End of time

End of Time

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        At first, all was dark. Then, with a bright flash of white light, Twenty four was in a shimmering tunnel of some sort. It certainly was not through any mountain or similar construct like back on Earth. This tunnel seemed to have walls made of space, literally, it seemed as if it was a roll of blue, starry sky. Twenty four was at the end of this tunnel, staring down at a strange,  bright light at the end. So this is what they mean by “light at the end of the tunnel”, thought Twenty four.

        And with that, he took his first step forward. Twenty four had noticed that there was no floor, and cautiously took another small step forward. As soon as he did, an image began to show on the star-lined walls of the tunnel. Twenty four stopped and looked at the image on his left, like a movie projector. It showed a scene of what he supposed was himself in front of Princess Celestia. She seemed to be speaking to him, but no sound came from the image. In fact, no sound came from anywhere;it was utterly quiet.

        Twenty four moved farther down the tunnel. Another image appeared. This one showed him bowing to Princess Celestia, holding his gun up to her; surrendering. Like hell. What are these: visions of the future? Twenty four shrugged off the feeling that they were set in stone, and moved forward yet again. only a couple of steps away from the light. At this point, his head started to have a horrible pain blossom through it, joined by a low hum and tinkling sound: magic.

        As he was only one step away from reaching the end of the tunnel, the pain and volume of the hum increasing, one final image showed itself on the wall, possibly the most disturbing.

        It showed him aiming his rifle at Celestia: who was not appearing frightened in the slightest,  the glow as he fired a bullet, and then the image shifted. His suit, torn into pieces, along with his body, with Celestia smiling almost insanely over his body, her horn still glowing. The image shifted one final time: Celestia stood on what seemed to be the remains of a city, thousands of human bodies, either in chains, or dead, standing before her and an army of armored ponies.

        The image melted away, and Twenty four turned to face the light, now right in front of him. Whatever happens, I won’t let it be that.

        And, with the pain and noise reaching a crescendo, he stepped through the wall of light.

Pain was the first thing Twenty four felt. Along with the pain was an annoying ringing in his ears, and a sharp pain in his head. While annoying, the senses told him that he was alive. He had made it here, wherever here was. He opened his eyes to reveal a beautiful, if redish afternoon sky, most likely due to the suit’s vision tint. Wait, what suit? Where am I, he focused, and did not panic. The memories of his mission returned to him, and what was at stake. If I don’t kill Celestia, then all of humanity is doomed.

 He attempted to get to his feet, but a horrible wave of dizziness overcame him, and he was forced to wait for the effect to pass. When at last it did, he stood up again and surveyed his surroundings.

        He was standing on a hill. Before him were rolling plains, more hills, far to his left was a giant forest  and farther off, what appeared to be a mountain with something white and gold on the side. But then he moved his gaze downward, and the he saw something that piqued his curiosity: a village or at least something that seemed like one, with smoke rising from some of the buildings, as if a fire had been put out. He began to move shakily forward towards the village, and partway down the hill, he fell and began to roll down the slope of the hill. He reached out and stopped himself with his metal-encased arm. He sat up, clenched his fist, and stood. I can’t be like that. I have to make it through this.

He stood, and continued walking to the village.

        Twenty four was not sure what to think when he finally made it to the town. After numerous minutes of walking, he came to the small pony settlement. He passed the first row of small cottages that made up the outskirts of the town, and was instantly faced with what looked like a battle - or, at least, what was left of one.

        He was standing in a small alleyway between two houses, and before him was what he guessed the center of town, a large, open space with a tall building in the middle. Scattered around the field in front of Twenty four, were groups of ponies fighting with swords and magic. One apparent faction was made up of ponies in golden armor, while the other was suited in silver and dark blue armor. The two groups were swinging swords at each other, In the center of all the fighting, there were six ponies in no armor, but they all had pieces of jewelry; for five of them they wore necklaces, but a purple-colored one in the center had a tiara on. The six ponies floated into the air, and a large flash of white light blinded Twenty four. When the light died down, he opened his eyes to see that no more of the golden-armored ponies were left. They were all set in stone, frozen like statues.

What the hell did they just do? Twenty four had never seen anything like that before, not even with the displays of magic in the war. He hadn't been seen yet, but it was inevitable, as he heard a yell. “What is that?” With that, Twenty four brought his rifle to his hands and stepped forward. He started walking towards the group of six ponies, but one of the  soldiers ran at him, brandishing a sword. Twenty four waited until he was close, then spun his rifle in his hands and as the soldier swung his sword, Twenty four met it with his gun. Blocking two more swings, Twenty four saw an opening, and hit the pony in the head with the butt of the rifle. The pony fell back, dazed, and Twenty four walked past him, continuing his stride to the ponies.

        As he walked, he took a look at the creatures that had frozen dozens of armored soldiers. There were two unicorns, two pegasi, and two regular ponies.

        They just watched as he approached,  and then the purple one with the tiara spoke. “What and who are you?”

        “I would like to know the same thing. Tell me where I am and who you are, and I’ll answer your questions,” Twenty four said back.

        The purple one seemed irritated, but she spoke a few seconds later. “I am Twilight Sparkle, once the student of Princess Celestia. Or Queen, I should say. This land is Equestria, and this village is Ponyville, and it was just freed of its oppression - just now, actually. Now I ask again: what are you?”

        “You can call me Twenty four. I am a human, and I am from another time, sent here to complete a mission.” Twenty four had already decided that these ponies could be the enemy, and he would have to kill them if the need arose; therefore, it was vital he gave away as little information he could.“What about this war with Celestia? Why is this happening? I thought ponies respected her.” From what Twenty four had seen in the war, it seemed they would follow her no matter what. Why would they be fighting her?

        Twilight Sparkle snorted. “Most used to but a few years back she claimed that she wished to conquer the Far Lands; places far away from here where it is said that very dangerous and powerful creatures live. Many ponies thought that Celestia was mad; nopony has ever dared to go there, for anypony who has left has never returned. I used to be her ‘most faithful student’ and we were her friends, once, but I read whatever I could about those lands, and we all tried to change her reasoning: that there was no need to risk so many lives on a hopeless quest.

She insisted, and declared that anypony who went against her reasoning would be considered a traitor. I had no idea what had happened to her, it seemed as if something had twisted her into whatever she is now. She turned on us, for reasons that we still don’t know of, and tried to imprison us. Princess Luna, Celestia’s sister helped us, but she stayed behind to ensure our escape… We hope that she is still alive, but we have been fighting Celestia for months now, and many good ponies have been lost. I, along with the other Elements of Harmony, have been leading our soldiers in the battles that have happened all over Equestria, from city to city. We are close to the final battle, in Canterlot, where we will either dethrone Celestia or die trying.”

“Well, I suppose I can assist you with that goal,” Twenty four said, he made a mental note to find out what these "Elements" were. Were they what had just frozen all of those soldiers?

“Really?” Twilight narrowed her eyes. “How so… Is this the ‘mission’ you spoke of?”

“Yes, it is. My mission… is to kill Princess Celestia.” Twilight’s eyes widened at that. “Yes. I was sent back in time to eliminate Celestia before… well, that’s not important. I have been outfitted with some of the most powerful technology my kind has ever made. If you wish for my help…” Twenty four paused, unsure. Could he give his help to these ponies? They had a common goal; that much was certain. But would they turn on me after that goal’s accomplished? Twenty four thought.

In his line of business, it was best not to trust anyone. But he had seen how easily the dozens of soldiers had been turned to stone. If he made an enemy of this group, he could end up the same way. He made up his mind, and spoke. “...If you wish for my help if dethroning Celestia, I would be more than happy to pull the trigger myself.” Twilight seemed confused at his choice of words, but nodded her head, agreeing.

 She was about to respond when a voice cried out, “Commander Twilight, reinforcements have arrived!” Twilight looked back at the other ponies with her, nodded at them, and they returned the gesture. Picking up weapons from fallen soldiers, the five ran off in the direction that the voice had called, along with the few other soldiers nearby. Twilight herself picked up two swords from the ground with her magic, and turned to Twenty four.

“Let’s see how that technology of yours holds up, Twenty four,” she said, then sprinted off in the same direction that her friends had. Twenty four lifted his rifle, checked the magazine; even though he knew he hadn't fired any shots, it was still an old habit.

Checking his handgun, and as well, finding a knife on his suit, he ran down the same street that everyone else had. This might not have been the land of sunshine and butterflies that Twenty four had expected, but, what did it matter?

He liked this a whole lot more.

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