Autumn

by canonkiller

Toasters

I thought... that I would be given another chance here... that maybe part of me could saved... I can't be evil... I can't be deviod... I can't...

Can I?

Maris simply titled his head, and a circle of the magic orbs appeared both around his neck and Obsidian's. Another tilt, and the rest of the captives appeared in the room.

Sunrise bounded over to Obsidian, hugging him, and the rest of them backed up, fearful of the snake.

He sighed. "I've done wrong, I know. I've changed. And... I have sssssomething to tell you. There'sssss an enchantment on thisssss sssssship. It'sssss felt like lesssssss than a year, hasssssn't it."

Tene was the first to regain her senses. "Yes...?"

"Actually..." Hythenz piped up. "As a phenoix, I have a natural clockwork mind, so-"

"It's actually been a hundred yearssss sssssince mossssst of you came." Maris finished. "And... I'm ssssso ssssssorry... but mossssst of your family will have passssssssed away..."

"No... no... NO!" Tene yelled. Abandoning all caution, she threw herself at Maris. "My mother, she was sick! Dying! I wanted to be with her until she left! I wanted her to be happy! My brother, he... he... I needed to be with him! I NEEDED TO PROTECT HIM! YOU MONSTER!" The anger drained out of her, and she would have smashed on the floor if Skybreaker hadn't gotten in the way. The young snake wrapped her tail around the Pegasus. "You... m-m-monster..."

"It's been a t-thousand years, you say? How much of our lives have faded away?"

"None. You have been presssssserved. You will live your normal lifesssssspan from here on."

"You took me away from my family." Helia growled. "You kidnapped all of us. You rrraped us, and brrrroke us, killed all but our bodies. You've finally taken away all that we love. And you expect us to forrrgive you."

Spear backed away further, pressing up against the wall, eyes wide in fear. "You... can't do... do that..."

Sunrise turned around. "You okay?"

The second dragoness was glancing around, pupils narrowing further and further. "Things... are knotting... time is... losing control..."

Sunrise barely noticed Obsidian had left her side. "Time?"

When the draconequus's soft paw touched Spear's shoulder, she looked up, meeting his eyes. "You... you..."

"It's hard to accept. I know. I can see them too."

"I'm not the... only one? There's... others?"

Obsidian smiled. "You'll get used to it. Come on, stand up."

"O...okay..."

"There's a lot of knots. They happen all the time. And I'll fix them, don't worry."

The dragonness nodded, stumbling back to Sunrise, who was still looking confused.

There was a loud groan, and an odd bubbling sound reverberated from beneath the floor. "Sssssshit!" Maris hissed, opening the door and pushing the others towards it. "The magic hasssss been keeping thisssss sssship from imploding sssssince I made it! We have to get out, or we'll all be crussssshed. Go on ahead, follow the emergency lightsssss. I'll try to buy usssss more time."

Spring skidded to a stop. "We'll drown!"

Maris looked towards Obsidian. "Can you take care of that?" Obsidian nodded. "Good. Now go. Get assss far away asssss you can from the ssssship. There will be debrisssss, electricty and runoff magic. I would teleport you out, but magic usssssed inssssside the ssssship can only work in the sssssship. Once you get free of the mouth, you will be able to teleport anywhere."

A small leak began spraying from the roof. "I've wasssted enough time already. Go!"

The pack of twelve started running, or flying, while Obsidian was both limping and struggling to contain his magic into a single spell. All around them, the dead lights were sapping his energy, lighting up along their run.

That was about when the roof behind them fell in.

They were lucky Kha was able to take control in such a tight time constraint. In the seconds it took for the frothing wall of water to hit them, they were all able to breathe.

"Is everyone okay?"

"Just dandy." Skybreaker huffed, pumping her wings. "There's a lot of force keeping us here."

Spear sighed. "That means that there's two areas where water has gotten through. Come on, let's go."

And they swam away, the only noise being the muted, distorted roar of the metal around them bending.

"Applesauce, I ain't gonna give you no special ceremony or nothin', understand?"

"Yes, Granny."

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Ah'm Honesty, and now, you are."

With a simple forehead touch, an orange light filled the trees. When it dimmed, absolutely nothing had changed, other than the aging that seemed to have taken further toll on Applejack.

"Look'ee here, Sauce. You take on step outta line, and Ah'll give you the lecture of your little life, understand?"

"Yes Granny. Ah understand."

Applejack couldn't help but smile. "Now run along, or your friends are gonna leave you behind."

"Jeez, it's like waiting for toast." Discord growled. "No matter how long you look at it, it only pops up when you turn away." Annoyed, he leaned back and settled in for a nap.

And in the way that only a toaster or a massively intricate and equally ancient magic door can do, the second his eyes closed, the fifth peg squealed horribly.

And like before, and anyone who's ever made toast, Discord jumped.

Kha finally piped up from his abnormally silent state. Hey, we have to hurry.

Well yes, of course we do. Have you not noticed we might die?

I'm better at sarcasm than you, so stop trying so hard. Anyway, that's not what I meant. I meant almost all seven Elements are activated. And we've only cured two Firstborn. Even a foal could realize that seven and two aren't the same number.

One. Seven and one. I don't think we cured Corona. We just gave him money.

Ah yes, I almost forgot. I was supposed to turn that into dust a while ago. There was an echoing sound not unlike a snap through Obsidian's brain. Better late than never.

Corona stared down at the small mound of rust. His eyes were watering slightly.

"Well, I guess that finishes that." He poked it gently, and the fragments crumbled even further before the wind caught them and blew them into the sky.

Something inside of him shifted. If one could ever possibly see through skin, they would see a black, slimy, oozing mass quiver, before cocealing into a single ball, dropping off of the surface and interior of Corona's heart, travel past the rest of his organs, follow the bone down his leg, seep numbingly from the bottom of his hoof, and vanish into the ground.

But one cannot see through the skin, can they?