//------------------------------// // To be Early is to Be Late // Story: To the Moon // by ANearPerfectStudent //------------------------------// The Moon... It is every little colts’ and fillies’ dream to go to it. But what is it like? Marvelous? ... One-of-a-kind? ... Remarkable? ... A large step for pony-kind? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... A living nightmare? ______________________________________________________________________________ The purple mare blinked her eyes open. Across her field of view there was a rather barren landscape. The dusty ground was a ghostly white; it was hardly flat, craters coating the surface. As she took in her surroundings, thoughts, no, questions raced through her mind. Where am I? I don’t know. Why am I here? I don’t know. Why am I alive? I don’t know. WHO am I? She paused. Um... Uh... Twi... Light... Spar... kle... Yes that’s right; it’s Twilight Sparkle! She stood up, stretching her aching muscles. This makes no sense! Where am I? What happened? She thought, trying to recollect had occurred over the last hours. As she wondered, her eyes wandered to the shape above her. There sat a green, blue, and white sphere, almost as large as the Sun. Hmm, That’s the Earth. That means that I am... She winced. On the moon. So, I am on the moon, but how did I get here? The only other time a pony has set hoof on the moon was back one thousand years ago, by Celestia. Let’s see what I can remember... She closed her eyes and concentrated on the memories flowing through her mind. ______________________________________________________________________________ 0 Hours Before the Event “F’r Twilight!” A light tan Stetson. “For Twilight!” A Rainbow mane. “For Twilight!” A pink ball of fluff. “Um, for Twilight, if you don’t mind.” A trio of butterflies. “For Twilight!” A pure-white coat. And five pairs of glowing white eyes before her. “No, no, this is impossible! I AM the 6th element! How is this happeniiinnnnnnnggg!!!!” She heard herself scream as a river of rainbow flew towards her. After that, she felt herself rising, at unprecedented speeds, past the troposphere, the stratosphere, the mesosphere, the thermosphere, the exosphere, and finally crashing down to the bleak, white surface she stood on now. Pain echoed through her body, and then, she blacked out. These were the final memories of the Equestria that she would ever remember. ______________________________________________________________________________ Tears trickled down her eyes. So, did I turned evil? Was I corrupted? What happened to me? What will happen to the girls? To me? She opened her eyes and peered around at her new home. Upon close inspection, there was a shield-like bubble around the area she was in, forming in about fifty yards in diameter. She stared at herself in the small puddle of tears and quickly looked away in disgust. Her mane was tattered, it’s original coloring abandoned for a black and rich purple, and her eyes were a new dark red color. Bare flesh was exposed on her lower left cheek and her cutiemark was disturbing. It was a crude mockery of Celestia’s cutiemark and was covered in what looked like splotches of blood. Her fur was now almost black, the slightest tint of purple. Dear Celestia, what did I become? Twilight took a deep breath and sighed, her pain and frustration echoing in the sigh. I have to continue searching my memories, there has to be an explanation for this! _____________________________________________________________________________ 1 Hours Before Event Celestia smashed through the glass and hit the ground. The blood she coughed quickly formed a pool around her, dying her coat a sickening red. “Twi-Twilight,” she managed, “please don’t do this.” A shadow passed through the broken window and scoffed at the sight before her. “Well, well, well,” Her voice echoed, “some princess, you turned out to be. You couldn’t even beat a pony who’s spent the last years learning the magic of friendship.” She spit out the last three words like a rotten apple, kicking dust and dirt on top her foe. “They wi-ill stop you,” the solar princess coughed, “the elements have before, they, they, will again.” The shadow leaned down, using her hoof to raise Celestia’s face to her’s. A look of pity on her face, “But they don’t have all of the elements.” She dropped Celestia’s head to the dirt and continued, “After all, I am THE element of magic!” She turned away and cackled maniacally. She walked to the window and peered out. Before her sat the ruins of Celestia’s second great work of art. She smirked at Canterlot’s richest ponies had their servants hastily collecting their possessions into overloaded carts. Her eyes glistened as regular ponies raided shops and destroyed houses. She then saw a group of unicorns surround a family of four, two foals, a colt and a filly, and two parents. They bore a striking resemblance to... No, they are gone now, we must not think about them. She fired a bolt of purple magic at the unicorns, and as it hit, the ponies looked in fear as they began to separate into black and white crystals that flew up into her horn. Robbery and the cheap rich will be tolerated, but trying to harm a family? She turned and a lone, bloody tear rolled down her battle scorn face. It is the exact thing I am here to end. ______________________________________________________________________________ Twilight shook her head. Everything she looked at just made less and less sense. This memory is no less confusing than the other one! It just made things harder to understand! She wanted to tell herself this was a dream, but how? The life-like memories, the pain that shot through her body every time she moved? How could you explain that in a dream? She yawned and began to settle down. As she sat down, the chalky dust scraped against her, and she moaned in pain. I miss my bed. I miss the Library. I miss Spike. I miss Ponyville. Tears dripped out of her eyes. I miss my friends. I miss my family. I miss Luna. I miss... She sniffed. Celestia... The pony princess who would tuck her in at night, who would sing lullabies and cry when she cried, the pony who protected her in the night, like a silent guardian against nightmares. Oh Celestia... She sighed. I wish you were here to tuck me in one last time, to watch over me, to be my mother again. She closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to a bitter sleep, her tears the only comforting reminder of the past in her new world. A world she never wanted. A world as barren as her dreams...