POV: Twilight
While the 4th was occupied with clearing and securing the city, Markus took us towards the Palace, where we would hopefully find Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. We mainly went through side-alleys and small passageways to avoid running into any cultists along the way. Though, it appeared as if this was unnecessary, as we didn’t see any cultists at all. Tentatively, we went for the more open streets that provided a shorter route to the palace, always keeping our eyes and ears sharp for anything that might be lurking for us.
The further we went from the walls, the more unsettling it got. Nopony was there, not even civilians or cultists hiding in the buildings. An eerie silence hung over us that was only slightly filled with the distant sounds of fighting that was still going on everywhere in the city. Everywhere but where we were.
We slowed our pace a little, so we could react faster when we ran into a trap. It had to be a trap. Even if Canterlot was currently held by cultists, shouldn’t there at least be some civilians still hiding in the buildings? The thought of what could’ve happened to them sent a shudder down my spine and I quickly pressed the thought out of my mind to focus on what was important right now.
We reached the palace and found that it, too, seemed completely vacant. No cultists trying to break into it. No guards trying to defend it. Not even the princesses, blasting away whatever cultist may harm their little ponies!
Slowly, we went over to the main entrance, where we paused for a moment. Markus looked in through the windows, but could see nothing. He looked through the gap under the doors and still saw nothing. Then, when he was sure that there was nopony behind the door, he slowly opened it… only to quickly slam it shut again and dart back in front of us.
I barely managed to erect a shield before a massive explosion blew us away all the way back to the palace gates. The doors had been rigged with an explosive rune which Markus only saw when the door was opened.
We scrambled back to our hooves and feet as quickly as we could, but found that we were already completely surrounded by cultists who seemed like they were only awaiting a signal to blast us to Tartarus. The Pony who would give that signal was also not hard to find, as he stood out quite a bit from the rest. It was a massive, brown stallion who wore the same white frock as the rest of them and had his hood pulled over half of his face so we couldn’t see his eyes.
“I see our guests have finally arrived.” He said in a low, booming voice that was so powerful it shook the earth beneath us.
“HEY! That’s the bucker we saw in that cave!” Rainbow seemed completely unfazed by his presence, which I found, and still find, truly remarkable, given that I was shaking from head to tail.
“Language, Rainbow. You wouldn’t want to anger our ‘host’, would you?” Markus chided. He was calm, as always. His voice didn’t carry a hint of fear and he stood upright directly in front of the stallion that had now become our captor.
“Good. At least one of you understands the situation you are in. Tell me, human, what do these harmonist weaklings offer you to fight for them?”
“May I take from that question that you intend to make me a better offer?” Markus asked with a smirk.
The stallion smiled slightly from under his hood. “Join our cause. In exchange, I can guarantee that none of the ponies you care about will be hurt. I can make you powerful enough that you can even see to that yourself. To that, I can give you my word as a Gentlecolt.”
Markus smirked again, before he let his head fall forward and shook his head. “I am very sorry, but I have to refuse. As much as I’d like to know that those I hold dear are safe, I have made an oath to protect everyone that is in need of protection. Following this oath, I am sadly forced to oppose you. As a ‘Gentlecolt’, I hope you understand this.”
The stallion’s smile fell and his tone became just a hint more menacing, which still was plenty to give me the urge to run. “Fine. Have it your way then. I hope you are prepared to die, because your resistance is futile.”
I was watching their exchange with mild confusion. Up until when Markus refused the offer, one could have thought that they were simply sitting together, enjoying tea and talking about the weather, were it not for the meaning their words actually held. To this day, I still don’t know how Markus could speak to a villain as if he was a close friend of his and maybe even actually treat him as such.
My thoughts were scattered by the sound of galloping hooves closing in from behind us, followed by skidding, before I then saw Overdrive, Mystic and three others come to a halt beside us.
“Ah, even more guests have arrived.” The stallion said, as he laid eyes upon them. “Still, you won’t be able to stop us anymore, Captain. We have the princesses and you surrounded and it’s only a matter of time until they run out of food.”
“We won’t let you have so much time. You know that we are not the only Guards here.” The captain said firmly.
At that, the brown stallion let out an almost devilish laugh, before a menacing smile became visible from under his hood.
“Maybe you aren’t the only ones here, but you are the only ones that still don’t know, which side to choose.”
Suddenly, I saw multiple sets of golden armour come into view from behind the cultists with Shining Armor walking out from behind the brown stallion.
Mystic became very agitated the second she saw Shining Armor, but I stayed calm… for once. This was probably the moment those two had been waiting for all this time and I could bet that they were already planning out, how to deal with all this trouble.
“Now that you’ve shown us the traitor, why not also show us your disciple?” Markus suddenly said, before looking over to Overdrive.
Disciple?! We have a traitor here?! I thought, now looking over to Overdrive as well.
“Overdrive.” The brown stallion’s voice boomed with anger, “It seems, you have failed me again.”
Overdrive lowered his head and pressed his ears back, while slowly walking forward. “Y-Yes, I’m sorry, my master, but-”
“KEEP YOUR MEAGER EXCUSES! YOU HAVE FAILED ME TOO OFTEN, OVERDRIVE! YOU ARE A FAILURE!” He shouted at the Lieutenant, his voice echoing off the nearby buildings and Canterlot Mountain itself.
“I will give you one last chance to prove your worth.” The stallion then continued, “Remove those unwanted bystanders.”
Overdrive looked up again, this time wearing a maniacal smile. “Yes, my master.” He said. He then turned around, drew his pistol and pointed it at Mystic’s head. “Sorry, cutie, but your beauty will sadly be wasted.”
Mystic seemed panicked. Understandable, given that she was now faced with certain death. She looked around, trying to find something or somepony to help her. I wanted to help her, but Markus signalled me not to.
WHAT?! Is he really going to sacrifice Mystic?! I thought.
Mystic was now looking at Markus as well and seemed to calm down from it. I thought that maybe he wasn’t sacrificing her, but giving her signs on what to do. However, those thoughts were quickly proven false, when she just looked straight ahead again and closed her eyes.
I saw Overdrive slowly pull the trigger, probably relishing in this moment of power over his former ally’s life. Then, the hammer struck. The loud crack of a shot rang through my ears, but instead of Mystic falling backwards, I saw Overdrive’s pistol dismantle itself within his magic grasp. It seemed like Markus was using his magic to plug the barrel, causing it to burst from the pressure and rip the pistol apart.
Overdrive immediately dropped his former weapon and spun around, only to look at his master who looked more than just displeased with him.
“Please, I’m not done yet, I- AAAAAAAAH” His whimpers were cut short, as suddenly his skin and flesh started to dissolve and form into a red stream, that slowly made its way towards the stallion, who seemed to absorb it into himself. The internal organs followed suit until only bones were left, which then quickly turned to dust.
I had to fight the urge to vomit at the sight and I can’t imagine any of my friends or the ponies around us to fare any better. Even Mystic seemed to have difficulties to keep her lunch in.
“Now that my apprentice has failed, it seems that I will have to deal with you myself.” The stallion made a few steps towards Mystic, but was then suddenly met with a strong buck which threw him off to the side.
“Oh yeah? You’ll have to deal with me first.” Shining said and the guards around us took this as their cues to attack the closest cultist they could find.
The cult leader looked back over to Shining again and even though his eyes were still covered, one could see the confusion on his face. “Oh, you don’t get it? Well, let me help you: Markus and I have never been enemies! In fact, he has even shown me a few cool moves and helped me get better at strategies and-“
“Shining, you’re babbling.” Markus interrupted, earning him a sheepish smile from my brother.
“Yeah, right, sorry. Anyways: In the name of…” Shining turned back around only to see that the cult leader had used their short banter to flee the scene. Mystic, her squad and Shining immediately took up pursuit and I wanted to join in too, but Markus held me back.
“No, you need to find the princesses. Let us handle this.”
I looked up at him for a short moment, before I quickly nodded and went into the palace together with my friends.
The room they were held captive in wasn’t hard to find, given that it was the only room that was being besieged by cultists. We used the element of surprise to quickly deal with the few cultists that we found there before we knocked at the door and called out to those inside.
We heard furniture being moved on the other side before the door swung open and revealed Celestia, Luna and a few further guards. Celestia then quickly made a few steps forward and embraced me in a hug.
“I am very glad that you are safe, Twilight.” She said, before releasing me and looking around. “Isn’t Markus with you?”
“No, he is currently pursuing a brown stallion that seemed to be the leader of these cultists.” My answer seemed to pale both Celestia and Luna. Well, as far as that is even possible in Celestia’s case.
“That is not a good idea, Twilight Sparkle. This Pony is very strong. So strong in fact that our very own magic hadn’t dealt a scratch to him.”
Now it was my time to pale. If what Luna said was true then Markus could actually be vastly outmatched against this stallion.
“WHAT?! Does that mean we have nothing to fight him at all?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Celestia and Luna both looked at each other for a moment, before Celestia spoke up. “Well, there is a Spell that we know, but it has only been tested once until now and we will need all your power for this. With this spell, we can bundle our powers and use it as a weapon in a single, concentrated beam of magic.”
“Perfect, let’s go! We don’t have time to waste!” Rainbow flew off before any of us could say anything and we quickly followed her out, through the battle that was unfolding before the palace and down the street into which the stallion had fled.
A few moments later, we reached a small plaza and were greeted with a horrifying sight. Mystic and the squad were lying unconscious to the side while Shining barely held himself standing. Markus was meanwhile facing off against the stallion with his sword. His rifle lay off to the side with hundreds of casings littering the ground around him.
The stallion reared up on his hind hooves, before he came down on Markus with a mighty stomp. Markus, however, didn’t evade backwards but made a step forwards and pushed his sword up into the throat of the aggressor. It pierced through the neck and stuck out on the other side. Markus then swung the blade around and decapitated the stallion.
“Didn’t you say that Markus might have a problem dealing with him?” I asked, but Celestia didn’t even look at me.
“Do you really think that he would be still alive if it was that easy?” was her answer.
At that moment, the stallion’s body suddenly bucked out towards Markus, who barely managed to bring his sword in as a cover before it hit. Still, the force of the impact sent him rolling backwards quite a distance before he could right himself again.
Meanwhile, the headless body of the stallion stood there, seemingly looking at Markus, which must have been quite hard without a head. But speaking about the head: something was happening to it. It seemed like the exact same thing that happened to Overdrive, only that those parts that were dissolving were simultaneously forming themselves anew on the Stallion’s body. First the neck, then the lower jaw, followed by the upper jaw, the cranium and then the eyes.
However, when the eyes were restored, now without a hood to cover them, I came to see the source of his powers. In his pupils there sat two glowing red skulls. The markings of a Necromancer.
I instantly knew this meant trouble. Necromancers have always been a pain to deal with, not only for the normal ponies. Even for us, they could be deadly and so, instinctively, I tried to do something to save the most important thing to me first and called out: “MARKUS!”
Markus reacted, by looking my way. It was just for a split-second. Just a tiny moment, but it was enough. The stallion used this tiny moment of distraction to close the distance and hit Markus hard with a buck.
He flew off into a building and crashed through the wall. I let out another, pained cry: “MARKUS!” But Celestia stopped me, before I could do any more stupid.
“Quick, we need to cast the spell!”
I nodded and we held our horns together. Strong winds stared to pick up around us, as we bundled our energy and my friends behind us also sent theirs into the mix. Everything seemed to go well and we were just about ready to cast, when Rainbow was suddenly hit by a flying piece of debris. The energy fluctuated for just a short moment, before it was set free, completely out of our control, and hit the stallion.
However, it didn’t seem to do much, as he was still standing while we were completely exhausted and almost unable to move. The stallion looked over us with a triumphant smile and was just about to claim his prize, when a Rock hit him square in the face and caused some of the flesh around his eye to pop off. Just like before, though, the wound mended itself again, although it seemed to be far slower than when he lost his head.
I looked to where the Rock had come from and was flooded with joy, as I saw a slightly beaten, but not yet yielding Markus standing there with another rock at the ready. He threw it at the stallion again, which now gained him his full attention.
“So you are still alive. This time, I should make sure to dissolve you rather than just break your bones. It is time to end this!” He growled, but Markus seemed unfazed by this.
“Yes, I am still alive, as you can see. Although, I must say that you’ve scored a good one on me. And I have to agree: It is time to end this nonsense.” Markus said. He then started walking closer to the stallion.
Meanwhile, Mystic stirred awake again and Markus immediately addressed her. “Hey, Mystic, could you do me a favour? I need you to watch over these troublemakers for a while.”
He waved a hand in our general direction, before he then turned and faced us directly. As he did so, I could make out a glow on his chest that was slowly growing stronger and brighter.
“Pinkie, I want you to throw the biggest party Equestria has ever seen. Twilight:” He looked directly at me now and paused for a moment. He then gave me a reassuring smile and said: “I’ll be back.”
Suddenly, both, Markus and the stallion, vanished from sight, accompanied by a loud crack. I looked around to see where they may have gone and could barely make out a small dot in the distance, speeding off over the cliff and into the sky.
“Twilight!” The weak cry of my brother ripped me out of my daze and I bolted over to him and tried to help him, but all of a sudden I was blinded by a horrendously bright flash and as my vision slowly returned, I found that everything was now basked in a faint, orange glow.
I looked in the direction, from where the glow seemed to come and almost choked from the massive gasp I took. It was the same direction Markus had flown off to, but instead of a faint dot, there was now a massive cloud in the shape of a giant mushroom looming in the sky.
A massive shockwave suddenly hit us, carrying with it the sound of the most powerful explosion I have ever heard in my entire life. I looked back at the cloud and felt a piece of my soul break away. Right at this moment, I slowly began to grasp what was going on and the painful truth started to settle in:
Markus was gone.
When we stepped through the library doors the following morning, our faces were still wet from the tears we had shed.
Initially, I didn’t cry. I was too much in shock. I almost took off and tried to fly after him, maybe to look for him, hoping that he was alright after all, but Shining Armor, Mystic and the princesses held me back. Shining had then tried to call him via the thought bridge, but nothing happened. And nothing truly meant nothing in this case. It seemed as if the bridge didn’t even exist in the first place. Only another evidence for the one thing that I didn’t want to accept. That Markus was dead.
Then, in the train, tears began to flow. Slowly at first, in silent weeps, which soon grew into sobs and then into cries, which sparked a chain reaction throughout the royal compartment. Everypony joined me in my pain and Rainbow and I even clutched together in the hopes of somehow finding comfort in the other’s warmth. We ended up spilling tears during the entire ride home and only barely managed to contain ourselves when we disembarked and walked to the library.
Spike was quick to open the door, greeting us at first, as if nothing happened. Then, he noticed Markus’s absence and before he could even ask, he saw my tear-stained face and seemed to know, what had happened.
“I’m so sorry, Twilight.” He sobbed into my chest, as we all came together in a group hug and started crying again. How long we sat there, I don’t know and it didn’t matter, really. To me, it felt as if the whole world had lost its meaning. As if the only one thing that held meaning in this world was suddenly stolen from us.
We would’ve kept crying forever, if it wasn’t for us to slowly run out of tears. When the huddle dissolved and our faces started to dry, Spike pointed us towards the kitchen. “M-Markus was here yesterday and… he-he left something for you. Said that it was important…”
We went into the kitchen and found that there were eight caskets in different colours placed on the table, as well as a scroll, which had ‘read in case of death’ written on it. I unrolled it and began to read aloud:
Dear Twilight,
If you read this then it means that I am dead. I am very sorry for the pain I have caused you through this and maybe it soothes you a bit when I say that it didn’t come unexpected. I knew I would die if I partook in the battle for Canterlot. I would like to attribute it to my soldier-sense, but that wouldn’t be true. It was something else… almost like a deity had whispered it into my ears…
But anyways, before I can let you forget me and find happiness again, I have to ask one last favour of you. I want you to assemble the elements, Luna, Celestia and Mystic Gem before you continue to read. I know this might be a bit much, given that your tears probably haven’t even dried yet, but this is a matter of utmost importance, for beyond these lines lay my last will.
I quickly looked up from the scroll, the sadness from only a few seconds ago momentarily forgotten, and looked around. The elements were already assembled and Mystic was here as well, as she had followed us back to the library without even thinking about it, so the princesses were the only ones that I needed to fetch. So, I quickly levitated a scroll over to me and wrote them a letter.
‘Dear Princesses. We urgently need you both in Ponyville as quickly as possible. Signed: Twilight Sparkle’
Normally I wouldn’t write a letter to the princesses in such a haphazard manner, but that was hardly a normal situation. The princesses arrived about an hour later via chariot and in their attendance, I continued to read aloud:
Before you, you will find eight caskets, each in the coat colour of its recipient. When you read this, I would like for the respective recipient to take and open their caskets only when their respective passage is read, as I do have a few words to write to each of you.
At first, there will be Mystic Gem. We have only known each other for ¾ of a year now and yet, I have come to see you as one of the most reliable persons I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Therefore, I have no regrets when I leave my rank markings and my pistol in your care, as well as something else:
Presuming that I am, per tradition, promoted by two ranks, in my power as a Lieutenant-Colonel, I hereby promote you to Captain and assign you the leadership over the 4th FRC of the 6th Regiment. I know I can count on you.
Next comes Fluttershy. I know, we’ve had very little to do with one another and that maybe you might feel like it is you who didn’t repay me quite enough, given that I’ve rescued you from the Bloodmoon. But even if you felt that way, it doesn’t change that I don’t think you know, how much you’ve actually done for me by simply allowing me to hunt in the Everfree. But, for all the lives I have taken, I have also rescued one and that one live, I will now bestow upon you. In your casket, you will find a baby bunny, which I’ve found only a week ago in a forest close to the village of Hoovesville. I fed him through as good as I could and now I’m giving him to you, knowing that you will raise him into a proper bunny… Even if I don’t know, if it is male or female.
Applejack, you’ve been the first of those present to make contact with me and since then, I’ve felt like you’ve been on a major streak of bad luck. I don’t exactly know if it is because of me, but I still feel like I should make up for it. Therefore, in your casket you will find a recipe for a strong fertilizer from my world, as well as a prepared bottle. One last warning before you use it, though: It is very strong and not selective, meaning that it will make EVERYTHING grow, including the weeds.
Next will be Pinkie Pie and, same as with Fluttershy, I can’t really claim to have spent a lot of time with you. Still, your parties and shenanigans have truly helped me with making my time here much more enjoyable and as a thanks for it, I have written down a few cake recipes for you, which my grandmother always used when one of our birthdays rolled around. I hope you find them just as tasty as I did.
Rarity, I have always held a good deal of admiration for you. Not because of your fashion skills, mind you, but because of your absolutely generous nature. I was truly and deeply touched when you offered to make me clothes free of charge, but I had to insist that I repay you somehow, as else I would have defiled my own honour. As a side note, I always found it funny that you, Rarity, are the Element of Generosity, as, back in my old world, generosity could truly be considered a rarity.
By now, you have certainly noticed that there is no casket for you. This is not because I have forgotten about you, but because what I want to gift you is too big to fit into one. My gift to you is my dress uniform. You know, the one I wore during the ceremony. I know you don’t particularly liked my uniforms, but the dress uniform is the most fashionable thing I possess, right after the clothes you made me, but I can hardly gift you something I got from you in the first place, can I?
Now comes Rainbow Dash. I am very sorry that I leave you behind like that. You and Twilight both, but you’ve got to understand: Sometimes, there are moments in the life of a man or stallion and particularly in the life of a soldier, where one’s own life and the damage one’s death does to those close to us, are less important than what would happen if we wouldn’t sacrifice ourselves. At the point of writing this, I don’t know what the cause of my death will be, but rest assured that having met you both, I can now face death a second time without needing to look back.
Still, someone needs to keep you both safe when I’m gone and that’s what my gift to you is for. In your casket, you will find my knife. During its roughly one year of existence, it has served me well in many cases and continues to do so to this day. I will now place it in your hooves, knowing that you will use it to defend our friends to the best of your ability. My only regret in that regard is that I never came to teach you how to use it in combat, but maybe Shining Armor and Mystic can help with that?
Twilight, to you as well, I am very sorry that I have to leave you like that and I want you to know that I truly love you, both of you and not even death may change anything about that. In your casket, you will find two books. One is my journal, where I have written down every single event that somehow struck me as important. However, it’s the other book that will likely strike your interest. I am sure you have noticed that I took quite a few trips to the archives of the palace, haven’t you? Well, that’s because I have made an effort to discover as much about magic as possible on my own. Doing so, I have found that some things that are possible with magic are completely overlooked, likely due to the fact that magic is a natural occurrence to you. To me, however, the whole concept of magic is alien and as such, I am not as prone to take things for granted as you are. Thus, I set about, researching and testing new ways to utilize magic and wrote everything down in that book. Everything, but a single spell.
An that’s where we come to the last gift. Celestia and Luna: this Spell is my gift to you. I have found it when I was experimenting with my very own unique magic. It is a spell with which one can effectively shield every single entity within a certain radius, given one has a sufficient energy source. The problem is that it needs my extradimensional magic to function, but I also have a solution for that, I think. I have used zebra magic to cast a preservation spell on my own body. It isn’t strong enough to keep me alive, but it will ensure that there will be enough of me left to be used as a catalyst for the spell. I know it might sound a little bit macabre, but I want even my remains to be of use in helping protect those I care about.
After the spell is cast, I want you to burn the parchment it was written on and forget every detail of it. The reason for that is that I wrote it as a shield, but I found that it can also easily be turned into a weapon of mass destruction.
At last, here is one thing for all of you: Please don’t mourn over me for all-too long. Take yourself one or maybe two days to truly mourn, if you need to, but after that please try to keep yourself in check. I could never forgive myself if you were to lose yourself over my departure and it certainly would make things easier for those around you. Try to find happiness, even if only because I told you so.
-Markus Becker
Where we all thought that our tears for today had been spent, there had been more already lying in reserve. Every single one of us went down in sobs when her turn came. Rainbow began loudly crying again, even more so than back in Trottingham and I can’t deny that I had difficulties holding myself in check when I read my passage. Even Luna had to bury her face in Celestia’s neck to not start staining the floor with her tears, although I would’ve hardly minded. Celestia herself tried to be calm about it, but I guess seeing all of us, including her sister, in so much grief caused even her to crack ever so slightly, as tears started leaking down her cheeks.
After about an hour of mourning, Celestia and Luna bade their farewell and so did the others. I won’t deny that letting go of him was hard. Yes, even more so since his very own last will included that we weren’t allowed to mourn him for more than two days. However, in the end I managed to overcome my grief.
Luna and Celestia went to find Markus’s remains later that day and it was in that spell they would be used in that I found a way to overcome my grief.
After all, now it is like Markus is always with us, isn’t he?