Chapter 3: All Points Converge on Canterlot
"Lord Second, he who controls our fate,
From across the stars came to liberate,
He and the First, mighty and proud,
Did battle with the tyrant and tore her down.
The scourge of the Gods, wicked Harmony,
Ceased their crusade and trapped Second eternally,
And First made the ultimate sacrifice,
When his weapon was taken, along with his life.
The Human of Legend saw past the facade,
And saw that ponykind was trapped in their ways.
He spared them all when they made their mistakes,
Because he didn't want an innocent to die in hate.
But when push came to shove he was shown no mercy himself,
Him trapped in stone, and First trapped in Hell.
But the day will arrive, when Celestia dies,
And the Human will be the one, to make the sun rise."
-The Legend of Second, from the Brotherhood of Man's holy book The Liberator.
***
Second applied the handbrake and the car shuddered to a halt. There was a red light ahead. To the right, an orange earth pony pulling a cart of fruit stared at him, and on the sidewalk to the left, a group of upper class unicorns had stopped to gawp. Who could blame them? It was not every day one saw a big red Ferrari rolling down the streets of Canterlot, especially not one being driven by someone who was, for all intents and purposes, a mythical creature.
"'Sup," said Second, "I don't suppose any of you fine ladies know the way to the residential area, do you? I'm looking for a friend of mine."
The unicorns all raised a hoof and pointed in the same direction, still staring at him.
"Thank you very much. Your help will not be forgotten."
The light went green again. Second slammed a foot down on the pedal. The wheels began to spin and screech against the ground. He released the brake and the car went flying down the street, faster than the even the speediest pegasus racer, leaving a trail of smoke and black marks on the road in it's wake. The unicorns all looked at each other for a moment.
"Commoners," one of them concluded.
"Mmmhmm."
"Indeed."
"Most certainly!"
***
Explodey McGee sat in an empty room, balanced on top of a small wooden chair and sitting up at a table. A single glass jug of water and a cup rested on it, which Explodey was eyeing curiously. On the other side of a one way window, Princess Celestia and her sister waited patiently.
"I can't believe anypony could actually do it," Luna commented, "Who steals an entire statue? Honestly? How did the guards not notice? This is the sort of thing we should have picked up on immediately."
"And yet we didn't," Celestia replied, "This is the work of the Brotherhood of Man if ever I saw it. They found some way to bring back Second, and now he's trying to send oblivious suicide bombers against us. He never used to outright attack us. Usually he would wait for our move before he completely wrecked everything. He's making a pre-emptive strike this time. That worries me. He's upped his game."
"But who is this pony?" the night princess asked, "He doesn't seem like typical Brotherhood fare. If he's one of them then their standards are slipping."
"More to the point, why is he even bothering?" her sister added, "Nothing can kill us except the Reaper's Horn, which I'm fairly certain was also stolen by the Brotherhood for exactly this purpose. A bomb, even a pony bomb, couldn't even harm us, let alone kill us. If he has something that actually can do some damage, why isn't he using that instead? What is he thinking?"
"This could be another of his mind games," Luna suggested, "Remember how he always used to claim that he could destroy ponykind with words?"
"I'm still not sure whether he was bluffing about that or not," Celestia replied, "I mean, just because he didn't use those powers doesn't necessarily mean he never had them. Considering the powers he did have, why would he need to lie about his capabilities?"
Luna shrugged.
"Put on a show maybe? He always struck me as the theatrical type. I suppose it makes sense though. If he could destroy the world just by talking, I don't think he would. He wasn't evil in the sense that Time Worm or the Crystal Demon was. Second was just vain and stupid, and desired to use his powers to just have fun at the expense of everypony else. He was more of a Discord than a Sliske is what I'm saying."
The door opened behind them. A familiar white earth pony stallion with a short blonde mane entered and bowed to princesses.
"Rise captain," said Luna, "What have you determined?"
"Nothing," Chain Mail replied, "I wrote to the place where he claimed to work, and they don't know him or his boss 'Brick'. I searched for his parents' names, but there have been no ponies named 'Master Exploder' for well over four hundred years, and nopony called Voltorb ever. I found no identification on his person, the house he claimed to live in was occupied by a family who says they've never heard of him, and even what little clothing he's wearing is custom made. It's like this pony didn't exist until just today."
The three of them looked into the room beyond. Explodey turned to look directly at them and waved.
"Can he see us through the window?" Luna asked.
"No ma'am," the guard captain answered, "This thing is one way. On his side it looks like a mirror."
Celestia tilted her head so that she was looking at Explodey sideways. In the room, Explodey mimicked her. Testing her theory, the solar princess then walked to the other side of the giant window/mirror, and observed as Explodey's eyes followed her. She turned to look at the captain.
"'One way', huh?"
***
Gold Coin and Mystic Chant galloped over the hills. In the distance behind them, Sparkle Manor was rapidly shrinking. The mansion was far from any major city, so they had a lot of featureless ground to cover before they could stop anywhere. They had already concluded that Soft Spoken was not in the mansion anymore. They had no choice now but to move on.
"...You know..." Gold Coin panted, "I haven't run like this...in over...twenty years..."
"...Why not?" Mystic Chant gasped, equally breathless.
"It was twenty years ago...that I stopped working...on the farm..."
"You worked on a farm?"
"Yeah...Sweet Apple Acres..." Gold Coin paused momentarily to take a deep breath, "My family...we run the farm...and we also run the company...that sells the apples...Dear First my sides hurt..."
Mystic glanced at the stallion's cutie mark as they ran on. It looked familiar to him. It was a symbol of an apple with a bite taken out of the side, with an Equestrian bit lodged in it at the bite mark. At this point, the two stopped running to catch their breath again. This time, Gold Coin slumped to the ground, unable to carry on.
"...Damn...I'm really out of shape for an earth pony...If my father could see me now he'd be shaking his head in disappointment."
The ground exploded nearby.
"HE WOULDN'T BE THE ONLY ONE GOLDIE!"
The two ponies turned to face their attacker. At the top of another small hill nearby, Ancient Tome glared down at them. The Reaper's Horn floated in front of him, surrounded by a faint purple glow. More than that though, the bearded stallion was actually dressed in battle gear. He had dropped his usual monocle and formal attire in favour of star patterned magician robes and a pointy hat which dropped over at the top, and just inside his cloak was a sheathed sword. The blue unicorn didn't know what to make of it, but the older stallion recognised those robes as the uniform of the Equestrian Royal Guard's elite warlocks.
"Tomey..." he said, "Are you...Those robes...?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact I am," Ancient Tome replied, "You don't get to become a knight of the realm without wearing one of these first! I put in six years of service for them, so that when a situation like this would come up, I'd be ready."
Gold Coin gulped.
"Now Tomey, let's not be too hasty here," he said nervously, "You don't want to do anything you'll regret..."
The Reaper's Horn pointed right at him.
"I'm not going to regret a thing. This ends here and now. And you Mystic! You're coming back to the house with me. I knew I shouldn't have brought this whole brotherhood thing home with me, because I knew that something EXACTLY like this would happen. That's called foresight."
"Tomey, it's not-"
"Shut up you! Don't think I forgot that you were the one who suggested bringing Second back to my house! I'm only in this situation with you, Mystic and Softy right now because of what YOU did. You ruined my life! I really, really didn't want this, but you force my hoof."
The Reaper's Horn rose.
"I'm sorry Goldie, but it's over."
"Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head..."
The voice sounded like it came from everywhere and nowhere all at once. Tome reacted suddenly to it, spinning around as if he thought it were behind him and then facing his two hostages again. The voice didn't betray it's origin though.
"Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed..."
Ancient Tome's eyes drooped. Mystic and Gold Coin felt their own doing the same.
"Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head..."
Mystic dropped.
"Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed..."
"No..." Tome mumbled, "I don't wanna!"
He began to stagger.
"Drifting...off to sleep..."
"No!"
"Leave the exciting day behind you..."
Gold Coin fell to the ground too. Ancient Tome was still resisting, but he was on his last legs.
"Drifting...off to sleep..."
"Guh..."
"Leave the exciting day behind you..."
"...Softy?"
"Hush now, quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head. Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed..."
That was it. Ancient Tome crumpled to the floor and lost consciousness. With the three ponies all out cold, a chocolate brown earth pony emerged from over a nearby hill and smiled down at the victims of his singing. Wasting no time, he grabbed the Reaper's Horn in his teeth and ran over to Gold Coin and Mystic Chant to wake them up.
"I still got it."
***
"Yo Sliske, you slimy bastard! Get out here!"
The door opened, and a large white earth pony poked his head through to see what was going on outside. Upon seeing a being who appeared to be the human of legend sitting in a red...something...he quietly backed away into the house and gently closed the door again.
"Mom!" Broad Sword called, "Lord Second is outside our house!"
"That's nice dear!" his mother replied from upstairs.
Dr. Fluttershy wandered into the hallway curiously, the remains of their stew still smeared over his face and dripping off his oversized fangs. Somehow, the guard still didn't notice that he even had fangs.
"What isssssssss it Broad Sword?" he asked.
"Take a look outside," the guard answered.
Sliske raised an eyebrow for a second, but nevertheless walked over to the window in the front room and peaked through it. On the other side, an ugly hairless Diamond Dog riding what could only be a parade float waved cheerfully back at him. He slipped back inside.
"I wassssssssss not prepared for thisssssssssss possssssssssibility," said Sliske, "You wait here. I will go sssssspeak with him."
He opened the front door again and stepped outside, leaving the quivering guard behind, while he strolled down the pathway and stopped in front of the red thing.
"Yessssssssssss human?"
"Ah, so you do know who I am," said Second, "I was worried for a second that I might have had to make a full introduction. After all, you were before my time."
"I know all, human," Sliske replied, "Thisssssssssss world isssssssss ignorant and weak. One day I ssssssssshall rule over all of Equesssssssssssstria!"
"Cool story bro. Anyway, I came here to ask if you might want any help with that?"
"With what?"
"Taking over Equestria. I have a bone to pick with Celestia too. I thought we could be partners?"
"Partnerssssssss? I wasssssssss rather hoping to posssssessssssss you inssssssstead of the princcccesssssss...After all...Your power holdsssss ssssssssso much more promisssssssssse..."
"Trust me, you don't want that. I know dark secrets. If you get inside my head, most of it will drive you insane. More so. Have you ever heard of Cthulhu?"
"Yesssssss."
"Yeah, well I'm like...ten of him."
Sliske grinned.
"That jussssssst makesssssss you ssssound more appealing..."
The snake pony thing leaned in towards him. Second backed away slightly and pushed him back with his palm.
"Sorry, but you're really not my type," said Second, "I know I said 'partners' but I didn't mean it like that."
Sliske frowned.
"We'll sssssssssssssee about that human...Give it sssssssome time..."
"...I was joking Sliske..."
The alien parasite leaned in again.
"I wasssssssn't..."
Second pushed him away again.
"Yeah...Anyway, do you want to help me overthrow the princess or not?"
"I would like that..."
"Right...Well get your things if you have any and get in the car. We have a twenty minute drive from here up to the castle, and there will be palace security to get by once we're up there, but if we get going now and beat the traffic, we should be able to overthrow the Equestrian government before lunchtime."
"...I ssssssshall need to sssssay goodbye to my asssssssocccccciatesssssss firsssst..."
"Understandable. I'll be waiting out here. Just give the word when you're ready to go."
***
"Gotta stop Second, gotta stop Second, gotta stop Second, gotta stop Second."
In the distance, the shoreline of Equestria came into view.
***
Explodey McGee had rearranged the room. Captain Chain Mail just stared at the scene when he walked in. The table had been flipped upside down and the chairs that used to be tucked under it now balanced on the legs of the table. It looked like one of those modern art projects. The unicorn responsible appeared from behind the sculpture carrying the jug of water from earlier with his magic.
"Hi captain!" he said, "Like what I did with the place?"
Chain Mail looked around the room.
"How did you do it in such a short time?" he asked, "I was looking into this room from beyond that one way mirror just a minute and a half ago."
"I don't know how I do it. It just sorta happens."
Chain Mail tilted his head.
"You are a strange one," he said, "No offence."
"None taken," the unicorn replied, "Hey! Do you like to play games?"
"Uhh..."
"I thought so! I love to play games too! Here, let's play hangman!"
"Hang-what?"
"Hangpony."
Explodey pointed a hoof at the wall behind Chain Mail. Upon turning around, the guard saw that there were now eight underscores scribbled onto the wall.
"Where did you get the pencil to do that?" he asked.
"I found one stuck to the underneath of the table with a piece of gum!"
Chain Mail sighed.
"Fine. A."
The unicorn levitated a pencil out and scribbled two 'A's on the wall.
_A____A_
"Umm...E?"
His partner shook his head and drew a vertical line on the wall next to the underscores, along with a letter 'E'.
"I?"
_A__I_A_
"O?"
A horizontal line joined the vertical at the top, and an 'O' joined the 'E' from earlier.
"U?"
_A_UI_A_
Chain Mail turned to Explodey and gave him an odd look.
"This is a real word, right?" he asked.
"Of course it's a real word!" Explodey replied indignantly, "What do you take me for?"
"...S."
***
"Doc? What's going on? What does he want?"
Sliske ignored Broad Sword's question and looked around the room for a moment.
"Did I bring anything with me?" he asked.
"Uh...Nope. I don't think so."
"Hmm. Sssssssseems I'll be leaving now then."
"Leaving for where? Why is there a human outside my house? Come on Fluttershy, tell me what's going on? I feel left out here."
"I am off to overthrow the princccccccccessssssssss. Lord Ssssssssssecond has offered a partnersssssship."
"Oh," the guard replied, "Umm...That's unexpected. I never took you for the rebel type Dr. Fluttershy."
"I'm not a rebel. And my name issssssssn't Fluttersssssshy."
"Oh?"
"My real name is Ssssssssssslisssssssssske. Sssssssslissssssske the Dessssstroyer. Alsssssso known asssssss Sssssssslissssssske the Ssssscourge and Sssssssssslissssske of Sssssssseven Hundred Sssssssoulsssss."
"...Interesting name. Why didn't you just introduce yourself as that in the first place?"
"Becaussssssse I am a famoussssssss hisssssssstorical figure, and I did not want you to know my identity..."
"Famous historical figure? You?"
"Yesssss! Have you not heard the legend of Sssssssslissssssske of Ssssseven Hundred Sssssoulsssss?"
"Can't say I have doc."
Sliske raised an eyebrow.
"Sssssssserioussssssssssly?"
"Nope. I've never heard of you."
Sliske frowned.
"Firssssssssst thing on my checklissssssssst once I rule Equessssssssstria is to raisssssse educational ssssssssssstandardsssssss."
"Cool. We need some social reform. I mean, twelve years ago, we elected the labour party, right? And they promised us that they would improve education."
"Umm..."
"Thing is, once they were in power, education standards actually dropped."
"Broad Ssssssword..."
"And they say that school rates are improving, but that's only because they keep lowering the standards on exam papers. It looks like more students are passing, but that's just because the papers got easier!"
"Broad Ssssssssword."
"And the thing is they promised they would fix it, but they never did! And I really don't want to have to elect another party for this. Labour may have screwed up, but my grandpa would turn in his grave if I voted conservative."
"Broad Ssssssssword!"
"What is it doc?"
"I don't care about your political opinionsssssssssss. Thissssss isssssss irrelevant. When I am in charge there will be no more electionssssssss period."
"Well that sounds awkward," the guard replied, "I mean, what are you going to do? How is one pony supposed to run the entire Equestrian government? You're going to need a number of elected officials to-"
"If you sssssssstop talking right now I will make you my persssssssssonal advisssssssssor when I'm in charge."
Broad Sword became completely silent. Sliske looked at him for a second, and then trotted back to the front door.
"Ssssssssssee you later. Goodbye Mrssssssssss Sssssssssword."
A voice called down from upstairs in response.
"Bye deary! Good luck with the revolution!"
Sliske closed the door behind him once he was outside, and then frowned.
'Good luck with the revolution'? Did that old mare actually hear and understand everything I said?
He glanced back at the house.
This is a weird family.
"Sliske! Get your ass in the car or I'm leaving you behind!"
Sliske snorted at Second as he jumped into the back seat.
"There isssssss no need for racccial sssssslurssssss."
"What are you talking ab- Oh. Right. Sorry."
***
The remaining ponies of the brotherhood all stood in a circle in the sitting room of Sparkle Manor. On the table in front of them, three unicorns laid unconscious. Two of them were the guards sent to keep watch over Soft Spoken, the old gray stallion Sharp Mind and the even older lavender mare Arcane Arts. The third pony was of course Arts' nephew, and leader of the Brotherhood of Man, Ancient Tome, who was mysteriously lacking the Reaper's Horn.
"What happened?" asked Frosty, "Who did this?"
The question was directed at the only remaining unicorn, Chameleon. She glared at the group.
"We have a traitor among us," she said, "Possibly two. Soft Spoken and Mystic Chant both escaped their confinement, Spoken's guards were found knocked out, and Mystic's room wasn't even guarded at all when we went to check. Tome obviously knew what was going on, because he went out to confront the escapees. He must have been defeated, because I found him like this some distance away from the house, and the Reaper's Horn is missing."
"Who betrayed us?!" shouted Sun Rise, "Where's Gold Coin?! I notice he's not here!"
"Woah, wait a minute," Iron Hoof interrupted, "Gold Coin isn't the only missing member. A lot of ponies walked out after Tome went crazy back there. I notice that Rail Way and Night Shroud are also absent."
"Actually, it's not the missing ponies we should be questioning," said Chameleon, "If I remember correctly, once I locked up Mystic Chant, I put Ze!zar in charge of guarding him!"
She pointed an accusatory hoof at the zebra, who looked offended.
"Gold Coin came to relieve me of my duty," he said in a very deep voice, "He claimed he was acting under Tome's orders."
"So it WAS Gold Coin!" Sun Rise screamed, "I KNEW it was him! I'm going to go slaughter that treacherous snake right now!"
The pegasus tried to take off, but was pulled back by the dim yellow glow of Chameleon's magic.
"You're not going anywhere until we can say for sure who did it," she said, "Until then, you're staying grounded."
"Well how do we find out who did it?" Frosty Morning asked.
"We have three witnesses. Duh," the yellow unicorn replied, "Iron, smack Tome around the face until he wakes up."
"With pleasure!"
THWACK!
"AGGGGGGGGHHHHH!"
***
Mystic Chant rested on Soft Spoken's back for the rest of the journey. The point of running in the first place was to escape the threat of Tome coming after them, but since he already had and they had defeated him, the three were now moving at a more leisurely pace. Gold Coin was exhausted after the last run and it took all his energy just to carry himself the distance, but Soft Spoken was carrying the little unicorn and the Reaper's Horn on his back. Considering his age, it was actually quite impressive to see him effortlessly keep up with the younger stallion.
"So then, Mr. Spoken," said Gold Coin, "What was that back there? How did you knock us all out?"
"It's my special talent," the butler replied, "Using my voice to influence others. The spoken word is a powerful tool in the right hands. With words, one can change opinions, give helpful advice, calm an angry opponent by appealing to his emotions...If you have the gift of language, and you can master your speech, master the art of getting the correct tone, the right volume, there is no end to what you can do. Anypony can be talked into anything. You just need to be able to convince them."
"So what is your cutie mark then?" the business pony pressed, "I'm not sure what that is. Some kind of pink thing?"
"It's a tongue,"
"Oh."
Gold Coin squinted.
"Yeah, I can see that...It's weird looking at a disembodied tongue though...When I first saw it I thought it was...something else..."
Soft Spoken frowned at his fellow earth pony.
"There are children present Mr. Coin."
"Sleeping children."
Soft Spoken stopped and turned to look at the unicorn laying on his back. His eyes were closed and he was breathing gently.
"Hmm. Point taken."
"Say, how long until we reach Canterlot?" Gold Coin asked.
"We should arrive at the city gates by two o'clock at this rate..."
"I'm sorry, I don't have a watch. What time is it now?"
"Can't you tell by the position of the sun?"
"Well I never needed to. I always had a clock in my office."
"Everypony always used to know how to tell the time by the sun! What are they teaching you kids in schools nowadays?!"
"I'm sorry, but I didn't go to scouts, grandpa. And don't give me all that. There is no way they took you outside and taught you how to tell time by the position of the sun in school when you're supposed to be learning useful things like maths and science. That's just ridiculous."
"That's exactly what they did. Second grade, they pulled us outside one summer, showed us all a chart of sun positions, and taught us how to read the time by it. That way, we'd never be clueless about the time of day if we didn't have a watch. You're right though, of course. After all, why would you ever need to know something like - Oh wait."
"Could you please just tell me the time?"
"It's half eleven."
Gold Coin sighed heavily.
"It's gonna be loooooong trip..."
***
"Gotta stop Second, gotta stop Second, gotta stop Second, gotta stop Second."
The very tip of the tallest tower of Canterlot began to emerge from the horizon. The dragon beat his wings faster and increased his speed.
***
"Uhhh...Z!"
"Lucky guess!"
Chain Mail exhaled. He had just barely stayed in the game. Though, now that he knew this word contained an 'Z', it was just even more confusing.
ZAQUILA_
"...Okay, I give up. There's no way I'm going to get this. What's the word?"
"Zaquilax!" Explodey said cheerfully.
Chain Mail just stared.
"I thought you were being honest with me!" he shouted, "You said it was an actual word!"
"It is an actual word," the unicorn replied, "Zaquilax was the name of the shaman who reunited North Zebrica and South Zebrica during the War of the Thousand Eyes back in '22. He was named as Zaquilax the Wise, and he ruled United Zebrica as king for over forty four years following the end of the war, before being succeeded by Zanaris the Judge."
Chain Mail just stared.
"You never said it was a name!" he protested.
"Well of course not! Otherwise you would have guessed it right away! I mean, it's so obvious if you know you're looking for a name."
...
"NO IT ISN'T!"
The door opened.
"Captain, did you manage to get any more inform-"
Celestia stopped dead in her tracks and looked around the room. Between the rearranged chairs and tables, the writing on the wall, and the fact that her guard was apparently playing hangpony when he was meant to be questioning the prisoner, the solar princess needed a minute to take it all in.
"Captain, can I speak with you a moment?"
"Uhh...Sure thing...your majesty...I'm sorry."
"Save the apologies until we get outside."
***
"Hey, what was wrong with those guards back there?"
"Never seen a human I don't suppose. Can't blame them for getting freaked out. But hey, they wanted a fight. It's not our fault if this world did freaky things to us. Pretty cool though."
"Hell yeah it is! We can superheroes together!"
"Hah! That'll be the day! I know earthly restrictions don't apply anymore, but you reach a certain age and you just don't want to exert yourself anymore."
"You're getting old."
"I've been getting old for years Anthony..."
"Woah!"
A sudden jolt shook Second back into the present.
"What isssssssss the problem?" asked the creature in the back seat.
"Nothing."
The gate into the palace grounds was rapidly approaching. Two clueless guards stood either side of it gawping at them. Neither they nor that pathetic gate would hold back the car. They could ram through it, though not without damage to the vehicle. It was a shame to wreck his masterpiece, but sacrifices had to be made.
"Alright Sliske! Let's cause some anarchy!"
***
Ancient Tome had a face like somepony who had just learned Santa Claus wasn't real. The rest of the brotherhood stood around him. Tome's eyes met Frosty Morning's for a moment, but nopony said anything. Chameleon stood over the grey stallion and looked down at him. Tome had to tilt his head back to see her.
"Sir," she said, "We found you unconscious some distance from the mansion. Mystic and Softy have escaped, and we can't find the Reaper's Horn anywhere. What's going on?"
Tome turned back to staring at the ceiling.
"Tomey?" said Frosty, "This is important. We need to know-"
"Go away."
"What?"
"Everypony go away!"
The brotherhood members exchanged looks of confusion, apprehension, annoyance and several other things, but they all agreed it best to listen. Reluctantly, the group all walked away out the door to go discuss things elsewhere. Frosty and Iron Hoof stayed behind.
"Tomey," said Iron, "Whatever's wrong, you can always talk to us about it. We're your friends. Right?"
"I said GO AWAY!"
The two remaining ponies complied and made for the door. Frosty stopped mid way through and Iron waited on the other side.
"If you want to talk, we'll be upstairs."
They closed the door.
Alone with his thoughts, Ancient Tome climbed off the table and looked around the sitting room. There were still plenty of tea cups and jugs and kettles from earlier when Softy had came in with the drinks, many of which were still half full and now cold. Two other unicorns laid unconscious on his table, auntie and Sharp Mind. He ignored them and walked over to the fireplace. On the mantelpiece were several framed photographs.
He smiled as he looked at some of them. There he was at Frosty and his brother's wedding, taking a picture with the happy couple. Frosty was showing, and his brother had a big stupid grin that wouldn't have been out of place on Iron. There was a solo picture of his brother as well, an older one from before when he met her. He was still grinning, but this one was more subdued, because it was for a class photo.
He looked at another picture. There was his own wedding day. He looked so young without his beard. Sure, his coat was still grey, that was just how he was born, but his mane had colour back then. It was chocolate brown. In his younger years he sort of looked like the inverse Soft Spoken. His new wife smiled out from the photo. She was a pegasus, the same dark blue as Mystic was now. Oh how his parents had disapproved. He chuckled slightly at a memory of his mother squawking madly upon hearing the news.
"You?! Marry a pegasus?!" she had said, "'Tis a disgrace to the family name! We're Sparkles! We're a unicorn family! Have been that way for over a thousand years!"
"Hah!" he had answered, "We haven't actually even been called Sparkle for centuries! Like it even matters!"
"I-! You-! Insolent boy!"
His father laughed.
"Keep it up son, this is the most fun I've had in years!"
He missed them too. He missed everypony. Mother and father, his dear wife Velocity, his brother Mystic Rites for whom his son was named. It was sad to see them all gone now. Looking at the old family photos, he saw that everypony from before his generation was gone now, auntie seeming to be the sole exception, and he was never particularly close with her.
His attention turned back to his generation. Iron Hoof and him could be seen together in a photo taken at their graduation together below, and in another picture he could see the Gold Coin's uncle and his father shaking hands. Squinting at the background, he could just about see himself as a young colt, head just reaching into the shot. He was talking with a much younger version of Chameleon. He remembered that he thought she was a bitch even back then.
Finally, he looked at the one picture he couldn't avoid. Mystic Chant, just hours after he was born. He and his wife were both laying on the bed with the young foal, who was blindly wriggling around in front of them. He remembered the promise he made back then.
"Promise me you'll always be there?"
"Yeah...I'll always protect you both, no matter what."
His mind back in the present, he glanced over his shoulder at the two unconscious unicorns on the table.
"Get out of the way son!"
"I'm not going to regret a thing. This ends here and now."
"Move boy!"
"I'm your father you little ingrate."
"I don't want to ever see you disobey me again."
"Take him to his room and lock him in there, windows as well."
"Damn Tomey, that was harsh."
"You just don't do that!"
"You disgust me."
"You're a monster!"
The old unicorn slumped to the floor and laid in front of the unlit fireplace. He stared off sideways at the legs of the table.
"I'm such a failure..."
***
"...Fortunately though, the griffin ambassador turned out to be a good sport about the whole ordeal. He said he had kids of his own, so he understood. Ponies and their race really aren't so different at heart. They're a good sort, you just need to reach out to them."
"I know what you mean," Gold Coin replied, "I remember when I was little there used to be a griffin merchant that would occasionally pass by Ponyville. Me and my brothers were always excited whenever he came to town, because he always had the most interesting stories to tell. I remember there was this one tale he told me about a trip he took back east, where he discovered this swamp land populated with super intelligent frogs..."
Soft Spoken stopped him.
"Wait, do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"It sounds like the flapping of wings...I hope it's not Sun Ri- AAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!"
The old stallion turned around as he spoke, and was suddenly shocked when the source of the flapping noise entered his field of vision. A dragon, a massive beast easily as tall as the mansion the group had just fled from, swooped overhead. It didn't seem to notice them, and that was probably a good thing.
The wind from the motion of it's wings blew across the grassy hills and swept at the two ponies. On Soft Spoken's back, little Mystic Chant slowly opened his eyes. At first he thought it was dark out because it was night time, but then he looked up and saw the scaly underbelly of the creature, and realised that it was dark because the immense size of this being blocked out the sun itself. It was only for a second, and soon the shadows passed, but it's effect was felt.
The group stared as the dragon moved past them towards Canterlot. Seeing it in the sun, they could see that it's scales were purple and it's fins were green, and it also became obvious that it was huge even by dragon standards. Some of them didn't grow to be a third that size!
"What in Second's moustache was that?!" shouted Gold Coin.
"Softy?"
It was at this point the old stallion realised his passenger had awoken. The blue unicorn was now holding tightly onto the back of his neck, as if he was afraid of falling off.
"Softy? What was that?" he asked.
"That was Spike," he answered.
"Spike?"
Gold Coin looked at the old pony as well, equally eager for an explanation. The butler just gulped.
"...He's a living legend. They call him Spike the Eternal, but over the centuries he's also been called Spike the Harbinger, the Crystal Scourge, the Southern Tide, the Demon's Match, the Warmonger's Bane, the Light in the Sky, the Sea Wall, the Ever Present, the Aspect and the Sword and Shield. He's spent most of his long life defending ponykind.
As you can probably tell by some of the names, he's more than a little famous for his heroics in the islands of the Southern Ocean. He was named the Southern Tide for an incident in which he prevented a tsunami from wiping out a small coastal village by freezing the entire thing with his breath and pulling the ice back out to sea, and he got the name Demon's Match from an incident where a volcano spirit threatened to destroy an island because the native ponies refused to sacrifice victims to it, so he challenged it to a duel and fought the spirit non-stop for an entire year until it eventually gave up in exhaustion.
Basically, he's the last resort of ponykind. Since we don't have the Elements of Harmony anymore like we did a thousand years ago, now whenever something big comes up, they call him. That's how he got the name Spike the Harbinger; His appearance heralds a crisis too great for mere mortals to survive on their own. And apparently, such a crisis is occurring in Canterlot."
Gold Coin bowed his head, and Mystic Chant buried his face in the old stallion's mane. Soft Spoken glared at the yellow earth pony.
"Still believe it was worth freeing the human?"
***
Princess Luna wasn't used to daytime rule. At all. Even after all these years, it still felt slightly unnatural to her to be awake during the daylight hours instead of in her own domain. That didn't matter though. Right now, Celestia needed her to do this. Both Sliske and Lord Second were out there somewhere, and she was dedicating all her time to investigating both. This Explodey McGee fellow in particular caught her attention after he had wandered in earlier that day offering to demolish the annex.
The whole thing ate up a lot of her time, and unfortunately it seemed that Celestia was unable to perform her usual daytime duties right now. Hence Luna's presence. It was a rare occasion that she had to interact with this many ponies. Changes in social conventions meant that royal business and legal matters were now handled at night time as well, but the number of ponies who came to see the lunar princess in her night court were still far fewer than what her sister had to deal with. It was almost a relief really.
"...Thank you for listening your majesty."
"Huh? Oh yes, of course. It was a pleasure, my good sir!"
I forgot that pony was even here for a moment.
The speaker, a pegasus in a bow tie, nodded in acknowledgement and hovered back towards the huge double doors at the end of the chamber. As it opened, one of the day guards waited on the other side. The pegasus passed him by, and the guard stepped into the room. Rather than approach the throne like most did however, this one chose to call to her from the end of the room.
"Your highness!" the guard bellowed, "We have a situation out by the main gates! Two creatures are attacking the castle!"
The dark alicorn didn't wait a single second longer. She pushed off from the throne and launched herself through the air, using her wings to land gracefully next to the guard at the far end of the chamber.
"Let us go meet these assailants."
***
"...Captain..." Celestia began, "I don't know how to say this. I've never had to tell anypony this before, but...You don't play games with prisoners when you're meant to be interrogating them. You just don't."
"I'm sorry your highness!" said the guard, "It's just that he wanted to play a game, and he was just so cheery about it. I couldn't help it. His happiness is infectious."
The solar princess smiled.
"Captain, I understand, believe me," she replied, "I knew a pink earth pony some time ago who was exactly the same. There's nothing wrong with befriending a prisoner. I more than anypony know how important true friendship is, and I would never deny you that. Just please exercise some restraint and don't let it affect your work. You have breaks, and his entire stay here is nothing but one long break for him. You can spend time with him then. However, when you're working, please make sure you get your work done."
Chain Mail gulped.
"Yes! Your majesty!" he said nervously, "I will remember that in future!"
"Besides, if he's innocent in all this then we can let him go soon," the princess continued, "Then you'll both be free to play all the hangpony games you want."
The captain chuckled awkwardly.
"Yeah! Of course your highness!"
"SIR!"
A guard burst into the room. He noticed Celestia and quickly bowed.
"Ma'am."
He rose again.
"There's something going on at the front entrance to the palace! We've got two hostiles, one pony and the human."
Chain Mail reached down to a sheath hidden inside his armour and grabbed the handle of a sword in his teeth. He yanked it out, revealing a wicked sharp blade.
"Your highness, you stay here," he said, "I'll deal with them."
Now he was a different pony entirely. Where before there was nervous awkward laughter, now the captain was authorative and confident.
"No!" Celestia interrupted, "You're just a mortal. Second could destroy somepony like you! Let me go. I can take him."
"With all due respect your majesty," Chain Mail replied, "It's you that he's after, and don't forget that Second was famous for being one of the few who could ever harm you."
Celestia raised her wings and looked down at her underbelly. The scars were still visible.
"He might be able to hurt me, but he can do worse to you!" the princess argued, "Second is too powerful for you fight."
"Ma'am, remember who it was that defeated First?"
Celestia paused.
"It was a regular earth pony, just like me."
"Captain..."
"Princess, stay safe. I'll be back."
***
"YAAAAH!" Second shouted, "Come at me you poor fools! Try your luck against an immortal! I dare you!"
A single guard, either extremely brave or extremely foolish, rushed at the human with his spear. His comrades shouted at him to stop as he tried, but he was already too late to slow his momentum. The human reached out and grabbed his spear by the tip, an action that should have harmed him in some way. Instead, Second yanked the spear away from the soldier as he continued to charge and twisted it around in the air, cracking the spear handle on the back of the guard's head and knocking him out cold.
"Come on!" he screamed, "Form an orderly line and I'll take you all one on one!"
The other entity slithered up to his side.
"I thought I wasssssssss going to be a part of thisssssss?"
"Later Sliske! These chumps are mine!"
"YOU'VE PICKED A BAD TIME TO START TROUBLE HUMAN."
Princess Luna appeared from the main entrance to the palace. She stood atop a large length of steps, and glared down at her adversary from above.
"Well, look who it is. Loony Luna! I haven't seen you since our last showdown. I see you're still using the royal Canterlot voice. What's up with that Luna? I thought you learned not to use that anymore well over a thousand years ago. Or did that one just slip your mind? Hmmm? No? Don't remember that one Nightmare Night in Ponyville?"
The alicorn's eyes widened in shock.
"How do you know about that?! That was from way before you ever showed up!"
"Oh please!" Second replied, "I'm practically the God of your entire world! You think I just showed up out of nowhere?! I was watching you all for ages before I arrived! I created some of you! My work is everywhere! Humanity's influence is everywhere! Looks at door handles, guitars, teacups! All designed with fingers in mind! And do you know why that is? ME!"
He spread his arms out either side of him.
"What are you going to do princess? Are you going to stop me? Because you can't! Your world just isn't built to contain me. It's simplified it's very physical laws so it can understand itself. You see the world around you, and you perceive me as a part of that world, but through my eyes I see the flaws that you cannot. We're all puppets in here Luna. Cogs in a machine. Invisible strings guide our movement. Now I can't cut those strings, but I can see them! And I see my place in this world, and I see yours!
"But that's the thing...We've outgrown our roles. The old rules don't apply anymore. A thousand years have passed. All those that played by the rules have also long since passed, and the restrictions that bind us and this world's penchant for cherry picking no longer matter! We're free of the shackles Luna! I'm free! And now that I'm free, I'm going to do whatever the hell I want, because who's going to stop me?"
Then it happened.
"AGGGGGGGGHHH!"
The human looked down at his chest. Something shiny and metal was sticking out of it, stained red at the end. Second looked positively shocked. Sliske, who until now had been focusing on the princess, turned to look at Second as he screamed. Behind him, a day guard in captain's armour held the handle of a sword in his teeth.
"You talk too much," said Chain Mail.
He pulled the sword back out of the human, who put a hand over the wound on his chest.
"No..."
He turned to face the captain.
"You can't be..."
Chain Mail raised an eyebrow.
"YOU CAN'T BE!"
"What isssssssss it Sssssssssssecond?" asked Sliske.
"The invisible strings are back Sliske! THEY'RE FUCKING EVERYWHERE!"
Second stumbled backwards.
"I don't understand!"
The human was openly crying now.
"Nothing makes sense! This world doesn't make sense! HOW THE FUCK DID YOU HIT ME?!"
"Your back was exposed," Chain Mail replied, "Rookie mistake, oh human of legend."
"But it doesn't work like that!" Second shouted, "It doesn't matter if I can't see you coming! I can't be hit by anyone! But there is one way! But you can't be! There's no way you could be what I think you are!"
"And what do you think I am?" Chain Mail asked.
Second glared angrily at him, hand still clutching his chest.
"SLISKE!" he shouted, "TACTICAL RETREAT!"
The human crouched down and sprung up. The ponies present could hardly believe their eyes. A creature that by all rights should have only jumped a short distance off the ground launched up into the air like a missile and landed right on the balcony of the tallest tower. The ponies all stared dumbly at the sight, jaws on the floor, except for Luna who had turned her attention to Sliske.
Sliske was too fast for her though. Before she could react, he ran right over to one of her guards and spat in his open mouth. His previous host Dr. Heart Beat immediately lost all his snake features and collapsed on the ground, while the guard, a pegasus pony with a white coat and blonde mane like all the others, suddenly sprouted fangs and a huge forked tongue.
"Sssssssssssee you later princcccccesssssssss."
Sliske spread his newly acquired wings and took to the sky after Second. The guards were all still rooted to the spot, except for Captain Chain Mail who strode over to Princess Luna and sheathed his sword.
"Orders ma'am?" he asked.
Luna thought for a second, but something caught her attention. A loud swooshing noise like the flapping of wings, distant but loud.
"Stand down," she ordered, "The cavalry has arrived."
The Chain Mail and Luna both walked down the steps to join the other guards, and stared up towards the tower with them. On the balcony, Lord Second and Sliske backed up. Being on the tallest tower, they could see what was coming at them. The guards waited in silent anticipation, until a massive purple dragon landed with a loud CRASH on the palace roof, his head level with the tower where Second and Sliske stood.
"SECOND!" he bellowed, "THIS IS FOR MY FRIENDS!"
A huge claw grabbed the human right off the balcony and launched him straight down. Luna jumped away. The human impacted with the concrete. At the point of impact a hole formed in the ground, and large ominous cracks spread out from it across the grounds in front of the palace. Luna tried to look into the hole to see how deep it went, but was completely dark inside.
She backed away as the human jumped out of it and landed on his feet, hand still on his chest.
"Finally a fair fight!"
END
Author's notes:
Happy new year I guess. Thanks go out once again to all my commenters on both sites this is hosted at. Technically three, but no-one comments on the DA version of this because it's not directly linked to from EQD and you have to go through my author page on Fimfiction to find the link. To be expected I guess. Fimfiction and docs' are easier to use anyway. I don't care.
For changes made this chapter, I tried to focus some more time on the pony characters and make their character more clear. I already started that last chapter, but I do it more here. Most people seem to understand the characters of the OC ponies, but I have had more than just one person say that they felt the ponies were under-developed. While I'm always a little suspicious of commenters who seem to hate this story with a passion when most others seem to at least think it's okay, I'm not about to call troll when they're giving valid criticisms, and being that how well a character's personality comes off to a reader is subjective, that is a valid point, and I will adapt to make sure I don't repeat the mistakes that those commenters pointed out in the first place.
I don't hold any illusions that I will ever fully meet the standards of every single reader, but you've gotta aim high. I knew what I was getting into when I decided to write a story in a genre this infamous.
As for the other characters, I want to make it clear that not every pony in the brotherhood is meant to be important. Some of them really are just background ponies. With the exception of Chain Mail, who I will be expanding on more next chapter, if any particular pony seems to not have any character to speak of, chances are they're just there to be there. And on the human; If he comes off like a douche in his last scene, that was intentional this time. Villain, remember?
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Why do I keep refeshing fimfiction right as stories update?
Article 2 this morning, and now human?
This is good. More
more more more more more more more.
Good... VERY Good
So Explodey was drawn and made up by second, right?
squee!
"What in Second's moustache was that?!"
It's not that often I want to see the only human die so badly.
Just a little passing doubt.
is Sliske a male or female entity?,or it has no gender whatsoever
because sliske acting flirtatious towards a male human while being a male itself or even being genderless adds a few extra points to the creepy factor in my eyes.
so second was an animator to MLP or what?
no one beats second he's completely badass
104298 Really?
I usually want the Gary Stus in question to perish at least a bit.
104308
Sliske's gender is whatever his host's is. He is a creepy mofo.
104395 GASP! Amazing theory has finally revealed itself! At least I wasn't the only one thinking of this while reading.
30,294 words across 3 chapters AND speedy updates?! SLOW THE F**K DOWN BITCH! JUST SLOW THE F**K DOWN! Think about yourself, for once...
Seriously though, thank you SO much for these huge chapter updates. I honestly can't imagine this fic being as great without
hail lord second
DAYUM IM SO FREAKING ENSRGETIC FROM THAT FIGHT SCENE IM PRACTICLY CONVULSING IN PURE ACTION
GIVE ME MORE BABY YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH
Okay i hope this story isn't going to end by having some lame-o OC pony with weak character development to kill the human. That'll be... dissapointing
You made me stay in home today just to read this. Confound these ponies, they drive me to skip school
105268
I tried to go into school today but they wouldn't let me.
So excited for the next chapter! You Sir are an lyrical artist, and this chapter is just as awsome as the first 2. AWSOME!
Just had a thought. I'm fine with Second being the villian, he seems quite good at it, but must he(is he going to?) meet a fowl end?
Princess Luna was the villian in the first two episodes as Nightmare Moon, but when she was defeated she was redeemed. I'm hoping something like that happens to Second, easy to tell i dont want him to end up like FIrst/Anthony. Once again though AWSOME STORY!!
105366
Spoilers, sorry. I have a number of different possibilities open for an ending, but I'm not sure which I'll be using. It'll depend on what the audience reaction is to events in later chapters.
I'm on Second's side in this whole thing. Judging from what has been revealed so far, they got trapped in the FiM world somehow and kind of just wanted to do their own thing (The "We're upset with you" scene suggested this to me... why would they try to go into a restaurant to pay for food if they were evil? They could just steal it.), but then people kept on attacking them over and over ("Usually he would wait for our move before he completely wrecked everything."), forcing the two to fight back to keep their freedom, never killing anypony.
Eventually, after a few years it seems that it built to a head and during an epic duel with Celestia a normal earth pony killed First, which seems to have caused Second to give up. Maybe after that happened they told him that they had a spell which could send him home (a clever gambit by Celestia, no doubt), which made him stop fighting and write that poem - based on something that First said to Second as he was dying on a field - when waiting for it all to be prepared, so that ponies can try and learn the value of compassion and acceptance, something that seems to have been denied him.
So he's standing there in front of the elements of harmony, not sure whether it would hurt or not ("flinching like he was about to be punched in the face") and waiting to just go home, when BAM! Statue-ification for a thousand years. Judging by his reaction when he was unfrozen last chapter, he was totally concious for all of that time.
I'd be pretty upset with Celestia as well, to be honest. All the ponies are dicks in this story.
This chapter is much improved from the others
inb4 Hasbro sees this and your villains become canon
105460
Interesting theory, and one you seem to have put a lot of thought into. I obviously can't confirm or deny any of it either way, but that's some nice guesswork.
that... was....so.....FAS DO RAH! but seriously i loved it! and lord second is the best in my oppinion, followed by sssssssilisssssssk.
but during the fight scene i was listening to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VBX7-Ub1C0 which made the fight even more epic.
105485
Fight scene? I didn't write a fight scene. Second gave a monologue and got stabbed.
The fight scene is next chapter.
Oh man, don't even try and please everyone. It's just not possible. Keep doing what you do, and you will gather the people who likes it, after a while.
Love the story, Second is bucking hillarious
-Glassed
105373
I uh... i think i would favor the Human not dying. I've kind of grown to like his character.
First and second acting like irresponsible dicks if I am honest. (no I am not trolling I am passing my character interpretation along), if the hints in the most recent chapter are true that first and second worked on MLP rather then mere bronies, then they acted irresponsibly all the more so, even if they didn't spread their 'eldritch' knowledge for fear of destroying pony civilization and didn't kill any of the ponies, they still abused the seemingly god-like powers Equestria bestowed upon them for their own selfish entertainment, thereby appearing as cruel, uncaring trickster gods, (like how Luna said Second was more of a Discord then a Time worm). Sssssilisssssk is an excellent character and the strangeness of the world through his alien eyes is a good counter-point to Second's view of the world (which we can sympathise with better since, well, he is human, and his eldritch knowledge is mundane knowledge all humans possess). I understand he is villain character and he does fill that role nicely, but his motivations seem childish, you could work an angle that it was repressed rage over First's death stewing in his consciousness for those thousand years in the illustriously exclusive Abominations-to-ponykind-which-have-been-turned-to-stone club, in order to make him, well, more Human.
I vote having Second turned into an alicorn by the end of this story, loses all his human abilities to apparently manipulate the world around him, while retaining his innate immortal, making him susceptible to pony magic.
Then have him be turned to a statue.
And put into a Celestia vault
On the moon.
Unless he gets redeemed somehow.
105539
You've pretty much nailed Second as a character. His motivations were childish and selfish, and it'll become apparent why in later chapters. First's death already significantly darkened the character, (compare him at the end of part 3 with him in the flashbacks in part 1), and I think that's as far as I'm going with it for now. Even with everything I've done so far to distance him from the concept, the term "Mary Sue" has been thrown around with reference to Second quite a bit, and the last thing I want to do is encourage that sort of thinking by making Second full of angst over the whole thing. That said, his motivations and goals in the present are very different to his ones in the past. He's moved beyond just dicking around now. Without First there's not much point. He's got a plan now, you'll just have to wait to see it unfold.
105532
Opinion on Second divides the fans of this story I find. I feel like that guy who wrote Death Note. He said he always wrote Light as an explicitly evil character, and the villain, but when the series came out he found that, surprise surprise, some people liked Light and wanted him to win in the end. I feel myself facing the same dilemma here. I think the trick here is figuring out which side winning would piss off the least ammount of people.
105557
haha. Yes, i get what you mean
105557
Just make both side to lose and piss off all the people.
Anyways, its been a pleasure to read this so far. Chapters are getting better and better. Keep up the good work
Cannot wait to read more!
What I'm trying to figure out is why descendants of the Elements are opposed to Celestia. What happened in the meantime to make them turn against her?
I've been following this story for about 2 hours after it was actually published. I have to say, this is one of the best fanfics I've ever read. It contains everything that I expect out of a brilliant story. Five stars for you, and any money that has been thrown at the screen should eventually make its way to you.
106327
I think that's the nicest thing anyone's said about the story so far. You've no idea how much it means to me that someone thinks that.
Oh man..i will be SOOOOOO disappointed if in the end of this fic human dies........
Maybe he is just being cranky after a thousandth year sleep
And the irony that Mane6 descendents are the ones who wants to overthrow Old Cely
fantastic
Wow, this story sure has brought on a lot of controversy and theories, both good and bad. It really is an enjoyable story, and while Second could be considered a "Gary Stu" (male Mary Sue), it makes sense with his a role. The question is, what the hell caused him and First to be dicks in the first place? Sure, now he probably wants revenge or something, but that doesn't explain why they decided to do a bunch of stupid shit the first round. It's obvious they had some form of knowledge of the show beforehand, but of they were fans or part of the staff, you'd think they would try to make friends with the ponies. Heck, I'd figure even a lot of non fans (haters excluded, which could be a possible motive for them) would try to. Even if they were attacked at first, I'd think they would try to explain things and make peace. However, I don't know exactly what they did when they first came to Equestria. From what First said in the flashback, it sounds like they DID try, or at least wanted, to be good. Either way, from what I've seen so far, Celestia is in the right going against him, especially now. But there's still a lot of stuff in the dark, so I can't say about what happened in the past. Basically, he certainly needs to be defeated now, but during the past something may have made him bad, but for now we don't know.
I'm really interest in seeing what's the Brotherhood of Man's problem with Celestia. Yes, we know they think she's a tyrant, but what made them think that? Especially considering the leader is obviously descended from Twilight freaking Sparkle, FORMELY CELESTIA'S PERSONAL STUDENT! Not to mention the others are hinted at being related to the other Elements. Either they somehow forgot their relation to the elements (which I'd find hard, considering the Sparkle family is big on name and who the Elements were seem to be common knowledge) or over the course of time history got screwed up and they believe something different about their ancestors. Of course, it could be something totally different. Who knows, that's just my guess.
What really has me interested is Second's response to being stabbed. I want to know what exactly does he think Chain Mail is? I'm really hoping that will be revealed next chapter. Seriously, I can't wait for the next chapter. HiE really is an infamous genre of fanfiction, but it's usually more likely to suceed if it's a crossover or the human is a villain (or, you know, sometimes both). Surprisingly, I've haven't seen much of the latter used. It's either the first, or they make the human super ultimate hero of Equestria. And that's very, very hard just to get away with.
IRL (you know what I mean), honestly, yeah, I feel a human could be a very powerful creature to ponies (maybe not like Second or First, who could defy the laws of Equestrian physics), not because of physical prowess (although it's a big plus if the theory that Equestrian magic is weak against humans was true), but because of their mentality. Ponies have magic, but going based on just the show, they're pretty ignorant compared to us. "Heart's Warming Eve" proved it's not as bad as I thought, but comparatively, yeah, humans are more hardened to evil things and have more will to do what has to be done, even it it's bad. The mere thought of killing someone, no matter the reasons, is almost unspeakable to most ponies, while many humans are more willing to kill if backed into a corner.
Alright, I'm done rambling. Please take note that last paragraph is going just based on the show, and all this grimdark fanfiction totally obliterates that theory. Moving on, this story is definately one I'll be keeping my eye on in the future. School gets back in tomorrow, so that's going to be a hinderance, but I'm going to try my best to keep in the loop. This story is 5 star material in my opinion, and from the looks of things, it shows no signs of dropping in quality. Hope to see a new chapter soon. Peace.
P.S. I'm impressed that little "political opinions" scene didn't cause an uproar in the comments. I haven't seen the EQD ones, but here seems fine. Well done bronies, I'm pleased with this.
107142
! I applaud your ability to articulate your thoughts clearly.
Holy crap thats a lot of text
I really love this story! Amazingly amazing as an amazing pie with amazing filling and amazing sauce on top. Anybody not liking this story who wants it deleted, just get
Big Mac in and tell 'em "Eenope."
107142
Bronies compared to most other fandoms I find don't get into arguments quite as easily.
109690
Hence Soft Spoken's rant.
So he is an animator for the show?
I really don't want the human to lose, and I kinda wish that he could just at least make peace; and live and let live... Also, I honestly want this to be a real episode, much of the time this makes me think of the actual show.
HA! LOONY LUNA! YES!