Chapter 16: Nightmares of Lives Past
Part 1: Forget-Me-Not
TIME: 14:05 ERST
DATE: War Day 61/5 Sextus, 1002 C.S.
LOCATION: Ponyville, Rose's Cafe
Celestia and I had had a long talk a couple of days after I'd confronted her in the garden. Celestia ceded additional power to Luna as a show of faith, and those present at her mental and emotional breakdown all agreed not to go telling everypony in Equestria what was going on, for fear that it would cause a revolution or rebellion at the worst possible time - right in the middle of a war. Celestia agreed to work out taking responsibility for everything that had happened at a later date, and vindicate Princess Luna properly.
It was on my mind that just winning the war was no longer enough. I needed to somehow "heal" these ponies. From exactly what, I wasn't so sure, and I wasn't about to jump to conclusions based on one vision from some galactic entity that didn't even identify themselves properly.
Just ten days after Gloom Volcano, I was back on the job. I had to take some time off for myself - it'd been ages since I'd tended to anything as serious as pizzacraft, and had some time to recharge my mental batteries. But I didn't take into account what happens when you take creatures as full of innocence as ponies, and subject them to what amounts to mind-rape.. then leave them unattended afterwards.
What happens when you forget.
I was sitting in Rose's new cafe - most of it anyway, it wasn't quite finished yet - reading a book from Twilight. Some fiction novel about a brave troop of knights in days past - it reminded me of the Big Brother Ponies, honestly. I'd asked for light reading, and I got it alright. It came out like a Tween Romance Novel with the Romance rated G. Smith and Dr. Whooves were off in the corner discussing something - and Smith was NOT happy with his future self's separate entity for some reason. Time Lord shit was not my business..
..but a very worried looking Captain Lidless Gaze, was. He walked right in, looking especially concerned. Like he hadn't slept in a while. His Militia uniform shirt was a mess, and while he was wearing the pants that went with it, he wasn't wearing either his pistol belt or his boots. And it's not as though Detrot is a short train trip away, either.
Gaze: "General! Suh.." He walked over to the table and had a seat. "Rose! Could I get a cider?"
Rose: "It's not even three, Gaze.." She looked concerned.
Gaze: "Please." He sighed out, exhaustedly.
Rose: "Alright.. alright.." She shook her head, and went to fetch the alcohol.
Keeping in mind, asking for a Cider is about the same as asking for a Foster's - more alcohol than plain beer, but still in the "beer category." It still tells of a person with problems, and alcohol as a treatment. A shock treatment.
I knew that ponies had alcohol, and I had seen at least one or two instances of ponies getting drunk to forget their problems, like Berry Punch did. I didn't know if alcoholism was an actual PROBLEM here, as I left that sort of consideration up to the individual pony. You know - treat them like adults?
K: "My tab." I butted in, seeing Gaze reaching for his bitpouch.
Rose: "Oh, of course, K." She nodded with a grin.
K: "What's the matter, Gaze? You look horrible." I set the book down, fixed my glasses and looked at him.
Gaze: "S'not me, suh.." He took the cider from Rose as she brought it over and drank the whole tankard down in one go. He then set it back on her serving tray. "..c'n we talk? Personal."
K: "Of course. Let's go to the Library - the girls are out with Derpy today." I said, getting up.
Gaze: "Roight, suh.." He slid out of the stool and followed me.
After a bit, we arrived at the Library. I let myself in (stooping and all), and went and fixed some herbal tea - Gaze looked like he needed some, badly. That or a bottle of Vodka. Probably both. He struck me as a pony with problems. Serious problems and a crisis of conscience - and he was handling it like a mature adult might. Get a hard drink to wash away your inhibitions, then confess the issue to someone that might be able to help you.
Spike was asleep in the bedroom, so I was careful not to wake him.
Gaze: "Uh, has Dash... has she been in Detrot recently, suh?" He asked me, in a confused sort of tone.
Given that a Pegasus Pony has a maximum cruising speed similar to a Cessna, or about 225-ish kilometers per hour (140mph), and can maintain that speed for 4-8 hours depending on their physical prowess, even a weaker flyer like Fluttershy could get to Detrot in 3-4 hours. It wouldn't be hard, actually, for someone like Dash with a higher cruising speed (~265kph/165mph) to get there and back relatively quickly.. under three hours, if my math was right. She could make a day trip out of it, come to think of it.
K: "Not that I know of.." I called from Twi's small kitchenette.
Gaze: "Thought so, suh.." He seemed more worried that I confirmed this. I came back in once the water boiled up, and poured him a cup. "..has Capt'n Norfy been HERE, then, suh?"
K: "Not to my knowledge. And I've been seeing a lot of Dash lately, she's helping me design a better bomb rack - why do you ask?" I queried, sitting down.
Detrot from Canterlot was about 18 hours by train in good weather and rail traffic. Standard passenger trains in Eastern Equestria ran at roughly 75kph (46.65mph) along their fastest stretches, slowing for turns, stopping for passengers, refuel and water, and the like. Smaller trains were staffed with horses and were more like carriages on tracks, with steam power as a backup. They ran much slower, around 30kph (19mph).
So, given that, Norfy would take at least TWO DAYS to get to Ponyville and back. There was no way he could cover that distance in the time Gaze was talking about.
Gaze: "I think you should have a look at this, suh.." He handed me a beaten, weathered, pony-sized pocketbook labeled "Norfy's War Journal."
After reading just three entries, I gave Gaze a horrified look.
His writings were verging on manic. The writing style and even penponyship changed constantly, even between sentences.. sometimes right in the middle of words. It was concerning. And I was certain that at least one section of this writing was.. somehow very old. I'm not sure how I can better describe it.
Gaze: "He HAS gone bonkahs, hazn't he, suh?" He looked even MORE distressed. "He doesn't think I've noticed, but.. he's become so reclusive lately. Snappy." He shook his head. "An' whenever he goes out, he comes back talkin' 'bout how he's been wi' Rainbow Dash, suh.." He rubbed his left upper foreleg with his right fetlock, nervously. "An' he's been wakin' up screamin'.."
K: "I see." I lowered my head. "I think Norfy is having some kind of existential crisis.. he's having a mental breakdown because his spiritual past has woken up inside of him, and it's ripping him apart, mentally." *Sigh* "I didn't think ponies could even GET mentally ill..."
Gaze: "What makes you say that, suh?" He tilted his head.
K: "Well, besides Screw Loose, I haven't really seen any. Now, Gaze, the journal entries reminded me of what he was saying in Hydia's tower." I pursed my lips, and looked down at the journal. "Does he know you have this?"
Gaze: "I managed to convince him he misplaced it.. I've had it a couple days, tryin'ta figger out what I ought do with it." He sipped the tea, and set it down on its saucer.
K: "You did the right thing. We need to talk to him." I nodded to him. "You KNOW you can come to me for anything, right?"
Gaze: "I's'why I'm here, suh. He specifically said he was comin' to Ponyville on the five o'clock train.." He looked devastated. "..so's I hopped th' first train I could."
K: "Right. Thanks. Stay here, okay?" Ohh.. this was bad.
I went over to the desk and wrote a hurried letter to our Sovereign of the Sun, and then over to the Bedroom, and gave Spike a gentle poke.
K: "Spike. I need belchy-fire-message-sendy." I said, very flatly.
Spike: "Uhnn... five more minnits.." He drizzled out.
K: "No, Spike, I need it now. This is important." I verbally prodded him.
Spike: "K?" He said, rolling over. "Ohh! What time is it?"
K: "Fourteen-thirty. I need this sent to Celestia immediately." I handed him the letter.
One puff of green flame later, and it was on its way. I then returned to where Gaze was sitting, while I awaited a response. This was bad news indeed - I didn't want to lose one of my most gifted field officers to mental illness. I couldn't help but feel this was somehow my fault. Somehow. More than I usually did. The response came five minutes later - simply "I'm coming."
[End of Part 1]
Part 2: Mania
TIME: 14:45 ERST
DATE: War Day 61/5 Sextus, 1002 C.S.
Celestia teleported to Ponyville instead of bringing the carriage. Knowing how she liked the thing, I could tell she was treating this seriously - that, and the fact that teleportation over long distances like this was a strain on her, period.
She teleported to Twilight's back yard, as not to draw a crowd. I let her in the back door - Spike was up and fixing us something to eat. A plate of rubies for him, a salad for Her Highness and Gaze, and a ham sandwich for me (lightly toasted). We sat in the main room, as I explained everything to Celestia.
K: "Basically, he's having delusions. On Earth, this is like.. some form of disassociative disorder. Hallucinations, perhaps, or simply some sort of obsessive self-created illusion.." I shrugged. "I'm not up on the latest trends of insanity, I'm afraid."
Celestia: "Neither am I. Mental illness is almost unheard-of in Ponies.." She tapped her chin with her right hoof.
K: "So's cancer - Scoots' mother still died from it, and she has no idea who her father is." I shrugged again, palms up, waving gently in frustration.
Gaze: "How'd'is be handled in your world, suh?" He came up, tilting his head.
K: "We'd probably commit him to an asylum.. and medicate him heavily." I shook hy head. "It sounds like he's lost touch with reality."
Celestia: "We have no such things here." She shrugged her wings.
K: "I know. That leaves us with only one alternative." I gestured with one hand.
Celestia: "Which is?" He nodded to me.
K: "Talking to him and hoping that by pointing out his psychosis, he has the mental will to overcome it." I interlaced my fingers and rested my chin on my thumbs, elbows on knees. "There's a reason why we put people like that in asylums.." I shook my head. "Celestia, I want you there - Norfy's an incredibly powerful ice mage. I.. don't want him hurt, your magic could contain him easily, if he goes completely off the cliff."
Celestia: "I understand."
TIME: 15:40 ERST
I was pacing back and forth in front of the Library, when Rainbow Dash and the girls came up, in very messy uniforms, going on about what they were going to do about it - Rarity was talking 'Beauty Party' and Pinkie heard 'Party' and started jabbering.. then they saw me standing there, and I probably looked like I'd seen a ghost.
Pinkie: "..K? You okay?" She blinked, and her tone was very unlike her.
K: "Come inside, we have to talk.." I started, Gaze walking out behind me.
Norfy: "RAINBOW DASH!" Came the call from the road.
K: *Mutter* "FUCK!" *Muttering to Gaze* "WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING HERE!? YOU SAID FIVE!"
Gaze: "Ah dunno-"
Dash: "Uh, hey, Captain Norfy-" She started, when we all got a good look at him..
..his uniform shirt hadn't been washed in days, he wasn't wearing the pants that went with it, his boots were untied, his face sunken, and stubble growing around his chin. His hair was everywhere... and even I could tell there was something very, VERY different about him. And I don't mean the psychosis. I mean something else..
Norfy: "Dash! My love!" He staggered over, and half-tackled her.
Dash: "Uh.. heeeeey, Captain.." She gave me the most desperate 'help me' look I've ever seen on a person.
Norfy: "Ohhhh! Right-right, play it cool in public! I getcha! You don't want them to know about our wedding pla-"
K: "Captain!" I started.
Dash: *Fed up* "I don't know what's goin' on in your head, Captain, but we are NOT getting married!!" She backed off, or tried to, but she was caught in his grasp. She pushed, hard, but he held on tight.
K: "CELESTIA!" I called.
Gaze: "NORF! Git'hold'a yerself!" He tried prying him off..
..then Norfy drew his Lee.
K: "Fuuck.." I started.
Norfy: "EVERYONE GET B-BACK!" He held Dash in one arm, aiming the Lee in the other.
Dash: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" She yelled.
Norfy: "SAVING YOU! YOU'RE GOING TO MELT! YOU'RE GOING TO DIE! THEY'RE.. THEY'RE PART OF IT! THEY ALL ARE! THEY'RE CONTAMINATED!"
Celestia padded out, but I deliberately put myself between Norfy and her.
Celestia: *Motherly* "Norfy..?"
Norfy: "YES, MA'AM!" He half stood at attention.
Celestia: *Softly* "You need to give me the gun, Norfy." She continued. "You might accidentally hurt someone with i-"
Norfy: "NO! NO! YOU'RE CONTAMINATED, TOO! EVERYONE HERE IS CONTAMINATED!"
He started dragging Rainbow Dash with him, back towards the main road. I had to hold my hand out when Gaze reached for his own sidearm.
K: "No, it'll just antagonize him.." I followed, slowly.. we all did. "Norfy.. listen to me.."
Norfy: "SHUTTUP!" He pointed the Lee at me, now. "YOU'RE CONTAMINATED, TOO!"
K: "Why don't you tell me what I'm contaminated with, Norfy, so we can find a cure.."
Norfy: "YOU KNOW... YOU KNOW!" He was shaking.. and Dash was looking scared.
K: "Norfy.. talk to me.." I held my hands out, trying to show him that I wasn't a threat. "Tell me what's going on, man.."
Norfy: "Firefly.. come with me.." He started walking backwards with Rainbow Dash.. Firefly? That was a Generation 1 pony..
Pinkie: "NORFY!" She moved ahead of me before I could stop her.
Norfy: "P-Pinkie..?" He looked confused.
Pinkie: "Stop it, Norfy!" She stood in front of me.. something was different about her attitude.. "You know Clover will get upset if you take off with Firefly again."
Celestia: "..what in-" She started.
I held her back.
This was all starting to make a lot more sense than it should have. I didn't like where this was going, but Pinkie had it in the bag. I.. I just knew.
Norfy: "Y.. yes.. I.. I'm sorry, Pinkie.." He fell on his ass.
Pinkie: "Good! Now give me Starlight's wand, so I can give it back to her." She held out her hoof, authoritatively.
Norfy: "OH! Right, how silly of me." He handed it over, placing it right in her palm.
K: "GET HIM!" We all tackled Norfy all at once. In no time, we had him tied up in some of Pinkie Pie's magical party streamers.
A few minutes later, we had Norfy dragged into Twilight's library. I wasn't happy - I knew. Or, at least, I'd figured it out. Part of it, anyway.
K: "Pinkie-"
Pinkie: *Sob!* "I'M SO SORRY!" She collapsed on my leg. "I meant to tell you! Honestly and truly! Really! I-"
K: "You've always known, haven't you?" I lowered myself down and pet her cotton candy mane.
Pinkie: "YES!" *Weep* "I-Ever since I got my Cutie Mark, I've known!" She clung to me, desperately.
Gaze: "Uh, I'm totally an' utterly lost, suh.." He blinked.
K: "Past lives, Captain." I was in a catcher's crouch. "This is why you always act so zany, isn't it, Pinkie?"
Pinkie: "Yeees..?" *Sniffle* "I can hear them all.. you know.. all of them.." She trailed off, hauntingly.
K: "How many?" I gently stroked her hair, reassuringly.
Pinkie: "Five that I can definitely hear.. maybe more.. but.." She wiped her eyes, and looked at Norfy. "He only has one, right now."
K: "Explain." I looked at Celestia - she was dumbfounded.
Pinkie: "He was him, and that's the problem. He was a Flutter Pony named Norfy." She paced over to him, and gently rubbed her head on the side of his. "He fell in love with a Flutter Pony named Firefly.." She looked at Rainbow Dash. "..and they were married and all, but..." She looked at Celestia, her face grew dark. "SOMEONE was a meanie-butt and said it was a Sin against creation-"
K: "Celestia..?" I narrowed my eyes, and looked over to her.
Celestia: *Numbly* "I-I don't remember." She rubbed her right leg with her left fetlock, looking at the ground. "I try to think, and all I feel is pain.."
Pinkie: "She struck them both down.. then the Flutter Ponies lost the will to live." Her head drooped.
K: "Celestia did!?" I was stunned - she..
Pinkie: "No, silly! Her mother did!" She said, like we should all know that one - me, especially.
K: "Wh.." I was lost, now. Who was her mother?
Pinkie: "Galactia Spark!" She said like we should all know it. "Duh!"
Celestia: *Stunned* "Mo.. mommy..?" She plopped on her ass.
Pinkie: "Sh'yeah!" She shrugged. "Galactia decided that Norfy and Firefly shouldn't be together. So, she struck them down. At least that's how one of them remembers it." She scratched her head.
K: "So.. that's what happened.." I looked at Dash. "Dash? Important questio-"
Dash: "I'M-WITH-GILDA!" She said, like a deer in the headlights, eyes the size of dots, voice stilted.
K: "No interest in stallions at all, eh?" I smirked a little.
Dash: "Uh... well... none that I've ever met, really.." She lowered her head. "Sorry, Norfy.." She put a hoof on his shoulder.
He just made a noise.
K: "So.. what happened to Galactia Spark?" I queried.
Pinkie: "Oh, Celestia and Luna banished her." She said matter-of-factually. "It nearly killed them both, and that's when they became.. like.. as big as they are now."
K: "Like the Greek Gods killing the Titans.. they took power from their mother... who's their father?" I asked, since Pinkie seemed to have all the answers.
Pinkie: "Solarus." She shrugged again, like we ought to know this stuff. "Solarus Starstrider."
K: "What, the God of all Stars?" See, THAT one I knew from Twilight pumping me full of information over the last two years.
Pinkie: "Very good! You get a cupcake!" It was shoved in my mouth - cherry filled!
Celestia: "I..." She was absolutely stunned. "I don't remember any of this.." She seemed ready to cry, actually.. her ponies were in some kind of existential pain, and she was powerless to help them.
Pinkie: "It's okay. But yeah, that's why Norfy's going loopy! He can't deal with it. His mind is too logical to accept the idea that he lived before and he's been reincarnated, and his past self is in his head telling him things, and his past self is soooooo angry at everything because he was destroyed and he never got to really express his love in that super-special way that K and Applejack do just about every night, and make little fillies with her, and marry her, and move into-"
K: "We get the picture!" I was a little flushed..
AJ: "Really, sugarcube, we do." She was beet red.
K: "What do we do?" I shrugged. "You're the expert here, Pinkie." I.. couldn't believe I was saying that. About something that wasn't a party.
Pinkie: "Simple, silly!" She grabbed the chair we had him mummified to, with her teeth, and started dragging him out the door. "Ihm gnnh trch hrm trr drrr wrf rt.."
Celestia: "What was that, Pinkie?" She tilted her head in confusion.
Twilight: "She's going to teach him to deal with it." She shrugged. "Trust her, she's.. got a gift for this."
K: "Yeah.. I think Pinkie is our only option at this point." I shrugged. "You really can't remember any of this, Celestia?"
Celestia: "I.. I feel incredible emotional pain when I try to. Like.. the memory might be there, but it.. it just hurts my heart so much to try and bring that memory to the surface, all I want to do is cry.. and cry.." She wiped her eyes quickly. "I'm so sorry, everyone.."
Twilight: "It's okay, Princess." She.. actually hugged her.
We all did.
DATE: War Day 66/10 Sextus, 1002 C.S.
TIME: 09:44 ERST
LOCATION: Detrot, Norfy & Gaze's apartment
I was there with Gaze, going through the last things that Pinkie told us to do. For one thing, we put some basket balls in Norfy's room, a chess set with green and blue pieces, and three cakes - carrot, zucchini, and apple - in order on his book shelf, as well as a few other crazy bits. I wasn't sure why, but it was supposed to be therapeutic..
Pinkie: "We're HOOO-OOOME!" She burst into the door in a cascade of party streamers. "Here you go, one repaired Norfy-worfy!" She slid him on in, declothed, and looking.. normal.
Norfy: "Yes, thank you, Pinkie." He walked in, his voice no longer as cold and robotic, more at ease with himself. And more confident.
His horn also had a small band of color at the very base.
K: "You and I done here, Pinkie?" I said, putting the feather duster on the edge of the book shelf.
Pinkie: "Sure am. Come on, we gotta train to catch." She gave me a beaming grin. "You can take it from here, Gaze. And.. oh.. don't give him back that journal.. not yet." She nodded.
Gaze: "Aye.." He nodded a bit. "Norf.. ah'm glad t'see ye better.." He paced over and put a hoof on his shoulder.
Norfy: "Thank you for caring, Gaze." He shrugged. "I might be dead now, if you hadn't." And nodded. "We're friends forever, now, you know that."
Gaze: "Aye, Norf." He smiled a bit.
With that, Pinkie and I departed the apartments and headed back towards the train station.
I followed her a long ways before I spoke again.
K: "What's with th-"
Pinkie: "He's accepted his Flutter Pony self. And I bet his magic's going to be even better, now!" She bounced a few steps.
K: "So.." I was about to ask a question, but again, she cut in.
Pinkie: "It took some work, let me tell you - I've never thrown a party that big before with just two people. But they're fine, now." She nodded sagely, and smiled.
K: "They?" I tilted my head to her.
Pinkie: "Well.. Norfy and Norfy. They're merged now.. like Pinkie and Pinkie and Pinkie.." She looked at me, distantly, then up to me with a smile that was very unlike her.
K: "Your previous you's.." I nodded.
Pinkie: "YUP!" She hugged me.
Then she climbed up into my arms and made me carry her the rest of the way, dozing off over my shoulder.
K: "So.. Pinkie.."
Pinkie: "Hm?"
K: "..never mind."
I smiled. The sun rose higher in the sky as I made my way to the train station. Back to Ponyville for us, I suppose. The past lives seemed to play a role here, but whatever that role was... I didn't know what it meant yet. Would we finally figure out what Tirek's reasons were? Or something bigger?
Still, I was grateful that Norfy was Norfy again.. both of him.
[End of Part 2]
Part 3: Corralled Cheer
DATE: War Day 67/11 Sextus, 1002 C.S.
TIME: 11:22 ERST
LOCATION: Ponyville
Pinkie Pie dragged me into this. She had to. She said that I was somehow an ingredient in all of this. We were at Cheerilee's house. This being summer, School was not in session. Until she joined the Rangers, Cheerilee usually worked, of all things, as a proof-reader for a small time publisher during the summer.
Pinkie: "Cheerilee!!" She announced herself, bouncing in.
I followed, and nodded to her.
K: "Sergeant." Since Derpy had been promoted to Lieutenant, Cheerilee was now a Sergeant.
It had to do with the expansion of the military. With Ranger Platoons now organic to each Militia, and each Platoon led by a Lieutenant at least, and Militia led by Captains if a Company, and Majors if a Regiment (like Ponyville's was expanding to).
Cheerilee: "OH! K.. Pinkie.." She nodded, and set her glasses down. "I wasn't expecting-"
Pinkie: "Tell me a story!" She flopped down at Cheerilee's hooves, and giggled. "I'll get some balloons for you."
Cheerilee froze. Like.. she locked up completely.
K: "Cheerilee?" I approached her.
Cheerilee: "YES! Pinkie.." She blinked, and her whole mannerism changed. "..I think you'll like this one." She went over to her book shelves...
Pinkie rolled over and winked at me.
Pinkie: "My balloons reach up to the sky, you know." She fixed me with a sly grin.
K: "Ah.." GENERATION THREE! "..yeah, Cheerilee, I'd love to hear a story."
I sat down on an ottoman entirely too small for me, and crossed my legs.
Cheerilee grabbed a book, and sat back down. She opened it and started going through the pages.. then stopped, and shook her head.
Cheerilee: "..ah. What.. what just happened?" She blinked rapidly, then looked at me and Pinkie.
Pinkie: "Silly! You're YOU!" She squirmed on the ground a bit. "But.. you.. you can deal with it." She nodded. "Norfy couldn't."
Cheerilee: "I don't understand." She shook her head slowly.
K: "There was.. remember me explaining how you're all cartoons in my world?" I tilted my head at her.
Cheerilee: "Yeah." She nodded.
K: "The cartoon generation before the one I'm in now. You were one of the main characters. You loved telling stories. Mind, it was a very simplistic show.. nothing like this one." I shook my head.
Cheerilee: "This has to do with.. how I felt.. with Hydia, doesn't it?" She reclined a bit.
K: "Yeah. Pinkie's just making sure you're okay." I shrugged a bit. "Mind you, I have absolutely no idea what this means in a grander sense, or if this will have any effect on what's to come.. but.. you're our friend, Cheerilee."
Pinkie: "I had to be absolutely sure all of you are a-okay!" She beamed a grin.
Cheerilee: "..was I, her, for a moment?" She tilted her head to Pinkie.
Pinkie: "Yup! But, don't worry about it. You're okay with everything you are. Norfy couldn't deal.. to him, it didn't make any sense. But yoooou? Nah, you know all kinds of history stories that are all about strange things and magic and fun. It makes sense to you." She squished up her own cheeks a bit.
K: "Basically, you're not going to have problems." I shrugged. "Don't worry about it."
Pinkie: "Yup-yup!" She bounced up and landed on her hooves. "Everything's peachy, now." She nodded, and produced a pink balloon, which she handed to Cheerilee. "Here ya go. As promised!" And with that, she departed.
K: "Cheerilee." I nodded to her. "Ask Mac out. I mean it." I stood as well, and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm saying that as a friend."
Cheerilee: "..yeah. I suppose I'd better." She blinked a little, stood, and gave me a friendly hug. "Thanks for caring."
K: "Any time, Cheerilee." I hugged back, then departed myself.
Pinkie had her own way of going about things. Her own little chaotic way of making sure things worked out. I didn't realize, at the time, how important this all was, but maybe that was for the best. Pinkie needed time to figure herself out, too.
In the end, Norfy ended up figuring more out about himself than he ever imagined.
Self-Discovery was going to be just as important as guns and bombs in this war. Each soldier that fought it, fought for their own reasons. I didn't realize just what all of that meant, either, but I had a feeling, the future would reveal everything.
After all, some mystical force asked me to heal them. If that meant addressing things that happened in the distant past, or some other plane of existence, I didn't know or care. I would help my friends, no matter their pain.
Everything. Anything.
Peace.
{End of Chapter 16}
