Mortal Coil

by Reeve

LXXIII - Inspiration

Author's Note:

Part 10

The sound of surf filled my ears, and the clouds had just cleared enough that the moon and a great many stars were on display, but I couldn’t enjoy any of it, even Fluttershy was staring at the fire between us with a downtrodden look. Applejack was poking the fire with a stick, not really stoking it, more just giving herself something to do. Rainbow was lying on her back, her eyes shut as if she was trying to block the world out. Pinkie Pie was roasting a marshmallow in the flames, but even she wasn’t putting much enthusiasm into it, so when she remembered what she was even doing, the marshmallow was charcoal black and she just threw it to the side.

I just sat with my hind legs crossed, resting my chin on one of my forehooves, staring deep into the flickering flames, occasionally glancing up and looking off to where Twilight stood further down the beach. Fluttershy let out a little sigh and shivered slightly, the warmth of the fire did little for any of us against the cold sea air. Seeing this, Applejack added her stick the fire before reaching over and pulling Fluttershy close. After another several minutes passed with nopony saying anything, Rainbow broke the silence with a loud groan, sitting bolt upright out of nowhere, looking around at us with a frustrated expression.

“So that’s it?!” she demanded. “We’re just going to sit here and wait for Blueblood to come kill us personally?”

“What do you expect us to do?” Applejack retorted. “Because in case you haven’t noticed, ah’ve never tried to fight an alicorn, let alone one who rides around on a flyin’ warship with an army of monsters, none of us have.”

“But I hate just sitting here!” Rainbow growled.

“It’s going to be okay Dashie,” Pinkie tried to say, although even she couldn’t sell that lie. “Twilight will figure something out.”

“Don’t be so sure…” Fluttershy murmured, glancing fearfully across the beach.

We all followed her gaze to see Twilight throw her sceptre to the ground in frustration, turning and slouching back towards us without even picking it up.

“No luck then?” I muttered when she dropped down between me and Pinkie Pie, a cold look on her face.

“No,” she replied coolly. “I don’t know what’s going on, but nothing I do is working. I’ve tried everything I know, but I just can’t get in contact with the Princess, it’s like there’s something… blocking me at every turn. I hate to say girls, but… we’re not getting any help from Equestria, we’re on our own.”

I resisted the urge to sigh in frustration, Celestia had pretty much been our last hope of stopping Blueblood before he could make good on his promise of conquering Panchea. Who knew how long it would be before she caught wind of his actions now, and when she finally did, how much more powerful would Blueblood have grown? Would Celestia even be a match for him? It was true that Celestia had fought battles in the past, but now a days it was impossible to see her as anything other than a Princess, too regal to use her incredible powers for anything other than raising the sun.

“Is there nothing you can do Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked nervously, Pinkie frowning in response. “I mean… you did fight Celestia in the past, right?”

“Oh,” Pinkie uttered, looking a little annoyed when she realised what Fluttershy meant. “Presumably, but then I fought her and lost considering it ended in me getting locked up in Tartarus. Besides, I don’t have anywhere close to the amount of power I did back then.”

“And there isn’t… you know, a way we could get that power back?” Fluttershy asked tentatively, glancing between Pinkie and Twilight with growing apprehension.

Twilight raised a single eyebrow before looking to Pinkie Pie, clearly waiting to see how she would respond.

“Not unless you have any divine artefacts on you,” Pinkie replied in a nonchalant voice, turning slightly bitter as she went on. “And if Crane really did have the star, then it’s buried and out of our reach… assuming he didn’t just destroy it after I refused to join him.”

“Ah don’t get it,” Applejack began, scratching her head. “What’s this star exactly, and why can it help Pinkie get her powers back?”

“Well that’s not its specific purpose,” Twilight replied, she didn’t sound annoyed about the conversation topic. “It’s a relic from the time of Discord’s reign; it was supposedly created by himself, filled with the power of chaos to the point where it’s extraordinarily unstable and dangerous to anypony who tries to use it.”

“I remember making it,” Pinkie added. “But I don’t remember why.”

“I always figured you made it as a safety net,” Twilight replied with a small shrug. “In case you ever were sealed away, that someone could break you out using it, that is after all how it was used in the end.”

“Makes sense I guess,” Pinkie agreed. “But yeah, unless I could open a door to my old cell, I can’t get back the level of power I once had. So what you see is what you get I’m afraid, and what you get is nowhere near enough to take on an alicorn.”

“This sucks,” Rainbow muttered in a dejected tone, her shoulders sagging. “After everything we’ve done, all the good we’ve tried to do for this country and the ponies living here… we’re not going to do anything?”

“Like we said Sugarcube,” Applejack responded in a sympathetic tone. “What can we do?”

“I… I don’t know!” Rainbow exclaimed, frustrated at her own indecisiveness. “But I’ve never backed down from any challenge before, no matter how impossible it seemed. Heck, taking up an impossible challenge is how I got my cutie mark in the first place.”

“I don’t think you’ve ever mentioned how you go your cutie mark before,” I pointed out, suddenly feeling interested amidst my misery.

“Seriously?” Rainbow asked, blinking in surprise. “How did I manage that? My old friends back in Olympus used to complain about how often I told this story.”

“Maybe you’ve learned some humility since then,” Fluttershy suggested helpfully.

“Yeah, maybe,” Rainbow agreed thoughtfully. “Anyway, back when I was just a filly, I did the most incredible thing ever…”

“Spoke too soon there Shy,” Applejack said with a weak chuckle.

“As I was saying,” Rainbow went on, suppressing a smile. “I was in the Junior Speedsters Flight Camp one summer. It was pretty fun, made some friends, learned plenty of cool tricks, but the best day was when Firefly, Captain of the Wonderbolts came in to visit.”

“Oh yeah, I remember her,” Twilight murmured. “She was captain before Spitfire.”

“That’s the one,” Rainbow confirmed with an eager nod. “So she came in, talked a bit and gave us a demonstration. Anyway, afterwards I asked her if I could join the Wonderbolts, she said I was too young. Although then she laughed and said, completely as a joke, although I didn’t realise at the time, that if I did a sonic rainboom they’d pretty much have to let me join, despite my age. Naturally I took her seriously and started practicing for weeks to try and pull off this one trick. There were some guys at the flight camp who sort of had it out for me, when they heard what I was trying to do, they would follow me around and constantly tell me that it was impossible to do a sonic rainboom, and even if it wasn’t, I would never be good enough to pull one off.”

“That’s awful,” Fluttershy said aghast.

“Eh, I was used to it,” Rainbow replied without much care. “I guess they never liked constantly being bested by a girl. I never did stop though, because even my friends and my instructors told me that it was impossible, and that I should give up and focus on other things. In the end I forgot all about joining the Wonderbolts, I wanted more than anything to do the sonic rainboom… to prove to everypony who doubted me that I could. I worked my ass off, never gave up no matter how tired or discouraged I got, and in the end… I did it. I did the move that everypony thought was impossible, the sonic rainboom. I got my cutie mark, and needless to say nopony ever doubted me again after that.”

“Didn’t you have your accident shortly after you got your cutie mark?” I asked, remembering that particularly conversation with her.

“Uh, yeah,” Rainbow replied, giving a crooked smile. “Luckily it was only my dad who saw that one, but my point is… I’ve never backed down or given up before, just the idea that we are now is… is…”

“Depressing?” Pinkie suggested, to which Rainbow nodded. “I know that feeling, back on the Isle when the wither got to you all, it’s sad to see everypony fall apart around you and feel like you’ll join them soon too.”

“What about you Pinkie?” Twilight asked. “Is your cutie mark… real? Not to sound mean or anything, just… how did you even get yours?”

“What even is your cutie mark?” Applejack asked. “Ah don’t think ah’ve ever seen you out of that outfit.”

“Three balloons,” Pinkie reported. “Twilight’s seen it before, and no, it isn’t… real, per say. I chose it myself, mostly because I thought it looked neat, but also because I liked parties. I used to throw parties for every small or stupid thing, just because during them I was able to forget about how messed up everything was, that for a short while, ponies could just be happy together, without all their sadness and worry weighing them down. It feels so long since I threw one though, I guess it was daunting to think about how big a party I’d have to throw to make anypony happy these days.”

“We had that small party after Rarity came back,” Fluttershy reminded her. “I… I liked it… I was happy then.”

“Maybe one big party really is all we need,” I commented with a wry smile that hurt my cheeks to give.

“A party can’t stop a megalomaniac,” Pinkie replied forlornly, before brightening up slightly. “Except for that one time.”

“Do we even want to know?” Applejack asked sarcastically.

“Well I guess that story can wait for another time,” Pinkie relented. “But that means you have to pick up the slack. So go on, tell us how you got your cutie mark AJ.”

“Ah shucks, there was nothin’ special about it,” Applejack assured us, clearly trying to brush it off.

None of us replied, we just kept watching her, waiting for her to cave in to our demands. Applejack visibly deflated when she saw she wasn’t being given much choice, and let out a long sigh before beginning.

“It was right after mah folks passed,” she said in a dull tone, immediately bringing the collective mood down. “You see mah cousins didn’t always live with us on the farm, which meant that a lot of the work fell to Big Mac. He already had his cutie mark of course, and even back then he was pretty darn big for his age, but there was only so much even he could manage alone. It had been left to Granny to raise Applebloom, so that just left me to do all ah could to take the weight off his shoulders, except…”

Applejack drifted off for a moment, staring into space. This time it was Fluttershy’s turn to comfort her.

“Ah… ah ran away,” she said at last, taking us all by surprise. “Ah wasn’t strong enough or… good enough to help, what little ah could do wasn’t enough, and anything else ah messed up. Mac was worked to the bone, Granny was at her wits ends, and Bloom just never stopped cryin’, in the end it all got to be too much and… ah just ran.”

There was a long silence following that admission, I was left completely at a loss of what to do, especially when I saw Applejack’s eyes begin to shimmer as she recalled her childhood, the light of the fire dancing in them.

“Ah made it to Port Mule,” she went on, her voice slightly hoarse. “Ah had no idea what ah was doin’, ah didn’t have a bit to mah name and nopony to turn to for help. Heck, even if there was, ah probably would have been too ashamed to ask for it. One day ah was wanderin’ the streets; tryin’ to find mah next square meal. Ah spotted this one pony, looked kind’a shifty and thought maybe ah could… uh, sneak a few bits off them without them noticin’. Well I followed them for a bit, when ah got distracted by this family sitting outside a café having lunch together, the pony just disappeared, but ah hardly noticed. Ah watched them for a few minutes, they all looked so happy together, like they didn’t have a care in the world. First ah was angry, that they could be all fine and dandy while mah family fell apart… but then ah felt sad, remembering back when mah family was like that. Finally… ah was sure of what ah had to do.

“Ah rushed back home without stoppin’,” Applejack continued, her voice hard. “Ah swore to myself that ah would do whatever it took to make things right, even if Ma and Pa were never coming back, ah wouldn’t stop working until we could be happy like we used to. And that’s exactly what ah did, ah worked day and night until ah was strong enough that Mac was no longer carrying the whole farm on his back. Ah learned to cook and clean so Granny didn’t have to stress herself out over it, and when things started gettin’ better around the farm, we started gettin’ happier, and Applebloom wouldn’t cry as much.

“A day came when we all went down to Mule together,” she finished. “We sold a whole load of apples at the market and made our first real profit since the incident. After that, ah insisted that we go to that same café for something to eat before headin’ on home. They didn’t have a clue why ah was so eager to go there and sit at that one table outside specifically, but while we sat there, happy as can be… ah got mah cutie mark.”

There was a long silence following Applejack’s story where we just stared in amazement at her, clearly none of us had been expecting that.

“Wow,” Twilight uttered, her eyes wide. “I mean, just… wow.”

“Yeah AJ,” Rainbow agreed. “And I thought I had the best cutie mark story.”

“That was so nice,” Fluttershy said, giving Applejack a comforting squeeze. “The way you went back and worked hard to fix everything.”

“Well… truth be told,” Applejack replied a little awkwardly. “Ah didn’t have a lot of faith that ah would succeed, ah just knew that if ah was goin’ to fail… ah wanted to be with mah family when it happened. Ah wanted to know that we did all we could, and that we stuck by each other until the bitter end.”

I nodded slowly, her words echoing in my head.

“But what about you Sugarcube?” Applejack asked Fluttershy. “You got your cutie mark when you learned to talk to animals, right?”

“Oh goodness,” Fluttershy began in a timid voice. “My story isn’t very interesting at all, really, I just came across this bunny one day while I was in the Bask. She was just lying there in one of the courtyards, I have no idea how she came to be there, but she was due to give birth to a litter soon, only… she was having some trouble. Of course I was receiving training at the time on how to help and treat ponies, but I’d never learnt anything relating to animals… but I couldn’t just leave her. I took her into my home, built her a nest and starting doing everything I could to try and help her. I read so many books in the hopes that one of them would give me the answers I needed, but in the end… I found the answers in her.”

“The rabbit?” Pinkie questioned, cocking her head to the side while Fluttershy nodded.

“During the time we spent together,” she went on. “I slowly found myself understanding her, I guess I always had the ability, but without any or very much previous interaction with animals, it hadn’t been able to… uh, emerge. During the following weeks, I helped her give birth to her litter and helped them grow big and strong before I finally released them back into the wild. Throughout that time I was able to hone my ability to the point where I was having full conversations with them, I was even finding my talent applied to all manner of animals that I came across. When the time came to let them go and I watched them all set off to build their own homes and families, I reflected on the good I had been able to do simply by persisting and trying new things, and in the end I discovered a whole part of myself I never knew was there… and then my cutie mark appeared.

“After that…” Fluttershy began again, I could hear her voice dropping and I knew where this was going. “Well, I didn’t get to use my new special talent much after I revealed what I could do to the High Priestess. She told me it was unnatural… that I was unnatural. She made me feel so wrong… and conflicted, how could something be wrong when it did so much good for one family of bunnies? It wasn’t until Rarity found out what I could do, that I started accepting that part of me again, I never did thank you for that properly.”

“And you’ll never have to,” I promised her, giving her a warm smile.

“Well, I guess that just leaves one pony,” Rainbow jumped in, eying me obviously.

“Uh, wait, what about Twilight?” I pointed out, worried that nothing I could say would be as interesting as their stories.

“I already told you all my story,” Twilight reminded me.

“Yeah Rarity, now come on,” Pinkie egged on. “We want to know how you got diamonds on your flank.”

“I can’t even remember when you might have seen those,” I commented, noting how my long coat always covered my cutie marks. “But fine, I guess it all goes back to when I was in school. When I was more eager to run into clothes and fabric shops, than go sailing or fishing as my father would have liked, or even play with other fillies my age as my mother would have liked. I was always intrigued by clothes, they just seemed to call to me, anything from farmers dungarees to a ball gown fit for a princess, it was like they were the ultimate way to encapsulate a pony’s individuality. I took to tailoring like a fish to water, everypony told me what a natural I was, how I was born to it. The only problem was… I didn’t agree with them.

“I’m sure you’ve heard the saying that a creator’s biggest critic is themselves,” I carried on saying. “Well in my case it was especially true; nothing I produced could meet my ridiculous standards. I’d see magazines showcasing the most famous designers in Canterlot, and I’d look at their work and feel dismayed that my own pieces would never be of the same quality. Over time I found myself crafting less and less, my enthusiasm draining the more my confidence fell. Before long I was sitting in my room feeling miserable for myself, all my sewing equipment left to gather dust. My mother was always very supportive of my love for fashion, always believing I could go very far with it, she told me about a competition in Arclight for aspiring designers. She was clearly hoping it would reignite my passion, but I refused to sign up, sure it wasn’t worth my time.

“In an attempt to cheer me up,” I went on. “My father took us all on a camping trip to the Sanguine Grove. It was our first time since Sweetie Belle had been born, and seeing how much she enjoyed herself really improved my perception of it. However, on our first evening out, just after we set up camp for the night, something rather strange happened. To this day I’m not sure why exactly I did it, it was like something had drawn me away from my family, but I left the campsite and wandered off into the thicket alone. I found my way to a cave after discovering faintest of tracks, it wasn’t a large cave, I was able to see the back wall from the entrance.

“And it was in that cave,” I continued. “Embedded in the back wall… was a diamond, not very large, but unmistakably valuable. Naturally I was confused as to why it was there of all places, it was obvious that somepony had placed it there intentionally, but who or why was a completely mystery. However, the truly special moment occurred when I was standing there, wondering what to do. The sun was just setting, and for the briefest of moments, a single shaft of the dying light streamed directly through the forest, into the cave, reflecting off the diamond… it was a moment of pure magic, like the entire world had been lit up before me for a few brief seconds.

“I left the diamond where I found it,” I assured them quickly. “I wasn’t going to deprive any other lucky travellers of such a sight, but after seeing it myself I was filled with inspiration to create. I hurried back and tried to tell my parents what I found, and how I was going to enter the competition in Arclight and win it with the most incredible piece that was ever created. They were delighted for my sudden renewal of enthusiasm, even if they couldn’t follow much of what I was saying, I was talking so fast. When we got back home, I threw myself into my work, pouring all the passion I felt into that one dress, and when it was completed, I felt an overwhelming sense of pride in what I had accomplished.”

“And you won the competition,” Rainbow finished, grinning at me.

“No,” I responded in a deadpan voice. “I came second, to none other than our old friend Suri Polomare. No I didn’t win, but in the end… I didn’t care. I wouldn’t have cared if I had come last, because I realised that it didn’t matter if what I did was recognised or if I wasn’t as good as somepony else. What I made was different, unique, something that only I could have made after seeing what I saw, and that was the very thing that I adored about fashion from the beginning, the individuality, how everything is special in its own way. I got my cutie mark after that, which certainly wiped the smirk off Suri’s face when she was gloating afterwards, and after that I knew that turning my inspiration into a reality through fashion was what I wanted to do.

“I guess, in the end,” I finished in a thoughtful tone. “It doesn’t matter that I lost, just knowing I tried, and that along the way I made my mark… it just makes the journey feel worthwhile.”

There was a long silence following the end of my story, not because it had been particularly impressive or touching, just because we had all come to the same conclusion. Taking the lead, I opened my satchel with magic and pulled out my map, unsure why, I just knew it would be important somehow.

“Well, what do you want to do Rarity?” Twilight asked calmly, knowing what I was going to say.

“I want to try,” I replied in a firm voice. “I want to carry on until the very end, no matter how hopeless it might seem. We might fail, we might lose… we might die, but I just want to try. And If I go down… I’ll go down knowing I did everything I possibly could, and I won’t regret a thing.”

“Heck yeah!” Rainbow exclaimed, flapping up and punching the air. “Now that’s the kind of talk I want to be hearing.”

“I won’t lie,” Fluttershy began in a quiet but positive voice. “I’m really scared knowing what’s waiting for us… but when it comes, I won’t leave your side.”

“You can count on me to do mah part,” Applejack added. “If we’re gonna meet our ends, might as well see this world out doin’ something good.”

“Something great!” Pinkie corrected her excitedly.

“Thank you girls,” I said, smiling at them all. “I can’t tell you how much your support means to me, you’ve all inspired me so much.”

“You’ve been an inspiration to us too,” Twilight responded. “We haven’t forgotten what you said before we left the Isle of Serenity, we might have lost sight of it… but it never stopped being true. We’ll win…”

“So long as we’re together,” I finished, feeling that same connection to the five of them brimming within me.

“So,” Rainbow began in an eager voice as she settled back on the ground. “What’s the plan?”

“The plan…” I began hesitantly, before my eyes were drawn to the map and I grinned. “The plan is to use the time Fluttershy bought us to its fullest, and I know just how to do that.”

“Oh, tell us, tell us, tell us!” Pinkie chanted, bouncing up and down.

“Six ponies can’t take on an army and an alicorn,” I started to explain. “But we’re not alone in this country; we’ve met so many ponies, made lots of friends and allies.”

“We’ve also made our fair share of enemies,” Applejack pointed out.

“Precisely,” I agreed as I unfolded the map for them all to see. “Which is why it’s time we lowered our swords and held out our hooves in peace. When Blueblood comes, we will need everypony and every faction to stand together if we are to stand a real chance of coming out of this victorious.”

“That’s a lot of ground to cover,” Twilight commented. “And we don’t know how much time we have exactly before Blueblood’s transformation is complete.”

“I know, but I have an idea,” I told her. “There are five cities in Panchea, each home to one of the major factions that are at the source of all the conflict. If we split up, we can go around each of the cities and try to band everypony to our cause before Blueblood is able to make his move.”

“So who goes where?” Rainbow asked in a surprisingly formal tone, but then she was a professional soldier.

“First of all, Applejack,” I started, the source of the words looking up in mild surprise. “This one might sound weird… or absolutely insane, but bare with me. I need you to go to Cragsburg…”

I hesitated, waiting for the objection I was sure was going to come. However while the other four looked shocked, Applejack remained rather cool about it, just nodding for me to continue.

“If Blueblood is gathering his strength in the Ash Lands,” I went on. “Then that means Cragsburg will be the first in his line of fire once he begins his march south. That is where we will gather to meet him, to ensure he goes no further than the city, which is why it is of the utmost importance that we take back Cragsburg before then, and still have enough time to prepare ourselves.”

“What’re your thoughts?” she asked calmly.

“As an earth pony, you should be able to walk the streets without any bother,” I told her. “That means you can sniff out any discontent among the ponies still living there under Gaia’s rule. When the attack starts, having allies inside the walls will be invaluable for breaking through their defences. Just to be safe, you shouldn’t enter the city through the main gate though, how did you all get in when you came to rescue me?”

“Pinkie found an entrance through the waterways,” Applejack reported. “Ah can use it again, and ah’ll certainly do mah best. If there’s anypony in that city that don’t like those fanatics, you can be damn sure ah’ll have them rallied by the time you all get there.”

“Alright, good,” I said before turning to Twilight. “Twilight, will you be able to to go to Arclight and…”

“Actually,” Pinkie jumped in. “Could I take Arclight?”

“You?” I repeated in a bewildered voice. “I was kind of hoping Twilight would, since she’s a unicorn.”

“Rarity,” Twilight began, in a tone reminiscent of a school teacher. “You can’t expect the Arcane Order to change their ways if you play to their prejudices. They need to see that other pony races are just as capable as unicorns if they’re to get over Arcana’s brainwashing.”

“Yeah,” Pinkie agreed. “And think of it as my redemption for killing Arcana and screwing up your mission all those weeks ago.”

“Well, alright then,” I relented. “In that case, Pinkie Pie, I need you to head to Arclight and try to get this new council to join forces with us, and allow us to make use of their battlemages in the upcoming battle.”

“You can count on me!” Pinkie responded brightly, giving a stout salute.

“I guess that means you’re taking Pivot, Twilight,” I said, addressing her once again. “This one should be easy enough, after all, Maverick was already planning an attack on Cragsburg, the real challenge will be finding a way to get the Rebel troops to listen to his orders again.”

“We’ll find something,” Twilight assured me. “I don’t like the idea, but the mayor might be more willing to help fund them once she knows what’s coming her way. It’s not ideal, but we don’t have the liberty to always take the moral route.”

“I know,” I agreed, before looking to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, I would like you to go to Port Mule and speak to Typhoon about bringing the Liberators and Rebellion back together, if only for the future battle.”

“Me?!” Fluttershy squeaked in panic. “Oh, I don’t think I could do that…”

“I know you can Fluttershy,” I said quickly, trying to encourage her. “I know there’s some small part of Typhoon that can be reasoned with, he might hate me after all I’ve done, but nopony could ever say no to you, and that’s not just because you’re part of the Celestial Sisterhood. Speaking of which, that is the other reason I’d like you down at Mule, I was hoping you could return home and see if your fellow sisters would consider supporting us.”

“Ah…” Fluttershy uttered, biting her lip. “I really don’t think they’ll support that, it is after all, completely against our rules to engage in war.”

“The sisters would only be there as medical aid,” I told her. “As for the crusaders, surely an army of abominations is exactly their modus operandi.”

“Well…” she began, still sounding unsure. “I’ll try my best, but I really don’t know.”

“That’s all I can ask,” I said appreciatively. “And that just leaves…”

“Don’t worry, I know,” Rainbow cut in. “You want me to go to Olympus and rally the Dragoons. You don’t have to say anymore, I’ll make sure they’re at Cragsburg.”

“Thank you Rainbow,” I replied, repressing the urge to sigh with relief. “I know how much you hate the idea of leading them.”

“It’s fine,” Rainbow said with a shrug. “We don’t have a lot of options right now, we’ve all gotta do what we gotta do.”

“So what will you do Rarity?” Applejack asked.

“Well, I’ll travel with Twilight first of all,” I explained. “I’ll help at Pivot, and once the Rebel army is setting off north, Twilight will travel with them while I go to Arclight to meet Pinkie Pie. Same deal, once we’re done, Pinkie will take the battlemages to Cragsburg while I move onto Port Mule, then Olympus and finally Cragsburg. Once we have Cragsburg taken and the Children of the Earth are dealt with once and for all, we’ll use it as our base for preparing for the final battle. Is everypony alright with that plan?”

There was a chorus of confirmations from around the fire; I gave a small nod and a smile to them all.

“Well then, we’d better get some rest,” I suggested, feeling that spark of inspiration. “Whatever happens, this is going to be the final stage of our adventures, so let’s try... and let's win.”