The next day.
"Church?" Twilight called, knocking on the door to his room. "Are you awake?"
"Yeah, come in." Church grunted as he watched the rain outside his window.
Twilight opened the door and stared silently at Church, who didn't move from his spot.
"Something wrong?" Church asked.
"Celestia contacted me to tell you that the ceremony has been planned for today."
"This soon?" Church saw Twilight’s reflection nod as he looked to the mirror on the wall. "Who else is going?"
"Just the others." Twilight said, not moving out of the doorway.
"And Celestia?"
Another nod.
"Alright, just..." Church sighed.
"Take all the time you need." Twilight finished, leaving and closing the door behind her.
Church came out of the room a few moments later to see Spike sitting on Twilight's back.
"Hey Church. Sorry to hear about Caboose." Spike said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he tried to find some way to comfort him.
Church nodded in response, but remained silent.
"The others should be there by now." Twilight said.
They made their way through the rain, eventually coming to a large building, where there were two royal guards present in the rain.
"She would be the one to leave the people that work for her out in the rain."
"They volunteered to be out here Church. She isn't as bad as you make her out to be."
"I bet." Church muttered as the door swung open, revealing Celestia who stood by sadly.
"I'm happy that you all could make it." Celestia said.
Church simply walked past her, not even acknowledging her presence. Church looked around the building and saw a long carpet that led up to a podium in front of an altar, where there was a bouquet and a candle.
"Where's Pinkie?" Church asked curiously.
"She wasn't home when Celestia sent the message."
"How do you think she's handling it?"
"Not well. I've never seen Pinkie like this before, but trying to talk to her might do more damage than anything else. This sort of thing isn't a common occurrence here."
"Seems to be a common occurrence around me though..."
A gray pony came out of the building near them and made his way up to the podium and coughed. Church retreated into his thoughts as the pony began to give a formal eulogy, remembering all that had happened to him in the past. He snapped to attention when Twilight tapped on his shoulder lightly.
"Would anypony like to say any words?" The pony asked, looking over the small group.
"Yeah." Church said.
Church walked up to the small podium and looked at the faces of everybody present. Each of the girl’s faces were adorned with a sad look, while the guys simply stared at Church.
"Yesterday I realized I always took Caboose for granted. Out of all the shit that has happened in my life, he has been the only consistent part of it. As annoying as he was, he was always there no matter what happened, whenever I needed it. But I was too stupid to notice. And now that he's gone, I'll never get to tell him that I appreciated having him around." Church said, nodding at the bouquet that was placed next to a candle. "I'll remember you buddy."
"Church..." Twilight whispered after a few seconds of watching Church stare at the altar.
"Yeah?" Church asked, turning to see Twilight staring at him.
Church looked to his side and saw a small image appear on his flank. It was a key.
"Fuck this." Church muttered angrily, trotting out of the hall.
Twilight began to walk after him, looking back at Applejack as she did so. Applejack gave her a sad nod as Twilight turned and began to walk after Church, who was now standing in the rain, looking at the sky.
"Church-"
"I don't want to hear it." Church muttered dryly.
"Church I know what you're feeling, but do you think tha-"
"I'm sorry, did you just say you know what I'm feeling?" Church yelled, hitting the ground with his hoof. "You have no fucking idea what I'm feeling."
"You're right Church, I don't understand exactly what you're feeling. But I still want to help."
"Help? Help?" Church laughed roughly. "How the hell do you expect to help a lost cause?"
"You're not a lost cause."
"My best friend died to save me, and I never even took the time to tell him that. What kind of friend does that make me?"
"That doesn't make you a lost cause."
"What about the fact that I am forced to love somebody that does not and, for all I know, cannot love me." Church snarled. "Do you know what that feels like?"
Twilight said nothing, looking at the puddle that was forming by Church's hooves.
"And now look at this. Look at it!" Church snarled, causing Twilight to flinch. "Do you know what the fuck this is?"
"It's a key." Twilight said sadly.
"That's right, a fucking key. Memory is the key. Do you know what that tells me?" Church asked, but received no reply. "It tells me that I'm nothing but a shadow of my former self. I can never be complete. Nothing will ever go right for me. I'll always be forced to remember all the things I've ever done wrong and I can never forget them. So please, tell me how the fuck you think I'm feeling right now."
Twilight stared silently at Church, who was now watching the drops of rain hit the ground. She slowly made her way to his side and lifted his chin with her magic. Church yanked his head away and began to look at his reflection in a puddle.
"Because I sure as hell don't know..."
"That's just it Church. You don't understand how you're supposed to feel. You can't understand. Too much has happened to you that has hurt you in different ways, and with no one to put blame on, you shift that blame on to yourself. But I want to change that. I want to be there for you and help you when you need it most."
"Just go away." Church muttered, pushing Twilight away. "You can't help me."
"You can't handle this on your own, and you know that." Twilight stated. "It's just life Church, you have to take the good with the bad, even if the bad seems to be the only thing coming."
"But the bad is the only thing coming my way, I've all but lost hope for anything good."
"If you had lost hope for yourself you wouldn't be talking to me and you know it."
"Maybe." Church sighed, looking into the puddle.
"You can change Church, you just can't do it alone." Twilight said, hugging Church. "And you definitely have to try."
"I'll try." Church sighed, unconvinced.
"That's all I was hoping for." Twilight said as she tried to smile encouragingly.
FIRST! HAHAHAHA
*edit* read chapter. Manly non-existent tears shed. Memory is key.
ps Season 10 is 3 days away!!
647193
Y'know you can get banned for that right?
647197 yes. but im just having a really good day today so i don't care. now hush, im trying to read it with the correct voices in my head.
A couple of chapters ago a guy said, "For all those reading this, remember, 'memory is the key' caboose will live on." (roughly) who knew that he actually predicted this without knowing...
647225
Well that's because it's an obvious statement since it's the whole point of the last two seasons.
As sad as it was, I laughed my ass off when his cutie mark appeared. No matter what, he just can't stop things from being extremely complicated for him. I've always thought of Church as someone who completely detests the fact that he's the main character, but can't escape it.
Another fine addition to your tome, old chap.
You for got 'the' in "Memory is 'the' key otherwise it's good...kinda wish it was longer though I was hoping to hear a bit from the others
647259
Dammit I know these but I always somehow leave out a word.
Damn my short attention span.
I have a feeling Church will explode [EXPLOSIVO BEYATCH] some day.....quite literally
647197 ohh well, KEEP FIRSTING PEOPLE
..Bwhahhaha1 Awkward cutie mark.
Told you all. I freaking told you
Wait......since Church has his mark doesnt that mean they can leave now?
647284
All you said was "Memory is the key", you never said it would be his cutie mark.
647301
Yes. Yes it does.
Well, that was that. Also still betting on my theory of the Epsilon unit being an alien inter-dimensional transporter.
647305 so does that mean theres only going to be one more chapter?
I just wanna give Church a hug.
i haven't hit season 3 of rvb yet...before i read this I am going to finish 9...
647404
If you hurry and finish the rest in 2 days you'll make it in time for season 10!
647406 yeah i know, but that's not going to happen...I have my own fics to worry about, plus i just got into super monday night combat, and fallout new vegas would hold my soul if I had one. maybe once im done with al my current engagements : P
Manly tears wer shed after reading this chapter
Man...
291486 I can mimic caboose's voice perfectly even on an xbox live mic.... Oh the fun ive had mimicking him and his behavior while wearing the same amour on halo reach live
You know, I wonder... would getting killed inside the Epsilon actually kill the person outside of it, or would it just force them out? Because while it would be nice to see Caboose still alive... He would be stuck out there with Carolina.
647302 be that as it may, it still stands
If season 10 starts Monday that means this series will need to end for it to start. please don't end it
647273 It's a good thing your "R" works, otherwise that sentence would have an entirely different meaning
647826 (if i put any more of these i will get reported for spamming)
647940
For a second I was about to say "What's with all the numbers dude?"
And then I facepalmed at my drunkeness.
Damn. I mean...just damn. Your practically immortal, so suicide's out of the question,yet you have no hope, your only love delights in kicking your hearts ass, and your life only seems to get worse. It's a fact now.
It fuckin sucks to be Church.
647977 Yea you're right. I still like the story. Can't let my pessimism get the best of me.
647979
And it still hasn't been explained why he is a pony, but it will later. Same point for where his armor went.
And as for what he looks like just look through the comments of each chapter. There a couple where I've put a link to my dA page where I show what he looks like as a pony.
all my thoughts are gone, Caboose
Sir you fucking made this the best story in Fimfic
but still
Poor Church. Dude can never catch a break
Couldn't stifle the laugh when his mark appeared.
a moment of silience for Caboose
647197 People are getting banned for saying first now? That is brilliant!
Wow, well...seems things have there own direction now.
Well, I most certainly have found this to be....interesting. But there is one thing that boils my blood to the core, no matter what. Any attack on a UNSC soldier, no matter how incompetent and stupid they may be, by any foreign power, be it by themselves or by any agent of theirs, is an act of war. Though, I say that Celestia's actions on Church warrant a response of the harshest measures short of full war. What I would exactly is want the despot to be brought into custody. No other pony or human should suffer if it could be helped. Sorry, I'm a huge Halo fanboy. I just hate the Covenant and aliens in general. I could tolerate ponies and humans mixing if it did not involve such violence, but that despot acted out of line even with the situation she was facing. If she were more level headed like I would have expected her to be portrayed as, she would have just taken the insults in stride and ignored it completely, considering the situation. I'm done. But good story, none the less.
Church has a mental breakdown, Caboose is dead, yup, seems like a normal day in my life.
Since Caboose is dead, do you have to change the title now?
648570
You forget that they aren't UNSC soldiers.
648570 Well, the argument could always be made that though made in the Halo games, RvB is not actually Halo-based (although, I don't know enough about Halo lore to know if this is true) so as much as what you say is true in general, I could say that RvB has done enough to make a unique universe that you don't have to consider it something that follows the same social/military norms that Halo has.
647437 What gametypes do you play? I seem to recall your voice and armor looks.
648570 Like it has been said before, these guys aren't UNSC soldiers. Also, they're all inside a micro computer core. None of it is "real" in any sense of the word. So, Celestia is just part of a computers programming.
You may be a halo fan, but I paid attention to the story details and the specifics of UNSC technology.
I pay attention to the Haloverse very well myself. I even have a link to Halopedian.com for when I need to look back on certain things to ensure that the truth is being told about a certain portion of the Haloverse if there was ever a discrepancy brought up. But I did not know that RvB guys could be separate from the main Haloverse, as crazy as that sounds. It just boiled me over that anyone who is as supposedly wise and as hailed as a great ruler could act with such foolishness considering the situation. If it was more like Celestia, then she would have just taken Church's ranting in stride and just let him have his temper tantrum while she dealt with more important matters, like making sure that no other invaders came in so that something like what happened in the last 4 to 6 chapters never happen again. But, other than that, the story is A #1.
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chapter 104-106 have ot be the saddest things i've ever read EVER. OF ALL BUCKING TIME.
i cant handle this i i just need a hug