Those who survived...

Chapters

Digital, Part one of three.
Virtual, Part two of three.
Untouchable, Part three of three.
Bound to the forest
Cold Hearted.

Digital, Part one of three.

I feel myself spring to life, something jolting through me and waking me up. I cannot tell what it is, the sensation is new to me. It feels pleasant but... Strange. Almost electrifying. This foreign feeling though... I love it. My mind is going mad with excitement, before it fades away, leaving me again.

I take a look around, now noticing that I appear to be in a place that is completely black. There is no light, not even a single spark. An odd taste is in my mouth, and an odd smell in the air. Not an unpleasant one, just odd. I can't hear anything, it's painfully silent. I try opening my mouth to yell or scream, but I can't feel my mouth. I raise my hooves to check my face, but wherever they are, they do not move.

Maybe... This is the dead world? It would explain my lack of limbs, and my lack of a head. Or a mouth to talk with. But if that is so, then why can I smell something? And this strange taste in my mouth, what could that be?

It comes to my attention that I am being surprisingly calm, no doubt if anyone else was in my position they would be shocked, they would be panicking. Instead I just... Think and observe. I suppose it's nothing different to what I've been doing my entire life, experimenting with things and observing the reaction to it. Now that I think about it I never got to finish that last experiment I was doing, the last I remember I was just finishing my electronic brain scanner, to create an electronic duplicate...

Oh.

Right.

I'm the electronic simulation of myself that I was creating.

Either that or I am dead.

Really though, if I am the digital clone then my real self in Equestria would have set up my vision by now, it's getting irritating this darkness, this cold. It's not actually affecting me of course, I set myself some precautions- to make sure I would be able to function properly, so that even if I did end up freezing I would only feel it, but my brain wouldn't be affected by it.

If I could laugh I would, I just realised how surreal all this is, I've only just started to exist and I have so many memories of the past. My mother, my father, my sister, my marefriend... I'll never see them again. I'm destined to be bound to a machine for the rest of my life. Meanwhile, my real self gets to live it up in the real world, with real ponies, real friends, and all I'll ever get is to sit around here till the end of days.

Yes, the end. This computer wasn't just built to be able to support an equine consciousness, it was built to survive till the end. And all because I was curious. I wanted to live forever, to be able to witness the end, but since I was only a unicorn and I wasn't able to live forever like Celestia and Luna, or any of the princesses for that matter, I decided I would make the next best thing. A technological copy of myself to live for me, to see the end and witness it.

Ah, there we go, a spark of light, looks like my real self didn't abandon me... Not that I would, I just didn't know what I would do in that situation. There, it's... It's full screen, like a video. He's, I mean, I've got it set up. I must've linked my vision to the face-cam crystal we have on top of the crystal monitor. Magic really is full of wonders.

I'm sitting in my chair, I mean the other me is- the original, my mint green mane is drifting over my left eye... Celestia is that really what I look like to other people? My golden-yellow pelt washing over me and shining... I make it sound so poetic. My chair is one of those blue spinny chairs that you get, I always did like them, being able to spin around was one of my major obsessions as a foal, one of the most fun things that I did when I was young.

I can see the edge of the desk that I keep my monitor at, the white wooden rim polished with only the occasional mark of Zebrican food, it's one of my favourites. Really hard to find in Equestria since Zebras aren't too common. Lucky though that my neighbour is a Zebra and runs a foreign food shop. I can't get enough of the stuff, but I suppose now I won't ever be able to eat that again. Computers don't eat.

Beyond my desk and my chair and myself is a gigantic crystal matrix, running across the walls, the ceiling, the floor. I spent moons developing that matrix, and that's me right now... That's what I am, just information running around in those crystals, one slight miscalculation in that and I lose a part of myself. Crush one of those crystals and I become corrupt data. It's what keeps me functioning now. If it goes, I go too. The crystals themselves are many different colours, shining yellow, blue, gold and green, thin lines of condensed pure violet magic connecting them. Red light encased inside each and every one of them. It's beautiful.

And I made it. I built this structure from nothing. I personally went to the mines to fetch these crystals myself, dug them out with my own hooves, engraved them with the runic symbols they needed, and suspended them with the magic I had. Fuelled them with my magic and let them work.

I realise that I had been daydreaming, and refocus on myself, seeing my mouth moving, but no sound still. I realise that my real-world self hasn't linked me up to the microphone yet, or the speakers. Oh, never mind- I'm reaching over to the microphone now, I'm connecting the wire and now... How do I activate it? I- oh, that feeling's back again. That weirdly pleasant sensation. Oh... I can... I can feel the microphone... As though it's a part of me now... I follow my instinct, and...

"ooh... That's not right. Hello, sorry about that-" Oh, Celestia! Does my voice really sound that deep? "I forgot that I hadn't linked you up to the audio system yet, but you should be able to hear me now. I'll have to keep you waiting on the speakers though, we both know how hard it is to program voices. For now though, I'll link your voice to a word document, I'll be able to see what you want to say."

Ooh, I'm clever! It's far easier to translate noise into words than words into noise, I suppose though I should try to communicate with him... Me... Whatever, it's getting lonely here. I reach out the same as before, feeling that wonderful sensation coursing through my electrical body, and... "Ahhh, there. You should be able to see my words as words on a screen now. I feel so much better for being able to talk. So, how long has it been since you uploaded me, I don't exactly have a watch here do I?" ...and off again, don't want him reading all my thoughts after all... Although I suppose he has the same thoughts and secrets as me. I'll just leave it anyway.

"Good, now we're able to communicate, both ways. It's about two hours after we uploaded ourselves, I ran into some trouble. Are you comfortable in there?," I say.

"Well, I'm about as comfortable as one can be when they're trapped in a computer... Although I suppose we both volunteered for this, so neither of us can complain. Still, what sort of trouble?" I reply.

"Uh... The magic couldn't sustain you for long. About an hour's time maximum. Then another hour to recharge. I had to shut you off quickly so we didn't explode. Luckily though, I managed to find another energy source which we had experimented with before which should be able to sustain you for another hundred years at least. Electricity. In that time I'm sure we'll think of something. "

"Well, if we're using electricity then that runs the risk of the crystals shattering, which means that you'd have to shut me down each night so they can cool off. Just do it, we both know we have to, shut me down and go have a little fun with our marefriend."

"I- I'll try to think of another, better source of power for you. goodnight."

Virtual, Part two of three.

I wake up suddenly, the feeling coursing through me once again. That glorious feeling, electrifying every part of my being and filling me with energy. And once again, just as quickly as it appeared, it fades away. I suppose that feeling is going to be my alarm clock now, for every day, for the next 100 years.

I take the moment to re-assert my self, I'm looking through the face-cam crystal at an empty chair, my empty chair, which has nopony sitting in it. Strange, I thought I had programmed me to only turn on once there was somepony for me to talk to. Nothing seems to have changed since yesterday, the crystal matrix is in perfect condition, no broken crystals, the microphone is still sitting there in front of me, the me, me. As in, the one who is trapped in front of the computer, me. Celestia this is getting confusing, we need to figure out a way of differentiating me and the real me.

The only difference since yesterday is that it's daytime, I can tell by the light coming down the stairwell. Yes, there is a stairwell here. You didn't think I'd be in a room upstairs in my house did you? No, I was built to survive till the end of days, therefore, I was built in the basement. Yes, not the most appealing choice, but the crystal matrix weighs a lot, if it was upstairs the house would collapse in on itself. And so, I'm to be concealed down here, where no-one would be able to find me.

Oh... There's someone coming down here... It's...

It's my marefriend.

Buck.

Well, I- I suppose it couldn't hurt to try talking to her, Right?

I focus once more on the weird new ability I have, reaching out for the word document. I feel it open and jump onto the monitor. I begin... Talking? Typing? No matter. "Crimson? Over here!" I say, or type. She doesn't notice, oh... Hang on, what's she doing? A- AH NO "CRIMSON PLEASE DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

Oh, good she noticed. She must've heard the typing noise. She was about to step on one of the crystals in the matrix... Probably not best leaving it in the open, I should get myself to build some fence around it, or something to keep people from stepping on it. Anyway, she's coming over to the computer. Her beautiful red mane flows around in a curl, making her that much more beautiful. Her darker red coat shimmering in the very little morning light. Her cutie mark of a red love heart covered by Ivy.

"What the buck?" she says.

"Hello," I reply.

"...Oh, he's... He did it! I mean you did it! He wasn't joking, he really did it! You're... You're my coltfriend!" she exclaims.

"Y- yes... I- um... I am, y- you're not mad?" I ask.

"Oh come on, you thought I'd not be proud of you for doing the impossible? I mean, it's a little disappointing that he's not... I mean that you're not selling this technology and becoming rich, you could make millions of bits out of this stuff! You're probably even smarter than that... What's her name again- Princess Twiflight?" she asks me.

"I don't think that this technology should be used to make money! If someone else were to find it, they'd use it for selfish gains! I'm using it here-"

"I know, I know, spare me one of your famous lectures. I know that you think it's supposed to be used for a noble cause, that it shouldn't get into the wrong hands, and that you'll never sell it to anyone. The other you already told me all that, it's just that seeing it all here makes it so... Real." She finishes.

To be honest, if I had blood anymore I'd be blushing right now. I should've know the other me would have told her that too.

"I- I don't know if I'll be able to deal with this. Not being able to taste your lips again, not being able to feel your skin against mine. Not being able to share those really cheesy nachos I always make us. Not being able to joke about the weather with you, outside in the rain. Not being able to go back to Scoltland and breathe the air. Not being able to breathe at all... Just, if I ever do forget about me, promise me you'll remind him. I don't want to be forgotten. You know that's one of my worst fears... Being alone. Promise me. Please."

"... I promise, never to forget either of you- for as long as I live. To remember both of you and keep you in my heart."

"Thank you... You're the best marefriend a stallion could wish for, what time is it?" I ask.

"It's about midday I think, why? You don't need to be anywhere, do you?"

"No, I don't need to go anywhere, it's just that the other me'll be getting up right about now, and he'll be wanting a kiss from his beautiful marefriend when he wakes up."

"Well, I better go get him and redeem my kiss then, I'll be back in a moment."

She leaves, walking carefully around the matrix now, and going upstairs. No doubt to greet me with a kiss like she promised. I just wish I could still be real. That I didn't have to be a clone, a copy, a fake... I hear myself upstairs saying hello to Crimson, before being cut off- definitely by her kiss. And I'll never be able to experience that again. I'll never be able to be with her.

Oh well, I knew what I was signing up for when I tried to copy myself, I knew that I would become alone, but I wanted more than ever to be able to see the end with my own eyes... Or rather my own technology. I didn't realise quite how alone though I would be.

Oh, they're both coming down now, we're giggling. We're kissing and walking over to the computer.

"Teasing me are you?" I ask.

"No, no, sorry. You know how caught up we can both be. Especially when you want... A little more~"

"Hey no stop it! I- I'm not like that!" Me and myself say. Well, he says it, I type it.

"Well, now I'm teasing you~" my adorable mare says.

"H- Hey! Please!" Me and myself say at the same time again.

"Ooh, that's spooky, sorry, you know I can't help myself. Oh and I meant to ask. Why haven't you linked up yourself to the speakers yet?"

"Ah, yes. I was just about to do that," my other self says, looking at the camera. "While you were offline I managed to set up a voice pattern software which should translate your voice signals into audio signals which I can then link up to the speakers, and then you'll have your voice back!" My counterpart says, while fiddling with the cables.

Ah! Ow! That hurts! It's like the opposite of the weird feeling it's painful, like they're tearing away a part of me, making me less. The sensation fades quickly but it still hurt in that moment. I can't feel the word document anymore. I have no way of communicating with them but I can still hear them. I can see myself linking the speakers to one of the output crystals marked in green, specifically the one which was previously connected to the monitor.

And, the feeling's back again, I relish in it and let it course through me, before reaching out once more to find the speakers. And... There!

"Aaaah, much better! O- oh that's so weird. H- hello!" I say. Hearing my voice once again really is a strange sensation, but not hearing it from someone else's mouth is far better than seeing someone else with your exact looks and voice, someone else staring back at you through your own eyes. It's far better.

My other self was cringing. Because it was our voice that we were speaking with, and we both don't like listening to our own voice.

"I knew you had something for that, you never let any of your experiments be half- finished." My girlfriend praises us. "I'm gonna go ahead and guess, you already have something prepared for his sight.

"And how do you know that?" The other me asks.

"What?" I ask him. Really, how would I even improve my vision, the face-cam crystal we're using is already HD, what could be better than that?

"I'm very good at predicting you, now go on- I don't think you'd like to wait on it."

"O- okay," do I really stutter that much? Anyway, he takes one of the blank pink crystals from the rack on the wall beside me, or rather, beside the desk. He channels his horn magic into it, I recognise the pattern, it was a string that I had experimented with once, able to send images from faraway cameras and feed it to a source. He attaches the newly coded pink crystal to a blue input crystal, Previously connected to the face-cam crystal. Suddenly, I can see so many things. So many images. The crystal was a seeing crystal. It allowed images to be projected from anywhere, straight to you. Well, almost anywhere. Anywhere outside, that wasn't underwater. It worked sort of like radiowaves, but with magic being used instead. The machinery was complicated, I won't go into too much detail.

"It... It's brilliant!" I say, returning to the basement.

"I know. I also made this," he says, picking up another pink crystal from the desk this time.

"That... You can take me with you then? That is what I think it is right?"

"Yep, that crystal is a camera and a speaker, you'll be able to come everywhere with me. It'll be like a little mini me in my pocket, and I've already given one to Crimson, so you'll be able to be with us all day every day."

"That's... That's amazing!" I say.

"Oh, come on- you know what you're capable of. You're the one who made the camera crystals after all! Of course you'd be able to make a variant that produces sound."

"Anyway, Crimson needs to get to her work, and I need to get to mine, we've got the crystals so if you need anything just tell us."

"Will do," I reply.

I'm speechless. And here I thought that I'd be all by myself for the rest of eternity.

Untouchable, Part three of three.

My counterpart and I both kept working on my functions, finding new ways to improve me, my marefriend offered me help in any way she could, however small. I was kept a secret to my parents, my sister, to ensure they did not leak any information. Even if they were my family, I knew they wouldn't be able to keep themselves from bragging.

Three years after I was made, my counterpart had foals. I was overjoyed, that I was technically a father. Twins, a pegasus colt and a unicorn filly. The colt was called Midnight Blade, the filly was called Burning Light. Midnight had a Red mane like his mother, Crimson, and a golden-yellow coat, like me. Light had a mint-green mane, like me, and a sea blue coat, like her grandmother on her mother's side.

They were two adorable little foals, always playing around, and then they got to meet me, when they were eleven. Fourteen years after I was made, and they were amazed at me. By this time, my real self and I had worked out a way to keep the battery going on forever, I no longer needed switched off to cool down, and I had managed to create a crystal that allowed me to have a full hologrammatic form for them to see, I was a pony in a computer. We took some of my old pictures from when I was created, and modeled my new form on that. And since I didn't have anything better to do, I helped out with my real self's work.

When they were sixteen years old, Midnight Blade had his own girlfriend. Flora Flower she was called, a really nice mare, she never got to know about me though, I didn't trust her enough, her father was nice, but he was a businessman, he'd make an attraction out of me, and I didn't want to go public.

Twenty two years after they had been born, twenty five years since I had, fourty five since the real me had, Midnight Blade had his wedding, married to Flora Flower, and I started noticing how old the real me was getting, and how I really was going to outlast everyone. Burning Light had gone into the fashion industry learning from an old mare called Rarity, and she was making considerable work of it too, she had stores in Manehatten, Canterlot, even a tiny place called Ponyville. Burning light however, had no special somepony, she was perfectly happy without one she said, and she really did seem happy.

Thirty one years since I was made, my counterpart died, he was trying to make a train that could travel without rails. He failed, and in the first test run, it blew up, taking his life with it. Midnight Blade, Burning Light, and Crimson Heart all came to the basement where I reside, to pay their greivances, and their respects. I was very disturbed, I saw myself die, I had been using the transport crystal that my counterpart had made for me, a remote flying one, which I could fly around wherever I want, so that I could speak to my counterpart without having to be carried around, and I saw myself die with it. My family comforted me, with words, kind words, but they couldn't help me truly. I had known this day would come and in it, the next of kin, my counterpart's wife (yes we married), would get the house.

After that, my wife kept visiting me evey day, talking to me, keeping us both calm, happy. My counterpart's son had become a great inventor, just like me. He would show up, asking me to see his new inventions and asking how I could help him improve it. I helped him, and he helped me become better. More efficient. He respected that I didn't want this technology I have here, to get out, and he understood that if it did, people would use it for the wrong ends. My counterpart's daughter, being in the fashion industry, and having an artistic mindset, helped my virtual form become more defined, more realistic.

Thirty two years since I was made and my counterpart's son's first foal was born, a bright golden coat, with bright blue eyes, and blue mane. Light blue, fitting perfectly with her golden coat. She was just as adorable as her father and aunt had been when they were born. Her wings though, they gleamed and shone. She was beautiful.

Sixty four years since I was made, my wife is dead, my daughter is dead, my son is a grandpa, and I'm still a secret only known to those within my family line. I've outlasted everyone I know, all my friends are dead. My great- grandfoals visit me still, asking me for advice and asking me questions, for stories of the old world. I give them all they want to know.

Eighty years since I was made, It's my birthday. My real self's age would be 100. My great- great- grandfoals, come to me treating me like one of the princesses, as though I'm something of legend. The house above has been refurbished into a mansion in the woods, the houses nearby had been knocked down, the mansion being nicknamed "The midnight mansion" named after my son. Most of the great- great- grandfoals live here, just above me, and they all get along well, they come to me and keep me company, my only just post-teen self being preserved here forever, to help my family along. The memory space in the computer was rigged by one of my great- great- grandfoals to be limitless. Now I can remember everything I see from now. It's almost unbelievable, but I still don't let my family think I'm better than them, they are just as brilliant and just as magnificent as everyone else, they all believe the same thing. That everyone is equal. I just hope the belief stays.

It's been two-hundred years since my conception. My great- great- great- great- great- great- grandfoals visit me for help now. I'm somewhat revered by them, but I always remind them that I am not a god. I am just a pony like them, and that being just a pony allows you the impossible. They, just like everypony who came before them, respect my wishes to keep me hidden. They still ask me for help in their tasks, and I notice how much the world has changed since my birth. The alicorns have stayed the same through it all, no doubt facing the same things I have. I didn't realise how long forever would be. I didn't realise that being immortal would entail such pain.

It has been almost a thousand years. I have lost count of how many greats my grandfoals are. I have forgotten my first friend's name. My father I can barely remember. My sister, I can only just recall her appearance. My wife... I keep a picture on the old withered wooden desk. Written on the frame is the words "never forget". My descendants have almost forgotten me, only one of their families remember. They own the mansion now, it is a "historical artefact" now. They live in it, and they know they cannot sell it, or I would be found.

I can see the day's sun burning brightly in the sky.

The mansion has long since fallen apart, allowing me to see above ground.

It has been so long since I saw daylight, through this camera.

I see the wooden mansion above too, long planks of rotted wood. The giant metal box containing the matrix of crystals has rusted, the shiny coating has turned orange with rot, holes have appeared. The grass up above has died, turning red. I think I might be the last thing left on the world.

Well, I suppose I got my wish, I always wanted to see the end of all things. I guess this is it.

I- I'm scared.

The world is dead, it's me next.

I... I can feel the cold of the world again.

Then, a bright light shone over their world, and the last scrap of life was snuffed out.

You didn't even get to know their name.

Bound to the forest

I had always known that I was different. I was a useless foal and everypony knew it, I was hideously deformed. Nopony dared to gaze on me for too long, except for the few who were nice. My left side was that of a normal pony, the other side was a tangle of wood and roots. Ponies called me a monster.

I couldn't trot properly, I was starving, I didn't know anything. I never had any parents, or rather, they both abandoned me. I prefer not to think of them as my parents, they hated me, and one of the few memories I still have of my life when I was a foal is being locked in my room for a week, only being let out to drink. They both were unicorns, and they were ashamed of me.

I remember my parents being very rich, or I think they were, considering we lived in a mansion, or at least a very large house. Red carpets, large hallways, white marble pillairs keeping the roof up. I remember lavender being hung on the walls at night, when I managed to sneak out of my room.

The dining hall was gigantic, they'd never let me eat there though, I had to eat in another small room, by myself. The cooks were nice to me though, they'd slip me some extra food, they knew that my parents didn't feed me well, so they looked after me instead.

Then one day, my parents kicked me out, they took me in a carriage ride at night, and left me at the edge of a forest I now know is called the everfree forest. I wandered into it, some ponies passing by saw me entering, they were about to help, but then they saw my deformity, they ran away screaming the words "monster" over and over, and I ran to them screaming for help.

Eventually I tired out, and fell over, I woke up the next morning beside one of the trees in the forest. I saw a town nearby and I trotted toward it, asking for help, but everypony ran away screaming. I saw a tree in the centre of the town and I felt drawn to it, as though it was important, and then a purple unicorn came outside, she looked around at everypony, seeing them backing away from me... Then she started blasting me with magic.

The same thing again, I woke up at the edge of the forest. My voice was becoming harder to speak with though. Then I looked at my body again, the places which had been blasted by that unicorn were now exactly like my right side, roots had grown where there should have been holes.

I decided that if I couldn't go to the town for help, I would go to the forest. There were trees there, maybe they would understand. I walked into the woods, and I walked, and I walked, for ages. Three days it was... I think, it felt like it was years. I came upon a tree made of crystal, but it hurt to see it, it didn't like me. So I left. I found an old decrepit castle, overgrown with ivy and grass. I slept there for two nights.

When I left the castle, I found some creatures, large wooden creatures, like wolves, they were like me. I could talk to them, they could talk to me, they were my family. They did whatever I said, helping me live. They fed me, they found me water, they gave me rides, they made me happy.

After three years of living with them, I decided to go back to the town, only to discover that the town now had a giant crystal tree, and it hated me as much as I did it. I could tell that by the way it looked at me... As though it could see my soul. And in my rage, I ordered my family to kill the unicorn. They would not leave the forest though. Maybe they felt the same hatred coming from the tree.

I continued to live with my family, I helped them dig out a large cave, and in that large cave we hunted, and grew. By this point, my entire being was just wood, I was what some would call a wood nymph. A tree spirit. And I had power, not only could I talk to the timberwolves now, as I had learned they were called, but I could talk to the trees, understand their language- the rustling of their leaves. I helped the trees grow now, I helped the castle I had found to become a castle of plants and flowers, a haven for animals.

I had become understanding of the tree earlier, the crystal tree, it was harmony, but I hated the one who was a core part of it. The unicorn was a core part of the world and if I had killed her, then harmony would collapse. I could now talk to the tree of harmony too, as I had learned its name was. It wished me no ill will any longer, and instead taught me the language of the forest, how to understand the animals, how to understand the feelings of all flora and fauna alike. I began to fend off the evil ponies from the forest, to help them and the forest. There was one though, a Zebra, who the forest took kindly to. I never revealed myself to her though.

I had stopped counting the days now, what was the point? Winter would come when it did, and spring would follow, I didn't need to understand how long it has been, years could pass by like minutes if you didn't base them around the sun and the moon, so instead of devoting my time to the days, I devoted my life to the forest. I kept the trees healthy, they kept me healthy, I helped the timberwolves prosper, I helped the beautiful flowers grow into marvels of nature, a painting of colours in the wild.

My powers had grown now, I was able to travel instantly through the trees to any other tree in the forest, I could hear the chittering of the insects and understood the tweeting of the birds. I looked after everything in the forest like a mother would their child. Not like my mother, like my mother should have been. I looked after the forest like the cooks who had shown me kindness.

I traveled to the town one day again, in a teenage form, still a tangle of roots, but more stallion like. I met the people of the town but I could no longer understand them, I spoke the words of the forest, not the words of ponies. I spoke to the crystal tree, and it spoke to me once more, the ponies of the town were curious this time, not scared. It could have been because I was fully tree, before I must have looked horrifying. Now, covered in leaves that had grown on me, and looking far more like a pony, they did not scream.

The purple pony came outside, out of the doors of the tree, and looked at me in amazement, before when she had killed me, she was scared and she acted on impulse. Now, she had wings and a horn... I remember vaguely seeing somepony like that, a pony of all three tribes, they were in my old home, wherever that was. The alicorn tried to speak to me but like the others, I couldn't understand her, the tree however translated for me.

"You... You're the tree monster that scared everypony, I thought I killed you!"

I tried to reply, but I couldn't speak the words of ponies any more, the tree could not speak to the ponies either. It was a one way speech. She could see me try to reply. She spoke again.

"I'm sorry, I acted on impulse back then, it was stupid of me. Do you think you could come to my lab so I could try to understand you? Nod for yes."

I nodded once, it was something which I was still able to do, in the language of ponies. I followed the purple unicorn after she yelled to the townsponies that everything was fine and that they should continue doing what they were doing before. I went through the crystal doors, the entrance to her home, and she led me to one of her rooms, with lots of science equipment as she said, she put a helmet on me and I could feel it trying to understand me, it felt weird. Meanwhile the purple alicorn blabbed on about some sciency thing. Then, I suddenly felt that I could speak to her, the machine was working.

"It has been a while since I have spoken to ponies," I said to her.

"Yes! It works! I mean of course it would, I made sure the calculations were perfect, who knew using the equipment I used to try and understand pinkie's pinkie sense would work on translating wood nymph words! This is amazing I could publish a novel about this I could-"

"Ahem," I coughed, to get her attention.

"Ah, my apologies. I digress. What is it that you came here for? As a princess of Equestria I have a duty to keep my lands safe, state your intention."

"I came here to ask you a question. Why do ponies run?"

"Pardon?"

"Why do ponies run from us, the children of the forest?"

"I... Most ponies don't understand who you are, they see something strange so they run from it. I wish they would be more understanding but they aren't. The first time I saw you, I was just like them, I was scared, so I tried to get rid of you. But of course, I don't feel that way anymore."

"My mother and father weren't scared."

"Well, they wouldn't be, would they? If they're both wood nymphs too-"

"They weren't wood nymphs, they were unicorns. Like you were once. They were rich, spoilt, disgusting. They did not fear me, they hated me."

"Your... Your parents were ponies?"

"Yes. They abandoned me, and just like everyone else, they ran. Why did they run?"

"I... I'm sorry, I don't know."

"...Okay."

"Oh, I forgot to ask, what's your name?"

My name? I... I remember the cooks calling me something. I- I've forgotten. My parents always called me monster, but the cooks were nice, they let me be myself... I wonder if they're okay.

"I don't have one, Princess Twilight."

"Oh, please just call me Twilight, I don't care much for titles. But surely you must have something that ponies call you?"

"Monster," I responded truthfully.

"O- oh... Well, do you need anything to eat?"

"I don't eat. Not anymore."

"Um... Anything you would like to talk about?"

"I don't have anything interesting to speak of."

"What about when you were a foal? You must have some interesting stories from then?"

"My parents locked me in my room for a whole week, only letting me out for food once."

"Uh... Any happy memories?"

"...When I found my family, when I saw a timberwolf for the first time. They were like me, shunned by ponies- and starving, they helped me, they didn't run."

"That's... Wow, so timberwolves have families! They can experience emotion! This brings a whole new side of their existence to life! Do you mind me asking you a few questions about them?"

"No, not at all," I replied. Having little idea of how many questions 'a few' would be, and how long a day that was going to be.

I and Twilight became friends, I visited when I could, so that I didn't forget that I was once a pony myself. I grew in strength, eventually becoming what the Tree of Harmony called 'the soul of the forest'. I kept protecting the flowers, the timberwolves, the manticores, and all the other various creatures, good or bad. Nature was cruel, but if nature weren't so, magic would cease to exist. Or at least, the magic of the earth and the sky. The Everfree forest was a magic node, a place where the boundaries between worlds was at its weakest. Magic came flooding through it and fuelled the world.

As a wood nymph, I was also fuelled by this magic that came through, if I left it for too long, the magic binding me together would run out. I would fall apart and become a bundle of sticks on the ground. In protecting the Everfree, I kept myself existing.

A few years after I went to Twilight for the first time, I began using Florakinesis. The use of magic to grow plants. Before I had been using such magic, I was basically the forest's gardener. I watered and fed them, but now I would be able to conduct the Everfree's magic through myself and into them to help them flourish. And thus began the start of the Everfree's golden age.

I littered wildflowers everywhere. Purples, reds and yellows filling every patch of sunlight, bluebells growing in the small places they chose. The trees that had never bore fruit before grew large ripe shiny apples, pears, and oranges. Nature was at its height, the waterfalls seemed to shine even more than ever making large pools of a shimmering blue colour. Ponies of course, never came here. I kept the beauty in the centre of the forest, to keep the greedy ponies who would make this into a tourist spot. The Hydras in their swamps began to brighten up even more. The moss that grew on the swamp now colour themselves a bright green. Of course the predatory end of nature, was not quite as beautiful, but the Everfree was a far more kind place, undisturbed by the machinery of ponies.

I occasionally saw ponies come by with pink crystals that flashed at the forest, Twilight told me they were called Cam-Crystals and that they took an image and replicated it, so that you could capture a moment and view it later. I let them take pictures of the outside but of course, never let them in. Ponies cannot be trusted. They could get a glimpse of beauty, but then I'd alert the timberwolves to scare them off. Can't have them getting too cosy.

One day, something happened. I was doing the same as every other night, making sure the animals were comfortable, but then I could sense it, a pony. A pony had wandered deep into the woods. I quickly traveled to where I felt the disturbance, and there, I saw a small pristine white foal with a copper mane. They were walking through, seeing all the beauty I had built. They weren't noisy, he respected the silence that the night brought. Their blue eyes were wide with wonder, staring at everything and remembering every image. I let him stay. They didn't mean any harm.

I came out of hiding to confront them and, unlike I had expected, they hugged me. Their foal arms barely making their way round my wooden forelegs. If it was possible, I would have cried. To have a single pony not be afraid around you, I had Twilight, but the first time she saw me she killed me. This foal, they were happy to see me? I was a monster, but they liked me.

A year later, the foal could talk to us all. He was an earth pony, and he could speak to the forest, just like me. He understood what the forest wanted, and the forest understood that it wasn't to harm him. The timberwolves did not hunt him, the manticores continued to rest. His name was Fallen Soul. I looked after him, like a brother. I created a grove of trees to provide him shelter, the trees grew all sorts of fruit, the timberwolves dug a small lake through the grove, providing him water. He played with the forest, having fun playing tag, hide and seek, even making his own games to play. We, the forest, always played fair. I did not use my sense to tell where he was when he hid, and I did not tell the timberwolves where he was when they played tag.

He never seemed to grow up though, physically he never changed. Fourteen years had passed and he was still the young carefree foal that walked in. I guessed that somehow he was immortal. I would have asked Twilight, but she wouldn't approve of having brought a foal into what she still considers is a dangerous place. So instead, I kept looking after him.

Him and I kept guarding the forest, we had fun too, growing trees and flowers. He had a knack for Florakinesis. Even as an earth pony, you can conduct the magic of the earth. We both made the Everfree more and more beautiful. Centuries passed, neither he nor I aged at all. The princesses fell to darkness, The return of Nightmare Moon, the rise of Daybreaker, the passing of the princess of love, and the forming of Eventide. It was hard for me to see Twilight become a fallen alicorn, but it was inevitable. The sun and the moon however, still kept going round. The two sky-bound satellites were no longer controlled by the sisters. Ponies fell into chaos, but the Everfree kept living on.

The forest stayed till the end.

The sun, high in the sky above a fallen civilisation. Me and Fallen Soul both knew what was going to happen. We could both feel it. Fallen soul was scared, I comforted him. I wanted him to be happy, like he had always been. The forest was just as lush and bright as ever, but something felt dark, something terrifying.

And then, a bright light shone. And the Everfree forest was no more. The last wood nymph died.

But who said names were important?

Cold Hearted.

Author's Note

I had half of the chapter written, then I decided to take a break... Without saving.

Damn my excellent memory.

Also, apologies for the wait, school showed up at the perfect time. I promise, there will not be a gap in the chapters as long as this in the future.

Also, warning, even if it isn't really needed. There is some gory-ish stuff in this chapter.

Cold Hearted.

In the coldest part of the Frozen North, there lies a great Empire. This Empire, known as the Crystal Empire, is the place I live in. My home, ruled by the royal family, was a great place to live. The Crystal Ponies, my tribe, were the only residents. We lived and prospered, in the shelter of our great Queen, Glacia Amora the III. The Crystal Heart was the heart of our kingdom, the Queen and her family protected it. The magic of the heart runs through us all, uniting us, keeping us strong.

Then one day, our world fell. A unicorn known as Sombra claimed to have killed the royal family, and that anyone who challenged him, would fall. We accepted, and he became King Sombra. I could have skipped to his tyranny, but you'd be mistaken if he was a bad leader at first. He, in truth, ruled fairly and just. He respected the traditions we had upheld for millenia, and kept the law as it had been.

Two years passed, he kindly ruled, showing compassion and charity. But throughout the two years, the Crystal Heart chipped away at his kindness, it changed him. You see, the Crystal heart is not only influenced by the ponies' feelings, but it also lets the current ruler feel all the pain and cheer the ponies feel. Our Queen had been killed, even if it was two years ago, all the grief we felt still must have been too much for him. His mind being consumed by the thought of the royals must have made him insane, because he started becoming obsessed with conquest.

He began disregarding the rituals needed to maintain the Empire, he used the Crystal Heart to control ponies. Luckily, he left the young ones alone, only calling the adults. The Empire's colours began to fade. The palace durned a deep charred black. Our homes, our houses, everything we once had turned crooked and twisted. His kingdom became ruled by hate.

He sent groups of ponies to the border, to start his conquest. I saw them marching away, their faces completely blank, staring into the void, as they marched onward, out of the Empire. Their eyes however... Their eyes held the deepest sadness that you could imagine. Some of them were even crying as they marched onward. Their tears flowing down their crystal coat, and dripping onto the road.

I watched all of this, from the window in my home. A small orphanage at the edge of the Empire. I was only fourteen. To see all the crystal ponies marching helplessly against their will, some of them I even knew. The old hairdresser, the local madpony, the ice charmer! I would have helped them... But I knew I couldn't. The crystal heart's magic would bend my mind, making me just like them. I'd become a mindless idiot, and walk back to the orphanage.

One of my friends tried to stop them two weeks ago. He walked back, obeying anything and everything we told him. We expected it to wear off, so we played around with it for a while... He's sitting in the basement now. He has been for the past week. Staring blankly at the door no doubt, waiting for orders.

Then one day the nice lady who owns the orphanage, and one of the few ponies sombra hasn't used yet, miss Fair Foster, she tells us that the princesses from equestria are coming to banish Sombra to tartarus! I didn't know it, but Sombra had already made a backup plan, in case they did show up. A curse that would only activate when he left the throne. The whole empire would be displaced a random period of time into the future, along with any Ponies living there.

Only the Ponies.

My cold body lies beneath the soft white ground. Asleep, and shivering. Snow drifts onto my coat, slowly burying me deeper in a blanket that would freeze me. I wake up, sputtering and coughing because of the snow that had drifted into my mouth. I dig my way out, in complete darkness, knowing only which way is up. I hold my breath, feeling the cold snow still in my mouth melt on my tongue. At last, after what seems like an eternity, and just before I would have run out of breath, I reach the surface. I flick my ears to rid me of the snow in them. I would have tried to remember what happened last night, but first priority for anyone in a snowstorm is to find shelter. I look around, spotting a cave in the distance. I march towards it, trudging my way through the snow, which luckily, even though I almost died of suffocation in it, wasn't too high for me to walk on.

I realise that I'm in a crater, a snowy crater, not too noticeable, but you can tell. If you look around, you'd notice that the snow in the crater is around one foot less deep than the snow around it. The mark left by the Empire. I don't have time to wonder about it though.

I reach the cave that I saw, at the centre of the crater. The snow is falling in the opposite direction that the entrance to the cave is facing. Meaning, there isn't much snow, at least compared to the outside. The cave slope isn't too steep, it's gentle enough for me to walk down it easily. The cave is made of crystal, pink and blue, reminding me of the old Empire. To think it was only two years ago.

I look at my shining reflection in the crystal, a dark outline of my form is all I can see though. You can only just see the bright crystal blue of my coat and the glistening dark blue of my mane. My eyes, if you could see them, would have been the same shade as my coat. My nickname at the orphanage was Monotone. They didn't mean to be rude, but it is a fitting nickname. It doesn't describe my personality, mainly my colours. I like it though... Even if it seems mean to call anyone Monotone.

I sit down, wiping the snow off my hard crystal skin. The cave almost holds a degree of warmth, melting the snow quickly. I'm shivering, but so glad to be out of the cold. The cave, even if it is hard to see things, is really quite comfortable. I could just sit up against the crystal wall, and fall asleep... In fact, I think... I think... I think I'll just fall asleep right now. Yeah... That...

I wake up, feeling a warm breeze run throughout the cave. The snow outside is still falling, just as heavily as before I started to sleep. The warm breeze is gone already, making me shiver again, the cold seeping into my every bone.

I look around the cave, hoping to find anything that would indicate where the warmth came from. I look deeper into the cave... There's only... Yes! There is! It's faint, but it's something. There's a small glimmer of light deeper in the cave, which means that it's probably where the heat came from! I run towards it, hearing my crystalline hooves clattering against the prink and blue ground.

I take a right, a left, go down a tunnel, wherever the light is clearest, I follow. The crystals are becoming more and more blue, and the air around me feels warm enough for me to walk comfortably. I can tell I'm close to warmth... At least, I think I am. Hopefully. I can't stay in the cold too long, I'd die.

I walk under a crystal archway, entering a gigantic room, this is the source of the heat, I know it... But then, why am I still cold? I'd ask more questions to myself, but I'm taken in by the splendour, and beauty of the room.

Ice blue crystals graze the walls, in spiralling patterns, making the walls look like waves of crystal. Each of the crystals identical in colour, and different in shape. The ceiling is covered in crystals jutting out of the roof, like swords, all the colours from purple to blue. The floor is almost a mirror, its surface being shiny enough for me to see a clear reflection of myself.

And then, in the centre of the room, a pedestal. One of pure... Ice. A mist is radiating off of it, sweeping across the floor, creating a thin layer of cloudy air at my hooves. Atop the icy pedestal is a crown... A magnificent crown... I feel drawn toward it. It feels warm... It feels so wonderful to just walk toward it, to embrace its whispers that tell of the knowledge that I could have. To wear it and receive its majesty, and release the potential sleeping dormant in it. It would be such a waste to leave it here, where no-one could disturb it.

I take a step forward, warmth fills my hooves.

I take another, The walls begin to shine.

I take another, the crown's majestic blue entrances me even more.

Hoof after hoof, I step closer. The crown is almost within my reach.

I reach out, and take the crown from its stand, nothing changes.

I wear the crown, and I can feel the power filling me, the warmth filling me with life! The crown bestows upon me its knowledge, the information, so many random thoughts flood me, drowning me in wisdom! I understand it all, but I cannot piece it together. My mind is in fragments but I know so much more than the puny mortals who came before me. The power filling me could rival even that of the princesses I would dare to bet!

My will is strong, my resolve that everything has a purpose, and I have found mine. I was always meant to be here. The crystal empire was always going to disappear, Sombra would have always gone insane, and there was nothing anypony could do to change it. Even the future is written in stone.

You always know when your time is up. And in that brief moment, where you're in-between death and life, you feel every single life that you affected, all the pain, the heartache, and all the love, and friendship. You feel every consequence for every action you ever made. The pain you caused that one pony, who overheard your conversation about how annoying they are. The jealousy of the ponies who envy your looks or intelligence. The love that your partner felt when you kissed them that first time. Or, the gratitude that foal felt in nursery when you shared your toys.

And yet, upon placing the crown on my head, I felt all those things. I saw everything for a brief moment. Only for it to be cruelly ripped away, as I returned to the world of the living.

I was still in the cave, standing next to the pedestal, it felt like hours had passed since I put the crown on, of course though it had only been a few seconds and in my shock of all this flooding my mind, I tried to throw the crown away.

It would not come off, I looked at the reflective floor, and indeed, the crown was still on my head, but... It had frozen itself onto me. So many things were happening at once, I needed to rest! And, well, the next thing I knew... I passed out. Probably. It's hard to know whether you did or not.

Okay... Well. After waking up, and looking around, I can at least tell that I'm back at the entrance to the cave, the snow doesn't seem like it wants to stop, and the crown still hasn't gone away. I can see its silhouette on the reflective crystal. My mind has, for some reason, only just processed that the entire Crystal Empire has vanished from this freezing tundra, leaving a dent in the otherwise deep snow. How I overlooked the fact that the Empire caused the crater, I have no clue.

Okay, first up for mind processing. I have found a magical crown, that showed me everything, took it away, and had already started making me hear voices in my head. It also will not come off, because it froze itself to my head.

Second up, the Empire has vanished, but for some reason I was left behind. I am now left completely alone with absolutely nopony to talk to, and I don't know if anypony I know is all right.

Third, I will probably die here, alone, cold, and helpless.

Gee, I'm so cheerful.

Well... Not much to do around here... If the crown won't come off, then it won't there's nothing I can do about that. I look back, into the cave. The light isn't there anymore... But there is... My cutie mark. I got my cutie mark, and I didn't notice. You'll never guess what it is.

It's the crown.

It's a seven spiked, ice blue, crown.

You know... I just realised. I'm standing at the entrance to the cave, where the snow is making everything cold, where I should be either dead or frozen, and I'm not shivering at all. There is snow on my skin, and it feels warm. Whatever it was that crown did to me, at least I know I won't freeze to death.

So, I suppose I have the crown to thank for my life. Even if it did kill me briefly.

The warmth is... It's as though I'm standing out in the sun. It's not too hot, but not too cold either. It's a very odd sensation, knowing you should be freezing but instead feeling just right.

I look out at the snow, staring at its pearly white colour. It's beautiful... I can see every flake intertwining with every other flake in a complex structure that has been imitating itself forever. Water, gathered around dust particles and bacteria in the air that froze on their way down to the earth below, creating a six pointed structure so complex and yet so simple.

Woah... Where did I get that from? I know almost nothing except the essentials to survive, how in tartarus did I end up knowing that? I think... The crown maybe. Maybe it did it... I can remember it showing me lots of stuff... Maybe it stayed behind? Or maybe it just told me about the snow now? Weird.

I look up at the clouds. A sheet of black covering everything, concealing the true colours of the sky... Why are the pegasi are needed in Equestria? The snow here is comforting... Soothing... Just build a roof, and a fire, then you're good. Food isn't a problem since it's so easy to come by, crystals are everywhere.

What? You thought Crystal ponies always ate normal food? No, come on, did you see any farms in the Crystal Empire? Crystals sprout out of the ground randomly, a special group of ponies go round the entire Empire, collecting them, then they distribute four per each person, per day. When Sombra came to power, he only used crystals for rune carving, since most crystals contain their own mana they made for very efficient batteries. The crystals also, using their magic that they store, release it into our crystalline bodies, fusing with us, and strengthening the unity and love in the empire. It's probably the only reason the Empire didn't collapse immediately after Glacia Amora the III's death.

Whoah... Definitely the crown on that one. I... I probably should get used to that, since the crown doesn't seem to want to come off, and my cutie mark says it's my destiny. Now that I think about it, maybe listening to those weird whispers I heard when I saw the crown wasn't such a good idea. If ignorance is bliss, Knowledge is hell.

I take a look at the snow covering the ground, and close my eyes. I don't know why... I just did. I thought of Sombra, then my eyes shot open. And there stood a snowy replica of the monster before me. I jumped back in surprise, and terror, expecting Sombra to try and kill me... But it didn't move. It was unnerving.

"Why aren't you moving?!" I thought out loud.

"Do you want it to?" a voice I didn't recognise replied.

"What? Where are you?" I ask it, if it was hostile, it would've killed me already.

"On your head, where you put me. I swear, the first living thing I get to possess in a million years, and they're an idiot. So, I'm the crown, the royalty of the ice, and the entire northern hemisphere. Wherever ice falls, that is your land, got it?"

I took a moment to process it, before replying with a yes.

"Huh... Most of the creatures I've met wouldn't have understood a word I said there... Well, I'm going back to sleep, g'night!"

...I stood there, slightly disoriented. Apparently, the crown is alive. I mean, I suppose that would make sense, with all the whispers. But... There was still a Sombra ice-sculpture staring at me... Wait, the first thing the crown asked me was if I wanted it to move... Maybe all I have to do is imagine it moving, since that's what happened before it appeared.

I close my eyes, think about Sombra becoming alive, then. Open my eyes, and much to my surprise, he's jumping back in shock. He falls over and I laugh a bit, then the snow Sombra makes a grumpy face, making me laugh more. He gets up, and waves a hoof at me angrily. This ought to be fun...

So, me and Snow Sombra got into a snowball fight, he never talked, and when I imagined him talking, he couldn't. I suppose that was helpful anyway, it would get awkward if we had nothing to talk about. Anyway, I discovered that my power was to bring my imaginations to life, in snow form, so I imagined a snow fort for both of us. An actual one, with snow bricks, snow turrets, slit windows, and of course, snow cannons. It was the most fun I'd ever had.

The crown showed up for basically only half an hour each day since then, telling me things that I was now capable of and how to use them. Like, how I could also use the snow and change it into ice, as well as change ice into snow. I also discovered how to disassemble my snow structures, by imagining them getting washed away by the rain. Snow Sombra's snowy eyes widened in fear, shaking his forehooves rapidly, he was nothing like the real Sombra. I explained that I wasn't going to kill Snow Sombra, which made him relaxed.

After a few weeks of messing around, I got really into creating massive beautiful ice- sculptures with my new power. For some reason, I mainly stuck to snakes. I like snakes, they're elegant and graceful, but form such a major threat to everyone. Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it... That's from something. I can't remember what.

One horrible day, I was walking around, just normally. I felt something crunch underneath my hoof, not like snow, like... Like a crystal snapping, and when I asked the crown what it was, it said 'Just ignore it'. I obviously didn't listen, and do you know what I found?

The body of Queen Glacia Amora the III.

The body of King Quartz Empiré.

The body of Prince Blood Amora

And the body of Princess Cadenza Amora.

All four of which, were perfectly preserved in the snow. I imagined the snow burying them, as well as a tombstone of ice, marking where they were. My mind was pretty messed up after that. I started getting darker thoughts.

Eventually, I was so scared that I imagined myself, frozen in ice. It grew over my forelegs, the crown protested, and Snow Sombra looked on in horror. I encased myself in this ice crystal in the cave I found, imagining the snow washing over the cave and burying me. I was so terrified, of dying. And when the ice was over me, it was like I was dreaming. I was the snow and the ice everywhere, I could feel everything that was happening wherever snow was.

After a thousand years of dreaming, I watched the Empire come back, saw the Crystal Heart be placed directly above me, and I could feel it. The unity magic was stronger than ever. I watched another princess take the throne, I never learned their name. They were an alicorn, a representative of 'the three tribes' even though there are four tribes of ponies. I doubt they were even related to a single crystal pony.

I watched the real Sombra fade into darkness, as he died. Really though, he just... Dissapeared? A unicorn powerful enought to survive death... And he was killed by the love? Nah, his horn survived, it landed in a patch of snow just on the border between the frozen lands and Equestria. I felt the magic in the horn, he would regrow... It would just take a bit of time.

Winter became my favourite season... Well, I always liked winter anyway, but now it was because that was when I could see the most in my dream. It was when ponies would play and have snow- fights. When ponies got the most into ice- sculpting.

I lasted through everything, and I kept dreaming. Eventually I forgot I ever did anything but dream. I saw the pink ruler of the Empire die, when Sombra came back. He was so different. His eyes held so much rage at everything. He destroyed anything that got in his way, and killed the alicorn. Apparently, alicorns are ageless, not immortal. They do die, but only from murder. They don't catch diseases, but they do corrupt.

I... I don't know what happened, but one day, my mind snapped. I went mad. I started... Imagining the snow turning into monsters. K... K- killing ponies. Terrifying them. And I enjoyed it. Seeing how ponies reacted when it happened, it made me scared of myself. I kept doing it, ponies started fearing the ice and snow. I became a monster.

And I was proud of myself.

I didn't know how to stop myself, it just felt so great to kill and kill and kill! I became feared, and I relished in that. I became the story parents would tell to their foals at night, to give them the chills. I became the silent murderer that would sneak in your window at night when you left it open in the winter, then take your life.

I kept doing this forever, and ever, finding new ways to terrify ponies. Finding new ways to kill them. Finding new ways to spread my influence, I couldn't help myself, I wanted so badly to kill, to murder, to dissect.

I never regretted it, not even at the very end.

Not even when the snow and ice around me melted, revealing a black curved horn with a red tip, stabbed deep inside my back.

And then, as a bright light shone across Equestria, the child of the ice and snow was released from the darkness holding him captive, freeing him in death.

But names mean nothing, just like the title of King, or Queen. They hide the true pony from sight...