I’m not the same mare I used to be. That’s a fact that I just can’t hide from, and I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with it. If I somehow manage to get back to my version of Equestria; back to my true friends, I’m not sure how they’ll react. I trust that they will still love me for being me,but that’s just the thing. I’m not sure if I’m me anymore. At least, not the me they know. Being forced to become a killer tends to change a pony, you know?
Damn it, I’m weirding myself out. I need to focus right now. I can’t let my mind wander, especially when there’s so much at stake.
The sun has just set behind the mountain that looms over Ponyville, upon which the grand city of Canterlot stands. I find myself staring up at it once again, pondering just how I’m going to go about this. I need to somehow convince Queen Twilight to use her magic to send me back, but I also want to make sure that she ends her tyrannical ways, one way or another. After all, I can’t just leave the ponies living in this version of Equestria to continue suffering while I get away clean. That’s not the kind of burden I’d like to bear.
“Kinda beautiful, just lookin’ at it, huh?” I hear Applejack comment, as she trots around the stolen royal carriage and towards me. “But some beautiful things have a rotten core, I guess.”
I think on her words for a second. She’s right, of course. Looks can be deceiving. For example, I never knew that one of my best friends could belong to an ancient group of killers and freedom fighters. But, hey, it’s an alternate universe, so I guess everything is par for the course. “I guess so,” I finally reply, after a few seconds of silence. “Then again, we’re about to strike right at the core of it all, aren’t we?”
Applejack nods. “Ya darn right we are, RD. It’s do or die, I reckon.”
“Well, that’s reassuring,” I deadpan, tearing my eyes away from the regal city and back towards my group of assassins. Applejack is here, of course, along with Cloudchaser, Flitter, and Caramel. We have to keep the team small, otherwise there’s a higher risk of us being spotted. “So, am I hauling this thing along?”
“You and Cloudchaser,” AJ elaborates.
The pegasus smirks. “Because we’re the best fliers, of course, Rainbow Dash.” Her twin sister shoots her a glare, and she giggles. “Oh, calm down, I’m just playing.” It’s nice to see her trying to have a bit of fun, even in our dire situation, and after everything that’s happened. I know it’s just a cover, and that she feels as bad as the rest of us inside, but it’s nice to see nonetheless.
“Is there a plan once we’re in?” I wonder, stepping towards the harnesses at the front of the carriage.
Applejack pulls her hood over her head and looks towards me. “Well, the theory is that the Element of Harmony, or whatever it is she used to brainwash the guards, is what’s giving her power. Heck, might have been what corrupted her in the first place. So, the plan is to get it away from her. Destroy it, if necessary.”
Oh, a total walk in the park, then. “That ain’t going to be easy,” Caramel says, voicing the concerns of everypony present. “What happens if the theory is wrong?”
“Then I’ll see you all at the Gates of Tartarus,” she tells him, getting a worried glare from the rest of us. “Don’t worry, okay? O’course it won’t be easy, but if we pull it off, everything will be fine. I swear.”
Shit, this is a suicide mission, isn’t it? There’s no way this can work. We’ll all be cut down trying, or executed at the gallows. I’m never going to get to go home, or be able to see all of my friends again. I’ll die here, and they will never know what happened to me.
No, stop it, Rainbow Dash. You can do this. You know you can. And, if you can’t, then you’re damn well going to try. It’s your only chance. You are going to get home, and you will see your friends again, okay?
I take a few deep breaths, calming myself down and psyching myself up. I can feel my heart pumping in my chest, and the adrenaline kick in, as both I and Cloudchaser strap ourselves into the harnesses on the carriage and prepare to take off. This is it.
“You three ready?” I call back to AJ, Caramel and Flitter as they clamber inside. I adjust a few of the straps on the harness, making sure it’s fitted correctly, before turning back to hear their answer.
“As ready as we’ll ever be, I guess,” Flitter murmurs, glancing up at the city above us again. “It’s dark now, we should get going, right?”
Applejack nods determinedly. “Yeah, come on. Let’s get this mess over and done with.”
“Alright then, here we go.” I nod towards Cloudchaser, and we both begin to gallop forward, before taking to the air, hauling the carriage behind us. It’s a strange feeling, having to pull something along behind me as I fly. Not something I’m used to, at any rate. Too restrictive, you know? Besides, I’ve never really had any reason to. Not since I moved from Cloudsdale to Ponyville.
I wonder what happened to Cloudsdale in this alternate reality. Probably the same as everywhere else, I guess. Oppressed by the new regime, with pegasus guards roaming the streets at all hours of the day and night. Hopefully my parents are okay, or the parents of this world’s Rainbow Dash, or whatever. I’m confusing myself now, great. Still, I realise that I miss my parents, since I can’t remember the last time I actually saw them. Heck, I think I miss just about everypony.
Come on Dash, you’re getting off-topic; losing focus. The city on the mountain is growing closer, and Applejack is about to start giving me directions on where to land, as close to the castle as possible. There are a number of guard towers scattered throughout the city, but, as long as we don’t get too close, we’ll look like any other royal carriage going in or out. The cover of darkness works to our advantage too, of course.
“Alright, RD,” Applejack calls out above the noise of the wind. “We’re getting pretty close now. There’s a specific place we can land in the castle gardens that ain’t too watched. I’ll point you towards it once we’re above the city.”
Okay, seems like a plan. One thing doesn’t quite add up though. “How do you know all of this, AJ?” I ask her, glancing back at the carriage itself. “It’s not like you have any blueprints of the castle, or anything.”
She chuckles for a second, before replying, “That’s a simple one. I’ve got you.”
Huh? “What do you mean?”
She chuckles again. “Don’t ya remember, RD? I told ya that you tried to steal Twilight’s crown-thingy before. It gave you a golden opportunity to keep an eye out for anything that could help us when this day came. Obviously, you told me about it before this whole “alternate you” thing went down.”
Oh, right. “Huh. Alright, I guess that makes sense.” Actually, now that I think about it, I can recall things about Canterlot I haven’t seen before. Not the regular version of me, at least. Does that mean I have the life and memories of two different Rainbow Dashes inside my head. I don’t really like the sound of that. Hopefully it all goes back to normal when I return to my world; to my body. I think I’ll have enough problems to deal with as it is.
We’re passing over the city walls now, and our target is getting closer. “Okay, everypony!” I hear Applejack say in a hushed voice as we guide the carriage above Canterlot. “Keep your cool, and we’ll get through this fine, alright?” I can practically feel the tension shared between all five of us right now, but we all do our best not to show it.
I keep an eye on each and every guard tower as we pass by them. Each have a few guards stationed on lookout duty at the top, but none have raised the alarm, or seem to have noticed anything out of the ordinary at all. This is good. Maybe we can pull this thing off after all. The castle gardens are fast approaching, so the two of us begin to descend closer to the ground.
“Here goes nothing,” I hear Cloudchaser mutter, as the ground rapidly approaches. With a deep breath, I plant my hooves down, slowing down the carriage behind me as fast as possible as we touch down in a quiet area near the back of the castle. Thankfully, it looks as though we’ve gone completely undetected. How long that will last for is anypony’s guess, but I’m not about to go ruining it now. We all need to tread carefully. Having every single guard in the royal palace on our case would be very, very bad. Obviously.
Applejack wastes no time in hopping out of the carriage. “Alright, time to get this thing out of sight,” I hear her murmur as she rears up and plants her front hooves on the front. After Cloudchaser and I unhook ourselves, and the rest have climbed out, she begins to push the stolen carriage into a hiding place, behind a nearby shed. Well, there will be no gardeners about at this time of night, so, hopefully, nopony will see it.
“Okay, listen up, everypony,” Applejack announces in a hushed voice as she trots back to the rest of us. “Here’s how things are going down. We keep quiet, and make our way towards the throne room. If what Dash told me before is correct, the queen holds court until around nine o’clock, so we should have plenty of time to take it slow and steady.”
“That’s still a few hours away,” Caramel points out. “Yeah, we shouldn’t need to hurry at all.”
Applejack nods, then turns to me. “Alright then, Dash. You know the way, so lead on.” Memories of my alternate self trying to steal Twilight’s crown a few days ago spring to the front of my mind, and I find that this version of the castle is largely the same as the one I’m familiar with back home. Well, that works to my advantage.
“Okay, everypony,” I whisper, as we set off. “Keep yourselves spread apart, and make sure to quietly take out any guards you think might be a problem.” The fact that I’m ordering the rest of them to kill with impunity is kind of jarring, to say the least, but I guess it’s just my other self shining through. Now that I think about it, what exactly happened to the mind of my alternate self, if I got dumped into her body? Did she get dumped into mine? Did we merge somehow? The latter seems more likely.
As we leave the quieter areas of the gardens, we manage to spot a few guard patrols up ahead. Thankfully, there are plenty of places to hide. Bushes, large patches of vegetation. Heck, even the odd cart filled with flower petals, leaves, or, oddly, hay. Still, I wasn’t complaining. Slowly, I crept up to one of the carts and, glancing back at my friends, hopped inside, waiting for the opportunity to strike. The others had similar ideas. Peeking out, I saw Caramel spring out from a patch of vegetation and, while nopony else was looking, drive his blade into a guard standing nearby, before quickly dragging him down and laying his body out of sight.
One of the guards was getting close now, but not quite close enough. Furthermore, he seemed to have noticed hoofprints left in the dirt by one of my friends, and was getting suspicious. In a desperate attempt to divert his attention, I let a small whistle escape my lips, loud enough for only him to hear.
“Huh? What was that?” I hear him mutter to himself, turning to face my hiding spot. He decides to investigate, so I draw myself further inside, making sure I am completely hidden. I can hear his hoofsteps, growing ever closer. After a few seconds, I can practically feel him right outside, about to prod and poke his spear through my hiding spot and, if I didn’t do something about it, me as well. In an instant, I pop out of the pile of leaves and lunge forward, stabbing him quickly and cleanly in the side of the neck. Nothing but a surprised gasp leaves his lips as I drag his body into the cart with me, hiding it from sight.
To say sharing a cart full of leaves with a dead body is unnerving would be a massive understatement. Thankfully, I notice Applejack take out the last of the patrols in the area. Somehow, she managed to haul herself up into one of the trees, and is using a length of rope to hang the last guard by his neck. Grim, but effective. She always was good with a lasso. He struggles for breath, but, eventually, goes limp. Now that her prey has been finished off, my friend pulls on the rope, hauling him upward and tying his body to the sturdy branch she had been standing on before dropping down. Huh, pretty smart. Nopony ever looks up. Now that the coast is clear, for the time being, I gladly hop out of the cart and trot towards her, making sure to keep an eye out, just in case.
"Wow, AJ, that was brutal," I comment as she hops down from her hiding place up above.
"Got the job done, quick and quiet, didn't it?" she shoots back, glancing around and over her shoulders.
She has a point. Still, it is creepy to see my friend so coldly efficient like this. I resist the urge to shiver, either from the chilly night air or the thought that just ran through my mind. "I guess so," I say weakly as we press onwards, further through the gardens. Thankfully, by the looks of it, those were some of the only guards patrolling around here, since we can’t see many more, and the ones we do are far enough away to not be a problem for us. Slowly but surely, we make our way towards one of the castle’s entrances.
We’re nearing the main throne room now. Looking up, I notice that the stained glass windows, depicting all of the major events throughout Equestria’s history, even before me and my friends used the Elements of Harmony, are gone, replaced with generic windows instead. That’s strange. Did some of those things never happen here, or did Queen Twilight just erase all trace of them, replacing it all with her propaganda instead? With all the stories and rumours I’ve heard, it was certainly possible.
Unfortunately, since we’re so close to the throne room, where Twilight is still holding court, there are loads of guards around. For now, we all stick to our hiding spots around the garden, watching for any patterns in their behaviour. Unfortunately, it’s hard for us to pick any of them off, since they all seem to have each other’s backs covered. Being so close to the windows, however, I can make out a conversation going on inside.
“Good evening, your highness,” I hear a stallion say. “I regret to inform you that the Griffon Kingdom has refused to enter into any kind of diplomacy with your ambassadors, following the incident earlier this week.” His voice is stuttery, as if he’s scared being in her mere presence. That doesn’t bode well.
A reply comes a few seconds later, which fills me with dread. “Gah, fools!” I hear the queen exclaim. Yep, no doubt about it. That’s definitely Twilight Sparkle. Even if she’s not the same one I know, I’m having second thoughts about the idea of having to kill her if things go south. “Everything is falling apart!” she continues. “First this, that train debacle in Ponyville! I thought you and your soldiers were handling this ‘merry band of rebels’, captain!”
“R-rest assured, your majesty, my soldiers and I are doing everything in our power to ensure that they are brought to justice.” Yep, he’s definitely scared out of his skin. Strange, for somepony under some sort of mind control spell.
“I hope, for your sake, that you’re right, captain,” the queen replies, in a menacing tone. “Because if you can’t, you can be assured that I will dispose of you, and find somepony who can! Am I making myself clear?”
I hear him whimper slightly, and feel a soft pang of guilt for the poor guy. “Crystal, ma’am!” I guess, by the rapid sound of hooves clopping against marble, that he’s making a quick retreat. Can’t really blame him.
All out of ideas, our best bet is to just sit here and wait, until court finishes and, hopefully, most of the guards disperse. Thankfully, our hiding spots are not being investigated, since the guards have no reason to be suspicious, so we can just sit out the next hour or so, planning our moves.
An hour passes, and only a few guards remain. Looking over at AJ, we can both tell that it’s the time to strike. Judging by the conversation going on inside the throne room, court is over, and Queen Twilight is preparing to retire to her chambers. As much as I dread to think about it, she needs to be stopped, maybe even killed. No matter what, though, I need to get that crown away from her, and convince her to send me home.
I notice Applejack nod to Flitter, who has a guard patrolling nearby her hiding spot. The pegasus nods back, and whistles out loud, attracting the nearby stallion’s attention. Must be a universal assassin tactic, I guess. Confused but suspicious, he decides to investigate the dense bushes that my friend has hidden herself in. He edges closer, and the time for her to strike grows nearer.
In an instant, she strikes, though not without a fatal mistake.
In her desperation to kill her target quickly, Flitter accidentally neglects to cover the mouth of the stallion as she stabs, leading to him yelling out in pain as she does so. He dies quickly, but the damage has already been done. Another guard, attracted by the sudden and loud noise, turns to face it just in time to see his friend’s corpse dragged out of sight. His stern demeanor suddenly changes to one of panic.
“Alarm!” he yells out almost instantly, and I cringe. Well, so much for subtlety. “Assassin! Raise the alarm!”
He starts to sprint towards Flitter’s hiding spot as one of his comrades runs off to raise the alarm. “I’m torn between stopping him from getting to my friend or making sure the other stays quiet, but I figure almost everypony in the castle heard that yell, so I break from my hiding spot in a burst of speed. Thankfully, he doesn’t see me as I leap forward and drive my hidden blade into the back of his neck, sending him sprawling to the ground.
I hear the sound of hooves rapidly approaching. Okay, time for a fight. One guard soon reaches me, and holds his spear menacingly. I hear one of his friends fast approaching, weapon raised, from behind. Thinking fast, I kick the first stallion hard, sending him toppling to the ground, before turning around and grabbing his friend’s spear mid-swing. Unable to pull it from his iron grasp, I resort to a second option. I rear up onto my hindlegs and lift the spear over my head, throwing the guard over me and onto his dazed friend. Before they can react, I drive the spear straight through both of them, killing them.
More of them keep coming, managing to split us all apart into individual groups. As I hold my own, I can see Flitter and Cloudchaser fighting back to back, while Caramel and Applejack have their hooves full. I don’t have time to pay much attention to them, though. The attacks keep coming, and it takes all of my effort just to block or dodge them, much less counter them. Still, I manage to whittle them down, until two remain.
One of the final two, a unicorn, lunges forward with his spear. I sidestep the attack and grab his weapon, managing to snap it in half and knock him back in one quick motion. As I go to fight his buddy, I notice the infuriated guard pick up the sharpened end of the spear with his magic and throw it at me. Thinking quick, I thrust forward and grab his friend, yanking him around to block the spear. Luckily, it works, and he goes limp in my hooves as the spear impales him. Capitalising on the final guard’s shock, I jump forward, blade extended. He does nothing as I bury it into the side of his neck, killing him instantly.
Now that I’m done with my share of the guards, I go to move across the garden to help my friends. Only I can’t. No matter how much I try, I can’t seem to move a muscle in my body. What gives? This must be some kind of spell.
Oh no.
All I can do is watch as Queen Twilight Sparkle effortlessly teleports in front of me, in a flash of bright light. She looks just like the Twilight I know and love. She’s still a unicorn though. Guess usurping the throne doesn’t automatically make you an alicorn. Like we predicted, her element of harmony, the tiara, or crown, or whatever it is, sits atop her head. Not exactly harmonious right now, though.
“You,” she hisses, lifting me into the air with her magic. I try to struggle, to do something to break free of her grasp, but it’s no use. “It’s been you, and you little group of assassins causing me all of this trouble.”
“Twilight, please,” I manage to gasp, looking down at her pleadingly. “Please, stop all of this.”
The queen glares at me for a second, before throwing me against the wall in a fit of anger. “That’s Queen to you!” she bellows, her voice amplified with magic. The blow knocked the wind out of me, leaving me defenceless as she lifts me up once again. “All of you have been a thorn in my side for too long,” she continues. I look to the side, and see my friends still caught up fighting, in no position to help whatsoever. “The griffons, the train line. I didn’t forget you, by the way.” She draws me closer, bringing us directly face to face. “I remember that you were the one who tried to steal my crown.”
By Celestia, this is bad. She continues to scowl at me, and I suddenly find it difficult to breathe. Oh, shit. She’s choking me! I try to struggle, to somehow escape from her spell, but I can do nothing. She pays no attention as I cough and splutter, and simply continues her rant.
“Now you have the audacity to make an attempt on my life?” she yells, tightening her hold. “Have no doubts, assassin. That was a fatal mistake.”
“Just... want to... go home...” I manage to say, feeling faint.
She smirks for a second, before resuming her usual glare. “Is this all it takes to reduce your kind to begging and pleading?” My vision is fading now, and I look to the side just in time to see all of my friends get overwhelmed by the sheer number of guards fighting. One by one, they fall. Caramel is taken by surprise, getting tripped onto the ground from behind and subsequently run through with one of the guard’s spears. Another guard gets a lucky hit on Cloudchaser, and Flitter, distracted with grief, goes down quickly as well. I can’t bring myself to shout, or cry. All I feel is a single tear run down my cheek as I look on.
As for Applejack, well...
Wait, where is Applejack?
I try to look around for her, but just can’t find the energy. This is it. I failed. I’m going to die, just like everypony else. I want to fight, but I just feel so tired. So very tired.
Maybe I’ll just rest my eyes for a bit...
All of sudden, I find the magical hold on my body lifted, and I topple to the ground in a winded heap. I’m dazed and confused. What’s going on? Then, I hear a familiar voice cry out in anger, and look up to see Applejack, who had just tackled Twilight to the ground.
“No, AJ, don’t kill her!” I try to shout out, but end up coughing instead. I’m still too tired to move, so all I can do is watch. My friend raises her hoof, and I see the glint of her hidden blade as it extends from her bracer. Twilight, however, kicks her off, growling with rage. I manage to climb to my hooves, but it takes some effort. I see Twilight’s horn light up, and her magic envelops Applejack’s head. What is she doing?
Then it dawns on me. The very idea makes me feel sick to the stomach. I’m too far away, and too weakened, to help. All I can do is close my eyes. I don’t want to see this.
A sickening crack echoes through the air, and I peek open my eyes just in time to see my friend fall to the ground, stone dead. Just like the rest. Without thinking, I dive forward, giving a feral cry. In this fit of rage, all I can see is red as I dive onto Queen Twilight, instinctively plunging my blade into the side of her neck. It takes all of my self-control to only stab her once, and not to repeatedly shiv her until I’m sure she is dead.
Just like that, it’s over. The unicorn falls to the ground, and the crown tumbles from her head. By Celestia, what have I done? I may have just ended any hope I had of getting home.
Twilight coughs painfully, looking up at me. Behind us, I can hear all of the guards crying out in pain for some reason. I pull my blade out and cover her wound with my hoof, in an effort to stop the bleeding. Maybe there was still hope.
She looks around, at all of the bodies that surround us, then finally towards the crown that lies a few feet away. “Oh no,” she whispers. “What have I done?”
“Twilight? Why did you do all of this?”
“The Elements of Harmony,” she tries to explain. “I found one: the Element of Magic. Tried to study them. But one without the rest only corrupts.” She winces, and coughs up some blood. “It gave me power. Unlimited power. Corrupted me. I wasn’t myself.”
I can feel myself crying openly now, as I look down at her. “I know,” I tell her simply.
My friend struggles for breath, before staring into my eyes one last time. “Please... forgive me,” she whispers, before going limp, her eyes staring up into nothingness. Shaken, I remove my blood soaked hoof from the side of her neck, and use it to close her eyes out of respect. Then, I turn around, and gallop over to Applejack's fallen form.
"AJ?" I whisper, kneeling down beside her. Her eyes are widen open in shock, too. Her last moment, completely mortified, forever etched upon her face. Pushing back the urge to just sit back and wail, I lower her eyelids as well, giving a moment of silence as I cry for my friend. All of this was for naught. Twilight's dead, I can't get home now. At the very least, I hope things get better here.
Shit. What am I going to do? Everypony’s fucking dead.
I glance over at the fallen element. The crown is shimmering, with tendrils of white light magically extending out from it and towards me. “Huh?” I murmur, looking at it closer. It starts to shine more brightly as I get closer, until loads of tendrils burst out and into me, blinding me with a white light.
What’s going on? Is the element sending me home? An idea runs through my mind, that perhaps this alternate world was merely a projection from the elements themselves. A warning about what might happen if one is separated from the others, or used for chaotic purposes. Maybe Twilight’s spell was just a projection spell, instead of a gateway to other universes.
I don’t get any more time to think about it, however, as the light completely envelops me, and I pass out.