Intercontinental
They all pointed and laughed at me. Jeered at my lack of flight or of a family. Apple Bloom, lovely Sweetie Belle even my Idol Rainbow Dash. They tormented me as I stood crying in the corner unable to even respond. It was my birthday the streamers and ribbons adorned everything. Around the table they all sat, not just those three more and more faces appeared behind them destroying everything I had ever loved about myself. Tears blotted my eyes making everything blurry. Smaller and smaller I shrunk till I was a mere speck before there greatness.
My eyes flickered open. I was laying on the ground. The dream was a horrible nightmare, like always, but no matter how bad it made me feel it made me smile... It had been so long since I'd seen their faces. Apple Bloom, Rainbow Dash even Sweetie Belle. A tear rolled down my cheek as the memories flooded over me. I wiped it away because I have to move… I always have to move.
~~
Some months after we formed the CMC, the war the stallions had been fighting in a faraway land was lost. Equestria was overrun. Ponyville was closest to the border, and most of the people that I knew died that day. The CMC and I where sheltered by Rainbow Dash and her friends at a great cost. Applejack died sacrificing herself to protect the Apple Bloom. Fluttershy died trying to protect the animals. Twilight was lost in a valiant attempt to defend against the force... After, Rainbow and Rarity were able to shield us for about a year... And Pinkie Pie…
~~
Slowly we wandered through the wasteland. We avoided the pools of corruption splattered over the battered, scared remnants of a meadow. Shortly after the border was lost and invaders came, the corruption started to fall. I'll never forget the first time I saw another pony touch the corruption. She was a cute light pink pony, I never did learn her name, and she was the first to investigate the ooze. One touch upon her hoof quickly engulfed her leg, turning the hapless pony into more of the liquid... and the screams, the bone chilling screams that lingered, emanating from the puddle that had just been a living, breathing pony.
We five, Rainbow, Rarity, Apple bloom, Sweetie Belle and me walked, mostly in silence with an the occasional crying from Apple Bloom. It was about an hour trip to Canterlot on the train but a three month trek on hoof. When we had to run, we left Ponyville limits before the shock of the events sank in. Rarity and Rainbow Dash had to carry Apple Bloom for almost week before she was able to move on her own. I found out later a ball of corrosion had hit her farm and she saw Big Mac and Granny Smith melt before her eyes. Before that had even sunk in, Applejack swept her up and had run her into town.
In those first weeks someone asked where we were going. Neither Rainbow Dash or Rarity responded at first but after a few weeks of hiking they told us. They told us of Twilight's last words.
Spike delivered all the incoming and outgoing mail in the last few hours of his life. Twilight’s speed reading was never more useful. The six where called, only five came, Applejack it seemed had ran to sweet apple acres. Twilight told them what she want them to do. Fluttershy was to protect the animals and Rarity was to help the ponies escape. Pinkie was needed to help maintain morale. Twilight then told Rainbow Dash that she needed her help in defending the town.
Rainbow looked forlorn as she continued the tale.
The front line was savage... brutal. Unicorn magic was used to keep the corrosion at bay, earth and pegasus fought the denizens of that far off land. The magic was failing and ponies where falling. Yet Rainbow's mind was elsewhere and Twilight sighing, shouted at Rainbow "Go and be where your loyalty truly lies... It's alright... I know she's like a daughter to you"
Rainbow flew fast only looking back as the magic guarding against the corrosion shattered engulfing the ponies she had just left.
~~
The ground flew up and hit my nose... Alas my wings... flying would be so much faster... I wish this wasn't on my wings... They flex as I move towards the final piece... Slowly as I walk, my mind drifts back to the past…
Rainbow loved me and I loved my surrogate mother... More than I loved anyone... Except for... She was the best person in my life and I know she loved me whole heartedly. Many nights I would awaken to find her sleeping next to me.
She died protecting me... Maybe if..
Don't think that...
I miss her...
~~
Trapped in a pool of corrosion blackness everywhere... Slowly, I'm losing parts of myself. The sky starts to rain more corrosion. Dry land in the distance so I desperately swim towards. As I wade through the sludge it gets harder and harder to progress. Yet the land is close... so close.
I wake in a cold sweat. These nightmares are horrible. I must continue my journey.
~~
We were still walking towards Canterlot. Only a little farther somepony said. We were at the base of the mountain, it wasn't far now. Canterlot looked all right, still majestic, almost pristine. Seemingly untouched by the gruesome war. When we arrived the guard was high as to be expected. Only after great scrutiny did they let us pass. The streets where full or rushing, terrified ponies. I was almost lost in the sea of ponies. Rainbow dash and Rarity took us to speak with Twilight’s brother for some reason... I can only assume to tell him about Twilight’s death. I'm not sure because Apple B, My Sweetie and me stayed out in the hall.
We were placed into two apartments across from each other. Rainbow, Apple B and me where in one and Rarity and her sister in the other. We lived like that for awhile, Apple B became like a sister and Rainbow our loving mother. Often I would awaken to find her sleeping near us. Slowly her gruff bravado faded into a loving glow, her arrogance melted into a warm pillow for us to lay our heads upon. She was the best mother I could have asked for... The best I ever had... I wish it was under a different star that this wonder had befallen us. It was a beautiful respite but... but... It was not fated to last.
It was a cloudy day when the corrosion fell on Canterlot. We knew what it was, but most of the Canterlot ponies hadn't a clue. It wasn't long though, before they found out and panic consumed everything.
Rainbow... Rainbow died.... Protecting me...
I stumbled over myself and fell, nearly trampled by the stampede of confusion. Rainbow sheltered my small body with hers. The barrage felt as if it lasted hours but in reality it was probably just a fewminutes. And… and… I don't want to think of my mother like that...
~~
Remembering that put me in a foul mood. Looking around this battle scarred land to distract me I noticed just how was beautiful it was in a macabre and melancholy way...
I step onto a tuft of grass and a rush of warm memories wrap around me like a blanket on a foal. Long nights with just me and my Sweetie Belle. Her soft white fur, the adorable curls in her hair the color of sweet candy with the puzzling sent of fabric softener. No matter how long I knew her, it away smelled of that. I use to be annoyed by that but now... Now I would give anything just to smell it again...
I have made myself cry…
~~
I wandered in shock, with no one around for a time after Rainbow... died… I eventually ran into some guards who told me how to leave Canterlot. Outside I figured I would be alone and I was terrified. As soon as I left, I saw the others had waited for me. Maybe I had been holding onto a brave face for far… far too long. They asked me what had happened to Rainbow... I told them. They tried to comfort me. I didn't cry. I just said I was fine and I thought it was
Rarity and Apple B tried to help me. I was annoyed by their insisting I wasn't alright. I had felt alright. Then out of nowhere I heard my Sweetie Belle yell "You fool! You're not alright. Remember when she held you all those nights when you were scared and cold. When she smiled when you brought her a Caramel Apple from the Canterlot Fair Day. When you told me despite everything that has happened you were glad for this time with her. You idiot... You loved her..."
A dam broke.
As Sweetie held me, her beautiful white fur met my grungy orange as I convulsed in sorrow. It was the first time I felt anything more than friendship towards Sweetie.
With that I cried for the first time in a long time. She held me. We were a good distance from Canterlot but not far enough. The lights of fighting where bright in the horizon and we had to get moving. We planned to move on to Mainhattan. Death was everywhere this close to Canterlot. At first it made me sick but I grew numb to it. I noticed Sweetie more now and something in my stomach fluttered when I was near her. That didn't happen before. Ah... Young love....
~~
I smile.
~~
A few weeks pass and I slowly tried to edge closer to Sweetie at rest stops and around the fire at night. I never had any trouble talking to Sweetie before this point so I had no idea why the thought of it now fogged up my mind so much… I tried to sleep close enough to Sweetie so that our fur just barely touched and I was so happy. Completely forgetting that we use to sleep in the same bed.
A few nights later around camp fire and in spite of my shenanigans Rarity went to look for food and hadn’t come back in far too long. She would check in every fifteen and it had been around forty five. So we decided to go and look for her... maybe we shouldn't have but I can only speculate. We found Rarity... It still haunts me that somepony could do what they had done to her.
I held Sweetie all night. I never had an ulterior motive. I just tried to help her like she had helped me...
~~
I don't like thinking about that night.
~~
My strong wings take me through the sky. A wonderful familiar feeling. I look and see my beautiful wings but they aren't beautiful! They’re evil and covered in the souls of all that have died. Leaving streaks of their essence etched in the blood red sky. A low pained groan is coming from their mouths.
I wake with a start and look my wings. I move them... Stretching them to their maximum then quickly sheathe them. I think about it for a second before I get up and starting to walk again.
~~
We three where on our own. We didn’t know how to proceed but we made do. Apple B worked to maintain a shelter as well as building us little trinkets like a new scooter for me and a voice amplifier for Sweetie. My Sweetie was in charge of keeping us entertained and cooking. She got better after a while or maybe we just got used to it. And me, I was tasked with bringing in food and with the guarding. Much to my mortification because I was still scared of being in the forest some of those nights.
After a long while our little ensemble resembled something out of the Swiss Pony Robinsons. We kept our shelter in the trees as it was easier to mask and defend from a chimera or a wondering adult. In spite of everything we managed alright.
~~
I killed another pony…
I will always remember her face as the life drained from her eyes. I’m not sure why I’m thinking of that cream colored pony right now. Maybe guilt. She just wanted some of our hayseed, and I had just collected that hayseed and we really only had enough for the three of us. But she was so persistent, I kept trying to tell her no but she wouldn’t listen and I ended up having to… Her mane was a light green. I stained it with red. I truly am sorry that I didn’t even know your name… I’m sorry that we buried you in an unmarked grave in the middle of a forest in a place I have long forgotten… And most of all I’m sorry that you weren’t the last…
~~
Continuing to walk in silence I try to think of other things. My mind drifts to the first kiss between me and Sweetie Belle.
~~
She was flustered. She was trying to come up with something to do with the new berries that I had brought back and I wasn’t being that helpful. I was sitting across from her, long over the unease that I had felt in the first few weeks of my infatuation. She was talking about maybe making a berry pie and I thought it sounded good but I kept moving the thing she needed when her back was turned and thinking I was a riot. Slowly she was becoming overwhelmed and frustrated. I was making it worse. All of a sudden she exclaimed that she was done with this and put her face down onto the counter and started to cry. Immediately I knew I had gone too far and apologized she looked at me and I saw the hurt that I had inflicted. Also she had put her face down in some berry jam and it was still on her snout. So I quickly and gingerly licked it off. Now at that point I wasn’t expecting anything more to come of this infatuation I had built up in my mind. I was fine with that but when she kissed me I knew my feelings for her where true. She told me I was cute but I should stop being such a jerk
The next few weeks we walked on egg shells around Apple B for fear of the status quo. She eventually found out and much to our bemusement but she didn’t seem to care at all. We shared a room from then on.
Maybe a year had passed sense the death of Rarity and we were getting along fine but dreams like ours can't last. One day we saw a scout for the Denizens of that Far off land scurry along the ground below. We watched in bated breath, we thought it hadn’t seen us; we thought we were safe. we were wrong.
Not two day later warriors came back, armed and ready for anything. Apple B was a smart pony she knew that we might need a quick escape one day. The tree-house was also had an escape vessel. She rummaged around and found a scooter she had been working on then proceeded to quickly write down a note and hand it to me. “If you two ever need to escape.”
Leading us to the escape pod, she told us that our love gave her hope that the world might just be alright if we survived. She closed us in the escape pod before we realized that she wouldn’t be joining us. Through the glass, she conveyed that she needs to be outside to launch the ship because she never finished making the pod and the controls where yet to be installed. As she counted down to zero we saw the warriors surround her.
Flying through the sky in a metal tube is something I won’t recommend to anyone. It is horribly bumpy followed by the loss of your lunch. But granted for a few short moments in there we floated in a wonderful embrace before we smacked into the ground. When we landed I was discombobulated and couldn’t get my footing falling face first into the ground. When I finally got my bearings I noticed my Sweetie Belle expression. I… We never thanked Apple B for saving us.
We had crashed into a strange carriage with the words Flim and Flam on the sides. It had many barrels of cider inside and we drank a lot that night as we regaled each other with tails of Apple Bloom. We had sex for the first time that night.
The next day we jury-rigged the two devices into a makeshift vehicle, nothing as fancy or as nice as Apple B would have made but it was functional and we wouldn’t have to walk any more. We would go to Mainhatten. It was a long trip and would be take months. My Sweetie and Me decided to make our way there.
Many nights we would stare up into the stars wanting for nothing else.
Out of all the times in my life that I might have wanted to last forever... This is the one I would choose.
We rode the device all day, and finished setting up our makeshift camp. The apples were cooking and we laid in the sands of the desert next to each other looking up as the stars come into view and the light from the sun faded over the horizon. The smell of apples lightly scenting the air. I snuggle closer and smelled fabric softener. She smiled and bopped me on the nose. I playfully wrestle on top of her. Then I stopped and rest my face on her belly. "I love you Sweetie"
I started to cry slowly. "I wish no one had died and that our friends could be here and they could be happy for our love"
"You’re an idiot like always."
"!?"
"I'm not saying I'm glad, or for that matter, that anyone has died but... I'm glad it led me to you."
I looked at her through my tears. She was blushing. I kissed her on her snout. "If it was still a thing, I would ask you to marry me"
"And I would accept"
We ate our apples and we held each other for the rest of the night.
~~
A tear fell onto the path before me... I hadn't realized that I started to cry again...
~~
As we approached Mainhattan we gazed upon it's dystopian beauty... Quietly we walked, approaching the main street. Once eight lanes wide and packed to the brim with traffic. Now a stray cat was our only companion for miles. The large bleak empty skyscrapers dotted the sky like a forest of branch-less trees made of metal and glass. The red light of the setting sun still reminds me of graves on an alien planet.
Walking down Main Street we observed the decay of the city. Everything had a layer of dust or sand over it and more than half of the windows were cracked or broken. The city scared me so deeply. I walked closer to Sweetie.
Looking around and finding no easy source of information we ended up going into a grungy Cider Bar. Behind the bar a few candles lit the room. The sun was almost gone and the shadows from the candles danced with the ones from the sun. Two ponies sat in a booth and another at the bar. The stallion behind the bar greeted us.
After a brief exchange of information with the bartender, it seemed that Mainhattan was run by an eccentric pony who protected the ponies within as long as a sacrifice was made. That thought wasn't as bad as when we found out that most of Equestria had fallen to the enemy. Finally, he told us where we could spend the night.
I was surprised at how good a real bed felt on my body. I slept for over 30 hour straight only to wake up next to My Sweetie. Her unkempt curly hair and beautiful slender body slowly rising and falling in tandem with her breath, I lovingly rested my hoof on her and kissed her on the cheek. Contented, I looked out over the still dark sky, speckled with the stars of early morning. I returned to the bed and snuggled up to My Sweetie.
~~
I stand on a lake. As I walk ripples emanate spreading out into giant waves. The sky is white with black clouds. I look down. The lake isn't made of water but of reflective metal. The metal stained my orange fur. I try to run but the more I move the more gets on my fur and the harder it is to run. I can't move. I'm breathing heavy; a red orange glow appears on the metal. In the distance the metal has caught on fire. I frantically strain to escape the fire, death is imminent.
I wake to the night sky. Not too far to go now...
~~
A few days have passed since we came to Mainhattan and we have an appointment with the new leader of this city. To our surprise it's a familiar face a Pink Party Pony.
"Oh mi gosh! Oh mi Gosh!!"
"Pinkie Pie!?!"
"Scootaloo! Sweetie Belle! How long has it been!?"
"About four years"
"Golly! Look at you two! You're practically adults! Well what has happened with you two!?"
"What has happened with you leader of Mainhattan?"
"Silly Willie I know what happened to me why would I want to talk about that"
"I guess... Well..."
"By the way whatsoever happened to the rest of my friends?"
"Death"
"Silly filly speak up"
"They’re all dead...!" The room went silent and pinkie's hair noticeably deflated.
"Oh..."
"I'm sorry"
"You can stay in my town for a while if you wish."
"Thanks"
We stayed for two month before it happened. We were selected as sacrifices.
I never really interacted with Pinkie Pie before we met in Mainhattan. I mean I knew she was friends with Rainbow and Sweeties sister. But I never really interacted with her beyond her telling me how Equestria was created. In those two months she presented herself as a sympathetic leader stuck between a rock and a hard place. She appeared pained as she announced the few ponies that would be sacrificed every month. When our names where picked she looked devastated. Like all the others before us, we were shepherded into the special room.
With that, her demeanor changed. A creepy smile crept across her face. "You made me resign to my fate chitlin heha."
"What Pinkie!?"
"You know Scoota I never really like that nickname.. But silly that is neither here nor there. Seriously I really ,really, really am grateful you came. One of the stipulations that arose after I sold my self to the Corrosion was to escape that... horrible farm. Did you ever meet my sister... I love her but she is a little teenie weenie bit of a buzz kill if I do say so myself. But that isn't what I'm talking about gosh stay on focus Pinkie... Darn now I'm using that nickname. What was I talking about..."
"Corrosion?" I offered
"What..? yes yes... Well when I sold my soul to them I never thought I would make friends... Slightly ironic in hindsight. Hehehe... But I needed information so I was reeeeaaaally friendly with everypony. Most friends I made were of little import... But the five where different. I... Well silly me... I loved them..."
"What!?"
"Yeah they were the best of friends. Not like Lyra and bonbons 'best friends' no we weren't lovers... Nonononononononono..... Silly chillie. And so I asked... Begged for them to be saved... And they agreed"
"But they're dead!?"
"Silly Filly... I know and now that I have nothing I..." A look of pain and guilt flashed over Pinkie Pies face... "I'm free to resign to the blackness inside."
Pinkie looked like she was trying to convince herself more than us. In a second, all the guilt, pain and anguish was gone and the creepy smile was back. She looked at us as she vomited the black ooze onto the floor. As it hit the floor it bounced... No, it jumped up at us and grabbed us, sucking us inside of it.
The blackness was paramount.
It felt both freeing and suffocating.
Then I was out of it. Pinkie was gone and I was alone.
The room I was in looked like something out of a SciFi horror story. Metallic and dark. Sharply angler and strangely confining. Black corrosion was seeping out from pipes that where up above, in place of a ceiling. I was placed on a metal protrusion. I rolled onto the ground only to realize it was a metal grate over more pipes. I don't know how long I was stuck inside that room. It could have been a few hours, it might have been weeks. Eventually some of Denizens of The Far-off Land entered and hooked me up to a metal device. Their language was unintelligible but they kept spewing it at me as they strapped me into the device. Then they stuck needles into my neck my legs and... My wings.
~~
Down in the valley where I see what I need, I also see twenty odd stallions and fillies. I know I will need to use them and begrudgingly spread my menacing wings. Over my neck and legs black veins of the corrosion flows into my wings. Far larger than even Alicorn wings they span. Blackness darker then the night they expand, fearsome in there grandeur. Adorning them is black armor made from crystalized corrosion placed to protect the bones of my wings. To add to everything else there are boots like that of the late princesses that manifest around my hoofs.
~~
The pain from the corrosion entering my body was excruciating. I thought I was dying numerous times over. In hindsight death might have been preferable to...
My new wings grew slowly at first as they gradually increased in size. Pain was replaced by comprehension of the plan the Denizens of The Far-off Land was seeking. It was a predictable plan about taking over everything, assimilation and extermination. But much to my horror, my consciousness remained. I wasn't in control but I was still in there. I still couldn't understand the beast of Denizens of The Far-off Land but it seemed my body did. I'm not sure why the corrosion didn't affect me like the others.
Never the less they lead and my body followed. As I walked I looked around and saw they had other pegasus ponies with similar wings as mine, but no wings as grandiose. I ascertained I was to be the leader of their pegusus army. They led me to a met up with the other three leaders.
The leader of the unicorns was My Sweetie belle her once beautiful vanilla horn was now a black monstrosity. Slowly from the tip emanated a few tendrils of black mist that drifted around her head in a circular fashion. Her white fur streaked with black veins of corrosion. Her eyes black as the corrosion on her horn. My heart hurt seeing her like that.
In charge of the earth ponies was Pinkie looking slightly upset.
"Well I’m not sure you can still understand me but... I am sorry... This is not..."
I looked around the room we had congregated in. It had a large door. As I watched the door opened to reveal the Crystal Kingdom. We stepped out of the black ooze and attacked. My wings were mighty and to be feared. They shot out beams of the black corrosion. When the Crystal denizens defended their city, they were no match. For our fearsome army overpowered the fractured remains of the Equestrian army. All seemed lost till I was blindsided by a powerful blast of magic, knocking me unconscious.
I awoke on the streets of the Crystal Kingdom back in control of my facilities. My anger overflowing. I turned the tide of the war. My will overpowered the corrosion. It was my corrosion now, not the enemy's. The tide had turned and the battle was over in minutes. I was shackled by the guards of that Crystal City and taken to meet the remaining Alicorns, Luna and Cadence. "Young Pegasus, what are you?"
"I... I don't know..."
"I think in have seen you some where before..."
"Maybe... I guess... I lived near Princess Twilight so years ago. I know you visited."
"Yeah maybe"
"We know our subjects. This little one is Scootaloo. We helped her within her dreams. Scared in the forest if we recall correctly?"
"I'm flattered a Princess remembers me." Slight heat on my face notified me I was blushing. "Why are you speaking so loudly..? Princess?"
"We are using Traditional Royal War Time Voice. I think it’s alright to speak normally right now. Now my young filly why have you sided with the enemy?"
"What!? I... I... I don't know if you will believe me but I will try..." I told them of my adventures and they listened.
"I... We don't know if we can trust you..."
"I understand princess... But I wish to help... Not just me... I want... I want to save... S-Sweetie Belle..." I looked down and started to cry.
I unabashedly weep in front of them, they comfort me.
~~
That night I had my first nightmare.
~~
The poor fools defending what I seek, they didn't stand a chance. Now I start the long trek back to our old tree house.
~~
Many battles I fought with my... fellow... ponies. Many fell under my hoofs. Battles where won, my will to control the corrosion seems to be the decisive factor.
It was a lonely day in the middle of the desert when I finally faced my Sweetie Belle.
"I don't want to fight you Sweetie"
"I know"
"I still... I still love you"
She looked down then back to me "I know"
I sigh, knowing I can't talk sense to her in this state. I fly and shoot out beams of corrosion. She counters with a black magic shield. Then she attacks me with a beam of dark magic. I easily avoid it and shoot back two beams of my own. The battle was decided before we even started; poor Sweetie was hampered by the enemy control and couldn’t react effectively. I greatly out classed her but I hesitated to strike the final blow hoping that I could save her. I noticed that during our fight she was crying and I knew she was in there.
Much to my dismay though I saw that the enemy wouldn’t give up their grasp on her and I might just have to kill her to win this fight. So I stayed my hoof, but she was too weak to take advantage of what I had given her. A stray beam of her magic collided with the side of a cliff causing an avalanche and trapping her under rocks. The blackness left her eyes as I watched her taking her last breaths. Distraught I approach her mangled body.
“I’m sorry” Tears in eyes as she spoke.
“No,” I interjected, unable to process what was going on, “It’s my fault”
“I couldn’t fight off the mind control… I didn’t… I never wanted to fight you”
“Don’t be silly I know that… It was the corrosion messing with your mind…”
She coughed and I knew she was running out of time. “I’m sorry I couldn’t rescue you from the…”
“That doesn’t matter right now. My silly little Scootaloo. We must enjoy our time together…”
I will never forget the last few minutes of her life but it’s too painful to recount here.
~~
I have almost reached the tree house.
Only a few days after defeating Pinkie Pie, Corrosion surrendered and the rest of the ponies fell out from under the control of the enemy. I scoured the land and snuffed out any last pockets of enemies or free willed corrosion. Along my journey I found the Scooter that Apple B had made for me, along with her note.
~~
Dear you two,
I hope you're fine, I have made this device able to travel in-between dimensions.
Granted it’s not done but we are under attack and you two make such a cute couple…
Well I just wanted you two to survive…
It’s not like I really have anyone or anything to live for anymore.
And I hope you two… well.. live happily ever after…
The two things you need are an Intonalble flagon and an Incandescent Filippityfloo.
I have included a brief sketch of where they might be and where you need to install them on the scooter.
Please live happily… Apple B
Oh the irony…
~~
After the trek to back to the Tree-house, I reconstructed the scooter and take one last look at my battle scarred land full of despair and death and enter into this new world.