Bloody Logs: The Later Days

Once again, walking across the streets of Canterlot, I was walking back to where I left the wagon, accompanied by Quantum Gaze and Fluttershy this time.

Passing by a big dome, that had it's roof half destroyed, my eyes were caught by the figure of a still dead body, hung by a rope. The poor stallion had hang himself, and watching by the actual body condition, it's been there for a while. Part of the destroyed roof would let light come inside the dome. This dome was a theater where musicians would play, and many other plays too. I told them to keep going ahead because I was going to check on this.

Entering the dome, I walked up to the stage, where the body was hanging. He was at hung by a rope still attached to the ceiling, with a hole underneath him, that had a small piano chair at it's bottom. He was a grey unicorn stallion, with a dark blue hair with a red stripe on it, just like mine, but my hair was brown with a yellow stripe on it. He had a music note as a cutie mark, but I couldn't really tell which one it was, I didn't had such a big knowledge at music. The stallion had a knife stuck in his chest, on his heart to be more exactly. His pulse was also cut open, I presume by the same knife.

On the ground, by the hole, there was a big piano, with a score on it. The sunlight was on it, so I could see some red marks on the back of the score. Picking it up, I saw a letter written by the stallion in blood. That would explain the hoof half open. It read:

Time has passed. I know I should have forgotten by now, moved on, but some things are just hard to forget. On the day that you left me, I felt everything bad possible. Regret, sadness, a huge urge to cry. It's been days since you left me, and everyday, I have been missing you. Sometimes I try to forget about you, and see if it helps me to move on, but I know that I can't forget someone as special as you.

From the thousands of pianists all over Equestria, specially at Canterlot, you were one of the few fans I had, but for me, you were more than a fan, more than a viewer. You supported me, you cheered me up when I thought that there would be no way for me to continue my work. You kept me moving for such a long time, and you brought to my life great things. I would like to thank you for all that, if I ever have the chance.

I still remember one of the first things I told you. "You are my everything". Whenever I bring that moment up in my head, I put on a smile, followed by a frown and a tear scoring down my eye and landing on my piano. I sit alone by it, playing for a crowd made out of air. No one to really listen to me, nobody to tell me how good or bad of a player I'm. You know, we shared great things, we were happy together, and now I wonder where did I go so wrong.

I shouldn't have done that, and I shouldn't have put you in such an uncomfortable position, under so much pressure. I was a fool. I understand your reaction after that, I caused you to cry after all, how can I be a good pony if I make the ones close to me sad?

Days later, I had discovered one of the few things that would calm me down. The fear of death was no longer with me, as I embraced the feeling of having no purpose and walked with it. Since then, death and I have been walking side by side, as two friends would. The only difference is that friends bring cheer into their friend's live, while this new found friend of mine brought thoughts of the end, how close I was of it. I could have been a pony just like any other and ignored those thoughts, but I chose to listen. I couldn't help

I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, and there is nopony to show it to me. I think I'm just getting further inside.

I have been thinking... On the day of my judgement, when I stand before the goddesses, and the ask me what I have done and what I regret in all my life, I will think very deeply about all this. I wonder if I will regret this and all the mistakes I made, or if I will not, since I know you moved on and found somepony else, somepony better that would make you happier. I never saw my life as the point of view of my own story, but as a different point of view from other's, with different opinions and thoughts, as if I was more like an spectator, as a viewer of my own show.

Sitting here alone, in just a dark theater, with only me standing on the spotlight, watching my piano, all I see are tears that dropped on the many notes it has. I tried playing happy songs I knew and composed myself, to see if it worked, to see if it could cheer me up, but nothing compares with what you made me feel. How happy I was.

Being just an spectator my whole life, I had never experienced such feelings, never cared about them anyway, but once you showed me them, I thought they were great. Now they are gone, just like you. You had given me a chance and I threw it on a garbage can, just like a failed song or plan. But I can't go back in time and fix this now, I think it's time for me to go on, although I would love to fix things if possible.

I sit on this piano now, as I said before, my mind filled with regret. I write all of this on the back of this paper, with some kind of red ink I found myself. Don't worry, what is about to happen to me is not your fault, the fool was I after all. Of all the few ponies I interacted with, you were the most special of them. I don't want you to feel bad for what I'm about to do. Sure, I became like this because of what happened to us, but this is all something that got on my head. I just don't know how to deal with it, and I'm just confused. I'm about to make this end.

The way I acted these days is all a drama I have been making with myself. The way I refuse to work, how I can't sleep, and when I can, my dreams turns into nightmares or I don't dream at all. I realized that everyday I come one day closer to death, and I realized that each day has become calmer because of it. I lie to my friends telling them I'm fine, and all the laughs I had were fake. The truth is that my soul is just dead. I hear voices in my head and I can't recognize them. I can't feel any real emotions at all now, other than bad feeling. This might explain all this pain I'm feeling in my chest right now.

I'm running low, the paper is ending, and I can feel that the blood loss, since I'm using it to write this down, is starting to make me dizzy. This is the last message I leave for you, and this will be the last thing you all will ever hear from me, but remember, always look on the bright side life.

Now I will play the last segment of this song, and as I play it, I will only feel the chair under me dropping on the hole I made under the floor, and I will feel my body floating as I draw my terminal breath, being held just by the rope wrapped on my neck, my hoof slowly dropping blood from it and a knife stuck in my chest, and so fading away, flying on the spotlight of this dark theater waiting until somepony comes do something about me.

I turned the paper around to see that some parts of the song where highlighted with his blood.

...Always look at the bright side of death, just before you draw you terminal breath

It ended like that, with a brush of the blood he was using to write moving out of the paper. Looking back at the piano, I could see the rest of the trail that followed to the ground and then into the hole. Seeing he hanged up on the ceiling, he was just ending the letter when he hanged himself. He never got to finish his song, I presume. This was, from my point of view and understanding, a letter for someone he considered very special, but fucked up something. Probably a family member or his "special somepony". I wonder if I will ever make such mistakes with Quantum, since we are dating and all now.

I stored the letter on my saddlebags, along with my diary.

“May Celestia and Luna have mercy on your soul...” I spoke my sorry words for the stallions body. I hope he is in a good place, with the pony he loves, or that he loved. It appeared that he still loved her. I just hope that things worked between them.

It were stories alike this one that made me want to change this world. There is no love out here anymore. This used to be a happy land, full of ponies and a few other species that would live together in harmony, friendship and love. But all I can see now is death, depression, darkened hearts and pain. There is just too much of it, and I can't sit idly just waiting for it to come to me. Hopefully, none of this will actually affect me for having these ponies around me all the time, it brings light to my heart, and I must admit, both my heart and soul were dead before this moment.

With that in mind, I had set for a main objective, and moved along to meet with the Gaze and Fluttershy.

Back at the Ponyville hills, what was once my home. Well, them raiders cleaned up the place of everything I left behind, but I don't care for that much, it's not like I'm going to come live here again.

Fluttershy took us directly to the Everfree Forest. We would be reviving Artemis first and then go for Rainbow Dash, since it seemed to be faster. We walked past a cottage near a small river and also near the forest. I looked over to Fluttershy, who stopped for a moment. Her eyes were watering and some tears were scoring down her face. Quantum Gaze moved close to her.

“Is anything wrong, Fluttershy?” She asked, worried about what was on the pegasus head.

“It's just... I used to live here... with my animal friends...” Fluttershy took her time to speak. I could see it was hard for her to talk about it.

“You want to talk about it?” Quantum asked, trying to make Fluttershy realize she has our support.

“They are all gone now, there is nothing to be said.” Fluttershy looked away from her house and looked to the forest again. “Let's go, we have a job to be done.”

Fluttershy went ahead. Quantum, that was by her side while she was thinking, looked directly at me, worried. I looked back at here unsure of what was going on with her as well. We went back to following her.

Getting deeper in the forest, I noticed we had gone deeper than I have ever been to, when I lived around here, I only came here a few times, and kept by the starting areas, which were the most affected by the disaster. I can say that the Everfree Forest is the only place in this entire land that still have a small amount of natural living plants, but seemed to be slowly dying as it was getting smaller as time passed. I also can say that this place lacks "normal" creatures, as I only saw beasts on the few times I had been here. I knew Fluttershy had been here before, and I assumed she knew her way around, as she was an animal lover and lived near the place. I decided to ask her a few questions.

“Fluttershy, would you mind answering me some questions?” I asked her, just to make sure she wasn't going to be mad at me, since I can see she is going through some thoughts.

“Oh?” She turned her face to me. “What is it?”

“Even after the disaster, this forest has been kept alive, even without pony assistance. Why is that?”

“Hm...” She took a few seconds to think. “That is a pretty interesting question you have there. The Everfree Forest has always been living by it self. While pegasi wouldn't control it's weather, or unicorns using magic or even earth ponies managing the land, it has always been taking care of itself. Some say it's the place where evil sleeps, or at least it would, but I personally thing that this place is just not explored enough. I think this place is basically a piece of Equestria that was left untouched by ponies during the colonization of the region, and that is why so many beasts live around here, it's the only place they still have a little of the old land.”

“But now, you can see that the land is giving it up. The Forest is dying, and that is probably the reason you found Artemis. Her family was probably searching for food outside of the area, or even shelter.”

“I see...” I said as I took all that information in. “But do you suppose there is a way for it to be saved?” I asked her. “I mean, it is probably the only area with an unaffected land that could be used for a few things that would help the pony kind, and maybe the other animals, to grow back up.”

“I don't really think that.” She said with a lost hope tone in her voice, as we kept walking through the woods. “This is just like when Discord took over Equestria when he was free again. Ponies do not care about others anymore and hope is dead for most of them. I think the only way this land can go back to it's glory is if we had some sort of way of using the Elements of Harmony to reverse the situation, but since we gave it up a while ago, I don't remember any way to do that anymore.”

I kept silent. What Fluttershy said was true, she had a point. I had some hope inside me of getting this land back to normal, but I couldn't simply do it by myself. Turning an entire land from waste to wonderland? How easy is that?

I wasn't looking to be a hero. I didn't want to be one. But seeing the current situation, with many ponies having lost all their hope, this land is nothing more than a bloody battlefield. I had to do something, somehow. I'm not giving up that easily. What ever may have happened to Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Shining Armor and the whole land, I was going to discover it and do something about it. As an agent of Celestia's secret police or something, I swore to protect the land with my life, and now that it is destroyed, I'm going to build it again.

“Sshhh!” Fluttershy told me to shut up. The timberwolves were near, and we didn't want to attract their attention.

“What should we do then?” I whispered.

“It's been a while since I interacted with a entire group of timberwolves, so for now it's better if we waited.” She whispered back, impatient, anxious to go back to watching then. That pegasi might have lost hope, but she sure still loved animals and beasts.

The timberwolves weren't doing very much other than just standing around. I guess that is their usual everyday life, until they run out of supplies and risk taking up a raider camp or a group of travelers camping. Having my rifle near me, ready for anything, I was trying to do whatever I had to to protect ourselves, even if that meant shooting an entire pack of timberwolves.

About half an hour later of sitting around on the trees, Fluttershy decided to do something. The timberwolves clearly weren't planning something this afternoon.

“What are you planning, Fluttershy?” I asked as she started climbing down the tree we were hiding.

“I'm going to try and speak with them, maybe they will listen to me.” She said.

“Talking with them?” Gaze asked.

“Yes. When I took care of animals, I could speak with them, and they would understand me.” Fluttershy explained. “It seems to be our best option now.”

I stopped to think. When Artemis and I walked around by ourselves, she could clearly understand me. It seems logic that they can understand us if we spend enough time around them.

“But I don't think timberwolves are exactly... Animals...” Gaze brought up a point. They are creatures made out of wood and... magic, I guess.

“Well, Falcon here was able to communicate with one of them.” Fluttershy insisted. I was unsure of what to do, so I was just going to let it happen.

Fluttershy got back to the ground and slowly started walking towards the timberwolves. The timberwolves took notice of her and went to an attack position. I got worried. Picking up my gun, I aimed at the timberwolf on the front.

“Hello there, mister wolf, my name is Fluttershy, it's nice to meet you.” Fluttershy introduced herself to the wolf. The wolf's stance did not change.

I started worrying. The wolf was making a threat to Fluttershy and I didn't want to get the mare injured or dead. I held my breath and aimed directly at the timberwolf's head. I heard Quantum Gaze moving by my side.

“Do not shoot” She whispered to me. “That will only trigger them.”

I kept in silence, with the trigger ready to shoot. The timberwolf backed off a little, and so I backed off from my weapon. I took a look at all the group of wolves, looking for any who would still be a threat. It appeared that all of them went back to a normal pose. Fluttershy didn't seem to be such a threat for them, which calmed me slightly.

“I'm looking for some help on something I think you might know how to do. Can you help me?” Fluttershy asked the beast for help. I knew if they agreed, I would go down there and show them what remains of Artemis.

The timberwolves took a moment to think. Back to Fluttershy, I have no idea of what happened, but they appeared to have agreed. She turned back and looked to me up on the tree.

“You two can come down now, they told me it depends.” Fluttershy said. I opened my wings and got ready to fly down. Quantum climbed on my back and held my left hoof. I then cautiously flew down the three, which was a little high, in my opinion. Getting down there, I unattached the saddlebags with Artemis remains and handed it over to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy showed the saddlebag to the timberwolves and threw it to them. “I was wondering if you could help me get this timberwolf back to life, if that is okay with you...”

The timberwolf in the front sniffed the bag for a moment and opened it right after. Seeing the remains, he backed off. Suddenly, all the timberwolves got in a attack stance, ready to jump onto us. Soon, we found ourselves surrounded by the whole group, with no where to go.

I found myself panicking for the first time in a long while. I didn't know what to do. I picked up my weapon and aimed to the timberwolf in front of me.

“No!” Fluttershy stopped me. “They will think you are a threat!”

“Our situation don't seem to be going smoothly either, girl!” I argued with her. I went back to my panic aiming.

“Falcon, watch out!” Gaze warned me from behind.

I felt a force pushing me hard into the ground, making me fall and throwing my rifle away. I felt the stakes of wood trying to go through my armor, and fortunately failing to do so. I opened my eyes to find a timberwolf right on me, holding me down. I tried breaking free, but I failed miserably. I then felt the huge pain flowing through my body as I felt my wing being pulled out

The timberwolf decided to go for my face. He backed his head off a bit and opened his mouth wide open, enough to go and try to bite my head off. I closed my eyes while trying a last time to get out, but I somewhat knew I wouldn't be able to.

Suddenly, I felt free again. I heard the cry of the timberwolf above me, while he flew away. I opened my eyes to see Quantum Gaze, hurrying to get me right up.

“There is no time to lose,” She told me and Fluttershy. “Just run!”

I didn't give any room for thought. I mindlessly started galloping behind Quantum Gaze right into the forest. Fluttershy followed us, seeing that the timberwolves weren't interested in being friendly anymore.

“Can't you try flying and taking some shots on them?” Gaze asked me as we ran. I could see Fluttershy's expression changed to regret. She didn't want to see these creatures dead.

I tried opening my wings, but something kept me from doing so. I can feel the pain going through me as I tried to fly. I guess the timberwolf actually got some damage on my only exposed area.This also gave us a second problem. Fluttershy wasn't that much of a flyer, and my wings are hurt. If we don't get Rainbow Dash out, we will have to make a trip to Canterlot by hoof.

“Yeah, I can't fly. Sorry!” I apologized for the inconvenience.

Yeah, now we are screwed really bad. I lost my rifle, and using a revolver, six bullets at a time, wouldn't save us from the amount of beasts following us. We found ourselves running for our lives in a desperate situation. I was in panic, worried of how I would get everyone out of here. I also left Artemis behind, getting me even more down on the emotional side.

“Aah shit!” Gaze complaint.

I took a look on what she was swearing what, and saw a rock wall right ahead of us. We stopped running, as there was no where for us to go now. The timberwolves had already caught up with us, and now, we were cornered once again. We are in big trouble!

“Fluttershy, can you try speaking with them?” I asked desperately as I tried to find solutions.

“I can try, but I don't think we will come to an agreement anymore!” She said. “I can see they are pretty mad at us!”

The timberwolves started closing up to us. My worries were just growing as I started to think we are not getting out of here alive, or at least with everyone unharmed at least. Fluttershy, if you are going to do something, you better do it now!

I closed my eyes. Nothing was going to happen. I know Fluttershy is scared, and after so much time, so am I. I have no idea how Quantum is feeling, she seemed worried, but dedicated to get us out of there. Over here I'm just wishing some kind of miracle happens, like one of the princesses drop down the sky and saves us, or anything at all. Any kind of convenience or cliché would be appreciated.

I heard the wolves' growls, and that just made me keep my eyes closed. “Can't we come to an agreement, mister wolf?” Fluttershy asked the wolves, but was only answered with more threatening growls. “They are mad at us because they didn't know they had one of their own as a "hostage".” Fluttershy directed her words to me. “I guess this is it then.” She disappointed gave up, and I was about too. I was ready to be hit by one of them. I have my eyes closed, my body ready for anything, and my mind in panic.

Suddenly, the growls stopped. I heard Quantum and Fluttershy gasping by my side. I suppose the timberwolves backed off, so I opened my eyes. I was surprised to see that the timberwolves haven't changed, but one of them was standing between us and them, facing their own kind. Threatening the timberwolf in the front, the two were in a confrontation, and I think they were communicating between themselves, as there was nothing but movement happening. I tried backing even more away, but I the rear part was already unconformable on the stone wall.

I have nothing else but to see what will happen. It's like one of them decided to give us a chance, or was standing by our side on this story. If I try to understand this, my head would just stop working, and I kinda need it now. Taking a closer look at the timberwolf, something inside me told me I knew that one, which got me confused. Artemis had marks on her wood, which helped me to keep track of her, but this one didn't, and besides, Artemis was, well, dead.

“A... A-Artemis?” I asked the timberwolf standing with us, just trying to make sure of what was happening. The timberwolf turned it's face with a grin to me, then went back to defending us. That was enough of an answer to me. Artemis was back... but with a slightly different body, just like a normal timberowlf. As soon as we get finished with this, I was going to give her a scarf Rarity gave me.

At this time, the two timberwolves were growling at each other, discussing something. I looked to Fluttershy, who seemed fascinated by the interaction. “Do you know what they are... "saying"?” I asked.

“Artemis is defending us. She is bringing up that you took care of her when she was helpless, and that you are a good pony, while the other one is saying you held her as a hostage and caused her death.” Fluttershy told me. “I have no idea of how this will turn out, but I doubt Artemis will give up on defending you.”

“She is... defending me?” I asked again.

“Yes. After she was left alone, you were the only one who took care of her, and even brought her back here to try and bring you back to life. She doesn't mind the moment she jumped on those raiders to protect us, she was sacrificing herself for her family, or in this case, just you.”

A flame lit up on my heart. Artemis really considered me as a family, just like I did to her. She was going up against her own kind just for me, and now I asked myself, would I do the same?

Minutes passed, and finally Artemis turned back to us. She had a smile on her timberwolf face, and now moved close to us. I knelled down to her and gave her a hug and put the scarf on her. I looked over to Fluttershy.

“Did she say anything?” I asked the yellow pegasus.

“Yes.” Fluttershy answered. “She said: "I made a deal with my own kind, you are all free to go now."”

“Wait... What about you?” I asked Artemis.

“She said: "I'm going to stay around for a few hours, to sort some things out. I'll meet you all later."” Fluttershy answered.

“But how?” I curiously asked.

“Timberwolves are hunters. They can hunt down their prey easily, or in your case, their family.” Fluttershy explained. I looked at Artemis, who just nodded her head confirming Fluttershy's explanation. That was sorta dark, just to know they can easily stalk you, but I don't really care. If it was an easy way for Artemis to find us, so be it.

“Alright girl, take care out there. I will catch you later.” I told Artemis as I patted her head. She nodded once again, and went back to the timberwolves and together they walked back into the forest.

I looked at Quantum and Fluttershy, who were by my side. “So, any of you know the direction we have to go?”

I could see not too far from us, another stone wall, but this time it had a boulder big enough to block a passage. I supposed that is where they are keeping Rainbow Dash, and that brought some thoughts in my mind. How was she living there? Was there enough food to keep her alive all this time? And is there someone watching her to make sure nothing happens?

Yeah, about the second question... I kept my revolver ready just in case. It's been a while since Fluttershy had been here, so she might not remember, and I'm not asking her to remember more about her time as a raider.

As I walked behind Fluttershy, who lead our way through the forest, I noticed she was looking at something by our left.

“Miss Fluttershy, is there something troubling you?” I asked. There mare kept silent, but I did not bother. She might be lost in thoughts, and I don't want to mess around with it.

Suddenly, Fluttershy stopped and turned her entire body in the direction she was looking. I took a closer look at my left side to see what had caught her attention. Not any sooner, I spotted a few gravestones by the distance, and looking back at Fluttershy, I was sure that was what caught her full attention.

“Excuse me everypony, I need to take a look at that...” Fluttershy said. “To open the cave, just push the boulder to the right, it's not that hard to do. I will catch with you guys in there.” She told us how to open the cave and then moved to the gravestones.

I opened my mouth and was about to say something, but Gaze had put her hoof in front of me and said. “Give her that moment.”

“Why? Are those gravestones... ?” I asked

“From her animals, yes. I was able to take a brief moment to look at them from here, and one of them are named after her pet, Angel.” Gaze told me.

“And how do you-”

“Fluttershy told me back at Canterlot, while we were waiting for you to show up.” She explained. “She told me she buried them around here, and that she also helped imprison Rainbow Dash near them. At the time she thought it would be nice to bury all her friends together, since she was a raider and all.”

“So you are telling me they planned to bury Rainbow Dash alive?” I asked.

“I asked the same thing. She told me even if she was a raider, she would only bury them dead, but Pinkie thought about imprisoning Rainbow at this dungeon.”

“I can't believe I lost so much information from not watching these mares back them...” The idea of knowing what went in the minds of all the Elements of Harmony made me curious. How did they know about dungeon locations, such as this, which was a secret even for me! I bet that Pinkie Pie knows a lot of things she is not letting out. I have to do my research later, because now, we had to save Rainbow Dash!

Moving to the boulder's left, I positioned my back hooves on the rock and pushed it with all my leg's strength, and as Fluttershy told us, it really wasn't that much of a deal, I was surprised that boulders this big were so easy to push. With the cave open, me and Gaze entered the cave. It was very dark, but we were lucky Gaze was an unicorn. Lighting up the way with her magic, we started going down the path of the cave.

As we turned a corner, I saw a shadow down the path. Quantum saw it too and found it strange. “Wasn't Rainbow Dash supposed to be locked down?” She asked.

“Rainbow Dash?!” I screamed down the path, but received no answer. “I don't even think that shadow was from a pony.” I whispered to Gaze. The shadow had already moved down the path, and we could only follow it down, as there was no where else to go.

Coming closer, I noticed the shadow was similar to a dragon... No. The shadow was from a...

“Is that...?” I heard a voice down the path. It was very familiar...

The shadow is from a draconequus, and I only know one in existence...

“Discord?”

Jumping out of the shadows, Discord jumped into me, wrapping his snake body on me and leaving me powerless. My revolver fell on the ground.

“You! You caused all this! How dare you to come back?! Haven't you seen that you caused enough destruction already?!” Discord blamed me. I had no idea of what he was talking about. Meanwhile, I tried to free myself.

“I... I have no idea of what you are talking about Discord! Let me go!”

“So you are telling me you haven't seen all the chaos all across the land? Liar!” Discord then got out of me, dropping me to the ground. I now could breath once again. “How about I take you to a little trip to the past and remind you of what you have done?” Discord then snapped his fingers, taking the three of us to space, where we floated above Equestria

But this one... it was different, it was alive again. Colorful...

Discord them took us Ponyville. “I bet you don't even remember the month of February, do you?” Discord asked me, angry.

Ponyville was new again, and this time, it had a big crystal castle in the middle of the town. I'm sure it wasn't there on January. "I happily answered all their questions and told they could find Twilight at her castle, duh, who don't know the princess lives there? how silly!" The words from the note Pinkie left echoed on my head. Discord took us even deep down, to an Underground level. It was a small cave, underneath the castle, but it seemed more like a rushed laboratory, and it's passage would go down to the Everfree Forest.

“Press the button Blades, I guarantee you won't regret it.” I heard another familiar voice speaking. Discord took us directly to the laboratory room, where surprisingly, I was standing with my usual agent suit, with two teammates down by my side. They were either dead or unconscious. In front of me... well, my old self, there was a scientist. Behind me, there was a mechanical tree, with wires following down the underground path, and it seemed very familiar to me... it was an mechanical copy of the Tree of Harmony! “I know you want it, and I know you will do it.”

“Why would I do such a foolish thing?” I threatened the scientist. I was unarmed, otherwise I'm sure I'd have shot him by now.

“Hahahaha” The scientist had now an evil-ish grin in his face, while laughing at me like a maniac. The scientist then threw an smoke bomb on the ground, and we were all unable to see anything.

Suddenly, coming out of the smoke, I could see myself again, going to a panel right by the side of the tree, he then looked to the sides, and slammed down the button. It then jumped back into the smoke, and, minutes later, the smoke settled down, with me facing the scientist, just like before.

“I knew you would do it.” The scientist happily said. “Enjoy your little piece of apocalypse, Falcon.” He then finished with another evil-ish grin in his face, and started walking. I, powerlessly, fell to the ground, and went unconscious.

Now, I was staring at something I thought could only be a nightmare. I realized my eyes were watering. Discord took us back to the vision of Ponyville, just like before. Suddenly, a giant beam of light came down on the castle, destroying it and leaving nothing left of it. The skies started turning grey, the ground went from a lively green to the dead brown ground we have nowadays. Ponies started panicking, and the whole place went to chaos. Discord took us back to the vision of Equestria from space. Snapping his fingers once again, a giant clock appeared in front of us. Discord started turning the pointers, making time go faster. I could see the slow spread of the chaos I caused on Equestria. Quantum Gaze gasped by my side. I looked directly at her and tried speaking, but I had no words.

“And if you haven't realized how much of a monster you are...” He snapped his fingers again, taking us to Canterlot, where I saw myself, running through the streets full of people on panic. Shots went off on the background. I was running back home!

Arriving there, my old self saw the house I lived in... It was completely on fire. Bursting in, I went in the looking for my wife and daughter, but... as I walked inside the living room... There was the body of my wife and daughter, laying on the ground, dead... They were shot...

My old self ran out of the house, his eyes crying in desperation. He ran directly at one of the guards at Canterlot, who were helping defend the area. That explained the shots.

“Falcon, that's good you showed up! We are in need of some assistence!” The guard exclaimed.

“Do you have any idea of who these ponies are?” My old self asked.

“I don't know, but they seem to be raiding towns all over Equestria, and their numbers are much bigger than ours. They have taken control over Manehattan, Ponyville and Fillydelphia already. ” The guard answered

Snapping his fingers once again. Discord took me to a flashback of what happened later. I had helped defend Canterlot, and I went directly to Ponyville, where the raiders ran off to. I wanted revenge from those who killed my family... That is why I lived my entire life up that hill... I was just waiting for the perfect moment.

Then, another flashback. It was Fluttershy. The only thing I saw was a small glimpse of her and her animals, then it instantly changed to the moment she was burying them, and then to the moment she became a raider... Because she had lost hope. Now I saw Pinkie Pie. She was running across the fields of what looked like a rock farm. She ran up to a house in the middle of the field and burst through the door. I saw her face of surprise, and then it changed to a view of her looking at what seemed to be five other dead ponies, killed by shoots. Pinkie's fluffy mane suddenly "deflated" and her face went to one similar to the one I first saw her with. Her pink coat got in a darker tone. She turned back to the house's entrance, and started walking away, with a grin in her face like if nothing had happened. Moment's later I was watching her as a raider once again.

“Do you see the lives you helped destroy? The countless deaths that happened just because of you?” Discord asked me.

“Discord, what happened on that day?” Quantum Gaze asked.

“I was helping the agents once again, searching for suspicious grows of magic in areas so we could keep Equestria safe. I felt one that went from the Tree of Harmony, the one that took away the Elements of Harmony, and right below Twilight's Castle. After we discovered the magic source was the same, and that it wasn't Twilight with another one of her crazy experiments, We decided to check it out.”

“Upon arrival, I stayed behind by the tree, while I send one of the squads inside. It was Falcon's Squad. Hours later, I saw a big beam of light landing directly at the Tree of Harmony and the Castle. Then everything happened. On the first day of March, I had no idea of what changed. I used my magic to search the past, and I finally discovered what happened in that day, even if I can't know the reasons.”

“All I know is that this bastard here-” He then picked me up by the throat. Quantum gasped. “-Is the one who caused it.” He then dropped me as he was finished

I opened my mouth to try and answer him, but I had no words. This was all surreal. I felt my body giving up as I tried to understand that I had destroyed the world. I fell to the ground as I tried to think of reasons of why to press that button. For some time now, I thought of me as the bringer of life... but I'm just the bringer of the apocalypse...

“Discord!” A voice echoed from distance. “That is enough! You don't get to be this mean to others!” The voice of Fluttershy started getting louder as she approached us.

“Fluttershy?” The tone of anger on his voice disappeared.

“Even if all you just said is true, you have no rights to threat him like that. Can't you see he doesn't remember what he did, just like everypony else? And don't even know why he did it?” Fluttershy reasoned with Discord, defending me, even after that...

“But Fluttershy, can't you see that it was because of him that you lost everything you loved?” Discord argued.

“It doesn't matter, he is trying to turn things around. To fix the world, and I do believe on him.” Fluttershy still held her position by my side. “Just because bad things happened, doesn't mean we should give up on the ones who did it. I never gave up on you. We should always show a little kindness to others, Discord!”

“But...” Discord tried to argue back.

“Discord...” Fluttershy took a closer look at him. “They brainwashed you too... The raiders... Is that why you are here?”

Discord stood silent. even if I was down on the ground, just like a dead body, I could see he was struggling, or at least his mind was.

“Snap out of it!” Fluttershy screamed at Discord. Discord fell to the ground like if he was suffering from a mental crisis. “Discord, it's me! It's your friend, Fluttershy!”

“Brainwash...?” Quantum Gaze asked curious.

“It's a theory of mine. I think that it is the reason why all the raiders are some sort of insane, and just like me and Pinkie, still have a chance to turn back to normal.” Fluttershy explained as she helped Discord up. “I'm not sure if it is the truth, but it makes sense.”

Brainwashing ponies? It does make sense, but who would be able to easily brainwash thousands of ponies in around 50 days?

“I'm going to stay behind, and check on Discord. You two go ahead, Rainbow Dash's cell should be just up ahead.” Fluttershy told us. I was still laying on the ground.

Quantum Gaze helped tried to help me up, but I hid my own face, ashamed from being the pony I'm.

“Come on Falcon, we have to go.” Gaze tried to convince me to get up.

“I'm sorry Gaze, I'm not moving, I'll never leave this place...” I said, curled in the ground, hiding the tears coming out of my eyes. “Not after what I did...”

I heard the sound of magic being used. Suddenly, my hoof lifted and Quantum grabbed it. Forcing me up, I gave up and got up, but I kept my head down. She used her magic again and pulled my hair up, making me lift my face.

“Look here, I know you have done some things on your past, and some you regret, but they are in the past. I don't care what you have done in there, because I know who you are now, and I know you want to fix this world.” She told me, trying to cheer me up. I was about to give her an answer, but I was surprised by her. Quantum leaned over with her eyes closed and gave me a kiss. I blushed hard and, other than that, didn't react at all. I don't know how to. “I'm going to stand by your side until the end, and I don't even believe that story, I'm sure you wouldn't be capable of such a horrible thing.”

I must admit, my heart was racing. Somehow, she really got me lifted up. The thoughts of terror and death on my mind vanished completely, and I was back to normal. And hey, she might be right about this not being real. Discord was under control, according to Fluttershy. Until I know more about the past, I'm not going to completely believe that, even if it seemed real and familiar enough.

And just as a last reminder: Using love as a way of getting me to work is cheap.

“So Rainbow Dash is in there?” Gaze asked.

“Yep.” I answered as I tried to get the door to open.

“Well, if you say so.” She continued. “I just think that, with the many other rooms around, and you trying to open that one for half an hour now, maybe you were just randomly choosing one.”

I looked at her, with no expression in my face. “Well, if you have a better plan than to try to look at the bright side of things and do what you can, I'm open-minded.”

“Hm...” She stood next to me thinking. “Ya got something that I can mold into a key or something?”

“Nope.” I answered. “Were you going to try and make a key by jamming it in the lock with your magic?” I asked curiously.

“Well, it is an better idea than you just lock-picking this lock.”

“I'm working with hooves here, alright?” I argued as I got back up, giving up on opening the lock. “You know, fuck it.”

I got my revolver out of it's holster and aimed at the lock. “Cover your ears.” I told Gaze before shooting it. When she got ready, I shot the lock. Bam! The sound echoed all the way through the cave.

With the door open, and a blasted lock on it. I used my front hoof to open the door as I got my revolver back to it's holster using my mouth.

“How do you even shoot with that on your mouth?” Gaze asked me out of curiosity.

“I use my tongue.” I answered before we continued. “It's much easier to shoot them as a unicorn, but as a pegasus, we just learn how to control the trigger with our tongues, although I would rather have some kind of technology that would just let me use my hoof, such as the grips and handles on the rifles. But in the end, you grow used to it.”

We continued, Gaze leading the way since she knew a spell to light up the way. I would follow. We now entered a room just like the others in this dungeon, except that this one had a rock bed on it, and a small lake on it. For a dungeon cell, this was a big one. Not huge, but enough to keep the one here with enough food and water, as well as some rest, but barely any light, as the torches stands around already burnt out.

“Rainbow Dash?!” I screamed, asking if she was there. Suddenly, I heard a sound coming from behind the rock bed.

“You're not getting me alive, you damn raiders!” The voice of a mare screamed from behind the bed.

So she is here after all. Me and Gaze moved to the side of the bed, trying to get to her.

“Back off! I have a gun!” She warned us. I wasn't afraid to be shot, so I went ahead. Gaze followed me, but tried to keep the light up so I could see. I turned and saw Rainbow Dash hiding behind the bed. She covered her eyes with her hoof. “Ugh! Turn them off, I can't see.”

Hm... She must have been here for a while to have grown used to the darkness.

“Rainbow Dash, I'm not a raider. I came here with your friend Fluttershy to rescue you and get you back to Canterlot.” I told her.

“Don't lie to me, Fluttershy is a raider!” Rainbow Dash argued. I looked to Gaze, but she had no answer as well. “Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy betrayed us, and probably already killed Applejack!” Rainbow Dash started screaming at us. She clearly didn't believe our words.

I took Gaze a few meters away and started whispering to her. “There is no way we can prove Rainbow Dash that Fluttershy is with us. If we bring her here she won't even be able to see her due to the light.”

“So what you suppose we can do?” Gaze whispered back, asking me.

“Well, all we can do is take her by force.” I told Gaze. She looked at  “I could drag her until we got back to Fluttershy, or you could use your magic to levitate her with us.”

“Well...” Gaze looked for words in her head. “I can barely levitate a gun, I don't know if I can handle carrying a pony around.”

I looked back to Rainbow Dash, who was rambling some words around and some groans due to the light, making her unable to see. “Guess I'll have to carry her then, but we will need a way to tie her down, otherwise she might fight back.”

“And do you have anything we could use to do that?” Gaze asked me.

“Hm...” I hummed as I searched my saddlebag for some kind of rope or something I could tie up. I have a few blankets I brought in case we needed to stick around for a while. I showed them to Gaze.

“We could use that. Tie some of them together and we will tie Rainbow Dash up, making her unable to move.” Gaze answered.

Minutes later, I was standing on top of Rainbow Dash, holding her down, while Gaze used her magic to tie her up. Once we were done, Rainbow Dash had all her 4 hooves and both her wings tied up, while being blinded so she didn't had to suffer because of the light of the day, outside the cave.

I positioned Rainbow Dash on my back so we could go back into moving, but she was still trying to free herself, giving me problems while moving. Her struggles were understandable, at least from my point of view. Imagine two strangers taking you out of jail, but forcing you to come with them, because you don't trust them. Yeah... That would not leave a good impression on either me or Quantum Gaze.

We started going back up again to meet with Fluttershy. As we arrived there, Discord was no longer with her, and she was crying on the ground.

“Fluttershy, what happened?” I asked her. Rainbow Dash started humming.

“Discord... He... He...” Fluttershy tried to speak, but was left with no words. She was speechless, and couldn't handle her emotions, and went back to crying again.

“Come on, Fluttershy, we will worry about Discord later.” Gaze ran past me to help Fluttershy up. “We got Rainbow Dash, now we need to get back to Canterlot. We can inform the others about Discord and then decide something from there.”

“But he...” Fluttershy tried looking for a reason to why not leave him, if he was still around.

“It's important we get you and Rainbow Dash back to safety.” Gaze replied, as she helped Fluttershy getting up. “Now, we need to get out of here. The Everfree is a dangerous place, and we already got what we came looking for.”

Fluttershy nodded, moving behind us. And so, we started hurrying up the pace to get out of the cave and back to our wagon.

Back at the wagon, we ran into another problem...

“How are we supposed to fly back to Canterlot now?!” Gaze asked me.

One of my wings is... well...

“I should have thought about a solution for this when you hurt you wings back at the forest.”

Broken.

“I mean, Fluttershy can still fly right? She could fly us back if we need to!” I replied

“Actually-” Fluttershy tried saying something, but was interrupted by the discussion between me and Quantum Gaze.

“I know Fluttershy more than you do, and I know she is not much of a flyer.” Gaze replied. “And it's also nighttime, how do you expect her to see anything?”

I must say the sky looked beautiful tonight, but the moon, no where to be seen. It was a strange night.

“Mmhp!” Rainbow Dash tried saying something, but the blanket on her mouth kept her from saying anything.

“How do you expect me to see then?” I asked her. This was turning into a discussion with no ending.

“You did fly during the night when you rescued me back at Fillydelphia, and now you are telling me you can't really see in the dark?”

“That was because I would start flying before the sunset.” I explained. “And still, I can't fly with a broken wing!”

“Mmhp!” Rainbow Dash continued trying to free herself and say something.

Me and Gaze continued discussing things for quite a few minutes. I bet if we had a home, I would have to sleep at the couch tonight.

“Enough!” I heard Rainbow Dash scream behind me. I turned to see that Fluttershy had helped her out. “You know you could have freed me when you got to Fluttershy back at the cave?!”

I kept silent, and so did Gaze.

“You proved me wrong about Fluttershy. she really came back to herself, and I could hear that from her voice when she spoke about Discord.” Rainbow Dash continued. “So I believe I own you guys one. Since I lived for weeks or months, Celestia knows how much time, in that cave, I grew used to the dark. What you say about me flying everyone back to Canterlot, with a little help from Fluttershy.” Rainbow Dash then turned to Fluttershy. “Been some time since I last flied. What do you say Fluttershy? Just like the old times.”

“Actually, I think I can help.” Fluttershy replied.

The two pegasi then moved to the wagon and changed it so there would be two fliers in the place of one. Me and Gaze stopped discussing and climbed on the back of the wagon. With everything ready, we started taking off. As we started to fly, Ponyville, that was fairly near us and lighten up as the raiders camped for the night, came in Rainbow Dash's vision.

“Aargh!” Rainbow Dash then mumbled a few things and she started to lose control of the flight. Fluttershy followed her so the wagon didn't fall. “The light! It still hurts my eyes!” She told us as she covered her vision. We weren't falling, but she was directing us right above the city. I hoped that we went fast enough for the raiders not to see us.

I opened my saddlebag with all the things I found useful, and started throwing them on the wagon's floor. One of those items is the book with my logs. I picked up the item I was looking for, my attachable scope. I started using it to check the city's activity's as we approached. What I saw brought us bad news.

I saw a bunch of raiders, running to the center of the city with guns. Big guns. I saw one of them carrying a semi automatic scoped FN FAL rifle. Those things would cause a lot of damage to a pony. Another pony in particular carried with him an RPG. I took my eye out of the scope as I saw that this would be trouble. If that RPG had a lock-on, everyone on this wagon could be a goner.

“Uh?” I heard Quantum making a sound of doubt as I picked my revolver out of it's holster and attached the scope into it, while moving myself to the front of the wagon.

I aimed carefully, I didn't want to miss a shot, even if we were moving. I could see the raider aiming directly at us, but taking some time to shoot. It probably had a lock-on. I shot three times, startling Fluttershy and Gaze, but Rainbow Dash kept calm.

I missed the two first shots, but fortunately got the raider right up on it's head, making him spin around a bit and shoot one of the houses on the city, putting in on fire. Getting out of the scope more and more raiders started coming out of the buildings, with weapons. From Remington 870s to AK-47s, some of them carrying some melee weapons. I lost the line of sight with the sniper, which was a bad sing.

As I stood on my two rear hooves to have a better shot on some of the raiders, I ended up finding the sniper again, but not before he fired a shot with that FN FAL of his. I felt the impact on my left leg. “Uugh!” I let out a small scream of pain. The bullet had gone through the wood of the wagon and burred itself up on the meat of my leg. I tumbled and tripped, falling out of the wagon.

“Falcon!” I heard Gaze screaming my name as I tried flying, but it was no use with a broken wing. I felt Gaze trying to use her magic to keep me from falling, but it was no use, her magic was too weak.

I kept falling, but I turned my vision to the ground. I was going to fall on the building that got hit by the rocket. It really wasn't my lucky day. The whole building but the third floor was on fire. If I survive the fall, the fire will probably spread and reach me.

I turned my back to the ground, so it would absorb most of the pain and the impact, closing my eyes so I could get ready for it. I also heard shots from all around me, trying to hit me in mid-air, but fortunately missing.

I felt the pain hitting me hard in my back and the sound of the roof breaking. After that, I was taken by darkness.

Day 51

Hello, this is Quantum Gaze and I'm writing this day for the log, simply because my special somepony, Falcon, the owner of these logs, was shot and now, I'm not sure if he is still alive of not. There is a big possibility that he might not survive through this.

The day started with us coming from Canterlot to here, aiming for getting Artemis, who is not even with us here too, back to life, and rescuing Rainbow Dash. Both of the objectives were reached and so we were departing back to Canterlot. Since Falcon's wing was broken due to a Timberwolf's attack, he was not able to fly us back, so with the help of Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, we took off. We ended up flying above a town dominated by raiders and that was when Falcon was shot and felt out of the wagon, protecting us. Unfortunately, we had to leave him behind against my own will. It was too dangerous.

I hope Falcon is okay and survived the fall. I want to send a rescue team as soon as possible.

“Ugh...” I said as I got up and left my bed, my wife and daughter were still sleeping, there was some time before I had to take my daughter to school. “What a nightmare...” I complained as I walked in the direction of the bathroom.

I turned faucet and left the water to fill up the sink. I looked at the mirror to see my face. Everything was like always. My yellow eyes were in check, my brown hair and it's yellow line were all messy from my sleep, and I lastly, my wings were all in place, fully functional.

“Was it all a dream...?” I asked myself as I stared at myself in the mirror. Looking back at my wife in the bed right back on the room. She was still sleeping, and I could see much of her, she was covered in the blankets. I looked at myself back at the mirror again, now with a strange look at my face. I then noticed the mirror was much more dusty now and had a huge crack on it. “Wait... This wasn't here before...” I talked to myself once again.

I looked at the water. The clean water from minutes ago was now red. Red as blood. I backed off from the sink and held myself against the wall. I looked around and the bathroom itself looked all destroyed, totally different from how it was before. To tell the truth, the whole house was destroyed, there was this whole hole in the ceiling, just like... the house... on the dream...

I ran from the bathroom to my wife on the bed, hurrying up and getting the blanket out of her. As I removed the blankets, I saw her body. Not a skeleton this time, but her body. I checked her pulse, and checked if she was still breathing.

Unfortunately, dream or not, I'm being haunted with a curse that seems to dislike my family. I started running out of the room, leaving the unconscious body of my wife on the bed. I had to check on my daughter, I had to check if she was still alive to!

Tripping and falling just as I got out of the room, I looked up to the door leading to my daughter's room, noticing that the walls and the house in general started falling apart in front of me. The open sky on the horizon started turning dark, but there was no change on the lighting in what I could see of Canterlot.

I got up and broke through the door, slamming in what was still left of the wall around it. My daughter appeared to be covered by the whole blanket, surrounded by the countless toys and plushies I had bought for her. I rushed directly to her bed to remove the blankets.

As I galloped to the bed, what was left of the walls, and also the ground, started going black, like if it was being erased. This had to be another nightmare. I couldn't have simply died and went to somewhere filled with nothing but grief. I removed the blankets to see...

A skeleton. The skeleton of my daughter.

“No...” I said as my eyes started to water.

“It's not possible...”

“This can't be.... No...”

I looked around as I held the skeleton in my hooves. My surrounding were being quickly taken by the darkness that erased the world. I could see that the city on the outside, also destroyed, was being taken by it, and I was standing on the only place left not taken by it.

Suddenly, the skeleton of my daughter disappeared into thin air, and everything went dark. I was falling in the middle of nowhere, I could hardly see myself, and I felt air passing through my body as I fell.

“You! You caused all this! How dare you to come back?! Haven't you seen you caused enough destruction already?!” I listened once again to Discord, I remember he told me that.

“I will now bring you down with me!” Discord said and then started laughing. I then saw his head flying in my direction, it was now much bigger than normal. As he got near, he opened his mouth wide, like if he was going to eat me.

I only saw his mouth covering me, and everything went dark again.

“Wake up.” I heard a soft voice minutes later. I then realized my eyes were closed.

I opened my eyes. It was dark, but there was a door, and light coming out from it. Standing on the entrance, there was a pony looking at me. It wasn't a simple pony, it was...

An Alicorn, I could now see the wings and the horn.

“It's not over yet.” The voice spoke with me again.

“Celestia? Luna? Cadance?” I asked the alicorn, but received no answer. The alicorn simply walked out and disappeared in the light. I got back on my hooves and walked through the door.