Mortal Coil

by Reeve

LXXVI - The Heart Of Compassion

“We just want to hear your perspective on it,” Hex said calmly, from behind the circular desk in the University room. “Then we can finalise our decision.”

I glanced at Pinkie, who just sighed and rolled her eyes. It was getting late and we needed to be on the move, all this bureaucracy was just wasting time.

“It’s exactly as you’ve heard already,” I stated firmly, my voice still slightly muffled from my injury, that had only just been patched up. “By the time the centipede was dead and your mages were able to come to our aid… it was too late. We went up to the vault and Nefarious was dead, they were all dead… and the books were gone.”

“You said that your earth pony friend…” the wizened stallion began. “That is to say, your other earth pony friend, betrayed you, that is why you did not attempt to stop Blueblood?”

“He did not betray us,” I bit back, trying to reign in my temper. “Blueblood was controlling him; we couldn’t have gone after Blueblood even if we tried.”

“That’s quite alright dear,” Diaboli assured me kindly, her eyes flashing towards the other stallion briefly. “We understand you were put in a difficult situation, where is your friend now.”

“He’s in a safe place,” Pinkie replied simply. “And he’ll stay there until we can get him the help he needs.”

“Very well, we shall not pry,” Diaboli went on, giving an understanding nod. “Well, you’ll be pleased to hear that after great deliberation, we have reached a decision.”

I tensed up that, this would be the moment that decided whether this whole ordeal would be worth it or not.

“It is clear to us,” she continued, before casting a glare around some of her peers. “To all of us, that Arclight cannot afford to stay neutral during this conflict. The theft of Starswirl’s grimoire alone is enough reason for us to offer our assistance, but we understand how important it is, that for Panchea to survive this we must all stand together. You’ve done our city a great service by helping to defeat the invaders, we will show our gratitude to you and the Rebellion by offering our Battlemages to your army, may they help see us all through these dark times.”

“Thank you very much,” I responded gratefully, giving a polite bow of my head.

“I will be representing the council and lead our forces north personally,” Hex added. “The task should have fallen to Nefarious, but… I was once his second in command before I joined this council, for this fight, I will take up the role again.”

“That means you get to travel with me!” Pinkie declared happily, before deflating slightly. “Unless I’m still under arrest.”

The mare, Oculus opened her mouth, ready to respond, but was quickly beaten to the punch by Diaboli.

“Let’s say you’re on probation,” she answered. “After all, we can’t afford to be locking capable fighters like you up, not at a critical time like this.”

“Sweet!” Pinkie exclaimed, grinning widely, despite the displeased looks on so many faces.

“If that is everything,” I began. “I need to get moving, it’s a long road south, and we don’t have much time.”

“I’ll see you out,” Hex offered, standing up and making his way around the table, while Pinkie and I made our way over to the doors.

As we exited, I quickly smiled back at Diaboli, who returned the gesture before the doors closed behind us. We made our way outside the University without much word, only speaking once we were walking through the campus grounds. The citizens were already returning to their homes, the defensive shields taken down, while the police patrolled the streets and the Battlemages searched the sewers, eliminating any stray abominations that had escaped the slaughter.

“We really do owe you,” Hex began, as we walked around the statue of Starswirl the Bearded. “It takes a lot of guts to march right into the enemies' lair like you did… it takes even more skill to walk back out.”

“It wasn’t a complete victory,” I reminded him, feeling a pang of sadness in my chest. “Blueblood got what he came for, and Stranglethorn…”

“I know it’s hard to see at the moment,” Hex admitted. “But before you destroyed that… hive mind, did you call it? Before you destroyed it, those monsters were very close to overwhelming us, I don’t think we would have held out much longer. It’s a terrible tragedy what happened to your friend, and as for Nefarious… well, our forces are united as one once more, we’ll stop Blueblood and make sure his death wasn’t in vain. But besides some damage to the Selene Promenade, you really did save this city, and it’s important to remember that, all these ponies are alive and have homes and families to go back to because of how you helped us.

“This will be a turning point for us,” we went on, sounding confident. “Before long, we might even see the Arcane Order fading into the realms of history, then this country can be whole. Perhaps someday we’ll be able to undo the damage Arcana did after he rose to power; Arclight can be a beacon of knowledge and learning to all, and not of oppression and intolerance.”

“I’m glad there are some ponies like you and Diaboli on the council who want to make that change,” I told him, as we walked the city streets, bathed in the glow of the setting sun.

“Well, to an outsider it may have looked like Arcana had the support of the citizens,” Hex began, gesturing to the ponies who bore genuine smiles, as opposed to the wide, fixed grins they wore on my first visit. “The truth was, most ponies knew that what the Arcane Order stood for was wrong, those that didn’t were usually deceived to it’s true intentions or bribed into supporting it. Arcana transformed the old guard into the police force you see now, but he gave them too much power, putting his friends and corrupt individuals in positions of authority, so he could use the police to keep the city in a constant state of fear.

“The mind reading was especially troublesome and worrying for the average pony,” he continued. “hence why it was one of the first things we put limits on upon the formation of the council. Actually, it was only with Arcana’s death that rational ponies like Diaboli and me could rise to power and start fixing things. I guess what I’m trying to say is, I actually appreciate what you did when you killed him, I know that must sound like a horrible thing to say, but I genuinely believe it was for the good of Arclight that you put a stop to him.”

“Well, well Pinkie,” I said in an amused tone. “If there was ever any doubt before, there’s clear proof, Arcana deserved to die. You heard it right from the horse’s mouth; you never had to feel guilty after all.”

“Oh, I’ve never been so glad to have murdered somepony!” Pinkie declared loudly, drawing a lot of disturbed looks from passer-bys.

“Well yes,” Hex said slightly nervously, walking briskly before anypony could question that exclamation. “When all this is over, I’m probably expected to bring you back in to face charges, but if you were to just… not come back with me, I could always say you ran away and we couldn’t find you.”

“Aw, thanks Hexy!” Pinkie cooed, pulling him into a tight hug.

We reached the gate where a number of police ponies were gathered; I wondered if they were maybe the same ones we first met upon entering. They all had their masks off and were talking joyfully to one another, looking deeply relieved to still be alive by the sounds of it.

“You’re going to… Port Mule next?” Hex asked as we stopped just under the tall archway, I nodded in response. “Good luck with those guys, I haven’t had any dealings with the Liberators, but from what I hear, they’re a dangerous bunch.”

“It’ll be fine,” I assured him. “I’m well acquainted with their leader.”

“Alright, well in that case I’ll leave you to it,” Hex said with a curt nod. “I’ll no doubt see you in Cragsburg, we’ll start making preparations tonight and hopefully set off tomorrow. Thank you once again for all your help, and I wish you all the best in your travels.”

I said farewell and he walked a short distance away, giving Pinkie and I some space to say goodbye. The first thing she did was pull me into one of her usual hugs, which felt even stronger than ever as she wore her silver gauntlets, I was sure my eyes were going to pop right out of my skull if she continued to squeeze me for any longer than she did.

“I’m gonna miss you,” she said, almost whining.

“I’ll be fine,” I promised her. “It’s you I’m more worried about…”

“Because of the battle at Cragsburg?” Pinkie questioned.

“No, because of Sufferthorn,” I elaborated. “I have no idea how she’ll take the news, so just breach it to her gently… actually, it might be a good idea to tell Twilight first and have her tell Sufferthorn.”

“Can do,” Pinkie replied with a novel salute. “Do you want us to go ahead and purge him as soon as I see Twilight?”

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “You both need to be ready for action when Applejack is ready to make her move on the inside, it might be better to focus on the siege and wait until all six of us are together again, that way the rest of us can take over managing the fight.”

“Alright,” Pinkie replied. “In that case, you hurry on and see Flutters, make sure none of those nasty Liberators are bullying her.”

“I will,” I responded. “You go join up with Twilight. With the Rebels and the Battlemages, we already have a pretty good force… for Cragsburg at least, we still have a long way to go if we hope to stand a chance against Blueblood.”

With our farewells said, Pinkie Pie went back to Hex while I set off down the road towards Dolor. I thought about the Elements of Unity, we now had two, and so close together, it could hardly be a coincidence, but then it didn’t exactly qualify as a pattern yet either. I would be keen to see if the theme continued with Fluttershy at Port Mule, if it did… well we might end up standing an even greater chance against Blueblood when the time came to face off. It was around midnight when I reached Dolor; I let myself into the safe house, checking the latch as always, so my adventure didn’t end prematurely. I allowed myself only a few hours’ sleep, forcing myself to get up before the sun had even risen, to start walking.

My route was a familiar one as I started south, it being the very one Pinkie Pie and I had taken when we first properly met. It would take me almost two days to walk as far as Sweet Apple Acres, arriving there late on the second evening. From there it was a straight journey to Port Mule, which might be expedited if I could get a lift from Applejack’s family. Leaving the forest behind me, I retraced our hoofsteps along the river, until I came to the bridge that we would have crossed when heading towards Pivot, going the opposite direction, straight to Applejack’s homestead. The weather was already turning on me as I hurried up the lane to the cluster of farm houses, a light drizzle starting to splash down.

It felt odd to be back, I had completely lost track of time, so it felt strange to think that it had been more than a month ago the last time I was there, yet it felt like no time at all. I felt a pang of guilt as I walked through the empty yard towards the farmhouse, noticing the lights were on inside, I had promised them all I would return. Return I did, but I had taken my time about it, they probably thought something awful had happened in the intervening time, and that wasn’t even mentioning the few weeks since Applejack had last been there. If they were worried about me at all, it would be nothing compared to how much they would be fretting over her absence.

Knocking on the door, I waited, my heart beating rapidly as I heard rushing hoofsteps on the other side. The door cracked open and I instantly made out the sound of Granny Smith’s voice.

“Don’t go gettin’ excited,” she warned from the other room. “You’ll only be upset when it turns out to be another sales p…”

“Rarity!” Applebloom exclaimed, as she saw me standing beyond the threshold, cutting off her grandmother.

Within moments, the whole house was rushing about, coming to see me for themselves, bustling me into the sitting room and bombarding me with questions. My head was absolutely spinning, I didn’t know where to begin, I was most thankful for when Big Mac silenced everypony else with a surprisingly loud and authoritative voice.

“Applejack is fine,” I started, knowing that was the most pressing concern for the majority of ponies in the room. “She wanted me to say sorry for how she ran off without sending word, but that she’s okay and you don’t have to worry about her.”

Big Mac, Braeburn and Caramel all let out sighs of relief, Granny Smith just rolled her eyes, but Applebloom didn’t look satisfied with that answer.

“Ah don’t understand,” she said, her voice quavering slightly. “We went up to Pivot to look for her, but she was just gone. Why did she leave without sayin’ goodbye?”

I bit my lip as I looked around the Apple family, Grass Snake and her girls, and Scootaloo who were all gathered, watching me expectantly. Applejack had asked me to stop in and assure them she was fine when I travelled down this way, but she hadn’t said anything about telling them the truth of the situation or keeping it a secret. In the end I took the honest option, knowing Applejack would never be anything less than upfront with her family if she was here.

“The truth is,” I began in a calm voice. “A lot of things have been going on this last while. We ran into Applejack back in Pivot, we would have come straight back here together but… there was trouble up north, she offered to come help us, and things only spiralled out of our hooves from there. Now… I don’t know how to tell you this, but I’m afraid that soon… the country will be thrown into another war.”

The room was filled with the sound of gasps; all the ponies gathered staring at me in shock and disbelief.

“Another war?” Grass Snake repeated, looking to her girls with a terrified look.

“Between who?!” Caramel questioned. “Why?!”

“Where is Applejack now?” Big Mac asked firmly.

“Applejack has gone to Cragsburg,” I told them. “That is where the battle is going to take place, and she’s gone there to help.”

“Ah’m gonna go help her,” Big Mac said simply, turning around on the spot and marching towards the door.

“Big Mac, wait a moment!” I called out in a commanding tone, that, to my surprise, actually got him to stop and look back at me. “I know you want to protect your sister, and I won’t stop you from going, but you need to know what you’re walking into. This battle… it’s not going to be against Equestria or some local faction… it’s not even going to be against ponies.”

“What do you mean?” Braeburn asked, sounding like he didn’t really want to know the answer.

“In this war… we’re fighting monsters,” I announced. “An army of abominations, a warship that could level Canterlot… and an alicorn who will use it all to wipe out anything that gets in his way.”

There was a stunned silence following my declaration, as the household tried to absorb the insane information I had just presented them with, clearly having some trouble with it, judging by the disbelieving looks on their faces. Big Mac just stared blankly at me, before shrugging his shoulders slightly.

“Fair enough,” he muttered. “Ah’ll buck them all off the face of this earth.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at that, shaking my head in mild amusement.

“I don’t doubt it,” I replied wearily. “But right now I need you to slow down and listen to me. This battle is not going to be won by any one pony; it’s going to take the combined efforts of everyone for us to stand a chance against this threat. We’ve already rallied the Rebellion and the Arcane Order to our cause, they’re on the move to Cragsburg to help Applejack in retaking the city as we speak, but we still need the Liberators if our defence is going to mean anything.”

“Those nut jobs in Mule?” Mac questioned. “If you say so, but what do you need me for?”

“I need a ride.”

Scootaloo started sniggering, trying to stifle it behind her hooves, even as Applebloom looked at her, raising her eyebrow in confusion.

“Not like that,” I specified in a deadpan voice. “It’s a really long story, but we managed to buy ourselves sometime. This alicorn, Blueblood, he’s preparing his own army in the Ash Lands, and we only have until he’s ready to start marching south, to make our own preparations. I don’t have a great deal of time to gather the remaining factions together, I can’t afford to waste any of it walking between the cities all the time. That’s why I need you to get me to Mule as quickly as you can, after that, you can go to Cragsburg if you wish and I’ll find my own way.”

Big Mac mulled it over for a moment, before giving me a firm nod.

“Eyup,” he stated, turing once more to the front door.

“Enope!” Granny Smith interrupted, drawing all eyes to her. “Ah’m sorry, but there ain’t no way ah’m lettin’ either of you go runnin’ off this late. You’ll get fed and rested, and wait until mornin’ before ah let you out of mah sight.”

“Now Granny…” Big Mac tried to say, only to be cut off.

“'Now Granny' nothin’ mister,” she said flatly, making it clear it wasn’t an option. “Besides, it ain’t for your benefit…”

She turned to look at me, her surprisingly sharp eyes looking me up and down.

“You haven’t had a proper rest in days by the looks of ya,” she accused. “Probably haven’t eaten that much either, you’re practically nothin’ but bones!”

“I’m, uh, really quite fine,” I tried to tell her.

It was true, I had long since gotten used to short sleeps and small rations scattered throughout the day, and if I had lost a little weight because of it… well that was just a win-win, wasn’t it?

“And then what happens when you keel over and can’t pick yourself back up?” Granny pushed. “What good will you be to anypony then? You ain’t leavin’ mah sight until ah’m satisfied you can look after yourself, and when you see mah reckless granddaughter, you make sure she’s doin’ the same, you hear? And as for you sonny, you take her on down to Mule tomorrow, but then you come straight back here. Ah won’t have you rushin’ off to war without a well-stocked cart, is that all understood?”

“Yes Granny Smith,” Big Mac and I droned in unison.

“That’s what ah like to hear,” Granny went on, looking to all the fillies in the room. “Now come on girls, we’re gonna rustle up some food for our guest.”

The fillies all hurried into the kitchen after her, Scootaloo lagging behind slightly to cast me a worried glanc,e before Applebloom pulled her along. That left Big Mac to collapse into one of the sofas while Caramel, Braeburn and Grass snake looked between us with varying degrees of concern.

“So, um…” Braeburn began awkwardly, looking to Big Mac. “Should we…”

“Enope,” Big Mac replied simply. “You two need to stay here and look after the farm, can’t expect the fillies to do all the work.”

“Sounds good to me,” Caramel said quickly, smiling over at Grass Snake who was sitting directly next to him.

She smiled back before placing her hoof on his knee in an… affectionate manner.

“Um…” I began, quirking an eyebrow. “Have I missed much?”

The rest of the night progressed rather pleasantly; it was almost like the old days when Sweet Apple Acres was starting to look like it might become my second home. We ate and chatted and generally enjoyed what felt, to me, like the last normal night of our lives. Grass Snake and Caramel told me about their budding relationship, which made things a little complicated considering he shared his name with one of the fillies. Grass Snake’s three fillies told me about how they had adjusted to life on the farm and were now enjoying it quite a bit, Pixie Dust and Emerald both coping considerably better after their traumatic event.

Scootaloo and Applebloom regaled me with tales of how they tried to get their cutie marks through a succession of adventurous and ridiculous methods, that made the other adults groan and roll their eyes. In return, I told them the greatly abridged version of my own adventures, keeping the dark and violence to a minimum so as not to worry them, while putting a little extra emphasis on Applejack’s own deeds. After a while, Granny Smith was ushering me off to bed though, while I didn’t object, the girls were all quite vocal about their displeasure, as they were quite drawn into my stories.

I was allowed to stay in Applejack’s own room, I found Winona snoozing on her bed next to her dusty brown Stetson. I scratched her gently behind the ears before undressing and sliding into the bed, carefully so as not to disturb her. She was such a nice dog, although I could tell she missed Applejack greatly by her proximity to the hat that must carry her scent so strongly. She ended up acting as my alarm clock, waking me up when she started scratching at the door to be let out, no doubt needing to do her business outside. Once I was up, I decided it would be better just to stay up and get ready to set off, giving my clothes a quick clean and mend while Big Mac got up and readied the cart for travel.

It was shortly after sunrise when we were ready to set off, I was just about to mount the cart when I heard the rushing of hoofsteps. Looking around, I saw Applebloom and Scootaloo sprinting up to us from the front door.

“Here to say goodbye?” I asked, smiling down at them.

“Nope!” they both replied, grinning widely up at me.

“We’re gonna come with you!” Applebloom declared.

“I’m sorry, what?” I uttered, sure I had misheard.

“We’re going to help you,” Scootaloo insisted. “We can be, like, your sidekicks, when you’re off adventuring and helping to save the world!”

“What… but… no!” I stammered. “You girls can’t come with me, it’s far too dangerous.”

“But you said to win this war, you needed everypony,” Scootaloo reminded me, as both her and Applebloom adopting the huge puppy dog eyes that Sweetie Belle always used so expertly against me.

“We can help,” Applebloom tried to tell me. “We can fight! We can…”

“Absolutely not,” Big Mac said sternly, walking up behind them.

“But…” Applebloom attempted only to be silenced by her older brother.

“Enope,” he stated just as flatly. “No ‘buts’, you two are gonna stay put on this farm and let the grownups handle this.”

“Would you just listen to…” Applebloom tried to say, before Scootaloo nudged her hard in the ribs, shooting her an odd look.

“You’re right,” Scootaloo agreed with a huge, exaggerated sigh. “We’ll just stay here and wait for you to come back. Right Applebloom?”

“Oh, uh, sure,” Applebloom said quickly, nodding rapidly. “You can trust us.”

“I’m sure,” I grumbled to myself as I climbed onto the cart. “In all seriousness girls, please don’t do anything foolish. Just stay here and… and I promise we’ll see each other again someday.”

They both looked up at me with genuine sadness as Big Mac hitched himself up.

“Tell Applejack ah lo…” Applebloom began before cutting off. “That ah miss her… just tell her to come home.”

“I will,” I swore.

“And you too,” Scootaloo added. “Just, uh… be safe.”

I nodded, before giving the green light to Big Mac to start pulling. As he did, and we very quickly started moving down the lane, the two fillies waved goodbye to me, while beyond them the rest of the family did the same from the front of the house. Big Mac made me proud, pulling the cart faster and for longer than any other transporter could, I could just see the determination etched into his face, pushing him on no matter how tiring it would get, or how heavy the rain fell. I knew even after he dropped me off, he would turn right back without rest, stop at Sweet Apple Acres to appease his grandmother, before pressing forward until he was at Cragsburg.

He got us to the bridge by late afternoon, marching right past the hut where I first met Spoon Bender, even as a pony in black armour hurried out, calling after us to come back. It was very late in the day when Port Mule came into view, the sun was brushing the canopy of the forest to the west, but it still cast enough light for us to see what was going on just outside the city walls. There were a huge number of tents set up, clustered quite close to one another, and stretching out for quite some distance from the western gate. I could make out Liberator standards dotted around the campsite, which made it clear these were their temporary accommodations following the destruction of the fort.

“This should be close enough,” I told Big Mac as we stopped to survey the camp. “I don’t know how hostile they’re going to be, it would probably be easier for you to leave now rather than get held up.”

“You sure?” Big Mac asked, his face twisting.

I could tell he was torn between his eagerness to find his sister, as well as his sense of duty to stay and help me. I was touched by it, but I knew I’d be alright, and I couldn’t ask him to do any more.

“Yeah,” I replied, jumping off the cart. “You should go on; I’ll see you when I get to Cragsburg.”

Big Mac nodded, still looking conflicted as he turned himself around and started off in the opposite direction, back the way we had come from. I turned my own attention back down to the camp and the city just beyond it, taking a breath before starting towards it. It didn’t take long to close the last distance between myself and my destination, but by the time I got there, the light was dwindling. Althoguh the rain was also starting to ease up, which was a small benefit. Once I reached the edge of the camp and walked right on in, nopony even attempting to stop me or even paying me the slightest bit of attention, I set about looking for Fluttershy.

It shouldn’t have been hard to find white amidst all the black, and indeed it really wasn’t. I saw her soon enough, darting about, trying desperately to get the attention of any one pony. However, her meek voice was barely audible over the raucous noise of the soldiers, and she was finding it impossible to get anypony to take notice of her.

“Excuse me, Miss?” she would say to a passing pony. “If it’s not too much trouble… oh, but maybe it is. That’s fine, I’ll just…”

Then she would slowly turn mute before moving on to somepony else.

“Um, sir,” she began, slightly louder this time. “I need to talk to you about something very important… oh, that looks very important too. Well I’ll just let you get on with it and maybe come back later?”

Naturally the stallion didn’t reply, mainly because he never knew he was being spoken to in the first place. Fluttershy was already slinking away, a defeated look on her face as she tried to muster the courage to try again, that was when I decided to step in and help her out.

“Fluttershy,” I greeted warmly.

She spun around, a look of relief washing over her face as she hurried over to me.

“Oh, Rarity…” she moaned, burying her face into my chest. “I’m so sorry; I couldn’t get anypony to listen to me. I tried to explain the situation to the big boss, but he just told me I was being ridiculous, and then when I mentioned you…”

“Okay, slow down a second,” I instructed.

“Sorry,” she said quickly, looking down at her hooves.

“And stop apologising,” I chastised. “Now tell me again, you spoke to Typhoon, correct? But Typhoon didn’t believe you.”

“Yes,” she confirmed. “I’ve tried speaking to him again since, but after the third visit, his guards stopped letting me through. I’ve been trying to tell other ponies, I hoped that if I got the word out… maybe it would start a bit of a panic and he would have to take notice.”

“Well that’s a fair idea,” I told her. “But don’t worry, I’m here now, and together we’ll go convince Typhoon. I don’t care if we have to literally hammer it into his head…”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Fluttershy murmured in a worried tone. “He really wasn’t happy when I mentioned you.”

“I’m not surprised,” I admitted. “But I can’t hide from him, if we’re going to be on the same side, we need to get our… issues sorted out once and for all. Now, take me to where he’s at, I’ll fill you in on what’s happened along the way.”

Needless to say, Fluttershy was distraught at the news of attacks on both Pivot and Arclight, relieved by the final positive verdicts in both cases, worried that Port Mule might also see itself under assault of monsters, and saddened by the news of Stranglethorn. She even seemed mournful for Maverick… although not nearly as much as Stranglethorn, who wasn’t even dead, and she certainly didn’t dwell on it for too long. We marched through the camp and into the city via the eastern gates, once again, nopony stopped us or even bothered to ask what our business was, it was clear the Liberators had grown complacent since the loss of the Fort.

Being so late at night, the streets were relatively deserted, which made navigating to the Defence District easy. It was there in the courtyard that we found the officers tents and makeshift housing. Beyond them, there was clear evidence of construction work taking place where the Fort used to be, although the workers were all gone for the night. By the looks of it, they were still digging through the rubble and working on the foundations before they even dared start rebuilding. It was easy enough to find Typhoon’s tent, it was the largest after all, with two Liberator standards posted on either side of the entrance flaps, a soldier standing with their back to each of the banners, looking considerably more vigilant than any of the others we had passed by.

The two guards glanced at each other as they saw us approach, one of them wasn’t wearing a helmet, so I could see her rolling her eyes, no doubt because of Fluttershy insisting on returning, they probably didn’t even remember who I was.

“Before you start,” the Liberator with the helmet on began. “No… just, no. We’ve made it very clear that you are not to be bothering the Commander any more with your tall tales.”

“But I was telling the truth!” Fluttershy tried to say, before I placed a hoof on her shoulder and gave her a sympathetic smile.

“Would you two be kind enough to let Typhoon know we wish to speak to him?” I asked in a sweet tone, with the slightest undercurrent of threat.

“And why should we do that?” the other mare questioned as they both drew their swords.

“Because Rarity is telling you to,” I answered loudly, satisfied when I heard the sound of rushing coming from within the tent.

The two guards barely had a moments warning before Typhoon came bursting from his tent, quickly followed by a pair of panicking officers, who he must have been in the middle of a meeting with. Typhoon was exactly as I remembered him, same old military uniform adorned with medals, same old reddish brown fur that only covered half of his face, the other half a scorched mess. which despite looking better than the last time I had seen him, still managed to make me cringe.

“I just can’t be rid of you,” he growled, reaching instinctively for his weapon, only to find he wasn’t carrying one.

“Typhoon, don’t,” I began in a calm voice, even as he wrenched the sword out of one of the guards hooves. “We’re here to negotiate.”

“Negotiate?” Typhoon repeated as he started stepping closer, Fluttershy began backing away, but I stood stock still. “The last time you wanted to negotiate, you tried to kill me. Not the first time you’ve tried to kill me, I might add.”

“I already told you, I was under the control of another,” I reminded him, as he walked up mere inches from me and I had to crane my neck to look him in the eye. “And even if you think that sounds silly, why would Stranglethorn not have killed you himself before taking me from your office? Why did I warn you he was there in the first place? The answer is obvious; you just don’t want to accept it. We are not your enemies; I would have thought that was clear when I tried to warn you about the bombs… which needless to say, turned out to be a very real threat to your life.”

Typhoon screwed up his face at me as he tried to think of a response, or at least he screwed up half of his face. A number of ponies had come out of their own tents and were gathering around us in a circle to watch what was going on.

“Please sir,” Fluttershy began, tearing Typhoon’s attention away from me. “We really do need your help.”

“What is the deal with this mare?” Typhoon demanded, looking back at me. “She came here claiming to be a Sister from the Bask, but no sister leaves the Bask, so who is she really?”

“She is exactly who she says,” I replied simply. “She was given special permission by High Priestess Starlight Glimmer to leave the Bask and travel with me.”

Typhoon’s good eye twitched, the name drop certainly helped to convince him what I was saying was true, and that made him realise he had been treating an actual member of the Celestial Sisterhood with a great deal of disrespect.

“She came here, ranting and raving about monsters,” Typhoon went on. “Stuff about an alicorn and a battle at Cragsburg.”

“Again, all true,” I reported, making sure to speak clearly enough for everypony to hear me. “There was a group called the Covenant, they were obsessed with transforming themselves into alicorns. They succeeded through some rather… unspeakable methods, but they were taken over by a stallion named Blueblood. Blueblood was once a Duke of Equestria, but he betrayed them by forming the group known as the Solar Empire, the very same group responsible for blowing up Fort Mule and controlling me to assassinate you.”

“An Equestrian was behind this?!” Typhoon exclaimed, clearly having a bad case of selective hearing. “This is all the proof I need that Celestia is the tyrant I’ve been saying she is!”

“Weren’t you listening?!” I shouted back at him.

“Princess Celestia isn’t responsible for this,” Fluttershy insisted. “Blueblood went behind her back, but when she found out about what he was doing, she sent somepony to help stop him.”

“And she also never wanted to go to war with us,” I added quickly. “She wanted to meet your demands for independence from the very beginning, but she was being undermined… and so were you. You were betrayed by Arcana, both he and Blueblood were working with the Covenant to ignite the war so they could use it as cover for carrying out their experiments.”

That declaration sparked a lot of curious murmuring among the gathered ponies; Typhoon himself had stumbled back from me slightly, reeling from what we were telling him.

“This… this can’t be!” he stammered, refusing to believe that he could have been wrong this whole time.

“The Princess isn’t your enemy any more than we are,” Fluttershy told him. “You can have your independence and the fighting can come to an end… but none of that will matter if we don’t stop Blueblood.”

“Blueblood is in the Ash Lands,” I went on. “He is building his strength, both with an army of abominations created by the Covenant… and a Dreadnaught.”

“What?!” Typhoon hissed, his eyes flashing. “Impossible.”

“Quite possible I’m afraid,” I retorted. “Arcana made copies of all Cogs’ research material before he fired him. Blueblood has a fully operational Dreadnaught, and it’s even bigger than the one you were working on.”

“Well then what is your brilliant plan for stopping that?!” Typhoon spat. “If what you’re saying is true, then why shouldn’t we just start waving our white flags now? The Dreadnaught was designed to be the ultimate weapon of war, there is nothing that can stop it… it was just a fluke when you did.”

“Don’t worry about the Dreadnaught,” I assured him. “Cogs is working on something new that can counter it, but we still need an army if we’re going to stand any chance against Blueblood’s own when the time comes.”

“And that’s why you need me,” Typhoon said coldly, nodding slightly.

“We already have the Rebellion and the Arcane Order agreeing to work together,” Fluttershy told him. “Both their forces are going to Cragsburg now; we need to free it from the Children of the Earth before Blueblood makes his move.”

“That just leaves you and the Dragoons,” I said finally. “And we’ll almost certainly get them to join us, but we still need the Liberators. This isn’t going to work unless we all stand together as one force, fighting for the singular cause of preserving Panchea and all who live in it.”

The muttering from the gathered soldiers and officers sounded encouraging, they all seemed to be swayed by our words, but Typhoon still regarded me with contempt.

“This is all sounds… impossible to believe,” he stated in a sour voice.

“Maybe, but it is true whether you believe it or not,” I replied. “And it’s also true that Blueblood is coming whether we like it or not, the question is, if you’ll help us stop him at the first hurdle… or will you let us perish, only to be left all alone when he comes here after you?”

Typhoon didn’t respond for the longest time, his eyes flickered between me, Fluttershy and his subordinates.

“I did say you and I would always be enemies,” he reminded me in a cool voice.

“Alright, look,” I began with a frustrated sigh. “I had a feeling you wouldn’t make this easy for us… or even for your own ponies, but I came up with a way of settling this, that I think you might like. You appreciate displays of strength; you’re a bit like the Dragoons in that way, only you don’t govern by it, which is commendable. So here’s what we’ll do, to settle this between us once and for all… you and me, first one to yield or die, loses.”

“Rarity, no!” Fluttershy screamed, but I held up my hoof to silence her.

“If I win, you join our cause,” I went on. “If you win… well, I guess you’ll finally be rid of me.”

I held out my hoof to close the deal, everypony was dead silent as they waited for Typhoon to make up his mind. For the longest time, he just stared at me, as if he was trying to figure me out, trying to decide what he should do, until finally…

“Deal,” he said simply.

He reached out and placed his hoof against my own and we shook on it, sealing the deal. I gave him my sweetest smile possible as we shook… before I gripped his hoof hard and pulled myself in close. Typhoon tried to react to whatever it was I was doing, but he wasn’t fast enough for a change, and before he could bring his sword up to meet me, I kicked out hard between his legs. That uniform, as stylish and, dare I say, sexy as it is, offered very little protection for poor Typhoon’s crown jewels. My hoof connected sharply, and I heard Typhoon’s lungs empty as he let out a long, pained wheeze, his sword clanging to the ground as his whole body seized up.

When I drew back the leg I kicked with and let go of his outstretched hoof, I took a small step back, to watch as he collapsed to his knees, his eyes wide and his mouth agape, a strained noise leaking out of it. My smile turned from sweet to downright evil as I observed my handiwork, all before leaning down to look him directly in the eye.

“Yield?”

Fluttershy and I hadn’t gotten much sleep, it had already been late when we had our encounter with Typhoon, and we ended up staying up for a couple more hours while we finalised our plan for moving the Liberator army north, as well as giving Typhoon instructions for where exactly to go and who to report to. Ordinarily I left those details to Twilight Sparkle or Pinkie Pie, but since Fluttershy would not be travelling with the Liberators herself, we thought it better to get it all ironed out before I moved on. Typhoon provided us with a tent for the remainder of the night, where we retired to while he saw to instructing those who would stay and take charge of Port Mule.

I wanted to get to sleep right away, but Fluttershy insisted on taking the time to properly treat my damaged muzzle, and truth be told I was very glad she had pressured me, as it hurt considerably more than I was letting on. After we received our paltry few hours’ sleep, we were up and ready to go, saying our final farewells to Typhoon before we set off for the eastern city gate. I wasn’t surprised that Typhoon had his soldiers whipped into shape and ready to march north in the space of a single night. Indeed I was quite pleased, and it reminded me why I was so eager to have somepony with his many years of experience in our chain of command.

After winning our challenge, Typhoon seemed to have gone through a pain induced personality shift, which certainly made our new partnership a lot easier on the both of us. I was reminded of how his attitude shifted after I turned myself in to first negotiate with him, like he had new-found respect for me, and was satisfied to treat me as an equal… although I also noticed he kept his hind legs squeezed awfully tight any time I came near, but that might have been subconscious. Fluttershy had chastised me for it afterwards, but even she was able to laugh with me about in retrospect as we made our way through the once again bustling city of Port Mule, to the exit that would set us on the path to the Bask.

The gate was in view when we were stopped; when I was convinced somepony was shouting my name from nearby. I turned and started looking about, trying to see if there were any familiar faces among the crowd of ponies going about their daily business. It wasn’t until I noticed six rather burly stallions marching towards me, all wearing leather armour and armed with a variety of weapons. My immediate reaction was to begin drawing my own sword, before I recognised the face of one of them.

“Hammerhead?” I questioned, quickly pushing my sword back into its sheath as I led Fluttershy over them. “Uh… wow, what were the chances of running into you guys here?”

“Not high I imagine,” Hammerhead replied in that soft voice I recalled so well, he was glancing curiously between the both of us. “Although you did say you live here, didn’t you?”

“Well I’m usually on the move,” I admitted. “My friend and I are just on the way to the Bask.”

“The Bask?” Hammerhead repeated glancing back at his friends. “Well, we’re in the area looking for work, if you wanted to, we could give you a ride.”

“That would actually be wonderful,” I admitted in a relieved tone. “The last time I made the journey, we were attacked by bandits… oh, darn. I’m sorry, but I don’t have any money on me.”

“Oh,” Hammerhead uttered, biting his lip as he glanced back at his men who could only return apologetic looks and shrugs.

“It’s okay,” Fluttershy jumped in, reaching into her bag. “I have some money here.”

“Where did you get all that?!” I exclaimed, my eyes wide with amazement as I looked at the heavy bag of coins Fluttershy produced.

“Well, um, you see, the thing is…” Fluttershy stammered nervously. “When I was travelling through the Sanguine Grove, a friendly ferret led me to this fallen tree. It had a ring of thorns carved into it and a lockbox inside which contained… it’s not stealing if it was just abandoned, right?!”

I exchanged a look with Hammerhead; he definitely seemed to pick up on what Fluttershy was talking about, and remembered what had happened during our own travel together.

“Well, I guess we can pay you fine gentlecolts after all,” I told them. “And if it’s not too much trouble… we need to get there fast.”

Hammerhead and his friends weren’t nearly as fast as Big Mac had been, even when they switched around, so none of them would be pulling us on the cart for too long. The Bask wouldn’t come into view until the following morning, that meant stopping for the night on the road, and taking it in shifts to sleep or keep lookout for any unsavoury sorts lurking about. When we started travelling, Hammerhead had been eager to hear what I had been up to since we had parted ways in Pivot all those months ago, he probably thought I would tell him some nice stories about going home and trying to kick-start my old business back into life.

Needless to say, neither him nor his companions were prepared for the truth, all quite blown away by the selection of stories I shared with them. It wasn’t until we stopped for the night and we took an hour to just sit and talk, that I got into the most recent events, and why we were actually in the neighbourhood. It certainly wasn’t the reunion I had had in mind, less drinking and laughing and more… grim silences following harrowing revelations. Hammerhead and his friends responded a little, but for the most part they simply listened in silence, taking in what I was telling them without giving away what they were thinking.

When the morning came and we were setting off, I got the distinct impression there was something wrong, like the six of them had come to an understanding which Fluttershy and I weren’t privy to. As we completed our journey and crested the final hill so the Bask was visible, bathed in the light of the early morning sun and looking just as beautiful as ever, Hammerhead turned to me, a look of acceptance on his face that matched those of his friends.

“We’ve come to a decision,” he said in a neutral tone. “We talked about it after you both went to sleep last night, and we’ve decided… we’re going to go to Cragsburg to volunteer our services.”

I opened my mouth to respond, but found I was left quite speechless by the declaration.

“I once told you that Cragsburg was my home,” he reminded me. “We all grew up there, but we left when those fu… er, the Children of the Earth started growing. All these ponies you’ve rallied together are going off to liberate our home, we should be there to help them, and when this other battle comes… well we’ll stay and fight then too.”

“That’s so nice of you to do,” Fluttershy told them, a number of the stallions blushing at receiving her compliment. “It’s very noble of you to help with this.”

“Well… we ran away once,” Hammerhead muttered in a voice heavy with shame. “We’re not going to do it again.”

“Thank you Hammerhead,” I told him sincerely, stretching up and giving him a peck on the cheek, hoping it would convey my immense gratitude.

Fluttershy then gave them their payment, however they were now a little reluctant to accept it, although we both reasoned that they would need it to get them north, and that we could receive any aid we needed from the Sisterhood. After agreeing and taking the large sum Fluttershy offered them, they prepared to travel on their way, Hammerhead stopping just for a moment to say farewell.

“It really is admirable,” he began, looking between us. “All the things you girls have done… all the things you’re doing. I hope we’ll see each other again when you reach Cragsburg.”

“As do I,” I responded.

He gave a small nod and turned, leading his men down the hill, back the way we had come. Now left alone once more, Fluttershy and I directed our attention back to the Bask ahead of us, although I quickly scanned the nearby vicinity for any signs of bandits, really hoping that we wouldn’t get a repeat of what happened that last time I stood on this very hill. I noticed Fluttershy had a faraway look on her face, I knew it well, to see your home after being away for so long. True Fluttershy had only been away for roughly a month, but considering it was her first and only time away from home, I knew for her, it was a long time.

“Come on,” I said, placing my hoof on her shoulder. “Let’s go see them.”

“Yeah,” Fluttershy agreed with a nod and an almost smile. “Even if we can’t convince them to help us, it will still be nice to see them all… one last time.”

“Don’t say that,” I responded, a little too harshly. “Try to stay positive, this won’t be the last time you come back here.”

Fluttershy didn’t respond, instead she took the initiative and started walking down the hill in the direction of the bridge. I followed quickly after her, deciding better than pushing our conversation and allowing the walk to be a quiet one. As we neared the bridge, I could see two crusaders standing guard at the other end next to the gatehouse. They wore their usual tunics, but their helmets were absent, this allowed us to see the wide, welcoming grins they were flashing our way. Fluttershy smiled upon seeing them, and waved to them before picking up the pace. I had to trot to keep up with her, when we both came skidding to a halt before them, Fluttershy looked just as delighted as the pair of them did… which was a lot.

“Hello Sister Fluttershy,” the first one greeted in a warm tone. “Welcome back!”

“It’s so nice to see you again Sister!” the other crusader added, her tone sounding equally cheerful.

“Uh, yes,” Fluttershy replied, a little awkwardly. “I’m very happy to be back, can we both come in? We need to see the High Priestess as soon as possible, regarding some urgent business.”

“Certainly!” the first answered. “Let’s all go see her right now; I’m sure she and everypony will be just as happy to see you returned as we are.”

“Oh, um, that’s wonderful,” Fluttershy said, glancing briefly at me with a confused expression. “Please, lead the way.”

The two crusaders turned and left their posts, escorting Fluttershy through the gatehouse into the Bask itself, leaving me to stand wearing the most flabbergasted look ever. Perhaps it was down to just how jaded I had become with the world through my many experiences, but I was sure there was no good or natural reason why anypony would be that joyous. That was exactly what I thought, not that there was something going on, but that the fault lay with me, to find something wrong with what could have just been two ponies behaving perfectly good natured to somepony they hadn’t seen in a while.

I mentally chastised myself for that before trotting after the trio; we had more important things to be focusing on than two overly happy crusaders. Such things as trying to convince the High Priestess that the coming threat was indeed real, or persuading her to make a decision that would go against years of tradition for the greater good of the country and perhaps the world as a whole, or why everypony we passed was grinning like a psychopath! Seriously, I didn’t even notice at first, but after a certain point, all the greetings Fluttershy was receiving was starting to rub me up the wrong way.

“Hello Fluttershy,” a sister said, while maintaining a smile that would have freaked Pinkie Pie out.

“Welcome back sister Fluttershy,” another greeted in a tone of absolute bliss.

“It’s so good to see you again Fluttershy,” they were all the same, sisters stopping in their tracks to grin in our direction and spread their overabundance of love.

I could see Fluttershy smiling and waving back, but hers was strained, clearly put on for show so as not to show how disturbed she actually was. I could tell though, I wanted to go up and question her, but I decided it would be unwise to do so within earshot of the crusaders or any passing sisters. I recognised the path we were walking along was to the chapel where Starlight Glimmer’s office was, the very same one where I overheard Fluttershy telling her she wished to leave with me. Once at the doors, the pair of crusaders stepped to one side each to allow us to pass between them, as they did, their tunics fluttered up and I noticed something most peculiar.

“You have the same cutie marks,” I pointed out in a curious tone. “I… I didn’t even know that was possible.”

I had only been able to catch sight of them for a split second, but they had looked like two rather plain black lines, one over the other, much like an equals sign.

“Oh, we don’t have cutie marks anymore,” one of the crusaders told me, her smile never slipping. “We gave them up so we could be equal.”

“Uh…” I croaked, unable to formulate a response.

Fluttershy looked like she was going to have a good go at responding to that, frankly insane statement, but the second crusader quickly jumped in.

“You shouldn’t keep the High Priestess waiting,” she advised. “I just know she’ll want to speak to you both as soon as possible.”

I glanced at Fluttershy, who gave a small shrug while wearing a look of bewilderment, which reflected exactly how I felt. She turned and opened the chapel doors, stepping through while I fell into step behind her. Once inside, the crusaders closed the doors behind us, but we barely took notice, too enthralled by what lay before us. The chapel was packed, all the pews filled with sisters, who all turned in their seats to grin at us as we entered. It was only now that I saw so many of them together, that I realised they all looked like clones of one another with their matching expressions and demeanours… even their manes were all done in the same two styles, a pair of plats or a single tight bun.

“Welcome home Sister Fluttershy,” a jubilant voice greeted from the end of the chapel.

We both looked up to see Starlight Glimmer standing before the altar, wearing her full robes. Unlike the rest, she didn’t have an impossibly large grin, but she was smiling, only hers appeared more… sly.

“It’s so good to see you’ve both made it back safely,” she went on to say, starting down the aisle towards us. “If I’d known to expect you, I would have had something prepared to celebrate such a wonderful event, but as it is, you’ve instead come just in time for a most momentous occasion.”

“Momentous occasion?” Fluttershy repeated in confusion. “Oh, uh, I’m sorry, did I forget that it was some special holiday today?”

“Oh no, nothing like that,” Starlight assured her, reaching out and patting Fluttershy on the head in the most condescending manner.

“Well, um, I’m afraid I can’t stay too long,” Fluttershy admitted, Starlight Glimmer quirking her eyebrow at that. “You see, something terrible is going to happen soon, it’s actually why we’re here now.”

“Something terrible?” Starlight repeated, still talking as if to a small filly. “Oh Fluttershy, I’m sure whatever you’ve done can’t be redeemed through confession and a nice long period of penance and fasting… not that there’ll be time for either, mind you.”

“Whatever I’ve done?!” Fluttershy squeaked in an indignant tone, her cheeks turning bright red as she pulled back from Starlight’s hoof which was creeping onto her back.

“Now hold on a second,” I cut in, getting seriously annoyed with Starlight’s attitude and the way she always talked down to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy has been a model of virtue since the day she left this place; we came here to warn you about a pending tragedy and to seek your assistance.”

“You have to listen to us,” Fluttershy went on, her voice shaking as she tried to assert herself before the High Priestess. “There’s this pony called Blueblood, he’s turned himself into an alicorn. He has an army of monsters and he’s going to…”

Fluttershy stopped explaining when Starlight began laughing, it was a loud and patronising. I saw Fluttershy quell beneath it, unable to maintain her determination, I on the other hand…

“Do you mind?!” I exclaimed, sure I was about to hear steam whistling out my ears any second. “We are telling you the truth, the least you could do is respect us enough to…”

“Oh, no Miss Rarity,” Starlight interrupted quickly. “You misunderstand, we already know full well about this troublesome Blueblood and his army of horrors in the north.”

“Y… you do?” Fluttershy stammered in disbelief.

“But of course dear children,” Starlight replied. “I have a scrying pool for the very purpose of detecting outside dangers, the reason for my laughter was not to suggest that you were fibbing, but because it was such a coincidence that you would come bearing this news, when the momentous occasion I spoke of directly relates to what you came looking for.”

“A… are you serious?!” Fluttershy asked quickly, before quickly adding. “Uh, High Priestess.”

“But of course I am,” Starlight assured her in that same motherly tone… the kind of mother you resented. “I know we have a strict policy on not interfering with the business of the outside world, but I’m not so bound by tradition that I won’t act when necessary.”

“That’s very gracious of you,” I admitted, feeling slightly guilty for snapping a moment before. “We’re going to need all the ponies we can get if we’re to stop Blueblood, the crusaders will be the ultimate counter to his soldiers, while the other sister will be invaluable when it comes to minimising casualties.”

Starlight Glimmer was still smiling at us, but it did slip slightly at what I said, and she blinked a few times as if confused by what I was talking about.

“I’m sorry?” she began, her voice still the same. “I hope there hasn’t been some kind of misunderstanding here, what exactly was it you were hoping I would do?”

Fluttershy and I shared a look of confusion, before she answered.

“We were hoping that you allow the members of the Celestial Sisterhood to join the war effort High Priestess,” she explained. “Is… is that not what you meant?”

“Oh goodness no!” Starlight exclaimed, giving a nervous laugh. “I would never have done that, no… I have a much better plan that will ultimately work out much better for everypony involved.”

She turned and started heading back up to the altar, leaving the pair of us to stare after her, slightly speechless while everypony around us continued to smile in our direction… I was pretty sure they hadn’t budged an inch since we entered.

“Um, High Priestess!” Fluttershy called over to her. “What exactly… are you going to do? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“That’s quite alright Sister Fluttershy,” Starlight replied as she reached the altar again. “I forget that you have been absent during all the preparations, but we still have an hour before it begins, so I can explain it to you. I’m sure you’re both aware that our beloved Princess Celestia is responsible for raising the sun and the moon each day and night, but of course it is common knowledge that long before the time of the Princesses, before the unification of Equestria, this job was done by all unicorns, who pooled their magic together to gain temporary mastery over the celestial bodies.

“It’s a true shame they used this power to hold dominion over the other pony races,” she went on. “Because all ponies are capable of magic, and this incredible feat could be accomplished with enough of anypony as a result, not just unicorns. I tell you this, to give what I am about to say some context, you see, when I discovered what this Blueblood had done… it confirmed everything I’ve feared for a long time. This world has become toxic… poisoned by the countless heinous beings that infest it, beings that commit evil deeds and atrocities simply because they can.

“I have been forced to watch this beautiful world get trampled for too long,” Starlight continued, her voice no longer warm, but cold and spiteful. “While the good are exploited and hurt, and ultimately dwindle down until one day there will be none left. When I saw what Blueblood had done... when I saw what was coming and what it meant for the world, I knew that it was time to take matters into my own hooves… it was time to cleanse this world, so that it might begin anew.”

“What?!” Fluttershy and I bellowed simultaneously.

I heard the doors open behind us, followed by the marching of hooves, no doubt the crusaders, but my gaze was fixed on the mad mare before us.

“Yes, I’m afraid it is the only way,” Starlight confirmed, nodding in a resigned way. “At midday, when the sun is at its highest, we shall all band together and use our collective magic to harness the power of the sun. It will only be for a few seconds, but that is all the time we need to launch a solar flare that will cleanse this planet in Celestia’s holy light and purge it of all life. Only the Princess, in all her glory will remain, and she will build a better world from scratch in her own image.”

“You’re insane!” I shouted, my horn glowing as I drew all my knives instinctively.

I heard a quick movement behind me, but was unable to react fast enough to avoid the mace knocking me in the shoulder. It had only been intended as a gentle hit to deter me from behaving aggressively, but what the Crusader hadn’t accounted for, was my new weakness to holy weapons. It felt like my shoulder had been set on fire; I instantly lost control of my magic amidst the pain, as I fell to the floor, screaming through clenched teeth. Fluttershy dropped down beside me; I could hear her asking what was wrong, but I couldn’t form an answer, I was only glad the mace hadn’t connected with my bare flesh.

“Oh look,” Starlight’s voice called out, it was impossible to place where exactly as my head was swimming from the pain. “Another undead abomination, why do you care for such a creature sister Fluttershy? Can’t you see that her existence is not natural and needs to be brought to a close?”

“She’s not unnatural,” Fluttershy growled, her whole body shaking with anger. “And neither am I.”

“You’re not still sore about your little… problem are you?” Starlight asked in a slightly bored tone. “None of us are perfect Sister Fluttershy, but don’t worry, it won’t be long before none of us have to worry about how imperfect this world is any longer.”

“But… you’ll kill yourself too!” Fluttershy exclaimed, sounding desperate.

“But of course!” Starlight replied, almost sounding ecstatic at the prospect. “We all have to make sacrifices for the greater good.”

“Well we…” I began, struggling to get to my hooves as the pain began to subside. “We won’t let you. We didn’t come this far… so we could allow everypony to perish as part of your… insane scheme.”

Starlight let out a disappointed sigh, as her horn began to radiate with a pale green aura.

“Why can’t you see the big picture?” she questioned. “Why can nopony see the good I’m trying to accomplish here?”

I was still too sore to avoid her spell when she fired it, but Fluttershy threw herself in front of me to take the hit. A noble gesture, which I was truly touched by… were it not for the fact that Starlight just charged up again and fired a second spell at me, this one hitting its mark. We were both frozen in place, her green aura surrounding us. I wasn’t sure what she was planning to do with us until… I felt a sharp pain in my flanks, as if something was grabbing at my flesh and trying to rip it off.

“All your fellow sisters said I was crazy too,” Starlight went on, still channelling her magic. “So I used my magic to help them see things from my perspective, I gave them a new view in life that better matched my own… now you can join us in the cleansing ceremony with the correct amount of joy.”

The pain reached a crescendo when it felt like both my flanks had literally been stripped from the rest of my body, it quickly dissipated along with the green aura, but I saw its effects almost immediately. Three blue diamonds, very familiar diamonds at that, began floating through the air towards Starlight Glimmer. There was two sets of them, each grouped together in threes, similarly, six butterflies drifted away from Fluttershy along with my own. It was our cutie marks, peeled from our own coats like stickers, and now flying over to Starlight who ushered them into her own breast where they were absorbed.

“I apologise for putting you both through that,” she said, almost sounding sincere, but still completely nuts. “But that’s what happens when children don’t do as they’re told, they get punished. Now, these lovely crusaders will show you to your room, where you will wait until you’ve learned to see sense. We will be gathering for the ritual in the central courtyard soon, I do hope you’ll come around before then so you’re able to join us in the final hours.”

I felt the crusaders grab me, not too roughly, but I still didn’t fight back. There was still some lingering pain, but I also found myself feeling very groggy, like I couldn’t work up the enthusiasm for resistance. Fluttershy was more or less the same, allowing herself to be led away from the chapel with me, without much fuss. We were escorted to a relatively normal looking bedroom, only it didn’t have any windows for a convenient escape, the only way in or out was through the door which was locked behind us. I shuffled over to the bed, where I promptly collapsed, Fluttershy meanwhile began pacing around, clearly lost in thought.

The longer we waited there, the more I felt my brain going mushy, my thoughts were becoming less sharp, and it was getting difficult to formulate independent ideas. I knew what was going on, it was very similar to what the Wither had done to us during the second trial on the Isle of Serenity, it should have brought me some hope to know that it couldn’t possible work a second time, since I knew what was happening. However any and all hope was quickly snuffed out with the knowledge that I would never overcome it soon enough anyway, we would all be dead in a matter of hours if Starlight stayed true to what she said and began the ritual at midday.

“I guess there’s nothing more to it,” I muttered in a dull tone.

“Don’t say that Rarity,” Fluttershy chided, attempting to inject some emotion into her own voice. “We can’t let her do this… we just can’t.”

“But what can we do?” I asked, turned my head to look at her. “I can’t even use my magic, and neither of us are strong enough to break down that door. Even if we did, then what? She has an army of brainwashed ponies at her command.”

“I… I don’t know,” Fluttershy admitted, leaning her back against the door before sliding down it to sit on the ground.

We continued to sit for another long period of silence, while our minds slowly baked in the suffocating room. I really hated Starlight Glimmer, but I couldn’t even work up the passion to be truly furious about what she was doing. I remembered how it had been her I saw when rushing to save Fluttershy from the Children of the Earth, because in the back of my mind, I knew she would fuel my hatred and give me the strength to keep pushing on. I began to wonder if maybe it would have been better if I hadn’t taken Fluttershy up on her offer, if I had not agreed to take her with me when I left the Bask. It would have crushed her, she would never have gotten to see all the wonderful things like the sea, and then there was the reason she wished to travel with me to begin with…

“I’m sorry,” I said at last, frowning as my thoughts focused for the first time in what felt like ages.

“Sorry for what?” Fluttershy asked in an unsure voice.

“When you asked Starlight to let you leave,” I went on. “I overheard what you told her, about how you felt I was destined to do great things, and that your purpose was to be by my side when I did… I’m sorry that I let you down.”

Fluttershy stared at me for a moment, until finally she began chewing on her lip, as if struggling to tell me something.

“Well, actually…” she began, looking torn. “When I said all that stuff to her, there’s a small chance that I might have been… lying.”

I heard the words, but they didn’t quite seem to register with me, so I continued to stare back at her with a slightly daft expression on my face.

“You… were lying?” I repeated in a confused voice.

“Um… yes,” Fluttershy admitted in a quiet voice, not meeting my gaze. “I was just so… enamoured by your stories, I’d always wanted to go out and see the world, but you just made me want it so much more. So I… lied about knowing you would do great things, or that it was my purpose to help you, I just thought it might sway her more in my favour.”

I continued to stare at Fluttershy for a long time, her words echoing in my head while I tried to figure out the best way to respond. Finally I felt my cheeks twitching, as my lips curled up into a smile, and before I knew it I was laughing my head off, real, genuine laughter.

“You… you little minx!” I teased, my voice considerably brighter.

“Y… you’re not upset?” Fluttershy asked, a hopeful smile creeping onto her own face.

“Upset?” I repeated, amazed that she could even think such a thing. “Why would I be? I more impressed than anything, you had me convinced for the longest time that you were some kind of seer.”

Fluttershy joined in laughing, I instantly began to feel my mind clear and my thoughts sharpen, until finally we stopped and Fluttershy looked at me with a more serious expression.

“I may have been lying at the time,” she said in a certain voice. “But you really have done great things, getting to experience them with you has been the best time of my life… you never let me down.”

Again I felt immensely touched, I opened my mouth to try and respond in such a way that I could tell her how much it had meant having her with me, but we were both distracted by talking outside.

“Hello friend!” the crusader guarding us greeted.

This was swiftly followed by a loud smacking noise, a thud and then… a baby laughing? Fluttershy clambered up from where she sat as we heard the door unlock. When the door swung open, my eyes opened wide with surprise at who was standing on the other side.

“Autumn?!” I exclaimed, blinking to make sure I wasn’t imagining her.

“Hello Rarity,” she greeted, looking between me and Fluttershy. “Am I the hero this time?”

“You have no idea,” I said, hurrying forward to hug her.

I stopped short when I saw the tiny unicorn foal resting atop her back, staring back at me with adorable eyes while blowing raspberries.

“Oh my goodness!” I exclaimed, suddenly filled with the urge to gobble her up, I was so struck by how cute she was. “Who’s this little angel?”

“Rarity, I’d like you to meet my daughter,” Autumn began, turning slightly so I could get a better look at her. “Clarity.”

I opened my mouth, but found I had zero words to respond with; I was absolutely blown away… that seemed to be happening a lot lately.

“She’s only here because of you and your friends,” Autumn went on.

“I’m… I’m…” I tried to say. “I really can’t find the words, but…”

“Rarity!” Fluttershy interrupted urgently.

I looked around and saw her looking out the window in the hallway outside the room. I knew exactly what she was indicating, the sun sitting resolutely at the highest point in the sky.

“Autumn,” I started, my own voice turning urgent. “You need to take Clarity and hide somewhere for a while, the High Priestess has gone mad and we need to stop her before she does something terrible.”

“Alright, just be safe,” Autumn replied in a worried tone. “Both of you.”

She then began walking briskly back down the corridor, Fluttershy and I went the opposite direction, running at full speed. Despite running right next to her, I had no idea where I was going and was counting on Fluttershy for directions. Once outside however, I tried to ask which direction we were going in, when I heard the flap of wings. Looking around, I quickly got a face full of Fluttershy’s chest as she wrapped me in her forelegs and carried me up into the air. Twisting myself around for a better look, I saw as the Bask grew smaller beneath us as Fluttershy swooped up and over the tower where we had lay to gaze at the night sky together.

From our vantage point we could see the central courtyard, it was filled with what I imagined was almost every single member of the Celestial Sisterhood, all packed into the opening and directing their attention inwards at Starlight Glimmer, who stood in the centre of the crowd and was leading the ritual. Starlight’s green aura was sweeping over the crowd, but as we watched, it was slowly turning more yellow, we didn’t have long to act. Fluttershy dived with speed I would never have accredited her with, I felt her forelegs tighten around me, it was probably going to get messy, but as long as we stopped Starlight, nothing else mattered.

Then we froze, we were no longer shooting down at dangerous speeds, we were paralysed in mid-air, mere metres above where Starlight stood. All the magic that had been building up around the crowd had vanished, instead Starlight was now looking directly at us, her green aura once again encasing us… she was no longer smiling.

“Why do you insist on acting up?!” she demanded, releasing us unceremoniously so we both fell to the ground. “Why can’t you just accept what I am doing is for your own good?! Why does everypony have to question my actions?!”

I felt Fluttershy’s weight leave me as she was picked up and tossed away. I quickly tried to scramble up, but felt something sharp connect with my back, sending wave after wave of searing pain through my entire body.

“Stop it!” Fluttershy cried out in horror.

I fell to the ground, my whole body trembling from the agony. As I looked up through watery eyes, I saw Starlight standing over me with a crusader mace and a look of distaste.

“She’s not your friend anymore Fluttershy,” Straight said clearly, holding up the mace in a threatening manner so Fluttershy would not try to attack or even come near. “Your friend is dead, and in her place is this unholy vermin, it is our duty as servants of the Six to smite creatures like her.”

“She is not undead,” Fluttershy insisted. “She is as alive you or me.”

“And she will be as dead as you and me soon enough,” Starlight countered. “Now be a good filly and do as you are told! Just accept that this is going to happen like your fellow sisters, and do not interfere.”

“Accept it?” I repeated in a strained voice, looking around me at the sea of grins. “You stripped them of their free will when you took away their individuality. They aren’t even the ponies they once were, just empty husks to do your bidding… but then that’s all you ever wanted from them, isn’t it?”

I received another strike in the back for that, eliciting more screams of anguish from me, which couldn’t drown out Fluttershy’s protests.

“This is for the greater good!” Starlight shrieked, her face contorting with rage as her blood vessels bulged. “The world must be cleansed of all life, both good and evil if it is to truly heal.”

“I won’t let you do this!” Fluttershy insisted. “There will always be bad, just as there will always be good, and there is so much good that you can’t see, or just refuse to give credit to. But even if there wasn’t, there only needs to be one creature in this world with an ounce of goodness in their heart to make it worth preserving.”

“Your compassion…” Starlight Glimmer began in a frustrated voice as she raised the mace for another strike. “Is what makes you weak… you have always been weak Fluttershy.”

“You’re wrong!” Fluttershy shouted with such force, that it caused everypony’s smile’s to switch to looks of surprise; while Fluttershy’s whole body seemed to radiate power as she glared at Starlight. “My compassion is what makes me strong, and I will never stop showing compassion to this world or the beings that live in it, because it is never wrong!”

I had rolled over onto my side slightly so I had a better view of Fluttershy as she finally stood up to the High Priestess, so I had a perfect sight when her whole body erupted with a stunning white light. All the sisters and crusaders stared at her in awe as she began to rise up into the air, none of them were smiling, Starlight especially looked both bewildered and terrified by what was happening. I on the other hand couldn’t help but beam as the light shot out of Fluttershy, hanging around her in a halo and framing her in all her glory for the entire courtyard to see.

Fluttershy’s Element complimented her Sisterhood cassock quite well, taking the form of a silver gorget that covered most of her mantle and came up right below her chin, while reaching down to her shoulders. As well as that, she also wore a silver breastplate which didn’t cover much of her body, only the front really, but planted in the centre of it was a pale pink gem cut into the shape of a butterfly. Fluttershy slowly sank back down to the stone courtyard, her hooves touching down gently as she looked around the awed faces of her family.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, and as she let it out again, the light around her flowed from her in a wave, washing over the entire crowd, perhaps spreading as far as the entire Bask. As it passed over me, I felt as light as a feather, all the pain I had endured now feeling like a far off memory, even my muzzle felt made anew. Looking around, I saw all the other sisters expressing feelings of euphoria as the light filled them, Starlight Glimmer on the other hand began squirming and wailing as one by one, cutie marks began spilling out of her, drifting through the air, carried along on the streams of light back to their owners.

As each cutie mark bonded, the pony seemed to glow as their coat and mane shone with renewed colour, and they smiled the first true smiles we had seen of them all day. I saw my own pair of cutie marks soaring across to me, dancing around one another in a helix pattern before swooping down to plant themselves back on my flanks. It was a wonderful feeling, although I won’t go into details as it was greatly reminiscent of something rather… private. When it ended, I looked around to see that the last of the stolen cutie marks had vacated Starlight Glimmer’s body, and she was left to try and stand up on shaking hooves.

“What… what is this?!” she demanded in fearful voice, as Fluttershy opened her eyes and smiled sweetly back at her. “This… this can’t be, I won’t let it end like this!”

She turned as if to run away, but immediately ran head first into the brick wall that was Holly, the head crusader. She fell back on her rump while two other crusaders descended upon her, scooping her up and taking hold of her forelegs so she couldn’t run away. Holly stared down at her with a look of deep shame, while Fluttershy started walking up towards the group. She walked around until she was standing next to Holly, and looking directly at Starlight Glimmer.

“Yield?” she asked simply, her smile intensifying as she cast a quick glance my way.

I had to try my very hardest not to laugh, and I still managed to let out a little snort that drew a few curious glances from some sisters standing close to me.

“You think you can save this world with kindness?” Starlight responded in a cold voice.

“No,” Fluttershy replied, her Element of Unity sparkling in the midday sun. “We’re going to save this world with an army… we’ll use kindness to help keep it safe.”

Comments

[StormyVenture]

Yikes, only at chapter XXI and things just keep escalating... Looking at the total chapters, I'm thinking this almost ought to be two stories... Also what color exactly is Rarity here? Is she a blue pony? If not, mixing the word coat for both clothing and hair/fur is kinda confusing.

[Reeve]

6816929 Oh yes, I can see why that is confusing. Rarity's fur coat is still white in this story, when I say blue I am referring to her clothing coat

[Chloewhatwatt]

i really think big mac is behind this all somehow just makes sense?

[Chloewhatwatt]

also is stranglethorn gay? im getting that vibe...