Far Away

CHAPTER XXXVII

Some actions may seem evil. But sometimes, a necessary evil must be committed, along with its consequences to serve the times, which may be dire, but will be for the greater good for all.

Half an hour passed swiftly, in the warm embrace of the mare he loved, but other things made Jack’s mind trail away from the moment, and nagged at him from the deepest depths of his brain that this was not going to last. None of this will. In due time, he we return to what he, and everything else was; dust.

The door creaked open, revealing the white mare who opened it with her telekinesis. She walked into the room, and sat in the armchair that was placed under the window, where the dimming rays of the setting sun was shining through, casting long shadows in the room. “So, how are you feeling?” asked she, as she levitated a scroll from the table beside her.

“Physically, not too good, but I guess I’m in utopia right now, ignoring my physical ailments,” answered Jack, as he released Daring from his grip and turned to Snowy. “What news do you have for me?” he asked, sensing that she was about to break some information to him.

“Good news or bad news first?” she asked, later whispering to the indecisive Jack, “Trust me, you won’t want to hear the bad news first,” with a blink.

“Alright then. Proceed.”

“Canterlot has finally developed the first megaspells for the war effort, and a few groups of pegasi have patrolled the Everfree, and pin-pointed Luna’s location. Bad news… I… I’m sorry…” she breathed heavily, at the verge of tears, “The Drakes have the blueprints to megaspells.”

“They what?” exclaimed Jack, as he leaped out of his chair, stomping at the floorboards with a loud clop, “They got hold of the bloody megaspells?”

Snowy Blast nodded solemnly, retraining any emotion to surface on her physical self, although Jack could see the swirling black clouds in her mind, revolving around one single dark singularity.

“This was what we were trying to prevent all the way along,” muttered Jack furiously, “Manehattan has fallen, right?”

“Yes, the resistance was pulled out recently,” she whispered, “The Drakes found copies of the megaspell blueprints in the university after they stormed the city.”

“And of course Stalliongrad has some because they are ‘the workshop of Equestria’, am I right?”

Snowy nodded again, but adding hopefully, “These megaspells are prototypes. They have not been tested yet due to the recent circumstances, and may not function completely.”

“I guess we all need hope that our situation will be resolved, hope that we will not be annihilated, and hope that Equestria will stand strong in the ashes of her opponents,” uttered Daring from the chair beside Jack, as she continued to play idly with a compass she found on the table.

Jack’s ears turned towards the door, as it creaked open. Sunburst stepped through into the room, mane dishevelled and robes creased. “I sent a few letters to the princess, via the battlemage network, and did a bit of light research into fire flowers. It seems that they do grow around here, and also sold here for a decent, though steep, price. I will go to the market tomorrow to see if I can get you some, Jack.”

“Thank you Sunburst,” answered Jack, “I will repay you the amount of bit if you find some on sale.”

“Well, we are all exhausted and the time has come to rest,” announced Snowy Blast as she rose from her armchair, and headed for the door, “Come, you two. I will show you your quarters.”

The snow white unicorn stepped up the stairs, located at the central hall, just after where the door to the street was located. They were a little narrow, but enough to fit one pony climbing up at a time. As Jack ascended, he saw framed pictures of Snowy on the walls. One was an especially large one, with her wearing white robes, with a white magician’s hat on her head. Jack assumed it was when she graduated university.

Jack stole one last look at it, after stepping onto the second storey, and into a small carpeted room to the left of a short hallway. Snowy motioned for them to listen, “This will be your quarters for when you come to Stalliongrad. I don’t want risking detection, or any of you being detected by the movement. You will always be welcome at my home.” She smiled kindly, and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Jack turned, and took a good look of the room. He observed that there was one desk in the corner, a door which presumably led to the bathroom, and a wardrobe. There was one problem about this room, he thought. There was only one bed, which was a queen size. It would easily fit two ponies, but the prospect of sleeping with Daring was still a little foreign to him. Being independent for his whole life, and then having many ponies being thrust into it was a very large change, that affected Jack psychologically. He didn’t complain about his company with Daring, but even though they had done this before, he felt more comfortable being independent.

Well, he couldn’t do much now could he? ‘Screw it,’ he told himself mentally, ‘If I end up fucking her in the end, so be it!’

“Well, I’ll go take a shower,” Jack announced from desk chair. He received a not from Daring and walked into the bathroom.

The floor tiles were cold to the touch, sending little shivers up Jack’s spine as he treads lightly on them. He turned on the shower tap, waiting for the warm water to flow through. He tested the water periodically with his hoof, then when he deemed it warm enough, he turned on the cold, and stepped in.

The warm water felt good splashing on his fur, washing the sweat and dried blood away. The grime on his coalesced with the soap he used, the suds turning a shade darker than it usually was. Standing in the shower was a pleasant affair, feeling the water massage the tight muscles in his back, relaxing his body. It was like a temporary trip to heaven.

After a countless amount of time, Jack shut the water and stepped out onto the now slippery, wet tiles. He found a fluffy white towel on a rack, and dried himself promptly after which, he returned into the room. Daring was absentmindedly playing with a pen, looking out of the window with a long stare, like nothing but what she was focusing on was real in the world. She frowned a little as Jack tapped her on the shoulder.

“Go take a shower. You’ll like it,” he said, as he lay on top the bed, taking a book from his saddlebags, and opening it to his bookmark, which was a small badge that looked a little like…

“Hey, where did you get my badge?” questioned Daring as she looked at Jack closely.

“I picked it up from the floor when we were escaping the police precinct. I thought it looked nice, and that it would be a shame to leave it behind,” replied Jack, “I never knew it was yours. Here,” he said as he handed the badge over, “You keep it.”

“Never mind,” mumbled Daring as she stepped into the bathroom, “You keep it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Morning came like it always did, the sunlight streaming into the room, through the window illuminating the curtains. Jack attempted to stumble his way out of bed into the bathroom, but felt a heavy feathery heap atop his chest, barring him from performing any actions that required getting out of bed. He cracked an eyelid, looked down, and saw Daring’s wings sprawled across the bed. It looked like they have not been well kept.

Jack had no choice, but to push the wing off him. As he did this, he felt some resistance, which made him push harder. The strength of the wing pushing down on him mirrored his strength he pushed up with. Jack smirked as he thought of what he was about to do if she kept resisting. He realised that Daring was wide awake, pretending to sleep, trolling him. ‘Let’s see if she can keep her act up,’ chuckled Jack as he leaned over her and started to nibble her ears.

He could see a blush spread across Daring, but she kept her act, without a crack. Another pony would’ve not noticed that Daring was awake if she did not have the blush on her cheeks. She suddenly flared her wings, finally letting Jack out. “Alright, alright! You win!” she huffed.

Jack made his way to the bathroom silently, and flashed her a wink on his way. Jack saw the longer tufts of hair on his chin, realising it had been weeks since he had shaved, and then realising that he did not pack his shaving knife. “Shit,” he mumbled to himself, as he splashed cold water onto his face. He brushed his teeth, and slipped on his trench coat from the hook next to the glass door that led to the shower. He patted his pocket to see if his revolver was still there, assuring him.

He unlocked the bathroom door and stepped out, and was surprised to see Sunburst standing in the room was well with Daring. “What’s going on?” inquired Jack as he straightened his coat.

“Jack, a chariot is waiting for all of us to return to Canterlot. I’m afraid to say that the central industrial district has started a revolution. Soldiers are heading into Stalliongrad now, and all willing citizens are being evacuated,” he said. “Oh, and the princess has something for you that you may like,” he added.

After packing everything, and helping Snowy look around for precious possessions she might’ve missed while packing, they stepped out of the door to be greeted by a white coated stallion with deep blue mane, a deeper darker blue than Luna’s which was absolutely mesmerising. Only it didn’t flow like the princess’ because it wasn’t ethereal.

“Lieutenant Star Streak at your service,” he said with a bow, “We are here to pick you, your mistress and Battlemages Sunburst and Snowy Blast from Stalliongrad. We shall discuss these matters later, but now the priority is to get you to safety.

The guard gestured for Jack to wait, as the others boarded. Then he turned to him and said, “I’m placing you in charge of the Magical Gatling Laser mounted on this chariot. We use this model of chariot in the Equestrian Air Force. All you need to do is to switch the safety, and plug this thing into it,” he handed Jack a glowing gem of sorts, “and then shoot at the entities attacking the craft. This gem should last us enough time. We need to fly over the Stalliongrad CBD for the most efficient travel time.”

Jack boarded, and located the giant laser. He slipped the gem into a slot, and switched the safety with a small click. “Weapons: ready!” he shouted to the Lieutenant, who motioned the soldiers to get the craft airborne. A blast of cold air met Jack as he soared through the air. Stalliongrad does look very different from the sky. He could hear the cracks of guns below him. He saw a group of pegasi headed straight for them.

“Open fire!” shouted Star, and Jack obliged. He locked his iron sights onto the head of the formation, and started firing with loud electric zaps. The recoil from the laser was significant, but he reasoned that lasers can’t make ponies recoil, so it must be some law of physics he did not understand. The pegasi who were in hot pursuit split from the tight group they were in before, into a much more spread formation. Red beams tore through the sky, some hitting the pegasi. Jack gasped in surprise as he turned the pegasus to his left into dust, which swirled and fell to the city streets below.

With trembling hooves, he reengaged with the remaining four pegasi. One of them drew a small black device from a small sack tied to his side, and tossed it through the air, landing it with a clatter onto the chariot floor. “Get that bomb off the chariot!” shouted a guard, who had a dark grey coat, and… bat wings? She was dressed in dark blue armour, matching the night sky instead of the shining golden armour the other guards were wearing.

Sunburst used his magic to toss it back to its sender, the device exploding as it made contact with the pegasus’ body, sending blood splattering over the chariot, and into the pegasi flying in formation beside him. Jack felt the laser click, and the red beams stop firing from the rapidly rotating laser chambers. “It’s empty!” he announced loudly.

“No. I detect an EMP,” shouted Star over the din, “Must’ve fried the circuit-board.”  As he made this statement, the chariot started sinking and lagging, not keeping its previous steady pace. “Damn it! Must’ve fried the circuitry that maintains the niobium superconductors as well. Expect a rough landing!”

As the chariot slowed, the remaining pegasus unsheathed his sword and flew aboard. Jack whipped out his revolver from his coat to see Daring doing the same thing, Snowy and Sunburst flaring their magic to restrain him. One round to his face later, blood stained Jack’s coat, and the wooden floorboards of the chariot. Jack looked from the window to see that they were far enough north that they have made it to a small town in the yellow barren plains.

The chariot was losing altitude quickly. The ground rushed quickly to meet them, and with a sickly creak and small explosion of all the chariot’s parts, they were down. Jack climbed out of the wreckage with minor injuries; a bruise or two across his body as did Daring. The rest of the crew climbed out, the gravest of injuries; a sprained leg.

“Ah, what town do I see there?” muttered Star to himself.

“We must have flown at least fifty miles north! I believe this is Dodge junction,” answered Jack as he heard the lieutenant’s muttered words, “Come on! Let’s seek some help.”

After around ten minuted of walking through the barren plains, they hit the first building in town. The whole town looked old, and wild west style with wooden cabins to both sides of the one and only road in town. A flashy sign pointed to a bar and accommodation a third of the way down the main street, so the small party thought collectively that the bar was going to be the best bet of seeking assistance and possibly send a message through to Shining Armour, Captain of the Royal Guard.

Jack was slightly familiar with the small desert town, as he had travelled there a few times on business trips mapping out the area. The town itself did not change, but Jack sensed a change of mood as soon as they stepped hoof in the bar. It was much more solemn than usual, the music playing a steady march anthem instead of the country tango that he was used to in these parts. There were not many residents in the bar at noon, and the ones who did see the small group of ponies entering recoiled and sunk back into their chairs.

“Ah, is it my dear Jackson over there?” came an old raspy voice from beside Jack.

Jack swung around to see a familiar face smiling at him, amber eyes beaming. “I didn’t expect to see you here, ol’ Gunslinger, my friend,” exclaimed Jack with surprise.

“It has been too long! Come, let us have a few drinks and discuss recent happenings,” he invited, “It’s been lonely ‘round here with nopony to talk to.”

“Maybe sometime later,” replied Jack, courteously declining his offer for the time being. He still had to send a message through to Canterlot and seek help to return to the castle. Jack shook his hoof and moved on with the rest of his company to the counter.

“Good afternoon guard, what business do you have in these parts?” asked the bartender behind the counter with suspicion.

“Do you have access to the Arcane Network in this town?” asked Star, as Sunburst trotted up beside Star Streak.

“Yes, but how did you know about the,” he stopped as he saw the battlemage stop beside Star. He coughed and cleared his throat, “Battlemage, you may have access to the network upstairs on the first door to the right.” Sunburst nodded as he turned and started walking towards the stairs.

Jack followed him, with the rest of the group, up the stairs and into the room the bartender described. Inside looked quite plain, except for the giant device in the middle which looked like four tesla coils with a pedestal in the middle. Sunburst found a roll of parchment on one of the tables lining the side of the room. He scratched a message onto the piece of parchment, which Jack assumed was something like ‘help us we are stranded’ or something like that.

Using his magic, Sunburst activated the device with a burst of fiery energy, and placed the parchment on the pedestal in the middle of the room. He then tapped his hoof onto a board, which beeped, then bolts of electricity or magic, Jack couldn’t tell, the same colour as Sunburst’s magical aura struck the parchment, removing it from the room in a blast of energy, and a blinding light.

“Woah! So that’s how you send messages around,” gasped Daring, who never saw anything like it. Sending letters via dragonfire was one thing but this was something completely different.

“Yes, most first time observers find the process quite intriguing,” answered Snowy, who was standing on the other side of the room, “Now all we need is to wait for a reply.”

As soon as those words left her mouth, another flash of light alerted Sunburst to the presence of a roll of parchment with the royal seal on it on the pedestal. Sunburst unravelled the parchment, and read aloud, “Dear Sunburst, I will be dispatching another chariot to your location immediately. Keep safe, Princess Celestia.”

“Keep safe,” Jack snorted with a grin on his muzzle.

“What’s humouring you?” asked Star, “Enlighten me.”

“Celestia should know trouble follows me like a loyal hound follows its owner,” explained Jack with a metaphor which he thought of on the spot. Not bad. Jack turned and motioned for the rest to follow him down the stairs. “I have an old friend I want to introduce you ponies to,” he said simply.

Jack brought the group of ponies to the table at which Gunslinger was sitting. As soon as Star saw him, and processed the information in his brain. He rushed forward. Black mane, ash coat with glowing amber eyes that pierced anyone and anything matched the description in his head. “Major Gunslinger! How could you?” he asked, sorrow penetrating deep into his voice, tears flowing freely, “How could you leave without telling me?”

Jack was amazed at this display by Star. He never thought royal guards were the teary type, but hey, you learn something every day, don’t you? He stared at the two, as did everypony with him, not understanding what just happened before them. Jack came closer, but not enough as to invade their personal space.

“Why did you leave the guard without telling? I knew you were out there. I wouldn’t accept Celestia’s description of why you left, I just couldn’t! We were almost family, how could you just… abandon me without second thought?” Star asked with a slight amount of anger now in his voice. “After being trained by you for a decade, shared a home for a decade, took me under your wing for a decade. How could you just leave me?”

“It’s not as simple as that,” Gunslinger defended feebly against Star’s onslaught of accusations, “I beg you to see from my point of view, my dear Starry.” Instead, Star collapsed in tears into Gunslinger’s open hooves. “There, there, my boy,” he said in a fatherly voice, as he grasped him firmly, “I was hurt as well, but I had no choice.”

Gunslinger placed Star down onto a chair beside him and said, “You folks must be tired standing. Here, come sit,” he motioned at the chairs around the table. Jack took the seat next to Gunslinger and thought it was as good as any time to ask for an explanation.

“So, what’s up between you and Star Streak?” Jack inquired at nopony in particular, eyeing the lieutenant who was smoothing his fur and straightening his armour to make himself look presentable again.

“I was Starry’s mentor, because Celestia chose him herself to be somepony important, and high ranking. She believed she saw his skills and talents for being a strong willed, never faltering leader. I should add that she was quite right,” he remarked, ruffling Star’s mane, “I trained him for more than a decade, teaching him all that I knew, and then I did something even I could not believe. I was commanding the third Equestrian Legion in the Great War, you can probably tell how long ago this was and how old I am now but that’s beside the point, and some part of me knew that sending the whole legion on a route straight into griffin territory was a terrible idea, but we were being flanked by Vaporaeon (name of the people of Vaporeus) troops, but I had to do it. That day, I was with Starry, sitting in the army tent executing the hardest decision I’ve had to make in my life. Three million casualties, and one million fatalities that day. I couldn’t let myself do that much harm to other ponies, who I knew or not. Although the move was what ultimately saved millions of lives, and landed me in the history books, it was also one of my most shameful achievements. I couldn’t handle the consequences anymore after that. I was a broken pony. I always valued the lives of my men, and vowed to myself I would not throw them away, like some other commanders did, like they had no souls. I wanted to leave, without anypony knowing where I went, so I confided this with Celestia, who spun up some elaborate lie about this topic. It pained her to see me go, and fool the nation, but I convinced her that it must be done. I… I’m sorry about it, Starry. You have to forgive me; I wasn’t in the right state of mind,” he begged.

“I couldn’t see what you were going through,” whispered Star, as he was on the verge of tears, “How could I be so naïve? I was with you the whole time! It was my fault for not knowing.”

“How could you blame yourself, my boy?” he asked, surprised, “If there is anypony to bear the blame, it is me for not telling you in advance.”

Jack observed silently, learning about his friend’s life that had never been revealed; his other side. “Wow, Gunslinger. I never knew,” Jack remarked in a hushed whisper.

“Don’t worry Jack. Almost nopony knows about my past, and I think that is of the greater good, that it remains hidden from everyday eyes,” answered Gunslinger, “Well since you all know now, how about some beer, eh? Lighten the mood!”

“No, not now Gunslinger,” replied Star, standing up and walking towards a door, “We’ve got a chariot to catch.”

“It’s been a pleasure meeting all of you anyhow. May the wind be with you,” he farewelled.

“You too, Gunslinger. You too,” replied Jack and Star in unison, as they walked out of the bar into the sandy streets of Dodge Junction.

After half an hour of waiting at the outskirts of town, a flash in the sky alerted Star to the presence of the new chariot which was approaching them rapidly. “Who’s pulling the chariot, I wonder,” Star thought aloud, “They can’t be guards, they are not wearing any armour.”

“I guess we’ll find out in due course,” replied Jack, as he walked towards the soaring chariot, waving them down.

The exquisite mode of transportation landed in a cloud of dust, and made the poor ponies on the ground in the immediate area of effect choke on the fine particles. “Hey, look who’s here!” one of the pegasi shouted in a very familiar female voice, but Jack could not pit a hoof on who exactly it was.

As the dust settled, Jack saw two pegasi dressed in full Wonderbolt attire, one with a flowing white mane and the other, a deep blue mane. “Fleetfoot! Soarin! Fancy you’re here to pick us up. Would think that you guys would be important and skilled enough for Celestia to give you a real mission,” mused Jack, teasing them slightly.

“Well I’d like to think you are one of our greatest assets,” came Daring’s voice from behind Jack, who spun around with a surprised expression on his face.

“Quite,” agreed Soarin as he adjusted the belt, which secured him to the chariot, “Now are you guys going to get on or not? Winter is coming, so hurry up.”

The group of ponies boarded the chariot, with the previous guards also, who now manned the single ballistic minigun at the back of the chassis, although it was doubted that such a weapon would be needed so close to the heart of Equestria. Jack found himself sitting right at the front of the chariot with Daring. It was nice to feel the wind flow through his mane and fur. It also was a nice place to sit to talk to Fleetfoot and Soarin to catch up on some recent happenings in Equestria.

Apparently Wonderbolts Squad Two were sent to the Everfree again to retrieve some information and scout the forest out, and went missing. “Darn it!” Jack cursed under his breath, knowing why. It was something that needed to be added to his mental list titled: ‘what to ask the princess.’

Equestria always looked wonderful from the sky, and Jack, though earth pony and naturally afraid of heights, still appreciated the view from up high across scorching desert, dusty plain, snaking river, pooling lakes, sleeping volcanoes, ancient glaciers, and especially lush farmland. It really reminded him of why each day was worth living in this beautiful land that he is part of.

The flight was pleasant, clocking in at around two hours. Not the longest of flights but still crippling. Jack felt his whole body was stiff after he stood up in the chariot, ready to greet the princess, who was waiting patiently for his arrival on the tarmac. Jack disembarked from the vehicle and came face to face with Celestia, who looked overjoyed to see Jack again. “Come, Jack. We have matters to discuss. I’m glad you made it back in one piece,” she welcomed, “The bearers of the elements and the rest of your friends are waiting for you in the Royal Congressional Hall in South Canterlot. Come on Jack, Daring and company, we must make haste,” she hurried them along.

Jack had never been to the Congressional Hall before. It was a grand building, with a large dome for a roof in the centre of many wings. It was completely white, and ornate like it was crafted in one piece by a master mason. There was a large fountain of water at the front of the hall, which sprayed water into the air in tiny droplets, which created a beautiful band of the rainbow spectrum. Stray drops reflected the sun’s light differently, in a sparkling, glittery golden veil.

The trees planted on either side of the path that led up to the grand dark oaken doors swayed gently in the wind, casting soft shadows onto the path, which was littered with leaves of all the warm fall colours, contrasting with the well-kept grass which covered the ground on the sides of the path, stretching into a large open lawn the size of crop fields.

“Let us hasten,” said Celestia, picking up her stride a little, but noticeable to the eye. Jack and the others matched her speed, and trotted to the fast approaching doors, which were already open to the grand lobby, whose floors were completely covered in a velvety red carpet, whose white stone walls were covered in flowing tapestries of Celestia and Luna’s symbols. The roof was also of white stone, chiselled to form elaborate patterns and pictures, used to depict the greatest moments in Equestrian history. Wide, straight staircases led off to the wings on the sides of the building.

Celestia led the sizeable group straight through the lobby and into a large room on the other side of the lobby which fitted the same style as the rest of the building. The room was already populated by familiar faces, and of chairs and one long thin table spanning the centre of the room. “Welcome to the Congressional President’s Meeting Hall,” announced Celestia, “Make yourselves comfortable, for we have many things to discuss, and this might take a little while. The refreshments are on the tables at the corners of the room. Don’t be afraid to use the restrooms which are on the right side of the lobby, if facing the entrance, while this meeting is adjourned. Same goes for refreshments.”

Celestia took the President of the Room’s seat at the elevated platform towards the right end of the table and projected in the Royal Canterlot Voice, “Let this meeting adjourn!” Everypony in the meeting hall then sat on both sides of the long table in the centre of the room. “As you ponies probably know, we will be covering multiple topics today that you are probably related closely to. These include the current war we are fighting, the disappearance of a reconnaissance team over the Everfree, the uprising of Stalliongrad and the disappearance and location of my sister; Luna.”

“May I raise a point of concern right away?” asked Jack from halfway down the length of the table.

“Sure, Jack,” replied Celestia, “Remember you may contribute anytime, just not when somepony else is talking unless it is very important. Go on, Jack.”

“As some of you may already know, the Drakes have obtained the blueprints of how to make and cast megaspell devices through their raid on Manehattan University. How will we deal with the threat of these powerful weapons in the hooves, or claws, of the wrong beings?” asked Jack, bringing up the most disturbing fact that he had learned through Snowy a few days back.

“Ah, yes…” muttered Celestia almost inaudibly, “I wished to tell you this personally a bit later, but since Jack has already brought this up, I guess we need to address it right now without delay. I know that I may not have told all of you this fact, but I believe you all deserve to know, and how we are going to counter it. Although it might not hold well with some of you, a very effective military strategy is named mutually assured destruction. If we manage to produce enough of these megaspell devices, we can launch them at the enemy if the decide to launch their arsenal at us. No matter what, the would not come out of this as a whole. I hope, when worst comes to worst, we will outsmart the Drakes by surviving in underground bunkers, built with vacuum sealed doors of pure titanium that can only be opened by a special mechanism inside one of these bunkers.”

“Princess,” addressed Twilight Sparkle who was sitting next to Jack on his right side, “Can’t we just use the Elements of Harmony like we did to eliminate all past threats?”

“It would be much less taxing for me if we could, young Twilight,” lamented Celestia, “You see, this threat is in no way magical, or evil.”

Spitfire snorted from the end of the table from this comment, “How could they not be evil? They disturbed our country for no reason, and killed tens of thousands!”

“They must have their own motives for this movement, Spitfire. Thousands of years ago, Equestria was one of the strongest military forces and we took land by force as well,” Celestia tried to explain, “It is not evil, for greed itself is not evil. It is morally wrong, but not evil. What if you were on their side? Would you think of us as evil? Probably. A war is caused by misunderstanding, greed or a motivation to make the world a better place. The Drakes might perceive the world to be a bad place, and they might want to spread their ideologies by taking our land because they think our ideologies are bad, or unideal. We must look from their point of view. I digress, but that was something I must get though the mind of you ponies. The Elements are no use against a force non magical or purely evil. Pure evil manifests though the soul, but nopony can be truly evil, for their soul sees though a filter, their brain, which processes the information and might stop them from acting irrationally. The Elements just cuts though the evil in the soul, leaving the good. In simpler terms, the Elements purge the ponies being evil for the sake of being evil or in other words, doing wrong without moral justification or for ponies who are not in the right state of mind.”

“I would also like to know what happened to my patrol which went missing in action above the Everfree,” said Spitfire, “It’s been eating at me whenever I found out.”

“Well, it doesn’t really take a genius to figure that one out,” commented Celestia, “Dark Flames, who you might remember, most likely took them. We are currently focusing on the war and maintaining relations with Stalliongrad. It is for the best of the country, but I do feel for my sister,” she said with a tear, “I cannot allow for my temptations to overwhelm me. Country comes first.”

“On the second part there, Celestia, I think you failed, to put it bluntly,” Jack said, “As we came out of Stalliongrad, rebel fighters have already taken part of the town and sent their forces after us. It’s not a pretty sight.”

“I’m, afraid it is too true,” Snowy chimed, reinforcing the point.

“I was afraid this would happen so soon,” replied Celestia with a slight frown adorned on her face, something that was rarely seen by anypony. “Well, I must send diplomats and armed forces there as soon as possible I’m afraid. I must cut this meeting short then. I have to see to this matter myself. Before I leave though, I want to have a word with Jackson, and Star Streak. I also wanted to remind you all that the simple fact is that you’ve been born into a bad time, but there is no use lamenting over it. Accept it, don’t give up. Know that the sun is always going to rise in the morning, no matter what. You may go.”

Celestia pulled Jack and Star over when the meeting hall was completely empty. “Jack, I have found your cure. It wasn’t easy, but I made a steep payment to a merchant passing through town for a vial of fire flower stamens. Follow me to the Castle after this. As for you Star,” she turned towards him, “I know that I lied to you about Gunslinger. I received a message from him about meeting you earlier today. I wanted to make sure you know how sorry I am for shielding you from the truth. I thought it was for the best. Please forgive me, Star. Even the divine can make mistakes,” she apologised.

“I can’t believe you straight up lied to me. I thought you, as ruler of Equestria should not tell lies to your subjects. I thought you had enough integrity to tell the truth. Of all ponies, I thought you would be the most truthful. Well, know that I will remember that,” Star said though clenched teeth as he stormed away though the doors.

Celestia let out a long sigh. “Well, Jack. Let us return to the castle.”

Remember, my good people: Greed is not evil. I mean – aren’t we all?