My Little Final Destination

Chapters

Train Ride to Canterlot
Premonition?
Carmilla

Train Ride to Canterlot

“Spike, is everything ready for our trip to Canterlot?” The librarian searched frantically for last-minute items while Spike double and triple-checked the list.

“You’re all set, Twilight. I checked four times and you have everything.” He huffed, and his demeanor dropped slightly. “I wish I could go with you, Twilight. I really don’t get to hang out with you guys all that often.”

Twilight smiled sadly down at her number-one assistant and nuzzled him comfortingly. “I know Spike, but somepony--er, dragon--has to watch the library.” Spike sighed, but didn’t respond further. “I will make it up to you when I get back from my trip. I just can’t risk the library being left unoccupied for long.”

Spike sighed long and hard. It was always the same with Twilight. She always needed the library watched and that always left him as the one to do it. “I will be okay Twilight, I just wish I can spend time with you girls more.”

With the list out of the way, Twilight gathered the nearby bags in her magical grip and headed toward the library entrance. Before she could even think of magicing open the door, it swung open violently, and the intruder slammed right into the startled unicorn.

“Hiya, Twilight! Are you excited about this trip? I betcha you are! You wouldn’t be, Twilight if you weren’t excited about seeing the Princess! This is going to be so much fun and the party at the palace will be absolutely spectacular!” Pinkie’s rapid-fire speech never failed to stun Twilight.

She slammed a hoof into Pinkie’s mouth before her friend talked her ear off. “Pinkie, we are supposed to to meet near the train station. I planned it all out and we must follow the list.”

Pinkie giggled slightly as she got off Twilight. “Oh, silly Twilight, you can’t plan out every single aspect of life! You have to ride out what is thrown at you without batting an eye. Makes everything more interesting that way.”

Once Twilight was properly on all fours again, she sighed and slowly shook her head. Pinkie, despite a random personality, was chock-full of hidden wisdom that never failed to baffle the studious librarian.

“Besides, Twilight, I just wanted to surprise you! But, I will meet you at the train station. You should be joined soon by another pony anyway, so I will just leave you to it.” Pinkie hopped out of the library, still giggling to herself.

Twilight stared after her hyperactive friend in disbelief. What exactly was that supposed to mean? She saw nopony nearby except for a currently-dusting Spike. Right as this thought passed through the unicorn’s mind, there was a loud yell, a frantic motion of flapping wings, and Twilight felt something heavy land on top of her, sending her to the ground for the second time today.

“Oof! Whoa, Twilight! Sorry about that. It seems that I didn’t plan the landing right.” Of course, Dash was the only other pegasus that she knew to occasionally miscalculate some aspect of her flight path.

Twilight groaned as Dash struggled to her hooves. Dash grinned sheepishly as the unicorn fixed a slight glare on her while the pegasus helped her friend up. Spike’s laughter greeted the stunned duo.

“At least I made a fantastic entrance.” Dash attempted a grin, but Twilight wasn’t amused. Dash sighed. “Look, I’m sorry, Twilight. What more do you want from me?”

Twilight didn’t say anything for a while, making her friend squirm a little in anxiety. After a few minutes of silence, Twilight decided to not toy with her friend further. “It’s alright, Dash. It’s just because I have already been jumped by Pinkie, and not long after she left you landed on me. I guess I am just a little sore after all that.”

Dash perked up considerably after that. Once Twilight made sure nothing too horrible befell her bags, the two walked out of the library together.

“So Twilight, are we still on for sharing the same compartment?” Dash was digging a forehoof into the ground, nervous, yet hopeful. About a week before Twilight got the summons for relaxation at the Princess’s castle, Dash had requested a reading-buddy schedule for the two of them.

She had sworn Twilight to secrecy, worried that she was turning into the next Twilight. She had already accepted the fact that she loved Daring Do. She didn’t want anypony to know that she liked reading at Twilight’s library or that they had a ritual (despite it being only a week old) going.

Twilight smirked at Dash’s enthusiasm. “Yes, I managed to convince the others that I needed time to study. Just ‘show up’ later during the train ride.” Dash’s high-pitched squeal this provoked was well worth it in Twilight’s opinion.

She would never have guessed that Dash would take to Daring Do. She had given her so much trouble over anything to do with reading, and the fact that she was becoming a “egghead” made things all the more sweeter.

“If you tell anypony that I did that...” Rainbow Dash shook her head and glared at Twilight for a second. “I love hanging out with you, but I am still getting used to books, and I don’t feel comfortable letting anypony know yet.” Dash had looked around nervously, worried that somepony would jump out of a bush or appear out of nowhere--probably Pinkie Pie.

Thankfully, no pink disasters decided to show up, and Dash allowed herself to relax. Soon, the train station appeared in the distance, and gathered in front of the ticket area was a small entourage.

It seemed that most of Ponyville gathered in front of the ticket booth to wave them off. Twilight tilted her head in confusion. Why was everypony waving them off now when this wasn’t the first time they were going to Canterlot? Was this some kind of extended vacation that Celestia had failed to mention in the letter?

“What is everypony doing? Are they really going to wish us off even though this is only going to be a week-long trip?” Dash asked.

Pinkie could be seen bouncing around and waving at the various ponies that caught her eye. Twilight frowned in thought. Big Mac turned up to wave his sister off, young Apple Bloom perched on his back.

Various familiar faces popped into Twilight’s vision and she smiled when she realized once again the overall friendliness of Ponyville. One mare in the crowd, however, Twilight did not know. The mare was looking directly at Twilight with a blank stare. Her mane was red with black streaks. The rest of her fur was green.

The mare’s eyes were what made her stand out more in Twilight’s mind. One eye was green, while the other was a dark red color that held Twilight’s own.

She heard Rainbow gasp. “Twilight, who is that mare? She isn’t a pony I know, and she’s kinda freaking me out.”

So, she wasn’t the only one who noticed her. That was good, as hallucinations weren’t something Twilight wanted to experience right now. She noticed that nopony seemed to pay the mysterious pony any mind, which was a slight cause for concern.

“I don’t know, Dash, but she doesn’t seem to be hurting anypony, so maybe we should just ignore her.”

Dash nodded, seeming to cheer up. “Come on, Twilight, we have to hurry! They are all waiting on us!” Dash spread her wings and took off into the air, performing a few last-minute aerial tricks.

Twilight sighed, realizing that she was now alone with her thoughts. It didn’t last long as she felt herself grabbed by energetic hooves and spun merrily through the air.

“Glad you could make it, Twilight! I was so worried that you wouldn’t show up, even though I just left you five minutes ago.” Pinkie seemed oblivious to Twilight’s screams. She really hoped the jarring motion wouldn’t cause her to donate her lunch to Pinkie in a bad way.

As if sensing her victim’s plight, Pinkie gave one final giggle and set Twilight back onto the wonderful ground. Twilight’s hooves wobbled like jelly, and she twitched horribly for a few moments before recovering.

Once she was stable, Twilight asked, “Why is everypony here, Pinkie? All we are doing is spending a week at the castle for rest and relaxation. This isn’t the first time we have done so.” Twilight frowned in annoyance as Pinkie giggled.

“I wanted us to leave with style, so I called around town and arranged a little farewell party! I brought Spike here after you left, and everypony is waiting for you.”

“How did you arrive at the library after I left it? You were already gone way before I left. I would have seen you.”

Pinkie giggled and leaned her muzzle close to Twilight, slightly startling the unicorn. “Trade secret, Twilight! If I told you, it would ruin the surprise of finding out one day on your own.”

Twilight groaned in frustration. “That makes no sense, Pinkie. I would have seen you. I know I would have. You couldn’t have possibly made that trip.”

Pinkie replied with a smile, “That is my little secret, Twilight. Now, let’s go already!”

Twilight felt herself rushed violently forward. Blurs of color whipped by the startled librarian’s nose and she felt her stomach turn violently the longer she kept her eyes open. The poor unicorn resigned herself to further mystery regarding her pink friend.

Once Pinkie slowed down enough, she turned to the area where she saw the mysterious mare earlier expecting to see her odd gaze. Nopony matching that description. How odd, she must have wandered off when she wasn’t looking.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Will ya be alright, sis? It’s gonna be a week, after all, an’ ya won’t be apple buckin’ durin’ that time.”

“‘Course Ah will, Big Mac! Ain’t the first time we went on vacation far from Ponyville. Not quite sure why Pinkie decided ta gather everypony ta see us off, but it’s still a nice gesture.”

“Will ya get somethin’ from Canterlot fer me?”

“We’ll see, Apple Bloom. It all depends on how busy Ah am.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Are you sure I can’t come with you, Rarity? I won’t wander off.”

“You know perfectly well that I can’t have you off gallivanting with your friends in a big, scary city with little supervision. Remember what happened when mom and dad took us to Colt Disney World?”

“Rarity, I apologized for that! Besides it livened up that worker’s life considerably. He looked dead on his hooves.”

“Such a gruesome metaphor! Please don’t ever use it again. Besides, your friends aren’t coming with us. It will only be for a week, and Cheerilee won’t take kindly if we took you away from school just to take a vacation.”

“Fine, but I better be getting something. I really wanted to see the castle.”

“Maybe next year, dear.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“It wouldn’t be that exciting on the train, squirt! We will be sitting in a boring, hard seat for hours on end. If I can barely handle it, you wouldn’t be able to, either.”

“I can do anything as long as it is with you. Please, just take me along!”

“I was hoping to re-- I mean, take a nap. You would just be staring at me sleep for nine hours. That isn’t very fun.”

“That wouldn’t be much of a problem.”

“What was that, Scoots?”

“Nothing! Nothing. But, I wish you could take me with you anyway. Life just isn’t as much fun without you in it.”

“Hey, Scoots, when I get back, how about I take you to Las Pegasus? Yeah, I know you are a bit underage, but since when has something like that stopped me? We can hit the sites, go to an amusement park, or just hang out. You and me will have a blast and I won’t take anypony else. Will that settle things between us?”

“You really mean it?”

“Hell yeah! I mean, hay yeah, I do! If I take you, I won’t have to worry about sitting in the back row for a roller coaster. You aren’t scared of the front row, are you?”

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, Dash you are single-hoofedly the greatest pegasus ever!! Are you kidding? Being in the front is the only way to go!”

“That’s the spirit, squirt! It’s settled. When I get back, I will take you to Las Pegasus.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Are you sure you will be alright, Angel? I won’t be there for quite some time.”

“It’s just that I will be gone for a whole week, and I don’t want you to be lonely.”

“Can you take care of all the animals for me?”

“You will?”

“Oh, Angel, I knew I could count on you.!”

“Quit squirming, Angel. It’s only a hug. Hugs are good.”

“Make sure Fluffy has plenty of food. He also likes his music, so be sure to play for him.”

“Alright, Angel, I will get going. Just know that I will be back within a week.”

“Yes, I will pick something out for you.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Now be sure to turn the bookshelves ever so slightly to the right so that way dust doesn’t get a chance to settle.”

“I know Twilight, it’s on checklist number 140.”

“Be sure to keep an inventory of any books that are checked out.”

“Gotcha!”

“Refer to checklist number 230 for information on how the self-checkout system works.”

“Twilight!”

“Refer to the checklist of things to check on the checklist while I am gone.”

“Twilight, I know this already! I have been doing this for a while. Don’t worry!”

“I know Spike, but it’s on checklist number 340. See? ‘Give Spike a hard time about the checklist.’”

“Oh Twilight, I will be fine.”

“I hope so Spike, I hope so.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Finally, after saying her farewells, Twilight turned around and addressed her friends. “I would like to get started on some last-minute studying.”

Rarity gave her an odd look, not noticing the smirks coming from Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

“Darling, this is supposed to be a vacation. What could the princess possibly expect from this?”

“I am well aware of that, Rarity, but I can’t possibly allow any moment to waste. Besides, you are more than welcome to join me. We can make study cards.”

Rarity backed off slightly, looking nervous. “I’m alright. Maybe some other time.” She turned and noticed Fluttershy next to her. “Want to come over to my compartment? We rarely have a chance to just chat as it is. I was meaning to ask your opinion on something.”

“Oh, yes, that sounds lovely, Rarity.”

The two trotted off, leaving the four of them standing there.

Applejack, after some consideration, decided to explore the train, taking Pinkie with her. Or, rather, the pink party pony decided to follow her. This left Twilight and Dash alone.

“Do I have to really go back to my compartment, Twilight? We are alone and I really want to read Daring Do with you. Plus, Daring Do had to escape from the Pyramid of Doom and she was getting the snot kicked out her last I checked!” Dash, despite her enthusiastic response, was still glancing nervously around, as if concerned over witnesses seeing her with Twilight.

Twilight smirked. “Gee Dash, I don’t know. The deal was you had to just ‘meet up’ with me. You’re willing to bypass your own plan, just to see how Daring escapes?”

Dash glared at her fellow reading buddy while Twilight had a strong case of the giggles. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, chucklehead. You’re hysterical.”

As the two walked down the path, they noticed the mysterious mare from earlier walk by them. Twilight stopped in her tracks along with Dash.

“Excuse me! I have someplace I have to be.” The mare smiled at the two dumbstruck mares. “Oh, don’t worry, Miss Sparkle and Miss Dash, I will be seeing you very soon. Now, I just have some prior business to attend to, and I will be with you shortly.”

“Hey, wait just a minute, how do you know our names?” Dash was crouching forward slightly as if preparing to attack.

“Cute, but I am very busy. See you soon!” The mare turned a corner and was lost from sight. For some odd reason, Twilight shivered and continued to stare after the mysterious mare. Was it some kind of joke that she knew their names? Did she know that mare?

“Hey Dash?”

“Y-Yeah Twilight?

“How about we just head to our compartments?

“That sounds fantastic, Twilight! Lead the way!”

Premonition?

“Twilight? What did that mare mean when she said she would see us soon?” Dash was shifting her eyes nervously and cowering. It wasn’t like her to worry.

“Honestly, I have no idea. She didn’t seem to falter or hesitate in her conversation, so that means that we were the intended recipients. What is worrying about all this is I have never seen her before. She knew our names without ever introducing herself before.” Twilight stared out the window of their compartment. Silence reigned in the compartment for some time after that.

Excitement for Daring Do dwindled down harshly after the slight scare Dash had earlier. While normally a tough, hard-to-scare mare by normal means, the way a perfect stranger knew Dash’s name and followed them on the train was cause for concern. She began to pace rapidly back and forth, wondering what to do.

“We should probably focus on something else if we are to retain cheerful attitudes for the others. That mare was somehow invisible to the others. Nopony but us could see her, meaning she is connected to us somehow. We really shouldn’t tell the others, it might cause them to worry,” Twilight analyzed, while Dash joined her on the seat.

“I don’t feel crazy, though. Normally, seeing ponies that don’t exist is a sign of being crazy.”

“Relax, Dash. I saw her too! We may be seeing something that doesn’t exist for whatever reason, but we both saw it. We are in this, whatever it is, together.”

“What are you two talking about?” Both Twilight and Dash jumped at the new voice and turned to the new arrival. They saw Pinkie grinning at them widely.

“I saw you two huddled together talking about something, and I just wanted to know what it was! So, what are you two talking about?” Pinkie’s grin was wide and threatened to break her face apart at a moment’s notice.

For a moment, nopony moved. Pinkie just continued to stare at them innocently. It was Twilight who salvaged the situation. “Pinkie, when we were on the train platform waiting to board, did you see a suspicious mare that you didn’t know?”

Pinkie, perhaps sensing the seriousness of the question, thought for a moment. She appeared to be very deep in thought. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be going over something in her head. “I see the train station...is there any specific mare that I am supposed to be remembering?”

Twilight shared the “ Pinkie Pie is being Pinkie Pie” look with Dash before choosing to answer the mare. “She had a green mane with red and black streaks. She had two--”

To Twilight’s confusion, Pinkie’s eyes popped open and she stared in horror at Twilight. “Twilight, that mare is extremely dangerous! You need to never come in contact with her.”

“How do y--”

Twilight’s question was interrupted by a very frantic and very scared Pinkie in her personal space. “Oh, this isn’t good! Why would she go after you guys?”

Dash, frustrated with the vague responses, attempted to get some answers. “What the hey are you talking about, Pinkie? Who is that mare?”

Pinkie shook her head, tears leaking down her face. “Oh, of all the times for me to be able to break that wall, why now of all possible times?!”

“Pinkie! What the hell are you talking about?!” Dash lost her composure. She tried to retain a calm, cool, and collected attitude while dealing with the mystery that was Pinkie, but found it impossible now.

“I don’t know! She doesn’t operate on my levels. Nopony knows about her, for she strikes without warning. I am so sorry Twilight, Dashie, but I can’t help you.” Pinkie turned around and left the compartment that they were in, without any of her usual flair.

“That was confusing. What did Pinkie mean by ‘not operating on her levels’?” Twilight honestly had no clue what just happened.

“Pinkie knew something about that mare, and yet she didn’t actually know anything. What’s going on, Twilight?”

Twilight didn’t know how she could possibly answer Dash. This tipped the scales way past what she normally experienced from Pinkie.

There was not another word spoken for the rest of the trip. How could they enjoy themselves now?

Three Hours Later

Twilight breathed a huge sigh of relief as the train began to slow down. She had spent the remaining time in comfortable, albeit slightly tense silence with Dash. The brash pegasus didn’t read or do much else, but she did enjoy the chance to think over what to do next.

The train finally slowed as the ponies pulling it arrived at Canterlot station. Twilight was relieved to leave behind Pinkie’s confusing behavior and the mysterious mare that seemed to know them.

“Are you ready to go, Dash?”

“Yeah. Do you think Luna will join me and Pinkie for a pranking spree?”

“It’s Pinkie and I, and I don’t know, Dash. Luna normally isn’t up ‘till around eleven or twelve at night unless it is an emergency.”

Dash huffed at Twilight correcting her grammar. “I hope that Luna could join us. She managed to scare me pretty good during Nightmare Night. Honestly, a Princess got the drop on me! There aren’t a lot of pegasi or anypony really that can proudly state, ‘I got the shit scared out of me by a Princess!’”

Twilight giggled a little at that. It looked like Luna had become a huge hit after all. Luna really needed to make more friends. She had only wanted the other ponies to like her, after all. Dash had been really annoying scaring everypony with that cloud. Luna beat Dash at her own game at the last minute, something the pegasus wasn’t expecting.

“Do you think Luna’s heard of this mare? She has knowledge of dreams and nightmares in general. Maybe she has knowledge that we can use or something. Maybe she can enter this mare’s dream or something and we can find out that way.” Dash was rambling at a mile a minute.

“How did you know that Luna could dream walk? Not many ponies know, and Celestia tries to keep it a secret so ponies won’t freak out.”

Dash blushed slightly and looked off to the side. “Scootaloo told me that Luna helped her overcome her fear of letting me know that I was scaring the hell out of her. I sorta found out after that, since Luna wasn’t really on the trip.” She grinned nervously and refused to meet Twilight’s eyes.

“That doesn’t really answer how you know about her dream walking ability.” Twilight continued to press Dash.

“Well Twilight, I don’t know if you were paying attention, but you kinda already spoiled it by confirming it yourself.”

“That’s irrelevant. Scootaloo telling you about how Luna helped her doesn’t really answer the question on how you know she can walk in ponies’ dreams.”

“Can we drop this? We are almost off the train, and I don’t want the others to know.”

“Know about what?”

“Twilight, Luna is just a really good pranking buddy. You shouldn’t take this to mean anything. Besides, Luna told me herself that she could dreamwalk. So, just drop it.”

Twilight sighed, realizing that her desire to know what Rainbow was up to was fruitless. She didn’t press Rainbow anymore about it. Soon, the two were walking to the exit.

“There you guys are! We were starting to wonder when you would show up.” Pinkie, who had apparently cheered up since last they saw her, quickly trotted up to them, promptly wrapping them all into a group hug.

Rarity said, “Well, now that Twilight and Dash decided to join us, I dare say we should go to Celestia now. I feel positively dirty after sitting on those dirty seats for all those hours. Twilight, does Celestia have a personal bath or anything that a lady of my caliber can partake in?”

Twilight grinned at Rarity. “She has two. Both of them have a personal jacuzzi attachment and spa jets.”

Rarity choked as she stared at Twilight with disbelief. “She does?”

“Yep, and what’s more, they can be yours.”

Rarity seemed pleased and a bit desperate to hurry along.

“Since I am her personal student, I can get you in there for free when normally she doesn’t allow a lot of ponies in there. I’ve been, obviously, and Luna isn’t barred, but not a lot of ponies know about this sort of thing.”

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Rarity ran off the train, obviously in a hurry to reach relaxation heaven.

The others departed from the train at a normal speed. Pinkie bounced merrily along while Fluttershy shadowed Rarity.

Five of the ponies continued to walk down the road, Twilight trotting happily nearby. She was going to see the Princess and relax at the castle. Her friends were accompanying her, and all was well with the world.

Applejack walked up to Twilight and kept pace with the happy unicorn. “Hey, sugarcube. Can Ah walk wit’ ya?”

“Of course you can, Applejack. Always good to walk with a friend.” For whatever reason, the farm pony’s steps faltered slightly. Twilight didn’t notice though, and continued on walking.

“Yeah, friend. That’s jus’ great.”

“What was that, AJ?”

“Nothin’, nothin’. Jus’ thinkin’. Anyway, what do ya think the first thing ya’ll do on this relaxation vacation thing?” Applejack looked frustrated, for seemingly no reason at all.

“I am glad you asked that, Applejack. I have a whole bunch of things planned. See, Celestia has several relaxation establishments in the castle. To keep anypony that isn’t Luna or myself out, she has it behind a coded door. This door is only programmed to open for one of us. If somepony that doesn’t share our DNA tries to enter, that pony will be sent to the moon.”

Applejack wasn’t sure how to take this, so she settled on silence. Twilight couldn’t remain serious forever, and burst into laughter. “Oh, Celestia was right! It is fun to prank ponies! I’m sorry Applejack, but I just had to say that. You should have seen the look on your face.” A glare was her only response and Twilight had the forethought to look guilty. “Sorry, Applejack. But if it makes you feel better, we do not actually have a coded door. While it is true we have one, it mostly causes an annoying alarm to ring and Celestia usually escorts that pony away. I shouldn’t have joked about something like that.”

Applejack tried to retain her anger, but she couldn’t stay mad at Twilight. “Aw heck, Ah forgive you, sugarcube. Jus’ wasn’t used ta the idea that ya would joke ‘bout somethin’ like that.”

Pinkie was bouncing along, a huge smile on her face. All her friends were nearby and she couldn’t be any more in her natural element. The city of Canterlot was obviously a very big place, and if Pinkie didn’t already know the correct way, she would have gotten lost.

Now that they were off the train, they were well on their way. Pinkie’s tail puffed out randomly and spasmed violently. Stopping to await the reactions, Pinkie frowned. That twitch said to watch out for a train. Her left eye closed, then opened half way. Her expression grew worrisome. Fire. Lots and lots of fire.

Now her left forehoof tapped three times, followed by her right hindhoof. That one was new. She had never experienced that one before. Pinkie continued to ponder the likely meaning behind a new body spasm.

When she looked up, she noticed her friends stopped dead in their tracks, staring at something above her. Screams in the background greeted her ears as the ponies that pulled the train yelled in shock, sparks flying from the train. Various passengers still on the train screamed in terror.

“Guys, what are you staring at?” Pinkie asked. No answer, but to her confusion, she saw Rainbow Dash flying toward her. A shadow soon passed over the confused Earth pony, causing her to look up. Her pupils shrunk and her mouth dropped open.

A loose bolt on a sign must have finally popped out, causing the sign to loosen drastically. Eventually caving into gravity (she never understood the specifics behind that fickle thing) the sign had finally broken apart. She had been standing right under the path of the sign.

Dash was almost near her, tears of adrenaline still in her eyes. Pinkie thought back to the weird tapping. The left forehoof tapping three times meant something would happen to her. Anytime she tapped it three times before a following twitch or so later, she would experience something.

The last one, a back hoof tapping three time, was rare. She almost never got it, and when she did, she usually was around elderly ponies on the verge of.....

Realization dawned on the party pony in that instant. She was going to die. The Pinkie Sense, a mysterious phenomenon that few ponies knew about except for herself, told her that she would die. One solitary tear leaked out of Pinkie’s eye as the sign finally reached her. Instead of killing her, it simply trapped her under its imposing weight.

Pain greeted her as she found that she couldn’t move. Her leg spasmed in agony, trapped under the sign. She must have broken it. Dash reached her then, still with tears. “Hang on, Pinkie! I’ll get you out of there in a jiffy. Please, Celestia, don’t let this happen.” Liquid poured out of the sign, but Dash paid no attention to it. Blood pooled under the sign and ultimately Pinkie’s leg.

The sign was advertising something about health insurance. It was an electric sign, and it took a lot of magic from unicorns to make sure it was functioning properly.

“Dash, get out of here! It isn’t safe. I will be okay.” Rare was the moment that Pinkie was serious. Earlier on the train was proof enough of that.

“No way in hell am I leaving you, Pinkie! I will get this off you. Just hold on!” While Dash began to struggle to lift the sign off her friend, Pinkie struggled to keep her composure.

Twilight, who was stuck and rooted the ground in horror, could only watch as the train burst into flames. The terrified ponies pulling it tried to run away. It burned rapidly, despite the fact that there wasn’t anything flammable on the train and that the unicorns who built it made sure to cast protective spells to ensure this wouldn’t happen.

Fluttershy, listening to the screams of nearby ponies running from the mayhem, cowered in fear. “We have to go, we just have to go.” She whimpered and shivered violently. Nopony heard her.

Applejack couldn’t understand how in tarnation something like this could happen. Something like this never happened. Fluttershy was a wreck for obvious reasons. Rarity was avoiding the flames but tried to guard Fluttershy at the same time. Both of them were surrounded by panicking ponies.

The sign keeping Pinkie rooted to the ground tilted forward, crushing its victim a little more. Pinkie whimpered.

The panicking driver-ponies pulling the train were now trying to unhook themselves as they ran. In their mad rush to escape the tracks, the tension caused them to break from the tracks, running through the town of still panicking civilians. Parts of the train, already on fire, cracked under the heat and loosened.

Dash was making agonizingly slow progress, still trying to remove the enormous sign from Pinkie, who was crying slightly now that she felt a wetness cover her body. “Dashie, please get out of here.” Still, Dash ignored the protests of the party pony. She couldn’t abandon her friend.

The flames from the train, already rising in heat, soon exploded into a raging inferno, reaching the terrified drivers and engulfing them as well. Sparks from the flame broke off and flew through the air by an invisible wind over to where Pinkie and Dash were. The flame ignited the sign.

Immediately, Pinkie screamed in pain and horror. Dash felt the heat bite and lick at her, forcing her back. The liquid from the sign turned out to be gasoline, igniting everything around it. Dash felt part of her wings catch fire, sending her into additional panic as mind-numbing pain spread everywhere. Her friend continued to scream until the gasoline fully ignited and the entire thing exploded.

Then, Pinkie went silent.

The explosion blast caused the jagged point of the sign to shoot off, heading toward a currently-stunned unicorn. Applejack, hearing the blast and the screams of her once dear friend stop, knew what had happened. “Twilight, we have to move!”

No answer. The pole that had held up the sign for all of Canterlot to see was barreling toward Twilight.

Knowing that Twilight was too distracted to actually realize her danger, Applejack did the only thing she knew she could. She galloped over to Twilight, who seemed to awaken into reality and gaze numbly at the farmer.

“Ah’m so sorry, Twilight.”

Applejack shoved Twilight away from her, right as the pole reached them. Twilight, realizing what Applejack planned on doing, screamed. She watched Applejack get impaled by the blunt force, showering her with crimson.

Fluttershy and Rarity, who were nearby, heard Pinkie’s and Twilight’s screams and turned to look. Shock coursed through their systems as Applejack’s impaled body was lying on her side, surrounded by a pool of blood. Twilight was screaming and crying as she tried to revive her dead friend.

Fluttershy attempted to go to them, but before she could, the scrap of metal from the train exploded, sending it flying toward the timid Pegasus. Blood entered her vision. She heard a pained scream from Rarity, and then darkness.

Twilight, realizing the futility of helping Applejack, leaned over her, crying and getting blood on her hooves and face. Applejack was gone. Pinkie burned to death. She’d heard Rarity’s and Fluttershy’s screams of pain. Dash had disappeared.

All her friends were dead.

Why did this happen? What had they done to deserve this? Twilight, after hugging Applejack one final time, limped away. She couldn’t focus, numb with shock. Bodies were everywhere and blood pooled under so much of them.

A hoof met Twilight’s back, causing the unicorn to jump in surprise. She turned around and felt such an overwhelming sense of relief. Dash stood behind her, half-burned but still alive. She was crying and drenched in blood. Weakly, she fell into Twilight’s hooves.

“Everypony’s dead, Twilight! We’re the only ones left! Do you think we should tell the Princess that there are no more Elements except Magic and Loyalty?” Dash was sobbing as Twilight couldn’t hold herself up anymore, falling to the ground. Dash didn’t object one bit, but still clutched desperately to her remaining friend. The two remaining ponies held each other tightly, refusing to leave, united in the same tragedy.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Twilight awoke violently from what she had just witnessed. Several groups of ponies still on the crowded station turned to stare at the sudden movement.

“I will be fine, Twilight.” Spike’s innocent voice greeted the unicorn’s ear.

“Hey Twilight. Are you okay? Why are you crying?”

Rainbow Dash yelling at her from out of the unicorn’s sight caused Twilight to yell in response.

Applejack, overhearing the yell, broke away from where she had been saying goodbye to Big Mac. She rushed over to see what was wrong. “Twilight! Are you okay, sugarcube?”

Twilight stared at the farm pony, relieved. “Oh, Applejack! You’re alive!” She threw herself at the mare, sobbing heavily.

“‘Course Ah am! Why wouldn’t Ah be?” She looked confused but oddly relieved at Twilight’s vice-like grip on her.

“What’s going on? Why is Twilight crying?” Fluttershy trotted up to the traumatized unicorn, putting a forehoof on her back to console her.

“I don’t know, darling, but she looks like she’s seen a ghost.” Rarity didn’t know what to do. On one hoof, she could tell that Twilight had experienced something traumatizing. She noticed Dash seemed to be in a similar position. The pegasus was being comforted by a worried Scootaloo, who had noticed the tears from her beloved idol.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Rarity asked Twilight gently.

Twilight, recovering ever so slightly from her death grip on Applejack, shared a significant look with Dash. Both ponies realized that they had experienced the same vivid dream.

Pinkie was oddly subdued and kept staring at Dash in concern. She didn’t have any bounce in her step this time.

Twilight finally said, “Let’s get on the train. I don’t know what happened, or even what I saw. All I know is that something very bad happened in it, and I am really, really glad that it wasn’t true.”

Smiling sympathetically, the four friends helped pegasus and unicorn onto the train. Neither made any attempt at conversation. Spike, concerned, watched the train slowly pull out of the station and begin to pick up speed. Twilight had began crying suddenly while she was talking to him.

He shared a look with his companions on the station before finally turning back toward the library. Nopony noticed a mare on the station. She had red and black streaks in her head and a green mane. She smiled, pleased that everything was going according to plan, before slowly vanishing from sight.

Author's Note

Well now, we are starting to get into some excitement. Ever so slightly darker then a premonition from the movies, this story will instead focus on emotional turmoil then blood and gore. Hope everyone/pony is enjoying this story. Just remember, don't expect creative deaths and you will probably enjoy this story more. I saw the first four movies, but had to quit after awhile due to the tragic nature of the endings. While I like gore like the next person, I usually like movies to have a semblance of hope in the end, not everybody dying.

Next chapter coming up soon!

Carmilla

“After it was all over, only Dash and I were l-l-left. I remember feeling the absolute hopelessness of knowing that you all were gone. It was more than just a glimpse of the future. I felt the emotions, felt the fire burn everypony around me.”

Twilight’s shocking revelation horrified all of her friends. Rarity had her mouth open and looked absolutely horrified, while Fluttershy was cowering nearby. Dash had explained certain elements of the “vision”but seemed to be in some kind of shock. Anypony who knew Dash would be shocked at the quiet, almost timid nature of the show-off pegasus. Fluttershy herself even found the sight of her oldest and greatest friend timid a strange turn of events.

“I read a few books on the nature of premonitions, and even what to look for when having them, but this felt different than what I read. It almost seemed to be real. I am so glad that you guys are alright.”

While Twilight relieved the horrors that she had seen, Applejack was nearby, ready to comfort the unicorn if need be. Although Twilight seemed to be doing better than Dash was, the unicorn would occasionally stumble over her words or falter and shiver a little.

Applejack always would be quick to place a supportive hoof on her friend, or share a hug when she started shivering. Though Twilight never mentioned anything or glanced at her, the farm pony was extremely grateful to comfort her traumatized friend..

“Attention, passengers! We will soon be reaching our final destination of Canterlot. Please gather your belongings before leaving. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will be gracing us with their presence at the last stop. Thank you for choosing the Friendship Express,” a feminine voice called out cheerfully over a magical speaker.

Twilight cheered up considerably at the mention that the Princess would be at the station in Canterlot. Celestia never greeted them in her vision, so maybe it was just her imagination after all.

“Princess Luna is meeting us at the station?!” Dash had effectively broken her depressed mood. Only Twilight and Pinkie seemed to pick up on her sudden mood swing. Twilight was certain that there was something going on between Luna and Dash, but wasn’t quite sure what.

Soon, the train grinded to a halt, the wheels squeaking. Twilight gently extracted herself from Applejack’s comforting embrace and ran off to greet the Princess.

Applejack, slightly disappointed that Twilight wasn’t nearby, couldn’t help but notice the oddity of the Princess dropping everything just to greet them at the train station. Then Twilight had some kind of weird premonition. Applejack was suspicious of the whole thing. However, maybe Celestia really was there and there was no reason to think otherwise.

Twilight was the only one who seemed to be in a chipper mood. Dash, effectively traumatized, barely said anything while Twilight was explaining things.

Twilight was elated once she saw the familiar figure of Princess Celestia. Princess Luna stood next to her, dwarfed by her sister. Celestia greeted, “Hello, my most faithful student!”

Twilight trotted up to her excitedly. “Princess, what are you doing here? Don’t you have important business to attend to?”

Celestia grinned and leaned conspiratorially toward the unicorn. “Twilight, did you forget that this is supposed to be a relaxation day? Did you read every aspect of the letter carefully? If you recall, I was going to treat you and your friends to a relaxing day in paradise. This included a personal escort by royalty.” She paused to share a significant look at a currently-smiling Luna, who was grinning evilly as Rainbow Dash whispered something in her ear.

Celestia added, “Besides, I am sure that there will be absolutely no impending disasters while I am away. Luna wanted to come and greet all of you, so I felt it necessary to make a personal trip.”

“Did you inform anypony of your visit?” Twilight asked.

Celestia frowned a little. “I didn’t want to alarm anypony at the castle, so I had Cadence run things in my absence. Only a few ponies know of this. In fact, I am under a disguise spell that will show anypony else a completely different pony. The illusion is only broken by the six of you and, of course, Luna, who is under a disguise as well. This was difficult magic which required my full attention.”

A chill washed over the group. Dash, who had been whispering excitedly with Luna, shot up in alarm. “You didn’t tell anypony about this trip? Like, at all?”

Celestia, worried, turned to stare at Dash. “What seems to be the problem, Dash?”

All six of the ponies now grew worried. Maybe, that wasn’t just a premonition, and maybe they weren’t out of it yet.

Dash said, “Princess, I had a very strange vision. It was the scariest thing Twilight and I had ever seen. In it, we watched our friends die shortly after leaving the train.”

Celestia’s worry intensified. Luna was trembling slightly. Celestia asked, “So, you had a premonition? Somehow you two had the same vision?”

“Yeah, and we were greeted by this strange mare on the train,” Twilight answered.

“What kind of mare?” To say Celestia looked worried would be a severe understatement. She focused her now intense gaze on her student, making Twilight’s stomach churn with worry. She had never seen Celestia so nervous.

Twilight said, “She was oddly-colored. She seemed to be an Earth pony, but she wasn’t like any I had ever seen. She had red and black streaks in her mane and green fur.”

The panic in Celestia’s eyes threatened to overwhelm her faithful student. She turned to Princess Luna. “Dear sister, it seems Carmilla has struck again.”

Luna shook her head in fear. “I thought we stopped that horrid mare, sister.”

“You can’t stop somepony like Carmilla.” Twilight seemed to be forgotten as Celestia and Luna argued for a while. Just who was this Carmilla that they were talking about?

After a little more debate, Celestia finally turned back to Twilight and her growingly-concerned friends. “Twilight, the mare you and Dash are now being targeted by is one of the few beings in Equestria who can truly scare an immortal being. Her name is Carmilla, but we are not aware if that is her real name or just one she goes by.

“Discord himself fears her. She doesn’t follow any sort of rules--not even the natural order. I want you to tell me everything that happened.” Celestia had regained control of her panic and was doing her best to put on a brave face, though failing to do so.

While Celestia and Luna led the way to Canterlot Castle, Twilight and Dash, for the second time that day, recounted the traumatizing premonition. They were somehow successful at holding back tears as they relived the experience.

Both alicorns grew more and more worried as time went on. Finally, Twilight wrapped up her tale and turned expectantly to her mentor. “So, just what is going on? Who exactly was that mare? Carmilla just doesn’t sound like a proper name to me.”

“Debate among yourselves exactly what it is about that kind of knowledge you want to hear.”

A low voice echoed around the ponies. Twilight and Dash jumped violently, much to the confusion of Celestia and Luna.

“What? Where did that voice come from?” Twilight, in a blind panic, struggled to place where she had heard the voice.

“Oh, I am everywhere, Miss Twilight Sparkle! Celestia won’t be able to see or hear me, only you can. Shall we get rid of them so we can chat?”

“No!” Twilight shouted, shaking her head vigorously.

Instantly, her vision blurred. When it re-focused, she was standing on the same street she had been previously. Something, however, was terrifyingly different.

Princess Celestia had been slashed in two, blood still pooling around the broken mare’s body. She had a shocked look in her eye, her lifeless eye staring up at Twilight. Twilight screamed and threw herself backwards..

What had happened? What was going on? Who did this?!

All around her the broken bodies of her friends (minus Rainbow Dash), littered the ground. Twilight could see Applejack impaled on the side of a building, blood still dripping to the ground. She had a grim smile on her face as her breath slowly left her.

“Such a tragedy has been wrought here. Each of them shot down well before their prime. Death is infinite, and cannot be stopped or changed.”

Fluttershy draped over Rarity. Both mares were dead or dying, still bleeding out. Nearby, Twilight noticed a crying Rainbow Dash near a broken Luna. She wasn’t moving, but Dash kept trying to revive her. Her efforts were in vain, Luna unable to spare Dash the cruelty of death.

“The sole survivors, Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, will witness in a week’s time the death of everypony they care about. They will be unable to stop it.”

Nearby, Pinkie was barely even recognizable. Twilight didn’t know what had happened to her, but didn’t really want to know.

“Please, why are you doing this?! They can’t possibly be dead!” Twilight still couldn’t see this mysterious Carmilla. Still, Carmilla’s voice echoed throughout the hollow scene.

“I have been doing this for years, Twilight Sparkle! It is quite fun to watch mortal beings witness the future. They believe they can outrun death. They struggle and fight and save what little life they could, but I always go back for them in the end! But I never played with ponies before...”

“You're doing this for some sick entertainment?! You believe you can toy with us like this?!” What were those mysterious beings that the mare had mentioned? Were their other ponies or species in Equestria that she didn’t know about? She never heard Celestia mention any of this before.

“Some forms of life are spiritually gifted and are able to see glimpses of the future. They were supposed to die, and yet, they are somehow able to foresee their fate. Usually, a small group of others end up believing them and escape. Now, I usually don’t like to lose what is rightfully mine, so I usually kill off the survivors for my own amusement. But what is the fun in that?”

Dash sobbed into Luna’s fur, cradling the Princess’s lifeless body. Blood was all over her fur and she was whimpering sorrowfully. This couldn’t possibly be real, could it? All her friends dead, Celestia, dead, Luna dead. All the important ponies in her life couldn’t possibly be gone, could they?

“I like it when they believe that I have a design or the specific order that makes a difference. But I give them clues as to who I will target, and they struggle to make sense of it all. For five centuries, I have been playing this little game when I get bored.”

For several moments, Carmilla was silent. Dash’s sobs continued to be the only sound that Twilight could hear.

“This isn’t permanent, you know. In all my centuries of doing this, I haven’t come across anyone such as you two ponies. You in your friendships and magic and love are really interesting. Would you like to know how you can prevent this from being reality?”

This wasn’t real? Twilight’s breath caught in her throat and she nearly laughed with relief.

Dash, still crying over Luna’s broken and lifeless body, didn’t stop her flood of tears, but she was paying attention to Carmilla now.

“All that you see is the crossroads between realities. While you have seen your friends and the beloved princesses die, it isn’t set in stone. I can make it so you never saw them dead. They will be good as new.”

Suddenly, the mare that started this mess became visible and was leaning against Applejack’s lifeless body.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash couldn’t move to attack her if they wanted to. Carmilla smiled and stared at Applejack fondly, eyeing her like a cat would a mouse.

“I have become bored of my little game. Toying with living creatures and sending them down the road to Hell is getting stale. The formula of survival is old, at best. Everything has been done before; it is the same thing over and over again. So, I will make you a deal I have never made before. You will be the first subjects to ever get a deal like this.”

Carmilla grinned wickedly at the two stunned mares. “There is a world much like yours, filled with creatures called humans. I have targeted several dozen of them over the centuries, but imagine the irony of ponies doing my work for me?” She laughed, the sound sending chills down Twilight’s spine.

“What I want you two to do is to observe, plan, and carry out the death of a small group of future survivors. You don’t have to do things as messy as I do, but it would be amusing if you did. I will send you notes on who to kill. You will plan out their deaths, but only when you are notified.”

Ordinarily, Twilight would question why she should carry out such a horrible deal. But, if she refused, could she live with the fact that she essentially killed her friends when she had the chance to save them?

“You want us to kill... humans? Why would you think we would want to kill innocent creatures who have nothing to do with any of this?” Dash continued to sob, still clutching Luna as if she would drift away.

“It would be amusing to see the outcome. Think of this as a science experiment.” Carmilla grinned widely.

Twilight ears twitched. “How do we know that you will keep your promise? We can do this, and you might go against your promise anyway. After all, you torture emotionally these humans for fun anyway. What is to prevent us from being your playthings as well?” Twilight finished her angry question and waited for a response.

Carmilla rose one eye in wry amusement. “You have my word that if you follow through with what I ask, I will release your friends to you. Everything will go back to normal, and you will live happily ever after and fight another day and all that boring, fairy-tale ending shit.” Carmilla looked particularly pleased with herself.

“Won’t we get caught? If what you are saying is true, then we will be ponies in a foreign land--aliens. Won’t we cause a panic?” Twilight asked, relieved that she could potentially save her friends and the Princesses.

“Don’t worry about being discovered. You won’t physically be there. You will be invisible to the inhabitants, but stay in an enclosed environment. Nobody will see or hear you unless you want an up-close experience. You can spend as much time with them as you like, but when you get a notice, you will have to accomplish that request shortly after receiving your orders. Fail, and I will automatically correct that behavior. I will leave this entirely up to you.”

Carmilla held up her hooves, and the bodies of their loved ones suddenly vanished. A small portal appeared next to where Applejack had been.

“You will receive detailed instructions once you arrive. Succeed, and your friends will be returned to you with everything intact. Fail, and you will wander Equestria alone forever.”

Carmilla vanished as quickly as she arrived, leaving Twilight and Dash behind.

“Are we really going to follow through with this crazy mare’s request? She is just toying with us, and we are just going to follow orders!” Though Dash accused Twilight, her words were flat and emotionless.

“I don’t see how we have much of a choice. If we succeed, then everything can go back to normal.”

“Are you listening to yourself, Twi? What makes you think we could possibly recover from something like this?”

“I get it, Dash. I get that it’s an impossible request. But we have the chance to rewrite this entire thing. Our friends will be dead if we don’t comply. For whatever reason, we have been targeted. We should just get this over with, Dash. It’s a nasty proposal, but I don’t want to lose you girls. Meeting you five was the happiest moment of my entire life. I can’t just walk away like it didn’t mean anything.”

Twilight stepped over to the portal. Thanks to Lyra’s ramblings about humans and all their quirks, Twilight could now confirm that they existed. The source of Lyra’s obsessions was unknown, but whatever they were, they turned out accurate.

“Are you coming with me, Dash? I really don’t want to be alone. I could really use a friend right now.”

Dash hesitated for a second. This was a really bad situation. Luna was dead, for whatever reason. Real or fake, it had to mean something. Dash thought back to when her life made more sense than it did now. Why couldn’t things be like they were this morning? Whenever she had a goal in mind, she fought for it and achieved it. This wasn’t what she had in mind.

Dash really didn’t have anything better to do. It was either this, or wander Equestria forever. It wasn’t much of a choice.

“I’m with you, Twilight. I will never leave you hanging.”

Twilight smiled.

Together, the two ponies stepped through the portal. Where they would end up, or even what they would accomplish was unknown. The only thing they could do was face that unknown together.

Author's Note

Things are a little different than the movies, but hopefully no one is really bothered by that. Small references were in this chapter, but otherwise different.

The rest of the chapters till the epilogue will go with the following order. Each chapter will have a small introduction to what Dash and Twilight are up to, then follow the human side. Unlike your typical Final Destination movie, there will NOT be a death every few minutes or even right away. The "notes" mentioned in this chapter could be considered Death's Design. I have a way for the ponies/humans to combat that list, but if I told you now, it would ruin the fun.