//------------------------------// // Glitter Bomb // Story: Back and Forth // by adcoon //------------------------------// Galloping hooves clattered against the rocks, the sound muted by the thick white mist. Cadance perked her ears and turned her head, looking around just outside the cave entrance. She only heard one set of hooves; it had to be White Rose then. Cadance rose back up and took a few steps into the fog, still casting about for any sight of the mare. She was certain the fog had grown thicker, though in truth it was hard to tell at this point. She didn’t see the mare until she came jumping out of the fog almost right beside Cadance. White Rose whinnied and dug her hooves into the ground, bringing herself to a stop before she collided with Cadance. Her breath was frantic as she tried to speak. Cadance placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Calm down. What’s going on?” The two fillies emerged from the cave behind them, looking around nervously as if expecting wolves to jump out of the mist any moment. Their mother took a few deep breaths to steel herself. “Fenris is coming! The Wolf is coming here!” she managed to say. “Fenris?” Cadance tensed. “Are you sure?” Their mother nodded as the two fillies galloped up to her, greeting her with a tight hug. Cadance looked up at the dense gray roof of clouds and fog, then back at the fillies. “Silica, Silene, help me pack up everything,” she said and began gathering everything with her magic. “We have to make it to the village before the wolves.” The girls followed her, grabbing everything they could and leaving anything they wouldn’t be needing. Cadance could see the fear on their faces, the realization that they were out of time and might not be here the next day. * * * Glimmerville loomed ahead in the uniform gray gloom, pale torchlight flickering in the fog. Shadows of ponies stood around, helplessly staring into the fog from where the howling of wolves filled the night. Some of them were clutching at letters, but even their cheerful glitter and uplifting colors seemed like nothing under the thick blanket of despair hanging over the gorge. Cadance’s heart sat like a heavy lump of stone in her chest as she prepared herself to face them and give them all as much hope as she could against what was coming. She had done her best to cover her wounds, holding her wings tight to her body to hide the worst of them. The rest were hopefully too minor to raise concern. Or perhaps no pony would be able to see them in this fog anyway. She hoped that was so. It didn’t occur to her that no pony would even pay attention to her, but as the four of them galloped down the rocky path into the village, all eyes turned to the two young ponies by her side. Covered from nose to the tip of their tails in half an inch of crystal dust at least, the two fillies were glittering and glowing like all of Canterlot on Hearth’s Warming Eve. Even through the dense fog, the pale light from the torches lit them up like radiant beacons of colors—more colors than these ponies had ever dreamed existed. “Everypony!” Silica yelled at the top of her lungs, stealing the words right out from Cadance’s mouth. Cadance stopped, too surprised to do anything but listen as the filly took the lead. Everypony else did the same, looking expectantly at the glowing crystal filly. Silica looked around, her eyes quickly recognizing each face before her, faces that all looked nearly the same to Cadance in the fog. Silica, however, pointed out ponies as she spoke. “We need to make a big catapult, right over …” she looked, then pointed “… there. Everypony else, take all the letters and go to the edge of town. Hold back the wolves as long as you can.” Cadance watched everypony jump to action, a few hoof-fulls following the two fillies to begin work on an improvised catapult. Meanwhile, everypony else rushed to the edge of town and towards the growing cacophony of howls in the fog. Cadance looked around, then followed the rush to the edge as well. With the two fillies out of sight behind them, everypony started taking note of Cadance, looking up at her as if expecting her to know what to do. The howls on the wind grew stronger as they all gathered at the outskirts of town. A few low trenches and feeble fortifications had been half-heartedly raised or dug in the short time they had been preparing. Cadance stepped to the front of the gathering lines of ponies, trying to radiate as much courage and conviction as she could while staring into the wall of white and gray ahead. Torches flickered behind her, filling the fog ahead with eerie shadows. Cadance’s eyes flicked from side to side, constantly thinking she saw movement. Dread was crawling up her legs to the sound of a thousand wolves howling, a cold creeping sensation making her hooves feel clammy and her whole body tremble with weakness and despair. She wanted to break down and cover her face with her hooves, hoping they would pass her by. She could hear low whimpers behind her and hooves slowly backing away in fear. What hope to resist did these ponies have, if a princess standing here with them couldn’t muster her own courage? Cadance closed her eyes and forced herself to take a firm step forward instead of back. She raised her head up high. What did she have to fear? She was already dead. These ponies were alive. So damn her soul to pony hell, she would see it kept that way! She dug her hooves into the stone, letting the strength and deep, roaring fires of the earth flow through her from below. She spread her wings and fanned out every charred and broken feather, filling her voice with the force of the hurricane as she opened her mouth. The voice she let out crashed against the wall of howling, like the unconquered armies of Ancient Equestria breaking through lines of enemies, shattering their ranks like so much hay in a storm. “Wolves! Flea-ridden beasts of the North, you come before your destruction! Throw yourselves before our mercy, or face your doom! I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, Empress of the Crystal Empire, First of the Equestrian Regency, Guardian of Love and Harmony, and I—” Her voice filled the gorge like a solid wall of sound. “—stand—” The sound reverberated through stone and rock, shaking the ground beneath the village. “—before you!” She grabbed a torch in her magic and thrust it at a nearby pony. “What is your name!” she demanded, fixing the pony to the spot with her eyes. The pony stammered. “W-we d-don’t—” “In the Crystal Empire, everyone has a name of their own!” Cadance cut him off sharply. “What do you call yourself! What is your name!” The pony blinked, but then spoke. “B-Blues Tone, Your Highness!” “Then sing it, sing it like it’s never been sung!” Cadance said and immediately passed the torched to the next pony. “You!” “Gar—” The pony swallowed, then said again more loudly, “Gargoyle, Your Highness!” “Immovable stone, here you stand! So stand!” Cadance bellowed and passed the torch in a sweeping motion to the next pony. The young mare had clearly picked up on the pattern and shouted as best she could the moment Cadance passed the torch. “Red Vein, Your Majesty!” The next pony must have felt inspired by the moment and yelled out, “Gray-Sucks-Balls! You hear me, you louse-ridden gray suckers? I got ma balls right ‘ere for ya!” “Amen!” Cadance turned and bellowed to the gorge. “You hear this, you lousy scumbags? This is the sound of ponies who’ve had enough!” The torch passed to another pony, then another, moving without pause. Soon the ponies weren’t even waiting for the torch to pass them by. “Throw it in their faces!” she said over her shoulder as she took another step forward. Behind her, names and curses were shouted out, all in one big fight to be heard over each other. “Shove it down their throats!” She hoped the wolves were furious at this show of defiance. She wanted that little satisfaction no matter what was to happen next. “I hope you choke on it!” she yelled herself, joining the cacophony of defiance with all her pent-up sorrow and frustration at the situation and what she had been through since coming here. All those ponies who had died because of her stupidity. Now she was leading these ponies, but to what end? Not their end. She wouldn’t let that happen. Not a second time. She could hear the feral snarls and howling now, even above the shouting ponies behind her, and then she could see them, gray shadows flitting through the rolling fog towards them. Cadance dug her hooves in deeper and let out a low, vicious growl. Her horn flared to life. The memory of Shining Armor and his smile filled her inner vision. Her love and longing for him swelled and filled her. Cadance cried, feeling cold tears run down her dead face, as her shield erupted around them and the entire town, a low wall of shimmering pink light. Wolves crashed against it the very same instant, moving too fast to slow down before hitting the barrier. Sickening cracks and confused howls filled the air. Cadance poured everything into the shield to strengthen it against the growing assault. “Throw your letters over the shield!” she yelled to the ponies behind her. A few wolves managed to scale the shield but were greeted with facefulls of burning letter planes. A split second later, bright explosions and clouds of burning glitter filled the air around them, setting fire to wolves and covering everything else in bright, vivid hues. The wolves howled and rolled around in a panic, snapping at other wolves around them. The bright colors and wild panic seemed to cause them more harm than the fire alone. After that, she lost count of everything. So many wolves pressed against the other side of her shield that it began to look more like an ocean of fur and flesh than individual wolves. Her legs were shaking and her hooves were slipping on the slick stone. Her horn strained against the wolves mashing their bodies against her field of magical force. Worst of all, pauses were appearing between explosions now, telling her that the ponies around her were running low on ammunition. Some of them had begun fighting back with stones and hooves, grabbing anything nearby that could be used for weapons. The ground was trembling beneath her. A bit of sand and stones danced past her hooves on invisible waves. Cadance strained her magic, forcing the shield to grow a little taller, and gazed up. Beyond the sea of wolf-flesh, the fog was in an uproar. Cadance felt her legs tremble as she gazed up at the towering beast of black blocking out the sky. Fenris. Cadance hadn’t known what to expect. She had seen an Ursa Major once upon a time, from very far off; this wolf might well stand a few heads taller, though it was hard to tell from where she was. It was impossible to describe the sheer monstrous size; some mountains might feel inadequate in his shadow. His head passed over the moon, blocking out the small white disc entirely; if the moon had been at its normal distance from Equestria, Cadance could almost imagine the wolf taking a leap and gobbling it right up. Thankfully, Discord had kept it at a safe distance all this time, and tonight was no different. “Do not look up!” Cadance commanded, hoping no pony had done so already. She didn’t want them to see this. “Do not!” she repeated, to anypony whose first impulse at her words might have been to do exactly the opposite. They were doomed. But at least they could all die not seeing. A body slammed into her and threw her to the ground, teeth baring at her throat. Cadance let out a cry and barely managed to keep her shield from collapsing. A stone smacked the face of her attacker, but not before two more were upon her. Around her, the ponies were screaming and fighting as wolves flooded over and through the growing holes in the shield. Above the carnage, the shadow of Fenris fell over the village, and with it all hope and spirit fled the field. Ponies scattered in every direction, fleeing before the shadow in blind terror. Cadance threw off the two wolves pinning her down and screamed as she charged her horn right through a third, feeling it slump over dead as she backed away, doing her best to draw attention away from the fleeing ponies. She spun around just in time to dodge the claws of another wolf and reared up, bringing her hooves down on its spine. She felt claws and teeth raking her back and kicked out, sending her attacker to the ground. There were hundreds, thousands perhaps. Cadance was blind to anything but the wolves tearing at her from all sides. She jumped into the air, spreading her broken wings to sail over the masses, landing inside the village just in time to protect a panicked mare trying to flee. Cadance sank to her knees, all strength draining out of her. She watched through a haze of blood and despair as wolves surrounded her, as if in slow motion. She closed her eyes and bowed her head, resigning herself to her imminent end. Perhaps this time it would be final. A wolf pounced her and forced her into the ground. Another was on her in the same second, barking and snapping at the first, fighting over the kill. Maybe they would fight over her and forget some of the villagers. Cadance hoped her death would spare just some of them. Two ponies, she prayed. Two ponies and their mother. That much the universe could surely give her. She heard a sound like a deep thrumming note in the depths of her heart. For a moment the fighting seemed to slow around her, and all the wolves turned their gazes skyward. Cadance blinked the blood out of her eyes and gazed up at the stars. One of them was moving, streaking across the sky like a pale blue phoenix straight for the eyes of the great wolf. It took Cadance a moment to realize that it was not a star, a moment in which Fenris opened his jaws as if to swallow the very black depths of space itself. His jaws snapped shut around the blue phoenix, and the whole world stood still in breathless silence. A brilliant spark ignited deep within her heart long before she saw the light, and for the briefest of instants the great wolf’s eyes widened … And in one beat of her heart the sky turned to brilliance, then to radiant waves of color. On the next beat, the spark within her exploded and in an instant she was everywhere at once, a wave of radiance and color sweeping across the world from east to west and north to south, driving all darkness and cold from every land and every heart. Millions of eyes turned skyward, seeing colors and feeling warmth for the first time in their lives. The explosion of joy was immediate and total, with every soul crying out and hugging each other at once. Cadance closed her eyes in peace as she was carried away upon the waves of a whole world’s joy and liberation. * * * Glitter fell from the sky like heavy snowfall in every color of the rainbow. Cadance stood up and turned her head up as the glitter seemed to hang in the air, frozen in a moment of perfect serenity. Something caught in her throat, and she tried not to cry openly in that moment. Something moved past her, like a tiny ghost or a gust of wind. Cadance turned around and watched Silica come to a halt, her little ears drooping as she looked down. Cadance followed her eyes. She was surprised to find that she felt nothing as her eyes fell upon her own body, lying motionless and broken in the glittering snow. Silene caught up with her sister and skidded to a halt beside her. Her lips trembled and her eyes grew moist as she knelt down beside Cadance, wrapping her hooves around her neck and nuzzling her cheek. Cadance watched in silence as the two fillies cradled her dead body, crying into her glittering mane. She couldn’t tell the time. It could have been a moment or an eternity. Silene lifted her head and brushed Cadance’s mane with a hoof, tears dripping on closed eyelids. She looked up, wiping her nose as the sun rose behind the gorge, its warm light glittering in the crystal snow like a million disco balls. Cadance turned her head, watching the sun cover the land in its warm embrace, and in that moment she remembered being a filly, long ago: Princess Celestia kissing her forehead and smiling at her, that smile alone letting her know that everything was right with the world. She wasn’t sure how long she had been staring at the rising sun, lost in the kiss of its light, when something walked past her. She turned, and all the warmth and light seeped from her soul like water down a drain. Silica and Silene were crying and watching their mother as she sat down beside them. She was holding something in her hooves, bundled up in a rough old blanket. Her body was trembling with sobs as she leaned down and lay it beside Cadance, gently tucking it in beside her heart. Then she stepped back and hung her head. Cadance took a step forward, looking down at the tiny foal lying at her heart with her eyes closed and her tiny mouth half open. No movement, no life stirred in the little body. The foal had never stood a chance. There had never been any hope that she might … just might make it after all. How could all be right with the world when her daughter never had a chance? How could anything like this ever happen in a happy and just world? Glitter fell and settled all over the gorge as the sun traveled across the sky, once more on its proper course. The two fillies and their mother got up after a time and hugged each other tight. Then they were gone and nothing stirred in the village around her. Cadance closed her eyes and hung her head. She turned slowly and looked across the cool surface of the pond in the middle of the village, where the ancient stone rose out of the water. The sun played on its surface, making it gleam with thousands of tiny facets. Cadance got up slowly and drifted up close until she could see the old carvings in the stone. What had once been faded was now as clear as the day it had been first written. Cadance read the most recent carvings, letting her eyes drift over the letters … written in her own hoof. “Glimmerville, established in the year 7AH in honor of two young fillies who made the world glitter. One day we shall meet here, and you shall make your own marks upon the future. Till then … “— Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Princess Skylark of the Crystal Empire.” She let her eyes drift down to the second set of markings, written more than a thousand years prior in the hoof of Clover the Clever. “We all should make our mark upon the future in our own time and leave the future to the future. Cadance, if you read this, know that all will work out as it always should. What little comfort that may be. Please forgive this foolish old mare her meddling, and remember to make your own mark where and when you ought to. “And Discord, I didn’t think you could do it. You win.” The last line faded as the stone drifted away in the white fog. Cadance lay her head down, and her eyes gazed into eternity.