The Loss
The sun was just beginning to drag itself above the Trottinghamshire downlands when the alarm bells sounded. The orderlies in the place knew it meant a catastrophic ward failure and they rushed to their various defensive emplacements, charging their horns for battle. This was it. They were probably going to die here, but they'd go out fighting for what they believed, or at least what their dark-hearted Mistress believed.
Twilight's rescuers heard the clamour and steeled themselves for the fight, and Luna sidled up to her sister to offer reassurance.
"You know, sister mine, they might have realised we're coming."
"The thought had crossed my mind, yes."
"So, technically, we've given them their one warning." The smile on Luna's face was like her moonlight; cold and silvery, with a distinctly sinister edge to it. "We - I love her too, you know. Though we haven't spoken much since my... bad time, I still do. And nopony deceives a princess of the realm."
Celestia said nothing for what felt like a very long time. Then, slowly, she charged her horn. "Rarity, Ditzy Doo, you're with Luna. If we split up we'll have a better chance of finding Twilight quickly, and we need a unicorn to support Luna's spellwork, the counterwards in particular. You'll pick it up in no time... I have faith in you. Fluttershy, Spike, your job is to deal with the wounded that come out of here. Head for the nearest town and get help from any doctors there. The rest of you, you're with me. Luna, dear, get the door."
Luna's smile somehow got even more dangerous. "My pleasure, sister." She sucked in a breath, trotted at the door, and let loose... something from her mouth. It wasn't sound. It couldn't be sound. Sound didn't create light out of nowhere or cause everypony's stomachs to wobble dangerously or blow huge oak doors into burning splinters.
"Why... why did you say 'force, balance, push?'" Spike murmured from the floor.
"Oh, is that what it means?"
"If we could focus? Ahem..." Celestia's magic touched off and a fireball burst through a painting on the other side of the hall, revealing a steel-walled corridor lit by a flickering striplight. "So predictable. Sun team, with me." A moment later, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie joined their Princess and leapt down the hole.
Luna smiled nastily and marshalled her own group. "Moon team, there's an antechamber to the left that's big enough for a lot of circles. Tell Us, Rarity... did Twilight ever show you what Loss Leader's Incantation of Fire and Screaming can do?"
"I'm afraid I don't recall it, Princess."
In retrospect, thought a thoroughly shaken Rarity about a minute later, the answer should have been obvious.
*******
Through one of the many crystal balls floating in her fortified reading room, Caducea watched the battle unfold. Her security teams had set up choke points at every conceivable location, hundreds upon hundreds of unicorns and innumerable wards both modern and... less so. She'd built up a private army in the years since her release, luring the most twisted in with the promise of unmitigated cruelty and the most intelligent in with that of total, true power.
Honestly, manipulating this species was almost unfair.
Still, Celestia and her force - some creature, to give that kind of power to ponies barely out of their foalhoods - were making headway. It was time to show them old magic, ordered in a way that the creature could not comprehend. She stamped a hoof upon a sigil and her runes flared, her beloved and benighted runes, coursing with power and the desire to kill her princess-
And then her precious wards failed and died, shattering like a dropped wine glass and dissipating into the ether.
Caducea let out a grunt of disbelief. As if in reply, she felt new wards flare, wards imbued with the monstrous power of their alicorn creator. The doctor could hear those new wards echo through the hospital walls and rain down blue-tinged fire upon her orderlies. Sirens wailed and the sprinkler system went off, but the volley of runic magic had done its job. Twenty lay dead at the crossroads and Celestia strode through unimpeded, her lackeys breaking down the doors and setting the terrified prisoners free.
"The other one," Caducea muttered, before tapping her hooves across a medley of wicked brands burned into her steel-plated floor. The runes fired and magic shrieked in the air, yearning to be set loose and steal the very souls of those who would defy their mistress.
"Shining Light!"
The tall unicorn appeared in a billow of sulphurous smoke a few paces behind her. "You summoned me, Mistress?"
"Take whatever you need and find the Dark Princess. Kill her and any of her followers. Slowness would be appreciated but is not vital."
"Oh, thank you, Mistress," Shining Light almost shouted, her face twisted in some parody of happiness. She spent a few minutes hastily attiring herself in warded barding, then a flash of malignantly pink energy sent her to where she needed to go.
*******
"Do you know, that one's actually quite lovely to look at," said Rarity as her magic drew another glittering purple rune in the air. "What does it do again?"
"The rune, Miss Rarity, is called Ur-Jepheth-Nartizeth. It is an ancient sigil from the Ibisite magical tradition, and it causes ponies' blood to boil in their very hearts." Luna's face was a mask of concentration, patterns dancing around her traced in the blue flame of her magic. "It is an instrument of slow and agonizing death. It is not lovely."
"Uh-huh... so, not the perfect motif for my spring collection, then?"
"Indeed not."
"Alright then. Let's just keep doing what we're WAHAHAHA!" The white unicorn shrieked and leapt out of her skin, jumping over a spell-bolt that would have made the metaphor much more literal. Clouds of brackish green smoke followed it and from them emerged a tall, very beautiful pony. But the beauty was off, like a record played at the wrong speed; her smile was bright, but glinted with the promise of murder, and her deep blue eyes held no more life than the chips of lapis lazuli whose colour they had taken. A slim, slender, far-too-perfect smile spread across the pony's lips and kept on spreading like oil on a headland until it showed glinting, vicious-looking teeth. Ditzy scampered off up into the rafters and curled up in a tight ball, whimpering and clutching between her legs.
"Well, well, well... the little blue princess came back. Love your new mane, that pale turquoise was getting to be so tacky."
"THOU SHOULDST NOT TREAT THE ROYAL PONY SISTERS WITH SUCH DISRESPECT, TRAITOR!"
Shining Light (now Rarity could place the name, and it set her teeth grinding) giggled in the face of the Royal Canterlot Voice, the runes on her barding glowing a diseased-looking mustard yellow. "Why break the habit of a lifetime, little one? And let's face it, you are the little one... not as good as Big Sister, not as good at magic or politics or self-control... you're just less."
Luna growled and stepped out of her warding pentacle. "I HAVE STRENGTH ENOUGH FOR THIS!" Her horn shone with a piercing light that forced Rarity to shield her eyes, and the magic touched off with a hideous shriek of pure power. The tall unicorn dived out of the way as Puppy Smiles' Invocation of Horrible Magenta Death smacked into the wall behind her, rolling and firing off a string of hexes in a truly ancient tongue. Ditzy screamed and shot from the room, Rarity chasing after her as fast as she could.
Luna paid them no heed. She let her turquoise glare focus on Shining Light and bellowed a challenge, the pulse of sound knocking the cackling unicorn clean off her hooves; the ensuing barrage of spells and swearing forced the princess to throw up a hasty shield and remark how much behavioural standards had slipped these days. Shining Light roared back and shot bolt after multicoloured bolt at Luna's head, ancient spells with incantations in the tongue of the Precursors' mad, dead gods exploding on the crack-strewn shell of magic.
The princess had no choice; she flared her wings and took off, letting the shield dissipate and blasting her foe with a vicious green bolt the mare barely avoided. She had much greater difficulty avoiding the swarm of venom-dripping spiders that erupted from the impact crater and expended a great deal of fire magic and profanity tearing them apart; the flames roared up almost to the ceiling before Luna's magic froze them into great pillars of glassy-faced obsidian. At a pulse of hornlight, the stone shattered into razor-sharp fragments that flew like a swarm of hornets at the unicorn. One sliver of rock slipped by unnoticed and caught the berserk unicorn amidships, scoring a thin red line across her flank before it bounced off of the barding and embedded itself into the wall alongside its peers. As Luna landed, charging her horn, the unicorn ran her hoof along the cut and gently lapped up the blood.
"Mmmm, lovely... not quite as delectable as your big sister's little squeeze, but we can't have everything, can we..." Luna's spell sputtered for a moment before dying outright; Shining Light let out a little shivering gasp as she cleaned her hoof. "You know the best part, little one?
"We made certain that she likes it."
Luna's eyes narrowed, and she charged.
*******
After chasing her quarry through what felt like an eternity of samey-looking corridors, Rarity finally had her quarry cornered in a dead end. Ditzy dropped to the floor, an utterly defeated look on her face.
"Darling, what are you doing? We have to go back and help Luna!"
"And get killed, Rarity? Really?" Ditzy's voice was high and cracked to the point where you could hear the tears she was trying to hold back. "I'm not about to die and leave my children behind - we're not rich like you. You don't understand what I have to lose-"
"Who does Dinky play with the most, Ditzy Doo?" murmured Rarity, the low hum of her voice cutting through the explosions of magic echoing off the walls. "When she goes out to play, who does she play with?"
"That club with the silly name, the Cutie Mark Something-or-others," said Ditzy after a little thought.
"Crusaders, darling. Sweetie Belle is my little sister, Applebloom is Applejack's, and for all her protestations to the contrary Rainbow Dash loves Scootaloo as if she was family. We've all got somepony to lose here. That's why we're all fighting..." the white unicorn paused, and then her expression hardened. "But that's not why you're running, is it." It wasn't a question. Ditzy Doo just looked at the floor for a minute, the crash of breaking stone coming from farther up the corridor.
"She hurt me, Rarity... when I was a filly she hurt me bad, r-real bad. I was one of the older girls, and... Celestia tried, but by the time she'd rescued us all from that, that evil place, it would have been too dangerous. I love Sparkler with all my heart, but-" The grey mare got no further, her already-rasping voice fading and dying like leaves on a fire. Rarity did nothing, could do nothing, save listen and hold her tight, the sounds of Luna's duel ringing in both ponies' ears.
After what felt like an eternity, Rarity spoke again. "Ditzy Doo, I need you to do something for me."
The grey mare snuffled a little and looked up into rich blue eyes. "Y-you do?"
"I do." The unicorn nodded and gave Ditzy a reassuring stroke along her back. "I need you to find me a tapestry, darling, as fast as you can manage." Her tone was down-soft and reassuring, like a mother telling a beloved child that it would be all right in the end. Ditzy smiled and stood up, nuzzling her friend and bringing a blush to both their faces once she'd stopped.
"Okay. Do you want any other cloth as well?" Confidence was slowly seeping back into the pegasus' voice.
"Anything you can get me, dear heart."
Ditzy gave some approximation of a salute, rose into the air and blurred off. Rarity sighed slightly and fished around in her memory for what Luna had told her about runic magic. This was almost certainly not going to work.
But she had to try, for the sake of her friend.
*******
Deep in the bowels of Moon River Hospice, a group of toned, muscular unicorn stallions were sat behind an armoured, spike-fronted barricade that closed off the hallway. It was warded to the best of their not-inconsiderable abilities, and Trottinghamshire steel was the finest in Equestria bar none. They were confident ponies, steeped in dark, strange magic that made ancient Zanzebranean voodoo rites look like flower-growing spells and levitation. They were convinced they could take care of the single pink earth pony that came bouncing towards them.
Even from two corridors away, Princess Celestia could hear their screams.
Pinkie Pie came back after a few minutes, her hooves leaving a little trail of sparks behind her despite her flattened mane. "So, Princess, that place up ahead looks like it's not got any of the bad ponies in it! I mean, I had a look and there was a big sharp thing made of metal, so I threw everypony behind it a party but I don't think they liked it because usually people who like them don't fall down unless we're doing limbo dancing do you think Twilight would like it if we went limbo dancing because it's really really fun and I just thought it'd be nice for her to have a party once it's all over down here!"
The princess tried not to look at the too-wide smile and the strange, slightly deadened eyes. "Of course, my faithful subject," she eventually summoned up, "I think that a party would be good for her after this is over and once she's better."
"Yay!" Pinkie yelled, and bounced off down another corridor. Celestia heard the gentle clank of hooves on aluminium grating and spun round, her horn flaring in the darkness. Almost immediately, her rage and magic subsided. It was just Applejack.
"Uh, yer Majesty, we really oughta be gettin' a lick on. Rainbow an' Ah jes' checked every cell up here an' they were all real new, they said. Seems ta me that if she's here she's right at the bottom o' this dog pile." The brim of the mare's hat was trembling slightly; she'd never seen just how powerful Celestia was in full-on combat, and she was only knocking the ponies out. Luna's spells were more vicious, yes, but still...
"I see. Pinkie Pie, come on. We're going to go straight to the bottom and fight our way back up."
"But we're not fighting, are we Princess? We're just throwing them a party and sometimes we party so hard that we make them fall asleep, it's not our fault that they're not used to this sort of thing, is it? They're just silly ponies who need to lighten up." Pinkie giggled, the sound far too high to be considered normal.
Celestia opened her mouth, thought for a moment, and shut it again. "If you insist, my little pony. Come, Pinkie Pie. We have a bat- a party to throw." Goodness, she thought, my language is all over the place. Stay calm. Be purposeful. Be perfect. Be a princess of the realm.
The four of them trotted down a long and now-deserted corridor, their eyes unwillingly drawn to rank upon rank of white-walled holding cells. The smell of the place, now that the fighting had died down a little and they had time to concentrate on it, was unbearable, an almost chewable reek of industrial bleach and dried blood. A scent of ozone hung around too, and nopony could really figure out why.
"This should burn," said Celestia. She was trembling slightly. "All of it should burn."
The four went on in silence.
C'mon, girl. Every step brings us closer ta Twi, thought Applejack as she rounded a corner, her posture a discarded love letter, crumpled and defeated. One hoof in front o' the other. Land's sakes, why was it so much easier when Ah was gonna explode?
The thought proved oddly prescient as she crashed into the princess's outstretched wing. She rubbed at her head - it had been like walking into an iron bar - and looked up at the Princess' hard-edged face. The little earth pony followed her ruler's gaze with mounting dread, and her jaw dropped open in horror once they were both looking at the same thing.
"Hehe, uh... I didn't do it?"
Rainbow Dash was hovering in midair, suspended by a thin beam of wine-red light disrupted only by her back left hoof. The beam pulsed eerily, a peculiar counterpoint to the stark, disinfected white light of the corridor. In the distance, Applejack could hear yet another alarm going off. Land's sakes, she thought, how many ponies work in this hellhole anyways?
"Rainbow Dash, I need you to do something for me." Celestia's voice was as calm as she could make it, but it was still shot through with worry. "Can you move your hoof?"
"Well, if I could do that then I wouldn't be stuck here, would - oh, uh... sorry, Princess."
"It's quite alright, my little pony." Celestia stepped forward delicately, light shining forth from her horn to check for any more traps. "This looks to be... how strange. This is Narwhalese magic, and unpleasant at - well," she checked her speech as Rainbow's eyes widened in fear, "I'm sure you'll be fine. Luna loves to figure out this sort of puzzle; I'll send her a message now."
"Uh, Princess, could you hurry that thar message up a bit?" Applejack's eyes were fixed dead ahead. "Ah don' mean ter be rude, only, we got company." Indeed they did; a group of steroidal unicorns had rounded the corner and fired a volley of spells off before dropping behind heavy-looking steel barricades. More alarms sounded, the clang of heavy iron bells mixing with the fizzing whine of nasty-looking spells, one of which caught Celestia full in the chest and burned off a good layer of skin. She grimaced, spread her wings, and to Applejack became the sun.
Everypony seemed to forget that the Princesses were as powerful as they were. They saw an image of maternal care on one hoof and either a slightly diffident intellectual or a villainous fairytale monster on the other, depending on whether the speaker listened to the gutter press or not. What very few ponies saw was when they got angry.
That was when you got Nightmares.
Celestia's current state wasn't quite a Nightmare, in the same way that Batman doesn't technically have grounds to be sectioned. Her mane was ablaze with colours and flaring out behind her head as if she'd been struck by lightning rather than rage. Her eyes glowed white-hot and her horn spat great fat drops of energy that left smoking craters in the floor. She had become the spirit of the purifying flame, and this hospital was ready to burn.
Her horn glowed white, then a pale, almost pastel blue, and ponies burned. Their end came from a great crescent of searing fire that hurt to look at, and their passage was marked only by blackened, bubbling patches on the sheet-metal floor. The Princess' - you couldn't call her Celestia now, this was the idea of royalty personified - eyes had gone completely white and glowed from the inside, and her mane danced with solar magic. Blast after blast of fire came from her, shredding the walls even as the prisoners inside them scampered off to safety, and slowly the floor began to melt. The Princess could hear dim cries, as if from the other side of a crowded room, but all she knew was the avenging, purifying flame-
"Princess?"
A little pony's voice is a powerful thing to an alicorn. As if a light had been turned off inside her head, Celestia came back into herself and saw the devastation she'd wreaked upon the wards, the floor spotted with cherry-red steel and stains of carbon.
I will not cry, she thought. However much it hurts, however much control I've lost, let me keep this one shred of dignity. Let me be perfect again.
"I'm sorry that you had to see that, my little ponies. I..."
"It's okay," said Applejack, face shiny with sweat, not all of it from the heat. "Y'all jes' want Twilight back."
"Yes," murmured Celestia after a little time had passed. "I need her. We need her."
"Then, uh, perhaps ya might wanna see ter Rainbow, yer Majesty? Only, that leg's gone awful pale..."
*******
Luna, sister, are you there?
"What ails thee, Celestia?" Luna said tersely as she ducked behind a gigantic oak tree she'd grown from an armchair moments before.
Rainbow Dash has been caught in a very nasty trap. It looks like a Fifteenth Dark Edda ward, and a vicious one at that.
"Narwhal magic? That explains... much." A fireball from the alicorn's deranged opponent smashed the tree into pieces; Luna's horn flared and the pieces stopped in mid-flight, transformed into shards of silvery-looking metal, and sped towards Shining Light. A few put long scrapes on her barding, but that was it. "Hast thou tried the standard Greater Spirals?"
They just seemed to make it worse. And why didn't you dispel the wards in the process? I thought we agreed on a creeping barrage.
"Sister dear, our enemy has more than one captain at her command. Can We... can We call thee back?" A sickly-pink Curse of Entrail-Expelling bounced off of Luna's hastily-constructed shielding charms and hit a picture, which burst.
How hard can they be to defeat, Luna? If I am capable of burning them, then you - what was that? I heard a scream! Are you alright?
"We would be considerably more alright and possessed of more flesh in Our left hindquarters were it not for thine infernal babble, thou prating knave of a Princess! We shall attend thee in good time, now let Us be!"
Oh. Right. Is it really that-
"YES!"
... I'll... leave you to it, then
"See that you do." The gout of evil-looking black fire washed over Luna's hiding place, forcing her to rush the healing spell she'd been preparing and forgo several unpleasant ones that would cause her foe to be splattered across the landscape. By any sane right, she should be dead a thousand times over, Luna thought. What in Equestria is this pony?
What Shining Light was right now was laughing, as hard and cold as the blade of ice she'd conjured to hack down the Princess' flank. Luna threw up another duelling shield and countered with a volley of greenish spheres that careened off of Light's warded barding, impacted on the hospital's walls and slowly began melting through them. She then decided to try a different tack - a Narwhal White Spiral of the Seventh Edda, a powerful wardbreaker and (though it irked her slightly to admit it for some reason) Celestia's idea. The magic caught and sped forth, a spinning ball with twin white plumes coming from either side that caught a glancing hit on the mare's left side.
Luna concentrated on that side now, summoning spell after terrible spell from her too-long, too-full memory. Every race that possessed a horn possessed magic, and Shining Light was subjected to a barrage seemingly from every citizen of the world.
And she still wouldn't stop bloody laughing.
*******
Rarity was sat cross-legged in the middle of the floor, her eyes rolled back in her head and her horn on fire. She was surrounded by flowing colours, which on closer inspect turned out to be a maelstrom of bolts of cloth, needles and other assorted sewing and embroidery paraphernalia. Where Ditzy had managed to dig it up from was a total mystery, but the little seamstress was beyond caring. Her magic flowed through her, crafting a strong, thick dress, full on the flank and well-suited to Ditzy's colours. It also happened to be embroidered with every single rune Rarity could remember the pattern of, as many times as she could fit it onto the fabric. The result was a twisting morass of colours, shapes and letters that hurt slightly to look at.
Eventually, the magic died down and Ditzy was able to look at the creation. "Darling," her friend called, "I think it's ready now! Actually, wait, hold on..." Rarity's horn focused yet more light onto the hood of the gown. "There. I just had a few scraps left over and it was enough for one more of those peculiar orange glowing runes that her Majesty said had something to do with solar flares. What do you think?"
"I think you're making me wear a bomb."
"Well, there is that aspect to it, yes, but you should be perfectly safe."
"I'm gonna be perfectly safe at the centre of a magical explosion triggered by a Sonic Muffboom - and stop that giggling, it's just as good a name as any other."
Rarity dabbed at her eye with a handkerchief, thought for a moment, and sewed it swiftly onto the hem and covered it with even more runes. "I'm sorry, Ditzy, it's just... you're right. You're absolutely right. Anyway, aren't you going to try it on?"
"Try on the bomb."
"You'll be fine, darling. I promise." Rarity's magic floated the dress gently onto Ditzy's body; it was pretty good work, given the circumstances. "Now, do you think you can get up to speed?"
"... I'll try, Rarity, but I still don't think this is a very good idea."
"It's also our only idea." Rarity winced as a huge crash came from far away in the lobby. "She's fighting the Princess to a standstill, Celestia knows how, so we're no use in a straight-up fight. We're going to have to use as many force multipliers as we can, which means all our magic going into a pegasus-guided missile."
"Rarity, how do you know all that stuff? That's, uh, that seems a little outside your remit, you know."
"Twilight taught me," she said, her voice soft as a low tide, and Ditzy couldn't help but bundle her up in a bone-crushing hug.
"I'll do it."
"Okay then, darling. Your run-up, as it were, is along this hall here... it's about the longest straight I can find. If you need more, go outside and-"
"Rarity, I do know how to fly."
Rarity sighed and rubbed her forehooves together awkwardly. "Sorry, Ditzy. I do worry so."
"I can do this," the mailmare said, largely for her own benefit. "I can do this. Hold on, how are we going to stop her from simply blowing me out of the sky?"
"I... er... I'll just be a minute. I do have an idea, it's just... why don't you take off and let me handle it?" A little bead of sweat trickled down her brow. "Don't you worry about a thing except doing your Sonic Rainboom."
"Okay then!" Ditzy's voice had an odd, bright quality to it, like the first frost of winter, and she took to the air and zoomed off on the flight-path they'd arranged. Rarity galloped along a slightly different and much shorter route, dragging a heavy-looking armchair behind her with her magic.
Rarity's route got to the battleground first, and she flung the chair with the strongest magic she could muster. It shattered on Shining Light's shield and sent the crazed unicorn stumbling at just the right moment. Her head hit the floor as Ditzy flew through the rafters, dodging the transfigured debris and dripping acid that were the scars of a true mage's duel, and burst out of the front doorway.
*******
Luna was just preparing another barrage of Narwhalese ward-breakers and a couple of really interesting examples of Ibisite fire magic when her target stumbled and fell, bits of chair rebounding all over the room. Behind the falling mare, the Princess could see Rarity screaming "LOOK AT ME, I'M A TARGET!" and jumping through a doorway. In addition, a little tinkly noise sounded in her head as a scrying spell went off. Something had left the building through the front door - what remained of it - and had probably done so on the wing since neither her nor her adversary had caught them in the crossfire. Luna smiled; her little ponies had a plan.
She fired off the most complete set of spells at the laughing mare - and how she was still laughing, Luna would never know - and concentrated on building up the biggest array of shields she could get up in time.
Shining Light caught this, but simply giggled in amusement. "Oh, is baby all tuckered out?" She paused as if remembering something and tossed a few sulphur-yellow bolts of malicious magic at the wall where Rarity was hiding, which exploded. "You can let Auntie Light send you off to the last sleep you'll ever need... just a shame I don't get to taste you before." She began to bombard Luna with every evil spell she could think of, even as the Princess cocooned herself in her bright blue shields. "You know, I'd love to get to know you better, little Woona. You tied down, me in my uniform, my teeth sucking the blood from your neck, my magic making you hurt like you've never hurt before," the madmare's slasher smile widened further and her horn spat vicious grey-coloured crescents that bit deep into the forcefield but didn't quite get through, "and healing you to do it all again but never take the pain, never ever take your precious pain away until I've broken you.
"I bet you taste real good, little one. Kinda like blueberry pie. I'd put money on it." Red-tinged fire spewed from the floor, lapping at Luna's shields as she took to the air. "Of course, who needs money when you've got friends, right? And I'd make sure you and I were the very best of friends. Friends share everything, Luna... especially their bodies. Oooh, mercy me, I can almost hear the little noise your wings'll make when I snap 'em! You ever done that? Break somepony's bones just 'cause you can? It's so hot. Almost as good as breaking a horn..." Multicoloured lightning rained down on the shields, but still they held. "Aw, now you've got me thinking about little Twilight Sparkle again! Isn't she just the cutest? Especially her dumb-flank expression when we mess around with her memory. We don't use magic for that, of course. No fun. We only use it to heal up her bits when we're done playing with her. That can take a heck of a long time, Woona. Gosh, I'm wet right now."
Luna's eyes finally opened at Shining Light's last sentence.
"We studied the concept of Pony Hell, Shining Light. We studied it for no little time." Furious spells lashed at the Princess' shields but still they held, still she kept adding to them with everything she could muster. Her ears were just beginning to detect the rush of speed from the outside. "Dost thou know it? 'Tis evil itself, Shining Light." It was loud now, the charge in the air making her mane buzz. She gave it a few seconds more before fixing the unicorn with the deadliest of her death glares.
"Hie. Thee. Hence."
And just as Shining Light stopped laughing, just as she turned towards the whooshing noise coming from the doorway, Ditzy's Sonic Rainboom touched off and the world went white.
*******
Applejack was rubbing an increasingly pale Rainbow Dash's mane when the shockwave hit.
There was a great creaking noise that seemed to come from everywhere at once. Tiles shook themselves from the walls, the striplights in the ceiling failed or fell out altogether and shattered on the floor, and even the sheet metal floor began to vibrate - emitting a humming noise in E flat. She felt Rainbow Dash's forelegs wrap around her body, tight enough to remember better days, and let herself enjoy it while bits of loose plaster rained down on the Princess' shield.
Rainbow was pretty out of it, the ward pulsing slowly in time with (the ponies had worked out) her heartbeat. She'd slowed it right down - it was slow anyway thanks to her athletic nature - but the blood still drained from her, vanishing into some unknown, evil place not even the most inquisitive research sorcerers of the Narwhals felt any pressing need to explore. Her vision fuzzy and her head feeling like it was full of dancing lights, all she saw was Applejack next to her. She nuzzled the mare's neck gently as the shockwave made itself felt, sending a huge blush to the farm pony's face.
A few minutes later, it subsided. A few eternities later, so did the burning in Applejack's cheeks. Rainbow mumbled something incoherent and her eyelids fluttered, though her face was too deep in the crook of Applejack's shoulder for anypony besides the two of them to notice.
"What was that, sugarcube?"
"M'tired, AJ... 'm sssssso tired... I think I'm gonna take a nap, lover girl."
Applejack glanced at the Princess worriedly, despite the rock-melting heat pouring from her cheeks. Celestia shook her head once.
"Ah'm sorry, Rainbow, y'all gotta stay awake fer now. Jes' a li'l bit longer."
"Awwww..." Rainbow attempted to yawn and pout at the same time, which under any other circumstances would have been hilarious to watch. "You... you got plans for me, huh, AJ? That why you're being mean an' k-k-" Another yawn, another scared glance at the Princess from Applejack. "Keeping me up? Isn't like I ain't used to it or, or anything..."
"Rainbow, please, Ah-"
"LOOK OUT!" Celestia bellowed as she threw up a shield. The ceiling, already shorn of plaster, gave way altogether and cascaded down, along with -
"Ugh," said a pegasus rising slowly from the huge hole, her coat and the remains of a dress red from layers of brick dust. She looked around, and then up. The ponies followed her gaze and saw, to general amazement, open sky. "Did I do that?"
*******
"Okay, um, Mrs. Needlepoint, I'm just going to check your dressings and oh my goodness. Dr. Happy Home, could you take this lady to your emergency room, um, it's just that those have gone septic and - don't worry, you'll be just fine, you're safe now, it doesn't have to hurt any more. Um, next please."
Needlepoint got a blast of medical anaesthetic before she was carted off by Happy Home's ambulanceponies - he couldn't do it himself because of a leg injury he'd picked up in his youth. Spike pushed past the doctor and brought in a small metal cart. Atop it was a short, ramrod-thin colt with what might have been a pink coat underneath all the filth and what looked like four knees in one of his back legs.
"Valley, this is Fluttershy. She isn't going to hurt you, I promise. You're safe here, okay? Now, she's gonna come a little closer but she's just gonna look at your leg."
Fluttershy came closer, bearing a warm smile and a lollipop from a jar. Valley squeaked and tried to move away, shuffling towards the edge of the gurney.
"Hello, little guy," she said regardless. "I'm not going to hurt you at all. Now, let's have a look at that leg, huh?" Valley squeaked again, and Fluttershy saw huge bruises under his chin and right down his neck. "You poor, poor dear... here." She unwrapped the lollipop and proffered it. "You've been so brave, Valley, really. It's all alright now, it's all alright..." The little colt gently took the lollipop with some stuttering magic and made a face like someone was pulling his teeth out. It was only when that happened that Fluttershy realised what had been done to him and her eyes ran over his thick, straggly mane until they alighted on the broken stump of a horn. Spike's claws gently ran over the colt's shattered leg while he was occupied with the lollipop; the dragon's eyes widened as he came across break after break. Fluttershy looked at him, and he just looked away.
"Okay, Valley, I'm going to go get Doctor Blossom, and she's gonna make your leg all better. I promise." Fluttershy knew that she couldn't make that promise, not really. Every single break was professionally bad - whoever had done this wanted this colt, and he couldn't have been more than seven, to go through hell every single time he moved that leg.
A few seconds later, Quince Blossom showed up with a light sleeping/pain relief potion. Fluttershy sank to her knees and Spike ran to her side, yelling for somepony else to take her spot in triage.
"He was a foal, Spike... he was just a foal, I, oh, Spike." Whatever speech Fluttershy had planned to make disappeared into Spike's underbelly, mixing gently with her tears. The little dragon ran a clawed hand through her mane and hugged her as best he could.
Time passed, not long enough for somepony else to become overworked. With a snort that still managed to sound demure, Fluttershy got to her hooves and looked at the dawn. It was just dark enough that you could still see the stars, like some bizarre, reversed twi-
She couldn't think it. Not right now.
The triage went on for about an hour, with floods of ponies being carried down by the townsponies of Coltchester on whatever was to hand. The nursing station in the town was already stuffed to overflowing, though, so the local EHS hospital over in Flankaster was showing up to get everypony into its own much larger emergency space. Fluttershy found herself with less and less to do now that actual doctors were running the show, so she trotted out of the gazebo where she and Spike had been working a sat on the grass, a pack of squirrels slowly collecting around her before the dragon showed up.
"It's kinda beautiful up there, isn't it," he said quietly.
Fluttershy's shoulders sagged slightly. "It makes me think of her."
"Me too," said Spike. They were silent for a while, watching the world change.
"Fluttershy, look, a shooting star!" The dragon pointed a claw at a fast-moving blob in the sky
"Oh my... that's so pretty, Spike. But, aren't they usually just white?"
"Huh? Well, uh, maybe it's special! You know, for... for somepony special!"
"I guess, Spike, but it looks like it's headed straight for the top of the hill."
"Yeah. Maybe it wants to bomb it!" Spike chuckled. "Makes, uh... hold on, hold on, I got this... four down, carry the two-"
His musings were cut short with a flash of magic from the top of the hill. It had to be magic, because there wasn't anything else that could cause that kind of light show and quite so deafening an explosion. Fluttershy gave a "YEEEEEEK!" and shot off towards the triage tent, but Spike just sat there like he'd been nailed there. After a few minutes, he spoke.
"Y'know, I wasn't exactly being serious."
*******
Slowly, blinking the grey out of her vision, Luna got to her hooves. Her ears were still ringing from the... whatever it was. She dimly remembered magic, and lots of it; so much that even the background magic left over was making her horn start to hurt. She stepped gingerly over towards where Rarity had gone, retracted a hoof as it touched nothing but air, and gave her wings an experimental flap. Nothing seemed particularly broken, so she took off and flew over to the wreckage-strewn office room. She couldn't see anything, but the Princess could hear, just on the edge of her hearing, the sound of someone crying. Instantly, she boosted her hearing with a few spells and homed in on the noise, tossing aside the rubble as though it was nothing until she caught a glimpse of white and purple and stains of red. Trembling slightly, the Princess continued to dig Rarity out of the stonework, and once it had been cleared she laid the crying pony out on a bench with almost reverential care.
A quick diagnostic spell revealed a brace of fractures in Rarity's back legs and a boatload of bruises along her back. Upon closer inspection, Luna could see fragments of broken brick sticking out of some of them, and whisked them out as gently and as quickly as she could. The yowl of pain still forced a few streaks of salt water down her muzzle to drip gently onto the floor. Paying no mind to the floodgates opening (to say nothing of her own pain - the flesh Shining Light's curse had gouged out of her flank needed replacing), Luna worked quickly and methodically, healing as many bruises as she could find and setting her legs with a couple of conjured splints. Afterwards, it was time to simply calm the mare down. Luna bent down and dried Rarity's tears with a patch of velvet cloth, stroked her mane, and told her, her voice as gentle as her words archaic, that it'd all be alright, that she'd be okay.
It was only after the mare had drifted off to sleep that Luna noticed her sister's voice screaming at her telepathically. "Apologies, sister mine. There was a... We're not sure what it was, but it went bang and seems to have opened up the ceiling. How fare thine charges?"
Luna, I've told you who knows how many times now! I can't break the rune trap Rainbow Dash is caught in and she's bleeding out. Everything I've done is just making it worse and I'm not killing anyone else today! I'm just not!
"... Grave tidings indeed. Is there room for me to teleport?"
Yes, plenty. Please, Luna, hurry!
Luna picked up Rarity and concentrated for a moment. A brief flash later, and she was... in the same place?
"God's wounds... sister, the scurvy curs have locked the building down. I'm coming by hoof. Which floor are you on?"
There was a slight pause. B3.
Luna set Rarity on her back and flew back to the hole in the floor. She counted the levels under her breath, steeled herself, and jumped down it, floating gently with the aid of a little magic here and there. Even so, her descent wasn't the most elegant; Luna had never found flying all that appealing, and her landing could have been charitably described as akin to a concussed elephant being shoved off a roof. The thump shook the floor and another tile fell from the walls, and Luna's eyes widened as she took in Rainbow's situation. Sweeping imperiously past the other ponies as she floated Rarity's sleeping form down onto a safe-looking patch of floor, her eyes hard and narrow as a spear point, she began unpicking the wards nailing Rainbow Dash in place.
"Hmmm..." she mumbled, her mane pulling itself out of her eyes as she worked. "Narwhal but not, most intriguing... there's everything in these wards, sister, no wonder thou hadst such trouble with it. Cranese, Corvidian, Ibisite, Ibexite... there's even aspects of adapted Precursor rituals in here. But I think... goodness, that's the capstone? Something so simple... mayhap hidden in plain sight, as 't'were. Hold fast, Celestia, subjects... there may yet be noise."
"Uh, noise how, exactly?" Applejack piped up.
"Noise like-" Luna's horn flashed for a moment and the rest of the sentence was drowned out by a great keening wail that tore into their eardrums like a sword of frozen acid. It was followed by a splat as burgundy goo plastered itself to Luna's shield. "That."
"Did someone shout? I was having the most wonderful dream..."
"Nah, Rarity, jes' some magic goin' off. What happened to yer legs?" A look of concern washed over Applejack.
"Oh, that was the plan to deal with Shining Light."
"Plan, my little pony?" Celestia looked at her slightly askance. "What would that be, exactly?"
Ditzy gave a little grin. "I exploded!"
"I... see. No, wait, no I don't, but neither do I overmuch - I mean, I'm sure you had your reasons. Come now. Working hypothesis is that Twilight is on the lowest level, so we need to find an elevator-"
"Nay, sister, we do not," said Luna absently as she topped up Rainbow Dash's blood supply and closed up the hole running through her hoof. The device itself would be too slow, and why seek out a shaft when friend Ditzy Doo hath made a most satisfactory one? Pray tell how deep thine endeavour doth go, my dear."
"Uh... I don't know the floor plan, Princess, but it looked like I went pretty low down. And I think I chipped a tooth or six. And what happened to Shining Light?"
"We know not and care less. Come, ponies; those not blessed with flight We shall bear upon Our back." At that, everypony with wings spread them and those who didn't hopped onto the nearest princess. Rainbow Dash prepared for takeoff but got a hard look from Celestia.
"Rainbow Dash, you've been so brave, but you've lost a lot of blood. Get on my back and no argument."
Rainbow sighed and clambered onto the Princess' back. Just as they were about to take off, a bevy of tiny, furry faces looked down on them from on high, joined shortly thereafter by a yellow one hiding behind an avalanche of pink hair and a purple one covered in scales.
"Is everypony okay? The little critters and I were running triage in town when Spike said something about an explosion - oh my goodness, what happened to Rarity?" That last part was practically shrieked by Fluttershy, and she sped down to join the group, Spike sitting atop her back. "Oh my goodness, oh my goodness, that's an awful lot of cuts and bruises, and your poor horn, what in Equestria happened to you?"
"Heh," Rarity snorted, "you should see the other mare."
"If we could progress, my subjects, We would like to get this over and done with." Luna said with a hint of indignation.
Fluttershy turned to look at Spike. "Are... are you sure you want to be here, Spike? This could be really-"
"It's Twilight, Fluttershy. Twilight. You shouldn't have to even ask." The little dragon shifted his weight and got a better grip on his friend's mane. With that, they took off, floating gently down on air currents as Celestia melted a path through the floor and Luna took care of any lingering wards and alarms. Finally, the Princesses pulled up and their subjects disembarked.
"Have we hit bedrock already, sister?"
"No, Luna, we haven't; the layout of this place is exactly the same as the layout of Caducea's first asylum. There should be a records office down this way, and I know they keep extensive records of who's housed where." Celestia turned away from the rest of the group, marching off down a corridor, horn spitting sparks. "You could see the flame from Hoofington, so I heard."
Nopony really said anything as they cantered after Celestia. Nopony really could. Sure enough, they came to an office rammed full of scrolls and charts and ancient, evil-looking spellbooks. Luna picked one up and flicked through it for a few moments, then gently set it down on the desk and incinerated it with a single spell. As she looked away, she caught sight of movement behind a glass door along with the glow of magic. Snarling, she summoned her magic and dragged a pale green unicorn mare out of the room, the door breaking into shards.
"WHERE. IS. TWILIGHT. SPARKLE."
"I-I-I don't know who that is!" The mare's voice was thin and reedy, exactly what one would expect a bookkeeper to have. "I - wait, are you h-here to get us out? Oh, thank you, thank you-"
"We are here only to bring you and your kind to justice, creature of filth."
"N-no, Princess Luna, I'm, I'm one of the inmates! My name's Winter Harvest, I'm a farm pony f-from near Hoofington, please! I'm in the book! You gotta believe me!"
"We do not have to believe a word you say, vile spawn of-"
"Mmm, Mmmhm? Mmm mmhmm mm," said Applejack before rolling her eyes and spitting out a huge, red-covered logbook. "Sorry. Ah meant ter say, Ah think we do. Winter Harvest, unicorn, admitted fer alcohol dependency an' paranoid delusions on Treatment Plan C, whatever the hay that means."
"See! See! They make us do the work here so they've got someone to blame! Please, you gotta let me out of her, please!"
"This..." Luna gave a great sigh and lowered the terrified unicorn to the floor. "We are sorry for that. Today has been trying for Us and Our subjects here. Ms Sparkle is Our sister's protégé and we fear for her life. If thou hast seen her, please tell Us. She is small and as stocky as one may get in such a place as this. She is purple of coat, with a stripe through her mane."
"A, uh, pink stripe - YAAAAH!"
"TELL US WHAT YOU KNOW OF HER!"
"Luna, stop that this instant," Celestia bellowed. Luna fixed a glare on the shivering wreck of a unicorn and dropped her to the ground. In turn, the Sun Princess trotted forward. "Now, Winter Harvest, please. I... I want my student back."
"Uh, um..." Winter gave Luna a scared glance and shrank back when she snorted and pawed the ground. "I... if she's got that weird pink star cutie mark," she said, taking heart when Celestia nodded, "then she's in Max. That's where they put us when we're bad. I think they put her under a different name... could I see the ledger?" Applejack passed it to her. "Thanks. Uh, that's her here." Her hoof tapped a line of print. "Wind Singer. Maximum security wing, admitted - oh, no..."
"What is it, what's wrong?" Rarity said, blanching under her white coat.
"She's been in Max for more'n a month now... they do horrible things there. I... I'm sorry, but she might be-"
"She isn't."
"Sister?" Luna asked.
"I'd know," Celestia said as she tapped her chest, "I'd know if she was. Right here."
"I really hope you're right, Princess."
"Fluttershy will take you to the triage centre in town-"
"It's okay, I can walk, Princess. It'd... it'd be nice to. Show them I can, you know?"
"I understand." Celestia gave the most maternal smile she could muster. "Go, and be at peace."
The mare trotted out of the door and out of sight. If somepony with the very keenest of ears had been straining for all they were worth, they might have heard a soft tinkling noise as a glamour faded and died, followed by the slightly louder crack of teleportation, but there were none in the hospital.
*******
Celestia mustered her little group and marched back towards the hole they'd been digging. According to a building plan Rarity had dredged out of the office, the maximum security wing was, as predicted, right at the bottom, but they were close. Twilight had been ensconced in Cell 4, Block H, and the ward coverage there was almost non-existent - nopony was expected to be there, apparently. Something about that struck Luna as at odds with the notion of Maximum Security, until she looked at the poor unfortunates in there.
And they were unfortunates. Drooling, deranged, broken ponies, sitting in straitjackets chained to the walls of their cells or lashed to their cots, mewling pathetically in the darkness. As they passed, Applejack and Rarity began the task of getting them out, bucking the thick oak doors off their hinges and picking the locks on their shackles. Fluttershy flew them out to the nursing station in town after some quick diagnostic work by Spike. Celestia just strode on, only occasionally glancing from side to side to check the numbers on the cells. It was all she dared do, for the sake of decorum.
Luna turned and trotted to her sister's side. "She'll be okay, Tia. She's strong."
Celestia only sighed, her breath making a noise that was soft and sad and impossibly old.
They turned the corner into Block H and there it was. In the middle of a steel courtyard was a huge machine, studded with tiny spikes and with attachments meant for shackles. Rainbow Dash looked around the back and saw the source of the strange ozone smell, and her voice shook almost as much as she did.
"It's a thunderhead. They've... they must hook somepony to that an'... just break it, anypony, please just break it!"
Luna obliged, blasting it to atoms with a single spell. When the dust cleared, they saw their goal. Cell number four, closest to the lightning bed and the thankfully-empty orderly barracks.
Celestia looked at the steel door for a little while. After that, her horn burst into life and the metal melted in the face of solar fire. The rest of the Elements and their friends galloped after the Princesses to see their friend. When they got there, the scene broke their heart.
The Princess of the Sun moved towards Twilight's prone, unbrushed, too-thin body and gently woke her up, with a huge smile on her face and promise after promise that everything would be alright.
Twilight only stopped screaming when Luna's sleep spell hit.
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I waited forever. It's finally here. I am reading it right away.
***
Oh my gods. One thing to say. It was certainly worth the wait. Job well done.
Poor Twilight.
528590
It also happens to be close on three times longer than the usual chapters. So, y'know, there's a bonus for you.
The fires of hell are far to... tame, for the likes of these ponies! And of course, she gets away...
Holy hell its back.
528649
Indeed. Remember, Caducea's a manipulative sort as well as a meticulous planner; she's got a lot of fun stuff left to do. She is, however, without a hospital and the Guard's probably got her picture on file...
528670
It is indeed, and I hope you like it!
I can't imagine trying to 'repair' Twilight at this point. Granted, memory alteration may be the only possible solution, but that almost always fails in fiction, to oft-times horrific results. It's cliche, but it does happen... often.
528617
Very much appreciated. This story is so good that I don't mind waiting for the chapters at all.
528719
Memory alteration's a cop-out unworthy of the Best Pony. Twilight will be healed and healed properly.
528732
Awwwwww...
Amazing chap
Love how Pinkamina Brings The Party to those sorry excuses for ponies
528698
As if having her photo on file will stop her. She's probably got a bunch of aliases to hide behind for just such an occasion. Unless I miss my guess, she'll be a pain in other ponies' flanks for quite a while yet.
528747
And said healing will be long, difficult and well worth it.
528813
You don't. How long for is anyone's guess, though... except mine. Mwa, and furthermore, hahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaa.
528818
Oh, joy.
Quite the wait for this chapter. Can't wait for the next.
Ok, good read, but wow, long hiatus.
I'm still waiting for the scene in which Caducea gets what she deserves. Or was it he?
...It's it. It can't be nothing more but it.
Anyways, you won't escape from me if Caducea gets away from them.
Your imagery is fantastic and your vocabulary delightful, though you occasionally stumble over word forms, this is very well done. In the long interval between chapters I nearly forgot why I had favourited this story. I see why now.
528937
I know, and I apologise for that. Real life intervened.
528958
She's escaped from them... for now. Anything other than that would be spoilers.
529061 Appology accepted. Just marveling that it updated at all. Well done.
529061
Yeah, and I don't need to know spoilers. I'm just saying: don't let Caducea live. And yes, it moves me that much, the fic I mean.
I'm speechless for once.
Caducea!!!
You just hurt best pony Twilight Sparkle!!!
An eternity in hell is far too good for the likes of you!!!
F**king DIE!!!
Good to see that this story is not dead, carry on.
Does Shining Armor know about Caducea and what she did?
If he does Caducea will feel the rage of a pissed off Royal Guard captain.
530083
This has mostly been written over the course of Season 2, and while I don't like how Shining Armour was handled in-show (him and Cadence both were waaaaaaaaaay too much a case of Remember The New Guys) I think the character has potential, particularly since he's basically been outright ignoring his little sister. Trust is a huge theme in this fic - at least, I'm trying for it to be. Any more would be spoilers.
529892
Gonna assume that's the good kind of speechless, since my ego needs a boost.
530036
Not quite yet; everypony has their time, or so the determinists would have it. I sort of subscribe to that theory, but sort of don't. Which applies where will be made clear later on.
528698 Damn. There I thought we are at the catharsis part.
Also, it always bugs me when people equate 'master manipulator' with 'good actor, can put up a decent disguise'.
530146
While I get your point that they don't automatically go together, they're are not mutually exclusive. Besides, Caducea has spent her whole life analysing how ponies work (barring the odd bout of incarceration); it would not be unreasonable to assert that she can impersonate someone the mane cast hasn't actually met. And don't worry about your catharsis, either - bad ponies burn in the Westmareland Cycle, just not always right away.
I waited forever for this story to be updated and now it's here!!!
530188 Well, yes they are somewhat synergistic. It's just it bugs me when you say she can act because she's a master manipulator and when people call Chrysalis a master manipulator because she can act. Then again the term "master manipulator" is given to a lot of undeserving, like Discord who never tricked anyone into actually doing anything without hypnosis.
530219
Forgive me if I'm being dense (I'm British so it's quite late), but I'm not getting the point of your comment. Are you saying that it's good that I describe Caducea as a manipulator or not? Again, I might just be thick as pigshit, but I can't tell from your comment.
530146
Being a manipulator means knowing what words to say to get a desired effect. This includes how to act when saying them. Thus, being an actor.
Lovely! Oh, the L Words was one of my very favourite fanfics back in the day, and now it's back? Delightful! Better still? It's an amazing chapter!
Thank you CCC - I feel like I'm back home.
Oh. Oh oh oh.
I feel very Deus right now. I don't care how hard they kill that bitch, she deserves worse.
Frightening? Oh aye, verily.
Masterfully worded so to punctuate every facet of anguish, of torture, of blinding agonies and woeful delusions? Crafted in a professional pen to pointedly punctuate the pathological perversities painted plainly... sorry, I think the medication started working.
Anyway! If you're as huge a fan of the psychological horror genre, or whatever the bleeding blue Hells this is dressed up as, you're cheating yourself out of a great story if you don't jump into this right now.
Keep your night light on! Tee hee!
God, I'm glad this updated. I had forgotten about this story for a while, but now it's back!
Are the next updated going to take as long as this one did?
"Why... why did you say 'force, balance, push?'" Spike murmured from the floor.
"Oh, is that what it means?"
LOLOL SKYRIM ARROW TO THE KNEEE HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH1!!!!1
Fuck you.
so do the narwhals use their tusks for magic?
Narwhals have horns, I'll leave you to Google search them.
Definitely one of the best Fan Fictions I've read since I became a Brony, keep up the good work!
If I ever get my hands upon that FILTH I will show them pain and suffering the likes of which can only be envisioned by Humans.
I'm not sure if the whole of FimFiction's authors could accurately describe the fate that should befall Caducea. Truthfully, there is not much to say on her eventual doom, death being FAR too convienent a fate for her.
The wait was worth the long chapter, but if the actual rate of words posted is faster with shorter chapters posted more often, rather than with longer chapters posted less often, I say stick with the former. Otherwise, long chapters are nice.
Long wait was bad. Long chapter was good. Caducea need be tortured for all eternatiy. Don't stop writing.
found this fic originally at EqD. glad its here as well...
531179
Oh I know just the fate for her.
Give her to Twilight and her other patients. Then leave the room until the crying stops.
Nopony better qualified to mete out justice here.
Death is too easy for Caducea. I say we take a page out of Shining light's book, bring her to the brink of death heal her, but don't take away the pain, and do it again
Also I have got to ask, what doe Hie Hither Hence mean? I tried googling it but couldn't find it
and please, for the love of all that is good, don't make us wait that long again, I nearly gave up on it thinking that you had stopped writing it
531882
Indeed my good pony, indeed.
Holy shit, can't wait to see the next chapter :D
Welp I saw that Skyrim reference.It's so out of place it's funny. =P
Excellent chapter! I almost forgot about this fic though so hopefully you get back on the normal rhythm.
Also: Pinkie went Cupcakes
Well....
I will think of some very imaginative things tonight....there is no rage emoticon strong enough
And sick fucks like this is why I believe in the death penalty.
Seriously, that last line is a heartbreaker. I knew from the last few chapters that it was going to end that way, but it still didn't make it hurt any less. We just can't get a happy ending for once, can we? Still, I can't wait to see how Twi's recovery will play out. Will she trust Celestia after seeing her friends, or continue to believe they're just some trick? God, it hurts to think about.
Anyways, it certainly has been a long time. When I saw the update, I was at first wondering what story this was, but when I did remember, I squealed like a litte girl. If I may ask, what's your plan for the next chapter. Do you plan to do like this one, and take some time to make one long one, or are you planning to get the next one out quicker at the cost of it being shorter? Or do you do like me and make it up as you go
? No matter what, though, I'll be anxiously awaiting the next update.
532331
The plan (insofar as there is one) is to get back to shorter, quicker updates. However, if I find myself trapped in the hinterlands of writer's block again, I'll take more time and make it longer.
Also, "We kill people who kill people because killing people is wrong!"
530144
Easily the good kind of speechless.
It been long time sense I heard anything from this story. But I'm little confuse what going on. I probably reread the last chapter and then reread this one. I'm sure everything will make sense.