At The End of All Things
Let’s begin at the end. Or close to it, anyway.
The ruin was all encompassing. All that could be seen were hot, arid, deserts with lonely, windswept tatters of what used to be towns. Shops, restaurants, homes- all being devoured by the insatiable hunger of the beast that is time. These bleak monuments to that which was once great and proud now stood on the verge of destruction. They were doomed to never see life again, the light of civilization was lost forever to them. No creature would ever walk these lands again, even though there used to be a lush forest, filled with species of fauna and flora beyond counting.
The farm used to feed a whole town with food to spare. Now it was a sand dune with a small skeleton of what may have been a house standing on top of it. Some rusted metal utensils were scattered around it.
The castle on the mountain once presided over an enormous kingdom. It was bright and colorful, a symbol of greatness, security, and general prosperity to all. Now it stood lonely, an overgrown ruin, untouched for decades, a symbol of failure, of death, and of sadness. It was a symbol of what once was, but was no longer, and never would be again.
The riverbed contained, cool, clear, flowing water. It carried not only boats of all sizes, but the hopes and dreams of many. It was now simply more flat desert. Even those who had seen it since the beginning of time could not hope to remember where it was. It had dried up long ago, with the rising heat.
The school; without a teacher. The library; it had no books. The bakery; it had no food.
This town was quieter than Twilight ever remembered it being.
The whole world was quieter than Twilight ever remembered it being.
Just as lonely, though.
She looked around, trying to remember what this town used to be like.
Only snatches of memory could be recovered from the maws of time.
A purple unicorn sat in a golden chariot. Beside her was a similarly, if lighter colored, dragon. He was reading a note to her, who wore an annoyed look on her face. She seemed reluctant to do whatever the letter requested.
She tried to remember where that memory was from. It was a long time ago, that was for sure. But who was that purple unicorn? She seemed very familiar... The dragon too, but the feeling was not as strong. She looked down at her own coat. It was not purple. And she was definitely not a unicorn, she had wings!
But why did she remember this? How could she remember this?
She kept walking, mulling over this mystery. One of the greatest mysteries she had been challenged with in a long time.
Then it hit her. That purple unicorn was her. Or it used to be, a long time ago.
She idly kicked at some loose rubble, her mind lost to the past. The revelation shocked her. Was she really that young unicorn? And who was that dragon? Was that also someone she knew?
No memories swirled around in her head to reveal her entire past. Instead she just stood there, shocked. Her, a unicorn? When was that? How did she change? Was she a different pony back then?
Questions swirled around in her head at the speed of light, but no answers came to mind. She was lost, all because of that one memory.
...Or was she finally found?
She kept on moving, following the idle movements of her hooves- it was as if they had a mind of their own. Maybe they wanted to show her something. A place to go was a non issue. She had once needed a place to go, but she had somehow lost that right. Or at least, she felt that she had. More riddles, shrouded in mystery and uncertainty.
But, she had other things to worry about. Who were those five other ponies that she can see so faintly in her minds eye? Something nagged her, telling her that she knew these ponies that were so faded in her mind.
Her hoofsteps quickened, as if her legs were becoming agitated, tugging her to the place she clearly needed to be. Her wings flared out a bit subconsciously too, as if it were absolutely vital she made all due haste to reach the mystery location.
She rose from her thoughts and looked up. In front of her stood a large stone edifice. It had a statue of a pony on it, and was very cracked and bleached by the sun. She remembered this thing. She couldn’t remember what it did. Surely it must have some significance, if her hooves pulled her here. She looked up at the sky, wishfully wondering if maybe the answer would float down from the heavens and grace her with the answers to her questions.
Unsurprisingly, no such answer floated down to grant her infinite fonts of wisdom.
But then she blinked, long and hard, not just trying to clear her eyes, but also pull back the veil that hid her memories. And like a gust of wind, the scene changed in a rush of color and life.
The answer she sought remained firmly lodged up in the sky, unwilling to interrupt its busy schedule to come down- which was just as well, because it didn’t need to come down to help her answer her questions.
Or, more specifically she didn’t need to come down, although Twilight wished she would.
“Rainbow Dash! Come on!” Twilight called up at her rather lazy friend.
The rainbow-maned mare slowly pulled her head up, groaning, and rubbed her eyes, and looked down at Twilight with a look that tended to deflect most conversation. Twilight, however, had seen it at least a hundred times, and thus was extremely un-deflected.
“What is it Twilight? Can’t a pony get any sleep around here?” Rainbow Dash called down rather irately. “Oh wait, is this about your picnic? When was that supposed to be again?”
“Right now!” Twilight called back up at her with equal or possibly greater irritation. She was absolutely sure she had set the plans for right now, she had even informed all of her friends in person. She had woken up early to prepare for this special occasion with her friends, with Spike following close behind to make sure she didn’t let her OCD get the best of her, as it had before.
“Okay! Let’s go!” Rainbow Dash called down, hurtling herself off the cloud towards Twilight, as if determined to make it to her as quick as possible. A wide grin spread across her face.
A gust of hot wind buffeted Twilight as she looked around the now deserted town. There was nopony there, but she distinctly remembered Rainbow Dash being just above her moments ago. She looked up, but saw nothing but the sky and the clouds. Where had she went? Why was everything suddenly ruined again? It had been so full of life moments ago, but now everything was destroyed again! What happened to... her friends... who were they again? Already the dream was slipping away from Twilight, like quicksilver- the more she tried to clutch at the memory, the farther it darted away.
Already it seemed like a distant dream, a faint mirage, rather than a sudden revitalization of the land and a restoration of all that once was immediately without any explanation, reason, or cause. She almost cried; that world was so much more beautiful than hers. She wanted desperately to fall through and join it.
She wandered away from the old stone statue, the one that used to be a fountain. As she walked, the scene once again morphed back into the colorful vibrance of Ponyville. Rainbow Dash appeared and was now happily trotting alongside her, chattering away about something or other. Twilight was suddenly mentally reviewing her checklist, which apparently existed a few seconds ago, making sure that everything was going to be perfect for this special occasion with her dearest friends. It had been a long time since she had last seen them... hadn’t it?
Twilight passed through beautiful scenery, watching it come to life, a flowing river full of clear waters, a field full of lush, green grass, and even a forest some distance away, teeming with life. At the center of the field was a large, beautiful oak. Underneath that oak sat all the rest of her friends.
A big smile spread across Twilight’s face, and she ecstatically ran up to greet her friends, whose faces all turned into grins. It was a clear day out here, and the sun’s warm rays combined with a light breeze made it just the right temperature for a picnic. Twilight and Rainbow Dash took their seat under the oak, Fluttershy brought out some food, and everyone began eating.
Twilight couldn’t remember a better time. She sat and ate with her friends, chatting about small things: Rarity’s most recent customer, a mouse whose leg Fluttershy had recently fixed, a new trick that Rainbow Dash had just perfected. Twilight felt a little awkward talking about these subjects, but she just dismissed as one of those weird nagging feelings that don’t actually have any meaning.
After they ate, they all just lounged in the sun, enjoying the beautiful day and each others’ company.
“So Twilight dear, you’ve come a long way to meet us here, haven’t you dear?” Rarity asked.
“Yes... I guess I have come a long way for this...” Twilight said hesitantly, a confused expression now spreading across her muzzle.
“Well ah’m glad you’re here, Twi.” Applejack said, looking over at Twilight and grinning.
Twilight didn’t respond. Instead she opted to stare into the sky, brow furrowed.
“Well, that food was fantastic!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, trying to break the awkward silence that was rapidly forming.
“What food?” Twilight asked, now confused. “Were we just eating?”
Twilight didn’t notice any answer Pinkie might have given, or the birds singing, or the cool breeze. She stared up at the sky on a sudden urge, and saw... desolation. The sky wasn’t blue, it was an ugly shade of orange and yellow. The sun was not a small orb in the sky gently warming her, it was a giant fireball against a barren backdrop beating down on her relentlessly with wave after brutal wave of heat. There were no birds flying overhead.
Twilight cried out to her friends in confusion, but she received no answer.
Twilight looked back down at her friends, only to find desert. There was nothing there but miles upon miles of empty sand, holding no life, but only bleak hopelessness, the despair that accompanies the end of a good thing, a type of sadness that cannot be expressed through any word or sound, a type of bittersweet longing for the past while also remembering just how great it was, but then being forced to realize that it was gone, and it was never coming back. The type of sadness that seemed to reach in and scoop out your very soul, leaving you hollow and empty inside. The type of sadness that overwhelms you and makes you want to cry forever, but also makes you want to go out and dance, and play, and be happy and enjoy the present, the sadness that covers you like a blanket, suffocating all other thoughts and emotions.
All Twilight could do was remember, and cry.
Cry for the days gone by, for the lives lost to the ages, for the great times that could never be recovered. Cry for the friends she just had right next to her, the very same friends she hadn’t seen in countless centuries. Cry for the people she used to rule, the ones she couldn’t save from an imminent, slow moving disaster. Cry for that which was, but could not be, and never could be again.
She wasn’t crying out of fear, or pain. She wasn’t rearing back from the unknown, she was laying down the sword and shield, and giving up the fight. The going had been tough at times, easy at others, but she had always kept walking, forging on on her grand crusade that was her life. Meeting new friends, seeing incredible sights, protecting the innocent. She carried the light of knowledge into the darkness of the unknown, fought back the evils and insecurities, and did her best to help the world. But now, her crusade was coming to an end. She was getting tired of her relentless march, and needed to finally rest. Nothing can last forever, and this grand adventure, this great and noble quest, was coming to an end. It was time to lay down her arms, surrender the fight, and go and rest, and prepare for the next great adventure.
It was time to let the darkness win, let the unknown envelop her and take her to lands beyond. She just couldn’t stop crying now. It all seemed so hollow, so cold and unforgiving. The windswept desert, it used to be a lush oasis of life in the infinite void, now laid waste by the natural heating of the planet. Her own body, coping for many years, losing its color. Herself, losing her memories, forgetting who she really was, wandering the wasteland dejectedly, and with no real purpose.
And now she just felt so, so incredibly tired. She was approaching the end of her time on this small rock that she once called home, she was preparing to move on, and ascend to a new place, filled with new, strange lands for her to explore, new friends to meet. She was a sailor at the end of the river, and before her lay the end, a magnificient waterfall. Try as she might to escape it, she could only delay the inevitable. It was only a matter of time before she lost her grip on the oars, and went flying over the edge, into the abyss. She was flying way up in the sky, untouchable, but now she had to land, and be claimed by death.
Twilight looked up, and she saw desert, but she also saw green on this landscape of never ending death. All that separated her from this paradise was a faint, shimmering veil and just a few feet of desert.
But she was so tired, she could not cross. It might as well have been a mile away, because she was utterly spent. She could not reach the veil, her quest was over, the final flag stuck in the ground, the final flap of wings on her flight, the final row on her voyage, her final torch lighting that which she knew and understood had burnt out. She was done, her body would not carry her anywhere ever again.
Behind the veil, she saw more than just greener pastures and clearer skies. She saw her friends, the ones she hadn’t seen since a time long forgotten, now remembered. They were all looking at her expectantly, as if waiting for her to join them. Seeing if she could do it alone.
But she couldn’t. The fatigue had overwhelmed her, she was broken in her spirit, unable to drag herself the few feet that separated her from the veil. All this way, to be stopped at the end. Just a few feet away from the ultimate prize, a place to rest, a place where her enemies would not ever bother her again, a place to spend eternity with her friends, in peace, and happiness.
But she was not alone in her struggle. Her friends were next to her, encouraging her, cheering her on, daring her to make this one last stretch of the grand quest.
All Twilight could do was lay there, and watch her smiling friends, all of them excited to see her, waiting for her to get up and accompany them beyond the veil, waiting to be reunited, to catch up on old times, and make new memories together.
Friends united, as it should be.
But Twilight couldn’t move. She was just too tired. She cried out for help from her friends, who seemed to at first not take notice and keep urging her on. But then they realized that she couldn’t that she needed help, that she was at her strength’s end.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack went on either side of her, and lifted her up, as easily as if she weighed no more than a feather. They silently carried her to the veil, Twilight still too tired to move.
The silence was reverent, and permeating. There was a sacred significance to this, as if it were an age old ritual, something to be honored, and remembered. Rainbow Dash and Applejack carried Twilight the few remaining feet that separated her from the veil. As she moved closer to it, she felt rejuvenated, freed.
Time slowed down as they went through the veil, and the desolate world behind her disappeared. It was replaced with a green, lush world, filled with life and beauty, as opposed to the death and desolation she had just left behind. She was gently set down on the grass.
She looked up to see all her friends smiling at her. Rarity looked like she might be tearing up, Pinkie looked excited, Fluttershy was smiling big and wide, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash had small little smiles. They had waited for this a long time, for her a long time, and now Twilight was at peace. Her memories, regained; with her friends, she was reunited. The journey, finished; the pain, ended. The destination, reached; the lessons, learned. The riddle, solved; the answers, found.
Perhaps there would be more adventure in the future, more quests to find, new friends to meet, new memories to make. But for now, Twilight could rest, and be with her friends, in the land of the end of all things.
A lonely, windswept desert wasteland claimed its final victim. A old purple alicorn who only wanted to be with her friends that she loved and cherished.The desert had accomplished its final goal, the end of all things. No more would life stalk the land, it had been stamped out, eradicated.
And for once, the world was silent.
Author's Note
Thanks to endingtheworld (http://endingtheworld.tumblr.com, http://endingtheworld.deviantart.com) for editing this, doing the cover art, and adding the music. He's basically a boss.
If you notice any errors, sorry in advance, and please show me.
-Hydraex2
