40 - Catharsis, Part 15 of 15
Caught in a strange mix of anger and grief, Scootaloo didn’t know what to do. Part of her very much wanted to kill Shining Armor. That facet of her remained only in some dark recess now. A week before it might have been the dominant side of her personality. She may have actually tried to do it.
Standing there helpless, looking on as the parent lay over his child was unbearable. The sovereign ruler of all Equestria was weeping. He cradled the small limp form as his bereavement flowed freely.
Through the sorrow, a single thought did occur to Scootaloo. She knelt down beside the pair.
"Shining Armor," she said softly. "It’s not your fault. It was the Alicorn Amulet; you need to take it off."
He looked up at her. The magnitude of anguish in his eyes was something she had never before seen. She understood only a pale shadow of what he now felt. She had first experienced it when Pibs died and again when she’d held Sparklefly until the end. Even that was not a quarter of the sorrow that now engulfed Prince Shining Armor.
“Let it go,” she whispered to him.
The prince didn’t say a word. The amulet fell away, rolling off of the body and dropping to the ground.
In a flash, Spitfire and Soarin had scooped up the relic and backed away. Scootaloo looked up at them. They seemed focused on the recovery of the Alicorn Amulet, and not at all concerned with the prince’s despair.
Shining Armor let out a bereft cry that melted Scootaloo’s heart.
“Wounded Sparrow protocol is complete,” Spitfire said as she secured the amulet in her saddle bags.
Scootaloo understood the pragmatism, but she didn’t appreciate it. A voice sent a shiver up her spine.
"Don’t cry, Daddy, I’m sorry," Princess Flurry Heart spoke.
Shining Armor stopped short, instinctively dropping the form and recoiling. The young alicorn sat up and made what passed for a smile, her own face wet from heartache. More tears burst from Shining Armor’s eyes as he embraced his daughter.
Scootaloo was bewildered at first, but then she was angry. Spitfire and Soarin had particularly smug grins on their faces that didn’t sit well with her in the slightest. She approached them combatively.
"What in Celestia’s name is the matter with you two!" she screamed.
The pair backed away sheepishly, almost seeming a little frightened.
"I might have killed him! Why in the wide, wide world of Equestria would you do that to him, or to me?"
"Relax, soldier," Spitfire said, reminding the mare of her place. "We all knew what was going on, but for this to work we needed somepony who didn’t."
"Plausible emotion," Flittergear said softly; it was clear from her own visage that she had only just put it all together.
"Yes, that! That exactly!" Soarin quickly agreed.
"It didn’t have to be you specifically," Fleetfoot added. "We actually were going to use Rainbow Dash for it, but then she got hurt and couldn’t fly."
Scootaloo turned away, looking at father and daughter again. Exuberant joy had washed away the prince’s sorrow.
"Don’t ever scare me like that again!" he said through the tears.
"I won’t, Daddy! I won’t!“ she promised.
Scootaloo approached the pair and spoke to the young princess, "How did you do that? I saw you get hit and fall. That magic tore straight through you. You slammed into the rocks and didn’t move. I’d have sworn you were dead."
Flurry Heart looked up at Scootaloo, a fiendish grin on her young face, "Aunt Twilight taught me. I didn’t get hit by that magic. I used a displacement spell to warp the shape of the space around me. Then when I was falling, I used a momentum spell so I wouldn’t feel the impact at all." She let out a giggle, "Me not moving was just an illusion to make you think he got me.”
Her father nuzzled the young alicorn lovingly.
Fleetfoot added, “We’ve had some templars in the Crystal Empire teaching her defensive magic to hone her skills.”
"As much as I hate to break up this tender moment," Spitfire began.
"Not one more word if you value your rank and position," Shining Armor said coldly.
Spitfire stopped in her tracks. Scootaloo turned to the prince.
"Your majesty, I think Spitfire just needs confirmation one way or the other what you want us to do about the changeling hatchery."
The prince gave his daughter one last squeeze before letting her go. He stood, his eyes clearer than Scootaloo had seen them since the princesses had been lost.
“Slaughtering them is out of the question," he said. "However, we can’t just leave them here to grow into soldiers that will destroy us. Would it be safe to move them?"
Uneasy glances were exchanged all around.
"But, to where?" Soarin asked.
"Canterlot. There we can keep them from the enemy. When they hatch, maybe we can teach them our ways instead," the prince paused. "That, at least, is better than a summary execution when they haven’t done anything wrong. Also, it would buy us a little more time.”
Shining Armor used his magic, his horn glowed blue, as did his helmet as he lifted it and returned it to his head.
"I’m going in to talk with them."
"No," Scootaloo heard herself say.
A harsh glance from the prince silenced her.
"I’ll try and resolve this peaceably, but if anything happens to me, do what you have to do get the eggs safely to Canterlot."
The prince strode ahead alone. His daughter, the elite soldiers standing guard, Flittergear, and Scootaloo all watched as he disappeared into the mouth of the cave. Scootaloo, for one, felt emotionally wrecked for everything that had just transpired, and now she was left with fear for Shining Armor’s safety.
...
Pixyglitter wasn’t sure how much further she could make it. She somewhat regretted demanding to accompany the princesses’ party as far as the train, but she really felt like she needed to make sure things were straight between herself and Cloud Blazer before he departed.
He silently pushed her wheelchair, and the gasps and commotion that had formed around them was easily heard. A company of soldiers surrounded them, keeping crowds from getting close. The texture of the wooden ramp beneath the wheels of her chair was not as rough as the terrain had been, but her wound throbbed sharply still.
The air became humid as steam hissed from the brakes on the train. The blind pegasus heard the doors slide open as ponies began boarding. It was now or never. Sweetie Belle would be staying with her, but all of the others were going with the princesses to Canterlot.
“Sweetie Belle, could you give us a sec?”
“Sure,” the unicorn replied. “I’ll go see my sister off.”
The mare trotted away, leaving Cloud Blazer and Pixyglitter in the isolation of a crowd.
“So, this is goodbye,” she offered.
“Only for a little while,” the stallion answered.
“You mean it?”
“You’re kidding, right? You know I’d miss my morning flights if I stayed gone too long.”
She smiled, being careful to not laugh and aggravate her injury. The declaration of his return put most of her fears at ease, but she still had to say what was on her mind.
“About before, down in the basement…”
A lump formed in her throat. Why was she so nervous? Was she afraid that their friendship would end up destroyed like his and Scootaloo’s had?
“Go on.”
“I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea. I mean, I didn’t mean anything by that… You know, when I sort of… I sort of…”
“Kissed me?”
Pixyglitter felt her face flush, “Yeah, that. I just… I didn’t… Please don’t let it make things weird between us. I just… I was so excited by the princesses returning and… It…”
“So, you want me to take that as a strictly platonic gesture?” he asked with a grin; she could feel it.
She smiled again, “Yes, please… that.”
“Okay. I… I wasn’t sure… Thanks for clearing that up.”
She felt him smile again, and she returned the expression. It sounded as if the platform was nearly clear.
“I have to go,” the stallion said.
“I know. Bye Cloud Blazer.”
There was silence for a moment before he said, “Brownie.”
“What?”
He shrugged, “It a nickname… some of my friends call me Brownie. You can if you want to.”
“Okay. Have a safe trip, Brownie.”
“See you soon, Pixy.”
He turned, and the sound of his slow shuffle as he drug his right rear leg across the platform was the last she heard of him before the train doors closed.
“Are you ready to get back to Sweet Apple Acres?” Sweetie Belle asked.
“Yeah,” the blind mare answered.
The pain in Pixyglitter’s chest seemed to intensify as the train whistle blasted and the locomotive began moving.
…
Scootaloo still stood facing the cave mouth. Flurry Heart stood next to her, seemingly unconcerned for her father’s safety. They had been waiting for several hours, but it was impossible to tell exactly how long it had been. Then movement caught her eye.
"Prepare for contact!" Spitfire called out.
The wonderbolts had their crossbows raised, and a dozen templars’ horns glowed with magic. The soldiers were ready to fight. To everypony’s relief, it was Shining Armor.
"Halt where you are!" Spitfire commanded.
"Check him," Flittergear said.
"Flurry Heart, do you know the spell to reveal changelings?"
The adolescent grinned and stepped forward. Shining Armor smiled at her and waited patiently for her to complete the scan. It was not a changeling.
“Everypony, stand down. My apologies, your majesty," the wonderbolt’s leader said.
He shook his head dismissively, "It was necessary. They were willing to talk, but not to surrender. I only saw twenty or so, but there could be more. They are all older, bordering on feeble as far as I can tell. They don’t leave any warriors here."
"So we take the eggs by force?" Scootaloo asked.
Shining Armor was lost in thought for a moment before answering, "No, not unless we have no other choice."
A scout arrived moments later. After submitting to a scan, he reported.
"You majesty, I have news," he said. "The princesses live. Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight Sparkle have been recovered, as has Discord."
Scootaloo was flooded with total shock for the second time that day. Shining Armor stood still, but his eyes were about to start watering again. He choked back the tears.
“Are you sure?”
The scout nodded, his eyes wide, “I saw them myself.”
"And Hope's Glimmer?"
"Dead," the scout replied. "Further, Princess Celestia orders you to halt all actions until she can review them. You are to report to her in Canterlot at once."
“Did you hear that, Flurry?” The prince spoke through fresh tears as he embraced his filly in a hug, “Mommy’s come back to us!”
Scootaloo let out a breath that she hadn’t realized she was holding in as she sank to her haunches. The princesses weren’t dead. They had returned.
“Flurry Heart.”
“Yes, daddy?”
“How about we never, ever tell your mother about today?”
The filly looked up into her father’s eyes with all of the innocence of a child, and then a sly grin formed on her muzzle.
“Can I have some ice cream?”
The prince snorted a laugh, “As soon as I can find you some.”
She pressed her head into her father’s neck, tightening her embrace as she asked, “And my bedtime… can we make that an hour later?”
“I will talk to your mother. If she can be convinced, then of course.”
“Also, daddy-“
“Don’t push your luck!”
Scootaloo was overcome with relief and felt herself smile as the father and daughter shared a giggle in their embrace.
When my proofreader finished this chapter, she called me and said, "Catharsis indeed!" 
Also... Gotcha! 
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I know. Scoots will strongly disapprove of the switch but I think the plan was rather clever.
8776442
You called Scoots' reaction!
I'm glad you like that moment! I only just thought of that a couple of days ago and added it to the scene.
I figured it had to be a ruse. Well played, the old possum switcheroo.
8776641
I’m glad you approve, even though you suspected.
I may not have enough tricks to surprise you anymore. It’s a good thing we’re almost at the end!
🍪 for you!
“Gotcha” you did, you definitely did.
8777403
I’m glad that some of my tricks still work.
Achievement: sneaky bastard (writer)
Achievement: Lazarus rising (flurry heart)
Achievement: thinking with portals (flurry heart)
Achievement: all that and still no cake (pixyglitter)
Achievement: GladOs in disguise (writer)
8779993
Yay for achievements!!!
1) haha, thanks! I feel really proud of this one!
2) That's a good one. I like it!
3) I love Portals!!
4) Wait... cake? For Pixyglitter? I'm not sure I know what you mean by cake... Or I do... and I'd rather not know?
5) I do not know what is GladOs... looking it up... So... like the computer that created all the mazes in Portal? I'll take that as a compliment!
8780427
#3,4, and 5 are all references to the portal games. In the first portal game GladOs keeps promising you cake for completing the puzzles but you never get to see the cake till the end credits and the main character never gets any of the cake sparking the "the cake is a lie" meme. This is a reference to all the work towards a shipping work pixyglitter has done without seeing any gain from it. I could have also given her the "still alive" achievement for obvious reasons
8781262
I did catch the cake reference! I just was exactly sure for what the cake was a metaphor.
8786063
About the racist barn? HAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahaha
You've gotten soft. A few arcs ago, that death would have been permanent, and we would have had one last tragic moment to cap the fic. Then Shining Armor would be a broken wreck, and Scootaloo would finish the war herself up by going in and negotiating a terms of surrender with the few remaining changelings left in the hatchery. Actually, that honestly might have been the best, if Scoots had done it herself. Oh well.
I see taking the Alicorn Amulet off has also robbed Shining Armor of some of his brain cells. Canterlot, where the other five thousand and some changelings are being held in the cells, along with Chrysalis herself. I suppose that at least he doesn't propose to hold them in the Crystal Empire, right next to the Crystal Heart
8803055
Guilty as charged.