mylittlejamjar | Thirteenth Starfall - The Best of Times, The Worst of Times [Visual/Action]

[Flare looks like she's had better days, honestly, her mane frazzled and the lack of sleep obvious in her features. She's in town square, lit faintly by the streetlights late at night. Her scroll is obviously put up somewhere so she can pace as she talks, needing to get this out.]

Alright, Ponyville. What I have to say to you today isn't in fear of the most recent unfathomable evil to cross our doorstep. We all know what to do in a situation like this. No matter what, we have to defend ourselves, and those we care for. I'd ask you all to refrain from using deadly force, try to negotiate if possible... but I trust your judgement in the heat of the moment.

No, I come to you today because I know how we've acted in the past year or so. I know the fears and worries eating at some of you right this very moment. I won't lie to you; the creature who we saw is powerful. Unnaturally so, if he could harm the princesses the way he did. We may not win this fight cleanly, but I assure you, I have full faith that we will drive this creature back. How well we do that... well, it depends on us.

All of us.

[At that, Flare sighs quietly, stopping in her tracks and speaking more firmly, definitively.]

That's not to say you should immediately dive for your superpowered trinkets or your ancient forbidden magics. Certainly, we have a fair share of ponies - and non-ponies - here who are well ahead of the rest when it comes to power, and their job is the most obvious; the job to confront our adversary head on.

But if you don't have those powers, or if you have them but can't trust your control over them? I urge you, please. Trust in those who do. All of us have roles we can fill. This is going to be a war, I assure you, so we'll need ponies assisting our medics, helping keep the wounded out of harm's way and on the road to recovery. We'll need fast, nimble runners to keep supply lines moving. Scholars, this is not an evil unknown to Equestria. I don't know his name, but he's been in my world's legends, so I'm sure there's something about him here in native books. We'll need you working to try to predict these movements, to find weaknesses that we can strike at.

Those of you who are able-bodied but unable to contribute to the fight on the front-lines? Group together and start warning others. Send out words to other towns as to what is going on here, lead those who cannot fight to safety. Otherwise, you can stay here alongside me - this town will be our base of commands, and we need to protect it with everything we've got.

Remember how we took on Nightmare Moon a year and a half ago, how ponies banded together for a united cause and brought her down, freed Twilight from that infernal possession. Remember the way that Cálice tore us apart by her slightest appearance, and left us unable to connect with each other, unable to form those bonds again, striking out at each other out of pain and fear. We can work together, and all play our part... but we have to try.

I assure you; each and every one of us is important here. Even those neighsayers who would rather turn tail and run, or who think this is another trick - don't be afraid of being yourself, of speaking against this! A regime that promotes peace and togetherness only works as long as there is opposition on the outside pointing out the flaws. Otherwise, the belief becomes a farce as the system corrupts itself from within. As twisted as it may seem... without conflict, we cannot have harmony. Without the occasional fight, ponies cannot truly be friends. We are all good people, and the only way for evil like this to triumph is for all of us to do nothing.

Just remember, alone we are but single souls, but together, we can achieve anything, stop anyone!

Are you with me? Are we with each other?

[And with that, Flare awaits, to see if others will speak up.]

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[Littlepip appears and has determination obviously set in her face.]

Whoever it is, they won't get away with this. I'll make sure of it. I'll gladly help on the front lines. Any ideas on his weaknesses?

Just from what others have told me, he's a magic-eater. That lines up with what little I remember of the legends. Sucks the magic out of ponies and uses them to make himself stronger, and he's already chomped on three-fourths of the native alicorn force here.

Means his weakness is something he can't drain... native-born ponies are likely out. Got anything cold steel?

[...No... Littlepip was hoping so much that she wouldn't have had to ever use one in this Equestria. She looks pensive as she quietly floats up her gun.]

...But no bullets.

[...tech from the Sisters' War. Huh.]

Most of that stuff fires on indirect magic anyway, if it's like what I've seen.

[No clue what 'bullets' were, but she figured a power source for it.]

Either way, risky. Long range is a lot easier to dodge than a melee.

This... this isn't a magical weapon. From what I understand, it takes powder exploding inside the bullet inside the gun to make part of the bullet to shoot out from it at really high speeds. I should know. I've been shot full of bullets before.

[Littlepip sighs.]

I was really, really hoping to never have to use this. Guns shouldn't exist in this Equestria...

[Shrapnel. Hm.]

Neither should we. But here we are.

[Littlepip closes her eyes. Toss Littlepip's down unders into the sun where they can burn for all eternity.

She gives a silent, mournful apology to the land of this Equestria. If this magic eater wants to bring war, Littlepip will show him how its done. She opens her eyes with grim determination again.]

...I'll enlist people to help make guns and ammunition for use against him. It's the only way.

Is it?

It might be the best way. But I've never believed that any question only has one answer.

Harv has some ammo if you need it. Make sure you need it, first, and make sure it'll work. Even if the gun itself doesn't use magic, you've gotta use magic to fire it.

Not if I bite down on the trigger.

...I guess there's other ways to take him down, too... poisons, mechanical traps, anything that doesn't involve magic. But it'll still be war. You said it yourself: We need to fight as pragmatic as we can to save everyone.

You sure puttin' somethin' explosive in your mouth is safe?

[She's not arguing, she just wants to make sure you know the risks. She doesn't want to lose anyone.]

It's... not exactly an explosive. It's a controlled explosion that propels the bullet.

[She points to the muzzle of the gun.]

As long as this part is pointed toward him, I'll be completely fine.

[Sigh. Yeah, this was sounding more and more like pre-war tech, but lower-magic. Kind of like robots were, compared to the golems in the Lunar Temple.]

As long as you can control your aim - there are probably going to be others rushing into melee.

[Like her. Please don't shoot her, Littlepip.]

[...She isn't really used to mouth control. She's going to have to practice with that, but she'll make due with the skill she has in the meantime.]

I'll be as careful as I can. But for the others... We'd need to train them on proper knife combat to make sure they don't cut themselves.

We may not have time to train. If they can't handle themselves, they need to get to safety.

[Littlepip sighs a little.]

But it sounds like we need all the help we can get... Fine. We'll just have to make do with whoever wants to help us while the others get to safety. War isn't for everyone. Most of the natives here don't use scrolls. We'll have to hold a volunteer draft for those that want to fight.

[...Littlepip feels like such a monster right now. But those feelings will have to wait until everyone's safe.]

Thirteenth Starfall - The Best of Times, The Worst of Times [Visual/Action]

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