Semi-Prologue to the "Next Chapter"
Twilight Sparkle stared feverishly at the wall opposite from her as she sat in her throne. She had gotten lost on the way here from her bedroom. Again. The surrounding seats, which were nearly identical, might as well have been empty, as no one spoke. At all. Not a word.
A large, young dragon sat in the center of the circle formed by large white crystal chairs. He broke the silence with constant munching sounds. A smaller seat waited, vacant, next to Twilight's imposing harmony butt rest. It was clearly meant for Spike, but he insisted that he be on the floor, surrounded by bored, uninterested ponies, so that he could punch out holes in the milky white rock imbedded in the floor, which had a shape resembling that upon Princess Sparkle's flank, and stuff chunks of it into his eating hole. Twilight's horn glowed constantly, repairing each gap that the dragon made.
The doors magically slammed closed.
Twilight's back straightened. Her gaze shifted slowly from the dull navy wall to the ponies that used to be her friends: a blue pegasus, looking around and huffing in agitation and impatience; a pink earth pony, staring straight ahead blankly; a yellow pegasus with layers of grime smeared across her coat and dust and dandruff stuck in her oily, tangled mane; a frail, pathetic orange earth pony; and a very light gray unicorn, who was filing her hooves and not paying attention to anyone else in the room.
Twilight drew in a breath, and, reluctantly, started to speak.
"All Elements of Harmony present?"
Silent nods spread across the room, some grim, some uncaring, some shaky. Rarity, however, did not move her head. Instead, without looking up from her filing, said, "You forget, darling, that we aren't Elements of Harmony anymore. Those objects don't exist." She paused to blow dust off her hooves.
Twilight looked at her, raising a brow.
"Well, they do, but not to the pony world, you see. They're in a tree, darling," said Rarity, as if the fact that the magical jewels were embedded in a tree meant that they were officially non-existant. "And thank goodness for that. Those necklaces were so hideously tacky."
"Yes, I understand, Rarity," mumbled the alicorn, returning to her slouching position, horn still glowing.
Fluttershy blew a strand of grime-laden hair away from her twitching eye, around which was a loose ring of bumps and small pimples. She gazed in Rainbow's general direction, and croaked something with a throat so sore that nothing coming from it could be registered as a word.
Rainbow Dash returned her dreamy stare with a harsh look so fierce that it alone made Fluttershy turn her head at the very glance and whimper. The blue pegasus sat hunched in her chair, throwing sour looks at the surrounding ponies. Her mouth was scrunched tight, a sign that she had decided to say nothing.
For a while, nopony spoke. There was no sounds to be heard but those of Spike chewing, looking around with interest at the six ponies, and Rarity still filing her hooves, bits jangling in a large pouch around her front leg.
Applejack shifted in her seat, shaking ever so slightly. Her skin was drawn tightly over her bones, her blonde mane was disheveled, and her has was missing. There were dark circles under her eyes. Her usually bright irises were dull and grayish. Her voice trembled as she spoke.
"So... what do all you gals want 'ta talk about?"
Twilight watched, horn glowing, as the silence continued.
Pinkie Pie's mouth started to open. Suddenly, everyone's gaze shifted to her, full of excitement. She hadn't talked since who-knows-when now, and the other five formal friends had all but forgotten her voice. Even Rarity looked up from her hooves and gasped.
She then yawned.
Twilight had nothing to ask. If she were to wonder how Fluttershy's animals were doing, she would get a creaky, distorted version of something that sounded like "Angel's dead" or "Starving" or just a little "Hm?". If she were to ask, "Hey, Rainbow, how's the weather doing?" she would get a glare or sneer, maybe a small "heh", and occasionally a look that said "I could clear the sky in ten seconds flat if I wanted to, but I don't". Applejack would never answer any of her questions honestly, as she was too scared. Rarity, when asked about her business in dressmaking, would either cringe or make a snide or hurt remark on how jealous Twilight must be to ask her about how to get her precious gold. Pinkie Pie never answered.
So she did the only thing that she could.
She ran out of the room, screaming, and ran around the castle until she found a small, empty corner that she could sit in and rock, while canting exactly what she howled as she pummeled out of the throne room:
"I'm gonna end it all! I'm gonna end it all! I'm gonna end it all..."
Life in Equestria Simmers, Life in Equestria Dies
Twilight galloped gleefully from her little hiding place, bumping into walls, getting stuck at dead ends, hooves slipping through holes Spike made in the crystalline parts of the floor, and almost falling out of windows until she found her way to the main balcony. She whispered an incantation that would make her voice dwarf the Traditional Royal Canterlot one by comparison, ran up to the edge of the balcony, and lifted herself up with her wings.
"Citizens of Equestria!" she bellowed, furious, "Prepare to meet your fiery doom!"
She let out a hideous cackle. Her horn glowed intensely, brighter, brighter, until it was such a bright light that no one could bare to look towards it. The aura crackled with black electricity. Twilight howled in hatred and the white light enveloped the sun. Black veins of dark energy crackled around it. Suddenly, Equestria became three shades brighter. Screams flooded the air.
"This is for the Elements!" Twilight cried, and squinted her eyes shut in concentration, teeth gritted, making her horn grow ever brighter. The aura was bordered in black, dark streaks breaking in. It surrounded her head, creating a crackling, evil halo. Her skin burned with the heat from the magic. Her head ached with pressure. Her eyes were shut tight. She let out a loud screech.
The sun came pummeling down on the Everfree forest, hitting it right in the middle. Its massive size covered about nine tenths of the total forest and split open the deep fissure in the ground where a large crystalline tree grew. It set it afire and burned the jewels in its branches to brittle coals. Twilight laughed louder than was ever thought possible.
Flames shot out in every direction. The plants and animals were reduced to flaming ash in a matter of seconds. The fire flew outwards and spread into an apple orchard, turning trees into flaming torches that passed their wildfire onto the next rapidly, not leaving out the large farmhouse among them. It also affected a line of cottages, including one in which a filthy, flammable pegasus lay amongst her undernourished and deceased animals, all of which were gone in several seconds. The part of the Everfree that was not touched was gone by the time Twilight, gritting her teeth again, veins in neck bulging, lifted the sun back into the sky, much to the relief of blistered, heat-callused ponies – but not for long.
Twilight Sparkle's bulging eyes, glaring light, were a display of absolute fury and hatred. The blinding glow from her horn – and the sun – stretched out further. She flew up higher. The sun was so bright and hot that nopony could open their eyes. Blisters and serious sunburns were beginning to form. Twilight's screeching howls of maniacal laughter drowned out all the screaming. Her throat was hoarse, her hair rapidly starting to flow wavily, glowing bright cobalt. Her skin was raw from the heat, but she didn't care.
"This is for my old life!!!" she screamed. The sun came pummeling down again, barely missing Ponyville as it pulled upwards and shot forwards with a jerk of Twilight's head, setting roofs on fire. The screams grew louder, wilder. The massive flaming ball of heat kept shooting forwards. Many a dim-witted pegasus tried to stop it, only to evaporate on contact like a moth touching a flame. This made Twilight hoot with laughter. It was so comical! (She seemed unaware that ponies were actually dying.)
The sun then went faster, faster, until it crashed straight into the thin, tall mountain that held Canterlot on a ledge. It wasn't slowed down. Without hesitation, it flew straight through the mountain, burning hard coals and thick ash shooting out, made by the collision. The top half of Canterlot Mountain crashed into the ground, some large chunks and coals landing on Ponyville as the sun dive-bombed the remaining pegasus citizens of Canterlot, who had flew straight upwards as soon as the yellow-white sphere of heat coming towards them. They were gone instantly.
Twilight Sparkle's eyes and horn aura grew ever brighter. Her veins looked like they were about to pop out of her skin. Her teeth were bared, her face a mask of hideous fury and utter insanity. The sun grew so hot and so bright that everypony within the whole of Equestria had to seek cover. She flew higher. Her mane was burning, fire crawling across it, licking her scalp. Sweat drenched her coat.
She was beyond caring.
"THIS! IS! FOR! MY! FRIENDS!"
Twilight screeched with a voice like hooves on chalkboard as her horn flooded the entire area with blinding light. The light and heat from the sky grew more intense, heat waves flooding through the world, destroying nervous systems and setting ponies afire, melting eyeballs and burning skin. Tears ran down her face, almost instantly evaporating, as she felt every negative feeling she had ever felt and amplified it. She focused her attention, gritting her teeth, chipping them, aura putting more and more pressure on the sun until –
BANG.
The earth was set on fire. The ground cracked and hardened. Screams filled the air, ripping up the blinding white light. Twilight felt it damage her, and quickly put up a forcefield around herself. She shut her eyes tightly.
The screams got louder and louder, and finally, there was total silence.
After several hours, Twilight lowered herself to the ground and opened her eyes.
She was in the middle of a charred, black wasteland in near total darkness, as her horn still glowed. Using it as a flashlight seemed like blinking an eye after her hard work. The stars winked at her from the near-black sky.
Patches of her skin were burnt, raw, blistering, and hairless. Her mane was gone, replaced by an enormous wildfire that surrounded her horn and created a violent glow over her entire body. Her coat was glistening white. Her eyes were glowing bright, bright, bright red. The wings that sprouted from her back consisted of long, entwining tongues of fire. Her cutie mark was replaced by a blistering patch of skin. She shivered.
It was cold.
It was over, though. Finally over.
She dropped to the ground as her mane and wings went out.
Finally over.
