• Published 10th Jul 2013
  • 974 Views, 16 Comments

The Passings of Twilight - Pencil Neck



One thousand years is a long time. One thousand years can change you physically and mentally drastically. Twilight is alone, she has run away, everypony's dead and Equestria has lost it's harmony it once knew.

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III. Thieves & Gangs

"Hey, Twilight?" asked Applejack.

"What is it, Applejack?" replied Twilight.

"Well, I was wondering… how long do you think this will last?"

"How long what will last?"

"Our friendship, Twilight,"

"Yeah! We wanna know!" Rainbow exclaimed.

"As long as it needs to be girls!" Twilight answered.

"So you're sayin' two hours?" joked Applejack.

"HAha! Good one AJ!" laughed Rainbow.

"Hehe, no! For the rest of our lives, girls!" Twilight declared.

"You mean that, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.

"Of course she means that Fluttershy, dear!" Rarity replied.

"Yes, Fluttershy! For the rest of our lives!" Twilight assured.

"Yeah! Why wouldn't we be?" asked Rainbow.

"We're friends, Fluttershy! There ain't nothing on this world that will stop us from being together!" Applejack exclaimed.

"Yeah, Flutters! If I can throw a cake at a dragon, then we can all be friends forever!" Pinkie Pie cheered out of nowhere.

"Uhh, that doesn't really make any sense, darlin'" Rarity said.

"Of course it does! Like a Pickle barreling ruining a wedding sense!" She exclaimed!

"What?" Applejack said.

"But as we said Twilight, nothing will keep us apart!" reassured Rarity.

"You promise?" asked Twilight.

"We all promise!" replied Applejack.

"Yeah!" Everypony cheered as they all huddled in for a group hug; laughing, as if their friendship will never end…

______________

"'Nothing will keep us apart my tail…" Twilight muttered in anger and sadness.

Twilight awoke with the sound of rain hitting her window, pouring down fast as if they were running away from the grey clouds. Moisture filled the air, it gave Twilight a relaxing atmosphere. The temperature was cold, Twilight didn't mind, the dense fog surrounding Muzzlington was thick, and almost impossible to see clearly.

Twilight was laying in bed, but she wasn't sleepy. At times she would think her depression was a living consciousness that followed her everywhere. Twilight continued to look out the window of her room watching the rain fall. It took away some stress, and sometimes reminded her that she wasn't alone.

Twilight lifted the bed sheets away, and got out of bed. She rubbed her eye and looked around her room. It was pretty empty, and old as well. Her crown was still on the floor where she threw it, and was strangely clean. Twilight had nothing to do as of today. Most days were like this for her.

Might as well relax for a few days, and leave. she thought.

Twilight began to levitate her cloak towards her, magically clothing Twilight, and lowering her hood down. She levitated her bags back on her hips and levitated her knife in her hidden pocket. Twilight opened her bag, she checked to see if she had one Magic Gem left, for emergencies only, and if she was in a jam. Next was her nail and screwdriver, for when she needed a Universal Key, smoke bombs, a few poison darts, and lastly was her trusty bow and arrow!

Twilight closed her bag and headed out. She lifted her cloak, but check the area first. Something caught Twilight's attention in the corner of her eye. It was a pony on one of the rooftops. He was hard to make out, the fog and rain obscured Twilight's sight. He/She seemed to be watching Twilight, but didn't move a muscle. He took notice of Twilight looking at him/her, and disappeared! Twilight was being watch, and she didn't know by who.

There weren't that many ponies outside since it was raining. The ponies that were, however, were mostly workers, farmers, travelers, and merchants. Twilight walked around town to find a town hall, but unfortunately couldn't find one. She also looked around to see if there was any other ponies watching her. Instead, she found the town's Watering Hole (bar). Drinking was something Twilight did ever since her friends passing, and of course she was tempted to enter.

The Watering Hole was small, it was made out of planks, and hay. Twilight entered, the floor was made of logs, and the ceiling was cobblestone. There were a few sticks of hay poping out of the ceiling, however. Twilight walked up to where the bartender was, and she sat on one of the stools. She lowered her hood, and dropped her bags on the ground. The bartender walked up to her to take her order. He had a grey coat with a brown mane, his eyes were brown, he seemed to be in his mid fifties, and his Cutie Mark was a barrel and bricks.

"Dargon's Roar, no ice," Twilight ordered.

"Isn't that a little too much miss?" the bartender asked.

"Dragon's Roar. No ice," Twlight demanded.

"Five bits,"

Twilight handed him the money and tucked it in his pocket. The bartender then proceed to make her drink as Twilight looked around the bar to see if there were any ponies that might be a problem. There was only two ponies, and both of them seem to be just regular drunks.

The bartender finished her drink and hand it over to her. Twilight levitated the small drink with her magic, and began to drink the beverage. The cold liquid quickly began to turn hot inside her throat, and was very strong. Twilight let out a sigh as she lowered the drink back on the table. She ordered another drink, but instead ordered a regular beer. She levitated the drink towards her lips and began to drink, again.

"You know, not a lot of ponies could handle a drink like that!" complemented the bartender.

"Well not a lot of ponies are like me." Twilight replied dryly.

"I can tell," He replied back. "What's your name, Sally?"

"T–Sarah, just Sarah." Twilight said.

"Nice to meet you, Sarah! Name's Jason Windserver! Or Jay Wind, for short!" Jay introduced.

Twilight nodded. "Alright, Jay. Can you tell me what's going on with this town? Everypony seems depressed, or something of that similarity. Why is that?"

"Ahh yeah, it's mostly because of the Blackdogs…"

"The hay are they?"

Jay looked at Twilight with curiosity. "You're not from here, are you? You a traveler?"

"You can say that. I like to consider myself as a 'runner'."

"Runner, huh? What are you running from?"

"…from…immortality, I guess…"

"Immortality? Well I guess everypony has their story. Hmm, anyways, the Blackdogs are a bunch of noponies who showed up in our town, and made everything go to Tartarus! The Royal Guard can't do much since they're all in hiding most of the time. They rape 'n kidnap mares, and fillies. Kill anypony who gets in their way, and basically run this town!"

"So why isn't Town Hall, or the Mayor trying to do something?"

"Well, Town Hall has been burned down, and the Mayor's dead. Maybe the Mayor is lazy, or something," the bartender replied sarcastically.

Twilight was silent for a few moments. She took a sip of her beer and began grasping on how the Blackdogs could do something like this. She looked down as began to rub her chin. She looked back at the bartender and continued to ask questions.

"Does anypony know who are the leaders?" Twilight asked with interest.

"Not really. Supposedly, there are about three guys who run the Blackdogs. There's White Wheat, or Double W as what they call him. Vulcan Flare, and some other pony who nopony knows! Double W orders everypony around, and checks if everything is right. Vulcan, however, trains the 'new meat', and is the last resort if everything falls apart. Lastly, the third pony is the one who leads all three of them. Nopony knows what, or who he his."

"Hmm, that's interesting…"

"Why are you so interested in this? You're a 'runner' so why be so interested in this?"

"Because now I know to be more careful in this town. As for their little branch, it's because I like to be informed."

"Well don't waste your time, Sarah. This town is hopeless. Heck, I'm planning on heading towards Las Pegasus, and start a new life! That's the real dream here…"

Twilight gulped her last drop of beer, and sighed once more. "Hasn't anypony tried to stop them? The Royal Guard will probably stop them,"

"Ha! You kiddin'? The Guards will only help them than stop them! For the Blackdogs, it's a delivery of armor, and weapons! Most ponies don't know this, but will in time."

"Then why haven't the ponies that know tried to warn the Guards?"

"'Cause they're scared, Sarah. Just stop being optimistic about the situation, it's over for this town, and it has been for twenty years!"

"…"

"Beside, the Blackdogs aren't the only problem in this town,"

Twilight ordered another beer, but this time remained quiet. She pondered on the situation as she was drinking her beer for a few minutes. After thirty minutes, Twilight got off her stool, and thanked Jason for the drinks. Before she left the bar, Jason stopped her.

"By the way, do me a favor, and get out of this town. I seen too many ponies disappear, this town ain't worth saving. It doesn't matter how much pity you have on this town, just get out of here." Jay said with pity.

Twilight nodded, and exited the Watering Hole. It was still raining, the fog seemed to be getting thicker. The pony from earlier was still orbiting Twilight's mind, and she decided to be more watchful of her surroundings. Twilight began her journey back to her motel, but first she cast a quick Warmth Spell due to the temperature also dropping.

She made it to the center of town which was strangely deserted. Twilight's stomach was getting lighter, and her chest was feeling heavier, something wasn't right, and Twilight's body also knew this. She look around and continued to walk east of town. Twilight found that the road to her motel was flooded, the Dutch's Dum Motel was only about seven hundred feet away, and the flood covered about four hundred. To Twilight's luck, there was an alleyway next to the road which lead next to the motel. She checked her surroundings and checked to see if nopony was stalking her. When she was satisfied with her results, she trotted towards the alley.

The alley was narrow, the fire escapes seemed to make it worse, and there was a few trash bins next to the back doors of the buildings. The dirt road gave the alley a revolting stench, and the atmosphere seemed dryer. Twilight was still walking, looking down at the road ahead of her. She sighed as she kept walking and looked up at the view ahead of her. The road to the motel was in view, Twilight slowed her pace.

Twilight then stopped in her tracks, there were about three ponies at the end of the alley! One was brown with a black mane, and was a Pegasus. The second was green with an orange mane, and the last one was yellow with a purple and blue mane. They were coming closer to Twilight as she backed away. She turned around only to be confronted by two more ponies. The one to the left was black with a copper mane, and the other was blue with a green & grey mane who was a unicorn. Twilight was trapped in all two directions of the alleyway.

"So you're the little brat who's messin' with our boys?" announced the blue stallion.

"Yeah, and?" Twilight growled.

"Well you see in this town, only the Blackdogs make threats," he continued to say. "And those who think otherwise, get punished! And by the looks of your body, I say you deserve a very special kind of punishment back at our little crib with our other mares!" He growled sexually as he licked his lips.

"Not gonna happen jackass!" Twilight quickly leavitated her knife from her pocket, and pointed it at the blue stallion! He backed away, but only smiled at her.

"Oooh! Rough! I like that in a mare! Now be a good girl, and–" Twilight slashed at the blue unicorn with her knife causing him to back away farther! She cut his left cheek, warm, dark, red blood oozed out as he touched his cut!

The unicorn's eyes widened with anger, and he growled with fury! He wiped the blood with his left hoof, and looked at the blood for a moment. His face became darker, his eyebrows fell to form a sharp "V"! The blue unicorn looked at Twilight with anger, and slammed his hoof on the ground!

"Get this mule!" he yelled!

The black earth pony charged at her, so did the other three behind Twilight! She attacked the black earth pony with the butt of her knife, causing him to kneel down! She grab the pony with her magic, flung him over her, causing him to hit the fire escapes along the flight, and land on two of his fellow goons! The green earth pony charged at her, but Twilight's knife had a better idea! Her knife charged as well, and embedded itself in the stallions left leg! Bone cracked, flesh ripped, blood spilled, and the stallion cried in pain as he fell on the dirt road! The knife retracted, covered in blood, bits of flesh and bone, and was now facing the blue unicorn!

The blue unicorn's horn was radiating a orange aura, a ball of mana was growing in front of the blue stallion, and charged straight at Twilight! She quickly retracted her knife back to her pocket and leavitated a trash can lid in front of her! The lid took the blast of the orange mana and now had a large fiery hole in it's center! Twilight threw the lid with her magic, hit the stallion directly at his forehead, and knocked him back!

Behind her, another Blackdog got up from the impact of his fellow gang member. The yellow stallion was bleeding from his forehead, and he was furious! The pony also charged at Twilight, but was only greeted by Twilight's knife! She levitated her knife from her pocket, and dashed straight at the yellow stallion's chest! He cried in agony as the knife ripped through his yellow fur, and spilled his warm blood! Twilight wasn't done yet, she grabbed the rest of the trash can with her magic, and flung it underneath the stallion before he fell on the ground! He gained more altitude, giving Twilight a chance to strike! Her knife sailed up, embedding itself straight to the yellow stallion's stomach! He landed back at ground, bleeding from both his wounds, and mouth!

Twilight turned around to face the blue unicorn who was rubbing his forehead. Twilight quickly charged her knife at the blue stallion, but was only blocked by an orange wall! The blue unicorn cast a Shield Spell, and was now in defense! Twilight sensed fear in the blue unicorn and quickly took advantage of this! She began walking slowly towards the stallion, knife at the ready. The blue unicorn dropped his shield and tried to cast a quick Shock Spell! Sadly, Twilight was too quick for him to even attack! Her horn shot a purple beam behind him, which exploded, and caused him to leap forwards! Stunned by Twilight spell, Twilight punched the blue unicorn's leg causing him to kneel down! The stallion was a now on his knees giving Twilight a prefect strike! She quickly leaped behind him, and stabbed the blue unicorn in the back of his head; blood squirting out, bone cracking, and flesh ripped by the force of the knife! The blue unicorn never had the chance to scream in pain, and fell on to the grime, blood pooling around his limp corpse.

Twilight took a deep breath and began to restore her energy. The alley was now infested with bloody corpses. In a practiced sweep, she levitated a handkerchief from her cloak, and cleaned her gore slathered knife. Twilight tucked her knife away, and tossed the handkerchief into the garbage can next to her. Twilight walked up to the green earth pony who was on his side; he couldn't move because of hole in his leg. Twilight grab him with her magic, and levitated him in front of her; he was in complete fear, and his adrenaline only made it worse.

"Tell your little 'gang' that they aren't the only ones with an army, if you can limp all the way towards them that is," Twilight instructed coldly, and threw the stallion at the ground.

•••••••••••

Twilight arrived back at her room with her black cloak drenched in blood. She cast a quick Clean Spell on the cloak, and tossed it to her bed. There was also a bit of blood on her face from the fight. Twilight sat down on the floor, sighed, and pulled out her knife with her magic. She turned the blade around as if she would find something. Instead, she found her reflection at the side of her knife. Her face looked tired, but not physically; her eyes looked just as young as she was ninety two years ago, but strangely look old at the same time. Twilight stared at her reflection, grasping the idea of what she had become, and wonder how things would have been diffrent if she was never Celestia's student. Once again, Twilight only sighed, and threw her knife on the bed sheets. Twilight got up from the floor, and walked towards the bathroom.

She turned on the hot water from the sink, and levitated a bar of soap in front of her bloody face. She rubbed her hooves between the soap, and was careful not to drop it. She levitated the soap next to sink, and began to wash her face. Twilight turned off the hot water, and levitated the remaining water to her face. The foam & water dropped from her face, and disappeared into the sink. She grabbed the blue towel next to her, and dried her face before looking at the mirror. Twilight stared at her reflection again, but was only interested on her face. Once she was done inspecting her face she returned to her bed, and began to read some of her books in her bag.

The rain wasn't stopping for anything, and soon the streets were entirely composed of mud! Twilight's window was covered in so much water that the view from it was completely distorted! What was even more odd was the fact that among all the distorted buildings was a dark blob. It was distorted as well, but what was odd about it was that it was on top of a building. Twilight looked at it for a moment, and trotted outside to have a better look. It was a cloak pony with the same black cloak as before!

"Hey!" Twilight yelled.

The hooded pony's head lifted it's head, and knew that he/she was spotted. The dark figure then walked backwards, and was gone just like that.

•••••••••••

*Knock**Knock* *Knock**Knock*

"…"

*Knock**Knock* *Knock**Knock*

UGH! Celestia damnit! Who the Tartarus is it? thought Twilight.

It was early morning, and the rain seemed to stop. Twilight was still in bed with her feathers all over the place. She got up and cast a quick Invisibility Spell on her wings, and opened the door. It was two mares, and a stallion at the door. The mare on the right had a orange coat with a grey & yellow swirled mane; she was wearing a leather shirt which cover her Cutie Mark, and her eyes were brown. The mare on the left had a green coat with straighten violet & cornflower mane.;her eyes were yellow, and her Cutie Mark was a wagon with a breeze above it. In between the mares was a large pegasus stallion who had a grey coat, and small blue mane; his eyes were green, and his Cutie Mark was wooden wheel with hammer behind it.

The grey stallion was the first one to speak. "Hello Ma'am, we're here on a proposition!"

"And what is that?" asked Twilight with a stern expression.

"Well my partners happen to see you with a lot of valuable items in your possession, and one happens to have caught our eye," he continued. "The golden crown that that silly merchant wouldn't take off your hooves. We wish to buy the crown with a reasonable price!"

Twilight's ears perked up. "How much?"

"Two thousand bits!" he exclaimed.

They can't be serious… "You can't be serious…" Twilight said coyly.

"We are always, serious," he said flatly.

Twilight looked down at the floor, and began to think. She reached her decision, "It's not for sale." Twilight said coldly.

"I'm sorry?"

"I know why you want it, and I'm not giving it to anypony." Twilight clarified.

"Well why don't you think about for a moment?" he asked with a grin.

Why not? I mean it's not like anypony can use it?

That's just it, only I can. If anypony found out who I was then they could just kill me, and wait for another powerful unicorn.

…Just give it to them.

What? Why I'm I arguing with myself wh–…Crap!

Twilight's horn came to life, and was now glowing it's purple aura! She shot a ray of magic at the stallion and rocketed him to the other side of the street! She quickly closed the door and cast a Lock spell on the door; a purple aura engulfed the door, Twilight stepped away from the window as yellow and blue rays of magic blasted through it!

"SHE KNOWS!" yelled one of the mares from outside.

Twilight returned fire, but missed completely; the other mares were in cover behind one of the newsstands.

Convincing Spell! Celestia damnit, how did I not realize it!

More shots were fired, glass flying everywhere! Twilight levitated her bag, knife, cloak, and other belongings she had towards her! Blasts of Magic were penetrating through the walls of the motel, barely reached Twilight as she took cover behind the purple door! She had to think of something fast! Twilight couldn't fire back and didn't know where they were firing from; she couldn't teleport very far and would likely be shot if she tried!

An idea hit Twilight like an epiphany and she pointed her horn towards the night sky! Her horn fired a white bullet, Twilight quickly took cover and shut her eyes! The whole street was engulfed in a bright light with a painful screech at the same time! The oncoming fire stopped, Twilight quickly jumped out the window! The screeching flash didn't stop the mares from firing, but it did mess with their sight!

"Damnit! S–she's getting aw–AGH!" the green mare was shot by a purple bullet delivered by Twilight Sparkle! She was knocked back and what remained was a burn on her stomach!

The orange mare chased after Twilight and at the same time cast numerous spell and hexes at Twilight! The streets were filled with yellow and purple lights, nopony seemed to be awake! Twilight returned fire, but only had a few seconds to see where the mare was! Yellow rays blasted next to Twilight's hooves and soared past her head! Twilight ran throughout Muzzleington, trying to think of something fast! The orange mare continued to fire more magic, but still missed Twilight by a few centimeters! Twilight reached for her knife and was ready to throw it! Out of know where, the other mare tried to pounced on Twilight from one of rooftops! She as well fired more spells at Twilight, but were stopped by a purple bubble! This was Twilight's chance, she ran for cover behind one of buildings and returned fire! Her spell flew past the green mare, exploding as it hit the ground in front of orange mare!

The orange mare was sent flying up in ash and smoke! Her parthner continued to shoot beams of magic at the purple pony and Twilight kept casting hexes at the green mare! The green mare's horn was glowing eminently of blue light, Twilight knew she was going to cast a powerful spell! Twilight stepped back behind the corner of the building and tried to think of any way to get away from these ponies! Before she even had time to get a grip of her situation, a blue explosion blasted through the coner of the building, knocking her back about three feet! Twilight grunted as she landed on her back and coughed, due to the ash that accumulated from the blue explosion! She opened the window behind her and decided to take cover from inside the building. Inside, Twilight could see the corner of the building was gone and that remain was a few stones and ashes! She could see more beams of magic being shot from where Twilight originally took cover; this was the perfect advantage for Twilight! She immediately dashed towards the window that faced the battlefield! She took cover, she could see the green mare still firing behind another building! Behind the mare was her parthner who was covered in ash, laying on the ground. Twilight's horn began to glow again and shot another purple beam at the mare; the mare never saw it coming! She was hit on her cheek, her body was knocked back, but she wasn't on the ground yet! Her cheek began to swell up and soon pinned her down on the ground! The mare yelped in surprise and tried to lift her face up! Her horn began to glow a diffrent color, but instead of it's usuall glow, her horn was now on fire!

"BURN BITCH!" she yelled! A fireball came straight at Twilight, but luckily she ducked right as it was fired! The fireball exploded behind her, flames began to consume the room! Twilight look at the room and realized what this room actually was! There was photos of foals and ponies hanging on the walls! This was home and there was a family here!

Twilight shot another hex at the mare, the impacted exploded, and sent the mare flying towards the alleyway behind her! Twilight ran straight upstairs and began to open doors! She found the foals crying in their bedroom, one was a filly, and the other a colt. The fire was beginning to spread fast, Twilight was running out of time! She levitated the foals on her back and began to calm them down.

They exited the room and were greeted by more flames engulfing the house! The stairs were blocked by the fire and there was no way out! Wooden planks collapsed, blocking the second door in the hallway! Twilight back away from the flames, both her and the foals were trapped! Her only chance now was to open the last door to see if the foal's parents were in the house! Twilight's horn began to radiate a purple aura and so did the wooden plank. She began to lift the plank with all her concentration she had! The plank was very heavy and the flames were getting close! Twilight –running out of time– began to push the plank and was now using both her magic and will power! She could feel the plank moving slowly back up towards the ceiling and with one final push it was back on the ceiling!

Twilight opened the door and dashed inside with foals! Inside was a red stallion ready to charge at the door. Instead the foals ran up to him and cried in joy!

"W–who are you?" the father asked.

"Nevermind who I am, we need to leave! Now!" Twilight's horn began to glow and a purple bubble began to materialize around them! Soon the purple aura began spin like a hurricane and in blink of an eye they were outside!

Twilight was exhausted and wiped the sweat from her forehead. The four ponies looked at the burning house, only three were devastated, but thankful they were alive. The father of the foals lowered his children down on the ground and walked up to Twilight.

"T–thank you miss I–" before he even had a chance to finish, a yellow beam dashed between the two! Twilight leaped in front of the family and pulled out her knife!

"Run, I'll take care of them! Get your family out of town and to somewhere safe!" Twilight ordered!

"But–"

"Go!" The father grab the foals and raced away as another yellow beam came straight at Twilight, but this time she was prepared! Twilight's horn glowed and the yellow beam was blocked by a purple bubble around her!

Before Twilight had a chance to attack the orange mare, another spell raced towards Twilight! Both of the mares were back and both of them were not letting down! Twilight's bubble shield was getting smaller and beginning to fade away; she was running out of options. The mares were tried and injured which gave Twilight a idea! Twilight began to focus her magic on the smoke coming from the burning house and soon was consumed by a purple aura! The thick smoke moved from above it's fiery creation to the streets of Muzzlington. The smoke cut between Twilight, and the other mares giving Twilight a chance to run! She dropped her magic bubble and began to run from the battle! Beams and rays of yellow and blue raced through the smoke, barely touching Twilight! She didn't stop, she didn't know where to go, and she didn't know who they were!

"That's right! RUN YOU COWARD! You just messed with the Ravens, jackass!" taunted one of the mares.

The spells stopped, and so didn't Twilight. She was tired and almost died twice in a few hours!

But Twilight knew two things: she just made enemies of what seemed like two gangs, the Royal Guard will arrive in five hours, and will likely be guarding all exits! Basically, she was trapped in Muzzlington with a search party looking for her and two groups of ponies who are likely going to kill her…

This is just bucking great! Twilight thought sarcastically.

Author's Note:

Sorry this took long guys, I have a life and stuff.