//------------------------------// // Answers and Endings // Story: A Change of Pace // by Discord_Nations //------------------------------// My world was mostly barren and deserted. Humans have learned to survive in the harsh environments, made by our own doing. After centuries of pollution and wars, the world was falling apart, so to say. The animals have changed over time to some strange beasts. Rabbits are now 3 times the size with fangs protruding from their mouths, but they are very fast. The bears have gotten even bigger in size and have 2 extra limbs. There are large reptilian creatures that are 10 feet in height, large claws and a spiny tail. People think that these creatures evolved from alligators. But there are very small forests in my world, trees and plants are scarce, and the land doesn’t allow us to grow much of our own crops. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Ok hold up a second,” Rainbow said, “If these creatures are so different from the ones we have here, how do you know what they are supposed to look like?” She crossed her forelegs and gave me a curious stare. I couldn’t help but laugh. “We have books Rainbow, I have read many of the animal books from the past. I had to hunt for my village, so I needed to have an idea of what the habits of these creatures are. Of course an altered habitat would have to stay in my mind.” Rainbow just seemed to not question it anymore. She decided to just lean her head on the table with a small annoyed look on her muzzle. I continued with my world. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The deserts that had, in older days, only taken up a small portion of the world, have expanded to nearly 5 times the size, in any country. Small oasis can be found throughout the barren areas. There are still fights between people, even wars between small cities over resources and land. The weak will die while the strong live. There are no exceptions to this rule. The mere terrain and fighting that takes place will make sure of that. Another thing we must be cautious about are the earthquakes. The shifting of the earth makes them a fairly common occurrence. We have made sure to keep any of our homes away from these areas or have strong beams supporting the structures that will hold up the buildings. My village used such beams. The earthquakes in my area stopped about 3 years ago. We didn’t want to be careless, so even now any buildings they make still have the support. A result of these tremors are large fissures. There was one right outside my village. There had been some strange noises coming from it time to time. Nothing ever came out. Though some of the people thought otherwise and we just never saw it, or it wasn’t hostile. We certainly don’t know. I wouldn’t doubt it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Halt for a moment.” Luna said, “Art thou telling me that you fell down a fissure of undetermined depth, and ended up in Equestria?” I just gave her a quizzical look. “That’s what I just said. I know it may be strange, but it’s what happened. I thought a ruler of a magical land wouldn’t think it to be very weird.” “So aside from that, do you have any other information about your world you wish to share with us?” Celestia said. I shook my head, they got as much as it would do them any good to know. I wasn’t going to go into my village’s rule and traditions of the past centuries, it would be pointless information. With the silence setting in, Twilight spoke up next. “So you mentioned earlier that you were banished from your home?” “Yes,” I replied. I think I knew where this was going and I didn’t like it. “So tell me why.” She got up and walked to stand in front of me. I just looked away from her. I didn’t want to answer her question. The floorboard have gotten interesting all of a sudden. I glance back up at all of them and they gave me the same look Twilight was, expectation of an answer. I knew I wasn’t going to get out of this. “It was because of something that happened between me and my brother. We didn’t always see eye to eye…. I did something I regret even to this day. I would take it back in a heartbeat if could. But now I’ll never see him again… Not for a very long time.” I felt the memory of the night I had killed my brother running through my mind again. Before I knew it I was crying, tears rolling down my face uncontrolled. The ears of almost every pony were folded back against their heads. Sitting there as I just cried, the memory burning itself deeper into my mind. I knew I could never forget that night, and it would plague me for my entire life. The soft clopping of hooves came closer to me and I felt a wing drape across my back. I looked to see Fluttershy at my side, tears running down her face. I didn’t deserve their pity. I got up and picked up my longsword. I think one of them said something, but I wasn’t listening. I quickly opened the door and ran. To where I didn’t have a clue, but I didn’t care at this point. I just wanted to get away. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I was still running, there were trees all around me. I had heard voices from behind me as I left the treehouse as I ran. But I didn’t stop. It was nearing close to night. After a couple more minutes of running I started to slow down. The pain in my heart was still there, the memory as fresh as it had been when it had happened. I looked around me and I was in a small clearing with a large rock in the middle of it. I decided to take a seat and just continued to cry. When I stopped crying I didn’t know. I just sat there and stared off into the night sky. Some stars were visible and shone dimly in the late sunset. Darkness came quicker than I had thought it would have. The stars became brighter and I looked up at them. The night had always been mine and my brother’s favorite time. We used to stay up late into the night and just looked up at the sky, pointing out constellations. Lifting my sword to my face, I thought about how easy it would be to end it right now. “Maybe it’s for the best, they don’t need to see the monster I am.” I whispered to myself. Lifting the sword up and point it at my chest, I held it steady. The flapping of a couple sets of wings caught my attention. Luna, Fluttershy and Rainbow had somehow found me. I was sure I wasn’t being followed when I was running. “Please don’t do it Alex! We can help you through this.” Fluttershy called out to me. “The yellow one is right. We can help thee with any problem thou hast. We know better than most what it is like to betray thy sibling.” Luna said. “Alex, don’t do it. I won’t let you kill yourself.” Rainbow said with a look of determination. I just chuckled with sad tone. “You don’t know what I did, and I never want it to happen again. I won’t let the possibility of my anger besting me again be out there. This is where we part ways.” I plunged with sword deep into myself. The pain was tremendous, indescribable, just sheer pain filled me and I felt myself go weak from it. The ponies in front of me just had a look of complete shock on their faces. I fell back against the rock that was behind me and said softly, “No one will be harmed by my hands again. This is for the be-” I was cut off as I coughed harshly. I looked to my hand and I saw blood running across my fingers. This was for the best, this world wouldn’t serve me any better than the last. I would still put anyone I met in danger. “You bucking fool!” Rainbow yelled at me. Fluttershy was frantic and tears rolling down her eyes. Luna was still in shock of what just happened. “Heheh. Don’t cry guys, this is better for everyone. It was great knowing you while it lasted.” I started to feel cold and everything fade to black. I think I felt hooves moving me, but I didn’t care. I was ready to embrace death and be done with the memory, the pain. I was going to be set free of everything. I felt the wind moving against my face, I wasn’t sure how fast, I closed my eyes long before. This was finally the end.