//------------------------------// // Reborn // Story: Requiem of Equestria // by TheBlox //------------------------------// Author Comments: The irony about this chapter, is that I had been planning this scene since before Season 3’s finale. Of course, it was going to be a little different, but the episode inspired necessary changes, such as the specific appearance of the location. I don’t want to get into all the details here or I’ll spoil this chapter, but if you’ve seen the episode, you’ll see what I mean. So the Season 3 finale did actually help move this plot along pretty well! Hope you enjoy! —TheBlox— ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Flake carried Daring in her cocoon over the forest, making his way to the mountain. As he flew closer to the hive, he felt his heart racing faster, filled with pride that he was able to do what even the other top changeling guards could not: capture the pony. Reveling in his victory, another changeling came flying up from the trees below. The changeling ascended right in front of him, forcing him to halt. “Woah, Chitin.” he backed away a little, caught off guard. “Er, hey.” Chitin just glared back at him, then trailed his eye to the cocooned pony. He was admittedly surprised by this, and looked back to Flake with a raised brow. “You captured her?” “Er, yes sir.” Flake nodded respectfully, and then noticed Chitin’s facial expression go sour. The captain frowned and gnashed his teeth. “Uh… Chitin?” Flake felt a nervous lump in his throat. “Let’s take this lower, hm?” Chitin demanded. “Uh… Sure.” Flake nodded timidly, “Yeah, okay.” The two changelings descended into the forest, landing next to a river in the grey fog and dead grass beneath the skeleton trees. Flake put the cocoon down beside him and looked up to Chitin curiously. “So, is there a problem, Captain?” Chitin just winced at that. There was a gap of silence in their conversation before anything else was said. “You… are a traitor to your own kind.” Chitin had to look away as he abruptly choked on those words with disgust. Flake paused, and looked to the side. “Heh. So you know, then.” Chitin turned back to Flake and squinted. “I don’t want to see you back in our hive again.” “Wait, what?” Flake’s eyes jolted open and he turned to the captain, “But… You can’t just—” “The Queen doesn’t want you back, Flake. She told me herself.” Chitin snapped, “You’ve impersonated a high rank guard.” He winced and grit his teeth, “Do you have any idea how disrespectful that is?” “I…” Flake stepped back a little, “I’m sorry, Captain, I was just… trying to be like… one of you guys.” “One of us?” Chitin stepped toward him and raised his voice, “One of us?!! …You. Will never. Be one of us!!” He turned his glance to the cocoon next to Flake and pointed at it, “Now hand over the pony, and get out of my sight!” Flake’s turquoise eyes slowly filled up with tears, and he stepped forward with a loud holler. “N…No!!” he stomped his hoof in the dead grass, “I refuse to believe that the Queen would say that!” “Heh. Sorry to burst a hole in your pride.” Chitin frowned. Flake picked up the cocoon and spread out his ratty wings. “I’m taking this pony to her myself!” he yelled as tears trickled down his cheeks, “She’ll accept me! You’ll see!” Before he could fly away, Chitin lunged into him, striking him in the gut with a hoof. Flake coiled up with a grunt, and Chitin kicked him down. The exiled changeling collapsed onto his side, and held onto his wounded stomach, coughing into the dust beneath him. “If I see you again…” Chitin muttered coldly, “I’ll kill you.” Flake frightfully looked up into his eyes with many broken feelings racing through his heart. Chitin just shook his head in disgust, and reached down to pick up the cocooned pony. Watching as the captain of the changelings reached down to take what he felt was rightfully his, Flake growled, and with a swift kick, he bucked the cocoon, and it rolled into the river. “NO!” Chitin leapt toward the rushing river, and quickly turned his head to find the cocoon, but it had vanished in the rapids. He stood there, feeling the rage build inside of him. He turned back to the cowering changeling, and he began to charge a spell; his horn glowing blood red. “Ch… Chitin.” Flake squirmed away from him, “Don’t. Don’t, that spell is forbidden!” “You…” Chitin snarled, trotting up to the downed changeling, infuriating sparks forming from his horn. “No! No, don’t! Chiti—” Too late. Chitin fired a black discharge of electrical energy from his red beaming horn, and struck him straight in the chest. “GhYAAA!!” shrieking in agony, Flake squirmed and panicked, and after a good five seconds of burning magic rushing through him, Chitin’s spell wore off. Lying on his back, Flake held onto his chest, breathing heavily as smoke emanated from his wound. He twitched painfully, unable to regain the strength to get back up. Chitin just gave him one last glance—a stare of disappointment and hatred—and he turned away, and began trotting back to the mountain. “Chi… Chitin. You… can’t just… leave me here…” Flake breathed painfully. Chitin looked up to the sky and rolled his eyes, then without another word, he ascended into the air, flying back to the hive. Flake was left traumatically wide-eyed. “Hnn…” he weakly sat up, and examined where Chitin had struck him in the chest; there was a burnt mark, and it stung horrendously. Every passing moment, he could feel himself fading away. Collapsing back into the ground, he just lied there, watching the thick clouds drift by, and closed his damp eyes, letting the tears roll down the side of his face as the roaring of the river echoed in the background. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Lying still in darkness, Daring Do felt as though she was weightless. Opening her tired eyes, she leaned up onto her haunches, and found herself sitting in an unfamiliar world. A world of stars and galaxies, and rippling clouds of beauty drifted through the everlasting open space. “Where…?” her voice echoed back at her, “…am I…?” She pushed herself to her hooves, and slowly turned to examine her surroundings. It was as if she wasn’t standing on anything at all. “Am I… dreaming…?” “No, you are not dreaming.” a deep and elderly voice echoed through the air, making her instinctively turn around to find where the voice was coming from. Not far from her, stood an alicorn stallion. He had a black coat and a white rippling mane like the clouds around her, and upon his head was a golden crown with a diamond in the center. He wore golden boots on his hooves with diamonds to match his crown. His cutie mark was a scale of gold. Her ears fell back, and she cowered at the sight of him. “Who…?” “I’ve been watching you, Scootaloo.” the alicorn looked down to her with his emerald eyes. The proclaimed Daring Do’s eyes widened, and she glanced left and right, then turned her glance back at him, “You… know my name…” “I know a lot about you. And I can tell that you have many questions.” he exclaimed, and then properly introducing himself. “I am the King of Equestria; father of Princesses Celestia and Luna. Or best known as the god of balance.” he declared, “By the look on your face, you’re probably wondering where you are.” He waited for her to nod, and he just smirked back at her with an answer, “You are in a world beyond the dream world. Very few have set hoof here.” Scootaloo scratched the back of her head and lowered her ears, “So… why am I here?” “You have a destiny, Scootaloo.” he tilted his head and sighed, “But you aren’t fulfilling it.” He cleared his throat and stood up tall again, “You are here, because this is the only way I am able to talk to you. Because I am unable to come to Equestria in this form, for if I do, I will break my rule.” “Rule?” Scootaloo raised a brow, “What rule?” “Balance.” he simply replied, “Equestria can only be molded by the free will of the living.” “Of the living…?” “Correct. I am deceased.” the King admitted with a sigh, “Have been for a millennia.” “I… see.” Scootaloo felt hurt to hear that, “But… I thought… gods and goddesses lived forever.” “Correction, we age forever.” he explained factually, “Many believe us to be immortal, but alas, that is not true. Though it is unheard of, we are still capable of dying.” There was a short moment in silence. Scootaloo’s eyes wandered, and she looked up to the King. “Um… I have a question.” “Yes, little one?” “Er… How long has Equestria been the way it is?” she asked. “Ten years.” he revealed. “Ten years??” Scootaloo jumped. “Yes. That explains why you’ve grown into a mare in what felt like over night. You were cocooned by the changelings for that long.” he explained and sighed, “You are eighteen years of age.” Scootaloo’s expression saddened, and she lowered her head. “I know it is hard to believe, and unfortunate for you to have missed your foalhood years. But sometimes, life has mysterious ways to keep its balance. It’s in those mysterious moments where you have to realize, everything has to happen for a reason.” The grown mare wiped her damp eyes and looked up to the King with a sniffle, “Why so long…?” “Because, Scootaloo, if you escaped at a younger age, your wings would not have been developed enough for you to fly. Nor would you have been strong enough to fight back.” the god of balance exclaimed factually, “You would not have been able to fulfill your destiny.” “So…” Scootaloo’s eyes wandered a bit, then she looked back to him. “What is my destiny?” “I can not give you all of the answers.” he exclaimed, “And you already know what your destiny is.” “But… Wasn’t I just captured again?” she wondered, and lowered her head, “I failed, didn’t I. That’s why you’re telling me I didn’t fulfill my destiny…” “No, you have not failed.” the King reached out his hoof and lifted her chin up, “In moments, you will awaken.” “I… get a second chance?” she murmured. The King nodded and put his hooves back down. Scootaloo’s eyes wandered and she went deep in thought. “I have… another question.” “Yes?” “So… Why me?” she asked, looking into his eyes, “Why not somepony else?” He just smiled in response, “Simply because, it is your destiny. There isn’t always a clear explanation for the bigger questions.” He pointed at her, “Don’t be alarmed. Look at yourself.” Scootaloo raised a brow, and first lifted a hoof to look at it. She was in her full bright orange colour that she used to be. She turned her neck to look at the rest of herself. Her large full-grown wings; her pink mane and tail; and something new… “A cutie mark!?” she was ecstatic. It was a pair of silver wings, and in the center of the wings, a golden lightning bolt. Surrounding the lightning bolt was an emerald coloured sparkle effect. After her brief foalish dance on her hooves, her expression became more solemn. Getting a cutie mark was indeed as exciting as she thought it would be, but there was something else that she felt—pride. “The green sparks, Scootaloo, represents your freedom, and how deeply you stand for it.” the King explained her cutie mark to her, pointing at the details, “The lightning bolt represents your loyalty toward your friends, and to all the other ponies in need.” He put his hooves down, “And the wings, represent your determination. To be exactly what you need to become. No matter how hard it is, or how bleak it may seem.” Scootaloo kept looking at her new cutie mark with awe. “Wait… Loyalty?” she turned back to the alicorn in question. “Yes. Loyalty.” he nodded. “But…” Scootaloo scratched her head. “Rainbow Dash. She is the element of loyalty.” “Indeed she is.” the alicorn King chuckled, “Those who we admire the most have a great impact on our lives. And you were very close to her, weren’t you?” Scootaloo nodded, “Yeah… She was like a big sister to me.” “And thus, you follow her hoofsteps, becoming loyal like her.” He grinned, “It’s no question why you would select her favourite fictional character to hide your identity.” Scootaloo briefly turned away and blushed a little. “Oh, heh, yeah.” She looked back to him with a smirk, “Pretty clever though, huh?” “Indeed.” the King cleared his throat and stood tall, looking down to her solemnly, “So… Do you understand why you are here now?” “I think so…” she murmured and scratched her head. “Good.” he replied, “Because you’re about to wake up.” “Huh?” her eyes widened and she stood up straight, “But I have so many more questions!” “Heh, and you will find your answers, all in good time.” He stepped back, and her vision slowly became blurry. “Wait!” Scootaloo held up her hoof. She could feel herself fading away from this world, and it was happening fast. There was the sound of static slowly growing louder as the world around her rippled with vanishing starlight. “W-what’s your name??” The King just chuckled, “I have been known by many names… But my name isn’t important right now.” “No, wait! I feel like I have to know!” He stood there, and grinned. “Next time.” he replied, “We will meet again. Good luck, Scootaloo.” The moment he finished his final sentence, the world vanished in a blinding flash of light, and all she heard was a monotone white noise. Slowly, the light and the echoing white noise faded into darkness… ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ …And she woke up, lying on her side. She was washed up on the shore of a river. The stream here was calm, but the forest surrounding her was just as gloomy as before. Slowly opening her eyes, the first thing she saw were two eyes staring straight back at her. The sight made her jump and gasp. “Mercy?” she froze, staring back down at the bat who had waited there patiently for her to wake up. She rubbed her eyes with her front hoof, and felt enough strength to stand back up. “Ugh, I had the strangest dream…” she murmured, rubbing her forehead. Looking back down to Mercy, she couldn’t help it, and leaned down to pick him up and hug him. “Aw man, am I glad to see you… I was so worried!” she admitted frightfully, lifting him up to have a look to see if there were any wounds on him. After her little moment with the winged mammal, she realized something. When her forelimbs were in her peripheral vision while lifting Mercy, she noticed that her coat was bright orange. Gently releasing him so he could fly at a hovering pace, she turned to the stream and looked down at her reflection in the water. “It… wasn’t a dream??” she whimpered at the sight of her new coat and mane, and she turned to see if her cutie mark was still there. And sure enough, there it was. Her eyes wandered, and she went deep in thought. Looking up over the horizon, she saw the mountain where the changeling hive was. She stood there, thinking deeply to herself about what the alicorn King had all revealed to her. At first, she considered turning around to find a place to hide, but she knew that wasn’t why she escaped in the first place. That wasn’t her destiny—not to run and hide. It only took her a moment to understand why she was here. She couldn’t fathom why she of all ponies would have been chosen for this, but she took a glance at her cutie mark, and honoured it. Frowning with strong determination, she stood up straight, and marched along the riverbed up stream. With Mercy following along beside her, Scootaloo made her way to the changeling’s nest, putting her fears behind her. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Many thanks to these gentlecolts: Proofreading and Editing done by David Hasselhoof. Prereading and other Assistance by Morfonious.