Chapter 37 - Enter King Sombra.
Luna panted hard. She had done it. She had made a show that was worthy. It had been flawless, but it had taken so much out of her. She had a humongous headache that kept pounding in her skull.
She tripped her way over to her bed. There would be no duties today. She needed to inform her guard, so they could inform ponies that night court was cancelled tonight and the lawyers that she would not be able to make it. She was too exhausted to deal with anything at the moment.
There was a knock on the door, and it was opened before she could tell them to go away. Celestia was so rude sometimes.
“That was an impressive show, Lulu. It has been a long time since I’ve seen you do something as impressive as that. I especially liked the ending with the hug. You’ve really improved on the whole… what did you call it? ‘Animation?’”
Luna smiled at how opposite it was that Celestia was the one to be uncertain about a word. “That is correct, Tia. Thank you, but I have a headache now and I would like to-“ She groaned, clutching her head in her hooves. “-relax until it passes.”
“Of course, I’ll tell the guards to cancel your appointments. Are you sure you would not like your own secretary? I could easily arrange for somepony to-“
“Thank you Tia. My guards will do the job for now. I am not yet so involved in politics that I need a clerk of my own.”
“Alright then. If you change your mind…” She stood beside Luna’s bed for a moment longer. “You know, that little animation at the end is going to enforce the rumors that you and Jax are a pair…”
“Let them talk.” Luna simply said. She was in no condition for jokes and teasing with a headache like that.
“Oh, you’re no fun Luna. I do hope it will become more than rumors though. You could use a special somepony.”
“I suppose. Is it weird that I have never had one before? I had hundreds of years before my… banishment, after all.” She messaged her skull, trying to ease her headache.
“You always were strict with your suitors. As far as I remember, you had plenty.” Celestia said thoughtfully.
“I remember now. I never thought they were as good as yours, and never as many. In the end, they stopped coming all together….” She frowned. One of the first signs of her jealousy.
“Oh Lulu.” Celestia entered her bed and laid down beside her, putting a wing over her in the process. She charged her horn, and laid it at the base of Luna’s. Luna’s pain started to ease up and she sighed in relief. “If it makes you feel better, I haven’t accepted any suitors since your banishment. I thought I didn’t deserve to be happy.”
“Tia….” She frowned at her sister.
“Those first couple of years after… after you were gone, happiness was the last thing on my mind. I focused completely on Equestria, setting everything personal on second row. It was only after decades of concerned subjects tried to convince me to relax a little when I started enjoying the small things again. Tea and cake became part of the routine.”
“No wonder you are so…“ Celestia gave her a warning glare. “…Well-rounded.”
A moment of silence passed, before the room was filled with their laughter. “I’ll have you know that this well-rounded flank has caught the attention of countless ponies, stallions and mares alike!” Celestia said between laughs.
“Yeah, because when you stand in front of them, it practically takes up their entire view!” Luna retorted, which made Celestia laugh harder. If one of their subjects heard and saw them now, they would probably be baffled. This was a side of the princesses that only few saw.
Celestia managed to gain some control of herself. “You better hope I don’t decide to stand in front Jax then, I’m sure he would enjoy the view.” She smiled coyly at Luna.
She knew that Celestia would never try to steal Jax from her, but the thought of Jax falling for her sister sent chills down her spine. “I will have you know that I do not even need to stand in front of him, for him to look at my flank.” She stuck out her tongue at her sister. She hoped to the stars that Jax would never look at Celestia like that.
“Really? Maybe I should get Discord to bring another human over then. One I can have for myself.” She joked. “They do seem like interesting creatures.”
“I do not know if going that far is necessary, but I definitely think that you should find a new mate.” Luna informed her. “It is high time both us find love. We cannot let the Princess of Love have all the fun.”
“I don’t think anypony calls their special somepony their mate anymore Luna. I do agree however… I don’t have anypony in sight though.”
“Have you considered Chipped Armor? It would not be the first time a princess has fallen for the captain of the guard.”
“While I do appreciate his loyalty, I need somepony who doesn’t fall to his or her knees the second they see me.”
“They could learn.” Luna suggested. She knew there were not many ponies that would not kneel or at least bow to her sister. “Or you could try somepony from a different country. A nurse in Ponyville was married to a griffon. Maybe that is something for you.”
Celestia laughed silently, before hugging Luna tightly. “I missed you, Lulu. Please don’t leave me again.”
“…I will not, sister.” She nuzzled deeper into Celestia’s fur, hoping that she could keep her promise.
***
Mr. Bear woke him up again. It was nice to have somebody to wake him up, since it was near impossible for him to wake up by himself at dawn. Who wakes up at dawn anyway? Crazy people, that’s who.
Jax sighed. Did he just call himself crazy? He begrudgingly sat up. “I’mup... I’m up” He told the bear, who stopped poking him. “Thank you. Hey, wanna go play fetch after I’m done at the farm?”
“Rawr!” Mr. Bear sounded excited, which probably meant yes.
Jax started putting his clothes on. He felt… better. Lighter somehow. More at ease. Telling friends about his problems really did help. Maybe he should get Luna involved. Tell her about his past… his mom, his brother… how he had failed them.
…
He really should stop bringing himself down like that.
He looked over at the half finished letter on the table, addressed to Luna. He could finish it after work.
“Alright, cool. Anyway, I’m off. Have fun with… whatever it is you do when I’m not here.”
“Rawr.”
He gave Mr. Bear one last scratch behind the ears and was off. Since he was early, he decided to go for a walk. He entertained himself by thinking of which song he was going to sing to Vinyl’s party. The song she had liked was by Rise Against, but which part had she liked? The lyrics, the beat, the tempo? Should he sing another song by Rise Against, or should he choose a different band? He quickly dismissed all songs that required him to growl or scream, since he couldn’t do any of those. Hmmm…
He had been following the treeline of the Everfree, but decided he had spent enough time walking, and made his way into the orchard. He didn’t get far into it, before a feeling started to build up… something was wrong, but what? It was something about the smell. It smelled like apples and trees because, well, it was an apple orchard, but there was this undercurrent of… something. Rot? Did they have a compost or something out here?
He spotted Big Mac by one of the trees nearby. Good, he could ask him.
When he got nearer, he noticed that Big Mac wasn’t alone. Rainbow Dash’ tiny fan was there. Scootaloo, that was her name. She was backed up against a tree for some reason. Odd.
“W-w-why are y-you looking at me like t-that?” She stammered… wait, what was going on?
The warning bells turned into a full out alarm when Big Mac lunged himself forward. Scootaloo just managed to jump to the side in time and started running towards Jax’ right. Jax saw the hoof prints Big Mac had left in the bark… What was going on?! He had never seen Big Mac angry, much less murderous.
Big Mac ran after Scootaloo, who was running with all her might. Jax decided that now was a time to act, and started running full speed parallel with them. He wanted to make a straight line but there were trees in the way.
He looked over at Scootaloo looking behind her with fear in her eyes, as Big Mac came closer and closer. Trees obscured his view for a couple of seconds. What he saw when he could see again chilled him to the bone. Big Mac had already caught her, and was now on top, apparently chocking her.
Jax changed directions instantly, almost tripping because of the speed. He made a bee line straight towards Big Mac’s side with enough speed to knock a normal pony the fuck away. This wasn’t a normal pony however, and he only barely got knocked over. Jax scrambled back onto his feet and grabbed Scootaloo before speeding off towards the farm. He had a few seconds head start, but there was no doubt in his mind that Big Mac was faster than him. He looked down at the confused filly in his arms. Hell if he was going to let her die.
“W-what is… What’s going on?! Why is Big Mac…” Scootaloo looked as confused as Jax felt. He could tell that she was on the verge of tears.
“I don’t know. Listen, I need you to be brave right now.” He used short sentences to save breath and to make sure she understood. He could hear Big Mac coming towards them already. “I’m going to throw you in a bit. I need you to fly over to the farmhouse. Find Twilight. Tell her what’s going on.” Scootaloo looked afraid at his words.
“What about you?”
“I’ll be fine. Get ready.” He didn’t have time for this. Big Mac was closing in behind them. Scootaloo looked near panic. He didn’t give her time to protest.
“But I-!” He slowed down, took her like a spear, and threw her with the same elegance he imagined Shining Armor had when he threw his wife towards the Crystal Heart. She yelped, but he didn’t have time to admire his throw. He had to stop Big Mac.
He could hear him right behind Jax. There was a pause in the beat of the hooves which confused Jax for a moment, before he remembered. When he had been in the Everfree, timberwolves would always try to pounce at his back. There was always a pause in their running when they did.
Instinct took over, and he sidestepped mid-run. When Big Mac passed him in the air, Jax slammed back into him, causing him to trip his landing. There was a bright light ahead of them both, but hell if he was going to lose focus in the middle of a fight.
This was where his experience dwindled. When against timberwolves, all he had to do was slap then once with his stick and they would fall apart. Now it was like he was against the manticore again, except he was stick-less.
He tried to take advantage of the fact that Big Mac was down and pounce on him, but was too slow, because he was almost up. The second Jax was within range, Big Mac got up on his forlegs and bucked. Jax just barely avoided the powerful kick by dodging right. The image of the tree with hoof-prints in it flashed through his mind. One kick, and he was most likely dead.
Maybe they could have a nice talk instead? “Why are you doing this Big Mac?” He took a couple of steps back, just in case Big Mac tried something. “I won’t pretend I know you very well, but this seems very unlike you.”
Big Mac looked at him with a hateful expression. It was the first time he had seen a pony with such an expression. It was… it felt wrong. There was something wrong here, but Jax couldn’t figure out what. Big Mac wasn’t a psychopath… was he?
“You are going to regret getting in my way, creature…” Big Mac said in his deep voice. There was something wrong with that as well. It was like there was a slight echo, which didn’t belong in the middle of an orchard.
That being said, Jax was beyond afraid. Big Mac was a big and strong pony, and for some reason he had set his mind on killing. It was bad. Jax clenched and unclenched his hands. He missed the feeling of his stick between his hands. Everything in his body told him to run, to get away from this psycho as fast as his legs could carry him, but he was only just getting into form again, and he knew that Big Mac was faster.
He took a deep breath and did what he always did when he was trying to be brave. “You will fall beneath my strength!” He shouted as a battle cry and went into his fighting stance. It had been a long while since he had done that, much longer without his stick. He never thought he would miss a piece of wood so much.
Big Mac surged forward with surprising speed. Jax stood his ground, trying not to think about how strong Big Mac really was.
When Big Mac came close enough, he raised himself on his hind legs and tried to kick Jax in the face. Jax crouched under the blow and threw himself forward. It was clear that Big Mac didn’t have any real fighting experience or he wouldn’t have made it so easy to knock him on his back. Unfortunately he got his hind legs under Jax, so Jax only got two straight hits in before he was flying over Big Mac. He landed hard on his side, and rolled until he laid on his back. He heard running hooves, and when he opened his eyes, he looked straight into the underside of a pair. He rolled right just in time, but Big Mac wasn’t about to let him breathe. Literally. Before Jax could do anything else, he felt Big Mac’s big hooves on his throat. Jax tried to pry him off, but Big Mac was using his big mass to his advantage. It was all he could do to keep his windpipe from being completely crushed. “Who is the one falling beneath whose strength?” Big Mac said condescendingly.
Jax was starting to see black, when a raspy voice shouted. “GET OFF HIM!” There was a blur of colors, and the pressure on his throat completely disappeared. He instantly inhaled greedily. Sweet sweet air filled his lungs.
He smiled up at Rainbow Dash. “Nice timing.” He said with a raspy voice.
***
Moments earlier.
Scootaloo was gaining altitude. She couldn’t believe he had just thrown her like that, telling her to fly. She couldn’t fly! That was the second biggest problem in her life, right behind not having a cutie mark!
…
Big Mac had gone crazy! And Jax had just stayed behind with him. Big Mac was the strongest pony around… She needed to get Rainbow Dash before something bad happened to Jax! She just needed to get to the farm and tell everypony.
She started flapping her wings as fast as she could, but as always, it barely did anything. They were just too small to actually get her flying.
‘If it was about the size, I would never be able to make a sonic rainboom. It’s about the magic. You have to feel it!’
That’s what Rainbow Dash had once told her. She always talked about feeling it, whatever that meant.
She remembered being cornered by Big Mac. It had been the most terrifying thing she had experienced in a long time. That look in his eyes is what had made her realize that something was wrong. It had been so unlike him…
What if he killed Jax? What if he found Apple Bloom afterwards and killed her too? And Sweetie Bell was somewhere here as well, for their crusader meeting… what if he found her too?
Tears were gathering in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. She was going to save them. She was going to protect them. She just needed to fly, to get her stupid wings to work! Why didn’t they want to work?
She was starting to descend now. No! She couldn’t fall now, she needed to fly. She needed to protect them… She was going to protect them all!
Suddenly there was a flash behind her, and everything felt different. She could feel the air under her wings, like her senses had been dulled before but now she felt clearly. Even her vision seemed to have sharpened. She could almost see the wind.
She flapped her wings once. The air around her practically threw itself under her wings, and she surged forward with incredible speed. She started laughing gleefully. She had waited so long for this, so very long.
She saw a rainbow trail ahead and instantly remembered her mission. She needed Rainbow. She flapped her wings a couple of more times and quickly came into shouting range. It was so easy to fly now it was… amazing “Rainbow!”
Rainbow turned her head and looked at Scootaloo. Her eyes widened in shock, before a giant smile of pure joy took over. “Scootaloo! You’re flying!”
If the situation wasn’t so serious, Scootaloo would have enjoyed those words more. “Rainbow you have to hurry over and- ugh.” She was interrupted by Rainbow Dash tackling her midair.
“And give you a hug? Way ahead of ya!” She laughed. Scootaloo wanted to enjoy the attention but…
“Rainbow, Jax is-“
“I told you this day would come! I told you that you would fly with me soon enough. We have to get Pinkie to throw a party for you!”
“Yes, but Big Mac-“
“Oh, I can’t wait to tell -“ Scootaloo finally put a hoof in Rainbow’s mouth. She would never do that under normal circumstances, but ponies lives’ were at stake.
“Rainbow Dash, Jax is in danger. Big Mac has gone crazy and attacked me, but Jax stayed behind to save me! You have to help him!”
Rainbow Dash looked serious again. She took her hoof out of her mouth. “Where are they?”
Scootaloo pointed behind her at the place she had come from. “They were there when Jax threw me.”
“Get Twilight and the others.” Rainbow let her fly by herself again. She was gone a moment after.
Scootaloo flew towards the farm in a hurry.
***
Jax got up. Rainbow stood protectively with flaring wings between him and Big Mac, who had been propelled into a nearby apple tree. He was getting up, seemingly unharmed.
Rainbow looked worried. “Big Mac, why are you doing this?”
She stepped back when Big Mac looked at her with enough hate to burn through metal. Jax thought he had looked hateful when he had looked at him, but that had been nothing next to this. ‘If looks could kill’ suddenly made a lot more sense.
“How dare you lay a hoof on me?! How dare you interrupt me?!” He was seething.
“Who are you and what did you do with Big Mac?!” Rainbow shouted back.
This only enraged Big Mac further. He took two steps back though. “I AM Big Mac you stupid bitch!” A pony cursing… Jax couldn’t really say that he liked it. It felt wrong, along with everything else about this situation.
“Yeah right! And I’m Princess Celestia! Now tell me what you did with him you changeling trash!” Changeling? That sounded familiar… where had he heard that before?
Big Mac suddenly charged them. Rainbow Dash took to the sky immediately, but Jax had been more lax in his stance. He cursed his dulled instincts as he took up his fighting stance again. Maybe he could break a branch of one the apple trees… would be better than nothing.
Big Mac was in front of him in the blink of an eye. Luckily he took the time to turn his whole body so he could buck Jax with his stronger back legs. It gave Jax more than enough time to jump to the side… not that he was in danger in the first place, apparently. Rainbow Dash flew into Big Mac before he could buck the empty air behind him. It sent him flying into another apple tree. Rainbow smiled cockily.
Just then, there was a pop, and Twilight appeared in a flash of light some distance away.
“Twilight! Over here. Can you get this changeling to tell us where he hid Big Mac?” Rainbow asked.
“Changeling?” She ran over. “Why would a changeling start attacking ponies?”
“Oh I dunno… maybe because we totally ruined their world domination plans?” Rainbow asked sarcastically.
Big Mac started getting up. The fact that he could be okay after hitting a tree at relatively high speeds twice was a bit disturbing to Jax.
“I already told you…” He sneered. “I am Big Mac!”
“And I’m telling you, Big Mac wouldn’t hurt a fly! Now give up quietly or else.” Jax couldn’t help but admire Rainbow Dash. Her confidence was soothing to him. His heart, while still beating fast, didn’t feel like it would explode anymore.
“Also, you don’t sound like Big Mac at all.” Twilight interjected. “You forgot the accent.”
Big Mac looked absolutely pissed. He looked at Jax with more hate than before. “You ruined everything.” He told him.
“I’d like to think of it as I saved an innocent kid.” He answered grimly. Rainbow snickered from beside him.
Big Mac suddenly reared up on his back legs, and let his forelegs slam down on the ground in a confusing display of strength, creating a small crater. It wasn’t until Twilight shouted that he realized that something was wrong.
“He cast a spell!?” She sounded somewhere between confused and alarmed.
Jax didn’t realize how much trouble he was in until the earth in front of him parted and a deep red crystal shot out. It split up halfway, one sharp end going for him, and one for Rainbow. He tried to avoid it by swaying to the side, but it changed direction with him, going straight for his heart.
“Watch out!” Suddenly something impacted on his side hard, and he was sent tumbling.
“Rainbow!” Twilight shouted. Jax vaguely recognized the sound of a spell being charged, and the ‘thump’ of something hitting the ground hard.
When he had recovered enough to look back, he froze. Rainbow lay motionless on the ground, crystal spike still sticking out of her chest. The spike had been cut clean off from the main spike that had been meant for him.
“Jax, get her out of here. NOW!” Twilight ordered him. She took a stance and shot a beam at Big Mac, who erected a barrier in front of himself… somehow. Jax was too confused to think about that.
He scrambled his way over to Rainbow. There was so much blood... She needed medical attention, and she needed it fast. He ran a trembling hand through her mane. “Don’t worry, Dash. You’ll be fine.” He gently picked her up, careful not to move the crystal too much. “I’ll save you. Don’t worry about a thing.”
He looked back at the battling Twilight. “Twilight, use a spell on me!” he focused on Rainbow again. He didn’t dare to even check if she was still breathing or... She was going to be fine. He would make sure of it. He forced a smile on his face. “Prepare yourself Rainbow. We’re gonna go on a magical journey!” He felt the warmth of a spell hitting him, and instantly changing. When he looked up again, he looked straight through a portal to the hospital. It was like the two places, the orchard and the hospital had been temporarily connected.
He walked through it.
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Wow, I almost forgot about Sombra and got pissed at Big Mac.
6488296 hahah XD I would never make Big Mac a psycho, he's too peaceful ;)
There are two uses for his chaos magic in this fight. Use one, instant whacking staff. Use two, altering magic how he wants to. He used method two, but didn't even think about method one. Just lamented the lack of stick. Also, just noticed this, but doesn't he have his knife of awesome still?
6488421 well before Twilight came, he didn't really have a way to use his chaos magic since he needs a spell to hit him to use it ^^ I guess he could have asked her when she came, but since he hasnt reeeaaally mastered it yet, it would be safer not to ^^
Also, I can't believe you remember the knife of awesome XD I didn't specify what happened with it as far as I remember, but I think they went out with the remains of his pants and shoes, in my head at least XD
6488440 Ah, so scorched flint and no good grip made of wood fibers? Yeah, I can see the ponies tossing it and not thinking about it.
Well, good thing Jax has some handle on this whole chaos magic thing. Poor Rainbow. Fluttershy is gonna be ticked. I imagine Luna isn't going to be too lleased about something trying to kill Jax either. AJ... ya know, there are going to be a lot a annoyed ponies. Lol.
Eh, so you've spents more than 12 days on the story. ;) Just kidding. Thanks for getting a chapter out this week. I suppose we can forgive you on length. After all, something actually happened in this chapter.
"let" would keep you from using the same word twice.
"call"
This one I'm curious about. In America, we would say "putting his clothes on" and "taking his clothes off." Is the other way more common in Europe?
6488771 yeah, imagine if he fucked up there and shit start exploding... ponies would have been a lot more annoyed XD
I dunno, didn't actually count it all together XD but I'll believe you :b 12 whole days huh... You're welcome ;) Yes yes, something plot-related at least XD I think the most important thing I learned from writing this, is to think ahead ;)
Thanks ^^ I... actually don't know. I changed it to put, to be sure ^^
6489901 Yeah, that could have been bad.
Well, it would be more actually. 8 hours per chpater over 36 chapter would be 12 days. So you are beyond that, I just didn't feel like fully adding it up.
Okay. I know some phrases and words usages vary between here and there, so I thought I'd ask.
6490711 Well the precise number doesn't really matter XD The point is I use a lot of time on it ^^
yeah, but when I google taking on clothes I got taking off clothes instead so maybe its just me XD
so um.... is Luna-senpai going to jump in and put the woopin on sombra for hurting her Jaxie-poo
CALL IN EVERYTHING DROID ARMY CRACKEN I DON'T CARE JUST GET IT DONE!
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