The world destroyer
Equestria was, as it usually is, very peaceful. The nature was in full bloom, enjoying the magnificent heat of the summer sun, providing the most wonderful of playground for the animals to run around, wander without any care or just lay down and profit from the beautiful day. Around them, the ponies were doing their daily business, having fun or just making sure everything would go the way it was supposed to in order to ensure the continuation of the little paradise they and everything else were living in.
Among those ponies was Twilight Sparkle, who was walking in the streets of Ponyville along with Pinkie Pie. It looked like a normal day for her, as long as anything happening when in the company of Pinkie Pie was to be called “normal”. Still, Twilight was enjoying it, paying no attention about the several times her friend would defy the law of physic or the law of logic, as, in the end, Pinkie Pie had never broken the law itself which was quite ironic.
Suddenly, the pink mare stopped. Her tail was twitching, but not only. Her mane buzzed, her knee shook, her stomach hurt, her body bounced around and twisted itself three time before Pinkie Pie expelled all the air she had inside, becoming nothing more than a mere outer layer laying on the ground.
Twilight, not knowing if she should find it funny or scream in terror, went to touch what was left of her friend on the ground.
“Something terrible is going to happen!” shouted Pinkie Pie from behind her back, startling the alicorn who fell on the ground, her heart beating like it was going to explode.
“Pinkie Pie, what in Equestria…” began Twilight.
But she had no time to continue. Pinkie was too excited and visibly scared.
“It will be horrible! Terrible! The world is going to end!” she shouted in a frenzy. “And it’s going to involve you. You have to go away, quick.”
Taking a luggage out of nowhere, Pinkie Pie began to fill it with stuff, mostly rocks and grass she found on the ground, closed it and gave it to Twilight.
“Come with me, there is no time to waste, we have to go!” she told the alicorn.
But Twilight refused.
“Pinkie Pie, if something terrible is going to happen, I need to stay.” she explained to her friend. “I’m a princess of Equestria, it’s my duty to stay and protect everypony.”
The pink mare stopped and looked at Twilight with sadness. She was trying to figure out if anything she could say would make her change her mind, but knew she was powerless. So she did the only thing she could do and forced a smile on her face.
“Well, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do I guess.” she told Twilight. “Please excuse me, but I can’t stay.”
“Why?” asked Twilight.
“Because I’m not brave enough.” Pinkie Pie answered with a smile. “I’m sorry.” she added, “There are things I never want to see. But whatever happens, know that I love you and that I’ll never cease to be your friend and that I’ll forgive you anything.”
And Pinkie Pie came so close to Twilight that both mare’s eyes almost touched.
“And I mean anything!” she added in a dramatic tone.
Then she backed away and began to trot away.
“I’m off, say goodbye to everypony else for me.” Pinkie Pie shouted as she was already pretty far. “I’ll write when I can! Bye!”
Pinkie Pie disappeared in the distance, taking the luggage with her. And of course, Twilight’s only thought was a good old “What the hay was that all about!?” that she knew she would never figure out before it would explode in her face.
She sighed.
But before she could waste time feeling sorry for herself about the weird ways of her friends and how she was thinking she would have liked to go in vacation too and avoid whatever was coming, she heard a huge and loud noise coming from a street in front of her.
She instinctively ran towards the noise to see what was going on. As she was about to come out of the alley she was in when she saw a little something jumping in front of her, coming from the right corner and disappearing behind the left one. She had just realized something had passed before her when she almost got crushed by a big pack of various wild animals chasing after the thing, probably another animal that she had previously seen.
Just as Twilight was thanking her good luck to have survived the encounter, she heard a gentle voice she was very familiar with asking:
“Oh goodness, Twilight, are you okay?”
But Fluttershy didn’t really stop. She just looked at the alicorn, saw that she seemed unharmed and kept on chasing the animals. So, naturally, Twilight began to run too to be able to ask the pegasus about the herd that was roaming free into Ponyville.
“I don’t know why they are acting this way.” Fluttershy explained. “We were having a nice quiet day when all those creatures from the Everfree forest appeared and suddenly all my animal friends decided to follow them and refused to listen to me. I think they are chasing something.”
Twilight confirmed that last part, but the idea of having many creatures from the Everfree forest in Ponyville was her major concern for the time being. Even more because the herd had left them behind. Suddenly, she heard the noise coming back in their direction and both mare, understanding the situation, began to run away to not be in the path.
They arrived in the centre of the town and saw a lot of ponies hiding in the town hall. They ran to take cover inside too, but at that very moment they felt something passing behind them, looked back and saw a creature, all alone, running away. A second later, a big amalgam of various wild animals followed, enraged, giving everything they had to try to catch the little creature who was slowly losing the race.
Both the creature and the herd of animals went all the way around the town hall and, finally, out of breath, the little creature, as a last resort, went onto a barrel against the wall of a house, desperately trying to climb but unable to.
The creature saw all the animals come towards him, knew it was over and just curled up on himself, closed his eyes and cried.
However, none of the chasing animals ever got to the creature, as they all pretty much crashed into a purple magical barrier Twilight had cast on instinct. The animals tried to attack the barrier to reach the creature, but in vain.
Then Fluttershy intervened. She began to scold every animal that was there, no matter if it was a wild or a domestic one. Some from the Everfree forest tried to protest, but the yellow pegasus made clear she didn’t want to hear anything anymore from any of them, as she was very upset by their behavior. She sent all the animals away, back to the everfree forest or back to the cottage, telling them they were all grounded and following them to make sure they would do as she had told.
It had been almost painful to watch for Twilight, who pitied the poor animals, but she was relieved nonetheless that her friend had been able to solve the situation in such an effective way.
It wasn’t finished though, as Twilight turned back their attention to the little creature on his barrel. So did all the ponies who had come out of the town hall when the animals had left.
The creature was a little fawn, but everypony there could feel it was special. It was a feeling they had forgotten about, buried deep inside their bodies and souls, a feeling incrusted into their basic instinct, a feeling that was telling them to beware of that fawn looking creature, because it was extremely dangerous.
Twilight took away the magical barrier and came a little closer to try and communicate with the creature, or really just try to find out what it was, when she heard it speak. It was just repeating, very softly just as if it wasn’t expecting anyone to listen to him :
“Stop. Please stop. I don’t want to die. Please don’t kill me.”
The creature was still crying, and its whole little frail body was shivering.
“It’s okay.” said Twilight. “The animals are gone, you don’t risk anything anymore.”
She wasn’t actually sure of that. A part of her wanted to comfort the creature, as she would have tried to comfort any living being afraid or in pain. But another part of her was whispering to her mind that the creature was an enemy. And if it was an enemy, she would have to battle it and as she was naturally hoping to win, it was very likely that the creature was still at risk.
It was becoming somewhat confusing for the poor alicorn who decided to just ignore her emotions and just focus on finding out what was really going on.
The fawn-looking creature, hearing Twilight’s voice, realized he was still alive and stopped pleading for his life. His shiver became less intense, but he kept his eyes closed, just like a little child who would hide under his blanket and hope that what he can’t see can’t harm him.
“Excuse me, but what are you?” asked Twilight. “And why did all those animals tried to attack you?”
The fawn kept his eyes closed, and tried to stay silent a little longer, but could hear the crowd of ponies all around and knew they were waiting for him to reply.
“Please don’t harm me.” he said, this time a little louder than before. “I don’t want to die. Just let me go.”
“Don’t worry.” Twilight replied, “We are friends, we will help you, you don’t have to fear us. But we need to know who you are.”
Actually, Twilight wanted to know what the creature was more to figure out why she was feeling so afraid of him than to help him. She kept that to herself however.
“I can’t tell you who I am. If I do, you’ll kill me!” the fawn replied, his eyes still shut, beginning to cry again, already expecting the conversation to end very badly for him.
Twilight thought of a new approach and tried it right away.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle, I’m a princess of Equestria, which is the land you are in.” she told the fawn. “And in Equestria, ponies never attack any living being. We only defend ourselves when we don’t have any other choice.”
She let a moment for the fawn to understand her words, and then continued: “You haven’t attacked us, nor are you attacking us right now. So you see, we have no reason whatsoever to harm you and you have no reason whatsoever to fear us.”
The fawn stayed silent for a while, interpreting Twilight’s words, trying to know if he should trust the voice he was hearing or not. But he decided he should at least try and, very slowly, and carefully, he opened his eyes to look at the one who was speaking to him, as he felt he needed to see her if he was to believe her.
But as soon as his eyes opened, everypony, even Twilight, backed a few steps away in terror. He had yellow snake eyes, the dark kind of yellow that seems to be able to only exist if you were to take everything joyful and good from original yellow. A tainted yellow, a broken yellow. And those yellow eyes just seemed to shout “I am evil!”.
Seeing the ponies’ reaction, the fawn closed his eyes back and began to cry again, pleading for his life without expecting any mercy. But the ponies didn’t attack. However they were wondering even more than before, just as was Twilight, what this creature was, certain now that their instinct had been right to be afraid ot it from the beginning.
Using all of her deep grasp on logic to overcome her fear and sudden will to just attack the creature and eliminate it, Twilight came back closer to the creature and asked, once again: “Please, you have to excuse us. We are afraid of what we don’t understand. We need to know who you are if we are to be friends together.”
The fawn cried even more, because, and Twilight had no way of knowing it, he was unable to lie. But knowing he had no way of getting out of the situation, and fearing the ponies would get even more aggressive if he said nothing, he decided to trust the gentle and caring voice of Twilight.
“Can you promise me to not attack me if I tell you what I am?” the fawn asked.
But nopony replied, not even Twilight, as she wasn’t certain anymore that she would be able to keep that promise. Her instinct was telling her she shouldn't be even talking with the creature, that it was pure evil she had to vanquish, that it was merely disguised as a cute creature to deceive her... Still, she decided against what her own heart was telling her and just asked the creature what he was again, as gently as she possibly could to show she could be trusted.
The fawn opened his eyes again and, ignoring the tears pouring all over his face, shouted for all the ponies to hear, as he knew he wouldn’t be allowed to say anything else anymore after that:
“I am a world destroyer!” he almost screamed, “I was born with the only purpose to put an end to the existence of everything you know and hold dear!” and he continued a little softer: “I never wished to be what I am, and I never wished to harm anyone or anything. I just wish not to die.” and finally, taking advantage of the reaction of horror of the ponies who needed a few seconds to accept what he was saying, he added: “So do your worst, I don’t fear you!”.
He was lying about that last part, of course. His legs were shivering, his whole body was shivering, even his voice was shivering under the imminence of his death. He had even closed his eyes after he was finished speaking. Still, he had felt so good for having said he didn’t fear them. It had created that little illusion that he put all his hopes in. The illusion that he had been alive, even if only for one second.
Twilight took a little longer than the other ponies to understand that Equestria had just been put on the brink of destruction, just as all the ponies who lived there. However, she got interrupted when she felt the crowd beginning to move towards the world destroyer, as one big body, united against danger and ready to defend itself from what was threatening its existence. Suddenly understanding what was about to happen, the alicorn hastily turned back.
“Everypony freeze!” she ordered, making the crowd suddenly stop and hesitate. “Go back to your homes, I will take care of it.”
The ponies looked at each other and at Twilight, but they all agreed they liked the idea of letting Twilight handle the situation and do what had to be done. So they slowly all went away, leaving the alicorn alone with the creature.
The fawn, noticing he hadn’t died yet, opened his eyes once again and looked at Twilight, this time because he had no idea anymore what was happening.
“Are you okay?” Twilight asked.
He nodded to confirm he was still alive, which was very okay in his mind.
“Are you going to kill me?” the fawn asked.
Twilight chased away the idea, as it had naturally crossed her mind too.
“Are you going to destroy the world?” she asked.
“I'm very sorry…” the fawn replied, as he was bound to say the truth like any other world destroyer. “I'll eventually, but I don’t want to.” he tried to argue in his favor, even if it wasn’t making a lot of difference in his mind.
“I don’t know exactly what is going to happen.” said Twilight, “But I won’t harm you.” she told him with a little difficulty.
The fawn looked at her with sudden gratitude, not expecting such an outcome.
“And I’m going to protect you.” the alicorn added with with all the determination she add.
But she knew, when saying those words, that she just came upon a challenge greater than herself, as she had just put herself between the existence of Equestria and the life of one frail creature.
And she had no idea how she could save both of them.
We demand!
Equestria had once been very peaceful, with a nature in full bloom under the magnificent heat of a summer sun. Animals and ponies would just live in that wonderful land without any care and do their daily business.
But among those ponies was Twilight, who now had to make sure everything would go the way it was supposed to in order to ensure the continuation of the little paradise she and everything else were living in.
It was a total nightmare.
She had asked help from both the princesses and Zecora already. The answers, however, weren’t helping at all. Twilight had described every traits of the creature to them and had been confirmed in her worst fears. It was a world destroyer, from legends that even the princesses had almost forgotten about. Not only Zecora, but Luna and Celestia as well had recognized the fawn as one of that kind, damned creatures who would only bring the promess of destruction. If a world destroyer were to be allowed to stay alive for too long, the world would simply ceased to exist at some point, purely and simply. That was why the presence of such a creature would awake the most basic instinct of survival in any living being around it.
Luna had written back a separate letter from her big sister, where she explained everything and almost order Twilight to do her duty and terminate the creature before it would accomplish what it was destined to do, as it had to be considered an enemy of Equestria. Something that Twilight was shocked to read and couldn’t accept. So much that she didn’t see the parts of the paper that had gotten wet when the princess had written those words.
Then there was Zecora’s answer, that Spike had went to collect. The zebra hadn’t chosen any path. She had just confirmed the identity of the world destroyer and made one prophecy, stating that he would be the cause of the end of the world Twilight had loved so much and sworn to protect. An outcome that the new alicorn, of course, couldn’t accept.
Still, in a way, that was meaning Zecora wanted Twilight to spare the little fawn, and therefore condemn the world. Or Zecora wanted Twilight to realize that the world was at stake and she had no other choice but to make sure such a dangerous creature wouldn’t be allowed to threaten anypony anymore.
Or maybe it was really meaning that, whatever Twilight would choose, the fawn-looking creature was going to destroy the world anyway, thus meaning she should prevent it right away.
Finally, there was Celestia’s letter, which was giving almost no explanation or direction at all. The sun princess had only written that it was for Twilight to decide. She had made sure to tell her former student to rely for that matter not only on her good heart, but also on her great mind, as there were, and those were her words, matters where the feelings mustn’t blind a pony to the point of losing any good common sense.
And even if Twilight wanted to interpret that last letter as a sign she was right when deciding to protect the little creature, she couldn’t help but feel the princess should have been more specific or support her choice a little better.
Twilight read the letters once again, and remembered what Spike had reported from his visit to Zecora, and began to wonder. Something felt wrong. She could understand that the animals would want to attack the world destroyer, as they were mostly acting on instinct, but she wasn’t sure if she understood why the rulers of Equestria and the wise Zecora she respected so much were giving such answers.
She looked at the creature, who had been waiting the whole time under her desk, because he had felt more secured there. And rightfully so as even Spike had first tried to defend Twilight from him when they first encountered. Twilight had made the dragon promise not to harm the fawn, but he was clearly not very happy with that promise.
Twilight once again chased away the idea of just following Luna’s advice. She refused to harm him and went back to finding a solution to save both Equestria and the creature. It didn’t help that the fawn had no idea how he was supposed to destroy everything, as he just knew he would eventually do it, because it was his purpose.
Twilight sighed.
But before she could mourn more, she heard a lot of noise outside in the streets. Those were ponies’ voices, many and many ponies’ voices, some angry, some concerned, but all very loud and all directed at the library and the princess inside.
Twilight quickly told the creature to stay there and rushed to the door, opened it and went outside.
As soon as they saw the princess, the shouting of all the ponies gathered together more than doubled. There was a whole crowd, composed not only of the ponies of Ponyville, but also of ponies who had come from other town in Equestria as the rumor of the existence of the world destroyer had spread.
And with the rumor the word had also spread that the creature was still alive and well, and that therefore there was still an enormous threat upon all of Equestria. Even worse, every pony who had seen the creature could feel it was still alive, as the fear that had been awoken wouldn’t go away. Fathers and mothers were frightened about their children’s fate. Brothers were afraid about the well being of their sisters and sisters were afraid about the well being of their brothers. In all of Equestria, ponies had been concerned about what would happen to their friends and relatives, their colleagues or just the innocent ponies they knew nothing about until now. All in one big cacophony were expressing their deep anxiety for the well being of others and, in some cases, their own well being.
Altogether, the crowd had basically come to ask why the princess was protecting the one who was bound to kill them all.
“Nopony is going to harm him!” Twilight instinctively shouted, misinterpreting the crowd’s intention.
“We don’t want to harm him.” explained a pony in the crowd. “We want you to do your duty and protect us!”
The whole crowd confirmed that in what sounded like a loud roaring.
“Stop it!” Twilight ordered, as she was also getting a little afraid herself, “I will protect you, I am protecting you. I don’t want the world to be destroyed anymore than you do.”
“Then eliminate the threat!” shouted several ponies in the crowd.
“I won’t!” Twilight shouted. “Can’t you see? You ask for your safety when nopony has been hurt. You ask for justice when no wrong has been done. You judge a crime that hasn’t been committed!”
But her words didn’t reach any of the ponies gathered there. They just didn’t care: they were too afraid to care for abstract concepts.
“You’re our princess!” shouted some ponies. “We demand that you do your duty!”
“I am doing my duty!” Twilight replied.
“Deal with the threat!” shouted some ponies. “Protect us!” shouted others. “We demand that you do what has to be done. You are our princess, you have to do it!” they all said.
Twilight couldn’t believe her ears. She felt no fear anymore. She was angry and sad. She tried three more times to explain that the creature was innocent and therefore shouldn’t be harmed, but the ponies refused to listen all three times, arguing that their princess had to do what had to be done and demanding it.
So Twilight went back into the library and soon came back with her crown that she was holding with her magic.
“You are right.” she told the crowd, who suddenly silenced itself, as they were finally hearing what they wanted to hear. “I am your princess and I have to abide to your willing.” Twilight continued, with her voice betraying in what turmoil this had put her. “But if I have to punish the innocent in order to be a princess, then I refuse to be a princess anymore!”
And upon shouting those last words, she threw her crown on the ground in front of the crowd.
Twilight hadn’t really thought about what she was doing. She just needed to do something, anything that would explain her determination to do the right thing, and how wrong those ponies were.
But the effect she obtained was far from what she could have expected.
At first, the ponies tried to understand if the princess really wasn’t a princess anymore, or if she had the right to do such a thing to begin with. But slowly, they saw that it was actually good for them, as if Twilight wasn’t a princess anymore, they didn’t have to obey her anymore too and could therefore go in the library and deal with the threat themselves.
A pony, braver or more afraid than the others, walked over the crown and told Twilight to step aside as he went to enter the library.
But Twilight didn’t let him pass. She pushed him back.
“What are you doing?” she asked, afraid to understand.
Other ponies moved forward, thinking some of them would have to neutralize the alicorn while the rest of them would go in, but they all got pushed backward by Twilight’s magic.
“Nopony is going to enter!” the alicorn shouted, feeling she was going to have to fight the whole town and feeling ready to do just that. “You will have to defeat me first!”
The crowd hesitated. They were a lot of ponies there, so they felt they could outnumber the alicorn. But at the same time, it was an alicorn, and most of them knew how much magical power Twilight had even before becoming a princess. They shouted to frighten her, tried to convince each other to attack, but they missed a clear leader to organize them and push them forward, so they slowly backed away, as nopony wanted to be in the first line if they were to fight Twilight’s magic.
That same magic suddenly created a force field around the library, breaking what will there was left in the crowd to undertake anything. Having failed, the crowd just went away, promising that it wasn’t over.
Left alone, Twilight fell on the ground, exhausted by the threat she had just faced and the perspective of having to do it again if they were to come back. She felt so frail, powerless and alone that she began to shiver.
She went back inside eventually, walking very slowly and wishing she would have her friends at her side in such difficult times.
Friends to the rescue
Twilight had fallen asleep on her desk, relying on her force field and the vigilance of Spike who had very reluctantly accepted to stand guard. But the same Spike came to wake her up.
“Come on Twilight!” he said. “Our friends are here, they want to talk with you.”
Those were words she had been hoping to hear so much that she did not only woke up, but was already opening the door as well as canceling the force field to let her friends enter. The four of them were there, as Pinkie Pie had really gone away. Twilight felt so happy to see them that she hugged them all at once, as hard as she could, because she needed just as much. They hugged her back, as they were happy to see her too.
But then, Twilight saw her crown in Rainbow Dash’s hooves. The pegasus had tried to clear most of the dirt off and seemed to want to return it. In fact, seeing that her friend had seen it, Rainbow Dash held it out to her.
“We heard about what happened.” she said. “I think you will want it back.”
But Twilight explained that she didn’t need it anymore, as she had given up being a princess.
“Come on Twi’” Rainbow Dash said. “You can’t give up your title just like that, on a whim.”
“I had no choice.” Twilight replied. “For them, me being a princess only means I should do whatever they ask me to do, even if it is becoming a murderer!”
“You are taking this was too personally.” said Rainbow Das, trying to comfort her friend as well as failing miserably to do it. “They never asked you to become a murderer, they never would.”
“But they did!” replied Twilight, very angry about the fact. “They demanded that I went and killed an innocent creature without any other reason than the fact he might do something bad in the future.”
“No.” Rainbow Dash responded. “You’re just twisting things with your weird way of speaking. All what they wanted was for you to ensure their safety.”
“By killing the one they are afraid of, exactly!” Twilight replied very harshly, not liking the way the conversation was going.
At this point, Applejack tried to make both mares simmer down because she could see that Rainbow Dash didn’t like Twilight’s stubbornness either.
“Look sugarcube.” she began, addressing Twilight. “What Rainbow Dash here is trying to say is that you seem to ignore the fact that all of Equestria is at stake here.”
And as Twilight wasn’t saying anything, Applejack continued:
“I know this is hard for you sugarcube, but nopony had a choice here. We just can’t keep on living knowing there is such a threat upon us.”
Twilight saw Rainbow Dash’s nod of agreement that was saying “Yes, I think so too, I came here to convince you”. She looked at Applejack who was trying to smile to show that it wasn’t as bad as it was sounding, even if she knew it actually was. Then Twilight looked at Fluttershy who just looked down and hid behind Rarity. And Rarity herself was just silently thinking, seemingly not taking side and, in Twilight’s mind, by doing so accepting that the murder should take place.
“Never!” shouted Twilight. “Not only will I not become a murderer, but I won’t stand by when I know somepony is about to become one!”
Her friends all backed away, scared by her reaction and the tone of her voice.
“Please wake up!” Twilight suddenly said. “I beg of you to wake up and see how wrong this is. Surely you can see it?”
At that moment, Rainbow Dash and Applejack understood they wouldn’t make their friend change her mind. It was a lost cause. So they finally decided to leave, but not before Rainbow Dash had deposed the crown on a shelf and said:
“You’re making a big mistake Twilight!”
Fluttershy quickly went too, because she couldn’t stand the pressure anymore, overwhelmed by contradicting feelings of fear and pity.
The alicorn didn’t care. She was certain her decision was the good one and she was also certain that, with time, her friends would slowly understand it too, because she had decided, long ago, to trust them. She turned to Rarity who was still thinking. But at that moment, Rarity stopped and looked at Twilight too. She then told her purple alicorn friend:
“I also think you’re making a big mistake. Maybe about the creature, but certainly with Rainbow Dash and Applejack. They won’t accept to stay still just like that you know…”
Rarity wished Twilight good luck and walked away.
Then, someone else went to the door that Twilight hadn’t expected to.
“Spike?” she asked, “What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry Twilight.” the dragon replied. “I just can’t stay anymore.”
He was about to pass the threshold when he turned back and added, with sadness:
“The worst part is, I don’t even care about Equestria. I just can’t stand the idea that that creature may put an end to your existence. That’s why I want it to disappear, and that’s why I can’t stay…”
Twilight tried to run to him to prevent him from leaving, but she realized she had lost the control of her legs, as well as the control of her voice. She saw the door shut down behind the little dragon, leaving only the most bitter of taste and feeling. At that moment, she wasn’t certain anymore if she should consider that Spike had betrayed her, or if she had betrayed him…
May the gods have pity
It felt like hours had passed and Twilight was still on the same spot, on the floor. She had partially recovered, but had seen no reason to move. Her mind was mostly focused on trying to find a solution which she couldn’t see.
The creature, having heard everything, had come down and taken place at her side, trying to comfort her in some way, as that was all he was able to do. And from times to times, Twilight would begin a little conversation with him.
“Don’t you have a name?” asked Twilight at some point.
“No.” the creature replied. “Not that I know of. I’m just a world destroyer.”
“Would you like me to give you name?” she asked him.
He didn’t answer. The truth was he would have loved it, but he was also slowly feeling sorry for the mare and was beginning to understand that she was sad only because of him and that was a guilt he had a lot of difficulty to deal with. So he was thinking that he should try to not get too much closer to her because it would probably only make her more sad in the end.
In fact, the creature was just considering that his death had been postponed until the mare would give up and had therefore had time to reconsider his own end and prepare for it. In fact, he decided to share that thought with Twilight.
“You know…” he began, “At first, all I knew was that I had to hide or I would get killed. So I hid, because I really, really wish I could stay alive.” he explained. “I also knew why I would get killed. I knew I wouldn’t get any pity because of what I was going to do to the world.”
He paused for a moment, as he was remembering the moment Twilight had spoken to him the first time and how he had been certain she would attack him.
“But you didn’t try to harm me.” The fawn suddenly said with gratitude. “I think no living being had ever spared one of my kind. But you did. I never imagined someone as nice and great like you could exist. And now…” he paused for a little while before continuing, “… now I feel like I should disappear, because, even if I don’t want to die, that would mean, at least, that you would be allowed to keep on existing, and you wouldn’t be sad anymore, and you could be happy with your friends.”
“I forbid it.” Twilight instantly replied.
She then came closer to the fawn, looked him right into the eyes and added:
“You don’t need to sacrifice yourself, you need help and you’re in the place where you will always find some. This is Equestria, and you haven’t even begun to see how wonderful it is. You’ll be granted the life you deserve, because you exist and it’s all that counts. This is Equestria and you’ll know peace, and security, and you’ll be granted the possibility to make friends.”
She stopped to take her breath again and then finished:
“This is Equestria and it means everything will end well and you’ll be happy!”
The fawn had been a little scared by the confidence of the alicorn, but smiled when she stopped speaking. It was just a little smile, one that wanted to say “Thanks for wishing me that, even if I don’t think it’s possible”. Still, he promised Twilight he wouldn’t give up.
At that very moment, someone else knocked on the door and, as they got no answer back, both the bright day of the light and the soft shadows of the night entered the library.
“Princess Luna? Princess Celestia?” asked Twilight, surprised to see them in Ponyville.
“Hello Twilight.” replied Celestia, with her gentle caring voice.
“I see the world destroyer is still alive and well.” noticed Luna, going straight to the point.
Twilight got up, with some difficulty as her whole body was still kind of numb, but up nonetheless. She felt the creature going to hide behind her and, once again, prepared herself to do the right thing, almost hoping she would fail this time.
“Step aside Twilight Sparkle.” asked Luna, without ordering it, but more like she was trying to protect the alicorn. “You have a very good heart, and I understand you just can’t do what has to be done because it is beyond your strength.”
Exhausted, Twilight tried to believe that what the princess was saying was true. That she was, indeed, just too weak and should let the place to stronger ponies. But she still knew it was wrong. In fact, she felt she had never been stronger.
“We shall take care of the matter.” Luna added. “You should have never gotten involved.”
Twilight looked at Celestia, hoping to see her intervene, but the sun princess stayed quiet.
“So that’s it?” asked Twilight. “Even you have decided that the life of an innocent wasn’t that important all things considered.”
“Shut up!” shouted Luna, infuriated by those words. “I forbid you to judge us! You are nothing but a pathetic mare hiding cowardly behind some stupid principles.”
“At least I have principles.” Twilight replied, not afraid to anger the princess of the night, almost wanting for a fight to take place.
“That is your problem Twilight Sparkle.” Luna replied with a cold harsh tone. “You have principles. Only children rely on those. Adults rely on a deep grasp of reality, something that you clearly lack!”
Both alicorn opened their wings, slowly preparing themselves for the battle to come. The lights of the room were disappearing, slowly absorbed by the moving shadows that Luna was calling to serve her. On her side, Twilight was harvesting as much magical power as she was able to, making the whole magical spectrum tremble under the pressure of the streams colliding with each other.
“Twilight.” suddenly asked Celestia. “Why can’t you accept the fact there is no choice to be made to begin with?”
“Because it isn’t fair!” shouted Twilight in despair, suddenly letting all the magical power evaporate. “He shouldn’t have to be punished just because of who he is. He should be given at least one chance to live a happy life.”
Twilight looked down and added, with a lot of sadness:
“The worst is, it is even less fair because out of every pony or living being I’ve seen today, he is the only one who hasn’t tried, proposed or demanded to kill. But yet, he is the one who is considered evil…”
Celestia looked at her former student and saw the tears that had appeared under the purple eyes. The sun princess then took the crown on her head and let it fall on the ground.
“What are you doing?” asked both Twilight and Luna.
“I’m learning from you Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia replied.
“Does this mean you’ll help me protect him?” Twilight asked, with a lot of hope.
“No.” replied Celestia. “I fear all I can do for the moment is not prevent you from protecting him. I accept to sacrifice Equestria for you, don’t ask more from me.”
The sun princess began to walk away, but then added:
“Thanks Twilight. Even if I don’t know what is going to happen, you made me believe again. You’ll be a way better princess than I ever was.”
And then, she remembered something else and continued:
“By the way, one of your friends told me to give you that letter. She had decided to take some vacation in Canterlot it would seem.”
And this time, having said everything she had to say, Celestia went out of the library, followed by a very confused Luna who was trying to ask what was going on, if they were still princesses or not, and mostly complaining to her sister how impulsive she could be, being, in reality, confused about what Celestia was expecting from her and afraid to have disappointed her big sister. And in all honesty, even Luna was relieved to have gotten that opportunity to escape from what she considered to be her duty. She seemed to have lost almost all interest in carrying it out since her big sister had thrown her crown away and, even if Twilight never saw it, threw her own away a little later too.
What are friends for?
Twilight took the letter, which was more of a card, and read it. It was coming from Pinkie Pie who was just saying: “I believe in you.”
“Well, this is short.” stated Twilight.
“Of course it’s short silly!” said Pinkie Pie, almost making Twilight jump to the roof. “I’m sorry I ran away, I just had to the stuff with the thing for the you know what.”
Of course, Twilight had no idea what her friend was talking about, but she was still incredibly happy to see her.
“I came here to support you because I believe in you.” Pinkie Pie explained. “My Pinkie senses told me I shouldn’t come back and that it would even make things worse, but who listen to them anyway?”
Then, Pinkie Pie saw the fawn and hoped to him.
“I… I don’t fear you.” realized the fawn, surprised because his instinct would usually tell him that everything with a breath of life was a danger to his existence.
“I don’t fear you either!” laughed Pinkie Pie. “You sure have a strange way of saying hello.”
And Pinkie Pie began to talk with the creature, having fun and entertaining him, almost making him smile several times, as it was clearly her goal.
Suddenly, or actually very un-suddenly, somepony knocked on the door, so softly Twilight thought she had imagined things. But then, she understood there was somepony and a few seconds later, after she had opened the door, she was comforting Fluttershy who was excusing herself for having run away and having thought that it would have been good to do something bad. Altogether, and from what Twilight understood, the pegasus had come to help, or at least try to help.
The formal meeting between the world destroyer and Fluttershy went incredibly well. They were both very shy and a mirror could have been put between them without altering the result. But in the end, the enjoyed each other company, smiling at Pinkie Pie’s stunts, like there was no problem or threat anymore.
Twilight looked at the three new friends playing together and thought that the wind was beginning to blow in her favor. And almost as if to answer to her prayer, she heard an energetic knocking on the door.
When she opened, she saw Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity and her heart almost exploded.
“Hello Twilight…” Rainbow Dash said. “I guess you didn’t expect us to come.”
The pegasus was, of course, referring to the way their last meeting together had went. Something Twilight had already decided to simply forget, as it wasn’t relevant anymore in her mind.
“We want to apologize.” said Rainbow Dash. “I want to apologize.” she added. “I didn’t understand you, but now I do and I see why you’ll never be able to do anything against that creature. You just can’t harm an innocent.” Rainbow Dash continued, “So now I want to help you, we all want to help you.”
Twilight felt great. She looked at Rainbow Dash, whose loyalty she felt dumb for even thinking of doubting, and then at Rarity, who was quietly smiling, even if, behind her smile, she wasn’t able to hide all of the seriousness of the situation, as, after all, even if she had come to help, there was still a huge threat over all of her family she was concerned about. She didn’t say those exact words, in fact she tried to look as smiling as possible, but Twilight translated it from her facial expression.
But Applejack was probably the most serious of the three. She was mostly looking down, with a very thoughtful face. Twilight wondered if the situation was so problematic her friend wasn’t able to smile anymore as she had in the face of danger before, but Rainbow Dash quickly explained that the shame of having wanted to harm the little fawn was the reason. She explained that Applejack hadn’t said a word since she had realized they hadn’t fully understood Twilight’s feeling.
Twilight, moved by her friend’s emotions, hugged her to try and make the earth pony understand she had nothing to be ashamed of, that it was all in the past, but Applejack only began to cry, very slowly, in a very restrained way, but cry nonetheless. Twilight understood it had probably been too much for her friend to have realized to what extent a pony’s mind could go and that she would need time to recover. So she told Applejack once again that she had nothing to be ashamed of, that she loved her with all her heart and that she was proud to have a friend like her, which, somehow, only seemed to make Applejack feel even more miserable.
Then all of the six friends gathered together to discuss a plan to save both Equestria and the world destroyer, but found nothing in two hours. Nonetheless, it was still better for Twilight to think surrounded by her friends than by silence and fear. Quickly, both Pinkie Pie who had only been proposing nonsense anyway, and Fluttershy who would think better alone than in a group, went away back to go play with the fawn to make sure he wouldn’t get too worried.
The four last mares then kept on thinking together, when Rainbow Dash suddenly seemed to realize something very simple.
“Say, Twilight, how long have you been in the library?”
She counted and realized that she had been there since she had discovered about the nature of the little fawn and the threat he represented for Equestria.
“You know Twi’.” Rainbow Dash continued, “When I want to find a new trick to perform, nothing works better than going out and fly around.”
There was something strange in the way the pegasus was saying those words, but Twilight imputed it to the stress of what the task at hand. She began to think of the outside world, the beautiful landscapes, the sound of the river and the songs of the trees. She recognized that it would, in fact, probably help her to relax a little.
But Rarity began arguing against Rainbow Dash idea.
“If we were to all go on a walk outside, which I have got nothing against in principle,” she began, “we would let that poor creature alone without any protection. Or we would have to take him with us, where he would be very difficult to protect.”
At first, Twilight decided that Rarity was right, there was a risk and they should all stay there just in case. But then, she had, under the pressure of Rainbow Dash, to reconsider the importance of solving the problem and go take that walk. They discussed the problem for ten minutes before finding the easiest solution there was on which they all agreed. Both Rarity and Twilight would go on a walk outside and Rainbow Dash and Applejack would stay to make sure everything would be okay, as they were the most apt to fight in case of need.
“Don’t worry Twilight.” Rainbow Dash said. “You know I would do anything for you. I won’t let you down, whatever it may cost me.”
Twilight smiled, but also felt how much she needed to go take that walk, as everything her two friends had been saying was sounding weirder and weirder in the tone and the intonation they were using.
Finally, both Rarity and Twilight left the library, closing the door behind them.
“I hope you’re proud of yourself...” Applejack immediately told Rainbow Dash.
For all answer, the pegasus looked the other way.
True true friends…
It was really great to walk outside, enjoying the sunny day and stop worrying about the fate of the world for at least a few minutes. Twilight savored each and every second of it like a child discovering for the first time the pleasure of losing itself in the gifts of nature.
She even began to talk with Rarity about small subjects, wondering about her boutique, and about Sweetie Belle’s grade or whatever strange idea those three fillies might have had together in their crazy quest for their cutie mark.
However, she quickly realized that Rarity wasn’t really answering any of her questions, and she didn’t even seem to give any attention whatsoever to what Twilight was saying.
“What’s wrong?” asked Twilight with a smile. “I hope I’m not bothering you, am I? I mean, if I am, I’m very sorry, it’s just that, with all the stress, I tend to speak too much, you know, like…”
And she realized she was speaking too much again, so she just calmed down and simply asked, once again:
“So… what is wrong?”
Rarity sat, looking down, and asked:
“You know we love you, don’t you Twi’?”
The question was weird, but Twilight still found it innocent and cute enough. She wasn’t certain where Rarity was going to go, but she decided, as she would always do with her friends, to trust her and replied:
“Of course I know it. I love you too!”
But Rarity didn’t seem to have heard the answer, as she just kept on asking:
“How much in your opinion should a pony be willing to sacrifice for the sake of her friend?”
The question was, for Twilight, totally unexpected, and so she took some time to answer.
“I’m not sure. It depends on the pony I guess, and on what there is to sacrifice.”
She was thinking of the fact she, as a princess, had the possibility, a possibility she knew she would never use, but still, to sacrifice all of Equestria if she wanted. So there was at least one limit there, sort of. Then, she wasn’t certain if sacrificing her life for a friend would be good or bad. Having no real intention to die, she had always let that question aside, putting it away by stating that it would always be time to wonder about it when the time would have come.
But clearly, Rarity had something else in mind.
“How much can a friend forgive to another friend?” the white unicorn asked, with a sad voice.
“Friends can forgive anything. Why? Do you think one of our friends has some grudge against you?” laughed Twilight, thinking of all her first slumber party with Rarity and Rainbow Dash.
“Will you forgive me?” Rarity asked, unable to hold back her tears.
Twilight stepped back a little, not sure what was going on.
“Forgiving you what?” she asked. But her mind was slowly connecting the dots and, even if the conclusion she had found was inacceptable, she shivered just at the idea.
“I just hope that, one day, you’ll be able to forgive me.” Rarity said. “But I can do one last thing for you: don’t go back to the library! Not today. Don’t inflict this on yourself, you don’t have to.”
Twilight suddenly understood everything, what she was doing wandering outside, away from the library, and why only Rarity had come with her. Still, she couldn’t believe it.
“I’m so sorry.” Rarity said.
But Twilight wasn’t listening anymore. Using all the means at her disposal, her legs, her wings and some short teleportation jumps, she rushed to the library. She opened the door, and refused to believe what her eyes saw.
There was Fluttershy against a bookshelf, violently crying, while Pinkie Pie was trying to comfort her the best she could, knowing that, in reality, it was a wound that wouldn’t really close itself. She couldn't, however, give the pegasus the attention she needed, because there was another pony in the room, looking at her, almost waiting for her.
Rainbow Dash wasn’t moving, but she was looking at Twilight, very directly. And it was possible to read in her eyes what she had done. Even more, it was possible to read in her eyes that she had no regret about what she had just done.
“You!” Twilight said, restraining herself to not attack the Pegasus, “What have you done !?” she rhetorically asked, knowing only too well what must have happened.
At that moment, she saw Applejack who was pulling a heavy object into a tainted white sheet and who, when she saw Twilight, immediately looked away, unable to withstand the reprobation in the alicorn’s look.
“We had to do it…” the earth pony tried to justify herself, “I’ll make sure he is given a proper grave.”
But a quick look at Twilight made her understand she should better leave and let the corpse there. She let go of the sheet, looked at the little white mound on the floor, trying to get a grasp of what she had been a part of, but looked away from that too. She began to slowly walk away and passed close to Twilight to go to the exit.
When she got close enough, Twilight whispered something that Applejack heard. The earth pony immediately stopped, unable to believe what she had heard. At loss of words, and suddenly crying, Applejack just found the courage to say:
“Thanks.”
And then ran away from the library, leaving everything behind her.
Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash who was waiting there. And if the Pegasus knew she had nothing but hatred to expect from the alicorn, she decided to stood there anyway, and face it, with the same very serious expression of hard accomplished duty as if she was expecting a medal.
Twilight signaled Pinkie Pie to take Fluttershy outside, to leave only the alicorn and the Pegasus alone in the room. The pinke mare agreed, slowly helped the very weakened Fluttershy to walk, trying to ignore her cries, and finally closed the door behind them.
A deep silence filled the void of their departure.
Rainbow Dash kept on looking at Twilight right into the eyes, but slowly felt the pressure of her friend’s look. She had expected to see sadness and hatred, but, even if she was trying not to show it, it was frightening to see none of those. Twilight’s look was cold, sharpened, going through the Pegasus mind with ease and slowly cutting her confidence into tiny pieces. Rainbow Dash understood she wouldn’t be able to withstand that look much longer and decided to break it. Because the Pegasus knew she had done the right thing.
“You can blame me all you want Twilight.” she said, with defiance, “I know you hate me. I know you think I betrayed you.”
The sound of betrayal made Twilight’s heart sink, but she kept on exercising her terrible look, as she was, in reality, trying to cope with the turmoil inside her head.
“You needed help!” Rainbow Dash said, “I understood that. I knew what I had to do to help you overcome your weaknesses. I made the choice you couldn’t make and I carried it out so that you wouldn’t have any guilt.”
But Twilight just kept on looking, in silence, still trying to accept what she had already decided to do.
“You know I’m right! He was a threat! We couldn’t let him live!” Rainbow Dash shouted, incapable of restraining herself anymore. “You can hate me all you want, but you know that I’m right.”
And, having retrieved all the confidence she needed, Rainbow Dash told one last thing to the alicorn:
“Know this: I would do it again if I had to.”
This time, Twilight moved, with each step hurting her like she was losing a part of herself behind. She came close to the Pegasus and almost made her fall back. Then, very slowly, to be able to control her wrath, she approached her mouth near Rainbow Dash’s ear and, softly, with a steel gentleness, whispered:
“You dumb, dumb foolish pony. What you have done is wrong. It is pure evil. I despise you for it.”
Twilight paused, to find enough strength to continue as she was nothing more than her own shadow, an empty shell trying to remind herself she was still alive.
“But as much as I despise you for what you have done…” Twilight kept on whispering in Rainbow Dash’s ear, “… I don’t hate you.”
Twilight could have cut her chest open with an axe and still suffered less than to say those words. But she knew she had something else to say. Something important, but also something that was going to hurt even more. Her brain refused to obey her will, her soul rebelled against the sole idea, and everything she was or had been was screaming for her not to say those words. But she added nonetheless, in a last whisper that seemed to tear off her throat and any life from her body as she said:
“And I forgive you.”
Twilight moved back and looked at Rainbow Dash who hadn't expected to hear that and, suddenly devastated, just ran away, even forgetting she had wings and the ability to fly.
The alicorn waited until she was all alone in the room and, only then, let herself fall on the floor screaming like never before in her life as the pain she was feeling was crushing her on the inside. She cried for the one whose existence had been sacrificed, she screamed because of the dead hope and trust she had always given to her friends and she both cried and screamed because of herself, because of how weak, helpless and alone she was feeling.
When she ran out of tears to cry and breath to scream, she opened her eyes again and saw, just a meter away from her, the lifeless head of the little fawn she had tried so miserably to protect.
“I’m sorry.” Twilight said.
And then, a crazy grimace appeared on her face as a wild thought went through her mind and she added, with a wild and painful laugh:
“That’s stupid. They did it all in vain. Whether you wanted it or not, you did it: in the end, you destroyed my world.”
THE END
Author's Note
Thanks to Twi-guy without whom I wouldn't have finished that one.
I slightly modified the story (adding only a word here and there) to show a little more how much of a threat the creature is and why all the ponies want to destroy it.
