//------------------------------//
// Chapter 55: Consequences (Part 3) 
// Story: Harmony's Creed 
// by Gapeagle 
//------------------------------//

	Vinyl and I met up again after I finished Sunset Shimmer. My friend was still aching from her burnt leg, but her complains were less than before. She leaned on me and we walked through the remains of the battle. Even though I suspected imminent victory, Sunset's dying words stuck with me. Dozens of Assassins lay dead on the snow and ice. It was a solemn sight. 

"When I get my hands on Twilight, I'll rip her to pieces." Vinyl growled beside me.

"I think we should let Applejack decide what to do with her." I said.

"Just kill her....just kill her..."

Vinyl's tone made me on edge. Her breathing was reminiscent of an infuriated lion. I knew she was in pain, but I never heard her this way before. 

"I think you should take your mask off."

"Huh? Why? It helps keeps my face warm."

"Would you please?"

Vinyl snorted and did as I asked. Just like I suspected, her eyes her glowing red. Her face was also paler and lacked any redness from the cold. I could see that she was a still a Survivor of Chaos, unlike what Discord said. All this fighting was not helping her mental health. In an attempt to calm her down, I decided to start small talk.

"Do you wonder what we'll do after all this?" I said in my most cheerful voice.

"We'll do what we must..."

"Huh?"

"I don't care what Applejack or Fluttershy do after this. I don't care if all the Bearers die. I'll take the Brotherhood under me."

"You really want the Brotherhood to stay in existence?"

"Yeah. Maybe this is all a harsh reformation. Sunset and Twilight aren't gonna win. I'll make sure of it."

I was still worried by her behavior. Her muttered curses stayed constant as we approached the final battle scene. The last Assassins of Canterlot (of which I counted nine) were watching the fight with their arms crossed. Applejack and Twilight were settling this battle alone and none intervened.

I sat Vinyl down on the stone before climbing up to the rooftop the Bearers fought on. It was a large, flat rooftop, not at all like the rounded mansions. This was square meeting hall that the neighborhood used as a central hub. Just like the rich neighborhood, it was abandoned and safe to destroy.

The other Assassins glanced my way before returning to watch the fight. A pulsing purple bubble stood between us and them. I knew I could pierce the shield with Valor, but I decided not to at the moment. The bubble was not only keeping others from them, but protecting everything else. Twilight's beams of magic never went through the shield and Applejack's missed charges made her bounce of the bubble. 

"How long have they been at this?" I asked a Brother.

"For most of the time." He replied. "Twilight's laid on more hits than the Bearer of Honesty."

I could tell this just by looking at them. Applejack was bleeding from her nose, temples, and her right arm. The freckles on her face were lost under the dried and still flowing blood. Twilight was bleeding from her left leg, but nothing else seemed to be wounded. Her robes were ripped in several places, revealing a bruise or two. 

"Den Master, what happens if Twilight wins?" The Brother asked me.

"Then we fight her."

"And The Bearer of Honesty?"

"If she wins, we do what she tells us to."

"No you don't!" Vinyl screeched from below. "She ain't our leader anymore."

"Ignore her." I told the Assassins. "She got burned in a fight and that the pain is disrupting her brain."

"Oh shut it, Tavi!" My friend yelled.

A large explosion startled us. Twilight sent some arcane bomb at Applejack. The Bearer of Honesty flew right into the shield before us. She was then levitated and slammed into the rooftop, cracking the stone. I winced as I watched, but I knew Applejack was still able to fight.

"Why won't you stop?" Twilight barked. "We don't have to do this!"

"Course we do!" Applejack said. "Ya brought all this death, it's only fair you go with them!"

"We can still salvage this!" 

I spoke up. "Sunset is dead, Twilight."

Twilight glanced at me. "Oh, like I'll believe that."

I reached into my sash and pulled out Sunset's Templar necklace. It was stained with blood. The Bearer of Magic paled at the sight of it. Applejack tried to use this distraction to her aid, but Twilight picked her up with magic and threw her to the opposite side.

"You killed her?" Twilight asked slowly.

"Indeed, Bearer. She met a fitting end." I said. "You are the only one alive. That's why the remaining Brothers are gathered here. We defeated everyone else."

"Then we have no need to fight anymore." She told me. "It's time for us to gather the shards and rebuild with the Templar. You may not trust me, but I can help with that."

"You wanted them to die?"

"Sunset? No. However, I see an advantage with her out of the way though. She was too ambitious and hotheaded for this type of work."

Applejack had recovered from being tossed about and came flying at Twilight. Just like before, Twilight reacted in time and threw the Bearer away. I could not restrain myself and threw Valor at Twilight when she had her back to me. My attack connected and she went to the stone. This was all the time Applejack needed to land a strike on her. The Bearer's strength sent her flying into her own shield. When she hit it, a pulse rang out from it. 

Twilight stood up while holding her side. Applejack did not need to land many strikes to do damage. The Bearer of Magic shot out an arcanic beam that knocked Applejack to the ground, leaving a black mark on her chest plate. Twilight then looked at me, her eyes glowing white. Her hand was raised and I felt my sword draw itself out of its sheath. Before I knew it, my sword was floating right before me. 

Before I could dodge, it flew at my chest. The Brother I had been speaking to grabbed its pommel and pulled it back away from me right before it reached my robes. With all his strength, he kept it back, but then Twilight twisted the blade out of his hand and stabbed him right in the gut with it.

"Gah!" He gasped before falling over.

"I had such plans for you, Octavia!" Twilight yelled. "I had everything planned. I had the plan A's, the B's, even C's and D's! Yet all of them counted on you! You were my most trusted Den Master. You would have believed me! If you didn't lose your way, you would have seen my plan for peace. You would have believed in it!"

I ducked under my sword as it swung for my neck. The Bearer of Honesty was only now starting to get up. I could not fight a floating sword for long. Twilight scratched my leg and arm as I tried to evade every lighting fast swing. The remaining Assassins wisely fled and allowed me more space.

"Sunset's death may be a true advantage, but she was still my friend! My first friend!" Twilight continued. "She feared death. She was afraid of being alone or without me. Now she is alone! Now we are separated! You ruined her, Octavia!"

The sword struck a stone pillar and broke, but it kept coming for me. Even after I broke sight with the Bearer, she seemed to sense my location. She was no doubt seeing me through walls with Elemental Vision. The Bearer's voice began to stammer with emotion.

"Sunset talked about survival. It was her rule in life. You all should follow the rule! If you all quit now, Rarity, Applejack and the rest of you won't have to die for a cause that was never there!"

"Rarity is dead as well!" I yelled.

The sword fell to the ground as its wielder dropped it. I withdrew from behind the wall to look at her. She was looking at me, her eyes still glowing. Tears flowed down her cheeks and her lips quivered. 

"Not Rarity..." She cried softly.

"See what ya did, Twilight?" Applejack said as she stood up. "Ya lost all your friends."

The bubble dissipated around them. "Not...not my friends..."

"Ya was so powerful with Magic because we all loved you, Twilight." The Bearer of Honesty continued. "Ya know that you use Friendship to power your abilities. Every Element has its cost. Without Friendship, you have no power."

"I had such plans...." Twilight stammered. "I had friends who could help me."

"Ya had us all fooled. You've been using our Friendship to make ya powerful while you lied to us all. Ya kept the power because some of us had faith in ya. Some of us believed ya didn't need to die. Rarity and Sunset were ya last friends. No one living loves ya."

"Celestia....Luna..."

"Have now abandoned you. Celestia must've learned what ya did to Luna."

Twilight's shoulder slumped over and she looked at the ground. Her eyes ceased to glow and were filled with tears. The remaining Assassins and I crept towards the Bearers. Applejack laid a large hand on Twilight's shoulder.

"This is the consequence of ya actions, Twilight. Ya lost all your friends."

"I never wanted this to happen...Not Rarity..."

"Too late to regret."

"I wanted peace....peace with my friends."

Applejack raised Twilight's chin so that she looked up. "It wasn't all ya fault. The Element inside you is corrupted. It caused a lot of this. I could call ya a victim, but I've met temptations too. I guess I was better at not fallin' for them."

"Can you forgive me?" Twilight sniffled. "Can you forgive Us?"

"Probably will, someday." Applejack shrugged. "But it ain't that day."

"I'm sorry..."

Twilight hugged Applejack tightly around the waist. I was already back on the flat rooftop and the other Assassins stood next me. The Bearer of Honesty returned the hug. 

"Ya can make ya last requests, sugarcube." Applejack whispered. 

"You don't have to do this. I....I can make it up, somehow." Twilight said.

"Sorry, but I said I was gonna kill you. If I don't, I'd be lying."

Applejack moved Twilight at arms' length. One of her large hands rested on the Bearer of Magic's chest before being lifted over her shoulder, ready to strike. Twilight did nothing but rub Applejack's other arm.

"You don't have to do this. Please." Twilight uttered.

"I can't let you off for all ya done. I wish I could."

Applejack's fist went deep into Twilight's chest. Blood spilled out onto the Bearer's gauntlets. Twilight gasped for a breath and clucthed the hand that was holding her Element. Her eyes were flooded with tears and knees buckled.

"Please. Just remove your hand and let Magic be. I don't want to die before I can change." Twilight pleaded.

"I would've believed ya, but I've seen too much of ya. The Element and you are corrupted. You're a danger to people here, Twilight. I won't let ya harm another."

Applejack closed her eyes and pulled the Element out of Twilight's chest. The Bearer made a leap for Magic, trying to pry it from Applejack's hand. The attempt was futile and Twilight fell face first to the stone. In one desperate move, she took hold of Applejack's boot and looked up.

"Please put it back! I'm begging! I....I'm not ready to die....not like this! I want to change what I've done....I don't.....want....to die...with....regret..."

She gave one breath before rolling over and dying. The pulsing Magic in Applejack's hand was letting out a low pitch noise, as if crying itself. I walked over to her, occasionally glancing at Twilight's body. The massive hole in her chest let blood ooze out and her eyes, just like Sunset's, looked to the grey sky. 

"I thought it'd be easier..." Applejack said as I drew near.

"It had to be done, Bearer. You should not let it rest on your soul." I told her.

"But it does." She trembled. "It does more than I did imagine. She was my friend, Octavia. More than you know. Just like she trained you, I trained her. I gave her leadership over the Brotherhood. I guess that makes me responsible for all this Chaos."

"It's not time to find blame in anything. It's time for us to rebuild."

She looked at me with the saddest eyes I ever did see. I'll never forget the look. "The Element's corrupted. I can feel its energy and its anger. Octavia, this thing can't be used by the Brotherhood anymore. None of the Elements can. They're corruptible, just like any human. Twilight's jus' the first of many to come. Maybe I'll be next, or Fluttershy when she hears of this. Octavia, we never held our Elemental traits. We never could. I can't tell ya how many times I lied. Honesty never left me like it said it would. The Element of Honesty is nothin' but a liar itself. The Bearers are nothin' but false images. We can't use these things anymore. The Harmony left them once we removed them from the Tree."

"What are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggestin' that we return the Elements to the Tree of Harmony. All of them."

"But you know that means..."

"Yes, I do. We shall go to the Everfree at once. After that....You're in charge of what's left of the Brotherhood."

"As you wish, Bearer."

"Can ya promise me one thing?"

"What?"

"Will you do exactly as I say, even my last order?"

"I will."

"Good. Fetch the remaining Assassins. We'll swing by the Den and get Fluttershy. I don't want to inform her of who we lost today, but....I'll just have to do it."

Applejack bent over and gently picked up Twilight's body, holding it like one would a sleeping friend. The battle was over, but no one cheered. I watched the Bearer carry Twilight's body away, sobs being heard here and there. With a sigh, I turned and dropped to the ground where the Assassins walked about, collecting the remains of fallen Assassins. Vinyl leaned on a tree, her mask on again and her arms crossed aggressively.

"Serves her right." She told me as I approached.

"There's no need for that, Vinyl."

"Here ya go, tryin' lecture me again. Good ol' Den Master." She snarled.

"Vinyl, what's with you?" I asked coldly.

"Oh, nothing at all!" She sarcastically remarked. "Jus' that we lost the whole Brotherhood here in Canterlot! Mark my words, Tavi, I'm gonna change this Brotherhood. It's time for a leader change and I'm gonna bring it."

"Fine! You do that!" I said through my teeth. "Perhaps after all this, I'll just quit the Assassins for good! It seems like you don't need me."

She paused. "Sorry 'bout that. This is all jus' getting to me. All I can think of is Discord's words when I became a Survivor. There's only one thing that is eternal, and that's Chaos.  I now see what he meant. Harmony couldn't even stop Chaos..."

"Don't you dare give in to him." I pointed at her chest. "Discord is not your friend!"

"But he's an ally..."

The words frightened me. She sounded so sincere. I was losing her again. Instead of being a good friend and hugging my only friend closely, I backed away as if she was a monster. I then remembered about the Assassins and Applejack. With a stammering order, I told them to find any shards and Elements and then move out. With fear in my heart, I went on ahead of them, leaving a Brother to help support Vinyl's wounded leg. My hand tingled as I walked away. It was telling me to look back, but I never did. 


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