//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 "Friendship...Friendship Never Changes" // Story: Equestria Noir Case 7 "Into the West" // by Jacoboby1 //------------------------------// Chapter 7 “Friendship…Friendship Never Changes” I simply stared at the strange Pegasus. His eyes were rather merry despite the ruins around him. He got up and floated down to me. “Who are you?” I asked warily “Somepony who’ll come round in a couple of centuries” He said with a chuckle. “I don’t understand” I said eyeing the Pegasus with suspicion “I don’t know you so how can you be in my head?” He shrugged “Ah don’t know, maybe yer just goin crazy” “Not helping” I said flatly “Right, listen Ah’m Calamity” He said offering a hoof. I shook it suspiciously. I felt his hoof, I was dreaming but this dream was too real. Calamity went on “Ah want ya tah follow me, we got a place we need tah go…” He started hovering off and I followed. We walked for a few minutes in the ruins of this city. I looked around “Where are we exactly?” Calamity shrugged again “Ah don’t know, its yer head” He looked around a little more “But Ah’d reckon we’re somewhere in Manehatten…or what’s left of it anyways” “What happened?” “Ah can’t tell ya” Calamity said warily “Ah’m only supposed tah lead ya, not give ya too much info about what’s goin on” “This has got to be the strangest head trip of all time” I said shaking my head. We stopped in front of a door Calamity landed beside me “Here we are” I looked behind the door, there wasn’t anything behind it. The door lead to nowhere but then I remembered I was dreaming. I looked at Calamity who gestured with his rust colored head for me to open the door. I reached up with my hoof and opened the door… ________________________________________________ I was in a black area, nothing was there. I could see myself but everything around me was black. I then saw a light and turned. There was a hospital room…a blue Pegasus lying on the bed...blood all over her. A grey teenaged stallion was crying into her dead hoof….oh Luna no!! I shook my head and watched my mother die again. This couldn’t be happening!! I ran to her but the hospital room kept going farther and farther away. I finally just fell over on the non visible ground and started feeling tears on my cheeks. No…don’t die again mom…don’t leave me alone again…I want you back…I miss you so much… I felt something touch my head. I looked up to see a unicorn. She was older then I was maybe by a year or two but she was stunningly beautiful. Her black coat almost had her blend in with the background but her white mane with red and gold highlights outlined her appearance. Her blue eyes showed compassion and kindness. She smiled down at me warmly. She reminded me of mom… “You suffer so much Private…” She said in a voice that reminded me of Moongale’s. It was smooth as silk…she had to be a singer of some sort. I noticed her cutie mark of a singing bird on her flank. She gently nuzzled me on the top of the head. “You have witnessed so much pain…losing a mother at such a young and tender age” I let her nuzzle the top of my head. It felt like she was a big sister kissing a scabbed knee. “I miss her so much…Why’d she have to die…” “It’s cruel but in a way…had she not died you never would’ve gotten Tailspin…” “I wish it was me that died that day…she shouldn’t have to suffer…she didn’t deserve to die!” Suddenly her blue eyes looked right into mine. “We always try to shield the ones we love Private…but sometimes…not even the greatest doctors can cure death” “What is that supposed to mean! My mother is dead! She died because I didn’t want to take over the family business! MY CELESTIA DAMN FATHER KILLED HER!!!” I then fell to the ground again…I felt exhausted. I then began mumbling “It’s all because of me…had I let him do what he wanted….he wouldn’t have used that mandrake…mom would’ve” “Shh…” I felt her nuzzle me again and whisper words to comfort me. “Private, some things we cannot prevent…” “But if I could prevent it…I would…” I then heard a deep voice speak behind me “Velvet you heard him” I turned around to see another strange looking pony. He was clad from head to hoof in some kind of steel body armor. His face was obscured by a visor but I could tell from his voice he wasn’t playing around. Velvet looked at the steel stallion pleadingly “Give me more time with him Steelhooves…” “We don’t have time” he said simply. Why did his voice sound familiar? “He needs to face it soon” I looked at both of them “Face what?! What’s going on!!?” _________________________________________________________ The scene suddenly shifted. I was standing in a burning building. I recognized it almost immediately. I saw myself on the floor…I was unconscious. This was when I leapt in to save Dinky from the burning building. Where I almost died… I looked to see the Steelhooves standing over my body. His expression was unreadable under his armor. Funny…he reminded me of Applesnack somehow. His deep voice spoke again “You leapt into a burning building knowing this could’ve happened…” I glared at the armored stallion “I did it to save Dinky!” “But if it was only you, who had to die, and you would’ve caught Glimmer and saved Dinky…but you would still end up here…would you still have run in?” “Of course!” I yelled “I was doing what was right!!” “Were you?” The armored stallion asked skeptically “Or were you just trying to play a Luna damned hero?” “No I wasn’t-“ “Maybe Dinky wasn’t worth saving…” “You take that back!” “You let a murderer get away because you weren’t willing to make the sacrifice necessary to do so” “I couldn't let a filly die!!!” I yelled even louder. I got right in the steel stallion’s face “How can you stand there and say that!” “Maybe because it’s easier to let just one pony suffer…” “It is easier! That’s why I leapt into the building in the first place!!!” ____________________________________________________ The scene shifted again. I wasn’t sure where I was at first. But then I recognized all sorts of ponies around me. They didn’t look at me or acknowledge me. They’re voices meshed so much I couldn’t make out what one pony was saying. I tried to speak to get somepony’s attention but no words came out. The hell?! I spoke again and still silence greeted my lips. I couldn’t speak. “You suffer in silence…” An accented voice spoke behind me. I turned around and saw…Zecora? No this zebra was a little younger, and heavily scarred on her body. She was rather lithe and muscular compared to the only other zebra I knew. Her expression was unreadable “You are afraid of others Private…” I tried to reply but no words came out again. I really was mute. “You do not let others into your problems because you are afraid. You are afraid to share the burden…” I shook my head furiously. Of course I don’t want to share the burden! I didn’t want others to get hurt! The zebra spoke simply “I too understand what it’s like to suffer as you do. It’s better if you let your problems speak…for some ponies are willing to listen” I shook my head again. All of this didn’t make any sense! Who were these ponies and zebra that tried to tell me how to live my life! I’ve done nothing but good! My problems are my own! Its better if I suffer alone then toss the burden on a pony that doesn’t need it! The zebra shook her head disapprovingly “Never…you will soon face this ideal of yours…” _______________________________________________ The scene faded to black again. Everything around me was just black until I saw another light. Fearing another look but my curiosity getting the better of me I looked. I saw…a mare? I almost mistook her for a filly she was so small. She had her back turned to me; her coat was a soft blue and her mane a short brown. Sort of like mine now that I think about it, although she wore it better than I did. A small horn was on her head, she was a unicorn like me. She wore some kind of blue and yellow lined jumpsuit on her with a large 2 on the back of it. I also saw a strange device on her left front hoof. It looked like a high tech watch of some sort. But then she turned her head to me, her eyes were a soft brown…and they were crying. She simply looked at me but then I felt something on my hooves. I looked down and saw blood filling the invisible floor. I leapt back in surprise and wiped off the blood from my hooves. I looked back up at the mare again…I gasped at what I saw. Bodies were piled up around the mare. Many of them were ponies, a couple griffons, even a dragon at one point. They were all bleeding…I saw children among the bodies to…did she…no she couldn’t have… She slowly nodded and cried all the more…she killed them all. I was looking at a mass murderer…how could such a small and weak looking mare come to this? She should be having her first romantic affair not all these bodies. I then saw another strange sight. Between us spawned another unicorn, a bottle of alcohol in her hoof. Then another stallion showed up. Then a mare followed by another two stallions. I looked behind me and I saw my parents, and their parents, and their parent’s parents. Slowly the gap began to close between me and the ponies that kept appearing. Till finally…a filly appeared in front of me, I stared at the little thing. She was a soft shade of magenta with a soft brown mane. Her bright amethyst eyes looked up at me in awe and wonder. Wait…amethyst? This was… “You’re…mine…and Twilight’s…” I said slowly. I looked past the filly and looked down the line. This filly was my child…and the ponies leading to the small mare were her descendents. I was…the ancestor to this mass murderer! If you live…then she’ll come about and kill all those innocents… I felt a gun in front of me. I levitated it slowly with my magic. I opened the chamber and saw it only contained one bullet. One shot would be all it would take… If you die…she wouldn’t even exist…she wouldn’t be born to destroy all their lives… If I die…It would be better for everypony… Better one pony be sacrificed to save the many…. …it’s true…if I sacrificed myself…I could save all of them… Do it…save all those ponies… I held the gun to my head with my magic…just pull the trigger Private…it would save them all…you could stop her! You could save so many by just disappearing! “Daddy…” I looked down at the little filly again. She looked so beautiful…she had her mother’s caring and kind eyes. Right now though…they were crying…she didn’t want me to kill myself. “I love you daddy…” She is a figment of your imagination! Don’t listen to her! But she…she said she loved me…. So what!? Think of the ponies that will die! But if I die…she would never be born… That’s right! And all those ponies will be saved if she isn’t born! I wasn’t talking about the mare… WHAT?!!? I was talking about my daughter that you want to have killed… She isn’t your daughter! She’s something your mind conjured up! Think of doing the right thing!! I aimed the gun into the empty abyss and fired. I couldn’t do it…I couldn’t condemn the life of my future daughter…I just collapsed onto my belly. The tears flowed freely…I was so weak…when asked to sacrifice myself…I couldn’t do it….all those ponies will die…I felt something…a nuzzle? I looked up to see my daughter nuzzling me on the cheek. She looked at me with those bright violet eyes of hers. She smiled…Celestia she had a beautiful smile…”Thank you daddy…I love you…” She then began to fade… I reached out to try and touch her…but she faded before I could touch her. I looked as the rest of the family line faded. I looked up and saw that the bodies were gone. The mare wasn’t crying anymore…she was smiling at me. “You finally get it don’t you?” Her voice wasn’t exactly pretty but it had a certain charm to it. “Get what? What’s the point of all this…?” I said very confused. “The point was that you learn a valuable lesson…that your pride was holding you back” “My pride?” She nodded “You’ve been trying to shift the entire burden to you and you alone. You fail to see others involved” “But …it’s better if just I suffer” She walked to me and put a small hoof to my mouth. She just had this air about her…I can’t explain it but I felt compelled to listen to her. “In my time…everypony has a virtue, something that we all accept as part of ourselves. An unwritten rule that we use to keep ourselves sane…mine was sacrifice” “How is sacrifice a virtue?” “It means I’m willing to put the burden on myself. Too many times I thought that if I alone faced the burden then nopony would get hurt” She sighed a little “It’s gotten me close to death more times than I can count” “So what are you trying to say exactly?” I said looking at her She snorted in frustration “Jumping Luna on a f**king pogo stick from the moon and back you can be so dense…” “You just came up with that off the top of your head?” She blinked “Yes” “You’re vulgar for such a young lady…” “And you are too stubborn for your own good so I guess we have a lot in common” We both laughed, she had a good laugh. I looked at the small mare in front of me “So what do you want me to get out of this…?” She smiled at me and stepped back. I saw the ponies from before appear…first Calamity, then Velvet, then Steelhooves, then the zebra…”That you are not alone…” I looked behind me and ponies started appearing one by one…Twilight…Rainbow…Rarity…Pinkie Pie…Applejack…Fluttershy…all ponies that have helped me. They didn’t care how dangerous it was…whether they could get hurt or not. I was their friend…we are all in this together. We are all fighting for a better tomorrow. I didn’t have to face my burden alone…they were all willing to carry it with me. I looked back at the small mare. “Thank you…whoever you are” She smiled “They call me…Littlepip…” ___________________________________________ I felt something rough and wet hit my face. I blinked open my grey eyes and met a pair of yellow ones. I yelped and fell back in shock. Standing before me was the wolf from before. I looked around…I was in the middle of the desert not too far from the buffalo camp. The wolf was panting in the heat of the sun. He seemed friendly enough…wait what was that in front of him? I levitated the object in front of me. “A Marshall?” Indeed, it was a Marshall hand gun, just like the one Silver Star had. I looked at the wolf “Where’d you get this boy?” He turned his head towards the direction of where we found the dead buffalo…he must’ve found it at the camp. What a smart wolf, I looked at the gun and opened the firing chamber…two bullets were missing. I reached into my trench coat and pulled out the bullet I found in the wolf’s leg…It was the same caliber. The revolver also had the same serial number as the one on Silver Star’s. The only reason it would have the same serial number would be if…they were sold in a pair. I smiled and rubbed the wolf on the head with my hoof. “Good boy…” He pushed his muzzle into my hoof. I guess he did see me as kin…”You’ve just helped me solve a murder…who’s the good boy?”