A Rather Large Adventure

by BradyBunch

Chapter Sixty-three: The Ultimate Dilemma

As a pony who tried his best to be the best he could, Noble Blade couldn't help but subconsciously notice that there wasn't a barrier to his way of thinking. Not that he wanted there to be, but it was taught that barriers pushed you forward and helped you develop character. Strong Heart was very adamant about letting him know that.

Which was why Noble Blade admired Freedom Fighter so much, and, to a lesser extent, Firestorm as well. And, of course, Fluttershy. Each of them had lives filled with barriers in their everyday life that made ordinary things harder. Whether it was bodily scars, mental health defects, or simply a fear towards everything, Noble couldn't say he knew what they were feeling, but he admired their struggles nonetheless.

He had his own problems, of course. Mentally escalating the pressure on himself to become a perfect pony was a problem he had subconsciously noticed within himself and was only pointed out recently by Fluttershy. But that wasn't nearly as much of a trial as anxiety, or depression, or autism.

He knew that he hadn't had to go through as much mental progress as the ponies he admired, of course. He'd be a fool not to. Which was another driving factor in his desire to be utterly selfless. The least he could do was give all he had to them in exchange for their struggles. He could afford it, after all. And the more he gave his efforts, the less others had to.

Was that true honor, though? Noble had perceived a pattern in the course of events for their Elements. There had to be a test of some kind, something to take them out of their element (so to speak) and still have them display that Element when times got tough. Was his way of thinking enough to get him through his own test? And if not, how could he modify himself?

...And that led right back to endless self-improvement. Maybe that was his barrier. He was trapped in an endless spiral!

Noble groaned, tired from the day's activities, and leaned on the wall. He was outside the wood-paneled bathroom on the second floor, listening to the swish-swish of the shower as Fluttershy cleaned herself in there.

She was humming a tune that made his mind melt. It was high and rose up and down, and was barely audible through the drumming of the water on the tile, making Noble pay close attention to her song.

"I know you're out there, Noble!" Fluttershy's muffled voice suddenly called through the door.

"...No I'm not!" he responded. As soon as the words left his mouth, he winced. That was stupid.

Fluttershy only giggled. "Silly knight."

"Shoot!" he whispered. What now? Back away discreetly? Join her? Which was the right choice?

"Wanna...come in?"

Noble felt himself freeze on the spot. His mind went black. Feeling his legs fill with lead, rooting him to the spot, he managed to let out a not-quite-so-signified, "Ahh…"

The door to the hallway burst open, and in bounced Freedom Fighter. He was practically doing ballerina steps, humming some tune he made up on the spot. Tiptoeing for a few feet, he lept gracefully in front of Noble Blade, spun to the edge of the hall on the other side, and slumped against the lavish wall, falling slowly to the ground.

Noble's mind had immediately been taken off of Fluttershy. "Uh, thou shalt holdest that...thought...est!" he yelled through the door.

"What happened? I heard a bang!"

"It's just Freedom Fighter."

"It's okay. I'll just, um, finish up in here. I'm almost done anyway."

Noble shook his head. "Freedom, art thou…"

Freedom Fighter's laughter grew louder and louder until he was almost roaring. Noble noticed and held his tongue. What was this about?

"Ah-ha-hee! Ha! Whoo! I did it! I did it! I freaking did it, finally, and I didn't make a fool out of myself! Hahahahahaaaaa!"

"I can understand the reason to celebrate," Noble slowly began. "I would too. Your scars are gone! That's great!"

"No! No, no, no, you don't get it! I actually managed to-! Well, it's kind of a stupid thing. Why am I talking so much? I love talking! Talking is amazing! Don't you think?"

"...Are you high?"

"High in the clouds, Noble!" Freedom bounced back to his hooves, prancing around the knight. "And guess what? I was in the clouds with Twi-" He cut himself off with wide eyes all of a sudden, and then forcibly stuck his metal hoof in his mouth.

"What?"

Freedom took his metal hoof out, dripping with saliva. "Don't make me say it."

"Say what?"

"Don't make me say it!"

"How will I know what you're not going to say if you don't tell me, Freedom? Come on, tell me what you were keeping secret so I know why it's a secret."

"That's a trap, and you know it. And traps are bad."

"Unless you spring the trap."

"I guess." Freedom Fighter began to chuckle uncontrollably.

"What's so funny?"

"Springing the traps...ha! Don't you get it? 'Springing' the 'Trap?' It's…" He gave him a blank stare. "You really have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

"Well, obviously! You never told me!"

"I am now!"

"Is springing a trap like an expression now?"

"I made it up on the spot."

"What's it about?"

Freedom Fighter tried to restrain a smile. "You know hermaphrodites?"

"I already hate where this is going."

"Well, if you get one of them excited... you'd be... springing... a trap." He nodded. "Get it now?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Noble pinched his nose and began to walk in the other direction.

"Hey! Hey! Come on, come on! That's just where my mind went!"

"I'm pretty sure I've said this to you, but thou hast a messed-up brain."

"Says the pony waiting just outside his girlfriend's bathroom door."

"Th-thou shalt... shutteth… uppeth… thy... mouth-hole, or I shall do thee an injury!"

"Not gonna work on me anymore! I'm a lizard now! I can just regenerate myself if I get hurt."

"That's…"

"I think my aunt Mary was a lizard or...no, a lobster! Yeah, she was a lobster. I think the village elders would go into her tent and pull on her tendons when she fell asleep to make her lobster legs move."

"Get real, Freedom."

"No, no! I'm serious! One time we did it at my tenth birthday party powwow. We got her walking all the way into my uncle's tent to have some freaky times with him when the sun went down!"

The shower abruptly cut off. "What?!" exclaimed Fluttershy from the restroom.

"I've got a split personality here, Fluttershy! I can't help this!"

Sounds of fumbling came from inside the restroom, and a few moments later, Fluttershy came out, her hair in a mountain atop her head covered by a white towel. She was still glistening from the shower. The pegasus gave a glance at her sweating, red boyfriend, and when she saw how flummoxed he looked, she smiled, giggled and strutted past him, giving his chin the slightest flick of her tail before trotting off.

Noble's gaze turned around and lingered on her as she cantered away.

When she disappeared, he turned back to Freedom Fighter. He was looking much more disapproving and serious than before, Noble noticed. "What?" he asked.

"I know what you're thinking."

"I don't think it was all that subtle, to be fair."

"You just can't wait to take things up a notch, can't you?"

Noble Blade gave him a funny look. "Look who's talking! You literally just made a joke about hermaphrodites!"

"One for your side," Freedom Fighter said. "But I'm being serious here. We need to talk."

"About me loving Fluttershy? I don't see anything wrong with the natural escalation of our progress."

"Natural escalation," Freedom Fighter sardonically repeated. "Slamming the shyest pony face-first into the mattress of the Storm King's ship is natural escalation?"

"That's…" Noble started, then cleared his throat. "A rather merciless way of putting it."

"How would you describe it, then?"

Noble thought about it before putting it as delicately as he could. "Consummating our love for each other?"

"That can wait. It's up to you to decide, but I've lived for this long without that, and I'm doing fine."

"You also didn't have the, ah, capability."

"And I managed to stay sane." He rolled his eyes. "Semi-sane, but I didn't go mad. Too mad."

"You're digging a deeper hole."

"Tell me this, Noble. Answer me. How much do you love Fluttershy?"

Noble Blade took another glance down the hallway she had disappeared from. The perfect mare...what would he do for her?

He took a moment before addressing Freedom Fighter once more. "Is that even a question? Move the mountains and calm the seas and stop Celestia's sun in her tracks."

"If you really love someone, then wait."

He blinked. "Wait?"

"What you're wanting is essentially the most vulnerable thing anypony can do. You're butt naked, dehydrating, worried about your performance, and, well, sticking a body part into another person."

"Leave it to you to put it so bluntly."

"By all means, then, this vulnerable, sacred thing shouldn't be wasted because you feel horny this one time around your girlfriend. Don't you think?"

Noble conceded the point. "You've got it."

"Yeah, sex is good," Freedom Fighter admitted. "But don't care that much about it. I have experience. I had my balls sawed off."

"You have them back now."

"And that's good! I like having genitals! Big surprise, everypony!"

"The sarcasm there was rather subtle."

"My point is, Noble, that if you really love someone, you won't make them do that with you until they're actually ready. That is not something that should be devalued and thrown away. I should know. I've been devalued before. I don't want you to have it experienced as well. Sex is a treasure. Treat it as such."

Noble Blade had nothing more to say. Freedom Fighter's advice was ringing in his ears. His previous thoughts of Fluttershy had faded away into hazy strips of fog in his mind.

He felt utterly ashamed of himself for even thinking like that about the girl he loved. Did he really see her in the moment as nothing more than a hole in a hunk of meat? Honor was supposed to mean something! He had been selfish. Stupid! How was he expected to bear that Element if he never exemplified it?

"I've got something else to tell you."

Noble looked up, not wanting to meet his eye. "What is it?"

"You're next. Or Starlight Glimmer."

Wow, Freedom Fighter picked up well on his mental cues. "I know." He sat on his rump and put his chin into his hooves. "What can I expect?"

"That's what I was about to tell you." He sighed. "You know how I'm not so... psychopathic anymore?"

"I'll admit, it's a nice change of pace. How'd it happen? Did it just come with the scar removal?"

"No. Underwater, just before I got the Element of Sacrifice... I was instructed to live a better, higher life."

"By who?"

"You aren't going to believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

"Faust."

"Faust?"

"I told you you wouldn't believe me."

"It's not that I don't believe you! Just... how did it happen?"

Freedom Fighter tapped his forehead as he tried to remember. Noble waited patiently.

"I was in the pit of despair," he began dramatically, waving his hooves. "The adversary was about to snatch me in his tentacles. An agent of Solaris it was, hideous and evil."

"My word!" Noble said, giving a gasp. "Did you die?"

"Sadly, yes," he admitted. He clenched a hoof. "But I survived!"

"Thou art strange."

"As I was about to die, a light appeared in the midst of the abyss. It drove the devil off. And as I drew my eyes upon it, the voice spoke to me."

"What did it say?"

"My son. Oh, my son! Fear not. Look! And rejoice! Your trial is past!"

Noble's not-so-serious demeanor had faded away. It had been replaced by one that meant business. "This is what... Faust said to you?"

"Yeah. Why are you asking?"

"I guess I'm just surprised, is all. I never would have thought that would be what a... goddess would say to a normal pony. What was she like?"

"She was calming. And caring. She was even... playful."

"Playful?"

"I suppose that's what I needed."

Noble didn't respond immediately. His pale blue forehead was creased as he pondered. When he opened his mouth again, he asked, "What did she look like?"

"She had no form. Just a ball of light. But that light drove out every shadow in the room. At the same time, it didn't hurt to look at it. In fact, I felt better and better the more I looked."

"Huh? I thought she was a pony of flesh and blood."

"We were thousands of feet beneath the surface of the ocean. Appearing in a physical form wouldn't have been the smartest idea."

Noble pursed his lips. "Faust is... nothing like I imagined. Casual? Playful? Tailored to each of her children? Those aren't the terms I'd use to describe the queen of the universe."

"What did you imagine, Noble? A strict, drunk auntie that beats her kids for not putting the dishes away? Goddesses rarely work so harshly or ostentatiously."

"What more can you tell me about Faust?"

"She's a very calming influence. If you're surrounded by fear, chaos, or pain, she can easily dispel all of those. Again, I should know. I've... felt all of those."

A bit of silence arose between them. Noble was pondering on all the dark warrior had told him.

"Is there a way... I can gain her presence?"

"She's still a goddess. She chooses when to interfere, not us. Our job isn't to order her around. Our job is to coordinate our will with hers."

"I don't understand Faust. That's the problem."

"You don't need to. That's what having faith means."

Noble Blade gave him a funny look. "What's gotten into you? I don't remember you ever being particularly religious. What changed you?"

Freedom Fighter tapped on the yellow stone embedded in his shoulder. "This."

"...Freedom?"

"Hm?"

"Will the Element of Honor change me?"

"It changed Firestorm. It changed me. And the girls are who they are because of the influence of their Elements. Chances are, it'll change you too."

---

Firestorm was lying awake in the dark in his quarters. Rainbow Dash was beside him on his bunk bed, snuggled up close to his back, wrinkling the blankets atop both of their sweaty bodies.

His insomnia was part of it. And the Element of Courage, glowing a bright orange on a nightstand, was helping to keep him awake. But his lack of sleep came from another restless source.

Freedom Fighter.

Firestorm still had to remind himself of it, he was so shocked. His best friend was whole once again. When he had first seen his perfect body, glowing like polished gold, Firestorm had to suppress the tears. But they had come anyway.

He was just so... unbalanced. So many things had happened in the past few days. He needed rest. So why on earth couldn't he get it?

He stretched his sore body out under the blanket they shared. Rainbow stirred in her sleep and opened her bloodshot eyes.

"Sorry," he whispered.

"What are you awake for?" Rainbow whispered back. "We gotta sleep…"

Firestorm put a hoof to his chest. "Moi? Sleep? I'm the picture of health! I'm perfec-hughh! Hugghhh! Ugh! Oh!" He began to violently cough. After sniffling, he finished. "I am absolutely healthy."

"You're just pretending, dummy."

"Dummy? Why, I'm hurt."

"Oh, you are? Nice to meet you. My name's-"

"If you finish that sentence, I'll…"

"You'll what?" Rainbow dared, curling up a bit of blanket with a hoof and biting her lip. "Move to the bottom bunk without a snuggle buddy? Or push me off?"

Firestorm found it hard to focus when she did hot things like that. "Snuggle buddy?"

"What? Doncha like it?"

"It's the last thing I'd expect coming from you."

"It's the best way to describe you, Stormy." She scooted closer to his back. "Mmm…you're hot…"

He froze up. "I... would agree with that," Firestorm admitted with exaggerated humility.

Rainbow made a surprise poke on his belly. "And squishy."

Firestorm turned beet red. "I'd rather not focus on that part. I'm a total beefcake."

"Nah," Rainbow yawned, making a high, cute yelp. Smacking her lips at the end of the yawn, she dreamily continued. "You're... the best pony... in the world!"

Firestorm nodded as best he could in his awkward position. "Apart from you?"

"Of course," came Rainbow's lazy affirmation. After another yawn, she blinked hard. "Man, now I'm awake. I gotta go back to sleep now."

"Which means more cuddles?"

"You got it!" Rainbow wriggled into his arms, lying atop him. The blanket was discarded; the heat between them was enough for them.

"If you cuddle too much, I'll tell Twilight you love cuddling."

"You do that, mister, and we're never cuddling again!"

Firestorm's heart leaped in his chest. "Yes, ma'am."

Rainbow laughed for a second, placing her furry ear on his warm chest. "Ah... I could hear your heartbeat speed up, you know."

Firestorm nodded, unsure of where it was going.

"Gosh, it's so strong," she breathed. "Oh, I could fall asleep listening to your heart beating against my head."

Firestorm nodded along, idly tracing a path from the back of her head to the nape of her neck, and then sliding it further down the spine before going back up again to her neck.

"Oh... keep doing that…"

Firestorm obliged. It was an odd way to keep himself tethered to reality. There weren't many ways of making that happen nowadays.

After an indeterminate amount of time, she shifted until she was fully on top of him, chest to chest. Both of their mouths were inches away. Their hot breath tickled the other's lips.

Rainbow began to grind her hips and he felt a jolt in his nether regions that made him snap back to consciousness.

"Babe," he whispered. His voice was hoarse. "What are you-"

"Hush," she breathed. Pinning his biceps to the bed, Rainbow planted her lips on his, continuing to grind her hips. "You'll like this."

Firestorm begged to differ. He could feel himself locking into place under her body. Fear paralyzed him. "Look, we should get to bed, Rainbow."

"Nuh-uh. We're awake now. Might as well do something fuuun!"

Rainbow had probably meant it to be seductive, but Firestorm didn't like it. He needed to leave. This was too much!

He tried to move by sitting up. Rainbow pushed him back down again. For some reason, he felt weaker than he otherwise should be. He didn't want to resist Rainbow Dash. He couldn't conceive of it.

"Shh. Just relax. I'll make you feel good."

Firestorm began to sweat buckets. He was trembling. This wasn't how he wanted it to play out!

"Stop it," he whispered.

"Don't worry. I can fix your fear."

"Stop it!" he whispered a bit louder, scooting back on the mattress. "Let's get some sleep."

"Let me do this for you first," she breathed.

"Look, it was a hot makeout session, lemme tell you, but really, we should sleep. It's…" He checked his wrist. "Skin-thirty! And fifteen seconds past freckle."

Rainbow gave a grumble and forced him back down, staring irately into his soul. "We aren't going anywhere, Stormy. This is our moment. Both of us, here and now. We're making the most of it. Got it?"

Aaaand his stomach felt wormy again. Just great. Why was he like this?

If there was just a way to... say no…

His gaze traveled to the Element of Courage propped up on the dresser next to him. It shone in the darkness, a polished gemstone of divine origin. That courage was his. He represented courage. The will to do things even if you were scared.

The gem glowed a hint brighter as he was thinking so.

"Come on, Stormy. I know, this is really nervous for me too, but there's nothing to fear! Just relax. I'll do all the work. Okay?" Rainbow began to trace his jawline playfully, a grin on her face.

Firestorm shot out and gripped her hoof with his own, holding on with unnatural strength. He stared into Rainbow's eyes with an intensity that surprised even him and grit his teeth as hard as he could.

Rainbow winced. "Hey, come on. That hurts. Let go, will ya?"

Firestorm did not.

"What's up with you, huh? Don't you want this?"

Firestorm beetled his eyebrows closer together in response. It was enough to make Rainbow look unnerved.

"S... Stormy?"

Firestorm slid Rainbow off him with a push and sat up. His entire countenance simmered with fury. He was nothing but a featureless black silhouette, save for his narrow yellow eyes.

Rainbow audibly gulped. "A-are you okay? Are you sure you're-"

A tremble rocked the ship as a colossal boom split the air, and the two pegasi were hurled from their bunk bed and crashed on the ground. The entire ground beneath them reeled back and forth like a drunkard.

Rainbow and Firestorm, after separating themselves, looked up. The furniture in the room had flown to the opposite side, and the bunk bed they were sleeping in was tilting on two legs, about to fall directly on them.

"Get down!" Rainbow ordered, getting on four hooves in time for the bed to fall on them. She barely caught the falling bed's upper frame as it fell, before flapping her wings hard enough and flying high enough to tilt it back onto four legs.

"What the heck happened?" Firestorm screamed, scrabbling through the wreckage on the tilting surface before pulling out the Element of Courage. He flung it around his neck before hurriedly slipping on his combat outfit

"Are we being attacked?" Rainbow suggested, watching him dress in the dark. "Dang it! And at just the wrong time, too!"

"Let's go help the others!" Firestorm quickly volunteered before any more could be said. Slamming the door to his quarters open with his armor halfway on, he sped into the sharply-angled hallway and flew out.

---

By the time Firestorm had flown out onto the tilted deck of the massive airship, he could see Twilight, Starlight, Rarity, Applejack, and Freedom Fighter on the ship's stern trying to keep their balance. He could only see their silhouettes, however, in the dark night air. The engines, belching smoke, were embedded into the back of the ship not too far away.

They were on fire. Flicker-flashes of flame were pinpointed amongst the massive blocks stuck onto the rear. The engines sputtered and made noise as they protestingly did their job of propelling the ship across the murky waters of the night sky.

"What's going on?" Firestorm demanded, flapping above everyone else. Rainbow appeared right behind him, emerging from the living quarters. He hovered behind Starlight and pushed her upright just as she was about to stumble.

"I think we're being tracked!" Twilight replied. Pointing starboard, Firestorm followed her hoof. Several hundred meters away, a smaller, deadlier ship appeared for a brief moment in the dark clouds before sinking back into the inky blackness.

"The Storm King's coming after us again!" Rainbow exclaimed, gripping her face with her hooves and pulling. "Oh man oh man oh man! This is, like, really bad!"

"Where's Noble and Freedom?" Applejack roared, scrabbling at the deck.

"And Fluttershy, for that matter-r?!" Rarity screamed, slipping on the floor with a thud and sliding down the ship to the railing. "Help me! Help me!"

Starlight braced herself by wrapping her hooves around a steering instrument near the pilot stand, and ignited her horn just before Rarity hit the railing and flew over the edge into the abyss below.

"I'll go look for them on the ship!" Rainbow volunteered, speeding into the ship through the cabin doors.

Twilight lit her horn, gritting her teeth. "Starlight."

"What?"

The alicorn turned around to look at the rear of the boat, where the enemy airship was supposedly circling around. "Get your magic ready. We're going to take this down."

Starlight heaved Rarity to a support beam higher up on the ship before dropping her magic aura and focusing more on charging her horn.

"Guys?!" Rarity wailed, wiggling her hind legs as she dangled on the support beam with her front hooves. "This isn't necessarily a better spot!"

"Port side!" Applejack shouted amidst the chaos, pointing. The ghostly ship had reappeared for a brief instant before melting back into the nighttime clouds. "Bearing close!"

"I saw them too!" Starlight yelled, swiveling her head in that direction while pouring more magic into her horn. "Twilight, over here! They'll show up again!"

"Don't take your eyes off where you think they are!" Twilight ordered, charging more and more power into her horn. A loud whine built up amidst both of the powerful spellcasters.

Twilight and Starlight were sweating hard, and their teeth were ground together as they trembled, waiting for the target to appear. Firestorm couldn't help but sagely flap away from them.

The smaller ship materialized from the dark skies on the port side of the girls. It was manned by all manner of strange green anthropomorphic parrots.

And they were sitting behind three rudimentary cannons mounted on the edges, pointing right at their ship.

"NOW!" Rarity screamed, clutching ever tighter to her support so high up. "Fire!"

As it turned out, Twilight and Starlight didn't need Rarity's order. Bright green and violet laser beams shot from their horns, pulsating and twisting like a drill, and tore through the side of the enemy ship like it was swiss cheese.

At the same time those massive holes appeared in the enemy craft, those three cannons fired. Wickedly sharp hooks with four anchor points shot out, with chains trailing after them like striking snakes. Three harpoons struck the Storm King's personal ship, and the chains attached thereto were cranked back in, so the smaller ship quickly reeled itself to the side of the bigger one, slamming into the edge and making the ship quake once more to its proper slope.

The instant the enemy ship had anchored itself to theirs, the pirates--for that was what they were--leaped aboard, whooping, hollering and waving cutlasses and heavy blunderbusses in the air.

"Lix! Boyle! Take the right flank! I'll take the left with Squabble! Get 'em off the Storm King's ship!"

"Yarr!" they all bellowed, and split into four, rushing the ponies on deck. One large, burly one had an eye patch. Another had a wicked hook on its right hand. A third was entirely bald and pink, old and shriveled. She looked ridiculous, but she was also waving a solid lead ladle effortlessly that could brain anyone it came into contact with. The fourth bird was mindless, squawking all over the place, and held two quick-reload pistols in both his hands.

Twilight flapped up and shot out of reach of the one with the eye patch, who had made a wild grab. He growled and swiped at her again, but Twilight evaded in the air once more, and she fired a hot blast out of her horn right at his butt. He roared, gripping his cheeks, and jabbed his cutlass at Twilight. A red gash opened on her cheek, and Twilight ignited her horn again and gripped his arm in an aura of pink.

Starlight Glimmer had put up a green shield dome just as the bald pink birdie squawked and swung her ladle at her. It bounced straight off and ricocheted to smack her in the face. She twanged for a second before keeling over. Starlight quickly deactivated her shield to stare in horror at her inert frame

"Lix!" cried the large one with the hook. His wild eyes were burning as he fixed his gaze on the unicorn. "Don't you dare run away now! You hear me?"

He swung his hook right at Starlight's face. It would have gouged her eyes out if it weren't for Freedom Fighter, who had popped up and jammed his arm into the curve of his hook.

Boyle, the hook-handed bird, gritted his teeth and jerked his hand away, hoping to yank Freedom Fighter with him.

Freedom Fighter didn't move an inch. Instead, he twisted his arm, forcing Boyle 90 degrees to the left and slamming him down on the deck. In the three seconds that followed, he grabbed the back of Boyle's elbow, unstuck his metal hoof from his golden hook, and swung that arm right on his elbow.

A colossal crack split the air as his arm cleanly broke. Boyle roared and scooted away in fear and pain from the dark warrior.

Squabble, the brainless birdie, kept his lopsided eyes pointed in the same direction as his pistols, keeping Applejack and Firestorm at bay. Both ponies were circling around slowly, trying not to provoke the easily-provokable bird from firing.

"Look at him!" Firestorm hissed to Applejack. "He can focus in two areas at once. A distraction won't do anything here!"

"So what's yer plan?"

"Not even I can outrun a pistol shot," he admitted, and his face was appropriately glum. "If I try to move in on him and he fires, I'm a toasted roast."

Squabble kept on moving his arms wherever Applejack and Firestorm moved. His tongue was stupidly lolling out.

A bright pink ball of high energy whizzed out of nowhere and smacked him in between the eyes. Squabble hung there in midair for a minute before collapsing.

Pinkie Pie rightened herself on two hind legs and, with a grunt behind exposed, bared teeth, put up her dukes. "Come on, you birdie bozos!" she grunted between her teeth. "Get a taste of this!"

"Mullet!" Boyle yelled to the one with the eye patch. "Look out!"

Mullet evaded the whirling pink ball just as it came for him. It shot by while just missing his chest. Mullet swished his saber some more at Twilight while backing away into the center of the deck. The other three pirates were following his example. Squabble was stumbling backwards with no direction, and Lix Spittle, holding her skull, was hissing as she dragged the heavy ladle behind her. Boyle was cradling his broken arm.

As the four broken pirates gathered together, surrounded on all sides by Applejack, Firestorm, Pinkie Pie, and Freedom Fighter, Twilight and Starlight approached them all.

"It's strange," Starlight mused. "These pirates attack us, but without making any attempt to take a hostage or wreck the ship."

"Unless…" Twilight realized, looking at their last stand. "...an elaborate distraction?"

"To hide their primary objective!" Starlight gasped.

Both girls knew in that instant which objective aboard their ship really mattered.

"Tempest!"

A loud, cackling laugh overran their words, and every pony on deck turned towards the spot where the prisoner cage would normally rise. Instead of a cage, however, they came eye to eye with the captain herself. She was an anthropomorphic parrot with a flashy pirate uniform and a large flamboyant hat with several colored feathers embedded in it. A long emerald blade was in place of her right leg.

And beside her was the freed mare Tempest Shadow.

"I would like to congratulate you on being distracted by my dear comrades," the captain started, sweeping her hat off with a bow. "And for allowing me to take my King's Lieutenant back!"

With a swipe of her leg, she slashed through a taut rope and grabbed onto the edge as it yanked her away. It shot her right above the action, and as she was flying upside down in the air, she drew out two quick-reload pistols from her holsters and fired at the deck in front of Twilight and Starlight. Wood erupted in splinters, forcing the two of them back.

Meanwhile, Tempest leaped onto the main deck and blazed a path for Twilight when the gunshots ceased. And she would have made it, too, had Freedom Fighter not jumped between them both, as he had at the battle of Mount Aris. Tempest's striking hoof met hard metal as Freedom Fighter deflected her forceful blow with his left arm.

Tempest widened her eyes.

Freedom Fighter shook his head no.

A right uppercut made Tempest fly back and thud onto the deck. The ponies assembled together into one body while the pirates and Tempest collected themselves. Captain Celeano was at the head of theirs, and Twilight was in front of hers.

"So you must be Twilight Sparkle," the captain muttered in fascination. "The Storm King would want to see you in person."

"Why does everyone want me?" Twilight exasperatedly asked.

"You can lead us to sources of power beyond all imagination," Captain Celeano explained. She leveled her cutlass and a pistol right at her. "Right now, we're at a draw, I'd say. But what will continue to happen if it remains that way? I heavily damaged your engines. You can't possibly stay in the air for long."

"Leave now," Applejack declared, stomping the deck. "What're ya gonna do? Yer ship's still attached ta ours."

"Then we all go down together and the way I wanted us to," Celeano said without regret. "As pirates. As mercenaries of the Storm King, rather than simple delivery boys. I'm proud, you know. When the time came to launch a recovery squad, the Storm King could rely on us."

Mullet, Boyle, Lix, and Squabble all sounded their agreement behind her.

"And we won't move, if it means you'll get away," Tempest finished, bleeding afresh from her abused nose. It was wrinkled and scrunched from all it had taken.

And suddenly, the entire group scrambled back in shock and fear as a long, glowing blue cross flew right at their feet and embedded itself into the deck. Everyone, in surprise or fear, swiveled to the source.

With Fluttershy bravely by his side, Noble Blade was atop a higher upper deck of the airship, right underneath the massive balloon keeping it aloft. His arm was forward but in the process of retreating back from his throw. And his eyes were darkened with the anger of battle.

Popping into existence behind the pirates were Shining Armor and Winter Gleam, who took low stances and circled around them, trapping them on all sides.

Celeano looked to the skies for any means of escape, but Rainbow Dash was there right above them with her dukes up.

Celeano looked past the blazing blue blade in front of her to stare into Twilight's now intense eyes.

"Stalemate?" Twilight asked, an ironic edge in her voice. "Who decided that? You thought you could go out in a blaze of glory? Who decided that?"

Starlight charged her horn with light green energy. "Get off. Our ship."

Her horn's ignition was echoed by the ignition of Twilight's, Shining Armor's, and Noble Blade's, from afar off. Firestorm swiftly drew his twin blades and blazed them to life, and Freedom Fighter did the same with the staves at his flanks. Pinkie Pie and Applejack crouched low, ready to pounce, and Rarity, still wrapped around a beam high above the action, charged her horn as well, though she looked like she didn't know what more it could add.

The pirates collectively took in their position and the odds against them, and quickly decided they had a very pressing appointment somewhere else.

Anywhere else.

They ran to the port side of the ship and jumped aboard their own, anchored to the priceless wooden beams of the pony's ship. Lix and Mullet scrambled over first, followed by Squabble. Boyle, grunting in pain from his broken arm, reached for Mullet's hand with his free hand and caught it.

As Celeano leaped aboard with Tempest following, however, Firestorm roared, "NO!" and tackled her back to their own ship just as she was about to touch down. Tempest and Firestorm tumbled on the deck in a jumble of limbs and ended with Firestorm pinning her down.

"Tempest!" Celeano cried, looking back in fear.

"Firestorm!" Pinkie shouted, jilting her head back. "What are you doing?"

"She stays here!" Firestorm emphasized, yanking her arms the wrong direction. "I won't let her go back and plot against us more! If the Storm King wants her so badly, let him bargain or fight!"

"Get off of her!" Twilight ordered, enveloping him in a violet aura and throwing him off. Firestorm tumbled aside.

Tempest rose on four legs, staring at Twilight. Whether her expression was of admiration or shock or anger, however, no one could say. Her face was simply too ambiguous.

"Tempest," Twilight whispered, almost pleadingly. "I can show you the world as it truly is." She took a closer step. "You are not helpless. Please…"

The jaded mare cast her gaze towards her, then at the ship anchored to the port side and the pirates urging her with their arms to come with them.

Tempest returned to Twilight's eyes, and her clouded greens bore harshly into Twilight's violets.

"Happy trails, Twilight Sparkle."

Her jagged horn ignited with a coil of electricity.

"RUN!" Noble screamed, shielding Fluttershy from what was about to happen.

The other mares, except for Twilight, turned tail and fled as Tempest's powers roared to life. Long white coils of power shot out of every direction as she turned her head, not at Twilight or the deck itself, but at the balloon above them.

It was then that Twilight had had enough.

With a roar, Twilight enveloped Tempest Shadow in an aura of power and hurled her to the edge of the railing, cutting off her channel of electricity as she hit it with a groan and slid to the deck. Tempest didn't let that bother her for long, though, as she only got back up to face her again and summoned her lightning powers once again.

"I watched my friends die once before!" Twilight yelled at her, and her voice was deep with rage. "I won't let that happen again!"

The ship had slowed to a crawl by now. The engines plowing the ship along were running on fumes from the damage Celeano had inflicted.

In the faint firelight, the two tempered mares began to prowl like wolves. Flashes of light from their horns illuminated their darkened faces. From those watching, it was almost impossible to describe the harsh, intense heat in between them both.

Twilight made the first move. She fired a thin stream of violet into Tempest's chest, driving her backward. Her chest armor absorbed most of the magic, but Twilight wasn't intending for that to harm her. She wanted to put distance between her and the power keeping them aloft.

Tempest leaped to the side after several seconds of being driven back, and the purple laser drove into the deck instead, scorching a hole deep through the priceless wood. Tempest sprinted right at Twilight at full tilt.

Twilight could see there was no way for her to evade it in time, so she jumped right at her just before she impacted. Both ponies went sprawling, with Twilight's limbs wrapped around Tempest's body.

"Come on, men!" Celeano urged her crew. "Let's show this little pony how we do it!"

As Celeano leaped aboard with an aloft saber and began to charge, Twilight whipped her head to the parrot.

Her eyes were glowing white. Celeano paused mid-stride.

Twilight's magic covered Celeano. Desperate, she tried to wrest herself free by yanking herself in every direction, but nothing she could do could release Twilight's grip.

Twilight gritted her teeth, her white eyes beetled together with rage, and pulsed her horn.

Celeano bulged her eyes as she began to collapse in on herself. She was being patted into a tight little ball, helpless to change her fate. Limbs bent the wrong way, and her vertebrae were cracking. As she let out a scream of pain, Twilight snarled.

Twilight bent Celeano's spine in half like a piece of cardboard.

Twilight swung her head, and Celeano went flying back to her own ship, struck the deck face-first, and collapsed like a ragdoll.

Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were holding each other, staring and quivering, as Twilight's immense inner power began to release. Rarity, high up on a beam, clung ever tighter, scared out of her mind. Fluttershy and Noble Blade were gripping tightly to the handrails, trying their best to remain safe yet take action at the same time.

Tempest was struggling against her captor. The ends of her limbs flailed about under Twilight's pressure, but Tempest couldn't get up. Twilight simply had too much power.

"You... just don't see…!"

"I just don't see?!" Twilight exclaimed, kneeling on Tempest's back and pressing the tip of her burning horn into the back of Tempest's skull. "I see clearly what you truly are, Tempest! You're another enemy who simply won't change! I gave you mercy. I gave you a second chance! But you will submit now, or you'll die!"

"You don't have it in you, Twilight!"

"Try me!" Twilight retorted, and she struck her across the back of the head. Tempest's skull rang like a bell. "I'll do my best to satisfy you if that's what you want!"

"Twilight!" roared the commanding voice of Shining Armor, and all heads swiveled to the powerful unicorn as he galloped to his sister. Shining reached her and tried to pull on her from behind. "Twiley! Ngh! Come on! Let go of it!"

All he got for his efforts was a swift buck in the face. Shining Armor stumbled back, clutching his face, as Twilight craned her head around to give him a glare of defiance. Her eyes were still as solid white as fresh snow, and her horn was roaring with magical power.

"Sir!" Winter Gleam cried out, pushing him aside. "You shouldn't-"

"She is my sister!" he bellowed. "I won't let her succumb!"

"I'm sorry."

Twilight's voice was distorted and deep and twisted with power. Her mane began to flow freely. "I shall not permit our lives to be stolen by the monsters of this world. They shall flee, or perish! Starting with this monster, right here and now!"

"Twiliiiiiight!"

The alicorn was jolted from behind, and she gave a powerful glare in that direction.

Spike had run at full speed and shoved her in a juvenile attempt to stop her. His little fists were balled and in front of him.

"Spike." Twilight twisted her lips. "Get out of the way! Tempest needs to-!"

"No, Twilight! You need to stop! This isn't like you!" He set his hands on her straddled leg. "Where are you on the inside, huh?"

"Leave me!" she screamed, leaning in close to his face.

"I'll never leave you!" Spike swore, holding on to her tighter.

Twilight lifted her hoof as if to give him a backhand.

"But if you want to leave me…" he continued, staring up into her blank eyes, "then do it. You have no obligation to me. But I do to you. You raised me. You saved me. I just wondered... if I could do the same for you…"

Twilight's hoof stopped. Her white eyes flickered.

Then, she shook her head, blinked hard a few times, and her eyes reverted back to her normal-colored state. Her grip on Tempest lessened.

"Oh, Spike…" she whispered. The corner of her eye was wet and threatening to spill over. "...What was I thinking…?"

The other ponies cautiously approached her, unsure if Twilight's temper was truly abated.

"I don't want to destroy her," she breathed. It was as if she wasn't talking to them, however, more than she was trying to convince herself. "I don't...I can't…"

Tempest gave an upward glance. Twilight's attention was on her friends now, and not on the mare beneath her hooves.

All it took was a swift buck upwards, and Twilight flew off her and tumbled aside. Tempest got up and began to charge her electric horn as she ran to the engines.

"Stop!" Noble bellowed, tearing his blue sword from the deck with his magic. In a form of desperation, he hurled it at Tempest.

Tempest slid on the deck at the last opportunity, and the sword buzzed like a hornet inches above her head and zoomed straight at the engines.

"NO!" cried several ponies, lunging for either the pony or the sword. Noble hastily cut off his magic. But the sword flew like an arrow, and it disappeared into the blocky form of an engine with an audible crunch.

The entire rear of the ship exploded. The ponies flew back from the sheer force itself. The anchors connecting the two ships snapped and broke away, and both boats jolted in either direction. Fire blossomed everywhere.

Their world went white.

---

"So... where are we going again?"

"I already told you, my prince. My people have created a... refugee camp just outside the borders of Appaloosa. You'll fit in nicely with us there until the mess in Canterlot has blown over. See, we're almost there. Look out the window."

The idiotic prince pressed his face against the glass window of the speeding train. It had been easy for K'ra to secretly slip aboard without the conductor noticing, but K'ra was still not taking any chances. He was in the back of the train with the prince, whom he had spirited from the castle.

"It's really dark out there," Blueblood murmured, flicking his eyes all over the place. "Where's Appaloosa? That cluster of lights in the distance?"

"Yes." K'ra tried not to claw his golden eyes out. Or the prince's. He was a valuable hostage, after all. "Just outside the city is my camp, Black Fang Redoubt."

"Black Fang Redoubt?" he repeated. "That doesn't sound very nice. Why'd you name it-" He cut himself off.

"What is it?" K'ra said.

"I saw an explosion in the sky."

"A what?" K'ra was interested enough to press his own black face to the window.

"See? Just up there."

Indeed, an orange lamp was shining high in the cloudy night sky. It was hidden by the low clouds, but the glow itself was spread among the entire cloud line. What was causing it?

Then it pulsed brighter all of a sudden, and a colossal explosion rocked the air. The boom was even faintly heard from inside the train. For sure, the denizens of Appaloosa had heard it.

And K'ra dropped his needled jaw as a tremendous airship dropped from high in the sky. It was on fire from the rear, and the fire had spread to the balloon holding it aloft. It was like a plummeting stone, or a diving whale almost.

"Who do you think…" Blueblood whispered.

The balloon above the ship was entirely on fire now, and was pulling away from the boat beneath. It eventually broke free and hung in the air for a moment before erupting in another massive explosion. But even though the means of keeping it aloft had disappeared, it still came down slowly. Several auras of color had begun to surround different parts of the ship. Two spots were blue. Two were pink. And one was a light shade of green.

"Hang on…" Blueblood muttered, squinting. "That magic color...it's familiar…"

"What?"

"At the Grand Galloping Gala, I saw several mares with magic auras that match the colors I see here. It was... Hang on...Twilight Sparkle! Yeah, her, and her lackey Starlight Glimmer! And... that blue magic... I could never forget a shade of color like that." His gaze narrowed. "Rarity."

"...And where they go, Noble Blade is sure to go as well!" K'ra realized.

Oh, this was a shock. On the one hand, the objectives had fallen, literally, into their grasp. Rarity and Noble Blade would be easy to snag, and once they did, the prince would be placated. On the other hand, these were the Guardians of the Sun they were talking about. Not to mention the unlimited magical potential of Twilight and Starlight, plus the combined powers of the other girls.

The boat had violently settled, if it was possible to describe how it came down. The entry velocity was slower than usual, but it still smashed headlong into the earth just outside the limits of Appaloosa.

K'ra knew what to do. It was a flash of inspiration. He felt a pressure in his chest as he thought about it, and he felt very warm. When he spoke again, that calming influence disappeared.

"Blueblood," he whispered. Hissed, actually. "We'll deliver on your demands."

"What do you mean?"

"Noble Blade will be delivered into your grasp. When we reach Black Fang Redoubt I'll instruct some of my fellows to take him from the wreckage. And then, my prince, your…" What was the best word to describe it? "...rivalry shall end."

Comments

[Jade Dawn]

mememaker.net/api/bucket?path=static/img/memes/full/2017/Mar/8/18/well-im-waiting.jpg

...for the rest of the usual commenters to arrive. And BradyBunch.

[BradyBunch]

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Right about now is where Twilight's lost it. Now more than ever, Twilight needs a shoulder to cry on. The problem is trying to make it work with an OC.

See, OC fics can work in two ways: the main characters get downgraded to pimps serving the OC's every whim, and the OC is there for the weak girls to cry on when something bad happens like rape.

Or, the OC is so weak that he can cry on the shoulder of every mare he sees, and his character is basically just the guy that everyone else lifts up. The girls are downgraded again into either harem wives or doting mothers constantly reassuring the OC that he is greatness incarnate.

Sometimes, the OC can be both. I've seen it happen in other fics I've read. I wish I hadn't. So I avoid those problems the best I can. I think I've done a good job with the character development now, though, don't you think?

[Jade Dawn]

9687140

I think I've done a good job with the character development now, though, don't you think?

Yeah, I think you're doing a phenomenal job thus far.

Now more than ever, Twilight needs a shoulder to cry on.

I think what I'm most concerned about (and this is purely in the context of the story, not the writing) is who's gonna lend a shoulder after that? Twilight just took someone's life (maybe; is Celaeno really dead?), of someone she barely met, for that matter. She saw Celaeno, thought "enemy = bad = kill it so it can't hurt you anymore", and things went from there. This isn't just stealing an artifact like in the Movie. A life–possibly multiple lives–was lost in a deliberate act. She's really crossed a line now, and I'm not sure if she'll ever totally escape the fallout of that.

As for the OC stuff, I know what you mean. I'm having the same concerns with From Far Beyond's Eric Colby. I honestly wrote the character as something of a self-insert; apart from his identity and circumstances, his personality is essentially my own. So I've been trying to find ways to incorporate some of the weaknesses that I recognize in myself (anxiety in new/uncomfortable situations being the major one) into him to give him more of a struggle. I have an idea on how to subvert the "overpowered OC" trope in a way that I think will be interesting, but that comes later. If I even get around to later, that is.

[BradyBunch]

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Celeano was a throwaway character in the movie anyway, so I don't have much to present her with here. What more could I do with her except progress the development of the most intriguing character in the show by forcing her to lose control?

I certainly don't want to say I did a better job than what the movie did, though.

[Jade Dawn]

"I think my aunt Mary was a lizard or...no, a lobster! Yeah, she was a lobster. I think the village elders would go into her tent and pull on her tendons when she fell asleep to make her lobster legs move."

"Get real, Freedom."

"No, no! I'm serious! One time we did it at my tenth birthday party powwow. We got her walking all the way into my uncle's tent to have some freaky times with him when the sun went down!"

The shower abruptly cut off. "What?!" exclaimed Fluttershy from the restroom.

I would've pointed this out earlier if a certain purple somebody hadn't decided to go Hawkeye-Lost-His-Family-mode on us, but...VeggieTales reference!!!

[BradyBunch]

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I absolutely love Veggietales references.

[Jade Dawn]

9688644

TWILIGHT WHAT THE

BUCK?!?!?!?!

My reaction in a nutshell.

Seriously, I hope they can get over this. I already went through one fanfic where I ended up hating Twilight by the end; don't make me go through that again, Brady. Please!

[BradyBunch]

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I actually like Twilight. I'll put her through trials, and she'll change in the midst of this evil, but she won't turn homicidal or megalomaniacal. I like her too much.

[A Man Undercover]

This one took a while for me to finish. Sorry for taking so long.

But, aside from the rather crass jokes and innuendos, which weren’t exactly the most enjoyable and left some rather scarring images in my head...I really enjoyed this chapter. Especially when the pirates were coming into the picture, and the wise advice Freedom gave Noble at the beginning.

The only question I can’t help but have is this:

What happened to the Storm King after his last encounter with the heroes?

[BradyBunch]

10147531
Well, the Storm King is wounded and is recovering. And the pirates are pretty much out of the picture. But it's a good thing you like it. I like it when you catch up. You're awesome.

[A Man Undercover]

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Thanks.

Wait. The pirates are dead!