//------------------------------// // When All Said And Done // Story: Equestria Down // by Ultimus Pendragon //------------------------------// Deep, in the Everfree Forest Zecora hummed another one of her tribe's traditional brewing songs as she went to work in her cauldron. It was one of the many Zebranican beliefs that speaking words of power over your brew would instill it with magical powers, or even be blessed by Mother Moon herself. This particular brew was more so a favor to a long friend that the shaman held no issue with doing this: it was nothing but a simple truth serum. ''Let me take a look, it would appear I followed the instructions straight from the book.'' Zecora said to herself as she walked over to her spice cabinet. Dropping in a pinch of salt, the mixture bubbled and turned a pale yellow color, trails of steam billowing and exiting out through the windows of her little hovel. Going over and prepping a flask for bottling, a feeling of bliss washed over the zebra as she poured and capped the flask, causing her to sigh in content. She was done. Normally, Zecora would love to have another companion to converse with to lift this small feeling of loneliness. But, it was only herself for the few days for the safety of others as nopony would disturb her brewing. Little known fact, more so a funny accident is that a poor Pegasus mare needed help with her back problems and accidentally ruined the brew Zecora agreed to help make, instead causing a major discoloration and voice change that lasted about a month or so. Ever since them, a sign has put a few feet before her home, stating: BREWING, DO NOT GO PAST THIS POINT. Since then, things around the Everfree have been calmer, aside from murderous Timberwolves, psychotic Cockatrices, and a talking Leviathan, things have been quiet, only a few times have certain nuisances arose, taking her ability to perceive danger to a whole different level. Most of the forest was lost, due to intense fight that occurred with Twilight Sparkle and Tirek. Much of the foliage refused to grow back, making the ever so spacious forest appearing as a small grove. Zecora wouldn’t admit it openly, but she. . .was scared. Scared of what the future would hold. Part of herself, she blamed for not being there to offer her aid, even as little as she could provide it. Something. . .anything, could have been the key to helping turn the tide; but her own fears got the better of her. Twilight was indeed a strong mare, but on that day, she was broken. The sight alone of her powers being taken and her worst fears that had come to pass only resulted in the natural turn of events of her losing all hope. “Hmm?” Zecora heard a small sound, making her instantly stop her internal monologue. Halting her movement, a sound, almost imperceptible to most ears thrummed into the ground, worming its way to the zebra's waiting ears. The sound mad her heart stop for a second. ''Wha-" BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! The smell of sulfur and fall of charred leaves perforated the ground, a massive mushroom cloud filling the otherwise calm and collected skies. A rhythmic sett of hooves against the forest floor formed depressions trailing the ground as the burning smell up of the uprooted tree filled their nostrils. Rummaging through the wreckage, a limp form splayed with blood and multi-colored liquids laid frantically shaking against a still burning metal vat. Getting impaled through a small branch, Zecora groaned in pain. ''Hehehehehe. . .'' a voice filled with glee chuckled. ''How the weak have managed to stay. . .well, weak. And here I thought you were worth the trouble, but I guess not,'' it showed no emotion whatsoever so. ''U-Uh. . .'' Zecora groaned, millions of nerves flaring up in pain, even to the point where blinking her eyes felt like a sword through her head. ''W-Why?~'' ''Why, you ask?'' the voice sounded upset. ''I'm bored and just blowing off time, as well so steam,” the figure laughed again, surveying the damage. “I am here because I smell. . .her scent; she must have passed through here at some point. By the way, the look of pain on your face looks so delectable, I can't stand it! Let me welcome you to a whole another feeling to the word pain,” ''N-No. . .don't. P~LEASE!~'' Zecora whined, her chances of escaping were practically dead at this point, so as she was. ''Yes, yes! This is just what I wanted: fear! Come, come! Let me indulge in that body of yours.” another bout of chuckles rang out, the sound of bone being torn and flesh being eaten as his victim screamed. Images of an old time flashed by, covered by a haze. Powerful spells were slung, shouts rang out, and a blinding light consumed everything for a time before dying down. Ugh, again. “Just you wait, Tirek. You may be all nice and comfortable, but that throne belongs. . .to me.” The three of them had searched every inch of the castle, and found nothing. Even in the small few hidden compartments yielded the same thing; books burnt to ash. Twilight’s sliver of hope for the world was beginning to dwindle. “Looks like he took care of everything,” Spike huffed as he finished skimming through another charred book, only to throw it over his shoulder where it hit Sunset in the head, knocking the book she picked up in her magic halfway across the tattered library. “Watch it, Spike!” Sunset scolded, rubbing her forehead. “You almost hit my horn.” Spike merely acted as if he did nothing wrong. “What the buck did they teach you at that school?” “Twi? Find anything?” Spike called out, his expectations not quite as high as he would have wanted, but he still managed to keep the idea of it ablaze in his mind. Twilight idly kicked manuscripts and felled boards of wood. It didn’t appear as she did since she took a seat on the ground, muttering to herself all the while. “There should be something,” Twilight muttered, her eyes glazed over. Her hoof lazily traced the image of the sun blackened by the ashes of destruction on the book she wanted to pick up , but found no power to do so. It could be pointless; pointless information when they need relevant information. Her mind told her there was nothing left. There had to be. They came. . .all this way for nothing. “Come on, Twi,” Spike flew over to her spot, landing on the ground with a small flourish as the floor creaked and moved a tad. They would probably go back through everything one last time before calling it quits. Twilight faced her adoptive brother with a look that threatened to consume him. He knew the feeling of dread all too well, since he lost Rarity. The eyes seemingly devoid of life, the bodily shakes, and of course, the hardest to imagine for a mare like Twilight, but easiest to tell; when it happened; the almost infantile way she spoke, as if she was a newborn who’s only instinct is to cry when something was wrong and to cling onto the closest thing to resemble a parent. “Let’s go, we-WHOA!” Spike yelled as the floor gave way, causing him and Twilight to shout out in suprise. The fall down was shrouded in darkness, Twilight tossing and turning to right herself. The air whipped past her face, forcing her eyes shut and the feeling of weightlessness making her stomach touch her back. “Guys!” Sunset’a voice called out, her figure swooping down into the hole after her friends. Twilight didn’t know what laid at the bottom of the fall, but one thing she was sure of was that it would be death. Not quite the end she envisioned, but she figured it would be better than nothing, if she had to be honest with herself. She had resigned to her fate. Her release would be upon her soon. It would be a matter of- “Got you!” Sunset shouted, nearly crashing into Twilight as she hoisted her up and kept her plummeting, the sudden change in gravity jerking her shoulders and causing her a bit of pain. Spike soared ahead into the darkness, inhaling a breath as white fire gathered in his maw, crackling and arching before he let the projectile fly to the ground, impacting the ground and providing light. A swing to the left and the pair nearly avoided a ginormous crystal spike that would have aimed for their heads if Sunset had not been quick enough to react. Twilight’s eyes soon adjusted to the light, revealing that they were indeed surrounded by crystals on their way down. “Twi, Sunset; you good?” Spike asked, touching down on the ground with a powerful thud. Ugh, bright. “We’re fine, but what kinda spell is that?” Sunset asked. Spike shook his head and performed some quick hand motions, swiping a portion of the fire in his claw and raising it above his head as it grew in size. It continued to burn as if nothing happened. “Blinding Lightning; and it’s not a magic spell, it comes from within when you become a Dragon Adept,” Spike chanted a few words in a language that either of them couldn’t understand. “You mentioned that in your diary; you said there were levels.” Twilight said, nodding to herself when she thought more about it. Spike did commit 4 years to the practices in the Far East, though his account of events was far and few. “6, actually, including being the Novice, but I only held that for 2 and a half years before I was promoted.” Spike viewed his surroundings, slowly walking forward as Twilight and Sunset followed afterwards, curious. “And where are we? The caves beneath Canterlot? Isn’t this where-“ “-Cadence and I were trapped while Chrysalis tried to take over Canterlot,” Twilight responded with a less than chipper response at the events that occurred that day. The look of disappointment on their faces as Twilight stood her case to her friends about when she knew Cadence was not really herself, but everypony, including Celestia. . . Called her crazy, called her out, and abandoned her when she needed them the most. Twilight thought she had did wrong, even admitting that she may have acted rash, only for her innate sense of right and wrong to come to her rescue as she fought tooth and nail to make it back and prove them wrong. They never even properly managed to apologize after all was said and done. The three of them had split up, Spike dispatching a portion of his lighting to the pair in aiding exploring the spacious caverns as Twilight figured they should explore to see if there could be anything worth while. Thoughts of Shining Armor and Cadence’s wedding flashed through her mind; the feeling of her legs being pushed to the limit thrummed through her slow walk, the clip clop of their hooves against dirt and rock, and the flames that consumed her into sending her in this forsaken place all by herself. Spike and Sunset journeyed into another room, their guard up and their gazes focused as they searched. Twilight walked forward, paying little attention to the sounds of her companions talking and more so of her own thoughts once again. Or she would have, were it not for her bumping into something. “Ow,” Twilight dully commented, rubbing her head as she stood up. “I did not know I was that heavy to knock you over so easily,” a voice chuckled. A very familiar voice sounded. To say that Twilight Sparkle was confused was a massive understatement. Throughout all of her life, she has experienced many things, making her a very studious mare, certainly well above the average level intelligence for most ponies. But her brain was currently experiencing what Spike often referred as a brainfart. Her mind had to be playing a trick on her, there was no way this was real. No, wait. Twilight did have a way to explain this: with science. All she required was to go on with topic of what she is seeing, devolve a hypothesis of what may happen, gather data, draw charts and run the experiment at least 3 times to confirm a pattern. Or that would have been the course of action if not for her previous breakdown. How could this pony, whom she loved dearly be standing in the same room as her, Spike and Sunset when they're were pronounced dead with everypony else? Perhaps she could apply some philosophy to this: in the golden age of Equestria's birth, there was a philosopher who theorized: "If you have two theories that both explain the observed facts, then you should use the simplest until more evidence comes along." It would make sense to assume what Twilight believed what happened was merely a farce as opposed to a lengthy explanation. If only she hadn’t seen and touched their cold bodies herself. But this pony was not there when everything was taken from her; she assumed she perished in the chaos that followed. ''This really can't be true. . .could it?'' Twilight pondered to herself. ''B-But I saw what happened. . .they should not be here! My mind must be playing jokes on me but would not looking into this make me a hypocrite?'' It keeps playing back and forth in her mind like a silent film: over and over again, with no apparent end in sight. But how would- ''Twilight, you okay?'' Spike roused her of her thoughts as he and Sunset came around the corner as he walked on all fours due to the low ceiling. ''What did you. . .oh, my goodness.'' “That can’t be right,” Sunset shook her head, her ears splaying against her head. “H-How did you?” A long sigh of annoyance diverted their attention to the pony who turned to face them, their eyes dilated from the light. ''I had begun to lose hope, but somepony comes, finally. I wish I planned for just an occasion,'' Luna muttered to her as Twilight’s mind began to break down more than what it already was. Luna walked over to Twilight, ignoring Spike and Sunset’s face full of surprise as she and struck her across the face with the force of a freight train, the shockwave impaling a massive dent in the crystals and shattering them like toothpicks. All the more while, gasps of shock rang from Spike as Sunset facehoofed. ''Yeeeooooooooowwwwwwch!'' Twilight shrieked, her left cheek turning as red as the sun itself, a low throbbing making her pain sensors go off the charts. ''Why in the hell would you do that?!'' Twilight's tone resembled the Royal Canterlot Voice, booming with authority and pain. ''Why wouldn't I?'' Luna chuckled. ''Slapping you like a rag doll brings a smile to my face, so at least one of us is getting a kick out of this.'' ''Don't do that again,'' Twilight growled. ''Whatever.'' Luna shrugged, returning to tapping the Crystal with her hooves. “Princess Luna, where have you been? We thought. . .you were dead,” Spike mentioned with a tongue of venom. “But you hide in here with rocks-“ Luna cut him off with a hoof, her tone reaching the lowest of octaves. “If you think I am here by choice, then you are as stupid as you are powerful. . .and I am a Princess no longer, no thanks to Twilight,” Luna said, staring daggers at her once she paused for a moment and showed her wingless back. “She failed.”