Accepting Responsibility
I stretched out on the deck chair, on the beach, my hooves behind my head; and just relaxed, listening to the waves on the beach, and watching the moon slowly setting into the distant storm-clouds. There was an old koan about a monk, a cliff, and some tigers - and I was doing my best to appreciate every aspect of the sweetness of the moment.
It had been a hectic couple of days. As soon as we'd gotten through the storm, we'd bee-lined for the first sign of civilization we saw, to start looking for who to warn about the coming invasion fleet. That had been a longhouse, a fairly standard one for the northern region, which seemed the only building attached to some rather large cattle-grazing fields. I'd volare'd myself down, with the pegasi Blanche and Cloud Bouncer as backup, to try to talk to the head of the houshold - an earth-pony - about how to get their emergency defensive procedures kick-started... but once the translation spell kicked in, all he'd seemed to care about was the fact that I'd landed in his vegetable patch, and had squashed some of his squashes. Even after getting through to him that I wasn't just a cow under a ventriloquism spell, he literally would not believe that our flying ship had come from anywhere other than the other side of the island, and kept repeating a threat to sue me.
I'd finally gotten something started by asking him "What would happen if I declined to be sued?" - he'd grumbled and started walking to talk to his chieftain. To speed things up, we gave him a lift. The chieftain directed us to a judge, who said that if the case was as serious as I said, then it would have to be handled at the quarter-court... which wouldn't meet again until next spring. And after that it would probably have to go to the all-court in the summer.
This was, needless to say, rather useless to deal with a fleet merely days behind us. One thing I did learn was that the island did have an immortal princess - of a sort. The judge called her the 'Singing Princess', because she'd been incapacitated for a number of years, and that was about all she was able to fill her days with. Naturally, that wasn't of any more help.
I finally asked what it would take to get the island's inhabitants to put together any sort of organized military response. The judge said, "Oh, someone defying the authority of the courts, instigating a full blood-feud without proper authority, and generally that sort of thing."
I'd looked at Red Pepper, and raised an eyebrow. She'd rolled her eyes, heaved a sigh, and nodded.
We'd spent most of our time during the next couple of days becoming the most-hated beings we could. The local population included some unicorns and pegasi, and after we'd started making enough of a pain of ourselves, they'd started spreading the word - and, finally, the island's inhabitants started mobilizing against us.
Unfortunately, even once we'd gotten them started, it was still going to be a slow process.
Red, I, and the other members of our round table discussed some of our strategy... and Amethyst, the Musketeers, the pups, Lord Firebough, and Ursula were dropped off inland, with all the notes I had on guerrilla warfare and organizing resistance movements. Basically, we were putting our non-combatants out of the way, the safest place we could. The rest of us took the Mikoyan back out through the storm, to find Dirk's fleet and where it was aiming for. Once we had that, I had her drop me off here on the beach, with some equipment, while she took the airship back out - to do whatever they could to slow the fleet, without getting themselves knocked out of the sky.
I hadn't said anything to Red, but I didn't actually expect them to accomplish anything significant. Odd as it may sound, I'd put them on that mission to raid hundreds of enemy ships to put them in the safest spot I could.
Over the last few weeks, as we skipped along barely ahead of the armada, I'd been doing some thinking. In particular, I'd been trying to think of what I considered the best possible outcome would be - and what it would take to bring that outcome about. I'd also been thinking about the implications of the Latin-based magic I'd been using, and the cloak I'd gotten stuck with.
And so... I'd made plans - not all of which I'd shared even with my inner circle. I'd come up with as many options as I could, and I'd laid the groundwork for as many as I had the time and resources for. As part of that... I'd spent less time on research, and more on teaching. For just one example, I'd started teaching Red, Blanche, and Micro some Earthly history, so they could learn the lessons therefrom. Economics, the civil rights movement, game theory, oligarchic takeovers, riddles, cultural referents - I'd tried pumping their brains as full as I could of everything that was most likely help them fulfill our overall mission to keep Equestria from going the way of Atlantis. "After all," I said, "I've already been petrified once - I don't want a continent to sink if that happens to me again."
And so here I sat. I picked up the Warden Whistle from around my neck, and looked at it once again, turning it from side to side; the official plan was that if the Mikoyan couldn't head off the fleet, and the local ships couldn't get here in time, then I would blow it, and summon the... undead things, to start reaving and killing and slaying the invaders.
I thought again about what the best possible outcome would be... what it would take to accomplish that... and I thought about some of the people from Earth I admired most - those who went against society to do what they felt right, and accepted the consequences of their actions.
I lifted my binoculars to my eyes, scanned the horizon again... and, this time, in the mist and the rain and the darkness - I saw a sail, a ship coming through the surprisingly-penetrable impenetrable weather. Then another - then two more.
There was no sign of the Mikoyan.
I lifted the whistle's chain from around my neck, looked at it one last time... and I dropped it in the sand next to me. And scooped some more over it, burying it.
The moon disappeared entirely behind the clouds, leaving nothing but the stars to shine down on us.
With a minor bit of vision-enhancing magic - alright, with the goggles from the Battlefield - I was able to watch ship after ship come through the rain. Each one full of ruthless warriors, who would gleefully slaughter every single individual on the island just for the joy in doing so.
Just in case they might miss me, I reached into the trunk to one side, touched a ruby, and whispered "Ignere"; the driftwood I'd piled to my left ignited into a cheery little campfire.
I waited.
After a while, over the rush of the waves, I heard the flapping of leathery wings; and Dirk Steel thudded into the sand before me. His eyes glittered red, reflecting the firelight as he thumped closer.
"Okay," he said, "I'll bite. Your crew mutinied on you, and marooned you here?"
"Not even close," I answered. "I'd like to ask you up to three things, and then - well, one way or another, I expect our conversation will be over."
"Three, hunh? What'll you do if I just kill you now?"
"Be rather annoyed for a few brief moments, I assume. My first question," I said without a pause, "is based on what you told me before, that you're using some combination of VR and self-hypnosis to 'really see' what's happening in here. If I were to cast a mind-affecting spell, not just on your character but on you, like a fall-in-love spell, then your equipment wouldn't let that really affect you, now would it?"
He snorted. "What, I should give you the satisfaction of knowing?"
"I can create such a magical effect without moving from this chair, to find out."
"Hm. It's a good question - self-hypnosis can do all sorts of things. Ever have a dream where you know things, in the dream, that you couldn't possibly know?"
"So - at least in terms of the game - you just might end up acting as if the spell really did affect you?"
He shrugged. "Maybe. Why, thinking of making me fall in love with you?"
I shook my head. "Nothing so crass." What I'd really hoped was that he'd be sure it wouldn't affect him - so that having some magic like that actually affect him would shake up his understanding of the universe. But since it seemed as if he could incorporate such an event into his current paradigm, I continued, "For my second question - I've learned that one possible end of this plotline includes the sinking of a continent, and millions of deaths. Would you be interested in helping me keep that from happening?"
"Are you asking me to help you snag the artifact that's at the end of this fetch-quest?"
"It seems very likely to be one of the more useful tools to prevent the sinking - so, yes."
"Not a chance. You want that thing, you'll have to beat me fair and square."
I sighed. "In that case - for my third question - is there a chance I could outright bribe you with the contents of this chest?"
I reached over, flipped the lid open, and picked up one of the items within... transparent, it glimmered faintly in the starlight.
Dirk leaned in and squinted. "Am I supposed to know what that is?"
"Think of it as concentrated magic."
He frowned - then his eyes widened, and he started spreading his wings.
Looked like the answer to my question was 'no'.
Before he made a single flap, I said the word, "Pax."
The piece of Ursa Major bone I held in my hoof, about the size of the shard that had set my whole lab ablaze, started glowing... along with every other Ursa bone-piece I'd brought with us all the way from Canterlot.
I managed to continue to speak, saying, "Amore," and felt the Lady's Cloak billowing around me of its own accord. I'd made my decision some time ago about mind-affecting magic being unethical and that it should be illegal. Where we were now, there was no law, none other than myself - so I was sentencing myself to suffer the full consequences of my own actions.
I hoped I'd taught the others enough to carry on the mission.
I finished the words I'd planned on saying. "Et harmonia."
The whole world turned to light.
Stats
Page generated in 0.037 seconds
Total duration
883 users online
1,321,169 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Author's Note: No, this isn't the end of the story.
It turns out that after all my delay to try doing some world-building of Thule... when it came time to actually write this chapter, and the next couple - well, I don't think much is actually going to make it in. Oh well - I still think I've got time to bring this second arc to a climax before MLP-FIM's third season kicks off...
"Peace, love, and harmony" sounds good in English, but I don't think she was smart to include "Amore".
1480350
Well, she has been under the influence of that cloak for some weeks now, even if she has been sublimating its most direct urges...
OH MY GODDESSES!!!!! Did she just make him fall in love with the concept of Harmony????
And this is what happens when Missy feels pressured. Don't make her feel desperate. In a situation like that, the only ones liable to survive are the ones who had nothing to do with it.
Still, great to see this back in action.
This sounds like it would be worth a song...
Sekiha! Love, Love... Tenkyoken!
Sorry, I just had to.
Oh, that I'd discovered this story seventeen weeks ago and could have read each chapter as it was updated. As pleasant as the journey will be, it is no small undertaking to read 113 chapters, in addition to those yet to come, alongside all the other stories I have to read.
Aw, I was hoping for war
Ah well, good to see you back in action after so long, I've missed reading this
*Looks over to Vegeeta, who's already walking out the door giving me a proud one fingered salute for dragging him into this reference*
Once, a young monk was sent forth from the monastery to carry a message to another monastery far away. As he walked through the dense forest, he caught glimpses of orange fur in the dappled shade and heard low growls. Surmising that he was being stalked by a tiger, he quickened his steps, but the large cat easily kept pace with him. Fear gnawed at the young monk, and he began to run blindly through the trees, leaving the path he knew in an attempt to outdistance the hungry cat whose panting breath he could feel upon his neck.
The monk lost his way, and to his terror, found himself at the edge of a great precipice. Behind him, he heard the tiger stop, and begin pacing back and forth among the trees, its golden eyes glinting among the leaves. Shaking, the monk looked down and saw that there were vines clambering over the jagged rocks and he determined to try and climb down them. Just as he swung himself over the cliff, and began clambering down the vines which creaked under his weight, he heard the tiger roar, and saw it stare balefully down at him from above.
From below cane an answering roar, and the monk startled and looked down to see a second tiger, pacing along the stones that lined the bottom of the cliff face, waiting for him to descend.
Shuddering, the young monk closed his eyes and clung to the vine, his only means of support. The sound of nibbling teeth caught his attention and he opened his eyes to see a mouse chewing at the vine that held him suspended between the hungry cats.
Next to the mouse, he saw a flash of red.
A wild strawberry grew in a crevice of the stone, and a lone fruit shone invitingly.
The monk reached out, and plucking the crimson fruit, held it to his nose. The sweet fragrance rushed into his nostrils as the last bit of the vine gave way and the monk began to fall. As he plummeted toward the tiger, the monk popped the strawberry in his mouth, and the flavor was the sweetest thing he had ever experienced.
1480868
But it's worth it!
romanticallyapocalyptic.com/art/core/daydream.jpg
What just happened? She used super Ursa Bone magic for what exactly? Vague Latin words are vague.
1480868
I did it in 7 days. All you have to do is believe.
1489026
But there are so many stories out there I... I... There isn't enough time for them already!
1489078
Believe. All you need is the belief that you can and you shall. Read what you wish to read and it shall be read.
Ok, um, I can kind of guess what each of the words mean.
Pax was the spell that was like anesthesia for pain, but I'm pretty sure it means peace or something like that.
Amore is from Mi Amore Cadenza, and from the description of the song with the same name, it means love.
Et harmonia is, from what I can guess from spelling similarities, and harmony.
From this, I can conclude that what the spell does is...
Yeah, something about friendship probably.