"GAAAAH!"
SLAM!!!
The wall cracked and bent, as a cyan colored pegasus with a rainbow tail and mane was thrown against it. She attempted to look up, but the impact caused her vision to blur. The darkness of the room didn't help either. However, the dark red glow shinning across the room showed her where her attacker was.
She saw three red glows, understandable. She hit her head hard. She's been in fights before and knew that when this happens, aim for the one in the middle. Yet this was different.
She's been in bar fights, or the occasional scuffles in streets or what not. This wasn't like those times.
This was a matter of life or death.
The cyan pegasus slowly walked along the wall, one hoof against it to keep her balance. With the other hoof, she tossed aside her friends mechanical leg.
She didn't mean to hold on to it for this long. She was planning to return it when she had the chance. Getting attacked so suddenly caused her to forget she was holding on to it, until now that is.
'Sorry I couldn't bring back your leg AJ. But knowing you, I know you can do just fine without it. You always did brag about how you can win a fight with your forelegs tied behind your back. Now lets see how you can do with just three!' The pegasus chuckled to herself at the thought, then stopped. Having suddenly remembered the situation she's in.
As she walked, she heard a sinister laugh from across the room.
"And where do you think YOUR going Rainbow Crash!? I'm not finished with you yet!"
Having nearly made it to the corner of the room, the pegasus stopped and looked over to her attacker.
"Stop calling me that" the pegasus said softly.
The attacker chuckled. "Aww, does somepony not like being called Rainbow Crash?"
The pegasus stomped her hoof and growled. "I said stop calling me that! Its Dash! Not Crash! And you know it! Gah!" The pegasus flinched, placing a hoof to her side. She realized she shouldn't have yelled. Her bodies hurt, and she needs to be gentle. But no pony calls her that name, not even her friend.
Once again, the attacker chuckled. "And what are you going to do about it Rainbow Crash? Fight me? Attack me? Make me eat my words? Well, as much as I'd LOVE to see you do that both you and I know you can't. I'm stronger then you Rainbow, much stronger. I'd even say I'm a better flier then you. Then again, who isn't, anyponys better then you now. Seeing how weak you've become-"
"SHUT UP!!!" Rainbow Dash shouted, on the verge of crying. Crying because those words hurt. Words that came from a friend, even though these words were true. "Just . . . just shut up . . . I don't care how strong you are. I don't care how good you are at flying, or magic, or whatever earth ponies can do. I don't care. What I do care is that your my friend, and no matter how evil you my seem. I know, that deep down, the egghead I once knew is still there. Please, please Twilight, stop this madness. Come home, come with us, back to Pony Ville. Please, we can stop this, together-"
Rainbow Dash was interrupted by her attackers sinister laugh.
"Oh you have no idea how hilarious this is! The irony! You can literally taste it! First I try to save Pony Ville and no matter how much I begged and cried my friends still turned their backs on me and left! Now look at how the tables have turned! All of my friends come crawling to me, begging me to return and help save Pony Ville. Its hilarious! And it infuriates me! You all had the chance to save Equestria and all of you blew it! Now you come her expecting my help? HAH! Fat chance! I left Equestria in search of a new home. A place without chaos, without trouble, and most certainly without any of my old "so called friends" to ever bother me ever again! Equestrias under Discords control, you have a problem with that, YOU go fix it yourself! You had the chance to save it with me and you blew it, well guess what, NO SECOND CHANCES!!!"
The pegasus's vision had regained itself, and the attacker took a step closer, making the attackers features distinguishable.
Her mane and tail were both pitch black with dark red highlights. Her eyes were a slightly lighter red then the highlights, and her fur was dark gray. Her cutie mark was a dark red star, with black sparkles around it. She wore an amulet in the shape of a black and silver alicorn, with red trims on the wings and a red jewel in the center. Her horn was glowing with a red aura around it.
"And you can go straight back to the princess's and tell them personally that their little "errand pony" says no! Their not MY princess's, they can't tell me what to do!"
Rainbow took a carful step towards Twilight. "Twilight, please. Your not you right now. Celestia told us what's wrong with you. Please, we can help you! If you just took off that amulet then maybe-"
"NO!" Twilight shouted. Using her magic, Twilight pushed Rainbow back against the wall. "YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!!! NO PONY CAN!!! I AM MY OWN QUEEN!!! I RULE UNDER NO PONY!!!"
Rainbow lifted herself from the ground. "Twilight! Please! This isn't you! You would never hurt us! We're your friends remember!" Rainbow Dash shouted, as she edged her way to the corner of the dark room.
Twilight stood there, facing her former friend. Her horn was charged full of energy, ready to fire.
"Friends? FRIENDS!!! I've told you before and I'm going to tell you again!" said Twilight. She took a step closer to Rainbow Dash, trapping her in the corner.
"I don't need friends!" said Twilight. The red energy around her horn lit brighter, as Twilight took aim at Rainbow Dash.
"Twilight . . . please" Rainbow Dash begged.
It was no use, she had to get away, but how? Her wings were broken, and the only way of escape was either the door or the window. Both of which involved having to get past Twilight, something she could not do. Rainbow Dash thought of all the sticky situations she had ever been in, thinking of how she had escaped those situations. Every thought lead her to the same conclusion: she either fought her way out, or used her speed to escape. She was the fastest flyer in Equestria, but that required her to use her wings. The wings that Twilight broke. She couldn't fight Twilight either. Sure she had gone crazy but Twilight was still her friend, at least, to her she was still her friend.
'I could try and make a run for the window, no she'll shoot me before I could make it. But she'll shoot me if I just stand her! What do I do!? Gotta think of something! Gotta think of something!!!' thought Rainbow Dash, as her eyes darted frantically around the room, searching for any means of escape.
"You should have never came looking for me!!!" Twilight shouted, the red light growing stronger from her horn.
"Twilight! No! Don't do this! We can help you!" Rainbow shouted.
It was no use, she knew it was too late. She knew that her friend was long gone, beyond any help she or any of the others could offer.
'The others . . . I hope their still alive. Please still be alive! I'm not gonna make it, and some ponies gotta stop her! Please! Fluttershy, Apple Jack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, PLEASE!!! . . . I don't want to lose another friend' thought Rainbow Dash.
"Twilight . . . Don't"
Twilight glared at Rainbow Dash for a moment, before saying "you can't tell me what to do". Her horn shined bright, activating its attack.
"Twilight!" Rainbow shouted.
"Good Bye Rainbow!" said Twilight. The red light grew, become blindingly bright.
"TWILIGHT!!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FIVE YEAR EARLIER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The wind blew hard, carrying several trees, ponies, and animals with extended legs with it. Chocolate rain poured hard from the cotton candy clouds above Pony Ville. Chunks of building and land levitated, spun, and twirled in midair. The sun and moon were switching back and forth between night and day, causing the plaid and checkered designed earth to shine bright and become dark at the same time. Pony Ville citizens ran in fright from the chaotic breakdown occurring around them, except for one pony.
A single purple faded unicorn was slowly walking towards Golden Oaks library with her head hung low and a small cotton candy cloud raining chocolate rain on her. There was a flash of light, as a creature made up of various animal parts appeared before her. The spirit of chaos: Discord.
"Oh my stomach!" said Discord, laughing. He disappeared and reappeared floating next to the unicorn. "Twilight! You've got to see what I just did!" said Discord, pointing over to a pink earth pony. The earth pony was being covered in pepper from a floating pepper shaker, making her sneeze. As she sneezed, all of the buildings around her turned flat and collapsed.
"Its priceless!" laughed Discord. He turned to Twilight and noticed her depressive attitude. He disappeared and reappeared in front of her, using a cotton candy stick to scoop up the flouting cloud above Twilight. "Come now Twilight Sparkle, you've got to get in the spirit of things" said Discord, as he took a bite of the cotton candy cloud. "After all this is your new home!"
Twilight turned her head and saw the town hall floating upside down.
"Not anymore" said Twilight, as she turned back and walked past Discord.
As Twilight walked away, Discord leapt into the air and cheered. "Yes! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
Day switched back to night as Twilight arrived at the Golden Oaks Library.
"Pack your things Spike, we're leaving" said Twilight, as she entered into her room.
Spike, a baby purple and green dragon, was curled into a ball next to a pile of letters. He was moaning in pain.
"Don't ask where we're going cause I don't know yet. Just not here" said Twilight. She levitated a green suitcase to her bed and began packing it with books. She took the element of harmony off of her head and dropped it into the trash.
Spike moaned, "can't . . . move! The princess . . . has been sending these . . . since I came back upstairs!" On cue, the purple dragon burped and exhaled a gust of green fire. From the fire came a letter, to which it dropped into the pile of other letters. "Make it stop!" Spike cried.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hmph! Some friend SHE turned out to be! I bet she couldn't even use that element if instructions were glued to her forehead!" said Fluttershy. She had just been on her way to return home before an idea came to her head. She looked over to the library and saw the coton candy clouds raining over it. Fluttershy gasped, "oh my! Its raining all over the library! And there's a big hole in the wall! What if the books get wet! Twilight really likes those books, it sure would be a shame if they were to get ruined". She chuckled and began making her way to the library. "Why don't I go and help keep those books dry? After all, what are friends for? But how will I keep the books dry? Oh I know!" Fluttershy grabbed a nearby tree branch, then walked up to a bush that was on fire. She lit the branch on fire and chuckled, "fire can keep almost anything dry! Twilight will be so full of "emotions" once she's seen what I've done!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight had picked up one of the letters and was about to read it, when all of the sudden a flaming tree branch burst through Twilights window, landing on the pile of letters.
From fright, Twilight accidently drops the letter she had into the flaming pile. "What! No!" Twilight shouted. She levitated one of the letters to her and blew into it fiercely. This only caused the fire to grow stronger. She levitated her blankets off of her bed and placed it on top of the fire, hoping it would extinguish it. The fire did not stop, and burned through the blanket. It had covered the entire pile and began burning into the wooden library floor. Twilight gasped and leapt over her bed to the other side of the room. She levitated Spike onto her back and ran down the stairs and out of the library. She placed Spike down and turned back to the library.
"Oh no! What do I do!?" Twilight cried. She looked up to the cotton candy cloud and a light bulb lit inside her head. Using her magic to form a giant bowl made from energy, she used the bowl to catch the pouring chocolate rain drops. Once the bowl was full, she poured it into her bedroom window. She could hear her room sizzle, as white and brown smoke filled the entire second floor of the library. Once the smoke was gone she poured a few more bowls to make sure that the fire was out, then ran back into the library and up the stairs to her room. She burst open the door and gasped. Twilight slowly walked in and knelt down to the pile of ash that had once been letters from the princess.
"What was the princess going to tell me?" Twilight asked, as she picked up some of the ash with her hoof.
"Aw I'm sorry, did I do that? I was just trying to help" said Fluttershy sarcastically. She had just flown through the bedroom window and was sitting on Twilights bed (now half burnt).
Twilight gaped at Fluttershy, "y-you did this? Why!?"
"Oh, well, when I saw the library being covered in rain I couldn't just sit around and do nothing. So I decided to come and help keep the books dry. Silly me, I must have accidently dropped that branch into your window by mistake?" said Fluttershy sarcastically.
Twilight was at a loss of words. She stuttered for a moment, then stood up and took a deep breath. She glared at Fluttershy, and Fluttershy smiled back. "Those letters were sent from the princess. It could have been something important, and now its gone. All because you threw a burning stick through my window" said Twilight, softly.
"Actually it was more of a branch then a stick Twilight. Gee, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one" said Fluttershy.
" . . . . Get out" said Twilight.
"Excuse me?" said Fluttershy, raising a brow.
"I said get, OUT!" Twilight shouted as she stomped her hoof. "First Discord takes over Pony Ville, then my friends abandon me, and now the princess has sent me some information that could have been crucial and you burn all of it to the ground! I have had enough and I want you out of here NOW!" Twilight shouted.
Fluttershy huffed and flew to the window, "FINE! Its not like I wanted to be here anyway!"
Once Fluttershy was gone, Twilight sighed and turned to her bed. The suitcase she was going to use was destroyed, so Twilight took a saddle bag from beneath her bed and filled it with books. She placed the bag on her back and ran out of the library back to Spike.
Spike was still on the ground curled into a ball. Twilight ran to Spike and gave him a slight nudge. "Come on Spike, we need to get out of here before the chaos in this town gets worse".
Spike slowly lifted himself to his feet. "But what about the letters from the princess, did you get to read any of it?" Spike asked.
"No, it all burned thanks to Fluttershy" said Twilight.
"What? Fluttershy did that? Why?" Spike asked.
"It doesn't matter, those were just letters, we can send the princess another letter and ask her what she was trying to tell us".
Spike groaned, "do we have to do that now? My insides are still hurting from the letters that the princess sent us".
"You can rest before sending any letters while were on our way" said Twilight.
"On our way? What do you mean? Where are we going?" asked Spike.
"I told you I don't know, now come on, I don't want to stay around here much longer" said Twilight. She had began walking forward when she noticed that Spike wasn't following her. She turned back to Spike, "Spike come on! We can't stay here anymore".
"But what about our friends? We can't just leave them-"
"There not our friends anymore!" Twilight interrupted.
Spike was taken aback, "what do you mean? Of course their still our friends! Sure they might be acting funny but on the inside their still our friends".
Twilight groaned, "look you wouldn't understand. Fact is they've abandoned us, our friends either stabbed us in the back or completely walked out on us. So now its just me and you, and right now we need to get out of here, and fast!" She had tried to turn back, but Spike still wouldn't follow.
"What happen to you Twilight? Why are you acting different now? You would never leave your friends behind" said Spike.
Twilight turned and glared at Spike, "stop calling them our friends! They are not our friends! Friends wouldn't ditch one another in the middle of a maze! Friends wouldn't lie, hurt, or make fun of each other! And friends most certainly would not try to BURN each others house down! They are not our friends! They are lying, backstabbing, JERKS!!!"
When Twilight was finished, she saw that Spike was shaking and staring at her. "B-But Twilight, can't we just wait here and see if the princess can help us?" he asked.
"If the princess could help us don't you think she would have done it already? Discord has taken over Pony Ville, he's won! And there's not a thing that any pony can do about it!" said Twilight.
"What about us, there's still us!"
"Spike open your eyes! Look around you! All of the things that I've been able to do in the past was because I had my friends with me, and now their gone! Their all gone! And their never coming back! All we can do now is leave and find somewhere safe to live! Now no more stalling, we have to leave!" said Twilight. She turned and started walking, before she heard Spike behind her say, "no".
Twilight turned and glared, "what did you just say?"
Spike shook, apparently regretting what he had just said. "Well, I mean, I don't really . . . want to . . . leave" he said quietly.
"Oh, and why's THAT!" Twilight shouted.
"Well I-I uh just think that it would be better if we stayed. We could try and find a way to fix everything. And we can be with all of our friends again!" said Spike.
Twilight nodded, "oh I see what you mean".
"You do!" said Spike, excitedly.
"Ya, YOU just want to stay because of Rarity, don't you!" Twilight shouted.
"W-What? N-No! I mean, I really do want to stay for Rarity, but I-"
"Ah ha! You see? You don't care about your friends at all! You just want to stay because of your silly little crush! And your going to backstab me just like every pony else! Aren't you!?" Twilight shouted.
"No! I won't backstab you! I swear! But Twilight your really starting to scare me! Please if we can just go and get out friends-"
"Their not my friends! Their YOUR friends now! And if you want to be with them so bad then why don't you just leave and stay with them! Cause I don't need you anymore!" Twilight gasped, she hadn't meant to shout that last part.
Spike froze, as his eyes began to fill with tears. "You don't . . . need me anymore?"
"I . . . Spike I didn't mean . . . I'm so sor-"
"So that's it huh!!! You get abandoned by our friends so now you don't love me anymore!?!" Spike shouted. As he shouted, the color from the tip of his tail had faded. The faded purple color had slowly began rising up his tail.
"Spike your tail!" Twilight shouted.
"What was I Twilight? Huh! Was I ever more then an assistant to you!?! Was I ever even considered family with you!?!" Spike shouted, the faded coloring having reached the top of his tail.
"Spike! Your tail! Its losing its-"
"That's all I ever was to you huh! An assistant! A servant! Some pony you could boss around whenever you felt like it! And the one time your assistant disagrees with you , you throw them away like garbage!" Spikes entire lower torso had lost its color.
"Spike please listen!"
"No Twilight! Not anymore! You say that out friends abandoned us, but what are you doing now!?! I think YOUR the one who's abandoning us! In fact, I don't think YOUR a very good friend!" Spike shouted.
Twilight clasped a hoof over her mouth, "Spike . . . how could you say that?"
"How could I not say that? You just said you don't need me anymore. And you know what, I don't think I need you either" said Spike.
Twilights eyes filled with tears, "but . . . Spike I-"
"In fact if your so keen to leave then why don't you just leave without me! You said you don't need me, so I'll just be in your way! I'm gonna go back to my REAL friends! If your going to leave then fine! Leave! You can go by yourself!" Spike shouted.
"But Spike . . . we've always been there for each other . . . what'll happen if we're not with each other?" Twilight ask, holding back tears.
"I don't know, but why should I care, you said you don't need me anymore". Spike turned, and as he did, the rest of his color had faded completely.
"But Spike wait!" Twilight shouted.
"I'm going to some pony who DOES need me. I'm going back to our friends" said Spike, as he walked into the opposite direction.
"Spike . . . wait" said Twilight.
Spike didn't respond, he continued walking.
"Spike . . . WAIT!" Twilight shouted.
No answer. Twilight stared at Spike walking away, until he was out of sight.
Twilight broke down and began weeping. She didn't know for how long, and with the sun and moon out of whack she couldn't tell the time either. She stood crying for what felt like hours before she finally stopped and calmed herself down.
No friends, no Spike, and no home. She had lost it all in one day. She couldn't go after Spike, after what she had just said she felt she didn't deserve a second chance. She had to leave, there was nothing left for her here anymore.
With her head hung low, Twilight slowly began walking towards the edge of Pony Ville, not caring which way she was going.
"Who needs friends any ways" said Twilight, as a tear fell from her cheek.
Twilight's Journey: Escape Equestria