Author's Note

If you're confused about something, ask me in the comments. There were things that were intentionally omitted to create a sense of mystery.

Next World

Twilight veered skywards from beneath the tree her body rested against. A powerful gust of wind pulled the decaying leaves of the season from their branches. Though their shared shade of orange represented a cyclical ending, she found the way they fluttered gently about in the air before falling to the earth intriguing and beautiful. The secluded sounds of the woods surrounding her home brought her a certain comfort she found difficult to achieve elsewhere. She returned her attention to the notebook settled atop her lap. Rather than use her magic to jot down her personal thoughts, the Alicorn instead preferred to harness the limbs attached to her torso.

"The scars of the past run deep. They have seared themselves onto the hearts and minds of us all. From them, anger has been born, and anger, we have been consumed by. How should we proceed, so as to mend our wounded hearts? What must we do? What path must we tread? Our bitterness has blinded us. Our sorrow has haunted us. Where is the hope we once glimpsed through the seemingly endless gray? Where is the peace we so desperately desire? In the depths of my subconscious, I have seen it. I know of a future where the bitter sting of salt and lemon no longer constantly torment this plane, yet outside myself, such a future appears dangerously out of reach, and I still fear...Oh, high redeemers, how I still fear..."

A tall shadow veiled Twilight in darkness. She looked up for a second time. Spike stood in front of her with a blank expression on his face; an expression which was betrayed by the warmness in his voice.

"Working on the script for the next Butterfly Effect movie?"

"I think we know how that would turn out."

"Yeah, really."

"You wanna' sit down?"

"Sure."

Spike settled himself next to his sibling. He joined her in the serenity of natural solitude.

"What ya' writin'?"

"I'm not really sure, myself."

"Mind if I take a look?"

"I don't see any harm in it. It's not really much of a diary, anyway. More like a journal."

"Phew. I was worried it would be full of girly stuff."

"Something tells me it wouldn't bother you very much if it was."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"If you say so."

Spike read passage after passage within the confines of the paper sheets. Many of them pertained to Twilight's view of life, her hopes, dreams, and desires, and her fear of death. Others contained sketches next to lyrical quotes originally penned by various metal and hardcore artists who shared her sentiments.

"Ya' know...At some point I figured out this kind of stuff was bothering you."

"Yeah?"

"I guess I was never really able to find the right time to bring it up."

"What are your thoughts?"

"I agree with every word. Believe me when I tell you I feel the same things you do."

"I'm surprised. You always seemed so happy and upbeat. I guess I thought you were able to ignore this stuff in a way I couldn't."

"I did what I could to accept it. Stewing in it and being petrified by fear wouldn't have really accomplished anything. This was a case where I had to try to rationalize everything to find some peace of mind. I suspect you're after the same thing."

"You wouldn't be wrong. I just don't understand what's happened to the world. Things didn't seem this terrifying when we were little."

"Our perception became sharper. There was always fear and chaos in the world, we just didn't notice because everyone was trying to protect us from it. It's insidious. It sneaks up on us when we aren't expecting it."

"You know what the weird part of all this is? I knew what death was, and I was accepting of it. I didn't used to be afraid. It wasn't until the thought of dying violently crossed my mind that I started feeling anxiety about it, and when religion got involved...Well...You know the rest."

"You know, I did study religion myself at one point."

"Really...?"

"When I realized everything was weighing on your mind, I had what I believed to be a moment of clarity. There were still so many secrets and mysteries left to be discovered. I started becoming more in tune with my own inner world. The idea of something beyond this plane was really exciting and interesting. The promise of a paradise in exchange for the temporary tribulations of this one seemed like a pretty good trade."

"But the strict rules and constant threat of eternal punishment for breaking them turned you away."

"Maybe to some extent, but it was an audio recording that convinced me to more extensively rethink my position."

"An audio recording?"

"It was ripped from an old cassette tape from the early 90's. The guy on the recording claimed he had been temporarily trapped in the underworld. In his account, he recalled each torment he endured over a period of twenty-three minutes: suffocation, disembowelment, you name it."

"Well, that sounds fun..."

"But what caught my attention was a question he asked near the end of the recording. He said 'would you rather the savior suffer in your place the way he intended, or would you rather take it on yourself'. In my mind, I responded with another question: what if you actively chose to alleviate his suffering? Wouldn't that in itself be considered an act of selflessness?"

"That's beautiful, Spike."

"I learned from the best."

Twilight chuckled.

"Anyway, this led me to explore a number of alternative ideas."

"What were they?"

"The first one follows a linear pattern of logic. We've technically experienced a form of death before: the time before we were born, or pre-existence to put it in technical terms. We don't remember anything from before then, so whatever we experienced couldn't have been that terrible."

"True, but that leaves the possibility that other forms of death exist."

"Which leads me to my second theory. Suppose that the religious texts are actually correct. That's a very dangerous game for the evil forces of the underworld to be playing."

"How so?"

"Once we begin examining our own consciousness, we realize our ingenuity and knowledge are limitless. Even though the evil ones have more experience and power, their security has likely made them overconfident, which in turn has made them more likely to slip up."

"Are you saying...We could defeat the devil...!?"

"At the very least, we can make his job extremely unpleasant. Without a second enlightenment, I have serious doubts this life will last much longer. We should start preparing for whatever's coming next."

"Do you really think we can...?"

"It's worth a shot. We'll wage war on hell ourselves. With any luck, those who were wrongfully denied happiness will be drawn to our cause."

Twilight smiled for the first time since she could remember.

"Yeah...Let's do it."

The two sat in a momentary pause of reassured silence. Twilight was the first to speak this time around.

"...A lot of this may go back even further than I realized."

"Huh?"

"We were still kids when Shining Armor joined the guard. I remember a conversation I had with mom about three years ago. She told me about the surge of serial killers that sprang up when she was little. A lot of them were involved in politics and guard service. Some part of me might have always wondered...What if Shining discovered he actually liked killing...?"

"Those guys were screwed up in the head long before they got involved with that stuff. I haven't seen any red flags that indicate Shining's gone cuckoo quite yet."

"I believed in Celestia..."

"She was a good actress. I was completely oblivious until near the end."

"Yeah..."

"What happened to those kids wasn't your fault, Twilight..."

"When she was cleared of all those charges, I felt sick beyond understanding. I still can't believe people turned such a blind eye."

"I wanted to tear her apart and use her legs and head as Halloween decorations. She was a vile monster with no regard for life, and remains so to this day."

"All that fiasco told me was that we were headed for certain doom. Now it looks like we're inching ever closer to that final hour."

"A world of compassion, peace, and happiness might be possible, but not here...Not in this place..."

"The final nail in the coffin for me was when Pinkie almost died from that infection."

Twilight sniffled.

"I saw the life fading from her eyes. If we hadn't taken her to the hospital, she would've..."

"But she didn't. She made it through and fully recovered, and it was because we gave enough of a shit to actually do something. If that was the norm, most of the world's problems would be severely mitigated, if not gone altogether."

"Let's make a vow. Anguish will become our sword, and sorrow will be our shield. We'll pay evil and despair back tenfold for what they did to us."

Spike took his sister's hoof in his claw.

"It's up to us now."