Chapter 18: Captives on Both Sides
The Mane 6 and Flurry Heart looked at Fireforge in suspicion.
“You just tried to kill us!” Hitch said angrily.
“Yeah, Opaline sent you and her commanders to attack our home!” Misty said.
Even though she’d just been staying in Maretime Bay for a few days now, it was already more her home then Opaline’s castle had ever been.
“Who is Opaline?” Fireforge asked in confusion.
“Your mother!” Pipp stated. “She took my pipsqueaks and a lot of our other friends!”
“My mom? Aah, I don’t remember… anything.” Fireforge rubbed his head.
“He’s gotta be faking memory loss!” Zipp said.
“Maybe he isn’t,” Sunny said. “Maybe he lost his memory when he hit his head?”
“Yeah, it is possible,” Izzy said.
“I suppose,” Flurry admitted begrudgingly. “But regardless, he helped his mother fight my aunt and parents seven hundred years ago!”
“I say we lock him up,” Pipp said.
“I agree,” Flurry said. “He needs to pay for his crimes.”
“Hold on,” Sunny said. “We forgave Misty! Maybe we can-
“That was different,” Hitch said. “Misty saved us! She did something to make up for it and none of us pressed charges! Memory loss and ignorance of one’s crimes doesn’t excuse one from the law!”
“Yeah,” Zipp said. “This is the son of Opaline, he’s evil!”
Misty looked at the elder Pegasus with a frown. “You remember I was her daughter, right?”
“Not her actual daughter though and you had good in you,” Pipp said. “This guy LEAD AN ATTACK ON MARETIME BAY! That’s about three times worse than anything you did!”
Misty recalled her crimes, multiple attempted kidnappings and one successful one, deception, and trespassing. Well kidnapping Sparky and leading her friends into Opaline’s trap had certainly been the worst of her actions. Still, she’d never done anything quite on the scale as Fireforge and his cohorts in leading an attack on a city.
“I guess you’re right,” Misty said before she realized something. “My brother here is much worse!”
Fireforge looked at her. “You’re my… sister?”
“Guess so,” Misty glared at him. “Or at least I was until I saw our mother for the evil liar she is! She betrayed me, saying she could give me a cutie mark!”
She then showed her flank where the butterfly pattern was. “Well, I got one on my own after I rebelled against her! And I’m glad for it! I’m glad to be rid of Opaline! She’s no longer my mother! And that means you’re no longer my brother! Not that we ever met when I might have ever considered you that!”
It felt good to vent all her anger at Opaline and verbally disown her as well as Fireforge. If only she were watching them now, maybe she was. She probably would be sooner or later once she heard her son was captured.
Fireforge’s mouth fell open. “I-
“You’ll be here for life if I have anything to say about it!” Flurry Heart said. “I may not be a monarch like I was when I was young, but I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you never step out of this prison!”
“Technically its more of a jail!” Hitch said. “But you can count on me to hold him.”
Flurry looked at the bars. “Even if he has lost his memory, he could use his magic to break through. Here.”
She lit up her horn and yellow light, similar to Sunny’s magic in her alicorn form… fitting since they were mother and daughter… traveled from it to the bars. It created a wall around the jail that was visible for an instant and then vanished.
“Now he won’t be able to use his magic to break through them!” Flurry said.
“Are you sure this is the best course of action… Mom?” Sunny asked.
Flurry nodded.
“But… from what I’ve read of Twilight Sparkle… your aunt and… I guess, my great aunt,” Sunny said, amazed that she was actually related to her ancient idol. “She redeemed several of her enemies, like Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Starlight Glimmer.”
Flurry looked at her daughter. “That is true. But not all villains can be redeemed.”
“Maybe he could though,” Sunny pressed.
She looked at the male alicorn who looked confused and scared. She sighed, knowing they were right. Still, now that he had seemingly lost his memory maybe they could turn him to their side and give him a chance at redemption. Sunny didn’t believe anypony was beyond redemption, at least not that she’d seen so far.
“Perhaps,” Flurry said. “But we can’t worry about that right now. We need to prepare for Opaline’s next move. I don’t think she’ll wait long once she hears about his capture.”
“I think we need to check on the citizens as well,” Hitch said. “A lot of ponies are probably shaken up and scared after that. Also we need to find out how many ponies got taken.”
They headed outside and held a conference, getting the total number of ponies that had been captured.
“So it's around two hundred and eleven,” Hitch said.
“You said you would protect us!” a white mare with a pink mane said.
“I said I would try, but I’m just one sheriff,” Hitch said. “Me and my friends are all just one pony each! We each had our own formidable foes to face in that battle plus the rest of Opaline’s forces.”
Flurry Heart stepped forward, Spike and Ember behind. Sparky looked up at them in awe, knowing they were his parents. He ran up and hugged Ember’s leg. They smiled down at him but now wasn’t the time for family reconnecting.
“My aunt, Twilight Sparkle of ancient Equestria faced many foes in her time. But she was never alone!” Flurry said. “She had her friends by her side. But there were times when even the six of them together were not enough.”
She looked back at the Mane 6. “I’ve watched my daughter Sunny Starscout and her friends for a while now ever since magic returned. I never imagined she would be the one to bring it back. I just wanted her to live a peaceful life in Maretime Bay with other ponies. That’s why I brought her to her dad to live here. But she had a greater destiny then I ever imagined. She is a leader, like my aunt Twilight, her great Aunt. Through her and her friends, magic was brought back. They all remind me my aunt’s friends as well. Hitch you are an honest and kind animal loving pony, like Applejack and Fluttershy. Zipp, you are a brave and nimble flyer like Rainbow Dash. Pipp, you have a good heart and are always willing to give to others as well as have a love for fashion and beauty like Rarity. Izzy, your creativity brings joy to ponies just as Pinkie Pie’s laughter did. And Misty, you were once a dark pony looking for her cutie mark, but now you walk a better path just as Starlight Glimmer did after she accepted friendship from my Aunt. I believe you are the ones who can defeat Opaline.”
They all smiled at her as she turned back to the crowd.
“But they can’t do it without the support of every pony… or critter or dragon! We need all the help we can get if we are preserve our new way of life! We must stand united!”
Flurry’s words were followed by silence for a moment. Everypony looked at each other and many began to nod.
“Yeah!”
Many of them cheered. Critters like Racoonicorns, Pegasnails, Bunnicorns, and others raised their paws as well.
“We didn’t help out today,” a stallion said. “We were too afraid, but if we had perhaps we could have prevented many of our friends from being captured!”
“We will not hide the next time!”
Flurry smiled. Seemed she’d inspired many of them to stand their ground. Hopefully next time they’d be able to hold out. Of course, next time she would likely have to deal with Opaline herself.
…
After Flurry’s speech, Sunny headed back to the jail while the others went to the Brighthouse. Flurry planned on teaching her and the others some spells. But she had something to take care of. She carried a basketful of fruit from the garden on her back.
Entering the station she saw Fireforge in the cell. He looked and saw her.
“Hi,” he said feebly. “You here to tell me about things I did that can’t remember?”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t hold grudges usually. The others seem to think you’re evil, and maybe you were when I first met you. But now you’re not quite the same pony and could change.”
He looked at her.
“I know its not much,” Sunny said as she pushed the basket through the small food entrance at the bottom. “But I thought I’d let you have something to eat. Hitch did tell me once a small gift can work wonders.”
He saw the contents and stared blankly for a moment then smiled and looked at her. “Thanks.”
She smiled back and left, hoping this maybe be a step in the right direction. It might backfire of course but if they could get another alicorn on their Opaline would have a harder time.
Nopony was beyond redemption, she thought. Maybe not even Opaline, though that might be a long shot.
…
Opaline watched with glee as her commanders entered her throneroom. She’d been practicing hard, going over her old magic scrolls to refresh herself in the ways of combat while her son lead the attack on Maretime Bay. But strangely he was not the first one through the door with the prisoners.
General Bloodheart stepped forward.
“My queen,” he said with a bow. “We’ve failed to take Maretime Bay for the moment. Princess Flurry Heart appeared and managed to hold us off.”
“Flurry Heart?” Opaline repeated in surprise.
“She had two dragons with her as well,” Bloodheart said.
“Well, that is unexpected,” Opaline said. “But perhaps fortunate. If I can acquire the magic of another alicorn, it will bring me much closer to being able to absorb all the prisbeem power of the Unity Crystals. I had planned to do that to Sunny if she didn’t join me. I suppose it’s fortunate she escaped, since it would have cost me a valuable magic asset if I’d killed her.”
She then looked around and saw the prisoners, two Earth Ponies and a pegasus as well as three fillies of every pony kind were at the front. They looked at her in fear as they should. She grinned at them as she got off her throne and walked toward them.
“No! Please!” Posey said desperately. “I’ll serve you Queen Opaline!”
That was a lie of course, Posey may have been a temperamental pony who used to dislike magic and other kinds of ponies, but she’d moved past that now. Even so, she still got the occasional thing thrown at her by the likes of Izzy or even Sparky. He’d turned her garden into spaghetti on Nightmare Night months ago after all, and Izzy had inconsiderately eat some of it.
Opaline just grinned. “Yes, you will. One way or another.”
Her horn lit up as she turned Posey around so that her flank faced her.
“Nice cutie mark,” Opaline said as she looked at the six tulips in a circle. “I bet it has just the magic I need.”
And she cast absorption spell. Posey screamed in pain as her magic was drained and her cutie mark came off of her flank. Opaline held it before her eyes.
“With this, I shall have both the new forms of magic. Glowing cutie marks and the ability to make plants grow!” she stated.
She absorbed it into her body. It vanished and turned into pure energy within Opaline. She looked at her flank and saw her cutie mark of a pair of blue flames on either side of a purple light shining with a mixture of both colors. She grinned and looked at her hooves which emitted a similar light. She raised her hoof and a flower sprouted in her castle, its petals opening and lighting up in flames. She grinned.
“New magic! Check!” Opaline said.
Posey, meanwhile, sobbed as she saw her mark vanish. Was it lost forever? She’d grown to treasure her new abilities that had made her feel like an equal to Pegasi and Unicorns. Then she felt a hoof on her shoulder.
“It will be okay Posey,” Windy told her friend. “We’ll get through this.”
Windy’s cutie mark lit up as she spoke, and Posey's flank also emitted faint sparks as well despite the loss of its cutie mark.
“You weren’t really gonna join her, were you?” Dahlia asked.
Posey shook her head and wiped her tears. “No. I wouldn’t betray you two! I know I can be a bitch but I’d never do that! Except maybe as a spy!”
Opaline scoffed. “You will learn to fear and obey me!”
She brought Dahlia forward next then motioned for Dirty Fighter to come forward.
“You have served me well Dirty Fighter,” she said. “And I reward those that do so with loyalty. I know I used to have a Pegasus Captain, but since he was killed after his statue fell, there is now a vacant seat of command. It and this new magic are yours.”
She stripped Dahlia of her cutie mark, causing the mare to groan, then transferred it to Dirty Fighter who smiled.
“Thank you, my queen!” he said with a bow.
Bloodheart frowned. Though he’d proven a formidable warrior to their cause, Dirty was a cheater and Bloodheart disliked that. He might try and take power for himself given the chance.
“General Bloodheart,” Opaline summoned.
Bloodheart came forward and Opaline took Windy in her magic as the Pegasus tried to flap her wings and escape, but the stallions holding her held her down.
“You already have unicorn magic, and that has not changed to my knowledge. So I don’t think it matters if you receive the same cutie mark magic as a unicorn, right?” Opaline asked.
Bloodheart shrugged. “I don’t know my queen.”
“Hmm. Well, this should give you access to the new magic.”
And she stripped Windy as well. The Pegasus fell to the ground and her magic was transferred to Bloodheart. Next Opaline did the Pipsqueaks, expanding the range of her spell to be able to drain all three of the fillies at once.
“No! Please! Princess Pipp help!” Seashell screamed.
“You should worship me you insolent filly!” Opaline scolded as she turned all of them around and gave Seashell a spanking there.
The filly cried out under the strong hoof strike to her flank. She and her sisters were then drained and Opaline took their magic for herself. Though as she looked at the other awaiting captives her other question came to mind.
“Where is my son?” she asked.
“He… was defeated by Flurry Heart,” Bloodheart told her.
“What?” Opaline roared. “And you abandoned him?”
“It was his idea!” Bloodheart said quickly pointing at Dirty Fighter.
“You are the senior member of my army!” Opaline reminded him.
“I was no match for an alicorn,” Bloodheart said.
Opaline huffed in agreement. “I suppose you wouldn’t be. But for your sake my son better be alright.”
She made sure to emphasis her son, not theirs. Bloodheart nodded in acceptance. Opaline then went up to her magic pool and saw Fireforge Destiny locked in a cell.
“Well, he’s alive at least,” she said turning it off. “And once I finish draining all these ponies of their magic, I will have my son back.”
Dirty Fighter stepped forward, shooting a smirk at Posey who was unnerved by it. “Mind if I borrow one of them for my torture chamber?”
“Oh not at all,” Opaline said. “Just don’t do anything permanent. I may have a use for them soon.”
Dirty grinned and grabbed Posey who screamed as she was dragged off.
“NOOOO! Arrgh! Not the torture chamber!” she yelled in fright. “What do you do in the torture chamber?”
There was only one answer really. Torture, but of what kind? The others watching weren’t sure they wanted to know. At least Opaline had given orders not to do anything permanent. But Windy and the others were still very concerned for what their friend might go through in there.
Stats
Page generated in 0.027 seconds
Total duration
1,003 users online
234,277 hits today, 1,996,409 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Even in the Next Generation they won't follow the first steps of their ancestors are parents or any family members
Yeah Queen Chrysalis cozy glow Tirek King Sombra Storm King
Just like Twilight I'm sure she believed in Redemption
What a sick twisted bi
Poor Posey 😔
So it looks like the others are pretty cautious with Fireforge but it looks like he has an amnesia or something but the other still can't take any chances but Sunny doesn't think he's not that evil that maybe he can be a help and flurry heart give out the message that they will do everything they can to defend the town and not only that defeating Opaline but after that Sunny wanted to make sure that he was okay which that was sweet of her to do that meanwhile Opaline is busy taking the Cutie Marks of the ponies who were kidnapped but then she heard the news that her son was taken and she is not too happy about it and what's going to happen to the other kidnapped ponies I guess we'll find out next time
It would be very MLP if Opaline did get reformed. Though… not sure if she will…
11727116
Yeah and then an even more evil villain will take over.
11727116
11727135
And then we'd see a nice new stone sculpture addition to the community garden. 😁