//------------------------------// // Cold Reality (Edited) // Story: Final Fantasy: Twilight Elysium // by Matrix7o6 //------------------------------// Final Fantasy: Twilight Elysium Chapter 1: Cold Reality The end of another threat to Equestria was marked by the screams of the changeling queen being propelled into the Badlands. Ponies erupted with cheer as her army went away with her. Among the celebrating equines, one lavender colored unicorn just stood watched. For everypony else this was a victory; one for the ages, that will be talked about heartily. Yet, for her this was complete and utter defeat; this unicorn was betrayed. By the friends, family, and mentor she swore to stand with no matter the price. Betrayed by the very equines cheering and jumping around her, blissfully ignorant of how they wronged her. But let’s face it; you’ve heard this story before. She’s been through the same scenario many times, and even she is unaware of it. She has screamed, cried, she has even gnashed her teeth at those she once called friends and family. She has even destroyed the lavish decorations coating the walls out of spite. Now, she can only feel pain and sadness. This is truly a dark day for her; the unicorn named Twilight Sparkle. Though her loved ones have shown they haven’t a need for her, she is needed in another place; another time. Fate has a funny way of throwing twists and turns in our paths. Little does she know, this particular twist in fate has set her path on a new course. Bonds will be forged, love found. Kingdoms will rise, darkness will fall, and blood will shed. And from it all a new Twilight will arise. For now, it all begins with a wound that cannot be healed. But do not fret, for Twilight Sparkle’s new journey is about to begin. Twilight continued to stand quietly while her friends celebrated the banishment of the changeling queen, Chrysalis. Their sounds of joy were deafened by the ponies outside. “It’s over!” Pinkie Pie cried as she jumped up and down. She finally started to settle down as Princess Celestia made her way toward the nearly-wedded couple; Shining Armor and Princess Cadence. “Are you alright?” Cadence asks the solar monarch. “I’m just fine,” Celestia replies. She offers a reassuring smile for her niece. “Now, you two have a real wedding to prepare.” Twilight’s eyes widened at her mentor’s statement. “You can’t be serious?” she scoffs. Her sentiments were drowned by the rest of her friends cheering for the prospect of the wedding resuming. “Darling, our dresses are still tattered from that brute’s attempt of a take-over,” Rarity chimed. “I’ll need a little time to repair them.” “That’s okay!” Pinkie shouts, already working to clean up the decorations that didn’t survive the scuffle. “While you do that, I can bake another super-duper-uper wedding cake! We’ll make it a wedding slash saving Equestria party!” “Ah reckon ah better help clean up too,” Applejack adds. She quickly joins Pinkie with a broom. “Darn varments made a mess of everthin’. This day was gonna be perfect.” She turns to face Cadence. “Ah’m sorry, yer majesty.” “It’s quite alright,” Cadence assures her. Twilight was gritting her teeth, her silence unnoticed by a single pony around her. Look at them, she thought. Happy… cheerful… Ignorant of what might’ve happened had I not been here. “Aw, yeah! I can perform my sonic-rainboom for the occasion,” Rainbow Dash offers. Twilight rolls her eyes at the suggestion. “I-if it’s fine with you, I might be able t get my birds to sing for you again, if they’re not too scared.” Fluttershy’s voice was just above a whisper. Cadence walks to her and smiles. “Of course I’d love to hear them again,” she says, smiling bigger. Everypony turned their eyes and smiles toward Twilight. Only now did anypony start to think that something might be wrong. “Twiley,” Shining Armor said, trotting up to his sister. “I’m so sorry. I should have believed you- we ALL should have believed you. You saved us, and now thanks to you the wedding can go on.” He smiles brightly. “But it’s not gonna be a real wedding without my sister by my side. I want you with me Twiley, as you always should’ve been.” He embraces her. “I’m not getting married unless I have my LSBF-“ “Then I guess you’re not going to be getting married at all,” she interrupts. She looks at him with a blank stare. “You all can count me out; I don’t want to be a part of anything you guys are planning anymore, Brother.” Her words sent shockwaves throughout the entire wedding hall. Never in their craziest dreams would anyone think Twilight would speak like this. As an attempt to break the tension, Pinkie comically pokes her head between the two. “What’s wrong Twilight?” “What’s wrong?” Her eyes squinted in anger. “What’s wrong?” She looks around at everyone. “After everything? After being betrayed by my friends, my mentor, and my own brother? Oh!” She’s stomping around Pinkie now. “Let us not forget that I was captured, and tossed in the Catacombs.” Pinkie was beginning to get a little frightened by the unicorn’s slowly-rising voice. “The Catacombs, which everypony thought to be a make-believe place. I would most likely have starved to death had I not found Cadence, because you all surely would not have found me.” She’s almost screaming now. “And that my so-called ‘friends’ walked out on me. Now after this whole debacle Pinkie, you of all ponies,” her voice goes calm, “have the guts to ask me ‘what’s wrong?” Applejack felt that things were starting to go south, so she steps beside Pinkie. “Yeah, we sud’ve listened to ya, Twilight. But you were goin’ ‘round screamin’ and hollerin’ that she was evil with no evide-“ “I know that!” Twilight shot back. “I understand that I needed proof. But, that is NOT the problem,” she huffed. “The problem is that I’m your friend. I would have at least thought I had some kind of credibility considering I’ve known Cadence longer than I’ve known any of you. It should have at least warranted a little second thought.” She stares at Applejack. “Come on, when have I ever foaled around when Equestria is at stake?” Applejack tried to find something to retort with, but she could only hang her head sadly. “Yer right. We weren’t there fer ya.” She looks up. “But we are now.” “Yeah, egghead. You know if we knew you in trouble we would not hesitate to help you,” Rainbow Dash added as she stepped beside Applejack and Pinkie. “I wish that were true,” Twilight muttered solemnly. “But nopony was using magic this time; this was all you.” She looked around at everyone again. “So since we’re all here, I have an announcement to make.” They looked at her questioningly. “You are not my friends anymore.” A collective gasp sounded between the ponies. Tears started forming in Fluttershy’s eyes as Twilight’s words were sinking in. “Y-you don’t mean th-that,” she stutters. “W-we know w-we messed up… and we c-can do better.” “You all have ran your chances with me out. I’m done being played as the fool. I’m done with you fair-weather friends. And I’m done putting my life on the line. Princess Celestia, you can find a new Element of Magic.” She glares at Celestia. “I quit.” Feeling as if she’d stayed quiet long enough, Celestia steps forward from the now-sobbing ponies. “My student, surely you don’t mean what you’re saying. I understand that your friends failed you this day.” She looks back at them, then to Twilight. “But holding a grudge against them is not going to fix anything.” Twilight’s glare deepened. “I don’t want to be fixed, Princess.” She looks down. “I just want to go home and put this day behind me. I don’t care anymore.” “We can fix this, darling,” Rarity tries between sobs. “We can make it up to you.” “You can,” Twilight says, her cold stare turning to Rarity. “You can start by never coming to my house again, unless you need a book. Also, you all can never speak to me again.” With a last look at eveypony, Twilight scoffs and slowly marches out of the wedding hall. In only a matter of minutes, the cheers and merriment had been replaced by sobs and grunts of surprise and sadness. With Twilight gone, it seems that this wedding will never happen. Cadence’s shock melted away and tears started welling in her eyes. All she could do was look to Celestia. “What did you do?” Her words were slow. Celestia turned her gaze from the hall door to Cadence, unable to compose herself as a few tears of her own began to fall. “I failed her.”