And after her forced time out Li'lpip starts to calm down, realizing just how bad she had been acting. Since as I said before, the issue is that she lets her emotions overwhelm her and acts on them without thinking. Once the emotions calm down and she can actually think, not just feel and react, she quickly regrets her actions. Though some of her thoughts do come off more as simply her trying to convince herself it wasn't a big deal, losing part of her Cutie Mark. Rather then confronting just why she felt so strongly about it, she is avoiding thinking about the issue instead. Which isn't all that wrong, especially since they really don't have time for her to get to contemplative. Since the fires were getting closer.
After being redressed by Velvet, much to Li'lpip's embarrassment, Life Bloom brings over the petrified Wonderbolt. Velvet convincing the cockatrice to un-stone them. (Bit of a lucky coincidence that it just happened to be the same cockatrice that stoned both the Wonderbolt and Pyrelight.) And her little speech to it, while not quite how Fluttershy would handle it, is still decent.
As soon as the pegasus was revived Life Bloom moves in and casts the memory spell, downloading Calamity's memories of the Enclaves lies into her. While the two ponies were locked in the magic Reggie comes back over to Li'lpip.... okay her calling Li'lpip "Pipsqueak", I'm pretty sure this chapter was written after Luna Eclipsed aired, so it's likely a nod to that. And, meh, the story already gets points for the name being so close in the first place, and mentioning Pipsqueak in the very beginning so didn't really need to bring it back up. And while Reggie calling Li'lpip that fits for her, not after this long with her, and having used her name perfectly fine plenty of other times. So yeah, not really bad but definitely feels a bit forced.
Anyway, she brings up a point that the rest hadn't thought of. That most likely reviving Jet (the stoned Wonderbolt) activated her Pipbuck tag and let the rest of the team know she was back and where she was. Which causes Li'lpip to have a detailed, philosophical contemplation of all the ramification of this, though of course all we see is the result of what no doubt was quite a well developed and extensive train of thought.
Oh fuck.
Li'lpip struggles to move, still locked in Life Blooms anesthetic spell. The stallion coming out of his memory spell just then, gasping and winded, wondering how Twilight was able to do that spell five times in one day. The Wonderbolt simply turning and fleeing. Calamity sure that meant his plan was a failure and never stood a chance, though Li'lpip points out that she didn't attack them, so that's something at least.
Reggie takes to air, telling the rest it was time to move, and getting shot down by a Wonderbolt as soon as she clears the tree cover. Velvet grabbing Li'lpip in her magic as the group runs for it. Li'lpip marking where Reggie fell on her Pipbuck map so they could double back and try to help her as soon as they can. And... yeah you lot just can NOT catch a break... a giant albino Hellhound rising up and taking aim at the group with a massive magical energy canon, only missing as the invisible Life Bloom slams into it just as it fires, causing it's shot to go wild. Li'lpip floats out Lil Macintosh and takes aim at the Hellhound.
I couldn’t move properly, but I was far from helpless. Little Macintosh floated out in front of me as I took aim at the hellhound through the trusty revolver’s scope. Without S.A.T.S., hitting an erratically moving target was damn hard, but I wasn’t fresh out of the Stable anymore. I had lots of practice.
..... yeeeeaaahhhhhh right. that's why she completely misses the thing. Yeah baring a sniper rifle on an unmoving target, she's still pretty much useless at anything but suppressing fire without SATS. Though her last shot does hit the Hellhound's weapon, causing it to start sparking the creature tossing it away just before it explodes. And before having time to recover from that, Calamity yells for the group to take cover, one of the Wonderbolts pulling off some variation of a Sonic Rain-nuke. Li'lpip aghast at a pony being able to do something like that on their own, without a weapon. She stumbles out of her cover, coughing up blood and searching for the rest of her friends. Feeding Xenith her last healing potion after finding the Zebra bleeding again. Using the hemokinesis spell to stop her wounds again.
I wasn’t going to let pain or despair stop me any more than I was going to let the Everfree Forest or the Wonderbolts win. I had a destiny. I had a mission. I had friends to help and unicorns to save and a sky to clear. No more self-pity. No more misery. Let the Wasteland and the Enclave throw whatever the fuck they wanted to at me. I’d made it this far. I’d survived Fillydelphia and Canterlot, and that was before I even knew my purpose. How was it going to stop me now? I was going to…
(Be awesome!)
…be awesome. Yes. That worked.
Again, people wonder why so many DO love Li'lpip? I'm still at a loss for how those that do so can dislike her so much.
Granted it's undermined a little when she immediately admits that she's not entirely sure how to do that at the moment. But she does give up on Calamity's plan to capture and Wonderbolts, deciding to simply take one out if she gets the chance. And again, it's not being a blood thirsty murder pony, it's doing what is required to survive. They simply can't separate and contain the 'Bolts like they had hopped, and the aerial aces are tearing them apart. Though she does get some good news finally. As Calamity was (dog fighting? Pony Fighting? Pegasus Fighting?) with the Wonderbolts sniper, Life Bloom hits him with an anesthetic spell, taking one more Wonderbolt out of the fight, and more importantly letting Li'lpip know that Life Bloom was alright.
She also finds where she had dropped Li'l Macintosh, AND Velvet. Who, Li'lpip is not all surprised to find out, is trying to save the albino Hellhound's life. Having lost one it's legs in either it's weapon explosion, or the following Rain-nuke. Life Bloom trotting up to the group, a bit amazed that she was doing so much to help something that had just tried to kill them, Li'lpip saying that's just how she is.
Part of me wanted to be mad at her. We had wounded of our own. But what good would it do? Velvet couldn’t see a creature suffering and not try to help. It was a virtue, her virtue… even if it was occasionally damn frustrating.
And she does have a point. They had wounded of their own that needed attention, a point she makes clear by coughing up some more blood. But this was who Velvet was. The Hellhound was the most seriously wounded and needed treating the most to have a chance to survive. Li'lpip directs the other medic to check out Xenith, still ignoring her own injuries till the rest of her friends are taken care of.
Calamity flying in, asking if anypony knew where Gutshot had fallen, Li'lpip flashing back to this being one of the pegasi that had accosted them in Spike's cave, the one that seemed to have a personal grudge against Calamity. Something emphasized by Calamity mentioning that the other pegasus would have beaten him if he wasn't so set on killing Calamity with a bullet, not using his better aerial skills to overcome Calamity. Needing to best him with weapons to prove himself better. Li'lpip thinking that something that personal doesn't sound like anything Life Bloom's memory spell could fix.
And... oh yay one of the Wonderbolts gets set for another Rain-nuke. Li'lpip screaming for everypony to flee, grabbing Xenith in his magic, knowing how badly the constant tossing and slamming is effecting the already wounded Zebra, but unable to find anywhere safe to get her out to fight for now. Calamity grabbing Li'lpip and flying her out, the three crashing into a bed of plants as the explosion knocks them out of the sky. Li'lpip hacking up even more blood, her medical readout flashing all sorts of injury warnings. But she ignores them, more worried about Xenith. And... oh yay more happy fun stuff from the Everfree. Some plants that were shaped vaguely like ponies turn and spew spores at the ponies, who were saved by Velvet throwing up a shield at the last moment. Then doing the same to save the Wonderbolt who shot out of the trees towards them. Her contrail setting the jungle on fire as she passed.
And just when things can't get worse... they get worse. Something new falls out of the sky, some sort of mechanical device which buries itself in the ground near Li'lpip. Calamity grabbing her, more blood spraying from her mouth, and flies them away from the fire and the device as fast as he could. Calamity finally seeing his friends condition and all but forcing one of his healing potions down her throat. Just as Velvet screams, some of what had simply looked like clumps of moss on the trees detaching themselves, turning into pony shaped plants that were able to move on their own. (Okay I get these are supposed to be scary, and yeah they are in verse, but given just how pathetically NOT a threat the Spore Carriers are in game, really have a hard time seeing the FOE versions as bad news either. Plus, it's getting to be a little overkill, more and more and more threats hitting the group, getting past the point of believability that anything could make it out of this.) And THEN, Redeye enters the contest, congratulating the Wonderbolts on an excellent strategy, but that he was bored now, and also, he had plans for the mare they were trying to kill.
Fuck me.
Yeah, at this point, I would not be at all surprised that Luna was up in Pony Heaven, and punishing you for all your blasphemic curses Li'lpip.
Though, Redeye's interest in Li'lpip does come in good for her at the moment at least, as he says he's going to level the playing field. First disabling the signal they were using to control the Hellhounds. And then telling the Wonderbolts that he was setting up some rules, first one being "No Flying" And when their leader says fuck that and orders a tactical retreat before flying up, she gets tackled to the ground by a green alicorn hard enough to knock her out. Several more landing and taking up positions around the two groups, setting up a massive shield to keep them locked in and keep the pegasi grounded.
While the rest of the group tries to respond to this, and still fight off the approaching Spore Carriers. Li'lpip get's telepathically contacted by one of the alicorns. She asks why they are serving Redeye, learning it's because he promised them males. That once he was ascended, he would use his abilities to create male alicorns, to make them a viable race, able to survive on their own.
The remaining hive mind of the alicorns presses on her, making her lose focus with what was going on, getting lost in the sea of voices. The psychic pressure eventually solidifying around her, ordering her to take out her gun and aim at Velvet, something she can't stop her self from doing. But when they order her to kill the unicorn, she hesitates, fights back.
Be strong! Be unwavering! Be smart!
This wasn’t the first time I had felt the influence of outside entities. The Black Book. The statuettes. But whether those outside thoughts bore good intentions or ill, I had never let them control me. Influence, yes. But I never lost myself to them.
She breaks free of the mental control, turning and killing the one alicorn inside the field. One last parting thought being heard from the group mind
Tell Red Eye she passed
It had all been a test. To see if she COULD fight back against that sort of assault. Though why.. well she'll find that out soon enough.
Overhead the Wonderbolts had set off some maneuver that caused an EMP to burst through the domed shield, knocking out Redeye's projector and Li'lpip's Pipbuck, Though the shield held strong. Inside was filling with smoke and heat from the tress set on fire by the Wonderbolts, sapping their remaining strength. Though there is some good news finally, Reggie survived the hit from early, though by the time she had found them she'd been trapped outside the shield. Which turns into a boon for the trapped ponies, as Li'lpip directs her to start killing the alicorns maintaining the shield.
Life Bloom heads over to cast the memory spell on the knocked out leader of the team. While he as busy, another Wonderbolt drops down on the party, though getting distracted by some Spore Carriers, and while dealing with them, Velvet hit's him with her anesthetic spell. But, just as things were looking up, time for more bad news. After casting the spell memory spell Life Bloom stumbles away, exhausted, and right into one of the Carriers, getting a facefull of spores. And just then the shield collapses, the fire inside the dome flashing up as fresh air rushes in, causing a small explosion.
The group head out, trying to put some distance between them and the fires. Velvet insisting that they take the injured Hellhound with them, though giving into Calamity's insistence that they tie him up first. The Wonderbolts they had manged to give the memories to recovering, and though not joining them, do agree that they've been given a lot to think about before flying off. Though not clear on if this meant a truce, or they were just regrouping. Li'lpip thinking that they did the best they could. They got three out of the five Wonderbolts. And of the two left, one had a personal grudge against Calamity that made Li'lpip doubt anything would convince him to leave them alone, and the other hadn't actually been seen on the battlefield after the initial approach.
Life Bloom meanwhile was using his magic to, ahem, purge, his system, trying to prevent the spores from taking hold, and while disgusting it seems to be working. As they move, they come across yet another little treat of the Everfree, though one they aren't sure is hostile. A grove of glowing green flowers. Reggie piping up that safe or not, the at least there aren't any blue vines around. The Hellhound surprising all of them by waking up, and telling them it was because these flowers were deadly to Killing Joke. The shock of it speaking surprising everyone, making Velvet drop the creature.
“Deadly how?” Life Bloom asked, the only one of us not focused entirely on the fact that a member of a race of vicious pony-slayers had just woken up in our midst. I didn’t want to have a conversation with this monster. The little pony in my head was screaming at me to launch it to the moon. Or, at least, as high as I sent those of its kind who murdered Steel Hooves.
As I said, she's not perfect. Yes by this point, it's clear that Hellhounds aren't just mindless monsters like chimaeras or manticores, but actual people. And that Velvet IS right about them, for the most part. But Li'lpip still simply sees them as monsters. As something that needs to be taken out before it kills more ponies. And, she does have a point, and I can understand, as usual, why she feels that way. Though this time, she is in the wrong. And even then, despite her feeling towards hellhounds, she isn't going to simply murder one while it's mostly helpless regardless of anything else. But it is a bias that she does need to get over. Though at the same time, hellhounds ARE a major threat. Once they start attacking, there isn't any talking to them, only kill or be killed. So yeah it's a complicated situation with them.
Moving into the grove of glowing flowers, the now awake hellhound asks Velvet why she was helping him, saying ponies only kill, take, hurt, the mare responding that that is what Ponies believe about Hellhounds as well. But any further discourse is stopped by Reggie calling out that there was something ahead.... They had found Zecora's hut.
They settle into the hut, Velvet trying to get the Hellhound to drink some of the water they had found inside, while Calamity asks it what it knows about the flowers. Which wasn't much, just that they were some sort of Zebra plant that they used in their alchemy, but all the Hellhounds used them for was to make glowing paint to play tricks on Ponies and scare them into thinking they were seeing ghosts. And after a bit of questioning, learning more about the Hellhounds. The group that was attacking them now, that had been keeping the farmstead area clear of ponies, were ones who had left the main group in Maripony. This group didn't want to fight Ponies, or The Goddess, they simply wanted to be left alone, relaying mostly on tricks to scare away ponies that got to close when they could.
At least till the Enclave showed up and used their control devices on them. Using the large broadcaster to bring all the 'Hounds to them and makes them sit docily while they stuck the control helmets on them. Mentioning that one of their number escaped by being deaf and had started killing the pegasi, but was to old and senile to think to take out the broadcaster.
Li'lpip had spent the time trying to get an old terminal to work, hoping to use it to reboot her Pipbuck, but no luck. (And yeah the thought of Zecora having something that high tech in her hut is just weird, but I guess the Mane 6 might have talked her into it so they could stay in touch with her once they all moved to Canterlot.) Moving over to unlock a chest cause, hey she's Li'lpip, unlocking anything in sight is what she does. Inside she finds an odd stone plate, covered in ancient pony runes, which Life Bloom translates as a passage about the Elements of Harmony, Li'lpip figuring it came from the castle ruins while Stable Tec was building a Stable under it. And also inside is an odd, deformed lump of rock that she can't identify.
But the discussion about the stone carvings jogs Li'lpip's memory, she tells Velvet that there might be a way to save Fluttershy. She had read a book which had a cure for Poison Joke in it. But while she doubted the cure would work on Killing Joke as well, it could serve as a starting point to finding a cure for it, but the only one who knew enough about plants and alchemy to stand a chance of creating it was Xenith.
We also get a..... not really sure how to describe it... bit where Li'lpip voices her concerns that even if it worked, it might turn Fluttershy into a two hundred year old pony. Or if she was the same as when she was turned, it was entirely likely that she'd been driven insane in that time.
“If that is the case, then I will do what Fluttershy needs me to,” Velvet Remedy stated flatly. “But one way or another, her torture ends.”
And everypony realizes instantly the implications in that, even Velvet, but, well you can't really blame her. Fluttershy has suffered enough, she deserves to have her suffering ended, and well, yeah it's a risk, but it's one worth taking, anything would have to be better then the state she's in now.
Velvet turns to Life Bloom telling him to do what ever he had to to heal Xenith, including a rather risky spell he had said might be needed, dissolving a portion of her skull to help relieve pressure on her brain. Something nopony was entirely comfortable with, especially under these circumstances, but which they knew had to be done, and soon.
The chapter ending with Calamity looking outside the hut, and telling the group they they had better come look at this.
Thoughts- Varied. On the one hoof..hand... WHATEVER! Anyone on the one, this is one of the best written and most detailed fights in the story, and it is just amazing. On the other, it did get to be a tad ridiculous at times, going to far in making everything go wrong. between the Wonderbolts just so outmatching the group, and the unending horrors of the Everfree. Even more then normal, the fact that Li'lpip and her friends survived is hard to believe. Granted it was mostly just due to either luck, one of the 'bolts getting stoned early, or Redeye's involvement that they won. But the whole thing did start going over the top in terms of just how much shit was being thrown at them. But I can't really be to mad, since again it was one of the best overall fight scenes in the story.
And as to Redeye, that part was just amazing. And the 'test' of Li'lpip, damn, just damn. Even better when you know just what it was he was testing her for. Overall a decent chapter, but not quite as amazing as the ones to either side of it.
