To Save our Legacy

“Ooooww, do you think they might have forgotten?” Sunny fidgeted on her hooves for a second before resuming her pacing. “They all answered my message, but it’s been hours already and I don’t see anypony except us! Perhaps they’ve gotten lost? O-Or somepony got hurt coming here?!”

After a hearty meal and a quick nap, I made my way to the meeting point Sunny had proposed for the hike. Following the instructions in her message, it had taken me around twenty minutes to reach the small clearing kissing the forest's entrance, where I found said mare waiting patiently for the rest of the gang to arrive, her muzzle hihgh in the air enjoying the feeling of the breeze tickling her sensitive snout.

An adorable sight that warmed my heart even further.

After some enthusiastic greetings from Sunny, we had engaged in friendly conversation, just chatting about the day and a few more things around our previous conversation that very same morning. However, minutes turned into an hour and nopony else showed around at the meeting point.

Sunny had started to become restless, trotting back and forth nervously while muttering a hundred and so scenarios her mind would come up with to explain our friend’s absence. From a tsunami that had flooded half the town to a duel of resolve between Hitch and a lost manticore that wanted to dine on an unsuspecting pony. Amused by the crazy scenarios she’d come up with, I simply chose to lounge near the clearing, using a fallen log to lay back.

Of course, knowing how ponies usually tend to work, I wasn’t worried in the slightest. “Sunny, calm down. Fussing over it ain’t gonna make them arrive here faster.”

Sunny wouldn't share my apparent calmness and continued making a mountain out of a molehill. “B-But what if they’ve completely forgotten? After all the effort I put into planning this trip!”

“Oh, they’ve definitely forgotten.” I offered nonchalantly.

Sunny did a literal double-take at me when I said that. Ceasing her worried trot, she regarded me with equal parts bewilderment and offense. “W-What?!”

I rolled my hand in the air. “They’ve forgotten about it, and have recently remembered about it, and currently are on their way here. You’ll see.”

I might as well have recited her Starswirl’s Theorem for Asymmetrical Magical Resonance over Spectral Projections. “... And how can you be so sure about that?” She demanded with ears flat on her scalp.

With the same urgency of a lazy seal basking in the sun, I gave her a simple answer. “Sunny, I’ve been living in Equestria for more than ten years since I first arrived. I’ve been through a lot of similar situations, enough of them to know what to expect. Nine out of ten times, we would have worried about our friends missing enough to start a search for them through the forest, with them doing the same for us, triggering a meaningless game of cat and mouse that would eventually end in all of us finding each other in a comical way after having wasted most of the afternoon. It’s better if we just wait for them here and give them a chance to remember and hurriedly make their way here to promptly bathe us in apologies about having forgotten about it. Sounds good?”

Poor Sunny was short-circuiting trying to follow my reasoning. Of course, from a pony’s point-of-view, it wouldn’t make any sense. It was one of those motives you realize keep happening when you spend enough time in Equestria.

“…That’s oddly specific.” Sunny replied.

“You ponies are way too predictable.”

Before she could add anything witty, we heard the hurried hoof steps of our friends, followed by worried screams. Lo and behold, there they were, our four missing pals galloping towards the clearing like the flames of Tartarus were on their tails. I couldn’t resist flashing Sunny my most irking, smuggest grin,winning back an annoyed huff from her.

“Smartbutt…” She squeezed through clenched teeth.

“That’s very cute, Sunny.” I gave her a winning wink.

“Sunny!” Hitch called breathlessly when he finally caught sight of us. He was panting like a rabid dog, most likely from having galloped all the way here in a record time. Behind him, the three mares also gave relieved sighs when they saw us patiently waiting over the clearing.

The sheriff was the first to initiate the apologies. “S-Sunny, we’re so sorry! I-I completely forgot about it! I was just so busy at the station th-that I…”

“Hitch, Hitch! Breeeathe.” Sunny, worried about Hitch’s poor state, stepped in front of the ragged-looking sheriff and tried to get him to calm down. The rest of the ponies surrounded us and also shared their own sets of apologies, also referring to how busy they had been during the day.

“That’s what this hike’s supposed to be about guys, remember?” I butted in with a hint of annoyance.

Numerous guilty smiles and ashamed looks were sent in my direction. However, Sunny being how she was, was quick to forgive them and tell them how thrilled she was at the fact we all would be able to partake in a nice activity together, to wind out a bit after all the stress of the last few weeks. She had made sure to bring plenty of marshmallows for us to roast later at our destination. She assured me it was a frequent stop for earth ponies who wanted to spend a relaxing time surrounded by nature. No dangerous animals or anything the like had ever been spotted in the forest that we’d have to worry about. The only drawback was the numerous roads which spread throughout the woods, making it easy for hikers to get lost if the proper directions weren’t followed.

Luckily for us, she had frequently visited the place with her dad when she was a filly, which meant she knew the way by heart. Not wanting to waste more quickly-dwindling daylight, we all set off towards the camping site, following behind Sunny who took the lead with a happy trot.

Izzy trotted by my side, not too far behind Sunny. Not wanting her to know about the surprise, I mouthed to the unicorn how Sunny's present was going. Izzy returned a confident nod and a wink. Sunny was in for a nice surprise from her bestie. Those two were simply adorable together, a true bond of friendship.

We set on a leisurely pace, the ponies chatting amicably about their days and their plans for the upcoming Maretime Bay Day celebration, each of them harboring their own plans to enjoy the festivities to their fullest. Sunny was already hard at work planning how to make this year’s celebration one that everypony,regardless of tribe, could enjoy. All ponykind was welcome, which meant they would have to plan for a much bigger attendance this year. Lots of food, decorations, and entertainment, all of which had to be meticulously accounted for if they wanted to make this year’s celebration the best it’s ever been. Of course, she was more than happy to take a leading role on the planning and organization, her inherent drive to provide for the community fueling her resolve.

‘A shame Pinkie can’t lend us a hoof, she would have this celebration ready before you can say ‘guacamole.’ The scariest thing is that she could ACTUALLY pull that off…’

“Watch your twelve, Pipp.” I warned my pegasus friend who was, as usual, engrossed in her phone’s feed. My warning managed to help her avoid a nasty hit at the last second against a tree’s low branch that jutted a bit more over the path than the rest.

“Oh, my. That would’ve been messy. Thanks, Alex.” She skipped on her hooves to trot beside me and use me as a guide so as to not bump into any other obstacles while she continued fussing over the shining screen, which clashed horribly with the natural atmosphere that surrounded us.

I knew it’d be a wasted effort to try and convince her to park the screen time for later. Instead, I retook a previus matter with her. “How’s the new hit going? Got any progress done?” I asked her, referring to that morning’s chat.

Pipp answered with a vigorous flap of her wings. “You bet I have! It’s coming up swiftlyyy~, I think I can get it nailed down before the weekend ends, and then I can get straight into recording at Mane Melody. It's going to be ah-mazing!!” She looked pumped up. It was great to see her livelier now that the bummer of her not-so-successful heart-to-heart post had been replaced by the desire to compose a new song. It was one of her favorite things in the world… after hooficures and mane treatments. And shopping… and spa sessions…

‘Mares…’

“You’re writing a new song, Pipp?” Hitch, having overheard us, asked from the rear of the group. Pipp was all too willing to flap up to his side and tell him everything about it.

“I’m sorry your post didn’t go as you expected, Pipp. I couldn’t really give you a definite answer when you asked me the other day, but I was hoping it would make the impact you wanted.”

Pipp sighed, although she didn't sound as bummed as before. “What can I say, Hitch? I just hope this new hit gets the message across. I’ll drill it into their heads directly if I have to…” The sheer intensity of Pipp's threat left little doubt about the seriousness of her proposition.

“I’m sure it’ll be great, Pipp. Yours are one hit after another.” I encouraged her with a thumbs up over my shoulder, receiving a grateful smile from the petite pegasus on the corner of my eye.

Zipp added her two bits. “Come on, sis, don’t you think you’re perhaps overthinking it?” Her sister asked with a tired roll of her eyes.

“Well excuuuuse me, sis. I go aaaall the way to open my heart to the pippsqueaks only for my post to be stomped over those… what are they called… The Filly Three?” She tapped her chin with a feather in thought. “... Bah, whatever, it was only because it wasn’t the usual content which I very much know they love!”

“I still think you give it too much importance.” Zipp wasn’t going to second in the competition of sisterly stubbornness.

“Zipp,” Pipp called her sister, now coming off as annoyed, “It’s literally what I do for a living. Like, the ONLY thing I do all day, every day. How do you expect me NOT to fuss over it!” SHe demanded with wings flared.

“I thought you ran Mane Melody for a living, Pipp!” Chirped Izzy with her usual peppiness, having slowed down a bit to join the conversation.

“Yes, Izzy! That and streaming content for my pippsqueaks! Ugh, what do you guys even know about it when you all have barely over a hundred followers on ClipTrot…”

Oh, that I couldn't let slide. “I actually had over two-and-a-half thousand, last time I checked.” I said with no little amount of pride.

Wide-eyed Pipp could only stutter like a pegasus out of the Dizzitron. “W-W-What?!! W-When did you get that many followers?!”

I pursed my lips nonchalantly. “I mean, I only posted the message about Discord when we were looking for him, and a selfie I took with those three fillies who are always fussing around you. They asked for a photo with me, citing I looked ‘weird, but in a good way.’ I guess being the only human around attracts attention.” Boy, did I know about that topic in particular.

I could almost see the gears turning in her head. “And no, Pipp. I’m not going to start posting frequently like you, so don’t expect collabs or anything similar. It just ain’t my thing.” I mercilessly popped her balloon.

The silent grumbling of the pegasus told me she wasn’t happy with my decision, but thankfully she didn’t pry further and resumed her tapping on the screen.

“Come on everypony, it’s just a bit further ahead.” Sunny urged us from the front of the group.

“You know about the place, Sunny?” Izzy cantered briefly to catch up with the orange mare.

Sunny’s smile spoke of happy memories. “I do, Izzy. My dad used to take me here sometimes. It’s the perfect place to spend the afternoon and watch the stars…”

“You like the night sky?” I could help but pry, although I realized it kinda made sense considering her cutie mark

“You bet I do! Ever since I was a little filly, I would spend entire nights watching the stars from the top of the lighthouse. I actually got my cutie mark during one escapade with my dad when we went to watch a meteor shower!”

I could only think of one metro shower big enough to spark a cutie mark in a foal’s flank out of love for the night sky. “The Mareseid meteor shower? In the middle of August?”

Sunny’s eyes lit up, her smile beaming impossibly wide. “Yes!! Yes, it is! How did you know?!”

“Well, it IS the most amazing meteor shower of the year. Luna sure worked her best to create a beautiful show.” I answered, drawing from experience.

“Luna? As in Princess Luna?” Wondered Zipp.

“Mhm, she worked long and hard to create the most amazing nightscapes for her ponies… a shame most of them didn’t really pay it the attention it deserved.”

“What do you mean by that? I for one think the night sky is a wonderful sight! It has inspired me on more than one occasion.” Explained Pipp while taking a good look at said night sky, or whatever little could be peeked through the treetops.

The tale of Luna’s fall was widely known across Equestria, even if only as a bedtime story to scare foals into falling asleep. Another figment of Equestrian history fallen into oblivion.

“That, Pipp, is a LONG story, I’ll be sure to tell you the whole thing another time. But, in a nutshell, the ponies didn’t give Luna the same love and attention as her sister. And, well… that had terrible consequences. But that was millennia ago, you don’t have to worry about it now.”

A flash of recognition dominated Sunny’s semblance. Surely she knew something about it if her dad had been as thorough with his research as I had shortly glimpsed in his notes.

Not a minute later, we had arrived at our destination. From where I was standing, it came to me as just like a simple clearing in the middle of the thick forest. Cozy, perfect for a quiet escapade. A closer look revealed a few logs placed around the remains of a campfire. The way the rocks were placed around it told me it was a designated place to place the logs, meaning it wasn’t just a casually-chosen camping site. The presence of an old rusty trash can furthered my suspicions, but I saw no sign giving it a name or designation.

“Ah, yes. I know about this place too. I use it as a halfway stop during the few field trips I make with the foals.” Hitch retold from beside me.

I was surprised he partook in said activities. “You take the foals on trips around the forest?” I asked him.

Hitch nodded proudly. “And any willing parent, too. The teachers ask me to do it a couple of times during the school year. It helps teach foals about nature and how to protect and respect it. Since there aren’t any dangerous critters around these parts, they thought it was a great idea.”

Now that sounded like a smart thing to do for the younger minds. I had feared that with all the technology that made its way into their daily lives, the ponies might have started to forget important things such as this. In the past, they had no other choice, but I most certainly didn’t want them to end up disconnected from the nature that was all around them. The ponies' influence on nature's balance, both directly and indirectly, was something that shouldn’t be underestimated nor forgotten.

Another thing that would end up being lost by the Unity Crystals. Another thing I hoped I could bring back.

“As a proud member of the scientific community committed to the study of life, I congratulate you, sheriff. It’s way more important than you think.”

Hitch beamed at my praise, and he trotted to the nearby bushes in search of wood to use for the fire. The rest of us spread over the logs around the ashen remains of the fire from whoever had camped here before us. Sunny extracted a comically large bag of marshmallows from her saddlebag, ensuring that there was going to be more than enough for all of us. A picture of a smiling pony with gums full of gooey deliciousness printed on the side left no doubt about their quality.

Once Hitch was back, the numerous branches were set in position, taking extra caution for them to remain inside the stone circle. The ponies spread out onto the logs surrounding the campfire, with Sunny choosing to share a log with me, tucking herself close to me as if the warmth of the fire wouldn't be enough for her fuzzy fur. You wouldn't find me complaining.

The sisters sat together to our left, with Izzy and Hitch on the log to our right. A small pout from the unicorn told me she would have much preferred to share the seating arrangements with Sunny and myself, but sadly they weren’t big enough to fit three ponies, less two ponies and a human.

“Ignis.” I mumbled to cast a small fire spell, the roaring flames immediately spreading through the branches like liquid, bathing the surrounding area in a gentle glow and providing a soothing warmth that fought against the nipping wind from the upcoming night.

Using some spare branches, we all nailed a pair of marshmallows into them and proceeded to slowly roast them over the fire, as tradition demanded.

The ponies resumed their amicable chitchat about their things. Zipp told us about how the last group of pegasi had ‘graduated’ from her impromptu flight camp, and that she wouldn’t take any more students since she believed pegasi had already got the basic hang of flying well enough to avoid any serious accidents. Pipp spoke enthusiastically about how she had closed a deal with some unicorn herbalist from Bridlewood to create new perfumes and makeup products from a series of plants which only grew in certain enclosed parts of the mysterious forest, making it her goal of the week to dazzle the earth ponies with the fragrances of nature. A if an earth pony needed to know about nature. Sadly, in the times of today, that was indeed the case.

I chose to remain silent for the time being, preferring to listen to my friends talk amongst themselves. It was a relaxing experience, just as Sunny had predicted. Just a bunch of pals sharing roasted marshmallows and having fun under the stars. It was the kind of thing I missed a lot during the last months before the fall. All the pressure and work, the deteriorating situation… it really didn’t allow much time for leisure activities like this one. Very taxing for the mind, too.

The ponies continued chatting until way after dawn, when the campfire became our sole source of illumination. Luna’s moon was already halfway up its path when I realized that one pony, who I would’ve believed would have been the chattiest of the group, had barely opened her muzzle aside from taking bites from her sugary meal.

“Izzy,” I called out to my unicorn friend, who was startled by my voice. She shook her head and locked her eyes with mine.

“S-Sorry, Alex. Just lost in thought.” She tried her best to defuse my worrying with a merry giggle.

I didn't buy it. “Yeah, I’ve noticed. Something bothering you?”

The nervous shuffling of her fetlocks was enough to show she wasn’t comfortable with my request. However, before I could assure her that she needn’t tell me if she wasn’t feeling okay with it, she asked me a particularly hard question.

“Actually, there IS something bothering me. You know when we were trapped in that tiny cage with Discord taunting us? You were very angry and shouted at him that he had no right to give you… uh, ‘morality lessons’ after he got you… something… A-and then, after we defeated him, he told us you had every right to hate his guts, but he didn’t want to tell us why… it’s been bothering me for a while…” Izzy admitted. She lowered her head in hesitation, but didn't break eye contact, her gorgeous pearls wishing to get an answer for me. “Why did Discord say that, Alex?”

The rest of our friends overheard her and stopped chatting to listen closely to what I had to say.

I didn't have anything to say. Well, better said, I didn't want to. It was an event that had marked my life in multiple ways, something equal arts defining and traumatizing. Something that changed me forever, taking a piece of me in the process.

“… Izzy, I… I don’t really feel that comfortable telling that story, are you sure you want to know? It’s not a happy tale.”

With visible hesitation, she returned a nod. The rest of the ponies also silently asked me to.

As much as I would rather have kept that piece of myself to myself, I felt they had a right to know. Especially considering Harmony’s warning to all of us, for she had been a key protagonist in it. I thought that perhaps… perhaps it would help me share the story with my new friends, as it had helped me in the past with my old ones.

No whispers in my ears. This choice was mine.

“Very well.” I steadied myself and swallowed a heavy lump, tucking in knees against my chest as my gaze fixed itself on the dancing flames. The ponies were in for a ride.. “So, when Twilight was officially named successor to the crown of Equestria by Celestia and Luna, she… let’s say she didn’t take it very well.”

“She didn’t?” Interrupted Sunny from my side, having taken close notice of how sensitive and uncomfortable this topic was for me. “I always believed from the stories that she was described as the perfect mare for the role. Especially as she had been Celestia’s personal student, right?”

I nodded stiffly. “Twilight was brilliant in many aspects. It’s true that she had been molded by Celestia to one day become her and Luna’s successor, ever since she was a little filly. But, to have the responsibility of governing an entire nation dumped on you in such a short time, just like that… it was a bit too much for her. I mean, it was for all of us since we were ready to help her in any way we could. But even so, the pressure was too much and we kinda had to postpone the official coronation for some time to give her a chance to acclimate and ease her into it. Faust, I swear even today I still don’t understand why Celestia thought it was such a good idea…”

I could discern a shade of sympathy in my friends, who listened to my story with rapt attention. Those had been rocky times, trying for all of us, but one pony in particular. I had downplayed it a bit that night. In truth, Twilight had been at the brink of a nervous breakdown shortly after Celestia had the announcement dumped on her shoulders.

I picked up the thread of the story again. “Discord was present in the throne room when Twilight was told about it, and he surely saw how she reacted. And as such, he sought to, ummm… ‘boost’ her confidence? It’s the only reason I can think about for doing what he did.”

“What did he do? Knowing Discord, even for a short time as it has been, it must have been something wacky.” Spoke Zipp, our short, but intense experience with Discord having been more than enough to mold their perspective.

A heavy sigh filled with troubled memories escaped my nostrils. “It was the stupidest, most morainic idiocy any thinking being could fathom. Even for the Lord of Chaos and all that crap, I just can’t wrap my head around the fact that he thought THAT was what Twilight needed!”

The ponies were surprised by my short outburst. “Wow, he must have done something hectic!” I heard Izzy chime in after a few seconds of silence.

“What was it?” Added Hitch.

I lost myself in the shifting shapes of the flames for a few, thoughtful moments, tapping with my thumb on my knee as I collected my memories of those days, trying my hardest not to grow mad from them. Now they were simply memories.

“... Well, to ‘boost’ her confidence, and help her realize that she was more than ready to take up the crown, he thought he would test her resolve by summoning some of Equestria’s greatest villains together, teaching them to work together by personally by disguising himself as another of Equestria’s ancient enemies. He then set them on a course of vengeance against all of us; all of that so that they could eventually be defeated by Twilight and the Elements, proving his point that Twilight was more than capable of ruling Equestria… Needless to say, Discord was eventually betrayed by them, and they stole his chaos powers.”

I let that sink for a minute. The astonished looks from the wide-eyed ponies were enough to show me that my story was taking root.

“That…” Sunny began but lost the thread at the tip of her tongue, “... Yeah that’s… very stupid.”

“Stupid?! That’s absolutely CRAZY! Mother of glitter, what was he thinking?!” Pipp shouted from her log, her wings flaring out in anger. Zipp could only hold her head on her hoof from the absolute stupidity that was his plan.

“Yes, Pipp, it most certainly was. To keep things short and easy, the villains, who started as four in number but, in the end, only three remained; managed to use an ancient artifact to steal Discord’s and the alicorn sisters’ magic, using it to empower themselves. The ponies started calling them ‘The Legion of Doom’ after they wrecked Canterlot. The group was composed of the mad centaur, Lord Tirek, the exiled Queen of the changelings, Queen Chrysalis, and the power-hungry pegasus pony, Cozy Glow.”

A flash of recognition glimmered in Sunny's eyes, surely having known of this from her father’s research. “T-The second battle of Canterlot…” I heard her mutter in restrained wonder.

I poked her cheek playfully, congratulating her for another successful guess. “Yes, I think that’s what they ended up calling it afterwards. So, after some fighting and practically having destroyed half of the royal palace, the united Equestrian forces, composed of ponies and many other creatures, stood against the three tyrants. The Elements, and by that I mean the physical Elements of Harmony, had been destroyed shortly beforehand during another minor scuffle. Thankfully, Harmony doesn’t really care for those sorts of things. By that point, the girls themselves had become the Elements of Harmony. And, as it befitted them, we together sought to end the situation peacefully before any more fighting had to occur…”

I felt a cold weight pushing down my chest, cold sweat betraying me down by brow. What I experienced that day had marked me for the rest of my life. It was something no creature, especially no human, was supposed to experience. It haunted me for weeks on end and forced me to ask myself many questions, questions that would end up hurting me more than any physical wound I might have suffered.

“M-My friends and I approached them and asked them to cease their attempts at taking over Equestria. Of course, none of them were willing to. After having been defeated and humiliated by us, on several occasions for some of them, they were dead set on eradicating us… Each of them hated us for different reasons, and in their hate, they found what was needed to act as a team… Cozy Glow especially loathed me, as I had been an essential part of bringing to an end to her plans of stealing all Equestria’s magic for herself. She was just a pegasus filly, so sweet and cheerful… I still don’t understand what brought her down on such a demented path…”

“What happened after?” Zipp asked with the same trepidation that mirrored all my friends’ features.

I could feel my voice breaking. I had to make an effort and force the words out of my mouth. “W-Well, as I said, Cozy was particularly… I don’t think the word ‘pissed’ really did it justice… B-Before any of us had the chance to notice, s-she gathered energy in her horn and fired a magic-charged beam at me. You need to understand that the magic from the princesses and Discord had been enough to grant her an alicorn form, with the raw magical power output corresponding to one.”

“A-An alicorn? L-Like me?” Sunny’s shaky inquiry brought me to focus on her for a moment. SHe still remained close, ears perked and attentive, sadness and sympathy shadowing her beautiful spirit as she took in my story.

“Not exactly, Sunny. She was a flesh ‘n blood alicorn, imbued with the magic of Equestria’s most powerful creatures.” I released a small chuckle at the fragment of the moment, obscured and distorted by the sheer amount of times I had run it in my mind. “I swear, at that moment, I saw Chrysalis and Tirek look as surprised as we were when she fired. It’s as if none of them were expecting her to go that far…” My hand unconsciously raised to grasp under my left pectoral, a phantom jab making my skin ache in icy burn.

“Were you hurt?” Izzy pried, mirroring Sunny’s visual concern.

Another chuckle breached my lips, but the memories were far from amusing. A short, inwardly debate resolved it was as good a time as any other. I woulndt’ downplay this. They deserved to know.

I grabbed the rim of my shirt and pulled it up right below my left pectoral, rebelling my ugly scar to the ponies, who in unison gasped at the sight of it.

“A-Alex!! W-what h-happened to you?!” Sunny was the first to voice the obvious question. I gave her a sideways glance, returning to the dwindling fire afterwards, not having the strength to look at my friends.

“… I died, Sunny. The blast completely obliterated my heart… I was dead for ten and a half minutes… or, at least that’s what my friends told me afterwards.”

The sun had fully disappeared beyond the steep mountains of the west, bringing the brunt of the night with it. You could have heard a pin drop from the sheer silence the campsite was shrouded in. For a minute or two, the crackling of the burning wood was the only sound that accompanied my deep breaths, puffs of steam following each of them. I released the rim of my shirt and allowed it to cover the rest of my body, resting my hands together and simply waited, fighting down fragments of scared ponies and creatures alike, and a lost human who lived through the impossible. Memories of profound fear followed by a second of excruciating pain. And then, nothing, nothing at all until I woke up in the hospital a few days later.

And then her words. Words that would seal my fate.

“Oh my pony…” Pipp was the first to break the silence. I raised my gaze from the campfire to see her shattered expression, partially hidden by her hooves who gripped at her muzzle in shock, numerous tears twinkling with the light the fire bathed us in.

To her side, Zipp moved her mouth, trying desperately to bring out anything to say to me, but failing, leaving only sorrow and compassion the only reaction to my words.

Hitch was no better, keeping his gaze fixed on the fire just as I had, mumbling something under his breath. I could discern a few tears of his own starting to fall down his cheeks, yet he tried to remain stoic.

A loud sob brought my attention towards Izzy, who with raspy breaths and red eyes from crying, didn’t waste a second in getting up from her seat and tackling me in a full-body hug, clinging to me while burying her muzzle in the crook of my neck.

“I-I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, Alex…” She whispered between ragged sobs, squeezing me as tight as her four limbs could manage.

I returned the hug, pulling her closer to me while placing my head over hers, drawing comfort from her warm embrace.

“B-But… that’s impossible.” I turned my head towards Sunny. She also was openly crying, her beautiful eyes now openly weeping for me. However, behind all that sorrow, a profound sense of confusion peeked through. “Y-You’re here, with us. H-How…?”

I had to take a deep breath before I could explain. It didn’t matter how many times I would tell the story. It’d never get any easier.

“… Sometime after I, um… passed away, but before I woke up in the hospital, I heard a voice calling to me. Harmony’s voice.”

“The same Harmony that gave you that warning the other day?” Inquired Zipp, who with her sister had risen from their seats and trotted over the fire to sit around the log I was seated on.

Before I could answer her, another pained sob redirected my gaze to my unicorn friend, who continued to cry while making sure her grasp on me wouldn’t falter in the slightest, as if fearing I would disappear the moment she let go. I mentally scolded myself, believing it would have been best if I had just shut my trap and spare them the tumble of knowing. But it was too late now, there was no way the ponies were gonna let this go.

I reached out and gave Izzy a small reassuring nuzzle near her left ear, whispering a few soothing words of my own.

“Yes, Zipp, the very same.” I answered her, returning my sight to the ponies who sat in a semicircle in front of me. I felt Sunny moving a hoof under my shirt, placing it over my scar. I didn't fight her tender gesture.

“A-And what did she say to you?” I heard her ask in a quiet tone, her broken voice making it a bit hard to understand her question at first. It was a hard one to answer, considering the implications that Harmony’s words had for me and my place amongst the ponies.

I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment, stitching an easy answer together since up to that day I didn't fully understand the entire depth of them myself.

“Harmony always considered me an anomaly, something that didn’t fit into whatever plans she had for Equestria, and she made sure to let me know it… But, I guess that at some point during my stay, she eventually found my presence in Equestria suited to her plans… somehow. So, to make it simple, she basically told me I could suck it and brought me back for a second round, claiming my time was yet to come. She, in her ‘endless compassion’ fixed me up and gave me a second go at life. At least, that’s what she called it.”

I could practically hear the cogs churning in my friends’ fuzzy heads, slowly digesting what I had just said and the implications it held. However, I wasn’t quite finished.

“And, after the warning she gave me the other day, it seems whatever role I had yet to play in all of this is close to being fulfilled. Just like a puppet under its master’s strings.” I finished with a darker tone. It was a wild guess, a hopeful wish.

I reached for the branch in which my now cold morsel was impaled and gave it a bite in an effort to calm my nerves, since I was practically shaking. At that moment, I realized something, something that brought another somber chuckle out of me.

“Heh… a ‘traveler’. That’s what she always called me. Traveler. Fuck’s sake, that makes so much sense now…”

“What do you mean?” Hitch’s ears twitched with doubt, his tears now dry, but the knowledge taking a visible toll on him.

I turned to look at him, who had joined the pegasi sisters sitting in front of me. I reduced the intensity of the flames so that they wouldn't burn their fur accidentally sitting so close to it now.

“Your future is now clear, Traveler. Guide them through the incoming darkness. Our future depends on it… Those were her exact words the other day during my visit to Ponyville’s ruins. I always wondered why she called me that…. it makes sense considering where I’m standing now, huh?”

It was clear the ponies were having a hard time coming to terms with what I told them. Visible confusion mixed with profound sorrow were the dominant fillings casting a somber atmosphere all over the campsite. For a few minutes, none uttered a word, until Sunny broke the silence.

“A-Alex.” I switched my gaze to meet hers. “I-I… I don’t know what to say… except that I’m so, so sorry…. my gosh, I can’t even begin to imagine how that must have been for you.”

I reached with my free hand to provide her with a few calming pets over her head, but she wasn’t finished.

“B-But, you’re here now. You were granted another chance, a second chance. All the good you’d done would be reason enough for Harmony to give you a second chance... P-perhaps…”

Faust bless her golden heart. For the first time that night, a sincere laugh came from me, surprising everyone present. Izzy found it weird enough to extract herself from her tight grasp to regard me with puzzlement after wiping her teary eyes.

“Oh, Sunny. Do you think Harmony brought me back out of the kindness of her heart? Because she felt bad for me and saw fit to grant me a second go to continue helping the ponies?”

Sunny replied with a hesitant nod, my sharp rebuttal shattering the conviction in her reasoning. It was a common mistake almost everypony made when they thought about the almost-godlike being that looked over all of ponykind.

“Sunny, don’t think for a second Harmony did that as an act of kindness. Don’t think for a second she is a benevolent or caring being. She is most certainly NOT a guardian angel or anything similar. She is a being whose existence I can’t fully understand or comprehend, who wields a power in the name of harmony and unity between the creatures beyond our wildest dreams. She EXISTS within said harmony. She’s a living creature, just like the rest of us. She does what she must to keep herself alive and with purpose. The fact that said purpose aligns with our general goals means she ain’t our immediate enemy, but don’t think for a second that that wouldn’t change the moment she deemed it necessary.”

Biased as it was, that’s how I saw. That’s how I saw the ghost of the Tree of Harmony. A deep scowl was born in my features. I glared into the campfire in front of me, my fury growing by the moment as I remembered her words and the meaning behind them.

“A second round, guys. Not a second chance. She gets to decide when my goal is complete and when I get to rest. Whatever great plan she formed with her superior foresight, or whatever the fuck she possesses, I’m still a part of it. Just like the Bearers' role was to enforce harmony through the Elements, purging Equestria from whatever evils sought to extinguish its magic, ending her in the process.”

The ponies were then more conflicted than ever. Even if they knew nothing about Harmony before my warning, I’m sure they could understand what my words carried. The existence of Harmony as an abstract being was never made public knowledge, only those she had personally contacted knew of her existence. For centuries, she had pulled countless strings, helping ponykind overcome whatever darkness threatened their, and by extension, her existence. A living being seeking to survive and grow, just like any of us would, only at a scale we could barely envisage.

Another example of her intervention was to blame for our meeting, as I proceeded to explain. “Mine and Starlight’s calculations were perfect, guys. I shouldn’t have woken up for another three hundred years or so. But, oh wow, I just happened to be released from stasis exactly the day before you guys reunited the Unity Crystals, returning magic to the land. Isn’t that a bit too coincidental?”

I could see my friends slowly beginning to understand the ridiculous probability behind such a coincidence. There was no way in Tartarus that had been a happy accident. They looked more perturbed than anything else.

“Wow, that’s… not okay.” I heard Zipp muttering under her breath, her wings ruffling at her sides.

“I-I don’t know what to say, Alex. I just don’t know what to think…” Hitch added, as lost as the rest.

It was enough for one night. I had told them, and I found I could breathe a little easier by having shared my story, but not much else. “It’s fine, guys. I don’t fully grasp it myself, so I don’t expect you to. It’s way above our pay grade. Just… I think you now might understand why I didn’t find myself particularly thrilled with how things came out in the end. From all the creatures of the United Heptarchy, I was the one who drew the short straw.”

They all answered with an understanding nod, finally getting the hang of the story. Except for Izzy, from whom I heard a small gasp, ahing made the implied connection.

“A-And, and it was his fault… Discord’s fault. H-He got you killed!”

“… Yes, Izzy. He did.”

“My gosh…” Pipp murmured with her hooves covering once again her face in shock.

I heard a deep grumble to my left, and a quick peek revealed my unicorn friend positively fuming. “Grrrrr, if I ever get my hooves on him! I don’t care if he calls himself the Lord of Chaos or whatever! He had no right to do that to you! HE HAD NO RIGHT!!”

An uneasy knot formed in my stomach. I didn't enjoy seeing the peppy unicorn so mad, her bitter words cutting deep inside of me. I quickly enveloped her with my arms and hugged her tightly again, trying to soothe her anger. Once again, I whispered calming words in her ears while slowly rocking her back and forth. The others also looked surprised at her outburst. I appreciated her being protective of me. It felt nice to be cared for like that, but not at the cost of her wellbeing.

“He had no right… you’re too sweet, too kind. You didn’t deserve it. You didn’t deserve any of it…” I heard her whispering while returning the hug, her voice once again breaking as the beginning of fresh tears ran down my neck.

As comforting as Izzy’s words sounded, I knew I was undeserving of them. I didn’t want to lie to my friends. I was so tired of doing it to myself, so tired of the guilt that plagued my thoughts every time I recalled those times.

“Izzy, I…” I began, struggling to find the right words. “I’m not a good person…”

Before I had the chance to explain myself further, she quickly pulled back from the hug and grabbed my face with both forehooves. I felt a simmer of fear from the strong glare she was giving me.

“What did I tell you about saying those things about yourself?!”

“I-Izzy, I-”

“No!” She was having none of it. “I don’t care, Alex! Whatever you think you’ve done wrong, I couldn’t care less!”

“It’s not that simple, Izzy… I’ve done bad things before, terrible things. Things I’ve been judged for, and found guilty. Things I have to pay for…”

“Did you do any of it willingly!? Hmm?” She strongly demanded, moving her head forward until her snout was pressed against my nose. I hesitantly shook my head no. That was true, I never brought ill to any creature of my own volition. However, that didn’t excuse the fact that I DID terrible things, things that would forever haunt me. I caused damage that I would never be able to repair, even if I successfully finished my mission with the Unity Crystals.

“Of course you didn’t! We may not have known each other for long, Alex, but I can’t imagine you doing anything bad to us ponies. Much less after the stories Sunny told us about how you helped thousands of creatures in the past. Whatever harm you might have done, I’m sure you didn’t have any other choice!”

The rest of the ponies, although standing a bit shocked at the unicorn’s new outburst, silently agreed with her. Sadly, Izzy was far from being right.

“There’s always another choice, Izzy… just, look at where we are. With more time and better judgment, I’m sure that we wouldn’t have needed to use the crystals. None of you would have had to suffer for so long because of my actions!”

“Alex, we’ve been through this already.” I escaped Izzy’s sharp glare to find Sunny’s waiting for me. She still had her hoof over my scar, tenderly rubbing circles around it. “If there really was a better choice, I’m sure you guys would have found it. And… it’s true that things haven’t been the best they could have been for a long time. B-But, if it weren’t for the Unity Crystals, none of us would have become friends! Including you!”

“Sunny, that’s not nearly enough of a reason to excuse making entire generations live in fear and mistrust of one another.”

“I know, I know! It’s just…” She took a moment to come up with a way to spin the story. “For as terrible a thing it was to do, your plan helped the ponies survive to where we are now. Yes, we were separated, and for the longest time we hated each other’s guts, but at least we had a future to look forward to! From what you’ve told us, and w-what my dad taught me, I… I don’t think I could have come up with anything better. Not when things escalated as quickly as they did. A-And you said it yourself! You all knew that what you were proposing was a monstrous thing to do. But you HAD to do it. For them… for us.”

The unicorn clinging to me butted in. “Please, Alex. I need you to stop blaming yourself for what happened.” Izzy softly demanded. “I hate hearing you repeat it like a sick mantra over and over again. You can’t spend the rest of your days tormenting yourself. What you did is done, and you left behind everything and everypony you knew to fix it. If that isn’t repentance enough, I don’t know what else would be.” She reached forward and brushed the tip of her muzzle over my eyes, drying the few tears that I had shed without realizing.

I wanted to believe in their words; I wanted so hard to bathe myself in such warm, inviting relief. But deep inside, I knew I was undeserving of them. I knew what my actions had entailed, what they COULD have entailed if the worst path had been taken. From the moment I arrived in Equestria, I knew I had the potential to provide the ponies with wondrous things, as well as the potential to tear their world apart.

In the end, the acts of me and my friends ended up sending the ponies into a ‘Dark Age’, of sorts. An age of isolation, of societal stagnation fueled by fear and hate. Alive and safe, but at what price?

I tuned out the encouraging words the rest of the gang was bathing me in, all of them unanimously believing in the good I had and could provide. They didn’t know. They couldn’t have imagined what I decided to tell them after a few minutes of internal debate.

“Guys.” I called the group, earning their attention once again. “Let me tell you another story, perhaps you’ll understand better once I’ve shared it.”

I gently grabbed Izzy, giving her a thankful nuzzle for her kind words, eliciting a cute giggle and a small blush from her, and brought her down with me from the log we were seated on, choosing to instead sit on the ground and use the log to support my back. Sunny followed us down and repositioned herself to lay against my other side, returning her hoof to the scar under my shirt. Her furry touch felt oddly comfortable, so I decided to allow her to do as she pleased.

I had grown quite fond of being surrounded by these two mares during the short time I had shared with them. From our group of friends, they were the ones who had fewer qualms about cuddling with me, not that I was complaining. In my opinion, only an idiot would complain about something like that. Funnily enough, I was that kind of idiot when I first arrived in Equestria, but that’s a story for another day.

The sisters, as well as Hitch, scooched aside a bit to tighten the small circle around us. After discarding the last doubts about sharing that other little piece of me, I slowly looked at each of them, earning confused glances from them. I dreaded what they would think of me when I finished, but I thought that, just as I had told them the reason for my profound hate for Discord, they deserved to know if they were to become my new family.

“It’s a story about my early days in Equestria.” That piqued their interest, if the small jolt from Sunny was any indication. From the corner of my eye, I saw an eager smile appear on her muzzle, no doubt looking forward to learning more about me and the girls.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t that kind of story.

“Shortly before I was…. dumped in Equestria, the Element Bearers had faced a unicorn named Starlight Glimmer. I’m sure you know who I’m referring to, Sunny.”

She most certainly did, as she was quick to provide a small summary about how Starlight had been a villain until confronted by Twilight to later become another crucial piece in the protection of Equestria. As I expected, she wasn’t aware of the full story. I was about to change that very, very quickly.

“Thanks, Sunny. So, Starlight had been defeated by the Elements, and for a time she went into hiding to plot her revenge. During that time of peace, I had arrived in Equestria, but she hadn’t considered me important enough to factor into her plans even after learning from my existence. Instead, she focused on mastering a very complicated field of magic that would help her seek revenge for having her great dream of a ‘perfect Equestria’ ultimately crushed by my friends. She studied and perfected time travel magic.”

“Like the magic you used to travel into the future?” Zipp wondered.

“Not quite, but definitely related. The spell she used would allow her to travel BACK in time, specifically to the day when all the Elements got their cutie marks.”

“I… don’t quite follow. Why would she want to travel to that specific time?” Pipp was the one who interrupted then.

“The girls got their cutie marks the same day, at the same time. All of them seemed to have had their cutie marks’ appearance triggered by a sonic rainboom that Rainbow Dash managed to pull off that same day. Imagine a sonic boom, followed by a huge rainbow explosion in the sky, an explosion that stretched across the land. It was a huge magical event that connected the girls' destinies. It was definitely NOT coincidental. I’m positive Harmony had something to do with it, as those same fillies would in turn get to wield her greatest weapons against the forces of darkness. But that’s not important at the moment. What Starlight wanted to achieve was to stop Rainbow from pulling off her rainboom, thus preventing the Bearers from gaining their cutie marks the way they did, changing history in the process.”

“Holy feathers, that’s… that’s so messed up.” Zipp muttered with pinprick eyes. The ponies were quick to draw understanding of the implication of the effects that her acts would have entailed, had they succeeded.

“None of them would have arisen to defend Equestria…”

“You got it, Sunny. That’s what Starlight wanted to achieve. Her revenge, and preventing the Bearers from interfering with her plans in the present. How could they if they had never become the Element Bearers in the first place? Twilight, Spike and I were there when she used her spell. I was dragged along by it, being sent with Starlight to the time period she had chosen. Twilight and Spike followed us there. The three of us together, although mostly unwillingly for my part, tried to make her see reason.”

“Who is this Spike you mention?” Pipp wanted to know.

“Twilight’s number one assistant, Pipp. Although in truth, he was practically her little brother. He was a baby dragon by the time I arrived. Don’t get me wrong, he was only called a baby dragon due to the long lifespan of dragons. In terms of age, he was equivalent to a pony’s early teens when I first met him… he was a great guy.”

I had thought about it before entering stasis. If there was one being from my past who might still be alive today, that would be him, and probably Smolder, I guessed. A dragon’s life span was long enough that it would have allowed them to live until this day. However, it seemed very unlikely that they were still around. I would have known about it, either from Discord or someone else. As far as I knew, all my previous friends and family had long since passed away. I could only pray it had been under better circumstances than the ones that forced me on my journey. I shook my head and picked up the thread of my story.

“We tried to reason with her, but it was in vain. She succeeded in her attempts and history was changed. When the timeline shifted, we were pulled back into the present, a new present that had been born from her intervention. We returned to see an Equestria plagued by war, a war against the tyrant King Sombra and the enslaved ponies of the Crystal Empire.”

A new flash of recognition sparkled in Sunny’s eyes. “Oh my gosh…”

“Yes, Sunny. Without the girls, any and all villains who were otherwise defeated by them were now free to conquer and destroy. Starlight had thought that only her ploy would be kept safe from us. She didn’t account for Equestria’s villains, all of whom had effectively been unshackled to freely enact their own plans. Twilight used the spell once again to bring us back to the past. We had to convince Starlight to stop, or else Equestria would be doomed. Many times we tried, and many times we failed. With each time shift, we were rewarded with an alternate future in which Equestria was plagued by one of the evils the girls had faced in the past.”

I took a moment to collect myself, begrudgingly recalling the numerous visions of the alternative Equestrias we were systematically dumped into.

“I saw many alternate versions of history. An Equestria consumed by war against King Sombra, an Equestria overrun by changelings and Queen Chrysalis endless hunger, an Equestria burning under Tirek’s rampage, while another Equestria was subjugated under the tyranny of the Mare in the Moon… All of them, every single one of them, was a dark shadow of the land of harmony and peace I had come to see.”

The ponies squirmed uncomfortably at the image of the places I placed in their minds, imagining for themselves how horrid those places could have been.

“During the last temporal jump, I was separated from Twilight and Spike. They had managed to drag Starlight with them, to show them in pony the consequences of her petty revenge… I arrived by myself in a desolate wasteland, with not a single living being in sight. Only the ruins of a great city stood before me. Ruins I was quick to recognize as one of Equestria’s greatest cities, Manehattan.”

My friends listened with rapt attention, drinking in the description of such a haunting place. “I searched for my friends through the waste and the rubble. I searched and searched for them for several days… I was barely alive by the time they came to rescue me. Within the ruins, I saw a sight only I was truly familiar with, a sight many humans from my home world knew as a fictional outcome for the end of the world… I saw ponies and other creatures turned into vicious beasts, their survival instinct utterly consuming any semblance of reasoning left in them.”

I saw a crater, an impact thone. Scorched, toppled buildings, ash everywhere. I knew what had happened there. I knew who was to blame.

“Does it remind you of that movie, Sunny? The one we saw a few years ago about how the unicorns were plotting to end the world?” I saw in the corner of my eye how Izzy scoffed at Hitch’s short description, but decided not to delve into it.

“Y-Yeah.” She hesitantly returned. “I think I can see what you mean, Alex… but, what could have caused something like that to happen.”

I couldn’t help but start shaking again, this time under a new weight, struggling to get the words out of my mouth. So unexpected it was that it took a moment for the mares snuggling at my sides to register what was happening to me, sharing a concerned look with each other while tightening their grasp on me.

“… I, I-I’ll never know for s-sure what exactly happened. Little was left under the r-rubble and the dust but, sniff… Drawn on the crumbling walls and the faded remains of propaganda posters, engraved into the war machines’ dead husks littered all around the city, sewn into the ragged uniforms of the numerous corpses of all kinds of creatures… I kept seeing the same sigil emblazoned into all of them…”

I looked up from the ground, apprehension choking the words in my throat. With a final breath, I revealed what had endlessly plagued me to that day.

“Over and over, the same sigil… my sigil.”

Pain, fear, the adrenaline pushing me over the edge. I had to fight, I had to survive. I would not allow myself to die in that place!

A flash of light, a deafening boom. My body stretched from all sides at once. My insides coming out to meet my outsides. It lasted a second, a blink, after which I slowly regained my senses.

A cold floor spread chills all over my back, torn clothes unable to protect me anymore. Shades of purple and pink with specs of whites. My vision was slowly returning.

Metal, cold and unforgiving, tightly grasped between my fingers, the weapon of death I had found amongst the rubble. Its familiar shape provided me with an easy grip on it. It shouldn’t have.

Voices, alarmingly calling to me. Hoof steps echoed in the room I was transported into. They seemed so far away…

My sight cleared. I saw a roof. A crystalline roof I had grown familiar with, as it had become my permanent residence in that new world.

My ears stopped ringing. I could now discern the voices that called to me. I recognized the alarmed calls of Twilight and the deepening voice of a maturing baby dragon.

I regained the feeling in my legs. I shakily rose on them, searching for the voices while struggling to keep my non-existent lunch inside.

Three figures stood near me, their eyes full of worry. My two housemates, who now had stopped calling for me, ran their sights up and down my form in search of any damage.

To their left, a little bit apart from them, stood the mare responsible for the nightmare I had been through.

Rage, blinding fury, tensing my muscles, sharpening my vision, which locked into her frightened visage.

“Alex!! Oh my gosh, Alex, we finally found you! Are you alright?!”

I heard nothing, I cared for nothing. My blood boiled from the sight of the mare standing in front of me, her fear growing at pace with my fury.

Blinding rage that purged any semblance of dizziness from me. Rage that moved my body to fully face her, her frame shrinking down with a whimper.

“A-Alex? P-Please, answer me!”

Rage that tensed my arms and readied my posture. Rage that drowned out everything outside the unicorn who looked seconds away from bolting away from my piercing glare.

“GLIMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERR!!!”

Rage that aligned the scope of the gun with her forehead…