Elements of Disharmony part 14

>It began with a thud.

>You set your boots down on the forest floor, having stopped for the day.

>You were nearly to Canterlot, and a lot of things were coming to a head.

>You move over to Gilda and help her get out of her Harness as Shermanator slowly steps out.

>His legs were like Jelly every time you stopped.

>Atleast he could hide his head and just look at the walls of the chariot, pretending he was elsewhere.

>That seemed to give him some semblance of tranquility.

>With a click, Gilda is free, and she moves past you towards a small rock out-cropping.

>You follow behind, intent on clearing up the remaining questions you had.

>You had been mostly busy keeping Sherm together, his fear of heights severely limiting your abilities to pester the Griffon for information.

>The first night, you had, again, been too busy ensuring Sherm was alright to get a chance before she was off to sleep.

>Now, however?

>You wanted answers.

”I understand that there’s some sort of..”

>You look over at the vomiting Shermanator, checking that he’s out of earshot.

“… Grudge, between you, Anonymous, and Celestia.”

>The Griffon scowls up at you.

>Sore spot?

>”… You could say that.”

>Going to have to pry this out of her, then.

“Why does Anon want her dead?”

>Gilda looks over at Shermanator, who’s just finishing his wretching, and begins to walk over.

>”She’s a tyrant, one that hounds us at every opportunity. Anon’s going to settle matters, either killing her, or getting killed. Either way…”

>Shermanator staggers over and takes a seat.

>” He’s going to make sure our Chick is safe.”

 

>Not a moment wasted, Sherm pipes up,

>”Hey, anyone else hungry?”

>You turn to him, fixing an incredulous scowl upon your face

“You just finished hurling all of last nights Dinner onto the floor, and you want to eat?”

>Gilda chuckles, and rolls her eyes.

>You’ve had enough shit.

>”Hey, in my defense, I only saw a little bit of that stuff. It was mostly just water.”

>You sigh, and shake your head.

“Alright, I’ll go find something.”

>You make to rise, and look at Gilda.

“We’ll talk more later. But we’re not done.”

>You head over to the Chariot, and begin to rummage around, checking various bags that had food-stuffs that had, fortunately, been packed away by the previous owners.

>Most of it was Equine fair, but some could be stomach-

>”So, when were you going to tell me?”

>You look up, shocked somewhat to see Shermanator standing off to your left, looking passively at you.

>You shake your head in confusion.

“I don’t follow. What exactly are you trying to ask?”

>He grimaces

>”You know damn well. I might not be smart but I’m not a dumbass.”

>You stop, and rise from your bent over position.

>”What are we going to do about this new guy?”

“Isn’t it obvious? We can’t get him to come with us unless we..”

>You pause, breathing.

>You had to break your promise, it was the only way you would see home again.

>The ends would justify the means… You dearly, sorely hoped.

“… We kill Celestia. She won’t leave his family alone, not until he, or she, are dead. The former is not an option.”

>His face contorts into anger

>”No, that is Not what we are going to do. I won’t kill Celestia, and I certainly won’t just let you try and justify doing so!”

 

>You begin to raise your voice to match his.

“If we could just snatch him away, I would. You think killing a god is a prospect I look forwards to?”

>”We’re not killing anyone! We’re getting him, and we’re fixing this problem!”

“He won’t come with us and help us if we just let Celestia continue!”

>”Then we make him come with us!”

”You think it’s that easy? Do you not remember when I crushed that Lich beneath my boot? He threatened me, threatened those I loved!”

>You two are practically yelling in one another faces now, spit flying back and forth with from thunderous fury.

>”You’re not even thinking about your actions!”

”There’s too much at stake to leave to petty restraints!”

>”-Are you even seeing what you-“

”-Can’t you even understand we don’t have-“

>”-You hurt Celestia and-“

”-I won’t let you or anyone-“

>And it began with a thud.

>You feel your armor ring as Sherman slams his right fist into your abdomen.

>You stagger back, the warp gathering around you.

>Your eyes come alight as the swirling energies struggle behind your skull, but your concentration is cut off with a massive haymaker.

>You stumble, bringing your arms up to block as this impossibly strong human falls upon you.

>He’s constantly on the offensive, spewing obsenities appropriate for a Pony.

>”You Hay-Stealing Parasprite! I won’t let you harm Celestia in your idiot hunger for revenge!”

>You snap a quick jab up, but he ducks under it artfully and jabs back.

>You block it with your free arm, and give him a swift jab to the stomach.

>He wheezes from your blow, apperantly much more fragile than yourself.

 

>You pull back for a round-house, but he’s within your reach in seconds, hugging close as he regains his breath.

>You bring a knee up, but he moves just enough, and lands a punch to your hips, sending you sprawling.

>You roll out of the way as he leaps into the air, screaming.

>His fist sinks into the soil, the earth unable to stop his fury.

“You blind zealot! There’s no option three here!”

>You rise quickly and lash out with a kick, grabbing for your mag-locked blade as you yell at him.

“We kill Celestia, or the Element of Sorrow dies!”

>He jumps back, and lunges forwards slamming a fist into your elbow.

>You hiss in pain and spin, trying to get a good grip on your Elements.

>You leap to your right as his right-hook comes in, powerful enough to dent steel, and practically annihilates a tree that was right behind you.

>The crack of wood causes you to abandon your still-locked sword, and grab the falling pine.

>You toss it away, noticing too late him charging headlong into you.

>You fail to catch him, and he slams into your side.

>You tumble to the ground as he roars in mindless anger.

>This little bastard needs to be put in his place, but you can’t even touch him.

>Worse yet, he was putting dents in your armor with his bare hands.

>The hell did that Element do to him? You were fairly certain unaugmented humans were not this strong.

>You stop rolling, atop him and pinning him down with your weight alone.

>A single good crack from your fist sends teeth flying, as you grab his face and hold it still.

”Listen here, you little shi-“

>You never finish your sentence as you take a shot to your elbow-pit, and begin to fall forwards.

 

>Your eyes go wide as a fist flies up into your forehead with enough force to crack Ceramite.

>Infact, it did, you can hear the crack as your skull cracks, and you rocket up and off Shermanator.

>Your head is spinning and blood is running down your temple from your busted eyebrow.

>You notice Shermanator mount atop you, and bring his fist up.

>Your eyes finally refocus, and watch as he coldly glairs down at you.

“Why do you hesitate? Finish me.”

>You spit blood from your knocked teeth as you speak

“Do it, you wretch.”

>He waves, and begins to lower his fist.

>”I’m not a killer. It was never going to come to that, and I won’t let it.”

>You narrow your eyes

“You open combat, because you won-“

>He gives you a forceful punch across the jaw, enough to jar you, but not enough to hurt.

>”Shut it.”

>You glare up at him.

>”We will not become killers. There’s too much misery and pain already, we don’t need to add to it.”

>If you didn’t know better, you’d actually thing he’s being…

>”If it comes to it, if it’s her or us… We may have to. But not unless we’ve exhausted all other options.”

>You’re shocked to hear such a coherent, intelligent plan from this man.

>You nod, understanding.

>You were already rationalizing why it was acceptable to kill Celestia.

>This man, he would have none of it.

>He would make a door three if he had to.

“Alright.”

 

>His face brightens a little bit.

“Listen, I’m..”

>You pause, before shoving him off of you.

“I’m going to get some rest. If you’re hungry, there’s jerky in the chariot.”

>You grumble, storming off to the rocky out-cropping.

>As much as you hated to admit it, you actually respected Shermanator a little bit more now.

>And damn if he couldn’t back up his decisions with a punch.

>You really hoped that this wouldn’t interfere too badly with your duel with Celestia.

>You sit next to the sleeping Gilda, too tired to give much thought to her smile.

>How she slept through your fight, you’ll never know.

>Especially with how you were only a few feet away…

>It was likely the exhaustion from her flying.

>As you allow your body to slowly relax, going into its own sleep patterns, you hear the echo of distant words, lost on your psyche.

 

>You gently massage your jaw, and look over at the sleeping Griffon and Marine.

>Such a strange band you had.

>You were certain power-struggles like this would be often, but you needed to keep them focused.

>Everyone had some ulterior motive or goal.

>You needed to make sure that, ultimately, you all worked together.

>This would not be a fun, but then again, you had been through so much hell so far…

>The end was finally in sight.

>And, atleast, for that you could be thankful.

>But, if it came down to it, could you do it?

>Could you really harm Celestia?

>You stuff some jerky into your mouth and munch noisily as you take a blanket and toss it on the hard rock.

>You would cross that bridge when it came to it.