//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 // Story: Salvation Through Destruction // by RoflLuxRay //------------------------------// “So why’d you chose me anyway?” Applejack asked as we walked following her indications, the forest all around us was engulfed by total darkness; I seriously wondered why we were able to see ahead of us. “I needed a bearer and someone I could trust, your element is honesty so relying on you comes naturally.” “I see, but why not Rarity or Twilight?” I scowled at her because of her questions, “It’s not that I don’t appreciate you choosin’ me.” “Rarity would dislike a place like this, if my deductions are correct, even though we would make a good team. Twilight’s magic has no match, but she’s insecure, enough to stop her from saving my life if the time is right. You, however, don’t seem to mind walking in a place like this and saved my life once already.” “That was pretty clear,” ahead of us a large beautiful lake appeared in the distance, lightened a little by the fading sunrays in the sky, night was slowly approaching on us, for we’ve been walking through the forest for a couple of hours already. “That’s weird, I don’t remember a lake ‘round here,” she stared blankly at the lake. “Is it a bad signal?” I approached the lakeside carefully. “I dunno, maybe we turned somewhere where we shouldn’t, I’m still trying to figure it out.” I analyzed all the lake, and noticed a river birthplace east from our position a few minutes away, “You mentioned a river and a sea serpent, I see a river over there but not a sea serpent,” I pointed with a hoof. “No sea serpent?” A voice emanated from the lake and a huge purple dragon shot from the depths in the middle, speaking in a heavy feminized way, “How dare you call me that? Don’t you see I’m a dragon?” “Pardon my confusion, dragon. I’m not familiar with the creatures of this forest” this dragon did not seemed dangerous and Applejack seemed happy to see him for my surprise. “Do not worry, traveler, no offense was taken.” “And I though you spoke in a weird manner,” she whispered next to me and approached the dragon, “Hello mister dragon, do you remember me?” “Of course I do!” the dragon exclaimed absolutely delighted, “your friend restored by beautiful mustache,” the dragon wrung its whiskers. “At least he’s not going to eat us,” I whispered at Applejack. “Look mister dragon, my friend and I are lookin’ for the ancient castle of the elements of harmony, but we got lost. Do you know where it is?” she asked the dragon. “Of course I do! The castle is just across this lake, you see. Climb on my back and I’ll show you,” he approached us and offered us a ride on his back. “Can we trust this guy?” I whispered in her ear. “Yeah, he won’t lie. Rarity fixed his mustache when we first came here, it’s cool,” she climbed on the dragon’s back with a swift hop, I sighed in resignation and climbed on the dragon as well. “May I ask why are you heading to the ancient castle?” the dragon broke our almost awkward silence as he moved through the calm waters of the lake. “Same reason from before, somethin’ to do with the elements of harmony,” Applejack replied a second before I did. “My-my… you ponies are always into something interesting. Well, the castle is across a bridge not too far if you follow the road ahead,” the dragon stopped riverside and we descended his back with caution. “Thank you, dragon,” I said with a bow. “Oh please, call me Steven. It has been a pleasure to help you!” the dragon submerged back into the depths of the lake, ahead of us there was a path surrounded by more darkness. “C’mon, we’re almost there,” she walked into the darkness and I trotted to her side. “How much?” I glanced at the trees around us; it felt like something was watching. “Not that long, just a few minutes walking,” she turned to see me, my face turned to display worry. “I think we’re being followed, let’s run,” I took off and encouraged her to run. She followed my example and we dashed along with me, fearing something was behind us. Due to our fear, we were too focused looking back to discover what was ahead of us. “Daddy?” I heard a familiar voice, one I thought I would never hear again. I stopped and stared completely flabbergasted, a young human child with long brown hair stared at us with amber eyes. It was Blaire. “That… Blaire?” I asked skeptically. “You’re tellin’ me that human over there is your child?” Applejack asked amazed. “You abandoned us,” the kid pointed at me with her index finger. “I…” “I know what’s goin’ on ‘ere!” Applejack snapped, “Twilight warned us about a creature that lived around ‘ere, she tricks you by showing an image of your past, do not talk to it. Ignore it.” ”Alright, this is unbelievable, lead the way,” she ran past Blair into a very dense fog. I almost lost sight of her, but I managed to fly my way to where she was; standing next to a fallen suspended bridge. “Darn it, this thing didn’t last,” she scolded at the bridge. “Daddy!” Blair continued to shout behind us, ignoring the child I lost years ago was a hard task, even if it was just an illusion. “Don’t listen to it, she ain’t real. The castle is just beyond this cliff, lift me up,” I took her and we flew through the mist, there was no visibility. After a few seconds of seeing nothing, the other side began appearing slowly. “Leightn’, now I see why Celestia send ya here,” I dropped her safely in the other side, I landed next to her afterwards, “she send you here to toughen yourself up.” “Seems more like a psychological torture to me.” “Don’t worry, we’re here,” she pointed to the massive castle in front of us, worn out by time and weakened by growing plants around it. The majestic entrance had no doors; they were now rotten pieces of wood lying on the floor nearby, “C’mon.” The insides of the castle resembled the one in Canterlot, but with a more old fashion. Some torn banners hung from the ceiling, some were on the floor covered by dust, the whole scene was depressing, not a soul had been here for quite a long time. “This place is lovely,” I sarcastically implied. “You always keep the spirits up don’t you?” she said with a smirk, “the elements of harmony were kept on the next floor up those stairs, follow me.” We went up a rock spiral staircase, leading into a massive hall with a big shrine in the far end of the room. The slowly fading sunlight came through some holes in the walls, some windows still conserved parts of the original colorful windows that depicted the story of Equestria. “I assume those are the elements of harmony?” “No, the elements are you and me. The rocks on top only represent them,” she walked to the centre of the room with me next to her. A rare pattern adorned the centre and it shone once we stepped on it. “What’s going on?” I asked surprised. The pattern on the floor suddenly shot a light straight into one of the stones in the shrine, marking it with Applejack’s cutie mark. “Bearer of the element of honesty, you are welcome to your humble home,” A feminine voice echoed around the room. “Who goes there, indentify yourself!” I shouted as I looked my surroundings for the source of the voice. “I am the one without name, the one who gave you the sun and the moon. I forged the elements of harmony and granted them into the ponies to ensure peace in Equestria. Some simply refer to me as ‘the maker’.” “Okay this is plain nonsense,” I cried sarcastically, “the maker? What are you, some kind of god?” Ever since I was young, I never believed in anything similar to a god of some sort, I’ve always been an atheist. “You are clearly not from this place, am I right? Human?” “My name is Leighton McRae, Queen Celestia sent me here to find the scroll with the spell that will break the link between the earth and Equestria. Tell us where it is and we will be in our way.” “Ah… Celestia, it has been so long since I last heard that name. If time has made her as wise as I believe then she sent you here for another purpose besides finding the sacred scroll with the forbidden spell.” “You know more than you should, speak your business,” I turned to see Applejack. She was surrounded by a white aura, apparently frozen with her eyes shooting an intense white light. “My business? Are you not a rude guest…?” “Okay, just… do what you have to do. I find this to be absolutely preposterous, but to whatever you must,” I closed my eyes, hoping to feel something that would make me end up like Applejack. Suddenly, something began lifting my body; it was a similar aura to the one surrounding her. “Hm… You emanate an interesting essence for a human. And you have the pen and the sword… I have questions for you,” I felt something struck me in the chest, making me feel drowsy. Everything became darker slowly as I floated motionless in the air. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “You… you seek a noble cause, but you are troubled by following it. A man who is haunted by its own ideals and decisions.” The voice echoed in my head, I opened my eyes and saw nothing but Applejack unconscious floating in a dark void next to me. “You said you wanted answers, and I’m willing to give them to you!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, expecting the voice’s owner would appear before me if I did. “Indeed. Your actions are noble, but the actions behind them are to be questioned,” In front of me, my memories began flashing rapidly in an invisible frame; stopping in the night I met Angelica, “You offered comfort to this woman, who had just assaulted you. A noble task indeed, but why did you decide to sit next to her instead of running to set the alarm off when you had the chance?” “She needed someone to listen to her, for she had just found out her parents were dead. Any good employee would have set the alarm off, but I stayed with her as any good person would.” “Impressive, for a human. Your kind degenerated into a wicked shadow of what they once were, I’m impressed you kept the nobleness humans lost somewhere along the way,” the memories began shifting again, forwarding into the moment where I had my wife and child ponyfied, “In this moment, you sacrificed your family to pursue your own goals, a selfish and cruel act. I want you to explain me why you did this.” “It may look like that, but what I did was placing them somewhere safe, in a place where war could not ever reach them, I did it with the sole purpose of saving the persons I loved the most. I decided to stay behind to save humanity, and I’m not proud for that decision,” I could feel a knot on my throat with every word I spike, “I look back to that moment and wished I stayed with them, but then I look at what I’ve done in this moment and know that we went through that bitter moment for a greater good.” “Indeed. It was the sacrifice of every single one of you that allows mankind to have a second chance, the one you granted them by convincing Celestia to execute the plan you devoted two years of your life. And now, I must ask you one last question.” “I am ready,” I said with confidence, the memories moved one last time, this time to play memories of me and Applejack. “Tell me, why did you choose the bearer of Honesty to join you in this quest?” “I’ve shared with her great moments. I trusted her with my secrets and she listened to my stories as I listened to hers. Of all the ponies I’ve met throughout my journey, she’s the one I cherish the most besides Twilight Sparkle and Rarity.” “I believe you are oblivious to an obvious fact,” “Explain,” I said with a frown. “You chose her because you feel identified with her, as she looks for answers regarding her past. You look for the same.” “What do you mean?” I asked with a hint of desperation in my voice, Applejack was still unconscious and floating next to me. “She looks for who she was; you look for who she is. Celestia is a lot wiser than I had thought,” the voice giggled in amusement, “No wonder she asked you to bring a bearer along, knowing you would choose her.” “Are you saying that…?” “Yes, Leighton. The pony next to you is no one else but your long lost wife,” I turned to see Applejack, who had transformed now into Angelica. She looked exactly as I remembered her, except for her hair, now dyed blonde, floating in the nothingness. “And that means…!” “That Apple Bloom is your daughter.” “This… this can’t be true; I’ve been with them all along!” “Your actions led both of you straight to them and to me and I see there is no mistake in it. I can see the spark in you, the one you felt when you spoke to Twilight’s dragon about love, the one you felt when you fought to save Apple Bloom’s life, the one that pushed you to battle an entire army to save the lives of innocent ponies. You are the second human to bear an element of harmony, followed only by Applejack. You bear the element of courage and valor, as it is indicated by the pen and the sword in your flank. You represent hope for humans and ponies, an example to be followed,” A light surrounded my neck and a red necklace with a jewel shapes as the pen and sword appeared once the light vanished. “I am flattered,” I nodded reverentially, as Angelica began waking up. “What’s goin’ on, Leightn’?” she asked with sleepy eyes. “I believe you have some answers for her as well,” I looked at her amazed, it was Angelica speaking with Applejack’s voice. I never suspected it, but it all made sense now, why I trusted her that much, the vanishing from Fillydelphia report, the cultural change indicated on the report in Russia, everything. “Indeed. Bearer of honesty, you joined this man in a pure act of friendship. You have been wandering for the answer regarding the past of you and your sister, and your search is about to end.” “Yeah, but what the hay is goin’ on ‘ere?” “You are in the realm, a place between the human and pony dimensions. I created this space so that I could not be reached by anyone unless I wanted to test them, as I’m the one with all the answers you may seek.” “So y’all sayin’ that ya know who my parents where and why do big Mac and O’l Granny Smith ain’t tellin’ me?” she asked with a frown. “Yes. But before speak your answers, I must tell you that your life will change upon knowing this. Do you really want to know more about yourself than you should?” Angelica looked down and touched her chin meditating. I hoped she would agree so she would know who I was, who she really was. She slowly turned to see me with a grin on her face. “A good friend told me that I must not hold regrets towards my family from protectin’ me from a truth that can destroy my sister’s life and my own. I don’t want to know about who my parents were if the people who love me don’t want me to,” I felt a void in me when she said that, as she slowly turned back into a pony, it seemed like she didn’t felt the transform, lucky her. It was her decision to live without knowing who she really was, I wanted to scream it in her face, but I knew I had to keep silence, no matter how hard it was. “Very well, the secret shall be kept and not spoken. I believe this is all I have to say to you, except for one last thing. If the time comes, Leighton, do not fear sacrifice, for you know what it feels,” from the depths of a ray of light engulfed us, making me lose conscience again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “That was one bloody hell of a journey,” I rubbed my head as I woke up; noticing the necklace was gone. “Damn right…” she shook her head, trying to accelerate the waking up process. “Are you alright?” I approached her concerned; she ran past me and took a small brown scroll from the floor. “Look! This must be the scroll Celestia wants!” she took the scroll and held it high. “Okay, now we must go back and deliver this to Celestia.” “Allow me to help you one last time,” the voice said once again, opening a wormhole in front of us. “Thank you, maker!” I shouted to the emptiness of the hall, grabbing Applejack’s hoof and jumping straight into the hole. Before I could notice the insides of the wormhole, we appeared back at the entrance of the forest, where Twilight was completely asleep in the same bench where we last saw her. Time completely fastened while our stay in the realm, because the sun was slowly rising on the distance. “Twi!” Applejack ran towards the sleeping pony before I could notice, shaking her violently. “Wait wha…” Twilight muttered, slowly becoming aware of her surroundings. “We’ve got it; we’ve got that scroll Celestia wanted!” Applejack shouted with excitement, jumping around her drowsy friend. “That’s awesome!” she opened her eyes widely as soon as she realized the news, “we have to go to Canterlot as soon as possible, where’s Leighton?” I walked towards her and greeted her with a warm smile, “Good morning, Twilight. Mission accomplished.” “Good, we can go back to Canterlot now, do you want to come, Applejack?” “No,” she rapidly replied, “I have to pick Apple Bloom from Fluttershy’s, I’ll see y’all when you’re get back!” she galloped away towards Fluttershy’s home, quickly fading in the distance. “Okay, we’re going to teleport now, are you ready?” she asked taking the spell casting position. “Look, I’m used to this now, just make it happen.” “As you wish!” a flash of light came from her horn and we appeared back at Canterlot, right in front of Celestia’s Castle. The experience was a less painful now; I was getting used to teleporting and shifting dimensions. “C’mon, let’s give this to the Queen,” she began running to the castle, slamming the doors wide open. Celestia gazed down at us with authority, but without looking like a complete bitch. “Queen Celestia!” I walked inside behind Twilight holding the scroll in a hoof. Walking in three legs was something new, but quite easy to handle now that I was more used to being a pony, “I have succeeded in retrieving the scroll from the castle.” “Have you learned a thing or two about yourself?” she asked with a mystic sense in her words. “Yes, I have. I am the bearer of the element of courage and valor, the castle showed me the right way,” I had no choice but to lie to her because I found the idea of speaking about a maker completely awkward. “Courage and valor…” she touched her chin with a hoof, “it fits you very well. I am proud to hear that.” “Sister!” Princess Luna ran inside the castle yelling desperately, “we have horrible news coming in!” “Speak, Luna,” Celestia said calmly. “One of our ponies working on project HC says that humans are planning to release an attack on Equestria today at noon!” “That can’t be right, how many humans have we brought?” “We’re bringing them faster than I thought; we already gathered one point five million here. I’m exhausted, but I will keep working on this.” “Twilight, I want you to help Princess Luna with the human processing, I’m sure your skills will ease her burden. How fast can we bring the rest?” “At this rate we should finish tonight.” “Save as many as you can, today before noon I will close the dimensional link between earth and Equestria, we cannot risk an attack.” “But not enough humans would be saved if you close the link!” Twilight protested immediately. “We don’t have time, it has to be done,” the Queen said with remorse, looking away from us. In that moment I remembered the voice’s words, ‘do not fear sacrifice, for you know what it feels’. “I will buy you time, enough to bring the rest here,” I said with determination, breaking through the hall’s silence. “And how are you planning to do so?” Luna asked with a skeptic look in her face. “I break into their base and sabotage their operations. Did this pony say where the attack was going to be launched from?” “Hold on there, you’re asking for a suicide mission!” Twilight yelled. “He mentioned a base in the US called Area fifty one, and she’s right. You can’t just do that, you’ll get yourself killed.” “But if he doesn’t, I will have to break the link with not enough people for his plan to succeed,” Celestia interrupted, “I understand why he wants to do this, and I will allow it. Leighton, you have showed great courage to accomplish this much for humanity. I will commend you with one last task as LH7, one you must accomplish on your own.” “I am ready to serve you, your majesty,” I gulped, with the certainty of knowing what was going to happen next. “Your mission is to break through the military base known as Area fifty one and delay the enemy attack on Equestria, by all means necessary. The fate of humanity and of Equestria is on your hands.”