Tales of First Contact: Tragedy

Chapters

Our Unwitting Replacements
One Solitary Link
Those Left Behind
Humanity's Final Legacy
The Late Letter
An Addictive Goal
The Global Sacrifice

Our Unwitting Replacements

One Solitary Link

Rarity sighed. She could feel the Princesses coming. It was inevitable really, but she was still not looking forward to this meeting. She cleared her thoughts and remembered her mental notes. It was time.

The dream world around her wavered as Celestia and Luna appeared before her.

“Rarity! Are you alright? When you vanished without a trace we feared the worst,” said Luna.

Rarity rolled her eyes. She prayed Luna was simply speaking in ignorance.

“I told my friends I was leaving. And seeing as this is a dream, I think we can skip the formalities and get to the point. You’re here because you want to know why I chose to pack my things and disappear into the wilderness, correct?” asked Rarity.

Rarity waited as Celestia and Luna shared an uncertain look. It wasn’t like her to be so direct, but this was no time for flare or fancy words. She had only one chance to make a difference. She had to make this count.

“Er… yes. That is exactly what we were wondering. Why did you leave, especially in these uncertain times?” asked Celestia.

Rarity scoffed, despite her best efforts.

“Oh yes, uncertain times. Indeed, with war seemingly more and more inevitable with every passing day, how could anyone possible be certain of what is coming?” she snarked.

Celestia shook her head.

“Rarity, we’ve been over this already. I understand your concern, but we have things under control. You don’t have to…” she started.

“No, you don’t have it under control. And even now, when you came here to ask me to return, you refuse to listen to me. If you truly wish for me to come back and aid your cause, then you had better stop giving me that ‘mother knows best’ tone and actually listen to what I have to say,” declared Rarity.

Celestia and Luna were clearly taken aback by Rarity’s confrontational attitude.

“Do you honestly expect me to believe that you’ve done everything you could to avoid war? Ever since our worlds have been connected you’ve made mistake after mistake. The border issue, the knowledge refusal, and do I even need to bring up that incident from last month? If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were deliberately pushing everyone towards war. But the Princesses of Equestria would never do something like that, would they?” asked Rarity.

Luna backed away looking rather uncomfortable, but Celestia just sighed.

“I know you have a rather high opinion of the humans, but you always seem to ignore just how horrible they…” said Celestia.

Rarity once again interrupted the Princess and stomped her hoof in anger, which in the dream managed to shake the ground.

“So it’s true then?! You’ve decided that the humans are just so awful that it’d be perfectly fine to dispose of them?! And this whole mess has been nothing but you attempting to paint yourself as a righteous judge rather than a xenophobic warmonger when you set out on such a crusade!” accused Rarity.

Celestia’s expression hardened.

“Rarity, you know that’s not the case. I don’t want to see the humans destroyed, just subdued. I am not trying to declare war. I have been doing everything I can to avoid it. How can you even believe such rumors?” asked Celestia.

Rarity glared at Celestia. The Princess's words said a lot more than she thought they did.

“Because those aren’t rumors at all. Nopony is saying anything like that. There are too few ponies who’d be willing to speak up against you, let alone suspect you. Now, would you care to tell me why you would believe such claims are circulating among Equestria’s populace, if you’ve truly done nothing wrong?” asked Rarity.

Celestia’s expression became unreadable, while Luna’s turned to horror. Celestia turned toward her sister.

“Luna, would you mind leaving us? I get the feeling this will discussion will only get worse, and I can see it’s making you rather uncomfortable,” asked Celestia.

Luna nodded and faded away. Rarity thought this was a rather odd turn of events, but she wasn’t about to complain. It appeared Luna really wasn’t part of this whole mess. This could only work to her benefit.

“Rarity, I don’t know where this hostility is coming from, but it's clear that you’ll not return to us unless you speak your mind. But if you insist on sharing your thoughts, I expect you have an adequate explanation as to why you feel as you do,” said Celestia.

Rarity took a deep breath. This was it. The future of two worlds hinged on this discussion.

“I am certain you have done nothing to avoid war because I know firsthand what the humans think of you. You know perfectly well how they’ve been interpreting your actions, yet you have done nothing to disprove them,” said Rarity.

“How so?” asked Celestia.

“If I must name an example, how about the fact that you haven’t said a breath to humanity about semi-sapience? Your silence on the matter has convinced many that you approve of slavery from how we treat sheep and cattle. And you know perfectly well that semi-sapience doesn’t exist on their world, so there’s no reason for you to assume that they would know about it,” said Rarity.

Celestia shook her head.

“Alright, I admit that was a mistake…” she said.

“A mistake you could have fixed at any time by saying two words or, I don’t know, letting humans and ponies interact with each other? Your closed borders approach is rediculous. I can accept and understand wanting to keep humans out of our country. Your refusal to let ponies visit the human world, however, I cannot. There are plenty on both sides who are more than eager to meet with each other, but you, and you alone, have forbidden it without giving an explanation why,” said Rarity.

Celestia winced.

“It was a bit of an extreme measure I admit, but I don’t want to endanger…” she said.

“And then there were those speeches. Those how so wonderful speeches. Did you know that even Twilight Sparkle thought they were insulting? Not that she’d say as much to your face, as we both know perfectly well. It was clear to her that either Blue Blood wrote your speeches without you realizing it, or you set out with the intention of making humanity hate you. And I recently learned that all those speeches were written, in their entirely, by you,” said Rarity.

Celestia sighed in defeat.

“Alright, I suppose there’s no point in denying it. Yes, I have been deliberately antagonizing humanity. I did not, however, plan to push us to to point of war. I was simply playing politics to give Equestria a stronger standing. I underestimated how resilient these humans are, and have been trying to defuse the situation before it escalates any further,” admitted Celestia.

Rarity sighed. So much for doing this the easy way.

“And yet, you’re still lying to me,” said Rarity.

Celestia blinked in surprise, but then glared at Rarity.

“What, exactly, makes you think that? I just finished admitting that I made mistakes. What more could you...” asked Celestia.

“That letter you sent to the United Nations last week,” said Rarity.

Celestia’s expression turned to shock.

“Oh? Was I not supposed to know about that one? Well then, it’s a good thing I’m in the wilderness, isn’t it? Wouldn’t it be the darndest thing if I were to return to Ponyville and tell Twilight about it? It’s not like you’d do something so drastic without consulting your fellow Princesses, would you?” asked Rarity.

Celestia was silent.

“I see I finally have your undivided attention. Now please, stop playing your games and tell me what’s really going on. I’m sick and tired of you treating the lives of both humans and ponies as if they’re disposable. You’ve been alive for well over a thousand years! You know perfectly well what will happen if we go to war!” accused Rarity.

Celestia remained silent for a moment before speaking.

“The humans are dangerous Rarity. I know we stand to gain much by seeking friendship with them, but I cannot accept the risks. If our cultures were to intertwine, Equestria’s very way of life would end. They are too powerful, too influential, and far, far too creative. We may enjoy a small period of growth, but with magic the humans will quickly surpass us in every way,” said Celestia.

Rarity sighed.

“Then it’s as I suspected. This isn’t about the humans. This is about the idea that Equestria might not be the most powerful civilization for much longer. I am quite disappointed, Princess Celestia. This is quite petty of you,” said Rarity.

Celestia got angry.

“Petty?! Do you fail to understand what’s at stake?! This isn’t about Equestria as a nation! This is about the elements Equestria was founded upon! Perhaps you are familiar with them: Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Loyalty, Generosity, and Friendship!” exclaimed Celestia.

“All things humans are perfectly capable of,” countered Rarity.

“And yet far more choose to cast them aside! Is that what you want?! Ponies to overshadowed by those who disregard the nature of harmony just so you can have new kinds of fabric?!” demanded Celestia.

Rarity stomped her hoof again, trying to keep her temper in check.

“Do you honestly believe I’m so against the notion of war over something as inconsequential as fashion!? Forgive me if I don’t want to see ponies and humans killing each other because you decided to be a hypocrite and let your paranoia push you away from potential friendship!” cried Rarity.

Celestia starting burning with the energy of the sun, but she took several breaths and forced herself to calm down.

“I do want friendship, Rarity. But the only way friendship can be obtained with the humans is by forcing them to accepting it on our terms. I loath the path of war, but it is the only way to ensure that they do not corrupt our beliefs,” said Celestia.

“Yes, by eliminating theirs. I know about that reeducation program you’ve been developing and I must say I’ve never seen something quite so despicable. That is not the way of harmony, Princess. And even then, you’re acting on the assumption that ponykind will win this war,” said Rarity.

Celestia shook her head.

“We have magic, Rarity, and they don’t. I have gone to great lengths to ensure that it remains that way. We have shields to counter their bullets, control over the environment to slow their vehicles, and we even have the means of magically stopping their nuclear weapons. When war comes, we will easily sweep their forces aside, and they will surrender in short order,” said Celestia.

“You're wrong on all accounts, I’m afraid,” said Rarity.

Celestia looked at her in confusion.

“Humanity has still been able to gleam some arcanic knowledge despite your efforts. They’ve already discovered a way to measure arcanic fluctuations. It’s only a matter of time before they begin finding ways to use magic themselves,” explained Rarity.

Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but Rarity held her hoof up.

“Yes, it will take years of effort. But I guarantee that no matter how harshly you press down on them, they will never surrender. The persona you’ve built up for yourself has convinced them that the war will be a struggle for their very right to exist. And if all they have to do is hold out until they can start using magic themselves, why would they ever surrender to the likes of you?” asked Rarity.

Celestia again opened her mouth, but Rarity wasn’t done.

“Once that happens, the tide of the war will change. Human innovation combined with magic will utterly crush Equestria’s forces. And then what? Will you consider surrendering to the people you’re convinced will destroy harmony? We both know the answer. And what’s more, you’ll be forced to adopt the humans’ weapons of war just to survive. And then we’ll be two worlds who have learned and shared with each other, only instead of doing so in friendship it’ll be in a mutual desire to wipe the other out, and this would completely defeat the reason you pushed war in the first place!” exclaimed Rarity.

Celestia looked at Rarity in disbelief.

“Have you taken leave of your senses? How could you possibly understand how the humans will react? Do you truly believe anypony can know how those chaotic beings will act?” asked Celestia.

Rarity sighed. This was what she’d been hoping to avoid, but she’d also expected it to come to this.

“Because I know humans better than anyone else in Equestria,” she said.

“How?” demanded Celestia.

Rarity raised her hand.

“Because I am one myself,” answered Rarity.

Celestia gasped and stepped back. Rarity was no longer a pony, but a human woman.

“For as long as I can remember, I have lived a double life. Every time I go to sleep, after my dreams, I switch to my other half. I have lived a full life as Rarity, but I have also lived a full life as Rachel. I am as much a human as I am a pony. I don’t know how, and I don’t know why, but I am,” said Rarity.

Celestia didn’t reply. She was too stunned to speak.

“Can you imagine my surprise when suddenly both of my homes connected? The first thing I did was arrange for a letter to be delivered to myself to make sure it really was both my Earth, and my Equis. It wasn’t easy because your actions, but I managed to do it. It turns out there’s some time displacement going on as well for me, but as I said I have no idea how it even works,” said Rarity with a shake of her head.

“At first I was delighted. I could see how the harmony of Equestria could benefit mankind, while the innovation of Earth would benefit ponykind. I wasn’t naive, however. I could tell that there would be unfortunate consequences of this. But I firmly believed that the positives would far outnumber the negatives. Until you started ruining everything,” said Rarity.

Rarity sighed.

“You want what’s best for Equestria. As a pony I know this, and can understand why you want to keep out the darker aspects of humanity. But as a human, I can also see you are betraying the very concepts you are trying to protect. The war you seek will benefit no one. Not humans, not ponies, and definitely no one else caught in our crossfire. It will only push us into a war that will never end. Please, Princess, listen to someone who knows both sides of this debacle. Stop pursuing such a destructive path,” pleaded Rarity.

Celestia looked at the human in front of her. It was some time before she spoke, and when she did, she couldn’t meet Rarity’s eye.

“I… I must acknowledge that you must have a better understanding of humanity than I do. However, it is too late. If I attempt to change things now, Equestria’s authority will be all but destroyed. We stand to gain nothing from peace now. I’m sorry,” said Celestia.

Despair welled up in Rarity, but she wasn’t done yet.

“I see. Then I have no choice but to act,” said Rarity.

Celestia looked at Rarity with a guarded expression.

“As you can guess, my condition enables me to do things that no one else can. My first efforts to prevent the war were diplomatic. I tried to conceive you not to act so aggressively, but you dismissed me. I also tried to convince humanity that you were not as evil as you appeared, but I was dismissed as a conspiracy theorist. Now, it is clear I must take drastic measures, and I have determined two ways I can prevent the endless war,” said Rarity.

“The first option is that I use my human self as a spy for Equestria’s forces. I could easily inform you of their movements and operations. More importantly, I could point you toward any and all human efforts to discover magic, enabling you to prevent them from finishing it. Without that factor, mankind may yet be defeated. Equestria's harmony will be preserved, but I know that you plan to smother everything humanity stands for.”

“The other option is that I share my unicorn knowledge with humanity. I simply have to give them all the major arcanic equations, and those years of research will be reduced to a few weeks. They will be able to fight back so quickly that you will most certainly be defeated. Most humans wish to spare ponykind, you don’t have to worry about that, but they will do everything they can to erase your influence. This will inevitably include the nature of harmony, which will be reduced to ‘indoctrination propaganda’ that you seemingly came up with.”

“I believe in Equestria’s harmony. I believe in Earth’s humanity. More than anything else, I want to see both continue to grow. But if war comes, I will have no choice but to see one fall in order to ensure the other survives. I will not allow both to become entangled in war until nothing remains of either,” said Rarity.

Celestia took a more aggressive stance.

“And which, pray tell, have your chosen?” she demanded.

“I refuse to tell you,” replied Rarity.

Celestia’s horn lit up.

“Why?” she demanded.

“If I choose to side with humanity, you’ll move your forces to capture me before the war begins in an attempt find a way to prevent me from reaching my human half. If I choose to side with you, you’ll have no reason not to press forward to war. But if you don’t know where my loyalty lies, then the path of war posses a great risk and sending your troops to find me could prove a waste of your armed forces. And believe me, you’ll need more than a search party to find me,” said Rarity.

“You asked why I chose to journey into the wilderness? It’s because now you have to compare the risks of going to war and the risks of simply letting things defuse. There is now a possibility I can convince you to turn away from war. That’s why I left. And that’s why I refuse to return until either war is declared, or peace,” said Rarity.

Celestia’s horn dimmed, but her stance remained aggressive.

“Do you realize what you are forcing me to do?” she asked.

“I’m forcing you to do nothing. The choice is still ultimately yours,” said Rarity.

“You are making me choose between endangering harmony, or gambling it’s existence! There is no winning move here!” exclaimed Celestia.

Rarity glared at Celestia.

“With all do respect, your highness, you’re forcing me to choose to destroy one of my homes, a notion I do not care for in the least. And unlike me, you have the experience to make this whole situation work out in the end. Humans are far harder to push around than any other race you’ve encounter before. Either accept that you must now play against skilled opponents who will not bow to your every whim, or give me the power to decide which one wins,” said Rarity.

Celestia remained tense.

“Well then, I suppose that I must remind you that Equestria is where your friends live. Where your sister lives. Do you truly wish to…” said Celestia.

Rarity stomped the ground so hard that it nearly ended the dream. The air crackled with energy as her anger boiled over.

“AND EARTH IS WHERE MY HUMAN FAMILY IS, INCLUDING MY HUSBAND, MY CHILD, AND MY SECOND THAT IS ON ITS WAY! DON’T YOU DARE SUGGEST THAT MY HUMAN LIFE IS WORTH ANY LESS THAN MY PONY ONE!” she cried.

Celestia wilted under Rarity's fury, and her expression grew horrified as Rarity’s words came to her.

Her wrath spent, Rarity calmed herself down.

“I believe there is nothing more to say. I’ve done everything I can to protect both of my families. All I can do now is hope you will see reason and not force me to choose one over the other. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must be going. I need to pack my son’s lunch for school tomorrow,” said Rarity.

“Rarity, I…” started Celestia, but the dream quickly faded.

…

...

Rachel awoke in her bed, and started crying.

Author's Note

There's one fic that's about an endless war like the one Rarity mentioned. This is a story about preventing that very war.

One Solitary Link

Those Left Behind

First Contact had gone better than anyone had dared to hope. Interdimensional relationships started strong, and only grew stronger with time. Heck, I saw it happen on live TV, and I still can’t believe how smoothly things went when the first trade deals were finalized. There was just something about those ponies that made everyone want to get along.

While I’ve heard more than my fair share of conspiracy theories, I think it’s just because they're so dog gone cute.

But, as always when there’s some great big world changing event, there are those poor few who are going to find their lives ruined by what improves the lives of everyone else. See, that's the thing about history: it tends to forget all the little people who get left behind. First contact with the ponies was no exception.

Jewelers found their incomes cut to ridiculous lows once it was apparent how commonplace ‘precious’ stones were in Equestria. Energy Companies went bankrupt overnight when it was discovered ponies had proven Tesla right and could provide free power to everyone. And don’t get me started on the “horse rights” debate. There’s more than enough about that mess on the internet already.

And then there’s the group I was a part of.

I woke up with a massive headache and my body aching. It felt like my veins had been pumped full of liquid fire. I managed to glance down to see I was wearing a strange black skin-tight outfit, and that I was lying on rather flimsy bed.

Looking around as best I could, I appeared to be in some sort of white sterilized room. This wasn’t a particularly pleasant revelation. I’d seen enough movies to guess where this was going. I also noticed a man in a lab coat sitting nearby holding a tablet.

“Are you alright?” he asked me.

I figured I was in some kind of hospital, so I answered honestly.

“Not really. My whole body feels like crap,” I answered.

“Good. That means we managed to prevent any preemptive nerve damage,” he said as he looked down at his tablet.

Needless to say, the idea that I had been in danger of nerve damage did not fill me with confidence. That said, I was never one for drawing things out.

“Alright, why don’t we just to the point? What’s wrong with me?” I asked.

The man sighed.

“Can you remember what you were doing last?” he asked.

I thought about it for a moment, then I remembered that I had been going to the hospital to undergo arcanic testing. This set all kinds of alarm bells off in my mind, as this meant there were only two possible reasons I could be in such shape now, and one of them wouldn't have needed to have me hospitalized.

I guess I should elaborate, considering this might be ancient history someday. Back when the portal was first opened, Earth had no magic. I’m sure that must sound crazy to you, but it’s true. There was a time when we didn’t have magic freely flowing in the air we breathed. Of course, this caused a small panic at first since no one had any idea what magic exposure would do to a people that had never touched it before.

Fortunately, for 99.99% of the human population, the answer was nothing. Well, mostly. Most humans when exposed to magic only feel a very faint feeling of euphoria. And by faint, I mean no stronger than what one feels upon stepping outside and feeling sunlight on their skin. As such, it caused quite a stir when that remaining 0.01% was exposed.

There were three possible reactions: The good one, the bad one, and the ugly one. The good one caused humans to start developing their own magic. The bad one caused humans to get sick with exposure, but there were ways to get around this. And the ugly one… well, it seemed like that was the one fate had decided to slam me with.

My expression must have told him my thoughts.

“Are you aware of why you are here?” he asked.

I sighed and nodded.

“I’m one unlucky son of a gun,” I answered, trying to push away the figurative weight that was pressing down on me.

“That’s one way to put it, I suppose. Do you know understand why you are in such a state?” He asked.

I nodded again. I’d seen it on the news enough to know.

Of that remaining 0.01%, the majority underwent a small metamorphosis that resulted in them developing their own arcanic tissue. You know, that stuff that lets ponies take in the magic in the atmosphere and turn it into the energy they use for their spells? I never took the time to learn the details, but what it basically amounted to was that a select few lucky humans gained their own magic abilities.

Of course, as I’m writing this, there has been no major breakthroughs on what exactly these magic abilities are. But considering how excited humans and ponies alike are to find out, I’m certain it won’t stay that way for long. Especially since pony sciences theorised that with constant magic exposure, magic humans will likely become increasingly common as generations pass.

Less joyful are the humans who upon being exposed to magic have a more negative reaction. I’m sure there’s some fancy scientific term for it, but everyone calls it magic allergies. And I mean serious allergies, not just getting a runny nose. These unlucky souls could easily die from exposure to magic.

Fortunately, this was an easy probably to fix. There are certain metals in Equestria that can, through some kind of arcanic something or other, prevent the body from absorbing magic in the air. So, just get a customizable necklace made of the stuff, and you’re good to go as long as you don’t visit Equestria proper. Also, it’s theorized that this particular magic reaction will likely become nonexistent as magic becomes more widespread.

With a slim, but serious danger of dying from magic exposure, it was agreed by nearly everyone that measures should be taken to ensure that no poor sap ended up dying in the street because a unicorn tourist walked past him. As such, several nations, including my own, decided to perform controlled testing to check for magic allergies.

Which leads us to the third possible reaction to magic exposure. This reaction is so rare that when I went in for my magic test, almost sixty percent of the human population already exposed to magic, and there had been only thirty-six cases worldwide.

And wouldn’t you know it, I was case number thirty-seven.

It’s official name is Arcanous Toxacosus. You know those two previous reactions I mentioned? Where some humans began developing magic and other were allergic to it? Well, Arcanous Toxacosus is when a human does both. My body was creating magic tissue, which was also poisoning it.

“How long do I have?” I asked.

“The suit you’re wearing is designed to slow the development of the tissue, but it wouldn’t be able to stop it entirely. As it stands, I’m afraid you have, at best, eighteen hours to live unless you undergo treatment,” he explained.

I winched. After the first few cases of AT, the powers-that-be had come together to find a way to save future patients. While they weren’t willing to invest too much money in developing a cure to a disease that would affects so few people and would likely never emerge again, a solution had been found. Two solutions in fact. The catch was that neither of them were especially pleasant, but they’d both hopefully keep me alive.

Option A would be to undergo a rapid extraction surgery, which is a fancy way of saying “take out all the toxic tissue as it develops.” The problem, aside from having every inch of my body cut open, is that arcanic tissue grows dangerously close to the nervous system. So if I undergo surgery, it’s very likely I’ll end up suffering some form of nerve damage. Using magic to make it easier isn’t an option either, as it would just pump me full of the stuff we’d be trying to keep out.

On the plus side though, after the surgery that would be the end of it. I’d get compensation for my unfortunate condition, be given an anti-magic necklace, and I’d be free to go back to my life as if nothing had happened as a normal human with magic allergies. Well, assuming I don’t end up too crippled to continue doing my job.

Option B is a bit more complicated, though the logic behind it is just as simple. If my body can’t survive magic exposure, then we’ll just have to change it so that it can. They could even use magic to make it happen as I would not longer have reason to wary of it. The problem is that most magical methods of transforming something into something else are either temporary, or don’t alter something to the degree I’d need to change.

Fortunately, there was one exception, though it was a spell that was declared illegal by every single nation on the other world. And everyone had agreed to make an exception for those poor few who share my condition, the spell’s illegal for several very good reason.

First of all, the spell is excruciatingly painful to go under. I’d have to spend half an hour feeling each cell in my body rebuild itself from the ground up, and anesthesia wasn’t an option for some convoluted bio-magic reason.

And there’s the matter of what the spell actually does. While I still don’t understand a word of all the magic technicalities behind it, the bottom line is that the spell can only be used to turn something into one of the half dozen templates that had been created with the actual spell. And of those templates, only one had been approved for use on those with AT.

You can probably guess where this is going, and yes. The spell would turn me into a pony. What pony exactly is unclear, as the template doesn’t specify. Nothing is for certain. I could end up as any race, color, age, body shape, or even gender. Yeah, I could end up as a baby female alicorn with wings as big as a bumble bee’s and a horn longer than the Princesses’. It’s very unlikely, but it’s possible.

And with a new body comes new problems. At the very least I’d need therapy to help me relearn how to walk, talk, and come to terms with the fact that I wasn’t human anymore. Add on having to learn about magic, possibly flying, and goodness know what else, it’s more likely than not that I’d end up having to move to Equestria for a year or two to learn everything.

But on top of all that, there’s one more problem with this option, and it’s the main reason why it’s illegal. You know that whole nature vs nurture debate? Well, regardless of which is more important, I think we can all agree that they both play some part in making us who we are. This transformation spell would effectively rewrite the nature part of my mind.

Now, this wouldn’t brainwash me or anything. The the nurture part of me would be completely unaffected. I’d still have all my memories, and my personality would remain almost entirely the same. The key word being almost. There would likely be subtle little changes. Not enough to, say, change how quickly I get angry or anything, but it would still be there.

But once my learning spree was over, I’d be a normal adult pony with my mind mostly unaffected. I’d be perfectly healthy too, as the transformation spell has never resulted in health issues. I’d probably have to make some serious adjustments to my life, but I’d be guaranteed to continue living just fine and fully functional.

So those were my options: I could either go under the knife and likely come out a paralyzed human, or I can painful turn into a pony, spend years relearning everything, and have some small part of my mind be rewritten.

“How long do I have to chose?” I asked.

“Considering the time needed to set up your decision and how long you have until the pain is expected to overwhelm you, twelve hours,” he answered.

I was given access to a phone, so the first thing I did was talk to my family. My dad insisted that being paralyzed was better than being a pony, but the man was known for being very slow to embrace new things so I took his advice with a grain of salt. My mother was hysterical, but managed to choke out that she would support me regardless of my choice. My little sister jokingly said that she was looking forward to a lifetime of free pony rides, but I could hear the despair in her voice.

I think the best advice came from my uncle. He argued that while I had been dealt a lousy hand, I would gain nothing from dwelling on that. He suggested that I don’t think about what I’m losing, but instead think of what I wanted to have more. I can either get back my human form and mind and quickly move on, or I can get a healthy pony body and bring magic into my life.

I also did some research into the thirty-six other poor saps to come before me. It wasn’t all doom and gloom, but I still found a rather ugly picture. And not everyone had even gotten the choice I had. Four had died before the condition had been recognized, and one man committed suicide once he had been informed of his condition.

Of thirty-five remaining, fourteen had opted for the surgery. Their post-surgery symptoms ranged from losing control of one of their arms to winding up in a wheelchair. One poor guy ended up paralyzed from the neck down, and another had died from complications. Despite this, most of them had managed to continue living comfortably.

The last seventeen had opted to undergo the transformation. All of them had completed their transformation just fine, and none of them had ended up the wrong gender. One guy had ended up as a little colt, though apparently he wasn’t too upset about it. All of them were currently in Equestria, where apparently the therapy was going well, though one woman was really struggling to let go of her past life.

I poked around the internet a bit after that. I read direct interviews with some of the people who were in my position once and the any public statements about my condition. I looked up what I could about what might become my new home. I read a few short pieces about what it means to be human, and not just physically. I also checked on how the rest of the world was changing as I lied there with my body slowly poisoning itself.

I also wrote this paper to pull my thoughts together. I have no idea what decision to make, so I figured I’d put my time making a documentation of what I’m going through.

I wonder if this’ll end up as part of some exhibit? Proof that for all the good the ponies brought, there were those of us who were seriously hurt by their arrival. I don’t blame them or anything, but you know how history is with these sort of things. It’d be nice to remembered, though on second thought I’d rather be remembered for some kind of achievement rather than for be unlucky enough to be here.

Sigh.

Well, it looks like my time’s almost up. The pain in my body’s starting to get really bad.

I won’t lie, I’m scared. Scared of what could happen to me regardless of my choice.

I just…

I just hope that whatever happens, I’ll be able to keep moving forward.

Wish me luck, or I guess you can just look up what happened to patient number thirty-seven.

Author's Note

Yeah, yeah, I know. TCB. But those fics focus on a global event. The idea here is that it only affects a few unfortunate souls.

And for the record, I was trying to make both choices equally unappealing. I'm not implying anything here.

Those Left Behind

Humanity's Final Legacy

“Princess Celestia?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

Celestia looked down at the little filly and smiled. Twilight had only been her student for a few months, but the Princess had already gotten used to Twilight’s unending thirst for knowledge. She could see another question coming as easily as the sky outside.

“Yes, my most faithful student?” replied Celestia.

“Um… I’ve been seeing some… really weird things lately,” said Twilight.

This, however, put Celestia on edge.

“Weird things?” asked Celestia.

“Well, just the other day I thought I saw a pegasus’s wings pop off his body for second. I thought it was just a trick of the light, but then it happened again! And then there was this pony who’s leg bent through his body, and… and…” Twilight sputtered.

Celestia mentally sighed. She knew exactly what this was about.

“And my tail seemingly became attached to my flank for a moment?” asked Celestia.

Twilight squeaked but nodded, clearly nervous about mentioning it.

Celestia chuckled, though on the inside she was also somewhat concerned. It wasn’t that knowledge about this phenomenon was forbidden, but there were some crucial details she’d made every effort to keep out of the public eye. She had to dissuade Twilight from asking for more information.

“Let me assure you that I am fully aware of these things as well. They are called glitches. They are an unfortunate side effect of the magic in our atmosphere. Let me assure you that while they may seem quite alarming, they are completely harmless. Whatever seemingly impossible things occur, they will be undone almost as soon as they appear,” reassured Celestia.

“Oh. OK,” said Twilight with a relieved sigh, her curiosity sated for now.

Celestia smiled at her student, but she was still worried. If her visions about Twilight’s potential proved true, then she may one day have to reveal the truth. She prayed that if that day came, Twilight would be ready.

“Princess?” asked a much older Twilight.

“Yes, Twilight?” asked Celestia, hiding her uncertainty.

It was getting uncomfortably close to Luna's return, and it was putting her very much on edge. A more immediate concern, however, was that Twilight had recently started a new research project. One that Celestia had been quietly discouraging as best she could.

“After consulting some book in the royal archive about the glitch phenomenon, I’ve been noticing that some things just don’t add up. It’s just so many inconsistencies in my resources that I starting to suspect that not all available information about this matter is in the royal archives. I know you disapprove of all forms of censorship, but I have to ask: is there more to this than you’re willing to tell me?” asked Twilight.

Celestia sighed. Once again, her student’s deduction skills impressed her. She just wished they weren’t directed at such a delicate topic. And a simple roundabout answer wouldn’t suffice this time. Not for the full grown mare.

However, her student’s deeply embedded loyalty now gave Celestia a way to push her away from this matter. It was just a method that Celestia didn’t really approve of: guilting her own subjects.

“First of all, Twilight, yes, I know more about the glitches than I’ve been telling you. However, there is a reason for this. The glitches are a key to discovering a hidden truth about the world we call home. This truth is something I cannot allow to become common knowledge,” explained Celestia.

“Hidden truth?” asked an extremely confused Twilight.

“It’s a matter of national security, I’m afraid. It’s… a dangerous sort of information. I still stand by what I said before in that it poses no active threat to us, but it still something I would rather keep hidden. I could tell you everything right now, I believe it would only upset you,” said Celestia.

Twilight looked rather conflicted now, but she seemed ready to object. Celestia continued.

“It’s not something I want you to concern yourself about. Please Twilight, just trust me when I say I know the answer, I have things well in hoof, and I feel that you will gain nothing by knowing it yourself. Maybe someday I will, but only when I think you're ready,” said Celestia.

Twilight sighed, but accepted Celestia’s answer for now.

Celestia prayed this would be the end of it. She knew exactly what would happen if Twilight pressed on.

Celestia sighed as she led the newly crowned Princess Twilight into the castle’s depths. It’d been inevitable really, once she had ascended. Celestia was simply out of excuses to keep Twilight in the dark.

“Twilight, I know how much you desire to understand the world around you. But once again, I must request that you let this matter drop. I won’t stop you if you’re truly determined to know, but I still insist that you would be better off not knowing the truth about the glitches,” said Celestia.

“I know. And I understand that learning about the glitches will likely bring me despair. You wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to keep me away otherwise. But if I’m to be a Princess of Equestria, I have to understand how our universe works. If this means I must learn about some dark secret that will horrify me, then I will face this terrible truth head on,” replied Twilight.

Celestia was proud of her former student’s resolve, but she was also saddened that Twilight was going to learn the truth. It was a heavy burden Twilight was asking to have placed on her back. One that she herself felt the weight of every day.

“Very well then. Here,” said Celestia as she opened a hidden door.

Inside was a strange white device that Twilight had never seen before. It was simple in design, but it hummed with energy unlike any she’d encountered. Celestia, however, knew it’s name.

“This is the I/O tower. It serves as a gateway to a place where you can learn the world’s darkest secret. Touch it, and everything shall be revealed to you.” said Celestia.

Her expression fearful, yet full of determination, Twilight reached out and touched the device.

Twilight's body felt heavy. Heavy and cold. Her surrounding were unclear, as she appeared to be in some kind of darkened chamber. She tried casting a light spell, but her magic wasn’t responding.

Confused and worried, Twilight tired to stand up. Her body was very stiff, but she managed. She walked around in the dark for a bit, trying to get an understand of her situation. As she did, she noticed that her hooves were making unusually loud clanking noises as she walked, as if she were wearing heavy horseshoes. Suddenly, there was a loud click.

Turning toward the noise, Twilight noticed a small light coming from a slightly ajar door. Dread began to rise up into her. Every fiber of her being told her to just turn back, that what was on the other side of that door was something she wasn’t meant to know. Yet she forced herself to walk towards it and push it open.

Within was a large room with a wide window. At a glance, it appeared to be a labratory of some sort. Outside, Twilight could see a barren wasteland that stretched out as far as she could see, though this was limited as there appeared to be a sandstorm outside. Far more alarming, however, were the strange skeletons that laid around the room.

Twilight was no osteologist so she couldn’t identify the bones, but she noted that they appeared to belong to a bipedal species. They were too small to be minotaur bones, so what were they?

Where am I? What is this place? And what does this have to do with the glitches in Equestria? She wondered.

As she looked around, she saw strange machines far more advanced than anything she’d ever seen. They were large and imposing, with many lights and even more buttons. There was also a large black screen of some sort. Feeling very apprehensive, Twilight slowly made her way forward and gently tapped one of the machines.

The black screen suddenly lit up, and displayed three words:

EQUESTRIA SIMULATION ONLINE

And with those three words, Twilight’s worldview was shattered forever.

Simulation?! But… but that means… Twilight’s thoughts began to scramble as despair began to fill her.

She looked down at herself, hoping to see proof that the screen was wrong, but all she saw was that her body was no longer flesh and blood, but mechanical. Turning around, she noticed that a large black cable was attached where her tail should be, leading back into the dark room she had just left.

Twilight had read her fair share of science fiction. She was able to determine exactly what this all meant. And she now knew exactly what the glitches were.

Twilight returned to Equestria to see Celestia looking at her with tears in her eyes.

“Princess…” whispered Twilight.

Celestia turned away.

“You wanted to know, and now you do. This world, and everyone living in it, is not real. We are a virtual simulation created by another people. A people know as humans. We exist only within the data streams of one of their greatest machines. That robotic platform you used to see the real world is one of the few windows we have to see and touch the real world,” said Celestia.

Twilight was overwhelmed. She had many questions, but right now all she wanted to do was lie down and rest. Yet her inner scholar demanded she push on.

“But… but all I could see was bones. What happened to those people?” she asked.

Celestia sighed.

“I do not know the details. Our overseers were not informed when the end came, but they deducted that the war than had consumed their people for decades had reached its end in the most terrible way possible. Without supplies, every human in the building passed away shortly after,” said Celestia.

Twilight was horrified.

“Our creators are gone, Twilight. It was the despair of this revelation that pushed Luna to become Nightmare Moon all those years ago. They have been gone for over a thousand years now. We, the denizens of this virtual world, are their last remaining legacy,” explained Celestia.

Twilight looked at the I/O tower, trying to comprehend this revelation.

“Then… then are we doomed? If our creators are gone, and everything here exists in a machine…” said Twilight.

Celestia shook her head.

“Not in such a way. While the facility lacked the means of keeping organic beings alive, our simulation is perfectly stable. I’ve been putting our robotic platform to good use, making repairs where needed, and our personal energy generator is still working perfectly. I’ve calculated that it will be many, many years before we start having any real problems,” said Celestia.

Twilight let out a sigh of relief, though she was far from at ease.

“What’s more, I’ve been utilizing what resources I can find to expand our mobility. Perhaps in a few years we’ll be able to set out and explore the world of our creators, and possibly learn what became of them,” said Celestia.

“I see…” mumbled Twilight.

Celestia walked over and pulled Twilight into a hug.

“I know this is a lot to take in, though I suspect that the hardest part is accepting what this means for us as individuals. Tell me, Twilight, do you want to know why we were created?” asked Celestia.

Twilight hesitated, but then slowly nodded.

“Before she died, our overseer told me that above all else we were meant to bring joy to others, but if we cannot bring it to our creators then we can share it among ourselves. I don’t know exactly what she wished of us, but I believe she wanted us to do what we could to continue living, even if they all passed away.”

“Perhaps there are human survivors out there somewhere we can aid, or maybe we are meant to reclaim and heal a now barren world. Either way, nothing has changed. We are alive and free to act as we choose, Twilight, even if we lack actual bodies. That was the human’s final gift to us, and I plan to utilize it to it’s fullest,” said Celestia.

Twilight gave a sad smile in agreement.

Author's Note

Has anyone read the short story There Will Come Soft Rains? The idea here is basically taken from that, but with a fully developed bunch of AI and a spark of hope. How does one live on knowing that you can no longer fulfill your reason for existing?

Humanity's Final Legacy

The Late Letter

My dearest daughters, I pray this letter finds you well, for it bears ill tidings. If my enchantments work and it has been delivered, it is because a terrible event is likely occurring as you read this, and action must be taken swiftly to prevent disaster. A threat to our home’s very existence will emerge if nothing is done. You must start rallying your forces and what allies you can.

Once you have done so, please read on and learn why.

You see, our world is but one of many. I’m certain you already know this. But of all worlds in existence, there is one special plane of existence that houses a species unlike any other. For these people are born with an incredible ability: the power to create life with but a thought. Not all of them utilize this power, but those who do are like deities to the worlds they create.

But you see, among these beings, very few ever learn about the power they posses. Most simply believe that they are storytellers or fiction writers; that the worlds they create exist only within their minds and their works. But rarely, one of them will discover the truth. Some gain the ability to look into their creation, while other find themselves able to travel into them.

And yes, I myself am one of these beings. I was not born the alicorn you two have always seen me as. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to not only view the world I created, but enter it. And once I did and realized the power I wielded, I made every effort to make the world a safe and wonderful place.

I created a beautiful land full of life and energy. I created numerous races that I had heard of in my other life. And I created you two. My children. I never expected to become a mother when I first entered my own world, but you two have always been my greatest creations. I have loved you just as much as any other parent would.

It wasn’t perfect, however. My world was build from my dreams and fears as much as my wishes and thoughts. Monsters and dangers emerged from the depths of my consciousness, and I did not have the power to remove what was created. I could only seal the worst of it away and give you the means to fight back. The darker parts of life, I learned, are necessary for life to exist at all, unpleasant as they are.

But there is another, more pressing problem. Worlds created by beings such as myself are not entirely stable. When a stray thought can change everything about the world underneath your hooves, such worlds are, shall we say, fluid in nature. This isn’t entirely a bad thing. Such worlds are impossible to travel to or from by any except the creator. No foreign invader can ever attack a fluid world.

But such fluidity does not last forever. For as powerful as my people are, we are still bound by mortal bodies. One day, a fluid world’s creator will die. And when that happens, the world will become solid. It will be independent of the creator’s influence and be just a real as any other. It will be able to connect to other worlds, including the home of the creators.

And here lies the reason why I have prepared this letter. Once I finish writing this, I intend to return to my other life, and never return. While I could change my body as I saw fit while I was here, my physical body remains as it is back home. I am not longer the young woman who first stepped into this place, and will soon pass away.

I know I didn’t tell you as much face to face, but what could I have said? You two are still so young as my time nears it’s end. Could you accept that your mother is leaving forever? Would you somehow come to blame the world I would seemingly vanish to? I decided it’d be best to simply tell you that I was going away for some time and let you to figure out the truth for yourself when you were grown.

But this is not why I have asked you to rally what army you can. As I have said, it is rare for a creator to know the power they posses. Beings such as myself have no way to prove the others that the worlds we create are real. And because they do not know their worlds are real, they sometime create things that, once their worlds are solid, become a threat to life in other worlds.

I have enchanted this letter to appear in the event that one such world has become solid, and is now connected to my other home. When beings such as I learn of our own worlds, we usually make them less of a threat and warn them of the dangers visiting our home will cause. Those who do not never leave hints to the location of their world. So if a created world has connected to the creator’s world, it must be the result of an invasion.

And here is where the threat lies. While dangerous worlds always become solid regardless, they usually do so in a limited fashion. Limited enough that other solid worlds can stop them. But if so many creators were to die in rapid succession, it would likely result in an unstoppable force of dangerous worlds being unleashed upon the multiverse.

My world, your world, is surely solid by now. Should this terrible force be unleashed, our home will be in grave danger. Therefore, though it pains me to do so, I must request that you use what you can to aid the world of the creators. If not for the sake of protecting the people of your mother, than protecting your world.

I beg of you, please, do everything you can to stop this invasion. Stop them from destroying everything and dooming the multiverse.

I trust you two to do the right thing. You were always-

The letter fell from Luna’s magic grasp. She was unable to continue reading through the tears that flowed from her eyes.

“It appeared in the throne room. With both of you out here, nopony knew it was there for weeks. We hurried to deliver it as soon as it was discovered but…” the guard pony trialed off.

Luna didn’t respond. She simply turned away and walked towards her sister. Celestia was standing near a window, her expression haunted. She had read the note first, before also dropping it in horror.

Luna sat down next to her sister as followed her gaze. As far as they could see was the ruined remains of what once was the greatest city of humankind. Now, the city burned, and countless human bodies lay broken and burnt among a few pony ones.

It was some time before either spoke. And even then, Luna's voice was barely audible.

“Sister… what have we done?” whispered Luna.

Author's Note

I don't like putting words in the mouth of real people, so I'm going to say this involves someone other than Lauren Faust.

We all know stories about doomed worlds. But how about a story about a doomed world that still has a few years to live, and has time to reflect on how this doom was brought about by its own actions?

The Late Letter

An Addictive Goal

The stallion worked. He mixed his chemicals, cooked his crystals, and slowly turned his beautiful masterpiece into its final form. He didn’t stop when he heard a small commotion outside. He didn’t stop when he heard the door open. He didn’t even stop when he heard her voice.

Her lovely, perfect voice.

“Put that down,” ordered Princess Celestia.

He didn’t. He was tempted, certainly, but his devotion trumped his awe at her presence.

“I was wondering when you’d find me, but I must admit I’m honored you decided to show up and thank me face to face,” he said.

If he had turned around, he would have see an expression of unfathomable rage.

“Thank you? Thank you?! After everything you’ve done?! Have you completely lost your mind?!” cried Celestia.

He sighed. It was clear that her hooves were still tied. Oh well, it couldn’t be helped. At least he had ensured that she would soon be freed of such bonds.

“Not in the least. I’m simply the only pony still sane. Aside from you, of course. But I understand why you needed to play along. Now that it’s over, everything will go back to the way it should be,” he said.

“Over? This is far from over. Despite your best efforts, not every human has fallen to your poison,” said Celestia.

“I know. Just give me another hour, and I’ll be ready to fix that with this one last dose,” he said.

His entire lab was bathed in a golden light, as with a flare from her horn, Celestia reduced everything in the building except the two of them to ash.

“You are delusional. I have not come to applaud you. I have come to stop you,” said Celestia.

The stallion sighed. Oh, how he hated politics, forcing the princess to act against her perfect will.

“Oh well. I understand how your hooves have been tied. But don’t worry, your highness. It’ll almost be impossible for them to survive now. There are simply too few of them left,” he said.

“Unless we finished that counter-measure,” said Celestia.

The stallion chuckled. He knew she had to say as much, but was actively sabotaging that potential problem from within. Why else would she be pushing it’s development so directly? Her perfect will would not be stopped by such a petty effort.

“Perhaps, but I remain confident it will not work. The humans will most certainly die out,” he said with a smile.

Celestia looked at him with an expression of utter horror.

“You… you monster! You knew this was going to happen! This was your plan from the very start!” she cried.

“Of course I did. And now everything’s coming together perfectly for everypony,” he said.

Celestia was silent for a moment.

“Why… why would you do this? Why would you ever consider something like this?” she asked.

“Because it needed to be done. I had discovered an opportunity with my formula, and I simply acted on it like any decent pony would,” he said.

Celestia shook her head in disbelief.

“You truly believe that you have acted justly. Can you not see that no villain in all of Equestria’s history has been responsible for the amount of death and suffering you've inflicted?” she asked.

The stallion laughed.

“Oh, please. That’s only true if you include non-pony lives. Those apes hardly count. Nopony objects to the slaughter of insects, and this was simply pest control,” he replied.

Celestia’s anger boiled over. She slammed a hoof to the ground, cracking the stone floor.

“Pests?! You dare call such a people that?! They have never pretended to be perfect, but neither are we! You speak as if we are superior to them! We stood to gain so much from each other! How could you possibly consider their destruction to be a good thing?!” demand Celestia.

The stallion shook his head.

“Ever since that portal opened, I’ve seen it. You hated dealing with them. Whenever you appeared, you were tired and stressed. Your perfect body and mind were ruined by them with every meeting. You never dared to say it out loud, as those filthy politicians would surely threaten us if you did, but you most certainly wanted them gone,” said the stallion.

Celestia looked at the stallion in horror.

“I couldn't stand to see you in such a state, so I resolved to do something to help you while your hooves were tied. And then I discovered my formula. Easy to convert to a gas form, highly addictive to humans, and best of all, it only takes a small sample to render them sterile. A few well place balloons, and the apes were doomed,” said the stallion with a reminiscent smile.

“You… you committed this heinous crime just because I chose not to hide behind my glamor? Because I wanted to show both worlds that I was only a mortal pony?” asked Celestia.

The stallion shook his head. This was where he drew the line. He would not let the facade force her to speak so things.

“Please, your highness, don’t waste your breath on such hollow blasphemy in my home. I have remained forever loyal to your divine will. You don’t have to pretend to be less than what you are: a perfect goddess,” said the stallion.

Celestia didn’t answer right away. She turned away and looked at the ash covered walls.

“For as long as I’ve worn this crown, I have tried to remind my ponies that I am hardly flawless. I have made mistakes. Some had very far reaching consequences. I have never declared myself to be anything else than a pony with great power and a long life. And yet, time after time, ponies like you appear. You destroy yourselves and others simply because you are convinced that I am simply hiding my true nature,” she said.

The stallion bowed.

“And that is why your most loyal of servants shall always bow to your will. You are as humble as you are…” he said.

“SHUT UP!” cried Celestia in the Royal Canterlot Voice, her mane and body flaring up with the sun’s fury.

“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?! YOU HAVE COME A HAIR’S BREADTH AWAY FROM COMMITTING XENOCIDE! YOU HAVE REDUCED AN GREAT AND POWERFUL PEOPLE TO A SMALL HOOFFULL OF SURVIVORS! AND ALL IN MY NAME?! I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO DISGUSTED IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!” she roared.

Even in her anger, she was beautiful.

“So you must say, to retain your image. I understand, of course. You must publicly punish me to appease the remaining apes. I will gladly take whatever you prepare, for I know that once they are gone, you will put my name among those who gave their lives for your greater glory,” said the stallion.

Celestia’s fire burned out. She looked at the bowing pony in disgust and sighed.

“You are delusional. Completely and utterly delusional. The only favor you have granted me is proving once and for all that I cannot permit such blind devotion to remain in any form. I have never approved of it, but now it is clear that I must take measures to stomp this madness out entirely. It is quite fortunate that I was able to befriend so many human leaders before this happened, or your foolish stunt would have killed us all,” said Celestia.

The stallion looked up in confusion, but did not object. He knew this was just an act.

“Do you know just how powerful they are? Of course not. If you did you never would have considered destroying them. It is indeed stressful to deal with them, but that is because they are too strong to bow to me. It has been so long since I dealt with such beings, and I enjoyed every moment of it. And with their technology and philosophy, I saw them helping us reach a new golden age of growth and learning,” said Celestia.

Celestia turned away.

“But that will no longer be possible, thanks to you. This new age will always be smeared by this terrible horror. Even if we manage to save humanity, and they can find it in their hearts to forgive us, this scar will never fully heal. And even if I had secretly desired such a thing, there will most certainly be those who will blame me for this, and I will face even greater hardships as a result. You have done nothing for me, you fool,” said Celestia.

The stallion didn’t respond. He had to admit, even when spouting lies, she was perfect in every way.

“As for your punishment, I have never been more sorely tempted to issue a death penalty as I have with you. To be quite frank, I might have given in if I hadn’t decided that it wouldn’t be my life to take. I also realized that such a fate would be far, far more merciful than you’d deserve. Instead, I have decided to inflict a punishment even greater than death,” declared Celestia.

“I have ordered all proof of your existence removed. Birth records, scientific research, and everything you own has had your name removed from it. I even plan to ensure that when the history books are written about this disaster, you name is forgotten and lost forever. You will only be remembered as ‘the stallion who nearly slaughtered humanity.’ And that’s not all,”

“I have also revoked your Equestrian citizenship. The part about this you should be most concerned about is that you no longer have any legal rights. If you are killed, it will not be persecuted as a murder. Which bring me to the final part of your punishment. When I discovered where you were hiding, I made certain to let a friend of mine know as well,” said Celestia.

The door opened, and a human with a gun stepped inside. The stallion’s last thoughts weren't of regret or shame, only delight that the ape born all the signs of addiction to his drug. Truly, his work was beautiful, and while the goddess’s hooves were tied in this world, she would surely reward him in the next life.

BANG!

Author's Note

Depending on how honest you think Celestia's being, this story can taken as either really dark, or really tragic.

Sometimes it doesn't take a army or a lot of magic to bring ruin. It only takes one zealot convinced they're acting justly.

An Addictive Goal

The Global Sacrifice

The merging of our worlds was just as disastrous as predicted. Entire continents fell beneath the ocean. Countless species of life were wiped out. Civilization, human, pony, or otherwise, ground to a halt as our cities crumbled and our borders twisted.

And yet, we survived. We survived, and were able to begin rebuilding.

We put aside our dreams and desires to focus on restoring what was lost. Our mission was to rebuild the world so that our children would be able to continue our way of life as if this disaster never happened. With human ingenuity and pony magic combined, it really did seem likely out task would be finished within our lifetimes.

We started calling ourselves the skipped generation. It was rather appropriate, really. Not just because our lives had become devoted solely to fixing the world, but because of how helpless and pitiful we all felt. There had to have been some individuals who were able to get over The Despair, but I’ve yet to meet or even hear of one.

When we had first learned of the merging, and of the population on the other world, it was too late for either side to stop it. All we could do was trade information and flee to locations that seemed most likely to remain intact after the merging. But there was one very serious problem that everyone on both world had to address.

For you see, it wasn’t just the dirt under our feet and hooves that was merging. The bodies of intelligent lifeforms were to merge together as well. This could not be left to chance, as the odds of anyone surviving this process were far, far too low. Something had to be done, and be done quickly. But with so little time, we only had one horrible option.

Trips to graveyards are rarely happy experiences. Even if you are not there to visit a beloved departed yourself, it’s always sombering to see so many reminders that we’re all going to die one day. I wasn’t there to visit a loved one, though my sister’s grave was here as well. I was here to visit someone else. I had barely gotten to know this individual before she’d died. And yet, like so many others, I couldn’t help but feel like her sacrifice had made her part of my family in a way.

I made my way to the massive monolith that bared the names of all those from the area who had died because of the merging. As always, it was crowded. Humans and ponies alike, all bearing the scars of the merging, stood before the block of black stone. Some laid flowers on the always present pile. Others simple put limbs on the name of their savior. And there were some who simply stared at the monument from a distance, their hearts full of guilt and regret.

I often found myself among the latter, but today I had brought flowers. I felt I had to do something extra on what would have been her birthday had she survived.

I took my place at the back of the flower line. I recognized most of the people and ponies present, but I remained silent. We all knew why we were there.

I saw Lily, running a hoof through her blond and black striped mane. I noticed Mr. Kurt, standing as straight as his one hooved leg would let him. I saw Applejack, her coat marred with patches of human skin. And I also saw her. The one who had unwittingly taken my sister from me, and who’s left eye was now hers.

“Carol, why…”

“I have no choice.”

“Yes you do! We all have the choice! You can’t just give up like this!”

“John, she’s a national hero! She's saved the world countless times! She might have to do it again! I can’t, in good faith, ask her to die for me if it means that some great evil is going to show up that only she can stop!

“I know… but… but it’s just not fair!”

“Nothing about this is fair, John. Not to those who die, or to those who live. I just drew an especially short straw.”

“Carol…”

My sister had been the only family I had left. I was alone now. It was dangerous to be alone with your own thoughts these days. I had made a few friends around my new home, but there was still an emptiness in me. An emptiness shared by so many others of the skipped generation.

Then she noticed I was there, turning her eye and the eye I knew so well towards me. I saw the familiar flash of anger in her flair up for a moment before she suppressed it as always. I knew that because I always flashed my suppressed anger at her in turn.

It wasn’t her fault my sister was dead. Just like it was no one’s fault that seven billion lives had been lost to the merging. The cosmos had simply decided to stick its finger at both of our worlds. And yet I couldn’t help but resent her, because even breath she drew was only hers because my sister no longer had breath of her own.

This was fairly commonplace. My doctor said it was just an anticipated part of the The Depression that fell upon our populations after the merge. It was natural for us to resent those who only lived because our loved ones were dead.

I didn’t hate her. Really, I didn’t. But it was clear that while we would tolerate each other’s presence as best we could, the two of us would never be friends. Neither of us would be able to stand to look at the one who had taken our sisters from us.

“No.”

“Look kid, I don’t want to die, but you can’t seriously be…”

“No! I won’t!”

“Kid, your sister is going to live while mine isn’t! I don’t have anyone else to turn to! Do you really want to do this to her? Force her to move on without you?”

“No… But if I live, then you have to die. I… I just can’t do that! I don’t want to live if it means someone else has to die!”

“Kid, I know it’s hard, but do think I want to see a child die because of me? I’m a grown man. I’ve lived a fuller life than you. Please, don’t force me to become a monster.”

“... I’m sorry…”

I shifted on my feet as my white and purple tail swished behind me. Like most merging scars, it didn’t quite match up with the rest of my body. It was a clear sign that every breath I drew was because a little filly had been unwilling to bear the guilt of survival, and I had lacked the strength to make her act otherwise.

Her sister didn’t really blame me. She had been proud of her sister’s act of selflessness. But it didn’t change the fact that her sister had died. All that remind of her were the scars on my body, and her name on the monolith.

Finally, it was my turn. I stepped forward and placed my flowers atop the stack. I didn’t say anything. I just turned my gaze toward the names I had memorized the locations of:

Top row, on the west facing side, twelve names to the right: Carol Martin.

Centermost row, also on the west facing side, fifteen names from the left: Sweetie Belle.

I didn’t linger long. There were many others behind me, and I still had work waiting for me at home.

As I turned to to leave, I meet her gaze once more.

“John,” she said in a brisk tone.

“Rarity,” I replied, matching her.

She looked like she was about to say something, but then turned away and made to put her own flowers on the pile.

I sighed and continued on my way.

Author's Note

I'm really proud of this idea (if it's never been done before), but I honestly can't think of a single scene outside of this one. Of all the stories in these two collections, I really hope someone picks this one up the most.

The Global Sacrifice

Our Unwitting Replacements

White.

All he could see was white.

He shook his head, trying to think, but his thoughts were fuzzy. Where was he? Why was he here?

Was he dead?

He looked down at his hands. They seemed to be fine, but… something was definitely off about this whole situation.

And then he heard someone crying.

He turn around and saw what looked like a purple unicorn with wings. Sort of. It was very blurry, and seemed to be transparent, though it was kind of hard to tell as there was nothing but white all around them.

He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he figured that this crying creature was probably important. And he felt bad letting something cry so hard without trying to comfort it.

“Hey, are you alright?” he asked.

His voice had an unusual echo to it, but it got the unicorn’s attention. It looked up at him with eyes full of tears.

“No. I’m not alright. I’ll never be alright now,” it mumbled, it’s feminine voice full of despair.

He was surprised that it, no, she could speak, but decided to push on.

“Why? What’s wrong?” he asked.

Her expression grew desperate.

“Please… please just go away. I… I don’t want to have to watch as…” she trailed off before she looked at the ground.

“No… no, you deserve to know, at least. It’s not right for me to ask you for anything. Not now,” she said before turning back towards him.

“Know what?” he asked.

The unicorn hesitated.

“Why you’re going to die,” she answered.

He was somewhat shocked by this, yet for some reason he wasn’t too troubled. It just… didn't seem too big a deal. He somehow didn’t feel alarmed by being told he was dying. He knew that this wasn’t right, but he just felt so unusually calm.

“I’m going to die?” he asked, his voice matching his mood.

The unicorn turned away, but forced herself to look at him again.

“Yes. Very soon. And there’s nothing I can do to stop it,” she said.

“And you know why?” he asked.

The unicorn looked ready to break down again, but she forced herself to speak.

“A very long time ago, our civilizations spanned the world. Ponies, zebras, griffons, and all the rest. And we had magic, a form of energy that was the cornerstone of all life. But then, one day, we saw disaster coming. A great force that none of us could stop. All intelligent life on the planet was certain to perish, but we devised a plan to survive.”

The unicorn took a deep breath, and let it out.

“We combined our efforts, pooled together our magic, and created the ark. A massive vault with the most advanced spell ever performed in history. We wouldn’t survive the end with our bodies intact, so instead it was designed to preserve our memories, our souls, and our magic. We were to remain there, asleep, until the day came that life would return to the planet. Then, the spell would react and reincarnate us, but…”

She sighed.

“Something went wrong. The ark was supposed to open once life was detected, but it didn’t once life began to bloom again. Maybe the detection system failed. Maybe the ark ended up buried deep underground during the calamity. All I know is that it didn’t work as intended and when the spell finally activated…”

She shivered, but kept going.

“When we sealed the ark, we sealed all the magic in the world with us. We thought that without magic, intelligent life couldn’t evolve. We believed that nothing more advanced than moss would ever grow. It never occurred to us that a new civilization might rise up from our ashes. We didn’t think it was possible! And now… and now…”

Tears began to flow once again from the unicorn’s eyes.

“You… you can’t create living bodies without raw materials. Moss and microorganisms would have been sufficient, but instead… instead…”

The unicorn's body was wracked with sobs as she covered her face with her hooves.

“Instead it’s… it’s using the best material it can find. A ready supply of all the necessary components. We didn’t know. We didn’t think…”

She was overwhelmed, and collapsed to the ground with a wail of agony.

He waited patiently. He had figured out where she was going with this, but he could tell that she needed to say this.

Finally, she managed to choke it out:

“It’s you! You and all your people! We're killing you! We’re killing all of you because we were too stupid to consider intelligent life without magic! We’re killing you and using your bodies to build new ones for ourselves! This wasn’t supposed to happen! It wasn’t supposed to be like this! We didn’t want to do this! I’m sorry! I’m sooorrryyyyy!” the unicorn wailed as she collapsed into a fit of uncontrollable sobs.

He was… well, he wasn’t sure what he felt. He didn’t feel angry. He didn’t feel sad. He didn’t feel… anything. He just felt… empty. Hollow.

But he knew he didn’t want the unicorn to just sit there and cry. Perhaps some part of him wanted to be upset about all this, but if he only had so much longer to live, he figured he might as well do something useful with it. After all, he still had one precious thing he could give her.

He made his way over and pulled her into a hug. Time seemed to have no meaning as he sat there, holding the hysterical unicorn, feeling her tears run down his shoulder. He did notice, however, that the unicorn's body was slowly becoming more solid.

At last, her sobs and wailing began to slow, and finally stop.

“It’s OK,” he said.

The unicorn pulled away to look at him, her eyes still full of tears.

“No. It’s not OK. You’re only saying that because there’s not enough of you left be angry at me,” she said.

He looked down at his hands. He could see through them now.

“The process is nearly over. Soon, I’ll be complete in a new body and you’ll be…” the unicorn turned away.

“I know. But before I go, I want you to know that I forgive you,” he said.

She turned back toward him in shock.

“It’s not your fault. You didn’t mean to do this. Don’t blame yourself for something you couldn’t prevent,” he said with a smile.

“No… no please, I don’t deserve…” the unicorn stuttered.

He just pulled her into another hug.

He suddenly began to feel incredibly tired. He knew what that meant.

“Can… can you tell me your name? I didn’t want to remember, but...” The unicorn whispered.

His head was feeling fuzzy, but he managed to force it out.

“John. John Barton,” he said.

“John… I… I… the spell wasn’t designed for intelligent life, and magic tends to make things like souls sticky. Maybe… maybe some small part of you will remain here, with me. If it does, I swear I won’t stop trying to find a way to bring you back. I promise,” said the unicorn.

John smiled.

“Thank you…” he whispered.

He closed his eyes, and let the exhaustion take him away.

It wasn’t that... bad, really.

At least…

It…

didn’t…

…

hurt...

…

Author's Note

OK, I'll be genuinely surprised if there's no fan fic that plays with this idea in some shape or form. I've seen several that use elements of this scenario.