07 The Same Face a Thousand Times
There was something that felt wrong about sitting in a classroom after all Steelskin had been through. If he allowed himself to think about it, (and he didn’t) he’d probably estimate his age to be at least that of his current teacher. The weariness of a life filled with horrors made him feel twice that age. On the other hoof, the stupid age-reset messed with his brain too. He found himself stuck reacting like a colt way too often. In so many ways, he was still just a kid.
“With the return of Luna,” Cheerilee told them in her typical, slightly sing-song voice and practiced smile, “we have been able to gain not only the details of her transformation and subsequent banishment that Celestia could never bring herself to talk about, but it also allowed Luna to share her account of what led to her fall and eventual redemption.”
Steelskin had heard Luna herself tell about it in five separate realities, each with only minor variations and almost the exact same resolution. The repetition made it difficult to keep his attention on Cheerilee. He ended up deciding to let his mind wander while keeping an ear open for the differences.
Scootaloo was sitting two rows over, her mane brushed and feathers preened better than most of her other selves. He felt sad that she was so young, though he hoped she could stay that way.
She caught him staring at her and smiled, a slight blush darkening her cheeks. The rest of the CMC giggled.
Cheerilee glared at them, but continued her lecture. “...and in her official account, she explained how her dissatisfaction was due to both the lack of appreciation for her night and a general sense that her sister was happy to keep their subjects weak and timid. Princess Celestia’s comment regarding this was that...”
Scootaloo frowned as she listened to their teacher and Steelskin found her image replaced by vision after vision of her battle scarred profile.
#PL-1#
“Incoming hostiles,” Scootaloo said from her K-MOD turret. “Load me up.”
“M.U.F.F.I.N.S. loaded,” Apple Bloom replied.
“This is for Sweetie,” Scootaloo growled, Firing off the first round.
#PL-2#
“Rutting stupid orcs,” Scootaloo griped, gripping her crossbow and taking careful aim with her one good eye.
Pulling the trigger, she watched as the bolt lanced out, catching an orc in the shoulder. She dropped to all fours and started reloading as the orcs reached the battle lines. Within moments, she had another ready to go and looked up, watching for any that broke through the lines close to the schoolhouse.
#EC-2#
Scootaloo gagged yet again as she and Fluttershy walked among the wounded, the smell of charred flesh filled the air.
“Now that all the serious injuries are dealt with, will you let me look at that burn now?” Fluttershy’s look left no room for argument and Scootaloo sat down on an unoccupied blanket.
Fluttershy winced as she saw what little skin remained on her shoulder.
“This is much worse than several of the ponies you helped me treat,” Fluttershy said with an angry frown.
Scootaloo glared back unrepentantly, but kept quiet. She didn’t have any excuse, just the reasoning that she could take the pain while it looked like the others couldn’t. I kinda hoped that she’d be able to work till she dropped. The combination of the shock and adrenaline wearing off was particularly bad when you were stuck with nothing to do but lie around and think about how much it hurt.
I gave a quiet but painful chuckle from my cot. “Flutters, you know what she’s feeling, let her do what you’d do.” I didn’t dare get up to try to make her, though, having been threatened by several nurses that I’d be tied down if I insisted on risking further damage by walking around with shattered ribs.
“According to Twilight Sparkle, The Elements of Harmony formed a link between the six bearers and Nightmare Moon’s mind. Because harmony was able to be formed between the seven of them, Nightmare Moon was stripped of her power. In Twilight Sparkle’s Thesis on Harmony, She adds that, when they used the Elements on Discord, his unwilling mind caused the Elements to turn him to stone.”
Steelskin’s ears perked up. This was something he never thought to ask about when he talked with the bearers. He wondered if Celestia and Luna felt the same thing.
“One of the early rebellions against her sister that Luna started were hidden moon villages. She admits to having stolen away orphans and helped them start their own villages. Her goal was not to raise up an army to defeat her sister, but to raise up strong and brave ponies who would be able to fight off threats that the royal guard would not be able to handle. One of the villages tried to supplement its own population by abducting foals on their own, leading to Celestia finding out about them and disbanding several villsges with the intent of liberating the abducted foals. This was an event that Luna acknowledges as one of the excuses she gave herself to justify her rebellion against her sister. When she returned-”
Everypony glanced towards Rocky and the other orphans, having heard rumors of just such an event.
Cheerilee cleared her throat to get everypony’s attention. “-she was unable to locate any until-”
Steelskin and the other orphans remembered it well, but he remembered another time as well.
#CR-2#
@Arrival+3 Weeks@
I woke up and found myself already standing. Last I remembered, I had gone to sleep in the orphanage. Miss Sweetheart had insisted when they found out I was on my own and there wasn’t much reason to argue against getting a free bed and meals.
Now that I was standing in an unknown forest surrounded by my fellow orphans, I didn’t know whether or not to see it as a good decision.
There were three unicorns (one stallion and two mares), two earth ponies (both stallions), and I counted at least two pegasi among the trees.
“Hello, children,” The unicorn stallion said. “I do apologize for this sudden change of scenery, but I bring wonderful news.”
One of the younger fillies, I think her name was Zipporwhill, started crying. It was a little weird seeing her with us since this was the first reality that had her orphaned.
“There, there,” The stallion said in what seemed to be an honest concern. “Please do not cry, little one, my good news is that I have a loving home for all of you.”
He backed up his words by picking up the little pegasus in a hug and nuzzling her neck.
“Anypony hungry?” Another unicorn, this one a mare, trotted over with some sandwiches.
“Excuse me, but can I go back?” Scootaloo stepped forward. “I’ve got a mom and dad that are working hard to adopt me.”
A pegasus stallion landed. “I’m sorry, honey, but don’t worry, we’ve got a much better family for you.”
Scootaloo glanced at me and I shook my head grimly.
Turning back to the foalnappers, she smiled one of the fakest smiles I’ve ever seen. “Okay, that sounds great.”
I was glad that they were just as bad at detecting duplicity as regular ponies. They gave no hint whatsoever of suspicion.
“I can help pass out the food if you want,” I said with as innocent a smile as I could muster.
Thankfully, they accepted my offer and I pretended to have a little trouble with the tray so I could check the food for magics.
I was pretty certain that they were safe by the time I got to the younger foals and passed the sandwiches out with a smile. I worked quickly so that I could take a bite of one before too much had been eaten and was relieved that I didn’t taste anything off. I noticed Scootaloo had only taken a small bite before putting the sandwich down. I, too, only took that one bite just in case there was something I was missing.
Soon we were done eating and we heard. “I’m sorry, but we need to get moving, does anypony need to be carried?”
A few of the younger foals sniffled an affirmative and were soon on the backs of the earth ponies.
We reached the village just as Celestia was lifting the sun over the horizon and we were quickly paired up with adults. Any orphans that complained about being broken up were quickly and gently dealt with, usually with them being kept together. One of the potential adoptive couples ended up agreeing to ‘wait till next time’.
The ringing of the schoolbell pulled Steelskin out of his memories. He watched as everypony filed out into the schoolyard, grabbing their lunches on the way out. Steelskin grabbed his bag and followed his fellow students outside.
“Hey, Steelskin,” Scootaloo yelled out. “Over here!”
She motioned to a spot at the picnic table next to her with a warm smile. Sapphire gave a sad smile from the opposite side and everypony else giggled.
He sat down, a slight blush coming to his cheeks, and proceeded to pull out his lunch.
“Dandelion,” Diamond Tiara said, voice dripping with contempt. “What? Did you pick your lunch in your back yard?”
Steelskin sighed, pushing his irritation down as much as he could. “Yes, I did. Money is a tool and I have better things to spend it on than basic food when there are plenty of free options.”
He was tempted to add an insult of his own regarding her reliance on her daddy’s money, but fought it off by reminding himself that he’d be copying her behavior if he did. It also helped that she was gaping at how badly her insult failed to rile him and how everypony else was staring in shocked awe.
Spluttering, Diamond Tiara tried to come up with a retort, but ended up throwing her nose into the air and trotting off, Silver Spoon following nervously in her wake.
Steelskin watched Silver Spoon with confusion before turning to Spect. “Hey, I thought Spoon was hanging out with you now?”
“Her dad found out I got her to eat milkweed,” Spect said with an embarrassed smile.
Everypony around the table with the exception of Spect, Steelskin, and Scootaloo let out a collective “Eew! Didn’t that make her sick?”
Spect looked down at her hooves. “She saw me eating it and tried some herself... I didn’t know at the time it would disagree with us so badly.”
Steelskin gave a slight grimace. “I’ve eaten worse.” He did his best to push back the memories of desperate hunger that led to that.
Scootaloo, for her part, forced herself to keep a neutral expression, having been tempted to eat many undesirable things before being taken from her birth parents.
Fei piped up. “Why would you eat things before asking if they were okay?”
Spect tilted her head in confusion. “No one was around and I was hungry.”
“You girls ever try fresh dandelion?” Steelskin gave a smile as he offered them some flowers, trying to break the uncomfortable silence. “They’re pretty sweet if you catch them at the right time.”
Everypony but looked slightly conflicted after the previous topic, with the exception of Scootaloo, who quickly reached over and grabbed one. Sweetie Belle quickly followed her lead, prompting the rest to grab one.
“Wow,” Sweetie Belle said. “These are from your yard?”
“Well, actually, there’s a nice little spot in the east field that I like to get them from.”
Apple Bloom chuckled. “Yep, there’s a patch of daisies near the barn that I like to nibble from this time of year.”
#CR-2#
@Arrival+4 Weeks@
For the past week, we had been learning not only their revised history of Luna’s banishment, but also survival skills that would allow us to find food all year long and build emergency shelters. Of course, everything was done during Luna’s night and we slept during ‘the tyrant’s day’.
It was more than just learning how to find the edible roots, bark, and which grasses kept the most nutrition when they died. We were kids, after all, so they taught us what tasted the best at what time of year and in what condition. Rocky turned out to be great at finding the root vegetables. He said the ground felt different depending on which plant he was standing over. Zipporwhill proved to be the next fluttershy, getting bunnies to bring her anything she asked for, and Scootaloo proved to have all the talent in cooking that her hoped for mother lacked. She wasn’t as good about being able to find the various plants, but you could give her any combination of foraged food and she could make it delicious.
We also learned how to fight. Even with wooden weapons, everypony was real skittish. I didn’t try to fake skittishness or lack of experience, but I did refuse to do anything but block until they paired me with adults.
I had also noticed early on that every adult had some pretty nasty scars and a couple were missing parts of their legs. The reason quickly became apparent when they hoofed me a real sword as I started facing adults.
“Only foals use fake weapons,” Was their response when I asked them why. “You have to be both afraid of your opponent’s weapon and comfortable with the idea of them swinging death at you.”
I decided then and there that we couldn’t wait for a good opportunity to help Scootaloo escape. She was pretty close to being considered an adult already. We needed to take whoever wanted to go and run together.
That morning, Rocky and I got everypony willing to meet into the armory. Guards were stationed at the four corners of the village, but nopony guarded the armory since the heavy iron padlock on the door was considered more than enough to keep everypony out.
“Okay, let’s cut to the point,” Rocky said, starting things off. “Scoots deserves to be able to go home and Steelskin and I are helping her get there. I’m staying behind because I like my new family, but Steelkin’s willing to take any of you that also want to leave.”
“They’re crazy when it comes to fighting. You’re gonna be learning to fight with real weapons,” I said as I looked around. “When I got moved up to the adults today, they gave me a real sword and told me only foals fight with fake weapons. They’re not gonna give us a choice and you’ve probably noticed the scars on everypony. I can’t say it’s a bad life, but you deserve to have a choice.”
“Star Light and Moon Chaser are super nice, but Star Light got hurt pretty badly today, so my bunnies and I’ll help distract the adults,” Zipporwhill said with none of Fluttershy’s timidness.
“Who’s in here?” Everypony turned to the entrance and saw a guardspony standing there, confused, but with the typical adult scowl.
My hoof shot out before I had a chance to think and hit the guard in the jaw with a sickening crack.
“So much for time to prepare,” I said. “Rocky; you and Zipporwhill take everypony who wants to stay to the western edge of town. Everypony else, grab any weapons you think you can use. We’ll have to run as fast as we can unless somepony can cast the ‘ignore me’ spell.
I quickly got to work strapping on as much armor and weapons as I could find room for and helped Scootaloo, Main Spring, and Mundossa put on some armor as well.
Everypony else followed Rocky and Zipp. (I was actually pretty proud of them.)
Before leaving, we powdered our manes and tails, though we weren’t sure whether Mundossa needed it with his black and white stripes.
Main Spring spoke up hesitantly. “They taught me how the spell works, but I haven’t been able to cast it properly.”
I smiled at him. “No harm in trying. Some ponies work best under pressure,”
He scrunched his eyes closed and some orange sparks jumped from his horn. He was obviously trying too hard, but I knew that you never try to talk with a unicorn that’s casting a difficult spell.
He released the spell and let out the breath he was holding. I felt the spell take hold, though it was a very weak version and seemed to be missing a part.
“Did it work?” He wobbled slightly and I realized there was harm in trying.
“I think so, but once we get into the forest, let’s try to be extra careful,” I replied.
We walked casually, but stayed to the lesser travelled areas. When we got to the edge of town, the real decision needed to be made.
“I’ve got no sense of direction,” I told them. “Anypony know which way they were leading us when we got here?”
“Your metal body should make magnetic fields feel extra strong, how could your sense of direction be wrong?” Mundossa rhymed.
I did my best to keep from pouting as I waited to see if anypony remembered anything.
“We came in from the east,” Scootaloo volunteered.
“That makes us...” I glanced up at the sun to get some sense of direction.
“In the northwest edge,” Main Spring said.
We moved into the forest a little ways and made our way around and to the east. Scootaloo and Mundossa moved as quietly as a flutterpony while Main Spring had a little trouble avoiding leaves and twigs.
I think a salted elephant would’ve been able to move quieter than me.
Luckily, Main Spring’s spell worked, because about a half mile out, one of them came within sight of us and looked right at me before quickly trotting off in a different direction. Sadly, it was, as Tallic called it, ‘a double edged sword’. As evening was getting on, we saw a pegasus and called out to her, hoping she’d tell us where the nearest town was. She took one look at us before continuing on her way like we weren’t even there.
“My stomach, it rumbles,” Mundossa complained. “If I don’t eat soon, I may start to tumble.”
“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to push you so hard, I was just hoping we’d get to a town today.”
Scootaloo hoofed me in the shoulder. “We’re not as weak as you think.”
Despite her tough words, I could see that she was about to fall over.
“I am,” Main Spring piped up.
Despite the complaint, he had a smile on his face.
“Okay, I’ll gather wood and get a fire going, you three try to find some food.” Scootaloo realized she was being a little bossy and smiled embarrassedly. “Please.”
We all chuckled. We knew she was a natural leader and was just focused on what needed to be done, but I still hoofed her back.
“We’ll be right back, mom,” I jibed.
Steelskin watched everypony else play. They were divided up into their normal groups with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon playing carefully with expensive toys but caring more about how many of their classmates saw how expensive they were than having fun. Snips and Snails were reading the latest edition of Power Ponies, caught up in their fight against whatever new or recurring villain had entered the story. He missed the days when simple plot lines like that could hold his interest without annoying him with the idiotic decisions of one pony or another. He also thought some of the positions the mares were drawn in were so silly they were obviously there just to keep teenaged colts’ interest.
He lifted a forehoof and started playing around with the different shapes he could morph it into, remembering Radiance’s bracelet and the silly things she always conjured from them.
Zipporwhill was flitting around while talking with, of all ponies, Flitter.
Yeah, she’s a pegasus, but Zipporwhill would make a perfect Fili-Second, he thought to himself.
Rocky was kicking a ball with ‘Loo and a few of the other crusaders, though instead of kicking it straight to the next pony, he’d bounce it off a tree or rock. Steelskin could see that same aim being put to use with Mistress Mare-velous’ lasso and hoofarangs.
Steelskin laughed as he thought how Saph would make a great Masked Matter-Horn, Mundossa could put Zapp’s power to good use, and ‘Loo was almost Saddle Rager already.
On second thought, Steelskin thought to himself, Zip would make a better Beast-Mare with her animal empathy. Too bad she’s part of the Justice Herd.
#CR-2#
@Arrival+4 Weeks@
“One of my villages survived?”
“Yes, Princess,” I said. “But they’ve got an... interesting view of your banishment and return.”
I was standing in a private meeting chamber with Luna. Captain Armor and Captain Nightshade stood off to one side. Captain Armor was scowling and the others weren’t much happier. I was slightly surprised by Luna’s lack of excitement over finding one of her villages, especially with how she accepted them in other realities.
Then again, while not as good at it as her sister, she was still masterful at concealing her reactions.
“Princess,” Shining Armor interrupted, stepping forward. “The penalty for foalnapping and the sorts of weapons practice he describes is quite serious.”
Shining Armor shied back as Luna frowned at him.
“Steelskin, could you please escort me to this village? I wish to find out the specifics of their situation.” Her voice was calm and gentle, but I was pretty sure that was only for my benefit.
“Ah, not really,” I said with an apologetic smile.
“What? You’re defending the scum that foalnapped you and your friends?” Shining was brought up short by a stare from Luna. A small but meaningful sigh escaped her lips.
Captain Nightshade put a hoof on his shoulder. “You shouldn’t interrupt when adults are talking,” She said with a grin. He responded with a deeper scowl which, sadly for him, came off as more of a pout after her jab.
“I mean,” I clarified, “that I don’t think I’d be able to find them again, but I think Scootaloo or Mundossa might be able to.” I tried to appear as professional and adult as Luna was being, hoping to impress her in comparison to the bickering captains.
Shining Armor was biting his tongue in aggravation. I did my best to keep from smirking, especially with how much worse I was going to needle him (unintentionally, of course).
“I do want to come. I’d like to say a proper goodbye to Rocky and the others that stayed behind.” I steeled myself for Shining’s next outburst, refusing to let myself react. “They stayed behind because those are good ponies in that village, they just take military training to an extr-”
It was too much for him.
“Good ponies?” Shining Armor’s face was a mask of barely controlled outrage as he turned to Luna. “With all due respect, Princess, they’re foalnappers and possibly murderers!”
“Shining Armour,” Luna said calmly and quietly. “If you wish to be part of this meeting, please hold your tongue. Your opinion on the matter has been duly noted and will be taken under advisement after all the investigations are complete.”
Nightshade did not choose to show my level of professionalism. Her grin went from ear to ear.
Cheerilee was continuing her lecture from before lunch.
“The entire village has been sentenced by the princesses to a year of community service for each of the orphans they attempted to abduct. They have chosen to spend it helping train Luna’s Night Guard in the developments they have made over the past thousand years. Among their achievements are some interesting spells as well as more military developments including...”
#CR-2#
@Arrival+4 Weeks@
We were going in by hoof since the village would be on high alert.
My mind ran to what they had taught us in the village.
“A is for ‘avoid a dangerous situation.’ There is no use walking into trouble if you don’t have to.”
The stallion paced back and forth in front of us as he taught us.
“B is for ‘be calm.’ Panic will cloud your mind and get you killed. It is also for ‘breathe’. Your breathing will not only give you the oxygen you need, but calm breathing helps calm the mind.”
“C is for ‘communicate confidence.’ Most animals, other ponies included, want an easy target, not one that will fight back. If you look and act strong, you can usually convince your enemy to avoid you.”
Luna held up a hoof. “Wait for me here.”
Scootaloo and Shining Armor looked like they were going to object, but Alex and Captain Nightshade gave their respective charges a look that silenced them.
“H can mean the difference between life and death,” The stallion said. “When you see that there is no peaceful resolution, it is time for action. Do not wait for them to hit you, for it is time to end the fight. Hit them hard, hit them fast, and hit them first. Do not turn your back on them until they are no longer a threat.”
A bright light shone from the village as Luna teleported into the middle of it.
”Greetings, my faithful servants! A new age has dawned and I come with wonderful news!”
Her proclamation boomed through the village and surrounding forest even as six thestral guards landed with a flourish. The guards at the edge of the village whirled around and we took that as an opportunity to move closer.
Several ponies came out of the huts, blinking in the sunlight they normally shunned.
“My queen,” Moonshine, the chief unicorn of the village said with a bow. “How have you escaped the clutches of the Sun Tyrant?”
“What did he call the Princess?” Shining’s growl of a question was much too loud for us that were trained in stealth.
”Tabarnak!” Alex Roberts checked his own volume, continuing in a harsh whisper. “Could you use your brain, Armour? All you had to do was keep your big mouth shut. Now the well trained and heavily armed locals are coming to look for us, all before the Princess can talk them down." He swore and spit. "Ok, when they come, just surrender, don't give them a reason to attack. Maybe we can salvage-"
A group of the Moon Village guards burst from the foliage, spears leveled at us. Alex held his hands above his head while Shining drew his sword and readied himself for a fight.
”Stand Down.”
Everypony froze. Shining Armor slowly lowered his sword and the village guards followed suit.
Scootaloo started to step towards the town but Alex put a hand on her shoulder. Unfettered by a parent, I decided to follow her intent and walked up to Luna and Moonshine along with the rest of the village triumvirate.
I bowed to all four of them. “I apologize for telling of the existence of your village. I hope that my reasoning will prove justified.”
I was promptly tackled by multiple foals. We were joined by Scootaloo, Main Spring, and Mundossa and we got to talking, leaving Luna to introduce the captains and Alex.
“So,” Scootaloo asked. “How much trouble did you get into by helping us escape?”
Rocky laughed. “None, unless you count being watched all night and day. Zip overheard some adults talking, trying to figure out what to do to us, and apparently none of the punishments allowed to be done to foals fit what we did, so all they could do was tell us how we might have doomed them all and then set guards to watch us whenever we weren’t in class.”
“Scootaloo, Steelskin, please come here,” Luna said. As we approached, she continued. “We will be appointing Alex and Steelskin to be emissaries to this village and to supervise their community service that will be the official punishment for foalnapping. It will also be thy job to help them integrate into Equestrian society and prepare them for their new duty of training our elite guards.”
I noticed Main Spring and Mundossa walking over to their adopted parents, most likely to apologize. I wondered briefly whether they’d be staying or returning to Ponyville.
As they were exiting the schoolhouse, suddenly, Scootaloo was lying on the ground.
Steelskin saw her coughing up blood.
As he ran over to the vision of her charred corpse, a sob choked in his throat.
Kneeling down, he pulled up a dazed Scootaloo, hearing explosions all around them and hearing the growls of timber wolves. As he tried to drag her forward to safety, he was tackled by multiple foals.
“It’s okay, you’re safe!”
Steelskin snapped out of his flashback and would have sunk to his knees if it weren’t for multiple pairs of forelegs wrapped around him in a comforting group hug.
She just tripped, she just tripped, He thought to himself.
He shook as a second lightning bolt hit the library’s lightning rod. The CMC responded by hugging him tighter and he relaxed into it, thankful for friends who could deal with him.
“Thanks, I’m okay now,” He said forcing his heart rate to slow down.
“What a scaredy pony,” Diamond Tiara said from behind them.
Steelskin frowned as he walked, looking at the ground in front of him. He had to sniff back his runny nose as he held back tears. You have no idea, Tiara, he thought to himself. They all probably think I’m the biggest wimp out here.
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom glared daggers at her, but Silver Spoon cut off their retort.
“I changed my mind, Di, I think I’ll just head home.” Silver Spoon turned her nose up, making it clear that she was disgusted with her friend before walking off.
Diamond Tiara stood with her mouth hanging open for a moment. With a snap, she closed her mouth and spun around, a tear flung from her eye by the sudden motion.
Spect watched the two walk in opposite directions with a pained expression on her face. Steelskin saw it and caught her attention, nodding a silent prompt to run after Silver Spoon.
Scootaloo saw the little exchange, recognizing his encouragement to patch the two fillies’ friendship despite Tiara’s cruelty.
Now that’s a stallion, She thought to herself.
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Nice need MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5016297
thanks, there's more in the works
since you're the first to comment in a while, would you like more interludes or more story?
More story