtedly knew more than he was willing or able to let on, past his insanity and hatred. There had to be a way to encourage to encourage this growing sanity in his brother’s mind. “An aura of peace...” he said aloud, before a sudden, slight smile graced his otherwise placid features.
- - - -
Pinkie looked across the lane at the reptilian form on the other side of the lane. “You look nothing like him, you know,” she said, with a calmness unbefitting of her bubbly, cheerful personality. “I wouldn’t be able to tell that you two were brothers, if it weren’t for his words and your armor design.”
Renekton laughed harshly, running a clawed finger across his arc-shaped blade. “I thought the family resemblance would have been stronger! Then again, pathetic little creatures such as you are probably used to everyone around you looking similar. It matters not, little prey. You all look identical to my blade.”
“You don’t act like him though,” continued Pinkie, ignoring Renekton’s response. Frowning, she continued, “You act like one of Fluttershy’s animals, hurt and raging. I wonder what changed.”
“Keep talking, meat, even as I rip out your throat and drink your blood.” Renekton began stalking forward as minions passed by him. “It’s always so fun to spill the new blood.”
Pinkie’s smile return, though her look was more determined than cheerful. “I guess we’ll play the only game you know. Maybe I can teach you some others while we’re at it.”
- - - -
They were neck and neck again. Rainbow Dash found that she loved these matches most of all, as her limits were being tested. Beside her, a woman in an outfit that would give Rarity a seizure was attacking the large dragon in front of the pair. With a graceful leap, Rainbow Dash flew upward, and with a smirk, drove the final blow into the beast’s skull. “We got this in the bag, Vayne. Trust me, I can smell their fear from here.” Her teammate did nothing but roll her eyes as she returned to her laning partner.
‘Dash, you and Vayne need to get to the middle lane.’ The sudden sensation of her Summoner’s thoughts jarred Rainbow Dash out of the air, and she landed with an undignified and very muddy splash into the shallow waters of the Serpentine River. ‘Anivia’s dead and Pinkie will join her soon. Preserve the tower.’
Rainbow Dash snorted as she responded with her own thoughts. ‘Just preserve the tower?’ She was already rising into the air. ‘I think not.’ With that, she rose into the air until she was just a speck to the teammates below her.
- - - -
“Feeling weak, little girl?” Malzahar’s voice dripped with venom. “This pain? It is but a trifle of the price you pay for your foolishness. As always, you blindly run face first into your doom. Just like in Zaun, really. so busy running you cannot see the truth in front of your faces. When the time comes your pain will be made bitter by what you missed in your steps.” Malzahar laughed madly as he sent forth a burst of purple magical energy in Pinkie’s Direction.
Though she was barely standing, the Summoner guiding her was able to lend enough of his own willpower to get her to to move backwards, so that the magic that assaulted her from either side clashed uselessly against itself where she once stood. Though she was more than able to duel Renekton, Malzahar’s magic had been eating through both her strength and will. When she stepped forward to strike, the group would erupt beneath her into a glassy window, leaking the foulest of energies as dark shapes twisted and whirled, desperately looking for a weakness that they could break to gain access to the world. With a flick of his hand, lances of magic would slam into her, disrupting her focus so badly it was about all she could do to focus on walking and her sword hand.
Perhaps the worst had been the visions. Pinkie Pie had giggled with delight when, during a battle with him, a cloud of purple energy had appeared on a minion beside her. Calling him out on his ‘miss’, she hadn’t noticed the minion gradually being reduced to nothing beside her until with an odd, echoing sound, the minion had collapsed into nothing beside her and the malefic energies assaulting it suddenly jumped onto her own skin. Immediately, the landscape around her had turned nightmarish and deadly, and even the minions seemed warped and distorted. It had been her Summoner who guided her between reality and hallucination, even as they both shared the searing pain of this corruption as it seared Pinkie’s body.
When Renekton had arrived in the middle lane, it hadn’t taken an effort to push Pinkie back to her tower, where they continued to dart in and out of range, taking a little of Pinkie’s strength with them each time. She now stood, at the edge of death, waiting for the final blow to come.
Malzahar was only too happy to oblige. In a flash of light, he was suddenly just a few feet from Pinkie, smiling wickedly as his eyes suddenly flared in an almost hypnotic way. “Witness oblivion,” he said, and Pinkie’s world turned purple.
She felt herself floating in an endless space, an ocean of every shade of purple, decorated with constellations of black stars that seemed to suck the light out of everything near. In her ears, she could hear faint whispers in a tongue that she couldn’t understand, but sounded unnervingly familiar, and as each slinking syllable issued forth, she felt violated. In the distance, she thought she could see a silhouette shifting. As it skittered forward, the whispers became louder, and other silhouettes began stirring as well. Pinkie felt a sinking sensation of despair, and she became more and more overwhelmed by terror as the whispers became shouts, and the dark forms gathered closer and closer as she struggled with futility to move in this ethereal prison, until she could see starving eyes looking at her greedily. Pinkie could do nothing but scream as she felt claws begin ripping into her legs as she felt herself helplessly pulled towards the horde. Sobbing uncontrollably, Pinkie looked up one last time to see a scythe-like appendage slicing through space, straight towards her heart. With a cry, she closed her eyes and waited for the blow.
It never came, though, and Pinkie was brought back to reality as a maelstrom of light brought her back into her body. She was vaguely aware of Rainbow Dash in front of her, tossing aside Malzahar’s corpse before turning back to her with a wink. As she stumbled towards her friend, she idly slashed at enemy minions, sighing in relief as the items that she had purchased drew their life force into her, oblivious as Rainbow Dash’s expression twisted into a shout as she ran towards Pinkie. Barely coherent, Pinkie continued to walk forward until she noticed that she wasn’t moving. Looking down, she frowned at the steel protruding from her, obscuring her ability to look at her legs to figure out what the problem was. As her vision faded, she felt a hot breath on her neck. “Consider this mercy,” growled Renekton. “You don’t want to see what’s about to happen to your friend. Pinkie wasn’t able to hear it by then, though.
- - - -
Rarity turned to the other occupant of the observation room that she was in. “We have what we need. Message Nasus,” she said without emotion.
Swain laughed in his harsh, barking way. “You surprise me, my dear. Sending Pinkie against Malzahar to get the information you need? Nothing like drowning your Element of Laughter in a pool of insanity.”
Rarity glared at Swain coldly. “You know what I found most fascinating about the fact that our enemies are a cult worshiping extra-dimensional entities? Extra-dimensional. Malzahar’s consorts know how to move between dimensions. Ryze’s research is fruitless thus far, and we can’t rely on the General Assembly for help. Their capricious nature makes them an unknown factor. I had to make backup plans. For us to have a chance of manipulating these facts to our advantage, two things must happen. The first is that we must have utmost control of the situation, including when and where Malzahar leads us to his trap. The second... I am not a strong fighter, and I never shall be. When I am outside of my talent, my limitations are telekinesis and a gem-finding spell that Twilight learned in less than an hour. And Fluttershy? She is, quite literally, scared of her own shadow. The fact of the matter is that we need fighters, those who can do what I cannot. Pinkie is the softest of our four champions. All of this play-fighting she’s been doing hasn’t changed her mindset at all. She needs to be prepared for serious combat, and to reach that point I have placed her in more drastic circumstances. I’m going to do this to all of them, but especially her. They might never understand why, but the cost of this battle will first be payed in innocence. That is why I must do what I can, so they might do what I cannot.”
Swain couldn’t help but laugh again. “I wasn’t criticizing, my dearest Rarity. In fact, I more than approve. This little event allows the illusionist I’m sending to be even more convincing when imitating you six. Perhaps we’re more alike than you might think, Miss Generosity.”
Rarity immediately rose up and slapped Swain on the face. “Listen, you sad little monster playing at humanity, and listen well. I don’t enjoy this like you do. I just threw my friend into the fray to let her mind get picked apart. After all is said and done, I will confess every last thing I have done to my friends, and beg their forgiveness. If they choose to reject me for my actions, so be it. You think I’m not generous? I’m willing to give everything to make sure those girls get home safely, from my friendships with them to my very ideals. There’s more than a good chance I’ll be left with but a reputation as a monsters as vile as you are when this is over. Generosity isn’t just about helping others or giving to the needy. It’s being willing to sacrifice every part of your being for another. That’s where you and I differ, Jericho Swain. Send the message. I am about to go congratulate Rainbow Dash and Pinkie on serving as a distraction for Vayne’s split push to victory, and I’m going to smile every second for them, despite how much I despise what I’m going to do to them. I’m going to turn them into weapons, Swain, so that they might survive. If this means becoming their anathema, so be it.” With that, Rarity regained her composure, and calmly exited the room as a screen behind her displayed the bright detonation of the enemy nexus.
- - - -
“Well that wasn’t so fun,” Pinkie said shakily as she walked down the hallway with her friends, shivering slightly.
Rainbow Dash nodded. “You don’t have to tell me twice. I’m sore in places that shouldn’t even exist. Ugh, human bodies. At least we won, right?”
“You two did absolutely terrific, I think,” said Rarity with a soft smile. “I couldn’t believe you lasted as long as you did in that last battle in middle. The other team didn’t notice Vayne not showing up to the fight at all. At least, not until it was too late to stop her. You should proud, especially you, Pinkie. It couldn’t have been easy going face to face with Malzahar.”
“Eheh... I’d rather not talk about it,” said Pinkie nervously. “Uh, why don’t we go see how the other girls’ matches went? They should be back by now, right?”
“That sounds like a wonderful idea, Pinkie,” replied Rarity as she opened the door to their suite.
Applejack and Twilight were already there, talking amongst themselves when the trio entered the suite’s living room. The two immediately stopped talking and got up to greet them upon their arrival. “Hi girls!” said Twilight. “Your match finally over? Oh, wait, let me go fetch Fluttershy from her paperwork.” With an abrupt pop, Twilight vanished, leaving the four others in a sudden, awkward silence.
“Uh, yeah. Twi’ made some tea, if y’all want some. It’s on the coffee table,” said Applejack, breaking the ice as she hugged each of her friends in turn before returning to her seat. “So yeah, Ah won my match. Been working a lot with this creepy spider lady. Gives me jitters, but she knows her stuff.”
Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie each took seats before Rainbow Dash spoke up. “Yeah, we just got out of a real nasty victory. The other team was obsessed with pushing down mid lane, so we had one of ours steamroll bot. Me and Pinkie were kinda punching bags the entire time, though. We had to keep them busy so they wouldn’t stop our teammate. Pinkie got the worst of it though. She pretty much spend three fourths of the match fighting two against one. She actually managed quite a few kills before Malzahar floated on in. What a jerk. Spent the entire time messing with Pinkie’s head.”
Pinkie curled up in her seat, and Rarity patted her on the shoulder comfortingly while shooting Rainbow Dash a glare. “Despite somepony’s lack of tact, she’s right-Oops, I mean someone. Someone’s lack of tact.”
“Oh, that sounds just terrible,” said Fluttershy as she walked into the room with Twilight, carrying a stack of papers. “I finished looking over those Summoner requests. Apparently a group called the Consolidated League Garrison wants to contract Pinkie and Twilight for a match next week. They’re supposed to be some of the best Summoners active. Also, Rainbow Dash, a Noxian armor and weapon distributor by the name of Geas’ Armaments contacted us about a potential sponsorship deal with you. They’re offering to equip you for free if you exclusively use their weapons and armor. Oh, and Rarity, the High Council of Equity sent you a letter.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t expect you to get into this so quickly, Fluttershy. You’re definitely determined to pull more than your own weight, aren’t you?”
Fluttershy waved dismissively after she set down the stack of papers on the coffee table, and poured herself some tea. “It’s nothing, really. I went through more than this getting my veterinary degree and becoming a licensed handler of exotic animals. Even the wilderness survival and first aid classes were harder, really. Thanks to Rarity, I don’t really have to talk to people often, so I’m happy to help in any way I can.”
“I thought you dropped out after falling out of Cloudsdale,” commented Rainbow Dash confusedly.
“I dropped out of my flight classes, but I still continued my education. There were a lot of things I needed to know if I was going to help all the animals that come to me,” replied Fluttershy. “My parents were really worried about the workload, but they agreed to pay my way.” She paused a moment to smile before continuing. “I miss them. If it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of it.” Her smile drooped slightly. “I haven’t written to them since the royal wedding. I hope they aren’t worried...”
- - - -
Luna sat anxiously, waiting on the last of the ponies she was expecting. Finally, the last couple walked into the audience chamber. Luna stood. “Mare and gentlecolts, I have summoned you here to bear testament to news both grim and hopeful.
“Not long ago, Canterlot came under another attack from Discord, and the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony once more came to the rescue of Equestria, along with some new allies from another world. Afterward, the Elements were sent to further train with my sister.
“This is the story told to the public, and only a few inside the castle know otherwise. What you are about to hear is a state secret, and I am only telling you because I feel that you deserve to know what has become of your children. I trust you will not repeat this to anypony, on penalty of royal retribution.” Luna paused, taking a breath to steady herself. “The day after the battle, we gathered once more to send the six aliens to their homeworld. Something went wrong, though. There was interference from an outside source of magic, though, and when our eyes were no longer blinded, all present opened them to see that not only were the six aliens gone, but the bearers as well. We later discovered that a set of armor from my days as Nightmare Moon was missing. This is what we believe caused the interference.” The various couples in the room began murmuring worriedly to each other.
“What happened to her!?” exclaimed a stallion by the name of Mad Dash, one of two who had come alone to the audience. “Where is my Rai-”
“Be still,” Luna’s voice rang out, laced with power so that none might question if it was a suggestion or a command. “Allow me to finish. We believe that the bearers are now on the world of the six aliens. The good news is that we know, by their connection to the Elements of Harmony, that they are alive and still attuned. The bad news is that the majority of our research disappears has disappeared with my sister.” As soon as the last sentence had been uttered, there was utter silence and stillness.
Luna bowed her head for a moment before continuing. “My sister was especially distraught by the disappearance of Twilight Sparkle. She requested that I take on her duties for a time so that she might fully devote herself to finding a way to recover the bearers. So consumed with our combined duties was I that I could not see traces of a magic most foul and unnatural slowly wrapping around her. Near the end, I heard her responding to voices that were not present, and she violently rebuffed any attempt to persuade her to rest. One day, she disappeared. I immediately dispatched our military forces to locate her at all costs. It mattered not, though, for after many days of absence, it was she who returned to us. A few weeks ago, she broke Discord out of his prison, and forcibly extracted him to an unknown location. We have not been able to locate them, but I have been sensing severe shifts in the channels of magic that naturally flow through our world. I fear that my sister has been most dangerously deceived. This is the truth of the matter. Do not lose hope for your children, though. We are devoting everything we can to this task. Thank you for coming.” Luna nodded to a guard, and the door to the audience chamber swung open.
- - - -
Celestia nodded slowly as she tweaked a stream of magic flowing out of Discord, whose voice had long ago shifted from incoherent ramblings, to pleas, to screams, and now to muted whimpers. “Be proud, Discord. For once, you’re finally doing something good with your power. We have done our part, for now, though. You can just sit there and think about how good it feels to do the right thing.” Celestia choked out a hollow, mirthless laugh. “We shall wait for our friends on the other side to open the way, so that I might save my student from further corruption by that detestable, violent world. All will be well, you shall see.”