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The Preservation of Innocence (Part 13)

By Wall-o-text
Created: 2023-09-19 06:37:05
Expiry: Never

  1. 1.
    >”I’m sure you understand” my fuckin’ ass
  2. 2.
    >I mean, yeah, you get the secrecy part since he was pretty explicit about it before he left ponyville
  3. 3.
    >but zero explanation on what your up to
  4. 4.
    >though if you had to guess it’s gonna be a princess meet up
  5. 5.
    >but why the hell would you need applejack
  6. 6.
    >sure, bringing a buddy is nice, but considering the topic of all this wouldn’t it make a lot more sense to NOT bring her?
  7. 7.
    >she had just about no involvement in any of this
  8. 8.
    >whatever, doctor’s orders…
  9. 9.
     
  10. 10.
    >you know, having next to no breaks inbetween major world ending events and debilitating illnesses is starting to fuck with you
  11. 11.
    >not in a “oh god im so traumatized” way, but more like “damn i haven’t eaten/slept/showered in a while”
  12. 12.
    “Yo, AJ, we got an early morning tomorrow, heading to canterlot for a super top secret mission”
  13. 13.
    >she looks at you with a deadpan stare
  14. 14.
  15. 15.
    >”you better get y’er chores done BEFORE we leave ‘non...”
  16. 16.
    >;_;
  17. 17.
     
  18. 18.
    >the early morning train was actually pretty comfy
  19. 19.
    >you’ve only been waking up earlier ever since applejack forced you into slavary doing these “chores”
  20. 20.
    >but to actually have the time to look at the orange glow on the horizon was a whole other deal
  21. 21.
    >plus the colder temperature in the early mornings felt pretty good
  22. 22.
    >but now that you’re on the train with nothing but time to kill you’ve got some thinking to do
  23. 23.
    >if you’re right in assuming you’re all going to meet with Celestia, do you tell AJ everything now or wait and let shining armour do all the talking?
  24. 24.
  25. 25.
    >easier to let him do it
  26. 26.
    >especially since you’re not sure what’s gonna be talked about anyways
  27. 27.
    >considering how secretive shining wanted to be, who knows if he’s gonna tell her everything or if he’s gonna hold back some details
  28. 28.
    >even more reason to not tell AJ anything
  29. 29.
    >”so anon, why in equestria would they need either of us for a meeting with the princesses?”
  30. 30.
    >half-truth meta works everytime
  31. 31.
    “AJ, I have no real clue why exactly they need us but it sounds important enough to not skip”
  32. 32.
    >”heh, maybe it’s an award ceremony for ya”
  33. 33.
    >oh that would be so cool
  34. 34.
    >actually, now that you think of it-
  35. 35.
    >oh no wait celestia doesn’t know of your involvement so it’s probably NOT an award ceremony
  36. 36.
    “I sure would love to have a sick medal”
  37. 37.
    >”well whatever it is, this whole ordeal that’s been goin’ on has set us back a week chore wise”
  38. 38.
    >”so once we’re finished, we’re gonna need to seriously get on it with all the work we’ve got back logged”
  39. 39.
    >”uhg, if this streak keeps goin’ on ah might have to hire somepony or two, actually maybe a better idea would be to ask a few relatives to come over, we’re in a tight spot and it sure would be nice to have the help”
  40. 40.
    “Sounds like a good plan”
  41. 41.
     
  42. 42.
    >sleeping on trains is usually easier when you’re sleep deprived like last time, so that was boring as hell
  43. 43.
    >at least you made it to canterlot within a decent amount of time
  44. 44.
     
  45. 45.
    >https://youtu.be/XDWZKIytZTI (from all walks of life)
  46. 46.
     
  47. 47.
    >when you stepped off the train you saw 3 familiar faces
  48. 48.
    >shining, cadence, and best buddy doc
  49. 49.
    >but for some weird reason there’s a fourth that you don’t know
  50. 50.
    “So um, who’s she?”
  51. 51.
    >shining answers in a hushed tone
  52. 52.
    >”that’s not important right now, what IS important is that we get to the castle on time because YOU were late”
  53. 53.
    >so much for making it within decent time…
  54. 54.
     
  55. 55.
    >as you made way to the castle you had some questions
  56. 56.
    >too bad shining armour’s being bitchy, so lets not poke the bear
  57. 57.
    >what in the hell is gonna happen now?
  58. 58.
    >seriously you were banking on shining armour explaining the whole situation to AJ
  59. 59.
    >shit, let’s hope she’s got nerves of steel because this might be quite a few bombshells for her
  60. 60.
     
  61. 61.
    >the 6 of you make way into the castle and notice a lack of guards inside
  62. 62.
    >the doors close behind you leaving all of you in a quiet castle with an eerily pissed looking princess
  63. 63.
     
  64. 64.
    >https://youtu.be/zgZoPQ7Lhr8 (okay how fucked are we?)
  65. 65.
     
  66. 66.
    >”shining armour, would you PLEASE tell me why you brought guests to our PRIVATE discussion”
  67. 67.
    >off to a bad start already, the rest of you tense up and look at flick your eyes towards him
  68. 68.
    >”Princess, I need you to trust me when I say these guests are going to be very important in a moment, you can trust them the same way you trust me and Cadence”
  69. 69.
    >Celestia lets out a sigh and looks out the window
  70. 70.
    >”even if i didn’t it would hardly matter at this point”
  71. 71.
    >”Vanhoover’s on complete lockdown, no one goes in and no one goes out”
  72. 72.
    >”this isn’t going to be a secret for much longer anyways as the news spreads”
  73. 73.
    >she looks back to shining armour
  74. 74.
    >”I’m sure your aware of what happened when we had to flee to canterlot”
  75. 75.
    >”that illness wasn’t a one time thing it seems”
  76. 76.
    >”I hate to say this but even after we weakened our enemies abroad, we still may not have the resources or time to take care of this mess”
  77. 77.
    >”even after calling on every nation I could think of to lend us aid I have yet to get a single response from any of them”
  78. 78.
    >she turns back to face the rest of you
  79. 79.
    >”under normal circumstances I would have much more to say”
  80. 80.
    >”but considering your ‘friends’ it would be VERY unwise for me to continue”
  81. 81.
    >she looks at the three of you quizzically
  82. 82.
    >”well, I’m sure Cadence and shining armour brought you here for a reason”
  83. 83.
    >something about this feels like it is NOT going to plan and you are sweating bullets
  84. 84.
    >thank god the other lady spoke
  85. 85.
    >”I.. I might know why the other nations haven’t responded princess…”
  86. 86.
    >she shrinks her head down and undisguizes herself
  87. 87.
    >hoooooly fuck this feels like a BAD plan
  88. 88.
    >celestia raises her head and looks to shining armour on the brink of fury
  89. 89.
    >if it wasn’t for her hushed tone you would probably be shaking right now
  90. 90.
    >”what in EQUESTRIA were you thinking shining!”
  91. 91.
    >”you better have a real good explanation for this because this is bordering treason…”
  92. 92.
    >shining armour was definitely shaking and trying to push out a response
  93. 93.
    >thankfully chrysalis spoke up
  94. 94.
    >”WAIT, please, I understand you’re angry, but I think I know what’s going on outside equestria”
  95. 95.
    >celestia gives her a stern look
  96. 96.
    >”speak…”
  97. 97.
    >chrysalis shrinks her head slightly lower
  98. 98.
    >”I, I think what’s going on in vanhoover is the same thing that happened to me”
  99. 99.
    >”this disease, it isn’t normal, it starves you to feed off only to grow stronger and leave”
  100. 100.
    >celestia looks like she’s on the verge of murder
  101. 101.
    >”that is EXACTLY what a normal disease does”
  102. 102.
    >chrysalis panicks
  103. 103.
    >”no, NO, I mean, it thinks, it SPOKE TO ME!”
  104. 104.
    >”it, it’s spreading across nations, I heard it speak about griffons and zebra’s and kirin but that’s all I could hear, I know it wasn’t delusions because when it left, it manifested as this dark pony with red eyes, but made of that dark cloud it first came as”
  105. 105.
    >celestia looked at her only a tiny bit less pissed
  106. 106.
    >”PLEASE, you have to believe me, i lost EVERYTHING, you know I wouldn’t help you in any other circumstance so you know I’m being truthful when i say this, right?”
  107. 107.
    >celestia closes her eyes and pushes air out of her nose
  108. 108.
    >”how did you find her…”
  109. 109.
    >that question seems to fall on either shining, doc, or you
  110. 110.
    >it was taking way too long for either of them to speak and you could feel the tension
  111. 111.
    >if none of you spoke she was going to who knows what
  112. 112.
    “Um, we found her almost dead on her castle floor…”
  113. 113.
    >celestia turns her head to you
  114. 114.
    >”who are you anyways”
  115. 115.
    “Anon.. anonymous, princess…”
  116. 116.
    >her anger seems to fade almost completely when she hears this
  117. 117.
    >”huh, like the anonymous twilight wrote to me about?”
  118. 118.
    “Y-yeah, I live in ponyville at the moment so, that’s, probably me…”
  119. 119.
    >”well… I’m sorry this is how we had to meet each other”
  120. 120.
    >she turns back to shining armour
  121. 121.
    >”how long ago did this happen”
  122. 122.
    >he tries his hardest to keep a calm face
  123. 123.
    >”only two days ago princess”
  124. 124.
    >she gets that almost murder face on her again
  125. 125.
    >”there is no way you could have gotten her before the pre-emptive strike”
  126. 126.
    >”are you telling me, as one of my highest ranking military commanders, you went behind my back and did some kind of secret mission without me knowing”
  127. 127.
    >”and to top it all off, you come here and throw that in my face?”
  128. 128.
    >oh this is a fucking NIGHTMARE scenario…
  129. 129.
    >doc interjects suddenly
  130. 130.
    >”wait, princess, we found a cure because of this mission, I swear”
  131. 131.
    >this alone drops the majority of your worries
  132. 132.
    >this better not be a bluff or your probably getting executed
  133. 133.
    >celestia’s expression doesn’t change as she looks to him
  134. 134.
    >”how can you be so sure…”
  135. 135.
    >he swallows before speaking
  136. 136.
    >”we… anonymous and I… we gathered as many samples as we could of the disease… we didn’t plan on finding chrysalis, it just happened when we explored the cave”
  137. 137.
    >”when we parted ways I did a number of experiments on the substance as well as chrysalis and found that those depleted crystals did wonders against the disease, far more so than it does on the host”
  138. 138.
    >Celestia’s expression doesn’t change
  139. 139.
    >”you can’t be serious, that stuff is industrial waste, it’s quite literally poison to us”
  140. 140.
    >the doctor shrinks back slightly
  141. 141.
    >”y-yes, but if taken in a much smaller dose, it kills off the disease while leaving the host only temporarliy weak or bedridden at worst”
  142. 142.
    >”I was confident enough to even test it myself while fully healthy to prove it”
  143. 143.
    >he opens the pouch on his saddle bag
  144. 144.
    >”I have enough here for about 500 ponies”
  145. 145.
    >celestia’s expression starts to soften
  146. 146.
    >”and you’re absolutely certain this is enough to cure it?”
  147. 147.
    >he raises his head back up gaining a bit more confidence
  148. 148.
    >”I’m certain, this disease feeds off of magic, not food or energy like a normal disease, although it looks extremly similar when comparing this to another common illness”
  149. 149.
    >”if it wasn’t for anon’s case of it I likely wouldn’t have realized that so soon”
  150. 150.
    >celestia takes the bag from him
  151. 151.
    >”are you sure that one pill is going to be neither too much or too little for anypony who takes it, even foals or heavier ponies?”
  152. 152.
    >the doctor stands with full confidence
  153. 153.
    >”I promise it is, this disease is a lot weaker than it looks and our bodies are a lot more ressiliant against a dose of drained crystals this small then the disease ever could be”
  154. 154.
  155. 155.
    >celestia lets out a very large sigh
  156. 156.
     
  157. 157.
    >”well, that settles that then”
  158. 158.
    >”it settles a lot of things actually”
  159. 159.
    >her whole demeanor has changed
  160. 160.
    >”you know shining, if you had just told me you had a plan to find a cure I would have fully supported it”
  161. 161.
    >”throwing these two straight into changeling territory was just reckless, I could have easily arranged for them to be escorted by the entire army that was heading there already”
  162. 162.
    >”seriously, if it wasn’t for this disease ravaging that place it wouldn’t have ended well for those two”
  163. 163.
    >”in the future, please understand that I’m capable of seeing the value of something like this”
  164. 164.
    >”let’s not have this happen again”
  165. 165.
    >”the secrecy, not the major accomplishments, keep those coming”
  166. 166.
    >her mood seems to be a lot better than it was before
  167. 167.
    >a massive relief for both you and everyone else
  168. 168.
    >”just one last thing”
  169. 169.
    >she looks directly at shining armour
  170. 170.
    >”why did you pick anonymous for this job? I mean he lives all the way in ponyville? Couldn’t you have gotten just about anypony else for the job, it seemed pretty menial anyways”
  171. 171.
    >shining armour makes his point, still feeling a little guilty about the secrecy behind the mission
  172. 172.
    >”honestly, if i told you I don’t think you would believe me”
  173. 173.
    >she tilts her head in confusion
  174. 174.
    >”oh come on, out of everything i’ve heard today I’m quite sure this won’t be too surprising”
  175. 175.
    >he fidgets a bit trying to come up with an answer
  176. 176.
    >”well… how about you ask him yourself”
  177. 177.
    >everyone turns to you
  178. 178.
    >oh shining armour you dick wad
  179. 179.
    >they look at you expecting a good answer
  180. 180.
    >and you have a good answer but it’s such a curve ball you’re not sure how the princess is gonna take it
  181. 181.
    “Oh, um, well, so, I, uh”
  182. 182.
    >you fidget with your hands
  183. 183.
    “When uh, big mac, kinda left for the crystal empire, like conscripted, for the war I-”
  184. 184.
    >”OH COME ON ANON, JUST TELL ‘ER HOW YAH KICKED HIS FLANK, KNOCKED THAT DANG HORN RIGHT OFF HIS NOGGIN!”
  185. 185.
    >everyone turns towards applejack who you forgot was even here
  186. 186.
    >celestia turns back to you
  187. 187.
    >”I don’t mean to be rude anonymous but… how could you have possibly done that?”
  188. 188.
    >cadence comes to your defense
  189. 189.
    >”he showed me himself when he came to the crystal empire after the trains left”
  190. 190.
    >”it’s quite the sight to see”
  191. 191.
    >celestia looks between you and cadence almost dumbfounded
  192. 192.
    >”I’m sorry, am I missing something here?”
  193. 193.
    >cadence proceeds to go on quite possibly the most boring story about all the stuff you did
  194. 194.
    >the only parts you paid attention to were the pauses between her sentances
  195. 195.
    >by the time she finished you felt about ready to head home
  196. 196.
    >no loose ends no nothing
  197. 197.
    >great work team lets GTFO-
  198. 198.
    >”anonymous can i talk with you in private before you leave?”
  199. 199.
    >mmmmmmmmmFUCK
  200. 200.
    “Sure princess wha-”
  201. 201.
    >”oh please, call me Celestia”
  202. 202.
    “oh, right, what’s up celestia?”
  203. 203.
    >she looks at you a little funny
  204. 204.
    >”you seem to be a bit of an accomplished individual it seems”
  205. 205.
    >damn right
  206. 206.
    >”and I’m glad to have finally figured out exactly how sombra fell, I had initially assumed it to be dumb luck or that he pushed himself too far somehow”
  207. 207.
    >her demeanor changes to dread for a moment
  208. 208.
    >”but there’s something very terrifying about only surviving by pure chance”
  209. 209.
    >”I hope you can understand how I feel when I ask you this, but may I take your um, ‘rifle’ in for research?”
  210. 210.
    >a perfect idea hits you
  211. 211.
    “I can actually do you one better, I have the blueprints for everything back home, I can probably send in that and you could easily make as many as you needed”
  212. 212.
    >a big smile spreads on her face
  213. 213.
    >”that would be perfect anonymous, thank you”

The Preservation of Innocence (Part 1)

by Wall-o-text

The Preservation of Innocence (Part 2)

by Wall-o-text

The Preservation of Innocence (Part 3)

by Wall-o-text

The Preservation of Innocence (Part 4)

by Wall-o-text

The Preservation of Innocence (Part 5)

by Wall-o-text