Chapter 10
With the enemy’s control over Ponyville now lost, the resistance took back their domain proudly. The day was drawing near dusk, and the temperature started to slowly drop. The street was covered with hundreds of unconscious soldiers, lying in defeat. The town was silent once more, only this time the silence was peaceful. Jack viewed the entire scenery, knowing full well his plan would work.
“Well... I guess it’s time to wake them up.” Jack said to himself. He got back up on his legs, still feeling a bit exhausted and walked towards the group. The ponies saw him coming, as they smiled at him.
“We did it, darling! Fantastic job!” Rarity felicitated.
“Sure did... but now what are we gonna do, ya’ll?” Applejack asked. Jack gazed down at a nearby unconscious soldier.
“We wake them up of course. Though don’t expect everyone to regain their consciousness, some of them might take more time before they’re ready.”
“And then what are we gonna do?” Pinkie asked. Jack kneeled down and began to shake the soldier’s head in an attempt to wake him up.
“Considering that we don’t have this much time, we need to wake up as much as we can, as fast as we can. Then we have to figure out a way to get up there.” Jack pointed his hoof yonder. The ponies followed his hoof direction and spotted Canterlot. Twilight looked back at Jack with a concerned look on her face.
“But Jack, it would take us a half a day to get up there. How-”
“Never fear, Twilight.” Luna intervened. “I can create a warp portal from here to Canterlot’s haven. Though I must regain magic before we can proceed.” Hearing some good news made everyone less anxious. Jack was also glad to hear relieving news, yet he was anxious to get things started. Jack continued to shake the soldier’s head. A few seconds later, the soldier showed signs of regaining consciousness. The soldier let out faint moans of recognition, as his head tilted from left to right.
“Nugh... where... where am I?” He asked out of pure confusion. A grin laid on Jack’s face as he knew that his plan could actually work. He took his eyes off of the soldier for a moment and stared at the countless soldiers waiting to be brought back up.
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Nyarlathotep sneered at Jack as he walked from soldier to soldier, while constructing a forthcoming assault. The daemon closed his eyes and shooked his head.
“Humanity is so pitiful sometimes... it’s just too embarrassing. But nevertheless, I am curious about your... change, Jack.” At that moment, he made a glasgow smile so wide his razor sharp teeth were exposed. “Well then... you better hurry on up here, boy. Fate has reconvened us to face each other once more, and this time... I won’t let you escape from me in our previous encounters.” He then produced a dark and deep chuckle.
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Jack woke up the last unconscious soldier as he sighed in relief. He looked over his shoulder to find that most of the soldiers were still recovering, while some wondered to themselves of their whereabouts. The three renegaded soldiers Kyle, Tom, and Alex roamed around all over Ponyville as they set free all of the Ponyville civilians. The main six were explaining the situation to the soldiers while Zecora and Aero used their herbalism skills to help Luna regain strength. It wasn’t long until every soldier regained consciousness, all the Ponyville folks and the soldiers rounded up, and Luna’s energy was almost back to normal.
A minute had passed, and the soldiers congregated at the town hall. The pony citizens made their way to the door and inside the town hall. Once they all were inside, Twilight closed the doors. Jack nodded at the group as he walked towards the podium. He stood behind it and viewed the crowd of soldiers murmuring to each other in confusion and curiosity. Jack took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and raised his forearm up.
“Attention please! ATTENTION PLEASE!” Jack ordered. In a matter of seconds, the murmurs died out and all eyes were on him. Once Jack had a clear audience, he began talking.
“As you all are aware, all of you are within the Equestria borders! Now I know that it sounds ridiculous, but it’s all true!” The crowd of soldiers gasped in shock as they produced even more murmurs. Jack held both forearms to the side.
“QUIET PLEASE!!” He yelled, and in a few seconds the murmurs died out. “As far as we’re concerned, a demon named Nyarlathotep had controlled each and everyone of you! He used you all for his twisted ambitions and he’s an avid for something vital to this world! You all may not know how long you’ve been under his influence or why you’re all here, but what’s important is to protect this world from the corruption of our true enemies! Through our senseless violence and blinding conflicts, we are only but the Outer God’s entertainment! Humanity has shed enough blood as it is!” Jack paused for a moment to settle down. After a few seconds, Jack continued.
“We humans need to open our eyes and begin to see the light, a light that will shatter the bonds of intertwined hatred and pain! There are times who words alone will not accomplish, only through action and determination will we be able to walk towards the right path! Please... we need your help! Drop your restrains and grudges, this land is going to be destroyed along with everyone else on it! I ask of you all... “ Suddenly, Jack slammed his hooves on the surface of the podium.
“PLEASE, RISE UP AND SHOW THOSE GODS THE TRUE STRENGTH OF HUMANITY!! LET US ACCOMPLISH PEACE TOGETHER AND PUT AN END TO OUR YEARS OF WAR!!” As his words reached out towards hundreds of soldiers, everyone roared and cheered wildly. Jack sighed in relief knowing that his words had finally reached them. Once the cheering died out, everyone was attentively listening to what he has to say next. Jack threw his right arm skyward.
“ALRIGHT! HERE’S WHAT WE’RE GOING TO DO! FIRST WE-” At that moment, Jack came to a complete stop as something stopped him from continuing. Just before he thought he was going to come up with a plan naturally, Jack’s brain came to a complete halt. In short, Jack’s brain had no ideas. Now stucked in his predicament, he was left frozen in nervousness; his mind was tangled with intertwined suggestions. Pearls of sweat started rolling down his head as his tension was rising. Soon after that, he floated his eyes freely despite not being calm.
“Uhh... w-we.... uh...” Jack tried to talk, but his brain wasn’t functioning. The crowd started to murmur quietly, giving confused looks to each other. The more longer Jack kept silent, the more eyebrows furrowed at him. Jack gazed at the crowd’s eyes and began to chuckle nervously.
“Ehehe... uh... wow... I guess we...” Jack gulped down. Soon after, the murmurs grew louder with anticipation. Each second that passed by made Jack more tensed than he was before. He raced within his mind to come up with a strategic solution, yet he was too frantic to even come up with one. Starting to feel pressured, Jack slowly backed away from the podium. The gang watched with cringed faces as Jack slowly withdraw from the stand.
“Yikes, they’re slowly tearing him apart up there!” Rainbow Dash said uncomfortably.
“Oh mah apples, now what are we gonna do, ya’ll?” Applejack panicked, “I thought Jack had this planned out... oooh! Does anypony have a plan er somethin’?”
“Why ask me? I’m empty!” Rainbow Dash responded. Applejack turned her face to Dash and glared at her.
“Well I was askin’ all of ya’ll! Consarnit Dash, now’s not the time ta mess around!” Rainbow dash returned the gesture with a glare of her own.
“Oh well excuse me Ms. Overly Serious! If I had a plan, I would've thought of it in eight seconds flat! Unlike you of course...”
“What was that now?!” Applejack growled. Both Dash and Applejack leaned close to each other to a point blank range, exchanging glares and growls as they pushed themselves using their foreheads. While the two roughly ponies were preoccupied, Fluttershy felt very worried about Jack.
“Jack...” Fluttershy spoke silently to herself. Next to Fluttershy, Rarity was in panic mode. She lift her hoof to her forehead and dramatically groaned.
“Oh dear! This is getting really embarrassing! Somepony, anypony, help Jack!” Rarity called out in distraught. Pinkie Pie patted Rarity’s mane with her hoof for reassurance.
“Don’t you worry Auntie Rarity, I have a brilliant plan!” At that moment, Rarity gasped excitedly. She snapped out of her distressed state and stared at Pinkie with hopeful eyes and a smile that expressed excitement.
“You do?!” Pinkie nodded her head proudly.
“Yep! All we have to do is... THROW A HUGE BIRTHDAY PARTY!!” Without a second’s notice, Rarity fell to the floor from an unexpected wave of stupidity. Pinkie tilted her head and raised her eyebrow in confusion from Rarity’s action. After a few seconds of recovering, Rarity rose back up and glared at Pinkie.
“You’ve gone completely mental, that idea was so ludicrous it almost gave me a huge headache!” She berated clearly. Taken aback, Pinkie flinched and glared at her.
“Hey! A party is the answer to EVERY problem!”
“Oh sure, throw a party for the ruffian that wants to destroy everything!” Rarity replied sarcastically. “I’m SURE we will solve EVERYTHING!” Pinkie and Rarity glared at each other, throwing their daggered eyes at one another. With the senseless tension growing, Spike looked anxiously at Jack who was being pressured out there.
“Oh no, we’ve made it this far and things don’t look too good!” Spike turned his head to Twilight who was desperately musing a solution. “What are we going to do now, Twilight?” Twilight looked at him for a second then back at Jack. She closed her eyes and hoped that someone would come up with something.
I just hope my friends don’t think... that I’m just a useless pony.
“...huh?” Twilight opened her eyes in surprise. A voice echoed in her head, which she quickly recognized it was her own.
Oh no, you are not a useless pony, Twilight. The voice of Fluttershy echoed in her head. If you truly care about the ponies and your assignments, I’m sure you’ll have your share. I mean, it’s not like you’re being labeled as worthless and weak, right?
After a few seconds of cogitating the two sudden voices, Twilight’s eyes shot wide open in realization. Those two voices evoked memories of her workaholic ordeal from yesterday. She struggled to make herself useful, organized, and vigilant, however; all of her friends finished the job without her, causing Twilight to breakdown. Looking back now, Twilight realized that this situation was the same as organizing Winter Wrap Up. Realizing the significant similarity of Winter Wrap Up and the current situation, Twilight stared at the crowd in determination. She started to walk forward to the stand and Spike noticed her moving.
“T-Twilight...?” Spike asked, yet she didn’t replied to him. She continued towards the podium, as she passed by Jack. Jack darted his eyes in surprise at Twilight.
“Uh, h-hey! What are you doing?!” Jack asked nervously, but she kept walking with no response. Twilight knew in her heart that these people would heed her stratagem, especially in such crisis such as this. She placed her hooves on the podium table, slammed her hooves on the wooden surface and began to yell into the microphone.
“EVERYONE, THERE IS NO NEED TO PANIC!! PLEASE CALM DOWN!!” Her voice was so loud that it barely stopped the crowd from creating a bedlam. Every soldier glued their eyesights at Twilight while they slowly settled down. Once the violent noise was subsided enough, Twilight lifted her hoof up in the air and begun her speech.
“My friend here may have orchestrated this assault, but I come here now to help out too!” Just as she spoke her first sentence, Jack cringed at the thought of her taking over, since he had never seen her prodigy skills before. He placed his hoof onto Twilight’s shoulder, averting her attention for a brief moment.
“Twilight, what are you thinking?!” Jack asked sternly. “I understand you want to help, but-”
“Jack...” Twilight interrupted subtly, “I understand your concern, but...” She blinked and her eyebrows furrowed. “I want to help out too. Don’t underestimate me...” The way she spoke to Jack was very convincing to him. Jack looked deep into her eyes to spot a fault, yet all there is was determination and bravery. Once Jack fully understood, he gave a simple nod and backed off to let her take the stand. Twilight smiled at him, then turning her attention back to the confused crowd.
“I know you folks have mixed feelings for us ponies,” She continued where she left off, “but rest assured, we’re more than you think!” Twilight took a deep breath and held it in for a few moments. She exhaled and continued speaking.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I am Princess Celestia’s faithful pupil, who is the co-ruler of Equestria! I’ve helped my kind so many times that I couldn’t keep count! I even aided them through perilous times when situations were seemed hopeless! I can demonstrate my organizing, leadership, and judgemental skills that will benefit the outcome of this assault! I know you people are skeptical about me, and I know we just met for a mere minute, but please put your trust in me!” As Twilight kept talking, the expressions on each soldier’s face started to calm down. They contemplated what she said to them, yet they were still debating on whether or not they should put their faith into this plain and simple purple unicorn. They were still skeptical, but they continued to listen nonetheless.
“I know that your kind has been struggling to survive from all of your brutal warfares and grievances! I understand why your kind has been living like this for thousands of years, and I know how much it hurts! I want to help you all... my friends wants to help you all too!” At this moment, Twilight started to shed tears, yet she kept her composure. “It just pains me to see a great race being tortured and forced to fight for a cause that will lead to more suffering! It’s too unbearable for me to watch as your kind dwindles down towards extinction! And it sickens me to know that all of you are but these heartless gods’ entertainment!” While more tears came out of her eyes, she remembered a few memories, very precious memories.
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She was reminded of what Jack said to them in the hospital.
“We rarely have any harmony in my city… or anywhere around the rest of the world. There is no end to our pain as long as there are continuous wars going on outside of Equestria. We used to rule this world long before this land existed. At that time, everywhere was peace… no fights… no pain… nothing but harmony. That is… until The Elder Gods and the Great Old Ones waged war against us. Our world was one big battleground, and their destruction caused our friendship bonds to break. Those accursed gods corrupted our lives, making our world a living hell. Now… us humans have become endangered species. We forged hatred and despair towards one another because of this cruel fate.” As the memories kept rolling, Twilight could feel her own heart constricting itself.
“War breeds our desires to protect those closest to us, and acknowledge our existences. As long there is love, there will be hatred, and while that hatred grows will eventually give rise to new pain.” Twilight could feel every single word striking her with pain and sympathy. “Our kind has been living in disharmony longer than I have. Us humans are considered to be the most mature species of all living creatures due to the immense pain we had dealt with.” After that, Twilight’s memories was forwarded to Celestia’s response.
“Jack… you must understand. It is impossible to spread our harmony to the humans. The element bearers might have sympathized with your pain, but the others can’t because they have fragile minds and feeble hearts. I know there are those who have the same heart as you do… but the fact is that the humans will always have a hard time developing a mutual understanding with us. Even if ponies and humans do understand one another, they all can’t come to an agreement.”
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After processing the flashbacks, she finally understood the depth of Jack’s suffering. She hadn't felt his words at first, but now that she knew by looking at each soldier’s expressions, her heart was aching in pain from contemplating the human’s tragic history. Armed with the feelings and the past knowledge, Twilight’s voice started to slowly break away.
“I-I may not had... e-experienced the o-ordeal like you all h-had... but I can s-still feel how much it all h-hurts! I know b-because...” Twilight took her attention away from the crowd and turned her head at Jack. “...this pony h-here... shared his pain with us! T-This pony here was once a human... one your kind! He has e-experienced an ordeal far more p-painful than anyone of you here! H-His name is Jack Armstrong... a-and you all better remember it well!” The crowd slightly gasped at Jack, murmuring on his appearance. Twilight stared at Jack for a few moments with her soaked eyes before facing her head back to the crowd.
“It’s a l-long story... but Jack was more than just a human... he was an avatar!” The crowd gasped once more, this time the shock value increased. Before proceeding to talk any further, she squinted her eyes to get rid of excessive tears. She opened them again and continued; her voice regained some composure.
“That’s right, he was once a vessel for an almighty daemon you humans called, Am’Dhaegar! Jack held the good side of that spirit, and the spirit’s darker half resided in his twin brother, Jared Armstrong! Even though Jack defeated his twin brother, he was on the verge of death! The only way to save him was transforming him from a human into a stallion! Even to this day, he still carries the wounds and scars of those who despises his existence! He lived his entire life... with no one to help or care for him! He even hated the world for treating him so awfully!” While Twilight expressed her sincere feelings, Jack stood behind her in awe and heart touched.
“Twilight...” Jack said in this thoughts.
“That is... until he met my friends and I!” Twilight continued uninterrupted. “We gave him life again, by expressing our friendship and love! From the moment we filled his empty heart, we saw the true nature of your kind... and it was truly heartwarming! Now that he is here, he will do whatever it takes to protect those close to him!” Twilight paused for a moment, as tears were returning once more, this time more heavily. The crowd were left speechless, no one dared to speak another word. Their skeptical thoughts were slowly fading away, and they were eager to hear more of her speech. Twilight struggled to fight back the tears. She looked back at the crowd and spoke again, this time her tone was broken even more.
“I-I don’t t-think... t-t-the humans... a-are evil! I-I believe... that a-all of you... are l-lost... l-like Jack was o-once! B-But... we can h-help you all... w-we can save y-you all! A-All we need... is y-your help! Please... d-don’t let Nyarlathotep de-destroy this w-world! W-We can still t-turn things around!” As Twilight was near conclusion, she mustered her strength to break free from her tears. She slammed her hoofs on the podium table and the microphone received a short feedback.
“LET US PUT AN END TO THIS NIGHTMARE, AND START A NEW BEGINNING!! NOW WHO’S WITH ME?!” Twilight darted her eyes at the crowd, expecting any feedback. To her expectations, the crowd broke into cheers and roar of applause. Some of the soldiers in the crowd raised their rifles in the air, while the rest raised their fists skyward. Witnessing the positive feedback, Twilight made a hopeful smile. She turned around and walked towards her friends, who were also meeting up with Twilight. She wiped her tears as she looked at her friends who were proud of her.
“I... I’m sorry about yesterday morning... a-about the whole ‘I want to help with Hearth’s Warming Eve’ episode. I know I was asking too much, but I just... I just...” Suddenly, Rainbow Dash recoiled in surprise.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! So that was the reason why you got so upset? Twilight, you’re a great pony... but you’re missing the most important point!” Twilight tilted her head to the side in confusion.
“Huh?”
“That’s right, darling!” Rarity added. “Hearth’s Warming Eve wasn’t about setting up for the event, or even the party.” Rarity was about to continue, but she stepped aside and let Applejack had her turn.
“Yeah, it was about helping and caring for one another. It doesn’t matter whether the things you do are big or small... it’s how much you care about the ponies you love that counts.” Pinkie Pie started bouncing gaily, while giggling softly.
“And don’t forget, no pony should do everything on their own! That’s what friends and families are here for!” Fluttershy walked up to Twilight and nuzzles her neck.
“And now that we needed help, you stepped in. It’s like I said Twilight... help is always available to those who are willingly to help. I mean, you will always have your share in helping out if you truly care for us and for our assignments.” Twilight was touched from her friends’ guidances, making her produce more tears. She sniffled her wet nose, while wiping away her fresh batch of tears.
“T-Thank you... everypony! T-That meant alot to me.” She softly wept. Twilight looked up at Jack, who was displaying his very first heartfelt smile.
“Twilight... I... I want to thank you. No one had said anything so thoughtful to me like that before... and... to our race. At first I’d given up hope for humanity... but because you guys changed me, I began to change dramatically into the person I have longed yearned for. And now... you Twilight... have given me something else... something that only you could’ve given me.” Jack closed his eyes, producing a single dear. After a few seconds of silence, Jack opened his eyes.
“A real purpose... the purpose of protecting not only those I care and cherish... but to defend those in need. I realize now that I want to live in a world where everyone would accept not just me but to each other. You were really lucky to be born with a heart so majestical and full of wisdom, Twilight. I really envy you.” Hearing such thoughtful words made Twilight blush red.
“Oh thank you, Jack. That’s so very nice of you to say to me!” The group took a moment to smile at one another. Then, Twilight turned around and stared at Canterlot from the distance.
“So Twilight...” Spike said supportively, as he hung his arm around her shoulder. “...what do you want us to do?” Twilight took her eyes off of Canterlot and smiled at Spike. A second later, she darted her eyes back at Canterlot, her face wore determination. With the army of soldiers behind her back, along with the support of her friends, she began to formulate a battle plan.