Chapter 7: Bubbling Up
X slowly trotted towards the Ponyville lake, alone. He was ready to face one of the last Mavericks, ready to end this war. But one question kept repeating itself at the front of his mind; why? What were the Changelings planning? What would he have to fight? And when the time came, would he be able to do it? As much as he thought, the answers always seemed to escape him.
Still lost in thought, he failed to notice that he had arrived at his destination until his hooves hit the water. X stopped walking and sat in the shallow end of the lake. He shut his eyes, unable to focus on the mission at hoof. Taking advantage of his distraction, a pony slowly surfaced and grabbed X to pull him under. The pony was not anticipating X’s weight, as they both sunk to the bottom.
X, struggling against his captor, hit them in the face with the back of his leg and a kick against their leg. The shock broke him free, and the two of them landed on the sand. X had no trouble breathing, being a robot and all, but he questioned why he wasn’t alone. He inspected the other pony, a gray pegasus mare with a blond mane. Her eyes were covered by a pair of dark goggles, and a small apparatus connected her nose and mouth.
The pegasus spoke, an impressive feat for somepony underwater. “Finally, the famous Maverick Hunter shows his face around here. Your reputation precedes you, Mega Stallion X. The Changelings are starting to get scared of you. They call you ‘The Oncoming Storm’. But I fear no pony. You’re going to need to better against Bubble Crab!”
Bubble Crab pulled out a bubble wand, one commonly used by foals. X sighed, rolled his eyes, and lowered his head. Crab blew into the wand, and some small bubbles floated out towards him. After what seemed like a minute, the bubbles were closing in on X, and he held his horn out to pop the bubbles. His horn collided with the bubble.
X blanked out for a second, and when he came to, he was blown back 20 feet, a giant crater where he had previously been standing. Bubble Crab called over to him. “You underestimated the power of bubbles! This is what happens to those who don’t believe!” She blew more bubbles.
This time, X would play it safe. He fired upon the bubbles as soon as they left the wand, popping them from a distance. Interestingly, they did nothing special. Maybe it only works through physical contact. He kept shooting through the bubbles to Bubble Crab, who ran when her defense broke.
X charged a shot and blasted the sand below her hooves, sending her tumbling forward. He ran to her and jumped, surprised at the extra height he was getting, and kicked Bubble Crab.
She recovered and went on the offensive. She unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks at X, swiftly moving. Every attack missed. X barely had to dodge, she just missed on her own. She finished the combo with a falling hoof chop. X raised his hoof in the air, caught the attack, and used his free front hoof to punch her in the stomach. She staggered backwards, giving enough of an opening for X to punch her in the face.
Bubble Crab wobbled, her goggles broken and the apparatus between her mouth and nose floated out. Her nose started bleeding and air bubbles escaped from her slightly open mouth. That…was a breathing device. X grabbed Bubble Crab’s mostly limp body with his magic and ran to the surface, the water thankfully not impacting his running speed.
They broke the surface of the lake, and X laid Crab on the ground. He stood worried for a moment until she began to cough up water. She started breathing heavy and weakly opened her eyes to look at X. “Everything in the world changes and evolves, but some things remain constant, don’t they?”
X was confused, but he still nodded. “Why do you say that?”
“I fought the original Mega Stallion all those years ago. We fought here, under the water, he won, and he brought me back to the surface so I wouldn’t drown. Those were simpler times. Even amidst the threat of destruction, things were bright and happy, and we all knew that somepony would set everything right. But look at everything now. It’s all wrong, no one is happy, and it’s going to stay like this forever. To think, I fought for something I believed in once.”
X grabbed her hoof. “No, it won’t end like that. I promise, as long as I’m fighting, it’s for a better future.”
She sat up and shook her head. “It isn’t that simple. The queen has a plan, one to finally crush rebellion and make all remaining ponies her slaves. She’s going after the Crystal Heart, and once she has it, it’s all over.”
“What’s the Crystal Heart?”
“I don’t know. It’s something that was hidden a long time ago, and the queen’s been determined to get her hooves on it for years. She says it will give her and her army enough strength for total control.”
“We’ll stop her. We should get moving. You need to get back to Hunter Base. You’ll be safe there.”
X began to walk, expecting the pegasus to follow him. She stood still, and firmly said, “No.”
X turned back. “Come on. I promise, it’ll be fine. They won’t hurt you.”
“I believe you, but it’s not what I want. I’ve been controlled by the Changelings for so long. When your thoughts aren’t your own, they can make you do anything.” She closed her eyes and started to cry. “Those monsters…do you know what they do? They test your loyalty to the queen. I…I had to kill my daughter! And the stallion I loved!” Her screaming was strained through her choked-up throat. She fell to the ground. “I’ve got nothing left. Nothing to live for anymore. Please, just take this torture away.”
X was taken aback. He hadn’t been expecting something so dark. “But…but that can’t be…” He couldn’t say anything. There was nothing he could say that would change her mind. “But I can’t…I can’t do something like that! I can’t kill!”
She didn’t even look up. “It doesn’t matter what your choice is, I’ll go through with it without you if I need to. But you could do it quick and painlessly. You’d be doing the right thing.”
X still wouldn’t accept it. What kind of monster would I be if I went through with it? What would make me better than them? He looked at the pegasus, and he saw the heartbreak on her face. There was no exaggeration, she had nothing to fight for. “Just give me your name.”
She looked up. “Promise me you won’t forget. There once was a pony named Derpy.” She held her hooves out to her sides, like she was embracing a loved one. I guess she will be soon.
X lowered his head, pointing his horn directly at her. “I won’t forget.” He desperately wished for the universe to throw something down, something that would stop him from finishing the job. But fate isn’t so nice. Before he could register it, she was lying on the ground, a hole in her chest and a smile on her face.
It was then the full force of everything happening hit him at once. He collapsed next to her body, and screamed as loud as he could to the world.
Zero and Axl found X an hour later in the same spot. They looked at each other awkwardly, piecing together what had likely happened, but neither wanted to say anything. Zero stepped forward and put his hoof on X’s shoulder, who didn’t even respond to their presence. “X, you’re a good pony. You’re nice, caring, and filled with a sense of justice. But I’ve been a part of all this long enough that I know it doesn’t always turn out right. As long as the world is like this, horrible things like this are going to happen. That’s why we need you, X. To end this war now and put everything right.”
X stayed silent, almost as if he didn’t hear, until he responded 10 seconds later. “But what are we going to have to become to win? What makes us better than the Changelings? In the end, we’re all going to sink to the same level of scum.” His voice was quiet, a tone of complete loss.
Axl would have been insulted if he didn’t hate normal Changelings like they did. “I have absolutely no idea what really happened here, but she’s dead for a reason. I know enough about you to know you wouldn’t kill in cold blood. You got really mad at me for getting Rosered off my tail. No matter what, we’ll always be better than other Changelings.”
“He’s right, X. What are Changelings fighting for? Domination, control, and murder. Us? Freedom. We’re working for a noble cause, to save all the other ponies. We accept we may not return, but we fight to the last breath trying. One more Maverick left, X. It’s time to finish it.”
X stood up, still not facing his comrades. “Then we should get moving. She told me about the Changeling’s plan, something about stealing the Crystal Heart. We need to contact Hunter Base for further information. Until then, it’s time to face the final Maverick.”
Zero laughed, not in a funny way, but in a happy one. “You’re doing good, X. The last Maverick should be on the outskirts of the forest. Three friends against one Maverick, we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
X and Axl looked at each other. In unison, “Friends? We’ve barely met, and most of that time has been separated.” Both were surprised at their perfect harmony, increased by Axl changing into X in the middle of the sentence. Maybe we are a perfect team, X thought.
“Maybe it hasn’t been long, but I like you guys enough to call you my friends. They say you can tell everything about a pony by first impressions, and you guys have been positive. I’ve got enough to trust you both. Now come on, that Maverick isn’t going to defeat itself!”
The three of them ran out, X behind the group, when he turned back to look at Derpy’s body one last time. “Derpy, you gave up on hope for this world. It’s time to show you were wrong. Watch, I’ll make the world a better place.”