//------------------------------// // One Soul: Part II // Story: Journey to My Imagination // by DeiStar //------------------------------// Chapter 17: One Soul (Part II) ***** Spike had finally finished his chores. The floor was clean, the dishes washed, and all of the several of bookshelves were dusted. Not a single trace of dust or stain was on sight. He wasn’t Twilight’s number one assistant for nothing, after all. Content with his hard work, Spike decided to go to the kitchen and prepare a ruby sandwich to satisfy his hunger. He had some leftovers from when he helped Rarity to dig gems, several days ago. Although, she still owed him some gems for his hard work from yesterday. Just seconds before Spike could open the fridge, the door knocked. He sighed and left to greet whoever was out there, interrupting his well-deserved meal. “Coming.” He walked towards the door and opened it, looking at not one, but the three guests in front of him. “Howdy, Spike.” Applejack offered a smile as she greeted the dragon. “Is Twilight and Lauren ‘round here?” Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were standing right behind her, probably wondering the same question. “Nope. Twilight and Lauren got a letter from the Princess, so they left for Canterlot earlier this morning. They haven’t returned yet,” Spike explained. “Oh, right.” He took a few steps back, extending his arm to invite them to come in. “Please, come in.” The three mares nodded and walked inside, except for Pinkie, who decided to bounce her way in, as usual. The library was amazingly clean. They weren’t sure if they had ever seen the library so clean before. Sure, after the party last night, there was lots of cleaning to do. “So they aren’t home?” Rainbow tilted her head around. “And I wanted to teach that Lauren how to spread her wings and fly.” She felt a bit disappointed. She had even finished her weather schedule extra fast that morning, just to teach Lauren to fly. “Didn’t Twilight tell you when were they going to come back?” Applejack asked, trotting around the library. “Nope. Not a clue. They just left without telling me why the Princess called. I don’t know if they’re still there, or if they’re on their way back.” Spike shrugged. “Oooh, I bet they’re having a super wacky party, and they didn’t invite us!” Pinkie exclaimed, out of nowhere. “Well, maybe when they come back, we can throw them a welcome party!” She bounced on her hooves in anticipation. “Pinkie… we just HAD a welcome party last night,” Rainbow replied. “You know, sometimes I worry about you, wanting to party every five seconds.” “Oh, Dashie! There is never enough fun, as there are never enough parties!” Pinkie began hopping around the library, eyes closed and with a wide smile on her face. She was sure the happiest soul in that room. Applejack rolled her eyes, unwilling to join the conversation and comment about something she’d probably regret saying. “Well, that’s too bad. What about Fluttershy and Rarity? Have you seen them?” “Well, Rarity came by to drop me, since I slept last night at the boutique. After that, she left. I think it’s her get-together day with Fluttershy.” Spike still remembered that night at the boutique. He had slept in Sweetie’s room, since she was with her parents. Even if he slept in the most girly bedroom ever, it was a secret only he and Rarity would now. “Well, aren’t they the sweetest?” Applejack looked at Rainbow, who returned a confused stare at her. “Maybe we should try one of those get-together thingy days, eh, Rainbow?” “What? Are you out of your mind? I hate spas!” Rainbow took a step forward. “Besides, we already had a get-together day, yesterday at the farm, what else do you—” Why did I ever create this show in the first place? Everypony in the room stopped doing whatever they were doing. They blinked, proceeding to turn their heads to look around and to each other. What was that thing they just had heard? It sounded like a voice, a very familiar voice. Finally, Applejack seemed to be the first one ready to speak. “Did y’all hear that?” Applejack looked at Pinkie, then at Rainbow, who nodded. “It sounded like the voice… of Ms. Lauren.” She recalled the tone of the voice. Smooth and sweet, just like Lauren’s. But hold on, she was supposed to be in Canterlot with Twilight. Rainbow looked around the room, but the owner of the voice was not to be found. “But, isn’t she at Canterlot? Where did that voice come from, anyway?” She looked at Pinkie, hoping that she would have a clue of what was that all about. However, she got distracted with a lock of her mane, which was bouncing in front of her face as she tilted her head. “Pinkie!” “Oh, what is it?” Pinkie snapped back to reality, staring at Rainbow Dash. “Did you guys hear anything?” “Yes, Pinkie. It was Lauren’s voice. I’m sure of it,” Applejack said, raising a hoof to tap her chin. “But she’s not here, and we all heard it, right, Spike?” Spike nodded. He was curious as well about the origin of the voice. However, was the voice really the most important part of the message? “But, did you hear to what she said?” Rainbow added. “She said something like… ‘Why did I create this show in the first place’ or something.” As hard as she tried to find any meaning to that message, Rainbow hadn’t the slightest idea. “Show? What show? And what does she regret creating?” Applejack’s questions had a reason. The message was confusing in many aspects. “First, how did everypony hear it? Second, why was it in Lauren’s voice? And third, what’s the meaning of it?” The other two mares, and Spike, shrugged. They were just as clueless as Applejack. “Uh, I don’t know. This sounds too weird to me. Let’s go find Rarity and Fluttershy. Maybe they heard that thing as well?” Rainbow walked towards the door. Everypony nodded and decided to follow her. It was no mystery where they were, though. Obviously, they were at Ponyville’s spa, so it would be a short trip. “But, wait! What if Twilight and Lauren come back?” Spike asked, before anypony could put one hoof outside the library. “Then you stay here and wait for them. We’ll be right back with Rarity and Fluttershy,” Applejack replied. Rainbow had already left the library, followed by Pinkie, who, as usual, bounced her way out. “Aww, but I wanted to see Ra—I mean, eh…” Spike couldn’t deny the fact that he was wishing to see a recently groomed Rarity coming out of the spa. The sole thought of her perfectly washed mane caused his cheeks to acquire a deep red color. “Fine, you can go with Rainbow and Pinkie, I’ll stay here.” Applejack rolled her eyes, unwilling to start a tiresome and unnecessary argument. Spike let out a silly giggle and left the library along with Rainbow and Pinkie, leaving Applejack all alone. He closed the door behind, forgetting about the ruby sandwich he was going to make. “Yeah, Spike. You’re welcome,” Applejack grunted, somewhat pissed that she didn’t even receive a ‘thanks’ from Spike. She looked around the empty and cleaned library, wondering what she should do to pass the time in case Twilight and Lauren decided to come back. It was going to be either them or everypony who went to look for the two missing mares. “Well, I guess a quick peek ‘round wouldn’t hurt anypony.” Applejack walked around the room, looking at all the sorts of books and gadgets Twilight had. There were plenty of books about almost every matter. “Hmm, I wonder if there’s a book about applebuckin’. Well, never mind. I could ask Twilight later. It would take me ages to find it in this sea of books.” Done with the foyer, she thought to herself about checking upstairs. She had been there before. That time with Twilight and Rarity at the sleepover. Somewhat unwilling, Applejack decided to venture herself into Twilight’s room, which was also like a second floor. Her curiosity grew stronger about the voice she had heard, so she thought she could find something related to it. Applejack walked upstairs, her hooves clopping hard against the wooden floor as she advanced. Finally, she arrived to the book land, which Twilight called room. Applejack looked around, noticing not much of a difference from the foyer. There were still lots of bookshelves, items, and of course, books. She climbed up to Twilight’s bed, where she noticed the extra bed she had shared with Rarity in that sleepover. Memories suddenly burst into her mind, but it was not the time for that. “Hmm, that’s probably where Lauren slept.” She turned her body, ready to leave the scene, when a certain scroll on Twilight’s nightstand drew her attention. “No, Applejack. You would never peek on Twilight’s documents.” Applejack wasn’t lying. She truly wouldn’t, but her curiosity at that time was too much to make her consider the possibility of an exception. “Wait, it was the Royal seal attached to it. It must be a letter from the Princess,” she said. Even though she was talking alone, with nopony to hear, she was used to it. “I wonder what it says?” Applejack extended her mouth and opened it to retrieve the scroll from the table. As soon as she pressed her teeth together to hold the paper, a chill ran through her entire body. Her head spun, just like she had being hit with something really hard. “Anngh.” She closed her eyes. The headache turned into a migraine. She spat the letter and pressed a hoof against her forehead, however, the pain did nothing but increase. “H-help!” she called, but nopony heard her. Soon enough, she lost the balance on her hooves and tripped. The burning pain that ran through her head didn’t seem anywhere near to end. It was only a matter of time before she would black out. Before her world went dark, she clearly heard the words of the Princess. Element of Honesty, I beg you. Open this letter and drop it on the middle of the library. Two lives will be saved if done so. “P-Prin… cess…” Applejack closed her eyes. The pain piercing her skull began to fade away. She was not conscious to feel it, though. But her body was now at peace, free of any harm. ***** Each gasp, each stare, each single breath that came from Lauren was filled with confusion. Confusion about the overwhelming battle that was about to begin before her eyes. She was standing in front of both Twilight and Luna, who were still knocked out by Faust’s savage attacks. Lauren couldn’t really grasp the concept about her own self being an evil being. The whole events that led to that very moment were still too hard to believe. “Just wake me up from this nightmare,” Lauren whispered to herself. “I’m useless. I can’t help in here. Twilight and Luna got injured and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.” She bowed her head, her hind legs bending and making her sit down on the floor. “What can I do besides running and hoping for Celestia or anyone to save me? How can I defeat my own so-claimed self?” Her hooves met her face as she started sobbing, drowning herself in her own sorrow. “There is… no use to… pity yourself…” a faint voice said from behind Lauren. Lauren’s ears twitched, reacting to the voice that weakly spoke to her. She gasped and spun her head, hoping to find the source of the familiar voice. It was Luna. She had barely opened one eye, however, still motionless on the floor. “L-Luna!” She squat in front of her, looking down at her with a certain smile of relief on her face. “Are you okay?” Luna managed to offer a faint smile, before opening her mouth to reply the question. “I… underestimated her. That buck to my chest… really hurt.” She shivered, remembering the fierce hooves kicking with anger against her. She was only grateful her head or neck weren’t the target. “Are you not hurt? What happened back there?” Lauren frantically asked, only caring for the well-being of the Princess. “I am fine, Lauren. Do not worry about me,” Luna coughed. “I will be fine. You should be worrying about yourself.” She rolled her eyes and glanced at Twilight, who was lying relatively close to her. “Don’t worry about Twilight Sparkle either. She is fine, I tell you.” “What happened with Celestia? Why did she ignite into flames?” Lauren trusted Luna’s words. She didn’t seem to be perfectly fine, but any little time they had was worth it. “Ah, so it has happened.” Luna couldn’t move her head to look at her sister, but she knew exactly what was going on. “Listen, Lauren. Celestia is now battling for real. The last time she was like this, was when she imprisoned Discord in that stone statue.” She squirmed, bearing with the burning sensation of the chest pain. “Only thing I have to tell you is to don’t get in her way.” “But, she said I am the only one who can stop Faust! If I don’t interfere, how am I supposed to beat that evil clone?” Lauren protested. She looked back at the two alicorns, who hadn’t started their battle yet. “The answer lies within what Faust said that time,” Luna said. Lauren raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Think back to what she said when she was fooling us with Celestia being the evil being. Think about what she said to you about your role here.” Lauren closed her eyes and thought about what Luna told her. She remembered now. It was when she had revealed the whole truth to Twilight and Luna about their origin. Right after she wondered about Equestria. “Real life or fantasy…” That was it. It was before Faust told her about how she was needed to stop Celestia. “Correct. As she said, only you hold the answer to that question. Faust wanted to get rid of Celestia because she is the only one who can prevent from her to take over your life,” Luna explained. “You weren’t needed to stop Celestia from becoming evil. You were needed to destroy her. That was Faust’s plan all along.” “I know that! But… the answer to that question is too confusing!” Lauren tried to keep her voice as down as possible to avoid Faust from listening to them. “I’m… not sure…” “You need to figure out the answer, and soon,” Luna coughed once again. She felt her consciousness time was running out. “You are needed to defeat Faust. You need to… strike the last blow.” Her eyes began to slowly close. “The… future of… Equestria depends… upon you. Impale her… with your horn…” “Wait, Luna! Don’t leave me! Hold on just a little longer!” It was not like Lauren knew any healing spells or anything. Twilight was not an available option, and much less Celestia. She couldn’t do anything but observe as Luna lost consciousness again. “I believe in you… mother,” Luna whispered before closing her eyes and blacking out. ***** “Hmm.” Celestia tilted her head down. “Ah. She found it.” “Found what? Thinking about your future, Celestia? Why? There is none for you, after all.” Faust offered a smirk, her eyes still flashing as bright as a red spotlight. Her broken wings on her back didn’t seem to be a bother anymore. “No. It’s over. You have lost.” Celestia returned the smirk, the fiery flames on her mane and tail blazing with power. “The letter. It has been found.” “You’re spitting nonsense. I guess it’s normal for somepony who is about to be erased from this world. I will make you disappear along with this castle and those three ponies behind you!” Faust’s horn illuminated. “I am matter, I am antimatter. I can see your past, and I can see your future. I consume time, and I will consume you!” She shot a black trail of magic directly towards Celestia from her horn. Celestia responded by jumping back and shooting a blazing trail of magic from her horn. Both beams collided, creating a small reaction right in the struggle between them. “I won’t let you harm Luna, Twilight or Lauren, you sick beast!” Celestia’s beam pulsed, increasing the flow and power. It started to overcome Faust’s beam. “Hnng.” Faust pressed her hooves against the floor for balance. She felt how her beam was succumbing against Celestia’s fiery one. “I- I won’t let you beat me!” She intensified her own beam to keep up with the struggle. The beam that impacted the other mare's horn was going to be the winner. ***** “Applejack, we’re back.” Spike opened the front door of the library, but nopony came to greet him. “Huh?” Behind him, Rainbow and Pinkie, along with Rarity and Fluttershy, waited for him to do something. “Where is she?” he asked, walking inside the library. There was no orange earth pony in sight. Everypony came inside, wondering the same thing. “Didn’t you say Applejack was waiting for us here at the library, Spike?” Rarity said. The essence of her recently washed mane started to linger in the room. “Yes, she did stay here. Right, Rainbow?” Spike turned his head back to her, looking for some support. “Yeah. She stayed here in case Twilight and Lauren came back,” Rainbow claimed. It was weird that now it was Applejack the missing pony. Where could she be? “Eh, I’ll go check upstairs,” Spike offered, sprinting up to his and Twilight’s room. He was only hoping for Applejack to be there. And he was going to be quite surprised after reaching there. He kept running, until he finally arrived to the room. That’s when he saw her. “Ahh! Applejack!” he yelled. The sudden shout caused to everypony to run towards the room almost by reflex. It was almost as loud as when he would shout ‘NO’ in a dramatic manner. Rainbow dashed in the room, and flew directly towards where Spike was standing. There was somepony else there, lying in front of him. The other three mares arrived shortly afterwards. “Applejack!” Rainbow flew and squatted in front of her. She moved her shoulders with her hooves, trying to bring her back to her senses. “What happened!?” She turned her head to Spike, who didn’t have the slightest clue. “I don’t know! I just found her lying here!” Spike looked around the scene, hoping to find something that could be the cause of it, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. “Oh, my…” Fluttershy squeaked, not approaching too close to the scene. “Ugh…” A moan escaped through Applejack’s mouth. Everypony looked at her with anxiety. “Applejack! Are you okay?” Rainbow asked. She was relieved that Applejack was safe. But what caused her to lose consciousness all of a sudden? She is a strong mare, after all. Applejack’s eyes widened in realization as she recalled the events from a while ago, involving the letter and Celestia’ voice. Just when she grabbed the letter with her mouth, she had a migraine, and before she blacked out, she heard the Princess’ voice. “The letter!” She stood up, as if her body were like new. Everypony looked at her with surprise and confusion. “There’s no time! Grab that letter!” She pointed her hoof at the scroll lying on the floor. “Uh? What for?” Spike asked. “Wait, this is the letter Twilight received from the Princess just before leaving to Canterlot!” “Horseapples.” Applejack didn’t waste any other second. She grabbed the letter with her mouth, not feeling any pain or something similar this time. “Come on, y’all, to the foyer!” The scroll in her mouth didn’t stop her from sounding loud and clear. She ran off with the letter, being followed by the other mares and dragon, who wondered what the hay was wrong with her. ***** “Luna… thanks,” Lauren whispered, even if Luna didn’t listen to her. “The answer to that question, I see.” She stopped for a second, before listening to a thunderous noise coming from behind. She looked at Celestia and Faust, who were in a magic beam struggle battle. “Celestia!” Lauren wanted to move, but she remembered Luna words. She didn’t have to interfere until it was her time, her time… to impale Faust with her horn. But why her horn? What was going to happen next? “Y-you foolish, persistent hag!” Faust cursed, grinding her teeth as she kept the beam struggle from unbalancing. “Ah.” In just a fraction of a second, she interrupted her fixed stare at Celestia and looked at the three ponies behind. “Don’t even think about it, Faust. If you do what I think you will do, you will lose,” Celestia warned. She managed to take a step forward, even with all the pressure on her. This made Faust to take a step back in response. The fiery beam grew stronger and stronger with each second that passed. “It’s all set now. Honesty managed to complete my task. Now you can’t possibly harm by beloved ones.” “Spitting nonsense again, Celestia!” Faust’s trademark wicked grin was stamped on her face. “You underestimate my power!” “It’s over, Faust! Do it and you’ll be defeated!” Celestia yelled. The fiery beam did nothing but increase its power. The balance was now on Celestia’s side. It was now only a matter of seconds. “Perish now, foul demon!” “Graaah!” The dark beam of light snapped. An orb of black light enveloped Faust’s body, deflecting the incoming fiery beam, which Celestia was still firing from her horn. The orb of light expanded, causing Celestia to jump back and hide her face behind a wing for protection. It moved directly towards Lauren, Luna and Twilight. “Whoa!” Lauren covered her face with her front legs. The whole thing happened so fast, it was the only thing she could do. She only hoped to be safe. She hoped for Luna and Twilight to be safe, since she already knew the answer to the question. Right in front of Lauren, Faust emerged from the shadows of the orb. Her enormous grin did nothing but widen as she had her prey under her. She lit her horn, ready for the final attack, the attack that would grant all her wishes. Finally, it was the moment now. She was so close now. It was over, over at last. “Fool.” A single, instant flash of light appeared out of nowhere. It lasted as long as cameras flash. Faust was there, motionless. Her grin began to slowly fade away as she did nothing but stare at the frightened alicorn in front of her. Finally, her face displayed nothing but an empty look. Her ear twitched, and she just stood there, not moving a single muscle. Luna and Twilight were nowhere to be found. They were supposed to be behind Lauren, but there were no bodies there. The only one who was left behind was Lauren, who, still unaware of the presence before her, opened one eye to peer at the scene. She opened both of them and gulped. Right in front of her was Faust, doing nothing but looking at her with a blank expression of her face. She wanted to do something, but the astonishment wasn’t letting her to. A faint crack noise echoed through the silent room. Lauren looked up at the origin of the noise, which seemed to be coming from Faust’s head. In a second, her horn shattered in two, and a big chunk of it fell in front of Lauren’s hooves. She gasped, looking back up at the now hornless Faust. “Y-your… horn…” Faust’s mouth twitched. The red light from her eyes faded away, returning them to their original blue color. She finally seemed to be responding, since she moved her legs to take a few steps backs. Her head tilted. She first looked at Lauren, then at her cut off horn lying in front of her. Her mouth twitched again as she took a few more steps back. “No… no…” she whispered. “T-the answer to… the question,” Lauren said. She got back on her hooves, not noticing about the missing mares behind her. “I know now the answer to the question. The question that you told me would decide if my role in here ended or not. I have the answer.” Faust didn’t reply. Instead, she kept looking at Lauren, with her face showing a perplexed look. Her mouth twitched once again. “Ever since I arrived, I’ve had the same idea the whole time. I was deceived by the appearances and the situations. It was no wonder why everything lasted this long, because of my own ignorance.” Lauren closed her eyes and took a quick breath. “I used to think that this was all just a bad dream, a nightmare, an illusion, or a fantasy, whatever. But I was wrong, for now I know the true meaning of why I am here! I should know better than anyone what this is.” She opened her eyes, looking directly at Faust. “Faust!” She pointed her hoof at the hornless alicorn. “It's over now! This is where my journey ends!"