Not our world anymore (IC)

[GalacticWar_Xavier]

Amalthea stepped forward, knowing her time had come. She had thought she had known what Winter had meant about her understanding her Resonant Magic more clearly now. She did feel intimidated by the powerful figures before her, but she felt inside like they had no true authority over her, so she began speaking her perception of what had happened, "Back at High Azuras before she came to Talonopolis for the first time, Winter Bell learned about 4 Resonant Spells. Benevolent Thunder, Chant of the Scarecrow, Song of the Stars and the Closing Number." she said, "While she was telling us about these spells, she commented about the nature of the Closing Number, saying that the effects were too horrible for her to learn it. She then proceded to describe the effects of the spell, the very same day, which very closely resembled the effects of the Closing Number spell she used in the Imperial Throne Room, killing no fewer than 2 Imperial Knights, a robed, hooded figure, and leaving another Imperial Knight alive, but staring off into space like he had his soul removed. Now, not more than 5 seconds... 5 seconds... before she used the spell, Airimus told everyone that the the enchanted weapons the Knights carried were effective against their armor. There was a possibility that we could have fought them off using this tactic... But Winter Bell, knowing the effects of the spell, granted, perhaps not the consequences, but she used the spell anyways... And at the earliest opportunity she could. Having it effect as many of the Imperials in the room as possible. While she used it, her face had twisted into one of malice and her eyes glowed red. So when she was at her weakest once again, I intended to keep such a fate from befalling anyone else, and picked up a gun ready to kill her..."

Throughout the explaination, Twilight had been twisting her hooves against the ground, scuffing the floor in four circular patterns. She hadn't been paying attention to Winter, but what she had described didn't sound like her, and even if it was what had happened, Luna and Madison had just explained the submission to darkness. It hadn't been Winter at all.

[Blue Fox]

Winter's ears flopped as Amalthea explained. It made her sound like a monster, just as Amalthea had called her. Luna listened and for the first time since the meeting had began furrowed her brow. In her mind the human had no right to make such a decision and by right of pony kind should have left the decision to Luna. Not that he Princess would say so, but if she thought Winter needed to die then she would have her killed. Not have her killed by a human who thought the morales played wrong. She had looked from Winter to Amalthea before eventually looking to Winter. "Is that true, did you know about it prior to your using of the spell" she said. Winter sank low and nodded. Luna brought a hoof to her face and winced as she sighed before looking back to Winter. "You're going to have to fight you're corner Winter, being silent is fine if that's what you wish but right now is the time for words" she said, looking to Winter expectedly. Winter took a deep breath, looking to the others before moving to speak, her ears were still flat. "I... did know he symptoms of the spell... but only the symptoms, I didn't know it would be so long and so.... horrifying. And the reason I was so quick to use it was because a life was in danger, Amalthea's life. And although we would have won eventually it would have cost us her life. I... was desperate and seeing no other option I reasoned that using it to bring us all home was better then not and having onlt some of us home" she said quietly having to pick up her voice every so often as it threatened to fall quiet again.

[GalacticWar_Xavier]

Twilight's ears turned themselves to zero in on Winter's voice when she heard it. She was always amazed at what the Princesses could achieve in ponies, but she had nearly convinced herself that she would only be hearing Winter's voice in her mind for the next while, "You see Amalthea!" Twilight said loudly, unable to keep her peace anymore after what Winter had said, combined with just hearing what the human had said, "Whatever this was, whatever happened, she did it for you, Amalthea! YOU!" Amalthea looked at Twilight, "Twilight Sparkle, you're not the best witness for anything that happened there, for almost the entire time Winter used the spell in and more if I recall correctly, you were sitting there staring at the Knight you had just killed." Twilight's ears flopped down at the mentioning of the life she had taken, although it had been out of survival reflex, and Winter needing her had forced her to come to terms with the fact as soon as she had. Airimus looked at her, "That doesn't dismiss anything she said, Amalthea." he said, "She did this for you, and yet you're the angriest about it... If I didn't know any better, Amalthea, I'd say that YOU'RE feeling guilty as well!

You're trying to steer attention toward Winter Bell to ignore the fact that she was trying to save... YOU... We just saw it... Minutes ago from Twilight. Twilight is upset that those 3 ponies died on a mission to rescue her, hells, she's probably upset about all the Imperial soldiers who died in the battle, but she isn't getting mad at Luna, Spike, and Madison for bad mission planning, or Headmaster Kal'cane for being late!" he walked up to Amalthea, "She accepted that it was her... fault... She had been brash, she had been ignorant, she had been imbecilic, but she accepted that, and now she has a guard posted next to her who may have orders to beat her into submission if she tries to go after the Elements of Harmony, alone, again. I can see it in your eyes Amalthea." he said, "You did nothing wrong, but you are lying to yourself! And that makes it fundamentally impossible for you to tell us the truth!"

[Blue Fox]

Winter had felt uncomfortable talking, which saddened her in a way since she used to take such pride in using her voice. She watched as the others argued and winced when she saw a wedge was slowly but surely being pushed between friendships and relationships. Amalthea was arguing back to Airimus saying that it wasn't a matter of guilt it was a matter of trust. It went on for some time longer before Luna stepped forward, her wings spread out. "ENOUGH !" she said using her own force of Resonant Magic similar in the way Winter had in Starling's house. "I know how to end this once and for all" Luna said as she trotted over to Winter, who looked frightened as the Princess approached. "Forgive me Winter Bell but it seems proof needs be given to settle this dispute" she said before taking Winter up in her magic. The Charcoal mare squeaked as she was swept of her feet, hanging in front of Luna, in her impossibly strong magic. Luna looked at the others, tendrils of magic shooting from her horn to meet the horn of Twilight, and the foreheads of the two humans. Another one shot to Madison too as she felt the Griffon Queen would need to be kept in the loop. She left the warrior stallions alone since they didn't seem to have much input in on the situation. Everything became dark as they were all transported into Winter's mind, rising on Luna's magic as they watched on what appeared to be a very advanced type of memory spell.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The shield began to break as cracks formed in the Emperors barrier after the Elements were beating furiously against it. "Run Winter Bell !" shouted the Emperor but Winter simply walked beside him. "you lost faith in my kind once, let me prove to you that we still care" she said before adding "I'm not leaving you here, your fate will be my own" she said before her magic was forced into the shield, repairing some of the cracks slightly. They held out, both struggling as it seemed they were about to loose hold of the barrier, before the furious attack of magic stopped dropping Kael and Winter to the floor, exhausted. Winter tiredly looked up, seeing the fight that now raged around them as the Knights engaged the group of friends. Winter saw Twilight duck before wrenching his weapon from the Knights grip, swinging the weapon back down into the humans helmet effectively ending his life. She looked around some more seeing Starling and Indigo along with Airimus engage as they followed Twilight's example. But then it happened. One of the Knights charged Amalthea who wasn't quick enough to move out of the way. It barged into her with such for that it threw her onto her back and sliding along the floor. The Knight carried on his assault, bringing his weapon high as he went to make up the ground. That was when Winter tiredly rose to her hooves and began chanting. All of the Knights and the hooded human rose into the air, mere seconds before they began screaming as their life blood drained from the seems of their armour. Winter began to panic at first but halfway though it changed to tears as her vision became blurry. When it ended she fell to her haunches crying as she took the full weight of what she did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luna released everyone from the magical grip and she lowered Winter to the floor gently. "Well there it is" said Luna as she stared off into space for a second. Of course this was nothing compared to the thing she had done while being Nightmare Moon so it didn't effect her all that badly. But the evidence showed her as much as she thought and she definitely saw what seemed to be submission to darkness. Winter didn't find seeing it again any easier and looked down sadly all the same. Luna looked down on her and sighed. "It's ok Winter Bell. Good intentions in battle are sometimes worth the price we pay to make them so" she said sympathetically.

[GalacticWar_Xavier]

Upon Luna's literally Resonant-amplified demand for the argument to end, Airimus jumped back, stepping on the back of his own robes and falling to the floor. Amalthea, had winced, since she and Airimus had been almost on the verge of yelling at eachother themselves, when she saw Airimus lying on the ground, she winced again and went to help him up, "You'll see..." Airimus groaned, as he took her hand to be helped up. The interaction was missed by Twilight who leaped up into the air and landed in response. In the enclosed environment of the Great Hall, the amplification of her voice sounded a ton louder to Twilight's sensitive ears. She blinked as the ringing in her ears went away, then saw Luna approaching Winter, saying that she knew how to end it, once and for all. Time nearly froze for Twilight, the princess advancing on her friend, the feeling of her magic being focused building... Twilight drew in her breath, tears welling up in her eyes, "No..." she whispered, knowing there was nothing she could do. She watched as Luna grabbed Winter and held her in the air with her magic, she hardly listened to what Luna said next as Twilight felt anger, of all emotions, begin to build up in herself. She was about to shout a protest when suddenly, Luna used a memory spell. As it began, Twilight had never been so glad to be wrong in her life.

Everyone watched as the memory played out, Twilight of course felt sadness and guilt as she watched herself kill the Knight, but she saw the frightened look on her own face as she had done it. Everyone then gave it all their attention as Winter used the spell, why she had used it, what had happened afterward. As it ended, all involved who hadn't expected it blinked as their consciousnesses were placed back in their own bodies. Airimus looked at Amalthea expectantly, but said nothing, this was an extremely fragile moment for its purpose surrounding the woman, "I..." Amalthea began, her tone flat, but her next words carried a tinge of regret, "...Didn't know..." she finished. Twilight watched Amalthea and Airimus as the man put his hand on her shoulder, "Do you see now?" he asked, "You agreed to make an effort with me by coming here... Did you?"

[Blue Fox]

Winter just let out a huge breath before getting to her hooves. The emotional exhaustion was again becoming to much for her and she couldn't help feeling a little angry at the way they had all been treated recently. Was it to much to ask for a break.... she was also a little angry with Luna for forcing the memory spell on her without her consent, but of course she kept quiet. Amalthea looked away from Airimus before looking back to him. "...Not yet" she said before turning and walking over to Winter. Luna stepped back as the female human approached, curious to what she intended but ready in case she tried anything. Of course the moon princess didn't know Amalthea as well as the group did, so she wasn't sure she could entirely trust her with Winter's safety. Winter cringed back as she approached, expecting something of more shouting or some harsh words. But nothing of the sort happened as Amalthea bent down, wrapping her arms around the Charcoal mare. She picked her up as Winter's fore hooves went around her neck and she hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry Winter Bell" she said as she fought back tears of guilt. Winter was holding back her own as she became overwhelmed by the emotions. "I was the monster" she said as she squeezed her eyes shut, Winter doing the same. "No, none of us are monsters" replied Winter. "Can you ever forgive me ?" asked Amalthea as she sniffed. Winter replied with a smile, "I already have" she said as they hugged for a moment longer before she set Winter back on the floor. Winter rubbed her eyes with the back of her fore hoof before smiling.

[GalacticWar_Xavier]

Airimus followed Amalthea and stopped short after he was beside Twilight, the two watched, ready for anything. What they saw brought warm smiles to both their faces. Airimus looked to Amalthea as she put Winter down, "You've achieved something great today, Amy..." he said, crossing his arms, "Something I had hoped a little to be tested on myself to be sure... You know now the bonds of friendship that Equestrian ponies could forge can still be forged to this very day." Twilight nodded happily in agreement with Airimus. Airimus then looked down to Twilight, "You also just reminded me how huggable ponies are." He then reached around Twilight and picked her up in a hug. Surprised, Twilight flailed her hind legs about, then relaxed, an unamused expression on her face. Amalthea stifled a laugh as Airimus then put one arm around Twilight under her fore hooves, freeing up his other arm to look at the watch on his wrist, doing so purely for comedic effect. The griffon guard who was Twilight's punishment watch walked up to Airimus, "I'm... going to have to ask you to put her down." he said flatly. Airimus gave the griffon an unamused look, "Really? It's going to be like that?" Twilight looked back at Airimus, "Just do it, Airimus." Airimus nodded, "Of course, Twilight." he said, putting the lavender unicorn mare down.

[Blue Fox]

Starling and Indigo had armoured hooves to their mouths as Twilight was held in the humans grip. And the two had smiled when Winter and Amalthea had patched things up again. When Airimus set Twilight back down Starling spoke with a raised eyebrow. "Don't be trying to hug me, you might not get the same result" he warned jokingly before Indigo punched his arm with a hoof. "Oh I don't know Star, you might like it" he said before bursting out laughing. Starling gave him an unamused look before shaking his head. Winter had also stifled a laugh when Airimus hugged Twilight. She had never really thought about ponies appearance to humans but then she probably imagined it was like bunnies where to them, smaller, furry and colourful. She guessed to allot of humans ponies were considered cute. She looked to Twilight and smiled as she was set down again. She certainly felt better after her hug with Amalthea and was happy things were setting back to normal. Luna had also approved of the humours behaviour that seemed to be going on. She would have told the griffon guard that it was quite all right but she stopped when she realised he had a job to do and he was given this job by none other then them. She looked to Twilight and gave her the same toothy grin she had back during the nightmare night they spent together. "Really Twilight Sparkle, I would have thought you of all to enjoy a good hug" she said with a small chuckle. Madison, although quiet was smiling from her seated position and so was Spike.

[GalacticWar_Xavier]

Airimus smirked at Starling and Indigo, "Eh, you don't have to worry about it. Besides, I'm sure Twilight's coat is much softer than yours anyways." Twilight gave Airimus a strange look, and the human raised his hands in a gesture of peace, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding, of course..." Twilight shook her head, though a small smile was on her face, "Well... After all that I didn't think that the moment directly... Like, seconds, directly, after would be the time for a hug like that. Other than that I like hugs." She looked back at Airimus, "Otherwise you can give me a hug whenever you want." Airimus raised an eyebrow, "Oh?" Twilight blinked in surprise at herself, "Uh, I mean... Oh, never mind..." she said. Airimus laughed, looking at the griffon guard expecting emotion, but saw none, all business and training with him, "Honestly, though. You need to lighten up if you're going to be around us all the time while we're here."

Twilight looked at Luna and approached her, "Is there anything else we were going to discuss?" she asked, remembering that they all hadn't even been officially dismissed by the three leaders and they were all already goofing off and carrying on like it was their own time, whether it was a valuable time to their friendship or not, "No, Twilight, I believe that is all." Madison said after whispering for a moment with Spike, smiling. Spike nodded, "All that we ask of you all, pretty much, is to use your better judgement in the future." he said, "The Empire has stood down and everything looks like it may return to normal, aside from reparation charges they have demanded, which we will grant them. But it seems as if you have all been very.... very.... VERY lucky this time around. I wouldn't recommend, at all, testing your luck like this again. Use your better judgement, all of you."

[Blue Fox]

They all performed gestures of understanding from bowed heads to nods of understanding before they turned to leave. As they made their way back Madison called for the two war ponies. "Starling, Indigo, hold on a second" called Madison prompting the two stallions to stop and turn. "Words of my captains say you both fought hard and really led from the front during the battles. You both did a commendable job in succeeding a mission which would have called for higher casualties had your plan to withdraw and separate the forces not been in play. We were wondering if you would consider remaining in service to lead our military advances" said Madison as her smiling expression swept over the two. Starling looked to Twilight before looking back to the griffon. "Sorry you're majesty but my responsibility is to remain by Twilight. I can't win battles for you" he said regrettably. He knew he could very well and very easily do the job he was being asked to do but his life was bound with Twilight, just how he wanted it to be. To decided such a thing would be to pull her into it and he didn't want that. He wanted a life with Twilight, to find happiness away from the fight. Indigo also shook his head. "I'm no leader your majesty and besides some pony had to keep Star out of trouble" he said making a gesture of wishing to stand by his good friend. Starling smirked. "Well that is a shame. Talonopolis could use warriors like you but I see both of you have long since made up your minds. So be it, and thank you" she said before dismissing them. Both warriors gave a single hoof stamp salute in unison before turning to leave with the others. Winter was feeling allot better and as she walked beside Twilight she spoke again. "I think I found my voice" she said happily.