Whew, this one was fun to write. I really just can't thank you guys enough for the support I've gotten for this story, and I hope to keep it coming. Also, just a bit of my pretentious side coming out here, but if anyone chooses to do fanart or a reading of this story on youtube, please leave the URL in the reviews! Seeing something like that based on something I've done would thrill me to no end.
Well, it's obviously not required of you guys, and I love you all for just being here and reading to begin with. So with that, leave a review, and I'll see you in the next one!
I stepped out of the gym alongside Mark, looking out across the way. The field was filled with ponies, but not as many as there had been the day before. I'd been expecting this, but it didn't make me feel any better. "Just a suggestion..." I turned to him. "I know you're training them for war, but come on, they're ponies. Physical fitness is kind of a prerequisite. Show them how to fight. That's what they're going to need."
"Actually, they'll be needing a miracle as well." I spun around, and there was Discord, towering over a scratched up, bruised Shining Armor.
"Whoa, you okay?" I stepped closer, but he waved me off, nodding.
"We checked the shield, but a human patrol interrupted us. He's got everypony in the city under his command, not just the Princesses." I'd figured on that, but it wasn't what I wanted to hear.
"Can you break that shield?" He took a deep breath before explaining.
"I can." Finally some good news. "But..." Of course. "I'll need three other ponies who can produce the same spell. We'll have to hit the city from every side to bring the wall down, but unfortunately, I can only think of five ponies besides myself that know a spell like this, and three of them are in Canterlot Castle." Discord raised a hand sheepishly. "Discord, Cadence, and myself are the only ponies I know of who can cast the spell that will bring down that shield, but we need somepony else." I rubbed my chin. Why was there always some sort of catch?
"And you're absolutely sure you got it right?" He nodded.
"I'm actually the one who designed the original version of this spell. It looks like this Changeling just modified it."
"Regen." He glanced at me in curiosity. "His name is Regen. Giving something a name brings it down to our level." He nodded.
"Good thinking, but our morale won't matter if we can't get to the city." It was at this point that I realized Mark was looking off to my left at something. I glanced in that direction as well, and lo and behold, there was a strange little wooden...van? No, more like a carriage with a lot of sparkly...things on it.
"Any clue who that might be, guys?" All except Discord shook their heads.
"Unless I'm terribly mistaken, that would be-"
"MARES AND GENTLECOLTS, COME ONE, COME ALL, COME TO SEE THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!" He blinked once or twice.
"Exactly that." The entirety of the wall of the carriage flipped outward, revealing a small stage with an even larger collection of sparkly things obviously designed to grab the attention of the viewers. A puff of smoke appeared onstage, and from within it stepped a periwinkle mare with a big pointy hat on.
"Now, you lucky few will experience the wonders that are Trixie's incredible skills! Watch...in... AWE!" She reared up, sparks flying from both sides of the stage around her. Taking her getup into account, I could have sworn she was fighting a Balrog or the like.
"Excuse me, ma'am, but...why are you here?" Mark was the first to find his words in the face of this little train wreck. She glared down at him.
"Have you not yet heard of the abilities of the Great and Powerful Trixie?! Trixie is the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria!" I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
"And evidently the most self-centered." She paused, whipping her head around to me. The look on her face was somewhat unique. I counted on her trying to tackle me judging from her expression, for one reason or another.
"And you would challenge the mighty Trixie? A lowly...human such as yourself?" Her speech seemed to get more and more uncertain as she gave me the once over.
"I might if it was worth my time." She hopped down from the stage.
"What do you have in mind?" Ok, this was getting officially weird. Choose your words carefully, Terreson. Game face on.
"Do you know shield spells?" She chuckled heartily.
"Does Trixie know shield spells? Honestly." Shining Armor stepped forward.
"Cast me a double excluder using subsets A through N, P, and Q." She rolled her eyes, producing a ball in midair. He pressed a hoof up against it, not able to get through. Discord did the same, the ball stopping his hand as expected. When I touched it, however, my fingers simply ran through it. He raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed. "I think we found our fourth caster."
"Alright, Trixie. I do have a proposition for you. We need to break into Canterlot, and in order to do it, we need four ponies with skill in shield spells. We have three already, so what's it going to cost in order to get you to be the fourth?" She grinned, walking around me in a circle and looking me up and down.
"Well, well. Quite a predicament you've worked yourself into. Luckily for you, the Great Trixie is feeling benevolent, and will gladly assist you." I said a brief thank-you prayer. Finally. "For a small fee." Against my will, my fists clenched. This was beginning to get old.
"As much as I'd love to pay you, I'm fresh out of Bits." Shining Armor opened his mouth to speak, but Trixie kept going with something I hadn't expected.
"Oh, I don't want Bits." I raised an eybrow. Out of the third person, finally. At least that was an improvement.
"They have a saying back on Earth. The woman who doesn't want your money is often the most expensive." She chuckled. Funny, most females found that joke intolerable.
"No, no, Mr. Terreson. I will be more than happy to exchange my services for yours." And this was officially scaring me.
"What exactly do you mean?" She sighed, obviously annoyed at my intentional, somewhat desperate cluelessness.
"I've heard rumors that human men are capable of certain...things that stallions are not. For a single experience with such abilities, I will be more than willing to assist you in bringing down that shield." Wow, was this actually happening? The middle of a war camp, and our only hope to save the world was propositioning me? I felt a hand on my shoulder, pulling lightly on me.
"Joe, can I talk to you for a minute?" I gladly stepped away, focusing every part of my mind on Mark now. "Look, I know she's a pony, but...the world? Really?" It took me a minute to catch up to his logic, and I shook my head.
"There's another way. Just give me a few minutes." He gave me a knowing look .
"You know the first rule of negotiations. The guy who wants it least wins. She can try this again with another guy every day of her life, but you've only got two more days to bring down this shield." I nodded.
"And that's two days to try and come to an agreement." He threw his hands in the air in frustration. "Sorry, but if I can find a better option, I'll use it." I turned back around to Trixie, who looked somewhat proud of herself. "I'll tell you what. Give me one day to think it over." She nodded satisfactorily, glancing at me proudly as she trotted away. I clapped a hand to my forehead as she reentered her carriage. "So...that happened." There was a general silence in the group as I turned around. "Look, I know what you're thinking, but let's focus on actually taking back the city. One way or another now, we're guaranteed that the shield is coming down. How do we take the whole thing back?" Mark rubbed his chin, evidently glad for the change in topic.
"Well, with everyone in there under Regen's control, the castle's got to be locked up tighter than a Hitchcock villain." Shining Armor stared blankly at him. "Sorry. Human joke. But anyway, we've got to be able to get past some major defenses." I glanced over to the field hospital.
"You got a sniper in that group?" He nodded.
"Not your grade, but he's good." I stroked my chin.
"Well, there's a distraction, so where's our main hit?" There was silence for a few seconds until Shining Armor asked a question that hadn't even crossed my mind.
"Could we not just bring down the wall?" It seemed so absurd, I actually took a moment to try and find his train of thought. The walls on that castle had to be six feet of solid stone, and built with the best craftsmanship I'd ever seen.
"Maybe if we had an artillery battalion and a small arsenal of RPGs." He raised an eyebrow.
"Can't say I know what that means, but I do have something that might work. Follow me." He led us off to a small house a few blocks away. The ground around the place was shaking rhythmically, and I had bad flashbacks of drunk nights and one dollar bills. He opened up the door and the music stopped suddenly as the room's sole occupant knelt. "How are you doing, Vinyl?" She stood again, a white unicorn mare with ruby red glasses on. Despite her very punk look, she made no reply. Shining Armor turned to us and glanced back and forth.
"So guys, this is Vinyl Scratch, aka DJP0N3. Vinyl, this is Joseph K. Terreson, Mark Fiston, and I'm sure you know Discord." The chaotic being bowed low, while Mark and myself simply nodded in our turn. She trotted forward, cocking her head at Mark and myself.
"So, what can I do you for, boys?" I couldn't help but glance curiously at Shining Armor. He didn't seem like the kind to play a joke in such serious conditions, but the prospect of Vinyl being capable of helping us bring down a castle's walls was getting less and less believable by the second.
"Got anything that can break marble?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Right to the point, huh? I like that. Follow me." She spun around, leading us back into the room, coming eventually to a huge red curtain. "You wanna break stone and hearts? Feast your eyes." The curtain fell back and there stood a HUGE amp. I was given flashbacks of Back to the Future, followed very closely by the prospect that this would not be out of place in the house of a giant. "The Bass Cannon 2.0. This baby shakes air so hard that with the right bit of aim and a solid power chord, even mountains go down." Well, this was going to be interesting. Note to self, lots of earmuffs.
"So, what do you want for a few hours use of this thing?" She chuckled.
"Just the chance to see it in action. This is gonna be awesome!" She spun about, checking the wiring on the amp, and I turned around as well.
"That went better than expected." There was a quick consensus of nods. "So, sonic warfare. Who knew?" There was a bit of silence as we left her to her own devices, and I simply broke away from the group, heading over to my trainees.
As I reached them, they lined up before me, snapping to attention. Cadance was still there, as were Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Big Mac. "Alright, boys and girls! Today we're going to be doing something a little different. I'm going to see how well what you learned yesterday cemented with you. Get in a single file line, and you'll be engaging me in combatives one at a time. Rules apply just as yesterday, but today you'll be after me in succession. No breaks between fights, and the battle can move wherever we choose to take it, no holds barred. So, LINE UP!" They snapped into a single file line, a black-coated pegasus up first. "Ready, BEGIN!" He rushed me, not expecting my quick sidestep. I grabbed his forehead, swinging him around with his own force and using it to plant his head in a nearby tree.
My next opponent was Mac, and as he leapt at me, I realized how much bigger he was than quite a few other ponies. I fell beneath his strike, the hit from which buried his hoof five inches into a small boulder. Ok, his hooves had just placed between asteroids and nuclear missiles on my list of things not to get hit with.
He spun around, throwing a back leg at me. I spun left, catching the leg and using it to toss him headlong into the same boulder. His head cracked against it, leaving him dazed and confused. I spun around, taking a deep breath. Honestly, this was gonna be fun.
From that point forward, they began disregarding the rules, and two or three would charge me at a time. I developed a pile of unconscious ponies around me after a few minutes, but Rainbow Dash and Applejack fixed that. As I finished off my fiftieth trainee, Applejack spun about, smashing me in the shoulder with her hooves. I spun in place for about a second before a blue blur plowed into my back, thrusting me forward into the town square. I dropped my toes, throwing myself forward and down before I hit the oncoming building. Dash skidded to a halt a few yards in front of me, and I became aware of two more presences behind me. Cadance and Applejack. "Alright, let's go."
All three of them rushed me, leaving me only enough time to dodge each of their attacks. I was out of luck, as each of my opponents fought on a different altitude, leaving me stuck on the defensive. Applejack fought to disable my legs, Candence aimed mostly at my midsection, and Dash was focused on my upper body. Unfortunately for me, they were all fast, and I made a big target by their standards. I felt my calf get booted out from under me, dropping me to one knee. Then Dash came in, smashing me in the chest and pinning me down as Cadence pushed up against my back, the three of them working together perfectly to ball me up.
"Good, good!" They had forgotten the x axis in their rush, though. I rolled off of them, grabbing Cadance and throwing her underneath me. I tossed her across the field, my motion forcing Dash to grip my neck as she zipped past. I fell under her applied force and threw my legs out, tripping Applejack up as I went. Dash and I landed side by side, her wings useless so long as I held onto her. Instinctively, I threw one hand down, clapping her temple. Immediately, her body went limp.
I stood up, turning to Applejack. "You know, I think Applebloom might just have been right about you." I chuckled. "Why'd you start fighting to begin with?" I opened my mouth to answer, but realized the weight of the question.
"Well...um...ok, you know how your Cutie Marks show what your talent is when you find it?" She nodded. "Well, humans don't have something like that. When we find what our meaning in life is, we have to realize it for ourselves. I used to spend a lot of time as a kid fighting, and I was on the boxing and wrestling teams in school. The thing was, because of that, people liked to try and fight me outside the ring too, and that got old. Really old. So much so that I never wanted to fight again. Later on, I was out of money and luck, so I decided to try my hand at the Marines for a few years to get my life back in order. But the second I stepped onto a combatives mat for the first time, everything came flooding back. It was right there that I knew what my life's purpose was, and so I've been doing it ever since. To put it a bit more simply, a very wise human once said that the most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why."
She was silent, but I could tell she understood. Before I could get ready again, she relaxed, trotting off the field. "Something wrong?" She chuckled.
"I already showed you how good I am. With a story like that behind all yer skills, I ain't gonna be the one that beats you." I stood up to my full height, watching her stroll away. It was only a minute or two before I realized that a soft, warm weight had appeared on my back. I looked over my shoulder and was greeted by a big, happy, yellow eyed grin.
"Hi, Derpy." Her grinned widened in acknowledgment of my greeting.
"Hiya, Mr. Terson!" Still working on the name, but whatever.
"Any particular reason you're on my back?" She blinked, shaking her head slowly in thought.
"Nope. Just wanted to come see you. Well, that and I feel a lot safer around you since you stopped those bad guys in Ponyville." Well, if nothing else, that made me feel good.
"Alright. You can come with me to the meeting. We've got a lot of work left to do." I jogged away, her bouncing on my back like a toddler. Halfway there she started humming, using the bouncing from my run to move her voice up and down.
As I burst through the door, I realized how cold it was outside. Shining Armor and Discord both met me at the door, looking curiously at the pegasus on my back. "Don't ask. Any plans?" They started at the same time, Shining Armor giving way to Discord after a few seconds of word-mincing.
"Well, we've got earmuffs for the whole army in the city's winter supply shed, so that's not a problem. Honestly, the only thing that needs worked on is a plan on getting through the city without having to eliminate the populace." Shining Armor started up now.
"Right. I've been under a Changeling's control before. It happens in three stages. First comes a set of killer headaches in succession, that only the Changeling can get rid of. Soon your entire body is wracked in pain and fatigue, and by the time you get strength enough to fight it, your mind has already retreated into itself to protect your sanity. It leaves your body as a shell who's only goal is to avoid pain, and the easiest way of doing that is to obey the Changeling. So, until the populace gets an order, they'll be dormant and probably just stand around, but as soon as Regen realizes we're there, the entire city is going to fall on our heads."
"Okay, easy. You, Discord, and myself get down to the west wing of the castle, then Vinyl blasts the streets downtown. When he floods the area, our troops move in and set up an ambush behind the west wing of the castle. Once everyone's in position, Vinyl blows the whole section off and we leave our troops to bottleneck the rest of Regen's forces on their way back. That should buy us enough time to take care of him, considering the size of the city." They nodded slowly, agreeing with my idea. Derpy had slipped off of my back and was now munching a muffin pulled from within her satchel.
"Okay, but you're forgetting something. Celestia, Luna, and Twily are all still inside that castle. Knowing Regen, he's probably set up in the throne room, so blasting the wing is fine, but how are you planning on fighting them?" I had honestly been hoping to avoid that question.
"Well, if need be, I'll-" The door flew open, and Cadence rushed through it with a human laying across her back. The first thing I noticed was the Sig Sauer P290 strapped to his thigh, followed by the fact that a bullet hole matching that caliber could be found in his lower abdomen. I rushed over, pulling him off of her and setting him on the floor.
"I-I just found him...where I landed...I-I didn't know what to do..." I held up a hand.
"You did fine. Here, tear this." I unbuttoned my undershirt and handed it to them as I leaned over him. "Hey, buddy. What's your name, huh?" He opened his eyes, and I was almost sickened by the shade of green his irises and pupils had taken. I jumped back, moving in slowly as Cadence handed me a strip of fabric. He turned to me, lifting one hand and holding out a tiny leather bag which I took. I started to wrap the wound, but he turned back, looking to the ceiling and uttering a final sentence before his breathing puttered to a halt.
"We are Regen."