Odyssey of my friendship

Thanatophobia is the fear of dying or being killed.

Twilight clung to her belly and, feeling a sharp pain, tried to heal herself with magic. "Wow! The energy consumption of magic is at least ten times higher, and it has a payoff. Great... On top of all this, I got a migraine."

Frowning, Twilight applied a tight bandage to her abdomen to make it hurt less, and threw on a cloak to save herself from the rain.

"What a disgusting smell... What a horrible place. Apparently, this shitty slum is like Las Pegasus with the same tall beautiful banners. So... By the way..." only now seeing what was painted on the banners, Twilight gave out puzzled. "Applejack? Only apple cider can quench your thirst? Wow..."

Once more surprised, Twilight hears a hiss from outside.

"We'd have to find an inn, and preferably local currency. Hmmm..."

Luckily it was very easy to blend in with the locals, they were mostly all walking around who were wearing cloaks and bandages. Umbrellas could occasionally be seen. But what exactly caught the eye was the number, very few pegasi. And only one or two unicorns.

Out of the corner of her eye, Twilight notices the sign on the house "Don't want to attract too much attention? We'll cut down your horn in 5 minutes! No repercussions with a guarantee."

"Brrr... There's clearly something wrong with this place, and it would be worth getting out of here as soon as possible..."

"Scan... So, the air here is disgusting, but it's possible to breathe, though to tell you the truth, it's like poison to me right now. Of course, it's like a forest savage coming into town. Hmm... Who rules here? No mention of alicorns. Hmm. A junk buyer."

Fixing her gaze on one of the canopy stands, she spots a pony sitting on a cushion. An ottoman, most likely. A cloth is spread out on the floor. She can see all sorts of gadgets on it, and two ponies trying to shove a rusty teapot and a wooden pin at him. Once again he is convinced that the world here is a very poor place. When they leave with sad faces, Twilight hesitantly approaches the vendor, studying his goods with a slimy gaze.

"Buy or show me something of value, or else leave!" Very abruptly he started the conversation, but it didn't attract any attention.

Twilight wanted to object or even respond in the same way, but she didn't. She thought about it and soon pulled her machete out of her bag.

"You want to rob me?! Go ahead. But know that either I will come for you or my family will kill you!" the merchant turned to threats. You could see by the look on his face that he wasn't afraid of her at all.

The alicorn woman held the machete by the back of the blade and slipped the item forward with the handle, showing that she wanted to understand how much it was worth and that she wanted to sell it to him.

"Fake again?! You're annoying!" The merchant grumbles out of habit, but still, putting on his glasses, he took the weapon and began to scrutinise it.

Then he turned his gaze to her and back to the machete, swiped the blade across the cloth and noticed that it left an even cut, then looked at the alicorn.

"Kicked out of the guard?" The vendor scrutinised the person in front of him and blurted out: "Eight gold pieces. Agreed?"

She didn't really know how expensive this weapon should be priced, so she decided to push logic. So, gold is worth more than silver and coppers. So her weapon was valued by him? Or not... "Ah... He thinks I'm the local guard, considering I'm wearing a cloak that's embroidered to a very high quality, and the weapon is okay, and I myself am a bit bigger and taller than the other ponies. I guess so..."

"I agree," Twilight said quietly, though she didn't really want to part with her machete. "Can I ask you another question? Where do you stay here for the night, a room, an inn or something like that?"

He shook his head in surprise as he looked for coins and soon handed them to her in a pouch. And scanned Twilight again with a piercing gaze.

"Hmmm... Living here all your life and you don't know this town?"

"I've never been out of my... Well..." Twilight hesitated, but she wouldn't tell him that she had travelled through a portal from another world, would she? He would surely think it was utter nonsense.

"I hear you. You spend your life working for the local government, killing yourselves, and then you come and sell your weapons, armour and other junk to me. Girl, what's your name?" The voice became much softer and calmer, even more caring in a way.

"Tv..." I decided it was better not to tell him my real name. What if the local Twilight lives here? "Twia."

"Twia. And I'm Bill," the merchant held out a hoof to her, and Twia responded by tapping it against it. It felt rough. "Let's go inside. You're going to get soaked to the skin, and in this climate that's a death sentence."

Bill stepped inside the house, beckoning her to follow him. She exhaled and followed him, closing the door behind her. A moderately bright light came on, the source of which wasn't hard to identify. "Wow, paraffin lamps? Such things are rare in our world, though the banner on that tall house is clearly electric."

"Come on in, don't be shy, you've helped the old man out a lot."

It was only now that she noticed that the local peddler was in his old age, just like Granny Apple.

"With what? You gave the money yourself."

Twilight walked behind the old man and sat down on the floor. Actually, she was having another conversation.

"Oh-oh, don't you know? I'll auction it off later. For a minimum of thirty gold pieces. It's a quality weapon. High-end and brand new, which means you're from the upper society of the Guard?" Bill asked her, still examining the weapon with curiosity.

"Yes... Listen, Bill. Tell me about the local culture and customs."

He coughed in shock, looking at her like she was crazy, which was at least rude, but he came to his senses quickly.

"Oh yes... You don't learn history, and... But I'm glad you're so inquisitive, I'm even surprised. Usually the guards don't give a damn about their culture, and most of them can't even read."

"What about the stuff outside? Won't they get wet?" Twilight suddenly came to her senses, glancing at the old man. "Why don't I bring it in?"

Bill stopped her with a gesture of his hoof.

"Who needs this rubbish? They only buy it once a week anyway. You know, the essentials, like a kettle or a knife, sometimes a screwdriver."

"But how do you live? I mean, I've seen the prices, and I think you're selling pretty cheap."

"Living? Surviving. I don't buy much either, and what I like, I can use. Sorry, I can't offer you anything to eat. But I can give you some water, please. Yes, and as you can see, there's not a lot of rich people here. And if they have more or less big money, they live over there, in those high-rises."

"Here you go," Twilight interrupted, pulling a couple of apples out of her supplies.

"'I can't! It's very expensive! I already paid you very little for your copy."

"Aha, so he bought my item cheap after all, well... I'm not going to take it away, and besides, he's got a greedy look in his eye for those apples."

She brought the fruit closer to him.

"Eat, and don't think about the price. I'm not going to rip you off, I just want information. And the more the better. If it will make your soul feel better, accept these apples for another price - information."

"Agreed!"

The old man literally sunk his teeth into the fruit very greedily, feeling their sweetness and flavour. Twilight turned away so as not to embarrass him and waited for him to finish his meal. Soon the heavy breathing and greedy sips of water from his glass made it clear that he was finished. I even felt sorry for him, because the people here hardly see anything tastier than third-class porridge.

"Where did you get them from?" came the old man's surprised exclamation.

"And-from..." Twilight said, trying to make up an alibi for herself.

"Don't lie like you took them from the palace, because three years ago I tasted Apple apples, and they weren't as juicy and big and delicious! - he even shouted louder than usual."

"Information!" She turned to him menacingly and demanded, letting the old man know that she was going to act "info for info".

"I'm sorry..." he relented, glaring at her. Soon, however, calming down and savouring the sweet taste, he continued: "What is it you want to know, Tvia?"

"How do you live here?"

"Like I said, everyone here survives. Pegasi mostly go into the elite assassins or local guards."

She lifted the edge of her cloak slightly, revealing a wing.

"And you, girl, are you a pegasus too? Wow, it's so big," the old man said in surprise."

Again the rhythmic thumping and the serious look brought his conversation back on track.

"Sorry, Tvia, so my question is, who are you?"

"I'm a guard, and I got kicked out because I fell asleep on the job, and then..."

"Hey, that's not a good lie, Tvia. It'll stop the old man's heart. I can tell when someone's lying." Twilight takes off her hood and spreads her wings. That's when the old man's eyes became like two saucers. "What's that? Nah, ha ha ha ha... A prop. Hahaha," he came up and poked his hoof at her horn, but she lit it on fire and used levitation magic to push his hoof away. "Magic? You're a unicorn."

"All right, that's enough! I am an alicorn! Do you get it now?"

"Ali-what?" he put his head to the side.

"Really? You know, the horn and wings together?"

He looked at her with curiosity, a hint of fear, and was not even shy about touching both. Twilight, of course, tolerated it, but let him know she was not pleased.

"My girl..." closing the windows to the shutters, he sat down and began to tune in for a serious conversation. "A hundred years ago there was a magical-climatic catastrophe that took millions of lives. It was then that unicorns as a species disappeared completely. And the pegasi were almost all crushed by the tremendous altitude. However, over time, unicorns began to make a comeback, thanks to gene mixing from their ancestors. However, they could not use magic, and if they could, it resulted in a brain haemorrhage and ended in almost instant death. Therefore, out of the fifteen elite supreme beings, there is not a single unicorn and only two of them are pegasi."

"A catastrophe? And what had caused it?" Twilight was jotting down notes and the old man was and didn't mind the story. Well finally the conversation was getting into the right phase, well at least something interesting.

"According to rumours and legends, it is said that there is a magical fountain that is responsible for magic all over the planet. That's where the trouble happened. Then there was a wave, here. The lands were no longer fertile and the sun never rose again. Rumour has it that all the survivors are here now and no-one ventures beyond our city limits. And only he who has a horn and wings can bring the sun back into the sky!"

"Horns and wings, so... Tell me, what is the border of the city?"

"As I know, it's a high wall, about thirty to forty metres high. And about five or six metres thick. Beyond that, it's wasteland and nothing else."

"But what are you defending yourself against?"

"It's probably not for defence, but to deter the local population. As the Pegasi say, there's nothing to do abroad. And everyone believes it. You know the parable of the four walls? Well, here it is. Well, there's only one wall, and it surrounds the whole city."

"How big is the city?"

"Forty kilometres. Roughly."

"Population, how many of you?"

He exhaled, thinking.

"Hard to say, but five or ten years ago there were about thirty thousand."

"How can so many ponies fit in such a small place!" Twilight wondered, calculating the population per square metre. Oh, and considering how big the ponies' living spaces were.

"Hey... Huh. Why are you surprised? See the room I have? That's considered a big flat. Others live in even smaller rooms with just a bed, if you're lucky, a toilet and some empty space."

"How's your water supply?"

"Fortunately, there are four wells in the city and we have water. Only cold water, though. Only the rich and the elite use hot water."

"And the sewerage?"

"There's literally a pipe that goes outside the city wall and everything is flushed down there."

"That's--"

"Unhygienic? Girl, it's a good thing, cos there was a time when there was slavery, when you starved to death. Disease was slaughtered left and right. Dead ponies lying around. Now look, see that banner up there? Apple. They found a way to grow apple trees and other produce. The other elites banned slavery, so everyone survives as best they can. If you can do something well, you'll make it to the upper spheres safely."

"Where do they grow them? Weeds don't even grow here!"

"Oh... I don't know that, and I haven't even thought about it. You see, they own 90-95% of the population's provisions."

"What if the population starts to grow?"

"Well... Unicorns are killed when they're babies and in the maternity ward, unfortunately that's the law Apple made, and everyone obeys it."

"What do you mean?! Killed in the birthing centre?!" Twilight darted her eyes at the old man.

"You didn't know? It's so that there are fewer fatalities. Babies can accidentally use magic when they're babies, and that's death for them."

"Wait! If you wax the horns, they won't work!"

And then Bill wanted to say something in response, but he couldn't explain it. Wax was expensive, but at least the community could spare some for the children.

"I don't know... Damn, you're right... And look, I have no idea where you got that knowledge, but..."

Twilight pulled out her diary and began to write.

"Entry 14. I've found myself in a post-apocalypse slum. And I need to adapt in this place to stop the genocide and deal with this horror...!"

"What's this?" Looking at the journal as if it were some kind of treasure he clearly didn't mind buying, the old man inquired.

"A journal in which I jot down my notes. Now thank you for all the information you've given me, thanks to your help I know what to do."

Twilight was about to leave, but Bill called out to her.

"Wait! A word of advice. Don't cross the Epples," he said the last words in a firm voice, like a mentor to a student. "They're not afraid to get blood on their hooves."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Twilight soon left the old man and walked on as instructed, towards the inn. Once again her belly let her know to take better care of herself. After catching her breath and taking a couple more pills of painkiller, she walked towards the grey building. Hotel.

"I don't even want to know what condition they might be in. Speaking of which... The situation here is even worse. There are no plants or animals. Although there are probably parasitic species. But that's not the point. The air is poisonous. Killing unicorns... Apparently it's a recent rule, because there are adult unicorns, aren't there? I don't see any children on the streets. They're probably in their homes, not letting them out until they're at least sixteen."

Twilight entered the building, where the doors reluctantly gave in with a creak. Apparently they had been taken out more than once, judging by the dents on them. As she approached the counter, the alicorness saw that a sleeping pegasus was sitting there.

"Guardian?" Twilight thought.

"Excuse me!" She said a little louder to wake the sleepy girl up.

"Yes... Yes... Yes... I'll be right back... The toilet is over there," she pointed to the side, not for the first time.

"No, you don't understand. I want to rent a room."

"A room? Ah-ah... Are you from inspection? I'm sorry, I didn't recognise you."

"No... I'm not from inspection. I want to rent a room. How much is it?"

"Thirty silver a day."

"All in all, at least I could sleep, that's all right."

"With a bed?"

"With a bed, it's fifty. Do you need lunch?"

"No, just for one day for now, and I'll see what happens then."

Twilight pulled one gold from her pouch, placing it on the counter in front of the pegasus. Based on her logical and mathematical calculations, she should have been given change the size of five silver coins with a face value of ten, as the guard did. She was also handed a key. She followed curiously, escorting her to her room.

"Your room is number seven."

"Thank you."

As she closed the door, Twilight noticed that the room was indeed as she had imagined it. Soon the clatter of hooves moved away from her door. The flap on it closed.

"Now to get some sleep..." she snorted softly as she tucked herself into the dusty pillow. Kicking it with her hooves, the princess began to cough. "Ugh!"

She opened the window because there was so much dust that you could hardly see anything. Fresh air and a nasty odour that was stronger here than inside. I shook the pillow and the blanket and the sheet out of the window a few times with all my might and then put everything back in its place.

"Apparently, not many people use the rooms... No wonder. And the loo? Checks? Weird. But I'll deal with that later, now I just want to rest."

Bang - and the alicorn's body fell onto the bed, putting her to sleep.

* * *

"Miss Rainbow Dash, sit down, you can't fly in the ward!"

The pegasus snorted and stood up on four hooves, something she clearly didn't like to do. Air, as they say, is her element.

"There! A brief briefing..." the doctor wanted to tell, but immediately....

"Starlight and Applejack explained everything to me, let's hurry up."

Rolling her eyes, the doctor laid her down on the couch, forcing her to fall asleep. Much faster this time. Of course it is! Patients are like customers, only they're always right!

"Wow! Blacker than night!" Looking around, Rainbow Dash could perfectly see the entire area resembling a forest in very black and dark shades. "I wasn't forbidden to fly in my dreams! Ha!" she noticed a silhouette in the distance that was sitting on a crouch and looking off into the distance. "Twi!" I shouted towards the silhouette.

"Dash?" Dash said quietly, turning her head in her direction. She was still thinking about what Applejack had said and shown her, and thinking about everything. "What are you doing here?" Twilight asked almost inaudibly.

"It's cool here!" She spun around and looked at every corner, ignoring her friend's question.

"An element of loyalty... You bet it was," she began the unpleasant dialogue with a note of sadness in her voice.

"What do you mean? I'm the most loyal!" replied loudly, still pirouetting.

"The very best. Both," Twilight stood up, gazing into her eyes, lazily repeating the movements of her head exactly as she did. "And who are you loyal to, Dash? To yourself? To me?"

"To me, and to you!" The pegasus replied cheerfully, still flying.

"It's so hard to have a constructive dialogue with you. Can't you at least be serious for a while?!" Sparkle exclaimed, tired of having a conversation with a crazy person who couldn't stay still for five minutes.

"Serious? But it's boring!" she stretched out, as loudly as she could.

Twilight's glare changed from a stern frown to a truly angry one.

"Then get out of here!"

Twilight practically threw her out by force. The pegasus was forced out of her sleep by the storm, so she clutched at the ground with her hooves and looked up at her with pleading eyes.

"Twi, what are you doing? I'm going to be serious! I'm here to talk!"

Twilight soon stopped trying to throw her off, but her gaze didn't soften and clearly gave away her anticipation. The only question in the alicorn's eyes was "So?".

"Eh... Where should I start?..?" The pegasus hesitated, sitting flat on her haunches. "You... how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, is that it? Then you can go," she turned away from her, even childishly offended.

"Wait! I really don't know what you've been through! Fluttershy and Applejack told me to see for myself and draw my own conclusions," she still sat still, showing that she was ready to have a serious conversation.

"And they..." Twilight softened a little, thinking about the fact that those had told her how scary and crazy she was.

"They didn't turn their backs on you, they just got more excited, Twi! And so am I! I'm here to help you!" echoed Rainbow more loudly.

"Rainbow Dash," she continued in a ringing and judgmental tone. "In twenty-three worlds, you've been a leader and a world leader. In more than half of them you were a traitor! And in one of them you almost killed me!" She looked down at her menacingly, coming in close, and yes, she was a head and a half taller than her.

"I... But it wasn't me! I wouldn't try to kill you! Honestly!" She lowered her ears sadly and looked at her sadly. It would have looked cute on the outside, but Twilight hadn't gotten over it in a long time. She'd seen it many times before, and she wasn't buying it.

"Applejack has the element of honesty. And you have loyalty. Tell me, Dash!" Dash shackled her to the wall by her wings, and the pegasus felt a hell of a stinging pain, but she just moaned and looked up quietly, pitifully.

"B... It hurts..." she gritted her teeth and looked at Twilight through her anguish.

"You know... Pain is the catalyst for truth, Dash. And don't I know how the truth gets out?"

She squeezed her throat with her hoof, causing her to gasp. Now she watched Twilight in horror. The choking, the pain in her wings, her hooves breaking off. Was this a dream? But why was the pain so real?

"Cha... Cha... Cha..." the pegasus soon breathed in air greedily. The tears, but at the same time the serious look of the pegasus did not give any doubt that she would go all the way. No matter what she had to go through.

"Now you've experienced strangulation, torture with severed limbs. And then there's this."

Twilight yanked her shoulders sharply, dropping her to the floor, and her wings came off her back, followed by a cry of pain and despair. A very loud one. But only Twilight could hear it. The wings remained hanging on the wall, bleeding profusely... Soon Rainbow was lying on her back, trying to regain consciousness, still looking at the alicorn obediently. She seemed considerably taller now.

Twilight stepped closer and with a completely emotionless expression began hitting the pegasus in the face, ribs, joints, pain points. Rainbow's multicoloured mane slowly turned red as she gazed into Twilight's face over her half-drowned eyes, in a way even expecting her end or death, and her hooves themselves didn't want to hit her back.

"Tell me, Dash, how do you feel? I have now treacherously smeared your pride. Taken away something you're proud of. And that's... Your friend, Twilight!" looked at her calmly, also indifferent and cold-blooded. Blood was trickling from her hooves.

"It was like being run over by a train..." she said quietly and huskily, mixed with a chuckle.

"Pfft... You're still joking."

"You're cool..." the pegasus whispered hoarsely, spitting her tooth out to the side.

"What?" clearly not what she expected to hear from the Element of Loyalty. Anger, swearing, cursing, anything! But certainly not humility and encouragement. "Are you insane?" she pressed down on her stomach, causing it to squeeze tighter under Twilight's weight.

"I just... Imagined how you could endure such pain. And that you could take down a trained, powerful pegasus so easily. And even though I won't be able to fly or even move, I'll tell you one thing for a reason. All your training and fighting for life... Made you very strong, Twilight, and I'm proud of you! And know that a friendly duel is not a betrayal. If I wanted to, I would have killed you already. But you didn't. Which means nothing bad happened!"

Dash breathed heavily, and Twilight removed her hooves from her belly, looking back, so to speak, to the deep past, the times when Dash had been the one to teach her how to fly after turning into an alicorn. How to properly conserve energy for long flights and how to perform different tricks. Planning, a lot of basics. Dash was the one who taught her. And now, as she lay dying, how did she not turn her back on her at all, but even cheer her up and smile mockingly?

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

She picked up the pegasus like a battered kitten by the armpits and hugged her. She began to repair all her wounds and fractures with magic, and even her wings were back in place. She threw herself into Twilight's arms in return. Tight and so warm.

"It's okay, Twi," Rainbow patted her back reassuringly. "You're home. Twi, you're home."

"But I hurt you..." she hugged the pegasus, trying to pull her away mentally so that she would finally let go. But each time her mistrust crumbled.

"No, you just gave me a friendly smack. And the others don't need to know that. We'll swing sometime, and I'll pay you back!"

Rainbow smiled, not holding any grudge against her friend, though the phantom pain was still there. And laughed quietly.

"Thank you!!!"

Both hugged each other tightly, dropping tears on each other's backs.

"I look forward to seeing you at practice, Twi! Get well soon! Spike's been worried sick!" she soon disappeared, leaving her alone.

"I will!" Twilight replied loudly as she left, and it seemed as if the forest around her... grew lighter?

* * *

Waking up, Rainbow looked back at her wings with slight panic, surprised in a flash. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she exhaled.

"Phew, on the spot," she smiled once more and climbed off the bed and collapsed to the floor, not expecting such consequences. "Oh Twilight... I'm fine, but still, it still hurt."

Resting her forehead against the tiles, she explained to her doctor that she was fine, just really exhausted. She was helped home, where she fell asleep.

* * *

"What's going on out there?" The alicorn mumbled through her sleep, reluctantly climbing out from under the blanket and hearing a loud noise downstairs.

"Where is she?!" came from behind the door.

"Number seven!" An equally menacing voice, but much quieter in tone, came from outside the door.

"What the hell is this? Why are they after me? I've got to go!"

Taking her belongings and cloak, she opened the window and only now realised she was on the third floor level. AND - "BANG" - The task of kicking down the door by force on the first attempt failed, and Twilight didn't wait for the second attempt. She flapped her wings and flew forward, as they allowed her to fly in this world.

The door flew off its hinges and fell to the dusty floor of the room. The open window and the receding silhouette made it clear that they were a little too late with the invasion.

"Attention, target lost. She's flying away!" shouts a guard in the direction of the departing Twilight.

"How the hell can a unicorn fly away?" came a voice from the windows.

"Call the raiders!" was all Twilight could hear as she flew away.

She looked around the city, and strangely enough, all the high-rises were right in the centre of the city. Taller than twenty stories. They were clearly owned by the Eplas and some other honourable nobility. As she flew past the top two floors, she glimpsed or even felt two eyes on her.

"The chase..." Twilight whispered excitedly, diving down past houses and streets.

But the guards kept up. After a while, a whistling sound was heard in the air. The fabric of her cloak split at the seams, and there was a slight pain in her wings.

"What the...? They're obviously trying to shoot me down or destroy me! Who are they?!"

Dodging more shells, diving past the houses.

"Two more... Hell, they're serious about eliminating me for good."

The invaders were diving from the rear, exactly on her large spread wings. Figuring the timing was right, Twilight folded them, plummeting downwards on inertia so that those two pegasi, apparently not at all expecting such a daring prank, flew past.

"Getting away from all four will be difficult."

Turning sharply to the side, past all the pegasi, she tried to bump them head-on, but they skilfully missed each other at the last moment. The elite guards were chasing her. What could she do to escape and survive? They were already catching up with her.

"I've been there!"

With a sudden brake in the air and spreading her wings, she stopped and quickly turned around. The pegasi thought she was giving up, and licked their eyes hungrily as they flew faster in anticipation. But Twilight's dropped cloak quickly wrapped around the face of one of the pegasi, sending him tumbling downwards. The other rushed to his aid to catch him. Two of them were knocked out. The other two managed to hit the bases of the alicorn's wings with something incredibly sharp. The projectiles felt like needles.

"Ouch!" It was quite painful.

Feeling that her wings were starting to go numb, she tried with all her might to use another measure: planing downwards on her wings so as not to crash. Thirty metres to the ground. Twenty-five metres left already. The altitude was falling irreversibly.

"Again! What did I do to them?!"

I started to fly down even faster, while the remaining two pegasi were catching up with their prey, and judging by the iron in their hooves, they wouldn't let her go alive.

"Teleport!" she said loudly as she disappeared from the sight of her pursuers. The two pegasi had not expected this, and nearly crashed into the wall.

Twilight appeared in the air, in a different place, but she was already flying in a sack, one moment - a bang and darkness, then nothing could be heard. Neither was the sharp pain now felt.

Consciousness faded into oblivion. It is not clear how much time has passed for her.

* * *

Twilight slowly began to come to her senses, the light from the lamp falling unpleasantly in her face.

"Mh..." was the only painful thing the alicorn said, as her stomach, wings, and head ached.

"Oh dear, you are awake, Faust has saved you." As consciousness began to return, so did the echoes of memory and pain. "Good thing I found you! You know, it's not a good idea to fall into a rubbish bin from such a great height. If you wanted to kill yourself, you could have hit the pavement or something hard. Not in my mind, lucky for you or not, but my rubbish bin contains nothing but fabrics and the aftermath of failed embroidery garments!"

"Uggh..." was all the alicorness could manage to utter.

She slowly began to realise who that voice belonged to. Even so, it echoed in her head like an echo through a trumpet.

"Lie down, you're in my basement right now. On a beautiful custom-made sofa from my company. The Rarity Company! Well, the name is still a work in progress, but I'll definitely do something special and open a furniture shop! Besides a clothing shop."

The alicorness lay there, trying to move somehow. But she just meekly stayed where she was. The Apples must be trying to kill her, or maybe her "friend" is, too.

"Are you going to turn me in too?" Twilight replied in a low whisper, and Rarity came closer to hear her.

"Say that again please, dearie. I didn't hear you."

"Are you going to turn me in to them, too?" she said, almost syllabically.

"No! What are you talking about? Wait, what are you talking about?" Rarity hadn't seen the chase they'd given all over the city, and she didn't know what had happened then.

"The pegasi were chasing... I barely escaped them... Using magic..." Twilight said slurringly as she spat the words out of her mouth.

"Magic? Oh, my dear! You can't do that! You could have been killed!"

And even considering the fact that she had wings and could use magic, Rarity calmly tended to her wounds.

"They would have... killed me..." she said in response, falling into sleep again.

The unicorn carefully wiped the sweat from her forehead and wrapped a cold cloth around her to bring down the fever.

"Hmm... and a horn and wings? How interesting. Apple's completely crazy for trying to kill this poor thing. Hmm, a chase. You are an amazing creature."

* * *

"How the hell did four elite guards not catch this feathered wonder?!" Applejack, who was clearly in a bad mood, especially after drinking a bottle of apple cider.

"She teleported!"

There was the sound of a broken bottle. And it smashed on the head of the guard, who was already unconscious, while the other three stood waiting for their boss's reaction.

"Bollocks! If I hear any more jokes like that, I swear I'll clip your wings and fire you!"

"It's true, boss! She really flew away and teleported! We couldn't catch her!" reported the second one, and soon he was the target of a second bottle.

"Out! Get out!" Applejack threw in a fury.

The guards scrambled away in a panic, though they rather ran away, dragging their unconscious friend away. Soon, relaxing in her high chair, the earth pony exhaled, drinking the contents of her glass.

"How do you work with such morons, brother?"

Next to her, her older brother, Bigmac, sat quietly drinking apple cider.

"You wouldn't be wasting cider," Bigmac rebuked her.

He clearly cared for his little sister, but she was the one who ran things. And he helped her with his strength.

"Fuck you! It's none of your business, I'll translate if I have to," she wasn't angry with him, in fact, even in this world, her family came first.

With the clatter of little hooves, a little filly came running into the office. Small, very young, still a baby, but very similar in colour to Applejack.

"Sis! big brother!"

"Apple Bloom! We talked about you not being allowed in the office yet. When you turn sixteen, you can come in here. What if big sister was working? Or..." she didn't give details about how she could sometimes smash her subjects' heads in.

"But I'm so bored sitting there alone! - came a low and pitiful voice from her side." When are you going to teach me to fight like this, and throw bottles and drink this juice?

"You can't, you're told, I'm at work now. We'll play tonight, and it's not acceptable for you to drink that juice yet, little one."

Applejack was hard on her little sister, but she loved her.

"Big brother! Let's play!" Apple Bloom looked at the tall stallion with hope in her eyes.

"Yeah," the red, big pony replied in his own repertoire.

"No, Bigmac! You're going to help me find this strange pony, aren't you? Anyway, I'm really curious to see how much information we can get out of her," Applejack demanded quietly, so her sister wouldn't hear. It was too early for her sister to do that, and she didn't want her innocent little eyes to see anything like that.

"Do you want to clip her wings?" Her brother asked her in the same whisper.

"I want to find out who it is. Then we'll see. If you want to do well, do it yourself, sugar!"

As she finished her cider, she put the empty glass on the table.

* * *

Once again, consciousness tries to enter the body. Wings still aching. The hooves are buzzing. I hope I'm okay.

"You're awake, sweetheart. Here, it's hot soup. You need to eat and get your strength back. I'm gonna go do some work. Bon appetit, dearie."

The white unicorn left Twilight lying on the couch alone with a bowl of soup.

"How mild. Eat? Yeah, I'm hungry for food. The hooves seem to be holding up, there's not as much shaking."

After awkwardly emptying her plate, Twilight began to look around at the aftermath of her recent fall.

"First and foremost were the wings. Yeah... Yep... Apparently a fracture right here. Eh... That sucks. It hurts like hell." The wings are bandaged at the base and also with a splint above. Apparently, it was bent in the wrong place. "Pills."

Searching for pills in his bags, he drinks his portion. There's something going on upstairs. Unexplained and undetected. Moving closer to the hatch, she overhears a conversation.

"Hey, Rarity. I heard you dragged someone up there to your place? Would you mind letting me know who it is?" the voice upstairs was clearly Applejack's. And judging by her tone, she had come for a reason, an important one, and if we were to theorise, they were clearly at odds.

"I told you I found her two days ago, homeless. She's--"

"Oh, this is not good. We have to get out of here. If she's come for me, fine, I'll deal with her myself."

There was a rumble outside the door, and the hatch swung open. Twilight crawled out of there like the devil out of a snuffbox and gave all three of them a serious look.

"I'm here! No need to look for me, I was just licking my wounds. Did you send those daredevils to my head, Applejack?"

Twilight was definitely looking at her menacingly, but she didn't care, and Rarity was startled and stepped back a little, not drawing attention to herself.

"Everyone knows who I am. But who you are is a mystery to everyone. But that's all right, we'll take you with us and beat the answers out of you. Now come with us, quietly and without making a fuss."

"Yeah, who said I was coming with you?" the girl rushed forward and tried to attack her.

Applejack took two steps to close the distance and swung her hoof straight at Twilight's forehead, knocking her to the ground and knocking the alicorn unconscious again, rolling through the merchandise and display cases.

"You killed her!" Rarity shouted at her, horrified to see how her blow had dented and bled. Just as she was healed, she was hit in the forehead again.

"I didn't kill her, why kill such a valuable resource? Hmm..." Applejack studied the horn and wings, then carelessly let go of one of them, causing it to flop roughly to the floor. - They look real, but that's okay, we'll cut them off and see.

"HEY! What are you doing with that thing?! Don't touch it!" pleaded Rarity, almost in tears.

"Listen, Rarka! If you want your shop to stay open without anyone getting hurt, you keep your mouth shut. And the horns, what do you think? Is the land fertile? No way, unicorn horn dust is good fertiliser. It's magical and great for apple trees. Bigmac, grab her and let's go, and if she's good, we'll let her live. If not, we'll see."

Rarity exhaled and looked at the two sadly. Lowered her eyes, for she really couldn't help her, and this shop was the only thing keeping them afloat. "I'm sorry," was the only thing she could say mentally to Twilight. But then she digested something.

"Unicorn horn dust...?"

* * *

"Hey! You there."

The stallion's softer thumping on her skull didn't bring her to her senses.

"What are you doing to her? Fuck her harder!" came Applejack's voice.

"Well, she's a girl," Bigmac muttered quietly.

"What's wrong with you? I can't saw off a horn or wake you up!" she walked round the table and came closer, swilling the contents of her glass. She splashed the alcohol on her wounds, causing her to wince and wake up immediately.

"Ahhhh!..." she moaned softly in pain. But the diluted alcohol poured on her wounds clearly cheered her up.

"There you go. See how simple it is? And you're so and so. No, it's not! Hey, scarecrow, you awake?"

Twilight was now sitting in the chair across the hall. Her wings were bound tightly together, her horn was itchy and sore for some reason, and it looked like it had been cut with a hacksaw. The hooves were tied to the bars. What a mess.

"Yeah."

"So, listen, scarecrow," Applejack began.

"I'm Twilight," she interrupted her, offended by the scarecrow.

"I'm not supposed to be interrupted, you wretch!" A shot of apple cider flew into her face, making her eyes water. "Again. Why can't I cut your horn, you wretch? What did you cover it with?"

"I didn't coat it with anything, it's my horn..." Twilight said through tears from the pinching.

"Okay, let's say. The wings aren't fake, are they? You can fly. How do you explain that?"

"I'm an alicorn..."

"Ali-what?"

Twilight realises for the second time that there are no alicorns in this world, for they died out long ago.

"A race that has both the horns of unicorns and the wings of pegasi..." Twilight explained.

"Aha... And you can use magic?" Applejack looked at her questioningly, adjusting her hat.

"I can, but my head hurts afterwards."

It was sore now, too, from being hoofed, and there was a horseshoe indentation on her forehead. It was a blow that could have killed her, and it even felt like there was a nasty rustle of shattered skull pieces that had miraculously not pressed in and punctured her brain.

"Listen. You have two choices, sugar. You know a lot, and I hope you're smart enough to make the right one."

"To hell with you, you lunatic! You're the one who issued that decree about killing unicorn stallions! There's a special pawnshop for unicorns to voluntarily surrender their horns! You're out of your mind! You're insane! You're a crazy farmer! AND A DICARCK!" Twilight, on the other hand, screamed at her, unable to believe that there could be such crazy and cruel versions of her old friends.

"Should I finish her off?" Bigmac asked, slipping the blade under Twilight's neck.

Squinting her eyes, Applejack glared at her. She shut up immediately. She had never received a death threat like that before, and she was terrified beyond belief. She got quiet.

"You know what we're gonna do. She can't fly with broken wings," Applejack smiled wryly, pointing at the wall with her hoof. "Let's get her over there."

"To the rest of the dumps?" Her brother asked.

"Yes, tie her hooves together and put her right in there. I think it'll be unforgettable for her."

"Understood, accepted, executed."

Again she felt the blow, this time on her neck, and she passed out again.

* * *

She woke up to the winds that lifted the tips of her mane, whipping against her face.

"Mgghh!" she was sitting in some kind of tank with something rotten in it. One way you look, a vast grey abyss with the ruins of old civilisations, the other way you look, you can see the whole city, low houses, a little higher and skyscrapers in the centre. She noticed the two men walking quietly towards her.

"Oh, you're awake. I was going to ask you to be my brother's personal guard, maybe a servant," she jokingly nudged the older Epple, clearly implying that it was time for him to settle down.

"Nope..." Bigmac replied quietly and briefly, letting his sister know it was none of her business.

"But you decided not to keep your mouth shut, so understand, horny, it's just business and family business. Don't think it's your fault or that you were born under an unlucky star. You know, the world isn't fair, so goodbye, fucker..." Applejack hooved the contents tank down with Twilight.

"Mhhhhh!!! PFH!!!" The alicorn screamed in terror and, perhaps by some miracle, travelled twenty-five floors before she was able to use her fall-cushioning magic and rolled on something soft and finally stopped spinning.

She cut the cloth with her horn and freed her front and hind hooves! Afterwards, she freed her mouth as well.

"Applejack! I'll be sure to remind you of that!" With a hollow threat she shouted upwards. Though from this distance it seemed like a squeak. She had better keep looking up, for when she looked down, under her hooves, she saw a lot of remains, corpses of foals and such. "What? Them? All of them? Ahhhh!!!"

Twilight experienced an emotional shock at the sight of the mountains of corpses, somewhere only completely nuked skeletons were already sticking out. She herself was now rolling over the swollen corpses that had cushioned her blow from the deadly gravity. The fluids and putrefaction, as well as the contents of organs and mucus, had soaked into Twilight's fur.

Shifting her hooves, Twilight tried hard not to step on them, but it didn't work, she had to step on their corpses. Tears rolled down her face.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I don't want to do this! But I have to get through! I'm sorry!"

She was acting like Fluttershy now. Terror in her eyes, fear in her heart and smoke in her head, the persistent smell of rot and dead things. As she stepped out onto the bare ground, Twilight felt the contents of her stomach immediately spill out onto the bare patch of ground. She lay down and just sobbed. Covered her head with her hooves, trying to hide from the world. Trying to forget, trying to become nothing.

"Somebody... I'm begging you! Get me out of this place, I can't take it anymore! It's too much! Let me go home. To my mum, my dad. My friends, Spike. My brother! Celestia! Anyone! I just want to go home and not see this..." her eyes were already hurting from the tears that hadn't come for a long time, having run out. Still sniffling, Twilight slowly began to realise that she needed to do something. "The longer I feel sorry for myself, the more victims there will be... Bill... He was telling me about the fountain. I need to find it. And then, if I can restart it, then everything will go back to normal... And this genocide will end... No ifs, I can surely restart it... I have to."

Lowering her head, she admitted she was psychologically confused, peering at the walled city and the mountain of bodies. Apparently, this is their graveyard.

"I will make sure you find peace in this mortal world, I promise-" As if making a vow, Twilight moved on."

"Scan for powerful sources of magical energy."

Surprisingly, the scan quickly showed her which direction to look in, which Twilight did. She had now lost all her gear and supplies, and the only way to save herself was to fix all the misery of this world. Also gone are her pills. Her head throbbed with pain from using magic. Wings. Not so good. They're pretty banged up... And the fall clearly aggravated their injuries. But that's nothing compared to the emotional trauma of the alicorn. It was like she was dulling all the physical pain.

Walking in one direction, Twilight tried to get rid of unnecessary thoughts. Bad thoughts. Thoughts that maybe it would be wise to give up? Or maybe to just call it a day... No... She couldn't do that. If she dies, that's a good reason not to do something.

"Crown, crown, why can't you come here and drag me home?" she's already taken pity on the sky. A quiet and black sky.

About twelve hours of monotonous walking through the wasteland flew by. It was much easier to walk here, and the maximum obstacle was only the fucking wind. After a while, her search stopped at the wasteland.

"There's nothing here. Scan!" But he started pointing at a point below her. "What's that supposed to mean? A fountain underground?"

After some minutes of searching, she still hadn't found the entrance.

"Peace! I've come to save you! Please let me do at least this, for you! I want to save you!"

As if at the call of her heart, her horn lit up purple, and a stream of magic rushed into the ground. There was no headache from the magic right now. After a moment, a... pillar began to rise from the ground... a pillar...? Stepping back a bit, she watched as the unknown structure slowly rose above the surface.

And there it was, an incomprehensible piece of shit in the middle of the wasteland. The pillar represented a mural of some sort. It was partially destroyed, but you could see an alicorn in the picture. Twilight studied the mural carefully, and judging from the scan, it was the very...

"A fountain? But where's the water? Or is that not how it works? It worked my magic, though."

"I may not be an alicorn from this world... But I want to share my magic with you! Please, fountain! Bring life back to these lands, and bring sunrise to the world! Please!"

The horn shone brightly, pouring magic into the top of the pillar. It slowly filled with a violet tide, slowly descending downwards along the streaks and hollows. Barely able to stay on her feet, Twilight continued to pour magic into it.

The fountain is apparently like a living thing. Like an artefact that is responsible for magic throughout the world. As it rose a little higher, it pulsed first with purple magic, then green, eventually shimmering with a blue, water-like magical substance. A windstorm blew through the area, raising a tsunami of winds.

"Did it work?" Twilight asked uncertainly. The fountain seemed to be beckoning to the alicorn, calling out to let her drink from it. "Yes... I'll give it a try..."

Quietly and tiredly dipping her face into the substance, she drank of this most pure magic. Her eyes lit up white. And a whole wave, no, an ocean of magic passed through the alicorn, travelling up a storm through her chakras. And as if through an intercom, a voice spoke in her head.

"You are worthy to drink from my source! I give you my power! Alicorn Twilight Sparkle!"

Then the fountain pulsed in different directions, and she fell into a dream.

* * *

When she awoke, she felt warm. She looked up at the sun. The sun? It's rising.

"Healing! Detoxification! Oh, yes!"

Twilight even perked up as she spread her wings and felt free, light and so energised. Turning towards the fountain, she bowed in respect and flew at high speed towards the city. It looked bad, of course, but she didn't remember anything being shattered. Here and there, lights of magic flew.

"Unicorns, rebellion. Rarity!"

She dashed towards the crowd that was waging a bloody battle in the square. Landing loudly in the middle of the gathering, she threw them aside.

"Stop it!" loudly, even unexpectedly, Twilight shouted.

Everyone immediately lowered their ears obediently, looking at her in horror. It was only now that everyone looked up. At the surprised exclamation of "Ohhhh..." they saw the sunrise.

"Rarity, no!" Twilight didn't have time to do anything, seeing her hit Applejack, who was lying on her back, in the chest.

"Sister!" Apple Bloom whimpered softly, looking shocked and teary-eyed.

Only now Rarity and Big Mackie, both holding a knife in their teeth, decided to fight.

"Halt!" Twilight stepped between the two, taking blows from both. Both one and the other looked at her in surprise. "You two idiots! Can't you see there's a child here?! And why the hell did you attack Applejack?!"

"She killed my little sister! That's why they told me my sister died in the hospital! She was a unicorn! She was the one who was used for fertiliser! And I was supposed to keep quiet and accept that?!" Rarity was furious and whimpering. She soon knelt down on her knees, bowing her head.

"Pgh... Pgh..." Applejack coughed, lying on her back. "I'm really sorry... that I did that to them... And I have no excuse. But I couldn't watch my family starve and die. I would have given anything to find another way..." she lay on her back, blood trickling from her wound. "Bigmac... Don't touch her. She had as much right to attack me as anyone else. Just don't leave our little sister behind."

"Applejack! Sister!" AppleBloom ran up to her quietly, hugging her, sniffling and blowing tears. "Don't die, please... Please!"

"It's going to be okay..." her voice was clearly weakening, a drop of blood dripping from her mouth. She wiped away her sister's tears with her hoof.

As much as he wanted to help her, Twilight was helpless with such serious wounds.

"Aghas..." Bigmac mumbled softly and looked at her, unable to hold back the tears as she faded away.

"Look after the family and the case... Find another way..."

"Don't worry, Applejack. I was able to bring the magic back, and soon the soil will be fertile everywhere," Twilight comforted her.

"Twilight, then... Alicorn. How cheesy that is... But... thank you... I'll definitely remember that name..." She choked hopelessly on her own blood.

The sparkle in her eyes faded. Apple Bloom sobbed, hugging her dead sister. She was in pain. Twilight herself, and she was blowing tears. But now, in front of a crowd of people, she must take the reins in her hooves, leaving them alone. She stepped away from them and, as if through an intercom, began to broadcast loudly for everyone to hear.

"People of this city! I am Twilight Sparkle from another world! The alicorn that connects all three races of ponies. Unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies! The Fountain has deemed me worthy! And has given your world a second chance! Put down your weapons! And stop fighting! You're the only ones left in the whole world. Don't do anything stupid! Help each other! First, I will free you from the shackles of this city!"

Twilight seemed to grow a little taller than she was before and walked towards one of the walls. The crowds of townspeople followed her in an almost even formation. Rarity quietly covered the eyes of Applejack, who had already left this world, and Bigmac placed his hat on her face. All three of them followed Twilight.

"We'll be right there, sister."

Twilight lit her horn, walking over to the wall.

"May this barrier that has held you back for generations crumble!"

Aiming at the wall, she struck the masonry, which began to throb loudly, crumbling into dust. Another wave and it dissolved, raising a cloud of dust with the wind in the distance. The sun lit a path in the wall, the pony opened its eyes. The soil began to regenerate, in places whole bodies of water could be seen in the distance. Grass began to grow. In some places, green edges appeared, and the trees began to bear fruits of various fruits.

"This is your land! Explore it! You no longer have to survive or fight for food! Live as they do in my world! In harmony!"

* * *

Soon all was well, and all the ponies began to disperse and scatter around the neighbourhood, for starters to get something to eat. A few days had passed since then. The corpses that were at the wall were cremated by Twilight and scattered to the wind.

"Rest in Harmony. May you rest in peace."

Wooden houses grew like mushrooms in rainy weather. In the distance, Big Mackie asked to bury his sister. Twilight gave the go-ahead and on the hill, two tombstones rose. "Applejack. Rest in harmony. Beloved sister and our saviour from starvation." And the stone, "Sweetie Belle. Rest in harmony. Little sister, may your spirit be reborn in this harmony-filled world."

"I, on the other hand, was ready to hit the road when I was given my bags and even the very same machete. Bill came to me before I shipped out and personally returned it to me, thanking me for everything I had provided and given them. I gave the money to Rarity though, it had no value to me."

"Farewell. Maybe I'll come back to you again!"

Walking through the portal, she took notes on the new pages:

"Entry 24. It is hard for me to realise that sometimes sacrifices of another race have to be made for the good of the entire nation. But... I hope they live happily ever after now."

"I didn't really feel like writing, and I didn't really feel like writing. I want to go back and hug my Applejacks and Rarity and even the annoying taggers."

Wiping her tears away with a hoof, she exhaled, not letting her emotions coalesce into one huge gush. She couldn't give up now.

* * *

"This is so painful to read..." Starlight mumbled, letting the tears flow herself."

"My poor student," Celestia whispered, wiping her wet eyes. "Sometimes going against the system and the nation is the best way to save lives. And sometimes, sacrificing some ponies can save others..."

* * *

"You only worked for your family, Applejack... You were willing to go over and above your morals. Family was all that mattered to you, not friends, and I can partially understand that."