The Great Equestrian Scam

by ExtremeSpyro

Chapters

The Great Equestrian Scam

The Great Equestrian Scam

THE GREAT EQUESTRIAN SCAM

January 1, ????, 2:38 P.M.

I got the news.

The absolute worst news I could ever hear.

My dear wife, Twilight Sparkle, went missing.

I spent around 4 hours searching every crevice of every home, sent the entire Equestrian guard force on a marehunt for her, and made numerous phone calls to many agencies in an attempt to find out where she was last seen.

I prayed to Celestia that she was alright and unharmed.

January 1, ????, 3:14 P.M.

I investigated an abandoned shack near Diamond Tiara's house.

I had never seen this shack before, it was quite suspicious. When I went to open the door, the door simply fell down. I trotted inside.

There was a foul odor, almost smelled like...death.

Like that day when I found Spike at Pinkie Pie's home...I still remember that horrible day.

On that horrible day, I trotted into Pinkie's home to pick up a cake I had ordered for me and Twi's wedding, only to see Pinkie standing over Spike's body, while in her grasp was a knife she had stuck through his chest.

I could smell the horrible stench of death in the air.

I arrested Pinkie on the spot, and she was tried for first-degree murder.

She got the guilty verdict, and is now spending the rest of her days in Shawflank prison.

To this day, I still wonder why she did what she did. The odor in Pinkie's home that day was exactly the same smell as the odor in this shack.

With that in mind, and while praying within my heart that Twi was alright, I rushed through the shack, yelling for Twi, and hoping I got a response.

The only response I got was an echo.

I made my way into a curiously long corridor, and I kept running...and running...and running. I finally made contact with a door and I forced it open, while still yelling for Twi. I hope she's okay...

January 1, ????, 4:04 P.M.

On the other side of the door was something that no pony should ever see.

There was....something in there. It was standing on two legs...in fact, it only HAD two legs, and it was holding this weapon that looked like a machine gun.

As a matter of fact, it was definitely a machine gun. It also had something tied to its back. It looked like a dead.....person, I think.

That made me very worried. It could have been Twi.

This animal with two legs pointed its gun at me. I quickly dashed out of the way, and used the magic of my horn to get my pistol. I shot at the animal's left leg, and it shouted in pain.

I shot at it again at its other leg, and it dropped to its knees. I finished it off with a shot to the head.

I trotted to the body of the animal, and went to see who it had tied to its back.

To half of my relief, it wasn't Twi...

But on closer inspection, a chill went down my spine...

It was Rarity.

January 1, ????, 5:24 P.M.

With Rarity's body being carried on my back, and tears flowing out of my eyes, I managed to make my way out of the shack.

When I finally stepped outside, I ran as far away from the shack as I could, with Rarity in tow, and when I took a quick look back, the shack was gone.

After quite a bit of running, I made it to Death's Cliff. It's where the bodies of people went when they died.

I said my final goodbyes to Rarity as I dropped her off the cliff.

January 1, ????, 5:39 P.M.

I sat in the square of Ponyville, pondering why that animal would be here in Equestria, much less murder Rarity, and where to search next.

Something occurred to me while in my train of thought: Ponyville was totally barren. I didn't see anyone trotting or talking, in fact, there were no signs of life.

I was the only one here.

Something was up, and I was going to get to the bottom of it. The next place I was going to check would be...the Sugarcube Corner, also known as Pinkie Pie's house.

January 1, ????, 5:57 P.M.

After quite a bit of trotting, I had finally reached the Sugarcube Corner.

As I approached the front door, I was a bit...reluctant, to say the least, to open the door and investigate the building.

I opened the door and trotted into the Sugarcube Corner, and I gently closed the door behind me. I did a proverbial scan of my field of vision.

There was nothing out of the ordinary....aside from the lack of Mrs. and Mr. Cupcake.

As I stood in front of the door, investigating my surroundings, all the horrible memories of that day came flooding back like an avalanche. I shook my head around, trying to get them out of my head, and tried to focus on the task at hand.

I trotted up the stairs leading into Pinkie Pie's room. I don't know why, but I felt compelled to check there first...as if some sort of force led me to it.

I opened the door leading into her room...and to my relief, I found nothing there; it was completely barren, just like the rest of the Sugarcube Corner was.

It became that way after Pinkie murdered Spike. Then I remembered why Mr. and Mrs. Cupcake weren't there; they both died after they had long battles with cancer.

I knew that some animals, specifically the kind that I saw in the abandoned shack, could also get that disease, so it sort of supported my theory that somewhere outside Equestria lies a completely different world, with a fellow intelligent species...perhaps more intelligent than us.

I snapped out of my train of thought and then I exited Pinkie's room. I spent about half an hour checking the rest of the Sugercube Corner, and to my relief, found nothing out of the ordinary...just a completely barren building whose only purpose is to make us, the citizens of Ponyville, remember that tragic day. The day when the Elements of Harmony were no longer…well…in harmony. After Spike’s death, a lot of horrible things happened in Equestria.

Discord broke free. He took over Fillydelphia.

Cloudsdale became nothing more than an endless nightmare of work.

The forests were slowly disappearing. The animal population began decreasing.

The Apple family had moved to somewhere very far away. Their barn in Ponyville was burned down after they left.

Rarity went out of business. She had to live the library with me and Twi…but now she is dead.

I trotted out of the Sugercube Corner, and contemplated where to look next.

January 1, ????, 6:38 P.M.

After a bit of quick thinking, I had settled on checking Cloudsdale. I found a deflated hot air balloon that was resting a bit far from the Sugarcube Corner, but could still be spotted from a distance. I trotted to it and threw the deflated balloon off of the basket.

I jumped into the basket and proceeded to turn on the fan, and eventually the hot air balloon filled up with air and carried me into the sky. Using my magic horn, I guided the hot air balloon into Cloudsdale.

As I landed the hot air balloon, I nearly forgot something very important: I needed to use a lightweight spell, or else I'd fall through the clouds and to my death.

Pegasi are quite lucky in that department, they don't need such spells and are safe to trot on the clouds...I've always wondered why.

After I had cast the lightweight spell, I stepped out of the basket and onto one of the many, many clouds. To half of my surprise, Cloudsdale was barren, just like Ponyville; completely devoid of life.

I became a bit...impolite, at that point. I barged into every home, looking for some sort of sign that I'm not alone.

Unfortunately, I was not able to find a shred of evidence that life even existed in Cloudsdale; all the homes were completely empty, like they were brand new homes that nopony moved into yet.

Even Rainbow Dash's home was devoid of color. In fact, when I finished investigating the last home, I had noticed that the trademark Cloudsdale rainbow was missing.

It was official, as if it wasn't already; something is toying around with Equestria.

Then I had realized, after all this time, that I could have done something that I should have done a while ago....I ventured forth towards Canterlot, on hoof, and believe me when I say that it took an excruciatingly long time, and I had to do quite a bit of climbing.

But, nonetheless, I had only one mission from then on; my mission was to ask Princess Celestia what is happening.

January 1, ????, 9:57 P.M.

The sky was pitch black by the time I made it to Celestia's castle. The only light I saw was from the moon.

Oh dear me, don't tell me that the princess is gone as well! I rushed into the castle, and unsurprisingly, there were no guards. I made it to the room where the princess would usually be in....and to my relief, she was there, sitting in her very regal chair. We proceeded to get into a bit of a chat.

"Celestia, where is everypony? What's happening?"

"My dear *NAME WITHHELD*, there is something terrible happening to our world. An unforeseen force of otherworldly beings, otherwise known as ‘humans’, have opened a gateway into our world and are seizing Equestria's population by the dozens."

My jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

That must mean everyone I love, everyone I ever cared about, could very well be dead. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and...and....maybe even Twilight Sparkle.

I didn't give Pinkie a second thought.

I proceeded to ask the princess another question.

"Well then, why aren't you doing anything about it?"

The princess' looked down, with a hopeless expression on her face.

"The cross between the human's world and our world has been depleting our magic, including mine. I'm afraid your magic will be gone soon, as well. Without magic, we cannot defend against the humans. They are too powerful, with their advanced weapons and machinery."

I stood there, thinking about what to say next...at this point, war on the humans would be out of the question...and my magic was, indeed, not as strong as it was prior to this whole incident.

There was only one thing to do, even with the situation as bleak as it was; declare war on the humans.

I proceeded to ask the princess one final question.

"Is Twilight Sparkle alive?"

The princess didn't answer.

She closed her eyes.

My heart sank, and my urge to find Twi was stronger than ever. As I was getting ready to trot out of the Princess' room, she spoke.

"I believe in you, *NAME WITHHELD*."

As I turned around to look at the princess, I heard the sounds of...marching.

It was very loud. It had to be the humans.

"Hurry, you have no time to waste! Go! GO!"

I did as the princess ordered, and I galloped out of her room, and out of the castle. I proceeded to gallop out of Canterlot.

As I was galloping my way out of Canterlot, I heard several loud explosions.

I looked back at the castle. It was enveloped in flames, and a dark, orange, mushroom shaped cloud.

"Goodbye, Celestia..." I said under my breath, while shedding a few tears as the wind knocked them off my face.

January 1, ????, 11:43 P.M.

After even more painstaking traveling, I went into the Everfree Forest and picked some berries. Berries weren't one of my favorite foods, but it was better than starving to death, which was what I was close to doing.

As I emptied the first berry bush, I could see an army of humans scouring the forest. Remembering that I had my gun, I checked the chamber...there were 5 bullets left.

I didn't have any more bullet packs, either. The only thing I could do if I needed more bullets was to take some from the humans...with force, of course.

I saw a lone human who happened to have a pistol.

I creeped up from the bushes and slowly sneaked up behind him. I knocked him down with a tackle and he landed on his back, dropping his pistol in the process.

I shot him in the chest with a bullet, and he yelped with pain as put his hands around his chest, fruitlessly trying to stop the pain. When he started shouting for help, I shot him in the head, ending him instantly.

I took his pistol, hoping there were more bullets in it. I didn’t have time to check the chamber.

Unfortunately, I also heard more humans running my way, since they heard the sound of my shotgun, along with the human’s cries for help. I quickly galloped through the bushes, praying that the humans wouldn't notice the sounds of the bush rustling.

Thankfully, they didn't, as I didn't see any of them chasing after me. I kept galloping forward, and I saw that I was headed toward a gigantic mountain.

I've heard of this mountain before...its existence was only a legend, and the legend said it would appear during extremely bleak or hopeless times...it was the Mountain of Mourning.

At first, I had trouble deciding whether I should go there, but a feeling that nibbled at my gut decided for me. I was off to the mountain.

------*INTERMISSION*------

.....

"Hello...hello? Can you hear me, sister?"

.....

"Yes, I can hear you."

.....

"What's going on? What happened?"

.....

"The prophecy."

.....

"What about it?"

.....

"It came true."

.....

"But...why so soon? It should have taken at least three more centuries before they could have found us."

.....

"I can see that time doesn't move so quick for you in the afterlife, sister. That's what you said three hundred years ago when you died."

.....

"Well, when you're dead, your memory doesn't quite function as well as it did when you were alive. At least I still remember what you tell me about the generations of the Six Saviors. I just have a question to ask, sister....after the prophecy came true, and after all the horrible news you've been telling me....are they still alive?"

.....

"Who are you referring to?"

.....

"The current generation of the Six Saviors."

.....

"I'm afraid only one of them is left. As a matter of fact, the only two people left of ponykind are the current Twilight Sparkle and *NAME WITHHELD*."

.....

"Sister, you remember the first generation of the Six Saviors, don't you?

.....

"Yes, the first Twilight Sparkle was my student...and she was the one who took your place when you died three centuries ago."

.....

"And do you remember her husband, the noble Iron Theodore?"

.....

"Yes. I was a bit suspicious about him at first, but he turned out to be the perfect husband for Twilight Sparkle."

.....

"Do you remember the previous prophecy? The one that came true three centuries ago?"

.....

"The one that they stopped."

.....

"Yes."

.....

"The one that they ended in. All seven of them."

.....

"Yes."

.....

"They lived and died together."

.....

"Yes."

.....

"The current generation is no different, is it?"

.....

"No, it is."

.....

"How so?"

.....

"They didn't go together."

.....

"I will not murder the last of our kind."

.....

"But you must."

.....

"I must not."

.....

"It's the only way that things will be right."

.....

"I will not kill the last of ponykind, sister."

.....

"But then the puzzle will not be complete. There will be pieces missing."

.....

"....."

.....

"Sister?"

.....

"....."

.....

"Celestia? Sister, are you still with me?"

.....

"Yes."

.....

"So what must we do?"

.....

"Reunite them. For eternity."

.....

"Let's go."

.....

------*END INTERMISSION*------

January 2, ????, 1:33 A.M.

To my surprise, the entrance of the interior of mountain was as exactly as it was described in the legends.

A simple wooden door hidden amongst the large rocks (that I had destroyed using my slowly weakening magic) that could simply be opened like any other door in the world.

I pushed open the door and trotted inside the mountain. As expected, it was dark, and so I tried to cast a lighting spell. I struggled for about 5 minutes to finally cast it. Celestia was right; the magic is fading, and fast.

I trotted down the path until I reached an intersection....I had trouble choosing which direction to go; forward, left, or right.

I settled on going left, since it was always my lucky direction, after all. Every time I went exploring as a young colt, and whenever I found an intersection, I always went left, and I usually found treasure.

This time, the treasure would be finding my key to defeating the humans. I snapped out of my train of thought and hurriedly trotted down the left path, hoping it would be the correct choice.

January 2, ????, 1:59 A.M.

Unfortunately my luck did not serve me well. Instead of leading me to the next clue of my journey, the left path led me to more intersections...I was lost in the mountain.

The light spell is starting to wear off, and I cannot retrace my steps. I was stuck at another intersection.

I made a last second choice and took the right path....and I just kept going....and going....and going, making sure never to stop galloping for even a second.

Every second counted, as with each second that went by, the light became more and more dim. Eventually, before I knew it, the light was completely gone.

I crashed into, what felt like, stone.

My horn and head were in serious pain.

The next thing I knew, I blacked out.

January 2, ????, 2:55 A.M.

When I woke up, I was in some sort of....house.

I was laying on a small couch with a blanket put over me, covering my whole body except my head.

What kind of shocked me at first was that my head and horn were not in any pain whatsoever. The memory of what just happened was slowly coming back to me.

Then, when I least expected it, I heard a voice.

"Ah, you're awake."

I saw a person who was covered in stripes trot towards me.

"How do you feel? I suggest you savor the feel of painlessness, before time goes by and your mind is back to aimlessness."

I was taken aback. It suddenly occurred to me that I could not feel my horn.

I asked the…doctor, I think, a question.

"Who are you and what did you do to me?"

She trotted toward me and introduced herself.

"My name is Zecora. I am a witch doctor. I managed to make a spell that doesn't let you feel pain...temporarily."

That made me feel slightly better.

"How long does it last?"

"It will last as long as your will does."

I started to sweat a little. I knew what she meant by that statement. Did she think I was going to die? Did she see in the future and perhaps see my mangled body?

"Well....err....can I go now?"

"If you feel like you can, then you may."

I pushed the blanket off of myself and onto the couch, and proceeded to get up off of the couch. I turned to Zecora and gave a thankful smile.

"Thank you, Zecora."

"You're welcome. May your journey be ever successful."

"Oh, one more question...how did you manage to find me?"

"You crashed into my door."

I felt a bit embarrassed then.

"Oh...right."

I decided to ask one final question.

"Would you happen to have a torch?"

"Yes."

Zecora stomped her hoof, and a torch appeared, already lit, sitting on my back, as if it were locked in place.

"Thanks again."

"You're welcome, traveler."

I trotted toward the stone door leading out of the house.

I proceeded to push open the stone door (it was quite heavy) and trot out of Zecora's house.

I decided to quickly trot forward, as if I had galloped, the torch would go out. As I kept going forward, I could see....a door.

This had to be it.

This had to be the next clue in my journey.

I finally made it to the door, and I pushed it open.

On the other side of the door was blinding sunlight...as a matter of fact, it wasn't sunlight. It was fire and explosions in the distance, contaminating the sky with its wretched, mechanical heat.

I trotted through the doorway, and I saw that I was now headed towards a cliff.

I stood at the edge, and took in my surroundings.

War was officially happening, as if it wasn't obvious enough before.

As I was getting ready to trot back into the safe, grounded area of the cliff, I heard steps.

A rather tall human dressed in a black trench coat pointed his pistol at me.

I quickly jumped to the left side of the grounded area, which was the human's right side, and tackled him.

He dropped his pistol. I got on top of him, and he punched me, very hard, in the stomach. My torch came flying off my back and into the fiery pit below the cliff.

I could feel pain from his punch. The spell was wearing off.

I persevered, then I proceeded to punch his head repeatedly with my hooves, and I used the last bit of strength I had in my horn to grab his pistol and shoot him in the forehead.

Amazingly, he was not instantly killed, and still had his head intact.

I tried to shoot him again, but his pistol had no bullets.

I started pushing him to the edge of the cliff, jumped onto his torso, grabbed him with my two front hooves, did a somersault with him in my grasp, and threw him off the cliff into the fiery grave below.

I was still laying on my back. My back and flank hurt quite a bit from the somersault, and I had many cuts and scrapes on my skin.

I slowly got back on my hooves and looked around. I saw another door across from the one I came from...I could have sworn it was not there before. I trotted to it, and pushed it open.

I saw.....I saw what looked like the final destination. A large cavern, with a circle shaped river of lava around a circle shaped stone arena.

It was, indeed, the final destination.

I saw a gigantic battle machine.

A human was inside the cockpit, operating the machine.

The machine turned to me.

I had no choice but to fight.

I started galloping and circling the arena, then the machine began to fire a hellish storm of bullets, aiming for me.

Since the machine was large and sluggish, it slowly kept turning my way, while still standing in the middle of the circle.

I continued to gallop around the circle arena while the machine kept firing endless spurts of bullets.

When I managed to see the back of the machine, I saw a metal door on it.

Taking every risk you could ever think of, I galloped faster and jumped to the door.

I managed to catch the handle, but I was only hanging by a thread.

After some struggling, I managed to open the door using the knob. I climbed into the inside of the machine.

The operator looked at me, then immediately got out of his seat and began walking toward me. I tackled him and knocked him out with a punch to the head.

After I decked him, I could hear the faint sound of beeping.

I looked over to the large set of buttons and handles in the cockpit, and I could see a red flashing button labeled "SELF-DESTRUCT".

Oh dear Celestia, I was really in for it now.

I quickly jumped out the door, and galloped toward the door that led to the cliff, but it was locked. I quickly checked my field of vision and saw another wooden door on the left side of me.

I galloped and crashed into it, knocking it down. I galloped through the doorway and kept galloping down the path it led to.

I heard a very loud explosion. As I was galloping, I quickly looked back, and the arena had been engulfed in a fiery orange.

"That was a close one." I said to myself.

Somehow, in this new area, there was light. I couldn’t quite figure out where it came from, but I was glad for it nonetheless.

January 2, ????, 3:52 A.M.

I continued galloping down the path, with the sound of my heart pounding immersing itself within my ear drums.

There was only one thing on my mind, and that was finding Twi, safe and sound.

But I knew I probably wasn’t going to find her…without bruises, at least.

I used every last bit of stamina I had to gallop just a little faster, to the point where sweat flew off of me.

In the distance, I saw that the path was going left. At the turn, I stopped myself and turned onto the left path, and continued galloping. I could see a metal door in the distance.

Once I made it to the door….I heard a voice.

“…..Hello? Can you hear me?”

It didn’t sound like it was on the other side of the door, or behind me, or anywhere in fact.

“…..This is a voice in your head.”

On instinct, I spoke under my breath.

“Who are you?”

“I am someone you may know.”

My heart sank. Who could it be? Could it be Twi? Is she dead? Is she communicating with me in my mind to tell me so? I needed answers. So I asked again.

“Who are you?”

“I already said it once. I am someone you may know.”

“Are you Twilight Sparkle?”

“No.”

Half of me was relieved at that response. The other half of me got a chill down its spine.

“Are you Princess Celestia?”

“Yes.”

“What are you doing in my mind?”

“I am trying to convince you to join us.”

I was a bit puzzled at that statement.

“Who’s ‘us’”?

“Your family.”

Another cold, harrowing chill went down my spine.

“Twilight Sparkle?”

“She’ll join after you do.”

“I’m not going anywhere without Twi. You can’t do a thing to change that, princess.”

“Rainbow Dash misses you.”

“She can wait.”

“Rarity misses you.”

“She can wait, too.”

“Fluttershy misses you.”

“Again, she can wait. They can all wait.”

“Applejack misses you.”

“I said they can wait.”

“Pinkie Pie misses you.”

“I don’t miss her, not after what she did.”

“She didn’t do it.”

Now I was getting confused. I remember the day when Pinkie murdered Spike as if it were yesterday. Nothing could convince me that she didn’t do it.

“Explain.”

“Spike was murdered by another person, and Pinkie was framed.”

I started having memories of Pinkie’s trial…specifically after she got the ‘Guilty’ verdict.

I was standing in the court. She tried to gallop away, but she was caught by guards, and struggled to break free.

“IT WASN’T ME!” she cried. “I SWEAR TO CELESTIA IT WASN’T ME!!”

I shuddered, then I snapped out of my flashback and attempted to resume conversing with Celestia.

“Then who did?”

There was only silence.

“…..Who did?”

I didn’t get a response.

“Who murdered Spike?”

I got no still no response. My heart sank. Then I got a very bad feeling at the pit of my stomach just wouldn’t go away.

If Celestia of all people was telling me that Pinkie was innocent, then it had to be the truth. I suddenly felt a pit in my stomach; I had sent an innocent person, a family member no less, to prison for the rest of her life.

I felt like crying. I never felt guiltier in my entire life. I wished I could have taken it back.

"I...I am so...so sorry, Pinkie..." I whispered under my breath, while sobbing. Eventually tears began to run down my face.

As I stood there in my own self-pity, a rather intrusive mental image, which I assume was a message from Celestia, began to appear in my psyche….Twilight Sparkle.

Then I realized.

Oh my god.

It couldn’t be.

It just couldn’t be…..and for what purpose?

Why would Twilight Sparkle murder Spike?

Now I was more desperate than ever to find Twi. I needed answers.

I snapped out of my train of thought, and pushed open the metal door.

There was another circle-shaped arena waiting for me.

In the center of it was Twilight Sparkle.

She was looking straight at me.

Our eyes met.

She had begun to speak.

“Hello, *NAME WITHHELD*.”

I replied with a rather important question.

“Twi…what are you doing here?”

“I was waiting for you.”

“Why? Where in Celestia’s name have you been?”

“I was just running some errands.”

My heart skipped a beat. I knew this wasn't going to be good.

"What sort of errands?"

"Oh, y'know, I got a little paranoid that the truth behind Spike's death would be discovered, so I decided opening a portal between the human world and Equestria and causing the pony race to go extinct would be the best choice.

I was a little worried that you would figure it out, and I'm assuming that worthless hag Celestia told you the truth, so I guess you really didn't 'figure' it out, huh?

Oh, and if you're wondering how all the citizens managed to get wiped out so quickly, it's because while you were inside that soundproof shack that I spawned with very advanced magic, that's when I decided to open the portal and unleash doomsday on Equestria!

Oh, and I also asked...well...forced Pinkie to help me with Spike's murder, I took control of her mind, and made her stab Spike in the chest!

When I decided to stop mind controlling her, she looked a little shocked, but it was alright, because she knew she just helped her best friend, and after all, that's what friends are for, right?"

I stood in my place, taken aback.

I could not believe what my own wife, my supposed 'true' love, just said to me.

She just confessed to not only murdering Spike for a reason I still don't know, but also to nearly wiping out the entire pony race! I took a deep breath as I begun to speak.

"I..."

I was interrupted by Twi.

"Oh, but I'm sure you'll forgive me. After all, I am your wife, *NAME WITHHELD*. Don't you love me? You love me, don't you?"

I was once again taken aback. I didn't know how to respond to that.

"I....I...."

"You what?"

"...I........"

"You don't love me?"

I stood in my place, frozen. I still could not find the right words to say.

"I...."

"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter now, I was going to kill you anyway.

After all, once I'm done with you, I won't have to worry about anyone finding out the truth ever again, and I'll have a nice army of mind controlled humans at my disposal, and I can watch them kill each other, too!

But I can spare you...if you'll accept being my king."

Finally, my mind found the right words to reply to her speech with.

"No. I don't know what the buck happened, Twi. We loved each other. It wasn't about strength, or looks, or anything like that. It was about love. I don't know why you murdered Spike, and part of me doesn't want to know. You are clearly insane, and I'm sorry to say this to you, but my dear, you have no choice but to die."

Twi closed her eyes, nodded, then opened her eyes and looked at me straight in the pupil.

"Okay then, my hubby."

I had no choice. I had to kill my own wife.

Twi charged toward the left side of me and stabbed me in the side of my body with her horn.

I howled in pain and bled profusely as I retaliated by standing on my two back hooves punching her in the side of the face with my two front hooves.

I knocked her down to the ground and got on top of her, and continued to punch her in the face, alternating between my left and right front hooves.

Twi made a retaliation of her own by grabbing me with her two front hooves, rolling backwards with me in her grasp, and throwing me down on my back onto the stone floor.

My back was in severe pain. Twi proceeded to get on top of me and punch me in the face repeatedly, alternating between her left and right front hooves.

I lifted up the bottom of my body and, with as much strength as I could muster, I kicked her in the back with my rear hooves, sending her flying over me and into the rock wall. It didn't seem to faze her that much...she must have used some sort of spell.

As she got up on all fours, I charged towards her and stabbed her in the front of her body, causing her to screech in pain and bleed quite a bit.

Stabbing must be her weakness...I stabbed her again, this time in the left side of her flank, then again on the right side.

She just wouldn't give up, though. She grabbed me with her two front hooves and threw me off of her. I landed onto the stone floor, thankfully on all fours instead of my back.

She charged toward me again, and I quickly dodged to the left, however she skidded and made a leap onto my back.

I yelled in pain as I fell to the floor, and she used her left hoof to hold me down by my neck, and her right hoof to punch the life out of my horn.

I howled in pain with each punch as I struggled trying to force Twi off of me. I couldn't break free for some reason; it was almost like Twi was far stronger than me.

Eventually she threw one final punch and broke off my horn. I shrieked in pain as blood begun to pour from the spot where it used to be.

I mustered the strength I had left to grab Twi's left hoof and throw her off of me. As I quickly got up on all fours, I noticed there was a lava pit not too far from me.

Twi charged toward me once again, but as she nearly made contact with me, I lowered my neck below her head, and raised my neck, causing her to fly into the air, hit the rock wall, and land into the lava pit.

I heard her final bloodcurdling screams as she was disappeared under the lava.

They were emotionally painful to hear.....my wife was dead.

I killed her.

And there was nothing else I could do.

I fell onto the stone floor in defeat, and cried my eyes out for Celestia knows how long, and screamed multiple times in agony.

There was nothing left of my life. It was gone...all gone.

And there was nothing I could do about it....actually, there was.

January 2, ????, 9:08 A.M.

This is my final writing.

After several long hours, I made my way out of the Mountain of Mourning, and made the long trip back to the now-destroyed Ponyville, I had nearly forgotten my destination.

My final destination.

Death's Cliff.

I trotted down the path leading to it, and I spent a good amount of time taking in the remnants of my surroundings. When I had finally reached Death's Cliff, I stood at the very edge and stared at the sea for what felt like hours.

My entire life....everything I ever loved...it was just a big lie. A big set up. A set up for emotional destruction. It is, what I dub, "The Great Equestrian Scam".

I have taken notes of everything that has happened to me on this horrible journey, and if anyone should ever find this, then please, don't make the same mistakes I did.

I will see you in the afterlife. If you ever so wish to join our family, all you have to do is jump.

Goodbye for all eternity, and I'll see you when you become a part of us.

~*NAME WITHHELD*

------*EARTH, THE PRESENT DAY*------

"Coleman, where did you find this notebook?"

"I don't know, sir. It was just lying on the floor and I picked it up."

"Do you realize how important this notebook is? If we lost it, 'Project Other Life' could have been leaked to the public!"

"Sir, I didn't drop it. Like I said, sir, I just found it on the floor, flipped through a few pages, and I thought you would know about it."

"Very well."

"One more question sir; why is the writer's name withheld?"

"Because sometimes you have to hide things, Coleman."

"What was his name?"

"He was Iron Theodore, the sixth generation one, judging from our studies."

--------------------THE END--------------------