As Blue as the Ocean

by totallynotaunicorn

Rating: teen
Tags: Sad, Romance, Comedy, Slice of Life
Length: 5372

sad pony, deals with loneliness, has to make friends, yadda yadda

One thing I hate about descriptions is that they spoil the first several chapters/plot build ups of the story.
But I suppose they're mandatory.
Please skip, but I can't stop you.

It's THAT time of the year again, and Celestia has taken it upon herself to bear it alone, instead of both Luna and herself. One of them has to lead the country. Celestia takes a few days off to relax and take a trip. To the bottom of the ocean. No she's not in heat. She has to visit Triton, her older brother, and convince him to socialize. So, it didn't go too well last time, and ended up in several cities being destroyed by earthquakes and tsunamis, but maybe not this time, right?

Gonna be addin' more dudes as I go along.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-05-01 03:58:37 UTC

Act 1: Scene 1

Princess Celestia sighed and looked back down at the papers cluttering her desk. She glanced up and around the room, searching, hoping, for a distraction. Logs had already been added to the fire, the bookshelf already dusted, the curtains ironed, the rug cleaned, the ceiling repainted, the desk refinished, and the palace guard had already had a surprise inspection. Well, nothing left to do but this. She sighed again and picked up a quill with her magic, pulling the first of many sheets before her.

As she was just about to begin, a knock on the door interrupted her. Thank Me!, she exclaimed in her head. “Come in.”, she voiced. The door creaked open and a grey unicorn with a copper mane poked his head in.

“Pardon me, ma’am, but it’s, uh, that time of the year again.” The unicorn gulped, and looked at the princess, who only sighed in relief.

Celestia glanced at her calendar, double checking the date. “So it is, so it is. Please inform the guards and staff that I will be taking a few days off this week. The Day Court will have to be shifted to at night. I must speak with Luna now. Thank you, that is all.” With that, the princess rose and walked out of her study and down the hall only to take a left at the third intersection.

Now in the inhabited wing of the castle, Celestia opened a door engraved with the picture of a full moon, the constellations providing a light backdrop for the image. Inside the room was dark, the thick, wafting grey curtains repelling any light that sought to enter the room via the windows. It could not, however, block the bright light coming from the far corner of the room. A large silhouette stopped most of the light from reaching the alicorn’s eyes, causing her to stumble on her way across the room. The noise from this caught the attention of the owner of the silhouette.

“Good day, sister. What brings you here so early?”, said the shadow, still dancing in front of Celestia’s eyes. Celestia’s supposed sister move from the desk, her horn glowing as she lighted the room’s candles. Celestia finally was able to see her sister staring at her from a few paces away. “Is there something you wanted to speak to me about.?”

Celestia sighed. “Always to the point, aren’t you? Well, it’s that time of the year again...”, Celestia trailed off.

Luna nodded. “I see. I shall take over court and leave you free. Have a nice trip and say hello to him for me please?”

“I will. Just remember, next year, it’s your turn.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Celestia made her way to the courtyard next to the royal gardens and enlisted the service of a nearby chariot. The pegasi asked where to take her, to which she only replied, “To the ocean, doesn’t matter which or where, just to the ocean.” The confused pegasi, not wanting to question their princess, immediately took off and headed east from the castle.

The ground seemed like a blur, the ponies; ants, and the buildings like  a foal’s toys. As she pondered some random thought or other, trying to pull her mind off the immediate future, she realized that they had almost reached the ocean. The chariot started to descend and circled a section of the beach with many ponies enjoying the sunny spring weather. They all looked up in awe as the golden chariot banked and landed on the edge of surf. They all bowed as Celestia exited the chariot and made her way to the water’s edge. She reached the water and, looking down, said, “I know you can hear, open up.”

The ocean suddenly became calm, not a single wave stirred its flat surface. The earth began to shake slightly, the water made ripples from a single point not five feet from the water’s edge. As suddenly as it began, all the tremors stopped, and for a moment, the panicking ponies fell silent. The water had begun to open. Five feet from the beach, the water and sand fell away to reveal a gaping hole that only lead into darkness. The princess confidently stepped forward into the hole... and fell.

...and fell

...and fell

...and fell.

She fell until she had no idea how long she had been falling. She continued to fall, her descent finally slowing, eventually coming to a stop at the ocean’s floor. Her sun’s light barely reached this down, and it cast an eerie glow about her. The rocks around reflected little light, most seeming to absorb it rather that than reflect, and the fish surrounding her lit up in an unknown, visual fanfare of blues and reds and yellows.

Celestia paused before the blue palace in front of her, taking a moment to drink in her surroundings. No matter how many times she had come, it never ceased to amaze her; the rock formations the same, yet different. The fish changed, but only enough to challenge you to spot the differences. And the palace. Dear Me, that palace. The entire palace was hewn into the side of a trench, the deepest trench in the world in fact, but that was only known by one pony ever in existence. The palace was made of blue and red coral, that by all rights should not be growing this deep, but did so never the less. She stepped forward, and the doors took it upon themselves to grant her entry, as nopony was around to do it open them.

Stepping in, a small, blue-green hippocampus with green fur and a light brown mane greeted her. “Good day, Princess. Are you here to visit, or there some business needing attention?”

“There is no business. It is a personal visit this time. It’s that time of the year again.”

The small sea-pony frowned, the look completely ruining the aura of cute and innocence that surrounded it. “I didn’t know it was. The years go by so fast don’t they? I’ll lead you him.” With that he turned and lead her down a hall. Shadows cast from the lights danced forebodingly across the hall. As the princess looked at the lights, a small light detached from one cluster and made it’s way to her guide. It moved close to the sea-pony’s ear and appeared to talk to him.

“Oh, is he now? Well that’s just a shame... What’s that? Again? Well, atleast the Princess is here to help.”

Needless to say, Celestia did not like where this was going. “Well I’ll see what I can do to help, but I hope he allows me to.”, she said with a sigh.

When they had arrived at a large, silver and copper accented door, depicting the a large wave crashing down onto the sea, the sea-pony said his goodbye and left her to stand in front of it. She raised a hoof to knock, but a voice interrupted her. “Come in.” She opened the door, and immediately sighed in exasperation. The room was a mess. Things thrown  here and there and, oh, how did that tie get tied to the flat ceiling 100 hooves up? It was ridiculous.

“How can you live like this?”

A voice from the dark side of the room answered her, “Define ‘living’.” The voice was sad, accented by old age, with just a touch of tiredness to it. The kind of tiredness that never goes away.

“Oh, come on now. It’s been, what? Several centuries at least. You need to get out and meet some mares.” She was getting annoyed already, this was going to be a long day.

“I should say the same to you. When are you finally going to meet a stallion? Or is it a mare? I haven’t been following trends lately, even among my subjects. It is your duty. Only a female can continue the line of the alicorn.” The owner of the voice finally revealed himself. Said owner stepped from the darkness into the light, but the shadows almost  seemed to cling to him as he moved. “I missed you. Even surrounded by my subjects, I’m still lonely.” The, for lack of a better word, ocean-green alicorn stepped fully into the light. His dark blue mane faintly shining for a moment. His head held high, he had an air of authority, even more so than Celestia herself. But the image shattered, falling away as he sighed and slouched his shoulders, his head slowly falling until it was barely raised.

“The truth is, I don’t know if I can stand being alone any longer. Of course, you wondn’t know what that’s like. Basking in the love and respect of all your ponies, while all I get from mine is pity.”

“Maybe I should visit you more often, brother.”, Celestia said with a sigh. A long day indeed.

Act 1: Scene 2

Dear Twilight Sparkle,

I am sorry I have not written for a while, but a family matter has arisen and needed my attention. The matter has been fixed, at least, for now. I will be sending a pony to live in Ponyville so he can interact with other ponies and make some new friends. The circumstances of his anti-socialness are a bit different from what yours were, but I still believe you can help him. I have enclosed some bits for him to stay at the local inn, please make him a reservation under the name “Triton”. I will visit soon to check on him. Please help him.

Your Loving Mentor,

Princess Celestia

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“‘Family matters’? Is something wrong with Luna?”, asked a concerned Spike. “She didn’t go all Nightmare Moon again, right?”

“I don’t think she meant Luna when she said ‘family’, but it’s either Luna or Cadence, and Cadence has recently written that she and Shining are fine. But I’ve never heard of the pony she mentioned. ‘Triton’? Sounds like an old name.”, said Twilight, climbing up onto the couch in the library’s main room. She quickly read the letter again and sent Spike to make the reservation at the inn.

I wonder who Triton is?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From behind the large doors, voices could be heard, slightly muffled but distinct.

“You can’t be serious.”, said one voice.

“Oh, but I am. I have already made arrangements, and you could stand to get out a little more.”, answered a second voice.

“That’s what you said last time, a look how well that turned out.”

The second voice took longer to respond this time. “Well, you still have to do this. Times have changed, it won’t happen again. You still need to get out there and meet some more mares. It doesn’t hurt that it’s almost spring, and mares will be looking to get into a relationship.”

“So you want me to abuse an aspect of nature that ponies can’t resist, for my own selfishness? You really are living up to that nickname Luna gave you.”

“You’re going to Ponyville tomorrow, and that’s final!” The doors swung open, hindered by water resistance, and revealed an angry princess walking away from an equally angry blue-green alicorn.

“I may have to go, but I don’t have to socialize.”, the blue alicorn concluded quietly to himself.

“You may think that, but you will end up meeting ponies, probably forcefully.”, chuckled Celestia as she walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Triton grumbled to himself as he trudged along the dirt path leading to Ponyville. The woods and animals in them went unnoticed by him as he moved towards his destination.

“Stupid Celestia, always thinks she knows best. Celestia, who’s never been in a relationship. Celestia, who never got to know a stallion after the first night. Damn it! Why does she do this?” While questioning the events that lead to this, Triton failed to notice he had entered the town. His head hanging low, he was ignorant of all the ponies staring at him. He continued to walk through the town square, the water in the fountain moving to push against the side closest to him. He crossed a bridge, and the water below swelled upward a bit, trying to reach him.

Suddenly, he noticed he was walking on cobblestone. He looked up and around, confused and lost in the small town. Luckily for him, the first pony he ran into was none other than the pony he was looking for, though he did not notice.

“Hello!” Triton turned to face the direction the voice had come from. Walking toward him was a purple unicorn with a dark purple that had a pink highlight in it.

“Are you new here? My name is Twilight Sparkle.”, said the unicorn, now known as Twilight, as she offered her hoof in greeting. Triton reached out his own and slowly shook the unicorn’s outstretched hoof.

“My name is Triton, and yes I am new here. I was sent meet to the librarian here. Can you direct me to the town’s library?”

Twilight was dumbstruck. A pony who had never heard of her. Saving Equestria twice, ruining a Gala, being Celestia’s personal student, and having a brother for a prince had made her and the other Bearers of the Elements of Harmony fairly well known, if not famous. But here was a pony who had no idea who she was.

“Well, I am the librarian, Twilight Sparkle. Did you say your name was Triton? Did Celestia send you?” Triton nodded.

“Well then, we better get off the streets so she doesn’t find you. My home is nearby, follow me.”

Triton was about to ask who “she” was, but Twilight turned and started walking the she had come. Triton followed, at a slower pace, to a tree with a door and several windows higher up. He thought he saw a balcony, but that would be ridiculous.

Twilight opened the door to the tree and shouted, “SPIKE! Can you make us some tea? Triton just arrived.” Triton, who was expected a stallion to answer, was mildly surprised to find that a small dragon rushed into the kitchen, supposedly to make a brew.

“Just make yourself at home. I’ll be back in minute.” With that, Twilight walked up the stairs toward the back of the tree to what Triton guessed was the living area of the library/tree/house. Spike walked out of the kitchen, having just put a kettle on.

“So, anyone notice your wings yet?”, Spike asked Triton as he situated himself on the purple sofa. Triton shifted on the sofa, rustling his leathery wings.

“I think not. Nor do I care. I want to be left alone, I do not care if Celestia sent me.”, answered Triton gruffly, still angry with the white alicorn.

“Alright, I won’t tell anyone. But somepony will find out eventually.”

“Thank you. I think that the extra attention would be unwelcome.” Triton sighed. How long was he going to stay in this small town? He hoped not very long.

After a minute of silence between the two males, Twilight trotted down the stairs and handed Spike a rolled up parchment. He sighed knowingly and sent it on its way out the window and to the Princess.

“So, Triton, what brings you to Ponyville?”, Twilight asked as she walked into the kitchen to fetch the kettle, which had just begin to whistle. Spike walked into the kitchen to make his “famous” brew.

“Well, the Princess and I had a disagreement, and it wound up with her sending me here.” Triton shifted uncomfortably on the sofa, hoping the conversation didn’t go into too much detail.

A disagreement?! Twilight wanted to yell at this strange pony for even thinking of disagreeing with her tutor. The thought was inconceivable.

“So, how long will you be staying?”, she said, hoping to continue the conversation. The new pony did not seem the talkative type, so it would be up to her to further their dialogue.

“I don’t know. Not long, I hope.”

Twilight almost laughed. She remembered when she first came to Ponyville, hoping the visit would be quick and she could away from these crazy ponies. She grew to love the town and its inhabitants, no matter her judge on their sanity. She just knew that Triton would warm up eventually.

They sat in silence for a minute, sipping their tea. Until Triton glanced out the window.

“It seems to be getting late. Thanks for the tea. Now, could direct me to my inn, and then to the nearest bar.”

¡REDO!

“Gather round, fillies and colts. I’ve got a story for ya. It’s about the tale of the Lost City of Atlantis.”

The foals in the community center scooted closer to the old mare as she rocked in her chair by a fire. The storm outside blew and rained on the town, causing some windows to rattle. A brief flash of lightning caused the room to light up.

“The city was a grand city, filled not just with ponies, but with every kind of creature: cows, ponies, griffons, minotaurs, hippogryphs, and even a few giants and trolls. It was the trade center of the world. The building rose from the outskirts, becoming taller and taller as they drew nearer to the center of the city. Brick arches connect some building and the guards who patrolled the rooftops never shirked from their duties. The buildings eventually gave way to a grand palace in the city’s central plaza. It’s walls and arches all blues and golds, glistening in the sunlight. Atlantis was famous for it beautiful buildings and wonderful people. I’m getting off track. This is a story about how Atlantis became the Lost City.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hurry up, Spike! We’re going to miss the train!”

Twilight raced through her house/tree to grab the essentials she needed for her trip to Canterlot. She had an engagement and she did not want to miss it. She called out to her assistant as she began to gather parchments and quills into a saddlebag, “Did you get my suitcase?!”

“Yes, I have it here. But why is it only filled with books?”, called back her little brother/son/thing (the relationship confuses me). “It’s seems silly to pack books instead of clothes.”

Twilight paused just long enough to give Spike a look. “I don’t need clothes, I’m a pony.”

As Spike just rolled his eyes, Twilight returned to frantically gathering what she thought was necessary for her weekend trip, and Spike calmly walked out the door, suitcase in hand, to the train station. Thankfully, Twilight had recently purchased a rolling suitcase, so Spike was able to reach the station without stopping for rest. As he began to climb the steps to the platform, he glanced behind him. No Twilight. “Looks like I’ll have to buy her ticket.”

Turning back to face the platform, he ran into Twilight’s flank, eliciting a not-very-manly scream from Spike and a yelp of surprise from Twilight. The ticket master was not amused. They made their purchase and boarded the train.

~~~~~~~~

When they arrived at Canterlot a few hours later, dusk had just fallen. Being winter, dusk had fallen early and it was barely 5 o’clock. Spike opted to bring their baggage straight to Twilight’s parents’ house because he was not feeling well. Spike had always had trouble with riding the train. He never mentioned it as he did not want the girls to make fun of him, but it was all in his head. Twilight left him to go to the castle for two reasons: to say hi to the princesses, and to pick up some books.

Strolling through the streets, Twilight tried to think back to her filly-hood and relive the memories. Sadly, most of those memories involved her, a book, and a glass of chocolate milk. Sighing, she speed up her pace to a canter. Arriving in a short time, she was waved in by the guards and made her way to the Royal Libraries. Entering, she immediately nodded to the librarian and made her way to the central hub of the library. Closing her eyes, she scrunched her face in thought. Remembering where she had finished last time led her to a new spoke of the library that she had not read. Twilight pulled the first book off the shelf and sat down with at a conveniently nearby table. She then took a moment to actually examine the book. It was coated in a light layer of dust. The covers of it were a dark blue and it seemed to bound in what appeared to be snakeskin. One of the weirder things about it was that it no title or author on the front or side. Only flowing golden spirals and swirls adorned the book, tracing an intricate design that attracted the eye here and there and back to the beginning.

“Well well well, I see you’re already situated.”

“Princess!” Twilight turned and sure enough Princess Celestia was indeed behind her. Celestia smiled down at the unicorn and leant down for da nuzzlies. Twilight happily obliged. “How did you know I would be here?”

Celestia giggled. “It’s you, Twilight. Where else would you be on a trip back to Canterlot?”

Now it was Twilight’s turn to giggle. “I guess you’re right. I’m sorry I didn’t go to see you first. I’m having dinner with my parents and siblings later and I wanted to quickly grab something to read before going.”

“Ah, I see you are still trying to finish that challenge.”, Celestia said with a wink. “You know Cadance was only joking about that, right?”

Twilight shrugged. “Joke or not, it was good idea and I will accomplish it. I’ve already read over half the library, so not that much left!”

“Well then, I wouldn’t want to hold you from dinner. Say hi to Cadance and Shining for my.” And with that said, Celestia waved and set off down ilse back to the castle proper. Twilight picked up her book and carried it to check it out at the desk.

Making her way home in the brisk winter eve, Twilight jogged down the roads to the, more or less, suburbs of Canterlot. Entering her parents house, Twilight was surprised to see everypony there already. They were seated around the table enjoying a nice homemade meal and laughter echoed through the room.

“Waitwaitwait, then... she said, ‘Can I get you some more?’!” Another burst of laughter shook the house as Shining finished his joke.

Velvet trotted to Twilight. “Oh, you’re finally here. Now we can eat. Come on, I made plenty!”

They all sat eating and talking, catching up and joking around. It wasn't until Shining took a drink from his glass that their father spoke up. “So when can we expect grandchildren?”

Shining’s mouthful of water EXPLODED out of his mouth. He flopped to the floor, hacking and coughing. Cadance jumped up and moved to help as Nightlight burst into laughter. After a few minutes, Shining finally calmed down and spent the rest of dinner not answer that question and glaring daggers at his father.

~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the dinner passed uneventfully. Twilight said her goodbyes to her brother and new sister and made her way up to her old room, wishing her parents a good night. Her parents had changed her room. It had gone from its purple, girly, made-for-filly to a plain guest room. The room’s walls shades of green, and a new bed - larger than the original -, but at least they left all the bookcases.

She pulled out her new book, admiring the craftsponyship, and proceeded to snuggle into bed. Opening the book, she finally found the title. It was written a flowing green script, stating “The Last Remnants”. Turning the page again, she found the introduction.

My name is Darvin, and I am writing this to make sure that some part of him will survive the ages. I am writing this story for one who is unable. He is Triton, the First Alicorn. Triton was the first to ascend and was the ruler of Atlantis.

But Triton was not always an alicorn. No, his story starts much further back the road, when things were very much different than what they are now. I am not entirely sure of his experiences, but Triton has given me some of his memories to help convey his story. They are inlaid to the pages of this book and only need a spark of magic to activate. Some of these memories may not be happy, but they are the truth. Whether we like that truth or not is up to us. The memories will be divided into chapters with relevant memories together in chronological order. And remember, reader, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Twilight turned the page, only to find it blank with a “Chapter 1” at the top. Tilting the book back and forth, a faint circle was made visible in the center of the page. Mentally shrugging, Twilight put her hoof in the circle and focused on the book with her magic. In her mind’s eye, she saw all the spells on the book. Page after page of the activation and actual memories burned into the chapters. Tentatively, she activated the memory for Chapter 1.

~~~~~~~~

The state of watching the memory was in a third person view, oddly. Twilight saw the area from a position above a red earth-pony stallion, barely past foal-hood, with a brown mane. It was difficult to tell what his true colors were as he was covered in dirt, sweat, and mud. The stallion was in a field pulling a plow down a column with others earth-ponies. Sprinkled here and there were some angry looking unicorns. Twilight’s gaze was inexplicably drawn to the red stallion, and the memory began to feed her information as it played out.

The sun beat down hard on his back and, unfortunately, so did the overseer’s stick. “Stop standin’ around! Get back to work!”

Stone whimpered in pain. He pushed forward into his yoke, causing the plow to jerk forward and then resume its tired path down his column. His breath steamed in the cold air. Winter was over, but obviously nopony told that to the weather. The temperature had continued to drop even after it should have begun to rise.

The wind howled as the team of earth-ponies made their way down the columns, their sharp plows furrowing the ground. Another team of earth-ponies followed them, tossing various seeds at certain intervals down the path. The overseers continued to yell and insult and whip various ponies, going as far to threaten them with “the shed”. The mere mention of this place caused  Twilight to feel a huge amount of pain and fear and helplessness. It was strange, to feel somepony else’s feelings, but at the same time, it felt natural.

Twilight turned her attention back to the red stallion. The stallion was unhitching from the plow and bringing it to a barn where others were also moving equipment. After they had finished putting away the tools, all the earth-ponies went to section of land with ramshackled houses. They all split up into their housing groups and said “goodnight”.

Twilight’s view continued to follow the red stallion, who was huddled in a corner of his shack. The wind blew, causing the shack to creek and the cold become biting. The ten ponies inside pulled all the blankets and sheets they had, though moth-holed and moldy, and proceeded to make a large cuddle-pile. There was nothing fun or nice about this cuddle. This was for survival. Each was draped and curled shamelessly around each other, shivering and occasionally whimpering. It was not lying peacefully that lulled these ponies to sleep, but the sheer exhaustion of the day’s work that knocked them out.

~~~~~~~~~~

Time had passed. She couldn’t say how much, but she could feel that years had past. The same right-out-of-foal-hood red stallion now stood under a tree, waiting. He had grown considerably, layers of muscle only added to the illusion of his height. He glanced around, checking. He continued to scan the area, still waiting, but for what?

That question was shortly answered in the form of a pegasus mare dropping out of the tree. Her green coat had provided suitable camouflage in the tree. She shook her mane before pulling a vial out of her saddlebags. “Here, just put this in their food and then...” She trailed off, obviously uneasy about the subject.

The stallion nodded. “I don’ like this either, but it has to be done. Are ya sure this will work? If not, you will won’ be seein’ us again.”

The pegasus nodded. “I understand. It will work. Good luck.” With that said, she took off, staying low in the trees until she rose into the clouds. The stallion stared at the vial. He shook his head, place the vial completely in his mouth to hide it, and left.

Twilight glided through the air after him. After a moment of silence, his thoughts rang in her head. I really hope this works. I wish I didn’t have to do this. Faust, please forgive me.

~~~

Twilight could tell it was the night of the same day as the previous memory. The stallion sneaked into the kitchens connected to a large house. Unlike where he slept, this house was very well kept. Nothing was out of place and not a speck of dust glistened in the dusk. As the stallion made his way into the main room of the kitchen, Twilight saw another earth-pony. This one was a yellow color with his hair tied back in a bun.

“Ah! You brought it. I hope that pegasus didn’ give ya any trouble, eh? Wacha have to do to git this one, Stone?”

“Nothin’ I’m proud of. Now, put this in their food. Make sure they all git some.” After a second of thought, the red stallion (“Stone.” Twilight thought.) added, “Don’ give any to the kids, they don’ need it.”

The cook nodded in agreement and turned back to his stew pot. “Ya best be goin’. They’ll be ‘ere soon fer the food.” With a nod goodbye, Stone turned and fled the house.

As the sun fell, Stone made his way back to the dilapidated houses where the other earth-ponies were. Squeezing into the circle they had formed around a small fire, Stone was bombarded with questions. “Did you get it?””Are we all set?””When do we start?””How long?”

Stone merely shook his head and silence fell. Stone shuffled close to the fire. Slowly, the fire began to fight back the fierce cold that now set in year-round. As he warmed up, he whispered, “I wish there was another way...”

~~~

Midnight. The landlords and overseers were all asleep, snoozing soundly due to the poison in their food. Stone looked at the sky, the moon shining bright and full overhead. As if Faust wants us to put a stop to all of this. Stone rose, threw dirt onto their fire, and began rousing everypony else.

They all groggily walked to the supply barn, each pony steeling himself for the coming hardship. They pulled open the red door, and began arming themselves with tools. Some had pitchforks, some hoes, other had simple garden hooks. When everypony had a weapon, they made their way outside and assembled in lines to here Stone talk. Stone walked up and down the first row of ponies.

“Alright, I don’ wanna do this, but we got no choice. Jus’ remember, spare the kids an’ the maids, they didn’ do wrong.” With that said, they all began the walk up to the master’s house, a fire burning in their eyes. Once again, Stone’s thought rang clear in Twilight’s head, Dear Faust, please forgive us.

~~~

The memory jumped forward, but Twilight knew what happened. They killed them. They killed all of them. The poison had stopped the unicorns from using magic. Twilight felt sick. She saw Stone, whose fur was now truly red. His face was as grim as his bloodied pitchfork. The earth-ponies took all the food, blankets, and supplies they could carry, and left.