Chapter 6 - Forcalor
Atop a certain hill, overlooking a certain Canterlot, a certain small light-blue unicorn was holding a pair of binoculars. A certain alicorn was looking through them, not bothering to pick up binoculars herself.
"What is this I see?" Opaline grinned madly, observing the situation from this impromptu lookout point. "Are they failing? Ahaha! That's just hilarious!"
"Yeah, I'm afraid so." Misty was noticeably more solemn about the whole endeavor.
"What is there to be "afraid" of, Misty?" Opaline quipped vehemently, "Soon our enemies will annihilate each other, and all that's left to us will be to pick up the scraps!" Opaline rubbed her hooves maliciously. "Soon revenge1 will be mine! All magic will fall right into my grasp2, and my reign will be undisputed3!
"Ah, uh, but Opaline!" Misty interjected, "In case that Grogar fellow wins, isn't he might just take everything for himself first? Or-or worse yet, Opaline, he can just destroy everything! I think there was something about an extinction, uh, event?"
"Hm! As hard as it is to admit, you might be onto something there. Very well then! Paradoxes be damned!" Opaline put hooves down, stood up, and spread wings outward, saying, "I'll not give out my victory to any upstart. Let us observe the situation closely. It's time dramatic beat to strike!"
1 - possibly
2 - maybe
3 - doubtfully
Do you know what happens when a lot of technicolored magical ponies are stuffed in one place?
Well, you might say that it's called a "herd", but no.
It's utter chaos.
Under the pressure of the angry crowd, most of them pretty much began panicking. And if you know anything about magical ponies, "panic" for them means to stand their ground and begin to stubbornly confront every possible obstacle, until the solution to a problem is found. Because they are a sturdy, hearty lot.
"Are y'all with manure in y'er heads or somethin'!" Applejack was yelling, "Twilight never lied, not to one of us! And y’all know I'm not lyin’ either!"
"Yeah! I will kick flanks of all who say otherwise! Just come here, just try it!" Rainbow Dash wrestled with her hooves in the air, dancing around on her hind legs.
"They are so silly," giggled Applejack, looking at both of them, while Cheerilee was at her side, laughing.
"You know, I think it's a good time to sing some sort of song to calm everyone down," said Melody cheerfully. Toola-Roola, StarSong, Izzy and Pipp began to nod eagerly.
"Anypony knows a good opening lyric?" asked one of them, which then veered into its own fascinating discussion in the background.
"Maybe rainbows will help," excitedly smiled Rainbow Dash, looking around.
Starlight, Starlight, and Gusty were standing with Twilight and Twilight. Firefly was nearby, while Sunny, Sunburst, Hitch, Zipp, Sweetheart, and curious Bright Eyes were all grouped slightly aside, just trying to take it all in.
There were, of course, some of them who took a moment to use these precious seconds for some bonding.
"Oh, I so like your mane and style, darling!" Rarity had been heard, complementing Glory.
"Such a nice cutie mark!" Surprise gasped, looking at bouncing Pinkie Pie.
"I know, right!" gave out her biggest grin Pinkie Pie.
"Right, right!" butted in Pinkie Pie.
"Can someone quickly brush my hair?" asked Bon Bon, and at least four different ponies were already at her side, with brushes in their hooves, no less. One of them rode up to her on a scooter, for some reason.
"Um.." was saying meekly Fluttershy, trying to get attention and tell something important, but the only pony around willing to listen was Posey, who was already comforting crying Clover.
Twilight frowned, quickly looking back. Then she looked down on the roaring crowd, this amalgamation of different creatures. After that, she turned to Spike. He shrugged weakly, mirroring her cluelessness.
"Everyone, please!" Twilight exclaimed, firing in the air a beam from a horn, but her voice, even with a microphone, was drowned out by the whole bedlam.
"Grogar is a myth!" shouting was heard.
Dragons were bellowing. Yaks were shouting. Changelings were fluttering wings and hissing. Ponies were stomping.
In fact, everyone was stomping, for sure.
"Yeah! Nothing but a legend!"
"You just want to control all of us!"
"No to curfew! No to contingencies!"
"It's some kind of conspiracy, right? Am I right!?"
"Down with the Nerd! Down with the royalty!"
"Hey, can we teleport somewhere out of here, or something?" immediately asked Pipp, turning to Sunny and Hitch, "I suddenly really do not want to be here right now. This ancient Canterlot stinks. I'd prefer our quiet place, even if it's low on magic."
"Can I come?" asked hopefully Bright Eyes. Crowd, prepared to lynch a nerd, was giving her the heebie-jeebies.
"I think rainbows can help here," Rainbow Dash frowned, not understanding why no one was listening.
She then smiled widely when Pinkie Pie bounced closer with a yell, "You're right!", and quickly hugged her.
"Ugh!" with a groan, Twilight caressed her temples, trying to remain completely calm and focused. She turned with a start to Twilight, Starlight, Starlight, Firefly and Gusty.
"Look, girls, I need to get everypony's attention. Any ideas?"
"Everybody," immediately corrected her Twilight, "You know, it's kind of rude. At least half of them aren't even ponies!"
"Don't be a smartflank, Twilight Two; it's really not the time," frowned Twilight.
"I wish you didn't talk like that, that's all. Why am I Twilight Two, anyway?"
"I'll get their attention!" yelled Firefly and leaped into flight over creatures, expertly dodging the miscellaneous projectiles they were already throwing at the castle and ponies in it.
"No wait, it's me who needs their attention! I need to speak to them!" tried to stop her Twilight, but it was already too late.
Starlight facehoofed immediately, all the while Rainbow Dash excitedly exclaimed "Wow! Awesome!". Looking at her, Starlight promptly came up with an idea, and she hurriedly trotted over to pegasus.
"Quickly, do a sonic rainboom!"
"Right on. Just watch!"
Rainbow Dash took off, and everyone involuntarily went silent, looking at the performance with widened eyes. With a trail of a radiant rainbow, the pegasus made a huge circle around the castle and rose in the air, before plummeting down. A wide rainbow wave covered the sky, with a tremendous sound of whiplash in the air.
Everypony gasped in reverence and awe. Rainbow Dash almost fainted, overwhelmed by emotions. Firefly landed on the wall and sat there with a smile, crossing her forelegs, mumbling: "Showoff.."
Most of the ponies cheered and laughed, and there were cries of "More! More!", but firstly, the crowd finally went silent, which was exactly what Twilight was waiting for.
"Friends!" she cried into the microphone with a heartfelt voice, and it drew all eyes upon her.
"Yes, you heard that right. We all are friends here. We all are on the same side," Twilight continued, slightly nervous, but with a voice full of sincerity. "Look, all of you. We all know that these times are very trying and scary, but this is especially the moment when Friendship must shine through.
She gripped the amplifier harder. Her eyes brimmed with tears.
"For many years, we, all together, stood against the villainous darkness. We fought, and we prevailed! Against all possible odds, we are here now, still spreading the message of kindness and goodness!"
"But why did you lie to us!?" yelled someone bold enough.
"There was no lie!" replied Twilight.
"Are you seriously declaring martial law?" "What's all this?" "Are you for real!?" other voices shouted in quick succession.
"It is all because I care for you, my subjects. We care! And we do not know how else to stop this! So please, we need everyone to cooperate and help each other. There is no other way. Listen—"
"Your leadership is weak!" a sudden new voice breaks out and joins the fray, and everypony goes silent for a second time.
A certain alicorn with a purple coat travels through the crowd, and creatures are moving to the sides, giving her wide space. She grabs with an aura a teal unicorn at her side and effortlessly flies on the wall of the castle for all to see.
Unicorn, who is known as Misty, sheepishly smiles and waves to Sunny and her group.
Alicorn, who is known as Queen Opaline Arcana, grins royally and smugly. Her voice rises:
"I am—"
"Wait!"
Opaline stops, mostly because she is completely unexpected to be cut off like that. She lowers her gaze to a little white unicorn with a green mane, who stands right in front of her.
"What—"
"It was not your turn to speak, tall, dark, and mean," said Gusty.
"Yeah! It was Twilight's turn!" adds Cheerilee, "Wait for your own!"
"You must be daft to interrupt Twilight," frowns Applejack, "Some crazy palleted mare. It was a great speech, I tell you what."
"Why, you—"
"It's Princess' Twilight's turn!" yells Zipp.
"Yes, let Twilight finish talking!" Starlight chips in.
One by one other ponies joins the shouting, and even some of the would-be rioters from the crowd follow suit. Opaline just stood there, blinking. While no one paid to her attention, Misty shuffled over to Sunny and others.
"Um... If I may..." tried to speak Fluttershy, looking around all these almost unfamiliar faces. She looks at Posey again, who is almost identical to herself in appearance and feels uneasy.
"Thank you very much, everypony," not noticing, said Twilight in the microphone, still with the same earnest voice, "It touched my heart."
"Grogar!" from the crowd, the older pony yelled, his voice overlapping any other noise, "It's all about Grogar, you fools!"
"Yeah, what's up with Grogar!" someone yelled again.
"He's not real, is he? There is no Grogar!"
"Everypony, listen!" taken word Twilight, once again.
She inhaled sharply, turning to all below.
"It doesn't matter if Grogar is real or not, right now. I'm speaking this from the bottom of my own heart! It is not what you need to be concerned with! Be concerned about your own feelings. They are real, and if you give in to fear, then this fear is real for you too! And that is what gives Grogar strength and life, it produces this enmity between us. Without it, he is truly nothing. Whether he exists or not, he craves our fear! He wants us all to argue, to spread disharmony!" Princess Twilight drew another breath, seeing that many from the crowd finally heard her words, "Listen, my friends. You do trust your mind, don't you? Do you trust your hearts as well? If you perceive, if you feel, that it is real for you. But it is you who ultimately decides what to focus on! In which thoughts and feelings to invest!"
The crowd murmured. Many look between themselves, not truly understanding what to take from it, but there are a lot who got the message. Finally, someone yelled:
"And what about martial law?"
"If there is no Grogar, then there is nothing to be afraid of, right? If all is calm, it soon will become more lenient, even lifted in mere days. I promise you! Let Magic of Friendship guide you!" responds Twilight, feeling herself at ease.
Suddenly Pinkie Pie snatched the microphone from the Princess and began to bounce on the very edge of the wall. Her chipper voice traveled across the whole Canterlot, and every living soul in it stayed still and listened.
"Hey, don't mind me, not to be a sourpuss, bu-u-u-ut~..."
Pinkie Pie pointed at an unassuming older pony in front row. "Here's your Grogar!~ In disguise!" she giggled.
"Wha—! How!" Grogar opened his mouth in a state of utter shock, and Pipp promptly snapped a picture with her phone.
"Yes! That's going straight to Ponygram."
"Mare to mare, what's a Ponygram?" behind others, swiftly asked Sweetheart, looking at Rarity. She shrugged in response.
"Hold it, horses." Grogar looked like he was taking none of this. His magic sizzled, and he teleported on top of the wall, in his real form, in all his goatly glory, "How did you know, you, pink one?"
"Easy peasy lemon squeezy!" giggled Pinkie Pie excitedly.
"Oh, I know, I know this one!" Izzy chimed in, no less excited, "Let's do this together!"
"So he sent a bunch of icky clanks to Ponyville, right?"
"Yeah, and then crept up to us to spy on what we'll do, and to lay discord!"
"No relation to Discord!"
"Oh wow, you have one too?"
"Yeah! I send my hugs to yours!"
"Wait, so should I say you sent a hug, or do I need to hug him away?"
"Just take me with you to him, I'll hug him myself, you silly filly!"
Grogar growled, they laughed, and finished both in sync:
"Well, here he is now!"
"That didn't explain anything at all!" groaned Sunburst, while other ponies were giving him confused looks.
"Wait, Ponyville is under attack?" frowned Twilight worriedly.
"Oh yes, you all are under attack, Twilight Sparkle!" injected Opaline with malicious laughter, "Now, you will—"
Grogar moved up closer to her, giving an unsettling glare of crimson red eyes, without any visible pupils. Opaline scowled, but then relented, taking a small step back.
"That's better. Now all of you ponies, listen here!" Grogar bellowed with his raspy arrogant voice, "I've heard all of your pompous little speeches. And you know what? I'm not impressed. Despite your incessant talks of unity, you always were broken down and driven apart, animated only by some lines that brought you all together. I've seen the nature of your universe. I've seen the nature of all your universes! So, you say your fear might not be real? But you yourselves are not real either!"
He delivered it like it was some grand revelation.
But most ponies just laughed.
"So what of it!?" defiantly said Rainbow Dash.
"Yeah, so what of it!?" stomped her hoof Firefly.
"Does it even matter?" looked to others StarSong with a smile.
"No." Twilight shook her mane defiantly, her gaze ablaze, "It does not matter at all. As with feelings, everypony is real as long as they exist in someone's heart, in whatever shape or form. And a rainbow of that existence, with all colors and their hues—this is what binds us all together, Grogar, not just "some lines". It is something that you will never comprehend."
Grogar met this with his own laughter. He looked over all those who gathered here, his malicious smile plastered all over his smug face.
He turned to Twilight. "All that is empty words, you, lavender little pathetic thing." Goat sorcerer gazed at other ponies. "As well as all of yours!"
"Proclaim me as not truly real, proclaim fear of me as not truly real, and that means proclaim yourself no more real than me. Say it!"
He raised his voice, still looking at the ponies. "And if none of this is truly real, then nothing of this matters! Then you do not matter! No more than I do. Say it! Say, that my darkness doesn't matter more than your feelings! I dare you!"
Twilight looked stoically. She turned, and her wary and deep gaze went out to everypony.
They smiled, encouraging her. She thought about the long history that was behind them all. She thought about everything that happened over decades, good and bad.
Different scenes went through her mind. Twilight thought about how ponies reflected within others and, what was equally important, reflected within themselves and each other too. Twilight could almost see all these different versions all around her now, and all of them were representing someone's heart, or at least someone's feelings, someone's effort, and imagination.
Truly, like gradients of color, all different, but together, they painted a marvelous picture.
And this picture wasn't done yet.
Twilight turned towards this stupid old goat sorcerer and answered valiantly.
"Yes, you are somewhat right. On its own, nothing of this matters that much. It all might be even superficial in the grand scheme of things. But what matters, is what we inspire."
"What!?" Grogar barked reflectively, biting his tongue—but it was too late. He is an old-school villain after all.
"Kindness!" said Fluttershy no more meekly, and then adorably hid behind her hair.
"To prevail and hope!" raised her head Firefly.
"Laughter and joy!" ponies like Pinkie Pie, Pinkie Pie, Surprise, Izzy, Toola-Roola, Melody, not to mention others, pulled each other into a big group hug.
"Loyalty!" stroke a pose Rainbow Dash, of course.
"Creativity and persistence, naturally!" exclaimed Rarity, and other ponies laughed and cheered.
"Forgiveness! Understanding!" chimed in Starlight.
"And not least of all! Friendship!" finished Twilight with a radiant smile.
Winking at Sunny, who looked at her with starstruck eyes, Twilight turned to Grogar.
"We will live on in stories, while you and your impotent darkness will be forgotten. Because superfluous fears are meant to be beaten! Now begone!"
Grogar grimaced like he was in pain.
But he wasn’t gone anywhere.
"I do not comprehend, at least in that, you’ve been correct, annoying pony. Where’s the real power? Where’s your fabled Magic of Friendship? What, I guess I was supposed to be blown away by some rainbow by now? Seems you out of juice…" he laughs wickedly, and snarls, "Just DIE."
From his horns, a bolt of dark purple lightning rushes to the ponies. Grogar almost savors victory already. But something collides with magic in mid-flight. A ghostly apparition of his mortal enemy! Gusty the Great herself!
Gusty met the magic with his chest and, once more, like in legends, protected others against evil. Ponies whinnied and gasped in surprise. They rushed forward, looking to assist him.
"YOU!" howled Grogar in disbelief, trying to stop the flow of his magic, but he is forced into lockdown by a pesky hero, once again, "But I SAW you dissipated! You're dead, dead, DEAD!"
"Quick, heroes! His bell! Get his bell!" cried Gusty, struggling against Grogar.
"The bell! The bell!" Fluttershy's yells are heard.
"Bell! Magic bell!" Glory and Applejack cried almost in unison.
"I'm on it!" suddenly, Spike rushed forward, leaping and gripping with his hands the bell, hanging from Grogar's collar. It didn't budge and only attracted the attention of the old goat. Spike smiled awkwardly, meeting the intense gaze of Grogar face to face: "Uh... I'm not bothering you, am I?"
Grogar reared with a roar, tossing the little dragon away. He landed on ponies, who didn't dart out of the way fast enough. They were soft, so Spike remained unharmed.
"Twilight! Look! The bell, I've got his bell!" cried Fluttershy intensely, at last showing Grogar's old Bewitching Bell from past adventures, in her possession.
"Oh, yes, that's right! We had this all along!.. I need your help on this one, everypony!" excitedly beamed Twilight, grabbing the Bewitching Bell.
Grogar roared once more, pumping out smoke through his nostrils. He wasn't going to surrender just yet. Gusty began to be pushed away, but he was quickly being reinforced by ponies, firstly Twilight and Sunny standing side by side, and then by many others as well. They all were gripping an ancient artifact, and the radiant beam of energy now danced between two bells, as their magics tried to overpower one another.
Grogar gasped in disbelief, once more. Will it truly be the end of him? Like that? He just couldn't withstand it. No, it was too soon, just too soon…
But then a certain alicorn trotted onto the scene, smiling wickedly.
"Hahaha! Now I've got all of your attention! NOW I've got you in my grasp!" laughed Opaline, "What!? Nopony to cut me off this time!? You all at my mercy now, you commoners, brigands, false royalty! I will RULE you all!"
She danced on her hooves, twisted and turned triumphally, getting closer to both parties, locked in a magical battle. Her horn shone brightly, and her grin flared with white teeth on dark-purple skin.
"You will all learn to love and fear me! You all will learn my name!.. I will steal all your magic! I.. Oh.. No.." she got too close. Opaline suddenly started to feel the pull, which drew her toward the beam of energy. She began to kick her hooves helplessly, flapped her wings, and tried to get away.
But it was all for naught.
Everypony (and Grogar with Spike, who isn't a pony) saw how energy surged to fire an alicorn's horn, like to a conductor. She screamed and disappeared in a flash, only her white outline had been seen for a split-second.
"No!" gasped Misty from behind others, and she was, basically, the only one who cared.
But this intrusion by Opaline changed everything. Before everyone's eyes, the tethered beam danced erratically, flared with intensity—and a loud cracking sound was heard.
With a shockwave of force, the beam ceased, and supposedly indestructible bells were shattered, both of them. All present looked at how they broke into six uneven pieces in total. Four of them rose in the air and disappeared, while two launched like shooting stars somewhere toward Ponyville.
Grogar quickly recovered from the ground. He still had magic, still a threat. He quickly realized what happened, his horns flared up. He disappeared right then and there, with another flash of light.
Ponies meanwhile were scrambled and in total disarray. Gusty was nowhere to be seen anymore. Twilight looked around, her face grim and filled with determination.
"If I understood what's going on correctly," she exclaimed, "This is far from over, but we're nearing the final stretch. Everypony! We need to form a plan!"
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Well, that's set some very high stakes indeed.
Nice chapter, FlovvKrovv! Although I'm a bit concerned that my contingency idea has evolved, but that's just me.
If I'm not mistaken, I believe Gusty the Great is a female, as it said so in the prologue.
11534691
Thank you, I've tried to hit every raised plot point before, one way or the other!
Oh wow, that's embarassing.
Welp. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
11530385
Can you edit that for consistency?
11534703
Lol, it's okay. We make mistakes anyway.
11534703
Yup, just give me a moment...
11534724
Okay, fixed it.
11534726
“Gusty met the magic with his chest“
Also this error too.
But otherwise that, I love this chapter, my favorite one so far.
I’m hoping their going to be split up with 2 and 5 going to one of their universes, and the mane 6 getting split with 1 and 3 to their universes to find the pieces of the bell.
Hey is there any info about the next chapter?
11554803
I don’t know man, it’s been a month, and I haven’t heard anything from the person in charge of this.
11565269
11554803
Sorry, I've been busy, our spring play is coming up and I got a role spontaneously thrust upon me. But anyways...
I apologize for the delay, I am contacting someone today about the next chapter. Thank you so much for your patience!
Okay, everyone, I have GOOD NEWS! A new chapter should be released this Friday, and I'll be cycling back through authors again, so it should be getting on a roll again soon. I would just like to thank you SO MUCH for being patient, I really appreciate it, and I apologize that I haven't been able to give you more. You are the best fans EVER, thank you!
11568412
Oh wow! I am very eager for continuation now...
It is former FlovvKrovv btw, you can change if you want
11568412
So is it gonna be released next Friday now?
11571994
No, it isn’t, thank goodness. I actually completed my chapter before the deadline of 3:00 last Friday, but bookhorse125 and I probably live in completely different timezones as they didn’t receive it on the day I PM’ed them it. Rest be assured, however, they’ve picked it up and it should be released sometime today.
CORRECT!
the omniverse exists to those who believe it does