Fallen

Usurped Dawn

A cold, merciless wind blew across the plains, but for the male pegasus and female unicorn that walked the barren road, the wind was nothing, a mere annoyance. The biting gale had spread smoke and the fumes of death across Equestria, but the two ponies, who were siblings, wore clothing that covered their bodies and faces from the dust and ash that fogged the murky plains.

The elder, a black-maned pegasus named Storm Rider, lifted his goggles from his eyes, revealing twin orbs of gold, dulled from years of life on the run. Behind him, his younger sister Little Bit, a unicorn with blue-and-red hair and a short tail, shivered. Even in her protective wrappings, she suffered terribly in the cold winds, the winds of death, of fear.

“Keep up, now,” Storm Rider shouted over the roar of the ashen wind. “C’mon, sis!”

“I can’t, Stormy!” she called, her voice like a tinny bell over the howling gale. “It’s…too strong!”

She was right. Despite his name, and his former career as a Wonderbolt, Storm Rider could barely beat his wings against the whirlwind of dust and ash that choked the plains of Equestria. It was like a hurricane of smoke and dirt, whipping across the hills, blotting out the sun…

Storm Rider coughed. His outfit, a modified Wonderbolt jumpsuit, had no mouth guard, and every few seconds his lungs would fill with dust. The air was bitingly harsh, and his throat filled with grit with every breath he took.

A tent seemed to pop up in the distance, just down the road from where the siblings stood. Blackened by dust and torn by wind, the brother and sister ploughed through the sandstorm and approached the tent. Their moves were hindered by the storm, their faces gouged by flying dust. Only when they got closer did they realize that they could go no further; a spell was blocking the tent from the siblings, a force field. There was a unicorn nearby, and as Storm Rider put his ear to the field, he thought he heard faint voices.

“…hold still, my little friend. These wounds will take some time to mend.”

Storm Rider coughed and yelled.

“Please! Anypony in there! Help us!”

He wasn’t sure if he had made himself known over the howl of the sandstorm, but no sooner did he stop to breathe than a hooded figure emerged from the tent and stared at him. Blinded by dust, neither sibling could make out the form of the tent’s occupant, but then the mysterious figure shouted something that was lost in the wind. Suddenly a tingly feeling swept over Storm Rider and Little Bit, and, to their utter surprise, the howling stopped. The dust settled. They were encased in a bubble, an impervious dome that kept them free from the flying ash. Deafened by the sudden silence, Storm Rider shook his mane, which had turned dark brown from the dust. Little Bit followed, and as she did the stranger lifted its hood, revealing a black-and-white striped face and mane.

“Greetings, fellow refugees, so nice to see other ponies.”

“Who in the name of Celestia are you?” Little Bit exclaimed.

The stranger smiled. “I am Zecora, little one. Born in the land of the blazing sun.”

The stranger was female, but other than that they had never seen anything like her. She smiled again. “Do not be frightened, refugees. Young Syrinx’s spell blocks dust with ease.”

“Syrinx?” Storm Rider asked. “Who’s Syrinx?”

“Come with me, and you shall see, my friend, my little pony.”

* * *

There comes a time when, in the face of absurdity, human beings incline to resort to violence, thinking it will solve all their problems. As laughable as this idea is, it is nonetheless true.

But not this time. The silence that had befallen the crowd of Morris Stadium was, perhaps, louder than the sounds the crowd usually made. Every eye drilled into the red, bleeding body that lay on the track, caressed by the girl with the cowboy hat. It was as if someone had stopped time; nobody moved. In fact, the only sound that permeated the silence was the rhythmic sobbing coming from the cowgirl.

“Oh no…Big Mac…what happened t’you?”

The horse-man did not answer; he was unconscious. The cowgirl’s hands were wet with blood, and, in a single moment, everything seemed to coalesce into a fine point…

SNAP.

That wasn’t just a figurative snap.

The change in atmosphere was quicker than the crack of a bullwhip. People were yelling, roaring, trying to make sense of what they were seeing. Some, sensibly-minded, merely thought that the horse-man was some sort of costumed prankster, and that the game should go on. Others called for medical help, for clearly the…thing…was dying. The appearance of two creatures, both winged, one blue and one yellow, did little to alleviate the situation. A full-scale riot broke out, shaking the ground. But, in the chaos, the cowgirl and her friends remained motionlessly stolid.

Jet looked at his scarred fingers. The perplexity of the situation was lost on him. As people screamed and fought, he seemed impassive, drawn by the complex lattice of scars on his fingers.

Then Twilight conked him on the side of the head.

“Wha…what?!”

“Big Macintosh needs help!”

“That’s not Big Macintosh, that’s…”

“DON’T YOU SAY THAT, YOU VARMINT!” Applejack cried, her voice carrying over the sounds of the riot. “YOU DO WHAT YOU CAN T’SAVE HIM! DO IT!”

“I…I can’t do anything…”

“Ponyfeathers!” Rarity exclaimed. “We need to get him out of here! He’s not well! He’s…”

“Malmutated,” Jet finished, but then a folding chair careened over their heads, and they decided it was time to move.

Louis Bruckman tried to get away, to make sense of it allI, but without his costume head, his skull was defenseless against the folding chair that caught him smack-dab in the side of the head. He fell to the ground and blacked out.

It took three of them to drag Big Macintosh to a nearby shed, amidst the chaos of the riot. Its origin still a mystery to the pony-humans, they ducked and dodged projectiles and people that flew across the field and stands. However, they managed to drag the hulking stallion into the shed, leaving a trail of blood in their midst. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy joined them, trying to escape the bloodthirsty crowd.

It was no quieter in the shed than it was outside, but they were alone…for the moment. Jet took a breath.

“Your brother has malmutated,” he said, addressing Applejack. “This isn’t the first time it’s happened. Sometimes the transformation is incomplete. Sometimes you get a hybrid of human and pony…precisely like your brother.”

“What about that wound?” Applejack sobbed.

Jet leaned forward and examined the bleeding hole in Big Macintosh’s chest. “Looks like a stab wound. Through and through. If we don’t heal him he won’t last much longer.”

“Oh, I don’t think any of you are gonna last much longer,” sneered a voice from behind them. They whirled around as the speaker turned on the light.

It was a human girl, tall and very fit-looking. Her hair was snowy-white and her eyes were yellow like a snake’s. She had a devilish grin on her face, and her eyes were narrowed as though she were a huntress salivating over her latest kill. An inscrutable familiarity lay etched in her face, but before any of them could figure it out, the girl locked the door to the shed, trapping them.

“Yep, I think it’s about time you all met the same fate as your dumb stallion will soon meet,” she snarled in a grating voice that was, again, strikingly familiar.

“Who are you?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, undeterred by the intruder.

“What, you don’t recognize me, Dash?” the girl laughed mockingly. “After all we’ve been through. You don’t recognize your old friend? I recognize you, all right, you had the pleasure of disposing of this disgusting body before I did…”

“No…”

“That’s right, Dash,” she sneered, and immediately it became clear who she was.

“It can’t be…”

“Not…”

“Gilda?!”

As soon as the name escaped Pinkie Pie’s lips, Twilight knew she was right. There, standing in front of them, was the humanized griffon that had tormented them years ago.

“Figured you’d spot me first, Pinkie Pie,” she smirked. “You always were an intrusive little brat.”

“Gilda?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, stunned by the appearance of her old friend. “What are…what are you doing here?”

“Two words,” the griffon girl spat. “Payback.”

“Actually, that’s one word,” Pinkie Pie said cluelessly, but before she knew it, she was facing the barrel of a stubby, metal object.

“Son of a…!” Jet cried out, backing away from the thing in Gilda’s hand.

“What? What is it?”

“It’s called a gun,” Gilda said, her eyes brimming with malice. “Humans use them to kill each other. And now, I’m gonna use this one to kill you.”

She slowly forced Pinkie Pie to the wall, her eyes flitting from pony to pony, daring each one of them to make a move. Rainbow Dash would have swooped in and knocked Gilda on her rump had it not been for Jet, who held her by the wing. Only Jet knew the danger of human weapons against ponies, and thus Pinkie Pie was remarkably calm, even with a gun in her face.

“Stop squirming, you twerp!” Gilda snapped at Fluttershy, who was shaking with fear.

“Why are you here, Gilda?” Pinkie said slowly, feeling along the edge of the wall. “Did Discord send you?”

“Actually, yes.”

Gasps all around.

“What, you mean you’re all so dumb you didn’t figure it out?” She threw back her head and laughed. “I knew you were gonna be here! Did you honestly think after what you all pulled back at Ponyville, that I would let you get away from this?”

“But Discord…”

“Discord was good to me!” Gilda screamed, cutting across Twilight’s words. “He was gonna win the war anyway. Equestria was a dunghole that needed to be cleaned out. And guess who’s doing the cleaning?”

She nudged the gun’s barrel against Pinkie’s forehead. Still, the pony-human was remarkably calm. Nobody moved. Spike was trying to make himself as small as possible without moving a muscle.

Gilda’s eyes were cold. “You stupid lame-o. I should have done this a long time ago. Goodbye, Pinkie Pie.”

“I’ll see you again, Gilda. I’ll see you again.”

The griffon smiled and pulled the trigger.

* * *

Storm Rider and Little Bit made their way into the cramped tent alongside the zebra. It was surprisingly quiet. The howling dust outside made no noise inside the tent. In fact, the only noise came from a small bundle of blankets in the corner.

“Little Syrinx, please wake up!” Zecora said, tapping the blankets gently. “We have visitors, get up, get up!”

“…uhhh…”

As the siblings removed their goggles and shook their manes free of dust, they realized that the bundle in the corner was actually a pony. Zecora lifted the dusty blankets, revealing a young, frail-looking unicorn with a white coat, black mane, and red, very tired-looking eyes. She looked malnourished, frail, and was very small, even for a filly. She regarded the newcomers with concealed scrutiny, as if she should be afraid of them. Storm Rider smiled weakly.

“Hello, Syrinx, I’m…”

“Storm…R-Rider,” the little filly croaked, her voice a quiet rasp. “And…L…Little…B-Bit…”

“Poor Syrinx has been through so much,” Zecora said, her eyes sad, gently patting the young unicorn. “She lives with me inside this hutch. She lost her parents, her sister too. And also she does not trust you.”

Storm and Little Bit were taken aback.

“Doesn’t trust us?” the little sister shouted. “What do you mean?!”

“I mean, young one, she thinks you’re spies. Little escapes her prowling eyes.”

“We’re not spies,” Storm Rider said calmly, stepping forward. “We’re siblings. We lost our parents, too. In Canterlot…after everything went awry. Things got hairy and…well, the dust storms kicked in…”

“Fire…everywhere…” Syrinx whispered, and just like that, she fell back asleep.

“The young one needs her rest, you see,” Zecora explained tenderly. “She’s been through the mill, the poor filly.”

“But who are you?” Little Bit asked.

“I once lived far from here, in a place called the Everfree Forest, my dear. ’Twas there I found the little foal, so young, and yet so very cold. Parasprites destroyed my home, so across the plains we chose to roam. Away from evil, away from death, to places where we may catch our breath.”

“But why doesn’t she trust us?”

“She trusts few, she does. I suppose it is because…”

She paused. Tears welled up in her eyes. “You obviously do not know, or else you would have understood long ago. I take it, my dears, that the news of the Princess has not met your ears?”

“The Princess?!” they both shouted in unison.

“You’ve heard from her?” Little Bit burst, bounding around the tent. “What’d she say? What’d she say?!”

“What news is there, Zecora?” Storm Rider asked calmly.

“Ah, you must brace yourself, sire, for the news I bear is quite, quite dire.”

“What? What’s happened?”

The zebra took a long, sorrow-ridden breath.

“Saying it again causes me great pain, but…I’m afraid…our beloved Princess has been slain.”

* * *

The shot echoed deafeningly in the enclosed storage shed, and for the briefest moment Twilight Sparkle could still see her beloved friend’s eyes, so full of life and happiness…

Then the smoke cleared, Gilda backed up, and Pinkie Pie slid to the floor, blood flowing down the wall behind her, the bullet hole black against her skin, her eyes dead, lifeless.

“NNAAAOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!”

They threw themselves at Gilda, who fired off three more shots and tossed something into the fray. Immediately they felt themselves slam against the back wall, bound by some form of magic. Twilight struggled, but she was tied to the wall by invisible bindings. They all were.

“…ow…”

Rainbow Dash caught sight of Fluttershy, who was turning red. Then she saw the bullet hole in the yellow pegasus’s wing, and she screamed.

“FLUTTERSHY! YOU SHOT HER, YOU…”

“QUIET, DASH!” Gilda shrieked. “All of you! That bitch Pinkie Pie won’t be the last if you don’t all shut up!”

They all remained silent, except for Fluttershy, who wept.

“Shut up, you.”

Fluttershy acted like she didn’t hear. Maybe she couldn’t.

“I said, SHUT UP!”

She raised her gunless hand again, and the bleeding pegasus separated from the wall and went flying into the opposite wall with a loud crash.

Silence.

“No…” Twilight choked, fighting back tears. “No…”

“Yes, Twilight Sparkle,” Gilda sneered. “Yes. I killed them. What, did you think Discord wouldn’t find you? He’s got ways of knowing, moron! He gave me magic! Me! Magic! Ha!”

She raised her hand again, and Spike floated forward. The dragon-human began to scream, but was silenced when the griffon-girl threw her hand down. Spike slammed into the ground face-first, and when Gilda mashed him into the wall again, Twilight saw that his nose was bleeding and he seemed to be missing a few teeth.

“Discord can do things, ya know. He can give magic to others. He can kill just by looking at you. And he can tell when ponies become humans.”

“NO!”

This time it was Jet who screamed. Gilda laid her eyes on the scarred boy, and she grinned.

“Oooh, what do we have here? Ah, yes, if it isn’t…”

“Shut up! Shut the fuck up!”

“Jet?!”

“Is that what you’re calling it?” Gilda sneered. “Jet? What a useless name for a useless creature. I know what you are, you freak! Tell them! Tell them before you die!”

She cocked the gun and pressed it against Jet’s temple.

“I know what you are,” she crooned. “Discord said you might be here. You, who gave up your pathetic life in Equestria just to save your people. You, the stupid pony who wouldn’t get out of the way. You. You. Both of you.”

“Go fuck yourself, you griffon piece of shit!”

Unaccustomed as they were to human insults, the ponies could obviously tell that Jet’s words were of pure hate.

“There, there, Jet…or should I say…”

“You shouldn’t.” Jet was shaking with anger now, but there was something else in his eyes. Something almost like…

Fear.

“Jet…”

“It’s name isn’t Jet, Applejack.” Gilda said dramatically, stepping back. “It isn’t even what you think it is. It is…”

WHAM!

The broken lacrosse stick came out of nowhere and connectedly ferociously with Gilda’s skull. She collapsed, a taunt stuck in her throat. Above her, the assailant raised the lacrosse stick and brought it down. Hard.

WHAM!

WHAM!

WHAM!

“NO ONE HURTS MY FRIENDS!!”

Sure enough, through the haze of pain, the stick-wielding was…

“FLUTTERSHY?!”

“NO ONE HURTS MY FRIENDS!!”

WHAM!

WHAM!

And then it was over. Fluttershy fell to the ground, dropping the lacrosse stick. Beneath her, Gilda twitched, her face mangled and caved in, her blood mixing with Pinkie Pie’s on the shed’s floor. Fluttershy breathed heavily, covered in the griffon’s blood, as well as her own.

Gilda kicked a final time, then gurgled. Her broken face froze. She was dead.

As the pony-humans fell to the ground, a flash of light engulfed them. It was over in an instant, and when they looked, they saw the bodies of Gilda the griffon and Pinkie Pie, each returned to her normal state, completely free of wounds.

But both dead.

“Pinkie…” Applejack and Rarity converged on their fallen, blood-soaked friend. Big Macintosh and Spike remained unconscious. Rainbow Dash, confused and disoriented, went to help Fluttershy, but backed off when the pegasus began to senselessly beat the griffon’s skull with a baseball bat she had found on the ground. Sobs and gasps filled the small shed, and the only two that made no sound at all were Twilight and Jet, who were staring at each other, each distrustful of the other, yet each distracted by sorrow.