‘Revelation 21:6 - It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.’
“Go, catch those bastards and make them pay! They’re a blight to this world and they need to be caught!” Cole commanded.
Twilight nodded and immediately ran after the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000. It was still having trouble moving, but that was overwritten by the fact that it was moving downhill. Cole hoped that the bookworm would be able to run the distance. The weather changed almost instantly as the morning sun was replaced by an afternoon drizzle. It pelted the grass, mud, and the detective.
Putting his observation of the environment aside, he ran towards the dam. His shoes began to go deeper into the mud ground as some had even started to get kicked up to his face. It would normally stay but the rain washed him off. It was just what he needed. The trees seemed to be endless, going on forever. He just wanted to reach the end already and save his caretaker, his friend, his Rarity.
The dam seemed so large now that he was getting closer. It was intimidating, really. If the two brothers were true to their word, then seeing the damn explode and all of its contents, leak, would be horrendous. He had been in a sewer before, the sweeping force which caused him to end up here. But never had he ever been nervous about dying as much as he was now. Before, the water current was controlled, only going a certain amount and in a constant direction. But this dam, it was just so....large.
Cole shook his head and snapped back to reality. He needed to find Rarity. His pace quickened, not even straining the high school track runner. He was passing by trees even faster, perhaps even faster than a bicycle could travel. He squinted his eyes to get a better view of the distance and he saw it. He saw the lovable purple mane along with the white coat. Just as they had said, Rarity was tied up right in front of the dam.
Phelps ran faster than he could have ever in his entire life. Everything zipped by as he almost instantly reached Rarity, who was tied up, and gagged. He took off the tape that was on her mouth gently, to which she smiled at him and thanked him. She tried to wriggle, but it caused dirt to stain on her clean fur. This only caused her to react even more, staining herself and the detective all over. After untying the mare, she got up on her hooves and smiled sheepishly.
“Now would you kindly carry me? I need to get to the spa, immediately!”
Cole was irritated. He started to yell at her. “You had me worried this entire time, and you get caught, and the first thing you say to me is going to the spa?!”
Rarity nuzzled his side as she looked up at him with big eyes. “I knew you were going to save me, sweetie.”
Cole sighed, and then bent down to pick her up. As he tried to move though, the ground began to shake.
*Boom*
The two looked up and saw what was the cause of the vibration disturbance. An explosion had just went off near the top of the dam, causing visible cracks to form in various spots.
“That’s not good.”
“No, it isn’t.” Rarity replied.
They both turned back to the forest and Cole started to run, Rarity on his back. But there was something about the floor. He looked down and saw his feet completely buried in mud. The rain had been so heavy that the mud was completely watered and was now sloshy. Cole tried to pick his feet up but they took minutes. At the rate he was going, they wouldn’t be able to get out safely.
“Can’t you use your magic to teleport us?”
“I can try...” Rarity scrunched her face as her horn began to light up. But just as it did, multiple larger explosions occurred, causing Phelps to lose his balance and fall to the ground, Rarity in tow.
They looked up and massive amounts of water began leaking. There were barely any explosives left. The two looked to each other and came to the same conclusion. Using magic would detonate the bombs. Cole picked himself up and carried Rarity in his arms. He looked down to her and tried as much as he could to walk. Again, he barely could as more explosions followed.
“What are we going to do, Cole?!” Rarity started to panic.
There was still one bomb left. Already, streams of water were flowing down, pushing Cole and Rarity against it. Phelps could barely hold on any longer, for if he tried, the current would carry them to wherever. Realizing his only option, Cole looked and Rarity and smiled warmly.
“Brace yourself.” He threw her to the side, as close to the forest as possible, before she could even speak.
She got up and looked like she was furious. “What are you doing?!”
“It’s the only way, Rare. It has to be like this.”
“You idiot! We...we could’ve done something else..” She started to realize what he meant. Tears formed around her eyes, already imagining what was about to happen.
*Boom*
All remaining parts of the dam were destroyed, causing a giant waterfall to descend on Cole Phelps’ position. Cole looked up and embraced his fate. He turned to Rarity who was still staring at him with awe-struck eyes.
“Don’t go...” Rarity pleaded.
“Goodbye.”
Those were Cole Phelps’ last words. He waved her farewell as the wave of the water struck him heavily. Within mere moments, he was carried away and out of sight. And just before he left, he gave Rarity an endearing final word. Rarity was there, on her haunches, unsure of what to do. She tried to reason with herself that the flood would end and she would find him on a beach or some other, washed up and unconscious. But she knew. She knew that that was the end.
She didn’t want to accept the realization, but it was there. All she could do was remember that final image of Cole Phelps as he looked at her and said goodbye.
“Cole....”
It took the rest of the day, but the Royal Guards had found Cole Phelps. They left him in his original spot as two mares walked up to the still body. Twilight looked on and started to cry. His body was cold, wet, and no longer living. Rarity had still not come to terms with his death, though. In her mind, he was taking a deep sleep. So she trotted to his side, and began to pat his chest to wake him up.
“Wake up. Wake up. Wake up!” She went from soft taps to hard punches. She was angry with Cole for leaving her. He just left her like that. She just wanted things back to normal. But things would never be the same again. She took his things and kept them as memoirs.
After that day, his funeral was given. Still though, Rarity had not accepted his death. To her, he was just waiting for the right time to wake up. And so, after the funeral, she went home and made new suits for him non-stop. She made a total of a hundred suits before somepony stopped her. She took this time to rest.
The day after Cole Phelps’ funeral, everything changed. She went inside of Cole’s old room and laid down on the bed. She rolled around a bit before walking inside of the bathroom. It was empty and had not been in use since...that day. But she continued to stroll around the room, leaving everything in its original spot, save for the bed. She went over to the dresser and began to search the contents. There were things like Cole’s badge, his wallet, and some other personal possessions. She accidentally moved her hoof forward and knocked the drawer out.
She began to pick things back up when something caught her eye. It was a note of some sorts. So she went over to it and picked it up, reading it.
“Journal...I have no idea what the date is,
Haven’t written in here since the last days of Arson. Starting to feel crazy. Maybe it’s the paranoia setting in. I still can’t believe just a day or two ago, I ended up in this place full of ponies and mythical creatures. To think, I only have the stuff I had on me when that sewer even happened. I wish I had a copy of some Shakespeare on me. Maybe some Rudyard Kipling. I’m not sure how I can take this, though. It’s like some weird dream. I want to know if this is real or not. That Rarity’s been way too nice these days and I’m starting to get edgy. One of these days, I’m going to end up dead or wake up dead. If I do die, where am I going to end up? This seems like heaven....for kids. I’ll have to see when I die, I guess. Hopefully, I don’t die from stabbing myself, drinking poison, or getting trapped in a walled up basement winery, right? Heh....I don’t know what to write. Life is way too strange nowadays. But my mom always said to me ‘Live. Live for the future. Live for me.’ Kind of inspirational. I think this would be my last message to everyone. Well, whoever cared.
Signing off for the last time..?
C.P Cole Phelps”
Rarity’s heart changed. It was like a weight was lifted off of it. She breathed in deeply as her face was covered in streams of tears. Her eyes were like the dam, themselves.
“He’s dead. He’s been dead this whole time. He said...goodbye. And he was happy with what he did.” She looked out of the open window, at the rising sun. “He saved me.”