One bad egg

by KarmaSentinal

Changing future, Lingerings regrets (Edits Pending)

Private Dreams felt the world fading around him into a blur.

Time was acting more like a rapid than a river as his mind registered only subtle glimpses of The Empire around him. His lungs were burning and his legs felt like the twigs he would step on in his youth: fragile.

He had even lost track when he finally made it but his body knew and collapsed the moment his throbbing hooves made contact with the carpeted floor of the trian. Weighted down by his standard guard armor, it had taken the help of two other passengers to drag the near fainted guard to an open bench where they had removed his armor so he could breath easier.

Their reward for their good deeds was witnessing Inspiring Dreams, in a rare use of military authority ordering the train to depart immediately. This near almost abusive use of power shocked the few occupants that shared the compart with him but by muttering where his power came from, it was enough for the conductor to abandon his set route for a direct ride to Canterlot.

With the first part of his mission finished and the second about to begin, Private Dreams sunk further into his bench as he felt the sensation to sleep claiming his aching body. His tired and worn muscles gradually loosened, his heart rate and breathing had began stabilizing just enough to allow the tired guard a peaceful rest.

The doors automatically began closing as the train’s wheels slowly crawled forward, building up speed with every rotation. Something about this gradual motion furthered relaxed the guard as the familiarity of a routine soothed him closer to his well deserved rest, but right on the verge of fully giving away to the calls of slumber when he noticed a family of three running for the train.

Private Dreams watched as they tried to board the train that had for some reason decided to leave the station nearly 25 minutes early. It was a long shot but the family of three, mother and two foals at the last minute jumped aboard before the doors snapped shut and the train lurched forward.

“Oh thank The Old Ones children, we made it! I thought we would have missed the train and would had to wait for the next one.” the young mother spoke to nopony in particular except to voice her own thoughts.

The small family having worn themselves, decided to settle down on the open benches next to the doors, across from a passively thinking Private Dreams. The mare noticed their companion and gave him a warm smile through her attempts to catch her breath.

“Looks like.. we were... the lucky ones uh sir? While… I’m happy we.. made it, I can’t help… but feel for the ones… that now have to wait for the next train.” Inspiring Dreams lifted his head to get a better look at the young mother as his mind slowly started to process her words.

“How many ponies do you think were affected?”

“Well from the what ticketpony told me, this train was suppose to be full and that…” Inspiring Dreams turned his head and for the first time took noticed just how many ponies were on board. Including him and the mother of two, there were only 9 ponies in their car that could have easily held another 7 ponies. If all the other cars were like this than he was solely responsible for the damnation of possibly 28 ponies… 28 or more ponies that could have escaped whatever was going to happen.

Private Dreams laid his head back down on the suddenly less comfortable bench, the thought of sleep now being the furthest thing from his mind.

________________________________________________________________________

“Why do these little ponies continue their pointless struggles?” Victoria pondered as she expanded her hold over the castle. A hold where any and all that contributed to the world’s current state were taken care of, entombed in ice or crystal for eternity.

The one and only solution to a ever maddening world.

“HERE SHE COMES! IRON WEIGHT HOL…”

“ SHINING DAWN IS DOWN! TELL THOSE PONIES TO HURRY!”

Yet they still fought and skirmished with her at every corner... and every hall... for every damnable patch of ground! Would it not be simpler to just roll over and accept her generous salvation than to live in fear and pain? No. No it wouldn’t and it was that kind of logic that the frost phoenix liked most about these ponies.

In a way it was a link and a personal reminder to her old kind’s unimaginable power and conviction. A sense or desire that she dearly missed and yet it would be this pride that would ultimately make Victoria’s job all the more easier. Instead of having to hunt them down, they would willing come to her.

“RUN! FALLBACK TO NEXT POI…”

Victoria’s ice shard found another mark with practiced ease bring the pony down with one strike. His companions wasted no time running away as the giant avian continued her unstoppable advance, bring with her a creeping sheet of frost trailing just behind her shadow. The sheet acted more like a swarm of pixies than a natural phenomena, hungry for the warmth of the world around it.

Even the symbolic flames of the hallway torches were unable to combat the chill as fires froze in mid flame. Its characteristics, color, and warmth were all stolen by the frost’s tempering resentment to all that didn’t fit the perfect world plan.

“Another pony, another soul saved from the world.” Victoria repeated the phrase since leaving the castle catacombs. It was enough to make the old bird caw at the irony of her life’s current direction. Oh she never was much of a religious woman growing up but after following Nightmare Moon around after her ascension and listening to her preach about the moon and stars… well the whole aspect of rebirth and redemption just really struck a chord.

“Come one, come all and hear th…

___________________________________

“...e words that’ll set you free! I pray to thee to come forth from under the sun and allow your eyes to see the hidden truth.”

Victoria listened to the preacher from a wooden fence nearest the house where most of the townsponies had gathered to listen. The preacher alicorn walked calmly along the edge of the announcement stage, eyeing the mass that had gathered to not only listen but to gaze upon the forbidden body of one of their princesses. Unless related to them or one of their servants and guards many ponies would never get the chance to see them; most assumed they were made up and they were being ruled by a surviving clan of the old unicorn dynasty.

A strange and unforgettable pair the two made: Celestia and Philomena, Luna and Victoria. So foreign in fact that many of the ponies assumed her to be of griffon descent or a familiar of the Princess of the Night.

Honestly Victoria the frost phoenix wondered that herself.

“We understand the fear and hesitation seeping from your minds and we do not blame thee for it. To be exposed suddenly to a new thought or way of life is a daunting prospect but we promise it is something to at least consider.” the nightly alicorn continued her pacing back and forth along the small the stage, a tactic to insure all eyes would continue watching and not wonder off.

“We mean no ill toward our sister but she is comparable to a mother hen that won’t let her children leave the nest. While that instinct has served our fledgling country well but how can we grow and learn when we are not even allowed to wander and discover the world? My sister, Princess Celestia is kind but over motherly to us, even we are not allowed to leave the castle unless accompanied by an escort or by herself.”

Victoria continued watching her friend and master as she shifted from fence post too fence post, half from boredom and half from just wanting to explore the rural country town. Like many things in this new world, it was strange to see so many stereotypic ideas and conceptions: sunshine, rainbows, unicorns, magic, one trick ponies, talking animals and princess that could move the very stars themselves.

“A rather lovely if childish world, but that charm is what keeps me waking up in the morning. What new adventure will this day bring me?” the little blue phoenix thought as she continued hopping along the section of fence that led closer the the town’s outskirts nearest the massive fields of wheat.

“Ah that’s it! This town also reminds of that old Disney Ichabod Crane movie, complete with a dark(but still lovely) spooky night and deserted outlying fields. Victoria cried as she felt her spirits rising. She loved this world and her caretaker but at heart she was still a human trapped in a fairytale, but whether it was the child friendly or Grim version was still unclear.

The further she left the little town the more the air felt comfortable; the chilling midnight freeze complimented the phoenix’s nature like the moon to the stars in the night sky. The castle life is fine if you were a hermit that wanted nothing but to isolate themselves from the world around them. A shut in with little experience to the dealings of the everyday person...pony and would still claim they knew what’s best!

“Stupid Celestia.” the teenager like bird bickered to herself while occasionally using a wing to swirl flakes of frost and snow into reality, watching as the breeze carried them into the world.

“Who know Celestia doesn’t like it when you do that.”

Victoria squawked like an angry cucucu, flapping her wings madly to control her descent to the ground. The owner of the voice had the courtesy to feel ashamed and glided down from her hidden spot in a neighbouring oak to check on her friend.

“Oh I’m so sorry Victoria! I didn’t realize you were that lost in thought.” the red bird sincerely apologized.

The frost phoenixed rocked side to side finding the momentum to propel herself off her back and onto her talons, fluttering her wings with irritation. Victoria knew the voice very well and during her time in this land it was a companion and staple to her new normalcy, but now she began calling it into question.

Both phoenixes now gave each other the benefit of their attention, one colored in the fiery reds of change while looking down on the cool blues of stillness. A moment that was unintentional but could and would become a rallying cry for the oppressed.

“Why are you here Philomena? I thought I made it clear we weren’t going to change our minds.” Philomena cringed at the still very vivid memory but decided not to press it.

“ I know, you were very adamant about it, and while it was selfish for me to have tried that but please just hear me out. I’m sorry for singeing your tail but the reason I’m even here right now is to warn you.”

The blue phoenix immediately took flight and retook her seat on the fence, which was right next to her former friend/sister.

“Warn me about what?”

“Its my careta… It’s Celestia. She’s on the move with a troop of guard looking for Luna; she’s going to bring Luna back with force if required. The nobles are in a rut, Luna’s spreading almost treasonous ideas and Celestia is growing more and more desperate to end this “rebellion” and return the status quo.”

________________________________________________________

And look where your warning has led me to sister… but enough of this and what was.” Victoria emphasized those choice words with another shard of ice, claiming yet another pony while scraping one that had bolted down another hall. The pony was likely a servant the phoenix guessed from the way it wore the Empire’s crest on a cleanly pressed collar around its neck. That and the mare matched the others that had worn a similar collar with their various outfits.

Victoria lowered her head to meet the pony at eye level, trying to collect as much data about the mare as possible. Besides the collar and her Crystal Heart on a silver platter cutiemark, the frost phoenix ignored what she considered major attributes and instead decided to focus on some of the many minute details that truly made the mare.

The most obvious quirk was how her right foreleg locked in placed, leaving it unable to fully retract to her breast; a possible old injury or birth defect? Likely so. How the young mare had managed life up to this point the phoenix knew not but it was likely by this saving fault alone that allowed the mare to be saved sooner.

“You are in luck young mare that I had found you first or else who knows what would have happened. Perhaps you would have been plucked from the very ground by an eagle! Hahaha! Please forgive me young pony, it is a sort of joke amongst us birds.”

The mare said nothing in her desperate attempt to trick the intimidating phoenix.

“ Well aren’t you a well mannered pony miss! In my short time back I have dealt with nothing but the rude and simply undeserving of my gift but you are the first to truly understand what is at stake. For that you have my thanks. The world I remember was one fraught with remnants of The Discordian Era and… you’re forgetting to breath miss.” Victoria casually reminded the lame pony before her, waiting for the mare finally grasped what she had said and thank the frost phoenix.

The mare remained silent, even with the addition of Victoria nudging her side to wake her.

This presented a dimilia to the normally robust phoenix. The mare continued to ignore her polite attempts even after having just thanked her for being alert and understanding to the plight of the her mission. The phoenix retracted her neck from the young mare while raising her head to better obversive the area around them; a slim hope that she was just missing a minor detail.

Maybe the pony was more lame than she first guessed? Unlikely if her mannerisms from earlier said anything. If a pony had the lungs to fake terror and run with the rest of them than she should be more than capable of giving a response.

While mentally debating this conundrum, Victoria felt something wet under her talons. Looking down, she couldn’t help be take an interest at the pool beneath pony; what is that?

Maybe the mare spilt her wine and was just silently mopping?

__________________________________________________________

The near bagging door signaled the young home owner’s return. Another day of work ending with another evening of t.v. watching and nothing productive being accomplished.

Over all nothing new and exciting to shake up the mundane; a fixed routine that Victoria had become accustomed to and adopted as normal. Sure she was slowly changing it up a bit, but nothing too major to knock everything off balance.

It was peaceful.

With the door locked and her belongings discarded to the chair next to the door, Victoria immediately started setting up her routine: Turn t.v. on, turn computer on and check for updates, wonder to kitchen and debate on what to eat.

The cupboards all gradually opened to their mistress, displaying their barren shelves as the t.v. flared to life. Victoria paid it little attention as she sighed at her food situation once more.

“Looks like its rice and eggs again tonight.” She told herself as she reached for the half full bag of rice sitting on the top. While she was going through the motions, her mind began looking for something to occupy it long enough; the commercial advertising another Law and Order:SVU marathon was enough to wet its appetite.

Victoria as any college student living on a budget, she could only afford the basic channels and luckily one of them just loved having nothing but Law and Order marathons, which quickly became her favorite thing to watch.

She nearly jumped over her small coffee table, landing sideways on her used coach just as the opening title started playing. Sadly she missed the opening that would normally set up the episode while she was starting her rice, but it didn’t really take much away. Victoria sighed happily as the stress from the day began melting away to the tone of the ironically very serious show.

It opened like nearly all its counterparts, starting with Detective Stabler and Detective Benson walking under the traditional yellow crime scene tape. Officers were standing around the perimeter making sure the public wouldn’t cross or taking some accounts from possible witnesses. From the trees and grass surrounding them Victoria assumed it was Central Park as the pair went past a couple trees, down the side of a small slope were Dr. Warner herself was kneeling.

Dr. Warner was positioned in front of the body, blocking the majority of the body from view leaving only the victim’s long, silk like brown hair to been seen. The shot panned out to show the two detectives from the front as they arrived at the body, which quickly turned into a still shot of a…

“A horse?” Victoria asked, thankful she just finished taking a sip of her water before the money shot. The thoughts of this as a either a very lame joke or something that’ll lead to perhaps a drug smuggling ring through horses came to mind.

“What do we got.” Elliot went straight to the point, ignoring the look his partner gave him before looking at the horse with a shard lodged in its abdomen. Melinda Warner kept her tone professional, trying her best not snap at his lack of compassion.

“Well, Jane Doe here is an earth pony mare around the ages of 16-23. I don’t have the schooling to know the exact difference but going off of how young she looks and the bone structure I can say its accurate.”

“I take it the shard is what killed her doctor?” Olivia asked while pointing to the nearly 6 inch shard. She nodded.

“Yes, that is the cause of death. Poor girl has a slight stiffness around the join of her foreleg here meaning if she ran than it would have been much harder to escape. She didn’t really stand a chance.”

All three went quiet for a moment before Elliot asked the question Victoria had started asking herself.

“Do we have any leads to her killer? Do we know the bastard that would do this to an innocent pony?” Victoria leaned as close to her t.v as she could from her couch. A joke or not this was different from her normal routine and she found it rather fun.

Dr. Warner for the first time since the show started looked up into the camera, giving the world a view of stoic expression. The shot lingered to allow a disturbing smile to form. The detectives said nothing as she gave the pony one last look before pointing right at the camera.

“She killed this pony, detectives.” The declaration was just so sudden that Victoria started laughing. She didn’t recognize the episode and assumed it was another one she’d never seen before but this was simply stupid. Her laughter died when she noticed the lack of sound in her apartment.

She opened her eyes to check the t.v for sound when she choked over her own breath. All three characters were staring directly at her, each of their expressions weren’t laughing. Elliot turned so his whole body was facing the screen as he walked unbelievably close to the point Victoria was afraid he was going to climb out of the tv.

“Do you think this is funny uh? Murdering an innocent mare that had nothing against you?”

“What did she do? Did she compliment your hair or asked for directions? Its people like you that remind me why I took this job.” Olivia added as she stepped next her partner so they were shoulder to shoulder.

“The poor girl while likely inconvenienced from a stiff joint, is hardly an excuse to end her life.” The camera had bounced back to the doctor before fixating on the lifeless mare.

Victoria was frantically smashing the red button on the remote trying to turn off the tv but the bottom refused to function, even changing the channels led to the show being on every channel. Every channel, with the same four faces greeting her with three wanting to kill her while the fourth reminded the same.

“Nononononononononono…” She kept repeating non stop, over and over as she flipped channels to rid herself of the guilt and understanding of what was quickly becoming a nightmare.

The camera did a close up of Detective Stabler, signaling it was time to the drive the point right on home.

“That isn’t wine Victoria, that’s bl…”

______________________________________________________

“NO!!!” The thunderous sound turned and bolted down the empty halls of the castle, bring a small measure of life before subcumming to the blizzard that followed. The torrent of hidden shards struck everything with an unequal ferocity unseen since the subduing of the Nightmare Duo. From the tiniest sliver to the largest shard, each pulsing madly as if they were in tune with their mother’s mood.

Victoria’s wings flared around her head, trying to desperately mimic her lost hands; oh the pain!

“Nonononono! She’s not dead… I can’t… I don’t kill… it’s not right.” the panicking phoenix kept telling herself as the blizzard continued to bash the halls all around her. Its magical nature clashing against the magic resistant crystal but because of the sheer power behind the blizzard, the crystals failed to last longer than a minute.

When the phoenix finally calmed enough to open her eyes so did the blizzard relax into a mild snowfall. The delicate flakes fell with no care to the world around as it began to settle. Victoria tried enacting some of the old breathing techniques taught to her what seems like a lifetime ago. The one, two, three thing did its job well enough as she surveyed the newly created winter wonderland around her.

“It’s paradise.” she muttered. The reason for her earlier anger gone as quickly as it had came. How it ignored the daily struggles of life and instilled a sense of tranquility within her breast that only reinforced her belief that this…her work was what the world desperately needed.

Victoria ignored the rather solid lump in the snow in front of her as her talons stepped over it, making her way to the sudden hole in the wall. The remaining dark shards pulsed once as she passed them and held a wing to shield her eyes from nearly blinding sun.

The crystallized houses reflected the sun's rays, making it impossible to see further than what was directly below the phoenix, but what was below made her chirp with glee. Disregarding the small group of ponies running away, a small mob had formed under the base of the building Victoria was perched. Her eyesight, even with the damning sun causing some discomfort wasn’ enough to fully prevent her from catching all the nervous gestures the ponies were doing; quick snaps of their tails, muttering to all their neighbors, and the common, jittering body movements as a whole.

They were unsure what to make of being looking down on them. The light reflecting off its tantalizing feathers bore many of the ponies a mixed reaction of what they should be feeling. Should they be fearing the now visible creature or should they be…

There were mutterings of panic and terror coursing through the herd. Many turned to their neighbors trying to figure out its origin when the giant creature extended its mighty wings blocking the sun around its body. It was also the moment their question was answered, and with it the mob began dispersing in complete terror.

Many ponies ran screaming as they snatched their foals into their hooves trying to maneuver between the dozens of ponies that collided with one another in their quest to make it back home. Through the chaos a little foal stood deadly still, its eyes transfixed on the pretty birdy flying into the sun! The foal watched, squinting his eyes to keep sight until the birds body blocked the sun out…

The foal was suddenly lifted into the air with such a speed, he nearly lost the air in his lungs. He looked up to see his mother’s worried face as she shoved ponies out of her way. The gesture seemed wrong to the young foal and having been taught by his mother and then to watch her do opposite confused him greatly. Maybe she was having a bad day?

He couldn’t think with all the screaming and yelling everypony was making and it was really inconsiderate of them. Didn’t they learn it wasn’t nice to be loud and distracting to others? The foal ignored his mother practically pushing a mare to the ground just so she could go first, and looking at the bird in the sun reminded him of something…

“Mommy! Mommy! That birdy looks likes the Princesses’!” he cried happily remembering the stories of Celestia’s pet phoenix, Philomena. The foal kept pestering his mother about the bird in the sun and how cool it was while Victoria continued to laugh before publicly declare her ultimatum.

“Ponies of this near perfect land… your savior Victoria is here, and I bring with me the gift of tranquility.”

Author's Note:

With these chapters now finished I can finally say the intro is finished. Expect Luna and Philomena to make their appearance next chapter.

Comments

[SeventhBrony]

interesting update except that creepy Law&Order bit that show shitty enough but to ponify everything? that's just creepy

[KarmaSentinal]

4310744 Haha! I wanted to give a small snippet of her past with Luna(which I may expand upon with a prequel story of sorts later) but at the same time I wanted to show a bit of the old Victoria was still left. So I figured a small scene with her subconscious telling her what she just did felt right.

[KarmaSentinal]

4320419 Yep, sorry about than. When I write stories I don't like flat out telling people whats happening or giving back story if its not important at that moment. The reasoning for this is because I want the readers to have that sense of "Oh, I wonder what happened." The chapters from this point forward will be more liner because the "prologue" is finished.