101. Rebirth
I don't know how much time has passed since then. Even though I'm unconscious, I hardly feel like I'm getting any rest. My dreams are plagued with nightmares from everything I've dealt with so far: from my first encounter with an Oppressed, to Chrysalis's ungodly power, to the Crystal Empire, where everything fell apart in less than an hour.
Particularly, images of Hawke flash through my mind, the only other human I've seen in Equestria. Several times, I find myself screaming as I watch Hawke descending upon Rainbow, dealing her incredible injuries while I can't reach her. Even if I run, my legs feel like they're moving through molasses, and Rainbow always falls limp before I can get there.
During all of this, I think I wake up for a few times as well, but every time I do, the first thing I feel is unbearable pain that makes me whimper and moan. Each time, I think I see ponies in the room with me, moving around and calling to me indistinctly. I can never figure out what is being said or who is saying it, because my eyes always become too heavy to keep open, and I fall unconscious again.
One time I wake up feeling a strange itching feeling, and my blurred vision reveals nothing but a soft yellow glow. It encompasses me with a warm, safe feeling, and I'm lulled back into a much more comfortable sleep.
Finally, consciousness returns to me slowly, as if emerging from beneath a deep lake. The first thing I become aware of is the sound of somepony eating rather obnoxiously from the bed next to me. At first I try to ignore it, but then it gets rather annoying when said pony slurps down a drink.
“Jesus Christ, would you keep it the fuck down?” I demand, opening my eyes with a groan. I close them again immediately, because it's rather bright in the room. Hold on, the ceiling looks a little too white to be the airship...so where the hell am I?
“Seth?” That voice...it's Rainbow. I almost want to feel happy, but then I remember what happened in the Crystal Empire. Any relief that I might have felt quickly leaves me, to be replaced by an emptiness the likes of which I can't describe. “You're awake!”
“Yeah...” I reply listlessly, sitting up in the bed. My muscles protest against the movement, which lets me know I've been asleep for a while. I notice that I'm in decent condition. My broken bones seem to have been healed some point while I was out, because I can move my arm and body without any real pain. “Where are we?”
“We're in a hospital in Trotsdale! Most of us were pretty conked out, so we set down here,” Rainbow informs me, somehow managing to sound happy despite everything that's happened. I turn my head away, unable to bring myself to respond to her...which she picks up on pretty quick. I hear the soft clatter of dishes on an end table a few moments before Rainbow's hooves clop down on the tiled floor. She approaches my bed and rears up, placing her two front hooves on the edge of my bed and looking at me with worry. “Dude, you feeling alright?”
There's a short, uncomfortable silence when I don't say anything, or even look at her. Instead, I lift a slightly trembling hand and look at it. I've never really noticed it before, but it looks so fragile, like it might break given just a small amount of force. It feels lifeless for some reason, even though I can see the veins running through the skin, pumping life giving fluids to each of my respective digits. Just to confirm it, I try to call up some magic to my hand, but there's just nothing. My body is as empty as it was the day I got to Equestria. I close my eyes, giving a sigh.
“Hey! Equestria to Seth, are you in there?” Rainbow tries again, poking at the side of my head repeatedly with her hoof. Normally I'd react to something so annoying, but I can't bring myself to. I scoff bitterly. None of this matters.
“Where's everypony else?” I ask, ignoring her previous question, instead looking around at all the empty beds around me. The room is empty except for Rainbow and...wait, now I see Fluttershy. The frail pegasus is sitting at a table on the other side of the room, her head resting in her hooves as she snoozes peacefully.
“The princesses, once they were healthy enough to start moving around, healed everypony back to tip top condition, so they're all out and about,” Rainbow explains, looking glad to give me good news. “They all come back pretty often though. Fluttershy there never left.”
“Why not? She looks fine,” I ask in confusion, glancing over Fluttershy again. Rainbow smirks, shaking her head.
“She is fine. She was just worried about you, the ol' softie,” Rainbow assures me with a grin. I watch the sleeping pegasus's chest rise and fall with a sad expression. Why would she worry about me that much? I've never really spoken to her apart from the odd greeting here and there. “So are you good to get out of that bed? The others probably want to know you're okay.”
“What's the point?” I ask bitterly, looking down at my hands and leaning back in the bed. Rainbow flinches, not expecting that at all. “It's not like I'm any use now anyway.”
Rainbow smacks me gently with her hoof. “You stop that. I've been friends with you forever, even before you had magic,” she scolds me. “So what if you don't have it now?”
“Don't you get it? You think it's all over now that we got away?” I snap at her, irritated at how clueless she is. “That's stupid. There's no way Sombra is going to leave us be. There's no way Hawke is going to leave me be.”
“So? We'll just beat 'em up and get back to it!” Rainbow claims, punching at the air. I look at her in disbelief. How can she still talk tough after getting knocked out with a single hit from Hawke? No, we're all screwed. Sombra is stronger than Celestia. None of us can possibly beat him, and it's all my goddamn fault, for handing his magic back to him on a silver fucking platter. He was quite intent on making us pay...so I doubt he'll just let it go.
“No! No you won't! You can't do shit!” I yell at her to the point where Fluttershy jerks awake on the other side of the room. Rainbow reels back as if I'd hit her. “And guess what! I'm just about as powerless as the rest of you now. Fuck, now I'm back to being that shitty little human that couldn't even take a simple pegasus in a fight!”
“So what, you're just going to give up?” Rainbow shoots right back at me. “That's not like you! What happened to the awesome guy who took on Chrysalis for us even though he knew she would kick his tail?”
I get out of the bed and leap to the floor, already tired of this argument. Rainbow's accusing gaze follows me wherever I move, making it difficult to think. Is she right? Am I really considering giving up? I guess I am, but...what the hell else am I supposed to do? I've never faced a situation as hopeless as this one. Who knows where Sombra is right now? Maybe he's already chasing us.
“I don't know what I'm doing, Rainbow. I thought I was going to change and enjoy life, but now...that's not going to happen,” I admit, looking down at the floor. There's no way I'll be able to live peacefully with Hawke still out there. Even if by some miracle he didn't decide to chase me, I wouldn't feel right, knowing that there was a killer like him on the loose. How many humans did he kill, I wonder?
“Um...” Fluttershy approaches us, looking like she'd rather not get in the middle of us. Rainbow closes her mouth and the both of us look at Fluttershy expectantly. “You shouldn't be so down on yourself...because you don't have magic, I mean. I always feel really weak...I can't fight like Twilight and the others can.”
“Fluttershy, you...” Rainbow tries to reassure her.
“Please, Rainbow...I want to finish,” Fluttershy interrupts her softly, hoofing at the floor timidly. Rainbow blinks, because she just got interrupted by fucking Fluttershy of all ponies. Fluttershy looks back at me. “But that doesn't mean I should stop trying. I don't care if...if I get hurt...but I'll do anything I can to keep my friends safe. That means you too.”
Her words cause me to remember that while I've never seen her fight before, she did during the fight in the Crystal Empire. Hell, I distinctly remember her beating the shit out of an undead pony that got in her way. But can I do something like that? I've always been weak; magic was all I had.
“Shit...well...I guess if you're not giving up,” I say awkwardly, even though I'm not fully convinced. “Still...I can't be on the front lines anymore. Dammit, I can't believe I'm even weaker than Rarity now.”
“Who cares about magic? I don't need any magic to kick some flank!” Rainbow dismisses my worries, punching at the air repeatedly. “I'm fast enough to dodge any real magic!”
I consider pointing out that she wasn't fast enough to dodge Hawke, but decide against it. At this point, the two of them are ganging up on me. They both have a point, but I still think it's meaningless in the end. Sombra is just too strong. Nevertheless, no matter how I feel, I can't just sit in this room and wait for Sombra to get here. I need to find out what the situation is, and how many of Equestria's army managed to survive.
“Fine. You win for now,” I relent. Even as they smile at one another at their somewhat successful argument, I make sure to mention, “But you do know we're going to have to deal with Sombra and Hawke before long, right?”
“Yeah, but Princess Celestia will annihilate the both of them. She's the best!” Rainbow declares, nudging me in an attempt to assure me.
“She always takes care of us,” Fluttershy agrees, smiling up at me. Right...even though Sombra was clearly stronger than her. The sinking feeling in my chest increases further. “We should go and find the others. They're all worried about you.”
“Sure, whatever. Let's just go then,” I grunt. Rainbow and Fluttershy smile and flank me on either side.
With that, the three of us exit the room and walk through the hallways of the hospital proper. It looks like there's other soldiers still here as well, because I can see some of the unicorn regiments in the rooms. One thing I also notice are the earth pony guards stationed around the halls. I've never really seen that many earth pony soldiers, apart from the typical few that were in Ponyville. I wonder how many there are?
Rainbow seems to know her way around, because she takes the lead and directs us through the halls. As we approach the front of the building, I become aware of an odd roaring sound that steadily increases in volume. However, it's only when we leave the hospital and exit out onto the street that I see what it's coming from.
“Holy...” is all I can say as I look at the splendor of the natural wonder before me. The city we're in is situated next to a waterfall the likes of which I've never seen in my life.
It's almost like looking at a solid curtain of water cascading down a set of stairs, showering the surrounding landscape with spray. The crest of each individual cliff is topped with white frothy mist and ringed with mystical rainbows that flicker in the afternoon light.
The banks of the river as well as the few islands present are lush and green, teeming with wildlife that I can see even all the way from here. Rising high above the waterfall itself is a breathtaking view of the mountain from which the river originates. Its slopes are blanketed with trees and its peak is shrouded with clouds. Even from here, I can see flocks of birds wheeling through the air in the distance.
“Neighagra Falls...it's so beautiful...I don't think I could ever get tired of looking at this,” Fluttershy whispers with a contented sigh. The dumb horse pun aside, I think I can agree. You know, if Rainbow didn't live in Ponyville, I'd want to live here. Just look at that. “All of the lovely plants and the cute little animals...I wish I were here under better circumstances.”
That's certainly true. At the upper part of the waterfall, I can see that trebuchets are already being set up along the top of the cliff. That means that Celestia must have ordered that this place be fortified. I wonder how close we are to the Crystal Empire. We must be at least somewhere close, because if Celestia is focusing efforts here now, she must expect this place to come under fire eventually.
“Hey Seth, wanna go...” Rainbow starts to say, but then her eyes widen and she abruptly clamps her mouth shut, causing me to look at her suspiciously. “...Uh...wanna go see the others? Yeah, that's what I meant.”
Bullshit that's what she meant. But I don't care enough to press the issue. Let's just go find the others so I can figure out what Celestia plans to do about all of this. “Yeah, let's go. I need to find out what the hell is going on,” I reply.
As Rainbow leads me through the streets, I find that calling Trotsdale a city is a bit of an exaggeration. If anything, it's a village, because it's only a little bit larger than Ponyville. There aren't that many ponies in the street apart from the earth pony guards, but the ones that are give us friendly nods. I've never been here before either, so of course I get the usual cursory stare.
“Where are they?” I ask curiously, looking around the town. It's a bit more sophisticated of a place than Ponyville, in that the buildings are generally multi-level and the streets are paved with cobble stone. You know, the ponies don't eat meat, so I wonder why a village was set up so close to this waterfall? A fishing business would have made sense...but maybe I'm overthinking things and they’re here just because it's a decent source of freshwater.
“What, the girls? Probably in the town hall. The princesses have been talking to the mayor a lot,” Rainbow replies, shrugging. “That's where I'm taking you anyway.”
As we get closer to the town hall, I notice the multiple airships hanging over the village. There's rather a lot of them, more than I remember seeing at the Crystal Empire. That probably means that Celestia is calling as many soldiers as possible to this area. But...that doesn't make any sense. If all the soldiers are here, who's going to defend the southern front from Chrysalis?
Entering the town square reveals a mostly abandoned market area. Most of the stalls are empty except for a few hardy salesponies still selling their wares, despite the multitudes of unicorn royal guards in the square. I even spot Rose and a few of the Wonderbolts in the area, the latter wheeling through the air carrying what look like messages.
“Rainbow! Fluttershy! Seth!” Twilight calls happily from the front of the town hall. She seems to have been waiting there, most likely for us. She canters over to meet us, coming to a halt just in front of us. She nuzzles her friends affectionately, and then does the same for me, even though she can only reach my waist. “I'm glad you're finally awake. Even when the princess healed you, you still wouldn't wake up. We were worried!”
“Yeah, what about you? Last time I saw you, you were beaten half to death,” I remark, not sure how I feel that all of them were worried about me. Twilight flinches at the memory. “What happened to you, anyway? All I know is that I heard you scream, and everything went to hell.”
“Come on, I'll tell you on the way in. You're just in time; the mayor prepared a meal for us,” Twilight informs me. Our group of three, now four, we enter the large rectangular town hall. “My research led me to the Crystal Heart, but just as I was climbing the tower to get it, that man appeared...”
“Hawke,” I grunt, clenching a fist. It kills me that I can't find him and beat the truth out of him about my race. I really hope Celestia nukes him into next week. If he helped kill my race, he deserves the pain.
“Yes...I was more than surprised to see another human. I thought he might have been a friend of yours, but I didn't even get to say anything before he was attacking me,” Twilight reveals, flinching again. “He was so strong. I'm not weak, but...I couldn't land a hit on him. It was like trying to catch the wind...and every time I missed, he would hit me again and again.”
“He was as strong as I was, if not a little more so,” I say, nodding in understanding. Her tale makes sense. Hawke targeted Twilight on orders of Sombra, in order to take out the Element of Magic, and thus our only hope of beating him.
“I heard that you lost your magic,” Twilight recalls, giving me a sad expression that makes me want to hit something. Great...and now she's pitying me. “To think it was King Sombra's power this whole time...”
“Yes, thank you, I was there, I got the fucking memo,” I snap, causing Twilight's ears to fold back timidly. “I'm fucking useless now, so I don't know why I'm even bothering with this shit.”
“Seth,” Rainbow starts to say, but I wave her words away in annoyance.
“I know, shut up,” I grunt impatiently. Now that Twilight's here, if I tried to voice my true feelings here, they'd all gang up on me again, and I'd never get a word in edgewise. Right after that, Twilight leads us around the corner, and I start to hear the sounds of other ponies talking and laughing. Sheesh, I envy their ability to stay in high spirits despite the situation.
We enter into a large meeting room not unlike the one where Celestia and I met with the expedition heads, over a month ago. In this case, there are multiple small round tables, rather than a large rectangular one. Everyone else that's important is inside, such as both princesses, Applejack, Rarity, Spike, Pinkie, and all of the other officers that had been at the final battle. In addition, there's a brown mare that's wearing a white collar and a red tie sitting with Celestia and Luna. If I hazard a guess, I'd say that's the mayor of Trotsdale.
Upon our arrival, everypony looks up to see us. In particular, Celestia is looking at me like she always does in situations like this. Essentially, she's reading my fucking mind – of that I have no doubt. “Welcome, you three,” Celestia greets us with a small smile. She looks like she's back in top shape, which makes me wonder how long we've been here. That, and despite her smile, there are bags under her eyes. They're barely noticeable, but I can tell that she's worried. As if my spirits weren't low enough...seeing her trying to put on a strong face for her subjects makes me want to give up again right here and now. “We've been waiting for you.”
“You two, fetch them some food! And make sure there's food suitable for a human!” The brown mare snaps orders at the two guards standing on either side of the doorway we just passed through. She nods in satisfaction as the guards leave, and then smiles apologetically to us. “My apologies. My name is Redwood Robin, and I'm the mayor of Trotsdale.”
“Mayor huh? That's cool. Guess you're here because of that whole mess up north, huh?” Rainbow responds first, moving to sit down at the table where the others are eating their own meals. She makes sure to leave a seat open for me. I sit down next to her, my body feeling a little lethargic. Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity all smile at my presence, but I can't look at them.
“That's correct. Her city is the closest to the Crystal Empire, and as such it was necessary that she be here for this meeting,” Celestia answers for Robin, who nods in confirmation. “However, I'll allow you to enjoy your meal in peace before we hold an official council of war.”
“War in Equestria...as Granny Smith would say, what's the world comin' to?” Applejack laments, shaking her head. “That aside, it's good ta see yer okay, Seth. You were pretty beat up.”
“I want to apologize for that. I made sure to heal you as soon as I was able,” Celestia calls to me. Right, as usual, Celestia heals me whenever the shit gets beaten out of me. I need to really get around to paying her back for all of that...but I can't really, because none of us are going to be alive for much longer. Sombra's just going to kill us when he gets here.
“Thanks, but it doesn't matter. I'm fine now, for all the good it does,” I reply darkly, waving their concerns away. My words cause an awkward silence to form, lasting until the two guards return with plates of food for Fluttershy, Rainbow, and I. It's just a salad for me with a few flowers in it, but at least it's something. I don't know when the last time I ate was. “How long was I out?”
“For several days. The airship didn't have the facilities necessary to treat us all, so we set down in this city,” Celestia reveals. “I set about healing the rest of you as soon as I recovered my magic and strength.”
“Several days? What the hell is Sombra doing?” I snap, turning to face Celestia with worry. There's no way Sombra is willing to just sit around instead of chasing us. Several days should have given him plenty of time to catch up.
“Your guess is as good as mine. Our intelligence is sadly lacking at the moment,” Celestia admits. At the table near hers, Captain Gale sighs and hangs her head, looking rather ashamed of herself. “However, I will fully go over the situation once everyone has finished eating.”
With that, the meal continues. There's mostly silence, but every so often, one of the six ponies I'm seated with will start up a conversation, though I usually stay out of it. Some of them, like Rarity and Applejack, as me how I'm feeling. My responses are never very elaborate. I feel like shit, and my chest feels empty and devoid of hope.
Just looking around at all of their faces, smiling despite the shit that's going on, makes me want to die rather than let them down. But...it hurts more than any physical pain. Sombra and Hawke are going to come for them, and nopony will be able to stop them. Not Celestia, not Luna, and certainly not me. They will all die, and everything that I've worked for since I realized how much I cared will disappear.
Yes, I care about these stupid fucking ponies. All of them. Like I was told before, they're not perfect by any means. Rainbow's an egotistical jock. Applejack's a farm pony with a tendency to be overly competitive and stubborn. Twilight's a fucking book nerd with obsessive compulsive tendencies, as well as a bit of a control freak. Pinkie is...well...one does not simply describe Pinkie as being anything other than herself. Fluttershy is exasperating to talk to at times, because if I raise my voice even a little, she gets frightened. Rarity is the most frustrating mare who cares too much about fashion and holds herself up on a pedestal half the time.
Even despite all of this, every single one of them has never stopped trying to help me, no matter how hard I tried to push them away. No one has ever tried so hard to get to know me. While I resented it then, now I realize that I would be dead a million times over without them. That's why this hurts so much.
My feelings get to be so powerful, I stand up from the table, surprising the ponies in the room and causing them all to look at me at once. “Seth?” Rainbow asks.
“Is everything alright?” Rarity inquires worriedly.
“I need some air,” I respond simply, turning the other direction and storming out of the room before any of them can say anything else. I remember the way out, so it isn't long before I leave the building entirely. Out of habit, I jump a little in the air, only to come back down with a crash. I curse and rub my backside, remembering once again that I can't fly anymore.
I don't know where my feet are taking me. My mind seems to zone out as I head away from all of the ponies in the town hall behind me, unable to face them, because I know that when Sombra gets here, I'm going to have to watch them all die. It's like I'm dealing with Chrysalis again, only this time there's no promise of Celestia to save us all.
Eventually, I find myself at the edge of the town, at the top of a cliff overlooking the waterfall. The river froths chaotically and falls down hundreds upon hundreds of meters down into the lake at the very bottom. I have a painful flashback to the time several months ago, when I almost committed suicide in a place very much like this. Except this time...I'm going to die no matter what I choose to do.
After a moment of looking at the waterfall, I turn my gaze up towards the horizon, where I can see the Crystal Mountains rising high into the air, a long way away. A dark, ominous cloud bank hangs over the mountaintops, lightning flashing in its interior. Just like before, the lightning is green. It's far away, but that sight only seems to confirm that Sombra is back and aching for revenge. The irony is not lost on me. A storm is coming, and I'm not going to be able to hold it back.
“Hey,” Rainbow calls from behind me. I sigh and look back down at the waterfall. Of course she followed me. Why wouldn't she? When she speaks again, she sounds determined. “You're not yourself, and I want to know why.”
“Don't you already know?” I return, once again starting to think about whether or not jumping off of this cliff would really make a difference in my fate.
“I thought we already talked about this! Didn't you say you weren't going to give up?” Rainbow challenges me, hovering around me and shoving me away from the edge of the cliff so hard I almost fall over backwards. Now she's really looks angry. “Why am I finding you here at the edge of a cliff!? Don't tell me you were planning on abandoning me!”
“Whether I give up doesn't make a difference. They're going to kill us all anyway,” I respond with an empty voice. “I can't stop it. Not even Celestia can stop it.”
My head snaps back as Rainbow slaps my cheek hard with her hoof. “What the hay, Seth!? Why are you acting like this just because you lost your magic? We're alive! That means we have a chance, no matter how small!” Rainbow yells at me furiously. “I can't believe you'd considering throwing that away just because of this!”
“Just because of this!?” I demand, my eyes narrowing as my temper rises. I jab a finger at her emphatically. “You don't understand! I don't feel like this because I lost my magic!”
“Then why!?” Rainbow shoots back. When I next speak, I'm right up in front of her, to the point where we're practically nose to nose.
“Because I can't protect you, Rainbow!” The words leave my mouth before I can stop them. Rainbow's anger seems to die as understanding dawns in her face. “I can't protect you, I can't protect any of you! That magic was all I had! Ever since losing my race, it was the one thing keeping me from losing hope!”
“It's why I let myself become friends with you in the first place! I told myself I wouldn't lose you like I lost Amaryllis...and that I'd keep you safe with these hands!” I continue fervently. Rainbow slowly backs away, her eyes widening as she takes the full brunt of my feelings. "How do you think I feel now that I can't even do that!? I don't know if I can handle losing everyone again...especially not you! I love you; I'd rather die than have to suffer losing you!”
“Seth...” is all Rainbow can say. I don't think she expected to hear such an outburst of emotions from me, especially since I'm so bad at expressing them.
I turn and sit down on the edge of the cliff, my legs dangling over the side. I thought I'd feel a little better getting that off my chest, but now I just feel numb, a dull acceptance seeping into me. I pound a fist into the ground, angry at my own powerlessness. After all of this...everything I've been through...I'm going to lose it all again. Why did I let them in? This would be so much easier if I didn't have any friends, or anything to lose.
“Just...leave me alone, Rainbow,” I say in a quieter voice, rubbing my cheek where Rainbow struck me. “I need some time to myself. I promise I won't leave you.”
“Fine, take all the time you want,” Rainbow responds in a hard voice, her fur bristling. As she starts to fly away, she turns her head back and fixes me with an angry stare.“Try to think about someone other than yourself. You're not the only one with someone they'd die rather than lose.”
I don't acknowledge her statement. Rainbow leaves the area not long after that, leaving me alone at the cliff. I take some solace in the sound of the waterfall roaring in front of me. I feel terrible now, thinking about that last thing Rainbow said to me. But, it doesn't matter in the end. Sombra is just going to kill us all.
I sit there at the edge of the waterfall for a long time, staring at the water with an empty expression. However, that peace eventually comes to an end, as I feel a presence in the area that makes me sigh slightly. “So, is it your turn now?” I ask in annoyance. I don't even have to look to know that it's Celestia here now. She's the only one whose magic I can feel around her like that.
“I would just like a moment of your time, Seth,” Celestia confirms, emerging from between two of the houses. She looks to be completely on her own, with no sign of Rainbow or Luna anywhere. “I came to see you as a friend, not as a princess.”
With a grunt, I get up from the edge and approach Celestia, because I've never been able to simply brush her off. She always sees right through me, and that makes it so I lose every argument I have with her. “I don't think you can convince me this time,” I tell her honestly.
“I would at least like you to hear me out,” Celestia responds, dipping her head slightly in acknowledgment to my words. “I believe I understand how you are feeling.”
“Why, because Rainbow went to you for help?” I respond bitterly. Because she couldn't convince me, no doubt Rainbow ran right to Celestia. To my surprise, Celestia shakes her head.
“Rainbow is currently taking time for herself. She will not speak to us. I came to this conclusion on my own.” Celestia informs me. Of course she did. “Without your magic, you believe yourself to be powerless and unable to protect your friends as you used to. Am I on the right track?”
I nod wordlessly. At this point, I shouldn't be surprised that Celestia can read me so accurately. I wonder if she's ever been in a position like mine.
“I know how you feel. Everypony, at some point in their life, feels as if they are powerless,” Celestia continues. “In my own case...I have felt as such multiple times. I felt powerless to save the crystal ponies as they disappeared into the snow. I felt powerless against Discord, against whom magic had no effect. I felt powerless when I was forced to banish my sister to the moon. It's not a feeling I am unfamiliar with. I know just how hard it can be.”
“That's great, I'm glad you understand what I'm feeling,” I snap, getting a little annoyed. “But you can't fix it, can you? You can't beat Sombra. Because of that, we're all going to die when he comes for us. How are you not crippled by this? You know he's stronger than you, and he plans to make you and your subjects pay for defeating him the first time. How can you still act, knowing that you can't protect your subjects?”
“Because it does not matter whether or not I think I can defeat him,” Celestia responds, her eyes narrowing. “I know only that I must defeat him, in order to protect all I hold dear. I have faith that I will succeed. This, plus the overwhelming support I receive from my sister and my friends, allows me to keep going.”
“Faith...I never could understand how to have faith. It basically means accepting something despite all of the evidence,” I admit, my shoulders slumping. “I think...I think I almost envy you.”
“You can have faith as well, Seth. I know you can. You have done it before, whether you realize it or not,” Celestia promises me, stepping forward. “Have faith in the strength of your friends, and have faith in me. Keep fighting, knowing that your friends will support you no matter how dismal the future may seem.”
“My friends...” I repeat, turning her words over in my head. Celestia steps towards me, lifting a hoof and extending it towards me. Behind her, in the streets, I notice all of the other ponies as well, including Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Twilight, Fluttershy, Iron, Blades, Cadance, Luna, Spitfire, and even Shining Armor. They're all standing in the streets a good distance away, watching us with determined expressions. All of them came here just for me?
“Seth, let us move towards the future together, no matter what it may hold. Will you accept my support and my friendship?” Celestia expresses to me, holding more feeling in her expression than I think I've ever seen her display towards me. I glance down at her hoof, which she is holding out to me invitingly.
“Yeah, okay. We'll fight together then,” I say after a long pause, reaching out and accepting her hoof. Celestia smiles with joy, and she brings me in for a short reassuring nuzzle. What she's said to me is far out of my comfort zone. I've never taken something like this on faith before. I'm basically agreeing to fight against what equates to a god, even though there's almost no hope of victory.
Especially since I don't have any magic.
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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Love it. MOAR MOAR!
Metaphor... Might want to say something closer to loss of charge or power source. It might make more sense if he isn't accessing a part differently, but using new power. 'Cause I saw what you were doing, except is was a bit odd. I dunno.
Oh man, that ending made me grin like an idiot. I love it :3
Oh. Ohhhh. Now the cracking mask makes sense- the power spikes were clearly when Seth got his jimmies rustled enough to let out some of his own juice rather than Sombry's gunk.
Oh man. That sentence sounds so wrong. I'm leaving it.
So, he can easily go super saiyan now? With his own magic? Magic that he hasn't used before? Seems legit.
Ok that was my second theory but hoooooooooy boy Hawke is in for an a
whoopin' 
5837525
It's not as if he has to learn magic all over again. All he had to do was realize it was there, and then he can use his months of training to manipulate it as before. In addition, it's HIS magic, and not Sombra's, and therefore it responds to him easier than before.
And then they all lose horribly. New Dark Age here we come! I am proud to bow before our evil unicorn overlord.
Yes! Yes! A million times yes! Watch out Sombra and Chrissy!
Where once there was Shade, there is now Shadow. Where once there was Evil, there is now Good. Where once there was Darkness, there is now Light. Let the power of faith give you the Courage to fight, the Wisdom to plan, and the Power to succeed. Let-
-Smack!-
Ow! What the hell, Amy?
You were getting weird again. Let's just sit back and watch the fireworks!
Alright so let me preface this by saying that I love this story to death, as much as one can; I'm a sucker for stories like this.
And now let me tell you why this felt completely unrealistic and rushed. I get the idea behind it completely; he loses the magic he's been using all along because it's not his magic, it's Sombra's. I figured this out, well, basically from the second it was implanted. He loses it because it was never his in the first place and because he's never drawn upon his own magic, he can't reach it; he doesn't know it's there.* All of this is fine up to this point.
Here's where I think you're wrong.
From what I've gotten from your writing, Seth is a pretty smart guy. He's worked through a lot of problems on his own, and when he can't, Rainbow and Vinyl help him see where and why he's wrong. He's gone through a really rough patch with them, and they've helped out a bunch.
The way you've been writing it is very believable and real. Most of it felt right, and where it stopped feeling that way was when Celestia just straight up told him how to find his magic. That doesn't feel at all realistic to me. Let me try and go over why it feels that way.
It's too quick. He's still hurting from losing something he's been relying on since anything really started mattering to him in this world. That's a huge loss. Inside he's reeling because a lot of what he's been relying on is a lie. The human mind is a fickle thing -- even if you tell it how to do something, it wont always accept that as the truth regardless if it is or not. I don't think he would be able to just instantly accept that he still has a magical core so easily when he hasn't shown any signs of feeling anything remotely close to what he's looking for in himself now.
I think you're missing a huge spot for personal self improvement for Seth. He needs to learn, that even without his friends, but because of them, he's a better person now and he doesn't need what he just lost. He really needs to come to this conclusion on his own, because otherwise he'll never stop thinking of himself as someone that doesn't mean anything, having wasted so much of his life missing what was in front of him and he never saw.
I think it would fit a lot better if Celestia had left it at giving him hope, and then letting him come to his own conclusions, in a bit of self reflection. You have brought the story to such a beautiful sounding place -- have him go somewhere in the city, some place of self reflection (Like a park, or somewhere else close to nature), and give him time to think things through. Let him come back to his training and meditation on his own, and discover why he's wrong about the way he's thinking.
To summarize it just felt like you pulled Deus Ex Celestia out of your pocket for this chapter without regard to personal feelings, and the way people work. In the end I think this is a wonderful story, and I'll support whatever you write, but I can't help myself when it comes to literary journeys of this nature. When I see something that can be improved (from my standpoint) I can't help but speak up, because at heart I love stories and the feelings they conjure as we read them.
* -- I'm assuming where the magic he's now drawing upon is from his training with Rose, and his own magic that has been slowly gathering strength because of the emotional experiences he's shared with the cast of the story. As far as I can tell, while not fleshed out too in depth (because he's not that big of a magical theory guy, and neither are you I'm assuming (sorry if not true)) the magic system is based upon your emotions. I'm sure if he went negative for long enough after using his own wellspring of power it would be corrupted into darker mana as well, and he could then recognize it, regardless of whose mana it was originally. You generate your mana based on what kind of a person you are; if you do evil things you produce evil mana and vice versa (I'm sure there are other factors as well but that isn't important for this discussion). The point of this being that he's not feeling it because he hasn't had experience searching within himself for something not negative before.
I'm somewhat amused the... obvious... panic button didn't occur to him when he was so utterly hopeless.
Wake up Discord.
If it's suddenly 'his' magic, are humans magical now in some way? Magical Girl Amaryllis, fighting the zompony invasion! The action! The drama! The panty shots!
No. Too fast. This was the perfect time for a chapter or so of depressed sap or other character dev but you blew right through and gave it back. Faster than the speed of light.
Ooh now this one was interesting
Starting off we have Seth waking up from the absolutely brutal beating he took from Hawke. Celestia has managed to heal him physically, but mentally he is shocked, scared and feeling completely hopeless. His magic, the thing that put him on, and even for some, the level of the ponies has been completely stripped from him and he is stuck a regular old human again. He even outlines it clearly this chapter. Rarity could probably best him. rarity isn't a complete pushover, but compared to any of the more aggressive cast members like Rainbow or Applejack, she isn't anywhere on the level, and yet because of her magic she could beat Seth now. That's a pretty discouraging situation in its own right, but on top that, Sombra is back at full strength and in complete control of the empire. The only possible way things could be more screwed is if Discord suddenly showed up.
As such Seth is in a pretty sour mood, enough that he has Rainbow and Fluttershy worried. Flutter's manages to get him to agree not to give up, but it's clear that he doesn't really by it. Still he just wants to get moving again so the group pushes on to meet the rest of their friends. The town sounds lovely, right next to Neighagra Falls (some pony puns just write themselves). They manage to catch up with Twilight and we learn that she wasn't even able to hurt Hawke. That's actually a scary thought. Seth claims that Hawke may be slightly more powerful then he was, but so far he'd never had any chance to compare his strength to Twilight. With Sombra, Celestia, Luna, Hawke, Chrysalis and Seth, Twilight has really been outclassed this story.
Anyway after meeting the mayor (whose description is suspiciously similar to Mayor Mare... either all pony mayors are clones or perhaps they are related) Seth is finally unable to suppress his feelings and needs to step out for a moment. The build up over the chapter was really good for this. Prior to this, Seth has always been good at suppressing his emotions, but with just how severe the situation is hangover his head, and how calm the rest of the group is, he just couldn't hold it down. After heading out for a bit Rainbow finally gets an answer out of him. The emotional confrontation here was really well done. It wasn't just a blowout or him hiding how he was feeling. He declares outright how he feels unable to protect those he cares about, and is unable to think about losing Rainbow. It's obvious that Rainbow understands how he feels, though she is angry that he hasn't considered her feelings and that he would die to keep him safe just as he would for her. I suspect the reconciliation for this fight won't be difficult, as while Seth isn't really considering how she feels, Rainbow can see that he is upset because he doesn't want to lose her.
Anyway after Rainbow heads off t be alone herself, Celestia shows up. Celestia has a way of getting into his head. She may always end up helping the situation, but it certainly doesn't raise her image in his head when she can always just figure him out all the time. Here she is instantly able to tell how he feels useless and unable to protect those he cares about. She asks him to have faith, probably the hardest thing he has ever had to do. He has been able to place faith in rainbow before, but to place faith that they could win against Sombra despite the overwhelming odds, I can understand why he finds it hard. Yet with the appearance of everypony else (barring rainbow who is off somewhere alone) Seth agrees to not give up.
However after this Celestia lets him know that while the magic Sombra gave him was all his, the magical centre that it was stored is now his own and as such he has his own mana. With a power up, he is just as powerful as he was before (I don't why but I always figured if he got his own magic, it would be white. Oh well, green works too). the power up is awesome and seeing that he is just as powerful as before is awesome. Now he could take on Hawke head to head and he can keep the ones he cares about safe. Unfortunately Sombra still completely outpowers him, so the gang need to come up with a plan, or it isn't going to help much.
I cannot wait until next chapter, things are going to get awesome. Seth will need to patch things up with rainbow, then the group needs a game plan. Only one thing is still unaccounted for. With all the heavy hitters preparing to face Sombra, what will Chrysalis be up to? Awesome chapter, I can't wait for more.
As soon as this story is finished, I'll have to analyze it and see if it's worth replacing one of the stories on my list on my user page for best stories. This story is fucking amazing!
You want me to tell you what I think?
I LOVE IT GIMME MOAR!
This is what happens when I go on holiday. I miss all of the updates. Well, I've caught up now.
Aww. Am I the only person here who didn't want Seth to get his magic back. I kinda wanted him to ride Rainbow into battle wielding two assault rifles. To put it simply, he'll need guns, lots of guns.
Think about it though. If someone is skilled with magic they will only fosus it where needed such as their fiats while punching and their shoulder if a laser hits it. If Sombra or Hawke didn't have magic focused in their back or head when Seth shoots them - surely it should kill them?
OK, that'd probably be unsatisfying and your fight scene would be a lot cooler. But I still wanted him to ride Rainbow into battle.
Can Seth still use his avatar thing?
Also, am I the only person that noticed that he "felt" Celestia after loosing his magic:
Seriously Seth, you should've realised you had magic by yourself. (If that was a writing mistake, keep it in, it works)
He should reclaim the dark magic at the end so he can use both. Or something. That'd be cool.
Sadly, this is almost coming to an end (right?).
5838181
I actually completely agree with this. It was rushed and I think it would be a whole lot better if he figures it out on his own.
he is now a super saiyan
I thought it rather obvious that you'd give Seth his magic back (even before you said as much to me after the last one). However, I mostly meant the dark magic. I know that there are a large amount of downsides, but let's face it; that s**t was pretty bad ass. Yes, he now has his green magic stuff and all, but I mean, black smoke aura? That's pretty damn awesome. Surely he could just get better at controlling it, right? . . . Right?
*Resonance is promptly killed by everyone*
Not hating on anything here. This is excellently written, and there needs to be more like it.
He needs to learn a spell to turn his hair yellow. Think about it. Hawke is a human from that time frame. You're facing down someone who shouldn't have any power whatsoever, and then they let loose a massive amount of power as their hair stands on end and turns yellow. A green aura of energy surrounds them and they look you in the eye and tell you there gonna kick your ass. I don't care if I can tell there weaker than me, I'm gonna think 'power levels are bullshit' and Run.
5843076
Well, I've had a lot of people ask for him to run around with some guns, but realistically, that can't happen. After all, he's a college student with no interest in that sort of thing, so he doesn't have much knowledge of them.
As for the story ending soon...I expect there will be a minimum of ten more chapters. Likely a lot more, considering the content I have to cover. I once thought the royal wedding would only take me two or three chapters. I was wrong.
ERMAHGERD!!!! SHIT'S BOUT TO GO DOWN WHEN SSJ SETH WALKS IN THE BUILDING!!!!!!!!!!!!
(ﾉ ಥ益ಥ)ﾉ ︵┻━┻
5854706 Damn you holidays. Damn you. If you didn't happen I might've got it into the omake chapter thing.
I'm a bit surprised how he can use the new magic so well though. Maybe it comes naturally, but it hasn't really been used like that before.
Also, I'm still calling Seth an idiot for not realising he had magic. But then, I've called almost everyone in the story an idiot within and thought my assorted comments. Probably because I have the great ability of hindsight.
Edit: Holy muffins, I just saw the word count. Do you have anything planned for after this finishes? Except a sequel. Please don't do that. It'd be continuing it further than needed. A side story could work, but not an actual sequel.
5855638
Yeah, I have no plans for a sequel. As I've said to others who asked, there would be no point in continuing after Sombra. After all, Seth's story will be over at that point, and if I continued further, he'd just be a static character. No, I do have ideas for other stories within the universe I've built, but no sequels.
5856297
There's lots of possibilities for a new story. You could jump forward in time, let's say to Season 5, and that would be your setting. Next, you could introduce several different characters as an OC. Maybe Amaryllis, or Seth's brother, or a completely new character with a very different personality to Seth's. What about Seth's dead relative, the one who died to the Oppressed?
5856297 I can't believe I just realised this.
Set, also often called Seth was pretty much the Egyptian god of chaos. And other stuff. You know, that important one?
How I didn't notice that within the last 100 chapters, especially since I've been here since chapter 4, 5, or 6, is beyond me.
One thing to note is: Seth is also a bad guy in a crap tonne of games. Hence why Sombra initially chose him. He did, however, do some cool good guy stuff for Ra (the sun god - *hint* Celestia *hint*).
Trying to give an abridged depiction is hard when I know so much in some of these areas. Meh.
Please, please, PLEASE fix the links
7493303
Nothing I can do about the Fairy Tail songs, sadly. Youtube has been taking all of them down. I've been rerouting those that I can through a proxy, but for those that I can't, there's no other place for me to find them. I can tell you the name of the song in case you wanted to search it out on your own through...less scrupulous means.
When Seth said he needed some air, the song was Fairy Tail's Tenshi no Kunou, or Angel's Anguish.
The anticipation is killing me! Even though I'm reading a fast as I'm willing to!
https://youtu.be/xdL4C6JN3bI
Cue the uplifting moral rousing battle hymns.
I kind of want someone to tell rainbow that her speed and flight is magic.
The thing is Celestia can not help jack shit because she has never been powerless.
5838200
Yes, but that panic button has the chance to kill them all itself. And judging by the fact that Darkness over here is not a god, Discord would be impossible to beat a second time if he took it even semi-seriously.