The Path to Transcendence

“Dirt, get over here.” Said the lavender unicorn.

An orange earth pony approached the mare without saying a word. Her trademarked Stetson hat still sat upon her head, filled with small holes and the occasional singe mark.

The earth pony let out a garbled moan that couldn’t even be considered speech in the most primitive form. Her eyes were no longer emerald green, but were glossy whites without pupils. Her blonde mane was disheveled and looked severely mismanaged. Sores and lesions covered her body leaving chunks of flesh exposed that would have made most ponies vomit on sight.

The clumsy undead pony trotted over the voice which called her name. A limp in her back leg showed signs of damage beyond superficial. Her femur protruded out of her blackened, necrotized flesh.

A purple aura surrounded the limping pony’s leg and the bones began to mend immediately and the flesh closed up tightly leaving not even a scar. The lavender pony’s facial expression was not of care or concern. She spoke slowly as the words rolled off her tongue directing her thrall away from her, “go away Dirt.”

A timid looking pegasi entered the chamber shortly after Dirt’s departure and cleared her throat before speaking to the powerful unicorn before her, “Twi-, I mean, Eclipse, I have the latest report on Pinkie’s conversion.”

“Proceed.” Said the unicorn.

“Um, well, we’ve run into some complications, the patient isn’t responding to magical or chemical conversion. She’s grown isolated and reclusive to the point of being almost feral in nature. I fear we might push her too far before we can convert her.” The yellow Pegasus cowered backwards as the star-flanked mare turned around.

“I see.”

“She has also begun to display psychotic behavior. Most noticeably her hair has deflated and she continues to talk to things that aren’t there as well as mimicking the voices she believes she is talking to. Her state of mind is severely deteriorating. She has developed a form of excited-catatonia for the past forty-eight hours. She has to be restrained in order to feed her in which has caused significant damage to Sky. Sky’s jaw is shattered into at least six different pieces and her skull has a hairline fracture, three cracked ribs and broken wing too. Pinkie did a number to Sky. I’m not sure if we can properly feed her unless she is tranquilized or magically restrained." The yellow Pegasus finished awaiting Eclipse's response.

"Do what is necessary to keep her alive. Let her socialize with the other test subjects if needed. I don't want her dead, understood?" The mare's eyes had a gaze to them that seemed to peer right through whatever she was looking at.

The doctor nodded and backed out of the chamber slowly as the purple unicorn turned around staring off into the distance of what used to be Equestria. Now it was something else entirely. Something she never even dreamt of.
………………………..

"Patrol, stay down." Said the deep voice as he backed up into the shadows of the nearby building; the mare behind him stayed low trying not to draw any attention to herself.

A group of ponies walked down the empty streets of Ponyville. They were merely husks of their former selves. Empty shells that only served one purpose now; whatever Eclipse told them. The former Royal Guard served well to Eclipse as powerful slaves and thralls collecting more test subjects for the grotesque experiments.

A blood-curdling moan came from the undead Unicorn that led the group of zombies. His golden armor had numerous dents and was smeared with dirt and caked with blood. The company of undead soldiers continued their quest for their master to retrieve live test subjects. Unbeknownst to them two living beings hid in plain sight of them.

“Alright, they’re gone. Let’s move slowly and make our way to Zecora’s. I’m sure she’ll be able to hide us until tomorrow.” Said the manly voice.

The mare sighed and followed him, “that place is absolutely filthy darling. What about Fluttershy’s house?”

“No, we don’t know if her animals suffered the same fate as those poor ponies and I don’t want to take any chances of getting mauled by a bunch of woodland creatures.” Retorted the reptile.

The mare sighed again dragging along slowly as she followed the dragon in front of her, “what happened to Equestia?” She said to no pony in general.

It was meant to be a rhetorical remark, but the dragon replied anyway, “we both know what happened. Twilight found that damn book. Then everything changed…”
………………….
10 Years Ago

A purple mare coughed putting her hoof up to her mouth as the dust settled around her. The Canterlot Archives Restricted section was only able to be accessed by a few ponies. Twilight Sparkle, being the personal student of Princess Celestia was granted access without question. She was searching for something, a book that was said to hold knowledge of both life and death.

"No, no no!" She said aloud to no pony in general, "I know it's here, it must be."

After rifling through several more shelves full of ancient and decrepit books she found what she was looking for, a text almost as old as the princesses themselves. Its spine and cover were bound in leather undoubtedly from deceased ponies. A chilling presence crept down the pony's spine as she held it in her hooves.

Whispers in the stagnant air caused the mare to look around suspiciously. She dismissed it merely as her imagination and slid the arcane text into her saddlebag. The unicorn's horn illuminated with a purple aura before she disappeared in a bright flash of magical light.

She sat down at her desk and lit a nearby candle. Owlicious sat perched at the window and pecked several times alerting the mare to open the window. With a flick of her magic the lock on the window released letting the bird in and a slight breeze of wind.

She spoke the books name slowly whispering it to herself, “The Path to Transcendence.” She marveled at the book running her hoof over the cover and opening it to the first page. Her assistant sighed out loud ignoring the studious bookworm as she delved into her the book she had been searching for.

“At last,” said the mare, “this book holds the secrets of Starswirl the Bearded. The greatest unicorn to ever walk on Equus.”

An ominous, bone chilling wind brushed up against Twilight’s side causing her hairs to stand up as if some sort of imminent danger was present. She exhaled slowly, smiling to herself.
………………..

A timid looking Pegasus approached the chamber where Eclipse stood. Her lab coat was coated with blood, dry and wet. She opened her mouth to speak, but the purple mare cut her off before she could utter a single word.

“You’re back.” She said flatly, “come here Fluttershy.”

The Pegasus walked slowly up to mare carefully watching her until they stood side by side.

“Tell me, Fluttershy, what do you see?” Asked the mare.

“Your empire, Eclipse.”

“No, tell me what you really see.”

The yellow pony paused carefully choosing each word before she spoke, “I see a kingdom… in ruins. A diarchy defeated and the greatest threat to ever supersede Discord himself standing next to me.” Fluttershy stared out into the sky looking down upon the cities below.

“I see.” The purple mare’s face stayed blank without the slightest hint of emotion.

“Flutterhsy…”

“Yes.”

“I love you.”

At that moment the yellow pony blushed before an unexpected feeling pressed to her lips. Upon realizing what was happening her heart began to beat faster, but it all soon faded as Eclipse pulled her lips from Fluttershy’s.

“Thank you, Fluttershy, for not hating me for what I have done. You truly are the Element of Kindness.” Eclipse wrapped her hooves around Fluttershy’s neck hugging her tightly. Fluttershy gently cooed the new ruler of Equestria , stroking her mane and humming a nursery rhyme her mother had taught her.

“I love you too Twilight.”