Desperation
Cheerilee couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t uncommon these days, but this time was different. Usually her nightmares would fade after waking up the first time, but not tonight. They just never seemed to stop: fire, blasts of magic, blood, and screams. Even after something good happened, they couldn’t hold off the tide that assaulted her during sleep.
So there she was, laying on her back at four in the morning and looking up at the ceiling. Scootaloo’s head rested on the mare’s chest, right over her heart. The filly was snoring lightly and had her hind legs wrapped around one of Cheerilee’s. It was very cute, but it was of no help.
Cheerilee sighed and closed her eyes for a few minutes. Tumultuous storm clouds full of thoughts still roiled inside of her brain. The clock they were on was dwindling; they were running out of food, the unicorns were getting closer and closer, and ponies inside were getting more and more tense.
Then, like always as of late, Elytra was on her mind. The little moment between herself and the changeling had been surprising for them both. Cheerilee had acted on impulse, exhaustion, and sleep deprivation. After the few hours of rest she had managed to get, she still didn’t know how she felt about it though. Was it really how she felt or was it a spur of the moment thing driven by the need to make up for saving her life?
“I don’t know…” Cheerilee mumbled to herself with a sigh. She wasn’t sure exactly what she didn’t know, just that she didn’t know it. Maybe it was about Elytra, maybe it was about their survival.
She needed to get up. Just laying here alone with her thoughts wasn’t doing her any good. Cheerilee needed to be up and doing something to occupy her mind. Maybe a nice trot out on the balcony or something would help clear her mind.
Carefully she managed to get her way out from under Scootaloo. The filly wasn’t the heaviest sleeper usually, but the late night must’ve helped. Cheerilee repositioned one of the pillows to act as her substitute as she got to her hooves.
The lack of feeling in her front right hoof still got to her a little. Putting it to the ground and not getting the feedback of the surface at all was jarring, like when you think there’s one more stair on a staircase than there actually is and you nearly trip on air. Except it was every step now.
The schoolmare limped out of the room and made her way to Elytra’s door. Cheerilee knew that they would need to talk about what happened eventually, and there was no time like the present. Slowly, she pushed open the door and peeked inside.
Elytra was passed out on the bed, the bandages that had been on her new stump removed. In their place was a thick coating of hardened greenish black slime that covered most of the leg. Thankfully, Cheerilee couldn’t see anything through it. The last thing she needed was to see what the interior of a changeling looked like, especially Elytra. With another sigh she closed the door. That was one avenue of distraction with a roadblock.
“Cheerilee? What’re y’all doin’ up?” The mare closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning. The last pony she wanted to deal with was Applejack, but life didn’t seem to want to make anything easy recently. “Couldn’t sleep?”
Applejack’s mane was down and unfettered by the usual red bands that kept it in order. Long flowing blonde hair spread out from her scalp like a golden waterfall. It hung around her shoulders in loose natural curls. She looked a far cry from the pony that worked on the farm all day long.
“No, not really.” Cheerilee conceded with a small huff. “Just can’t get some things out of my mind. I was hoping to distract myself, but…” She shrugged and let out a small yawn. “You?”
“Yeah, ‘bout the same.” Applejack leaned against the wall and rubbed one of her eyes as she spoke. “Was probably gonna go see if Twi was awake, got some things Ah wanna talk to her about.” That was more worrying than reassuring. The last thing Twilight needed was Applejack on her case even more.
“If she is, go easy on her.” It was all Cheerilee could do. “I know we need her, but she needs us too. Especially her friends, and I mean especially.” She pleaded with the pony across from her, whose gaze could only soften as she nodded.
“Ah know. Ah just got some questions to ask and...things to say.” AJ closed her eyes and shook her head, as if repressing something from coming out. “Ah’ll be gentle.” The only thing Cheerilee could do was take the mare’s word.
“I think I’ll be down in the kitchen getting breakfast ready.” That was something that would keep her busy, at least. “If you need me, you know where to find me.” Cheerilee and Applejack parted ways; the former heading down the stairs towards and the latter heading to Twilight’s room.
Down the stairs the teacher went, through the foyer and into the dining room. Her mind wandered as she walked, just little things about everypony in the castle still. How many had they lost? Six or seven? Too many. It made her stomach churn to think of all of the death and carnage, and just how much of it Twilight was responsible for.
Once in the kitchen proper she made her way to the door that led down to the pantry, only to find that it was already open. They always kept it closed when nopony was down there, the last thing they needed was somepony falling down those stairs.
That’s when she saw Meriwether coming up the stairs with one of their last bags of oats on her back. They only had two of those, and they needed to space them out. Bringing a whole bag up was unnecessary as some adults would skip their meal for the sake of the colts and fillies.
“Oh, hello Cheerilee.” The nerves in the former mayor’s voice did not escape the teacher. It was the same voice her students would use when caught doing something they shouldn’t. “You’re up early.” The mare came to the top of the stairs and sat the bag of oats down, a worried grin on her face.
“So are you.” Cheerilee eyed the older mare warily and stepped closer. “Any reason you’re bringing a whole bag of oats up? We’re just supposed to bring up what we need.” The grin dropped from Meriwether’s face and was replaced with an exasperated frown.
“I’m going to leave, Cheerilee.” The flat admission hit Cheerilee in the face like a frying pan. She even staggered back a bit in surprise. “I figure once I get out of Ponyville, I’ll be safer than in it.” Cheerilee’s jaw nearly hit the floor at the stream of pure stupidity flowing from the mouth of the mare. “I know the sun is dangerous, but I can make it into White Tail woods and get to the Smokey Mountains, I think. All of the unicorns in the area are in town.”
“What in the world is wrong with you?” That question rattled around Cheerilee’s head until it rocketed out of her mouth at lightning speed. She was no longer lost in her own dark thoughts, now she was just annoyed and stupefied. “You always seem to want to run back in the castle whenever there’s danger and now you want to leave?”
“I-it’s just...I don’t feel safe here with Twilight. I thought I would.” Cheerilee didn’t need Applejack’s sense of honesty to spot that lie. It was flimsy and weak, Meriwether’s voice not betraying those facts. “Sweetie Belle still has those voices in her head, or she says she does, who’s to say that Twilight doesn’t have them as well?” That was the same argument that the mare had used on Applejack last night.
“What are you?” Cheerilee asked the question. It was something that had been banging around her skull for since she and Scootaloo had arrived. “You want the Elements safe, but you want to toss Rarity out. You want to run inside all of the time, but now you want to leave. You want to keep everypony safe, but you keep running away and letting them die.” The list of contradictions was longer than that, but those were all of the ones she could list off of the top of her head. “What do you want?”
Every bit of frustration she had ever had towards the mare had bubbled up in her gut and risen into her throat. She had felt rage towards Meriwether ever since the incident with Scootaloo, before that it had been nothing more than idle frustration.
“I want to keep everypony safe! I want to be safe!” Meriwether protested as she pushed towards Cheerilee. “I have been advocating for common sense this whole time! Despite what Sunburst thought, not everything he said was logical. He got more ponies killed than anypony else!”
“No, no.” Cheerilee continued, her questions turning into a full blown rant. “I think I know what it is.” She backed Meriwether against the wall and glared at the older mare. “You’re a coward. You just want to avoid a fight.” Meriwether glared right back at her and flared her nostrils. “Why toss out Rarity? Because you didn’t want to deal with her if she turned, but you wanted everypony to think you still cared. Why leave Thunderlane when you could’ve helped? Because you didn’t even want the possibility of fighting for something.” Her voice rose to a fevered pitch as she puffed out her chest. “You know what? I bet if anypony ever ran against you for mayor, you’d concede within a week. The only fight you’ve ever won was against a changeling nopony trusted and a flightless filly.” Cheerilee flared her nostrils and furrowed her brow. “And now you’re running because you can feel another fight coming. You’d rather die out there than stand here and even try.”
Both mares glared at each other for a solid minute, neither moving an inch or even blinking. Cheerilee had all of her thoughts and fears channeled into her anger now, into the thought that this pony would abandon them and take their food with her.
Meriwether lept at Cheerilee, bowling the younger mare over and laying her flat on her back. The former mayor had more weight than the teacher. While Cheerilee had been dutifully skipping meals to make their supplies last longer, it seemed that Meriwether had not. Coupled with her injuries and general level of tiredness, Cheerilee couldn’t do much.
Soon she felt the politician straddling her chest, crushing the air from her lungs. “I...am not a coward.” Meriwether growled out as she stared down at Cheerilee with pure malice in her eyes. “I...I am doing my best. I have...I have…” Tears started to fall from Meriwether’s blue eyes and onto Cheerilee’s face. “I am not a coward! I am tired of you all treating me like I am something less than you!”
Cheerilee summoned every ounce of strength she could muster and got one of her hooves free. She smacked it upside the mayor’s head and sent the older mare to the ground. The two tumbled around the floor, growling and grunting as they pulled manes and jabbed each other as hard as they could.
At some point they got close to the stairs again and one of their hooves hit the bag. It was made of thick brown paper, like a grocery bag, and the hoof easily punctured it. Both mares looked back and watched as the bag teetered backwards, and then it tumbled down the stairs. She could hear the food inside spill out and go between the steps and hit the ground below.
Both of them finally got up and watched as it all spilled out, as it all got lost and covered in dust. Cheerilee didn’t even notice Meriwether leave, she didn’t even hear the hooves running across the floor or the front door open and shut as she just stared at half of their food supply go to waste.
----
“Please, Applejack, make yourself comfortable.” Twilight was sitting at her desk, a candle was lit and providing a small amount of light as she read through Sunburst’s notes. She couldn’t sleep, the taste of blood and that damned voice had made sure of that, so she decided to study what her brother’s Crystaller knew.
The shower before bed had done Twilight more than good. She felt like a real pony again, not a monster. She got all of the blood and sweat off of her coat and out of her mane and let the water wash away so many thoughts. She had been in there for what seemed like hours, crying, screaming, just letting everything out. When she had gotten out, the little dragon and the niece that she now shared her room with were already asleep.
Then Applejack had come knocking, and had almost woken up both Flurry Heart and Spike. Luckily she had shushed them back to sleep before they had woken up. Now here they both were, Twilight at her desk and Applejack sitting beside her.
“Are y’alright, Twi?” It was nice to hear AJ’s voice again not yelling at her. It was too bad that the question she asked was complicated and filled the alicorn with a dread she wanted no part of.
“To be honest, no.” They both spoke in whispers so as to not disturb the two babies asleep in the room. “Every time I close my eyes, all I see are the ponies I...I…” She cleared her throat as that word died in it and only produced bitter tears. “I see them every time I stop thinking. Every time I blink. In the silence I still hear him too, telling me to hurt them. Telling me to...to...tear down everything I built.” She couldn’t stop the tears as they came and dropped down onto the works before her, wetting the ink and smearing it.
“Ah need to know why you did it, Twilight.” There was no elaboration needed, Twilight knew what she meant. Applejack wanted to know why she killed Big Mac like that. It was the question she had been dreading since she had committed the act.
“I-I…” The words caught in her throat like so much bile. She knew the answer, but saying it out loud was too painful. The look in Applejack’s eyes, that always knowing glint, let her know that there was no lie that Twilight could give. There was no meaningful excuse. “It was to hurt you.”
“Was it you or Him that wanted to do that?” AJ’s voice stayed level and calm, betrayed only by the tears welling up in her eyes. “A-Ah need to know, sugarcube. You gotta tell me.” Twilight put her head in her hooves and she wept. She cried because the answer wasn’t one either of them would like.
“I did it, that’s what matters.” She whispered out breathlessly between sobs. Two hearts broke in time with one another, both ponies coming to grips with how much that simple admission stung. “I did it. I did what I was told. I know what I heard, what I did. I don’t know if I did it because I knew it would hurt you or because He knew. ” There was no telling which of those was the more terrifying option.
The two sat there in silence. Both shedding quiet tears as they contemplated the answer and its implications. Twilight still felt like she was a monster, and that there was nothing she could do to make up for that fact. No apology could bring back the dead, no spell could fix the nightmares these ponies would have for the rest of their days. The need for redemption was eaten alive by the cold hard facts of what happened.
“A-Ah don’t know if Ah can ever forgive you, Twilight. Ah don’t know if Ah can forget it, either.” Each word was a dagger in the heart of the princess and each one drove deeper than the last. “He was my brother, and it leaves just me and Applebloom now. There ain’t nothin’ you can do to fix it, ain’t no way to bring him back.” The pony took a deep breath and closed her eyes before speaking again. “But we gotta try to move on for now, we gotta fix this. We can come back once it’s over and we can...figure out what to do about Mac.”
“I understand, Applejack.” There would be no forgiveness in this world for her, not until she made things right. Even then, it was doubtful. How could anypony in Equestria ever forgive her for the death and destruction she had wrought? “I know it doesn’t mean anything, but I’m sorry for what I did. I’m so sorry. I’ll do whatever I can when this is over. Anything.”
“Ah’m...sorry.” It felt wrong for Applejack to be the one apologizing in this situation. “Ah know Ah wasn’t nice with you earlier as Ah shoulda been.” The sincerity in the mare’s words was just as genuine as it always had been. If the earth pony wanted to move on, then that was more than fine with Twilight. “Ah’ve been...it’s all been on my shoulders, Twi. Ah ain’t good at leadin’ and Ah’ve only gotten worse. Ah’m only so strong, and Ah ain’t strong enough to do it any longer.”
“You shouldn’t be the one apologizing, Applejack.” Twilight tapped her hoof against the desk and finally turned to face the other pony. “I don’t think anypony would do well in this situation. If there’s anypony left out there, they’re probably not faring any better.” Her jaw clenched and the wings on her back twitched in frustration. “It’s my fault any of this ever happened. I should’ve known better, I should’ve been here.” Twilight looked towards the window, the blackout curtain keeping the majority of the sunlight out. “I need to fix this.”
“Ah know a good way to start.” Applejack stood up and put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “First thing we need to do is move that sun, sugarcube. If it stays up there for any longer, Ah don’t know if there’ll be an Equestria to save. Ain’t nothin’ gonna grow if everything keeps burnin’.”
Twilight had attempted to use her magic after teleporting everypony inside. She had tried to turn on the shower, she had tried to open doors and lift books. Every time her horn lit up, she panicked. The idea that she might turn back into that thing invaded her mind every time she tried to use her natural gift. It was crippling.
“I don’t know if I can.” Her voice was shaking even at the thought of trying. “I-I don’t know if I even have the power-I don’t-” She was cut off by a hoof being brought up to her muzzle and determined green eyes staring into hers.
“Ah don’t need you to know, sugarcube.” Applejack’s breath steadied and she pulled Twilight up from her seat. “Ah need you to try. That’s the most important thing in the world right now, that we just try.”
“O-okay. I can try.” Twilight walked slowly over to her window, opening the curtain just enough so that the light wouldn’t land on her bed and disturb the two slumbering peacefully. That bright hot sun hit her, and she was suddenly awash with memories of being out there again. A shake of her head sent those thoughts away.
She had only done this once before, when Tirek had been loose and the other princesses had trusted her with their magic. Then she had the power of four alicorns and it was still a struggle, now the task seemed monumental.
“Just try.” Was the simple encouragement given to her by the farmpony.
Twilight couldn’t stop her whole body from shaking as her horn came to life. The familiar hum of magic building in her skull. Her breathing quickened. Her pulse raced. Every part of her brain told her to stop before He got in again. Before He could get ahold of her and turn her into that monster once more. She fought through it all and did as she was instructed long ago.
Her magic reached beyond the tainted air of Equestria, through the firmament above. Up there the magic was clean, she could feel it. Space wasn’t connected to the same magic laws as the planet was, it was layer above and not something an ordinary pony could tap into. She reached out to the sun, that glow and warmth she’d felt only once before.
She touched it, and she felt it cry. It knew it wasn’t supposed to be there, that it was supposed to set so long ago. Just like the ponies below, it was suffering from staying still for so long. The last time she had tried this, the heavenly body above had resisted the grasp of this strange new user. This time was different, it sank into her grip and she let her magic encase it like a warm embrace.
The sun started to move, slowly. Twilight strained with effort, her magic out of practice and her grip fumbling. The nerves and the panic didn’t help her at all. She did her best and used every drop of magic and energy she had, but it still wasn’t enough to get the job done.
The sun never dipped below the horizon, it simply sat halfway above and below it. The sky was now awash in warm oranges and mixed in with deep blues and purples. She had failed in setting the sun, and that was all she could think about.
Twilight fell to her knees, the light on her horn dying out in a blink. She couldn’t stop from breaking down and crying on her bedroom floor. Her wings fell to the ground and she finally crumbled again into a sobbing mess. She had failed again, another on top of the pile that was her recent memory. It crushed her very soul to think that she had once again not done enough.
She couldn’t be sad for long. A trio of roars rang out across Equestria from Canterlot. Furious roars that called for blood, and Twilight already knew that they were all headed to Ponyville. There was not a doubt in her mind about the words that fell from her mouth next.
“We just ran out of time…”
Stats
Page generated in 0.029 seconds
Total duration
1,071 users online
2,090,830 hits today, 2,054,621 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Oh boy.
This ain't good.
Well. This just escalated again. Now we've got to deal with three corrupted Alicorns.
Luna and Celestia at least are past element bearers and Alicorns to boot. That leaves how to subdue Cadance. Maybe being an Alicorn is enough.
Maybe they could be staggered by Rainbow releasing another harmony laced rainboom, but aside from Twilight who is one push away from hysterics, only Sunburst had the magical knowledge and context to connect the dots easily. Maybe Discord and his own heightened ability to sense magic and his milenia of experience, or Rainbow herself thinking about how it felt to be awash with concentrated harmony and pulling off the easiest rainboom of her life.
This is honestly one of the best, if not the best fanfiction i read on this site.
I'm dying to see what comes next!
Wow. I genuinely hate Mayor Mare now. She’s contributed nothing, and is now leaving with no word to the others and taking a good chunk of the groups remaining supplies. As misguided as Elytras actions were, she still tried to help and ended up doing more than her fair share with getting fluttershy back and helping to wrangle twilight.
Seriously, they are screwed.
Uhhh she almost managed to Set the Sun in one go. I don't See the Problem in waiting some time and setting it compleatly. It's nearly down, it should't be anymore near as hot as it was before.
Or am I missing the Plot?
Also if Dash survieved being dumped into concentrated Maja below the Castle and getting supercharged in the Process. Where is the fault to let Twilight, an Alicorn that's clearly more durable than an Pegasus as it was mentioned before, jump into it, getting hypercharged, flipping the Sun and moon Three Times around the globe and slapping the other Princesses with the equalevent of a Nuke xD - (Okey sorry, I think my brain just tapped into over drive... )
But seriously it's "Concentrated Harmonic Mana", pure enough to rival the effect of the taint by mere precense. Thats even the Plot why the Unicorns are digging to get to it, there's no way you can Tell me it ist't worth a try!
Awesome Chapter by the Way😁
10852240
She’s an emotionally distraught mess. Logic such as “you’ll get it next time” doesn’t work at the moment with her.
Yeah, there was no way any of the corrupted were going to miss the fact that someone was lowering the sun, and the three alicorns back in Canterlot wouldn't take long at all to figure out who.
Something that Twilight hasn't elaborated on is explaining how intelligent the alicorns are and how much problem solving Celestia, Luna, and Cadance can do to try to get them out. There's a difference in being able to think and being able to do advance problem solving, and right now it is urgent to know how much those three can do.
At least the wasted food isn't a concern anymore.
Baero, I gotta say my piece on this series up to this point. Everything, from the story to the daily updates, has been flawless! You are doing great work lad, I look forward to this series everytime I wake up. Thank you sir.
10852246
*ma’am
But thank you so much!
the dice fall again once more
Saw that one coming. The question now is "just how much can the castle protect them against?"
They won't enter it, but what has been stopping Twilight from leveling it from a distance all this time? Is it preventing that as well, or was corrupted Twilight just not powerful enough to level a castle and she knew it?
If it's the latter, well we have a force that can level a city on its way. Time is indeed short.
Better break out the harmony charged mana syringes, load them into your dart guns, and hope for the best.
10852240
I think it's Twilight being... Twilight, and the fact she didn't succeded despite her effort making her see herself as helpless. She'd probably be fine, given time... which is lacking a bit right now, sadly.
And... well I guess at the very least, that makes the Mayor Mare situation sorted. And now, for the ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny to begin. The rest's going to be entertaining, I can feel it !
I swear if mayor mare end up the sole survivor of the world, I'd laught my head off.
10852249
Also, I can imagine fer a second of the people who have been surviving in the habitable twilight zone this entire time, for then the sun to go above them and just stay there. For sure a "OH FUCK" moment.
I know adults tend to want to sacrifice eating for children. For some reason (probably because they complain the loudest, lol). But I think in this situation it is best to take care of the adults, because if adults aren't around the fillies definitely aren't going to be able to survive. If there are no adult ponies to clear the path to the future, there is no way that the fillies can be the future. So- oh, nvm, that thing happened in the pantry.
I'm surprised none of the other Elements went with AJ. They probably could've given Twi the support she needed. AJ of all ponies, and saying she won't forgive Twi... She should have saved that until after she tried to move the sun. So maybe the weight of those words wouldn't have been on Twi as she tried to move the sun.
This doesn't feel true to Applejack. She's put duty ahead of family at least a couple times, like in The Last Roundup, where because of both duty to Ponyville and her own pride she abandoned her home town, and when Flim and Flan won Sweet Apple Acres in a crooked bet and she just told the town to accept it. if AJ doesn't forgive Twilight Equestria is probably screwed.
Also everyone of the Mane 6 has been Discorded. Twisted into the opposite of themselves. Did she know that what she was doing at the time wasn't her
10852259
Not to mention the other half who just saw the sun set for the first time in months, and now will be dreading watching the eternal winter that covers half the world start creeping towards them, with no escape other than the hell baked wasteland in the other direction.
People have pointed out that Twilight shouldn't be too hard on herself for not succeeding her first try, but the problem here is that if it's that hard and draining for her to move the sun even a little each time, that's not going to be a long term viable solution. They absolutely need one of the royal sisters in that case to maintain the day-night cycle, or at least enough sane unicorns to help pick up the slack.
Even if they solve this, I have no idea how they'll keep the survivors fed long enough to reach somewhere more habitable and start a new harvest, even without most of the unicorns being restored and thus also having to eat.
10852295
What we're seeing is basically the pony equivalent of The Road.
10850812
There's no way to say it better
Yeah, I had a feeling that would set them off. The sun is their best weapon, after all. Finding out that the sun has some measure of sentience is interesting, though. I wonder of the others could move it back even if they tried.
10852241
Yeah Okey point taken. I'm a softy and I know it
10852257
Oh Boy yes this will be interesting. Cant wait to See the Story continue.
It would be cool if somebody took this idea and made a spinoff of the Last Spell
"And I looked, and behold a pale, a dark and a pink, horse: and the name that sat on them was Death, and Hell followed with them."
Oh boy, that is not good at all, I think their best bet could be to go down the pool, prepare some kind of bombs with the mana and get ready to blow all to hell.
The infected Sisters are going to buck the walls in but honestly i want to see a picture of them or at least a description
I half expected cheerilee to jump back on merriweather and kill her by choking her, I'm really hoping the mayor gets what she deserves in the end
Here we go fillies and gentlecolts, the endgame is upon us. Three mutated ruthless alicorns verses a hoof-full of split and wounded survivors.
Place your bets...
10852334
She ran out moments before The Three were provoked. She's fucked.
Honestly, Meriwether stealing half their oats and trying to make a break for it is one of those 'it seems rational' things. She's a 'leader', she's supposed to be in charge, and if everyone just did what she said they'd be fine, so she has to survive this or else everyone is doomed.
Even though Ponyville largely runs itself and even in the series I don't think Mayor Mare ever proved to be anything other than good at her job in a totally normal situation. Ponyville never really 'deals' with the emergencies that befall it outside of the Mane 6 )and later the young 6) taking care of it. Celestia and Luna at least took care of things in the past, even though it mostly resulted in 'This will come back to haunt you in a thousand years'.
Meriwether wants to believe she's indispensable because a coward has to. She's useful in normal, day to day situations, but in a crisis she's a liability; right now, it's the end-of-days. Even if the problems are solved, she'll never have the support of the people who needed a cool head and rational guidance. Twilight might support her out of absolute guilt, but AJ, Rarity, Pinkie, and Rainbow? I doubt it. Fluttershy... maybe. She understands what it's like to be afraid, but she pushes through it when it matters. She might support a second chance, even though this really is her fourth or fifth.
Meriwether's life as she knew it is over now, regardless. She betrayed her people, and there's precious few left. Unless she frees herself of her own cowardice, there's probably no going back.
Man I am loving this story~!
10852316
I mean before Celestia and Luna the unicorns moved the sun and moon.
10852403
By "the others" I meant the other alicorns. Apparently the sun is capable of resistance.
10852403
And unicorns lost their magic permanently or worse for doing so.
I think they may be screwed here. I don’t see how they can deal with three alicorns who can level a city. I mean, they have Discord but he can only use his magic in the castle. Speaking of which, can’t he move the sun?
They should get Discord to conjure them up some tranquilizer guns and fill the darts with mana. Or maybe a ballista or something.
Okay, I’m trying, but I can’t really follow the logic here. Why in Equestria’s name would Twilight (the real, uncorrupted Twilight) want to kill Big Mac to hurt Applejack? Yes, she was one of the monsters, and yes, maybe having the king’s voice in her head corrupted her morality some then, but that wasn’t actually her. It was her under the direct influence/control of the king, so it was in a sense it was still because of him, even if she “intentionally” killed him. Therefore, it wasn’t Twilight’s fault. With how many dead, I can see why she wouldn’t be seen as entirely blameless in some ponies’ eyes (I personally think she is, and all the blame lies on the king), but she’s also still a victim in this.
Sorry, I feel like that turned a little more ranty than I intended.
I understand that Applejack is very emotionally close to the situation, but I’m still a little disappointed in her to see that she can’t separate Feralight from Twilight. Feralight may have looked like Twilight, but they are not the same ponies, and I find it unfair of her to blame Twilight for what Feralight did when she was only like that because of the king, with no choice in the matter.
Now, that all being said, I’m shaking with nerves and excitement. I kept thinking for the past several chapters “Oh no, another good thing, something really horrible is coming next chapter” and then when it didn’t happen, I just got more suspicious. This — three feral Alicorns coming to Ponyville is probably none of the worst things that could happen to the characters, and I can’t wait to see what comes next!
10852596
First, if that got a reaction out of you, then the author did their job. Any author in the world has a job to push the boundaries of what what is comfortable in order to present new ideas. That said, i have a theory, but again it's just a theory. The only one that really has the answer is the author. So, naturally if the author wants to reply then I'll defer to the Author's intent. So, my theory is fairly simple, and I have KKat to thank for it.
In Fallout Equestria Littlepip often talked about their virtue, and the need to find it. She also described corrupted virtues. She herself came to the realization, thanks to the Goddess, that she was corrupted kindness. In the same sense here I would say the presence of the fallen Unicorn King corrupted Twilight's own virtue. Her virtue has been that of magic, specifically when dealing with friendship. The corruption of that virtue would have made her realize what would hurt Applejack the most. The desire that was pushed into her from the Unicorn King would have altered her perception. She would see blood and death everywhere, and more to the point she would be enthralled with it.
Also, yes Twilight is a victim, just as you stated. The Unicorn King would have violated her mind over and over again until he had her turned into the feral beast he wanted. Every unicorn has been violated, every single one, and that violation has led to the monstrosities outside of the castle. But that's my basic theory. While she was under the direct control of the Unicorn King she was altered, changed, and she craved things she shouldn't have craved. Of course part of me wonders when this happened, because if this is after Mac and Sugarbelle began dating... I can't imagine what she will go through when she recovers, if she does.
10852637
Hmm, interesting. Yeah, I can definitely see where you’re coming from. I’m not sure I entirely agree with it though (maybe that’ll change with later chapters, as we get more insight into the minds of the ferals). Back in the chapter Something to Prove, after Sweetie Belle described her experience as a feral, there was this:
Despite Twilight basically being Patient Zero, I can’t think of a reason why, in addition to having her fight instinct turned up to eleven, she would also specifically be having the desire to hurt others pushed into her by the king. Sweetie didn’t have that desire (that she said, anyway. It’s possible she did and was just too traumatized to voice it). Honestly, with the way she kept repeating “Them or us”, I thought it came across as more driven by immense fear that manifested itself as rage or hate, rather than just hate itself.
Point is, the idea of her craving things she shouldn’t have craved doesn’t fit in with the image of the ferals I’ve built up. But in retrospect, I can certainly see why you think that, and from a different viewpoint of the ferals, the theory makes sense to me.
I understand and agree with this idea (to a certain extent) but admittedly I’m having trouble seeing how exactly it’s relevant to this part of the story. I’m not seeing some moral lesson in that scene or something like that, so can you explain what “new ideas” you’re thinking of here?
10852596
You know what, you’re right. I rewrote that section between Twilight and AJ about 3 or 4 times last night and I never felt like it was completely right.
I’ll fix that up when I can. Thanks for pointing that out.
Bit of a downside of cranking out a chapter a day, sometimes I just mess up.
10852519
I think that was only in a fanfic, I don't recall the show ever mentioning that the unicorns whp used tp raise the sun lost their magic or anything like that. It just took a LOT of them from what I recall.
Bullion's 'Gift' almost reminds me in its behaviour of Imperial Bioweapons Project I71A [Blackwing] from the novel Star Wars - Death Troopers by Joe Screiber... except that Blackwing was indiscriminate... infecting all, whereas Bullion's 'Gift' was born of hated of the 'lesser races'.
I use gift in quotes due to the fun fact of Gift being the German word for poison. It is both a gift of strength and a poison of the mind and body.
10852718
Certainly. So the new idea isn't so new so to speak, but rather an idea that has been present in basically every Apocalyptical story, movie, comic, video game, etc out there. The idea is that there are no morals. To Quote Robert Kirkland after he was interview after the ending of The Walking Dead comics, "The new world didn't have morals. I created it like that for a reason. The only morals that existed in it were the ones that the survivors brought with them. I wanted to create a world where the readers would see which morals would be forgotten and which would be held onto."
To me, at least, this seems to be the idea that the Author is presenting. That in this case the world has changed, the morals that had been steadfast have disappeared, and the only ones that survived are the ones that the survivors have brought with them. Again, If the Author replies and explains the idea that was written behind then I will defer to the Authorial intent. but that seems to be the idea. To challenge the idea that good always wins, that sometimes there is no direct good or evil. Instead that there are shades of gray and it is up to the characters, and the readers, to determine if there is any morality there.
10852596
And changed it. I think it works better now
I’m really looking forward to the climax here! It would be really cool if you have a non-cheesy idea to bring everyone back. But that’s just my opinion.
Also, tbh I kinda thought you’d subverted the survivor-antagonist trope for the mayor after her apology to Scootaloo.
10852851
Changed what exactly? This part of the story or a future bit? It still seems the same as what 10852596 was talking about to me.
10852240
Super charging twilight is one of the few paths they have left in my opinion. Let's list the things they have to use:
All six element bearers, even injured and run down.
A smattering of townsfolk
One changeling
A harmonic charged crystal castle
Five of the six elements (should be able to rainbow up even without the last one if tirek is canon)
A pool of supercharge harmony mana that the bearers can survive being dipped into.
Anything twilight needed for science/research in her castle
And a weakened discord
To be fair, super charge twilight, have her make syringes OUT OF the harmony liquid via telekinesis and start poking ponies and alicorns from the safety of the castle might be a decent idea. Hell it's a liquid right? Couldnt pegasus slash alicorn magic make some into a cloud and rain it on ponyville? Hmmmmm.
10852851
I just went back and reread that section and I agree, this is better now.
10852993
The specific conversation between Applejack and Twilight. The new version no longer says that Twilight wanted Big Mac’s death and intentionally caused it in order to hurt Applejack (instead saying that what matters is that it happened) and has a lot less implications that she’s at fault for what she did was Feralight (though Applejack seems to still blame her on some level, but as I noted earlier, she’s too emotionally close to judge accurately right now)
10852801
In the episode Celestia Advice and the Journal of the Two Sisters it pretty much said yes moving the sun and moon did burn most unicorns out. Some like Starswirl could do it more then a few times, but the rest lost there magic after awhile.