Princess Twilight Takes A Walkby Jake The Army GuyChaptersThe WastelandThe TalkThe MeetingThe AccidentThe WastelandPrincess Twilight Takes A Walk by Jake The Army Guy Chapter One: The Wasteland The rising sun blazed before her. Twilight closed her eyes and basked in the warmth, the light glinting off of her polished silver regalia. The caress of the wind through her feathers and the rocking sway of the carriage soothed her into a deep calm. Sighing quietly, Twilight took a few deep breaths, drinking in the sensation, until a sharp tang hit her nose, acrid and sour. With a sigh, she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the sprawling hills of Scaleback Ridge, as it had been named sometime in the last century. Seeming so tiny from the palace in Everfree City, they now dominated her field of vision. The sudden sensation served a grim reminder of why she was here, where she was going. What she was going to do. Twilight creased her brow and peeked over the side of the carriage, only to frown deeper. The rolling fields of lush green were gone. In their place was a scraggly wasteland of sickly brown blades, interspersed with scabs of jet black. This was not the Equestria she loved, the land she had watched grow and prosper for so long. A weight fell upon her once more as she looked upon the death and desolation that was slowly eating away at the heart of Equestria. Every year a little bit more of the fertile land went barren due to the looming ridge line draining it of magic, sucking the very soul from the land. Now, because she had put it off for so long, so many ponies had to be moved; the Royal Guard was evacuating nearly a quarter of Everfree City. And it's all because of my selfishness... The chariot gave a downward jerk. She looked to her left, sharing a glance with the muscular stallion next to her, then looked back to the heaving pegasi pulling the carriage. "Everything alright, Lieutenant?" The leftmost pegasus gulped. "Ju–nrgh—just fine, your Majesty." Twilight's eyes narrowed a bit and she lit her horn, opening her mind to the aether of the world, and what she saw confirmed what the dull ache in her wings and the tightness of the Lieutenant's jaw were telling her: what few lines of magic remained in the air were flickering pitifully, thin and anemic. The pegasi's wings, no longer boyoued with magic, would not hold them aloft much longer. Twilight turned back to the front, to where the pegasi were grunting and straining their relatively small wings, trying desperately to stay in the air. She leaned over to the earth pony beside her. "We're close enough, Captain." Beside her, the stallion blinked. "Your Majesty?" "I don't want to risk going any further into the no-fly zone. I can walk from here." "Majesty, I really think we should—" She cut him off with a practiced, beatific smile. "Take us down, Stalwart." The captain hesitated for just a breath before nodding and turning back to the front. "All right, colts, you heard her. Take us into an approach vector, as rehearsed.” "Yes... yes, sir!" Then under his breath, "Thank Twilight." "You're welcome," she whispered under the blow of the breeze. Beside her, Stalwart was barking orders into a sound stone in his hoof. "All right, gentlecolts, were on approach. Keep a tight formation as long as you can. Once we touch down, I want a full perimeter set up. Ensure you do your fives and twenty-fives before you get out. Dead spots are everywhere, and those little buggers will sap the life out of you damn quick. Make sure we..." His voice melded with the howl of the wind as the carriage eased into a lazy spiral, canted slightly to the side as they began their descent. The wind picked up as they gained speed, though the nebulous mass of her mane swirled as gently as ever. Twilight's eyes teared, but she kept them open as the ground approached. The carriage bucked violently several times, always followed by a pained grunt from one of the pilots, as they hit invisible eddies of magic carried by the wind. The ley lines flowed ever faster towards the looming ridge, coalescing into a massive whirlpool swirling above it, drawn by the very reason she was on this trek in the first place. After several minutes of pained struggle, the pegasi both sighed in relief as they finally touched the scorched earth below. The audible crunch of dead grass accompanied tiny plumes of dust from beneath the wheels of the cart. Several particles made their way upwards to them, causing both the princess and her captain to snuffle loudly in protest. Twilight's keen hearing picked the crunch of the other chariots landing beside them, as well as the slight groan Captain Stalwart let out from gritted teeth. The pegasi unhitched themselves from the carriage even as the rest of the Guardsponies, all pegasi and unicorns, leapt from theirs and fanned out in a pre-planned formation around them. Twilight dutifully held her place until a cry of "all clear" came from the lead pony. The instant her hooves touched the scorched earth, a deep tremor lit up in her legs. The normal scratchy feeling of dead grass was missing; in its place was a pins-and-needles-like shock that encompassed her hooves. Years of practice with the tertiary nature of being an alicorn allowed her to override her earth pony instincts, the sparks jumping through her muscles urging her to flee the soured land, and she strode purposefully away from the carriage and faced the ridge line. From this distance, she could just make out the tinge of lavender cresting the tips of the range, barely distinguishable from the lifeless brown of rocks jutting up from the dead ground. "Captain," she spoke over her shoulder, "how goes the evacuation?" When nopony answered her, she tore her eyes from the cliffs and turned to see Captain Stalwart still in the cart. His ivory ears and cerulean tail were twitching furiously, and his tongue was making laps around his mouth behind his teeth. Every now and then he would lift a sweaty hoof to step down over the lip of the carriage, but each time he pulled it back sharply, as of the ground itself had burned him. Twilight could all but hear his grinding teeth as he danced almost imperceptibly on his hooves. She walked back towards him. "This is why I ordered no earth ponies to accompany me, Captain, and why I pleaded you to not come. You may be the Captain of my Dawn Guard, but you have a very strong link with your magic, and—" His jaw tight, the captain leapt from the carriage and landed on the dead earth with a loud crunch of grass and an even louder groan of effort. He took several exploratory steps before turning a shaky, yet wholly determined gaze. "Not a p-problem, Your Highness." Twilight's beatific aura faltered for just a beat, her affection for the the stallion breaking over her face, before being buried under professionalism. "Very well, Captain. How are the preparations progressing?" Stalwart raised the sound stone back to his ear. "Operations, this is Dawn Six. Status update?" Several moments followed as the Guardspony listened, muttering the occasional "Uh-huh," or offering the odd question. Finally, he lowered the stone and turned to his Princess. "Evacuation of the eastern quarter of Everfree City is at 80%. Our mages have set up a grid of integrity-buffing spells across the entire quadrant. Once Princess Luna arrives to shore them up, it should be enough to keep the damage minimal, providing our estimations were accurate." Twilight's lip curled upwards ever so slightly. "You doubting my mathematical abilities, Captain?" "Of course not, Highness," he replied without flinching. "It's just that, if I've been briefed properly, nothing like this has ever even been attempted before. Once you..." He hesitated when the swirling miasma of her mane flickered for an instant. "We just need to be prepared for anything." "You're right. You've done a fine job, Captain, but I can handle things from here. Pull your team back to the safety zone and oversee the rest of the evacuation." When he didn't answer, she turned to look at him. Though his face remained stoic and set, she could see the tightness of his lips, a look she was intimately familiar with. "Something on your mind, Captain?" "Tw... Majesty, are you sure about this?" Her only response was a flick of her ear. He continued. "Why can't Princess Celestia do it? Or Cadance? Why does it have to be you?" "You know why." "Yes, but..." Stalwart cast a brief glance over his shoulder at his guards. Finding them all still scanning the surrounding wasteland for threats, he turned back and swiftly crossed the distance between him and her. Though he was a pony of envious stature, both in height and build, he still had to reach up to nuzzle into the alicorn's neck. "You're sure you don't want me to come with you?" he whispered. Twilight smiled and laid a gentle wing across his broad shoulders. "You're doing it again, Worry Wart." He only leaned in tighter. "I'm your Captain and your husband. I'm required by law." A tightness made itself known in her chest. Allowing a tiny crack in her royal visage, she squeezed him just a bit tighter. "I know," she whispered. "You're not alone. You're never alone." Just a bit tighter. "I know." The pair remained in their embrace for a few long moments, whether for his benefit or hers, unknown and unimportant. Her mane swirled around him, and she could feel his strength: not just his muscles, but his heart, his eternally deep connection to the earth. She allowed her own magic to seep down and intertwine with his. She allowed herself to fall for a bit. Finally, she pulled back slowly, perhaps her subconscious not wanting to end, or knowing that while she was here, she wouldn’t have to go. She locked eyes with him for a moment, then leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "Oversee the evacuation. I'll see you after." Just like that, his body tensed back to rigid precision. "Yes, ma'am." He stepped back and snapped a sharp salute, which she returned with a nod, then turned back to the carriages. "All right, gentlecolts, mount up!" Twilight watched him work, but eventually turned her back to him, facing the looming ridge. A light breeze carried a curtain of dust across her face, but her eyes stayed open, locked on the leftmost hilltop. She took her first step. The TalkTHREE WEEKS POST-ASCENSION "What do you think happens when we die?" The light titterings of conversation died off, leaving the table outside the Haute Cuisine eerily quiet. Her three friends looked at Twilight queerly, which caused her still new wings to fluff out a bit under the attention. Finally, Rarity cleared her throat to break the awkward atmosphere. "Twilight, are you alright?" “Aw, don’t mind her,” Spike said, not even looking up from his Power Ponies comic. “She’s been sulking all week.” “Now, Spike, that ain’t very nice,” Applejack said. “What? It’s true!” Rarity kept her eyes on Twilight. “Is everything alright?” "Why do you ask?" Twilight asked. "Well, it's just that you've been sitting there silent as your little retinue there," she gestured to the pair of stone-faced guards flanking the princess, "then you suddenly bring up such a... er, morbid topic." Twilight shrugged. "I don't know, I'm just... curious if you girls ever think about it." "No way!" Rainbow said through a mouthful of hay fries. She gulped loudly, wiping her hoof across her lips. "Who has time to think about that stuff? I'm too busy being awesome in this life to worry about whatever's next." "How philosophical,” Applejack sighed. "So, you never even thought about it?" Twilight asked. "Nope!" Rainbow tapped her chin. "Well, there's that old pegasus thing." Twilight perked up. "What?" "Well, I remember in history class they once told us about Cloudhalla. The old pegasi warriors believed if you died in battle, you'd go to this, like, eternal battlefield or something. Fight demons for all time. We pegasi were pretty hardcore back then, ya know? Heh, some of us still are." She puffed out her chest. "An eternity of fighting?" Rarity shuddered. "How uncouth, though I suppose it fits with how brutish pegasus ponies used to be." She let out a sigh as Rainbow smirked even wider. "Anyway, it's a nice idea. Sadly, not all nice ideas are true." "Now, wait just a darn minute," Applejack said, leaning in on the table. "What're you gettin' on about?" "I am simply saying that we have this one life in Equestria—the here and now, if you will," Rarity said. "And I can't help but feel as though it is somewhat spoiled by dreams of a life beyond what we already have. What use is there in weaving tales of something that doesn't exist?" She shrugged. "I realize that it brings many pony ponies comfort—after all, nopony wishes to see their loved ones gone forever—but it's a terrible fact of life that adults like us must come to realize that we simply cannot just reframe reality to suit our whims. It's natural, of course, to yearn for something more: some further meaning or purpose in life." Her eyes drifted closed, and she took a quiet sip from her tea before placing it neatly back down on the tablecloth. When she spoke again, her voice was gentle, subdued. "At some point, though, it becomes necessary to put away childish things, and to meet real life on equal hoofing." As Rarity was talking, Twilight’s ears had slowly drooped. She nodded thoughtfully. “Well, that makes sense, scientifically, at least. There is no evidence of any kind of afterlife.” "Ah, bull-honky,” Applejack huffed. “Science can't explain everything 'bout life." "Applejack, I can open a book and tell you exactly what you are, down to the atom." "So? That don't mean squat. Look, Twi, you could take every element that makes up my body 'n put it in a big pot, an' you wouldn't have nothing. You could hit it wit' lightnin', light it on fire, and it ain't gonna come alive. Ponies have been tryin' for years, yeah?" "Well, yes." "But when I was a little filly, I saw my momma take a little bit of her an' a little bit of my daddy, and eleven months later, eleven months, out popped a brand new bouncin' baby filly. That right there was a bona fide miracle if I ever seen one." Rarity sighed. "No, Applejack, that is life." "Exactly," she replied with a small grin. "It's like I said, you may know exactly what in the brain does what, what chemical or neuro-whatsit makes me decide that I like this here fancy tea”—she held up her cup—”but for all that knowledge, after Celestia knows how many years of tryin', the brightest minds in the world still can't do in the fanciest of labs what two simple farmponies can do in one night—create a life." A distant smile fell upon her face as she leaned back in her chair. "Look, Twi, I'll be the first to admit I ain't the smartest of ponies when it comes to science and the like, but even I can see that us ponies are so much more than this ol' bag of meat we walk around in. There's some... spark somewhere, some kinda essence or somethin', more powerful than anything, even yer fancy alicorn magic. I can't rightly believe that all that energy can jus' up and vanish when we die. There's gotta be somethin' else." By this point, Twilight was leaning forward towards them. "Like what?" “I don’t know, sugar cube, could be anything. Why, my grandaddy used to spin tales ‘bout the Elysian Fields, a never-endin’ plain of the freshest grass and the juiciest fruit trees, where you and all your loved ones can gallop and graze and play for all time.” “Whoa,” Spike said, finally looking up from his comic. “That sounds awesome! But, do you think they have a quarry? I wouldn’t want to spend forever without some rubies.” A light round of chuckles spread across the table. “I don’t rightly know, Spike, but it's fun to think about, and I'd be lying if I said part of me weren't lookin’ forward to findin’ out.” Rarity nearly dropped her teacup, just barely managed to set it back on the table. “So... you want to die?!” “Oh, good gravy, no! It’s just... well, Granny Smith has a little sayin’: 'live as long as possible, but when your time’s up, it’s up. Don’t fear the Pale Pony'.” Her brow furrowed. She turned back to Twilight, taking her hoof in hers. "Now, how's about you level with us, sugarcube. Why you asking about all this?" Twilight blinked. There's just no way to tell right now, Twilight. You and Cadance are the first two ponies who have ascended. Luna and I were created as we are. Your mortal nature may remain, but you must remember you are now intrinsically linked to Magic itself, a force as permanent and lasting as the sun and moon. I wish I had answers but right now I'm... I'm just not sure. Twilight smiled. "Like I said, just curious." The MeetingOne hoof in front of the other. Step. Crunch. Step. Crunch. By the time the sun was nearing its zenith, her mind had drifted into a thoughtless void from the monotony. Even her hooves had long since grown numb to the constant buzzing from the scorched earth beneath her, along with the tense flitter of her wings and the ache in her horn. Twilight paused for a moment, casting her eyes upwards; she knew the midday sun was no closer or further than normal, but the dead air around her magnified the gentle summer rays into an oppressive blanket. A bit of sweat stung her eye. She lifted a hoof to wipe it away, but paused, casting a glance at it. From her silver-shod hoof to mid-leg, a fine coat of sickly yellow dust obscured her purple fur. Turning around, a long trail of hoofprints marked her path; the withered grass turned to dust beneath her steps. Pegasi magic died long before it could reach this far into the wasteland, so no wind stirred the decayed plant life that crumbled beneath her step. She sighed and turned back to the front, resuming her trek. Before her, the looming ridge line stood silhouetted against the empty sky, a jagged expanse of brown with a wide ring of jet black at its foot. Perhaps three of four miles away now, she could now make out the rock formations that dotted the sloped hills and the segmented slates of the hills themselves, each easily larger than a normal pony's house. The acrid, sour taste in the air, a minor nuisance before, was now ever-present, dominating her every breath. Her non-corporeal mane flowed forward, succumbing to the pull of the hills. Twilight blinked as a strand of purple fell over her eye. Reaching up, she gingerly pulled back several strands of deep navy hair. While they still held an other-worldly shine, each strand fell limp as soon as she released them. She frowned. Looking around her once more, she noted that the patches of deep black were becoming more and more frequent: the “dead spots” Stalwart had warned about, spots where every ounce of magic—every ounce of life—had been drained by the imposing hills. With a deep breath, grimacing slightly from the stink of the stagnant air, she picked up the pace. She flicked her mane to the side, something she hadn’t had cause to do in countless years. It was happening much sooner than she thought it would, and if she didn’t reach the dead zone by the— So enraptured by her thoughts, she jumped more than she would have liked to admit when the deafening roar sounded from behind her. A dark shadow overtook her. High above the dead land, a massive dragon was circling in a lazy downward spiral. The light filtering through her leathery wings sent emerald shadows across the grass. Twilight allowed herself a small smile. As the drake neared the ground, a harsh wind kicked up. Twilight threw her wing in front of her face to shield from the wall of yellowed dust. Entire swathes of withered grass were blasted to dust by the immense dragon backwinging to the ground before her. The drake set down with an earth-shaking blow and reared back to bellow once more, wings flared proudly. Its announcing cry uttered, it set back down and brought its massive head next to the alicorn. Twilight smiled gently, bowing her head. "She of The Ruby Depths, you honor me with your presence." "Save your platitudes, pony," the dragoness sneered. Her high-pitched growl was even more shrill here in the dead wastes. "We both know I do not wish to be here." "Of course. Still, I was afraid you wouldn't come." "Ha! As if I had a choice! You have been lauding that debt over my head for centuries. I would cross Tartarus itself to be done with it." "Even so, it is always nice to see a familiar face." She frowned slightly as she noticed a deep scar along the dragoness' right side. "That's new. I hope everything is well inside your territory." "Pah, a minor nuisance. A pack of Diamond Dogs felt that my caves were a good place to mine. Little mongrels surprised me with their numbers, is all." Twilight's frown deepened. "Please tell me you did not..." "Oh, relax, your highness," the drake snorted. "I left enough alive to continue their pack, though the trolls will remember my name for generations to come, as well as the folly of entering a dragon's territory uninvited." "How kind of you," Twilight sighed. "Regardless, I'm grateful that you're here. I know this must be difficult for you." The drake reared her head back and laughed, smoke belching from her nostrils. "For one such as yourself, you know surprisingly little about dragons!" "Or perhaps I know more than you think." The mirth in the dragoness' amber eyes died. A deadly growl escaped her lips. "I will be in position for the ritual. I suggest you pick up the pace, pony, lest your magic fail you before you arrive at your... destination." She bent her knees, immense wings tensing. "Of course, She of The Ruby Depths. And... thank you." The drake paused, casting an eye back at Twilight. "It... it means a lot that you came." The dragoness' amber eyes softened for just a moment, then her scowl returned. "You can thank me by not bothering me with pony problems again. And... you might want to preen yourself before you head back to Everfree." Her wings gave a mighty flap, and she took to the air. Twilight blinked then glanced to her own wings. Her once elegant, expansive wings looked bedraggled. Several feathers were jutting out at odd angles. As she watched, a single lavender feather fell from her wing. She followed it with her eyes; the feather floated straight down in the total absence of wind, landing gracefully upon the dead grass that crumbled even under its light weight. Returning her gaze to her wing, she swore that if she squinted, the appendages seemed just a bit smaller than before. She sighed and returned her eyes towards the towering ridge before her. She continued her walk. The AccidentFIFTEEN YEARS POST-ASCENSION “Okay, here we go! I got it this time! Are you watching, Twi?” “Mmm-hmm,” Twilight said, eyes still buried in a piece of parchment on the ground before her. She and Cadance sat on a blanket, a spread of sandwiches set out before them intermixed with dozens of scrolls containing the plans for the upcoming Grand Galloping Gala. Spike took a deep breath and tensed his shoulders. A high-pitched buzzing filled the field as his new wings—comically undersized on his adolescent body—flapped furiously. With a grunt, he bent his squat legs and leaped high into the air, and for a few moments, actually managed to hover. “Hah! Twilight, Cadance, look! I—whoa!” His lanky body twisted and spun in the air and he fell to the grass with an “Omph!” Looking up, Twilight stifled a giggle at the dragon-shaped heap before her. She lit her horn and righted him. “Sorry, Spike. I told you, you’re just going to have to wait a few years until they'd grow in properly.” “Ugh, no way!” Spike stood and dusted himself off. “Scootaloo’s first performance is in Cloudsdale this Tuesday, and I’m gonna fly there to watch her, with Celestia”—He smirked in her direction—”with Twilight as my witness.” “Hmph.” Twilight frowned up at him. “I told you not to say that, Spike! I’m not comfortable with ponies praying to me.” “Heh!” Cadance grinned at the nonplussed grimace on Twilight’s face. “You get used to it after a while, Twilight.” Spike opened his mouth to reply when his eyes suddenly screwed shut. His cry of protest turned into a mighty burp, a scroll landing on the grass from the stream of fire. Clearing his throat, he glanced at the two princesses. “That hasn’t happened in a while.” Wordlessly, the alicorns crowded around Spike as he opened the scroll: Twilight and Cadance, Please come to the throne room at once. There’s been an accident. ~Celestia “Accident?” Spike said. “What could—” He never got the chance to finish as a bright purple flash left the field empty. The trio flashed into existence just outside the large double doors to the main throne room. The guards who stood outside both gasped at their sudden entrance, but as soon as their eyes locked on Cadance, their eyes went wide with an emotion Twilight couldn't place. "Princess Celestia just sent for us," Twilight said. "What happened?" The guards looked at each other, but said nothing, simply lighting their horns and swinging the doors open. Twilight eyed them for just a moment before stepping inside. A muted chaos encompassed the large throne room. Before the throne, Luna was conversing with several haggard looking Crystal ponies. Even from across the room, Twilight could see their coats were dulled by a thin veil of what looked to be dust and ash, and their crystalline tails were twitching furiously, despite Luna’s apparent attempts to calm them. As Spike groaned beside her, shaking off the effects of the harried teleport, Twilight and Cadance rushed to the far corner of the room, where Celestia was speaking to somepony laying on the ground. Several ponies obscured Twilight’s view of him, each wearing the red sun marking of the Royal Guard’s Medic Corps. “Captain, please do not make me order you. Let these gentlecolts take you to the hospital. You may have—” “With all"—the pony hissed through his teeth as one of the medics tightened a bandage around his broken wing— "all due respect, Your Highness, I don't take my orders from you anymore. I have to tell them. It's my duty." "Captain," one of the medics said, "if we don't set this wing, you may nev—" "Buck the wing! I'm not leaving until they get here." As he yelled, Twilight and Cadance shared a look of recognition at the pony's voice and rushed towards him. Cadance reached them first. “Flash, what happened to you?!" At her voice, Imperial Guard Captain Flash Sentry jumped to his hooves, only to wince in pain and shift his weight off of his left forehoof. The young Captain looked like he just came out of a war zone: what parts of his orange coat that weren't covered in dust were marred by scratches and abrasions. His left wing was awkwardly bandaged to his side. The fluorescent mane he was so proud of was soaked with mud from the dust mixing with sweat, and a trickle of blood ran down his cheek. What really bother Twilight, however, was his right eye, covered by a thick layer of gauze, dark crimson seeping into the white bandage from what was likely a permanent injury. His good eye stared back at Cadance with an empty, hollow gaze. "Princess! I..." "Flash, what happened? Wha..." Cadance's eyes scanned his haggard appearance, then to the rest of the crystal ponies. All their conversations had died out the instant she spoke, and all were staring at her. One mare began to openly sob, rushing into the grasp of another, who gently stroked her mane. Cadance kept looking around the room, taking in the sights of everypony, but she suddenly froze. Twilight noticed it, too. Amidst the several dozen ponies that filled the room, there was one pony conspicuously missing. Slowly, Cadance turned back to Flash, her lips moving silently for a time, as if her brain didn't want to say what she was thinking. "Flash..." She gulped, "where... where is Shining Armor?" Flash's mouth worked up and down, as if his voice refused to speak. "Captain Sentry, where is my husband?" "Princess, I... I-I'm..." At once, it was as if the weight of the entire world fell in Cadance's shoulders. Her legs simply stopped working and she fell to the floor with a thump that echoed in the now deathly silent throne room. "No," she whispered. "Please... please, no..." Spike rushed to her side, but Twilight stepped past her to square with the injured Captain. "Flash, what's going on? What happened?" Her words seems to snap Flash out of his daze. "Twi, there... there was an accident." "We know that," she said. "What exactly happened?" Flash gulped. "We... It was an award ceremony, in the courtyard beneath the palace. Lots of civilians, family members. We're still trying to…” He swallowed. “A truck carrying a shipment of fresh mana batteries went out of control and hit one of the support struts. The whole castle was coming down, but..." "But what?" "This can't..." Cadance gasped, her eyes already bloodshot from tears. "W-we were supposed to have more time. More time." Not even Spike's firm embrace could stop her shuddering body. "Shin—Prince Armor threw up a shield." Despite his own tears, Flash smiled, looking a bit like an awestruck colt even beneath the blood and dirt marring his once-vibrant coat. "I, I've never seen magic in that level before! It's must have been a thousand tons of rock and crystal, but he held it! Long enough for us to evacuate the crowd. He... h-he saved us, Twilight." Twilight felt a swell of pride. Her BBBFF's magic was strong, but this was impressive even to her. "Okay, so where is he?" The smile on his face died, replaced by a brief look of confusion before settling on deep sadness. "I'm... I-I-I'm sorry, Twi. We tried, tried to go back for him, but he... he wouldn't let us. Kept the shield up until..." He gulpped and then stood as straight as possible, grimacing as the act shifted his improperly bandaged wing. "He's gone, your highness." Nopony dared move. The only sign of life in the cavernous room was the fall of tears and the wracking, pitiful whimpers from Princess Cadance. "No." Flash blinked his good eye. "Twilight?" "No," Twilight repeated firmly. "That's impossible." From behind Flash, Princess Celestia slowly approached. "Twilight, I am so sor—" "No," she repeated, this time even louder. "You don't understand, it's impossible." A mixture of whimpers and murmurs spread through the ponies in the room. Celestia knelt down and placed a gentle wing over her former student. "Twilight, I know how hard this must be, but—" "No," Twilight said yet again, shrugging off the comforting wing. "When I ascended, my brother officially became the most powerful unicorn on the planet. He taught me everything I know about rapid fire casting! He wouldn't, couldn't..." "Princess..." Flash began. "He had to have teleported away before the shield fell." Twilight strode over to a mare she recognized as the Prime Minister. "Minister Gleam, you need to contact the Imperial Guard and start a search at once." "Twilight, please—" Twilight rounded on Flash, cutting him off. "Captain, why aren't you heading a search party?! Wherever he is, Shining is probably in a lot of pain from mana feedback!" "Twi, you don't—" "Luna," Twilight said, moving towards the alicorn, "would you mind letting the sun stay up a few extra hours tonight? The search party will need—" "He was already dead!" Every pony, Twilight included, cringed at Flash's yell. She turned and made to speak, but he never gave her the chance. "You weren't there, you didn't... didn't see..." Flash's good eye jerked back and forth, his lips trembling. "There was so much... blood. It... in his eyes, his ears, his nose! It must have been sheer force of will that kept the shield up, but he..." He once more fixed a hard glare at Twilight. "He was dead before the shield even fell." Every pony in the room shivered as the ambient temperature physically dropped several degrees. Twilight stared at Flash for a moment more, pinion feathers twitching. Why were her pinioned twitching? It wasn't like Shining Armor was d—hurt. He was hurt. Yes. Injured. “No. No, you’re wrong. He teleported away. He did. He did. Let’s see...” Flash limped to her side. Their failed relationship be damned, he put his injured hoof on her shoulder. Her eyes were furiously moving back and forth. “Twilight, I know this is hard to accept.” “Shut up,” she hissed. “I’m doing math.” “Twi, ple—” “I said I’m doing math!” She threw his hoof off, scuttling back several steps. A deep groan reverberated in the room from somewhere, but Twilight paid it no heed. Her mind was racing, almost as much as her heart. “Given the ambient temperature of the Crystal Empire this time of year, factor in the weight of 400 tons of crystal and stonework, a shield of 4.5 megajoules per second would be required.” Her voice was strong, but tears had already begun to stream down her cheeks. “Holding for three minutes, the farthest he could have teleported would have been...” A tremor passed through the throne room. Five feet? No, that couldn't be right. Of course not. Emotional distress distorted logic in extreme cases. She read that in a book. No. “No,” Twilight mumbled aloud. “No, no, no, no, no, I must have m-misplaced a decimal. Five hundred feet. Five hundred feet. Math never lies, never lies. We have to find him, have to, come on, come on!” She shrieked at the ponies sobbing and whimpering around her. “Why are you all just sitting there?!” The amassed crystal ponies shied away, whimpering at her scream. It made no sense! How could they just be doing nothing? Simply sit there and cry like foals when Shining was... A deep cringe ran through her body. No. Just no. “Your prince is hurt! In pain! After all he did for you, don't you even care?!” “Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Luna’s voice was like a shock of cold air, dry and empty. Her eyes were misty, yet firm. “Compose yourself. Your brother is gone, and his citizens mourn.” The words pounded like a sledgehammer into Twilight’s ears. She rounded on Luna and fixed her a deathly glare. “No one cares?! Fine, I'll go myself.” A bright corona of shimmering power gathered at her horn, bathing the scene in eerie light. “Twi, what are you doing?” Spike left Cadance's side and approached her. “You can't teleport that far without an array! It could kill you!” A deep, shuddering breath. “No, it won't.” “Twiley...” The whisper came clear even over the deep thrumming of Twilight’s horn. She blinked, and turned to see Cadance, still sobbing and broken, looking at her. “Please, just... j-just stay with me?” “Don't!” she sneered, glaring at the sniveling pony before her. Just sitting there, like all the rest. Like she had been the last time Shining was in danger. A wave of sickly revulsion hit Twilight. “Your husband is suffering, and you're just sitting there, wallowing.” Her gaze narrowed. “Did you ever even love him?” “Twilight!” Spike wiped a steaming tear from his cheek. “Please, stop this.” She regarded him with an icy glare. By this point, sparks were dancing around her horn. A deep groan echoed through the air at the immense power emanating from her. Several stained glass windows shuddered in their placements. “Twilight, please calm down.” Despite his calming tone, he took a measured step back from the glowing princess. “Shining... h-he meant a lot to me, too. But he's g-gone. We need to—” “NO!” Spike suddenly found himself sprawled on the ground a few feet away. The air around Twilight hissed and cracked with energy as her horn built to a blinding glow. “My brother is not dead, do you hear me?! He's not!” And with a release of energy that broke several of the storied stained-glass windows and knocked nearly every pony off their hooves, Princess Twilight Sparkle teleported away.
The WastelandPrincess Twilight Takes A Walk by Jake The Army Guy Chapter One: The Wasteland The rising sun blazed before her. Twilight closed her eyes and basked in the warmth, the light glinting off of her polished silver regalia. The caress of the wind through her feathers and the rocking sway of the carriage soothed her into a deep calm. Sighing quietly, Twilight took a few deep breaths, drinking in the sensation, until a sharp tang hit her nose, acrid and sour. With a sigh, she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the sprawling hills of Scaleback Ridge, as it had been named sometime in the last century. Seeming so tiny from the palace in Everfree City, they now dominated her field of vision. The sudden sensation served a grim reminder of why she was here, where she was going. What she was going to do. Twilight creased her brow and peeked over the side of the carriage, only to frown deeper. The rolling fields of lush green were gone. In their place was a scraggly wasteland of sickly brown blades, interspersed with scabs of jet black. This was not the Equestria she loved, the land she had watched grow and prosper for so long. A weight fell upon her once more as she looked upon the death and desolation that was slowly eating away at the heart of Equestria. Every year a little bit more of the fertile land went barren due to the looming ridge line draining it of magic, sucking the very soul from the land. Now, because she had put it off for so long, so many ponies had to be moved; the Royal Guard was evacuating nearly a quarter of Everfree City. And it's all because of my selfishness... The chariot gave a downward jerk. She looked to her left, sharing a glance with the muscular stallion next to her, then looked back to the heaving pegasi pulling the carriage. "Everything alright, Lieutenant?" The leftmost pegasus gulped. "Ju–nrgh—just fine, your Majesty." Twilight's eyes narrowed a bit and she lit her horn, opening her mind to the aether of the world, and what she saw confirmed what the dull ache in her wings and the tightness of the Lieutenant's jaw were telling her: what few lines of magic remained in the air were flickering pitifully, thin and anemic. The pegasi's wings, no longer boyoued with magic, would not hold them aloft much longer. Twilight turned back to the front, to where the pegasi were grunting and straining their relatively small wings, trying desperately to stay in the air. She leaned over to the earth pony beside her. "We're close enough, Captain." Beside her, the stallion blinked. "Your Majesty?" "I don't want to risk going any further into the no-fly zone. I can walk from here." "Majesty, I really think we should—" She cut him off with a practiced, beatific smile. "Take us down, Stalwart." The captain hesitated for just a breath before nodding and turning back to the front. "All right, colts, you heard her. Take us into an approach vector, as rehearsed.” "Yes... yes, sir!" Then under his breath, "Thank Twilight." "You're welcome," she whispered under the blow of the breeze. Beside her, Stalwart was barking orders into a sound stone in his hoof. "All right, gentlecolts, were on approach. Keep a tight formation as long as you can. Once we touch down, I want a full perimeter set up. Ensure you do your fives and twenty-fives before you get out. Dead spots are everywhere, and those little buggers will sap the life out of you damn quick. Make sure we..." His voice melded with the howl of the wind as the carriage eased into a lazy spiral, canted slightly to the side as they began their descent. The wind picked up as they gained speed, though the nebulous mass of her mane swirled as gently as ever. Twilight's eyes teared, but she kept them open as the ground approached. The carriage bucked violently several times, always followed by a pained grunt from one of the pilots, as they hit invisible eddies of magic carried by the wind. The ley lines flowed ever faster towards the looming ridge, coalescing into a massive whirlpool swirling above it, drawn by the very reason she was on this trek in the first place. After several minutes of pained struggle, the pegasi both sighed in relief as they finally touched the scorched earth below. The audible crunch of dead grass accompanied tiny plumes of dust from beneath the wheels of the cart. Several particles made their way upwards to them, causing both the princess and her captain to snuffle loudly in protest. Twilight's keen hearing picked the crunch of the other chariots landing beside them, as well as the slight groan Captain Stalwart let out from gritted teeth. The pegasi unhitched themselves from the carriage even as the rest of the Guardsponies, all pegasi and unicorns, leapt from theirs and fanned out in a pre-planned formation around them. Twilight dutifully held her place until a cry of "all clear" came from the lead pony. The instant her hooves touched the scorched earth, a deep tremor lit up in her legs. The normal scratchy feeling of dead grass was missing; in its place was a pins-and-needles-like shock that encompassed her hooves. Years of practice with the tertiary nature of being an alicorn allowed her to override her earth pony instincts, the sparks jumping through her muscles urging her to flee the soured land, and she strode purposefully away from the carriage and faced the ridge line. From this distance, she could just make out the tinge of lavender cresting the tips of the range, barely distinguishable from the lifeless brown of rocks jutting up from the dead ground. "Captain," she spoke over her shoulder, "how goes the evacuation?" When nopony answered her, she tore her eyes from the cliffs and turned to see Captain Stalwart still in the cart. His ivory ears and cerulean tail were twitching furiously, and his tongue was making laps around his mouth behind his teeth. Every now and then he would lift a sweaty hoof to step down over the lip of the carriage, but each time he pulled it back sharply, as of the ground itself had burned him. Twilight could all but hear his grinding teeth as he danced almost imperceptibly on his hooves. She walked back towards him. "This is why I ordered no earth ponies to accompany me, Captain, and why I pleaded you to not come. You may be the Captain of my Dawn Guard, but you have a very strong link with your magic, and—" His jaw tight, the captain leapt from the carriage and landed on the dead earth with a loud crunch of grass and an even louder groan of effort. He took several exploratory steps before turning a shaky, yet wholly determined gaze. "Not a p-problem, Your Highness." Twilight's beatific aura faltered for just a beat, her affection for the the stallion breaking over her face, before being buried under professionalism. "Very well, Captain. How are the preparations progressing?" Stalwart raised the sound stone back to his ear. "Operations, this is Dawn Six. Status update?" Several moments followed as the Guardspony listened, muttering the occasional "Uh-huh," or offering the odd question. Finally, he lowered the stone and turned to his Princess. "Evacuation of the eastern quarter of Everfree City is at 80%. Our mages have set up a grid of integrity-buffing spells across the entire quadrant. Once Princess Luna arrives to shore them up, it should be enough to keep the damage minimal, providing our estimations were accurate." Twilight's lip curled upwards ever so slightly. "You doubting my mathematical abilities, Captain?" "Of course not, Highness," he replied without flinching. "It's just that, if I've been briefed properly, nothing like this has ever even been attempted before. Once you..." He hesitated when the swirling miasma of her mane flickered for an instant. "We just need to be prepared for anything." "You're right. You've done a fine job, Captain, but I can handle things from here. Pull your team back to the safety zone and oversee the rest of the evacuation." When he didn't answer, she turned to look at him. Though his face remained stoic and set, she could see the tightness of his lips, a look she was intimately familiar with. "Something on your mind, Captain?" "Tw... Majesty, are you sure about this?" Her only response was a flick of her ear. He continued. "Why can't Princess Celestia do it? Or Cadance? Why does it have to be you?" "You know why." "Yes, but..." Stalwart cast a brief glance over his shoulder at his guards. Finding them all still scanning the surrounding wasteland for threats, he turned back and swiftly crossed the distance between him and her. Though he was a pony of envious stature, both in height and build, he still had to reach up to nuzzle into the alicorn's neck. "You're sure you don't want me to come with you?" he whispered. Twilight smiled and laid a gentle wing across his broad shoulders. "You're doing it again, Worry Wart." He only leaned in tighter. "I'm your Captain and your husband. I'm required by law." A tightness made itself known in her chest. Allowing a tiny crack in her royal visage, she squeezed him just a bit tighter. "I know," she whispered. "You're not alone. You're never alone." Just a bit tighter. "I know." The pair remained in their embrace for a few long moments, whether for his benefit or hers, unknown and unimportant. Her mane swirled around him, and she could feel his strength: not just his muscles, but his heart, his eternally deep connection to the earth. She allowed her own magic to seep down and intertwine with his. She allowed herself to fall for a bit. Finally, she pulled back slowly, perhaps her subconscious not wanting to end, or knowing that while she was here, she wouldn’t have to go. She locked eyes with him for a moment, then leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "Oversee the evacuation. I'll see you after." Just like that, his body tensed back to rigid precision. "Yes, ma'am." He stepped back and snapped a sharp salute, which she returned with a nod, then turned back to the carriages. "All right, gentlecolts, mount up!" Twilight watched him work, but eventually turned her back to him, facing the looming ridge. A light breeze carried a curtain of dust across her face, but her eyes stayed open, locked on the leftmost hilltop. She took her first step.
The TalkTHREE WEEKS POST-ASCENSION "What do you think happens when we die?" The light titterings of conversation died off, leaving the table outside the Haute Cuisine eerily quiet. Her three friends looked at Twilight queerly, which caused her still new wings to fluff out a bit under the attention. Finally, Rarity cleared her throat to break the awkward atmosphere. "Twilight, are you alright?" “Aw, don’t mind her,” Spike said, not even looking up from his Power Ponies comic. “She’s been sulking all week.” “Now, Spike, that ain’t very nice,” Applejack said. “What? It’s true!” Rarity kept her eyes on Twilight. “Is everything alright?” "Why do you ask?" Twilight asked. "Well, it's just that you've been sitting there silent as your little retinue there," she gestured to the pair of stone-faced guards flanking the princess, "then you suddenly bring up such a... er, morbid topic." Twilight shrugged. "I don't know, I'm just... curious if you girls ever think about it." "No way!" Rainbow said through a mouthful of hay fries. She gulped loudly, wiping her hoof across her lips. "Who has time to think about that stuff? I'm too busy being awesome in this life to worry about whatever's next." "How philosophical,” Applejack sighed. "So, you never even thought about it?" Twilight asked. "Nope!" Rainbow tapped her chin. "Well, there's that old pegasus thing." Twilight perked up. "What?" "Well, I remember in history class they once told us about Cloudhalla. The old pegasi warriors believed if you died in battle, you'd go to this, like, eternal battlefield or something. Fight demons for all time. We pegasi were pretty hardcore back then, ya know? Heh, some of us still are." She puffed out her chest. "An eternity of fighting?" Rarity shuddered. "How uncouth, though I suppose it fits with how brutish pegasus ponies used to be." She let out a sigh as Rainbow smirked even wider. "Anyway, it's a nice idea. Sadly, not all nice ideas are true." "Now, wait just a darn minute," Applejack said, leaning in on the table. "What're you gettin' on about?" "I am simply saying that we have this one life in Equestria—the here and now, if you will," Rarity said. "And I can't help but feel as though it is somewhat spoiled by dreams of a life beyond what we already have. What use is there in weaving tales of something that doesn't exist?" She shrugged. "I realize that it brings many pony ponies comfort—after all, nopony wishes to see their loved ones gone forever—but it's a terrible fact of life that adults like us must come to realize that we simply cannot just reframe reality to suit our whims. It's natural, of course, to yearn for something more: some further meaning or purpose in life." Her eyes drifted closed, and she took a quiet sip from her tea before placing it neatly back down on the tablecloth. When she spoke again, her voice was gentle, subdued. "At some point, though, it becomes necessary to put away childish things, and to meet real life on equal hoofing." As Rarity was talking, Twilight’s ears had slowly drooped. She nodded thoughtfully. “Well, that makes sense, scientifically, at least. There is no evidence of any kind of afterlife.” "Ah, bull-honky,” Applejack huffed. “Science can't explain everything 'bout life." "Applejack, I can open a book and tell you exactly what you are, down to the atom." "So? That don't mean squat. Look, Twi, you could take every element that makes up my body 'n put it in a big pot, an' you wouldn't have nothing. You could hit it wit' lightnin', light it on fire, and it ain't gonna come alive. Ponies have been tryin' for years, yeah?" "Well, yes." "But when I was a little filly, I saw my momma take a little bit of her an' a little bit of my daddy, and eleven months later, eleven months, out popped a brand new bouncin' baby filly. That right there was a bona fide miracle if I ever seen one." Rarity sighed. "No, Applejack, that is life." "Exactly," she replied with a small grin. "It's like I said, you may know exactly what in the brain does what, what chemical or neuro-whatsit makes me decide that I like this here fancy tea”—she held up her cup—”but for all that knowledge, after Celestia knows how many years of tryin', the brightest minds in the world still can't do in the fanciest of labs what two simple farmponies can do in one night—create a life." A distant smile fell upon her face as she leaned back in her chair. "Look, Twi, I'll be the first to admit I ain't the smartest of ponies when it comes to science and the like, but even I can see that us ponies are so much more than this ol' bag of meat we walk around in. There's some... spark somewhere, some kinda essence or somethin', more powerful than anything, even yer fancy alicorn magic. I can't rightly believe that all that energy can jus' up and vanish when we die. There's gotta be somethin' else." By this point, Twilight was leaning forward towards them. "Like what?" “I don’t know, sugar cube, could be anything. Why, my grandaddy used to spin tales ‘bout the Elysian Fields, a never-endin’ plain of the freshest grass and the juiciest fruit trees, where you and all your loved ones can gallop and graze and play for all time.” “Whoa,” Spike said, finally looking up from his comic. “That sounds awesome! But, do you think they have a quarry? I wouldn’t want to spend forever without some rubies.” A light round of chuckles spread across the table. “I don’t rightly know, Spike, but it's fun to think about, and I'd be lying if I said part of me weren't lookin’ forward to findin’ out.” Rarity nearly dropped her teacup, just barely managed to set it back on the table. “So... you want to die?!” “Oh, good gravy, no! It’s just... well, Granny Smith has a little sayin’: 'live as long as possible, but when your time’s up, it’s up. Don’t fear the Pale Pony'.” Her brow furrowed. She turned back to Twilight, taking her hoof in hers. "Now, how's about you level with us, sugarcube. Why you asking about all this?" Twilight blinked. There's just no way to tell right now, Twilight. You and Cadance are the first two ponies who have ascended. Luna and I were created as we are. Your mortal nature may remain, but you must remember you are now intrinsically linked to Magic itself, a force as permanent and lasting as the sun and moon. I wish I had answers but right now I'm... I'm just not sure. Twilight smiled. "Like I said, just curious."
The MeetingOne hoof in front of the other. Step. Crunch. Step. Crunch. By the time the sun was nearing its zenith, her mind had drifted into a thoughtless void from the monotony. Even her hooves had long since grown numb to the constant buzzing from the scorched earth beneath her, along with the tense flitter of her wings and the ache in her horn. Twilight paused for a moment, casting her eyes upwards; she knew the midday sun was no closer or further than normal, but the dead air around her magnified the gentle summer rays into an oppressive blanket. A bit of sweat stung her eye. She lifted a hoof to wipe it away, but paused, casting a glance at it. From her silver-shod hoof to mid-leg, a fine coat of sickly yellow dust obscured her purple fur. Turning around, a long trail of hoofprints marked her path; the withered grass turned to dust beneath her steps. Pegasi magic died long before it could reach this far into the wasteland, so no wind stirred the decayed plant life that crumbled beneath her step. She sighed and turned back to the front, resuming her trek. Before her, the looming ridge line stood silhouetted against the empty sky, a jagged expanse of brown with a wide ring of jet black at its foot. Perhaps three of four miles away now, she could now make out the rock formations that dotted the sloped hills and the segmented slates of the hills themselves, each easily larger than a normal pony's house. The acrid, sour taste in the air, a minor nuisance before, was now ever-present, dominating her every breath. Her non-corporeal mane flowed forward, succumbing to the pull of the hills. Twilight blinked as a strand of purple fell over her eye. Reaching up, she gingerly pulled back several strands of deep navy hair. While they still held an other-worldly shine, each strand fell limp as soon as she released them. She frowned. Looking around her once more, she noted that the patches of deep black were becoming more and more frequent: the “dead spots” Stalwart had warned about, spots where every ounce of magic—every ounce of life—had been drained by the imposing hills. With a deep breath, grimacing slightly from the stink of the stagnant air, she picked up the pace. She flicked her mane to the side, something she hadn’t had cause to do in countless years. It was happening much sooner than she thought it would, and if she didn’t reach the dead zone by the— So enraptured by her thoughts, she jumped more than she would have liked to admit when the deafening roar sounded from behind her. A dark shadow overtook her. High above the dead land, a massive dragon was circling in a lazy downward spiral. The light filtering through her leathery wings sent emerald shadows across the grass. Twilight allowed herself a small smile. As the drake neared the ground, a harsh wind kicked up. Twilight threw her wing in front of her face to shield from the wall of yellowed dust. Entire swathes of withered grass were blasted to dust by the immense dragon backwinging to the ground before her. The drake set down with an earth-shaking blow and reared back to bellow once more, wings flared proudly. Its announcing cry uttered, it set back down and brought its massive head next to the alicorn. Twilight smiled gently, bowing her head. "She of The Ruby Depths, you honor me with your presence." "Save your platitudes, pony," the dragoness sneered. Her high-pitched growl was even more shrill here in the dead wastes. "We both know I do not wish to be here." "Of course. Still, I was afraid you wouldn't come." "Ha! As if I had a choice! You have been lauding that debt over my head for centuries. I would cross Tartarus itself to be done with it." "Even so, it is always nice to see a familiar face." She frowned slightly as she noticed a deep scar along the dragoness' right side. "That's new. I hope everything is well inside your territory." "Pah, a minor nuisance. A pack of Diamond Dogs felt that my caves were a good place to mine. Little mongrels surprised me with their numbers, is all." Twilight's frown deepened. "Please tell me you did not..." "Oh, relax, your highness," the drake snorted. "I left enough alive to continue their pack, though the trolls will remember my name for generations to come, as well as the folly of entering a dragon's territory uninvited." "How kind of you," Twilight sighed. "Regardless, I'm grateful that you're here. I know this must be difficult for you." The drake reared her head back and laughed, smoke belching from her nostrils. "For one such as yourself, you know surprisingly little about dragons!" "Or perhaps I know more than you think." The mirth in the dragoness' amber eyes died. A deadly growl escaped her lips. "I will be in position for the ritual. I suggest you pick up the pace, pony, lest your magic fail you before you arrive at your... destination." She bent her knees, immense wings tensing. "Of course, She of The Ruby Depths. And... thank you." The drake paused, casting an eye back at Twilight. "It... it means a lot that you came." The dragoness' amber eyes softened for just a moment, then her scowl returned. "You can thank me by not bothering me with pony problems again. And... you might want to preen yourself before you head back to Everfree." Her wings gave a mighty flap, and she took to the air. Twilight blinked then glanced to her own wings. Her once elegant, expansive wings looked bedraggled. Several feathers were jutting out at odd angles. As she watched, a single lavender feather fell from her wing. She followed it with her eyes; the feather floated straight down in the total absence of wind, landing gracefully upon the dead grass that crumbled even under its light weight. Returning her gaze to her wing, she swore that if she squinted, the appendages seemed just a bit smaller than before. She sighed and returned her eyes towards the towering ridge before her. She continued her walk.
The AccidentFIFTEEN YEARS POST-ASCENSION “Okay, here we go! I got it this time! Are you watching, Twi?” “Mmm-hmm,” Twilight said, eyes still buried in a piece of parchment on the ground before her. She and Cadance sat on a blanket, a spread of sandwiches set out before them intermixed with dozens of scrolls containing the plans for the upcoming Grand Galloping Gala. Spike took a deep breath and tensed his shoulders. A high-pitched buzzing filled the field as his new wings—comically undersized on his adolescent body—flapped furiously. With a grunt, he bent his squat legs and leaped high into the air, and for a few moments, actually managed to hover. “Hah! Twilight, Cadance, look! I—whoa!” His lanky body twisted and spun in the air and he fell to the grass with an “Omph!” Looking up, Twilight stifled a giggle at the dragon-shaped heap before her. She lit her horn and righted him. “Sorry, Spike. I told you, you’re just going to have to wait a few years until they'd grow in properly.” “Ugh, no way!” Spike stood and dusted himself off. “Scootaloo’s first performance is in Cloudsdale this Tuesday, and I’m gonna fly there to watch her, with Celestia”—He smirked in her direction—”with Twilight as my witness.” “Hmph.” Twilight frowned up at him. “I told you not to say that, Spike! I’m not comfortable with ponies praying to me.” “Heh!” Cadance grinned at the nonplussed grimace on Twilight’s face. “You get used to it after a while, Twilight.” Spike opened his mouth to reply when his eyes suddenly screwed shut. His cry of protest turned into a mighty burp, a scroll landing on the grass from the stream of fire. Clearing his throat, he glanced at the two princesses. “That hasn’t happened in a while.” Wordlessly, the alicorns crowded around Spike as he opened the scroll: Twilight and Cadance, Please come to the throne room at once. There’s been an accident. ~Celestia “Accident?” Spike said. “What could—” He never got the chance to finish as a bright purple flash left the field empty. The trio flashed into existence just outside the large double doors to the main throne room. The guards who stood outside both gasped at their sudden entrance, but as soon as their eyes locked on Cadance, their eyes went wide with an emotion Twilight couldn't place. "Princess Celestia just sent for us," Twilight said. "What happened?" The guards looked at each other, but said nothing, simply lighting their horns and swinging the doors open. Twilight eyed them for just a moment before stepping inside. A muted chaos encompassed the large throne room. Before the throne, Luna was conversing with several haggard looking Crystal ponies. Even from across the room, Twilight could see their coats were dulled by a thin veil of what looked to be dust and ash, and their crystalline tails were twitching furiously, despite Luna’s apparent attempts to calm them. As Spike groaned beside her, shaking off the effects of the harried teleport, Twilight and Cadance rushed to the far corner of the room, where Celestia was speaking to somepony laying on the ground. Several ponies obscured Twilight’s view of him, each wearing the red sun marking of the Royal Guard’s Medic Corps. “Captain, please do not make me order you. Let these gentlecolts take you to the hospital. You may have—” “With all"—the pony hissed through his teeth as one of the medics tightened a bandage around his broken wing— "all due respect, Your Highness, I don't take my orders from you anymore. I have to tell them. It's my duty." "Captain," one of the medics said, "if we don't set this wing, you may nev—" "Buck the wing! I'm not leaving until they get here." As he yelled, Twilight and Cadance shared a look of recognition at the pony's voice and rushed towards him. Cadance reached them first. “Flash, what happened to you?!" At her voice, Imperial Guard Captain Flash Sentry jumped to his hooves, only to wince in pain and shift his weight off of his left forehoof. The young Captain looked like he just came out of a war zone: what parts of his orange coat that weren't covered in dust were marred by scratches and abrasions. His left wing was awkwardly bandaged to his side. The fluorescent mane he was so proud of was soaked with mud from the dust mixing with sweat, and a trickle of blood ran down his cheek. What really bother Twilight, however, was his right eye, covered by a thick layer of gauze, dark crimson seeping into the white bandage from what was likely a permanent injury. His good eye stared back at Cadance with an empty, hollow gaze. "Princess! I..." "Flash, what happened? Wha..." Cadance's eyes scanned his haggard appearance, then to the rest of the crystal ponies. All their conversations had died out the instant she spoke, and all were staring at her. One mare began to openly sob, rushing into the grasp of another, who gently stroked her mane. Cadance kept looking around the room, taking in the sights of everypony, but she suddenly froze. Twilight noticed it, too. Amidst the several dozen ponies that filled the room, there was one pony conspicuously missing. Slowly, Cadance turned back to Flash, her lips moving silently for a time, as if her brain didn't want to say what she was thinking. "Flash..." She gulped, "where... where is Shining Armor?" Flash's mouth worked up and down, as if his voice refused to speak. "Captain Sentry, where is my husband?" "Princess, I... I-I'm..." At once, it was as if the weight of the entire world fell in Cadance's shoulders. Her legs simply stopped working and she fell to the floor with a thump that echoed in the now deathly silent throne room. "No," she whispered. "Please... please, no..." Spike rushed to her side, but Twilight stepped past her to square with the injured Captain. "Flash, what's going on? What happened?" Her words seems to snap Flash out of his daze. "Twi, there... there was an accident." "We know that," she said. "What exactly happened?" Flash gulped. "We... It was an award ceremony, in the courtyard beneath the palace. Lots of civilians, family members. We're still trying to…” He swallowed. “A truck carrying a shipment of fresh mana batteries went out of control and hit one of the support struts. The whole castle was coming down, but..." "But what?" "This can't..." Cadance gasped, her eyes already bloodshot from tears. "W-we were supposed to have more time. More time." Not even Spike's firm embrace could stop her shuddering body. "Shin—Prince Armor threw up a shield." Despite his own tears, Flash smiled, looking a bit like an awestruck colt even beneath the blood and dirt marring his once-vibrant coat. "I, I've never seen magic in that level before! It's must have been a thousand tons of rock and crystal, but he held it! Long enough for us to evacuate the crowd. He... h-he saved us, Twilight." Twilight felt a swell of pride. Her BBBFF's magic was strong, but this was impressive even to her. "Okay, so where is he?" The smile on his face died, replaced by a brief look of confusion before settling on deep sadness. "I'm... I-I-I'm sorry, Twi. We tried, tried to go back for him, but he... he wouldn't let us. Kept the shield up until..." He gulpped and then stood as straight as possible, grimacing as the act shifted his improperly bandaged wing. "He's gone, your highness." Nopony dared move. The only sign of life in the cavernous room was the fall of tears and the wracking, pitiful whimpers from Princess Cadance. "No." Flash blinked his good eye. "Twilight?" "No," Twilight repeated firmly. "That's impossible." From behind Flash, Princess Celestia slowly approached. "Twilight, I am so sor—" "No," she repeated, this time even louder. "You don't understand, it's impossible." A mixture of whimpers and murmurs spread through the ponies in the room. Celestia knelt down and placed a gentle wing over her former student. "Twilight, I know how hard this must be, but—" "No," Twilight said yet again, shrugging off the comforting wing. "When I ascended, my brother officially became the most powerful unicorn on the planet. He taught me everything I know about rapid fire casting! He wouldn't, couldn't..." "Princess..." Flash began. "He had to have teleported away before the shield fell." Twilight strode over to a mare she recognized as the Prime Minister. "Minister Gleam, you need to contact the Imperial Guard and start a search at once." "Twilight, please—" Twilight rounded on Flash, cutting him off. "Captain, why aren't you heading a search party?! Wherever he is, Shining is probably in a lot of pain from mana feedback!" "Twi, you don't—" "Luna," Twilight said, moving towards the alicorn, "would you mind letting the sun stay up a few extra hours tonight? The search party will need—" "He was already dead!" Every pony, Twilight included, cringed at Flash's yell. She turned and made to speak, but he never gave her the chance. "You weren't there, you didn't... didn't see..." Flash's good eye jerked back and forth, his lips trembling. "There was so much... blood. It... in his eyes, his ears, his nose! It must have been sheer force of will that kept the shield up, but he..." He once more fixed a hard glare at Twilight. "He was dead before the shield even fell." Every pony in the room shivered as the ambient temperature physically dropped several degrees. Twilight stared at Flash for a moment more, pinion feathers twitching. Why were her pinioned twitching? It wasn't like Shining Armor was d—hurt. He was hurt. Yes. Injured. “No. No, you’re wrong. He teleported away. He did. He did. Let’s see...” Flash limped to her side. Their failed relationship be damned, he put his injured hoof on her shoulder. Her eyes were furiously moving back and forth. “Twilight, I know this is hard to accept.” “Shut up,” she hissed. “I’m doing math.” “Twi, ple—” “I said I’m doing math!” She threw his hoof off, scuttling back several steps. A deep groan reverberated in the room from somewhere, but Twilight paid it no heed. Her mind was racing, almost as much as her heart. “Given the ambient temperature of the Crystal Empire this time of year, factor in the weight of 400 tons of crystal and stonework, a shield of 4.5 megajoules per second would be required.” Her voice was strong, but tears had already begun to stream down her cheeks. “Holding for three minutes, the farthest he could have teleported would have been...” A tremor passed through the throne room. Five feet? No, that couldn't be right. Of course not. Emotional distress distorted logic in extreme cases. She read that in a book. No. “No,” Twilight mumbled aloud. “No, no, no, no, no, I must have m-misplaced a decimal. Five hundred feet. Five hundred feet. Math never lies, never lies. We have to find him, have to, come on, come on!” She shrieked at the ponies sobbing and whimpering around her. “Why are you all just sitting there?!” The amassed crystal ponies shied away, whimpering at her scream. It made no sense! How could they just be doing nothing? Simply sit there and cry like foals when Shining was... A deep cringe ran through her body. No. Just no. “Your prince is hurt! In pain! After all he did for you, don't you even care?!” “Princess Twilight Sparkle.” Luna’s voice was like a shock of cold air, dry and empty. Her eyes were misty, yet firm. “Compose yourself. Your brother is gone, and his citizens mourn.” The words pounded like a sledgehammer into Twilight’s ears. She rounded on Luna and fixed her a deathly glare. “No one cares?! Fine, I'll go myself.” A bright corona of shimmering power gathered at her horn, bathing the scene in eerie light. “Twi, what are you doing?” Spike left Cadance's side and approached her. “You can't teleport that far without an array! It could kill you!” A deep, shuddering breath. “No, it won't.” “Twiley...” The whisper came clear even over the deep thrumming of Twilight’s horn. She blinked, and turned to see Cadance, still sobbing and broken, looking at her. “Please, just... j-just stay with me?” “Don't!” she sneered, glaring at the sniveling pony before her. Just sitting there, like all the rest. Like she had been the last time Shining was in danger. A wave of sickly revulsion hit Twilight. “Your husband is suffering, and you're just sitting there, wallowing.” Her gaze narrowed. “Did you ever even love him?” “Twilight!” Spike wiped a steaming tear from his cheek. “Please, stop this.” She regarded him with an icy glare. By this point, sparks were dancing around her horn. A deep groan echoed through the air at the immense power emanating from her. Several stained glass windows shuddered in their placements. “Twilight, please calm down.” Despite his calming tone, he took a measured step back from the glowing princess. “Shining... h-he meant a lot to me, too. But he's g-gone. We need to—” “NO!” Spike suddenly found himself sprawled on the ground a few feet away. The air around Twilight hissed and cracked with energy as her horn built to a blinding glow. “My brother is not dead, do you hear me?! He's not!” And with a release of energy that broke several of the storied stained-glass windows and knocked nearly every pony off their hooves, Princess Twilight Sparkle teleported away.
