Ponemurdered 2

by The Gentlecolt

Chapter 4^2: deredrumenoP [JackRipper]

Ding! Dong!

The schoolhouse bell rang aloud, signaling the end of the school day for Ponyville’s fillies and colts. Twilight blinked, grimacing as she felt a sharp pain spread throughout her skull.

“You alright, Sugarcube?”

It was as if something was missing, though Twilight couldn’t put a hoof on it. It was as if all the apathy, frustration, and bewilderment that she once felt was suddenly gone—replaced with something else entirely.

“I… don’t know, Applejack.”

Applejack tilted her head, her Stetson hat blocking her confused expression. “Didn’t ya say you were gonna smoke the devil’s lettuce or somethin’ like that? I had half the mind to stop ya, but after everything that’s happened, I’ve gone and lost my drive.”

Twilight stared at the dirt road ahead of her, lost in thought. “I remember undoing a bunch of damage we’d dealt with some kind of spell, and a monster attacking Equestria, but what happened before that?”

“Pardon?”

Twilight grunted as more pain surfaced, temporarily causing her to lose her train of thought. “What happened yesterday, AJ? Can you remember?”

“Sure!” Applejack said. “It was just yesterday mornin’ that I—”

“…”

Twilight raised a brow. “That you what?”

“…”

“Well, ain’t that just the strangest thing,” Applejack muttered, “I can’t remember much of anything myself, ‘cept being upset with ya over something.”

Twilight sighed in relief. “So it’s not just me then. Come with me, Applejack, I’ve got a feeling that something’s very wrong here.”

“Somethin’ wrong?”

A nod. “Call it intuition, but I have a feeling we’re not the only ones with spontaneous memory loss. Let’s gather the girls, I want to see if any of them remember anything either.”

“Right behind ya, Twilight.”

---

The six of them were gathered around the Friendship Map in Twilight’s castle, although instead of meeting up for yet another mission, the room itself had devolved into a muddled mess of aimless speculation and confoundment.

“Darling, forgive me for prying, but what exactly do you expect to find in Canterlot?” Rarity asked, daintily sipping the tea Twilight had prepared for them. “Some kind of premonition, you said?”

“An epiphany,” Twilight corrected. “You know the difference, right?”

Rainbow Dash butted in, quite literally wedging herself between the pair. “Oh, I know this one! They both involve visions of something, but a premonition is like, bad, right?”

Rarity and Twilight stared at her in annoyance, causing Dash to blush. “Shut up, I read it in a Daring Do book.”

“Well, regardless,” Rarity continued, “I don’t exactly consider this bout of amnesia to be anything good. That being said, what exactly do you think it is?”

“It’s so… uncomfortable,” Fluttershy murmured, nervously fiddling with her hair. “I can remember just about everything except stuff from the last few days. It’s like everything’s been erased—”

“I think it’s fun!” Pinkie Pie chirped, springing up behind Fluttershy and causing her to topple over. “It’s like a whole new puzzle waiting to be solved, or an adventure! An advuzzle?” She giggle-snorted. “That doesn’t sound right.”

Twilight clicked her tongue. “As I was saying,” she took the time to glare over at Pinkie and Fluttershy. “I have no idea what’s going on, but I have a pretty good idea somepony might.”

Applejack raised her head from the table. “Who the hay would even know where to begin with somethin’ like this?”

“Princess Celestia.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “I would’ve thought an egghead like you would’ve tried looking for some kind of book first, Twi. What’s stopping you this time?”

“I guess it’s safe to say I’ve wisened up a little,” Twilight replied with a huff. “I realize that there’s likely nothing in my library here that will solve our amnesia problem.”

“So…?”

“So I’ll just have to look in another library. A bigger one, with more books; you know, the Royal Archives.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what do you need Princess Celestia for?” Fluttershy asked, dusting herself off as she sat back down. “Is she even going to know where to look?”

“The way I see it, she’ll probably be able to point me in the right direction if she doesn’t know the answer already, which I’m assuming she doesn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because she never does,” Twilight grumbled. “I’m kind of used to solving everything myself at this point in my life.”

“Ooh! Twilight’s gone all Tsundere on us!” Pinkie Pie said.

Twilight felt her cheeks heat up. “Oh, shut up Pinkie.”

“Haha! Are you going to call me an idiot, baka?”

“You’re actually the worst, you know that?”

Pinkie bounced over to Twilight, playfully booping her on the nose. “You’re just proving my point, Twilight~”

“…I’m boarding the first train to Canterlot.”

---

Twilight had visited Canterlot dozens of times since she’d moved to Ponyville. Even though she wasn’t born in Canterlot, she’d lived within Equestria’s capital for the majority of her life.

So why was there a pit in her stomach? Did the very thought of Canterlot make her sick? No, that wasn’t it…

Twilight stared out the train window, deep in thought. The very city that once acted as her bastion had taken a crueler form. Rarity was right after all—this was a premonition. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense—the more she wished, that for once in her life, she was wrong.

Twilight closed her eyes as she recounted the events of the previous day: Ponyville was destroyed, and through nothing short of a deus ex machina, she’d fixed every single bit of seemingly irrevocable damage.

She furrowed her brow. Was it really that simple? She never bragged about it, but it was no secret that Twilight was gifted, but to fix everything that had happened to them in the span of a second? It was an impossible feat for even a pony like Celestia to accomplish.

Princess Celestia…

The train to Canterlot only lasted roughly three hours, but Twilight felt as though she’d stepped on the train not even ten minutes ago. It was funny, it was almost as if time was speeding up around her, though maybe she just hadn’t been paying attention to the clock.

Twilight gulped as she glanced up at Canterlot Castle looming in the near distance.

She’d find her answers there, one way or another.

---

“I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: it’s always a pleasure to have you,” Celestia said as a castle maid poured tea into her cup.

Twilight forced herself to smile. “Likewise, Princess.”

“But you’re not here just to visit.” Celestia’s smile twitched. “Are you?”

Lying never worked.

“No.”

Celestia giggled. “Does it have anything to do with your memory problems?”

“Actually it does!” Twilight perked up. “My friends have the same problem, and I was kind of hoping you’d be able to—wait, I never told you what was wrong. I never even sent you a letter telling you I was coming…”

Celestia didn’t respond.

“P-Princess, how do you know about my memory problems?”
No response.

“Princess—”

“—It’s always the same, you know,” Celestia mumbled under her breath, just loud enough for Twilight to hear. “The only difference now is that it looks like you’re finally starting to remember it all. Or, at the very least, remembering that you forgot something.”

“Princess?”

“Twilight,” Celestia said, standing up suddenly. “I want you to walk with me, to the Royal Archives. I know you probably have hundreds of questions, and hundreds more that you haven’t even thought of yet, but I need you to be patient and bear with me.”

Twilight shook her head. “I-I don’t understand, Princess.” She stood up as well. “What’s in the archives?”

Celestia didn’t answer Twilight’s question, merely turning her back and trotting down the hall.

“Princess!”

“Just follow me, Twilight,” Celestia calmly said. “I promise I’ll try to answer your questions as best I can.”

---

Canterlot’s Royal Archive, despite its rather impressive name, wasn’t exactly a theme park. At first glance it was just a sizable library—with bookshelves nearly touching the ceiling—filled to the brim with every ounce of knowledge Equestria had to offer. Even Twilight, whom had explored the archive more than any other living unicorn, hadn’t seen its entirety.

Which is why it was no surprise to her that there was something in the Royal Archive that she’d missed.

“W-what are we looking for, Princess?” Twilight stammered, failing to keep the fear and excitement out of her voice.

“Well, it’s not exactly a book,” Celestia replied. “More like, a list of records that I can show you.”

They were nearing the end of the archive; the light in the room almost seemed dimmer now, but it was hard for Twilight to tell.

“Records?”
Celestia nodded. “Records, I’ve been keeping track on everything that’s happened between you and your friends, Twilight. In fact, copies of some of your Friendship Reports are in here as well.”

“Oh, is that it?” Twilight’s shoulders relaxed a little. “Then… what about the amnesia?”

Celestia’s neutral expression twitched, her horn igniting as she flipped through the record book, landing on a specific page with bold lettering.

Ponemurdered.

Twilight’s smile crumpled. “Ponemurdered? What kind of stupid name is that?” She scoffed, flipping to the next page as she read the contents to herself. “Town Hall explosion… corruption of the Elements of Harmony… eight stone statues... Princess, what is all this?”

Celestia gently pushed the record book away from her, as if visibly repulsed by the thing. “That is the first iteration of Ponemurdered, it ended in chaos; not too much different than what you’d experienced a while back.”

Twilight’s eyes widened. “I-iteration? Then that means—”

“That this has happened before, yes.” Celestia sighed. “I’ve honestly lost count of how many times the world has ended in despair.” She leaned in closer, her face a mere inches away from Twilight. “But let me tell you this, my faithful student, this isn’t the first time you’ve come to me after these events.”

Twilight shuddered. “Is that why I knew to come to Canterlot? Why you didn’t bother answering me immediately, because you thought I wouldn’t believe you?”

Celestia shook her head. “It’s not that I didn’t think you would believe me. In the past, I’d tried explaining it to you, but your skepticism won you over, and we’ve always ended up here anyways.”

“This… it’s a loop,” Twilight said under her breath. “This just keeps happening, like some kind of sick game for some omnipotent being to laugh at.”

“Fret not, my dear Twilight.” Celestia draped a wing over her. “You weren’t originally cognizant, but little by little, it’s come back to you.” She leaned into Twilight, savoring the warmth she gave off as the young mare shivered. “I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m not the one who’s supposed to end this little window of madness, but you? I think you’ll be more than capable soon enough.”

“M-me?”

“That’s right, Twilight.” Celestia said with a smile. “Break the chain, my faithful student.”

“Break the chain, or your memories will be wiped, and Ponemurdered will resume once again.”

Author's Note:

JackommentaryRipper: And so Ponemurdered 2 comes to a close; over a year after we initially started working on it, and it’s finally done.

I wasn’t exactly sure how to end this one, so I wrote an ending that I felt would tie the whole thing together (albeit poorly). I didn’t know what to expect going into writing this, though that was the idea.

Writing this was a lot of things: frustrating, confusing, and liberating. I felt like I wasn’t confined to any specific direction, so I took it in the exact opposite direction of where everyone thought it was probably heading. Whether this turned out for the better or worse, I have no idea.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to let me know what you thought of it in the comments below. I’m always reading them.

Always.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

A story that went so far off the rails, it had to go up a level of fictionality to keep going. And then it got more meta.

A delightful bit of madness. Thank you all for it.

[MrWolfeyes2]

*welds broken chain*

MuRahaHahA

[redsopine]

Only one question you still doing these