Facing the Future

by Zephyr Spark

Part 4 The Future: Beast and Ruins

Spike had not budged one inch all day. He just hung his head in shame as the train pulled into the Crystal Empire. Ponies were leaving and entering with friends and family in tow, painfully reminding Spike of everything he was leaving behind. This is for the best, he told himself once more.

The train stayed there most of the afternoon. Outside, Spike could see ponies searching, perhaps for him. As much as he wanted to be found, he knew better than to be seen so they could take him home, and hid himself carefully in his compartment.

At long last, the train pulled out of the station. Spike stole one last glance as the empire faded into the distance. Sitting back down in the compartment, he tried to fall asleep and forget about the world.

Soon, he was back in the darkness with no shape or form. He expected Luna to appear any moment, but minutes went by and she never appeared. I guess she’s given up, Spike sighed in disappointment and relief, well, at least I won’t have to see my friends in pain tonight.

His thoughts were interrupted as a blinding light seared his entire body. It blinded him and burned his lava-resistant scales. He felt his very being melting away. Whatever this was, it was no dream; he could feel every bit of it. Gradually, the pain dwindled until it was a faint whisper.

When the pain became tolerable, Spike felt dirt beneath him and rubbed his sore eyes, but he could no longer feel his fingers or hands. He heard the lonely screeching of the wind and tried to stand upright, only to fall on his side. Gradually, his vision returned and he saw a barren wasteland before him.

He gazed all around to see dilapidated structures of some sort. All of them were shaking in the lonely wind. Turning to his left he saw faintly familiar mountains in the distance, overshadowing the wasteland. He crawled onto his hands and feet and walked away from the haunting mountains, searching for some clue to where he was and why he felt so … strange.

The instant he found a distinguishing landmark and recognized his location with appall, he looked down at his hands and saw he no longer had hands and a second, equally startling realization dawned on him. In the distance, he could discern a decaying but undeniably recognizable structure: Twilight’s castle! And where his hands should be, there were hooves instead! Spike lost his voice and capacity to think, as he realized the ruins he saw were the remains of Ponyville and he was now a pegasus.

He stared at the sky, black with soot and redder than blood. He found his voice and screamed into the air, “Luna! What’s going on? Why am I a pony? What happened to Ponyville?”

No response. Wherever he had gone, the princess had not followed. The purple pegasus began to panic. He had no idea where he was or if anybody could tell him. He looked over the burned wreckage, and wondered if there was any pony left at all. Twilight! Rarity! My friends! Spike was instantly terrified for his loved ones. What if something came and destroyed them all? He had to find them.

Tripping over his extra feet, he fell to the ground once more. Where there was once lush grass, there was now rubble and ash that caked his face as he hit the ground. Rising once more, he took the time to work out running with four legs and quickly ran towards the castle, unaware of several eyes watching him from the shadows.

***

As the castle came into sight, he noticed a purple barrier surrounding the castle. He touched the barrier to find his hoof repelled, as though the bubble snapped at him. He stared at the castle, wondering if Twilight could be inside with his friends. He called her name and the barrier flickered only for a second, before returning in full force. He called again only to find no response.

He stood there for hours, trying to call his friend with no answer. He supposed she could be elsewhere. Perhaps, she raised the barrier to keep some pony or something inside protected. In any case, he couldn’t stay here without any response. He turned and ran towards Rarity’s Carousel Boutique. Within the castle, eyes peered down at the pony running away, no longer recognizing anything. No longer caring.
***

Spike ran to the Boutique, only to find ashes marking where the shop once stood. He didn’t understand. What happened here? Where was Rarity? What could have done this? Had Discord gone evil again? Had Tirek returned? He had to get to the bottom of this.

He ran to Sugar Cube Corner and found a rickety structure that once was the candy shop. He paced towards it and entered the wooden beams, hoping to find some clue. The place was no longer the same; it barely resembled the place he would meet that pink pony. He left, feeling his desperation rising.

Finally, he found a building that still stood, to some extent: Fluttershy’s cottage. He opened the door and gazed inside, “Fluttershy? Are you there?”

He entered the house and suddenly wished he had not. The place was in no greater shape than the rest of the town; the floor was littered with debris, flies circled the ash looking for a meal, and the building was tainted with an undeniable sense of loss. Spike saw a figure on the couch facing the window, and cautiously approached it.

“Hello? Fluttershy?” he whispered, “it’s me, Spike. Except, I got turned into a pony.”

“Hello, ‘Spike, except I got turned into a pony’,” a distinctly masculine, weary voice replied, “Do come in.”

Spike’s eyes narrowed. He knew that voice, “Discord?”

He trotted to the side of the couch and saw what resembled Discord staring out the window without expression. Whatever he saw before him was not the Discord that Spike remembered. This figure’s fur was grey and ragged, and absent in several places. The sharp tooth that once protruded from his mouth was missing, and his beard was trailing down to his stomach. His wings were gone and his eyes, once rife with mischief, were dull and lifeless, lined with rings of age. What truly unnerved Spike was his face; it was covered with scars and burn marks.

Repulsed, he almost fell back. “You’re not Discord!” he yelled at the imposter.

“And you’re not real,” the imposter retorted without looking away from the window, “but these days, we can’t be too picky about our company, now can we?”

“Where is every pony? Where’s Fluttershy?” Spike was ready to attack the stranger to get some answers.

The figure’s eyes showed a brief glimmer of recognition before returning into the lifeless void, “Fluttershy,” he said wistfully, “my first true friend. Don’t suppose she could be the one haunting my imagination instead of you?”

“You think I’m not real?” Spike scowled, “quit playing around and tell me where my friends are!”

“Right here,” Discord’s right hand pointed into the open air beside the couch at some invisible individual, “and here,” his finger then pointed to the air above him, “that’s Jeffery over there,” he gestured to what was once a sink, “all of your friends are right here with me. They whisper to me all the time. Remembering better days, when this town thrived with happiness and peace. Remembering when I had friends. I mean, I assume they’re your friends as they’re the only company I have these days. The only one I can have.”

Spike stared at the figure before him, uncertain what to make of him. He glanced around the ruined home and spoke once more, “What happened to Ponyville?” he asked, wondering what information he could squeeze from this sad figure. “Why is it so wrecked?”

“Oh, Spike except I got turned into a pony, you remember what happened all those years ago. We’ve all talked about it time and time again. In fact, you rather remind me of a little dragon I used to know,” Discord stared out the window as a faint smile spread across his lips and Spike realized the conversation had turned to him. “When he was here, we were all so happy. Even after he left, he still wrote us letters and came to visit us every now and then.” His smile faded as he continued. “One day he just stopped and we didn’t see him again. I wonder whatever happened to him. I suppose he perished once the war began.”

“War?” Spike said with intrigue, “who did Equestria go to war with?”

Discord scowled as he stared out the window and the room seemed to darken. For the first time since he found this figure, Spike worried what this being might do to him and wanted to run. Then the moment passed, and he looked defeated once more.

He sighed and motionlessly continued his staring, “all of Equestria banded together to face the greatest foe it had ever known.”

“Who?” Spike could not restrain his curiosity any longer, “Tirek? King Sombra? Chrysalis and the changelings?”

Discord shook his head, “No. All of them joined our efforts to repel the beast, and all of them fell. They recognized how dangerous that monster would be to their own plans, but I’m afraid not even united they could stop it.”

Spike widened his eyes. In the little time he had been gone, had all of their greatest foes been destroyed by some new foe? How had Ponyville been destroyed in the mere days he had left?

“What about Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, or Princess Twilight?” Spike asked, “They wouldn’t have let something like this happen.”

“My dear little figment,” Discord continued with numb sorrow, “none of them stood a chance against the beast. Princess Celestia fell in combat with the beast.” Spike noticed a tear trail down the creature’s face as he spoke, “They never recovered a body, or even ashes. But there was no denying her passing when the sun no longer shone.”

Spike stared out the window and realized he could no longer see the sun or the moon. It all seemed so surreal. Princess Celestia had been there from the very beginning. She mentored Twilight, instructing her every step of the way. How could she suddenly be gone? Spike felt a personal loss just at the words.

Discord’s hands clasped each other in defeat, as he stared unblinkingly at the sky. After some time, he spoke once more, “as for the other two princess, well. Princess Luna has given up much to combat the beast. All other creatures have fallen in years of struggle with that monster, but Princess Luna continues to fight it to this day. Even if she wins,” Discord’s shoulders fell even further, “she will not be the same pony. I’m afraid to fight a monster, she had to become a monster.”

“What about Twilight?” Spike asked, afraid of the answer. Discord did not reply and continued his lonely watch. Spike grew desperate and irritated, and he yelled, “What happened to Twilight Sparkle? Answer me!”

Discord did not respond, or even seem to notice his presence. He just stared out the window, fixating his eyes on the horizon. In a voice that Spike never thought Discord capable of, Discord woefully answered with bitterness, despondency, and emptiness, “the same thing that happened to me. We were broken. Left alive to live out the remainder of our days in regret as the world burns away. No more will to fight, no more will to survive.”

Spike shook his head in disbelief. Twilight would never give up. She could face any challenge and persevere. In his eyes, she was a hero capable of anything. Yes, she might falter, but she would never surrender. Nothing could break her. Spike found himself increasingly terrified of this beast that ruined the world, as he knew it. Yet, he swore that he would do whatever was necessary to rectify everything.

“We have nothing left to fight for,” Discord reached for a picture beside him on the couch and he broke his gaze from the window to shed a brief glance at a photograph of Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, his baby dragon self, and Discord smiling against a light blue sky. “Every pony we ever called a friend is gone thanks to that creature.” Discord traced a finger around Fluttershy’s face in the picture, and returned his gaze outward through the window towards the sky where the sun should have shone, “and Celestia is long gone.”

The full weight of his words fell on Spike, and he felt like retching. His head was throbbing, quickly shifting rapidly between too heavy and too light. His feet trembled beneath him as he staggered, struggling for air against his mounting panic. He’d been left for a few days and all of his friends were gone forever. Not just all of his friends, but all of Ponyville, all of Equestria, maybe even the entire world. It was all doomed. He should have been here. He should have tried to help stop the beast but instead he left and this creature arose. Now, Celestia was gone, Twilight was broken and the fate of the world hung in the balance. He fell to the floor and collapsed.

***

He opened his eyes and found himself back in Fluttershy’s ruined cottage. He blinked and trembled to stand on his hooves. He glanced around and saw Discord still sitting on the couch staring out the window right where he last saw him. Spike regarded figure with new reverence. Together they sat, staring out the window, remembering better times. Finally, Spike decided to solve this whole mess some how. Maybe he could talk to Twilight, make her see reason, and they could save the world.

“Discord,” Spike addressed the vacant-faced being at last, “where can I find Twilight?”

Discord seemed to wince at her name. “I already told you, you terrible thing plaguing my mind. She is gone,” Discord huffed with anger. “The Twilight we all once knew is no more. These days, she spends her time locked in her old castle, never letting any pony in.”

“Thanks,” Spike turned to leave when something he remembered Discord saying earlier caught his attention. Hadn’t Discord said that Spike wrote them letters and visited them every now and then? How was that possible? To his knowledge, he was still on a train bound for the Griffonstone Station. He never had time to do either. Perhaps, Discord was mistaken due to his apparent insanity? Spike was not convinced that was the answer. Suddenly, he had to ask more questions.

“Um, Discord,” Spike walked over to the creature and sat next to him on the couch. “You said I—er, Spike would write letters and come visit every now and then. How is that possible? He left two days ago and hasn’t written or seen any of his friends since yesterday.”

Discord frowned in confusion, “Was it really two days ago? It seems only yesterday. What’s that, Jeffery?” he turned to the sink, nodded as though he heard something, then turned his gaze to the window. “Jeffery’s right. We’ve all lost track of time ever since the beast emerged one hundred thousand years ago. Or was it 937,673 years ago? For all we know it could have been 3,481 years ago. Time no longer has meaning”

“Wait, are you saying that right now I am in the future?” Spike’s eyes grew larger as everything began to fell into place.

“We’re all in the future, Spike except I got turned into a pony, isn’t it wonderful?” Discord bitterly spoke as Spike stood back trying to comprehend everything. “We’re all in the future because this is the only reality left for any pony. Red skies full of smoke. The world slowly dying, strangled to death. There is no foreseeable change coming, so we might as well be in the future. After all, time has no meaning when the word’s a nightmare.”

Spike stared out the window in the middle of Discord’s tirade. This explained the state of Ponyville. It wasn’t his Ponyville but the Ponyville of a distant nightmarish future. One where some foe had risen and destroyed everything he knew and loved. One where he had gone missing soon after the beast appeared. His epiphany was interrupted when Discord’s voice became noticeable loud.

“And the worst part is, he would never come home! Even though he knew he was struggling to make it on his own! If that fool had just accepted our help, maybe we could have saved that ungrateful lizard.”

“You mean Spike?” he was guessing that he was the “lizard” Discord spoke of. His curiosity was piqued and he wanted to know what happened to him. “So,” he began slowly, “What happened to Spike? Before he perished in the war, I mean.”

“Spike didn’t perish,” Discord responded coldly, “though I suppose in some ways he has.”

“But you said I died when the war started!” Spike yelled, baffled by Discord’s words. Discord didn’t seem to notice Spike had said ‘I’, and just continued to stare straight ahead.

“He died the second he gave into his dragon nature,” Discord growled.

“What are you talking about?” Spike asked nervously, wondering what possible fate he had, “what happened to … Spike?”

Once again, Discord was silent for what seemed to be a lifetime. His hands twitched, his nostrils flared slightly, his eyes closed furiously, and he was stiller than a statue. Spike was worried Discord had fallen asleep, but could not see any breathing. They sat there for minutes. Spike was beginning to wonder if he should leave and go find Twilight, when Discord’s lips trembled. Slowly, the ancient being spoke.

“We all loved Spike. He was our friend, dear and true. When he had that horrible nightmare, we did everything we could to bring him home, but to no avail. He tried to make it on his own, but he was struggling. He had no food, no shelter, no friends; he only had his fear, and soon that was replaced with bestial sense of self-preservation. From what I know, he fought back against the world. Stole gems and anything he could get his grubby little claws on. Hoarded it all to himself in a cave and grew big. It wasn’t enough. He just gathered more and more gems from other dragons. He did come to visit us one last time,” Discord’s face to a brief expression of fondness but was quickly overtaken with despair. “He was no longer the little dragon we all knew and loved. He had grown up, unnaturally. He was larger than all of Ponyville, and could no longer speak. He could no longer recognize his own friends and family. It shook us all to the core. We did not see him again for twenty-five years. We heard reports of a massive purple dragon burning down Manehatten, Filly Delphia, and Baltimare, and looting all of its riches. But we refused to believe the rumors.”

Discord’s face slowly broke into a shattered expression, “until he razed Canterlot to the ground as well as Ponyville.”

Spike stared Discord incredulously. He wanted to interrupt and ask how this was possible, but quickly shut his mouth when Discord continued to speak.

“We lost many good ponies that day. The cakes, Pinkie Pie, the Apple family, and,” Discord whimpered, “sweet Fluttershy.”

Spike’s eyes widened. He could not stifle his tears as the blame for everything fell on his shoulders. Water dripped freely from his eyes more than it ever had before.

“Rarity and Twilight believed they could still bring him back. They had me believing too. Until he destroyed the Crystal Empire along with Cadence and Shining Armor.”

It was all too much. Spike’s legs trembled and his body grew sweaty as he struggled against hyperventilating and passing out. He could no longer hold his tears as he became responsible for countless deaths. How could this have happened?

“After Rarity passed on, Princess Celestia became desperate for a solution. She hoped removing Spike’s hoard would release him from his greed and sought to destroy his size. She sent Rainbow Dash, who became captain of the Wonder Bolts in Spitfire’s passing, to destroy everything Spike had collected. She succeeded but it did nothing. Spike was already so lost in his greed and cruelty that nothing could free him. All this did was make him angry. The princess summoned all available forces to stop this beast, including all of the foes they had banished, determined to stop him once and for all. They waged a war that lasted hundreds of years. They all fought valiantly but to no avail. One by one, her allies fell and soon only the three princesses and I remained. After he destroyed Celestia, Twilight and I were broken. Somehow this evil world of ours decided the little dragon we had called a friend and family would betray us and destroy our beloved Celestia. Twilight gave up. She blamed herself for Spike’s state, the fate of the world, and the passing of her teacher. Neither of us had anything left to fight for. Our friends were gone and the little dragon we had known and loved all those years perished and became a beast.”

Spike could not do anything. He could not think, feel, talk, walk, or breathe. He was the beast. By leaving Ponyville, he fulfilled his own nightmare. He had to go back. He had to do whatever it took to stop the nightmare. But now, he wasn’t sure he could. Luna had not spoken one word since he arrived here. This was not a dream. He could physically touch everything around him and smell the ashes. For all he knew, he was no longer on that train sound asleep. For all he knew, there was nothing he could do. He shook his head and tears flew from his eyes. He would not lie down and let this future come to pass. He had to find the Twilight of this world, perhaps she could send him home and he could set things right.

For the first time since he arrived, Discord turned to look at him and eyed him scrupulously, “Do I know you?”

Before Spike could respond, something grabbed him from behind and threw him to the ground. He tried to struggle but his assailants were far stronger than he, and he no longer had his fire breath. They effortlessly subdued him, blindfolding his face and bonding his hooves together. He could only listen as he hear bodiless voices.

“Thanks for distracting him, Discord,” a gruff female voice spoke, “we’ll take this ‘figment’ away so he won’t bother you anymore.”

“My pleasure, Scootaloo.” Discord’s voice replied. Spike gasped at the name. Scootaloo couldn’t still be alive, not after one thousand years. And that certainly wasn’t her voice. Even if she were an adult, no way would Scootaloo sound so terrifying.

“Of course,” the gruff voice responded, as though its owner were Scootaloo, “that’s what I’m here for.”

“Say, did Rainbow Dash ever teach you to fly? I bet she’d love to see you today,” Discord was back in his delusions.

“I’m sure I’ll see her. She’s always got some way to help me improve,” the voice responded, indulging Discord’s fantasies, “now why don’t you rest here? You’ve earned it.”

“Why thank you,” their voices grew distant as Spike’s body was hoisted onto a stick of some kind and two other attackers carried him away, “I’m meeting Fluttershy today. We were going to have a little tea party.”

“Well, I won’t get in your way.” The voice began to walk away, “I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you when she comes home.”

Spike’s nose scrunched up as the smoggy air filled his nostrils. He was outside again. He couldn’t cry for help because he was out breath and none of his friends would come. He heard footsteps as the owner of the gruff voice approached him.

“I don’t know who you are, but you’ve got a lot of nerve kid,” Spike was terrified, as the voice grew closer. “Bothering Discord like that and making him relive the war is bad enough, but calling to Twilight? Telling her your name is Spike and asking her to let you in. That’s unforgiveable.”

Spike was sweating profusely as the invisible speaker towered over him. He tried to get some vague idea of who he was seeing through the blindfold, but felt a sharp whack on his head. Everything flashed to red and began to sink into darkness.

Author's Note:

I am definitely changing the rating to T. I never realized that if I wanted to make a nightmare future I had to go all the way, but I did for the most part. I just hope it didn't come off as needlessly dark for the sake of being dark. Thanks for reading and I hope to see you next time.