//------------------------------// // 3.6 Because Life Just Wasn't Hard Enough Already // Story: Unforgiven Memories // by Hidden Brony //------------------------------// Disclaimer: I do not own Hasbro, My Little Pony or any characters, places, or events in the extended cannon, although it would be awesome if I did. Recurring Memories Chapter Six: Because Life Just Wasn’t Hard Enough Already. “And why do you feel that way?” Mind asked. I felt my eye twitch. He hadn’t said anything else since we started this session. We sat in his room, the four of us. Rainbow was again to my right. Star was to my left yet again. I had been at this for a month, and Mind Mender had asked pretty much only one damn question, even during the super-secret-totally-didn’t-happen sessions I had with him when Star was at school some days. I used those private sessions to explain the urges I felt around Rainbow. Not those kinds, pervert. Eventually, however, the overuse of that one damn question to make me think would backfire. Today was not that day. “Because the curtains were fucking blue!” I shouted. Everyone looked at me during a moment of silence, half because I shouted, and half because my answer had no relevance to the question being asked. “Language, Dad,” Star admonished quietly. “Streak, I asked why you wanted to push Flitter off a cliff. I said nothing about curtains,” Mind said calmly. I took a deep breath, held it, then released. Satisfied with how much calmer I was, I explained. “When I was in school, the teacher had a bone on for symbolism. Everything in any book we read had to mean something, otherwise, why would the author have put it into the book? One day she asked why the author said the curtains were blue. I got suspended for that exact same outburst immediately afterwards.” “Repressed anger at authority figures that you feel wronged you,” Mind muttered, scribbling something on a pad of paper. ”Plus she’s a pegasus,” I said. ”I wouldn’t have enjoyed it because she could catch herself.” “Back on Flitter?” Star asked. “Duh,” Rainbow teased. “C’mon Star, I thought you were smart.” “Miss Dash, that is more than enough,” Mind said. “We need to be united, or this won’t work properly and he’ll deteriorate right back to where he was.” ”Thanks for the vote of confidence, doc,” I muttered. ”Very encouraging.” The door slammed open, making the four of us jump out of our coats. Mind snapped at the pony that the three of us non-psychiatrists didn’t see yet. “I am with a client!” “I know,” an all-too-familiar voice said. I turned my head to see a dull red pony in the full guard’s getup. “Bright Aegis. How nice to see you without the tip of your spear on my throat.” “Princess Luna wishes your immediate presence,” he said without ceremony and with a heavily implied ‘and I don’t know why’ tacked on the end. He really, really didn’t like me. “She is waiting outside.” I stood up to walk outside, and my family did the same. Bright held up a hoof. “No, only Streak.” I instantly sat back down, turning to face Mind. ”That was a waste of time. So where were we?” “You were just on your way outside,” Bright growled threateningly. ”You know, it’s funny,” I said, turning to look at the guard. ”I don’t remember that at all.” “Go outside or I will bring you out,” he said. Ooh, threatening me. Not a smart move. I turned and looked at Rainbow. ”Not a Friday,” I said. She sighed in resignation as Bright’s eyebrow cocked. That raised brow provided the perfect target as my hoof swung up and smacked him in the face. He stumbled backwards, a small dent in the side of his helmet from where my hoof contacted. He snarled before launching himself at me. His hoof came in from the left. I easily dodged, using his momentum and emotional state to deflect him off balance. A quick buck to the side later, he was crashing through Mind’s door. Good thing it swung outwards, or that would have been even more annoying. The guard picked himself up off the ground and tried the same tactic again. I smirked. Time seemed to slow as I planned my counter-assault—one of the perks of my time as a serial killer. First, I would smack him around a little until we reached the corner. After that, it was a straight shot to the exit, where Luna would be waiting. His hoof sped up and flew for my face, and I easily dodged it. With a quick jab to his chest, he stumbled backwards. Another was supplied as soon as he caught his balance, then another. Soon we reached the corner. I edged around the outer wall of the curve, setting him up to follow my preset path. His eyes narrowed as he tried to figure out what I was doing. I launched an assault directly at him, rapid-fire jabs and swings pushing him backwards quickly. Right as he looked like he was going to try to go on the offensive, I feinted. This allowed me to give him a nice, big punch in the side of the face, setting him up for one last buck to the side. Splinters peppered anything directly outside Mind’s practice. I slowly walked out, smirking as a stunned Bright. ”Hey, you were right. Look where we ended up! You brought me right out. Thank you for your diligence.” I could have some fun with him later. As it was, I turned my face to an unamused alicorn who was lowering the barrier she erected in front of herself and her entourage. ”Ah, Luna! Good to see you. Said you wanted to talk?” Mind shook his head from the now-demolished door. “You’re paying for this, Streak.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “No he isn’t,” she said. “I am. He doesn’t have a job.” Star sighed. “Could you go a few months without fighting something?” That last one hit me where it hurt. My daughter sounded disappointed in me, something I never wanted her to be. I wanted to be a good Dad, one she was proud to have at all times. This was not how to do that. I sighed. “Sorry, Star.” “As much as it pains me to say it, this is exactly why we need you,” Luna said. “We’ve been tracking a magical anomaly that seemed to be centered around Manehattan.” “That sounds like Twilight’s kind of job,” I mentioned. “What does this have to do with me?” “Twilight was involved,” Luna said. “We found the source of the anomaly. There were a huge number of changelings concentrated around four areas. They were spaced equidistantly around the city. We believe them to be spell nodes.” She took a deep breath, letting it go in a long-suffering sigh. “The reason we need you is that Starswirl the Bearded was spotted moving between the nodes. There is also captive ponies segregated from those drugged into being food supplies. We don’t know why they are there, especially since the recon team we sent in a week ago hasn’t responded.” She looked me in the eyes. “Yesterday, they were seen with the segregated captives.” ”And what do you want me to do?” I snapped. ”Do you want me to go rip off some heads? Do you want me to kill? If so, count me the fuck out. I’ve had enough killing for a thousand lifetimes. I just want to get better and live as normal a life as I can.” “The magical radiation is nearly the exact opposite of that emitted when a portal to the Void is opened,” Luna said calmly. “He’s doing something. Something big. The only pony I can send in is you.” ”And I already told you where to shove it, Luna” I said, getting a glare from Luna’s guards. ”I have done enough for this country. It is high time it did something for me in return. I’m retired.” “Then you leave me no choice,” Luna said somberly. “In accordance with Equestrian Statute 612.34.2A, I am reinstating you as the head of the United Equestrian Armies. Failure to comply with a direct order from a superior will result in a violation of Statute 612.34.6C.” I stared her in the eyes. She looked honestly pained to have felt the need to pull this on me, but I really didn’t give a damn at that moment. I looked down at Bright, who had decided that a nap was a great idea while he was getting pulled along the ground by a stretcher. My eyes locked again with Luna’s. ”Ooh, a violation of statute numbers-letter. I’m so scared. As was the popular Canterlot vernacular growing up, ‘bring it, bitch.’ I’m retired.“ The guard bristled behind the Princess. I kept my face neutral as Luna gazed down at me with an impartial and pitiless gaze. “Streak, I hereby charge you with a violation of a direct order in a time of war, and therefore high treason. Do you have anything to say?” I cleared my throat. “Bring it, bitch.” Luna sighed. “Bring in all three of them.” Next thing I knew, I had a sword in my hooves and pressed against Luna’s throat. I heard someone screaming behind me, “Get it out! Get it out!” I chose to ignore it. “Say that again,” I growled, not knowing what else to say. I was still puzzled by where I got the sword, honestly. I felt a hoof on my shoulder, and I had to stop myself from bringing the sword around against the pony behind me. Lucky that I didn’t. Rainbow was right behind me. “Streak, this is not you getting better. This is you getting worse.” I looked past her and had to sigh. Guards were laying in heaps in the yard, and one of them—the screaming one, of course—had a spear through his leg. I’m not quite sure what I did, but it looks like I had another moment just like the one when Rainbow got hurt in Canterlot. Luckily, it was shorter this time. ”This again? I sighed. Rainbow cocked an eyebrow. “Again?” “He flipped when you got hurt at Canterlot,” Star mentioned. “I thought we told you.” My marefriend looked around at the carnage. “So you’re telling me that this is him getting better,” she deadpanned. “Yes,” Luna said, rubbing her throat. “Streak, we need you.” ”I already wasn’t helping,” I said. ”After that shit you just pulled? I’m out for good.” “I’ll do it,” Rainbow said. “Tell me what you need done.” “You can’t be serious,” I said, looking at her in disbelief. She looked at me. “She knows, Streak. She knows what you are recovering from and she came anyway to ask for your help. When you said no, she tried to force you.” Rainbow looked over at Luna. “She is desperate.” “There is a good chance that he plans to flatten the city, and I cannot risk the panic that an evacuation would cause,” Luna said. “I don’t know why he would destroy Manehattan, but then again, I don’t understand why Chrysalis attacked Canterlot like she did either, and they have insinuated that she planned the assault knowing it would be a failure.” ”Is there enough magic flowing around between those nodes to flatten the city?” I asked. ”Because if not—” I stopped mid-sentence looking over near where Canterlot Mountain stood. ”By the gods,” I said slowly. My head whipped around to look at Luna. I pointed my hoof at where I was looking seconds previous. ”Is that where Manehattan is?” Luna nodded. “It is. Why do you say—” ”We’re leaving. Now,” I said in a tone brokering no argument. ”Grab the Bearers and the Elements. We’ll need them.” —*~*~*— I stood on a hill overlooking one of the nodes. According to Luna’s sources, this was where Starswirl was at the moment. I saw flashes of movement as changelings moved through the magically-camouflaged area around this particular node. Just like when I was in Ponyville, I felt a sudden and massive spike of magic. I looked at Rainbow. The guard is at their nodes, right?" I asked. "All three of them are covered," my marefriend said. She lowered her voice to ask me, "Did we really need to bring Twilight along?" "If we need to use the Elements, we'll need either Twilight or Starswirl to channel Magic," I said quietly. "We can't afford to discriminate between who we let help." Rainbow sighed. "I get it, but I don't like it. I don't want to have to rely on her at all." "Harmony, Rainbow," I advised. "Try and work with her, at least for now." I felt another spike. They had been going steadily since we left Ponyville, each one adding to the background magic. Right now, I could probably feel the magic in the air alone from the far side of the Empire. Each node was a distinct entity that I could almost touch, if my magic sensing abilities translate well. "If he's moving, it's soon," I declared. "There is easily enough magic in even one of these nodes to flatten the city in seconds. Whatever he's after, it's big. Bigger than big." Rainbow nodded. "I'll tell the girls that we're moving in." "Enter from the far side," I instructed. "Don't wait for me; use me as a distraction." My marefriend saluted quickly before taking to wing, speeding to where the rest of the Bearers waited. I turned my attention to the crude illusions masking the node. They were just enough to deflect straying eyes. Luckily, my eyes weren't wandering. They were focused on the location of my onetime brother. I took large, quick strides to carry myself into the node as fast as I could go. As soon as I passed the illusion's event horizon, the small camp was revealed to me. Changelings stopped their milling around, staring intently at me. Prisoners were tied up in two groups. The first group all had glassy eyes, staring at nothing yet seeing something. The second group bothered me, however. Half of them were struggling against bonds holding them in place, pleading with a purple stallion. The other half? Laying on the ground with glassy eyes; looking at nothing and seeing nothing. I watched as Starswirl—who had yet to see me—fired a needle of blue through the chest of one of the struggling captives. The mare's eyes rolled to the back of her head and she slumped. Her death was accompanied by a large spike of magic. My vision turned red at the sight. "Have you not had enough with murder, you bastard?" I shouted. "Have you become so accustomed to killing that you seek to continue?" Starswirl started and turned to face me. "Streak! What are you doing here, my friend?" "Stopping whatever you are doing," I growled. "Step back from the prisoners and I'll kill you quickly." "You know not what I am doing," Starswirl said. His horn lit up, sending another spike into another prisoner. "What I do is for the greater good." I took a step forward, only for changelings to step between the two of us. He continued, "I am almost finished. Don't you understand, my friend? This is what Brick and Ironhoof died for. This is what you died for. This is the culmination of a thousand years of planning, decades of work, and hundreds of lives." "All your work will be for naught," I growled. "I care not for your reasoning, nor your rationalization of hundreds of murders. I care only that Luna asked me nicely to turn your head inside out, and I'm going to oblige her." "If you came here to stop me, you are far too late, my friend," he said. I smirked as I saw the Bearers getting set up to hit him with the Elements. "No, I am right on time." The Bearers lit up into a multitude of colors, drawing the attention of all around. Starswirl’s eyebrow cocked as he watched the display with slight curiosity. Each of the mares lit up one by one, until the only one not glowing was Rainbow. As soon as she lit up red, both her aura and Twilight’s faltered, sputtered, and died. The other mares followed suit as the Elements powered down. “You forget that they are the Elements of Harmony,” Starswirl said, shaking his head. “They do not work while the Bearers are out of harmony with each other. All you have done is prove that my work needs to be sped up.” He sighed as he looked at me. “Everything works much better if I do this one at a time, but I clearly cannot afford any delays.” His horn lit up, and a multitude of blue spears shot out of his horn, impaling all the captive ponies. The resulting rush of magic was intense enough to drop me to my knees as it washed over me. I barely registered Starswirl continuing to speak. “It is easier to add the magic one at a time, but I can do many at once.” I grit my teeth as I felt my daughter against my side, stabilizing me enough for me to get on my hooves. ”All I have to do is kill you before you can cast your spell,” I said, taking a staggering step forwards. My onetime friend shook his head again at my stubborn insistence on my chosen course. “As I have said many times, my friend. You have earthwalker in you. Tough as a rock and stubborn to a fault.” He turned around and looked at the city, barely visible through a small valley formed by two hills—the very hills that when combined with minor enchantments protected this node from detection. “I will do what must be done to correct the mistakes of the past.” I felt a weight lift off of me—only about a third of the total magic gathered—as Starswirl released the spell held in the four nodes. Some of the skyscrapers and towers cracked and toppled as the ground shook and rumbled from the magical release. The sky itself expressed its unhappiness with the situation by seeming to crack. Luminescence seeped through these cracks as they started to widen, making it seem as if Starswirl created a miniature, two dimensional star above Manehattan. ”What have you done?” I shouted over the sounds of destruction. ”What madness is this that you unleash against Equestria?” He stared at me, and I saw the glint of insanity in his eyes as he replied just loud enough to be heard. “The culmination of my work! My magnum opus! Your salvation!” “You are mad!” Star screamed. “Mad? Mad? You know nothing of madness, my dear,” Starswirl said. “Madness is what this world is falling down into, and I! Will! Save! It!” With his last word, his horn lit up. He expended the last of the magic bottled up in the nodes. The ground seemed to crack along invisible lines connecting the nodes. As suddenly as everything started, it moved to the next stage. The city itself and the land around it jolted out of the ground, and started floating towards the glowing disk. Starswirl was destroying the city. “This sacrifice will not be in vain!” Starswirl announced. “I do not condemn an entire city to the Wellspring without knowing what they will go through. I condemn a city to the Wellspring for the greater good of the entire universe!” Starswirl was converting Manehattan to angels. Starswirl was converting Manehattan to angels. Over my dead body. I lunged forward only for my adversary to vanish in a flash of light. My hooves swung through empty air, causing me to stumble. I growled, appraising the situation. Nothing looked good, and there was only the slimmest chance we could save the city. The spell would remain as long as any of the four nodes remained active. ”Star, grab the girls. Find Starswirl and round up the changelings,” I ordered. ”I’m grabbing Luna. We’re saving as many as we can.” I stared her in the eyes. ”I do not want to see you on that platform, do you hear me?” “Yes, Dad,” Star said. “You come back, okay? Don’t do anything dangerous.” ”Okay,” I lied to my daughter’s face. ”Go now. The girls will need your help if you are to catch Starswirl.” Star gave me a quick hug. “I’ll see you after this is over.” ”I promise you will,” I said, pushing my daughter slightly after returning the hug. ”Go, go. The longer we linger the farther he runs.” My daughter ran to catch up with the older mares, and I sighed. When I turned around to see Rarity right behind me. “You aren’t coming back from this, are you?” ”No, I’m not,” I said. “What are you going to do?” she asked me. “What can you do?” "Enough," I said simply. "Tell Rainbow and Star that this is my penance. They'll know what I mean." "Why must you die again?" Rarity asked. "Why must you die right as your life is coming together?" "Because life just wasn't hard enough already." —*~*~*— Perspective change: Star —*~*~*— I watched in horror as I was held down to the ground. RaInbow was thrashing on the ground next to me, screaming every insult that passed through her head. My eyes remained locked onto the reason we were so constrained. Streak—the first pony that had ever accepted me, the stallion the world had to thank several times over, my father—passed through the event horizon of the strange portal that Starswirl summoned. At that moment, he was far beyond our ability to help. Sweat traveled down Twilight's lavender brow as she held the spasming Rainbow Dash on the ground, keeping her from flying directly into the portal after him. Rarity was having no problem holding me down, due to my relative calmness. He had promised me. Promised. From my vantage point, I could see the city's silhouette pressed against the paradoxically too bright to look at and somehow still painless enough to watch light. From behind the city, the light seemed to crumble. What looked like a hole in reality spread and grew. A massive pair of wings seemed to unfurl from the pit of darkness. It seemed that Dad didn't want to go quietly. With a powerful flap of those gargantuan wings, the city was propelled back through the portal right as the sustaining energy ran out. The tops of the tallest remaining structures barely passed through the portal before it collapsed. It didn't close fast enough. I heard a scream of anguish from Rainbow right as I felt one be ripped out of my own throat. Right before the portal closed, we both saw something we would never forget. The giant pair of wings disintegrated into tiny flecks of shadow. He finally got what he wanted. Dad was dead.