The heat woke me up eventually yet that wasn’t the only thing that caught mah attention. Ah realized the lights, which were glowin’ all the time in all the stops now went off. The only remainin’ lights were from the maps on the backseats, the entire corridor was dark. Like Ah said before it was startin’ to get hot inside so Ah was goin’ to tell to Dan and Fluffle Puff if they could lower the temperature. Ah left Rarity alone for a moment. When Ah opened the door Ah found both Dan and Fluffle Puff sleepin’ on the carts so that wasn’t a problem. Who was a problem was Cameron, lyin’ on the floor so Ah stepped up next to the wall to avoid him. Why he had to be large? Anyway, Ah reached the final door and Ah got in. It didn’t looked like a normal locomotive interior, it was more advanced and small lights illuminated the darken room and across the room where screens, keepin’ an eye on the corridor. In the center of the room was a rotatory seat and sittin’ on it was the main driver.
“Excuse me for interruptin’ yer schedule sugarcube and for enterin’ in the room. Ah know this is only for authorized personal but Ah was wonderin’ if ya could light up the corridor, lower the temperature and no stoppin’ the train. Ah dream to stay with mah friend here forever. Ah’ll be pleased if ya can grant me this wish.”
Everythin’ was quiet. After a moment it responded.
“Once I had a dream where I was disguised as you and I was near to defeat Zecora. Oh that should’ve been so pleasurable to enjoy. I’d have wish to rip off her soul from that body and listened to her begs of letting her live.”
That voice... Ah recognized that distorted echoed voice, the rotatory seat spin and revealed the driver.
“Chrysalis!”
“Hello Applejack.”
Ah connected the dots. “Now everythin’ makes sense. Ya attract ponies here with yer constant happiness messages and food so ya can feed from their love and when they have no more energy ya threw them away like junk!”
Chrysalis clapped. “Congratulations Applejack!” she said in a sarcastic mood. “How convenient would that be, and that’s the perfect plan for a mastermind like myself! But there’s a tiny detail you missed in your formula, a littleness” she leered at me, deeper than Dan and Fluffle Puff. “I didn’t planned it.”
Mah mind was blown, she became serious now. “All the passengers came by their own will. Maybe I feed from love but I’m not that harsh, all I’m doing is giving them the pleasures they couldn’t enjoy when they were distracted by the trivialities of their time.”
“...Time?” Ah was confused. “How long ya’ve been doin’ this?”
“Long before Celestia and Luna raised the stars.”
“How long?!”
She was hesitant to respondin’ but Ah was desperate, confused and scared that Ah didn’t care, Ah needed answers. “Since the first raindrop landed on Equestria... before it was called Equestria” she stood up from her seat. “This place is beautiful, isn’t it? I designed it a long time ago, it was more practical than picking the passengers one by one. A train that can fly by the power of electricity and a machine named Tardis, stolen from the Archives... back then this machine had another name. It was called airplane” she paused. “There’s a reason why I feed on love: after millenniums and millenniums of watching destruction, what better way to survive than feeding from their love? Wherever a disaster occurs, I’ll be there. Wherever an event that changed the course of the world occurs, I’ll be there” she paused again. “Your bond with that unicorn is so strong, similar to a married couple I met long ago. When their time came I didn’t want them to leave, I tried to convince them to stay but they didn’t want to, they wanted to stay together. Then the balloon pop-like sound occurred. No one can remain here forever.”
“Seriously?” Ah asked remorseful ‘cause Ah knew who she was referrin’ to. “What about yer employees?”
“They experimented the end, not only of their time but the end of their world as well so I offered them a deal: existence in exchange of their service for all eternity.”
Ah stepped backwards a little. “...What are ya?”
“They have called me in many ways throughout the years” she mentioned them as she turned in circles around me, evadin’ mah escape route. “Anubis, Charon, Shinigami, Valkyrie, Angel... now it’s Chrysalis, queen of the changelings. As you can see I can’t do wrong because I don’t know what it is” she stopped walkin’.
“Prove it, prove ya’re tellin’ the truth!”
“I can’t.”
“Then why Ah have to rely on yer word?”
She frowned and levitated me with her magic. “...You wanted it.”
She instantly transferred me her powers and the history of Equestria came into mah mind: first a black-and-green glowin’ stone, brought to life by a raindrop in a desert covered in lava, then horrible scenarios and visions came to my mind, in each and every one Chrysalis was a different livin’ bein’ dependin’ on the time period. It was too much to handle for me. Ah could only remember the most graphic and notable ones:
A gamma ray explosion witnessed from the ocean, black smoke coverin’ the sea, numerous volcanic traps, a giant fire rock fallin’ from the sky, a super explosion, three crosses above the ground, pyramids covered in blood, an entire city burnin’ up, the decapitation of a king, a frozen world, the downfall of a monarchy, a giant mushroom cloud, a silo with a pointy top crashing into a tower, a wasteland, the disappearance of a species and the born of another, the first Hearth’s Warmin’ Eve, Discord’s defeat and Nightmare Moon banishment.
She freed me but Ah wasn’t mahself anymore.
“Don’t feel sorry for them. Once the airplane gets into the last point the cycle will repeat and more passengers will come to feed me and my hive and I will give them the pleasures they missed. Everypony can drink a glass of water but not everypony can enjoy it.”
“All those poor beings.”
“Never mind them, no living being has value. There will always be more if I need them.”
Ah stepped backwards slowly, tryin’ to get out of there when Ah halted somethin’. It felt wet. Ah raised mah head only to discover a horrible truth: Dan, Fluffle Puff and Cameron had a moribund look. Cameron had its shell almost completely broken, Dan had his clothes rip off and a green skin and Fluffle Puff was spillin’ water from her eyes and mouth. All repeatin’ the same sentence at unison.
“Life isn’t fair. It takes the people you love away from you when you think you’ll have them forever. Life hurts you. Life cuts you. Life stings you. It’s only a matter of time until life will take us all away.”
Ah couldn’t resist more. Ah exit to the corridor, which was illuminated by an intense red light and was shakin’ repeatedly, to warn Rarity. The constant alarm was stressin’ me and Ah could barely keep on mah hooves but we had to get away from there.
“Rarity we need to go!” but she wasn’t on her seat. “Rarity?”
Ah spotted her walkin’ to the back door. “No! Wait for me!”
Ah ran as fast as Ah could, when Ah finally reached her she closed the door. Ah desperately tried to open it but it was locked. She turned around and observed me, she remained motionless.
Ah shouted cryin’. “Ya can’t leave me here! Ya said we’ll be together forever! Ya promised!” Ah hit it hard. “Open the door! Open the door!” But it was in vain. “Rarity! RARITY!”
“I’ll always appreciate your company, you were more than a friend to me. So long Applejack.”
She pushed the button and the entire rear of the train opened up, she was liberated and feelin’ calm she closed her eyes. Her head pumped up and... A balloon pop-like sound came. Then emptiness and then nothin’. Ah stopped beatin’ the door and turned around. Chrysalis and her crew reached me.
“You can stay here with us if you want. With me. You won’t have to experiment the end never. I will wipe every tear from your eyes and loss shall be no more. Neither shall there be mourning or crying or pain any more.”
Ah thought it over for just a second. Then Ah gave her mah answer. “No thanks. Ah want to go home with mah friends.”
“...Your every wish is my command.”
The fire guzzled the train and the seats, then heat, then anythin’ and in the end there was nothin’.