Sometimes They Call Me Super

by KorenCZ11

Persona XIX: Death and Destruction

Applejack’s

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“Holy shit!” Ah couldn’t believe what Ah was seein’. Fluttershy not only ripped off her mask, but then she cracked a bottle of somethin’ with her teeth. In Matarael’s red world, ya couldn’t tell the difference between water and wine, but that bottle was definitely full of blood. The red liquid trickled down her mouth and she started ta fall, growin’ on her way down. The horrific bein’ below had just escaped through my last plan, and shootin’ her mirror didn’t finish the job fer some reason. It was like the mirror was already her flesh, just like Goose’s.

The beast roared as she fell through the air, the nightmare below never even had a chance ta see her by the time she landed on it. Just as she hit Matarael, the monster’s second head regenerated. The moment the eyes caught sight of the Beast though… well, they didn’t last long. She chomped down on that thin’s neck and… ripped and tore. Suddenly, Ah started ta feel sick.

“Good goddess,” the Crow said.

“Did… did she do that on purpose? How did… why…?” Blur asked.

“Holy shit,” Goose said. What are we supposed ta do now? Does she have any control over this? How are we supposed ta help? None of us have any range, that was her job… My bracers are broken, and we can’t use their cables ta pull off what Ah did… She must’ve seen this as the only way.

“Everypony… stand by. We’re at her mercy here,” Ah gave the order.

The Beast bit hard at Matarael’s neck, a viceral tearin’ sound echoed through the air as holes widened and strips of flesh started ta rip apart. The nightmare kicked at the beast with those goddess-awful hooves on its back and knocked her off. The beast rolled away and the nightmare backed off too. The two monsters stared each other down, and then… Matarael issued a challenge.

It screeched at the Beast, and the Beast howled in return. This is… a fight between kaiju. Ponies aren’t capable of buttin’ in. Matarael stamped a hoof and pulled it back, tearin’ at the road underneath. Ah blinked and the two monsters charged at each other. Flesh and fur slammed into each other, the Beast tangled herself around the nightmare, and the nightmare tried ta do the same with less success. The Beast ripped away the second head, and the nightmare sank its mismatched teeth inta her left arm. As if a light came on, the chaotic, hungry, movement the Beast had not but moments ago stopped, and she focused her attention on the nightmare’s chest.

She formed somethin’ like a blade with her free claw and stabbed deep inta Matarael’s chest. The nightmare was undeterred and started ta twist the Beast’s arm off further, sheddin’ fur and flesh away. The beast let out a roar of pain, but then she… focused on me. Like she knew me, like she recognized me. Fluttershy… is still in there! She ripped more flesh away, makin’ a bigger hole in the monster’s chest and finally, Ah saw what she was doin’. Inside the hole was Matarael’s beatin’ heart.

“Do it! Kill her!”

The nightmare ripped the Beast’s arm free and the Beast bit down inta Matarael’s neck and pulled up. The path is clear!

“Crow, give me that thin! Black Knight, throw me!” Ah jumped and held out a hoof ta receive the sword, and BK warped behind me. Ah caught the hilt just as my back hooves met his forehooves and launched. Shootin’ through the red world, Ah caught one last glimpse of the half-formed monster’s eye. There was no sense in there. No soul, no remnance of sanity. This thin’ is the real beast.

“AHHHH!” Ah wrapped both hooves around the hilt of the blade and just as Ah made contact, Ah thrust it as hard as Ah could. The beatin’ on the other end of the blade stopped and the monster shuddered. And then… somethin’ strange happened. In the red world, there was no color but crimson and every shade from there ta black. But when this monster’s heart stopped, and death overtook the body, Ah saw somethin’. Fer a second, it was as if a pony left the nightmare. She looked at me, this ethereal golden specter, and she frowned and shook her head. Ah blinked and it was as if it’d never happened.

The mass the sword was stuck in began ta shrink, and after Ah realized what was goin’ on, Ah pulled the blade out. The Beast also started ta shrink back inta Fluttershy, but somethin’ was wrong. Her foreleg didn’t change with her. A piece of the Beast was still out and layin’ on the ground. The mangled mess that remained of her foreleg was bleedin’ bad. Ah dropped the sword and Fluttershy fell ta her knees and grabbed at her new stump. She screamed and awful, anguished wail, and then her eyes rolled back in her head and she toppled over.

“Somepony get Scootaloo over here now! Shy is losin’ blood fast, her foreleg got ripped off and it didn’t change back with her!” In a frantic haste, everypony else gathered around, and before Ah even got a response, a golden ball of lightnin’ formed beside me and Scootaloo appeared in a flash. The filly reared back at the sight and turned her head ta toss whatever she’d eaten today. Ah grabbed her by the shoulders and made her look at me.

“We don’t have time fer that! You’re a soldier now, fix her!” Ah pushed the filly at the bloody pegasus mare and then turned ta the rest of my unit. “Grab that arm and bring it over here!” Shit, shit, shit, shit! Is it gonna change back when she heals her? What do we do if it doesn’t? What happens if it just connects, is she gonna have ta live with that thin’ just stuck ta her body? Shit! BK, Blur, and the Crow moved the tree trunk sized appendage over ta Fluttershy, but as Scootaloo put her hooves on the mare, the stump simply healed up. The bleedin’ stopped and skin grew until it covered up everythin’, but nothin’ happened with her foreleg.

“Why is this happenin’? Ya fixed Blur didn’t ya? Why ain’t it goin’ back!?” Ah shook the filly. The scared little mare just shook her head.

“I-I don’t know! I-I just did the same thing I normally do!” she stuttered. Shit, shit, shit, shit! Ah scratched at my mane under my mask. What the hell am Ah supposed ta do now?

“Marevelous! She’s not breathing!” the Crow called out ta me. Not breathin’!? We just healed her, why ain’t she breathin’? No… no, no, no! Fuck, where are we? Ah looked around. So much of the street was destroyed that this wouldn’t be drivable fer months. A restaurant, more businesses, some apartments, and…Wait! That’s a school!

“You go work yer powers on that arm! Blur, go run in that elementary and find the nurse’s office! There should be some kinda emergency kit in there, and it should have an AED in it! Nopony is gonna die today!” Ah unzipped and pulled off my mask and laid Fluttershy on her back. Remember how they taught ya ta do it. Ya aced this part of the class. Fifteen compressions, one breath, check her pulse, repeat.

“One, two, three!” No response. Ah tilted her head back and took a deep breath. Ah opened her lips and gave it to her. Ah moved ta listen fer a beat, but there was still no sound.

“One, two, three!” One deep breath. No response.

“One, two, three!” Heavier compressions this time. Bigger breath. No response.

“Live, damn it! Where the fuck is Blur!?” Damn it, damn it, damn it! As if she heard me, the mare in the blue suit appeared at my side just after my third round.

“I wasn’t sure which one you needed, so I grabbed them all!” She spouted and then dumped four different emergency kits. Thankfully, the right one was among them and Ah snatched it up as quick as Ah could.

“BK, keep up the compressions while Ah get this shit ready!” Ah finished the round Ah was on, but she still wasn’t breathin’ yet. Mother fucker, Ah’m not done with ya yet! The big red box was unlabeled but had an electrical hazard warnin’ on the side. Ah pulled out the battery pack and set it ta charge. One pad on the left side of the chest, another just under the rib cage. Ah plugged the pads in and the Black Knight finished his round.

“Back off!” This has ta work, this has ta work! Ah pushed the button and Fluttershy’s body convulsed. No response. “Get back ta doin’ compressions!” Ah ordered. Goddess, it’s already been a minute and a half, what do Ah do!?

“Applejack. Check the bag you found the AED in for a syringe. You got that from a school, correct?” Celestia spoke inta my mind. Adrenalin! That’s it! Ah grabbed the bag again, and sure enough, there was a pocket in the lid that had what Ah was lookin’ for. Good goddess, that’s a big needle. Ah pulled the cap off the needle and let BK finish his second round.

“You are not relieved from duty, damn it!” Ah found the spot between her ribs and jammed that sucker in there. The liquid shot out of the vial, and just like that, Fluttershy started spittin’ out blood. She rolled ta her side and coughed and hacked, but she was breathin’ now. Thank the goddess, she’s breathin’ now. Ah pulled the needle out ta make sure she didn’t hurt herself, and the moment of revival faded back inta soft sleep. Relief washed over my body and suddenly all my muscles relaxed at once.

“H-hey! Something weird is happening!” Not even a second. Ah turned my head ta see Scootaloo back away from the Beast’s arm as it… disintegrated?

“What in the hell!? What did you do!” Ah got up as quick as Ah could, but the arm was already half gone by the time Ah made it. It was fallin apart, fadin’ inta ash and bein’ carried off in the wind. Why is this happenin’? Scootaloo’s powers heal thin’s, we tested this fer hours on end! My complaints didn’t stop whatever process had started though. It didn’t take but a moment fer the rest of the arm ta disappear. It’s… gone. It’s all gone.

“Major Apple, you are not finished yet. The broadcast is returning. Have Scootaloo stand by Fluttershy and be prepared to deal with Persona,” The Night Princess warned. Ah struck the ground where the arm had been.

“Damn it!” Ah took a couple deep breaths ta calm down. She’s right. This… is war. Fluttershy isn’t dead, she will be fine. We… will be fine. Ah pulled my mask back over my face and rezipped the neck. “Go stand with Fluttershy, the Princess is gonna take y’all home. Ya did yer best, there’s… nothin’ else ya could do.” Ah noticed now that colors were startin’ ta return ta the world and the sky was startin’ ta clear. The filly nodded and did as she was told. Just as fast as she’d arrived, a blue ball of lightnin’ encased her and Shy, and in a flash, they were gone. Goose put his own mask and helmet back on, and now the sky was clear. Most of the screens were shattered, but none of them were too broken ta not put the mask on display.

“Ha! Ha ha ha! You- you did it again! I don’t know… what I should’ve expected. Your track record so far has shown you capable time and time again, but here I was hoping against hope that maybe losing a unit would put me at an advantage. Ah… but then again, she is on your side, so there really is no way you wouldn’t have access to something like whatever kind of bomb you shot Matarael down with.

Who knew that exposing her to all that energy would cause her to change her state though? We weren’t prepared to lose visuals, but at the very least we had the infared cameras turned on before the fight ended. It’s simply too bad that it all went so fast that we couldn’t switch over the broadcast. I can only imagine what the new kaiju Matarael transformed into was like. Two heads, seven legs, and wings to top it all off. Even Sahaquiel would have had a run for his money if he was in your shoes. I have to wonder though… what was that thing that showed up toward the end? It was almost as if you had a kaiju of your own to fight back with… Hmm. Did we not start with six? Diamond and Target Lock seem to be missing. As a matter of fact… I see an empty block and a crater where two buildings used to stand. there’s even a pair of offices that look as if they’ve gone to get their manes cut. A little off the top, wouldn’t you say?

Ha ha… what a shame. I had really…” The mask paused for a moment, then it shook on screen. “Well, I gave you my new conditions. I’ll take the halves as one, so there’s three. For three buildings, I will take three towns. Shall we watch? Yes, I do believe we shall…” The mask left the screen, and in its place appeared a security camera from the view of some town hall.

“What in the world…?” Ah heard myself say. It looked like any other town ya might pass on your way ta a bigger city, a few small shops everywhere, a few cars parked along a main road, probably some highway that cuts through this town. There were even a few ponies about. A couple walkin’ with some shoppin’ bags, somepony on a bicycle, another holdin’ up a sign ta direct ta a special some restaurant was havin’. Then, out of the sidewalk, rows and rows of little black sticks popped up every few feet. Everypony stops ta look at them. Their tops open, and a green colored mist starts to spray out. The sign guy falls ta his knees. The mare screams. The stallion on the bike falls over. The sign guy’s back starts to shift underneath his shirt. It busts out, growin’ and bubblin’, lettin’ off steam as it does. Blood gushes out of his face, his snout and ears start ta grow. His left back leg expands and becomes thicker. A new leg starts ta form on his misshapen back.

The stallion with the shoppin’ bags drops them and runs away. He’s chased down by the monster the mare has become. A half-formed beast, too many legs, not enough skin, another Matarael look alike. She tears a piece of the stallion off and then opens her mouth full of sharp teeth ta-

The screen cuts away to another town. More blood. More monsters. More violence. This town was bigger and more active. A picture of a square someplace, it almost looks like Canterlot. Bodies line the ground torn ta pieces and left in piles of gore. Monsters chase monsters, fightin’ and beatin’ one another ta death. Ponies that weren’t affected by the gas try to run, but this only attracts the new monsters. Another pony gets run down by a beast and is dismembered.

The screen cuts away to one more town for a similar scene ta play out. A pony with powers starts to fight the monsters back. He shoots flames at the beasts, burning and meltin’ them where they stand. Fire, blood, violence, predators, ponies. Sirens are goin’ off, chaos reigns, monsters howl. Ah don’t know when Ah did it, but Ah found myself sittin’ down. Ah felt sick. This is just like… the dream. The screen cuts back ta the Mask and he shakes his head.

“You know… I thought it would hurt more. In the blink of an eye, I’ve likely killed over a hundred thousand ponies, yet… I feel nothing. Ruin, death, destruction. Ponies fighting for their lives, mismatched beings rejecting the new forms they’ve taken, losing their sanity, losing their sentience. In all my tests, I never found somepony capable of resisting the enhanced virus, so I find it almost fascinating that so many that were just out and about tolerated it. It’s too bad, though. They’ll most likely be killed by the new beasts that have arisen from the ashes of these towns.

You never believed I had the power. You never believed that I was the one in control here, and that I was merely giving Equestria a chance by sending my Kaiju here. And now that I’ve finally pushed the button once… I don’t think it would be hard to do again. Do you ever wonder, what death feels like? I suppose it’s only a few weeks before I find the answer myself.

Heroes, it is likely you already know everything you wanted to know. Only two weeks remain, and now… there is no going back. Should you survive Sahaquiel, then I shall have a gift for you before I send my final Kaiju. Maybe a future left with you is a future worth seeing. It is… a shame, that I will likely never see it.” The Mask paused, and then turned ta… face the camera, Ah guess. “I hope you’re watching this. You took my future away from me. Everything I do, I do for you. When you see the carnage I have wrought, I hope that you remember what you’ve done to me. Harmony, I will miss our time together. And when Sahaquiel kills you… I will mourn for you. Until next time, heroes. Go beyond, as I’ve come to expect from you.” The screens cut out, and the mask disappeared.

Ah’ve taken hits. Ah’ve been beaten and battered by thin’s that are bigger than me, thin’s that are stronger than me. Ah’ve gotten hurt, Ah’ve failed ta catch the bad guy. Ah’ve let ponies down, Ah’ve failed ta save a life. But only now do Ah… feel like Ah really failed.

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We returned ta the castle, only ta find the livin’ room empty. Where did everypony go? Ah figure Twilight would be with the patients, but did the Princesses…? No, they went ta deal with this Ah bet. It’s only twelve twenty. Nopony expected any of this ta happen.

“Twilight? Where is everypony?” Pinkie called out, half way out of her costume. The distant sound of hooves on crystal came from the north east hallway and soon enough, Twilight entered the Livin’ room.

“Oh, you’re already back. I… Mother and Luna left immediately after the attack started. Uh, they wanted you all to wait here until they return after… after the fighting is done. One of the cities was a satellite of Canterlot, so that had to be contained as quickly as possible. The country is in a state of emergency and the princesses now have the powers of martial law. This hasn’t happened in… over two centuries, I… Cantermore has a population of one hundred and twenty thousand, so many… so much life, all gone in an instant…” The distraught purple mare fell ta her plot and looked like she wasn’t gonna keep her lunch fer much longer. Ah felt a wave of tiredness wash over me and decided ta take a seat. Ten minutes. The whole fight only lasted fer ten minutes.

“How are they?” Ah finally asked after tryin’ ta massage away my growin’ headache. Twilight swallowed whatever was stuck in her throat and nodded.

“Rarity is fine. The burns were extreme, but Scootaloo’s powers took care of that as if it never happened. She’ll likely sleep for a few more hours, but she should be perfectly fine… Fluttershy on the other hoof… her foreleg is gone. The new stump just stops right after her shoulder, there’s… Scootaloo’s powers aren’t doing anything else for her, it’s just… gone.”

Ah felt my head fall inta my hooves as my headache grew worse. How could Ah let this happen? Ah could’ve intervened, Ah could’ve helped. She was in control the whole time, if Ah had just… we could’ve helped her, all we had ta do was stab that fuckin’ thin’ and this would’ve all been over with. Why did Ah… Ah felt a hoof wrap around me and pull me in close.

“You did your best. And that’s all we could ask for.” He whispered.

Ah don’t know how long we waited, but everypony else sat down in their respective chairs, and that’s what we did. The air was filled with anxiety and regret, and nopony made so much as a sound. The dead eyed stares found the floor, the table, or the ceilin’, and Ah could only imagine that everypony was havin’ similar thoughts. Why didn’t Ah do better? What else could Ah have done? We should’ve tried the sword before Ah broke the first cable. But would Rainbow have been strong enough ta do it? If a bullet only made it so far, how could she have stabbed all the way through ta the heart? Could Ah have done it without Fluttershy’s help? She ripped a hole open just so Ah could get ta it, and it still took so much just ta get it done. Was that really the only option though? We had no idea she was gonna explode like that. We had no idea what we were dealin’ with, shouldn’t we just be thankful that we made it out alive? This… this is war.

Ah don’t remember when it happened, but Ah must’ve dozed off somewhere in there. When Ah looked up, Fluttershy had taken her seat. Everypony else had fallen asleep too, and she was just… sittin’ there, holdin’ her shoulder with this… defeated look on her face. Ah got up as quick as Ah could, leavin’ Goose ta fall inta the chair, and ran over ta her as fast as Ah could.

“Good goddess, you’re awake! Damn it, ya scared the shit outta me. Ah thought we lost ya. What in the world possessed ya ta… why did ya…?” The words wouldn’t come out. Fluttershy gave me one sorrowful look and then shook her head.

“T-there was no other choice. A-and now…” she sniffed, “Fluffy is dead.” Everypony else had woken back up by now and we were all gathered around the three-legged pegasus.

“What do you mean? I thought she was like… a part of you, wasn’t she?” Rainbow asked. Fluttershy nodded. Instead of respondin’, she got up and started ta walk back down the north east hall. she’d take three steps and flap her wings when she tried ta take the fourth. It was unsteady, but it was almost as if she’d practiced walkin’ already. The five of us followed slowly, but nopony spoke. She lead us down ta the trainin’ room, and there she made it a few feet away and sat.

She turned her head and looked at us with a tear-filled eye, then raised her remainin’ foreleg and bit down on it. Blood ran down her chin, and just like that, she started ta grow. Bones pop, muscles expand, fur grows, wings retract, and finally, the Beast sits before us. My heart was poundin’, and every instinct was tellin’ me ta get ready ta fight, but she never moved. She put her arm back down and tears started ta roll from the Beast’s eyes. No, that’s not right. Even in this form, her eyes were still blue-green. There was no loss of intellect, no bloodlust eminatin’ from her presence, no chaos like the first time Ah saw her like this. Just… pain and sadness.

“My best friend is dead. My sister is gone. I’m all alone… again…” She howled a sorrowful moan and her tears continued ta splash down on the crystal floor. She wailed and wailed, the sobs becomin’ more distraught and more anguished with each breath. Eventually Ah found myself sittin’ next ta her and Ah kinda wrapped a hoof around her leg as best Ah could. It wasn’t a good attempt at a hug, but it was a close as Ah could get with as big as she was now. One by one the others joined in and we all sat and listened ta Fluttershy cry. What can Ah say? What can Ah do? Ah have no idea what this is about. Was the beast… her own person? Is that possible? Ta have somepony else livin’ inside yer head? Ah knew she was probably a schizophrenic after that scare a few weeks ago, but… how far did it go? The cryin’ started ta slow down after a while, but nopony knew what ta say. Did the beast have a soul? What was it that Ah saw earlier when Ah stabbed Matarael? Was that real?

“Hey. I uh… I don’t think that… any of us could ever really understand, what you’re going through right now.” Pinkie moved around ta sit in front of Fluttershy. The pink pony stared up inta the Beast’s eyes and then continued, “but… even though that’s the case, you’re not alone. We’re all here for you. Me, Rainbow, Applejack, Goose, Twilight, Rarity, Scootaloo, the princesses… probably. And we’ll still be here tomorrow. Maybe things will take a turn for the worst next week, and maybe that won’t be the case anymore, but you know what? That’s just life. You could be fine one day and die of an infection you never realized you had a few days later. Ponies live, ponies die, and the world keeps turning. We’re at war, we fight monsters, this is the role we play, and ponies in our shoes tend to have high mortality rates. But… even in our line of work, nopony is ever forgotten.

We hold these memories of all the times we spent with each other, and even if we’re not around anymore, we still have those memories. As much as I would like to forget, I still remember my sixth birthday, when Li- … Limestone carved a crystal balloon for me out of some rainbow quartz she found in the mine. That kind of gem is practically worthless on the market, it has no value to anypony other than being cheap and kinda pretty sometimes, but… I loved it. I still remember all the things she did to make me hate her, but even a decade later, I still remember the times I loved my big sister. I took her life and now… I carry it around with me. Like a weight I can never get rid of, sometimes even cherish. I am the only pony alive who remembers Abuelo, and probably the only pony alive who knows he has a grave out there. I know who he was and what he stood for, and it’s my job to make sure that he’s remembered.

I don’t… know what you believe and I don’t know how you were raised, but I think that one day… you’ll see her again. I was always taught that there was more after life. That one day you’ll get a chance to talk and reconcile, learn about who you are and where you came from. Ponies… are broken, incomplete souls with a desire for something more than the physical, and I think… based on everything that’s happened, all she wanted was to make sure you lived a good life. Things are gonna be different. Things are gonna be hard, and we might not be able to overcome it all. But with something as flippant and unpredictable as life and as chaotic as war… you just… have to have faith that the sun will come up tomorrow.

A lot has changed for me in the past week. Things I was never able to settle with myself now seem to be finished, and things I never thought I would be okay with are… okay now. I know it hurts, but… well, now it’s your job to live with the hurt and keep her memory alive until the day you see her again. And while you’re there with that pain in your heart, we will be right there with you for as long as we can. So… don’t say that you’re alone. Because, we’ll be right here with you. Just as broken and messed up as we ever were, okay?” The beast’s lips started ta quiver, and in an instant, she reverted back ta her normal self. The three-legged pegasus wrapped herself around Pinkie and cried even harder now.

“There, there… let it all out.”

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The hours came and went, and after a while, Fluttershy had stopped cryin’ and regained a bit of herself, and Rarity woke up. We filled her in on everythin’ that had happened and then stopped her from blamin’ herself fer it all. Everypony did what they could. Their best. Nothin’ more, nothin’ less. No simulation can prepare us fer somethin’ so outta left field, and even if we’d had all the tools in the world, nothin’ could’ve prevented the explosion. At about seven PM, the princesses finally returned. Pinkie was in her room with Fluttershy, Twilight was scavengin’ the fridge, Goose was next ta me, Rainbow, Rarity, and Scootaloo were playin’ a game. When the golden light flashed before us, the Sun Princess practically fell inta the chair Twilight normally occupies at the head of the table. Attracted by the sound, Twilight came runnin’.

“Mother? Is that you? What’s wrong!? Are you okay?” If anythin’, Celestia looked very tired. Bags under her eyes, both of em’ all red and puffy like she had been cryin’. Ah saw a hint of somethin’ flash in her eyes and then she turned on Twilight.

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong!? Everything is wrong, Twilight! A terrorist just slaughtered thousands upon thousands of ponies, taking them completely unawares, and even I had no idea it was going to happen! Do you know how long it has been since I didn’t know about an attack!? Centuries! Centuries, Twilight, centuries! Mutilated in an act of violence completely unprovoked with mere minutes of warning, with not even the slightest hint of where it was going to happen! Cantermore, Palomino Point, Trough lake, all gone! There was one survivor for every hundred lives lost to this bio-weapon, and even more killed by the creatures that were mutated from the ponies he attacked! Were it not for a few heroes who stepped up to protect the survivors, who knows how many more would have been lost? Hundreds of thousands, dead, and I… had to order my ponies to kill my own people…” Celestia put her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hooves.

“You would think that after the first few wars, it would get easier. That after all the battles, and all the violence, and all the deaths I’ve watched, ordered, and caused, that I would be used to it by now, wouldn’t you? But a century without any real conflict has made me so soft again. I don’t know that I have it in me to be the harsh glare that I once was anymore.

Those things that made the gas were all preloaded. They had been hidden in such small places that unless you were looking for the slightest inconsistency in the pavement, you would never know they were there. Made completely of polymer plastics, resistant to magic, and odorless, tasteless chemicals inside. Virus emitters… I’ve never seen anything like this. Wasn’t he going on about something we did in the second world war? Of course chemical weapons were tested, but nothing like this was possible back then! We never targeted civilians, we were the only country that held fast to that commitment! If the Rossian Nationalist party didn’t hide behind their civilians, that war would never have lasted beyond a year!

Why did he plant these things? Was this just to show what he could do? Why… how can you do something so… so horrible to bystanders? These ponies had no reason to be involved, and he just… he just murdered them in cold blood. It’s my job to protect them. I am the one they look to in their times of need, and I… I didn’t even realize they were in danger. It would take months to find and remove these things, and if we tamper with them, that could set them off. With as well planted as Palomino Point was, there’s no way we could find them all in a larger city like Fort Withers. This is… this is all so unprecedented, I…

I’ll admit, I was skeptical of him being capable of this. I knew he had his mirrors, and that footage Rarity brought back from the tower should have been proof enough, but to already have this prepared… Did he know? Did he see you? Was he prepared for you to find what you did just to… just to scare us? Or was he taunting us? Waiting for the moment he could spring this without any warning? How long have we just been playing into his hooves? Did he underestimate us, or did we underestimate him? Was it both and now we’re just sitting at a stalemate hoping that the other will die of old age? I should have known. This was always a game to him, he said it himself.” Ah noticed a flicker of blue out of the corner of my eye and watched as the Night Princess silently snuck in behind her sister. Celestia pulled her head back up and stared at Rainbow. The way she looked at her made me nervous, and Ah couldn’t put my hoof on why.

“Rainbow, I need you to tell me exactly who we’re dealing with. The pony that committed this atrocity will pay in blood, and he will pay to me directly.” Celestia’s mane started ta brighten in a way that made me unsure if Ah was seein’ thin’s or not. In a way, it reminded me of Sweetie’s burnin’ ears. It was kinda… flickerin’ at the edges.

“Uh, absolutely not. You are compromised, and if I give you a name, you are gonna go do something stupid.” Rainbow said as she crossed her hooves and leaned back. Celestia raised herself ta her full height, and suddenly the room felt noticeably warmer. The princess’ eyes had started ta change color, and now the bottom half of her irises were this… eery gold color.

“You will tell me what I want to know this instant, Firefly Flare!” Ah felt myself swallow. Ah could feel the sweat startin’ ta run down my temples. Ah’ve never heard her use a tone like that. Maybe this ain’t the safest place ta be right now. Of course, even though she looks like she’s about ta piss herself, Rainbow remained defiant.

“No! You need to chill out!” Celestia shook her head.

“Then you leave me no choice. I, Celestia Iscandor of Equuis invoke the contract of loyalty you swore to me under the name engraved in your soul! Tell me who Persona is!” Celestia’s horn was covered in a dark black smoke and her eyes were lettin’ off this horrible violet aura that made her look like some kinda demon. Rainbow started ta scream as she began ta vomit that same black smoke up on the table, writhin’ in pain, fightin’ the magic off desperately, but all ta no avail.

“P-persona… is…” Suddenly, Luna made her presence known and punched Celestia across the face. The white alicorn went rollin’ ta the floor, and the dark fog that was spewin’ out of Rainbow stopped, givin’ her a chance ta breathe again.

“This is madness Celestia! What in the world are you doing!?” If looks could kill, Luna would be dead. Celestia’s sclera had darkened ta a deep black-crimson color, and those irises didn’t have a hint of her normal violet in them anymore. It was very hot around Celestia now, so Ah made some hoof signals ta have everypony back away from the table. Or more specifically, the princesses.

“What am I doing? Why, I’m simply putting an end to this farce. It has gone too far, and now my little ponies are dead! Had we taken care of this earlier, it would have never escalated to this point!” Celestia yelled. She slowly started ta stand and the crystal below her hooves started ta brighten up like hot metal.

“You cannot! We could not! So much more will be lost if you kill him now, you know that! The emitters are tied to his life! If… if something foreign kills him, everything will be set off! All ponies in every city will be subject to this!” Luna pleaded. Celestia tilted her head till she was lookin’ at Luna at almost a ninety-degree angle. Her mane had become noticeably brighter now, castin’ its own light and flickerin’ with soft orange flames at the edges.

“Is that so, sister? And how is it that you have this knowledge and I do not?” Celestia took a single step toward Luna, and Luna backed away. The spot Celestia’s hoof had been before was left as a molten pool of crystal in the shape of her hoof.

“B-because… B-because I… It is because… this is all… my fault…” Luna looked as if she’d been struck. Celestia looked like she was gonna kill her. Celestia was in position ta kill her.

“What do you mean, your fault!?” Her voice was like an eruptin’ volcano, pure rage ready ta melt down anythin’ in her path. Celstia’s wings spread and her mane and tail went up in flames, literally. The temperature in the room could rival a scorchin’ summer day in Palomino’s desert under the bright, radiant sun. The floor around Celestia’s hooves was literally meltin’ now and my whole body was shiverin’. Every instinct, just like when Matarael was about ta explode, was tellin’ me ta get away from here as fast as possible. Good goddess, what in the hell am Ah witnessin’? Just as it looked as if Celestia was gonna pounce, Twilight jumped in front of her with her hooves spread.

“Mother, stop! That’s enough! You’re… you’re scaring me! Please, let her explain herself.” Celestia froze in place while she stared her daughter down. The burnin’ princess took a few deep breaths and then sat down. The fire reverted inta glowy mane-smoke like it normally was, and her eyes were mostly violet again. Mostly. The hint was there enough that it made me think the wrong word could set her off again.

“You heard her. You have exactly five seconds to tell me why I shouldn’t kill you where you stand. What did you know while I watched my ponies slaughter each other, hmm sister? What did you know while I was giving the order for my military to gun down any mutated creature attacking a survivor? The mutated monsters that were only moments before my citizens. Tell me, because I would oh so love to know why you chose to keep it all to yourself, dear sister.” A few words in there had Celestia’s eyes fightin’ ta stay violet, and losin’ fer a moment.

“I…” Luna began, but couldn’t find the words. She sat down and let her head droop ta the floor. “I am the reason Person exists. I am the one who disappointed him. I was his hero, and I… failed him. I took his future away, I took his father away, I took his life away, and… and I tried to hide from it all. I never imagined things would get so… out of hoof.” She sniffed and shook her head. “I have spent the last half year trying to fix this, and every time things just kept getting worse! He… he’s become too powerful and I cannot stop him. I… I understand-”

Immediately, Twilight threw up shields over everypony, and Celestia was wreathed in a column of flame. The heat was intense, the lights in the castle had gone out, but Celestia was shinin’ like the sun itself. She took a single step out of the flames, and the fire swirled around her, curlin’ in wisps and trailin’ behind her. The floor melted with every movement. Her eyes had reverted ta yellow and crimson, her golden shoes, yoke, and crown, had become burnt and blackened inta spiky, twisted pieces of metal.

“What exactly do you understand, dear sister!? Do you understand all the lives that have been lost? The mothers, fathers, sons and daughters that will wake in the morning alone without the ponies they’ve spent their lives with? All the suffering that your little mistake has caused and will continue to bring because of your own foolhardy pride!? Do you understand all the death and destruction that has been brought upon my little ponies because you decided to keep this all a secret from me!? Or shall I show you just what it feels like!? The pain and weakness, the searing burn of flesh melted and torn from your limbs! Do you understand the turmoil today will bring over the next decade!? How weak we look to the rest of the world when we are completely unprepared for a terrorist attack!? How vulnerable this will leave us even after Persona is dealt with!? Perhaps you would like a little repeat of our little spat during the civil war, is that it!? What would you understand then, DEAR SISTER!?”

Before anypony could even move, Celestia took two steps toward Luna and threw a burnin’ hoof in her face. The night blue alicorn went spiralin’ toward the wall and crash landed with a crack. Celestia was about ta go after her again, but then somethin’ unexpected happened. Twilight hugged her mother.

“Please… don’t do this.” Celestia’s lips peeled back like she was about ta bite the mare, but then she shoved the violet alicorn away. She started toward the north east hallway but stopped as she passed by Luna. She spat what looked like molten lava at Luna’s hooves just under her crater in the wall and leaned in right next ta her face.

“Be thankful that I was careless enough to love. You still breathe because of it.” She stomped her way down the hall, leavin’ pools of molten crystal with every step behind, until she reached the stairs and we couldn’t see her anymore. After a few minutes, we heard an agonized scream of rage and the whole castle started ta shake. The sound of an explosion echoed through the castle, and once it was done, there was still. Calm. The storm had passed. Luna pushed her way out of her crater and wiped away the blood off her cheek.

“Well. At least she was holding back.” Luna sighed. “I will need time… to gather my materials and properly explain the situation. On Friday, I will be ready, and then you will learn the truth of all this. I am certain even you do not know why Persona has become what he is miss Dash, and even that… is my fault. At the very least, you all know now why I have forbidden that name. It has been… over a century and a half, since I have truly seen… the Radiant Sun.”

Comments

[melodic_harmony]

It’s only twelve twenty.

That fight took 20 minutes???

[KorenCZ11]

9366831
Less than that actually. After the second transformation, about five minutes had passed. We also had Persona come and talk afterward, so in total this whole event breaks down to 5 before the fall, maybe ten after that, and five or more for Persona. This thing was gaining on the Crow in the air and Blur on the ground. A lot happened, but time was very much against our heroes because she was as fast or faster, agile, and strong. Taking Diamond out of the equation really makes things a hell of a lot more dangerous and well... you saw the results of that.

[melodic_harmony]

9371914
Oh wow

[Mini-Joe]

holy hell, that was horrifying!

[KorenCZ11]

9384482
Good. Celestia losing her shit should be horrifying. I've wanted to give a proper explanation as to why they really can't intervene in these fights, and this is just a little window into that. She was holding back. Even as insanely pissed off as she was, she still wasn't letting loose. The castle was melting. Solid crystal of a magical origin, melting because she was walking. If Ramiel was so destructive in the city, imagine what would happen if it were her instead?

I put a lot of work into developing my alicorns on the back end, but only now am I getting to the point where I can really look at them. It's finally come to the part of the story I had always wanted to write when I first started it, so be ready for some serious rollercoaster action in the next few months until the story ends.