Things were not at all happening the way Olive Branch had thought they would. He was trying, and failing, not to show this, much to Celestia's continued amusement.
"I have her drugged!" he yelled. "She won't be awake..."
"You're lying," Celestia said bluntly. "You would have brought that up first thing if it were true, and you're far too nervous besides."
"...Well, I have others! The Element of Loyalty, and a member of the Wonderbolts..."
"The fastest flyer in Equestria and a member of the military? Do you honestly think that will work out better?"
"You can't take that chance! I'll send the signal right now and have them killed."
"Go right ahead."
Olive Branch gaped. Even Luna looked a little unsure at the bluntness of the statement.
"Tia..."
"You're bargaining with their lives! I knew it, you're a tyrant..."
Celestia put her face very close to the unicorn, causing a shiver to run down his spine. She spoke slowly, menacingly.
"Rainbow Dash, as you said, is the Element of Loyalty, as in, loyal to her friends, loyal to her town, and loyal to me. She wouldn't want me engaging in actions that would harm others, even to save her own life. And the Wonderbolt? It doesn't matter who it is... likely Soarin, I'd guess, Luna told me they were dancing together at the wedding... every member of that squad has pledged to serve others with a level of conviction that a pony like you can't comprehend. So go on, send your signal. I will not disrespect their values to appease a foal like you."
Silence hung in the air.
"Fine," Olive Branch said angrily, lighting up his horn.
Speedy Delivery glared at his two captives, watching as Rainbow Dash struggled, trying to work her way out of the bonds. It was no good, they were tied too tight. Soarin had not put as much effort into getting free, but was instead carefully talking to his captor.
"Do you really think this will work?"
"I know it will work," the mailpony said dismissively. "Celestia is a foal. An invasion happened right under her nose. She'll fold to Lord Olive Branch's commands. Then, when he is king, he's promised me a place in his court. I'll be able to pull my wife and daughter out of poverty."
"Scootaloo's going to suffer no matter where you take her," Rainbow Dash spat. Speedy made a move to hit her again, but by now she was too far into the cage to be hit.
At that moment, Speedy Delivery straightened. Then he let loose a sigh. "Just got the word. See, this is what your Princess thinks of you. She won't even give up her power to save your life."
"I wouldn't want her to," Soarin spat.
"Neither would I," Rainbow Dash added.
"Idiots," the mailpony muttered as he placed the key in the cage lock. After opening it, he grabbed a knife, not a fancy one, just a sharp looking kitchen knife, and came towards them. He passed by Soarin and straight to Rainbow Dash, giving her a kick to the muzzle. As she cried in pain, he spoke. "This is what you get for trying to take my foal away from me." He raised the knife up.
A hoof to the back of the head stopped him as he fell to the ground. Soarin was up, and he tossed aside the ropes before clenching on to Speedy's fallen knife.
"How'd you get free?"
"These were amateur knots," Soarin noted around the knife as he cut through his marefriend's bonds. "Honestly, this whole thing seems pretty poorly planned out."
As soon as her binds fell away, Rainbow Dash was in the air. Instantly she regretted it. She felt dizzy, like she had just done several aerial loops. “What th...”
“It’s the drug,” Soarin said. “Whatever they hit us with still has us dizzy.”
“Then why doesn’t it affect you?”
“It does, I’ve just been trained to handle myself. Now come on, Speedy won’t stay down forever.”
"Then let's get Scoots and get out of here!" She quickly sped out of the cage and up the stairs.
"Wait! They might have..."
As soon as Rainbow Dash opened the door, a blast of magic sent her to the bottom of the stairs. A unicorn and an earth pony pushed their way down, effectively blocking the exit.
"...backup," Soarin finished wearily.
The unicorn aimed and fired at him, which missed him by a great distance thanks to his superior combat training. In no time at all he was on his opponent, striking him in the eye. The pony grunted in pain as his comrade struck Soarin on the head, sending him staggering to the ground.
Rainbow Dash, recovered, flew to help him, but another blow to the back to the head sent her to the ground. As she groaned, she flipped onto her back, looking up at the very angry face of Speedy Delivery.
Another blow to the face, and another. By now Rainbow Dash was sure she had a black eye, and she felt blood caked on her upper lip. She dodged the next stomp by shifting a bit, then swung her foreleg upward. Her aim was true, and she hit Speedy, not too hard, but hard enough to stop the attacks momentarily.
That moment was all Rainbow Dash needed. She let loose a flurry of strikes, each hitting the object of her rage. Her punches weren't as strong, but they were much faster, and he was showing clear bruises, unable to get his own hits in.
After a few moments, she decided to fly back and slam down onto her opponent. She flew back, and found herself hitting the wall.
Suddenly she struck the back of the wall.
It hit her roughly five seconds after the wall did. In tight quarters she was robbed of her greatest strength, her speed and her manuverability. She was handicapped farther than the mere aftereffects of a drug.
The last true fight she had been in was with the changelings, and she was beginning to realize that fighting them and fighting Speedy were different things. The army she faced was made of several weakened units, given strength by sheer numbers. The entire invasion was a ploy to get love, and Rainbow Dash wondered, in the back of her mind, if the soldiers she fought were weak from hunger. Speedy, by opposite, had strength, not Big Mac's level but enough to cause damage. Her punches were certainly hurting him, he could still keep going.
She flew forward to punch him again, but by this time he was beginning to recover from shock. Finally mustering up the concentration, he reached out and struck his opponent in the face. The temporary pause was enough to get another punch in, pushing her against the wall once more.
"So... you can get a hit in that's not a cheap sucker..." She was cut off by a punch to the stomach, and another to the nose.
Before a third strike could follow, Speedy's unicorn companion came crashing down on top of him. Rainbow looked up the stairs just in time to fly out of the way of Soarin and the earth pony, who came crashing down after him in a ball of violence.
"Go get Scootaloo," he instructed as he tried to keep his opponent pinned. Rainbow Dash needed no second bidding. She flew up the stairs, her hooves never hitting the ground at her speed.
She was up on the ground floor before long, looking around. "Scoots? Scoots?"
"You stay away from my foal!" Quick Delivery screamed, coming toward her menacingly. Or at least, in an attempt to be menacing. She ended up stumbling on her face.
Rainbow Dash just stared at this a minute.
"Just... just give me a minute," Quick slurred.
Rainbow Dash refused. She flew back through the house, calling Scootaloo's name.
Owlowiscious was not happy with recent events. Flying into Twilight's home that night had been the best thing that had ever happened to him. He was made a pet, a much sought-after position among animals. It meant escaping mother nature's harsh design and avoiding being prey, or having to take prey. Twilight worked him hard, but fed and rewarded him well, Spike had proven a good companion after his initial jealousy, and he thought fondly of Peewee as an apprentice.
So he was alarmed when he learned of the Changeling Invasion nearly destroying them, further alarmed by Garble and his friends targeting Spike specifically. And now... there was this.
A group of ponies... thirty, at least... were at the door of the Golden Oaks Library. He was currently the only one home, since Rarity had whisked away Spike and Peewee. He could get away quite easily, but there was so much knowledge in this tree...
"Let's burn him out!" a cry came.
"No. If we act unruly, it will alert the town to our presence. We're not equipped to handle a whole population."
"But Rabble..."
"I said no! Don't forget it!"
Owlowiscious was relieved, but this was still a problem.
"Hold still while I get this door open," a voice said, as the doorknob began shaking.
Owlowiscious thought a moment. He wondered if he should try to take them on, but he knew it was foolish. There were a good deal many more than he could hope to make a difference with. He needed to get help.
Stretching his wings, he flew out the window.
Twilight galloped on toward Ponyville, her determination managing to outstrip her cohorts despite their superior physical prowess. Not that this surprised any of them at the moment.
"Twi... what's th' plan when we get into town?" Applejack asked between breaths.
"We find them and kick their flanks."
"Wait!" Clyde said, trying to run up to her. "We can't... take them all on and..."
"You can't," she clarified.
"But won't this cause more problems? Dragons are already known for causing..."
"I. Don't. Care."
"Wait!" Clyde grabbed her by the foreleg, nearly causing her to fall. Skidding to a stop, she turned and glared at the rockfarmer, magical energy glowing in her eyes. "Let go of me," she demanded.
Clyde gulped, but held his ground. "Please, Miss Twilight, just listen..."
"I said let go of me!"
"Twi!" Applejack yelled, grabbing her friend. "Remember th' weddin'? You lost it like this an' it just made everythin' worse?"
That snapped Twilight out of her rage. Her expression was stunned for a moment. Then, tears began forming in her eyes.
"But... Spike! My son..."
"Ya can figure this out, sugarcube, I know it."
Twilight took a few deep breaths. "We... we need to think about this on the way there," she said at last. "We can't afford to wait here."
"Why don't we just teleport?"
"I wasn't thinking at first," she admitted. She blushed. "But it would be a bad idea. With how far of a head start we got, we could end up teleporting right in the middle of the mob. I don't think even I could fight them all of if they lunged at me all at once."
"See?" Clyde said. "I think a more rational means would work better."
"I guess you're right..." Twilight was silent for a few seconds. "And I know just the trick. Come on, we better get moving, I'll think of something."
Rainbow Dash found her in her room, curled up onto a ball on top of her cover, sobbing her eyes out.
"Scoots!" she said in alarm.
"R-Rainbow..."
"Come on, we're getting out of here!" the older pegasus said, moving toward her.
"B-but my d-dad..."
"Scoots, forget him!" she yelled. "He's trash! Come with me, I'll make sure you never get hurt again!"
"But..."
She was cut off by Speedy tackling her to the ground. "Get away from her!"
"You get away from her!" she shot back, wildly swinging her hooves.
Scootaloo wailed, but it did nothing to stop the two brawling ponies. She hopped off her sheets and scooted under the bed, trying to hide from the melee between her two loved ones.
"No, Scoots! Run!"
"You stay put, you little brat!"
"S-stop it!" she sobbed. "Please, just... stop!"
"Scoots, please..."
A swing of the hoof to her stomach silenced her. "See? This was never a problem before she came along. She's ruining your life just by being in it!"
"Shut it!" Rainbow Dash roared, trying to get the upper hoof.
Speedy Delivery wrestled with her eventually landing a blow that sent her back into Scootaloo's end table, causing the lamp resting on top to shake. Undaunted, she grabbed the lamp and tossed it, striking him in the side of the head. Speedy hit floor, groaning.
In a flash, Rainbow Dash was on the floor, belly first, reaching under the bed to get her student.
"Scootaloo, please, come here."
"N-no," she sobbed, scooting back. "Please, Rainbow Dash, just go. He's already really mad at me, you're just going to make it worse..."
"I'm going to make it better! You won't have to put up with your dad ever again, I promise!"
"But..."
"Listen, I know you think you have to be loyal to him, but you don't, because he's not loyal to you. If he was, he'd treat you better than he treats you. He keeps telling you things that hurt you, but I've seen what you can do! You're an amazing filly! You deserve better than this creep! Please, Scootaloo... don't let him treat you like this."
Scootaloo shook for a moment. Then, slowly, she started trotting towards her.
"That's it... that's it..."
And then the lamp came down on her.
With a cry, Rainbow Dash's head hit the floor. Speedy Delivery stood above her.
"Scootaloo... you're in trouble."
Celestia hated the taste of popcorn. And yet, it best made her point, so she continued to pop them into her mouth, her composure never wavering as she watched Olive Branch, who was looking more and more nervous.
"I believe we can give them another thirty minutes," the Princess of the Sun waved it off, clearly enjoying the chance to drop her regal demeanor for a time. “Maybe they just have a miscommunication.”
Olive Branch just sat in a puddle of his own sweat, clearly not happy by the recent turn of events. He should have gotten confirmation that his hostages were dead by now.
“Must we continue to play this game, dear sister?” Luna said. “I think it’s clear the Bearers are in no danger. Let us commence with the arrest.”
Olive Branch’s eyes widened. Luna noted this and decided to add, “I believe this constitutes high treason, with compromising several of Equestria’s defenses. The sentence could be severe.”
“Indeed it is,” the older sister answered. “I really wished to hear from Twilight first, but I’m sure she’s fine. Unless, of course, you have any other futile attempts to add?”
Olive Branch sighed, looking resigned. “Very well,” he said. He lit up his horn again.
There was fire. A ball of it. Not used as a weapon, as Luna thought it was at first. It simply engulfed the three ponies that had tried to blackmail them moments before.
“What? No!” Celestia yelled, suddenly feeling alarmed. She cast a spell in an attempt to stop what she recognized the spell was doing, but it was in vain.
When the flames dropped, there was only scorched tiles left. Olive Branch and his assistants were long gone.
“A teleportation spell... clever,” Celestia sighed, poking the floor with her hoof.
“He couldn’t have gone far,” Luna said quickly. “The castle is defended against unauthorized teleportation in or out. What was that foal thinking?”
“Perhaps he was being foalish,” Celestia said. Then, her eyes widened. “Or perhaps he set up a distraction so he could slip out...”
Outside the walls of the palace, the guards were beginning to feel more at ease. Not completely, but enough that they had managed to convince themselves that this wasn’t going to be a problem. The group of ponies, and it was a large crowd, were still waiting for Olive Branch to emerge and let them know what victory they had won today. They were shooting the guards dirty glares, but so far nothing had happened that had required them to step in.
That is, until a ball of fire erupted in between the guards and the crowd.
“Citizens of Equestria,” Olive Branch’s voice erupted from the flames, “If you’re hearing this, it means that I have fallen. As I suspected, Celestia has had me killed for speaking out against her. But even though I have fallen, my ideas live on! I beseech you, storm the palace now and fight back! I did not go down easily, and she is weakened! You saw she can be defeated at the wedding, now go forward and do your duty!”
The guards eyes widened. They looked at the crowd, hoping that the crowd would be questioning whether it would be really worth it to go against the immortal sun goddess.
As it turned out, they didn’t. Some surged forward immediately. Desperately, the guards put their shields up.
Had the numbers been smaller, they could have won. But it was only a handful at the door on what had been expected to be a peaceful day. They were overwhelmed. Thankfully, they hadn’t been blood-crazy enough to do anything more than knock the guards out. They had bigger fish to fry.
'saw the update, came running.' more please!
Not sure how to feel about RD being pretty much totally useless in a fight. Considering how much butt she kicked during the changeling invasion, I feel like she should be doing a much better job. Though I do support how she would not know how to untie her bonds, as that kind of thing requires practice I don't see her reasonably having (unless she's secretly kinky).
Ah'm abou' ready tae shove mah scottish hoof so far up Olive's arse.
(Scotland is well known for it's Shire and Clydesdale horses)
... You are just doing every fucking thing to drag this bull-crap out, aren't you?
Dumb-asses are just digging themselves deeper.
Scoots, you can beet that bastard who dares call himself a father. Aim for the Crotch , that's his weak spot!
I was desperatly hoping for a rage-fueled ass-kicking by Twilight...Alas, my hopes are shattered..
Well at least she's probably going something clever
Oh my...this story gets better and better and better...
And Twi listening to reason? Hmm...bringing up the wedding was a good move by AJ to make Twi slow down and think.
But why isn't Pinkie saying anything at all during that scene?
The fight was good, I thought. RD was brash and more concerned with getting to Scoots than actually winning, at least, that's what I'm assuming.
The whole Olive Branch thing...I don't even.
So, are we ready to bake yet?
Olive Branch why do you continue to act so stupid? Do you not realize that your plan has failed? What makes you think lying to the public so many times entitles you to immortality and god hood?
I beg of you, please stop this foolishness and surrender peacefully. If you continue to exist all you'll suceed in doing is causing innocent ponies to get hurt and Equestria to fall.
As for you Speedy Delivery, do you think your daughter is going to love you when you drugged her idol and threatened to kill her? Your daughter has oppened her eyes and she sees you for what you are, a heartless monster who never deserved to exist. So tell me, how does it feel to know you've lost the love of your only daughter?
You two can run but know that such a thing is the coward's way out. Rather then face justice and admit you were wrong you continue to act stupid and selfish. I'm sure there'll be a special place in Tartatrus for the both of you, and the same goes out to Rebel Rouse and anyone who's willingly supported your policies.
2807888But if they come quietly we can't torture them.
Wow. Just wow. MOAR!!!!
Kufufufufu~ I cant wait for more. Keep up the good work. Kufufufufu~
F1utt3rShI~
"Sometimes I think the universe just waits for me to get cocky." - Egon Spengler
And that's what happened to Celestia. She was so cocky that gave him an opening. Now she has a horde of Equestrians storming the castle, looking for blood.
Well well well... Oliver Branch isn't a complete idiot. But he still failed significantly, It'll just take longer for him to be put in jail.
I do wonder how they'll settle the riot.
2807897 Oh well, some ponies just never learn. I just hope he won't get away scot free. I hope that as soon as the dragons find out he double crossed them for a news story they hunt him down and burn him to a crisp. Then when's he only got an inch of his life left they drag him to their cave and beat him senseless.
As for Speedy Delivery I want his drunken wife to inadvertly spell his doom. Like maybe distract him so Rainbow Dash and Soarin can rescue Scootaloo and push ol Speedy down a long flight of stairs without wings.
And Rebel Rouser, I want the mane six and Spike to drive off his army with a single magic blast (no one gets hurt, they all run away screaming because they value their life) and then teleport him to the mayor's office with a note saying "Arrest me!".
2807863
Ey, it's a damn good story.
Yes, I'm getting upset at the cliffhangers too.
2807830
We are talking about someone who can destroy 2x4 support beams with her teeth, accidentally break through the foot thick walls of Twilight's house with her head, and survive flying into a cliff so hard it fractures without more than mild disorientation.
All this is is unbelievably dragging things out for false drama, because everyone is thinking "If she was anything like she is in the show, this would have been dealt with ages ago".
Scootaloo, smoke that loser like it ain't no thing!
Well shit. Guess things aren't gonna end so cleanly after all. But here's hoping that when it does all those idiots following Oliver Branch are locked up. And in Speedy's case, beaten within an inch of his life then locked up.
Seeing this update made me log out of WoW to read it. Kudos.
You know, I recently came to a conclusion, that this current part of the story, while I absolutely love it as much as rest, couldn't happen in MLP universe. And I don't mean it in a way that they wouldn't shop it on television. The problems that were presented lately, with this revolution and all, are fairly common in real world (hell, there is currently something going on in Egypt), this is a magical world of ponies. While it isn't exactly perfect, and not everypony is nice to others (Blueblood, et cetera), Equestria is... I don't know how to properly desrcibed it, as just saying 'better' would be both understatement and untrue. The ponies just love their Princesses, as seen throughout the series with ponies cheering at them and bowing before them, without fear on their faces (but maybe with nervousness). Heck, if we had somebody seemingly immortal, we would probably made him our ruler, too - I mean, when you think about it, such person would have in short time much more experience with rulling that anybody, and it would be doubtful he would scheme for more power, as being immortal he would be more patient, and wait for people to give him more power on their own free will. Which, for all we know, might have happened with Celestia and Luna.
Don't get me wrong, I am not writing this to voice my displeasure with the story or something, as I don't have anything to be displeased with (althought, I suppose it will depend on the ending, I have few suggestions as to what should happen with Olive Branch and Speedy Delivery, or rather, this guy has them:
). I just wanted to make an observation about my own view on public relations in Equestria.
2807943
I'm not denying that I think it started out decent, but it's an arc decay. We're stuck dealing with cliffhangers and, as someone else says, false drama because the main characters are weakened to make this stupid villain harder to beat.
So... a bunch of chaos in Canterlot and Ponyville. Well, I can't see this going horribly wrong in any way at all.
2807996
Well, really, the chapters are within 2-5k words, and were this a complete book instead of chapters being posted as they were written, the effect would be a lot less...painful.
Not saying I disagree that it's getting tedious; for a few months I would actually tell friends NOT to read Families because it was cliffhanging over and over.
2807950
While I am agreeing that Rainbow seems unreasonably underpowered here, I think I know the explanation for it, both in-story and author-perspective.
In-story, I'm guessing that the stress of her worry over Scootaloo all this time combined with everything else means she hasn't been taking as good care of her self as she should have been. That, plus the drugs in the meal, means she's likely functioning at about 50% of full capacity or less. That and her attentions are divided between fighting off Speedy Delivery and protecting/saving Scootaloo, whereas Speedy Delivery is convinced Scootaloo will stay out of the way and so can focus on Rainbow.
Author-perspective, I'm betting the plan is for Scootaloo to have one last full stand up against her father, where she delivers the knockout blow, or at the very least a key strike that changes the flow of battle at just the right moment, possibly including a bit of a rant/rave against him. That would certainly be important for Scootaloo to fully break free of her folks so that she can end up adopted by Rainbow without any 'what ifs' bothering her.
...at the very least, I'm hoping for Scootaloo to do more than just cower.
2808032
Yes. It is getting rather annoying for me as well. Firstly because it was starting to go down this path without a Dark tag (which there is now, thankfully), and because of these cliff-hangers. At this point, I'd probably just tell people to steer clear of the story until this whole arc finally resolves.
2807996
There's an effect for that.
Speedy Delivery and Olive Branch are douchebags. Especially Speedy.
That is all.
2807950 Fair point, been awhile since I've rewatched any of the show episodes so all the feats of RD kinda slipped my mind.
Dash was to weak in the fight.
Frankly I don't think she'd go hoof to hoof anyway. She'd be slamming into him fast with her body or using her back hooves to buck him. I mean you have seen how she matches up well to Applejack, right?
As for Olive Branch's plan, I fail to see how this does anything for him. It gives him some time to escape maybe, but does nothing for his goals
Just please, end the story. All you're doing is showing the ponies of Equestria don't deserve their heroes. Stories like that suck
Okay, Olive has got a little of my respect back. I wonder how Spike and Rarity are doing?
Yes, Celestia can be defeated. She can be defeated by a queen changeling glutted on the love between one of the strongest unicorns in the nation and a demigoddess of love. The only edge these would-be revolutionaries have is that she's not willing to hurt them.
As for Scootaloo... well, we'll just have to see. Though Soarin is still unaccounted for.
I'll give credit to Olive Branch for this little diversion, but even this will not be enough to fulfill his plans. He's still royally screwed by making Twilight angrier than an Ursa Major.
On another note, how long should The Struggle take? Two to three parts?
Holy. Fing. Smoke!
I am shaking right now, my arm hurts and I feel a pressure in my chest. Congratulations, DarthLink, your chapter gave me a heart attack, now excuse me a minute...
*Grabs a green 'shroom ~ 1up!*
Much better. But seriously, this was the most edgy chapter of Families so far! And I love it! I'm already imagining what will happen with both mobs at Canterlot and Ponyville, one of them involves an awesome counterattack similar to the one in 'the Beauty and the Beast' (Oh, I saw what you did there... I think). Please write faster, I want to see what punishment you give to those two bastards. Specially Stupid Delivery!
Dash is a black belt. She's not a push over by any means, let alone her raw physical ability which allows her to fly, while carrying 3 wonderbolts and a unicorn. You definitely miss-characterized her in that fight, by at least 200%.
I do hope you get to the point soon, this is starting to get tedious.
Well, this is escalating into full-scale revolution quickly.
I'm geniunely surprised that Olive Branch's followers didn't kill any of the guards protecting Celestia. I know you're probably trying to avoid a body count (which given the circumstances of the story are next to impossible since this is a freaking revolution we're talking about), but killing the guards, while it would have been Moral Event Horizon worthy for the entire movement, would have been a smarter move for the anti-Celestia protestors since it would provide them less chance that the guards would come back to try to make a successful counterattack.
Also, something tells me how Speedy Delivery is going to punish Scootaloo is going to involve Rainbow Dash...
2807950
Rainbow Dash from the show would have beat the snot out of all the people in the house, then beaten the entire mob in town without breaking a sweat if you want to look at it from that point of view.
Rainbow Dash as she's shown in the show is almost never used in fiction because of that.
Personally, I'm more interested in a Rainbow Dash that isn't overpowered.
2807982
This is a horrible argument. You're treating the entire country like a hive mind that can only ever think one thing.
Dash should have pounded Speedy until the point where he needed hospitalization.
When will Olive Branch learn?....
So what happens when Olive Branch reveals himself to be alive so he can take credit for this really really pitiful revolution?
"Lord Olive Branch! Your message said that the princesses killed you!"
"I got better."
"We...we killed so many guards because we thought...I...wow."
"...I got better. That's all that counts."
You know, a lot of you are really coming down on Speedy Delivery hard, and I don't understand why. Let him make his own case:
His whole reason for doing this is because he loves his daughter. Because he feels that he's not able to give her the kind of life that maximizes her potential. He felt, quite surely, that there was no way out, and that it was his fault: Not because of economic conditions, or just plain bad luck, but because he looked at all those successful ponies who never seem to work as hard as he does and have gobs of money, while he works himself dead and barely has the bits to get by. He believed, firmly, that he was doing something wrong, and that maybe he didn't deserve to have the family he does, because his life has no value.
And then along comes this successful, intelligent, charismatic gent, Olive Branch, who says to him, "I know it's hard, but I have the solution. I can help you, if you help me." You see, what Olive Branch is leading is not a political movement.
It's a cult.
2808629
he abuses her. That nullifies any claims about protecting or helping her.
Seems most people are complaining about cliffhangers and Olive Branch's tact. The former, I don't understand the confusion; this is a fanfic story, cliffhangers at the end of chapters is usually a norm. The latter, I just want to say, not every villain is the Joker; if every villain was a diabolical genius, then we really would be doomed.
I love how Owlowiscious has his own opinion. Hooray for owls!
So Olive Branch has teleported away. I think I know where he is going. I don't know HOW he is going to make it work, I just want to see where it's going. I want to see where all of this is going. The best stories are the ones you cannot predict what is going to happen!
And on a side note, I just love how Speedy was bragging how Olive Branch was going to raise him up in the world when at the meantime, Olive was ratting him out. I know some people think he's too powerful, but right now, Rainbow Dash has been drugged, beaten, and is struggling to save/convince Scootaloo; who's to say that Speedy isn't a brawler? After all, he's an abusive pony, he's probably been in fights! It's not so much that Rainbow Dash has to be beaten by him to show he's dangerous, because even if Dashie has a black belt and is tough, we never really see her showing off physical prowess like that.
Granted, that's because Rainbow Dash isn't going to beat up ponies in the show (Changelings yes, but not ponies).
But I am rambling. I was so excited to see this, and sad to see the end of the chapter. The intensity is what makes it fun to read! And also, drunk Quick Delivery was hilarious; way to get plastered on the night of the most important day of your life, ya stupid mare.
Olive's a damn moron.
2808678
He does that because he honestly believes he has the only way out of their current predicament. He honestly believes that he is doing what's best for her, and when she questions that, it causes serious cognitive dissonance: He's doing what's best, and everyone who's in on it with him reinforces that belief, and if he knows best, then his daughter will do what he tells her, so he has to make sure she does what he tells her in order to continue rationalizing his treason.
You might be surprised at what you can convince yourself to do when the circumstances are right.
2808496 Maybe Soarin will save her.
I hope Scootaloo ends up standing up to her father; raging and screaming at him for being a piece of shit and bucking him as hard as her little hooves can right in his balls, because I think an abuser's worst fear is having the person(s) they're abusing and holding power over stand up to them.
2808210... How in the he'll is this story showing that Equestria doesn't deserve it's heroes? The ponies with Olive branch are more than likely the minority, and the heroes need challenges to overcome, and each chapter keeps adding to those challenges.
If you can't appreciate this beautiful story, then don't read it.
Both Celestia and Luna are stupid. Why didn't they put a dampener ring on OB? Duh...