4. Amaryllis' Story Begins
The bunker seems to be laid out in a very sensible manner; the rooms and corridors are designed such that there is no wasted space. Because of that, however, the place feels cramped. Whoever built this place was likely prioritizing practicality rather than comfort.
Rainbow and I are slowly getting frustrated. We can't seem to explore any of the main offshoot chambers because of the presence of those infuriatingly sturdy doors blocking us at every turn. More than once I consider smashing my way through them, but that would likely take a lot of effort on my part...and I still don't know how stable these ruins are. You got to give humans credit though...it was like they were expecting someone to try and break down their doors with the force of a speeding train.
My current goal is to find my way to the living area. I'm hoping that I'll be able to find something there that'll tell me a little more about what happened here. Of course, I'm assuming that something did happen here. Something that would cause the administration to vacuum seal the entire bunker.
We end up at a T-shaped intersection at the end of the current hallway. According to the sign on the wall, the labs and main reactor (whatever that means) are to the left, while living areas are to the right. Rainbow bounces ahead and attempts to head that way before I can even say anything...and then she yells out in annoyance less than half a minute later.
“Darn it! I've had it up to here with these doors!” Rainbow curses when we come face to face with yet another locked door. I sigh heavily as well. It seems I am being forced to find a way to get these doors open if I ever want to figure out what's going on. “Seth, are you sure there's no way to power these things?”
“Reasonably sure, yes. Like I said, nothing we have was meant to last this long,” I admit to her, once again feeling the urge to beat the door down. “The only reason I got the cameras working in my old college is that there was a hand crank generator...and I had to work at that thing for several minutes to get enough charge to run video.”
“Right...I don't really get it, but can't you do the same thing here?” Rainbow looks understandably clueless about my explanation. Any talk about human technology tends to go right over her head.
“I could...if there was a hand crank generator here too. But to power the whole complex...well...that might take a few hours of cranking,” I answer reluctantly. “That's only if there's a generator like that here.”
“Well, let's go see if we can find a cranker then!” Rainbow asserts. Heh, a cranker. That's one way of putting it. She turns towards the only other path left for us to take: the one heading towards the main reactor. “Come on!”
“I'm telling you, there's not going to be one. It seems this place was powered by a reactor...whatever that means,” I tell her pointedly. I've only ever heard the term “reactor” being applied to nuclear reactors...though that doesn’t make sense. Fission reactors have the tendency to blow up without maintenance...and fusion reactors were never fully implemented. I keep quiet about this though. Rainbow wouldn't have the slightest clue about nuclear power. All of this is making me wish we'd brought Flash Forward with us.
“Who cares? It's not like there's another hall we can take. Might as well take a look, right?” Rainbow returns rather sensibly.
“Fair enough, I guess,” I say with a light chuckle. She has a point. If we still don't find anything, I'm going to say fuck it and power my way through the door with all I have. To hell with the consequences.
“Hey, some of these doors are open!” Rainbow calls to me from within the hallway. In true Rainbow style, she ran ahead of me before I could finish processing my own thoughts. Filing those thoughts for later, I catch up to her into the new hallway.
According to the sign at the crossroads, there are supposed to be labs around here. You'd think that those doors would be the most secure, but Rainbow is right. These doors are not only open, but they're also made in a more standard design. Just as I'm catching up to her, Rainbow pokes her nose into one of the rooms, and then slips inside without waiting for me.
“Oh cool!” Rainbow exclaims. I sigh and hurry my pace in an attempt to catch up with her before she breaks something. When I join her in the room, I shine the light on her to reveal her sitting behind a desk in a swivel chair, balancing a coffee mug on one hoof.
“What are you doing?” I ask her pointedly, crossing my arms.
“Check it out, Seth! The chair spins!” Rainbow exclaims, taking a moment to spin around on the swivel chair...only for the cylinder holding the chair up to break underneath the increased strain. The pegasus is sent tumbling to the ground, the coffee mug shattering on the floor. “Waah!”
“And that's what you get for trying to play around on a three thousand year old swivel chair,” I respond without missing a beat. Rainbow just groans from where she's lying face down on the floor.
After that, I take a moment to look around. This room appears to be a simple office, with the typical desk and computer. In this case, the computer is a laptop of a brand I don't recognize. I lift up the lid to take a look at the interface, but I don't bother trying to power it up. The battery is long dead no doubt, and even if we did have power, I don't see an AC adapter to charge the thing up with.
I brush the shards of the coffee mug out of the way and continue to the back of the room. Here, there's a thin counter running along the back wall, with cupboards bolted to the wall just above it. It looks like a workplace if I've ever seen one, given the aged chemistry sets and microscope.
Trying to figure out what this particular scientist was working on ends up being a waste of time. There are papers on the counter, but they're so fragile that touching them causes them to tear or crumble. Even with a vacuum seal, three thousand years is a long time for something that usually degrades in a few months. I also can't decipher anything from the writing on the paper, as it's mostly figures and charts that don't make much sense. Whatever he was working on, it's too advanced for someone like me.
Once I've determined that I can't glean anything else from this room, I meet back up with Rainbow in the hallway. “Come on,” I say to her, orienting my flashlight on the hallway ahead. “It can't be that much farther to the reactor.”
“Right behind you.”
Approximately 3000 Years Ago
As the time of day moved closer to the evening, business started slowing down at one of the many banks in Grenville. This particular bank was one of a major chain of banks that could be found all along the east coast of the United States, and as such usually received a great deal of business from the citizenry.
The bank was relatively small, consisting of a simple single story building constructed from metal and plaster and complete with a basement, where the vault was located. Entering from the street would reveal a homey entrance hall with couches and armchairs in the front right corner of the room, where customers could sit and wait for their turn at the tellers.
On the left side of the bank was a hallway that curved back on itself, containing the offices of some of the more important of the bank employees. This hallway eventually led back behind the counter at the far end of the room, where the tellers would meet with customers and tend to their needs.
Behind the counter and out of sight of the customers was a row of computers, where other employees would work to organize the customers’ transactions and perform other data organization tasks. Here, a thirty year old Amaryllis could be seen sitting at one of the computers, her eyes fixed on the charts and figures before her.
It was a difficult job, so she was able to ignore her own deeply personal feelings and focus on the tasks before her. Right now, she was tasked with updating the database's security to the latest version of the software, to protect from the ever present threat of injection. Amaryllis always found it slightly ironic that even though she had majored in math, she still had to learn some computer programming in order to make full use of her talents. She thought with bitter amusement that Seth would be proud of her.
As she typed lines of code, Amaryllis became aware of her phone vibrating in her pocket. She was struck with momentary curiosity as to who would be calling her, but it soon passed. She couldn't exactly answer her phone while she was at work.
If anything, it was probably that bio-mathematics firm that had been headhunting her recently. It paid extremely well, but it would require her to head all the way up to New York for an interview...and then move there if she got the job. Amaryllis couldn't lie...it was tempting, but she didn't want to leave this city. If she left Grenville, she'd feel like she'd be leaving everything that defined her behind...her memories with Seth and his family.
It was a decision she wasn't looking forward to making. For now however, they could wait; she was working, and there was no way she'd be able to justify taking a break to talk about working for another company.
Just as Amaryllis forgot about it and went back to working, her phone started buzzing again. She sighed in annoyance. This couldn't be the company. No company was that needy. She made to ignore the call again, but when her phone started buzzing for the third time, her irritation and curiosity got the better of her. She slid out her phone for a look at the number that was calling her.
She almost dropped the phone. Seth was calling her. Amaryllis completely forgot about her work as she attempted to make sense of this. Seth couldn't be calling her. He was long gone and more than likely dead. If anything, someone must have gotten hold of the number somehow. Her ire rose like a tidal wave when she considered that someone might be calling this number as a sort of joke.
She shoved the phone back in her pocket and attempted to ignore it...but that turned out to be impossible. “Seth” kept calling again and again, until finally Amaryllis lost her temper. She got up from her workstation and stormed down the hallway until she was standing outside, behind the bank. She clicked the answer button and brought the phone to her ear, intent on unleashing her fury on the unwitting caller.
Amaryllis didn't even let the caller start talking. “Is this some kind of sick fucking joke!?” she lashed out, her voice steadily rising. “Do you think you're some kind of big shot, spitting on my friend's memory like this?! Now, you listen here, whoever you are. You better explain yourself right fucking now, or I swear no law on this green earth will protect you from me!”
Amaryllis stood there, panting after her tirade. She actually felt a little good at venting her anger like that at someone else, rather than her punching bag that couldn't talk back.
The caller doesn't respond for several agonizing seconds. Amaryllis checked to see if whoever it was had hung up, but her phone showed that the call was still running. Finally, a voice came through the other end of the line. “Hey, Amaryllis.” Amaryllis would recognize that voice anywhere. Despite all odds, Seth's voice came through the speaker, sounding no different than the last time she'd seen him, eight years ago. “Is now a bad time, or...?”
Amaryllis brought the phone back to her ear, wondering if she had in fact fallen asleep and she was dreaming. This couldn't be possible. That couldn't be his voice that she was hearing. “...Seth?”
Before she realized it, Amaryllis was heading to her truck, regardless of the fact that her shift didn't end for another two hours. She was crying; she couldn't help herself. This was really happening. Her friend was alive, and was asking to meet her. She didn't care about anything else; nothing in the world could stop her from going to see him right now.
Amaryllis wiped her eyes and climbed into the truck, setting her phone back in her pocket. She had never been more glad that she hadn't moved away from the college; that was where Seth wanted to meet her.
Before starting the truck, she took a moment to compose herself. She had so many questions running through her mind. Her emotions were a mess. Just hearing his voice again was enough to tear her composure apart. She felt unbelievably happy and relieved, yet furious and uncertain as to why her friend was showing up now after all these years. He had been alive this whole time and never said anything to her? She hoped he had a damn good reason for disappearing like that.
Just as Amaryllis turned the key in the ignition, she noticed one of her co-workers coming out of the building and heading towards her. “Amaryllis! Where are you going?” she called out to Amaryllis in annoyance. “Your shift isn't over until nine pm! We need you still!”
“To hell with that!” Amaryllis snapped at her, taking her co-worker by surprise. Amaryllis had never let her co-workers know how fiery she could be, as she understood how necessary it was to remain composed and polite in the workplace. However, at this point, Amaryllis couldn't honestly care less about this job; Seth was much more important to her. “I'll be damned if I'm sticking around! I have something much more important to deal with!”
“Like what? What could possibly be more important than your job? You know I'll have to tell the manager about this, right? He'll tear you a new one,” the co-worker shoots back with a warning. Amaryllis scoffed at that. If worst came to worst, she had a good resume. It would be easy for her to find another job.
“What could...screw you. Do what you want, I don't care,” Amaryllis snapped back at the woman, visibly offending her. “For your information, I just found out that a friend of mine that's been missing for eight years is still alive. To hell with the manager and this job.”
Without another word, Amaryllis revved the engine and pulled out of the parking lot, rolling up the windows to drown out the sounds of the world outside. She was left alone with her thoughts, the only sound coming from the rumbling of the engine and her own erratic breathing.
What followed was the most agonizing thirty minutes of her life. Amaryllis felt as though every minute was unbelievably precious, though she couldn't understand why she felt that way. She just hoped beyond all that was holy that Seth was really going to be waiting for her at his old dorm, and that this wasn't some sort of sick fever dream.
When Amaryllis reached the old college, she parked her truck in the lot near the dorms and stormed towards Seth's old dorm, not even bothering to lock her truck. She approached the old dorm tucked in the small corner between a brick wall and the housing office and tried the door. Thankfully, it was left open for her, so she was able to step right inside...where Seth was waiting for her.
The first thing Amaryllis noticed was how different Seth looked compared to how she remembered him. His hair was longer and styled in an unusual fashion, and he was wearing this strange royal blue and gold outfit that didn't look like it was made by any company she knew of. The most noticeable difference, however, was the bulging muscle mass that had definitely not been there before. Seth was about as well built as she was now, which was ridiculous, considering how hard she trained, and how hard Seth...didn't train.
Amaryllis' immediate reaction was to vent her anger by punching Seth right in the jaw. Her second reaction was to reel him in and hug him tightly. As his familiar scent flooded into her nostrils, she felt as though for the first time in eight years...she was finally home.
Now that she was this close, Amaryllis noticed the most striking feature about him. He didn't look a day older than the last time she'd seen him. He hadn't seemed to have aged at all...and still looked as though he was a college junior. Now, Amaryllis had aged rather well for herself, but even she had lines on her face. Seth's was as smooth and unblemished as ever. Something started to seem odd about this whole thing.
When she confronted Seth about it, he gave her a wry smile and gestured to the couch. “Okay, I guess you should sit down, then. It might take a while to explain the whole thing,” he admits.
Amaryllis did so, though she didn't feel any comfort from lying back. No, all she wanted to know was why she had to suffer for eight years. “Start talking. It better be good; I haven't forgiven you for leaving me on my own. You were my only friend; you know that, right?”
Seth sits down next to her, heaving a sigh. He seemed reluctant to reveal anything to her. Amaryllis wouldn't let him skimp out on explaining, however. No matter how crazy his tale might be, she needed to hear it.
“You were my only friend too. Trust me, I wouldn't have left you if I had the choice,” Seth responds to her softly.
“So quit beating around the fucking bush already. What happened that day?” Amaryllis demanded.
From there, Seth began his tale. At the beginning, Seth confirmed Amaryllis' suspicions. It had been the strange man in armor that had been the cause of Seth's disappearance. According to Seth, the man's name was Sombra...and he was a “sorcerer king from the future.”
Amaryllis blinked, wondering if she had heard him right. Her expression became incredulous as Seth kept going, talking about how this King Sombra had hit him with a magical spell that had taken him to the future. She did her best to hold her judgments until Seth was finished, but with every word he said, her patience wore thin. Each new thing he described was more ridiculous than the last.
The last straw came when Seth told her that King Sombra and literally everyone he'd met in the future had been a brightly colored pony. Seth was sounding like a lunatic. She wondered if he was even listening to himself. She lost her temper at the mention of ponies, so she cut him off.
She confronted him about it, but Seth defended his story stubbornly, no matter how ridiculous it was. He claimed that his story had to be true, as it was the reason he hadn't aged at all.
“I don't know, Seth, but I refuse to believe that you were missing for eight years because you were off frolicking in a land of magical fucking unicorns!” Amaryllis yelled furiously at Seth. Her friend was sighing and nodding, as if he had been expecting this reaction from her. He was standing now and moving to the other side of the room. She followed him with her eyes, feeling angrier than she'd ever thought possible.
Just as she started to demand true answers, something began happening to Seth. Amaryllis cut off when she saw tendrils of glowing green light coming up from the ground and snaking up around his legs. Seth's eyes started to glow, and then light exploded up from around him, surrounding him in a bright green aura that burnt away the carpet around his feet, singed the ceiling, and filled the room with an eerie glow.
Amaryllis didn't know what to think. What she was seeing defied every possible rational explanation. Seth had claimed before that magic was real in this strange land that he'd been whisked away to, but Amaryllis couldn't believe that what she was seeing was really magic. She stood up slowly, watching Seth's display of power in awe.
The aura intensifies, filling the room with a crackling roar of power. Seth's hair seems to blow back in a nonexistent wind. All the while, his mouth is set in a firm line and his eyes are narrowed, telling Amaryllis that he was dead serious.
The more she saw, the more Amaryllis started to accept the idea that maybe Seth hadn't been telling her a lie. It was as though Seth knew that this was the only way to convince her; she always had valued actions more than words, and this showed her without a doubt that he possessed real magic. She hated to admit it, but perhaps these ponies had existed. Seth had never been one to lie to her...ever. He'd dance around topics that he didn't want to talk about, but he'd never outright lie to her. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach, realizing how stupid she was to doubt him in the first place. He was her best friend; she knew him extremely well. For him to make up something so outlandish was way out of character for him.
Finally, Seth let the magic fade away, the green aura dissipating into thin air as though it had never been. His hair settled back down on his shoulders, and his eyes returned to normal. Amaryllis had to sit down, rubbing her head.
If everything that Seth said was true, then things were starting to make sense to her. She realized with a start how close she had been to catching this Sombra.
“You're not gonna believe this. There was this little black horse that walked out on its own,” the student revealed. Amaryllis blinked, wondering if she had heard him right.
“A horse,” she repeated.
“Yeah! It was all dressed up something fancy too,” the student answered.
Amaryllis cursed her own ignorance. From what Seth said, that black horse must have been Sombra himself. If magic was real, then Sombra must have returned to the form of a pony...as utterly ridiculous as that sounded. And she and William had just let him walk away scot free.
Still, this all felt so unbelievable to her. “...Ponies?” Amaryllis finally repeats, one eye twitching. “Seriously? The human race is replaced by talking ponies? Ponies. Like, I didn't hear you wrong, did I? Bright, colorful little ponies?”
Unfortunately Amaryllis had not heard Seth wrong. He even took out his phone and showed her pictures as proof. The first picture she saw was of a creature that did look reminiscent of a pony, but it had some noticeable differences. For one, it had bright cyan fur with a mane colored all the shades of the rainbow. It also had a very expressive face, with large eyes and a mouth turned up in a confident grin. Amaryllis groaned and felt the beginnings of a headache.
A thought came to her, and she couldn't dislodge it without making the joke. Through asking, she found out that Seth had actually made friends over there...with the brightly colored ponies. She found that thought to be so funny that she nearly wet herself there on the couch, laughing so hard at the mental picture of Seth having tea parties with the overly cute ponies.
However, Amaryllis' mirth came to an end when Seth revealed to her that he was only here in the present for two days. Then, according to him, he would return to the future. Just like that, all of the positive feelings that she had finally started to feel disappeared in an instant. She finally had her friend back...and she was going to lose him all over again in less than 48 hours.
Her feelings crashed in on her. She wanted to break everything in sight, but instead she settled for punching down on the table with all of her strength. Her knuckles split painfully, but she could feel the surface of the table crack satisfyingly beneath her fist.
Eventually, after sitting in silence for several minutes, Amaryllis came to a conclusion. As much as it didn't feel like it, this was a gift in disguise. If there was some cosmic being in command of the heavens, it had seen fit to give her once last chance with her best friend. She would be damned if she was going to waste it.
With that, Amaryllis took Seth with her, intent on spending the entirety of these two days with Seth's family. Once in the car with Seth, she proceeded to immediately call Elaine and tell her of Seth's return. It didn't take much convincing to get Elaine to leave her own job and coordinate a visit with the rest of Seth's family. No doubt it wouldn't be that hard to get Adam out of work. Amaryllis was grateful that Gerome was relatively close by; had he been overseas, it would have been extremely cruel to him to not be able to see his son.
As Amaryllis drove the truck all the way to Elaine and Gerome's house, she grilled Seth for details on his new home. As much as she hated to find out that he had to go back there, she still loved him, and she still wanted to make sure he would be happy.
Amaryllis ended up learning all about Equestria, as well as the ponies that lived there. She heard about Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy. She had a hard time taking any of it seriously due to how ridiculous they sounded; for example, according to Seth, Pinkie defied every single known law of physics on a daily basis, and everyone just sort of accepted it because no one could explain it.
One thing Amaryllis did notice was how much Seth talked about the second one, Rainbow Dash. She put two and two together and figured out that Rainbow must have been the pony that she'd seen on Seth's phone. Seth told her Rainbow was his closest friend. Even though Amaryllis knew she had no right to be, she started to get envious at the thought that Seth was hanging out with some pony mare as much as he had with her back in college.
Amaryllis also started to see a noticeable change in Seth. He was much more open with her than he usually was, never really dancing around any topics with her. Instead, he replied to her every question directly and honestly...with the exception of whenever she would ask too much about Rainbow Dash.
Amaryllis wasn't stupid...the mare must mean a lot to Seth. As envious as that made her, she couldn't really fault him for it. He had been in a new world without her, and Amaryllis knew full well that Seth could never survive on his own. He needed someone to lean on...an emotional pillar. Amaryllis was envious as hell that it couldn't have been her there with him, but at the same time, she was grateful to this Rainbow Dash for taking care of Seth.
The change in Seth became much more apparent when they met up with Seth's family. Once there, Seth explains his unbelievable and ridiculous tale to them as well, this time preceding his story with a display of magic. Just like Amaryllis, they had been distraught when Seth told them that his time was limited in this time...except Elaine was more direct than Amaryllis had been, and asked if Seth would be happy there.
Amaryllis knew that Seth's relationship with his family had been rocky over time...and that's why it took her completely by surprise when Seth responded with honest sincerity, the love for his family evident in his voice. It was such a change from what Seth usually was like that Amaryllis once again thought that she might have been dreaming.
“I...I need another beer,” Amaryllis groaned, holding her head. She shook her head and stalked into the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge for another drink. “I never thought I'd see the day. Seth's gone soft.”
“I have not 'gone soft,'” Seth snapped back at her, seeming legitimately angry at her for saying that. Amaryllis was surprised once again...this was genuine anger. She must have touched a nerve. “It's not soft to realize that it's okay to trust others, and to be myself. I'm not as naïve as I was before...but neither am I going to stay closed up in myself, either.”
“Yeah, okay. Make that two beers,” Amaryllis replied. She was glad that Seth had come back to her, but she couldn't agree with that statement. She had always been jaded and angry; that just wasn't going to change. She was happy that Seth was happy, but at the same time, she was disappointed that Seth no longer shared her opinions about the human race.
Not long after that, Seth drops the real bombshell. Amaryllis had found it odd why humans had suddenly disappeared in the future. Mankind had lasted thousands of years...three thousand more should have seen them thrive, not disappear...and certainly not get replaced by ponies. According to Seth, it was because King Sombra was going to wipe them out in less than a century.
She and the rest of the family reacted with understandable shock and disbelief. Amaryllis couldn't believe that anything could stop the human race...certainly not some stuffed up sorcerer king. Humans were tough sons of bitches and had some powerful weapons and technology. It would take a force unlike anything they'd ever seen to even put a dent in humanity.
However, Gerome believed him. Being a ranking member of the military, Gerome had access to intelligence reports and data that the rest of them didn't. According to him, small rural towns in Russia's icy wilderness were going dark...which supported Seth's theory.
Amaryllis finished her second beer, but it wasn't helping her feel better at all. She looked at the empty bottle with a lamenting sigh. She set it down and got up from the couch in the living room. “I'm just gonna get the whole case,” she decided, returning to the kitchen.
They all soon calmed down, realizing that while it was a concern and it certainly shouldn't be overlooked, the inevitable invasion wasn't something to focus on right now. By the time the invasion reached America and became a real threat, Gerome and Elaine would more than likely have passed on. The same went for Amaryllis. She was already thirty; she would likely be able to live the rest of her life in peace. In the end, they all made a unanimous decision to put the matter of the invasion aside until later, choosing instead to make the most of the time remaining with Seth.
The rest of the night soon passed by in a flash. Amaryllis steadily drank more alcohol until she was pleasantly buzzed. However, that came with its own problems. Sitting beside Seth while they watched a movie, she couldn't help but feel his skin on hers. She couldn't help but notice how much more handsome he looked wearing his hair like that, and with all that extra muscle. Amaryllis flushed deeply as drunken, unscrupulous thoughts came to her mind. Thankfully, she managed to make it to bed before acting on any of them, instead choosing to take solace with her thoughts in her room.
The remainder of Seth's time in the present was spent living life to the fullest. Adam took all of them to his house so that Seth could meet his four year old niece, Maka. Seth acted strangely upon meeting her, as she meant a great deal more to him than what would be warranted from such a meeting.
After that, Adam took them all to his flashy boat, intending for them all to spend the day on the lake with him. Amaryllis finally had an excuse to don her bikini, which she thought looked damn good on her due to her physical fitness. Unfortunately, she couldn't get Seth to say anything about it. She ended up pouting; she had hoped he would at least pay her a compliment or two. Tomboyish as she was, she was still a woman.
Soon, they reached the water park. So far, she had been having a blast with Seth and his family. It was though all the pain of the last eight years didn't mean anything. When she had him to herself for a moment, she grew bold and floated together with him down the lazy river, his hand clenched in hers under the pretense of keeping them together. This situation made her feel like she was a college schoolgirl again...and she couldn't deny that it felt good.
After that, Adam took them tubing, which was fun in it's own right. That was how they ended the day, all of them retiring to rooms inside the boat itself. The next day, little Maka came up with the idea to go to a bowling alley, which everyone agreed with. There, Amaryllis had a lot of fun competing with Gerome. Seth wasn't actually that good at it, hilariously enough, so his father was the only challenge she had.
In laser tag was when she noticed something about Seth. He moved very well and had an incredible aim. With him on her team, they racked up points like nothing else...until Gerome decided it was time to stop playing. As strangely good as Seth had gotten, Gerome was leagues better, due to his military training. In the end, they'd lost, but Amaryllis had fun in the end, and that was all that mattered.
Finally, Seth's time came to a close.
That evening, Amaryllis stood there with the rest of Seth's family outside of their house, filled with inner turmoil. The last two days had been the most fun that she'd ever had in eight whole years, and now it was coming to an end. After this, she would never see Seth again, and that was killing her. However, it didn't hurt nearly as bad as it did the first time; this time, she knew where Seth was going, and she knew that he would be safe and happy. She wouldn't have to agonize for years, wondering what had happened to her best and only friend.
Amaryllis debated on what she was going to say to him as Seth went down the line, saying his goodbyes to each and every one of them. She really wanted to tell him how she felt about him, but just the thought of doing that paralyzed her, just like it had eight years ago. She was really starting to get angry at herself.
Finally, Seth reaches her. She stood there with her arms crossed, her face hardening now that he was leaving. “What, is this the part where we hug and cry?” Amaryllis remarked before Seth could say anything. She kept going, talking tough to hide the fact that she was all torn up inside. “Please...I hate goodbyes. I'm fine, really. I'll just be laughing because you're going back to frolic with all the colorful little ponies.”
Seth chuckled at her words. He started to look uncertain, as if he was thinking about what to say to her. “Actually, I had something I wanted to say to you...in private. Do you mind stepping away with me real quick?”
“Huh? I mean, sure, but what's so important that you can't say it here?” Amaryllis responded, suddenly confused. Seth didn't respond, instead motioning for her to follow him. With a perplexed expression, she followed him to the far end of the flat driveway. In the distance, the setting sun shined down on them, giving their skin an orange coloration.
“Well, it's...” Seth started to say, but then he stopped. Amaryllis started to get impatient. They were running out of time, and she really wanted to hear what he had to say.
“Come on, spit it out. We don't have all night,” Amaryllis demanded. She suddenly noticed something strange about Seth. His body was starting to glow an eerie greenish color. Unlike the color of his magic, this one seemed sickly. Seth noticed it as well, though he doesn't look alarmed about it. Instead, he just gives a wistful sigh.
“No, it seems we don't,” Seth said softly, gazing at his glowing hand with his lips set in a thin line. As if he had suddenly gathered his resolve, he turned to look her right in the eyes. “I'll be blunt. I've always admired you.”
“What?” Amaryllis said, raising a brow. That's what he had to say? She already knew that she had been his emotional pillar. If this was all he had to say, she was disappointed.
“I'm serious. You went through the same stuff as me...but somehow managed to stay strong. You were always snapping off insults at me...but when it counted, you pushed past your cynicism and reached out to me...even when I couldn't do that for you.” Seth seemed to get more confident as he spoke. His tone started to sound softer and more tender, causing Amaryllis to suddenly get suspicious. She watched him in silence, her heart starting to beat faster. “You are my best friend...and without you, my life might have taken a much darker turn. In part, I owe everything to you...and I wanted to say how grateful I am to you for that.”
Amaryllis started to blush slightly. She was about to respond but Seth wasn't finished. “It's more than that, though. You and I were always together. You were the only one I could go to when I needed help or someone to rant at. You've never told me what I wanted to hear...you were honest, and I really appreciated that.” Seth never looked away from her eyes, not even for a moment. This was the most confident she had ever seen him. It was like he was a totally different person...and Amaryllis found that she rather liked it. “I guess what I'm trying to say is...you were...and are...the most important person in my life.”
“Wait, Seth, are you...?” That last bit caused Amaryllis' heart to stop. It sounded a lot like he was about to say the very same thing that she had been trying to say to him through her words and actions for the longest time. Her eyes widened in shock, and she cursed that they didn't have more time. Seth's body was starting to dissolve slowly into the air, particles of green light trailing behind him.
“Yes, Amaryllis. Here, before I go...I wanted to tell you,” Seth told her fervently. “I never really understood how I felt until now, but...I've always...always loved you.”
He did it. He really said it. Amaryllis, for the third time, wondered if this was all just a fever dream. This last two days had been everything she'd ever wanted, and now this...the thing she'd wanted to hear from him more than anything. But...to say it now, at the end...it caused her to become conflicted. She was happy beyond words, but also furious.
Amaryllis' eyes hardened, and then she abruptly smacked Seth across the face hard, jerking his head to one side. Seth gasped and held his stinging cheek, looking back at her. Amaryllis glared at him furiously.
“Fuck you! I can't believe you!” She snapped at him...but then her anger started to collapse. She started to cry despite her promise to never show that kind of emotion in front of anyone. She sniffed as her nose started to run and tears squeezed out of her eyes. “Do you have any earthly idea how long I'd been waiting for you to say that!?”
Seth's expression changed in an instant. “You mean you...?” he began, but Amaryllis didn't let me finish. She stepped forward and pulled him in, her hands reaching up to his face and grasping his cheeks. She brought her face to his in a bold kiss, courage coming to her in droves now that she knew that Seth had felt the same way about her the whole time. She might not ever get to enjoy a relationship with him, but she could at least show her passion for him with just this one kiss.
Seth goes limp in her grasp, responding to her affections with his own. It takes every fiber of her self control not to go further and simply make out with him against the nearest tree. Eventually, she had to break it off to breathe, and that felt like the hardest thing she ever had to do.
“Yes, idiot!” Amaryllis snapped again. She can't stop herself now. She's crying shamelessly, the tears flowing down her cheek. “Of course I felt the same damn way! You think those dates I used to go on ever satisfied me? No...each one only made me more certain...that the only one I wanted was you.”
“Amaryllis...” Seth whispered, his expression starting to mirror hers. However, time was running out. His body was dissolving faster now, particles of green light trickling into the air.
“Of course I loved you, Seth. Why do you think I put so much effort in staying with you?” Amaryllis demanded. She pulled him forward and hugged me tightly with all of her strength. “But...thank you for finally telling me...even if it took you this fucking long. Now...now I can be satisfied.”
“Are you sure?” This time, Seth didn't tense up. This time, Seth returned her hug without hesitation. Amaryllis clung to him tightly, refusing to let go even as his body faded away in her arms.
“As satisfied as I can be...considering I won't ever see you again,” Amaryllis retorted bitterly. She rested her head on his shoulder, staining his clothes with her tears. “But at least I know you'll be alright. Go be happy with your pony friends...and tell the rainbow one I'll kick her little ass if she doesn't take care of you.”
“Don't worry...I will,” Seth promised her. Finally, his body completely dissipates, bursting into a stream of green particles that swirl around one another as they trail into the sky. Amaryllis feels her arms fall slack to her side...her heart feeling as though it had been torn out all over again.
“Goodbye, Seth,” Amaryllis whispered, her voice choking as she watched the particles fly up and out of sight.
It was over. Seth was gone.
After the fact, all of them returned to the living room of Elaine's house in silence. While they had been happy not too long ago, the room was taking on an air of grim silence now that Seth was gone. It was time to address the true issue...the one that they had been avoiding ever since Seth had told them about it.
“I need to find a way to keep my daughter safe.” Adam is the first one to say something. His wife, along with Maka, had gone to stay in another room, so that the little girl didn't have to hear about her future. “If those undead are really coming, she'll be the one to have to deal with them. As a parent, I can't let that happen.”
“I understand. We'll have to act carefully if we want to make a difference on how all of this plays out,” Gerome responded first, taking charge of the conversation due to his mental discipline. “Seth came back to the present to tell us about the future; I choose to believe that this gives us an edge that we did not have in the previous timeline.”
“If time actually works that way,” Amaryllis pointed out bitterly. For all they knew, him telling them about it was part of the official timeline, and it didn't do them any good.
“Let's not get into multiverse theory,” Adam cut her off firmly. It was a rare thing to see Adam acting serious...and now he was grim and focused. It was actually a little scary to see. “I'm going to agree with what Dad said; I think we can do something about this now that we know.”
“What do you suggest we do? Any ideas?” Elaine input. She was not as tactically minded as her husband was; right now, Amaryllis could tell that she was worried and looking for answers.
“There's not much we can do. I cannot simply alert my superiors and expect to be taken seriously,” Gerome admitted, thinking realistically. “So. Here is what I'm going to do: I'm going to take a greater role in military politics and run for an office. If I can garner enough support, I'm going to push for a greater focus on defense and communications. With luck, I can prepare our country for the incoming invasion.”
“That's...actually a rather solid plan,” Amaryllis had to admit. She'd never talked this serious with Gerome before; the man seemed to have his mind firmly grounded in reality. “But what about the rest of us? We don't have nearly the pull you do.”
Gerome pondered that for a moment, while Amaryllis and the others watched him attentively. “To be honest, you are correct. There is very little you can do. Thus, it would be prudent for you all to prepare for the worst.”
“How do we do that?” Adam asked fervently, leaning forward.
“Do nothing, for now. Be ready to support me in my political efforts if I need it, but other than that, keep your heads down and your ears open. If you hear of anything odd in the news or the like, I want to hear about it,” Gerome ordered them firmly. Amaryllis nodded, finding that sensible. At this point, although she still didn't think she'd have to worry about the invasion personally, she was willing to give any help Gerome needed. It's not like she had any other real plans for her life.
“Adam,” Gerome turned to his son next. “This applies the most to you. Raise your daughter as best you can, and should you become aware of strange occurrences that fit Seth's description, get your family someplace safe. I can pull a few favors and get you access to a military refugee bunker if absolutely necessary.”
“Thanks Dad...that means a lot. I just want my little girl to live a happy life,” Adam expressed solemnly. “Yeah, I can do that. I'll start making the arrangements to send her to school.”
“That's a good idea. You can't focus on the end...to be honest, it's freaking me out,” Elaine confessed. Amaryllis scoffed under her breath. That was an understatement. She certainly hadn't expected to be told that humanity had eighty years maximum to live. She thanked her lucky stars that she was already thirty. “But at least we have a plan of action.”
Elaine then turned to Amaryllis curiously. “What about you? Do you know what you are going to do now?”
“Not really,” Amaryllis automatically said, as that was usually her go-to response when talking about the future. However, she immediately realized that she actually did have something that she could do. Because of the vain hope that Seth might one day return, she had never left Grenville. But now...she knew that Seth was never coming back. It hurt, but it was time to make peace with that and move on with her life. And she knew exactly how to do that. “Actually, scratch that. I do know what I'm going to do with the rest of my time.”
“What's that?” Elaine asked.
Amaryllis smiled cryptically, and then she got up from the table, her hand slipping into her pocket. “Move on. Now, if you'll excuse me,” she responded simply, and then she left the room.
Once Amaryllis had relative privacy, she removed her phone from her pocket and called the bio-mathematics firm.
...okay I have a semi-legitimate excuse this time. I say that because it's probably going to keep being an excuse for a while. Basically...Fire Emblem Fates. Out of all the games I play, Fire Emblem is one of the main franchises that suck away my life. The other two are Mass Effect and Persona. It came out on the 19th and I've already clocked 50 hours on it. Send help. 
Anyway, this one was actually a little tedious to get through, mostly because I was recounting the final chapter of Tales of the Oppressed. For those of you that are new readers (though I doubt there are that many of you) if you want to hear more about what happened there, go read the final chapter of Tales of the Oppressed...or better yet, read the whole damn thing and then get back to this 
Anyway, the prologue is now over. Yes, that was the prologue. Sheesh. Now I can get on with writing the actual meat of this story. I think i'll estimate maybe five chapters before it's...wait, I almost made a mistake. I almost tried to estimate how much longer this story will be. You'd think I'd have learned not to do that, considering I thought Tales of the Oppressed would only be 500000 words. Boy was I WRONG 
Also, I finally found a way to get around damn PONYCANYON taking all the youtube videos down. I just linked you all to a proxy instead. Mwahaha, my musical choices will not be stopped by your crap, youtube! 
Anyway, thanks to Schadenponi for editing this, and don't forget to leave your comments and tell me what you think! I appreciate each and every one of them. 
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so im just going out on a limb and say somehow Amaryllis goes to equestria or atleast this equestria where she meets rainbow and hava ( hopefully) a cat fight ) where seth will have to choose witch one he will be with
6986730 Unfortunately for that theory, Terran has already stated in a blog post or in one of the earlier chapters that after that final goodbye, Seth and Amaryllis never see each other again. At least, I think he did.
6987114
6986730
I did. As fun as it would be to see Amaryllis in the world of ponies, that unfortunately doesn't happen. I did state when I suggested this story that Amaryllis would not have a happy ending. But, everyone voted for it, so here I am. That, and I tried EXTREMELY hard to avoid the Rainbow Dash vs Amaryllis thing.
That being said, don't be discouraged from posting theories. Sometimes I like to take what readers say and entertain little what-if scenarios in my head.
6987150 To use an overused analogy, That would be sort of like watching a train wreck in slow motion. You know what's coming, and that it's going to be horrifying, but for some odd reason, you just can't look away.
6987174
Yeah, pretty much. Or like playing Crisis Core. You end up having this magnificent bastard as the main character...
images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/36300000/Crisis-Core-Final-Fantasy-VII-image-crisis-core-final-fantasy-vii-36383809-480-272.jpg
and you're like, yeah, this guy's awesome! I wonder what happens to him in the main game!
vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/finalfantasy/images/1/1e/FFVIIZacksFinalStandBusterSword.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130207123632
....Fuck.
6987185 Pretty much. Never really got into any of the FF games, but I have heard about most of them. So, ya know, I get the concept of the general things people talk about, but I get lost at the really in depth stuff.
6987194
I dabbled a bit.
...
That's an understatement. I have an old 100k word long fanfiction about all the FF characters sitting over on fanfiction.net. It's dark as hell though, and slightly crap, as that was a while ago before I knew what a pony was.
6987150
k just carious since anybody we has already read the first chapter already knows she died in battle . Thats one of the reasons why i cant prequels u already know whats going to happen before u read it
6987198 Like, FiM pony, or actual pony, because if you didn't know what an actual pony was, I will go back in time and educate your past self.
...
Sorry about that. Spent my life around horses and the like, so I guess you could say I dabbled a bit in that as well. Not as much as my brother, but enough to know that there are more differences between an equine and a bovine than just name and looks.
6987211
Durr, what's a hoerse?
Kidding. FIM pony of course. I actually thought they were quadruped worms the first time I saw one.
6987222 I... You... Fuck this shit. I need a drink.
*leaves*
...
*comes back with a glass of water*
The fuck did you think I was gonna get? Shitfaced on a Monday? Idiot.
But in all seriousness, when I first saw them, I honestly didn't know how the hell they were supposed to be ponies either.
My thought process at the time: "Where the fuck are their hooves? Why does that one have both wings and a horn? HOW IN THE HOLY FUCK DID THAT ONE BREAK ITS BACK AND WALK OFF LIKE IT WAS NOTHING?!
6987232
images.wikia.com/mlpfanart/images/2/2f/Lyra_sitting_meme_image.png
6987262 Yeah, sorta like that. Their spines, they don't... noooooo...
I theorize that Amarilis collected a hair from RD that was on Seth and she clones ponies.
Well, interesting so far Dashie. Pfffffft. Snrk.
I myself have been playing the first Prototype game for PC.
I bought it on Steam for $19.99
It does have Infected and battling against military people in it also.
This is the best music video for it, in my opinion. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADvBX-IZl98
I also found Alex Mercer's jacket on amazon. Hehehe. >:D
i almost cried... now im going to reread the first book and cry again at all of it! darn you for being so good!
and now the true story starts. The only thing I dont understand yet is where the narative of Amaryllis comes from. Did seth and Dash find a record of some sort? these questions, they are killing me.
oh, and the subjective adjectives in non-dialog (i dont know the propper therm) like 'scary' and such. to whom do thlse apply, Amaryllis, Seth or the great narrator?
7283762
to answer both of your questions, Seth and Rainbow have no idea what happened to Amaryllis. I am merely retelling her side of the story as they explore the bunker. Secondly, during Amaryllis's segments, most non dialog descriptors are her opinion.
So... Fire Emblem Fates, huh? I know that feeling way too much. I completed all 3, played an entire game of Revelations to unlock every single relationship dialogue for Male Corrin(including Niles), then finally tried to beat Revelations from the very beginning on Hard Classic. Not one of my best ideas.
Figured this was as good a place as any to review that prologue.
To be honest, I liked it. Not much tension so far, but a lot of emotional moments. I'm glad you didn't skip over them and let us know how she felt from the moment Seth disappeared till after he came back again. It was done well too.
The dual story aspect is pretty ingenious too. Way to to be able to keep the reader tense from two fronts!