Dangerous New Foe
Chapter 2: Dangerous new foe
The six ponies gathered at the door to the library, each arriving at nearly enough the same time, except for Rarity, who was fashionably late of course, though still keeping the urgency of the letter in mind and arriving after no more than two minutes with Pinkie Pie after the two pegasi turned up. There was an awkward and electric tension that hung in the air, five of the friends congregated in a tight circle around Twilight Sparkle, who had her head bowed low and whose horn was glowing intensely, and getting brighter with every second. She had been working on a mass-teleportation spell in what little spare time she found in her day after her studies. This happened after the Discord incident, if and when, just like now, Twilight and her five friends needed to be in Canterlot as soon as possible, which would be instantly if she could pull this off. The fastest non-magical route into the city was by the train that ‘bounced’ between Ponyville and Canterlot once every hour, constantly keeping the two settlements connected as best they could. The train ride itself only took twenty five minutes, but Twilight could cut that down to five with the right amount of power.
She practiced multi-body teleportation with spike numerous times in the short couple of years after Discord, and each session they would teleport further away from their previous record. However, Twilight had yet to practice with another pony, let alone five! This would be the furthest distance with the heaviest payload she had ever attempted. This thought made Twilight nervous, even though her calculations were accurate to less than a two percent probability of error. Thinking this helped her to relax a little and focus more on her powerful spell.
“What’s she doing?” Rainbow Dash turned and whispered loudly to Spike.
“Sshhhh!” Scorned the purple dragon just as loudly. After he shot Rainbow Dash a silencing look, they both turned simultaneously towards Twilight, who was frowning intensely at the ground, eyes sealed shut. “Twilight’s gonna use a spell to send all of you to Canterlot instantly, she just needs to build up the energy first, sort of uh, ‘charge’ it.”
“What about you?” Rainbow asked.
“Twilight said I should stay here and look after the house while you’re gone. In case any customers turn up.” Spike replied.
“Customers?” Asked rainbow Dash, confused.
“Well it is a library, after all…” Spike answered, very ‘matter of fact-ly’, trying to embarrass the blue pegasus as least he could.
“Oh. Oh right…” Said Rainbow Dash, falling quieter, maybe to let Twilight concentrate.
“Well how long is it going to take?” Asked the impatient as always pegasus, who was fidgety, yet trying her best to remain quiet.
“Twilight said it’ll take about four or five minutes to get the right amount of power.” Reported Spike.
“Is that important?” Commented Rainbow.
“I guess.” Replied the baby dragon with the best false intelligence dismissal he could muster, refraining from saying “Well obviously!”, for he knew more about magic and books from the lavender unicorn's studies than he did about himself and his own kind.
It was true though, thought Twilight as she listened in to her friends' conversation, she had a margin to work with, even though it was a relatively thin one. She did have to get just the right amount of magic behind the spell, too little, and they wouldn’t teleport far enough, or, in the worst case scenario, leave a pony behind. Too much power and… Well, Twilight didn’t exactly know what would happen, but it couldn’t be good, and she didn’t want to risk it: magic was a mysterious and incredibly destructive force when used incorrectly.
Twilight Sparkle focused her mind on building power, beads of sweat starting to form on her forehead. Her horn grew even brighter as she summoned the power of her soul and channeled it into the bright horn via a sequence of symbols and incantations. Her magical anatomy was so bright now, in fact that nopony – not even the strong-willed and resilient Rainbow Dash could look directly at it for more than a couple of seconds.
“Whadd’ya suppose is going on?” Whispered Applejack openly.
“I’m not entirely sure.” Replied Rarity solemnly from under her hat.
“Oh, why do you guys think it’s something bad?” Pinkie piped up, “So what if it’s not as happy as we,” she giggled, “Or at least I had imagined?”
“Pinkie’s right!” Rainbow Dash chimed in, forgetting very much to whisper, though it didn’t matter, Twilight had shut off her sense of hearing to be alone in her head with her thoughts. “What if it is something bad? Can we do anything to stop it anyway?” She asked, looking around the group, all of whom’s eyes fell to the ground the moment Rainbow crossed them with her own. “And that doesn’t matter at all. Even if it is something dangerous like Discord or Nightmare Moon, if we come together, nothing can stop us!” Rainbow concluded her short pre-battle speech and gazed around the group.
“Yeah,” Applejack was the first to speak. Rainbow Dash brought her eyes to meet Applejack’s as she looked back up from the floor. “If we all stick together, nothin’ can stand in our way, y’hear!” She cried triumphantly, a frown of determination framed on her face as she maintained the empowering eye contact with her rainbow-haired companion. “I’m in!” she declared.
“Me too!” Chimed Pinkie Pie.
“Me three!” Called out Rarity.
“Oh, um yes, I’ll do it too.” Fluttershy added. “Um, woo-hoo’!’” She cheered softly. Apparently not all pegasi have a natural war cry.
The five ponies giggled at Fluttershy, who was blushing and trying to hide her rosy cheeks behind her mane until they were silenced by Twilight’s voice.
“It’s ready.” She declared, unmistakable traces of self pride and satisfaction in her heavily labored voice.
The five friends closed in on Twilight, looking anywhere but her face to avoid that blinding light. As they drew closer, even in the heat of the day, they could feel intense warmth radiating from Twilight’ gifted horn.
The purple unicorn in question was breathing quite heavily, as if she had just sprinted a lap around an Olympic circuit. In-between gasps, she managed to speak out “Everyone… touch… my back…” The other ponies complied, each placing one hoof on Twilight's heaving back.
“Together?” Rainbow Dash said, looking at Pinkie Pie for whatever reason. Perhaps she found confidence in her bright blue eyes, and hoped Pinkie did the same.
“Together!” The five replied almost simultaneously.
Twilight Sparkle began to pant rapidly, emitting brilliant white light that caused all of the ponies to seal their eyelids shut, even Spike, who now stood at a considerable distance from Twilight shielded his sensitive young eyes from the bright light with his forearm. Twilight cried in what sounded a lit like pain before showering the group in a copious field of purple sparks, followed by a loud explosion that shattered the windows in the library and knocked spike to the ground, making him smack his head on the floor, baked hard by the hot sun.
After a short moment, the young dragon climbed to his feet and shook the spinning world still, trying to focus his blurred vision on where Twilight had been standing. Nothing remained except for a small crater, probably caused by the shock wave.
Spike sighed contently, before a little worry invaded his nerves. “Twilight,” he said aloud to himself, looking into the distance in the general direction of Canterlot, his vision back to normal, but obscured by snow-capped mountains and valleys. “Please be okay.” He asked fate with genuine concern. He looked upon Twilight as his sister as she was the only family he really had. Or at least knew he had. He found himself calmed by his great trust in his carer’s magic. He could tell she was okay. His happy thoughts transformed into annoyance the moment he realised that he was going to have to be the one to clean up all this glass…
The six ponies flashed into existence just outside Canterlot’s city walls, luckily just before the moat as the drawbridge was closed, revealing a steep, slippery bank that receded into clear, blue water. There was a loud explosion at this end of the line too, which, due to being on a mountain echoed loudly around the cliff faces for a good twenty seconds after the group appeared in a flash that would have blinded any poor individual who was unfortunate enough to be looking directly at it when it happened.
Five of the six friends appeared standing, holding Twilight’s back, just as they had done at the library, except here, just outside of Canterlot, Twilight finished her scream of agony that lasted only a second before she collapsed under her friend’s hooves out of severe exhaustion from her intense energy purge.
Alarmed, twilight’s friends rushed to her aid in the form of lots of “Are you okays?”. Twilight was on the verge of unconsciousness, both from the searing pain she had felt when exerting so much magic so quickly, and also from how drained it made her feel.
“Yeah… I’m fine…” Whispered Twilight, barely audible as she tried to force back tears that the pain brought about, which was now mercifully starting to feel much better, though the spell had left her with a slight headache. “I’m fine.” The purple mare whispered again, barely any louder than before. She opened her eyes half way, still immensely tired from the wicked spell. She was pleased to see that it had worked.
“Ah, Twilight Sparkle, I presume…” Came a voice, strong but at the same time somehow gentle from one of the city battlements. The guard had seen the flash out of the corner of his eye, and he sure as hell heard the explosion, barely audible now, but still echoing around the valley like a distant rock slide. He released his ears from the back of his head and awaited a response.
Twilight managed only to groan.
“Uh, yes, sir, we’re here to see the princess.” Applejack informed the guard.
“I know.” He replied, signalling to the guard in the battlement on the opposite side of the drawbridge to lower the immense wooden door.
As the eccentric drawbridge tilted to grant the ponies access to the city, the guard who spoke first piped up again: “I must say, I’m impressed.” He said lightly. “Being a pegasus, I can’t confide with the strains of magic, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen a pony teleport herself and five of her friends simultaneously. And judging by your state, I’d say you worked damn hard. Good on ya’!”
Twilight released a second groan, which was more of a happy sigh towards the compliment.
The heavy drawbridge lowered with a thud that made the ground tremble a little as it kicked up some dust from the dirt path which quickly settled on top of it.
“Twi, can you walk?” Asked Applejack, concerned. Twilight tried, and failed, only managing to place her right foreleg on the ground beside her head and apply pressure, which only resulted in trembling. She continued to push to no avail until Fluttershy placed a gentle hoof on her shoulder to steady her.
“Please don’t push yourself, I’d hate to see you get hurt.” The worried yellow pegasus said calmly.
Twilight stopped pushing and closed her eyes and sunk her head to the floor. She felt awful. She felt defeated.
“Would you like some help, Sugarcube?” Asked Applejack, eager to assist her friend who had taken it selflessly upon herself to bring them all to Canterlot, resulting in the unicorn injuring herself in the process.
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to be a bother.” Replied Twilight weakly, which was the polite way, in her mind of saying: “Yes, please”.
“No bother!” The orange Earth pony insisted with a smile. Who then proceeded to slide her head under Twilight’s stomach and scoop her exhausted friend up, down her neck and onto her back.
Twilight felt like nothing compared to the cartfulls of apples she ferried around endlessly day to day. Many ponies would turn their noses up at such a life, but Applejack didn’t shy away from a bit of hard work and relished every day of it. She enjoyed the fresh air and family-orientated workload. Barely a day went by when she wondered why she’d ever even thought of leaving her family’s farm for Manehatten. Even to this day, she kicks herself for being so foalish.
“Okay, there, Twi?” Applejack called out, looking up at Twilight as best she could from underneath her friend. Twilight’s legs hung loosely at Applejack’s sides and swung in a pendulum-like manner as she walked.
“Thank you, Applejack.” Twilight said softly into her carrier’s ear. “You’re a good friend.”
“T’aint nothin’.” Replied the strong workpony as her load gave in to exhaustion and fell into a motionless sleep on her back with a sigh and a smile.
The walk up to the castle was a pleasant one, though nopony forgot entirely about why they were there, or rather finding out why they were there, they couldn’t help but admire the beautiful city. The cobblestone roads that connected streets and shops were much different to the dirt tracks they were used to in and around Ponyville, both aesthetically and how they felt underhoof. The whole city seemed to speak for its self; clean, elegant and expensive – Rarity’s kind of town. There weren’t apple and cake stands littered around the white cobbled streets, instead, expensive-looking jewellery and coffee carts stood uniformly at each side of the road, each with fancy sounding names in an unfarmiliar language and skyrocket prices that seemed perfectly reasonable for the many well-established unicorns that inhabited the city.
All of the ponies, except for Twilight and Rarity felt very out of place here, and Pinkie Pie was too awe-inspired by pretty much everything to care. But the most uncomfortable, by far, was the country born and raised Applejack. And not just because she had a sleeping pony on her back. Everypony was giving the group looks as they walked up the straight and long road to the castle. Applejack received most of these looks, or so she thought, making awkwardly apologetic eye contact and nods with various ponies who looked down their noses at her. Wait, apologetic? Why did she feel apologetic? She was sorry that the other ponies had to look at her? Not on. She started to become offended before overriding that assumption with the one that ponies were staring at her because she had an unconscious pony draped over her shoulders.
“Could we uh, pick up the pace a bit, y’all?” Asked Applejack, forcing a very fake sounding laugh into her voice and looking around at the disapproving faces. What were they all thinking?
“What’s wrong, A.J?” Rainbow Dash responded.
“Well… I don’t like being the centre of attention, and Everypony seems to be starin’ at me.” Said the out of place pony. “I feel uncomfortable about it. I think they’re judgin’ me…”
To her friend’s defence, the brash pegasus stepped in front of the orange pony and turned to a large group of ogling unicorn stallions who were whispering amongst themselves and pointing.
“If you have something to say, you’d better say it to my face!” She said this loud enough to not be shouting, but for other eavesdroppers to hear as well. The stallions and many others who were staring turned away and went about their business they should have been doing in the first place.
“Rainbow!” Applejack growled loudly and angrily through gritted teeth.
“Yeah?” Replied Rainbow Dash, turning around as she walked, so she was walking backwards, facing the embarrassed orange pony.
“What’re you doin’?” She asked in the same tone through her teeth, her cheeks burning crimson.
“Well, I could see they were getting to ya', and I just wanted to make you feel better… You know, I didn’t have to say anything at all.”
“Well it’s embarrassin’.” Said Applejack, who had calmed down a little by now.
“Look at it this way, at least nopony is giving you looks anymore.”
It was true. Though it was embarrassing at the time, Rainbow Dash had spared her from the icy stares she was getting.
“Feel free to thank me whenever you want.” Said Rainbow Dash, giving Applejack a playful punch on the shoulder.
“I’ll think about it.” She joked, shaking her head and smiling. She was right, though. Everypony seemed to be going about their daily business, sure she still got looks, but they were legitimate ‘what’s going on?’ looks, rather than cold, judgemental ones. And those who did turn their gaze soon returned to their crowded schedule.
As the six, well, five conscious ponies made their way to the castle, they noticed less and less ponies around as business and residence were scarce out here, and as it were in the big cities scattered throughout Equestria, few ponies took time to enjoy nature and stroll around their local parks. This could be said for the path the five were walking down now. Dappled sunlight leaked through the canopy and cast droplets of light onto the path that had changed rather suddenly from white cobblestones so sandstone slabs to dirt tracks they were happily familiar with. The five ponies found themselves wandering the castle gardens, still making their way hastily to said castle, but allowing time to enjoy the nice change in scenery and the peace and quiet. The only sounds that could be heard were the patting of hooves on the pathway and the wind rustling through the green leaves, stirring up the foliage and making an ambient hiss above.
Everything seemed more elegant in Canterlot, even the blossom petals that littered the roads in Ponyville were somehow nowhere to be seen out here. Occasionally, the group would pass another pony or a couple out walking in the park, who somehow always seem to carry a friendlier aura than the other Canterlotians in the city. There was light conversation between the group as they walked. Fluttershy was saying something to Rarity about the life cycle of phoenixes; after taking care of Philomeena, she had become fascinated with the creatures, taking out several books defining mythical beings at a time from Twilight’s library and returning them only a few days later, asking for more. Once again, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were having a heated discussion about who was faster, stronger and pretty much the better athlete out of the two.
“Alright then.” Declared Applejack, “Next Applebuck season, let’s see who can collect the most apples. Bruised and broken ones earn minus points.”
“You’re on!” Said Rainbow Dash fiercely, “I could do it in half your best time with my eyes closed!”
“And your wings tied?”
“With my wings tied. And one of my forelegs too if you want to.”
“Y’know, Rainbow,” Applejack started, “T’aint just about speed. Buckin’ apples requires technique-“
“Power!” Rainbow Dash interrupted.
“Not necessarily.” Replied the Earth pony, shaking her head. “I’ve got a technique that’s been perfected from since I was just a little filly. Y’know, after I decided to uh… stay…” She finished speaking solemnly. Whenever she thought about what she did, she always managed to confide with the point that if she didn’t do it then, to come back when she was young, she would still be wondering whether the farm was what she wanted. She may not even have her cutie mark! But alas, fate works in mysterious ways.
She didn’t like to think much more about the topic, she was afraid she would change her view and complicate things. No. She had a happy life and she didn’t want to change that.
Rainbow Dash could see that Applejack was lost in thought, and was frantically trying to think of something that didn’t sound too strange to break her out of her own mind.
Rainbow’s efforts, however, were cut short by a stirring and groaning from Applejack’s pony accesory. The work-orintated earth pony had grown used to the added weight and grew comfortable with Twilight sleeping on her back, enough to ‘forget’ about her entirely. Twilight had become comfortable too, yawning loudly and turning all of the pony’s attention towards her. They all fell silent as they watched the purple unicorn wrap her forelegs around Applejack’s firm neck and bury her face into the ‘taxi-pony’s’ blonde mane.
A moment was allowed to pass before Applejack said with a grin: “Uh, Twi, y’ mind loosening yer grip a tad?” Her comment was followed up by eruptions of laughter from the other ponies, all at Twilight’s expense.
The five ponies laughed hysterically at Twilight, who was looking all around her into the grinning faces of her friends, embarrassed beyond belief that she had snuggled down into her ‘bed’ made of pony as if she were at home. Twilight said a very grateful “Thank you” to Applejack before sliding from her back, who stopped to let her down once the others had all slowed to a stop to have a good laugh.
“Okay, girls.” Said Twilight, her cheeks still burning from the incident, “We need to see the princess, remember.” Twilight was feeling much better than she had been a while ago, yet her head still throbbed softly with every heartbeat.
She waited for the other ponies to calm down until they were nearly silent, allowing the odd scoff or snicker to escape their mouths.
“Gee, out cold for three weeks and when she does come round, all she can-“ Pinkie Pie was cut short by a very worried Twilight.
“THREE WEEKS!?” She exclaimed. She remembered falling asleep, but had she really been out for three weeks?
The pink party pony started laughing once again before saying in between waves of laughter. “No!... More like… Twenty minutes!”
Twilight looked completely lost and concerned before realizing she had fallen straight for another of Pinkie’s typical jokes. The purple bookworm let a smile slip through her lips. It was genuine. She did find Pinkie Pie amusing most times, however it became a little tedious at others. Happily, Twilight found the situation that of the former.
They carried on walking down the quiet path before it opened out onto a great clearing, the dirt path being crushed by heavy marble slabs, polished to a high shine but enchanted to provide grip somehow. There was a little hedge, about knee-height, running along the length of it. The castle rose up in front of the team as they drew closer to it. Even after seeing it several times in the past, the great white masterpiece jutting out from the side of the near vertical mountainside still never lost any of it’s breathtaking beauty. Huge spires of gold and purple glistening in Celestia’s gorgeous sun, accompanied by fluttering pink flags that frantically beckoned the six towards the awe-inspiring building. The grand front doors were open in anticipation of the group’s arrival and there were two guards under strict instructions not to let anypony in unless it was Twilight and her friends.
“Come on, girls, there’s not a moment to lose!” Twilight encouraged, breaking into a gallop across the marble floor.
One of the guards had already begun inspecting a portrait of Twilight and her friends the princess had given him when he saw the colourful team emerge from the tree line. The white pegasus, layered with high karat, finely polished gold armour kept glancing from the paper to the approaching ponies. He could see instantly that these were the ponies his princess wanted to see, but better safe than sorry, that’s how he’d gotten himself into the royal guard anyways.
Before she had a chance to speak, the guard on the right said to Twilight “The princess is expecting you. Go ahead in.”
His statement caused the sensible purple unicorn to recoil, reasons being both in that she had intended to address the guard first, and also because his voice didn’t match his appearance in the slightest. It was very deep and rather hoarse, but compared to his age, which Twilight would have put at around seventeen years, part of Twilight assumed he had been affected by some freak magical voice-altering accident.
“Oh. Thank you, sir…” Twilight said awkwardly. “Come on, girls. Let’s go see the princess!” She called to her comrades with some regained confidence as she returned to a gallop and entered the castle courtyard, closely followed by her friends as they made their way to the throne room, where the princess could relive them, and explain what the hay this was all about.
Twilight and her friends ran into the throne room. It was lined with spectacular stained glass windows separated with colossal stone pillars, some windows depicted the history of Equestria, others showing great battles in the past. Including the events where the six had used the Elements of Harmony to save Equestria twice before. All of them – especially Twilight – were taken back by what they saw. The princess wasn’t sat atop her throne and there were no guards in sight. Instead, she was pacing back and forth in front of the large gold steps that led up to it. She walked just off of the red carpet that seemed to split the room in half before turning and walking in the other direction. Twilight didn’t like the whole atmosphere that hung in the room. It felt so heavy, maybe there was a physical presence. No, that was silly. But the biggest thing that filled Twilight with fear was the look on her dear princess’s face. Twilight had seen Celestia shocked, confused, even angry sometimes… but she had never seen the princess scared before, and right now, the regal white alicorn appeared terrified.
Twilight instantly made the assumption that something catastrophic had happened, or, she swallowed nervously at her own thoughts, was about to happen. She called out after seeing her princess in such a way. “Princess Celestia! What’s wrong?”
“Ah, Twilight!” Sighed the princess, relieved that her go-to team had arrived, but also dreading what she knew she now had to say…
She procrastinated the time by asking how they got there so fast, she was expecting to wait another twenty minutes at least before they showed. This calmed her nerves ever so slightly: she had a little more precious time to explain herself.
Applejack was keen to sing twilight’s praises. “She used the most powerful spell, I ever did see, our Twilight here!” Twilight blushed. “Teleportin’ all six o’ us here to Canterlot took all the energy out of her, though. But she got back up and kept soldierin’ on!” Applejack finished telling her friend’s story for her and shot a grin at Twilight, who looked to Celestia out of embarrassment. She wasn’t used to having other ponies big her up, but to say she didn’t enjoy it would be a lie.
“I’m very proud of you, Twilight sparkle.” The princess spoke up. “But there is something I need to talk to you about, all of you, and I’m afraid I- we don’t have much time…” Celestia said, the solemn tone returning to her voice.
The six ponies now grew worried. What was so serious that princess Celesta, ruler of Equestria, who possessed power strong enough to raise the sun and the moon every day was… frightened. Of course, recently, princess Luna had resumed her role in controlling the moon. Though she had been stripped of her dark powers by the Elements of Harmony, Celestia still kept a discerning eye on her sister, just to be on the safe side.
“What do you mean?” Asked Twilight, who was sceptical as to whether this was a drill or not.
“There’s something I haven’t told you…” Celestia started. She took a deep breath, quiet and gentle, before speaking again. “There is an old folklore that has been passed down countless generations through my family. I still remember the time when my mother first told me. I just took it as an old mare's tale, but the story had signs that went with the climax. Firstly, the weather will become much hotter than usual, without the influence from my sun. Next, the stars will flee from the sky. Which, I never thought were possible until last night. I wrongly guessed my sister was up to something when I saw no stars in the sky. I unfairly assumed that it was her who took them away, I just didn’t want to believe…” Her voice cracked ever so slightly.
Twilight and Celestia herself noticed this as soon as the last word was uttered, and she quickly turned away from the young pony’s disbelieving eyes before she lost all dignity. “I - the last sign is something that the story called ‘the Kerous Being’.” Before Twilight could ask, princess Celestia answered for her, “I’m not sure of what that means, or what it might be, all I’ve ever had was the line from the prophesy…”
The princess closed her eyes and paused to take breath, and gazed to the heavens as if she was trying to recall the memory from the dark depths of her mind. But she wasn’t, that story had been eating away at her subconscious all her long life. And recently, it was all she could think about.
“The ghosts of gods shall flee the sky,
never again to guide the young ones by.
Though hope was planted, it shall bear no fruit,
before the time comes when it is severed from its root.
Do not have fear in death; rather accept her cold embrace,
and all the love shall vanish without a trace.
To a time before all is lost, a savoir shall rise and bring forth the Rife,
true to all, practicing the art of sacrifice.
Fail he may, but succeed he might,
and return the silence to the dead of night.
Owed nothing but his life, consumed in dormant, eternal fire,
the champion of your heart will never tire.
With not but a prayer, and compassion like no other,
the core of passion may tear many a lover.
When all is over, and the meadows be calm,
the patron of the light shall weep her own balm.
In the fall of the world in time and after,
the Kerous Being shall rein disaster…”
Princess Celestia finished. She slowly opened her eyes and just as slowly turned to face her subjects, who were hanging on every word she spoke. There was silence for a short lived moment. That kind of dead, meaningless silence where the brain refuses to accept what has just happened, like when a close friend or loved one dies. All ponies looked hopefully into Celestia’s deep purple eyes for some glimmer of emotion. She gave them nothing. Strangely, Rainbow Dash was the first to dare to break the moment.
“What… what’s ‘the Rife’?” She asked with as little emotion in her voice as there were in Celestia’s eyes.
“The Rife is a conduit of pure power in pony form. He holds the potential to wield the magic of a god.” Celestia explained, her voice growing more cogent as she spoke. The other ponies stared at the princess in confusion. So many questions still need answered.
“But you’re our god, princess.” Twilight argued back, in a tone which could have been mistaken for a whine.
Celestia smiled and walked across the room to gaze out of one of the clear windows, overlooking her kingdom. “I merely share a role with my sister in bringing about day and night, raising the sun in the morning, and lowering it in the evening. To create seasons, I bring the sun closer to Equestria and make it travel slower across the sky in spring and summer and the reverse for autumn and winter.” She spoke with false modesty: the cycle of the sun and seasons were essential for life to thrive throughout Equestria and she knew this, but she wasn’t one to brag.
“But, you’re the only pony with magic powerful enough to do such a thing!” Exclaimed Twilight, growing irritated with the princess for being so modest and light-hearted with a subject as meaningful to her as life and death.
“Granted, we alicorns are the only ones who can control celestial bodies, but that comes down to species, not power. No matter how strong a unicorn becomes, he or she will never be able to posses the instinctual power of an alicorn.” Celestia said in response to Twilight’s gush of emotion.
“And what about a god?” Rainbow Dash demanded.
“Well that’s different.” Celestia replied bluntly. “A god is a being who can create matter from absolutely nothing, and life from the most unlikeliest of places. Such an act is impossible… even for me.”
“What’s actually going on here, princess?” Rainbow Dash asked eventually out of nowhere.
“The prophesy went on to give a date in which this event would occur. That’s why lately, it’s all I can think about.” She confessed. “I had hoped it wouldn’t happen during my rein, as the prophesy foretold, but it seems as though it has it has.” The princess finished, disappointment and hopelessness in her voice.
"Well what day is it?" The rainbow maned pegasus pried, taking one step closer to the princess.
Celestia's eyes seemed to lose some of their spark as she solemnly mumbled the response. "...Today..."
“And what exactly is going to happen?” Asked Rainbow Dash, who wasn’t paying much attention earlier.
Princess Celestia turned to look Rainbow Dash straight in the eyes and answered blankly, “The end of the world…”
There was a short pause before Rainbow Dash, and only Rainbow Dash, started to laugh.
“Oh! Ya got me there, princess!” She scoffed. “For a moment there, I thought you were serious!” This comment received an intense glare from Celestia, which Rainbow thought was still part of the ‘fun’. “I didn’t take you for a prankster, your majesty!” She continued, wiping a small tear from the corner of her eye.
“You think this is a joke?” The princess asked in a voice that held nothing but a sense of disbelief in what she was hearing.
“Oh boy…” Twilight thought silently. She had seen the princess like this once before. She never found out what is was over, but, given circumstances like now, it can’t have been something petty.
“Do you think I’m joking!?” Celestia repeated, this time, her voice was flooded with anger.
Rainbow Dash stopped laughing immediately, realising that the princess was in fact, very serious. It took only half a second to sink in, but before she could start making her sincere apologies, Celestia invaded her senses by expressing just how upset she was.
“You think this is FUNNY!?” The usually calm and collected princess screamed as she raised her mighty wings and stormed towards Rainbow Dash, forcing her into a cowering mass in the corner or the great hall. The scene had shocked the five other ponies into disbelief and all they could do was stand there and watch.
“All my life, that damn rhyme has haunted my mind, and now, when it is coming true, all you can do is laugh at me!?”
Rainbow Dash made a squeak that was supposed to come out as “Sorry.”
The enormous alicorn towered over the little blue mare as she continued her rant.
“I’ve lived for thousands of years! Any time I felt even close to serenity, that damn prophesy was always there to bring me back down! THAT, and..." She trailed off, biting her bottom lip to stop herself from saying what could have been a horendous secret or dark memory.
She began another point a little more quietly than the previous one, yet her words still pulsated with rage. "I had to send my sister, my own sister, to the moon for a thousand of those years because of something she tried to do that was half as dangerous! How do you think that made me feel? You think I was eager to seal away the only pony who I have known forever, who was always there for me since my parents DIED?” Rainbow started to squeal again, but was cut short by the furious alicorn, her eyes pinpricks as she glared at the mass of blue feathers and rainbow coloured hair. “NO! I WASN’T!”
She ambled away, practically glowing red, leaving the pegasus who had curled into a tight ball and was now quivering like a traumatised little filly to recover on her own. As the princess neared the center of the room, she slammed her hoof hard onto the marble floor and let out one last venting scream. “DAMN IT!” And with that, a shock wave erupted from her horn, shattering all of the beautiful windows lining the high walls into thousands of shards of colour.
The only sound that could be heard for a solid minute was the sound of the last pieces glass falling from their frame and smashing on the floor and of two frightened pegasi cowering on the ground sobbing. Twilight’s quick brain was still trying to process what had just happened when her thoughts were interrupted by a single, quiet but deafening sniff from princess Celestia. A single tear ran down her white cheek and fell to the cracked floor.
“Princess Celestia?” Asked a sorrowful Twilight, gazing over to her princess for any sense of explanation.
Celestia took a long, deep breath and held it in, clearing the worst of the gloomy clouds from her head, without the help of a pegasus. “There is but one hope…” She said. This is what everypony wanted to hear. Their ears pricked up and their attention turned instantly to the princess. Even Fluttershy stood up and wiped her eyes.
“The Elements!” Exclaimed Twilight. Newfound hope in her eyes.
“No.” Replied Celestia. “Against The Kerous Being, the elements on their own are effectively powerless.”
As soon as the hope had appeared, it drained from Twilight.
“The prophesy talked about The Rife – a god in pony form…” Explained Celestia.
“And where is The Rife?” Asked Rarity, who had been listening to the situation carefully from the start, assessing every piece of information given before providing an answer or an opinion. Or in this perspective, asking a question. That’s how she did things, and that's usually when things worked out.
“Pinkie Pie.” Celestia said.
“WHAT!” All the ponies and Pinkie Pie cried simultaneously.
Rainbow Dash looked up from the safety of her own arm at the surprised cry.
“I understand you have encountered trans-universal interaction…” Celestia enquired.
“Trans – what, now?” Asked Applejack, finding herself lost for not the first time today.
“You know, other universes!” Replied Pinkie. Everypony stared at her in disbelief towards the statement. “What?” She asked, clocking the stunned faces.
“Pinkie!? What are you talking about!?” Asked Twilight, ever so slightly envious of the pink Earth pony’s extended knowledge.
Before Pinkie could reply, Celestia spoke up. Though she had calmed down a lot from her outburst, the glass still continued to fall around them as a reminder of the violent moment they (quite ironically) once displayed in their frames. “As I assume you are aware, Twilight, our universe has many neighbours…”
“Yes…” Twilight said slowly, keeping up - barely - urging the princess to go on.
“Well think of each universe as a bubble floating around in nothingness.”
“Whadd’ya mean, ‘nothin’ness’?” Asked Applejack pointlessly. She knew that she would get no simple explanation, but she also knew that that was what everypony was thinking, and she thought she might as well contribute to the conversation.
“You see…” Started the princess. Applejack forced a false frown in fake thought, and made out she was concentrating on what the princess was saying. “In the space between these universe… bubbles…” The princess was interrupted by Pinkie Pie.
“Oh, oh! Can’t the universeses be balloons?” She asked, bouncing on the spot.
Celestia turned her attention to the leaping Earth pony. The four other ponies recoiled, expecting the same response from Celestia towards Pinkie as it were towards Rainbow, who was silently watching from her corner.
However, learning about how outlandish she had been beforehoof, the princess simply shook her head and sighed.
“Everything’s always about having fun with you, isn’t it, Pinkie Pie?” She asked.
“Life’s a party!” Replied the bubblegum earth pony, ecstatic. Rarity shivered; a serious case of déjà vu.
“Commendable attitude, I must admit…” Celestia commented with a smile. Pinkie went one further and beamed in response. “In the space between the universes, there is literally nothing, no time, no air, no physics and no magic. Now, these, ‘balloons’ of other universes contain multiple ‘layers’. This is known as the multiverse theorem, a chain of alternate universes where every possible eventuality exists. As one decision in the past is made, the course of time splits into two or more of these ‘layers' to accommodate the possibility of each outcome…” She paused from her lecture to see how the ponies were following. When all she received were blank faces, she decided to continue anyways. “Think of it this way: in our own universal balloon, this:” She motioned all around her with her right foreleg in a big arc, “is a path created when you and your friends stopped nightmare moon. There is another layer, or plain, parallel to our one where you failed.”
“Ya' lost me.” Said Applejack, utterly bewildered.
“I think I understand…” Twilight noted, stepping closer to the princess and drawing her friends’ attention to herself. “You’re saying that our universe is littered with thousands of other realities, and our universe has thousands of other universes surrounding it.”
“Yes, however you’re missing one detail.” Replied the princess. “There are billions of other universes next to ours.”
“Wow.” Twilight remarked in incomprehensive awe.
“Our closest universe, known to me as Proximare Centaur can easily be entered through telepathic unacceptance. Uh – ‘breaking the fourth wall’, if you will.”
“What does that mean?” Asked Twilight, feeling something she seldom felt, a misunderstanding.
“If one can open their mind to the possibility of such an act as not a physicality, but something in the brain to overcome, like pain for example, then one would be able to communicate with, and even enter the other neighbouring universes.”
“So, what do you need Pinkie for?” Twilight asked.
“Because I need her to teach me how to do such a thing. In Proximare, there must be the solution to our problems...” Answered the princess. “It’s a long shot, but I... I just have a feeling…”
“There is!” Chimed in Pinkie Pie.
“There is!?” Celestia echoed.
“Yeah, they call that universe ‘Earth’.”
“How do we get to it?” Asked Celestia desperately.
“Like you said, you have to have ‘telepathic unacceptance’.” Replied Pinkie, starting to hop lightly on the spot.
“Can you teach me how?” The princess asked.
“Right,” Started Pinkie Pie, growing serious for a brief moment, her light frown still failing to relinquish her comical nature, however. “It’s like this, every so often, the edges of these universes overlap and when they do, you can pass into the other universe. Simple!” She finished with a big grin. "Oh, I could have said you can pass through! Then it would have rhymed!" She added with unrivaled glee.
“How can we know when one of the universes touch?” Princess Celestia felt like an interrogator, churning out questions a mile a minute. But she kept the fact that it was all very necessary in mind.
“When you see those pretty lights in the sky.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean, Pinkie…”
“You know, those big green spiky lines that look really beautiful!”
“Auroras?”
“Yeah! That’s it! The only thing in the sky that pegasus-es-es can’t control! Whenever I see them, I'm always like: 'Oh! Oh! They can see us!'” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing up and down all the while, her cotton candy styled mane whipping her in the face. "But even though they're there for like, twenty minutes, nothing ever looks back..." She added with a breath of remorse.
“Of course!" Celestia gleefully cried. "Forever, I’ve wondered what auroras were! I never even thought about them being universes crossing over! That’s why we can’t control them, because they’re not actually part of our universe! Thank you, Pinkie Pie!” Princess Celestia galloped across the room in delight, the little pink pony had rekindled her hope and possibly helped save Equestria! She bowed her neck, allowing Pinkie to hug it tightly. The rest of the team also formed in the group embrace, and Twilight light-heartedly corrected her pink friend from earlier,
“I think you mean Pegasi, Pinkie…” The group laughed in the happiness of the newly burning hope, before an innocent sound was heard from behind Celestia.
She raised her head up and looked over her shoulder at a small blue coated pegasus staring at the floor, standing a small distance away from her.
“Rainbow Dash?” The princess asked.
“Princess…” The rainbow – haired pegasus started, looking up at the large alicorn, “I’m so sorry for earlier…” Her eyes were still slightly bloodshot from crying and she couldn’t find anything else to say other than “Can you ever forgive me?”
There was a thoughtful silence before anypony spoke. And it was princess Celestia who broke the silence. “Rainbow Dash…” She started, “Do you remember when you won the best young flyer’s competition?”
“Yeah.” Rainbow replied.
Celestia turned around to face her subject with her full form. “Do you know why I chose that it was you who should have won?”
“Because I did the sonic rainboom?” Dash answered in monotone.
“No, it was because you showed true loyalty to your friends. The sonic rainboom was only necessary for giving you a burst of speed in which to save Rarity and not one, not two, but three of the wonderbolts. And you knew that... That is what true friendship is all about, and nothing can take that away from you.” This being said, Rainbow Dash raised her head as if a heavy weight were being lifted from it. She looked deeply into Celestia’s dark eyes and let her continue. “You are a wonderful, bright, beautiful and amazing young mare, Rainbow Dash, and by far the best flyer in Equestria in everyone's eyes…” A heart-warming smile grew on Rainbow’s face as this was spoken with passion. “And I’m not just saying that. I only hope that you can forgive me for acting like such a tyrant…”
Rainbow’s eyes welled up again, but this time, tears of joy flowed forth. “Oh, Princess!” She cried, running over to enrol in a second group hug. And as the connection was made again with her friends, and her princess, the magical warmth of friendship filled her soul with happiness. And while the love coursed through her veins, and the gentle breeze wafted through the empty window frames, carrying with it the scent of spring, between the seven friends, that negative event was erased from the past…
“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. How… Touching…”A disembodied voice descended and shattered the moment. The sky became a blood red and grew ablaze with auroras.
“Wh – what’s going on?” Asked Fluttershy, cowering behind Twilight, though her purple friend was none the wiser.
“What’s going on, princess?” Twilight echoed the timid pegasus’ words with more strength and concern.
“I – I don’t know…” She lied.
“Oh, princess… I was hoping for far more of a warm welcome than this…” The voice continued, echoing slightly after every word it spoke.
“Who are you? Sh – show yourself!” The princess demanded.
The voice chuckled lightly, “Hmhmhm. I think you know all too well who I am, your majesty…” The voice emphasised its last words, mocking Celestia’s title.
Just then, a cloud of dark smoke ripped through the hall, causing everypony to cough and shield their eyes. When the air cleared, princess Celestia turned to face the owner of the voice. She focused her attention to the enormous dark blue being stood atop her throne.
“Kerous.” The word came out as a shaky whisper.
“Oh, so you do know who I am!” Replied the creature with very sarcastic - sounding pleasure. He was huge. Easily twice the size of Celestia, and the throne could barely support him. “I’m glad you were expecting me, it gets ever so lonely these days.”
He took a step down one of the solid gold stairs. They groaned under his weight.
“So, what now?” Celestia challenged, “You just kill us all and wander off in search of more victims?”
“Ahhh, you would not believe the amount of times I’ve heard that, Celestia. It’s not going to work…” Kerous quickly and easily batted away Celestia’s guilt trip and grinned evilly through those piercing yellow eyes.
“How do you know my name?” Celestia demanded angrily. It was a stupid question; Kerous knew everything, which he quickly let the princess know.
He pretended to examine his claw. “You know, I quite like this world. I may keep it for a while longer than usual, have my fun... play my games...” Said the dark blue... something. He looked like a stallion, but had razor-sharp talons and a very dark blue – nearly black mane that fell from his body in rigid, untidy spines. And those eyes, they were the very definition of evil. They were entirely yellow, with a slight de-colouration to indicate where his ‘pupil’ was.
“Why do you do these things?” Asked Celestia, waiting for an opportunity to teleport.
“Everything has to end eventually.” Kerous replied, tired of saying that same line hundreds of times before. “I see a world that I believe to be worthless and merely put a stop to it.” He finished, turning his attention from his claws back to princess Celestia.
The alicorn wrinkled her nose. “Spoken like a true devil.”
“Humph,” Kerous frowned, “A god or a devil? Such petty differences…”
“I’ll let you know the difference between a god and a devil, or rather, The Rife will!” Celestia said triumphantly, pointing her gold - clad hoof at a place behind the dark blue demon.
“WHAT!?” Kerous bellowed, rotating on the spot to look at whatever the princess had motioned towards.
“I’m sorry, my little ponies.” The princess rapidly called out before bursting into a shower of white and gold sparks as she teleported into the aurora, and into Proximare.
“NO!” Shouted Kerous, realising he had been distracted by the oldest trick in the book.
The six ponies looked at each other, exchanging expressions which were a mixture of fear, confusion and dispear. The princess had… left them. They exchanged the worried glances before their attention was stolen by the devil when he spoke.
“No matter…” He said darkly, his voice returning from concern to that sarcastic evil. “I can still have some fun with you…” Kerous glared over his shoulder at the terrified ponies, a sinister smile curled over his face, revealing jagged, and no doubt razor-sharp teeth.
Fluttershy closed her eyes and started to cry. Rainbow Dash stepped in front of the group and opened her wings as wide as possible.
“You’re not getting my friends!” She shouted at the enormous being, her fear and hopelessness transforming into anger and courage.
“Ahhh, Rainbow Dash, if I’m not mistaken…” Enunciated Kerous, starting to amble over towards Rainbow and her friends, who all except Fluttershy stood at her side and faced that monster.
“I don’t want you.” He announced in a bored monotone, waving his claw in a sweeping motion, causing everypony but Rainbow Dash cascading into the corner where she had been crying earlier. “I want you.”
His crooked smile increased as he brought the five ponies from the corner and levitated them in the air against the wall, disallowing any of them to move. Not even to blink. Twilight tried and failed to use her magic. This was some form of mind power she had never even heard of. Kerous didn’t need a horn to summon magic; somehow he did it in his head. The five ponies watched helplessly from the sidelines as Kerous picked Rainbow Dash up by her wings. She tried to regain control, but even with the strong wings on a pony like her, it was useless compared to Kerous’ powerful magic. She began to panic as she felt her wings slowly start to bend the wrong way. She flailed her legs and shook her head madly in some hopeless attempt to wriggle free. The pain intensified until a sickening snap was heard. Rainbow Dash stopped struggling and her eyes widened in pain as she was released and fell the short distance to the floor. She crumpled on the hard marble surface with a heavy 'thud'. She let out a scream that only went as far as a muffled whimper as the fall winded her. Kerous allowed the other ponies to blink once to prevent their eyes from drying out. This wasn’t a problem however, for Fluttershy and now, it seems, Pinkie Pie.
“Stop this NOW you sick bastard!” Rarity screamed at Kerous, who heard her, but chose not to listen.
He picked up the shaking pegasus from the floor by her neck, just under her head with the tips of two of his talons. He was careful not to spear the pony through the throat, but rough enough to draw blood. As the two lines of bright red life fluid slowly made their way down Rainbow Dash’s neck and onto her body, Kerous brought her up to his eye level and glared into the rose coloured pinpricks. He waited for her to say something. Rainbow’s eyes brimmed with tears, slightly from pain, slightly form fear, but mostly because of the frustration and hatred she felt towards this brute.
“I’ll never let you hurt my friends!” She said through clenched teeth as bravely as possible, the sound of her voice pulsating with hatred. He stared into her angry eyes, and she stared right back.
“I wasn’t planning on it…” He replied as he slammed the pegasus into the floor and made a scoop with his left claws. Rainbow was frozen with shock, and all she could do was watch as the razor-sharp hand dug into her body just above her waist and continued to slice until it hit the floor. The other ponies screamed in pure terror and Rainbow would have joined them, but the only sound that came out of her mouth was a watery gurgle, accompanied by a spurt of blood that covered her chin in red. Kerous forced the screaming ponies to continue watching the horror as he made a second scoop with his right claws and dug them into Rainbow Dash just below his left hand. He scraped his right hand across the floor, taking with it Rainbow Dash’s hind legs. The five ponies’ screams intensified as they were released from Kerous’ tight telekinetic grip and fell to the floor in a heap. He picked up the gasping half of the pegasus and threw her into the pile of her friends, showering them with blood. Rarity’s dress was ruined, but she didn’t even notice.
Satisfied that his work was complete, Kerous disappeared into a plume of black smoke and rushed out of the wide open doorway.
“Rainbow!” Pinkie cried as she crawled on her knees towards her quivering friend. The pink pony cradled her blue friend’s head in her forearms as her eyes brimmed with fresh tears. “Dashie?” She asked, looking into those beautiful rose eyes.
Rainbow Dash looked up at her best friend and shakily, but forcefully said “L-life’s a p-party, P-Pinkie… never f-forget th-that, okay?” Pinkie pie nodded as she felt Rainbow’s hoof against her cheek. She brought her own up and held it there as her best friend sunk into, and died in her arms.
Pinkie sobbed and pushed her muzzle up close to Rainbow’s head. Her usually bouncy mane had deflated to a straight, lifeless mess. “I love you…” She whispered into the deaf ear and went on to heave uncontrollably into her friend’s colourful mane, muffling her screams of emotional agony. The rest of the group cried together in an embrace. Applejack remembered back to earlier, when the very pony she saw now broken in front of her had stood up for her in Canterlot. She had joked with Rainbow Dash, and thought she knew that she was grateful. However, she had never actually told her how grateful she was. And now she never could. She collapsed into tears and joined in the hug. The friends sobbed quietly in the fading light, their hopes and dreams shattered, much like the stained glass all around them.
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holy fuck a can see were the tragic tag came from
uvtblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/friday-damn.jpg
denver.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw2896-pinkiecry.gif
“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. How… Touching…”A disembodied voice descended and shattered the moment. The sky became a blood red and grew ablaze with auroras.
I totally read that voice like Christopher Walken
huh.... huh.... hmm...
NO NO NOOOOOO!!!!!! nothing can possibly express what I feel right now.... Dashie...
This story was planned. You knew what you were doing with it from the very beginning.
But HOLY FUCK NUGGETS DUDE!!! This is... I can't find words to describe my emotions right now. You just deleted a big factor from FiM itself! You can't use this role ANYMORE!!
Holy shit, I'd keep reading, but it's my bedtime.....
Damnation.
1238507
uh he just deleted Dashies lower half too...sorry I'm the most morbid dark person ever.....
if no one is going to be the hero soon
THEN I WILL!
Ohhhh boy. this not be good.
i think this is the most i have ever reacted to a story in a really long time o-o
Floor meet jaw, jaw meet floor, try not to make to much of a mess...also, RAINBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
1795031 Sometimes for fun I write about the most painful, terrifying, slowest ways to die in extreme detail... It sometimes takes over 3 thousand words... In fact its made people puke...
That is a true story BTW im not just saying that..
*Deep strikes into throne room* You messed with the wrong nation!
6834791 and that's when the fire nation attacked
How the hell did the unicorns doing the time when the tribes were separated control them then?