Chapter One: Leaves that Whistle in the Wind
Author's Note
Hello there, guys. I have been on the site for about 2 years, and I have not done anything. So, in order to remedy that, I figured I could actually make this fiction right here. I have been contemplating this fiction for the last two hours, which is honestly not a whole lot of time. However, I am somewhat confidant in my writing abilities and story-building capabilities. I am sure that if I do not do great, I will not do terrible. If you have any positive or negative opinions, do not be afraid to put them into the comment section after you have read the chapter.
I will not update this story regularly, but I do intend to update it as much as I can. Thank you for understanding, reading this notice, and clicking on this story. Have a wonderful day pals!
Chapter One: Leaves that Whistle in the Wind
The magical world of all Equestrian creatures has always been a strange, and silly thing. There was no bounds to the magic that was used to keep the world in balance. Be it good, or even evil. With great evil, came great heroes, as well as great destruction. With prosperity came great happiness and the sense of stability and safety. The main factor to all of these truths was that nothing was assured by nature to last forever. Nothing and no one are promised tomorrow. That was where the last living moments in her world went wrong.
Oh so very wrong it had went indeed. So very, very, very wrong.
Waking up with a notable bruise on her tender forehead, a familiar young girl went to take a kneel from the dormant pose she had held beforehand. Laying idle on the ground had softened the soil under her warm body in what felt to be cold rain. The smell of the earth under her small, dainty nose got to her senses, making the purple skinned girl wrinkle it in obvious disdain.
Where was she? What was this place? She seemed to be lost, and confused. Almost as if the situation she had ended up in was inadvertent or unintended.
Leaves whistle from the stubborn pull of the air that had carried so many of the dying former-greens to the ground where it had decorated hardened brown with sputters and jitters of oranges, yellows and reds. That left out no inclusion of the purple and indigo leaves of those special trees that had made their way into this keen forest.
The area she was in was dense of wood. Nothing but trunks, branches, foliage and large mossy rocks from every peak of her sight. From every corner, she saw nothing but a flurry of warm colors, keen browns, and now the comforting, yet concerning presence of the night-time skies looming overhead with an illuminated blanket of stars and the luminous glow of the symbol of Luna herself.
She had taken time to completely sit up, crawling over to a tree as a blossoming pain started to spread over her leg from the movement. Upon close inspection, she had taken notice that her leg had been badly cut upon something. Most likely a jagged rock, or broken tree limb. It must have happened when she had showed up here. Seeing that there were no large jagged rocks in particular nearby, she would convince herself to assume it was the fault of a fallen trees branch. Cut by that of the remnant that had sprung from the trunk.
Bringing a gentle, trembling hand to try and caress the wound, Twilight hissed upon her fingers ginger contact with the damage. It stung with such an intensity it made her leg jolt, and feel as though it had gone partially numb from the contact that had barely been made a couple seconds beforehand.
"Ow!" a short explanation had seeped through her lips and into the chilled, lonely silence of this place she had woken up in. "How did I even get here?" she questioned to herself, still partially in a confused daze. Her head was still foggy, barely able to completely comprehend the sensory of the world around herself. She was anxious, and felt sickened. Though some part of her was barely awake enough to completely remember what had even brought her here in the first place.
-
It all came flooding back to her as her vision had cleared. The memories of screaming children, and adults alike.The thought of them as the fire had encumbered the kingdom, or maybe even far more than just Canterlot and Ponyville. The urgency of her friends who had been trying to douse out magically induced flames and explosions. The sizzling and unpleasant smell of burnt fur and flesh. Cries of those in agony and wails for those who had been lost in those few minutes alone. It was all so vivid, so real.
Because it was.
Her failure was just a real as she. Her failure was what had done the kingdom in. She had no one to blame but herself. She had made one TINY mistake. Or at least, what she only thought of as tiny at the time. She had made the mistake of letting a prisoner free after his sentencing to confinement for his crimes. He had seemed genuinely changed. Going from a chronic nightmare of profane slurs and unchecked aggression to one of the most quiet, seemingly understanding and respectable inmates of the confinement area.
She had been played like a fiddle, and she had sung out all the keys that he had struck.
He had somehow gained access to magic and information that no commoner, or even alicorn should be able to access or possess. Thus, his rapid rise to power, fueled by some kind of unidentifiable hate, and vengeance. Sorrow had moved the legs of the machine, malice later becoming the source of survival. How he had managed to make himself appear so docile and reformed would be something she would never stop wondering about.
Twilight felt her eyes filling with tear, a fresh stream was already cascading down her face. This was all her fault. If only she had been smarter. If only she would have kept a closer eye on him. If only she had never let him out in the first place. If only, if only, if only.
She could not help but feel helpless. How else does one feel when everything they have ever known was taken away, and completely destroyed out of the blue. She could have done so much more to help them. She could have done do much more to keep the damage at bay. All of this rested on her shoulders, and overbearing, heavy weight trailing right atop the knowledge of the presence.
Pulling her tired arms up to her eyes, she rubs at them with a grimace and a groan. She could not help but feel more at fault. She still remembered the way that all of her friends had went. The way they were all suffering before they had been so cruelly ripped from the world that they, too, were sworn to help protect.
Surprisingly enough, Applejack was the very first to be torn away from them. She had been taken out before they even got to see her for the last time. All of them had discovered her body later. It appeared as though she had been trying to defend a poor filly with a broken leg. Both of them, were caught, and impaled through their backs. It seemed that Applejack had held off whatever did it for a little bit, before falling in battle. The filly had managed to get a substantial distance between herself and whatever had taken the element of Honesty down.
In the end, though, she was too impaled through the back where she stood, dying soon after.
Rainbow Dash followed soon after. After Applejack had been discovered, the quarrelsome blue guardian had went into an angered, emotional frenzy. One might even say that she was nearly out for blood. Everyone was torn up about the fall of honesty, but foolishness was nothing that they could afford. Especially at a time like this.
The multicolored pony, however, would not listen to reason. Flying out immediately to try and counter the source of one of her closest friends deaths. She was struck down easily, despite escaping near-death situations time and time ago. Even with the others serving as distractions, it was not enough to keep Rainbow Dash safe from the impending doom of the opponent. The opponent was enormous. With a swift, pre-calculated movement, the creature had the fast-flying element, and kept her in a tight grasp. With a firm clutch, it had crushed her considerably smaller body. Blood rained from the skies and peppered the ground briefly.
Everyone was shaken by that point. The creature seemed to relish in delight as it had defeated the opponent. Taking in the agony of the watching crowd just below the scene. That's right... the crowd. 'Get them out of there, you fool! Hurry up!' some inner part of Twilight's mind screamed at her. She shook her head, and tried to concentrate after the second shock and lost friend.
It was no use. Even after attacking the thing head-on, and getting it to lose it's balance, it had still claimed more lives. The kids that made up the Cutie Mark Crusaders had been taken out next. Scootaloo was still in shock after seeing her idol, and adoptive big sister crushed like a grape. Her brain seemed to not comprehend the idea of danger anymore. She was apprehended by the creature, and torn in two with such ease she looked like she was made from cotton candy.
Sweetie Belle was next, she had immediately tried to run. She knew she could not take on that thing. It seemed no one could. She wasn't being cowardly. She was still a kid. She was scared. All she wanted to do was get to safety knowing that one of her friends and her big sister would be okay. She never got the chance though. She did her best to dodge everything she could. However, when an iron fist came crashing down on her small body, she stood no chance. Her blood splattered everywhere under the creatures fist. Nothing bust some crimson-stained, half-crushed hooves remained.
Apple Bloom had went shortly after, trying to help get an older pony to safety while she too had scattered to avoid being caught by the thing that had been attacking their homes. However, she and the elder both perished when the attacking force had smashed the building they had ran into, thinking they were not seen. The rubble was cleared later by other panicked civilians, only to discover the bodies of Sweetie Bell and the elder. The elder used her horn to twist Apple Bloom's neck and break it last second. An act of mercy, seeing as the pale fillies body had been stabbed into by a piece of falling debris.
The elder lay there, helpless, and dying painfully. Rarity hurries to trot over, tearful still after the death of her little sister. She tried to keep a level head, really she did. She took a deep breath, summoned magic from her horn, and quickly, as painlessly as possible, twists the ailing elder-mare's neck. Snapping it, and watching as she had seemed to die at least a LITTLE at peace.
"Thank you for trying, darling... rest now..."
The rest of the others had went in similar, if not worse ways, Pinkie had lasted the longest, other than Twilight, seeing as the pink party pony never held still was hard to keep up with. People often joked about the exciting antics of the bouncy symbol of laughter. She specialized in surprises. She had managed to pull in one of her almost confusing party canons out from seemingly nowhere, loading it with sharp weapons and objects before firing it off at the creature. It had died after repeated attempts to get up. That didn't stop it from claiming one last victim though. With a mighty swing, it used it's tail to slam the pink pony into the ground.
The brute force of the heavy tail didn't kill her though. No, it was the toppling of the very canon that she had used to attack it. After slamming into, and disorienting her, the creature tips the canon. The object, large in size, falls over. Pinkie was not aware enough to move. In the end, it only crushed one of her body parts. Taking out the one that was the deadliest to damage. The head.
From there, Twilight remembered everything passing by in a breeze. Almost as calm, and silent, and sweet as the last breeze before and breath of fresh air before someone walks inside on a cool summer evening. The beautiful grass on the lawn, and the dancing fireflies that lingered nearby. Twilight had failed her friends, her community, her idols, and herself. She had failed everyone. She was the last one standing, other than a few civilians. That didn't make her any less of a failure...
Soon, it felt as if the world was starting to collapse. Looking over to the side, Twilight felt her eyes droop, and soften in solemn grief as she tried to hold back her tears. The cakes, little Pumpkin and Pound, who were still far too young to understand what was going on, sat there cooing in curiosity at the dead bodies of their parents who lay idle, bleeding out from their stomachs and heads.
Still grief-stricken, Twilight went to do her best to try and rally the survivors back together. She coughs in pain as her chest heaved, and she trots to where town square used to be. Civilians limp, and carry each other. None of them blamed her, she had tried, and tried, and tried.
"My people... I am so terribly sorry for this... I am sorry I could not protect you... or your families. I am sorry I could not save your husbands, or your wives. I apologize for my failure to protect your young, and old. We need to regroup. I will use my magic to the best of my ability to try and make stable shelters for the time being..." She chokes on her tears, and bows her head. "I will do my best... I promise. I will stay with you.. and try. I sent somepony to try and get help. I could not use the assistance of Spike, as he is no longer with us either."
Twilight walks over, and gingerly used her magic to pick up the curious, small twins. After a shallow sigh, he looks at all of them, firming her gaze. "We will leave as soon as we get the chance. We cannot stay here. I will do my best to aid all the wounded tonight. Everyone stay close together while I go and get some medical supplies from the library. If there are any left..."
Low chatter, and gut-wrenching cries echoed through Ponyville. Those who survived mourned those that had been lost. Nobody fought, even if there were disagreements. There was no use in it, after all. Twilight used the magic in her horn to force her library open, before trotting in with her limp.
"There's got to be something somewhere...." she mumbled to herself. After looking around in a few areas, making sure to hurry, she passed by the table where her and her friends had sat talking and joking with each other just the day before. She stopped completely just in front of the makeshift portal that she had made to get to the school where Sunset Shimmer and the counterparts to her friends were. Just before she could look in one of the many places she had dedicated to storage, there was a rumble, and loud screaming heard in the distance.
In alarm, the princess went to move and gallop her way to the door again to see what was the matter, but the entire library had started to shake. She couldn't get a steady stance to level herself to try and fly, nor could she hold still. She was just about to use her horn to try and make herself levitate, but there was a loud explosion, a flash of orange-red light, the screaming of her people, and then nothing.
-
Twilight felt her chest heave, as if someone were trying to pull her heart right out of it. She let out a guttural cry of pain, anguish, defeat, and self-loathing. She should have tried harder. She should have done more. She shouldn't have been so stupid! This was all because of her. This was all her fault...
The princess of friendship sits there, and cries into her arms, letting out loud, pained sobs without so much as a deep breath to release the pain or stress that had encumbered her lungs. She curls her legs to her chest, pulling her hands t her head and rocks back and forth in desperation to just stop the memories that flowed through her troubled, tormented mind.
After some time, he fell asleep, her trembling form hardly finding peace out here, in the cold where she lay with exposed skin, open wounds, and little pride or sense of self-worth.
To be Continued
Chapter Two: Legs of Glass
Waking up again was hard. Especially when you know that you shouldn't have the privilege of opening your eyes again after closing them.
Even after falling asleep, the human body of the former pony-princess was still restless. She had taken in all of the surroundings of nature, even while she slept. Knowing so, that was most likely the reason she had barely been able to pry her exhausted body off of the ground just a few moments ago. The fatigue seeming to only take control of her after realizing how bad of a situation she was in the day before.
Some part of her really didn't want to move, what would she do? Where would she be going? Was there even any use in trying anymore?
The purple-skinned girl let her tired eyes stare blankly at the sky as several birds flew overhead. Chirping and the flapping of wings followed them, just as it should. She never realized how beautiful birds were before. Did trees always look so lovely when the sun shone through their canopies as it had been shimmering now? Who needs diamonds when you have the smell of wildflowers and pine cones right at your fingertips?
'I don't want to move. Everything hurts. My leg is most likely infected, and it feels like I am being pinned down, despite nothing being around' Twilight thought to herself as she went to try and situate herself to sit up from where she was. As per-usual, out of her several attempts, she had not budged more than a few inches. 'Maybe if I just lay here, I can perish. I have nothing to go back to, and nothing to lose...'.
The birds chirp overhead, and the sound of a bubbling brook reaches her ears. She considered attempting once more to stand. However, it seemed her body still did not want to obey her commands and move toward the possible means of nourishment and a way to clean her ailing leg of it's pesky wound. Her stomach grumbled, and numbness ran through the limb once more in a sense of clear protest.
'What's the point. Even if I were to go, and try to help myself, what would I need to help myself for? I don't know where I am, I have no food, and a possibility of water that MIGHT not be clean. I have nothing to go back to. ' She briefly reminds herself, her face scrunching up in even more disdain than it had shown before. 'I have failed. I might as well pay for my failure in a way that can be compared to how everyone else had fallen in my world.'
She didn't even know if there was anymore of her world left. All she knew was that Ponyville had been obliterated. Any help she could have possibly received (depending on whether or not that messenger pony made it there alive) might not have even been there by the time they arrived. Meaning their travels would have been for nothing.
A stinging sensation, followed by numbness and a small twitch caught the attention of the princess and makes her turn her head, craning her neck in an attempt to see the limb. It took a lot of effort, but eventually, it was done. She was already exhausted by the time she had managed to crane her neck up for just 3 seconds. With a withheld sigh, she let her head drop back down and flop in the grass and leaves that rested underneath her body.
Her leg had a long cut running from her mid-thigh to just below mid-shin. Th cut was still bleeding, though, by all means, it was generally modest in comparison to what she had seen in the last day alone. Numbness continued to practically radiate through her body still.
Its funny how beautiful the world looks when all of your hope is lost and your can't enjoy the materialistic things in your life anymore. It was astounding how big the world really was around oneself when they were truly alone. How did Twilight enjoy sitting there, reading her books in isolation before she had met her friends? How did she not like to have a friendly conversation, or just to see the happy fellow-townspony chatting with each other every day?
Closing her eyes, she forces herself to think back to what happened right before she had been thrown wherever she had. She had entered her library, and had been looking for first aid supplies. Check. Next, she heard an explosion, check. The area she had been in was used for storage, however, it was worth noting that the portal to get to Canterlot High School was nearby. Check-
Wait-
The portal to Canterlot High. That's right, that portal is most likely where that explosions pressure had thrown her into. She had been in front of it, she was sure. That doesn't explain why she was... wherever she was.
Her scientific mind started to spin, several possible ideas flow through her thoughts at one time, leading to a small headache. The closest thing Twilight could come up with was that the explosion was magically produced. If it was magically produced, there was a good chance that it caused the original placement of the door to this world to be somewhere else. Meaning... there was MAYBE a possibility for her to get home-
No. She can't just go back.
She needed to find a way to reverse all this damage before anything else. That meant getting out of here, and finding her friends from here in the human world as it had been called.
'I HAVE to get up. I can't just lay here. The longer I do... the more prone I am to failure.' Twilight reasoned with herself as she went to try and pry herself off of the ground with a painful grunt. 'I need to go and find some water first... before my dry throat starts to itch...'
She attempted to move with her new-found energy, coughing a bit as her side starts to throb in pain. Several tiring struggles, and rasping breaths later, she was kneeling. She was half way there, just a little more! She just needed to get moving. She once heard Celestia say that being careful, and using any damaged limbs (as long as you do not overdo it) is an okay way to build up pain tolerance.
The star pupil really hoped she was right, otherwise, she just might be doomed... well, even more screwed over than she was now, anyways.
A light, painful heave, stained muscles, and aching pain paid off, the girl inching her way to successfully standing up. After situating herself on her legs, she lurches forward, almost falling down again. 'Keep it steady, Twilight. Steady. you can't afford to be so weak, especially at a time like this. If I can find Canterlot high school, I can try to find something that will undo everything that had happened. I can save all of them...'
Stumbling forward, the princess looks around, attempting to find the easiest way to reach the water source without stumbling over too many obstacles of even running into something she would not be able to escape from. Even after being here a couple times, she had no idea how to use magic without her friends around.
Considering the notion more, she grimaced. She had only used magic when her friends were around in this world. She had no idea how this world was like outside of the school, and Pinkie Pie's house. The world seemed so wonderful, until there was no was no one around to protect her anymore. Maybe that is part of what went wrong in her last world. She always relied on her friends to be there to help her out if ever she needed it.
'Come on, Twilight, move faster!' She had tried to urge herself, leaning up against a tree in an attempt to steady her un-level walk on the terrain. 'You need to get this cleaned, and wrapped up, that way it doesn't get any worse....'. She winced once more as an awkward step caused her to bite her lip and flinch.
The brook sounded closer, which was good. The pony-princess just hoped that her ears were not playing tricks on her. Giving her hope , just to pull it away once she discovers it was just the mind of a tired, and delusional scientist and ruler at play. Coming in to try and further punish her subconsciously for every wrong she had inadvertently commit upon her poor subjects and her friends.
The mind was truly one of the most disturbing things. It always sends signals to the host to let them know or remind them about something. To warn, or protect, or even help a host. It could be one of the most helpful natural functions, as well as the most destructive.
Twilight was frightened, to say the least. She didn't want to have these same thoughts forever, if she ever did manage to accomplish getting home, and saving everypony. The blame, and the anguish would linger with her forever. It is so easy to fail when you are not prepared. Not all villains come in large, well-known packages and that is part of what is so scary about it. You never know what is going to happen next.
'Come on, you are almost there, Twilight. Just a little further. A little more, and I can rest a bit, clean myself up, and try to find some supplies...' Twilight thought to herself; almost bitterly, at that. She felt her chest throbbing, and limbs trembling. Her ears popped and her world blurred for a second. Taking a deep breath, the overwhelming sensations stopped.
It seemed she was holding her breath and hadn't even realized it.
Tripping out into a small clearing, she spots the clear waters of the brook just a few paces ahead. It seemed so close yet so far away. The brook bubbled as it rolled over rocks, leaves, and fallen branches from overhead trees. Small fish swam along, most likely trying to find their ways from one body of water to another. Maybe there was a lake nearby.
Her body tilts and she finds herself almost sitting down again.
"I am not giving up... I already walked this far. Get up. If the townsfolk can keep trying to help each other during the crisis in my world, I can get up, and get over there to help myself. Now is not a time to be weak. Not when I have so much stuff I need to fix..." She hissed to herself, pulling her body up again. She stumbled forward, tripping once- twice, three times. Her body wanted to rest, but she would not let it, not yet at least.
She makes it to the edge of the water and falls down in an attempt to kneel. Inspecting the water with somewhat clouded, and tired eyes, she depicts it would not be too harmful to drink some of the water. Enough to hold her off, for a little while at least. Just before she could cup her trembling hands to to try and intake some of the water, she heard some footsteps from in front of her.
The footsteps were light, and sounded almost rubber-soled. There was a good chance that whoever was in front of her was a human. Animals usually didn't sound like that when moving around. Shakily, she let her head turn itself up, spotting the figure almost immediately.
"Why are you here?" came a voice. The voice seemed concerned, more than anything. It was somewhat surprising, seeing the source that the weary word had come from. "You look really beat up..." The voice continued, more or less in a matter of statement rather than mockery.
"Sonata..." Twilight called the name out to the other, rather on edge. "I guess I could ask you the same thing... right?"
