Chapter 13: Let's Duel! (Part 2)
Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or any of the characters, nor do I own Team Fortress 2 or any of its characters. I do, however, own Copper Head, Captain Ajax, and The Bombonculus.
"Who…or WHAT is that down there? Is that a dragon? How'd they come across a dragon!?" Chrysalis was starting to panic with all of this free time she had had to think while Demoman remained cloaked in the shadows of the half-destroyed guest room. Having grown bored watching the "empty" room, Chrysalis had decided to check up on how the rest of her master plan was going. Well, it was going alright, just down the metaphorical crapper instead of whichever way she wanted it to go (which WAS NOT down the aforementioned imaginary potty), and this…thing had just shown up out of nowhere and countered Monoculus! Her trump card! Her backup plan!
Things seemed bad, but she could easily wrangle Monoculus back under control after she dealt with Tavish, Twilight Sparkle and that back-stabbing book. "Back-stabbing? UGH! I forgot about that other meddlesome human! FINE! I'll deal with him too," she looked back towards the dark room, "but I can't do any of that until THIS COWARD SHOWS HIMSELF SO I CAN GET THIS OVER- *Thunk* -with?" The startled Queen looked up at her once glowing horn to find a red guard's hat with three gold badges connected by black straps placed over it. "Is this…a shako?"
"THAT'S A STOUT SHAKO! AND IT COSTS TWO REFINED!" the voice from the darkness shouted making the already irritated Queen jump.
"W-What? What's a 'Refined'? I don't even want this! Now get out here and fight-" As per request, the crowned Prince DeGroot stepped forth, but not in the same attire from which he entered. Instead of a blazing crown of gold and jewels, he now wore a tattered tricorn with a locked treasure chest on top with white shutter shades. His sword had been replaced as well (though the Chargin' Targe was still equipped to his right forearm), where the once proud broadsword had been gripped in his drunken fist was now a dirty frying pan that still retained traces of whatever was cooked in it last. "AH-HAHAHA! What's with the ridiculous getup? Have you finally given into your fear of my power and gone out of your mind?"
Tavish said nothing, instead giving her a quick smile before letting his actions speak from themselves. Specifically the charge. "YEAAAAAAARG!" Chrysalis' wings flared up as she prepared to dodge his frying pan and counter with…
'Curses! I forgot about the sha-' the annoyed Queen didn't have time to finish her thought as Demopan, opting not to smack her with his pan as she had thought, tackled her and sent them both tumbling down onto the roof of the throne room below with a loud crash. Demopan was back on his feet in an instant, Chrysalis…"Y-You'll never defeat me…I-I'm the Queen of Equestia, see? I even have the crown! Haha, HAHAHA-!" *WA-GONG*
As the sound of a frying pan making hard contact with a Changeling's exoskeleton reverberated throughout the immediate area, the strain on the roof finally proved too much and buckled under the two Royals' combined weight and caved into the very popular throne room. As the dust settled, the drunken Scot stood victorious over the half-conscious Changeling. While her eyes were still spinning, Prince DeGroot knelt down and removed Celestia's crown from the thief and held it in his worn hands. It was very warm, like basking in the sun on a pleasant summer's day and it shown just as brightly.
"…New hat! New hat for five Refin- *tap tap* -eh?" Demopan turned around, his eye wide with excitement. "A trade request already?"
"That's MY crown," Princess Celestia said in a soft but nonetheless serious tone as she held out her hoof. Tavish straightened himself out, his Bounty Hat and "Dangeresque, Too?" shades suddenly poofing out of existence and returning to the confines of his backpack. Prince DeGroot took a knee and held the crown out for the Sun Goddess. "Eh-heh, sorry. Here ya go, Princess." Celestia smiled as she lifted the bright gold tiara back atop her head with her powerful yellow aura…only to have it blink right back atop Tavish's. "Uh…"
"Hmm, oh. I know what happened; that awful spell Chrysalis cast upon my crown must be doing this," the eternal mare said as she looked over Demoman.
"Ack, I'd forgotten all- wait, how'd you hear abou' that?" Demoman asked.
"It's not like those cocoons were sound-proof, dear. So, it looks as though the crown has become attached to you since Chrysalis can't officially surrender," they both looked down at the defeated Queen as her eyes continued to do laps inside their sockets. Celestia sighed somewhat angrily, she wanted her crown back, but for the life of her she couldn't remember exactly what spell that was! 'Figures, it was probably a spell submitted in that same decade I opened the Magical Academy and just got filed away with the massive influx of 'mane-changing and coloring' spells. I really should have looked through those myself instead of having an intern do it…'
"Then prepare yourself, lass!" Celestia snapped out of her thought at the exclamation and looked over to see the gunpowder enthusiast taking a powerful stance with a strange smile. "I guess you'll jus' hafta' fight me for it! Wink wink."
"Wh…Why did you say 'wink wink'?" Celestia asked hesitantly, wondering if the human was more unstable than she originally surmised.
The black cyclops, while still maintaining his stance, rolled his eye as his confidant smile sagged. "Ugh, Monoculus was me good winking eye, so…"
"Oh! If that's the case, *e-hem*, I accept your challenge for the rights to the crown!" The Princess also took a mighty stance, flaring out her majestic ivory wings to their fullest extent.
Everypony else that was still recovering went silent as the energy from the two titanic powers hung heavily over the room. The Royal Guards all knew that the Princess, the Goddess of the Sun, was perfectly capable of handling any threat that might befall her (sometimes that fact made them question exactly how important they were to her as guards or if they were mostly just for show and policing services), but this human creature had single hoofedly (or what are those things called? Not claws…"hams"?) defeated Chrysalis, so naturally they were bracing themselves for what might happen.
Princess Celestia made the first the first move, rearing up on her back legs to get the best leverage she could, she brought her forelegs down upon Demoman's black flak jacket with a light *pomf*. "ARGH! Woe is me, I've been bested!" He crumpled to floor and stuck his tongue in an over-dramatic defeat. "Please, no more! I surrender this crown to you, lass."
Celestia, a little embarrassed (as was everypony in the room who pretended that they didn't just see that) once again lifted her crown from Prince DeGroot's head and placed it on her's where it stayed. "Right!" Demoman hoped onto his feet with surprising agility for someone who hadn't been legally sober in years. "Now that THAT'S over, I need to get goin' t' stop that blasted eye o' mine!" He felt a hoof drape over his shoulder and spun him around to face the dark mare it was attached to.
"ART THOU SAYING THAT THOU HAST SOMETHING TO DO WITH YONDER ABOMINATION!?" Princess Luna bellowed, her anger taking hold over her ability to use up-to-date vernacular and instead falling back on the terms and language to which she was accustomed.
"Yeah, it's me own flesh and blood. See, back when I was jus' a wee little thing, me mum sent me out to go find a job, and the only one I could find was helping this old coot, Merasmus the Magician, clean out his house. I hadn't so much as touched the broom when I heard a voice coming from a book, so, like the stupid little git I was I went over to it and tried to take a peak. Turns out that book was The Bombinomicon, and it had a thing about cursing people's eyes and turnin' 'em inta' giant flying monsters. Merasmus disappeared after that and was never seen or heard from again. So then last Halloween, I come to learn that Merasmus was my associate's roommate. There was somethin' t' do with a veggie plater, one thing lead to another and…BOOM! Giant angry eye creature."
Luna's mouth hung open for a moment as she tried to process what had been said before shaking herself. "Sister, please don't tell us that you plan to sit on your laurels while this monster roams free?"
"Far from it. Captain Ajax, contact the Wonderbolts and order them to speed up their mission and return to Canterlot at once. Guards, secure Chrysalis and her Changelings somewhere safe until I can deal with them personally. Luna, Demoman, and Lyra come with me to the courtyard, we're going to put a stop to this!" Everypony (and Scot) saluted as they all rushed off to their assigned duties.
+++++
"Huddah!"
"Get away from me, you imbecile! Are you TRYING to give away my-"
"MURRAH!"
"-postion?" Spy jumped forward and tackled the overly-excited-to-see-him Pyro just as another eye exploded where he had stood. The compromised espionage expert threw the flame alchemist off him with a grunt as he slipped back into the shadows to cloak. Pyro tilted his head to the side a bit in confusion. No matter how many times he had fought alongside him, Pyro could never fully understand Spy's preference for hiding during a fight, he'd much rather just take his opponent head-on, or in this case, eye-on.
While Spy slinked away to do…whatever Spy did when he vanished from sight, Pyro took advantage of his skills and equipment, punishing Monoculus' sloppy attempts to blast him apart by returning all of his attacks via air-blast express. This greatly confused and infuriated Monoculus; it couldn't just let the firebug live after what it had done, but it also couldn't go about attacking him in the way it had been with its eye-crockets literally backfiring on it. The floating orb of Scottish flesh instead opted to follow him at a distance that his wretched faux dragon couldn't reach it but not so far that Pyro could escape its impressive vision.
Elsewhere, the Mane Six had their hooves full with The Bombinomicon, which had now begun to rain down large quantities of lit bombs from within its pages. Twilight and Rarity had been able to reduce the damage done with their combined magic, tossing the bombs higher into the air where they exploded harmlessly. The infernal tome had attempted to compensate for this by elongating the fuses so that the bombs would still had enough time to come back down if they were tossed like salad.
The girls' answer to that? Applejack. Having grown up on Sweet Apple Acres where quality was king, Applejack and her siblings had learned at a young age to stay aware after bucking a tree and watch carefully for any spoiled apples that might fall in the batch and knock them away from the good batch. Granted these were bombs and all of them could be classified as "bad apples", but that was no sweat for the honest earth mare. While Rarity and Twilight were tasked with keeping the majority of the medieval explosives airborne, the few that escaped them or fell back with an extended fuse were quickly bucked back at their caster by the ever-attentive farmer.
"GAAAAAH! THIS IS GETTING US NOWHERE! EH, MONOCULUS, TAG OUT!"
"MMM? MARRUH!" Monoculus roared in agreement as it opened a purple vortex that engulfed both the deadly eye and the dusty book, and after a moment of near silence, the dastardly duo were launched back out but on opposite sides; Monoculus at the girls, The Bombinomicon at the mercenaries.
At least, that was the plan…what came back out of that swirling portal into hell was far worse.
"MURRAH…WHAT? WHAT HAPPENED TO…ME? OH-HO-HO, YES!" The unholy fusion laughed, its double voice echoing over itself as the horrors just kept coming. At first glance it just appeared as though the ancient bomb recipe guide had grown to enormous sizes, until the bomb encased within the circle of teeth swiveled around in its socket to reveal that it was no longer a bomb, but Monoculus itself! Bulges began to writhe about from under the skin cover and snaked their way out to edges where Monoculus' veins sprouted forth from within the pages and the loose stitching. The Bombinomicon's original eyes (that now appeared to be even less significant with Tavish's old eye embedded in its "mouth") were like two miniature red suns blazing within the dark sockets.
"NOW THIS IS WHAT I CALL TRUE POWER! MURAHAHAHA!"
"Everypony RUN!" Twilight exclaimed, she and the others split up as eye-crockets coupled with the hailstorm of bombs continued to rain down from the thick overcast that had lingered long after the Crit Boostening had ended. As Twilight galloped away towards the castle she nearly slammed into Spy and Pyro as they rushed haphazardly TOWARDS the deadly raincloud and the creature controlling it. "What are you two-"
"Just keeping runing! We'll hold zem back!"
"Huddah!" the humanoid salamander mumbled as he withdrew a small, red cylindrical device. He stopped running only for an instant to line up his shot as a blazing flare rocketed from the tiny cannon and sailed high into the air. Picking up his stride Pyro clicked a secondary trigger with made the flare erupt with a bang that prematurely detonated all of the bombs nearby and causing a chain-reaction that rocked the sky with numerous explosions. Spy did more of the same only directing his efforts at distracting The Bombonculus itself so it would focus the deadly seeing spheres at him and away from the Mane Six.
"DON'T THINK A FEW PARLOR TRICKS IS GOING TO BE ENOUGH TO STOP ME, MURRRRAH! IT'LL TAKE A LOT MORE THAN-"
"Then how about us?"
"MURAHRA? DEMOMAN!? JUST WHEN I THOUGHT CHRYSALIS COUDN'T BE ANY MORE USLESS! AND HOW THE HELL'D YOU TWO ESCAPE?"
"We have our dear friend Pyro to thank for that," Celestia said.
"It appears as if though flames and a sharp ax are the bane of those vile cocoons," Luna said with a smirk as Pyro could be seen in a gap between a couple of small businesses on market street, flashing a quick thumbs-up before launching yet another flare over The Bombonculus much to the effect of the first.
"Bloody hell! What did you do ta' me eye, Bombinomicon!?" Tavish felt a weight on his shoulder about that of a hand, and upon further inspection it turned out to be just that. A gloved hand.
"Listen to me you drunken wretch, I know zat losing your eye left you more zen just physically deformed but you need to focus! Ze sooner we kill zat zing, ze sooner we can go home," Spy told Demoman as he shook the Scot to make sure his point was getting across.
"But why would we want ta' leave this gorgeous place? The lush fields, the wee little ponies, the-"
"Tavish, I'm going to stop you right here; Equestria is a dry country."
"ATTACK! KILL THE BEAST!" The Goddesses looked at one another as smiles crept across both of their beautifully deadly muzzles. They unfurled their magnificent wings like giant birds of prey and shot high into the air as they spiraled around one another.
The Bombonculus knew that the Princesses possessed immense power and quickly shifted all of its efforts towards bringing them down. Eye-crockets, bombs, and just about any other spell or incantation it could think to throw at them flew across the sky in a frightening yet dazzling display. The sisters remained unfazed as they flirted with the highly explosive witchcraft as the eruptions of each spell rang out in its own symphony of destruction.
The agile deities swooped back down below the massive tome, bringing a wide assortment of homing explosives along with them. "OH SON OF A-" The Bombonculus wasn't able to finish its curse as the volley of other curses it had cast earlier came back to haunt it in a rather explosive manner. With their foe momentarily distracted, the sisters leaped on the chance to finish off the menacing abomination.
The Royal Pony Sisters crossed their elegant horns, their eyes aglow with the growing power that surged within them; Sun and Moon fighting together as one for one of the first times in over a thousand years. They suddenly broke apart and released the pent up energy they had both gathered as beams of solid light and darkness that spiraled around each other in a double-helix of untold power.
The Bombonculus looked up in horror as the almighty beam washed over it. In a last ditch effort to save its greedy self, The Bombinomicon used the overwhelming energy that assaulted it to separate itself from Monoculus who in turn took the blast full force as it cried out in defeat. "MUR…RUHARR…RRR…" The gigantic ocular beast's lids fluttered weakly as it sank towards the cobblestone road before stopping to hover a dozen or so feet in the air. Everypony cheered as the great monster fell! Twilight cheered especially loud as she watched the Princesses clear the skies of the smog that once darkened the pristine sky they both had a hoof in creating. Things were starting to fall back into place; Monoculus and The Bombinomicon had both been defeated, Chrysalis and her Changelings overthrown, everypony was free, and the REDs were…were…where were they?
"GIT GOIN'! THA' PORTAL'S GONNA LEAVE US BEHIND!" Twilight looked behind her as all three members of the human stampede nearly ran her over as they sprinted towards the weakened eye.
"'Portal'? What por-" The answer to Luna's question came rather violently as Monoculus EXPLODED like a water balloon…unfortunately, no water was to be found within, but it was a liquid...
'Not THIS time…' Spy, who had been the leader of the pack, quickly sidestepped behind Pyro as the wave of yellow waste flew at them from the epicenter of Monoculus' demise. Pyro was confused for a moment at Spy's sudden decision to double back until he caught a glimpse of what was flying towards him. Now, while his asbestos-lined suit protected him from just about anything nature could throw at him (water, smoke, ticks, daytime television, etc) being hit by gallons of water turned into warm lemonade was still something to be avoided at all costs. For instance, a simple duck-and-cover should be all he needed to avoid it, which he executed promptly.
*SPLISH* "JARATE!? Uh-huh-huh!" The elegant espionage enthusiast couldn't help but emit his overwhelming emotions as he frantically wiped away at his soaked balaclava in a vain attempt to remove the foul juice from his disgusted features. Pyro felt a little sorry for his comrade (only the barest minimum since that ass just tried to use him as a piss-shield) and tried to aid him by air-blasting him dry, which really only managed to blow the Jarate that was pooling atop his lip up his nose, which caused him to scream out in agony as he started to wonder if his nostrils had the ability to vomit.
"We don't have time fer this!" Demoman shouted as he fired two Stickybombs near his feet, he ran at the small cluster of explosive eggs his gun had laid and jumped over them as he pressed the detonation button. The resulting explosion, aside from a bit of pain of being that close to plastic explosives, launched the drunk (and The Bombinomicon that was still dazed from the sister's assault) high into the air towards the spiraling, purple, trans-dimensional tear in the fabric of all that is.
Before disappearing completely, Tavish DeGroot saluted the ponies gathered and motioned for his teammates to hurry it up and follow his lead. Spy didn't waste anytime in using the unintelligible arsonist as a springboard to propel himself towards the vortex and allowing the vacuum it created to pull him the rest of the way all the while cursing the putrid oder that was burning into his brain in his native language.
Now all that left was Pyro, who stood there looking deep into the vortex, he knew that it would be closing soon, but…he just couldn't bring himself to jump. On the one hand, he could just make one simple jump and return back to his home and his team. On the other, he could just stay still and remain in the wonderful land that he had grown to love in his short time being there. He wouldn't have to worry about fighting, getting hurt by a bunch of mentally unstable contract killers in ways only the sick minds at Mann Co. could conjure up, living in peace among the ponies would guaranty his safety.
But could he guarantee theirs? Mann Co. would come looking for him once they noticed him missing from combat and no doubt find a way to come to Equestria and haul him back. NO! A Mann Co. expansion here would be devastating! And even if they didn't come for him, how long until his love of fire got the better of him? He had been unconsciously flicking an invisible lighter the entire time he'd been standing there! He…he could get it under control, how hard could it be? He'd seen alcoholics and optimists get over themselves all the time.
"PYRO!" Pyro perked up at the calling of his name and looked in the direction of the source. It was Lyra, finally rushing out to help after having gotten held up by three scared fillies that didn't have anypony to tell them what was going on, and needed a familiar green mare to comfort them. Now she was the one that was confused; the other humans (and for that matter a giant evil eyeball) were nowhere to be seen, and a strange spinning disk hung in the air just a few feet before her bipedal friend. "Pyro, please don't go. I-I missed you. I didn't think I'd ever see you again, I-"
The slipspace rupture Monoculus had left in its wake started to surge and collapse, and it was in that moment that Pyro received his answer: He couldn't risk subjecting the wonderful ponies to the world he was from, and that included himself. He shuffled forward and allowed the natural pull to levitate him off the ground and towards the rift. As he slowly faded into the portal he waved goodbye, much to to the sadness of everypony gathered who had to see him go. And just like that, all traces of the REDs vanished into thin air.
Well, maybe not ALL traces…
+++++
"What do you have to say for yerself, lad?"
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE BLATHERING ABOUT, I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG…" The Bombinomicon's voice echoed slightly from within the mouth of the massive belched white skull it and the three assembled crimson mercenaries were standing in. An eerie fog blanketed the small, water locked chunk of rock known as Loot Island, the mysterious skull that sat atop the small isle had its massive maw agape, almost as if though the ghostly moans that filled the air were emanating from within.
"Don't play stupid wiz us, Bombnomicon. You should be counting your lucky stars we haven't let Pyro here burn you," Spy said coldly as he ran the back of his butterfly knife across the lying book's cover. It winced to the best of its abilities, looking back and forth between the glimmering blade and the looming maniac who's soulless goggles were locked onto the wretched little textbook, all the while running his hand over his pilot light.
"HUH-HUH…WHY DON'T WE ALL JUST CALM DOWN AND THINK RATIONALLY ABOUT THIS; IF YOU DESTROY ME, YOU LOSE YOUR ONLY WAY HOME. SO…WHY DON'T YOU JUST HOP ON IN AND WE FORGET ALL THIS 'ME TRYING TO KILL YOU AND TAKE OVER EQUESTRIA' BUSINESS, EH?" The Bombinomicon stuttered a bit. Spy decided that he had had enough. He placed his hand over the cursed book and suddenly disappeared from the small island.
"Tha' sneaky devil! I'm gonna hit him so hard he'll *BELCH* *sobs* Why do all my friends leave me!?" Demoman leaned forward to lay an unsteady hand upon The Bombinomicon, but instead tripped and went headlong into the book and disappeared as well, leaving Pyro all by his lonesome.
"WELL, YOU COMING OR WHAT?" Pyro looked around at the desolate hell he found himself in, he had never been on Loot Island by himself before. Whenever he had managed to travel to the godforsaken place he was alway accompanied by an assortment of both REDs and BLUs and had to remain on his burned toes in case someone tried to kill him before he could claim his treasure. Now that he was there all alone, it was really…boring. He decided that he had had his fill of the depressing nothingness too, he placed his gloved hand over the the book…
+++++
…and found himself back in Soldier's apartment! He was glad that he was back home, at least now he could-
"PYRO! GIT DOWN BOY!" A yellow glove flew out from the darkness and pulled the flame alchemist down as a bright orange explosion bloomed like a flower above him. He shook the rubble from his mask and looked around him: Soldier's apartment had been completely leveled, only bits and pieces of wall remained standing. Small fires dotted the immediate area and covered anything beyond the property line with a thick blanket of smoke, the only thing that could be seen were the hail of bullets and rockets flying back and forth, the accompanying sounds rang out in what Pyro, could only assume with all of the smoke and ash, was night. "Keep yer head down, son! You're gonna get it shot off!"
"Murr? Merhurmermer?"
"Yeah, it's me. Where the hell have you n' the others been? We coulda used ya against the Bots!" Dell Conagher coughed as he hauled Pyro back on his feet, the Lvl. 3 Sentry behind him still scanning the area and occasionally firing a few rounds into the thicket of smoke and ash at an unknown enemy.
"WAVE COMPLETE! But they'll be back, head to an upgrade station!"
The Announcer? Pyro had never heard her say THAT before. "Muphmrr mamurr? Hudda?"
"Oh right, y'all have been gone. I'll fill ya' in on the way to the Upgrade Station, I sent Spy and Demo on ahead."
+++++
"That's right, Princess; the Hive was completely burned down when we got there. We assumed that they had tried to remove any traces of themselves and what they were planning, but after what you told us, it's pretty safe to say that…'Pyro', was it? Was the cause of the fire." Spitfire concluded her report with a salute. She shifted her weight, her blue and yellow Wonderbolt flight suit squeaking slightly as she did so.
"I see, thank you for arriving so quickly, Spitfire. Please gather the rest of your team and make sure that all of the Changelings have been accounted for."
"Of course, Princess."
"WHAT!? My beautiful Hive, what happened!? How did that human dragon get into the Hive in the first place!?" Chrysalis screamed from the side of the room where she, and the rest of the Changelings, had been imprisoned by a large cage that hadn't seen the light of day in well over twelve hundred or so years.
"Well…" started Mockery. "We found that ring in the Hive, and thought that we should try summoning the creature the book spoke of…"
"WHAT!?"
"Ditto and Carbon Copy were in on it too!"
"Hey!"
"Don't drag us into your mess!"
"You helped! And beside, how was I supposed to know that...that thing would jump out and set fire to everything?"
Chrysalis. Was. LIVID. She could feel the veins in her forehead pulsing as they seemed to painfully pump her now boiling blood. She roared and pounced on her dim-witted underlings, and thanks to the wonders of the ancient containment device, she was able reach each and every one of her failed warriors to distribute a sound thumping.
Celestia felt a tug on her mane, she turned to see the familiar face of her sapphire sister, her eyes still pointed in the direction of the rattling cage fight. "While they're occupied with one another's company, shouldn't YOU be getting ready for a speech, dear sister?"
The solar deity groaned. "Lulu, do I HAVE to?" The younger Goddess nodded. "You're right, there's really no point in hiding it anymore…"
+++++
"…and that is why I stand before you today citizens of Canterlot, citizens of Equestria, humbled by my transgressions. You must understand, I only did what I did for you. I wasn't able to accurately judge how the effects of having something such as a human pyromancer doing battle with an undead human warlock that had…managed to corrupt my sister and I into do his bidding. However, after the recent events, we feel as if though it is for the best that you are all able to retain and reflect upon this knowledge. Furthermore, I have removed the original spell, and those of you who were witness to last year's Nightmare Night shall begin to slowly remember all that transpired little by little as to not overwhelm you. I am deeply sorry, and I hope that you can find it in your hearts to forgive me." Princess Celestia exhaled as she looked out across the multi-colored sea of ponies that had gathered to hear the important message their Princess had to say.
The masses were silent at first, digesting what their faulty deity had just told them, some of the mares and stallions gathered in the devastated courtyard perked up as the memories of that awful night washed over them, and they began telling those standing around them what they had seen. Celestia grew nervous as no pony had said anything back to her despite the growing chatter, after a few tense moments the murmurs ceased; and were replaced by thunderous stamping of hooves and cheers for the Sun Goddess. Celestia wiped a tear from her ivory cheek.
"Thank you all for your understanding! As a token of good faith, taxes shall be reduced for everypony!" The stamping grew louder as a few pegasi launched high above the crowd and looped around in the sky. Celestia gave a final wave as she disappeared back inside the castle where her dark blue sister was waiting for her and have her big sis a hug for doing such a good job.
"You know, the tax collectors are not going to be happy about what you said, Celly."
"Oh, I'm sure they'll find some other way to torture my little ponies," Celestia joked as she and Luna both giggled. "I'm just glad that all of this Chrysalis business is over and done with."
The Moon Goddess smiled. "As am I. Shining Armor said he would have all of those vile creatures locked away for good as soon as he could. How do you think Twilight Sparkle is handling the whole situation?"
"It's not her I'm worried about."
+++++
"Oh, Sweetie Belle! I'm so glad you're alright…oh, my, we really MUST get you into a bath once we're home so I can try to get that awful cocoon goo out of your coat." Rarity flicked some of the slime from her hoof after breaking the embrace around her sister.
"Ah'm glad you came to rescue us just like the time Pyro saved us from from that fire in Lyra's house," Apple Bloom said as she rested her tired head against Applejack's shoulder.
"Hey, you remember that too! I told everypony I wasn't crazy!" the small orange pegasus exclaimed as she bounced high off her seat and landed with an audible *poomf*.
"'Fire at Lyra's'? There was a FIRE at Lyra's? YOU were in a FIRE at Lyra's!?" Rarity shrieked. All large eyes darted over to the mint-green unicorn mare that was laying on her train bunk with a large, studded shield resting just underneath. She looked lazily up at them with a smile, she then stopped starring off into space when her own set of massive yellow eyes took in the looks she was getting from the nine other mares in the train car.
"Huh? Oh! That. It wasn't so much an actual 'fire' as it was an equipment malfunction. One that was caused when three little fillies went digging into things they shouldn't and tried to use a powerful weapon of war as a boat." Lyra smiled as the focus shifted away from her and back towards the increasingly guilty-looking Cutie Mark Crusaders.
Lyra smiled as she watched the CMC try and explain themselves to their older sisters/Rainbow Dash. She wasn't smiling because she enjoyed watching the young ponies trying to avoid trouble, she was smiling because her friend's memory had finally been restored, which meant that now no pony would call her crazy for talking about humans! Too bad there weren't any actual humans to actually talk to.
"Go easy on them, girls, we've all been through a lot," Twilight called back to the aid of the trouble-making trio as she walked over to Lyra, her hooves clacking on the train's hardwood floor. "Speaking of going through a lot, how are you holding up, Lyra?" the brainy unicorn asked thoughtfully as she sat down next to her. "It must be nice having your shield back."
"It is, it REALLY is…*sigh*, I just wish this wasn't the only thing I had to remember them by." Everything lurched forward slightly as the train pulled into the station in Ponyville. As the doors opened the ponies that had come from Canterlot after being abducted for one reason or another quickly ran out into the streets and off towards their respective houses. The Mane Six and company were the last ones to exit onto the platform as the clock that hung above the station chimed noon.
"Well, actually, about that," Twilight's purple magic aura wrapped around her heavier-than-when-she-left saddlebags as she undid the latch…and was tackled to the ground by a sobbing baby dragon.
"TWI-I-I-ILIGHT! I can't find Lyra ANYWHERE! I-I-I went to Bon Bon's house, and she wasn't there! So I made these posters, an-" Twilight had already tuned the crying Spike out as a black and white poster blew past with Lyra's smiling face printed on it below large bold letters that read; "LOST! IF FOUND, PLEASE CONTACT SPIKE THE DRAGON AT GOLDEN OAKS LIBRARY!" She rolled her eyes as Spike continued to list his numerous (and increasingly costly) methods for locating the human-obsessed harpist.
Twilight levitated her panicking assistant onto her back and gave him a kiss on his forehead. He wiped the last of his dragon tears from his red eyes, and with his overly complicated task behind him, passed out on the spot.
"Oh, Spike. You can't work yourself that hard," Twilight said softly to the snoring mythical lizard as he curled up. "Oh, Lyra before I forget. I found this back at in Canterlot." Twilight once again opened her saddlebags embroidered with her Cutie Mark and produced a gift with yellow wrapping paper tied up with red ribbon and a tag that read "To: Lyra. From: Pyro". Lyra's eyes grew wide with wonder, but before she could ask the Element of Magic how or why, she was gone.
Lyra delicately balanced the colorful present from another dimension on her battle scared shield which bobbed from side to side as she trotted back to her inviting home, occasionally stepping on a poster with her likeness on it. She stopped to examine one of them; she saw her smiling face looking back at her, at least Spike had used a decent picture (good thing she had destroyed all remaining evidence of that one Hearts Warming Eve…she was still convinced that some of that eggnog had permanently bonded to her coat).
The longer she looked down at the black and white unicorn the more alien it became. She flashed back to a few days ago when she had become something she had never thought possible; an actual, human, girl. She had never taken that thought off the back burner and now it was starting to drive her mad. No! She couldn't dwell on it, no matter how much she wanted that reality to be, she could not sell her soul to the leather-bound devil. Not again.
Lyra opened the door to her little home on the outskirts of town, the wind that swept through the now crowed streets blew into her living room as she flicked on the lights to reveal just how reckless Demoman had been when he broke in. The tired harpist sighed, not overly concerned with how messy her house was as much as how loudly her comfy, warm bed was calling her. With its familiar sheets, soft pillows-
*CLANG* *Thump*
"Oh…it's just the Splendid Screen, oh good…" Lyra reassured herself, wiping some sweat from her brow while using her other hoof to maintain an iron grip on the ceiling fan she was now wrapped around. "Stupid, sudden, loud noises. Oh! The gift." Lyra swung from side to side and landing squarely on her couch below…only to bounce off it and land with a thud on the other side. "Owww…glad nopony saw that…
+++++
Canterlot was always the most beautiful at night. The way the soft moonlight washed over the white and gold fortress city could hardly be described with mere words.
Celestia had tried. During Nightmare Moon's exile, Princess Celestia had always felt envious when she came out to the balcony in the evening, ironically enough. One of the first things she had done when Luna had been cleansed was take her out on that very same perch high above the city to show her just how beautiful her nights were, and thanks to advances in technology, electric lights allowed ponies to be out later and fully enjoy the night the same as the day. Truly, these peaceful nights were- *FWOOSH* -almost always interrupted by mail.
The ancient alicorn sighed, closing the curtains with her magic and trotting over to her large desk where a scroll sat waiting for her. The scroll didn't have Twilight's seal, but it had been sent by dragon's fire. Curious, she opened it and it read:
Dear Princess Celestia:
Today I learned that friendship can be just as strong with somepony you know that's far away as much as with somepony who lives next door. Even though those two friends might not see each other for long periods of time, or even get the chance to talk, they can still cherish the bond that they share in hopes that they can one day see each other again.
Sometimes those friends have to make special trips, whether that's across the sea, past mountains, over fields and plains, or something much further. If it means being able to see one another, even for a moment, then that makes whatever costs all worth while just knowing that that special somepony is doing well.
Today, I learned that friendship is the most powerful magic there is, one that keeps me going everyday in hopes I can come visit again soon.
Your flammable friend;
Pyro
THE END
Stats
Page generated in 0.037 seconds
Total duration
1,144 users online
1,703,388 hits today, 1,822,946 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Should be Monoculus.
Should be guarantee.
2118592 Thanks you
Cant wait for Colgates Heavy Havoc
Eye, or rather I, am sad to see this over. I do hope for yet another sequel, but barring that...Good job.
It's sooo beautiful, why must it end
2118791 You guys come up with the best names
2118954 Thanks, and I assure you, you'll like the epilogue.
2118963 Because like all fics, the writer starts getting bombarded with school and a birthday coming up and all that. Plus, I think start to finish TDD was a lot longer than LPP in terms of how long it took to write.
2118979 Sad to see this come to an end, but overall, it was fabulous~!
I just been thinking what if Heavy shows up and has to fight a army of Pootis birds or robots, and while all this is happening a lone spycrab has his own adventure.
2118791 Sandvich is credit to teeth!
2119028 Ah, yes; the rare Pootis Bird.
2119040 GOOD TIMES!
You mean the end until the SEQUAL.
Right?
2119243
I have one thing to say.
STOUT SHAKO FOR TWO REFINED!
2119271
-_- There better MMPHing be one, or Fanfiction Vagineer won't be happy. Isn't that right, Reader?
Hrrrr...HAIMALOO!
He agrees. And says that Scoot should be next, for the sake of "Rainbowsmakemecry"
cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/31989204.jpg
But in all fairness, I can't think of much else you could have done.
Loved the story, and can't wait for more!
Your new to-do list:
Wirte an epilogue
write a sequel with other characters
keep being awesome.
2119271 Maaaaaybe...
2120190 I know, I'm not super cray cray about the ending either but, oh well. Thanks though.
2120225 Well I'll certainly try.
2118979 Redhearts Medic Massacre 2 Medicine Harder
If you do write a sequel, please publish the first chapter and put a link to it in the epilogue of TDD.
2122995 I'll probably just link it in the description like I did with LPP.
detonated all of the bombs nearby ad causing a chain-reaction
Tavish felt a weight on his shoulder about that of a hand, and upon further inspection it turned out to be just that. A gloved hand. Tavish felt a weight on his shoulder about that of a hand, and upon further inspection it turned out to be just that. A gloved hand.
between the glimmering blade and the looming maniac who's soulless goggles
had to remain on his burned toes incase someone tried to kill him
1. And.
2. Repeated line.
3. Whose? I dunno, just wondering here.
4. Forgot your spacing.
DANG IT! Now I feel more pressured to get out the chapter that I intended to release yesterday but for the life of me couldn't finish! Oh the oh so real imaginary pressure!
2124313 I KNOW RIGHT? The fake stress that's standing over me RIGHT NOW is unbearable.
Sorry, mate, but I gotta say it. That ending was not very great. It's basically Celestia and Luna deus ex machinaing Monoculus and the Bombinomicon to death. No actual fighting, just them effortlessly blasting them away. And they couldn't do this to escape the pods.....why? Or defeat Queen Chrysalis who could withstand a cursed sword that lusted after the heads of english kings....but not a bloody pan.
Twins...
fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/078/a/1/princess_celestia_and_luna_by_johnjoseco-d3c0m0a.jpg
They aren't twins, mate. That should be as clear as night and day!
Great chapter, Awsome battle.
Who knew Pyro was such a good letter writer?
HAHAHAHAHA!
"But why would we want ta' leave this gorgeous place? The lush fields, the wee little ponies, the-"
"Tavish, I'm going to stop you right here; Equestria is a dry country."
"ATTACK! KILL THE BEAST!"
Omg I laughed way too hard there!
As I write this I am a ghost. My corpse is laying on the ground with a freakishly wide grin.
Oh shit, Grim's here!
cdn.gurl.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/peace-out-emotionally-unavailable.gif
https://youtu.be/nsagEzD17Ns
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!! You had Pyro leave?! Again, fuck you. Fuck you straight to the deepest, darkest pit of hell.