The Mane Twelve

"H-How is it possible?" Thyme asked Death as she gazed at him puzzled, Death's golden eyes looking at her, showing no emotion.

"This incident is a thing of the past. One cannot journey back and thus, cannot alter his future." said Death as he turned his look towards the void.

The space all over them was blank. As far as the eye could see, there was only emptyness. No sound either. They were stepping nowhere and seemed to be floating, although they were walking normally.

Thyme's puzzled look faded after hearing Death's latest sentence.

"Then let me ask you," she said, her voice calm now, "What do you want from me?"

Death turned his look once again at Thyme.

"I am not fond of repeating myself but for your case, I will. I recruited you."

"I'm...not sure if I understand."

Death started walking away. Wherever he stepped, the void started shifting, ground starting to appear beneath them, a vast valley appearing out of pure nothingness. Above them, a sky full of stars, shining bright in the dark night and the moon welcoming them like an old friend. Death stopped suddenly and stood next to a big, old tree. Its leaves were rustling from a gentle breeze, making Death's bland and dark mane flow as well. Thyme wasn't sure of Death's intentions but did she have a choice? She walked towards him. Death looked at her and pointed at the grass. The gesture seemed to be an invitation to sit.

"The meaning of the word is what it truly means," Death started talking after Thyme sat under the tree, "I want you to join the Ponies of the Apocalypse. Your skills are extraordinary. Your persuasion can open the eyes of other ponies. You are...Truth."

"What makes you think I will join you, Death?" said Thyme, her tone slightly raised now, somewhat disgusted by his naive speech.

Death looked down for a moment. After a while, he looked straight forward again and the environment in front of them changed once again. Two pathways formed, one to the right, the other to the left. Death started walking towards the left. All of a sudden, Thyme started hearing voices. Familiar ones as well. She looked around. After looking at the right path, she saw some ponies that seemed to be waiting for her. It was Twilight and Quill Soul and everypony else. Thyme immediately got up and began to ran towards that path.

"Think of it!" Death slightly yelled, making Thyme stop instantly, "If you choose this way, your death is undoubtable."

"I don't care," said Thyme with joy in her words, "If we're going down, we're going down fighting."

There was a moment of silence between them for a while. After waiting and receiving no answer, Thyme started running once again to her friends. Death's shallow look kept looking at her as she moved away.

"Little do you know that there wasn't a choice." Death said to thin air and as the shadows engullfed him, he spelled one more word.

Truth

Thyme shut her eyes open and looked at her friends looking right back at her, a look of relief in the two unicorns' faces. Thyme got up and was greeted with a warm welcome from Twilight and Quill Soul. After smiling back at them, she looked around, looking for Heartfire. She saw him standing next to a window, gazing outside. He didn't seem to worry about Thyme's awakening. Thyme approached him and sat next to him, looking outside as well.

"Something troubling you?"

"Oh, hey, you're awake," replied Heartfire after a short while. "What happened to you?"

"I...I guess I passed out." Thyme said.

Heartfire nodded at her and walked towards the two unicorns, Thyme following right behind him. She looked at him with a worried and puzzled at the same time look. He didn't worry a lot about her. He didn't even care the least, to be presice. What had happened to Heartfire on that battlefleet? That question repeated itself inside Thyme's mind, seeking an answer, as all four of them started walking.

Apart from that, Thyme was also worried about that, 'incident' with Death. He said he had 'recruited' her yet she refused. Did Death really let her go just like that? It all seemed...easy. To make matters worse, he also mentioned that, if she chose her friends, they would all die. Better than join with creeps like him. she thought.

As they walked in what seemd like another endless corridor, Thyme started feeling...dizzy. Her head felt like a million tons and her feet were tired, even though she was walking for less than an hour after waking up. She kept strong however, catching up to Heartfire. She was too weak to speak but she thought that by showing him her condition, he would be able to guess.

"Hm?" said Heartfire after he looked at Thyme. "Hey, what's wrong?" he said, suddenly stopping.

Thyme all of a sudden collapsed once again. Heartfire grabbed her before she could fall and laid her gently on the ground. He put his head on her chest, trying to find a pulse. There was none.

"No...No!" shouted Heartfire.

Thyme kept her eyes closed as she fell to the void. It felt like hours as she kept on falling and falling without ever reaching a bottom.

W-Where am I? Who am I?

Out of the blue, pictures started flashing in her head.

What's...what's going on?

She saw a small filly, her coat white as snow, inside a crowd of dark-coloured ponies. The filly isn't smiling. She seems sad. As if she doens't belong there. An older pony, an alicorn, approaches her and pats her head. The filly smiles at him. Although dark-coloured as well, he doesn't seem to stare at her, let alone talk about her behind her back. His golden eyes, looking at her friendly, a weak smile on his face. The filly hugs his hoof.

I...don't understand. What is this?

A new picture flashes. An older unicorn, a teenage one, waking up, all alone, heading outside, heasitating to open the door, leaving it as it is and walking back up at her room. It is that filly. She sits next to her window and looks outside, a world completely dark, only the bright sun shining in the far distance. The mare decides to pack, leave and never return.

Who...Who is this poor mare? Why does she leave her home?

Yet another new picture. The mare, sitting in a cafe, late at night. A young pegasus about her age enters the almost empty cafe, his presence making the whole place shine. The mare smiles to herself and gets up, heading to the pegasus. They start a conversation. The mare sits with him. They talk for hours, laugh, share experiences. She finally seems...happy.

She is happy. I'm glad for her.

Fourth picure, taking over the last one. The mare is in a crowd of ponies. She wanders around, feeling alone once again. A stallion approaches her, his familiar voice making her gasp in amazement and joy as she turns around to notice the pegasus she had met at that cafe, that night. They start talking, luaghing together. As the night falls, the mare visits the stallion, sits next to him. They both look at the moon when suddenly the stallion says something that makes the mare blush. It wasn't long before they kissed. The mare feels a warmth in her heart. She's...in love.

Love. I knew she would fall in it sometime. Everypony eventually does.

After that, no more picures. Everything was black for one more time, just like before the flashes. Thyme kept diving in the abyss.

"You decided to ignore me after all." said a mysterious voice.

W-Who is there?

"Pity. However, not all is gone. You belong somewhere." kept talking the mysterious voice.

Belong? Where? Where do I belong?

"You belong with us. All you have to do is open your eyes...Truth."

Truth...

Thyme opened her eyes and the void started shining, blinding her sight. Cracks could be heard from every direction and suddenly, the surroundings shattered into pieces, revealing four walls. Thyme started glowing bright red, a big boom of energy storming out of her body, releasing her braid, making the walls leak blood. See truth. Feel truth. Embrace truth. could be heard repeatadly as the walls kept leaking even more blood every minute. Thyme started screaming as she felt an ache in her eyes. Now, although open, her eyes were still seeing black. She felt her cheecks with her hooves, feeling the sense of a liquid. She blindly followed the trail to find its source coming from her eyes. She was...blinded.

"Truth is blind yet very powerful." said the mysterious voice, "Embrace it. Use it."

Thyme suddenly heard metal clanging approaching her. She tried to flee but the chains were still approaching, grabbing her tightly. She struggled to free herself but the chains were too powerful. The pain got even worse as she felt her hooves get pierced. The chains were spiked, making her hooves bleed.

"It is hard," continued the voice, "but it is only temporary for it is sacrifice that grants you power. Truth hurts. It feels nothing if it hurts."

All that pain could not get any worse yet it did. Thyme gasped for air when she suddenly felt her chest being pierced, her heart being squeezed brutally. She screamed in pain as she felt her insides being ripped out of her, seperated from her body. She couldn't stand the shock and passed out soon after.

"Thyme, wake up, Thyme!" Heartfire shouted as he shook Thyme, trying to get her out of her comatose.

All of a sudden, Thyme's eyes and mouth opened wide, bright light coming out of both. Thyme started screaming as her body started disintergrating, the light getting brighter as she split in pieces. Heartfire was speechless.

Thyme was now gone. Heartfire grabbed his head with his hooves, looking down in pure shock, his eyes wide open, still trying to get over what just happened right in front of his bare eyes. Twilight and Quill Soul could not help but feel shocked as well, one of their friends being 'destroyed'. Twilight started crying, mourning for yet another dead friend. Quill Soul was the most shocked. She fell against the wall, slowly sliding down, her eyes side open as her glasses left her head and fell to the ground.

Heartfire stood up and approached one of the glass windows that were located to their right in complete silence. He suddenly gave out a shout of loss and puched the window, shattering it as his hoof passed through like it was paper. Heartfire slowly moved his hoof back and looked at it, small fragments stuck on it, blood dripping from it. He gritted his teeth as he looked at the moon. He gave out another shout, this one a little longer than the last one. He looked down and grabbed his head once again, his eyes now shut, trying to hold back tears that were welling on his eyes. It was no use. The tears got through and started falling to the floor, their small splash being the only thing to be heard in the empty corridor apart from the heavy breathing and moaning.

"Moaning will never bring back the lost."  said a voice coming from the front part of the corridor, only a few steps away.

Heartfire slowly turned his head to the left, looking at the dark alicorn with the pale mask, Death. He stayed silent, his tears gone, looking at Death just as how he looked at him, with a dead look in his eyes. Death started walking, his movements slow as he approached the three ponies.

"I am surprised to see this reaction. Usually, ponies would scream and panic, run around in fear." said Death as he kept walking towards them. "But do not worry. Your, friend is not dead."

Heartfire's eyes lit up as he heard that. He immediately left that window and stormed at Death, grabbing him by his cloak. Death's attitude didn't change. His bright golden eyes still looked at him through his mask. Heartfire's eyes now seemed full of fire and hatred.

"Where is she?"

Death stayed silent, still looking at Heartfire in the eyes.

"Answer me!!"

Death slowly raised his hoof, pointing at Heartfire's. Heartfire started feeling an itch, a burn. He looked down to see his hoof starting to get darker. Heartifire quickly let go of Death's cloak, still feeling the pain in his hoof. Death lowered his hoof.

"Do you really wish to see her? The pony whose heart you broke?"

Both Twilight Sparkle and Quill Soul looked at Heartfire in wonder. Heartifre stayed silent. He looked down.

"Tell me. Would you really do anything for her?"

"I...I would DIE FOR HER!!!" Hearfire yelled at him and stormed at him punching him in the face.

Death was caught off-guard as his mask fell to the ground and his mane covered his face. Death gave out a grin that seemed to show even if his mane was covering his mouth. He used is magic to get his mask from the ground. Suddenly, Death gave out a small chuckle.

"You really mean what you say, young stallion? Then you are a fool." he said, still chuckling.

Death suddenly raised his hoof, pointing it at Heartfire. Heartfire felt a force out of the blue seizing his breath. He struggled to breathe as he was lifted in the air. Death's chuckle started getting a little louder, turning into a laugh. Twilight got up on her feet and and charged her magic, blasting a sphere towards Death. Death turned his look, the sphere clashing with him, not even making a single scratch. Death's laugh carried on as he turned his look back at Heartfire. His laugh was cut short as a unicorn appeared behind him out of nowhere. The unicorn was dressed royally, wearing a fabulous dress, her eyes covered by a long scarf that waved all by itself, her bright silver mane shining from the moon. Death put his hoof down and fell Heartfire fell to the ground. As he put his mask back on, the unicorn walked towards him, now standing next to him. She looked down, at Heartfire.

"Who is this pony with the fiery aura, master?" she asked Death.

"I believe you already know, my apprentice. I apologise for what you saw. Let us leave them." replied Death and cloaked himself with the shadows, dissapearing in them.

The unicorn took a moment to look at each pony accordingly, spending the most time looking at Heartfire. She then started walking away, vanishing in the shadows while walking.

Quill Soul was still sitting against the wall, looking down, her eyes looking like a dead pony's. At one moment, a dark fire started burning next to her, giving rise to a dark pegasus. Dark Equun.

"Hey. You okay?" asked Dark Equun.

"No Dark. I'm not okay." said Quill Soul, turning to him, looking slightly angered.

Twilight Sparkle turned her sight at Quill Soul, looking in wonder as she talked to thin air.

"I thought you protected ponies. That you would protect us! Then why didn't you protect us now?!"

Dark Equun stayed silent and looked at Quill Soul as she slowly broke down into tears. He leaned and picked up her glasses, putting them on her face right after he slowly wiped the tears off her eyes.

"Listen, I'm not here for them. I'm here for you. It's my responsibility to help you. But if you want me to protect both you and your friends, then I will."

After saying that, Equun sat next to her again and gently held one of her hooves.

"I...I don't want to lose...my only friend."

Quill Soul stayed silent for a while after hearing that sentence. She slowly moved towards Dark Equun and gave him a tight hug, Dark Equun still looking forward through his white mask.

"I'm sorry Dark. I forgot how much you mean to me..."

Heartfire took a moment to take a breath and get up, shaking his head in confusion. Twilight approached him and used her magic to heal his hoof. Although it wasn't fully healed, it was better than an ever-lasting pain. Heartfire pulled himself together and looked at the end of the corridor or at least as far as his eye could see.

"Who was that unicorn?" he asked thin air.

He shook his head once again and pulled himself together.

"Come on you two, we have a plan to follow." he said to the two unicorns and started walking.

Twilight nodded and followed behind him. Dark Equun gave Quill Soul a boost and soon, all three of them started walking again.

Back at the upper floor, Nightmare Chaos stood on his two back legs, his front hooves raised in the air as he looked at the moon. Death and the unicorn appeared out of the shadows behind him.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Nightmare Chaos asked.

Death approached him and looked at the moon as well, whereas the mysterious unicorn stayed behind keeping silent. Right next to Nightmare Chaos, deascending from the ground, Conquest.

"War and Famine?" Nightmare Chaos carelessly asked.

"Both alive, following your orders my lord." Conquest immediately answered.

Nightmare Chaos gave out a small chuckle as he stood on his four hooves again.

"All according to plan." Nightmare Chaos muttered to himself.