Chapter 73
Tʜɪs ɪs ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴄʜᴀᴍᴘɪᴏɴ, Lɪᴍᴀ? As I ʟᴏᴏᴋ ᴜᴘᴏɴ ʜɪᴍ, I ғɪɴᴅ ʜɪᴍ ʟᴀᴄᴋɪɴɢ. Fᴏᴏʟɪsʜ. Hᴏᴛʜᴇᴀᴅᴇᴅ. Iᴍᴘᴇᴛᴜᴏᴜs. Eᴀsɪʟʏ ᴍᴀɴɪᴘᴜʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ. Nᴇᴇᴅ I ɢᴏ ᴏɴ?
Flicker found himself looking up at his own corpse, which was skewered onto a sharp iron spike that protruded from the top of the wall. He had been cut open in dozens of places and there were parts of him that were hanging out that shouldn’t be. After shuddering in disgust, he turned about to face the two ponies and the zebra that stood there with him.
“I stand by my choice,” Lima said as her body took on a defiant stance. “Who are you to judge me, Chronos?”
Looking around, Flicker found himself frozen in a moment of time. Shards of glass were still suspended above him. Flames licking out the window had become solid and unmoving. His own blood was not dripping. Nothing moved. After much looking, Flicker focused on Lima, whom he knew.
“What’s going on?” Flicker asked.
“An ending,” the dark, unknown alicorn replied.
“Flicker, this is Chronos and Pale. Do not anger them.” Lima’s eyes narrowed as one of her dreadlocks reached out, grasping for Flicker, and then stroked his cheek. “You have fallen, my champion.”
For some reason, Flicker wasn’t as moved by the news as he felt he should be. He looked at the dark alicorn, then the pale one, and found both of them studying him. He was dead, it was over, and Flicker supposed that his soul would be measured before he was carted off to whatever afterlife awaited him.
“Chronos, you can undo this,” Lima said in a pleading voice as she looked over at the much larger alicorn stallion.
“All things must end,” Chronos replied. “Even us. Our end approaches. The Nameless One dies a little more each day and magic grows ever weaker.” The stallion let out a sigh. “I have seen so many ends.”
“So let us choose an end where we die fighting!” Lima snapped while she stomped her hoof. “There are new magics! New means to fight! Look at what the Nameless One’s champion has done with magic! She fights with friendship! Terra Firma’s champion ended the wrongness that was Skyreach! And my champion—”
“Is dead,” the pale alicorn said, letting the words out in a huff. “He failed. Spectacularly. Failure.” The pale one snorted. “Sometimes, I don’t even see the point in trying. Everything goes wrong at some point. That whole thing with Skyreach was a fluke, I say.”
“I’m not so sure.” Chronos’ wings fluttered against his sides and he turned a piercing, imperious stare upon Flicker. “I was wrong about Skyreach. It isn’t often that I am proven wrong. Lima’s words bear much conviction. She believes, Brother.”
“A stopped clock is right twice a day—”
“Don’t even talk to me about clocks,” Chronos commanded while his face was overcome with an irked expression. “Silence your tongue, Brother.”
“What happens now?” Flicker asked.
Staring at Flicker, Chronos’ mouth became a tight, pinched straight line beneath his nostrils. Pale looked away, looking at Flicker’s corpse. Lima stared at Chronos with pleading, sorrowful eyes. Flicker found that he could not bear Chronos’ gaze, so he looked down at his own front hooves, which were transparent at the moment.
“Turning back time has consequences, especially with all these lives involved. There is a price to be paid.” Chronos looked away from Flicker and instead focused upon the colt’s corpse where it hung on the fence. He took a few steps, paused, reached out a wing, lifted up a shredded tatter of Flicker’s protective gear, and then stared at the pale blue crystal heart hanging from the dead colt’s neck.
Cᴜʀɪᴏᴜs. Tᴇʟʟ ᴍᴇ, ᴄᴏʟᴛ… ᴡʜʏ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴏɴᴇ sᴜᴄʜ ᴀs ʏᴏᴜ ʙᴇᴀʀ ᴀ ᴍᴀʀᴋ sᴜᴄʜ ᴀs ᴛʜɪs?
Trembling from the change in Chronos’ voice, Flicker tried to look at the dark alicorn and found that he couldn’t. Majesty radiated from Chronos in waves, a tangible, kinetic force. Flicker felt like he was all of five years old again and part of him wanted to grovel on the ground. The sounds of clocks ticking filled Flicker’s ears, along with chiming bells, perhaps an indicator that his hour had come?
Having died, knowing that his friends were dying, his beloved guild was dying, Flicker felt rage bubble up from within him. The rage tore open a chasm of rebellion, and something truly awful came crawling out of Flicker’s subconscious. “Fuck you, you pompous prick, I don’t have you tell you shit. My reasons are my own.”
Hᴀ!
Lima’s sudden outburst was like a thunderclap and Chronos raised one eyebrow as he turned to glare at her. After a moment, he focused his commanding gaze upon Flicker, and his ears pivoted forwards. Pale began sniggering, but after a deep, resonating growl from his brother, Pale fell silent and dropped into a submissive posture.
“The unmitigated gall…” Chronos muttered and then he drew in a deep breath in hopes of recovering his patience. “The audacity from this little twerp!”
“The reason why I chose him.” Lima lifted her head as high as possible to challenge Chronos, and her ears angled out in an aggressive manner over her face. “In the face of gods or Grogar, he will be defiant until—”
“Enough, Lima.” Chronos said the words and the zebra mare went silent as she dropped into a more submissive stance. Her ears drooped and she averted her eyes from Chronos, focusing on Flicker instead. “Silly zebra, do not confuse bravery with thick-headedness and stupidity.”
“Thick-headedness is a virtue,” Lima retorted, keeping her eyes on Flicker.
“Wait… is that… is that the reason why you chose him?” Chronos blinked a few times as the stunning realisation dawned upon him. “You chose the most thick-headed mook you could find… you picked a palooka to go into the fight?”
This time, Lima did look at Chronos, and her eyes narrowed. “That’s right. I did. It’s not always about the biggest, the strongest, the bravest, or the most courageous. Sometimes, it is about the last one standing. I would have Grogar tire himself out on this one so that the other champions stand a better chance.”
“I… I… you… Lima… I can’t even!” Chronos sputtered, spitting out each word while shaking his head. The corner of his eye twitched in a most frightful manner as a terrible, terrific majesty continued to radiate from him.
“When he dynamited the bear, I knew he was my champion.” Lima’s eyes narrowed even more, becoming slits. “I wanted a palooka. It is my desire that Grogar be exhausted when the inevitable fight comes. Already, he has the souls he craves to make himself a new body. He will live again. The fight is coming, mark my words.”
Pale snorted, but said nothing.
Extending his wing, Chronos wrapped it around Flicker’s neck and pulled the colt closer. The dark alicorn sighed once, then a second time, and on the third time, he shuddered. “This can’t be done without cost, colt, and the price is a terrible one. Harmony has a way of correcting itself if you work against it. It has to be give and take. What are you willing to give?”
“What do I have?” Flicker responded. “I’m dead.”
“I’m holding the one valuable thing you have left.” Chronos’ words were a soft, velvet whisper spoken into Flicker’s ear. “The world has grown… there are so many now… so, so many. I need willing servants. There are many souls in need of harvest, in need of guidance… in need of rest.”
“If I serve you, then how do I go back and fight?”
“I will give you a life,” Chronos replied, his lips brushing up against Flicker’s ear and causing it to twitch. “I will give you a life, but it will cost you a life. Your soul however… will belong to me until such a time that I die.”
“So, the end of time.” Flicker blinked, which was quite a peculiar sensation, being dead.
“This is not an easy bargain.” Chronos’ words were tinged with sadness and regret. “It is longer than you realise… do not be hasty. Flicker Nicker, you were a good pony in life, living in service to others. You have a marvellous afterlife awaiting you. Do not so carelessly throw that away. Your last words spoken were ones of love, not contempt and hate. Something beautiful and wonderful awaits you.”
“I would rather fight.” Flicker leaned against Chronos because the embrace was comforting and it brought peace to his troubled soul.
“Let me show you what awaits you should you fight…”
Chronos’ horn ignited and blazed brighter than Celestia’s sun. The air was filled with the sounds of ticking clocks and Flicker’s eyes went wide. A dull, vacant expression could be seen on the colt’s face and his mouth fell open. Flicker, no more than a naked soul, his eyes went glassy and blank as he was shown forever, a near eternity of servitude.
Then, Chronos’ horn went dim, Flicker blinked a few times, and shook his head.
“That wasn’t so bad—”
“That wasn’t so bad?!” Chronos’ mouth fell open, aghast, and Pale began sniggering again. “That wasn’t so bad? Are you daft? I just showed you bloody forever and it makes most ponies who see it go insane! Even ponies who are currently missing a body react poorly to it, it’s bloody forever, you barmy twit! A thrice damned eternity!”
“It was orderly and had rules,” Flicker said as he rapidly recovered his senses. “I like orderly things with rules. They’re comforting. It means I don’t have to think as much.”
“Colt, you just might be the most thick-headed pony to have ever existed,” Chronos stated, and awe was evident in his voice. “I think if Grogar himself was to show you the Black Void, you’d just shrug it off.”
“This is why I chose a palooka,” Lima said again. “His brain has the consistency of a well-boiled pudding. There is no better defense against the madness and insanity that Grogar is sure to bring to bear.”
“When Chronos showed me forever, I never quite recovered.” Pale lifted his head, sniffled a bit, and shook his head. “It’s all so pointless… so meaningless… I don’t even know why I bother. All that is left is this dreary half-existence.”
“You’ll have to forgive Pale,” Lima said to Flicker. “If you showed him a glass with some water, he wouldn’t see it as neither half-full nor half-empty—”
“No, it’s a glass that I’m stuck washing ‘cause nopony else will. It’ll just sit there, forever, until I clean it up. So it goes.” The pale alicorn let heave a sigh that was pure, concentrated ennui and he gave a flap of his wings. “Oh no, I can’t clean that up, I’m Chronos, the Master of Time, and I have to police the timeline and protect it, Star Swirl this and Starlight Glimmer that… I can’t be bothered with such trivialness—”
Reaching out his wing, Chronos slapped his brother upside the head and then let out a frustrated snort.
“—hey, ow!” Pale gave his brother a wounded look and then backed away with his tail tucked between his legs.
“I want to fight.” Flicker raised his head and looked up at Chronos. “Let me fight. Give me the means to correct my mistakes. Give me another chance. I just lost everything I hold dearest to my heart, and I’m still willing to fight. I’m not willing to give up just yet.”
“Lima Bean, are you willing to share your champion?” Chronos turned to look at the much smaller zebra mare.
“I suppose that I could.” Lima gave Chronos a duck-lipped stare of curiousity and several of her dreadlocks formed question marks around her face.
Sighing, Chronos held Flicker close a little longer, and his affection seemed genuine. The big, dark alicorn looked over at Flicker’s corpse, still suspended in time, still frozen at the very moment of the colt’s death. Flicker found comfort in the embrace, but he had learned already that some of the hardest ponies in the world were also the kindest.
“The foe you face is named Contagion,” Chronos whispered to Flicker, “and he is mighty.” The alicorn stallion gave Flicker a squeeze with his wing and drew in a deep breath before he spoke again. “As the rats gained sapience, Contagion rose among their ranks. He is enshrined, Flicker… the rats pray to him and this has started him down the path to a form of godhood. This… enshrinement gives him certain powers. It makes him strong. His magic is miraculous. He is not so different than the princesses that you worship and adore. They too, are enshrined. The prayers you offer give them strength, boost their magic, for such is the nature of living alicorns and other beings who have been touched by the divine.”
“You died, didn’t you?” Flicker asked, his voice soft and almost foalish.
“All three of us,” Chronos replied. “Grogar killed all of us. One by one, he did us in, destroying our beautiful and noble pantheon. When Terra died, I… I lost my mind with grief. She was a good and dear friend to me. I was a bit like you. I rushed into battle and I didn’t care. My brother, the good and loyal sort he is, he followed me. Which was pretty much what Grogar wanted. Before he killed me, he made me watch as he tortured Pale to death. My brother paid for my stupidity.” For a moment, Chronos looked over at his brother with sad, regret-filled eyes. “I know what it is like to go berserk from loss… and before this is over, you’ll know loss.”
“Lima?” Flicker peered over the feathers of Chronos’ wing over at the zebra mare.
“I don’t remember who I was.” Lima looked away and she stared at the tower from which Flicker had been thrown. “I only remember that I was a mother fighting to protect her foals. I died to Grogar’s shadows. Chronos and Pale gave me an opportunity to keep fighting, so I did. And so old Lima Bean shall fight until the end of all time.”
“Are you ready to return?” Pale asked, his voice solemn and low. “It will be painful… it will be the worst pain you will ever experience… harmony does not like it when the rules are bent or broken. You will pay for existing past your point of expiration. Plus, your body is well and truly trashed at this point. You died a bloody mess, colt.”
“I can turn back the hands of the clock, but know this… there is still a pound of flesh that must be paid. Hennessy has been ambushed and mere moments from now, he will die. Piper’s blood burns with the same poison that weakened you, and Sterling Shoe suffers as well. Before this is over, you will lose one of them.” Closing his eyes, Chronos bowed his head. “Who dies, Flicker Nicker?”
Knowing that he had to make a choice, Flicker agonised over the decision…
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8027924
Flicker founds the Underwatch.
Wowow two very full chapters. I like the the personalities you have coming through and the pantheon building is great in terms of the gods. I'm glad to see more of Lima interacting with her champion, but I'm wondering how Flicker will change becoming Chronos' as well. Keep up the good work I enjoy reading the Weedverse immensely!
Chronos shows Flicker the Total Perspective Vortex and he just says "Is that it?"
He is going back but needs to choose... Harsh
Hmmm. While I am sure it is Sterling who dies based on us only seeing the 3 of them in Quesadilla, I just adore imagining Flicker being hardheaded enough to tell Harmony "Go Fronk Yourself" and save all 3 of them.
8027983
Seriously. Flicker could stare into the Void, tell it to go Fronk Itself and the Void would probably shit itself from sheer terror.
OK here's how I see this - Doc is going to die. Doesn't matter that we saw the remaining three alive in Quesadilla because, things can change over time (ponies come, ponies go), but for now, I'm betting Doc is going to die. The reason is that the other three are the ones who need to be the ones to win this battle. Doc did his time already: he trained Flicker.
Now, as for Lima, I believe she is, or is an agent of death. Chronos is obviously (Father) Time. But Pale confuses me. I could see him being death, but if not, then who is he. (He was in Skyreach, right? If so, I'm still confused about who he is from that appearance as well.) Please unconfuse me about Pale.
And, damnit, Flicker - do you know how much the Guild armorers are going to cry when they see what you did to your outfit?
As quoted in LOTR Gandalf remarked that Barliman Butterbur was not a quick thinker, "yet he can see through a brick wall in time (as they say in Bree)."
Oooh! God metaphysics!
I know I should probably be sad about Dr Sterling almost certainly being about to die, but God metaphysics!
Quick question, were the Powers mortal when they "died" or was Grogar killing them at that point an act of deicide? Pretty certain it's the former, but want to check before I make another mistake, and I'm trying to work out if a particular trope applies (Came Back Strong).
I'm guessing the reason that Lima was able to save Piper way back without a mentioned Balancing Death's Books is the difference between "Going to die" and "actually dead".
8028009
Pale guards the boundary between living and dead. Lima is the psychopomp and carries them across the border. Pale ensures they are safe once they are there.
8028009
There are many reapers, Lima being just one of them.
Pale is the guardian of the realm of the dead. Mister Mopey acts as a protector to make sure that the dead get the rest that they deserve. He has a bone to pick with Grogar because, necromancer.
8028009
Didn't Doc also mention that he'd wished to die with his friends? My memory ain't the best but I think Doc said something along those lines...
8028021
When Grogar tore through the pantheon, he was killing immortals.
That is what makes him such a threat. He was killing beings who should not be killable.
Chronos and Pale are dead gods, more or less.
8028027 Thanks.
8027339
There are still rats alive in the world; he'll find a way.
Sort of like he just did. You know, because he's...
Ok, let's just face the facts as we have them here. Flicker Nicker is Caleb: Impulsive, vengeful, and probably the best there is at getting past the impossible.
He's too stubborn to quit.
He's too stupid to die.
Welp, was good to know you Sterling.
8027996
If anyone could do that it would be Flicker.
The word 'is' is missing after the word 'this'
Contagion, eh? This was probably all part of Grogar's plan, steal some rat souls, bolster their minds, give them purpose, then naturally as a consequence they enshrine Contagion, giving Grogar a potent pawn or at least an ally born of mutual interest.
Flicker Nicker, even Hush is like, "Dang that guy's tough."
Glad to learn more about the original alicorn crew from back before the fall of the Centaurs. Important to note that death is within the domain of time and its boundaries.
Flicker faces a tough choice on the surface, but then again he already has his orders.
8028027
Oh, I thought Pale was a paranoid android...
Sweet jesus this is tense.
Wait I'm missing something. We see all three of them in the Quesadilla Conquest and that's after this considering how they are called the Underwatch. All three of them are alive so how can one die now?
8028161
Flicker was spared by turning back the Clock but someone must replace him, and there are 3 he can save, 2 we've seen alive in the future. But like I said Flicker likely tells Harmony to go Fronk itself and save all 3 of them.
8028122
Also, he has Promised to look after Hennesy and Piper. But like I said, I bet Flicker is hardheaded enough to tell Harmony to Fronk itself and save all 3.
Chronos after Flicker's outburst: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6CU13zpRdc
8028192 It'd be nice if you were right.
8028023
Yes, Doc feels bad that he wasn't in Manehattan to help defend his friends. So, I think if he goes here he's not going to feel bad AS LONG AS his death has meaning, such as defending Piper, Hennesey, or even Flicker (as if, but who knows).
Sterling has to die here, the others are too important to the cause, Piper and her flute, Hennessy and his nose, and Flicker with his sense, without all three, the quest will fail
Sterling.
Ah yes, the 'meeting the Goddess' stage, soon to be followed by the 'loss of the mentor'.
Lord Death of Murder Mountain is not particularly whelmed by the eternity of orderly fighting that is the 'price' he has to pay for this time-rez.
Ooo, so a rat demigod in-progress. Now there's something that needs to be nipped in the bud.
Edit: Also, I feel like I should note as is my usual practice that Flicker just bound himself to yet another master. I've honestly more or less forgotten how many there have been at this point. Good thing they all still seem to more or less have the same or compatible goals.
You die and are met with beings of transcendental power. Do you argue? Do you greet them with a smile? Or do y...
...or you could do that.
So he is now the champion of Time and Death, as well as the Grim Reaper for eternity once he dies
...Flicker is ultimate goth
Hmm ok... where is the Underwatch mentioned? is it just the lone reference in Princess Twilight Sparkle and the Quesadilla Conquest? Or there is other things? because I keep getting lost with the references...
This really is Elder Scrolls, specifically Skyrim where, in order to save the word, the protagonist has to pledge his eternal service to a jerkwad of a deity.