//------------------------------// // Chapter 24 // Story: Millennium Wake: Part 1 // by Chaotic Dreams //------------------------------// Chapter 24 Time seemed to slow down as the chimaeras fell upon them. It was like somepony—that somepony of course being Fluttershy’s imprint—had taken all the primeval animal ferocity in the world and thrown it into a blender, finally pouring it out into these monstrosities. Rarity didn’t know whether to feel terrified of these multi-creatures or feel sorry for them. She did both. Whatever the case, though, they were currently the enemy, and thus an enemy to any and all life the monster tree might try to further distort. Rarity only hoped she and her friends could get through them before they were forced to join their ranks. “Get to the heart!” the white unicorn commanded. “Only fight when absolutely necessary! Unless we get rid of the tree, it doesn’t matter how many monsters we kill—she’ll just keep making more!” “Aye-aye!” her friends agreed, Firefly’s parasite reluctantly nodding her head as she gulped. Surprise launched herself into the air, exchanging her miniature party cannon for two large pink cylinders reading ‘Rambunctious Rocket Launchers’ along the side. “For freedom!” she roared in a cackling-mad battle cry, weaving her way in and out of the falling abominations even as she blasted them to bits. Fried flesh mixed with confetti rained down on Rarity and her friends. “For friendship! For marshmallows!!” “No way is that ditz beating me to the top!” the not-Firefly snorted competitively. “Hey two-legs, think you can keep up?” “You’re on!” Megan affirmed with a look of determination. “Hold on tight, Rarity—and help me blast as many of them as you can!” Rarity nodded as the human rushed to her side, scooped her up in one arm, and snapped. The two of them blasted off with a rush of air, that invisible energy of Megan’s computer flinging them upwards. “Now it’s on!” the un-Firefly giggled, fear and the spirit of competition warring on her face. So far, they were at a stalemate. She rocketed after her bond and the white unicorn, zig-zagging in an electrified rainbow streak through the monsters as her weapons harness unfolded around her. Surprise was doing her best to clear the path for them with her explosive party gimmicks, but still some of the monsters shoved each other aside or flew up to meet them again. Rarity’s horn sparked, igniting in a blast of magic that bombarded a squirrel-tailed polar bear-lobster into a giant flying kangaroo with an elephant’s trunk. Another spell did the same to a rhinoceros-wolf, while she telekinetically pushed a porcupine-octopus into the eyes of a lizard-monkey. Meanwhile, Megan had conjured up a sizeable gun-like weapon of her own with her free hand and was using it to blast whatever Surprise and Rarity could not. The parasite in Firefly’s mind flew backwards at an incredible speed, vaporizing any abominations that dared to follow them back up with bolts of rainbow. This might actually work! The monsters seemed unending, but as long as they were able to keep the creatures back, then— Rarity was nearly torn from Megan’s grasp as something shot by her, whacking her in the face—hard—with a clubbed tail. The white unicorn furiously turned to blast the offending monster with an icy telekinetic bolt, but she froze before her horn so much as sparked, her blood running cold. “Hello, big sister,” cooed the creature who had almost fractured her skull. “But that’s not possible!” Rarity spluttered, her horn still sparking but now unable to go through with the act of zapping the thing before her. “We killed you! You’re dead!” “That makes twice now,” Sweetie Belle’s doppelganger laughed with a sneer. The little unicorn filly now sported draconic wings and a matching tail, tipped with the club. “First when you left me to die of sorrow, and once again when you outright murdered me.”         “Rarity!” Megan called with a huff. With Rarity distracted, the others were having to double their efforts against the unending horde of monstrosities. They couldn’t keep this up much longer. “Don’t fall for her mind games! The tree’s just trying to get to you! Kill her and help us, or it’ll all be over!” “You’re not the real Sweetie Belle!” Rarity screeched, blessed realization dawning in her brain as a wide smile split her face while her dragon’s eyes narrowed. “The real Sweetie Belle loved me! Never stopped loving me!” The Sweetie Belle-who-wasn’t gulped as her eyes went wide. Rarity’s horn was sparking like never before, a crackling energy building around it like an entire lightning storm was bunched up in the small space. “Now, big sister, let’s be reasonable about this—” the un-Sweetie Belle tried to say. Rarity’s horn nearly exploded as the full force of her magic burst forth, unleashing a torrent of blue lightning. The screams of the fake filly echoed in the white unicorn’s ears as her phony flesh was obliterated, as was that of every monster behind her. The fake Firefly barely had time to dodge the bolt before it sliced right through to the stomach, cutting an even larger hole in the bilous sack. The tree shook with an inequine scream. “All right, Rarity!” Megan cheered in amazement. “Now see if you can do that again to the ones above us!” Rarity nodded in affirmation, pointing her horn up, preparing to fire another blast with all her might. Only a pitiful hooffull of sparks petered out. “Uh-oh,” Rarity gulped. “Don’t tell me you used up all your magic!” Megan uttered. “I did for now,” Rarity replied. “I’ll have to wait to recharge.” “I was afraid you’d say that,” Megan noted worriedly. “I don’t think we can keep taking them all on without your help. I know you don’t want to do this, Rarity, but think about it—they’re already monsters!” “What are you—” Rarity questioned before what Megan was asking hit her. “No! I will never willingly sting any living thing!” “It’s either them or us!” Megan claimed. “And if we let them live, then we may as well be giving this tree our blessing for its experiments!” Rarity’s mind was racing. Them or us... Them or us... That was essentially the same argument Firefly’s parasite had made to justify her fight to live. It was either her or Firefly, and as long as she had the basic will to live, she would not give up. But Firefly had the right to live too! Even if it meant the loss of everything Rarity was, did she really want to live with the guilt that she had inflicted such a terrible fate upon another living thing? How could she live knowing she had stolen a creature’s free will, its body, its everything from it, even if she only did so because it meant that the same wouldn’t happen to her? What good would come of fending off one crime by perpetuating it further? “I...” Rarity sputtered. “...I can’t! I can’t do it!” “Come on, Rarity!” Megan snapped at her. “We have no choice! It’s them or us!” “NO!” Rarity refused. “If that’s what you think then you may as well drop me right now! I thought you came to Equestria to get a second chance, not to make the same mistake all over again!” Megan froze, her skin paling. The monsters closed in, overwhelming Firefly and Surprise. “I had no choice!” Megan screamed. “There’s always a choice!” Rarity yelled right back. “If there’s no other way, then you just have to make another way!” “I’m sorry, Rarity,” Megan whispered after an eternal moment. “But if I had to do it all over again, I would. There is no other way.” And with that she dropped Rarity and the gun, snapping both her now-free hand-appendages. “Megan!” Rarity screamed as she fell. “What are you doing?!” “Forgive me!” Megan called as a current of air caught the white unicorn’s fall. Rarity, still beyond confused about what was going on, shuddered in frozen terror when the truth dawned on her. The air holding her up constricted around her, materializing into bonds tighter than spiderbat silk, binding her stiff as a board. Her legs were glued to her sides, her tail stretched straight out. “Wait!” Rarity called. “Stop! Don’t do this! I can still forgive you, but you have to let me go now! Think of another way—freeze them! Freeze them in time!” “There’s too many,” Megan choked, tears brimming in her eyes. She suddenly looked much more worn than the young human Rarity knew so well, all the horrors of another lifetime screaming in her eyes. “We need some allies on our side. I think I’ve figured out how to get us some.” “NO!!” Rarity wailed, tears streaming down her face as Megan snapped again, swinging the white unicorn around like a living sword. Her tail sliced through countless creatures, each howling in outraged pain before the crystals burst from their wounds. Just like the tree, the glistening spikes covered their hosts before melting in on each other and producing perfect crystallized replicas of what the creatures had once been. Those that could fly made a bow to the still-sobbing Rarity while hovering in the air. Others dropped like the rocks they had become. “What have you done?! What have I done?!” “MARSHY!” Surprise roared, rushing down through the monsters, propelled by the shots of her Rambunctious Rocket Launchers. She slammed into Megan, sending them both falling. She furiously began whacking the human in the face with her oversized weapons. “YOU! DON’T! HARM! MARSHY!” “I just saved us all, you twit!” Megan tried to counter between blows. Meanwhile, Rarity fell. Tears rose up through the air, light from the bioluminescent innards of the tree shining through the globules of water like the crystals so many of the monsters had become. She was sure Surprise or Firefly’s double would catch her, but right now she was so distressed that it was becoming increasingly hard to care. She hadn’t felt this sorrowful since the fake Sweetie Belle had convinced her that her little sister had died a dejected, bitter old mare. I’m no better than this monstrous tree! Rarity thought in cold fury, directed at both Megan and herself. Surely there was something she could have done—she shouldn’t have used all her magic on that regenerated monster-Sweetie. If she hadn’t, then none of this would have happened. Cold, hard claws caught hold of Rarity. She looked up through watery eyes to see two of the crystallized monsters holding her up in their transparent hands. They cut her free of her bonds, and then began ascending as more of the crystal creatures fought against their former allies, tearing into and ripping to shreds the brethren they had once fought alongside. Rarity was finding it increasingly hard not to wish for the still-fleshy monsters to capture her. That would help to balance things out, right? She had made some of them not-them, and they would pay her back by making her not-her. That was fair, right? No, it wasn’t. Would the real Sweetie Belle want her to give herself up? Would the real Sweetie Belle even think of her as a sister anymore if she knew what Rarity had done? Yes, she would still think of me as her sister, Rarity realized. She hadn’t done this to the animals. Megan had. The white unicorn was innocent, having been little more than the tool used to commit such a crime. What was done was done. She wasn’t sure if she could ever forgive Megan, but as long as these creatures were crystallized and helping her, then they were an advantage she needed to use. “Surprise!” Rarity called. “Come on! We can settle our differences later—right now we need to destroy that heart!” “Oh, alright,” Surprise called back, smacking Megan with her guns one last time. The human snapped, her face healing, as she began to rise back up after the pegasus. She materialized two guns of her own and began blasting back the still-fleshy creatures as Surprise did the same ahead of her, the un-Firefly bringing up the rear. The crystal creatures and Rarity’s friends seemed to be winning. The heart was so close... “NO!” roared a reverberating bellow of primeval terror, shaking the insides of the tree as if a monstrous hurricane were buffeting it from the outside. “NO!! You can’t kill me! I have to help! I have to help her! I have to do as I’m told!!” Do as you’re told? Rarity thought in utter confusion. Do as who tells you? She didn’t have time to think for long, however. More knotholes were opening in the sides of the tree, and countless creatures were pouring in. Yet more rose up from the depths below the stomach, and many even began to crawl their way down from where the heart and lungs waited. These new monstrosities were even more misshapen and malformed than the earlier creatures had been, as if they had been mashed together in a hurry. “We’re so close!” Rarity exasperated. “Fly faster!” The crystal creatures did as they were told, their transparent wings flapping as hard as they possibly could. It seemed to be in vain. One of the crystallized monsters was suddenly covered in the writhing, biting forms of the new abominations. Rarity heard a spine-tingling cracking sound, and suddenly the monsters of flesh fell away to reveal that the monster of crystal had been crushed. Shining fragments and glittering dust poured down. The crystal creatures could be killed? Wasn’t that what Rarity wanted, to put them out of their misery? Shouldn’t she rejoice at their merciful deaths? If so, why was she feeling robbed of her victory when she was so close? “Why isn’t anything in this era a straightforward decision between good and evil?!” Rarity spat angrily, more or less directing her question at the time period itself. More of her unwanted yet necessary minions were being crushed, overwhelmed by the onslaught. Conflicting emotions warred inside her—should she be happy or angry at their death? Could she forgive Megan, had Megan done the right thing in the first place, or would they never be real friends again? All the questions were welling up inside her, threatening to overwhelm her completely. Even the question of whether or not she had done the right thing in walking away when Sapphire lay dying... When her own child, natural or not, had been crushed by her own crystallized servant... And then the creatures were upon the two servants holding her up, smashing them to bits. They came for her next, her horn still sparking uselessly as she struggled to prevent her tail from doing any more stinging. But should she? “Marshy!” Surprise called, though she too was being overwhelmed, as were Megan and Firefly’s impersonator. Is this the end? Rarity thought as she fought for her life, but there were just too many of them. Is this how I die? A thousand years out of time, made into a monster by the twisted legacy of one of my closest friends? “GET AWAY FROM MY MOTHER!!” roared the loudest, most furious, most vicious draconic blast of sound Rarity had ever heard. The creatures were silenced instantly, the flying variety hovering as they held Rarity and her friends in whatever appendages they had been fabricated with. ‘Mother’? Could it be? Rarity looked skyward to see that, yes, it could be. Sapphire was, impossibly, miraculously, horrifically, standing there on the heart of the tree, his green eyes staring down at them all. “Sapphire...?” Rarity breathed in disbelief, hope and horror warring on her face. Could she be forgiven for her crime? Was Sapphire worth forgiving? Which side was he on? “Hello, mother,” Sapphire sneered, and the white unicorn’s face filled with dread. “Bring her to me. I have a little payback to initiate.” The creatures began screeching and cackling with mad glee, actually carrying Rarity and her friends right where they had wanted to go. “Sapphire, stop, please!” Rarity called. “I’m sorry! I forgive you! Please, forgive me! Don’t do this!” “I will have my revenge,” Sapphire chuckled darkly. “And you aren’t going to stop me, mother. I died for nothing once. When Fluttershy’s imprint found my brain in my old dead body and then put me in a fresh new body, she made certain to tell me not to die for nothing again. And so, I shan’t.” Insults built on Rarity’s tongue. Monster. Ruffian. Abomination. But, try as she might, she couldn’t bring herself to call them out. All she could do was see a broken child, her broken child, struggling to find some meaning in his twisted life. This was the solution he seemed to have found. Rarity knew it wouldn’t bring him any solace, and she also knew that he would realize that all too late and be left just as broken as before, if not more so. However, despite it all, perhaps she deserved this. She hadn’t been in control of the tree that killed him, but she hadn’t tried to prevent his death either. Maybe this was how she was meant to go... at the claws of the child she had allowed to die. Rarity was brought to eye-level with her ‘son.’ Two pairs of draconic optic orbs stared at each other, one horribly sorrowful, the other even more dark and veiled then when she had last seen him. “For what it’s worth, if it’s worth anything at all,” Rarity spoke. “I’m sorry.” Sapphire leaned in close, his cynical smile disappearing and his eyes growing soft. “You’re too hard on yourself, mother,” he whispered, his eyes glistening. His tone had shifted to be soft and sincere, like a passing breeze. He gently laid a claw on the unicorn’s shoulder. “I love you. I forgive you. I... I only hope that you can forgive me someday...” He took a deep breath, releasing a small plume of blue flame on the exhale. “Maybe we can be together after this.” Rarity nodded, closing her eyes. She was prepared for the worst. One blast of flame from Sapphire, and she would instantly go back to drowning in the tree’s office. A scream rang out through the tree. A scream rang out from the tree. Rarity hazarded a peek, then gasped in shock when she saw that Sapphire hadn’t moved an inch closer to her. Instead, he’d slashed open the heart he stood on with his tail and was now breathing fire into it. The heart was quivering, shining with an eerie blue glow from within, expanding beyond what could have possibly been normal. Finally, the heart burst open.