Chapter Thirty Three: The End of the Beginning.

***

Plymouth, The Lodestone, March 15th, 2030.

Elliot walked up to Hell Blazer and the Doctor, the latter of whom was looking at the man with a frown on his face. His eyes were not focused on his friends, instead fixing onto the lodestone with a soft smile.

"We've been waiting for one of these for absolutely forever," he said softly, walking up to the thing.

"Yeah," Hell Blazer said, grinning. "Good, ain't it?"

"You realise this means we'll finally be able to commune with him?" Elliot said, his gaze still fixed on the lodestone.

"Bloody hope so," Hell Blazer said. "Imagine what he might be able to tell us! He could bloody...!"

"What discovery did Everfree Team make?" the Doctor asked, cutting across the conversation.

Elliot turned to face the old looking pony, his smile fading slightly as he considered the question. Truth be told, he didn't know how to categorise what Twilight had said: he couldn't deny that, in theory, her plan could work... but it sounded like the Market Garden to this conflict's World War II. Opening a portal to Equestria? Risky in and of itself, especially using the enemy's spell for that purpose. Using that portal to transport troops? Doubly so, since if it didn't work it could kill soldiers that Britain - and the entire war effort - couldn't afford to lose. But...

But. Part of him couldn't deny that it sounded like it could work. And that part was almost... excited. Still, it sounded simultaneously too easy and too risky.

"Nothing that can help us," he said after a moment. It wasn't the entire truth, but it was enough.

"The Twilight Sparkle of our reality was never the sort of pony to break protocol or to take attention for causes if she did not believe them to be important," the Doctor said, his frown deepening: he clearly wasn't convinced. "Whatever discovery she made..."

"Is at present not one we can make use of," Elliot cut the old pony off. He didn't really have the patience to deal with the old pony right now, not when there was a lodestone in front of him. "If we could, I would, but we can't, so we won't."

The Doctor dropped the subject, though he didn't look happy. Elliot, meanwhile, walked up to the lodestone, his conversation and all thoughts of Twilight's idea forgotten at present.

"So," he asked Hell Blazer. "It's a lodestone."

"Sure as sin looks like one," the pony replied, still grinning. He took a cigarette out and lit up, taking a drag. "I've run a few tests, too. Without access to any of Rupert's big-scale testing stuff, I'm reasonably confident."

"So," Elliot said, examining the stone. It was shining with an inner light, glimmering slightly. It was as though a giant lump of crystalline rock had literally forced it's way up through the ground, almost like something that had grown. He reached out a hand to touch it, but with a hiss he pulled his hand away, a stinging pain lancing through it.

"What happened?" Hell Blazer asked.

"It's hot!" Elliot said, frowning. "I don't understand it."

"What were you attempting to do?" the Doctor asked.

"Commune with the stone," Elliot said. At the pony's blank look, he continued. "There's a school of thought that magic on Earth is connected to the lodestone. There's a legend that communing with it allows one to commune with him."

"I see," the Doctor said, frowning thoughtfully. "Maybe it requires that you channel your own magic. A sort of key, if you will."

Elliot raised an eyebrow and looked to Hell Blazer for confirmation. The yellow Earth Pony shrugged.

"Possibly," he said. "I dunno. Lodestone's are theoretical. If Rupert were here..."

"But Rupert's not here," Elliot said. "Will it work?"

Hell Blazer looked thoughtful for a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah. Pretty certain it will."

"Good," Elliot said. He turned back to the lodestone, and frowned at it for a moment. He concentrated, allowing his power to slowly fill him up. His skin took on a soft golden glow. He reached out his hand again...

painagonyscreaminghisnerveswereonfireohgodmakeitstop

He blinked, falling to one knee, looking up to find himself staring at a man. He was completely shaven headed, with a short brown beard. He was dressed in a long, shabby dark brown robe that went down to his feet, a hood lowered behind him. He had a staff clutched in one hand, shaped wood with an intricately carved head. He looked at Elliot with a wry grin on his face.

"I was wondering when you'd manage to get here," he said quietly, his voice tinged with what might have been a Gaelic accent, but not one that Elliot recognised. "I'm Merlin. I understand you have some things to speak to me about?"

***

Point Bravo.

"Take cover!"

Twilight ducked behind a pile of rubble as a hail of spells flew towards her position, covering her ears with her forehooves in a desperate attempt to keep the deafening noise of exploding rubble out of them. A squad of Royal Guard were advancing carefully down the street, firing all the way. The initial barricade point had been overrun, and the defenders had retreated further back, seeking cover where they could, the street was fairly wide, but still too narrow to manoeuvre properly.

"Wind!" she yelled as loudly as she could, not really directing it. "Get that gun firing!"

She couldn't see him, but she heard something that might have been an affirmative on her comm. A moment later, a hail of bullet tore down the street, shredding several approaching Royal Guards. The rest took cover, some of them managing to get pot shots off, but for the most part, the enemy's projectile abilities had been nullified. A moment later, however, the minigun seemed to jam - Twilight could hear Wind cursing over the comm and a hail of assault rifle bullets and unicorn spells replaced it. It wasn't exactly the most reliable weapon.

"Grey Leader, this is Everfree One!" she yelled into her comm. "Can you lend any support down here, over?"

"Negative!" came the reply, Errant Flight sounding harried. "It's pretty busy up here, over!"

As if to prove the Pegasus' point, a body landed near Twilight, making her help in shock. It was a Pegasus Royal Guard, a wing cleanly severed from the rest of him, and a neat, almost clinical gash placed on his throat as well. Twilight looked up: she couldn't see much of the frenetic fight in the air, save for Pegasi flying hither and thither, but she could tell it was a desperate one - there were at least thirty Royal Guard in the air.

This attack, a combined ground and air venture, was one of several that had happened over the course of the last hour. Since Grey Squadron's silent takedown of one team, the Equestrian forces had stepped up their attacks, clearly recognising this position as one they needed to take down.

"Equestrian" forces... Twilight shook her head, still not used to referring to the enemy as Equestrians. She was Equestrian. Having Royal Guard, ponies she had always respected as an institution, as her enemy was a shock to the system that she couldn't quite fathom.

"Twilight!" somepony yelled. Twilight, shaking off her thoughts, looked to see Applejack waving to her from behind a ruined car. Glancing to check that the field of fire was relatively clear - which it was for the moment - Twilight bolted across to her friend. She, Rarity, Lyra and Pinkie were huddled, the unicorns popping their heads up to fire bolts every so often at the enemy's position.

"Are you guys ok?" Twilight asked.

"Yes," Rarity said, looking tired, but smiling softly all the same. "I stopped worrying about dust in my mane two hours ago."

Twilight grinned back at her. Rarity seemed in good enough spirits to at least make jokes at her own expense. She turned to Lyra, but the turquoise pony merely shook her head, eyes closing as she grimaced. A large red graze was visible on her right shoulder, but other than that she seemed uninjured, so Twilight assumed she was just stressed.

"I'm okie dokie," Pinkie said, smiling, but then she frowned. "But I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm lokie too."

"That bad, huh?" Twilight asked with a grin.

"Yep," Pinkie said, smiling again.

"Well I'm fine Twi. These buckers are sure persistent, huh?!" Applejack said, laughing harshly. Twilight frowned at her.

"Yeah," she said. "Any ideas?"

"Wind's minigun keeps jamming, so we can't rely on that!" the former farmer said. "Maybe we could try flanking them through these buildings - go into one come out behind them and zap?"

"I don't think these buildings connect on the inside," Twilight pointed out.

"Not yet," Applejack agreed, "but they will when you blow a hole through the walls."

Twilight's eyes widened. She realised what Applejack meant, and suddenly a fierce grin lit up her face.

"Ok then," she said. A spell impacted near her, and she grimaced. "We'd need to suppress these guys before we moved though, make sure we came out at the correct position."

"Leave that to me," Pinkie said with a grin. She popped her head up. "Hey, you guys want a party?!" A hail of spells nearly took Pinkie's head off, and she ducked back down, a grin on her face despite the fact that her mane was singed. "They want a party."

From nowhere came her party cannon. Twilight had long since gotten past the point of denying the thing's existence, and was in fact inordinately grateful they had it. She aimed it down the street, and suddenly hails of confectionary lashed out at a rate of knots, knocking aside ponies left right and centre.

"Go!" Pinkie yelled, sounding uncharacteristically serious, a look of concentration on her face. At once, Applejack raced into a nearby building. Twilight followed, counting the buildings between this one and their enemy - six - as she did so. Rarity and Lyra followed behind her, the latter managing to move fast even with her injury.

"Right," Twilight said, approaching a wall. "Everypony stand back."

She closed her eyes, and fired a blasting spell, blasting a hole through the wall. Lyra held up a shield spell, shielding them from debris, and the group quickly made their way through the hole.

They repeated this procedure several more times, until they were in the sixth building. Once there, they drew their bayonets.

"Twi," Applejack said, "when we go, I need you to throw a big spell at 'em, take 'em off guard."

Twilight nodded. She looked at Lyra and Rarity. Neither of them looked particularly ready for this, but then again, neither was she.

"Right," she said. "On me."

She stepped out of the door, and before the Royal Guard could react, she threw the biggest, brightest, bangiest spell she had at them, closing her eyes as she did so. The noise took her off guard, so she hoped it did the same to the Guards. She heard yelling and the clash of metal, and a moment later her sight cleared enough for her to see what was going on.

A Guard was bearing right down on her.

Yelling, she dodged his charge, and he succeeded only in embedding his spear in the door she had come out of. Whipping out her own bayonet, she got in behind him and slit his throat, acting almost on autopilot. A spray of blood caught her on the face, but she ignored it. Adrenaline rushed through her veins, and with a mad yell, she charged at another Guard, using her bayonet to knock the spear aimed at her away before sweeping it across his throat. Sheathing her bayonet for a moment, she hefted the still-gurgling Guard's spear with her horn, and threw it at the nearest other Guard, who went down.

Nearby, she could see Applejack bludgeoning ponies with her bucking legs - one Guard was thrown clean into a wall, landing with his neck at an odd angle. Rarity was duelling with three Guards at once, apparently trying not to kill them. After a moment though, she grimaced and suddenly her blade whipped out, killing two of them with one sweep before embedding itself in the third's eye. She extracted it, still grimacing, before charging again. Lyra had apparently chosen to use close-range spells instead of her bayonet, turquoise bolts of energy lashing out from her horn, hitting Guard after Guard and sending them reeling. A couple of Guards got in close enough that she used her bayonet, the blade whipping and stabbing, and then she was back to firing spells.

Returning her attention to the enemy, Twilight stabbed one pony in the throat, arterial blood splattering out. Vaguely, she remembered her first training dummy back at the training camp in Pontefract, the sand spilling out in the exact same way when she had stabbed it in it's unprotected throat. She extracted the blade, dismissing the thought in a heartbeat, and charged again...

***

"Merlin..." Elliot breathed to himself, standing up slowly, looking around. They had known legends of course: Merlin, the wizard who had helped Arthur claim Excalibur. Merlin the enemy of Morgana le Fey, Merlin the mad wizard... but they had only suspected that he might be contactable, through the power of the lodestones and the magic therein. "It's really you..."

The two of them were stood inside a giant cave, lined with crystal - no, lined with lodestone: it was everywhere, as though the entire cavern had been formed of it. Merlin was stood up, but near him was a formation not unlike an armchair.

"Indeed," Merlin said with an amused grin. "I am me. Just as you are you, though I suspect you are not quite the same you you used to be, so to speak."

"No, not quite," Elliot said with a wry grin. "My name is..."

"David Elliot, the current Avatar of Albion and thus of the light of the world, yes, yes, I know that," Merlin said, waving a hand dismissively. "I may be stuck here, but I am still able to see clearly."

"Then you know why I am here," Elliot said. Merlin chuckled at that.

"You think a broken down old wizard like me might be able to lend you some advantage," he said quietly. "That maybe I can challenge Solamina the Tyrant herself in your stead?"

"I..." Elliot said, taken aback by this response.

"Now, now, don't lie to me, and more importantly don't lie to yourself," Merlin said, chuckling again. "Whatever your conscious mind thinks it came down here for, your wish was to find some way to win your war easily."

Elliot had no answer. Truthfully... he had hoped, somehow, that Merlin might have some way to help them win the war. He refused to accept that he had so blindly sought a miracle... but even if he had, would that have been so bad?

"No, that wouldn't have been too bad," Merlin said, chuckling once more. Elliot started at that. "There's no point being surprised: I'm a wizard, and I flatter myself that I was once one of the more powerful of that illustrious number. Do you think the small matter of reading someone's mind and memory is beyond my power?"

"Well, no," Elliot said. "It's just disconcerting."

"I can imagine," Merlin said. He leant upon his staff and frowned slightly. "Oh dear. You didn't quite have the fortitude for this job, did you?"

Elliot shifted uncomfortably. "What do you mean?"

"You're a brave soul, there's no doubt," Merlin said, tilting his head, "but your body's not fit for the magics you're holding in. It's killing you. Quite rapidly, actually. Haven't seen a case like that for a long time."

Elliot frowned. "I'm strong enough for what must be done."

Merlin laughed at that, a deep, slightly cackling thing. "Oh no you're not. You're strong, oh yes, but not that strong. There's a final hurdle, lad."

"I've passed all the hurdles," Elliot replied, frowning. "I was told..."

Merlin waved a hand dismissively. "You were taught how to control the power, but that's not the final hurdle. The final hurdle is you. Once you break that, you can do anything."

Elliot frowned. He didn't understand.

"You don't have to understand me yet," Merlin said, frowning but smiling as well, a wry, mirthless thing. "Just remember my words for the moment when you do understand."

Elliot nodded dumbly, and Merlin turned away from him, sitting in the chair. He motioned for Elliot to sit opposite him, and a plain wooden chair was suddenly there. Elliot sat down, utterly bewildered by the turn this conversation was taking.

"Now then," Merlin said, "tell me what you think about this plan of Twilight Sparkle's."

"What?" Elliot said, frowning at the question. "Sparkle's plan? Why?"

"Because I'm interested to know," Merlin said with a grin.

Elliot blinked. The plan Sparkle had given him was rough, risky...

"... but it's more of a plan than just popping in and killing every pony that stands between you and Solamina, before killing her too," Merlin finished the thought from Elliot's head, his grin widening. "Tell me: why don't you trust it?"

"I..." Elliot began, but he couldn't honestly say why.

"I'll tell you why," Merlin continued, as though Elliot hadn't spoken. "You don't trust yourself. Your plan was to bring them back, but even you don't know why specifically them."

"Yeah I do," Elliot said, "it's because..."

"Those are reasons you came up with afterward," Merlin said dismissively. "You had that thought before anything. You brought them along almost on the spur of the moment. And I'll tell you why - because you knew they'd be the key to winning this war of yours."

Elliot blinked. "What do you...?"

"Being the Avatar grants you a sense of things," Merlin explained patiently. "Maybe not the full picture, but you know how certain paths will lead to certain other paths, which ones have potholes and which ones have blockages. That is why you asked for those nine ponies and no others, though there were plenty who could have helped you, probably better in some ways than those ponies too. Twilight Sparkle was destined to be here, destined to help you, and her friends - even Heartstrings, Doo and Grit - were destined to come here with her."

Elliot frowned. "Does that mean this war... my Lyra, my Grit... that all those things were destined as well?"

"In their own course," Merlin replied with a sad smile. "Your friend the Doctor might call it 'the web of time'. It spreads and weaves in it's own way. Some moments must be, some moments must not, some moments can be or not be depending on their mood and the deeds of those who live them. Other men have other lives: in one life, this war was in some ways more desperate and in some ways less, and it was the privilege of a different man to lead the war against the Tyrant while you were but a soldier on the line. In other worlds, you never joined the armed forces and became a writer, for no Equestria came to this world. But in this world, it is you who was chosen to lead our defence. Focus on that. Twilight Sparkle's plan has merit, but you don't trust it because you don't trust yourself, because you don't trust your instincts, because deep down you don't trust that your instincts were right about her. And you should."

Elliot thought about those worlds, for Merlin's worlds brought to mind images of men in armour, men with tattoos, fighting against hordes of converted. Merlin's words brought to mind images of himself sitting in a bar with True Grit and Sam and John Constantine, unponified, listening to a heartfelt speech about fighting for what had been lost. It brought to mind worlds of peace, worlds of terror, worlds where mankind had never been and worlds where they had spread across the stars...

And in a flash, those images were gone and he was sat before Merlin again.

"So you're saying I have to trust her plan," he said.

"You don't have to do anything," Merlin said with a shrug. "If you like, you and I can sit and drink tea for all time while Britain and the last humans burn. But I think I know what you will do."

Elliot thought for a long moment, and then he smiled.

"Yes," he said quietly. "You probably do."

Merlin smiled, and then began to chuckle again. And suddenly, with that chuckling in his ears, he found himself standing before the lodestone in Plymouth.

"David?" he heard the voice of the Doctor behind him. "David, are you alright?"

He turned to face Hell Blazer and the Doctor, a grin on his face.

"Yeah," he said. "I am."

He walked past them, marching with renewed purpose.

"Dave, where the b-fuck are you going?!" Hell Blazer asked, frowning.

"I need to talk to a pony about a portal!" Elliot yelled over his shoulder.

Hell Blazer gave the Doctor a look. The older pony shrugged, and Hell Blazer sighed.

"Typical," he said.

***

Point Bravo.

Breathing hard, and fighting back her rising gorge, Twilight slipped back on her haunches and looked up at the sky, clear for now.

All around them were bodies: humans and ponies lay dead, bludgeoned and impaled and sliced and stabbed...

She moved her head to her side and threw up, coughing as she did so. The adrenaline rush that had kept her going throughout the entire fight had gone, leaving her weak and shaking, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She moved her hoof to her face, desperately trying to wipe the blood and muck from it, but it was a pointless endeavour. It might never wash off...

Nearby, Pinkie was sat quietly, staring off into space, her hair lank. Killing for her seemed to be even more of a torment than it was for the rest of them, like it tore a hole through her heart every time. She looked up at Twilight, who flashed her a smile, but she ignored it, returning her gaze to space.

Rarity was cleaning her blade, muttering something softly to herself and seemingly transfixed by the work. She seemed to be compensating for the horrors, or at least managing to deal with them without going mad, but it was definitely taking it's toll. Nearby Lyra was talking with Ditzy, who along with the rest of Grey Squadron had landed. She seemed downcast but otherwise fine.

Twilight sat back again, looking up at the sky.

"Well," came the voice of Applejack, sounding cheerful, "we survived."

Twilight threw Applejack a look. Her friend looked remarkably chipper.

"You ok, Twi?" the former farm pony asked, looking at her with a worried furrow of her eyebrows.

"I just killed ponies," Twilight pointed out, frowning slightly. "I have their blood on my hooves. I don't think I'll ever be 'ok' again."

Applejack smiled sympathetically. "I know it's hard sugarcube. But we came here to help, and it was them ponies or us. They'd have done the same to us, and I'll betcha they'd not have been all beat up about it, neither."

"Maybe not," Twilight said, looking away from Applejack. "But that doesn't mean we have to be happy to kill them. We're not monsters. We're not them."

"No," Applejack agreed, looking vaguely ashamed. "No, you're right, we ain't them. But we can't be hung up about killin' every time, sugarcube. There comes a point where we've got to accept that we're gonna kill ponies."

"I have accepted it, but I don't have to like it!" Twilight snapped. She shrank back. "I'm... I'm sorry, Applejack, that was..."

"No, it's fine," Applejack said, smiling again, though there was something odd behind it. "But it's hard for all of us, Twi, and don't you forget it."

She turned away and walked off, leaving Twilight to her thoughts. They were, however, short lived, for a human figure approached her. She looked up, to find herself looking at David Elliot. He was grinning, which surprised the unicorn somewhat.

"So," he said casually. "You want to tell me about this plan of yours?"

Author's Notes:

Howdy folks. So I had a couple of days of writers block with this, but it came to me suddenly and I got it all down. It'll probably be a little while again before the next update (again, baby), but I'll do my best. :-) In the meantime, enjoy the update. Thanks again to everyone who's favourited and commented, I really appreciate it. :-)

Jed.