Whiplash

A solemn, sick haze of dust and soot had accumulated over Canterlot. The prevailing winds circulated the ash from the burning city of nearby Manehattan to its eastern neighbors, blocking out the sun for several hours at one point.

Rescue teams worked furiously to free ponies trapped underneath the rubble of their former city, but many oblivious of the harmful effects of radiation succumbed to it themselves. The inability to use magic within the affected areas only complicated relief efforts even further.

Equestria’s top scientists were hard at work, striving to come up with something; anything; to combat radiation and anti-magic. Crude haz-mat suits, based off of human designs that Celestia revealed to her top scholars, were being generated in bulk for rescue workers and civilians alike.

The pressure had evened out in Manehattan and its surrounding countryside, allowing pegasi to quickly travel to and fro, greatly helping the rescue efforts. But they often returned with radiation sickness; the worst cases spreading decaying particles to the very medical staff that tried to treat them.

Celestia had been eagerly awaiting any news from her student and her friends. Yesterday, she reluctantly allowed them to venture off to find the human who held all their lives in his hands, while the Nightmare is still at large. If she didn’t hear from them much longer, Celestia would fear the worst.

“Your highness!” a royal guard came galloping into Celestia’s throne room, interrupting her train of thought.

“At ease,” Celestia allowed him to rise and continue speaking with her.

“Your majesty, as your orders, we kept the south tower locked down and on high alert, should Princess Luna try to leave.”

“Yes?”

“Well,” the guard grinned nervously. “We checked her quarters this morning, and she is nowhere to be found. The confining spell you cast has been overcome.”

Celestia sighed.

“I suppose I did underestimate you, little sister.”

“Pardon me, princess?”

“Nothing, just thinking aloud. I’m afraid for my sister’s well being when she has run out into the world while the Nightmare has declared war on Equestria. If she is spotted, I command to be notified immediately.”

“-And do not do anything to threaten her. Luna may always have good intentions, but her actions aiding the human, as well as any future actions, could put Equestria’s existence in jeopardy.”

“Understood,” the guard nodded and headed for the exit.

“Wait!” Celestia cried.

Surprised at the informality of the gesture, the guard spun around.

“Yes, your highness?”

“Has there been any word from Twilight Sparkle?”

“Not as of yet. However, they were last seen heading into the Everfree forest yesterday morning. There has been no contact with any of the six Elements since then.”

“…Thank you, you are dismissed.”

The Everfree forest, unlike most of Equestria’s environments, had weather that acted on its own without Pegasi influence. The plants all grew on their own, and the wildlife was left to fend for themselves. A gentle downpour had started, stopping and starting again periodically. It covered every patch of grass, every dirt trail, and every moss-covered log in a thin layer of unscheduled, unorthodox rain.

“The tracks end here,” Rainbow Dash looked just before the two posts that the former rope bridge hung from. The bridge looked as though it had split in the middle, and Patrick’s tracks, as well as the hyrda’s tracks, indicated that he had likely been chased onto the bridge.

“Twilight,” Fluttershy murmured. “I thought you said you felt him nearby?”

“Um, I did,” Twilight frowned. “I mean, I know I did. It was really faint, but he was alive, and in this direction. I can’t locate him anymore.”

“Maybe it’s just because of way the Everfree Forest works,” Rarity suggested. “Perhaps there’s some sort of, hm-magical interference, or something to that degree?”

“Hey, I think I found something down here!” Rainbow Dash yelled from the bottom of the chasm.

The ponies still at the top of the cliff carefully inched towards the edge, gazing down. Rainbow Dash beat her wings powerfully, using the wind it created to blow away the mist.

Surrounded by a dark patch of scorched earth, was Patrick’s destroyed motorcycle.

Rarity gasped, looking down at the wreckage of what was Patrick’s pride and joy.

“You don’t think he… he-“ Applejack stammered.

“He ran himself off the cliff running from the hydra, I don’t know what else could have happened,” Twilight sighed.

“Hey!” Pinkie Pie trotted over to the edge of the cliff, wearing Patrick’s helmet. “What are all you-“

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the bottom of the canyon.

Pinkie Pie solemnly took off the helmet out of respect, and set it on the ground. She blubbered uncontrollably, while Fluttershy tried to comfort her.

“What a way ta’ go,” Applejack guiltily dug at the ground. “He really didn’t deserve that.”

“At least he died doing something he loved,” Rarity sniffed.

“Yeah, splattering against the bottom of a canyon is something I’d love,” Rainbow Dash retorted.

“Is there really nothing… Else-down there, Rainbow Dash?” Rarity asked.

“I didn’t see a body if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Twi, cain’t you use your locator spell ‘gain ta’ see if he’s still alive?”

Twilight called upon her magic, searching within the vicinity in the same manner as she did before.

“No,” Twilight sighed. “Nothing. And Rarity blocked the locator spell, which I’m pretty surprised you were able to pull off on your own.”

“Hmph,” Rarity scoffed. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Maybe something was hungry and, well,” Pinkie Pie suggested. “You know. Nature took its course.”

“Ew,” Rarity grimaced. “That’s positively revolting.”

“Somethin’ gobbled up his remains after Twilight’s spell found him alive thirty minutes ago?” Applejack griped. “Aw, hay. We’re a half-hour late from savin’ Equestria!”

“You’ve gotta’ be kidding me,” Rainbow Dash lowered herself onto the ground. “Now we’re doomed.”

“How long before Ponyville gets blown up like Manehattan did?” Pinkie Pie frowned. “There’s going to be no more Sugar Cube Corner…”

“No more Sweet Apple Acres,” Applejack added.

“No more library,” Twilight frowned.

“So what now, Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Do we just give up now that Patrick’s wasted?”

“Well, that was our only hope. So, yes,” Twilight nodded. “But you know, breaking out the one guy that was supposedly the only thing that could save Equestria probably wasn’t such a good idea.”

“We did what we did, we’re sorry we went behind your back,” Pinkie Pie asserted. “But friends don’t let friends rot in a dungeon after your princess kills his best friends.”

All five ponies looked at Twilight.

“What? So we’ve known Patrick for barely even two weeks. We don’t know anything about his species. He’d barely even talk about himself. What we do know about him is that he was a trained soldier to fight and kill other humans, he picks fights and nearly kills our Princess and my mentor.”

“Maybe because what your mentor did to him traumatized him so much, he knows nothing other than violence and conflict,” Rarity objected.

“I think you should take that back, Rarity,” Twilight growled.

“I’ll do nothing of the sort. It’s the truth, and you know it! You’re just in denial that Princess Celestia is a lying, murdering-“

Twilight’s horn glowed, and suddenly Rarity’s mouth was transformed into a zipper, subsequently being zipped shut.

The two unicorns faced off with one another, staring each other down angrily as rain continued to fall.

“Alright, alright!” Applejack stood between them to give the two distance. “Break it up. We’re all on the same side, here. Listen, let’s just go back to Canterlot and tell Princess Celestia what’s going on. Maybe she’ll be able ta’ help us find out if Patrick’s really-you know-or not, ya’ hear?”

“Fine,” Twilight said submissively, turning around and leading the way back to Ponyville.

“Oh, and Twi,” Applejack snorted. “Would ya’ kindly change Rarity’s face back?”

As the conversation ended and the coast was clear, an invisible blur that had been taking up space just above them all became visible.

Luna disabled her invisibility spell, taking a moment to catch her breath. It was a little exhausting maintaining an invisibility spell for so long, as well as scrambling Twilight’s locator spell at the same time. She had spent the past 24 hours following Twilight and her friends, until they’d lead her to Patrick.

Twilight was right; he was indeed close. Luna had no time to waste, she had to get to Patrick before the Nightmare did.

The Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony sisters was once where Celestia and Luna called their home. After the events of Nightmare Moon, and the fact that the Nightmare’s intentions were made clear to Equestria, she moved the Royal Capital out of the forest and to Canterlot, where she had more influence and dominion; not just over the ponies, but the elements and the environment itself.

However, these ruins rarely ever saw any visitors. An occasional archaeologist on an assignment, or a passing traveler, the pony embodiments of the Elements of Harmony defeating Nightmare Moon. And more recently, a human being.

Patrick had taken shelter from the rain in this structure. He was still lost with no direction, he was starving, monsters could be hunting him, he was unarmed, and had no transportation.

Patrick shivered, resting his head up against his bag and rubbing his hands together for warmth. He had taken up residence in a large chamber, which looked to be the old throne room of this castle. There were carved images of the Sun and Moon here and there, to remind Patrick he could never run forever. But he’d damn sure try.

“This place is like Georgia,” Patrick thought. “All four seasons in a week.”

His stomach growled, causing Patrick to once again to take a sip of water out of his canteen. Part of United States Army Basic training included wilderness survival. One of the things Patrick was taught was that drinking water helps to suppress hunger until food is made available.

But it was hard to find anything edible here. This forest was like a jungle, everything was out to kill him, including the foliage. He had tried a few berries earlier, but after they made him vomit for twenty minutes, he just decided to go hungry.

And going hungry was hard. Patrick’s body, so used to a diverse variety of cooked meats and high calorie meals, hadn’t exactly had proper fuel since he arrived in Equestria, living off of salads and fruit dishes.

He didn’t have the energy or the drive to fashion a spear out of a stick and hunt something. Leaving this castle may even cause him to ironically end up on the other end of the food chain.

“I guess starving to death unwillingly isn’t technically suicide,” Patrick thought. “I’ll still probably be due for an eternal can of whoop-ass, though.”

He had considered trying to meditate for the past few hours, to get in contact with the familiar voice that always left him feeling refreshed and comforted. But he felt too ashamed.

Now would be one of the best times to hear a friendly, familiar voice, if he could trust it. Everyone was keeping secrets from him. Everyone knew what was best for him, what he should do. Except Patrick, and no one would tell him why.

Suddenly, the temperature dropped drastically, making chills run down his spine. Patrick noticed that he could see his breathe in font of him. He felt a peculiar presence in the ruins. A wicked feeling of hopelessness and pure despair was wrenching its way into the back of Patrick’s mind, snapping him into paranoia.

His eyes darted around the throne room rapidly. Something else was here, he was sure of it. Patrick rose to his feet and stepped into the middle of the throne room, studying every nook and cranny of this crumbling citadel for any signs of life.

He turned his sweeping gaze to the ceiling, and spotted something out of the ordinary. A black cloud appeared to cling to the ceiling. It featured no face, but it felt as if he were making eye contact with it.

“What the hel-“

Suddenly, it rushed Patrick, knocking him to the ground and swooping back up to the air.

Quickly, Patrick rose back to his feet, spinning around looking for whatever just attacked him.

Out of nowhere, it rushed him again. But this time, the black cloud didn’t just push him over and run. It forced it’s way into Patrick’s head; through his mouth, his nostrils, and his ears.

“AGHHHHHH!!!”

Patrick screamed with the pure agony that this invading force was making him endure. He convulsed and flailed about voraciously while this black cloud invaded his mind, his thoughts, the inner workings of his soul.

“WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU?”

It felt as though someone had filled Patrick’s head with ice-water, or he contracted a permanent case of brain-freeze. His brain was numb with cold, he couldn’t think. He tried to recall any event in his life, to see if he still had control. But this pure cold that dominated everything he knew scrambled his thoughts.

Patrick rolled on the floor, gripping his head in agony. He punched himself in the face repeatedly, desperately trying anything to attack this entity. Until finally, he lost himself. Whatever had just forced itself inside his head now had complete control over not only his mind, but his nervous system.

“Greetings, human,” a voice spoke to Patrick mentally. “I am what they call... The Nightmare.”

“And what a fitting name that is, now get out of my head!”

“Certainly. But I’d like to do some looking around first. It’s not often I get to explore the mind of an extinct race, you know. A race that created a weapon that can destroy a city the size of Manehattan in the blink of an eye. I wonder what else you know?”

“I’m not a nuclear physicist, if that’s what you’re after!” Patrick growled. “I’m just a biker and a convicted felon, what else do you want from me?”

“Hm… Childhood memories. Bo-ring. Oh, this is interesting. Ooh, that belt had to hurt. Your father was quite abusive, wasn’t he?”

“Shut up!” Patrick responded mentally. “I’ll fucking kill you!”

“Just like you killed Celestia?”

Patrick went silent.

“That’s what I thought. Now, be a good boy and let me go through all your pathetic memories until I get what I need.”

“Or what?”

A surge of pain exploded in Patrick’s head, causing him to cry out and convulse again.

“Or that.”

Patrick sat still like an obedient dog, occasionally looking around the ancient throne room while the Nightmare writhed and wriggled its way through his most precious memories. Periodically, the Nightmare jeered comments about his past, trying to get a reaction out of him. Each time Patrick reacted hot-heatedly, the Nightmare zapped him with a bolt of mental and physical agony.

“Ooh, that was embarrassing. Looked like one of your more private moments, there.”

“Ouch, that’s got to sting emotionally, being your own mother and all.”

“Ha! I’m going to save this one for later. Oh, this is classic, being forced to march with no pants on!”

“Please,” Patrick begged, out of breathe. “Just leave me alone. I’m going to starve to death anyway. Please…”

The Nightmare ignored him, browsing his memories in order like a filing cabinet. It wanted to get everything it possibly could, so taking the time, when it had the chance, to explore each and every remembered event in this human’s life may come in handy for its future plans.

“No wonder your eyes glow red from my point of view,” the Nightmare teased him. “I wasn’t sure if you had ended up killing a pony. But you murdered two of your own species in cold blood, for your government’s name! Ha, what a pawn.”

“Oh my," the Nightmare belittled him. “I’m watching your closest friends burn alive, through your eyes as you saw them that day. This is quite tragic. And that’s a lot for me to say, when I’ve murdered millions and felt nothing at all. This really tugs at my heartstrings, Patrick. Well, if I had a heart.”

“I SWEAR, THE MOMENT I HAVE THE CHANCE, I’M GOING TO RIP YOUR FUCKING-“

The Nightmare unleashed another fury of mental pain to quiet Patrick down.

“Looks like I hit a nerve. Oops, no pun intended,” the Nightmare chuckled lightly.

Patrick let out a small groan.

“What, you don’t think my jokes are funny?”

“Please…” he clutched the back of his head.

“Quit your whining, I’ll be through in a moment.”

It flipped through memories rapidly, until finally it reached more recent events in Patrick’s life, and began to see a pattern.

“Oh, I see,” the Nightmare chuckled. “Oh, Celestia, that was clever. Bravo, I say. Bravo. Oh, this turn of events is just hilarious.”

Patrick lay on the ground defeated, struggling through every second of this psychological torture.
“Manipulating your past, shaping you and your friends into the ultimate incarnations of the Elements of Harmony, and ultimately killing them. I never would have guessed Celestia would commit outright murder in order to get rid of me. Although, she did imprison her own sister for a thousand years. She’s got guts, I’ll give her that.”

“What are you going on about now? Are you about finished?”

“-Causing Jose’s father to be threatened by drug cartels, making them move to your city, where you met him and the rest of your friends at school. Causing your father to disapprove of your interracial friendships, nurturing your rebellious and unrelenting spirit. Distracting you from removing your license plate while racing on public roads, giving you a criminal record. Getting rid of your parents, so that you would have nowhere else to go but to move in with your best friend, where he convinces you to join the Army together. Making you watch them die, so that the complete and utter love you have for them will be locked into your soul forever. Did I hit the nail on the head, Mr. Wilcox?”

Patrick said nothing, speechless at how accurately that the Nightmare had just summed up his entire life in a few sentences.

"Do you ever wonder why you have such an acute sense of memory? Why you suffered so much, but all you can remember are the 'good times'?"

"Just so that you’d be so attached to your friends, even see them as your brothers, and then Celestia was going to keep everything a secret from you until after you disposed of me. Oh, she’s been quite busy this past thousand years, I see. Very intricate and careful planning. Taking advantage of a species that killed themselves and trading blood for blood. She really does care that deeply about her subjects; if only she’d follow the very morals she taught them.”

Patrick balled his hands into fists. He tried not to give the Nightmare the satisfaction of keeping his temper, but it obviously knew that, since it was inside his mind. There was no way to get back at it somehow.

“Listen, I don’t care why you want to destroy all of Equestria, or whatever you’re doing. I don’t care why you have a vendetta against Celestia. I really just don’t.”

“You do realize,” the Nightmare began. “That if Celestia never did this to you, none of you and your friends would have met.”

“No!” Patrick refused to believe it. “That’s not true! We would have been friends, we would have found each other eventually.”

“I’m in your head, remember?” the Nightmare said as a matter-of-factly. “And it’s pretty hard to hide the fact that you’re in denial when I’m seeing your thoughts as they pop up.”

Patrick bowed his head in shame.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” the Nightmare sighed. “You know I really wish you’d have been able to kill her, it would make things so much easier for me. Unfortunately, she can indeed stop your weapon’s bullets, if given the time.”

“Alright!” Patrick shouted. “You know everything about me. You violated the inner sanctity of my mind, sufficiently degraded my character every chance you got, and now you can see I’m not a threat to you. I even tried to kill your enemy! Can you please get out of my head now and just leave me alone?”

“Sorry,” the Nightmare replied. “But when you’re the only thing alive that can stop me, I’d rather not take any chances by allowing you to live.”

“WHAT?” Patrick cried.

“You’ve been a great help Patrick, thank you for all the useful information. But honestly, I’m surprised you haven’t committed suicide by now, even after all that Jose warned you about. But it’s too late; I’m recreating Equestria in my image. Good bye.”

Patrick shut his eyes tight, expecting his head to explode, for him to die in a split second, but nothing happened.

Cautiously, he opened his eyes, and then jumped in surprise.

A blue alicorn was standing before him, wrestling the black cloud that was the Nightmare out his mind. Luna’s horn shone brighter than he’d ever seen before, causing Patrick to hold a hand in front of his face.

“Ugh!” Luna grunted. “You think I don’t know how you work?”

She pulled harder, physically stepping back as a dark, black cloud began pouring out of Patrick’s mouth.

“You think I can’t banish you? I only spent a thousand years getting to know you, including your exploits and weaknesses!”

The Nightmare hissed, raising itself into the air.

“Fools!” it bellowed. “I have an unlimited supply of anti-magic and human weaponry! Do you really think you can stop me, now that I have the ultimate knowledge of Celestia’s plans? I am going to advance Equestria into a world without magic, and there is nothing you can do to stop me!”

Luna aimed her horn directly at the Nightmare and fired a bolt of dark magic, the glow it gave off resembling a black light. The Nightmare was quickly removed from existence right before Patrick's eyes.

Luna let out a sigh of relief and dropped to the ground, sitting on her haunches and bowing her head in fatigue.

Patrick, dumbstruck, simply stammered in disbelief.

“Did-did you just-“

“No,” Luna said through exhausted panting. “It’s only temporary, the banishment won’t last more than a few hours. I’m not powerful enough to make it any longer.”

“Oh,” Patrick stood up, and helped Luna to her hooves. “But, uh-Thanks, for saving me from that thing. But if you don’t mind me asking,” Patrick raised an eyebrow.

“How did you find me here?”

“Without Twilight’s friends’ knowledge, I blocked you out from most locator spells, specifically Celestia’s. Only I was able to find you once I came close enough to your location.”

“Uh, I don’t really understand, but okay,” Patrick replied. “By the way,” Patrick scratched the back o his head.

“Sorry about the whole, trying to kill your sister and screwing your world over, thing.”

“Actually,” Luna frowned. “That’s what I’m here about.”

“Oh,” Patrick put his hands in his pockets. “For revenge? Or to bring me back to the dungeon?”

“No,” Luna shook her head. “If I wanted revenge, I wouldn’t have helped you escape.”

“Oh, right.”

“Anyway,” Luna stated. “I care just as deeply for my subjects as Celestia does, even if I don’t show it. I can guarantee you that as soon as that banishment is broken, the Nightmare is going to attack another pony city. I know that you’re not capable of helping Equestria after everything that’s been done to you, but I believe I can change your mind, so as to prevent any more mass bloodshed.”

“And how would you do that, princess?”

Luna’s horn lit up once again, and Patrick’s Glock 23, still loaded, materialized and floated just in front of his face.

“I want you to kill my sister.”

“-But there was no body or anything, just the motorcycle,” Rainbow Dash explained.

“Yeah, it looked like he ran from the hydra, the bridge snapped, and maybe somethin’ hungry came along and uh,” Applejack tried to speak about Patrick’s demise respectfully. “Yeah.”

“I see,” Celestia took in what her most faithful subjects had just finished telling her. She sighed wearily, whispering to a guard next to her throne. He nodded, and proceeded to leave.

“Thank you, my little ponies, for trying, and I am glad none of you were hurt as a result of this little excursion,” Celestia said. “But even I am not able to locate Patrick, the spell has been powerfully blocked. He could be alive, or he could be dead. But we’ve run out of time. He has presumably died, along with any hope we had to combat the Nightmare.”

“So, what now?” Twilight asked.

“Now,” Celestia took a deep breath. “We begin evacuations. The Nightmare is going to destroy enough Equestrian cities and towns, and leave only enough to re-populate it. I’m afraid it is trying to create a world without magic, where it will be the only being able to posses the power to cast any spell in the entire world.”

“There is a chariot waiting for you all outside. I will give you some time to collect your things. Whether you decide to leave or stay is up to you. I am beginning the evacuation of Canterlot tomorrow morning.

“Princess!” a Pegasi courier burst through the doors, his saddlebags, full of messages and flying gear, bobbed back and forth with each galloping hoof.

“I come bearing grave news! The Nightmare has attacked the city of Fillydelphia in the same manner as Manehattan, but used four of its devices. Everything within a ten mile radius of the city has been leveled, not a single survivor has been found and the winds spread its poison rapidly!”

The throne room fell silent as the courier panted from spitting out such a mouthful.

“T-thank you, you are dismissed,” Celestia stuttered.

The courier stumbled to a bow and showed himself to the door.

“I think it would be best f-for you all t-to go now, before it’s too late,” Celestia exited through a separate door, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash headed out the main doorway of the throne room.

“Twi, you comin’?” Applejack asked. “We might as well try to say good bye to everypony before there ain’t no more ponies to say goodbye ta’.”

“In a minute, I’ll catch up.”

Applejack shrugged and followed the rest of her friends out the door.

Twilight caught up with the princess, seeing her stare out a window towards the direction of FIllydelphia.

It was much farther away than Manehattan, so there would be no giant mushroom cloud looming off in the sky from this distance, but Celestia could only imagine the events that took place in Manehattan two days ago, multiplied by four.

“Princess?” Twilight murmured gently. “Are you going to be alright?”

Celestia turned around. She didn’t shed a tear, but she was visibly upset.

“Yes, Twilight,” she led Twilight to an exit, leading into the castle courtyards.

“Come, there is something I wish to talk to you about before you leave.”

Celestia and Twilight strolled the castle gardens, neither speaking for several minutes. Finally, Celestia cleared her throat.

“Twilight, I know that everything I have done has gone against the very lessons I teach, and the very lessons about friendship that you report to me.”

“Princess,” Twilight said. “While it’s really hard for me to do this, I still stand by you and trust your judgment. You were only trying to save Equestria.”

“Thank you, Twilight,” Celestia smiled for a brief moment. “But it’s just that there’s a bit more to the Nightmare’s goals than simply taking over my kingdom.”

“Like what?”

“A thousand years ago, when the Nightmare possessed Luna, I banished them both to the moon. It pained me, and still does, but I had no choice. It was only going to be a matter of time before the Nightmare’s powers would surpass my own. And then, after three straight years of meditation and diving into the spirit world, I found Patrick, and his friends.”

“The ghosts of Patrick’s friends?”

Celestia nodded.

“They prefer the term ‘spirit’ or ‘soul,’ but yes. The spell took a thousand years, but I was able to scan through human history, looking for a fabled group of six that may hold the key to saving Equestria. I had already known about human kind, they were known before even Luna and I, but they slipped from a history lesson to a myth, then unknown to all but Luna and myself. While Luna was banished, I looked to the past. I saw their accomplishments, their triumphs, their failures, their violence, wars, genocides, and finally, their end.”

“So what does all that mean?”

I have a confession to make,” Celestia stopped dramatically. “After discovering just how advanced that mankind had become, how much their technology and science, their understanding of the universe, is something more than ponies could ever achieve. But it’s only because I hid the existence of the human race, the explanations for their ruins scattered all across the world. Most of our society has been based upon them, even our language. But I have deliberately prevented Equestria from progressing any further as a species.”

“Equestria is nearly the same as it was some one thousand years ago. This is why Luna and I had the famous falling out with the Nightmare. It wanted to focus on advancing knowledge and technology, no matter what the cost.”

“Why?” Twilight asked. “Why would you prevent ponies from getting as far as humans did?”

“To prevent us, as a race, from making the same mistakes that humans did. By turning their societies’ focus on money, greed, sin, and war, rather than the values we praise, they destroyed themselves. And I was not about to let that happen to my subjects.”

Twilight gaped, completely speechless.

“I know this is quite a lot to take in, but this is why I have ruled the way I have. Equestria as a whole has benefited from some of human knowledge gained from my experiences with the past, and recovered human artifacts. But some of the things they discovered are so dangerous, I don’t believe any human, or any pony, should even have the knowledge of them. One of those discoveries is the nuclear weaponry that destroyed Manehattan, and now Fillydelphia.”

Twilight leaned up against her, the towering white alicorn gently putting a wing over her protégé.

“I’m afraid that Equestria as we know it is coming to an end soon. But while we still have this time together, there is something I’ve always wanted to say to you, Twilight Sparkle.”

“And what would that be?”

“Ever since I’d first seen you as a filly, I knew that you were going to be something more than just the average unicorn. You reminded me so much of myself, it was as if I was looking at myself as a filly.”

Twilight smiled, continuing to listen to her mentor’s gentle speech.

“But as the years went by, and you became my star pupil, my personal student, I began to have some feelings I couldn’t quite understand for the longest time.”

Twilight looked at the Princess with a confused expression.

“Nothing romantic, if that’s what you’re thinking. But you mean more to me than just being my pupil, or my friend. I…”

“What do you want to say, Princess Celestia?”

“This is really hard for me to put into words, but…”

Celestia bit her lip, not being able to remember the last time she was so struck for words.

“I’ve always seen you almost as if you were- my daughter, so to speak. I know you have parents, but that’s just… How I’ve seen our relationship, especially as of recently.”

Twilight felt Celestia ease up, taking her wing off of her.

“You know,” Twilight answered. “I’ve always kind of seen you that way as well, but I never really admitted it to myself directly. You’ve always been that guiding force, possibly even… A second mother to me.”

They sat quietly for a few moments, before Celestia looked Twilight in the eyes and wrapped her wing around her again in a tender embrace.

“My dearest student, Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia began. “I lov-“

click-click

BANG!!!

Twilight’s eyes went wide after hearing such a familiar, deafening blast. Celestia’s head jerked back, a mist of blood spraying into the air as Celestia’s body crumpled to the ground. The kind, gentle, all-loving, mother of Equestria’s sun lay dead on the grass, in a puddle of blood oozing out of a giant hole in the back of her skull.

Twilight could barely even contain herself. She wheezed in and out in pure shock, hyperventilating and feeling dizzy. She struggled not to lose her lunch, but felt it creeping ever so forcefully up her throat. Gulping it back down, she turned around to face the gunman.

Patrick held his weapon in one hand, a puff of white smoke lazily drifting out of the barrel. With his free hand, he retrieved and lit a cigarette.

He inhaled deeply, holding it for several seconds, and then exhaling all of the smoke in one triumphant breath.

“Alright,” Patrick smiled. "Now I’ll save the world.”