Aftermath
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Aftermath
////
“Where are you going?” Trixie asked, watching with a measure of confusion as Alpha split off from her, on their trip to the infirmary with Twilight, “Don’t you want to be with her when she wakes up?”
“I do,” Alpha nodded quickly, “But there’s something I need to take care of first. I’ll meet you there in five minutes.”
Trixie, still completely stunned, watched as he ran down the hall toward the throne room. The only answer she could imagine, was that he was going to save Princess Celestia from wherever she had been stored by the changelings.
Alpha ran down the hall, and opened the door to the throne room, smiling at the sight before him.
Princess Celestia sat on her throne, with her horn illuminated, as she held Queen Chrysalis in a levitation spell that she couldn’t break. To save her life.
“You filthy traitor…” She growled, upon seeing him enter the room, “How could you betray the hive like this!?”
“Betray?” He asked, shaking his head, “I just saved it. I’m sure the princess made sure that you had a front row seat to the show down below.”
Chrysalis didn’t respond. She had been truly terrified by the power displayed to her today, but that didn’t mean she had to show that fear to them,
“Your entire invading army was defeated in only a couple of minutes.” He continued, knowing she would break sooner or later, “If I hadn’t locked you in here, and took command, they would have all fought to the death under your orders to keep fighting!”
“Took command.” She spat, shaking her head, “Well, let me tell you something. That is the last command you will give in this army!”
“You’re going to discharge me?” Alpha asked, approaching her, as Celestia lowered her to the ground for his convenience, “After saving over a hundred lives, and stopping something that would have killed you by now? You should be thanking me.”
“Silence!” She bellowed, once again trying to break free of Celestia’s iron grip around her, “You will not speak to me again—Marick!”
Alpha frowned. To have your name spoken instead of your rank is considered to be a severe insult, and when that insult comes from the queen, well, it tends to sting a little more.
“I’m afraid that you should still be addressing me as Omega.” Alpha said, his eyes narrowed at the growling queen, “Because as long as you plan on trying to take over Equestria, I will make sure you are held in this castle, with no contact to the outside world.”
Chrysalis gasped, as she tried to pull back from his face.
“What do you mean?!” She demanded, looking over her shoulder to Celestia, “You’d keep the queen of the changeling hive prisoner?”
Both sets of eyes were on Celestia as she nodded slowly.
“The world is in immediate danger, Chrysalis.” Celestia said, her eyes closed as she fought to remain composed, instead of screaming, “And as long as you plan on impeding our quest to gather the strength we need to protect ourselves, I will keep you captive in my kingdom.”
“How dare you!” She continued to thrash against the spell, as Celestia increased the intensity to lock her in place once again, “This is an act of war!”
“This is an act of peace.” Alpha corrected, turning his back to the queen once again, “And if you’re too stubborn to see that this isn’t a time to be fighting amongst ourselves, then you have no place on the throne.”
“My advisors will push the war forward,” Chrysalis said suddenly, as if trying to get the last word in to the conversation, and silence the other two, “In the event of my desertion, the council is granted full power to all aspects of the government. And they don’t share my level of restraint for killing.”
“Heh.” Alpha said, still not looking back to her, “You missed a step there, my liege. There is one rank, that in the case of the desertion, or the untimely death of the queen, that would immediately succeed her, before the council got any power at all.”
The sound of her sudden intake of breath was audible to both Celestia and Alpha.
“An Omega would take the throne before any real power was given to your advisors,” He continued, as he opened the doors once again, “But, I can’t blame you for forgetting that rule. I mean, when was the last time there was an Omega in the kingdom?”
And with that, Alpha closed the door, leaving the two members of royalty alone, in a piercing silence that Celestia was quite enjoying.
“I suppose he planned all of this with you from the beginning.” Chrysalis grumbled, just loud enough for Celestia to hear.
“On the contrary.” Celestia shook her head, “He only told me after I was trapped in the cocoon. He spoke with me telepathically. I didn’t even know he possessed the ability.”
“And you trusted him instantly?” She asked, disgusted that equestrians were so foolish to instantly trust a traitor.
“I had no choice.” Celestia said, “But, it helped that he explained his true feelings for my student, along with giving me my ability to cast magic back.”
“So what is your plan for him then?” Chrysalis asked, “He hid an invasion from you, and your people, which could have led to many, many deaths. You ought to lock him in the cell next to mine.”
“It’s not my place to decide his punishment.” Celestia said, her voice showing no lack of confidence in that plan, “Twilight will have the final say over what happens to him. Whether she wants to banish him, jail him, or even marry him, I will trust her judgment.”
“Marry him? The psycho that almost killed my entire invading force?” She scoffed, an ugly scowl still riddled across her face, “I hope that darkness within her comes back and rips him to pieces.”
“You know, we don’t have much space for prisoners in this castle,” Celestia began, smiling wickedly to her enemy, “Next time that dark presence shows up, I might toss her in your cell. Then we can see if you want to help us defeat her.”
Chrysalis only scoffed as she closed her eyes, exiting the conversation.
While it may have been a little out of character for the princess to be acting so wicked, she was enjoying her gloating. Chrysalis was lucky to be alive right now, and yet still refused to acknowledge the threat to every living thing on the planet. So, as long as she kept the horrible attitude up, she would return it in kind.
////
Trixie sat next to Twilight in the infirmary, firmly holding her hoof. She prayed that whatever was going on in her head wasn’t anything too crazy. She wasn’t trashing, or exuding any kind of dark magic, so she took that as a good sign.
“Hey,” Alpha said, running in to the room, panting slightly, “Is she up yet?”
“Not yet,” Trixie shook her head, looking toward the changeling with a apprehensive look, “What did you need to do?”
“I had to speak with the queen,” Alpha said, taking the seat on the opposite side of the bed from Trixie, “She doesn’t support my plan to bring Equestria and the Hive together.”
“Well, that’s no surprise,” Trixie nodded, looking back to her unconscious friend, “I mean, no offense, but she’s insane.”
“None taken.” Alpha shook his head, “Her head is so stuck in the war, that I don’t think we’ll be able to convince her right now.”
“What’s going to happen to her then?” She asked, “I mean, she can’t go back to the hive, otherwise she’d just rile them up again.”
“I know.” Alpha said, his gaze falling from Twilight to the floor, “That’s why I need to go back with them.”
“What?!” Trixie asked, standing up, “Y-you can’t leave! Twilight cares about you!”
Alpha didn’t respond. But he didn’t truly need to. His expression told her everything she needed to know. He didn’t want to go either.
“Why don’t you just send somepony else back that shares what you think?” Trixie asked, trying to come up with a conceivable reason why he would be able to stay, despite every reason falling short in her mind, “I mean… What would happen if nopony were to go back and lead them?”
“Well,” Alpha started, hating the fact that this was the true answer, “There’s a group of powerful ponies working in what we call ‘the council.’ They’re all incredibly pro-war, and if neither Chrysalis nor I were to return, they would take control over the entire hive, and ensure a future filled with blood and conquest for as long as they lived.”
Trixie didn’t like the sound of that one bit.
“And if you’d believe it, they’re magnitudes worse than Chrysalis.” He continued, as Trixie winced at the thought of somepony being worse than that terrible queen, “They’re mostly the owners of the production factories the Hive uses to build its weapons for its... tougher engagements. So, as long as we’re fighting, they’re producing in those factories. And then, the real kicker, guess who decides how much the government needs to buy from these factories?”
“The council?” Trixie asked, having a feeling that she was spot on.
“Exactly.” He nodded, “They’re literally own their own mint. But, with this new political power I hold, I can chip away at their hold, and finally bring an end to this idiotic war.”
“How can all of that be happening in the hive?” Trixie asked, “I mean, doesn’t anypony else stand up against that kind of corrupt governing?”
“Well, some have tired,” He answered, thinking back to the few times he remembered hearing anything about it in the past, “But it’s considered extremely disrespectful to question any decision of royalty, and everypony who ever stood up, was either cast out by the queen, or shunned by the citizens to the point that they left.”
“Will they listen to you when you announce the end of the war?” Trixie asked, no longer trying to fight his leaving, “Won’t they cast you out?”
“No… When Chrysalis named me an Omega to the hive, I was more or less called a member of the royal family,” He continued, softly brushing some hair out of Twilight’s face, “They’ll listen to me. I just need to make sure that I word it in a way that makes it look like it’s going to help the hive.”
“But, you’re trying to save the world! Isn’t that all you need to say?” Trixie asked, tilting her head in confusion.
Alpha shook his head as he looked away from Twilight and stood up, “When I say that the war is ending, the council will no doubt try to fight me on it, and depending on just how grave I make our situation out to be, will change how many ponies will side with continuing the war. However, I’m confident that if I can get the majority of the citizens behind me, then I’ll be able to shut down the council completely.”
Trixie had nothing left to ask on the topic, as she watched with curiosity him begin to head back toward the door.
“Where are you going?” She asked, standing up herself.
“I think… I think I should leave with the soldiers.” He answered, having thought about both himself and Twilight quite a bit during their conversation, “After everything I did to Twilight, I don’t think I could face her.”
“Oh come on!” Trixie said, rolling her eyes at his attitude, “You just told her that you loved her! And now you’re going to run away?”
“Did you see what I unleashed on Canterlot?” Alpha asked, gesturing to the window that showed the destroyed courtyard, and the slightly elevated circle of stone sitting in the center, “If it had been somepony else that did that to my hometown when I trusted them… I don’t know if I could let that go.”
“You did it to save all of us!” Trixie fought, approaching him, “Don’t go acting like you’re some kind of monster! Trixie does not give the satisfaction of pity.”
“I’m not looking for your pity,” He said, opening the door, “I’m looking to protect Twilight from whatever that is inside of her. It cannot be let out again.”
“Wasn’t it your plan to let her out in the first place?” She asked, just falling further and further behind him in the conversation, “Because that’s what it looked like to me!”
“I was gonna release Alex and Dash, and let them flatten the army,” Alpha said, looking back to her, “But when I realized just what was happening, I decided to let Twilight do the work for me.”
Trixie didn’t reply. She thought he had more control over the situation than that. Then again, it was her that turned the tide on Twilight. Alpha only put the final nail in the coffin.
“I’m going to talk to the soldiers.” Alpha said, stepping in to the hallway, looking forward once again, “I’m sure that they are, but I need to make sure they’re on my side for when we return.”
At this point, Alpha had to leave the room. He was afraid he would change his mind if he looked at Twilight any longer.
////
Twilight felt a painful throbbing in her head as she slowly opened her eyes, seeing that she was in some kind of dark room. Was she still in the cave underground…? No. She could smell something fruity. Caves didn’t smell like fruit.
Feeling some pressure on her hoof, she looked to her left, and saw Trixie fast asleep on her side, holding her with a soft grip.
“Trixie?” She said softly, as the blue mare’s eyes shot open, “What’s going on?”
“Thank goodness you’re awake,” She said, smiling genuinely at her confused friend, “I was so worried…”
Twilight strained to remember anything from after their imprisonment. But it was all fuzzy.
“Did I lose control of myself?” She asked, her eyebrow raised, “Did I hurt somepony?”
“No.” Trixie said instantly, happy to see Twilight smiling at the news, “You just wound up helping Alpha with his plan.”
“I helped him!?” She asked sitting up instantly, “Has he hurt anypony? Has anypony seen the Princesses or Discord since Chrysalis took over?”
“Twilight, just wait for a second—“
“What about everypony down in the pit?” She asked, before looking around the room confused, “Why are we up here anyway?”
“Twilight,” Trixie began once again, but was stopped before she could continue.
“I just… I can’t believe he did this to me.” She said, a small frown growing on her face, as Trixie silenced herself, “Did I really not matter to him? Because… I think he mattered to me more than any guy has before.”
“You don’t remember anything that happened a few hours ago?” Trixie asked one final time, as Twilight shook her head sadly, “Not even how you were defeated?”
“Well, I was guessing that you just… purified me like last time.” Twilight shrugged, “Was that not what happened?”
Trixie exhaled, as she gathered her thoughts. She wanted to make Alpha sound like the good guy, but Twilight needed to hear the truth, and decide if his actions were justified.
“When Alpha took over, and became an Omega, he gathered all of his troops in the royal auditorium, and addressed them all,” Trixie began, looking directly into Twilight’s eyes, “He told them that his first action as an Omega, was to end the war between the Hive, and Equestria, so we could work together to stop the approaching threat Discord keeps talking about.”
“Really…?” Twilight asked, her heart skipping a beat at the news.
“But, the soldiers weren’t buying it. They demanded to see Chrysalis. But, he knew something like that would happen. So, he freed Celestia prior to his addressing of the army, and had her keep the queen from interfering with his announcement.” Trixie continued, inhaling deeply to make sure she could keep up with her explanation, “If things continued to get worse for him, he was going to release Alex and Dash, and use them to show the soldiers what kind of power we had access to. But, before he could do that, you lost control of yourself, and went to the surface to… kill him.”
Twilight didn’t reply. Clearly she hadn’t killed him, or Trixie would have made some kind of comment.
“So, instead of using Alex and Rainbow Dash, he used your dark side to demonstrate the kind of power we would be facing.” Trixie said, clearing her throat and gathering her thoughts further, “And in just a couple of minutes, you managed to subdue every soldier that invaded the city, and throw them down in to the cavers below the city.”
“He used me like that…?” She asked, a small frown growing on her face, “Oh...”
“So, things got pretty heated, and I wound up getting that power back-- the purifying one you were just talking about.” Trixie explained, “And so I went to face you off, just in time to stop you from hurting him.”
Twilight exhaled happily. She’d never get sick of hearing that news.
“And then, between Alpha and Trix—Myself, we were able to almost completely remove the monster from your body.” Trixie finished, as Twilight gave her an expectant look.
“You… almost removed it?” She asked, having hoped that her dark side had been completely destroyed.
“It buried itself deep within you,” She explained, “It went further than I was able to chase it.”
“So… it’ll be back?” Twilight asked, looking at the bed, feeling completely defeated.
“It said it would be back after everypony else faces their dark sides.” Trixie sighed, knowing this wasn’t particularly good news, “That’s when it would be at full power.”
Twilight closed her eyes and laid back on her pillow. That was probably the worst news she had heard all day. But, that wasn’t even her main concern.
“So, where is Alpha then?” Twilight asked, her tone showing no sign of emotion, “If he really was sorry for what he did, don’t you think he would be here right now?”
Trixie didn’t respond. She just inhaled sharply for a moment.
Twilight opened her right eye and looked to Trixie.
“What was that for?” She asked, not feeling she was exuding at all, “What haven’t you told me?”
“…Well, since Chrysalis is being held at the castle, the hive needs a new leader to steer them all toward peace.” Trixie answered, unsure of how Twilight would react to the news, “And Alpha’s decided that he would take up the mantle. He’s already gone back to the hive…”
Twilight closed her eyes once again, and sighed.
“Fine.”
“Fine?” Trixie asked, “Don’t you have a little more to say about him?”
“No.” Twilight shook her stubbornly, “I don’t know if it’s because he’s a coward, or because he just doesn’t care… But he left without saying a bucking word to me. I think he’s revealed himself plenty.”
“Twilight—“
“I hope I never see him again.”
////
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And we finally see the last parts of Alpha(Omega?)'s plan. And now I can say that it was very well made and executed. The question is, how much will this hurt his relationship with Twilight? Reason is one thing, but emotions tend not to care that much. Still, considering how much the author seems to enjoy ripping couples apart and putting them together again, I'm looking forward to how this will work out.
(Still great story by the way. Not sure if I should start or stop adding this to every comment I make. I have no idea how to be nice.)
Good chapter
Can be so dumb sometimes lolz
Uh... WHY DIDN'T TRIXIE EXPLAIN TO TWILIGHT THAT ALPHA WAS SORRY AND THAT HE DID NOT WANT TWILIGHT TO SEE HIM WHEN SHE WOKE UP?! And also that he had to leave with the soldiers?!
damn it Trixie, you left out the part where he had to go back to keep the council in check.
Argh, the emotions make me emotional! She uses the standard "I hope I never see him again" line without fully understanding the repercussions of such a statement! Trixie should just tell Twilight what Marick said to her dark side, and explain the shame he felt at having to leave her. Then maybe she'd stop being such a negative Nancy!
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I loved that romance!!! I guess now that ruins them being together until this threat is resolved. Still it makes me sad. I wonder what will happen now. I guess we will see soon enough. Great job and I loved this arc.
Well. Twilight said She Never wanted TO see Alpha, so now Alpha is THE ONE Who is going TO suffer.
So, Twilight and Alpha are done...for now. Trixie didn't get a chance to tell Twilight everything. How the only reason Trixie was able to stop her dark side (for now) is because Alpha told Twilight how he truly felt about her. How the only reason he went back to the hive was to prevent the Council of the Hive from causing a slaughterfest. How if Alpha was there was Twilight woke up, he was not going to do what needed to be done to prevent war. I wonder what Twilight's (and everypony else's) reaction will be to hearing that.
Also, I pity Chrysalis. She became queen at a young age, became corrupted by the council, and lost the one thing she wants more than anything...to be a wife and mother.
"But twilight-
"I said no"
*trixie smacks twilight*
"he said that he loved you, thats what got you to stop!"
"What.."
there i fixed it ya bastard...i mean that in the most loving way i can ya cliffhanging motherfu-
i really do love this story..but youre killing me with this one.
5622039
That will be settled in Twilight's side story, which will probably be the last one before the story's finale.
Chrysalis doesnt care what happens to anything else, as long as she gets her ducky, even though its someone elses?
How about put her in a cell, with Blueblood?
Now that this ark is finished KoH promised longer chapters
It's ironic that this was released the day before Valentine's day...sadly one of the most depressing holidays of the year for me.
5623930
Tis a sad holiday for many... Hold in there buddy, things have a way of working themselves out :).
I think it would help if they never got back together. It would make the story stronger, in my opinion.
5624304
Why? To give people a lesson that things don't always go right? That's not entertaining for most, and isn't really something that would make the story any stronger. Not to mention it's quite the cliche lesson.
Bringing them together certainly wouldn't make the story weaker, as long as he does it right and takes his time, which, judging by his work, will happen. Keeping them apart could, though, not to mention the angry readers who will definitely be upset about it.
5624408 And why would we want them together? To say the the hero always gets the girl? If you want to talk about cliches, that's one of the biggest ones right there. Now, I didn't say that they couldn't be friends, but I just feel like that breach of trust would be too much to handle with being in a relationship. Just because you want them together and if they don't, you will get angry, doesn't mean other people don't like bittersweet endings. I'll state this one more time. This is MY OPINION.
5624304 in this guys defense, i can see a not together ending to this story, yes they will come back and have to fight together, but as far as twilight loving alpha, well it could end with the friendship route where they fought together and survived but the pain is still there so it can never be cliche. not a terrible thing, now what will be terrible if alpha never comes back into the picture ever, that would suck.
5624473
And not at any point did I say I'd get angry. I said it was possible and even likely others would.
It being your opinion does not make it unapproachable as a topic of debate.
Just because a concept might be a cliche, does not make the actual event any less meaningful or powerful by definition. It simply means it happens a lot. I feel the author is moving towards them making up sometime in the future, and should that happen, I don't think it will affect me any less simply because "the hero gets the girl". And, even disregarding that, I don't think that cliche can even be used to describe them here. Who is the hero exactly? Whoever it is, they clearly didn't "get the girl" off the bat, which is what that cliche describes. Were they to finally reconcile months, maybe even years later, it wouldn't fit, and wouldn't really be cliche either.
In fact, were they to reunite some time later, I think it would a much more powerful statement than simply never quite trusting each other from then on.
Regardless, at this point all we can do is wait and see what the author has in store. Anything further is technically conjecture.
Dude, you're killing me! I need more now, and happy stuff! None of the sad mopey shit. Not that I'm complaining about the story, it still kicks ass, I just had sad/confrontational stuff.
:(
5630196 BUT MOOOOOOOM I'M LAAAAAAAZY
Oh Trixie, why didn't you try rephrasing what he said word by word? Twi might have understood that
5630202
you ruined the family guy reference.
5632138 That's my job
The 'council' has its own mint. If they produce their own coins and introduce it into the economy, inflation of a large magnitude will occur , which drives down the value of the currency and what it can buy. It's simple economics.
Trixie Trixie Trixie, you need to work on your words, mare!