Awkward Conversations And Other Stories

by No one is home

Beyond the Silver Sky: Welcome to Ponyvale

There was a bright flash of magic and two ponies, a thing that took the shape of deformed pony, and four crystal statues appeared amid the ruins of a pony village. Ruins was perhaps too generous a term. Certainly the odd wall, and many foundations could be seen amid the encroaching wilderness of the Everfree, but no pony had lived here in hundreds of years. The only structure still standing was a lone spire. The monster alone remembered it for what it once had been, a near vainglorious palace. The tree of harmony incarnate. This lonely tower was all that remained of the castle of friendship.

“Ponyvale.” The orange biped pony removed the helmet of his spacesuit and looked around in abject horror. “We have to leave! We have to run! If she finds out we’re here…”

The beast known as Train Wreck Pastel gazed in horror at the crowds of pony statues gathered around the crumbling tower. All the residents of Ponyville standing facing the castle of their princess, every face fixed in a sad expectant smile. Standing before them were six ponies giving looks of encouragement: Starlight Glimmer, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and…

“No.” The beast's face was a mask of grief and rage. “No! Not you too! It isn’t bad enough that I failed your sister? That I failed my family? Not you too, Pinkie Pie! Dammit! You supposed get married, and grow old watching your grand foals playing. You were supposed to live! You were supposed to live! You promised her, Pinkie Pie! You Pinkie Pie promised her on her deathbed that you would live for her! Who did this to you, Pinkie Pie?”

“We have to leave, like RIGHT NOW!” James was manic with terror. “If Madam Sparkle catches us here, we’re done for!”

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE!” The beasts bellowing howl shook the very earth beneath their hooves. “COME OUT! Come out and answer to me or I will tear what is left of your castle to the ground and drag you out!”

“I won’t let you do that, Train Wreck,” a deep grinding voice echoed from behind the castle gate as it swung open, allowing a sinewy massive purple form to emerge.

“Spike,” the beast's gaze met the emerging dragon without so much as a flinch, “Where is your mother? I have business with her, and she had best to have answers for this.”

“Things are not as they seem, Unspoken Prince.” The dragon met the beast's gaze glare for glare. “Twilight called you her friend once, it would be best if returned to us as such. You’re anger and confusion is understandable, but it is misplaced.”

“Then tell me Spike, what is this? Just tell me what it is I’m looking at?” The monster refused to back down, gesturing to his companions. “They didn’t even know what changelings were. They are clearly terrified to be here. Twilight is supposed to be the Princess of Friendship. Dammit man! It’s been 1000 years. When the ponies learned about the massacre in Baltimare, when they started breaking the changelings, Celestia was supposed to be sending them away until she found a way to reverse it! It’s been 1000 years!”

“Do you think I don’t know that?!?! You’ve always been a selfish thing, Train Wreck Pastel!” The dragon raged with tears in his eyes. “Look around you! Do you think you’re the only one who’s been keeping a vigil all this time? Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, we were supposed to grow up together! Now they wait as lifeless statues for their Princess to return. CELESTIA IS GONE! Luna is gone! The Sun and moon move themselves. The age of wonders is over. It ended a long time ago. There are no princes. There are no princesses. There are the Queen and the King of the Night and Sky.”

“We had hoped you would return a long time ago.” A new voice emerged from within the castle, and Jame’s moved protectively in front of Judith. “Please, don’t bother, my reputation is well deserved when it comes to vandals and grave robbers. If you were those things, you would already be dead. You are guests, in the presence of a friend. At least I hope I can still call you that?”

A tall regal, somehow very old looking alicorn strode from her tower and fixed the beast with an accusing stare, “I gave you the means to return so you would come back to us, Train Wreck. You rant against Pinkie's decision, but you did the same thing. Except you could have come back and fulfilled your promise to Surprise any time you wanted to.”

“This… was their decision?” Train Wreck was caught at a loss.

“Everypony was broken by what happened.” The alicorn shook her head slowly. “It was never just your grief. You had responsibility! You were a prince, though you never accepted it. You set the precedent for this. Celestia, Luna, the ponies of Ponyville, they were all following in your sad example.”

“What happened?” Judith pushed forward. “Forgive me Madam Sparkle, but none of anything you are saying makes any sense, to either of us. Who is Celestia? Who is Luna? Why do you keep calling Train Wreck the ‘Unspoken Prince’? And why does history have no mention of any of this? Or changelings for that matter?”

“History had to be rewritten,” the former princess of friendship explained sadly, “because an angry princess did something she couldn’t undo to stop a monster, and a selfish prince turned his back from the world that needed him in it’s moment of grief. That’s what you did Train Wreck. You turned your back on us. This world needed forgiveness, but you were just to angry, just too stubborn. You couldn’t forgive the world.”

“This world took everything from me!” The giant argued angrily. “It started with my soul. Celestia made me a killer to fight her war. Surprise was the only reason I didn’t become as evil as that damned bastard who wears my face under all his lies. An then she was gone. And then… Baltimare happened. Carrot Plate… I can’t even imagine what she went through. And then Celestia did… that. And I know she thought she could undo it. I know she thought it was the only way to catch him. Maybe it was. Was it worth it? What did I have to hold me here? I wanted to die, but Discord took that from me. So I joined my family. I couldn’t leave them alone like that. Z… she always hated sleeping alone. She had to sleep with me and Surprise, or with Carrot Plate. She was always afraid that the world might be a dream and one day she might wake up starving in that empty city! And Diane… my special little monster, was I supposed to leave them all alone a million miles from home?”

“I understand,” the dragon spoke softly, “But you have to understand, everything has changed. The world didn’t stop turning just because you left it.”

Comments

[Not so New Brony]

Huh, and here I thought Ponyville, or Ponyvale(not much of a ville without a town, huh?) would have been a sprawling metropolis but from the statements made, Nopony must have done something similar to the Circus and turned the ponies against the changelings and Celestia believed that the only way to protect the changelings and capture Nopony was to turn the entire changeling race into those crystal statues. I assume that Train Wreck must have at least known about the plan, or even been part of it if Surprise had the chance to make him promise to move on and live his life.

Unfortunately, whatever Celestia did couldn't be reversed, not by her at least and this made Train Wreck furious and he probably said many things that he shouldn't have before he left to join his family in self-imposed exile. And since he was technically a prince, the citizens of Ponyville must have taken this to heart, they must have allowed themselves to be turned into statues, awaiting the day a way could be found to reverse the effect.

As for the vandal and grave robber comment, crystal statues would fetch a hefty price so Twilight and Spike must have been keeping watch over them all this time so their reputation of being feared is rather tragic though with the possibility of restoring them close at hand, their duties may be close at an end.

So, how close am I?

p.s: Yeah, the Night Queen's identity is rather obvious with Luna's absence. I'm guessing Night must have gained some form of immortality through shamanism.

[No one is home]

7481326 Your pretty dead on, except for one thing: Surprise died before the incident of completely unrelated illness. Note, Train Wreck says Pinky Pie made her promise to Surprise on her "death bed". He also references losing Carrot Plate during whatever the Nopony did in Baltimare. I'm not going into details on either of these event because spoilers. There are a few details still left to clear up about Celestia and Luna's disappearance in the next few chapters, but other than that, you've got a pretty good handle on things.

[Not so New Brony]

7482466 Hmm, wonder if the disease was something she caught when she was in the plane between worlds...or it was a disease that exists in Equestria but had no cure at the time. Or perhaps, her immune system was just a little bit different than other ponies due to her being from an alternate Equestria.