Problems of a Dead World

Chapter 21: Killed in Action

Several Days Later

Earl waited in the entrance room to Canterlot Castle, his eyes glued to the floor. The fancy decor and beautiful paintings that had given him great comfort on his first journey here, posed no difference to his mood now. He stayed completely still, like a rock, untouched by anything around him. He replayed the image over and over again. Shining dying. Mac dying. Then himself, killing Jackson. The human's body was immediately taken away and disposed of, by means of which Earl had no knowledge. What remained of Big Macintosh's body was sent to Sweet Apple Acres, after confirmation by Applejack. The scream of that orange earthpony would no doubt haunt Earl's dreams for the rest of his days. The way she fell to her knees weakly. How she screamed her brother's name, Earl standing just next to her and watching it all. It was a small funeral service. Close members of the Apple Family attended, even Braeburn was able to take the train up from Appleosa to attend. He was buried under the first tree he'd ever bucked, one that had grown to great size in the years of Mac's life.

He cringed at the thought of Apple Bloom. Granny Smith had tried her best to keep her away from the funeral, in an attempt to keep sorrow out of the young filly's heart. But sure enough, she had snuck back onto the farm with her two friends, Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo. She didn't understand at first, she simply asked Earl why, why her brother was dead, what happened to him. The barrage of questions came just after the grey unicorn had watched his friend be sent to his final resting place. Even now, Earl was holding back tears as he thought of the young earthpony's questions.

The unicorn was thankful however, that the family understood the circumstances. They'd known of Earl's intentions, and of who murdered their beloved family member. No blame was put to him, but he still felt guilt. Extreme guilt that would scar his very being for the rest of his days.

"Mister Earl." a Royal Guard member called from one of the various hallways of the castle.

Earl snapped his head upwards to the armor-wearing pegasus who had broken him from thought. He nodded a few seconds later and groggily made his way to his hooves, then proceeded to follow the guard to the next appointed location.

Twilight hadn't said a word to him since. He still contemplated if it was just grief she was feeling, or if she actually, truly, hated him. The Princess had allowed him to stay in one of the many guest houses on the grounds, while Twilight stayed holed-up in her private quarters from when she was still a student at the castle. He had heard that she had spoken to nopony but the princess, which didn't calm his nerves whatsoever, more made them worse.

As the two ponies rounded one final corner of the large corridors of the castle, Earl was passed on to another Royal Guard member waiting just outside of a room at the end of the hallway.

"Treat this one delicately, he did the... 'thing'." Earl heard the guard whisper to other guard just outside of the door.

The pegasus nodded and pushed open the door, motioning for Earl to enter.

"If you would, Mister Earl." the guard said.

"Thanks." Earl replied almost inaudibly.

The guard nodded as the grey unicorn made his way into the room, then followed and shut the door behind them. The room was just as well furnished as the rest of the castle, but Earl knew what kind of room it was. Small and confined, with only a few dim-lit candles for light. He was here for debriefing, or an interrogation.

"Please take a seat, Mister Earl." the guard said, motioning to two chairs and a table in the middle of the room.

Earl nodded and walked slowly to the center of the small room, then pulled the chair out and sat down, his eyes still glued to the floor. The guard did the same, eyeing Earl quizzically while he did so.

"Why don't we... Get the hardest stuff out of the way first?" the guard asked.

Earl replied with a nod.

"Shining Armor..." the Royal Guard member said.

The name sent a shiver down Earl's spine.

"... His body was found among the remains of Twilight Sparkle's home."

"Yes." Earl replied quietly.

"What happened... On the mission?"

The grey unicorn took a deep breath and cleared his throat, his eyes shut tight.

"He was killed, by a human."

"One of your kind?"

"Not my kind anymore..."

The guard nodded hesitantly and noted something on a pad of paper lying on the table.

"There were no external wounds found on the body, only damage on his internal organs." the guard continued.

"When we... Changed back..." Earl said, pausing for a moment and looking up to the pegasus.

"I know about the transformation, please continue." the guard said lightly

"When we changed back, he looked the same... But the damage to his... Insides must have stayed... He was coughing up blood." Earl said his voice growing weaker as the sentence went on.

"You had nothing to do with his death?"

"No..."

The guard nodded in response, still writing several notes on the paper.

"We've got other reports to back that up, thank you." the guard said.

Earl replied with a nod.

"Big Macintosh..." the guard said.

The grey unicorn gritted his teeth and tried desperately to hold back tears.

"Killed by a human." He said in an exhausted tone between tightly closed teeth.

The guard nodded and hesitantly wrote "Killed in Action" next to both names and pictures of the two.

"We were able to recover both bodies after the fire was quelled, as you know with Macintosh." the pegasus continued.

A view of Mac's grave flashed into Earl's mind, causing him to shudder. He nodded several moments later.

"A service will be held for The Captain tomorrow afternoon, if you wish to attend."

Earl nodded silently again.

The guard wrote a few more notes before looking back up to the shuddering unicorn.

"Now... I need you to describe what happened..."

The unicorn sighed and looked to the guard with tired eyes.

"It started with Jackson..."

* * *

The guard's mouth continued to stay agape as Earl finished his story, several pages of notes lined the table the two ponies sat at. The whole story, Earl's eyes had been mostly shut.

"I... Forced him to pull the trigger... Then the guards showed up, stopped the fire, took me here..." Earl said quietly.

The guard nodded slowly as he shut his mouth and swallowed deeply, examining the pages he had written on the table.

"I... Well... I'd say we're..." the guard said, swallowing again. "We're done here."

"Yeah..." Earl replied quietly.

"Thank you for your time, Mister Earl." the guard said, raising his hoof to Earl's.

The grey unicorn shook the guards hoof weakly and rose back up on to his hooves. As both ponies exited the room, they were met by another guard.

"My report is prepared, I'l be giving it to the acting captain within the hour." the guard next to Earl said.

The other guard nodded.

"Good." he said with a salute.

As the guard who questioned Earl left down the hallway, the other guard looked to the grey unicorn.

"Miss Sparkle has requested your presence right away, sir." the pegasus said.

Earl's heart dropped in his chest, along with his jaw. He shuddered slightly and cringed at the thought of getting another verbal attack from the purple unicorn.

"She... Has?" Earl asked, absentmindedly.

The guard nodded.

"OK... I'll... Be there soon..." the grey unicorn replied.

"I'm afraid she needs your immediate presence, sir." the guard said.

Earl paused for a moment, but hung his head and sighed a few seconds later before making his way down the hall.

As Earl made his journey through the extensive hallways of the castle, he thought about what Twilight would say. It would probably just be another barrage of mental assault. Several things meant to make him feel guilty and push him to exile. He shook his head and cleared his throat as he neared the final hallway to Twilight's room. As the entrance to her quarters came into view, his heart began to beat with more intensity. A slight flutter in his chest was only accented by the worried heartbeat surging through it. He reached the door and reluctantly raised a hoof, as he hung his head.

Before he could knock however, the door opened briskly, revealing a familiar purple unicorn behind it. Earl's heart nearly stopped in fear, and he looked up worriedly. He then saw Twilight Sparkle in the worst condition possible. Her mane was frazzled to a point in which her horn wasn't even visible. Stains of several days worth of tears lined the area under her eyes, along with bags signalling a lack of sleep. She looked at him through bloodshot eyes, examining his every detail.

Both unicorns stood in place for what seemed like hours, both contemplating what they would say to one another. Earl was the first to open his mouth to speak.

"Twi... I-" Earl began.

He was instantly cut off by the purple unicorn throwing her forelegs around him and burying her tear-stained face in his shoulder. The mare began sobbing vigorously, leaking an extensive amount of tears onto his coat as she groaned in sadness.

The grey unicorn was stunned. He had expected to be met with a barrage off criticizing comments, not affection. The sound of her sobbing and his recent interrogation caused him to slowly lay his head on her shoulder as well. He began to embrace her harder as tears welled up in his own eyes, all the while Twilight continued a steady stream of violent sobbing into his own shoulder. He embraced her as tight as he could, letting his sobbing reach it's peak. The built up emotion of their journey was finally released as both cried into each other for what seemed like days.

As the sound sobs of their sighing died down, Earl shifted his neck, placing his head closer to Twilight's ear.

"I... Love you..." He said, sniffling lightly.

"I love you too..." Twilight said.

The grey unicorn pulled away from her shoulder slightly and brought his forehead to rest against hers, their horns rubbing against each other affectionately.

"I'm sorry... I didn't-" Twilight said weakly.

Earl shook his head slightly and brought a hoof up to her lips.

"Shh... I know..." he said quietly.

Twilight pulled her head away from his and looked into his eyes, sensing the same pain she had been feeling since watching her brother die. Without hesitation, she shoved her head forwards, causing their lips to meet. Earl didn't think twice as to mimic the action, and soon the two were sharing a passionate kiss. Neither unicorn cared about the previous events, or what would happen to them in the future. The two only focused on each other, and the love felt in that moment.

The purple unicorn began pulling him backwards into the room, in perfect sync with him pushing forward. When he was finally inside of the room, the grey unicorn nudged the door with his back hoof, causing it to shut.

The hallways quickly went silent.