Dead Space: Purpose

by Dragonman461

Chapter 25: Heralds of the Apocalypse

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Twilight felt herself sound asleep in the wooden construct of her Library/home. She dreamed of many things, all going by so fast that it was merely a massive blur. Whatever it was, though, she knew that she didn't enjoy it, as she kept tossing and turning the whole time. Though the events disturbed her in an unknown way, she just shrugged it all off, seeing as how she couldn't even start to remember it.

Beneath her, however, the Elements of Harmony began to shake violently in their case, three of them glowing a cursed shade of crimson. One of the Elements, however, pointed the last two lines across it on the last two before it, bathing them in a light-blue glow as the artifacts spoke with each other, and began to reach out between their respective bearers.

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Rarity hummed a marry tune as she continued to sew the remainder of the ensemble she had started hours ago. With a tug of magic, and a click flick of a hoof, she seamstress turned off the mechanism before her and hefted the dress out towards a ponnequin. She sighed contently as the dress relaxed onto the plastic statue, examining every detail of her finished work.

With a nod, she turned around completely, and felt her knees bump into something, However, instead of being able to react, her body continued with the momentum, until she found herself tripping over whatever had moved. She found herself coming to a stop only as her muzzle connected with the floor beneath her. It made a sickening crunching sound as blood filled her vision and taste. In a second, she found herself on the floor, bleeding through a broken nose.

She looked up slowly, bringing a hoof to her nose as she tried to locate the cause for her fall.

It was Sweetie Belle.

"Sweetie... Belle?" Rarity managed somehow.

"Oh, look who it is." Sweetie then turned her neck to barely glimpse at her from over the shoulder.

"Why... why were you standing..." Rarity trailed, trying to find her hoofing as she stood.

"Of course you couldn't see me. You never see anypony beneath you." She practically hissed.

Rarity let out a gasp as she tried to lean on a nearby table. When she managed to stand, Sweetie Belle turned towards her, a faint red aura surrounding her eyes, filling the air with nothing but pure rage.

"You just mow through and use anypony you can to make sure that you end up on top. You never stopped to wonder if they were alright, and now, thanks to you, several ponies may very well be starving to death, or whoring themselves out to make a quick bit!"

"Sweetie Belle!" Rarity choked out, tearing up as her sister continued ranting for no reason.

"You don't even know if those you out-shone had any kind of promise! It was never about trying to see how far you could go, because you already had your sights set on the top! Because of that, you never cared for anypony else!"

Hearing these words from her sister's mouth made Rarity sob lightly as she cried harder and harder. As she did, however, she noticed that Sweetie Belle had moved closer to her, and was seemingly bigger than normal. In fact, she was level with Rarity's currently bloodied muzzle.

"Please..." Rarity began to plead, "if I did anything to you, I'm sorry. I'll try to make it up... just, please, stop doing this... we're sisters, we can work anything out, right?"

"No." Sweetie growled, red light framing her structure. "You've gone about doing this for too long. You no longer deserve the Element of Generosity. Now, I will take it, and give it to somepony else, while you wither away."

Rarity tried to speak again, but found herself at a loss for words as Sweetie Belle's fur began to shift, subtly at first, but then it looked as though her fur was the water beneath a hurricane. She could hear bones snapping and rearranging as her sister's face began to twist and contort itself. A hissing sound came from her throat as a collection of black tentacles ripped out and sent a bubbling acid onto Rarity's forehooves. The fashionista screamed in pain and terror as she backpedaled away from the horrifying transformation. Once she was still again, Sweetie's back began to show more bones poking through the flesh, and within seconds, gave way as the filly's spine swayed about in the air before splitting into three tendrils.

The white mare found herself screaming as a horrific shriek filled the air, as the three tendrils flew down towards her.

...

After a few seconds, Rarity cracked her eyes open and gaped at what she saw. The horrific image of a mutilated Sweetie Belle stood there, still, but was seemingly frozen in a blue glow.

"That should hold for a bit." A rather accented voice said.

Rarity turned to look behind her and saw a figure that stood similar to Isaac.

"I think you and I need to talk."

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Pinkie sat on the floor, mouth agape as she stared at the large creature before her. It faced the wreckage of the kitchen where Pinkamena had been flung, and watched as it began to shake apart. The dark-pink figure rose onto her hind legs and leaned her head to the side. She lifted her face before shaking it about wildly, tossing her head around, flinging spit and blood everywhere. Her forelegs began to pulsate before a gushing sound erupted from her form. Two large blades erupted from her back and stood on boney limbs that began to slash about in the air with alarming speed.

The armored one lowered its club and made a crackling noise with one end of it, sending a string with a ball on each side flying towards the grotesque form of Pinkamena. Pinkamena merely stood, but somehow phased away towards the left to avoid the impact of whatever the armored Human, she remembered, had fired. Without hesitation, the mutilated form surged forward in a series of what could only be described as teleportations, and slashed about at the Human, knocking the weapon to the floor before raising its right blade to cut at him.

The Human caught one of the blades, unfortunate enough to have the blade cut into its hand, sending blood flying a short distance. The roaring Pinkamena raised its remaining blade and brought it down hard into the back of the armored one's form, penetrating more armor and skin as blood began to pour onto the floor. The Human grunted before driving a punch towards Pinkamena's jaw, sending the lower half of her head across the kitchen. The remainder of her face blast the fur and flesh off its skull, revealing pulsating, black muscles that writhed in place. The Human growled before rearing his head back and slamming it into the monster's face, causing the blade dug into his shoulder to pull out.

When the mutilated form collapsed to the floor, the Human drove a boot onto its center before reaching for its weapon. Once in hand, he aimed it at the struggling form of Pinkamena, and fired off another electric pulse, severing the head before being sliced across the leg. The Human let out a scream as the headless form rose with insane speed, but was caught off-guard by another boot displacing a hind leg joint. The monstrous form wobbled for a bit before the Human raised the weapon once more and released a louder sound from the end of it, sending both bladed appendages to the floor as the rest of it convulsed in agony, only stopping after another stomp from the Human.

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Applejack trotted along the path back to the barn with a smile on her face, happy that she had finished her chores in time for supper. A quick glance to the sky showed that she had enough time to make a quick detour, but at that same time, she wondered why she would want to take one.

"Hello," A female voice came, "you must be Applejack."

Applejack turned around to find herself no longer on a path, but instead, atop a hill. No ordinary hill, either, she knew. Her eyes widened at the tombstones that stared back at her.

Albany & Alderman Apple

Beloved Parents,

Honest Workers,

Proud Citizens of Ponyville

The orange mare raised a hoof to her mouth in shock, as she had no recollection as to how she was now facing her parents' grave.

"I'm sorry to bring you here like this, but it's the only way." The same voice came.

Applejack looked around and saw that there was a new figure standing before her. One that reminded her of Isaac.

\\\//////

Rarity continued to stare at the form of the Human, before the female (most likely) raised a weapon similar to Isaac's and pointed three beams somewhere. The white mare turned to see that she was pointing them at the mutilated form of her sister, or rather, at the three large tendrils that erupted from her spine.

TSH TSH TSH

With three blasts of heat, the sharp weapons of bone slowly fell down as the monster that was once Sweetie Belle reeled back in slow-motion. After a few seconds, the blue glow subdued as Sweetie Belle laid in a broken mass of blood and gore, the once pulsating flesh underneath now still and cold as a statue.

"I'm sorry about that," The Human started, "but you could've been killed."

Rarity slowly turned to face the Human, only now she noticed that she was in a different location. Her room.

She looked back to see that the mess of gore was also gone, along with her broken muzzle, though she could still taste blood for some reason. The unicorn looked up at the Human and spoke.

"I... who, are you?"

"I'm Ellie Langford. I knew Isaac once, and I'm here to talk to you about him.

\\\//////

"About Isaac?" Pinkie asked shakily.

Carver, as she had learned after the intense moment with the horrific creature, nodded slowly.

"Yeah. But, not just him. I came to talk about why you should trust him."

Pinkie perked up a bit as she tried to smile.

"I already trust him, though! He's really nice once you get to know him!"

Carver chuckled lightly as he shook his head.

"I meant about why you need to connect him with yourself. Understand what he's gone through, and how he's the only one who can help any of you now."

\\\//////

"What in tarnation's that supposed ta mean?" Applejack inquired.

Nicole, the mare had learned, merely breathed deeply.

"I'm talking about the Elements of Harmony. They're not what you think they are."

"Why should Ah believe some hallucigenathingy over mah own instincts?"

"Because if you do, your family, your friends, your world, will fall. Isaac's not just here out of nowhere, he came here for a purpose."

\\\//////

"What do you mean by that?" Rarity asked.

Ellie placed her weapon on her side as she strode over to Rarity.

"Those Elements of Harmony aren't just a weapon you can use to calm down everything that you see as a threat, they're receivers of power. A massive one, at that. If you don't hear what I have to say, you'll have doomed everyone in this world.

\\\//////

Isaac found himself floating about an empty space once more, only this time, he was watching a confusing, and somewhat disturbing, series of events processing before him. He watched as mountains erupted into masses of tendrils, crushing buildings like they were made of old cards, cities burning to the ground, mass graves being emptied out as Necromorphs began to march towards any kind of light in their vision. He watched these events unfurl with hundreds, maybe even thousands of different species, all going on around him as his mind raced with the symbols of the Marker as well as everything that had occurred over his time in Equestria.

"Their world..." He muttered to the emptiness.

He had watched as worlds were manipulated in the same way as Equestria, being brought up from nothing, built on principles given to them by the lying devils that were Markers, and collapse as Necromorphs rampaged about their cities and colonies, just as they did with his own people.

He felt a tugging sensation across his form, noticing that three limbs in particular were being tugged, such as his left leg, his left arm, and his torso. A series of multicolored lights ran across his form, and began to engulf everything else, including his face, yet somehow allowing him to retain his connected vision with the fall of even more species.

\\\//////

"So... Isaac's... been like us? This whole time?" Pinkie asked Carver.

"Basically. You know, I came here because, after all that's said and done, there's just some way about him that reminds me of you."

"Really, what?" She asked.

"Well, when we worked together on Tau Volantis, I... started having intense visions of my son and my wife. I kept trying to shrug it off, convince myself that it didn't matter. But Isaac... he helped me through it. He kept making sure I was alright, even going so far as to help my go through abandoned military bunkers to chase after some of my visions. Through all that, though, he kept trying to make sure that we kept our goals set. He reminded me that, no matter what bad calls I've made, they've always been with good intent. That great men can make bad calls. He helped me realize that if I just focused on trying to keep it all far away from me, then I'd never figure out how to deal with it. In the end, I died happy. I knew that I had made the right call, and that Isaac had helped me realize that when you're down, never stay alone." He turned to smile at Pinkie. "Because it's never too bad to handle as long as you're not alone."

"Just giggle at the ghosties!" She cheered, glowing a slight blue.

"And remember to always find sanity in laughter." He replied with a smirk.

A bright blue light engulfed the two of them before Carver disappeared, and Pinkie began to feel her mind being put to ease as she felt five other presences join with her own.

\\\//////

As the Element of Laughter began to shake even more, the blue light from the Element of Kindness overcoming the red glow of the artifact. Once it settled, the color of the Element of Laughter began to change, allowing the remaining two blue lights to focus on the remaining Elements.

\\\//////

"And, do you remember one such instance?" Rarity asked.

"Well, mainly one. One that stuck with me for a while. Back on Titan station, where I first met him, we found a ship to get off of the station before we could be killed. I went in first to make sure everything was alright, but Isaac stayed outside. I watched as he disengaged the locking mechanism for the ship's dock, and sent me away from the station. I thought he was being a complete bastard, but he told me that it wasn't my fight to finish, and that he wanted to make sure at least one person survived. He gave up his only chance at walking away from all of this, to walk away from the Marker, to save me. To save someone he didn't even know. He showed me what someone who knows how to be generous can be viewed as someone who doesn't care for their own safety, but now I know that he just didn't want to stop at giving me a chance, he wanted to give me a future. And that, I believe, is what you and him share. You care so much about those closest to you, and even when they're someone you don't know, you still give them your trust. You've both made decisions like that, and have suffered for it, but you don't let it get the best of you. You use it to move on and prove to yourselves that there's still someone out there that'll thank you for it, no matter how many times you have to try."

Rarity smiled as she became engulfed in a purple aura, along with Ellie, who vanished in a flash before Rarity felt herself being relieved of the sudden stress and terror of the previous display of gore, feeling as though her soul was being... freed, for lack of a better word.

\\\//////

Applejack sat on her haunches as Nicole ran her hand along the tombstone.

"I think I see how you and Isaac are alike, now."

Applejack perked her ears up to listen.

"You both blame yourselves for the deaths of those you love dearly. I can see it in you, here, and in Isaac when he looks at me."

"What'd he do?"

"The same thing you think you did. You were so happy that your parents were going to be going on such a famous trip for business, just like how Isaac was happy I got the opportunity to work aboard the Ishimura, a famous ship. You were scared that something could have happened to them, just like Isaac was. He didn't try to protest me leaving, just like how you didn't bother your parents. He feels that, because we weren't being honest when we talked about it, since he knew I had doubts, that it was his fault I died. The same way you feel about their deaths. In time, you both thought that it was your own fault, and that you needed to be honest with yourselves about it, along with everything else in life."

Applejack smiled as she felt a great tension relieve itself from her core, just as an orange light engulfed the two of them before blinding them both.

\\\//////

Discord sighed as he watched his memories tick by, cringing as he relived the experiences that haunted him for the past 1,000 years. The betrayal  of his brother, Altmare, the discovery of the Marker, the transformation into his nightmare-inducing form, and the battle between himself and the Royal Sisters. He watched the rising of so many civilizations outside of his world, and continued to watch as the Markers twisted them beyond recognition, and drove the populace of once great apexes of civilization to cannibalism and insanity before morphing them into twisted monsters, barely recognizable in any way.

Just as he was about to recollect the events from his time in his stoney prison, he felt a surge of Chaos through the fabric of reality itself. He traced it back to find that the Elements of Harmony were in complete disarray, almost broken. He broke into a grin as he eased his presence towards them to see what was going on.

When he found himself in a translucent form inside Twilight's Library, he noticed the flowing essence that surrounded the Elements of Harmony, and how deep the outside influence was on them.

"Of course..." He said to himself. "They're just receivers of power, not actual sources, just like I... Star Swirl... theorized."

He continued to examine the power that flowed through them and watched in awe as the artifacts began to rumble about and throw out pulses of magic and power as though it were a dog shaking its coat of water. One such pulse managed to strike him before he was flung back into his pocket dimension. Slowly but surely, a grin appeared on his face as he registered the Marker influence from the artifacts.

"So, this 'Isaac' of ours has finally done it." He laughed. "Not a moment too soon, thankfu..." He trailed off as he traced the Marker essence.

Discord snapped his head around as his eyes widened to witness a horrific event begin to unfold.

"No..." He breathed out as dead grass and stones were pushed aside as the inhabitants of one life rose unwillingly.

\\\//////

Mr. Greenhooves whistled a tune as he strolled down the path from his own little pond, always happy to see the special place he had kept secret for years during his treks out to the woods. As he continued, he saw birds start to fly away in the opposite direction he was going. He watched them majestically fly away as he continued down the path as it twisted into the treeline for a bit. The stallion looked onwards as the light began to fade from the background of the trees, allowing darkness to overcome the immediate area.

The peace and quiet was disturbed by a rustling sound in a bush behind him.

Greenhooves turned around to look at a bush where a small pair of eyes retreated into the darkness. The gardener smiled as he approached the little critter.

"Hey there, little guy. You doin' alright?"

The beady eyes continued to stare at him as more bushes began to rustle around him. Greenhooves brought his head up to examine the area around him and went wide-eyed as he saw multiple sets of eyes bear down on him like predators surrounding their next meal. He began to slowly back away, but before he knew anything else, he felt a cold sensation as something began to pour from his mouth in a coughing fit. The stallion looked down to see that a puddle of blood began to form along the path he was walking, and even further down, was a blade that burst through his chest, dripping with fresh liquid.

He tried to scream, but before a sound could be made, one of the figures burst from the bushes, allowing him to get a horrifying look at what was hiding before him. It looked like a dead pony, with rotting flesh that made most of its appearance, but was mutilated beyond rational comparison to any kind of pony. Its jaw was split open massively and gave way to massive fangs that consisted of broken teeth and parts of their skull. Across its back were bits of its spine, poking out bluntly. The monster's forelegs broke open at the hooves to reveal massive talons of bone, caked in blood and strings of muscle. Its hind legs, however, were completely missing, instead being replaced by a massive tail of muscle, tipped with a blade similar to the one that was currently poking through his chest. The monster whipped its tail back and slashed him across the chin, severing his jaw from the rest of him as he cried out unheard sounds of pure terror.

Above him, there was a flapping noise. He strained to look up, hopeful that it was a Royal Guard, but instead, was greeted with a sight of a light-red pegasus mare with blue locks that swayed in the wind. Greenhooves went wide-eyed as he watched the spitting image of his deceased wife hover before him, holding out her forelegs as if to embrace him once more. The blade from an unknown source removed itself from his center as the horrifying creatures faded from his view, instead focusing on the heavenly form of his lover. He extended his forelegs towards her and began to tear up as she neared. Before they could connect, however, he felt a massive pain drive itself into his skull, burning through every cell in his cranium as his beloved cooed him along.

"It's alright," She whispered as he began to fade from awareness, "we're whole again."

With that, Greenhooves felt the world around him black-out into nothingness as his darling flew into his embrace, to hold each other for all eternity.

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