//------------------------------// // Chapter One: Leaves that Whistle in the Wind // Story: Decelerate and Decompose // by HeidenShayde //------------------------------// The magical world of all Equestrian creatures has always been a strange, and silly thing. There was no bounds to the magic that was used to keep the world in balance. Be it good, or even evil. With great evil, came great heroes, as well as great destruction. With prosperity came great happiness and the sense of stability and safety. The main factor to all of these truths was that nothing was assured by nature to last forever. Nothing and no one are promised tomorrow. That was where the last living moments in her world went wrong. Oh so very wrong it had went indeed. So very, very, very wrong. Waking up with a notable bruise on her tender forehead, a familiar young girl went to take a kneel from the dormant pose she had held beforehand. Laying idle on the ground had softened the soil under her warm body in what felt to be cold rain. The smell of the earth under her small, dainty nose got to her senses, making the purple skinned girl wrinkle it in obvious disdain. Where was she? What was this place? She seemed to be lost, and confused. Almost as if the situation she had ended up in was inadvertent or unintended. Leaves whistle from the stubborn pull of the air that had carried so many of the dying former-greens to the ground where it had decorated hardened brown with sputters and jitters of oranges, yellows and reds. That left out no inclusion of the purple and indigo leaves of those special trees that had made their way into this keen forest. The area she was in was dense of wood. Nothing but trunks, branches, foliage and large mossy rocks from every peak of her sight. From every corner, she saw nothing but a flurry of warm colors, keen browns, and now the comforting, yet concerning presence of the night-time skies looming overhead with an illuminated blanket of stars and the luminous glow of the symbol of Luna herself. She had taken time to completely sit up, crawling over to a tree as a blossoming pain started to spread over her leg from the movement. Upon close inspection, she had taken notice that her leg had been badly cut upon something. Most likely a jagged rock, or broken tree limb. It must have happened when she had showed up here. Seeing that there were no large jagged rocks in particular nearby, she would convince herself to assume it was the fault of a fallen trees branch. Cut by that of the remnant that had sprung from the trunk. Bringing a gentle, trembling hand to try and caress the wound, Twilight hissed upon her fingers ginger contact with the damage. It stung with such an intensity it made her leg jolt, and feel as though it had gone partially numb from the contact that had barely been made a couple seconds beforehand. "Ow!" a short explanation had seeped through her lips and into the chilled, lonely silence of this place she had woken up in. "How did I even get here?" she questioned to herself, still partially in a confused daze. Her head was still foggy, barely able to completely comprehend the sensory of the world around herself. She was anxious, and felt sickened. Though some part of her was barely awake enough to completely remember what had even brought her here in the first place. - It all came flooding back to her as her vision had cleared. The memories of screaming children, and adults alike.The thought of them as the fire had encumbered the kingdom, or maybe even far more than just Canterlot and Ponyville. The urgency of her friends who had been trying to douse out magically induced flames and explosions. The sizzling and unpleasant smell of burnt fur and flesh. Cries of those in agony and wails for those who had been lost in those few minutes alone. It was all so vivid, so real. Because it was. Her failure was just a real as she. Her failure was what had done the kingdom in. She had no one to blame but herself. She had made one TINY mistake. Or at least, what she only thought of as tiny at the time. She had made the mistake of letting a prisoner free after his sentencing to confinement for his crimes. He had seemed genuinely changed. Going from a chronic nightmare of profane slurs and unchecked aggression to one of the most quiet, seemingly understanding and respectable inmates of the confinement area. She had been played like a fiddle, and she had sung out all the keys that he had struck. He had somehow gained access to magic and information that no commoner, or even alicorn should be able to access or possess. Thus, his rapid rise to power, fueled by some kind of unidentifiable hate, and vengeance. Sorrow had moved the legs of the machine, malice later becoming the source of survival. How he had managed to make himself appear so docile and reformed would be something she would never stop wondering about. Twilight felt her eyes filling with tear, a fresh stream was already cascading down her face. This was all her fault. If only she had been smarter. If only she would have kept a closer eye on him. If only she had never let him out in the first place. If only, if only, if only. She could not help but feel helpless. How else does one feel when everything they have ever known was taken away, and completely destroyed out of the blue. She could have done so much more to help them. She could have done do much more to keep the damage at bay. All of this rested on her shoulders, and overbearing, heavy weight trailing right atop the knowledge of the presence. Pulling her tired arms up to her eyes, she rubs at them with a grimace and a groan. She could not help but feel more at fault. She still remembered the way that all of her friends had went. The way they were all suffering before they had been so cruelly ripped from the world that they, too, were sworn to help protect. Surprisingly enough, Applejack was the very first to be torn away from them. She had been taken out before they even got to see her for the last time. All of them had discovered her body later. It appeared as though she had been trying to defend a poor filly with a broken leg. Both of them, were caught, and impaled through their backs. It seemed that Applejack had held off whatever did it for a little bit, before falling in battle. The filly had managed to get a substantial distance between herself and whatever had taken the element of Honesty down. In the end, though, she was too impaled through the back where she stood, dying soon after. Rainbow Dash followed soon after. After Applejack had been discovered, the quarrelsome blue guardian had went into an angered, emotional frenzy. One might even say that she was nearly out for blood. Everyone was torn up about the fall of honesty, but foolishness was nothing that they could afford. Especially at a time like this. The multicolored pony, however, would not listen to reason. Flying out immediately to try and counter the source of one of her closest friends deaths. She was struck down easily, despite escaping near-death situations time and time ago. Even with the others serving as distractions, it was not enough to keep Rainbow Dash safe from the impending doom of the opponent. The opponent was enormous. With a swift, pre-calculated movement, the creature had the fast-flying element, and kept her in a tight grasp. With a firm clutch, it had crushed her considerably smaller body. Blood rained from the skies and peppered the ground briefly. Everyone was shaken by that point. The creature seemed to relish in delight as it had defeated the opponent. Taking in the agony of the watching crowd just below the scene. That's right... the crowd. 'Get them out of there, you fool! Hurry up!' some inner part of Twilight's mind screamed at her. She shook her head, and tried to concentrate after the second shock and lost friend. It was no use. Even after attacking the thing head-on, and getting it to lose it's balance, it had still claimed more lives. The kids that made up the Cutie Mark Crusaders had been taken out next. Scootaloo was still in shock after seeing her idol, and adoptive big sister crushed like a grape. Her brain seemed to not comprehend the idea of danger anymore. She was apprehended by the creature, and torn in two with such ease she looked like she was made from cotton candy. Sweetie Belle was next, she had immediately tried to run. She knew she could not take on that thing. It seemed no one could. She wasn't being cowardly. She was still a kid. She was scared. All she wanted to do was get to safety knowing that one of her friends and her big sister would be okay. She never got the chance though. She did her best to dodge everything she could. However, when an iron fist came crashing down on her small body, she stood no chance. Her blood splattered everywhere under the creatures fist. Nothing bust some crimson-stained, half-crushed hooves remained. Apple Bloom had went shortly after, trying to help get an older pony to safety while she too had scattered to avoid being caught by the thing that had been attacking their homes. However, she and the elder both perished when the attacking force had smashed the building they had ran into, thinking they were not seen. The rubble was cleared later by other panicked civilians, only to discover the bodies of Sweetie Bell and the elder. The elder used her horn to twist Apple Bloom's neck and break it last second. An act of mercy, seeing as the pale fillies body had been stabbed into by a piece of falling debris. The elder lay there, helpless, and dying painfully. Rarity hurries to trot over, tearful still after the death of her little sister. She tried to keep a level head, really she did. She took a deep breath, summoned magic from her horn, and quickly, as painlessly as possible, twists the ailing elder-mare's neck. Snapping it, and watching as she had seemed to die at least a LITTLE at peace. "Thank you for trying, darling... rest now..." The rest of the others had went in similar, if not worse ways, Pinkie had lasted the longest, other than Twilight, seeing as the pink party pony never held still was hard to keep up with. People often joked about the exciting antics of the bouncy symbol of laughter. She specialized in surprises. She had managed to pull in one of her almost confusing party canons out from seemingly nowhere, loading it with sharp weapons and objects before firing it off at the creature. It had died after repeated attempts to get up. That didn't stop it from claiming one last victim though. With a mighty swing, it used it's tail to slam the pink pony into the ground. The brute force of the heavy tail didn't kill her though. No, it was the toppling of the very canon that she had used to attack it. After slamming into, and disorienting her, the creature tips the canon. The object, large in size, falls over. Pinkie was not aware enough to move. In the end, it only crushed one of her body parts. Taking out the one that was the deadliest to damage. The head. From there, Twilight remembered everything passing by in a breeze. Almost as calm, and silent, and sweet as the last breeze before and breath of fresh air before someone walks inside on a cool summer evening. The beautiful grass on the lawn, and the dancing fireflies that lingered nearby. Twilight had failed her friends, her community, her idols, and herself. She had failed everyone. She was the last one standing, other than a few civilians. That didn't make her any less of a failure... Soon, it felt as if the world was starting to collapse. Looking over to the side, Twilight felt her eyes droop, and soften in solemn grief as she tried to hold back her tears. The cakes, little Pumpkin and Pound, who were still far too young to understand what was going on, sat there cooing in curiosity at the dead bodies of their parents who lay idle, bleeding out from their stomachs and heads. Still grief-stricken, Twilight went to do her best to try and rally the survivors back together. She coughs in pain as her chest heaved, and she trots to where town square used to be. Civilians limp, and carry each other. None of them blamed her, she had tried, and tried, and tried. "My people... I am so terribly sorry for this... I am sorry I could not protect you... or your families. I am sorry I could not save your husbands, or your wives. I apologize for my failure to protect your young, and old. We need to regroup. I will use my magic to the best of my ability to try and make stable shelters for the time being..." She chokes on her tears, and bows her head. "I will do my best... I promise. I will stay with you.. and try. I sent somepony to try and get help. I could not use the assistance of Spike, as he is no longer with us either." Twilight walks over, and gingerly used her magic to pick up the curious, small twins. After a shallow sigh, he looks at all of them, firming her gaze. "We will leave as soon as we get the chance. We cannot stay here. I will do my best to aid all the wounded tonight. Everyone stay close together while I go and get some medical supplies from the library. If there are any left..." Low chatter, and gut-wrenching cries echoed through Ponyville. Those who survived mourned those that had been lost. Nobody fought, even if there were disagreements. There was no use in it, after all. Twilight used the magic in her horn to force her library open, before trotting in with her limp. "There's got to be something somewhere...." she mumbled to herself. After looking around in a few areas, making sure to hurry, she passed by the table where her and her friends had sat talking and joking with each other just the day before. She stopped completely just in front of the makeshift portal that she had made to get to the school where Sunset Shimmer and the counterparts to her friends were. Just before she could look in one of the many places she had dedicated to storage, there was a rumble, and loud screaming heard in the distance. In alarm, the princess went to move and gallop her way to the door again to see what was the matter, but the entire library had started to shake. She couldn't get a steady stance to level herself to try and fly, nor could she hold still. She was just about to use her horn to try and make herself levitate, but there was a loud explosion, a flash of orange-red light, the screaming of her people, and then nothing. - Twilight felt her chest heave, as if someone were trying to pull her heart right out of it. She let out a guttural cry of pain, anguish, defeat, and self-loathing. She should have tried harder. She should have done more. She shouldn't have been so stupid! This was all because of her. This was all her fault... The princess of friendship sits there, and cries into her arms, letting out loud, pained sobs without so much as a deep breath to release the pain or stress that had encumbered her lungs. She curls her legs to her chest, pulling her hands t her head and rocks back and forth in desperation to just stop the memories that flowed through her troubled, tormented mind. After some time, he fell asleep, her trembling form hardly finding peace out here, in the cold where she lay with exposed skin, open wounds, and little pride or sense of self-worth. To be Continued