//------------------------------// // Chapter 22: Grudge Bow // Story: The Happiness and Peace of Mind Committee // by FlanChan //------------------------------// The Happiness and Peace of Mind Committee Chapter 22: Grudge Bow “You know, I’ve been thinking about what you tried pulling earlier, Twilight,” Emerald Joy said, her magic running through her hair as she tried fruitlessly to brush out the tangles. “That was kind of rude, wasn’t it? Breaking into someone’s house and trying to kill them with their own stuff, then thinking you can walk off scot free?” “The Elements of Harmony don’t belong to anyone!” Twilight shot back. “Just because you’re holding onto them doesn’t mean that you can keep them under lock and key and expect nothing to happen!” “But you’re missing the point, dear,” Emerald said. “I’m saying that you need to be punished at least a little bit for that. Especially since you made a fool of yourself by not using them correctly. It’s only fair, after all.” “As if almost falling to my death just now wasn’t punishment enough?” Twilight shouted, gesturing towards the high ceiling. “Well, that was a bit unfortunate, I’ll hand that to you,” Emerald admitted, “but I think the punishment should be equal to the crime, don’t you agree? That’s why I’ve decided that I’m going to attack you with The Elements of Harmony! Wouldn’t it be right of me to say that the greatest bravery is to use the weapon you fear most, after all? “What are you talking about?” Twilight asked. “Only the Bearers of The Elements of Harmony can use them! How are you going to do it?” “You said it yourself, didn’t you?” Emerald replied slyly. “The spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here.” She directed her attention towards her friends, who were still encased securely in the wall. “As if I’m going to let you use them, though,” Twilight scoffed. “The Element of Magic is the most important, remember? The one that channels the rest of them together?” “Hmm, yes, that may be true,” Emerald replied, nodding as if she was deep in thought. “I suppose you’ll see once we get there.” She started moving towards her throne, and at the same time Ondine left her side to move closer to Twilight, who immediately moved back defensively. But Ondine didn’t move too close to her, which was curious. Emerald sat down in her throne, then sent a beam upwards to ignite The Element of Magic. Twilight wasn’t too worried, since there was absolutely no way this shoddy attempt at making an attack could work. The very antithesis of harmony trying to use something primarily based on it? It was just ridiculous. A few sparks shot out of The Elements, and they began to shine with energy. The tubes preserving the five other Bearers started glowing, and after a few moments The Elements shot out colored lasers. These beams all connected with Ondine’s body at the same time, though she seemed to show little to no resistance. Were The Elements attacking her? No, she didn’t seem to be in pain… But there was no way that Ondine could be a substitute for the Bearer of The Element of Magic. If any ordinary pony other than a Bearer attempted it, they would surely overheat and die within seconds from the huge amounts of magic that would be flowing through their body that they would have to make into a concentrated, multi-colored blast. Ondine, however, was no ordinary pony, which Twilight had only moments to realize before the prismatic arch blasted out of the blinding white light Ondine was floating in. There was no time to think, and absolutely no way to run away. She could do nothing but stare at the rainbow moving towards her. Though, it didn’t have the colors that a normal rainbow would have. It was mostly a mix of yellow and green, with multiple shades of blue in between. A strand of black outlined the edges, which were quickly closing in around her. Twilight fell to her knees, her hooves over her head to try and do something in means of defending herself, but she knew the effort was useless. She sensed the rainbow spiral around her, forming a sort of domed cage that was getting tighter by the moment. It was in that moment of life and death that Twilight could truly reflect on the sickening irony of her situation. She was about to be killed from the power of her and her friends, and the one using the attack was the one that drove them all apart. She wondered, if Ondine’s Curse really was a way to kill them, would she be able to see everyone again shortly? She could just leave this wretched world behind and be with everyone she cared about again. That would be wonderful… Tears stained what little space there was of the floor in her confinement. She squeezed her legs tighter to her chest, trying to minimize the amount of the area she took up. Even though her mind wanted to die as soon as possible, her body wanted to somehow live, and somehow keep fighting. She felt the walls graze against her skin, and then fully cover it. She could feel that energy again, the encouraging feeling of all of her friends, only this time it would be her undoing. It was so painful to think about, but luckily for her she wouldn’t have to be thinking for much longer. With a final surge of energy, the rainbow formed to her figure and then flurried away, the magic breaking down and returning to The Elements of Harmony. Twilight looked up. She felt exhausted for some reason, even though her health had been restored from the contact with the power of The Elements. The light still made it hard to see, but she could make out that Ondine’s figure was shaky. Even she, whatever she was, was taxed from the effort it took. Twilight heard Emerald Joy’s laughter, so she could be certain that neither of them knew that she was fine, though in Ondine’s case it was probably because she had better things to worry about. She got up and used the sound of Emerald’s voice to guide her. Using the blinding light as a cover, Twilight tackled Emerald from behind and forced her to the ground, once again restraining her with magic. Ondine was too out of it to do anything to interfere, anyway. “Wh-what?!” Emerald shouted as soon as her attacker came into view. However, she regained her composure as quickly as she had lost it. “I see, so that’s how they work…” “So you figured it out too, then?” Twilight asked, her horn forced up against the dictator’s forehead. “The Elements of Harmony only use their power to wipe out evil. That’s why they were the weapon of choice when we were fighting back then. Using them against someone like me is quite a foolish oversight on your part.” “Do you think it matters?” Emerald sneered. “Even now I can beat you, though the leftover magic from The Elements inside of you is killing my head with you jamming your horn at me like you are.” Upon hearing that, Twilight only forced her horn onto her forehead further. “How did you use The Elements of Harmony?” she shouted, her face hot with anger. “Tell me!” Emerald smirked at Twilight’s reaction, but answered nonetheless. “I’ll tell you only for the sake of indulging my genius to you,” she began simply. “Besides, I’d be glad to waste some time talking. My voice sounds nice, and I don’t want to put it to waste.” “Yeah, sure.” Twilight snorted, but allowed her to continue. Emerald weakly turned her head to spot Ondine, who was still struggling to recover after concentrating the power from The Elements of Harmony. “You see poor Ondine over there? The pony you knew to be Aquamarine who appeared out of nowhere and suddenly joined your ranks? That alone sounds quite fishy, when you think about it,” Emerald Joy said. “But I guess it’s no surprise at this point that she was planted in your group by me. That’s the express purpose that she was created for, after all.” “Wait, what do you mean ‘created’? How could you make someone as capable as her? Weren’t you the one that said that it was almost impossible to make a complex living being?” Twilight asked. “Besides, she told me herself about her life growing up!” “Hm, yes, what better way to make it so I don’t have to come up with an elaborate backstory than by making it one the character doesn’t want to talk about? That was some genius on my part,” Emerald explained, giggling a little to herself. “But now I must be serious and confess that I may have skipped a little part when I was explaining the copies of your friends. Though you didn’t have to be cloned, The Element of Magic did still try to make another of you. Now I may have persuaded its image while it was still forming, but at its core it really is a shoddy bootleg of you. And that’s exactly who Ondine is! Through some poking and prodding, I made it so Ondine is essentially my vision of how things should be, but manifested into a pony! If that makes any sense, of course.” She laughed nervously. “Though I guess I can’t really call her a Bearer for The Element of Magic. What do you think it would be? Element of Instinct, maybe?” “That’s not important!” Twilight shouted, knocking Emerald’s head back against the ground. “You still haven’t explained how she’s able to function on a more complex level than the rest of them!” “Oh, that,” Emerald muttered, letting her head fall to the side. “I guess you could say it’s because she hardly has her own personality at all. I mean, she’s a bit feisty, but other than that…” She paused, rolling her head back upward. “But there’s a reason for that, I promise! It’s because I’m controlling her constantly, you know?” “Be quiet…!” “So we are really good friends then, aren’t we? Every conversation you’ve had with her, every plan you’ve devised with her, you were really doing that with me, Twilight!”