Chapter 52
Fluttershy steeled herself as the light of Celestia’s teleportation spell faded. This was where the Requiem Guard had last been seen. She had to be ready.
Things were terribly dark for a moment, but then light radiated out from the horns of every unicorn and alicorn in the group, revealing a scene from a nightmare.
Dead ponies were everywhere. No, they weren’t just dead, they were destroyed. Most had been mangled beyond recognition, with limbs either bent the wrong way or missing entirely. Blood-soaked tufts of fur and shards of bone covered the floor, the walls, even the ceiling, and the stench of rotting flesh filled the air.
Fluttershy desperately wanted to look away, but she couldn’t. This shelter had once held several hundred crystal ponies. It was supposed to keep them safe during Alliance attacks, not cage them in so that they could be slaughtered like this.
Gasps of shock filled the air, and at least one pony was noisily sick. Fluttershy joined them moments later, shuddering as the smells of vomit, blood, and rot mixed in her nostrils.
“For Miracle,” Fluttershy whispered, forcing her shaky limbs to steady. She couldn’t pass out or collapse now, not with the monsters that had done this still on the loose. Her daughter deserved to grow up in a world that didn’t have atrocities like this.
“I don’t sense anything still alive,” Fire Claws said grimly. “Anyone else?”
The wyrms in the group all shook their heads, including Cliff. Her husband barely seemed affected by their horrific surroundings, and that scared Fluttershy. How could anyone see this and not want to break down and cry for all the ponies that had died here?
Surely Twilight had to be feeling something. But no, she had the same mask-like expression as Cliff.
“The Guards must have escaped through there,” Rainbow said, pointing at a large hole in the wall. “If we hurry, maybe we can catch them!”
Luna shook her head. “Nay, Rainbow Dash. It would be foolish to chase the Requiem Guard through an enclosed tunnel where they could easily surprise us.”
“What’re we supposed to do?” Rainbow gestured at the carnage around them. “Wait for them to do this to a fresh batch of ponies?”
“If they managed to kill even one of you,” Celestia said firmly, “nothing would be able to stop them from doing this to all of Equestria and beyond.”
Rainbow grumbled but didn’t press the issue.
Meanwhile, Cliff looked up and jumped onto the ceiling, his magic held him there just as if he were crouching on the ground. He grabbed a spherical rock, about the size of a large marble, from a small indent. “The glowstones have been drained completely. Even the astral charger has been wiped away on this one.” He looked at the floor and frowned. “It looks like most of these ponies were drained too, but why hack them up if they’d already been drained to death?”
Fire Eyes knelt next to one of the corpses. “They shouldn’t be rotting this soon either. A lot of the wounds have already turned black.”
“This is probably the work of a Guard named Samhane,” Celestia said. “She earned a reputation for brutal slaughter before she was locked in Tartarus, and one of her axes is enchanted to cause necrotic wounds.” Her eyes widened. “If Samhane did this alone, the others could be attacking different shelters as we speak.”
“We must evacuate the other shelters immediately,” Luna said quickly. “Our soldiers can look after them at the training grounds.”
Celestia nodded and lit up her horn. “Gather around, everyone.”
Cliff dropped back to the floor, landing in a small puddle of blood that splashed up around his arms and legs. “Keep your eyes open, everyone.”
Fluttershy couldn’t hold herself back any longer. “Wait!”
Silence fell on the group as all eyes turned to her.
“W-we can’t just leave them like this.” Fluttershy forced herself to look at the mangled corpses that surrounded them. “They were thinking, feeling ponies. They … shouldn’t be left here like they don’t matter.”
None of them responded for a moment, then Cliff stepped forward and held out his hand to her. “We’ll give them a proper burial, but not until we make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
Fluttershy looked around at all the bodies. These ponies had trusted in the Element Bearers to keep them safe, just like others were still trusting in them. As wrong as it felt to leave their corpses here in the dark, Fluttershy knew that Cliff was right. They had to take care of the living. She took Cliff’s hand, trying not to look at the blood dripping off her armored hoof, and let him lead her to Celestia’s side. “I’m sorry,” she whispered to the ponies they had failed to protect. “We’ll save the others, I promise.”
Then they disappeared, leaving only the dead in their wake.
-_-_-_-_-_-
“They’re moving again,” Steel Mind said over the wind of their flight. “Luna just shouted orders for every pony in that district to leave their shelters and head toward the training fields around the Crystal Bunker.”
The Hurricanes all nodded, leaving Talon with nothing to do but hold on to Tornado’s back and worry.
The entire Alliance was rushing back to the Empire, but the situation was changing so quickly that not even the Hurricanes knew for sure what they would do once they got there. Apparently, Samhane had gone rogue, massacring ponies in the outer districts and drawing in the Immortal Sisters and the Element Bearers. One mistake here could cost Equestria the war, and Talon couldn’t think of a single thing she could do to help them, especially not with all five Hurricanes clustered around her.
“Is our spy still with the rest of the Requiem Guard?” one of the Hurricanes asked.
Steel Mind nodded. “They should reach the outer districts soon, about the same time as the rest of us.”
“At least something’s going right today,” another Hurricane muttered. “Have our spy tell Providence to hurry. They must be ready to strike as soon as we have maneuvered the Element Bearers into position.”
-_-_-_-_-_-
Cliff couldn’t help but pace back and forth across the top of the watchtower where they were all standing. Luckily it was large enough that he could do that, about twenty feet across. That seemed to be the only bit of luck that Cliff would experience today. Samhane had slaughtered two more shelters full of ponies. At least the ponies in other shelters were being evacuated safely, but there was still no sign of her or the rest of the Requiem Guard.
The tower where they were all standing was set in a row of houses, giving Cliff a clear view of the streets on either side. Hundreds of crystal ponies were coming together to form what looked like a river of sparkling gems. Golden Royal Guard Armor mixed with silver Crystal Guard Armor, forming a bank of sorts around the twin rivers, as the Equestrian soldiers directed the civilians toward the center of the Empire. Hopefully they would be safe there.
“Do you think the Requiem Guard is gonna risk attacking them out in the open like this?” Rainbow asked.
“Hopefully they will not,” Luna replied. “No more civilians need die today.”
“I have to agree with that,” Discord’s voice echoed in Cliff’s mind. “The chaotic love of life has almost gone out in these crystal ponies.”
“Just let me know if you hear the Requiem Guard anywhere.” Cliff sent back.
“Easier said than done, I’m afraid. That gigantic conga-line of ponies is really noisy, you know.” Discord grumbled. “I could sense the magic they drain from the atmosphere if I were at full power.”
Cliff paused and looked at the evacuating ponies below. “Do what you can.” Then he went back to pacing.
Discord must have sensed that Cliff wasn’t in the mood to talk, because he only sent back agreement before falling silent.
After pacing some more, Cliff glanced at Fluttershy. She was still talking to Twilight—about something serious, judging from their expressions. Cliff went back to his pacing and tried not to dwell on how terrible this day had been. First a surprise attack by the Alliance, then finding out about Rune’s death, then those shelters full of massacred ponies, and to top it all off, he could tell how hurt Fluttershy was by the way he had reacted to all the carnage. How was he supposed to tell her that this was just life here in the Empire? If he let each individual death bother him, he would have been driven mad with grief long ago.
“You’re going to wear a hole in the roof if you keep that up,” Fire Claws said, drawing near.
Cliff smiled weakly. “Sorry, Grandma, I can’t sit still.”
“Why are you apologizing?” She jumped onto the gap between battlements and sat down with her feet dangling over the tower’s edge. “I was just making an observation.” She turned to him and patted the gap next to her. “Feel free to jog in place if that helps.”
“I think I’ll be fine.” Cliff sat down in the other gap.
“So what’s going on with you and Fluttershy these days?” Claws asked softly, her voice low enough that the others wouldn’t hear it. “I heard that she attacked you in her sleep the other night.”
“It was just a night terror,” Cliff said, “and all she did was push me away.”
“Is that why you’ve been acting so strangely around each other lately?”
“No, it was like this before then.” His eyes wandered aimlessly across the streets beneath them. “I guess … the two of us have changed too much from back before this all started. I don’t really know how I’m supposed to act around her anymore.”
Claws reached out and pulled Cliff over so that his head was resting against her shoulder. “I’m sure she’s just as confused as you are, Cliff. What you two need is to stop judging the other based on what they would have done a year ago and start learning everything you can about the new individuals you’ve both grown into.”
“I’ll try, Grandma.” Cliff leaned against her more heavily and let his eyes sink closed for a moment.
Metal scraped against metal as Claws adjusted her position and wrapped one arm around him. “Don’t worry, everything will be alright with you two, as long as you’re willing to put forth the effort.”
Cliff smiled and opened his eyes. “For Fluttershy, always.” Cliff shifted a little bit to get into a more comfortable position then simply relaxed in his Grandmother’s comforting presence. It was nice to have a moment where he could just stop thinking about everything.
…
An explosion rocked the area. Cliff would have been thrown clear off the tower if Blueblood hadn’t generated a shield around the group almost instantly. It turned out to be a very good thing that he did, because the part of the tower that wasn’t encased in Blueblood’s shield collapsed moments later, cascading down into a huge pile of shattered crystalline rubble.
Cliff scrambled to his feet and turned toward the source of the blast. His heart almost froze in his chest at the sight that greeted him.
A large chunk of ground had been blown away near a part of the Empire’s wall, and thousands of dragons were pouring out of it.
“Oh crap.” A pair of gems appeared in Cliff’s palms as his mind began frantically analyzing the situation. A few companies of ponies were guarding the walls, some more were watching the edges of the district in case the Requiem Guard tried anything, and a final group was escorting the crystal pony civilians to safety.
That was nowhere near enough to stop an invading force this large.
-_-_-_-_-_-
The Element Bearers were all still alive. Talon gasped in relief from her spot on Tornado’s back. It had taken forever to sneak the entire Alliance into the Empire through that tunnel, requiring countless uses of the Shield Cracker, but it looked like their surprise attack had failed regardless. That light-blue shield must have deflected the Hurricanes’ attack. Unfortunately, the waves of cutting energy aimed at the watchtower had connected, which meant they were clear for Backup Plan One.
Every aura drake in the Alliance released the energy they had been building up in a fantastic display of concentrated Void Fire. It actually hurt Talon’s eyes to look at the shield where all the beams were converging, and the high-pitched hum of their magic filled the air. Could even the Immortal Sisters hold off an attack like that for very long?
“All soldiers,” Luna’s voice filled the area, “to the southern edge of the Empire immediately! We are under attack!”
Talon winced from the sheer volume that the Equestrian princess could generate. The whole Crystal Empire probably knew that they were here now, which was actually a good thing. It meant the Alliance would have to get out of there quickly.
Typhoon turned to Steel Mind. “Are the rest of the Requiem Guard in position?”
He checked that communication rod he used. “Yes. They’re waiting for us to give the word.”
“Good.”
Talon quickly checked their surroundings. Synapse was at its usual spot, near the center of the Alliance’s formation, which gave her a good feel for the overall shape of the battle. Some heavy drake clusters were clearing away the few pony defenders on the wall, and the rest of the Alliance had clustered around their aura drakes protectively.
A flash of silver caught Talon’s eye along the wall. Samhane, that rogue member of the Requiem Guard, was hacking its way through a retreating squadron of ponies, trapping them between the Guard and a squad of venom wyverns that were pursuing on foot. Samhane’s silvery form looked strange, though. Pulsating red cracks, the color of fresh blood, covered the surface of its armor like spiderwebs.
Talon tapped Heart on the shoulder and pointed. “Can you tell those wyverns to get away from Samhane? Something’s wrong with it.” She turned her attention back to the many beams of Void Fire. Good, the Immortal Sisters were still holding out, but everything was too bright to know if they were starting to get tired.
Heart’s emotions suddenly echoed through their link, filled with shock and fear. “Oh Stars,” she pointed, “look at the wall!”
Talon ripped her attention away from the Element Bearers and followed her friend’s pointing claw.
Samhane had finished with the squadron of ponies and had started attacking the venom wyverns without even slowing down. A beam of dark energy shot from the Guard’s right hand. It struck one of the farther-off wyverns in the chest, reducing it to a shriveled husk in seconds. Meanwhile, the ax in its left hand slammed upwards into the bottom of another wyvern’s head, resulting in a gory explosion of red and gray.
The Guard pivoted to the side, burying its right ax in a third wyvern’s neck and severing the leg of a fourth with the backswing of the ax in its left hand. Another ray of dark energy shot from its right hand, draining yet a fifth wyvern to its untimely death.
“Synapse,” Talon shouted, “hit that Guard on the wall with everything you’ve got!” Four more wyverns died in the time it took her to give the order. “Hurricanes,” she called, drawing their attention, “Samhane is attacking our forces.” Hopefully they would do the smart thing and fall back, or at least divert forces away from the Immortal Sisters. She turned to Steel Mind. “Tell Providence that his missing Guard has gone berserk and is attacking our forces. We need him to get over here and knock some sense into it before Samhane kills anydragon else!”
Samhane finished with the rest of the wyverns at the same time that Talon finished speaking. The Guard let out an animalistic roar and jumped right at the Alliance’s formation. It practically flew through the air before crashing into one of their precious aura drakes and sinking both of its axes deep into the dragon’s flesh. The unfortunate drake died almost instantly, and Samhane jumped at another dragon, shooting a beam of dark energy at a cluster of wyverns as it went.
“Too late.” Heart brought up her arm with the staff wrapped around it and fired a concentrated blast of magic. The attack hit, but Samhane continued its rampage without seeming to notice or care. Its armor wasn’t even damaged, and it seemed to be headed for the nearest living aura drake.
Steel Mind gulped. “Uh, Talon? Our spy says that Providence doesn’t care what Samhane does when he’s this close to getting his revenge.”
“Continue the attack,” Typhoon ordered. “The Immortal Sisters must be weakening. We only need to hold out a bit longer.”
Talon felt the blood drain from her cheeks. More and more squadrons were pulling their attention away from Equestria and the Element Bearers as Samhane slaughtered its way through their ranks. They needed to retreat, now, or the entire Alliance could get wiped out.
“Their shield is finally lowering!” Typhoon grinned. “Tell Providence to take his revenge so we can put an end to this!”
-_-_-_-_-_-
The severed top of the watchtower came down to rest more-or-less flat on the ground next to the rubble that had once been the rest of the tower. The multilayered shield around Cliff and the others made it hard to see what was going on exactly, but someone was hitting the Alliance hard enough that they had abandoned their Void Fire assault. Not a moment too soon, either.
Blueblood collapsed as soon as they touched down. “Forgive me,” he gasped as his shield flickered and disappeared from among the others surrounding them. “I couldn’t hold on any longer.”
Twilight, Celestia, and Luna, the other three maintaining the shield, were looking pretty worn out as well.
“It’s fine.” Cliff pulled out two more anti-aura gems and launched them at the nearest aura drake. The last thing they needed was for the Alliance to rally and take out whoever was distracting them.
Eyes knelt next to Blueblood. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you were amazing. Heck, you kept up with three alicorns.”
“That is true,” Luna said, her voice thick with strain from maintaining her part of the shield around them. “Thy speedy reaction doubtless saved many of our lives.”
“Cliff,” Discord sent with a note of urgency that forestalled any disagreement, “get everyone away from that rubble right now!”
Cliff didn’t waste time asking questions. He knelt down and shot as much kinetic energy as he could generate into the tower top. His spell went off just as seven armored forms jumped out of the rubble at the group of them. Cliff barely had time to register the overwhelming weakness they caused before the lead Guard’s hammer came swinging down at his head.
His body dissolved into shadows, and agony filled his being. It was like being ripped in half between the claws of an angry drake, only it tore away at every inch, every cell in his body. He couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t hear anything. He couldn’t even feel anything other than the all-encompassing pain.
At last it ended, and Cliff fell limply to the ground. At least the upgraded Shadow-form Rune had worked.
That was the last thought to cross his mind before his body dissolved once again and everything was washed away in a sea of crushing pain.
Cliff was barely clinging to consciousness by the time it ended, but he did hear a loud crash, the rapid stamp of metallic hooves, and Fluttershy frantically calling his name. Her voice was distant though. The tower top must have kept moving without him.
He needed to get back to it and protect her … somehow. Cliff rolled over, gritting his teeth against the pain, and nearly had the tip of his muzzle ripped off as huge chunks of crystalline debris flew past him.
The tower top had crashed into a house farther down the street, but it looked like everyone was still on it, except for Cliff himself. Fluttershy was getting back on her hooves, along with Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie. Twilight and Rainbow were already up and helping the others. Cliff’s grandparents and the rest of his team had joined Celestia, Luna, and Zephyr as they cast or threw anything they could at the approaching Guards. Luna was already grabbing an entire house in her magic.
That wouldn’t hold them off long enough, though. The Guards would reach the tower in another few seconds, and the Elements were only starting to power up. Cliff summoned what little energy he could and launched himself over the lead Guard toward his allies.
The Guard moved more quickly than Cliff would have thought possible, swinging its hammer up at him as Cliff passed overhead.
Cliff exploded into shadows once more, as the weapon ripped through his very essence, leaving him to crash headlong into the side of the broken watchtower.
He felt so numb and so hollow, like he could collapse inwards any moment. There was something that he needed to be doing. What was it?
Fluttershy screamed his name, cutting through the fog that filled his mind. Fluttershy is in danger. Cliff’s eyes shot open in time to see Luna’s house smash into the oncoming Guards. They paused for a moment as the walls of crystal hit, but then they kept charging.
Beams of magic and exploding rocks pelted the suits, to little effect. Most of the Guards simply held up their massive shields and pressed onward. That one with the hammer didn’t seem to have a shield, but it blocked or deflected everything with its weapon, all the while drawing farther ahead of the group. A giant boulder exploded out of the ground beneath that Guard, but it dove forward out of the way before coming back up to its hooves and continuing the charge. The boulder smashed down moments later on a second Guard, shattering completely on impact. The Guard it had hit shoved broken fragments of rock out of its way as it pressed forward, with only a few dents to show for the impact. A hole opened up beneath another Guard, and it fell out of sight, only to emerge moments later.
The lead Requiem Guard was almost on top of them now, and Cliff was too weak to stand. He motioned, and his suit deposited in his hand the only anti-Guard weapon that he had completed. It was a large balled-up sheet of metal, enchanted to be extra thin, extra light, as soft and flexible as cotton, and to unroll when thrown. Hardly what one would expect to combat demonic suits of living armor, and he only had two of them, but times were desperate.
Cliff shot the first ball. It unfurled just in time to engulf the Guard with the hammer, who swung at it like it did with every other projectile. However, that just made the cloth-like metal wrap around the Guard’s weapon and arms more fully before the enchantments were destroyed and it returned to what it had originally been: an extremely thick and extremely heavy sheet of steel.
The Guard stumbled as more than thirty-six tons of metal suddenly appeared around its arms, dragging it to the ground.
Cliff would have grinned if he had the energy. Instead he launched his other projectile at the second-nearest guard, one of the ax users, with even better results. This Guard simply met the cloth-like steel with its shield, letting it wrap all over the Guard’s shield and helmet before it hardened.
The sound of screeching metal filled the air, pulling Cliff’s attention back to the hammer Guard. It was ripping its arms free of the metal with frightening ease, and the other Guards had nearly caught up to it.
For just a moment, the creature’s soulless gaze met Cliff’s. “Thhere must bbe ssacrifices, dragonling,” it said in a voice as cold and absolute as death. Then, ignoring a ray of concentrated sunlight, it hurled the torn up piece of steel at Celestia.
A beam of rainbow-colored light hit the steel before it could connect, sending it crashing to the ground.
There was a burst of light, and all six Element Bearers appeared around Cliff, their tails unusually long and brightly colored. The sheer power that rolled off of them was unbelievable, threatening to overwhelm him with its intensity. It would have been terrifying if he didn’t know exactly who was directing all that power.
Fluttershy knelt next to Cliff and helped him up as the other five directed beams of pure energy at the Requiem Guard, stopping them all in place just before the nearest one could get close enough to strike.
“Thank goodness you’re okay,” Fluttershy said. Cliff’s armor literally groaned under the force of her hug. “I, I thought …” She hugged him again.
“Finish them off quickly,” Cliff gasped, “before they can try anything.”
Fluttershy hesitantly nodded before turning with the rest of her friends to face the Requiem Guard.
Cliff didn’t even have words to express how much power he felt radiating off of Fluttershy as her own beam of energy joined with the other five. Now fully complete, the rainbow of energy expanded into a blinding sphere that completely surrounded the seven members of the Requiem Guard.
The sphere faded after a moment, and silence filled the area. No one moved. Cliff wasn’t sure if anyone even breathed.
The members of the Requiem Guard all lay scattered among the debris, silent and unmoving. The ones that were facing upright stared at the sky with empty eye sockets, and the runes across their metallic forms had all disappeared.
We succeeded. Cliff sagged against Fluttershy as the adrenaline started to wear off and the consuming emptiness in his chest started to overwhelm him.
“That can’t be,” Celestia said, fear and shock filling her voice.
Cliff snapped his attention back to the Requiem Guard. The one with the hammer had collapsed on top of another Guard, but it was slowly pushing itself upright. New runes even appeared along its arms and legs.
“Impossible.” Cliff shook his head weakly. “How can it still be alive?”
The Guard paused, facing away from them as it knelt over the body of its companion. It’s head slowly lifted, looking around at the other. “Requiem Guard,” it said softly. “Attention.” Its voice was different than before. The slurring and the unearthly echo were gone. It almost sounded like the voice of a normal creature, albeit with a strong metallic edge.
None of the other Guards moved.
“Guards,” it repeated, lowering its head, “please.”
Silence.
With a roar, the Guard turned and hurled a spear at the group.
Cliff tackled Fluttershy to the ground before he realized that the spear hadn’t been aimed at her. A gasp of pain pulled his attention up to the tower top, where he saw Celestia falling to her knees with the Guard spear lodged in her chest.
Then Luna’s horn flared, and everything around them disappeared.
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7750021
that didn't last long if that is the case.
still it seems like they did fix the group from being golems.
now we just have the problem of the rouge suit.
7750021 Nope... that's not what it does either... it purified the armors, and removed the spirits, one became whole again, and all the rest were sent to the afterlife. If it was rid of his hatred and all that crap then he would not of thrown his spear.
Damn they better heal Celestia quickly.
7750122 7750178
Seems like he was cured of his hatred, only to be overwhelmed by grief once he realized that the last of his brothers-in-arms, the ones who stood by him literally through Tartarus, had been taken from him.
Now he gets to ask himself the question inherent in any revenge: Was it worth it?
Great chapter 52 so I hope Celestia survive
7750271 Didn't seem like it to me.. seemed like he got up after having been restored to life, calling on his comrades to rise with him and realizing that they are all now fully dead and proceeded to throw his spear at the being he swore vengeance against as a last ditch effort at revenge... we have nothing that shows he has lost his anger or rage.. literally nothing to prove it.
7750390
Okay, yes, that's true, but that still leaves the question of what the RHB did to him. The last time it was used on someone that had escaped from Tartarus, it confiscated all the magic he stole and locked him back up, and for all his faults Tirek was not an unrepentant murderer with intent to kill again.
Even if it was unwilling or unable to take whatever was left of Providence's life, it makes no sense that it would just charge him up to full and let him loose on the Princesses and Bearers (Even though I totally called it 7741938 )
7750461 Brought him back to life is what it did.. it's not rocket science, it's literally as straightforward as what we read.. we weren't given a mystery or a cliff hangar on if it worked or not.
7750527
So if I'm following the pattern behind the Rainbow Brite Attack Mk2 correctly:
Megalomaniac Magic Thief = lock him back up in Tartarus
Lobotomized Minotaur Murder Machines = Strip them of magic until they stop moving
Aware, Revenge-seeking Minotaur Murder Machine = Fix him up and let him get back to what he was doing
I must be missing something, because that just doesn't seem consistent.
7750629 It's a harmony beam.. he was aware and thought what he was doing was right.. Harmony is literally black and white.. it's kinda how villains can be worthy of Thor's hammer, because it requires a pure heart but does not say either good or evil.. Essentially, it does not care about what the person's end goal is as long as the reason for why they are doing it is not evil.. Also, for the ones who weren't self aware anymore really, that they just got sent on to the afterlife in my opinion, their souls were locked in the armors but only one seems to have retained their conscious and morality, while the others only had their souls and copies of their memories and that was it.
7750676
He acknowledged that their only remaining purpose was enacting bloody revenge for a centuries-dead king just two chapters ago. Literally the only thing he cares about is killing Celestia; not the orders or wishes of the rightful heir to the throne he once swore fealty to, not the lives or goals of the people he owes his freedom to, and certainly not the dozens, if not hundreds of innocent ponies his subordinates and he slaughtered in their homes simply because they happened to be nearby. Not even in the way, but just far enough out of the way that it wouldn't be too inconvenient to make a quick detour to pick up some fresh souls!
If pure blind vengeance is enough to get Harmony on your side then what is even the point of the damn thing!?
7750122 7750178 I misread that last part you guys are right
7750774
The Elements don't change someone's mind. They purify corruption. They take away dark and evil powers, or magic you didn't earn, or magic that overwhelmed you. They don't brainwash.
What likely happened is that the other guards were too far gone. There was nothing left of them to save.
Providence and Samhane were the only ones still somewhat alive and aware. Harmony purified him of his undead state and took his life-draining powers away, but they didn't force him to become docile and good, because that's not what they do and never did.
7750863
Of course not. They didn't brainwash Discord or Tirek either, just locked them up so they would stop trying to ruin everyone else's lives.
Which is what Providence tried to do right after the Elements were through with him: Kill one of greatest advocates for peace of and for the last millennium, who also happens to be in charge of the sun, and thereby ruining everyone else's lives.
7750904
Well, Discord is a chaos spirit. Petrify is pretty much the closest thing to killing him when it comes to purifying corruption. Tirek, I give you, but Luna was given a choice to accept Friendship again, as was Sunset, as was Midnight Sparkle, as was Gloriosa. Tirek is a fluke in this.
7751046
Only after she got imprisoned on the moon for a thousand years, just like Tirek and Discord were imprisoned.
When the Elements are used, there is consistently one of two outcomes: either the target admits they were in the wrong and accepts friendship into their hearts (which happens most of the time because read the title of the show), or they are locked away where they can't do any more damage until they suddenly get out because Reasons.
Most of the Guards weren't actually People, so they just got scrapped, but Providence was People in almost the exact same way Luna was People back when she had a significantly less murderous Celestia-shaped chip on her shoulder. So why does one get 1000 years with no parole, and the other gets a tune up and free waxing?
This seems to be one of those subjects where the more I think about it, the less sense it seems to make.
*still in dragon form*
Me: wow a cliff hanger
Robot: I see a dobby moment happening
M.wolfdragon: wow six dead, one still a mureder, and one with grief and loss now this can only end badly
F.wolfdragon: money the hurricanes will still want to us the prisoners of Tartarus just to win
7751099
Luna got locked away when Celestia handled the Elements. That might also change things. Luna didn't get purified back then either, she got the lockup treatment. Purification seems more like a thing the Elements do now that Twilight's posse uses them.
Two words: The Dazzlings. They were depowered, not locked up, and didn't accept friendship.
It's also possible Providence isn't totally evil (anymore), like Tirek or Nightmare Moon were. And Discord the first two times. Nightmare Moon intended to turn Equestria into Pony Mordor, after all.
7751117
Perhaps it would have been more accurate to say that they were forced into a state where they could no longer cause any more damage, or that they were "imprisoned" in the bodies of powerless teenage girls. The point is, they stopped being a threat, while Providence quite emphatically did not.
7751158
That's a fair point. Well, we didn't know how much of a threat Luna was after getting purified, but her later design suggests 'not much'. And I'm personally surprised the minotaur managed to impale Celestia just like that right after getting a Rainbow Deathbeam to the face.
To be honest, I... don't think what happened this chapter makes that much sense, considering what happened at every other time during the show and the movies. The turning him back to life thing does, that he can still spear Celestia like that when he should be horribly weakened, not so much. Like drama for drama's sake. I know that's not the nicest thing to say, but until we get an explanation that clears this up, I don't have another ready.
GG Drangon Aliance you f***ed up hard. Luna won't play nice anymore as will most of the ponies. Plus you let Samhane slaughter some of your soldiers. All because you let 5 idiots in command. I hope some of your dragons will see where this will lead and just leave.
Talon take your squad and go, please.
7751171 No worries, honest feedback is always appreciated. You'll get a better idea of what the Elements of Harmony did to Providence in the next chapter, and you'll also see why it let him keep his power. You can probably figure it out on your own, but here's a hint if you'd like one: Something still needs to stop Samhane's murderous rampage, and such a fight would be extremely hazardous for Celestia, Luna, and the Element Bearers.
7751436
Interesting...
7750774 Simple, to get rid of those who fight purely to destroy and cause chaos.. Yes, he acknowledged what they were doing was in blind rage, but also stated that it was revenge for the fall of Minotaur kingdom. So unlike Tirek, Discord, and Luna, he has a reason that is still considered pure.. the others are essentially just killing at this point.