//------------------------------// // Present Seven - Collision of Powers // Story: Heart and Mind // by Quick Fix //------------------------------// Apple Bloom gave a small sigh as she stepped forward, trying not to think about just how much was on the line here. Only everything she'd been working toward for the past few months and the fates of several dozen ponies, including one she loved, no pressure there. Pinkie Pie followed on her right, looking determined, even if her eyes betrayed a desire to finish the moment they'd shared. Peace Walker stayed on her left, refusing to look at the pair of them but sticking close nonetheless. The silence between them was a little uncomfortable but it only lasted a few seconds as they reached the front door of Starlight Glimmer's house. Peace moved forward to knock on the door, only for Apple Bloom to stick a hoof out in front of her. Something felt off about this situation, though it was just as likely she was being paranoid after being held for so long. Pinkie snuck up to a window next to the door and pressed her ear to the wall, trying to figure out how safe it was in her own special way. A few moments later, she recoiled slightly as raised voices became audible from inside. Apple Bloom moved next to Pinkie and hesitated, wondering just what was going on in there. "Peace Walker, don't go in just yet. Starlight doesn't sound like she's in the mood to talk right now. We'll wait here until she calms down." She whispered, silently praying that yet another attempt to bluff Peace into cooperating would work. To her amazement, she nodded and moved to wait by the other side of the door. The way she went along with anything if it sounded like a plus to Starlight was both surprisingly efficient and incredibly sad. "Who'd you think Starlight's yelling at?" Pinkie mused as she glanced up at the window, Apple Bloom looking over at her and opening her mouth to answer before Pinkie continued. "Oh yeah, right hoof pony Sunset. Duh." She shook her head as the two of them slowly sat up and peeked through the window. The inside looked exactly as Pinkie remembered it from the first time she had met Starlight all those years ago, right down to the framed picture of an equal cutie mark. A door inside opened as they watched, the small glimpse inside the adjacent room made Apple Bloom's pupils shrink and her ears fold back against her skull as she recognised it as the room she'd lost her mark in. Pinkie glanced over and dropped under the window again before wrapping a reassuring hoof round Apple Bloom's shoulders, hoping it would help her stay calm. She didn't react for a few moment before looking down at the hoof and smiling softly, her eyes going back to their normal size as she leaned over and gave Pinkie a quick hug in return. "Thanks." Apple Bloom whispered, blushing slightly as they let the hug go. The two of them glanced back up at the window and peeked back in, pressing their ear to the glass to listen in while they watched. Starlight had made her way into the room by then and was standing with her back to the window while Sunset paced in front of her, visibly frustrated, her voice coming in clearer now. "I'm telling you, somepony is onto us." "How?! You were supposed to be covering our tracks!" Starlight snapped, stomping a hoof down for emphasis, even if it made her look more like a whiny foal. "I can cover them, but when you decide to keep different ponies here because they got on your nerves, it changes everything. Peace Walker is part of the Defence Force and Apple Bloom is sister to an Element of Harmony, ponies are going to notice they're gone!" "And then they come and track us, we beat them and add them to the ponies made equal. What's the problem?" "Unless they bring backup. I may be powerful and you might be as well, but you said it yourself when I got you out of that dungeon. Two of us against a hundred soldiers and possibly a princess or two is just impossible odds." "Sunset, you had one job, keeping everything running smoothly! You said you liked a challenge and yet if I didn't know better, I'd say you're deliberately sabotaging our efforts." "I beg your pardon," Sunset turned and walked up to Starlight, voice ever so slightly tenser, horn glowing faintly as if she was supressing the urge to use it. "I think it would be wise if you remembered exactly who you accepted help from." "Yes yes, Celestia's next student, capable of doing anything presented to her, even when it's stupid to do so. You've gone over the story involving King Armor enough times to show how broken you are. Now answer the question, are you daring to try and sabotage my work?" Sunset stared at her for a moment, eyes narrowing slightly before she grinned and turned away, flicking her tail slightly and adjusting the chain on her pendant as she walked back toward the back room. She stayed silent before looking back again, her eyes seeming to glance over to the window. Apple Bloom and Pinkie both leaned back out of sight and hesitated, wondering if their cover was blown. For several tense seconds they stayed bunkered down, glancing at each under until Sunset's voice came through again. "Well...I had to give them a chance to catch on." "....What?" Starlight's voice wasn't doing as good a job at hiding emotion as Sunset's had, right now she sounded like she needed to crush a stress toy. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did you prefer it when my ideas were limited to the cause of 'Starlight Gimmer is right. All hail equality'? Elegant, but not exactly ambitious. All I want to do is return to my rightful place at Celestia's side, help Equestria out my way. I just needed some way to get back into her good graces though, proof I still have good intentions..." "I-you-bu....WHAT?!?" Starlight yelled loud enough for the trio outside to recoil. Pinkie couldn't help herself and poked her head back up to look in. Starlight was still rooted in place, her mounting rage visible even from where they were standing, considering one of the veins in her temple already looked ready to explode. Sunset was looking back at her with a knowing grin on her face. "Did you honestly think I went to all those lengths to get you out of that dungeon without anypony being able to trace us, guiding you to find each pony you wanted to bring in, creating this entire settlement, that any of that was for your sake? I had to make it look like that so that if...No, when, somepony finally caught onto the little clues I left, it looked like you were the lone mastermind." "That...That doesn't explain why!" Starlight seemed to have calmed down a tiny bit with her ego fluffed like that but her anger was still downright palpable. Sunset finally turned round and trotted to go face to face with her, radiating confidence so strongly it was almost visible. "The why is simple really. When the royal guard or the military arrives, they'll be expecting to encounter the brainwashed town of Starlight Glimmer, bunkered down and ready to show the world her philosophy. What they'll get instead is far better; Sunset Shimmer, the pony who brought down Equestria's most wanted pony and liberated an entire town of her captives, single hoofed. All those freed ponies will recognise me as the one who saved them, I'll return to Canterlot as a heroine and Celestia will finally see me as worthy of returning to my place as her student! Of course, that does require those ponies to, you know, be themselves." Sunset stepped back quickly, her horn glowing bright enough to force Starlight to shield her eyes. The glow intensified for a moment before it fired out in a giant white pulsing ring, spreading out fast enough to pass through the entire town in three seconds. As it crossed the boundary fence, her horn flashed again and it rocketed away faster than the naked eye could keep up with. The entire area was silent for a moment before a multitude of cries and screams began to resonate from across the town. Starlight's ears twitched as the glow faded, bringing her hoof down staring at Sunset with pure venom in her eyes and voice. "What did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY PONIES!?!" "A simple dispel spell, boosted to cover the whole of Equestria. The sleeper orders, gone. The memory override, gone, though they're going to need a little time to adjust to having their entire lives collapse in their minds and be replaced by their real memories again. Oh, and the cutie mark holding pens I set up..." Sunset stomped her back hoof down on a floorboard, knocking it out of place and letting it slide into an unseen area underneath. As Starlight looked down at it with her teeth bared, Sunset telekinetically pushed the front door open and grinned as dozens of cutie marks shot out of the opening she'd created. Apple Bloom looked round to watch as they streaked out the door, seeking out their owners. A saw mark broke off from the stream and planted itself firmly back onto her flank, a glow enveloping her body as a sense of calm rushed through her. She could feel the falsehoods implanted in her mind fading away as her body flashed, her faded yellow and red colours returning to their usual brighter selves. She was finally herself again. "Hey, that's the symbol I got shoulder shivery over." Pinkie commented, pointing out a black peace sign cutie mark at the back of the freed marks. It hesitated for a moment before shooting toward Peace, who was leaning against the wall, clutching her head in agony. As it planted itself back onto her flank, her body flashed quickly, her coat brightening to sapphire blue, her mane and tail a clear silver. "I...Ah...B-Bulwark?" Peace finally said, opening an eye and looking round, her saffron pupil finally locking onto the other two. "A-Apple Bloom and, Pinkie Pie? Oh, for gods sake, I'm still here. What's happened?" "Well you-" Apple Bloom started, suddenly cut off as the front door exploded into splinters from the force of Starlight being telekinetically thrown through it. Her body skidded to a halt about thirty feet away and she scrambled back to her hooves, staring at the trio with malice in her eyes and intent to kill in her horn. "You...All of you ruined everything!" She snarled, magic coiling round her horn before firing a concentrated beam straight at Apple Bloom faster than she would be able to evade. She instinctively threw her hooves up to try and shield herself, feeling the beam impact against her charm. A strong heat spread across her leg but didn't go any further across her body. The beam was flaring against the now glowing hot charm but failing to do any significant damage. Starlight ended her attack and growled darkly, turning to aim at the still vulnerable Peace before a beam from inside forced her to throw up a barrier and back off as Sunset stepped outside to continue the fight. Apple Bloom blew on her hoof to try and cool it a little while Pinkie fetched a red and white charm out her bag and passed it over to Peace, who had recovered enough composure to take it and attach it without needing to be told. A quick glance down the rows of houses showed the fight between the two unicorns was erupting into a deadly engagement, magic blasts and beams filling the air between them. "So err, what've I missed?" Peace asked, rubbing her head one last time before getting up, her stance subtly different to when she had been trapped before. It had a drive, a fresh determination to act. "Apple Bloom, can you take this one? My short version's too long." Pinkie responded as she double checked how many charms she had left. "Sunset's betraying Starlight, everypony has their memory and cutie marks back and now there's a town full of ponies who need our help getting clear of this." "Right...How many civilians?" "About thirty." Apple Bloom ducked as a stray blast skimmed the edge of the house and exploded against the perimeter wall with the force of a magic artillery shell, the shockwave making her stumble slightly. Even at a glance it was clear that Starlight couldn't care less about collateral damage, even with Sunset doing her best to deflect attacks skyward the houses were already taking damage and a fire had broken out on the south edge of the wall, illuminating the town in a harsh orange glow. "Okay, okay," Peace eyed the situation for a moment before looking back at the other two, a focused glint in her eyes. "You two focus on getting the ponies moving out of the town. I'll cover and assist you where I can, if necessary I'll draw Starlight and Sunset away from you." "You're crazy, but kind and brave to volunteer." Pinkie commented as they got up, the three of them starting to run for the nearest house she could hear voices from. "Just doing what I need to." Peace said simply, tailing the others as they rounded the bend to the first row of houses. Pinkie passed a few charms to Apple Bloom and they pushed forward, checking for ponies who were still incapacitated by their flood of new memories and helping them focus again as they found them. Peace watched as they slowly coaxed a shell-shocked looking stallion back to his hooves, realising how lucky she was that she hadn't ended up the same. Some of these ponies had been stuck with their altered mind-set for many months, she'd only been stuck with it for five minutes and the change had hit like a freight train. The unlucky ones would probably be in therapy for a long time to come, assuming they even recovered. Her idle thought was disrupted by the sound of teleportation behind them and she instinctively turned and rolled like she'd been trained to. "Move!" She called back to the others, digging her hooves into the sand and glaring at the sight of Starlight staring back at her, broken off from the fight for long enough to pursue them. Though she showed no strong emotion on the outside, she was just about ready to break and run on the inside. She remembered everything that had been done to her, the idea that the same could happen again and she wouldn't be able to stop it...No, that all happened because she had been alone and off guard before, this time lives could well be riding on her standing her ground. The choice was clear, stay and fight her fear, or run and let it define her. "Oh come on, you really think you can stand up to me?" Starlight said coldly as she fired a beam that Peace barely managed to block with her charm. "You didn't stand up to me last time, good thing too, that was fun. Face it, Peace Walker, you're a coward, a plaything that I can break to my will again anytime I want. Can you honestly look at yourself and think that you're anything more than nothing? "I..." Peace replied calmly, lowering her hoof enough to make eye contact again, the look in her eyes more determined than ever. "...Am a soldier of the Equestrian Defence Force. Dealing with threats like you is how I sleep at night." She gritted her teeth and charged. The next beam of magic encountered nothing but air as she twisted on her hooves to evade it cleanly, bringing her within reach of her target. Starlight growled and swung her head down, aiming to spear her opponent with her horn. Peace reared up on her back legs to evade the swing, following up by a counter-punch that forced Starlight to give ground. A second swing fell just short but threw the unicorn's defences off balance, giving Peace an opening to close the gap and wrap a hoof round the horn as she brought her weight down hard, body slamming Starlight into the ground and fighting to keep her pinned down. "No, not like this, not to anypony!" Starlight shouted, rolling out before Peace could finishing restraining her hooves and teleporting away. Peace shook her head and got back up, silent as she moved to catch up with Apple Bloom and Pinkie, though inside she knew she had taken a more important victory than that fight. "Trust me, just run for the gate and you'll be fine. I'm right next to you the whole way." Apple Bloom fitted another charm to a shaken mare and escorted her out of the damaged house. The lull in the fighting had given them the chance to make some progress but now the sound of magical combat filled the air once again, a fact punctuated by the stray beam that left a smouldering hole in the wall behind them moments later. She didn't want to admit it, but things were starting to get a bit too dangerous. The growing number of stray or deflected shots were doing serious damage to the area, she'd had to help more than one injured pony away from the wreckage of their homes already. They couldn't leave anypony behind though, between her, Pinkie and Peace, they had a duty to make sure nopony ever had to go through this again. As they reached the gates she opened them quickly and shepherded the pony out to those who had escaped already, looking back to see Pinkie covering another pony's run out of the town. "How many is that?" Apple Bloom called to her as she ran back inside, putting a hoof up to shield her face from the increasing heat emanating from the fire. "About twenty, we need to hoof it faster than this," Pinkie panted, clearly starting to tire as she wiped some sweat away. She glanced behind her as Peace finally caught up with them again. "Peace, would now be a bad time to ask if you have any medical training?" "Basic first aid, how bad is it?" "They can explain, we'll finish up here," Pinkie pointed out the injured ponies and waited for her to run out to them before turning to Apple Bloom. "Huh, didn't think she'd listen to me." "She's been through a lot this week, I'll explain when, incoming!" Apple Bloom grabbed Pinkie and pulled them both to the floor as an amber streak shot through where they'd been standing and smashed through the weakened outer wall, showing them with splinters. "Wow, faster reaction than the Pinkie sense...Think Sunset survived that?" "I hope so, she's the only thing standing between us and...This." Apple Bloom got back up as Starlight approached them, a little battered but smirking at seemingly dispatching her opponent at last. "Bloomie, let me handle this one." Pinkie replied calmly, getting up and standing her ground. Starlight stared back at her for a moment before throwing her head back and laughing at the comment, so caught up in it she didn't notice Apple Bloom dart past her to get to the remaining ponies. "Oh that's a good one. There's only two ponies in Equestria who think they would stand a chance against me and one of them is lying in the sand outside right now, her spirit shattered and probably her spine too. Twilight Sparkle isn't here to save you this time either. I'd offer to let you run in exchange for giving all my ponies back, but let's face it, you wouldn't last two days before I found and beat you again." "Lemme just ask you something real quick," Pinkie replied, pretty much ignoring every word. "Do you really plan on subjecting everypony in Equestria to this?" "Well, isn't that a stupid question? Of course I am. I kind of need every living thing under my watch if they're going to be equal and happy after all." "So, assuming in a hypothetical and totally impossible scenario, you would also do this to...Sunburst?" "...How do you know his name?" Starlight stepped back, a small flux of magic building around her horn. Pinkie eyed it warily but even she could tell from the tone of voice, stance and look in her eye that Starlight had been thrown off guard by the question. "Twilight was just about willing to tell me about his part in your history. You didn't want to deal with the face that 'everypony' includes him, but you can see it now. How do you think he would react if he could see you now? How he will when you're about to subject him to what you did to the others?" For the first time, Starlight was left at a loss for words as the reality of her plan was laid bare in front of her. Her pupils shrank slightly and her body locked up as she finally thought about it, every scenario running through her mind either unsustainable or completely negating the original point. Pinkie stepped back to let her deal with this epiphany and looked behind her to where Apple Bloom had come back into view, slowly leading a number of ponies forward. Just as she dared to think they could start to make a run for it, Sunset suddenly teleported into place next to her, mane dishevelled, body sporting some fresh cuts, but horn alight and active. "Got you!" She shouted, firing a large offensive beam straight at Starlight too fast for anypony to react, including herself when she realised she had neglected to check just what was behind her target. In this case, that was Apple Bloom. Starlight screamed as the beam engulfed her, blowing her off her hooves and burning at her coat. Apple Bloom didn't even have time to do that as her charm went white hot before shattering, both it and her overwhelmed by the sheer magical force hitting them. Both ponies were blown back, hitting the cliff face hard enough to rebound off it slightly before coming to rest on the floor, unmoving and unresponsive.