Author's Note

Ah, you've made to chapter eight of Fireflower's fanfic that goes beyond the typical oneshots made from before, a Mature one no less on the grounds that this chapter will deal with more heavy subject matters proven to be unsuitable for those under eighteen, easily offended, and/or quickly nauseated; suffice to say, this will be by far a strong note for all you readers and therefore you're all given an option once more to skip ahead to the next one: whether or not you take this offer, it'll only be up to you to do so, nothing more.

Aside from disclaimers long ago, I want to take the time to say thank you for never pulling out too early since we're now in the halfway region of the story's progress; somehow, the new year had provided us with a new hope to have and hold with tender loving care rather than yet a totally lost cause and the strength to continue onward in staying tuned for the future that is the now, like before: I believe at this rate, everything will make sense soon enough.

However, let me just also say that, with many thanks aside, I hope you can be able to stomach this chapter now even more than the others before it and still have the strength to continue onward in staying tuned though the passing times for I have some news: good thing is, one of your protagonists is going on a trip down memory lane; the bad thing is, her memories aren't worth smiling about.

Dreary

In some form and fashion whatsoever, it was as if a waltz with death was taking place here and there, seeming to be orchestrated by a fallen angel devoid of either friends or family in any way. The skies were blood red and occupied by the likes of smoky clouds becoming highly immense and pouring in as there were undergoing a twisted state of osmosis, blocking out all the sunshine. Below them were the fire and flames blackening the once brilliant green as they were consumed along with the wood and anything else proven to be inept, caught in its path irregardless of size. Filling the role of the gentle breeze were the screams of people scurrying about throughout the vicinity, assimilating the identities of all genders and ages suffice it to say the very least already. Aside from the assorted debris, the dirt road was littered with corpses of all shapes and sizes imaginable as they’d guided their way to the town that was subjected to the destruction as once. In place of any birds were various forms of aircraft, screeching about overhead with reckless abandonment as the golden sun started to sit upon the mountainside at this very moment in time.

In the wake of the chaos and disarray, one identity in particular was clinging onward to dear life as a wheezy gasp lacerated the atmosphere already: a darkly skinned woman awoke to the aroma. The amethyst orbs were tainted with the textured bruising across the visage as she’d started to look at the very surroundings: in them, she found many buildings of various materials sat ablaze. Aside from the blades of grass and patches of dirt, the lonely woman came to find the only fabric over her body were a pink ensemble of thick panties and long stockings with a thin garter belt. Due to her dishabille, she bore supple breasts dense like deflated volleyballs yet offset by jagged edges nearby both shoulders with scars and scabs painting a white hot picture of pain and panic. Around the lonely woman’s torso were piles of ash and soot, every single fiber of it all darker than black and the copper tones most of her very skin had possessed, save for the purple threads. Kinematics were already at an all–time low thanks to her lack of movement but she can surely see everything else in motion, including the wheels flying about from many directions nearby. Underneath the lonely woman were but a series of tremors and explosions from afar already traveling upon her damaged dark skin, compelling its owner to take a stand keenly straightaway.

Seeing the skies and the smoke drenching them at once, she gritted her teeth at once and began to walk, covering her torso due to the lack of modesty overall. The lonely woman couldn’t even help herself but to wheeze and pant as oxygen around her got mixed in with the toxins and debris each time she’d inhaled. Yet, she knew that whatever was even the case, she couldn’t stay in the same spot like before despite being unaware, refusing to take any chances whatsoever.

“Ahh, where am I: did I die; either way, why does this place look so familiar…?” was the first cerebration the lonely woman had taken part in almost immediately.

Before long, she’d feasted her eyes on one particular structure already being eaten away by the fire and flames at once: a tall, enormous tree large enough to house life beyond normalcy was no more. Its small veranda where a little telescope had stood behind the circumnavigated steel railing was melting down a bit, its glassy lens broken up so greatly its was now losing its shape and structure now. The many leaves on the tree where windows peered towards the burning town on many angles at an end alongside their hardwood counterparts were overflowing with smoke in much different colors. Even the glass lantern still hanging on at the left side from underneath the blazing awning spilled out its embers onto the sign, its very letters no longer readable to the naked eyes or even hands to speak of. The entrance was in the midst of being warped by the heat and light of the inferno, blackening the cellulose and its simplistic illustration while the doorknob had glowed a brighter and warmer color.

The lonely woman felt the rhythm emotion deep within her bare chest rest for a bit, her amethyst orbs glowing a vermilion tint before the water came. Even though her first instinct was to avert the gaze, the facts had remained clearly spelled out nonetheless: after all, the aroma and medley played. The lonely woman collapsed back onto the ground, her tears pulled in by gravity alone as they’d fell over a small patch of the brilliant green beneath.

As she'd laid there crying, a faint voice was heard crawling in her skin and around her ears: grim yet solemn like a eulogy to the dearly departed, “sad, is it not…?”

“Huh, what’s that; who are you: where are you hiding?!” the lonely woman had stuttered a bit, fervently searching for the source of the lifeform responsible, “show yourself, please…!”

“No need…” the voice spoke to her again.

A maelstrom of sorrow and fear was now being visit by fury as the lonely woman had shrieked aloud, “why: there’s nowhere for any of us to hide; just please tell me what in the world is going on?!”

“I know that; after all, this was only a memory of your time in the countryside, at least before that day…” she’d heard him yet again, her tears doing little whatsoever to provide relief and propriety, “ah yes, the day when everything when to Tartarus: the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in the air–––”

“OKAY I GET IT: I REMEMBER WHEN THE GOLDEN OAKS LIBRARY WAS BURNT TO THE GROUND; I KNOW THAT BECAUSE I WAS THERE TRYING TO PUT THE FIRE OUT…!” the lonely woman yelled out before coughing out some bits of phlegm and blood at once.

The speaker still remained out of sight, much to her chagrin as she was forced to listen in this time with feeling, “and you have failed; apparently, it would seem that your intellect had reached its limits on that day: to think all the knowledge and the memories made in such a short time would go up in flames so soon, and quite literally no less…”

“I just don’t understand though: why would anyone dare to destroy a wellspring of happiness and hospitality, much less its own library; did the thought of literature provoke so much wrath…?” the lonely woman wept, dropping arms beneath cleavage despondently even feeling greater heat, “I can tolerate people judging its covers yet was it worth risking the lives of other patrons?!”

“Not at all; everything that happened was because of you…” a snarl had penetrated her ears rather instantaneously.

The snide remark caused the lonely woman to spit back, “excuse me?!”

“Even in a world where the pursuit of knowledge, fortitude, and values are respected, you were once but a tall poppy in a field of dreams, now only a witness to a nightmare come to life…” the speaker chuckled, causing her to storm off in search of the former’s corporeal form immediately, “while you have sought to conform to their views, some came to see you as only but a blight. Your interests, talents, and hobbies were a threat to their existence, something that could have been overcome if they did not spend so much time devoted to bringing others down or worse underground with nary a reason. Of course, you were not the only one that was supposedly singled out at random like some contrived plot to corrupt and denigrate the sanctity of life and safety that many have come to respect even before they took complete charge of their own. After your friend was sent off to be put to death, you dared to save her from them; this noble act gravely displeased them as well as your mere presence and desires alone as if for some reason your skills would impede their plans.”

“What does Fluttershy have to do with all this?!” the lonely woman had only sputtered out as the visibility became dense in blackness.

While she’d struggled to find some fresh air and a safe place to search, the voice replied back, “it is simple really: she was a lowly tribute to be cast into oblivion to cover for their heinous crimes so as to appease their bloodlust and the like; did it ever even occur to you as to why when the basement caught fire your instinct to use the extinguisher was enough to exacerbated it at large?”

“The basement was accessed through the use of a key: at that time, only I had access to it alone; of course, the last time was to find the source of Pinkie’s abilities and look what it’d got me…” the lonely woman ruminated before she’d found herself sinking into something wet and fluid, “WHOA…!”

Before long, she was no longer traversing the very solid earth amidst the shifting winds and the roaring fires but currently up to her waist in lukewarm water. All of the fabric left below the surface world was submerged with the achromatic compound, now bearing the weight of it all on its owner’s legs and loins. Needless to say, although that the lonely woman was freed from the heat and smoke, she was still cold, wet, and naked with uncertainty refusing to leave.

“Sad… so sad… a host of sorrows… and you are one of them…” the same voice from before spoke out again, this time after a shadowy being emerged from the fluid she’d fallen into while the rain began to pour.

The lack of details was one thing for the observer but the fact this entity show itself as soon as possible prompted the lonely woman to growl, “who are you?!”

“I have many names but no name as well; like you, I, too, am filled with sadness…” the dark figure had responded tranquilly, unperturbed by the demand for a straightforward answer to the likes of her, “this world is one of sadness: battle brings death, death brings sorrow… The living… may not hear them, their voices may fall upon deaf ears; but, make no mistake: the dead… are not silent. Now, you will know the sorrow of those whose lives have been forevermore damaged because of your mere presence… Death is tragic… but life is miserable… that is why you were summoned here… yes, that’s it…! Sad… so sad…”

“Ahn… mah flesh; Ah can’t stop the bleeding…!” another voice was heard yet unlike the primary one, not only its point of origin became corporeal, its colors were flamboyant in shades and hues alright crying out in pain.

Oddly enough, whatever it was, rather than sharing any similarities to the former, it was much like the lonely woman herself: dark skinned, feminine, cold eyes, and bearing a fit physique; having said that, the commonalities ended there. This new being had golden locks shining throughout the darkened plane, its very light dimmer than the fires that blazed onward before being put out; of course, not even its short tresses could feel the precipitation falling on withered strands. Although much of the individual’s freckled skin was as light as terracotta, it wasn’t without some flaws: purple lesions were found clustered around the festering left arm with lines of crimson escaping along the other arm, nostrils, and loins. A pair of jade orbs circling around the pupils were shifting to and fro frantically, brows already furrowed into slanted inclines forming an edgy downward concave as beads dropped endlessly from their corners and throughout the eyelashes. Unlike the observer whom was still in a state of dishabille, the individual was in the altogether, devoid of any threads whatsoever to even cover up the latter’s form, not that it mattered in any way considering what the former already seen.

The sudden appearance of the similar figure was more than enough to provoke sympathy inside the lonely woman, to the point of even screaming out to the former almost immediately, “APPLEJACK?!”

“Everything that mah family worked for, it’s ruined: the farm, the town, the people, even Winona…!” the eponymous individual had wailed, unaware of the observer’s voice while wandering roundabout, “even Babs Seed deserved better than being shot by that hunk of shit they’d turned mah brother into…!”

“Applejack, it’s me: your friend, Twilight Sparkle: your closest–––” was all that the lonely woman can say before she’d made her way to the adjacent counterpart; upon doing so, the former was greeted by a ghastly sensation: not only was the latter phased through without any kind of obstruction, the temperament was unaffected too.

Even more so, the lone observer had turned around to find the tanned blonde falling into the water, echoing out, “t’ think Ah would even break my promise t’ protect Apple Bloom in such a way; I’M SORRY, MAMA: I NEVER MEANT TO HURT HER OR EVEN MAKE HER CRY…!”

“What the… what the fuck just happened?!” Twilight ruminated indignantly, perturbed at once by the complete inability to assist Applejack, “WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO MY FRIEND?!”

“Brace yourself…” was an answer the shadowy being gave, guiding a translucent beam similar to the water betwixt the corporeal observer’s bust.

Though unfazed by the attack, she was knocked down and her eyes were assaulted by a brief flash of the tanned blonde with longer hair restrained against a tree by three faceless individuals, one of whom going about in between the legs as the latter female was being beaten senselessly while screaming aloud, “HELP ME!”

Twilight got back up coughing loudly and found herself staring at two female alone in a daze: like herself, they had coldly colored eyes affixed in melancholy; even so, there were differences between themselves. For starters, one of the two was lanky, wearing hair with colors found in a rainbow spread out evenly in thin racing striped; the other was shorter, possessing solid purple tresses that brought out the owner’s eyes. Secondment, the athletic woman wore a bright complexion upon the integument completely free of imperfections; the diminutive counterpart donned some light gamboge reminiscent of a timid fawn about to grow. Third of all, the spectral haired individual wore some black shorts tattered and full of holes with bloodstains; the plum correspondent was all clothed in a neat denim jacket one size too big for the current wearer.

“Rainbow… Scootaloo…” the lonely observer whimpered out of concern, as they were hugging each other closely with eyes refusing to turn onto the former, “what have they done to you two?!”

“Sad… so sad…” the dark figure whispered, before another beam shot into Twilight, sending her back down on the riverbed.

In her eyes, two females of a similar nature were being assaulted by other faces people at once: the lanky one groped while grunting to the movement of her attacker, loins all wet with blood; the shorter one was having her skin being cut open by a larger counterpart with a sharp knife before sinking right into her head, much to the cry of the former, “SCOOTALOO…!”

Yet another matronly figure was now in Twilight’s line of sight; like the others, she’d possessed only one commonality: a pair of coolly colored irises. Wet and messy locks of mulberry were found coiled up yet they were already down the nape of her neckline just merely inches away from the liquid. The new female was also brightly skinned compared to the observer, Applejack, and Scootaloo, the integuments bearing color and texture of porcelain. Shrunken sapphires surely showed off such strong sensations of sorrow and satisfaction already stirred in synchronicity so seamlessly to even be seen. Another thing sitting both Twilight, the tanned blonde, and the charge apart was the attire: an all–white combo of a gem encrusted frock and fedora.

“Rarity…” the lonely observer whimpered, noticing some makeup running down the face of the woman in white who couldn’t help herself but to laugh, “what have they done to you?!”

“Take this…” the shadowy being said as yet another beam was launched at Twilight once again; this time, even she tried to dodge but to no avail.

At this moment, a cry assaulted the observer’s ears as Rarity was found wrapping both of her very hands around a younger female’s neck in a river similar to the one the former was traversing throughout, “SISTER…!”

Twilight swam back up to find dead fish stranding about and lightning crackling up in front of her, brightening up long enough to see even another woman with coldly colored eyes. Unlike the other women before the observer, she was bald with traces of hair found only on her eyebrows, too thin to be seen far away yet thick enough to bear some hot pink textures. Though bright like Rarity, the shaved being was the fairest within the land and beyond, skin light like lemon chiffon yet all her pores were already reeking about like some spoiled milk. Despite the teal shining brightly like crazy diamonds in the rough capable of moving heaven and earth, all that was brought to its owner was nothing but hell in every single direction. All that was worn on the woman’s body were some brown rags barely reaching down to her knees, open enough to show the wearer’s bosoms yet still remaining some modesty.

“Please, don’t you do this to me…!” the bald subject whimpered, shaking about in place as Twilight approached her, “I beg of you all…!”

“Twilight…” the dark figure had sighed.

The next blast brought the titular traveler to the sight of the lemony female bent over on a metal table in a dark room, naked and afraid with a full head of long pink hair as her thighs were stained with red while crying profusely, “MY BABY…!”

“Those bastards, is this what they’ve been doing to Fluttershy the whole time?!” the corporeal observer coughed out in fury, turning around to face her only to find nothing but aquatic lifeforms sloshing about unresponsively, “it’s un–fucking–believable: I didn’t even know she was pregnant…!”

Twilight trudged onward to find another female squealing lugubriously, “they’ve been tearing my family apart…!”

Like Fluttershy, she’d donned flat pink hair albeit in a darker shade than even her skin; in addition, her hands had covered up much of their owner’s face as she was literally up to her neck in some water.

“Pinkie Pie, what are you talking about…?” the observer had called out to the aforementioned occupant but no reply was directed back at the former, “what family…?”

“MOMMY…!” a shrill scream broke the sound barrier as Twilight saw the same woman, this time in a similar dishabille with her head against a wall as big blue eyes were shrunken with dread at the sight of a bottle’s contents forced down into her throat by a large individual dressed in black.

The lonely woman felt her ears bleed out as she’d covered them both, its compound trailing down at the sides until they fell onto the water; at this point, they were now stained with a tinge of orange to the point of losing their achromatic state.

As if that change wasn’t enough, another naked female appeared before Twilight: like Rarity, she was brightly skinned with a clear complexion; however, she was rough around the edges. Much like Rainbow, she’d wore some spiky hair but with only minty tresses already being accented by some whiteness found right smack dab in the middle of them all in an instant. The bright woman’s eyes were lidded, goldenrod yet riddled with water as they’d fallen onto the bloody stream of the observer’s making complete with bruises for others to notice them. The only things worn on her body were a jet black ensemble of a bridle, collar, and harness; in addition, a frilly pink saddle was tied around her back very tightly with some gold chains.

It didn’t take long for the goldeneyed woman to reach in between both legs with her left hand and moan as some crimson seeped out from the fork; satisfied, she’d held her cleavage with her right, pinching the nub while singing softly with a smile:

Mythic beings fascinate me,
being just the way they ahh!
Tell me, little person, can you pull a cart,
or drive a cah?!

“Lyra…” Twilight sobbed a bit at the eponymous figure whom was being occupied with acquiring pleasure at the latter’s own expense despite the fruity stream crawling downward, “I think I’m about to hurl…!”

“BONNIE…!” the minty woman wailed with a haggard moan, down on her knees with both hands tied behind her back with heavy chains as two featureless beings were exploring her body without any regard for safety or concern whatsoever while tears and saliva had escaped freely from her eyes and mouth respectively.

This image was enough for the observer to let loose an assortment of lukewarm hues upon the dirtied wastewater she was in, a chunky salsa of nausea splattering into a wayward cluster; as if that wasn’t enough, some of it clung to her wet undergarments due to the direct proximity of it all.

Twilight coughed out, “fucking Tart…!”

“Spare some change…?” another matronly voice had entered the observer’s ears as she came across a sign reading: “HOMELESS, HOPELESS, HELPLESS…!”

It had belonged to a lone woman dressed in a tattered gray cloak sniffling about that covered up much of her body, save for some azure hair poking out of the shadows as a wooden crutch rested snugly within her left underarm.

“Who could that be…?” Twilight ruminated as yet another beam had come at her almost immediately.

Scenes similar to before had now played out in the observer’s head: a house on a hillside was caught ablaze, but this time the beggar was a tanned woman trapped underneath the wreckage struggling to escape with such moderate resistance as she’d screeched aloud, “AAAAHHHHH!”

Now, Twilight felt her upper body start bleeding out with some orange as well, every scar being cut open while it was hot: even some milk was escaping too, mixing in with the fruity stream all throughout the way; as a result, she’d clutched onto them all to stop the pain but to no avail whatsoever.

Yet another pink haired individual with bright skin was found but she’d remained above the surface tension to the point of being barefoot for her body was hanging by neckline thanks to a black cord tied around and held from the branch; even worse, she was choking loudly, dressed in a beige blouse and scarlet skirt covered in dust and soot as her blue eyes were assaulted by red.

“Twinkleshine…!” the observer cried, dismayed by the pain the titular woman was in but could do nothing until the fibers of the object snapped, sending the latter downward without a splash and into parts unknown, “I wish I could have saved you…!”

“Goodbye cruel world, I’m leaving you today; goodbye, goodbye, goodbye…” the bright skinned witness had sang tearfully as she’d stared directly at the debris of the broken home, a scene that the listener was treated to only briefly: windows smashed in, door busted open, and the roof with a gigantic hole, all sunk into the ground by mere inches.

Twilight was also shedding some tears but they were mixed in with some orange caramel and moody blues as she was losing the strength to continue on; nevertheless, she persisted anyway and kept on going, in spite of the growing pains.

Speaking of which, another womanly figure made it hard for the observer to watch: a dark skinned woman with a similar hairstyle was standing up, dressed in translucent undergarments including some lingerie that brought out its owner’s big blue eyes as she'd purred, flashing her bust without a care, “yo daddy, I’ll suck your big broad dick for two bits…!”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!” Twilight cried as she’d begun to sweat bullets of orange from her pores, trembling about as her knees shuddered about, “not you too…!”

“Please, anything but that; they’re not even supposed to go in there…!” the same woman whimpered, albeit in the altogether on a tiled floor with her sheath moist in a pinkish compound as she'd cried next to a toilet; the witnessing correspondent wept as well, helpless to stop the horror being visited upon the former by the likes of a grinning shadow in front holding a toothbrush.

Soon, some fluid escaped from the observer’s nostrils, greenish at first before turning a warmer color as she came across another woman, though similar possessed different style so effortlessly. A pair of thick black glasses already overlaid her dark irises of purple, moist with tears but cleaner despite the whirlwind of emotions going on in her eyes at a much higher speed than Rarity. The light skinned counterpart wore shades of red and purple in the same style as Twilight was but there was wear and tear in every fiber whatsoever to the point of having some bald spots. Snugly in place, the bespectacled woman wore a thick black turtleneck sweater alongside with some beige pants but they were wet with blood pooling out from the sleeves without restraint.

The light skinned correspondent cried out while more hair was being pulled apart, “you betrayed me, Twilight Sparkle: you betrayed the trust I’d placed in you; you betrayed me, just like that stupid she–demon, Sunshit Shimmer…!”

“Don’t ever say that, Moondancer: that’s not true, that’s impossible…!” Twilight lamented, reaching out to the titular peer prior to the latter turning away at once, “I did value your trust; I didn’t mean to drive you up the wall…!”

“Search your feelings; you know it be true…!” the darkly figure had bellowed as the observer’s body betrayed her at an inconvenient time, sending her back into the river once more with feeling.

“Hah…!” Twilight coughed profusely as she’d suddenly struggled to regain some footing again within the wastewater only to experience even more resistance as her head had remained above the influence, “help…!”

“Rest in piss…!” a raspy gurgle was heard as a dozen women from before looked onward in sorrow and anger, watching the observer sink into the fruity stream until all that was left were bubbles rising upwardly to the surface mere seconds before popping; afterwards, the pattern was no more and so was she, out of sight, out of mind, and even out of breathing room so to speak of.

Twilight Sparkle, once a denizen in search for answers, was now no longer in this dark and twisted world; as for the rest she’d bore witness to, they, too, had disappeared, albeit dryly and without the harm experienced, going their own separate ways without getting in each others' path almost effortlessly.