1.4 Everything I Learned, I Learned in War
Disclaimer: I do not own Hasbro, My Little Pony or any characters, places, or events in the extended cannon, although it would be awesome if I did.
Memories of a Lost Time Chapter Four:
Everything I Learned, I Learned in War
“This is troublesome. It appears that the Weaver of Fates seeks to find you and snuff you out before you can complete your work. No matter, he is already too late. The strands of fate are already tangling.”
Fluttershy couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. She just stared. And stared. And screamed. Oh, did she scream. And scream. And scream. That one sentence played through her head. Over and over. “You used to be a pegasus.” At first she had sat down in disbelief. No, this stallion had no wings. He had no scars on his side from wings. Then Twilight had dispelled the illusion hiding Streak’s scars. There was a thick, long scar along his side, running from shoulder to hip. His wings weren’t just removed, they were torn off, and violently.
And Fluttershy had screamed. And screamed. And screamed.
No, Streak couldn’t be a pegasus. Pegasai have wings. They have wings. Her vision narrowed until she was just looking at the scar across his side. This didn’t happen. Not in Equestria. Finally, mercifully, her vision blackened.
* * *
Streak looked at Fluttershy’s unconscious form with a sad expression on his face. He didn’t want this. He didn’t want to drag innocents into his fight. He wanted the fight to be between him and her, but instead Twilight and her friends were drug into this whole mess. Already, he had mentally scarred one of them, possibly for life.
“We need to get her back to Ponyville,” Streak said, breaking the silence that had descended in the absence of Fluttershy’s terrified wailing. “Get her out of this forest.”
“Dear,” Rarity disagreed. “Our first priority is getting something to cover that nasty gash. As much as it pains me to say it, Fluttershy can wait. You can’t.”
As if by magic, Streak felt a stinging in his side. He shrugged, “I have about five minutes of adrenaline left, and we have nothing to use as bandages.”
Applejack butted into the conversation, “Weren’t we going to find this feller for the Princess? Shouldn’t returning him to prison be the first priority?”
Pinkie spoke up, “I don’t think we’re turning him in, are we Twilight?”
By this time, Twilight had returned from being sick in the forest just outside of the clearing. She looked at Pinkie in surprise, “How did you know?”
“I read ahead in the chapter, silly!” Pinkie replied.
Streak, choosing to ignore Pinkie’s Pinkieness, hoofed Twilight a fair sized branch. “I’m going to be useless in about four minutes, so if we run into trouble, hit it with this.”
Rarity looked appalled, “We will do no such thing! That is so—” She trailed off when Twilight picked it up in her magic and gave it a test swing. “—uncouth,” she finished lamely. “Really, darling?”
“There is much worse coming than hitting a timberwolf with a stick,” Streak remarked.
“I’d rather be safe than sorry, Rarity,” Twilight replied.
“Are you going to be okay?” Streak asked her. “I know what you saw, and it isn’t pretty.”
“I’ll have time for a mental breakdown later,” Twilight replied calmly. “For now, I’m just focused on getting us out of the forest.” Streak looked at her sadly. “Rarity, could you put Fluttershy on your back?”
“Ah think I’m goin’ to be a little better at that than Rares, no offence,” Applejack commented.
“You’ll be needed to carry Streak. He’s a little heavier than Fluttershy,” Twilight said. At Applejack’s glare she continued; “I know you don’t like or trust him, but just go with it.”
“The fact ya think he’ll be carried is what worries me,” Applejack snapped at her.
“Applejack,” Twilight scolded, “He jumped between me and a timberwolf’s claws. I think he deserves a little bit of trust.”
Applejack grumbled, “Still don’t like ‘im.”
Even with her complaints, she agreed to carry him, but only if he couldn’t walk himself. After about five minutes of travel through the Everfree, Streak grunted and stumbled. When Twilight tried to figure out what was wrong, he just waved it off as nothing. After about two minutes of watching him grit his teeth and force himself to walk, Applejack had enough.
“Alright, partner! Up you go!” Applejack called out.
“What do you—” Streak started to ask. Applejack cut him off by ducking under his barrel and lifting him off the ground. “Wha–hey! Put me down!”
“No can do,” she replied. “Yer in no condition to be walkin' right now.”
The rest of the trip to Fluttershy’s cottage was filled with indignant grumbling.
* * *
Fluttershy opened her eyes to see that she was still in her cottage. She sighed in relief. That was all just a nightmare. She’d have to talk with Rarity about it. It felt so... real.
She her bedroom door open. This was unusual. She heard somepony walk in, and turned her head to see Rarity walking in with a wet rag.
“Oh, Fluttershy! You’re awake!” Rarity exclaimed. “How do you feel?”
Fluttershy stared at Rarity in horror. Finally she answered Rarity’s question with her own quiet one, “That wasn’t a nightmare, was it?”
“I’m afraid not, dear,” Rarity draped the cool rag over Fluttershy’s forehead. “We’ve only been at your cottage for not five minutes. Streak’s about to start his story, if you want to join us.”
No. No. No. No no no no no. Say no! “Sure, I’ll be right out.” WHY?
Rarity smiled kindly, “I’ll tell them to wait for you.”
* * *
Dear Princess Celestia,
Spike again. Twilight’s at it again. She and her friends are tearing the town apart looking for Streak, although I personally suspect he skipped town. I’m worried, however, if they do find him, what would he do to them?
Your Faithful Student’s Number One Assistant,
Spike
* * *
Streak smiled encouragingly as Fluttershy joined the semicircle that had formed in front of his prone form. Twilight had taken this rest period to study him, now that she had the opportunity to. His coat was the grey of charcoal, while his mane was black as night. The exception to this was the rainbow streak running down the center of it.
His cutie mark, however, was definitely interesting. It looked almost exactly like Shining Armor’s in shape, but in color it varied widely. It was a black shield with a rainbow stripe running down the center. Over the shield were three stars, one yellow, one red, and one blue.
Rarity, however, noticed her staring. “Darling, you know it is impolite to stare,” she chided.
Twilight turned bright red, “I wasn’t staring! This is the first opportunity I have had to actually see what he looked like!”
Rarity chuckled, “Sure, dear. We believe you.” She turned her attention to Streak. “That is an interesting cutie mark, however. We know someone who has almost the same one.”
“I wouldn’t expect that in the next thousand years there won’t be at least one more pony with a cutie mark similar to mine,” Streak replied. “There really isn’t that many shapes you can make with one.”
Fluttershy spoke up next, “What do the stars represent?”
“Have you heard the saying ‘Service above all’? The yellow star is the exact color of Celestia’s magic. The blue one is for Luna,” Streak shifted on the floor to offer a better view of his cutie mark.
Pinkie walked into the room with snacks, back closer to her more bubbly side. She spoke up, “What about the red one?”
Streak looked at her sideways, “Faust.”
“Who?” Pinkie asked.
Streak froze in place. He stared at Pinkie for a second, then looked to the other girls. Seeing them all clueless, he exclaimed, “That bitch!”
Twilight flattened her ears, “Who are you talking about?”
Streak growled, “Celestia. Has she even mentioned Faust to you, Twilight?”
“Not once.”
“Have any of you even heard of Faust?” he asked.
No answer. Streak was at a loss for words. How could none of them even have heard of Faust?
“How about you start by explaining from the beginning?” Applejack suggested.
* * *
Faust and her Father were traveling in the realm between realms when She had an idea.
“Father,” She said. “Could I make a new world?”
Now her Father, who had made all the other worlds, was pleasantly surprised that his Daughter wanted to follow in his hoofsteps. He agreed, as long as She let Him help, and stuck the first world she made till its end. Faust readily agreed, excited at making a new world with her Father.
They gathered up Threads of Fate to Weave into a new world, which is the world we now know. They worked together to set up the fate of the world. This fate was written in the Tapestry of Fate.
To keep this realm on track, Faust and her Father created four Guardians. Celestia was the first, and was the Guardian of the light, but overt, side of Order. Discord was made next as the Guardian of the dark and overt side of Chaos. Luna was made next to counter Celestia’s overt control on Order, and as such was given control over the dark, subtle side of Order. Finally, Faust and her Father created Chance. Chance was the last bit to balance the others. He worked with Celestia to counter the darkness of the other two, with Discord to counter the Order of the Sisters, and with Luna to balance the overt control the eldest two Guardians had over their elements. These four were tasked with keeping the world going according to the Tapestry, and to keep the Harmony between Terra and the other realms.
Faust, true to her word to her Father, stayed in the realm. She keeps the sun and moon in their cycles, and keeps a record of everything that has ever been done or is currently being done.
* * *
That is an adequate, if in some areas false, accounting of that story.
The whole room, besides Streak, jumped and looked around. Twilight and Fluttershy gave simultaneous adorable ‘eep!’s
“You all hear her too?” he asked.
“Who is that, and how does she keep getting past my wards?” Twilight exclaimed.
I am the Librarian, and my power is greater than even your Princess’s. Your wards are nothing before me.
“Alright, all bragging aside, the Librarian has informed me that I have to tell all you girls everything,” Streak mentioned.
Just the Mare of Magic, the others are unnecessary.
“As I said, ‘all you girls’,” Streak shot at the Librarian.
Mortals. I will bring you further instructions later.
“Yes, Pinkie?”
“Start from the beginning, and tell us everything!”
* * *
One thousand years ago...
* * *
I sat on top of Canterlot’s walls, watching the approaching army. This was no normal army, it was Discord’s army. Stretching farther than the horizon were monstrous creatures not seen before the Chaos War. Manticores and cockatraices, dragons and minotaurs, even griffons and hydras.
* * *
“So what you’re telling me is that manticores, cockatraices, dragons, minotaurs, hydras, and giffons are all creations of Discord?” Twilight asked, obviously disbelieving.
“To be honest? We’re not sure,” Streak chuckled at Twilight’s perplexed face at that comment. “I said we’d never seen them, not that they didn’t exist. We believe he made manticores, cockatraices, and hydras, but dragons, minotaurs, and griffons are sentient. To the best of our knowledge, sentience is out of Discord’s reach.”
“Let him continue with the story!” Pinkie exclaimed. “It’s just about to get good!”
* * *
“Looks like they’re bringing in dragons first!” I called out. “Ready the battlemages! Starswirl, where are you?”
“Look behind you, my friend,” a deep voice resounded behind me.
“Ah, there you are,” I turned around. Starswirl had been my friend for years. He was a deep purple, with light grey hair, neither of which were generally considered attractive. Stop pouting, Twilight. I said deep purple, not lavender. Stop laughing, Pinkie. He tended to be mildly sociopathic, honestly having trouble understanding most emotions, but he was quickly accepted into my circle of friends. “How many of your battlemages can deal with a dragon?”
“Any of them can deal with a small dragon, but once they get big, we’re down to a few dozen,” Starswirl replied.
“That’s a few dozen more than we had last time we tried to repel him,” I acted more confidently than I felt. Honestly, I was terrified. We lost the capital at Everfree without much of a fight, and now we had to defend the only large city remaining in Terra. We were down to the one city I had hoped would never be attacked. I had grown up in the Canterlotian streets, and it pained me to think of losing the city.
Starswirl put his hoof on my withers, “Do not let your emotions cloud your judgement, my friend. If the city is lost, we must abandon it. There is no other choice.”
“If we have to abandon Canterlot, then more than the city is lost,” I adjusted my posture. “Space the dragon worthy battlemages equidistant along the wall, and have the lesser battlemages reinforce the lines. We cannot afford to let cockatraices slip past while we deal with the dragons. The panic alone will kill thousands.”
Starswirl nodded, “It shall be done, my friend.”
‘My friend’. That was Starswirl’s name for me, more than anything. He used it all the time when talking with me, but never referred to anyone else using it. He first started using it during basic training, when I was the only recruit to even talk to him. Judgemental bastards.
“Brick, Ironhoof, reporting for orders!” Ironhoof said in his usual jovial tone. I turned to face them. Brick and Ironhoof were in charge of our Earthwalkers, our earth pony brethren. Brick was aptly named, with his coat the color of bricks and mane the color of mortar. He even had the outwards personality of a brick. Looks are deceiving, however, he was one of the most kind stallions I have ever met. Ironhoof, however, was outwardly his opposite. His coat was a bright white, and his mane was a pale yellow. He seemed to bounce wherever he went, bringing a smile the faces of any soldier he passed by.
I couldn’t help myself, I smiled, “Brick, your soldiers are needed on the wall. We have battlemages that are in need of protection.”
Starswirl cut in, “I have given the battlemages that are capable of taking down dragons red scarves,” at Ironhoof’s sly look, he deadpanned. “It’s the best we have on hoof.”
I decided to intervene before this became one of their regular arguments, “Make sure that the battlemages with red scarves are given priority, but don’t just leave the others hanging. In addition, make sure you reinforce the group at the gate regularly so that the land forces can’t get through”
Brick nodded, “Eeyup. Not my first rodeo.”
“Ironhoof, your soldiers will be in the city, prepared for if Brick and Starswirl’s forces cannot hold the wall. I want Surprise and Blossom to be the first on the evacuation caravans if it comes to that,” I dictated.
Both Brick and Ironhoof gave me a nod of thanks. Surprise was Ironhoof’s daughter, and Blossom was Brick’s. Even though they didn’t show it, I knew they were worried. Both their wives were killed during the fall of Everfree.
“Where are we evacuating to?” Ironhoof asked, in one of his rare serious moments.
As much as it pains me to say it, we need to leave Equestria, “Take them past the western mountains. If Discord takes Canterlot, we need to withdraw completely from Equestria. Start somewhere new and prepare for the betrayal of another Guardian.”
That statement was met with somber faces. Nopony wanted to believe that it could happen, most of all me, but we had to be prepared. Discord was wreaking havoc even while being opposed by Celestia, Luna, and Chance. I shuddered to think what would happen if Chance decided to join his older brother.
Starswirl was the first to speak, “What if it’s—”
“Doubly then. You have your orders, I’m going to check in with the Sisters.” With that, I turned around and left.
* * *
Streak yawned, “It’s getting late, and I’m getting tired. I’ll continue this tomorrow.”
Twilight nodded understandingly, “I can teleport us to my library. I have a spare bed in the basement that you could use.”
Applejack looked at Twilight crossways, “And what if Celestia pays Ponyville a visit? She don’t seem as fond of Streak as ya are, Twi.”
“The last place she’d look for him is in the house of her student,” Twilight responded.
“And when she does look? What then?” Applejack snapped.
Streak stepped between the two, turning to face Applejack, “I understand your hesitance. Where would you like me to sleep? I’m open to pretty much everything.”
“Ah have a barn ya can sleep in,” she replied. “It’s not nearly as comfy as a bed, but it’s out of the way.”
“That would be the first place I would look, and by extension, Celestia would check there first,” Streak replied. “If it’s as you say, it is fairly out of the way and would be the perfect place to hide out for a night.”
Applejack grumbled, “Fine. Go to the stinking library.”
Twilight said goodbye to her friends, fired up her horn, and she and Streak vanished in a flash of light.
* * *
“Rainbow Dash,” Nurse Redheart tried again. “It’s time to wake up.”
Just like last time, Rainbow Dash mumbled something probably rude, snuggled into her bed, and fell asleep.
“Rainbow Dash,” Redheart said again. “You’re allowed out of the hospital now. Wake up!”
Rainbow’s head shot up. “I’m allowed to leave?”
Redheart nodded. “We conducted magical scans throughout the night, you healed fine. I already did all the paperwork. You’re free to go.”
Rainbow shot out the window that Redheart had thoughtfully left open with a shouted ‘I’m FREE!’
Redheart sighed. It was going to be another one of those days.
* * *
Spike woke up with a start. He had fallen asleep writing a letter to the Princess, and had forgotten to send it! He looked around panicked for the letter, checking on top of the table, under the table, on the floor, behind Twilight, on the other table. Wait...
“Twilight!” Spike yelled, hugging the lavender mare. “You’re okay!”
“Of course I am!” she giggled.
“I had thought something horrible had happened to you!” Spike spoke into her fur. “I’m glad he didn’t find you!”
“No, Spike. He didn’t find me,” Twilight began hesitantly.
Spike pulled his head back, “Twiiiiilight?”
“Is the little guy awake yet? I want to get this over with as fast as possible,” a voice called out from the next room over.
“That isn’t... You didn’t,” Spike couldn’t believe it. “TWILIGHT!”
Twilight mumbled, “That could have been better timed.”
“That could have been better timed,” Streak grumbled as he walked into the main room of the library.
Spike looked from Twilight, to Streak, to Twilight again. He wore his confusion plain on his face.
“All will be explained,” Streak began. “But first we have to wait for your other friends to get here.”
* * *
Rainbow looked around in confusion. Fluttershy wasn’t at her cottage, nor anywhere in the general vicinity. Rarity was not at the Boutique. Pinkie wasn’t at Sugarcube Corner. Now Big Macintosh was telling her that Applejack had gone to a get together with her friends at Twilight’s.
“Just missed ‘er. Finished her chores and left not ten minutes ago.” That was as much as he said on that subject, continuing to buck apple trees.
Maybe I can catch up to her if I fly fast, Rainbow thought. Heh, ‘if’.
Within a minute, Rainbow had caught up with Applejack. She had a devious idea. She flew silently until she was right behind an oblivious Applejack.
“Hey AJ, why is everyone gathering without me?” Rainbow shouted right into Applejack’s ear.
Applejack bucked Rainbow right in the shoulder, downing the brash pegasus. “RAINBOW DASH!” Applejack yelled. “Do not startle me like that! Are ya okay?”
Rainbow pulled herself up gingerly, “Geez AJ, someone’s on edge today.”
Applejack looked at her ashamedly, “Sorry, it’s just that Twi’s got us a good conversation we got to have. You’ll want to be there.”
“Well, then we should go,” Rainbow said before taking off. She grunted and landed within seconds, “Guess I’m not flying for a little bit.”
“Sorry, RD,” Applejack appologized. Maybe this is a good thing, she’s gonna charge Streak the second she sees ‘im.
* * *
The second Rainbow saw Streak, she charged. However, he was ready for this. Pegasus met former pegasus, and within seconds, Rainbow was pinned beneath a pile of books.
“Was that really necessary?” Rarity eyed the prismatic pegasus trapped beneath a literary mountain.
“Did you see it ending any other way?” Streak asked.
“Are you okay, Rainbow? Speak to us. Uhm... if that’s okay with you...” Fluttershy sat by the pile.
Spike grumbled, “Gonna hafta put those back in place again.”
Twilight scolded, “Spike, grammar!”
Spike rolled his eyes, “I’m going to have to place those books in a logical fashion on the shelves where they belong.”
Pinkie jumped into the air, yelling, “QUIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEET!”
The whole room stared at the pink party pony.
“Better, it was so confusing reading this chapter when everypony kept doing things at the same time,” Pinkie ignored the stares that comment brought. “First, we address the Rainbow issue, then we get back to the story!”
Rainbow groaned.
Within minutes, Rainbow was caught up with where everyone else was, story wise. She agreed to not attack Streak, if only for now. She was still sore about the wing thing. Then they got to the whammy.
“He was a WHAT?” Rainbow exclaimed.
Streak unwound his bandage to show her the scars on his side. Rainbow took this surprisingly well.“And how did we not see those before?” she asked.
“He had an illusion placed over them to keep them from being seen,” Twilight started to explain. “Wait... Where did that come from?”
Streak shrugged, “I helped a mare repair a cart, and in return she cast that illusion.”
That was a high quality illusion, Twilight thought, I’ll have to find out who that was after this is all over.
“I guess that explains how you knew about,” Rainbow trailed off with a hoof wave to her wing. “That,” she finished lamely. “I can’t believe that you’d even do that!”
Streak grinned, “The only rule to war is that there are none. History is written by the victors, and I intend to be the one writing history this time.”
* * *
I landed in the courtyard of the mansion that had been repurposed into a command headquarters. I returned the salutes of the guards around me before walking into the main hall. Inside the lavish home was the last five members of our command structure. Celestia stood over a map of Canterlot and the surrounding area, listening to Wonderbolt’s scouting reports.
* * *
“Wait, wait, wait,” Rainbow interrupted. “Wonderbolt scouting reports, as in the Wonderbolts? As in the best flyers in Equestria Wonderbolts?”
Streak gave her a blank look, “His name was Wonderbolt.”
Rainbow deflated, “Oh, I had hoped you had met the Wonderbolts.”
“Rainbow Dash, he’s a thousand years displaced, remember?” Twilight reminded.
Rainbow blushed, “Er, of course I remembered!” At her friends knowing glances, her blush intensified, “Just continue with the story already!”
* * *
“As you can see,” I heard Wonderbolt telling Celestia, “there is no true central command. They’re ordered where to attack, and they do it on their own.”
Celestia pondered this for a moment, “This is to our advantage. They may have superior numbers, but we have tactics and training. We have a chance.”
A figure from the shadowy corner piped up, “We’d have more than a chance if you just let the three of us attack my brother’s army.”
“Chance, we all know that the second we do that, Discord will reveal himself. If that happens, the battle is lost,” Celestia replied.
“I don’t think you understand my brother,” Chance said stepping into the light. This was the first real time I had the chance to see him, and was he strange. He stood just shy of six feet tall, he was a pale cream color, with almost no fur on his body. The only fur that I could see was a mat of greying brown not even an inch long on top of his head. His face was smushed flat, and his blue eyes had a mischievous glint in them that never seemed to go away, no matter how serious he was being. “He revels in doing what is unexpected.”
“Which is why we should plan for him to do what is expected, because that would be the last thing he would do,” Celestia tried to reason.
“This is why it is impossible to plan against Discord,” Chance exploded in exasperation. “He does what is unexpected, so we plan for him to do that, but then what is expected is what we’re not expecting, so we plan for that. Then we realize that if we’re expecting him to do what is expected, therefore he must be doing something unexpected. This cycle will never end as long as you try to rationalize my brother’s brain.”
I cleared my throat, “I believe that Chance is correct,” I interjected. “We cannot plan against Discord, so we won’t. We take a chance,”—I grinned at my wordplay,—“that whatever we set up can push back Discord. Wonderbolt, are the pegasai prepared to combat the griffons?”
“As prepared as they can be right now. As long as the battlemages deal with the dragons and cockatraices, they’ll be fine,” Wonderbolt reported.
“As soon as we have aerial superiority, I need you to start dive bombing the land army. All we need is to push them back enough to go on the offensive,” I told him. I turned to Celestia, who was pouting, probably because I hadn’t taken her side in her argument. I walked up and nuzzled her, “I’ll make it up to you, Celly. Promise.”
Celestia got a predatory grin on her face, “Oh yes you will.”
* * *
Twilight sat staring at Streak, who grinned. “Might have left that part out.”
Her friends (minus Pinkie) wore faces of shock to match hers. Rarity was the first to recover, “Applejack?”
“He ain’t lyin’,” the orange farm mare said in disbelief.
“Girls,” Pinkie interjected, “I think he broke Twilight and Fluttershy.”
After a few minutes spent bringing Twilight and Fluttershy back from their statue impersonations, Streak continued.
* * *
“Sister,” Luna called out from the next room, “If you’re done flirting, we need your opinion on something.
Celestia blushed, but walked into the other room. I followed behind her, wanting to see what the other team had come up with.
Luna sat at another table, going over a different set of reports with a pony that could have been my brother. He had the same charcoal coat and black mane, but while I was a pegasus, he was a unicorn.
“Ah, what news from our spies, Sombra?” Celestia asked.
* * *
“SOMBRA?!” The six ponies and one dragon vocally assaulted Streak.
Streak rubbed his poor ears, “I take it you know of him?”
Spike spoke up, “Know of him? We beat him hard!”
Rainbow snickered, “Yeah, I don’t think he’s coming back this time.”
Twilight saw how fast Streak’s face went flat, and realized her friends’ mistake. She tried to run damage control, but was too late.
“Is he dead?” That was Streak’s simple question.
Rarity shuddered, “After what happened to him? I hope so.”
Streak stood up, “This will continue later. I need to be alone.” He walked over to the stairs down, “Call me whenever food is ready, Twilight.”
Twilight listened as the door closed, and his hoofsteps faded as he walked down the stairs. She turned to look at her friends, deciding to run belated damage control, “From now on, when he masks his emotions like he did, we stop going down that conversation path, yes? Now, I’m going to go downstairs,” THUNK. “Right now. You girls think before you speak, okay? You too Spike.” THUNK.
Twilight left her dumbfounded friends in her living room and went down the stairs, accompanied by the thunking sound. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, her hunch about the source was proved right. Streak was punching one of the walls where there were no books or machinery to damage.
“Streak?” Twilight cautiously called out. “Are you okay?”
Streak kept punching the wall, “Okay? Am I okay? No Twilight,” THUNK. “I’m not okay.”
“Hurting yourself won’t help anything,” Twilight reasoned with him. “Talk. Tell me what’s wrong. I want to help you.”
THUNK. “Every single one of them, Twilight,” Streak said with a level voice. “Every.” THUNK. “Damn.” THUNK. “One.” THUNK. “Of.” THUNK. “THEM!” CRACK.
Twilight jumped over to where Streak had his hoof a centimeter into the wall. She looked at him with worried eyes, quickly noticing the wet blood running down her wall. She wordlessly grabbed her first aid kit and bandaged his hoof. Streak, for his part, just sat there with a vacant look on his face. Twilight looked into his eyes, and his mask cracked. He grabbed Twilight and held on to her desperately, crying like a foal who wants his mother. Twilight held onto him while he cried into her shoulder, letting out a thousand years of pent up pain. Eventually, Streak’s sobs subsided, and he reluctantly pulled away.
“Thank you, Twilight,” he whispered. “Thank you.”
“Feeling better?” she asked him.
“Much,” Streak gave her a red eyed half-grin. Twilight counted that as a victory in her books.
* * *
“What do you think is going on down there?” Rarity asked for the thousandth. “He stopped hitting things two hours ago, but they’re still not up.”
Spike just stared at the wall, like he had been for the last two hours. He had disappointed Twilight. He didn’t know what to do. He’d never disappointed her before. He was just... lost.
“I still think they’re banging,” Rainbow reiterated for the thousandth time. “Why else would they be down there for so long? Hugging it out and letting him cry? Come on, he’s more of a stallion than that!”
“Rainbow, sometimes it’s more brave to let your emotions show around ponies than it is to bottle them up and ignore them,” Fluttershy commented.
“Besides, the focus of the story just came on to us and this isn’t a clopfic, so obviously they couldn’t have been doing the dirty. Duh!” Pinkie bounced around the room.
Rainbow stared at her, “Pinkie Pie, you’re so random!”
“Besides this is a scene transition, we won’t be back until—”
* * *
“I think I’m ready to continue telling my story,” Streak said at length.
“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” Twilight asked, worried for him.
Streak grinned, “I am talking about it, it’s just much later in the story.”
Twilight shook her head, “Alright, let’s head upstairs.”
Twilight’s friends’ heads swung to the door when they heard it open. “—now” Pinkie finished.
Rainbow saw their disheveled look and smirked, “Told you. Banging.”
Twilight flushed bright red and started stuttering, “Wha–no, no! I didn’t! We didn’t! RAINBOW!”
Streak chuckled, “I guess this does look incriminating.”
Rainbow’s face fell, “Damn it.”
Pinkie interrupted, “This chapter is already getting long, and we’re not even half way through the first plotline of your story! Chop chop!”
Streak gave her a look before continuing.
* * *
Sombra looked up from his map, “Discord seems to be taking over or distorting the minds of ponies, turning him to his side. Every report but the last talks of a greying of the mane, tail, eyes, and coat on all ponies in Discord’s armies. The latest report speaks of a few ponies here and there that are not ‘greyed out’. We believe that as the morale of the populace of Equestria falls, ponies are joining Discord willingly out of desperation. There appear to be pockets of order inside Discord controlled areas where towns are being built, indicating that he’s providing housing for the families of those who join him.”
“That is the last thing I would have expected him to do,” Celestia mused.
“Which is why he did it,” I thought out loud, “Damn it, he’s smarter than we give him credit for. He’s not staying back on the attack, he’s disguised. He’ll be at the wall in a matter of hours.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Luna said, “What reason would he have to be at the battle today?”
I ignored her, “Wonderbolt, find Brick, Ironhoof, and Starswirl. Tell them to be watching out for gaps in the army. Discord’s out there, I know it.”
Wonderbolt saluted me and flew out the nearby window. I turned to the Sisters, “All of our scouts have been searching for where Discord is hiding. We’ve expended resources getting past the army for weeks while it advanced, looking for his position.”
Chance picked up on my line of thinking, “What better place to hide than the place that’s so obvious that nobody will bother checking?”
Wonderbolt crashed into the room again, “STREAK! You’re going to want to see this!”
I ran to the window and paled. Right in front of the gates was Discord, and he was riding something out of a nightmare. A giant, translucent purple bear, easily three times the size of the walls protecting Canterlot was sitting in a place where it had no business being on such short notice.
“OH CELLY! I HAVE A NEW FRIEND FOR YOUR GENERAL TO PLAY WITH!” Discord’s cackling voice fell through Canterlot like a wave of madness. I narrowed my eyes, that was my name for her. The dragons had stopped just barely out of reach of the battlemages, and were now circling around Canterlot. “LET’S SEE WHAT ORDER’S BEST CAN DO AGAINST MY NEW PET!”
Celestia walked up next to me and frowned, “Well. I certainly didn’t expect that.”
“Or he could be there. Doing that,” I deadpanned. “Damn it, I couldn’t have been right this time? Wonderbolt, gather up the others,” he saluted, again, and left, again. “Celly, Luna, Chance, now is the time to strike at Discord. The six of us will distract that creature until you can defeat him.”
Celestia looked at me with sad eyes, “Be careful.”
I grinned, “I don’t plan on dying yet.”
* * *
“You’re saying that you took on an Ursa Major, probably the most dangerous creature to ever exist, with six ponies and lived?” Rarity asked skeptically.
“Yes, he did,” Twilight answered for him. At her friend’s looks, she explained, “I saw his memories in the clearing, remember?”
While the rest of her friends just nodded and waited for them to continue, Rainbow blushed. “Of course!” she blurted out again. At her friends amused glances, her blush intensified and she muttered, “Just get on with it.”
* * *
I shook my head before standing up. Damn, that bear could hit hard. Wonderbolt was distracting it by flying around its head, while Brick, Ironhoof, and Sombra worked with soldiers to push back the advancing army. Starswirl stood above me, a worried look in his eyes. His horn was glowing blue, charging a megaspell that should be able to, if not kill the ursa outright, at least push it off the mountain. It would land on the advancing army, simultaneously giving us a breather.
“Are you okay, my friend?” he asked.
“I’m just lucky I hit a weak wooden wall, rather than a strong or stone one, or I’d have been liquified,” I responded, shaking the aches out of my wings. “Nothing important’s broken. I’ll be fine until after the battle. Just keep focusing on that spell.” I walked out of the hole my entrance put into the wall. I spread my wings, but was stopped by a hoof to my shoulder. I looked back to see Starswirl with a concerned expression on his face.
“Don’t get yourself killed,” he said. “The army couldn’t take a hit like that.”
I smirked. I knew him well enough to know that he was worried about me, and just didn’t know how to express it correctly. “As I told sunbutt, I don’t plan on dying yet,” I took off to rejoin the fight against the ursa.
* * *
“Sunbutt?” Twilight asked.
“Later!” Pinkie yelled.
* * *
I pulled myself out from another building, “Damn, this thing is tenacious!” I spread my wings, feeling a twinge, but nothing serious. I took a step, and my leg buckled with a grunt. “Damn leg. Damn ursa. Damn Discord!”
“My friend, you’re hurt!” Starswirl ran up to me.
“Spell! I can still fly!” I yelled back as I flew off. I turned forward just in time to dodge a purple paw the size of a house. “WOAH!” I was knocked spiraling by the current of air following the ursa’s paw. I managed to stabilize before slamming into the ground or another house, thankfully. Those things hurt.
I watched as the ursa returned its attention to Wonderbolt, who was having no problems dodging the ursa’s cumbersome attacks. This was one of the moments where I wished I was faster in the air. If the ursa wasn’t so damn big, it would be a lot easier to dodge as I was. I noticed, however, that Wonderbolt was tiring. It was only a matter of time before it got a good hit in, and I was a lot tougher than he was. He might not survive getting hit by this thing, let alone get up.
Starswirl always said I was part earth pony. ‘Tough, and stubborn,’ he’d said.
I watched Wonderbolt, tracking his slowing movements. Right as the ursa was about to swing the swipe that would hit, I struck. My bodyslam to the side of its head surprised it more than it hurt it, and I managed to delay its attack long enough for Wonderbolt to avoid it. We weren’t going to get any more swings without one of us being taken out.
I looked at the exhausted Wonderbolt, and made my decision. I flew up, and dove at the ursa’s eye. It seemed amused by my brashness, and swiped a paw at me. I collided with a massive wall of purple and was sent reeling. I tried to slow my descent, but the hit had left my right wing at an odd angle. I cried out in pain.
Suddenly, my vision was filled with blue. Starswirl had launched his megaspell.
* * *
“One more interruption, what spell did he use that actually hurt an ursa?” Twilight asked hopefully, quill and parchment out already.
“He just used a focused convection beam, switching the harmonic/dissonance ratio from three to four, and arranged the sigil in a braced hexagonal diagram. This caused it to be hotter and faster, combined with the charging factor of seven turning it from a class B utility spell capable of melting rock into a class A offensive spell that launched superheated plasma hot enough to burn through an ursa,” Streak listed off in his head. “If I got my calculations right.”
Twilight and Rarity stared at him in shock, and Rainbow yawned, “Yep, I understood some of those words.”
“You know spell theory?” Twilight asked, excitedly.
“Why does that surprise you? Every single soldier in the army has to learn basic spell theory!” Streak exclaimed.
Twilight scoffed, “Not anymore, they don’t. Most unicorns don’t even know how their magic works, let alone the fine details of it.”
Streak planted his face into his hoof and was about to speak up when Pinkie interrupted, “Everything we need to know from this conversation is learned. Now could we please. Move. On?”
* * *
I woke up much later to the sound of beeping. When I opened my eyes, all I saw was white. Great. A hospital.
“Oh, you’re awake!” I heard a voice call out. “Now don’t try and move, you have two broken legs, a broken wing, broken ribs, a few lacerations, and second and third degree burns across the right side of your body.”
“I should have aimed that spell better. I apologise, my friend,” I heard Starswirl’s sheepish voice.
I looked at him and groaned, “Better have killed the damn thing.”
Starswirl shook his head, “I put a sizable hole in its chest, and it fled.”
I could hear it in the way he said it. He was leaving out something, and I wanted to know what. “Starswirl..?”
He sighed, “There’s also a sizable hole in the night sky.”
I was silent. The sheer audacity of that statement hit me like a ton of bricks. “Starswirl, how the hell did you put a hole in the Faust-damned sky?”
“Luna believes that Discord tied the ursa to the night sky, and any damage dealt to the ursa will damage the sky accordingly. We’ll know when the ursa is healed because the sky will be too.”
“About Discord, what happened?” I asked, almost fearful of his response.
“Celestia, Luna, and Chance were able to contain him. He’s currently petrified in magical stasis.” I did a double take at that. We stopped Discord?
“So that means we won,” I said in relief. “The Chaos War is over.”
Starswirl’s reply was cryptic, “Yes, and now the hard part begins.”
* * *
“The hard part?” Rainbow asked. “How is what comes next the hard part? We had to fight Discord once, and it was way harder to fight him than it was to deal with the aftermath.”
Streak chuckled, “Think about this, you never really fought him. You got lucky while he was toying with you. If he had wanted you dead, you’d be dead.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.018 seconds
Total duration
600 users online
910,616 hits today, 2,280,440 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.®
The plot is just so interesting. I mean its from a perspective from a person who was actualy there in the past and could explain things
more clearly.
wow I know celestia is evil in this story but streak and her were in love and she did that stuff to him what next did she cheat on him with starswirl I hope because that is evil and cruel.
3008749
Just wait!