Lonely Among Us

We were minutes away from our destination, Everfree forest was getting closer and closer. I was flying along with Twilight and Fluttershy - still weak, but regenerating.

Fluttershy gave me some more first aid to stop the bleeding - she was pretty skilled with this, If I didn’t know better, I would say she is a local nurse. “Does it still hurt?” she asked, with her quiet voice.

"Nah... I've been worse," I responded calmly - of course, in reality, my body hurt pretty badly. Suddenly, our ride hit some turbulence, an abrupt shift in position caused me to clench my teeth in pain.

Seeing my reaction, Fluttershy smiled. “You are a terrible liar captain.”

"Guilty as charged,” I chuckled.

We both laughed for a bit, it felt good and relaxing. On the other hand, Twilight was like a rock, only staring at the horizon with a worried face. “We will figure it out Princess, don’t worry so much.”

She shook her head in concern. “I can’t control myself… what if… what if we can’t stop it?” her voice was trembling.

“I don’t know - I try not to worry with things I have no control over,” I responded calmly.

“This helps?” Twilight inquired.

I answer with an amused voice and a smile, “Well… usually not," this made Twilight to put a weak smile as well - while she was still far from 'OK,' at least her mood improved a little.

A few minutes later we arrived, what we saw was pretty grim. The force field around the Tree was visible to the naked eye, inside a storm-like activity was going on, creating an effect that looked like a giant plasma lamp. The energy was constantly bouncing between the Tree and the shield. We could see, it was getting worse with every moment.

“What’s going on in there?” Twilight asked, concerned, the smile she had on her face a few minutes ago was gone now.

Luna replied with a stoic voice, “It seems, the Tree is dying-”

“Please, stand aside," Celestia interrupted, "I will try to stop this,” she began to approach the Tree.

“Wait! I would not recommend getting too-” I tried to warn her but was too slow.

ZAP!

Celestia was shot by a bolt of lightning, sending her good 10 meters back, and turning her white fur to the shade of gray. “Wow… I thought I was the only one with a death wish in this group…” I said with an ironic tone, while helping her up, “there is no way in hell, any of us will be able to walk through this force field as it is...”

For a moment we were all lost in thoughts, trying to figure out what to do next - Cadance was the first to come up with an idea. “Perhaps… suppression spell?” she asked softly.

“We can try, but this will require the power of all of us,” Luna responded, “captain, you must stand back while we perform the spell.”

I did as I was told. I moved about 30 meters away, as the alicorns took position around the target. Soon their horns began to emit an intense light that concentrated directly above the Tree of Harmony. Energy sphere was forming, getting bigger with every moment. Suddenly, it enveloped the force field. It was then, I realized - this was the same spell, Celestia used on me, during my power outburst.

It seemed to be working! Energy levels inside began to drop, and the storm like activity started to die out. “It’s working! Keep it up!” I shouted with encouraging voice. As it turned out, I spoke too soon.

“Warning! Instability detected,” APE announced with his indifferent voice. When I heard the communicate - I glanced at the alicorns again - they were struggling, sweat running down their bodies, it didn't look good.

Suddenly, APE delivered another announcement, “DANGER! Cascade reaction detected! Alicorn’s force field collapse is imminent! Level 4 discharge predicted.”

“Level 4?! Oh shit! Everybody get down!” I managed to shout right before…

PPPPPOOOOWWWW!

Alicorn’s sphere collapsed, producing a giant energy discharge. The princesses were sent flying in all directions, the rest of the ‘gang’ was pushed to the bottom of the stairs leading to the Tree chamber - fortunately, they were far away from the explosion, and only felt it ‘lightly.’

“*cough* *cough* Is everypony alright?!” Rainbow was first to shout.

“I think so darling, although my beautiful mane will require a week of spa treatments after this,” Rarity answer with her usual dramatic voice. The rest quickly followed - all, except the princesses. We immediately began the search.

***

“There!” I shouted, pointing at the white alicorn, lying in the pile of rubble, her body was injured, but she was alive. We found Cadance nearby in similar condition. Fortunately, we quickly located Twilight and Luna as well.

“You OK?” I asked Celestia calmly - but looking at her, body it was obvious she was not.

“No, we have failed," she responded with a weak voice, "we must try something else.”

“Hold your horses… err OK, that sounds weird when you say it to a pony... I mean, stop.”

“You want us to quit?!”

“Not at all! But we need to analyze the situation, before proceeding. Otherwise, we may end up blowing ourselves up.”

Reluctantly, she nodded in agreement. “OK, APE - tell me what the hell is going inside that thing, and how to stop it.”

APE responded with his analytic voice, “According to analysis, there is a cascade interference effect in progress. Causing systematic power rise.”

“So the shield is deflecting the Tree energy, which in effect causes the energy to build up because of wave interference effect?”

“Yes, sir, however, the force field is showing signs of instability - when it collapses, there will be a massive energy release - enough to destroy most of Equestria in the process.”

For a moment, time stood still, as all of us digested what APE just said. I broke the awkward silence, “APE… this can’t be that powerful!”

“I am afraid it is, sir. This ‘Tree of Harmony’ seems to have a vast power store. The cataclysmic size event is inevitable-”

Celestia interrupted with a fearful voice, “How do we stop it from happening?!”

“There is one known possibility - controlled energy release, unfortunately, to do that we need to get inside the force field.”

“Any ideas how to do that?” I inquired calmly.

“Perhaps… The force field has been weakened by the earlier attempt. According to my calculations, combining the force of alicorn magic in one single point may weaken it further. It may be enough, to allow us to walk inside. Once there, I could force our body to absorb and discharge the energy the same way that happened twice before.”

This wasn't exactly a pleasant perspective - I knew it would hurt a lot, but no pain no gain. “OK, let’s get this show-”

APE interrupted my speech, “Sir, I must point out that we are heavily damaged, at 12% power - we may be able to get in, but I estimate only about 7% chance of success. Moreover, energy levels inside are about 10 times higher than in the quantum chamber on Earth. The probability of total systems failure is extremely high.”

For a moment silence filled the chamber again. For the first time in years, I felt uneasy... I didn’t want to die. It wasn’t the fear of death - I just realized that for the past few days I felt more alive than during the last 300 years, but there was a job to be done. “Anybody got any other ideas?” I asked calmly but was met only with silence. “OK then - 7% is more than zero, I think we should proceed - I will need your help with-”

Luna interrupted me. “What does ‘total systems failure’ stands for?” she asked concerned, “this is some perverse label for the death, isn’t it?!”

I sighed heavily. “That means, whoever goes inside that force field is probably not coming out alive. Now if you please-”

“NO!” Twilight interrupted, “there must be some other way!”

“I am afraid there is no time, Princess Twilight Sparkle," APE responded calmly, "I estimate the shield will collapse in 17 minutes.”

“Will I be able to pass through the shield in its current state if we use the same technique?” Celestia asked.

“Possibly, but I am afraid the chances of success will be equally bad, and the probability of death-”

APE response was interrupted by my angry voice, “What the hell are we discussing here?! You can’t be serious!”

“CAPTAIN JAMES GASTOVSKI!” for the first time Celestia used her ‘royal voice’ on me, “I am the leader of my subjects! I will sacrifice myself to protect them if I have to - and, it seems, in this case, it is sadly necessary.”

“Bullshit!" I shouted with anger, causing everybody - but Celestia - to stare with disbelief, "This world needs you, all of you. Me? Not so much. I’m offering you the best way out - why the hell do you resist?!”

For the first time, I saw Celestia angered - her calm smile was gone, and her amethyst eyes were burning with rage. “WATCH YOUR TONGUE CAPTAIN! You are speaking to-”

“Suicidal goddamn horse?!” at that moment my rage kicked in as well, we were both staring at each other with angry eyes.

“ENOUGH! This discussion is OVER!” she shouted and teleported me away.

Everybody was stunned. “Sister! What did you do?! Where is he?” Luna asked concerned.

“I teleported him away from here - now, help me open the passage when there is still time-”

Suddenly a loud THUD sound from my landing interrupted Celestia’s speech. In her weakened state, her teleportation spell put me only a few hundred meters away from the chamber, and I was back already. “Now you pissed me off!” I shouted as anger consumed my mind. “You want to do this the HARD WAY? FINE!” without further ado, I discharged my cannon at the Princess - with the intend to stun her.

Celestia took a direct hit - energy could be seen shooting through her body, but to my surprise, it wasn’t enough to stun her. Instead, she just clenched her teeth and responded with her own magic sending me a few meters back. “STOP IT! This is MADNESS!” Twilight shouted to both of us, but we just ignored her and then we both went full throttle!

Celestia was trying to use the same technique she did when we were fighting Shadowforce. She established a shield and was charging her magic. I, on the other hand, was less creative - just shooting my cannon and dodging. Other alicorns were just watching in confusion and horror at two mad entities, trying to overpower one another.

Finally, I was able to knock her shield out and hit her wing, but she crashlanded right on top of me! Now we were fighting hand to… hoof - with no one having the obvious advantage. Our bodies were becoming more bruised and bloodied every with passing second.

“ENOUGH!” Twilight shouted as she, Luna and Cadance used their magic to separate us and hold us down. “CALM DOWN EVERYPONY!”

Twilight was holding me, while Luna and Cadance were holding Celestia - we both tried to struggle against our restraints, but after a minute we realized we were too tired. Just then our senses started to come back. “What got into you two?!” Twilight asked with a disappointed and confused voice.

This was awkward, and we both knew it - what got into us… that was a good question, with no obvious answer. For a minute me and Celestia looked at each other in silence, staring at our bruised bodies - all we did was wasted precious energy and time, and for what? Finally - I spoke, “I’m sorry… I don’t know what got into me… *sigh* but I still think I’m the logical person to go there - why will you not let me?” I asked looking into her amethyst eyes.

She was hesitant, it took her a moment to respond with a sad voice, “You already helped us a lot, even after what I did to you - I… I just don’t want you to suffer anymore because of my actions… or inactions,” when she finished talking, I noticed some tears flowing lightly from her eyes.

Silence again filled the chamber as I approached the sad alicorn, and sat next to her. “Guilt is a poor advisor… trust me, I know. I may not condone your reasons for sending me away - but I can understand them, and I forgive you, OK? No hard feelings,” I said with a confident voice and a smile.

Upon hearing my forgiveness Celestia smiled weakly as well - almost as if some burden was lifted from her heart, it was clear she felt terrible for what she did to me. “But look at this objectively: I’m just a freak, a corpse walking, a guy who should have died 300 years ago. I don’t belong here - we all know that. Even so, I may be able to do here what I failed to do back home - make a change,” I continued.

The Princess closed her eyes again. “I believe, you already did that captain. Objectively, if it weren’t for you, we would probably be either dead or enslaved, and Equestria would be burning - and now you are willing to sacrifice your life for us - why? You owe us nothing,” she responded with a sad voice.

“I don’t have to, I’m just trying to save some friends - that’s all the reason I need,” I said with a smile, “we are running out of time - if I fail, you can always try yourself - but right now, I need your help to get started, will you do it?”

Again, it took a moment, but - with a heavy heart - she finally nodded in agreement. When I turned around, I realize that the rest of the alicorns, as well as the Elements of Harmony, were listening to our whole conversation. “I guess... This is goodbye - nice knowing you all,” I said with a stoic voice.

Then the sobbing began. First Rarity, then Fluttershy, then the rest - even Rainbow Dash shed a tear. “Oh, don’t give me that - just wish me luck, I’ll need it - besides, there is still a chance I will survive-”

“1.37% to be exact, according to calculation,” APE interrupted, making everybody sob even more.

“Hey, that's my lucky number!” I said, trying to lighten up the mood. “It will be fine, really - I need to go now... Take care,” I left quickly, trying to hide my own tears - I always hated goodbyes, but this one was the hardest of them all.

***

I approached the shield, which was becoming more unstable every minute - this was good because it reduced the power needed to get me through, on the other hand, it also reduced the time we had.

“We are ready,” Luna said with a stoic voice - but I could see she was also holding back tears in her eyes.

“Let’s do it. Concentrate your powers in front of me like we discussed. Once the release starts, do the same on the part of the shield the energy hits.”

Alicorns quickly charge their horns and did what they were told to do. Soon, the force field began to destabilize in that area. “We… are at maximum... Captain…” Celestia announced.

“OK... Que será será… ARGH! Damn!” I shouted as pain shot through my body - this shield might have been weakened, but passing through it still hurt like bloody hell.

Finally, after a few more seconds I was in… and quickly regretted I didn’t let Celestia be the hero this time. It was hell - temperature was very high, power spikes were bombarding me every few seconds, hitting different spots and either burning or ripping off, pieces of my body.

“SHIIIIIT! ARGH! APE… GO… I CAN’T TAKE THIS FOR LONG.”

“Affirmative, starting procedure… standby-”

ZAP!

APE was suddenly interrupted when a bolt of lightning thrown me against the shield. “ARGH! SMASH! AUU…” I shouted from pain.

“Captain! Are you OK?” I heard somebody asking.

“Yeah… I’m just ZAP! ...dandy ZAP!” I responded while taking the beating from energy discharges. “ARGH! Now I know how Roy Sullivan felt ZAP! … APE! How much longer for fuck's sake?!”

“Ready. Emergency release in 5...4...3...2...1.”

I thought it couldn’t get any worse - I was wrong. As concentrated energy shoot through my body, I felt the pain I have never felt before. "HOLY SHARGGGGGG!" being cooked alive, in hot Tabasco, with your skin removed, would have probably been the closest approximation.

But it was working, concentrated energy penetrated the shield and was being shot outside - finally lowering the power level near the Tree. Still, I had to keep this up for as long as possible, moving as little as possible - otherwise, I risked collapsing the force field entirely, with cataclysmic consequences.

“Warning! Overheat in progress!”

“...no ...shit… ugh!” I shouted as I fell to my knees. I barely managed to stabilize my energy discharging arms against the nearby rock.

It was then, I noticed what was happening to my body in the meantime. My skin was literally boiling - in some places, as the water evaporated it begin to carbonize and fall off, in others, it looked like it simply melted away leaving bloody red flesh behind. My body was also reaching extreme temperature - at this point, the odds of success didn’t look good.

“APE… how much longer…” I asked weakly.

APE responded with distorted voice - probably damaged himself from experience. “Ab..b..out 196 sec...ds”

“No way in hell... We will last that long… alternatives?”

APE took a moment to respond, and his voice sounded even worse now, “Ttot..l absorption… overload… explossssion… minimum... Dist..ce.”

I knew what he was talking about, instead of channeling energy, I could try to absorb as much as possible - using my body as one giant energy store. The problem was, I wouldn’t be able to hold my body together for long, and explosion of my sorry ass, would be as bad as the cataclysmic explosion we are trying to prevent - but I had an idea.

“APE switch to absorption mode,” I ordered, but there was no response. “APE? Switch the mode!”

A few seconds later I heard an extremely distorted answer, “Atemptiiiing to switch... Staaaaaand byyyyy… Attempting to… stand…”

As APE struggled to comply with my order, my vision started to get blurry, and I was losing feeling in the lower parts of my body - it was now or never. Suddenly APE reported success, “Swittttch completed… emergency shut…” and then went offline - along with my HUD. From that time forward, I was alone - without control of my body nano-systems anymore. I could only hope I did the right thing.

***

Quickly the energy beam stopped, and my body began to glow, absorbing the power. At this point, as my internals were being transformed into a giant quantum battery - the pain was indescribable - making me shake violently.

“What are you doing captain?!” Celestia shouted with a concerned voice.

I answer weakly - with all the remaining strength I had, “Princess… the shield will soon collapse - once it does I... Need you, and the others to… send me to the moon.”

“I beg your pardon?!”

“I’m absorbing energy… after the shield collapses… my body will become unstable in a matter of seconds - you must send me away before I explode…”

She didn’t respond, but I was sure she understood. A few seconds later I was glowing red, from all the energy I had inside me, mercifully - I could no longer feel anything below my neck, and my vision was one giant blur.

Then it happened, the force field collapsed, sending a moderate shock wave. Immediately, I could hear hissing and crackle coming from my body - the noises were getting louder with every second. Fighting the inevitable, I said with a fading voice, “What are… you waiting for? Do... It...”

“Let’s begin!” Celestia responded, as my vision turned to black.

I could still hear them doing their magic… but something wasn’t right - it was taking too long. “Hold on everypony, the suppression spell is working!”

“...suppression spell? Oh, you stupid, stubborn bit-”

FLASH!

The bright light was the last thing I remember before passing out…