//------------------------------// // The Future And The Past // Story: Doomsday // by SilentWanderer //------------------------------// “But you said you would go to the show with me! I even gave you money for the tickets!” From a small distance, Rainbow Wing looked at the bickering ponies. After looking around, she jumped into a bush. She produced a small stick, which lenghtened into a javelin. “Sorry, babe, but it was not enough for two tickets. I will go to the show alone.” She aimed the javelin at the male unicorn. “What. Are. You. Doing.” Rainbow Wing dropped the javelin and looked up. Above her, an angry Rainbow Dash hovered. “R-Rainbow Dash?” “Are you trying to kill him?” “B-But I...” “Did you think I would want it? Another pony's death, just to save my skin? What a great fan you are!” Rainbow Wing lowered her head, tears streaming through her cheeks. -*-*-*- “Please, don't. I came all the way to Ponyville just to watch this show!” Butter looked from behind a trash can. Her dress and wings matched the color and pattern of the brick wall behind her, and she hid her head behind her wing. “Tough luck.” The edges of Butter's wings hardened and turned into a metallic color. “Butter?” She looked up. Above her, Fluttershy hovered. Butter looked back at her target. Both him and his victim were frozen. “I am glad that I arrived in time,” said Fluttershy, landing in front of Butter. “It is not nice to kill other ponies.” “B-But... The Administrator said...” “I know that she said that you had to kill that pony. Are you really willing to stain your wings with the blood of another living being?” Butter looked down. “No... I am not... But if there is no other way...” “Twilight told me that there is another way. Let's listen to her.” -*-*-*- “Sorry, brother, there were no tickets left. Here is your money back.” Hidden by the corner of a building, Apple Seed prepared her crossbow. “What a pity. I really wanted to see the show today.” “Stop that right now!” Apple Seed looked back. Applejack was behind her. “Are you really going through with that girl's plan?” Apple Seed did not answer. “Do you think it is going to make things better? It is not. It is going to do the opposite. At least that's what Twilight said.” “Twilight Sparkle and the Administrator are the same pony.” “Yeah, but our Twilight is from before she went crazy because Rainbow Dash died. And she said she had a plan. Don't you think it is better to at least listen to what she has to say?” -*-*-*- “Stupid tourists ruining the town.” Happy Party carefully aimed her double-barreled shotgun. Each barrel had an engraving of a single deflated baloon. “Why did they have to do it here?” “Heeey!” Happy Party sighed. “Not now, Pinkie. You will make me miss.” “That's exactly what I want!” Happy Party put her shotgun on the ground. “Fine. Since time is stopped anyway, we can talk all we want.” “Did you know that orange juice goes great with apple pie?” “...” “Come on, don't be such a grump! Or you will end up like that pony you were trying to kill.” “How did you get here in the first place?” “Twilight said you would be here, so I came,” said Pinkie, bouncing around Happy Party. “Twilight Sparkle wants to stop us. Why?” “How about you ask her?” -*-*-*- “Two hundred bits? That is too much!” Unseen by the haggling ponies, on a roof above the alley, Sweet Light looked at them with her deep black eyes. She held a metallic string, with a sewing neddle dangling on each end. “These are the last tickets. You will not find a better price.” “Don't you dare!” Noticing the frozen ponies below, Sweet Light turned to face the interloper. “Rarity.” “I will NOT let you kill these innocent ponies!” “Innocent? One of them has been tainted by the touch of a being from outside space and time. That taint will be used as a barrier against the Elements of Harmony, and it will end with the death of Equestria's greatest hero. The other pony is just collateral damage.” “Collateral damage? Collateral damage?! How can you treat a pony like that!” “The Administrator told me to kill this pony. Her orders are absolute. It does not matter who else I have to kill to do my duty.” “You would do anything she orders you to do.” “Exactly.” Rarity silently levitated a piece of fabric from her saddlebag. While she concentrated holding it with her magic, the ink flowed all over the fabric, forming lines and shapes. The shapes morphed into a picture of Sweetie Belle, the same picture Sweet Light had shown Rarity before. “You recognized me. And you showed me this picture. Do you think Sweetie Belle would like to have her descendant turn into a murderer?” Sweet Light was taken aback. “There is no other choice.” “Oh, but there is. You see, the same Twilight Sparkle who will turn into your Administrator sent me to stop you, because there is another choice. Will you at least listen to her?” -*-*-*- “So, you stopped me.” The Administrator faced the console of the Black Wing. Behind her in the cabin was Twilight Sparkle. “What you are doing is wrong! What gave you the idea that killing is always the best solution?” “If we kill them now, they will not be able to prevent the Elements of Harmony from being used. The power of the Elements will go through the portal and kill the monsters responsible for all our problems. It is very simple.” “And then, without Rainbow Dash's sacrifice, the crack will not close. It will widen. Instead of Equestria being destroyed hundreds of years later, it will be destroyed in a few years!” “What else do you propose?” The Administrator turned to face Twilight Sparkle. The five pairs of ponies entered the cabin, Rainbow Wing still crying. “Another one of us told me of a way. We have to go to the end of our world, the moment when it breaks down and is devoured. If we use the Elements of Harmony at that exact instant, its effects will be retroactive. It will heal the barrier between our world and the void, and cure almost all of the taint in it. “But we both will have to use our Elements at the same time. The ponies of the future, and the ponies of the past.”