Parallelby Zombie PenguinsChaptersFallen StarNew RealmsFireboltImpending InvasionLike FireA New WorldFallen StarCrystal Comet locked herself in her basement, hiding herself and the fallen star. Her red eyes gleamed with hope as she gazed upon the fallen star. She finally found something that could lead her to her escape. A quartz crystal. Fallen from the stars. What was once abundant a thousand years ago is now mined to near extinction. NEAR extinction. Crystal Comet had what could very well be the last piece of quartz not obtained by the Princess. Its rarity was not the reason why Crystal Comet desired it though. She knew what it could do and why there was very little left. Crystal Comet took out her blank journal and wrote the very first entry: It begins with this find. I was doing my horribly boring job, recording the dates of unusual meteors, when one landed in the wilderness east of Canterlot. I ran towards the crash site and found a piece of quartz, a very rare jewel, with mystic effects. It is said that being near one can amplify the power of one's magic. I wish to harness its power to do something nopony has done before: explore what Equestria cannot control. I already have an idea for the spell, but the power needed is beyond what I can reserve. If I can create an amplifier with this quartz, I can do it. The stars await me. Crystal Comet put the journal away and went to work. She grabbed a pair of safety goggles, lifting her blood-red forelock off her black forehead to put them on. Her hoof passed over the scar that ran down the left side of her face and she shuddered. She could hear the screams that resided only in her memories. Crystal Comet shut them out and concentrated on the task at hoof. Working until sunrise, Crystal Comet carved the fallen star until it fit right on top of her horn, sculpting it so that its exterior matched the exterior of her own horn. Crystal Comet took off goggles and slid her newly made amplifier on her horn. Her heart danced with excitement as she prepared to test it. Crystal Comet scanned her thoughts to find the perfect spell to test. Something advanced. Difficult. Requiring a lot of power. “Fire conjuring...” she whispered as the idea popped in her head. But the dangers that came with that spell were enormous. Crystal Comet shook her head. She would not let her fears get the best of her. If the amplifier failed, it would be all over: she wouldn't be able to find another piece of quartz and she had to little to make a second prototype. Failure meant continuing her living as a Silent Pony, never revealing what she had experienced. She put her journal, a few quills and a few bottles of ink in her only fire-proof bag and prepared for the test. She focused on creating a small ball of fire in the centre of the room and began casting. Within seconds a tiny, blue flame appeared, floating a few feet above the floor. Crystal Comet smiled; it had been a success. But then, the flame began to flicker, before rapidly expanding into a ring of fire beyond Crystal Comet's control. Panicking, she threw the amplifier off her head and it slid across the floor. The fire still burned, but it lacked fuel and fizzled to a glowing ring of orange embers, hovering in the air. Sighing with relief, Crystal Comet used magic to summon the amplifier towards her. With great effort, she concentrated on levitating it and moving it through the centre of the ring. As the amplifier approached the ring of embers, it disappeared. Befuddled, Crystal Comet cautiously approached the ring, subconsciously picking up her fire-proof bag. She could see nothing strange about it, but there was no explanation of why the amplifier just disappeared. Crystal Comet scraped her hooves on the ground and with out a thought, leaped through the centre of the ring, unprepared for what awaited her. *** Princess Celestia slept in her bed, dreaming about the new heights her kingdom could reach. A smile played across her lips as she shifted her hooves. BANG. One of her winged guards threw the door open, waking her from her dreams. “Princess Celestia! A fallen star was reported, but it has not been found!” He reported. “Ponies like to keep things that have fallen from the sky. Why are you waking me for this?” Princess Celestia sighed. “THIS was found at the crash site,” the guard motioned for another guard to step forward with a clamped in his mouth. The second guard placed the bag in front of Princess Celestia, bowed, then walked back to his place by the first guard. Celestia took the bag and emptied it on her golden nightstand. Tiny white flecks of transparent crystal fell out of the bag and Celestia gasped in disbelief: it was quartz. “TAKE ME TO THE CRASH SITE IMMEDIATELY!” she commanded. *** Stanley sat on the roof of his home, staring at the moon above while a white mare nuzzled her head beneath his green wings. He looked down and smiled; Blossom never could stay up late into the night. Just looking at her made him swell with pride. Returning his gaze to the moon, he looked back on his glory days: the expedition. He remembered when he was not Stanley, but Diamond Sting. He remembered when Blossom was just a simple herbologist, named Water Lily. He remembered his father's cries when he led them into battle. He remembered fighting wave after wave of savages. He remembered everything to the fullest detail. And he was quite satisfied with his actions. Satisfied with all but, one. His pride moved to anger as he thought of THAT mare. The mare who wished to stop their triumph and commit treason. The one who murdered his father. He remembered that he failed to avenge his father. Then, a blinding light streaked past the moon, through the star-lit sky and down to the ground. The sounds from its landing shook the ground and caused Blossom to wake from her sleep. “Stanley...” she said, quivering. “It's okay...It's okay...it's just a fallen star...” Stanley cooed, as Blossom rested her head on Stanley's hooves. “Can we go inside now?” she whispered as her eyelids drooped, almost completely covering her green eyes. Stanley nodded: he had enough of looking back on the past. *** Lightning stood at the edge of the tepui, beginning his day-time shift as the rest of his people slept comfortably in burrows underneath the flame-flower trees. The sun was just beginning to rise, when he spotted something in the distance, about half a night away. His glowing orange eyes stared upon what appeared to be a small mass of floating blue light which paralleled the colour of the desert below. It grew brighter and brighter until it suddenly flickered into nothing. Lightning squinted at where it was in confusion. He saw nothing, but desert and sun. He sighed and put it to memory to report to Chief Blaze after his shift. It was strange, but definitely not an attack from the Dull-Eyed. *** Queen Blanca stirred and awoke as light filtered through the windows and onto her snow-white mane. Blinking her blue eyes, she yawned and tapped her hoof on the navy blue bedside table. Two servants came in, serving the alicorn breakfast tea and hay on a light blue tray, accented with silver. Daintily, she sipped her tea and nibbled on the hay. After finishing her breakfast, Blanca tapped her hoof on the bedside table again and the servants came in to retrieve the remainder of her breakfast. A young mare meekly walked into the room as Blanca came out from under the blankets. “You may brush my mane.” commanded Blanca. The mare nodded and trotted over with Blanca's golden hairbrush. Blanca puffed out her chest and stared proudly into as the young mare brushed her mane. “Powder?” the mare asked quietly once she finished brushing. Blanca nodded and the mare began applying a dull white powder on Blanca until only Blanca's sceptre cutie mark remained untouched. Once the mare had finished preparing Blanca, Blanca walked out of the room, carefully placing her hooves to obtain the ultimate amount of grace. With her head held high, Blanca entered her thrown room and seated herself on the bejewelled throne. “I request the nightly reports.” she said with a royal air. Sheepishly, guard after guard walked into the throne room, bowed and gave their reports, most of which were “No anomalies, your highness.” or “Everything was all clear, your highness.” “Your-your highness...I...uh...er...” the guard stumbled on his words. “Spit it out!” Blanca snapped. “Isawabluelightonthehorizonjustbeforedawn!” the guard cried out in fear. “Ughhh...General Sword Swipe, order an investigation team to investigate the blasphemous light...damn light-eyed heathens...oh and have next week's invasion be ready in a few days.” Blanca sighed. “As you wish, your highness.” General Sword Swipe replied whilst bowing. Author's Note Yes its a short chapter. Are all the chapters going to be short? Most of them. I don't like to fluff things up more than they need to be fluffed. Just to make things clear, Stanley, Crystal Comet and Princess Celestia are in one universe, whereas Lightning and Queen Blanca are in another. New RealmsCrystal Comet found herself falling. Falling until she landed on the blue sand below with a soft thud. She quickly lifted her head and began studying her surroundings, searching for the amplifier. With a jolt, Crystal Comet surged forward, grabbing the amplifier and placing it in her bag. Satisfied, Crystal Comet looked around the new environment. Above her, was the unreachable ring of embers glowing softly with the sunrise. Below her were tiny grains of sapphire, twinkling with the remains of the night. In the distance, she could see a bunch of flaming lights, raised up on a black mass. With glee, Crystal Comet took out her journal and made an entry: I have successfully created an amplifier, however I have been too successful. I was testing its effectiveness with a fire conjuring spell and it appears that I have burnt a hole in some sort of divider between realms. Out of curiosity, I have passed through the hole and am now in what seems to be a new realm. Everything here is so crystal clear. I can see the tiniest details on the moon as it sets in the west and the stars...the stars are like sharp pinpricks of light that barely fade with the coming of the sun. The sand is not sand: I walk on little grains of sapphire and lapis lazuli. To the north, in the distance, I see a great mass crowned with small orange flames. Everything is so crisp. I thought the stars awaited me, but a new world awaits me in their stead. Crystal Comet finished her entry and yawned; she had been up all night, creating the amplifier. Pulling her forelock over her eyes in an attempt to blot out the sun, Crystal Comet curled up on the ground and went to sleep. *** The air was smothered with the smell of burnt earth and charred wood, the very ground blackened by the impact. Celestia walked on the strangely cold ground, investigating the crater created by the fallen star. Canterlot's guard force secured the area with yellow tape that glared against the moon. Detective Glass spotted her and came running over. “Princess Celestia, we have found hoof prints going to and away from the crash site, but we are unable to track them beyond the main road.” he said excitedly. “Do they head towards or away from Canterlot?” Celestia questioned. “Towards.” “Good work. Let me know if you found anything else.” she said gratefully, “After Detective Glass is finished with the investigation of the crash site, I want every grain of this quartz gathered up and put into the incinerator.” She commanded as Detective Glass trotted back to the centre of the crater, eager to continue his investigation. Celestia let out a sigh. She did not want this to cause any disasters, not like it did many years ago. She remembered being called out to the MacIntosh Hills by an exploration expedition that ran into major trouble. When she came she found many ponies and buffalo alike dead and injured, some of which had to do with the poor leadership, some of which due to the effects of quartz. It was so horrible, that Celestia had to order all surviving ponies to take up new identities and become Silent Ponies. She had to order all the quartz to be mined and destroyed until it no longer existed. And now THIS. From the very place no pony can go, a chunk of quartz had fallen from the heavens, into the hooves of somepony...bringing the potential for a catastrophe. *** Stanley felt somepony gently prodding his side. He yawned, rolled over and opened his eyes to find his Blossom, nudging him awake. “Morinin' already?” he asked, half asleep. Blossom laughed and levitated a brush to her bedhead of a green mane. “I'm gonna make me some coffee...you want some?” he asked her. “No thanks...you need it more than I do.” Blossom giggled in response before giving Stanley a kiss on the cheek. Stanley smiled and entered the kitchen with another yawn. A soft thump was heard at the door as Stanley started the coffee maker. Letting out another yawn, Stanley trudged over to the door to retrieve the newspaper. He went to the table and started reading it, while he waited for his coffee to brew: FALLEN STAR JUST OUTSIDE OF CANTERLOT... “Honey! The falling star we saw last night made the front page!” he shouted to her. “That's nice.” Blossom halfheartedly responded. Stanley continued reading: FALLEN STAR JUST OUTSIDE OF CANTERLOT. REPORTS FROM CANTERLOT PALACE CLAIM IT TO BE MADE FROM A DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE CALLED QUARTZ. FALLEN STAR HAS GONE MISSING... Stanley almost tore the paper with his hooves, his brown eyes wide with anger. He didn't believe it was dangerous. An old wives tale that prevented-wrongfully excused that mare...that stupid mare...from being tried for the deaths of countless ponies. He had to clench his teeth to prevent himself from mimicking Blossom's sister. The mare is gone from their lives now...but the lack of justice he felt...that he knew...strangled his conscience until nothing but murder filled his head. *** As night fell, Lightning awoke, his orange eyes illuminated the forest around him. Remembering the blue light he saw on his shift, he bolted upwards, before reminding himself that it was nothing to get excited about. But, the curiosity still swam in his insides and he could think of nothing, but the blue light. Thousands of thoughts flew through his head as he went to visit Chief Blaze. Inter-dimensional being, alien, ghost, mutant, magic, deity, undiscovered creature, rare plant...it could have been anything. Upon arriving to Chief Blaze's tree, Lightning tapped it with his hoof, causing a few leaves to rain down on him. “Enter,” said the deep voice. Lightning passed through the archway formed by the roots, into an earthy room, canopied by the resilient underbelly of the tree. The room was blanketed with a soft darkness; the only light sources were the eyes of Lightning and the eyes of Chief Blaze. Lightning bowed low, with respect, before giving his report, “During my shift, at dawn, about half a night away to the south, I saw a strange blue light anomaly. I don't think it's of any danger, but...” “...you thought I ought to know.” Chief Blaze finished and Lightning nodded. Chief Blaze pondered for a few minutes, while Lightning stood awkwardly, shifting his hooves in the dirt out of habit. “If this light anomaly...or one similar appears again...I think a small scouting group...should be sufficient to investigate it...I shall mention it in my midnight announcements,” Chief Blaze said slowly, “Thank you for reporting this to me.” Lightning bowed again, before walking out of the earthen room and into the crisp night air. *** Blanca sipped her exotic, evening tea in an almost pure gold cup, soaking in the daytime rays of the sun. She was in her garden, surrounded by the cold statues depicting important events in the history of Inamoenus. Gazing at these statues, Blanca lifted her head high as pride surged in her veins: these were HER accomplishments. After finishing her tea, and leaving the salad untouched, Blanca tapped her hoof on one of the table legs, signalling that a servant may take away the clean dishes. Concentrating on her movements, she exited the courtyard with her perfected grace and into her thrown room. She carefully seated herself on the throne and whined, “Has the investigation team come back yet?” “Yes, your highness.” the guards said simultaneously, as they bowed, before letting the investigation team in. A small squadron of ponies entered the room, all bowing their heads low, except a black unicorn, with a long scar running down the left side of her face. The black mare's eyes darted around the room in wonder. “Ahem...” Blanca said very annoyed, catching the mare's attention. “Oh...ummm...OH!” the unicorn stuttered, before bowing. “Rise,” Blanca commanded. “What did you find?” “We found...HER, your highness.” responded a white stallion, pointing at the black mare who neglected to bow. “YOU!” Queen Blanca shouted angrily, “IDENTIFY YOURSELF!” Firebolt“IDENTIFY YOURSELF!” The male voice boomed in Crystal Comet's head, causing her to stand up straight, swiftly pulling her right hoof to her forehead. “I am Firebolt of Equestria, sir!” she responded instinctively, as if she were still in the days of the expedition. “YOU SHALL REFER TO ME AS YOUR HIGHNESS! DO I LOOK LIKE A SIR TO YOU?” the male voice in her head now returned to the female voice she heard in reality. “Erm...no...sorry...it was out of habit...” Crystal Comet said to the screeching alicorn. “I don't know what this Equestria is,” said the alicorn, with disgust, “but, for now on, you shall be Firebolt of Inamoenus.” “Um...how does that have any logic?” Crystal Comet asked, clearly very confused. “It's my command.” the alicorn huffed. “And?” “I AM QUEEN BLANCA! YOU SHALL BOW DOWN TO ME!” “Well, you see...I am from Equestria and I obey the laws set down by Princess Celestia. Now I will follow your land's rules, but let me make this clear: I am not from here and I will not claim to be.” Crystal Comet said, angry with this poor excuse of a queen that sat in front of her. Looking at the gaudy decorations in the room, Crystal Comet waited for Blanca to stop huffing angrily and actually respond. After several minutes, Blanca's boiling anger seemed to turn to ice. “Look...whoever you are...explain why you were in the middle of the desert, where some evil blue light was. I'll punish you for the whole Equestria thing later.” Blanca said icily. “Oh I was just using magic. Nothing to worry about.” responded Crystal Comet, rolling her eyes. “OFF WITH HER HEAD!” screeched Blanca and everybody else surged towards Crystal Comet. Time slowed down as the adrenaline began pumping through Crystal Comet's veins, slowing turning Crystal Comet into who she REALLY was: Firebolt. Crystal Comet wasn't born to track meteors and stars. She was born Firebolt. She was born to run faster than any comet could. She was born a fighter. A smile invaded Firebolt's face and her cutie mark, a blue fireball seemed more vivid than before. The scene felt pure. It felt like she was really alive instead of a simple mare living a dead life. Just as the nearest pony was about to grab her tail, Firebolt kicked her hind-legs, landing her hooves on his chin, snapping the final pieces of the scene together, completing her transformation. The stallion flew backwards and Firebolt bit an approaching mare's ear, just before fending off another attack with a stab of her horn. As a dozen ponies surrounded Firebolt, Blanca smiled victoriously, but Firebolt scoffed: the alicorn counted all her chicks before they had hatched! Firebolt naturally leapt in the air, clamping down on one of the countless tapestries that blemished the room. Firebolt's weight tore it down and it fell on the ponies, blinding them for the brief seconds that Firebolt needed to escape. Firebolt weaved through the palace hallways, gleefully searching for a way out, resisting her urges to laugh at Blanca's cries and commands. Firebolt eventually found herself in a courtyard covered with narcissistic statues of Blanca. She snickered: a climbable statue was coincidentally close to the courtyard wall. Firebolt easily climbed it and scrambled over the wall, leaving the palace slaves bewildered and confused. Firebolt slowed to a trot, skipping through the streets, satisfied with her escape, only stopping to make a journal entry: While napping in the desert, I was awoken by an entourage of ponies. They claimed to be an investigation team and they required me to come with them. Being curious, I agreed to go with them. But they led me to the hideous palace of their moron queen, some alicorn named Blanca. Haha! I bet the palace officials are still scrambling around the palace looking for me. Those idiots don't know that I am ou The journal entry broke off as Firebolt had to place it back into the bag tied around her waist: the guards had discovered that she escaped the palace and was wandering the city somewhere. Firebolt took of running again, laughing as the guards took chase. After a few minutes, Firebolt breached the edge of the city and was in the desert. Grinning, Firebolt prepared to go full speed. Firebolt's hooves beat faster and faster on the blue sand and the whistling of the wind grew louder in her ears. She outran the guards within a few seconds and was galloping through the desert, increasing her speed without need. Firebolt felt pure euphoria and the air around her began to catch fire from the friction. Soon, Firebolt was surrounded by blue flames, blind to her surroundings. Within minutes Firebolt had no idea of where she was going. And within minutes of that, she accidentally flung herself into a hard cliff face and the world became dead and dark. *** Celestia sat at a table in her palace, worries darting across her mind as she tried to think of another way to find the fallen star. She hadn't slept at all since she found out; she was to busy scrambling around notifying the newspapers about what to write, going over the evidence with Detective Glass at lunch, her regular duties and...worrying. Just thinking about the quartz made her head throb. “Some tea before you head to bed, Princess?” a voice from the doorway called out. “Yes please...thank you.” Celestia replied, looking up towards the mare balancing a tray with a white teapot and matching cups and saucers. The mare walked over and placed the tray on the table, the clamped on the teapot handle with her mouth to pour the princess a drink. “Sugar?” she asked. “Yes...please.” Celestia responded exhausted. “Princess Celestia?” “mm-hm?” “What's so bad about quartz?” the mare questioned. “It...amplifies magic,” Celestia responded, “Normally, that would be good, but...ponies wielding magic nearby quartz deposits have run into some pretty major disasters...We had to destroy it all...for our own safety...and now it falls from the sky.” “I guess if properly studied and used, it could make somepony pretty powerful...but if it creates disasters severe enough...I wouldn't want it.” the mare said kindly before leaving Celestia with her tea. *** “How was your day at work, Stanley?” Blossom greeted Stanley as she washed the dirt off her hooves. “Gwead! I onwy mess up haf duh dime!” Stanley replied, his lips numb from holding a needle between his lips for so long. “I'll go make you a nice hot cup of tea for your lips.” she said affectionately. “Fanx.” Stanley sat down at the table and a feeling of melancholy began to roll in like the tide. He always felt this after work. The only thing that kept him living the way he did was his cheery Blossom. The transition was different for each Silent Pony and Stanley was one that did not do so well: he used to fence and now he just patched clothing up. Keeping a needle pinned between his teeth was nothing like using his whole body in swift, fluid movements. The muffled ruffling of cloth was nothing like the sharp clang of swords, which resonated the feelings of battle. But Blossom was nothing like the lowly mares he flirted with before. Blossom was worth giving up his life for. He smiled lovingly at her as she levitated a warming cup of tea in front of him. *** Lightning was grabbing a swig of flame nectar, drinking the warm drink out of a clay bowl. Despite having reported the blue light to Chief Blaze, it was still eating his mind. He shifted his hooves again, trying to ease his excitement. He looked upwards at the trees and watched the flame-flowers open: it was a slow process, but no matter how many times he watched it, he felt overcome by awe and peace. The dark little buds, began to crack, revealing the light within, a soft orange glow that seeped through the crevices and into the night. Then, the petals began to slowly peel back and the flame-like luminescence grew brighter and brighter, until the lilies were in full flame, their pollen flying through the air like sparks. Lightning had finally reached some calm and his heart was content. “BLUE LIGHT IN DESERT!” Ember's screams killed the calm, “IT'S HEADED RIGHT FOR-” BOOM! The tepui shook, spilling Lightning's drink and knocking a few ponies over. Steam and smoke began streaming upwards from the south. Chief Blaze emerged from his tree and began shouting out orders, “EMBER! LIGHTNING! SPARK! SCOUT OUT THE SOUTH SIDE OF OUR TEPUI! FLAMEHEART! MARSHALL EVery available...” the chief's voice faded as Lightning ran to the source of the smoke with his comrades, eager to find the cause. Reaching the cliff edge, Lightning, Ember and Spark began using the small ridges that stuck out of the cliff face to climb down as fast as their balance permitted them. Upon reaching the bottom, they found a crater gouged into the cliff. Small blue flames encircled the crater, burning on the air alone. Lightning prepared himself for what he could find, running every imaginable possibility through his head as the trio approached the crater. All three of them let out a gasp: the source of the light was something unthinkable: a dull-eyed mare. *** Queen Blanca laid herself down on her purple couch and started ranting to her feelings hooker.(see author's note) “HOW DARE SHE! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH WORK I NOW HAVE TO DO?!? FIRST SHE CAUSES THIS BLASPHEMOUS BLUE LIGHT WITH THIS WITCHCRAFT CALLED MAGIC! THEN THE HIDEOUSLY DISFIGURED FOOL FORGETS TO BOW TO ME! AND OF COURSE SHE REFUSED THAT CITIZENSHIP I OFFERED HER...THAT...THAT...BITCH!” Blanca had to stop for breath before continuing, “YOU KNOW WHAT THE CONSEQUENCE IS FOR DISOBEDIENCE OR FAILURE?” the feelings hooker could only nod her frightened head, “EXECUTION! AND EXECUTIONS ARE QUITE A BORE! ...You see one, you've seen them all...AND I HAD TO EXECUTE OVER A DOZEN PONIES TODAY!! THE IMBECILES FAILED TO CATCH HER WHEN SHE DECIDED TO RUN AWAY! NO ONE RUNS AWAY FROM AN EXECUTION!!” Queen Blanca finally stopped and looked over to the feelings hooker for a response. “Erm...did your mother have a lot of executions?” “Only the murderers...she never had...what it takes to be...a good queen...I was so happy when she died. Just remembering her death brings so much joy to my heart.” Blanca said with less anger. “Erm...why wasn't your mother a good queen?” “Oh...well...um...she just wasn't okay! Why does this have to be about my mother!?!” Blanca whined. “Erm...it is quite common...for maternal problems...to appear in other problems...” the feelings hooker said whilst quivering with fear. “THIS IS ALL HER FAULT!?! GAH! I SHOULD HAVE POISONED HER SOONER!” Blanca screeched with a huff, before dismissing the feelings hooker and preparing for bed. Author's Note Feelings Hooker: A term for therapist. Used exclusively in Inamoenus. This chapter is rather comedic compared to the other two. If you haven't already guessed, Queen Blanca is the comedic relief. Just to clarify things to those who are confused, Crystal Comet and Firebolt are the same pony. Impending InvasionFirebolt groaned, her head was throbbing and she hadn't been so hungry in her life. She opened her eyes to find her surroundings nearly pitch-black, except for a soft orange glow that seemed to be coming from behind her. Trying to get a sense of where she was, Firebolt shifted her hooves on the ground, displacing a little dirt. Dirt? She was in a desert last she checked. “What the...” she said out loud. “You are in the custody of the flame ponies. You were found to be the source of strange blue light, so...umm...we are keeping you here until we get some answers.” a stallion's voice came from behind her. “Who's there?!?” Firebolt cried out, leaping upwards, pivoting on her hooves to try and see the speaker, just to trip on the cord that was tied to her ankle. She let out another groan, “Why am I tied up?” Firebolt asked, as she lifted her head from the dirt. “Erm...you are a potential threat...it's for our own safety...er...are you okay?” The mysterious voice responded. “I've been through worse...where are you? It's so dark I can't see a thing, except two weird floating orbs of light.” said Firebolt. “Those are my eyes.” “Whoa....” she murmured, “What are you?” “I...am a flame-pony” the voice said with a distinct kind of pride. Firebolt could imagine a stallion puffing out his chest as the voice spoke. “Whatsa flame-pony?” she asked. “You've never heard of us?” “Nope.” “You know...monstrous glow-eyed beasts of the terrible tepui...” the voice said, annoyed. “You're monstrous?” “No...” the voice sounded confused. “Why do they call you monstrous, if you are not monstrous?” “That's what that dull-eyed queen spews about us...she also calls us blasphemous among other things...” the voice replied. “Queen Blanca?” Firebolt questioned, attempting to get more information. “Yeah.” “Ohhhhh...the alicorn that tried to execute me...I understand now...” Firebolt said nonchalantly. “She tried to...execute you?” “Yeah...she said my magic was blasphemous.” Firebolt was starting to feel a little more comfortable around whoever this flame-pony was. They sat in the dark in silence for a few minutes, until the silence broke with a low growl. Firebolt could hear some scuffling noises and the orange orbs moved around wildly, as if they were searching for the source of the growl. “That was me...sorry...just kinda hungry...” Firebolt said sheepishly. “Ohhhh...when Ember takes over my shift, I'll get you something to eat.” the voice said, sounding relieved. “What's an ember-pony?” “Ember is the name of another flame-pony.” the strange voice giggled. “Ohhhh...um...what is your name?” Firebolt asked. “Lightning.” *** Dark bags hung underneath Celestia's eyes, as she ate breakfast. Despite being exhausted, her sleep was restless and her head was filled with many scenarios, mostly of the worst-case type. She heard the soft clip-clop of a pony's hooves approaching her; Celestia lifted her head to find Detective Glass. “Princess Celestia,” he said, “I have made a deduction: either a unicorn or an alicorn took it. You see when the crash site was secured, the ground was still hot...we had to have a few unicorns cast a cooling spell...the fallen star couldn't have been picked up physically without giving the pony severe burns...thus only a unicorn or an alicorn could have taken it.” “Thank, you...that cuts our suspect list in half...” Celestia murmured. “Now we have only half of Canterlot as suspects...” the detective said with a sigh, “I'll see what else I can find or deduce.” Detective Glass waved goodbye and left the princess with her breakfast. *** Stanley's morning was pretty routine. Be nudged awake, offer Blossom coffee, make coffee for only himself. Thump. Grab newspaper. He trudged into the kitchen and sat down and started reading: FALLEN STAR STILL MISSING! INVESTIGATION NARROWED DOWN TO UNICORNS AND ALICORNS ONLY! Quartz. Unicorn. HER. Stanley ground his teeth together, looking for something-ANYTHING to cool his anger down before he did something. Murder took control of his thoughts again and before he knew it, he was flying to HER place. He arrived at a small, rickety bungalow; weeds grew in the front yard, paint peeled off the walls and most of the shutters either lay on the ground or crookedly hung by one hinge. Stanley galloped down the ditch that was worn down into the ground by tired hooves and towards the door. Just as he was trained for the expedition, he swivelled on his front hooves so that his back end faced the door way. With a swift buck, he kicked the door clear off its hinges and it flew into the dark and dusty hallway. “FIREBOLT!” he boomed into the musty hallway ,“ I'VE BEEN THINKIN' OF YOU FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS! AND I'VE HAD ENOUGH! YOU'RE GONNA GET IT!” Silence. The whole house screamed barren. “Dammit, you better not be hiding.” Stanley muttered, his voice returning to what it was and abandoning the Canterlot, hoity-toity accent. He slowly walked into the hallway, past the moth-eaten drapes that blacked out the sun. Clip-clop. Clip-clop. Clip-clop. The sound of Stanley's hooves echoed in the empty house and kicked up small clouds of dust. Stanley began searching each room methodically, eager to end his own obsession. Eventually, Stanley reached the basement. The door was ominously locked and Stanley had to give it several kicks to break it down. “I know you're in here!” he yelled with a sense of triumph, before walking maliciously down the stairs. The basement was pitch-black...except for an orange ring that ate a hole into the darkness. *** Lightning trotted back to the holding tree with a flame fruit held in his mouth. It was Ember's shift to watch the dull-eyed mare now, but he had promised to get her something to eat. He entered the burrow and Ember gave him a swift nod. He placed it in front of the mare and said. “I brought you a flame fruit...it's in front of you...you just give it a swift knock with your hoof and it cracks open.” “Thanks.” she said as she groped in the dark. After a few minutes, she found it and smashed her hoof on it. She gasped at the glowing contents that oozed from the broken shell. Cautiously the dark-eyed mare licked the glowing mess that was on her hoof. “I haven't had anything like it, but it tastes good.” she said before devouring the flame-fruit. Lightning chuckled and left the holding tree to give his report to Chief Blaze. Chief Blaze was at the village clearing, drinking some flame-nectar. Lightning bowed before him. “You've come with a report?” Chief Blaze asked. Lightning nodded and said, “The dull-eyed mare is...strange...she talks about magic so lightly...most dull-eyed ponies cringe at the very word. She also is unfamiliar with our kind...most of her kind are exposed to propaganda about us since a young age...she also speaks off almost being executed by...Queen Blanca-” “WHAT?!?” Chief Blaze cried out, accidentally spitting some flame-nectar on Lightning. “Er...yes...umm...you might want to have our defences raised...she's either a well-trained spy or an ally of great value...” Lightning said, feeling embarrassed. “I need to question her directly. I want you to come with me. I'll send Ember to prepare the defences so that we are ready for war.” Chief Blaze ordered. Lightning and Chief Blaze cantered to the holding tree, only slowing to enter. “Ember. Prepare the defences for an impending invasion. Lightning and I will stay by the dull-eyed mare.” Chief Blaze commanded. Ember nodded her head and exited the burrow. “Invasion?” the dull-eyed mare said with her voice quivering. “Yes. An invasion. We believe you are the catalyst for the inevitable.” Chief Blaze said, pointing a hoof at her. “No...not again!” the mare cried out, her whole body shivering with her voice. “What are you referring to?!?” Chief Blaze shouted, motioning to Lightning to keep quiet. “A long time ago...I-I was sent-no volunteered for...an ex-ex-expedition...it was led b-b-by a stallion by the name of...Bee's Sting...we were exploring the m-m-m-Macintosh Mountains and...and...and...we came across a tr-tr-tribe of buffalo...but..but...but...but....HE WANTED TO WIPE THEM OUT AND CLAIM THE LANDS FOR EQUESTRIA!” she blubbered and wailed before continuing, “...I-I-I did something...that-that killed many...both buffalo and ponies...it-it was to stop...the invasion...but it was t-t-too powerful...” she broke off into sobs. “...show me your magic.” Chief Blaze said calmly. “I-I-I only know a few spells...running is more my thing...but...okay...I'll conjure some fire...I'd like more to see than eyes glowing in the darkness...” she stuttered between sobs. The dull-eyed mare stood up and she closed her eyes. Her horn began to glow red and a miniscule, deep red flame lit up the burrow. “I've made my conclusion...she's an ally. Untie her and brief her on our situation....oh and you,” Chief Blaze pointed at the dull-eyed mare, “I need your name.” “...Firebolt.” the dull-eyed mare said with an expression of shock on her face. *** BANG! The gold door leading to Blanca's bedroom burst open and General Sword Swipe ran in. “WHO DARES DISTURB MY HOLY SLUMBER!” Blanca shouted to the intruder. “I only disturb it on your command, your highness,” General Sword Swipe said with a deep bow, “The preparations for the invasion are complete. It is only at your royal command that it can go off to conquer.” “Then I command you and the invasion force to go off and conquer that tepui...I'd like my dry-season palace to be there...oh and after you're done conquering, cut down the trees: they're blasphemous.” Blanca demanded with a sickly sweet smile. “As you command, your highness.” General Sword Swipe answered with a deep bow, before leaving Blanca to descend into dreams of a white palace that gleamed only in the light of the sun and no other. Like FireFirebolt wiped the tears from her eyes, but more just kept flowing. The screams...they rang in her head so loud that they almost blotted out her thoughts. Why did this have to happen? She came here to get away from the hiding and the screams, but now she was cowering in a hole in the ground again. “I've got a lot to explain...I know Chief Blaze came off as harsh, but he just wants the best for our village...there's a war going on and Queen Blanca was planning on invading this place even before your blue lights appeared in the desert...you aren't the cause...you just sped it up...” Lightning said, trying to comfort her. Firebolt couldn't hold it back any more. She burst into tears. “I...I...try to run away from it...I try to...redeem myself...but...I've run straight into it....no escape...” she cried between gasps and sobs, “You know I...can...can...hear their screams...they're deafening right now...the simmering of an explosion...and the angry cries...of...of....of...an orphan...” “You caused an explosion?” Lightning said amazed. “mm-hmm...I meant it to just...be a stunning shock-wave...I never was good at spells...but it...it was...bone-shattering....I....pulverized dozens...” she said as tears flowed down her face. “What would have happened if you hadn't caused an explosion?” “....I...don't...know....” “You said you did it to stop an invasion...” “...it would have continued...if my...incident hadn't reached the princess's ears...she flew in right away and...dissolved the expedition and hushed it all up...” “Is the tribe of buffalo still alive today?” “Yes...” “You saved them. You stopped treachery with a horrible accident.” Lightning said before placing his hoof into the red flame, “You are like fire: a saviour with a cost.” The words hit Firebolt hard. A saviour...with a cost? It made complete and no sense. She sat there dumbly, before saying “I don't want to harm you...Blanca yes...her stupid mindless followers maybe...but I'll harm you like fire burns flesh.” Lightning took his hoof out of the flame and it was unscathed, “Fire doesn't burn our flesh,” he said, “But armies hurt us and we are...” Lightning broke off, a sense of hopelessness was in his voice, “...the last of the flame-ponies...Queen Blanca will destroy us...she has done it with other tribes...” his voice grew with anger, “She exterminated them! Like they were bugs! Cut down the trees because they weren't the sun! Let their tepuis fall into dust with failed palaces! And her followers! They mindlessly enjoyed it!” he stopped and took a deep breath, but did not continue. They sat in silence, thinking; the only sounds came from the crackling of the red flame. Firebolt felt stuck, like she was caught in a net. She wanted to tear it up so badly and be free, but she couldn't. “I can't...” Firebolt finally said, giving in to the guilt surrounding her. “Coward.” Lightning said, before stalking out and leaving Firebolt still tied up. *** “Sister...wake up...they have found the quartz...” a familiar voice broke Celestia's sleep. “Luna? Quartz?” Celestia blinked a few times, “Oh!” She said before shooting out of bed. Celestia ran to the throne room and found two ponies that were familiar...Silent Ponies...It was uncanny. The unicorn had her hoof on the pegasus's shoulder, he seemed to be whispering the same words to her over and over again. When the unicorn spotted Celestia, she nuzzled his flank and walked with him to the front of the throne. Once Celestia sat down they both bowed and the unicorn nodded her head and said “Tell her.” “I...I...don't even know where to begin. Do you...do you recognize me, Princess?” the pegasus began. “I know you're a Silent Pony, but I do not recall your name.” Celestia replied. “That's good enough. It is best you call me Stanley. I haven't adapted to my new life so well...and sometimes the old me would come about in a fit of anger...I had one of those fits this morning and I flew off to Firebolt's home...do you know Firebolt?” he said sheepishly, but the name strangled both sound and silence. Celestia could not forget the name, especially with what Firebolt had caused. Firebolt tried to stop the invasion, but her efforts ended in disaster. Another pony that witnessed what she did and ran up to her, giving her scars that disfigured her flesh, but it was so clear that the physical scars were mute compared to the weight Firebolt carried in her mind. The name made Celestia feel so much pity, yet there was something...something wild and...disturbed about it. Celestia nodded her head and let Stanley continue, “I wanted to hurt her so badly and finish what I couldn't 10 years ago. I broke down the door and searched the house until I came across the basement and I...after what I saw...I don't know if I want to hurt her anymore: I would be still sitting there, staring at it, if Blossom here hadn't found me,” he said with affection, giving the mare a quick nuzzle, “It was awful. The floor was covered in these shards of what looked like glass, but more crystalline: it was quartz. And in the centre of the room was this...I can hardly describe it...it was like a ring of embers that floated in mid-air. You could see through it just fine, but...but it had a distinct vibe...vibe is the word I think-a distinct vibe to it. Something isn't right about it.” he finished. While he was speaking, Celestia's face emoted more and more shock and fear. Firebolt did something that wasn't quite right: she's probably just as crazed as the pegasus that stood in front of her. Celestia sat there thinking about it, but she knew it may be just like it was 10 years ago. “Sister, I need you to handle my duties while I focus on this ring...you might want to let Twilight Sparkle know, but I think she'll need to stay in Ponyville for this one,” she said to her sister before giving commands to a nearby guard, “I need an investigation force of a mix of all kinds of ponies, unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies. We investigate the Firebolt residence in the morning.” *** “Excuse me Princess Celestia, I wish to help with the investigation.” Stanley said. Despite his fear of the...thing...something was driving him to go back. Stanley never thought he would feel this feeling for her, but it kept moving through his mind...Why did she do it? What is it? If she could really do things like that...was she really guilty? The whole mess of things made Stanley's head hurt, but he felt some obligation to bring a fellow, mal-adapted pony back to Equestria...even if she killed his father... “Stan! If you help, I don't know if I'll see you again. Please stay!” Blossom cried as she embraced him. Stanley sighed with defeat and nuzzled Blossom. The choice was clear: he would give up his searching and stay with her, no matter how much it hurt, no matter how much he would have to fight back the anger, he would remain by Blossom's side. Princess Celestia seemed to show a small smile at their embrace, but soon left, leaving them to depart as well. *** Lightning and Spark were working hard on the south side of the tepui, digging a trench. The cool night air didn't prevent them from sweating and their fur stuck to their bodies as they shovelled the sapphire sand. They were doing this for hours: digging away, trying to reach the east and west trenches. Lightning panted harder and harder, but he was getting closer and closer to Ember, who was digging the east trench. Finally, their shovels clonked together and a wall of sand was no longer between them. Lightning let out a long sigh of relief before climbing up the tepui with Ember to report to Chief Blaze. “South to East trench...is completed...ready to be...filled...” Lightning said between pants. “Good. You two rest for about an hour and then I shall give you another task.” Chief Blaze said approvingly. Ember and Lightning grabbed some flame-fruit, collapsed on the ground, cracked them open and began eating the glowing liquid. They sat there for many minutes, eating and resting. “I heard that the dull-eyed pony won't help, but isn't a spy either.” Ember finally said. “Yeah, she's no danger...but no help either.” Lightning said with annoyance. “At least Chief Blaze had the wits to make her cast that fire spell. We can use that at least.” “That's one thing...but...” “It's not going to be enough?” Ember finished. Lightning nodded in response. A little magic fire was not going to save them. Even though Lightning tried to ignore it, he could feel their doom getting closer to suffocate them. “I wonder what's she's up to now?” Ember thought out loud. “I forgot to untie her!” Lightning said, putting his hoof to his forehead, “I'll be right back.” Lightning trotted to the holding tree. Trying to hold back his anger, he walked in. “I'm not going to do it...don't try to convince me.” Firebolt's voice wavered as he entered. “I'm not going to try and convince you. The cause is mute. I just forgot to untie you.” Lightning said, holding back a sneer. “I thought you wouldn't just give up like that...sorry.” she said sheepishly. “I've got more important things to do...like help with any efforts to prevent our extinction.” he said before untying her. “If your survival is at stake, why don't you just run away?” she said hopefully. “We've got nowhere to run to!” he snapped, “And even if we did, we don't give in! No matter the odds! The only one that runs is someone to warn the next tepui...and we're the last!” “Well...there has...to be...somewhere...” Firebolt stuttered. “We don't run away...but I figured you would respond like this...the likes of you don't...understand.” Lightning said forcefully, before stomping out. *** Blanca was uncharacteristically pacing at night. There was some nagging feeling inside that something wasn't right. She had these night-time worries before, but nothing this bad. What if she gets over-thrown? What if there's a rebellion being organized? What if that insolent mare comes back? What if she spontaneously combusted? The worries were endless. She looked at the moon-lit sky out the window. Blast the moon! Long live the sun! A New WorldFirebolt somehow managed to scale the Chief's tree and was now sitting in the uppermost branches with her journal, watching the flame-ponies set up. She was unable to chronicle her journal in the dark burrow, even with the red flame giving off some light. She began writing things down in an effort to catch up: I don't know how long it has been. I escaped those fools, but I've ended up somewhere strange. I took off running as fast as I could for the hell of it and I've crashed into a tepui. The ponies are very hospitable here, but they are as strange as the place and give off a very warrior like air. They seem to be devoted to this tepui, but it is their last and only home. The tepui rises far above the desert and is covered with the most exotic trees. Their trunks are a rich dark chocolate colour and seem to be almost melting where they stand. The leaves are a dark purple, almost black, kind of like the night sky. The trees flower at night; they slowly open and they glow orange like fire and the pollen spills into the air like sparks. If a flower gets pollinated, it produces a fruit with a hard shell that is blacker than any darkness that could reign down in this strange land. The fruit seems to be the main source of nourishment here. Cracking one of the fruits open allows you to consume a rich, orange, glowing substance that almost looks like lava, but tastes like custard and warms the belly. The ponies here are not like regular ponies. They call themselves the Flame-Ponies and the name suits them well. Their manes and fur are almost as dark as the fruit and their flanks are devoid of any cutie marks, but their eyes are magnificent. Their eyes suit their nocturnal lifestyle as the glow orange in the dark and appear as orbs. It gives them a source of light no matter where they go. The Flame-Ponies are unlike any ponies that I have come across before. They live in burrows underneath the trees and their hearts can only rest at their beloved tepui. Firebolt stopped writing, it was all she could describe. She could see the flame-ponies preparing for a battle, sharpening wooden stakes, creating booby traps and filling up on the flame-fruit. Maybe the invasion force won't come. Maybe the flame-ponies were preparing for nothing. Besides they just assumed that there was going to be an invasion based on her presence and she was just one pony. They were just overreacting. The sky began to grow lighter. It would be sunrise and bedtime soon. Firebolt glanced at her bag that was hanging on a nearby branch. She should pack up her journal soon and turn in. “INVASION FORCE SPOTTED ON THE SOUTH SIDE! POSITIONS!” a voice yelled, stopping Firebolt's train of thought in its tracks. There is an invasion. They weren't overreacting; it's all true. Firebolt hastily packed up her journal and was about to find somewhere out of the way to hide, when Lightning's voice shouted something quickly to her, “Stay in the tree! Be a smart coward at least!” She watched the ponies artfully place themselves, making a concentrated force to the south, but still covering the borders. Some ducked down into burrows around the edge, clearly planning to pounce when least expected, whilst a few others lit the trench with the red flame that she had conjured up and checked on the traps, before joining their comrades. Chief Blaze walked along the ranks and once the stars began to fade, he gave a short speech. “This is it! What could very be the final battle!” he boomed, “Do not fear death, but fight for survival! We may die out, but I'd rather we go down with our dignity! We fight 'til the end!” As the sun broke the night, a low humming sound emerged from the flame-ponies. Then, above the humming sound, Chief Blaze spoke: “Fight until the end, Until death is our friend. We fight for our homes, Until the last one roams!” Once Chief Blaze finished, he joined in with the low humming. The humming slowly grew louder and louder, until it was a deafening battle-cry. Looking to the south, Firebolt spotted thousands of Inamoenus ponies that outnumbered the tribe's few hundred. Once the sun had finally fully risen, a horn was barely heard underneath the battle-cry, then silence: the battle had just begun. The fire blocked the paths of unicorns and earth ponies, but the pegasi picked them up, one by one, flew them over the flames and into the centre of the tepui. Big mistake. As the unicorns and earth ponies went to attack the flame-ponies from underground, more flame ponies burst from the burrows, thrusting their stakes into the nearest Inamoenusians' chests, before pulling them out and acquiring their next targets. Firebolt watched in horror as Inamoenusian after Inamoenusian blindly charged into the blood bath. Some died instantly, if the strike was accurate enough, but often they would fall and lie on the ground gasping for air and watching the blood pool around their dying bodies. A few tried to leap over the inner-ring of flame-ponies, but none of them made it past. The flame-ponies simply lifted their stakes in the air, slicing open the stomachs of the Inamoenusians' stomachs, so that when they hit the ground, their bowels spilt out, like seppuku without the honour. Firebolt couldn't distinguish the screams from the ones she actually heard to the ones that just existed in her head. Maybe things were less bloody in the outer-ring... Firebolt shifted her eyes. Things were less bloody; the flame-ponies just stood watch, waiting for an outer attack. And within minutes it came. The pegasi finished moving the other ponies to the centre and began attacking from the outside. The happenings in the outer-ring contrasted the inner-ring: the pegasi dive-bombed the flame-ponies, swiftly decapitating many with swords clutched in their mouths. Some of the more powerful pegasi cut entire flame-ponies in half, scattering entrails with viscous laughs. Hours past and the fighting continued. The flame-ponies were doing remarkably well, but their small numbers put them on the losing side. The yells and screams got louder with every kill and every loss. The battle-cries drowned out the screams that took place in Firebolt's mind. She cried and whimpered in the tree, stroking the scar that disfigured her face. She took a second to check on the battle. Some of the Inamoenusians found their way into the booby traps and became burning corpses or were struggling for breath, impaled on stakes in pits. The Inamoenusian force dwindled to what looked like half a hundred, but the flame-ponies only numbered about a dozen. The injured fell on mounds of bodies and blood dripped from the leaves of the trees. Some areas had entire puddles of blood with entrails floating in them like boats. The disturbing site paired with the cries pushed Firebolt's mind to he edge. “STOP IT! STOP FIGHTING...I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!” she shrieked from the tree, revealing her presence. The fighting halted for a moment. “We don't abandon our homes...” growled a flame-pony by the name of Spark. “We only stop if Queen Blanca commands us so.” said a proud pegasus who appeared to be leading the invasion force. And thus the fighting continued. Queen Blanca commands us so...The statement caused Firebolt burst into tears, but then she did something unimaginable on pure impulse. She grabbed the amplifier from her bag and placed it on her horn. She leaped down from the tree and began galloping to the southern edge of the tepui. She climbed down and only briefly took off the amplifier to levitate herself over the flames. She ran south as fast as she could, her hooves skimming the sand and the flames that burst around her went from blue to purple to the ultraviolet spectrum: she had never run this fast before. The invisible flames allowed her to see even if it was all a blur and she was able to slow before she crashed into the city of Inamoenus. Firebolt galloped through the streets, finding her way to the palace. She swiftly entered and ran through the halls, trying to get to the throne room. Firebolt eventually found it and once she entered, the pompous queen on the throne spoke smugly, “Come to surrender?” “I'm closing this...” Firebolt said with an almost victorious sneer. What she was about to do was insane, but it felt so right. She could finally escape the screams. Her insides shook with a combination of fear and anticipation, but she kept her head held high as the tears streamed down her face, washing away the sorrow. Firebolt's voice wavered, yet was strong as she let out one last word, “Goodbye.” Firebolt cast the spell. *** Celestia was stood at the top of the basement steps as Detective Glass gave her his report, “I had teams of pegasi take photos of the evidence in the basement and I constructed an image in the family room here,” Detective Glass led her to a musty room and each hoofstep caused dust to fly into the air, just to rain back down on the ponies. Both Celestia and Detective Glass coughed a bit, before he continued, “As you can see here,” he pointed his hoof at the pictures of hoofprints, “there are only two sets of hoofprints: Stanley's and Blossom's. But the door locks from the inside,” he pointed at another picture, but his one had a door with the lock broken, “and Stanley had to break it down. This gives us a very perplexing mystery...who locked the door from the inside?” Celestia considered the answer quite clear, “Magic.” she said. “Nope, I already had a unicorn inspect it. According to him the basement reeks of magic, but the door is clean.” “Teleportation.” “OH! That is the answer...being an earth pony makes me less in tune with magic. I am so glad to have someone of your expertise here because that is a smaller mystery than...” Detective glass glanced ominously at the picture of an orange ring that floated in mid-air. “I shall go see it.” Celestia said before walking back to the basement and stirring up more dust. The basement was rather dark: the overhead light had burnt out and the investigative team had to bring in jars filled with fireflies. Shavings of quartz was scattered on the floor and on the table there were many carving tools and a set of lonely goggles. This...Crystal Comet..but once known as Firebolt, had made something with the quartz and given her past, it was not good. In the centre of the room, there was the orange ring, but it looked more like embers and the magic flowing off it hit her hard in the chest. The thing was unimaginable and its power was stronger than anything Celestia knew, even the Elements of Harmony... “Get Discord immediately! I want this...thing to be shut down as soon as possible!” she barked a frantic order at the nearest pony. She didn't know what it was, but it made her shiver. It was almost as if some law of nature was broken. Discord came quickly, but it wasn't quick enough to Celestia. “What seems to be the matter, my dear Princess?” Discord said as he made serpentine movements around her. “That.” she said, pointing at the the orange ring. “Oooooo...” Discord said as he wiggled his fingers in excitement, “Lets have a looksie, shall we?” Discord began circling around it, stroking the beard on his chin. He sniffed the air and a smile spread across his face, “That magic is quite spicy, isn't it? I think I know what this delightful thing is, dear Celestia.” After saying that, Discord stuck his head through the centre of the ring and it disappeared. “DISCORD!!!” Celestia cried out loud. Discord moved back and his head reappeared. “You can be really uptight sometimes, you know? I was just having some fun with this rift.” he said. “Rift?” Celestia said, confused. “Quite exciting, isn't it? I just love that blue sand in that parallel universe. I think I'll take a vacation there sometime.” Discord said as he batted his eyes at her. “I want it shut down.” she commanded. “Why? Don't you want to explore new worlds? To seek out new life and new civilizations? Too boldly go where no pony has gone before?” Discord huffed. “It's a threat to the security of Equestria.” “Then do what you do to the other threats of Equestria. Lock 'em away, just to have your beloved Twilight handle them. I mean that's what the oh great and powerful Princess Celestia does, doesn't she?” he mocked. “After my sister lost her way, I needed someone else to wield the elements of harmony, okay? Besides you and Luna got rehabilitated eventually...would you rather be shut down?” Celestia threatened. “King Sombra and Queen Chrysalis,” he said with a sneer, “Fiiiiiiine I'll shut it down. It doesn't have a brain to mind anyway and I can always make my own blue desert in my backyard.” Discord snapped his fingers and blue flames burst from the ring, then the ring shrank until is was just one, tiny flame. Discord snapped his fingers again and it died. Discord yawned, “Quite helpless aren't we? It was just a matter of making the flames burn backwards. Well I've got to get going. I've promised to go ice-skating with my dear friend, Fluttershy. See ya toots!” and with that, he snapped his fingers and disappeared, leaving Celestia and the other ponies gaping. *** Stanley stood sat at the kitchen table staring into space. He had decided to take a break from work that day in order to cope with his anger issues and discovery. Since they needed money to live, Blossom had left for work...on the condition that Stanley would stay at home and NOT read the newspaper. He agreed, but he felt like he was broken. Truth was that he hated this life, but he loved Blossom and he would give up everything just to make her happy...right? A knock on the door. Stanley trudged over to it and opened it. “P-P-Princess Luna?” he stuttered. “Yes, Lightning Sting. We have used our temporary privileges of being in complete power to gain information about many things that has confused us. My sister speaks to thee as if thou were a secret and this...quartz...situation has caused us to question how our sister handles her rule, once again.” Luna declared and Stanley stared at her confused for a few minutes. “Erm...” “Did thou knowst what thou hast found in thine enemy's basement?” she asked “Something bad?” Stanley answered. “No. Tis something different. Unseen by any pony before. A gateway t'another realm.” “...is that good?” Stanley was terribly confused. “No...we think tis neutral and its use is what determines whether tis good or bad.” “Erm...why are you here? “10 years ago, thou was involved in an incident with an expedition that cost a great amount of lives and that Celestia hast chosen to cover up. How does thou feel about Celestia's actions?” Luna questioned. “Ohhhh....ummm...I really don't know....I don't understand why she did it...but I think she had a good reason...I mean it has to be worth all these changes that is associated with changing identities right?” Stanley stuttered a very shocked response. “We see...” Luna said thoughtfully, “We shalt notify thee that the portal incident is also to be kept quiet. We wish thee luck. Farewell.” And with that Luna left Stanley to question life even more. *** Lightning growled at the pegasus that held a steel sword to his throat. “Strength is irrelevant. Resistance is futile.” the pegasus sneered. “I will never surrender! I know what awaits me!” Lightning cried. “You are an imperfect being, created by an imperfect being. Why do you resist?” the pegasus said with a laugh. “I am the last and I wish to join my brothers and sisters with dignity.” Lightning spat, trying to hold his head high, but the cold blade brushing against his neck prevented him from doing so. Lightning was the last. Everyone around him had died, including Chief Blaze. Lightning somehow made it to that point by pure luck. And now he lay with his back in the bloody dirt, a hoof pressed down on his chest and a blade caressing his neck. The half a dozen ponies were what was left of the invasion force though. The thought gave Lightning a smirk: at least his kind went out with a bang. The pegasus snickered and malice flitted through her eyes. She would kill him now. “Goodbye...” Lightning said with a sad smile. He didn't want to die, but this was the end and he was glad that he would go down fighting. Then there was a white flash that seared the sky and halted everything. The blade slid off his neck and Lightning momentarily thought he was dead, but he heard a gasp from the pegasus. This was still reality. Her hoof was still on his chest though and Lighting kicked his back legs upward, sending her flying into a nearby trap. She let out a gargled scream and then nothing: she was dead. The other ponies seemed to be too distracted to notice: they were moaning strange things, “Inamoenus...mighty Queen Blanca...save us from this treachary...” Lightning looked around bewildered. He soon discovered that the light originated from the south...from...Inamoenus... “I believe your home is destroyed...if you halt this invasion...I will gladly accept you...” Lightning spoke and hope began to flare inside him. “No...we can't...Queen Blanca commands us so...” they all cried simultaneously. “I'll have to kill you then...” Lightning's newly found hope dropped like a stone and ceased to be. With a sad look on his face, Lightning grabbed a nearby stake and began fighting the now homeless ponies. They jabbed at him, but he kicked and he stabbed, letting blood spurt into the air in a shower of sorrow. By the end of the massacre, Lightning was all that was left standing. Tears fell from his face: he was the last... Fight until the end, Until death is our friend. We fight for our homes, Until the last one roams. He was the last... “Until...the last...one roams...” he whispered. Lightning looked around him. Bodies and entrails were strewn everywhere and blood fed the ground. This was no longer a place to live. Lightning began to shake, tears spilling from his eyes and he fell onto the ground, crying into the bloodied soil. Everypony that he had ever loved was dead. He was alone. He rolled onto his back and gazed upwards, letting the tears to continue to form. The sun had set and the stars had blazed into existence again. A single falling star flew across the sky. “I...I...will follow it...I will roam on the whim of a fallen star...” he said to himself. Lightning got up and said “Goodbye and rest in peace...all of you...” Lightning looked up to the new horizon and took his first steps into a new world. *** One second Queen Blanca was mocking the wretched mare, next she was waiting in a line behind said wretched mare. She stood there, dazed and confused for a moment, until a stallion came up to her, after talking to said wretched mare, “Excuse me, miss, I would-” he started. “THAT'S QUEEN BLANCA !!!” she yelled back at him. “Haha...that means nothing here...” he chuckled. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!?!?!?” Blanca screeched, obviously disgruntled by his lack of devotion towards her. He responded with another giggle, “You...JUST Blanca... are dead. No status whatsoever. My job is just to make sure that all ponies know that they are on their way to the afterlife to avoid any confusion-induced incidents. Enjoy the afterlife, miss!” he said before moving on to the next pony in line. Author's Note Seppuku :Ritualistic suicide by samurai to preserve honour. The samurai cuts open his own stomach as a form of self-disembowelment. Here is the final chapter. Despite endings being difficult, I had fun writing this chapter: I loved writing the gore (I know it's disturbing of me :P) and the dialogue for Discord and Luna. Luna speaks in some sort of old-modern English fusion, which is fun to write and you can pretty much have Discord say anything...even Star Trek quotes... Discord was not the only one to quote Star Trek in this chapter, though. In Lightning's bit, one of the ponies quotes the Borg. (You will assimilate... :P) I'm just going to list some inspirations for this story: 1. Portal Game: The whole rift idea :P 2. Rice Boy Comics: The landscape 3. The Demonata Series: The gore scenes 4. May Bird Series: The last little bit with Queen Blanca and the afterlife/ 5. MLP:FIM: Obvious reasons. I feel that this story deserves a sequel...it's just that I have two directions in mind...I might do one on the political turmoil in Equestria or I might do one on what Lightning encounters after leaving the tepui...I just don't know at this point in time.
Fallen StarCrystal Comet locked herself in her basement, hiding herself and the fallen star. Her red eyes gleamed with hope as she gazed upon the fallen star. She finally found something that could lead her to her escape. A quartz crystal. Fallen from the stars. What was once abundant a thousand years ago is now mined to near extinction. NEAR extinction. Crystal Comet had what could very well be the last piece of quartz not obtained by the Princess. Its rarity was not the reason why Crystal Comet desired it though. She knew what it could do and why there was very little left. Crystal Comet took out her blank journal and wrote the very first entry: It begins with this find. I was doing my horribly boring job, recording the dates of unusual meteors, when one landed in the wilderness east of Canterlot. I ran towards the crash site and found a piece of quartz, a very rare jewel, with mystic effects. It is said that being near one can amplify the power of one's magic. I wish to harness its power to do something nopony has done before: explore what Equestria cannot control. I already have an idea for the spell, but the power needed is beyond what I can reserve. If I can create an amplifier with this quartz, I can do it. The stars await me. Crystal Comet put the journal away and went to work. She grabbed a pair of safety goggles, lifting her blood-red forelock off her black forehead to put them on. Her hoof passed over the scar that ran down the left side of her face and she shuddered. She could hear the screams that resided only in her memories. Crystal Comet shut them out and concentrated on the task at hoof. Working until sunrise, Crystal Comet carved the fallen star until it fit right on top of her horn, sculpting it so that its exterior matched the exterior of her own horn. Crystal Comet took off goggles and slid her newly made amplifier on her horn. Her heart danced with excitement as she prepared to test it. Crystal Comet scanned her thoughts to find the perfect spell to test. Something advanced. Difficult. Requiring a lot of power. “Fire conjuring...” she whispered as the idea popped in her head. But the dangers that came with that spell were enormous. Crystal Comet shook her head. She would not let her fears get the best of her. If the amplifier failed, it would be all over: she wouldn't be able to find another piece of quartz and she had to little to make a second prototype. Failure meant continuing her living as a Silent Pony, never revealing what she had experienced. She put her journal, a few quills and a few bottles of ink in her only fire-proof bag and prepared for the test. She focused on creating a small ball of fire in the centre of the room and began casting. Within seconds a tiny, blue flame appeared, floating a few feet above the floor. Crystal Comet smiled; it had been a success. But then, the flame began to flicker, before rapidly expanding into a ring of fire beyond Crystal Comet's control. Panicking, she threw the amplifier off her head and it slid across the floor. The fire still burned, but it lacked fuel and fizzled to a glowing ring of orange embers, hovering in the air. Sighing with relief, Crystal Comet used magic to summon the amplifier towards her. With great effort, she concentrated on levitating it and moving it through the centre of the ring. As the amplifier approached the ring of embers, it disappeared. Befuddled, Crystal Comet cautiously approached the ring, subconsciously picking up her fire-proof bag. She could see nothing strange about it, but there was no explanation of why the amplifier just disappeared. Crystal Comet scraped her hooves on the ground and with out a thought, leaped through the centre of the ring, unprepared for what awaited her. *** Princess Celestia slept in her bed, dreaming about the new heights her kingdom could reach. A smile played across her lips as she shifted her hooves. BANG. One of her winged guards threw the door open, waking her from her dreams. “Princess Celestia! A fallen star was reported, but it has not been found!” He reported. “Ponies like to keep things that have fallen from the sky. Why are you waking me for this?” Princess Celestia sighed. “THIS was found at the crash site,” the guard motioned for another guard to step forward with a clamped in his mouth. The second guard placed the bag in front of Princess Celestia, bowed, then walked back to his place by the first guard. Celestia took the bag and emptied it on her golden nightstand. Tiny white flecks of transparent crystal fell out of the bag and Celestia gasped in disbelief: it was quartz. “TAKE ME TO THE CRASH SITE IMMEDIATELY!” she commanded. *** Stanley sat on the roof of his home, staring at the moon above while a white mare nuzzled her head beneath his green wings. He looked down and smiled; Blossom never could stay up late into the night. Just looking at her made him swell with pride. Returning his gaze to the moon, he looked back on his glory days: the expedition. He remembered when he was not Stanley, but Diamond Sting. He remembered when Blossom was just a simple herbologist, named Water Lily. He remembered his father's cries when he led them into battle. He remembered fighting wave after wave of savages. He remembered everything to the fullest detail. And he was quite satisfied with his actions. Satisfied with all but, one. His pride moved to anger as he thought of THAT mare. The mare who wished to stop their triumph and commit treason. The one who murdered his father. He remembered that he failed to avenge his father. Then, a blinding light streaked past the moon, through the star-lit sky and down to the ground. The sounds from its landing shook the ground and caused Blossom to wake from her sleep. “Stanley...” she said, quivering. “It's okay...It's okay...it's just a fallen star...” Stanley cooed, as Blossom rested her head on Stanley's hooves. “Can we go inside now?” she whispered as her eyelids drooped, almost completely covering her green eyes. Stanley nodded: he had enough of looking back on the past. *** Lightning stood at the edge of the tepui, beginning his day-time shift as the rest of his people slept comfortably in burrows underneath the flame-flower trees. The sun was just beginning to rise, when he spotted something in the distance, about half a night away. His glowing orange eyes stared upon what appeared to be a small mass of floating blue light which paralleled the colour of the desert below. It grew brighter and brighter until it suddenly flickered into nothing. Lightning squinted at where it was in confusion. He saw nothing, but desert and sun. He sighed and put it to memory to report to Chief Blaze after his shift. It was strange, but definitely not an attack from the Dull-Eyed. *** Queen Blanca stirred and awoke as light filtered through the windows and onto her snow-white mane. Blinking her blue eyes, she yawned and tapped her hoof on the navy blue bedside table. Two servants came in, serving the alicorn breakfast tea and hay on a light blue tray, accented with silver. Daintily, she sipped her tea and nibbled on the hay. After finishing her breakfast, Blanca tapped her hoof on the bedside table again and the servants came in to retrieve the remainder of her breakfast. A young mare meekly walked into the room as Blanca came out from under the blankets. “You may brush my mane.” commanded Blanca. The mare nodded and trotted over with Blanca's golden hairbrush. Blanca puffed out her chest and stared proudly into as the young mare brushed her mane. “Powder?” the mare asked quietly once she finished brushing. Blanca nodded and the mare began applying a dull white powder on Blanca until only Blanca's sceptre cutie mark remained untouched. Once the mare had finished preparing Blanca, Blanca walked out of the room, carefully placing her hooves to obtain the ultimate amount of grace. With her head held high, Blanca entered her thrown room and seated herself on the bejewelled throne. “I request the nightly reports.” she said with a royal air. Sheepishly, guard after guard walked into the throne room, bowed and gave their reports, most of which were “No anomalies, your highness.” or “Everything was all clear, your highness.” “Your-your highness...I...uh...er...” the guard stumbled on his words. “Spit it out!” Blanca snapped. “Isawabluelightonthehorizonjustbeforedawn!” the guard cried out in fear. “Ughhh...General Sword Swipe, order an investigation team to investigate the blasphemous light...damn light-eyed heathens...oh and have next week's invasion be ready in a few days.” Blanca sighed. “As you wish, your highness.” General Sword Swipe replied whilst bowing. Author's Note Yes its a short chapter. Are all the chapters going to be short? Most of them. I don't like to fluff things up more than they need to be fluffed. Just to make things clear, Stanley, Crystal Comet and Princess Celestia are in one universe, whereas Lightning and Queen Blanca are in another.
New RealmsCrystal Comet found herself falling. Falling until she landed on the blue sand below with a soft thud. She quickly lifted her head and began studying her surroundings, searching for the amplifier. With a jolt, Crystal Comet surged forward, grabbing the amplifier and placing it in her bag. Satisfied, Crystal Comet looked around the new environment. Above her, was the unreachable ring of embers glowing softly with the sunrise. Below her were tiny grains of sapphire, twinkling with the remains of the night. In the distance, she could see a bunch of flaming lights, raised up on a black mass. With glee, Crystal Comet took out her journal and made an entry: I have successfully created an amplifier, however I have been too successful. I was testing its effectiveness with a fire conjuring spell and it appears that I have burnt a hole in some sort of divider between realms. Out of curiosity, I have passed through the hole and am now in what seems to be a new realm. Everything here is so crystal clear. I can see the tiniest details on the moon as it sets in the west and the stars...the stars are like sharp pinpricks of light that barely fade with the coming of the sun. The sand is not sand: I walk on little grains of sapphire and lapis lazuli. To the north, in the distance, I see a great mass crowned with small orange flames. Everything is so crisp. I thought the stars awaited me, but a new world awaits me in their stead. Crystal Comet finished her entry and yawned; she had been up all night, creating the amplifier. Pulling her forelock over her eyes in an attempt to blot out the sun, Crystal Comet curled up on the ground and went to sleep. *** The air was smothered with the smell of burnt earth and charred wood, the very ground blackened by the impact. Celestia walked on the strangely cold ground, investigating the crater created by the fallen star. Canterlot's guard force secured the area with yellow tape that glared against the moon. Detective Glass spotted her and came running over. “Princess Celestia, we have found hoof prints going to and away from the crash site, but we are unable to track them beyond the main road.” he said excitedly. “Do they head towards or away from Canterlot?” Celestia questioned. “Towards.” “Good work. Let me know if you found anything else.” she said gratefully, “After Detective Glass is finished with the investigation of the crash site, I want every grain of this quartz gathered up and put into the incinerator.” She commanded as Detective Glass trotted back to the centre of the crater, eager to continue his investigation. Celestia let out a sigh. She did not want this to cause any disasters, not like it did many years ago. She remembered being called out to the MacIntosh Hills by an exploration expedition that ran into major trouble. When she came she found many ponies and buffalo alike dead and injured, some of which had to do with the poor leadership, some of which due to the effects of quartz. It was so horrible, that Celestia had to order all surviving ponies to take up new identities and become Silent Ponies. She had to order all the quartz to be mined and destroyed until it no longer existed. And now THIS. From the very place no pony can go, a chunk of quartz had fallen from the heavens, into the hooves of somepony...bringing the potential for a catastrophe. *** Stanley felt somepony gently prodding his side. He yawned, rolled over and opened his eyes to find his Blossom, nudging him awake. “Morinin' already?” he asked, half asleep. Blossom laughed and levitated a brush to her bedhead of a green mane. “I'm gonna make me some coffee...you want some?” he asked her. “No thanks...you need it more than I do.” Blossom giggled in response before giving Stanley a kiss on the cheek. Stanley smiled and entered the kitchen with another yawn. A soft thump was heard at the door as Stanley started the coffee maker. Letting out another yawn, Stanley trudged over to the door to retrieve the newspaper. He went to the table and started reading it, while he waited for his coffee to brew: FALLEN STAR JUST OUTSIDE OF CANTERLOT... “Honey! The falling star we saw last night made the front page!” he shouted to her. “That's nice.” Blossom halfheartedly responded. Stanley continued reading: FALLEN STAR JUST OUTSIDE OF CANTERLOT. REPORTS FROM CANTERLOT PALACE CLAIM IT TO BE MADE FROM A DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE CALLED QUARTZ. FALLEN STAR HAS GONE MISSING... Stanley almost tore the paper with his hooves, his brown eyes wide with anger. He didn't believe it was dangerous. An old wives tale that prevented-wrongfully excused that mare...that stupid mare...from being tried for the deaths of countless ponies. He had to clench his teeth to prevent himself from mimicking Blossom's sister. The mare is gone from their lives now...but the lack of justice he felt...that he knew...strangled his conscience until nothing but murder filled his head. *** As night fell, Lightning awoke, his orange eyes illuminated the forest around him. Remembering the blue light he saw on his shift, he bolted upwards, before reminding himself that it was nothing to get excited about. But, the curiosity still swam in his insides and he could think of nothing, but the blue light. Thousands of thoughts flew through his head as he went to visit Chief Blaze. Inter-dimensional being, alien, ghost, mutant, magic, deity, undiscovered creature, rare plant...it could have been anything. Upon arriving to Chief Blaze's tree, Lightning tapped it with his hoof, causing a few leaves to rain down on him. “Enter,” said the deep voice. Lightning passed through the archway formed by the roots, into an earthy room, canopied by the resilient underbelly of the tree. The room was blanketed with a soft darkness; the only light sources were the eyes of Lightning and the eyes of Chief Blaze. Lightning bowed low, with respect, before giving his report, “During my shift, at dawn, about half a night away to the south, I saw a strange blue light anomaly. I don't think it's of any danger, but...” “...you thought I ought to know.” Chief Blaze finished and Lightning nodded. Chief Blaze pondered for a few minutes, while Lightning stood awkwardly, shifting his hooves in the dirt out of habit. “If this light anomaly...or one similar appears again...I think a small scouting group...should be sufficient to investigate it...I shall mention it in my midnight announcements,” Chief Blaze said slowly, “Thank you for reporting this to me.” Lightning bowed again, before walking out of the earthen room and into the crisp night air. *** Blanca sipped her exotic, evening tea in an almost pure gold cup, soaking in the daytime rays of the sun. She was in her garden, surrounded by the cold statues depicting important events in the history of Inamoenus. Gazing at these statues, Blanca lifted her head high as pride surged in her veins: these were HER accomplishments. After finishing her tea, and leaving the salad untouched, Blanca tapped her hoof on one of the table legs, signalling that a servant may take away the clean dishes. Concentrating on her movements, she exited the courtyard with her perfected grace and into her thrown room. She carefully seated herself on the throne and whined, “Has the investigation team come back yet?” “Yes, your highness.” the guards said simultaneously, as they bowed, before letting the investigation team in. A small squadron of ponies entered the room, all bowing their heads low, except a black unicorn, with a long scar running down the left side of her face. The black mare's eyes darted around the room in wonder. “Ahem...” Blanca said very annoyed, catching the mare's attention. “Oh...ummm...OH!” the unicorn stuttered, before bowing. “Rise,” Blanca commanded. “What did you find?” “We found...HER, your highness.” responded a white stallion, pointing at the black mare who neglected to bow. “YOU!” Queen Blanca shouted angrily, “IDENTIFY YOURSELF!”
Firebolt“IDENTIFY YOURSELF!” The male voice boomed in Crystal Comet's head, causing her to stand up straight, swiftly pulling her right hoof to her forehead. “I am Firebolt of Equestria, sir!” she responded instinctively, as if she were still in the days of the expedition. “YOU SHALL REFER TO ME AS YOUR HIGHNESS! DO I LOOK LIKE A SIR TO YOU?” the male voice in her head now returned to the female voice she heard in reality. “Erm...no...sorry...it was out of habit...” Crystal Comet said to the screeching alicorn. “I don't know what this Equestria is,” said the alicorn, with disgust, “but, for now on, you shall be Firebolt of Inamoenus.” “Um...how does that have any logic?” Crystal Comet asked, clearly very confused. “It's my command.” the alicorn huffed. “And?” “I AM QUEEN BLANCA! YOU SHALL BOW DOWN TO ME!” “Well, you see...I am from Equestria and I obey the laws set down by Princess Celestia. Now I will follow your land's rules, but let me make this clear: I am not from here and I will not claim to be.” Crystal Comet said, angry with this poor excuse of a queen that sat in front of her. Looking at the gaudy decorations in the room, Crystal Comet waited for Blanca to stop huffing angrily and actually respond. After several minutes, Blanca's boiling anger seemed to turn to ice. “Look...whoever you are...explain why you were in the middle of the desert, where some evil blue light was. I'll punish you for the whole Equestria thing later.” Blanca said icily. “Oh I was just using magic. Nothing to worry about.” responded Crystal Comet, rolling her eyes. “OFF WITH HER HEAD!” screeched Blanca and everybody else surged towards Crystal Comet. Time slowed down as the adrenaline began pumping through Crystal Comet's veins, slowing turning Crystal Comet into who she REALLY was: Firebolt. Crystal Comet wasn't born to track meteors and stars. She was born Firebolt. She was born to run faster than any comet could. She was born a fighter. A smile invaded Firebolt's face and her cutie mark, a blue fireball seemed more vivid than before. The scene felt pure. It felt like she was really alive instead of a simple mare living a dead life. Just as the nearest pony was about to grab her tail, Firebolt kicked her hind-legs, landing her hooves on his chin, snapping the final pieces of the scene together, completing her transformation. The stallion flew backwards and Firebolt bit an approaching mare's ear, just before fending off another attack with a stab of her horn. As a dozen ponies surrounded Firebolt, Blanca smiled victoriously, but Firebolt scoffed: the alicorn counted all her chicks before they had hatched! Firebolt naturally leapt in the air, clamping down on one of the countless tapestries that blemished the room. Firebolt's weight tore it down and it fell on the ponies, blinding them for the brief seconds that Firebolt needed to escape. Firebolt weaved through the palace hallways, gleefully searching for a way out, resisting her urges to laugh at Blanca's cries and commands. Firebolt eventually found herself in a courtyard covered with narcissistic statues of Blanca. She snickered: a climbable statue was coincidentally close to the courtyard wall. Firebolt easily climbed it and scrambled over the wall, leaving the palace slaves bewildered and confused. Firebolt slowed to a trot, skipping through the streets, satisfied with her escape, only stopping to make a journal entry: While napping in the desert, I was awoken by an entourage of ponies. They claimed to be an investigation team and they required me to come with them. Being curious, I agreed to go with them. But they led me to the hideous palace of their moron queen, some alicorn named Blanca. Haha! I bet the palace officials are still scrambling around the palace looking for me. Those idiots don't know that I am ou The journal entry broke off as Firebolt had to place it back into the bag tied around her waist: the guards had discovered that she escaped the palace and was wandering the city somewhere. Firebolt took of running again, laughing as the guards took chase. After a few minutes, Firebolt breached the edge of the city and was in the desert. Grinning, Firebolt prepared to go full speed. Firebolt's hooves beat faster and faster on the blue sand and the whistling of the wind grew louder in her ears. She outran the guards within a few seconds and was galloping through the desert, increasing her speed without need. Firebolt felt pure euphoria and the air around her began to catch fire from the friction. Soon, Firebolt was surrounded by blue flames, blind to her surroundings. Within minutes Firebolt had no idea of where she was going. And within minutes of that, she accidentally flung herself into a hard cliff face and the world became dead and dark. *** Celestia sat at a table in her palace, worries darting across her mind as she tried to think of another way to find the fallen star. She hadn't slept at all since she found out; she was to busy scrambling around notifying the newspapers about what to write, going over the evidence with Detective Glass at lunch, her regular duties and...worrying. Just thinking about the quartz made her head throb. “Some tea before you head to bed, Princess?” a voice from the doorway called out. “Yes please...thank you.” Celestia replied, looking up towards the mare balancing a tray with a white teapot and matching cups and saucers. The mare walked over and placed the tray on the table, the clamped on the teapot handle with her mouth to pour the princess a drink. “Sugar?” she asked. “Yes...please.” Celestia responded exhausted. “Princess Celestia?” “mm-hm?” “What's so bad about quartz?” the mare questioned. “It...amplifies magic,” Celestia responded, “Normally, that would be good, but...ponies wielding magic nearby quartz deposits have run into some pretty major disasters...We had to destroy it all...for our own safety...and now it falls from the sky.” “I guess if properly studied and used, it could make somepony pretty powerful...but if it creates disasters severe enough...I wouldn't want it.” the mare said kindly before leaving Celestia with her tea. *** “How was your day at work, Stanley?” Blossom greeted Stanley as she washed the dirt off her hooves. “Gwead! I onwy mess up haf duh dime!” Stanley replied, his lips numb from holding a needle between his lips for so long. “I'll go make you a nice hot cup of tea for your lips.” she said affectionately. “Fanx.” Stanley sat down at the table and a feeling of melancholy began to roll in like the tide. He always felt this after work. The only thing that kept him living the way he did was his cheery Blossom. The transition was different for each Silent Pony and Stanley was one that did not do so well: he used to fence and now he just patched clothing up. Keeping a needle pinned between his teeth was nothing like using his whole body in swift, fluid movements. The muffled ruffling of cloth was nothing like the sharp clang of swords, which resonated the feelings of battle. But Blossom was nothing like the lowly mares he flirted with before. Blossom was worth giving up his life for. He smiled lovingly at her as she levitated a warming cup of tea in front of him. *** Lightning was grabbing a swig of flame nectar, drinking the warm drink out of a clay bowl. Despite having reported the blue light to Chief Blaze, it was still eating his mind. He shifted his hooves again, trying to ease his excitement. He looked upwards at the trees and watched the flame-flowers open: it was a slow process, but no matter how many times he watched it, he felt overcome by awe and peace. The dark little buds, began to crack, revealing the light within, a soft orange glow that seeped through the crevices and into the night. Then, the petals began to slowly peel back and the flame-like luminescence grew brighter and brighter, until the lilies were in full flame, their pollen flying through the air like sparks. Lightning had finally reached some calm and his heart was content. “BLUE LIGHT IN DESERT!” Ember's screams killed the calm, “IT'S HEADED RIGHT FOR-” BOOM! The tepui shook, spilling Lightning's drink and knocking a few ponies over. Steam and smoke began streaming upwards from the south. Chief Blaze emerged from his tree and began shouting out orders, “EMBER! LIGHTNING! SPARK! SCOUT OUT THE SOUTH SIDE OF OUR TEPUI! FLAMEHEART! MARSHALL EVery available...” the chief's voice faded as Lightning ran to the source of the smoke with his comrades, eager to find the cause. Reaching the cliff edge, Lightning, Ember and Spark began using the small ridges that stuck out of the cliff face to climb down as fast as their balance permitted them. Upon reaching the bottom, they found a crater gouged into the cliff. Small blue flames encircled the crater, burning on the air alone. Lightning prepared himself for what he could find, running every imaginable possibility through his head as the trio approached the crater. All three of them let out a gasp: the source of the light was something unthinkable: a dull-eyed mare. *** Queen Blanca laid herself down on her purple couch and started ranting to her feelings hooker.(see author's note) “HOW DARE SHE! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH WORK I NOW HAVE TO DO?!? FIRST SHE CAUSES THIS BLASPHEMOUS BLUE LIGHT WITH THIS WITCHCRAFT CALLED MAGIC! THEN THE HIDEOUSLY DISFIGURED FOOL FORGETS TO BOW TO ME! AND OF COURSE SHE REFUSED THAT CITIZENSHIP I OFFERED HER...THAT...THAT...BITCH!” Blanca had to stop for breath before continuing, “YOU KNOW WHAT THE CONSEQUENCE IS FOR DISOBEDIENCE OR FAILURE?” the feelings hooker could only nod her frightened head, “EXECUTION! AND EXECUTIONS ARE QUITE A BORE! ...You see one, you've seen them all...AND I HAD TO EXECUTE OVER A DOZEN PONIES TODAY!! THE IMBECILES FAILED TO CATCH HER WHEN SHE DECIDED TO RUN AWAY! NO ONE RUNS AWAY FROM AN EXECUTION!!” Queen Blanca finally stopped and looked over to the feelings hooker for a response. “Erm...did your mother have a lot of executions?” “Only the murderers...she never had...what it takes to be...a good queen...I was so happy when she died. Just remembering her death brings so much joy to my heart.” Blanca said with less anger. “Erm...why wasn't your mother a good queen?” “Oh...well...um...she just wasn't okay! Why does this have to be about my mother!?!” Blanca whined. “Erm...it is quite common...for maternal problems...to appear in other problems...” the feelings hooker said whilst quivering with fear. “THIS IS ALL HER FAULT!?! GAH! I SHOULD HAVE POISONED HER SOONER!” Blanca screeched with a huff, before dismissing the feelings hooker and preparing for bed. Author's Note Feelings Hooker: A term for therapist. Used exclusively in Inamoenus. This chapter is rather comedic compared to the other two. If you haven't already guessed, Queen Blanca is the comedic relief. Just to clarify things to those who are confused, Crystal Comet and Firebolt are the same pony.
Impending InvasionFirebolt groaned, her head was throbbing and she hadn't been so hungry in her life. She opened her eyes to find her surroundings nearly pitch-black, except for a soft orange glow that seemed to be coming from behind her. Trying to get a sense of where she was, Firebolt shifted her hooves on the ground, displacing a little dirt. Dirt? She was in a desert last she checked. “What the...” she said out loud. “You are in the custody of the flame ponies. You were found to be the source of strange blue light, so...umm...we are keeping you here until we get some answers.” a stallion's voice came from behind her. “Who's there?!?” Firebolt cried out, leaping upwards, pivoting on her hooves to try and see the speaker, just to trip on the cord that was tied to her ankle. She let out another groan, “Why am I tied up?” Firebolt asked, as she lifted her head from the dirt. “Erm...you are a potential threat...it's for our own safety...er...are you okay?” The mysterious voice responded. “I've been through worse...where are you? It's so dark I can't see a thing, except two weird floating orbs of light.” said Firebolt. “Those are my eyes.” “Whoa....” she murmured, “What are you?” “I...am a flame-pony” the voice said with a distinct kind of pride. Firebolt could imagine a stallion puffing out his chest as the voice spoke. “Whatsa flame-pony?” she asked. “You've never heard of us?” “Nope.” “You know...monstrous glow-eyed beasts of the terrible tepui...” the voice said, annoyed. “You're monstrous?” “No...” the voice sounded confused. “Why do they call you monstrous, if you are not monstrous?” “That's what that dull-eyed queen spews about us...she also calls us blasphemous among other things...” the voice replied. “Queen Blanca?” Firebolt questioned, attempting to get more information. “Yeah.” “Ohhhhh...the alicorn that tried to execute me...I understand now...” Firebolt said nonchalantly. “She tried to...execute you?” “Yeah...she said my magic was blasphemous.” Firebolt was starting to feel a little more comfortable around whoever this flame-pony was. They sat in the dark in silence for a few minutes, until the silence broke with a low growl. Firebolt could hear some scuffling noises and the orange orbs moved around wildly, as if they were searching for the source of the growl. “That was me...sorry...just kinda hungry...” Firebolt said sheepishly. “Ohhhh...when Ember takes over my shift, I'll get you something to eat.” the voice said, sounding relieved. “What's an ember-pony?” “Ember is the name of another flame-pony.” the strange voice giggled. “Ohhhh...um...what is your name?” Firebolt asked. “Lightning.” *** Dark bags hung underneath Celestia's eyes, as she ate breakfast. Despite being exhausted, her sleep was restless and her head was filled with many scenarios, mostly of the worst-case type. She heard the soft clip-clop of a pony's hooves approaching her; Celestia lifted her head to find Detective Glass. “Princess Celestia,” he said, “I have made a deduction: either a unicorn or an alicorn took it. You see when the crash site was secured, the ground was still hot...we had to have a few unicorns cast a cooling spell...the fallen star couldn't have been picked up physically without giving the pony severe burns...thus only a unicorn or an alicorn could have taken it.” “Thank, you...that cuts our suspect list in half...” Celestia murmured. “Now we have only half of Canterlot as suspects...” the detective said with a sigh, “I'll see what else I can find or deduce.” Detective Glass waved goodbye and left the princess with her breakfast. *** Stanley's morning was pretty routine. Be nudged awake, offer Blossom coffee, make coffee for only himself. Thump. Grab newspaper. He trudged into the kitchen and sat down and started reading: FALLEN STAR STILL MISSING! INVESTIGATION NARROWED DOWN TO UNICORNS AND ALICORNS ONLY! Quartz. Unicorn. HER. Stanley ground his teeth together, looking for something-ANYTHING to cool his anger down before he did something. Murder took control of his thoughts again and before he knew it, he was flying to HER place. He arrived at a small, rickety bungalow; weeds grew in the front yard, paint peeled off the walls and most of the shutters either lay on the ground or crookedly hung by one hinge. Stanley galloped down the ditch that was worn down into the ground by tired hooves and towards the door. Just as he was trained for the expedition, he swivelled on his front hooves so that his back end faced the door way. With a swift buck, he kicked the door clear off its hinges and it flew into the dark and dusty hallway. “FIREBOLT!” he boomed into the musty hallway ,“ I'VE BEEN THINKIN' OF YOU FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS! AND I'VE HAD ENOUGH! YOU'RE GONNA GET IT!” Silence. The whole house screamed barren. “Dammit, you better not be hiding.” Stanley muttered, his voice returning to what it was and abandoning the Canterlot, hoity-toity accent. He slowly walked into the hallway, past the moth-eaten drapes that blacked out the sun. Clip-clop. Clip-clop. Clip-clop. The sound of Stanley's hooves echoed in the empty house and kicked up small clouds of dust. Stanley began searching each room methodically, eager to end his own obsession. Eventually, Stanley reached the basement. The door was ominously locked and Stanley had to give it several kicks to break it down. “I know you're in here!” he yelled with a sense of triumph, before walking maliciously down the stairs. The basement was pitch-black...except for an orange ring that ate a hole into the darkness. *** Lightning trotted back to the holding tree with a flame fruit held in his mouth. It was Ember's shift to watch the dull-eyed mare now, but he had promised to get her something to eat. He entered the burrow and Ember gave him a swift nod. He placed it in front of the mare and said. “I brought you a flame fruit...it's in front of you...you just give it a swift knock with your hoof and it cracks open.” “Thanks.” she said as she groped in the dark. After a few minutes, she found it and smashed her hoof on it. She gasped at the glowing contents that oozed from the broken shell. Cautiously the dark-eyed mare licked the glowing mess that was on her hoof. “I haven't had anything like it, but it tastes good.” she said before devouring the flame-fruit. Lightning chuckled and left the holding tree to give his report to Chief Blaze. Chief Blaze was at the village clearing, drinking some flame-nectar. Lightning bowed before him. “You've come with a report?” Chief Blaze asked. Lightning nodded and said, “The dull-eyed mare is...strange...she talks about magic so lightly...most dull-eyed ponies cringe at the very word. She also is unfamiliar with our kind...most of her kind are exposed to propaganda about us since a young age...she also speaks off almost being executed by...Queen Blanca-” “WHAT?!?” Chief Blaze cried out, accidentally spitting some flame-nectar on Lightning. “Er...yes...umm...you might want to have our defences raised...she's either a well-trained spy or an ally of great value...” Lightning said, feeling embarrassed. “I need to question her directly. I want you to come with me. I'll send Ember to prepare the defences so that we are ready for war.” Chief Blaze ordered. Lightning and Chief Blaze cantered to the holding tree, only slowing to enter. “Ember. Prepare the defences for an impending invasion. Lightning and I will stay by the dull-eyed mare.” Chief Blaze commanded. Ember nodded her head and exited the burrow. “Invasion?” the dull-eyed mare said with her voice quivering. “Yes. An invasion. We believe you are the catalyst for the inevitable.” Chief Blaze said, pointing a hoof at her. “No...not again!” the mare cried out, her whole body shivering with her voice. “What are you referring to?!?” Chief Blaze shouted, motioning to Lightning to keep quiet. “A long time ago...I-I was sent-no volunteered for...an ex-ex-expedition...it was led b-b-by a stallion by the name of...Bee's Sting...we were exploring the m-m-m-Macintosh Mountains and...and...and...we came across a tr-tr-tribe of buffalo...but..but...but...but....HE WANTED TO WIPE THEM OUT AND CLAIM THE LANDS FOR EQUESTRIA!” she blubbered and wailed before continuing, “...I-I-I did something...that-that killed many...both buffalo and ponies...it-it was to stop...the invasion...but it was t-t-too powerful...” she broke off into sobs. “...show me your magic.” Chief Blaze said calmly. “I-I-I only know a few spells...running is more my thing...but...okay...I'll conjure some fire...I'd like more to see than eyes glowing in the darkness...” she stuttered between sobs. The dull-eyed mare stood up and she closed her eyes. Her horn began to glow red and a miniscule, deep red flame lit up the burrow. “I've made my conclusion...she's an ally. Untie her and brief her on our situation....oh and you,” Chief Blaze pointed at the dull-eyed mare, “I need your name.” “...Firebolt.” the dull-eyed mare said with an expression of shock on her face. *** BANG! The gold door leading to Blanca's bedroom burst open and General Sword Swipe ran in. “WHO DARES DISTURB MY HOLY SLUMBER!” Blanca shouted to the intruder. “I only disturb it on your command, your highness,” General Sword Swipe said with a deep bow, “The preparations for the invasion are complete. It is only at your royal command that it can go off to conquer.” “Then I command you and the invasion force to go off and conquer that tepui...I'd like my dry-season palace to be there...oh and after you're done conquering, cut down the trees: they're blasphemous.” Blanca demanded with a sickly sweet smile. “As you command, your highness.” General Sword Swipe answered with a deep bow, before leaving Blanca to descend into dreams of a white palace that gleamed only in the light of the sun and no other.
Like FireFirebolt wiped the tears from her eyes, but more just kept flowing. The screams...they rang in her head so loud that they almost blotted out her thoughts. Why did this have to happen? She came here to get away from the hiding and the screams, but now she was cowering in a hole in the ground again. “I've got a lot to explain...I know Chief Blaze came off as harsh, but he just wants the best for our village...there's a war going on and Queen Blanca was planning on invading this place even before your blue lights appeared in the desert...you aren't the cause...you just sped it up...” Lightning said, trying to comfort her. Firebolt couldn't hold it back any more. She burst into tears. “I...I...try to run away from it...I try to...redeem myself...but...I've run straight into it....no escape...” she cried between gasps and sobs, “You know I...can...can...hear their screams...they're deafening right now...the simmering of an explosion...and the angry cries...of...of....of...an orphan...” “You caused an explosion?” Lightning said amazed. “mm-hmm...I meant it to just...be a stunning shock-wave...I never was good at spells...but it...it was...bone-shattering....I....pulverized dozens...” she said as tears flowed down her face. “What would have happened if you hadn't caused an explosion?” “....I...don't...know....” “You said you did it to stop an invasion...” “...it would have continued...if my...incident hadn't reached the princess's ears...she flew in right away and...dissolved the expedition and hushed it all up...” “Is the tribe of buffalo still alive today?” “Yes...” “You saved them. You stopped treachery with a horrible accident.” Lightning said before placing his hoof into the red flame, “You are like fire: a saviour with a cost.” The words hit Firebolt hard. A saviour...with a cost? It made complete and no sense. She sat there dumbly, before saying “I don't want to harm you...Blanca yes...her stupid mindless followers maybe...but I'll harm you like fire burns flesh.” Lightning took his hoof out of the flame and it was unscathed, “Fire doesn't burn our flesh,” he said, “But armies hurt us and we are...” Lightning broke off, a sense of hopelessness was in his voice, “...the last of the flame-ponies...Queen Blanca will destroy us...she has done it with other tribes...” his voice grew with anger, “She exterminated them! Like they were bugs! Cut down the trees because they weren't the sun! Let their tepuis fall into dust with failed palaces! And her followers! They mindlessly enjoyed it!” he stopped and took a deep breath, but did not continue. They sat in silence, thinking; the only sounds came from the crackling of the red flame. Firebolt felt stuck, like she was caught in a net. She wanted to tear it up so badly and be free, but she couldn't. “I can't...” Firebolt finally said, giving in to the guilt surrounding her. “Coward.” Lightning said, before stalking out and leaving Firebolt still tied up. *** “Sister...wake up...they have found the quartz...” a familiar voice broke Celestia's sleep. “Luna? Quartz?” Celestia blinked a few times, “Oh!” She said before shooting out of bed. Celestia ran to the throne room and found two ponies that were familiar...Silent Ponies...It was uncanny. The unicorn had her hoof on the pegasus's shoulder, he seemed to be whispering the same words to her over and over again. When the unicorn spotted Celestia, she nuzzled his flank and walked with him to the front of the throne. Once Celestia sat down they both bowed and the unicorn nodded her head and said “Tell her.” “I...I...don't even know where to begin. Do you...do you recognize me, Princess?” the pegasus began. “I know you're a Silent Pony, but I do not recall your name.” Celestia replied. “That's good enough. It is best you call me Stanley. I haven't adapted to my new life so well...and sometimes the old me would come about in a fit of anger...I had one of those fits this morning and I flew off to Firebolt's home...do you know Firebolt?” he said sheepishly, but the name strangled both sound and silence. Celestia could not forget the name, especially with what Firebolt had caused. Firebolt tried to stop the invasion, but her efforts ended in disaster. Another pony that witnessed what she did and ran up to her, giving her scars that disfigured her flesh, but it was so clear that the physical scars were mute compared to the weight Firebolt carried in her mind. The name made Celestia feel so much pity, yet there was something...something wild and...disturbed about it. Celestia nodded her head and let Stanley continue, “I wanted to hurt her so badly and finish what I couldn't 10 years ago. I broke down the door and searched the house until I came across the basement and I...after what I saw...I don't know if I want to hurt her anymore: I would be still sitting there, staring at it, if Blossom here hadn't found me,” he said with affection, giving the mare a quick nuzzle, “It was awful. The floor was covered in these shards of what looked like glass, but more crystalline: it was quartz. And in the centre of the room was this...I can hardly describe it...it was like a ring of embers that floated in mid-air. You could see through it just fine, but...but it had a distinct vibe...vibe is the word I think-a distinct vibe to it. Something isn't right about it.” he finished. While he was speaking, Celestia's face emoted more and more shock and fear. Firebolt did something that wasn't quite right: she's probably just as crazed as the pegasus that stood in front of her. Celestia sat there thinking about it, but she knew it may be just like it was 10 years ago. “Sister, I need you to handle my duties while I focus on this ring...you might want to let Twilight Sparkle know, but I think she'll need to stay in Ponyville for this one,” she said to her sister before giving commands to a nearby guard, “I need an investigation force of a mix of all kinds of ponies, unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies. We investigate the Firebolt residence in the morning.” *** “Excuse me Princess Celestia, I wish to help with the investigation.” Stanley said. Despite his fear of the...thing...something was driving him to go back. Stanley never thought he would feel this feeling for her, but it kept moving through his mind...Why did she do it? What is it? If she could really do things like that...was she really guilty? The whole mess of things made Stanley's head hurt, but he felt some obligation to bring a fellow, mal-adapted pony back to Equestria...even if she killed his father... “Stan! If you help, I don't know if I'll see you again. Please stay!” Blossom cried as she embraced him. Stanley sighed with defeat and nuzzled Blossom. The choice was clear: he would give up his searching and stay with her, no matter how much it hurt, no matter how much he would have to fight back the anger, he would remain by Blossom's side. Princess Celestia seemed to show a small smile at their embrace, but soon left, leaving them to depart as well. *** Lightning and Spark were working hard on the south side of the tepui, digging a trench. The cool night air didn't prevent them from sweating and their fur stuck to their bodies as they shovelled the sapphire sand. They were doing this for hours: digging away, trying to reach the east and west trenches. Lightning panted harder and harder, but he was getting closer and closer to Ember, who was digging the east trench. Finally, their shovels clonked together and a wall of sand was no longer between them. Lightning let out a long sigh of relief before climbing up the tepui with Ember to report to Chief Blaze. “South to East trench...is completed...ready to be...filled...” Lightning said between pants. “Good. You two rest for about an hour and then I shall give you another task.” Chief Blaze said approvingly. Ember and Lightning grabbed some flame-fruit, collapsed on the ground, cracked them open and began eating the glowing liquid. They sat there for many minutes, eating and resting. “I heard that the dull-eyed pony won't help, but isn't a spy either.” Ember finally said. “Yeah, she's no danger...but no help either.” Lightning said with annoyance. “At least Chief Blaze had the wits to make her cast that fire spell. We can use that at least.” “That's one thing...but...” “It's not going to be enough?” Ember finished. Lightning nodded in response. A little magic fire was not going to save them. Even though Lightning tried to ignore it, he could feel their doom getting closer to suffocate them. “I wonder what's she's up to now?” Ember thought out loud. “I forgot to untie her!” Lightning said, putting his hoof to his forehead, “I'll be right back.” Lightning trotted to the holding tree. Trying to hold back his anger, he walked in. “I'm not going to do it...don't try to convince me.” Firebolt's voice wavered as he entered. “I'm not going to try and convince you. The cause is mute. I just forgot to untie you.” Lightning said, holding back a sneer. “I thought you wouldn't just give up like that...sorry.” she said sheepishly. “I've got more important things to do...like help with any efforts to prevent our extinction.” he said before untying her. “If your survival is at stake, why don't you just run away?” she said hopefully. “We've got nowhere to run to!” he snapped, “And even if we did, we don't give in! No matter the odds! The only one that runs is someone to warn the next tepui...and we're the last!” “Well...there has...to be...somewhere...” Firebolt stuttered. “We don't run away...but I figured you would respond like this...the likes of you don't...understand.” Lightning said forcefully, before stomping out. *** Blanca was uncharacteristically pacing at night. There was some nagging feeling inside that something wasn't right. She had these night-time worries before, but nothing this bad. What if she gets over-thrown? What if there's a rebellion being organized? What if that insolent mare comes back? What if she spontaneously combusted? The worries were endless. She looked at the moon-lit sky out the window. Blast the moon! Long live the sun!
A New WorldFirebolt somehow managed to scale the Chief's tree and was now sitting in the uppermost branches with her journal, watching the flame-ponies set up. She was unable to chronicle her journal in the dark burrow, even with the red flame giving off some light. She began writing things down in an effort to catch up: I don't know how long it has been. I escaped those fools, but I've ended up somewhere strange. I took off running as fast as I could for the hell of it and I've crashed into a tepui. The ponies are very hospitable here, but they are as strange as the place and give off a very warrior like air. They seem to be devoted to this tepui, but it is their last and only home. The tepui rises far above the desert and is covered with the most exotic trees. Their trunks are a rich dark chocolate colour and seem to be almost melting where they stand. The leaves are a dark purple, almost black, kind of like the night sky. The trees flower at night; they slowly open and they glow orange like fire and the pollen spills into the air like sparks. If a flower gets pollinated, it produces a fruit with a hard shell that is blacker than any darkness that could reign down in this strange land. The fruit seems to be the main source of nourishment here. Cracking one of the fruits open allows you to consume a rich, orange, glowing substance that almost looks like lava, but tastes like custard and warms the belly. The ponies here are not like regular ponies. They call themselves the Flame-Ponies and the name suits them well. Their manes and fur are almost as dark as the fruit and their flanks are devoid of any cutie marks, but their eyes are magnificent. Their eyes suit their nocturnal lifestyle as the glow orange in the dark and appear as orbs. It gives them a source of light no matter where they go. The Flame-Ponies are unlike any ponies that I have come across before. They live in burrows underneath the trees and their hearts can only rest at their beloved tepui. Firebolt stopped writing, it was all she could describe. She could see the flame-ponies preparing for a battle, sharpening wooden stakes, creating booby traps and filling up on the flame-fruit. Maybe the invasion force won't come. Maybe the flame-ponies were preparing for nothing. Besides they just assumed that there was going to be an invasion based on her presence and she was just one pony. They were just overreacting. The sky began to grow lighter. It would be sunrise and bedtime soon. Firebolt glanced at her bag that was hanging on a nearby branch. She should pack up her journal soon and turn in. “INVASION FORCE SPOTTED ON THE SOUTH SIDE! POSITIONS!” a voice yelled, stopping Firebolt's train of thought in its tracks. There is an invasion. They weren't overreacting; it's all true. Firebolt hastily packed up her journal and was about to find somewhere out of the way to hide, when Lightning's voice shouted something quickly to her, “Stay in the tree! Be a smart coward at least!” She watched the ponies artfully place themselves, making a concentrated force to the south, but still covering the borders. Some ducked down into burrows around the edge, clearly planning to pounce when least expected, whilst a few others lit the trench with the red flame that she had conjured up and checked on the traps, before joining their comrades. Chief Blaze walked along the ranks and once the stars began to fade, he gave a short speech. “This is it! What could very be the final battle!” he boomed, “Do not fear death, but fight for survival! We may die out, but I'd rather we go down with our dignity! We fight 'til the end!” As the sun broke the night, a low humming sound emerged from the flame-ponies. Then, above the humming sound, Chief Blaze spoke: “Fight until the end, Until death is our friend. We fight for our homes, Until the last one roams!” Once Chief Blaze finished, he joined in with the low humming. The humming slowly grew louder and louder, until it was a deafening battle-cry. Looking to the south, Firebolt spotted thousands of Inamoenus ponies that outnumbered the tribe's few hundred. Once the sun had finally fully risen, a horn was barely heard underneath the battle-cry, then silence: the battle had just begun. The fire blocked the paths of unicorns and earth ponies, but the pegasi picked them up, one by one, flew them over the flames and into the centre of the tepui. Big mistake. As the unicorns and earth ponies went to attack the flame-ponies from underground, more flame ponies burst from the burrows, thrusting their stakes into the nearest Inamoenusians' chests, before pulling them out and acquiring their next targets. Firebolt watched in horror as Inamoenusian after Inamoenusian blindly charged into the blood bath. Some died instantly, if the strike was accurate enough, but often they would fall and lie on the ground gasping for air and watching the blood pool around their dying bodies. A few tried to leap over the inner-ring of flame-ponies, but none of them made it past. The flame-ponies simply lifted their stakes in the air, slicing open the stomachs of the Inamoenusians' stomachs, so that when they hit the ground, their bowels spilt out, like seppuku without the honour. Firebolt couldn't distinguish the screams from the ones she actually heard to the ones that just existed in her head. Maybe things were less bloody in the outer-ring... Firebolt shifted her eyes. Things were less bloody; the flame-ponies just stood watch, waiting for an outer attack. And within minutes it came. The pegasi finished moving the other ponies to the centre and began attacking from the outside. The happenings in the outer-ring contrasted the inner-ring: the pegasi dive-bombed the flame-ponies, swiftly decapitating many with swords clutched in their mouths. Some of the more powerful pegasi cut entire flame-ponies in half, scattering entrails with viscous laughs. Hours past and the fighting continued. The flame-ponies were doing remarkably well, but their small numbers put them on the losing side. The yells and screams got louder with every kill and every loss. The battle-cries drowned out the screams that took place in Firebolt's mind. She cried and whimpered in the tree, stroking the scar that disfigured her face. She took a second to check on the battle. Some of the Inamoenusians found their way into the booby traps and became burning corpses or were struggling for breath, impaled on stakes in pits. The Inamoenusian force dwindled to what looked like half a hundred, but the flame-ponies only numbered about a dozen. The injured fell on mounds of bodies and blood dripped from the leaves of the trees. Some areas had entire puddles of blood with entrails floating in them like boats. The disturbing site paired with the cries pushed Firebolt's mind to he edge. “STOP IT! STOP FIGHTING...I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!” she shrieked from the tree, revealing her presence. The fighting halted for a moment. “We don't abandon our homes...” growled a flame-pony by the name of Spark. “We only stop if Queen Blanca commands us so.” said a proud pegasus who appeared to be leading the invasion force. And thus the fighting continued. Queen Blanca commands us so...The statement caused Firebolt burst into tears, but then she did something unimaginable on pure impulse. She grabbed the amplifier from her bag and placed it on her horn. She leaped down from the tree and began galloping to the southern edge of the tepui. She climbed down and only briefly took off the amplifier to levitate herself over the flames. She ran south as fast as she could, her hooves skimming the sand and the flames that burst around her went from blue to purple to the ultraviolet spectrum: she had never run this fast before. The invisible flames allowed her to see even if it was all a blur and she was able to slow before she crashed into the city of Inamoenus. Firebolt galloped through the streets, finding her way to the palace. She swiftly entered and ran through the halls, trying to get to the throne room. Firebolt eventually found it and once she entered, the pompous queen on the throne spoke smugly, “Come to surrender?” “I'm closing this...” Firebolt said with an almost victorious sneer. What she was about to do was insane, but it felt so right. She could finally escape the screams. Her insides shook with a combination of fear and anticipation, but she kept her head held high as the tears streamed down her face, washing away the sorrow. Firebolt's voice wavered, yet was strong as she let out one last word, “Goodbye.” Firebolt cast the spell. *** Celestia was stood at the top of the basement steps as Detective Glass gave her his report, “I had teams of pegasi take photos of the evidence in the basement and I constructed an image in the family room here,” Detective Glass led her to a musty room and each hoofstep caused dust to fly into the air, just to rain back down on the ponies. Both Celestia and Detective Glass coughed a bit, before he continued, “As you can see here,” he pointed his hoof at the pictures of hoofprints, “there are only two sets of hoofprints: Stanley's and Blossom's. But the door locks from the inside,” he pointed at another picture, but his one had a door with the lock broken, “and Stanley had to break it down. This gives us a very perplexing mystery...who locked the door from the inside?” Celestia considered the answer quite clear, “Magic.” she said. “Nope, I already had a unicorn inspect it. According to him the basement reeks of magic, but the door is clean.” “Teleportation.” “OH! That is the answer...being an earth pony makes me less in tune with magic. I am so glad to have someone of your expertise here because that is a smaller mystery than...” Detective glass glanced ominously at the picture of an orange ring that floated in mid-air. “I shall go see it.” Celestia said before walking back to the basement and stirring up more dust. The basement was rather dark: the overhead light had burnt out and the investigative team had to bring in jars filled with fireflies. Shavings of quartz was scattered on the floor and on the table there were many carving tools and a set of lonely goggles. This...Crystal Comet..but once known as Firebolt, had made something with the quartz and given her past, it was not good. In the centre of the room, there was the orange ring, but it looked more like embers and the magic flowing off it hit her hard in the chest. The thing was unimaginable and its power was stronger than anything Celestia knew, even the Elements of Harmony... “Get Discord immediately! I want this...thing to be shut down as soon as possible!” she barked a frantic order at the nearest pony. She didn't know what it was, but it made her shiver. It was almost as if some law of nature was broken. Discord came quickly, but it wasn't quick enough to Celestia. “What seems to be the matter, my dear Princess?” Discord said as he made serpentine movements around her. “That.” she said, pointing at the the orange ring. “Oooooo...” Discord said as he wiggled his fingers in excitement, “Lets have a looksie, shall we?” Discord began circling around it, stroking the beard on his chin. He sniffed the air and a smile spread across his face, “That magic is quite spicy, isn't it? I think I know what this delightful thing is, dear Celestia.” After saying that, Discord stuck his head through the centre of the ring and it disappeared. “DISCORD!!!” Celestia cried out loud. Discord moved back and his head reappeared. “You can be really uptight sometimes, you know? I was just having some fun with this rift.” he said. “Rift?” Celestia said, confused. “Quite exciting, isn't it? I just love that blue sand in that parallel universe. I think I'll take a vacation there sometime.” Discord said as he batted his eyes at her. “I want it shut down.” she commanded. “Why? Don't you want to explore new worlds? To seek out new life and new civilizations? Too boldly go where no pony has gone before?” Discord huffed. “It's a threat to the security of Equestria.” “Then do what you do to the other threats of Equestria. Lock 'em away, just to have your beloved Twilight handle them. I mean that's what the oh great and powerful Princess Celestia does, doesn't she?” he mocked. “After my sister lost her way, I needed someone else to wield the elements of harmony, okay? Besides you and Luna got rehabilitated eventually...would you rather be shut down?” Celestia threatened. “King Sombra and Queen Chrysalis,” he said with a sneer, “Fiiiiiiine I'll shut it down. It doesn't have a brain to mind anyway and I can always make my own blue desert in my backyard.” Discord snapped his fingers and blue flames burst from the ring, then the ring shrank until is was just one, tiny flame. Discord snapped his fingers again and it died. Discord yawned, “Quite helpless aren't we? It was just a matter of making the flames burn backwards. Well I've got to get going. I've promised to go ice-skating with my dear friend, Fluttershy. See ya toots!” and with that, he snapped his fingers and disappeared, leaving Celestia and the other ponies gaping. *** Stanley stood sat at the kitchen table staring into space. He had decided to take a break from work that day in order to cope with his anger issues and discovery. Since they needed money to live, Blossom had left for work...on the condition that Stanley would stay at home and NOT read the newspaper. He agreed, but he felt like he was broken. Truth was that he hated this life, but he loved Blossom and he would give up everything just to make her happy...right? A knock on the door. Stanley trudged over to it and opened it. “P-P-Princess Luna?” he stuttered. “Yes, Lightning Sting. We have used our temporary privileges of being in complete power to gain information about many things that has confused us. My sister speaks to thee as if thou were a secret and this...quartz...situation has caused us to question how our sister handles her rule, once again.” Luna declared and Stanley stared at her confused for a few minutes. “Erm...” “Did thou knowst what thou hast found in thine enemy's basement?” she asked “Something bad?” Stanley answered. “No. Tis something different. Unseen by any pony before. A gateway t'another realm.” “...is that good?” Stanley was terribly confused. “No...we think tis neutral and its use is what determines whether tis good or bad.” “Erm...why are you here? “10 years ago, thou was involved in an incident with an expedition that cost a great amount of lives and that Celestia hast chosen to cover up. How does thou feel about Celestia's actions?” Luna questioned. “Ohhhh....ummm...I really don't know....I don't understand why she did it...but I think she had a good reason...I mean it has to be worth all these changes that is associated with changing identities right?” Stanley stuttered a very shocked response. “We see...” Luna said thoughtfully, “We shalt notify thee that the portal incident is also to be kept quiet. We wish thee luck. Farewell.” And with that Luna left Stanley to question life even more. *** Lightning growled at the pegasus that held a steel sword to his throat. “Strength is irrelevant. Resistance is futile.” the pegasus sneered. “I will never surrender! I know what awaits me!” Lightning cried. “You are an imperfect being, created by an imperfect being. Why do you resist?” the pegasus said with a laugh. “I am the last and I wish to join my brothers and sisters with dignity.” Lightning spat, trying to hold his head high, but the cold blade brushing against his neck prevented him from doing so. Lightning was the last. Everyone around him had died, including Chief Blaze. Lightning somehow made it to that point by pure luck. And now he lay with his back in the bloody dirt, a hoof pressed down on his chest and a blade caressing his neck. The half a dozen ponies were what was left of the invasion force though. The thought gave Lightning a smirk: at least his kind went out with a bang. The pegasus snickered and malice flitted through her eyes. She would kill him now. “Goodbye...” Lightning said with a sad smile. He didn't want to die, but this was the end and he was glad that he would go down fighting. Then there was a white flash that seared the sky and halted everything. The blade slid off his neck and Lightning momentarily thought he was dead, but he heard a gasp from the pegasus. This was still reality. Her hoof was still on his chest though and Lighting kicked his back legs upward, sending her flying into a nearby trap. She let out a gargled scream and then nothing: she was dead. The other ponies seemed to be too distracted to notice: they were moaning strange things, “Inamoenus...mighty Queen Blanca...save us from this treachary...” Lightning looked around bewildered. He soon discovered that the light originated from the south...from...Inamoenus... “I believe your home is destroyed...if you halt this invasion...I will gladly accept you...” Lightning spoke and hope began to flare inside him. “No...we can't...Queen Blanca commands us so...” they all cried simultaneously. “I'll have to kill you then...” Lightning's newly found hope dropped like a stone and ceased to be. With a sad look on his face, Lightning grabbed a nearby stake and began fighting the now homeless ponies. They jabbed at him, but he kicked and he stabbed, letting blood spurt into the air in a shower of sorrow. By the end of the massacre, Lightning was all that was left standing. Tears fell from his face: he was the last... Fight until the end, Until death is our friend. We fight for our homes, Until the last one roams. He was the last... “Until...the last...one roams...” he whispered. Lightning looked around him. Bodies and entrails were strewn everywhere and blood fed the ground. This was no longer a place to live. Lightning began to shake, tears spilling from his eyes and he fell onto the ground, crying into the bloodied soil. Everypony that he had ever loved was dead. He was alone. He rolled onto his back and gazed upwards, letting the tears to continue to form. The sun had set and the stars had blazed into existence again. A single falling star flew across the sky. “I...I...will follow it...I will roam on the whim of a fallen star...” he said to himself. Lightning got up and said “Goodbye and rest in peace...all of you...” Lightning looked up to the new horizon and took his first steps into a new world. *** One second Queen Blanca was mocking the wretched mare, next she was waiting in a line behind said wretched mare. She stood there, dazed and confused for a moment, until a stallion came up to her, after talking to said wretched mare, “Excuse me, miss, I would-” he started. “THAT'S QUEEN BLANCA !!!” she yelled back at him. “Haha...that means nothing here...” he chuckled. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!?!?!?” Blanca screeched, obviously disgruntled by his lack of devotion towards her. He responded with another giggle, “You...JUST Blanca... are dead. No status whatsoever. My job is just to make sure that all ponies know that they are on their way to the afterlife to avoid any confusion-induced incidents. Enjoy the afterlife, miss!” he said before moving on to the next pony in line. Author's Note Seppuku :Ritualistic suicide by samurai to preserve honour. The samurai cuts open his own stomach as a form of self-disembowelment. Here is the final chapter. Despite endings being difficult, I had fun writing this chapter: I loved writing the gore (I know it's disturbing of me :P) and the dialogue for Discord and Luna. Luna speaks in some sort of old-modern English fusion, which is fun to write and you can pretty much have Discord say anything...even Star Trek quotes... Discord was not the only one to quote Star Trek in this chapter, though. In Lightning's bit, one of the ponies quotes the Borg. (You will assimilate... :P) I'm just going to list some inspirations for this story: 1. Portal Game: The whole rift idea :P 2. Rice Boy Comics: The landscape 3. The Demonata Series: The gore scenes 4. May Bird Series: The last little bit with Queen Blanca and the afterlife/ 5. MLP:FIM: Obvious reasons. I feel that this story deserves a sequel...it's just that I have two directions in mind...I might do one on the political turmoil in Equestria or I might do one on what Lightning encounters after leaving the tepui...I just don't know at this point in time.
