118- The Final Masquerade: The Break Of Day
Daybreaker gasped, almost fumbling backwards off her throne. The Royal Guards before me all shrunk at the sight. Captain Shining Armor’s jaw dropped before he lit his horn and conjured a shield around him and Princess Cadence, who was almost as shocked as everyone else. The Element bearers were partially shocked, but it seems they were warned ahead of time by Rarity. Still, they couldn’t do anything about the Royal Guards that had surrounded them.
Some of the guards had their backs to the Elements, but many more faced towards them. It would seem that the bearers’ protective attachment was outnumbered.
Luna smiled at me, and nodded once.
‘We are together on this.’
“Why so silent, good messieurs? Did you think I had left you for good?” I asked, looking around the room.
The party guests all shrunk back as I leaned towards them, smiling with my fangs on display. Daybreaker no longer radiated shock, instead amusement, causing me to turn back to her.
“I knew you would come!” Daybreaker sneered, recovering from the surprise. “I have to compliment you on your timing! You had me convinced that you weren’t here yet, what with your changelings not warning me….”
“Yes, my changelings which you enslaved,” I snarled.
I could see more Royal Guards filing into the room from the side doors. They even had Division-P Inquisitors with them.
‘I love it when a plan comes together. Shame the big one fell apart almost instantly.’
“I hear you have been looking for me, demon,” I spat.
“I hunt down all of Equestria’s enemies,” she spat back.
“Except the one you see in the mirror, Nightmare.”
“All this talk of Nightmares,” Daybreaker waved a hoof dismissively. “Do you really think anypony here would believe that changeling propaganda? I am not Nightmare Moon, I am and always have been Equestria’s humble Princess, doing what I can to save and help everypony. Is it you behind all of this? Poisoning the minds of two princesses,” she tutted, “I should have known changeling trickery was responsible.”
‘I need to distract her and let the Elements do their magic.’
“Well Princess, here I am. What’s the next step in your grand plan?”
Daybreaker guffawed, “Ha ha ha haaa! I am so glad you asked, little Prince. I offer you a chance to redeem yourself, and spare your species’ from its inevitable end. You will embrace Harmony, and serve it righteously.”
“No thanks, I’ve had my fill of your kind. Enough to last several lifetimes, in fact.”
“This is your one chance at surviving this night, insect. You have no hope of defeating Harmony. When the history of our glory is written, your kind will be but a footnote.”
“I am far more than mere footnote, demon. I am King Phasma. Once I was the Dread Prince, the Doom of Canterlot,” I said, stepping towards her. The Royal Guards hardened their stances, keeping their spears pointed towards me. “But that is no longer me. I am King Phasma, Bane of Nightmares. I will save Equestria. I will save Equus. And I will do it by hunting each and every one of you demonspawn down, and delivering Panar’s judgement,” I said, pointing God-Splitter at Daybreaker.
Then, I gripped the Royal Guards’ spears by the shaft within my magic. The enchantments resisted, fighting my grip. But I was a changeling royal, with nearly a full tank of love. In the end, they proved to be far inferior to Unbroken Radiance’s enchantments. I snapped each and every one of them in half, sending wood and metal fragments scattering about. A few unicorns even casted spells at me, but all they did was reflect off Unbroken Radiance, or were absorbed by its protective magic matrices.
The guards gasped as I walked up to them and past them, leisurely taking my time to approach Daybreaker and not even glancing in their direction. I couldn’t beat the crap out of the demon without getting closer, after all.
“We stand united against you, Daybreaker,” Luna said from her position next to the demon.
“Oh yes, your silly plan of using the Elements to purify me,” Daybreaker laughed.
I stopped halfway up the steps.
‘Is plan B out the window, too?’
“Go on then, use the Elements,” Daybreaker said, smiling.
The Element bearers shared a confused look before Luna gave them a nod. The Elements got into position; Twilight Sparkle pulled the Elements out from a location I didn’t see, and each pony put them on as we watched. They spoke quietly with each other, closed their eyes, and then…
Nothing happened.
‘Clearly, something went wrong. Time to enact lemon-scented plan Z!’
I slowly backed up, quietly making my way down the stairs. For plan Z to work, I had to be in a specific spot in the room. Technically, it could work from anywhere in the room, but I figured that Daybreaker would have set up defensive enchantments around the section where the Princesses sat. I needed to put some distance between me and this guarded section.
I also needed a hostage. Just briefly, this time.
“Nothing’s happening, Princess Luna!” Twilight Sparkle yelled, the frustration dripping from her voice.
“Hey! Don’t move!” A Royal Guard behind me yelled as I stepped back.
“Eh, you’ll do,” I shrugged.
Buzzing my Wings, I lifted off from the ground and grabbed her. The guards near her threw a few spells, but once again they melted away against my armor. The sudden sound and motion made Daybreaker turn her attention– and her growing laugh away from the Elements of Harmony.
“Of course I knew about your plan to swap the Elements, little sister! You have lost your touch in your thousand year long absence. And you. Just where do you think you’re going, changeling?”
Daybreaker’s wings spread wide as she put her forehooves on the table, leaning over it and preparing to take off towards me. The only thing that stopped her was that I picked up a Royal Guard and was using her as a body shield.
“I’d be very careful about your next action, Nightmare,” I hissed, “or the mare dies.”
“Agh! Let go of me!” The guard hissed through clenched teeth. Her wings beat uselessly against my chest.
‘Quite the upgrade from the tiny foal. I wouldn’t even feel that guilty if she died…. As guilty…. Probably.’
“From claiming that I was possessed by a demon, to threatening the lives of those around you. Truly, you are Equestria’s savior,” Daybreaker mocked. “My offer is still on the table, little bug. It won’t be for long.”
‘Who are you calling little? We’re about the same size!’
She continued, “Join me, and I will cleanse you of your sins.”
“Two near-possessions were more than enough for me, thank you very much.”
Daybreaker shrugged, “You will not be possessed, or whatever else you are afraid of. I just need your absolute loyalty. Sworn oaths, and perhaps leverage to ensure your word, nothing more. I am aware of what your mother has done. I know that it was Queen Chrysalis who ultimately ordered the invasion of Equestria. You were just her pawn, afraid for your own life and the lives of your species… Which do you fear most, Phasmatodea? Joining me? Or standing against me and being ‘Ascended’ by your mother?”
‘Fuck, that’s a cheap shot!’
I snarled and bared my fangs, “Neither! I choose neither! I’ll never be a victim of you demons again, nor will I be subject to her machinations!”
‘How did– the interrogations! Damn it, that was a low blow!’
“Joining me is your only way forward. You will stand by my side as I remake Equus in Harmony’s vision. You will not be harmed. You will have your own free will… so long as it doesn’t go against Equestria.”
I just laughed derisively at her and shook my head.
“Princess, what do we do?!” Twilight stage-whispered to Luna as she shook her magical necklace. “I think these are fakes!”
“Hold, Twilight!” Luna responded, her horn suddenly shooting out four blue darts that spun in the air and then slammed into the Daybreaker-loyalist guards facing her.
The rest of the guards retreated and put up shields, allowing Luna to meet up with the bearers. Daybreaker’s attention was still on me. The pony continued to struggle in my grip as I began to hover backwards. I ignored her demands to be let go, and held her close enough that the other Royal Guards snarled at me, but didn’t move. I held God-Splitter in front of me, while I clutched the pony with my forelegs and magic.
“Sloth tried to have me, you know!” I continued, trying to buy time. “Burnt to a crisp! Gluttony was next! I detonated a sun to reduce him to a smear of blood underneath a mile of stone! I’m getting quite good at slaughtering you Nightmares! You think the war against changelings is one sided? That you will win? After countless millennia of dying, the war is finally in our favor! I will scour every last one of you from this world, and the Dreamscape! Nowhere will be safe from me!”
I tightened my grip on the pony, causing her to gasp and claw at her throat.
Daybreaker roared in anger, “Don’t you dare hurt a single one of my ponies, vermin! Whatever pain you inflict, I will return a thousand times over!”
She took to the air, following me as I hovered backwards. On the ground, the Royal Guards split up between keeping their weapons and horns aimed at the Princesses and Elements, and splitting off to follow me from the ground.
‘That’s a Bingo! But I better confirm it before I start laughing maniacally!’
“I very much doubt that. This is pure Adamantium armor, Daybreaker. You saw what you could do with the meager remains of my peytral. You think any spell you have stands a chance against a full suit of it? This armor was crafted in the ancient forges, thousands of years before Equestria had even heard of the green metal.”
“I will boil you alive and peel it off your charred corpse, vermin,” she growled, keeping her eyes on my hostage.
I cast out the bait, “You need me, Daybreaker. I know you won’t kill me. Why is that? Do you want me to kill Queen Chrysalis for you? That anti-magical aura around the Fourth Hive proving too tough a nut for you to crack?”
“There are other ways,” she growled. “There are always other ways.”
“Not without death there isn’t. You need me to kill Chrysalis, yet you try to threaten my life? I wonder how many ponies I can kill before you snap…”
The pony tapped on my arm, and I actually relaxed my grip on her. She gasped and heaved, desperately forcing air back into her lungs. Daybreaker missed the act, her fiery mane expanding to twice its size, matching the fury pouring from every inch of her being.
“I will burn you and every last of your misbegotten kind to ash before I let you kill a single pony!” Daybreaker yelled, her horn glowing red. “Even if it sets the war effort back! I will not let any of my ponies come to harm, not while I still draw breath!”
“Hahahahaha….” I started to laugh, “aha ha ha HA HA HAAA! It brings me no small amount of joy to hear that from you, Daybreaker!” I yelled. “I said I would kill you, didn’t I?! And you’ve just proven that I will! I was so afraid, Daybreaker. I was afraid that there was so little of Celestia left that Plan Z would fail. But you don’t disappoint!”
I looked back at Luna and the gang. While we were both distracted, the last of the loyalists were mopped up. Now, she looked at me from across the room. I let go of the pony, lowering her down to the ground with my magic. She was quickly recovered by her advancing ground-based comrades.
‘Sorry about this in advance, Luna. Forgive me...’
“I won’t hurt a single one of your ponies,” I mocked Dayreaker’s word usage. “No, no. I will hurt every. Single. One of them! There is not a soul in Equestria that will survive my reckoning! You alone will have the power to save them all, Daybreaker.”
“Is that so, little insect? All I see is you, standing before me, alone. Not even your Legions are here to save you. Seems to me like all I have to do to save them is crush you, here and now.”
I shrugged, “That’s true. I am all the way over here, alone, and you have an army at your back. Come on, Daybreaker. Aren’t you curious? Just what does King Phasma have in store? A weapon? A threat? A plan? Come on, guess!”
“You have nothing!” Daybreaker sneered. “My offer has expired. Surrender now, and I will spare your life and your new band of changelings. There will be pain, but you will still have life. I will make use of you regardless of your resistance. Fight, and your kind will only be seen in history books.”
I snorted, “Time’s up. The answer is actually that I’m not going to kill you. Breaking that promise, I know. But the truth is just so much better; you are going to kill yourself, Nightmare!”
Daybreaker laughed, “If you’re hoping to use your mind control on me…”
I shook my head, “Oh no, Princess, nothing of the sort! Your decision to end your own life will be entirely your own! Daybreaker, you are dead already, you just don’t know it yet! You will give the Elements of Harmony back to their bearers, and order them to use the Elements on you!” I looked past her, to where the bearers were stuck looking between Daybreaker and I, and the ponies around them. “Elements! You will use the powers on Daybreaker! Nothing else before her!” I looked back at the demon, “This is the end of the road, Nightmare. The vestiges of Celestia within you will be your own undoing!”
“Speaking nonsense, now?” She asked, getting bored of my threats.
“No, I am speaking of a question. An old question, one of the oldest. It will be your death.”
I didn’t have any secret weapons to kill Daybreaker and save the day. No existing material on nuclear warfare could save me, for they haven’t even begun the decades-long process of researching that, let alone the centuries it would take to get to the weaponizing level. I had no clever ploy to pit the Equestrians against each other, or break the Royal Guards’ indoctrination and save Equestria. No, no MacGuffins or anything else could bring Daybreaker down, save for the Elements of Harmony. But only Daybreaker had control over those at the moment.
In the end, to save Equestria, I would have to burn it to the ground.
“What’s the question?” Daybreaker asked. “What question could possibly defeat Harmony?”
I giggled madly at the phrasing. Every single pony in attendance was watching with horrid fascination, though I could see civilians beginning to evacuate from the sides of the room. The two Princesses watched on, too. Luna’s eyes locked onto mine for a moment.
“In the end, you will die due to Celestia’s own incompetence and complacency, demon. What happens when an unstoppable force meets an unmovable object?”
I swung God-Splitter to my right side and started spinning it.
Pinging the Hail Mary’s location had been a simple enough task. Its magic was unlike anything else I had read about. Luna had confirmed the artifact’s location in a conversation in a dream conversation, a fact that stuck with me.
I stifled a giggle, “My guess? A whole lot of–”
Daybreaker gasped as I swung God-Splitter around, bringing its full momentum to bear before letting it go. She had realized my plan.
“NOOOOOOOO!” She screamed in her Royal Canterlot Voice, nearly knocking me right out of the air.
But she failed.
The hammer flung from my grip, shattering in a moment the shield Daybreaker cast forth to stop it and hold it. It then immediately shattered the next thirteen shields and delaying fields she put up, cutting through each one like they never even existed.
It went right for the wall that faced the royal garden, and continued going right through the wall.
“– DISCORD!” I screamed.
The wall shattered as a distant chuckle filled the air. Outside, the hammer hurtled towards a stone statue, who raised a stone paw to grab the hammer. The paw closed on the hammer as it slammed into Discord, stopping in an instant. His stone prison began to crack and fizzle away.
The distant chuckle grew into a loud cackle as Discord, draconequus of Chaos, Prince of Terror, and doom of immortals shook free the last bits of his stone prison. He laughed as he stretched, relishing the movement. He twirled God-Splitter around like a cane.
Everypony was staring in horror at the awakened god. I, meanwhile, was flying as fast as I could in the opposite direction. There was a crash of thunder from the clear skies as everyone was frozen in shock.
“Hello, everyone!” I heard Discord’s voice behind me, as if he was standing just behind me. “Did you miss me? Because I missed you!”
That seemed to break the spell, as everyone in the room began screaming and stampeded in the opposite direction, for the doors. I flew above their struggle, watching as a few pegasi got the same idea and took off, flocking above the stampede to the doors. Several blue-colored pegasi zipped past me.
‘Those must be the Wonderbolts,’ I giggled.
“Guards! Evacuate the palace, or delay the monster as long as you can!” Daybreaker ordered out of my line of sight. “You! You’re going nowhere!”
I slammed into an invisible wall, and had to catch myself before I fell to the ground. Spinning around, I got a moment’s glimpse of an orange boot before it smashed into my muzzle. A green shimmer that appeared from my helmet stopped the hoof just before it connected with my face, but the blow still knocked me back. I reared back and prepared my own spell, only to be blinded by a hellfire torrent of heat. Feeling the intensity outside my armor’s protective shielding, I dived into the blast, and used the same technique against the Princess that I had against Shining Armor when we first had the pleasure of meeting.
My own booted hoof met Daybreaker’s muzzle, bursting out from the underside of her beam of fire. I followed the strike with a thrust of a summoned ice spear. Daybreaker flicked her mane into the path, which melted the magical ice.
I ducked as a blade of controlled fire thrust into where my chest was just moments before. I parried the outstretched blade with one of my own, made of the coldest, sharpest ice I could summon. It was so cold that despite Daybreaker’s inferno raging around her, all the warmth had been sucked out from me.
Then, Daybreaker’s blade exploded into a white-hot fireball, sending me flying away and dazed. I saw a flash of light shortly before a hoof slammed into my chest, sending me into the ground. I crashed through an abandoned table, staring up at Daybreaker.
‘No fair! I can’t teleport with this armor!’
“Princess!” A pony yelled somewhere.
Miraculously, Daybreaker looked away from me, snarled, and charged away. Pulling myself free from the wooden debris, I saw that she had charged towards Discord. Around the hole and in the garden beyond, the Royal Guards had been frozen in time. One of them had stopped before his comrades, and had called for help.
‘Time to run!’
I stumbled to my hooves and lifted my elytra. My elytra had protected my wings for the most part, but I was guessing that there were probably tears and holes in them that would only increase in size over time.
I only got ten hooves away from the broken table before a wave of energy picked me up and slammed me into the wall, creating a rather sizable Phasma-shaped indent in the stone. An hoof’s length to the right, and I would have been sent out the window I intended to blow out and make my escape through.
I felt my stomach flip as up became down and down became up. Beneath me and around me, ponies tried and failed to hold onto something to stop themselves from falling to the ceiling.
I saw Daybreaker twist in midair, flipping herself upside down and continuing out the ballroom.
Then, gravity flipped once more as backwards became down. All of the ponies and furniture tumbled into the wall I was embedded in, and the sound glass cracking was almost lost in the cacophony of screams.
“Phasma!” I heard Luna yell above the chaos.
“Luna?!” I called out as I pried myself out of the stone imprint of my back.
‘Shit! If Luna needs my help, then I can’t make a hasty retreat! Damnit, damnit, damnit! If only Luna wasn’t here!’
I freed myself from the wall, only for gravity to flip once more, this time back to normal. My wings were still in acceptable condition, good enough to continue flying.
I also noticed that some things didn’t stay down, instead floating around on their own accord. Debris, buffet tables, and ponies clutching chairs desperately bumped around into each other. Another thunderous wave of magic hit us all, and I heard the sudden sound of rain outside.
“Phasma!” Luna yelled again.
This time, I saw her calling out from the far end of the room, by where the royal tables used to be. She was by them now, but the tables were draped over several Royal Guards and other ponies against the wall. They struggled out from underneath the heavy table as Luna looked around the room.
I flew as fast as I could over to her. She saw me coming and leapt up to embrace me when I arrived.
“There you are! I was afraid you would have just left us here with this mess you made!” She said, clutching me tightly.
“That was the plan, admittedly.”
“So you grand plan to save my sister and Equestria as a whole was to destroy it by releasing the worst–”
Luna was interrupted by the glass figure of a unicorn on the massive window behind her coming to life and stepping out of the window. The two-dimensional figure galloped across the room and down the steps, neighing as it passed us.
“– the worst threat to face Equus?” Luna finished.
“Pretty swell plan, ain’t it?” I smiled.
“Auntie Luna?!” Cadence called out from underneath the pony-pile.
Luna let go of me, spun on her hooves, and began pulling off the heavy tables and chairs off of the ponies. I lend my hoof, proverbially speaking, and pried ponies loose from the groaning pile.
The Royal Guards I freed glared daggers at me, but turned to help their fellow Equestrians.
The Elements of Harmony bearers– ‘that’s really a long title, they need a shorter one,’ – gathered to the side, free from the pile and lending help where they could. Eventually Cadence and Captain Shining Armor were freed from the pile, the very last ones on the bottom of it.
Just in time, too, as a marble pillar which had cracked in half suddenly grew arms and lifted the chiseled base like a skirt, revealing two marble satyr or minotaur legs, which it used to suddenly and quickly escape the room, snapping in half and leaving its top section behind. It ran right through where all the ponies had been, making a straggler throw herself to the side to escape the thundering stone hooves.
“I like that guy’s idea! Let’s make like a tree and get the fuck out of here!” I told Luna.
A crack of lightning and a mad laugh froze us momentarily. I glanced back and saw Discord bobbing and weaving around an enraged Daybreaker past the shattered windows. He simply snaked around her, as if he had no bones in his body.
‘Lesson number one: there’s always a bigger fish.’
“No! We have to stay and help the Elements!” Luna yelled back. “Is everypony okay?”
There were some groans, but the Elements, Cadence, and Shining Armor nodded as the last civilians made their way out of our corner and through a side door. The Royal Guards, what few stayed here, nodded as well.
“We can start helping them by killing that monster!” Shining yelled, pointing a hoof at me.
“Autographs can wait,” I dismissed him. “If you want to help the bearers, then we’ll need to find out why the Elements didn’t work.”
I looked at Twilight Sparkle, Element bearer of Magic for answers. The ponies, all filled with a mixture of confusion and fear, also followed my line of thinking. Whatever they felt about me, they all correctly figured that Discord, ruiner of civilizations, was worse.
“It doesn’t seem like these are the real Elements! It would make sense that she swapped them out for fakes even before bringing them out here into the Gala,” she told us.
“So let’s go ask her!” I said, looking back out the windows at Daybreaker.
Just in time, too, as I saw Discord yawn and flick the fingers of his taloned hand, sending Daybreaker flying backwards and through another part of the wall, back into the ballroom. She caught a pillar, cracking it but stopping her backward momentum.
“Should I ask her, or you, Luna?”
“You’ve done quite enough helping for today!” She yelled as she flapped her wings and took off.
‘Okay, time for the awkward bit.’
I turned around and saw Captain Shining Armor and several Royal Guards giving me the stink eye. Shining had put himself between me and the Princess and Element bearers.
“Sooo…. Last time we met, we got off on the wrong hoof,” I said, focusing my apology to Shining.
“You used a foal as a shield, hurt her, then pummeled me into the ground,” he said, gritting his teeth.
“Like I said, the wrong hoof. Look Shining, you and I both know morals take a backseat when you’re fighting a war for your species’ survival. I’m sorry it got to that point, but I did what I thought I had to do.”
“Why should I trust you?” Shining asked
“Because… uh… Cadence will tell you to?”
“Princess Cadence,” he glared at me, “and I don’t think she will.”
“Actually Shiny,” Cadence interrupted, “he’s sorta good now. A work in progress, at least.”
“What? How? You just saw him use a hostage! Why are you siding with him, Cadence?! Has he used his mind control powers on you?!”
“Nothing of the sort. I’m sure hurting that pony was for a very good reason, and that he will make things right after this,” Cadence said slowly before adding almost inaudibly, “I hope.”
“Yes, it was necessary. I needed to know if Daybreaker would actually comply and give the Elements over to save her citizens. I even relaxed my grip on her and let her go. I was bluffing, Shining Armor. I was almost bluffing when I had that foal. I intended to use illusionary magic to make it look like I hurt her, but then you kinda charged out and ruined anything. Look, we can go over apologies and pointing hooves later. Right now we kind of have to deal with the end of the world.”
“The thing you started?”
“Yeah that thing.”
Shining Armor huffed, “Fine. Princess Luna and Cadence both seem to believe you and your talk of demons and Nightmares… Do you even have any proof of this?”
“Luna was possessed by a Nightmare, and I nearly was twice. I think we both know a Nightmare when we see one.”
The Captain grunted in frustration, “And you released the greatest threat the world has ever known to defeat one?”
“It was the only way to make her reveal the Element’s location, and willingly protect the bearers as they used them,” I said, glancing at the five mares watching our conversation.
‘Wait, five mares? Oh, there’s the sixth.’
The yellow pegasus, Fluttershy, was subtly putting as many ponies between her and myself as possible.
Shining Armor sighed, “Alright, fine, I’ll believe you. If I am the last sane pony, we’d be doomed anyways.”
“Remember, Daybreaker first. We can’t allow her to survive this night. She will try to do anything to avoid getting hit by your MacGuffin.”
“Our what?” Twilight asked, looking to her friends for answers but only receiving shrugs.
“So then, what’s the next step in your plan?” Captain Shining asked.
“Well by now I was supposed to be halfway across Canterlot, but we can improve this. Luna should return with the Element’s real location. Then, we’ll have to keep Discord distracted long enough for the Elements to be used twice: first against Daybreaker, then against him.”
“Ooo, that’s a good plan,” Discord said.
Everyone shouted and leaped away from the King of Chaos, who had spontaneously appeared among the gathered ponies.
“Elements! Get to Luna!” I yelled.
“Guards, see to the evacuation of the civilians!” Shining yelled, dismissing his backup.
‘Not like they were going to be of much help.’
Captain Shining Armor threw up a shield bubble around Discord just as I pulled on God-Splitter’s tether. I felt the response from outside. The draconequus left the hammer in the garden, for whatever reason. It would take precious moments to retrieve it now. Too long, far too long. The bearers galloped away just as Discord opened a square hole in the magical shield, as if he was opening a door.
Taking the hint that magic alone won’t win this fight, I flew forwards and shoulder-checked him back through the hole in the shield, gripping the square protrusion and slamming it shut behind me.
“Oof!” He grunted as I knocked the wind out of him.
‘Think, think, think! Magic doesn’t work against him! I need to restrain him.’
I poured energy into the Thread of Change, transforming from a changeling to an oversized octopus. Unbroken Radiance buckled as it tried to change to my new massive size, before it simply popped off. Since my new body was taking up practically all the space in Shining Armor’s bubble, the armor became wedged between me and the shimmering shield.
“Haven’t you heard of personal space?” I heard a muffled voice from within the shield somewhere, buried within the folds of the eight tentacles I curled up around me.
‘We’re not going to win against him. Just make him lose focus on the Elements for as long as possible!’
Tap. Tap. Tap.
With a cephalopod eye, I looked outside of the tight confines of the shield. Discord was outside, tapping on the bubble like it was an aquarium tank. Shining looked over and yelped in surprise.
‘Of course he can teleport! Looks like I’m just going to have to throw the kitchen sink at him.’
Discord smiled, curled his talons into a fist, and punched the shield. Instead of it shimmering or popping, it just rang. Rang like a bell that I was sitting in the middle of.
Casting off the massive aquatic disguise, I stumbled around as I tried to quickly readjust to being a changeling. I managed to throw up, which was not part of the plan. The shield vanished as I regained my balance. Captain Shining Armor was already trying to trap Discord again with a new one. Discord saw the shield blink into place around him, and then rolled his eyes and lazily flicked the shield.
It was ripped apart violently, sending Shining to the ground in pain.
“Shining! Phasma!” I heard Cadence yelling. “Hold on just a moment!”
Perhaps heard wasn’t the right word. I felt the vibrations of her yelling, but all I could really hear was ringing in my ears.
“Wha–?” I mumbled before a giant piano swept Discord off his legs and was sent crashing into the far wall. Then, a beam of below-zero temperature encased the piano in a solid two hooves length of ice.
‘Urgh, yeah! You get ‘em, Cadence!’
I stepped forward to continue the duel, only to fall flat on my face. My new prone position gave me a good view of Luna, Daybreaker, and the Elements of Harmony bearers fleeing the room.
‘Looks like plan Z is still in effect. Good, I was hoping I screwed us all for no reason at all…’
I groaned as I tried pushing myself up off the ground.
“That hurt. That’s not how you should treat guests in your own home, Princess,” Discord’s disembodied voice echoed around us.
“You are not welcome here!” Cadence yelled into the empty air, arriving at Shining Armor’s side and helping him to his hooves.
‘At least the ringing is going away. Urgh.’
“I am welcome to go wherever I please,” the voice echoed again.
I spun around upon hearing his voice right behind me. The act made my head spin and stomach leap to my throat, but I held my own. Discord was right there, behind me, glaring at us.
“This was a nice warmup, but there’s a whole world out there to see. Let’s wrap this up, shall we? Oh, I rhymed!” Discord said, suddenly pleased with himself.
“Yeah, let’s wrap this up,” I agreed. “So why don’t you just go back to being a statue for us? It’ll save us a lot of hassle.”
Discord squinted his eyes and looked me over, “You’re that King Phasmatodea that set me free, aren’t you? Well, that was nice of you, I think I’ll let you go, just this once. Go on now, shoo.”
He waved his hands at me, trying to shoo me away. I had to plant my hooves firmly on the ground as I suddenly felt an urge to run away. Instead, I hit him with a concussive wave, knocking him over. A moment later, he slithered up to his feet and shook his head, looking far angrier than annoyed or amused. I didn’t actually sense any emotion from him, however.
“You half-rate demigods just don’t know when the game’s up, do you?”
“You’re outnumbered, Discord,” Cadence said, putting on a layer of bravado that I could taste was fake. “Surrender now, and nopony has to get hurt.”
“Yeah!” Shining agreed, still blinking away stars.
“And go back to being a glorified lawn ornament? Hmm….” Discard tapped his chin. “A tempting offer… Nah. Too drab. Too boring! I think it’s time for a change in scenery! It’s time for the world to return to the way it should be: without order.”
“The only thing that’s going to happen is that your statue is going to be moved into a secure vault, where you’ll never see the light of day again, you half-rate trickster god,” I snarled. “I brought you back to life, you ugly motherfucker, and I’ll send you right back to your fucking grave!”
‘Just keep stalling him. Just keep stalling him. Nothing else matters!’
“Tch, such language. You should really be more family-friendly, little insect, there could be foals watching,” Discord chuckled.
He snapped his fingers as I casted a flashbang spell. I saw him flinch away before my whole world went white and the ringing returned. I felt strange.
‘Numb. I feel numb. Like I can’t feel anything, not even the emotions of Cadence or Shining, who were standing right behind me!’
I blinked the whiteness away, and found myself staring up at Discord. He had grown giant-sized.
‘No, I had shrunk!’
I tried to yelp in surprise, only to find that I couldn’t make any sound. I raised a hoof to touch my muzzle. Then, catching the movement out of the corner of my eye, I raised the hoof and waved it in front of my eyes. It was not covered in the chitin and other materials that a changeling hoof normally was. Instead, it was covered in felt.
‘What the…’
I looked down and saw my faded reflection in the polished marble floor. A stuffed toy version of myself looked up at me.
‘He…’
I tried pouring energy into the Thread of Change, to undo the transformation. I felt nothing: not the Thread of Change, not my internal energy reservoirs of love, nor even my own mana pool. I couldn’t feel my Weave, either. I was cut off from any magic or forms of communication to anyone else.
My ears seemed to work, but all I heard was ringing. My eyes worked just fine. My mouth… I couldn’t open it. I couldn’t yell. I couldn’t scream. It was just like that horror short story, from back on earth.
Suddenly, my view changed as the floor soared away beneath me. Frantically looking around, I saw that Cadence had scooped me up in her forehooves and was now flinging spells uselessly at Discord, who seemed to be having a calm conversation with her and Shining Armor.
‘A snap of his fingers, and that was it. It’s no wonder he destroyed so many civilizations…’
I watched in silent horror as he snapped his fingers again. Shining Armor vanished into a puff of white smoke. A small labrador puppy scampered out before falling on its face. A higher pitched ringing in my ears made me look up. Cadence was yelling.
She took us into a dive, aiming to scoop the transformed Captain up. Only, Discord yawned, stretched, and lazily snapped his fingers again. Our controlled dive turned into a freefall as Cadence’s hooves disappeared from around my body.
‘My body, if it even is that anymore,’ I thought, not even sure what emotion I was feeling anymore.
I was scared, that much was sure. Any bravery I had was extinguished like a candle in a hurricane. Discord had killed numerous immortals when he was last free, and I was witnessing just how he did it.
I was also just a little bit fascinated. He held so much power that he played with and broke the fundamental laws of magic and physics, as if they were mere suggestions to him. At such blatant displays of power, I could only watch, stunned.
Then, we hit the ground. I felt nothing, but I wasn’t sure if that was a blessing or a curse. I rolled across the ground, flipping over a few times before sliding to a halt on my back. Discord looked down at me, then above my head, smiled, and vanished.
He was gone, already looking for his next toys.
‘Our best efforts amounted to… seconds?’
I lay there, trying to process the speed of it all. I freed Discord. Then, he messed around with gravity. Then, he appeared and… and that was it. Thirty seconds later, he left. I was… something that wasn’t me. Shining got turned into a dog. Cadence–
‘Cadence!’
I flipped over and rose to my hooves, looking around the ballroom. I spotted Shining Armor, the golden lab, prodding another puppy. That puppy, a pink poodle, was lying on its side. I trotted over to them, slipping on the smooth tiles six times before I reached the former ponies. The ringing in my ears subsided again, and stayed gone this time.
Shining Armor looked at me. Even as young, small canines, the ponies were larger than me.
“What now?” He asked, his voice as fragile as he looked.
‘What the… puppy love? Is that the joke Discord was going for…? And he turned me into a doll because what? I swear, and a stuffed animal is more child friendly? That’s… not funny.’
I trailed off in thought as Cadence twitched. Then, she jumped up, only to fall off balance and land on Shining Armor on her left side.
‘What do we do?’
The two ponies extricated themselves from each other, had their freakouts, and then looked around the room with me. There were still floating objects, bumping into each other. Occasionally, I’d see creatures made of things like folded napkins or silverware springing from floating table to floating table.
My gaze around the room led me in a circle, ending back at Shining and Cadence. Cadence looked down at me, like Shining did.
“Do you know what to do, Phasma? What we should do?”
I shook my head.
‘If you’re asking me what to do… I am truly lost. I just hope that those precious few seconds were enough for everyone else to save the day. We gave them half a minute? Less?’
Cadence cast one last fearful glance around the room before reaching down grabbing what I assumed was a stuffed-animal version of my fin, picking me up off the ground once again. Then, she twisted her head and deposited me on her back. Then, she set off, with Shining trailing behind.
“Let’s just… find somewhere safe,” Cadence told us.
One thing was clear; this was out of our hooves. Everything next was on the Elements and Luna. We three gave Discord as much pause as he allowed us to, and then he moved on.
I wrapped my forelegs around Cadence’s neck as she found safe passage through the chaos-touched room. Occasionally, we waited and waited as one of Discord’s living creations prawled by.
We made it to the edge of the room, and began scuttling close to the wall for cover. The first door we came across was made of chocolate, and did not budge. We moved on, looking for another way out.
The second door we found was opened, and the hallway beyond seemed clear. It was a servant’s passage, with only the barest of decorations. They walked silently down its length, with me still on Cadence’s back. I was trying to think of anything we could do. Anything.
Cadence and Shining switched to walking on the wall as the corridor slowly twisted around. Then, they moved to the ceiling. Cadence stopped at one of the doorways. It was cracked ajar, but it was out of our reach.
“This is a storage room,” Cadence whispered, unsure of herself. “Do you think we can get in there, Shiny?”
“Uh… yeah, give me a moment,” Shining Armor said, backing up,
Then, with a running jump, he leaped up and grabbed onto the top of the doorframe. He must have kept much of his soldier muscle, as he quickly pulled himself up onto the ledge and held out a paw for Cadence.
“Right… what do we do about Phasma?” Cadence said, looking back at me.
“Just leave him out here,” Shining suggested.
“Not going to happen.”
“Why are you trying so hard to protect him, Cadence? This is all his fault, anyways.”
“This argument can wait until we’re inside, Shining Armor,” Cadence sighed as she bit into the back of my neck and pulled me off her back.
Then, holding me by the neck in her mouth, she made a running leap for the door. Shining shifted on the ledge, leaning over it and extending both of his paws for Cadence to grab onto. Cadence leapt up and grabbed onto him, smashing me into the wall in front of her.
Not that I felt anything, anyways.
Shining grunted as he pulled backwards and let himself drop off the doorframe, hoisting Cadence up with him. We tumbled backwards and onto each other into the room.
It was a storage room, just as Cadence said. Stacks of crates were piled up on the floor, and shelves of items filled the rest of the room. The shelves were bolted to the floor, meaning everything was above our heads, not caring for gravity’s new direction.
Shining leaned upwards and shut the door closed, leaving us in the dim lighting of a single glow crystal in a sconce, now pointed at what was functionally our floor.
“So… now what? We wait?” Shining asked Cadence.
“What else is there to do?”
Shining leaned into Cadence, nuzzling under her head like a pony.
“This is just like the invasion. Told to sit back, wait, and hope for the best….” He muttered before turning to glare at me. “Do you have any idea of the damage you did? The ponies who are now dead because of your war?”
“Shiny, that’s not fair,” Cadence said, defending me.
“Oh? And why not?”
“The war wasn’t his decision. Tartarus, even Daybreaker pointed that out.”
“He still helped, didn’t he? And what’s all this defending him? You’ve spoken with him before this, haven’t you? The way you’re acting, it’s like….. I don’t know. You’re acting weird.”
“I have spoken with him, yes,” she admitted.
“When? When, Cadence?” Cadence shrugged. “You knew about Prince Phasma, or King Phasma, or whatever he is, and you didn’t say anything?”
“I couldn’t. You were too close to Daybreaker. If she learned about his survival any earlier, we wouldn’t have even made it this far.”
“This far?” He questioned. “From my point of view, it looks like we’ve reached rock bottom. You and I are… a–are dogs, Cadence. Dogs. King Phasma is a foal’s toy. The bearers– my sister is out there, and so is Discord. This is how far trusting a changeling got you?! Now we have to sit and wait and hope for the best? Everything’s gone to Tartarus, and it seems everypony knows about what’s going on except me. I thought I was special, Cadence. Why couldn’t you trust me? What did I do to hurt you?”
“No, no, Shiny! You’ve done nothing wrong!” Cadence pleaded. “Luna and Phasma didn’t want anypony to hear about his survival. Apparently, even telling me went against Phasma’s wishes.”
“Who cares about his wishes?! He’s a bad pony, Cadence.” Shining moaned and rubbed his face, “So… you kept secrets from me to protect the pony I see in my nightmares. Fine, that’s fine. Just great. Now what, you want me to just…. forget he did anything wrong?”
“Not at all. Phasma knows what he did was wrong, and he believed he had no choice. But,” she cut him off before he could argue, “we’re going to help him. Really help him. Me, Luna, Auntie Celestia, and even you. He wants to be good, and that’s all we need.” Cadence walked past Shining and looked down at me. “With great power comes great responsibility, Phasma. Your actions might be understandable, but they aren’t excusable. We are alicorns. Alicorns and… royals. We have to be better. We have to always solve problems as safely as possible, with as few ponies hurt. Even if they deserve to be hurt, we have to be better. It’s up to us to set the standard and use the powers we were blessed with always for good, and never evil. Hurting ponies that attack you because you are scared is… it’s not something that can continue.”
I looked away, feeling a bit guilty.
‘She’s giving me the superhero speech. I don’t need the superhero speech, I’m… Fine, I act out when I’m scared. Who doesn’t? That’s a perfectly normal and natural reaction. Someone tries to kill you, you kill them back!’
“So then what happens to him after this? Assuming there is an after,” Shining asked.
“I don’t know, Shiny. My aunts will know, and they will keep him in good hooves.”
The conversation ended there. Cadence sat down and Shining Armor sat down next to her. They leaned into each other for support, quietly talking about Discord, or Twilight Sparkle, or Luna, or of course, me. There was nothing much better to do, so Cadence told Shining Armor about her encounters with me, and my story.
Shining sent less and less death glares at me as the story went on. When the story came to the Ascension chamber, he just looked resigned.
“Another cruel joke. One of the most fearsome villains I knew of was just an afraid colt, trying to not die. Cadence, what’s happened to the world? It used to be so simple…”
“I know, Shiny, I know.”
“I remember a time when all I had to worry about was getting my pre-calc homework in on time, or memorizing the components of DNA. Now it’s all end-of-the-world this, or war-crime that.”
“I remember having to ask the cute colt in my class for help with my homework,” Cadence giggled.
“Lucky colt.”
“That was you, Shiny.”
“Like I said, lucky colt,” he said as they kissed.
I pantomimed gagging before turning away and looking up at the shelves. They were stocked with cleaning products, spare light crystals, and more materials that maids would need to keep the gargantuan palace in working order. I was wondering what was in the crates when a distant thundering came from outside the closed door.
Cadence and Shining rose and moved away from the door, ducking low to the ground, as if to make themselves less visible. I hid behind Cadence and watched the door.
It rattled as the thundering came close. Whatever was making the sound passed us, continuing down the hall to the ballroom, and the door became silent once again.
“What was that?” Shining whispered.
“Something big, or something mad,” Cadence answered.
“Daybreaker? Discord? A creation?”
‘A pissed Luna?’
Cadence shrugged. After a minute passed, Shining turned to regard me
“King Phasma… it’s tiring to hate you. I don’t think I can do it anymore. That doesn’t mean I forgive you, or even want to see you again.”
‘You’re no basket of roses, either, pal.’
“You’ll have to work hard to prove yourself trustworthy, changeling.”
‘I don’t need nor want your trust, pathetic guard.’
“But… the Princesses know better. They always do. If they say you can be good, that you want to be good, then who am I to step in the way? But I’ll be watching you. One hoof out of place…”
‘One hoof out of place, and you’ll run to your marefriend? Well my marefriend can beat up your marefriend, so you’re shit out of luck, buddy.’
“I’m glad we can reach an understanding,” Shining said, not realizing that we hadn’t.
“And I’m glad you’re willing to put your hurt aside for a pony in need,” Cadence said, kissing Shining on the cheek. “Now, where was I? Ah yes, Phasma falling in love with Nightmare Moon.”
“He… did what?”
“Yeah. His love for Luna would come later.”
“His what?!”
Cadence smiled at me, “Star crossed lovers on the opposing sides of a war. Generals who love each other as much as they love their nations. If it weren’t for the whole war crimes thing, I’d be utterly in support of the relationship. As it is, Luna’s judgement can’t be completely trusted when it comes to Phasma. But I’m getting ahead of myself. We’re still on Nightmare Moon, and her alluring charm and power…”
‘Swear to Panar, Cadence, I will gut you if you… gah!’
I covered my ears with my hooves, to no effect. Cadence continued to spill the very detailed beans of my feelings for Nightmare Moon, however brief they were.
A distant yell and rumble shook the room slightly. Then, the rumbling returned, slower and much quieter and less intense this time. It passed the doorway, rattling it and all the shelves. Then it stopped. There was silence for a moment.
Then, the door handle began to turn.
Shining to his credit, put himself in front of Cadence, protecting his girlfriend despite the fact that he couldn’t actually do anything. I tried hopping upwards, reaching for the shelves and places to hide up there. Unfortunately, they were far out of reach, so I settled for bravely cowering behind Cadence again.
It was very different from cowardly cowering, you see.
The door opened, and a pale blue light entered the room, followed by a unicorn horn which the light rested on. Luna peeked the rest of her head through the door, looking around the room. When she saw us, she threw the door open and stepped inside.
“Dogs? What–” she muttered.
“Auntie Luna?” Cadence gasped.
“Cadence?!” Luna bounded over and crouched low to look Cadence in the eyes. “Are you uninjured? You appear to be a canine now.”
“I am, aside from the obvious. Discord turned us into puppies after being annoyed at our outward affection. Called it puppy love.”
‘Nailed it!’
“I’m fine, too,” Shining announced.
“Captain Shining Armor, is that you? You seem to have lost weight…”
“Thanks for noticing, how did you find us?”
“I came back as soon as I could. The Gala… I found Phasma’s armor and hammer, but he wasn’t there. It was like deja vu. A tracking spell led me here. Where… where is he?”
Cadence stepped aside, revealing me. I waved a hoof.
Luna’s eyes widened, “Phasma!” She lurched forward and pulled me into a tight hug. “Are– are you okay? Oh my– no, you are okay. You are small and cuddly, though that will be fixed soon enough.”
She sat down, holding me close to her chest and looking down at me. I could have sworn that it made me feel warm. The fear and confusion melted away, at least.
“You are a foal’s toy, Phasma…”
‘Thanks, I didn’t notice.’
“Discord wasn’t a fan of his foul language,” Cadence explained.
“Ah. That explains that. Don’t worry, Phasma, you will be fine. I know you will. I promise.”
‘Calm down, Luna. I figured that part out already.’
Trying to convey this, I tapped her twice on the chest. She relaxed her grip, thinking that I was being strangled or something similar.
“Now you see the rashness of your plan, if you can even call it that? How long did you last in the fight before he cast you aside without a moment’s thought? He is a monster of a different caliber… if his mind was set towards cruelty and evil rather than some incomprehensible notion of entertainment…”
‘Yeah, yeah, but I still haven’t heard a better plan from anyone else, Luna. As far as I can tell, my plan is still the best one.’
“Okay, we are all okay. Cadence, Shining armor, you two will come with me. There’s somepony who wants to see you three.”
She gathered us all with her magic, held us behind a hoof clutched against her chest, and took off, tearing through the corridors of the palace.
‘Oh, so that’s what we heard earlier. An afraid Luna! I was close. Do I get points for being close?’
Luna expertly dodged a flock of doves wandering the halls, whose wings had grown to be five times their size and were used as legs. She twisted around gravitational changes, making for an ornate door at the end of the long hallway. Through that, more labyrinthian halls.
‘How does anyone find their way around here?’
Luna slowed down as she approached what was to be the final turn. Beyond, a ruined grand hallway once stood. Shattered gold, broken marble, The smoldering remains of banners, shattered glass windows, and melted columns were all that remained of the lavish room. It was raining outside, and not water. Brown liquid came pouring in through the broken windows, staining the ground and forming chocolate-colored puddles. At the far end of the room, a massive golden door had been ripped off its hinges and smashed into the wall.
Sitting in the middle of a scorch mark that stretched from wall to wall was a small, white alicorn. She was staring at discarded orange armor pieces when we entered the room.
Princess Celestia looked up at us, and smiled.
“Hello Luna. Back already– what are…?” Her tired yet cheerful demeanour fell away when she saw us in Luna’s hooves.
“I found Phasma, Cadence, and Shining. They’re a little bit worse for wear, but they are mostly unharmed,” Luna said, coming close to her foal-sized sister before setting us down before her and landing behind us.
Princess Celestia regarded us with a curious gaze, “A little bit worse for wear? I hate to imagine what you think in bad shape is, then.”
“Auntie?” Cadence asked, stepping forward.
“Cadence. It’s so good to see you again.”
Cadence laughed as she vaulted forward, springing across the small gap between us and into a hug around Celestia. It was mostly Celestia hugging Cadence, but the pink poodle melted in her grasp anyways. I stepped back to avoid being smashed into the ground by a stray hoof or paw.
“It’s good to have you back, Your Highness. Even if I, uh, never thought you were gone…” Shining Armor trailed off.
“It’s okay, Captain Shining Armor. Your loyalty to Equestria is something that nopony can ever fault. Thank you for your dedication in this time of pain and woe. We are blessed to have somepony like you leading the Guard. I am sorry that it was I who failed you, and led you all astray…” Celestia said quietly, before letting go of Cadence.
“I’m just so glad you're back, Aunt Celestia,” Cadence sniffed.
“Heh, I’m glad that I’m back, too. Speaking of which…” She looked at me.
I slid forward when Luna pushed me across the burnt ground, “Phasma, I would like you to meet my sister, Celestia. Celestia, this is Phasma.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you properly, King Phasma,” Celestia smiled, extending a hoof.
I tentatively bumped it with my own. The tiny plush appendage was half of her hoof’s size.
“Discord took Phasma’s ability to speak, as well,” Luna explained.
“Oh my, I am sorry to hear that. Are you well besides that?” She asked, cocking her head to the side.
I started to nod but paused and looked back at Luna. I pointed at her and cocked my own head. She nodded to me, making me nod at Celestia.
“Hmm? Why did he want to… there’s something between you two, isn’t there?” Celestia guessed.
“Yes, Celestia. He and I are together. We found solace in each other’s company, and fell for each other deeply. He kept me company during the nights, and together, if I may be so bold, we saved each other’s lives. I do not know where I would be without him, save for the fact that it would have been a much darker place.”
“Huh. I didn’t expect that. I am relieved to hear that you had not shouldered your burdens alone, and found a close friend so quickly. Cadence, have you fared well?”
Cadence stared at the ground, “Keeping secrets from Shiny wasn’t easy, nor pleasant…”
“I will have to make it up to you,” Luna said.
“It is I who need to make amends, sister,” Celestia shook her head. “My failures brought pain to–”
Luna stepped forward, making me look up between her hooves that stomped down around me, “Celestia! Not for a moment should you believe that any of this is your fault! I was the one who failed you. If I had not turned my back all those centuries ago, none of this would have happened.”
“... We may talk in circles for hours about this, and I am certain we will in the future. For now, let’s just… split the blame fifty-fifty?” Celestia smiled, though her emotions were mostly sad.
“For now,” Luna agreed, before stepping past me and embracing her sister, lifting her up using her magic.
“Daybreaker is gone,” Celestia said after ending the hug. “This room is her last message, a result of her temper tantrum.” She snorted and pointed at me, “Your gamble paid off, King Phasma. Let’s just hope that nopony gets hurt by Discord in ways that can’t be fixed. No, I don’t blame you for releasing him. I left you with no choice.”
“Surely there was a way that didn’t involve unleashing Equestria’s worst criminal?” Shining Armor asked.
Celestia shrugged, “Perhaps. But it is easy to think of solutions when unburdened by stress and time constraints. Now, all we can do is wait for the Elements of Harmony and the wonderful ponies that hold them to find Discord, and make things right.”
“Those mares have saved us both, now,” Luna pointed out.
Celestia nodded, “Yes… perhaps a holiday is in order. And a substantial reward. And a parade. And… whatever else they will let me give them. I doubt they will accept anything, though. We will need to be crafty…”
Luna laughed, “You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you really back, Celestia. Daybreaker was burning hot, but her smiles were never warm, nor was her voice without the mirth yours carries.”
“I missed you too, Luna. A thousand years, and at times I felt as lonely as I imagine you were up there. Still, it’s awfully ignorant of me to compare my pains to yours. Let’s shelve that conversation for later, right next to the one where we argue who did what and who's to blame. I don’t know about you, sister, but I am utterly parched. Mayhaps we can find ourselves something to drink…?”
“I will go find some water,” Luna said, turning away.
“No, something real to drink,” Celestia called out, stopping Luna.
“I will see if the kitchens are safe enough to find tea.”
“I was rather hoping for something like…. Whisky on the rocks?” Celestia offered a sheepish smile.
Luna blinked, “... There is no alcohol in the palace, Celestia.”
Her smile vanished, “What? No alcohol? No, that was merely a dream I had. There’s got to be something. The closest thing would be the State Room, down the hall and second door to the right. It has a fully stocked mini-bar.”
"You banned– sorry Your Highness, Daybreaker banned all alcohol in Equestria,” Shining said.
Celestia grimaced, “No, no, no. That was a horrible nightmare. I would never… no, simply not.”
Luna sighed, “Very apt choice of words. It was indeed a Nightmare, Celestia. But I am afraid that this Nightmare was all too real. There is no liquor in all of Canterlot, save for private stashes and black markets.”
Celestia paled, “So it could be days– weeks of sobriety? Luna… I do not know if I can survive such an ordeal.”
Luna rolled her eyes, “You are sober right now. You can survive until you appeal your own legislation and remove the restrictions on banned substances.”
“... That could take months. Tearing down and removing those laws is no easy feat, even with my position as Princess.”
“What do you mean, Celestia? I did not have to go through any oversight to rebuild Canterlot. Further, I doubt Daybreaker would limit her own power.”
Celestia sighed, “It’s a holdover law from when I acquired Appleloosa and integrated it into Equestria. One of their demands was a hold period on laws, and that they cannot be repealed or amended for a total of eight months after they are passed.”
“Why would they want that?”
“It’s hard enough getting information disseminated out on the frontier. Their reasoning is that the time frame gives them a chance to understand what’s going on with Equestria, and muster the appropriate response. Given that this horrible nightmare called a Prohibition doesn’t have to do with national security, it’s bound by that constraint.”
Luna snorted, “And? Are you telling me that you shackled your own power to the slowest denominator in Equestrian society? That you have limited yourself to the slowest messengers? Come on, Celestia. Really?”
“I did get a huge tax raise on the Appleloosa nobles as part of the deal, so give me some credit.”
I looked up and saw Luna sneering at her sister, “Truly, I shudder to think of what other arcane and draconian laws and restrictions you have hidden away in that beast you call a legal code. Tell me, are your declarations of war decided by an omen written in chicken’s blood? Do you decide the tax rate by rolling some dice?”
“I delegated a lot of the burden of ruling, Luna. That has its drawbacks. Sometimes laws like this get passed. Managing the commerce of Equestria is a very touchy subject. Getting the nobles of Equestria to agree on anything is like herding cats, only the cats are all as round as a melon and simply roll away from you when you get close.”
“.... I don’t follow, sister.”
“My point is that sweeping bans on contraband take time to be repealed. In the meantime, I might be able to pass a law or two that would let me confiscate some private stashes to survive.”
Luna blinked in surprise, “Sister? Are you suggesting that you take drinks away from our ponies?”
The small white alicorn sighed, “You’re right, Luna. I am sorry, I am just… not in the best state of mind right now.”
Luna reached over and tapped her sister on her shoulder reassuringly, “There, there, Celestia. I understand your position more than any other. Recovering from a Nightmare’s possession is a painful experience. In time, the fatigue will fade and you will feel lighter and more free than you ever have been.”
Celestia sniffed, “Thank you, Luna. I don’t deserve you one bit. But… I was talking about the fact that I am sober, not that I am freed from possession.”
“Sister! I think you have let your vice slip into addiction!”
“... And?”
‘Heh, I like that kind of thinking. We’re pretty much demi-gods, anyways. What’s a few vices?’
“And you should be the ruler of your body, not its slave!”
“Luna is right, Auntie,” Cadence agreed, breaking her silence.
Celestia grimaced at the thought of continued sobriety, “We will talk about this later, Luna. For now…. I think I would like that tea. I might as well get used to its pure taste. Its pure, bland, painful taste. If you could–” Celestia suddenly stopped talking and her head snapped to the wall on our left.
“What is that, Celestia?”
“... You might want to step away from King Phasma.”
The giant above me retreated away, looking down at me and offering me a reassuring smile.
“Cadence, Shining, you two might also want a bit of room,” Celestia said to the two quiet ponies-turned-puppies
They separated, and suddenly a wave of rainbow-colored magic phased through the room. I felt it– I felt it, the first thing I had felt since I had been turned into a foal’s toy. It was hot and tingly. It felt like stepping into an extremely hot pool of water; the magic was not painless. But already, other feelings were returning to me.
‘I can sense emotions! I can feel the Weave!’
In a comical puff of white smoke, I suddenly appeared in my normal changeling form, right where I was standing on the floor. To my side, Cadence and Shining were returned to their own bodies as well.
The rainbow wave passed through the room and exited the other side. The rain outside ceased, and the clouds cleared away, revealing Luna’s night sky. The tingling sensation ebbed away, leaving me with the feeling of pins and needles all over my body.
“It seems the Elements have done their duty and saved Equestria, once again,” Luna said cheerfully from behind me.
“Let’s never do that again,” Shining Armor muttered.
“Agreed,” Celestia laughed. “It’s nice to see you two again, Shining and Cadence. You two look as lovely as ever.”
“Thanks, Celestia,” Cadence smiled, “You look more adorable than ever.”
“And at last I meet you properly, King Phasma,” Celestia extended a hoof in greeting.
“Hello Princess Celestia. I’ve heard much about you,” I bumped her hoof.
“Whatever they said, it’s probably true,” Celestia chuckled. “Now–”
My hooves were swept out from underneath me and my barrel was spun so that I landed on my back. Luna caught me, standing on her hindlegs with her forelegs cradling my back. She smiled down at me.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for this,” she said, love pouring from her heart.
“That makes two of us,” I smiled back.
Princess Luna leaned down, and kissed me on the lips. I melted in her grasp as she pulled me closer and deepened the kiss. The warmth the Elements pushed onto me was nothing compared to the heat radiating from my face and chest. I whimpered at the pure taste of love and my own happiness.
‘Hail to the King, baby!’
A sharp sound underneath me made Luna break the kiss and look down at me, confused.
“... Did you just chirp, Phasma?”
“No! No, definitely not!”
Luna tried to not giggle, but broke out into a fit of laughter that caused her to nearly drop me.
“YES!” Cadence yelled, pumping a hoof into the air. “Bucking YES! This was SO worth it! Shiny!” She called out, quickly grabbing her own coltfriend into a passionate kiss.
I got back onto my hooves as Celestia politely looked away.
“So, you are… dating Luna?”
“I am.”
She eyed me up and down, “It’s going to take a lot to impress me, though you’ve made a great start so far.”
I laughed, “I can have my changelings bring a crate of whisky to the palace tonight.”
“... Marry him, Luna.”
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Bless text to speech function ,im to sleepy to read
Finally things start coming together!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nysb-m49Ol0 a great double chapter release
good shite, grand conclusion to this arc, now we wait for the next.
Going for the "always drunk" path to explain Celestia's somewhat inconsistent levels of competency and rather whimsical behavior, eh? Works for me. I like the implication that whenever we have seen her drinking tea it has always been spiked. Very silly.
11pm should be going to bed sees update hell yeah.
looks at the size of the update.
Well sleep is overrated time to read.
I laughed, “I can have my changelings bring a crate of whisky to the palace tonight.”
“... Marry him, Luna.”
Ha!~ What an ending. Also, MORE glorious references!
So ends the War of the Sun arc, now things get VERY interesting.
Hey, everything worked out in the end. Celestia gets drunk, Phasma isn't dead and he also chirps, Luna is happy, and everyone is a-okay. Barring several casualties, an ongoing war, and whatever went down with the Dead Hand protocol. Also gotta say, the Discord Class Nuclear Weapon (DCNW), was an excellent stop-gap.
Fantastic work man.
10976533
A Princess does not get drunk, merely tipsy....
After centuries of putting up with the same BS day in and day out, I think we'd all be a little bit crazy and cling to our vices like we're drowning.
FUCKING AWESOME! Wonderful conclusion to the daybreaker arc and as much as I hated waiting for a new chapter I loved the double chapter release! Now we can finally get the Phasma an Luna ship sailing with full sails an powerful winds while also seeing how these two races who were at war with one another co-exist yes it’ll be hard going for a while but it’ll be oh so fulfilling when it comes to fruition!
wonder how Chryssi will react hopefully we get to see her join this new era that is starting an not have to be ended she has her flaws but she is also very wonderful to have in a story as an ally or even friend hell getting to see her being a great mother to Phasma will be a nice change to what usually happens to her.I can not WAIT to see the next arc an new chapters keep up the fucking amazing work! Also the Phasma an Luna relationship bloom even more so now that they can be together “publicly” I say it like that currently cause we all know the noblesbesides Fancyare going to raise hell bout it for a long time to come! Anywho enough jabbering I shall eagerly await the start of the next arc an a new chapter in the mean time back to boredom tell Wed when I get my good PC back to actually be able to play the fun games.Dat ending. Mmph. So good. So satisfying. I didn't know what to think when I saw both of these chapters waiting for me when I woke up, but can honestly say that this is one of the most satisfying reads I've had in a good while.
Imma just go back and give it all another read.
10976548
the princess has over 1000 years of alcohol tollerence so im pretty sure "tipsy" for her might be black out wasted or in hospital for alcohol poisoning for the normal ponys
Look forward to Phasma explaining to Celestia that he may have created a vast smuggling empire in Equestria but don't worry only a few heads were busted and only some bodies were disposed of.
I cannot tell a lie, I'm a little disappointed we didn't actually get to see Daybreaker's final moments. But none the less this was a great capstone to a stellar arc that took a very cool direction I was not expecting right at the end.
10976548
Considering she remarks that being sober is a bad thing, I'd say she gets more than merely "tipsy".
It was interesting to play Daybreaker's protectiveness of her ponies against her by releasing Discord. I was hoping for a bit more development of her, but it had to come to an end at some point. Although if Daybreaker took Celestia's love and protectiveness of her ponies... why didn't Daybreaker also take after her love of alcohol? Was it because Celestia herself recognized it as a bad thing subconsciously (or even consciously but drank anyhow)?
I can't see Phasma's entrance of releasing Discord making him loved by the general pony population any.
I also hope the fanatics of Division-P are held accountable...
Thanks very much for the update!
There's still more left right? Right? Please, I must have more of this I toxicating tale
10976529
Arc's not quite over yet, We still need to see how the prison raid went.
Also, Woohoo Plan Z for the win!
Tax ratew via dice.... was that a reference to ni no... whatever the rest of it is spelled at I saw?
HA! That made me crack up!
"Why so silent good messieurs?"
Having recently finished a production of Phantom of the Opera for our local Theatre (I was Piangi), I heartily approve of Phasma using this line!
Another EXCELLENT chapter!
Looking forward to seeing where the story goes from here though.
Whether it will return to Canon, or go it's own way.
I also hope to see more Tyranids!
Phasma: No KKSlider, please don't turn me into a marketable plushie.
KKSlider: "Turns him into a toy plushie".
Somebody should draw plushie Phasma. It would be adorable.
This chapter was amazing. I had a dumb, happy grin by the end of reading this. The pacing is good, the jokes made me geniunely laugh and it was epic. I can't wait to see where this story will go next.
I have just recovered from a five minute fit of squealing with joy, dancing, and pure insanity. WOW.
Next on the chopping block: Chrysalis and that traitorous bastard, Tarsus.
10976594
Ah expensive piece but looks like it worth it.
I am absolutely dead this is just perfection and gold
10976524
I love that scene. Magnificent indeed!
This was GLORIOUS ♡♡♡♡♡
Oh my bucking Faust, you’re a literary god. The final showdown with Daybreaker and the absolute massive barrage of jokes and quips. Your ability to write so much so well is clearly inhuman. What dark rituals have you been doing by moonlight?
I funkin love that last comment in this chapter
I thought he couldn't tell emotions in his toy form?
This chapter was the absolute best out of all of them before, like seriously i was grinning like an idiot and giggling so much when Luna kissed Phasma!!!!!!
Amazing two parter, well worth the wait! I like the artwork too, that armor looks really cool.
Luna carrying around a plushie version of Phasma was adorable. I'm surprised she wasn't at least a little tempted to keep him like that.
So the whole prohibition thing was just Daybreaker projecting Celestia's vices onto other ponies? Figures.
A little sad we didn't get to see the main six fight either Daybreaker or Discord, but I guess it was just the standard rainbow-in-the-face shtick anyway.
I can't wait to see how this mess is going to get cleaned up. The princesses will have to publicly explain the whole situation with Phasma, the changelings, Division P and nightmares. And even though they've defeated Daybreaker, the war is still technically going on against Chrysalis with the standstill in the badlands. And we still don't know how the jailbreak turned out, that may well have been bloody.
10976655
Shit
Aaaaaand... Scene. Done, basta and finnito. It can only get better from here.
Phasma has no mouth, and he must scream.
The image of PuppyShining giving a plushy Phasma the 'I'm watching you' speech while Phasma is rolling his googly eyes is going to stick in my mind.
Wait did discord get away
If I could give you more thumb-ups, I would.
Great conclusion to the arc, intriguing to see where it will go now. We still have Chrysalis somewhere in the Under
darkhive plotting stuff, thestrals and nightmares, or my!Now I just wondering how the whole Dead Hoof protocol was handled, hopefully the other group that went to kick in Division P's teeth had great success.
Este capítulo uno de los mejores que he leído, este capítulo me dejo una sensación de felicidad y ganas de más más más más más más
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Me gustó mucho el capítulo
So many things to said about the humongous two-parter.
First of all, it seems Daybreaker was expecting Phasma to come as Count Double Dealings. Which, considering his disappearance, isn't too out there, if not for the bastard being dead.
Second : Discord as the hail mary ? Didn't expect that, but then again, a lot of fics have Discord be released early, at the Gala, so not too out there either.
Third, plushie Phasma. While I wonder if someone will draw it, the truth is, in plush noone will hear you scream. :p
Fourth, gotta love those interactions with the Canterlot royal crew. And now you can see the real reason cornering the black market was such a good idea : it made Celestia accept Phasma :p
Only the true changelings chirp! Chirping is great, and a decisive way of communicating your emotions. See Queen Rarity's hive for tutorials.
Plushie Phasma is very toyetic, we approve!
Now let's see what the remaining background tasks resulted...
10976663
We assumed that was interpretation from actions, as well as Celestia's sad later. 🤔
10976601
Truly, it has been an unparalleled delight!
10976529
We had the Arc of Intrigue, the Arc of the Setback, the Arc of Determination, the Arc of Elucidation, and finishing with the Arc of Excitation, wonder that the next one will be...
There will DEFINITELY be ponies that will: 1) try to pin this all on Phasma; 2) ponies that will miss Daybreaker; 3) there will 100% be ponies that will want both and for the Changelings to be exterminated completely... I mean, when have ponies been rational in the face of change?
One war down, one more to go.
Two princesses down, when does Tia get a colt friend?
10976589
Lacewing is waiting for her King Phasma in shinning armor XD
Hide yo stash, Phas.
She be coming for it.