The bride of sparkle

by the frank

5. Exodus!

5.
Whether it was by pure luck or whatever, Pounds life were able to be saved. But that didn't put an end to the talking. The question on everyponys lips was "What kind of freak of nature could there be that could do this to a small, innocent filly?" However, after some weeks, the commotion died down. Everything went back to normal. The society talked about it for a while, then it was forgotten.

The kids were the first to forget. To them, there never was a threat, really. And for a kid, life is eternal, and death is unthinkable. And who really knew what happened? It was summer! No pony wanted to waste valuable playtime!

Now, their parents did not forget that easily. They kept their fillies and colts under severe supervision for a couple of days, but finally, they had to let them out again. They had to be honest with themselves, nothing had happened after the attack on Pound. So there was not very much they could do, other then to let them run free again.

The Princesses didn't forget, even though it might have looked that way. They were still searching for the explanation. They were investigating but time erased the tracks. Nature, and dead Timberwolves, were very bad witnesses.

There was somepony who didn't need to forget. Because she was finally happy again. She brought her love back from the dead. Sure, she behaved like a three year old. But Twilight had no problem with that. She was there, together with her again. And for Twilight, that's all that was necessary.

But if one would think everything was nice and happy, one would have to think again. Because there was somepony else who did not forget.
The one who promised her friend to always be there. The one who felt like she betrayed her friend when she couldn't be strong for two. The one who remembered a certain desperate cry...

Applejack couldn't sleep. That was really painful, because for the last weeks she had been deep down it work. She needed her sleep so she could work as hard as she needed to distract herself and she needed that distraction because she didn't like the thoughts she was having whenever her mind wandered. And she hated what she was thinking. She hated the fact that she had doubts in a friend. But she couldn't deny her feeling that something was seriously wrong. Twilight was behaving strange, and the attack on Pound was not something you took easy. But she couldn't really put her hoof on it... And as the night rolled on, there was not very much to do, than to give in.

Oh, sod! Sleep can wait. Let's think this through, maybe it will go away then... Now, there isn't very much to go on. ...there are four things, but....

1. Twilight was working on a way to get Rainbow back. I know Twilight. She never gives up. Not even when she faces the impossible.

2. "SHE must be in one of my books." Not it. She. Why "She?"

3. Twilight has been much happier in the last weeks. Now, unless you’re Pinkie, you don't change your mood so quick. And even Pinkie didn't change back that fast, she is still Pinkamena for most of the time. So Twilights behaviour is really strange.... And she hasn't talked about Rainbow Dash at all...

No no, Jaqueline Apple. This is just your imagination and paranoia that plays with you! These are no facts to rely on at all! Everything has a perfect, natural explanation...except for one thing...

4."We saw it! We saw it! It looked like a pegasi! But...weird. ”Number 4. The big one. Something that looked like a pegasi but weird.

A pegasi back from the dead would be quite weird... Not that I don't miss her... but that's not the way I want her back...

Applejacks heart went up in her throat. All her vague ideas did not jump to a conclusion, but they were pointing in a direction she didn't want to go.

Perhaps I should tell Princess Celestia... No! Not now! I don't have enough evidence to tell the princess.

But enough to go for a walk around Twilights tree and just...check things up.

"Ah better bring Pinkamena. Ah might need the company..."

...

At the Golden oak library, everything was calm and in order. They had successfully moved the creature here some days ago, and things were going rather well. The days had been filled with studies and playing. Twilight actually did enjoy to have a...well sort of a foal around her. Spike had to be reminded not to talk about private matters in public sometimes, but that was working out as well. She really was getting good at using the whip. This was a nice little evening routine to give him a piece of the whip, just to make things sure... Right now she was reading a bedtime story for Dashie. Twilight wasn't keen on those ones normally, but the joy in Dashies eyes every time she red to her was well worth it.

"Mummy! More!"

"Oh, no Dashie. Now it's time to sleep!"

"No. Mummy. Read."

"Well, ok. One more. But just one more!"

The creature looked eagerly onto the book. The ugly duckling. That was her number one favourite.

"It was so beautiful out on the country, it was summer- the wheat fields were golden, the oats were green, and down among the green meadows the hay was stacked...."

It did not take very long until she heard a familiar snore. As Twilight looked at her sleeping Dashie, she felt calm and relaxed. Finally everything went as planned. The days had been wonderful. They had begun training her speech. Now, at the moment she only talked in two- or three word-sentences, but Twilight had decided that this was to be considered as just "cute". She had lectured her in reading. She was far from reading the latest Daring do, but fairy tales and comics was good enough. She had lectured her about the land they lived in, the three...four types of ponies, and what they did and their types of magic.

"You are going to be so beautiful...Everypony's going to love you, just like I do. Everything will be just as before. They will perhaps be a little startled at first...and we may have to dye your mane... but they will love you, just like before. Just like I love you, so will they."

Twilight let out a comfortable sigh. Everything was going to be just perfect. She could see herself surrounded by her friends. They would cheer with joy...The whole town would there to greet her...and Princess celestia would also be there...to congratulate her...for achieving the impossible.

Twilights dreams were painted in pink and light blue. She didn’t hear the door to the library open. She didn't hear the steps in the stairway. She didn't hear how the door to the room crack open.

But she did hear the scream.

"AAAAAAAHHH!"

Actually, two terrified screams came from the door. Applejack and Pinkamena was standing there, staring at them.

"Twilight...what exactly is...that?"

Twilight looked at her creation. She was awake now, and looked, in her special little way annoyed and disturbed.

The creature hated loud sounds. It wanted to make them stop. It wanted to get back to sleep, but if those ponies, as mommy told here they were called, would keep screaming, that wouldn't happen. She wanted to just make them shut up. But mommy had also teached her that ponies wanted to be friendly. And if she wanted ponies to be friendly, she also had to be friendly herself. Now they had stopped screaming, at least for a while, so the creature decided it was time to try. She just did what mommy had teached her to. She started to walk towards the two now deadly frightened earthponys.

...

The sight of the creature was so disturbing that Applejack really couldn't get her mind straight. She knew that it must be Rainbow Dash, but she looked so crooked and different from the Rainbow Dash she remembered that there was no way that she would accept that they were the same pony. The green fur, the black mane... the eyes... And the way it walked...The creature was walking with a small limp, caused by the fact that the leg Twilight found was just half an inch too short. And it was even more prominent when the creature walked slowly. The fact that the scars on the flank was clearly visible didn't make the impression better and to round it all up, the creature didn't really know how to smile. Rainbow Dash had never been good a smiling without a smirk face, and the creature smiled the same way. But with her features, it actually looked like she was going to eat them.

Applejack wasn't the world’s most conservative pony. She had no problem with her friends being gay, she was pretty open to different religions and she sure as hay wasn't a racist pony. But...the idea of reanimating dead things? No. That was something Nightmare moon would do. Things that came back from the other side were nasty, evil creatures, that was Applejacks belief. And even though this was something her best friend had done...no, it couldn't be excused. This was wrong. Just wrong!

The ponies, as mommy called them, was shaking. Well, they were at least silent. But shaking. Was that good? The creature wasn't sure. But, mommy was supposed to be right, wasn't she? And so, she stretched out a hoof.

"grunt...frieeeeends?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

This would have been a great time if Fluttershy had been present. She would have seen through the creature’s scary features, and...
Who am I kidding? She would have done the same, screamed from the top of her lungs, and running away.

"Yer keep yer hooves to yerself yer stinkin' devils seed!"

Applejack placed herself in the "fighting position". Head low, all four legs steady on the floor. Nopony, not even dead ones, would have a chance to get to her. While Applejack watched the creature, Pinkamena stared at Twilight.

" Twilight... why? Why? This is...this is...disgusting! This is...not fun at all!"

"Pinkie...It's...She's not..."

"She? Are you calling it she? This is not a pony! This is some kind of... Monster! This is disgusting! This is...hey! Come back here!"

Twilight didn't say very mych, but it was enough to make Applejack snap at her. And the creature didn't understand what was going on. It got scared. And so, she resorted to the only thing she could do. She ran. She jumped over the two earth ponies, out the door, and out of the library. The only thought was to get away, the rest...was to be taken care of later. But Applejack wasn't going to let her get away that easy!

"Pinkie, yer stay here and make sure Twilight doesn't go anywhere. Ah will get that...that...thing!

...

The creature ran the streets of Ponyville. She didn't really know where to go, and her mind didn't get a chance to easy either, whit Applejack showing up almost every time the creature though she lost her. Why did that pony chase her? Why? She hadn't done anything!

"Yer stop right there, yer freak!"

More loud sounds. And she had thought that this pony looked nice? Now the creature got angry! Well...If they couldn't be friends, the creature decided to try something she knew would work. She was strong. She could scare things. She could brake things. And she could hurt other ponies. So she turned around, and charged at Applejack. Applejack didn't know anything about the creature’s strength, and so she ran straight into her. The creature stretched out her hoof, causing Applejack to fly some ten feet back. The hurt she felt when she hit the ground made here even madder, and she was quick up on her hooves. If this thing wanted to fight, she wouldn't back down! And neither would the creature. She pawed the ground with her hooves. So did Applejack. She lowered her head and snorted. So did Applejack. They circled around each other for a while, waiting, studying the other. Was there any weak spots? Where to put the first blow? They looked deep into each other’s eyes. The creature saw hatred, anger, disgust and determination in Applejacks eyes. She felt a pain inside her that was stronger than any emotion she had before, and she quickly turned that emotion into anger fuel.

Oh well, if that's the way you feel about me, let’s have it, then. You shall not live to see me face again

Applejack didn't care about details. She just saw a monstrous creature that once perhaps had been her friend but now, it was just a varmint you needed to exterminate.

"If yer ever think Ahm gonna let yer live yer wrong! Yer going down!"

Now they were still. Everything was still. And then, simultaneously and with synchronized roars they charged at each other. Applejack managed to get a grip on the creatures head, and doing a backflip, she managed to throw the creature onto the ground, but she didn't release her grip. The creature managed to get up, and raised her hoof to struck a blow on AJs muzzle, but the blew was not hard enough to make Applejack lose her grip on the creatures head. So the creature locked a grip on AJs head as well, and then, using her full strength, she hurled them both into a nearby wall. The wall cracked, and some of the brimstones fell to the ground. That made Applejack loose her grip, and the creature took her chance. She gripped Applejacks hindleg and started to wing her whole body around, and sending it right into another window. It took some time for Applejack to come out of the house she was thrown into, but the creature was waiting for her. Applejack seethed with anger. Her eyes became a fiery white and though it felt like she had broken a rib and was bleeding from multiple places of her body, it didn't slow her down, and soon, she charged back at the creature almost at once, and managed to get her down on her back. Applejack raised her hooves and struck blow after blow onto the creatures head. The creature did feel the pain, but she also felt the electricity build inside her. She did get hurt, but mostly she got angrier! She raised her hoof, making a stop for Applejacks hoof right in the middle of a blow, and again she summoned all her strength into her backhoove, sending Applejack seven yards into the air, and then she crash landed on the ground head first.

Applejack lay still. She breathed, but she had nothing left in her. She had used all her energy, and that hadn't been enough. She started to drift away. Now, the creature wasn't finished. She threw herself on top of Applejack, first making her face her. And then, she struck her head with a blow. And then another one. The creature was basically beating the shit out of applejack. There was more blood now, so much you could hardly see any part of Applejacks face. The Creature didn't notice her hoof become bloody, nor did she hear the blows become wetter with each hit. Not much life left in her now. And finally...the final strike of mercy.

Then, something happened that the creature never expected. Applejack opened her eyes. And she spoke. Softly.

"I'm sorry Dashie...I didn't want to end it...like this..."

The creature was dumbstruck. This pony was sorry? Sorry for what? Sorry for...trying to hur her?
And then, there was a sudden light. And another one. And another one. And voices. Voices, voices came from everywhere.

"It's the monster that molested Pound!"

"And now it has taken Applejack!"

"It killed her! It killed her!"

"No, it is not too late! She's breathing! Look, she's breathing! GET OF HER YOU FREAK!"

"KILL IT! KILL IT! We must get rid of it! It's a danger to us all!!"

Apparently, most of Ponyvilles population had awoken by the fight, and now, the creature faced almost 99 very angry ponies. She backed away from the wounded Applejack and the crowd. Some ponies rushed forward to take care of Applejack, the rest of them armed themselves with whatever they could find. Cricket bats, pitchforks, torches, donuts, scythes... And they were closing in on the creature. The creature didn't feel any anger anymore. It was just afraid. And so, the creature did something she hadn't tried before, and because she was raised by a unicorn, she didn't know she could do it either.

She flew.

She flew like a drunken crow, up, down, sideways. But since she had the muscles and the wings for it, it actually looked like she was attacking the mob with her uncontrolled moves. The thing that in reality was really clumsy navigation looked to the ponies on the ground like random charges against them. And that filled the mob with fear, and a whole group of feared ponys was like a grupo of sheeps. So, in spite of their large number and weaponry, they pretty soon ran in panic in every direction.

"It's dangerous!"

"It's crazy!"

"It will kill us all! RUN FOR YOUR LIFES!"

In the end, the creature was alone. At least, she had learned to fly roughly. But she was sad. Nopony wanted to be friendly with her. They were just angry, or violent...or both. And loud. Extremely loud. And they had fire. She didn't like fire. And mommy wasn't there.
The creature flew towards the Everfree. There it at least could be alone. As she flew, she spotted a small light in the middle of the forest and a chimney with smoke coming out of it. She had seen Zecoras hut some times before, but never been inside. In her mind, a small memory of a rhyme came up. Yeah, she had some memories of the whiteandblackthingy. Was she nice? The creature memories were blurry, but she had some remembrance of Zecora helping...something with wings...

A last attempt. And...Mommy had been talking about Zecora, how she helped ponies and that she was welcoming to all. A nice pony. Just what the creature needed.

Zecora was meditating. But the harmony she felt was ruzzled, something was disturbing her peace. Three hard knocks on her door. And when she opened...well, she was a bit startled, but even though she had never seen this creature, she immediately knew what it was. Black mane, one wing larger than the other, green fur...two scars. Actually, even more when she looked close. Zecora was in this way different from the other ponies. She didn't see a freak or a monster or a varmint. She just saw two sad eyes, filled with sad and desperate hope, and a poor miserable creature who desperately needed help.

"Frieeeend?" it said.

"Friend indeed, my lonesome child, come in, come in, exclude the wild”

Zadora wasn't afraid. She had seen some broken spirits in her days, so this was not a new experience to her. Whether she did recognize Rainbow and understood what she had become was unimportant. She knew what this pony lacked, and she knew what was needed to change her.

"Oh you poor thing without a goal, things might improve if you got a soul"

The creature grunted. Soul? No word that mommy had taught her. What was a soul? Was it a good thing? Mommy only thought her good things...Well, mommy had also said that ponies wanted to be friendly... At look how that turned out. No, she decided to trust this blackandwhitestripedthingy. She seemed nice. Soul was good. Now, the creature found Zecoras hut to be a good place to stay for a while. Zecora gave her something to eat, and water. She lit up the fire, to make the creature warm, and then, she started to do her magic.

Well, it wasn't really magic, it was just her knowledge of nature’s own medicines and healing herbs. But it could achieve things that felt like magic. Zecora had a vague idea what to do, and she had to dig deep in her papers to find the potion she was looking for. It was a potion for restoration of the mind. She was a bit hesitant. Now, it was not an advanced potion, it was basically a very rough mix of five very bitter herbs. But...she never really tried it on anypony. And the brief records she had upon its use, the only thing she knew was for the effects to be a bit uncertain. However, this creature was in desperate need of help. Something must be done, and... There was no danger in trying. So...

"Drink this my newly born friend, it will do you good in the end"

It did taste extremely bitter but the creature drank it all. Pretty soon it started to feel dizzy. The potion did a re-boot of her brain, her soul and her memories. The process was extremely painful. Her heart felt like it was going to explode and her stomach was burning with a pain out of this world. And the creature knew pain. And then, it was like she was being drenched by a tide of time and memories. She could not breathe, she was drowning. And the memories just kept coming. It hurt, it hurt so much she wanted to rip her hearth out of her chest. And then everypart of her body started to ache, especially the backhoof and wing that didn't originally belong to her. She was laying on the floor, twisting, her legs pulling back an forth in spasms. And for every spasm, a new tide of memory fell over her and drenched her.

This was not a thing the creature wasn't prepared for. It felt angry again. This was not a nice pony either! She wanted to hurt her, to make her feel the same pain the creature did. The creature had troubles concentrating, but she finally made her eyes steady enough to look and aim at Zecora. The creature groaned, got up on her legs, wobbled for a bit...and charged with its hooves. But, dizzy as she was, she didn't remember her strength. The next second Zecora was lying on the floor with her head crushed and blood and body fluids floating on the floor.

The creature was roaring, but very soon, the roaring changed to words. Full sentences. The creature was no longer a creature. It was a pony again.

"What have I done....what have done! Please! Please...Ze...Zecora! Please! Don't be..."

The pony once known as Rainbow looked at the dead zebra on the floor. She recognized Zecora. The events of the evening came back to her like a kick in the head. She had almost killed one of her friends. She had scared the life out of ponyville. She had killed Zecora.

"Oh no... Oh no....OH NOOOOOOOO!!!"

The pony once known as Rainbow was in a great state of chock. For a while, she just sat there in the hut. The actions that she had committed, and which felt extremely logic at its time, now felt like barbaric, extremely unnecessary and stupid. What was she really? She needed answers. She couldn't go back to twil...mommy? No....She had another memory. It was a little vague, but she knew the right direction. She went for the castle.

Author's Note:

"The author rolls hirs eyes with a smirk, tilts hirs head to te left, where a small red flag, with the words "OH HOW EEEVIL!" printed on it emerges.