//------------------------------//
// The end 
// Story: Because I can 
// by Pumpkin-dreams 
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He walked alone through the tattered camp, though he was surrounded on all sides by fellow ponies. They chatted quietly amongst themselves, but it was idle noise meant only to distract. They were refugees, after all, and there was little to talk about except for loss and grief and memories.

Chalk left the ring of tents and climbed a nearby hill. From here he could see for miles on the flat land. On days long passed, he had strained his younger neck, hoping to catch a glimpse of far off places, or just watching the endless fields of golden grass wave in the wind. Now the grass was gone, burnt to mere stalks and staining the fields with their cinders, and miles of refugee camps littered the scenery. Now the mountains that had blocked his view years ago were desolate teeth, puncturing the blood-red skies; the earth rising up to devour the heavens.

Even the sky was different. There were no clouds, hadn’t been any for months. There hadn’t been days or nights for just as long. Now the sun and moon hung together in the sky, fused into a burning pit that bled it’s eerie colors across the land. Everything was tinted red. The two celestial bodies had not risen nor fallen since the day everything collapsed. They had just embraced in the sky like fearful children, and slowly drifted towards the horizon.

Ponies made guesses as to what would happen when they finally dipped over the edge. Would they simply cease to be? Would Equestria and all the world be wrapped in the abyssal darkness?

Chalk shook his head, feeling an anxious weight grow in his gut. Best not to think of it. Pegasi had lost control of their skies, unicorns could rarely summon a spark, what was a simple earth pony to do against the whims of the stars?

“... looks bleak, but we must not give up.”

What was that? Chalk jumped to his hooves and ran for cover behind a decrepit shrub. He didn’t worry about blending in; everything was nearly the same color, after all. As he watched, two mares crested his- the hill and sat together, facing east, towards the falling eclipse.

“Give up what?” the larger asked. “We have already lost everything we could give up.” She bowed her head, and Chalk saw a horn glimmer in the red gloom. “She can not answer me, because she is breathing her last. Tell me you do not sense the same with yours?”

The smaller sighed forlornly. “They are lost to us both, yes. The land has turned against us, yes. The ponies are struggling to survive, yes. But you told me once that there are things more resilient than any of these. Bonds forged in hearts and joy and grief. We can not abandon those completely.” She turned her head to the larger and whispered “You can not abandon me. Not after all we have done.”

“I wish you had been with me, for those long centuries. Perhaps our fates would not have come to this.” The larger silenced the other as she began to protest, “I know, it is useless to look at what might have been. And I do not blame you, dear sister, not for anything. I will not leave you, whatever may happen.”

The two, the sisters, spread a wing over each others back after a moment of silence. Chalk almost gasped; wings and a horns? Such a thing had not been seen for decades. The tales said the mighty alicorns had fled from the world, foreseeing it’s eventual doom. But he stayed quiet, not wanting to disturb them.

“I just fear,” the larger said at last, “that even those bonds, friendship and love, may not survive. Tomorrow will not dawn at all, sister. I can feel it, like a cockatrice walking over my grave, as the ponies say.”

They shared the winged hug a little longer before departing. Chalk tried to catch a last glimpse of the two legends, but in the gloom and distance they seemed to vanish. Then he sat on the hill, looking at the world. The anxious feeling was back, but he could not shake it.

It felt like mourning.