//------------------------------// // Chapter 16: The Calm Before the Storm // Story: The Happiness and Peace of Mind Committee // by FlanChan //------------------------------// The Happiness and Peace of Mind Committee Chapter 16: The Calm Before the Storm Twilight awoke that morning with her mind already going a million miles an hour. She had butterflies in her stomach as if she was going on her first date, a mixture of both happiness and dread. Today was the day to bring everything crashing down. She got ready for the day like clockwork, contemplating what she should bring with her. She would have no time to go back to her house as they were going to begin the operation right after the speech was over, with Rarity already starting in the middle as she didn’t need to be in attendance. Twilight glanced over at her clock. It was half an hour before she needed to be up, but she needed some extra time to prepare for the day, both physically and mentally. She made herself a final breakfast, nothing too fancy, and changed out of her night gown. Out of things to do and still with a few more minutes to spare, she decided to read more out of the book she found with Aquamarine and Pinkie Pie so many nights ago. She already knew all there was to be found in the book, but reading it over again couldn’t hurt. She flipped through the pages and reread the tale of the two princesses, more so for enjoyment than for looking for any valuable information. After a couple minutes or so passed she turned to another page, but stopped as one page seemed thicker and stiffer than the others. Gently she tore apart the edge of the page, revealing one that was stuck to it. Her eyes widened with interest. “Good morning, everybody!” Twilight flinched at the noise coming from her television. No, it couldn’t be time to leave! Not when she had just found a page that could possibly simplify their whole plan! She tore herself away from the book, but looked at it longingly until she reached her door. She stopped herself before leaving and turned to the mirror mounted at a perfect height that her face was exactly centered in it. She studied her face for a while. It seemed different than it was a few months ago, before something was set in motion that started killing off all of her friends. It looked more worn and mature, like a weathered rock that was standing the tests of time yet still remaining beautiful in its own natural way. In front of the mirror she checked her happy expression for the last time before everything was changed. Everything she did now had a sense of finality, and this was no exception. Satisfied, she headed out into the massive crowd, already a little late from taking the time to silently bid farewell to her life as she knew it. She looked at the faces about her, which were completely clueless as to the feat that four mares were about to attempt. She wanted to pull someone aside and excitedly whisper them everything, for them to marvel at what she had been through, but she knew perfectly well what a horrible idea that would be. “Why good morning, everybody!” Emerald Joy exclaimed from the stage, starting before Twilight could get to a good place in the crowd to scout out her friends. Twilight sighed, it wasn’t very important right then. “Alrighty, let me explain to you! About all those problems you worry about, those problems you’re thinking about. All of it, I’ll explain it for you!” She paused to allow the crowd to do its part and hype everyone up. “Eh, everybody... being happy… Well, it’s your duty! Now then, aren’t you happy? You know it’s your duty, right? Are you doing as expected?” Twilight sighed and shifted through the crowd a little. Her mind was too focused on what was going to take place after the speech to care about the actual speech. “Here at the Happiness and Peace of Mind Committee, our wish is for your absolute happiness, and we’ll do anything in our power to support you!” Twilight yawned a little as the usual theatrics of the steam rolling out and the stage rising into the air played out. Maybe getting up early wasn’t the best idea, but it was probably just the predictability of the speech that was getting to her. “Therefore, we hope you stay at peace, have the happiest of days, and fulfill your duty. Just remember, your happiness is also our happiness! Doesn’t that make you just so happy? Since it’s your duty, you know. Are you doing your duty? Because, if you aren’t...” Emerald turned, the same slideshow of executions being displayed. Twilight was a bit taken aback that they added Apple Bloom’s death to the gallery of images, but she didn’t put such cruel behavior past Emerald Joy. “Alrighty! Come now, everybody, you should only be filled with complete happiness! Worries and dissatisfaction, of course you don’t have any of those, right?” “You’ve got that wrong!” Twilight froze as the voice rang out throughout the town square. She had to have misheard it though. It couldn’t have been… A rainbow colored blur shot out of the crowd and stopped around the same level as Emerald Joy. Twilight’s heart sank as her fears were confirmed. “Rainbow, my god…” she whispered to herself. “What are you doing…?” “You better just give it all up now, Emerald Joy!” Rainbow taunted. Emerald raised an eyebrow quizzically. “Hm? What do we have here?” she asked like she was addressing a smudge on the bottom of her shoes as opposed to a pegasus opposing her. Rainbow titled a little and turned towards the citizens, which looked like nothing more than blobs of color from her height, and she was sure that she probably looked the same way from the ground. “My friends, you will have to suffer no longer,” she began, catching herself. “Well, you can’t really suffer in the first place, but you know what I mean!” “Rainbow, this is seriously compromising the plan!” Twilight whispered, wishing that her words would carry to the pegasus’s ears while staying unheard by everyone else. “I’m sorry to cut short what is promising to be such a great motivational speech,” Emerald spoke up, “but I really don’t think anyone here wants to hear it! There are rules that have to be followed, my dear, and you just broke almost all of them! Please fly down here to the stage and receive your punishment without a fight, or I’ll have to do it by force! Take your pick.” Rainbow scoffed. “Do you honestly think that I would reveal myself now just so I could say a few words to everyone? I’m throwing my life away here! Might as well take you down with me!” Before anyone had any time to react, Rainbow flew downwards at supersonic speeds and delivered a kick square in Emerald Joy’s chest, sending them both flying off of the stage. Emerald caught herself in her magic, and Rainbow swooped back upwards. “And do you honestly think that I would let a stupid little mare beat me with the amount of magic that I possess?” Emerald replied once the two composed themselves, and evil gleam in her eye. “What a daft child you are!” Rainbow lunged back down at Emerald, aiming to knock her off the platform to meet her imminent doom. Just before she was about to make contact, Rainbow’s whole body was engulfed in a magical green aura, which she soon discovered belonged to Emerald. She felt a lurch as the magic field flung her body into the air. Flapping her wings wildly, after a few seconds she regained control. Deciding it was a good time to retreat for a while, she turned and began to flee, but was caught in the magical aura once again, this time pulling her towards the stage. She flailed desperately, but to no avail. Emerald wasn’t joking when she said her magical abilities were among the best. “Now then, let’s get down to business, shall we?” Emerald said directly into Rainbow’s ear. The pegasus’s heartbeat quickened. “W—what are you gonna do?” she asked, trying to keep up her confidence the best she could, but still unable to hide the quivering in her voice. Emerald stroked the feathers on one of Rainbow’s wings. Rainbow broke out into a cold sweat. “You seem to have an affinity for these wings of yours, no?” she suggested. “That seems to be a good place to start.” Before Rainbow could process what Emerald was trying to say, she felt a sharp pain shoot up her nerves from her wings. Emerald had grabbed onto them both and yanked with a surprising amount of strength, simultaneously kicking the rest of Rainbow away with her foot. Her heels felt like daggers digging into Rainbow’s back. She was in too much pain to scream; everything came out as a high pitched squeaking noise. After a straight minute of pure, raw pain, the final tendons of her wings snapped and Emerald dropped the mass of feathers already caked with blood to the floor. Even more blood and gore leaked out onto Rainbow’s back and splattered the ground around her feet. “Now that that’s out of the way, we can get things over with,” Emerald stated simply. “I’m too tired to think of something too theatrical, so we’ll have to settle for less. Terribly sorry about that.” She grabbed Rainbow by the waist and hauled her toward the edge of the metallic stage, the mare’s feet dragging limply and leaving a trail in the blood spatters. She held her right up against the edge, the only thing keeping her from falling being Emerald’s support. In a final act of defiance, Rainbow turned and punched Emerald Joy square in the jaw with the last ounce of strength she had. The shock of the impact loosened Emerald’s grip and Rainbow fell, plummeting towards the ground. Twilight averted her gaze, but could still hear the sickening splattering noise her friend made as she made impact with the hard cement. Another friend gone, and at such a crucial stage. A few tears started to trickle out of her eyes. No, she needed to power through. Twilight surveyed the crowd and caught Aquamarine’s vision. They made eye contact, and Aquamarine nodded. Rarity has already started inside, she seemed to say. There’s no going back now. Twilight swallowed and nodded back. “That should be all for today, everyone!” Emerald Joy finished after the moment of tense silence from watching Rainbow’s gory death. “Remember to stay smiling and fulfill your duty to the world!” With a sickeningly elegant flourish of her gown, the magician returned to the inside of the building. The crowd slowly began to disperse, which wasn’t nearly as fast as Twilight would have liked. She pushed her way through the discord of the audience and finally reached Aquamarine. The two stepped aside, stopping for a moment of awed silence. It was time to end it all.