Twisted Paths

Historical Record # 589 (The Age of Ascension)

Time period: Circa 960 years Prior to Equestria’s establishment.

“No living thing should be allowed to achieve this state of being. I have sustained this form solely because of my power and control over nature. One commoner such as this must not be allowed to retain a form that would conflict with the powers at hand. Indeed, such a thing would be devastating to our culture. Think of the society we have built, think of the power we wield, and finally, think of the ones we care about. Would you let the country you serve tear itself apart just because one such as this should live?”

                                 Queen Celestia’s address to her advisers just prior to the execution of “Subject Cadence”.

Several hundred years after the lunar uprising came the “Age of Ascension”. It was during this time that it was discovered that Alicorns did not need to be born, they could be made. Some unicorns and pegasi have a specific gene marker in their DNA which allows them (under the right circumstances) to evolve into an Alicorn. This began when “Cadence”, a young Pegasus at the age of 12, was discovered with a unicorn’s horn. She was taken into custody at once, and held until it was legally expected for her to speak for herself, approximately 8 years later. This was a troubling time for the kingdom for over nine millennia it had been ruled by only one Alicorn. For another one to come in would be to wreck the balance of power and ensure the death of the empire. When 8 years of debate and speculation among the people had passed, “A.A.M. Subject One” was finally allowed to speak in her own defense. Recounting the story of how it came to pass in front of the queen and all her advisers.

Evidentially, she had discovered she had a talent for spreading love, and that talent made her an Alicorn. Such testimonies are false however, and the council and the queen never discovered how it really happened. Several hours after the trial, “A.A.M.1” was sentenced to immediate public execution. The sentence would be carried out by sawing off her wings and horn, and letting them bleed out. Here forth a new law was decreed, that no pony, or any creature, would become an Alicorn without suffering the same fate. This quickly brought peace and stability to the divided kingdom, however the peace was not to last. Several days after the execution there was a political movement in the earth pony region. Some began to question the ethics of destroying a life to maintain the stability and comfort for the queen. After the movement had been going on for two weeks, they discovered that the queen was going to annihilate them for treason. Every equine escaped, and the sentence of extinction was never carried out. How the earth ponies discovered this is unknown, however the soul suspect, Star Swirl the sorcerer, disappeared shortly after the incident. Several more suspects were tortured and killed, but Nopony was able to prove whether or not anyone assisted the equines in their survival.

During this time the weapon known as the “Soul Cannon” that had defended the kingdom for so long was perfected. It could now be made into smaller, hoof-held versions, and was significantly more powerful. This development was mostly caused by the invention of the “soul battery.” A devise that could contain the raw force of an extracted soul for an indefinite period of time. This new power source was almost unquenchable, and could be made to power any devise. Because of this, the energy field generators, as well as other military advancements, were made possible.

About thirty years later, Queen Celestia took two apprentices from two of the royal families in the Unicorn kingdom. Shortly after doing so, she began to train them in the ways of advanced magic and sorcery. They soon began to become the most powerful unicorns in the kingdom, second only to the queen. Why she took them in was never explained, however she was often seen with them during critical negotiations with the Pegasi leaders. Whatever she truly intended for them, she obviously held them in high regard. –End of log

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Just as the hunter promised, the journey to the equine camp began at sunrise. Long stretches of swampland that seemed to never end rose all around the two unusual travelers. On, and on they treaded, never stopping, or even slacking their pace. They walked past every bush, crevice, pond, and moss pit they came across without realizing their presence. Twilight was too deep in thought to notice all of that. She was too busy worrying about what this human would do with her, what the equines would do with her, and last of all, what she would do with herself. She felt lost in her own afflictions, somewhere deep within her something was gnawing at her.

Many miles into the bog they came to a large tree, one with withered branches and cruel curved roots that jutted out from the ground in several directions. There the unlikely pair rested for a short time, which gave the unicorn more opportunity to think without the distraction of walking. She decided that she had better keep her mind off of any of her recent circumstances in order to stay focused. After all, Equestria had no shortage of dangerous creatures. Having a distracted mind could only result in oblivion.

Yet for a while she toyed with the idea, what difference would it make if she suddenly ceased to exist, if her life suddenly was taken away? If her life ended, who would truly care? Would anyone even notice? It occurred to Twilight that death might not be such a bad fate, she could escape from all of this anguish and hatred that had only recently entered her mind. She could be all alone, not bothered by painful memories or strange creatures. A deep apathy came over her. Still, somewhere inside of her, somewhere beyond any conscious thought or frame of mind, there arose a feeling. Maybe there was something she could do? Some miniscule way she could help mend the damage done to her shattered world that had never known peace. Twilight might not have noticed it, but for the first time in what seemed like a life time, her teeth were no longer clenched.

There were more than a few times when the travelers rested under some overbearing and dilapidated covering. Each stop came with more time for the fallen unicorn to think, and each time she became less and less willing to think. Despite her aching joints and sore hooves telling her otherwise she could not accept a rest for fear that it would awaken within her any thought she could not bear to endure. At each stop, she became increasingly more bitter and restless.

Many more miles were trodden upon by the human and his unwitting quarry. Deep beyond muddy river after muddy river, past all chance of individual recollection or remembrance. Their trail was steadily becoming more hazardous with more aggressive underbrush and deeper mud pits. It became a challenge to navigate through it all, and not without several cuts and bruises from when a hostile branch or loose stone had found its target.

Conversation was scarce, only when absolutely necessary were words spoken. Even then they were only concerning an unforeseen root or pitfall which plagued the traveler’s path. Another abnormality was the sound; normally one would expect to hear noises in a bog, an occasional bird, or frog. Maybe even a fish splashing somewhere in a faraway pond; there were no such noises to be heard. An unforeseen terror permeated the swamp and ruled its inhabitants. Twilight had begun to feel its effects from the moment her long journey had begun. Every step was a battle with the everlasting and unrelenting evil she felt around her.

During one evening when the air was particularly fouler than usual, and the water seemed black as though with ink, the unicorn and the human once again began to look for some kind of shelter. The sun had already begun to fall in the sky and the moon shone brightly in the now starlit sky. Under a particularly large tree where the ground was not so muddy, a small camp was set up. As usual this consisted of two piles of rags and a weak campfire, barley penetrating the black night around it.

Something was different this time however, something in the color of the water seemed to rebuke all life that gazed into it. It almost seemed like the fog masked some dark intelligence lurking beneath the gentle ripples of the wind-swept water.  Twilight didn’t like it, it seemed all too familiar somehow, and yet so very alien. But it wasn’t the surroundings that made the area seem so horrific, it was the human. He never looked at her, he never spoke to her, and he never even seemed to notice she was there. As the campfire began to rise in the night Twilight began to feel a chill down her spine. She felt like something bad was about to happen.

Her legs and stomach still hurt from her ordeal with the death note but she felt well enough to try to at least talk to her unlikely companion. Summoning all the courage she could manage she raised her voice,

“Look… where are we going?”  Twilight knew she wasn’t exactly choosing the best topic but she had to start somewhere. She had meant it to sound like a perfectly logical question, but as often happens to those who are under stress, she sounded more impatient than anything else. Despite this she continued,

“I don’t understand why you are taking me to the equine camp. Do they want something from me?” More stupid questions, but Twilight had to break the silence somehow. Much to her surprise the human did not notice her manner of speech but simply answered he in a direct fashion,

“The equines simply asked me to keep an eye on the fortress, I am taking you back of my own accord.” And after glancing at her added, “I cannot predict their reaction. I apologize for not having a more accurate prediction.”

“Did you just”- Twilight’s astonished question was abruptly halted as the human jumped up and motioned for her to lie still. At least she thought it meant to lie still, it was hard to tell what the human wanted when Twilight didn’t even know what his strange appendages were called. The human had taken a blanket and tossed it to Twilight, and signaled again in a downward motion with his… something. It wasn’t until the human reached for his weapon that Twilight realized the rapid ripples in the water. Before Twilight had covered herself completely in the earth colored blanket the water erupted into a torrent of water, and some creature who had apparently found his next meal.

Unfortunately the lavender mare did the only thing that came natural to her at the time, she froze. But before she had time to comprehend what the creature looked like she had to cover her ears as a deafening noise resounded through the murky swamp. The sound was greater even the shrill cries of the hungry intruder and strong enough to echo off of the waters for miles beyond. For a moment all was still, all sounds of the monster had all ceased, and what little wild life that had been brave enough to croak in the night before had also stopped. It was in this moment that the unicorn was able to catch a glimpse of her would-be devourer. It was a huge, hideous, brown scaled monster with four heads that ended in razor sharp triangle edges. Each head had green, unblinking eyes and sharp, pointed teeth that were at least several feet long and only a few inches thick. Each mouth was agape, their teeth netted together like some forbidden tapestry. The effect was a looming, powerful sense of dread, and despair.

But then Twilight realized one of the heads had a massive scar from which both smoke and fire radiated. The silence, which only lasted a few moments but felt like a few hours, was suddenly broken by a wailing cry. Apparently, whatever the human had done to the creature had injured it severely, as one of the heads, the one from which the smoke billowed, fell limp against the still waters where it stood; the impact causing another torrent of violent splashes and waves. By the time Twilight had recovered her thoughts she was staring at the human with his smoking weapon in hand, the monster gone, and a large area of red and black water creeping on the shoreline. There were no more attacks from that monster on their travels. The unicorn, still shaken and frightened from the encounter, lay shivering under her blanket. Her teeth chattered and the blanket made ripples as her body expressed its dislike for the encounter. The human spun around and immediately fixed his eyes on her.

His gaze was intense and deliberate, as if he wanted to smite her where she lay. That look of intimidation was suddenly and surprisingly changed into a mixture of shock, disbelief, and even a hint disappointment. Twilight’s expression changed almost as much as the human’s did, for each saw the last thing either of them expected to see. But neither knew what the other was thinking.

The awkward silence lasted until the unicorn broke the gloom,

“WH-What are y-you staring… at?” her voice broken and cracked as it barley escaped from her mouth in a weak, pathetic cry. It sounded frail, even adorable in its own way. If the human understood the concept of “adorable” or “weak” he certainly didn’t show it; and for a moment his face turned from surprise to absolute rage.

“What are you,” he demanded “this is not the queen’s apprentice. Not the one who has faithfully destroyed the…” His voice trailed off and died into the darkness, his sentence fell in mid-air as if hit with some invisible arrow. He looked as if a sudden realization had abruptly dawned on him out of the recesses of his mind. As is some child hood memory had resurfaced and ceased his anger. No more word were spoken that night, the human wordlessly and soundlessly walked to his mat, and lied down. Eventually the frightened Unicorns’ body began to calm down, and the reality of fatigue sunk in. It was now late in the evening and the only source of light was the campfire, the moon, and the many sorrowful stars around it; endlessly fixed in their dance in the heavens. But in the middle of the blackness, sometime later Twilight thought she could hear a faint sound coming from her right. Before she could identify it however, the mare was already fast asleep, and her dreams had overtaken her. Could it be... a soft crying?

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“Whahoooo!!!” Rainbow Dash screamed as she blazed across the endless sea of clouds, splitting them in half as she went. She never felt more alive than when she was pushing her body to its limit, exceeding even the fastest of the other pegasi. The cloud line broke suddenly, and she had a perfect view of the land below her. Looking down she saw the great river that supplied the sea and Cloudsdale with the water they needed so badly to function. She could also see the friendly hills and valleys of Equestria. Beyond them lay the snowy mountains and beyond the mountains, endless sky. She also saw the hill where her house resided just a few meters off of the ground. She like it that close because that way she could spend more time with… her friends.

Thoughts suddenly began jumbled and mixed as she looked on. Soon she realized that her house resided above several ponies she knew, but strangely didn’t know. She recognized them, their names, even their eye color but now who they were. She was there with them, but she was also watching; helpless, powerless from where she flew.  She realized that when she looked hard enough she could see herself in her bedroom window, sleeping peacefully, and defying reality in her slumber; with the sheets only half covering her sprawled body. She could hear her friends calling out to her.

And yet it was strange, though she was flying a long way off, she could hear and feel what the other Rainbow Dash heard and felt. Every gust of wind from the open window, the soft, plushness of the pillow, the warm, scratchy sheets. Even the very words her friends called out to her. The first was a cheerful voice,

“Rainboooooow! Wake up lazy bones!”

“It’s yer big day! Ya wouldn’t wanna miss out on yer’ chance to meet the Wonderbolts would ya?”

“How can she even be sleeping? She must be so nervous. I know I would be!”

“Perhaps it would be wise to leave her to her slumber? What would she do if she did not get ample rest?”

“Um… but she’s kind of been sleeping in science… um… yesterday…”

“Touché darling…”

Rainbow lazily but excitedly got up to greet her friends; not even stopping to brush her mane or tail but blundering down her stairs as fast as she could. She could hear their voices getting louder. She wanted to meet her friends, to see their faces. They were calling to her loudly now, to hurry. They seemed inpatient, even upset now. Rainbow heard one say:

“How could she do this to us? T’is a disgrace to wait around in this… ickyness.”

“Well, it is a little rude…”

Then a very strange thing happened, for although rainbow was climbing down the stairs as fast as she could, she didn’t seem to be anywhere near the bottom than she was when she started. In fact, there seemed to be more stairs now than there were before. But the voices continued,

“What’s going on? Is everything ok?” Echoed a concerned voice.

“I’m… coming, wait for… me.” Rainbow said. She just couldn’t seem to get the words out loud enough for them to hear though, her friends kept talking as if she had never said anything.

“Let’s just leave, she probably doesn’t care anyways.”

“It’s too bad, guess she’ll have to be alone forever now.”

Rainbow tried again,

“Hey! What the… big idea…”

“Oh my goodness… am I… how can this be? Rainbow dash how could you?”

“What in the name of… just what is this??”

“T’is a joke darling, just a rotten joke. Say it’s true! Say it or we shan’t be friends!”

“But she wouldn’t… ever say that…” Rainbow pleaded.

“Enough! End this now!”

“You have truly gone too far!”

“What are you doing?? I hate you! I’ll hate you forever for this!!”

While this was going on, the staircase, and the walls around

Rainbow Dash began to change. They began to get darker, the poufy clouds became scarred and ugly, and the staircase became hard, rough, and painful to walk on. The pictures which she had begun to pass on her way down, now displayed strange, and unknown memories of hatred, violence, and despair. They were completely unknown, and yet she knew them, enough to become terribly afraid at the sight of them.

The voices began to come from the pictures, angry, painful voices each with something equally angry or painful to say. But they also began to call out in a different way. First a few, then many started yelling not with hatred, but with fear. They were screaming at her, pleading with her, imploring for Rainbow to stop. The voices got louder, yelling with the utmost urgency. Pleading with her in the most terrified of voices as their faces began to display one collective expression of terror. Rainbow was so scared by this that she tore her attention from them, trying to ignore them as she ran to the door. All reason had left her mind, perhaps there would be some safety outdoors? Something better than this nightmare. But she couldn’t turn away, the pictures began to come real. They left the walls, and began to swirl around in her vision, they were the only thing she could see.

Rainbow was frightened, she did not know what it was they wanted her to stop. She couldn’t reason with them, she couldn’t say their names, she couldn’t even speak. She was just going to make a bolt for it. Gathering all her strength she made a bee-line down the stairs and out the door, everything was black. Suddenly she was no longer running but sitting. Sitting above thousands of ponies in a chair of black iron. She was in a completely unknown place with black walls that rose up all around her. Down below her she could hear cries and screams, too many to count or guess their number.

The chair which Rainbow Dash found herself in was covered in chains and iron claws. Many of which were fastened securely to her. Her legs and hooves seemed to be engraved in the chair, as it enveloped them allowing no movement whatsoever. Her chest, wings, neck, and forehead were clasped in strange, and painful chains that tore at her coat and dug in her flesh.

Now thoroughly terrified, Rainbow tried to break free, and call out to those below her. But the bonds were too strong and only tightened around her, forcing her to sit upright with her head up high in the air. She couldn’t see anyone anymore, the pony’s screams were the only thing that indicated their existence.

“Help! Let me out! What’s going on, I don’t understand!” But the cries only got louder, and the chains only got tighter despite her best efforts to free herself. Suddenly the sounds of the crowd could no longer be heard, not that they ceased, but they were drowned out by a much greater noise. One of clanging steel and whirring metal. It was a tremendous sound, and it filled and vibrated the whole area. Rainbow no longer had the sense to do anything but scream, scream and hope everything would be ok. But as many people will say, hoping everything will be ok, has nothing to do with how it will turn out.

Just as it seemed as if nothing worse could happen, something worse did happen. A voice, quite different than the others spoke. For a short time, everything was still. The strangest thing about the voice was how similar to Rainbow Dash’s voice it was. In fact it sounded exactly the same. The difference lay in the tone, and the attitude of the speaker. It was one of deep, and intense wrath. It said,

“Nothing can stop this. It is their destiny, and now it is yours too. You will become like nothing, you will amount to nothing, and in the end, you will be nothing.”

Along with the voice came a horrible, sinking feeling deep within Rainbow’s mind. The sound was clawing it her, each word, every syllable causing an agonizing torrent of pain. All she could do was grit her teeth, and brace for whatever lay ahead. It continued this time shouting,

“YOU…WILL… SUFFER!!!”

Then the myriad of sounds from before returned, the shouting, the clanging the spinning, the whirring; but with one more noise, the sound of chopping and slicing. The ponies below were frantic now, their voices rising and falling in a chorus of impregnable chaos. There was pain… so much pain.

“NO!! LET ME OUT!” Screamed Rainbow Dash; and in a quieter voice added, “This can’t be real!!” The carnage below only increased, as the screams became louder, and the blades spun faster.

“I’LL RIP MY OWN TOW WINGS OFF TO GET OUT OF THIS YOU…”

“Now… now… be careful what you say… hmm?” The unknown speaker returned in a sing-song voice “After all…” A soft chuckle before the walls, which had apparently begun to close in on each other, slammed together; releasing a shower of red liquid in every direction, covering and engulfing all it hit in a deep, red crimson. It began at the base of the chair where Rainbow sat, and creeped upwards toward her. It slowly reached to her cyan coat, and rainbow tail staining it beyond recognition. The stench was unbearable, and the screams which had been so prevalent before, had ceased as though someone had cut the power to a radio or a television.

Pure shock filled Rainbows body as her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open. All she could do was stare at the oncoming ocean of blood now engulfing her. Her breathing was erratic and her heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. Just before the sea had reached her chin, the speaker finally showed herself. From nowhere, a mare just like herself suddenly appeared hovering in front of her. She was also drenched in blood, and the only hint Rainbow could see that she looked remotely like herself was a lock of rainbow hair that fell just short of the eyes; though it was still stained with blood and raged as if combed with a knife. Her eyes were crimson red. More red than even the ocean of blood below her. She continued,

“After all my little parasite, I am you!” She broke into a horrible cackling laughter that sent rippled in the sea, and shivers down Rainbow’s spine. But before she could respond, she had to close her mouth because the river of blood had overtaken her muzzle. Her sight slowly faded as she watched the other Rainbow ascended into the darkness above her. Soon there was only red, and after that, black. Ultimately, there was nothing.

Sound Wave awoke to one of the many sounds in the world she hated. It was the sound of her pesky assistant slash secretary slash whatever she was. It didn’t mater, all that matter was that she was waking her up from her nap, and that was enough.

“Ma’am… I…”

“WHAT?!?!” lashed Sound Wave. “The HELL was so DANG important that it couldn’t wait FIVE DARN MINUTES ROSEMARY?!”

“Ma’am!” the other Pegasus snapped to attention. “Sorry to disturb you but the requested shipment of err… ‘Materials’ have arrived… ma’am.”

Sound Wave’s anger subsided for a moment as she realized what that meant. The moment was a short one.

“Get… out… you worthless… cur.”

“Y-yes ma’am.” Stammered the mare; within the next second Sound Wave was alone. She grinned.

“Finally, some progress.”