Warning, the following chapter contains a scene that certain readers may find disturbing. Readers discretion is advised.
Twilight opened her eyes as she felt a breeze run through her mane. She noticed she was staring at the ground and looked up. There wasn’t much to see. As far as she could tell she was in some kind slope in some bad-lands or desert. She quickly got up and glanced around her, Night lay on the ground just behind her. She nudged him to try and wake him. He groaned but soon had his head lifted up as well to glance around him.
“Where are we?”
Twilight looked up at the cloudy sky and then back to the wasteland surrounding them. “I am not sure, but I don’t think we are in Equestria anymore. None of this looks like any of the Atlas’ I have seen. Sure we have deserts, but the ground look black and damaged. It just doesn’t fit with anything I have ever seen before.”
Night got up slowly and pulled back his hood. He ran a hoof through his blood red mane and sighed, “Well, maybe we will get a better idea once we get to the top of this incline.” He then casually began walking to the top. Twilight continued to inspect the ground as he did so. “Strange,” Twilight muttered to herself, “The ground has faint traces of dark magic within it. I have never seen anything like it.”
“Mother of Luna…”
Twilight jumped, surprised at the sudden outburst and language, “Night!”
Night glanced back at Twilight who stared daggers at him. Night cringed, “Sorry, I don’t know where that came from. But you really need to see this.”
Twilight continued to glare at him but began walking toward him all the same. When she reached the top, her breath immediately caught in her throat. She now knew where she was at. But she did not want to believe it. Just beyond the hill she was standing on, lay Ponyville. Or at least what was left of it. Unlike how it looked back in her Equestria, this one looked like it had gone through a war, then abandoned. Some things remained recognizable. Rarity’s boutique still stood, though looking wrecked. Most of the houses and shops were gone. Her library was a leafless tree missing some parts of it. Sugar Cube Corner was nowhere to be seen. The ground looked just as bare as the ground she was standing on. Seeing her home like this, not only looking worst than she had left it, but seeing it after being gone for awhile; it almost hurt just to look at it.
Twilight felt a tear run down her face, “What…Happened?”
Night glanced upwards towards Canterlot which loomed in the distance, “Whatever happened, it seemed to have happened everywhere.”
Twilight glanced up and followed Night’s gaze. Twilight gasped at the sight. The once mighty and proud looking city along with its amazing looking castle was in ruin. A pink like fog surrounded the city. The waterfall that once fell from it, looked distorted in color.
Twilight tore her eyes away, unable to look at it any longer. She glanced back down at what was left at her house before turning back to Night. “I think it’s time we started to look for clues as to what happened here.”
Night continued to stare off into the distance. “Shouldn’t we be looking for a piece of the Door?”
Twilight shook her head, “It could be anywhere here in Equestria; I would not know where to even start. I have not seen a single pony nor Shadow roaming around down there. Knowledge is power. Let’s start by understanding this Equestria and finding out how it got this way.”
Night glanced away from Canterlot, tired of looking at it himself, “Alright, what’s the plan?”
“I am going to check my library to see if I can find any books telling about what happened here. Though there is a chance I may not find much left. You on the other hoof, I want you to go down and search Rarity’s place. It is one of the few buildings still standing and perhaps there may be some clues left in there as to what happened and maybe why that is.”
Night nodded in confirmation, “Alright, yell if you find anything.”
“Same goes to you.”
Both ponies nodded and split off. Twilight quickly made her way to her library. Once she was close, only then did she stop and stare at what was left of it. The south side appeared scorched. Some leaves could still be seen somehow attached to it but for the most part it looked bare. Painted over the sign used to say library was a bold red “Keep out.”
Twilight flinched at the sign but proceeded through the door anyways, what she saw as soon as she stepped in, however, made keeping her breakfast down almost impossible. She took a few steps in, unable to comprehend that this was here library.
The walls of her once great library were covered in graffiti, made of urine and occasionally blood. Disfigured body parts could be seen on the walls and shelves. But that was just the tip of the ice berg, her books appeared to have been burned to the point that they were almost unrecognizable. Twilight felt herself gasp in shock. Upon doing so, however, Twilight began notice that she had woken some ponies who had just a moment ago, been sleeping on the floor. They all appeared to be wearing scraps in what Twilight could only assume to be armor. One of the pony closest to her, a brown one with the most armor on, rolled over and looked up at Twilight. He grinned upon seeing her, “Well, look what we have here.”
Twilight took a step back only to find the door had shut behind her. There was now a pony leaning up against it. Twilight took inventory and noticed that there were four ponies in the room. All them Earth with one having some kind of strange looking device strapped to his sides. They appeared to be some kind of metallic rods. Twilight remembered Pinkie Pie showing that her party cannon could be fired by pulling a trigger like device if need be. From what Twilight could tell, it seemed to have this trigger like device. Twilight was unsure what exactly such small canons like his could do, but she did not feel like finding out. Twilight did her best to stay calm as the leader got up and began circling her while the others stood nearby. “
So…” Twilight said trying to break the tension and pointing at the mechanism, “Those are some interesting mechanisms you got there.”
One of the ponies smirked, “You're acting like you have never seen a gun before.”
“Gun, you mean like a cannon?”
One of the other ponies laughed, “Well I’ll be damned, must be a vault dweller.”
Another pony got closer and began inspecting her, “But she doesn’t have the jumpsuit. In fact she isn’t wearing anything at all. Nice figure though.”
The rest of the ponies nodded as the each grinned at her. Their faces making Twilight feel more and more uncomfortable by the minute.
Then Twilight felt something lift her tail, followed by a small breeze in her neither regions. Twilight quickly turned her head around and saw that the leader was holder her tail up with his hoof. Twilight’s face went red as she jumped back in shock.
“Hey, what are you…?” Twilight felt her mind go blank for a second, before the gears starting turning and shouting the alarms.
Get ahold of yourself Twilight, you have a weapon... But they could still overwhelm me. Perhaps I should look for an alternative?
Twilight knew it was time to get out of there now. But one of the ponies was still blocking the door. There where two behind her and the leader was just off to side of her laughing. “Maybe if I sprint up stairs, I can go out the window or perhaps lock myself in, and plan out an escape. Maybe the pony up against the door isn’t all that strong, maybe…” Twilight’s train of thought came to an abrupt halt as she felt something no mare should be feeling at a time like this. She felt on tongue in her neither regions. Twilights face went red again as she jumped forward. Her breath was caught in her throat as her heart rate began to quicken. Right now she felt only one thing, she had just been violated. She felt scared... More scared then ever before. But at the same time she felt something, something she had not felt in a long time, complete and absolute Fear.
The other ponies around her began to laugh in hysterics over Twilight’s reaction. Twilight turned around looking shocked, but still did her best to glare menacingly at the pony behind her. The brown Earth pony simply grinned and licked his lips. He opened his mouth to say something, but whatever it was, it was soon caught in his throat as a bright light appeared in front of him. All the ponies in the room stopped laughing for a moment and stared at Twilight’s Keyblade. "Stay back, all of you! I am not afraid to use this!"
The leader was the first to recover, "Well would you look at that, never seen a weapon like that before. Mind if I hold it for a moment?"
Twilight turned and faced him, looking as menacing as she possibly could.
"Aw, don't be like that," said the brown pony behind her. Twilight turned her face toward him, she noticed that he was lowering his head towards her backside again, "What do you say we have some fun?"
As soon as Twilight felt his breath on her, Twilight's adrenaline went through the roof, :"I SAID STAY BACK!"
Twilight held nothing back. She swung at him with everything she had. An echoing crack was soon heard as her Keyblade struck his head hard and sent him flying on impact. The pony flew like a bird but fell like a rock. Blood began to pour from his nose, but he lay there, unconscious. His body barley twitched.
The room grew dead silent for a moment as no pony moved, the Twilight turned and faced the pony standing against the door. This one was black with a scar going across his mouth Ok, I just need to get out of here now!. The pony noticed she was coming towards him and pulled out his knife and held it tightly in his mouth. He then lunged forward intending to stab Twilight. Twilight parried it with her blade before spinning around and slamming her Keyblade hard into his head. The motion caused his head to spin around hard. Another crack could be heard as his neck broke. The pony gurgled before slumping to the ground just like his friend.
Twilight stared in horror, he appeared to be alive but without medical treatment he could... Twilight shook her head, No, I can't worry about that now, I need to get out of here.
Just as Twilight put her hoof on the door, she noticed something she hadn't noticed before. The door had a lock made on the inside. And this one did not have a Keyhole. It had some kind of crazy looking mechanism that, like the gun, Twilight had never seen before.
Twilight quickly turned around and noticed the other two ponies quickly closing in on her.
The last two, being the leader who was grey and had one yellow and one white eye, and the dark brown pony with the guns, came at her at once. The leader brought down his sledge hammer while the other pony began to fire his guns. Twilight ducked out of way and jumped back when the gun fired a piece of metal that grazed her. Twilight shouted out in pain. As both ponies quickly adjusted and took another go at her, Twilight looked at them both terrified.
"Get back, I'm warning you all!" Twilight flinched as she saw the leader getting ready to swing his hammer at her. Twilight quickly put up her reflective spell in defense. The leader watched in awe as brought his sledge hammer down with his mouth only for it to bounce off shield as though it were made of rubber.
The pony the guns launched a barrage of metal pieces at the bubble, hoping to break through. Instead, the metal pieces just stuck to the bubble and continued to pile up as the pony continued to fire over and over. He soon stopped himself when he realized that wasn't doing anything to her.
Twilight grunted and clinched her teeth as the shield glowed and burst outward. Both ponies were knocked back. The brown one found himself flung hard against the wall before being barraged with his own ammo.
Twilight watched in horror as the pieces of metal pierced his body. The pony screamed in pain as holes continued to appear all over his body. He finally stopped crying out however, when one of those holes appeared on his head.
The pony slumped to the ground as soon as the barrage ended, his blood covering the floor around him like a red carpet. His eyes stared off into the oblivion. The leader, having been blown back against the wall as well, staggered to his feet. He looked at the gun pony with shock then turned and shouted at Twilight in rage.
“You… Bitch!”
Twilight felt her mind begin to break, "This can't be happening. This has to be some crazy dream. I just want this to end!"
The leader coughed as he limped over to pick up his sledge hammer that had been blown away from him. Before putting it back in his mouth he pointed to Twilight with his hoof, “ Oh don't worry, I will be sure to make it all end. I will crush your legs. I will break your skull. I will have my way with you whether you are alive or nearly dead. But I will not let you leave here alive!”
The leader picked up his sledge hammer and charged Twilight. Twilight turned away, unsure what to do anymore. She knew she needed to fight, but this was going to far out of her control. She closed her eyes, held out her Keyblade and in desperation yelled, "Fire!"
The room feel silent for a moment, so Twilight quickly opened and eye in time to see that she had stuck her Keyblade's end into the leaders mouth. The leaders eyes grew wide as fire poured into his body. Twilight yelled out in surprise and yanked her Keyblade out. The leader staggered back and closed his mouth. He stood there for a moment, unsure what had just happened.
Then he grabbed his chest with his hooves. He coughed and groaned as he began to stumble around in pain. He lay on the ground and he coughed again. Blood and fire spilled outwards from his mouth. The pony looked back up at Twilight before screaming in agony. Twilight watched as her blood went cold and her face went pale. "I'm sorry," she whispered as the fire consumed his internal organs. More blood and fire escaped his throat before the fire could be seen burning its way outside of him. The leader gave one last gurgle before slumping over, as the fire consumed what was left of him.
Twilight stared at what was left of the leader and began to back away. She soon felt her hooves step in something wet.
Twilight glanced down and saw that she was standing in a pool of blood. She then stared at the now blood soaked hoof. Twilight felt her heart begin to beat faster than ever before. She turned and quickly looked at each pony she had taken down. Two of them were dead. The other two were badly injured. The realization hit Twilight like a ton of bricks. Without thinking she slowly began walking up the stairs to her room in a dream like state. Once she got to her room she realized that it too had been burned and little of it was left. Twilight sat in the middle of it and stared back down at her bloody hoof...
Then, she screamed.
*
Night quickly kicked down the door, just moments ago he had been going through the broken down boutique when he had heard weird banging sounds that he had never heard before. At first he dismissed it as the perhaps it was the surrounding places falling apart. However, moments later, he heard Twilight's scream. Night’s heart almost stopped as soon as he heard it. But luckily his brain managed to get his legs going before his heart did.
Once he got there, he found the door locked. Night Glider turned around and putting all his strength into his back hooves, he kicked the door down. Night winced as he felt a bit of pain shoot up his hind hooves but the door gave way all the same. He quickly ran inside. Night glanced around the library that had clearly been desecrated. But what really drew him; was the two dead ponies that lay around the room. Night winced as each appeared to have died in a pretty awful way.
Two others lay nearby as well, both appearing unconscious. Night examined their injuries, from what he could tell, the brown pony had a concussion but should live. The other didn't seem so lucky. His neck appeared to be badly damaged. Without any hospitals to go to, it was unlikely he was going to survive. Night looked at the pony grimly but knew that there was not much he could do for him. Night shook his head and turned around, his eyes then fell on the stairs. Bloody hoof prints could be seen going up them.
“Twilight? Are you up there?” Night got no answer. He decided to follow the trail. He quickly climbed the stairs and when got to the top, yet again he felt his heart stop. Sitting in the middle of the room, was Twilight. She was covered in blood and staring at nothing. Her eyes appeared to be glazed over. Night ran up in front of her, “Twilight, are you alright?”
Twilight didn’t answer him, she just continued to stare off into the oblivion. Night quickly took off his cloak and wrapped it around Twilight. He then carefully shook her, “Twilight, I need you to look me in the eye. Are. You. Alright?!” Twilight blinked as though if she were coming out of a daze.
“Night, when did you get here?”
Night could now tell that she was in shock. Night was unsure what to do other then try and figure out what went on downstairs.
“Twilight? Can you tell me what happened?”
Twilight blinked again then stared up at Night. “I killed them,” she whispered.
Night looked at her in shock before glancing back at the stairs. “Twilight, I need you to start explaining.” Night stared back at Twilight and looked at her with worry.
Twilight looked away from him, “They were going to…” Twilight fell silent.
Night grunted, “Twilight, were they attacking you?
Twilight nodded, “Yes… But it was more than that.” Twilight gestured her bloody hoof towards her lower regions.
Night’s face went pale as the gears began to turn, “Wait, they tried to assault you?!”
Twilight didn’t say anything but nodded her head.
“And so you defended yourself. So you had no choice.”
Twilight stared up at Night, “But I killed them! I got so scared and lost it. I killed them all!” Tears began to flow from Twilight’s face. “I did not mean to! It just happened and I…” Twilight went silent again.
Night opened his mouth to let her know that she had actually only killed two of them. But then the realization hit him that in the long run, she was right. The pony with the broken neck would not survive long. And the pony with the concussion would not survive well in a desert like environment. There was very little chance for him and almost none for the other to survive over time.
Night took a deep breath, sat down, before reaching his scaly wing around and pulling her close, “Twilight, it is not a sin to fight for your life or to kill those who would do harm to others, especially to you.”
“I should not have had to kill them.”
“But you did and there is nothing we can do about that now. You are alive, and that is all that matters.”
Night stared down at Twilight who slowly lowered her head into his chest, “The worst part is… I don’t feel remorse for them. I know that I should. I feel awful that I killed them. But I do not mourn them.”
“They tried to do the worst thing any pony could possibly do to another. It’s ok.”
Night glanced down and saw Twilight trying to hold back her tears. "It's not ok! I should have found some other way. I should have just stayed calm and tried to figure a way out of there. At the very least, I could have held back." Twilight took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "But I didn't. I was so scared I was going to be violated by them or worse. I just defended myself and it just... Happened..."
“Twilight, I’m sorry. We should never have split up. But you are a warrior now; a hero. And sometimes, heroes have to kill the bad creatures.”
Twilight was silent but Night could tell that she was listening.
“Sometimes you have to fight, but don’t be afraid. For you hold the mightiest weapon of all.”
Twilight lifted her head up and looked at him in surprise, “I have heard that line before, in a dream.”
Night gave a small laugh, “Really? So have I…”
Twilight became silent again. She glanced around the room occasionally as Night continued to sit there with her.
Night was silent for moment before he spoke up again, “Listen Twilight, this world may be darker. It may even make us do things we never thought we would have to do. But as long as we have the Keyblade and stick together, we will get through this. I promise you this.”
"Night, I don't want to kill again..."
"I wish I could say you won't have to... But we have to be realistic. This world is obviously far more dangerous then any other Equestria we have been to so far. I want to tell you that I will be there to help but I am sure there will be times where we will be split up again. And you may have to do the un-thinkable again."
"Twilight, you do want to find your friends right?" Twilight looked up at him in surprise but quickly nodded her head.
"In this world, if you are to survive, if you want to find your friends, if we are to save our Equestria... Then you must be willing to fight for them, no matter what it takes."
Twilight's eyes grew misty, but she refuse to let any more tears fall. "If I do... Have to kill another pony... Please remind me afterwards that we don't have to stay here. Remind me what we are fighting for. I feel like that is the only thing that is going to drive me at this point."
"I promise, I will."
Twilight looked at Night and gave a small smile, “Thanks… For everything and for being my friend.”
Night smiled back, “I have a feeling that the only way to survive this wasteland, is with friends.”
Twilight nodded as they both hugged each other one last time. They both knew that the journey was going to be hard, but at least it would be possible, so long as they remembered what they what they were fighting for.