What Remains II: After the Fall

“Alistair,” Twilight breathed at a near whisper. “Is that really you?”

With a darkening shadow over his face, the boy simply nodded. “In the flesh.”

Her eyes widened at the confirmation. “So it really is you, after all this time. I thought you were a vision or a manifestation, I never imagined that after all the trouble it’s been; you’d show up right at our hooves.”

He passively shrugged. “Perhaps it was fated then, for the two of us to meet under such unusual circumstances. Sets the scene.”

“Sets the scene?” Twilight repeated. “For what?”

“A discussion of sorts, a little moment set aside to examine our responsibilities and faults at performing them.”

She sighed deeply. “Alistair, I’m sorry for not picking up on how you felt sooner. If I’d known I would've jumped on it immediately. It’s just I was so busy with what happened after the coronation, and Discord, and of course with Tirek, I didn’t have anytime to stop and think.”

Alistair’s eyes narrowed. “There were periods of time between these events, you know, entire months. A lot of chances to sit down and think about why we didn’t have our long talks anymore, or why I started spending less time at home, or just the general distance that was forming between us. You really did take your sweet time figuring it all out.”

“Things were hectic and I—”

“How’d you eventually discover one of your best friend’s true feelings anyway? Did you ransack my apartment or just ask one of your deity pals to pick apart my dreams for the answer?”

“Commodore told me,” she answered quietly.

“I expected as much, choosing the course of action that doesn’t make you contemplate what you did wrong, makes the entire process so much easier.”

“What was I supposed to do!?” Twilight yelled. “Stumble around in the dark without a clue to where in Equestria you might be? I worried for you, put the effort in piecing together as much information as I could, and you repay me through insults and sarcasm. Who’s being neglectful now?”

“Don’t you lecture me!” Alistair said with a poisoned stab of his finger. “I’ve been dreaming of this moment since that crown was first placed atop your head. You’ve had this little confrontation coming for a long time and now I finally get the joy of delivering it.”

“What have you been even doing since you disappeared?” She gestured toward the blue-grey combat vest and pants he wore. “I would assume you’re not living in some gutter considering the quality of your clothing.”

“I’ve been thinking over things, contemplating, examining the world with a group of likeminded individuals.”

“That doesn’t tell much.”

“It’s not supposed to.”

Twilight sighed once again, this time in growing apprehension. “You've changed Alistair, I’m not sure exactly what it is or who’s responsible, but you are not the same little human I dragged out of that muddy ditch all those years ago.”

“Maybe to you, but I’ve grown a new understanding of the system you represent, the system that’s stifling Equestria’s true power and preventing it from unleashing its fullest potential. I’ve learned the ways of magic you claimed were for the weak and evil. And soon, you will finally feel my vengeance!”

She raised her hooves calmly and took a few steps toward him. “Alistair, you’re letting your emotions rule your judgments. This isn’t the real you and you know it. Now please, let’s just stop for a moment and think about this. It’ll be just like before, I promise. We’re still friends after all.”

“No!” he screamed while taking a few steps back, clutching the stolen spell book tightly. “You’re just trying to take advantage of me, like you did all those other times! If there’s one thing you’ve taught is that you can never rely on anypony but yourself. Friends? They will always let you down, no matter what circumstances.”

“Alistair, please—”

“Get away!” he said irately, stretching out his free hand toward her. “I don’t want to hurt again!”

It was at that moment a torrent of blue electricity crackled out from Alistair’s fingertips and shot towards Twilight at a near blinding speed. Catching the lightening in a brisk force field, she redirected the energy to the floor and continued to approach him.

“This isn’t going to solve anything.”

Flipping his wrist in a sideways motion, a small cyclone of wind materialized out of thin air and hurtled towards Twilight. Undeterred, she simply swatted the force aside while shaking her head.

“My power far surpasses anything you can manage, Alistair. It doesn’t matter what you learned or who taught you, I am an Alicorn and you are not. Now please, stop this.”

He hopped backwards an unleashed another torrent of blue electricity from his palms. The attack was once again easily deflected.

“You’ll think I’ll give up just like that? I know I can beat you I just have to try harder!”

Catching the third wave of lightening, Twilight countered with a single blast of energy from her horn. Slamming square into his chest, Alistair was sent sprawling to the floor while the book was sent sliding across the floor.

Twilight now stood over him as he clutched at his chest in pain, breathing heavily while staring daggers back up at her saddened gaze.

“Are you willing to listen now, after you made me stoop to violence just for you to hear me?”

He didn’t respond.

“I still consider you my friend and I still think we can work this out between us. We’d still enjoy one another’s company, still appreciate and care for each other when we both need it most. I’m not going to lie and say things will be just like they were before but at least we can put things back on the right track. What do you say?”

He was silent for a moment and then slowly shook his head. “No, it’s too late for that. What I was, what I cared about and lived for is gone. My friends, my bliss, even my old interests have been taken from. Not by anypony in particular, but just by the world continuing to change.”

“In my home, back in the Realm of Solitude, nothing changed unless I wanted it to. Things were tranquil and understandable; I could maneuver through an entire world with nobody else but me and feel content with the order and harmony that had naturally been formed around it. But here? Things change and no pony remains consistent.”

“I overlooked this when I came here; I was willing to accept the indeterminate in this world in exchange for relationships that seemed to be forged of steel. I saw how you acted with your merry circle of friends, saw how we acted around one another, and I was thoroughly convinced that that was the nature of things. But once you accepted that position of royalty, chose to disregard the wonderful life you already had, I realized that all relationships are never built to last.”

“So no, I don’t forgive you and I’m not sure if I ever will. But what I do know is that I’m going to get that book off the floor, march right out of this blasted chamber, and plan how I will inevitably repay you for ruining my life.”

“I can’t let you do that,” Twilight breathed.

“Really?”

Flipping his right hand suddenly forward, a blinding light exploded out of the his palm right in Twilight’s face. Stunned, she stumbled backwards long enough for Alistair to hop back to his feet and command the fallen book back to his outstretched hand. Catching it, he raised his other arm toward one of the massive vertical bookshelves and telekinetically pulled down on it, tilting the structure ever so slightly and sending it hurtling to the floor.

Finally getting her bearings, Twilight thrust forward with all of her might and caught the bookcase just before it crashed to the floor and where she stood. Struggling against her dulled senses and magical exertion, she caught a glimpse of Alistair sprinting out of the library atrium with the mysterious violet spell book clutched under one arm.

In that split second lapse, Twilight could feel her shaky concentration suddenly snap and watch helplessly as the wooden bookshelf crashed to the ground. The last thing she remembered was the dark and painful slam against her body.

And then, nothing.