Assuaging Guilt
Chapter 11: Assuaging Guilt
Dawn skidded to a halt on a hill outside of town. Turning to look around, he realized he was alone before sagging to the ground, shaking. Berry Punch's words had indeed stirred up old memories within him as he remembered how others had accosted him in the past, blamed him for their misfortune and driven him away. In the past, it had been easy to dismiss such allegations as the words of ponies who solely looked for someone to blame for their own problems. But, for the first time, Dawn could look back on another pony's accusations and find that she had been right. Never before had he been able to draw such a clear line of cause and effect between himself and the pain other ponies had suffered, save for that which he'd been directly responsible for through his own actions.
But the evidence was clear before him. He'd already begun to realize it back at the barn, when the others were sharing how the events of the day before had left them troubled, unable to relax or sleep, how'd they'd needed the comfort of their friends and family to get through the night. And then he'd seen their teacher, collapsed in her own home, turning alcohol for comfort because his actions had undermined her validation. Dawn had made Cheerilee doubt her suitability for her profession, her calling. It's my fault.
The realization stabbed through him, causing the colt's breath to hitch. Everything that had happened yesterday had been a consequence of his presence in Ponyville. Willow had found him because he had settled in this town. She'd terrified the foals because he had gone to school. Cheerilee had broken down because he had gone out to confront her. In the end, he realized, The responsibility lies with me.
His eyes turned to the line of the Everfree Forest that stretched out in front of him. He had spent a year in that trackless wilderness, with only monsters and animals for company. He'd gone there because it had seemed the more appealing option than having to deal with ponies anymore. When his new mother had brought him out, he'd never thought he would look upon the forest again and think about going back. But now...Perhaps it would be better if I disappeared for good this time.
Dawn was so lost in thought, that his ears barely picked up the sound of hooves hitting the ground behind him. A second later, he felt the contact of somepony next to him. The colt automatically flinched away. However, he was stopped by the feeling of a gentle wing settling over his back. Looking over, he was surprised to see an orange filly settling next to him.
"S-Scootaloo?"
In the next second, Scootaloo threw her forelegs around Dawn's shoulders in a tight hug as she pressed her face against his neck.
"She's wrong," was all that filly said, "This isn't your fault Dawn. Please don't blame yourself. Please don't run away from us."
For a long time, Dawn couldn't think of anything to say. Lacking any other response, he allowed himself to relax against Scootaloo and allow silence to steal over them. As he did, he could feel the trembling of her wings. She had taken flight after him, chasing him across all the distance that he fled, in spite of the fact that she was still recovering from working her body nearly to exhaustion earlier that day. She did that...for me... Dawn didn't know whether to be flattered or regretful. Thanks to him, Scootaloo was in even worse shape than before.
After a while, Scootaloo seemed to recover enough that she felt as though she could move. Getting slowly to her hooves, she smiled at Dawn. "Come on. Let's go home."
Dawn got up and followed somewhat reluctantly as Scootaloo led the way to Fluttershy's house. In the time that had passed while they were lying there on the hill, the sun had begun to dip towards the horizon, making Dawn realize that Fluttershy and Melon were likely getting worried about their foals. He hoped that Scootaloo was strong enough to make it home.
As the cottage came into view, Dawn could see the lights on. For some reason, the thought of going back there made him hesitate. Staring at that cottage, his imagination suddenly conjured the image of Fluttershy in Cheerilee's position, losing herself to despair and sorrow because of something to do with him. No! It could be worse than that. If the Cult Solar continued to seek him out, then they would inevitably come after Fluttershy. If they knew what she had done for him, they probably wouldn't hesitate to exercise their wrath upon her. Dawn's legs began to shake as his mind called up images of Fluttershy, beaten, suffering, tortured, and homeless because she had taken him, given him a home, and called him son. What kind of son would I be if I brought that down on her?
Dawn's eyes turned towards the Everfree. I should go...I should go and never come back. As he thought, it suddenly occurred to him that this was eerily familiar. Then he remembered, this was the feeling he'd held back when Red River and Storm Front had decided to "execute" him. It was that lost feeling of wondering if there was ever anywhere he could truly belong amongst ponies.
At least, back then, it had been to teach him that, as the author of his own actions, Dawn was the one who held the power to determine whether or not ponies got hurt because of him. They had been trying to teach him the consequences of being too detached from the pain and feelings of others. But this was a different sort of problem. If ponies suffered now, it would not be because of something Dawn had done, it would merely be a consequence of his being. Fluttershy wouldn't be hurt because he'd done something to her. She would be hurt because he had been there with her.
Only a single thing stopped him from bolting for the forest then and there. Fluttershy would not be content to leave him alone. She had promised him back then, promised that she would go with him if he had to leave. She would follow me. She would try to find me. And if she got hurt doing so, it would be my fault as well.
"Dawn?" asked Scootaloo, turning to look over her shoulder at the colt in confusion. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw that he was eyeing the line of the Everfree once again. As the ebony colt turned to look at her, Scootaloo's eyes narrowed and she gave him a level almost-glare. "Don't even think about it," she said.
Dawn let out a sigh and once again followed her towards the cottage. Coming to the door, he stepped ahead of her and pushed it open. "I'm home," he said softly, almost afraid of what he would find on the other side.
The sight that greeted him was not one that he had been expecting.
Fluttershy was settled on the couch in the living room, a pot of tea and a pair of cups set out on the table in front of her. That, in and of itself, wasn't surprising. Fluttershy was fond of tea (a fondness Dawn shared) and the two of them had spent many an idle evening enjoying an after-dinner cup of mild green tea while Dawn did his homework and told his mother about his day. What surprised him was not that Fluttershy had company either. What truly surprised him was who that company was.
Cheerilee was also seated at the table, clearly having been talking to Fluttershy. The look on her face was sad, regretful. Dawn could see the tracks in the fur beneath her eyes, a sign that she'd been crying recently. He could see similar tracks coming from Fluttershy's eyes. Both of them had shed tears at some point. And Dawn was fairly certain he knew the reason why.
The sound of the door opening, attracted the attention of the two mares. They turned as one and spotted the jet-black colt, frozen halfway through walking in the door, Scootaloo standing behind him.
"Oh Dawn!" said Fluttershy, her face breaking into a radiant, genuine smile as she saw him, "Thank goodness you're home. I was worried when Cheerilee told me what had happened."
Her wings fluttered, allowing herself to fly up and glide over the table before coming to rest in front of Dawn. She immediately pulled him into a warm hug and ushered him all the way in, throwing a grateful look to Scootaloo as she did. Fluttershy guided Dawn towards where Cheerilee sat and bade him sit across from the teacher.
"Now then, Miss Cheerilee has something she needs to talk to you about..."
Spitfire stared listlessly at the letter in front of her. It was an ordinary piece of paper. But it boggled the mind to think that such a paper could be a source of so much hardship to a single colt. She was glad that she'd found the letter when she had. She didn't want to think about what might have happened if Fleetfoot had managed to get it sent to its intended recipient.
Of course, she thought, That doesn't mean that we can rest on our laurels. Sooner or later, it's gonna get out that Willow was defeated and then the cat will be well and truly out of the bag. That was not something she wanted hanging over her head.
Part of her still wanted to believe that this was a huge misunderstanding, that one of her Wonderbolts wasn't part of a superstitious cult that had driven Princess Luna to madness over a thousand years ago.
But it was all too true, all too real. And now she had to deal with it.
Spitfire's eyes were drawn to the page and she read the letter once again.
`To the venerable and wise Supreme Pontiff of our Order;
I hope that this letter finds you well as I bear tidings that are both good and ill. The demon that you have warned us about has finally emerged from concealment. He appeared here, in Cloudsdale, recently and I have managed to ascertain his location. Now that he has been found, he will be dealt with permanently. I have already been in contact with Willow, whom you contracted to end the demon over a year ago. I expect to receive news of his demise before long.
However, not all news is good. For the demon has not been complacent in choosing his place of sanctuary. When I met him in Cloudsdale, he had merely been visiting as part of the effort to break up the tribalist fools seeking to fulfill their delusion of pegasus superiority. What truly troubles me is that he had been in the company of somepony very important. He was with Rainbow Dash, whom, as you may recall, is the Bearer of the Element of Loyalty and a pony of absolute importance to Her Radiance. As it turns out, the demon has been living in the home of one of the other Element Bearers, apparently Kindness. It upsets me to think that this demon has been living amongst the ones charged with protecting Equestria from him and his ilk. It is an exceptionally canny move as well. I hope that we have been able to act before his influence could pollute the Elements.
Whatever the case, once Willow has completed her work, I will inform you immediately, although that money-grubbing assassin might reach you first so she can collect her bits. Once this dark matter is resolved, I look forward to learning the progress of our plan to expel Nightmare Moon from the world once and for all.
May the Light of Her Radiance Illuminate the World Eternal;
Fleetfoot.
The letter brought up more questions than it did answers. Spitfire wondered just who this Supreme Pontiff was. Clearly, he or she was the leader of the Cult Solar. But the letter gave no hints as to just what kind of pony it was. Furthermore, Fleetfoot hadn’t addressed the envelope the letter had been in. So either she simply hadn’t gotten around to addressing it or she had a method outside of the Postal Service for getting her letters delivered to members of the Cult Solar. Once she was ready to begin Fleetfoot’s interrogation, Spitfire planned to find out.
Her reverie was interrupted by the door opening to admit Rapidfire. A satisfied smile was written across his face. “I just got back from the armorer,” he said, “She’ll have everything she needs in a couple days. She says she’ll have everything ready by the deadline.”
A bubble of excitement rose in Spitfire’s chest at the news. It was nice to shelve the issue with Fleetfoot for just a moment so that they could talk about something more optimistic. “So all that’s left is to let Soarin’ know.”
Rapidfire nodded in agreement. “He’s gonna be over the moon you know. He wasn’t expecting you to do this while he was on leave.”
Spitfire chuckled. “Knowing him, he’s gonna make the whole thing into a surprise.”
“With all that’s been going on, we could use a few nice surprises,” said Rapidfire.
Spitfire grinned and nodded. “I couldn’t agree more.”
Following the altercation at Cheerilee's house, the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders were left somewhat in the lurch by Dawn's, Scootaloo's, and then Cheerilee's abrupt departure. Not wanting to stay in the house, now that their reason for visiting had left them behind, and even less enamored with the idea of keeping company with Berry Punch after what she had said to Dawn, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Rumble quickly found themselves on the streets of Ponyville and at a loss for what to do.
They briefly entertained the idea of trying to find Dawn and help Scootaloo encourage him after what he'd just been through. However, given that Dawn had flown off, there were any number of places that he could have fled to. With Rumble being the only remaining pegasus in the group and being unwilling to leave the girls behind, there was only so much ground they could cover on hoof.
"Maybe we should leave it to Scootaloo," suggested Sweetie Belle, "We can always check with her tomorrow and see how things went."
"Ah guess that works out," admitted Apple Bloom with a shrug, "Maybe we should all just head home then. It's gettin' pretty late after all. Ah think mah sister and brother are gonna start wonderin' where in tarnation Ah've gone of to."
Sweetie and Rumble both nodded in agreement. "Rarity will freak out if I'm out too late," admitted the white filly.
"Alright," said Apple Bloom decisively, "Ah'll see y'all tomorrow then." She gave them one last smile before galloping off in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres, leaving Sweetie and Rumble alone in the awkward silence that followed.
Rumble looked at Sweetie and smiled bashfully before looking down and scuffing the ground with his hoof. "I-I guess this is goodnight then."
"Y-yeah," agreed Sweetie. She quickly looked around, as though checking for witnesses before stepping closer to Rumble. "Hey Rumble..."
"Yeah?"
She smiled. "I just wanted to let you know, it's okay and I don't think there's anything wrong with you."
Rumble's eyes widened as he remembered what he had confessed to earlier that day. "Really! Th-thanks."
Once again, Sweetie's eyes darted about before she leaned in and quickly planted a kiss on the gray colt's cheek. "Goodnight," she whispered into his ear before skipping off, leaving Rumble standing alone, his face now bright red. For a second, he was too dizzy with surprise to even think about going anywhere. Once he gathered his wits, he stumbled off in the direction of home.
He wasn't even halfway there when he heard the light fluttering of wings behind him. Turning around, Rumble saw that Flitter had landed there, smiling cheerfully at him.
"Hi Rumble," she said happily.
"Hi Flitter," said Rumble, turning to give her an enthusiastic hug. Flitter was very much an older sister to the young colt, particularly because she was often the one who looked after him while Thunderlane and Cloud Chaser went out on their dates. The two of them tended to get along quite well.
"Did you and your friends have a good day?" asked Flitter as she fell into step next to him.
Rumble nodded. "Uh-huh."
Flitter reached out and ran a hoof across his back. "Do you feel better?" she asked. She was fully aware of what had happened the previous night. She was worried that Rumble's bedwetting might have had consequences for his friendships.
"Yeah," replied Rumble, "I...I told them what happened and they said it was okay. Everypony had a really rough night, I guess."
"I'm glad," said Flitter, leaning down to nuzzle him, "Say...do you want to see something neat?"
"Something neat?" asked Rumble.
Flitter nodded. She spread her wings and fluttered up to hover overhead, beckoning Rumble to follow her. Rumble quickly joined her in the skies and the two of them took off towards an isolated patch of clouds left over from the last storm. When they arrived, Rumble was surprised to see the dark, grayish-purple form of Storm Front as the stallion stood on on the clouds in a waiting position. At first, Rumble started to move closer, but stopped when Flitter put out a hoof in front of him. Rumble turned to look at her, his wordless question being answered by Flitter putting a hoof to her lips.
"Just watch," she said as the two of them hovered there.
Rumble did as he was beckoned. They watched as Storm Front took off from the cloud to hover amongst them. The weight and cord of Storm's meteor hammer dangled down from his foreleg to hang limply. Then, Storm began to make the weapon spin, twirling the cord about in an exaggerated circle.
As the two watched, Storm Front went through his paces, wrapping the cord around his body, allowing him to control the reach of his weapon without having to halt its movement, swinging the weight about like a pendulum before wrapping it around his body again, only to send it launching straight out like a striking snake.
The clouds around Storm Front weren't there for the sake of being platforms. Going through the motions of his practice, Storm sent the weight barreling into the assembled clouds, striking them and blasting them away in much the same manner as a well-placed buck. Some of the clouds were too large to take out with a single strike, so instead Storm broke them into smaller pieces with sequential hits from the meteor hammer before dispersing them once they were small enough. His fluid motions allowed him to continue the rapid series of strikes without pause until the entire cluster of clouds around him had been reduced to just a few wisps of intangible vapor.
Flitter was smiling as she watched. She enjoyed the sight of Storm practicing and felt especially privileged that he didn't seem to mind her watching. It had only been a couple days since Pinkie Pie's party, so they hadn't had much of a chance to follow up on their date. But she'd sat in on his practice everyday since then and they had occasionally sat out talking, long into the night. Storm shared more stories of his homeland and his experiences traveling across Saddle Arabia and Equestria. Flitter, wishing that she had something as interesting to talk about, shared stories her own life, looking after Rumble, helping Cloud Chaser and Thunderlane through their relationship, the antics that the ponies of Ponyville inevitably seemed to get up to. If her stories bored him, Storm Front never seemed to show it. Instead, he seemed quite taken with hearing about such mundane happenings, perhaps having had his fill of extraordinary occurrences.
Rumble, in the meantime, was mesmerized by the sight. He remembered seeing Storm Front's skills in action during the stallion's fight with Dawn. Back then, the circumstances had kept the colt from focusing much on the nature of Storm's weapon. But now that the colt had the opportunity to see Storm's skills in detail, he found that he couldn't take his eyes away.
Storm paused to retract the cord of the weapon into his sleeve before turning to look at Rumble and Flitter. A slight smile spread across his lips at the sight of them. "Good evening," he said, drifting closer.
"Hi," said Flitter, no longer feeling so bashful in the stallion's presence.
Storm stopped to hover in front of them. "I see you brought your friend," he observed, looking at Rumble.
"Yes, thank you for letting him watch," said Flitter.
To her surprise, Rumble fluttered forward slightly, looking nervously at Storm Front. "Uh..." He rubbed his foreleg nervously, "Do you think you could teach me how to do that?" he asked.
Storm tilted his head as he regarded the colt and Flitter's eyes widened in surprise. She'd never seen Rumble take such an intense interest in anything before. He enjoyed racing with his brother and playing with his friends, but there seemed to be nothing that could really draw all the colt's attention and dedication.
Storm Front was silent for a moment before lifting his foreleg and allowing the meteor hammer to dangle out from its sleeve. "You want to learn how to use this?" he asked.
Rumble nodded eagerly. "It's really amazing. When I saw you doing it, I felt like I really wanted to try it for myself."
"Rumble..." Flitter was slightly taken aback. At the same time, there was a certain casualness to his request that she wasn't sure about, something that made it seem like he would give it up rather easily if it became more difficult than he thought.
"The meteor hammer is not an easy weapon to learn," said Storm, "Learning to use and control it is difficult, even painful at times. Are you sure you want to try learning this. It will require a great deal of dedication and practice."
Rumble nodded enthusiastically. "I want to try at least."
Storm smiled again. "Then I shall see what I can do."
"Dawn," said Cheerilee, her voice much softer than what he was used to hearing from the teacher, "I want to apologize for what my sister said. She had no right to talk to you like that."
"Even if what she said is true?" asked Dawn.
The magenta mare winced at Dawn's words, but recovered quickly. "No! It's not true Dawn. This isn't your fault."
"Isn't it though?" asked the colt, "Willow came there for me, shrouded the entire town in fog to find me, confused and terrified ponies to single me out, tormented everypony at school because I was there. My presence was the root of everything that happened yesterday."
"Dawn..." Fluttershy was on the verge of breaking down, crying. In its own way, this was worse than what he'd had to deal with the previous day. It seemed that coming to terms with somepony dying as a result of his actions was easier than what he was dealing with now.
"My friends were so terrified that they could barely make it through the night," said Dawn, "Scootaloo worked herself into exhaustion this morning to escape it. Apple Bloom had to sleep with her sister. Sweetie Belle is an exhausted mess. Rumble..." Dawn managed to cut himself off before he could blab Rumble's embarrassing secret to the two adults in the room. Instead, he shook his head. "And it was because I was there with them." He turned his gaze on Cheerilee. "I disobeyed you and left the schoolhouse to confront Willow. I left you crying on the floor, helpless. And then you..."
Cheerilee shuddered, inwardly cursing her weakness last night, her inability to come to terms with what had happened had caused her to turn to drink to escape her sadness. But now, she realized that that weakness had taken its toll on the colt in front of her. She was so disappointed in herself that she wanted to break down crying right there. However, she mustered her strength as she realized that this was where she could apply the true measure of her calling.
"Dawn," said Cheerilee, her voice firm, "I want you to listen to me."
Those dragon-like eyes turned their full attention to Cheerilee as the ebony colt was pulled out of his reverie. "Dawn, you are such a strong boy," she said softly, gently reaching out with a hoof and running it through his mane. Dawn's habitual flinch didn't even slow her down. "It's easy for me to forget things like that. Just a few days ago, you were absent because you were in Cloudsdale, fighting... For somepony like me, it's hard to connect with how somepony could go out and do those things, especially when that somepony is one of my students, one of the foals in my care.
"As a teacher, it's my job, my duty to give you foals a safe place where you can be free to learn and grow. For over half the day, you and your friends are under my care and guidance. During that time, you are my children. I love you all so much and I never want to see anything happen to you." A tear leaked out of the corner of her eye.
"Yesterday, I was terrified. You were one of my students and you were being threatened. I wanted to do my job. I wanted to protect you and keep you safe. I'd forgotten how strong you really are. What mattered to me was that you were one of my students. That's why I was so upset. I realized that I'd been weak, that I couldn't do anything to keep you or anypony else safe. Instead of me protecting you, you were protecting us. And that just felt so...wrong to me." She sighed. "You did nothing wrong yesterday. I made a mistake. I got upset over something that I shouldn't have and you got hurt because of that."
"But..." Dawn opened his mouth to protest, but found Cheerilee's hoof hovering over his lips.
"As for the other thing," she said, "That's horseapples and you know it. It doesn't matter that that mare was there for you, that she was coming after you. You didn't do anything wrong. If somepony gets hurt by a criminal, if she's robbed or taken advantage of, is it her fault?"
"No," replied Dawn.
Cheerilee nodded. "If somepony does something wrong, or even evil, then it's the fault of that pony. You can argue about the causes all you want, but the fact of the matter is that the only pony responsible for what happened yesterday is the pony you defeated. Nopony has the right to try and hurt you simply for being different, for existing. You have every right to a happy life with friends and family who love and care for you. Those ponies that want to hurt you are wrong for trying to take it away."
"But..." said Dawn, "This was only the first time. There will be others. What happens when somepony gets hurt by someone trying to get at me? What happens when my friends are victims of my presence." He sighed and looked down. "Everypony here will only get hurt if I stay. It seems that hurting ponies is the only thing I can do well...whether I want to or not."
"That's not true!"
Everypony turned to the source of the outburst. Scootaloo had been standing behind Dawn the entire time, listen to Cheerilee's efforts to encourage and help him. She was now glaring at Dawn with righteous indignation. "You don't get to say that after everything you've done!" She snapped, stalking forward as Dawn turned to face her. She lifted her forehoof and prodded his chest. "You're the one who saved Fluttershy from that jerk the night you came here. You're the one who taught me to fly, who got me into the sky. You're the one who protected me from my dad. You're the one who went to Cloudsdale with Rainbow Dash and got our storms back."
Dawn was actually leaning away from the force of Scootaloo's diatribe. "Don't you dare say that the only thing you're good at is hurting ponies. Do you know how long it's been since Ditzy's been in a flying accident?" Dawn shook his head. "Thirteen! It's been thirteen whole days since Ditzy's crashed into anything. That's like the longest she's gone without crashing in like...ever!" Scootaloo threw her hooves into the air. "And it's because of what you taught her. Those jerks aren't bothering Dinky anymore because you went and protected her."
She leaned in, nearly pressing her muzzle against Dawn's, glaring straight into his eyes. "So don't even think that you've only ever hurt ponies. I can't believe you would think that after everything that you've done, after all the ponies that you've helped."
"But..." Dawn had to admit that Scootaloo's words were moving. He couldn't really find fault with her arguments. However, that did little to ease his worries. The fact of the matter remained. The Cult Solar was still out there. They would most likely continue to pursue Dawn and harass those close to him until he was dead. In the face of something like that, did the good that he do really justify allowing his presence to continue to put them in danger?
Scootaloo stepped back. She could see the uncertainty in Dawn's expression. She glowered darkly at the colt. "Fine! If I can't get through your thick skull by talking to you, I'm gonna have to show you." She turned sharply and a headed for the door to Fluttershy's cottage.
"Where are you going Scootaloo?" asked Fluttershy.
"Home," said Scootaloo, "I'm tired and I need some sleep. I've got something I need to do tomorrow."
She turned and threw one last glare at Dawn. "Don't even think about running away before I'm ready to show you."
"Show me what?" asked Dawn, utterly baffled.
"You'll see," was the only answer he received.
"Wait," called Cheerilee, getting up and heading towards where Scootaloo stood. She smiled down at the orange filly. "It's late, so you should have an adult walk you home."
"Thanks Miss Cheerilee."
Cheerilee turned back to look at Dawn again and smiled. "Don't give up," she said softly, "You have ponies that love you and want you to stay with them. If you think that the threat of them getting hurt is bad, try to think about how much it would hurt if you left them."
Her words were like a needle jabbing the colt in the heart and he turned to look at Fluttershy, who was giving him a frightened stare, but not because she was afraid of him. Wordlessly, she wrapped the colt in her forelegs and drew him close.
Scootaloo snorted roughly and turned to head out the door, the teacher following close behind her. The door closed with a sharp bang, leaving Dawn alone in the house with his mother, who suddenly seemed terrified of the thought of letting him go.
Scootaloo huffed in frustration as she trotted down the road. Her legs were burning slightly after an afternoon spent walking and flying around. Being able to rest earlier had given her the energy to keep up with her friends. But the day's events were starting to catch up to her and she was certain that, when she got home, she would collapse into bed before long and be out like a light. But not for too long, she thought, I need to get up early tomorrow.
"Scootaloo?" The orange filly looked over to see Cheerilee staring at her questioningly.
"Yeah?"
"What exactly are you planning?"
Scootaloo smiled up at her teacher. "I was just thinking that Dawn can be pretty thick when he wants to be." She turned back to look at the road as they headed back into town. "It's just like last time. He gets it into his head that he hurts more ponies than he helps and he won't listen when we tell him that it's not true. So I figured, if he won't listen to words, then I'll show him instead."
"What are you going to show him?" asked Cheerilee.
"I'm not exactly sure yet," said Scootaloo, giving her teacher an uncertain look, "But I know where to start." Her smile turned into a smirk as she remembered something that Dawn had said when they had first started her lessons. The best place to start is at the beginning.
Stats
Page generated in 0.029 seconds
Total duration
900 users online
1,360,804 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Wow... Is Rumble a changeling? Because he is now Dawn.
Wait... they want to kill Luna? They'll have to get through me first... Sharpens knifes and loads guns... ... Okay, I'm ready.
Twilight's going to a party, eh? I hope that Arkenstone will be going with her. And when the nobles ask, she can tell them he is her date.
3703239
cdn.ebaumsworld.com/picture/AVERMAN84/ISeeNothing.png
They want to get ridd of luna?!!! .pulls out bazooka. I'd like to see them try
Aww come on, you leave us with Scoots wanting to show Dawn something important, so instead of giving that to us next chapter you show us Twilight
Dawn is cooler than Twilight.
I find myself wishing there was a system to like individual chapters in addition to the whole story. That way, I could give the author some sign that I loved the chapter without having to pollute the comments section with gibberish.
Oh, and I'm cool with heading back to spark&ark. The only time I get pissy is when moguera pulls those troll hangers. And yes there is a difference between a cliffhanger and trolling the audience.
I just realized a thing... The only reason Celestia couldn't declare the Celestial Order criminals was that they never actively harmed anyone before, right? (Memories of the first story of the series)
But now? They have Fleethoff letter, where she says clearly that the order had "rented" Willow to kill Dawn... that does classify heavily as harming.
What now?
Now all Dawn needs to do let it all out and cry
3703549 My idea is simple... BURN THEM!!! BURN THEM ALL!!!
Celestia should have doing this the first time. What for a ruler is she when she let her own sister suffer from such insults? Good, she doesnt want them to think of her as a tyrant. But what the cult was doing is discrimination and thats EVIL!!!
DAMN this Cult has taken her Sister away from her! They all should burn in TARTARUS!!!
Or even better... make Fleetfoots trial public and discredited her behavior and the cult official by Celestia herself. Maybe that will dislocate the cult down or at least some of the members.
3703364 3703239 WAIT FOR ME!!! I want to help Luna, too. And I bring a good friend of mine: this is Mr. Kal. Ashnikov
Why do I have the awkward feeling me. Pontiff is going to be a Pontifex Temir like in Zenonia 3. Working with the devil or something.
Another great chapter.
3703895 don't you forge about me! Grabs Pinkemina, let's go!
I just had THE Vision! The host or one of the guests on the Party tries to bring Twilight in the Cult Solar! As Princess Celestia's personal student it would mean a BIG deal for the Cult when even the Student from goddess Celestia is support them.
I'm assuming that should be 'too'.
3703895 Or blast them with the Elements of Harmony. Have Celestia say that only pure ponies can worship her, and that they need to be tested by the Elements. Since the Cult worships her so much, they'd do it without her making it law. The Cult also advocates killing Luna, one of the rulers, which should be enough to take them out. Also, they sent a member after Fluttershy in the second story, and she is technically a noble, so Celestia has plenty of ammunition to take them down. They're way too convenient of a plot device to take down at this point though. At this point, Twilight's plan from story one, which would put Dawn at risk, seems like the best course of action.
3704782 And Dawn is already in Danger. But with Twilights plan it would be "controlled" danger at least.
First time I read the letter, I read supreme cremepuff instead of pontiff. It sounds so much better that way (the Order of Celestial Light, led by the almighty Supreme Cremepuff!). At this point, couldn't Twilight return to Ponyville and get an invite from Celestia instead of dealing with the nobles? Also, Scootaloo forgot to mention that at least Dawn didn't bring any kind of evil super beings like Twilight and the other Elements tend to do. Hell, Rainbow Dash technically was responsible for an army (of guards) showing up and threatening to kill everyone less than a month ago (in story time).
3704782 But what would blasting them with the Elements do though? Not much probably as they are just normal everyday ponies, insane and murderous ponies yes but still average ponies, not God Tier level threats like NMM or Discord. And even if they did work on them, what would the elements do to them: either turn them to stone or send them to the moon if history is any indication.
3705234 What would the elements do to the changelings? Celestia told Twilight to get them during the wedding. Also, Celestia would be perfectly happy turning them to stone or sending them to the moon. That, or there could be a reform spell (like from Keep Calm and Flutter On, or every time Twilight tries to starve massive amounts of creatures) hidden behind the giant curse rainbow. Then again, they might just turn Twilight into an Alicorn or be the key ingredient that Starswirl didn't even know existed for his spell, because they come from a tree, but I'm getting off topic here. The Elements do whatever the writers want them to do. First they banish Luna, then they either removed the Nightmare (which was shown as a parasite in the comics, which aren't really canon anymore), removed her hatred and jealousy, which would be perfect for the Cult, or brainwashed her.
3705536 Humm
I see your point now but I hope the author doesn't use them as it would be a huge deus ex machina if they just used the elements to solve all their problems. Same with the reform spell, it would just cheapen the story and make any character development that the main cast has had irrelevant because they could in a way "wish away their problems". So while I see where you are coming from I still hope that the elements or a reform spell are used on the cultist as it would cheapen the excellent story.
3705602 I fully agree it would cheapen the story, and besides the author probably has some big reveal waiting in the Cult, or maybe some kind of moral grey area situations will pop up. It just feels like the Cult was completely forgotten about after that one encounter in story 2. Also, using Celestia's logic, that as soon as they are proven a threat to ponies, she can act with the full force of the law has been completely ignored. This is the third time a murder was attempted by the Cult (ignoring the constant lies that Celestia allows them to publish which attempt to convince everyone to hate Luna and ponies with strange eyes. The dream catchers are also products that are falsely advertised... They also threw constant lies and slander about Luna, who is royalty, and didn't get punished), and know there is evidence the leader and at least part of the Cult conspired with an assassin. If that isn't enough to get Celestia to attempt to act (she doesn't have to succeed, just attempt to do something), then what was the purpose of that (rather large) subplot of story one? The Cult really needs to either be taken care of or seriously expanded on because right now, they are just a shallow plot device and wasted potential. The author has proven he can handle many many shallow seeming characters (AJ, Storm Front, Red River, Rumble, Arkenstone, Fluttershy, and Cheerlie) and gave them depth. I just hope I can add the Cult to the list.
3705872 Well with regards to their insults to Luna and what Celestia did and didn't do about that, she did kind of have her hooves tied what with freedom of speech and what not. But I agree she should have stamped them out instead of publicly denouncing them; as all that did was drive them underground and out of public eye. But I think that she is going to do something about it now as their past victims didn't have the sort of access to her as her like Dawn and company do.
Also all we have to go is up with the cult with regards to being expanded on as we only know of five members (Fleetfoot, That guy from the second story, AJ's Dad and her Great Uncle who's name I can't remember, and The Grand Pontiff fellow (I'm not counting AJ herself as she wasn't initiated into it, or Willow as she was just a merc.)) so far so there's a lot of room for expansion and fleshing out the details on this group.
And then I associated Dawn's situation with the Powerpuff girls. Dawn! The Juvenile Superhero Crime Fighter! And this song came on!
I fundamentally disagree with the logic people are throwing at Dawn here. The example of the person who got mugged is misleading-- if you get mugged, it clearly isn't your fault. But if you dress up in your tuxedo and put on your nice golden watch and get in your fancy car to go for a drive in the ghetto at 3 AM, you can't really say you didn't see that coming.
Dawn is in the latter situation. Anyone COULD be targeted by an assassin, and if someone got hurt because of the assassin, they would be innocent. However, when he KNOWS someone is coming to kill him, and they may or may not care about collateral damage, then he has to make a decision-- stay and put others at risk (however minimal that risk may or may not be), or leave and protect them. If he chooses to put them at risk, and they are hurt, then it is a direct result of his decision. It's ALSO a result of the assassin, don't get me wrong-- but the fact of the matter is that he made an informed decision that caused them to be harmed.
He's guilt-free of the aftermath of the Willow attack (at least in my eyes), but that won't be true when the next assassin rolls into town.
Your editor/pre-reader (whichever is responsible for grammar) missed... things. Things like these:
There should be a question mark here, instead of a period. It is a question, after all.
This one needs a question mark as well. Or an ellipses, end of sentence punctuation in this situation is weird.
Hmm, so is the Cult Solar (Hehe, Club Solar) finally going to get it's head smashed in?
3703239 Wait for a second, let me grab my Mammoth Tank and shield generator.
Keep up the good work!
Great work on the chapter I loved it.
For a second there at the end I was almost sure scoot was gonna kiss him to try and get her point across.
The more I see of Spitfire, the more I like her. Ouranos rocks and I personally love everything you've done with her, however, I'm also getting a sinking feeling the more I read. The most obvious use of setting a character up as this over powered and likeable is to have a villain defeat her to show how powerful and despicable that villain truly is. While I dread the day when this happens, I'll enjoy every minute I read about her in the mean time.
I read the chapter title as a sausage guilt at first glance....im going to jump of a building now.
off
____________
Scoots is so awesome, and that explanation did make sense from Cheers.
Why do I want to call Storm Front a wielder of the Sky Hammer style?
Wow. All this tension. Where in earth is pinkie pie?
Why do i get the feeling ajs dad is head of the celestial order ?
5357857
did you forget that her dad is most likely dead and that the idea of dawn being a demon is one of the main focuses of the cult solar?
5361204 his death wasn't confirmed only his disappearance.
Dawn's issues with his past are very much the same as Scootaloo's with hers in terms of reverting to what is known and within their comfort zones, even if it is not healthy for them. The old habits need to be broken and new ones grilled in their stead. It's gonna take a lot of time and effort.
PUPPY LOVE!
3703895 have to agree. what they did 1000 years ago is, Slander, fraud, and harassment.
THis is the inherent problem of Celestia. often she is too slow to act.
3706120 not when it's slander, and fraud.
DAMN! If there was EVER a piece of fanfiction that should be made canon in the show, THIS CHAPTER IS IT!
This is an AWESOME lesson that needs to be taught to EVERYONE!
6396766
Don't forget hate crimes, and telling others to murder ponies with a specific genetic feature.
If Equestria's laws are anything like US or UK laws. Then defamation (slander (spoken) and libel (written)), inciting harm or violence on another, or hate speeches are prohibited by freedom of speech.
If you guys tried this, again, then yes, her light will illuminate the world... but it will be to BURN all of you from it
Probably won't work, she is a member of a fanatic organization (aka a cult), your probably gonna have to rely on the god she worships to get anything out of her
3704177
Oi! Dinae forget me! *summons Keyblade*
3703895
3704177
8998917
3703239
OC: "They dare to harm young Luna again this time with death? Well then this time they will feel my anger for they shall be dealt with personally by me, I will make their deaths slow, painful, I will enjoy every single moment of their torment, those that survive will learn to fear the Lord and Master of Shadows, that to harm Luna will bring down my wrath upon them and Celestia's wrath will look tame compared to mine."
Me: "Oh boy when he goes and makes a statement like this you know that folks are so boned as he'd normally gives a swift death. Should I take the BAR? The M1 Garand, or give 'em a taste of irony and get the M3 Flamethrower? "
8672549
Hate to be the spelling craze here, but it’s rely. Not really. Sorry.. it was a little hard for me to understand for a little while