Chapter Eight: Boiling Point
Chapter Eight: Boiling Point
The Princess and I stared each other down for several agonizingly long moments. Our eyes never left each other’s, and neither of us blinked. She stood there, radiating an aura of pride and well-contained irritation. Her expression was neutral, but I could tell that she was studying me as much as I was.
My trepidation and anxiety was through the roof as we both stood there, sizing up one another. If my possessed form succeeded in killing this Princess Celestia before me (which, given the power of the Universal Editor, I didn’t doubt for a second), then my stay in the realm would be cut even shorter than the time I had just spend with the Irida no more than a day prior.
“Princess Celestia, I presume?” I crossed my arms and assumed an unimpressed stance, eyeing the mare carefully. There was something off about her. In comparison to the other Ponies, she held a far more... intimidating presence (being the ruler notwithstanding). I idly pondered at the time if the Ponies followed her purely out of fear.
“Nay.” Once again, despite the seriousness of the scenario I was being faced with; I couldn’t help but find some humor in the event. The Pony said ‘nay’. The punny irony was not lost on me, even with the mounting stress on my mind. “I am Luna, her sister.”
“Ah,” I cracked my neck from side to side. My inner self could only be surprised; there was no mention of a second Princess. Actually, at that point I was quickly realizing that I heard nothing about the King and Queen of the realm. I considered perhaps they were out, and those two Sisters were left in charge. Or, perhaps, there weren’t any King or Queen to start with. “I hope you don’t mind, but I have an appointment with your sister. So I’ll be going now.”
“So, you are the... ‘Earthling,’” She continued to eyeball me, appraising me and ignoring the device’s threat. Undoubtedly, she was examining any potential weaknesses, seeing just how much of a threat I was. And she was actively trying to hide her actions. But you don’t live for millenniums without learning to catch on to the most subtle of physical tells, regardless of what species is using them.
That Princess, at the time, wore her intentions on her sleeve. So to speak.
“Yes. I am.” I eyed her in return. Her muscles were lean, yet she seemed to radiate signs of immense physical strength. Her height was greater than that of most stallions I had seen so far, putting her nearly on eye-level with me. Her wings were built for power, yet they were immaculately groomed and seemed to have more defining angles as compared to the Pegasi I had seen. Her horn was longer than that of the average unicorn, and sharper too, from what I could tell.
’Almost like all the species got fused together and was then injected with anabolic steroids,’ I mused to myself. The swirling torrent of the cloud of rage surrounding me attracted my attention. There were no initial weak-points to strike. But perhaps, if I timed a surge of my will right, I would be able to strike when the device was preoccupied fighting the Princesses.
With luck, the surprise attack would incapacitate the device long enough for me to summon Ed and the Editors’ defenses to annihilate the connection for good. It wasn’t the most solid plan, but at that moment I had no other. So, I patiently waited for the opportunity, and watched the scene unfold.
“You’re not what I expected.” I internally blinked in surprise. Of all the comments I could have expected from one of the Princesses, that one hadn’t been on the list. What? No shouting at me? No calling me a coward, or threatening me because I assaulted the guards? Then it dawned on me.
This mare knew a fight between us was inevitable. Her stance told me that she would not allow me into the castle, and clearly the Manipulator-influenced tech had no plans to be stopped after coming this far. What’s more, she was posed in such a way that she could rocket to the sky, dash across the ground and impale me on her horn, or blast me with spell after spell regardless of where I moved in the exposed courtyard. Her positioning would have given her an advantage over nearly any opponent.
Unfortunately for her, I wasn’t your average opponent. Hell, I was the secret final boss you would find in a simulation that was twenty times harder than the actual final boss. Came with the territory of wielding a Universal Editor, I thought calmly to myself.
“You’re not what I expected either. In most circumstances, a nation’s leader never faces an invading enemy head on.” I fixed the Princess with a neutral stare. “So why do you?”
“Curiosity,” the Mistress of the Night answered. At least, that was my guess of who she was. I once caught an idle bit of chatter about Celestia’s capability to raise the Sun (rather unheard of, but I didn’t give it much more thought than that). If this ‘Luna’ was related to her, then judging by name alone one could presume she controlled the Moon, and in essence the night. “You are not from our world. I can tell that much. Unless your kind have been living in underground caves and keeping yourselves hidden from the tunneling races like the Diamond Dogs. But, that is unlikely, given that you fell from the sky.”
“So, you met me out here, because you were curious?” I deadpanned. It took a brief moment for the affirmation to sink in that Twilight had indeed sent a report about me in. A faint stab of betrayal struck me. Orders were orders, in the end. “You do realize that I just fought my way through a very sizeable group of Guards to get here, right?”
“Obviously,” Luna rolled her eyes at me. “In all frankness, ‘twas hard to miss from the towers.”
“In that case,” my body quipped. “I suppose it’s onto business, then.” I cracked my knuckles, limbering up my appendages. “Did you have anything to do with the orders Celestia gave to Twilight Sparkle?”
“No.” It was resolute, and held no deceit. “When ‘Tia sought my advice, I told her to do whatever was safest for our Ponies; whether she meet you herself, or request that Twilight Sparkle find out all there was to know from you.” The Princess squinted wisely at me. “By your actions tonight, I can only assume that Celestia had Twilight handle the situation. Only, Twilight did not approach it in the manner Celestia intended, and now you’re here to demand answers from my sister. Correct?”
“That depends on what Celestia’s original intent behind the letter was,” I said. “So, if you’ll excuse me, I have business with your sister.” I took a step forward and Luna’s wings flared out to her sides, making it clear that I wasn’t allowed to pass the threshold into the castle.
“And if my sister’s response is not to your liking? What then?”
“That all depends on what she has to say for herself,” I replied truthfully. “I am owed an explanation for her actions.”
“You are owed nothing.” The Princess’ cold tone took me off guard, to a point. She had seemed almost amicable just moments before, and now she wore a look of irritated defiance. The device did not take kindly to that.
“Excuse me?” My voice was laced with venom. We glared daggers at one another and I had to say, if looks could kill… “Perhaps you don’t know this, but I have done nothing to be treated like a criminal! Hell, the first thing I did in your country was save two of your citizens, and your sister responds by having Truthful Whisper injected into me by her pawn?!”
“You come here, attacking our guards and storming our home, claiming that you are owed an explanation for your treatment thus far,” the Princess explained. “You act as though you have the same rights as our citizens. But you do not. You are not a citizen of Equestria. You are not even a citizen of any of the neighboring countries. You are a visitor. Your first act in Equestria, though one of self-defense and the defense of our citizens, was one of violence.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but the Princess anticipated what I was about to say and instead cut me off. “I am not condemning your actions. On the contrary, you selflessly defended our citizens and we are grateful. Nevertheless, you are an unknown species. And in your actions, you have demonstrated that you are not only capable of violence, but you are trained and skilled in its art as well. Can you truly blame my sister for caring about our citizens? Can you blame her for taking precautions to ensure that this peaceful land remain such?”
“Then she should have handled it herself!” I roared at the Princess. My voice cracked through the night air like the clash of thunder. Luna took a step back in surprise. “Instead, she used one of her citizens to potentially risk her life to restrain that ‘unknown species’! She is nothing more than a coward!”
Luna fixed me with a glare, an aura the shade of cobalt surrounding her horn as she did so. “It would seem that you need to learn some manners. It’s rude to shout at strangers, as you will soon learn.”
The moment Luna blasted me with one hell of an attack and used my body to trim some rather annoying weeds (and by weeds, I meant trees) in the castle gardens, I quietly mused to myself that the A.I. of the device did not have a good set of algorithms for combating Goddesses. Though, I suppose that when you survived for so long, one would tend to get complacent (body-snatching device or no).
Fortunately, my reflexes weren’t too terribly slow. Even if I didn’t block the attack in time, I did manage to erect a decent energy barrier around myself before I hit the first tree. I’ll be completely honest; I wasn’t expecting her first attack to be nearly as powerful as it was. My interactions with the Royal Guard had given me a pretty decent idea on what the extent of the Unicorn’s understanding of magic could do.
That one attack put their limits to shame, and it still looked as if she wasn’t using the full extent of her power. At the time I was both really curious and really nervous to find out what would happen to me if she used her full power to blast me. Doubly so if the device didn’t put up a barrier in time to defend myself.
I twisted around just before I slammed into the last tree in the line. My feet dug into the bark as I firmly planted my feet against the trunk. I kicked off as the tree began to buckle and snap under the force of the impact, propelling myself back through the air toward the Princess.
Luna’s response was swift and without mercy. She slammed a forehoof on the ground in front of her. A wall of stone and dirt rose up between the two of us in the blink of an eye, just before my barrier-encased body crashed through it.
When I came out of the other side of the wall like a speeding bullet, I personally took a small pleasure at the look of wild surprise on the Princess’ face. This pleasure only grew as she caught sight of a stone hammer I had created from the wall as I passed through it. My hammer smashed into and shattered against the Princess’ side, sending her spiraling across the courtyard and into the stairs leading up into the castle. Chunks of stone were blown away from the stairs and scattered across the pathway as the impact site was obscured by a dust cloud.
A blast of magic shot out from the dust, narrowly missing my head and destroying the remainder of the wall behind me in the process. A second magic attack struck against a barrier automatically generated by the Editor as Luna charged out of the crater she had made. The magical aura around her horn rose out several feet and shaped itself into a sharp point as the Princess lowered her head at me.
The barrier I had conjured vanished in a flash of blue light, replaced by a simple rapier. I caught the blade in my hand and brought it up just in time to deflect the Princess’ attack. Her aura’s tip barely grazed my shoulder as I sidestepped her charge. Hardly even a scratch.
The device puppeteering my body attempted to bring the pommel down on Luna’s spine, but the alicorn teleported away the instant before it could make contact. A flash of light behind me gave away her new position. I leapt into the air, giving my muscles a brief boost in power from the Editor to propel me higher than what should’ve been possible.
A quick glance downward proved that Luna had rather phenomenal reaction time. She had already taken flight after me; and this time, she had a major advantage that not even the device would be able to compensate for with the Editor fast enough.
Her goddamn wings.
She slammed into me with as a surprising amount of force, right as I latched onto her, my fingers gripping deep into her ethereal-appearing (yet quite solid) mane. The momentum of the impact and my grip on the Princess sent the pair of us tumbling through the open air for a brief moment before Luna teleported above me.
Luna gave me no quarter as she tucked her wings to her sides and fell into a dive. The instant before she struck me, she spun so that her hooves were lined up perfectly with my midsection. Solid hooves met soft flesh as the Princess kicked me with everything she had, just as my barrier started to form.
The barrier shattered instantly, and, while it managed to absorb most of the blow, I’m still fairly certain that she managed to crack one of my ribs. The next thing I knew, I had smashed through one of the ornamental statues lining the walkway to the castle entrance. The Princess landed next to me, just as I was getting back onto my feet.
One blink of my inner eyes later, and I was crashing through one of the large sets of windows that was positioned a little ways off to the side of the main door. Glass shards rained down around me as I ruined what had at one point been an elegantly carved mahogany table. A quick glance confirmed that I had been knocked into a lavishly decorated dining hall.
Several rows of mahogany tables and benches filled the center of the room, immaculate white tablecloths covered the wood. Silver candle holders were lined at even intervals throughout the room and fancy looking china was laid out in preparation for what was surely dinnertime.
The device forced myself to my feet, ignoring the sounds of the palace staff panicking and vacating the room. The doors to the dining hall swung wide open as the Princess marched in, a smug expression on her face.
“Art thou having trouble using the door like a civilized being?” she asked, cracking her neck from side to side. She had a very slight limp in her right hind-leg, from what I observed. “Raised in a barn, were you?”
“I like to mix it up a little,” the device sneered in my voice. “As for being raised in a barn, you are certainly one to talk, horse.” Luna narrowed her eyes at me and lowered her horn threateningly.
“Your lack of manners becomes ever more apparent. Shall I correct you?”
I let out a quiet chuckle. “On the contrary, I find my manners to be quite impeccable. Particularly, my table manners.” I brought my fist down on the side of the table, flipping it up into the air in front of me. I spun around and kicked the wood as hard as I was able, sending it sailing at Luna.
Fire engulfed the table, reducing it to a cloud of ash. Luna charged through the cloud, horn ablaze with magical light. Candlesticks and tableware were lifted into the air beside her.
“Oh crap,” I muttered, as Luna launched her makeshift projectiles at my head. I dove behind another table, knocking it over just as the first wave was about to hit me. China shattered against the wood, utensils dug into the barrier and stayed there, all while the candlesticks broke off chunks of the table with each blow. The device attempted to guide my body to peer over, only for my face to become engulfed by a now-shattered bowl.
“Hey! You’re ruining perfectly good dishes!” I shouted over the sounds of shattering china, bloody scratches no doubt adorning my face at that point.
“You started it!” Luna shouted back. “You threw a table at me!”
“It was self-defense!”
“I had not even done anything yet!”
A incredulous sound left my throat as my body grabbed an undamaged saucer and chucked it over the table. “You threw me through a window!”
“You are insufferable!” Luna roared. The table behind me lit up with an aura matching the one on the Princess’ horn. The table was promptly thrown out of the still intact windows, letting in a nice autumn breeze.
Of course, I couldn’t enjoy said breeze because as soon as my table shield was gone, my body was forced back into action and to pick up my rapier. Stepping up to the plate for batting practice against Luna’s onslaught of dinnerware, the device voiced its frustration. “This is getting ridiculous!” I groaned.
“I agree!” Luna shouted. “Time to put an end to this!”
A flash of light surrounded me for a moment as I teleported behind the Princess. Her eyes went wide with surprise as I drew back my empty fist. “Ladies first!” My fist collided with her stomach. The force of the blow (combined with a surge of energy from the Editor) blasted her through the ceiling and into the tower above. I leapt up after, rising through at least four floors before finding myself in a small, clearly private library.
Luna was waiting for me, bookcase caught in her magical grip. A split second later, and I found myself outside of the tower, with a bookcase crushed against my chest as I sailed down toward the larger part of the castle once more. Deep in my subconscious, I could hear the cracking of a few more ribs. The bookcase and I smashed through the roof and skidded across an immaculately polished marble floor before coming to rest before a pair of thrones.
One was crafted with gold, the other from obsidian. On the gold throne sat another alicorn, coat as white as snow, an ethereal mane like the colors of dawn, horn sharp as a blade and a wingspan that put any Pegasus’ to shame.
I shoved the bookcase off of myself and rose to my feet. I faced the alicorn, who wore an expression that proved that she was expecting me. My inner eyes widened; was the moment approaching? “Princess Celestia, I presume?”
“The 'Earthling', I presume?” She retorted. “You’ve caused quite a disturbance among my Guards.”
“I aim to please.” I shrugged her off and turned my attention to the skylight I installed for what was clearly the throne room. “And while I look forward to having words with you, Celestia, I have a battle to finish.” Luna floated down gently through the hole and landed next to her sister.
“I will not allow you to harm my sister,” Celestia warned. The cyclone of emotions in my mind picked up speed at her words. Their target was now truly in their sights; the white-hot fury was quickly rising again under my skin. “If you insist on fighting her, you’ll have me to deal with as well.”
“Good,” I said, cracking my knuckles. My spirit tensed; ready to pounce at any opportunity to find a route to the connection and dispatch it. “Just what I wanted.”
Luna and Celestia exchanged a quick glance. Then their horns lit up, midnight blue and deep gold intertwining in their respective horns. They combined their magic to send dual bolts of raw energy at me. The device instilled another barrier in front of me, deflecting the bolts into the wall and detonating. Dim moonlight had spilt in through the medium-sized holes. While they were distracted by the reflected volley, my puppeteered form gripped Luna with a strong case of telekinesis and slammed her into the side of Celestia.
"This is child's play, Princesses. Step it up." I stated as they both got up. Celestia dashed straight at me while Luna went for an aerial lunge. A feral, predatory smile marred my face as the device tapped into the Editor. A bright flash illuminated the room, and me and Celestia traded positions. Celestia had stopped running with a skidding halt, precisely where my form had just been. Luna, unable to stop her momentum or turn, stabbed Celestia, earning a scream of pain from her sister. However neither of them collapsed, and instead turned their attention back towards me with raw aggression in their stances.
I turned and ran towards a wall. Tapping into the Editor’s pure Reserves yet again, the device enabled me to connect and literally run up the side of it. Celestia and Luna could only watch as I ran all the way to the top before I spoke again.
"I'm far more dangerous and powerful than you could ever imagine, little equines.” The tone when the device used my voice to say ‘equines’ felt wrong, almost grotesque. “Come and put some effort into it!" I bellowed as the Law of Gravity submitted to the will of the Editor, and allowed me to begin walking upside down on the ceiling.
Luna rushed me and was met with a heel connecting to her muzzle. Without even fully realizing what was happening myself at the time, I soon found myself free-falling and landing on top of Luna. She tried desperately to budge me off, but it was apparently too late.
*Boom!*
The device amplified my speed and grabbed onto Luna, turning it into a sonic pile driver. The Princess of the Night laid briefly stunned, and immobilized. Confident that she wouldn’t move, I turned my attention to Celestia who was channeling a spell all this time. She launched it, a giant ball of raging inferno, and sent it straight at me. I leapt up into the air only to see it was locked on to me and changed directions on a dime.
I grabbed the inferno with a brief bout of arcane energy and redirected the spell back at Celestia, changing it from fire to frost. Celestia was unable to dodge it in time, and was soon encased in ice. Luna had gotten back up by then and bucked the ice, shattering it and freeing Celestia. The pair turned to face me one more.
I could already see the fatigues of battle upon both of them. If an opportunity to strike and rebel against the predicament I found myself in didn’t arise, then I would be helpless to prevent their deaths. And then I would be left FUBAR, with no way to Warp to safety and the full might of an empire bearing down upon me.
"I don't know how much war your species has had to live through, but it's obvious that its most powerful rulers can't defeat a measly warrior of a species that has mastered the art of war," I snidely taunted as I Blinked forward and slammed Celestia into the ground. I quickly rolled to the side to avoid Luna's buck and responded with a right hook to her muzzle. Blood trickled out as Luna backed up and Celestia quickly clamored back some.
"You’re a decent warrior, ‘Earthling’." Celestia landed gently on the ground next to her sister. “I’ll concede to that.” Luna didn't speak, only glared at me before she charged again. However, as she was charging me; the device had a brilliant idea.
Right before Luna connected, another Italian smoke bomb materialized in my hand. Working quickly, my body threw it down and fell into a prone position. Luna flew over me, the smoke distracting her. Using the opportunity, the Manipulator-based tech activated the Editor’s Chameleon Protocol to change myself into an exact replica of Luna. Wounds and all.
When the smoke cleared, Celestia’s eyes widened as she saw two Lunas.... and no Earthling.
I was to Celestia’s left while the real Luna occupied the right of me. Celestia had charged a spell powerful enough to almost match the strength of a giant swinging a haymaker. The only problem then was which Luna was the fake...
"Sister! Strike the Earthling now!" Luna cried out beside me.
"Lies! Sister, the Earthling is the other Luna. Strike him!" I said while copying Luna’s voice. The device’s way and logic in battle befuddled me to no end. If it was so adamant about slaying Celestia, why did it not use the full power of the Editor and just do it? Was the technology toying with the Princesses?
Celestia looked back and forth between me and Luna before finally firing the spell at me. The device simply swapped me with Luna and sat back as Luna was hit with the arcane blast. Luna slid across the ground shortly and stopped. The Moon Princess quickly rose, healing magic wrapping around her wounds and stopping the bleeding.
She and I squared off, preparing to launch ourselves headfirst at one another.
“Enough!” Celestia’s cracked across the room like rolling thunder. From the fringes of my vision, I could see the exhaustion and anger on the ruler’s face. “Fighting is pointless. What good can come from all of this violence?”
“It’s necessary,” the device reasoned, my eyes never leaving Luna’s. “You ordered your subjects to interrogate me, to force me to talk against my will. You claim that you did it to maintain peace in your land, but what ruler makes those kinds of orders when she doesn’t even know who’s on the receiving end when the orders are carried out? You’re a coward, Celestia. And I’m going to show you why you should’ve just left me to my own devices.”
“And what kind of ruler would I be if I did that?” Celestia’s tone was cold, not unlike a spear of ice being driven through my person. “I have to look out for the well-being of my subjects. The only Earthling I’ve ever dealt with turned out to be dangerous in the end. Could you blame me?”
My inner brows knitted at that. I did not know Celestia had a previous encounter with another Earth-, er rather Human. If her words were true, then realistically I couldn’t blame her. Unfortunately, I had no authority to voice that thought.
“Yes. I can,” I said, a faint growl accompanying my words. “Instead of being the gracious host and welcoming me to your world, instead of getting to know me over a cup of tea or even writing me a letter expressing your concerns, you went straight for the underhanded method of gathering information. Worse still, you couldn’t even do it yourself. You had to have your loyal subjects do it for you.”
Celestia hung her head slightly. Whether she did so out of shame or irritation, I couldn’t tell. I was too perplexed by what the device just said. That sounded way too much like him. Was the device of his own design? Was he the Earthling Celestia had encountered? If that was also the case, then I would not be able to bear her death. Slowly, she raised her head to fix me with a cold stare.
“I don’t want to fight you, Earthling,” Celestia admitted. “Many innocent lives will be destroyed if we do.”
“Cut the bleeding heart crap!” I snapped. “You brought this upon yourself. You! I’m not the bad guy here. You are.”
“I only did what I thought was necessary to protect my subjects,” Celestia said, her wings flaring out in what was clearly supposed to be an intimidating gesture. “You however could have left at any time you wanted. Instead, you chose to behave like a child and throw a temper tantrum because you didn’t like how I handled things.”
“’Temper tantrum’?” I repeated slowly. My hands shook slightly in my growing anger, causing the tip of my hidden blade to gently scrape Luna’s skin beneath her coat. My mind slowed down. ‘My hidden blade...? Oh no. I had it all along. How had I forgotten that I had it the entire time?!’ I hadn’t even noticed where I was now; standing suddenly next to Luna, wrist placed aggressively against her throat. “’Child’? You’re seriously calling me a child?”
“That’s what your actions have shown you to be,” Celestia answered. “My subjects took you in and treated you. And, even though you speak our language, you didn’t thank them. I don’t care who you were back wherever you’re from, but here; you’re not special. You’re not above anypony else. You’ve acted like a stuck-up, self-centered child. And your attack on my soldiers and my sister only further prove my point.”
“I’m not above anyone else?” I laughed, though it sounded more like a roar. I faintly realized the coagulation of emotions were rampaging around me. I saw a flicker of something. An opening. “Don’t even get me started on you. You’re nothing compared to me. So you move a big ball of gas in the sky. Whoop-de-fucking-doo. I could do that in my sleep.” The device was going off on a tangent, but my mind was focused on that spot. I began building up my spirit.
“I can make the sun and the stars smile down on a world and wish its inhabitants a happy day. I have danced in the halls of legends. I have witnessed the rise and fall of countless civilizations, many by my own actions. I have taken down gods who became corrupt and sought to wreak suffering upon the realms.”
I rose to my feet, practically foaming at the mouth as my tirade quickly escalated into a bellowing roar directed at the Princess of the Sun. The surrounding windows shattered at my words and the winds outside were whipped into a frenzy.
“I am what keeps the balance between order and chaos in all universes! I am the only one watching the Scales! You think you have the right to tell me that I’m no different than a lowly subject?! You’re nothing! And I am a Go-”
”I. Am. Not. Like. Him!”
With a bellowing roar of my own, my spirit pushed through the small window of opportunity in the metaphorical storm raging inside of me. I completely blindsided the device’s influence, shell-shocking the connection. Abruptly, my eyes were engulfed in light.
"Memory Archive Triggered.
Unauthorized Flashback Initiated.
Accessing File: 15HRZN25.5242.HF.0SHDW13"
Emerald green Hellfire burned brightly all around me as the planet was slowly consumed. Off in the distance, the Hellfire burned in a perfect circle around a city. Its flames were taller than the tallest skyscrapers and too thick to leap through. The circle of Hellfire slowly began to tighten around the city. The screams of the people trapped by the flames filled my ears.
I wiped the back of my hand across my forehead to stem the flow of the blood trickling down my face. I was kneeling near the edge of a cliff that overlooked the city. The broken remains of my sword lay amongst the burnt brass bullet casings. Panting heavily, I looked up at my opponent, who stood on the very edge of the cliff, looking down on the city.
The light of the Hellfire cast the shadows around us in such a way, that he only appeared to be a shadowy silhouette against the flames.
“Why are you doing this?!” I shouted, my voice almost lost to the crackling of the flames and the rawness of my throat. “Stop! Just stop!”
My opponent turned back to me. The shadows hiding his face from view, but his glowing silver eyes still as bright as ever. “Begging now? That’s pretty sad.” He scoffed. “Gods don’t beg, Storm.”
“We are not gods,” I growled, spitting up a glob of blood.
"Take it easy, Storm." Ed’s soothing voice echoed inside my mind. "Your internal organs have taken severe damage, and the Hellfire interfering with the nanomachines’ functionality. I can’t initiate the repair cycle until we’re out of this world."
“Of course we’re gods,” my opponent said, drowning out Ed’s voice. “What else can we be? Who else can do what we Editors and Manipulators can do? We can slay ancient gods whom are so powerful, their sneezes give birth to entire universes. Who do you know that can do that? Who else can tear down the sky or burn a planet on a whim, if not us?”
He gestured out at the city below as the Hellfire began to speed up its destruction. Buildings were reduced to ash in seconds and the screams of the trapped became more frantic and desperate. “Like it or not, we’re gods, Storm. The sooner you accept that fact, the easier this will all be.”
“You wouldn’t even know the first thing about being a god, you monster.” My voice was ragged, and my throat screamed at me for speaking. “What god pointlessly kills innocent people just because he can?”
“Me,” the silhouette said. His glowing silver eyes, still visible in the shadows were positively beaming with his amusement. “But if you don’t believe that we’re gods, then how will you ever be able to stop me from doing this again?"
“I don’t need to be a god to defeat you,” I muttered, shuddering slightly as I felt the energies he had prepared to jump from this universe to another. “I will find you again. And I’ll knock you off of your high horse.”
“Then you are a bigger fool than I imagined.” My opponent let out a sigh. “True gods can’t be defeated. And you’ll learn that the hard way.”
End Memory Sequence.
Memory Archive Powering Down.
Reality took hold of my senses as the Editor shut down the memory. The two Princesses were staring at me with looks of confusion on their faces. To them, I must’ve looked like I had zoned out, staring off into space. If I had to venture a guess, I was out for no more than a few seconds.
My hands dropped to my sides as I straightened up. It took me a few seconds before I realized that I did indeed had full control of my body again. The wounds were grating on my mental strength, but I remained standing. Gradually, my thoughts reconfigured themselves into a comprehensible form. No arcane bolts flew in either direction, which meant that at the moment, their deaths were no longer imminent. The remnants of the memory still lingered, and with them the dreadful realization that I had became so very close to fucking up royally.
Well, fucking up worse than I already had.
I allowed my eyes to slowly gravitate towards the eyes of both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, taking time to analyze their wounds of war. In their defense, they truly didn’t look too worse for wear than I thought. If they needed to, they could have kept fighting. How long though, I could not say.
Yet they stayed their hooves, and made no effort to restrain or kill me... I wondered why. Celestia’s words still rang in my ears. “You chose to behave like a child and throw a temper tantrum because you didn’t like how I handled things.”
A heavy sigh escaped me. I locked eyes with Celestia, who visibly flinched as though she was expecting another attack. “It would appear as though I’ve damaged your castle,” I noted quietly. The sisters exchanged confused glances.
“Come again?” Celestia asked. I pointed at the hole in the ceiling Luna and I had made when we crashed into the throne room.
“And your dining hall may or may not have sufficient damage to its furnishings,” I finished. Luna’s cheeks turned a faint shade of pink. She quickly averted her gaze and pretended to be innocent. “Allow me to repair the damage.”
“Come again?” Celestia repeated, confusion and suspicion fighting for dominance of her facial expressions. An aura of light blue energy surrounded my hands. Both Princesses immediately fell into defensive postures, but I chose to ignore their jumpiness. I almost felt compelled to fix it for them. I mean, shit; I nearly kinda killed them. Some spot repairs would be a good first step to show that I was fine, right?
Or, I would have, had the doors to the throne room not been kicked open. Standing in the entryway were six of the Ponies I had met in Ponyville, all looking at the energy around my hands and the wounds on the Princesses in a mix of shock and horror. “He’s going to kill the Princesses!” Applejack shouted.
“I’m going to what?” I said incredulously. “Where the hell did you-” My sentence was cut off as a rainbow blur slammed into my center of gravity from my blind spot, knocking me flat on my back. It took only a moment for me to recognize what it was.
“Don’t worry; I’ve got him!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “He can’t escape from-” Suddenly, of its own volition, my Editors’ short-range teleport program and warped to a spot three feet to the Pegasus’ left. “-me?”
“I told you that you wouldn’t be able to hold him down,” Ed said, appearing on my shoulder in a flash of blue light. “But did you listen to me? You’re almost as bad as he is.”
“Ed!” I let the insult pass over me. It wasn’t important at that moment. “Do you know what just happened?”
“Aye. Though not immediately,” Ed paused as he watched the Ponies staring at me with reprehension and anger. “Go consol your Princesses. The Earthling is free of his curse.” They were stubborn about it, but eventually they left the two of us be. “As I was saying, I felt something was off the instant your emotions began spiking.
“By the time we reached the Station, I knew some third-party element was afflicting you. So I went into Solo Mode, and met up with the Ponies from the village. I explained what was happening, and that you were of no threat,” I watched blankly as a cheeky smile played on his hologram’s lips. “You’re so lucky to have an A.I. good at saving your ass.”
“As am I.” It was done. The rampage was over. My body was back under my command, and neither of the Princesses laid in their own blood. It was done. I had done it. “Do you know where the device is?” My eyes darted back and forth as Ed produced holographic spreadsheets that showed the data he had collected.
Ed shook his head. “When you struck the connection, the following flashback forced it to sever. I can’t even detect an origin point. If I had to guess, I’d say that the device had a safety installed. If the connection to an Editor was lost, it was most likely designed to destroy itself.”
I let out an exhausted huff. That was all I could hope for, at that moment. Casually glancing back, I saw the throng of Ponies conversing fiercely with one another. “Okay. So, how about we get these repairs to the castle done?”
“Only if you’re okay with a hard restart of the Editor,” Ed replied as he vanished from sight. “Your physical body is running low on natural energy and we don’t have any extra stored up. I told you to take a vacation.”
I couldn’t help but grimace. Hard restarts of the Editor were never fun. And it seemed like Ed and I had been needing them more and more lately. It was really starting to get on my nerves. Maybe Ed was right. I could use a vacation. And, since we were deadlocked in the Universe with no obvious way to escape, I figured to might as well take advantage of the opportunity.
"I could use the time to think." I cracked my neck from side to side as I established the mental communication with Ed. “How long will I be out for?”
“A week or so. Two, if we’re unlucky.” Ed seemed cheery all of a sudden. “I’m going for a longer restart to make sure you’re free of Manipulator influence, but you should regain consciousness around then at least.”
‘Floats my boat.’ I exhaled, prepping myself for what I knew was coming. ‘Let’s get this over with.’
"Initiating Local Repair Protocol. Estimated Repair Time: Thirty-Seven Seconds."
I winced as a series of shocks ran through my system, paralyzing me from head to toe. Finally, my knees gave out and I sank to the floor. ‘Make sure to allow the Ponies to imprison me if they must, Ed. I will need to speak to them when I awaken... Do you blame me?’ I asked, wincing as I felt my knees make contact with the marble floor. Around me, I could hear the surprised sounds coming from the Ponies, but their words were lost on me as the Editor finished its local repair protocol, draining my remaining energy to undo the damage Luna and I had done to the castle in our fight.
“No. I know you weren’t completely in control. There’s no reason for you to beat yourself up over what happened. Any lesser Editor would’ve done so much worse.”
‘That’s good,’ I said with a sigh of relief as the darkness of unconsciousness took me. I only hoped I would be able to fix everything when I opened my eyes again. ‘That’s good…’
-WTIN-
Twenty seven years. For twenty seven years, the kingdoms of Veneschall and Deyoz had been at war with one another. In a fortnight it was all over.
Tewer the VII, king of Deyoz, stared down on the celebrations in the castle courtyard below. The celebrations had been going on for two days already. The castle kitchens were running low on their supplies, and the wine cellars were dry as the northern deserts.
And the Deyozites would never have been able to succeed had it not been for one man.
When Tewer and his generals had been formulating a plan of attack on a Veneschallian supply chain running through the western canyons when he had appeared. The guards that tried to stop him burst into emerald-green flames from the inside out. Before Tewer or any of his generals had time to react, the intruder promised them that he could win them the war in a week.
Initially, Tewer had been inclined to have the man beheaded, but, at the advice of his generals, all of whom were tired of the war, he decided to give the man a chance. All the man asked in return, was Tewer’s crown, a symbol of power and a unique form of celestial energy. Tewer had laughed as he shook the man’s hand. After all, what could one man do against an entire kingdom? He had no reason to worry.
The next day however, Tewer’s forward scouts had run back to the castle, faces stricken with terror and covered in glowing ash. The outlying towns of the Veneschallian kingdom were ablaze with emerald-green fire.
Unbelieving, Tewer led a vanguard of his best soldiers to see for himself. Sure enough, the outlying towns were burning in emerald flames. Bodies lay strewn about the streets. Soldiers had been turned to crystal.
Tewer and his vanguard had ridden further into the kingdom, and everything in their path had been destroyed. The Veneschallians, proud warriors, a group of people the Deyozites had warred against for nearly three decades, had fallen in a single night at the hands of one man.
When Tewer and his vanguard had finally reach the Veneschallian capital, they found only a series of cracks in the ground, with the faint remains of buildings and the wall that had guarded the city still standing.
Standing where the main gate had once stood, was the intruder. He had flashed Tewer a flawless smile and tossed the corpse of the king of the Veneschallians at his feet.
Tewer let out a sigh as he turned away from the balcony. The intruder stood there, a patient, expectant smile on his face.
“Congratulations on your little war!” He said cheerfully. “Pity you didn’t have someone like me around twenty seven years ago.”
“Yes. It really is a pity,” Tewer said slowly. He knew he needed to tread carefully around this man. The intruder knew how to twist words and get you to admit that you couldn’t solve your own problems, just so he could get something. In this case, Tewer’s crown.
“Now, about our little arrangement,” the intruder said as he draped his arm around Tewer’s shoulders. “You are going to keep your end of the deal, aren’t you?”
“Why do you want my crown?” the king said, one hand subconsciously reaching up to touch the obsidian band resting on his head. “What do you have to gain from it?”
“Does it matter what I want? You got what you want. The war is over! The good guys won!” The intruder spun away from Tewer, gesturing out at the kingdom below. “Now, for your end of our little deal.”
“With our enemy defeated, my kingdom will grow.” Tewer grinned. “My people will need a symbol of power.”
“Are you asking me to be your hero? Sorry, I don’t do heroics.”
“No, what I’m saying is that they’ll need to look to me. And this crown on my head has been worn by every king of Deyoz. It has been stolen from us and reclaimed in some of the greatest military campaigns of our people. My crown is a symbol of power.”
“Is there a point to this story?” The intruder deadpanned.
“My point,” the king said as the intruder turned away, “is that I won’t give you my crown.” Quick as lightning, Tewer drew the dagger he kept hidden in his sleeve and plunged it into the man’s left shoulder.
“I figured this would happen,” the man said with a sigh. “Shame that I keep my heart stored separately from my body.”
The intruder spun around, his face lighting up with a bluish-white glow as a dual-pronged energy blade flared to life in his hand and plunged it into Tewer’s gut. Tewer’s eye went wide with horror as he stared down at the glowing blade sticking out of him. His blood fizzled and burned against the heat of the weapon.
“Wh-why?” he stammered as he looked up at the intruder, a pair of glowing silver eyes looking back at him.
“Rule number one: I don’t take kindly to those who break deals with me.” The intruder snatched the crown from Tewer’s head and placed it on his own. “I always see the deal through at least. Long live the king.” The man grinned as Tewer gave one last defiant shudder and gave in to his wound. The intruder turned off his blade and tossed Tewer’s body over the balcony.
He turned away from the night and headed toward the doors leading into the castle, drumming a simple rhythm against his leg as he went.
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awesome story. can't wait for the update. which is odd since i just found this story a couple of hours ago and it already updated. either way great story.
aww you did not kill celestia
I see you're going for Doctor and Master expies. Well, to some degree.
I think you meant "condemning". Condoning means to accept or affirm, whereas Condemning would be to reject. It makes Luna's speech there seem like a double negative, turning it into something that reads like: "I am not happy that you saved our citizens, but thanks."
A couple other slip ups here and there, but a good update to a good story all around, well done.
I find it strange that he didn't try to explain himself immediately. Or that the princesses didn't strike down an obvious threat while down, regardless of what messages they had gotten from Twilight. Or at least attempted to bind him.
3868613 apparently what happened was the author wrote till something like ch 14 or so. however he decided he didn't like it and removed ch 6 and up. took him two years to edit them to how he wanted them and is now putting the chapters back up daily.
Wonderful chapter! Can't wait for more!
This reminds me of the Doctor. And the Master.....
Every Final Fantasy game ever.
Well, now we know that video game universes can be entered. If I were Storm, I'd have gone to Fallout a long time ago for Stims.
That was a very nice fight scene, I've only seen a few that are better. I'm liking how this is turning out.
3868618 In the old version of this before the rewrite he killed hundreds of guards and even Luna, it was totally badass.
3869187
Man, I still don't understand why he chooses to use outdated technology in place of newer, superior tech. Smoke bomb is an example of outdated tech which could be replaced by an M18 smoke grenade which is larger, louder and better. It just doesn't make sense to me.
3869582 I would've gone with Mass Effect. Omni-gel much? Insta-revive!
3870101 underestimation is your best weapon, and besides, it would cost more energy to spawn that in.
3870653 The only difference between what he chose and what I would choose is the amount of possible smoke that could be created by the grenade. They both act the same and have the same principle, so I don't understand why someone would choose the inferior.
I don't understand that. Wouldn't over estimation help you more? I you expect a bigger boom, you can react accordingly to a larger boom. And how would it cost more energy to spawn in exactly?
Why does everyone love Mary-sue humans? It makes no sense. This 'story' is boring and predictable.
3871095
I freely admit that in the first leg of this story, it is heavily marred by Gary Stu symptoms. It's kind of the intended basis of the character, and through extension a decent part of the story. However, this is not to say the story would remain in this phase for its entirety. It's simply how the cards have played out so far.
3871151
heavily marred? it should be called "Gary-Stu in Equestria! The Gary-Sue chronicles!"
you want character development on an immortal with nigh omnipotent powers?
make the editor stop working indefinitely. Let Gary cope with being just a normal human again.
3871163
Originally in some chapters that still hold true to canon (but are inaccessible due to earlier chapters being added back in), this essentially happens.
3871180
well make it happen
3871095 I have to disagree with your comment completely. Gary Stu would involve that there are no problems. In the fight, Storm would have just talked them out of it and become king of the world, while also becoming the boyfriend of both. Instead, he showed a clear mental problem at the end of the chapter, as he does throughout the story. Since this is a clear problem, then he is not Gary Stu, as there would be no problem.
And secondly, if this 'story' is as predictable as you say it is, please tell me what will happen in Chapter 10 near the end with the cake?
I'll be waiting.
3872161
sorry but, Immortal, manipulate reality, always comes out on top somehow? Yeah because every OC can do that. Theres more than one way to be a Gary-Sue. It doesn't mean 'no problems' its not Hakuna Matata.
And if you think you're being cheeky with your little chapter 10 thing, you're sorely mistaken. Just because I can figure out whats going to happen as I read, doesn't make me psychic.
As soon as Gary met Luna, I could tell they would fight, end up in the throne room, and that he would outmatch both Princesses followed by getting rid of the manipulator's influence before he killed them.
3872401 Dawg, why are you so mad?
3872401 What you described, mind the Immortality and the Reality Manipulation, is every single OC. They nearly always win in the end, and are usually the most beautiful OC's in the world.
And about that little prediction thing, if that is what you meant, then why didn't you take the 25 seconds it takes to write that onto your original comment? It's not my fault that you left zero details in what you meant. You don't want me to give a very detailed prediction, then don't leave such a loose prediction for someone to use.
And lastly, since you seem to have a very bias opinion towards anything that you deem, 'Gary-Sue', then I would suggest not reading this story. No reason to get mad over something you already dislike, unless you enjoy doing this.
3872434
because anger keeps me warm. And Dragon Ball Z Battle of Z is hard.
3872540
and most of those OCs are Sues. And I shouldn't have needed to write it out.
*sigh*
Just never mind. I don't care anymore. Theres no need for us to bitch back and forth. You have your opinion, I have mine.
fuuuuuuuuuuuuuu, evil xxxxx. good chapter
Doesn't condoning something mean you give approval for something? I think you meant condemning.
just a friendly little message to point out a correction that maybe needs to be made.
3868668
3869187
If you could please enlighten me on how you are reminded of the Doctor and the Master when reading about Storm, that would be greatly appreciated (as it is not intended).
3878431
Probably the relationship between Storm and this other Editor is similar to that between the Doctor and the Master. They're counterparts, or dark reflections. One using his knowledge and power to help those he encounters, the other thinks that power makes him superior to the lesser beings around him, giving him the right to do whatever he pleases.
Although honestly. I'm with the body-snatching piece of demonic god-tech. It was absolutely right. Celestia's "handling" of the situation was worse than atricious. Her excuses are beyond pathetic. When they could have been friends, she chose to treat him like an enemy. Her choice, not his or the device's. He would have been entirely justified if he, of his own will, had decided to treat her as one from that point on.
She's scum, and I'm sorry he (or that device, I guess) didn't slit her throat with her own horn.
Yes! The energy sword! Now the Elites truly see him as honorable if he wields THOSE.