What Happened To Yesterday

The day was as black as night, the sun shadowed over by an evil presence and corrupted by ancient magic. Every plant was withered, every drop of water was as red as the lifeblood that flows through all living things’ veins. It was a landscape transformed by fear.

In the middle of it all, the epicenter of terror formerly known as Ponyville stood a unicorn formerly known as the element of magic, herself corrupted beyond recognition. Her once pristine horn was not cracked and curved by hatred, her once two-tone mane turned completely black, and her eyes cracked and sparkled with the shades of dark magic.

In front of her, two stallions stood. One as pink as the beginning of the dawn, and the other the same orange of a dull flame. The two were trapped in place, their hooves shackled to the ground by dark magic. It was at the unicorn’s will that the two earth ponies were before her, it was at her will that these two stallion’s live rested.

“Twilight…just let us go…we can all walk away from this.” The orange one spoke in his accent, his tones pleading. He was fighting against the bonds, desperately trying to break free…the exact opposite of his pink friend.

“NO!” The corrupted unicorn screamed, rage and pain flowing through every word she spoke. “You don’t get to walk away from this! You broke my heart and walked all over it!” Her horn lit up and a long stream of dark magic slammed into the orange stallion, making him cry out in pain.

“I-I’m sorry Twilight…I never meant to…” Another slam from her magic hit him.

“You don’t get to be sorry, Applejack! Y-You don’t get to apologize, you get to be hurt…just like me…” Her gaze turned to the pink one, whose eyes were consumed with the same fear magic as the unicorn’s, the only difference was that he was a victim of it, not a controller. “But him….he gets to be sorry.” Her horn flared and the glow around the pink one’s eyes only intensified, sending him into a fit of screaming and crying.

“Twilight, stop! D-Don’t hurt him!” Applejack struggled against his bonds, but found they were secure. He wanted to just break out of these and hold the pink pony, to tell him everything was fine.

“Say it…” Were the only words that came from Twilight. “Tell him that you love him…tell him that he’ll be okay. Lie to him LIKE YOU LIED TO ME!” Black tears rolled down her cheeks. “Lie to him as he dies….do it.”

“B-Berry…?” Applejack’s own eyes were tearing up, he knew what was coming and he was desperate to stop it. But the look of pure hurt and fear that Berry gave him through those enchanted eyes, it just broke his resolve. “I-I want you to know that everything will be okay…a-and that I love you…I love you more than anything in the world. I never want you to forget that…” The tears were flowing now, and Applejack’s throat was closing in on itself. He saw Twilight’s horn grow darker as she performed a long-forbidden spell, he saw as the magic faded from Berry’s eyes, then the life. He watched as the magic shackles dissipated, and he watched as Berry’s lifeless body fell to the ground.

“How’s it feel? To have something ripped away from you? I kow it hurts, I know you’re scared I’m going to kill you next…” Twilight advanced on Applejack, her voice softening as she did so. When she was close enough, her hoof brushed against his cheek. He didn’t resist or flinch, he was too numb to do that. “I’ll tell you what, you come with me and you’ll never fear again. You’ll never hurt…and you’ll never lose anything ever again.” The magical bonds released him.

Applejack wanted to do so many things at the moment…he wanted to run over to Berry, he wanted to cradle the body he once loved in his hooves one last time. But he also wanted to grab Twilight and throttle her until the life left her body, he wanted to strike her down where she stood.

“Promise…?” Even he was surprised by the words that came out of his mouth.

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” He flinched at the Berry promise, but he knew that promise was eternal, unbreakable. With that knowledge under his belt, he walked over to Twilight…and embraced the darkness that ruined him.

With the last bastion of light gone, her goal completed…Twilight disappeared, As did Applejack. The body of Berry Bubble simply laid upon the ground, untouched. The laughter in Equestria died…as did the honesty. Screams echoed from Canterlot Castle, it can be assumed it was Twilight dealing with the princesses. It can be assumed that it was also the last hope for Equestria dying.

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Zecora pulled her head out of the cauldron. She could feel her heart racing from fear and her eyes streaming with tears. This was not what she was expecting when she looked into her vision cauldron.

She did not like what she saw, it was a vision of a future that was coming. The worst of it was that it was going to happen whether she did something or not. The vision cauldron showed fixed points in time, things that could not be changed.

“There is trouble on the way, I fear my only hope is to run away.” Quickly, Zecora gathered up her essentials of a few herbs and her trusted cloak. It may have been last minute, it may have been hasty. But if there’s one thing Zecora knows, it’s bad omens such as that should not be ignored…and that Equestria was about to become a very dangerous place.

One last nostalgic look over the cabin was all the zebra needed. She was used to uprooting her life and moving in a moment’s notice. The rest of Equestria better get used to it as well.