Episode 131: (Shining Armor) "potS nedduS ehT s'tI-Its The Sudden Stop" Part 2
My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic
Pony POV Series
Shining Armor Chapter 16 Part 2
"potS nedduS ehT s'tI-Its The Sudden Stop"
Written by Kendell2 and lz0291
Edited by Alex Warlorn and Louis
"Look, all I was saying was a friend of mine said their great aunt saw it with her own eyes."
I gave a blink, walking in during regular guard duty at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns to find my teenaged sister arguing with a Lance Corporal.
"Then why has nopony ever gotten proof of them?!" Twilight retorted.
"Uh... What's going on?" I asked, looking at the two in confusion.
"Oh, hello, BBBFF, I was just telling this trooper that Sass Squash is just a myth!"
The Lance-Corporal saluted.
"Yes, Sir, and I'm trying to point out that-wait, BBBFF?"
"Big Brother Best Friend Forever," me and Twiley said at the same time.
"Oh...um... Sorry, but, he really DOES exist."
I blinked.
"Sass Squash? That weird bipedal thing that's supposed to run around switching things with squashes?" I asked.
Twilight nodded.
"You agree with me, right? It doesn't make any sense!"
"I don't know, Twiley, you know how many new species scientists discover every day, and what's in Everfree," I rubbed the back of my head.
"Ok, valid point, but why would a group with a pony-level intellect want to stay out of contact?"
"What about Bahamut? He's smart too, but we only know he isn't just a myth because Tiamat proved it."
Twilight gave a nervous look.
"...Good point."
"Twiley, you need to stop being so critical. Remember the Zebra?" I chuckled.
I stifled a grin as my little sister blushed.
"I was just a filly!"
"Maybe he exists, maybe he doesn't, but you know what definitely does?" I rubbed her mane.
"What?"
"Advanced Teleportation Class." Yes, I knew her class schedule, what good big brother guarding the very place his little sister goes to school wouldn't?
Twilight's eyes went wide.
"Oh Celestia! I'm going to be late! " She gave me a quick hug and was gone.
I chuckled, then turned to the Lance-Corporal.
"For the record, I think he's real, just Twilight takes debates way too seriously."
"Yeah, sounds like it. Good to know I'm not the only one who thinks so, Sir!" He gave a chuckle.
"I've seen stranger things, somepony should tell him most ponies would prefer sweets to squashes though," I gave a nod.
He laughed with me. I was starting to like this guy.
"Yeah, if it can actually talk."
"I wonder if it can-Oh! Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself!"
"Lieutenant, I'm in your platoon."
I tried to think, which Lance-Corporal was this? There were only eleven to pick from,and only six pegasi. Unfortunately, even Guards had trouble recognizing each other when we were new faces.
"...Ah, er... Well... Is it Lance-Corporal Eastwind?"
The trooper smirked as he shook his head.
"It's alright sir, you've only had this command what, two days?"
"...Haven't even had a chance to select a command element," I noted.
"I'm Thunderchild, remember?"
"Oh yeah! Didn't you ask to be put on guard duty for the cheerleaders at the next cloudball game held in Canterlot?"
"Heh, yeah... Uh, have you had any time to confirm that request at all?"
Once more, I found myself awakened by my alarm clock. That had been how me and Thunderchild had spoken to each other properly for the first time. As for the Sass Squash, given my sister saved the world from an 'old pony's tale', I was even more sure he existed.
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Dare I ask why?)
We'll see if you don't believe if you wake up one morning to find the glass of water on your nightstand replaced with a squash.
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus):...How do we know you won't sneak in and swap it yourself?)
I'm not that stealthy, and I don't know where you live.
Bangalla was a Hooviet Allied nation, landlocked in the central East Zebrafrican desert basin. Nearly half the country's population were nomads with most of the few settlements built around oases, moisture farms, or in the Scorpion Mountains to the south. It's actually rather rich in resources, which unfortunately meant it gave the Hooviets another advantage. Their alliance started after the Hooviets interfered during the Djelibeybi Civil War.
They also had a somewhat uncertain relationship with Maasailand. No one is really certain what it was. Except us now, since well, the Maasailanders told us. Apparently, Maasailand supplied their surplus food and water in exchange for peace (to have an excess when others may need it was not keeping with their ideals), at least that's what Maasailand intended. Bangalla thought that the deal was 'accept our surplus or die,' much as those 'bribed' with the gold had been afraid.
I think this is one case where we're just going to leave Maasailand in the dark, it was probably in their best interests that they scared the Bangallans.
As we lacked a formal embassy, we had to largely remain on the ships, but there was an alleged schedule for when civilians could tour and sample the country. Much to Minuette's annoyance, all our routes, even those for us formal diplomats, were being 'suggested' by the government. I will admit, we had a bit more freedom than I expected, but I think we were all looking over our shoulders most of the time. And I think we were right to, I know we were being spied on.
Dima said so, when he showed up to give us some information. I was a little surprised he found me so easily, but then I remembered A) I attracted all things weird, and B) the Rebels knew I was the only one capable of defeating Makarov. We'd thought he was a Zebra at first, coming under a disguise that Mother Deer's blessings granted him. And, I know Deer do shed them, but I still winced when we learned he'd shaved off his antlers to help hide better. His Winter Antlers had only been starting to grow really.
He brought other information with him, which, to some of us, was no less unsettling.
"The Defiant... This narrows it down to a small area. We can find it very..."
Apparently, while Makarov had kept a lot of it under wraps, the former Hooviets whom Mother Deer had managed to convert still had some valuable intel on the Defiant's location. Unfortunately, all they knew about Makarov's endgame was it involved something big. It was as if Makarov's plans just sprung into existence the moment he implemented them. Which might be the exact case. Stupid imagination demon...
Bond wasn't much help that evening, for obvious reasons. Cold-hearted guy at times, seemingly fearless and unflappable with most other matters... he was still Equine, and he'd still lost his parents at a young age. Twenty years of his life had been spent not even knowing their final resting place, not even knowing if they'd died at all. Getting closer to an answer had to be painful.
Unlike me though, he didn't seem too open to offers of help from Cadence. He just threw down the cold persona right after it and went off to check things. Sometimes seeing Bond like that scares me. It makes me wonder what it'd be like if I hadn't recovered after... things happened.
"Mother Deer also offers my services to help keep you informed about other matters, Princess. I may be unable to follow you to Kundu, however. There are large numbers of Hooviet forces there and they will almost certainly recognize me, even disguised."
However, it wasn't all bad really, we did get to stop at a fair that was kind of enjoyable, and allegedly, had a rather popular play about Equestria. Which considering we were in Hooviet-aligned turf, should have been a big warning sign, but Cadence insisted we go in disguise to enable us to see what the Hooviets really thought of us...big mistake.
I'd go in detail, but I'm afraid if I did, my rage would get the better of me, so here's a brief summary: Celestia was a fat, overweight, incompetent moron who couldn't make a decision to save her life and sent ponies to the moon for the silliest of things. Cadence was a ditz who had no idea how to do anything for herself and talked like a valley filly. Luna was blatantly evil and it seemed they just took all the Nightmare Moon stories and went with them! I guess they didn't know (or more likely care) enough about her to make any other kind of insult!
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Uh, here's some tea.)
Thank you...And of course, Makarov was portrayed like perfection incarnate who managed to...ugh, let's just say that Makarov got what the real one wanted and Twinkle Shine had to be restrained...and I almost let her loose after seeing what they portrayed Twiley as. Cadence just sat there with a serene look on her face though.
The strangest part though was me. I was portrayed as a hyper-competent, superstrong and in all ways the ONLY competent character who wasn't a Hooviet...
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Huh, I didn't see that coming.)
...So Makarov looked even more badflank when he beat the stuffing out of me and killed me - twice. Yeah, the play brought me back to life just to let Makarov kill me again.
Did I mention that Makarov was portrayed as the good guy here?
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): I thought you said this was a highlight.)
Oh, it was what came after the play.
Twinkle Shine got ready to make a scene, but Cadence stopped her with a wing.
As the play ended, Cadence ordered everyone to shed our disguises before the lights came back on and teleported the the costumes away to make it appear we'd just been there the whole time. And when they came on and Cadence stood up things got so quiet you could hear a pin drop. In fact Gag dropped one, just to make sure.
Naturally the actors were quaking in their hooves upon realizing the diplomatic party of the country they'd just spent about two and a half hours (yeah, it was that long) blatantly insulting was sitting in the audience.
Cadence trotted to the stage (it was the time when you could chat with the actors) in a ladylike fashion that let her look perfectly serene while still moving slow enough to give us time to watch the actors sweat and squirm. And oh, it was worth it.
She thoughtfully put a hoof to her chin and looked around the stage. She then gave a chuckle. "Good job."
"G-Good j-job, Princess C-Candenza-I mean Candelza, I mean..." asked the play version of Makarov - who I will admit, was probably genuinely better looking and considerably more pleasant to be around than the real one.
Cadence nodded, giving a good natured chuckle, further clarifying that the actress who had portrayed her in the play had nothing on her.
"Yes, it was an excellent parody. Aunt Celestia always says its a virtue to be able to laugh at oneself, and you've done a great job of making me do just that."
At this point, Cadence gave one of those looks that to outsiders looks perfectly happy, but anyone in eye contact knew she was royally clopped off. This left the actors with two options: A) correct her that it was a serious play and make the Hooviet Empire look like the egotistical jerks they really were, or B) say she's right and let everypony see it as the propaganda it really was, but manage to save face and possibly even attract a bigger audience since Cadence approved of it as a parody.
"Clopped if they do, clopped if they don't," Thunderchild whispered.
The actors laughed nervously.
"Uh... yes, parody, that's correct, very nice of you to say so Princess Cardenza-I mean Miss Cedenza-I mean..."
"And your songs were wonderfully written, you have a great singing voice," Cadence continued in a genuinely praising tone, causing the actor to blush slightly. "Though you may want to tighten the tent a bit, it's messing up the acoustics and makes it a bit difficult to hear your singing, which is a shame. And the lighting is a little off, it doesn't light the stage properly."
So after that, we left the play. Cadence had not only managed to get a little payback for them insulting our country and her family, but netted some good PR. We even rode some rides, saw some funny clowns. It was actually kind of fun, considering we were in a Hooviet allied country.
Speaking of which, considering this was really one of the few moments I had to talk peacefully with Dima, I decided to check one other thing.
"Hey, Dima?" I asked, taking a look around to make sure we weren't being watched. Well, that closely.
"Yes, Captain?"
"Uh, remember that thing you told me back when we met that... the Great Deer told you to do, all the time?"
"Oh, yes, that. Yes, I remember, Captain."
".Are you still doing it? Like right now?"
He gave a laugh.
"Yes, actually. All the time does mean all the time."
The play was enjoyably amusing. Surely one of the Empire's finest loyal playwrights must've written it...
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): He does.)
"All things considered, it's rather annoying to be honest, but useful, and can sometimes be amusing," Dima stated.
And that answered that. I was pretty impressed actually, considering how difficult that had to be to keep up.
"Hey! Look Shining, it's a fortuneteller!" said Cadence, pointing at a tent reading with a sign with 'Fortune Teller' written on it.
"Uh, Cadence, I'm not sure that's a good idea..."
"Oh don't worry, Shining, it's just for fun."
So we went into the tent. The mare in question had a deck of tarot cards as her Cutie Mark. Cadence went first...and things started getting weird...
"What the?!" asked the mare, looking down at three Temperance Cards. All of which strangely had pictures looking a lot like Cadence on them. "But that doesn't make any sense!"
Cadence blinked in confusion. "Well, Queen Tiamat does call me 'the 14th, Concept of Temperance..."
"But there's only one Temperance card in a deck!"
"So... what does it mean?" asked Twinkle Shine.
"I... I guess just that she's Temperance! I don't know!"
Some of the others took a turn, but nothing too weird came up for anyone else...well, except Minuette's.
"The Devil: in the past you have been controlled by an idea or habit. It stopped you from growing and lead you down a bad path..."
Yeah, I figured at that point this was going to be horseapples. Minuette? Having been some sort of addict? She's one of the nicest mares I know, she had a breakdown knowing someone ELSE killed someone, how could she have been a bad guy?
"The High Priestess," the fortuneteller continued, flipping the next card for Minuette.
"It represents secrets. Perhaps you are keeping one, perhaps one is being kept from you. Perhaps you are keeping one from yourself."
Well... she didn't know who her real parents were.
Minuette reacted before the teller on the last one.
"DEATH?!"
"No, that's good, it means 'transition, change', that a metamorphosis or a deep personal change in store for your future. Generally a good thing."
Sunset said she'd rather NOT know her future, while Twinkle Shine said she'd make her own destiny. Dima, still in disguise (we were in a Hooviet nation after all), took a turn next.
"The Magician. It is reversed, which normally means a manipulator who guided your actions, but did not have your best intentions in mind. Someone used you in the past."
Normally, I wouldn't take much stock in that, but the look on his face when she said that...
"The Chariot: you are in conflict with an external force, there are obstacles in your path that will require great willpower to overcome. You have great loyalty, faith, and motivation. You are willing to win no matter what the odds... but you are also ruthless in your pursuit of it."
Okay, admittedly, that one made perfect sense...
"...The Hanged Stallion. It is a complicated card. It can mean many things...but when I see it with the Chariot, I believe, in your case, it is pointing towards sacrifice. Becoming a martyr, putting others and a higher cause above yourself...you will perform a great sacrifice for a greater good."
Dima gave a smile I couldn't quite figure out, but it seemed...accepting.
"...And it is one I am sure I'll gladly make when it comes."
I'll admit...that did scare me a bit. Dima was already resolved to sacrifice his current life for Makarov to never have existed...
Then I came up. To be honest, I was expecting the worst...instead, things got weird.
We all looked in shock at the three blank cards sitting in front of me. "...W-what does that mean?"
"I...I don't know! There aren't even any blank cards in a Tarot deck!"
I staggered a little. Yes, it scared me! There are two monsters out to erase my existence or EAT IT, what else am I supposed to read it as except nonexistence... no past, present, or future to predict...
Cadence noticed how afraid I was.
"Maybe we should leave..."
A couple of days later, it was the country we were leaving. The only fallout from Cadence's review of the play was that the state media struggled to stay on party line and just settled for 'diplomats entertained by play.' At least those that bothered reporting at all.
"Something wrong, Lieutenant?"
I turned. Colonel Audience had apparently noticed me staring off into space.
"Not really, Sir, it's just... I'm still not really sure I deserve what's happening tomorrow."
"Well, some of the other officers were pretty sure it should have been a GGH not a GDSM..." He joked.
'Guard Gallantry Horseshoe? Distinguished Service Medal? I never won any medals...
"That's not what I mean, Sir, it's just... I didn't really do all that much. I just did what I was supposed to do," I frowned.
"Really, now? I don't think stopping a rogue tank single-hoofedly is 'just what you were supposed to do,' Shining."
"It was only one Deer inside, Colonel. He wasn't even part of any militia, he'd just stolen it from a depot."
'Militias? What tank?'
"Did you know that before you jumped in front of it and trapped it inside a shield?"
"...No, Sir."
"The turret had started moving to aim at one of the tents. You think that jumping in front of it with a shield when it first fired before you trapped it was what you were 'supposed' to do?"
"Sir. I earned my cutie mark for protecting those in need. Why am I getting a medal just for doing what I'm supposed to be good at?"
"Well, I agreed to the call to award it because you did what you were supposed to do.. You used your talents exactly as you should, you were the right pony in the right place at the right time. Don't feel unworthy or guilty about it."
"I can't really help it, Sir. I..."
"Look, I know maybe it brings back memories and you might be seeing similarities. But tell me, would your uncle feel you didn't deserve it?"
"...No, Sir, I don't think he would."
"So why do you? Look, it's not uncommon. I bet about a quarter of the troopers getting medals tomorrow have doubts..."
"There's only four of us getting awarded."
"Well, I win the bet then? Point is, you think you just did what you were meant to. The others getting awarded, they feel the same. They're not feeling guilty. They're proud."
He sighed.
"Look, this situation is a messy business all round, really. Deer still haven't quite let go of the caste-lines that were drawn here, and the weather going feral doesn't help, but the Germanes and us have helped calm the tensions down from all-out violence.."
He looked at me directly now.
"Shining, I personally asked you to come because I thought you'd be a good asset to accomplishing that mission. I felt you were being wasted in the admin jobs you kept volunteering for. I felt I owed it to a good pony, a good soldier, and a good friend that I didn't let his death ruin your life and your career, to share the faith he had in you. And by Celestia, you've proved we were right to have faith in you. Does that justify the medal to you?"
"...Yes, Sir."
"Good. Besides, the Princess loves rewarding ponies for jobs well done. She'd probably be visiting to congratulate everypony on a job well done even if four of you hadn't earned medals."
"Is it really wise to allow the Princess to visit this area, Sir? I mean, there's still risks..."
"Much riskier to tell her 'it's too dangerous.' There always is with Princesses. Believe me on that, Lieutenant."
That was what I got for hoping I'd reach Jumanji without any more weird dreams.Still, it reminded me of the fight with the Hooviets back at the village. I'd never really thought about the where. Oh, I knew the name of the village (Dima had naturally told us), but during the battle, I wasn't thinking about that. All I was thinking about was someone who needed my help. I wasn't thinking 'Segis needs me,' it was 'they need me.' I guess that's how all us guards are: we don't see the race, species, or place, we see someone who needs us.
Whether it was just a dream or not, the Brigadier was right about one thing: it doesn't matter the context, all that matters to a guard is that we help when we're needed.
It was another mostly-desert state, but the culture here was more inclined to be friendly by default as they played a lot of board games: the various tribes generally settled disputes as well as conducted negotiations over a game of something or other. Each tribe had their own tribal game.
I was banned from playing if we encountered games like Darts or Tiddlywinks, at my own request.
They were also surprisingly up-front and open about why they were Hooviet allies.
"Because of their strength, their strength that let us defy the distant Pharaoh, their strength that let them recover from an invasion by Dragons. We do not want to be seen as weak again. We do not want distant governments controlling our every action," their President said without even being asked.
Nopony told them the irony of being aligned with the Hooviets in the name of preserving their own independence. I also didn't tell them by all rights the Hooviets should have fallen, but for a mad reality warping imagination-demon leading them. Or that by all accounts the Hooviets had been the aggressors in the war with the Dragons, not the other way around.
In addition, some of the civilians had began getting a little antsy. Again, we lacked an embassy, and again. the routes were heavily 'suggested'.
Still, at least it distracting to see all the different tribal games. Some were simple chess-like strategy games, others were... a bit dangerous.
"...Card games while falling down a sand dune?!" Cadence exclaimed.
Garnet looked oddly hopeful.
"Yes, Princess, the tribe has tried to switch it to playing on less dangerous surfaces but traditionalists insist on playing by the original rules."
"How does that even work?"
"From the looks of things, it doesn't," I noted as two players began rolling down,though I guess it had to work somehow for it to have caught on at all.
I much preferred the next tribe along, their tribal game seemed centered around drawing straws, then having to say the color of any band on the straw if there was one - and you lost, because the objective was to stay quiet about there being any color on the straws at all. I didn't really get specifics on how you actually played it, but it was entertaining to watch.
Equestria actually had a similar game where the objective was just staying quiet longer than the other pony. It actually got taken surprisingly seriously. There's even a national championship...
(Interviewer's Notes (Pegasus): Wait, that actually exists?)
Yeah, Celestia normally judges. It's actually surprisingly intense, particularly the lengths players go to try and get the other to speak, and Celestia seems to have more fun there than the Gala...
Some of the other games were still pretty crazy though. One tribe had hedgehog racing - and for some reason that involved dying the hedgehogs blue.
In other parts of the country, Dima helped out considerably, able to pose as a Hooviet to get zebra to speak more openly. He and Bond let us discover the citizens largely did trust the Hooviets, and that the only concerns were mainly aimed at their own president. We were of course taking a risk using him, but as he pointed out, the worst they could really do to us was a scandal in public.
Even Solomon couldn't openly attack diplomats, even ones that were caught linked to mild espionage. Plus, he reminded us that technically, he wasn't listed as anything more than a civilian tourist with our group, meaning we could claim we had no idea he was a rebel or performing said espionage. Naturally, throwing him under the wheels was the last thing anyone wanted to do.
Unfortunately, as briefly as he'd been tagging along with us to pass information from Mother Deer, Dima found himself recalled to the rebels before we went to Buranda.
"Be careful, Dima. It's been fun having you around," I said, the two of us making sure we'd lost any and all spies before he parted ways from us.
"Honestly, I enjoyed it myself, but duty calls. I can only be as careful as circumstances permit, Captain. You know how it is. But I don't plan on dying before Solomon if I can help it," He nodded back.
"I see. Well, good luck, and hopefully see you again someday."
"Likewise, Captain. Take care of yourself too. Remember what you'll have to do some day..."
I have to admit I was concerned he might have been about to do something foolish, and honestly expected I'd never see him again after that. But at the same time, I kind of wished he hadn't reminded me of that as his parting words...
I could barely stop thinking about 'what I had to do' throughout Buranda. Less than two weeks left in Zebrafrica. One week to the point when we could search for the Defiant and now Bond had grown almost useless. Even with the difficulties he had getting information, he clearly wasn't reacting well at all.
About all I can tell you is, there were lots of trees - apart from the settlements and farms cleared away, almost the entire country was rainforest, and had apparently been almost all trees before the pro-technology, pro-Hooviet government now in charge had started demolishing all the house-trees in favor of 'modern' and 'flexible' designs that didn't suffer from the neighbor's roots growing into yours.
I had the impression the place would have been far more characterful forty years ago. Don't get me wrong, progress can be good, and new technology is wonderful... but changes need a reason, especially if the original was fine as it was. The only reason I saw here was the Government wanted to sell as much timber and minerals as they could to line their own saddlebags. With more restraint and obvious benefit to the citizens, well...
Twinkle Shine's dismay at what the damp air did to everyone's manes was slightly amusing though. Commander Shepard had assured her the ships were environmentally-controlled, magically, so the air inside wouldn't be damp... as long as the portholes stayed shut in your room.
Not so amusing was the second-last night, being told we could commence the search for our lost airship almost right away after we crossed the border. I felt it was rather suspicious the way they'd told us this so quickly...
I'd just left the office to fetch some lunch. Administrative work in the Community Service Initiative Corps might not have been what I'd planned for when I joined up... but it had seemed better when the reality of the situation I'd enlisted into became clear. But I couldn't just quit...
...And now Colonel Audience was asking my help specifically, to join a peacekeeping mission heading out this weekend.
As I walked towards the part of the city where the various eateries could be found, I overheard two Roedinian voices, coming from a pair of Earth ponies.
"Are we reading the map wrong?"
"I was sure the museum was this way..."
One of them had a green coat and red mane, a cutie mark of a bottle with an apple on it. The other had a stick of white cotton candy for a cutie mark on her dark red coat, her white mane oddly enough combed straight rather than allowed to resemble her cutie mark.
"May I help you?" I asked, hoping that my Roedinian was good enough not to upset them.
"Ah, you are a Militiapony?" The Red One said.
"No, Yaba, they are Guards here, not Police."
"Technically, we can serve as both at times, though it is more we have little need for a dedicated police force..." I didn't bother trying to explain the nature of the Community Service Initiative or STARS.
'That phrase again...'
"Ah, my apologies, officer. My sister and I are tourists, here from the Roedina. My sister is Cotton Candy, and I am Apple Vodka..."
'Saharnoj Vaty and Yablokovodka... No, that makes no sense. How could I ever have met them, how could tourists ever visit Canterlot from the Roedina? It was part of the Hooviet Empire.'
"Good question, Kiddo."
I blinked as if waking, but... I was in Canterlot. In my quarters. The room looked just as it had been the day of my promotion, bar it being dark. Only the open door and the moon outside casting any light. Everything neat, no barding on my armor stand, even the cheese sandwich wrapper in the trash can beside my writing desk. Most of this had been brought with me, was in the ship cabin. But I wasn't alone. I sat in bed and at the door, silhouetted by the light...
"...Uncle? But..."
"You ask that everytime, Shiny. Aren't I dead? Yeah. You saw it happen, kiddo. But things are changing. There's a lot at risk here..."
"I know, Mother Deer and... But you... Why am I dreaming about you now?"
"First, you've had this dream a lot. You just don't seem to remember it. And second... It might not be a dream."
He walked in, lighting the lantern as he came. A hole in his barding on the front-left side, a cone of jagged wood from a shaft sticking out. Out his upper right, the spearhead, wet blood still on the tip...
"Coke, take him away from here. Control, we need a medic here, fast, Guardspony down, repeat, Guardspony down..."
"No, no! I have to help him, let me help, please, please..."
"This can't be real."
"Can't it? You think me talking to you is impossible? Even after you met Reznov? You met me there again, didn't you? Well, not me. What could have been me."
"I... I'm sorry! I hesitated, I was scared, I never wanted..."
"Shh. Be quiet, kiddo. I know all that. You think I hate you? Shiny, I had and have no reason to do anything but love you. You're my nephew. My sister's son, my best friend's son. You're a great Big Brother Best Friend Forever to Twilight. You've become a fine Officer. You can be much more in the future, but... your future is about saving other futures for now. That wolf. What happens if he gets you?"
"...Makarov wins."
"Right now, yeah. Makarov has no one to stop him. Without you but with him, know what happens? I'm not dead when I was. But there's going to be a war, one that would make the old Griffon Wars look like a food fight. Your buddy Captive, he'd be feared as The White Death by the Hooviets for killing so many of them in the battles from Stalliongrad to Braystol, where they finally get him with artillery, over a thousand arrows and bullets to skulls later. Thunderchild would take out a battleship by luring it into a massive Thundercloud and focusing all the energy inside. I'd die defending Seaddle. My daughter would die in the Siege of Canterlot three years later."
"Your... daughter? But you never married, Uncle..."
"Never met her mom in these timelines."
"But...a cousin, what was...could she have been like?"
"Ask me yourself," asked a voice.
It was a female Guardspony, but barely recognizable as such. Rather than white or grey coated like Guard unicorns, she remained natural-coated. Her barding was chipped, damaged, but otherwise as well-repaired as it could be. She walked in to stand beside my uncle.
"I'm Athena, by the way, named after my Mom. She was a Pegasus. Technically, I'm your cousin but we never managed to co-exist, either in that war timeline, or in my own..."
I felt a chill. I hoped it was just my dream fooling me, but...
"Are you... The wolf said 'her light', did I..."
"No. Cause and Effect, though. Every action has a reaction. Where you're around, I can't be, because of the way things change. Two lines where you exist. Two lines where I exist."
"But I stop you from even being born!"
She looked right at me. I realized one eye was glass.
"Yeah, but right now, I still die fighting a war."
"What do you mean?"
"Kiddo, dying is easy. Hay, I pulled it off, right?"
Athena and I gave him a look each. Weird dream-sweet-celestia-I-hoped-it-was-a-dream or not, there were some things you just had to do.
"...The point stands, okay?"
"Phrasing, Sergeant," Athena pointed at the spear.
"What I am trying to say remains valid. And I'm technically your dad!"
"You're an alternative version of him, my dad became a Major in my timelines."
"Oh yeah."
"Alright, so Wolf gets me now, Makarov becomes some unstoppable tyrant?"
"Short answer? More or less. He becomes strong enough to overpower about anything you know of and bend the world to his whim. Makarov is getting closer to being that powerful in this timeline," Uncle warned me.
"That's insane. That's absurd. Sounds like Makarov, all right."
"Captain Sparkle, this is your choice. There are a few timelines that your fight with Makarov could create. In two of them, Makarov starts his war somehow. In the one without Makarov but with you, the world is a nice peaceful place where the Hooviets imploded years ago. Which one of them sounds best to you?"
"Isn't there one where you can both exist too?"
"Not an option, Kiddo. We're already past that fork in the road, the choices that I could have made or you could have made or anyone could have made to let that happen have already been set in ink, and the Wolf isn't interested in washing just them away. You or us. You, or everyone."
"What if I can't beat Makarov?"
"Either the Wolf erases you after you die, or Makarov eats you, remember?"
"Oh, and I can't just... and I never thought I'd say this, kill Makarov, right? I need to lure the Wolf to him to undo him"
"Right, kiddo. Killing Makarov might stop him from hurting the future, but the tumor he left in reality? That will be inked. Bad stuff that he caused stays caused."
I groaned.
"And I can't just say this is my imagination in overdrive."
"Oh, you'd know if that happened again, you remember the last two times well enough," Athena noted.
"It could be real. But I'll never be able to know, will I?"
They shared a look.
"Probably not," Uncle said.
"Dang."
For once, I didn't seem to have been sleepwalking, but I was bolt upright and staring at the door. It also wasn't that far from the alarm clock going off, anyway.
I'm not sure if that was a good thing given what I'd dreamt of. Or that we were about to commence the search for the Defiant in less than three hours when we crossed into Kundu.
Enterprise was to wait at the border, the civilians there, while the warships searched. The as-yet unnamed Warbler was left with Minuette, so Cadence could keep an eye on them. I think she left it there specifically since the Hoofmaiden had seemed shaken when I last saw her.
"I just feel like something terrible is going to... has been happening. Like, I don't know how to explain it... like the world is hurt and only I can feel it," she told me, taking a look at her fob watch for a moment.
I noticed she was tapping her hoof on the table next to her, not really seeming to notice it but, it reminded me of the heartbeat she'd described from her dreams, I think it was the same rhythm.
"I'm scared..."
I wanted to know more, but other than offering what comfort I could. I couldn't push the issue without letting her know more than she needed. But I did make sure Sunset and Twinkleshine knew where she was so they could be there for her.
Cadence had insisted on being present on the Invincible, before you ask.
"The area we're able to search is wide, but thanks to Mother Deer we've got a location narrowed to less than fifty kilometers square. However, we're fairly sure they're going to be watching us somehow, so we're going to search near that location and work towards it. If all goes well, we'll be scanning the right area after lunch," Hornblower explained the plan.
"And if it goes wrong?" I had to ask.
"Twenty years from now, somepony might be searching for OUR graves," Bond noted.
"Wait. Maybe I can try have some songbirds help out..." Cadence offered.
"When we reach the right area, Princess. I don't imagine they'll know you can do that trick yet," Shepard agreed.
And so, we set off.
Three ships, dozens of Pegasi, light airships with unicorns scanning. It spoke volumes of how much ground we had to cover that Defiant's location could have taken weeks to find even if we had double our resources. Without narrowing the area down, we'd have wasted the day.
I feared that the area narrowed down however meant that our location was also narrowed down.
As it turned out, it took less than twenty minutes after we started searching the right area. The local songbirds did help out a bit, but it was an Air Naval Cavalry pegasus that made the find.
"Invincible, this is Search Alpha-Six. I have a possible magic signal here, and looks like some wreckage..."
It sat half-buried by the forest, lying at an angle almost on her side. The closest to a clearing we could get was a rocky outcrop half a mile away, dropping us off to near the ship (landing directly on it was a bad idea at the moment, until we checked it for safety). Cadence insisted, once more, that she come.
"What we find inside might not be pleasant, Princess," Bond warned, though I imagine he was also reminding himself.
"I know, but they were serving Equestria when this happened. I owe it to them to be here."
"And you will be, on this ship until we've cleared it," Shepard cut in.
Getting close, we saw a hole had been torn in the lower deck, where the hangars would be on modern ships (Defiant had originally been built before Light Airships really became popular. A refit converted a small cargo bay to carry some.)
"...Lower cargo bay. The upper bay was converted for light airships," Hornblower noted.
"Alright, scan it for stability, see if we can land pegasi on the upper deck."
Some Air Navy unicorns began the task, but one soon frowned.
"Lieutenant Commander Hornblower, it seems the upper decks are still sealed by the anti-boarding wards."
"What?! After twenty years? Impossible. It should be impossible to even activate them, the wards we use to block the upper decks now can't be active longer than a month!"
I had a sudden horrible thought. I scanned it myself, and my worry was confirmed.
"It's not to hold anyone out, it's holding something in!"
I cast my own spell just in time, surrounding the areas where the shields lay and other major exits, making it all airtight, just as a pink gas began to flow out of the open wound on the side, I presume in reaction to the scanning spells.
"...Poison gas. Someone's been here before us."
Thank Celestia the ship was close enough for me to put a shield up...
"We should go," I said.
"Shining, we need to search the ship somehow! We can't just walk away now..." Cadence began.
"Princess, it's a trap. We need to go, now."
"No! If we're quick we can at least look through the ship. Twenty minutes, that's all. Skies are clear, any threats will be on the radio and magic scans long before they can reach us, and we can start running if there's a threat!" Bond said.
"...Lieutenant Commander, I know this is hard, but we can't search, this is..."
"Shining! We owe Lieutenant-Commander Bond and all the others who lost somepony on this ship answers. We owe the ponies that are probably still on the ship answers! If not to them, then to their families," Cadence almost snapped.
"This is a trap! And you want to walk into it?!" I shouted back.
She stared me in the eyes.
"...We can get away before anything goes wrong. The songbirds will warn me, the ships can use their radio ranging, Ranger can go high and scan for miles."
"Fine. But it'll be on record that I did not agree with taking this risk."
"We'd need to survive for you to do that. You're more confident than you think, Sparkle," Bond sniped.
"And before any team that goes in, we scan that gas first, and I shield them as they go. Even those hazard suits can be torn or this gas might be corrosive."
"Sensible precaution..." Cadence said calmly.
"...Look, I didn't want to argue. But surely you both see the obvious problem?"
"And we had an obvious solution, Shining," Cadence began, but Hornblower raised a hoof.
"Look, Captain, Princess... The debate is over, and the more time we spend talking the less time we have to search, or indeed, retreat."
I was outvoted, it seemed. Even Shepard decided that the risks were mitigated.
The gas, however, did not bring good news when scanned. A Science Officer gave us the word.
"It seems the pink smoke is just meant to impede vision. The actual gas is colorless, but not odorless. It seems it may be containing Dragon's Bane, among other things. It's safe for the suits, but..."
"...But Dragon's Bane is meant to be extinct. Seems somedeer grew more," Bond sighed.
Of course I was the only pony present who knew enough about what was really going on to know this was a bad sign and Makarov must still be getting stronger. Restoring Dragon's Bane wasn't just defying history, it was defying Queen Tiamat, a Goddess, who'd had it eradicated from existence.
"If we can, recovering a canister of the gas and finding out how it is deployed could be useful to prove we were here," Hornblower mused.
"We're not going out of our way. Twenty minutes," I said, pulling my suit on.
Though I will admit, having the proof needed to cause Makarov to have a tantrum by revealing his illegal chemical weapons to the world was very tempting.
These ones were designed to go on over barding in emergencies, but they made us all look like giant lemons on legs...
We began searching, our entry hole was near Engineering, and the first sign of the crew was not pleasant.
"...The horn. It's been removed," The Science Officer noted as we found a skeletal corpse.
"There's no form of ID on these bodies either," Bond sighed.
"Yeah. All we'll ever tell is the ranks if their uniforms are still in decent enough shape."
We kept searching. It became evident looking at the engine rooms that someone had targeted this area to bring the ship down, and from the side hidden away from our sight mostly. Damage towards the front indicated a hard impact. It was likely the balloon had been shot away or simply never deployed because it would be shot. From above, it certainly looked like the line of trees behind were younger and lower down, the ship having gouged a trench as it crashed. It seemed likely many of the crew and passengers would have died on impact.
The gun deck was a mess. The impact had thrown the artillery all over the place and from the look of it, a few barrels of power had went off. Many of the skeletons there had suffered serious damage pre-mortem... smashed by literal loose cannons.
Somehow the magazine hadn't gone up, seemingly because a few unicorns had gone in there to try and use magic to stop it. Had the magazine exploded we'd have much less of a ship to search... but it hadn't been carrying a full load for a fight. It had been a diplomatic ship.
In a ready room on the gun deck, a stopped clock we found indicated the attack had come at night. Burn marks from what seemed to be grenades also indicated the Hooviets had entered while there had been survivors. Sure enough, Bond reported evidence of bullet wounds on some bodies we found as we made our way to the cabin deck.
The cabins revealed more de-horned bodies, and the belongings of civilians had been scattered - by impact or searches. In one room we found a... Smartypants doll. We never found a foal skeleton anywhere near it. Somehow, that made it more disturbing...
Even worse, we found that someone had patched a hole back up, that seemed to have been cut into the roof of a cabin with magic or very focused explosives. We'd found a few bodies with empty crossbows near the armory, and stains without matching bodies down their line of fire. The Deer hadn't had it ALL their own way, at least.
"Definitely getting a picture of what happened. Hit by rocket torpedoes or kamikaze flyers up high, balloons shot out when the engines were out... stress damage all around the ship from impact. They boarded, killed anyone else left..." Bond muttered.
"Certainly seems that way, Commander," The Science Officer agreed.
Eventually, we reached the bridge. Disturbingly we'd actually followed a trail of blood smeared on the deck from the cabins towards it...
There were various bodies scattered around. But by the Captain's chair, there were two skeletal figures embracing. One had a Captain's uniform. The other seemed to have been wearing a dress. The mare was lying over the stallion's form.
"...Manes? Are you okay?" Hornblower put a hoof on his colleague's back.
"...Yes. I'm fine. I got my answer," He said... back to acting as cold as he could ever be, then walking away.
The Science Officer was quiet as he spoke to us.
"There seem to be bullet wounds in her chest, fatal, but not right away. My guess is, she either crawled over from elsewhere on the bridge, maybe somewhere else on the ship..."
I recalled the trail of blood. We'd found it starting near the captain's cabin.
"There's not much else to see here. Maybe we can try find the canisters releasing this gas," Bond spoke up, startling us into action.
We did find it. There was a folder beside the canisters, six in total, each marked with something in Roedinian. Hornblower and I inspected them, as Bond checked the folder.
I looked closer.
"There's no way these things are twenty years old, there's barely even a layer of dust on them. I don't like this one bit."
"Smert' Drakonov. Death to Dragons," Somepony translated the writing on the canisters aloud.
"And everything else too, it seems," Hornblower added.
The folders did not have nice pictures. They showed the gory details. Literally. It seemed the gas was a blister agent, causing huge damage to exposed skin. Regular gas masks would be no good, making this dangerous for use around your own troops.
"...Seems there might be more like this. This is talking about 'Novichok' weapons - Newcomers. The Hooviets wanted to make new weapons,especially anti-Dragon ones. We knew they'd tried Chlorine and Sulfur Mustard, they're listed here as Novi-One and Novi-Three. Looks like they made at least four other gas weapons," Bond noted.
"What was Two?"
"I might be getting the chemical name wrong here but the formula looks like it would be called dichloroformaldoxime. They refer to it as CX for some reason. They found it would be ineffective against dragons... but it's basically lethal itching gas, it seems.
"Four is something they call VX, the V means Victory. Then there's this SD gas... but both of them are not good for battlefield use because they affect exposed skin, it notes. Six... Novi-Six is apparently a black smoke derived from Novi-Five. It doesn't affect exposed skin but it corrodes dragon scales and chokes the respiratory systems of almost everything. As long as you have a gas mask you can use it safely."
I looked around, at the ship we were in, the skeletal remains, and the son two of the dead left behind. The Defiant went down twenty years back. The Hooviets were supposed to have collapsed twenty-five years ago.
I looked down at the folders. There was a reason this gas, the weapons described in that folder were feared and hated. Those kinds of weapons were illegal by international law. Flamethrowers, Medusa rockets? Those were considered controversial due to the suffering they caused. These kind of weapons? They were outright banned, often the moment what they could do was discovered. Twenty-five years ago, the Hooviets should have collapsed, stopping their weapons development long before they created these.
"These things never should have existed," I muttered. Everyone around me looked suitably horrified.
I wasn't exaggerating. They never should have existed. The Defiant never should have been downed. Bond's parents never should have died. Legends say that Pandora's Box held all the evils of the world. I don't know about that, but the devil that the Hooviets had let out of it was more than enough...
"...There are maps here. It looks like there are sites marked around the world for Novi-Five and Novi-Six... most of the Six ones are easy to reach, it says they're to be... ground deployed? Five is air and..."
Bond flipped over to a separate map.
"...They've marked Ponyville as a Novi-Six target."
"What?!"
I took a look, and my fears were confirmed. On the next page, Draco Island was marked to be blanketed with Novi-Five from the air.
"Makarov's telling us he plans to gas every dragon on the planet. Including Spike."
And since the gas affected non-dragons....
"Or, he already has," Hornblower then voiced the thought I tried to ignore.
"We're getting out of here. Commander, this is Bond, we need you to contact Canterlot immediately, we've found...."
"Bond - We've got incoming. They only just appeared on all our scans, they're all aroun-"
"Indeed, we are all around. Hello, everypony. It's me, of course! "
Makarov. He'd trapped us better than we'd thought. How had he snuck past Cadence? Was he powerful enough for that already? How had he become that powerful? But the question was, why? Why lure us here? Why set up all this for us to find? Did he hate me that much?
"I hope you enjoyed the light reading, Commander Bond, Captain Sparkle. Don't worry, I haven't done it... yet. But I will eventually. In ten minutes I will move in accept your surrenders. But I am a fair General-Admiral and am willing to make a deal. My terms are: Shining Armor Sparkle and his squad, handed over. In return? I let you all live. After all, when I complete my plans, I will be inviting many of you to the wedding!"
"What wedding?" Bond asked.
"Why, the wedding of the Supreme Emperor of the Hooviet World Dominion to the last surviving Alicorn. Of course, you could fight, but you would lose and many of you would die. Six ponies is not a great loss, not when so many shall soon die. Losing six is no loss. But soon, losing six hundred will be a significant portion of your species..."
I was about to try and reply, but somepony got there first.
"I'll NEVER marry you, Makarov! Not even if you kill everything else on the planet! And I am not handing over my friends to you! Not one of them! We're going to fight you..."
"Hmm? Well, I'll let you think, or let the noble Captain think. Assuming either of you are capable of thinking. But if you wish to fight, well... I can always just stick with a harem or something. And kill you all. It'd be so boring that way though."
No... I couldn't let this happen.
"Makarov. This is Shining Armor Sparkle. If I give myself to you... will you leave my friends out of it?"
"Wha... Shining, no! Don't do thi-"
Makarov cut her off.
"All or nothing, Sparkle. I want you to suffer. I need your squad too. Each of them insult me by existing. The sniper-unicorn who only kills if he must - pathetic! The little thundercloud? Thinks he's so tough. Your coward bomb-pony? An inbred hick from a racist family of dirt-munchers! And those two little sickening lovebirds? A healer-whore and a translator who can't tell a joke to save himself!"
That's why he lured us here.This was all a trap to make us all suffer.
"How about this for a joke: General-Admiral Solomon Makarov! HA HA HA HA! It's funny because it's so pathetic!"
"Gag! You're not helping!"
"Everypony just shut up! Makarov? You want me. I'll give up, just..."
"Get it through your thick horned skull. All. Or. Nothing. I get all, or you become nothing."
"But..."
"Sir? If... If it helps, Sir - Shining - We're with ya. Six is better than all of us," Ellis said.
"It... It doesn't..." I muttered.
"You have eight minutes left now. Tell me your choice, or your shipmates and Princess will soon have no escape. And if I am careful I may just have to take her by force...Oh, and Captain, I'm prepared for your little shields this time, I have bastic-tipped projectiles and plenty of them this round."
...He'd won. He'd bucking won.
But maybe if I was lucky, this could be it. I could maybe attract the wolf. Let him take me right up face to face with him. Maybe then, I'd end him, and me.
It was all I had left.
"If my squad agrees, I... accept your terms," I said.
"NO! SHINING, DON'T! EVERYPONY DON'T DO THIS! I ORDER YOU-"
"Terms accepted. There will be a corridor to exit for the three ships to the north-west. They may proceed to Tripleneigh. We won't invade there for at least a day. You six will wait atop the Defiant. I shall arrive personally when your ships are clear. You have my word - I am not an unfair leader."
Cadence had kept screaming but I think Commander Shepard had to invoke her rights as Ship Captain to be the supreme authority on-board, and order the Princess be taken off the radios. I half-expected some sort of Alicorn god-event, but hoped she didn't try it. Makarov was possibly strong enough to kill her now - And I didn't want to risk her.
I knew what I had to do. And so did my squad... my friends.
Gag and Garnet sat together. The rest of us just waited.
"Kinda weird, ain't it. Six in a command squad. Six ponies saved the world a few months back..." Ellis noted.
"Yeah. Guess it is." Audience agreed.
"If we'd been the Elements, whad'ya reckon we'd all 'a been?"
"Is this really all you can think of, Ellis?" Thunderchild asked, but not harshly.
"Don't seem right to talk about Heath right now. Half them stories, ah... kinda embellished them. Hay, you should hear the ones she says about me."
"I'm afraid I don't think that we'd be able to find all six elements in this squad, guys. We've got five for Loyalty already," I said.
"Six, Sir."
We were silent for a few moments again, and all we could do was wait.
Eventually, Makarov arrived. His helicopters swooped in, and he simply teleported in front of us as Spetsnaz roped down to point guns. Somewhere, absurdly overheroic music was playing.
I think Makarov made it a point to show off his Cutie Mark. I noticed it'd gotten a lot more complex since I'd last saw it.
"Well, well, well. Misfit Actual. A thorn in my side for too long, and now, I can lance you!"
"You remove a thorn, you lance a boi-AAH."
He'd ran over and backhoofed Garnet in a flash. Ellis and Thunderchild held Gag back.
"I see you are all as insolent as your Captain and Sergeant. 'Equestrian wit,' my arse! You are nothing but impudent little foalish fools. From your arrogant Captain who should long since have been crushed under my hooves.To your Sergeant, Thunderchild, who should have died facing the tripods - Your very name was your destiny!"
"Uh, what? My dad's name is Thunderstorm, my mother was Rolling Thunder, and I was born during a thunderstorm. What the hay are you on about?"
Makarov was annoyed.
"Impudent dog!" He bounced up and down.
"Oh, not going to hit me as well?"
"Sarge, don't," Garnet tried, but failed. Makarov spun and kicked him in the face.
"Yes. And that was for the insult, this is for Columbia," Makarov gave him a kick in the ribs, then hammered him in the back, driving him to the ground. His horns crackled with electricity.
And Thunderchild spent about five minutes screaming as he was shocked, all the while we were held at gunpoint until the psycho finally stopped.
"I believe that was enough for now. Well, maybe one MORE," he stated, kicking Thunderchild in the groin as he struggled to get up, leaving him curled up in a ball in agony.
"I still need you alive, for the time being," He finally turned his attention back to us.
"Any other protests and I beat you all. Any funny shield business by you, Sparkle, I beat them all. Or maybe I can be a little more imaginative," he stated, looking at the others.
It wasn't a smug look like when he was threatening me back in Columbia, it was a hungry look. I never thought I'd wish to see that smug smirk back on his face.
"And any attacks, I beat you all. Where was I? Ah, yes, the Apple. An inbred little hick from a filthy little hovel of a town, from a racist and homophobic clan! It is a shame to make a widow of one of your cousins this early, but this is war!"
He sized Ellis up, smirking.
"No response?"
Nothing.
"No anger?"
Silence.
"Will you say something or are you just a complete retard?!"
"Eeenope."
"Good, you can talk!"I
Makarov then punched him.
"Ya hit like a kitten."
Makarov kicked him harder.
"And Little Miss Medical Encyclopedia. Tell me, what bones are broken in your snout?"
"None."
"Correct, because you have broken ribs."
Once more he kicked. Gag was furious.
"And now the translator. The rookie. They never laughed at your jokes, yet you keep making them. Just the squad joke already. Always the one suffering the painful mishaps, the bad luck... And now you finally find somepony that actually likes you and you're powerless to help her. Does that make you angry?"
"Yes."
"You maybe wish to fight me?"
"...You'd win."
"Pha. Smarter than you look. But, you are to blame of course. You taunted me earlier. Extend your wing, please."
Gag did nothing.
"Extend it or I break her jaw."
He extended it, folding all but a central feather slightly inwards. Pegasi call it 'giving the feather'.
Makarov understood, though, and chortled.
"That's the spirit!"
He then yanked that gargantuan gold gun from his barding. It seemed to have become even more gaudy since last time, and I noticed that the grip portion seemed built for a Minotaur. Heck, it'd look big even if a Minotaur held it!
"Now, this is a very special weapon; The Desert Deer. It is the most powerful type of pistol in the world, firing thirteen millimetre bullets, and I have the ONLY one! Note the detailing, the Hooviet symbols in pure platinum, the grips made of ivory, the gold plating! It is a work of ART!"
He held the work of at point blank at the base of Gag's wing, and fired.
"AAGH!"
"RUNNING!"
"It's funny because it's so pathetic. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Let that teach you not to make fun of me, or make prank calls to my mercenaries. You can treat him if you like, band-aid wench, but you'll find my Desert Deer Pistol has all but blown the wing off. Nothing more than tendons holding it on."
He looked now at me again. Glaring back just seemed to amuse him and anger me more.
"So, Captain. Surely you were expecting a lupine intrusion at this point?"
"...What?"
He smirked.
"Oh, it was planned out. A nice plan too, but unfortunately, I'm taking you to my flagship directly after this..." he said, emphasizing the last part as if he wanted everypony in the surrounding area to know it.
"And that little birdy telling Cadence everything..."
He pulled the gun again, firing off at a distant tree.
"Well, it kept you-know-who at bay. Should have told her not to watch."
I just lunged at him, screaming incoherently. There was a rain of hooves and rifle-butts, and blackness. When I came to a moment later, I saw everypony else had suffered for my leap, getting a beating of their own - or maybe they'd tried to join in.
"Sparkle, one more time, I will let you all live in agony as long as I can, beating you for insolence as your mothers' should have. Now, are you all going to cease your insults and slanders, or must I beat you all again? Do you all surrender?"
I looked at my squad, all floored and groaning. Gag's wound was still bleeding heavily, and everypony else had a list of small cuts and bruises.
"We... surrender..." I wheezed.
"Excellent. Now, load the five spares into the helicopter, and give Sparkle another beating! But keep him alive!"
More hooves and rifle-butts, then...
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neat
I have that weird feeling that's composed of "Yay, a great new chapter I just read to cap off a reread of Seasons 5 and 6!" plus "... Wait. Now I have to wait for the next chapter..."
... Eh, nothing a few other season rereads can't stall for. This series is great for rereads because you pick new things up every time.
As for the chapter itself? Terrifyingly great as usual! It's great to see the story really picking up like this.
Silly Makarov, the HMS Thunder Child wasn't a pegasus. Also it's spelled differently.
3376465
That's likely part of the joke.
3381219
:-) Thanks!
Makarov you bastard....
Shiny needs to channel his inner Ragna.
...is it wrong I hear this playing in my head every time Makarov shows up?
It's just so twisted it work,to me anyway.
Well, Alex, I am proud to say that I am finally caught up with the pov series after originally seeing them on deviant art. I must say the shining armor arc has been one of the most compelling stories of this epic saga, and I eagerly await the next chapter.
Additionally, it is commendable that you have kept with the series so long, and I thank you for it.
3391790
It hasn't been easy. Believe me. It feels like I'm NEVER EVER GOING TO GET TO THE END NO MATTER WHAT!
And I know LZ and Kendell2 are happy you're enjoying the series. I hope you enjoyed 7 Dreams/Nightmares side saga.
But you REALLY need to check the MASSIVE AMOUNT of recursive fics the story has. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries
3387081
The joke is that I only saw Gurren Lagann last week. And while there were some things that rubbed me the wrong way, which I will NOT get into here, the series was enjoyable. And I'll take what you've said as a compliment.
And what's wrong with Christian tones?
Ironically I think my writing was (while not intentionally, COULD BE READ AS) was more towards how religion and the concept of divinity are mistreated and misunderstood in GENERAL. Not any one particular faith. Mostly the "those people worship an invisible old man in the sky who has magic power" idea that a lot of people seem to think religion is about. Or divinity is some magical alien king who must be overthrown in order for the people to have true freedom.
In fact, the basic idea behind D____'s character, is that he thought he was the HEROES in a Shin Megami Tensei setting, opposed to a children's high fantasy setting. D____ was wrong genre savvy. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WrongGenreSavvy And a demonstration of how destructive a character with that mentally and outlook would BE in a setting where the divinities were intricate and functional and necessary parts of creation who were hands on lessons on what it meant to be mortal and felt EMPATHY for their charges, opposed to super-powered imaginary friends that were trying to turn humanity into barbaric savages or machine like elitist committing genocides every five minutes for arbitrary reason.
And quantifying the pantheon was the biggest mistake I ever made in this series.
3391904
Huh. Honestly, if you replied to me at all, I was expecting it to be "stop spamming me with corrections! >:[".
Yeah, TTGL is awesome. I think it managed the comedown reasonably well ("we can't just use these ridiculous powers whenever we want, it'll significantly hasten the heat death of the universe"), but knowing it was made by Gainax, I was already expecting a downer/mindfuck/ambiguous ending, which probably helped.
What's wrong with Christian tones, is that Christianity is privileged in most western countries (ie. where the main readership for English-language stories is), so abusing the reader with it (or more blatantly, Christianity-inspired selfrighteous moralizing) is more socially acceptable. Most Christian fanfic writers don't do this, but some do. Even ones that I'd otherwise call talented writers. Some keep it out of their writing and spam it in their profile and comments instead.
Anyway this story does not fall prey to those issues. The pantheistic setup with sufficiently 'knowable' gods mainly only has in-story problems (enumerability, making an existence/concept tiled across the universe somehow relatable as a person, impossibility of a symmetrical pantheon given your particular rules)
Ironically I think my writing was (while not intentionally, COULD BE READ AS) more towards how religion and the concept of divinity are mistreated and misunderstood in GENERAL.
I guess I'll take your word for that.
D______ thinking he's an SMT protagonist makes a lot of sense. Of course when you put it that way, it's hard to disagree with him personally. Just that, while either superceding or neutralizing all superior powers is imperative, it probably needs to be done as a whole species, not based on something as unsteady and illusionary as individual ambitions.
Hope my comment makes sense, it's late night and my brain is not working gooder ;)
3392206
Thanks for the clarification :)
If you excuse me, I need to go play Ace Combat again and shoot Markov when he ejects, WITH EW1!
3393473
Makarov. Wrong "Russian terrorist who takes over and starts a war" videogame.
I really do question why you bother posting a written story on an art sight.
3401819
There are tons of written material on said website, and it has a fanfiction category.
Makarov deserves to be the victim of Cupcakes! Pinkie. He deserves to die a long and excruciatingly painful death and be erased by the wolf so that he won't even have ever existed.
4162427
Pinkie Pie, "That would feel like a waste of good cupcakes."
3401819
Because it has readers there.
Damn........that has got to be one of the lowest point for Shining and his squad.........well, it's official. The plot has thickened by ten times the amount.
Oh, so it was non fiction then. HEYO
*ducks lasers*
thank you, you've been a great audience!
So there had to be physical interference somewhere because it'd be physically impossible in a properly structured deck and kind of implausible for her to have mixed them up like that. Plus whatever tarot cards come up are entirely based on your own shuffling, which is why tarot cards are a flawed idea in the first place. The only deciding factor in what card shows up is, quite physically, you.
Hey, Solly. No one called, they said they care.