Chapter 48: The Long Wait (Alliances VI)
Part 1: Dread Discovery
TIME: 09:35 QEST
DATE: War Day 469/18 Septimus 1003 C.S.
LOCATION: GL-NGF Fort, Region Nord, Republique du Quirtbeck.
Oh, LORD what a night!
...no, I'm not going to tell you.
Piss off. I said I wasn't going to.
It was glorious, and that's all you're getting.
No, really, it seemed that Rarity had indeed appointed herself my official Side Piece until AJ could resume her wifely duties. And in so doing, decided I needed another Taste of the Rainbow. And that Dash needed a bit of relief.
Waking up with them on me, getting a shower, and dressed, wasn't at all easy, but we managed with minor inconvenience. Breakfast was wonderful - fresh eggs, chicken (I think), toast, hay for them, thinly sliced potato shreds for me. Plus, flapjacks and syrup, fresh fruit, and a side of steamed carrots for some reason.
Now, I was prowling around the woods with a squad of my best. Rarity, Dash, Fluttershy, Norfy, Gaze, and Cosmic. Gilda and Gorcat were in reserve with Havoc, Bella, and Dusty.
Norfy: "Mmmm.. and here's our battle scene from yesterday. I know we didn't police the bodies other than to stack them up to one side.." He said, prodding the bush with his Bradley.
Cosmic: "Yeah, and now they're gone." He was pulling security.
Fluttershy: "..um, this squirrel here says that some things that looked like them, came back in the night and took the bodies out of here.." She says, with a squirrel resting on her fetlock.
K: "Reward him or her for the intel and thank them." I was down low, looking for anything that might've been missed by either side yesterday.
Rarity: "Mmm.. no signs of movement, darlings. I think they got the message, yesterday." She shrugged.
Dash: "Just means they know where to find us." She shrugged.
Gaze: "Aye. Bad or good thin', d'pendin' how ye looks at it." He was inspecting the APC. "Don't seem likes they bothered wit'em, K."
K: "The problem is, we don't know where to find THEM." I sniffed, smelling something funny in the air. "Anyone else smell that?"
Dash: "Hm... yeah. Smells.. like something stinky burning.. but it's far away." She looked at me for permission to pop up above the canopy.
I nodded, she tapped Fluttershy, and up they went.
K: C> "Gilda. Gorcat. Dash and Fluttershy just took off to investigate a burning smell. Back 'em up. Dusty, Havoc, Bella, reinforce us." We were about 170 meters from the fort.
Shortly, our ground reinforcement showed up, and I could see the underside of both Griffons as they flew overhead.
K: "Dusty, stay with me. You have the least experience, right now." I was on edge.
Havoc: "I smell it, too.." He sniffed the air.
Bella Donna: "Yes, hon.. it smells.. very bad. I've never smelt this before.." She shook her head.
Dusty: "..I know this smell.." She said, sniffing the air. "..it's.." And shook her head. "I don't.." And looked at me. "Sir, is it possible to remember something you've never personally seen?"
Norfy was RIGHT THERE.
Norfy: "Sergeant, sit down. Shut your eyes. Concentrate. Concentrate on the sound of my voice.."
Dusty did as instructed.
Norfy: "Recall your past. Think.. you were once someone else, weren't you?" He started. "Don't worry about who.. think. You're in danger. That smell means danger doesn't it?"
Dusty: "Yes.. I'm.. running.. away from it. K's with me.. no, wait!" Her eyes shot open. "His name was Daniel!"
K: "That.. IT'S SMOOZE!"
It made sense. Smooze was an allegory for pollution. It would make perfect sense if that stuff had a horrid, pollution-like smell to it. It curled my nosehairs.
K: C> "Air Recon, excercise extreme caution! That smell is Smooze, and I have NO idea who's controlling it!" I looked at them. "We're in real trouble. We don't have Flutter Ponies, we don't have all six Elements, and we don't have the Rainbow of Light. That shit's magical, not scientific." I pointed in.. what might be its direction.
Gaze: "Yer sword, suh." He nodded to my hip. "Only thing we got, aye?"
K: "..yeah.." I looked down, thinking. "Norfy. Ideas."
Norfy: "I'm willing to wager that the Smooze is Dark-aligned, so it would feed off of Sombra. Luna is Lunar/Vacuum-aligned, Celesia is Holy/Fire, and Cadence is Love. Smooze.. it brings.." He paused. "It brought hate." He looked at me. "You'll have to channel Cadence, and-"
K: "We need to find it before it gets too large. If it gets larger than a football field, we're screwed.. that stuff could literally erase the world." I shrugged, looking at him.
Rarity: "Then.. why would Tirek risk using it, my dear? And moreover, why is it here?" She tilted her head at us.
K: "My guess is, he recovered it from Hydia when he found or remade her as a lich. We still don't know how that happened. She made the Necrooze afterwards - she admitted that." I shrugged. "And as for why out here.. we're quite a ways away from civilization. If the Legion hadn't been sent to build a fort, here, this facility may have gone undiscovered until it was too late. My guess is, it's a magical research facility of some kind, purpose-built to study the Smooze in as much isolation as they can get. Tirek probably isn't or wasn't aware that it can consume plant life as well. Or, if he was, he just wanted this as remote as possible so we wouldn't find it."
Cosmic: "Plan, K?" He tilted his head at me.
K: "We'll have to hurry the retraining of the Legion. We haven't time to wait for reinforcements. We need to find the source, and attack with whatever we have.. IF the situation is dire enough." I shrugged. "If we don't, and it's released.." I looked at all of them. "..the Rainbow of Light wasn't enough to defeat it, last time. Only Flutter Ponies could. And they're extinct." I gestured. "So.. I'm probably the only thing we have that can destroy it. I don't have magic. I'm probably going to need to use Rarity and Norfy as batteries, depending on how I have to do this."
Norfy: "Let's get confirmation, then." He nodded grimly at me.
We wouldn't have to wait that long. Following their noses, and thanks to Griffonic predator vision, the four of them zoomed back in no time to report their findings.
Dash: "It's hidden by fake trees and stuff, but there's some kinda factory or something over that way about twenty five kilometers." She pointed north-north-west. "It's really big. And there's a huge vat or something.." She traced on the ground its rough dimensions. "..and they look like they're.. burning or dissolving.. something.." She shook her head. "..all I know is, when I saw it, I got really scared for no reason at all. Then.. well.. it looked like it was trying to escape. Reach out. Something." She slowly shook her head.
K: "That tears it! Everyone back to the fort! We have a SEVERE emergency, here." I shook my head. "I should have brought Spike."
Indeed.. what would this even mean, though? Smooze, out here? This could only be a bad thing.
[End of Part 1]
Part 2: Dread Realization
TIME: 11:28 QEST
DATE: War Day 469/18 Septimus 1003 C.S.
LOCATION: GL-NGF Fort, Region Nord, Republique du Quirtbeck.
Once I returned to the fort, I went straight for Sacquet.
K: "Colonel! We have an emergency." I moved right over to him. "And it's one Science doen't have a counter for."
Sacquet: "Oui!? Mon dieu.. please, explain." He fixed his round cap as he addressed me.
K: "An ancient horror known as The Smooze, a semi-sentient creature that consumes everything in its path, is being researched about twenty five kilometers from here, at a hidden Tirek base. THAT'S why they're here! They've ALWAYS been here!" I waved my arm aggressively. "You're the invaders. If the Prench High Command hadn't sent you out here to build this fort, no one would ever have found this thing." I shook my head. "The problem is, Smooze is virtually indestructable. It's almost impossible to control, too - an ancient wizard named Hydia tried that, once, and failed." I sighed, exasperated. "I'm the only counter we have."
Sacquet: "SACRE DAMNE!" He cursed. "What do we do?!"
K: "We take the day to retrain everyone. Tomorrow, zero seven hundred, we set out for the fort and abandon our position here. The Artillery comes with. It'll take us a whole day to get there. Along the way, we need to find a hill or something we can set the Artillery up on, so we can have artillery overwatch and support. Then, we attack the facility. You're ranking officer after me - you'll have to direct strategy. My goal is to take a small unit with me, punch through, and get to the Smooze. Your objective will be to eradicate the base by any possible means. None must survive." I laid it out.
Sacquet: "Do you think I am ready?" He asked, concerned.
K: "As ready as I was, my first dance. You have an advantage I didn't, though - you've had a taste of battle." I shrugged a bit. "You have well trained troops under your command, ones that benefit from all the experience I've gained. You have good officers. Trust them. And you have expert artillery." I nodded. "You'll be fine. But, I will not lie to you - there will be casualties."
Sacquet inhaled sharply, then exhaled, nodded to me in that very formal, curt, French (Prench) fashion, and trotted to the center of the courtyard.
Sacquet: "MES AMIS! COME!" He motioned for his troops to gather around him. "I have something I must say!" He stood tall on a log pile. "We have the greatest emergency that has yet faced all of Equus, right here in our back yards! Those of you that have heard old legends of a slime or creature of muck that saps away all your love and brotherhood, it is HERE! And WE are the ONLY ones who can stop it!" He stomped his hoof. "We haven't time to gather more friends. We haven't time to even finish our proper training. Tomorrow morning, La Legion marches to BATTLE! We are to take the fight to Tirek's forces! And we must be victorious! WE WILL be victorious! Because we ARE the toughest bastages that Prance has in her Kingdom! We are the DIRTY! The SHAMED! The OUTCAST! We come here to GIVE OUR LIVES for Prance! To redeem ourselves to ourselves, to redeem ourselves to our brothers and sisters! That they may LIVE in PEACE and FREEDOM!" He paused. "I will not lie, mes amis.. many of you may not return. But, you that lay down your lives, do so to stop the greatest threat this world has ever seen - the Smooze! Greater even than Tirek himself! You will be IMMORTAL HEROES to ALL of Prance!" He pointed his hoof at the crowd, picking individuals out. "VIVE LA LEGION! VIVE LA PRINCESE! VIVE LA PRANCE!" He held his hoof up, sword pulled and stabbed at the sky.
They cheered with him. They all cheered. Now, I understood one reason why he was here - the man was a gifted orator, that knew how to stir the fighting spirit of his troops. He could speak to their very core...
I looked at the assembled Legionnaires. I knew in my heart that many of them would not live to see the end of the week.
It hurt. Once again, Tirek caught me unprepared.
TIME: 20:05 QEST
Sacquet, Brogard, and I were at the Enlisted Commissary. He had rolled out a barrel from his quarters. The training, that day, had been hard and tough. We taught them everything we could, re-wrote their doctrine, and redistributed the captured weapons to each member of the Legion.
Now, Sacquet had a surprise.
Sacquet: "MES AMIS!" He announced. "Here is a special gift for each of you. Tomorrow, as I said, we march, all of us, to what may be our very doom. I could not, in good conscience, ask you to possibly DIE for Prance.. without tasting a little bit of what makes our Kingdom the greatest." He popped open the barrel and pulled out a wine bottle. "This wine, it comes from my family's vineyards. I share it with you."
C.Sgt. Randonne: "Mon Colonel!" He was a bit taken aback, but stepped forwards and took the first bottle. "This is.. expensive, non?"
Sacquet: "Your life, mon ami, is worth much more than a mere bottle of wine." He put a hoof on his shoulder. "This is for all of you."
K: "Drink your fill, ladies and gentlecolts and gentlegriffs, and whatnot." I said, evenly. "Tomorrow.. well, after this, those that are left can raise another glass to those that don't come back." I shrugged.
Randonne: "Marechal.. it will be bad, yes?" He asked.
K: "Yeah, not gonna lie to you." I shrugged. "This is probably going to be one of my toughest battles. Worse that I won't have the honor of leading you personally - I've entrusted Colonel Sacquet to command strategically. I have to go in with a small team and detroy the source of the Smooze. You have to kill the enemy - ALL of them. Every last one must die." I made that clear. "I'm the only one with the Magic that can kill it. MAYBE. And if I don't, I'll be joining the rest of you all in Tartarus." I smirked.
La Botte: "We shall save vous a seat, Mon Marechal!" He raised a cup of wine to me. "Vive la Prance, everyone!"
Randonne: "Non! Vive Sacquet, un Marechal K!" He corrected.
K: "No, soldiers. Vive les vous." Long live you.
I went back to my quarters. Rarity was nowhere in sight. I just undressed and got into bed..
Fluttershy: "..I'm serious this time." She crawled out from UNDER my bed.
K: "Flut-!" She put her hoof over my mouth.
Fluttershy: "You really could die tomorrow." She hugged me. "I won't.. I can't.. let you die. Not.. without.." She just kissed me.
K: *Mrgfr* "Fluttershy!" I pulled back. "I.." I shook my head.
Fluttershy: *Firmly* "I'm not leaving until you fuck me stupid." She used BAD WORDS! "I mean it, K. I can't lose you without showing you how I feel. Always felt. How much you mean to me. I can hug you until my forelegs fall off, but that won't mean as much as sharing that.. special.. moment." She looked me in the eyes. "After everything that's happened to me, I never once felt any pleasure from it. You're.. I want you to give that to me, and me to give that to you. Right now, that's the ONLY thing that matters to me!" She kissed me again, MUCH more passionately.
WELP! I COMPLETED THE COLLECTION! GOTTA FUCK'EM ALL!? RIGHT?! Looks like I'm finally.. FUCKING FLUTTERSHY!
Holy shit, was she shockingly good at this. Even if Grogar had taken her first time from her, and all those Herdiet troops had done unspeakable acts to her, she was still tighter than Applejack had been our first time. I almost couldn't get it in, but she fluttered up and literally slammed her marehood down on me.
She was so wet, when she did it, too. It felt so good. Her mouth tasted like.. a strawberry-banana lolipop. So fresh, so clean, so tasty. I couldn't stop kissing her the entire time she rode me like a rented mule. My arms were around her the whole time. We did it, exclusively, in a sort of cowgirl position. Her wings buzzed most of the time.. especially each time she climaxed. They went stiff the moment she did, and went back to gently fluttering right afterwards.
I got her off at least ten times. All that pent-up lust and desire. All that affection. Every bit of it made a mess in my bed, and all over both of us. I blew two straight loads in her horsepuss before I slid her back a bit, to take her ass. She moaned loudly, lewdly, when I penetrated her back there. Her tongue lolled, and she actually licked me.
Sex with her was so different.. it was like a warm, loving, cuddling passion. A river. Constant motion, constant E-motion. Twilight had been borderline naughty and teasing between friends. Dash was like banging a tomboy bro. Rarity was a passionate and DIRTY lady. Applejack was.. everything, to me. My wife, my strongest love, everything.
We finally fell asleep after my fourth nut, and what must've been her fifteenth major orgasm. I couldn't think about bad things, any more, after that. All I could feel was a warm closeness..
[End of Part 2]
Part 3: Dread Battle
TIME: 06:58 QEST
DATE: War Day 470/19 Septimus 1003 C.S.
LOCATION: Legion Fort, Region Nord, Republique du Qirtbeck
I stomped my boots a bit, kicking the dirt free. An idle action, to distract myself. I chamber-checked my Bradley for the tenth time. I looked at my selected team - Dusty, Rarity, Norfy. They were putting the finishing touches on, themselves. Rarity putting some polish on her gemscope, Dusty honing the edge on her knife, and Norfy practicing coming to rise with his Bradley.
Sacquet paced up in his full Field Uniform with his officers.
Sacquet: "Mon ami." He nodded.
K: "We ready for this?" I asked him.
Sacquet: "I do not know if we are well enough trained. But, ready, we are, indeed, mon Marechal."
Gorton: "Best of luck, Marshal." He nodded to me.
La Selle: "I hope to survive, mon Marechal. That we may better our acquaintence." She gave me a small nod.
Rarity glared at her, but that didn't deter her.
Brogard: "Mon ami." He saluted me. "Vive la Prance, eh?"
K: "Vive la Prance." I saluted back. "LeFaucheux!"
He dutifully marched up to me, still insulted, but being a good soldier.
LeFaucheux: "Oui, Marechal?" He stood stiffly.
I paced over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
K: "I may not get a chance to explain myself. Do you know why I spared you?" I tilted my head.
LeFaucheux: "Non." I stared right at me.
K: "Because if that was my brother, right or wrong, I'd want to fight whoever insulted him, too." I nodded slowly to him. "It's how family does, Deudonne."
LeFaucheux: "..." He looked down a moment. "Marechal.. perhaps I was overzealous in my defense of him-"
K: "I forgive you, Deudonne. For all of it. If you'll forgive me for picking a fight." I gripped his shoulder a bit.
LeFaucheux: "Oui, Marechal." He gave a tiny grin. "Let us meet the Devil together, today, eh?!" He beamed.
K: "Put him back in charge of a platoon. 3rd. Over La Botte." I looked at Sacquet. "Give him a second chance, to prove his valor as a Prench officer."
Sacquet: "If you do not object. LeFaucheux, I restore you to the rank of Sous-Lieutenant, and give you 3rd Platoon. Do not fail us." Not me, us. And he saluted.
LeFaucheux: "OUI! Mon Colonel! Mon Marechal!" He trotted off after Sacquet returned the salute.
K: "He'll be okay.. if he can keep his ego in check." I smirked and strode out to the formation. "ALRIGHT! Everyone! Prepare to march!" I stood at the head of my command team. "On you, Colonel."
Sacquet: "LEGION! ATTENTION!" He looked back, and nodded. "FORWARD! MARCH!"
We marched out of there, having left a note to whomever would find it.
"Legion needed to save the world. Please have supper ready."
Along with a detailed set of instructions from me to Ambrosia and the other troops.
We were too far to reach anyone by radio, we were days from our reinforcements showing up, we were isolated.. and we set off to our sure deaths, it seemed, anyway.
TIME: 13:27 QEST
LOCATION: 12km from Legion Fort
Hours of marching later, we finally found a suitable spot for the Detrot artillery to give us overwatch for our assault. It was a fine little hill. A bit covered with trees, but...
Snowy: "GET THESE TREES CUT DOWN!" She ordered. "General K, how's our time?"
K: "We're halfway there. We left at seven, we'll arrive at about eight or nine. Night attack. Better that way. LEGION! TAKE FIVE! EAT UP! WE DON'T HAVE A LOT OF TIME!"
Sacquet: "At what point do we break off, Marechal?" He trotted up, with an apple in his right fetlock.
K: "When we're one hour from our destination." I nodded.
Sacquet: "Oui. The artillery.. they will have about seven hours to prepare." He nodded.
K: "Yep. Get some food in you, and be quick." I nodded.
I had a couple apples, some jerky, some of my trail mix, and some bread that was baked at the fort. Rarity sat next to me.
Rarity: "I let her do it, you know, darling." She rested her head against me.
K: "I figured. Did she cry?" I asked.
Rarity: "Oh, waterfalls, darling. She was going on about how she'd never get another chance, that if you died here, she'd never know what it feels like.. not the sex, the closeness." She nuzzled me gently. "After.. we bang you.. we all feel it. A warm closeness that we don't feel anywhere else."
K: "That's called afterglow." I shrugged.
Rarity giggled.
Rarity: "No, darling. It's a real feeling. We all feel so comfortable, so warm, so safe.. it's kind of addicting." She looked up at me, tilting her head. "You won Applejack over from the moment you two met. I must admit, you've grown on me, though it took a bit." She gave me a haughty-but-kind look. "Perhaps I.. missed the boat with you, hm?"
I put an arm around her.
K: "Well.. you're my herd-enforced side piece. I can't argue with that. Mm.. after this war, I hope I have time to write my memoirs.. if not, I'm going to be up to my ears in the best pussy in the world." I gave her a one-arm hug. "I enjoy it, too.. the closeness. It's different with Applejack, though.. it's.. it reaches into my soul, like it did with J--."
Rarity: "I understand."
I checked my watch. Time to go.
K: "Time to leave." I stood up and nodded to Sacquet.
Sacquet: "LEGION! LET US MOVE!"
With that, we were off again. The radios would barely be in range to the artillery position, with all the interference, but they'd do. Cosmic Plane was left behind to directly control them.. he was the single best artillerist I had.
We marched. Through the woods. Mindful of enemy patrols, moving as careful as we could while maintaining pace. Eventually, the sun began to set.
K: "Sacquet." I held up a fist for the formation to stop.
Sacquet: "Yes, Marechal?" He paced over.
I lowered myself and performed the traditional French Greeting - the two fake kisses to the side and an embrace. I stepped back and saluted him.
Sacquet: "It is time, then. Bonne Chance, Mon Ami!" He saluted back.
K: "Vive la Legion, mon amis." I saluted them all, then nodded to Norfy, Rarity and Dusty. "Come on, guys."
Gaze: "Oi, be careful, suh." He nodded to me.
Dr. Allcome: "Yes, please, your medical bill is getting terribly expensive." He grinned.
Fluttershy: "Be careful." She hugged me.
Jade: "Don't die, Human." She looked down, then up, and nodded.
I paused a moment, looked down, and realized I really could die here. This felt like trying to face Tirek alone, or something. It was scary.. and they were scared FOR me.
K: "See you when I get back." I nodded to them.
We split up at that point, so I could make my infiltration of the enemy facility. They'd probably be on some kind of alert. I didn't know what they'd be ready for, though.
K: "Suppressors." I said, pulling mine out.
Still experimental, I had made suppressors in small batches and had them ready for use. I'd brought several with me. Attaching it to my Bradley, I looked and made sure they all had theirs attached as well.
Time to Get Tactical.
[End of Part 3]
Part 4: Dread Engagement
TIME: 20:33 QEST
DATE: War Day 470/19 Septimus 1003 C.S.
LOCATION: Enemy Experimental Lab, Region Nord, Republique du Quirtbeck
K: C> "Alpha to Cognac." I called into the radio as we crept up to the outer edge of the enemy facility.
Sacquet: C> "Cognac here."
K: C> "Begin operation."
Sacqeut: C> "Cognac, understood. Cognac to Hailstorm. Artillery target, enemy troops in the open and light structures. Range, one two double-oh. Ten degrees left. Fire marking shell."
Cosmic: C> "Aye, firing marking shell. One round smoke, coming out."
I saw a smoke shell land at the far side of the compound, over by the military area.
Sacquet: C> "OUI! COGNAC TO HAILSTORM - TWENTY FIVE ROUNDS AYCH-EE, BROAD PATTERN ON CURRENT SETTINGS! FIRE FOR EFFECT!"
Cosmic: C> "Roger, Cognac. Rounds on the way."
I listened to this, and waited a few moments until I could start hearing shell whistles.
K: "Dusty, the fence! GO!" I covered her.
Dusty ran towards the fence, and got out her bolt cutters. She made short work of the fence wire with them, and nodded to us, rolling over and raising her rifle.
We moved up. I kept my eye down the sight of my rifle the whole time, but my vision casual. I wasn't about to make mistakes, now.
Rarity was in first, followed by Norfy. The enemy troops were all over the place, and not paying any attention to us. We'd picked a section of fence that was behind some crates and an outbuilding. The shells were landing about a hundred meters from us, peppering the area, and making an awful mess. I could hear enemy vehicles starting up, and regretted we hadn't had the time to repair one of our own.
K: C> "Alpha to Cognac, we're in. Watch out for armored vehicles."
Sacquet: C> "This is Cognac. Roger. Good hunting."
K: "Let's go. That building first." I pointed.
We made a rush for the first building I saw. It was large, well camouflaged, and had a very large loading bay. The loading bay had several Duregars and a few Raptorians in here. We advanced inwards slowly..
K: "Pick targets.. Rarity, get that guy by the door." I nodded. "On you."
Rarity: "Yes, darling." She raised her Hathcock, and fired.
Dusty fired on the workers that were loading a trailer, hosing them down. Norfy eliminated their overwatch on the catwalk above us. I took out the managers that were standing off to the side, looking at paperwork.
K: "Sweep." I pointed in three directions for them, then took position behind Dusty.
Dusty: "..sir?" She whispered.
K: "Your gig, Gendarme." I kept sighted down my rifle.
Dusty: "Yes, sir." She moved up to the wagon, and we went for the rear.
Dusty fired a few shots into it, just poking holes and making sure. I did the same thing, but I lifted the covering right afterwards.
Dusty: "Seems to be chemical supplies of some kind." She sniffed the air a bit.
Norfy: "Clear!"
Rarity: "Clear!"
K: "Clear here."
I moved over to the door. Of course, it's locked.
K: "Breach it, Gendarme." I moved to a cover position, with Norfy.
Dusty: "You got it."
She pulled out a Halligan Bar and jammed it in the door frame, giving it a kick with her powerful hind legs. Once it was open, Norfy and I went first. Around the corner, several Porcine guards were providing cover for some magi-scientists, who were trying to gather papers into a large pile.
K: "Norfy!"
I fired the rest of my magazine into the left Porcine, he got the one on the right of them. Rarity came around the corner and headshotted the last two. Dusty came after her, and shot the scientists.
K: "Save one!" I ordered.
Dusty: "Left corner, he crawled there when I started firing." She nodded and changed mags.
I moved over there, and reached into the corner with a gloved fist. I grabbed at the creature and dragged it out into the light. I was now able to get my first good look at these things..
K: "Goblin.." I frowned. "..seems ten thousand years of evolution's really done you guys some good."
Goblin: "Pizz off!" He tried to swipe at me, but I held him away from my face.
I then slammed him hard on to the ground, on his back, and stepped on his groin.
K: "TALK! What's Tirek doing with the Smooze!?" I demanded.
Goblin: *N'GAAAaaaaHH!* "FILTHY HYOOMIN! FILTHY PONIES! HE FIX YOU GOOD! TIREK DIE, EVERYONE DIE!" He tried to grasp his groin area, only for Dusty to stand on his wrists. "NAAAHH!"
Dusty: "TELL US EVERYTHING!" She pulled out her collapseable truncheon and pressed it to the side of his head. "Or I go golfing with your nuts!"
She'd taken well to my lessons..
Goblin: "TIREK MAKE SMOOZE WEAPON! HE LAUNCH IT TO THE SUN! SMOOZE EAT SUN, KILL YOU ALL!"
K: "Impossible! That kind of technology isn't even easy in MY world! Sure, we've sent PROBES.. but.." I paused. "HE HAS A ROCKET!?" I grabbed his neck. "WHERE!?"
Goblin: "NOT HERE! SOUTH OF HERE! WAY WAY WAY SOUTH!" He yelled.
K: "It has to be close to the equator during launch.." I trailed off. "..is the weapon ready?"
Goblin: "Soon! Doom Smooze already on it way!" He sneered at me.
K: "Fuck me." I grabbed my radio. C> "Alpha to Cognac. We have a problem."
Sacquet: C> "I wish I could assist, Alpha! We are very busy here! ... ... BROGARD! YOUR LEFT!"
K: C> "Disregard, Cognac." I lowered the radio. "This is beyond bad."
Norfy: "Where'd he get the technology?" He looked at me, then the Goblin.
I nodded.
Dusty was the one that finished it off, caving in its skull with a mighty stomp.
K: "I have no idea.." I trailed off. "..if he kills the sun, though, I mean.. it'd immediately kill Celestia. Then, without the sun, we'd all freeze to death in about a week." I shrugged. "Light takes about eight minutes to reach the Earth from the sun. Smooze lands, expands.. give it an exponential expansion rate.. yeah, no sun in a few days, temperatures almost immediately drop.. they'd become sub zero within days. No light, either. By two days after the sun dies, the Earth dies. If the Smooze consumes the sun completely and can't maintain gravity.. the planets just fly off into the cosmos." I shook my head. "Internal heating would keep some places warm for a while, but without the moon maintaining tidal forces.." I frowned. "..even at my planet's level of technology, only a very tiny fraction of humans might live for perhaps a few years, secluded in caves close to or inside active volcanoes or something."
Norfy: "What do we do?" He shook his head.
K: "Start by killing everything here." I nodded. "Then, we have to find the launch site and destroy it."
Dusty: "This seems to be the main lab." She started in, looking at a fire escape map. "Over that way. Something labelled 'Ee-Ecks, See-Aych.'"
K: "Ex.. Experiment Chamber.." I shook my head. "Come on. Kill anything that moves."
I raised my rifle, and took point. Rarity was behind me. We breached the hallway, and I could immediately hear guards shouting and yelling. One of them opened the door to the hall, and Rarity took his head clean off. We rushed down the hall to the Experimentation Chamber, and found ourselves on the bottom floor of a three-story room with a mobile catwalk gantry.
K: "HOW!? HOW THE HELL DOES HE HAVE THIS TECHNOLOGY!?"
I waved my arms out, looking around, and seeing analog electronics instruments straight out of the 1960's. I moved over to one of the Scientists.. and realized he was no Goblin.
K: "Woebegone?" I grabbed him around the shoulder.
Same race, not him.
Scientist: "What do you wa-HUMAN!"
He tried to grab at something, but I punched him in the face.
K: "What are you!?"
Scientist: "Ympha! I'm a Ympha!" He tried to get away from me.
Now, of note, he's about four feet tall at the most. I tower over him, and his struggle is futile. I put him in the ground, whip out my Morgan, and stick it to his head.
K: "ARE YOU THE ONES HELPING TIREK WITH TECHNOLOGY LIKE THIS?!" I screamed.
???: "Oooh.. hohh.. silly human!" That came from the mobile gantry.
I looked up to see a.. a troll. No, what I saw was Niblick. I put my knee in the Ympha's back, and whipped my aim up to him.
K: "NIBLICK!?" I called out.
Niblick: "He said you'd be smarter than Megan." He grinned at me.
K: "Nice to see you, you greedy old cuss!" I flashed my eyes to Rarity, to be ready to shoot. "He put you in charge, here?"
Niblick: "Oh, more than that. He freed me from a curse! Hah.. I.. demanded a toll from the wrong traveller, and they turned me to stone." He shrugged. "Us trolls live up to seven hundred years.. I was only in my 200's.." A gesture. "..such a young life. It wasn't fair, you see.." And he pressed a button.
The large vertical cylinder cauldron in the center of the room lit up, and a cage was lowered so it was suspended over it. I could see Canidan puppies in the cage..
Dusty: "YOU BASTARD! LET THOSE KI-"
I reached over and shut her muzzle with my offhand before she could finish that sentence.
K: "What do you want, Niblick? Gold? Jewels?" I tilted my head.
Niblick: "Revenge. I never did get my magic coins back." He grinned at me. "My precious treasure." He stood and looked at me from the mobile gantry's control station. "You have one on you."
K: "I.." I blinked. My wallet! I took it out, and opened it with one hand.. sure enough, Megan had put one of the two remaining coins in here. "I see."
Niblick: "How'd you get it?!" He demanded.
K: "Over a year ago, I inavertently got sent to the distant past. I met Megan. I didn't realize she slipped this into my wallet." I studied the coin... a minor wish...
Niblick: "I see! Explains much." He narrowed his eyes at me. "Give it back or I drop them."
K: "Right.. sure." I looked down at the Ympha. "I'll have him be the courier." I got my knee out of his back and pulled him up.
Niblick: "SMaaarrtt.." He guffawed.
What he didn't realize was that a 100 Bits Coin was the same size, weight, and color as his magic coins.. and I did a fast swap with a flick of the wrist.
K: "Don't look at it, don't say anything, just take this to your master." I grabbed him with my free hand. "Screw around, I'll drop you myself."
Ympha Scientist: "Fine!" He backed up and made for the gantry ladder.
K: "Rarity.. get ready."
Rarity: "Have his head sighted in, darling, and the round permiated with magic." She murmured back.
K: "Norfy, the second I act, I need you to dump an ice wall on top of the Gantry. Dusty, take that scientist out." I spoke in very low tones as the Ympha got to Niblick.
Niblick: "Ah, yes.." He grabbed it, and realized it wasn't what he thought it was.. "WAIT, YOU-"
K: "I WISH THOSE PUPPIES WERE AT MY FEET!" I held up the coin.
The puppies vanished from the cage, and appeared at my feet, very confused, but free.
Rarity fired at the same instant I opened my mouth. Norfy cast his Ice Wall on to the Gantry itself at the same instant he saw the bolt on her rifle move. Dusty fired at that instant as well. By the time I was done talking, there was a red hole in Niblick's head, multiple red holes in the Ympha scientist, and an ice wall so heavy, it caused the Gantry to snap its moorings on its track and fall to the ground.
K: "It didn't backfire." I shrugged, and bent down to pick one of them up. "Hey, you guys!"
Pup: "Issha da hoomlin!" He licked my face. "We hear 'boot you fr'm Capt'n Havoc when he come t'roo our village!" Thick Canadian accents.
K: "Where's your parents?" I asked.
Pup: "They's innda back!" He pointed with his snout.
Rarity: "This is indeed bad, darlings." She narrowed her eyes.
K: C> "Alpha to Cognac, come in! Report status!"
Sacquet: C> "This is Cognac! We are under heavy fire! Legion is down over fifty percent troops strength! Brogard is down! The enemy presses us from all sides and we have no room to maneuver!"
K: "SHHhhiit!" I winced. C> "Hailstorm, Hailstorm, Cognac has authorization for BROKEN ARROW! Cosmic.. please.."
Cosmic: C> "..I understand. Alpha. Ah. Hailstorm acknowledges."
K: C> "Cognac. Broken Arrow authorized. How copy?"
Sacquet: C> "OUI MON MARECHAL! VIVE LA PRANCE!"
I lowered my radio, hearing Sacquet call in coordinates. Final Protective Fire is the stage after Danger Close, where your artillery coordinates are within meters of your own troops, well within the danger of friendly fire. As its name suggests, it's your final attempt to thwart an enemy attack with artillery, before being overrun. It's like asking a friend to shoot hornets off of your shoulder with a shotgun at ten paces. Broken Arrow.. is the stage beyond that, where you are sure to be defeated, but you intend to kill everything you can in the process. This authorizes artillery to be called directly on your own position.
Rarity: "..we must have faith in our friends, darling." She put a hoof on my shoulder.
Dusty: "Orders, General?"
Norfy just looked at me.
K: "That huge container probably has Smooze in it, but I'm betting that isn't the only one." I shrugged. "And, now, we have potential civilians we have to save." I looked at the pups. "Okay, you guys-"
Pup #2: "I'm a GIRL!" She protested
K: "Okay, pups, I need to hide you so you don't get hurt. I'm going to rescue your family." I nodded as I ushured them into an empty metal crate. "You need to stay put, got it?" I as giving them a parental tone.
Pup: "We gawt it!" He licked my face as I set him in there.
K: "Alright, let's move." I nodded.
Norfy: "Just wondering, but if the Legion can't kill all of them.."
K: "I have no idea." I shrugged. "If we had a Herdiet atomic device, I'd use that right now."
Rarity: "Would it HELP, though, Darling? He said these things were designed to eat the sun!" She took Rear Guard.
K: "I really don't know." I shrugged again.
We entered the Prison section of the lab. Dusty was in first, and kneecapped three Raptorians and a Ympha. She finished off the Raptorians, and dragged the Ympha over to us while Norfy took the other side, and capped a pair of Duregars. Rarity sniped a Porcine off of the catwalk above the prison cages.
I could hear barking, breying, chatter in three different languages.. young, old.. all the cages were covered in tarps, so the prisoners couldn't see each other. The cages were secured to the floor, some were hanging off the walls..
K: "HEY! THIS IS GENERAL K! EVERYONE LISTEN UP! WE'RE GOING TO GET YOU OUT OF HERE!"
Canidan Male Voice: "General! Over here!"
I moved over to the sound and pulled back the tarp.
K: "Sergeant O'Fang!?" I looked in, and sure enough..
Sgt. O'Fang: "Heh. Reporting for duty, sir." He reached through the cage with his snout, and gave me a face nuzz.
K: "Your kids.." I pointed towards the experimentation chamber.
Sgt. O'Fang: "Rescued d'em, eh? D'ey're my nieces and nephews, actually. D'ey captured me when I went down ta Calvary (Calgary) ta visit my brodder." He shrugged. "Get me out, eh? And get me a weapon."
Rarity: "Sergeant." She nodded to him and unlocked the cage, offering him one of the Duregar's Zhukovs.
Sgt. O'Fang: "Mmm.. this is better. Where's Captain Havoc?"
I glanced towards the outside, roughly.
K: "He's out there. He's with the Prench Foreign Legion. They're.." I sighed. "..not doing well."
Sgt. O'Fang: "I see. Come, I'll give ya a paw." He nodded. "They've got people from all over. Quirtbeckians, Canidans, Equestians, some Chrystaillains.. even got a few Germanes, Dockmarkers, and Roamans.." He went on as we split the keys up and started unlocking cages. "The Germanes say d'ey know you. Over there." He nodded.
K: "GUTEN TAG?! DAS IST GENERALFELDMARSCHALL K!" I called over.
Stahl: "K! K! OVER HERE!"
K: "S.. STAHL!?" I went to her cage, and got it open. "Oh, my God! Are you okay!?"
Stahl: "Jawohl." She gave me a short embace. "Herr K. Zat vould be Obergefreiter Stahl." She gave me a small, coy grin.
K: "Such familiarity." I passed her a Zhukov that Norfy handed me.
Stahl: "You.. inspired me, K." She blushed.
Dusty intervened.
Dusty: "Right now, sister, we have a lot of trouble. Are there any other Germane soldiers with you?"
Stahl: "J-Jawohl." She was taken aback.. and I could see a bit of confusion, here. "My patrol vere captured 25 days ago.. ah.." She looked down. "Several of them.. vere.. consumed.." She shook her head. "Along vith.." A sniffle. "Herr K. Fahnrich Eigensinnig is dead."
Rarity: "OH, FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA!" She hissed. "He was a GOOD stallion!" She punched an empty cage wall. "I'm GLAD I put a round between that Troll's eyes!" She snorted.
Stahl: "Fraulein Rarity!" She grinned and stepped over. "Danke. For avenging him."
K: "Sergeant O'Fang, I think you're seniormost, here. Get the rest of them free, find weapons, give me a head count of who's military and who ain't."
Sgt. O'Fang: "You got it, K. Come on, miss Stahl." He nodded.
Stahl: "Jawohl!" She trotted away.
Rarity: *Growling* "I know war means casualties, Darling. I've lost friends. I accept that. But for a soldier to be.." She made a disgusted face. "..USED like that instead of respectfully SHOT or held PRISONER.." A tear. "..Perhaps now, darling. Perhaps now I understand why you get so emotional."
I hugged her.
K: "You ponies weren't meant to fight wars. Much less ones againt pure evil that will do whatever it wants, has no scruples, and no respect." I shrugged. "Give 'em a hand. Norf, you and me, security." I moved to the doorway.
Norfy: "She's right. That's disgusting to murder a pony like that." He shook his head. "Sounds silly, but.. I wish some of the anceient ones were here." A half shrug. "I wonder."
K: "Ehh. I've got you, haven't I, Norpheous?" I smirked.
Norfy: *Ha-ha!* "Was THAT my name!?" He grinned.
K: "Yeah. I.. I avoided meeting you." I looked down. "Sorry. I didn't.." I shrugged. "..it's hard to explain."
Norfy: "You didn't want to.. contaminate.. the timeline." He looked sad a moment.
K: "Yeah, man.." I frowned. "..I mean. I.." I shook my head. "I'm going to feel guilty for the rest of my life that I had a chance to spare you your pain, and I chose not to."
Norfy: "Well, you allowed the timeline to set in motion events that put Celestia on the throne. And.. I don't know. You might've prevented our extinction. The Winter of Cold Feelings. With no Celestia.."
K: "I get it." I shrugged. "I either make one of my best friends' past life perfect and doom the Pony race to self-extinction, or I let you suffer and die." I shook my head.
Sgt. O'Fang: "We're set, K. We have five Canidan Rangers - me, my brother, his wife, her cousin, and my cousin. Two Canidan Army staff officers from Otterwa. Four remaining Germane soldiers. Five Roaman Cavalry troopers. Three Equestrian Gendarmes from Los Angeles. Four members of the Greater Los Angeles Militia. Five sailors kidnapped from The Great Lake Naval Training Center in Coltago. And two.. from Baltimare."
Westerly Wind: "K." A nod.
K: "Wes!" I patted him on the shoulder. "Good to see you."
Westerly Wind: "Where's Cosmic?" He tilted his head.
K: "Up in the Artillery Emplacement. About ten klicks from here." I nodded.
SSGT Iron Chuck: "Sir. Been ages since Gloom Mountain." She nodded to me.
K: "Ehm.. caught on a date?" I leaned in a bit.
Westerly Wind: "Actually, no. We were headed to Canterlot. That was a week ago." He shrugged. "We've been interviewing each other.. sir.. I think there's an organized kidnapping ring in North Equus. Each of us was caught while out on our own. No one in here is.. well, they didn't target us for our military importance or anything - one of the civilians was a drifter carpenter. They were just grabbing whoever they could!"
Iron Chuck: "We were headed to Canterlot to accept a supply train of the new seventy-sixes, sir, and.." She shook her head.
K: "Get yourselves some weapons."
Norfy: "Thirty mixed troops. Half a company." He nodded.
Iron Chuck: "I got the Pershing!" She hefted it.
K: "Wes!" I got him over to me.
Westerly Wind: "Yes, sir."
K: "You're in charge of the.. uh.. mixed formation." I nodded. "You need to help the Prench Foreign Legion. Colonel Sacquet is pinned down and losing troops fast. Take my radio." I handed it to him. "You should be able to get to the rear of his position if you head out that way there.." I pointed. "..and catch the enemy between two forces."
Westerly Wind: "Yes, SIR!" He grinned, and headed out.
Norfy: "Hopefully, he's still alive." He nodded.
K: "I'm sure he's fine." I said, refusing to believe otherwise.
I wasn't so sure, though. And I still needed to find the rest of the Smooze..
[End of Part 4]
Part 5: Dread Revelation
TIME: 21:17 QEST
DATE: War Day 470/19 Septimus 1003 C.S.
LOCATION: Experimental Laboratory, Region Nord, Republique du Quirtbeck
I paced back out into the Experimetnation Chamber, now dragging the Ympha that was shot in the leg, earlier.
K: "You know, I don't get it. Ponies helped one of your kind in antiquity. Woebegone. The Bad Luck Man." I shrugged.
Ympha: "Shows what you.." *NGH!* "Know. Woeb'gone is one of our greatest insults.." He was thrashing, but Dusty had handcuffed him. "..when he returned to our people, his curse returned as well. He wiped out two villages with his bad luck! Ruined crops! Starved our children!"
K: "The curse was fixed once he started believing in himself, again." I stated, as I remembered that kinda crappy throwaway episode well.
Ympha: "Hah! Woebegone told us what the Ponies did!" He sneered at me. "Confidence. Load of hay!" He hissed. "His curse was worse than ever when he came back!"
K: "That was also 10,000 years ago." I reminded him, stopping by the huge.. cauldron, I suppose..
Ympha: "It's also the reason our people had to FLEE Dream Valley!" He yelled. "Another THOUSAND of us DIED! That story is passed down, generation to generation!"
K: "I can't beleive that. I mean.. I can, but.. I don't understand. It was fixed. How did it break, again?" I shook my head. "So, your people swore blood vengeance on the Ponies. Right? An eternal desire for revenge?"
Ympha: "Something like that." He crossed his arms. "When the Advanced Civilization was destroyed 8,000 years ago, my people scavenged their lost arts. When we were chased from North Equus by the Pony Wars, we took it with us. Now.. now you see." He waved his hand. "We will have our revenge."
Rarity: "Tirek plans to launch a rocket into the sun, filled with Smooze, and exterminate all life on the planet." She tersely reminded him.
Ympha: "Yeah. Only if he's killed." He looked at us. "Fail Deadly, we call it."
K: "You certainly explain how high technology has crept back in to things, despite being gone for thousands of years." I threw him to the ground. "Kept alive like a tiny candle in the minds of your people for thousands of years. Along comes Tirek a century-and-change ago. He offers you your revenge, if you help him. You're the most human-like creatures in this world. It makes sense if you also have near-equal intelligence." I shrugged. "Maybe greater."
Dusty: "It sure seems like it's one coallition of races against another, General." She shook her head.
Ympha: "You'll see! You'll ALL see! ONE day! You evil ponies will be confined to the stables, where you ALL belong! AS BEASTS OF BURDEN!" He rolled on to his side, trying to bring himself at least to his knees. "We Ympha are Tirek's brains. Goblins, his builders. Duregar, his soldiers. It goes on. The Gizmonks, the Porcine, the Raptorians.. there's so many more of us than there are, you."
K: "This also explains why the technology is so.. esoteric. Not linear. Like, the stuff here. Analogue computers from the 1960's. But, Tirek is just now using full ironclad warships. He had this, but he didn't have guns. He had.. only certain things that each of his peoples had saved from ancient times." I shook my head. "It also explains why he seems to be a step ahead, sometimes. I'm trying to bring your tech UP TO my level or close to it, starting with mainly 19th century technology, a full century behind me. Tirek is spreading out from multiple points at once. You know, I bet he develops guided missiles before we do? But can't design an efficient Guided Missile Cruiser to carry them?" I shook my head. "The smooze."
Ympha: "This giant vat is our latest development of it. There's more in the sub-labs." He narrowed his eyes at me.
K: "Hate me because I'm working with them?" I asked.
Ympha: "Insulted that you won't join us. Tirek is the savior, here! Celestia and her family are the REAL tyrants! WE KNOW that HER MOTHER nearly ERADICATED one of YOUR OWN RACES!" He pointed his finger at each of us in turn. "AND YET! You accept HER as your GODDESS!?"
K: "Galactia Spark eliminated the Flutter Ponies, we know, but because of that, Celestia and Luna BANISHED her. Moreover, Celeatia has confessed the sins she remembers, and will take penance for them when this war ends." I shook my head. "We accept her BECAUSE she has flaws, BECAUSE she seeks forgiveness!"
Ympha: "She's a dangerous hypocrite!" He accused.
K: "Yeah, well, I get that. I'm Human. We're not dumb." I shrugged. "Celestia, though, hasn't tried to murder me, and didn't murder a unique, living, sentient creature - Tirek nearly killed me, and he destroyed the Wishing Star." I shook my head. "How have you even been disposing of this stuff!? Smooze could destroy the whole WORLD if it got out! It is LEGION, it is MANY and it is-"
Ympha: "There's only ONE Smooze in that vat!" He pointed behind him. "ONE. HUGE. SMOOZE! And it can't go through mitosis!"
K: "..you've got to be.. no, never mind, you're telling the truth." I walked up to the vat, and started climbing the access stairway.
Ymhpa: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" He demanded. "AREN'T YOU GOING TO STOP HIM!?" He implored Norfy, Rarity, and Dusty.
Norfy: "K does what he wants. We follow him because it's always been the right idea." He twitched his mouth.
I looked down into the open vat. Sure enough, one giant eye looked back at me.
K: "Hey, there, big guy." I talked calmly, refusing to show ANY fear. "You hungry?"
The Smooze gurgled.
I walked back down and picked up the Ympha.
Ympha: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME!?" He screamed.
K: "You're useless to me. I'm going to experiment myself - see if this thing likes Ympha." I shrugged.
Ympha: "NOO! NO! NOT THAT!" He squirmed hard.
K: "Dusty, I'll replace the cuffs." I shrugged.
Dusty: "Go right ahead, sir." She shrugged. "You order, I obey."
My team was playing in to the psychological angle perfectly. I got to the top and made a move to throw the Ympha in.
K: "How do you kill them?" I asked, plainly.
Ympha: "WE HAVE A MAGIC ARTIFACT! IT SLOWLY EVAPORATES THEM, BUT IT CAN TAKE WEEKS!" He squealed. "THIS THING GOT TOO BIG! We.. we were WAITING!" A tentacle psuedopod nearly grabbed him. "FOR LORD TIREK! He was going to destroy it! He was coming in a few more months!" He squealed. "He wanted us to use it to test prisoners, first!" He whined. "PLEASE DON'T LET GO!"
I held him by his belt. Over the Smooze.
K: "Are there any other labs?"
Ympha: "NO! THIS IS THE ONLY ONE!"
K: "Where's the missile?"
Ympha: "CALAMITY ISLAND! In the SOU-Southern SEAS!"
K: "Thanks." I shrugged. "You know, I was going to simply shoot all of you. But, you feeding living creatures to this thing is a fate worse than death. So, I feel you deserve the same. Time for me.. to let go of my past." I smirked.
And dropped him in.
Ympha: "NNNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHDSFJASDSJDFGIAHEUGIDFKghghhhhhh...."
*Gurgle*Gloprh*Gulumk..*
K: "Yeah, it absorbs things whole. Just like before. Looks like it hurts, too." I shrugged. "At the very least, it's terrifying."
Norfy: "Still going with Plan A, sir?" He tilted his head.
K: "I'm going to try." I pulled the Sword of Rainbow's Light and held it aloft, letting my Bradley hang slack. "CADENCE! GIVE ME STRENGTH!" I focused on her, and how much I loved her as my niece, friend, and trusted battle buddy...
I felt myself glow pink. I could TASTE Pink. I guess that.. when she had that Love Bubble up.. there was some definite energy transfer, there.. we were in synch.
I dipped the sword into the Smooze, hoping... no, trusting Cadence that I would be okay.
It immediately started sizzling like butter on a hot fry pan.
I knew it! LOVE was its KRYPTONITE!
Norfy was right next to me. So was Rarity.. and Dusty.
Norfy: "For my friends, that I love SO much! For my MARES!"
Rarity: "For my little sister!"
Dusty: "FOR MY FAMILY!"
I felt it.. from each of them. Distinctly. Like, I could really tap into Cadence's ability to feel different kinds of love. Norfy was internally calling himself a brother to me. Rarity loved me as a close friend, and I could feel, her lust for me. Very sure, very positive. Dusty.. I could immediately see she had a little brother and sister, both teens. Her mother. Her father. Her uncle. And.. uh-oh. I'm IN there! She has a CRUSH on me! I can FEEL it.. but, right now, I needed it.
I channelled all that energy into the sword as best I could, borrowing Cadence's magic. I could feel her. Then Sunshine. Sombra. Iris. Sparky?! Lugnut!? Then, the Crystal Heart itself!
The container went from a grey slime.. to a grey slime glowing with pink inside of it. It was bellowing in pain. It tried to reach out for us, but failed. Every time it got close, our love and friendship DISSOLVED it..
K: "It's gonna blow." I said calmly.
Rarity: "Let it, darling. We'll be alright." She replied.
The pink light grew brighter.. and brighter.. and brighter...
{End of Chapter 48}
