The Unraveled World

After a few fitful hours of half-sleep, Ekon awoke when Pinksworth announced, “Okay, guys! The storm’s over!”

Spring Step asked, “Is your throat okay?”

“It’s a little sore, but I’m all right.”

“We’ll have the nurses look you over once we get to New Canterlot. It’s been five years since you’ve had a proper check-up, after all,” she said, smiling.

Ekon couldn’t recall the last time he had a proper bath, much less a good brushing of his teeth.

“How much further do we have to walk?” he asked.

Pinksworth replied, “Oh, another day or so. If we take off now, we can make the next safe house by nightfall.”

They left the farmlands behind. An hour later, they stopped in front of a billboard that said “Flim and Flam’s Apple Tonic! For a thirsty Equestria!” Over the slogan, someone painted, in bright red paint, “Celestia and Luna are not dead! They are merely unemployed!”

Pinksworth commented, “I like the Alicorn slogan better. Besides, that Apple Tonic tastes like wood varnish.”

“It probably is just varnish,” Spring Step replied wryly. “Those are two ponies I’d like to bash flat.”

Ekon said, “I had heard that the Alicorn princesses disappeared when the unraveling hit. Is anypony looking for them? It seems to me that they’d be easy to spot.”

As they walked past the billboard, the pegasus said, “When the earthquake devastated Ponyville, it also split the mountain that housed Canterlot, where the Alicorn’s castle is. When the castle and city hit the ground, most everypony there died almost instantly.”

Pinksworth added, “But no pony ever found Celestia’s or Luna’s bodies, thank goodness.”

“Since those two are goddesses, that doesn’t surprise me,” said Ekon. “After all, the sun and the moon are still rising on time, right?”

Spring Step snorted in frustration. “I’d gladly have a hundred days of night if it meant having even Princess Luna in charge of Equestria. They weren’t just deities, Ekon. They were rulers. Dispensers of justice. When they disappeared, it left behind a huge vacuum of political power.”

“So who’s in charge of Equestria?”

“Since the royal family got killed when Canterlot fell, what remained of the government decided to have the most experienced businessman they could find to run the show for the time being. Filthy Rich is his name, but he prefers to be called just Rich.”

Ekon struggled to wrap his head around this news. “So no one’s trying to find these goddesses?”

Pinksworth made a phfft noise and replied, “Of course they are, silly. I have a feeling they’ll come back when they can.”

Spring Step moaned. “Hope springs eternal for the silliest amongst us. Pinks, we’ve gone over this. If they really loved us ponies as much as they say they have, why would they let the world turn to crap like this? Why let millions of ponies die?”

“Maybe they had no choice but to leave, Springy. Maybe if we can fix this world as much as we can, that might inspire them to come back sooner.”

The pegasus flicked her wings and stamped her legs in frustration. “Really? How is that supposed to work?”

Pinksworth gave a three-shoulder shrug. “I dunno. How did pegasus magic work? I mean, look at your size of your wings and your head. Even when you were flying around at a hundred miles an hour, how did you keep from tumbling forward because of your big noggin?”

“Because magic,” asserted Spring Step. “It doesn’t need explaining. And you shouldn’t give me a line of smack about huge heads, Pinks.”

Ekon said, “Maybe it does. If we don’t fully understand magic, how will we ever know how to get it back?”

“Good question,” said Pinksworth. “I wish I could give a good answer. All I can say is you gotta have faith.”

“Pssh! Faith is a crappy substitute for brains, Pinks.” Spring Step nudged Ekon’s left shoulder. “I love her, but she’s got rose-tinted lenses on.”

Pinksworth nudged Ekon’s right shoulder. “I love her, but she’s got welding goggles on. She keeps seeing the worst in people. You’re lucky she likes you.”

“I’ve seen what she does to people that get on her bad side.”

“In a better world, I wouldn’t have to act like Judge Spring Step. The unraveling killed most of our military and police ponies. There aren’t too many prisons in the wasteland, so the rules about self-defense and arresting ponies have loosened up a lot.”

“That’s true,” replied Pinksworth. “There are a bunch more bounty hunters lately.”

Ekon felt a sliver of sweat trickle down his cheek. Please don’t ask about the ponies chasing me. Please oh please.

“Pinks and I are the closest thing to a police force out here. Not only do we help find wayward folks like you a home, but we also fight bandits and report on what’s going on out here. Pinks razzes my OCD, but I use my obsessions and compulsions to bring as much order to the world as possible.”

Pinksworth whistled. “There’s a hole with no bottom.”

Spring Step stuck her tongue out at her friend. “And you call me a cynic.” She stopped and held a leg over her eyes for shade. “Ah! There’s our next stop.”

She pointed at a monument on a distant hill. It looked like a white concrete flower.

Ekon said, “What is that?”

“It’s where I pay my respects when I’m in the area,” Spring Step replied as she broke into a trot. “Come on. This won’t take long.”

It was a grand sculpture of white polished marble. Fifteen feet high and twenty feet wide, it was carved to look like spread pegasus wings. On the tips of the eight large feathers were flying pegasi, which were also white marble. Between the huge wings was a silver disk with the words “Altius Volantis – Soaring Higher” engraved in the center.

There were dozens of flower wreaths and melted candles placed around the memorial. Family photos and even small statues of pegasi stood alongside them. A few of the flowers were fresh.

Spring Step sat and quietly read the gold plaque that rested at the foot of the monument. It read:

This monument is to honor those many brave pegasi colts and mares that died tragically when

the great city of Cloudsdale fell to Equestria. It is also made to commemorate those pegasi who

perished when Equestria’s magic had failed them. Nopony who is loved is ever truly forgotten.

Their immortal souls will soar higher than their mortal bodies ever could. May they always find

the wind under their wings. May the sun keep them warm. May they find eternal peace.

Spring Step sat in front of the plaque and read the words in a reverent whisper. She then closed her eyes and lowered her head. A moment later, she sniffed as tears dripped from her muzzle.

Ekon took a step towards her, but Pinksworth put her glove on his back and whispered, “Let her do this alone. Her parents lived in Cloudsdale. So did a lot of her team mates.”

He looked past the monument and into the valley beyond. The shattered remains of Cloudsdale were strewn across a mile of devastated forest. Enormous white pillars and shattered domes of steel and glass were engulfed in vines and trees. In a few more years, the city would be completely buried in the foliage.

In the five years of hiding from his would-be captors, Ekon had seen few memorials like this one. He assumed the people of New Canterlot put the sculpture here to honor the dead. Ekon had seen plenty of dead ponies in every state of decay, had walked past countless commemorative gatherings of flowers, photos and the like.

In a short while, the flowers would eventually decay into dust and the photos would fade into blank paper, leaving nothing for anyone to remember the fallen with. After a brief period of grieving, it was as if the dead had never existed.

This beautiful sculpture that Spring Step wept at, however, would outlast every living pony. The living would make sure of that.

A few minutes later, she stood up, wiped the tears away and said, in a shaky voice, “Well, I’ve said my goodbyes. Let’s go.”

Ekon asked, “How often do you come here?”

“Once a month, give or take a few weeks. It’s how I honor the memories of my parents. They meant the world to me.” Spring Step looked at him and said somberly, “Memories are the only things we own, Ekon. Never forget your past.”

He patted her on the shoulder. “Believe me, my past is never far from me.”

* * *

The sunset was a vivid red, which made the clay lake bed glow like a banked coal. The massive yacht tilted to one side, but the cracked clay held the boat firm as Ekon and Spring Step climbed aboard.

Spring Step had to check the place for squatters because Pinksworth was too big to fit anywhere but the dining room.

Ekon pointed at the thumping sounds Spring Step made and asked, “What if she gets in a jam and you can’t help her? Could you break through the wall?”

“I can tear through almost any wall that’s weaker than oak. My cannon’s pretty heavy, so I could it as a battering ram if I had to. Maybe if we keep traveling three, you can watch her back.”

He whirled around to face her, eyes wide. “What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on. You’ve been on your own for five years, right? Gonna tell me you’ve never been in a fight?”

“No. Never. I have a knife, but I’ve never used it for defense, just for jimmying doors open.”

“Wow, I’ve been in a bunch of fights. Almost a lost a few, too.”

“How do you get used to fighting? I don’t know if I can do the things Spring Step has done.”

“Well, she was a Wonderbolts captain. The Wonderbolts are like an airborn version of the Royal Guard. Both of those armed forces are trained to protect Equestria, no matter how screwed up it gets.”

“That’s where she learned to fight the way she does?”

“Her whole family was in the Wonderbolts, so I’m guessing she was trained how to kick flank as soon as her skull hardened. She’s a great fighter, but she also knows what she’s fighting for. She knows her goal. In our line of work, we often have to fight to reach that goal.”

“Even if it means killing ponies?”

Pinksworth’s eyes drooped on their stalks a bit. “Yeah. Even that. It took a long time for me to accept that. I’d rather just immobilize ponies myself.”

Spring Step popped her head out of a nearby doorway. “Yeah, that won’t bite you in the butt someday. The boat’s clear. I call dibs on the couple’s suite. Ekon can sleep in the guest room.”

Pinksworth shook her head. “A single mare sleeping in a couple’s bed? That’s weird.”

“And comfy. You know what to do, Pinks.”

She waved her boxing glove at Spring Step as she floated out onto the ship’s deck. “Yeah, yeah. Keep watch while you snooze. I got . . . uh-oh!”

Ekon asked, “What’s wrong?”

Pinksworth’s eyes bugged out as her lenses focused towards a distant dust trail. “I see four bogies inbound! Two of them . . . wait a minute!”

Spring Step ran out onto the deck, peering at the distance. “Spill it, Pinks! What’s wrong?”

“Two of them are those ponies we left behind in the city!” Pinksworth turned towards Ekon. “Did you steal some pirate gold coins or something?”

“No! M-maybe they want to get even with Spring Step for killing that griffon?”

Spring Step scowled. Then she nodded. “Yeah. Maybe that’s it.”

Pinksworth said, “Well, they’re cheesed off enough to bring along a clydesdale and . . . oh, please say you’re kidding!”

Ekon cried, “What? What do you see?”

“One of Ekon’s buddies is riding a manticore.”

The pegasus rolled her eyes. “Haven’t seen one of those bastards in years. Their tail stinger toxin can kill anypony in under a minute.”

“Ekon?” said Pinksworth. “You might want to sit this one out. You’ll need more than a door-opening knife for this fight.”

Spring Step stretched her legs and arched her back as she loosened up for battle. “All things considered, Iron Mare? I’d rather be flying.”