Us and Them

Chapter 13

Striped Strategizing

The situation was dire. Epoch had just shown that he would not go down without a fight. We had no plan of action. He had a massive tower, and raising it out of the ground didn't even get him out of breath.

Our small gang entered into Zecora’s hut, a safe haven from the many dangers that inhabit

the Forest. Twilight, always about business, cut right to the chase and began to talk business.

"Zecora, we need to contact Princess Celestia." Twilight began. "Do you have a spell that could do that?"

"My people make potions and brews, though I feel I have just the spell for you." Zecora responded, before pulling out a book titled The Magic of Communication. She flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for. She gave the book to Twilight so she could cast the spell.

"Okay, this doesn't seem too hard. Stand back everypony." Her horn began to glow brightly as her face started to strain. After a few seconds, a magical hologram of Princess Celestia appeared before us.

"Celestia, can you hear us and speak to us?" I eagerly spat out before Twilight could get the chance. I wanted to see if this spell actually worked. This kind of magic looked awesome beyond words.

"Yes. Quite an impressive spell you've learned, my faithful student." She responded.

"Thanks. Our zebra friend Zecora taught it to me." Twilight said with a motion towards Zecora.

Zecora introduced herself. "My Princess, how good to meet you. I fear that there are important things to do."

"I've heard a good bit about you from Twilight and her friends, and you are right, there is much to discuss. I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that the situation is steadily getting worse. I saw the tower rise out of the Forest."

I interrupted her briefly. "Yeah, that's the Bastion of Eons. It's Epoch's home base. He rose it out of the ground as soon as we got close to him."

"Right. I fear he may be nearing his full strength. The sunset should happen soon, but the Sun refuses to follow my magic, as though it's being controlled by somepony even stronger than I am."

"Epoch." Tycho growled.

"Precisely. And if sunset doesn't occur, then Equestria will-" Celestia was interrupted by the strangest coincidence to have ever occurred.

As soon as she said sunset, the Sun dropped out of the sky, leaving the moon now high in the sky. In a matter of seconds, time had jumped from early evening to midnight.

"Sister, it's happening again." Luna said, distress filling her voice.

"What is? What's going on?" I asked, desperate for an answer.

Celestia was willing to provide answers. "While Epoch imprisoned us, time ran rampant. Days could last years, and years could last seconds. We were imprisoned for an entire era, yet it lasted only a month.

"We just witnessed a small time jump, only a few hours. Your time here is limited, humans. The sooner you defeat Epoch, the more likely you can return home. The spell was only meant to last two weeks."

"Wait. You mean that Epoch could just 'fast forward' two weeks, and the spell keeping us here will just fade out?"

"Yes. But I don't think that he's-"

"JESUS H. CHRIST! CAN'T YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT?" I screamed. I didn't mean to, but it just kinda... came out.

"No. The only thing we can do is stop Epoch and return you to Earth safely."

"'Safely?' As in, 'right now, returning to Earth ISN'T safe?'"

"Historia, calm down," Twilight soothed, "It's not the Princess's fault that-"

"No Twilight, it is my fault. I selfishly brought humans here to help defeat Epoch, but I never stopped to think about them."

"All I ask is that you find a way to get us home safely when this all ends." I responded, exasperated.

"I already have my best unicorns working on the spell."

"Good." I paused for a moment to gather my thoughts. A single question had been bugging me for the entire week. "Celestia, why us? What do we have that makes you think we could do anything against Epoch? I mean, I was just your average human guy, now I'm not even a guy. Cripes, what've the rest of us got even? I mean, Lyrica can sing amazingly, but I don't see how it could help us beat an Alicorn."

"Before Epoch had us locked in jail, he spoke of a land of fearless warriors. A land where creatures would fight with zeal that could never be found anywhere in Equestria. A land called Earth. I brought you humans here because I had hoped that you would be these fearless warriors he spoke of. Was I mistaken to call upon you?"

"Well," I scratched the back of my head with a hoof. This was a little awkward. "No? I mean, I've got the zeal. I'd fight until I die to save Equestria. Heck, maybe a bit more after that, even. And Tycho's definitely a warrior, but- hopefully they don't mind me saying this- Dusty and Lyrica don't particularly seem like really big fighters." They both kind of mumbled in agreement. They really weren't going to be a whole lot of help. I saw Dusty feeding those birds, he can't fool me.

"Anyways," I said suddenly to refocus the conversation. "We're what we've got. Like it or not, Equestria's fate lies with us. A unicorn with... developing magic skills, a pegasus with a temper and limited flight skills, a tiny earth pony that can sing and bounce, and a big earth pony that runs fast, but is basically Fluttershy otherwise. Well, the odds don't look particularly great.

"Now then, we still need to figure out how to defeat Epoch. We have no idea what to expect when we go to face him. He’s easily more powerful than any one of us, possibly stronger than all of us combined. How do we fight against that?” There was no response from anypony. Even the best minds in the room could only shake their heads. It was simply too much for us to face on our own.

Zecora was the first to respond. “Ponies, why do you despair? Can you not see Epoch’s little more than a weak mare?”

“I don’t think I follow.” Tycho responded. To be fair, I feel most were with him on this.

“If this alicorn truly were of hatred and malice, I feel he’d do more than just raise his palace. You were within his grasp, and yet he allowed you to pass. Perhaps then, you should go- If Epoch’s intentions you wish to know.”

“She’s right.” I said after some thought. “Epoch could’ve done much worse than just raise a castle out of the ground. I don’t really think that we’ve got too much to worry about. At the very least, I think we could make it into the castle.”

“But then what?” Tycho asked. “So we make it into the castle. Great. What are we supposed to do if we do make it inside? Knock on the door to his room and ask him nicely if he’d come to Canterlot so we can put him under lock and key?”

With much effort, Celestia answered the question. I thought I saw a tear dripping down from her eye as she said it. “Epoch must be stopped by any means necessary. Do what you must. I do not wish to end the life of anypony, certainly not my own brother. But he has... changed. I... I can no longer call him my brother in the state he’s in. I understand what must be done. Even if...” She brushed her face with a wing, the tears now flowing freely. “Even if it means you must stop him permanently, I understand that it is for the good of the world that it happen.”

Celestia could no longer look at any of us. She was crying deeply and sobbing uncontrollably. She had just given us permission to kill her brother, something none of us were particularly comfortable with.

“We’ll do our best to make sure that it doesn't come to that. Don’t worry Celestia.” I consoled. I didn’t think it would help much, but she needed any support she could get.

We agreed that it would be best if we adjourn the meeting, and so Twilight extinguished Celestia’s image and let out a sigh. “Wow. I... I didn’t expect Celestia to take that so hard.”

“Epoch and Celestia were always close. The age gap was too great for myself, but I still remember the days when...” Luna paused to wipe her face with a hoof. She, too had a steady stream flowing from each of her eyes. “When Epoch would fly me across the sky. He would take me up to the top of the castle’s towers. He would whisper to me: ‘Luna, when you get bigger, all this will be yours. The night will belong to you. Make the night just as beautiful as you are.’ We were... we were happy back then.”

Pinkie tried in vain to cheer Luna up. “Aw, don’t be sad. Your nights are really pretty. I remember this one time, when I went out in-”

Applejack cut her off. “Sugarcube, I think it might be best if you were to let her finish.”

“I don’t know what changed. Tia and I grew up. We... we did our jobs. She took over the day, I controlled the night. When he asked, we even let Epoch raise the sun or moon. But he never seemed happy. And then he just threw us away. Treated us like we were just- just...” Luna’s voice trailed off. She couldn’t find the words to finish her thought. Instead, she simply fell to her hindquarters and stared into space. A small puddle began to form beneath Luna’s face as she clenched her teeth. A fire I had never seen came to her eyes.

“I won’t let him do that to me again.” She growled. “I won’t let him cast me aside like a piece of garbage. I’ll show him what his little sister can do.” She began to get angrier, her voice rising to a shout. “I’ll show him that I am strong! I’ll prove that I’m not just ‘the little sister’ any more! I am Princess Luna, and I will not! Let!” She stamped her hooves to accentuate her growing rage. Her voice alone was beginning to shake the inside of Zecora’s hut, yet it continued to get louder. “EPOCH! WIN!”

Luna was a mess. Her eyes were bloodshot from the tears and rage. Her mane had become frayed, strings of midnight blue streaming off separate from the rest of her flowing mane. Her teeth gritted and her eyes narrowed as she glared at nothing. She sat for several seconds before sighing. “It’s those kinds of thoughts that made turned me into Nightmare Moon. I vowed never to think bad of anypony else. Forgive me.”

“Don’t worry, Luna.” I consoled as I hugged her. “He was terrible to you. You have every right to be mad. But you know what? Right now, the only way we can get back at him is if we stop him. So take all that anger, and put it to use in stopping him before he does what he did to you to anypony else.”

“You’re right Historia. Thanks.” Luna said as she gently nuzzled me. By God, if she tries anything funny, I’ll never let myself live it down.

Zecora gave Twilight a much more detailed map of Everfree Forest, detailing paths, caves, and danger zones. She wanted to take them and leave, but everypony else insisted that we stay overnight. Nopony wanted to go anywhere until they had gotten a good night’s sleep.

We had a fun little bonfire outside of the hut after nightfall. Zecora sang us a song from her homeland. It told of a zebra warrior who faced trials and terror, becoming known as the strongest in the land. But, after he had overcome every trial set before him, after defeating any foe that would face him, he was taken down by the most unlikely opponent. His wife, sad that he never came to visit her during his escapades, set her house on fire and left, hoping to start a new life elsewhere. By chance, he had returned that very night to see the house he and his wife called home in flames. He went in to ensure that his wife was alright and vowed not to leave until he found her or died. His remains were found amongst the charred remains of the house. His wife was never seen again.

I wasn’t sure if Zecora meant for her story to apply to what we faced, but all that I really got out of it was that there are a lot of rhyming words in Zebra stories.

I called Lyrica up to do a duet. I led off with the first line, a simple backing rhythm. Something fast, something peppy, and something easy. “Ooh-ah, ooh-ah, cool cool kitty. Tell us ‘bout the boy from New York City.”

Lyrica managed to pick up the cue perfectly. “He’s kind of tall. He’s really fine. Someday I hope to make him mine, all mine.”

I jumped over and leaned in next to Tycho as I continued “Yeah, yeah!” He responded with a laugh and a lighthearted shove to get him some breathing room.

Lyrica began to saunter over to Dusty, as though she were singing about him. “And he’s neat. And oh so sweet. And the way he looked at me, he swept me off my feet” He played along and gave a pretend wink to Lyrica, getting most all of us to laugh. “Ooh-ee. You ought to come and see. How he walks. And how he talks.”

I struggled to keep from laughing as my solo part returned. Lyrica had pulled Dusty up to dance with him. The size difference was hilarious enough, not to mention how different they were as ponies. “Ooh-ah, ooh-ah, cool cool kitty. Tell us ‘bout the boy from New York City.”

“He’s really down. And he’s no clown. He has the finest penthouse I’ve ever seen in town. And he’s cute! In his mohair suit. And he keeps his pockets full of spending loot. Ooh-ee. You ought to come and see. His pretty bar. And brand new car. Every time he says he loves me, chills run down my spine. Every time he wants to kiss me, it makes me feel so fine.”

Dusty leaned in to pretend-kiss Lyrica. I couldn’t go on singing. This was all just too hilarious for me to take in all at once. I doubled over laughing, and everyone else, even Lyrica and Dusty, joined in. That song set the tone for the rest of the night. Pinkie sang a few happy songs, I brought back “Giggle at the Ghosties,” and Twilight told a ghost story.

As the fire died, we began to realize how late it was getting. Fluttershy and Lyrica had fallen asleep, and most of the others were beginning to follow suit. Not intending to take any chances of having another moonlight chat with Luna, I asked Zecora for a sleeping potion. As if she knew I would ask, she had a bottle pre-made. I downed a dose and grabbed a cup of water to wash it down with. Medicine in Equestria tastes no better than on Earth. I guess it’s just one of those natural facts of life.

I lay out on the grass outside and looked out at the stars. ‘Somewhere out there’s Earth,’ I thought. ‘Someday I’ll be... I’ll go back there and...’ The thought was lost as I fell asleep.