Hellquill City Grand Central Station, 1010
Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria steps out of the train wagon she was escorted in and fixes the robe on her.
She takes a look around and sees General Rosa Heidenreich and General Erika Stahlflügel and their security staff nearby, waiting for her. The part of the station she was in was mostly empty besides the soldiers, most likely as a result of a security precaution.
The griffons who were still around either tried to ignore her or look at her with surprise or contempt.
She looks at the ceiling, the size of the station was surprisingly huge, and appeared as if a couple of buildings of average sizes could be fitted inside.
General Erika Stahlflügel smiles and welcomes her in a friendly tone:
“Welcome, Princess Sparkle! I hope you had an easy time coming here.”
Twilight however doesn’t share her friendly attitude in the slightest:
“What do you think? The continent is filled with wars, of course it wasn’t easy to get here!”
With Princess’s a bit unexpected outrage, an awkward silence follows.
Erika tries to save the conversation:
“Well, I am truly sorry for the inconveniences, Princess… Should we get moving?”
Twilight however wasn’t paying any attention to her, and instead fixated her eyes on Rosa Heidenreich. Rosa in return, acted like she was not interested and simply tried to look away as if she wasn’t a part of the scene.
Twilight speaks in a low voice:
“I know you… and the things you’ve done… And he too knew very well that I would recognize you.”
Twilight gives a mocking smile:
“Out of all the griffons he could’ve picked to greet me, he picked the one that I would immediately recognize and get annoyed by their presence! Ha! What a coincidence! Am I right?!”
Rosa preserves her cold attitude:
“It hasn’t even been 30 seconds since you get out of the train, and you are already arguing with us. You really want to embarrass yourself in public, aren’t you Princess?”
Erika tries to intervene:
“Rosa… please. Let’s all just-”
Twilight speaks out in fury:
“Oh, and you think I am embarrassed? Do you think I care? Why would I? I have arrived in the literal kingdom of murderers, why would I care about the opinion of anyone here?!”
Behind the soldiers who were here for security, Twilight sees a griff moving alongside. She screams at her:
“Hey! Hey, you! How can you ever go on with your life with these maniacs ruling over you?!”
The griff was caught off guard and tries to get away from them as quickly as possible.
Rosa:
“I don’t think she even knew your language…”
Twilight comes back to herself And tries to save the moment to prevent her from looking like a fool:
“What difference would it make? Let us go already.”
Rosa replies with a mocking smile:
“Oh, of course, your majesty. Surely, you’d be-”
Erika tries to quieten her:
“Rosa, please, remember Führer’s orders.”
Rosa looks back at Twilight, calmly returns to her usual attitude, and acts as if nothing had happened.
The weather was drizzly, and naturally, everyone wore their clothing appropriately. With hats and coats, everyone was casually covering themselves. And as the group exited the station, Twilight realized that the faces of the griffons reflected the depressing nature of the weather today. Or maybe they didn’t like the sight of this hideous creature in front of them.
As they got into the car convoy that was arranged, Twilight took notice of the overtly friendly nature of Erika, and the needlessly cold nature of Rosa. And despite the fact that they were taking orders from the same griffon, it was almost as if they had two completely separate missions on how to welcome them. She really couldn’t understand why.
As the car was moving through the streets, Twilight realized something was off. There was a heavy military presence in the city, and even though this wouldn’t be alien to a police-state such as Hellquill, they almost seemed like as if they were trying to hold something off or preparing for something really bad.
Erika was trying to explain the history behind the city to Twilight, almost like a tourist guide. Twilight was barely trying to give any attention to her, as she was already distracted by the presence of Rosa, and the unusual activity in the streets.
She eventually interrupts Erika and asks:
“What is up with the military presence? Is something up?”
Erika was a bit shocked:
“Oh! It really is nothing! We just like to take hosting guests a bit too seriously.”
Twilight:
“So, this is all for me? Just to protect a pony?”
Rosa joins in:
“Yes, your *majesty*. And you better appreciate it-”
Sounds of yelling and screaming rise from a distance and interrupt the conversation. Most likely a protest. Twilight couldn’t understand the rumblings since they were all in Griffonian.
Twilight:
“That doesn’t sound good…”
Erika quickly turns to the driver and orders something to him in Griffonian.
The driver makes a sharp turn, it was obvious that this was not a part of the plan. Something was up.
Erika turns back to Twilight:
“Just a union strike. Those pesky troublemakers just can’t get enough wages!”
The convoy was trying to stay away from the trouble as much as they could, but this still didn’t prevent the sounds from reaching them.
The sounds didn’t indicate a protest, it was a riot.
Twilight:
“What kind of a union strike is this?!”
Erika:
“It’s just… It’s nothing!”
Erika turns to Rosa in desperation. Rosa was calm despite the sounds of violence that were rising:
“Calm down Princess. Nobody is going to hurt you.”
Twilight:
“I can fend for myself. Just all these noises go in conflict with all the “tales of stability” I’ve heard about this place.”
Erika:
“I swear this never happened before! Our city-”
Rosa:
“Cut it, would you Erika? You are just embarrassing yourself.”
Rioters start shouting slogans from a distance:
“…Katerinburg Verräter! Dem Pony den Tod! Katerinburg Verräter! Dem Pony den Tod! Katerinburg Verräter!”
Twilight:
“That doesn’t sound very friendly.”
Erika attempts to answer but gets shushed by Rosa.
As the convoy was still trying to reach its destination of Hellquill Central Castle desperately, the situation in the city didn’t calm down.
Twilight was trying to observe as much as she could in the streets they were passing by; broken glasses, dismantled barricades, arrested rioters, and blood stains. It was obvious that the law enforcement was still in charge of the streets, but it seemed like the chaos and the rage coming from the rioters simply didn’t end.
Twilight jokes to herself with a tone others could hear her:
“What a lovely place to live in…”
Rosa responds:
“Oh, it’s a lovely place alright. As long as you have wings and know how to use a gun.”
Twilight looks at Rosa again:
“I think I am starting to get a clear picture of you already.”
Rosa:
“Is that so? What you make of me then?”
Twilight:
“A soulless sadist that loves to make fun out of misery.”
Erika was a bit terrified by her statement, Rosa, on the other hand, burst into laughter:
“Bravo, Princess!”
Twilight looks at her, whispering to herself:
“I don’t even know what kind of a reply I expected-”
Their “chatter” suddenly gets interrupted by a griffon flying against the side of the car a lightning speed. The car gets shaken with everyone in it, and the driver makes a hasty turn, as both Twilight and Erika get appalled by the attacking griffon. This however didn’t apply to Rosa, who pulled out a gun almost immediately after the griffon hit the car as if it was an instinct for her. Twilight notices a knife in the hand of the griffon, as the attacker starts hitting the window with his claws, trying to break it.
Rosa calmly, and almost casually, aims her gun at the attacker and shoots him, partially breaking the glass in the process. The attacker falls off the side of the car, as the convoy fastens up to get away from the advancing mob.
Rosa turns to the two under shock:
“So, did any of you get blood on you?”
Twilight was still naturally appalled; she looks at her robe in confusion and then to the blood-covered window.
Erika tries to shake off the surprise and asks Twilight:
“Princess, are you alright?”
Twilight stares at her, still in shock. She then looks at Rosa, who still has a gun in her hand.
Erika notices this, and warns her:
“Rosa! Are you insane?! Put that gun away! She is still our visitor!”
Rosa puts the gun in her coat and looks out of the window.
Erika tries to comfort Twilight for the rest of the road, although Twilight was a bit too shocked to pay any attention.
They eventually leave the chaos of the city and arrive at the castle, with a surprisingly very proper-looking ceremony.
And a car with a bullet hole and blood stains on its window surely looked out of place.
Some of the high-ranking officials including Minister of War General Kamphaus Demetrius were already waiting for the visitor on the stairs at the entrance.
Still shaken by the incident, Twilight hesitantly steps out of the car with the other two. While Erika was making sure to stay close to Twilight as a manner of escorting, Rosa kept on advancing without the other two and headed straight to General Kamphaus. She says something to the General in Griffonian and rapidly leaves the scene by entering the castle first before everyone else.
Twilight looks at her from behind, it was obvious that Rosa certainly didn’t want to be a part of the scene here. And in a way, she envied her for being able to leave the scene.
Twilight approaches the group of Hellquill officials led by Kamphaus. He talks to her in a soulless tone:
“Follow us, Princess-”
Erika tries to intervene:
“-General Demetrius, I believe we should introduce ourselves first to make this meeting as fruitful as possible, the Princess is already shaken-”
Demetrius interrupts:
“That goes against the Führer’s orders. Now get moving.”
As the group starts walking up the stairs, Erika looks at Twilight:
“I am so sorry Princess Sparkle. I wish this visit was under more convenient conditions.”
Twilight looks back at Erika:
“…I have this crazy suspicion that the Führer didn’t wish for anything better for me. Now let us go, I just want to finish this job as quickly as possible.”
Before entering the castle, Twilight looks up to the weather. There was still rain in the air, and even though it wasn’t heavy, it was enough to create a depressing environment.
Twilight enters the castle door alongside Demetrius and immediately sees Wingfried von Katerinburg in all of his glory, waiting on the other side of the blood-red entrance hall for her with all the other leading figures of Hellquill. Even before she could approach him, she noticed a taunting smile on his face, almost as if he was completely aware of what she has been through on the way. She then looks at the faces of the others, it was obvious that she wasn’t welcome here, as almost everyone in the room was looking at her as if they were ready to tear her apart using only their claws, including some even sharing this hostile stare against Wingfried.
As the distance between the two narrows down, Wingfried cheerfully speaks:
“Welcome! Welcome to our humble little Country, Princess Twilight Sparkle!”
He turns to the crowd behind him, which didn’t share his enthusiastic attitude in the slightest:
“I’ve already mentioned it to all of you, haven’t I? Her Majesty and I have a long history together, from the days I still was just a Diplomat. We had countless academic discussions together. Ah, those were the days… Before all these politics… *Turns to Twilight* Am I right, old friend?
Already irritated by everything she’s been through, Twilight goes rabid:
“Old friend? OLD FRIEND??! DO YOU IDIOTIC MANIAC EVEN HEAR WHAT YOU SAY?!? A HELLISH CREATURE RIPS MY WINDOW OFF, BREAKS INTO MY ROOM, AND GIVES ME A LETTER SAYING THAT YOU ARE GOING TO COMMIT GENOCIDE AGAINST ALL PONIES IN GRIFFONIA IF I DON’T COME HERE! AND DAYS LATER, THE NEWS OF MASSACRES COMES OUT ANYWAY! AND JUST TO PUT IT FURTHER, THERE IS A BULLET HOLE ON THE CAR I CAME HERE! CAUSED BY A BULLET FIRED FROM INSIDE OF THE CAR! YOU THINK I LIKE IT HERE YOU IDIOT?! AND YOU STILL HAVE THE GUTS TO CALL ME “AN OLD FRIEND??-”
Wingfried’s smile dies down as Twilight rages.
Twilight:
“I know that it is in your character to be as annoying and deceptive as much as possible, but for the sake of the heavens, WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP AND TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY FOR ONCE?!”
Wingfried stares at her with dead cold eyes, alongside the entire hall.
Seconds later, his smile comes back out of nowhere as he turns to his aide Edler von Wingenberg:
“Edler, if you were the guest of a country, what would be the first thing you’d say to that country’s leader?”
Edler doesn’t even pretend to take his question seriously:
“I really don’t know my Führer…”
Wingfried chuckles and acts as if his mind was a bit loose:
“Of course you don’t, you idiot! *chuckles* You are not smart enough! *continues to chuckle as he points at Twilight* Unlike her! She knows how to act! You call that leader an idiot and tell him to shut up! That’s how you manage diplomacy! All you fools should be taking notes from her!”
He bursts into laughter, and tries to gather himself enough to give a slightly serious statement:
“That’s why I like you “Princess” …You make your own set of ideals and enforce them on the others around you, even if you’re not the one in charge… And if I wasn’t just like that, I probably would’ve never gotten to lead Hellquill in the first place… Deep down, you really are just like me Twilight… Just. Like. Me-”
Already being boiled with hatred, Twilight uses her psychokinesis magic and rips off one of the lanterns on the wall and throws it at Wingfried’s head at a lethal speed.
The lantern breaks into pieces on Wingfried’s head, as he violently crumbles to the ground.
Almost everyone in the room, even some of the most high-ranking civilian officials, pulls out guns even before Wingfried hits the ground. With one noticeable exception; General Kamphaus:
“Everyone, halt!”
Silence sets on the room, as Wingfried continues to lay on the ground.
Suddenly realizing what she had done and seeing at least a dozen gun barrels pointed at her, Twilight comes back to her senses and starts freaking up in her mind. She tries to devise an escape plan but as all odds were now against her, she starts to believe that it is too late for anything now.
Out of nowhere, Wingfried raises his claw to the air as if he was some rising dead. He gradually comes back on his feet again, looking only a bit appalled by the wound that should’ve killed him under normal circumstances. He starts talking like normal:
“Well, that is a- how do you ponies would put it? A “one hell of a way” to start the negotiations, don’t you think?”
Wingfried looks around:
“What is this place? Desperado City? Alle, legt die Waffen nieder! *He points at Twilight* We still have a visitor, see?”
Everyone slowly puts down their arms.
Wingfried turns to Twilight and asks:
“So, should we get moving?”
Twilight, still failing to comprehend what just happened now, just stares at him.
Wingfried:
“I’ll take that as a yes. Anyway, everyone, let’s get moving!”
Not sure how to react, Twilight starts following Wingfried, walking side by side.
As they walk towards the arranged meeting room through the ancient blood-red corridors, Twilight notices a novel thing about Katerinburg’s appearance:
“Wait a minute, have you grown?”
Wingfried:
“Well Princess, don’t we all? Just yesterday-”
Twilight:
“No, no- I mean- You’ve physically grown from the last time I saw you!”
Wingfried:
“So?”
Twilight:
“What do you mean “So?”, that is impossible! You were already fully grown by the time I last saw you!”
Wingfried:
“Says the one who broke a lamp on my head. That too is impossible to many.”
Twilight:
“Wait, you are saying that you are using magic?”
Wingfried:
“What if I am? Does magic concern you?”
Twilight:
“When you are the one doing it, then yeah, it concerns me a lot.”
Twilight thinks to herself again:
“Wait a minute… the thing that gave me the letter, you surviving what just happened, unnatural body growth, unparalleled success of Hellquill… It’s all connected, isn’t it?”
Wingfried:
“Take my country’s success out of that list. Unless you consider my administration capabilities to be magical too.”
Twilight smirks:
“How humble of you…”
Wingfried:
“What can be said? I am just too good at my job.”
Twilight:
“Only if your skill in lying was on par with that too.”
Wingfried:
“Oh, so I am bad at lying then?”
Twilight:
“I didn’t say you were good at it, am I? Your nonsense could only fool the naïve and desperate masses.”
Wingfried smirks:
“How… hurtful. I wish I was good at lying… maybe you could ask Celestia to tutor me on that.”
Twilight:
“Maybe you could improve on your insulting skills first.”
Wingfried laughs:
“Ah, such a delightful and friendly conversation we are having!”
Twilight looks at him annoyed:
“I swear, this sarcastic attitude of you will be your end one day. You seriously think you can joke, giggle, or mock out of every trouble you encounter?”
Wingfried:
“I’ve gotten very far already… So, I am convinced that it just works.”
Twilight:
“I’ve known many just like you. You’ll always crumble down under the weight of your own hypocrisy and lunacy.”
Wingfried:
“And I knew far too many… those were just like you in personality, Princess.”
Twilight:
“And what fate has in store for me then?”
Wingfried:
“That depends on how quickly you can dodge a bullet…”
Twilight sighs and rolls her eyes:
“How ominous… I am truly shaking.”
They finally arrive in the main meeting room. There was no table, but rather a group of neatly placed and well-crafted furniture. As both Twilight and Wingfried takes a seat accordingly, everyone else takes their position around the two.
Wingfried equips a more serious attitude:
“Alright, no more jokes Princess. The diplomacy starts now.”
Twilight:
“About time…”
Wingfried:
“First of all; is your petty goddess Celestia aware of this visit?”
Twilight:
“Yes… So?”
Wingfried:
“I am assuming you won’t elaborate on that.”
Twilight:
“With the war going on with full intensity, Celestia cannot take time off of her duties now. I don’t want to burden her with more stress, especially considering her current situation. -I simply let her know about the monster that broke into my room and the letter it brought to me…”
Wingfried:
“So, she just set you free?”
Twilight:
“After the news of massacres came in, she gave me a week to solve this issue by coming here.”
Wingfried:
“And before the news of the massacre?”
Twilight:
“She was hesitant about this. And so was I.”
Wingfried:
“Oh, so I am assuming that all these allegations were very touching for her.”
Twilight:
“She is under massive amounts of pressure, but she is still a pony with conscience, of course she would- wait for a second, allegations? You don’t admit the massacres?”
Wingfried:
“That’s right, so?”
Twilight looks at him for a while:
“I honestly don’t know what I even expected…”
Wingfried:
“Look, Princess. Personally speaking, of course, those massacres had occurred, but as a statesman, I am obliged to denounce those as allegations.”
Twilight looks at him puzzled:
“I… What even is there to be said about this?”
Wingfried:
“I know what is to be said; it is just business for us.”
Twilight:
“Massacring tens of thousands like it's nothing?! That’s just “business” to you?!”
Wingfried:
“To some extent… yes.”
Twilight stares at him in the eyes, filled with disgust:
“Give me one reason not to kill you.”
Wingfried leans back and talks with a calm attitude:
“I won’t. Take your best shot.”
Twilight realizes that she is letting her emotions overcome her again. She gets her thoughts back together and takes a deep breath:
“Then… why did you even invite me here?”
Wingfried:
“As I said in the letter that I’ve sent to you, I want to reach a deal… Between us and the International Pony.”
Twilight:
“International Pony? That brain-dead conspiracy theory that you cooked up the last time we met?! There is no such thing as the “International Pony” for you to make a deal with!”
Wingfried:
“What I mean by the “International Pony” is Celestia and Luna and all of their affiliates worldwide. That includes you.”
Twilight:
“So, just Equestria and her allies then.”
Wingfried:
“Not exactly, you’ll realize that the Pony-dominated parts of the world are almost entirely controlled by her affiliates in some way. They do their best to rule their respective countries in the most “Harmonic” way as possible.”
Twilight:
“That is only the sign of a good ideology. Why adopt anything else when it is our ideology that is promoting optimism and prosperity, rather than mindless carnage and warmongering? Such as in the case of yours…”
Wingfried:
“There is always more to this, and you know it very well. I was the one who revealed the Protocols to you, remember? And what did happen when I showed you the evidence of the fact that Equestria was behind the Griffonian Revolution, signed by none other than your dear Celestia herself? You burned the paper and tossed it to the ground like nothing.”
Twilight:
“Oh, I remember! That was what you said in that speech of yours a month ago, right? Yeah, I’ve read the transcripts… And how you described me as a cry-baby without mentioning my name.”
Twilight turns to the ones around her:
“Just to make everyone here sure, none of the things that were in that speech were true. *turns to Wingfried again* I never offered you any cupcakes or tea, we never had any lengthy discussions about academic subjects, I not once invited you over, and I never, and I mean never, saw you as a friend, “Führer” Katerinburg.”
Wingfried preserves his calm attitude:
“And you were the one who told me that I was the one lacking lying skills… Heh. I still remember the moment that you started to tear up like a little filly when I started to tell you at full length about how I tragically lost my whole family during the revolution. You tried to comfort me like a psychiatrist… and such a weak-willed psychiatrist you were, fragile like thin glass.”
Twilight, already exhausted by the previous arguments, sighs, and responds in a cold voice:
“Liar…”
Wingfried doesn’t push any further, and changes the subject:
“And now… we are sending volunteers to the Changelings by the thousands to partake in the “Great War”. And I’ll tell you that much; they are very eager to kill some ponies, what is your opinion on that?”
Twilight doesn’t change her attitude:
“We’ll bury you both…”
Wingfried smiles:
“Now, that really doesn’t sound very “Harmonic”, doesn’t it?”
Twilight thinks to herself for a moment:
“Yes… Yes, that is true… And actually, you know what? I don’t remember acting or talking like this ever in my life, you know why? Because in any other circumstances, whenever I confronted an enemy, I always had this feeling deep down, that the person, or the thing in front of me, was a living being, and therefore can be redeemed one way or another. I had at least some type of empathy or pity for my enemies, who had their own justifications or dreams, no matter how morally flawed they might be…
But you? You and your followers are walking sacks of Nihilism. You Reformisten follow no moral rules, no ideology, no god, or ideals, just nothing. You have no real caring for yourself or your surroundings. -You only built, just to maximize your destructive power. You griffons just kill… for nothing.
Even to call you evil… it feels… lacking.”
Silence sets in the room again as Katerinburg and everyone else stare at her.
Wingfried still doesn’t change his attitude:
“Such an emotional speech you’ve just given to us humble griffons here-”
Ever since Twilight had arrived, she had taken notice of some griffons not looking too friendly to their Leader in an eerie way. It was obvious that not many were happy about her visit, as she speculated that many would be taking Wingfried responsible for this. This would be the moment her assumptions would be seemingly proven correct as Eisen Silberkrone, the Reich Intelligence Director, interrupts his Führer’s sentence and speaks out:
“Ich habe genug gehört!”
He walks towards Wingfried:
“Mein Führer, Sie können nicht-”
Wingfried shushes him midsentence:
“Eisen, bitte sprechen Sie in ihrer Sprache.”
Eisen Silberkrone stares at Wingfried and then at Twilight, and to Wingfried again. He speaks as if he is ready to explode at any second:
“My Führer! As one of your most loyal aides, I’ve followed you for all these years! After all the things we’ve been through, hardship, persecution, and eventually glory, I don’t, and don’t want to understand your rationale behind not only inviting this pony to our presence but also allowing her to insult us like it's nothing! And unlike those in the streets, wrecking our city, I could tolerate you inviting this pony to our capital or even hold negotiations with her. But your lack of proper response to this creature is just appalling to me. And as your advisor, let me fulfill my duty and advise you- *points at Twilight* -Make this ungrateful insect remember whose country she is in! Remember that the souls that occupy the walls of our castle are sacred to us my Führer, what do our lives even mean if we don’t even try to live up to them?!”
Despite Silberkrone’s openly hostile statement, Wingfried doesn’t break his casual attitude:
“Well noted, Eisen. Now go back to your place.”
Silberkrone however doesn’t walk away:
“No, my *Führer*, I believe you are getting my advice wrong. I believe you’re thinking that you could just toy with our beliefs here with this pony for your own petty amusement. But you need to remember one thing; the griffons in this room are loyal to the Reformisten Cause and the Griffonian Race, not you. We follow you, only because we trust in your guidance as the Führer. And let me tell you one thing; like it or not, we simply cannot stand by and watch our cause getting desecrated by the very griff that was supposed to be leading it!”
Without waiting for any response, Eisen simply walks away and exits the room in frustration.
Wingfried looks thoughtful for a moment, and talks in a calm and disappointed tone:
“I am… saddened, by Herr Silberkrone’s attitude. The way he acted in middle of a diplomatic meeting… Wir Greifen sollten uns nicht so verhalten… Wirklich beschämend.”
His aide Edler Wingenberg speaks out:
“Soll ich ihm folgen, mein Führer?”
Wingfried:
“Nein, Edler. Let him do whatever he wants. Ich rede später mit ihm…”
Twilight was a bit appalled by the scene unfolding in front of her:
“Was I supposed to understand what you are saying right now?”
Wingfried turns to her, and smiles:
“No worries, you are not missing out on anything.”
Wingfried claps her claws once:
“Everyone, would you please leave me and Princess alone?”
Before Twilight could react, everyone starts departing from the room, she decides not to speak out.
A couple of seconds later, the entire meeting hall was empty, even the guards were gone.
Twilight:
“What now?”
Wingfried:
“Would you mind accompanying me to my library, Princess?”
Twilight stands up:
“I guess I don’t get to choose here, right?”
Wingfried nods as he stands up.
As the two enters the library, Twilight was quite amazed by the amount of knowledge was in the shelves. She asks:
“How much of this did you read?”
Wingfried:
“Never bothered to count. But a good portion of them.”
Twilight:
“And what influence did those books have on you?”
Wingfried:
“Quite a bit.”
Twilight:
“Can you elaborate on that?
Wingfried:
“No worry, I am about to.”
After walking through the corridors of the library for a while, they stop in the middle of a section that can be labeled as the center of the library.
The center had massive windows with scenery of Hellquill suburbs, along with hundreds, if not thousands of ancient books that span across the walls to accompany it. The place was straight out of a romantic painting.
Twilight looks around:
“All this is just available to the state officials, right?”
Wingfried answers as he starts looking into the books on the shelves:
“Yes.”
Twilight:
“That’s truly a shame. Countless minds could’ve been enlightened if this was open to the public…”
Wingfried smiles:
“Believe me, Princess. This place is filled with information that not even the most sophisticated of minds shouldn’t play around with. The Knights of Hellquill didn’t gather all these books across centuries for the sake of enlightenment. Think of this place as a… quarantine chamber of some sort.”
Twilight:
“Then why did you even bring me here?”
Wingfried:
“I’ll get to that, but first, and I know it would be very hard for you, I need you to erase any notion you had about me prior to this moment.”
Twilight:
“You are asking me the impossible.”
Wingfried:
“Perhaps. But still, nothing can fully prepare you for what is about to come, not even me.”
Twilight looks at him skeptical:
“And what would that be?”
Wingfried finally picks up a book with a black leather cover from one of the shelves and puts it on the table near him.
Twilight looks at the book, it was obvious that the thing has been gone a lot throughout ages, most likely because of the information it carried. She speaks out:
“Nothing good has ever come out of a book that looks like that. Speaking from experience here.”
She turns to Wingfried:
“So, what are you up to now?”
They end up staring at each other, as Wingfried seemingly refused to answer.
After a while, his facial expression starts to change to the point where it seemed like he had just gone through something tragic:
“I am so… so sorry for everything I’ve done. I know not even apologizing won’t do a thing anymore, but… Every lie I told to you, and to everyone else, I am fully aware of them and their consequences, I take full responsibility.”
Twilight gets irritated:
“Can we just skip to the part where you burst into laughter and start making fun of me?”
Wingfried doesn’t break his tone:
“No, Twilight, this is no joke. Although I understand why you would think of it that way.”
Twilight continues her skeptical looks:
“What really are you up to Wingfried?”
Wingfried:
“I know this is sudden to you… And again, doing this will be very hard. But I need you to know that I am not the griffon you think I am. I fully know this whole Reformisten thing is just irrational paranoia, filled with senseless bloodshed. It makes no sense, none of the things I’ve rambled about for all these years didn’t make any sense in the slightest! Remember the ‘Protocols’? The paper that you burned, was the only genuine paper I ever showed you, the rest were just regular bureaucratic paperwork with no significance. And the book I published? I made it all up, didn’t even include the other papers we smuggled out of Equestria, as none of them carried any type of importance for me, or for this new movement of delusion I was helping to build. *He points at the door* And those psychopaths that I tricked into serving me? You saw how lunatic they are! You think I don’t realize that?!-”
Twilight was staring at him, wide-eyed. She looks down for a while trying to comprehend Wingfried’s confession. She knew everything he said was right, but still couldn’t bring herself into believing that he was just a rational person in disguise all along:
“Look… I… I know that you are… tricking me. You are trying to trick me into doing something! Were you seriously expecting me to believe that you were just a reasonable person all along? And you were fully aware of your actions, of everything you ever-”
Wingfried starts to look desperate, he acts as if he didn’t have much time to explain. He grabs Twilight’s shoulders and starts shaking her:
“TWILIGHT! Twilight, listen! Listen to me, I beg you! You saw the chaos in the streets, right? You just saw one of my highest-ranking aides defile me in front of you! Hellquill is slipping out of my control Twilight! Don’t you see? Those maniacs I’ve mentioned, Eisen is completely right! They are not loyal to me in the slightest! They are loyal to the ideas I promoted, not to the griff who promoted them! And now they are getting ready to just ditch me like I’m nothing! All this because I invited you! They would rather see me die than watch me make a deal with a pony to stop the massacres!”
Twilight looks at him in confusion:
“I…”
She notices that Wingfried’s claws are still on her. She pushes him away:
“Don’t touch me!”
Wingfried looks even more anxious, he looks like he could start crying at any moment:
“I am sorry! Alright? I know I have much explaining to do, but please, just listen!”
Twilight thinks to herself for a moment:
“I- I want answers first! Why on earth would you start the massacre in the first place?!”
Wingfried raises his left claw and points at a small cube right next to the book:
“See that thing? It all started with that. All the answers are in it.”
Twilight looks at the cube:
“You are saying to me that oversized pencil sharpener told you to commit genocide?”
Wingfried:
“And I am the one who was supposed to be humorous in the most desperate moment… And also no. It showed me… so many things that-”
Twilight interrupts him:
“Just skip to the part that matters to me.”
Wingfried:
“Okay, okay. Every single magical thing I’ve ever done originates from that cube. And to put it simply, it showed me the future… And what is to come from Celestia.”
Twilight:
“Wait a minute, you are telling me that you started all this, over a damn vision?!”
Wingfried:
“A vision? Oh, no. That was not the case Twilight. I’ve been there!”
Twilight looks at him filled with even more skepticism:
“You’ve been… there? What does that even-”
Wingfried:
“Look, I will oversimplify; your dear Celestia is capable of things you have no clue about, things you wouldn’t even see in your nightmares! Your princess is a demon hidden within the shell of an angel! I’ve been to the future since I first discovered this cube in the ruins of Griffonstone 6 years ago. And I saw a globe-spanning Empire based on nothing but blood and gore! Led by a creature that was once known as Celestia!”
Twilight continues to stare at him with the same attitude:
“So… Let’s just pretend that what you just said makes perfect sense, but how does that relate to the things you are doing right now?”
Wingfried:
“Think Twilight, think! Who do you think will volunteer to execute her will? Her dear ponies of all kinds from all continents will get in line to enforce this New Harmony of hers! I saw what she and her minions will do in Griffonia, how they are going to treat anybody that doesn’t comply with her will. The things we are doing right now will be NOTHING in comparison to what is going to happen five years into the future! What we are doing here is a preemptive measure for what is to come! And don’t get me wrong, I hate what we are doing here, but we have no other choice, I can’t take any chances! I cannot let my entire nation get slaughtered by that monster!”
Twilight thinks to herself for a while, she eventually speaks out:
“Have you ever considered therapy?”
Wingfried gets irritated:
“Twilight I am serious! You were the one who told me that Celestia is under a lot of pressure, right? And there is no denying that you are losing this war as city after city is continuing to fall under Changeling control. What do you think is going to happen when the changeling hordes finally reach the gates of central Equestria? Do you think she is just going to ask her soldiers to lay down their arms and start begging Changelings for mercy? Have you ever considered the fact that one day she might break?”
Twilight:
“They’ll never make it to Canterlot…”
Wingfried:
“But it’s your job as a scientist to consider all possibilities, right?”
Twilight:
“Even if they make it to Canterlot there’s simply no way of her becoming a maniac like you!”
Wingfried:
“How can you be so sure?!”
Twilight:
“Because I know her!”
Wingfried looks down and sighs, he starts mumbling to himself as he starts to wander around the room:
“…You have no idea… How do I even…”
He eventually raises his head and looks at the cube:
“Wait a second.”
He walks towards the cube and picks it; a smile appears on his face:
“Why did I even spend all this time trying to explain all this to you-”
He raises the cube towards Twilight:
“-Let the cube do it for me!”
Puzzled, Twilight first looks at the cube and then to the Wingfried:
“Does this thing talk?”
Wingfried laughs:
“No silly! Just touch it, and let the magic do the rest-”
Twilight interrupts:
“Wait, wait, keep that thing away from me! I have years long experience with ancient artifacts, and the looks of that thing don’t remind me of anything nice.”
Wingfried:
“Twilight… You are possibly one of the most powerful beings on this planet. And you are seriously afraid of this cube?”
Twilight:
“-A cube that sends you forward in time and turns you into a genocidal dictator.”
Wingfried gets even more annoyed:
“I already told you that I am not rejoicing in any of my actions! I want to stop this idiotic bloodshed as quickly as you do!”
He lowers his voice:
“Please… Trust me- just trust me this once, and only this once. Once this is over, you can kill me and raze the whole castle to the ground and then go back to Equestria, but please, just listen to what it has to say first.”
They both stare at each other.
Twilight eventually sighs and looks down:
“Okay, you win.”
Wingfried doesn’t seem any happier than her:
“Alright, good… and Twilight, I advise you to take a deep breath before touching it.”
A bit confused by his advice Twilight wraps her hoof with her robe to not touch it directly and takes a deep breath.
Wingfried leans forward and whispers to the cube:
“Show Twilight Sparkle what the future will look like.”
Twilight’s eyes widen as the cube starts to shine unnaturally.
She hesitantly touches the cube with her robe-covered hoof.
That was the last thing she remembers before passing out.
Darkness.
She wakes up on a field covered by rose-red grass and occasional orange-red trees, enlightened by the light of a seemingly never-ending sunset.
Still dazed, she looks around in confusion. She thinks to herself:
“Why does all this look so familiar… Have I been here?”
She stands up:
“So… This is the future?”
She stares at the sunset and at all the autumn plants it enlightened:
“Doesn’t seem to be so nightmarish. This place looks like a painting… a very pretty one even.”
She starts walking around:
“No sign of Civilization… what even is this place? Seems exotic.”
She looks at the sky and tries to analyze it as she continues walking:
“Clouds. This environment seems to tend to rain… *sniff* That would explain the moisture in the air and on the grasses. Am I in Zebrica? …Probably, that too would explain the plants an-”
She notices someone at a distance, a pony standing on a hill all alone:
“Finally, a living being!”
As she continues to move closer, she notices something off about the pony:
“Wait, is that- Is that pony on fire?!”
She starts to rush towards the pony.
“…Something is off. Really off.”
She realizes the pony is in no rush and is simply admiring the sunset. She realizes that the “flames” on the pony weren’t what she thought they were and wasn’t harming the pony.
As she continues to come closer to the pony, she realizes that the creature wasn’t like any other pony she saw before.
But after a while, the pony’s facial features become clearer; she recognizes the familiarities on its face.
She comes to a realization:
“…Celestia?”
Celestia didn’t pay any attention to her and continued to stare at the sunset.
Twilight stops. She didn’t know what to say to her and only ended up staring at her.
After a while, without making eye contact, Celestia speaks out:
“Well done, Grand Inquisitor Sunrise Sparkle. What you’ve done here is truly a form of art.”
Unsure what to say, Twilight speaks in confusion:
“Are you… feeling alright?”
Celestia:
“With what you have done here, only a pathetic weakling would feel bad.”
Twilight stares at her, and then looks around:
“…I am truly sorry but what did I have done here exactly? I don’t seem to remember…”
Celestia finally looks at her:
“Sunrise, did you smack your head to a wall? Just look at the ground.”
Twilight looks at the rose-red plants on the ground in confusion. She mutters:
“I don’t see a thing. What is even-”
Her eyes widen as her heart feels like stopping. She was petrified:
“No… Please no… Don’t be…”
She strokes the grass on the ground with her right hoof and sees the red dye on it fade away.
That grass wasn’t supposed to be red.
And even though she still feared what she was about to see, she looks at the insides of her right hoof, and see it covered with red liquid.
Her heart starts to beat violently as she starts shaking.
She immediately kneels down and instantly starts to examine the ground more closely.
Celestia looks down at her with dubious eyes:
“What are you doing?”
Twilight couldn’t even think of replying to her, as she continued to examine with desperation.
After a couple of seconds, she notices the bits of raw flesh on the ground.
She feels sick and could only take a couple of steps back. She notices even more tiny pieces of flesh covering the ground around her.
Even looking at the ground started to make her uneasy, and as she noticed the entire fields of red grass, she felt like screaming out horror. Her moves become more and more erratic as if she was having a stroke. This wouldn’t be gone unnoticed by Celestia:
“Going insane there again Sunrise? Perhaps you should spend a couple of more months in the dungeons to get yourself cured.”
Twilight asks in despair, trying not to shudder:
“Ho- How far- does this- this field go?”
Celestia continues to look at her with distrustful eyes:
“You did this. You are the one to know.”
Twilight felt like she was going insane, she screams:
“I DIDN’T DO-”
She pauses, as she feels something is off. She looks at herself and realizes that she didn’t notice her clothing being different. This wasn’t her old robe, but rather a military uniform of some sort, a very ominous-looking one to be exact.
She finally realizes that she is in somebody else’s place.
Celestia:
“Yes? You “didn’t do” what?”
Still in shock, Twilight looks at her again:
“…Celestia? …What happened to you?!”
Celestia looks at her with furious eyes, she wasn’t happy with Twilight’s usage of words:
“What on this earth (!) gave you the courage to use that forsakenname?! In mypresence?!”
She starts walking towards Twilight:
“It seems… that just throwing you into a dungeon again won’t do it. You seem truly lost Sunrise. And to get cured, you’ll need something more… permanent.”
At first, Twilight didn’t know how to react to Celestia approaching her. But after shaking off the shock, she realized the danger coming from her.
She turns her back and simply starts running, and then starts flying.
As she continues to fly away from her, Celestia screams from behind:
“YOU IMBECILE! YOU HAVE LOST YOUR MIND! I AM YOUR GOD, AND YET YOU TRY TO FLY AWAY?! I DARE YOU! I DARE YOU TO ESCAPE FROM ME!”
As she continued to fly away at full speed, Twilight looks behind her for a second and sees a colossal fireball approaching her.
She tries to fasten up in desperation and tries to gain a higher altitude. She thinks to herself:
“When does this end?! Wait a minute… will this ever end? …How do I return to the past? Idiot! Why did I not ask the griff how to go back? Idiot, idiot! You’re an idiot Twilight!”
She looks at the fireball again and tries to do an evasive maneuver around it. She evades it successfully, but it wouldn’t be long before she realizes that the fireball wasn’t some projectile Celestia had thrown toward her, it was Celestia herself, she was yelling at her rabidly:
“YOU ARE A FAILURE SPARKLE, A FAILURE! YOU ARE A STAIN ON MY PERFECT CRUSADE! THE CRUSADE OF YOUR GOD, DAYBREAKER! AND I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU WISH YOU WERE DEAD!”
Twilight notices that “Daybreaker” is not going anywhere and continues to follow her at full speed.
The pursuit continues as Daybreaker starts launching inferno projectiles at seemingly completely random, the entire sky started to resemble a heavy rain of magma. With fire igniting the ground before them, it seemed as if hell went loose at an instant.
Twilight screams at her:
“Celestia- I mean- Daybreaker! Please! Stop! Just let me talk to you! Just listen to me for once! I’ll tell you-”
Daybreaker:
“-SHUT UP! SHUT UP! THE ONLY THING I WANT TO HEAR COMING FROM YOUR MOUTH IS YOUR SCREAM!!!”
Twilight realizes any meaningful communication is impossible at this point and only could do her best to evade Daybreaker and whatever she is throwing at her at the moment.
She looks at the scenery Daybreaker had created in mere seconds, as this once fertile-looking place started to resemble a burning wasteland. She thinks to herself:
“Should I try fighting her? -No -no, I have no idea how powerful she has become! This easily might be suicide! …But wait, would getting myself killed here would get me back to the past? …Would that even work? …And in case she captures me alive… do I want to imagine what she would do with me? Think! Think!”
She notices a dense forest at a distance, and thinking this might be a good temporary cover, she makes a nosedive towards the forest. She struggles to quickly land amongst the trees, and despite hitting multiple branches, she manages to do so and starts running on her hoofs.
The smell of ash didn’t go away, and she had no intention of looking back. Twilight simply hoped that she would return to the past in no time as she continued her dash.
She looked up for a moment, above the trees, there were still signs of fire, almost resembling signal flames. She looks in front of her again and sees burnt woods and inexplicable objects. She mutters as she passes by them:
“These aren’t newly burnt… It's almost like something else is nearby… These are remains of a settlement.”
She stops, as the end of the forest becomes visible. She looks around again to make sure her trace is lost:
“Did I lose her already? This was almost… too easy.”
She looks at the sky again, the traces of inferno were seemingly lost.
She turns towards the exit of the forest and starts walking.
Still hesitant, her eyes wander around in fear as she continues her advance.
After a while, she was no longer in the forest and was met with a more natural-looking grass terrain in front of her.
This, however, wasn’t a perfect scene, a couple of beacons of dying smoke were rising from the distance. She thinks to herself again:
“I guess I don’t have much of an option but go there, do I? *Sigh* I don’t even know what I was supposed to do in here. I really should’ve asked more questions to Katerinburg before touching that damned cube…”
She considered flying but thought that this wouldn’t be the wisest of actions since Daybreaker still might be eyeing the skies. She starts walking again.
A couple of minutes of walking through the hills later, she finally realizes what the source of smokes beacons was:
“I think I just found the settlement I was thinking about.”
A medium-sized town, which was completely razed to the ground was in front of Twilight. The town was so ravaged that there wasn’t even a single two-story building left intact as far as Twilight could see:
“…Guess I did this too, I assume.”
She starts walking through what’s left of the streets and tries to figure out what type of place this town was. Because of the destruction, there wasn’t anything left intact that might give a clue about what culture even these buildings were built upon. There was nobody around or any type of sound that might indicate a living being.
She notices something was off:
“All this destruction… yet, not a single taint of blood in sight. Where did everyone go? …Wait a minute, is this related to what happened in the red fields? …Do I even want to know the answer? I guess not.”
After strolling around a while, she decides to enter one of the ruins.
She walks on top of the bricks and wood pieces and starts looking around without an objective.
As Twilight was taking another step on top of the ruins, the deafening silence was interrupted by a squeak coming from under the rubble.
Twilight’s eyes widen as she abruptly stops.
She looks down at the rubble, and even though she was afraid of what she might see, she still kneels down anyway and removes the brick beneath her hooves using psychokinesis.
She sees the face of a terrified young griffon, with his eyes filled with fear and tears.
Unsure how to communicate or what to do, Twilight merely smiles.
The young griffon gets uneasy as he was obviously terrified by the presence of Twilight alone, it seemed as if he was trying to get away from her, even though there was clearly nothing he could do beneath all the rubble.
Unsure what to do, Twilight looks around.
She eventually sighs and looks at the griffon again, trying to keep an optimistic attitude:
“Hi, little buddy! I am so sorry but- wait, I am sorry again, I think I am getting ahead of myself, my name is Twilight Sparkle, and yours?”
The expression on griffon’s face didn’t change as he continued shivering.
Twilight:
“I- I… uh… Do you understand me? Do you understand my language?”
Nothing comes out of griffon.
Twilight looks around in confusion, and thinks to herself:
“What country even is this? How do I talk to him? Should I just… No! I can’t just leave him alone!”
She ponders to herself for a moment and talks again:
“Comment tu t’appelles? …Me comprenez-vous?”
Still nothing. She sighs to herself and decides it's best not to try to communicate and just free him.
She gets off the rubble and activates her psychokinesis ability and starts making a way out for the griffon.
As she was clearing the way, Twilight hears the sound of gravel falling off coming behind the ruined walls, she immediately turns her head around.
The moment she turned her head, more sounds of gravel could be heard, it became obvious to her that somebody was watching.
She looks at the griffon, and even though she didn’t expect much of a reply, she talks to him:
“Stay calm, I’ll be back in no time.”
She jumps off the rubble and starts approaching the wall.
She stops before her arrival and considers the possibilities. She realizes that she was still wearing the uniform worn by a genocidal maniac, which would partially explain the horror on young griffon’s face. She struggles with the clothing on her for a couple of seconds before throwing it away.
She then approaches the wall and calmly looks at the other side of it.
There was just a single griffon looking at Twilight, seemingly larger than the previous one, she was also seemingly filled with horror, but apparently not enough to run or fly away the moment she noticed Twilight, unlike the former.
Yet again not knowing how to greet her, she simply smiles out of awkwardness and says:
“-Hi!”
The attitude of the griffon didn’t change, she continued to stare at her. Twilight tries to start a conversation:
“You know, I kind of expected you to… well, fly away from me the moment you see me -But don’t get me wrong! I have no bad intentions, I swear!”
Griffon continues her stare. Twilight hits her head with her hoof:
“*Sigh* You didn’t understand a thing I said, right?”
Griffon stares at her, and finally speaks in a fairly calm manner, seemingly exhausted:
“No. I understand.”
Twilight was a bit amazed by this out-of-nowhere answer:
“Well… that’s… that’s great!”
They both end up staring at each other.
After a while Twilight speaks in an uncertain tone:
“I honestly don’t even know where to start.”
The griff gazes at her:
“…”
Silence ensues.
Twilight eventually speaks out in a cheerful manner:
“I’m Twilight Sparkle by the way!”
The griff looks around the ruined city:
“That’s… kind of hard for me to not know. -I’m Sydnee.”
Twilight:
“So, Sydnee, would you-”
Sydnee interrupts her, seemingly not intentionally:
“What happened?”
Twilight:
“I… sorry?”
Sydnee:
“No I mean, what happened to you? You are not the same pony that was here three days ago. I can see that.”
Twilight thinks to herself for a moment:
“Look, to oversimply, I am not the same pony that was… that used to be in this body… which I am in right now.”
Sydnee:
“You… swapped …bodies or something?”
Twilight sighs and then chuckles to herself quietly:
“I know just thinking it alone sounds stupid, but I am from the past. -Like, literally-”
Sydnee:
“-Yeah, I believe you.”
Twilight:
“Wait, really? Just like that-”
Sydnee:
“-Yes, just like that. I’ve… seen a lot for the last three days. I… really am ready to believe in anything now.”
Twilight:
“Well, that’s… good.”
She too looks around the ruins again:
“So… what happened here exactly?”
Sydnee in a cold tone:
“You and your ponies came and started destroying the place.”
Twilight:
“…Why?!”
Sydnee:
“No idea. And I mean it. This town wasn’t even a rebellious place, I don’t understand why anyone would have a grudge against anyone from here.”
Twilight:
“…I would understand if you didn’t want to answer, but what did I have done here exactly?”
Sydnee:
“You never killed anyone outright, as far as I could see. You had some… creative ways of doing your …things.”
Twilight pauses:
“The red fields… You saw them too, right? Did I-”
Sydnee:
“Yes, you’ve done that too.”
She shrugs off.
“I mean I didn’t see you doing it, but I don’t think it was your Empress-”
Twilight:
“-Wait, wait, you are telling me that Celestia- I mean Daybreaker- is now an Empress?”
Sydnee stares at her in confusion:
“You didn’t know that already? How long have you been here?”
Twilight ponders for a moment:
“For what, -about 30-40 minutes? Good heavens… It all felt like days. Just a couple of minutes ago, I was- wait-”
She remembers the young griffon she left beneath the rubble and immediately runs back to it without saying a thing to Sydnee.
As she was starting lifting the wreckage that was on the griff, she noticed Sydnee staring at her.
Twilight noticed how calm she was, it was almost as if she knew something, she points at the rubble:
“Do you know this child?”
Sydnee smiles and talks in a gloomy tone:
“Why do you think I never left this place?”
She started to tear up as she seemed emotional about the sight in front of her, although her smile suggested that she welcomed the help of Twilight.
Twilight couldn’t help but feel bad for her. And after briefly exchanging looks, she reconcentrates her focus on the rubble and lifts the last pieces of rubble on the young griff.
After the pathway was cleared, the young one only ended up staring at Twilight, not even his facial expressions didn’t change. Already knowing how he might’ve reacted to her; Twilight backs off to give him space to move forward and to show him that she is no threat.
The young griff crawled out of the wreckage slowly and continued to look at Twilight.
Sydnee started approaching the griff as she seemed overly emotional, she suddenly rushes at him and hugs him. She ends up crying.
Twilight looks at her in confusion, and even though she didn’t want to interrupt her, she couldn’t help but ask:
“Is he… your brother?”
Sydnee simply nodded as she continued to hug him.
A couple of minutes later, they were sitting beside the ruins looking at the horizon without an objective.
Sydnee was still embracing her brother as they were sitting close to each other.
The sun was finally fading away and the sky was getting darker.
Neither of them had spoken a word in minutes, Twilight finally decides to interrupt the silence:
“-Why haven’t you told me to free him? The first you saw me I mean”
Sydnee wasn’t making eye contact:
“We are in no rush…”
Twilight:
“What? But Cel- I mean- Daybreaker was kilometers away just hours ago! It’s not safe!”
Sydnee looks at her:
“Where were we supposed to go then?”
Twilight:
“Anywhere in the world that is not here!”
Sydnee:
“Heh. You really don’t know a lot.”
Twilight:
“Don’t know what?”
Sydnee sighs:
“From the last news I’ve heard, there really isn’t much a world left for us to run off to. Daybreaker already launched her invasion of Griffonia a year ago, I don’t know much about Zebrica, but there can’t be good too-”
Twilight:
“-Wait, what year is it?”
Sydnee looks at her confused:
“1014, why?”
Twilight looks into the emptiness, horrified:
“Four years… All this happened in four years.”
She looks at Sydnee again:
“Do you have any idea what happened in Equestria?”
Sydnee:
“I wasn’t exactly familiar with the world news, but as far as I know you were losing the war.”
Twilight:
“The Great War?”
Sydnee:
“Yes, I think so. And one day… one day the things just changed… She went insane. I am sorry- but there isn’t really much to tell, not from me at least.”
Twilight:
“I… I understand, I can learn more later on.”
She looks at the small griffon in Sydnee’s lap:
“What’s his name?”
Sydnee:
“Grover.”
Twilight:
“The name of the emperors…”
Sydnee smiles:
“My father used to live in the Empire, back in its days of glory I mean… He was caring too.”
The smile on Sydnee’s face vanishes:
“That was before he joined the Army…”
Twilight looks down:
“I am so sorry, but… did you have anyone else?”
Sydnee:
“Our mother was still with us… up until recently, very recently.”
Twilight:
“…I am so sorry-”
Sydnee:
“Don’t be. I know saying this makes me look cold-blooded, but the last couple of days truly did kill off whatever naivety I had in me. -I am actually surprised that I haven’t lost my mind already… Or perhaps I have.”
Twilight nods at Grover:
“What about him?”
Sydnee:
“He was under the rubble for most of the time, I never had a way of getting him out until you came here. But would you believe that it was the rubble that saved him? Nobody noticed him this whole time because of it. But… He didn’t speak a word since that. I can guess why.”
Twilight:
“Does he understand my language?”
Sydnee:
“Of course, of course… But the communication is one-sided.”
Twilight:
“I see…”
Twilight looks at the emptiness for a while, she then asks:
“So, what are you going to do now?”
Sydnee:
“I have a couple of things with me at a little distance from here. So I’ll just grab them and start walking aimlessly until we encounter someone.”
Twilight looks at her with pity:
“…I can come with you.”
Sydnee gets surprised:
“Really? But don’t you have somewhere else to be?”
Twilight:
“Like what? Go back to the future? Heh. I honestly don’t know how to go back.”
Sydnee looks at her with curiosity:
“…Why are you even here?”
Twilight:
“A griff send me here… to show me how messed up the future was going to be. -By using… a cube-like thingy. It looked like a little box.”
Sydnee:
“That sounds like quite the story. I am sure you-”
Twilight interrupts:
“No, no, no, it really wasn’t nothing special.”
She thinks to herself for a moment:
“…Actually, come to think of it. It wasn’t special, but… bizarre. And even that word feels meager…”
Sydnee:
“So are you like what, on a quest? To stop whatever is happening right now?”
Twilight:
“I didn’t come here with that intent… But I am starting to think that I am about to be.”
Sydnee:
“I am sorry to break it to you, but I think you are a bit too late to stop her.”
Twilight:
“Maybe now, yes… But… I have to find a way back to the past. I still can stop all this from happening.”
Sydnee:
“From what I heard; you were close to her before all this right? To Celestia I mean.”
Twilight:
“I suppose…”
Sydnee:
“Then… what are you even going to do? …Kill her?”
Twilight:
“I’ll try to find a way. But I simply cannot kill Celestia! This Daybreaker thing isn’t her! I know her!”
Sydnee:
“So are you going to do what? Convince her?”
Twilight:
“Anything but murder!”
A moment of silence ensures.
Sydnee looks into the emptiness with a surprisingly emotional look:
“…From what I’ve heard, you were one of the most powerful ponies to ever live…*turns to Twilight* You can kill her, can you?”
Twilight:
“What- you mean like now? The Daybreaker?"
Sydnee tries to hold tears back but eventually gives up. She nods to her with tearful eyes:
“I really want her dead… Please understand me.”
Twilight felt powerless, she tries to look away in shame:
“There’s no way of me knowing what you’ve been through. But I can’t… I just can’t… Even before all of this, I knew Celestia had untold levels of power within her. I was always glad that she was on our side. …I couldn’t imagine if her powers were in the grasp of somebody else. …But I don’t have to imagine anymore. I just saw what Daybreaker was capable of. Not even my magic can do a thing on her. I’m sorry, but I’m just no challenge for her-”
“YES, YOU ARE, YOU DAMN MORON!!!”
Both Celestia and Sydnee jump from their places in shock as the thunderous roar echoes around them.
Daybreaker strikes like a meteorite and lands near them right behind. All of them collapse following the shockwave. Twilight struggles to keep a straight posture.
The whole area was suddenly enlightened by the flames on the Daybreaker:
“I HEARD ENOUGH OF YOU!”
After recovering from the shock, Twilight jumps in front of Sydnee and Grover as a means of protecting them:
“You only have business with me! Don’t harm them!”
Daybreaker stares at Twilight. She eventually gives a burst of mocking laughter:
“You really think I would bother myself with crushing puny insects such as these? No, Twilight. It was your job to do that!”
Twilight suddenly feels crushing pressure all around her, realizing that Daybreaker was trying to get a grasp of her, she eventually tries to fight back, but seeing the state the two griffons were in, she realizes that trying to fight Daybreaker would probably hurt them in the process.
Daybreaker grabs Twilight through magic and lifts her in the air, she could almost feel the pressure cracking her bones. She screams in agony.
She forces herself to turn towards the griffons, she talks out in pain:
“Grab your brother and go!”
Sydnee grabs her brother and starts flying away in desperation. And although Twilight wasn’t able to see them go, by the sounds of it, Twilight hopes they made it.
Daybreaker approaches Twilight and looks at her with mocking looks. Twilight speaks in agony:
“How…?”
Daybreaker:
“Yes, yes, I was listening and watching you this whole time because I wanted to learn what happened to you and blah blah … *chuckles* And you seriously thought you could just outrun me? Just like that?! I couldn’t even believe it when you convinced yourself into thinking like that! I can hear a bug buzzing a continent away! And yet you only could be so foolish…”
Twilight feels the pain in her intensify, she could feel the flames on her.
Daybreaker speaks to her in a fiendish tone:
“Now, who is this griffon that sent you? Tell me. Now.”
Twilight tries to think beneath all the pain. She tries to come up with something:
“It’s someone you have already killed… Don’t even bother-”
Daybreaker interrupts:
“The way you tried to lie to me like that… I find it very insulting.”
Daybreaker manifests a blade among the flames in the air. She then points it at Twilight’s chest:
“You had your chance to tell the truth. But thankfully for me, we now have other ways of reaching information now… And thanks to the technology you yourself devised; I’ll only need yourhead.”
As the blade was about to reach her, Twilight screams:
“Wait! I know you are going to kill me! But just answer me on something! What happened to them? What happened to the others?!”
Daybreaker:
“What others?”
Twilight:
“My friends, my family! What happened?!”
Daybreaker:
“You expect me to keep a track of every insect I crush? You think I even bother remembering their names?”
Twilight stares at her in misery:
“Then what happened to Shining Armor? My brother! There’s no way you could forget my brother! He was the head of the Royal Guard! What happened to him?!”
Daybreaker looks at her with a mocking smile:
“Only you are to know what really happened to him, my dear Grand Inquisitor. And it was I who decided to leave you alone with him… How many horrors you committed that day to him, I simply wonder! -And now… goodbye my dear Sparkle.”
Twilight merely mumbles:
“No… I can’t-”
The blade strikes Twilight’s heart at a lightning speed.
She looks down and sees the blood pouring to the ground from her chest like a fountain.
She could feel her ribcage and spine getting shredded into pieces, as the sword cuts its way through and reaches her throat.
Before it could reach her skull, the darkness encompasses her.
She ceases to exist.
Twilight starts to feel her body once again.
She opens her eyes.
And finds herself on the library’s ground, it seemed like nothing had changed around since she touched that cube.
For some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to raise her head. And felt as if she was in slumber for days.
She notices Wingfried, a little distance away from her, with his back against her, probably looking at the books.
She felt that she was in no shape to call him out. And simply a grunt comes out of her mouth.
Hearing her, Wingfried turns to her:
“That was a bit quick. For me, at least.”
He approaches her and helps her get on her hooves.
Twilight looked around the room dazzled. She tried to make sense of the things she had just gone through.
Wingfried holds her to keep her from collapsing. He asks her in a calm voice:
“How did it go?”
Twilight gets herself back together and then looks at him.
She hits him in the face with her hoof with all the force left in her.
Wingfried backs off, and grunts in pain:
“What the hell was that for?!”
Twilight stares at him, exhausted:
“For not being explicit enough about this… time travel of yours.”
Wingfried:
“Then what was I supposed to do? You didn’t ask for the details!”
Twilight:
“I… I hoped this would be some type of a… vision of some sort.”
Wingfried:
“I told you that! Remember? This is no vision; you actually go there!”
Twilight:
“…And didn’t tell me about how to go back.”
Wingfried:
“Okay, okay, I’ll admit that I’ve been negligent. I’m sorry.”
Twilight:
“Sorry? Do you have any idea what I’ve been through?!”
Wingfried:
“Yes, I actually do. You got yourself killed, haven’t you?”
Twilight goes wide-eyed:
“How did you-”
Wingfried:
“You woke up early, that’s how. It’s been about 10 minutes since you touched that thing. And Twilight, the first time I touched it; I was away for a whole day.”
Twilight looks at him puzzled:
“Wait a minute, the first time you touched that thing, was it before or after our last meeting in Equestria?”
Wingfried:
“Before.”
Twilight:
“Then why did you not-”
Wingfried:
“Because you wouldn’t believe- That’s why.”
Twilight looks at him in uncertainty:
“That’s… that’s actually fair.”
Twilight looks around aimlessly, not knowing what to say.
Wingfried asks him once again:
“So… How did it go exactly?”
Twilight:
“Do you need to know the details?”
Wingfried:
“I mean… I am curious about how you got yourself killed this quickly.”
Twilight:
“Celestia- or whatever she was calling herself- killed me. That’s all you need to know.”
Wingfried:
“Lucky you. I’ve been in the future multiple times, and I never got to meet her.”
Twilight looks at him, curious:
“And how did you come back exactly? Do you kill yourself every time to go back?”
Wingfried:
“What? No, no, you just have to say “take me back” out loud in any language you desire, and it takes you back. But you really have to mean it when you say-”
Twilight screams in confusion:
“WHAT?! IT WAS SIMPLE AS THAT?!”
Wingfried:
“But please look at the bright side! You have a clear picture of the future now, right? You now finally understand me, right?”
Twilight remembers the reason why she came here in the first place. To negotiate with him:
“Wait, this whole thing-”
Wingfried:
“Yes, it was to make you understand me… Believe me, Twilight, believe me for once, everything you saw there was real, as real as you and me. And if the things continue in this way… the end result will be something very similar.”
Twilight:
“Then… what even was your deal, the thing that made you go through all this trouble?”
Wingfried pauses and takes a serious stance. He swallows, and takes a deep breath:
“Twilight, I never hated the ponies, and I don’t want to invade the Riverlands, let alone commit genocide against those there… Twilight, I have only one enemy, onerealenemy… Her.”
Wingfried takes another deep breath, he seemed to be under pressure:
“Help me. To take the fight to her.”
Twilight looks at him stunned:
“What you want from me is-”
Wingfried:
“Kill her, disable her, put her to sleep, do whatever you see fit, but just incapacitate her to the point she cannot transform into that monster! That is all I ask! That is all I need. And in return, I’ll destroy Reformisten, its party, its ideology, this unholy country which I turned into a war machine… and then myself. And by that, I’ll put an end to this madness… permanently.
I don’t care what happens next, and I don’t want to see what happens next, let it be the Griffon Empire that rules over us or the Aquileia. It just doesn’t matter to me… No matter what happens, it won’t be as terrible as what is going to happen under her.”
Twilight gazes at him, trying to elevate the situation. She remembered the words Sydnee, and how she pleaded for her to kill Celestia. A part of her mind started to push her towards making a decisive decision, while the other part of her mind begged her to sit this one aside.
She got stuck in a limbo of judgment, and asks out of desolation:
“And why should I trust you to commit such a plan? How would I know that you are not making a fool out of me by using me to take Celestia out?”
Wingfried sighs, he turns to the table, approaches it, and puts his claw on the book with black leather. He speaks in a vague tone as if he was describing the object like an academic:
“This book was used by the Griffonian chiefs and kings before the conquests of Grover I… during the Griffonian Dark Ages.”
He opens the book, and starts searching thoroughly:
“Back then, making deals such as this was hard… very hard in fact. That much so that eventually griff sorcerers were asked to craft spells of dark magic to render the alliances as absolute.”
Twilight:
“I don’t like the sounds of that…”
Wingfried:
“-Neither do I.”
He stops his search. Twilight leans in to look at it:
“What am I supposed to be looking at right now?”
Wingfried:
“This one was one of Grover I’s favorites, if not the favorite. This spell requires the participants of the said pact to swear on their very souls on the honesty of the treaty. In other words, the participants have to do everything they can to fulfill their end of the deal, and if they don’t or try to deceive the agreement, they simply… die. Even our magic wouldn’t do a thing, as all mortals are subject to the oath, including us both.”
Wingfried turns to Twilight:
“So… are you ready to take the oath?”
Twilight stares at him with confused eyes:
“…This- All this is just too much for me now. I need… I need to… think.”
She looks away from Wingfried and starts wandering around the room.
Wingfried didn’t interrupt her thinking session and simply stood aside.
After a couple of moments, she looks at the mystical cube on the table. She talks to Wingfried without making eye contact:
“Show me… show me that the change is possible. Show me that I can prevent what is about to happen.”
Wingfried points at the cube:
“You mean with this? You want to go to the future again?”
Twilight:
“I want to go to another future for very briefly- If that’s possible.”
Wingfried:
“I wouldn’t really recommend it- since it’s been only a couple of minutes since you woke up. -But it's really up to you.”
He backs aside:
“Go on then. Just whisper whatever you want to see.”
She hesitantly approaches the cube and touches it with her right hoof.
She closes her eyes and whispers:
“Help me get to the future I want.”
She doesn’t collapse this time; she calmly stands her ground and opens her eyes seconds later.
Wingfried leans:
“So… Are you alright? Did it go well?”
She calmly turns to Wingfried and nods in silence.
Wingfried:
“Then… what did you see?”
Twilight speaks in a manner way quieter than before:
“I went far to the future. And it was beautiful… Everyone I cared about was there. -We were old, yet it was still lovely…. it was as if… as if everyone around me received what they wanted for all their lives… Including me.”
After a pause, Wingfried asks:
“Were Celestia and Luna there too?”
Twilight looks down and sighs:
“Look, even if everything you said were real and everything that I just saw is real too… I simply cannot go against her, let alone kill her. You just have no idea what she means to me. …I am sorry.”
Wingfried takes a step back and takes a deep breath:
“I understand you… And Twilight, just remember when that day arrives, you are free to come here. It never will be too late…”
Twilight calmly nods and moves towards the door. She eventually turns to him:
“I’ll be leaving now.”
Wingfried:
“Of course, of course… I’ll let the butlers prepare your-”
Twilight:
“No, no- I mean I am leaving Hellquill, now.”
Wingfried goes wide-eyed:
“-No offense, Twilight, but I don’t think that is a possibility at the moment.”
Twilight:
“Why would that be-”
She remembers the barricades on the streets:
“Oh… Then I’ll just fly-”
She notices the storm outside the window:
“…Alright, whatever.”
Wingfried:
“I know why you wouldn’t want to stay here for tonight. But believe me, Twilight, this is the only place in this entire country where I can successfully keep you safe.”
Twilight smiles to herself:
“How ironic.”
Wingfried too approaches the door, opens it, and holds it for Twilight:
“Princesses first.”
Twilight looks at him with an odd smile, as if like she was holding back laughter:
“You sure are a charmer, are you? -Surely you wouldn’t harm anyone.”
Wingfried chuckles:
“Sure I am.”
They both exit the library.
