Lights and sounds exploded throughout the facility as a lone mare worked in a mad rush around the smatterings of a lab. Rust and decay clung to every surface as the pony galloped between loose wires and spare parts, steam engines whirring and whistling about her. The die had been cast, her plans were finally being pushed forward. A decade of rule under the Tyrant Queen after the Lunar Rebellion was cast aside would be undone. But it was worthwhile. It was the last defense. She was on the right track - she had seen her. Just barely crossing over, a ghost of a friend long gone. It was on her lowest settings, but she had broken through, if only a for a moment.
She had seen her. Solid. Happy.
Deliriously Pink.
The scientist levitated her goggles unto her forehead and turned to a collection of materials upon six golden saucers. She had spent years tracking some of this down, but she had followed the directions of her friend’s dying words to the T. The mare laughed hollowly, her voice producing much less than a whisper. She hadn’t drank water for days. It was needed for the engine. She never gave her friend enough credit - only when the Tyrant had deemed it fit to punish her.... assistant, for even hoping to formulate a friendship with someone on the outside.
Well, she would show her. She would end her. Nopony should have to suffer. This dark, humid world that was Corona’s vision. War machines, the power of steam - none of this had existed just over a decade ago. Ponies were mostly excited for the move, as it provided new ideas, and protection for the masses, but then... the sun never set. Ponies were soon forced into labor for the protection of Equestria. The moon rebuked the move, but had been burned away in a blaze of searing heat. Nopony could stand under the rays of the sun and not be burned, and the Moon, the Sun’s very sister, could not have even begun to match that power. But she, she could, if only for one moment. With the help of her machine, which burned and coughed at it’s full potential. It wouldn’t be more than a minute before she’d be noticed, now. Corona would be upon her, and she hadn’t long to prepare her final offering.
Turning to the golden saucers, the mare quickly checked each one. Apples, gems, a thundercloud, confetti and balloons, living butterflies... only one saucer remained. Underneath it was a vast complex of magical sigils and redirectional gold inlays. While the others simply had strange copper wires under them, the last saucer was huge, enough for any three ponies.
Or in this case, one large imposing goddess of the Sun.
The mare looked on at her work. Only seconds remained. Corona had been tracking her for years now. She had hid out in the one place she’d never look - the castle’s boiler works. In what few times she could get out, she had stolen things that would be missed - copper wiring, books and magical notes. But they had been deliberate, not some desperate thief looking for things to sell for food - no, each and every thing had come together to make this.
If Corona hadn’t needed her as a trusted student for so many years, Twilight might have been worried about her being smart enough to connect the dots.
The pony paused, looking back toward her frayed tail, her pale purple coat. Adorned on her flank was her first real memory of when she became Twilight Sparkle, the Princess’ most loyal and prodigious student. That was back when... she had dreams. When the sky was blue. When Corona was still Celestia. She could hear the rampant destruction as the Queen tore down the last few barricades that separated them.
Then there was the inferno.
There she was herself. Just being in her gaze, the scientist mare could feel the very strands of her hair start to burn away, the long pipes along the walls starting to rattle as every last bit of water in the facility started to boil at once. Her own protective wards could barely stand against the presence of Corona. The mare didn’t look at the Queen. Not that she was afraid, but to look upon her now, her eyes filling with what little water she could produce, would threaten to remove the memory of Princess Celestia from her mind.
The burning monarch stared down at the elusive pony, her eyes glowing bright as the sun. “So this... is where you’ve been, my most faithful student!” she spat, her horn sparking to life as she bent her head slightly. “Do not consider this time away from me to be a victory. Ten years in my lifetime was only a blink of an eye.”
Twilight heaved a sorrowful breath, wiping away the tears that had fallen from her eyes. “Like the setting of the sun,” she challenged, her head spinning from the heat. However, it never stopped her from picking herself up and finally facing Corona. “Hello, Princess.”
“Cute,” the Queen snarled, paying no mind to her surroundings as a number of pipes rattled and broke off the walls. “How unlike you to be so bold, Twilight. Where is the mare that would cower at the slightest inclination of my wrath?”
“Dead. Has been for a long time. I’m sure everypony can say the same.” Twilight opened her eyes, her tears beginning anew as she looked upon the impressive figure. Gone was the flowing rainbow mane from her fevered dreams. It had been replaced by fire, rampant and burning, how very unlike the sun. Twilight recalled the sun she knew as a filly. It had been glowing, warming embrace. “And soon, everypony will.”
Corona smiled. A wicked smile. There was no Celestia to save from this beast. No harmony could bring this devil to it’s knees. “Why would I ever harm my subjects? The ponies live in peace. Protection. Har—.”
“No Princess. They leave in fear and discomfort. You’ve burned away the crops, forced many ponies... to developed habits that are unforgivable just to survive! Every day they live in danger of dehydration, exhaustion! But you don’t care about that. You’re a monster, a beast!” Twilight was shouting now, buying herself some time as the alicorn summoned her magic to end her. “You’re something Celestia could never stand! You’re chaos!”
Corona’s pupils shrunk as she released a powerful blast of fire. Twilight could feel her wards snap like twigs under the burning fireball that collided against her, blasting her through a solid metal pipe. She hit the wall like a ragdoll, a scream and a whimper were the only evidence that she was alive. “Don’t ever call me that name. That weak creature couldn’t protect a thing!” Corona blazed, her voice raised, carrying an otherworldly nature to it.
The form of the unicorn twitched. A hoof was outstretched as she tried and failed to pick herself up after the attack. Corona’s fury was sedated by the view of her former protege’s struggles to stay alive. Twilight pushed herself against the wall, her ribs cracked and a punctured hole in her side bleeding freely. Shaking her head, another pipe exploded with steam as it covered the area in a hot mist. She raised her head slowly, wiping a tear made by the mist from her eye. “I-...I’m sorry, Princess.”
“Apologies, Sparkle?” Corona laughed, a sadistic merriment in her voice. “I think you’ll find it far too late for that. You will die, Twilight. Like your friends before you. Like your parents. Like Luna.” She drew breath sharply, her words dripped in poison. “Like Discord.”
Twilight shuddered as she felt the life start to leave her, but a smile, soft and sad, hung on her lips. “That’s what I’m sorry for, Princess. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you from him. That my friends... failed to stop his chaos. He changed you, Celestia. But even he couldn’t see what he was starting. I guess it was his nature. It never made sense.” The large alicorn made to charge and end the life of the upstart, but quickly found her legs stopped fast in the ground beneath her.
“Wha-What is this?”
“Magic, Princess,” Twilight coughed, shaking her head. “Scientifically produced magic. It took me years to even produce the spark.” Twilight reached a hoof up, the entire building beginning to shake and shuffle. “As with all of the rest. Echoes of the Elements of Harmony.” Looking about, she could see it now. Representations of the Elements prior holders, her students faithful friends. The missing notes from the labs, the wires, steam... they were all put together for this moment! “Twilight! You don’t know what you’re doing!” she screamed, thrusting her entire body against her bonds, but the held fast. “This isn’t just suicide or murder, it’s genocide!”
Twilight’s head lolled to one side, her eyes sparkling with tears. She licked absently at them. The mare thought it strange; she hadn’t had salt in a very long time. “Familiar, isn’t it? It’s only right for the student of a monster to be a monster herself.” Twilight closed her eyes. “This is the end, Corona. Of you, of me, of all of Equestria. All of it will be torn asunder. Hopefully, it can all start anew.” There was a pregnant pause after her words, Corona only gaping at what her former student was saying. As she welled up the last vestiges of strength, Twilight smiled. “I’ve saw her, Celestia..! I saw Pinkie Pie today.” She opened her eyes as she stared into the monstrosity of machinery she crafted. “She was still young, still healthy. Happy. She was bouncing around like she used to.”
“She is dead, Sparkle! You’re going to kill everypony! End this, now!”
“Oh, Celestia…” Taking in the dank surroundings, the mare swore she could hear playful laughing echoing around her. She would hear them again. She had to. “Corona.” With one last ounce of strength, she levitated her bloodied hair to the final saucer. What was left of her surroundings started to whirr to life. Twilight tried to draw one last breath, but her lungs failed her. With what air she had left, Twilight laid her head to rest and whispered, “I plan to.”
Horn sparkling, Twilight Sparkle grabbed hold of a nearby lever, and pulled it down. With her final deed done, the mare closed her eyes, welcoming the cool darkness that awaited her.
Corona tugged and pulled at her feet, her horn glowing as it attempted to remove herself from the impending destruction. She could see it now, the sigils on the floor, the wiring, the vast power created by her steam engine. It was all too much, nopony could have ever put this together. It was impossible.
The loud whirring sound grew louder from beneath her, the saucers starting to fall into the floor, Corona with them. She felt herself pulled into it, her magic forcefully being fueled into it, and the markings on the floor would let her do nothing to prevent it.
The floor below opened, and a fearsome sight greeted her.
The remains of Discord. Rolled into a circle, his body had been connected to an unholy machine, which spun and accelerated as it fed off the latent power his amalgamation of creatures once held. Within the empty space made by his body, a glowing blue energy appeared, shaking with anticipation. She could feel itss desire. It would bring chaos. It fed off the fake elements, and lapped greedily at the cruel magic Corona held. The alicorn could only scream as she was pushed downward into the gaping maw.
Above, Twilight Sparkle stood on three hooves, having just the energy to view the horror of her handiwork. She brought herself to the brink to see her work through. Ten years, she thought. Ten years of endless suffering is the price I and every pony have paid for this. Now I bring this world to it’s end. May whatever take it’s place be better than this.
Her eyes fell upon the corpse of Discord. Despite his very existence being the key that caused the end of her world, her heart went out to the being. Perhaps it, too, can be a world made of parts.
“Twilight! Twiliiiight~!”
Twilight smiled as she heard the voice of her friend. Denying her body’s reluctance, she managed one short burst of air into her damaged lungs. “I can hear you, Pinkie Pie! Luna knows I’ve missed you.” She tasted copper, her vision fading. “I’m coming, girls. Tell all our friends I’m coming...” Her front legs gave away as she tumbled over the edge. Corona could see the purple pony fall limply into the center of Discord’s circle, Twilight’s eyes empty as Corona started to feel herself burn.
As Twilight fell into and became one with the chaotic energies her machine had created, the unicorn’s raw magic entered an awakened state, increasing the magic tenfold as her body cascaded and became one with the energy. The well of power erupted forth. The rip in reality consumed all that it could, erasing Corona and the boilerworks from reality. It expanded ever still, hungrily devouring. It consumed the castle, then Canterlot, then Equestria, the sun, the stars, anything and everything it touched, leaving naught but a blank slate.
The universe depleted, the loss of it’s existence called out into Void. Everywhere, across all of time and space and dimension, could feel itself tugged, pushing together to fill the gap that was left from the vacant universe. And from that chaos, benevolence. It shared its kindness, generosity, its honesty and loyalty to it. It shared the magic of life, and finally… it gave it laughter. And thus it grew, a new universe upon the old. It shared many qualities of it’s own, filling in the echo of what was. Fresh and new.
And in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle awoke from a dream at the sound of knocking at her door. She tiredly opened the door, and found herself staring at a pink mess of fur and mane with a party invitation in her hand. For some reason she couldn’t begin to know, Twilight found herself felt compelled to embrace her friend. Rushing forward, the unicorn gave her friend a giant hug just at the mere sight of Pinkie.
“Oof! Hey Twilight, good to see you too! What’s the big gesture for?” Pinkie asked, returning the hug with equal gusto.
The purple mare removed herself slowly from her friend, wiping a tear from her eye as she smiled. “I’m not sure, Pinkie. I just... it’s so good to see you today.”
Pinkie Pie smiled, as if knowing the reason for her friend’s odd behavior. “Well, yeah! It’s always a good day to see your friends! And what better reason than to throw a party about it!” Pinkie cheered, prompting a happy smile from the lavender unicorn.
“Sure thing, Pinkie Pie,” she playfully rolled her eyes at the fellow mare, but she found herself completely in agreement with the party pony’s logic. A new thought crossed her mind as she looked into Pinkie’s sapphire eyes, and she smiled. “Listen, Pinkie, do you mind if I go get the girls myself, today? I... really want to see them, for some reason. Want to come with me?”
“Oh sure! Oh hey, maybe we can get the Princesses to come! And Spike!” Pinkie bounced alongside Twilight, the mare shaking her head as the pony kept coming up with more ponies to invite.
“Well, I’ll ask Spike to send a letter,” Twilight mused. “What they hay, might as well give it a try, right?”
Pinkie smiled and hopped in place a few times before catching up with Twilight. “Yippee! Oh Twilight, this is gonna be the best party ever, I just know it!”
Twilight couldn’t figure out why she was in such a good mood, as she could only nod at her hyperactive friend. “You know what Pinkie? I think... you’re right.” As she stepped out from the shade of the Golden Oakes and into the warm sun, Twilight looked back at Pinkie. “What’s the party for, anyway?”
Pinkie leapt alongside Twilight, throwing a hoof over her shoulder and reaching up towards the blue sky. “Who needs a reason for harmony? It’s just how Equestria is made!”
Author's Note
This fic was kicking around my old fic folder and was never uploaded. I stumbled upon it early this morning and have spent the better part of my day listening to Games Done Quick, Markiplier, and the odd song from my awful whims while editing it while trying to maintain what I had written years ago, because while there are a ton of problems with the piece, I wanted to remind myself how far I've come since then.
Fun Fact? This fic predates Season 3 by a wide margin, and was actually the groundwork for what would eventually be Memories, which would be based on the Season 3 finale.
Egregious examples aside, I hope you enjoyed it.