Author's Note

It's Fireflower again with the third installment of my first My Little Pony fanfic that goes beyond the typical oneshots I had made from before and using canon characters as human beings instead of their normal forms; however, this is nonetheless a Mature fanfic for this chapter here contains strong language, content that is tame compared to the real madness that will take place in this flashback of a nightmare belonging to Twilight Sparkle.

As usual like before, My Little Pony, or rather Friendship Is Magic, including its settings and characters belong to Lauren Faust and Hasbro; however, this concept of my fanfic still belongs to me so I will say this very line one time only: please do not steal this story or I will sue.

Lastly, let me also say that I hope you can stomach this chapter now more than the others before it and still have the strength to continue onward in staying tuned though the passing times; henceforth, I will leave you with but one saying only: thank you very much.

Smokefall

There was a complete absence of light currently dominating the very environment, all shrouded in mystery and suspense that relied consistently on the element of uncertainty at large. While there had already remained a likely chance of loneliness filling the air itself at once, the atmosphere was likely enough to clear out within due time for one reason or another. In addition, even at least a few clues were presently providing some semblance of substance that was instantaneously dwelling inside even with the lack of a solid terrain, let alone earth.

Lain out right amongst the pitch black darkness was one of the very few possibilities that was becoming unveiled rather slowly: a lone dark skinned female lying facedown. In about the strands of dark blue hair were some bits of purple and pink as well, being already overshadowed by the predominate shades and hues alone to say the very least. Gathering the strength to move, the dark skinned female opened her eyelids almost immediately, bearing amethyst orbs with a tired but alarmed visage within a mere instant. Hereon, she was quick to find a set of clothes being worn upon her very body: a purple vest overlaying a long white blouse, a long red plaid skirt, and long black socks.

“This place, what is it; how did I get there all of the sudden and how come I can’t stand up from here…?” the lone female had gasped all at once, struggling quickly to stay conscientious of the situation thereof.

Soon, with her lively purple eyes quickly flying widely out in the very open, she had begun to study the minimal surroundings all across the way. The female had been quickly to find that the visibility provided for her was a poor sight for even the sorest of eyes to say the least, save for a light. An extremely low pitched droning was already piercing both of her very ears with the otherwise occasional whine interspersing along with it as well. Relatively speaking, the scent was nonexistent, save for a rather faint yet pungently acute aroma emerging from beyond the void the female was in. Though that she felt nothing giving her the freedom to rise from her station, she was nonetheless able to move around in any direction whatsoever. Such factors had all played a role in painting a picture right in the lone female’s mind that was far from the pleasant tales told and said at the bed.

Time passed long enough until she heard some footfalls followed by some more talking, “I can’t believe that Fluttershy is thrown into prison; I gotta do something before they all put her to death…!”

“How in the world is…” the lone female started to speak, her eyes widened by the sound of the voice that went into both ears, “Fluttershy is–––”

“Even a lone foot soldier would know that she is too kind to be working with the terrorists; I gotta go save her while I still can…!” the distant speaker had interrupted, prompting the observer to move forward towards the light up in front of her.

The corporeal female thought to herself with apprehension, “wait a minute: could that even be my voice; but, if that’s the case, then how is it even…?”

“It’s only a matter of time before the Terminal starts carrying out the execution any time soon; it’s apparent that I get her name cleared immediately…” she had heard, this time being slowly convinced by the similarities between both of the voices all at once, “if I play my cards right, then the courts might consider giving her a stay so they can process all of the information. Greystoke must have been pretty helpful enough to lend me his aid and make sure that nothing bad happens to her but I’m not sure how long he will hold out before they speed things up and get her killed off. Ever since the sudden arrest, Fluttershy has been professing her innocence; for crying out fucking loud, she’s a veterinarian, not a radical extremist. Realistically, the odds of the poor gal being involved with them directly are basically astronomical to say the least; that like suggesting that Applejack knows her way with mechanical engineering. Such a baseless accusation in my eyes and ears is enough to get me into taking a stand: this isn’t some case of prosecutorial misconduct in its most typical form; it’s a conspiracy and people like me need some answers.”

“Now I’m starting to remember what happened: I believe this was right after when Swain was slain about a week before the program was discontinued; besides the fact that I’d sounded like those cliched protagonists straight outta my many books, this must be right before the Golden Oaks Library got destroyed…” the female wondered, piqued by the potential conclusion at hand.

Only then, she began to become aware of the fact of the matter at hand while continuing to listen, “I swear, if this was the way trials could go, then there would be little need for respecting law and order: this country can’t survive as a government if people are tried the same way as Fluttershy was, guilt or innocence be damned; it would be as if we can live without pondscum. Whatever judge decided to go through with this isn’t gonna get away with making the lot of us look boorish and crass enough to prefer monster wagons, arcade cabinets, and winning every argument over studying, logic, and basic living essentials. Anyways, it’s best that I write a letter to Princess Luna immediately to let her know about it completely: I’m pretty sure that given my relationship with her sister Celestia, the very idea of sending her a letter would trigger a direct conflict of interest.”

“Come to think of it, I’ve must have been so focused onto the whole endeavor, I’ve haven’t even remembered when Nightmare Moon returned…” the lone female had whispered softly as she heard footfalls currently shuffling about once more, “even though that I had made friends with some of the countryfolk, only Fluttershy and I were assigned to the band of seven nonetheless…”

“Dear Princess Luna…” the other voice sighed.

It wasn’t even long until the observer moved forward towards the light and had gasped, “IT IS ME…!”

“I hope that this letter finds you well: the memories of being banished to a cosmological object such as the moon is harrowing; the only thing that kept you going was the love of your sister…” the similar figure across from her line of sight had worded out, “of course, it would seem that the task of writing the letter to her would have been easily circumvented by obvious accusations. The fact remains is that one of my dearest friend Fluttershy stands accused of being an accessory to the deeds of a subversive element: it doesn’t seem right that this trial was done with the most basic of care or even respect to and for procedure. It also doesn’t help that it seems to be war is about this close to breaking out at any moment so to speak; perhaps this has something to do with how I was raised in the capital. Irregardless, I feel motivated to speak up on her behalf yet it seems that I’m alone: despite my best efforts, sometimes I find myself being brushed aside by some run–of–the–mill brute. I can’t, in good conscience, have the heart to let her die at the hands of the state, especially in such a rushed manner; please convince them to look this case over as soon as possible and not let the execution come to pass.

Your sister’s faithful student

Twilight Sparkle.

P.S. – Please make sure that you get plenty of sleep…”

“Great, even I’m starting to sound like I had taken up a hatchet job…” the lone female groaned as she had looked around.

Her amethyst orbs were scanning the insides of the rather corpulent tree that seemed to be called a home in the eyes of the unaware tenant. The very ligneous ceiling in its entirety had a source of light in active commission, brighter that the jet black void that the observer was in. Almost every inch of its inner walls were easily filled to the brim with innumerable books, each of them varying in more ways than once. Standing at opposite sides of the very room were but a pair of podiums, one just shorter than the other and an open book nearby the stairs. Off in the distance was a flight a stairs adorned with a trio of some light pink hearts, point up to the bed resting nearby the lone window. Decorating the simplistic cloister of the ingress were pairs of purple flowers hanging up on both sides, undisturbed by the lack of a base. All that remained in there was an equidistant tabletop circling around a tree stump, holding some more books and a sculpture of a horse.

All of the factors that had made up the dimensions of the location did little to prepare the female for the source of the voice she had shared alongside. Likewise, the similar individual had possessed the very complexion and components much like herself, a troubling sight from the observer’s position. Even the lone female was aware of the vast differences in attire that the tenant in question had possessed, leaving the former wide eyed with shock.

As such, the individual’s fashion was more different compared to observer at hand, despite the alarming similarities right at hand thereof. Compared to the female’s vest overlaying the white blouse, the tenant wore an open dark blue against a lighter blouse and a red bow–tie. Rather than the long skirt that the observer donned, the other individual had a pair of shorts in a light thistle with some periwinkle accents. Even the tenant’s footwear was more than elaborate: a pair of long hot pink stockings nestling within the depths of her black bar shoes.

What had made the grim silence easily chased off was the acute sound of some gurgling nearby; as a result, the individual had just chirped, “ah, I must have been so worked up by the whole turn of events, I must have forgotten to feed myself…!”

“Okay, so it seems that I’m trapped in library with a doppelganger who’s strangely not made aware of my presence so far…” the lone female summarized almost silently, watching the tenant trotting on towards the room across the entrance, “now all I have to do is make like a river and run on out of here; for what it’s worth, doppelgangers are a sign of ill omen, even in dreams…”

Almost immediately, the observer made every effort to climb out from the pitch black darkness that she had awakened from. When she had done so, she was surprised to find that there was another bed as well, bearing a simplistic purple comforter. Effortlessly, the female trudged over to the red door as quietly as possible, pleased to be wearing only black socks on her feet.

“What in the world is that smell…?” she had heard, no doubt the alternate voice of the identical individual from before she was observing.

The lone female had tensed up but remained calm as she laid her hand on the metal knob nearby; however, she was unprepared for the sensation that would follow: rather than the stagnant room temperature upon the surface, some heat had stung the palm, prompting a shrill cry immediately, “FUCK…!”

“Is that smoke but where is it coming from…?” the tenant asked as the listener scurried up the stairs and out of sight from the former who had returned, “that’s funny… I don’t recall going down in the cellar as soon as I had gotten back to pack up; in any case, I guess I should go ahead and take one last look before I kiss this library goodbye…”

“Oh, no…” the lone female had peeped, her amethyst irises now shrinking immediately as she had quickly contemplated turning around at once.

It was at this point the individual who had returned was greeted by the sight of flames growing about and barely touching some nearby bookshelves. A super–heated mixture of red, orange, and yellow clashing and meshing with and against one another was more than enough to raise such an alarm. The tips of its very cinders flickered on and off in rapid succession as they had threatened to expand onward in their entirety within mere seconds.

As the fires were in clear view of the tenant’s eyes, she had screamed, “OH MY GOSH, HOW IN THE WORLD DID THIS HAPPEN?!”

“That’s what I would’ve needed to know now that I remembered it…!” the observer exclaimed as the conflagration began to grow from its otherwise dark lonely place, “considering that I had a lot of potions stocked up in the basement, it’s likely it'd been a chemical fire; then again, there should've been some other colors as well.”

“I have to put the damn thing out soon enough while I still can; otherwise, it will spread all throughout the town…!” the identical individual whimpered as footfalls made their way closer to the female amidst the hungering fire and flames.

Needless to say, the observer still hid in the darkness and chatted, “in hindsight, I should have asked Princess Celestia to implement more fire extinguishers in the library, or at least buy them myself while I was in town.”

“Damn, is this some kind of cruel sick joke?!” the tenant groaned as the bright flames had roared more loudly, “it seems that the second I had taken aim at the mess, it started to make the flames grow; what is going on here?!”

“It had to be a joke fire extinguisher; no one of sound mind would dare think to make something like this…” the lone female had said as the heat and smoke slowly traveled up to her very own nose almost instantaneously.

It wasn’t long until air became clogged with the combusted particles that the identical individual scurried abound and screamed, “I need to flood the house with some water if I’m gonna save this library from being completely destroyed…!”

“SHIT…!” the observer screamed as the railing within her hand burned brightly than the doorknob itself from before, “it’s growing too fast; I have to get out of here and warn the others while I still can…!”

Sure enough, the heat and light became too much for the structure, the glowing brightness now bearing smoke and ash slowly but surely. The atmosphere became thicker enough to clog up the visibility of what had now lain behind her, no doubt the work of the growing inferno. In no small amount of time whatsoever was the female instantly reminded of what was quickly unfolding all around herself suffice to say. Mustering up the remaining strength to move on forward, she had kept running up the stairwell away from the following conflagration.

“If I clog the sink up and keep it running at the highest setting possible, then eventually the overflowing water will end up climbing to the cellar downstairs, ending the fire at the source…” the tenant stammered on as she moved back to where the initial female had climbed up from not too long ago.

The minute she had attempted to turn around, she ended up finding the fire and flames right behind her almost immediately, the option of returning back down no longer presented to her; this prompted the observer to cry, “at this rate, I’m going to be more scorched than a steamed yam…!”

“Okay then, now to make my escape and get the Tart on back to the capital at once…” the identical individual sighed as the flames were kindling within the area they were both in, “THE DOOR’S BLOCKED OFF… NO…!”

“Now I understand: the heat of the flames directly underneath me were traveling up from the cellar for a longer time; even the presence of many compounds are speeding up the process…!” the lone female said as she took notes of the otherwise pungent scent within the blinding smoke and fire right before herself.

At long last did she finally make her way to the balcony of the area that the tenant had once called home, rushing out to see another startling sight. For starters, within the female’s sights was a jet black firmament with columns of fire and smoke in predominantly warm colors like before climbing up. Within a large dream drop distance was a civilization defined in such various materials in grave disrepair: windows cracked, doors smashed in, and all. The roaring winds were beating down onto everything, from the grassy knolls to the place that in which where she was now standing to watch it unfold. In the background were but a valley and ridge of mountains were objects mostly in the shape of intersecting lines had flew about with reckless abandon. The town where the female was standing within was currently devoid of all lifeforms, save for small portions that were literally cloaked in the shadow.

Relatively speaking, she was now found to be right in the middle, standing right at the edge of veranda that had belonged to a rather tall and large tree. At the top was another veranda where a little telescope had its lens pointing outwardly as it had remained safely behind the circumnavigated steel railing. The many leaves upon that corpulent structure also had its share of windows peering towards the ghost town on many angles at an end, even on the bark. A glass lantern had already found its way on the left side, hung from underneath the blossoming awning and over the wooden sign planted on the ground. A beehive was in a sling from a branch beneath another balcony on the opposite embankment of the very tree, burning brightly as its occupants swirled. The rubicund door that had contained the simplistic illustration of a lit candlestick in the very middle of it all was also ablaze, threatening to spread.

Just as the lone female was about to say something that instantaneously came to her very mind since the narrow escape, she had then heard some rather shrill screaming almost immediately, “AAHHH…!”

“Oh dear… this must have been the part where I was burning alive in there…!” the observer had whimpered as she clenched her eyelids all at once, “I don’t even want to look at what my skin will look like after I get put out.”

“WOAH…!” a loud shriek had pieced her ears as a loud explosion quickly sent her flying off of the ledge with only little warning whatsoever.

It didn’t take long for the female to land onto the ground on her own two feet, gravity stepping in and planting much pressure onto the legs in the impact. Forced back onto the ground facedown into the grass, she’d felt her visage becoming moistened and dirtied about as some flames danced onto her back. Because of the escalating pain and agony within her limbs, she had turned her body over quickly and watched as the tree was being devoured by the fire. The excruciating heat from up above was serving as a reminder of the very fate that could have been bestowed upon the lone female not too long ago. The towering inferno that was once her home continued to roar loudly, assaulting her ears with sparks of metal slowly joining in from the cold distance.

At this rate, all that the lone female could do right now was cry out in pain, the broken legs being the least of her worries compared to the sight of the building burning down before her very eyes. Despite the tingling sensation throughout her legs, she had started to crawl onto her hands and knees, struggling not to be overwrought by the brokenness within them as she made her attempt. The tearstained female took little time to move away from the smoldering wreck that was once called home, already aware of the destruction pictured in her mind and the corruption in the sky. As tedious and dangerous as it was for her, considering the events that had transpired instantly, she had no other option but to flee from the fire and flames that had chased after her earlier ago.

While that the lone female was fortunate to escape the conflagration still devouring the tree, a flood of tears clouded her sights as she attempted to see what remained in front. Despite the overflowing waters that clogged up her amethyst orbs at that very moment thereof, she found a clear path to move away from the growing inferno right behind her. In what had seemed to be some sort of an amazing grace, the lone female was found to be all alone in a world gone mad and ablaze at this very moment in time nevertheless.

A loud explosion from far away had become close enough for her to flinch, compelling herself to shut her eyes away and hit the ground, feeling the ground underneath her shaking about. Opening both eyes back up, the lone female had come across the sight of even more of them now breaking out in the sky amongst the smoke and ash that were once a part of something. She was nearly forced into watching all of the destruction that had befallen upon her and the tree as well as her own town hands started wiping the streams right off of her troubled visage. The lone female closed her eyes and felt the teardrops becoming pulled down by the very gravity of the situation at hand, being ignored by the wavy battle orchestra taking place above.

As the smoke had grown thicker and her sights more narrow than ever, it would seem that her own body had reached her limit against her wishes; needless to say, she couldn’t help but cry softly, “so this is it: I’m going to remain in the afterglow forever as a victim of my own nightmare with no one to help me. I don’t understand how it could it be even possible: even though that I remember how this all began, it still hurts that I’m being tortured this way. Is this what Tartarus feel like or am I in it instead; but if that’s the case, who could have I possibly wronged: my family or my friends…? In any case, I least I get to see what it’s like to be caught up in the war: all alone, no one to save me, or even comfort me as I lay there, close to dying in my own nightmare in the town I had felt like belonging for the first time ever. Nevertheless, perhaps this is my retribution for leaving home altogether: the fact that I had a sense of camaraderie with this town was proof of how far behind I was thereof; mother… father… brother… wherever you are… please forgive me…”

Slowly but surely, the lone female felt her strength and stamina leave her entire body as she had finally collapsed on the surface of the brilliant green beneath against all expectations whatsoever. During the whole time, she’d watched the trouble world before her very eyes with overwhelming tears appearing within them for only seconds until she looked away and closed her lids quickly. Soon, even the heavy breathing that the lone female once was engaging in started slowing down gradually, her control over them also slipping from her grasp as she had lain upon the very earth.