Epilogue: Know They Did1,309 words

The Once and Future

Dan, Phoenix, Twilight and Chrys charged into town hall, ready for a fight. It was waiting for them.

"Well, hello there," Vice Grip said from the upper banister, "I don't believe you have an appointment." His voice was absent the usual pompous sarcasm, the 'better than you' attitude he normally exuded. Though still sarcastic, he regarded them coldly. Very coldly. Contemptuously.

Dan was his usual hot self. "HIIAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!" He started to say "HIM!" or "GET HIM!" but the thought turned into gargling, boiling rage before it left his mouth. He broke from his friends and charged for the staircase. Vice didn't even blink.

"Make this easy on yourself and surrender!" Phoenix called. (Easy on yourself and us. Please.)

"We leave for a few days and all of a sudden, there goes the neighborhood," Chrys said mockingly. "Who even let you in? We have a strict no-techno-terror-tyrant policy."

Vice did not respond. His stare was impenetrably intimidating, almost an attack in and of itself. He paid no regard to Dan coming up on his right, snarling with the kind of anger only a Dan could possess. Dan was a lot like the Hulk but with less green and less bulk. The anger and the strength, he may have had those. Definitely the anger.

Behind Phoenix, Twilight and Chrys, Fluffle Puff and Marksaline looked on as others began to gather. They were all beginning to look genuinely concerned.

"AAAAARRRRAAAHH!" Dan reached Vice... and Vice reached Dan. He reached out and grabbed his hand mid-charge. "Aaah!" Vice took him by both wrists, Dan struggled in his grasp. Only then did Vice slowly turn and face him.

"You think you know what anger is?" Vice said. He slowly bent Dan's hands upward. The human kicked at him but Vice pushed him down to his knees. "You think you KNOW me?"

"You're a- AAAAHHG-"

"I gave my life for this country. I gave my life for this kingdom!" He broke Dan's thumbs simultaneously. "I GAVE UP EVERYTHING FOR THESE PONIES!!"

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!"

"And you... you think you can come in and play the hero?!" Vice yelled through gritted teeth. Dan's index fingers snapped and he screamed again.

Chrys had seen enough. She was the first to respond and immediately took flight, furious girlfriend bug horse. Her horn pulsed blue-green and blades of energy appeared. She whipped her head down and the blades flew towards Vice Grip. The blades connected with the wall and banister, exploding in flashes of brilliant green flames but not a one touched the scientist. He didn't turn to look at her.

Vice lifted Dan by his hands over the banister, causing the human to scream in pain further, and dropped him to the floor. Twilight and Phoenix rushed to his aid.

Chrys continued her attack. She summoned blade after blade, bolt after bolt of energy and rained them down on Vice. The balcony and north wall of the town hall were destroyed, wood splintering and burning to cinders in flashes of green-blue anger. She flung energy into she was exhausted, ripped parts of the ceiling down and threw them at him, followed those with more energy and finally blasted the space with a beam from her horn so big it took off the roofs of twenty houses behind it, incinerating them.

When she was done, she barely had the energy to fly. The dust cleared to reveal Vice Grip hadn't even been touched. A translucent blue energy shield protected the scientist as he hovered, unscathed.

Vice lifted hand up and brought it down. A support column from the ceiling crashed down on Chrys, slamming her all the way to the floor and pinning her down. Twilight and Phoenix, trying to get Dan out of the way, were forced to back away as the pillar of wood came down.

"We didn't have a bug problem until we involved the princesses," Vice said. He hovered down to them, keeping Chrys pinned by the heavy wood. "But I'm sure I can solve it for them. I just have to apply the right... pressure." He pressed the beam against her back, she screamed in pain, Dan got up again.

"I'LL KILL Y-"

Vice grabbed him by the shoulder, spun around him and slammed his head into the column. He then pushed him back into Twilight and Phoenix, knocking them all down.

"You... why are you doing this?!" Twilight screeched. "What in the squeeing yay is WRONG with you?!!"

"This is about revenge, isn't it?" Phoenix asked. "This whole time, it hasn't been about the future at all."

"I didn't ask for advice from the defense counsel," Vice said. He turned to face them, fists balled. "You didn't care a thousand years ago. You didn't want an explanation then. Why should it be any different now?"

"We know this is about your father," Phoenix said. "Your father was the chancellor for the earth ponies, wasn't he?"

"My father?" Vice asked. He breathed visibly, for the first time more quizzical than cold rage. The question just barely pierced the hate, his voice, level, asked them through the haze of rage.

Phoenix nodded. "We know. We know your father was assassinated. We're... we're sorry."

"We are," Twilight said, "but it happened a thousand years ago, Vice! We had nothing to do with it- ponies, humans, we're innocent!"

"Innocent?" Vice repeated. "Innocent," he nodded emphatically, bobbing his head in a jittery motion. "Or just complicit?

"Please, we didn't know!" Twilight begged. "We didn't kill Rice Puddinghead."

"Rice Puddinghead?" Vice repeated. Dan tried to say something about it being a stupid name, but his face was too smashed to form the words. "Rice... Puddinghead..." Vice repeated again.

"He was a good pony. He was a hero to the-" Twilight started, but Phoenix grabbed her by the shoulder. He had already figured it out. In a way, he'd figured it out a long time ago, but his mind didn't know how to put it together. Or maybe he just didn't want to.

"We know the princesses killed Rice..." Twilight's voice trailed.

And Vice put one hand around his neck. With his metal fingers, he began peeling off a layer of mask revealing golden-colored coat underneath. He ripped it all the way to the top, revealing a silver mane that seemed to shine like the sun. The second sun. "I am Rice Puddinghead. You killed my son."

The Last Earth Pony Chancellor
Rice Puddinghead IV
Equestria's "Second Sun"

"But... but..." Twilight stammered in disbelief.

"Vice... Vice Grip was your son!"

"And they murdered him!" Vice... or Rice yelled. "Over grain... over land. Over their own fear and greed!"

Dan shot up. "So... wait, you took your son's name? Because he-" Rice hit him again, silencing him.

"My future died a thousand years ago with my little boy... my son," Rice said, tears now streaming down his face. "I did everything for him. For my family. For my kingdom. For my ponies. My little ponies."

"Vice... Rice, I'm sorry," Twilight said. Her own eyes were watering. "I'm..."

Rice laughed in a way that disturbed them all. "You're sorry? You're SORRY? That's it?"

She nodded. Her eyes felt heavy, she couldn't meet his, she stared at the floor. "We... we didn't know. We didn't know..."

"Didn't know? Or didn't care, Twilight Sparkle?" Rice asked. He broke the beam in half just as Dan bolted upright again and charged at him. The column collapsed on Dan, forcing Twilight and Phoenix to dodge left and right.

Twilight got up slowly. Dust filled the room but quickly began to dissipate. The air smelt of ash and wood. Rice stood before her, he pointed at her and gestured toward himself.

"Come, student. Let us see if your old professor has anything left to teach you."

She turned to face him fully, bracing her legs against what was left of the floor. When it came to magical combat, she was more of a duelist than a brawler. Duels involved two opponents facing each other using spells one after another with not much movement. All magical fighting required significant amounts of knowledge, skill and mental discipline. The way you pictured a spell in your mind was the way it appeared, so fighting required you to control your own thoughts and guess what your foe is thinking.

"We don't have to do this."

Rice lifted his hand up. Chrys' prone form rose from the floor, plucked by his magic. "Shall I make this interesting, then?"

She gritted her teeth. "Give her back!"

"Take her from me. Take her like you took everything else."

"STOP!!" Twilight unleashed her magic. From her horn, she fired a purple energy beam aiming at Rice's hand. He didn't move to block it; he didn't have to move at all. His shield blocked her attack, absorbing it completely.

"You're not taking this seriously!" Rice taunted. He reached out with his other hand and a giant blue magic one appeared. The blue hand flew at her, intent on snatching her up. Twilight fired a beam at it, striking it right in the palm. The energy hand exploded, but quickly transformed into millions of tiny needles. The needles flew at Twilight from several directions at once, so she summoned a shield to protect herself.

The energy needles pelted her shield, forcing her back, her hooves scraping against the floor as she slid. The needles bombarded her rhythmically, preventing her from lowering the shield to zap them. Instead, she focused her shield outward and folded it over the needles, sticking them all to it like pins in a cushion. She rolled the pin cushion and flung it down at Rice from over head, intent on flattening and sticking him.

It was Rice's turn to make a shield. His own shield formed into a box and cut the energy needle strip on contact, bisecting it. He then reached out with both hands, dropping Chrys and grabbed both of the strips telekinetically. He rolled them into balls in his levitation and threw both at Twilight.

Rice was good, she had to admit. Magical holds, blunt energy versus penetration on defensive shields, he knew both moves and counters. But Twilight was experienced.

Part of being a mare, part of being a lady, was being able to reverse a situation and use it to your advantage. Of course, that was what guys like Dan did, but being a lady, much like being a gentleman, meant doing that with seamless style.

She summoned a new shield and turned it into a curve. The twin pin missile pinballs were caught by the curve and rolled back around, shot back at Rice by their own momentum.

"Celestia has taught you well indeed," Rice said. He smiled. "Not well enough." The pinballs hit him and the image of Rice flipped, spinning like something out of a pinball machine. Energy magic was only one part of magic- reality-bending was another. Rice had just escalated the game.

The pinballs suddenly came at her from both sides. She ducked and they collided with each other barely centimeters above her head, exploding. She shielded herself again as the tiny needles rained down on her, disappearing into poofs.

*Nurrt-nurr* The word TILT appeared above her head.

"What?" She looked at it, confused for a brief fraction of a second. Still too long. An energy pinball flipper smacked her from the side. *DING!*

"Aaaahhh!" Twilight bounced off one of the support beams and into another one, into another one, then into another one. The accompanying pinball sound effects rang out and Rice's score increased along with Twilight's damage. Finally, the beams broke and part of the upper level collapsed upon her.

---HIGH SCORE---
1. NEW! RPH_......10000
2. DAN......9999
3. ASS........9001
4. TWI........8242
5. TOM......7777

"Pffft. That's not regulation! Hax! Hax!," Pinkie said.

"I'm afraid they're playing a different kind of game, Pinkie," Discord said, patting her on the shoulder. This action drew looks from Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow and Fluttershy.

"Uhhh..."

"C'mon girls, let's get in there and help out Twi!" AJ declared.

"Right!"

"Don't we have to insert a coin first?" Discord asked. He checked his pockets. "I don't have any bits on me right now."

Pinkie patted him. "Don't worry. Oh, there's one now- WAAAAAAAAH!" A giant bit rolled out of the town hall and flattened them all.

Back inside, Rice wiped his hands. "Who's next?"

"HOLD IT!" Rice turned to see Phoenix Wright holding his parasol like it was a sword.

Rice chuckled. "You supposed to be the Nickel Samurai or the Jamin' Ninja?"

Phoenix shrugged. "I'm more of a Steel Samurai fan. Steel Samurai: The Next Generation is pretty good."

"Too bad it was canceled."

"OBJECTION! It's technically on extended hiatus! That's not the same thing," Phoenix countered.

"Ha!" Rice laughed, "Is that what the studio told you? It's dead, Wright. You're overruled."

"Gyah!" Phoenix's psyche gauge took a nasty hit and bottomed out. He dropped the umbrella, defeated.

"The defense rests," Rice said, turning away. "Now to deal with the rest of your friends."

Dan, Twilight and Chrys crawled their way from under the debris to Phoenix's position. Already Rice was engaging and deftly defeating the other members of Dan's massive team. Flim and Flam tried to sell him something and he buried them in fake bits, Trixie briefly dueled him before trying to smoke bomb escape, Rice blew her up in a puff of smoke. Derpy and the Blasties tried to get Rice with the old telegram bomb... and Rice sent it backed marked 'return to sender.'

"We... we're throwing everything we've got at him," Chrys wheezed.

"He's unstoppable," said Twilight.

"We might not be able to win this," added Phoenix.

"Yeah... pretty much," said Dan.

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO AGREE WITH US!" they all shouted at him.

"HEY! "Pretty much" does NOT mean we're giving up!" Dan fired back.

"Then what's the plan?"

Dan nodded in defeat and looked down at the floor. "I am... out of ideas. I'm sorry, Twilight. I'm sorry... everyone."

Phoenix shook his head. "No. NO!"

"OBJECTION!"

"Yes, that, Chrys- Dan! You CAN'T be out of ideas," Phoenix argued. "Since I've known you, you have NEVER been out of ideas. You have to have something. All the drills, all the preparation, don't tell me THIS is something you didn't see coming?" he asked him. And Dan slowly lifted his head up. "Come on, Dan! You can do it!"

Dan nodded again, cunningly this time. "Alright... there is one thing left. But this is the big one. This is all I got left, guys."

"What's the plan, Dan?" Twilight asked. Her eyes sparkled with hope.

"The last one- Plan X." They all gasped.

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Booster Spice

Booster Spice #1 · Sep 9th, 2018 · · ·

Plan X?

Let, the Anvils Ring.

Too tired at the moment to think of the Surrender Mr Anderson trick.

Dustchu

Dustchu #2 · Sep 9th, 2018 · 1 · ·

Whooooa... okay, honestly didn't expect that Whew!

Good job, good job!

LadyLeomon

LadyLeomon #3 · Sep 9th, 2018 · 2 · ·

A new chapter means it's ~Sunday~ now lemme see n'ere *dons reading glasses*

City Hall is covered in Chancellor Puddinghead propaganda? Oookay ... What the fudge is that twerp doing here?! Kill Dan! Kill!!!

Aww crapulations! After everything these guys have gone through they're gonna get punked by Franken-Pony?! Wait-*needle scratch*

WHAT-WHAT-WHAT?! So all this time we've been fighting Vice Grip's dad pretending to be his son?! This is just ... what?! But we heard him yelling at Dan during their first real fight that they 'killed his father'! Or was he just loopy by then after 1000+ years of grief after his son died? And why, if his son was the one who died, was he remembered as 'Chancellor Puddinghead' when his name was Vice Grip? I'm so confused

Well, now I feel a right beeyatch for badmouthing Vice Grip when I should have been badmouthing Vice Grip Sr! (I'm sorry I just can't take a bad guy named 'Puddinghead' seriously!

Just, wow on so many levels! I was not expecting this and you sure stunned me, I take my hat off to you Mr Author! Here: 🎩 Now ... where do we go from here? I dare not even imagine it!

Thanks for this week's chilling chapter (seriously it gave me chills worse than Yakyakistan ever could!) I can't choose favourite quotes this week because to do so would be to insult anything I don't highlight. It's just that great!

Awesome as always and I'll see you ~next time~

Your Eternal Fan ^_^