Chapter 9: Luster Dawn
Luster Dawn felt as if her entire being was frozen with shock as the blades on Rainbow Dash's wing penetrated the changeling king. What was Rainbow Dash doing? Attacking her own ally during a battle when their enemy was all over them? This was not the pony she knew and looked up to during her youth and the past years of training under her and Blueblood. For a moment, she wasn't sure what she should do. But training under the fastest flier in Equestria taught her how to think and act fast. She made her decision.
Luster ignited her horn and blasted the unsuspecting Rainbow - who have pulled her wing out of her would be victim and was about to slice off his head - away from Thorax, before running over to him to check on him. He was doing just as well, as one would expect from someone who just got stabbed through the torso. He was losing a lot of blood and wasn't going to survive without medical attention. But he won't make it to a hospital unless she treats her wound first. And she could only think of one way to do that.
"You're bleeding out! I'm gonna have to close your wound or you'll die before I can get you to a hospital. I'm not gonna lie, this will hurt. A lot." she told Thorax, who only smiled up at her lightly.
"Do your worst." he said, lying down and closing his eyes in preparation. Luster ignited her horn and fired a heatray at the open wound. She wasn't lying when she said it would hurt. Thorax screamed in excruciating agony and Luster had to hold him down to keep him from withering. She managed to seal his wound in a few seconds and was about to pick him up and take him away when a voice from behind her stopped her.
"Luster, what are you doing?!" Rainbow Dash asked incredulously. The inocrn stood up and turned around to face the pegasus.
"I'm stopping you before you make a mistake!" she retorted. Rainbow scoffed. She had made hundreds of mistakes in the past. It was a little too late for that.
"You are protecting a changeling! They are nothing horrible, love stealing parasites! They are the reason Canterlot was destroyed in the first place! I was doing Equestria a favor by killing him!" Luster backed away in horror. She never saw Rainbow Dash this cold blooded. It was like looking at an entirety different mare.
"It doesn't matter right now! Thorax is our ally! Our sole priority is stopping the Storm King! Killing our ally isn't war, Rainbow, it's murder! I thought you were honorable!" Rainbow narrowed her eyes at the young unicorn.
"You still have much to learn about the world. Now step aside and let me finish the job!" she roared at her. But Luster glared back at her and stood protectingly in front of Thorax.
"No! I will not let you kill him!"
Rainbow was surprised by her firmness and defiance, but she didn't have time to deal with her childish tantrum at the moment. She had a bug to exterminate. Quickly, she flew around Luster and went at Thorax, intending to finish him off, but Luster managed to intervene in time and blasted her away from him.
Rainbow crashed into the ground and Luster ran at her to knock her down for good, but Rainbow saw this and swiped Luster's forelegs out from under her with a kick, before flying up and trying to land a dropkick on Luster's head. But the unicorn managed to conjure a barrier just in time to repel the attack and knock the pegasus back. Rainbow crashed against a piece of debris and groaned in pain as she slowly got up. Luster slowly approached the injured unicorn with her horn ignited.
"Stay down." she pleaded. "I don't want to hurt you anymore." But to her surprise, Rainbow merely chuckled.
"Looks like you don't know me as well as you like to think. I never stay down."
Rainbow launched another attack, throwing a barrage of punches at the unicorn's muzzle. Luster tried to raise a defensive barrier, but Rainbow was so fast she didn't have time to cast one. The only way out of there would have been teleporting away, but that would have left the wounded Thorax at the mercy of the bloodthirsty pegasus and she couldn't allow that. She needed to get Thorax out of there as soon as possible. He already lost a lot of blood. There was no telling how much longer he'll last.
With a newfound determination sprouting from the knowledge that he had a life to save, Luster did the one thing she could think of. She gathered all her magic into her horn and threw herself at Rainbow, greatly surprising the pegasus and she managed to knock her back against another piece of debris, knocking her out and ending the fight.
"I trusted you, Rainbow." Luster said somberly, staring at her defeated opponent and mentor with disappointment. But she didn't have time to lament on it. Thorax needed medical attention immediately. Luster ran up to injured changeling king and threw his body on her back before running off.
"Don't worry, Thorax. I'll get you to the nearest hospital. You're gonna be alright. Princess Twilight will protect you." Thorax was close to passing out, but not before giving the unicorn a cryptic response with a weak chuckle.
"Heh... Twilight... protecting a changeling? Oh, kid you're funny." Thorax muttered before succumbing to unconsciousness. Luster didn't know what Thorax meant by this, but she had bigger concerns at the moment. After getting Thorax to a hospital, she will need to have a talk with Princess Twilight. As if the Storm King attacking wasn't bad enough, Twilight's supporters were going crazy. Just what happened to this country in her absence?
Twilight Sparkle, former Princess of Friendship, former Empress of Magic and former leader of the Equestrian Magical Regime was standing in the throne room of the Castle of Friendship. Before joining the fight against the Storm King, she needed to regain her magical powers. Celestia may have given her back her horn, but she was still pretty much completely drained after two years of not having it.
Fortunately, she had hidden a few magical artifacts in her castle, in which she stored away a little spare magic, just in case she was left powerless again like during the time when Cozy Glow tried to take over. Good thing Celestia didn't tear it down yet. After she refilled her powers as much as she could, she summoned Flurry Heart and Blueblood into the throne room. They have spent the past few hours searching through the castle's extensive library, searching for anything they could use against the Storm King. She could only hope they found something.
"What did you find?" she asked the two ponies as they entered the room. The looks on their faces already let her know that she will not like what they're going to tell her.
"I have went through every book in the library just like you asked." Flurry reported. "There was nothing useful."
"And I have analyzed the reports of Regime Intelligence agents." Blueblood added. "They just couldn't dig up anything on the Storm King." Twilight frowned in frustration.
"There's gotta be something we can use!" she growled as she paced around the room, deep in thoughts. "A weakness we can exploit! Anything!" as she kapt pacing around, Blueblood approached her.
"After your power's been restored, I need to go back to Stalliongrad. Make sure it's defenses are prepared." he said, his voice full of concern. The ponies of Stalliongrad took him and his fellow Regime refugees in during their time of need. He couldn't turn his back on them in theirs. Twilight looked up at him with a surprised look.
"The Storm King hasn't attacked it yet?"
"Stalliongrad is protected by a magical barrier that protects it from prying eyes. Even the Storm King's. But I don't expect him to be fooled forever." The stallion replied. Before Twilight could comment further on that, she was interrupted by Luster Dawn, who just entered the room.
"Princess Twilight, may I have a word with you?" she asked as she walked up to her. Twilight stared at her in contemplation for a few moments, before she eventually nodded.
"Give us a minute. Both of you" she told Flurry and Blueblood, who nodded and left. Luster was left alone with the princess, but before she could speak, Twilight beat her to it.
"Starlight told me what happened. Is Rainbow Dash ok?"
"She'll be fine." Luster replied." But it's Thorax you should be worried about. The doctors say he's still in critical condition. Rainbow Dash impaled him with her wingblades. She was gonna murder him. I never saw her so bloodthirsty. It was horrifying."
"Yes." Twilight said haltingly. "It's unfortunate..." she started, but Luster cut her off.
"I know. What was she thinking?" the unicorn scoffed. Twilight scowled at the interruption.
"It's unfortunate..." she continued, emphasizing the word to make sure Luster knew that the behaivor of the pegasus was not she was talking about. "...that Rainbow chose now to deal with the changeling influencing Celestia." she said, before narrowing her eyes at Luster in a disapproving glare. "More unfortunate that you got in the way." the unicorn stared up at the princess with a blank expression as she processed what she said.
"Excuse me? What?" was her blunt response. Twilight sighed.
"Don't tell me you're actually buying Thorax's little sugar coated story about him reforming the hive, Luster!" she laughed bitterly. "Changelings cannot be trusted. For all we know, Thorax is manipulating Celestia for his own ends. Just like Chrysalis did with my brother during his wedding and with me during Canterlot's destruction. When they come to Equestria, ponies end up getting hurt."
"Ponies are getting hurt now!" Luster argued back. "Even killed! Thorax and his changeligs are helping us fight the Storm King!"
"I will not hear any more of this, Luster!" Twilight said firmly, slamming one of her forelegs onto the floor, making the unicorn jump in shock. "And I am done discussing those vile, evil creatures! Even saying their name out loud leaves a bad taste in my mouth. My only mistake was not dealing with them sooner. Back during the time of the Regime." Luster was so shocked by Twilight's hateful comments and violent claims that she didn't even stop to wonder what 'Regime' she was talking about.
"How can you even say that?!" she shouted in horror, so loud that she startled even the hardened alicorn herself. "You're supposed to be the Princess of Friendship!" Twilight recovered from her shock and stood her ground.
"Friendship won't protect us from our enemies!" she roared back. "There are creatures who won't acceot out friendship! The ones who only seek to harm us and take advantage of us! Like that damnable Chrysalis!" she snarled with such venom she never felt before. "And for the safety of Equestria and our true friends, they have to be destroyed!" The dark way Twilight said that triggered a horrible realization in Luster's head.
"Rainbow Dash told me Chrysalis was executed." she whispered in horror. "Princess... were you... were you the one who..." She couldn't bring herself to say it, but Twilight's lack of a response was all she needed.
"I took one life to save millions, Luster!" Twilight insisted, but Luster was having none of it.
"It always starts that way." Luster replied with disgust. "It always starts with one. This is how justifications work. But the problem is, if you use them once, you can use them anytime you want. It never stops with one. How many has it been, Princess?" she spat out the last word like it was poison. When Twilight refused to answer, Luster stepped forward and shouted. "HOW MANY?!" Twilight didn't even jump this time and Luster saw it on her face that she was struggling to find an answer.
"Luster..." she started slowly and unsure of herself. "It's not how I wanted thngs, but... Equestria has been at the mercy of the most despicable and nefarious creatures in the world for centuries! We have offered friendship to creatures who didn't deserve it and it brought us nothing but losses and suffering! I put a stop to that! Equestria needed strong leadership! Celestia's harmony made us weak and complacent!" Luster couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was not the Twilight Sparkle she knew and admired for years. She backed away from the crazed alicorn, shaking her head in horrified disbelief.
"Whose student were you? Celestia's... or Nightmare Moon's?!" Luster snapped with angry tears before turning around and dashing out of the room. Twilight stared after her with wide eyes. Never before did she hear anypony call her out like that and compare her to one of Equestria's greatest villains. One she even had in her employment during the time of the Regime. But that didn't matter right now.
She followed Luster out of the room and tried calling out for her to come back, but she was already too far away to hear it. So instead, she turned to Flurry and Blueblood, who have been standing by the door, staring at the alicorn in surprise after witnessing Luster barging out of the room and Twilight running after her.
"Don't let her leave." she ordered simply. The two ponies nodded and ran after the departing unicorn.
Luster Dawn was almost at the entrance of the castle, when she suddenly felt her hooves no longer touching the ground. She looked down to see that she was now floating in the air, surrounded by a magical aura. She was then turned around in the air to see Flurry Heart and Blueblood standing right in front of her, with the young alicorn's horn glowing, making it obvious who halted her escape.
"Let me go, Flurry Heart!" Luster demanded, but Flurry just shook her head.
"I don't think so, Luster. Twilight said not to let you leave."
"Flurry, Twilight has gone mad! Don't listen to her!"
"On the contrary. Twilight is the only sane one left who is worth listening to." Flurry argued, much to the unicorn's shock.
"You did hear what she was talking about in that room, right? I saw you standing by the door when I ran out! The things she said in there..."
"...are absolutely right!" Flurry stated with utter conviction. "Creatures who threaten Equestria deserve no friendship and should be destroyed to ensure our safety. I lost my father to those monsters! I will never look at a changeling and not feel hate!" Luster stared down at her in deadpan shock as she processed what she said. In the end, she could only find one response.
"You know, I'm starting to think maybe your great aunt locked you up for a good reason." she then turned to Blueblood. "And you! You've been deceiving me from the start! Everything you told me about Celestia and Twilight was were lies and half truths to cover up your own evil!" she yelled accusingly. But Blueblood didn't seem affected at all.
"You see the world as a foal does, Luster." he said, shaking his head in disappointment. "Good and evil are not constants. They are defined by those in power. During her time, Celestia declared everything even slightly deviating from her idea of friendship and harmony evil. And she stood down on them with full force. What makes her so different from Twilight?" he challenged.
"The fact that Celestia was right!" Luster shouted from inside her barrier, before gathering her magic inside her horn and unleashing a blast that destroyed the barrier and sent Flurry and Blueblood back in against the wall hard. Blueblood was knocked out, but Flurry stood up with a groan.
"Blueblood wasn't kidding about you. You really are good." She pulled out her sword and pointed it at Luster. "But I'm better. Now, you either come back with me to Twilight in peace, or I'll drag you back myself."
"How can you follow her so blindly?" Luster asked in shock. "Your own mother is the Princess of Love! She spent her whole life spreading love and caring across the lands! And Celestia's harmony made that possible! Twilight had become a threat to everything they stand for!" But Flurry merely scoffed in response.
"Celestia failed all of Equestria that day in Canterlot seven years ago. And Cadance failed me, the Crystal Empire and our whole family. Twilight's been more of a mother than she could ever be."
Luster clearly saw that the alicorn will not listen to reason. If she wants to get out, she will have to fight her way out. Flurry charged at Luster with her sword. Luster used her magic to grab the blade and tried to pull it out of Flurry's hooves, but the only thing she could accomplish was pulling her towards herself. However, this did manage to throw Flurry off balance and Luster took advantage of that by spinning around kicking her away towards the wall.
Before Flurry crashed against it however, she managed to regain balance with her wings and flew back at Luster, who didn't expect her to make such a quick recovery. Flurry did manage to catch Luster off guard with this and the unicorn could barely avoid the blade that was swung at her. Luster rolled out of the way, but she was now at a sever disadvantage. She was on the ground and Flurry was turning around for another swing already. She had to come up with something fast.
Using her magic, she created a shield construct that absorbed the strike of Flurry's sword and the impact left the alicorn literally shaken. Luster took advantage of this and sent the shield construct forward, slamming Flurry against the wall and knocking her out cold.
With her victory complete, Luster was about to leave the castle and she almost reached the gates when she was suddenly pushed aside by a wave of lightning. Luster's entire body ached, but she still managed to get up to see what just hit her. It was Blueblood who had come to while she was busy with Flurry Heart.
"Submit, Luster Dawn!" he roared as he fired another wave of lightning from his horn. Luster summoned her shield construct again and while it did absorb most of Blueblood's lightnings, some of them still made onto her body. Eventually, the pain became too much and she collapsed again. She will not be able to keep this up for long. She will have to cut end this fight as soon as she could.
She looked around for anything she can use and noticed a large metallic door leading into another room. Her eyes widened in realization. She saw from the corner of her eyes that Blueblood was charging his horn up for another attack. As quickly as she could, she tore the door out of it's frame and threw it at the stallion just as Blueblood unleashed the lightning. Luster's little makeshift lightning rod worked like a charm. It absorbed all of Blueblood's attack and became a giant electric projectile that proved more than sufficient to send the male unicorn on the ground and keep him down.
"Twilight should be setting a better example." Luster groaned at the two defeated opponents.
"I once thought like that too." Luster jumped in shock and turned to see none other than Twilight Sparkle herself blocking the way between her and the gates. Luster gulped. Even with everything she learned from Blueblood, she knew she wouldn't have much chance against the Princess of Friendship. Luckily for her, Twilight didn't look like she was in a mood to fight.
"Luster, I assume Blueblood and Rainbow already told you what happened to Canterlot seven years ago." After the unicorn nodded, she continued. "I was tricked into causing the death of my family and destroy Canterlot in the process. Because the idea that I can make any and all creatures my friend made me complacent. That day I realized, I can't hold back. Ponies with such great power like us cannot hold back. Or the ones we love pay the price."
"I'm sorry about your family." Luster started in a final desperate attempt to get the Princess to see reason. "I'm sorry about everything you had to go through. But Canterlot wasn't your fault!" She was hoping she would get through to her, but Twilight's face just hardened.
"I promised myself, what happened to Canterlot that day will never happen again. No matter how far I will have to go to assure it!"
"Princess, this isn't who you are!" Luster pleaded with tears in her eyes. "This is everything that you are not supposed to be the Princess of!"
"Friendship isn't enough to protect Equestria!" Twilight countered. "If I haven't been willing to go that extra mile, there would have been thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands more dead in the past years!"
Before Luster could launch another arguement, the two ponies noticed something. The crystal chandellier above them was flickering and starting to lose light. Luster's eyes widened as she realized what this meant. In the Castle of Friendship, everything was powered by magic. If the Castle's magic was fading, then...
"Oh, no!" Luster gasped. "The Storm King's draining process is almost finished! It won't be long before he takes everything!"
"Then we fight back!" Twilight declared with determination. Flurry heart and Blueblood who have come to in the meantime were also ready to fight.
"I have to go to Stalliongrad!" Blueblood insisted. "They won't last long without our aid!" Twilight nodded at him.
"Go. We'll head to Canterlot."
"What about her?" Flurry asked, motioning towards Luster with her head.
"All that matters now is stopping the Storm King." Twilight assured, but she did issue an ominous warning towards the unicorn in question before they left. "But when this is over, Luster, you will have to choose. You're either with me, or against me."
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Next chapter: Princess Cadance and Blueblood
11189719
Correct.
Both sides have point in this debate. Twilight isn't wrong when she says that not every creature will accept their friendship, but she and her followers are also acting just like their oppressors. And Luster is right that killing is wrong, but then again there are irredeemable monsters out there who might just deserve it. Totally gray in here.
As a suggestion, when the brainwashed allies are KO'ed, maybe they could join in the last battle for Equestria after the Storm King's defeat, because they really do deserve more screen time.
VERY good job on the exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up in all the right places. Not much I can say that the other reviewers haven't already said better, but I can completely understand the chapter taking a while. After all, it's better to take your time to get it right than it is to try rushing things. As was already stated, I DO appreciate the gray areas point. Yes, there ARE some villains out there that are truly irredeemable, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be offered, because NOT ALL of them are irredeemable. And, yes, clear cut self-defense and the direct defense of others ARE the only morally acceptable reasons for resorting to lethal force, but there ARE individuals that are legitimately dangerous enough to force the issue.
In addition to the freed brainwashed individuals (at least the ones that survive) helping out in the battle against the Storm King (backing up Celestia, Luster and Twilight and making the battle) - definitely liked that idea, touileasaso - perhaps the members of the First Order (with the exception of Tempest) can ALSO help out against the Storm King in the final battle (admitting that, at Fluttershy's request, Discord teleported them all to the Storm King's ship in time to help out). Bon Bon can mention that your choice of Celestia's team managed to rescue Lyra during the earlier battles and Flim mentioning "Going up against the Regime is one thing, but helping the Storm King destroy the planet and all magic? Really, Tempest? Excuse my language, but (CENSORED) you!". Basically, this is to show them beginning to work toward earning the pardons Celestia offers in her ending, plus showing Twilight that at least a few of the villains at least have enough standards and/or pragmaticism to NOT want their world getting destroyed or losing the power they have). Basically, showing the Storm King to be a big enough threat to require everybody who is still there in order to beat him - First Order included.
Of course, I can completely understand if you don't like the idea or if you already have other/better ideas.
11190130
Well, you know, two days ago, this chapter still only had 700 words. So I could have finished much sooner.
Anyway, thank you for the comment. Good to know I managed to draw a nice parallel between this story and the actual Injustice verse. The same applies to that world with both sides having a point and you don't really know who's right anymore.
11190117
Just like in the actual Injustice universe. Both sides actually have valid points. Some people like the Joker deserve to die, in fact they have to be put down for the safety of everyone. On the other hand, there are some lines you can't cross and enslaving the world in the form of a tyrannical dictatorship is one of them. That being said, as much as we hate to admit it, lasting peace between humans and security can only be enforced. There is no other way. It gets to the point where you don't know who's right and who's wrong anymore.
Anyway thanks for the comment. We're almost at the end! Stay tuned!
When will the next chapter be released?
Twilight's not wrong. Only in fantasy does capture and imprisonment work and even then villains inspire followers from their confinement and spread their philosophy and breed more despair. Executing Chrysalis was the correct thing to do.
Sometimes you do have to grow up and see things the way they are, no matter how pessimistic that might seem.
With that in mind you shouldn't do what Rainbow did. That's going a bit far especially amongst presumed allies.
Intriguing chapter. Very interested to see where all this goes.
11534225
Excet that THIS setting very much enforces the thing. Kindness and Generocity are two Elements, without which this "weapon" against ANY Nightmare or existential threat will NOT work. Laughter was taken from the ponies, they betrayed Equestria, and so on. Harmony itself is the most powerful force in that realm, so I hope you understand where this is going.