//------------------------------// // 20 // Story: Choice // by AnOrdinaryWriter //------------------------------// You head to the path and face the left way, and from there, you just start walking. Celestia knows where you’ll end up, or how long it will take for you to end up anywhere besides another part of the desert, but surely you’ll come across something. You only hope that happens before you die of dehydration out here. Holding onto that hope tightly, you travel down the path toward a horizon that doesn’t promise anything. You could literally end up anywhere. There are endless possibilities waiting for you down this road, and if you are to recite every single possible possibility, the possibility of explaining the possibilities is possibly impossible to explain in under a possible twenty four possible hours! It’s like throwing a dart blindly at a dartboard. It could land anywhere. Or, it could miss the board completely, and you’ll end up nowhere. There is no telling where that dart is going to hit, so all you can do is wait until the dart hits the board and see for yourself. It’s like… adventure! Wait… on second thought, that’s scary. There really could be anything at the end of this road. So, what if you never get home? What if you end up in some town that’s miles away from Ponyville and you don’t know how to get back? Now you’re not so enthusiastic about this. Maybe you should go the other way. But what if that way leads even farther nowhere? Too many possibilities, it’s filling with your brain, messing with your head. It’s too much to fathom; you can’t wrap your mind around— No! …You chose to go left, so that’s what you’re going to do. You continue to walk toward the edge of the world, currently slightly yellow and hazy from the blistering heat. After all, you could end up somewhere good, or the path might even lead directly home. The pessimism filters out of your mind and optimism restores the confidence in your steps. You follow the path to see where it takes you. Whatever is at the end, you’re ready for it. *** The slight edge of yellow in the sky has now spread across the entire sky. Most of it has quickly given way to darkness, the sun just barely peeking over the edge of the globe. You are tired, sweat practically pouring from your face and down your legs in pearls. You are desperate for water, and your energy has almost completely run out, but luckily, you may have finally ended up somewhere. In front of you, the desert ends, sand giving away to grass and in front of that is a green hill. You start to approach it. Suddenly, the ground shakes violently as a sharp bang pierces the air. You can barely hold your balance since your body is so weak. The sound came from the other side of the hill, but as to what caused it, you can’t even make an educated guess. You start climbing the hill, but as you climb, another earthquake throws you off balance. Speed walking up the rest of the hill, you stare toward the source of the noise. And then your mental health degrades. It’s Ponyville, but the town has been destroyed. Houses lie crumbled to dust, and the only recognizable feature is Twilight Sparkle’s castle, which is still standing tall unlike the rest of the town. That is, until a giant orange hoof comes down and crushes it to smithereens. A hoof that belongs to a colossal sized pony that casts a large shadow over the entire landscape You blink. You blink again. You blink for a third time. Its still there. An orange pegasus larger than Tirek when he contained all the alicorn magic in Equestria, with a purple messy mane and rose eyes, as well as a large, goofy smile. You blink for the umpteenth time, but to your—strangely enough—apathy, the monstrosity is still there. A giant Scootaloo. Your eyes follow the giant orange mare as she suddenly lifts upwards slightly into the air. “I LOVE RAINBOW DASH!!” she bellows, the young, high-pitched voice enough to cause shards of glass on the ground to split into invisible particles and you to go almost entirely deaf. The gigantic Scootaloo comes back down again, a few unfortunate ponies who could not react in time being crushed under the hooves of the dumbest threat Equestria has witnessed yet. The whole ground shakes again, knocking you onto your rump, but you’re too captured by the sight to get back up. It’s no sooner that another giant Scootaloo walks in from the edge of your vision, joining in on the destruction of Ponyville. And then another comes in. Then another. Then another. Consistently, they shout cheerful statements into the air. “I LOVE RAINBOW DASH!” “RAINBOW DASH IS BEST PONY!” “RAINBOW DASH IS LOVE, RAINBOW DASH IS LIFE!” You simply watch as the Scootaloos crush whatever of Ponyville is still standing. Normally a pony would be shocked, or scared, or something along those lines. But all things considered, what with all the recent invasions Equestria has seen, this seems normal. Your head tilts upward as one of the large hooves rises over your head. The world darkens quickly, and the hoof begins to descend. Darkness swarms in from every direction and you merely watch as your demise comes closer and closer. Because honestly, whatever. The hoof makes it to the ground, and your whole vision goes black. …ALRIGHT. | ENDING 13 OF 17 BAD ENDING Start Over?