Chapter 280 - The Hard Decisions
And so you all set out to Chrysalis’s manor. All except for Zecora, who chose to stay behind to work on any potions that might be able to help the cause. It seems you weren’t the only one left in the dark, no one knew what the current situation was, something Starlight was more than willing to tell now that everyone was safe.
The staff was damaged, by Chrysalis no less. Though, her way of attack is what cost the five other elements, including Fluttershy. Something you can’t imagine Discord is taking well, since he was the only one Chrysalis could rescue. Those assholes apparently erected a barrier soon after, that was probably the barrier Gallus and Sandbar mentioned.
Chrysalis…
It sounded like she locked herself in her room shortly after, apparently because she thought you died. Damn, you remembered how she reacted before you fully succumbed to Discord’s ‘poison’ long ago, she lost herself. No doubt whatever power she mustered, it was true love, enough to give some hope to the situation.
“So mah sister… She ain’t comin’ back?” Applebloom said as her eyes began to water.
“Rarity…” Sweetie Belle let out, looking down miserably.
“So, that’s what happened? T-there had to be a better way!” Scootaloo shouted, shocked that Rainbow Dash and the others were taken by the influence.
“At the time? There may have not been…” Starlight said, frowning as she looked ahead, keeping her eyes open for any danger as her horn lit up the path ahead. “I think they're using Twilight’s harmony and Discord’s chaos, as one, making it into a new powerful magic. A chaotic harmonic flux, something that was thought to be impossible to create, not to mention highly dangerous. They’re using Anon’s horn to filter its power so they don’t lose control of it. Tirek is crazy to use this magic without extensive testing, we have no idea what the consequences are in the long run. But it doesn’t matter, because he has enough control of it to alter the minds of ponies who are affected by it. It’s pretty clear that’s how he plans to take over Equestria. We only have one chance to stop him thanks to Chrysalis.”
Huh, so things weren’t totally lost. If the staff is damaged, and Chrysalis has become some powerful super being, then all you had to do to get her out of her funk is to reveal you’re alive and you both could get some good ole-fashioned revenge. You REALLY wanted to tear Cozy Glow a new one, and not in a kinky way. Seems you wouldn’t need the new elements after all. “Okay, then the only thing holding us back is the barrier, right? I mean, if the staff is damaged, Tirek and Cozy Glow can’t have that much power. I remember when I wrecked the Storm King’s hand when it was fused to the staff, he couldn’t shoot that city-obliterating laser. So it should be a sure thing if we can get in there.”
“Well, that’s where I come in.” Shining said as he gave a tap of his armor. “Remember this, Anon?”
Huh? Oh geez, it was his anti-magic armor… Wait… “Oh, geez! That’s amazing! So you’re gonna use that to get past the barrier?” Goddamn, Shining coming in with the clutch victory? Fuck, everyone got busy while you were ‘dead’, they already had the solution.
“Yeah!... After we convince Chrysalis to power it back up. Sorta made the mistake of making it too weak. Eheh….” Shining said with a nervous chuckle. “But, hey, shouldn’t be too hard now that you’re back, right? We’ll totally have Equestria saved before Hearthwarming is even over.” Shining seemed pretty nervous, even a little wracked. Did it have to do with Cadance? You wondered if something happened to her.
“It shouldn’t be, but…” This was also something you couldn’t rush. You didn’t know how much of a window of opportunity you had, but if Chrysalis secluded herself like that after what happened, you wanted to spend a little time with her and make sure she was okay. “Let me just spend some time with her, see how she feels. Dad too, can’t imagine he’s been doing too well. Diamond isn’t in the know, right?”
Starlight shook her head. “No, she just thinks you’re around somewhere, thinking of a way to save the world. She never gave up hope.”
Thatta girl! “Then, hey, this shouldn’t be that hard.” You look back at the girls with a confident smile. “Don’t worry, girls, we’ll get your sisters back, no problem.”
“Y-you think?” Sweetie asked, still looking rather miserable.
“What if you have to fight them though? Can you imagine fighting Rainbow Dash if she’s being controlled? She won’t show any mercy at all!” Scootaloo let out, frightened by the thought.
Wut? “W-what do you mean by that?”
“She means that if Tirek and Cozy Glow are that evil, and I know they are, they’ll make sure to use them as their personal guards, just so we don’t try to fight.” Starlight said.
“Ngh… And he has Cadance too… B-but, hey! Don’t forget, this armor can cancel magic! If Chrysalis is gonna power it up, then it should be enough to break the mind control on anypony who gets close. So, it still shouldn’t be an issue. W-what are we even worried about? We got this.” And yet, he didn’t seem to have full confidence in his words. But that did reveal what happened to Cadance.
“Woah, wait, They got Princess Cadance?!” Sandbar said in shocked surprise
“...You guys got waaaayyy too many princesses, you know that? Either way, if this armor is really that good, then it sounds like we can just run right up to ‘em and… Well, I better not say, I can hear Headmare Twilight getting on my case about it” Gallus said with a shrug. “Anyway, I want a piece of them both. Nocreature messes with my friends, or my professors, or Sandbar’s family, and anycreature else I missed.”
Starlight pulls out a radio from her cloak as she looks back at Gallus with a stern expression. “You won’t be going anywhere near Ponyville. None of you are. That includes you, Anon. We’re going to assess the situation, and handle it ourselves.”
Wut? “Woah, hold on. Why not?!”
“Because we almost lost you!... And I won’t lose you, nor the crusaders, the students, nopony. I mean that about Chrysalis too, we’re gonna get in there one way or another, and rescue everypony trapped by that mind control.” Starlight shouted at you. She poured her emotions into that. You were starting to see that you ‘dying’ wasn’t just the fact that you died, but it made it clear that anyone could if things went south.
“But, Counselor Starlight! We have to get in there to help! We all had this… No, the spirit of harmony called us all for a reason! We gotta do something, even if it is super dangerous!” Sandbar said, determined like any other, to fight for his home.
“Spirit of… What?” Starlight looked back at you. “Anon… Wait…” Starlight then looked back at Shining Armor, then back at Sandbar. “Was the spirit a sparkly version of Discord?”
Sandbar nodded. “Well, it was actually a sparkly version of Headmare Twilight. Anon saw her too, so did Gallus.”
“...And Shining, when you mentioned the other students’ dreams, you said they saw something like that?” Starlight asked him.
“Yeah, they didn’t mention it being the Spirit of Harmony though. What’s going on, Starlight?” Shining was confused “How did everycreature have the same dream?”
“They didn’t, they had visions. So it’s real…” Starlight said as she looked back at you. “...But, it doesn’t seem right. What exactly were in those visions? She didn’t mean for you to actually get involved, right?”
“Starlight, she said that the students, are like, the new elements of harmony.” You said, just blurting it out.
“WHAT?!” Everyone, and I mean, everyone just stopped in surprise.
“Are you serious?! That means we literally HAVE to put them in harm’s way. Anon, please tell me you’re kidding.” Starlight said, clearly concerned. “I don’t think I can deal with a prophecy like that.”
You shook your head. “I’m not. I don’t know what to make of it myself.” In fact, as you give it more thought, the plan sounds like it’d work too well with the armor being able to nullify the opposition. There had to be a catch. “But, I dunno, we didn’t need the elements to stop the staff before. And if it’s already damaged, then we should be in the clear. The only problem is Cozy Glow, she orchestrated the entire plan and she may already have thought of a backup…”
Sandbar stared forward, then looked to Starlight. “...If we gotta fight for our home and our family, then I wanna do it. I’m not afraid.”
“Wish there was some kind of compensation for this, but whatever, I’m willing too. Problem is, what about the others? Don’t we need all the elements?” Gallus asked, until he realized something. He then looked at Shining. “Wait, you mentioned the others’ dreams? How would you know that?”
“Oh, that? Well… Considering there were four others, I guess that means your friends are already at the manor. But I’m with Starlight on this one, this is way too dangerous for guys like you. You gotta let us handle it.” Shining told him.
“What do you mean? If our friends are already here, then that means we gotta help! It’s destiny! Right?” Sandbar asked, becoming more eager to help than ever.
“He’s kinda got a point, Starlight. Whenever somethin’ bad really happened, it’s always solved by mah sister and her friends. It all sounds pretty weird to me, but if they're all having weird dreams? Yup, that means they gotta help.” Applebloom said.
“Yeeeah, I don’t like it as much as you guys do. But everycreature having the same dream is kinda hard to ignore. I think Applebloom is right.” Scootaloo added.
“Starlight?” Shining said, looking back at her, as she seemed to be buckling under pressure.
“...Starlight. It’s the truth, and if it has to happen, I want to be there too, I want to fight to the end. Because, well, if we lose, then it won’t matter who stayed behind or not, they’ll take over everything and it’ll all be for nothing.” You tell her. You had to stop deluding yourself. This wasn’t your old world, this was just Cozy Glow using her understanding of it to further her plans. That's why, in the end, even if the plan was utterly sound, a climax such as this requires the finale clencher such as the elements.
“...Considering how easily they took Cadance. I-I guess, if we lose, they’d even take Flurry Heart…” Shining said in a quivering low voice. “Ma-maybe…”
Starlight looked at all of you, her face contorting as she thought harder and harder, until she finally let out an aggravated sigh. “Well, even if I said no, I have a feeling I wouldn’t be able to stop it from happening. Fine… If anypony wants to volunteer, then I can’t stop you. But we can only send those who aren’t affected by the influence. We’ll work that out when we get to the manor, as I think I have a way of testing that through Discord. Anypony who gets affected, even myself, has to stay behind.”
“Well, I know I won’t be affected.” Shining said with a smirk as he tapped his armor. “I’m ready to save my family.”
“Well, uh, I’m not affected either. I got really close to the barrier and nothing happened to me.” Sandbar said.
“What, really?” Starlight said, utterly surprised by Sandbar’s words.
“Yeah, I have a feeling I have the Spirit of Harmony to thank for that. Totally awesome if that’s what it is.” Sandbar said with a sheepish yet confident smile.
“Man, if there’s gonna be that many of us, then they’re toast.” Gallus said with a confident smirk, even flexing an arm. “Element of harmony, huh? Sure, why not, if that’s how we save everycreature, then I’m down. Only thing we got to figure out after that is if that automatically gets me a passing grade or not.”
“Hey, and don’t forget, we’re here too!” Scootaloo cheers.
“I may not be able to do a lot of magic, but I’ll do my-” But Starlight cuts off Sweetie Belle the moment she began to speak.
“Not you three. Sorry, girls, but I know for sure you three would be affected. I can’t let you come.” Starlight told them.
“Wha?! How can ya think that?” Applebloom asked in a demanding tone.
This time, Shining Armor began to speak. “Because that influence works by making your love and want to save everypony into making you care about only that foal, Cozy Glow. Unless you already know how to deal with that, then you’d only succumb. Plus, you’re all way too young for this kind of thing. We need you to stay behind while we take care of it.”
“...But…” The crusaders all said at once. “Why does Anon get to go then? Didn’t everypony agree it won’t matter if we lose?”
“Because I won’t be affected, and I know what kind of game plan they’re pulling. I need to be there.” You tell them. “I need you three to understand. This isn’t a game. I really could have died had Tirek not used chaos magic on me. They’re playing to win. So unless you can tell me how you could add to the team without endangering yourselves, then I agree with Starlight and Shining Armor.”
Scootaloo was going to open her mouth first, but she relented. The others stayed quiet, but Scootaloo gave you those puppy dog ‘we’re a team’ eyes.
You sighed. “Scoots. I know, trust me, I know. Please understand, this is really serious. I know nopony wants to hear these words. But one of us, or more than one of us, could end up dying. Please, if something does happen, just take care of Dad for me.”
Scootaloo gulped, wanting to say something, but she relented and hung her head down. “Okay…”
Starlight just stayed silent for a moment, she didn’t like the situation at all. She began to realize what you said was truth, someone could end up dying. It didn’t deter her, but it certainly made the situation so much worse in her head. She recomposed herself, and began to speak into the radio. “Starlight to Trixie, Starlight to Trixie. Are you there? over.”
“Starlight! Finally! Can we go back to the manor now?!” Trixie yelled through the radio in exasperation. Wow, didn’t even ask if everyone was okay.
“Actually, yes, you can. What happened? You sound like something attacked you, over.” Starlight said.
“I did get attacked! A giant snapdragon slapped down Scrappy and ate me!” Trixie shouted.
“Ate you?! You’re in the snapdragon?!” Starlight said in shock.
“No! It spat me out after two seconds, maybe less.” Trixie said.
Starlight sighed in relief. “Okay… So, what happened then? Over.”
“What do you think? It ate Big Mac!” Trixie shouted once again.
“WHAT?!” Starlight shouted as all of you reacted in shock. “Did it spit him out too?!”
“No! Not at first. It was chewing on him, Starlight, chewing on him! Do you know how insulting that is?!” Trixie said as she began to sound more angry.
“...What? Insulting? What does that have to do with him being eaten?! Did Scrappy at least save him?!” Starlight shouted back into the radio.
“Hmph, as if I’d let him have the chance. Can you imagine, that stupid plant finding that earth pony more delicious than me? Oh no, I went back in there and turned that thing inside out! How dare it spit me out without even properly tasting me! Me! Do you know how insulting it is to be found repugnant and yet some farm pony some kind of sweet treat? Oh no, no no no. The GREAT and POWERFUL and DELICIOUSLY NUTRITIOUS TRRRRIXIE made sure that snapdragon isn’t going to be able to taste anything for quite some time.” Trixie said, with all the anger she could muster.
Starlight sighed, grumbling. “Right… So, yeah, just come back to the manor, and let Big Mac and Scrappy know everycreature is alright.”
“Starlight…” Trixie said.
“What?” Starlight asked.
“You forgot to say ‘over’, over.” Trixie said.
Starlight narrowed her eyes, clenching her teeth tightly. “Over…”
“There you go. Can’t have proper radio chatter without using the correct callsign… Thingies.” Trixie said in a matter of factly way. “Anyway, see you there!”
“Wow, even in a time of crisis, Trixie is still Trixie, huh?” You asked rhetorically.
“Yup…” Starlight said, still grumbling.
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Trixie insists on ‘callsign thingies’, but she made one fatal mistake: she forgot to end that last transmission with ‘out’!
Now for potential errors:
was (?)
One ‘even’ too many.
Move the comma from before ‘everyone’ to after. (?)
Uppercase ‘i’ should be lowercase.
Missing comma before ‘then’. (?)
The comma should be a question mark. (?)
Is ‘snapdragon’ a proper- or common noun?
matter-of-factly (?)
I may be wrong about some of the above.
This is such a mumbo-jumbo of different characters. Everyone is here! Handling all of that must be a nightmare. Do you have a spreadsheet keeping track of all their positions?
Poor Zecora must be left behind. She stretches the gaps between chapters too much.
I don't want to be negative, but I want to point that out. This chapter is another one of those, the ones that could be replaced with a short description. It is your style to write these. As little time skips as possible. Getting some more character interactions there. Making the finale longer and giving us a chapter of downtime. I wonder if you like writing these. Are you forcing yourself? Wouldn't it be more fun not writing this? I'm just curious.
Discord’s reaction will be priceless.