//------------------------------// // An Agreement Reached... Kind of? // Story: Equestria Fighter(revised) // by GenerousGhibli //------------------------------// “So wait, you’re not freedom fighters, you’re freedom Negotiators? how come you don’t just go kick Tirek’s plot and take back the throne?” Rainbow said incredulously, hovering upside down inside of the council tent. The thing was huge, to accommodate plenty of ponies. Big enough for a griffon to hover in, actually. The tent was pretty bare, save for a few shelves, some crates, and a table in the middle. “Yes, negotiators. We can’t kick his plot because we don’t have that kind of power. He not only possesses the majority of Equinus’s magic, but he also has two Alicorn queen’s worth of magic. That’s why we have the amulet," Roma responded calmly, as he sat at the meeting table, filing his nails. Curiously, they always grew into points. “You still haven’t explained that to me yet,” Twilight announced, standing over the table and watching Roma. Watching, not glaring, thankfully. She had been extremely persistent in speaking in private so she could take off her cloak, in exchange for a pegasi’s hooded jacket and cargo pants. It suited her, somehow. She had agreed to use a simple cloaking spell on her horn, so no risk of false hopes in Camp. The vampony took a moment to look over the group, and their new attire. Rainbow dash had reluctantly surrendered her jacket for repairs and adjustments, and had donned some Camp fatigues. Rarity had added a black miniskirt with a plain belt to her ensemble. Fluttershy now wore a large green turtleneck sweater, with a pair of tan shorts. Pinkie had taken on a pair of cream colored overalls and a blue, yellow, and pink striped shirt. Applejack had just grabbed a white work shirt and some jeans, and a pair of gloves that resided in her back pocket, all accompanied by her own hat. They all looked pretty good, considering the five minute shopping spree and limited options. Of course, Spike and Lyra remained the same. The clothes were mostly meant to cover up their cutie marks, and for a modest sense of decency. “Alright, if you insist on knowing…” he said, sitting up and flicking his nail file over onto shelf. He touched a panel on the table’s edge, and a 3-D hologram appeared of a grey unicorn with a curved, red horn and luminously white fangs. “This is King Sombra. Currently the third strongest magic user on the planet; obviously Tirek is the first. Sombra’s power rivals that of Queen Luna in terms of raw might. I’ve seen the two fight. It wasn‘t pretty.” “What happened?” Lyra asked, staring at the table with avid interest. “There's a desert to the south. It wasn’t always a desert, and let‘s leave it there. King Sombra is one of six monarchs directly under Emperor Tirek’s command. He and I were once good friends, and traveling companions. Two-hundred-fifty-three years ago, a group of 59 unicorns was taken overseas, so that Tirek would not find them,” Roma explained, and stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He stood up, pulled the amulet out of his vest, and sat it on the table. “Now it seems the descendant of those unicorns, Miracle, has returned, and is intent of taking Tirek down. I advised her against it, but she refuses to listen. That is why I took the amulet. So that she can at least have a fighting chance.” “Why not use it yourself?” the Princess asked, cupping her thumb and forefinger around her chin. “After all, you said you had magic that Tirek couldn’t steal.” “‘Couldn’t’ may not be the best word. ‘Wouldn’t’ probably works better. You can’t take a vampony’s magic without becoming one. Tirek refuses to become like his enemy. And the amulet won‘t do anything for me. My magic is too different from yours. It only works on normal ponies and Alicorns,” he said, clearly forcing himself to remain calm. It must have bothered him to be powerless like that… “Make no mistake, I will fight against him in the end, but for now, I negotiate with him to improve the living conditions of the people. It’s been working, but this STUPID LITTLE MARE!” he shouted, nearly slamming his fist on the table. But he didn‘t, instead, he stopped just before impact, and unclenched his hand. “She’s… she’s ruining everything Camp has worked for all this time. She is forcing my hand, and the only way to stop her is by killing her.” “But, Mr. Roma, can’t you just talk to her? Certainly she can be reasoned with?” Rarity asked, planting one hand on her flank, and raising the other. She was adapting quickly to her new body. “I have tried. She won’t listen. I even sent my second in command after her, to negotiate. She is… was far better than I was at it, after all,” he said with a faint half-smile, half-grimace. “What do ya’ll mean, was?” “Miracle killed General Shimmer for standing in her way. Claimed that if we would not help her, then we were her enemies. Just, disintegrated her… on the spot,” he said shakily, clutching the hilt of his sword in anger. Sunset had been such a wonderful friend to him… “I’m so sorry for your loss…” Fluttershy piped in, nervously playing with a lock of her mane. She had been avoiding speaking to him, for some reason. And, then it hit him, like a hoof to the face. “And I’m sorry I shot your wing, Misses Fluttershy," he said, standing, and bowing to her. “Oh, n-no, don’t bow it’s okay I’m not mad I promise you were just trying to get home I understand it‘s okay please stop…” she rambled, quickly ducking behind her wife, who glared maliciously at him. “I’m still pretty pissed about that, buddy,” she said, and grabbed Roma’s shirt, pulling him up and to her face. “I don’t like you, pal. Just because she’s okay with you don’t mean I am.” “Understood, Misses Pie. I figured you would still be upset with me,” he said with a shrug. “Oh yeah? And how’s that?” “Because I would have killed me in your position. Only four people have ever hurt Sonata under my watch. None of them are alive,” he explained, his expression darkening. “You’ve… killed ponies?” Twilight whispered solemnly. She had expected as much, but hearing him say it so coldly… it was frightening. “Many, yes. Though never without reason. Some were self defense, and others were under orders, while a few were… uh, let’s move on,” he said, stepping back, and pulling out of the angry mare’s grip. “If Miracle has an amulet, she, myself, and a few allies could likely take Tirek down for good.” “For good? Wait, you said ‘an amulet.’ does somepony else here have one?” Twilight asked anxiously. “Yes, for good, Princess. And only if you consider Tirek a pony. He has a similar one embedded in his chest. It’s how he killed Queens Celestia and Cadance. Did I not mention that?” he said, looking at them with some grim curiosity. “No! You didn’t!” she shouted, slamming her hands on the table. “You should have said so! How powerful is this Miracle? Is she on par with me? I’m practically the greatest mage in all of Equestria!” “First off, her power is nearly double that of Sombra. It would be foal’s play to wipe him, and likely you as well, off the face of the planet. Simultaneously. Second, I would ask you not to hit the table. It was a gift from our engineer. Third, I would prefer you kept your voice down. If you shout…” “Sir! I heard shouting! Is everything al right?!” an orange pegasus mare with a dark pink mane burst in, poised to attack. She had a leather jacket and cutoff denim shorts on. Her jacket had a butterfly on it. “Yes, Scootaloo. Everything is fine. Say, is my bike finished yet?” “Almost Sir! I’m finishing a few tweaks now. She’ll be ready for the trip, Sir!” the mare said, giving a stiff salute. “Very well, dismissed,” he said, and Scootaloo dashed back out, no doubt to work on the bike. “What trip are you taking?” Spike asked, speaking up for the first time since entering the tent. “In three days I will be meeting Tirek in the capital. Not that it’s a real big deal. I do it quite often. Myself, Sonata, and my new second, General Biceps, will be attending the conference,” he said, tapping a few keys of the table’s control panel. An image of a massive white pegasus stallion with diminutive wings appeared. He wore a tight, grey long sleeve t-shirt, with a pair of black jeans. On his right leg was holstered a pistol, and the left bore a knife with a ring on its hilt. “He is skilled in both single combat and long range firefighting. His leadership skills are exceptional and his physical power trumps that of most earth stallions his size. Incapable of flight.” “Yeah, that last part totally wasn’t obvio- ow! What was that for Lyra?” Rainbow said, dropping to the ground after a jab from Lyra‘s pointed finger. “Ponies with deformities are not always useless, Rainbow Dash. Whilst in prison, I drew hundreds, maybe thousands of blueprints using only my mouth. Who did you think designed the power carriage?” the bionic said, narrowing her eyes. She continued. “It may have been my own fault, but I still made do. Even our Scootaloo, bless her, became one of your RainBolts. Don’t ever judge a pony by their handicaps, judge them from their abilities.” “…Sorry.” “Lyra is right, Miss Dash. Though General Biceps is flightless, he is one of the most capable fighters I know. I’d not have anypony else by my side, save for King Sombra.” “Moving on, Roma. Why don’t you give me a little information about these monarchs you mentioned?” Twilight asked. “Why? You’ll be back in your own dimension soon, anyways,” he said coldly. “Oh no. You have a powerful artifact from my kingdom. I’m going to stay here and keep my eye on it,” she argued, waving a finger at him. “Would Everypony please give me a moment with the Princess? Alone?” Roma asked calmly, taking his seat and clearing off the table’s hologram. “We have some matters to discuss.” >X< After some deliberation, it was decided that Twilight could handle herself, so they agreed to exit the tent and remain outside until they finished their discussion. It was quiet for several minutes, but then, all Tartarus broke loose. “I don’t care if you’re a powerful mage! I won’t endanger royalty from another land!” “What if I refuse to leave? Will you fight me? Beat me unconscious and drag me back to my own world? Sounds pretty bucking dangerous!” “You are so impossible! UGH! What are you, the Alicorn of Stubbornness? By the Queens it would make SO much sense!” “Try Alicorn of Friendship, pal! My job is to bring harmony and friendship all across Equestria and I dare say I do a damn good job of it!” “Well aren’t we confident?! If you’re so powerful, why don’t you just TAKE the amulet back?” “That’s not how I do things! But by Celestia’s shimmering mane I will END you if I need too!” “I’d LOVE to see that! Queen Celestia herself tried to destroy me! Yeah that’s right, not even the might of the sun goddess could kill me!” “Roma, You are a fool! Why will you not accept our help and be done with it?” “Because I don’t WANT your help you stupid, arrogant, overbearing, childish little mare!” “Arrogant?! Childish?! STUPID?! You’ve got some nerve!” “So I’m told! And I don’t see how somepony as stubborn and quick tempered as you could EVER become the Princess of Friendsh-” A loud smack could be heard throughout Camp, followed moments later by a long series of grunts, yelps and growls and crashes. After about five minutes of presumably brutal brawling, everything went quiet again. It was some twenty more minutes before twilight emerged from the tent, looking like she’d been hit by an avalanche. Her left eye was black, her lip swollen and busted, her nose bleeding, her feathers ruffled, mane disheveled, with a thick coat of dust on her clothes, while her knuckles dripped with blood. “We’re staying. He will allow me to fight if it comes to it. You will all either return home, serve as ground troops, become Camp laborers, or care for sick and wounded. These are his terms. I have accepted them. Make your decisions. I am to report to the medical center for treatment. He won’t let me use healing magic. Stupid bastard vampony…” she said, scowling viciously. As she walked away towards a big flag with a red cross on it, she punched a metal lamppost on her way, heavily denting it. Moments later, an even more mangled Roma emerged from the tent, and glared angrily at the group. “I will be with my wife. Let me know your decisions tomorrow morning. You are to bunk with the soldiers tonight. Here’s a few maps of Camp,” he all but growled, and walked away, also punching a lamp post. However, he knocked his clean off its base. “If he weren’t married, those two would be so perfect for one another,” Lyra said with a chuckle, prompting the others to laugh with her. “You all go do your thing. I’m gonna go see this engineer of theirs. Ask about the technology of this world.” “Ah’m gonna go stay with Twi. Make sure she don’t do something stupid,” Applejack stated and awkwardly walked off. “So I guess we’ll go to the barracks?” Spike suggested, prompting the others to agree, save for Rainbow Dash. “Actually, I’m gonna go speak to General Biceps. I‘m curious about him…” she said, taking off and heading away at a leisurely pace. “And I wanna take a look around. This place is soooo super different, I wanna see everything I can while we're here. Shy babe, you wanna come with?” Pinkie said, a little more subdued than was normal. “I’ll, uh, go with you. Not sure I want to face a bunch of soldiers.” “Oki doki loki! Let’s roll out!” she said, and trotted away, with Fluttershy galloping to catch up. “Where do you want to go?” Spike asked, crossing his arms. “No where. We’ll be there when they get back. You could mingle with the soldiers, and I can fix Rainbow’s coat,” Rarity replied,heading off in the direction the map said the barracks were. “I can just tell, this is gonna be a weird night,” he stated calmly, and followed her.