Equestria's Doom

“You’re so pathetic.” hissed Swordsmane.

The Slayer held the broken body of Fluttershy in his hands once more. There was something different about her weight now. It was a certain lightness that he had failed to notice before, back in the Everfree forest, when he had first met her. Her body had become worse than it was even back then. The form of the pegasus became more and more transparent as he watched and it threatened to flicker into nothingness.

“You can’t save her.” said a voice to his left.

He looked over to see Princess Celestia herself. Her eyes were bloodshot and fangs hung in her mouth. A pallid complexion had come over her fur and her limbs stuck out at odd, unnatural angles. Her brow was furrowed and her nostrils flared as she approached him.

“You can’t do anything.” stated Swordsmane plainly. “You were never enough, for me or for her. Everything, all of it, has been for nothing.”

The Slayer looked up to face her, holding Fluttershy to his side. He opened his mouth to speak when the pony held to his side began to struggle and buck furiously in his grip. She fell out of his hands and hit the ground with a dull thud.

“Failure.” whispered a voice from below him.

He looked down to see Fluttershy glaring at him with narrowed eyes. She opened her mouth and inky, black blood poured forth onto the soil of the earth. The liquid flowed around his feet and he found it more difficult to lift them. As he looked, he noticed there were faces within the blackness; howling and shrieking visages of people unknown to him.

“You were never good enough.” snarled Swordsmane. He looked into her face and began to apologize. His desire to speak was cut short as blood began to stream from her eyes and poured down her face. Maggots began to burrow out of her skin and her flesh itself fell off in chunks to reveal an expanse of rotten bone underneath.

“I’m sorry.” whispered the Slayer.

He could suddenly find no strength to speak or move and collapsed to the ground. His armor had become a trap and he struggled to remove it. Once his gloves were off, he raised his hand to his face. They had become shriveled like an old man’s and his arms had no more muscles. They too had been reduced to thin and sickly appendages that hung uselessly from his side.

“Do you think sorry is good enough?” roared a voice to his side.

He raised his ancient, aching eyes to see the element he knew as Rainbow Dash approaching him. Her face was red with fury and she ground her teeth together in rage. The rainbow colors of her mane swirled about her in a tidal wave of furious magical energy and flames flickered in her eyes as she approached.

“Useless.” she howled, slurring her words as if drunken.

“I’ll-I’ll save her-” whimpered the Slayer in a low voice.

He felt a hoof stamp into his back. “But you couldn’t save me.”

“Swordsmane-” rasped the Slayer. He felt something wet fall on his flesh and let out a cry of pain as he felt bites sprout along his side. His feeble hand swept away a lump of maggots and they began to eat his hand as well.

“No.” he said softly. Then he said it again in a tremendous roar.

He rolled out from underneath Swordsmane in a single motion. Some strength had returned to his form and he began to run.

“Slayer.” boomed a robotic voice.

As he watched, a great mountain sprouted from the grey, featureless plain he found himself in. A golden light shown at the top and even looking at it filled him with peace and determination. He began to approach it and became aware of a presence behind him. When he turned his head around, he saw them.

They had come in their multitude; not just demons, but ponies too. The ones he was never good enough for. The ones left behind by him on his crusades, because he couldn’t be enough to save them when they needed him. He balked as he saw not just men and women, but children in the swarming crowds too, their faces nearly rotten to pieces.

Their mouths opened at the same time in a bleak and dismal howl. Their arms extended out in front as they marched towards him and Swordsmane was their leader. Her blade was not the pure Equestrian steel he had remembered, but a terrible implement of bone and flesh that seemed to writhe as she levitated it to her side.

He turned from them and ran towards the mountain. His armor lay behind him in the dust and began to overflow with the black liquid. He stumbled in his sprint, only to gather himself up again and continue with more determination than before. Nimble fingers grasped the edges of stone crags and wrinkled feet pushed him over the sides of great cliffs.

Still, no matter how hard he climbed, the top of his mountain was all too distant.

The elements of harmony and Flutterguy stood gathered on the deck of Celestia’s Majesty. The doors of the chamber had been cranked open and sunlight streamed over the ship. Seaworthy and his crew were still engaging in pre-flight preparations and scampered about the ship as they loaded munitions and other supplies aboard.

“Well girls, are you ready for the surprise?” said Twilight with a tinge of glee in her voice.

The elements and Flutterguy nodded eagerly.

Two of Seaworthy’s sailors dragged a large, wooden box aboard. It was bound in chains that glowed with purple magic and sat on a wheeled platform hewn from metal. Twilight commanded them to set the box down upon the deck with a gesture. They stood aside as Twilight broke the chains with a pulse from her horn. They landed on the deck of the ship with a loud crash and the box stood unlocked.

Twilight’s horn glowed and the box was levitated off of the platform and set aside. Six sets of armor were revealed underneath it, mounted upon stands. They were translucent and their surfaces had a crystalline texture. Gemstones were mounted in their center and they buzzed with a soft, pink energy.

“It took hours of searching for Celestia and I to find these within the archives of Canterlot’s castle.” she admitted. “But here they are.”

“Wow, that’s kinda cool. Guessing it’s for us?” inquired Dash.

Twilight nodded. “These sets of armor will allow each of you to fight the demons as equals. Don’t think they’ll make you invincible, however. They’ll merely augment your existing strength and allow you to match the speed and strength of the demons, should we have to fight any.”

“That’s awesome!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie as she bounced with glee. “I can’t wait to beat up some demons!” She then comically boxed the air.

“Each set of armor contains an enchantment that has the potential to save your life, if you find yourself in extreme danger.” explained Twilight further. “However, the burden of using it will shatter the armor. It will automatically activate if you’re about to be killed.”

“Okay, understood. What will this enchantment of yours do?” asked Applejack.

“It attunes itself to the personality of its users. These sets of armor are enchanted with a special soul magic that bonds the suit to its wearer. So the enchantment you receive will be specialized to your personality.” said Twilight.

“I don’t quite follow, dear.” said Rarity with worry in her voice.

“Look at it this way. Dash is hot-headed and a little on the aggressive side, so her suit might increase her agility and strength. I’m more analytical and heavily rely on magic, so my magical abilities might be increased.” said Twilight.

“Gotcha. So who’s getting Fluttershy’s suit?” asked Dash

Twilight chuckled. “Flutterguy, of course. Not that I think he needs one.”

“Perhaps she would prefer to be called the Slayer.” conjectured Rarity. “Do you have a preference, dear?”

Flutterguy sat on her flanks with an incredibly disinterested expression on her face.

“Any questions, girls?” inquired Twilight.

“Actually, yes. If soul magic requires a transaction to be made and you can’t use soul magic anymore, then who made these suits?” asked Rarity.

“Good question. These suits are centuries old and were created by a forgotten warrior back in the era of Swordsmane, an Equestrian legend. But that’s for the history books.” answered Twilight. “Come to think of it, Swordsmane and the Slayer were said to be active in roughly the same eras. I’m curious, did you know of her?” asked Twilight to Flutterguy.

“I did.” remarked Flutterguy.

“Wait, WHAT? You can TALK?” exclaimed Dash excitedly.

The other ponies were worked up into a frenzy. Pinkie Pie herself was bouncing up and down excitedly. “She talks, she talks, she TALKS! And to us!” she giggled.

Twilight ignored the excitement of her friends and put her attention on Flutterguy alone. “What was she to you? Did you two ever fight together?”

Flutterguy looked off to the side. She then walked over to the edge of the ship and put her forehooves on the railing, looking off into the chamber with a vacant expression. “I loved her, as a friend. But I don’t want to talk about it”

“Is there anything you do want to talk about? Like, ever?” snided Dash.

Flutterguy responded with her typical silence.

“Yeesh, sorry.” retorted Dash with a shrug.

The other ponies branched off into a group and began to talk excitedly with one another.

Twilight walked past them and joined Flutterguy on the railing, putting her hooves up as well. She turned and looked at Flutterguy for what felt like the first time. While it was the face of her friend Fluttershy that stared back at her, she could see something different in it. There was a stoicism and air of maturity that Fluttershy, in her characteristic introversion, had never really shown.

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to come with us, you know.” remarked Twilight.

Flutterguy continued to stare outwards with a blank face.

“But I can tell you know what it’s like to have friends.” Twilight put her hoof on her shoulder. “Thank you for doing this for us. You’ve risked a lot to even be here right now.”

Flutterguy turned towards Twilight. Her face was still blank, but something had come into her eyes that Twilight couldn’t quite discern.

She continued. “I don’t know why you decided to come back to Equestria after all these centuries. But thanks for-”

Flutterguy quickly turned around and trotted away hurriedly. Twilight stood on the deck in confusion as she watched the pony hurry away from her.

“Wait!” called Twilight as Flutterguy opened a door that led further into the ship. “I just want to-”

Flutterguy slammed the door in her face. Twilight opened it with a groan and followed her into the bowels of the ship.

She descended into a maze of clockwork gears. Cogs of brass and iron ground against one another to form the mechanical underbelly of the vessel and occasional spurts of steam burst out as the ship began to warm up before take-off. Portholes let a dim and murky light into the room. The floor itself was hewn from mahogany and Twilight’s hooves gave off a loud sound as they impacted the surface. Everything in the room seemed to give off a sound of its own and it was difficult for her to tell where anything was.

It only took her a moment to realize she had become lost in the patchwork frenzy of bizarre machines. Large pipes and small webs of tubing threatened to entangle her mane and she ducked down to dodge their metal grasp as she looked through every nook and cranny. She picked her way through enormous pipes and steamwork machines in her search for Flutterguy. Her search led her to behind a massive boiler that let out loud hisses and squeals periodically.

Flutterguy sat on her flanks with a blank expression. Her wide eyes carefully regarded Twilight as she approached.

“I can tell there’s something bothering you. Ever since I met you, you’ve been silent and on-edge.” said Twilight. “But we’re all alone down here. If there’s anything you want to get off your chest, this would be a good time.”

A pipe above loudly hissed and released a cloud of hot steam over the two. Flutterguy shook her head and rose from her flanks to walk out.

Twilight sighed. “If you don’t want to open up, that’s okay, too. Just don’t say I didn’t try to talk to you.”

Flutterguy turned around and Twilight felt an icy feeling in her chest all of a sudden. The mere idea of angering such a colossal being of might and rage made her legs quake. She knew that if Flutterguy wanted to harm her, she would barely have time to wet herself before she would tear her head clean off.

She froze up as Flutterguy silently approached her. Twilight finally gathered the courage to address the stranger. “Is this about Swordsmane? Is that what this weird little tantrum is about?” Flutterguy nodded with a frown and Twilight let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. “I’m just a little scared and frustrated, is all. The lives of my friends could very well be in your hooves and you won’t even talk to us as an equal for whatever reason-”

Flutterguy suddenly took Twilight in a hug. She exhaled in surprise before returning the gesture and wrapping her legs around the back of the muscular mare.

“I’m not well and I know you can pick up on that.” said Flutterguy in a voice barely above a whisper. “Just know that I love you and won’t ever let anything happen to you or your friends.”

“I, um, well, I don’t really feel the-” started a blushing Twilight.

“Friendship love.” explained Flutterguy quickly.

“Oh, yeah. Well, I love you too, Flutterguy. As a friend.” she said with a pat on the back.

The pair embraced for a moment longer and then came apart. “Let’s head back up. They’re about to lift us off.” said Twilight.

Flutterguy nodded and followed her out of the machine room.

“Let the grand voyage of the Celestia’s Majesty begin!” boomed Seaworthy’s voice over the ship’s speaker system.

The elements and Flutterguy were once again gathered on the ship’s deck. Celestia’s honor guard had gathered in the chamber and they appeared as a vast, golden audience to the ponies who watched them from the ship’s deck. Banners and streamers bearing various regal and military symbols and iconography streamed from their ranks and they gave a solemn salute to the ship.

The ponies on the deck gasped as a great wave of energy emerged from the center of the ship. As they watched, it began to condense into a rectangular sheet. That sheet then began to separate itself into smaller geometric shapes until it had formed a series of triangular sheets streaming from a thick mast of condensed magical energy. The energy gave off a vibrant green color that cast shadows across the deck of the ship and throughout the chamber itself.

“So there’s the sails.” smoothly remarked Applejack.

“Hey, Applejack! Down here!” yelled the shrill voice of a child.

Applejack galloped over to the ship’s edge and the other elements followed close behind.

Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell and Apple Bloom had all gathered along with the soldiers to see their friends off.

“Oh, Sweetie Bell!” called out Rarity. She began to sob. “Don’t you worry about me! I’ll be just fine!”

“I’m not worried. You’re too pretty for those demons to hurt you.” said Sweetie Bell with a flutter of her eyes.

‘Yeah, with Rainbow Dash to protect your sorry flanks, nothing bad can happen!” yelled Scootaloo with a comical pump of her hoof in the air.

“That’s right, Scoot!” yelled out Dash as she soared over the edge of the ship with a flap of her wings.

The fillies began to giggle as they climbed on her back and began to play with her. She jokingly bucked off Scootaloo, only for her to climb back on and grip her mane between her teeth. Their laughter contrasted with the solemn posture of the gathered soldiers who watched with blank expressions.

Twilight found herself giggling and the other elements still on the ship joined her. Looking to the side, she found Flutterguy watching the scene with a smile on her face for once.

“All aboard, final call!” boomed Seaworthy’s voice once more through the speakers.

Dash took up Scootaloo in a hug. Twilight watched as she whispered something to the filly and they both started crying all of a sudden.

“I’ll come back for you, kid. Don’t worry. It wouldn’t be cool if I just disappeared, after all.” she said with a sniffle.

Scootaloo looked at her with tears in her young eyes. Her lip quivered, but she held back her sobs and gave a sloppy salute to Dash. Dash saluted back and soared back onto the deck of the ship as it began to slowly lift upwards.

As the other ponies watched, the gathered crowd became a bit more distant as the ship began to shudder. Finally, it had lifted off and had started to move out of the chamber. Music suddenly echoed out in the chamber as an assembled band began to play a song for the departing vessel. The soldiers burst out into a chorus of cheers and loudly boasted wishes of good fortune for the departing ship and its crew.

Finally, the ship had cleared the chamber. The castle of Canterlot itself became more and more distant to the watching ponies as the ship soared outwards with a surprising speed. Its bow tilted upwards and there was a great hiss of steam to accompany its new pattern of movement. The land far below seemed to tilt at an angle as the vessel reoriented its path of flight.

It began to climb into the sky and forage ahead into an unknown fate.