Act II: Collision Course
Chapter 22: …Or Not
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Princess Celestia had never completely gotten used to the enemy’s ability to bypass her defenses day after day. Each time a battle happened, she would see a new rat confront her with the news. Twilight had sent her a report on the most recent one. She’d also gotten the autopsy reports stating how the prisoner died. From what the doctors could gather, the battle hadn’t killed him, but given the measures taken to subdue him, it was a bit hard to believe.
As expected, he wasn’t hurt by most of their attacks, Celestia thought, watching the battle replay with those same holograms. She had understood with shock—mostly—that Corey and John had taken it upon themselves to try to handle him alone. Something no one asked them to do. However, after how they had prepared for the inevitable, right along everyone else, it was almost understandable.
I have not seen Corey’s magic before, she had noted, Twilight had reported other incidents, but even now that he’s managed to control it, it is still something I have not seen.
She had tried to keep a neutral countenance during the replay, just as she had always done, not wanting the prisoner to see if she was having an effect on her. However, as the battle gradually neared its end, Celestia just about flinched as Corey got knocked to the side. Then, it all came to an end. She saw Corey fill the “screen” up with light, and a few moments later, John was breathing fire down Lyon’s throat. Celestia stared.
That’s the way they figured out how to get around his hide? Celestia thought, watching as the battle screen faded, not too long after Corey used that impact spell he seemed to be fond of. When it did, the same hologram of the leader appeared, their voice still disguised by some sort of magical filter.
“That is what happened during that battle,” said the prisoner, spreading their arms out, “As you know, I have eyes everywhere.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Celestia asked, “Didn’t you order this--?”
“No,” the prisoner responded flatly, “If I had you might have been able to catch it.”
Celestia fought the urge to blink, “You mean he—“
“Nemean Lyon acted alone,” the prisoner said, their hands going to their sides. The left hand came forward, palm open, “He had violated the rules, so I made sure he faced the appropriate,” The hand closed, “Penalty.”
“Penalty?” Celestia blankly repeated, taking in the new information, “Is that to say that you…”
“Don’t act so surprised,” the prisoner lowered their hand. Though the hood of their cloak was up, Celestia could make out a half-sneer on the pony’s face, “In a game, both sides must abide by the rules. He had acted without my consent. Either way, he would have faced a penalty.”
Celestia stared to the hologram, still feeling unsure. Something was telling her that if Corey and John hadn’t overcome Lyon, his so-called “punishment” would not have been so harsh. It was clear how Lyon met his end now. His insides being burned hadn’t done it, nor did any of the other attacks. It was the action of the prisoner that took pleasure in taunting her after each battle. But before Celestia could voice her concerns or realization, the prisoner continued talking.
“It is what it is,” the prisoner said, “One of my pieces has been defeated. But I am not through, not yet.”
“What are you planning?” Celestia asked.
“Where’s the fun in telling you about it?” asked the prisoner. Celestia’s hands tightened. Still this prisoner treated life like it was a common thing, “You don’t announce your next move in chess…”
Celestia remained silent, waiting for the prisoner’s hologram to go away. However, it remained, as a tense silence permeated the room.
“Just know, my next move is already under way…” said the prisoner, spreading their arms out, “That is all.”
With that, the hologram faded. Celestia stared at the rat as it shuffled back out of sight, letting her anger show. At the same time, her concern went through the roof. One single thought went through her mind as she considered what she could have meant.
Their next move is under way… she thought, trying to figure out what that move could possibly be, But what was the meaning behind that? Have I missed something?
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Corey’s left arm was feeling even better than it had before, but it still wasn’t one hundred percent. Though his focus wasn’t completely on that. In fact, he found himself even more interested in the book he’d been reading before. His reading pace had all but stopped, trying to make it as slow as possible.
The reason why he was choosing to immerse himself in reading to that extent wasn’t because he’d been surrounded by books ever since coming to Equestria. Rather, it was because of Twilight, who was sitting off to the side on the chair, a book of her own spread over her face. Hers was lifted by magic, Corey holding his in one hand.
Corey looked up from his book, seeing she was still in that spot where he’d last seen her. He himself hadn’t moved since this battle of wills began, sitting on the couch seat furthest from her, but still slightly facing her. He let out a sigh, trying to focus on the words on the pages rather than the mare over there. However, losing himself in the pages was harder than it should have been for him.
Why can’t I focus on this? Corey thought, the silence in the room leaving no noise for him to focus on, to distract him from his encroaching emotions.
You know the reason, Corey, his inner voice hissed, You have nothing to distance yourself from your emotions, so they’re coming for you. I told you to tell her, and you didn’t listen to me…
As Corey and his inner voice argued, he failed to register that Twilight had slowly began to move the book. No sooner than the book had passed her eyes did she turn her head to look to him. She saw his nose firmly in the book, but she could tell from the look in his eyes he wasn’t really looking at the pages.
Not like I’m one to talk… Twilight thought, This is the first time in a while I’ve been reading simply to dodge talking to somepony like this…it’s so hard to focus on the pages when you have these emotions clamoring inside of you, begging to make themselves known…
Her attention shifted back to the book, but she could tell her eyes were going right through the pages. This whole time, she’d been trying to focus on it, anything, just to try to get her thoughts straight. Deep down, though, she knew she was lying to herself if she thought she didn’t feel something. Slowly, Twilight’s book lowered again.
This time, Twilight’s eyes went wide. What she saw when she looked to him again made her heart jump in ways she hadn’t felt too often before all this: Corey was looking right back at her.
At the same time, both of their faces started to pinken, and they both quickly ducked back into the safety of their books, Corey making sure to pull his book up to his face. The room was dead quiet, save for the sounds of footsteps approaching from another room.
Spike was walking through, his hands free. He had just got done with shelving some books that had recently been turned in. Passing by the living room, he couldn’t help but notice the two of them had fallen dead silent. Spike may have been a child, but he had a gut feeling something was up between the two. He wasn’t numb to the fog of awkward that had settled in.
In fact, Spike was just about to say something about it. There was something going on in here that was just as clear to him as anyone else. He inhaled, ready to tell Twilight to quit stalling, when a hand came down on his shoulder. Spike let out a gasp—Shining had just arrived.
“Shining?” Spike said, “When did you…”
“I see I’m not the only one,” he said in a quiet voice, looking over to the two with a very faint smile, “And man, oh man, Cadence would have a field day with this…”
“I can only imagine,” Spike dropped his voice low now, “So, what have you been up to?”
“Actually Spike,” Shining said, taking a quick glance back up to Twilight and Corey, “Think we can take this to another room?”
“Huh? Why?” Spike asked.
“Oh, you know,” Shining said, “Better give them some more time alone…”
“Not that they don’t have a lot of that already. Yeah, you’re right.”
Corey’s ears twitched and he stuck his snout as far into the book as it would go to hide the color on his cheeks. He’d always been really bad with eavesdropping. If he’d cared more, he might have snapped at them by now, but he managed to hold his tongue and try to focus on it. He could hear two sets of footsteps heading towards the kitchen. With a shaky hand, he lowered the book. Twilight had buried her face into the book even further, but he could see her magic was just a little on the fritz.
“Twilight…” Corey said in a weak voice, trying to sound detached, “Your magic…”
She had barely enough time to get her hands under the book before her magic completely fizzled out. Twilight had a perturbed look on her face, and Corey could just make out the vanishing traces of a blush on her face.
“Y-you heard them, t-too?” Corey asked. Twilight looked over and Corey’s gaze shifted down.
“N-no, of course not!” Twilight looked away, facing a library shelf on her left, “T-they were only ten feet away! Didn’t hear a peep out of them!”
The two heard Spike belch from the next room, followed by a deadpan “Excuse you” from Shining. Twilight looked over, and then back to Corey, who looked down once she looked over to him.
“I…I think that was a letter about Lyon…” said Twilight.
“Oh, t-that…autopsy, right…” Corey said.
“You know it’s rude to read other ponies’ mail, right?” Spike was heard asking from the other room.
“I’m sure Twily would understand,” said Shining, causing Twilight to blush a little—odd since Corey had already heard that name during the last several days and she didn’t blush then. There was a silence that felt natural for a change.
“Well, Corey,” Twilight said, standing up, “I guess I can go get that letter, and see if…”
“What!?”
The sound of an incredibly furious Shining burned away the awkward almost immediately. Corey stood up in alarm. The awkward was instantly replaced with concern, both Corey and Twilight wondering just what kind of news could have caused such a reaction…
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It hadn’t been long since the rat’s departure. Celestia was going through some more paperwork, some indicating that Lyon had passed and wouldn’t be returning to Tartarus. She was just about to get on that little bit of documentation, when there was the sound of a commotion outside.
“News from the Crystal Empire!” a frenzied pony shouted from outside, just managing to be above the commotion. Celestia instantly felt a sense of déjà vu, mixed with instant concern given what she’d just heard. She immediately looked up towards the door. The commotion outside was replaced with different shouts, and within moments, the door opened.
By the time Celestia saw the guard, carrying a single piece of parchment, the commotion outside had died down. As the guard began to rush over to her desk, Celestia felt the air grow even tenser.
“Princess Celestia,” the guard said, sounding just a little out of breath, and a bit less frenzied, “This just came in…”
Celestia took the letter in her magic, already unfurling the parchment as it floated over to her. Given everypony who had heard this news fell silent and let this pony pass with little hassle, she had a feeling this news wasn’t pleasant. No sooner than when her eyes scanned the paper, Celestia felt concern and anger worm its way directly into her heart.
“Princess Cadence was attacked!?” she whispered, unable to hide her shock. At the same time, though, now she knew.
That is where you’re striking next? Celestia thought, trying to calm herself down, We must move to defend…
“What do we do, Princess?” asked the guard.
“I must send this report to Twilight at once,” Celestia said, “She deserves to know this information…”
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The news of the attack on Cadence spread around the group quick. Twilight instantly filled with worry. Shining had nearly crumpled up the letter when he read it, but managed to hold himself together. Over the course of the afternoon, the news had spread from friend to friend. Within a few hours, everyone was ready to leave.
“I still cannot believe it,” Rarity said, “Such a wanton attack on a head of state…How did they manage to do it?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out!” Twilight said. Shining remained silent.
“Is this everypony?” asked Shining, looking around. His brows had been set into a permanent arch, and would likely stay that way until they got up north.
“No,” said Rainbow, “Fluttershy’s still gotta come!”
“Look!” Pinkie said, “There she is!”
All heads turned to where she was pointing—no, dashing. Sure enough, Fluttershy was walking towards them. Her head lifted in surprise when Pinkie appeared behind her.
“Fluttershy, you’re here!” Pinkie said. Her hands found their way to Fluttershy’s shoulders and she began to push. Though at first, Fluttershy did, in fact, get pushed forward, once Pinkie had already pushed her about half of the remaining distance from where she was to the others, she realized something important.
“Where’s your bags?” Pinkie asked. Fluttershy looked away from the others for a moment.
“U-um…” Fluttershy stuttered, no steam to begin with, “I’m—I’m not going.”
There was a pause from all the others. But it didn’t last too long.
“What? Why?” Rainbow was the first to break the silence.
“Fluttershy,” Twilight took a few steps towards her, “Why aren’t you going?”
“I’d…I’d only get in the way…” Fluttershy said, her gaze now transfixed on the floor.
“No, Fluttershy, don’t be silly!” Pinkie said, now moving in front of her, somewhat between the others and her now.
“You’re just as much a part of this as any of us!” Applejack said, “We can’t just—“
“What have I done to help!?”
Fluttershy’s shout definitely got everyone’s attention. The loudness in her voice caused just about everyone’s eyes to go wide. Even though she gradually lost steam as she kept talking, it was clear this was something she wasn’t going to be talked into.
“Please, can any of you name one time I helped out during any…any of the attacks?” Fluttershy said. Someone inhaled to try to speak, but she quickly added, “O-on my own? Not asking anyone else to do it?”
The group stood in silence for what felt like forever. None of them could come up with anything to even meet Fluttershy halfway, let alone say if she actually was of help. Her point more than proven, Fluttershy continued.
“I-I’m sorry,” Fluttershy had somewhat returned to her normal mood now, “But I can’t…I can’t go with you.”
Her head turned towards the ground, Fluttershy slowly began to walk away. Rainbow finally began to move.
“Wait, Fluttershy—“ Rainbow said.
“No,” Shining interrupted. His eyebrows had somewhat relaxed now, his attention momentarily diverted from the north by what happened, “We can’t force it on her. If she feels she’s not up for this, then she’s not up for it…”
“So, that’s it?” Rainbow asked, “We just let her stay?”
“Looks like it,” Applejack said with a sigh, “We can’t force her to go. But we’ve all got someplace we need to be, too.”
“Maybe we can talk about it with her later,” Twilight suggested, “But right now, we have to keep moving.”
With a heavy weight on their shoulder, one by one, everypony went into the car. Corey and John were the last to go in. Shining stopped at the door, letting Spike pass by him.
“You two coming?” Shining asked.
“Yeah, we are,” Corey said, blinking. It had been a short while since he watched Fluttershy leave. She was nowhere in sight.
“Something wrong?” John asked, turning around to enter the car.
“No, it’s just…” Corey began walking towards the car as well to join with the others, “About feeling useless, I can relate…”
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The catacombs were as deep underground as ever. They were still dimly lit by her magic. And, she remained in her so-called war room, alone. As she’d expected, the Elements of Harmony and Celestia’s other pieces had gone to the Crystal Empire. It was time for round two of the war to begin.
Though she knew that she was far from done, she had to admit it was a shame to have to punish Lyon like that. However, he had stepped out of line, and had to be taught a lesson. With her next move underway, she began to plan her next move—
Wait. A screen from Ponyville. It was showing Kindness’s cottage. The door swung open, revealing…
“She stayed behind?” she hissed, looking up to face the screen directly, “This will not do.”
Looking to the screen depicting a very downcast Fluttershy, the prisoner began to mull over her options. She could have informed Celestia of the breach, but as far as she was concerned there was no need. However, the rules clearly stated all pieces needed to participate in some amount, to be within reach. She couldn’t just let this go.
A sneer slowly split her face as she came up with a plan. It was true that this pony had dared to try to drop out of her game, but who was to say she really had. Lifting a hand, she hovered it over the screen.
“So she wants to remain in Ponyville while her more capable friends are away?” she asked herself, her sneer unbreaking, “That’s just fine…”
Turning from the room and walking away to fetch one of her fellow escapees, her sneer grew to unimaginable malevolence.
“It’s time for a penalty round…”