Chapter XLVII: The Gun Fires
In her cell nearly a mile beneath the Earth’s crust, the Princess hated.
It was all she had left to do, really. All the scheming had already been set in motion. So all she had to occupy herself was her hate, her musings, her thoughts of Xinjiang wiped off the face of existence, of Tokyo in flames, of humans screaming pitifully from their cells as their former comrades held them down at her orders, gazing at old friends and brothers and lovers like they were nothing in their new, empty eyes.
An ear flicked. Muffled voices beyond her sight: “God, I hate coming down here...” one of the monkeys said in its guttural native tongue.
“Everyone does,” another voice. “It’s like standing too close to a nuke.”
A tiny smile etched its way across her muzzle. A nuclear warhead. Such an interesting toy, and a testament to the lowly status these creatures held: a group of barbaric tribes that should have surrendered to her light all those years ago. But next to her? A firecracker, like what foals would have been given during the many festivals celebrating her greatness.
“No...no, not like a nuke.” The other voice filtered through to her, picked up by ears focused under scant bits of magic even through the dozens of meters of steel between her and the outside. “A nuke is something we made. You know it can be controlled and regulated and shit. This is like a plague, like smallpox in some lab.”
Silence from the outside, then a grunt of assent. Her smile widened.
“Christ she’s been busy this month...damned converters are shot over here.”
“I bet this circuit board has you beat!” Came a chortled reply.
“Oh Jesus, that thing looks like a pancake! They should’ve had us down here yesterday!”
“You can thank Command and their infinite wisdom for delaying.”
The smile widened and deepened. Sure, you could thank Command. After all, it was the Colonel’s idea to delay her prison’s tune-up until midnight of the next day. They had been so very busy these past few days, of course, and it was about time the night crews got a little more experience maintaining her cells. It wouldn’t do if one shift was the only one that knew all the intricate ins and outs of the Tachyon Array keeping her contained, what if there was an accident that incapacitated them all right around her monthly maintenance check?
That this little midnight check coincided with the shift change for the guards around the Colonel’s new prisoners likely never crossed his stupid little monkey mind.
“Okay, breakers one and two off! Half-power for maintenance!”
The dim lights inside the cell flickered. Wings flaring in their restraints, the Princess gazed upwards. “Time to move, my knight in shining armor...”
For going on a week now, Shining Armor had waited.
Based on the shuffle of motion outside, he’d been able to nail down a somewhat-consistent schedule for the patrols in the hallway. It was hard keeping track of time, but he had nothing but time to count seconds and piece things together. He was able to figure out that around midnight, a shift change happened. It was pretty consistent, and left the hallway unguarded for nearly twenty minutes. This meant he had one window in the dead of night he knew he could work with. As a unicorn, he knew he could pop the other cell doors in that time, then he’d have a whole host of his fellow soldiers to use however they might see fit. After that…
Well, there was the problem, wasn’t it? It’s not like he could expect to find a main control room with “Princess Holding Cell” marked off with an X, if she was even being held here.
He blew his mane out of his eyes, grimacing at how unkempt it was getting. If his old drill instructor saw him now, he’d be sent to the barber and given latrine duty for a week! He chuckled, figuring he even knew what the old stallion would say: “Armor! I don’t care if you’re banging a princess, here you will—“
My captain~
Shining bolted upright in his cell. “Princess!?” He gasped, looking around, ears standing straight up. The hair on the back of his neck prickled as he waited, hoping, praying for something else, some confirmation that he wasn’t just going stir-crazy inside this little cell. The air seemed to gain a new power to it, an electricity he hadn’t noticed before. After a few solid minutes of silence, however, the only thing echoing in his ears was his own heartbeat.
He sighed, setting his head down again. Damn. His imagination trying to give him some hope, had to be...
Captain...
“Princess!” He bolted upright, standing in his cot. Okay, no denying it that time! She was real! Absolutely real! “Princess!?”
No response. Shining sucked in a breath, gazed up. Based on the timing of his last meal, midnight was approaching fast. He’d literally counted the seconds since then: best way to maintain that inner peace and keep his horn hidden. Now though…
Well hell, that peace was screwed anyway.
Leveling a glare upon the metal door, he pulled away at the illusion around his horn, assuming a battle stance as he waited for the sound of boots on metal. He didn’t make any sort of signal. He knew the noise would be all his stallions would need to leap into action. He just had to wait.
The metal shutter opened to allow a tray of food in. Shining unleashed his magic.
A string of curse words howled in that guttural language as lightning flitted through the slot. Focusing, Shining forced his magic against the hinges of the door. Even from the other side, they bent after only a few seconds of wrenching at them. Snarling, he dove from the bed, twisted, and bucked the door with all the strength in his frame: considerable given his guard training. The door fell away like cardboard, and he strode through.
A soldier in one of those odd hats looked up at him, stunned. He opened his mouth to scream, but no words came out, courtesy of Shining’s magic. Shining dove forward, slamming a hoof into the guard’s forehead, knocking him out before—
…finish him…
He looked around, eyes wide, then his gaze slid back to the soldier. He realized with sudden revulsion that his hoof had found its way to the creature’s throat, and had been moments away from pressing. He stepped back, let out a shivering breath. The guy was no threat to him, why did he even consider that!?
Suddenly, red lights flashed. Alarm bells sounded. Cursing, Shining whirled on his hooves, casting his magic out against the doors to the other cells. In a flash, his Earth pony and Pegasi soldiers rushed into the hallway.
“Captain!” His second gasped, an Earth pony with a cream coat that rushed into the hallway, still half-asleep, a hoof at his brow in salute. “What’s…”
Shining raised a hoof for quiet. The ponies immediately all stood at attention, locking eyes with him. “We are going to free our comrades in arms, stallions.” He announced, stating it, leaving no room for doubt. “And then we are going to free our princess. Am I being clear?”
“Yes, sir!” The stallions bellowed. No questions asked.
Good, he didn’t think he’d be able to answer them.
Upstairs, down the hall. There is some equipment in front of the room. Smash it.
Shining grinned, confidence blooming in his chest as he gazed up at the gaping door to their cells, left hanging open. He didn’t even question the carelessness of it, he just moved, shooting up the stairs back to the surface, following the instructions of his princess. Two guards rushed him, holding those long weapons, but a quick wrench of his magic and both were thrown carelessly against the walls. He dodged between them as his stallions made short work of them, side stepping their splayed-out longcoats as he dove for the door at the end of the hall.
The tile whizzed beneath his hooves, accompanied by the thunder of his soldiers. Twisting corridors and dizzying turns were apparently of no consequence to the voice whispering away in his head. Just before the next corridor, she gasped for him to stop, crane his neck just so, and fire off a bolt. He did so, and a group of humans came stumbling out the other end, stunned and no match for his soldiers. They carried small devices resembling the ones used to restrain his unicorns days before. If they had used them, they might have--
Shaking off his shock at his good fortune, Shining Armor thundered along, right over the unconscious bodies of his former captors. Alarms blared in his deafened ears. Red lights shone against his white coat. His comrades barely had time to shout warnings before the voice in his head informed him of where to shoot, and before he knew it, another body would be splayed out in his path, dazed by a stun bolt. It became automatic: Run. Listen. Fire. Move on.
If there was ever any sort of suspicion at the darker tone the voice took every time he left one of the soldiers breathing, it was cast aside.
Left. Down the maintenance hall.
“LEFT!” He announced a moment before wheeling into a harsh 90° turn, not even questioning it as he slammed through a door, sending a creature in blue coveralls sprawling. Unarmed as he was, Shining didn’t even bother using a stun bolt on him, instead turning to the pile of hoses and metal racks and strange, humming equipment and blasting it all away with a few perfectly-aimed shots from his horn.
He wheeled around, intent on returning to the hallway, but found himself stopped. He turned in surprise to find one of the creatures with an appendage around his hind hoof, gazing desperately up at him.
“Don’t let her out...” he groaned. “You can’t...”
Shining’s ears folded back as his brow raised. The conviction and fear on this person’s face was palpable, the way he desperately clawed at the hindleg, the way he begged the stallion with his eyes. Was this the path he was meant to take? Was there something else going on, some piece to the picture he was missing?
Then, rather suddenly, something warm slipped into his brain. The warmth settled over his mind, emptying it. His vision filled with red. His lips twisted into a snarl. This...thing was daring to insult his princess! His sovereign! The one upon whom his nation’s fate rested! The one pony in the world that held the hearts of millions, and who had been stolen from him unjustly!
“How dare you.” He hissed dangerously. His hoof stomped, coming down on the filthy ape’s fingers with a series of pops and squelches. The creature screamed as he whirled on it, clamping its lips shut with his magic.
“How dare you!?” He bellowed. “How dare you voice such lies about a goddess!? You unworthy, lowly cretin! You pile of scum! You…you...”
“Captain!”
Shining blinked, turned to the door where the voice had sounded. His head spun. His hooves gave a twinge of pain. He looked down at them, and gasped.
The creature beneath him now wore a series of cuts and bruises all across its face. Both eyes were swollen nearly shut with beaten, purple skin. A bloody tooth lay next to a trail starting at the corner of its swollen lips. Breath wheezed in and out through bloody nostrils.
He turned back, realized he was talking to a unicorn who was now staring at him as if he were an escaped convict with a shiv. “G-get one of the medics!” He gasped. “S-someone who knows healing magic! Hurry!”
“Sir, do we really have time for that!?” One of the unicorn newcomers shouted, but a glare from Shining was all he needed to know that yes, they sure as shit had time for that. One of the unicorns rushed through, a pale-grey mare with her horn already aglow.
“Just set things to rights so he doesn’t suffocate while we’re away,” Shining spat, ignoring the growling voice in his head insisting for him to just move on, leave the monkey, let the scum die a slow and painful death. He trotted back out to the hallway, where his soldiers stood at attention, crammed in shoulder-to-shoulder and saluting in the flickering light from the panels above. After a few moments, the mare returned from inside the tiny room.
“It’s done,” she announced. “He’s stable.”
They’re coming. The voice hissed with no small amount of venom.
“Move!” Shining shouted, whipping his head around to lead the group further into the maze of metal corridors and tile. His body followed his princess’s direction automatically now. Left. Right. Right. Straight. Down. Down. Down.
Stop.
They had arrived at a metal door set in the wall. It could have been one of a dozen other maintenance closets they’d passed. Thanks to his princess, Shining knew better. He burst through. A group of the creatures were just standing there, dressed in the tell-tale jumpers of maintenance personnell. A quick stun spell, and they were no longer a factor.
As the humans fell away, a box revealed itself, behind their bodies. One with a lightning bolt on it, and three, thick cables leading down into the floor.
Level-Five spell...right into the middle leg…yes, my knight, yes!
His horn charging, Shining Armor slammed all his might into what may have been more than a level-five spell. The humans, still dazed, locked their eyes on the blue bolt, eyes wide and mouths agape, as it slammed into the power box with a loud pop. For a second, nothing happened, and Shining bit his lip, afraid he’d messed up somehow. Then, a loud bang sounded around the corner, followed by a series of heavy thuds, and finally, the lights dimmed.
“Oh pizdets, chto vy nadelali…” one of the creatures exclaimed, eyes still whirling from the stun spell.
Deep in her cell, the princess grinned as the lights went out.
”The hell was that!?”
“Some sorta power surge! Oh God, it took out the couplings over here!”
“Aww fuck, Jesus, zapped my thumb…fuck! Fuck we lost them here too! Oh shit!”
“Stay calm, we can swap ‘em out, we can…”
“No you can’t.”
All talk silenced itself as the princess felt her strength, her true strength, return.
“You’re already too late,” she purred as the air in the room simmered with heat.
Shining turned a questioning look on the creatures in the room, but was interrupted before he could say anything by a colossal thud that shook the floor beneath his hooves. Dust drifted from the ceiling with it. At the same time, a sinking pit formed in his stomach.
“Ona svobodna!” The cry rang out among the small group of humans. They all darted to their feet, ignoring their pony captors completely as they ran for the door, practically running each other down in a mad dash to get out. “Ona svobodna! Ona svobodna!”
“Hey, hey!” One of the earth ponies shouted, holding up her hooves to stop them. “Where do you think you’re going!?”
The men either didn’t hear her, or didn’t care to. They literally bowled her over, massive frames checking her out of the way as if she were made out of paper. One even took a flying leap, landing impressively at the bottom of the stairs before darting to his feet, screaming as he tried to maintain his lead on the others.
“Captain, can’t you stop them!?” One of the stallions shouted. When no response came, he turned to his commander. “Captain? I said…”
He trailed off, noting the look on his leader’s face. Shining stood rooted in place, jaw agape, eyes widening in horror. The voice in his head had risen to a cackling flicker, like the roar of a wildfire. A wicked cackle played out hoof-in-hoof with the image of cities burning, a blighted hellscape beneath a blazing sun that consumed everything beneath it. A deep rumble sounded, and based on the gasps and folded ears around him, Shining figured that was real, not a part of whatever horror was being broadcast into his head. A sudden, stabbing pain materialized in his temple.
“C-captain?” One of the soldiers, a guard Shining knew had been part of his personal team for years, whimpered. His ears folded low as he turned to face him. “Wh-what is that!?”
The rumble grew into a deafening roar. The stone floors shook. Cracks formed within it. A pipe suddenly exploded with steam, right in the face of a recruit who screamed and dropped to the floor, clutching at the burnt-off mess of flesh and fur where the side of his face had once been. Someone screamed for the medic ponies to get to work. Shining Armor just watched, mouth agape, eyes wide and gazing to some far-off place he couldn’t quite see.
Then, all at once, the rumbling stopped.
Silence fell over the group. Even the burnt stallion stopped screaming. Everyone, ponies and humans alike, paused where they were and looked at the cracks in the floor.
“What was that?” Somepony asked again.
Shining opened his mouth to talk, but was interrupted:
My knight in shining armor~
The ground ripped open at his hooves. Steam poured from the fissures. The rock reared up as something broke up through the ground towards them, tossing a pony carelessly against a wall. Screams filled the tiny room as the rock rumbled, then started to glow, starting off at just red, then rapidly moving to orange and melting away from them.
“What is that!?” Somepony kept screaming. “What is that!? What—“
Then, the floor exploded. A few ponies standing too close to the fissures were blown to bits instantly, a disembodied hoof sailing away and slamming against the far door. More screams filled the air, and Shining realized the metal stairway the monkeys had been trying to climb was suddenly red hot, their skin sizzling and boiling away as their shoes and clothes ignited. And still they tried to climb, fueled by terror, pushing on skin that turned to char. Heat poured from the fissure in waves and, for a moment, Shining mused that he must have just unleashed an active volcano.
Finally, a hoof burst through the stone, melting it away. Shining’s eyes widened, then he had to close them on reflex, as the hoof shone with a blinding light. The screams from those around him were drowned out by the roar. He was thrown back against the wall, sliding down to his rear, unable to move. He let out his breath, then instantly regretted it as the air he let back in scorched his throat and burned his lungs.
He opened his eyes, and realized in an instant he was looking at the devil.
She looked like his beloved Princess, stood like her too, ethereal mane and all. She had the same coat, the same muzzle, and a rainbow-colored mane, albeit one that shimmered with rolling waves of stunning colors and sparks of power that flitted from her like lightning. However, her wings glowed red-hot where they were folded against her slim frame. The air shimmered off her body in heat waves. His head gave another twinge of pain, and it was only now he realized he was experiencing magical feedback from the sheer ambient power being thrown into the air.
But most of all, there were the eyes.
He knew Celestia’s friendly, loving gaze from years in her personal guard. This creature met his look with sunken, red orbs that had darkened spots serving for pupils, a haunting gaze that held nothing for the rest of the world but pure hatred.
“My knight in shining armor,” she intoned. “Thank you for releasing me.”
Behind her, a fresh round of screams had started up. Apparently, one of the monkeys had finally lost his balance and planted face-first on the glowing-hot metal. The mare that could have been Celestia’s doppelganger turned to this distraction and, with a slight grimace, inclined her head slightly, her long, ivory horn sparking with power. Instantly, the small group on the stairs burst into flames, screaming as they flailed in their death throes, skin bubbling and melting away.
The doppelganger watched them burn, taking in every agonizing second of their suffering. She only turned back to Shining when the last of the screams had stopped and the last human fell back down to the concrete, skin resembling a coal left on a campfire too long. The thing met Shining’s gaze with a placid little smile. He took one look at it, and felt just the slightest little release from his bladder.
“Wh-what is that?” The stallion gasped again, raising his hooves defensively over the blackened scorch marks burned onto his face. “Who are you!?”
“My little pony,” she purred, turning that placid smile onto him. “Don’t you recognize your princess?”
“Y-you’re not her!” He gasped. “You can’t be! You’re some kinda…demon! A monster!”
Her lips curling with distaste, the creature bent her head again. This time, flames roared into existence around her, forming a ring. Fire engulfed everypony else, and they screamed. Hooves flailing, they screamed. Coats blackening, they screamed. Skin and eyeballs melting from the heat, they screamed. And they screamed. And they screamed.
All except for him.
All except for Shining Armor. And…his princess.
He fell to his flanks, shaking his head, neck craned back as he watched the creature approach in horror. The mare tilted her head, studied him, seemingly unaware of the ponies around her screaming as they burned.
“My my, you look just like mine,” she mused, grinning. A perfectly normal grin, he noticed. Somehow, it looked even worse than the fangs he’d imagined.
He opened his mouth, tried to say something, but only managed a quiet moan.
“Well, my knight, it looks like you’ve reached your journey’s end.” She cackled. “You’ve saved the princess from the evil monkeys, so you know what happens now?”
In spite of the sheer terror stabbing cold icicles into his chest, Shining managed to shake his head.
“Haven’t you read the stories?” She asked, then puckered her lips. “This is the part where the princess kisses her brave hero.”
It was only after she started towards him that he realized her lips were glowing white-hot and smoldering with heat.
Before long, with the skin on his forehead peeling back and his white coat turning black, his screams joined his former soldiers’.
Her kiss finished, the Princess set her knight in shining armor back down on his hooves, tucking him away. His screams had stopped, which might have meant he knew the same peace as his former comrades.
No matter. She didn’t need him anymore.
She breathed in fresh, free air for the first time in far too many years. Years that had been stolen by the stupid, thousand-times-damned monkeys. Cursed creatures. Their world could have been the first to know her true light, could have become beings fully capable of basking in her glory without distraction, without thought for anything less than her holy might and will. But they chose resistance, and now her Empire laid in ruins.
She had thought long and hard about what would come next, but in the end knew there was too little she could glean about the goings-on in the world, even with her influence cast out over the Newfoals and the weaker minds. She could fly to one of this nation’s nuclear silos. She was certainly familiar enough with underground human facilities, and at close range she could instigate an attack. Turning humanity’s world into a radioactive cinder with their own weapons held a certain poetry for her. Hell, if she did that she might just have enough time to fly to her home and retake her throne, rebuild from the ashes, and give that traitorous little shit of a former guard captain a taste of what his counterpart just experienced.
Ahh, but no…she knew long ago that her people no longer held the love for her they once had. A few years without her propaganda ministries had seen to that. An unruly nation was every bit as deserving of death as any under that cursed UN flag. Still, ripping off Shining Armor’s legs while the human world burnt to a crisp held a certain attraction…although there was always the off-chance they would refrain from retaliation. Even if the other nations of the world saw a few warheads heading there way, there was always a chance someone would see her being free and put two and two together. Humanity had an unfortunate way of surprising her. That they had held her captive for so long was testament to that.
No, she had been locked away for too long. The nukes were a good idea, but for what they had done to her, she wanted an absolute guarantee that every one of those cursed monkeys would die screaming: their cities turned to ash, their works laid low and set to glorious, cleansing flame.
So, she closed her eyes, and gazed up, up at the world.
A snarl crossed her face. Despite her intentions, she couldn’t help shifting her attention to her homeland. UN columns marched in her streets, human soldiers patrolled the villages and hovels. And yet, her own citizens, those who didn’t lamely lower their heads at the passing patrols, looked to them with gratitude. Gratitude! In fact, some had even stricken friendships with them!
With a thought, she stopped the heart of a random mare as she sat down to a game of poker with a group of women in some UN office built in the ruins of Canterlot. Indeed, things were even worse than she suspected. While there were still those who held some love for her in their hearts, her little ponies welcomed the humans. It made her sick. The old fanaticism she needed was gone, replaced with a bunch of mules bowing before the monkeys.
So, what of the usurper’s world? She who would turn her own perfect little Newfoals against her?
Her sneer turned into a growl as she dismissed the thought. Such a world would be too weak-willed, every bit as spineless as its ruler. The inhabitants would look like her little ponies, but they would be groveling mockeries of her glorious Empire. No, better to burn the whole thing away, let the survivors rebuild from the ash.
Her ear pricked. Something had caught her attention on the human television waves. A doomsday cult? Ahh, of course, these always popped up, the primitive monkeys always thinking their world was coming to an end, especially whenever there was a…
Her eyes opened. She gazed up, straight up from where she stood. A dark chuckle rumbled up her throat. “Simple serendipity,” she said, staring directly up through the miles of corridors and machinery and all-too-squishy humans between herself and the outside. Grinning, she flared her wings.
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I'm a little confused. Was that the Shinning Armor of the good Celestia's world? Or the damaged one from the Xenolestia?
Looks like it's time for some hot Princess on Princess action.
By which I mean: Let them fight.
10853944
Good one. Was tricked by Xenolestia into freeing her most likely. That's why he was shocked when he realized who it actually was.
Remember that this Shining Armor didn't even know about Xenolestia, his only knowledge was that the "true" Celestia was captured when they first entered this world. So he most likely believed Xenolestia due to him not knowing that there was another and thinking that this was the "true" one.
Still somewhat idiotic of a move in my opinion given that he's still an high graded military personnel and that he's fallen for this exact same type of tricks once already in the show. But oh well, it's too late to go back now that he's basically a piece of coal.
Gotta say that I'm... Mixed on the choice of having the "good" Shining Armor do that.
Like I said on my comment answering to another commenter below, he's fallen to the exact same type of tricks in the series once already with everyone's favorite bug pony so you'd think that he would at least consider before going to free his princess just because he hears her voice in his head, especially given that I don't think Xenolestia and Celestia talk the same way.
But what's done is done and now he's dead and with that, he also released a creature that should never have been freed again.
It's to wonder where the DoomSlayer is when you need him. Because right now that's exactly him that they need.
In any other fanfiction I'd be absolutely hyped for a Celestia VS Xenolestia fight, but right now I'm more apprehensive of everyone who's going to die a horrible death in the next few chapters.
If one of the protagonists and Shining Armor weren't spared, I'm starting to wonder who's immune to getting killed here... Guess "Plot armor" wasn't one of the main directives when writing this fic lmao.
Tho, I will say that even if I'm apprehensive to that fight, I still wonder how exactly Celestia and more importantly Twilight will react to Shining being killed.
This will either result in an absolute catatonic breakdown or a fit of rage that'll probably give Xeno a run for her money. And I'd prefer the latter because she's long overdue the beatdown of a lifetime, one of multiple thousands of years.
"Fight fire with fire" was never more accurate than here. I just worry that those fires are going to cause collateral damage of immense proportions and that this'll result in "normal" Equestria being seen with an eye arguably just as bad as "bad" Equestria. Not to mention all the physical repercussions for all 3 dimensions.
And of course there's also the "bad ending" possibility of Xenolestia winning, which is actually possible given the "genre" of the story.
I doubt it's going to happen and if it does happen I'm going to be absolutely destroyed mentally.
But given how strong Xenolestia is (While it's extremely likely that Celestia is keeping her power in check but has reserves of immense proportions, there's no doubt that Xenolestia has both more experience using that power and won't hesitate to use it along with being stronger due to basically killing anyone that rivaled her, including her own sister), there's little doubt that she'd win in a 1 on 1 fight against Celestia so their hope lies in teaming up together (IE: both princesses + the Elements).
Clearly this could go in a multitude of ways and while as a reviewer I'm extremely happy about it and it's great writing, as a reader I'm not sure I like it because a lot of those ways include the possible death of a crap load of people, main characters or not. I both can't wait for the new chapters but be apprehensive (in a good way) at them...
Let's hope that the characters do manage to Set Things Right after all, even if it's looking pretty bleak right now.
The Celestia we know is stuck with a quandary: what to name this one.
Shining you fool. you needed intel before everything. else. Since when did Celestia even use that technique.
Well, so much for setting things right. I wonder if this story can still live up to its title.
Oh god. This is bad.
10853994
Well I haven't seen a Tragedy tag pop up yet so the possibility that Celestia can eek out a win is still pretty good. The question is what will it cost?
10854133
That's what I'm the most apprehensive about, it's extremely likely that the good guys are going to win (even if I don't want to get ahead of myself given that the possibility that they lose is still there), but the true question is what will be left of the good guys when all is over and done ?
10854135
Time to start placing bets
10854143
Bets on who dies and who lives, the most cruel yet best kind of bets. I might just place a few myself depending on the next chapter(s).
Wait did she just Kill Shining Armor!? Oh good grief! Xenolestia has no idea WHAT she will face. When Twilight finds out, she will fully lose it! This isn't the Unicorn Xenolestia murdered before she got too strong, this a fellow Alicorn who's brother she just murdered. Celestia might hold back but a grief stricken Twilight Sparkle will straight up murder a bitch!
i always knew Shining is an idiot, but damn. Also would Cadence feel that? his death i mean. Like say her ties to him got severed
I would argue that the facility shouldve NEVER housed other enemy combatants for this exact reson.
10854248
It just say his silence "might have meant he knew the same peace as his former comrades." I'd be surprised if he wasn't still alive just scarred.
I was pretty sure he would get mind controlled the moment he got sent there even if it was subtle.
The humans (and alternate ponies too!) were retards for not even considering something like this could happen.
Still hope he survives for their idiocy.
10854946
He? Shining Armor is already dead.
EDIT: wait, no. It isn't specifically said that he's dead, huh?
10854879
If he is alive Xenolestia still has 2 Alicorns who will have extra personal beefs with her. Twilight and Cadance will want revenge for hurting Shiny.
I really hope this comes down to a Friendship laser to the face, and not some deadly weapon trick.
10853974
What's to "fall for?" It's mind control. It takes away your ability to think for yourself, and I would expect that can expressly include your desire to resist it.
After all, survivors of gunshots can't gain immunity to bullets just because they don't want the next one to hurt, and even armor has very specific limits.
good boi celestia vs faggot celestia...
you have my attention
Damn. Pretty stupid to hold their new prisoners in the same facility as Xenolestia. Given the lengths they've gone to to keep her locked up, you would imagine they're ready to nuke the place and turn it into a crater of glass, but I doubt they will be that pragmatic. And I can't help but think about how phenomenally stupid it is that they didn't just save themselves millions of dollars (billions? Trillions? How much does it cost to maintain this technological prison?) and much effort by putting a Tokarev against her forehead and pulling the trigger a couple of times.
Still looking forward to seeing where things go but man these last chapters have been downers. Good Celestia and Twilight are back in prison on the aircraft carrier (presumably under the same crap conditions as before), Shining is dead or at least disfigured, etc. etc...
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Comparing something physical like a gunshot to something psychological like mind control or raw manipulation is not a valid comparison.
It's true that the fact that it was mind control the first time around would result in the fact that he wouldn't have the full apprehension of someone who's simply been manipulated before. But you'd still expect him to consider more who he trusts and more importantly his actions while trusting such people.
Firstly because he's a royal guard and secondly because of that event. Even if it was due to a sense of urgency that he had to save Celestia there are many hints that were laid out to tell him that it wasn't the "true" Celestia such as her speech patterns clearly being weirder, the humans begging him not to release her and the fact that the installation was already complete which, with a simple job of deduction, would have hinted him that they couldn't have built such a big infrastructure in such a short time to jail her in.
Overall it's not bad writing on the author's part because it kinda makes sense, but gosh was Shining moronic in his actions and while he didn't deserve his fate, he clearly asked for it by doing such things.
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I would argue that that is the true horror of mind control, and where I feel my analogy of bullets still holds value: it doesn't matter what the victim wants, or how prepared they think they are, the weapon will be effective regardless.
There may be something to be said for whether Shining Armor, of all ponies, should/would have had magical countermeasures in place given his experiences, but that would also lead to a discussion on whether countermeasures designed for changeling methods/magic would have the same effectiveness against Xenolestia's methods/magic. Either way, in the end, I cannot fault Shining Armor because Xenolestia's goal was to strip him of his ability to choose. Once she succeeded at that, nothing Shining did was his fault.
fight fight fight fight!
with Xenolestia and Celestia!
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This is why I am still reading
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its time for a deathbattle!!!!!
In this corner we have celestia sol invictus... and in the other corner we have daybreaker who will win ???
*claps hands together once* Oooh goodie goodie goodie! We're gonna see a good ol' fashioned smackdown between Celestia and Xenolestia turned Daybreaker!
I won't say this was inevitable, because it was very, very avoidable, but it is a completely expected outcome.
In this story, while individual human beings may be heroic or villainous, humanity as a whole, at an institutional level, has pretty consistently been too stupid to live.
Rather than list everything, I'm going to focus on two things.
This is the second time they brought a Shining Armor into close proximity with a Celestia. The first time it risked killing off (or even just frightening away) their only possible hope of saving the Newfoals. This time, they just decided to send what they knew had to be a "Save the Princess" squad to the same location as the princess they least wanted saved. They didn't even bother to tell the ponies that there were two Equestrias, which means they did most of Evilestia's work for them.
There's shooting yourself in the foot, and there's jumping into a bear trap, and this? This is repeatedly shooting yourself in various extremities after jumping into a bear trap.
As a lengthy side note, which I only bring up given that the name they're going with is "Xenolestia", the humans fail xenia forever. This is not how a guest-host relationship is done.
There's a reason that tradition says you invite the xenos in and give them food and comfort before asking their name. When you're a host you're supposed to be nice to everyone, even the person whom, if you knew their identity, you might be tempted to stab in the eye. Punishing strangers for things completely unrelated people have done? The exact opposite of what any human who knows the meaning of words starting with "xeno-" is supposed to be doing.
Whether ponies have a similar tradition is kind of up in the air. Ancient pony history is pretty well a black hole, with the historical record petering out a thousand years and change pre-show.
/classicist on board
Damn, this is one of the scariest evil Celestia's I've ever read.
Goddamn. I'll admit I might be a little biased, but considering the skill of this author and the deliberately vague fate of Shining Armor, I'm guessing he's not actually dead and will either be found by a UN rescue team or come to on his own and find that he's got a kiss mark branded on his forehead.
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There is good stuff here. I'm sure of that. It just needs refinement.
I can't wait for the next chapter, this is so well written
Holy fucking shit. I binge read this recently and it's fantastic. I'm hardly waiting for the next chapters.
Also can we get an F for our boi Shining Armour?
I have to say, this is a really good story with some hiccups here and there. Four days of binge reading and I'm caught up. Very interested to see how things will go from here.
Fuck
oh noooo......
what have you done........
YOU DOOMED US ALLL!!!!!
SHE'S BACK!!!
WARHEAD OMEGA! DETONATE WARHEAD OMEGA!
You know, you'd think they'd have a dead man's switch for exact situations such as this. Going full SCP and having a nuke on site that would blow if a genocidal, super op being escaped captivity that would likely result in the extinction of humanity. But if there was then we wouldn't have much of a story.
Please don’t let shining be dead, please don’t let shining be dead 🤞🤞🤞