Harmony's End

The magical aura of the Oracle's trinket around my neck intensified and I could feel it engulf me. A familiar sense of vertigo and displacement came over me as I was snatched out of the ancient era. It felt as if I was thrown into a cold river, submerging and emerging periodically as I came up for air. I experienced being one with time itself, and I could feel as the flow of history suddenly, for the tiniest imaginable instant, came to a halt as it met with the paradox I created by murdering the Night Princess. Yet the continuum of time was strong and resilient, and without hesitation or the smallest difficulty, it hurried to find a new path by which to avoid the obstruction.

As history deviated from its former course, carving instead a new path for itself, I, too, was taken up by the tide. Once again I saw visions, forms and shapes, unidentifiable colours in an indecipherable amalgam of strange flashes. Even though the original cause of the Elements' corruption was now gone from the world, I was overwhelmed by a certain uneasiness, and Equestria felt so much emptier.

When the visions left me, I was cast onto the bank of this river of time. Again, like last time I found myself lying, on my side with closed eyes, left only to follow the stream of history, slowly walking along its course as it marched on towards times yet to come. The cold made me shiver and even without looking I could tell that the stone floor of the castle was now replaced by a wooden one beneath my hooves. I opened my eyes and stood up carefully, observing my surroundings to learn where the ouroboros had led me. It was a dark room into which the freezing winds of the cold winter seeped through an open window at the back. At my hooves, the Oracle's trinket lay, broken and in pieces, its magical aura gone and purpose fulfilled.

Shivering from head to hoof, I walked to the window to close it while I took a peek outside. The room I stood in was some distance above the ground, and I saw a small town below. The snow which blanketed its streets and rooftops gave it a beautiful shine and sparkled like a white coat under the full Moon's light. Yet somehow, even this lovely view was strangely foreboding. While the houses were obviously occupied, as evidenced by the colourful decorations and festive gadgets hanging from or strapped onto any available surface, their windows were dark—not a single lantern lit inside, no simple light-spells cast.

Pondering on this strange locale, I looked around the room again, finally finding a number of candles standing in a splendid, branched candlestick upon a simple wooden table otherwise stacked with books. On the same table I also found a curious statuette in the shape of a unicorn's horn. Its tip was broken, yet the expert craftsmareship it showed told me that its state was not a result of clumsy handling—but artistic design.

The light the candles' small glow provided was enough to let me have a better look at the room itself as well. Even where I stood, it seemed, was decorated and ornamented. The decoration resembled those I saw on the houses through the window, and this time peculiar artefacts were close enough for me to examine. They were figures representing a winged unicorn; Princess Celestia, no doubt, as other marvellous baubles hung from the ceiling representing different stellar bodies, the most beautifully crafted of which was the Sun itself. Seeing the outside weather, I imagined that I had been taken to a Hearth's Warming Eve, Equestria's most prominent celebration during the winter months. I was soon to be proven wrong.

I turned my attention to the table again and the heavy books that rested upon it. One in particular caught my eye, for a simple red strip of wool hung from between its pages. As no other books were marked, I collected that this one was somehow significant. Opening this strange tome at the marked page, I began reading. I was not prepared for what I would find inside.

“It was during these dark times that Princess Celestia brought the Seraphim to existence. These pegasi were trained to be devoutly loyal to the Princess and to be the perfect exterminators of the unicorn menace. With the power of the Elements of Harmony at their side—all six held by Celestia herself—they were led to many victories over the magical fiends throughout the centuries that followed the creation of the order. They cleansed their souls with fire and steel, freeing Equestria from their unholy grasp.

The greatest documented witch hunt took place circa four hundred years after the inception of the Solar Empire of the lone Princess. A colony of unicorns had attempted to hide from the crusades within the bowels of the black forest that is now known as the Everfree. Living their lives in secret and in complete isolation from the outside world, they thought to escape their fate. When they were discovered, their bold plan foiled, the Seraphim were ordered to take them all alive.

Many a famous painting was inspired by the sight that could later be seen surrounding the newly built Palace of Canterlot. Hundreds upon hundreds of heads lay impaled upon the fields: the examples which Celestia made. Old tales say that the forest of spikes—the Princess' message to her subjects—could be seen from miles away. The macabre exhibition marked the end of the Age of Free Magic.”

I knew not what manner of perverted joke these passages were part of. All I could feel at that moment was a cruel jab of impotent anger. I closed the book to look at its cover. Visions of Equestria, written by a certain Pinkamena Diane—gah! I knocked the book off the table in one furious swing. Then I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm my nerves. When I finally felt myself ready to continue, I opened my eyes and turned around to further inspect the room, ignoring the book which now rested on the ground.

At the far end of the room there was a pair of curtains, hanging from the ceiling and gently reaching the wooden floor. Previously I assumed that they were nothing but artistic design, something with which to further decorate this place. Looking around, however, I realised that I can see no door, and as such, the way out must be behind the drawn curtains. This suspicion turned out to be correct, for as I was walking toward them, I heard a sudden outburst of clapping and cheering from beyond. The sound of hooves beating against the ground in the next room explained why the village outside seemed empty; I must have arrived at the town hall, and the citizens have gathered here for their celebration on this evening.

Slightly pushing a hanging curtain to the side, I peeked into the next room. Behind these curtains was a small balcony overlooking from the side a large indoor hall below. There, countless ponies sat—or, in the case of the less lucky ones, stood—as some sort of play seemed to be being prepared at the front on a stage. Just as I moved my gaze there, the lights in the hall were put out as one bright spotlight illuminated the stage. There stood one mare, her grey hair betraying her age. As the audience in the room calmed down, hushing away one another's words, the old mare began her speech.

“Fillies and gentlecolts!” She addressed the audience.

Her tone shifted as she spoke, trying to keep in accordance with the smiling of her mouth. Yet for all her efforts, she could not perfectly disguise an underlying bitterness.

“As the mayor of our town, I am honoured to announce the beginning of this Winter Moon Commemoration.”

Silence. Members of the audience all seemed to take a deep breath, some looking down at the ground, others firmly bearing the gaze of their mayor.

“Just a few minutes ago, the Sun has once again vanished from the horizon, thus beginning this, the longest night of the year. For this occasion, the teachers of our local school generously agreed to stage a play, acted by none other than our own foals, to help us relive the events of the past, and to show our sincere sympathies to our beloved ruler.”

I could hear the faint sound of servos operating and wheels turning behind the scenes as the large red curtains behind the mayor—leaving the stage—were drawn open, exposing to the audience and myself a several fillies and little colts, costumed and dressed up in front of a decorated background. A lone earther filly, clothed in a beautifully sewn dress, stood slightly off-centre by a small table upon which lay an open book. The filly waited for the townsfolk to take in the sight before she began her narration.

“Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria.” Spoke the young foal in her high-pitched voice. “There were two regal sisters who ruled together, and created harmony for all the land.”

As these words were spoken, two pegasi-born fillies flew up above the stage; one wearing a long, white dress while the other wore a dark blue one. On both of their foreheads was a replica of a unicorn's horn, held up by straps around the back of their small heads.

“To do this,”The narrating filly continued. “The eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the Sun at dawn. The younger brought out the Moon the begin the night.”

Through an elaborate contraption, the workings of which were once again hidden backstage, symbolic replicas of the Sun and the Moon were lifted above the stage on their respective cues. The lighting played as much a role in the play as the foal-actors themselves, bathing the hall in light at the Sun's rising and slowly dying away as the Moon replaced its twin.

“Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for the kingdom, and their subjects, the brave earth ponies, the soaring pegasi, and the mysterious unicorns: all the different types of ponies!”

Hearing their cue, a group of earther foals, each dressed in—somewhat exaggerated—age-appropriate clothing, walked across the stage in a show of numbers. After them, several pegasi flew around the hall, presenting their acrobatic skills to the enchanted audience. Yet, strangely, not one unicorn showed up on stage to play their part, but instead it was more earthers, each with the familiar strapped-on horn, that posed on stage.

“As time went on, the unicorns, who had before the age of the Twin Sisters governed the skies and ruled over the passing of day and night, became resentful. They relished and played in the day the elder sister brought forth—but rejected and shunned the beautiful nights that the younger one provided for them.”

As the lights softened and flickered away once again, representing nighttime, pegasi and earther foals sat in the darkness, each holding a candle, singing a short rhyme about the passage of time and its toll on us. And far to the side sat but a few fake-unicorns, blowing out their own candles one by one before leaving the stage.

“On one fateful day, the younger sister received a letter, in which stood a threat to her own life. The ominous letter spoke of the coming danger, that the Night Princess would be assassinated by a wicked mare of unbound magic: the Lavender Unicorn.”

The audible gasp of every pony present was heard echoing across the hall as coloured lights danced around the room, mimicking the red flames of a burning fire.

“The Princess of the Night was determined to live through, and to prove to the unicorns that she and her sister were more capable of ruling over the skies. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had cemented her decision. Reluctantly, she left her sister alone for the night, fearing what she would find come the next day.”

The pegasi who had previously played the part of Princess Luna and Princess Celestia now flew onto the stage, dropping gently on the wooden padding beneath. The lights flickered more in an unrelenting symphony of bright and dark, speaking for the two fillies on stage who played out an increasingly heated argument. As the fillies reached the high ceiling of the building the lights shone at their brightest for just an instant before they were abruptly shut down. Princess Celestia quickly turned around and flew away amidst played insults and offences. Thus, Princess Luna was left alone in the darkness. She slowly descended to the stage again, her head held steep down in sadness.

The Princess lay down on a bed, carefully placed below her in the darkness while the attention of the audience was drawn upwards by the arguing twins. As she lay there, her eyes closed, silently contemplating the futility of her actions, small candles began lighting up in the background. One by one, their combined lights drove out the darkness as the eerie orange glow danced on the dark mane of the sleeping princess. Suddenly, one of the candles fell from its place high atop the wall, its light dying upon reaching the floor. And then another, and another—all the rest soon followed.

When complete darkness once again gripped the stage and the hall, a powerful, coloured spotlight was shone upon the Princess-filly. In this light, the colour of dark purple, a shadow of a unicorn—cast from off-stage by an unseen actor—emerged behind her. At first, only the shadow's head could be seen rising behind the bed, but in the end, as the shadow progressively grew bigger and more menacing, it stood up on its two hind legs, her forehooves lifted high in the air above the Princess, like some beast getting ready to strike down on its victim. After a moment of suspense, the shadow swiftly collapsed onto the bed, engulfing the Princess as the red curtains were suddenly dropped, drawn to hide the coming act of murder. The audience watched in silent awe.

Within a short moment, the curtains were pulled back again to reveal the Princess Luna-filly lying on her back on the very same bed, the would-be Princess Celestia crying over the loss of her most cherished sister.

“The Princess of the Sun cried for three days and three nights in grief of her lost younger sister. So great was her sorrow that the sky itself wept with her, losing many of its stars, so great was its grief. When the Sun Princess finally emerged from her mourning, she had her sister placed in an enchanted coffin, in which—although it was moved across the empire in the millennium to come—she rests to this day, her eternal youth retained even in her death.”

The filly playing Princess Celestia flew up high again as others took up the other princess, bringing her off stage. A bright light now shone at the Sun Princess, reflecting off her elaborate white dress. Beneath her, several make-believe unicorns came on stage, looking up at their ruler.

“The elder sister, now left alone in her pain, took on responsibility of both the Sun and the Moon. Her first royal decree was that the mysterious Lavender Unicorn must be found.”

Pegasi flew about the stage, inspecting their “unicorn” friends closely.

“She organised hundreds of searches in her attempts to find the murderer. Yet it was all in vain. The Lavender Unicorn, it seemed, disappeared as suddenly as she had arrived on that fateful night, never to be seen again.”

The flying pegasi now picked up the fake-unicorns below and brought them all, one by one, off the stage.

“But the Princess was wise. She saw that the deed of the Lavender Unicorn was a testament to the dangers of magic going unchecked. She understood that mere ponies are not to be trusted with such divine powers, for they would, inevitably, grow discontent and hungry for more.”

Six lights, each coloured differently, now began to slowly circle around the floating Princess-filly.

“In her final desperation, she harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony!”

Several fake-unicorns now started running across the stage, both to the left and to the right, their mouths wide open, in soundless screams.

“Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated the unruly unicorns, and ensured that their legacy shall not be continued. Every once in a long while, a unicorn would yet be born. Their parents—no matter of what descent—would have to present their foal to the Princess herself, relinquishing raising him or her on their own. The common unicorn bloodline thus slowly trickled away—and today, no more are born, their vile magics lost to the dark ages of Equestrian history.”

The Celestia-filly descended onto the stage with a pegasus and an earther at each of her sides, bowing before their all-powerful Princess.

“Thus, with the unbound magic of the once-mighty unicorns all but abolished, and both the Sun and the Moon at the lone Princess' call, harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since.”

The narrator filly closed the book and stepped quickly to the middle of the stage as all the rest of the foals also appeared. They bowed deeply before their audience, who, in turn, applauded and cheered by stomping their hooves repeatedly against the floor, clapping for the wonderful performance. Yet to myself this strange play was nothing less than disturbing. How nonchalantly they spoke of “defeating” unicorns, and what did it mean? Has Celestia, in her madness, hunted down all of my kind in search of her sister's murderer? Was this play—and this very tradition—genocide glorified?

Only now, as I pondered upon the fatality of my actions, did I realise: this was no mere little town somewhere in the empire, but the one that which I had once called my home. It was Ponyville, in a time before its rise to the great city my eyes were familiar with, for the mayor—walking onto the stage once again—I now recognised, as I did the audience. Every pony that I had previously known sat in the hall. The carrot-top Golden Harvest, the fair Bon Bon, the ever-clumsy Ditzy Doo, and so many others awaited the words of their Mayor Mare. Every pony except the unicorns that I used to know.

“And now,” The voice of the small town's mayor echoed in the hall. “It is my great honour to introduce to you the ruler of our land, who, in her great generosity, had picked our town as her location for this year's commemoration. The very pony who gives us the Sun and the Moon each and every day. The good, the wise, the bringer of harmony to all of Equestria!”

Among the growing cheering and clapping of her audience, the mayor lifted her head and pointed toward the high balcony on which I stood, still concealed by the curtains.

“Princess Celestia!” She finished.

Before I even realised what was happening, the curtains which had until then protected me from their prying eyes were at once drawn back, exposing me to a horrified crowd. Nearly blinded by the spotlight suddenly shining in my eyes, I stood there in silence contemplating what action to take. A sudden silence fell upon the hall, the ponies only looked at me, seeming all too terrified to even move a muscle. Clearly, they had been expecting someone else. Seeing that none of them dared to speak up, I took it upon myself to make the first step.

“Citizens of Ponyville! Do not be alarmed. It is I, your friend.”

“What did you do with the Princess?!” A terrified scream came from the back of the crowd. I could not see who it was that mustered the courage to speak to me, but I considered it progress.

“Does none of you recognise me? Don't you know who I am?”

Silence.

“Has none of you seen a single unicorn in their life? Are we lost to legends?” I asked, hoping for some sort of answer.

“You are indeed.” A confident voice know spoke up from the middle of the hall. The rest of the ponies quickly stepped aside, keeping a good distance from their brave peer. As the crowd slowly opened around the source of the voice, I saw not one, but two familiar faces. Or to be more precise, one face and one mask. At the centre of the room stood none other than the Oracle, her cold snake-mask still resting unmoving on her face. Standing by her was an old friend, Rainbow Dash, with a look of pure fury in her eyes. The Oracle continued her monologue.

“And those legends spoke of your return. On the longest night of the thousandth year following the blasphemous act, the murderer would return. You are the one that killed Princess Luna. You are the Lavender Unicorn.”

“It only figures that you would be the only one to remember me.” I said in barely concealed disgust. “You know exactly why I'm here, do you not?”

Without addressing me once more, she turned around and called out to the citizens of Ponyville. She spoke with a powerful, authoritative voice, telling the terrified crowd to leave the building and follow her, for she would protect them. The crowd, one tiny spark away from igniting into a total chaotic rampage, was easily manipulated by the one pony who seemed to know what to do. The Oracle left, and the others followed. Only Rainbow Dash stood in her place as the waves of ponies passed by her on their way to the exit. As the hall fell silent with every other pony gone, I cast a blink spell to teleport down from the balcony.

She only stood there, her body tense and her wings extended menacingly. Her muscles, like a compressed spring, seemed ready to burst at any moment.

“Don't you recognise me, Rainbow Dash?”

“So you know my name. I would have ended your life anyway, but you've just made this personal.”

She turned to the side and started pacing to and fro before me, her posture remaining as tense as before. Like a lioness stalking her prey; moving ever so slowly and calmly, yet ready to leap and pounce in the blink of an eye. I myself held my ground, never taking my eyes off my enemy.

“Is that so, Rainbow Dash? What makes you so eager to draw the blood of another? Such acts seem below you.”

“I think you know exactly why I do what I do.”

“She's dead, isn't she? Murdered in her sleep by Cadence herself.”

“When her soul was forced to leave its mortal shell, the Elements chose their own.”

“New bearers. At the moment of Celestia's death, the Elements latched on to the most fitting hosts they could find. And you—you were chosen to bear the Element of Loyalty, were you not?”

“How clever, Unicorn. By now, only Laughter remains. When I am through with you, I shall find Pinkamena and end her as well. Horn or no horn, such magic is not meant to be held by us. Only a Princess may command such mystical forces.”

“You are proud of your work, Dashie? You seem to enjoy killing your friends.”

“My readiness to turn against my closest friends is an eternal testament to my loyalty. Every kill is a sign of my obedience! Every corpse lying facedown in its blood is a work of my unfaltering faith, my devotion!”

“Is that all there is to it? The familiar cold-blooded righteousness of the true believer? Do you live, fight, kill and if needed die only for your Sun-goddess? Have you, yourself never wished for anything?”

“What more could I ever wish for? Celestia is God, the leader beyond reproach, and I am her obedient, her devoted servant, her one and only faithful student! Through serving her, I bask in her radiance, share her glory! And my service to her ensures my place in the Crystal Hallway! Do you not see, freak, acting in the best interest of the Princess is acting in the best interest of ourselves? Something your kind never understood.”

“Yes, now I understand. Only now.” For a moment I turned my eyes away, looking down in reflection. Rainbow Dash was not the main character in this meeting. I was, and I finally understood that now. “The promise of a place in history, the cheers of the crowd echoing in your mind. Posing as a crusader making the ultimate sacrifice, and at the end of the story going down in legends with a glorious halo around your head. Truly, enough to drive any pony to kill her friends.”

“You speak as if you had experienced it. Are you claiming that a unicorn, who only cares for herself, once served a cause greater than her own with devotion?”

“Oh but I have. I had the exact same thoughts as you do know... when I faced Princess Luna a millennium ago.”

“That so?” She asked haughtily. “You're a righteous fiend, aren't you?”

I peered into her self-righteous face, and a chill of revelation mixed with disgust shook my body.

“Apparently I am.”

“Whatever twisted delusions you hold amounts to little, fiend. For you see, you won't be leaving this room.”

“Is this really what happened to my kind, then? Hunted down and driven to extinction like mere pests?”

“Oh yes, Unicorn. Legends speak of their screams echoing throughout the empire. They say you filthy demons put up quite a fight.”

“And that's it? The earthers and you pegasi just stood back and watched as your beloved Princess purged an entire race from the face of Equestria?”

“There was collateral damage over the centuries. Some ponies tried to hide their unicorn friends. Mothers refused the royal decrees, keeping their newborn unicorn foals a secret from the Princess.” Rainbow Dash grinned. “They were punished accordingly. Over time, the subjects learned that siding with your kind brought with it nothing but the wrath of her crusaders. You beasts followed Princess Luna one by one. It's been five hundred years now since the time of the last great hunt. That makes you the last of your kind.”

In her eyes I could see the utter satisfaction it brought her to say these words. Even though everything she knows about this racial cleansing was clearly nothing more than stories passed down through generations, she seemed to experience a real emotional high just telling me about it.

“You must really hate us.”

“The Princess does. And as her faithful student, it is my duty, my sacred obligation, to kill the Lavender Unicorn.”

“Your princess had my kind eradicated, wiped from the world like excrement from a boot, and now you would expect me to die as well?”

“Yes.” She said ever-so gallantly, her head held high as she paced back and forth in front of me. “And you will, Unicorn. You will pay for what you've done.”

“I killed a princess, Rainbow Dash. What makes you think that you can defeat me?”

“Do not underestimate me, Unicorn. The last one to make that mistake had her heart torn from her chest by my very hooves.”

Copy cat.

It was as if this had all been deliberately set up only to hold a mirror to my face. For this Rainbow Dash wasn't the one I knew. This pegasus was, in fact, me. The best substitute the Princess could find, at any rate, seeing how in this timeline, I was never born. If her life was anything like mine, then she grew up under the strict guidance of Celestia herself, and as such, she respected her more than any other pony. She was her mother and her teacher—and Rainbow Dash was, over time, conditioned to do whatever the great Princess asked of her. So righteous and self-absorbed. As she boasted about her murders the evident pleasure in her voice was disturbing enough, but even more disquieting was the realisation of how much I shared her thirst for blood.

The sheer irony of this scene was almost too much to bear.

And so it was that after that short exchange I fought the brave Rainbow Dash. Her physical prowess against my magical powers. Despite all her majesty and grace in talk, without magic she could only meet me in a bloody melée. There was no creativity or finesse in her methods, but her simple brutality and physical strength made up for it. She employed no martial art, or training, but with her berserking rage, and apparent disregard for pain, she did not need any. Whether she was above or below such frivolities as elegance in combat is an open question. Amidst the punches and kicks being delivered both ways, she seemed all the more energised rather than exhausted. Indeed, it looked like she enjoyed receiving pain as much as she did inflicting it.

Her expression gave away her the sickness of her mind. In her eyes I saw a primal fury that I knew all too well, the utter fixation on the impending murder. And she grinned all throughout, her teeth and gums laid bare as she bashed away at me with her hooves. I was soon overpowered and pinned to the ground. That's when she stopped.

“It would be a shame to end you so quickly.” She spoke, her twisted grin still drawn across her face. “Is that really all you can do?”

I replied by teleporting away, appearing behind her and blasting the pegasus away before she knew what happened. As she was now lying on the ground, I stood above her, pressing a hoof beneath her chin to lift her head. “I learned not to expose my back early on in my quest. Have you not?” I gloated.

She quickly regained her senses and pushed me off before shooting up towards the high ceiling. Her ability to manoeuvre in such a confined place was, I admit, most admirable. She swooped down at me, attempting to knock me down once again. I, in turn, retaliated with firing my magical projectiles. It all seemed to be in vain, though, on both parts. As she circled above me, I could not hit her, and due to my teleporting capabilities, she could not touch me.

The hall itself seemed to pose more threat to both of us than we did to one another. It was not long before several pillars that held the building together were knocked down, windows were broken and the ceiling slowly started caving in. Looking around at the increasingly unstable structure, I knew what I'd do. I remembered how when I still lived in Ponyville, I would often catch Rainbow Dash mid-flight by her tail with a holding spell. This time, I would do something similar.

When she came swooping down at me once again—seemingly completely disregarding the state of the hall in her tunnel-vision against me—I merely stepped aside, quickly grasping one of her wings with magic as she darted past me. The opposing forces, focused on the base of the wing, were enough to break the light bones that held it in place. Her wing was, in an instant, torn from its place, causing Rainbow Dash to crash head-first into the opposite wall, unable to fly upwards with only one wing. The weak structure of the building then finally gave out as a falling beam quickly crushed her hind legs beneath itself.

There she was, one wing missing, her head drenches in blood, pinned to the ground under the weight of the wooden beam. Yet despite all the pain, she thrashed about and moved what little she could, trying desperately—and vainly—to break free. Her unending rage would simply not let her die. Standing over her amidst the falling debris, looking at how pathetically she clung to life, I could only think that her fury stemmed not from her imminent death, but from the sheer disappointment that she could not kill me before she passed. Our resemblance was more than uncanny.

“I renounce you.” I whispered to her before I drove my horn into her chest and through her swiftly beating heart. Pulling it out, I looked over her mangled body once more.

Not often does a mare see her own metaphorical corpse. It is a sobering experience.