Wounds and Weapons

by Zytharros

Continuum Rising

Continuum Rising

He was my best friend on the journey. He defended me from Razortongue’s dark speech, helped me work through losing a job, had me do research for him, helped me clean up when I made a mess, laughing only twice, always encouraged me when I was down… he was awesome.

Now, he was fighting in Razortongue’s carriage for his sanity, and it was my turn to help him. I was not going to fail, da- er… darn it! (Horse apples… Razortongue’s filthy language was getting to me…)

Zytharros, the nicest stallion I had ever known, was now fending off an evil I had come to hate and hate thoroughly. She had caused us nothing but pain and trouble, heartbreak and sorrow, misery and remorse… she was just evil. After he collapsed, I had tried everything to help him, even that special “bubble mind” technique my grandma had taught me that I had used to send Zytharros into Rainbow Dash. Nothing worked.

Boomdrop and Razortongue hadn’t spoken a word to each other. Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were crying. Emerald Thunder was moping – the first time I had seen him not with a smile all the time I had known him. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were trying to console each other. Canuck Chuck looked very angry. I was on the brink of tears.

We kept going into town at a much slower pace, unsure of what we would find and scared of what would happen. It was up to the ten of us now. With Zytharros having named me leader, even though most of the others didn’t agree, I had to lead them like the blue and dark blonde stallion had, and I was not going to let him down. Rainbow Dash had pledged herself to assist me like she had Zytharros. Celestia knows I need it – I can be a little flaky, hence why I have two names around Ponyvi-.

“Derpy! Watch for that tree!” Rainbow shouted at me.

I avoided that one. I must’ve gotten lost in thought again…

Anyways, after spending months in Fillydelphia getting ready for our journey, we had finally-

“Derpy! The house!” I swerved to avoid a house that had suddenly crossed my path.

-finally made it back to Ponyville. I wondered how well the mail had been delivered in my absence and how my other friends were doing. It was odd – I saw no mail in the mailboxes, and no ponies in the street.

“This isn’t how Ponyville’s supposed to be…” Razortongue said.

I always got nervous when she spoke… I was sure my ears would explode if I heard another brutal cuss. She was right, however. Never in my memory was Ponyville this deserted.

At least, that’s what we thought.

I heard someone hiss at me. Normally, I would take that to mean they were whispering bad things about me. Instead, this time, it was just to get my attention. I looked over and saw Cheerilee poking her head out of one of the houses and waving at me like a maniac, so I trotted over.

“Hey, Cheerilee!” I said, smiling.

“Shh!” she said, hushing me. “Come inside – and bring your friends with you!”

I waved them over and they followed me indoors. I repeated the shushing noise as we entered – she did it so loudly it must’ve been important. We parked our carts outside in the nearby alleyway, unloaded them of everything including Zytharros, who by this time was sound asleep, exhausted from his time battling those beasts.

“Thank goodness you’re finally here…” she said to Rainbow Dash. “The crazy ghosts of your friends are causing chaos all over the town! Pinkie Pie’s terrorizing the kids… Applejack’s destroying everything wholesome and good…” her tears began flowing “…Rarity and Twilight haven’t been seen since Crystal Fist took over… and the Princesses are nowhere in sight…”

She bawled. “We don’t know what to do… We’ve been living in terror and fear since she showed up at the party! The worst part is Princess Celestia never got a proper two thousandth birthday celebration…”

Fluttershy embraced Cheerilee as she cried, wrapping a hoof around the sullen deep purple Earth pony and comforting her.

“We’ll fix this,” Rainbow Dash said, a look of determination on her face. “We’ve got our own reasons for wanting her gone.”

“That’s right,” Scootaloo piped up.

Cheerilee observed the cutie marks of the Crusaders. “Oh! You got your cutie marks! Wonderful! How did it happen?”

“We’ll tell you when this whole fiasco is over,” Sweetie Belle said. She nuzzled up to Zytharros affectionately. “Let’s just say… Zytharros gave up a lot to get us them.”

At the mention of his name, the curled-up stallion managed a weak but mangled smile. Rainbow and I both teared up at our fallen friend.

“H-he… he saved me… from the shadows…” Rainbow said, trying her best to stifle tears. “It’s my turn to save him.”

I nodded. “He helped me find my confidence again.”

Razortongue placed a hoof on his rump. “He helped me become aware of my fucking mouth…”

Cheerilee gasped. I nodded. “She’s way better than she was when we first met her.”

“Give ‘er time,” Apple Bloom said. “She’s getting’ better, and left no bad marks on us, ‘cept maybe Scootaloo.”

The ochre filly with the purple coiffure chuckled nervously. “Okay, so I’ve let my language slip a little…” she admitted, still carrying a weak smile.

Razortongue winked at the filly, who winked back.

“He’s done a lot for all of us,” Canuck Chuck telepathically concluded.

Cheerilee smiled. “Well, now that the girls are back safely, I guess we can leave the fate of Equestria in your capable hands,” she said. “Girls? Let’s leave the adults to their work.”

I stepped forward. “Pardon me, Cheerilee,” I said.

“Yes, Derpy?” she asked, my name mentioned with a bit of nervous energy.

I continued. “We need their help. When we were in Fillydelphia, Zytharros saved Rainbow. Just this morning, I saved Fluttershy. If I were to think like Zytharros, I would probably guess we don’t know who will save who. We need to have them with us to help us.”

Scootaloo nodded. “I’m not stopping ‘til I see Crystal Fist brought to justice.”

“I ain’t either,” Apple Bloom said. “Zytharros’s done too much for us. ‘Twouldn’t be right for me just to sit back and do nothin’!”

Sweetie Belle looked back at the group. “I’ll stay and watch Zytharros.”

Rainbow nodded. “I’m staying back, too.”

Everyone who had known Rainbow for a while gasped.

“What?” the scooter-flanked filly asked, taken aback at her idol’s statement. “You want to kick Crystal Fist’s flank just like the rest of us.”

“I promised him I would stay by him and do whatever he wanted me to do,” she said. “I can’t back down from that.”

Suddenly, a weak voice came from the stallion. “Rainbow…”

She ran to his side.

“Go with Derpy,” he said, still fighting his battle of wills.

“But-” Rainbow said, tearing up.

Zytharros looked at her, cross. “That’s my request of you, Loyalty. Go with Derpy. She needs your help. I’m not asking you to do this just as a favor…” he pulled out a note and threw it at her feet “…but also as a mark of loyalty to me, Ponyville, Cloudsdale, and ultimately Equestria. If I can’t be there to help her, I want you to go in my stead.”

Zytharros reeled in pain again, but still spoke through it. “I can see it now, Dashie… You and Derpy are the first part of the Harmony Continuum – the Element of Loyalty, paired with the Element of Determination. You will need her as much as she needs you.”

“Element of Determination?!” Dash asked questioningly.

Zytharros writhed once more, this time unable to reply. I continued, trying my best to recall what I had learned before, while trying to get over my shock of the revelation laid before me.

“The six Elements of Harmony have special supports. These are called the Guardians of Harmony, assigned to protect and support their assigned Element. There is one Guardian for each Element. Loyalty is matched with Determination, Kindness with Courage, Honesty with Tact, Laughter with Stability, Generosity with Spirit, and Friendship with Cheer. Together, they make up the Harmony Continuum… Zytharros’ name, not the actual… didn’t have a…”

I suddenly noticed all eyes were on me and I shrank back, forgetting everything. I never did like all attention on me… it usually meant they were going to laugh. I backed up straight into Razortongue, and when I looked at her she just gave me a reassuring smile and a gentle push. Somehow that calmed my nerves a little. I gave her a thankful smile in return.

“Anyways,” I said, clearing my throat and taking a deep breath, “when we came back from Fillydelphia, we knew that of the eight of us, as in Razortongue, Boomdrop, Emerald Thunder, Canuck Chuck, me, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, had the Guardians of Harmony within us. Since Zytharros identified me as one – and that I’m paired up with Rainbow Dash, apparently… I’m still not sure if that’s true ‘cuz Dash’s never cared too much for me, but anyway… that leaves five more to go.”

“That’s okay, Derpy,” Dash said. “I’m sure we can work together on that.”

I smiled at her, nodding. “Thanks.”

Sweetie Belle’s ears dropped back. “So, I can’t stay and watch over Zytharros, then?”

“No, Sweets,” Zytharros said affectionately, nuzzling her. “You have to go, too, and find your place.”

She sighed. “But I don’t feel my place is anywhere but helping Cheerilee take care of you,” she said. “I don’t need to go any farther…”

I thought about it for a second. “Sweetie Belle,” I said.

She turned to me, wondering what I was going to say.

“Rainbow Dash and Canuck Chuck are the two fastest members of our team,” I said. “If we need you, we can always send them back.”

“Hey, yeah!” Rainbow said, smiling. “You stay here and watch Zytharros. I’ll come back if we need you.”

“Me, too!” the snowy colt declared.

Sweetie Belle brightened. “Okay!”

Sweetie Belle returned to watching her self-assigned charge. Zytharros looked relieved that I had resolved that little spat. I hoped I could continue to do the same in the future.

“But it’s going to be dangerous!” Cheerilee warned.

Boomdrop spoke up. “Scootaloo took out four of my old gang members without breaking a sweat. She even helped us escape from an exploding building. I would trust that filly to protect my life, and that is usually something I reserve solely and exclusively for myself.”

Scootaloo looked at the black pegasus zebra in admiration and gratitude.

“You led them into battle!?” Cheerilee shrieked. “What were you thinking?!”

Razortongue stepped forward, eyeing the teacher with a fierce scowl. “Damn right. She earned her cutie mark that way. The way she used that scooter out there was… well, fucktastic!”

Cheerilee realized she was clearly outmatched. Admitting defeat, she backed down. She looked over at Apple Bloom.

“What about you?” she asked bitterly. “Are you… like her?”

Scootaloo somehow felt bitten by that statement and growled at her teacher. Razortongue put a hoof in front of her and shook her head.

Apple Bloom looked at her teacher with a straight face. “No.”

Cheerilee sighed, relieved.

“I’m with her. We’re Cutie Mark Crusaders, after all. Together forever!”

At that, Cheerilee fainted, overwhelmed by the realization of how much her students had grown over the time they had spent with our group.

I swallowed. “Well, I guess we should make our way out and onward.”

“Um… if you don’t mind…” the butter yellow pegasus spoke for the first time… Fluttershy. That’s right. “…I’m going to stay back and help Sweetie Belle take care of Cheerilee and Zytharros.”

Emerald Thunder, his dopey smile returned, also volunteered to stay back and help.

“Okay,” Canuck Chuck said. “We’ll come back and get you if we need you.”

I took stock of our team. Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Boomdrop, Razortongue, and Canuck Chuck were the ones coming along with me. Sweetie Belle, Emerald Thunder and Fluttershy were staying back to watch Zytharros.

“I’d say we should start looking right now,” Rainbow said, “but it looks like it’s getting dark out. We’ll have to start looking tomorrow.”

A thought formed in my mind. “Dash, why don’t you and Canuck Chuck scout around Ponyville for any shadows of friends? That way we know where they are in the morning.”

Zytharros blurted, “Rarity and Twilight are in Canterlot. Only Pinkie Pie and Applejack remain here in Ponyville.”

“I thought you couldn’t hear us this morning,” Rainbow said. “Why can you hear us now?”

Zytharros winced. “I guess I’m getting used to the crowd in my head…” he said with a bit of a chuckle before he curled up on himself, returning to the fight.

Sweetie Belle, Fluttershy, and Emerald Thunder disappeared, rushing around to find where the washcloths and medicines were kept.

Rainbow stomped a hoof. “I wish I could do more for you,” she said. “I’d give everything I am, have, and live by just to cure you, Zy.” She walked up to the stallion and placed a kiss on his forehead, shedding a tear into his mane. “Don’t give up on me. Ever.”

After a couple seconds just staring at our ailing friend, Rainbow nodded to Canuck Chuck. They exited the house and took off into the black sky. Scootaloo stood, stunned, wide-eyed and amazed that Rainbow would do something that… that sappy to a friend.

Eventually, though, we all settled into a restless evening. I walked outside, fluttered to a rooftop…

…and cried…