//------------------------------// // Alternate Ending: An Unnecessary Evil // Story: Their Otherworldly Grace // by MonoGlyph //------------------------------// …But this is not what occurred. You, who found this journal upon the ashes of the nation, already know this. The happy ending I have included here, wherein I realize my mistake and throw myself to the mercy of my fellows is patently false. I wrote it for my own sake, as a method of denying what’s happened. It has not helped. I end this book here, in the Gray Domain, facing the harsh light of the truth. My existence is beyond your comprehension now, and pray it remains so. I am a lonesome deity, left to wallow in the cold seas of regret. For eternity. I cast these pages through the void, in the hopes that they would find their way to the upper planes. If you’re reading this, my gamble appears successful. Learn from my mistakes. The deal I struck with the Other Gods was sordid. I would wish it upon none other. What follows is a rewrite of the finale. It is closer to the truth. “I can hardly believe you would debase yourself like this,” hissed Rarity. “What you’ve done to Equestria…” She paused for dramatic effect. “…is absolutely evil!” I was unimpressed. “Is that really the word you would use to describe what I’ve accomplished here? There are motivations behind every action, Rarity. To classify them as good or evil is childish. Narrow-minded. Discard your outdated conceptions of morality. They will serve no purpose where we’re headed.” “Rainbow Dash is crippled because of you! And Fluttershy’s d-DEAD!” Pinkie and Spike turned to Rarity, mouths agape. Solitaire looked at me, gauging my response. “Is that right?” I asked casually. My next question was laced with venom. “So what?” Silence fell over the study once more. The group stared at me, horror and disbelief slowly spreading across their features. “You bear witness to the pain and suffering of life in this imperfect world. I will take all that away. Come with me, and we will all see a brilliant utopia in a world without death. My actions here are for the greater good of the species.” Rarity leapt at me. “You… You’re NOT Twilight!” I smacked her away with my left. She rebounded against one of the tables, knocking it over. “Oh grow up,” I said in a disinterested tone. The light coming from Celestia’s horn intensified. “That’s enough. You’ve gone entirely too far.” “You think so?” I turned back to her. “I’m curious. As the Princess, as my teacher, would you be willing to kill me for the sake of Equestria as a whole? Hmm?” The next instant I was thrown backwards by a terrific lightning bolt. When I tried to get up I saw that I was paralyzed. A few stray sparks leapt from her horn as Princess Celestia stood over me. I looked defiantly at her. “Nice shot. Now do it. End me.” Spike looked away. Solitaire stared intently at the Princess, but did not intervene. No killing strike followed. She faltered, just as the soldier guarding the shield earlier. All as expected. As the feeling crept back into my body, I wrapped my tentacles around her neck and stood up. She fell to her knees, struggling to breathe. “Disappointing. You are no different from the rest. Unwilling to make sacrifices, even with the kingdom on the line.” I chuckled quietly. “In your position, that is simply unacceptable.” I allowed the volume of my voice to climb a few notches as I looked at the others. “Who are YOU to criticize my methods? You think this path was easy for me to follow? It wasn’t. But I stepped forward to improve our miserable existence where nopony else was willing. Did you support me? NO. “ “Geez Louise, you didn’t even tell us what you were up to!” Pinkie exclaimed. “That being said, friends don’t let friends open portals to… to…” “…To the Dungeon Dimensions,” Rarity finished weakly. Something started to happen outside. The various lights around Canterlot left their sources and raced towards Azherkin hovering above. The Other God was collecting energy. Solitaire took out a pocket watch and glanced at it theatrically. “The hour is here.” The candles on the chandelier flickered out. Darkness spilled across the study. I released my grip on the Princess and stepped back. “This is your last chance,” I told them. “If you wish to return things to the way they were, step forward. Step forward with killing intent.” My blackened left eye saw them through the inky darkness. They were advancing towards me. Good. I was itching to settle things once and for all. Solitaire moved to intercept but I pushed him aside. “No. I don’t need you for this.” “Suit yourself.” The group was at a disadvantage. Unlike me, they could not see in the dark. I was able to land several substantial strikes on Rarity before she retreated to catch her breath and recover. Spike blew a couple puffs of green flame that illuminated the chamber for a few moments. Pinkie leapt forward. She opened with a couple of feints. While I threw up my left to block, she tripped me up with a sweep of her tail. Her tactics took me completely by surprise. I wondered if she’d done this before. Somehow that seemed unlikely. “No hard feelings, right Twilight?” I grabbed one of her pasterns and tossed her aside. “Not at all.” My eye focused on a light near the entrance. Princess Celestia was standing there, charging a finishing spell while the others distracted me. “I’m sorry I have to do this,” she whispered. The words cut through the fight like a cleaver. I tried to cast a defensive charm but was not fast enough. An invisible force collided with my body and I was thrown backwards. I hit hard against the eastern window, easily breaking through it. “Well done,” I said to nopony in particular as I fell through the freezing night air. The wind swept my words away. I had cleared the edge of Canterlot, and was sailing into the valley. I started to spin as I tried to get into a more comfortable position. Far below, the earth was racing to meet me. With nothing left to do, I screamed. But I did not die here. The cliffs began to stretch, and the ground fell away. My screams gave way to laughter. It was too late to change a thing. The Gray Domain flashed thrice before my eyes and then… I was above the great shielded city, gazing upon it with silent fury. My voice echoed through the abandoned streets and alleys. “Your ideals are worthless. They will perish alongside you. Farewell.” The stone and mortar that comprised the city broke apart and fell upwards. Most of the ponies inside the buildings were vaporized. In Ponyville, all was destroyed in an instant. The shops, the schools, the hospital… Everything was taken apart along with the liars and the looters. Cloudsdale fared no better. The pegasus outpost was swallowed in its entirety. Azherkin had made His judgment. Equestria’s inhabitants were determined to be far too shortsighted to live. I drifted through the infinite gray expanse, looking over the hills and meadows I once knew. How cold and lifeless they now seemed. I would not see my friends again. My only company now would be the Other Gods. I had become one of them, as I wished. These endless leagues of nothingness, punctuated by alien landmasses would become my home. A vast unknowable dreamscape for me to explore. A seamless world of grays, larger than any planet, larger perhaps than the known universe. I looked upon my hosts, massive creatures of whom Azherkin was just one, and I wondered. Was it all worth it? In time it changed me, their otherworldly grace.