Filly Fantasy- Requiem of Ponies

by Velocyty Spectrym

PART I

There are many ways I could start the story of what happened. But so much has happened. In the past few months, I’ve seen lives taken in fire, towns consumed in flames, and bonds severed and destroyed. I know every second like back of my hoof. I just don’t understand how my life could have been so simple and become so complicated so fast.

I was just a simple librarian… nothing special anymore. I hadn’t been anything special for ten years. The bonds of friendship were the first to fade, even though I thought them eternal. But we all had gone our separate ways. Most of us achieved our dreams eventually. But that too soon became nothing. What we had forsaken each other for… had become dust in the wind.

But look at me, a doddering old mare just blabbing about her life. Imagine that… I feel like I’m old at 33. And there wasn’t a day between 25 and 32 that wasn’t boring. Guess you’d never think that a librarian arranging dusty old books for her job would be one of the saviours of Equestria. Had been before, and after a long ten years, I was about to be a saviour again.

I remember it all started with books. Yep, books. Nothing fancy, just an endless life filled with books. I had achieved my dream… Librarian of Canterlot. And I found out seven years ago it was the most horrendously boring job that existed. I mean, I liked actually reading the books, not spending all day dusting them off. The only people who ever even borrowed them were Celestia and Luna, and since they knew all that was in them, they really were just doing this as a pittance of attention to a painfully isolated existence. I was more bored than Rainbow Dash in a boutique.

And today was no different. At least, it wasn’t really different. Another day, another thousand books to dust off. Never had I thought I’d hate books this much, but lo and behold, I hated books with every fiber of my soul. After I finally had dusted off the last book, I sighed and said, “I’m finally done. Every last book… has been dusted. Awful, awful books… I hate you so much.”. I was about to retire, but then Celestia decided to come in and probably say some routine crap that I couldn’t care less to hear.

Celestia said with her usual perkiness, “Hello, Twilight Sparkle. I trust you’ve had a nice day?”. I said in an irritated tone, “No. No, no, no. I have NOT had a nice day. I have not had a nice year, I have not had a nice decade!”. Celestia said, “Is something the matter? I thought you loved this job. You always wanted to have a life of books. You got what you asked for.”.

I snapped, “This isn’t what I wanted! I wanted to learn and study! I thought being a librarian would give me time to do just that! But now, my passion is gone… it is a void and bitter memory. And all I have left in my pathetic life are these BOOKS!”. Out of a fairly vicious instinct, I bucked the bookcase behind me with full force, and left a large crack in it. Celestia glared at me and I said, “I know… just dock it from my pay.”.

Celestia said, slightly on edge concerning my temper, “I was going to tell you I had a job for you. I have a book shipment that is supposed to be picked up from Manehattan. I need you to pick them up, and from the looks of it, a change of scenery for a bit might shape up your attitude.”. I put on my saddlebags upon hearing this and said, “Fine… anything to get out of this horrid library.”.

And so I just went on my way. Personally, I hate Manehattan. It’s smelly, vile, and a dump. The whole place has been a glorified slum ever since their economy went down in flames. But if it gets me away from those infernal books, I will do it. Because as it stands, I hate nothing more than those books. But enough about books. Let’s get on with the story.

So, I’m out the gates of Canterlot and am riding a train en route to Manehattan. Yep, I have a boring life. Every detail pains me to recollect. The ride was going to be unbearable, because it felt like an oven outside. But that would be an Earth Pony’s problem. I just fired of a spell to chill the train down a bit, and was fine. At least I had uses for this horn other than my terrible job of arrange, dust, repeat.

The train wasn’t cool for long, however. The temperature shot right back up, and I felt like my face was about to boil. Maybe I’m a little rustier with my magic than I thought. I blame my job for that, like I do with everything else that goes wrong. I tried the spell again, and it worked. For a few seconds, it was cool… until the inferno came back. This wasn’t weather. This was magic fighting me.

I saw a unicorn across from me, and thought they might be the one fighting me. I couldn’t tell if it was a mare or a stallion, because their hair was covering most of their face. Well, they had to be. Nopony else was on this train. So I activated the spell and watched their horn for a glow. Just as I predicted, the glow came, and the temperature reached a boil once more. So I activated the spell over and over, trying to exhaust them, but they matched every move perfectly. For the next minute or so, we were changing the weather so fast it would make a pegasus’ head spin. After a while, the other unicorn lashed out at me and said, “Will you STOP?”.

I simply responded, “Look, we are ponies, not pizza. I can’t stand this kind of heat!”. The unicorn said, “You must not be from Manehattan then. It is never cold there.”. I said, “You’re right, I’m from Canterlot.”. The unicorn responded, “Oh, Canterlot. I had a friend who used to live in Canterlot. She was very nice, but a little nerdy. Never figured out where she ended up. She just kind of drifted off, and we lost touch slowly. Been about eight years since I talked to her.”.

Interestingly enough, that sounded exactly like me. I asked the unicorn, “Who are you, by the way? Your ‘friend’ sounds exactly like ME.”. The unicorn said, “My name is Rarity. Never liked the idea of a stage name.. it kills the sense of uniqueness in my industry.”, as she swept her hair to the side, showing her face. I was rather surprised to see an old friend of mine. Rarity asked me, “What is your name? It is only fair we both exchange names.”.

I said to her, “You know me well. I’m your old friend, Twilight Sparkle.”. Rarity got a little more excited upon hearing this and said, “Oh, Twilight! It’s so good to see you after all these years! How have things been?”. I said, “Boring, bland, tasteless, and awful. I’m a librarian… the most incredibly monotonous and dull job that exists.”.

Rarity said, “Well, I guess not all of us can fall into glamour like I have. Well, maybe something good will come for you eventually.”. A glare was starting to form on one of Rarity’s bracelets, and it was blinding. I asked, as I covered my eyes, “What are those? They shine much more than any bracelets I’ve seen.”. Rarity laid back and said, “They are weapons. They are sharp bladed bangles that I had to make for security reasons. You see, thieves are quite a problem in Manehattan, so I needed a good… deterrent.”.

I said to Rarity, “They don’t look very sharp…”. Rarity then smiled as she flicked her forelegs out and cut the curtains on both sides of her cleanly in half. Rarity said to me, “What was that again?”. I said nothing, I just stared in awe. Rarity said, “The usefulness of them is extended to cutting pretty much everything. Indeed, a fashionista’s best friend. The great thing is that they are on each leg, so their uses know no bounds.”.
Time apparently passed quicker in conversation, because the train had apparently stopped five minutes ago. As Rarity and I got off the train, Rarity said, “I’m going to stay with you. Considering I’ve seen all of Manehattan many times, I doubt you’ve been here before. A guide could serve you well, Twilight.”. I just smiled and nodded in agreement, as we left the train depot together.

As Rarity and I entered the slums of Manehattan, or to be more accurate, all of Manehattan, I checked the list I was given for the books and where they were supposed to be delivered to. I said, “Some dump named Equestrilibrium. I swear, ponies these days are terrible at naming places.”. Rarity scoffed and said, “ I have seen that place. You are right in saying it is a dump. It looks more like an attic than a store.”. I sighed and said, “Let’s just get the dumb books and go.”.

As we were walking along the sidewalk, I heard a splash and felt my hooves get wet. I looked down, and saw the revolting liquid: urine. I stepped back and said, “That’s… gross.”. I looked to the side and saw it was coming from some hobo. He looked really rough, with a mangled mane and tail, a ratty old coat on, and a chewed up hat covering most of his face. Three features drew my eye: His chest was mostly metal crudely welded to him, his left foreleg and hoof were a dark navy blue metal that was probably a prosthetic, and his mane and tail were a very unusual colour… rainbow.  

I yelled at him, “Hey, ponies are walking here!”. The stallion grew irritated and said in a deep, raspy voice, “Kid, you can wait. I’m almost done.”. Rarity added in, “Don’t you have somewhere ELSE to go?”. The stallion finished up and took a swig of bourbon from an old brown bottle and said, “Lady, you think I like being homeless? I’m jobless, friendless, and I haven’t eaten or showered in days. Do I really need prissy unicorns telling me what to do?”.

I said to the livid stallion, “Can I ask one question?”. He said testily, “Make it quick… ONE question only.”. I asked him, “What happened to your arm?”. The stallion sighed and said, “I lost it at a Wonderbolts performance. They were experimenting with griffon prosthesis at the time, and they used me as a test subject. As a result, I now have a hand on that leg instead of a hoof. Pretty useful for pretty much everything.”.
Rarity said, “You are a fan of the Wonderbolts, I take it?”. The stallion said, “No, I was a Wonderbolt.”. Rarity said, “Let me guess who you are… Soarin?”. The stallion said, “No… but I had a pretty big crush on him.”. This left both me and Rarity in a very awkward silence. After a half a minute or so of incredible awkwardness, I broke the silence by saying, “Err, you mean you… loved him?”. The stallion said, “Ever since I was a little filly.”.

This just made everything more awkward. I didn’t know what to think or say. After a few moments, the stallion said, “Everyone thinks I am a stallion. Never was. When I was rescued from the performance, they didn’t have mare transplant pieces that were being accepted by my body. They kept finding matches from a colt that had died at the performance from smoke inhalation. Most of my body was replaced with their parts, mainly on the face and jawline. The rest, like my chest, was metallurgic triage.”.

The mare continued, “My vocal cords were shredded by various impacts, and in the end, they used the colt’s vocal cords. A little magic, a little snipping and cauterizing, and I could speak again. The fact that he died of smoke inhalation caused a drop in the pitch and quality of the voice produced, which is why I sound like utter crap when I speak. After that, a mechanical heart was put in, and it only lasts a year before I have to get it rewound by magic.”.

Rarity said, “It must be simply horrid to go from fame to ruin like that…”. The mare responded, “I take it as a learning experience. I was always so vain and arrogant and full of myself that it hurt a lot of ponies. That experience taught me humility. I went back to flight school, got back on my feet, and even learned a few skills along the way.”, as she opened her coat to show a knife. I asked the mare, “Who are you?”. The mare responded, “Rainbow Dash. The name’s Rainbow Dash.”. I said in response, “The one and only!”, as Rainbow joined in saying “one and only”, showing she knew the phrase still.

I asked Rainbow, “So, what have you been up to? Looking for work or something?”. Rainbow indignantly replied, “Drowning myself in booze over at Applejack’s Tavern.”. I said, “You know where Applejack is?”. Rainbow Dash smiled and replied, “I’m there constantly… Come on, let me buy you a drink and catch you up on our old friends.”.

Rainbow opened the bar door and yelled out to Applejack, “Hey, App, three rounds. I’ve got company.”. Applejack wiped down the counter and said, “Pull up some seats. I got this.”. Rainbow told me and Rarity, “Grab a stool in the front, these are on me.”. Me, Rarity, and Rainbow each got up and took a seat at the front of the bar. Applejack slid me and Rarity a shot and said, “Drink up, ladies.”. Applejack slid six shots to Rainbow and said, “The usual, as always.”. I looked over and said to Rainbow, “Sweet Celestia, how much do you drink?”. Rainbow let out a dry laugh and said, “A lot, sister… a whole lot.”, as she polished off two shots.

Applejack said, “Too much, that’s for sure. Thanks to her, I need to be a janitor.”. Rainbow blew through the rest of her shots like they were water, and said, “Applejack cleans up my puke more than you’d believe.”. Applejack said, exhausted, “The only reason you are even allowed here is because you make me more money in a day that Spitfire makes in a week!”. Rainbow belched loudly and said, “True… I do, don’t I?”. Me and rarity stared at the amber fluid sloshing in our glasses, and promptly pushed it across the marble counter towards Rainbow Dash. Rainbow downed them quickly and said, “Your loss.”.

Rarity asked Rainbow Dash, “So, how have Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy been?”. Rainbow said, “Fluttershy became a vet. She works at the animal shelter in Downtown Manehattan. As for Pinkie Pie… she’s dead.”. I said in shock, “Dead? What happened?”. Rainbow scoffed and said, “Goneighrhea. Simply rotted to death in a brothel. She turned a pretty foul way, and I don’t mean colts. She died alone and in obscurity, and wasn’t even buried.”. Rarity said, “That is horrible! I feel sorry for her.”. Rainbow snidely said, “Don’t be. She was her own death sentence. She rode herself down a path of destruction because of her stupid decisions.”.

Rainbow said, “Now, how about we go see Fluttershy after I tell you MY story?”. Sounded like a good idea to me… and I’d get to hear what happened to Rainbow that made her life go so wrong. I said to Rainbow, “Sure, why not? I’ve got plenty of time on my hooves. I wasn’t given a deadline, after all.”. Rainbow said, “It all started seven years ago…”.

“Everything was going fine for me. Fine until the day I nearly lost my life.

I was at my first Wonderbolts performance as a Wonderbolt. I wasn’t nervous, not with how cocky and arrogant I was. Everything was going perfectly, and nothing seemed different or off. Other than a faint beeping, nothing was odd at all. Spitfire said to me, ‘You ready to do this, kid?’, to which I responded, ‘Oh yeah...”.

An air horn went off, and we were sailing through the air… graceful as swans and fast as falcons. We did many tricks and spins and maneuvers, and as the crowd roared, I soaked in every bit of glory from my many adoring fans. But as we continued on, that beeping grew louder.

I shook it off, and kept with the rest of the Wonderbolts, effortlessly doing everything with acrobatic grace and magnificent agility. After our final loop, we dove down and leveled out so we could blow by the bleachers, which was to be followed by me rising into a Sonic Rainboom. As picked up speed, so did the beeping. I turned my head and said to Spitfire, ‘Spitfire, I think we have a problem.’. Spitfire just said dismissively, ‘Worry about it later, let’s just finish this up.’.

So I just ignored the rapid beeping and sped up. But as we were blasting past the bleachers, a loud sustained beep went off and the stands erupted into a tremendous explosion, annihilating everything in sight. I was flung towards a collapsed building and I slammed hard into the walls. When I came to, I saw smoke and fire everywhere, and saw many ponies dead or wounded mortally. I was weak… and helpless… a feeling I never had before. For the first time in my life, I thought I was going to die.

My body had been torn to shreds. Most of my face and chest were gone, one of my forelegs was missing, and I was bleeding out. I summoned the little life in me to crawl across the ground on my belly, in order to minimize the bleeding. Slowly, I made my way to where the explosion happened. I just wanted to know if there were survivors…

After several minutes, I collapsed onto a slab of rubble from a building. It was then that I heard Spitfire said weakly, ‘Dash… are you alright?’. My eyesight was blurred, but I squirmed slowly toward the yellow light before me. I look at Spitfire and said, voice quivering and tears flowing, ‘I’m here… I’m here.’. I don’t know what had come over me… but I was scared and I felt like I was about to die.

I asked her, ‘Soarin?’, and she said sorrowfully, ‘He didn’t make it…’. I was so weak that I barely hear her… and I looked down at Spitfire to see her covered in my blood. I just broke down and said, ‘I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.’, and Spitfire said, ‘I should have listened… it’s my fault.’. My body became too weak to move, and I just passed out. I don’t know how long I was out, but I woke up and wasn’t the same.

When I woke up, I was lying in a hospital bed. I tried to sit up, but a nurse pushed me back down and said, ‘Easy… you shouldn’t strain your new heart.’. I asked her, ‘New heart-“, but stopped myself when I heard my voice. It was deep, rough, sore… It wasn’t a mare’s voice, that’s for sure. I asked her, ‘Show me what I look like…’. The nurse said, ‘I don’t think that’s-’, and I barked at her, ‘Show me!’. When she passed me a mirror, I saw nothing of what I was before. My chest, my arm, my face… everything had changed.

In a blind rage, I threw the mirror at her, which she narrowly dodged. I roared out at her, ‘What have you done to me??’, and I grabbed her uniform and yanked her towards me. She yelled out, ‘Code Grey! Code Grey!’, as I started to mercilessly punch her in my furious rage. Several workers rushed in and started to subdue me. I just kept yelling the same thing… roaring out, “What have you done to me? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?”. The doctors sedated me, and I stayed unconscious the whole time I was there. That’s my story.”

Rainbow said, “And that’s all there was to it.”. I asked Rainbow, “What happened to Spitfire?”. Rainbow said, “Gal works the pole now. After the bombing, she couldn’t fly well. The ends of her wings had are metallurgic implants. She makes decent money, but she sure doesn’t have an ounce of dignity. Money makes ponies desperate.”. Rarity said, “Didn’t Scootaloo use to be a fan of yours? Was she there?”.

Rainbow Dash said, “She was, but she faces pretty minimal injury. Though, she never found a niche. She ended up being a waitress at the gentlecolt’s club Spitfire works at. But that isn’t all bad. She gets to work in the same place as her mother.”. I asked, “I thought Scootaloo was an orphan?”. Rainbow Dash said, “She was. Spitfire adopted her.”. Rarity said, appalled, “What kind of mother raises a child in a strip club?”.

Rainbow Dash said, “She may not be a great role model, but she’s a loving mother. At least Scoot got that.”. Rainbow Dash got up and said, “Enough talk about how everyone’s lives suck… Let’s go see Fluttershy. At least she ended up happy.”. And with that, the three of us went out and headed for the animal shelter.
I particularly hated this section of Manehattan. Smelly, rotten, and vile. Oh wait, that’s all of Manehattan. I hate cities, almost as much as I hate books. But I guess I had to get used to it for a while. Celestia probably is still angry about that bookshelf, and I am in no mood at all to actually do what I came to do now.

We arrived at the animal shelter, but Rainbow held her arm out and stopped us. Her ear flicked several times, and she said, “There’s ticking.”. I said, “So what? That could be a clock or something like that.”. Rainbow responded, “You don’t understand. I heard the same ticking at the Wonderbolts performance seven years ago.”. Rarity said, “Do you mean-”, and Rainbow Dash said, “Yes. There is a bomb around here.”.

I gasped and said, “Fluttershy!”. The ticking grew louder and faster, and I dashed towards the animal shelter. The beeping became rapid, and Rainbow Dash told me, “Get back, Twilight! It’s going to blow!”, as she shoved me back to where we were. I said, “I’m going to help her!”, and Rainbow said, “No you aren’t. You’ll die trying.”. I said, “It’s worth a shot”, and tried to gallop off, only to have Rainbow Dash restrain me.

Rainbow Dash said, “Rarity, grab her. I’m not that strong anymore.”. Rarity did so, and as the two ponies held me back, I looked in terror as I saw the silhouette of Fluttershy through a window… praying she would get out, or see us. The ticking got faster and faster, and I knew what was to come next: The sustained beep that signals the explosion. And that beep went off.

Fluttershy saw me, and took one last glance into my eyes, and I looked at her with tears in my eyes, because I knew that she was about to die. I knew that was the last time I would ever see her. Mere seconds later, a massive explosion burst out, destroying the building, engulfing it in flames, and sending a fiery rain of debris earthward.

I hysterically cried out, “FLUTTERSHY!”, and when Rainbow let go of me, I ran towards the smoke-filled ruin. I sat down and said, “Fluttershy…”. Rainbow Dash said, “There is nothing you could have done. And there is nothing you can do. She’s dead.”. I said to her, “I just wish I could have said goodbye.”.

Rainbow Dash said, “I’m really sorry, Twilight. Look, if it makes you feel better, I’ll buy you a few drinks.”. I said, “Aren’t you broke?”. Rainbow responded, “I’ve got enough bits left for a few good rounds. Shoot, you need a little liquor right now anyway, because you are an absolute wreck.”.

I said to Rainbow, “I guess you are right. Rainbow, lead the way.”. Rainbow Dash said, “With pleasure.”, and with that, me, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash made our way back to Applejack’s Tavern. Perhaps a drink or two WOULD make me feel better… I know for sure it couldn’t make me feel worse.