May 9, 2009
"When I was in Magic Kindergarten in Las Pegasus, I had made many friends... There were twenty of us. A group that symbolized the magic that friendship held. Even with our quirks and faults, we saw past that and embraced who we were. We were the best of that grade, and helped each other when things got tough. When others laughed at our mistakes, those in the group would defend and pick us up. We made a lot of enemies, shared them, so nopony faced their battles alone. We all strove and fought through hardship together... until the fateful day that the final exam of that grade came, and we all passed with flying colors. A position was offered to us at Canterlot, but only one of us could have that right. We all studied hard, worked hard, and many of us did not want to abandon what we built just for a position. So, we never took it... or so I thought. Twenty of us were there at the beginning, but... one of us had betrayed the rest. It was setup. They made plans with our enemies, helped them formulate a way to ruin us all. We were caught by the rogue and former Royal Guards that worked for them, but only three of us escaped. The rest were hung and killed without mercy... Their deaths was the final nail that banned executions of any kind in Equestria, but that was not enough. I know for a FACT that the traitor wasn't me, nor was it Blaze Dawn. It could have only been the one who accepted that position after the others died, which means only one thing: the other survivor lives in Canterlot."
July 13, 2013
"Life is complicated... I never thought I would live like this. After the... betrayal, I did bad things to get what I wanted. I went through city after city searching for extra clues after I found out that she didn't live in Canterlot. I let the hunger for revenge build up and consume me. I know it was wrong, and I felt terrible for thinking nothing of doing bad things. I've hurt, I've cheated, and I've even murdered ponies. So many innocents lost in a blood rage. I vow to never let that happen again. Even Blaze Dawn...! The things I did that hurt her in the process. Being beaten, and cheated herself, I... I realized what a monster I've become in this pursuit. Once this is all over, I plan on disappearing for good. I don't have the steel to take my own life, but I don't have the heart to show my face to other ponies anymore. Then again... when you watch seventeen of your closest friends get hung by wires for all to see, you KNOW that the pony, the creature, that did this had no soul to begin with, and I have to treat them as such. There, at the last stand, will my final act be carried out without mercy. Only after, will I turn the new leaf, and start anew."
May 15, 2014
"You've found her? Really? She... She was in that new castle that appeared in Ponyville...? Alright... this is good news. I didn't know much more of this searching I could have continued to do... Thank you, Onyx. You and the others have done me a huge favor today. I know that I came to you and I was nothing but a curse on your business, and for that I apologize. If you ever need that favor back-... Oh... I see. Disappearing is all the repayment you need. This, I will do, and Blaze Dawn, too. She's been packed for the last seven years. It just all comes down to this..."
May 15, 2014
"Blaze, they've found her... They've found her, and they're bringing her to the Ghastly Gorge. We are finally getting the answers we've wanted... Meet me at the river east of Whitetail Woods."
May 17, 2014
"..."
Delta Spell stood at the bank of the river as he waited for his only remaining friend, Blaze Dawn, as the sun was beginning to course downwards towards the horizon. The time was growing near, and Delta was considering doing this without Blaze if she didn't show up in the next few minutes. His thoughts were interrupted by the flapping of wings behind him.
"Delta...!"
The green Unicorn stallion turned his head back from the flowing water, seeing a light red Pegasus mare flutter down behind him up on dryer ground.
"Blaze... It's... good to see you."
"I had to come for this, Delta. I don't forgive you for what you've become and what you've done to get to this point, but... some closure is needed for us both."
Delta Spell nodded as he climbed up from the bank, walking with his friend to the bridge along the path through Whitetail Woods. Passing over it, the two ventured towards a smooth plain, passing by various ravines and holes in the earth until they stopped, arriving at the empty meeting place. Turning their heads up, they spotted a chariot in the sky, looking to be a prison transport, as it was slowly coming down. The Griffons weren't alone. Onyx, the Diamond Dog Alpha that had helped him after he had done many favors and hindrances to her, sat atop the carriage, and the leader of a rogue syndicate of Dragons: Hematite, floated beside it, flapping his wings every so often with the glide. Seeing them wasn't too big of a deal, but what bristled Delta was their company. He had heard about the Elements of Harmony and their resurgence of new bearers, but to see them in the flesh, as well as the Royal Sisters... He knew that his assisted help couldn't get the last survivor out without an escort, or an interested eye. Swallowing down his fear, he hardened his nerve as Blaze glanced at him.
"Well... This is it... End of the line. It's what we've been waiting for, for seven years..."
"... Yeah... Strange how it came full circle, considering we're just a little ways east from Las Pegasus."
Blaze Dawn hummed as she looked back at the mountains behind her, frowning as the carriage finally landed. Onyx jumped off, the female Diamond Dog walking up to Delta as Hematite landed, letting down some of the Element Bearers from his back while the Royal Sisters carried a smaller, baby Dragon and two other Element Bearers.
"Sorry for the audience, Spell. We couldn't nab her without somepony noticing us."
"It's fine, Onyx. Thank you for getting her here. Whether or not they watch, this needs to be put to rest..."
Onyx nodded as she turned to the Griffons, nodding off to the side in signal for them to leave. They unclipped themselves from the bracers that allowed them to pull the carriage and made their way back to Griffonstone, leaving only the Dragons, Diamond Dog Alpha, and the ponies there. Onyx and Hematite kept off to the side as Delta walked to the back of the prison chariot. As he did, the Princess of the Night stepped forward, giving a harsh glare to Delta.
"We demand an explanation! Reveal why you have worked with several crime organizations in order to find Twilight Sparkle this instant!"
Rainbow Dash spread her wings in an intimidation display before zipping up into the air, glaring down at Delta, who only stared back with an uncaring gaze.
"Yeah! Who the hay are you, anyway?!"
"And why do yah want Twilight so bad that yah go out of yer way to have her kidnapped by these here Diamond Dogs and Dragons? Equestria is trying to unify these creatures, and y'all ain't makin' it easy when you pay these folks to kidnap the Princess of Friendship."
Delta snorted at the Element of Honesty's words.
"Princess of Friendship...? That's even more ironic..."
Delta looked to the prison chariot as a muffled, and familiar voice came from inside, along with two other masculine voices.
'Guess she's awake, then...'
Blaze walked up next to Delta, standing beside him with a wing draped over his back. He glanced at her, the two of them conveying a conversation with their gazes alone before the latter spoke.
"Y'know, Blaze... In a way, our friends... they were lucky."
Everypony silenced themselves as Blaze's eyes cast down to the ground. Delta turned forward as he sighed.
"They were able to pass on and evade all this turmoil, all the terrible things that happened after the fact in that mess over a half a decade ago... but us...? What is our trade in all of this now? We lost our way, became the opposite of what that group was. Everything good in me was eaten by death, and you suffered for my foolishness for years on end."
"Yes, I have, but I am still here, and we are suffering together. You were, and to an extent, ARE a good friend, Delta. Despite everything, you still retain your sane mind, and realize what you are doing is wrong, but also right, in a way. I know this, too, and even though the conclusion is staring us in the face... I'm scared."
Delta looked over at Blaze as she stared ahead at the chariot. He followed her eyes to the door as it was thrown open. As the struggling inside intensified, Blaze squeezed Delta with her wing, whispering to him as she backed away a little to give room for his confrontation with Twilight Sparkle.
"You still have the power to be good, Delta. It's important that you believe in that. After this is over, you have to learn to forgive and forget..."
"... Maybe, Blaze... Maybe..."
He looked down at the Unicorn-turned Alicorn as she landed in front of him, her hooves tight by a tight, thin chain and her horn capped by a magical ring that prohibited her from using her magic. Her wings, though able to move, weren't able to spread because of the chains tying her hooves to her underside. They pressed into certain joints that made even a twitch uncomfortable. Delta took a step back to get a good look at Twilight now, seeing how much she had grown. It sickened him, disgusted him to his core. All that progress she made, all based around a betrayal. Gritting his teeth, he came forward, looking down at the purple-coated mare with venom seething from his voice.
"Hello, Twilight..."
The struggling Alicorn turned her gaze up, seeing the green stallion before her. She whimpered and growled in her struggles as Delta pointed down at her.
"You remember my face? Huh? My voice?"
"N-No! I don't know you! Where am I? Why am I here?!"
"You KNOW why, and you know EXACTLY who I am."
He grabbed her in a grip of emerald green aura, bringing her up so that he could lock his angered glare to her frightened expression.
"I am the one who survived that nightmare, from seven years ago."
Twilight's body froze, her ears perking up as she was reminded of that day. With those same ears flattening, she finally recognized who she was confronted by.
"D-Delta... Delta Spell..."
She looked past him, seeing the Pegasus mare behind him.
"Blaze Dawn... H-How did--"
She was ruptured from her questions as Delta shook her attention back to him.
"I'm asking the question here, Sparkle. I know what you did, and how you did it, but there's only ever been ONE thing on my mind for the last near-decade, and that's WHY."
Twilight's body quivered as she tried to gulp down a lump in her throat, her past demons having caught up with her and demanding answers. With an audience like the one around them, the truth could very well break her relationship with everypony she knows and loves today. Delta, impatient and wanting immediate answers, gripped her tighter, getting her to wince.
"We were all friends, Twilight! ALL of us! We grew up together, for pony's sake! Forest Life, Long Crown, Pearl Dream, Wispy Willow; do I need to list all of them to jog your memory?! We were a GROUP! We had each others' backs, and you--!!"
He threw her down, letting her hit the dirt as he loomed over her.
"You betrayed us, ALL of us, and got us killed so that you could bury your sins and move onto something bigger! Why?! Why did you do it?! Why then, when everything was good!?"
Twilight didn't speak for a moment, choosing her words carefully as she sat up, ignoring the discomfort.
"W-We were friends. What happened wasn't my faul-"
"DON'T YOU EVEN, Twilight Sparkle!! You were the one to trace Dark Khan and Liver Gaze to us, along with every mare and stallion, former guards and mercenaries to us! You set us up, and nearly all of us died! How can you say that wasn't your fault!?"
The ponies behind Twilight were... surprised by this news. Twilight had friends in the past? Nevermind that, she betrayed them? For what, and what did that betrayal entail in terms of motive? Twilight only glared at Delta now.
"You had no idea how bad I had it, Delta, even within the group! Out of everypony in us twenty, I was the one who needed saving the most! I was inadequate compared to the rest of you! I couldn't fight my own battles or yours! I wasn't strong, I wasn't magical; I was just the bookworm, the nerd, the dork, and the four-eyes! Day in, day out; neverending verbal torment!"
"You had US, Twilight! What's worth a few words when you had nineteen colts and fillies who loved you?!"
"Loved me? You barely even knew me!"
"And THAT made it OK? It made it right for you to turn away from us, just because you barely knew us?! I was the one who was closest to you! I was there to pick you up as the others had done for me, and what did YOU do when the turmoil and hardship became too much for you?! Huh?!"
Twilight's anger subsided into an irritated guilt, her narrowed eyes lessening as her voice softened.
"That position would have turned my life around. When your life is on a steady pace downhill, you make strange choices, alr-"
"Oh, F*** you! Strange choices?! Really?!"
He levitated her into the air, tossing her towards the Element Bearers and the Princesses.
"Tell them what you did! Tell them what you gave up friendship for?!"
Twilight grunted as she hit the ground, looking up at her friends and her mentor. Those who came to defend her were now extremely hesitant, and curious now as to what the full story behind this ordeal with old friends was. After seeing that she was getting no help, she sighed out in the same irritation laced in her tone before.
"I gave up friendship FOR magic. We were all given the chance to go to Canterlot and attend the Magic School for gifted Unicorns, but only one of us could go."
Some of those witnessing this put the pieces together almost instantly. One of them being the Element of Honesty herself.
"Twilight... Tell me yah didn't..."
"Tsk... I tried to bury them so I didn't have to be blamed for my choice. I didn't want ANYPONY remembering that. I had to secure the position for myself! I thought I did! I thought that my place was secured!"
The Element of Kindness took a timid hoof forward, standing next to Applejack as she looked down at Twilight.
"So... you gave up on them, to become this? Twilight, what were you thinking?"
Delta let out a shaky breath as his emotions were getting the better of him, licking his lips as he choked out his words.
"You killed my friends to become the very thing you rejected... A false Princess, and an Element of Betrayal and Deceit, not Magic..."
Twilight's lip quivered as she closed her eyes tightly.
"I-... I had NO choice!"
"You had PLENTY of choices, you stubborn horse! You..."
Delta turned away, staggering a bit before turning back to her.
"You ruined me! You ruined Blaze Dawn! You ruined the group! You selfish BITCH!!!"
Delta's rage returned with a vengeance as he levitated her into the air, strangling her with his magic.
"I should drop you into the Gorge, and take what you took from the rest! I should choke you till you turn blue, and keep choking till every last shred of life leaves your body!!"
Delta kept her there, seething as everypony around him were conflicted. They didn't know whether to help Twilight or resign her to Delta's mercy, but that decision was made for them, by Princess Celestia herself.
"Nopony do anything..."
Twilight widened her eyes as she looked over her shoulder, a pleading glance sent to her former teacher. Celestia only closed her eyes.
"Twilight, I would have never thought you to be so cruel, so selfish, and so arrogant in your decisions. Even though you have grown as a pony, your actions cannot go unpunished. You will be given your life, but even as an Element, I will not ignore the crime of indirect murder of seventeen innocent colts and fillies. Therefore..."
She took a step back.
"Delta Spell will be the one to give you your punishment, not me."
Delta looked over at the Princess, panting out as he still gripped Twilight tightly. As he, and all the rest, were frozen in anticipation, he felt the wing of his friend land on his back again. Looking over at Blaze, she gave him a sad expression in return as she comfortingly spoke into his ear.
"Come on, Delta... Let's go... Leave her here, and let the monarchs deal with her sentence. It doesn't look like she'll be enjoying life too much from here on, anyways."
Delta's legs shivered as his choices were weighed with consequences on both sides. Killing Twilight Sparkle would leave the Element of Magic with no host, and Equestria would lose its fourth Princess, but if he let her go, there's a chance she walks, and only received a smack on the hoof for her crimes, simply because she's an Alicorn Princess. Glaring back up at Twilight, he sneered before seeing something else, something that made him realize something. Even though he wanted this for so long, looking up at Twilight gave him the notion that nothing would change if he took her life. She would just be dead, like everypony else in the group. Revenge wouldn't close the book that is his life. No, he looked up at her and saw the truth looking back. He didn't need to kill her. He just needed to forget her. Forget, but remember the names and lives of the others she'd killed seven years ago. This path would give him some substance, a way for his heart to be filled with something that wasn't blacker than the heart of Nightmare Moon. The other would leave him empty, and instead of moving on, he would only fulfill the deal with the Diamond Dogs and disappear, and not enjoy life as he started over. This way, with death being omitted from the equation...
"Oof-!"
It was the only way for him now. Turning away from Twilight after dumping her body back into the dirt, he walked past Blaze Dawn, the Pegasus looking after him as did everypony else. He didn't look back, didn't speak, and barely acknowledge their presence anymore. He just wanted to start again, and remember the good times instead of every horrible event that came after his youth.
"Thank you, Delta Spell..."
He slowed, looking back at Princess Celestia as she offered her gratitude to him.
"Don't thank me, Princess... I didn't do this for you..."
With that, he said nothing more, moving on and away from the scene with Blaze following after, the two leaving Twilight at the mercy of her now former-new friends and two disappointed Princesses. Blaze walked up next to Delta, nuzzling him.
"You did the right thing, Delta... I'm proud of you."
"..."
"This is good for you, y'know. Now that you have seen that revenge isn't what you were looking for, you can finally find solace in other, better ways in life."
"I..."
Delta shook his head as he kept going.
"Maybe you're right. Bad things will always happen to the best of us. We will always suffer in our lives, and it always brings out the worst of us."
"Yeah... We all have it in us... We sometimes can't control it..."
Blaze walked in front of Delta, drifting a wing past his eye, brushing her feather through his tears to clean them from his eyes,
"But, we will suffer, even as we begin again, and we will suffer together..."
The two smiled and pressed their foreheads together, closing their eyes as Blaze's wings wrapped around Delta in a warm, feathery hug.
"As friends."
