Chaos and Courage

by SabreXio

Victory

Let's hope this works I thought as I began

"Risking life and limb on a daily basis is the easiest form of courage."
My chest gear began glowing before it projected itself in front of me. The projection hovered over us, growing to be a few feet in diameter.
I nodded my head towards Applejack

"It takes courage to be honest." I continued, "Courage to tell the truth, no matter how painful or mean it is"
I watched as Applejack's element began glowing. It then discharged a flare-like blast that exploded into an Apple shape, positioning itself at the end of one of the gear's points. My crazy Idea was working. I then gestured toward Fluttershy.

"Courage is vital to being kind. How else can you be kind to something like a Mantacore when it can kill you?"
Fluttershy's element lit up and created a large pink butterfly. The luminescent insect flew up and took a place next to another point on the floating gear. Next up was Generosity.

"Being generous and expecting nothing in return is courageous in it's own special way."
Rarity's Element created a large kite-shaped crystal which joined the other two at a point on the gear.

"Loyalty can be tested and strained in the best of circumstances. But having the courage to stay loyal no matter the situation is an amazing feat."
Rainbow's necklace shot an energy bolt that formed a lightning bolt in the air by my gear. I looked around trying to find Pinkie Pie. I eventually found her laying on her back, guzzling chocolate milk rain from a cotton candy cloud. I just smiled and shook my head.

"Laughing in the face of danger is a pretty bold thing to do. Even I usually wait until I have the upper hand."
Pinkie's necklace projected a balloon that lazily floated into position. She also rejoined the group licking the last of the chocolate milk from her lips. Discord finally realized what was happening.

"NO, I've come too far to fail now!" He thundered as he shot toward us. Apparently, I had activated some kind of defense mechanism in my Element because the gears on my hands shot off and hovered in front of us. Discord tried to fly through them, but a golden barrier formed between him and us. Hmm, a barrier; I'll have to remember that one.

"Finally, Magic is a primal and powerful force," I said as I looked to Twilight, "and it takes true courage to master and wield such a dangerous skill"
Twilight's tiara lit up and shot a flare into the center of the gear where it exploded into a purple spark. The formation was complete and the symbols began spinning and elevating like an orbital cannon. Discord's eyes grew to the size of hubcaps. I raised my right arm and the weapon we'd created followed it

"We will not bow; we will not break; and we will not falter!"
I dropped my hand.
The magic construct stopped spinning suddenly and fired a burst of prismatic light at Discord

"No...NO...NOOOOO!" He shrieked in fear and hopefully pain. The blast began to petrify the creature as he tried to escape, but as the stone cover crept up on him he became unable to move until he was completely returned to statue form. That's when the construct separated into it's component parts. We all waited for them to do something, but they just floated there. After a particularly anticlimactic pause, I finally spoke up.

"Is...is that it?"
Nope.
The construct imploded then violently exploded, creating a massive shockwave that (hopefully) covered all of Equestria and (with luck) repaired all the damage Discord had done.

"Ok, now that..." I said as I pointed to where the weapon had been, "was pretty impressive"

"I can't believe we just did that." Rainbow Dash said as she looked at her necklace

"That was unbelievable." Rarity said.

I walked out of the group and checked the new statue. Discord was twisted into a fearful pose: his arms up to protect himself, and a look of fear in his stone plated eyes.

"OK, so what do we do with this now?" I asked, "Smash it?"

"NO!" The ponies all shouted

"OK, ok," I replied. "So what do we do?"
Twilight was deep in thought as she tried to answer my question.

"We could put him in the park." Rainbow offered with a mischievous grin, "I'm sure the pigeons would enjoy him"

"Tempting...tempting, but no. Too much stuff happens in Ponyville for this to stay here."

"Hmmm, Captain, how much weight can that craft of yours carry?" Twilight asked

" 'bout ten tons, why?"

"Do you think we could attach him to the bottom of it?" She asked

"Good idea." I replied as I called to Guardian for the transport

About a half an hour later we were on our way back to Canterlot, still on a high from winning our fight with Discord, who was now trussed up under the craft like a Humvee. My friends were still coming down from their adrenaline rushes, but I was mostly calm. I had removed my left arm so Guardian could repair the connection point in the shoulder which had shattered on impact with the ground. It is the weirdest feeling to have someone poking around inside of you with a screwdriver, I have to admit. I watched as Fluttershy broke from the group and approached me.

"I'm sorry about Sword Dancer." Fluttershy said as she sat next to me, "I know she was your friend"

"She was, but that wasn't my friend." I replied, "That was Discord messing with me. Trying to tempt me into a bad decision."

"But he couldn't." she pointed out.

"Fluttershy, saying no to her was the hardest thing I've done."

"And yet you did it." Rarity said as she walked over, "You chose to protect us."

"Why did you choose us over her?" Twilight asked

"Because the price of having her back was just too high." I said, "That's just how it is, and besides, I'm used to not getting what I want."

"And your OK with that?" Rainbow asked, "Just like that, your fine?"

"No, that's not it." I said with a sigh "Seeing her again made me miss her more than ever. It's just my training makes me appear a little...cold"

There was a little pause as the Albatross shook a little from turbulence. Then, Rarity got the conversation going again.
"So, was she your marefriend?" Rarity asked

"Marefriend?" I asked, "What do you mean?".

"Ya know" Applejack said, "A special somepony?"

"What?" Now I must look like a complete idiot
All the ponies were confused why I didn't understand. This must be another pony-specific term. Luckily, Guardian understood.
"I believe they are implying you and Ms. Maxwell were...romantically involved?" Guardian offered as he continued to tinker with my shoulder. I looked back and all my friends were looking for me to answer.
I felt the temperature in my face rising.

"Whoa, no no no." I said as I waved my other hand, "She was not my girlfriend"

"Really?" Guardian asked, "From what I recall..."

"Not helping." I said as I glared at the A.I.

"Well?" Rarity finally said, "If she wasn't your 'girlfriend', then what was she?"

"A very good friend." I replied, hoping the vague answer would appease the romantic mare.

"Repair complete." Guardian said as he reattached my arm and I moved it to test the system.

"Thanks, G." I said as I stood up. I felt the gears on my shoulders getting hotter.

"Oh, what now?" I said as I tried to see the symbols.

"Wow," Rainbow said as she stared at my shoulder, "that's pretty cool"

"What?" I asked. Rarity eventually used a spell to create a reflective surface. I could see that the symbols had changed. Each was still a golden five point gear, but now the odd point was pointed to the bottom, and an emerald sword was driven through the center, dividing the piece in half.

"Uh, I didn't do that." I said

"Huh. I guess you were right, Captain, they aren't Cutie Marks." Twilight said as she examined the new parts, "A cutie mark never changes once it shows up."

"ETA five minutes, Captain." Storm said, changing the subject. I'd have to ask Celestia about this later

"Got it." I said as I stood up, "Guardian, you and Storm put our esteemed guest back, I'll have a few guards come by to help; we need to see the Princess."

"Yes, Sir." both machines replied as Storm flew the transport in lower.

"Are you sure you're alright, Captain?" Applejack asked, "That explosion looked like it hurt a bit"

"Aside from the burnt insulation smell, I'm fine." I assured her, "Don't worry, it takes more than a Lapotron reactor to kill me."

"Arriving at Canterlot Castle." Storm said as the Albatross spun around to the right, "Please return your tray tables to their upright positions"

"What tray table?" Twilight asked

"She's trying to be funny." I explained as the loading ramp came down. We all disembarked from the carrier and watched it fly back to the gardens. Approaching the door, we were stopped by a pair of earth pony guards.

"Ms. Sparkle, Princess Celestia wants you and your friends to meet her in the throne room" he said

"Can you send some Guards to the gardens? My machines need some help putting Discord back"

"Right away, Sir." the other Guard said as he ran off. I could get use to these ponies actually listening to me.

Through the short trip to the Throne room, we were thanked by a bunch of guards and castle staff. We arrived at the throne room and the doors immediately opened.

"Wow, nice crowd." Pinkie said happily as we walked down the center of the room. On ether side were throngs of cheering ponies with Pegasi hovering overhead. How the hell did she put this together so quickly?

I could get used to this 'hero' thing I thought as I waved to a happy little pony in the front. It felt good to not be working in the shadows any more. I could finally be proud of what I was doing. At the end of the walkway, Princess Celestia was waiting and once we were by her, she began her speech.

"We are here today to once again honor these brave friends, who stood against Discord and protected Equestria from eternal Chaos." She said before focusing on us, "The bonds the seven of you have formed were tested to the brink, yet you persevered and emerged stronger."

There were no words for how awesome we all felt. Rarity was on the verge of tears, Applejack and Rainbow dash shared a hoof bump. Twilight and I just smiled. Pinkie proceeded to either strangle or strongly hug a reluctant Fluttershy. Celestia nodded her head toward one of the stained glass windows, which was covered by a cloth. she flared her magic which caused the cover to fall, revealing a brand new window depiction six ponies and what looked like a wingless dragon petrifying Discord with colored blasts.

"It's what we do, Ma'am." I replied for us. Celestia then focused on me.

"Actually Captain, there's one more thing we need to do." she said as she motioned for a guard to step forward.

"We already put Discord back," I assured her "And I'll have my Assistant install some security around him"

"No, something a little different" she said as the guard approached me with a wooden box "It has come to my attention that you were never made an official Equestrian citizen"

I guess 'Element of Courage' isn't good enough
The guard opened the box and inside was a small shield, Similar to a police badge. It was a steel grey with a yin yang symbol in the center, half pink with a small cloudy white stone set into it, while the other was deep navy with a cloudy red stone.

"With this, I hereby grant you, Captain Archangel, full Equestrian citizenship and all the benefits that such a title involve." she said as the crowd lost it again. I picked up the small shield and looked it over. For something no bigger than my palm, this little steel badge sure meant a lot.

"Welcome home" she added. I looked around at my friends who couldn't be happier for me. Hell,I couldn't be happier.

"This is a true honor, Your Majesty, thank you so much." I said practically star struck. If you'd told me a year ago that I'd be on the brink of tears when a Unicorn Pegasus made me a citizen of its country, I'd probably have referred you to a psych ward. But now that just such a thing had happened, there was nowhere else I'd rather be.

"Aw yeah, Arc's one of us now." Dash said as she punched me in the shoulder.

"Congratulations, Archangel." Twilight said

"I wouldn't have made it this long with out you girls," I said, "Thank you, for everything."

"You know what this calls for?" Pinkie asked

Shit, here we go again