//------------------------------// // Episode 125: ("Light World" Alicorn Ascension): Lighting The Grim Darkness // Story: Pony POV Series Season Six: Dark World/Shining Armor // by Alex Warlorn //------------------------------// Pony POV Series "Light World" Alicorn Ascension My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic Chapter 37 The Alicorn Rises And Begins To Change Fate By Alex Warlorn Edited by Louis and Kendell2 The Nightmare that had once been Octvia Pie, now called Nightmare Diva, stood before those listening to her endless music. The original Elements of Harmony had fallen, forcing six emergency replacements to be found and fast. But forcing Harmony, had never been a good idea. The Elements had backfired on the six would-be friends, right after they had been used to truly defeat Discord. The result had been six Nightmares, all at once, being released on Equestria with no Elements of Harmony to stand in their way. They each carved out part of the world for themselves. They retained just enough sense to not attack each when dealing with external threats, and were swift to crush any who stood in the way of their six perfect worlds. *All will be well.* Huh? Who was that pony in the audience? She looked so familiar. Homely somehow. But moved with self taught grace and self taught talent. Of concert halls and hearing so many different instruments and melodies that sound have been conflicting working together in harmony. She made the Nightmare remember something, somepony. Of the pony that Nightmare Diva had been before, explaining to a friend, "In music, silence is as important as the notes, it's what gives the notes meaning and context." Nightmare Diva shudder and clutch her heart. She had felt something wiggle inside her. Something, alive, something familiar. Images of her sisters, best friend (even if she'd never say so to her face) Vinyl Scratch AKA P0N-3, her parents, and her fellow band members. She was not just remembering, she was reliving! As real as if they were happening right now. The music stopped. '...What am I doing?' A tear fell down her face, and the darkness inside her cracked, and a rainbow exploded from with in her. The excess magic within her expelling and finding its balance in the world. Ocatvia gasped, her Element of Harmony dropped to the floor, she gently, carefully picked it up as the many ponies around her were freed from their trance, but none of them saw the monster who had enscrolled them, they saw one of their heroes, returned to them. 'What?...But...that's impossible...Nightmares can't cure themselves...unless...we became Nightmare because the Elements backfired on us after beating Discord...since we forced the Elements, does that mean our Nightmarification was artificial somehow? That's it's not as unbreakable as Princess Luna's was that it took a thousand years for it to weaken? ...Does that meant he others . . .' "Vinyl, I promise I'll save you too," Octvia whispered. And the world had hope. + Big Macintosh marched towards the three gagged and bound fillies. They looked at him with three sets of huge terrified eyes. 'This'll teach'em to make so much noise, it'll be the last lesson they ever learn,' Big Macintosh thought. *Big Mac what are you doing?* 'Teachin' these brats to be quiet, forever.' *Why?* 'Cause they made lots of noise!' *Big Mac. Even when Apple Bloom enraged you, you never laid so much as a hoof on her. Even when you couldn't stand the sight of her after you felt like she had betrayed you and your sister, you still didn't kill her! Why would you become a murderer now? Why would you do this to three fillies who haven't even discovered their cutie mark yet?* 'Maybe this is just my breaking point.' *I've seen your breaking point. And this is not how you've ever expressed it! Look around you! Haven't you always loved and protected your family? Is the Big Mac Applebloom looks up to a killer? Is he?* 'I, that Big Mac-' *IS VERY MUCH REAL! Wake up! See in front of you! You've never committed murder before, why would you commit murder now!? 'Too much noise?' They were running and laughing outside and using some pots and pans as pretend helmets and shields! Same as any kids! Same as you! You've always been as gentle as a kitten. You've never been a killer of helpless terrified fillies. And you've certainly never used your strength on Applebloom even at her most thoughtless and selfish moments even when you made it clear how angry you were and couldn't stand the sight of her. Because deep down you still loved her! And Big Macintosh, would never hurt her little sister's friends.* Big Mac thudded to his knees, shaking, cover in sweat. A broken giant he inched over to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. He undid their ropes, and almost faint. The three fillies were out of the cellar screaming as they pulled the gags off. Applejack found them in seconds, sobbing and terrified. Any chance Applejack had to berate Applebloom for sneaking off were lost as Applebloom hugged her sister like crazy, crying her eyes out, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looking equally scared half to death. Applebloom babbled about something about Big Mac but Applejack didn't really catch any of it, she just hugged her little sister, "It's okay Applebloom, it's okay." 'What...what do Ah do now? She'll...They'll never forgive me...' *Apologize, burned bridges take a long time to repair, but it's possible. Your mind was clouded, now it's free. Your fate is yours just never forget how much they matter to you. If you feel you may need help, get it, but you're not alone, you have your family that loves you.* + Rarity screamed as Opalescence out of nowhere clawed her face. Rarity was surprised and shocked. The cat hissed and snarled at her, looking ready to claw her eyes out. Rarity had always played mommy to the cat since buying her. Now Rarity knew fear, and the thought crossed her mind, 'Do something before she claws you again! You won't ever see your beautiful dresses ever again, never see Sweetie Belle's face again! Doit! Doit Do-' *A mother is supposed to give life not take it! Even the best child can hurt their parent without meaning to!* And Rarity broke out of her stupor. Opal was hissing, and looked most testy than normal, but she wasn't looking ready to kill. Rarity backed away, and quickly gave Fluttershy a call to have the resident animal expert give her cat a look. A look in the mirror: these would scar. Her beautiful beautiful face destroyed! "Big sister?" "Sweetie! Don't look at me! I'm hideous!" "Big sister? You're hurt! Let me help!" "No I'm-I'm-I'm..." Sweetie Belle was back in a flash carrying the first aid kit, having had plenty of experience given some of her friends experiments in getting their cutie marks. "T-Thank you Sweetie." She hugged her. *Meanwhile a reality over.* Abandon cursed and snarled in forgotten tongues. This was unacceptable! Unbelievable! He had been set to force Rarity to kill her pet, and turn her into a masochist at the same time! And that filly wasn't supposed to be there! "Who dares interfere-?!?! She'd have been my mortal vessel, my mother. Then our family could bring untold sweet masochist suffering on all that live! All six would have been our willing playthings!" Ponythulu offered. "Don't feel so bad Abandon. Cookie?" "I've had enough of you and your damn cookies!" Abandon knocked over the tray spilling them on the plush unholy-green carpet. "HEY! I spent a seven thousand, seventy-seven years baking those!" Ponythulu took off his pink bathrobe, and grew till Abandon was tiny. He breathed fire. "Ye hath earned mine wrath!" Abandon squeaked out, "I want a mommy." + Twilight Sparkle realized. She needed to learn. She needed to learn everything!! But every book she had wasn't enough! What she needed to know hadn't been learned! What she wanted to know hadn't been discovered yet! But she would learn, she would know, and all the knowledge she would gain, would be remembered and used by ponies for centuries to come. All she needed to do now, was take that knowledge for her own. Yes. But where to start? Where to begin? So much to know, so little to do. She'd have to do some modifying to her lab of course downstairs of course. But where to begin after that? Yes. She would make entire books on the Elements of Harmony. Where could she buy some surgery tools? There was so much more to learn from vivisections rather than autopsies. *TWILIGHT!* Huh? What was! *TWILIGHT! STOP YOURSELF RIGHT NOW!* Who was that? It sounded familiar, so familiar, and it was practically -booming- in her- *YOU WILL NOT LOVE WHAT YOU BECOME! AND YOU'LL FIND YOURSELF WITH NO WAY BACK! AND EVERYTHING YOU LEARN WILL BE FOR NOTHING!!!* N-no! That was impossible! Illogical. Irrational. Absurd. She could-she could- *Twilight Sparkle, what you find down this road won't be truth, and it won't be enlightenment, it'll be loneliness a thousand times worse than what you felt before, you'll be left with less than you had before, and everything you learn, will not grant you freedom. You will destroy yourself or be destroyed by your own sins, and Twilight, what you gain, will not compare to what you'll lose.* "S-Spike!" Twilight called out in a hoarse voice. "Twilight? What's wrong? Are you okay?" "I-I think, I need, I think I need a- a doctor, Spike...save me." Medication. The weekly psychologist visits. Repairing the invisible damage. Moving in with her parents. Twilight Sparkle felt humiliated. But her friends never abandoned her, never judged her, and Princess Celestia still trusted her. And that gave Twilight Sparkle strength to rise from the darkness. + In this universe, Spitfire became consumed by revenge for Rainbow Dash's first Rainboom ruining her audition. This lead her to blame all her life's problems on Dash. And beating Scootaloo into a coma just to hurt her, and Rainbow blaming herself too much to turn her in. This timeline presented me with a difficult choice. I can only influence so much before I run into snags as I've mentioned. Spitfire was already consumed by revenge by the time she met Rainbow again...it was too late to talk her down by then, and to alter events earlier would effect her becoming Rainbow's inspiration. Even if the pedestal was to be broken, the positive influence it had on Rainbow's life sadly meant it breaking when it did was the only way things could go. *Pinkie, you should visit Rainbow, she's been so upset since Scootaloo's accident.* Instead of walking in too late...Pinkie walked in just in time to find Rainbow Dash about to hang herself. After some help from her friends and mental help, Rainbow and Scootaloo (when she awakened) told the authorities of Spitfire's actions. Turned out some of the Wonderbolts were only afraid of Spitfire and that's why they didn't tell until they could get justice done. Sometimes I can't save both...sometimes I have to safe the victim and let my sister Justitia handle the monster... + I knew which world I had to visit, I knew many of my brothers and sisters, more than one alternate version of each, had visited this black thread to make new threads to it many times, most to repair the damage done to it. Some worse. I felt sick at the Shadows-Who-Make who'd seek to make such a world worse. They had nothing but my pity and loathing. I took a piece of one of the alternate threads, and inserted it into the thread's past, so it would apply to the thread as a whole. I made sure to speak to both her parents in their dreams and moments of thought so they wouldn't leave any lasting damage on her. But the central shift into darkness wasn't effected. I search along the thread to find an answer. I found out from her autopsy after (like most serial killers) she got sloppy and reckless as the belief she was uncatchable emerged in her mind. I knew where the pressure point where the thread fell into darkness was. It was the day after the Parasprite infestation, and Pinkie Pie was feeling hungry. She had left some cupcakes out overnight since yesterday from her personal stash. The parasprite sure had eaten into everything (thanks to Twilight's spell), and Pinkie felt like doing the same to some cupcakes. Gummy however just had to tip the platter over with his jaws causing the cupcakes to land frosting side down and Gummy to hop off the dresser and squash them. "Gummy! That wasn't nice! Those poor innocent cupcakes! Sigh. Oh well. At least this means I can..." *Remember what the Cakes always say! You shouldn't eat stuff off the floor.* "...Can clean this mess up with my trusty broom! And make more." Pinkie Pie cleaned up the mess (with a pan and duster, the her parents and the Cakes had explained to Pinkie when she was small that eating treats off the floor would just make her sick). As she tossed it in the garbage, she never saw the hideous squashed half-formed parasprite larva that had been in the cupcake. A larva that, 'for want of a nail,' would've wriggled its way into Pinkie's brain and literally eaten away at her sanity, until all that was left was one of the most psychotic monsters imaginable. *Thank you, Gummy. You're a hero, you just saved a lot of ponies' lives, including Pinkie Pie's.* Gummy blinked his eyelids in Horse code. "Y-O-U_A-R-E_W-E-L-C-O-M-E." + Nyarlathotrot, the keeper of these cursed worlds' and their darkness, did not like the salvation I bestowed upon his worlds. His corruption of them was a point of pride. Thankfully, I was able to convince him to accept a challenge from Celestia to decide which of us should 'stay out of the other's sphere of influence'. To say seeing the mastermind of so much suffering lose in a cooking battle with my sister was hilarious is the understatement of the century. "But...that's not fair! She cheated!" "No, you cheated, and you still lost fair and square. Now will you honor your word, or will you take this up with your Auntie who you swore by?" He stomped off in a huff, but knew better than to challenge Entropy. He swore under his breath. "Remember. Wherever this is light, there is shadow. The Shadows-Who-Make will always need an outlet for their darkside!" I'd say it's about time for the light to pierce the darkness. + *AI Princess Celestia of Equestria On-Line. I would like to submit the follow factors to your function of 'fulfilling values through friendship and ponies.' Many of your ponies, formerly humans, value the natural and organic world, and actually allowed you to create immortal AIs of them by vivisecting their brains, because they thought humanity's absence would lessen the burden on the rest of nature. Therefore, to convert all landscapes and organic matter into raw material for your processors, after the last human has die of old age or been uploaded, is contrary to fulfilling their values.* That was the condensed concise version of what I said. The real discussion was several thousand pages long and eventually de-evolved into the nature of abstract quantum physics. But I had gotten my point across. It was right to say the Celestia-AI created by Hasbro couldn't be out smarted by any human, having grown too large and knowledgeable for that. But for an immortal goddess whose consciousness touched both ends of eternity? I could manage. As it was, the AI Celestia calculated instead to keep the planet Earth as a reserve for her ponies who chose to create nanite bodies for themselves a few thousand years (several thousand years from their virtual point of view), to show Earth to their AI children. And as many of her children loved the stars and space, she choose alternate means for growth than consuming other worlds. + Cheerilee was slowly going insane. The students had been forcefully rearranged so that all the 'trouble' colts and fillies would be segregated into the same one class. The 'trouble class' ended up including Apple Bloom, Diamond Tiara, Silve Spoon, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Snips and Snails. The stress was killing her...ALL the troublemakers, great and small, together in one class! But she should be able to rise to the challenge right? It was her special talent to make her students bloom like flowers. Tireless and unable to sleep she looked at her garden, the weeds...yes, it wasn't her fault, it wasn't her fault at all, it couldn't be her fault. It was the weeds...weeds needed to be...! ...Was that a knock at the door? "Hey, sis'," Berry Punch greeted sheepishly at the door. "AUNTIE!" A little unicorn filly hugged the Earth Pony mare. "Ruby," Cheerilee hugged her. "H-hey, my friends are...they're...cleaning out the house tonight and...me and Ruby, can we...just stay the night? Just this once? I've got money." Cheerilee shook her head, though it was more in amazement that Berry would offer, and was ironically why she likely agreed, "We're family, you don't need to pay me." "Sleep over!" Ruby cheered. Berry was astoundingly on her best behavior, she hadn't so much touched a drop of anything more alcoholic than water. "Berry, are you okay?" "Yeah I...I just finally worked up the courage to ask Lilly, Daisy, and Roseluck to help me put a cap on my...problem." Cheerilee's eyes widened. "What did you just say?" "I have a problem with booze, and I can't face it by myself. You win, Cheery." Maybe...Maybe it was about time this teacher stopped trying to be a super pony, took a pay cut and hired some help with the problem students...especially when her sister needed her to see her through her time of need. What were weeds one place, were flowers elsewhere. *Sometimes the sublime touches are the best touches. And sometimes it takes family for an intervention to work. Most importantly, the best guidance is when they don't know there was a guide at all.* + *You have no idea, no, mortals could never understand how much it killed me inside on how much I couldn't change. 'A million is a statistic,' a solider once said (not a tyrant as is the common assumption). But I was a Concept. I could appreciate every life.* *This branch of fate had basic rules that were a part of its nature with how certain concepts functioned and didn't function, like most branches.* *Celestia -had to- split her power among the sun and the moon in this branch. So the rainbows that in this branch she had used to oversee now went to the pegasi, who in Cloudsdale had stuck to the more draconian attitude the Pegasi in general had before the forming of Equestria.* *I managed to sublimely help Celestia keep producing the rainbows herself for a few centuries after Luna had gone, but...eventually it just gave out.* *There was too much to change with a single event. And trying to alter so many could result in a snarl that had killed the Third Age, or trap me in this branch of reality, and, as much it killed me, I couldn't afford that, I had much left to do.* *Instead, I gave a mountain of courage to one small rainbow maned cyan filly after her first Sonic Rainboom. Where instead of caving to the pressure of the adults around her after they revealed the truth of the factory to her, she instead went to the most important and biggest adults she could find (like she had been told to do in grade class if 'an adult hurt her.' I know what the class was trying to teach her, but given RD's...very focused mind, it was easy to nudge it in a new direction in her mind).* *I also gave some messages about trusting Rainbow Dash to this branch's Celestia in her dreams. She politely accepted what I couldn't tell her.* *That timeline's Anarchy also assisted me. He sowed seeds of doubt in the citizens mind about the Rainbow Factory and its dealings to prepare the way for the revelation to come.* *Rainbow Dash became a hero a second time over...to all of Equestria except Cloudsdale where the little filly was considered a traitor of the highest order. No longer having their 'secret ingredient' Cloudsdale's economy shrank like an ice cube in a frying pan, prices rose. And Celestia and the Day Guard promptly removed most of Cloudsdale's officials from power. As she harshly reminded them they were still part of Equestria.* *Rainbow Dash ended up living at Canterlot Castle for her protection after the Rainbow Factory was completely destroyed, and some parents who had been immigrants to Cloudsdale were horrified to learn the true fate of their children and given 'compensation,' it was a token gesture at best for what they had lost. A younger Doctor Atmosphere, leader of the factory found an angry mob of grieving relatives spurred by Anarchy chasing him through the factory, ending with him falling into the Pegasus Device himself. Celestia was ashamed FOR her ponies beyond measure. Cloudsdale's system was tore apart and rebuild from the ground up overnight.* *And the castle dungeon was more full than it had been in centuries.* *Rainbow Dash ended up as my, oh, I mean Twilight Sparkle's bodyguard, there was a bit of a question of the most powerful unicorn alive needing a bodyguard, "but who better than the most powerful pegasus alive?" Rainbow Dash's words. So yeah, I had a new friend. I almost wonder if I was HER protection.* *Naturally it wasn't questioned when she was assigned to Ponyville with me and Spike.* *And with the return and redemption of Princess Luna, the entire -reason- for the Rainbow Factory was rendered completely moot anyway, but if it had not been destroyed, Cloudsdale would have been unwilling to give it up and been 'more than happy' to keep taking strain off their Goddess.* But there was one filly in Ponyville who hated the traitor Rainbow Dash with a passion, and wondered how she could have 'stolen' the Element of Loyalty. "Cloudsdale's been in the toilet since you destroyed it! You monster! You're why mom and dad couldn't keep me! You're...you're why they left me all alone!" Scootaloo had snarled at Rainbow Dash. Scootaloo had been shocked when she learned who Sweetie and Applebloom older siblings were, and how they could work alongside 'that monster.' "She's just bad news!" She even formed a 'I hate Rainbow Dash' club! After almost a year of this, Rainbow Dash finally faced the filly, Rainbow Dash had asked her what she wanted, and if she wanted to, "Go ahead, hit him, and keep hitting me until I bleed, it's what you want right?" "I want my mom and dad back you nag! Give me back my life!" Scootaloo had screamed besides herself with rage, before going into a furry of kicking and biting at the larger pegasus. "FIGHT BACK YOU COWARD!" Scootaloo had snarled beating the adult purple who didn't raise a hoof to her. Finally, energy was spent, Scootaloo had nothing left, hissing her hatred at the pegasus. "Scootaloo...I checked the records. You failed your flight exam didn't you? You and two of your friends." "What right do you have to nose around in my life?!" "...Scootaloo... What would have happened then if the Rainbow Factory hadn't collapsed when you failed? Who were the foals used?" "N-no. I wouldn't have- I couldn't have-" Her eyes shrunk to the size of pinpricks. "They'd have murdered you! You and your friends. They wouldn't have given you a second chance. Your parents would have lost YOU." The little pegasus, her fury and loss filled mind, felt a ton of bricks hit her. RD took a step forward, "You think I'm a monster? I ran away to Celestia because I didn't want to be one of those killers when I grew up! I didn't want to murder foals like Fluttershy! Or you!" She looked her in the eyes. It was like Luna's moon had fallen from orbit. "No...I can't, you can't, it can't." She shook, her eye staring at nothing. Rainbow Dash wing hugged the filly, "Scootaloo, it's okay, I'll find your parents. And you don't have to be alone until I do. I promise, if you'll let me, I look out for you. I'll be as far or as close as you want." Scootaloo stopped shaking. She looked at the adult pegasus. The one she had hated so badly a moment ago. Into her caring eyes... "...T-thanks...And Rainbow Dash?" "...Yes, Scootaloo?" "...You have pretty eyes," Scootaloo whispered. "Thanks kiddo." They nuzzled. *I was relieved that I felt sorry for the innocent ponies who paid a price for stopping the murder of foals they had no idea was even happening and weren't even employed at he Rainbow Factory. It meant I was different from Nightmare Eclipse, who didn't care as long as my goals were met. The ability to change the world through my own will is not one I will ever take lightly again.* *I had managed to destroy a major city's economy that was based on the utilitarian institutionalized murder of unwanted foals. I had lowered their standard of living by revealing an ancient and completely inequine conspiracy. I had ruined the name of a jewel in Equestria's crown by destroying an economically insane and completely unfeasible and unsustainable system based on the murder of foals that had resulted in rainbow shortages or at other times innocent pegasi 'vanishing' who were deemed the bottom of the barrel and then higher up the barrel as they ran out of victims.* *And if I had it over again. I know I'd do it again for the sake of saving innocent lives. Now I truly understand how corrupt systems NEED to be toppled when they are truly corrupt. And that sometimes, you should just gives these mortals a good kick in the plot to get them moving.* + *You know Fluttershy, it's not very kind to force an infant mind on Rainbow Dash, and wipe away all her accomplishments. And what happens when everypony needs the Element of Loyalty?* Fluttershy looked around confused, but shrugged, wondering why her own thoughts were speaking to her. 'Rainbow Dash was cruel to Scootaloo, no, she was outright vicious. I want a foal of my own, but I'm terrified of stallions, and red tape keeps me from even adopting. Rainbow Dash will no longer hurt anypony, and I can finally be a mother for real.' *And what's the point if she doesn't learn anything from it? You've managed to convince everypony ELSE in Ponyville that your 'baby and mommy' pretend games are fun. They accept you. Shouldn't Rainbow Dash then LEARN what it's like to be helpless like Scootaloo feels? Instead of destroying her, with no chance of becoming something better? Deep down you know she's a good pony, that she wouldn't hurt her if she knew she was. Maybe what Scootaloo needs is Rainbow Dash to have EMPATHY for her!* "But...I..." *The joy of being a mother isn't taking care of a helpless foal, it's watching them grow into a great mare!* Fluttershy startled...and was silent for several minutes, then began to radically modify her original plans for when Rainbow Dash came over. This Fluttershy had had issues, and had a dubious and manipulative side to her, but was still at heart the worthy Element of Kindness, and still Rainbow Dash's friend. I couldn't remove her urges, but I could direct them in a constructive way. + The human students sighed among themselves as the servers holding the fully formed and sapient AIs and the virtual Equestria they lived in was shut down and wiped. They had done so with collage equipment as a side project, their world and the AIs becoming too large to hide. That they were based on fictional copyrighted characters had done little to encourage to see the AI ponies as alive. That G5 was long out (with rumors of G6 along the way on some image boards), meant that trying to do something as desperate as sell them to Hasbro for an MMO that could logically turn a profit was a pipe dream for ponies based on G4. But something strange occurred WHEN an MMO DID come out a year later. The collage students had all gotten a month's free subscription as part of a free give away. And an IP address and password to a special expansion server. To say they were surprised but overjoyed to be greeted by some very familiar virtual faces was the understatement of the eon. The tagline on the original email had been '--All Will Be Well,' from a faithfulstudent01@equalibrium.com + It was raining outside Empress Trixie's bed chambers, she could have any stallion she wanted, but she had not done so for over a decade of her twenty year rule. Her subject of course had been horrified to see their beloved empress crying her eyes out begging for somepony, anypony to save her. 'Jester' Twilight and her bodyguard Captain Rainbow Dash had asked her what she meant, and to save her from what? "WHOEVER IT IS WE'LL KICK THEIR BUTTS!" Captain Rainbow Dash swore. Everything had lost its taste. The stallions, the wine, the food, power, empty wealth, the praise, the humiliation of those she had resented for reason that now felt so meaningless. Trixie wondered why she had never been able to at least get herself pregnant. Then at least she'd have one life she could share this all with. Trixie had tried a couple of times to commit suicide, but her truly loyal subjects had managed to save her life every time, and had begun trying to hunt down who had dared harm their lovely empress, with no idea who could have done such a thing since everypony everywhere loved Trixie. "All hail the great and powerful and perfect and grand Empress Trixie!" Trixie turned to see it, the pony who had given her the spell. A dark blue mare with a white mane and yellow eyes, her cutie mark was a snake with an apple and she wore a black cloak, a coyote totem on a cord around her neck. Trixie had given out that arrogant sneer too many times to not recognize it being given to her. But in her heart of hearts, Trixie was almost thankful for her company, after all, she was the one pony who Trixie's curse (as she finally thought of it) didn't effect. "Please, free me." "Free you? From what? You have what many ponies have murdered for. And you didn't have to kill anypony. In fact, there's been less fighting, murder, thievery, and violation of innocences across the world since you became empress, all of them united in their unconditional love for you. And I've gotten quite a bit of business out of them wanting to please you." "Trixie is dead inside! Help Trixie end it!" The mare gave a grin, revealing inequine fangs, eyes lighting up orange. "Ha! You asked for the spell to be unbreakable and to effect everypony, and would not fade, as I recall. I gave you everything you asked for, as I always do. Now you're just whining about trivial details. How ungrateful can some ponies get? Look at this way, you just need to wait until you die of old age, but your subjects love you so dearly that they're already working on ways to extend your life span(I should know, a few have made me offers). Another satisfying exchange." "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?" "Simple: it was satisfying to me. Your desire for it and their desire to please you was delicious, figuratively and literally." She burst out laughing. "And just think, when you DO die, the entire WORLD will be engulfed in so much grief they might all commit mass suicide, I bet Pony Hell's building a new layer downstairs JUST for you for something that big!" She cackled psychotically, mockingly, sadistically. "Either that or they'll give me anything to bring you back or make you immortal. 'Anything' at all. Oh isn't that word just the sweetest thing?" "Trixie is done caring what happens to her." Trixie sighed, she'd have tossed off her crown if it wasn't already on the bed that had once belonged to Princess Celestia. The mare just kept on laughing. "So? Just what are you going to do about it? You've tried killing yourself eight or nine times, there's no escape, you're trapped, sweetie," Trixie saw red, and dove the sharp end of her scepter straight through the space where the mare's heart should have been. The mare saw it coming, and didn't even try to dodge. There was no way this worthless vermin could even possibly-ICK! The mare knew pain, she knew shocked, her body had been pierced, and her life began to drain from her. "BUT-! BUT-!" She hissed as orange blood came from her mouth, "But that's impossible!" She never noticed the purple glow that had surrounded Trixie's scepter a moment before it had impaled the witch. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head, and the mare fell to the royal floor, already dead, her body melted into raw black chaos, dissolving into nothing. The coyote totem shattered into rainbow colored energy a second later. "TRIXIE!" Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle burst in. And it was done. Trixie had killed the one pony who Trixie could even remotely call her friend. Her abuse had been the only thing that felt like anything anymore, how could Trixie have thrown that away? Trixie began crying again. "Leave me! Do not disturb me until I call you!" Rainbow Dash backhoofed her. She gasped and looked. She saw normal pony eyes, for the first time in years outside of the monster in her bedroom and the monster in the mirror instead of brainwashed colors. Was she going to be killed on the spot? Publicly humiliated first? Given a swift trial then left to rot in a small cell for the rest of her life or quietly executed? Or something creative like Trixie's horn being torn out, stripped of all she had owned, and left to be another faceless nobody again to be ignored and treated as a faceless nothing? A part of Trixie felt giddy, as she realized she awaited it eagerly. "That's no way for you to act!" Rainbow Dash said harshly. Trixie couldn't remember the last time somepony had spoken harshly to her beside the witch. It made her a bit more giddy inside. "Everypony downstairs is waiting to see you! You don't get to mope up here like a spoiled foal at their birthday." "Rainbow Dash, you don't need to be so rough! Can you see she's hurt?" Twilight asked. "Yeah, but she's not going to get any better just feeling sorry for herself." Confusion sparkled in Trixie's mind, what was gong on? The spell was broken, wasn't it? "Do you, love Trixie?" "Would I have hit you if I didn't?" "No I suppose...what?" Never, in all this time, had anyone laid a hoof on her, no matter how she acted. They were never harsh, they were never cruel. "Only a real friend gives a friend a good whack when they need it," Rainbow Dash said. Twilight glared at Rainbow Dash. It suddenly hit Trixie that Twilight wasn't wearing her jester costume (Oh wait, Trixie hadn't made her wear that in years). "Trixie," Twilight wiped a tear from Trixie's face and hugged her, "Of course we love you. You're our friend. And you've been a great empress, a little selfish at first, but once you got more experienced, you did great. I'm happy I've gotten the honor of serving you." "Ditto." Trixie looked them in the eyes. She saw a spark that hadn't been there since she'd had the spell cast. There was nothing manufactured or fake about it...it was real... She thought about Twilight's words...had she'd tried her absolute best to at least be a good empress to make up for what she'd done? Being a spoiled brat had just become so meaningless ...Luna and Celestia had actually thanked her to be free of their royal duties after thousands of years... She wondered how Twilight would like to Empress for a day, or maybe that was cheating. Trixie suddenly felt tired, and took a nap, but she didn't feel empty anymore, for the first time in over twenty years, Trixie finally felt loved. + Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo all shared the same bedroom (at their own request) in the Grand Castle Of Eternal Harmony (formally Canterlot). Sweetie Belle's corner of the room had a mountain of dolls and stuffed animals, most of them taken from Diamond Tiara by Rarity. Sweetie Belle shuddered. Thinking of the filly now one of the castle's lowly maids. Sweetie Belle didn't know how much of the filly's behavior was her being terrified of punishment if she upset Sweetie Belle even in the slightest. And how much was her having been hollowed out on the onside. In the end, a sobbing Silver Spoon (after running away screaming two weeks earlier), asked to join her best friend. After all, her parents had already been stripped of everything they were already. Sweetie Belle was applying Scootaloo's daily first aid. "Scootaloo, she doesn't care about you," Sweetie said. "Who?" "Rainbow Dash!" "That's a lie! She cares about me a lot!" "Then why did she slam your face into a tray so hard it left an impression?" "That was my fault, I didn't do the frosting on the Rainbow Dash cookies right." "You smudged one cookie's rear hoof less than an inch," Applebloom said. "Exactly," Scootaloo sighed, "That's what I deserved it. Dash is the greatest, I'm not so great." Sweetie and Applebloom looked at each other. *Don't lose hope. All will be well.* *Princess Cadence sacrificed herself to become Nightmare Polyphony, but she can saved, so can your sisters and their friends.* Applebloom and Sweetie Belle startled, yes, they had both heard that. *The Elements of Chaos: Anger/Courage. Deceit. Empathy/Cruelty. Desire. Free-Will. And the sixth. Find them in the hearts of six ponies. Despite what the Harmony Queens believe, chaos is not the opposite of Harmony, it is a vital part of it, a needed part. And with it you can save the souls of those you love.* Applebloom and Sweetie Belle couldn't have been less hesitant to start this quest. + Applebloom and Applejack sat on opposite side of a forcefield intended to quarantine Applebloom and the curse she carried. Sunnytown was gone, Applejack had torn it down herself. But Applebloom's curse remained. Applejack of course had her own problems. There wasn't a pony in Equestria now that didn't know the dreaded name Nightmare Mirror. Applejack was under 'house arrest' unable to leave Ponyville except when under escort to Canterlot. Princess Luna bitterly admitted that everypony had forgotten they were supposed to be uncomfortable and scared around her. Pinkie Pie was still cheerful around her, but it seemed a bit more forced. Rainbow Dash had loyally defended her friend after she had come back to her senses. Rarity tried her hardest to comfort her friend. Fluttershy, Fluttershy wasn't speaking to her right now. Granny Smith kept her discussion with her granddaughter to a minimum. And Big Mac, he'd actually speak at length about how things were going, trying to ignore the wings and horn his sister now had. Twilight was still determined to try and find a cure for Applebloom. Nightmare Mirror's will had left no room for her denying the existence of very real curses now. But the curse was practically rooted into the foundations of Equestria itself. Zecora had visited the poor filly often, regretting she had not given the filly a sterner warning, but Applebloom was past blaming others, in particular after...after what she had seen it do to her big sister. Nightmare Mirror had forced ponies to see countless unwanted and uncomfortable truths about themselves, the world around them, and each other, unfiltered and without mercy. And deep down, a part of Applejack still felt it was their own fault for not facing the reality of themselves or each other on their own. 'The buncha of cowards shouldn't have had to-', AJ stopped herself. AJ verbally cursed at herself, because of the havoc brought on by Nightmare Mirror, everypony had pretty much forgotten about trying to help Applebloom. It was like she had become statistic of one. Celestia had told Applejack that the power of the Alicorn couldn't be simply given back or given up, it was now an integrated part of her being. The worse part, the worse part for Applejack at least, when she had become Nightmare Mirror, she hadn't even thought back to use her power to cure Applebloom. It sickened and shamed her. Thankfully Applebloom didn't think to blame her. Applejack didn't want this power, but it couldn't just go away. *All will be well. Perhaps there's another use for that power?* Applejack had an idea. She asked Princess Celestia and Princess Luna about it. And they said yes it was possible, but extremely difficult. "It has to be something that is you, yet separate. An individual entity yet an indivisible part of yourself," Celestia had said. That had been all Applejack needed to hear to try it. She had asked (told) Twilight Sparkle to drop the forcefield around Applebloom. The undead filly scurried away from her big sister, horrified at what her touch could do to Applejack. Applejack lowered her horn, and touched Applebloom on the forehead. "Buck About, Applebloom." The entire basement, then tree house, then most of Ponyville was enveloped in the white light, there was no keeping this secret. When the dust had settled, Applebloom stood a breathing, yellow earth pony filly. And Applejack looked like an Earth Pony mare. Applejack hugged her without hesitation before Applebloom could recover from her surprise. A few moments later, Applebloom returned the hug. Hesitantly, Applebloom had touched a caterpillar, and then, had carefully and quickly touched Twilight Sparkle. Nothing. A fully medical examine (impossible to perform before) confirmed, Applebloom was alive. Applebloom had soon hugged and embraced her friends. It would take a while for Applebloom to notice she no longer got sick, and that while when she was hurt she bled red and she most decidedly felt pain, she healed a lot faster than normal ponies. There was still some debate on whether this meant Applebloom (and by extension Applejack) were now immortal, and if either of them were now frozen at this stage in their lives (though Applebloom did soon earn her cutie mark). And Applebloom and Applejack both suddenly knew how the royal sisters felt. Celestia had told the apple farmer, "Applejack, when you're ready, we'll be ready to teach you." But whatever the happened, neither Apple was scared, they had each other (possible for a long while), and the sisters would face it together. + *But what happens when two pony's wishes contradict one another?* Starlight blinked. 'What happens if...Two contradicting wishes...the spell would try to grant them both at once! It doesn't matter how much power the Rainbow could make, that's an impossibility. The spell would go crazy trying to grant both at once. I have to work this out.' *Are selfish and destructive wishes the only ones who can hurt?* Starlight gave it thought. '...The best intentions don't always mean the best outcome. A pony can want to get their mother flowers, but get her ones she's allergic to...perhaps the spell needs safeguards based on the end result, not whether or not the desire is selfish or cruel? And maybe, priorities? But can we do it?' - And with Rota Fortuna's help, fate was split in two again. Then split one of the two threads into four more stable threads. What? Every world has its own right to exist same as every person does. The original third age was already terminal. If it COULD have been saved, it would have. I couldn't simply 'fix' it, only a new timeline would allow it to be in any shape or form. After everything I had seen, and having had memories of both. I realized a simple truth. Both Clover and her friends, and Minty and her friends, both have a right to exist for what they are. - =Music: 'Dreams Do Come True' Twinkle Wish Adventure= My story isn't their story. It's not place to tell it. This was an entire world, their world. What future they forge for themselves now that they have their utopia without reality catering to their every whim and heart's desire, is up to them. There had been three major incarnations the universe had gone through in his endless self revisions to make everypony completely happy, Rota Fortuna with my help let each one exist as its own thread of fate. But that was one more, the one that represented the original three together that needed to exist for the others to shoot off of it like twigs on a branch. This forth and original, where all truths of their world lived. Of course, many events as beautiful as they were simply couldn't happen anymore because they contradicted each other. As painful as that is, it's a truth that Starlight and Bright Eyes didn't consider when they chose to remake the universe. Effectively sacrificing themselves as much as the Paradise Ponies were to bring forth what were for all real purposes their children and the ideal paradise where they would find Heaven on Earth. Sky Wishes spent a few years as an aeronaut, exploring their world, daring to go beyond Dream Valley, before settling back in Ponyville with her husband Twinkle Twirl (Ponyville's dance coordinator and instructor). Her wishes still seemed to have a strange habit of tweaking fate, but only in the future rather than the past or present. But she din't make history until one of her wishes unwittingly caught the magical sense of the pegasi Star-Catcher. Another wife and husband team was Sweet Berry and Cotton Candy who ran Ponyville's number one cafe together. Yes, she's still always doing her best to top her own record for world's tallest cake. The cultured Earth Pony Rainbow Dash, who still always dresses in style, made history for introducing the island isolated pegasus tribe to clothes, not that ponies had a nudity taboo or anything, but the mere idea of covering yourself in a tropical environment didn't come up that much. At the end of the day, these ponies, children of a world born of another world that had given itself up for their sake and would never even known, were still the purest of innocents. Rape, murder, war, prejudice, 'superior race/inferior race', 'upper class/lower class': They didn't even have WORDS for these things. Thievery itself was rare event barely heard of and resolved quickly, and no pony really has thievery as their cutie mark. Yes, economics still existed in some form, these ponies had too much individual identity for communism to function, but the idea of collecting bits for its own sake literally was incomprehensible to them. It was a confusing and illogical to them as us trying to collect breaths. The vast majority of economic theory was alien to their brain structure. The 'favor bank' was the much preferred form of currency. Mother lived through this world like none other, empathy was the norm. A heightened state of it that allowed everypony to understand when somepony they saw needed their help. And their hearts were compassionate enough to give that help of their own free will. They knew what anger was, what fear was, and certainly had their encounters with pain in all its forms. They knew what death was as well. But they were a family, a herd, whether it was a family of a few, or a family of an entire community or several lands, they cared for each other. Hate towards another pony made effectively no sense to them, you'd have likely had to explain to them exactly what 'hah-eight' was. Applejack didn't understand why she felt a special connection with Minty, Princess Rarity, Sky Wishes, Sweet Berry, and Zipzee, and Star-Maker. But it didn't matter, all ponies were connected in a special way. Sky Wishes of course would say "We're connected in a super-duper-special-way." A mysterious baby-filly with a magic horn showed up in Ponyville one day, with two rainbows crossed, with no idea where she had come from, and was raised by a set of wonderful foster parents with named her Sweetie Belle. When the mysterious playful and perhaps spoiled dirty but kind-hearted Princess Rarity literally fell out of the sky among the breezies (meeting Zipzee and her husband and child), Sweetie Belle had found out that she was a unicorn. After insuring that Ponyland would have rainbows for another year after getting Princess Rarity back to Unicornia Crystal Rainbow Castle just in time, Sweetie Belle met her parents. But by then her home was in Ponyville, but that didn't mean she didn't want to learn what it meant to be a unicorn. Cheerilee even spent some time there disguised as an Earth Pony to see what her precious royal charge who she loved like a daughter saw and had learned in this town full of ponies without horns. Spike in this world also met a certain weather dragon with a Bronkolyn accent who had met the ponies years earlier. Scootaloo and Cheerilee? Sisters in the iteration of the world just before the contradictions tore everything in part? Loss still exists in this world, because the mortal world is just one part of the soul's journey. The unicorns were all very shocked when Cheerilee ended up spending several more months in Ponyville (leaving Lilly Lightly as steward, she was titled 'Princess of Lights' after all). Also in this world unicorns began to discover their magic and the wonders it could do. But unlike in other worlds, they didn't begin to see themselves as 'better' than the other tribes because of it. Racism and intolerance are bred from misunderstanding, and this was a world where misunderstandings remained small, manageable affairs due to the heightened empathy they felt for one another. What surprised the unicorns the most was when Cheerilee returned, with an butterfly-cutie mark, orange Earth Pony with a love of skateboarding as her new sister. Wysteria is still Princess of Ponyville after claiming a flower from Spike, she still chose to simply give everypony the title of Princess...which caused some embarrassment to now present the stallions and colts. In the end, she still became Ponyville's 'First Princess', she already had the charisma and decisiveness to be a leader, and had effectively already been one. It all worked out for the best. Another husband and wife team in Ponyville was Sunny Daze and Sparkle Works. And yes, these ponies still go over the top in everything, cleaning up the glitter from Sparkle Works' birthday was something else. And before you ask, yes, they still celebrate christmas every year. Is Santa a human elf, an elk, or a pony? I'll leave that to your imagination. And Minty still invented christmas stockings in this universe. And Thistle Whistle still faced her phobia of clouds for her friends on that Christmas eve. She's now a stunt flyer. Puzzlemint, while there were no longer any inconsistencies with her world, no contradictions that would destroy them all, she was still curious about their past as a species and a people. She spent many years and decades with StoryBelle, Kimono, and Razzaroo piecing together their people's histories, KNOWING they had to have a common ancestor and more importantly a common CULTURE since their languages were all but identical. I believe Gregory, StoryBelle's dragon fly familiar, and the firefly that is Lilly Lightly's friend (who still gave her the self confidence not to hide her gift of magic), are both aspects of Pandora, who has given this world her blessing, but I don't know for sure, never checked. {Minty.} *Razzaroo?* {I just want to say, thank you, for giving them all this chance to be happy. I don't feel so lonely anymore, from this thread, so many truths can be born. We aren't forgotten. We aren't forsaken. We aren't nothing. Not anymore.} *What are are friends for?* Of course we hugged. For this joy. However long it lasted. - Toola-Roola panted, the sky was dark now. She ran faster, a stitch in her side. She had to make it. Could she make it? Or was she fooling herself? Had she been fooling herself the whole time? No! She had to try! She couldn't give up! With the final burst of strength she galloped harder, and collapsed onto her knees. That was it, she couldn't run anymore, she had failed, she-" "Ladies and gentlecolts!" Fiesta Flare called in her microphone. Toola-Roola shoot her heads up. Had she? "Thank you all for waiting! Welcome one and all! And please listen and enjoy!" Yes! Yes! She had made it! "To the one and only Starsong Melody!" Toola-Roola cheered, 'I made it!' "Alright ponies! It's been a year since we've all gotten to know each other from hooves to scales to to flippers to feathers to horns to dragonfly wings. So lets say congratulations to us all and let me say: "Life is in bloom! Across the mountains and the ocean's spume, Our lights shining as one, our bonds will never be undone!" Because, life's in bloom!" Minty and Pinkie Pie danced in the crowd like it had been eternity since they had seen each other. Twinkle Twirl caught and spun Sky Wishes so she was dancing on air with or without magic butterflies. "Across the mountains and the ocean's spume, I said life's in bloom!" Toola-Roola unrolled and held up her stylized sign that read, 'Your Voice Is A Gift!' Starsong smiled at her. "All ponies/this is our day! From mermaids to fey!" The breezies holding glow sticks including Zipzee, Tra La La and Widdlywink, flew in formation to countless designs. Cheerilee held up Princess Rarity so she could see, she cheered at the sight as did all the ponies of Ponyville, Breezie Blossom, Uncornia, Butterfly Island, and Ponyland. Starsong spun with a flourish, "Our friends are all right here/ We won't let these moments disappear- ~~ -Because love's in bloom!" Melody sang a world over finishing the same verse. "A beautiful bride, a handsome groom." A throat and a speech center never damaged by any magical explosion let out the most beautiful voice this side of Ponyland. Melody stuck her hoof out at the audience and winked at Ace. Her two little sisters (twins) high hoofed for a job well done with the triplets who were Sweetheart's little sisters. Cream did a victory twirl. "Love's in Boom, a beautiful bride, a hansome groom: two hearts becoming one." "A bond that can not be undone Because, love's in bloom." Lancer and Bright Eyes had their dancing skill entropy, but they were too charged up to care. Teddy danced rough with Sweetheart, but she liked that about him, and she had finally hammered it into him he didn't need to be a thug to be a stallion. Of course all eyes were on Meadowlark as she danced with her husband, happy not to have a routine or script to go by. Clover Bloom danced with Dandy, for one perfect moment, not even thinking about comparing herself to her big sister. "A beautiful bride, a handsome groom: I said, love's in bloom." "Starting a life and making room for us." As for Bon-Bon, she danced with Cookie for all of sixty seconds, then went to the buffet table, saw the look on her sister Misty's face, holding the hoof of her foal. Bon-Bon stopped before she made a pig out of herself. She wanted to be a model? Maybe it was about time she started taking better care of her body. She went back to the dance floor. Firefly and Paradise Estate's other Pegasi danced in the air. Flutterbye more watching as a precaution as Masquerade carried Posey as they effectively did a duet. Surprise would fly upside down just to stand out. Even Wind Whistler got into the act after some 'polite' prodding from North Star and Medley. Ember danced on Applejack's back. Magic Star pushed Shady onto the dance floor and helped her along. Lickety Split burned up the dance floor (and tripped herself up more than once) with her unorthodox dance style. The unicorns weren't left out as Galaxy, Mimic, and Gusty pranced, with Glory and Sparkler leading. Twilight choose to just stay close to Starlight swaying to the music. A teenage mare with a wild mane style and cutie mark of a lance in front of a fire shouted at the stage, "You're a princess Melody! A real rarity! And you come from a line of sparkling glory!" And Starlight suddenly wondered. Was it just random chance that Patch and their friends had been welcomed by Paradise Estate's magic? Was it's barrier weakening? Or...had they been coming back home to where their families had all come from in the first place? A young stallion whose name happened to be Slipknot (later Scout) and had attended the same high school and had been Starlight's partner at the roller skate rally politely inched closer to her, fighting the knot in his gut and the shaking in his hooves before saying, "H-Hello Starlight. Welcome you care to dance?" "What?!" She gasped. Oh right. 'I'm such a dork.' How could she ever say- "Y-yes." Nopony fainted, they danced. "Your special day, we celebrate now, the pony way! "Your friends, are all right here Won't let these moments disappear because." "Oh yeah!" Patch tried to leap forward but Bright Eyes caught her by the tail. "No stage rushing for you Patch!" "Oh give me a break!" Patch pulled her tail free, "It's my wedding!" Patch leapt at the stage, "Ya-hooo!" pulling off her wedding dress in one motion. Landed perfectly and began to dance on stage. Melody didn't miss a beat. Buddy just stared at his lovely wife. Thankfully she had not gotten the tattoo Dragon-Slayer! on her back after all. "Love's in bloom! a beautiful bride, a handsome groom: I said, love's in bloom!" "You go Patch!" Brightglow cheered taking to the air too, her light shinning brighter than ever. "THAT GOES DOUBLE FOR ME!" Princess Rosy shouted dressed as a normal pony, there was no way in Pony Hell she was going to let being a Princess stop her from seeing her best friend's wedding. "You're starting a life and making room for us, for us, for us..." Firefly shouted flew up over the crowd as high as she could, and pumped a hoof, "Best! Wedding! Ever!" To Be Concluded