Chapters Memories of a Future's Past
“Ugh. Why does Twilight have sooo many books?” Rainbow Dash complained as she pulled a wagon piled high with all kinds of books in different shapes and colors. Next to her Fluttershy was having a hard time pulling her own wagon and stopped to take a breather as Rainbow Dash stopped and rolled her eyes at her friend.
“I don't know why she keeps all of them.” Fluttershy said breathlessly as she looked at her impatient friend. “I'm sorry Rainbow. I'm just not used to this much work.” she added hanging her head a bit low.
“It's alright.” she shrugged as they began to pull their wagons along the big corridor towards the room at the end. “The sooner we get rid of all these books the sooner we could get something to snack on and take a break.” Rainbow smiled.
Trotting around a corner Apple Jack almost bumbed into the two pegasi as they all came to a stop looking at each other. She was wearing her saddle bags as she sat down on the cool floor for it was a hot day out today. Taking off her hat and wiping her forhead she replaced her hat before speaking to her two good friends.
“Have ya'll seen Twilight?”
“I think she was in the map room looking over a few books.” Fluttershy mentioned as Rainbow rolled her eyes once more and looked at the two overly full wagons.
“Thanks.” Apple Jack said as she got back on all hooves and started to trot her way towards the map room. After turning a corner she was out of view as the two pegasi started making their way down the hall once more.
“I wonder what that was all about...” Fluttershy said aloud.
“Who knows. Let's just get this over with.” Dash complained once more.
“Let's see...” Twilight said to herself before shaking her head. “Arrggg. These notes just don't make any sense.” Sighing to herself she shut the book she was studying when Apple Jack came walking in. Smiling at her friend Twilight got off her throne and made her way over to the earth pony.
“Hello Apple Jack.”
“Hiya Twi.” she replied as she stopped in front of the princess. “How's the studying coming along?” she asked as she sat down on the floor.
“Don't get me started.” she threw a hoof up in the air. “I just can't make heads or tails of all this gibberish.” Twilight then noticed Apple Jack had her saddle bags on and asked, “Heading off to somewhere? I thought you and Big Mac were going to work on the southern fields since we haven't had any friendship problems come up recently.”
“Well that there's a funny story, Twilight.” Apple Jack started as she scratched the back of her head making her hat tilt forward a bit. Sitting down next to her friend Twilight listened to her explain what had transpired earlier that day.
“You see while me and Big Mac where tiling the southern fields getting them ready for the new apple trees that were coming in his plow got stuck and he couldn't move it any further. I thought maybe he chipped the blade, again, and I unhooked myself and wandered over to him.”
“Well that wasn't the case.” she stopped for a moment before continuing. “Well we were both puzzled as to what could make my brother stop in his tracks and thought it might ave been a big rock or something and moved the plow back to get a closer look. Well....it wasn't a rock for sure. I don't know what it is actually. Never seen anything like it before really.”
Reaching back she pulled out a small metal square that was attached to a metal band that almost looked like it could fit around somepony's hoof. Laying it on the ground in front of Twilight she just watched the alicorn pick it up with her magic to get a closer look at it.
“I mean we all know how strong my brother is and this little thing stopped him completely in his tracks.” she added as she saw Rainbow and Fluttershy walk in and waved to them.
“What's that?” Dash asked as they headed over to their friends.
“I don't know...” Twilight said as she turned it over and over with her magic. “Apple Jack found it in the ground where they were working this morning.”
“On the south part of the farm?” Rainbow asked as Twilight just nodded. Taking a seat in her chair she smiled as Fluttershy brought her a drink and then hopped into her own chair.
“It's pretty.” she chimed in as Apple Jack just chuckled then turned her attention back to Twilight.
“What ya think, Twi?”
“Well,” she started and then turned to her friend, “I have no idea. I've never seen this kind of metal before and to think it could stop some pony as strong and Big Mac so easily there must be something special about it.”
“Special about what, dear?” Rarity asked as she just entered hearing the last part of her conversation. Spike was close on her hooves, like usual, as she gracefully trotted over to her chair and took a seat. Seeing the item that Twilight was hovering close she smiled and asked, “Oh is that a new accessory from Canterlot?”
“It's some piece of junk that AJ found in the dirt.” Dash commented aloud not really interested in it.
Glaring at her pegasus friend Rarity turned and asked, “May I see it?” Twilight nodded and waited for Rarity to take it with her magic. After a moment or two she looked a bit puzzled at her unicorn friend.
“I thought you wanted to see it.”
“I do but for some reason I can not get my magic around it.” she said. Twilight blinked and then set it down on the big round table in front of her.
“Try now.” After a few more moments Rarity just shook her head and looked a bit worried that maybe her magic had stopped worried. She turned to Rainbow Dash and used her magic to move the straw out of the way when she tried to take a drink and it went strait up her nose.
“Ack! Rarity!”
The other ponies just laughed as Rarity said, “Well my magic is just fine. But I am curious on how come I can not wrap it around this little thing.”
“Is it really heavy or something?” Spike asked as he walked over and picked it up with ease before setting it back down on the table. “Guess not.” He shrugged as he then wandered off.
“Very curious indeed.” Twilight echoed as she wrapped her magic around it once again and levitated it off the table. At that moment there was a loud crackle and a hiss which startled everypony and it got their full attention. Even Rainbow Dash sat up in her chair as she was laying on her back across it.
“What was that?” Apple Jack asked as they all stared at it waiting for somepony to answer. Twilight was about to open her mouth and say something when it beeped a few times and a large glowing screen projected out of it above the round table as everypony's eyes followed along looking up into a pale green square. There was a flashing dot which seemed to last forever in the silence that followed before it started to move on it's own followed by words and numbers.
Initializing....
Alpha command loading V1.34....
Command loaded.
Processing the Zenith Information Network (Z.I.N.)...
Unable to connect.
Loading recording interface...
Error. Unstable interface.
Loading playback interface...
Playback complete.
Do you wish to start playback?
All six of the ponies just looked at each other with speechless faces as not a single one of them knew what to do let alone say. AJ moved closer to Twilight and whispered, “What now Twilight? Should we see what this thing is or...?” Her friend just shook her head slightly as she replied.
“I am very curious to see what this thing is. I am sure it's not going to do us any harm. Plus don't you want to see what is on here? It looks like it could be some kind of information keeping...thing.” Twilight had no other word for it.
“Okay but I'ma leave it all to you. It's yours so you can do what ever you want with it.” Twilight nodded to her friend before looking back up to the pale green screen while it silently waited for an answer.
“Here goes nothing...” she said as she took a quick look around the room and saw all her friends watching the screen wondering what's going to happen next. “Start playback?” Twilight was not sure what the right answer was so she just went with that. The pale green screen cleared itself before replacing it with more information.
Please select file:
File: 0001
File: 0002
File: 0003
File: 0004
File: 0005
File: 0006....
The list seemed to go on forever as Twilight watch it list file after file before she shook her head and called out, “Play file: 0001.”
File: 0001 loading...
Loaded. Starting playback...
The screen went black for a few moments before it then showed what looked like somepony's house or something for the screen seemed to be very shaky. It settled after a few moments before a young unicorn's face appeared and she seemed to be looking directly at all of them. Fluttershy eeked and hid under her wings and Rainbow tilted her head as she watched the screen almost confused about the whole thing.
"Ohhhhh!!! I'm soooo happy." the filly said as she smiled brightly. "I can't believe daddy was picked to take one of these home with him." she closed her eyes as she beemed with joy which made those that were watching smile along with her.
"Prism come back to the party!" Called another voice from another room.
"Looks like I gotta go for now. Hey there's my family and friends." The screen seemed to move from her face to the ponies in the kitchen as they were about to set out the cake. "Say hi everypony!" she called out as they smiled and waved to her before the screen moved and it was her off white face again. "Talk to you later!" she smiled once more before the screen went black and then returned to that pale green color they first saw and the files started to show once more.
"Well I say that was unexpected." said Rarity as she looked around at her friends.
"She looks like you." Dash called out as she turned towards her.
"Maybe in looks but I do not know who that pony was. Does anypony recognize her?" They all looked at each other for no one had the answer to that question.
"The question is who is she and where did this come from." Twilight said as she started to think. "Maybe if we take a look at the next file we can get some more information on her and perhaps this thing that once belonged to her?" she questioned as her friends nodded in agreement. "Okay. Let's see what the next one is then." Twilight loaded up the second file and as the screen went black, as like before, Spike came walking back in and jumped up into his seat next to Twilight.
"What's going on?" Twilight just hushed him and told him to watch as the screen flickered a few times before coming into focus before going out of focus once more.
"Ohhh work you stupid thing." said the same young voice from the first file. Coming back into focus once again she sighed as a feint crimson glow surrounding a few tools floated by and off screen. "Finally got the settings right on this thing." It moved around a bit and they seemed to be close to the ground moving up and down untill the pony stood infront of a full size mirror.
Prism looked at her own reflection in the mirror and held up her right front leg and moved it back and forth while looking into the mirror. The ponies that were watching would see it go from the mirror, to her face and back to the mirror a few times as she turned it around as if looking at the device itself.
"It's been only three days since I got the Z.I.N. Such a silly name for it but that's okay." She squeaked slightly and that bright smile returned to her face. "I still can't believe daddy got it for my birthday." She turned it towards her now and was looking directly at it once again.
"So this will be my first real entry so here goes." She cleared her throat briefly before she got started. "Hello! I am Prism Nyte and this is my Z.I.N." she giggled at herself before continuing. "Anyways all my other friends from school are going to be sooooo jealous that I have one of these. I think my dad was saying that they only made like 3 or 4 prototypes of them and he was lucky enough to be called in the raffle to take one home for a few months to try it out."
She went on for a bit about her family and how school was going for her and about this earth pony that she has liked for a while but was to shy to go talk to him. Rainbow just snickered as Rarity and Fluttershy both "awww'ed". She was a pretty little filly, an off white color with a beautiful mane of light blue and dark crimson in it. Her tail was styled just like her mane and matched perfectly.
"I have got to try that look sometime." Rarity said to herself but was loud enough for everypony else to hear. Twilight just smiled and shook her head as her eyes went back up to the screen as Prism seemed to be ending her entry.
"Well tomorrow's a big day. It's the last week of school before summer starts and we're supposed to head into the city and go see the new animal park they just built. See you next time!" she signed off with a smile and the screen returned back to the file menu.
"So I am going to go out on a limb and say this is some kind of diary?" Rarity turned and asked Twilight.
"I'm not sure but it looks like it could be something like that. Still though," she took a moment to gather her thoughts before continuing, "I've never seen or heard of anything that could do something like this and you just found it in the dirt on your farm?" she turned towards AJ.
"Ayep." she nodded mimicking her older brother. Twilight still seemed to be lost in thought before being pulled back to reality by Rainbow Dash.
"You going to play the next one or what?"
"Oh yes, sorry." she sheepishly smiled and then composed herself. "Please play file : 0003." she called out to the screen.
Loading....file corrupt.
"What does that mean?" Fluttershy asked. All Twilight could do was shrug and try the next one.
Loading....file corrupt.
It wasn't until the sixth file that they got something going. As the screen came on it looked like Prism was pacing back and forth in what must be her room making heavy hoof steps.
"Great. Just great." she said annoyed. "We WERE supposed to go see the animals today but nooooo they just HAD to call daddy into work today." She huffed angrily and sat down so her reflection could be seen in the mirror for the Z.I.N. was facing it. The ponies almost had to tilt their heads to see correctly for it seemed the screen was sideways.
"He's always doing this..." she sniffled as she brought up the hoof with the device on it and looked into it. She had tears in those bright crimson eyes of hers. A small sniffle could be heard from Fluttershy as Prism wiped her eyes and jumped onto her bed and layed down with the Z.I.N. facing her so she can look into it.
"I really wished he didn't work so hard...sure every once in a while something really good happens but most of the time he is gone at work." Prism closed her eyes and gave a soft sigh. "Maybe one day he will stop working so hard and spend some time with us."
With that she just turned off the device and the screen went black. All the friends remained silent for a few moments each feeling a bit touched by this last recording. Apple Jack was the first to say something to break the silence as her friends turned towards her.
"I wonder what her dad did for work? I mean he must've been a smart pony if he worked where they made that thing." she said as she pointed a hoof at the Z.I.N. that laid on the table with the pale green light proceeding out of it.
"Shall we continue?" Rarity asked Twilight as she just nodded and asked to play the next file.
File: 0007 loading....
As the black screen came to life with colors they could tell it was immediately a better mood for there was giggling and squees of delight which seemed to be coming from a few ponies.
"Okay okay hold on. I gotta record this real quick then I'll tell you." Prism said to another filly. "Well hurry up. I wanna know what he said!" That pretty off white unicorn's face filled the screen again and she was trying her best to remain calm.
“It's been about, hold on, almost two weeks since my last log but today is such a great day that I just had to tell you.”
“Who, me?” Spike said and was hushed by everypony there.
“Hurry up!” said the other filly.
“Okay hold on I'm almost done. Anyways so that pony I was talking about before, Quickstar, well I finally got the nerve to go talk to him today.”
“Aaaaaannndddd?” said the other pony who tried to push her way into the view of the Z.I.N. She was a rose colored pegasus with a bright yellow mane.
“Will you let me finish please?” Prism pushed her back and out of view. “So I asked him if he would like to go out next weekend and he said yes.” Smiling brightly Prism was tackled by her friend which shook the screen as they both fell over and the last thing the ponies heard before the screen went back was a “Told you so.” from her friend and some more giggling.
Before anypony could say anything the screen stayed black for a few moments before it coming back on and Prism was looking at it once more. She looked a little worried and sounded a little unsure of herself.
“Just a side note but there has been some slight itching around my hoof where the Z.I.N. is. It's a bit red too so daddy is going to take me to see the doctor tomorrow to get it looked at. What's stranger than that is that it doesn't seem to want to come off. It doesn't hurt me but whenever I try to take it off it just feels like it's glued on or something. Anyways I'll know more when we go see the doctor tomorrow.”
As the menu reappears Fluttershy turns to AJ and says worriedly, “Oh I do hope she's okay and that it's not stuck on her.”
“Yeah that could be really bad.” agreed Apple Jack as the other ponies put in their own thoughts. “Go ahead and play the next one, Twi. I wanna know what the doctor says.” Rainbow and Rarity both insisted that they would like to know as well. Twilight nodded and asked to play the next file.
File: 0008 loading....
Coming onto the screen was a picture of a very worried filly unicorn. “Hi again. Umm...daddy says we can't go see the doctor today. I asked him why not but he wouldn't give me an answer and told me to just stay upstairs in my room for now. I don't know what's going on today but he seemed really nervous about something. He didn't even go into work today....”
She looked up from the screen and moved off her bed and over towards the window placing her hooves on the sill so that the Z.I.N. was facing towards her. “Somepony's here. There are three of them. I wonder what they want. They kind of look like they work at the same place daddy does.”
Prism cocked her ear so she could listen a bit closer at what they were talking about right outside their front door. The ponies watching could not hear anything safe for the soft breathing of the filly.
“Oh no. Why is daddy shouting at them? It looks like they want to come in but he's not letting them. Why not? What's going on?” she asked herself and now the six could hear muffled sounds of ponies yelling at each other. The next thing they heard was a sizzling popping sound and the sudden gasp of Prism before she fell flat on the floor.
“Nonononono...” She started to repeat over and over as she began to shake slightly. “They just killed daddy....what's going on?” she whispered as she then quickly made her way into her closet and behind a few boxes trying to hide herself as the screen went black.
It continued to stay black and all they could hear is the sound of Prism's breathing before she stopped and whispered to herself. “They are coming upstairs....what should I do....?” The voices could be heard better now as the ponies made their way down the hall.
“Where the hell is she?”
“She's gotta be here somewhere. We know that she's still in the house.”
“Well stop talking and start looking before I fry your brain too.”
Hoof steps could be heard coming into her room and she tried her best to hold her breath and to not make a sound. Things were tossed around and loud crashed could be heard here and there. The closet door opened and some light came in and the six could partially see the frightened look upon her soft face as she held her eyes shut praying that he wouldn't find her.
Some of the clothes got tossed around and a couple of the boxes fell upon her but Prism made no sound nor did she move. A grunt of disgust was heard followed by some vile language.
“Fuck this...” said the pony as he moved away. “She's not here boss!” he called as his voice started to dim little by little.
“Well you two better get out there and find her then. I don't care who you need to “talk” to. Just do it and while you're at it burn this place to the ground.” That was the last thing Prism heard before only moments later she started to feel the heat from the ground floor start to rise as the fire began it's hungry apatite consuming anything and everything.
Memories of a Future's Past
Twilight and her friends just sat there for a few long moments not saying anything to anypony. How could they after what they just witnessed. There were a few uncomfortable shuffles along with some looking away from each other when one of them tried to make eye contact in hopes to not be the one to break the silence. It was finally Rainbow Dash who spoke first that began the flow of questions.
"Fuck me, Twilight!" she said as she looked at the princess. "What the hell are we watching?"
"Like I said I don't know and even if I did then I wouldn't subject you all to it." She seemed saddened at her own statement.
"It is not your fault, dear." Rarity reassured her. "We started this together and we will finish it together. I do not recognized any of the area though. Does anypony see anything familiar?" Looking around the table everypony just shook their heads or shrugged for nopony knew anything. "That's a shame. Any light to shed on this young filly or where she is from could be a big help."
"Are you sure you haven't seen or read of anything like this in your books, Twi?" AJ asked.
"I'm sorry I have not. Otherwise I would have remembered if I did. The only thing I could think of is that we just keep on watching and learning all we can about Prism and then maybe we can figure out where she is from." Her friends nodded their heads in agreement for her suggestion seemed like a sound plan. As all eyes turned up towards the pale green screen Twilight gave the command to play the next file.
File: 0009 loading...
"Some pony help...*cough* me! I'm trapped *cough* in here!" were the first things they heard before the black screen came to life to show Prism banging her hooves upon her window trying to break the glass. She kept alternating her hooves like she was standing on ground which was very hot. Turning around and telling herself to stay calm and think the six noticed her door was shut but there was an orange and red glow around the frame as if the fire was about to burst through at any moment.
"That's it! I can use that." she cried out as she stumbled over to her chair that was knocked over by her desk. "I hope my *cough* magic is strong enough..." she said as she concentrated and the chair began to slowly raise up but fell back down only after a few short inches off the ground. Prism began to cough more serious now for the smoke has already filled one third of her room. "Please....please work for me..." she begged her horn as she tried again this time being able to lift it up higher and able to steady it.
"Here goes nothing!" she yelled as she threw her whole being into her magic making the chair fly strait at the window. With a mighty crash and a whoosh of air the shattered glass fell to the ground below as the pressure pushed the smoke out of the broken window. It was now or never as Prism got up and with the last of her strength galloped towards the window and jumped through right as the fire burst through her door and half of her bedroom's floor collapsed.
The broken glass that was still in the window frame cut her body in various places as she landed hard onto her side the force of the impact rolling her over several times before she came to a stop near a tree. Three of the ponies gasped as they watched her jump and the screen rotate until it came to a stop with it facing her. There was a deep gash on her right cheek as Prism opened her eyes slowly and took in her surroundings.
There were ponies gathered on the opposite side of the street and she could hear the sirens of the emergency crew in the distance but everything seemed fuzzy and out of place. It seemed that nopony saw her as she made her way shakily to all hooves before staying out of view the best she could and hiding behind some nearby bushes. Looking into her Z.I.N. she saw the blood dripping from her cheek and wiped it away with her other hoof.
"I don't know what's going on....some pony please help me..." the look in her eyes was a mixture of pain and fear as she continued quietly. "Who were those people..? What do they want with me? Is it because of this?" she shook her hoof a few times which made the screen wobble up and down slightly. "Well they can have it then." she said as she tried to take it off with her other hoof but to no avail. She tried using her back hoofs, tried gripping it with her teeth and even tried using her magic to get it off but was unsuccessful in every attempt. Sighing she turned it back towards her and added one more thing before turning it off.
"They will probably still be looking for me. Maybe some pony at daddy's work will know of a way to help me. I'll talk to you soon." and with that the screen went black for a moment before returning back the menu archive.
"Oh my. I was so worried for her." Fluttershy said quietly.
"She's one brave pony that's for sure." Twilight added. "So this Z.I.N. must belong to her but we still don't know where it even came from let alone how it ended up on Sweet Apple Acres."
"Maybe it's from outer space or something." Dash said aloud as Twilight turned to her. "What?"
"Rainbow, please. There's no way it could have come from outer space. That's not scientifically possible." Twilight commented as Rainbow just rolled her eyes at her. Turning to Apple Jack she asked, "And there was nothing else with it or around it?" AJ just shook her head as the frustration showed upon the princess' face. Usually she could figure something out with enough clues to go on but Twilight was really having a hard time with this one.
"Maybe we can ask Princess Celestia or Princess Luna?" Fluttershy chipped in.
"Unfortunately they are both on important matters in a distant land." Twilight sighed. "It looks like it's up to us this time girls. Let's find out what happens next." As Twilight asked to play the next file they came across the same problem from earlier. "File corrupt." it kept saying over and over and the ponies were getting anxious to know more and more about Prism. It wasn't until the 16th file that they finally got something again.
File: 0016 loading...
The screen was dark but heavy breathing could be heard for a few minutes as Prism tried to catch her breath. They couldn't tell where she was at but they could hear all kinds of noise going on in the back ground.
"Shit, shit, shit...." she muttered. "This is not good..." her face came into view as she created a small light from her horn. The wound on her right cheek was healing up but still pretty fresh as she recorded her thoughts.
"It's been about a week now and things are going crazy. I couldn't even make it to daddy's work for they had the place surrounded and were executing all the ponies that worked there. I need help. I don't know what to do anymore. What is..." she stopped briefly and the light of her horn went out suddenly. For the next few minutes all they could hear was her ragged breathing and all that stuff going on in the background which seemed to be a bit muffled but still loud enough to be heard.
"Oh my god..." she said as she moved around and placed her hooves on a nearby dumpster as she looked over the top of it. The six now could tell she was in an alley of some sorts as the sounds became more clearer. They could hear ponies running and a lot of screaming and shouting followed by what seemed to be loud bangs in the distance almost like thunder. One particular sound was louder than all the rest and it seemed to be some kind of long siren going off.
"What am I going to do? Daddy always said if we ever heard that sound to make our way as quickly as we can to the shelters.." Prism seemed to be shaking slightly as she tried to make a decision. "But if I go there with this on then everyone will know..." Prism got down and made her way towards the street where there was nothing but chaos going on around her and nopony was paying any attention to her. The six could now see that she was dirty, her hair was in a mess and not that beautiful style she liked to wear it in which made Rarity frown and pity the poor filly. Prism started to gallop down the sidewalk but then suddenly stopped and placed her hooves upon some glass as the six could hear voices but did not know who they belonged to.
"This just in: everypony needs to stay in doors and find a place to secure themselves. If you are not in a shelter please make haste to one near you or find some where safe to be. Once again please get to a shelter as quickly as you can. If you can not get to..." the voice started making funny sounds as if it was being cut off as a very loud whoosh made Prism quickly turn and the last thing they heard her say was "Oh fuc..." before there was the sound of an explosion along with broken glass, brick, stone and earth as the screen seemed to move very quickly across the street and then going black.
The six just sat there a few of them with open mouths as the screen remained black for quiet some while. Twilight thought it might have broke and was about to get up when more sounds began to be heard. It seemed like some pony was digging or moving rocks around before some light was shed and the girls could see that Prism was unconscious. A pony with a short black and purple mane came into view and then turned and called out to some other pony.
"Hey Cutter come 'ere!" Turning back to Prism he said to himself, "Looks like we found ourselves a pretty little pony.
"What's up, Dice? You find something?" said Cutter just off screen and then whistled as he spotted Prism. "Hey what's that on her hoof?" he asked as Dice moved her hoof around before trying to take it off of her making the screen shake before he gave up and threw her leg back down.
"Who knows but it looks like it won't come off. Might be worth something if we sell it." he added as he started to move more of the rubble from around Prism.
"Well we'll just cut the bitch's leg off if we have to. Hurry up the boss wants us back before sun down." the other pony said as he could be heard walking away. It wasn't long before he had Prism dug out and lifted her up onto his back. Before the screen went to black they could see the street on fire with buildings blow apart some half standing while some not standing at all. There were bodies of ponies every where and with screams in the distance followed by strange popping sounds it seemed the six have found themselves watching a nightmare.
"I don't want to watch anymore." Fluttershy said frighteningly. Rarity went over and comforted her friend as Rainbow turned to Twilight.
"What just happened? I mean what's going on here? Is this for real?" Twilight had no answer for her friend and just looked down. She knew about as much as they did and that wasn't a lot. "Answer me Twilight, what the fuck is going on? What part of Equestria would let this kind of shit happen?" she yelled at her friend standing on all four hooves.
"I don't know!" the princess replied her eyes shown with signs of sadness in them. Rainbow's face softened as she sat back down in her chair and looked down at the floor.
"I'm sorry, Twilight..." Dash apologized to her good friend.
"It's alright, Rainbow." Twilight said as she addressed them all. "This...story...is getting to us all. I think maybe we should stop here for now and take a little break." Fluttershy was all for that idea but the others had different plans.
"No it's okay. I'll be fine and want to know what happened to her." Dash looked back over to Twilight.
"I agree with Rainbow." AJ commented. "I'm worried about her and want to know what happened to her."
"Alright then. We will continue on with the next one." Looking up at that pale green screen Twilight asked to play the next file.
File: 0017 loading...
The screen was sideways again and they could see part of Prism's horn and mane as the sound of a gate closing and locking could be heard followed by the same voice of the stallion they heard from before.
"We'll just keep the little bitch in here for a while." He commented as the sound of his fading hoof steps became part of the background noise. The sky was getting darker and they could see part of the city which had a back glow of red and yellow which told them that it was still burning to the ground.
A slight moan was then heard as Prism moved very slowly as she tried to sit up but seemed to not have the strength to. After a few long minutes she tried again and this time was able to get up most of the way as she ended up resting her head against some bars. Her right hoof was in her lap and she noticed the Z.I.N. looking back at her and from seeing her own reflection brought tears to her eyes. The gash on her right cheek was bleeding slightly and her mane was burnt in various places and in a total mess. Her left eye was swollen shut as she touched it gently with her other hoof and winced at the pain it caused her.
"Have you been on this whole time?" she asked it as if it could give her an answer. She then just realized where she was at and looked up and at her surroundings. "Where am I? Why am I locked in here...?" They could see the panic begin to set in as she had no idea what to do as she brought her hooves to her head as if she was in great pain. Looking back into the Z.I.N. she said, "I'll get back to you...I just need to lay down for a bit..." and with that the screen went black.
Memories of a Future's Past
"Twilight what is going on? What part of Equestria is this?" AJ asked echoed Rainbow's previous question with a worried look upon her muzzle.
"I wish I could tell you but I'm just as lost as everypony here." she sighed as she looked up at the pale green screen waiting for the next command. Twilight always thought she could find any answer she needed by reading through all her books but this just seemed beyond her grasp for she had no clue as to who this pony is or where she came from.
"I don't know if I can take any more of this." Fluttershy softly said as she laid in her chair looking over towards the princess.
"Yeah it's pretty intense, Twilight." Rainbow Dash commented. "This pony is getting fucked up in more ways than one."
"Perhaps we should look into the next one? We might find some kind of answer that we are looking for." Rarity suggested as she to turned towards Twilight.
"Very well, but remember no pony has to stay if they don't want to." Twilight said more towards Fluttershy than to any other pony in the room. "Let's see now..." she continued as her eyes went over the files again, "Play back file: 0018 please." Twilight said as the screen flickered a few times before going to black.
File: 0018 loading....
It was hard to make anything out as the ponies tilted their heads in many directions. It was dark and the screen seemed to move a bit then stop. It continued in this fashion for quite a while and the only sounds that they heard was something dragging and the breathing of a pony that was nearby but out of view. After a few minutes of this and the sound of a door closing Prism's body stopped moving and they could now see her face as her right fore hoof was pointing slightly up. It was dimly lit and a shadow appeared over her body blocking the light which made for a pretty scary image.
Fluttershy squeaked and hid under her hoofs as soon as the other pony appeared. As they lowered their head it became clear to those watching that it was a stallion with a short and choppy mane of bright green. He seemed to sniff Prism a few times before dragging his tongue across her face which made most of the six cringe at the sight.
Prism's eyes snapped open a second later and she quickly looked up at the stallion before screaming and panicking trying to get away from him. Unfortunately for her he was a lot stronger and pinned her down quite easily while giving a wicked laugh as he just stared at her an expression of enjoyment and delight upon his face.
"Oh yes. You are my little fucking whore tonight." he said as he leaned close to her face again and licked it once more. Prism was horrified as the fear seemed to paralyze her making her mind go blank not knowing what to do in this situation. The stallion disappeared from view as the six could see Prism's eyes watch his movement yet daring not to move herself. They could hear strange sounds like metal against metal which made a few of the ponies flap their ears down against the sound yet Prism's eyes seemed to widen as his hoof steps began to get louder as he approached her once more.
"Let's have some fun." he said with a menacing snicker as Prism suddenly tries to scuttle backwards as best as she could and ends up running into a nearby wall pressing her back against it as she attempts to flee from him. "You wanna play hide and seek?" he laughed as he slowly approached the young mare.
"Please..." her voice was barely louder than a whisper and heavy with fear, "let me go...". The screen was shaking slightly as his hoof steps seem to grown louder and louder with each passing one. They came to a sudden stop as the six could see him standing in front of her and one of the only things they could hear is her heavy breathing as he stood above her before he lifted a hoof and slammed it down which knocked her over which brought him into full view. Prism screamed as he repeated his attack a few more times before she stopped and he got bored before he turned and walked away towards a rusty old desk and seemed to be looking for something.
Coughing a few times she turned her hoof towards herself and both Rarity and Apple Jack gasped at the same time at what they saw. Her lip was busted open and there was blood dripping from her nose. As she wiped her muzzle with her other hoof her eyes quickly searched her surroundings for anything that could help free herself from him. Placing her hoof back on the ground he came back into view as he turned around finally finding what he was looking for and in his mouth he was bringing back a strange looking device that looked like it could do some serious harm.
With an evil sparkle in his eyes he made his way back towards Prism as he seemed to be chuckling with every hoof step. As the stallion loomed over her Prism brought up her forehooves right before they could see him bring it smashing down upon her bringing a metallic thud sound to their ears. Prism's screams began again echoed by his muffled laughter as he continued to rain down blow after blow. Prism's bloody hooves fell as she seemed to fall upon her side breathing heavily. He seemed to stop for a brief moment taking a step back as he seemed to be frowning as if that was all she had.
A crimson glow began to surround the weapon he had in his mouth as he took another step back shaking his head as if he was trying to keep his grip on it. The glow intensified and a ripping sound could be heard as it flies out of his mouth and hovers a few feet from him. The stallion spits out blood and a few teeth as he glares at Prism now with rage and hatred filled in his eyes.
"Give that back you fucking bitch!" he yelled at her and started to move towards her before his weapon slams into his eye piercing it as he gives a blood curdling yell as he drops down trying to pull it out with his hooves. "Fuck you! Fuck you! You'll die for this!" he kept screaming as the weapon seemed to slowly move deeper into his flesh as he topples over body squirming from the pain. The light from her horn seemed to glow even more lighting the area around her bringing a soft crimson glow to the brutal scene. As the weapon continued to dig deeper a bloody foam began to form around his mouth as it penetrates completely coming out of his chest with a spray of blood. It took a few agonizing minutes for him to become still and that's when Prism finally moved.
Slowly getting up and turning from the dead carcass she dropped the bloody weapon near him and made her way shakily towards the door. She was only a few feet from it before she had to lean against the wall and catch her breath. Prism was pretty banged up and didn't know if she could make it out of where ever she was at alive. Turning her hoof towards herself she looked down into the screen and just closed her eyes and sighed.
"You're a mess girl," she started before she seemed to give a slight giggle, "well it could be worse. I just need to get out of here first but what is going on?" she asked herself. Prism wiped her muzzle once more as she continued, "I still can't believe I...killed...another pony...but I had no choice...no choice..." she sat down and started to cry silently before she collapsed and let it all out. Those few minutes seemed like eternity as the six sniffled as they just watched her weep into her hooves. As the screen went to black and was replaced by that pale green color Twilight turned to the nearest pony and wiped her eyes.
Apple Jack was sitting next to her and as they both sat in silence more tears began to flow from Twilight's eyes while the ponies in the room sat in their own sadness not wanting to be the first one to speak. Twilight turned and looked from pony to pony as each one with their head down tears streaming from their eyes. Even Rainbow Dash, while trying to hide it, had her heart strings pulled and wiped her eyes with her hoof.
Twilight then looked up at the screen as it patiently waited for the next command not really wanting to know what happens next but at the same time that all to familiar feeling of curiosity pulled inside her. She also did not want to put her friends through anymore of what was happening to this poor unicorn. As her eyes shifted around the room she could tell her friends were recovering as a few still sniffled here and there as she cleared her throat quietly.
"Well this is...umm..." even though she is trying Twilight just couldn't find the words to explain what they just saw. "I am sorry everypony. If I knew what we were getting into I would not have had you watch....this..." she waved a hoof at the device and that pale green screen.
"It's alright, darling." Rarity spoke to the alicorn. "Like I've stated before we started this together and we'll finish this together." The other ponies agreed as they all looked towards Twilight as she smiled towards her best friends as she nodded at them and wiped another tear from her eye.
"Thank you everypony."
"Aww shucks, Twi, you know we won't ever leave you hanging." Apple Jack reassured her.
"That's right!" Rainbow called out. "No matter how bad it gets we're here for each other." The girls smiled and made each other feel better as they took a slight break before deciding on jumping back into it. Rarity still insisted on letting the other Princess' know about all of this yet Twilight reminded her that they were extremely busy and did not feel the need to bother them. Taking their places once again around the table the girls turned to Twilight as she looked from pony to pony as if getting the go ahead as each one nodded to her.
Taking a deep breath Twilight closed her eyes and let it out before opening them and looking up towards that never changing pale green screen. "No matter what." she said quietly to herself as she raised a hoof and gave the command to play the next file on this list. The six sat in anticipation as the screen gave its usual flicker before displaying the words "Loading file: 0019" before fading to that ever eerie blackness that followed suit.
Memories of a Future's Past
File: 0019 loading....
"Hello again." Prism's sweet voice said as she looked into the device. "It's been awhile since I've just sat down and talked. It's been about two weeks since that....incident." She didn't know what to call it as it seemed to still be fresh in her mind. She shuddered slightly and closed her eyes while shaking her head trying to rid herself of those images. Opening her eyes she went on, "Things have settled down the last few days but I'm still not very sure what has happened to cause all of this. Is it possible that it is because of the Z.I.N.?"
She sighed softly as she put her hoof down and the girls could now see she was in a small building that has had half of it destroyed. Suddenly there was a slight beeping noise coming from somewhere that stayed in a consistent loop which perked Prism's curiosity. She seemed to be moving around the room looking for it before realizing it was coming from the device she wore on her right foreleg. Turning it to face her the six now could see her trying to mess with it to get it to stop beeping.
"Oh come on now." she grunted as she continued to play with it. "Aha! Got'cha. Now what is this?" Prism asked herself as a small submenu appeared on the screen which listed a few radio broadcasts. "Well this is new. I guess it can pick up radio signals too. Well might as well see what's on them." Three out of the four were nothing but static and as she switched to the last one a new voice was heard in the silence.
"Good evening everypony. We have some breaking news that just happened a short while ago. It seems two of the three missing Z.I.N. devices have been recovered safely. The third one is still out there and...wait a minute I'm getting an update here. One minute everypony." Prism listened closely and the silence seemed to last forever until the stallion spoke again.
"Alright everypony we have just received some new information regarding that missing Z.I.N. It seems that a Dr. Eddie Nyte had it in his possession but according to this information his body was found in the smoldering remains of what was left of his home. His daughter nor the device have been seen since. We caution everypony out there that if you see her to stay away for she is armed and dangerous." Prism couldn't believe her ears. Armed and dangerous? Me? The look on her face was a mixture of confusion and bafflement and she wondered if they even were talking about the right pony.
"We just received another update. It seems the government is handing out a one million bit reward to anypony who brings in the Z.I.N. They can be found at-" Click. Prism has heard enough. A reward for it now? They must be really desperate if they are offering that. Prism looked into it again and just chuckled as she sat down and shook her head.
"Well if I could get it off I would just take it in myself. Then again who knows what they would do to me. Probably just kill me like they did my father." She sniffled slightly at the memory then became very alert her ears twitching in several directions. "Oh shit!" she whispered as she got low and moved herself behind some fallen debris which used to be a wall.
"Where are you going?" a disembodied voice said.
"I thought I heard something over here. I'm going to check it out real quick." said another. A few moments late hoof steps could be heard as they stepped into the building. Upon stopping only after a few of them his voice could be heard again. "Hmm. I guess it's nothing." He seemed to kick at something which caused some dust to fall from above and the building shook slightly.
"Damn it what are you doing in there?" Called the other voice now more clearly.
"Nothing." the first one said as it sounded like he turned and started to walk back out. "But did you hear that announcement just now? One million bits for some stupid piece of metal." he laughed as his friend replied as they both moved out of earshot. Prism let out a breath she did not realize that she was holding in and laid on the ground.
"This is just great..." she said into the screen. "Now everypony will be looking for me. I need to get this thing off of me but first I have to find a place to hide. I guess until next time." she tried to smile and everypony watching could tell that it was forced before the screen went black and returned to the menu.
"Poor girl." Rarity said. "She looks better than the last time we saw her though." The others agreed as they conversed with themselves. Twilight was back to thinking again as she placed a hoof to her chin. Once again it was Rainbow Dash who brought her back to reality with her bluntness.
"Hey Twilight, out of all fucking books of yours none of them have any information on what's going on here?"
"Huh? What?" Twilight blinked before answering her friend. "Well I haven't gone through all of them yet, Rainbow Dash. Princess Celestia is still sending them to me and it will take time to go through every single one of them. I'm sorry I can't be much help."
"It's okay Twilight." Fluttershy said as she smiled to the Princess. "I wish there was something we could do for her though." she added worriedly. Twilight returned the smile to the kind pegasus before addressing the others.
"I do say though this is getting pretty interesting but I wonder what that last part was all about. This thing seems to be very important in some way to those ponies so much so as to put a bounty out for it."
"I'd say so." Apple Jack said. "I mean one million bits for this? And to think it was just laying in the dirt."
"They must not have gotten their hooves on it." Twilight added. "I think if they did all these recordings probably would have been erased by some pony." Twilight went back into thinking mode again and Rainbow just groaned in annoyance.
"Well I do say she is a remarkable pony." Rarity turned to Fluttershy. "She's already been through so much and it hasn't broken her spirit."
"Yes she has. I really hope she will be alright." As Fluttershy and Rarity continued their conversation Apple Jack turned back to Twilight once again breaking her out of her thinking bubble.
"Hey Twi, you think this isn't going to bring some kind of disaster to Ponyville is it?"
"Oh no I don't think something like that will happen, AJ." The Princess reassured her friend. "From what I have gathered so far this is just like someone's memories. Consider it like the journal we all write in just in a different format." Apple Jack nodded and started to get lost in her own thoughts. Turning her gaze back to that ever glowing screen Twilight wondered just how many files there were. Some of them did not work and she thought what if they contained some important information. Unfortunately for Twilight and her friends there was not much they could do about that.
"Well girls shall we see what's next on the list?" Everypony turned towards the Princess and gave their agreement. Turning her gaze back towards that floating pale green screen Twilight asked to play the next file on the list. As it began it's loading sequence Twilight couldn't help but think about this unicorn and her striking resemblance to Rarity.
File: 0020 loading....
Heaving breathing and rapid movement was what came next on the screen. It looked like she was running through a street that was filled with crumbling walls, broken glass, and small craters which randomly lined the area. Stopping behind part of a wall that used to belong to a clothing store Prism tried to catch her breath.
"What...the...hell...." she breathed between every word. Shouting could be heard as she froze and looked around the area she ducked behind. "Fuck! There's no place to hide..." she said miserably. Turning slightly around the corner the six could now see who was making all that noise in the background. It was a group of about 5 earth ponies heading towards her direction. Darting out from her cover Prism took off running again as the ponies that were giving chase shouted some more.
"There's that little shit! Get her!"
"I can almost taste that million bits!"
"Don't let her get away!"
"Fuck she is quick for being small!"
Strange noises were heard almost like small but loud explosions seemed to dance around her every so often as she kept up her pace. Rarity made her own strange noise and remarked how the screen is making her nauseous from all that moving up and down. Prism suddenly turned and found herself trapped in one of the side alleys as she came to a sudden stop not far from the back wall. Looking around frantically she tried to find a way out but it was to no avail.
"She went down here guys!" called one of the ponies as Prism turned around and backed up against the wall. The girls could now see the ponies that were chasing her slowly move into the alley blocking her only way out. "Just give us the Z.I.N. and we'll let you go." the one in the front told her as he slowly moved closer. There was only about 100 feet between them now as Prism just watched him as she tried to reason with him.
"Please just let me be."
"Now why in the wide world of Equestria would we do that?" he taunted her.
"I can't take it off. Please...just leave me alone." Prism begged him once more.
"I'm sorry sweet heart but you see a million bits doesn't come around very often and we're not about to let it slip out of our grasp." As he spoke he kept moving slowly forward now only about 75 feet from her. "And don't worry," he added, "we'll get if off one way or another." With every slow hoof step he continued to move foward and Prism was running out of ideas.
"Please...I don't want to hurt anypony again..." she tried once more with compassion. The stallion just laughed at her as he is now 50 feet from her. The girls were on the edge of their seats watching all of this as he took another step forward towards that pretty unicorn. The other ponies farther in the back were snickering and talking amongst themselves not noticing the crimson glow around one of the larger dumpsters beind the stallion that was approaching her.
They now could see the light from her horn as she put all her magic making that crimson glow intensify into lifting the large metal object out of view as he now was about 25 feet from her before he stopped. He glared his eyes at her for a moment before tilting his head and asked, "What the fuck are you doing?"
"This!" she said right as it dawned upon him as his eyes went wide with shock. As he was in mid turn the glow faded from the area and a second later the large metal dumpster came crashing down on him covering the ground and walls with his bloody body parts. That got the attention of the other four earth ponies as they stood there in shock seeing their "leader" or what is left of him laying underneath the damaged dumpster.
"This bitch is crazy. Fuck the bits I'm out of here!" one of them called out as he turned and galloped away. The other three were unsure of what to do next. Do they try and get the device from her or do they turn tails and run like their friend just did. Prism made up their minds for them as she lifted a few smaller objects that happen to be laying nearby as the rest of the ponies backed out of the alley and galloped away after their friend.
"Why is this getting easier to do...?" she questioned herself as she dissipated her magic dropping the random objects she was holding. Sitting down with her back to the wall she said a quiet "I'm sorry." to the dead pony and wiped the small tears she had in her eyes before turning towards the screen.
"I'm so sorry." she said once more as she looked at herself tears glistening in her bright crimson eyes. As she attempted to dry them with her other hoof she closed her eyes, sniffled a few times and then the screen went black once again.
Memories of a Future's Past
It was silent in the room where the six sat staring up at the pale green screen in the center of their thrones. Each pony was lost in their own thoughts as they sat there still taking in the actions in that last file. After a few minutes it was Twilight who spoke first breaking the silence and the thoughts of her friends.
"It looks like things are getting pretty badly for our friend here."
"No shit, Twilight." Rainbow Dash commented before going on, "This pony is going through so much it's amazing she's still alive."
"I know Rainbow but look at how resilient she is though?" the Princess replied.
"She is one tough filly that's for sure." Apple Jack added. "I would've loved to meet her."
As the ponies began to speak to each other about the events they have witnessed so far, Twilight stared up at the screen for a few moments before her eyes drifted to the device itself. Why hasn't she read anything about this kind of thing in any of her books? She will definitely have to talk to Princess Celestia about it when she gets back. It was Rarity this time who brought her back to reality and out of her thoughts as she asked her good friend a question.
"Shall we continue with the next one, dear?"
"Oh yes. That's if everypony is up for it?" the Princess asked her friends as she looked around the room. They all agreed, even Fluttershy who is starting to become more curious than scared now. "Very well." Twilight nodded as she looked up at the menu and asked to start the next entry. "Please start file 20."
File: 0020 loading.....
The screen flickered a few times and they could hear Prism's voice but it sounded distant and slightly muffled. It took about two minutes before the screen became clear and they ponies could see her beautiful face once more as the young pony sighed to herself and rubbed her eyes with her other hoof. She looked exhausted as she looked into the screen and smiled to herself.
"Three days of no sleep makes you a bit loopy." Prism giggled. "Anyways I finally found a safe enough spot to get some much needed rest but I wanted to record my thoughts before then." She looked around for a moment and then turned back to the Z.I.N. "This thing has been so much trouble. Four more ponies had to die the other day as they once again tried to take it from me. I keep telling them that it can not come off. I don't know what happened but it has melted onto my foreleg and there is no way to remove it unless..." she trailed off and shook her head ridding herself of the thoughts she was having.
"But anyways I really need to get some slee-" Prism cut off mid sentence as her eyes perked up and they could see that her head was turned to the side. The ponies could hear slight voices in the back ground as Prism started to move around and towards what looked like where a door used to be. As she got closer the six could hear shouting now and when Prism wrapped her hooves around the door frame the scene unfolded before them.
Four ponies surrounded what looked like two other ponies whom seem to be guarding a really young colt. From what they could tell it looked like three earth ponies and a unicorn as one of the earth ponies knocked down the stallion as the other two jumped on him and started stomping on him as he tried to cover himself up the best he could. Laughter could be heard as they continued their savage beating as the unicorn held some kind of make shift weapon at the mare and colt holding them back from helping him.
"Shit...that's not good. Should I help them...?" Prism pondered but then quickly made up her own mind. "I don't know how much help I'll be with being so exhausted but I can't let them just do that to innocent ponies." She quietly began to make her way towards them for she was on the other side of the street. Fortunately for her she had lots of rubble to hide behind and when she was close enough she decided on taking out the unicorn first for she was the biggest threat.
Looking around Prism found a sharp piece of metal that was half her size and she wrapped her magic around it and lifted it high enough into the air so they wouldn't notice it. As she started moving it towards the unicorn she heard the mare scream out as the colt started to cry.
"Nooo!" she cried as she tried to rush over to the stallion which seemed to not move anymore. The unicorn reacted and slammed the weapon across the side of her face tearing it open as she fell to the ground. She tried to get up once more but the unicorn started hitting her over and over with her weapon while the earth ponies just laughed at her.
"Come on Prism you have to hurry..." she told herself as the piece of metal was almost above the unicorn. It was taking a toll on her body as she used what energy she had left putting it into her magic keeping it stabilized in the air. As soon as Prism had it into position the unicorn turned towards the colt and slowly brought her weapon which dripped the fresh blood of the mare towards his face as he cowered in fear against some broken concrete.
That's when Prism acted and let go of the sharp metal piece. Everything seemed to happen extremely quickly as the sharp metal sliced right through the unicorn's neck severing her head from her body and slamming into the ground. At the same time Prism wrapped her magic around her head keeping it afloat as her body slid down the smooth piece of metal before hitting the ground spraying blood all over the side of it.
The earth ponies turned quickly at the loud crash as Prism slammed the horn of the unicorn into the side of the nearest earth pony's head piercing his skull killing him instantly as he topples over. The other two ponies just stopped frozen in horror at the sight of their friends as they began to look around frantically at who or what is attacking them. Stepping out from her hiding spot, Prism used her magic once again and took up that unicorn's weapon as the two ponies that were left stood there for a moment then realized who it was before turning around and fleeing.
"Oh no you don't!" Prism called out and quickly slammed the weapon into the leg of one of the ponies breaking it as he tumbled to the ground. As he tried to get up she slammed it into his other hind leg breaking that one as well as the pony cried out in pain as he tried to crawl away. Prism made her way over to him as she watched the other one run off into the distance not even looking back once. As she made her way to in front of the pony he stopped over and looked up at her.
"You fucking bitc" was all he was able to get out before she slammed the weapon down on his face over and over again until he stopped moving. There was blood splatter all over her and some of it got on the screen of the Z.I.N. as the six watched the brutality of it all. Tossing the weapon down next to the dead pony Prism took a few deep breaths and turned her attention to the colt as he was crying out to his parents.
"Mommy! Daddy! Please wake up...we have to go home..." As Prism slowly made her way over to him he was trying to wake up the dead mare by shaking her gently. Prism just stood here for a moment as they could hear her sniff a few times as the colt couldn't figure out why his parents were not getting up.
"Please get up mommy...please...." he keep pushing on her cold body before Prism stepped over to him and wrapped her hooves around him and brought him close to her.
"I'm sorry...." she said quietly as he seemed to just break down and cry as she just held him there for a few minutes. "We can't stay here." she told him as she let him go and took a step back. "I have a place that's safe if you want to come with me." the colt looked back towards his dead parents then to her and then back to them once again. After a few moments of silence he turned back to her and nodded as she turned around and began heading back towards her hiding place she was in before all of this took place.
Once settled in and making sure the area is secure, Prism gave him some of her food and watched over him untill he cried himself to sleep before turning back to the Z.I.N. and wiping it clean before speaking into it. "Sorry you had to see all that...but I couldn't just let them all die and not do anything about it. This place has gone to shit and I don't think it will get any better. Why is this all happening...?" she asked herself as she closed her eyes for a moment before adding, "I really need to get some sleep so I will see you next time and hopefully in a better place." Her eyes shown with sadness yet she did her best to give a smile before the screen went black.
"Man that was fucking awesome!" Rainbow called out. "Did you see what she did there?" she pointed a hoof at the screen.
"Yes, Dashie we all saw what happened." Apple Jack said back to her. "She sure has to make difficult choices now. I wouldn't want to be in her shoes. I don't think I could take anypony's life..." she said a bit sadly.
"Me neither." Fluttershy agreed with AJ. "There's just no way I could do that to anypony. It's just so...cruel."
"But she did save that little one though." Rarity chipped in.
"Yes she did." Twilight added. "I hope he's okay though. From what we saw he looked a little beat up and now his parents are dead so I'm not sure how it's going to be emotionally on him."
"There's nothing happy going on in her life..." Pinky Pie said sadly as they looked towards her for that was the first time since all this started that she has spoken. "If I could I would save her from all that madness and give her a big hug." She had a tear in her eye as she tried to give the rest of her friends a smile.
"Well nothing we can do can change any of that. All we can do is continue to watch and see how it all ends. Hopefully for the better." Twilight commented as she looked up towards the screen. "Play file 0021 please." she said as it selected the file and the screen faded to black before playing the file back.
File: 0021 loading...
It was dark out and the only source of light came from a fire that was in front of Prism as she looked into the Z.I.N. She seemed to be looking a bit better but now has a scar on her face from the cut a while ago. Rarity could be heard muttering something along the lines of "poor girl" as they continued to watch and listen.
"Hello again. Well we've had a few days of peace now without someone trying to kill me..." Prism started as they listened closely and the only other sounds were coming from the fire and the soft snoring of a sleeping colt next to her. "Cloud Breaker hasn't been doing so well the last couple of days though. He seems to be running a high fever and was feeling very weak. I don't know what to do. We have no medicine and I can't go look for somepony to help because all that would happen is that they would try to take this damned thing away from me."
She sighed as she went on. "What a strange name for an earth pony though. Cloud Breaker, huh? What was his parents thinking?" she slightly giggled at his name as some movement broke her concentration and they ponies could hear some mumbling coming from the colt. Prism turned and gently pulled him close to her before speaking to him.
"How you doing buddy?" she asked softly. The six could see him now and she was right. He did not look very well and seemed to have some trouble breathing for his breaths were shallow and quick.
"Mommy is that you...?" he asked his voice weak and raspy as if he hasn't had a drink of water in a long time. Prism wasn't sure how to answer that question so she decided that pretending to be his mother might ease some of the pain.
"Yes, dear, I'm here."
"Will you s-sing me..." he said before he coughed violently spitting up some blood as Prism wiped his mouth and started to stroke his mane doing her best to comfort him. "...a lullaby..?" he finished asking.
"What would you like to hear?"
"You choose..."
"Alright. Ummm, give me a minute I don't know many lullabies." Prism continued to comfort him as she thought as she noticed his breathing began to slow down and the bruises on his sides looked darker and worse than they did just the other day.
"I'm sleepy mommy...." he said softly as Prism adjusted his head as she held him close.
"Okay I got one. Would you like to hear it now?" she asked him.
"Yes....mommy...." his voice was barely above a whisper as she stroked his mane once again.
"Okay here we go." Prism cleared her throat before she began singing softly to him.
"Hush now quiet now
It's time to lay your sleepy head.
Hush now quiet now
It's time to go to bed."
Prism noticed that he was barely breathing now and hasn't moved since she started. Tears welled up in her eyes and her voice started to crack as she continued her lullaby doing her best to keep it together.
"Driftin' off to sleep
Exciting day behind you.
Driftin' off to sleep
Let the joy of dream land find you."
As Prism finished that last line the little colt took his last breath and laid still in her hooves as she started to weep for him as she finished the lullaby as she repeated the first verse.
"Hush now quiet now
It's time to lay your sleepy head...
Hush now.....quiet now....
It's time to go....to...."
Prism couldn't finish the last word as she broke down and help the little colt tightly to her as she felt the warmth of his body slowly drain out eventually leaving him cold. The screen stayed on the filly as she continued to weep for her young friend as the six ponies also showed their sadness in their own way before it went to black and the pale green menu appeared. Sniffles and soft weeping was the only things heard in the room as each pony gave a silent prayer for the little colt.