The faint dawn lit the path in front of Sweetie Belle as she sighed. Walking through the silent, almost dead town brought memories of her time in Ponyville into her head. Was she really going to destroy the world? She didn’t want to, that was for sure. Her only hope laid with Zecora. And if she was honest, it wasn’t as much hope as she liked.
Rarity didn’t believe Zecora, but had decided to let Sweetie Belle go. Killing her would have been too much for Rarity. Sweetie Belle wouldn't let the prophecy stop her, no matter what it said. She knew she wouldn't hurt anypony. But even so, her doubt ate away at her resolve, and each step seemed to take longer and longer as she finally reached the edge of the town, and stopped.
“I-I can’t do it” her quiet voice broke the unnatural silence, and her head fell and tears began streaming. She tried to convince herself to go, to move, to hope. But with every attempt, she was rebuked by that same thought: She was going to destroy the world. Added to that was her sister's own doubt that Zecora could even help her.
“Sweetie Belle?” Jerking out of her thoughts, she flinched, realising the voice had come from behind her. With sweat beading her face, she turned around to see who it was.
“Oh, Scootaloo, you scared me. But why are you here?” She breathed a sigh of relief, she was still safe for the moment.
“I was going to Rainbow Dash’s house, so I could catch her the moment she woke up.” Scootaloo raised an eyebrow, before rubbing her eyes and giving a yawn.
“I see, that makes sense.” Sweetie Belle glanced back toward the forest, and bit her lip in hesitation.
“So Sweetie Belle, you're out finally. They wouldn’t let me come and see you or Apple Bloom,” she spoke, another yawn leaving her mouth before she folded her wings and gave a warm smile.
“Really? I didn’t know Scoots. And I gotta say, I’m glad I get to see you before I go.” Even after just a few moments of seeing Scootaloo, her fears had fluttered to the back of her head, and a small smile broke out on her face.
Scootaloo frowned and tilted her head. “Go? Are you going somewhere, Sweetie Belle? And by yourself?”
Sweetie Belle glanced toward the woods, and sighed. Her eyes constricted and she turned away as her fears came back in full force, forcing herself not to cry.
“I have to go Scootaloo. I’m meeting Zecora and we’re going to try and stop something really bad from happening.” Sweetie Belle almost wanted to ask Scootaloo to come along. But she couldn’t, they were going far and she wasn’t going to drag Scootaloo into this mess.
Wings flaring, Scootaloo replied, “Wait right here, I will be five minutes.” Sweetie Belle raised her hoof in protest, but Scootaloo had already left.
“But…I don’t have five minutes,” she whispered, glancing to the sky as it began to light up. Twilight would be up soon, if not already. And if they caught her, everything would be over.
One minute later Scootaloo returned, saddlebags full of items and a determined expression on her face.
“Scoot-“ Sweetie Belle began, holding a hoof to speak up and say Scootaloo couldn’t come.
Scootaloo cut her off, voice stern and unyielding, “No matter what you say or do, I am coming with you.” Her voice was a little nervous, and Sweetie Belle quickly thought of a counter argument.
“But what about your parents, surely they would be worried?”
Scootaloo jerked slightly, and rubbed the back of her head, “Don’t worry, they won’t be worried about me. But we should get going right? Or the really bad thing might happen without us?” Scootaloo glanced to the forest, and began jogging in that direction.
“Scoots, please, I don’t want to hurt you like I hurt Apple Bloom, ” she begged. Scootaloo didn’t even pause. Walking after her friend, Sweetie Belle glanced back to the town one final time.
“Aright Scoots, just promise me something.” Catching up to her friend, Sweetie Belle noticed Scootaloo slow down to a walk. She gave Sweetie Belle a wary glance at the coming proposition
“If something happens to me, I want you to run away. Okay? Run back to town and tell Rarity what happened.” Sweetie Belle tried to hide her tears by glancing away.
Scootaloo’s face flushed with concern, and she nodded, “Ok Sweetie Belle, I promise.”
After an uneventful trek through the forest, Sweetie Belle knocked on the door of Zecora’s hut. The sun had risen finally, and it wouldn’t be long before Twilight began tracking Sweetie down.
“I was waiting for you to arrive, we must hurry now if we are to survive.” Zecora had her saddles full to the brim with objects, and Sweetie Belle noticed that her hut was almost barren. Excluding some of the nonessential items.
“Uh, ok then. lets go Scoots.” Scootaloo nodded, raising an eyebrow but not saying anything. Zecora barely glanced in their direction.
“This way, do not stray, and we may indeed survive this day.” As they went into the forest, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had some trouble clearing obstacles Zecora merely walked over. However, every time they fell behind, Zecora would pause and let them catch up.
“So why are we ouch! going through the Everfree Zecora?” Sweetie Belle was the first to open her mouth, and tripped over as a result. Scootaloo could hover over most obstacles, seeming to hop like Pinkie Pie did all the time. However, weighed down by her bags, Sweetie Belle wasn’t having such luck.
“We must go to the ruins of the moon, then find the map to save us from doom.” With that said, she continued walking. Eventually the woods ended, and they made it onto a rough, dirt path and Zecora allowed them to take a quick break.
“I’m starting to regret deciding to come with you” Scootaloo muttered.
Puffing, she replied, “I’m starting to regret coming with me.” They both shared a chuckle, and recovered their strength. Scootaloo got her breath back quicker than Sweetie Belle, who was still recovering from her injuries. Eventually though, they continued on down the trail, over a river, over a bridge, and eventually they arrived at the castle.
It was pretty ruined, and Sweetie Belle wondered how old it was. Dusty glass lay scattered in places, pillars lay crumbled. In one of the rooms, one could easily see some kind of pedestal with six platforms.
“Split up and search around, shout off once it is found. It is square, and in disrepair. It is about the size of your head, and will show us the way ahead.” So they began looking around the old ruins for some kind of square thing around the size of their heads.
“Hey Sweetie Belle, I know I decided to come on this and everything, but what exactly are we doing again?” Scootaloo didn’t really understand what they were doing all this for, Sweetie Belle should have the answers.
Sweetie Belle paused in her searching, and realised Scootaloo didn’t know about the situation, “Well, apparently I’m going to destroy the world...And well, there’s this, prophecy. Twilight and the others were about to kill me and, well this is kinda the only way it that will save the world which doesn’t, well, result in my death.” Sweetie Belle gave a chuckle, trying to pass the entire situation off as something lighthearted.
Scootaloo narrowed her eyes, but didn’t comment on it for a moment. Of course she could tell her friend was thinking deeply about this problem, so it wasn’t something should could pass off as a joke.
“Haha, well talk about a convoluted story, eh Sweetie?” They both pretended to laugh. Both pretended the situation wasn’t as serious in any shape or form, and they went back to work.
Sweetie Belle headed into the underground cellar near a podium that had six stands, all empty. Looking around, there were a lot of old artefacts. She soon found a square object with very detailed magic carvings on it, covered in moss. Putting her hoof on it, she peered at them, and wondered what they said.
“Maybe magic is the answer…” she mused, calling upon her magic, making her eyes glow. She bathed it in a weak magic field, and tried to cast a weak spell with the intention of ‘translate.’ There was a brief moment where the square glowed, and suddenly she was flung backward, smashing into a nearby wall, becoming momentarily winded.
After she got her breath back, she saw Zecora walk down the stairs and make her way toward the square.
“Sorry Zecora, I should have called before trying something.” Sweetie Belle hadn’t thought that far ahead. She had seen the box, and just gone to try to open it impulsively.
Zecora glanced at her, before turning around and kicking the stone with her back legs, breaking it in two. Standing up, Sweetie came over and saw what had been encased in it. Picking it up, she frowned and glanced over it.
“It’s a mirror.” Sweetie Belle glanced to Zecora, who shook her head.
“It is indeed the block we want, but it has not what we have sought.”
Holding the item in her hoof, Sweetie replied, “can I keep it?” Zecora nodded, walking back up the stairs. Looking through the items more, she found a few strange items that held specific properties. She found this weird phial that was hovering, a bug that was singing, and even some kind of magical claw.
After some time, her ear flickered as she heard Scootaloo cry out in help and her heart leapt to her throat. Turning she quickly cantered upstairs and glanced around for Scootaloo. Finding her laying down, she walked over and quickly looked for any injuries. Finding a bump on the back of the head, all Sweetie Belle had time to think about was that someone had knocked Scootaloo out. As soon as this thought was finished, the world began to swirl around her and she felt herself go limp. Darkness followed soon after.
Sweetie Belle lurched back into awareness and found herself bound in some kind of green magic, and she was jostled each time the magic would move up and down. It reminded her of a boat on some large waves. Forcing herself to remember what happened, she jerked herself into an upright position and was relieved to see both Scootaloo and Zecora uninjured. However her saddlebags were not on her back, and as she glanced around for them, they were in a different bubble of magic, she got her first look at what had captured her.
They were black insectoid creatures. And they seemed pleased with their catch. Being the only one awake at the moment, Sweetie Belle felt herself being separated from her friends, and inspected. She shuddered as she felt their magic creep across her skin, probing and prodding her.
Gazing around, she noticed she had no idea where they were. Even the trees looked different, all either dead or dying. She opened her mouth to ask where she was.
“Where are we? Where are you taking us?” The creature glanced to her, and then returned to ignoring her. She glanced around once more, seeking some sort of distinct feature in the landscape, to give her a clue.
Eventually, a structure as black as night, perfectly hidden by trees, came into view as they entered the clearing. She couldn’t help but gawk slightly at the many holes that covered it. It reminded her of a bee’s nest.
Entering it, she wondered why Zecora and Scootaloo hadn’t awoken yet, and she frowned with concern before paying more attention to the area around her. There were some green cocoons around the place, filled with ponies of different sizes and shapes. They seemed to be sleeping, and Sweetie Belle felt a chill up her spine.
The insects activated their wings and they rose to the higher sections of the hive. Entering a room much larger than the tunnels, Sweetie Belle realised just what these things were.
“So this is the latest batch, but why is that one awake?” Her voice was deep, and dark, her hair a dark green, her crown the same colour as her skin, and went well with her large bug-like wings. She was a changeling.
“She awoke on the way here. She seems to have some level of tolerance to our regular spells, Queen Chrysalis.” Sweetie Belle glanced to the one that spoke and wondered why it had waited until now to speak.
“I see…Take her to be processed, put the others in containment.” With a wave of her hoof, she dismissed the changelings. As they left Sweetie glanced back at her, and their eyes met for a moment, she quickly glanced away before her fear became evident.
“Wait!” The queen’s voice rang through the room, and the two changelings paused, and turned.
“Leave her with me.” Her voice was absolute authority, and yet they each glanced to each other in puzzlement before obeying. Sweetie Belle felt herself lurch toward the queen, before being snagged by a much stronger magic. She watched forlornly as both her friends, and her items from Rarity were taken away.
“So…What is this strange energy I sense from you…?” As the Queen spoke, she swung Sweetie Belle around and looked straight into her eyes. Shying away, she tried to turn her head and avoid meeting the queen’s gaze. However the magic was too strong for her to move against.
The queen watched her antics with amusement, “I shall take this strange energy for myself. Prepare to die little filly.” Sweetie Belle only had time to widen her eyes as the Queen lowered her horn and smirked. Opening her mouth to scream, Sweetie Belle could only watch as the Queen thrust her horn straight into Sweetie’s chest.
Suddenly greeted with darkness, Sweetie Belle could only scream, eyes filling with tears. Where was she? Why was everything dark? She didn’t want to die. She wanted to live! She wanted to see her sister. Scootaloo, she had to protect Scootaloo from the situation Sweetie had gotten her into. Had she died? No that was impossible, this couldn’t be death! There must be more than darkness in death!
Curling into a ball, she began to sob openly to the darkness. The world would be saved, but she was no longer in it. This couldn’t be the end of her journey, killed so easily. It wasn’t fair!
Eventually, she ended up calming down and raised her head, gazing into the darkness. With a big breath, she forced herself to think calmly for a moment.
Opening her mouth, she tried to speak. No sound came out, it seemed she was both blind and deaf, or it was a silent nothingness. Next she carefully felt her body, and horn, realising she was still in her body. There was no hole, but she could hear no heartbeat.
Do you want to live, knowing that your death means the world will be safe?
Sweetie Belle flinched as a voice spoke inside her head. Tears streaming down her face as she looked towards where the ground would be, she wanted to say no. As much as she wanted to live, she didn’t want to destroy the world, especially Rarity.
What if there was a way…To save the world?
Jerking upright again, she felt a sprinkle of hope hit her heart. Could it be? Was there a way she could be alive, and the world be safe?
Yes…
It was strange, the voice seemed almost hesitant to answer. She tossed the thought aside, feeling a resurgence of hope. There was a way, an absolute way, to save the world. But who was this voice?
You’ll know by the end of your little adventure.
There was a slight chuckle at the end, and she puzzled at that. Who was it that was talking to her? How could she trust the voice?
You can’t, but I’m telling you both the truth and what you want to hear.
Sweetie Belle knew she would have to trust the voice, but she had two final questions. Her body was yearning to go back, she could get everything she wanted! Things could go back to normal! But she wanted to know why this voice was helping her, and how she was going to get back. Death was permanent wasn’t it?
For any other pony, it would be. However you have a...very special energy. As for what I get out of it. Hrm, telling you would spoil the fun. Either way, you already had the power to return, I’m just…giving you a push.
Sweetie Belle wanted to ask what the voice meant by she ‘already had the power’, but she doubted she wanted to know the answers.
Oh you are an amusing one, so full of questions, and so very curious. But enough talk, we are wasting precious time. I do hope you don’t mind me borrowing some of your ‘special energy’ in return for teaching you about this. Trust me dear, it will be put to good use.
Sweetie Belle didn’t really have a choice, she had to return. She had unfinished business and couldn’t leave her friends like that. She nodded, and waited for the voice to tell her how.
Now that’s a good filly. It is fairly simple, cast a spell and say ‘I want to live.’
Sweetie Belle frowned, but decided to obey. Calling forth her magic she formulated a small spell, causing her eyes to glow in the darkness. With the new light, she realised it was more gray than anything.
Casting it, she spoke, “I want to live.” It sailed off into the darkness, and she frowned.
Come now my dear, surely you can put more effort into it than that? It doesn’t sound like you want to live that badly
Frowning she concentrated again, this time focusing on her desire to return to the world.
“I want to live,” she spoke, casting it and feeling the spell resist the air around her slightly and dissipate. The voice didn’t reply, and it didn’t need to. Sweetie Belle growled and put all her energy into the spell, eyes glowing brighter than ever before, and she began to cry with the strain of holding the spell. Putting all her energy into it, she closed her eyes tightly and screamed to the heavens.
“I want to LIVE!” Sweetie Belle screamed, her magic tightly clamped around something in front of her. She felt the object shatter in her magic, opening her eyes as her magic faded to nothing. The first thing she saw was the Queen jerked back in shock, her magic vanishing. Falling to the floor, Sweetie Belle grunted and stood up, taking gasping breaths of air. Sweetie Belle groped her chest, and was relieved to find it whole.
“You should be d-dead!” The Queen’s shaking voice made her raise her head, and see the fear in her eyes, along with the now broken horn that was oozing green ichor. Thinking quickly, she smirked and stood up tall. Betting on the fact she could bluff a hurt empath.
“If you don’t want this entire hive to be destroyed, you will let me and my companions go, this is your only warning.” Sweetie Belle saw the anger flare briefly in the Queen’s eyes, and quickly began charging magic that wouldn’t actually do anything other than hopefully frighten the Queen. The fear returned and the Queen turned away and growled in frustration.
“Guards!” Two changelings burst into the room, horns flaring to life with magic. They prepared to fire as soon as they saw the state of their queen.
“Wait, don’t. Let her and her two companions go.” The guards threw each other puzzled glances, and one even opened his mouth to speak.
“Just do it you fools!” The guards blinked, and immediately dashed away to carry out her orders. After a minute they returned with her friends, and her saddlebags in tow. Glancing toward the Queen, she raised her head and walked calmly to her friends who had begun to wake up.
“Sweetie Belle? W-What happened?” Scootaloo was the first to rise, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. Seeing herself surrounded by weird creatures, she immediately took a defensive stance.
“Calm down Scootaloo, they wouldn’t dare hurt us.” At Sweetie Belle’s words, Scootaloo glanced in her direction, and hesitantly relaxed her posture. Zecora rose next, and gazed around.
“Questions can wait for later, lets get out of here,” Sweetie Belle spoke, giving them a quick glance. Zecora nodded once, and Scootaloo followed suit. Turning back to the Queen, she raised an eyebrow.
“Ok fine, guards escort them to the exit!” growled the Queen, her voice strained under the pressure, wanting the thing in front of her gone. The guards bowed, and obeyed the order.
Arriving at the exit, Sweetie Belle was relieved to see the forest, even if unfamiliar. Pausing, she frowned as she realised she didn’t know where to go.
“Do not worry Sweetie Belle, I know this path very well,” rhymed Zecora, and she took the lead as she led them into the forest. Falling into place, Sweetie Belle realised something had changed from her time in that blackness. She felt as light as a feather, in fact she was almost easily keeping pace with Zecora.
Eventually, the sun set and they made camp. Scootaloo heaved a yawn, heading into the tent she, Zecora and Sweetie Belle would be sharing. Her sleeping bag was warm, but she didn’t fall asleep just yet. Turning to gaze to Sweetie Belle, she glanced quickly to Zecora as the zebra walked in and headed straight to her bed.
“So Sweetie Belle, what happened?” Scootaloo saw Sweetie Belle flinch, and her eyes narrowed. Sweetie Belle was currently going through the items her sister had given her. There were items such as rope, emergency food, a first aid kit, clothing, and other such essentials. There was also of course the mirror she had found earlier included. She was currently packing everything back in, but she forced herself to speak, voice shaking slightly.
“I-I kinda died…A-And somehow came back to life…” she whispered. Scootaloo’s wings jerked upright in shock, and she opened her mouth to ask how.
“T-The Queen s-stabbed me and I went somewhere really dark. B-But there was this nice voice that showed me how to get out A-and apparently I s-scared the queen enough we could escape.” Sweetie Belle felt all the emotion that she had bottled up during that time, trying to appear confident and unafraid. Somehow it had worked but she had been so scared at that time.
Leaping over, Scootaloo gave Sweetie Belle a hug, “It’s ok SB, what matters is it’s over now.” They stayed up for a little longer, but eventually Scootaloo went to sleep as well.
Giving a yawn Sweetie Belle finished packing everything but the mirror into the bag. Picking it up she gazed at it’s surface and puzzled at how gray it was. Giving it a wipe and a spit-shine didn’t seem to do anything.
Tapping it gently, she listened to the dull thunking sound it gave, and peered at it closely. Seeing the surface stir, something began to appear. As she learned back a bit, it seemed to be clearing up, she tapped it a few more times and waited for it to clear up more. A darker blob was separating from the background, and she frowned. It didn’t look like a face it looked like an entire pony.
’Aah!’ spoke a voice from her mind, and the pony shape darted out of view. Puzzled, she leaned in and tried to glance around the corners of the mirror but didn’t get any results. Feeling a bit annoyed, she tapped it a few more times. Once again, she was rewarded as a face peeked in from the bottom of the mirror.
’H-Hello?’ spoke the voice, finally coming into view. The unicorn mare was a pale gray in colour with a sparkling silver mane and tail. Her eyes were definitely her most striking feature, a bright green. Sweetie Belle didn’t have time to ask questions, because the mare was quick to continue speaking.
’Oh, it’s you! It’s finally you!’ The relief in the mare’s voice was evident, which puzzled Sweetie Belle.
“Wait, who do you think I am?” It was a pathetic question, but Sweetie Belle was a little caught off guard. Her friends stirred, but slept on.
’Oh forgive my manners. I’m Allusya, and you are my master!’