//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 "On the back of Hell" // Story: Equestria Noir Case 24 "Eternity's Cry" // by Jacoboby1 //------------------------------// Chapter 3 “On the back of Hell” I ran as fast as I could through the unfamiliar streets of Canterlot. Knowing that it was seven years in the future was a good enough explanation for my lack of direction. I entered an alleyway and hid behind a dumpster as a group of guards ran past. I sighed in relief and paused to collect myself. Just what the hay was going on here? Big Mac didn’t remember me? He wouldn’t even be speaking to Fluttershy if I hadn’t hooked them up. Hopefully they got away alright though. I peeked out of the alleyway and overheard a pair of guards talking to one another. “Damn Hybrid, causing trouble at the raffle,” one of the guards complained. “How’d he get out of the Ponyville Ruins?” the other asked. “Isn’t that where the Hybrids are supposed to be sent?” “Supposed to, sure,” his friend said, shaking his head. “Maybe Applejack busted him out to save her brother?” “Can you remember a time when the Apples were such contributing ponies?” the second guard asked. “I mean, I kind of remember giving one of their apples to my colt.” “Nopony gets apples these days,” the first guard grumbled with a shake of his head. “Not since Ponyville got wiped out seven years ago. The funny thing is, I can’t remember what happened to it.” So, it seems everypony here has memory problems. This doesn’t make any sense, they know Ponyville was destroyed, but they don’t remember how? Wait, Ponyville was destroyed? Maybe Rarity didn’t need much incentive to close her shop. I was still wondering how she got to marrying Blueballs. I’m guessing that’s where I needed to head next. If I was going to find any answers, they'd be in Po- “Psst,” I heard a voice say behind whisper. I turned, my eyes opening wide with shock; there was Applejack. She too looked around seven years older. Her blond mane hung loose down her side, and it looked it hadn’t been brushed in weeks. She still had her Stetson hat on her head, but there were some holes in it now… Judging from my past experiences I'd say they were most likely bullet holes. “Will ya quit starin' and get movin'?” she commanded, gesturing to an open pony hole. I blinked and nodded, Applejack may be my one chance to find answers around here. I followed her down the pony hole and we ended up in the sewers. Applejack didn’t say anything as she lead me through the maze that was Canterlot’s sewers. I finally decided to ask, “Aj, where are we going?” She stopped, looked back at me and replied, “Lower terrace, hideout, hush up.” I kept my mouth shut the whole way through. AJ came to a tunnel that was all boarded up and pulled a lose board off. She then crawled under the boards and I followed suit. She replaced the board and we walked a little further until we arrived at another pony hole. She climbed up to it and removed the cover. I followed her and, I think I know where the earth ponies all went. The lower terrace back home had been a site for shopkeepers and trades ponies. Now though, it looked like a slum. Half of the buildings were crumbled and boarded up. Pretty much all of the inhabitants were earth ponies or pegasi. Not a single unicorn was among the many that lined the streets. Mothers tried to quiet crying children, both of them looked skinny and weak. I was reminded of the Snowlands. I got several looks from passersby. They didn’t look very happy about a unicorn being here. I couldn’t believe this was really happening. AJ led me to a small building, knocked on the door once, paused, and then twice more. An eye slit opened to reveal a pair of blue eyes and a yellow muzzle. “Password?” the mystery stallion asked. AJ nodded and replied, “Red and Black” The eye slit closed and the door opened to reveal Caramel. His brown mane was matted and he had a scar above his right eye. I remembered him, he was a teenager who'd worked on AJ’s farm from time to time. He'd never been the most effective farmhand, but it was still great to see another familiar face. “What’s a unicorn doing here?” Caramel demanded angrily. “Easy, Caramel,” AJ said firmly. “He’s the one who caused the ruckus over at the raffle. He saved mah brother and sister in law.” Sister in law? Fluttershy and Big Mac were married? YES! At least something was right in this crazy place. “Alright, but if he causes trouble for us it’s on you,” Caramel said, holding the door open. The inside was a bar, ponies everywhere were looking at me with mixed expressions. AJ then turned and glared at me. “Alright, ya got some explaining' to do! How in the hay did you escape from the Ponyville Ruins?” “Applejack, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m the one who needs answers!” I said, my voice echoing the frustration I was feeling. “It’s you!” a soft voice cried. I turned and saw Fluttershy running towards me. She hugged me tightly and said, “Oh, thank you so much for saving us!” I smiled and held Fluttershy for a minute replying, “Hey, what are friends for?” “Friends?” Fluttershy asked, letting go of me and giving me an odd look. “I’ve never met you before, and, well…” She went back to shrinking violet mode as Big Mac stepped forward. His sister glared at him. Big Mac sighed and said, “Ah know what yer gonna say.” “Ya just had tah get married, didn’t ya?” Applejack yelled. “Ya knew what was going to happen! Ah can’t believe ya threw away our safety for a mare!” “Applejack, how can you say that?” I cried in turn “Fluttershy is your friend! You should be happy for them!” “Why would Ah be happy over mah brother nearly getting himself killed because he decided tah get married to a pegasus,” Applejack growled back. “This is all messed up!” I cried. “You know her! You know that Big Mac has loved Fluttershy for ages! She’s your friend! So is Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight, for Celestia’s sake!” Everypony in the room suddenly got quiet. Applejack slowly narrowed her eyes. “How do ya know those names?” “Because I’m your friend too!” I exploded. My mind was pleading for somepony to make some sense. “I was the one who hooked up Big Mac and Fluttershy, and I hooked you up with Applesnack!” AJ slowly looked down, and then over at another earth pony. “Show em,” she said quietly. He nodded and came back with a huge box of old newspapers. I looked at the dates, they were all from seven years ago. I picked up the first one and read the headline. Swarm Defeated, but at What Cost? Yesterday marks the end of a terrible tragedy that began just one week ago in Canterlot. Led by a mysterious Alicorn, named Lunard, and Queen Chrysalis, the changeling swarm launched a second invasion during the coronation of Twilight Sparkle. The invasion began just as Twilight Sparkle put on the crown, causing her to fall into a deep coma. Even with the Element of Magic out of commission the remaining Elements fought back heroically, but at grave personal cost. Rainbow Dash, champion flyer, and candidate for the Wonderbolts, perished in the ensuing battle. The Changeling swarm left a trail of destruction in their wake as they driven from Canterlot into the surrounding countryside. Many brave soldiers and citizens of Equestria lost their lives in the dark days that followed as the swarm swept through the kingdom, demolishing entire villages and towns. Finally, just when all hope seemed lost, the Crystal Empire reinforcements arrived. Led by Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, the reinforcements caught up with the invading swarm in a small town called Ponyville. Sadly, while trying to protect a group of foals trapped in their schoolhouse, Shining Armor perished as well. His brave efforts will forever be remembered. Princesses Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Lord Voidera all fought valiantly in the final battle. Fueled by her desire to avenge her lost love, Princess Cadence managed to kill Queen Chrysalis. Once their Queen was dead the remaining swarm was overrun and destroyed, but at what cost? While we can all breath a sigh of relief to see the fighting come to an end, but it comes at a very heavy price to the citizens of Equestria. Princess Celestia and Luna were forced to use up most of their power to destroy the changeling horde and stop Lunard. Lord Voidera also lost his life, sacrificing himself in order to save the princesses. As of today, both princesses are in comas recovering from the battle. A memorial service will be held, in Canterlot next Sunday, for all the brave ponies that lost their lives defending our great country. I stopped reading, just stopped because I couldn’t take it. Rainbow was dead, Shining was dead, and Voidera as well… I looked over at Applejack, pain etched on my face as I begged, “Tell me you remember this.” Slowly, she shook her head. “Ah’m sorry, ah don’t remember any of it. We found dem newspapers a while ago. Ah don’t remember a Rainbow Dash, or Shining Armor. Let alone that there used to be more than one Princess.” “One’s bad enough,” Caramel grumbled. “AJ, how can you just forget this?” I yelled “Your home, your farm and your family! All taken away because of this! How can you or anypony else just forget it all?” “That’s the thing, nopony can remember it. Ah did a little experiment a while back. Hey, Applebloom!” she called. Applebloom came out and my jaw nearly dropped. She had grown into a teenager. Her scarlet mane hung loose down her back, and her trademark bow was tied around her tail. Her body was about to enter full marehood soon. Boy, if only Tyran can see what he had to look forward too. Applebloom looked at me, and a faint blush came to her cheeks. “Sis, um, who’s this?” she asked. “This ere’s the fella who helped Big Mac,” Applejack replied with a smile. “Show em that diary you made.” She stared at me with her yellow eyes and turned to run off. I couldn't help but smile a little. It seems even if she didn’t remember me, her crush grew on it’s own. I wondered how Sweetie and Scootaloo turned out. Then there was Tailspin. I closed my eyes and wished with all my might that he was okay. Aj's sister returned with a small diary and hoofed it over to me. “Ah don’t remember why ah wrote all this, but Applejack said it’d be good to keep round. Ya think it could be helpful, mister?” she asked hopefully. “Maybe,” I said with a smile, which caused the teenaged filly to blush. Applejack gave her a smirk and then turned to me. The first thing I saw when I opened then opened the book was picture after picture of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I kept turning the pages, there were little captions on the sides of the photographs. They all read, “Who are they?” I slowly looked up at Applebloom and asked, “Do you, know a Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo?” Applebloom slowly shook her head. “Ah kinda know a Sweetie Belle, she goes tah a fancy school up in Manehattan with mah cousin, Babs. Ah don’t know a Scootaloo though, sorry.” This wasn’t happening. This all just wrong… “Are ya okay, sir?” Applebloom asked concerned. “Ya look terrible.” “I've had a very bad day,” I said, shaking my head. “I just wish I could wake up from this nightmare.” “Well, ya can rest up tonight, but we’ll need ya bright and early tomorrow,” Applejack spoke up. “For what?” I asked, looking at Applejack. “Yer helping us with the revolution,” Applejack declared matter of factly. “Now wait, hold on!” I said, putting the diary back into Applebloom’s hooves. “I don't recall signing up for any revolution!” “Ya don’t have much of a choice,” AJ said, turning back to me. “The minute you decided tah throw that baseball at the announcer was the minute you joined this side. Mah fellow earth ponies and pegasi suffer under those unicorns. Constantly having tah work all hours with no pay just so they can keep their posh lives!” “You were friends with a unicorn!” I yelled “Three of them were elements!” “Now that may be true in the papers, but in cold hard reality, Princess Twilight’s been forcing ponies tah slave away. She lets the unicorns oppress us and treat us like garbage! Tomorrow, we’re going to make them listen to us for a change!” The other members of the group cheered and yelled in approval. I can’t believe this. I looked up at Applejack and said flatly, “You’re wrong” “Say what now?” Applejack asked, glaring at me. “Starting a riot will only get ponies hurt,” I said, seeing right through her plan. “I will take no part in it.” “What’re ya gonna do then?” Applejack asked. “Ya can’t go back tah Canterlot, you’ll be hunted down like a criminal. If ya get behind us, every hybrid in Equestria will be-“ “I’m not going against Twilight,” I yelled. Everypony was quiet for a minute. A stunned silence lingered in the air. Applejack slowly spoke, “The way ya said that, sounds like you’ve known her all yer life.” “She’s my friend,” I said flatly. “She wouldn't want this.” “Only because it doesn't benefits the nobility!” Caramel yelled. “She has no friends!” I heard a pegasus yell. “Just cronies!” “Maybe ya ain’t a hybrid at all,” Applejack said accusingly. “Maybe yer just a spy sent by her to topple the revolution!” “Applejack, wait!” Applebloom cried, getting between us. “Stop!” “Bloom! Get outta the way!” her sister hollered. “Ah don’t know why,” Bloom said, looking down, “but, ah think he’s telling the truth. Sides, didn’t you say we shouldn’t involve anypony that don’t wanna get involved?” Applejack slowly sighed, and the looked at me. “Ah’m only doin' this cause ah owe ya fer mah brother, and cause my sister seems to trust you. When all hell breaks loose though, ya’d better make sure yer standin' on the right side.” With that, she went away to speak to her fellow revolutionaries. Applebloom looked at me, her face bright red as she said, “Ah believe ya. Sometimes ah get dreams that don’t make much sense. Was Ah friends with these two?” I smiled and said, “The very best.” “Ah hope ah can meet 'em again someday,” she said with a smile. “They look like a lot of fun.” She then noticed me getting ready to leave. “Where ya goin'?” “To Ponyville,” I replied honestly. Applebloom ran in front of me. “That there’s a death sentence! Hybrids are sent there when they’re discovered! Nopony’s ever comes back from there!” “I need answers, Applebloom,” I said firmly “I’m sorry, but I can’t take part in what your sister is planning.” The teenaged filly looked down for a minute. “Ah didn’t agree with her much neither. Ah just think, maybe if the Princess had friends she wouldn’t be so mean.” I put a hoof on her head, smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll figure this out, I usually do.” “Say, mister?” she said, looking at me. “Ah don’t think Ah got yer name in all that.” “Eye,” I said with a nod, “Private Eye.” “Private, huh?” she said, smiling. “That’s cool, yer like a detective.” “I am a detective,” I replied. “Which is why I’m planning to solve the mystery of what is going on here.” She then looked at me with half lidded eyes and said. “Ah hope ah meet a stallion like ya someday.” “If all goes well, Bloom, you’ll marry a nice Stallion named Tyran," I said with a smile. “Tyran?” she asked, looking at me. “That’s a weird name.” Don’t tell me she doesn’t remember Tyran… Just, all of this, how did this all go to hell? Was it just Rainbow and Shining’s death, or was something far more sinister ahoof? ________________________________________________________ The train rolled into a stop at Ponyville station. A pair of guards came up to the car and one said, “I hate coming to this place, just gives me the freakiest feelings.” “You know our orders,” the other replied. “Let's just drop off the corpses and let Freaky Pinkie have at them.” “What do you think she does with them?” the first one asked. “Like, does she skin them and make dresses out of them?” “Dude, don’t even joke about it, that's gross,” the second said. “Maybe she tosses them to the witch who lives in the Everfree Forest.” “She does sing about an evil enchantress sometimes.” He then pulled a lever and the car door opened, revealing a wagon filled with corpses. They latched onto it with their harnesses, pulled it off the car, and began pulling it down the path. I peeked out from under one of the corpses and looked around. There was a stone wall surrounding Ponyville. A large gate stood in front of it and I could see guards posted on the battlements. I can’t believe this. I heard a train was going to Ponyville carrying corpses. So I figured, what better way to sneak into the Ponyville’s ruins. Unfortunately, I had to contend with the stench of death all around me as I had to bury myself to hide from the guards. It was cold, uncomfortable, and honestly unnerving, but it kept them from seeing or smelling me. I watched as we passed through the gate into town. I noticed there were no guards inside Ponyville. The buildings looked broken and decayed. A battle took place here and nopony ever picked up the pieces. There was an eerie quiet that just wasn’t natural in Ponyville. The guards stopped in the town center and left the wagon there. They went back to the gate and exited. Once I was sure they were gone I pushed myself up out of the corpses. I gently climbed out of the wagon and down onto the ground. The only guards were posted at the massive wall in front. The town was largely deserted, minus the corpses in the wagon. I looked at them and shook my head sadly. Most of them were just kids… Just, what kind of horrible monsters would think this is right… I then heard hoofsteps approaching; so I hid behind the wagon and slowly drew out Blackbird. I was desperately hoping it wasn’t a guard. Then I heard the voice. It was a dry, and tired, but all too familiar, voice. “More little ones. They never learn,” the voice mumbled. I slowly looked around the wagon, and there was Pinkie Pie. I hardly recognized her, however. Her mane was flat and her coat matted. She didn’t look like she'd bathed recently, and her eyes had big dark circles under them. She was clad in rags that barely protected her from the rather chilly air. She was unbelievably skinny, something very unnatural for Pinkie to be. She looked at the corpses and continued mumbling to herself, “More for Zecora, more to bury, more dead and forgotten…” “Pinkie?” I asked, stepping out from my hiding spot. Suddenly she backed away from me, speaking something incoherent in a pitiful manner. She backed into a nearby ruined house wall and cowered in front of me. “Pinkie, wait it’s me,” I said, gently as I could. “Private, you probably don't remember me.” Her blue eyes slowly looked at me. “No, Private left, left all of us, and made us sad…” she muttered. “Left?” I said, shaking my head. “Pinkie I’m right here.” “Didn’t save us. Lied, said we’d be friends forever. All secrets and lies, secrets and lies.” She chanted her eyes taking on a crazy glint. “Pinkie,” I said, nervously backing away as she walked towards me. “Liars! Just like when Twilight abandoned Pinkie. Like when Fluttershy and Applejack ignored Pinkie. Like when Rarity…left, just like Private.” Her grin had turned into the stuff of nightmares. “Pinkie, you’re not thinking straight!” I cried, in a panic. I was very much unnerved by her expression. But wait, Pinkie knows me! I chalked it up to Pinkie being Pinkie, but, what if she does remember who I am? She’d be the first pony recently to do so. On the other hoof, in this case, that may not be a good thing. “Now Private won’t leave Pinkie. Stay with me, forever…” I then noticed she'd pulled a knife from inside her rags. Pinkie was going to kill me? This is… “Pinkie, stop!” I cried, raising my hooves. “You don’t know what you are doing!” “Be my friend forever!” she screamed, charging at me with the knife. I braced myself to disarm her… Then a stream of smoke came out of nowhere. It hit Pinkie and she swayed, falling to the ground. I turned and saw a brown cloaked figure standing there. The figure lowered the hood to reveal…”Zecora!” I shouted in recognition. Zecora didn’t look much different from when I'd seen her last. She did have significantly more gray stripes though. It could be a sign of age in a zebra. She slowly smiled and said, “It is good to see you my friend. I seem to have saved you from your end.” “Zecora, you remember me!” I exclaimed, happily. “Yes, I do. I see you remember too,” she said with a nod. “What exactly is going on here?” I asked, looking at Pinkie. “How did Pinkie end up like this?” Zecora’s face turned grave. She raised her hood again and replied, “Follow me, there's somepony you need to see…”