A field, lush and green, the town of Ponyville in the background. There are a few ponies here and there, talking and having a wonderful time. I do not pay much attention to them, though, more to my friends. In these years, however, they grew distant, and we all knew it. We tried and tried and tried to pull ourselves back to each other, but every time it ended in bitter failure.
A dream of the past. It is always that when I dream. And it is not always a good dream, either.
I rest in bed, sheet and covers over me, to my neck, and I stare up at the cold and lifeless ceiling, hoping something, anything, would happen to throw off this boring, unnecessary pattern that is life, in which every day is the same. Get up, eat, go through town, talk to a few ponies, go back home, watch some T.V., and sleep. What fun is that? It is hell and not worth living, but I do anyway, because I know how things work out, and know the process in which things go. Nothing interesting has happened for a great long time. And when that usually happens, a whopper of a thing comes rolling in. Sooner or later.
A knock at the door. Something of which I did not get often. Interesting.
“Open up, Royal Guard,” a familiar voice called through the door.
“And what if I do not?” I called back a bit mischievously, smiling.
“I will have to break the door down and tackle you onto your bed.” he said, a hint of passion in his voice, chuckling.
That was it--I could not take it any more.
I mean, come on, not seeing your husband for four damn years does that. A mare has needs, ok?
Heart beating rapidly, I leaped off that bed, crashed through the door (I am still, to this day, surprised that door was still intact after that) and smashed into the guard.
“HOLY CRAP!”
“You do not know how much I missed you.” I told him.
“Psh, I missed you more.”
“Bullshit,” I chuckled. “I got to know my hooves pretty well. Along with a few other--objects.”
I swear thinking back to how red his face got--it was great.
“Sex is the first thing on your mind, hm~? You do not even want to know why I had to stay in the Guard for that long without a break? You do not want to know how l-”
The stallion talked too much in the wrong times. As Celestia’s witness--we were going to have some fun. Er--not Celestia’s witness--that would be fairly creepy. You know I mean. So I leaned in and kissed him. That touch of our lips together--I will always remember it.
“A mare has needs, ok?” I told him after breaking the kiss. “And I was not going to go after some other just because you were not there--I could wait.”
It was true too. For as long as he lived--hell, probably forever if I had a say in it--I would never be with another stallion. He was the one for me and I loved him. I still do.
He cringed and I giggled.
“I swear, Twilight, you are just asking for it...”
I chuckled. “Seems like this position we are in is working.”
I reached down and grabbed something of his. Something that made him gasp and tackle me off, throwing me to the ground and pinning me there. Something of which I will not go into detail about because it should be obvious already with the statement above.
It seemed it was his turn to reach down. It had been a long time since somepony other than me had touched me there. Fuck that felt good...
I am not even sure on how long it lasted. I do remember, however, him saying something.
“Let me have a taste.”
Oh, er--yeah--that. Not sure if I should have just said that. Damn it...
Anyway, yeah--I gasped. That felt even better.
That was not something for anypony outside to see. There was, in fact, many ponies watching us as they walked past.
Not that I minded--at all, actually--and I do not think he did--I doubt it--he had already started.
...To not go into detail about this--privacy--I teleported us both in the house and--well--onto the bed.
I wonder if we woke any of the neighbors that night...?
A field of green. So lush and full of life. Ponyville sat in the background. My friends, having a picnic. All there--except Pinkie Pie. I remember now. She was killed from sickness. That picnic was another example of us trying to get ourselves together and failing. But, even if Pinkie was dead and gone, we still had a good time.
Damn bloody dreams. However, all thought was swept away as he woke up and pulled me close.
“Hello there.” he said to me.
Now, I do not like to brag, but that stallion could give a mare what she wanted and more. Celestia, I loved him.
“Hey. One hell of a night, eh?”
A knock at the door. Another one. Two in two days. The hell?
Sighing, I got up and headed to the door, opened it. A guard greeted me.
“Hello, Miss Sparkle.” he said.
“Hello--guard.”
I was not trying to be rude or anything, I just did not know what his name was. After hundreds of years, Ponyville did become quite the large city. And how is one supposed to know all their names? Other than Pinkie Pie. That pony probably knew every name in Equestria.
“Princess Celestia would like to see you.”
My jaw hit the floor. It had been over forty years since I last saw that tyrant.
The guard, what ever his name was, snickered. If he was not protected, I swear I would have punched him.
I gritted my teeth and took the blasted note.
“Thank you.”
I slammed the door in his face.
“Celestia wants to see me.” I told my husband.
I would have laughed at him spurting his coffee all over the table if I was not in such a foul mood.
“What?! Why the hell would she want to see you?” he began. “After forty years she suddenly wants to see you? That makes little sense.”
“Yes. Maybe she just wants to talk. I know she has done wrong in the past, but I know for a fact that she would not do anything to harm anypony, let alone me. I will be surprised if that mare is still even sane after shutting herself away from Equestria for that long.”
He nodded and waved a hoof at me nonchalantly.
“It is not like she can even hurt you. And if she did, I would be at your side. After giving her the pain she caused you, that is.”
Sweet, ain’t he?
“You are so brave~.” I said to him, putting my fore-legs over his shoulders and nuzzling him in the cheek.
“A stallion’s got to do what a stallion’s got to do.” he said.
I nodded, hopped off of him and walked to the bathroom.
“Same principles go to mares, so I will be going. I am rather curious to see if she still has her head up her ass.”
Looking into the mirror, I had forgotten how little I had changed after all those years. Well--my appearance could not change due to the device I wore on--or in? Embedded into my chest. Yes, I have looked into my mirror many times before and seeing the same thing, but it was the very first time I had fully became aware of it.
Maybe I should tell about the device. All this would be nothing if I did not.
Anyway, it is a chest piece that covers most, if not all of my chest and some of my front legs. The metal is nice and shiny as well. I believe it is platinum. In the center is a blood red ruby. It is rather large, takes up a lot of my chest. Over all it is beautiful, away from the small scuff marks. What this device does is keeps me living. Forever. As long as it is intact anyway.
Also, the magic that it has also keeps me healthy and regenerates any cuts, scrapes, or even limbs.
I remember getting my arm almost cut in two by a saw many years ago, and within an hour, it was fully healed.
I can smash the gem if I wanted, kill myself through it, but what fun is that? I am, or was anyway, curious to see what happens in the future. See how Equestria rebuilds itself--so far, it is not bad. A little rough around the edges here and there, but not too bad.
I got this from Celestia herself. A long time ago, when the Elements of Harmony were all still living, a virus spread and killed of some of the population. If I remember correctly, it was around ten percent of it. It was agonizing to see and be a part of.
Lucky us, all six of us caught the damn thing. Pinkie was the first to go.
The sickness is extremely hard to catch in time. It stays rather quiet at first, other than giving a few symptoms of the common cold, and builds itself up. After a week of having it in your system, it makes itself known by attacking your immune system and vital organs. If you are treated in time, which most that caught it were not, then you were mostly okay.
However, it still ruthlessly destroyed your immune system, so if you got any other illness before it could heal itself, you were pretty much fucked.
Pinkie was one of the first to catch the horrible thing, so the cold-like symptoms were simply overlooked.
A month or so after her death, the rest of us caught it simply from being around other ponies who had it.
Celestia, not able to deal with my death, even knowing I was fine with it (this was before the cure came out, mind you), she constructed this little thing I now wear. It would destroy the virus inside me and keep me healthy.
“This will keep you fully healthy, you will not get any sort of virus or sickness. You will die of natural old age.”
The bitch lied.
What? I may love Celestia, but after she screwed over Equestria and screwed over me, I think calling her a bitch is the least I can do.
After ten years I realized it, what she had done.
Was not a very good day. I think it caused me to go a bit insane. Probably a reason why I am swearing so much.
Heh.
Who gives a fuck?
Anyway, it confused me for the longest time after I found out because, if the Princess wanted me to live, and I wanted to live, then why would she have the device kill me if it is taken from me?
I blamed it on her insanity.
After a shower was taken, I stepped out of the bathroom and headed out to Canterlot. Stepping onto the cracked road, I began the walk.
I would have went some other way, by other means of transport, but there was none. To be honest, I was fairly surprised. Normally Celestia would send a carriage or something, but not this time.
I could walk, was not all that far and the scenery was nice. The scenery being ruined buildings of past times, yet to have been replaced, and many ponies.
Finally! After what felt like hours of walking (probably was, I cannot remember now) I entered Canterlot.
Ah, seeing how bad the shape of the place was brought back memories. All of Canterlot was flattened, save for Canterlot Castle. It had many spells weaved around it, so if any apocalyptic crap went down, the castle would be spared. Why all of Canterlot was not covered by those spells, I have not a clue.
A Beam, tinted with red, came screeching down from the heavens, bring terrible hell to all that beheld it.
The screams were horrifying. I could hear the echoing of them in my head. Even a small child, their scream heard as the Beam ripped them apart. A tear escaped my eye, I could feel it make its warm path down my face. I could see Fillydelphia being wiped out from my place up on Canterlot. The Beam, leaving a molten path as it slowly moved its way toward the city of Canterlot.
I shook my head.
Okay, that is one memory I would not want, so forgetting, I walked to the gates of the Royal Palace.
Wow, the place looked different. Much different, in fact. Looked like something out of the apocalypse.
Ok, well, it was, but looked like not even a nuke could get through that.
In front of me, where the gates to Canterlot Castle were, was a great, grey wall of scrap metal. Not simply jumbled up, but hammered in place, woven around each piece of metal. I could see gears and cogs in many places sticking out of it. The door was rather beautiful in an almost sick and twisted way.
Walking forward, I touched the tip of my horn to the gate. Electricity sparked all across it, shooting into the door, spreading out in all directions.
Damn... The thing was solid. Four feet thick. I was not getting in there, I would have to wait. Wait for somepony to come.
CRACK!
Again, the Beam came down from the sky, bathing everything in a horrific red. I covered my ears with my hooves.
Dear Celestia, that thing, what ever it was, was loud.
Canterlot around me. Many, many ponies were screaming, trying to find what that was and why it was doing what it was doing. I could see many parents holding their children tight, crying.
So much fear...
Did I ever say how much I hated Canterlot?
Because I do.
So very, very much.
Way too many memories of the place.
“Are they ever going to open up, those coc-”
Turning, I saw the massive door begin to open. On the outside, a few of the giant cogs began to rotate, bringing forth a grunt from the old gears. Steam rocketed out of hidden pipes and cracks along the surface of the door. The ground, door, and what could have been all of Canterlot began to shake as a very loud screech and thunderous boom came forth as the Gates of Canterlot opened.
Once opened a few feet, a lone mare came trotting out to me. She wore very old, very worn armor. It looked rather nice, actually. Reminded me of the old style steampunk. Hell, the door did more than her armor, I guess.
“Goddess Celestia will see you now, Miss.”
“Goddess?!” I snorted in laughter. “You have got to be kidding me!”
The mare sighed. “Nope. She changed her title from Princess to Goddess a while back.”
I could not believe that. From the look of bewilderment I seemed to be giving her, she gave a small, thin smile and told me, “Do not worry, she’s insane.”
Well, that made me feel better. Seems my acquisitions were correct after all.
“You could have just teleported in,” she told me as I walked in.
Well... fuck.
The place had not changed much. Well, except for time, that is. Even time had not done much to render the quality down on the place.
As I looked around, walking down the main corridor leading away from the door--which I could hear the grinding of its gears as it closed, then a loud boom that reverberated through the hall--I saw that not many ponies were in the building. Any I saw were hooded and cloaked in dark garments. They looked at me. A couple. They looked at me with what looked like scared and sad eyes.
It gave me a very uneasy feeling about the place.
Even though the walls were lined with rubies and gold, the floor a regal red carpet (old and faded, it may have been, but it was still very nice), I could feel a darkness creep in from everywhere, all at once.
I could feel the darkness in the air. So much so, that it sent a chill down my spine. The castle felt unusually cold as well--I felt sorry for the ponies who resided in the place.
The face of death on every pony I could see. Lifeless, cold, fearful, and willing to do the worst.
Living there must have been hell, I tell you. Hopefully Prin--I mean Goddess (feh) Celestia would not require me to stay there.
“Do not worry about them, they would not harm you. Celestia would not allow them to.”
Figured as much. Celestia would not want her ‘Faithful Student’ harmed after all...
Why is it when you think nothing could get worse, it ends up getting much worse...?
Fucking planned, I swear it was.
As we walked, in the corner, huddled up was a mare. Seemed as old as I was.
Well... how I looked anyway.
From what I could tell, she was dead. Because a small filly sat next to her, shedding many tears, nudging her, occasionally whispering things. I caught a few of those.
“Mommy? Mommy please, wake up.”
I could hear the faint screams of ponies in the background, and the constant roar of the Beam even farther. I could hear it and I was inside Canterlot Castle.
“What in Celestia’s name is going on?!” asked Octavia, player of the greatest, most soothing and elegant music in all of Equestria.
She had been around the tenth one to ask me that. And not the first to be crying. I hugged her and she hugged me back, nuzzling into my shoulder and mane, sobbing. I held her close, attempting to comfort her as best I could.
“I do not know,” I told her. “What ever is going on, we will stop it. I promise you.”
“But--how? How in equestria are we supposed to stop--that?” she pulled away and looked into my eyes.
“I am working with a team to stop this. Given the rate at which it is moving, we may have just enough time to do just that. And, if not, we will find another way. I promise you we will, we will not let Equestria down.”
I gave her a quizzical look as she flicked her eyes back and forth between mine, with an almost shocked expression.
Before I could react, she jumped forward and forced a kiss, deepening it quickly, and mercilessly slipping her tongue into my mouth. My eyes widened and I pulled back, but she had her hooves on the back of my head, forcing her tongue deeper, and not allowing me to go.
The cover of clouds broke, bathing the side of our faces in a warm, orange glow of the setting sun through the open window to the left of us. Her tongue slid over mine, causing me to shudder. Her warm lips against mine, the feeling of her fur gently tickling my nose, and the pale glow of the setting sun made that a truly magical kiss. At that moment, the only thing that mattered to me--was her. Feelings I had never felt before I could feel began to slowly rise and take action. I understood that that mare was who I wanted to be with for the rest of my life. I wished that moment would last forever, but other matters began re-surfacing in my mind.
As much as I did not want to, I slowly forced her away, breaking the kiss. A thin strand of saliva connecting our tongues. She was panting.
“This,” I blushed harder than was before. “This is not the time nor the place to be doing--that.”
She looked down, blushing a rather cute shade of red and scratched at the gray cobblestone floor with a hoof.
“Y-Yeah--I understand,” she nodded, then looked up into my eyes. “Would you like to--like to--have a nice lunch together after this is all over?”
Dreams, made long ago, came true. Now getting to go on a date with Octavia herself as well.
“Yes,” I nodded. “Yes, oh Celestia yes.” I leapt forward and hugged her tight, blushing.
BOOM.
The Beam came roaring back down from its unknown origins and laid waste to the earth below. In the kiss, I had not heard it stop, nor the ominous sound of the recharging of the red colored Beam.
It sounded close as well.
“I will not let you down, Octavia.” I hugged her tighter, a tear falling.
She gave the inspiration needed to stop it.
Her royal, elegant chambers were converted into an almost perfect look alike of a room in a stronghold. The door to the room where Celestia resided was, as the guard had told me, was six feet thick. Thicker than the door to the Castle.
The room was lit by a single candle, bathing the room in a thin and soft glow that shimmered as the air swept across it. In a chair residing by the candle that was on a table, sat Celestia, hunched over, writing.
In her old age, she looked just as beautiful as the last time I had seen her. Even though she was immortal, it did not mean she was insusceptible to stress. Stress could make you age on its ow-
Magic. Palpable amounts of magic were suddenly sparking and shimmering in the air. I could feel it pressing down on me like a weight.
I threw up a shield just as Celestia whipped around, chair clattering to the ground, a bolt of magic in the shape of a V shot from a bow made out of magical energy, ripping through my shield and through my side, shredding its way through.
A soundless scream escaped as it escaped the other side, a hole the size of my hoof through my side. I spat up blood, vision growing dark, and fell on my side, making me scream as pain shot its way up.
I felt myself slipping deeper and deeper as a large figure loomed over me. It brought up a hoof. And with one, smooth and quick movement, I felt its hoof make contact with my cheek and I was out.
At least the pain was gone. All that was left was nothing. Nothing at all. Total bliss.
To start this off, this will NOT become a clop fic. And no, it will not have much shipping; this and the next chapter will, however. After that, it may have slight shipping--if you call what I have in mind shipping. This was going to be a much larger chapter, but I decided to break it up. Because of this, and an ‘not yet submitted’ fic, I Pinkie Meets Slendermane may not be updated for a long while. Sort of lost my motivation for that even knowing it was almost complete. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Much will be going on in the next few. ^-^
I was falling through a deep dark hole. An empty cold that clawed its way through me began to slow down any thought that passed through my tired mind.
Though, the darkness in itself was warm. Comforting even. The deeper I went... the more warmth and comfort it gave.
So tired...
“So--has anything interesting happened to you four in the past year?” Rarity asked from across the picnic table, sipping her red-wine.
“Other than studying and researching a cure for the disease that has been spreading throughout Equestria,” I said first. “No, sadly. The Princess has been keeping me and the thousands of others that are working on this busy.”
They all looked down, hurt. The disease, nicknamed “1-2-3”, had taken our beloved Pinkie Pie away from us just last year.
“Will you ever change the name? Naming it for how many days they lived, and what it did in each day you had it is simply horrible! It is not even clever.” Rarity said.
“It is just a nickname,” I told her. “Besides, sometimes some can live for up to a week while having it.”
“Um--can-can we not talk about this, please?” asked Fluttershy, trembling beside Rainbow Dash, who had her hooves over her head.
Reason for not naming it in the first place was because the sickness spread quickly enough for most in charge of things like that to not even have time to do so. Everypony, thousands working and striving for the cure, were simply too busy. The last thing that mattered was a name. What did matter was finding how to stop it and taking care of the ponies that had it.
“Yes, yes, alright,” I nodded. “I am sorry, Fluttershy, I am simply used to talking about it to others. Have to on a daily basis.” I turned my attention to Applejack and Rarity. “How are your businesses going, Rarity? And your apple farm, AJ?”
Honesty looked up with sad and weary eyes. The face of a pony who had seen enough.
“Ah think ya know the answer to that,” she began. “With Big Mac an’ Granny Smith gone, the farms is’a strugglin’. At least ah have Applebloom. She is old enough now to help me with what we have to do.”
I frowned. “Why in Celestia’s name did you not tell us this happened?” I asked.
Rainbow’s head came up. She had been crying. She kept her relationship with Pinkie Pie secret until the day her marefriend had died. Then she told us.
“What the hell, AJ?” she sobbed.
“Hey, it is not like ah’m the only pony here to hide somethin’!” she.
“Yes, but I told after Pinkie died! I kept it secret because I did not want you four to think I was a bad pony for liking with a mare!”
“Rainbow, it happens all the buckin’ time! Why in Equestria would we think bad of ya if we see it every day?” AJ responded, using a softer, more gentle tone.
“Girls!” I pushed them backwards. “You two have argued about this too much already! Enough is enough. AJ,” I turned toward her. “We will continue this discussion later.”
Sitting down, I glared at them both, making sure they would not begin to argue again.
“Mine is going--well,” she sighed. “Not too good, Twilight. With all the commotion, not many ponies want to be around others.” she looked around for a moment. “Not even here.. even here, at the park, there are not many ponies out. This place is usually packed.”
Rarity sighed once again and placed her head on the table, frowning, and closed her eyes.
“Rainbow--what about you?” Generosity asked.
Rainbow Dash grunted and looked up at Rarity with a ‘you-should-already-know-the-answer’ look.
Rarity frowned and stood up, making her way around the wooden table and hugged Dash tightly.
Fluttershy quivered, crying for, what we knew, no set reason.
I could tell that the Elements suffered more around each other than they did by themselves.
With us all together, we gave each other the sadness we all felt.
Rarity seated herself back at the other end of the table.
The sleep is still in my eyes, the dream is still in my head. I heave a sigh and sadly smile and lie a while in bed.
Slowly, not wanting to leave the darkness, I opened my eyes. Sun shone through the window to the left, the smell of cut grass in the air as the yellow curtains on the window moved softly in the wind.
I grunted as I pulled myself up, the sheets sliding from my shoulders and into a crumple at my waist. Looking to my side, I let myself a small smile. The device was working properly. I did not doubt that it was not, but it had been quite some time since I had any major injury such as that.
My head shot up as I remembered, wincing as I remembered the pain and feeling of raw magic shoot through me.
Curious, I turned to look outside and blinked. Since when was there sunshine or grass? I sat thinking as the door creaked open, going unnoticed.
I was knocked out of my reverie as a timid “Hello?” came from the door.
Turning to see Celestia, I jumped up and threw up a shield around myself, fueling much more magical power into it unlike last time. Also, just in case, I readied a bolt of magic, shining a bright purple next to me, aiming at her.
She flinched and cringed, stopping at the window, her beautiful mane flowing in the breeze.
“I--I am sorry. I wanted to make sure the Age Dampener still worked properly.”
Age Dampener. Yeah, now you know why I simply call it ‘the device’. I did not even know about its name until some time later.
“Please forgive me?” she ended with.
Something was not right here. She never said please--or asked for forgiveness! Not in this age, anyway. Not many ponies did.
“By trying to kill me?!” I shouted, “How stupid can you be?!”
She cringed, a tear glistening in the sun, slowly making its way down her face.
Something definitely was not right here.
She broke into tears and fell to the floor in a crumple, sobbing the words, “I am sorry,” over and over.
Frowning, I converted the magical needle that hung in the air next to me into a ball of pulsating energy that grew to the size of my hoof. I grabbed it and took a step forward, pushing myself up and letting my shield drop.
“Go fuck yourself, you poor excuse for the Celestia I know,” I told her and reared back, slinging the ball of magical energy straight at her head.
She looked up, fear in her eyes, the ball reflected in her eyes. As it struck, she screamed only for an instant before the reality I saw as itself cracked in front of me.
Crack. Crack. Crack.
More and more began to appear, until I simply thrust a hoof forward. Everything I saw shattered at once and a blinding white light enveloped me. Closing my eyes, I waited it out.
As I thought, it had been an illusion. Hell, even the room looked moderately the same. The window to the room was sealed, but the curtains were, in fact, yellow. The bed I was laying on, was fairly tattered. It had many worn holes in it and quite a few bloodstains on it.
Ew.
Some of that blood was probably mine. Rarity would have screamed.
Using my magic (such a wonderful thing to be able to use), I snapped the chains that bound me and hopped up, smiling pleasantly to myself.
“Stupid mare,” I mumbled to myself with a grin and pushed open the door, walking out.
Maybe not as stupid as I thought. As soon as I walked through, I recognized the room almost instantly. It was her chambers. She again sat at her table, the single candle lit, basking the room in pale, orange light.
“Welcome back, Twilight.” she told me, her voice soft and pleasant. “Though, did you have to use that much magic? You could have used that simple little needle you made to kill me with. It would have done the same thing.”
“I like powerful magic.”
“Yes, yes, I know you do. Reason I made the Age Dampener so powerful.”
“The device? Powerful? You're joking, right?” I said with a snicker.
“Really?” she asked, seeming genuinely surprised as she turned to face me. “You mean, after all these years, you still do not know what that thing in your chest is capable of? Wow. And here I thought I was ignorant to the things around me.” she said. “I do not get out much, as you can see.”
“What do you mean ‘powerful’? All this does is keeps me alive. What else does it do...?” I asked.
“With time, my little pony, with time,” she said with a smile.
“Why did you want me here?”
“Oh--just to have a little chat is all.”
“A little chat. You're insane, Celestia.”
“Oh I know! That is the fun part of being insane!” she laughed.
“Fine, what do you want to talk about?” I asked her, sitting down in a couch to the right of her chair.
“Why not the last forty years? Got to be something to talk about in all that time.”
Resisting the urge to facehoof, I said, “Fine. You know what happened? Nothing worth talking about. Except yesterday when my husband got home and we had a good night of sex.”
The ruler of Equestria giggled. “Not much has happened here either. Well--I have been training myself in more complicated magic. You remember the earthquake a few years ago?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said slowly.
“Sorry,” she said, grinning.
“So you really do not know what that thing does?” Celestia asked, prodding my chest plate with a hoof.
“Other than keep me alive and steal me of death, no. I doubt it does anything else.”
“Oho, it does. I had many problems with it at first because it kept going off,” she told me.
“‘Going off’?” I asked, looking at her curiously.
“Yes. Now,” she looked over at me. “For the real reason I wanted you here.”
About time.
“I was not going to tell you. Ever. But you do have a right to know. A team of scientists and I, years ago, created the virus that spread through Equestria. We created it for the sole purpose for thinning the population. Equestria was getting way too big, we had no idea what to do. Maybe it was not the right thing to do, but it was the quickest and easiest. Once you and your team found the cure, we thought it would be ok. However, many years later, it began to spread again. It had mutated and became stronger. Strong enough to even kill you with the Age Dampener on.
“So we secretly built a warship to fly undetected over Equestria. It sent what you and many others call ‘The Beam’.”
Leave it to Celestia to do something horrific, yet quite obvious and cheesy.
“Ha ha, very funny. Even I know you are not that cold hearted.” I snorted.
“You do not want to believe it? That is most likely best. Though I do not apologize.”
I stared into the face of Celestia long and hard, wanting it all to be some crazy gibberish from the insane alicorn. But something in that face told me it was not.
“You--you are serious...?” I shook my head, feeling many emotions being twisted and turned inside. “You--killed my friends. You killed the mare I loved... why?”
“We knew if we made another cure, it would simply come back. We tried on test subjects and controlled locations. It happened every time. The mutated virus lasted longer and let us give treatment much more easily, but it caused much more harm. Most of the time we had to give an extremely large dosage of the medicine for it to do any good. Only problem with that was that the treatment itself was a poison, so if you survived the disease, you could still easily die.
“It may sound like the wrong thing to do, but this is where the Beam is involved. It would kill off the population quick enough and painless.”
Stunned, shocked, awed, and simply dead in the water, I stuttered, “H-h-how? W-Why in E-Equestria would y-you do that? To the nation that followed and loved you!”
A small frown and sigh is what I received. “It was the only way we could think of. In our state of panic, it seemed like a good, and--well only option we had at the time, you must understand.”
Boiling hate festered within, growing in range throughout my body, seeping and taking over everything. Soon, I could feel, the pressure would become too much.
“There were other ways! There has to be, it is obvious! Sometimes, the first choice is not the best!”
“It was at the time, Twilight,” the regal goddess began. “It was. We did not think of the consequences it gave.”
“I...”
I had no idea what to say. I did not even know if I could speak. The rage and hate had built to a level almost not worth controlling.
“Why--why would you tell me this?”
“You had a right to know. I am sorry for keeping it from you for so long.”
Swallowing hard, I turned and began my way out when Celestia took on a darker tone.
“Where would you be going?” she asked with a mocking chuckle.
“Back home with my husband.”
“I know you are lying, Twilight.”
Half lying, actually. What I told was the truth, but not the whole truth. I had planned to return to him and tell him what Celestia had told me. Him being a royal guard, he would most likely tell other guards and so on, leading to an uprising against her. If it did not work, I do not know what the hell I would do. I could not hurt Celestia, her magic was much more advanced than mine. To do the simplest thing would give her the chance to do something back.
Not giving an answer, I continued on.
“Guards,” she said.
I focused, wrapping a chair in the corner in a magical field, out of Celestia’s range of vision.
“Do not lay a hoof on me,” I said to the two guards as they approached.
They continued.
“I am warning you. Do not come any closer!”
When I continued to hear hooves hitting the ground, I swung the chair into the air and slung it as fast as I could at them, turning myself around to watch. The first ducked with a yelp as it soared over his head and smashed into the head of the second, sending it into pieces. The colt collapsed to the floor, a trickle blood oozing out from under his helmet.
I did not stop the now broken chair, I kept them going at Celestia. Even if I could not harm her, I could at least daze her long enough for an escape.
She brought up a shield around herself, many of the pieces simply pinging off it, a ripple spreading out over the bubble. However, the nature of shields proved to be an advantage for me.
A leg from the once beautifully carved wooden chair made it as the shield was created. I grabbed the speeding object with magic and pushed it faster, seeing an opportunity. It made contact with the left side of her head. It shot out the other side and landed with a clatter on the floor some feet away, covered in blood. The princess stood shaking, the light gone from her eyes. A moment later, she fell to the floor in a defeated heap.
Stunned, I fell to my haunches, feeling a mix of complete joy, surprise, and even in the range of hopelessness and the loss of someone that once had meaning in my life.
“Go,” said the slightly shaky yet strong voice of a guard, the one whom I presumed to have ducked when the chair went soaring overhead.
I glanced at him and back to the body of Celestia, shaking.
“Go!” he yelled, “Trust me. If you know what is good for you,” he began in a softer tone, “You will leave. Now.”
Millions of thoughts raced through my confused mind. Tired and feeling sick to my stomach, I turned. The room spun around me as I did so, causing me to stumble. I kept myself from collapsing and slowly, shakingly began my journey back through the ruins of Canterlot.
That was too easy, I thought to myself as I walked across Canterlot. She could have stopped that if she wanted to. Perhaps old age..?
The thought seemed right. Old age and insanity can make even the best pony falter.
I took a deep sigh and tried to set my mind at ease. The perfect opportunity arose. I trotted to the edge of Canterlot and peered over the edge, the roar of a waterfall could be heard in the distance, even seen. It made its way down the mountain, flowed through the edge of Canterlot itself and toppled over the edge in a rough and loud cascade.
The sight was beautiful, even with Equestria in a very low time. I sat myself down and soaked in the sights. Ponyville looked the best. A lot of it had been rebuilt. Other areas, however, were completely lifeless. Such as Appleloosa and most of Fillydelphia. They had been reduced to nothing, a huge fissure now lies where they once were. The Beam was kept there the longest, and it kept digging in deeper and deeper.
Even now, a red glow can be seen emanating from within its depths.
Peace. Something that is quite rare in these times. I could have slept on that ledge as the wind blew through my mane. But things needed to be dealt with, thought over and talked about, seen and heard, and possibly most important of all: Done and figured out.
Taking in one last look of the view before me, I pushed myself up and started the walk home.
It was long, lonesome, and dark.
Darkness set into the world. Even with the magical light emanating from my horn, giving me a path and serenity, I was alone. Alone in the darkness.
I did not mind the darkness, but something in the trees was--haunting. Something that was not meant to be there. The endless feeling of being watched was felt, it sent a shiver down my spine.
I picked up my pace a bit.
The trees rustled in the cool night air as I continued down the narrow dirt path. To my close right, the side of the path ended and a clif is what awaited any unfortunate traveler to slip. It was not the main path to and from Canterlot, it was a scenic path used to enjoy the sites of Canterlot hanging from the edge of a mountain and Equestria beyond. I took it instead of continuing down the main path because I did not want to be watched.
Though--something told me that they, who or what ever they were, were still there. Though I did not feel watched. I felt alone.
Perhaps for the best, perhaps not. It did not matter much, the only thing that did was getting back.
Through the trees, the lights of Ponyville could be seen. Not to much farther, it seemed.
After another hour and a half, I arrived back at Ponyville. Though, not quite the Ponyville I remembered. Ponies ran and darted here and there, filling saddle-bags and other things.
BOOM.
I jumped as a thunderous boom was heard in the distance. The ground shook and I stumbled, but quickly regained my footing. Quickly, I turned as a large mushroom cloud rose into the sky in the distance, lit up by the fire from within the towering column.
“Twilight!” somepony called to my left.
I turned to see my husband running up to me. Before I could react, he pulled me into a deep kiss, hugging me as well. He did not hold it though, he quickly broke the kiss and gave me a stern look.
“Know anything about this?” he asked.
I shook my head, continuing to keep eye contact.
He let me go and stepped back.
“Princess Celestia has been murdered.”
I guess I did know something.
