At The End

My mind was full of a mixture of different emotions. I was tired, hungry and frustrated. I knew that there had to be something in this archive that could give me the answers that I was looking for.

Since finding the Doctor and Discord this morning, I was elated to find out some more information about the history of this castle.

There a lot of pieces that didn’t fit right in my mind. And now, with Twilight finding out about my brother… I was angry.

Not angry at her, nor the others. Just angry and I wasn’t even sure who to direct my frustration at!

I was almost too occupied on my self loathing that I hardly noticed Twilight come shuffling down the steps to join me.

From the corner of my eye, I could see her looking at me with obvious worry, though it didn’t feel directed at me. She was more worried about herself and the repercussions of what had just happened upstairs.

She was afraid that I was angry at her, that I would turn on her and scold her for being too nosey. That was not the case. Twilight has my upmost admiration, I just wish I had been the one to tell her.

“I’m looking for a book on the history of the town. Maybe something that can give us a list of the generations that once lived here.” I motioned to the shelves in front of me. There were so many books, and they were mostly intact, over a thousand years later. What a find.

Twilight came up beside me, not really sure of what to do. She obviously didn’t want to start the conversation, probably She just grabbed a book off the floor, ‘Magical creatures and types’ the title read. I had been looking through it to get some additional information on imperial ponies.

“You’ve been looking for information in here?” She asked.

“I wanted information about Imperial ponies. You know… information about me and the others.” Twilight just nodded, never taking her eyes off the book. I sighed, Twilight was my one of my best friends, I didn’t want her to be like this.

“You did nothing wrong Twilight.” She looked up at me, her eyes unwavering in concern.

“I should have told you when we were back at the library.” I sighed, stretching out a wing and pulling her in close to me. I winced as her armour dug into my side, but didn’t voice the pain.

“I-I’m sorry… I should have… I don’t know…” She trailed off. There was nothing she could say. I looked down at her and nuzzled her head. The effect was almost immediate, as her eyes closed and she began to hum a small purr.

“I didn’t want to talk about it because I didn’t want it to affect you. Nor did I want it to affect our mission here.” She blinked as I stopped the show of affection.

“I know what you want from me Twilight. But I’m not sure that I am in a position to actually decide right now. I love you, but Romain was my brother. I don’t think my parents would take any of this very well.”

I honestly still couldn’t believe that I was actually thinking of loving a horse. The idea of it being called bestiality had crossed my mind. It wasn’t like the human race was very accommodating towards itself. But I honestly didn’t see anything wrong in my love for her. She was a person, who was far smarter than I was. Especially when it came to her magical knowledge.

“You know that I’m here for you? I’m not going anywhere this time.” She said, placing her hoof on my paw and stroking softly.

“That’s the problem isn’t it?” I chuckled. “You’re here, I’m from over there.” Realisation immediately crossed her face and she looked away from me. Removing her hoof from mine.

“We’re from two different worlds. There is very little I know about Equestria, and you don’t know anything about Earth. I love you Twilight, but what would we both do on either side?”

She nodded sadly and began to move away from underneath my wing. My heart ached, I knew that I had said the logical thing, but maybe not the right thing. With slow fluid motion I reached out with a foreleg and grasped the rear plate of her armour. She turned to ask what I was doing, her eyes beginning to form tears. The moment her eyes met mine, I pounced, figuratively.

I leaned over her and planted my muzzle on hers. Our lips met. She was shocked, I could tell. And I was sure to regret this action later, but right now... I needed a friend, and she was willing to be more. So maybe I could too.

Her surprise had caused her to hesitate, but before long, I felt her melt into the kiss. It was as passionate as I could have imagined a passionate kiss being. I put my heart and soul into it. Not wanting to make her lose her resolve, I already knew that I was committing a lot to this world. I just hoped that it wouldn’t make me lose my way.

Twilight and I broke the kiss and looked at each other. She breathed heavily, out of breath before turning her attention to a noise that came from the stairs that we had come from.

I had expected Jack or Mark to be standing there, laughing or chuckling. Instead, I saw Spike, crouched down on the floor, holding his stomach. Twilight rushed over to him, concerned for her friedn who looked very sick.

“Ugh… too much love.”

The drake looked like he was about to be sick, and he was, rather violently in fact. I had seen many people get sick before. I myself had been violently vomiting while landing on Guadalcanal and Tarawa. To Twilight though, this was completely different. She immediately drew her sword and took her distance from Spike.

“Twilight what are--”

“Changeling!” She cut me off. As if on cue, there was a blast of green flames. My surprise was matched by my inability to grab my gun rapidly. There in front of me, stood a large Changeling, its black body easily recognisable as the creatures we had seen yesterday. It was huge, easily larger than me by a few heads.

The creature now realised that it was in danger, decided to run, only to smack into a wall of magic that Twilight created. Dazed slightly it shook its head and looked at us almost fearfully, before setting its resolve and turning to attack. Twilight dodged the lunge, I didn’t.

Out of complete shock of what was happening, my magic failed and my gun fell to the floor as me and the bug went flying backwards. A gunshot banged loudly making my ears ring. I had not yet fired a shot as a pony. Maybe I should think about the ears before doing anything rash.

The bug on top of me was also shacking from the shot but didn’t remove itself from me, instead it tried to attack me.

At least it would have, had it not suddenly gone flying repeatedly against the wall opposite the book shelves. I got up in time to see Twilight standing there, her sword drawn but her magic bashing the creature until finally… she ceased. The bug slid down the wall and lay in a heap on the floor.

Picking up my gun, I made my way over to Twilight, who was eyeing the creature with disgust.

“What the hell is going on?” Jack yelled as he came down the stairs with the rest of the group closely behind. When they saw the bug lying on the floor, Twilight standing over it with a sword almost at its neck, they all screamed.

“Chrysalis!”

The bug, Chrysalis, rose slowly to its hooves. It was shaking before crumbling on the floor. It vomited one last time, the green substance coming out thick almost like jell-O. It wasn’t pleasant and I saw some of the girls go green and run back up the stairs.

The others on the other hoof just stood there, glaring angrily at the creature. Twilight seemed rather hostile towards Chrysalis and I didn’t know why. Either way, I wasn’t going to get in the way, just in case this thing was hostile.

I was therefore quite shocked when Jack moved in to help it.

“Stay back Jack, she’s dangerous!” Twilight warned him, but as a faithful medic to his true nature, he didn’t heed her warnings. Instead he rubbed the whimpering creature on the back, helping to ease the unpleasant situation that Chrysalis was going through.

“Hush now, don’t hold it back. Clear out your stomach and it’ll all be fine.” He said with complete assurance. The bug fell over but he was there to catch it. Helping it down into a more suitable position.

All the while, we could only look on in disbelief at what Jack was doing. Well… Me, Mark, Twilight and her friends seemed shocked. Discord on the other hand seemed rather amused while the Doctor just shook his head sighing, though offering a concerned glance at Twilight. She just shrugged in return.

“Would you guys stop acting like frightened kids and help me!” Jack demanded.

“Where’s Spiky?” Rarity asked, noticing that the drake wasn’t with us. He obviously hadn’t been with us for a while if not at all.

As Twilight lowered her sword, she explained that Chrysalis had been pretending to be Spike. I honestly couldn’t get my head around the whole ordeal. Rarity however had not taken the whole thing lightly instead to throw rather weak insults at the bug. Though Chrysalis seemed barely conscious.

Mark had anxiously moved to help Jack, so did I. Jack was always quite smart and he had not been one to refuse medical aid to the enemy, though I don’t ever remember him helping Japs while on the Canal... Even if I wasn’t sure what it was about this bug that made Twilight go so violent like that.

“What the fuck is wrong with her?” Jack asked aloud to nobody in particular. Twilight, lowering her sword completely, realising that she was in no danger, moved to help Jack. Maybe she wasn’t as afraid of Chrysalis as her show of force had been.

“It’s indigestion.” He looked at her, he had come to that conclusion but couldn’t understand from what. Their group had barely eaten anything during these past couple of days.

“Changelings don’t eat like us, they consume feelings, love is the most powerful source of nourishment.” Her gaze turning to me, I felt a little uneasy now.

“Help me get her upstairs Mark. I’ll look after her until she’s better.” Jack said, getting underneath Chrysalis, he lifted her up with all of his strength. Mark tried to help, but Jack was already holding all the weight and left him no room to help. It wasn’t until Discord intervened, walking over to them and clicking his talons together, snapping his fingers essentially and having Chrysalis float off his back.

Jack gave him a thankful smile and followed the rest of the group as they went upstairs, carefully escorting the bug to the dining room. Where a fire had been lit. It was where we had set up camp the first time, this time however, it was an actual base camp.

Chrysalis was deposited on Jack’s bedding, leaving her to be tended to by him while the others glared intently at the unconscious creature.

XXX

“Who is she Twilight?” It was now well into the night. Twilight had not wanted to go to sleep with Chrysalis so close. Within the last few hours, the others had decided to eat and go to sleep. They were tired after a day of research. The only ones who were still up were Me, Twilight, Jack and the time travelling duo who were still busy reading through the old books they had brought back.

Jack, on the other hand, stayed by Chrysalis. Tending to the sick Changeling, despite what had happened, Jack still wanted to help. He wasn’t one to turn a blind eye on someone who was suffering.

“Queen Chrysalis. She’s the queen of the Changelings.” My eyes widened as I watched the sleeping bug all while Jack moved back and forth and checked on her now and again.

“Any idea why she was here?”

“The Shadow must have known I wouldn’t do his bidding. He must have taken Spike captive and sent Chrysalis instead.” She sighed, falling onto her haunches after removing her armour.

“I don’t know why she didn’t send one of her drones to do this. Maybe she thought there was something she could do. I don’t know…” She trailed off as she closed her eyes, breathed in deeply before falling into my side. Nuzzling my fur and mumbling softly.

“Maybe she thought she could help?” I suggested.

“Doubt it. Chrysalis was an enemy of Equestria. She tried to invade while the Shadow was securing his rule. She ended up becoming a slave, like me…” That last part seemed to really hit her hard. Calling herself a slave meant something completely different. She knew it, just from the look she gave me.

“I am... was... a concubine to the royal court. I don’t want to talk about it. I’m just so glad that you’re here. I want this to be over and never have to relive those memories.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” I looked away, the revelation of Twilight being a sex slave for someone else’s pleasure hurt me. I didn’t know, but now I did, it made my blood boil.

“Though she looks like she’s been through it too.” I pointed out the sleeping Changeling, Twilight looked in her direction before looking up at me with sad eyes.

“She has, but she was also one of the many enemies that me and my friends have fought. I don’t think I could forgive her for what she did.” She said. So there had been something dramatic that had gone down between the two. What? I had no idea and Twilight was not of the right state of mind to say much of anything.

“Shame this happened right now, but I’d rather know now if we had a traitor in our midst.” I said, grabbing my saddle bags in my magic and bringing it over to me.

“Have I told you just how good you are with magic?” She said once again.

“Yes you have, twice now.” I chuckled, rummaging through the bags I removed some odd items, reaching for my canteen and taking a big gulp of water. The thing was terribly worn, having seen me through my service.

“You’re actually too good at it. Have you thought of what this could mean? Its almost as if you’re an actual pony.” The thought had entered my mind once. Or maybe twice. Galaxia had said that she had given us some of her magic. Maybe hers was easier to master than just normal magic.

Did that mean I had the power of a God? I shivered at the thought. There was no way that godlike powers would sit well with someone who was still recovering from grief. In case I ended up trying to do something I wasn’t suppose to. Then again, whatever I do, I was suppose to do either way.

Just how cynical could she make me?

“I’m sure that once this is all over Galaxia will take the magic back. It’s already hard to imagine not moving around as a pony now, so hopefully everything will return to normal after this fiasco.” Twilight watched me for a long moment after I spoke, seemingly confused or unsure of how to respond. Finding her resolve she then asked it.

“What if this permanent.”

Now that was something I didn’t want to be dealing with right now. It terrified me. I just wanted to go home.

I had done a lot of soul searching while here, maybe I would now go home and grieve like I should have with my family. Romain deserved better from me… and so did Tomy, George, Peter and so many others.

Twilight saw that I had no answer, so she decided to ask another, less personal question.

“Who’s Galaxia.” I didn’t hold back any information on who Galaxia was. Twilight was slightly confused about why I referred to her as ‘The Creator’. I went into great detail over why this whole thing was important. I was hoping that in turn, Twilight could provide some light on who she was. She was obviously a pony and had ties with the Shadow. She wouldn’t have come personally unless Galaxia was just a mask or a vassal of the real puppeteer.

“I’ve never heard of Galaxia in any of the old books, then again…” She trailed off, her eyes narrowing in thought. Drawing some of her magic, she pulled a book from the throne room over to us.

“Pinkie found this today. It’s a book of the one of the inhabitants of the town. He wrote a little about the royal family here. See this…” She pointed to the lines, written so weirdly that I couldn’t read a thing that was written. So I just shook my head. Making her roll her eyes as if I should know better.

“It says that there was a fire that consumed the royal palace. Only the royal chambers were destroyed, the king and queen were killed, a third casualty was recorded but it was never said who.”

“So the king and queen were killed by a sudden fire outbreak?” I asked, turning my attention to the surrounding halls.

“There have been many fires here. The last one occurred during the rise of Nightmare Moon. It was because of that fire that Canterlot was made the new capital, instead of just being a country retreat for the royals.” The Doctor spoke up from behind us. My heart jumped, but Twilight seemed to have known he was there because she didn’t react. Instead she sought more warmth in my fur. Letting him tell the story.

“Discord and I have seen some of it while travelling. Due to the destabilisation in the Eye of Harmony, we were unable to get a stable landing coordinate to get any information from the fire itself, but we did find out that just before the deaths of the royals, another fire had broken out in the suburbs.” My eyes then widened. When I had met them both this morning, they had been searching through the ruined basement of the northern suburb.

“Was it the building I found you guys in this morning?” He nodded, though it was more of an unsure nod.

“We think so… there isn’t much about that time, most written records are quite scarce. Maybe once harmony is restored, I can finally go back and see it for myself.” He sighed almost longingly. There was something about him I could just not place. He was a very kind pony, but there was something about him that made his quirkiness seem… forced. He’d been there too…

“Do you know who that house belonged to?” Twilight asked.

“It was more of a social home so there were a few families living there. The name that stood out the most was the Peacock family.” He said, pulling out a book and glancing at the pages all while squinting.

“Honestly ponies write really weirdly.” He mumbled, before closing it and putting it away behind him. I still didn’t understand just how normal ponies who had no horns could even hold books in their hooves. It was something that just baffled me.

Twilight didn’t say any more, instead she just continued to nip at my neck affectionately. The Doctor quickly understood the gesture and made his quick getaway. I just sighed contently. It did feel really good. Moving to where our bedding was. Neither me nor Twilight wanted to hide the fact that we slept together. It felt a lot less intimate than if I were human. I would probably scold myself for not finding another room for us to be in solitude.

But right now I just wanted to rest.

Lying down, I closed my eyes, and dozed off.

XXX

It was nice to be flying again. I couldn’t explain what it was like honestly. I was just really giddy every time I would dive, my wings started to burn. Not in a painful way, mind you. They just felt like they were actually getting the use they deserved. Landing on the ground, looked around the dream realm. It was a lovely place, I saw a few bat ponies walking around, wishing each other good a lovely night before disappearing through the white portals they would open. I got some looks from some of these ponies when they past by, but nothing more than a bewildered look before shaking their heads and disappearing off into oblivion.

Honestly… I was just at peace while here. At peace with myself and with everypony else.

“Fire Fly?” A voice called from behind me. I turned, almost expecting Galaxia to be there. She was not, instead I saw a ghostly shape of a bat pony that stood before me. Unlike the others, this one seemed almost transparent. His body seemingly ghost like with very little physicality to him. He had a brown coat with a light blue mane. He didn’t wear much other than a saddle bag with a pair of spectacles on his nose. It gave him the air of a teacher or maybe a professor.

I was sort of expecting him to be looking for someone, but suddenly he ran up to me. A broad smile across his face as he approached.

“You’re a hard one find Fire Fly, had Galaxia not told me that you were not a nocturnal bat, I would have been looking everywhere!” He laughed, I just glanced around, almost expecting the pony he was looking for to appear from somewhere next to me.

“I’m sorry but I think you’re looking for somepony else.” I gestured, smiling apologetically. He just scoffed and gave me a warm smile.

“Fire Fly, Lou Conlin?” I just gave him the most bewildered look of all. I had heard Galaxia use the name Fire Fly, but I wasn’t entirely sure of what she meant by it. I gave the stallion a shake of the head, I wasn’t really sure what he wanted, but I was here… and I had no way of knowing how to leave the realm. Last time it just stopped when the sun came up, or maybe Galaxia did something…

“You’re confused I know that, it’s not easy for one to be called by another name.” He smiled softly before moving over to stand beside me. I observed him as he did.

“I think that Fire Fly is a great name for you to use when you’re here.”

“In this realm, or when I’m awake.” He laughed at my question, leaning in to whisper his reply.

“Fate is already written captain. You can try to chose the identity that you want to use, but sometimes it is provided for you by others. Seemingly.” He leaned back. He was talking about Galaxia’s world view of the fatality of the entire situation. That this was some game with an end that had already been decided without my knowledge.

“It’s not like Fire Fly is a bad name mind you! You could have had mine.”

“What is your name then?”

“Squire Bottoms” I almost snorted out a semblance of amusement, I think he wanted me to, but I didn’t.

“Not even a snort? No?”

“You want me to laugh?” He sighed contently, reaching giving me a happy smile before passing me a book from nowhere. I took it within my magic, glancing over the cover. It took me a moment to remember the book that Twilight had shown me before going to bed.

“You’re the one who wrote this?” I asked, he nodded vigorously. Using his own horn to open the book and show me some of the pages.

“I was a professor here during the reign of the old King and Queen. I had been working on a way to document the extinction of the Imperial ponies, such as yourself!” He gestured to me. Something clicked as I realised that I had read one of his books earlier too. It was a book about mythical creatures and magical stuff. Whatever the title was…

“You read one of my books today, trying to find out why Galaxia made you into imperial ponies. You and the other humans that followed you through the rift.”

“You obviously didn’t find much out, I’m guessing there was nothing for you to find?”

“The imperials died out over two and a half thousand years ago. Not much for me to find in the end.” I sighed, looks like I would have to ask Galaxia if I ever saw her again. He watched my reaction for a moment, then continued.

“Though I do believe that they didn’t go fully extinct.”

“How so?” I was slightly intrigued. More over I didn’t even know how I could be talking to someone who had been alive back when humanity had been going through the dark ages.

“I don’t mean to be rude but you’ve been dead for centuries, I thought this was the ‘dream realm’ not heaven!”

He looked up in thought, it was obviously a very complicated situation and I doubt that the answer would be one that could fit on the headline of a newspaper.

“Well that is true that this is is the dream realm and not… heaven? I am here because Galaxia had my dream form remain here to help guide Princess Luna during her first time navigating the dream realm.” He explained. Though to me it meant fuck all. There was no way I could even begin to understand what the fuck he was talking about. So I just gave my best confused look. He shook his head with that same smile and cursed under his breath as he pondered on what to say to me.

“I am not really here. As you have said, I’ve been gone for a long while. Your not talking with the actual Squire Bottoms because he hasn’t been around for a long time. Think of me as a brain pattern that has been recorded on a record.”

At least I knew what records were, but brain patterns? I had no clue, but I guess I could understand the whole recording part, so I guessed that he meant that his soul was somehow placed here. Seems like a rather cruel fate if you ask me…

“So why have you come looking for me then? It’s not like I have anything that could interest you.” I asked.

“You? Have nothing to offer me?” He gasped in faux shock.

“You don’t seem to realise that I am struggling to actually believe that I have the chance to help you find your place here. The dream realm is in dire need of your magical talent. Princess Luna has been worked off her hooves.”

“I think your confusing me with someone else. I don’t have any magical talent and I certainly have not decided what I’m doing after this. Fated or not, I’m still gonna make a choice.” I told him. It was strange just how scary all this was to me at times. I now had a stallion from the dark ages trying to convince me in staying to… do something. Not that I knew what talent he meant.

“It’s strange just how many ponies don’t realise how good they are at something until its already too late.” He mumbled to himself.

“Dream walking isn’t an easy feat. Just your mere presence is proof of real desire to actually be here. Most bats never even come here, yet you did without any effort. I know full well that you are not originally a bat. Humans like yourself don’t have the magic that ponies have. Despite this, you have mastered it perfectly.”

“I didn’t come here on my first two nights here. So I’m sure you’re looking at a fluke. A freak of nature or just a simple accident.” I explained, he putting way too much pressure on my identity. I was struggling to figure out who I was during these past few days. All I wanted was to get this all over with and have my life return to normal. Every word that he or Galaxia said made me become less and less certain of who I was.

“That’s because the most powerful of magic is love. Your magic is awakening because of that dear Twilight Sparkle.” He watched me sigh and gave me a reassuring smile.

“I know that you don’t know what you’re suppose to be doing. But would you really want to leave this world without experiencing your own abilities?”

I turned my attention towards him this time, cocking an eyebrow, giving him the most tired and confused look I could.

“You’ve talked about magic. You’ve spoken about abilities. Are you going to start calling me the chosen one next?”

“Not at all, we’re all chosen after all. We’re not accidents, everything has been done by design. I’m offering you my help to help you learn and master your own magic. We will stay clear of over using it however.” He said, sitting down and pulling out another book from thin air.

“We wouldn’t want to make any of this permanent.”

“Make what permanent?” Why did every sentence that came out of his mouth that concerned me in general make my stomach twist in anguish.

“Every creature on Equus has their own magic. All of them!” He exclaimed. He opened the book in front of him, its pages blank. Taking a pencil from somewhere, he began to draw on the pages. I leaned in to see what he was doing.

“So when a creature from a world that has no magic is brought here. They act like a sponge, soaking up the residual energy that roams around the world. Had humans had magic, you would still be one right now.” He drew a stick human surrounded by squiggles that probably represented magic.

“Instead, the magic changes you to fit the world that you are now living in. It doesn’t do any mental rewriting, just a physical rewrite. However, due to the lack of original magic to maintain a semblance of humanity, the body begins to lose its shape. No longer understanding what itself is suppose to be.”

“So you’re saying that the longer we stay here… the higher the chances of us becoming permanently stuck like this.” He nodded, though still rocked his head from one side to the other.

“Well yes but not fully. The magic that you have right now is not your own. It was given to you by Galaxia. Her magic however is far more malleable than the magic I use or the magic your marefriend uses. If you were to return home now, the magic would just leave slowly but surely. However, if you stay long enough, or use so much of of it that it starts to attach itself to you. Then the magic will change. No longer will it be malleable. It will be you.”

“Then I need to get out of here as soon as possible.” I sighed. Looks like something else Twilight and I would have to talk about. If Twilight and I were going to be serious, I still needed a way to live on Earth all while visiting her. But my emotions were all over the place. Despite the revelations that were being dropped on me while I was here. I wanted more. I needed more. I was loving the dream realm. I felt like I was in control of my dreams. And despite the pain I felt, the nightmares weren’t here.

It was with that thought that something hit me. My breath caught. I looked down and saw a blade from a bayonet stuck in my chest. What was--

“Wow easy there partner!” He said, placing a hoof on my shoulder, drawing my attention away from the blade.

“Nightmare crafting is not what I came to discuss with you just breathe.” He said, it was so strange just how reassuring his smile was. It made me feel safe.

I breathed slowly, looking down, the blade was gone. I was safe.

“I knew that you were good at this, but nightmare crafting is dangerous especially when used by somepony that does not have the training.” He chuckled, patting me on the back to ease my suffering.

“You should rest up. You don’t need all this stress right now.”

He stood up and placed his hooves on my side and gently pushed me over. I looked up at him, confused but he just lowered my head and shushed.

“Sleep now Fire Fly. You need more rest than most of the bats that come here. When we meet again, we’ll talk more about how to use your magic, okay?”

I just groaned, I had no idea what had come over me. I was fine moments ago, now I felt exhausted and very sleepy.

“How… where do I go? How do I… find you?” I mumbled, my eyes were closing I could hardly feel anything now. It was so nice.

“Look for the Peacocks. I’ll be here when you return.”