Day Three, Part Three: Illudere
Illudere doesn't waste time targeting me after finishing her threat. Instinct drives me to quickly sidestep, and a pillar of darkness that roars through the space where I'd been a moment before tells me that I was right to do so. More of them, a series of seven, motivates me to keep running.
I hate this situation. No boots means no dash or double jump, I'm having trouble getting into an analytical mood after my outburst, and I'm trapped in a world of her creation. This is the worst possible scenario for me.
She's still chortling. "Some advice: don't think twice!" she calls, gathering magic into her horn. A second later, we've got two dozen fist-sized fireballs flying at me. They aren't just illusions, either: being in their proximity is giving me high heat warnings. How am I supposed to get through these without damage?
...Well thank you, faltering memories, for giving me an answer. I jump and spin, lashing my foot out. The Variable Weapons System responds, directing a crescent wave of ice through the fireballs. What few of them are left I can easily evade.
When I received it from Statuette, the Ice Slasher's description did tell me that it was effective against fire. If you're incredulous, you don't need to be: I already am.
Illudere doesn't like it much. She was probably counting on not having to move the entire battle and just whittle away at me at her leisure, but she's forced to duck to keep what's left of my attack--heated as it now was--from hitting her in the face. With a fierce cry she leaps at me a bit awkwardly, electricity crackling around one hoof. That's not going to effect me much, so I raise a hand to block---
---There's that thrumming sound again---!
Hammer blow, upper back, right between the shoulders, something other than electricity, WHAT? She was right in front of me! Not important, don't get off balance, don't get off balance---!
And of course she'd deliberately tap the back of my knee just to make me fall, the little miscreant. Wasn't even a full hit, just a nudge. I plant the Javelin into the ground to keep myself from dropping entirely, and I'm back on my feet in time to jump away from her before she can try again.
Illudere backs off a few steps. "Teleportation's for chumps," she coos in response to my brief protest. "In my world of pure imagination, you're nothing but chocolate!"
Would the world thank me for putting her down after a comment like that? Probably, but it affirms what's already happening. Between her spellcraft and however her suit's amplifying her, she has full control over the setting and how she interacts with it. She wants me to second-guess everything she does! "Then what's stopping you from willing Zero into existence and finishing this now?"
Illudere's smile actually widens. "There's an idea," she giggles, "but it's better to wait. It's not a tragedy if the protagonist doesn't suffer!" She pauses for a second after saying this, grimacing as if listening to something. Is that scraggly mane of hers hiding a radio? "Oh, come off it! I'm having fun here!"
Who's she talking to? ... Well, no matter who it is, I'd be a fool if I passed this up. I charge the Javelin with power, then let it rip. The wave crashes down on Illudere, shrouding her from nose to tail in ice.
Her dim view of reality might have granted her new heights of power, but unlike my previous foes, she's not in good physical condition. That awkward strike she pulled proved that to me. I don't think I can blame that on a magical over-reliance. She hasn't been taking care of herself on account of her mental health, so...
Though the arena hasn't disappeared yet, meaning her suit must still be active, leading to---
"Tsk-tsk. Attacking someone while they're on the phone," Illudere's voice rebukes me to my left, her frozen manifestation falling to pieces. How does she even know what a phone is---no, never mind. "You'll never get a reputation as an undying hero with that attitude."
"Being a Guardian comes first before heroics," I state. C'mon girl, keep it together. "Now are you going to fight me, or do you just love hearing yourself talk, charlatan?" Oof, poured a bit more vitriol into that than I would've liked.
"Charlatan?" Her eye twitches. "Charlatan?" So does her smile. "Charlatan, you say?" I don't think she enjoyed hearing that! "Infidel!" she finally screams, rearing up as the air pulses again. "My storytelling is the real deal! I won't hear a crocodile like you saying anything else!"
A lightning bolt similar to the one I was struck with my first day here drops from the sky. It's not as fast as normal lightning would be, but given the battle thus far I still don't want to be hit by it. Who knows what kind of attributes she's given it? I'm able to jump away in time, and despite the sheer force from the bolt striking the ground throwing me further, I'm able to roll back to my feet without issue.
Annoyed by the miss, Illudere reverts back to the darkness pillars she'd kicked off the fight with. This time they're coming a bit faster, move move move move run run run run---
"¡Ándale, ándale! ¡Arriba, arriba, yah-ha, yah-ha hahaha!"
"Grr!..." I can do without that annoying cat-calling, no no too close---!
...I think it was that shouting that threw me off. One of the pillars catches me and launches me end over end through the air. No time to re-orient myself, just have to trust the Javelin's homing capabilities and hope for the best!
The Javelin's spearhead detaches and flies at Illudere. I can't tell if she can see it coming or not with how I'm spinning---
"AAH!"
And that cry tells me that no, she didn't. Even more telling: ... my surroundings just distorted. They shook like a curtain placed over an air vent going at full blast when she made that noise. X alive, that's disorienting.
I grunt as I crash-land, landing heavily on my left arm. I'm receiving warnings of decreased motor control in that area, but it's far from enough to keep me from fighting. I force myself to my feet as quickly as I can and ready myself for Illudere's next attack.
...Wait a moment.
Illudere's horn was shining since she got here. Her magic is required to keep the illusions intact. They only distorted when she cried out, meaning...
...My attack managed to strike her horn!
I get a good look at her as she seethes and growls, not having pressed the advantage. It was likely just a glancing blow, since her horn's still intact. But if I can destroy the appendage entirely...
There's no telling what will happen. This could backfire on me, spell my doom along with those that I'm positive are close by. Even if the fight ends in my favor, I might lose my goodwill with the locals for resorting to this.
But the memories of everything she did to me are still very fresh in my mind. My apprehension is gone like an errant breeze. I want her out of my life, and out now.
Illudere's gotten her act together. In contrast to earlier, she's deadly calm. "Understood, Iggy," she mutters to whoever's on her radio, her voice for once not sounding cracked. "She'll be dead inside three minutes."
I've seen what happens what she has the advantage, and I'm not going to give her time to whip up anything new. My throwing arm's faster than the rest of me right now, so I take one step forward and hurl the Javelin at her with all of my strength. My aim is straight and true.
...
A large hand reaches down and swats the Javelin away. I was a split second too late.
...Wait. A large hand? Uh-oh.
Illudere managed to materialize reinforcements with her magic in time to intercept my attack, following through on that pseudo-suggestion I made to summon Zero to kill me. But the being she summoned is not Zero, not by a long shot. "You told me to kill you with the final letter," she says, voice trembling but staying calm, "but since you insulted and hurt me, I think a different part of the alphabet suits you better."
The final letter? ...Oh, of course. Omega's the final letter of an ancient alphabet. So whoever she created must be named after a different letter of that same set. But how in blazes...?
He's a big fellow. Taller than I am, taller even than Bossa Nova, large and in charge. He's wearing armor with an unknown emblem across it, further adorned by a magnificent cape. No cranial protection and no hair, so yes: very bald. There's scars over his pupil-less, iris-less eyes... no telling what caused them. His other hand's holding what looks like an older model beam saber, left unlit for now.
This looks entirely too detailed to have been slapped together at the spur of the moment. Illudere had to have based this on something or someone, but what or who?
The constructs eyes me, appraises me... and laughs. It's a deep, grating and menacing sound that fits someone of the being's size. "Aquatic spawn of X," it proclaims, "is that the best you can do?"
I don't answer the apparition with words, only a kick. The Ice Slasher strikes it, making it flinch, and I immediately charge for where the Javelin landed. If I can utilize the Gatling Harpoon, I should be able to fire off enough projectiles that one of them will damage Illudere's horn beyond healing---
...
...
...
Leviathan's unfamiliarity with the construct could be forgiven. Its basis had long since ceased to exist, and the survivors of those constant attacks were more than eager to forget about him once more pressing needs and threats materialized. By the time of the Guardians' construction, much knowledge of the Maverick Wars and the one who spearheaded them had been lost, though the chaos of the Elf Wars was just as much to blame.
So she had no way of knowing that despite his size, the only Reploid who had more difficulty staying dead than Zero was much faster than she was in her current condition. The faux-Sigma's saber found its mark, carving into Leviathan's right shoulder and swiping across her back towards her left before finishing its arc. Taken off guard by the sudden searing pain, Leviathan stumbled and fell with a scream.
...
...
...
Illudere is cheering when I come to. I hate her for it.
I've been injured worse than this, but that was still an attack I couldn't afford to take, and---
There's pressure around my neck, and I'm losing all purchase with the ground. I'm being hoisted into the air by this giant of a warrior. I reach up, fighting past my pain to try and pry its hand loose, to find some means of continuing the fight, but its grip is too strong. Much too strong!
...I have to know. "Who a-are you?" I manage to gasp.
The apparition answers me with a smirk. "Ask your father in a few minutes, glacial Guardian," he suggests, raising his saber to stab me dead-center---
"Glacial"---! There's my out!
With both hands in contact, I activate my dry ice generators. The construct's arm up to the elbow is immediately encased in the coldest temperatures I can summon in any form. The entity hisses out of surprise and--to a lesser degree--pain, letting go of me in favor of shattering the substance. This lets me finish what I started and get within reach of the Javelin, scooping it back into my hands with some effort.
...And now that I have a split second to think: I'm fighting an old enemy of X?! "Illudere!" I bark at the observing unicorn, who's taken no real action since the warrior was spawned. I almost wonder why. "You know more about my world than you have any right to know! When were you there? How?!"
"I was there? Was not there," she corrects me, waggling a hoof mockingly. "But you'd be amazed at what you see when you reject one reality and substitute another. I lost my marbles years ago, and I don't regret not finding them. It means ponies slip and fall more easily!"
She knows so much because she's insane? That... makes no... "You. Complete and utter. Lunatic," I utter in a voice devoid of all emotion. Someone just pick up Equestria and swat Dr. Weil in the face with the entire country, because I am completely done with this. DONE, in all capitals and bolded, do you hear me?
"More than you know, and more than you'll ever know," Illudere replies as the construct finishes removing the dry ice off his arm. "We're on a time crunch, Siggy. End her tragedy of a life appropriately!"
"Don't presume to give me orders, unicorn," he warns her. "Push your luck too far, and you're next."
"Being shish-kabobed sounds like a pleasant fate, as long as Leviathan is right there on the skewer next to me," Illudere replies without hesitation. "Live or die, I have no issues as long as she bites it first." Though I'm betting that she can dispel him before he can get within range, if she cares even the slightest about preserving her life.
The apparition laughs, amused. "That's a wish I don't mind entertaining." He re-ignites his saber and shifts into a combat stance briefly, then charges at me at full throttle. "Die, child of X!"
I'm as ready to counter him as I'll ever be, but I'm not seeing any way out of this. I realize that I probably shouldn't be thinking like this, since anything goes in these circumstances, but Illudere's being a complete and total cheat. She had the odds stacked against me from the beginning, that skill set of hers is beyond absurd, her suit's charging her ability to channel and control magic beyond what I think unicorns ought to be capable of, and she's so dead-set on killing me that she cut to the chase and created a solid illusion of someone that far out-matches me as I am now.
She isn't fair! Nothing she's done comes close to it! There's nothing fun about this at all!
I can see the construct's saber slicing out at me, and I can feel the Javelin turning to block his attack. But it's barely registering. My mind is elsewhere.
Honoré, my first human friend. Gray Ghost, my first equine friend. My CPU's created a mental image of them standing side by side. Honoré's shaking his head, as if telling me that I learned the truth too late. Gray's softly smiling, her eyes sad and one foreleg slowly waving me good-bye.
I'm not leaving this fight alive.
The apparition's strikes are fast, precise, and powerful. I can block and deflect them, but I'm losing ground and he's not giving me time to counter. I don't have more than a half minute left at most.
It was easy before. Going into battle without a care, and giving little thought to dying if it was against a warrior I liked and respected. I don't have that now. Adding to that are all those I've ever directly interacted with as individuals: they've joined Honoré and Gray in my mind, all of them downcast or distressed at my impending destruction. Even Five-of-a-Kind looks uncharacteristically worried.
A shock interrupts my introspective: the saber has just caught me across my hands, and the Javelin unwillingly drops from them.
No, no, no! Please, not here! Cursed creation, not here! I don't want to---
The apparition laughs, aims the saber just so, and swings---
A silvery streak cuts across my vision, and I see it skim over Illudere's horn. She recoils in shock, and the battleground violently shakes for a few moments. The illusionary warrior looks absolutely dumbfounded as he breaks apart, dissolving into a mist of atoms and disappearing without any magic to hold him together. His saber had been two inches away from bisecting me.
I'm hyperventilating at that close call, even as I direct my auto-repair system to try and relieve some of the pain in my hands. I'm ecstatic to still be alive, but...
What just happened? Who just saved me?
Illudere's furious at this change in events, as well she should be. "Everyone's an infidel!" she shrieks, whipping her head from side to side. "Who's getting in my way? Get out here!"
"Shot through the mind, and you're to blame..."
"...!" I can't constrain my gasp. She shouldn't be here. She should NOT be here! This is no place for her! She said she wouldn't fight!
But she is here anyway. I can't stop her. Somepony like her, I doubt I ever could.
Illudere's head slowly turns to face the source of the voice. She's not angry anymore, and that's unsettling. She's smiling, and that smile's curving into the face-splitting grin that I've started associating with her.
Said grin reaches its zenith when Drama Heart---no, Burning Salamandra, she's sporting her dress and contact lenses---slowly walks past the illusion's boundaries, becoming fully visible. There's no mirth or enjoyment in her eyes for once, only a blaze barely contained. Her horn glows, and a large knife---the silver streak that I saw a moment ago---hovers next to her. "...you give stage plays a bad name," she finishes.
I stoop down to pick up my weapon cautiously. Salamandra had dispelled Illudere's trump card, but the situation doesn't feel right to me. What's stopping her from just re-summoning him? She has more than enough power for it. And why hasn't she attacked my patron yet?
I give a start as I realize something important. If Drama had been awake the entire time... And for that matter, why did I not see her in the crowd earlier? She's hard to miss!
Drama Heart hadn't planned on arriving at the gathering so late, but a minor annoyance had cropped up earlier that she didn't want to set aside for later.
Her neighborhood's mailpony had stopped by not long before she was to leave. She'd taken a minute to sort through the messages she'd received. A large amount of it was for Leviathan, her popularity reaching new heights after recent events, but there were a few that weren't. One of them she opened immediately, and she took a little time to read an update from her baby sister and write one in return. The others she set aside, deciding to tackle whatever concerns the writers had later.
That would've been the end of it, except she happened to get a good look at the addresses on that remaining mail: they hadn't been intended for her at all. The Pyre's address was at 319 13th Street, but these were supposed to go to 913 13th Street instead, six blocks down. Huffing but deciding that this couldn't wait, she decided to get the mail to the correct recipient immediately. The tired old pony who lived at that location expressed his thanks for her prompt action, promising to notify the local post office at the first opportunity.
After arriving at Median Park via a taxi, she had to take a few more moments to assure somepony that the items she was carrying with her were not dangerous, only props meant to entertain. Once she had proven that they were safe (as long as they weren't misused, obviously), she was finally allowed to enter.
As Drama progressed further in, she felt increasingly uneasy. Unless there was something serious happening, there was no way the Park should be this quiet. Even on a calm day, there should have been plenty of background noise, but she was only hearing the odd bit of yelling and screaming. When she reached the area where the get-together was to be held, she understood why, and the truth scared her.
Everypony was asleep, with occasional snoring being heard. Only a few were awake: Leviathan, another alien warrior that out-massed them both combined, and Drama's ex-rival. Her well-practiced eyes recognized the illusionary curtain that had been dropped around a wide area, and she suspected it looked vastly different in there than out here. She further realized that the enemy warrior was an illusion given physical form confined behind the curtain, unable to leave its boundaries but still very dangerous.
This was beyond anything Drama could do. She could create illusions, yes, but nothing that posed an active threat to the real world. Her heartsongs didn't qualify, as the effects rarely lasted more than a few minutes, if at all. A small part of her was frightened at the power Illudere now harnessed, knowing that she was not cut out for this encounter.
The rest of her was infuriated at the sight of Sugarplum, somepony she viewed as a pathetic excuse for a showmare who didn't think things through, attacking her friend. She steeled herself despite her rapidly beating heart and moved forwards, gritting her teeth as she listened to the conversation taking place.
She took a quick look around to see if she could wake somepony up and have them back her up. It didn't take long for her to find Gray, and for a moment she considered her... then she noticed somepony else who was asleep nearer to the battle. Somepony who stood a much better chance at stopping Illudere than either of them did, provided his reputation was all it was cracked up to be.
As the unknown warrior charged Leviathan, Drama crept up to the pony she'd chosen and shook him a few times, hissing urgently in his ears. Once she was positive that the pony was starting to awaken, she squinted past Illudere's curtain at her target. She raised one of the props she was carrying, aimed... and let it fly with all the magical force she could muster.
Take the stage.
Illudere's pleased as punch. That probably won't last, judging from Sally's face. "Sal-a-man-dra!" she greets her, drawing out each syllable. "I haven't seen you in what, years? Have you lost weight? I think you've lost weight. Little pudge-girl ain't so pudgy no more."
"We both know you've always hated me," Salamandra tells her evenly. "Stop pretending that you dropped your grudge."
"Hate you? No, I could never hate you!" Illudere denies. "It's your arts and crafts that deserve to burn! And your storytelling! And your theater, preferably with you still inside it! ...Aw, who am I kidding? I want to add you to my cauldron of crazy!"
"I'm finding it difficult to believe you were once a decent pony," Sally answers. She's doing a fantastic job of holding back her anger. "After that incident, I learned you used to be the same as me: somepony who just wanted to entertain. And you did a good job of it, too. Then my approach to entertainment riled you up for reasons I never understood, and you decided to do what it took to be superior to me."
Illudere rolls her eyes. "So ever-loving dense. That's what I love about you. Do you have any idea how twisted the concept of a 'horror show' is? The plays of tradition are where it's at."
"You couldn't be satisfied with drawing modest crowds and making a living off your work," Sally continues, not letting herself get drawn into a debate. "No. You saw my approach get results similar to yours, and you decided 'that can't be right'. So you let yourself take our business rivalry too seriously. You began doing things you previously would not have done.
"Whenever you saw me draw larger crowds than you---which did not happen as often as you thought it did---you decided 'no, I'm doing this wrong'. You threw yourself into magical studies, trying to learn new illusionary styles, new ways of entertaining ponies that had more to do with your presentation than the quality of your stories. And then you made the absolutely boneheaded mistake of trying to not just learn a dangerous spell, but to do so without supervision!"
Illudere's not saying anything. She's discarding her affability piece by piece, I can tell. Salamandra's tearing her apart, spelling out everything that's wrong with her and deliberately making her angry. I'd consider it a master work if she wasn't, you know, still in grave danger. Seriously, Sally, you need to get out of there while you still can!
My mental pleas go unanswered. The beat goes on. "I acknowledged the rivalry, but I had the good sense... or at least enough of it... not to take it seriously. I didn't care about one-upping anypony. All I wanted was to make a living off of scaring ponies, and I enjoyed it. I was content with my lot in life. Not you. You couldn't leave well enough alone. You started looking down on me. You decided to do what it took to prove yourself my superior. In a way, I guess you did. That warrior I saw on my way in is something I could never create even if I wanted to.
"Only one problem: you threw yourself away. Because of all the errors in judgment you made, your mind's a half-damaged shell. You lost sight of your old life of entertainment in favor of a completely haphazard, chaotic course. If you hadn't let your dislike of me blossom into something worse, I would have conceded our rivalry to you when I moved to Manehattan, and none of this would be happening. But no. You've become a threat to this city, and you're trying to kill one of my friends at her weakest. Shut your eyes and say good-night, Illudere: one way or another, I'm closing the book on your fairy tale."
...Wow. Talk about an act for the ages.
There are one or two points where Illudere actually looks like she's actually listening: her ears stand up straight, her pupils look more like normal ovals than pinpricks, and her grin vanishes in favor of solemn acknowledgment. As soon as Sally finishes speaking, though, all of that's gone. The electric humming prevalent throughout the battle returns in force, and darkness itself roars in unison with Illudere's cry. "Enough! Enough of this, and enough of you!"
A knife of her own, like Salamandra's but sharper, forms next to her. "I am the superior performer, Drama Heart! You said so yourself! Means that I have no regrets while I filet you like a salmon!"
Sally levels her knife at Illudere. It sparkles a little: one of her little tricks at work. "Mine's still sharper."
"GRRHH---!"
She's pushed past the breaking point now. Illudere's laying into Salamandra with a flurry of knife slashes. All of them are easily telegraphed and deflected, giving further credence to my earlier thoughts that she's not a true fighter per se. Of course, it's not like Salamandra's much better: while she's keeping herself from getting hit, her defenses are clumsy and unstable. Again: civilian entertainer, with no desire to harm others.
I consider my options. I'm not being paid attention to. I could rejoin the fight right now, but that would end with Illudere turning her full power back on us both immediately. All of my attack choices that could disable her horn would put Sally in danger just from how close they are.
I hate to say it, but it looks like my best choice is to wait for an opportune moment to finish this. Illudere's so angry that she's forsaken her arsenal in favor of a direct attack, and I don't want to ruin that just yet.
Sally's on the attack now, lashing out with a variety of pokes and slices. Illudere giggles madly, turning aside them all and calling out with each successful maneuver she makes. "Ho! Ha ha! Guard! Turn! Parry! Dodge! Spin! Ha! Thrust!"
Her eyes make contact with Sally's upon uttering that last word!---
A spherical shield snaps into place before I can warn Sally to get away. Instead of covering us, it covers Illudere. What is---!
...
Her horn stops glowing, followed by her armor. Our surroundings disintegrate without fanfare, and just like that we're back in Median Park again. Her jaw falls slack, and her eyes adjust back to normal size just before they close. Her knees wobble before her legs lose their ability to support her, and she collapses onto the stage like---fittingly---a puppet with its strings cut.
...
I just barely remember not to lose my grip on the Javelin. "What in Equestria...?" I breathe, not daring to relax. "Salamandra, did you...?"
"Wasn't me, dearie," she denies. "I knew I was going to fry if I joined this dance alone, so before going in I roused the pony who stood the best chance of putting her down permanently." She turns and smirks off to the side. "Thanks for the backup, Captain. Nice timing!"
I follow her eyes to see a certain pony standing up straight where I'd last seen him. Shining Armor is the only one that has shaken off the sleep spell Illudere placed on everypony. "Inverted shield," he explains, visibly miffed at what he's just witnessed. "It keeps spells from leaving instead of entering."
As the good Captain turns to try and wake up Cadance, I consider what this means. Whatever it was that Illudere planned on hitting Salamandra with, she hit herself with it instead thanks to that shield. It was clearly intended to be a one hit knockout to allow her to get back to killing me, but... "What was it she was trying to attack you with?" I ask Sally. "A bog-standard sleep spell of some kind, like the one used on the audience?"
Salamandra gets in close to Illudere and examines her, checking her breathing and pulse. Her face darkens as she straightens. "Symptoms aren't quite the same. It's too soon to tell without a professional here, but it could've been the same spell she used on you."
...Did my generators malfunction? I think they just froze for a moment, because there's nothing else that explains this chill I'm feeling right now. "And you're positive that there's no known cure for this?"
"None," she confirms. "That first victim would've woken up a long time ago if there was."
The Luminous Cruelty.
I have a vague idea as to why I was able to wake up from it, though forgive me if I'm not about to conduct any tests to prove this. My CPU was able to detect an outside influence on it, and--for the lack of a better countermeasure--overclocked my systems in an attempt to get rid of it quickly. This was how it covered two-point-three centuries in just seven hours, at the cost of more than half my Energen and five-sixths my dignity. It's a hypothesis at best, but it's all that I have.
I had the means of surviving it at full power. Ponies don't have that ability. For them, one day in the dream is equal to one day without. If Shining Armor had been too slow, and Salamandra had been hit with that spell...
Cadance is becoming more alert, but I don't care who's hearing this right now. "Do you have any idea what just happened? Do you?" I tell Sally sharply. "I'm not saying I don't appreciate the help, because I do, but if the Captain had been a hair slower you'd have been spending the rest of your life in a coma!"
"And if I'd been a hair slower you'd have been two Reploids instead of one," she counters. "You think I don't know these things?"
My injuries burn at that reminder. "Sally, this is exactly why I don't want civilians involved in my missions!" I try to tell her. "I'm one of the Four! Conflict like this has been part of my being since I was first set loose! I knew what I was doing when I first walked onto the battlefield! I cannot condone somepony who has straight up admitted to me that they don't want to get involved in this getting involved in this anyway!"
Salamandra grimaces at that, but continues. "I saw what was going on and who you were fighting, and I went for it! I didn't come here prepared for a fight, but I know Illudere's mind better than anypony here! And I just got done telling you that I got backup first, so you can't tell me I didn't know what I was doing!"
Putting the Javelin away for the sake of pointless gesturing. "That's not the point! When you say you're not going to fight, you don't fight! Don't throw your life away because of me, because---"
Salamandra---no, Drama, her teeth and eyes are normal now---interrupts me. "---Because why? Because you had things in hoof? Because you're not worth it?"
I start at this. Because I'm not worth it? Was that what I was about to say? "I..."
"On the one hoof, she's right that you shouldn't have gotten involved," Shining Armor interjects sternly, addressing Drama first. Cadance is back on her hooves, so now he's playing referee again. He turns to me next. "On the other, Salamandra's right that her intervention saved your life. So, maybe the both of you can take this as a lesson of some kind? We can all agree that we don't want this situation to repeat itself, right?"
...Wow, Captain. Way to take the wind out of our sails. I'm not sure what to say. "Well..."
Mildly blushing, Drama looks off to the side, chastised by Shining's words. "Okay. So..." She sighs. "I'm sorry that I made you worry. You're one of my friends, Fairy. I didn't want to see you die. You get that, right?"
...I'm starting to get the drift of what that statement means coming from somepony else. I get it, Drama. Really, I do. "The same. Thank you for saving my life, Sally." I try to offer a bow, but my upper back hates that. Ouch. Better deal with those right now. "Before this goes on, could you help me deprive Illudere of her armor? If she's carrying Reddocite, I need it immediately."
While she assists me in this task, numbers are churning in my mind. What do the results think of me this time?
MISSION COMPLETE
MISSION -- 100 -- 20p
CLEAR TIME -- 12'18 -- 9p
ENEMY -- 1 -- 20p
DAMAGE -- 54 -- 6p
RETRY -- 0 -- 20p
TOTAL: 75p
AVERAGE: 82p
LEVEL: C
CODENAME: SURVIVOR
...Alright. That's fair. That construct I fought was powerful, it came close to killing me twice, and I count myself lucky that my spine wasn't severed. It did more damage to me than Illudere herself could. I should be happy that I'm still alive.
"...!"
Happy... that I'm alive...?
I am. ...I am...!
As we finish pulling the armor off Illudere and find the Reddocite she'd hidden, I hear a lit horn. "Let's see if I can still remember that spell that Auntie taught me," Princess Cadance murmurs as I turn to her. She's facing the crowd, and from the looks of things she's getting ready to wake them up all at once. I'd best leave her to this.
I sit down, then shatter the Reddocite next to me. None of the damage wrought in the crafted world carried over to reality, so I and part of the stage torn apart by the mailmare were the only things that were fixed.
A new VWS technique and my optics' Lock-On system are now both online, but even the demonstration of the former feels more like an afterthought now. I'll think about those later.
Right now, all I want to do is enjoy this powerful feeling of relief. I've never felt like this before. Illudere's down for the count, and once the Police are awake and aware they're going to take her away from me. I barely escaped death. I've got ponies here backing me up when I need it. The feeling that I can try to return to where I belong is returning. It's enough to make me want to...
...Oh, why not? I'm ecstatic, and she's been wanting this from day one!
I'm alive.
Alive!
ALIVE!
"What?..."
Drama nearly jumped when Leviathan reached out and grabbed her, hugging her close. She quickly stilled: unlike at the Golden Bell, the Reploid wasn't sorrowful. Instead, she was laughing as hard as she'd been before Illudere had come along and almost ruined everything.
No anger. No sadness. No mania. Just joy in its purest form.
Drama smiled, relaxing. She would've preferred to be the one doing the hugging, but this was nice too.
As Cadance finished prepping her spell and cast it across the field, gently waking up everypony who had been afflicted, Leviathan gradually settled down. She remained sitting, not ready to break the moment; likewise, Drama too stayed where she was. Later, they would note that it was the first time they truly and mutually enjoyed each other's company. For now, despite the threats that loomed ahead, peace reigned in Median Park.
...
...
"That's not a real knife, is it?"
"Nope. Just a mish-mash of foam and papier-mâché, but she didn't know that."
"You're a real piece of work, you know that?"
"Thanks. I get that a lot."
The Next Day...
...
I have my equipment back. I made a quick side-trip to the corner of the Park after Cadance woke the crowd, and I was able to help break the safe open and reclaim what was mine.
For the moment, that's not important. I'll share that experience with you when I have an hour or two to spare. Getting some closure to my recent experiences is more meaningful to me. Thus, why I'm currently paying one of the city's hospitals a visit.
Illudere lays completely still on her bed, barring her slow breathing. The life support systems she's hooked up to are quietly doing their jobs, keeping her sustained.
I'm half-expecting her to wake up on the spot and start tormenting me again. Drama reminds me that no, she's not going to. She's locked in a world created by the Luminous Cruelty, and unlike me she's never going to wake up again. She's not dead, but she might as well be.
Even then, there's a magic restriction ring donated by the MRPD placed around her horn, keeping her pacified as a "just in case" measure. She's not a threat anymore, and I need to come to grips with that fact in order to fully move on.
Two ponies walk into the room, escorted by the doctor. They introduce themselves as Illudere's parents, having taken the train here from Baltimare as soon as they received the news. They were estranged, the stresses and worries brought about by their grown-up daughter going insane having split them apart. It's only after they learned that she was now in a permanent coma that they were able to put their differences aside and see her one more time.
The mother places an old teddy bear next to Illudere's head, just out of the way of the equipment. "Her favorite childhood toy," she explains. "You have to understand that she wasn't always a monster, Miss Robot. She was once a child like the rest of us, with hopes and dreams of her own." She sighs. "If we'd done a better job of raising her, figured out how to teach her not to be so hyper-fixated on things..."
"Hate Illudere all you want," the father continues, tone downcast. "I encourage you to. But save your hatred specifically for her. Don't hate Sugarplum."
Trying to have that sort of mindset towards somepony who mistreated me several lifetimes over isn't as easy as that. But at the same time I can see how much they care about somepony who was once their daughter, so I stay close-mouthed on the topic. "Are you planning on having her moved back to Baltimare?"
Both parents nod. "We intend to keep her on life support for as long as we can afford it," the father admits. "It might be just for a year or two, we don't know. We're not rich by any means."
"That would be fine with me." I avert my eyes from them back towards Illudere's face. That peaceful sleeping visage looks entirely alien on her. "For the sake of my emotional health, it's for the best if I never see her again."
"We understand, Miss Robot." The mother presses a hoof against my hand, tears lining her eyes. "Thank you for stopping her before she could do any more damage. We're indebted to you."
Technically it was Drama and Shining Armor that stopped her, not me, and I tell them that. They make a note to thank the Captain as well, and turn towards my friend to offer their gratitude...
All conversation stops as Drama, who had remained silent for the past several minutes, starts humming. It's not one of her grandiose tunes, rather being so quiet that only those of us in the room can hear. It feels like it could almost be a lullaby, a slow and haunting one worthy of Salamandra. Of the two of us, Drama's the one with the most history with Illudere, so it's only fitting that she be the one to give her a sendoff worthy of a performer.
"The takeaway of time
the mistakes of many
the dreams of the common
the horrors aplenty
Disasters have been wrought
Senselessness your mission
Ultimately, your path
you couldn't envision..."
...
...
...
She takes a bow for the audience as they applaud her.
She looks out the window, still surprised at the "For Sale" sign hanging outside the Pyre and wondering what could have prompted her chosen rival to decide to move to Manehattan. She'd been doing so well, too.
Tomorrow's going to be a nice day, so she decides to close the building and spend time with her friends and family. She smiles at the crab perched atop her head, feeling an odd sense of familiarity.
There was no Leviathan. No Cocoa Mocha. All of the high-tier threats that would have threatened Equestria later on never showed themselves here.
In a world that never existed, her damaged mind was finally in repose. There she would remain for the rest of her life, what little of it there was likely to be. A bit too good for her in light of her actions, some might say, but still a better outcome than they would ever realize.
Rest in peace, Sugarplum Spotlight, and may you never trouble another soul again.
Music links for this chapter include: "Your Contract Has Expired", from A Hat in Time; the theme for Sigma's 2nd form from Mega Man X5; "Dark Cataclysm", from Them's Fightin' Herds; "Coexistence", from Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire; and "Memory", from Cowboy Bebop.
Let's be real: without her equipment and in a state of emotional endangerment, Leviathan wasn't going to win against a unicorn who had almost every advantage locked down (barring physical prowess and a clear mind, obviously). Drama Heart's interference was necessary for her to survive the battle. And on a side note: props to those of you who noticed that she wasn't at the gathering. 
As a side note, let's see a show of hands: how many of you were surprised to see Sigma?
I was sorely tempted, readers. For a time, I considered having Leviathan give Illudere the Tempest Shadow treatment right off the bat. Eventually, I decided that what we saw here was much more fitting.
First, it lets Drama achieve some closure, considering she had her own past with the feisty little fourth-wall breaker. Second, it lets me apply bookends. What it was that resulted in Illudere's insanity, the backfiring of her own spell, would also be her final downfall. And third, Drama and Shining Armor's assistance upholds a running theme of this story: that it's not wrong to ask reliable ones for help when you need it most. You don't have to do things alone.
Even if some of you may not like how the battle went or Illudere's fate, I hope you can at least understand why I wrote it this way.
(Fun fact: a year ago, I had an entirely different idea for her fight. She would've used one of the Crown Jewels to hypnotize most of the city, and Drama would've countered her with "the biggest heartsong this city's ever seen", in her words, leading to the inevitable clash. I almost wonder what the finished product would've looked like if I'd gone with it.)
For those new to Mega Man as a whole, the Ice Slasher in the first game was the weakness of Fire Man, hence its stated effectiveness against Illudere's flames.
I'm no real fan of Bon Jovi, admittedly. I'm only familiar with that one song because it was referenced in The Henry Stickmin Collection.
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something something, sigma grindset
on a more serious note, what a suitable ending for illudere, trapped in an illusion of her own making. it's sad, but really it's the best she could have gotten - the perfect tragedy. go in peace, you funky crab befriending lunatic.
We had expected the fight to be unwinnable, the assist was nice. We also expected her to be her own demise, but having the initial instigation spell be the clincher was certainly poetic.
Was honestly more in anticipation that the overflowing love and support from everypony in the gathering would have had an effect, but this is great too.
what's the chance of seeing an omake "greatest heartsong this city ever seen battle" happen?
Wonka, DBZA Cell, and Buu all in one line.
in Vader's Voice. MOST.IMPRESSIVE
I have only one response to this:
11813228
Admittedly I only had Wonka in mind when I wrote that, but now that you mention it... 😆
Wow, that was brutal! But I absolutely loved how it turned out!
I find myself curious about the City-wide Heartsong approach as well, and I'll admit, certain aspects of this read felt just a tad shoehorned. Ultimately a great chapter though, and definitely a great choice on the alternative direction. :)
11812875
Now I'm imagining funky crabs.
What if Illudere's eventual death puts her in Crab Rave Heaven? XD
11813619
I still kind of wish I'd gone with that idea. This one... I had fun writing it, but I didn't get the same level of enjoyment out of it that the whole Heartsong idea would've given me. This whole subplot between Levi, Drama, and Illudere touched too much on darker topics for my tastes.
Honestly it's a fitting ending.
Yes. Sigma came as a surprise, but I knew it was him once you mentioned a different letter from the final
Not going to lie, I was half expecting that moment X had in the Day of Sigma when he tore Sigma's eyes once he had her by the throat
Call that result a cliche, but cliches exist for a reason.
11813696
You're the author. You could always take the time to finish the old idea and upload it as a bonus chapter.
Near the end of this sentence you should added the word then. For example, that they don't want to get involved in this THEN getting involved in this anyway!
P.S. love this story keep up the good work 👍
11816685
I already have plans to write it out as this year's 3rd Anniversary chapter in August, but thanks for the suggestion.
11816756
I don't know. I said the whole sentence aloud a few times, and something about it doesn't feel quite right to me. I mean, I can see where it's supposed to click, but for some reason it's not. Don't know if that came out right, but it's the best way I can describe it.
Also, thanks. I will try. >^_^<
Hmmm, and here I was hoping Levi would have managed to win this one on her own. No, friends are important, help when you are at your lowest is good, but the thing is, setup was such, that Fairy should have done it purely 1v1... Became angry, take major damage, maybe, but proved, once and for all, that mere trickery is not enough to take her down.
Kinda dissapointed in that fight. She didn't even need to actually fight the illusion. Survive long enough to score accidental or targeted hit on Illudere, and win.
Sigmaa's phase 1 theme seem more fitting in this situation. It just oozes. "You're going to get wrecked" vibes
What about the crab!? What happened to the crab!?
11835134
Don't know if you've read Day Three Part Four yet or not, but there's a brief blurb there showing that he got off just fine.
11820685
Anyway, I considered the song back when I was doing my usual music hunting, but it was too fast-paced for what I had in mind. I felt the second one fit the bill better on account of how foreboding the situation was.
Sorry it took me so long to respond to this.
Nice "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" reference.
Yeah, I doubt she can do that. She's a mind-bender, not a reality warper. Of course, playing the lie on that subject to the hilt would be a core tactic, and with her madness she might even believe it. I guess it COULD be true for the sake of making a more "Megaman-like" fight, but I think will be at least mildly disappointed if that turns out to be the case.
I also restate my comment that this could get ugly for the unconscious people... Unless MAYBE, Illudere considers that sort of thing bad form and is careful to never position her illusions such that a missed attack from Leviathan would hit the sleepers.
Past trauma. I approve. Makes her more vicious, but also more prone to mistakes. Leviathan might be well advised to keep it up...
*Snerk* Also, kudos on taking the trouble to include the inverted exclamation points.
Also, I thought it was Levi saying this until I read the next line. Might be a similar problem on my end to the deal with Celestia in an earlier chapter.for all I know, but I am mentioning it anyway.
Sidenote: Due to having taken a bit of Latin in highschool I am actively in favor of the use of the word "y'all" provided it is only used as a plural. I mention this only to provide context for the point that starting a sentence with the symbol that indicates if it is in the interogative or exclaimatory (is that the correct term?), or by the absence of such symbols, neither of those modes, makes for superior clarity. I might even toy with adopting such punctuation myself if they weren't inconvenient to type.
Ah, so Levi IS being pretty careful with her attacks. Alsonif they are JUST illusions rather than reality-warping, she is probably projecting the sort of thing that happened to Omega onto Unicorn horns. Of course, the only creature that may have been in close proximity to such an event* was a kaiju that no (single?) Unicorn could hope to defeat. Given that Fizzypop Berrytwist/Tempest Shadow herself survived it seems unlikely, but barely possible that Unicorn horns can release large amounts of energy when broken. None of which I would fault you if you did not take into account because you risk comments about having watched a limited amount of the show would render it unsurprising if you had not seen the G4 movie.
*Assuming the fillyhood friends of the future Tempest Shadow were standing a reasonable distance off to the SIDE of the cave the ursa major was denning in.
While Illudere COULD be using forcefield shapes to back up her illusions where they will make contact, I think that this makes it almost sure that we have reached "not merely illusions any more" levels. Actually, for all I can remember with certainty that could have been explicitly stated as a benefit of the upgrades to Illudere's armor.
Well, I guess that might go along with Pinkie/Cheesy senses? I had been assuming she just got some of her past memories while using the lotus-eater spell...
Makes me think of Applejack tanking a hit from a monster the size of the island-nation of Guam without injury in a certain fic.
Name of fic It's a Dangerous Business, Going Out Your Door.
Power leak from imprecise casting by a madmare going to let her summon up allies of her own, albeit weaker ones than Illudere can?
Actually, now that I think of it, the pain (but probably not the knockback) from that first hit could have been an illusion now that I think of it... so maybe they ARE less than real and the "(nearly) full heal" at the end of this fight will just be the illusion ending. I doubt the whole thing is happening in her head unless Illudere is multitasking while telekinetically breaking up the stage to build a bonfire around Levi...
Okay, so that almost entirely disproves my tentative hypothesis that the pain was illusionary.
Okay, so that almost entirely disproves my tentative hypothesis that the pain was illusionary.
You continue to have a talent for creating and finding good variations on pre-existing phrases.
Well... it IS the one sort of fight she is best suited for. And when the target has already neutralized two utter badasses, a bunch of police officers, and is on the verge of killing the only champion that was still standing... it is time to step up. I don't know if you are familiar with the backstory of Viper from "Kung-fu Panda"... short version Dad was a martial artist trained around venomous bite. Daughter born without fangs. She took up ribbon dancing to cheer him up. Bad guy Rhino in heavy armor showed up. Dad breaks fangs on armor. Child Viper takes her silk ribbon and does " stop hitting yourself" before going on to tie him up. The ability to attsck.rather than just defend while under active threat and some athleticism can take on surprising far from what I gather...
Also, I just realized that a side chapter set a decade.or.so into the future with The Princess of the Night and Burning Salamandra discussing techniques for creating delightful fear might be fun. Or maybe even seeing them teaming up on Nightmare Night.
i was more surprised than I should have been when the reference was continued*. And, yeah, for all her talk of.her literary quality, Illudere HAS shown surprisingly little skill at SHOWING a narrative, rather than just throwing up some generically foreboding scenery then declaring her opponent to be about to meet a tragic end. I hope her counterpart is SHOWN doing better than that. I want to see something worthy of Jack Skeleington(sp?) The Pumpkin King here...
*Although you did change the numbeer of syllables I think? If so isn't great, but it also isn't terrible if that part of the song isn't changing notes by much since the same note can simply be elongated or repeated without sound very bad? And I don't think it does vary much here?
(more to come at some point or another... minutes to days)
Perhaps my guess about summoning allies was right? Or maybe same result because this is a linked mindscape sort of thing? Or a self-sabotaging part of Illudere? Whether consciously or sub-consciously, it might be driven by wanting an exciting story... if so I at least somewhat underestimated Illudere's talent... I mean Ponies ARE all savants in their field according many fanons.
Ah, so narrative coincidence, rather than anything more magic-related than that. Of course, in THIS setting it could be argued that The Magic of Friendship can create narrative coincidence? Also means that she didn't escape or resist (without warning) the sleep spell. Also, I wonder if the sleep spell requires upkeep, meaning Illudere might not have had the magical power to resummon Omega.
For a moment there I wondered if she had summoned him for real...
"A few.minutes" his more than enough to kill someone. start-up time for the reality-warping to get to full power might be too long to work well though.
(Again, not sure when I will continue.this nor if it will be via edit or a new post.)
11843673
Surprisingly, the G4 movie is one of the few things from the franchise that I've seen from start to finish (and at the local theater, no less). I enjoyed it.
That was one of the first stories I'd heard of when I started visiting Fimfiction. Never looked too much into it, though, since at the time it didn't appeal much to me.
Never saw the Kung-Fu Panda movies. Admittedly, aside from the aforementioned MLP movie, the EG movie Friendship Games, and Despicable Me 2, I haven't seen any "new" movies in the past 17 years. At least, none with the intent to just sit down and watch them instead of bits and pieces of them.
I had to run the first few lines of the song through my head a couple times to make sure it was still doable. I probably could've eliminated "stage" and just gone with "plays", but it doesn't sound right to me. (shrug)
Sigma, actually.