I hate seeing towns like this.
I remember when Dunswitch first appeared. It was not much to look at; just a few little farms and shops, a small scattering of houses, and miles of tree-coated hills. It flourished over time, becoming a necessary stop for ponies traveling to the newly-founded Appleloosa. The farms prospered, offering the most savory corn and carrots you'd ever hope to eat. The shops swelled in size, offering everything that a pioneer might desire. The trees slowly started to fade as the town started to inch across the mounds of earth. The town's future looked so bright and promising....
But that was a thousand years ago. Viewing it now, for the first time in centuries, I feel as if I have wandered into a completely different country. The shops are depleted, the farms withered, and the once-proud homes reduced to pathetic shacks. The town is dying miserably.
Over the years, the pioneers stopped coming through as the railroad was built. Financial ruin had forced the farms to pull up their roots and go elsewhere. Shops faltered and disappeared as the resident silently left, sensing the upcoming end.
It's painful to see, and reminds me how much things have changed. A thousand years can completely reshape a planet. All that I knew has either evolved or vanished.
Many ask if I resent my sister for banishing me. I tell them that I don't, and I know that I don't, but sometimes that's not true. Like now.
I walk down the battered road. Depleted buildings watch me pass with broken windows and empty innards. A few remaining civilians bow to me before shuffling away, looking utterly defeated. They know it's time to leave the place they've tried for years to revive. The town will be stripped away, and replaced with a wildlife preserve, one filled with animals not native to Equestria. Celestia has paid the townsfolk generously, more than enough to help them settle into their new homes, but they still look so hurt. This was the land that their ancestors tilled, that they we raised on, that they loved and wept and played on, and now it's being taken from them. Few things sadden me more than dying places like this. The hopelessness of it is almost suffocating.
I continue my journey, hoping to see one shop one last time. This shop is dear to me. It was a palace were my sister and I fled to when we simply couldn't take the snobs of Canterlot anymore. It was the heart and joy of the town, the place where locals and travelers partied or relaxed. There's so many fond memories there....
I turn right, then left, then right again.
There it is.
The gold trim is dull, the blue paint peeling, the windows coated in grim. The sign is barley clinging to the side of the building, and the words are so faded it's almost impossible to read, but I don't need to read it. This is the Sticky Hooves Malt Shop.
This was where my sister and I threw off our standards and responsibilities and mingled with our dear subjects. We've heard and told so many stories here, befriended so many ponies, made so many inside jokes that we still remember...
The ache in my heart is horrible. This place used to be so bright and cheerful. Now it's broken and forgotten. I simply can't bear to see such a beloved place in this sort of shape.
With a shaking hoof, I open the door. Stale, hot air greets me. It's a sad replacement for the sweet cool air of before. The pumps behind the counter are grimy and broken. The stools are gutted and spilling stuffing everywhere. My eyes tear up as they lock on the two biggest stools at the end of the counter.
Those were our stools. They were saved specially for us. Now they are dusty and tattered and alone.
I walk over to mine and sit. It cries out pitifully as my weight settles upon it. I close my eyes and try to remember how this place used to be, and I can briefly hear laughter. It fades and dies quickly.
I don't open my eyes. It occurs to me how displaced I truly am. My subjects fear me, my home is changed, my way of speaking outdated, and all that I know has morphed into something else entirely. It's a sobering epiphany, one that I don't appreciate.
I stand and leave, heart impossibly heavy. But before I quit the shop forever, I turn and grab the sign with my magic. Silently, I pull it off of its hinges and hold it in the air in front of me. I consider it for a moment. I know it will only sadden me to keep it, but I need to. It's all I have from that treasured past. Some of the other ponies watch me curiously, but do nothing to stop me. Some of them have a look of deep understanding in their eyes. All I want is one token, one souvenir of something I can never get back.
With the sign hovering behind me, I depart.
***
The forests around the town are lovely, but they carry an odd atmosphere with them. It's dark, almost foreboding. I never thought I say this, but this is actually better than being in town. I used to be so scared of these woods. Now it's comforting. The Everfree never changes. It's always mysterious and unsettling.
One home sits alone on top of Sentinel Hill. Spreading my wings, I fly to it with ease.
It's barely standing. Most of it has been torn wide open, and shards of wood are absolutely everywhere. I've never been more thankful for my horseshoes. Getting a splinter in my hoof would make a bad day even worse.
It still smells awful here, even after all these years. It's as if the hills have absorbed the stench.
I grit my teeth as a sense of dread suddenly materializes. This is the one place I wish that it changed, and yet the town that I loved is the one affected by time. The irony is sickening.
I remember the family that lived here. Awful ponies they were, every single one. And the thing that lived here with them...
I shudder and try to push the thought out of my mind. The thing and its family are long dead, thankfully. I'm just here for old time's sake.
I drop the sign and carefully step in the busted doorway. Half of the second floor has drooped into the room that used to be the kitchen. There's a gaping hole through the living room, and the walls are scorched. Those marks are my fault. I fired too soon. Unfortunately, my aim was off. The monster had escaped that day, but we tracked it into the forest. It ruined our old castle, but we managed to destroy it in the end.
I weave around the fallen beams, running my hoof around the burns. It was hard to believe at the time that any of our subjects could be so cruel and foolish enough to unleash such a terror on their neighbors.
The only thing left fully in tact is the closet underneath the stairs. I open the door and look around. To my surprise, there's a cardboard box in the middle of the floor.
I stare at it, confused. No one has inhabited this place for years, and I know for a fact that our guards had ransacked this home the moment the threat was obliterated. Could it have been overlooked? I consider it for a few moments, then decide to open it. If it's something dangerous, it must be destroyed immediately.
I peel back the flaps and stare in shock. My mind stutters to a halt as I try to process what's in front of me.
It's a monster.
The upper half of its body is unmistakably pony, with a coarse, scraggly black mane and a murky greenish-yellow coat. Its fur is long and reminds me of a Clydesdale. But the lower half is horribly monstrous. Grey tentacles dangle around it limply, sprouting from the midpoint of its back. Its hind legs are bent like a prehistoric raptor's, and they end with some sort of two-toed pads. Its back is crisscrossed by scales that continued to change color between red and purple. Its tail is long and snake-like, and it ends in a slightly gaping mouth.
It shifts slightly, but does not open its eyes. Something resembling a trench coat hangs limply on his frame, but it's so shredded it just looks like ribbons. The creature is covered in bite marks, as though it had just gotten into a horrible fight with a dog.
I can do nothing for several minutes but stare at it. How could this happen? How could something like this reappear out of nowhere? Where did it come from?
Slowly, I lift it up with my magic. It makes no response and continues to sleep. I should kill it, right now, right here. This is only going to cause trouble. Worse of all, the scent from outside radiates off of him. This is one of their children! A monster! A horrible demon just waiting to happen!
But it's a child....
I can't kill it. But I certainly can't leave it here.
I carry it out with me, trying to keep it as far away from me as possible. I'll bring it to Celestia. Hopefully, she'll know what to do...