The Elements of Unity

by Gremlin Grenade

The Beginning of the End

Twilight cringed behind her eyelids as the rising light threatened to pry them open. The welcoming warmth pressed itself against her face, slowly encompassing her entire body. She tried to pull herself out of reality, back into the pleasantry of her dreams, but the world around her beckoned for her to wake. The delicious smell of cooking entering her nostrils, the rhythmic rumble and crackling of her home…

Her eyes shot open as she realized the source of the light. Raging fires consumed the library around her as she fought to regain consciousness, struggling to assess her surroundings. The smoke had left her short of breath, and her desperate huffing had not left enough air to scream. Tears welled up in her eyes as the world around her burned to ash, threatening to consume her in a blaze of fury.

As the smoke poured into her lungs, she could see darkness creep around the edges of her vision once again. A loud crack heralded the movement of a large burning beam, and a silhouetted figure approached from the collapsing entrance. The shape of a pony, wreathed in a flowing coat, stepped in her direction. Its figure was pitch black against the light of the flames, except a pair of glowing red eyes, which burned brilliantly in the light of the fire. It appeared the devil himself had come to claim her as she slowly left the land of the living.

“Steady your breathing, Twilight Sparkle,” a deep, powerful voice emitted from the pony, as she closed her eyes and tried to gain some composure. A familiar ringing sounded as Twilight felt herself pulled by the force of magic, feeling almost as though the air itself intended to carry her away. She tried to push through the haze of her mind as she tried to piece together recent events. Her heart stung with regret as it slowly came back to her; the conflicts that broke out, the injuries suffered, the battle that ensued. She fought back the tears as she slowly realized what she had done in all this, and what she had committed herself to.

As the air around her cooled, Twilight allowed herself to slowly open her eyes, trying to get a grasp of the here and now. A blob of magical energy swam around her shoulders as she was pulled away from the twisted wreckage that was once her library. As she turned her head, she saw Spike’s unconscious body, dragged away by the same magical force.

The grim details of her rescuer returned to her as she looked back towards him, his draping black trench coat and military cap shining in the light of the fires that consumed Ponyville. The gray stallion returned the look, flashing a sincere, yet still sinister, smile towards her. His crimson eyes shined in the firelight, almost appearing to burn with a light of their own.

“Are you alright, Twilight?” his frightening voice carrying with it a concerned tone. “Take a moment to breathe, give me a nice, deep breath.” She sat up on her haunches, pulling as much air as she could muster into her chest. “That’s it; let the clean air into your lungs. A couple more.” She exhaled and sucked in a few more full breaths before feebly returning the smile.

The smile quickly vanished from her lips, however, as Spike’s unconscious body caught her eye. “Is… is he going to be alright?” her tone was fraught with worry.

“He should be fine, Twilight. Dragons can take a lot more punishment than we ponies can.”

She let the smile return to her face as she caressed the young dragon’s cheek with motherly affection. She let her mind remain in the company of her old friend for a while longer, before turning her attention back to the burning chaos that surrounded her.

The houses and shops that once littered Ponyville were now naught but kindling furiously roaring as the cracked and collapsed in on themselves. Most of the town’s inhabitants had fled at the first sign of danger, but there were still the rare few trying to gather their belongings and loved ones, hurriedly scurrying about the streets. The burning air almost smelled of fear, almost as strongly as it smelled of hate.

Twilight’s thoughts returned to her as she remembered what part she played in all this, and therefore what part she chose to play from here on out. Her emotional outburst would have her branded a rebel, a traitor to the throne, a violent malcontent. The tears welled up in her eyes as she realized that her choices had broken her off from her old life; from her family, from her country, from her beloved teacher and princess.

How did this all happen? How did it get so bad? Why did Celestia’s agents threaten her friends, sparking the fires of hate in the peaceful town of Ponyville? Why did everypony succumb to chaotic anger rather than rationality? And what in the name of the sun compelled her to respond so violently? Why did she, in a single act, betray and leave behind all she had stood for all her life? Was it for a greater cause? Was it for her friends? Was it because she had fallen into the madness that surrounded her, acting on impulse rather than her beloved rationality? Regardless of why, Twilight solemnly realized she had turned her back on her princess, her family, and her kingdom today, and there would be no going back until this all came to a close. For all their supposed calm and control, the Royal Equestrian Guard incited a wave of violence and madness upon everypony she knew, and it would not end until one side in this was finished.

Twilight’s thoughts were broken as she felt the warmth of a hoof pressing against the top of her back. As though he could see into her thoughts, the red-eyed pony gave Twilight a short nod, both reassuring and frightening in its resolution. She wiped a tear from her eyes as a group of familiar faces approached from the smoke. From her left came a pair of pegasi, one tall and slender, the other grizzled from the mess. From her right a tall zebra. Behind her a large crack rung out as a dark red earth pony burst from the wreckage of a collapsing building.

None of them had been in Ponyville long, except of course Rainbow Dash, but after recent events Twilight felt like she knew them as well as some of her oldest friends. They were so different from her other friends, too, so quiet and solemn. Now, trials she could hardly comprehend stood before them, and her choices had thrown her in with them. Twilight’s world was collapsing, the power of friendship and harmony dissolving at the weight of chaos and hate, and a new world was being built in its place.

The crimson-eyed pony looked upon his works with a fire inside that matched those that burned around him. The smell of charred wood filled his senses, and gave him a sense of peace out of the chaos that he had birthed. Part of him wanted to turn back, to fix all he had broken and mend wounded hearts, but he knew it was no longer possible. Too much momentum had been gained, and revolution would commence.

The fall of Ponyville was the beginning of the end. It was the herald for a war that would shake Equestria to its very foundations, rattle the pillars of a several-thousand year old government, and test the notions of love and harmony. In the coming days, nopony would be innocent, nopony would be safe, and nothing would ever be the same. And it all started when a stranger in black arrived in distant Stalliongrad…

Comments

[Dragon Emperor Geon]

SO far, the characters are interesting, no "filler" and the pacing is good! All I can really say for the first chapter.

Once I read all 10, I will have my full analysis.