The Equestrian Inferno

After Star Swirl left, Galaxy and I continued walking. Along the way, we saw several other groups of wanderers. Some were distant. Others passed in close proximity. All seemed to take interest in us but so far, nopony else had spoken to us. "Where exactly are we going?" I asked Galaxy. "Oh to the next circle of course" she replied, "we just follow the river until we reach it. It's a long walk for sure but at least there's no chance of us getting lost. Sandstorms are not frequent in the region of the desert."

Another wandering group appeared over the horizon. "So, do these groups of ponies have a destination?" I asked Galaxy. "No" she replied, "they just wander around the desert. Most walk in a large counterclockwise circle but there are exceptions."

The group of ponies got closer. As always, most of them were too charred and blackened to be recognizable, though occasionally I did catch a glimpse of a colored patch of fur. There were about twenty of them, mostly earth ponies. As they passed by, three more ponies once again broke away from the rest of the crow and galloped toward me.

"Hi there" one of them greeted me, "you must be a brony. You guys were so nice to us background ponies when we were alive and gave us more credit than we deserve. We're so excited to meet one of you! By the way, I'm Lyra." The other two ponies introduced themselves to me as Bon Bon and Shoeshine.

"So" said Shoeshine, "has the brony community changed much since we died? I'd imagine that such a friendly and open community would only grow and prosper over time. Come on, give me a hoofbump." She extended her hoof out expectantly.

"Sorry" I said, "I don't want to get burned."

"Oh, right" replied Shoeshine.

"To be totally honest with you" I began, "I don't think the brony community has changed for the better. Online, there are constant flamewars over who is the best pony. There's almost no trace of the magic of friendship in these. In addition, many people who profess to be bronies online are in fact parasprites (trolls) who have never actually watched the show. Finally, I think a lot of people just watch the show because they find the ponies attractive. No one really seems to care about the underlying message of the show any more."

The three ponies stared at me in silence. Finally, Bon Bon spoke.

"Well that's unfortunate" she said, "but then again, I guess no good thing lasts forever. We'll always have the memories of a time when the MLP fandom did watch the show because they truly enjoyed it. Anyhow, it was nice talking with you. We three have to go now, but don't forget us. We may just be background ponies but we still played an important role. We had fans too. Tell them we say hello." And with that, the three of them galloped off to catch up with the rest of their group.

Galaxy and I resumed our journey down the bank of the river. Finally, after an hour so, the end of this leg of our journey was in sight. In the distance, the river seemed to run down a steep declivity into a deep gorge. Spurred on by the thought that there would be something different after all this time in the monotonous desert, we walked faster. When we got close enough to the edge however Galaxy ordered me to stop.

"Do you have your wallet with you?" she asked me.

"Yes" I replied confused, "though there nothing in it."

"Give it to me" she said.

I took the cheap and beat up piece of leather out of the pocket of my faded jeans and held it out to her. She grabbed it with her magic and tossed it over the side. At first nothing happened, but then, a queer sort of sound that I cannot describe began and grew louder. Suddenly, a quarray eel popped its head over the edge.