Chapter 23
Never before had the castle filled her with such fear. It loomed in the chasm, almost as though it was absorbing the light from the torches, dominating everything else. Before, it was all curiosity and fascination, an enigma just begging to be answered, but now that she had the answers, they did not comfort her at all. There was something past those chains and that gate. Something that was either going to save the world, or kill them.
"You ready?" Twilight's words were swallowed by the darkness along with the trembling.
"I was born ready." There was no waver in her voice, no hesitation in her step as Dash took that first step onto the chains. "Either I live long enough to see the end, orI die trying to save the sun forsaken world. Doesn't matter which happens, I still win."
Win what though? The pegasus had been distant the past two days, never saying a word, staring out into the frozen wasteland. She pushed herself harder than the rest of them, moving with a ferocity that was reminiscent of Pinkie going after her old 'master'. If it wasn't because it suited her needs perfectly, Twilight would have been worried, but as it was, all she did was sit back and let things run their course. Both of them were needed for whatever this was, and if all it took was a lie or two and a couple of deaths, it would be better than most of the missions she undertook. All she had to do now was just to ignore the voice in the back of her mind.
As Twilight took that first step, a hoof was placed on her shoulder. "Be careful, alright? Don't make me come busting in through the front gate to rescue your flank like back in Forstmourn."
"I promise." A light peck on Spitfire's cheek to seal the deal. "I-"
A hoof was suddenly wrapped her neck, drawing her down into a heated kiss full of tongue and need and desire. Her lips were too hot, the air too cold, the world was a swirl of yellow and red, and the scent of sweat filled her senses. Just as quickly as she had been lost, Spitfire released her, leaving her panting and trembling, a hoof touching her lips.
"No promises. You will come back," said Spitfire.
It wasn't a question, or even a statement, it was a declaration of fact. It was the same tone that she used when she was Wonderbolt Captain Spitfire, the pegasus that single-hoofedly took out a unicorn encampment, survived a week in the wild 'alone' and made speeches to the approval of roaring soldiers. When she spoke like this, things either went her way or she'd make them go her way.
"Look, Spitfire, th-"
"No. Don't 'Look, Spitfire' me. You're coming back even if it means charging in there, ripping the door off its hinges and dragging you out by your sun forsaken flank. You. Will. Come. Back." The last four words were emphasized by a jab of the hoof. "And if you're worried about me being injured, well, that's just extra incentive for you to not do something stupid."
If it wasn't because her hooves were too busy shaking, Twilight would have taken half a step back. Instead, she merely stared at Spitfire, her mouth working silently as she tried to think something, anything to say.
"Just... just go." Spitfire's wings sagged as she slumped down to the ground. "I'll be waiting here, like always, wondering if you'll make it back from your latest stunt."
"Spitfire..." A hoof reached out, tilting Spitfire's head up so they were staring into each other's eyes. "I'm s-"
"Yo, love birds, we doing this today or not!" yelled Dash from up the path. "I thought this was some 'save the world' type of deal that we needed to do immediately, so can we get a fucking move on?"
The glare Twilight gave could have melted stone, but Dash returned it with a bored expression on her face. In the end, Dash was the first to look away as she turned around and continued on, the soft tinkering of metal accompanying each step. A sigh escaped and Twilight turned back to Spitfire, only to find her marefriend staring at Dash.
"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on her," whispered Twilight as she turned away. "And we'll continue this discussion later."
"Thanks, and..." Spitfire sighed and rubbed her temple. "Sorry, I suppose...It's just we're finally together and I'm still stuck on the sidelines."
"Do you want to know why I don't fear for you every single second of my life despite knowing one wrong move could have you clipped and reduced to a breeding slave?" Twilight turned away, Spitfire's look of confusion and hurt still hovering in her mind's eye. "It's because I trust you and know you. You're careful, strong, great at improvising, and so you survive. So trust me. Trust me to do what's right, what needs to be done. Please."
"I do trust you! It's just..." she sighed. "You have to admit, you do a lot of reckless things that could get you seriously injured."
"And yet that rarely happens. I know I do dangerous stuff, but it's necessary. They're calculated risks, it's not like I'm running in there blind and making crap up on the fly and..." Twilight licked her dry lips. "Sometimes, things need to be done no matter how dangerous they are, and unlike Pinkie, I don't feel comfortable telling others to do it."
Sometimes you had to put yourself in the line of fire to get things done, but Spitfire didn't have to know that, not yet at least. For now she could stay in blissful ignorance, unaware of just what exactly she’d done in the past to get them this far. She’d rather die than let have Spitfire find out. She needed... Whatever, not like it mattered anyway.
"Twilight..." Spitfire glided around so they were face to face once more. "I love you and don't want you to die. I'm afraid of you being hurt and losing you forever, so just be careful and... and..." She shook her head and wrapped her forehooves around Twilight's neck. "Just stay safe."
"I'll try, I promise."
Without another word, Twilight disentangled herself began walking towards Dash.Her whole body screamed at her to turn around and run back to Spitfire, to say 'Fuck the world' and just be happy. She couldn't though, they needed her, everypony needed her. One last mission, and once that was done, she could finally have her happy ending. Maybe it wasn't an ending somepony like her deserved, but it was what she wanted.
"Took you long enough."
Twilight shoved past, stepping onto the next chain in the link and the castle actually got closer. She could feel a pulsing warmth on the side of her neck that slowly spread through her body. Just like before, things became uncomfortably hot, forcing her to unzip her jacket, letting it flap in the breeze. By the time they reached the castle, sweat was dripping from their brows as though a fire had been lit under their hooves, and she was panting up a storm. Beside her, Dash looked like a drowned timberwolf as she examined the statue of Celestia and Luna that arched over the main steps up.
It was weird, she had been expecting trees and grass and green everywhere, or at least the illusion of life without snow, and yet, something brown crunched underfoot. The trees were not lush like the books had always said, instead they were brown and gnarled, twisted upon themselves again and again with thorny vines wrapped around their trunks. The air around them misted over making it impossible to see anything beyond a few feet before them.
"Come on." Twilight ran up the stairs with Dash right behind her. Though the brand on their necks began glowing, what vision it provided was stripped away by the heavy mist and a chill began seeping into their coats forcing them to zip back up.
"You better be right about me getting my wings back," growled Dash as they reached the heavy double doors.
"The books did say alicorns can do anything." A hoof was pressed against the door and a flash of light blinded Twilight. By the time she could see again, she found themselves in an empty courtyard with the door behind her. Down the far end was a pair of stone doors leading into the castle keep, but between them and it was a single crystalline tree.
Dash and Twilight exchanged a nervous glance before walking forward as one. They were here, this was the beginning of the end, whatever secrets that were held in this place would be revealed and then they would go on and remove the winter once and for all. To experience the other seasons, to feel the sun on her face and back, watch as the leaves turned from green to gold – her dreams would finally become a reality. No more war, no more death.
Her legs shook as they approached.
Six different coloredcrystal shards littered the ground, but most of them had be ground up into a fine dust that coated the ground. With the fading mist and light reflecting off the dust, it should have been beautiful. It would have been beautiful if it wasn't for the tree that loomed over them all. There were no leaves on the tree and its limbs were twisted and frail. A single crack that ran from the base of the tree all the way up its trunk, almost as though split by lightning, and instead of been a deep brown it was the color of ash.
"You are..."
That voice. It drew Twilight in, her hooves moving of their own accord towards that melodious voice. At the same time though, just hearing it caused her heart to break like the crystals that littered the ground. There was something in the way she spoke those two words, like a doctor giving bad news after an operation.
"You are too late." A pink alicorn stepped out from behind the tree, a hoof trailing along the trunk in a caress. "Harmony is dead."
"What d-" Dash was silenced with a single look. There was no malice in that glance, no anger, nor condemnation, only weariness.
"Windigos rule the land, feeding off the disharmony to bring about this unnatural winter." The alicorn gestured at dust they stood on. "They were the Elements of Harmony, born from the Tree of Harmony, and we had hoped that ponies would come with the potential to harness their power. With it, you could have taken on the windigos and won, but..."
Twilight glanced down at the fine dust that coated her hooves. "Now it's too late."
"Harmony is dead, but hope never dies." Twilight's eyes snapped up in surprise and what she saw reflected in Cadence's face was a grim determination that reminded her so much of Dash. "I was placed here to guard the Tree, as that is no longer needed, it is time to rejoin my aunts. We will either defeat the Windigos or die trying. Gather your friends and family, bring them here where they will be safe. There is still food in the castle, and given enough love, perhaps you could even grow your own food." She turned her head, a beam of blue striking the stone just above the entrance to the inner castle. When the light faded, a single blue clock hung in the air, slowly ticking away. "Once the clock turns green, leave this place and the world outside will hopefully have rejuvenated itself."
"Wait!" Dash ran forward, disrupting whatever spell the alicorn was going to cast. "Can... can you restore my wings?"
Don't kill the dream. Please, do not kill her dream. As long as she had that hope, as long as she believed there was the possibility of her getting her wings back, she'd be a nice, docile little pegasus, willing to do anything that was suggested.
Cadence glanced down at the pegasus. "I cannot, but perhaps my aunts can. What I lack is knowledge, not power and they have been around since the dawn of time."
"Then I'm coming with you." Sometimes it was impossible to tell if she was just that stupid, or just straight up insane. "I don't care what you say, but you need all the help you can get."
Twilight blinked and even the alicorn did a small double take. How long had she spent arguing, pleading, bribing that stubborn mare with the possibility of restoring her wings and here she was, willing to charge straight into the thick of things without a second thought. Despite everything, a grin spread across Twilight's face and she walked forward to stand next to Dash.
"She's right you know, you need all the help you can get."
But what about Spitfire? What about her promise to come back in one piece? These... Windigos bought about winter, kept it alive for generations upon generations, and stood against two alicorns . Just how powerful were these beasts?
No. She couldn't think likethat. She had come so far already, she was going to see it through to the end and if her death can help. If her death can end the winter or bring them one step closer to finishing everything then it'd be worth it.
"We do need help, and this is your fault as much as it is ours, but have you ever had someone try to tag along with you? Someone who means well, but will be horribly outclassed by even the weakest enemy and you'll spend more time worrying over and protecting that silly pony than focusing on the fight." Her gaze swept over the two of them and Twilight couldn't meet that gaze. "You're both soldiers, you understand what I am saying, you must understand why you need to stay behind."
Cadence brushed past, a simple sweep of a hoof opening the two massive stone doors.
"But there must be something we can do!" She would not let herself stop now. Not when she had come so far, done so much, sacrificed everything in the name of ending this winter. "Please..."
"I'm afraid there is nothing you can do beyond ensuring your species survives." Cadence strolled past and flared open her wings. "We can only buy you so much time though an-" She gasped, dropping to one knee and clutching her chest.
Both of them were immediately there, one on each side, helping brace and stabilize the alicorn. Was it the wings that bought out Dash's sense of compassion rather than scorn, or had the pegasus really changed that much? Despite everything, a small chuckle escaped when a look of disgust appeared on Dash's face as she quickly stepped back to distance herself from the 'horned filth'. It was nice to see some things never changed.
"It seems as though your fellow ponies do not share your ideals." After a couple deep breaths that shook Cadence's entire frame, she shrugged off Twilight and stood up on shaky legs. "I understand now. Putting me here was to protect me as much as it was to help the future. So much hatred, so much pain and suffering..." Her eyes closed and her horn lit up. "Somewhere to the north, by the Crystal Mountains where the- No!Those foals!"
The speed of her takeoff sent Twilight stumbling backwards and even Dash slid away from the sheer force. Neither of them said anything as they raced off after the rogue alicorn, running across the chains as though they were slabs of stone that weren't creaking and weren't threatening to buckle with each step.
"Guys, what's going on?" yelled Spitfire as they raced past.
"No time to talk, follow the pink blur." Before she had even finished the sentence, Spitfire was in front, managing to outpace Twilight and keep up with Rainbow Dash. Within seconds though, they had lost track of Cadence, but considering the direction she had been moving in, there was only one place she could have been running to, the surface.
Without warning, Spitfire skidded to a stop causing Twilight to slam into her from behind. Together they stumbled into Dash, tumbling to the ground in a tangle of hooves and tails. Pain ran all along her right side as she landed on her injured leg and beneath her, Dash gave a pained gasp. When they finally managed to untangle themselves from each other, Dash was panting, sweat coating her body as she stood on shaking legs.
An impossibly strong gust of wind slammed into them, throwing them off their hooves and onto the ground. Snow swamped over her, chilling her to the core as she began digging out. A foot of snow, maybe more, was forced out of her way before Twilight managed to push her head out of the snow, taking in deep gulps of air. Beside her, she watched Spitfire and Dash crawl out, sending snow in all directions as they shook it off.
And that's when she saw it. Light, brighter than anything she had ever seen before in her life. It filled up the entire sky for a brief second before slowly fading only for a second flash, then a third, then a fourth.They were miles away, spells being flung with wild abandon above the Crystal Mountains. Every time one struck solid ground, a scar was left in its wake and a shockwave ran out in all directions. High above them, the clouds opened up, but there was no sun, no light. Instead it formed a spiral, looking like a tornado that went up into the sky and when she squinted, she could just make out three pale blue shapes.
"When did this-"
"The tornado," whispered Spike. "That's where the tornado was!"
"And the alicorn is heading straight there," added Dash, pointing at the pink blur that was already half way there. "Come on, if we push it, we could be there in a few days."
Twilight merely stood there, watching as Dash took that first step on the next journey. Idiot! Even if she had control over her magic and her horn wasn't cracked, the raw power being thrown around made her feel like a little filly, and even Shining would have been nothing more than a fly to them. Yet this pegasus, this stupid, arrogant, annoying, racist pegasus, wanted to just waltz right in?
They were given another mission, to catch up to Pinkie once more and to drag them back to the castle in preparation for the end of the world. That was what was important, that was what had the highest chance of success. She had come so far, done so fucking much and now it's all for nothing. Now, all she could do was stand back and watch and pray and hope.
Damn it!
"Twilight?" Spitfire reached out, but the unicorn shrugged it off. "Come on, talk to me, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. We should get going, we need to bring Pinkie and the group back here, apparently that castle should be relatively safe," replied Twilight.
"Wait, we're not going to help out?" said Spitfire.
"Look at that!" Twilight gestured at the carnage that dominated the sky. "How are we supposed to help? All the unicorns alive wouldn't be able to produce enough magic for a single spell like that and you think we'll be able to do something? A grounded pegasus, a unicorn who can't cast magic, a young dragon, and a Wonderbolt."
"We have to-"
"No. If we go there, we die. That's it. This way, we can at least still save some ponies. Certain failure versus potential success. The choice is obvious."
"I don't care, I'm going," said Dash as she kept going. "You cowards can stay here and lose your wings, but I'm not going to wait for my death."
"Neither will I, but I'm not going to throw it away for nothing," snapped Twilight. "Come on, let's get going, we can probably catch up to Pinkie by tomorrow if we hurry."
"No."
"W-What?" Twilight looked over at Spitfire. "What do you mean?"
"We may be outclassed in every possible way, but this is what we've been working towards for years. This is our world we're talking about, everything we know, everything we have, and it's about to be taken from us." Spitfire's eyes hardened. "I will not go down without a fight."
"But we don't have to go down at all! Go to the castle, ride out the blizzard, and then-"
"And then what?" asked Spitfire. "How long will that take? And what sort of world will we come back to? I'm a pegasus, Twilight, I need the skies, that freedom, and we won't be able to get that locked up underground."
"But you've seen the cavern, how large it is, there's more than eno-"
"Twilight, I'm sorry, but I agree with Rainbow Dash. It might be the dumbest thing to do, but it needs to be done. This is our world, one I have fought so hard to protect and keep alive, and I will not stop now."
"Even if it means getting in the way?"
That caused Spitfire to hesitate before replying, "Even then. I can’t just sit on my flank twiddling my hooves while a fight that'll determine the fate of the world is going on. Somethings are worth dying for." She turned away and began trudging off in the direction Dash went in. "I'm sorry."
No... This… She needed to- Pinkie and the ponies, and there was Spitfire. She had to go the others, tell them about the castle, lead them to safety. That was the logical thing to do, the only thing that even had a remote chance of some ponies surviving. She knew it was the right thing to do, it was the logical thing to do, so why couldn't she move her fucking legs and walk away?
"Go," whispered Spike. "Go with them, I'll find Pinkie and lead them back."
"What? But-"
"No buts. You'll have to move slower, more carefully, travel by day, but you'll manage." A light peck found its way onto Twilight's cheek, cutting off what she was about to say. "Come on, we've done solo missions before, it'll be fine."
"But what if-"
"Hey, don't think like that, just trust in yourself and those around you. Well, probably not Rainbow, but you know what I mean."
"Bu-"
"No. We'll see each other again. Neither of us will die, I promise." The corner of his lips turned upwards. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a dagger in my eye."
A snort escaped from Twilight. "It's a promise then. What’s another couple of days after everything we’ve been through?"
"Exactly!"
They smiled at each other, though both could see the uncertainty and fear reflected back at them.
"But if we don't," whispered Twilight, "I want you to know tha-"
"I know, and I love you too." With a flurry of snow, Spike launched himself into the air. "Now go, before they break their necks jumping down a cliff or something."
Though tears pricked the edges of her eyes, Twilight turned away and ran after Spitfire. She'd see him again, he had promised and Spike never broke his promises.
Never...
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Woohoo new chapter. Seems like the last couple chapters have been jumping location/events, although that could just be update time throwing off my placement.
One error I noticed.
"She'd rather die than let have Spitfire find out."
Have works and I think let works, but two verbs in a row doesn't work here.
4232197 It's also because nothing of note happens between each location so yeah.
4233855
So Twilight's rescue from Captain Hurricane counts as nothing of note. :P
... and then Spike died. Which is probably a worse fate Twilight would experience than dying herself
4233867 Very little. I mean, Spitfire and Twilight love each other, going to rescue each other? Meh, not the first time it's happened
4236069 And then the world exploded from Twi-angst
4236230
And that is how Harmony was restored to Equestria.
4236315 Twi-Angst, best angst
Finally caught up with this 100k+ story and I have to say, it did not disappoint. Sure there were quite a few typos, but the story overall was great. I favorited this story expecting some "C" rated so-so story, boy was I surprised. All the racism, the slavery, the torture, and rape, I was not expecting that at all... well the racism I expected, but not to that level. All of the mane six are racist in a way except maybe Twilight, and quite possible Rarity and Pinkie. Of course they all have their reason, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were raised to believe that pegasus were the master race and all that, Applejack was a slave so long that she refuses to trust anything with a horn, Pinki despite wanting harmony and such I still believe is just a little bit racist, and Rarity... I can't get a bead on her, not really.
Was amused that you took Big Mac, a normally gentle stallion, and turned him into a sadistic stallion who enjoys torture with Braeburn who was once just as bad. If it was not for all the errors in this story and the lack of detail in some parts I would not hesitate to compare it to Fallout Equestria. As I said it is a really great story, with a lot of potential (in my opinion) that, as far as I'm concerned, does not get nearly enough attention. Knowing what was happening with Pinkie and Fluttershy before and during Twilight's rampage through the Pegasus camp would of been something worth knowing or the attack on Sanctuary (Pinkie's town) would of been something neat to read about. I also don't think Spitfire rescuing Twilight was something that should've been just mentioned like some sort of footnote.
Of course nearly all my reviews/comments comes with some questions;
1. Is Zecora ever going to seen or at least mentioned in this story? I'm not sure what role she would play but it's always fun to have zebra who talks in rhymes that tends to annoy everyone with how cryptic she is.
2. Where is Derpy? No story like this is complete without Derpy... in my opinion.
3.What the hell happen to Scootaloo and Big Mac? So far all I'm getting is that when the Pegasus attacked, Pinkie and Fluttershy were taken as prisoners, Bon Bon was killed, and a bunch of nameless ponies were killed or raped.
4. Why is the Tree of Harmony not in the Everfree? Not really much to say about that, more or less curios.
5. Why was Discord mentioned? If memory serves me right (though I could be wrong) the forming of Equestria happened before Discords reign of chaos, yet he was mentioned... now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure the Princess were mentioned in this story as well. How do ponies know about them if this blizzard wasteland has been around before they (the ponies, not the princesses) were even born?
4252490
I really wanted to play up the dark setting of the fic. The racism had to feel nature, torture had to be in there, same with rape and all that jazz. This is severe resource depletion and I wanted all the races to feel so desparate for food, for population growth, for everything that it tainted every single last thing. I wanted to twist the core harmony into a mockery of what it once was, but at the same time I didn't want the rape to be there "cause it's dark". The same with torture and so forth. There's a reason why I never described RD's torture. For Pinkie, I wanted her to be dark in her own way. She's not racist, but she's an extremest in the (probably) the worst possible ways. A knight templar without all the holy attitude. As for Rarity, she was the hardest for me to get a beat on, she's not racist, but she's something else.
Complain about the mistakes to my editor
But seriously, I've been discussing this with my editor and while I feel the Mane 6 fleshed out the story, they didn't add much. Twilight, Spitfire, and RD are the real stars of the show and others detract from that slightly. Sure, it would have been interesting to read about FS and Pinkie during the assualt (and I probably should have written it) but... I dunno. Too many view point characters, too many that felt superficial, getting burnt out on writing and assignments. Yeah, there's a lot I'd change if I could. Oh well, it's a writing experience.
1. Nope, Zecora will not show up. No reason for her to be in Equestria
2. In my head cannon for this universe, Derpy is dead. Why? I'm evil like that.
3. Oh right, it was Bon-Bon I killed. If Scoots was caught, she'd be dead. Already got her wings removed, kill on sight.
4. The tree is where it is because the Everfree is no longer 'safe'. You don't want a bunch of desparate ponies getting powerful artifacts like the Elements of Harmony. Plus, it's easier to protect and so forth in a castle with an alicorn guarding it.
5. I mentioned Discord? I can't remember what context so I can't really comment? And yes, the Princesses are mentioned. In my own head cannon, the Princesses were around before/when the world was formed and has always been around in Equestria (the land mass), but they never became royalty until after Equestria (the nation) was formed. They were like the wise, weird sage living in the moutains. Books/scrolls would have mentioned and talked about them. Books/scrolls that Twilight has been searching for since forever.
Pretty fun story. Lots of typos, however. Speaking of, you should be the one catching those mistakes, not your editor. If the amount of errors in the story are any indication, and accounting for your editor catching some of them, then your written English must be utterly atrocious when it's unedited.
As it is, you shouldn't rely on an editor to fix all of your mistakes, which could easily be found by running a spell-check program.
Shame on you, sir! Downvoted until this is fixed, or until I see some accountability!
4572870
I just looked through Chapter 19 on my word doc and I'm not seeing the errors you're talking about? Perhaps it's because I'm using UK English rather than American? Unless it's missing spaces, because my computer loves eating spaces between words. Maybe if you gave an example I'd have a better idea of what you're talking about.
4573870
Missing spaces, a couple of instances where words seem to be missing where they should be, and some tense issues.
Seriously. Do more proofreading.
4575482
Ugh, I hate the missing spaces, I try to catch all of them, but nope, a couple always slip through and my word lke to be silly and not detect them as mistakes. As for the other two, I'm terrible at tenses (something I'm working on) and missing words really shouldn't be happening. Oh well, thanks for bringing to my attention, I'll get around to fixing everything once I'm off from uni.
Does anyone know any other stories where hearths warming did'nt happen?
Is this a dead fic ?
5280472
Editting the last two chapters even as I write this