Chapters The red moon hung ominously in the sky.
Twilight did not understand what it meant. She had consulted her star charts, textbooks, and just about every reference on the matter of the heavenly bodies that she could find. None of them offered an explanation for the alien moon that now displayed itself proudly — almost arrogantly — to the whole of Equestria.
She turned her gaze slightly to the left, and set her eyes upon the second moon. The moon that was significantly smaller in the sky, and a bright shade of white.
The moon that she and every other pony had come to know and admire.
Luna's Moon.
Twilight was concerned. The Red Moon was close, closer than Luna’s moon had ever been before; almost quadruple the size of its counterpart. She didn’t know what it meant, and she didn’t know if it posed a real danger to Equestria. Aside from being somewhat foreboding and terrifying to a young foal's mind, it didn't seem to be actually doing very much.
Her intellectual mind had considered the possibility of some kind of impact, but considering how suddenly it had appeared, and how it hadn’t come closer in the week since it first appeared, she was confident that such a thing wasn’t going to happen. But it didn’t mean she wasn’t worried.
In the arrival of the Red Moon, a state of perpetual twilight had dawned upon Equestria—Twilight herself grimly noted the irony of her own name at this point. Ponies were anxious and afraid. Paranoia was running at an all-time high. She had heard that some were taking drastic measures, in fear of an oncoming apocalypse.
The sun would rise and fall as normal, of course, as they were still well under the command of their respective goddesses. But it did not seem to matter much; even when it wasn’t blocked out by the Red Moon, the light and warmth of the sun barely reached the ground. The days became much cooler as a result.
Twilight had sought counsel with the Royal Sisters as soon as the Red Moon made its appearance. But in all of their thousand-year-old wisdom, neither Luna nor Celestia could offer an explanation of this bizarre omen—much less advice on what to do. As much as she hated to realize this, Twilight was just as lost as they were. She had left that meeting feeling disappointed, upset, and more lost than ever.
Twilight gave the Red Moon a long, hard look. “What does it mean?” she whispered, and released a drawn-out breath. A chill ran down her back, and her wings gave a slight twitch. “What is it? Good or bad? Are we right to worried about this…?”
For the new princess, the nights were sleepless. Thoughts of virtually limitless variety tortured her in her dreams, all seeming to attempt predictions at what was to come. It reached a point where she could not handle the stress any longer; she needed to talk to someone. The princesses had been unable to reassure her, and her friends were all the way back in Ponyville, so her options were fairly limited.
A few lonely nights later, Twilight was strolling the perimeter of the Statue Garden, hoping to clear her head. While out and about, she suddenly began to hear a distinctly familiar voice in head…
“Well, well, well! Our princess is a little lost, it seems!” the voice echoed, the boisterously positive tone masking the clear undertones of mockery. “Need a map, Miss Sparkle? I’d be more than happy to provide one!”
Twilight grimaced, and threw a glare towards a nearby statue. “’I’m not in the mood, Discord,” she spat. “Go make chaos somewhere else, I’m busy.”
Sure enough, the reformed Lord of Chaos himself stuck his head out from behind the statue, feigning a look of shock. “Why, Twilight! I’m surprised! You would accuse me of causing chaos here , of all places?” A large rock floated by his head, casually defying gravity. “Such nerve!” he cackled, jabbing the rock with a claw, causing it to pop like a balloon.
The alicorn wasn’t amused in the slightest. Even though Discord had been rehabilitated for a while now, his antics still got on her nerves. Especially during times like now, when most of the Equestrian populace was in such a stir.
“I don’t have time to lecture you, Discord. Not at a time when we’re still trying to deal with—” She gestured at the Red Moon. “—figuring out why that is up there.”
Discord spared the alien moon a tired look, and he smirked. “Oh, but of course! A whole week and a half, and you’re all still in a tizzy about the sky’s newest ornament,” he observed, carelessly waving his hand in the air. “Personally, I think it really adds something to it. Ah, but then again, putting anything up there would be adding something, wouldn’t it?” He produced a single coin from the ether, and flicked it upward. “Bit in the air! Ha!”
A few moments passed, and the bit had not yet obeyed gravity and come back down. It simply kept going skyward. Discord sighed. “Well, darn. Lost another one,” he groaned, but then immediately brightened up as he conjured an entire sack of bits. “Oh well, many more where that came from!”
The alicorn watched on incredulously as Discord fiddled around with the many coins, creating a whole tower of them. She huffed, and kicked over the tower of bits—much to the draconequus’ evident annoyance. “Adding something? It’s scaring everypony!” snapped Twilight, frustration brewing hotly. “We don’t even know what it is! Or why it’s there, or what will happen because of it!”
Discord rolled his eyes as he set to work picking up the wayward bits on the ground. “And that is supposed to be a problem?” the God of Chaos questioned, chuckling darkly. “Forgive me if I find that rather paranoid of you, Twilight… Oh, but I suppose you are the kind of pony to be prone to such feelings, aren’t you?”
Twilight took offence to that, but she wasn’t in a position to argue about it. Every minute spent speaking with him was a lost minute for potentially working out a solution, she realized. “Discord, I have no time for you,” she said with finality, and Discord’s amused smile fell away. “I have to take care of the ones I care about. Goodbye.” She turned to leave.
“Wait.”
Against her better judgment, she stopped herself. “What is it now?”
“Tell me… Have you heard of the poem, Twilight?”
Twilight jumped; his voice was now directly in her ear. Turning, she found that Discord had slithered up beside her, and his stare seemed unusually serious. “B-be more specific,” the alicorn responded, shrinking back slightly. “I’ve heard countless poems over the years. What is just one?”
Discord held her gaze for a moment before speaking. “There Will Come A Day , of course,” he said simply, before sitting down on a lawn chair he had suddenly conjured. A cup of lemonade was in his grip before Twilight could even blink, and he took a sip before continuing.
“An old poem, written by a positively batty old pony those thousand years ago. Crazy thing said that she “saw the future”, and all sorts of hogwash like that.” He suddenly howled with laughter, and wiped a tear from his eye upon composing himself. “Can you believe how crazy she was to make such a claim? I dare even say, she was even crazier than I am! Hard to believe, of course, but I speak the truth!”
“‘Hard to believe’ is right,” muttered Twilight, trailing a sour gaze from Discord to a nearby hedge. Even despite his behavior, her intellectual curiosity was piqued. “I don’t think I’ve read it, actually.”
Discord shrugged, and slipped on a pair of sunglasses as he laid back in the lawn chair. “Not that you could have, really. It was never published. Reason being? Someone stole the paper it was printed on…” He reached behind himself, and then produced a scroll of paper, winking. “…and that “someone” happened to be me , of course!”
The alicorn gaped. “You stole the—?!”
“‘Borrowed’, Miss Twilight!” he clarified quickly. “‘Borrowed’!”
“What difference does it even make?” questioned Twilight, scowling at him. “You never returned it! And this was a thousand years ago, too!” She groaned. “Ugh, you are just unbelievable…”
Discord raised an eyebrow at her, frowning. “Well, in case you may have forgotten, I had a date with a stone-cold prison not long afterward. Rather hard to return something to a crazy old mare when you’re rooted to the ground, is it not?”
Twilight bit her tongue. He did have a point. “I… suppose so,” she conceded. “Now, about that poem…”
“Why should I just tell you about this dusty old thing, when I can simply recite it?” He held up the paper, removed his sunglasses, and then put on a pair of reading glasses as he skimmed it. “Moment please, been a little while since… Ah! There we go.”
In a flash, both he and the items he had conjured vanished instantly. The courtyard began to darken very quickly, as a huge shadow seemed to draw over it. Twilight looked up, and saw the silhouette of Discord in the sky, arms outstretched in a loose embrace around the Red Moon. His voice reverberated through the air, rattling Twilight’s bones as he spoke.
“There will come a day,
When the omen hangs above,
And shadows veil the way…”
Discord vanished again, and Twilight suddenly began to feel very cold. Her breath came out in a foggy mist, and snow began to fall from nowhere. With a crackling sound, the nearby pond instantly froze over as the temperature continued to plummet. The trees and hedges quickly began to die, shriveling up and becoming coated with frost. Out of nowhere, Discord appeared again—wearing skates, no less—and skirted about on the now-frozen pond as he recited the next verse.
“There will come a time,
When winter arrives premature,
And hearts are glazed in rime…”
Suddenly, the gentle snowfall began to come down in vicious quantities, completely obscuring her sight as it transformed into a blizzard in mere seconds. Just when the cold reached the point of unbearableness, everything seemed to clear away. Now, she was in a lush forest that vaguely reminded her of Whitetail Woods. Birds sang. A gentle breeze blew by. She felt oddly comforted.
But then, something unexpected happened. All at once, the sounds ceased. Birds stopped singing, and the winds stopped blowing. The leaves of the trees became deathly still. Avians of any kind were nowhere to be found. And as all of this occurred, Twilight heard Discord’s voice echo throughout the utterly silent woods.
“There will come a year,
When the winds stop blowing,
And birds we no longer hear…”
Once again, Twilight could begin to feel the temperature change. But rather than grow colder, the exact opposite occurred. It was heating up. Quickly. She started to pant, and could already feel her coat becoming damp with sweat. The air became hazy, and the sunlight grew brighter by the second.
Shielding her eyes with her foreleg, Twilight squinted and looked up into the sky, and gaped. Fire was raining from the sky. The trees suddenly went ablaze as the falling embers touched them, and the alicorn watched on in horror as the forest around her burned into cinders. All the while, Discord narrated the next verse.
“There will come the one,
Not seen with the eyes,
But with fire of the sun…”
Ash only remained of the forest. The thick scent of smoke assailed Twilight’s nostrils, and made her cough and hack. The sun became blocked out by thick clouds, and as the final embers burned away to oblivion, a single drop of water landed on Twilight’s head. Perplexed, she looked into the sky, and another drop of water fell on her—this time, in her eye. Before long, a gentle rain was falling, washing away the ash and soot.
For the first time since this strange demonstration, Twilight moved forward through this scorched landscape. Rain continued to fall (if only in light quantities), and she noticed the odd burnt stump here and there; reminders of the inferno that had been here moments ago. She kept walking, and soon spotted some kind of flat stone sticking out of the ground in the distance. As she approached it, Twilight found that it was without any sort of inscription. The ground below it, however, was loose…
“There will come soft rain,
When memories of life lost,
Would not sooth old pain…”
It was a grave. Twilight gasped noiselessly, and almost fell backwards from shock. Death, her mind realized at once. An omen of death. Darkness. Despair. Pain. She could feel her eyes begin to sting with tears. “No,” she whispered, shaking her head. “No, no, this can’t be right… No, this can’t…!”
Her speech was cut off again, as the thick gray clouds suddenly cleared away, revealing a blue sky behind them. Without ceremony, the headstone toppled over, somehow sinking into the ground and disappearing from sight. Where the loose ground was, a thick flowerbed suddenly sprouted and bloomed with remarkable speed. Grass and other plants grew all around her, overtaking the burnt remains of the forest before disappearing from sight completely.
That’s when she heard the laughter.
Looking up, Twilight saw a tender, innocent sight. Three foals were playing together in the field ahead of her, kicking a plastic ball around with carefree spirit. They reminded her very distinctly of a certain trio of fillies she also knew, even though they were clearly quite different foals. One of them stopped and waved at her, and Twilight couldn’t help but smile and wave back.
Just then, Discord’s voice returned once again, whispering the final verse of the poem in her ear.
“There will come a day,
When children choose to play,
So they shall pave the way…”
She gasped as the God of Chaos himself appeared again in front of her, once again donning his sunglasses and taking sips of his lemonade. He spent a moment admiring his hallucinogenic handiwork, and then stared straight at Twilight, smirking. He pointed to the sky, and Twilight followed his direction. The glaring red moon still hung there, as if intently watching the world it hovered over with subtle menace.
“For there will come a day.”
Twilight awoke with a start, her eyes darting across what she momentarily recognized as her bedchambers, back inside the palace. She quirked her brow with confusion, and let her mouth drop open. “What…” she began to say, but stopped there. Discord worked in mysterious ways, and Twilight never understood how that creature even operated most of the time. She shook her head to clear away the thought, deciding to let it go for the time being.
She gazed out the window, and frowned. The dull scarlet glow of the Red Moon, in tandem with the white gleaming of Luna’s moon, shone through it. Twilight began to think about the “dream” she had—what was Discord trying to show her? That strange poem was just as ominous as the moon that now joined the original one in the night sky.
Deciding to go on another walk, Twilight continued to think about this matter for the greater portion of the night as she wandered the halls of the palace. Was the pony that wrote it truly gifted with foresight? Or was Discord’s rambling correct, and she was as crazy as she appeared? She was more confused now than anything. The “warning” that resided within the poem unnerved her, but it would take more than mere words on a thousand-year-old page to convince the alicorn of any upcoming apocalypse.
There would certainly come a day alright, but it wouldn’t be tomorrow.
The Red Moon had not once left the sky since its first arrival late last spring. Over time, the ponies across Equestria soon learned to accept this new oddity, and the state of panic that had gripped most ponies soon began to quell. Many astronomers in particular were quite interested to study this new moon, and since its close proximity made its surface easily viewable, much was gleaned from this research.
Among what was discovered about this moon, it was found that the surface bore very little resemblance to that of Luna’s Moon. Whereas the old moon’s landscape consisted of hills, mountains, craters, and plenty of dust, the Red Moon’s surface was almost entirely a plains-like environment. Rolling hills dotted the surface, but there were hardly any craters or major crags marking it. For a celestial body lacking an atmosphere, this was considered hugely unnatural.
Some researchers had raised questions about the possibility of life on this moon. Unfortunately (or, depending on who one was asking, “luckily”), no evidence of any sort of life-form – sentient or otherwise – was ever discovered, and this theory was quickly dropped.
Twilight counted herself among the “curious, but wary” group of astronomers, and she had regularly participated in the study of the Red Moon. She still felt a chill run down her back at the sight of this moon, but the potential for learning was too great a chance for to pass up. It also gave her a chance to try and discover if the moon really was a threat, even though nothing had happened in the past several months.
Except, that was a lie. She already knew that bad things were starting to happen, even if the population at large didn’t know. After all, she had a hoof in keeping such things quiet and out of public knowledge. Trusted ponies were sworn to secrecy. Records were written, classified, and then destroyed; most of the time it all happened before the ink even had a chance to dry.
As much as she didn’t want to lie to the ponies, she really had no choice in the matter—Celestia herself approved of this action. Luna, however, was still questioning the effectiveness of this so-called “Gag Policy”, calling it a “denial of the most basic Equestrian rights”. Celestia had argued that, in a time when paranoia was still running high, consistent assurance that nothing was wrong would keep ponies content, and ensure that the populace would be easier to manage. Twilight herself had nothing to say during that meeting, and Cadence was absent—duties back in the Crystal Empire, from what she understood.
She remembered the day that Applejack had come to visit her, and first told her of what was happening. She was staying in Ponyville for a few weeks, mainly to overlook her position at the library, and spend some time with her friends. It seemed so long ago, and yet, it was not very long ago at all.
“Twilight,” she had said, “the apple trees — A-ah dunno why it’s happenin’, but… they’re dying.”
“The apple trees are dying? ” echoed Twilight, taking in the full implications of this. She didn’t realize this at the time, but crops around Equestria were failing fast. The delicate ones of many precious and expensive fruits were the first to go; even some of the hardier crops were beginning to follow suit. Only a scant few simple farmlands to the south containing nothing but corn, hay, and potatoes remained.
But Applejack’s primary output wasn’t any of those. As many were aware, they were apples. In the endless dusk onset by the Red Moon, the chilly temperatures and insufficient sunlight had slowly killed off her livelihood.
She was trembling, Twilight noticed. With fear, perhaps, of what would happen to her family. With anger, obviously aimed at whatever cosmic force wrought this upon her. With despair, having only just coming to realize what this meant for her farm.
Or maybe it was just the fact that winter had arrived five months early, bringing with it both blizzards and ice storms, and she was cold.
“Mah farm is never gonna make due this year, Twi,” Applejack had lamented, lowering her head with shame. “So… ah… ah had to sell the farm.”
Twilight was shocked. “You did what…?! But… Applejack! How could you do such a thing? It’s your home! Your home, here in Ponyville!”
The earth pony sighed, and slowly took her Stetson hat off her head. “Ah didn’t want t’ do it Twilight,” she confessed. “But, Ah had to. Me n’ Apple Bloom, an’ Big Mac… we don’t got anything else left for us here. Ever since Granny passed away…”
She remembered what AJ was referring to. The funeral had taken place a mere three weeks before the Red Moon had first appeared in the sky. She recalled being there with AJ, right by her grandmother’s deathbed. She even remembered the last words that were spoken between them all, before the end.
“Sometimes… sometimes Ah guess that… such things gotta happen sometime.”
“D-don’t talk like that, Granny. Yer gonna be fine.”
“Oh, psshaw… Yer a bad liar, AJ. Always have been.”
“G-granny…”
“Hush now, girl… Ah’ll be fine. Hah, y’know, it’d be nice to see the hubby again after so long.”
“Granny Smith… You are one of the greatest ponies I know. You’ve lived so long, seen so many things… I’m actually a bit jealous.”
“Well, ah thank ya, Twilight. Sure is nice to hear things like that from a Princess.”
“The others wanted to let you know that, as much as they wanted to come, they were busy. I, um, hope you understand…”
“Oh, never mind that. Ah’ve already got all I need, right here.”
“……”
“Big Mac… are you cryin’?”
“…N-nope.”
“Aw, ya big lug, you… Always the softest apple core in the family, y’are.”
“Granny…”
“Now… Applejack?”
“…Y-yes, Granny?”
“Take care of the farm, an’ all… but jus’ make sure—family comes first, alright? Look after yer brother, an’ little Apple Bloom, too…”
“……”
“And… Twilight?”
“Yes? I’m listening, Granny.”
“Remember… There will come a day, Twilight. A day that you’ll hafta make some sacrifices. A day that things might go wrong, but, just try to look past the bad stuff.”
“…”
“A day where yer gonna hafta know where yer loyalties lie. Know what Ah’m sayin’, missy?”
“I’m not sure I do, Granny.”
“Ah, you’ll know that day when it comes…”
“…”
“Now then… Kids, yer granny is feelin’ awful tired… Ah’m gonna take a little nap, now…”
And that had been it. Twilight did not know what Granny meant by what she said to her, but she clearly understood it when the old mare had told Applejack that “family comes first”. The thought of what her friend was getting at made her feel hopelessly empty on the inside.
“So, we’re gonna be movin’. As soon as we can, really,” explained AJ, her pained expression suggesting that it was almost killing her to have to break such news to her friend. “Seems like the only crops that can be grown nowadays is jus’ plain ol’ corn an’ potatoes an’ other stuff like that. We’re headin’ out to the fields ‘round Fillydelphia. Apparently, that’s one o’ the few places left that we can even find any work on a farm.”
Twilight knew what she meant. Applejack and her family were leaving Ponyville. And as much as she truly, deeply wanted to, she knew that she could not convince her to stay, as they had no means of maintaining a livelihood in town. So she didn’t bother trying to; the two of them had only stared at each other in silence, before Applejack quietly excused herself. Twilight could see the tears forming in her friend’s eyes as she turned away, and once AJ had left the library, the alicorn could only stare at where her friend had been moments ago—wishing, just wishing, that she would come back and say that she wasn’t going to leave after all.
Three days later, Applejack, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom left Ponyville. Several generations of Apple Family legacy in the town had come to an end.
The knowledge that she had, in a sense, lost one of her friends weighed heavily on the alicorn’s heart. She had still kept in touch with them via mail, and judging from the last letter she received from them, they were learning to adapt. It wasn't any easier for them than it was for Twilight; if anything, it was even harder. Right now, they were staying in a hastily put-together "refugee camp" of sorts, waiting for the far-too-early winter to pass. Once it did, they could resume working the fields—albeit, a type of fields that they weren't as used-to.
Twilight sympathized for them. But they weren't the only ones suffering behind the scenes, of course. Farmers in general were in dire straits, and fruit and vegetable stands alike were closing down one by one. For a small rural town like Ponyville, this was a serious problem. Maybe ponies wouldn't notice the issue right away, she figured. It would take some time before the true gravity of the situation was fully understood by the public.
But until that happened, she had to keep up the ruse. Everything is just fine, she would say, over and over again. Until her face turned blue, she would say it. Was she lying to the good ponies of Equestria? Of course she was. And Twilight knew how wrong it was to be dishonest. She knew that lies only hurt others. But the worst lies are often the ones with the best of intentions.
Deep in her mind, Twilight knew that Applejack would never have approved of her decision to hold back the truth. She probably might have disowned her, the alicorn grimly noted. Then again, she had already lost her Element of Honesty—so to speak.
Later on, while she was studying her texts in the palace’s library as she was so often used to, Twilight began to notice a connection between now and an event in pre-Celestian history. She knew of it well; it was the old tale of how Hearth’s Warming Eve came to be. A lot of things did match up, she realized; the cold winters, the food shortages, and feelings of bitterness that was starting to become more commonplace. Twilight was almost certain that this was a repeat of what had happened in the past.
Except the history books never mentioned a Red Moon. Nor did they allude to an “endless dusk”, like they were currently experiencing. And what of the increasingly bizarre and unpredictable weather patterns running rampant, that the weather pegasi seemingly couldn’t control?
During the old ages, the winter onset by the Windigoes was virtually endless. Now, while it was certainly harsher than usual, it didn’t last all year. Speaking of the Windigoes, why haven’t they been discovered again? And since everypony was perfectly happy before the Red Moon’s appearance, they had no reason to come back. It just didn’t make any sense.
Sighing with resignation, Twilight shut the book she was reading. Looking out the huge window of the library, where she would normally be overlooking the city of Canterlot, all she could see was an expanse of white fog. This blizzard in particular had been raging for many hours, and it showed no signs of slowing down. On days when it wasn’t snowing, it was usually chilly beyond belief. It was times like this, that she really missed Spike...
“If it’s not the Windigoes,” she asked herself, frowning with worry, “then what is it? It can’t be all because of that , can it?”
Through the thick snowstorm, she could barely make out the reddish-colored outline of the alien moon in the sky. The way it sat there in the sky, day after day, silently mocking her confusion—it frustrated Twilight. She wanted answers, and yet, none could be provided for her.
After all, it’s hard to solve a question when the answer doesn’t exist.
To not feel the gentle early morning breeze was, at one time, an unknown feeling to Fluttershy. On the days that she would walk in her yard, she had grown accustomed to that soft caress of air, letting its often cool touch relax her—even on the most stressful of days.
She had loved the way that the leaves of the trees, including those on her very own house, would blow and sway in the wind. And there were the birds, of course; how their songs would carry on with the breeze, letting their tender melodies be heard over great distances with the wind’s aid.
But now, her yard had fallen silent.
Fluttershy didn’t understand it. For all of her life in Ponyville, the winds would blow and the birds would sing without fail. But now, in the fourth year of the Red Moon, they had stopped. Almost as if they had never started in the first place, bizarre though the idea might seem.
“Where did all the little birdies go?” she wondered aloud. “Where could they have gone?” She checked her birdhouses – she had quite a few of them – all one by one, but they were empty. “Oh, I hope they’re okay…”
As for Fluttershy’s other animals, they were still alive and well. Physically well, in any case. Most of them seemed afraid and anxious still; every now and again they would get agitated like this. Only, it seemed, when the Red Moon was at its brightest in the sky.
The kind pegasus knew well of this celestial anomaly, of course. It had been in the sky for four years now. Since its arrival, there have been unnatural and uncontrollable weather patterns, shortened warm seasons, and even a terrible famine that was still claiming lives from here to Manehatten. They had been trying to keep everything a secret before, but now…
Fluttershy sighed. It wasn’t Twilight’s fault, of course. Nor was it the princesses’ fault, either. She understood their reasoning, and knew that ponies would have perhaps panicked if they all knew what was really going on. But on the other hoof, they had been delaying the inevitable. The truth may hurt sometimes, but the sooner that it could be revealed, the sooner that it could be accepted.
Even so, she wouldn’t blame her friend for what was happening. She wouldn’t blame her for the starving ponies. And nor would she blame her for the disappearing birds.
Sighing again, Fluttershy slowly approached the last animal house that was in her yard. Stooping down beside the house, she undid the lock on the door and opened it, letting a small brown ferret scamper out. It eyed her curiously, and with a hint of worry. This worry was quickly dispelled when Fluttershy pushed a little food bowl towards it, and it quickly set to eating the contents without a care.
The pegasus smiled weakly. It still felt good to show kindness to a needy soul. Even as simple an act as feeding a small animal with good food.
The last of her food.
“Eat up now,” she encouraged, patiently watching the ferret as it contently chowed-down on its meal. “You need your nutrition.” In no time at all, the little animal had finished, and yet was still licking the bowl for any scraps of food that might have been leftover.
It was still hungry, Fluttershy noticed. She frowned ever so slightly, upset that it was still wanting more. But in this day and age, food was not a thing handed out like candy anymore. Even the more mundane meals now cost more and more, as agriculture failed and many once-common sources of sustenance were becoming scarce.
She understood this. Just like how she understood that it wasn’t Twilight’s fault. It wasn’t Applejack’s fault, either; from what Fluttershy last heard, she and the family were adjusting fairly well to working in Fillydelphia—though, apparently Apple Bloom had injured her leg while working at one point. The work for what few farmers and other food producers that remained was highly exhausting and hugely demanding, as they needed to pick up the slack to restore the usual status quo of food output.
But Fluttershy didn’t fully understand all of the numbers or logistics of such things. Therefore, she didn’t concern herself too much with the matter of it. What she was concerned about were twofold: her friends, and the animals under her care.
For the matter of her friends, she was concerned that they would all stay friends through this ordeal. The last time she spoke to Rarity was several months ago. Applejack, even longer. Pinkie Pie, well… she was usually always around, being Pinkie Pie and all. But still, Fluttershy felt so alone nowadays. It was as if there had been some unspoken agreement that they not spend nearly as much time together as they used to anymore.
As for her animals, she was simply concerned for their well-being. What would happen to them because of the famine? As much as she hated not being able to, she couldn’t afford to buy food for so many animals anymore. And even if she were to attempt to forage in the Everfree Forest—disregarding the entire fact that it’s a very, very dangerous place to be at all—there’s no guarantee that she could find enough food for both her and her animals.
It was with this sad thought that Fluttershy took away the food bowl, gingerly pushed it back into the pet house, and shut the door. She then gently nudged the ferret with her hoof, urging it onward—away from her house. The ferret was, understandably, confused by this gesture.
The pegasus insisted, nudging it away a bit more forcibly. At the animal’s puzzled expression, she gestured to its pet house and shook her head. She then pointed in the direction of the fields, and then nodded. Eventually, the ferret got the message. Without even so much as a squeak, it turned and scurried away into the distance. It was soon lost from her sight in the grass.
Fluttershy sighed, and managed to crack a tiny smile. At least now, it would have a chance. A very slight one to be sure, but a chance nevertheless. She looked out across her yard again; all of the other pet houses were empty. She had already released the animals that once lived in there.
The sun was going down, she noticed. The Red Moon had almost covered the sunset this time—like it had many times before—but tonight, it was free and visible. Fluttershy gazed upon the surreal beauty of the two-moon sky, with the sun setting underneath it between the distant hills overlooking what used to be Sweet Apple Acres. Now, it was merely a tree farm; producing the lumber required for both furniture, and firewood. But that was all in the past, Fluttershy knew.
Nodding to herself, the pegasus slowly walked back into her home. It was exactly as she had left it—minus the animals, of course. Fluttershy felt sad, tired, and weak. But she was confident that she had done the right thing. At least, she knew that she only did what she could. And that was enough.
As she walked into her bedroom, she finally took note of herself. How sore she was. How tired and overworked she felt. And how hungry she was. Her body looked as she felt; frail and thin. She released a drawn-out breath, shuddering as she did so, and coughed several times. “O-oh my… I hope I’m not sick,” she mumbled, knowing full well that she wasn’t sound at all.
Fluttershy climbed into her bed, sighing with bliss as she wrapped the warm covers around herself. Her eyelids fluttered shut, and her mind grew foggier and foggier. She was already very tired, it seemed; there would be no trouble in getting proper rest.
Normally, as she would fall asleep, the gentle sound of wind and the tune of the evening songbirds would help lull her along and relax her even more. Back in those days, it was peaceful. Happy. Carefree.
But now, there was only silence that accompanied her as she fell asleep for the last time. She was alone, in more ways than one. But even before she slipped away, she condemned no one for what was happening.
For she understood perfectly.
“Mmm… Good night…”
“Princess Luna?”
“Yes, Twilight Sparkle?”
“You haven’t seen Discord around, have you?”
The lunar princess raised a confused brow at Twilight. “I am afraid that I haven’t. Not for a long time; at least a fortnight, actually,” she confessed. “My sister might know, but—why do you ask? Is there some matter you wish to discuss with him?”
Twilight was barely controlling her emotions at the moment. Her body trembled, and she bit her lip. “He was right,” she said sharply, looking at the floor. “About everything.”
Luna was confused. She could sense that something was bothering Twilight about this, but she couldn’t fully understand what. “Right? About what?” she questioned in response.
“Everything!” snapped Twilight, then she caught herself. She muttered a quick apology before continuing. “That poem he recited to me seven years ago… It predicted everything that’s happened. The Red Moon, the early winters, the winds stopping… Sure, things besides those also occurred, but he was still right .”
“Twilight Sparkle,” the princess said sternly, her ethereal mane sparkling as she turned away from her, “are you sure that Discord knew this was happening? Are you aware of what you could be implying by claiming he “predicted” these events?”
Sensing where the princess was taking this, she quickly clarified, “I-I’m sure that Discord hasn’t been responsible for all that’s happened.”
“Even though he is perfectly capable of doing so.”
“Well, perhaps, but—”
“And you know that.”
“I-I do! But, he didn’t…” Twilight trailed off. Already, she realized that her supposedly simple explanation was falling apart at the seams. What if Luna was right? What if Discord could have been responsible for all that went wrong? That he was responsible for the countless ponies who had starved? That he was responsible for Fluttershy’s dea—
She felt a wing wrap around her midsection, jarring her from her torrent of thoughts. Twilight looked up, staring into the face of Princess Luna. A sad smile was on her face, and she pulled the young alicorn close. “Twilight Sparkle, you are still troubled by your friend’s passing. Is this not true?”
Twilight merely nodded, and looked down at the floor.
“It’s been three years, Twilight,” the lunar goddess pointed out. “You must learn to move on. The remainder of your friends still have supported you, have they not? Has Rainbow Dash not been taking you on regular flying runs around Cloudsdale and Galloping Gorge, even though you no longer require lessons? Has Applejack given up trying to communicate with you however she can, and still endeavors to see you again someday? And what of Rarity, who still sees it fit to overlook your dress designs?” A coy smile found its way onto her face. “And has Pinkie Pie ever forgotten your birthday?”
Hearing this coming from the thousand-year-old alicorn, Twilight sniffled a bit, but smiled nevertheless. Her other friends were still alive and kicking, at least. Losing Fluttershy was a terrible loss for them all, but she likely wouldn’t have wanted them troubling themselves by crying over her grave. If her ghost were there, and vocal, then Twilight figured she would likely say something along the lines of, “Um, you don’t have to mourn for me… I really don’t want to be a bother, but, if you still want [size=8]to [/size][size=6]then [/size][size=5]I [/size][size=4]guess [/size][size=3]that’s [/size][size=2]okay[/size]…” The thought alone made her stifle a laugh.
Princess Luna noticed this, and smiled more warmly. “I take it that you feel better, now?”
“Much,” Twilight replied simply. “I was just thinking to myself, you know, what Fluttershy would say to us if she knew we were still crying like fillies over her headstone…”
“Hmmmm.” Luna nodded. “I see. Whatever should aid in coping, I hope it does good for you. Now then, back to the matter at hoof…” Her look turned steely again. “We may, in fact, need to be having a discussion with a certain “Lord of Chaos” as well. Let us—me, let me accompany you, Twilight Sparkle.”
She was surprised by this gesture, but tried not to let it show. Now that the possibility of Discord’s involvement was brought up, it seemed almost impossible to rule out. At least, not completely. Twilight led the lunar princess through the darkened halls, and as she passed a window, she looked outside. Still nighttime, but only just. Celestia was due to raise the sun soon; within the next hour or so, she estimated.
The two of them searched the halls, asked the odd Royal Guard on patrol about his whereabouts, but in the end, they couldn’t find hide or horn of the draconequus anywhere in the palace.
“He must not be around here,” Twilight finally admitted, sighing with disappointed. “I really needed to talk to him about that poem again.”
Princess Luna didn’t seem to be holding questions, as she was potential accusations. “The cowardly creature may have fled, I believe,” she supposed, grimacing as she paced back and forth across the hall. “Perhaps he knew of our coming, and that we knew well of his deception. Got away while he could, the spineless—”
“Well, excuuuuse me!” a voice suddenly cut in, sounding rather offended. Both princesses gave a start, and then spun towards a stained-glass window in the wall. The animated, mosaic design of a draconequus on the window was glaring at them, arms crossed and back quite literally bent over backwards. “Go ahead and knock the God of Chaos who doesn’t quite go for the whole “anatomy” deal very much, why don’t you?”
“Discord!” roared Luna, her voice approaching dangerously-high-level volume. “Treasonous scum! Come out and speak, unless you truly are as spineless as you make yourself seen!”
The mosaic of Discord sighed, and straightened his body out with a slight crunch . “Well goodness, there’s no need to yell , oh Princess of the Night,” he said with his usual tone of mockery. “Yes, I can hear you now, although I might need to snag a pair of good earmuffs if I wish to keep hearing you.”
“Do not test me, Discord!” the moon princess yelled, gritting her teeth as she stamped her hoof on the tiles rather forcefully. “Now answer us, or face the consequences! Are you or are you not responsible for the terrible events that have plagued Equestria since the arrival of the dread Red Moon?!”
“Accusing me of all that? ” spat the mosaic form of the Lord of Chaos with a distinct air of incredulity. He shook his head and chortled. “My, my, my… Frankly, I am shocked that you would think of me like that. I’ve been a very good draconequus, have I not? I’ve eaten all my meals, went to bed before curfew hour, and never fussed when you had to change my—”
“E-enough, cretin!” interrupted Luna, blushing furiously. “Admit your guilt, for there is no other force in this world that can cause such chaos as we are currently suffering!”
Discord blew a raspberry at her. “Oh, come on. You call that chaos? It’s nothing more than the cycle repeating itself yet again…”
Though she had been unable to speak, due to Luna’s forceful voice rendering her mute by comparison, Twilight was able to interject at this point. “Cycle?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, did I say cycle? No, I clearly meant nothing of the sort,” he denied, his tone suddenly switching gears from calm to evasive. “It’s rather more of a phase , or progression of sorts… But as for whether or not I’m responsible, I’m sad to say that I am most certainly not.”
“How canst thou make such claims, villain,” Luna objected, stomping her hoof forcefully, “without providing us evidence to the contrary?!”
The draconequus sniggered, and pulled up a chair for his two-dimensional form to sit upon lazily. “My, my, Lulu. Your old world ways are still stuck inside you, both in mannerism and in voice,” he mocked, summoning a glass of chocolate milk to his hand. “Do you honestly believe that I have the capacity to bring about events that kill ponies?” He shook his head. “Come now. Dying isn’t fun at all. You know, just as well that I do, that I always use my magic for fun.”
Just like that, Discord vanished from the window, and finally appeared before them in the hallway. As if to prove his point, he was wearing a clown’s outfit. Cackling, he produced a bottle of spray seltzer, and shot a quick blast into Luna’s face. Caught off-guard, she sputtered and coughed as she tried to wipe the soda from her eyes.
“WH-WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!” she roared, glaring daggers at Discord—who now saw it fit to peddle back and forth across the hall on a comically undersized tricycle. “Answer us, cretin! We do not appreciate this display of—” She was rudely cut off as the draconequus threw a pie at her face. “—PASTRY?! Guh, pchew! Disgusting!”
Twilight was stunned at this sudden display of impudence, but she found it hard not to at least giggle at Luna’s misery. Discord was howling with laughter, pointing at Luna as he chortled. “Oh, that is rich! Priceless!” he jeered, circling in the air around the lunar princess like a hungry vulture. “See what I mean? And you would accuse me of such things, too! I’m disappointed, Lulu!”
“V-VILLAIN! CUR! MONSTER!” cursed Luna, still wiping away the chunks of pie that still clung to her fur.
“Me, a monster? I’d be flattered, if it wasn’t in such a negative tone.” He shook his head, clicking his tongue several times. Then, he turned towards the young alicorn and smiled darkly. “Now then, Twilight… My dear, delusional Twilight… You wanted to get a chance to speak with me, this I know. But luckily for you, I already know what you wanted to ask me. My answer, is but another question: Remember the fourth verse of that little poem?”
Twilight thought back to then. She hadn’t quite fully committed the entire poem to memory, but if she wasn’t mistaken, then it had to have been the one that mentioned the “fire of the sun”. “There will come the one, not seen with the eyes, but with fire of the sun,” she recited, processing the verse in her mind once again. In the vision she had seen, there was only fire—a thought that made her shiver. “No, you can’t mean...”
Discord smirked wickedly, and nodded. “Ah, so you do remember it! Makes explaining it that much easier,” he noted, nodding his head. “I must only say this, then: Like pretty much every poem that you ponies ever wrote, it’s open to a LOT of interpretation. Like, really! “Not seen with eyes, but with fire of the sun”? Yes, one does have to wonder what that could be implying!”
It hadn’t made too much sense to Twilight, either. While the other verses seemed to portray a clear theme and idea, this one wasn’t as straightforward as the others. But “fire of the sun”… wasn’t that the same as saying “fire of the fire”? If so, then it was already ridiculous to her, being of a logical, reasoning mind, and not an interpretive one.
At that moment, Luna suddenly spoke up. “Fire of the sun… Another way of saying fervor, passion, or anger of the sun,” the lunar princess explained, looking oddly deep in thought. “Or, if you would rather, “passion of life”, as the sun itself had been a “representative” of all life in our world, before Celestia’s time. Otherwise, if that poem came well after our rise to power, then it would aluding to her anger and passion... Grim and unlikely as the notion would seem."
“My my,” Discord said approvingly, “Lulu knows her stuff, alright! And yes, this poem did come a while before Celly’s time. But now, here comes the tricky part! What does that mean?” He threw his head back and cackled. “Oh, the interpretations that one could pull from that verse!”
Twilight began to piece together what Discord and Luna had said, but she still had trouble fully connecting the dots. Passion of life? By itself, passion also meant “desire”, “craving”, and “lust”—at least, according to her many thesauruses. Still, what could that be predicting? If it was not literal fire raining from the skies (which had, thankfully, not yet happened), then what was it?
The relative silence of the darkened hallway was broken by the sound of rapidly approaching hoofsteps. Noticing this, Discord shrugged helplessly, and shook his head. “And this is where I must take my leave, I’m afraid,” he said rather casually, suddenly produced a bucket filled to the brim with fish. “So long, and thanks for all the fish! If you still don’t quite get that riddle, well… you will in a moment. Arrivederci, Lulu! Sparkle!”
“Wait, Discord!” yelled Twilight, raising a hoof to stop him, but it was too late. In a flash of light, and with the sound of a firecracker, he was gone.
Luna was briefly stunned, but she soon recomposed herself. “Cowardly demon,” she muttered sourly, “leaving us with no rightful explanation of his predictions…”
Before either alicorn could comment further on Discord’s bizzareness, or contemplate the riddle within the poem, a Royal Guard rounded the corner at a fast gallop—the source of the earlier hoofsteps—and caught sight of them. “Your Highness! There you are!” he called out, drawing their attention with a start. “There’s an emergency in the city!”
Princess Luna sighed with exasperation. “Yes, what is it?” she demanded, face blank with apathy. “Considering how many “emergencies” there have been in the past several years, one more now seems merely par for the course.”
Twilight, however, wasn’t quite so sure. A guard wouldn’t have come running through the palace searching for them if it was a minor emergency. No—it had to have been serious. And the guard confirmed this niggling worry.
“The city’s food storage,” he gasped, obviously winded from his run, “is under attack! A mob, a riot, something! They overpowered the local guard, and forced their way inside—stealing, pillaging, everything that they could get their hooves on. It’s a madhouse down there, Your Highness; reports of casualties are already coming in!”
At this news, Luna reeled back from shock. “A riot? What method of madness is this?!” she thundered, causing the guard to stumble backward. “This is unacceptable! Those fools! What is there for them to gain by stealing from their own food supply?!”
“I-I honestly do not know, Your Highness,” the Royal Guard stammered. “The citizens have been growing more and more restless in recent weeks, and we’ve received countless appeals for extensions on their food rations… All denied, of course; we can’t possibly afford to spare more than what we can already can.”
Twilight grimaced at this. She had been responsible for organizing the Food Rationing program, and even went to the trouble of sorting out how much each pony would receive, based on their most basic needs and occupations. It was not an easy task, but she somehow made it work. But now, some ponies were clearly not happy with how little food they were receiving.
“They think we’re “playing favorites” in the rationing system,” the guard explained, softly shaking his head. “And to say they’re rather cross about that would be sugarcoating it. There were reports of ponies stealing other ponies’ rations, as well as fights breaking out in the streets for control of it. Everything rose to a head, and now, this powder keg has already blown…”
No longer with words, Twilight hung her head low to the ground. Somehow, she felt as if everything was her fault. That she could have done something more , so this entire crisis could have been averted. She was disappointed in herself, more than anything else. She had failed her friends, the princesses, Equestria… and herself.
Princess Luna was far too livid at the moment to notice her self-loathing; she was now ranting and barking orders at the guard, who quickly complied and galloped off down the hall. The dark-blue alicorn took off as well, taking advantage of her incredibly loud voice to wake the entire palace from its slumber. Twilight was left behind, forgotten.
“How fitting,” she muttered to herself, and sighed. Ponies were angry and hurting each other. Killing each other, from what the guard had reported. It’s the sort of thing that never happens in a land such as this, and yet, it was happening regardless.
She looked out the window that Discord had been residing in earlier, and glared at the Red Moon that still hung there. Luna’s moon, as usual, was hovering in tandem with it. The sun was now already rising, illuminating the valley that rested below the Canterhorn Mountains.
Looking down into the valley, she saw columns of smoke. At first, she assumed that a bonfire had gotten out of control, or perhaps there was a forest fire somewhere. But when she looked closer, she saw that it was not trees that were burning, but houses. Ponyville was burning. From even further in the distance, additional columns of smoke indicated towns all along the valley and beyond were affected as well. Manehatten. Appleloosa. Even as far away as Los Pegasus.
Twilight looked down at the wide mountain ridge to her left, where the main district of Canterlot as visible. Much closer than the other towns were, of course; she could easily see the fire burning through the rooftops, and decorative trees going up in smoke. Ponies were mobbing in the streets, many of them wielding torches—hence why things were being set on fire, of course.
Emergency fire workers were here and there too, working to get the worst fires under control. Among the crowd, Twilight saw many ponies that were lying on the ground, utterly immobile. She felt a chill run through her spine at the thought of one of those bodies being somepony she knew. She tried not to think about it too much.
She even saw many Royal Guards in formation, trying to control the ardent crowd with their spears, shields, and magic alike. She wondered about her brother, Shining Armor. Was he okay? Still coordinating the crowd control, and emergency response? Or had even he became another one of those lifeless shapes, discarded on the rioting streets?
All the while, the sun was rising to a world on fire.
“Passion of life,” she whispered to herself, eyes widening as she realized the meaning behind this event. “Desire of life… Stealing the food, so they don’t starve… The ponies are all fighting for their lives … They’re not angry, they’re scared … They don’t want to die…”
“Fear instills many primal instincts in creatures of all kinds,” a gentle, tired voice from beside Twilight said. She looked to the right, and found Princess Celestia herself standing beside her, gazing out over the valley and disorder-filled city as well. “Such things are natural to feel, and they cannot be truly condemned for the way they act. When desperate, any creature will do whatever it takes to survive.”
Twilight was somewhat surprised by how quickly she had appeared, but was nevertheless grateful for her company. “Princess,” she began, “this is all my fault. Everypony is suffering because of things I did… The rationing system, keeping quiet about the problems until they became uncontrollable, and just doing nothing when I should have done some thing!” The young alicorn was on the verge of tears. “If I did, then maybe Fluttershy would still be—”
“Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia’s voice was firm, but sympathetic. “You will find that when you are the leader of your fellow pony, you will often face difficult decisions. These decisions are, whether they turn out to be for better or worse, yours and yours alone. Keeping such a grave secret from my subjects was my action, and my action alone. You may have been following my direction in keeping quiet, but it was still exactly that. My direction. As for the rationing, you only did what you thought would be for the best; the best for Equestria, the best for every pony in it, and the best for your friends and family as well.”
“My friends…” The young alicorn sniffled, and tearfully gazed out the window towards the burning Ponyville, and then back down at the rioting city of Canterlot. “My family… And Spike too, I... I don’t even know what will happen to them… I feel so helpless—so useless standing here…”
Princess Celestia wrapped a comforting wing around Twilight, nodding with sad acknowledgement. After a moment of tender silence, she leaned down and whispered in Twilight’s ear, “Go to them, Twilight. You need no longer stay here.”
“Wh-what?! But…” Twilight looked up at Celestia with worry and confusion. “Aren’t I a princess? Won’t I be needed here, in Canterlot?”
“It was me who wronged my subjects from the start,” the alicorn lamented, lowering her head and closing her eyes. “I only did what I thought would protect them. But as it turned out, I was doing more harm than help. Don’t worry about me, and don’t worry about your family here in Canterlot either. I will make necessary arrangements to bring them away from here, to the south.” She paused for a moment, and then glanced over at Twilight. “Go to them, quickly. There is no telling what is happening across the valley, and you may have little time.”
Twilight hesitated for a minute, not sure what she should be feeling at the moment about her insistence. A single sentiment soon emerged, however: gratitude. “Th-thank you, princess,” she quickly said, then turned and galloped down the hallway towards the front gates. Celestia watched her go, and smiled sadly.
“Goodbye, Twilight… You are a better pony than I could ever be.”
Twilight stood before the headstone, her gaze never straying from it. Clouds overhead darkened the already-dim light of dusk, making it harder to see that usual, but the glow from her horn rendered this issue a null value. A pattering of rain gently assaulted the ground around her, beginning to run in tiny streams by her hooves. But the weary alicorn paid the scenery no attention, for it deserved none.
Tirelessly scanning the surface back and forth, her eyes examined the writing that was inscribed in it, clear and bold. The words that she herself had carved in them, almost twelve years before this moment.
Here lies Fluttershy, The Element of Kindness.
~ Cared not for herself, but for all others
Loved all that she knew; and them, her
We will always miss you ~
Only herself, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie were in attendance. Applejack was still looking after her family in Fillydelphia, and could not make it; her absence was excused, though Rainbow was rather angry that she had not been there.
Rainbow Dash had, perhaps, been the worst affected by her death. Where Twilight felt hollow shock and crippling loss upon hearing that her malnourished body had been found in her bed, Dash was absolutely livid. She had refused to accept that her friend had passed on. Even at the funeral, Rainbow Dash acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary, perhaps simply waiting for Fluttershy to open up the casket and timidly ask why everyone was so sad. But when this did not occur, and Twilight lowered the casket into the hole...
The alicorn winced, as if feeling that she had been hit in the same place that Rainbow had hit her during that time. It may have no longer hurt, but the sensation had imprinted in her memory quite harshly. Broke a couple of ribs, she recalled; Twilight at least had to compliment the strength of her kick. Biting her lip, she pushed the event from her mind, trying her best not to remember Rainbow's face of hopeless anger and despair as the full weight of their loss had come crashing down upon her perfect world.
At any other time, earlier than now, she would have cried. Twilight would have forsaken all ties with dignity and let loose with the waterworks; lying there for hours on end, begging her long-gone friend to come back to her. But long since have her tears dried up, and she had no more to spare for her.
For anypony.
Fluttershy was but a pony, as much as Twilight hated to objectify her. Only a pony. No more a pony than she, or Applejack, Rainbow Dash, or any other pony in Equestria was. She had feelings, ideas, and dreams. So did everypony else. She was a living, thinking, feeling, marvel of life. And again, so was everypony else.
The alicorn looked up, and past the apex of the grassy hill where she and her friends had once watched many an amazing meteor shower on. The town of Ponyville, a ways off in the distance. Now normally coated in snow and ice, from the climate that had changed so harshly, though she now visited during the warmest time of the year, where the temperature and weather patterns were somewhat reasonable.
Almost all of Ponyville's original residents had either passed away from the Sick, starved from the famine, or simply moved away. None but the hardiest of Scandeneighvian ponies lived around this area anymore. The cold seasons were far too long for agriculture to even be possible anymore. Instead, the ponies living here had taken up hunting in the Everfree Forest to procure food; a dangerous and disgusting practice, to Twilight.
When desperate, any creature will do whatever it takes to survive.
Her mentor's words. Old now, they seemed. But in the Equestria she once loved, it was as real and present as the clouds in the sky or the grass on the ground. Or the rain that was still falling, ever gently, on her head. Now both princesses were gone. Celestia and Luna both, vanished. She knew what had happened to them, and what they had done. It was why the sun and moon still rose and fell as normal. She knew, and she would soon tell, as it was her final promise to the goddess of the sun: To tell the truth.
On the last day that she and Celestia had seen each other, the state of the land was utter madness. The riots had grown in intensity, mostly over the matter of food and sustenance. But also, as Twilight soon discovered, over a widely-spreading plague as well; the Sick. Most ponies that caught the Sick died within hours. Some speculated that it was not a simple illness, but a deliberate attempt by a subversive element to thin the population via a magical bioweapon. If this theory was so, then it worked far too well.
Twilight had arrived in Ponyville mere minutes after leaving Canterlot. Even then, she was already too late for two more of her friends; they had contracted the Sick, and were dead by the time she had arrived there. The alicorn gazed out to the empty, dead fields where Sweet Apple Acres used to be. It was a mass grave, now. Hundreds of ponies were buried in a series of massive holes that could fit a dozen or so ponies each. And two of her friends were among them.
Her Elements of Laughter and Generosity, gone from this world before their time.
She had left town as soon as she discovered their fate, leaving their remains to be rounded-up and buried. An action Twilight had come to regret, as she no longer truly knew where her friends had gone. Lost under the ground, with none but strangers and acquaintances buried with them. She snorted at the thought of Pinkie hosting a party in the afterlife; that was the best she could hope for, at least. Both her, and Rarity--they were in a better place, now.
But it still hurt. Deep inside, the pain would not wither.
She heard the flapping of wings approach from behind. Her own wings bristled at the sound, and they snapped to attention, her instincts fearing trouble. But the voice that accompanied it swiftly quelled her worries.
"Hey, egghead. I know you're real upset, and need a moment and all, but... it's been three hours. They'll be worried about us."
Rainbow Dash was getting impatient, it seemed. The alicorn sighed, and nodded in response. Everyone was waiting back in New Harmony; the town that was built just west of Old Fillydelphia. Applejack, Spike, and the others. She was going to miss a wedding ceremony for one of Apple Bloom's friends, if Twilight was not mistaken. Now that things had settled down, life was only just beginning to revert to normal. Or at least, what could be considered the new normal for what remained of Equestria...
Twilight lowered her head, and turned away from the headstone. Now was the time to move on. With only the slightest and barely noticeable catch in her voice, she softly spoke, "Goodbye, Fluttershy. Pinkie Pie. Rarity. Keep each other company while I'm gone. We'll..." She swallowed deeply. "We'll hang out again some other time."
Without looking back, she took off from the ground and into the sky, joining her friend in the air. Feeling not sadness, but resolution, she soared into the distant horizon, and on with her life.
The sun burned brightly in the sky overhead. Strong, vibrant, and energetic as it ever was. Skies were clear; rain wasn't a likelihood for a while. While the crossbreeze was a bit cool at times, the warmth and radiance of the sun made this nearly a comfortable, perfect day by many regards.
Scootaloo watched her foal scamper in the grass, smiling as she watched her play with a friend. They had been having more regular outings to this location on the edge of town lately; it was wide open, the view was to die for, and there were rarely any other ponies around causing disturbances. In other terms, the perfect place for a mother to spend time with her child in peace. She had to remember to thank Apple Bloom for suggesting this place to her, thinking about it now.
How did she end up here, the adult pegasus wondered? Even after everything that she had been put through, after the losses that she suffered, despite all of her hardship... she still persevered. She found safety. She found love. And now here she was, a wife to her husband, and a mother to her filly. She honestly couldn't be any happier than she was at this moment. If only her father could have seen her now...
"Tag!" her foal cheered, having tapped the colt she was playing with on the flank. "You're it!"
"Heeey, no fair! You cheated!" the colt whined, to which the filly giggled in response.
Innocence. Carefree fun, and innocence. Something that she herself recalled having many years ago, Scootaloo mused. That was, until the Dark Times struck, many years ago; almost twenty, to be exact. But those past times of hardship have long since waned, and the outlook of the future was beginning to looking bright again.
She gazed up into the sky, marveling at the orb of fire that now moved through the sky on its own accord. Celestia herself, becoming one with the giver of life... An amazing concept. She had been spellbound when Twilight told them all. To think, that the goddesses themselves were looking down on them at all times now! While it might have scared more than a few children into behaving themselves (hers included, of course), it was one of those miracles that fully showed what the powers of a goddess are capable of.
And one day, they just might even return to them, as Twilight predicted...
Scootaloo was suddenly distracted from her inner thoughts by her filly, whom had galloped over to her in a flash. "Mommy, mommy!" she cried, not so much upset as she was extremely excited by something. "Roller had to go home, but he asked me to ask you if I could go over to his house sometime! Can I pleeeeease go? Pleeeeeease?"
The filly's exuberance provoked a gentle laugh from her; she loved to see her foal so happy, so carefree. So innocent. "As long as he's okay with it, and as long as you're okay with it, then I don't see why you can't!" replied Scootaloo, lovingly tousling her filly's mane. "Just make sure you have the whole "food" thing worked out before staying too long, alright? Wouldn't want your father to have to spoon-feed you later, right?"
"Eww, no!" the foal whined, sticking out her tongue. "Daddy's food is so yucky!"
"Aw, he's not that bad. Just needs a lot of practice, is all."
"Yeah! A LOT of practice, right mommy?"
Scootaloo laughed, and nodded her head. "Yep... That's your father for you," she remarked, smirking as she recalled her husband's rather unimpressive cooking skills. To be fair, she wasn't all that used to cooking in the past either; practice eventually did paid off, however, even if it ended up having nothing to do with her cutie mark.
Once she gathered herself again, the pegasus noticed that her filly seemed to have stopped, and was looking up into the sky with a curious, insightful expression. Following her gaze, Scootaloo could see that her filly had again taken an interest in that large oddity in the sky: the Red Moon. No longer an oddity, she supposed; everypony knew about it, and everypony accepted its presence.
It still creeped her out a bit, though.
"I think it looks pretty," the filly commented, seeming awed and amazed by the blood-colored moon. Hypnotized, almost, by its color and size.
Scootaloo herself could hardly refer to it as 'pretty', though it did have a certain 'air' about it. She wasn't even fully certain of what emotion she should have been feeling whenever she gazed at that moon. Her child was young, and naive; she didn't understand the taboo that surrounded it. Much less what happened in the years well before she was born.
There will come a day for that story to be told, but it wouldn't be today.
After a few moments of quiet contemplation, the mother could only manage a half-hearted nod. "It... certainly adds something, at least," she quietly commented. She stood up, and nudged her daughter's side. "Now then, wanna get going to visit your friend?"
The filly's eyes instantly moved from the moon to her mother, wide with excitement. "Do I?! Yeah, yeah! Let's go!" she cheered, immediately zooming off across the field while flapping her infantile wings in vain. Scootaloo grinned and followed after her, being forced to run briskly just to catch up with the foal. It was a good life. Even if the Red Moon stubbornly insisted on remaining there in the sky, she wouldn't allow it to ruin her life again. And nor would anypony else, really.
As the two of them left the field, neither of them noticed a certain draconequus materialize into existence on the other side of the field, chuckling the whole time. He looked at the scenery around him, as if casually admiring it, and then held out his hand to the side. A small, golden coin landed squarely on it from above.
"Aaaaaand the bit drops," Discord remarked, flipping the coin he had just caught into a purse he conjured up, before letting it vanish back into the ether again. With a final glance towards the Red Moon, and another self-indulgent cackle, the Lord of Chaos snapped his fingers and vanished from sight once again.
"For there will come a day..."
THE END
