Harmony of Dark Soulsby xXmentracksXxChaptersWe wait for the end of the worldHarmony makes us whole...A crumbling castle and memories of the past...In memories we trust....We wait for the end of the worldThe cart moved at a pace faster then a trotted but slower then a short sprint. It bumped and tossed with every indentation and turn that the cart encountered along the already long and mind numbing trip. I could hear the harsh wind blowing through the cracks in the side of the cart, I could feel the cold bitting through my white, ragged fur and I could hear the moans and soft cries of those stuffed into the cart along with me. I shifted, trying to get the numdness out of my legs, and bumped my left hoove into the back of a curled up pony. The pony let out a wimper and tightened her ball further. I looked at the pony with curiosity, as I didn't have much to occupy my time, and examined the pony. Her fur, I belived at one point, was a light pink color, but now was now a matted in areas and was barely resembled her former coat. Her mane was flat, dirty and was the same color as her coat. The tail of this pony was cut shorter then I would have thought her tail would have been. The only sort of armor or cloathing that she wore was a stitched up saddlebag and a tattered party hat. I poked her In her back and was meet with another wimper. "Hey...I'm not going to hurt you." I said as I retracked my hoove. She her head to look over her shoulder at me. Her eye where a light blue color but her blood shot vains made her look like she had been awake for days on end. Her left eye had an eyepatch that was stained red with blood. "Whats your name?" I asked her. She stared at me for a sceond, her eyes never diverting from mine. We keep each others gazes for a good minute before she responded. "P-pinkie Pie......" She responded with a hoarse and dry tone. I thought for a moment before reaching into my saddlebag and rummaged around the contents before my hoove hit my intented target. I brought out a small water container and held it out for her. "Here..." I said. She looked at the water container with wide eyed wonder. she slowly reached out her hoove and retracted abit, thinking I would rethink my offer, then quickly grabbed the contaier, undid the metal top and drunk down the contents. She sighed in relief as she finished the last of the water I had. She handed te now empty container to me and then wiped the excess water from her cracked lips. "Thank you..." She said as she turned her body to face me more clearly. I waved a hoove at her, knowing that she needed the water more then me. "Don't mention it...So, what got you sentenced?" I asked in curiosity. She looked at me for a moment before responding. "Why do you wanna know?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow. I shrugged. "Well...there ain't many things to occupy our time now is there?' I stated as I motioned my hoove in a sweeping motion, identifying the whole of the cart. She sighed and removed her party hat, placing it onto the hard wood. "You got a point.....well let me start from the begining...." Pinkies Final Part The day began with the sound of crying, like a lot of her days. Pinkie Pie arose from her small bed and placed her hooves onto the hardwood floor. The room she resided in was like the rest of the rooms in the small shop: filthy, had a awful smell and falling apart, board by board everyday. Pinkie Pie stood there for a long moment, letting the room, sounds and smells fill her head. She knew that this wasn't the way things use to be and it saddened her so. She could remember when the shop was a place of laughter, happiness, love and respect. But now was only a place of need and nothng more. She could feel a single tear fall from her eyes and onto the floor. She shook her her head and walked out of the room. The crying could still be heard as she exited the room, louder as she passed the door that the crying was coming from. She went down the warped staircase and made it into the open area that was known as the siting area. She went over to the front door and fliped the 'closed' sign to 'open' and went behind the counter to wait for the first customer. It didn't take to long for the first customer to shuffle in and Pinkie knew this customer all to well. The ponies name was Rarity, a former fashionista and friend. Pinkie knew Rariy's story all to well and was all out of pitty after hearing it a hundred times before. After the discovery of 'Harmony' you decided to sell all everything you had and all of your savings to acquire more 'Harmony' then you needed. You even sold your own sister to get more, I can still hear her crying as those damn stallions draged her away... Pinkie thought as Rarity walked to the counter. She wore a hooded, pitch black cloak. The cloak was himmed in gold and was decorated with the finest gews that she could acquire. She wore a mask that covered her whole face, the mask was white and engraved with flowers, swirls and fake facial features. "Hello Pinkie, it's that time again." Rarity said with a snotty, high and might tone. Pinkie rolled her eyes, knowing what she meant. "Ok Rarity..." Pinkie said. Rarity stomped her hoove down and did a huff. "You KNOW I only go by "Miss Rarity" or "Mistress"... Now say it again, CORRECTLY this time." Rarity said sternly. Pinkie rolled her eyes, she knew that since Rarity got ahold of 'Harmony' she has been lossing her mind slowly over the years. Pinkie bowed and repeated herself. "Yes...Mistress." Pinkie finished, stood up and went into the back to get what she wanted. I scanned the room, trying to remember where I placed the item of Her interest. I walked over to the rotting cabinets and opened them. Not here. I walked over to the storage locker, where we Use to keep food and other treats. But now only seemed to hold roaches and small, dying parasprites. Nasty fucking things....I gave up trying to get rid of you after Twilight left us for Canterlot. I thought, but still didn't find the item. I closed the storage locker and started to circle the room, trying to remember where it was. Shit,shit SHIT...where is it!? Before could think about where I could be, I heard a loud bang coming from up stairs. I shot my head up and galloped out of the back room. The crying was louder now and I could tell that this crying was of terror and fear. I quickly galloped upstairs, I quickly went to my room, burst in and reached under my pillow. I rubbed my hoove back and forth. Come on, COME ON!!...Ah there it is. I though as my hoove touched the handle of the kitchen knife. I plaed it into my mouth, biting down onto the handle and galloped to the room with the crying. I turned and bucked the door wide open then turned quickly around, just in time to see Rarity driving a long, sharp black blade into the blue cride against the wall. Rarity turned to me, her mask was now decorated with the blood of a life cut short. The blood turned the white flowers into roses of death. I stood there in complete shock and sadness: Shock at the hanus act that my former friend just commited and sadness at the fact that I was not able to keep my own Pinkie Promise. "Hello darling, get my item?" Rarity said in a calm voice as she used her magic to slowly remove the blade from the now dead child. There was a final wimper before the childs heart finaly fell silent. Rarity magicaly drought out a white handkerchief and whiped the blood for the blade. "I was getting real tired of waiting for you to get my item and these WRETCHED shits were annoying me. So...." Rarity gesturned to the blue crib. "...I had to do something about it." She said as she raised the knife to her face, examining the blade closely. "But since yOU are now up here...I can remove TWO annoyances at the same time." After her statement, Rarity lunged at me with her blade pointed straight at me. I dodged to the right, knocking over a small table and it's contents onto the floor. I quickly got back onto my hooves to see Rarity coming at me again. I turned around as quick as I could and buck as hard as I could. I felt my hooves make contact with her mask and hearing it shatter on conntact. I heard her body fall apon the floor, a groan coming from her. I turned around and examined the figure now laying on the floor. A small puddle of blood was forming around her head, her hood still hiding her face after her mask was destroyed and layed in pieces apon the floor. I walked over to Rarity, kicked her blade way so she couldn't stab me in the back and removed her hood. Her face was decorated with scars, bruises and her lack of a left eye. I layed onto my stomach, keeping in mind to avoid the blood pubble, and sighed. "What happened to us Rarity?...What made you do it....All of what you did?....Selling your own sister? Your shop? Your soul?...Why Rarity?....Why?..." I could feel tears falling from my eyes and onto the ground. I sat there for a minute, crying for all that happened today, before I heard Rarity cough violently. I opened my eyes to see Rarity coughing up a large amout of blood before speaking. "...'cough'...To answer your first question...Equestria happened Pinkie Pie, everything changed and went to fucking shit...We all drifted apart after Twilight left to going our once great Princess Celestia in Canterlot, leaving all of us to fend for ourself's...Now to what made me do everything I did over the years......I had to survive Pinkie...I couldn't withstand the addiction that is Harmony...and before I knew it, I was selling my sister to a bunch of sex deprived stallions for a few Harmony shards....But you wanna know something Pinkie...I'm tired of my shit life Pinkie: I'm tired of the pain of losing my sister, I'm tired of losing my sanity to this shit......So please Pinkie, do me one thing. As a friend..." I wiped my eyes and nodded. ".....Please...Kill me..." I was tearing up again at the fact that my former friend wants me to kill her. I put my hooves over my ears, shacking my head back and forth. "NO,NO,NO,NO!!! DON'T ASK THAT OF ME!!!!" I screamed at her, hoping to erase the whole world if I screamed it away. I heard Rarity gurgle more as the blood from her broken teath filled her lungs. "....Well, if you won't kill me as a friend....Then kill me as a murderer." Before I could react to her statement, I heard the kicked blade whooshing through the air. I turned to knock it away with my knife, but was mentaly destroyed by the target of the blade. I saw the blade fly into the pink crib and heard a sickening impact of steal and flesh. The child in the crib let out a sharp cry of pain before the cry slowly faded away into a heavy weez, then fell silent. The knife dropped from my mouth as it was hanging open at this time. I stared at the crib in wide eyed shock at the lose of another life in my presence. I felt myself slowly break down mentaly, my mind was fulled with sadness, rage and pain. I turned back to Rarity, who turned onto her back revealing her white stomach waiting for my rage. I picked up the knife in my hoove with the quickest of hast and plunged it deep into Rarity's heart. She screamed and jerked a few seconds before falling back onto the floor...dead. I removed the knife and plunged it into her chest again and again and again. I stoped when the handle of the knife broke off, leaving the blade inbeded in her chest. I slowly stood up, shacking as I did, and turned to the cribs. I shakily walked over to the cribs and collapsed at the foot of the two cribs. "I'm sorry.....I couldn't keep my Pinkie Promise..." I said before I removed the knife from the child in the pink crib. I lifted the black blade to my face and pointed it to my left eye. "C-cross my heart...and hope to fly..." I moved the blade back a few meters. "...Stick a cupcake in my eye!!!" I then plunged the blade in my left eye. The pain was overwhelming as I throw the blade away and reeled in pain on the floor, while holding my know bleeding eye. I rolled for a moment before passing out from the pain. "....And when I came to, you were poking me awake." She finished. I wasn't shocked at what I just heard, I have heard and read stories that have happened all over Equestria after Harmony was discovered. I sighed and rolled my shoulder since it was getting sore from the wood I was leaning on. "I see...I know there is nothing I can say or do to make this situation less shit." I said as I leaned my head back and looked at the ceiling. Pinkie nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah...nothing can be done about it know." We sat there for a good ten minutes, listening to the moans of the other passagers of our small space and the wind blowing outside the cart. I looked out one of the cracks and examined the outside as best as I could. The tree's looked twisted and dead, the grass was brown and had a dead look to them and there seemed to be a large number of rocks. I turned from the crack to see Pinkie looking at me. "What?" I questioned. She placed her hoove onto her lips and spoke. "S-so...what happened to you to get you into this mess?" She asked. I thought for a moment and looked back at what happened to me. I thought of the things I have done and the shit I have done before I was placed on this cart to a death sentence. I sighed before revealing my secret. "I killed someone..." Pinkie looked confused and turned her head slightly. "What they do?" "She ruined my whole life...." "How did She ruin your life?" .... ..... ...... ........ .......... "She made me kill my best friend..." "Who was she?" "She was the one person I put all my trust into...She was the one I would of took a sword for to protect...She was the single being that could of returned Equestria to peace.....hehe you ask 'Who I killed?', I'm surprised they keep this secret from the public for so long... I am Greatknight Quartz and I killed our own Princess Celestia." Harmony makes us whole...Pinkie Pie looked at me with terror, knowing now the pony she was talking to. She slowly started to scooch away from me, not breaking her line of sight away from me. "Y-you kill our Princess?...H-how? When we still got new rules and orders sent from the princess herself?" Pinkie questioned while pointing her hoove at me. I placed my left hoove on my head and shook my head. "You thought the princess was the one REALLY making these new rules and regulations that place us under a state of fear and oppression? Well I got news for you Pinkie: The princess has been dead for a good ten years and I can tell you who really run Equestria." I reached into my saddlebag and retrieved a small gold pendant. I gazed at the engraved figure of a alicorn rising infront of a bright sun, noticing the stain marks and scratches around the edges and along the rightside of the sun. I tossed the pendant at Pinkie, who caught it in her hooves. She looked the piece of gold, examining the details and writing on the pendant. "What is this?" Pinkie questioned as she looked back at me. I closed my saddlebag before answering her. "That's a medal given to the most loyal of Equestrian guards ponies. It's only been given out twice during the entire life of Princess Celestia. One belonged to Straight Edge, A pony that lived during the fall of the Crystal Empire. He alone stood against the power of King Sombra and lived to return to Canterlot. Even though his mission was a failure, the Princess felt it necessary to award his valor and bravery. That was when the princess wasn't lossing her sanity and Equestria was rising in power. The next one was to the current captain of the royal guard, Shining Armor. He also help the Crystal Empire when Sombra awoken from his sllumber, he and his wife nearly died during the mission but survived and returned hero's..." "I was there when that happened..." Pinkie said as she looked down at the medal in sadness. I nodded my head in agreement. "I know, I was a fresh recruit when Shining was awarded the medal. I believe I saw you in the crowd, but I quess after all these years I forgot that the Elements of Harmony were present. Anyway, the years past and the harmony of Equestria continued until three years ago. I'm sure you know the reason for that..." Pinkie nodded in understanding. "The year that Harmony shards were discovered...but I don't understand where and how they were found..." I cleared my throat causing Pinkie to look at me. "I can explain that easily..." The Discovery There was a blast of cold wind that ripped through the mine, starting from the entrence of the mine to the furthest depths. The group ,consisting of 2 unicorn ponies and 2 griffins, shivered as the wind shoot through their fur and chilled them to the very bone. The pony wearing a blue mask, his name is Hard Pick, let out a shout. "Alright!...We need to finish this section of the shaft, then we can head back to the barracks and rest!" Hard Pick said as shifted in his grey jump suit and started walking into the darkness. The unicorn wearing a red mask turned to the griffin with a white mask and poked her with his elbow. "Hey Gilda...think well find jewels this time? I'm tired of finding rocks." She looked at the pony and shruged. "I really don't know Stone, this is the third shaft this month that held shit." Stone nodded and started walking with the rest of the group. They traveled ten feet before stoping to turn on their head lamps, Hard Pick used his magic instead since it was brighter then the headlamps. The lights illuminated the grey rocks, showing signs of unnatural tunneling slowly descending down into the rocky earth. The group reached a point where the tunnel split in two directions: one heading further down and one heading in an upward climb. Hard Pick used his magic to take out a map from his saddlebag. He levitated it infront of him and examined the drawings of the many tunnels and markings that meant different things. Hard Pick looked at the fork that they were at and looked on the map. "We need to head down...lets go everypony!" He stated as he placed the map back into his saddlebag and descended down the right tunnel, the group followed suit and continued their journey The tunnel continued to descend, going deeper and deeper into the earth. Stone looked at the rock that was carved out, Hard Pick remained focused making sure not to misstep and trip, and the rest stayed silent as they followed behind. Before long, Hard Pick could see that slowly began to widen every 20 feet. After traveling for what seemed like hours, the group found themselves in a rather large cavern. Their lights illuminated a few feet in either direction, but could not reach the walls of the cavern they seemed to be in. Hard Pick brought the map back out, trying to figure out what went wrong. He unfolded the map and was shocked at what he saw. The map was blank, not a single marking could be seen not evern the coffee stain from the morning before could be found. Hard Pick started to sweat, his mind racing as the reality of being fucked was dawning on him. "Hard Pick...where are we?" One of the ponies asked as the group gathered around Hard Pick. He shook his head, using his hoove to wipe the sweat from his brow. "This is bad guy...we seem to have taken the wrong tunnel... and the map is now a piece of paper." He said as he showed the map to the group. All of them gasped, seeing that Hard Pick was being truthfull. "Oh sweet Celestia...what do we do?!" Stone said as he started to panic, pacing as his fear increased. Gilda grabed his shoulders and shook him. "Keep calm you idiot! We need to stay calm." "Gilda's right..." Hard Pick stated. "...we can't be losing our minds. Right now, we need to head back the way we came. Now lets go." With that, the group turned and started back the way they came. The group followed Hard Pick throught the darkness, making sure they were heading back the exact way they came. As they made their way, one of the ponies noticed something faintly glowing on the wall. The pony was interested in the object, he turned his head to the group. He noticed that they were a few feet ahead of him, he figured he could quickly check it out and catch up to them. He quickly trotted closer to the object, as he got closer he began to see it in closer detail. The object was pitch black and the glowing he saw was actualy the edges of the object glowing a faint whit light. As he reached the object, he noticed that the object itself was about the size of a small ball. He reached his hoove out and picked up the small black object. It sat in his hoove, levitating a few centimeters above his hoove. He felt a soothing warmth coming of the object and he felt a desire to keep it. But before he could begin to place it in his bag, the object exploded in a cloud of black smoke. He recoiled in surprise as the smoke rushed into his mask, entering his body through his nose, eyes and mouth. As the last of the smoke entered him, he began to react violently to the substance coursing through his body. He felt like his whole being was on fire, he screamed in pain and collapsed onto the ground. The group heard the scream and turned around to see the light from the ponies headlamp fall to the ground. They rushed over to the light to assist the fallen pony. As they reached the pony, they saw that he was collapsed on the hard rocky floor. His headlamp came off and his brown messy mane could be seen except the patches that were covered by his mask's straps. Hard Pick place his hoove against his throat and felt for a pulse. "He's alive, but out cold...Gilda, Stone help him and lets get out of here." Hard Pick stated as Stone helped Gilda get the pony onto both there backs and started towards the exit of the cavern. Back in the barracks Hard Pick, Gilda, Stone and the rest of the workers in the mine were all silent as a medic looked over the pony that laid appon the hard bed. After a few minutes of examining the pony, the medic turned to the workers. "Well...he seems stable, but its hard to tell if there is any brain damage without going to the hospital. My best advise to give you is keep him in bed and if he wakes up, keep an eye on him until you can get him proper treatment." The medic said as he placed his saddlebag back onto his backside. Hard Pick and the rest of the group nodded as they watched the medic leave the barracks. After a moment of silence Hard Pick turned to the workers. "Ok...now that we have him back and looked at, we have an idea on what to do. Now Me, Gilda and Stone will look after him, the rest of you can resume the expansion of the tunnels." The workers let out a collective moan at the request. "HEY, one of us might be out of commision, but that don't mean we can stop working. There are bits to be made and tunnels to dig, so get going!" The workers started filling out of the barracks, leaving Hard Pick, Gilda and Stone alone in the barracks. Stone turned to Hard Pick and Gilda. "Well...what do we do know? Just watch a unconcious pony till he wakes up?" Stone questioned. Gilda looked at Stone with a harsh look. "You idiot, we need to find out what happened. What if he was attacked down there? We need to investigate, right Pick?" Gilda said to Hard Pick, who seemed to be thinking hard about the situation. But before he could speak, the pony on the bed shot straight up with a loud scream. All three nearly had heartattacks at the sudden noise and watched the pony stop screaming and look around confused. The three of them slowly walked over to the pony, making sure to not scare him. "H-hey...you ok?" Stone asked as they reached the bed, the pony turned to them and smiled. "Yeah, I feel great! I feel like aI have this energy racing through me!" He explained as the three watched him with confusion. Hard Pick was the first to speak as the pony got out of bed. "What happened to you anyway? You just collapsed in the cavern." The ponies ears shot up and he turned to them with a huge smile. "I found something in that cavern man...Something that can change everything...I don't know what it was, but It makes me feel...whole inside...Like it filled a hole in my soul..." The pony sat down on the ground and then explained his find to the three. Where it was, what it looked like and what it did. "I believe you know the rest of the story..." I said as she handed me my medal. She nodded before speaking. "Yeah...they started selling the shards of black rock as 'Harmony'. claiming that it brought balance to ones life. With seemed to work...for a while." Pinkie said as she placed her head on the side of the cart. I nodded in agreement. "Thats correct Pinkie...the 'Harmony' works but as it makes you feel good, you start losing more of your sanity...until you'r nothing but a broken husk, wishing for death," I said as I placed my medal back into my saddlebag. Pinkie looked at me for a moment before speaking. "So...since you killed the princess...tell me...how'd you do it?...I though the princesses were immortal." I looked at her for a second then looked away. "That's not true...they can be killed like you or me...but I'll hold of on telling you that..." I stated. Pinkie seemed to surprised and scooted closer. "Come on...why not?" I turned to face her. "I'm tired...and besides...We have all the time to talk when we get where we are going..." I said as I turned my head away from her and closed my eyes to sleep. Author's Note The next part!!! some things might not be up to my hopes but hey i just started back and wanted to get this out. so if something seems iffy, tell me and I'll try and fix it. A crumbling castle and memories of the past...I was dreaming the same dream that I've been having since my last day as a guard. I remember it all so vividly: the halls, the shouting, the clashing of blades, and the blood. All so real, all so distant... Ten year before "GET THAT DOOR BARED SHUT!!!" shouted Shining Armor, guard captain of celestia's guard, as he rushed over to the door that lead to the gardens. Shining Armor directed his troops as they placed boards on the door and magically held them firm. "KEEP THAT MAGIC UP, WE NEED THE TIME TO GET THE PRINCESSES TO SAFETY." He shouted before heading to the throne room. He galloped as fast as his hooves would go, his armor clanging and clinking as he ran... "Princesses, we need to get you to the safe room." I told the princesses as I trotted over to one of the large windows in the throne room. I gazed outside and looked upon the massive hoard of depraved ponies, hungry for any "Harmony" they could find. "We can't go just yet, we need to wait for my brother." Princess Twilight Sparkle protested, since her magical induction to alicornation, she's been living her for 5 years on and off. I sighed as I adjusted my great sword, that rested on my right. I turned to face the Princesses: Luna, Celestia, Cadence, and Twilight Sparkle. "Yes, I can't leave my husband behind." Cadence agreed as she paced the throne room floor. Luna trotted beside Cadence and rested her hoove on her shoulder. I looked to Celestia for an answer, since she was the one I reported to. She looked at me and nodded her head. "A few more minutes won't change the current situation...and we will need both you and Shining Armor to keep the magic on the door sealed." Celestia said while siting upon her throne. I wanted to protest but I couldn't, not with our ruler. I went over to the throne room main doors and opened them, I looked down the hall and listened. I could hear the sound of hooves galloping towards the throne room. But as I began to open up the door more to allow him easier entrance, I heard the sound of board breaking and the foul sound of raging ponies. My mind was in overdrive as I quickly turned around and galloped towards the princesses. "Shining's coming, but I need your highnesses to head towards the safe room now." I said as I used my magic to move one of the large statues, revealing a large door inscribed with magic seals and wards. Cadence and Twilight looked at me with confusion. "What about my brother?" Twilight said with tears forming in her eyes. I looked back at them when I unsealed the final seal. "I'll meet him half way, if he's encountered resistance I want to give him support. We will head back here as fast as we can..." I said as I moved aside to let the princesses inside. "...But if we aren't back in ten minutes...seal this door." I finished as I adjusted my armor. Cadence looked back at me with a angry look. "I will not LEAVE HIM TO DIE!" She shouted at me. I looked back at her with a serious face. "He knew his job was dangerous...he knows the risk of this job, you four are the only things keeping Equestria in order. If you die, we are lost. I will do my best to get him here, but if the worst is to happen....the first sight of one of those deprived, hollows.. seal.this.DOOR!" Before Cadence could rebuttal, I galloped towards the door and out into the halls of the castle.... Damn it...they caught up. Shining thought to himself as he looked back to see a large group of deprived ponies rounding the corner. They were shouting swears and raving treats of death at Shining Armor. Shining quickly turned around, used his magic to draw his sword and readied himself for a fight. The deprived saw this and slowed their advance, slowing to a slow stalk towards Shining Armor. Shining saw the patches of fur that remained on their skin, some had open wounds that oozed blood and infection, a couple had bloodied pieces of wood, metal and whatever else they could use to kill ponies with.to get whatever Harmony they could acquire. As the deprived advanced closer, Shining Armor heard fast paced hooves coming from behind.... I rounded the last corner to see Shining Armor backing up towards me. I also saw the large group of deprived ponies coming ever closer towards him. I used my magic and drew my sword and galloped to his side. "Took you long enough....How many ponies are there?" I asked him as he glanced towards me. "About 200 minimum...most in the courtyard....some breached the castle through the gardens...the ones you see here killed most of the troops but they lost most of them to the brave soldiers..." Shining stated as we backed up slowly, swiping our blades to keep the drooling deprived back. I noticed that some of the deprived had torn fancy clothing on: silk suits dirtied and torn, once nice hates stained with blood, the ladies had missing shoes and were covered in filth. A part of me felt bad for these ponies: once normal ponies, living day by day in luxury, now beating guards and other ponies to death to get the new drug of our generation. But I also felt anger towards them: How could they do such terrible deeds to get pointless bits of black rock? How could they sell their souls to try to cheat death? But my questions wouldn't be answer this moment, for a deprived lady lunged towards us with a bit of wood. I couldn't think...I just acted. I swung my sword, the blade connected with her neck. slicing her neck. She fell to the floor, gagging on her own blood and writhing in the pool that collected around her. Before the others yelled and we had to retreat, I looked into her eyes....and could of sworn she looked happy to be killed. It took us four minutes to get back to the throne room, we just managed to close the doors before the deprived could reach the door. I used my magic to put a ward on the door. "That should keep them out...for a while." I said to Shining, who gave me a nod and a smile. "Thanks Quartz, thought I was done for." I chuckled as I patted Shining on the shoulder. "It's ok Shining. Just remind me after this is done, you owe me a drink." I stated as I heard the rushed hoove steps of Cadence and Twilight. I looked as both of them embraced Shining, tears streaming down their faces as they hugged Shining Armor. It was heartwarming to see, even in these troubling times. I looked towards Luna and Celestia as they trotted towards me. "What's the situation outside?" Celestia asked in a stern voice. "Hollows have over-run most of the castle, from what I could tell. The courtyard has been compromised, so that leaves that door between us and them." I stated before Celestia moved to one of the decorated windows. It was a fairly new one: Twilights coronation ,surrounded by her friends. " How did it come to this?..." " Sister?" Luna asked in concern. " I thought I made the right decisions....I thought I was helping..." We heard her voice was filled with sorrow and quivering with sadness. It was hard to see the princess, who was normally a strong mare, feeling that she has failed her ponies. I walked over to Celestia and stood next to her. "Princess...you did your best...at the time, we didn't expect this to happen. The madness, the extreme need for Harmony...the murders..." I said as i turned to walk towards the others. "Quartz tell me..." Celestia said. "Yes princess?" I said in confusion. The room fell silent, except for the sound of hooves banging on the door to the throne room. Celestia turned her head towards me, her eyes were filled with the kind of anger that I've never seen coming from her. "You and Shining are close friends...how 'close' are you two really?" She bluntly stated. "What are you getting at Celestia?" Cadence asked in anger. I looked at Twilight, who was in shock at what Celestia may be implying. Celestia continued. "I mean...dosent it seem odd that Shining Armor, my royal guards captain....would have a bandage on his front left leg...I don't see any blood stains on it and it looks fairly old...So...What are you hiding Shining?" We were all looking at Shining at this point, who was backing up towards the wall. Cadence and Twilight were moving towards him with tears streaming down their faces. Luna was looking at Celestia with a combination of shock and horrifying realization. I was putting the peaces together, going back as far as I could think... The bandage is old and worn...I'm guessing two weeks old...around the same time as the first hollow was reported and Shining's whereabouts were unknown for two days after that...and when he was found, he had that bandage around his leg. But if what I'm thinking is true, then I've been blind the the truth this whole time... "Shining honey....you wouldn't tell me what happened to your leg and every-time I tried to ask you about it, you would avoid the question...W-what happened honey?" Cadence said before the tears made it impossible to speak any further. She collapsed to the ground, the sobs and sniffs echoed in the throne room. Shining look to be on the verge of tears also, snot ran down his nose and tears down his cheeks. "I'm sorry honey...I-I'm so sorry..." Shining said as he reached his right hoove to the bandage and slowly unraveled it. The bandage fell in a long sheet, as the last of the now brownish cloth fell to the floor we all gazed at his leg... The unknown red text formed a perfect circle that was about as wide as a water glasses bottom, the text seemed to fade to red and orange as if burning flames but it was the pure black void that occupied the center of the circle. "I'm sorry...everyone..." I was awoken suddenly by the cart coming to a halt, I raised my head as I looked about the dark space, trying to remember where I was. The ponies that were also asleep were steering and a few had frightened expressions of not knowing whats happening. I looked to my side and noticed Pinkie Pie holding onto my right front hoove. I used my left hoove to wake her awake. "Pinkie...wake up." I said as she slowly moved and yawned. "Hmmm huh? Q-Quartz...whats happening?" She said as she sat up and look about also. Before I could speak, a blinding light came from the front of the cart. Every pony covered their eyes as the light shined in on our dark space. "Come on you filthy Hollows!" Said a voice as ponies slowly started to pull ponies out of the cart. Me and Pinkie move forward as the mass of ponies moved closer to the blinding light. When it came our turn, I felt a hoove grab my neck and pull me forward, I assumed they did the same to Pinkie because I heard her let out a small gasp. I fell to the hard ground as my eyes began to adjust to the light, the world around me became clearer and as it all focused, I gazed appon a massive collapsing castle. The walls were cracked and stained from years of neglect, The surrounding forest appeared too thick to hope for an easy escape, and the most heartbreaking fact was the sound of hundreds of screaming, crying and howling voices that came from its mortared walls. Before I could think, I felt a sharp pain shot through my head. I could feel my consciousness fading, before everything fell black.... "Enjoy your stay at the asylum....Quartz..." ??? Author's Note Holy hell its been toooooooooo long. hope you enjoy and remember: comment any mistakes or if you liked it and be awsome. till next time my friends. In memories we trust....The days have past,leading into weeks, to months....to years....I can't describe the monotony of these same for walls. Day in day out its all the same: sleepless nights, cold mornings, empty mind, broken spirit.... I can feel myself going hollow....Tardis...I felt this the moment I awoke in this cell, countless years ago....The first sign I noticed was my lack of hunger. The first weeks I killed small rats that scurried in my cell for some form of respite from starvation. Then after two months of rat flesh, I gave up on food. I laid on the stone ground for days, hoping death would embrace me in her cold hooves. After months of decaying: Flesh darkening, fur falling out, and my will to live becoming oddly stronger by the pasting day. "Was this the curse?" I thought to myself as my mind drifted and swirled. "...To wish for death and be denied? To internally hope for life but face the truth that....I'm going to go hollow and not care....till the end of time..." The mere thought of losing my mind and becoming the very thing that ruined all of Equestria.....I began to cry.....Tears for Shining Armor, for Princess Cadence, For Princess Twilight, For Princess Luna....For Princess Celestia....My crying gave way to sobbing, heavy and painful. The tears I only felt once before, the tears brought back memories of life before these walls, before this bleak existence.... 20 years ago I sat at her bedside, watching her chest rise and fall. I've sat in this same spot for four months now and still hope for a miracle. The tube leading from her nose to the machine subtly moves, I've noticed it after staring at it for the past hour now. I place a my hoove on her motionless one, while holding back the urge to break down. "Hi honey...Its me again...I just wanted to fill you in on whats been happening around Canterlot. As you may remember, Princess Celestia celebrated her birthday yesterday. I had to attend since I got promoted to be one of her personal guards....I'm sorry,I wanted to be here with you...In case..." I shook my head and tried to carry on. "...The other night, when I was getting ready for my shift...I found your favorite book..." My horn glowed as the book lifted from the bag beside me. " The first copy of Daring Doo...It was in the closet...under your evening gown..." I placed the book on the table beside her. I remained beside her until the sun dipped below the horizon to let the moon rise, when a nurse entered to room. " I'm sorry sir...But its that time again..." She said. I nodded and placed the bag on my back. I looked down at her...and kissed her forehead. " I'll be back tomorrow.... I love you." I walked to the door, turned one last time to look at her...then closed the door... I ran out of tears to sob anymore, the sadness was the only thing i felt as I scooted to the far corner of my cell. I placed my body upon the floor and waited for the end of my sanity to escape my mind. -Crash/crunch- The sudden sound made me focus on the new figure in my cell, but a none living figure. I gazed at the corpse, looking at its dark green skin with small patches of fur. My gaze was torn as I looked up and noticed another figure, this one more alive then my new cellmate. The pony seemed to be wearing armor that I recognized as Canterlot Castles standard guard attire, but the figures armor seemed faded and looked to be less then "new". I couldn't see their face since the sun was streaming behind their head and blackened the features. All i could make out was a small nod from the figure before they turned and hurried off. I didn't dwell on their absence, since i noticed two things.... .....one,the pair of keys around the corpses neck.... .....and a small bit of "Harmony" floating inches above its stomach....
We wait for the end of the worldThe cart moved at a pace faster then a trotted but slower then a short sprint. It bumped and tossed with every indentation and turn that the cart encountered along the already long and mind numbing trip. I could hear the harsh wind blowing through the cracks in the side of the cart, I could feel the cold bitting through my white, ragged fur and I could hear the moans and soft cries of those stuffed into the cart along with me. I shifted, trying to get the numdness out of my legs, and bumped my left hoove into the back of a curled up pony. The pony let out a wimper and tightened her ball further. I looked at the pony with curiosity, as I didn't have much to occupy my time, and examined the pony. Her fur, I belived at one point, was a light pink color, but now was now a matted in areas and was barely resembled her former coat. Her mane was flat, dirty and was the same color as her coat. The tail of this pony was cut shorter then I would have thought her tail would have been. The only sort of armor or cloathing that she wore was a stitched up saddlebag and a tattered party hat. I poked her In her back and was meet with another wimper. "Hey...I'm not going to hurt you." I said as I retracked my hoove. She her head to look over her shoulder at me. Her eye where a light blue color but her blood shot vains made her look like she had been awake for days on end. Her left eye had an eyepatch that was stained red with blood. "Whats your name?" I asked her. She stared at me for a sceond, her eyes never diverting from mine. We keep each others gazes for a good minute before she responded. "P-pinkie Pie......" She responded with a hoarse and dry tone. I thought for a moment before reaching into my saddlebag and rummaged around the contents before my hoove hit my intented target. I brought out a small water container and held it out for her. "Here..." I said. She looked at the water container with wide eyed wonder. she slowly reached out her hoove and retracted abit, thinking I would rethink my offer, then quickly grabbed the contaier, undid the metal top and drunk down the contents. She sighed in relief as she finished the last of the water I had. She handed te now empty container to me and then wiped the excess water from her cracked lips. "Thank you..." She said as she turned her body to face me more clearly. I waved a hoove at her, knowing that she needed the water more then me. "Don't mention it...So, what got you sentenced?" I asked in curiosity. She looked at me for a moment before responding. "Why do you wanna know?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow. I shrugged. "Well...there ain't many things to occupy our time now is there?' I stated as I motioned my hoove in a sweeping motion, identifying the whole of the cart. She sighed and removed her party hat, placing it onto the hard wood. "You got a point.....well let me start from the begining...." Pinkies Final Part The day began with the sound of crying, like a lot of her days. Pinkie Pie arose from her small bed and placed her hooves onto the hardwood floor. The room she resided in was like the rest of the rooms in the small shop: filthy, had a awful smell and falling apart, board by board everyday. Pinkie Pie stood there for a long moment, letting the room, sounds and smells fill her head. She knew that this wasn't the way things use to be and it saddened her so. She could remember when the shop was a place of laughter, happiness, love and respect. But now was only a place of need and nothng more. She could feel a single tear fall from her eyes and onto the floor. She shook her her head and walked out of the room. The crying could still be heard as she exited the room, louder as she passed the door that the crying was coming from. She went down the warped staircase and made it into the open area that was known as the siting area. She went over to the front door and fliped the 'closed' sign to 'open' and went behind the counter to wait for the first customer. It didn't take to long for the first customer to shuffle in and Pinkie knew this customer all to well. The ponies name was Rarity, a former fashionista and friend. Pinkie knew Rariy's story all to well and was all out of pitty after hearing it a hundred times before. After the discovery of 'Harmony' you decided to sell all everything you had and all of your savings to acquire more 'Harmony' then you needed. You even sold your own sister to get more, I can still hear her crying as those damn stallions draged her away... Pinkie thought as Rarity walked to the counter. She wore a hooded, pitch black cloak. The cloak was himmed in gold and was decorated with the finest gews that she could acquire. She wore a mask that covered her whole face, the mask was white and engraved with flowers, swirls and fake facial features. "Hello Pinkie, it's that time again." Rarity said with a snotty, high and might tone. Pinkie rolled her eyes, knowing what she meant. "Ok Rarity..." Pinkie said. Rarity stomped her hoove down and did a huff. "You KNOW I only go by "Miss Rarity" or "Mistress"... Now say it again, CORRECTLY this time." Rarity said sternly. Pinkie rolled her eyes, she knew that since Rarity got ahold of 'Harmony' she has been lossing her mind slowly over the years. Pinkie bowed and repeated herself. "Yes...Mistress." Pinkie finished, stood up and went into the back to get what she wanted. I scanned the room, trying to remember where I placed the item of Her interest. I walked over to the rotting cabinets and opened them. Not here. I walked over to the storage locker, where we Use to keep food and other treats. But now only seemed to hold roaches and small, dying parasprites. Nasty fucking things....I gave up trying to get rid of you after Twilight left us for Canterlot. I thought, but still didn't find the item. I closed the storage locker and started to circle the room, trying to remember where it was. Shit,shit SHIT...where is it!? Before could think about where I could be, I heard a loud bang coming from up stairs. I shot my head up and galloped out of the back room. The crying was louder now and I could tell that this crying was of terror and fear. I quickly galloped upstairs, I quickly went to my room, burst in and reached under my pillow. I rubbed my hoove back and forth. Come on, COME ON!!...Ah there it is. I though as my hoove touched the handle of the kitchen knife. I plaed it into my mouth, biting down onto the handle and galloped to the room with the crying. I turned and bucked the door wide open then turned quickly around, just in time to see Rarity driving a long, sharp black blade into the blue cride against the wall. Rarity turned to me, her mask was now decorated with the blood of a life cut short. The blood turned the white flowers into roses of death. I stood there in complete shock and sadness: Shock at the hanus act that my former friend just commited and sadness at the fact that I was not able to keep my own Pinkie Promise. "Hello darling, get my item?" Rarity said in a calm voice as she used her magic to slowly remove the blade from the now dead child. There was a final wimper before the childs heart finaly fell silent. Rarity magicaly drought out a white handkerchief and whiped the blood for the blade. "I was getting real tired of waiting for you to get my item and these WRETCHED shits were annoying me. So...." Rarity gesturned to the blue crib. "...I had to do something about it." She said as she raised the knife to her face, examining the blade closely. "But since yOU are now up here...I can remove TWO annoyances at the same time." After her statement, Rarity lunged at me with her blade pointed straight at me. I dodged to the right, knocking over a small table and it's contents onto the floor. I quickly got back onto my hooves to see Rarity coming at me again. I turned around as quick as I could and buck as hard as I could. I felt my hooves make contact with her mask and hearing it shatter on conntact. I heard her body fall apon the floor, a groan coming from her. I turned around and examined the figure now laying on the floor. A small puddle of blood was forming around her head, her hood still hiding her face after her mask was destroyed and layed in pieces apon the floor. I walked over to Rarity, kicked her blade way so she couldn't stab me in the back and removed her hood. Her face was decorated with scars, bruises and her lack of a left eye. I layed onto my stomach, keeping in mind to avoid the blood pubble, and sighed. "What happened to us Rarity?...What made you do it....All of what you did?....Selling your own sister? Your shop? Your soul?...Why Rarity?....Why?..." I could feel tears falling from my eyes and onto the ground. I sat there for a minute, crying for all that happened today, before I heard Rarity cough violently. I opened my eyes to see Rarity coughing up a large amout of blood before speaking. "...'cough'...To answer your first question...Equestria happened Pinkie Pie, everything changed and went to fucking shit...We all drifted apart after Twilight left to going our once great Princess Celestia in Canterlot, leaving all of us to fend for ourself's...Now to what made me do everything I did over the years......I had to survive Pinkie...I couldn't withstand the addiction that is Harmony...and before I knew it, I was selling my sister to a bunch of sex deprived stallions for a few Harmony shards....But you wanna know something Pinkie...I'm tired of my shit life Pinkie: I'm tired of the pain of losing my sister, I'm tired of losing my sanity to this shit......So please Pinkie, do me one thing. As a friend..." I wiped my eyes and nodded. ".....Please...Kill me..." I was tearing up again at the fact that my former friend wants me to kill her. I put my hooves over my ears, shacking my head back and forth. "NO,NO,NO,NO!!! DON'T ASK THAT OF ME!!!!" I screamed at her, hoping to erase the whole world if I screamed it away. I heard Rarity gurgle more as the blood from her broken teath filled her lungs. "....Well, if you won't kill me as a friend....Then kill me as a murderer." Before I could react to her statement, I heard the kicked blade whooshing through the air. I turned to knock it away with my knife, but was mentaly destroyed by the target of the blade. I saw the blade fly into the pink crib and heard a sickening impact of steal and flesh. The child in the crib let out a sharp cry of pain before the cry slowly faded away into a heavy weez, then fell silent. The knife dropped from my mouth as it was hanging open at this time. I stared at the crib in wide eyed shock at the lose of another life in my presence. I felt myself slowly break down mentaly, my mind was fulled with sadness, rage and pain. I turned back to Rarity, who turned onto her back revealing her white stomach waiting for my rage. I picked up the knife in my hoove with the quickest of hast and plunged it deep into Rarity's heart. She screamed and jerked a few seconds before falling back onto the floor...dead. I removed the knife and plunged it into her chest again and again and again. I stoped when the handle of the knife broke off, leaving the blade inbeded in her chest. I slowly stood up, shacking as I did, and turned to the cribs. I shakily walked over to the cribs and collapsed at the foot of the two cribs. "I'm sorry.....I couldn't keep my Pinkie Promise..." I said before I removed the knife from the child in the pink crib. I lifted the black blade to my face and pointed it to my left eye. "C-cross my heart...and hope to fly..." I moved the blade back a few meters. "...Stick a cupcake in my eye!!!" I then plunged the blade in my left eye. The pain was overwhelming as I throw the blade away and reeled in pain on the floor, while holding my know bleeding eye. I rolled for a moment before passing out from the pain. "....And when I came to, you were poking me awake." She finished. I wasn't shocked at what I just heard, I have heard and read stories that have happened all over Equestria after Harmony was discovered. I sighed and rolled my shoulder since it was getting sore from the wood I was leaning on. "I see...I know there is nothing I can say or do to make this situation less shit." I said as I leaned my head back and looked at the ceiling. Pinkie nodded her head in agreement. "Yeah...nothing can be done about it know." We sat there for a good ten minutes, listening to the moans of the other passagers of our small space and the wind blowing outside the cart. I looked out one of the cracks and examined the outside as best as I could. The tree's looked twisted and dead, the grass was brown and had a dead look to them and there seemed to be a large number of rocks. I turned from the crack to see Pinkie looking at me. "What?" I questioned. She placed her hoove onto her lips and spoke. "S-so...what happened to you to get you into this mess?" She asked. I thought for a moment and looked back at what happened to me. I thought of the things I have done and the shit I have done before I was placed on this cart to a death sentence. I sighed before revealing my secret. "I killed someone..." Pinkie looked confused and turned her head slightly. "What they do?" "She ruined my whole life...." "How did She ruin your life?" .... ..... ...... ........ .......... "She made me kill my best friend..." "Who was she?" "She was the one person I put all my trust into...She was the one I would of took a sword for to protect...She was the single being that could of returned Equestria to peace.....hehe you ask 'Who I killed?', I'm surprised they keep this secret from the public for so long... I am Greatknight Quartz and I killed our own Princess Celestia."
Harmony makes us whole...Pinkie Pie looked at me with terror, knowing now the pony she was talking to. She slowly started to scooch away from me, not breaking her line of sight away from me. "Y-you kill our Princess?...H-how? When we still got new rules and orders sent from the princess herself?" Pinkie questioned while pointing her hoove at me. I placed my left hoove on my head and shook my head. "You thought the princess was the one REALLY making these new rules and regulations that place us under a state of fear and oppression? Well I got news for you Pinkie: The princess has been dead for a good ten years and I can tell you who really run Equestria." I reached into my saddlebag and retrieved a small gold pendant. I gazed at the engraved figure of a alicorn rising infront of a bright sun, noticing the stain marks and scratches around the edges and along the rightside of the sun. I tossed the pendant at Pinkie, who caught it in her hooves. She looked the piece of gold, examining the details and writing on the pendant. "What is this?" Pinkie questioned as she looked back at me. I closed my saddlebag before answering her. "That's a medal given to the most loyal of Equestrian guards ponies. It's only been given out twice during the entire life of Princess Celestia. One belonged to Straight Edge, A pony that lived during the fall of the Crystal Empire. He alone stood against the power of King Sombra and lived to return to Canterlot. Even though his mission was a failure, the Princess felt it necessary to award his valor and bravery. That was when the princess wasn't lossing her sanity and Equestria was rising in power. The next one was to the current captain of the royal guard, Shining Armor. He also help the Crystal Empire when Sombra awoken from his sllumber, he and his wife nearly died during the mission but survived and returned hero's..." "I was there when that happened..." Pinkie said as she looked down at the medal in sadness. I nodded my head in agreement. "I know, I was a fresh recruit when Shining was awarded the medal. I believe I saw you in the crowd, but I quess after all these years I forgot that the Elements of Harmony were present. Anyway, the years past and the harmony of Equestria continued until three years ago. I'm sure you know the reason for that..." Pinkie nodded in understanding. "The year that Harmony shards were discovered...but I don't understand where and how they were found..." I cleared my throat causing Pinkie to look at me. "I can explain that easily..." The Discovery There was a blast of cold wind that ripped through the mine, starting from the entrence of the mine to the furthest depths. The group ,consisting of 2 unicorn ponies and 2 griffins, shivered as the wind shoot through their fur and chilled them to the very bone. The pony wearing a blue mask, his name is Hard Pick, let out a shout. "Alright!...We need to finish this section of the shaft, then we can head back to the barracks and rest!" Hard Pick said as shifted in his grey jump suit and started walking into the darkness. The unicorn wearing a red mask turned to the griffin with a white mask and poked her with his elbow. "Hey Gilda...think well find jewels this time? I'm tired of finding rocks." She looked at the pony and shruged. "I really don't know Stone, this is the third shaft this month that held shit." Stone nodded and started walking with the rest of the group. They traveled ten feet before stoping to turn on their head lamps, Hard Pick used his magic instead since it was brighter then the headlamps. The lights illuminated the grey rocks, showing signs of unnatural tunneling slowly descending down into the rocky earth. The group reached a point where the tunnel split in two directions: one heading further down and one heading in an upward climb. Hard Pick used his magic to take out a map from his saddlebag. He levitated it infront of him and examined the drawings of the many tunnels and markings that meant different things. Hard Pick looked at the fork that they were at and looked on the map. "We need to head down...lets go everypony!" He stated as he placed the map back into his saddlebag and descended down the right tunnel, the group followed suit and continued their journey The tunnel continued to descend, going deeper and deeper into the earth. Stone looked at the rock that was carved out, Hard Pick remained focused making sure not to misstep and trip, and the rest stayed silent as they followed behind. Before long, Hard Pick could see that slowly began to widen every 20 feet. After traveling for what seemed like hours, the group found themselves in a rather large cavern. Their lights illuminated a few feet in either direction, but could not reach the walls of the cavern they seemed to be in. Hard Pick brought the map back out, trying to figure out what went wrong. He unfolded the map and was shocked at what he saw. The map was blank, not a single marking could be seen not evern the coffee stain from the morning before could be found. Hard Pick started to sweat, his mind racing as the reality of being fucked was dawning on him. "Hard Pick...where are we?" One of the ponies asked as the group gathered around Hard Pick. He shook his head, using his hoove to wipe the sweat from his brow. "This is bad guy...we seem to have taken the wrong tunnel... and the map is now a piece of paper." He said as he showed the map to the group. All of them gasped, seeing that Hard Pick was being truthfull. "Oh sweet Celestia...what do we do?!" Stone said as he started to panic, pacing as his fear increased. Gilda grabed his shoulders and shook him. "Keep calm you idiot! We need to stay calm." "Gilda's right..." Hard Pick stated. "...we can't be losing our minds. Right now, we need to head back the way we came. Now lets go." With that, the group turned and started back the way they came. The group followed Hard Pick throught the darkness, making sure they were heading back the exact way they came. As they made their way, one of the ponies noticed something faintly glowing on the wall. The pony was interested in the object, he turned his head to the group. He noticed that they were a few feet ahead of him, he figured he could quickly check it out and catch up to them. He quickly trotted closer to the object, as he got closer he began to see it in closer detail. The object was pitch black and the glowing he saw was actualy the edges of the object glowing a faint whit light. As he reached the object, he noticed that the object itself was about the size of a small ball. He reached his hoove out and picked up the small black object. It sat in his hoove, levitating a few centimeters above his hoove. He felt a soothing warmth coming of the object and he felt a desire to keep it. But before he could begin to place it in his bag, the object exploded in a cloud of black smoke. He recoiled in surprise as the smoke rushed into his mask, entering his body through his nose, eyes and mouth. As the last of the smoke entered him, he began to react violently to the substance coursing through his body. He felt like his whole being was on fire, he screamed in pain and collapsed onto the ground. The group heard the scream and turned around to see the light from the ponies headlamp fall to the ground. They rushed over to the light to assist the fallen pony. As they reached the pony, they saw that he was collapsed on the hard rocky floor. His headlamp came off and his brown messy mane could be seen except the patches that were covered by his mask's straps. Hard Pick place his hoove against his throat and felt for a pulse. "He's alive, but out cold...Gilda, Stone help him and lets get out of here." Hard Pick stated as Stone helped Gilda get the pony onto both there backs and started towards the exit of the cavern. Back in the barracks Hard Pick, Gilda, Stone and the rest of the workers in the mine were all silent as a medic looked over the pony that laid appon the hard bed. After a few minutes of examining the pony, the medic turned to the workers. "Well...he seems stable, but its hard to tell if there is any brain damage without going to the hospital. My best advise to give you is keep him in bed and if he wakes up, keep an eye on him until you can get him proper treatment." The medic said as he placed his saddlebag back onto his backside. Hard Pick and the rest of the group nodded as they watched the medic leave the barracks. After a moment of silence Hard Pick turned to the workers. "Ok...now that we have him back and looked at, we have an idea on what to do. Now Me, Gilda and Stone will look after him, the rest of you can resume the expansion of the tunnels." The workers let out a collective moan at the request. "HEY, one of us might be out of commision, but that don't mean we can stop working. There are bits to be made and tunnels to dig, so get going!" The workers started filling out of the barracks, leaving Hard Pick, Gilda and Stone alone in the barracks. Stone turned to Hard Pick and Gilda. "Well...what do we do know? Just watch a unconcious pony till he wakes up?" Stone questioned. Gilda looked at Stone with a harsh look. "You idiot, we need to find out what happened. What if he was attacked down there? We need to investigate, right Pick?" Gilda said to Hard Pick, who seemed to be thinking hard about the situation. But before he could speak, the pony on the bed shot straight up with a loud scream. All three nearly had heartattacks at the sudden noise and watched the pony stop screaming and look around confused. The three of them slowly walked over to the pony, making sure to not scare him. "H-hey...you ok?" Stone asked as they reached the bed, the pony turned to them and smiled. "Yeah, I feel great! I feel like aI have this energy racing through me!" He explained as the three watched him with confusion. Hard Pick was the first to speak as the pony got out of bed. "What happened to you anyway? You just collapsed in the cavern." The ponies ears shot up and he turned to them with a huge smile. "I found something in that cavern man...Something that can change everything...I don't know what it was, but It makes me feel...whole inside...Like it filled a hole in my soul..." The pony sat down on the ground and then explained his find to the three. Where it was, what it looked like and what it did. "I believe you know the rest of the story..." I said as she handed me my medal. She nodded before speaking. "Yeah...they started selling the shards of black rock as 'Harmony'. claiming that it brought balance to ones life. With seemed to work...for a while." Pinkie said as she placed her head on the side of the cart. I nodded in agreement. "Thats correct Pinkie...the 'Harmony' works but as it makes you feel good, you start losing more of your sanity...until you'r nothing but a broken husk, wishing for death," I said as I placed my medal back into my saddlebag. Pinkie looked at me for a moment before speaking. "So...since you killed the princess...tell me...how'd you do it?...I though the princesses were immortal." I looked at her for a second then looked away. "That's not true...they can be killed like you or me...but I'll hold of on telling you that..." I stated. Pinkie seemed to surprised and scooted closer. "Come on...why not?" I turned to face her. "I'm tired...and besides...We have all the time to talk when we get where we are going..." I said as I turned my head away from her and closed my eyes to sleep. Author's Note The next part!!! some things might not be up to my hopes but hey i just started back and wanted to get this out. so if something seems iffy, tell me and I'll try and fix it.
A crumbling castle and memories of the past...I was dreaming the same dream that I've been having since my last day as a guard. I remember it all so vividly: the halls, the shouting, the clashing of blades, and the blood. All so real, all so distant... Ten year before "GET THAT DOOR BARED SHUT!!!" shouted Shining Armor, guard captain of celestia's guard, as he rushed over to the door that lead to the gardens. Shining Armor directed his troops as they placed boards on the door and magically held them firm. "KEEP THAT MAGIC UP, WE NEED THE TIME TO GET THE PRINCESSES TO SAFETY." He shouted before heading to the throne room. He galloped as fast as his hooves would go, his armor clanging and clinking as he ran... "Princesses, we need to get you to the safe room." I told the princesses as I trotted over to one of the large windows in the throne room. I gazed outside and looked upon the massive hoard of depraved ponies, hungry for any "Harmony" they could find. "We can't go just yet, we need to wait for my brother." Princess Twilight Sparkle protested, since her magical induction to alicornation, she's been living her for 5 years on and off. I sighed as I adjusted my great sword, that rested on my right. I turned to face the Princesses: Luna, Celestia, Cadence, and Twilight Sparkle. "Yes, I can't leave my husband behind." Cadence agreed as she paced the throne room floor. Luna trotted beside Cadence and rested her hoove on her shoulder. I looked to Celestia for an answer, since she was the one I reported to. She looked at me and nodded her head. "A few more minutes won't change the current situation...and we will need both you and Shining Armor to keep the magic on the door sealed." Celestia said while siting upon her throne. I wanted to protest but I couldn't, not with our ruler. I went over to the throne room main doors and opened them, I looked down the hall and listened. I could hear the sound of hooves galloping towards the throne room. But as I began to open up the door more to allow him easier entrance, I heard the sound of board breaking and the foul sound of raging ponies. My mind was in overdrive as I quickly turned around and galloped towards the princesses. "Shining's coming, but I need your highnesses to head towards the safe room now." I said as I used my magic to move one of the large statues, revealing a large door inscribed with magic seals and wards. Cadence and Twilight looked at me with confusion. "What about my brother?" Twilight said with tears forming in her eyes. I looked back at them when I unsealed the final seal. "I'll meet him half way, if he's encountered resistance I want to give him support. We will head back here as fast as we can..." I said as I moved aside to let the princesses inside. "...But if we aren't back in ten minutes...seal this door." I finished as I adjusted my armor. Cadence looked back at me with a angry look. "I will not LEAVE HIM TO DIE!" She shouted at me. I looked back at her with a serious face. "He knew his job was dangerous...he knows the risk of this job, you four are the only things keeping Equestria in order. If you die, we are lost. I will do my best to get him here, but if the worst is to happen....the first sight of one of those deprived, hollows.. seal.this.DOOR!" Before Cadence could rebuttal, I galloped towards the door and out into the halls of the castle.... Damn it...they caught up. Shining thought to himself as he looked back to see a large group of deprived ponies rounding the corner. They were shouting swears and raving treats of death at Shining Armor. Shining quickly turned around, used his magic to draw his sword and readied himself for a fight. The deprived saw this and slowed their advance, slowing to a slow stalk towards Shining Armor. Shining saw the patches of fur that remained on their skin, some had open wounds that oozed blood and infection, a couple had bloodied pieces of wood, metal and whatever else they could use to kill ponies with.to get whatever Harmony they could acquire. As the deprived advanced closer, Shining Armor heard fast paced hooves coming from behind.... I rounded the last corner to see Shining Armor backing up towards me. I also saw the large group of deprived ponies coming ever closer towards him. I used my magic and drew my sword and galloped to his side. "Took you long enough....How many ponies are there?" I asked him as he glanced towards me. "About 200 minimum...most in the courtyard....some breached the castle through the gardens...the ones you see here killed most of the troops but they lost most of them to the brave soldiers..." Shining stated as we backed up slowly, swiping our blades to keep the drooling deprived back. I noticed that some of the deprived had torn fancy clothing on: silk suits dirtied and torn, once nice hates stained with blood, the ladies had missing shoes and were covered in filth. A part of me felt bad for these ponies: once normal ponies, living day by day in luxury, now beating guards and other ponies to death to get the new drug of our generation. But I also felt anger towards them: How could they do such terrible deeds to get pointless bits of black rock? How could they sell their souls to try to cheat death? But my questions wouldn't be answer this moment, for a deprived lady lunged towards us with a bit of wood. I couldn't think...I just acted. I swung my sword, the blade connected with her neck. slicing her neck. She fell to the floor, gagging on her own blood and writhing in the pool that collected around her. Before the others yelled and we had to retreat, I looked into her eyes....and could of sworn she looked happy to be killed. It took us four minutes to get back to the throne room, we just managed to close the doors before the deprived could reach the door. I used my magic to put a ward on the door. "That should keep them out...for a while." I said to Shining, who gave me a nod and a smile. "Thanks Quartz, thought I was done for." I chuckled as I patted Shining on the shoulder. "It's ok Shining. Just remind me after this is done, you owe me a drink." I stated as I heard the rushed hoove steps of Cadence and Twilight. I looked as both of them embraced Shining, tears streaming down their faces as they hugged Shining Armor. It was heartwarming to see, even in these troubling times. I looked towards Luna and Celestia as they trotted towards me. "What's the situation outside?" Celestia asked in a stern voice. "Hollows have over-run most of the castle, from what I could tell. The courtyard has been compromised, so that leaves that door between us and them." I stated before Celestia moved to one of the decorated windows. It was a fairly new one: Twilights coronation ,surrounded by her friends. " How did it come to this?..." " Sister?" Luna asked in concern. " I thought I made the right decisions....I thought I was helping..." We heard her voice was filled with sorrow and quivering with sadness. It was hard to see the princess, who was normally a strong mare, feeling that she has failed her ponies. I walked over to Celestia and stood next to her. "Princess...you did your best...at the time, we didn't expect this to happen. The madness, the extreme need for Harmony...the murders..." I said as i turned to walk towards the others. "Quartz tell me..." Celestia said. "Yes princess?" I said in confusion. The room fell silent, except for the sound of hooves banging on the door to the throne room. Celestia turned her head towards me, her eyes were filled with the kind of anger that I've never seen coming from her. "You and Shining are close friends...how 'close' are you two really?" She bluntly stated. "What are you getting at Celestia?" Cadence asked in anger. I looked at Twilight, who was in shock at what Celestia may be implying. Celestia continued. "I mean...dosent it seem odd that Shining Armor, my royal guards captain....would have a bandage on his front left leg...I don't see any blood stains on it and it looks fairly old...So...What are you hiding Shining?" We were all looking at Shining at this point, who was backing up towards the wall. Cadence and Twilight were moving towards him with tears streaming down their faces. Luna was looking at Celestia with a combination of shock and horrifying realization. I was putting the peaces together, going back as far as I could think... The bandage is old and worn...I'm guessing two weeks old...around the same time as the first hollow was reported and Shining's whereabouts were unknown for two days after that...and when he was found, he had that bandage around his leg. But if what I'm thinking is true, then I've been blind the the truth this whole time... "Shining honey....you wouldn't tell me what happened to your leg and every-time I tried to ask you about it, you would avoid the question...W-what happened honey?" Cadence said before the tears made it impossible to speak any further. She collapsed to the ground, the sobs and sniffs echoed in the throne room. Shining look to be on the verge of tears also, snot ran down his nose and tears down his cheeks. "I'm sorry honey...I-I'm so sorry..." Shining said as he reached his right hoove to the bandage and slowly unraveled it. The bandage fell in a long sheet, as the last of the now brownish cloth fell to the floor we all gazed at his leg... The unknown red text formed a perfect circle that was about as wide as a water glasses bottom, the text seemed to fade to red and orange as if burning flames but it was the pure black void that occupied the center of the circle. "I'm sorry...everyone..." I was awoken suddenly by the cart coming to a halt, I raised my head as I looked about the dark space, trying to remember where I was. The ponies that were also asleep were steering and a few had frightened expressions of not knowing whats happening. I looked to my side and noticed Pinkie Pie holding onto my right front hoove. I used my left hoove to wake her awake. "Pinkie...wake up." I said as she slowly moved and yawned. "Hmmm huh? Q-Quartz...whats happening?" She said as she sat up and look about also. Before I could speak, a blinding light came from the front of the cart. Every pony covered their eyes as the light shined in on our dark space. "Come on you filthy Hollows!" Said a voice as ponies slowly started to pull ponies out of the cart. Me and Pinkie move forward as the mass of ponies moved closer to the blinding light. When it came our turn, I felt a hoove grab my neck and pull me forward, I assumed they did the same to Pinkie because I heard her let out a small gasp. I fell to the hard ground as my eyes began to adjust to the light, the world around me became clearer and as it all focused, I gazed appon a massive collapsing castle. The walls were cracked and stained from years of neglect, The surrounding forest appeared too thick to hope for an easy escape, and the most heartbreaking fact was the sound of hundreds of screaming, crying and howling voices that came from its mortared walls. Before I could think, I felt a sharp pain shot through my head. I could feel my consciousness fading, before everything fell black.... "Enjoy your stay at the asylum....Quartz..." ??? Author's Note Holy hell its been toooooooooo long. hope you enjoy and remember: comment any mistakes or if you liked it and be awsome. till next time my friends.
In memories we trust....The days have past,leading into weeks, to months....to years....I can't describe the monotony of these same for walls. Day in day out its all the same: sleepless nights, cold mornings, empty mind, broken spirit.... I can feel myself going hollow....Tardis...I felt this the moment I awoke in this cell, countless years ago....The first sign I noticed was my lack of hunger. The first weeks I killed small rats that scurried in my cell for some form of respite from starvation. Then after two months of rat flesh, I gave up on food. I laid on the stone ground for days, hoping death would embrace me in her cold hooves. After months of decaying: Flesh darkening, fur falling out, and my will to live becoming oddly stronger by the pasting day. "Was this the curse?" I thought to myself as my mind drifted and swirled. "...To wish for death and be denied? To internally hope for life but face the truth that....I'm going to go hollow and not care....till the end of time..." The mere thought of losing my mind and becoming the very thing that ruined all of Equestria.....I began to cry.....Tears for Shining Armor, for Princess Cadence, For Princess Twilight, For Princess Luna....For Princess Celestia....My crying gave way to sobbing, heavy and painful. The tears I only felt once before, the tears brought back memories of life before these walls, before this bleak existence.... 20 years ago I sat at her bedside, watching her chest rise and fall. I've sat in this same spot for four months now and still hope for a miracle. The tube leading from her nose to the machine subtly moves, I've noticed it after staring at it for the past hour now. I place a my hoove on her motionless one, while holding back the urge to break down. "Hi honey...Its me again...I just wanted to fill you in on whats been happening around Canterlot. As you may remember, Princess Celestia celebrated her birthday yesterday. I had to attend since I got promoted to be one of her personal guards....I'm sorry,I wanted to be here with you...In case..." I shook my head and tried to carry on. "...The other night, when I was getting ready for my shift...I found your favorite book..." My horn glowed as the book lifted from the bag beside me. " The first copy of Daring Doo...It was in the closet...under your evening gown..." I placed the book on the table beside her. I remained beside her until the sun dipped below the horizon to let the moon rise, when a nurse entered to room. " I'm sorry sir...But its that time again..." She said. I nodded and placed the bag on my back. I looked down at her...and kissed her forehead. " I'll be back tomorrow.... I love you." I walked to the door, turned one last time to look at her...then closed the door... I ran out of tears to sob anymore, the sadness was the only thing i felt as I scooted to the far corner of my cell. I placed my body upon the floor and waited for the end of my sanity to escape my mind. -Crash/crunch- The sudden sound made me focus on the new figure in my cell, but a none living figure. I gazed at the corpse, looking at its dark green skin with small patches of fur. My gaze was torn as I looked up and noticed another figure, this one more alive then my new cellmate. The pony seemed to be wearing armor that I recognized as Canterlot Castles standard guard attire, but the figures armor seemed faded and looked to be less then "new". I couldn't see their face since the sun was streaming behind their head and blackened the features. All i could make out was a small nod from the figure before they turned and hurried off. I didn't dwell on their absence, since i noticed two things.... .....one,the pair of keys around the corpses neck.... .....and a small bit of "Harmony" floating inches above its stomach....
