Lonely Day
Lonely Day took her first breath. For a long time that was all she did, feeling the heat in her veins again, the steady beat of her heart. Sensations she had had for so much of her existence she’d never even considered them, but now… after only a short time as something else, she understood a little of her friends’ anger at being revived undead.
On the ground in front of her was all that was left of her struggle against Charybdis. The Key made from Mordite hadn’t remained—on a planet filled with life, it was nearly as reactive as antimatter would’ve been. In some ways that was what it was—anti-life. Judging by what she saw, the metal that made up the artifact had escaped into Charybdis’s army, as the closest thing to “living” present. It wasn’t alloyed for anti-magic, so it couldn’t have gotten into Mundi.
There was no missing the chalky statue of Charybdis himself, face still frozen in shock and agony from the moment the metal had touched him. Day lifted the necklace of rusting links from around his neck—missing the key, perhaps, but it seemed like a foolish thing to leave behind. Joe would probably want the original back. She would have to dig it out of the toybox in the apartment where she had confronted Death.
As she lifted, the chalky body crumbled away at the slightest perturbation, blowing away in the wind as a dusting of carbon and trace elements.
She rose to catch the necklace around her own neck, turning around slowly. Half the undead army had returned to being a pile of corpses. The other, slightly larger number, were just gone. Those Alex had called out of distant history had no corpses to leave behind. Whatever effect wearing the Key had imposed on her senses, Alex no longer felt it now. That was a smell.
Another smell mixed in with the rot, one she hadn’t expected. Fire, like wood smoke and combusting gunpowder. She turned to where Sunset’s body had been, just in time to watch it burst into flames, a single gigantic fireball that caused her to reflexively raise a shield around herself. It was a good thing she hadn’t lost all her memories.
The fire only lasted an instant, as though the flesh itself had been transformed into fire. Yet it left a pony standing in its place, a pony that was taller than she was with a soft pink coat and a blue mane. Despite the flames and momentary flash of heat, she wasn’t burned. She blinked in surprise, looking down at the faint layer of ash she was standing in, then looked like she was about to gag. “That… is… awful.”
“Hold on, I’ve got an idea.” Alex reached over to her own armor, pulling out her dagger, and using it to draw into the pile of ash Charybdis had left behind. She could no longer perfectly combine the runes in her mind, she had to work them out. But her basic understanding of magic was still in there, and this wasn’t a complex spell. After a few seconds, she had it, and she aimed her horn at Sky. There was a brief flash, and apparently nothing happened. Until she took a breath, and a faint shimmer appeared around her face and nose. “Better?”
“Yeah.” The pegasus nodded gratefully. “Much.”
Alex concentrated again, and cast the spell on herself. As before, the shimmer only appeared whenever she inhaled. Instead of decay, she smelled only the faint touch of ozone, enough that she didn’t feel constantly on the edge of vomiting.
Well, seeing an army of corpses, many of which had been friends and colleagues, hardly settled her stomach.
“I thought it would take longer to get back here. A few weeks, maybe. Hoped they’d have cleaned this up,” Sky said.
Alex shook her head. She paused, selecting one of the bodies that looked mostly intact, and removing a cloak she hoped was about her size. “Sorry, friend. But I know you don’t need this anymore.” She flung it over her shoulders, holding her wings as close as she could, and pulling on the hood.
“What’s the point of that?”
Alex hesitated, though not for very long. “I’m, uh… I think it’s better if ponies don’t see what happened to me. Losing most of my power… doesn’t make for a good story. Wouldn’t help build confidence in my rule.”
Sky scowled down at her. “I come back from the dead twice, and the first thing you do both times is play politics. Besides, I thought the point of staying was to make sure the city makes it. How are you going to make sure of anything if you’re hiding?”
Alex made her way over to her own armor, all of which was too large for her now. She selected one object from all the others—a crystal communicator. She held it up in her magic, bringing it close to her head. It started to glow as she did so, producing a faint voice from within.
Athena’s voice spoke from it, as clearly as though she’d been standing a few feet away. “Hello, Archive.”
“Not anymore,” Day answered. “That title doesn’t fit. Just Alex.”
“Just Alex speaks like we are in another time. Did Oracle bring your past self to the future again?”
Cloudy leaned in, muttering quietly, “You have to tell me that story.”
But Alex ignored her. “Most of my power came from being Archive—the purpose of that magic is fulfilled, so the spell is broken. And I… gave every drop of magic I could to making an undead army. I guess there wasn’t a whole lot of me left on the other end.”
“Delightful. You’ll be happy to hear my report—no more attempts have been made to penetrate the shield. Whatever Charybdis was doing to disrupt my satellite network is gone, I can see clearly. I don’t see any sign of activity from his outposts. It appears to have been universally destroyed.”
“That’s the risk of having enhanced troops. He didn’t just get ponies to work for him, he changed them. With his magic gone, they can’t survive.”
Athena sounded amused. “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
Cloudy Skies sat down beside her on the bank of Charybdis’s rotten river, glaring at nothing in particular. “I don’t think I like her. Who is that?”
Alex moved the crystal away from her ear. “That’s, uh… remember the probe we helped the HPI send up? It… got bigger.”
“The population is asking after you,” Athena said. “They are desperate to know the results of the battle. Whether or not Charybdis escaped again into the sea. What are your orders?”
“It’s time for the contingency. Don’t let anypony find out we lost Alicorns.”
“We lost Alicorns?”
“One,” she said quietly. “Sunset isn’t… well, two, really. I’m gone too.”
“For how long?”
“Forever, in Sunset’s case. Me… I’m not sure. Awhile.”
“I understand, Alex. Stay in touch.” The crystal stopped glowing.
“There.” Alex stuck it into a pocket of her robe. She was tempted to bring her handgun as well, the ancient weapon that had been owned by so many over the years, before eventually finding its way back to her. But no, she wouldn’t need it. After all that she had seen, Alex was ready for some time on the farm. Others could fight the next war. “We should get into the city. Athena will have cleaning crews out here before too long. We should slip in before anyone notices us.”
“Plan on using that fancy new horn of yours to teleport us in?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. I want to see it.”
It was a fair distance back to Mundi from the river itself, several miles. They didn’t fly—or rather, Alex didn’t. Sky’s hooves barely touched the ground as she followed, though she didn’t seem very interested in looking at anything. Mostly she seemed to be enjoying the flight for its own sake, now that she was protected from the smell.
Alex set a very slow pace, taking in the ruins of her city. So many of the outer layers had been breached, carved apart by weapons or the creeping fungus. It had gone a disgusting black now, and seemed to be the source of much of the rot smell. It would take bodies touched by necromancy a little longer before they started stinking.
Another figure landed beside them as they walked, one light enough on its wings that it barely made a sound. She couldn’t see the owner’s face, but she recognized a familiar voice from within the robe. It was Jackie—not just that, but she was lacking any of the usual hostility. There was no more resentment in the way she spoke, only grief. “It looks like the battle went better than ponies expected,” she said. “You come out to see, like me?”
Does she really not recognize me? Alex nodded, looking away. Her coat probably looked different in the gloom, and it had been many thousands of years since she’d been this size. Most immortals lacked a perfect memory. “Yeah.”
Cloudy landed a few steps behind her, watching with suspicion. But she didn’t say anything to interrupt. “Story is the Alicorns sacrificed themselves to kill Charybdis,” Jackie went on. “That they’re dead for good. We’ll have to wait until we get some new ones.”
“Oh,” Alex said, keeping her voice as impassive as she could. Just how much had losing her wife screwed her up? Even more than Alex had suspected, apparently. “That sounds hard.”
Jackie chuckled. “Not as hard as you’d think, kid.” She looked up, past her to the pegasus on her other side. “You took your kid out here?”
The pegasus shook her head. “She took me. I didn’t plan on seeing this place ever again.”
“Just had to know,” Jackie continued. “Guess I can respect that. Honestly, I… I didn’t think we’d make it. Guess Oracle can be wrong.” She took a few steps into the gloom to one side, vanishing into the shadow of some rubble. She did not emerge on the other side.
Sky kept watching the place she’d been, as though expecting her to pop out with a knife and attack. She didn’t, though. Alex could no longer sense her magic nearby. “What the hell was that?”
“A pony I’ve depended on to help keep the world going. I don’t think she can take the pain of it anymore. Immortality makes us all a little crazy after all these years.”
“You aren’t filling me with confidence,” Sky said. “You didn’t come back for more angst, right? You’re here to live like you didn’t before.”
“Yeah. Once I make sure Mundi’s gonna make it… the seaponies out in L2 were planning on sending a colony out a little further. Brave new world, lots of music… swimming’s a lot like flying, you know. I bet you’d like it.”
Sky wrapped a wing around her, pulling her close. “If that’s where you want to go, then sure. I’ll love it. But you know we gotta bring Joe, right?”
As it turned out, they didn’t bring Joe.
It took a few hours to make it to his lab—slipping back inside was easy for Alex, since she’d designed much of the security herself. But Mundi was still in chaos, while martial law controlled other sections of the city. They had to stay out of sight, or else get assigned to one of the work crews that would be gathering the dead.
Eventually they slipped past the guards to the heart of Mundi, at the lowest point of its highest tower, and through Joe’s wards. There, they found the crystal unicorn halfway through packing up his lab. A gigantic crystal followed him through the air, looking quite familiar to Alex, right down to the makeshift soldering between its sections. It still had little bits of brown slime stuck to it in places from where it had poked out from an undead Cloudy Skies.
“What are you doing?” Alex asked, staying safely back from him as he worked.
He didn’t even glance back at her, or apparently notice how much higher her voice had become. “That’s it, Alex. I did it, I won. First I beat aging, then I beat death. It’s all in your brain, so you have my notes. I’m done.”
“Well, uh… maybe could I get another copy of your notes? I don’t think it’s actually in my brain anymore.”
That attracted his attention. He looked up, eyes widening. “Really?” He looked back at the two of them, but there was no comprehension on his face. “Well, that’s strange. Here.” He dropped the suitcase he was packing, pushing it across the floor towards her. “You can keep them I guess. I don’t really need it anyway. I’m done here. It’s time to put everything I’ve learned to use. Can’t do it here, there’s all kinds of things living on this planet. Somewhere fresh.”
“Uh…” Cloudy Skies made her way across the room to him, standing a few feet away. She looked up at him, eyes searching for something in his countenance. “Don’t you want to stay with your friends, Joe? Your magic saved the day. Don’t you deserve a break?”
He retreated from her half a step—for the first time, it seemed like he had noticed something. Seen her. “No, no. Ruin doesn’t rest for anyone, so why should anyone let it get ahead? Not today, not tomorrow. I’ve got to go.”
“Well.” Cloudy Skies reached out and hugged him. “Be safe, doofus. And come back sometime to say hello.”
“Hello,” he repeated, voice distant. “Yeah, hello.”
Alex crossed the floor to him. It was strange to be looking up at him again, after so long a towering Alicorn. But she hugged one of his legs. “Thanks for saving the day, Joe. If you ever feel like coming back, we’ll be happy to have you.”
He twitched, looking down at her with mild confusion on his face, like a discomfort he couldn’t quite name. “Aren’t you supposed to be in Timeheart by now? It’s paradox of love with Alicorns all the way down, that’s why I never drank your Kool-Aid. You can’t see the world how it is through all those feelings.”
“I don’t think I’d want to,” Alex squeaked. “Are you sure you have to go? You’re immortal, aren’t you? Couldn’t you stick around to help Mundi pick up the pieces?”
“Nope.” He shook his head. “You don’t pay me enough for that, Alex. And I don’t think you could.” He vanished, leaving the two of them alone in the empty workshop. He hadn’t brought anything, in the end, except the crystal.
“Bye, Joe,” Sky whispered. Then she straightened. “Guess he isn’t coming.”
“He didn’t even ask about his Key,” Alex muttered. “Well… I think I should put this place somewhere nobody will find it. Don’t want some idiot trying to recreate his magic down the road who doesn’t know what they’re doing.”
Sky shrugged. “Sure thing, Day.” She glared down at the ground, ears flattening. “It’s only my first day, and this immortality stuff is already worse than I imagined. Is this how it’s been for the last…”
“Eight thousand years,” Alex added.
“Yeah, that.” Day waved a wing absently through the air. “I hope these seaponies are more fun. Lots of singing, you said?”
“Yeah.” She nodded, and she didn’t even have to force a smile. “They really know how to have fun.”
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Was hoping for an epic badass zombie Archive picture, but this is still adorable.
I would say she still has a few stories left in her. At least the story of the last human to return, and her final rest.
You need at least one more "archive" chapter, unless you plan on changing the framing story. Last chapter of Wayfinder had Alex being the summoned to talk to the isolated colt.
Like Toba erupting and reducing humanity to only a few thousand induviduals, over teh length of time from the Roman empiure to the present day, but with th infrastructure of civilisation for five billion entities to return.
Maaaan, she finaly got a happy-ish break after all. Kinda shame all but two friends bailed out on her in the end, but hey... sea ponies. Shoo-be-doo!
Such a bittersweet ending. Sure Alex now gets to spend time with Cloudy having fun, but....everyone else has abadoned them. Plus after all that work Joe spent trying to reunite with Cloudy, he doesn't even get to get his promised reward.
Wow, and with that, it's complete. I know we still have two thousand more years to go, but Alex has always been the heart of the story. It's crazy to see how far she and the story have come from that initial waking up in an empty city. It's going to be wrird without her, but I'm glad to see she's getting a well deserved rest. So long, Lonely Day, and thanks for all the dead fish.
This was epic. You'd do Homer proud, really.
Ah! I was wondering how far in the future this final confrontation happened. I'm glad there's still a huge chunk of time for the side story writers to work in. That's plenty of time for civilization to rise, fall, and be reborn at least once and in multiple places.
Did Archive have a Seapony foal? I remember her getting very friendly with one but nothing was ever said.
Either way I'm glad some Seaponies survived. Shoo be doo.
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IIRC there were some problems when she had Cody which determined that she shouldn't (or couldn't?) have another foal.
8534631
There were a few thousand years (and getting an alicorn body) in between the 2. I always got the impression that it was due to complications from the mom being the equivalent of a 12 year old.
aaaaaaa y is it over :<
We have experienced so much with Alex/Lonely Day that I think we would appreciate a couple SoL with her having a "normal" day.
Talk about a freaking roller coaster ride, these last half-dozen chapters have been. Despite the pain and horror, despite the death, families torn apart by the preservation spell, I think this was one of the best scenerios. I would have to disagree with many characters, and say that the Equestrians did all they could to help us, with what they knew might happen. A little more preparedness would've been great, but it, at least in this part of the story, in the past.
This is the first song I thought of for Mundi to use in celebration, once things get back to normal. One my character stored on an external hard drive, given to them by her at some point after this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiSj4ggnGO8&index=149&list=WL
Also, is Sky an alicorn, or just an ageless being like Ezri, Jackie, and Isaac were? I like the new look too, Alex!! Suits you, for all you've been through, and makes you look wiser for it!!!
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I think Cloudy is like Jackie, she's not an Alicorn.
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Thought that might be the case, but confirmation does help clear the confusion. Thanks!!
This was brilliant. I really love the cyclical nature of it - The story really starts with just Alex and Cloudy Skies rebuilding the world, and ends with it. Though I would love to see her again later on, this is truly a fitting end for Alex’s story. Of course, Alex isn't the same as she was all those years and chapters ago. It is kinda sad, though, reading the other stories set in this world, and wanting to invest in their rebuilding but being unable to because you know it will all fail in the end and become this. This ending reminds me of the ending to Fallout:Equestria Project Horizons what with everyone dying and all, and I never thought anything would send me anywhere close to the emotional rollercoaster that put me through, but you managed it.
.
As we said back then, have a moustache
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At least we know that the rebuilding in the other stories might've put people into Mundi that survived the war to go back and rebuild. It isn't completely vain.
God damn! You really know how to make a story come full circle! I don’t know what it is but I always get so involved with every story you write. I just really feel for the characters for some reason. I just really hope that you’re not serious when you say that this is the last time we’ll see Alex. She’s been there since the very beginning of this epic series, and I can’t help but feel that it would be a little weird to wrap up the story with a whole two thousand years of timeline without seeing anything else from here. Yes, this was a good conclusion for her character but I think it would be nice to see how her relationship with humanity has changed now that she’s no longer Archive. Great story tho. This is probably my favorite mlp fanfic series.
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Most importantly, Charybdis is dead. Now there's only the evil in the hearts of people, not a demon destroying it all.
And finally I get around to the "end". Full circle indeed.
Now Alex and Sky can just be ponies for a while- one advantage of not having to keep us entertained.
(I feel like I missed something about there being a duplicate key. Well, that's over with anyway.)
And the weight of the world is off my back
When we fell, we got up
And crawled out the cracks
Excuse me if I take some comfort in that
Happy today, happy to play
With the weight of the world off of my back
-Elton John
I don't think I can even express how much this story has meant to me over the couple years I've been reading it, so seeing it end is such a surreal experience. You are an amazing storyteller, and it's all just... Guh. So good. I've cried more reading this series than any other work of fiction.
I know you might think I'm exaggerating, but this is honestly one of the best stories I've ever read; certainly the best fan fiction, but definitely in the top five even considering professionally published works. It's been super impactful and super special to me and my life. So...
Thanks.
So... this is finally it.
And it was awesome.
Like, really really awesome.
I remember clicking on Bedtime Stories when it was in the feature box, it had just a few chapters... I saw it was a sequel, of a sequel, of a sequel, of a sequel, of a sequel... of a story I had never heard of.
So I started reading. And I certainly wasn't expecting things to go down like this !
Great job Mister Starscribe, you are a great writer.
I have, just too many words about all of this story, but right now I'm going to say. That Alex personally meeting the Last Refugee would be nice, just, is the last one, and even if she is not Humanity, would make sense for the First to welcome the Last
Just saying
PD: OMG I love ALL the stories of this setting <3
Finally got around to reading the last chapters and I must say: its been an amazing ride. Everything. From the start of this story to its development into this grandiose finale.
This is one of my favorite stories and Alex will always hold a special place in my heart. Kind of sad to see her story end, but I can't think of a better closing (like her cutie-mark; that almost had me in tears).
Though I will have to agree with the other commenters: Lonely Day greeting and welcoming the last batch of refugees, ending what she set out to do at the beginning of everything, would be so beautiful...
Still, I'm excited to know what happens next (already happened), so many questions still unanswered, so much potential.
8581038
So many people have said it, I think they've convinced me. I will at least write her last contribution with the last refugees. So that's at least one more thing for Alex before her book gets closed for good.cdn.discordapp.com/emojis/377292716037505035.png
Wait... Where did the two new chapters "Helpless Treatment" and "Splinters of something new" from a few days ago disappear to? I hadn't downloaded them yet!
8745092
I decided to expand them into a whole story of their own. They'll be back in a day or two as "Little Problems."
8745121
Ah, okay.
That Alex is so cute! Necromancy did take its toll on her mane and tail, though. Not her eyes, those kept their beautiful hue.
I agree that Alex's book is only an epilogue away from the ending... But what about the middle of it? There are many untold stories of her life until this point. I'd love to read them... But I also recognize you're only one person and can't keep writing Alex forever. Also, there's a lot of other wonderful ones write currently doing. You certainly earned being one of my favorite authors, Star
I know I'm a bit late in saying this but I've only just binged this story now so
Dear Charybdis
**** You!
Sincerely humanity
Past, present and future
I wouldn't have believed that the opening of this series would evolve into this mad-god-timey-wimey-mythological... thing. Can't complain, I enjoyed it. Though I have to scrounge up some brain bleach. Stuff of nightmares' nightmares, being ripped from the afterlife by a half-crazed being wielding the key to undo everthing, not to mention the dozen other horrors of similar magnitude.
Where was the foreshadowing for the key, anyway? The death-metal felt like it was pulled out of nowhere.
8776159
Eh, kinda. Consequences tend no to matter when everyone is dead, and that's what she believes will happen if they go to war.
8805533
Yes, but I didn't think he ever had any desire to be a seapony or be immortal. So why did he choose to become one?
8806557
When it's that or drown. And they probably don't tell you the unpleasant parts when you sign up.
8806656
Oh, so it was an MLP The Movie situation.
9214437
Oh yeah the story works fine completely on its own, I just can't unsee that crown!
8536402
My mind's eye is going to be wrenched away from whatever it is seeing back to Axis Mundi after the battle every time I hear this song now...
Thank you!
We NEED this story at some point. I will personally go to your patreon and pay you to do this one someday when Im not in student debt dammit!
Oracle brings far too many fun timey wimey stuff with him to be left alone
I am glad to see some of my earlier thoughts and comments on how things would end were misplaced. Except the part where i expected you to make things interesting, definitely did not disappoint.
And so the story of Alexander Lonely Day Haggard draws to a close.
Seriously Cloudy better make them retire after all this...
Its been a long ride and i dont regret a second of it. I honestly have too many feelings and thought about it all to even begin putting into words proper without writing an entire story's worth of thoughts.
One thing i do know i wanna say to end things off with is: Thank you for these great stories. I cant begin to describe how much I've enjoyed them and while there is still more to be read (which i WILL read in time) to me the overall story of Ponies After People and Alex have truly ended here.
cdn-img.fimfiction.net/group-bg/zfem-1436248943-207757-full
Little Day is little again!
Didn't catch that the first time. Does that mean he plans to go to another planet and... do stuff? With mordite, I guess? Would make sense you'd need to go to a place where nothing's alive to avoid anti-life disasters. Or is he saying that he plans on trying to use magic to make new life on some other planet?
It's really sad that he went pretty much completely crazy in the end. Didn't even get to notice Cloudy was really there. Mostly.
Looks like I was wrong about thinking the end of EWU was The End. I figured this fic would just be a collection of stories that would be disconnected from the main one. Glad we got closure with Charybdis. I feel like it does need an epilogue for Day, though.
I'll take this chance to reiterate how much I love your writing.
Kinda sad I didn't find you until now.
I drew a Lonely Bun and less than twelve hours later this chapter went up.
It's interesting, comparing the chapters from 2017 to 2019, how much better your prose has gotten. I've only started devouring your works recently to see your quality as a writer, and so far, you've greatly exceeded my expectations. Your prose has gotten more tight and concise. Even though your prose contains heavy amounts of telling and exposition, much like Isaac—and very much better than him—you make it interesting.
Heck of a job, Star.
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I would make only Eevee real
Shoo bee doo, shoo shoo bee doo.
Dang, now I hate myself.
Despite knowing I have read all of the chapters in this story (or at least the sites way of tracking what I have and haven't read says I have) I still feel I missed a lot of things.
Like how or when did they find out Equestria was gone?
What was that thing that the magical humans needed that charybdis said he'd destroyed (that I've already forgotten the name of).
Who (or what) is Ruin?
Reading these storys is starting to feel like it needs to come with a reference guide to who is who and who is what
. I can't seem to keep up anymore.
9739486
Huh, I don't remember that, but Founders never really stuck in my mind all that well.