Twilight took a deep breath, preparing for her meeting. Normally she wouldn't be this nervous but she was about to meet a being that had completely shattered everything she thought she knew just by existing. She looked down at the file she held with her magic.
Name: John Harmon
Sex: Male
Race: Classified
She stopped reading after that. It didn't matter, most of the file was blacked out or labeled classified. She had done it herself at the request of Princess Celestia.
She opened the door to the dungeon and a guard stepped forward to escort her. She had been here before, many times in fact. It wouldn't be her first meeting with Mr. Harmon. Once they reached his cell, in the most isolated area of the dungeon, she felt her heart skip a beat. It was the same every time she saw him, but she never got used to seeing an Alicorn behind bars.
He had his back to her, so she took the chance to memorize his features. She'd never get another chance. His coat was caramel, with a chocolate mane and tail. Despite how long he'd been imprisoned and the chains that held him to the floor, he still had an air of divinity around him, contrasting his tired, defeated posture. He turned to face her, his forest green eyes hazed over, "Ma'am."
The pain in his face tore at her. She had been the one to convert him, back when she thought that she was doing the right thing. "John....do you know what today is?" she swallowed the lump in her throat.
The taller pony nodded.
Twilight couldn't bear to think about what was about to happen, so she focused on the past. She first met John Harmon when he was human, specifically, the last human. When the barrier came, he had ran and by the time he had run out of room, everyone else a had either been ponified or, as Celestia put it, neutralized. Twilight was then brought to him for a large press event, The Final Conversion.
When Celestia saw what he became, it was never published, and those reporters that were present were now permanent additions to this very dungeon. That was when Twilight started to see her mentor for what she really was. Celestia began sending her down here to try and convince him to take another potion and become a regular pony, seeing as they couldn't do much to force him now. He refused every time.
That alone was enough to shock the Solar Princess. So much that she let slip that the potion shouldn't let him disobey her. To say that Twilight had been heartbroken that Celestia would do something like that, with the potion Twilight herself had helped create, would be an understatement.
John had defied two preset conditions of the potion. No Alicorns, and no free will. The new foals were practically propaganda spewing dolls. She shuddered at the thought of all the humans she'd turned into that.
She continued to speak with John after that, learning more about the humans and all of the things Celestia never told the ponies. Their virtues, their accomplishments, their beliefs, but most importantly he explained the nature of Earth and how it's lack of abundance, unlike Equestria, had made them the harsh people they were. They weren't evil, just doing the best they could with what they'd been given. John himself, in the brief time that she'd known him, had been so gentle, kind, and forgiving, even before his transformation.
He'd never once insulted or got angry at her for what she had done to him. He just listened to her worries and told her it would be alright. Something about him just made her feel....right. Like everything would get better, like she hadn't helped kill his entire species. However, Celestia eventually realized he would never change his mind about becoming a normal new foal, and ordered his execution.
That brings us back to today and her latest and final talk with John. Her heart started to race. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, but nothing came out. What could she say? "Guard, leave."
"I'm sorry Miss Sparkle but..." he stopped when she glared at him over her shoulder. "Y-yes ma'am," the guard stammered before leaving.
Twilight walked up to the Alicorn and sat down, "John, I have to ask you something very important now."
He shook his head vigorously, "I know what you're going to say, you don't have to say it."
Twilight, put a hoof on his cheek to stop his head shaking, "No, I do. I do have to say it. John, tell me what you want me to do."
John looked up at Twilight. His eyes were watering up.
"Do you want me to break you out of here? Let you go? See how far you can get?"
He looked down at her like she was suggesting she commit suicide and, in a way, she was, "Why would you do such a foolish thing?" he asked as he nuzzled the top of her head.
The mare began to sob, "When I die, when my time finally comes and I stand before the Authors, and they ask me why did I kill one of their true miracles," she gestured to his wings and horn, "what am I going to say? That 'It was my job'?...'it was my job'..." she looked up at him, her fur matted with tears, begging for an answer.
He placed a hoof on her withers. "You tell your makers, it was a kindness done," his voice cracked. "I know you're hurtin' Twilight, I can feel it on you. But you've gotta let it go. I want it to be over and done with, I do."
The Alicorn let out a sob of his own, "I'm tired Twilight. I'm tired of bein' on the run, lonely as a sparrow in the rain. And I'm tired of never havin' no buddy to be with, to tell me where we're goin', comin' from, or why. Mostly, I'm tired of ponies bein' ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel here in your world, everyday. There's too much of it. It's like pieces of glass in my head all the time."
Twilight looked at his cutie mark, a chain in the shape of a heart, made up of smaller heart shaped links. She had learnt during their talks that his talent was empathy. He felt everything that every being felt at once. She couldn't imagine what that was like, and he could make others feel a small bit of it too.
The first time he showed her, she was disgusted. The humans were long gone by now, but there was still so much....evil. At first she thought it was lingering traces of humanity in the new foals. Then he showed her what they felt. Her stomach turned when she felt nothing.
Twilight wiped the tears from her eyes, "John, I'm scared. I can't trust anypony anymore. What am I supposed to do?"
The Alicorn looked down into her bloodshot eyes and gave the smallest hint of a smile, "You do the best you can, and try and teach 'em to be good to one another. Teach 'em to let go of all the hate like you did, so nothin' like this ever happens again."
Her eyes widened, "I can't possibly convince everypony."
"No, you can't, but you can convince enough. Long as there's enough good folk willin' to let go of their hate, it doesn't matter how many ponies want to fight."
Twilight thought for a moment, unsure if she could convince enough ponies that what they did was wrong, "I....I'll try my best, John."
He leaned down and gave her one last nuzzle, "That's all I needed to know before I left."
Twilight and John stood there for what seemed like days, enjoying their final moments together. The sound of hoofsteps brought their attention to the door.
Eight Guards stood in front of the cell, "Princess, it's time."
She let out a sigh, of course it is. She looked over to her friend and he gave her a smile.
"Goodbye, Twilight," he said as his restraints were removed from the floor.
Each guard grabbed a length of chain and lead John out of his cell and down the hall, past the double doors.
"Goodbye John."
Author's Note
I would really like notes and opinions on this story.