//------------------------------// // Your Place in the World // Story: The Abundance // by defender2222 //------------------------------// "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive." C.S. Lewis “I don’t like this… we should have waited for her.” Shining Armor paced back and forth, chewing on the inside of his check nervously. He knew that he wasn’t helping to settle the nerves of any of the other members of the infiltration team, but he couldn’t help it. None of the breathing exercises or relaxing techniques he had learned in the guard were doing anything so that left pacing and mumbling like a madpony. It had been 20 minutes since they had escaped Winniepeg. 20 minutes since Shining had used the transporting spell Twilight had taught him. They now stood about a mile from the rebellion’s hideout, their mission a success; the princesses were alive and well and with them. They had managed to infiltrate the city and get out with no injuries. And yet Twilight still hadn’t returned. “She’s ok, Shining,” Spike said. “I know she is alright.” “I don’t like this,” Shining muttered to himself. “I don’t like this one bit.” “By all means, keep saying that,” Spike grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. “I am sure Twilight will appear quicker if you keep complaining.” Shining glared at the dragon but held his tongue. He knew Twilight’s friend was right, but that didn’t mean he had to like the advice. “I should have stayed… should have helped her.” “Oh, is that what you should have done?” The Doctor mumbled, his sonic screwdriver in his mouth as he ran it over Celestia’s right leg. “Would have been interested to see that… just how many seconds would you have lasted before the two almighty alicorns reduced you to dust? My guess is 5 but I am an optimist... or is a pessimist? I can never remember what I am, what with all the regenerations…” “We had a job to do,” Spitfire stated coolly. “We had to get the princesses out and we did. I don’t like this any more than you but we had to get our job done.” She flapped her wings in agitation; a good part of her brain was wishing he would decide to go rushing back to Winniepeg… the leader of the Wonderbolts was not use to running away from fights and that is exactly what she had been doing for quite some time now. She was itching for a good rumble, even if the odds were clearly not in her favor. Shining, in an attempt to get his mind off of his sister and her battle with the queen, turned toward Celestia, Luna and the Doctor. “So, what did you find?” “It appears these mares were quite right in their assumptions: the queens have removed all traces of the three different types of magic from their bodies. They might as well be mules… not that being mules is bad; I had a companion who was a mule… lovely girl, though she did tend to snore and had this weird fetish involve cabbage…” The Doctor tapered off, his mind focused on the memory of that companion and the adventures they had shared. “Uh… Doctor?” Spike said, waving his hand in front of the Doctor’s face. “Oh… sorry about that! I was wool gathering, as it were. Anyway, it appears that everything that made them an alicorn is gone. Really quite fascinating-“ “Not to us,” Luna said darkly. “Right… suppose it wouldn’t be.” The Doctor flashed her a grin. “I suppose though that you can look on the bright side of things!” “And what exactly would that be?” Spitfire asked. “We aren’t dead. That is a wonderful upside. Especially for me, as it means I get to keep my teeth. Rather like these ones, as they are great for eating corn right of the cob… though I do wish I had a horn, as that would keep the butter off my hooves. Ah, but I have another few regenerations to get myself some of that wibbly wobbly magic stuff.” Before the others could think too much about that, there was a popping noise followed by some very mild curses. Shining whipped around, his tail practically wagging like a puppies as he hurried towards the underbrush. “Twiley?” “It’s ok, Shining,” Twilight called out. “Listen, could you back up for a moment?” “Are you alright?” “Oh, yes, very much so.” Luna frowned, taking a step forward. “If you are fine, then why do you remain hidden in that bush?” “Uh… just… catching my breath.” Shining narrowed his eyes. “Twilight….” “Listen, just stay there, ok. Things were a bit intense during the fight and it took a surprise turn but uh... everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you.” Twilight paused. “How are you?” The Doctor smiled. “Oh, I am quite alright, thank you for asking. Quite polite of you to ask and frankly I am surprised at the respect you have for your fellow rebels. Your parents must have instilled it in you-“ “Wow, he can ramble just as much as Pinkie Pie!” The 5 ponies and the baby dragon that were standing in the clearly looked at each other before slowly turning back to the bush. “Twilight Sparkle…” Celestia said, using her best ‘strict instructor’ voice, “…who is with you in that bush.” “Uh… maybe you guys should just go on ahead and we’ll-I’ll-catch up to you. Yes… I’ll catch up to you… no we in here… heeheehee.” “I coming in,” Shining said sternly. “Oh, for pete’s sake!” The shrub shifted and Rainbow Dash trotted into the clearing. “Seriously Twilight, we can’t hide-“ The cyan alicorn suddenly found herself pinned to the ground by a massive purple claw. Spike growled, standing taller than even Twilight, smoke billowing from his nostrils. Shining’s horn was glowing and the Doctor had his sonic screwdriver pointed at her, that that was mostly because he didn’t want to feel left out. The princesses were standing in shock at the sight of one of the alicorns that had ripped away all their powers, while Spitfire had frozen in place, unable to move at the sight of the flyer that had taken everything from her. “This is why I wanted to wait,” Twilight complained, emerging from the bush. Rainbow did her best to smile, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I think we’ve established that I am not good at making smart decisions,” she wheezed. “Point taken,” Twilight muttered. “Spike, let her go.” “You sure, Twilight?” Spike rumbled. “I’m sure.” Rainbow Dash coughed once the dragon released her throat, sucking in big mouthfuls of air. “Wow, you sure had a growth spurt, Spike.” “And you shrank,” Spike stated, staring down at Rainbow's diminutive form. “What the heck happened?” “She’s free,” Twilight said sternly. “Whatever that… thing was that was controlling her is gone and she is herself again.” “How can you be sure of that, Twilight?” Celestia asked. “How do you know this isn’t some sort of trick.” “I saw the energy leave her body, Princess Celestia.” “An illusion,” Luna argued. “The energy yelled at me.” “… still could be an illusion.” Twilight gave them all a sour look. “You know, the last time you didn’t believe me, Shining almost married a bug and I nearly became the new Doubt.” Celestia, Spike, Luna and Shining had the decency to look down bashfully. “I’LL KILL YOU!” Spitfire didn’t have such issues. Rainbow let out a yelp as the pegasus tackled her, the former wonderbolt strangling the flyer. Twilight rushed over, using her magic to restrain the cursing pegasus as Rainbow Dash coughed and rubbed her neck. “Geez, I am seriously getting tired of that happening.” “Then maybe you shouldn’t have betrayed everypony and turned them into your brainwashed goons, you monster!” Spitfire thrashed against Twilight’s restraints, fighting with all her strength to escape. “Did you brainwash Twilight too? Is that why she didn’t slam your corpse into the ground and dance on your broken body? Did you brainwash her too? Did you? DID YOU?” “ENOUGH!” Twilight shouted, Spitfire freezing up once more. “… Canterlot Voice?” Celestia finally said. “And Faith’s Persuasion Spell. Works pretty well.” Twilight floated Spitfire over to the rest of them and stood next to Rainbow, pressing her shoulder against her friend’s in a show of solidarity. “Now I want you all to listen and listen good because I want you to understand. I need you all on my side when we get back because it is going to be hard enough when everypony sees Dash.” Twilight leveled a stare that would have done Fluttershy proud when the others opened their mouths to speak. “No. You listen, then you may speak. “Rainbow Dash isn’t to blame for what happened. None of our friends are. Something took a hold of the girls and made them act like they did. They weren’t in control and they weren’t responsible for their actions. You want someone to blame? Blame the ghostly alicorn that ripped itself free from Rainbow after she nearly caved in her own skull trying to remove it.” Twilight stretched out her wing and placed on of them over Rainbow’s back. “Rainbow Dash is my friend and it is NOT her fault that this happened.” “Yes… it is.” Twilight had been expecting that comment. She hadn’t expected it from the cyan mare that stood beside her. “Uh, Rainbow… trying to help you out here…” “You aren’t helping if you don’t understand the truth.” Rainbow Dash lowered her head and sighed. “I am to blame. I did all this and so did the rest of the girls. We screwed up… we screwed up bad and we deserve everything you give us and more.” She took a shuddering breath before continuing. “But please… can I at least explain why before you kill me?” “No one is going to kill you, Dash,” Twilight said. “They should… I’d want to kill me if I were in their place.” The cyan alicorn’s shoulders slumped. “Maybe you should…” “Glad to see we are in agreement,” Spitfire said challengingly, only to back off when she saw Twilight’s cold stare. The mare was itching for a fight but she wasn’t stupid; if she took on Twilight she would lose… most likely after the first punch, the moment Spike and Shining attacked her in retaliation. “Well, I want to hear,” Spike said simply, tapping a claw against his chin. “What made you and the rest of the girls go nuts and do all of this.” He held his arms out wide, as if all their sins had suddenly popped up in front of him. “You know that old saying, the path to Tartarus is paved with good intentions?” The others nodded and Rainbow Dash smiled sadly when she saw their eyes flicker. They were expecting the same tired excuse that all madponies gave. She was going to disappoint them. “It is a lie. It is only the beginning, the doorway, that is made of such things.” The cyan alicorn lowered her head miserably. “It started with the dreams. I don’t know about the rest of the girls, but it was always the same thing, for a week straight… a voice calling out to me, telling me that it was time to help save Equestria. “I tried to ignore it. I mean, come on, dreams that offer you chances to be a hero? That is so corny even Daring Do doesn’t do to it. And yet I kept waking up with this voice ringing in my ears, pushing me to action. It just… I don’t even know how to explain it.” Dash should her head in annoyance. “It wasn’t the words it spoke, you know? It was the tone and the rhythm… it was like music.” “Music?” Shining said, utterly confused. “Yeah… the words didn’t really matter, it was the how they were said. I got this sense that something big was going to happen, something really big and really bad and that I needed to be more powerful than I was in order to save Equestria. I kept seeing flashes of Equestria in flames and it a golden city… I honestly don’t know now which was the bad vision and which was good.” The flier sighed weakly. “I tried to ignore the voice… I would brag to it when I could that I was the best flyer in all Equestria and that I’d taken on Discord and Nightmare Moon…” Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. “Then he showed me it.” “He?” Luna said. “It?” Celestia echoed. Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yeah… not sure who he was but in the end it was a he. The same voice you heard, Twilight, from that… energy… was the one that was in my head. A few nights before we-“ Rainbow shuddered and the Princesses realized that Rainbow was remembering what she had done in Canterlot castle to them. A part of them wanted to comfort her… a bitter part of their minds screamed for the two former alicorns to let Rainbow wallow. They weren’t pleased with this reaction but they understood where it came from; despite what some might believe, Celestia and Luna were living creatures, with the same faults and failings as the rest. “Have… have you ever considered just how meaningless we all are?” Rainbow finally said softly, tilting her head up to look at the waning moan. The sun would be coming soon and she wondered how long it would take for her friends to realize she wasn’t there to help lift it. Maybe a few days… they took turns and she had raised it 2 days ago. She hoped it would go longer… she wasn’t ready to face any of them yet. “What is that suppose to mean?” Shining asked, annoyed by Rainbow Dash’s vague comments. “That was the last thing the voice showed me… the final dream. He showed me exactly what my place was in all of existence. He showed me where I stood and then I was pulled up, farther and high into the air and through the sky and past the moon and sun. Millions and millions of miles, till this planet was but a speck of dust. And he told me that we were only a 10th of the way there. That… that is how little any of us matter. If all of Equestria blew up tomorrow, in the grandest of schemes it wouldn’t matter. We aren’t even dust.” She let out a shuddering breath and the others shifted, trying to comprehend the idea Rainbow was attempting to express. “That’s when I agreed to join him… because I realized my life was worthless in the grand scheme-“ she smiled ever so slightly, “-but with his help, I could at least help others. It wouldn’t matter but it would make me feel better. “It was just so simple… he made it sound so easy. Take the power, become an alicorn. Then I could fight the bad guy and save the day. But he just kept pressing me to do more. ‘The Princesses won’t let you do what needs to be done… you need move them aside for their own good’.” Rainbow scowled. “Then all that stupid stuff about harmony… by the Creator it makes me sick I bought into all that but it made sense at the time…” the cyan alicorn began to shudder in disgust and self loathing. “I… I did such horrible things… and I wanted to do them because I couldn’t see just how bad it had gotten. It was like the lights were fading and I didn’t realize I was in the dark until someone struck a match and showed me just how deep the shadows were.” The others were silent, unsure of what they should say. “The path to Tartarus isn’t paved with good intentions; it is paved with compromises.” It was Twilight that finally spoke. “Rainbow… the voice…” “Please… I don’t want to think about it anymore.” “Just… just listen. Did it sound like this?” Twilight opened her mouth and for a moment they all wondered what was going on. No sound came out, not even the sound of her own breath… just silence. Twilight stood there, staring at them, her lips parted in a little ‘o’, saying nothing. It was Shining who first realized that ALL the sounds, including his own breath, were gone, leaving only silence. Then the whispers began. ‘You don’t honestly believe she is a monster, do you?’ ‘Look at her… is that evil?’ ‘Don’t condemn her just because you need to punish someone’ ‘Hasn’t she suffered enough?’ The whispers grew louder, overlapping each other, blending together until the words became meaningless… and they all heard it… the music. It was like a symphony with no instruments, just the overlap of words and voices, repeating over and over and drowning each other out until they couldn’t focus on anything except the words that seemed to pierce their minds and call out to their souls and hearts with the music of the world- “SNAP OUT OF IT!” Everyone gave a violent start when Twilight shouted. The world returned to normal; they hadn’t realized that their eyes had drifted closed and their bodies become lax as they listened to the music. Celestia and Luna were staring at Twilight, recognition dawning on their features. Spike too was wide-eyed, staring at her friend like she was a ghost. Shining, The Doctor and Spitfire were shaking off the effects, utterly confused by what had just happened. Rainbow had fallen to her belly, her eyes turned up to stare at Twilight’s. “How… how did you do that?” Rainbow whispered. “Those are the Whispers… Faith’s main power is doing that. Our connection means I can do it too…” Twilight looked at the others, holding them in her gaze. “It is a trait of Faith's kind. Do you realize what this means?” Celestia nodded. “This… this is very bad.” “My sister is right…" Luna said with a shudder. "Never did I dream-“ “What?” Spitfire said. “What is it?” “The voice Rainbow heard,” Spike said gruffly, “was like Faith… it was an abstract.” “The Elements of Harmony,” Twilight said grimly. “They are the ones that did this… our enemies are the Elements.” They all absorbed that chilling thought. The Elements of Harmony… the items that had helped defeat Nightmare Moon and Discord. The legendary items that were spoken of in myth and legend. For those that had been in Ponyville 2 months ago they had witnessed the power of just one of those elements: Faith, the 6th element and the baby of the family. If he were the youngest of the six… “I… I know it won’t make you trust me…” Rainbow finally whispered, “…or undo the damage I’ve done... but what if I told you that I knew where the foals that had been kidnapped were.” The Doctor suddenly was very close to Rainbow Dash. “Dinky?” Rainbow nodded. “I suggest you start talking.”