Our Future Of Harmony

by Radiant Eclipse

Act 1 - Chapter 5: The Price Of Freedom

From afar, the inhabitants of Ponyville could see the pillar of scorching hot purification that sprouted skyward, unsure about what to think of it. Within the bustling streets, a sudden flash of light appeared, vanishing as quickly as it came. Twilight Sparkle stood in its middle, while the rest of the group attempted to comprehend their surroundings again. “I love this spell.” The alicorn tried to deadpan, her voice weak from fatigue.

While the bystanders distanced themselves from the 8 dissenters, they just made sure that their leader and hero Twilight would not collapse by landing her a helping hoof.

“Thank you so much, darling. Of all the worst things that could happen, this is the- worst- possible- thing.” Rarity whinged about their current dilemma, and for once nobody else challenged her on that declaration. Not even the success of their escape could sway this opinion.

“What in Tartarus was this thing?” Spike asked vociferously, immediately having his mouth shut by Starlight.

“Be quiet, you-” She reprimanded the young dragon, stopping just before she would accidentally insult him.

Everything turned silent as the group realized that all eyes around them were staring at them with great displeasure. It was easy for them to fathom that people like them were not welcome in Ponyville, maybe even the entirety of Equestria and beyond. Leaving was most likely the best course of action as to avoid the notice of whoever was behind the conjuration of the beast they had narrowly escaped from anyway. “What's the plan now?” Starlight asked, hoping Twilight would have a backup plan up her sleeves.

She could not even begin thinking about something when the ground started shaking yet again, like thunderous steps were steadily approaching them. To Fluttershy's fear, she realized that was exactly the case when she saw the enormous silhouette of the beast sprinting towards them. “If I may suggest-” She at first spoke hesitatingly before running away for dear life. “Run!”

The others followed suit swiftly, galloping through the roads of Ponyville as fast as they could. Anxiety alone numbed all previous pain and exhaustion. However, due to the beast's size and fury-induced mobility, it closed in on them with every tremulous step. Before long, Starlight comprehended, it would reach them, an event she preferred to avoid. “Can't we fight it? We might find a way to win!” She asked Twilight, breathlessness separating every single word.

“Perhaps, but not here in Ponyville! We can't risk harm to others!” She chided her most faithful graduate, disappointed by her current lack of circumspection. Of course both of them realized that, if they returned back in time, that it did not matter. Twilight's strong sense of morality would not allow for such recklessness regardless, and considering the possibilities that things were not as they seemed or that there might be no way back after all, she would never be able to forgive herself if someone got harmed.

They rushed past innumerable faces, all of which gazed at them with contempt. When the beast did the same, it was greeted with full-throated exultation like a king much-loved by its subjects. Knowing that everyone, even those they called friends and family, were against them struck dolor in the heroes' hearts. Only their will to survive and the belief that it was not truly them who supported their destruction kept them pushing forward.

Once, Twilight's ears twitched as she made out hushed words within the accord of jubilance. “The queen's guardian?” She wondered under her breath, believing to have attained a valuable clue to solve the mystery. The creature that was hunting them was expectedly not a sovereign, but just another servant of a power much greater. Whoever this queen was who wielded so much might was unfortunately beyond her understanding.

“Turn left!” Twilight instructed when they reached a blind alley. Just as they felt the guardian's stone-cold breath against their necks, everyone in the group made a sharp turn into a side street. Not looking back, they heard their massy pursuer trip over its own legs and crash into a family home. The collision made the building come tumbling down, scattering planks and scales of wood in all directions, some of them only narrowly missing the fugitives.

Not even thinking about if ponies had been inside the collapsed house, they simply kept on moving and soon left the rings of buildings Ponyville was made of. Over hill and dale, the silhouette of the creature returned at the horizon behind them, its golden eyes staring narrowly at its prey. The first trees and shrubs came close, indicating that the entrance to the Everfree Forest was within reach. Hiding within the thick forest was the only way they saw to shake the guardian off. The concentrated flora, that was Twilight's hypothesis, should significantly impede the monster's mobility, giving them enough leeway to lie quiet.

Even with her body fueled by adrenaline, Twilight Sparkle felt debility creeping into every fiber of her being. Seldom had any of them endured such physical strain, and if it was not for their willpower they might have relinquished freedom after all. Everyone noticed the curvature of the faint prismatic barrier that separated Ponyville from the outside world. Solely with the slight hope that it was penetrable, they traversed through it head first without slowing down.

A brief flash of light bedazzled everyone as they passed through the barrier's wall. Some of them briefly stumbled, but no one allowed themselves to fall over now where their destination was within their grasps. As their surroundings got engulfed in pitch-dark wildlife, the roars and steps of their hunter gradually turned into a near-inaudible echo drowned out by the rupturing of brittle wood.

---

Breathlessness quietened down when everyone in the group laid down and leaned against the cladding of Zecora's tree house. Sweat and fatigue tainted their bodies, though the knowledge alone that they had escaped successfully was enough to put simpers of relief on their lips while occasional sounds of levity clang through the forest.

Eventually able to stand up again, relaxation was quickly eclipsed by apprehension as everyone finally took time to behold their surroundings. For all of the danger the Everfree contained, they still remembered it as a beautiful place of biodiversity. However, what they looked at was the far opposite, a withered husk drawing its last breaths.

The few spots of grass beneath their hooves that remained were as dry as a bone, and neither trees nor shrubbery bore any leaves. Everything, even the bark of the trees, were nearly devoid of color, and a gauzy fog enwrapped everything in a sickly indigo. Where the group had just witnessed an almost normal spring day, all they could see now when looking through the branched tree tops was perpetual, raw umber crepuscule. And throughout the entirety of the decaying deep forest, none of them could make out a sound, not even a single cricket's chirr.

“What happened?” Fluttershy uttered her disbelief, her heart sorrow-stricken by the forest's lifelessness.

“The Everfree did not look like this from inside Ponyville. Could it be part of some magic trick?” Pinkie Pie wondered, believing that the queen their brainwashed friends mentioned was a very talented magician, unlike Trixie. While the others did not share her bizarre latter point, they had to admit that she was completely right about the former. From within their hometown, everything outside had appeared lively as usual. Yet since they had exited the barrier, all they saw was terrible gloom.

Starlight Glimmer attempted to make sense out of this warped reality, but she simply lacked the information to find a satisfying explanation. “So- what? The barrier was also an illusion spell? But who would- and why?” She asked the others and no answer returned. Even with everything they had seen, the enigma remained untouched, much less solved.

Twilight Sparkle, without valid responses for her student, looked around to fully take the scenery of the moribund woods in. With all the information at their disposal, she concluded that this was not how the Everfree Forest was supposed to look like, and the same applied for Ponyville as well. “Without the elements of harmony, Discord's plunderseeds should have overgrown everything by now. Maybe- everything became like this before they were stolen, and the soil was too barren for them to grow.”

While a valid theory in their eyes, it did not hold much importance in consideration of recent events. All of the significant questions, like who and why, still lingered unanswered. They might have been able to gain more insight by examining Equestria from the sky, but the risk of being spotted by the guardian was none that was wise to be taken.

It was a foul stench that abruptly made the group forget the current subject they were talking about as it rose into their nostrils. Instead, they found it difficult to suppress their gag reflexes, though their empty stomachs made it less cumbersome. “What is this reek?” Rainbow Dash asked with tears in her eyes.

Applejack, who as a farmer was the most resistant to malodor, brought herself to track it down. Looking through one of the tree house's windows, she eventually spotted the source of their qualm. “Eeyup, those potions ain't look good no more.” Applejack whinged as she hastily got away from the building with the others on her coat-tails. “Not even for the compost heap.”

Her friends did not dare imagine what kind of sight Applejack had to endure, which was why they quietly agreed to never speak about it again. Still, deep inside they knew that such rot likely meant that they were in the future. Without thinking about it, Twilight Sparkle assumed her role as leader of the group again and motioned everyone to simply follow her to get away from Zecora's decaying home. “We can talk while we walk, right?”

---

As they reached one edge of the forest, the barren sky not having shifted in the slightest throughout the hours of marching, all of them felt hunger, thirst and exhaustion gnaw at them. Before they crossed the hill that would lead them outside the Everfree, the ponies decided to sit down and use the withered trees as backrest. Spike however was not so eager to capitulate and looked around for anything that vaguely resembled a tuber's flower. “No berries, not even a dirty puddle to drink out of. There must be something somewhere.” He grumped as he pushed himself through the thorny plants around them.

“Don't walk too far, Spike!” Twilight instructed him, not wanting the boy to get lost or caught by another creature of the unknown queen. Letting out a deep sigh, she knew she had to trust him and his underestimated intelligence. Surely, after the harrowing experience they had endured, he would tread quietly and with caution. Besides, she and the others would give anything for something to eat at this point. Maybe Spike and his serendipity was exactly the right call for their appetite.

Tangled in her sense of guilt, Starlight hesitated for a while before she found enough courage to voice her thoughts. “I am so sorry. If I at least had brought sandwiches with me for the picnic, then-” She attempted to apologize, although the reference to food alone lead to a collective groan that silenced her.

Pinkie Pie looked the most hypoglycemic, her tongue hanging out of her mouth as she daydreamed about juicy, sickly-sweet muffins. “Please, Starlight. Don't mention food. Gosh- if only the ice-cream was with us. Sorry.” She mumbled, longing for delicious repletion like all her friends. Yet again, Pinkie put forth a valid point Starlight considered. Why hadn't the ice cream and her backpack been affected by the time-spell, but Applejack's hat had been? Was it that only personal items could be brought through time, though why would that be the case?

Hunger did not allow Starlight to focus for long on her contemplation. Twilight Sparkle on the other hand was too stubborn to let her body command her mind. “I don't get it. Nothing we've seen makes sense. Ponyville and now the Everfree, it just doesn't add up. Tirek would have left everything a wasteland, and Sombra, however he would have returned, is too similar to Chrysalis, so why would he not make the lives of everypony miserable?” She expressed her frustration and perplexity to everyone.

Unfortunately, even in their tarnished state, her best friends understood what she was trying to imply. They, let alone minor opponents they have fought over the years, would not act this way. Furthermore, most of them were male, so they could not be the aforementioned queen. In a brief moment of intuition however, Rarity suggested an idea so simple that it was openly baffling to everyone else. “Who says it must be somepony we've faced before?”

Despite not responding, Twilight could not help herself but chuckle a little. Of course this was the easiest hypothesis to be made, but it led to many more unanswered questions than the belief that the culprit was a villain they already knew. For example, who and what could the perpetrator possibly be, and how and why had they assumed control over Starlight and created this direful timeline? No matter the assumption, it became painfully obvious that despite their best efforts to make sense out of their predicament, they lacked the information to form a conclusive answer.

The only thought that ultimately mattered was about their return, which Fluttershy reminded them of. “We should undo all of this pain. That's what matters most, not?” She wondered if her friends agreed, which they quickly did.

The young princess knew that of course. After all, the direction they had taken through the Everfree had been no coincidence. From years of experience, she knew that they were heading north towards the only place that could possess the solution to their problems. “That's why we're going to Canterlot. If we're lucky, then there are still scrolls in the castle's library we can use to return to our time.” Twilight's plan fueled everyone in the group with weak hope, but anything they could cling to was better than nothing.

The rustling and snapping of withered branches grabbed their attention as Spike slowly returned. The group rejoiced and Rarity overcame her weakened body to approach the young dragon with a warm smile. “Welcome back. You found anything, Spike?” She asked, her smile steadily fading for utmost worry. “Spikey-wikey? Are you- okay?”

Everyone looked at the boy discomposedly, afraid of what had gotten into him. It was with wide, hollow eyes that he stared at the ground motionlessly. His breath was as quiet as it was shallow, and not even the presence of his dearly beloved gently caressing his soft cheek calmed him down. For a long, frightening minute, the ponies joined the everlasting silence of the forest, waiting for Spike to finally explain why he was so dismayed.

His reptilian eyes shifted to Twilight Sparkle as if he was staring right through Rarity, leading her and the others to stand up anxiously. At first only stammering, Spike swallowed his trepidation and pointed at the direction whence he came. “I- I think we need- another plan.” He uttered before turning around and walking back in the direction he had returned from. Quietly, the others nodded to each other and followed him through a thin wall of shrubbery towards the hill that marked the border of the Everfree.

As the ponies reached its top on which Spike already stood still, they immediately grasped what had afflicted him so severely. They shared his reaction, vacant eyes gazing at the haunting nightmare that unfolded in front of them. Some, due to sheer shock, did not manage to keep standing and let themselves fall to the ragged, earthy ground. There was neither warmth nor cold, no wind nor sound that implied life. All they saw was eternal, dark emptiness.

Just like they had beheld from inside the forest, the sky was a static cover of dirty brown twilight. Not a single cloud embellished this image of deterioration, and only a faint orange light at the horizon's edge hinted at any form of vitality. The only object that adorned the sky was the moon, although it was only a gruesome reminder of the truth. Torn open like a crushed skull, uncountable moon rock shards and spilled, pulsative blobs of magma orbited their planet like the rings of Saturn.

Stretching as far as their eyes could see and beyond, the ground was a fissured, barren wasteland in which flashes of lightning flared up out of seemingly nowhere. Ravines the size of rivers drew through the ashen surface like veins, leaking a haze of sickly turquoise magic that was part of this world's core. Most mountains only were eroded, sharp pillars of obsidian piercing the canopy. Canterlot was the same, no silhouette of its city, much less its castle, remaining.

Amidst the void was a tiny sphere of glaring light in which the illusion of a vital world was preserved. Yet the truth of this future was that not only Equestria, but the world entire, died a long time ago.