In a Far Away Land

by TheReaderAndWriter

A Visit Gone Wrong

Had too much time passed? Were the towns of the mainland still safe? Twilight had no way of knowing, which made every single hour absolute torture. Each day was a nightmare. Mistakes had been made, and had cost them precious time. The group had struggled to get ready for the trip back home, and had crossed the sea with anxious hearts.

All in all a whole two weeks had passed by before Twilight finally felt her hooves touch the warm sand of a beach. Just a random beach, connected to their own continent. They were back, but not quite home yet.

"Princess, why did not? Why not go to the port?" asked the youngest changeling. Their ship, smaller than the Eternal Crimson but with extra large, and pink, sails was docked at the beach, but not at the dock where they had first set sail. Twilight had made sure to steer the ship away from that popular place. The port of Seaside was a few thousand blocks to their right, roughly.

"Because I don't know what Herobrine is planning. I don't know if he was found out by accident or if he's already controlling everyone we know. For now we need to be careful. Maybe we're all that's left?" said Twilight.

The little changeling bowed her head. "Sorry."

"You don't have anything to apologize for, Caring."

"Well, then. May we get going? We have quite some work to do," said Rarity. "I'd hate to get my hooves dirty, but you know what they say about desperate times."

***

At Twilight's request the group had decided not to get too close to Haven. All of them had created a small cave, making sure it looked just like anything else one could stumble upon in the world. There, in the lit deep cavern, they waited until nightfall.

"Are you sure, Twily?" asked Shining Armor.

"Yes, brother. We can't risk it. As a leader I won't let us. Since I can use magic I can get out much easier if we're too late," said Twilight.

"Does that mean the new one should come too?" asked Trickery.

"No. Minny can't teleport, at least not to the point that she can get out of danger," said Twilight.

"I'm not happy about this, Twilight," said Spike, giving her a concerned, disapproving look.

"To be honest, me neither. I really wish you could go with me without risk. You have no idea how much I wish me and Minny wasn't the only ones with magic. Still, all of you are either strong, brave, smart or all at once. I'm sure we'll do fine if things go wrong."

"Can't at least one of us follow you in? You have teleported more than one pony at a time. Even if you're out of practice, at least take someone who can fly away from the danger," said Shining Armor.

"And if it's a trap? Should that pony or changeling just fly away and get chased by a dozen pegasi? They have Rainbow Dash, don't forget that. No flier can get away from her, even in the dark. They either lead Herobrine's forces back here, or hunt down the flier. Besides, Herobrine can't see through my eyes," said Twilight.

"Seems like you've given this some thought," said Shining Armor, taking a deep breath.

"Let's hope I'm wrong, and that we've actually just wasted time and that we should instead have warned everyone about Herobrine at Seaside. Either we've made a mistake, or everyone we know are controlled. Neither is great, but at least the second one isn't as horrifying."

"Well... assume the worst, and be careful," said Spike.

***

Under the cover of darkness, Twilight had traveled for two straight hours. She had started to run as far as possible at least two dozen times. Whenever she could, the alicorn slowed down to breathe. While flying would have been quicker, it was a matter of fact that any movement in the sky would be noticed dozens, if not hundreds, of blocks away. Any silhouette would stand out against the moonlit night sky.

Fortunately, Twilight noticed just how unfair it was to use magic in the world. Without flight or magic any monster she encountered would have been a massive threat, but with both regained it was laughably easy. A creeper sneaked up behind her, and the ensuing explosion was only a concern because of how loud it had been. A simple magic shield had stopped most of the force from explosion, making Twilight's mane ruffle slightly in an oddly warm breeze.

After years of fearing the darkness, a decade of feeling like a piece of herself was missing, she had found it again and should have finally have felt completely safe. But, Herobrine had entered the picture, and the threat of the darkness had been overtaken by the fear of the void.

Herobrine, and his minions, his puppets, his... poor, poor little ponies where bound to be a much bigger threat. With her magic, Twilight didn't have a weapon. All she had was something to stall them until they all managed to find an actual solution.

Minny Miner just has to know the solution. Even if she don't, I'll find one. I made a promise. I'll get them all back to Equestria.

***

When Twilight finally saw the town of Haven she felt oddly hollow. Having needed a way to get a better view, but not wanting to fly, she had climbed up into a tall tree, having lied down between a few blocks of leaves. Overlooking the town should have meant something more; she should have felt like she was back home. All that was left was emptiness.

Seeing a perfect spot to hide, just between two decorative chimneys, Twilight calculated what she needed to and then teleported to the new spot. Sure, she might as well have been back in Promise Peak under the rule of a horrible dictator, but at least she knew the landscape well.

However, how would she find out more? Had the town already been taken? Twilight couldn't hear anything. Most ponies would have been sleeping at such an hour. Did Herobrine's minions even need sleep?

Wait... it's not foolproof, but I have a plan, said Twilight. The town archives. With her magic, it was possible to get in and read the registers without anyone noticing. If the town was indeed under Herobrine's control, then that could mean some ponies who had been declared NLR (No Longer Returning) could be back in the town. Frankly, Twilight missed the circumstances behind NLR, it seemed impossible, but things had changed to make death even more terrifying. NLR needed to be changed to HNP (Herobrine's New Puppet).

If previously dead ponies would have returned to the town, then that could be a definite sign of trouble.

Actually, I might not need the town archives. I'll start with Mr. Cake, the mayor, and Rarity's father. It's still a long shot, but perhaps they are back in their old homes, thought Twilight, before vanishing.

***

They had not been, but Twilight needed to make sure.

She managed to get into the archives without any major headaches. In the night every bit of darkness was an ally, for once. At one point she had almost been detected by a random guard patrolling the halls of the building, but she had managed to avoid being spotted thanks to the building being just as poorly lit as the outside. Even if she was wasting her time and Herobrine hadn't actually made his move, she would still prefer to be unseen. If anyone, friend or foe, saw her, then Herobrine would know his enemies had returned home quicker than he had expected.

Walking up to the right chest, Twilight opened it and reached out for the book listing every poor pony who had ever experienced death. The list was too long, and every single name would have made Twilight cringe had she read it a decade ago. It would all have been very intimidating, but the dark made everything feel safe.

That's when Twilight realized something was terribly wrong. The only reason she hadn't reacted to it the moment she saw it was the simple fact that she had thrived in the shadows the entire night. The sheer relief of having the archives being even darker than the outside had caused her to make a mistake.

Why, oh why, was it so dark inside?

Suddenly, the room was bathed in light and covered in shadows from the many shelves.

"Having so much power again made you careless, Princess. Had this been like Promise Peak then you would have been able to leave undetected. You didn't even think about your teleportation creating bright flashes, did you? You forgot them, because you can't see them youself during the actual travel. I couldn't not notice you through a dozen eyes," said Herobrine behind her back.

Twilight didn't even bother to turn around, her first instinct was to just teleport away. The five ponies that jumped down from above and grabbed her made it far too difficult to actually perform the act; there was simply too much mass.

"Kill her. I would have done it myself, but I'm too disappointed. I expected more from you, Twilight Sparkle," said Herobrine, with a smug tone that would have made even a child instantly unlikable.

Twilight couldn't teleport, but she did have other skills. Without hesitation, she started to fire bursts of focused energy against the dozens of ponies, all with black eyes, approaching her. Those holding on would cut her with a blade. Everything happened so quickly. One second Twilight kept firing, the next moment she was trying desperately to force the nearby ponies away from herself.

Flashes of magic illuminated the room, casting distorted shadows upon the walls. As every single pony in the room ran towards her, trying and succeeding in overwhelming her, Twilight couldn't focus on everything at once. Her eyes darted from foe to foe, panicked. Shadows, enemies, danger everywhere. A pony was about to strike her head.

Then, everything just stopped. In what could only be a reflex developed from years of living in their world, everyone stopped what they were doing and turned towards the direction of a familiar noise. A hissing, meaning only two possibilities.

To Twilight's great surprise, it wasn't a Creeper.

With a great blast, a nearby wall was obliterated in fire and smoke.

"Surprise!" yelled a familiar voice.

"Pinkie Pie?" asked Twilight, right before regaining her composure and firing her magic at her distracted captors. She wasn't exactly out of the woods, but at least nopony was grabbing her.

"Twilight, come on!" yelled Spike, appearing in the large hole next to Pinkie Pie, Applebloom and three changelings. Pinkie Pie took hold of Twilight and started to run, or rather bounce, away as the party retreated throughout the town. Once again Twilight was in the dark of night, struggling to run properly along her friends.

"Kill them!" yelled Herobrine fiercely.

"What happened!? Why are you here?! How did you even follow me?!" asked Twilight. There wasn't any point to keeping their voices down. By the sound of it, every resident without a dozen houses were already up and moving.

"Twilight! Timey's other kids found us! Herobrine made a mistake! He's got a hold of Haven! Changelings and ponies are already fighting back!" yelled Spike.

"How did you make a bomb?!" asked Twilight, her voice somewhere between amazement and sheer bewilderment.

"Sand and gunpowder. It's not that hard to make TNT," said Pinkie Pie.

"You've got to be kidding! Why didn't you say you could make dynamite?!" asked Twilight.

"You never asked, duh!"

"This way, hurry!" yelled another pony. Twilight looked ahead, Shining Armor was waiting near a corner. "Come on! We need to leave RIGHT NOW!"

***

Twilight was sure at least a hundred ponies were following them as they ran through the city. Everywhere they went other foes appeared around corners and in alleyways.

"Come on! Hurry! Just a little further!" yelled Spike, pointing ahead. "There!"

About a hundred blocks ahead Twilight saw the outer wall of Haven, having been blown apart. Their way out was within reach.

"Thanks for coming to get me," said Twilight, panting, her sides hurting. "You took a huge risk."

"Worth it. You can always count on-"

And then, so suddenly, so brutally swiftly, Spike was silenced with a fired arrow, piercing him between his eyes. Dead. Just like that, he was gone.

Every higher thought process in Twilight just stopped, her body moved like it had a will of its own, continuing running towards the exit. Not finding words, and being completely incapable of grasping what had just happened, Twilight just kept going for a fraction of a second, then the onslaught of emotion, fear and grief struck.

In the corner of her eye, a pony stood with a solid grasp of a bow, looking at the damage he had caused.

"Can you believe I missed? I wasn't aiming for him, Twilight," said Herobrine, twisting his voice into something smug.

Twilight was absolutely torn. Reason dictated she would keep escaping. Grief demanded she would stay and mourn. Anger convinced her to stay, fight, slaughter. Almost incapable of seeing because of the tears, she let go of Pinkie Pie and turned around to face Herobrine.

"I'm going to kill you," said Twilight, her magic starting to run wild in her body. There was no control, no way to focus on anything except the monster in front of her. She craved vengeance. There had been so much pain to so many ponies. Twilight just wanted it to end right there and then. She wanted to save everyone. She wanted to win.

"Whatever happened to the kind caring little Princess?" asked Herobrine.

"You're a mistake, and I'm going to erase you from the world," said Twilight, barely able to form a coherent sentence.

Suddenly, Herobrine's face turned from smug and petty, to equally furious as Twilight. "NO! I am NOT a mistake!"

"JUST GO AND DIE!" they both yelled at once. Herobrine drew an arrow, Twilight readied a magic blast. However, before either could strike against the other...

"Shining!" yelled Pinkie Pie, a voice that could only be described as commanding. Suddenly, something hard hit Twilight from behind. She couldn't move, her body went limp.

"Sorry, Twily," said Shining Armor, picking her up. "We live to fight another day."

Had Twilight been able to speak through the blur, she would have just loudly cursed. He's right there! He's done so much to me, to us! Just let me finish it! Let me get him! Please! She could barely make out Herobrine through the haze, the crowd and the tears.

"Sorry, Twilight. Take it from me, you never do good work when you're mad," said Pinkie Pie. "Come on! Let's get out of here before evil Spike shows up!"

No, he's right there... No... No... He's just... I can't... Spike... Then she stared to drift away. She was physically, magically and emotionally drained. Grief washed away rational thought, and then everything went dark.

The last thing she was was Herobrine's burning white eyes, so horrifyingly empty. They were so uncaring, so immensely easy to despise. She just wanted to kick them, cut them. Sorrow and hate flowed through her. Above all else she wished for Herobrine to be hurt, to be punished. It would have felt good, it would have felt really, really good. It would have made her feel-

"Monstrous. Twilight, don't do this because you want to. You need to set that aside. As a Princess, you should do it in the name of justice, not for vengeance," said a familiar voice. "Don't you think I've felt great anger? Immense sorrow? Twilight, you have grown, but will you be able to set aside your own needs and wishes for the betterment of everyone, including yourself?"

"Who... who is that?"

"Have you already forgotten my voice? Well, I know, I know, that you haven't forgotten what made you a princess in the first place. Since coming here, you've learned so much. You know the importance of honesty. You know the importance of fighting back against evil. It's time you learn the importance of sacrifice. Herobrine has hurt so many, but we cannot be rash and let our emotions take hold," said the voice.

"Princess Celestia?" asked Twilight, listening, peering out into the darkness. She could still see the bright eyes of Herobrine in the distance, except they started to be more caring... Their color weren't actually white anymore. Twilight managed to focus her eyes, and above her stood a friend.

"I think you were dreaming a bit too much, my old friend. Don't worry, for the moment you are safe," said Timey, his clear blue eyes giving her a supporting look. He smiled. "I cannot say how much today has saddened me. We've lost a great asset. Spike the Great is no longer among us. According to my children, he has, unwillingly, joined with our new enemy."

"I... Spike is..."

"Princess, I will leave you alone. Please just rest in here," said Timey, heading towards a door. The room was small, and had a few tiny windows high above. The oddly spherical shape, and general cool temperature, of the still cubical room was familiar. She had been there a few times before. It was built like a changeling hive, she was told. Twilight wasn't sure where in the town of Constant she was, but what she was sure of...

"I forgot the flash... If I had just... Then I wouldn't have been found, and they would have found me before I entered the city, and then Spike wouldn't be..."

Timey turned around to face her. "I... Please just rest."

"It was my fault..."

"Spike followed you, knowing the risks. According to your brother, if it hadn't been for Spike they wouldn't have been able to save you at all. Who else know you well enough to guess you would be at the archives?"

"Spike has always had my back..."

Timey left the princess to rest, and more importantly mourn, in peace. He knew she needed to be alone, and that she would talk to her friends when it was time.

***

Several hours later, Timey reentered the room. Twilight was still lying on the bed, but she had stopped crying.

"Timey, give me numbers. Numbers. Give them to me." Twilight was still grieving, but information was something her brain could focus on. The more she knew, the more she had to think, the more she could try to push her loss away.

"Exactly 78 percent of all ponies in Haven have been confirmed to be under his control. Seaside is empty as everyone there has been killed and controlled. 20 percent of changelings have been killed. We've sent out our own changelings to Promise Peak, we expect it to be mostly unharmed at this point but they need to be warned."

"What has happened?" It hurt, but the situation was so severe she simply had to put her own mourning aside.

"A while after you went away, a few changelings started to notice something strange was going on in our hive. Some of my children had difficulty following orders, and when we questioned them why, they lied. Changelings rarely lie to each other like they did. We investigated, and realized something was very wrong. Since we can feel emotion, and even deceit, we managed to piece everything together. We very quietly tried to inform the remaining ponies, but somehow, which my other children informed me was Herobrine's special vision, we couldn't save many before we were discovered. You are currently in Constant, where we try to keep everyone as safe as possible. Every survivor has been relocated here."

Things were awful, but not hopeless. Twilight thought about something else. "What about Lock?"

"We haven't heard anything from them. They are either safe inside their cage, or all dead. We simply don't know."

"Good. Get me a mining cart, I'm taking the train there right now," said Twilight, finally standing up, only to fall forward when her strength faded away. A part of her had outright expected a certain assistant to be there to catch her.

"What? Why?" asked Timey, helping her up.

"Because while we might have a respectable number, our side will only diminish and their side will grow. That you know who's against us or not is a great thing, and something I didn't expect, but we will still lose without some real power on our side. This is war, and we need soldiers. With the ponies on Promise Peak, real warriors, we have a better shot at winning. But, we need Sharp. We need to last as long as possible to find out how to beat Herobrine."

"But, why would you trust the likes of Sharp to help us?"

"Look at it this way: would you rather have Sharp and his ponies on Herobrine's side, or ours?"

"Frankly, I don't find either option attractive."

"Also, I need you to gather the survivors. I need to make an announcement. I think they need to know exactly what's going on. I expect my friends have already told you, but I want them to hear it directly from me," said Twilight.

"It will be done."

"Besides, I want to tell them I have the perfect name for our army," said Twilight.

"What is that, if I may ask?"

There was only really one word fitting, one word that summed up everything they were striving for. It was Herobrine's fault. Every loss, wound, fear, shed tear and death could be attributed to him, and perhaps Twilight as well if she had just avoided interacting with that damn cube he had sent to Ponyville. As a name, only one word seemed appropriate.

Twilight took a deep breath. "We're Punishment."

Comments

[Primordial Deomontus]

DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN. Really good story, just couldn't stop reading it. I've read it from 4:am to 4:Am, just not got here.

[clarence112]

4546819
[youtube=8lXdyD2Yzls]

[The Warrior Scholar]

Only issue I have is that spike was to easy to kill

[Blaster M]

5899140

Power V bow headshot

[Derpy_DragonV1]

9746480
*headshots don't exist in mc, and I don't remember anyone getting killed by one either*