Geoverse Part Seven: Evil Rising

by GeodesicDragon

Part Two

"I... I'm dead?" I started shaking. "Oh, God... the kids! Are they all right? How can you know they're all right?!"

Anthony held out his hands. "If they had perished, then they would have arrived with you," he replied. "Your act of parental love was a noble gesture; you saved their lives, albeit at the cost of your own."

"What about Tirek?" I asked. "Is he still around?"

Anthony shook his head. "Your guess is as good as mine," he said. "I only have two sources of information when it comes to news from the living world: Celestia and Luna. However, I have not seen either of them for quite some time now."

"They've both been captured by Tirek and sent to Tartarus, along with Cadence," I replied. "They transferred all of their power to Twilight in the hope that she could use it to defeat him."

Anthony's face fell. "Oh, no... I hope they're all right," he said glumly. "I can't bear the thought of losing Celestia, not again."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," I replied. "Anyway, changing the subject, what happens now? I've got so many questions, such as..." I took a deep breath. "How will Twilight cope on her own? I've been away from her before, yet that was only for a few months; this... this is for eternity. How will the kids cope with the trauma of losing me like that? Where will they live, seeing as that bastard Tirek destroyed the library? Did the kids get out of the ruined house okay, or are they still buried under the rubble?"

Anthony patted me on the back. "Your questions will all be answered in time, Prince Geo," he said. "For now, though, we need to get you situated into your new home here in Paradise." He began walking away, beckoning me to follow. "Come, let me introduce you to some of the folk who call this place home."

"All right," I replied. "But could I ask that you stop referring to me as 'Prince?' I can't be a Prince if I'm dead, you know."

Anthony shrugged. "If that is what you want, Geo, then I shall address you by your name instead," he said. "Our camp is this way, in the same place we always built it; the same place where humans and ponies first encountered each other, hundreds of years ago."

"I can only imagine how that went down." I laughed. "It must have been one hell of a surprise, for both you and the ponies."

Anthony stopped walking and turned to face me. "Why imagine it?" he asked. "If you want, I can show you what happened."

"You can?" I scratched my head. "How?"

Anthony grinned. "This is the afterlife, Geo; here, we can relive any memories we have of our time in the mortal realm. Observe."

He held his arms out and closed his eyes. After a moment, the area around us began to distort and warp. Suddenly, it changed entirely, to show a group of stunned looking humans and a group of surprised ponies staring at each other. The campsite was nowhere to be seen, and Ponyville was now lacking many of the buildings that I was familiar with; Sugarcube Corner and the Carousel Boutique being the two that were immediately apparent. I could make out Anthony at the front of the crowd of humans; Celestia and Luna were standing at the front of the pony group.

"What is this?" I asked.

Anthony opened his eyes and returned his arms to his sides. "You are looking at my memory of that day," he replied. "As the leader of our group, it was up to me to make sure that nothing went wrong."

"Um... hello there!" Past Anthony said. "Please do not be afraid, for we are not here to harm you. We only wish to stay here for a day or so to gather food, lumber and water; we have travelled far, and wish to rest before we move on."

"A good day to thee as well!" Luna bellowed. "Thou art most welcome to encamp thineselves here, for this land is one of plenty; it is rich in enough resources for us to share."

"Holy crap," I muttered. "I forgot Luna used to talk like that."

Anthony smiled. "It wasn't just her..."

"Mine sister is correct," Celestia yelled. "Verily, we welcome this opportunity to make new acquaintances. Tell us, who amongst thee is thine leader?"

At once, all of the humans pointed at Anthony, who raised a hand.

"I am," he replied. "My name is Anthony."

"'Tis a pleasure to meet thee, Anthony." Celestia stepped forward and shook his hand. "I am Celestia, and this is Luna. We art the leaders of this village, and of these ponies."

"The pleasure is all mine." Past Anthony coughed nervously. "Um, if you don't mind me asking... why are you shouting at us?"

"It is required that we use the Royal Voice when addressing our subjects and guests," Luna said. "Thou art guests, so we are addressing thee according to Royal protocols."

"Oh..." Past Anthony cast a glance back to the other humans, most of whom shrugged. "Well, I would not take offence if you were to not use the Voice to address us." He offered a small smile. "Besides, wouldn't you relish the chance to give your throats a rest? All of that volume really can't be good for you."

Celestia and Luna looked at each other, and then to Past Anthony; his smile only increased wider, and his eyes began to dart from side to side as he contemplated whether or not he'd made a mistake.

"Thou makest a good point," Celestia said, at normal volume. "Very well, Anthony, we shalt address thee normally, as thou requests."

"Great!" Past Anthony clapped his hands together, at which the other humans starting walking past him to an empty area of land. "Tell you what: we'll get our camp set up, and then we can get to know each other a bit better, maybe over tea. What do you say?"

"We'd like that a lot," Luna replied. "Friend."

With that, Anthony snapped his fingers; the memory faded away, and we were brought back to the the present.

"And that was it," he said. "Ponies and humans got along famously; so much so, in fact, they soon offered us a permanent place to build a town of our own, only a stone's throw from Ponyville."

"Really?" I asked. "I lived in Ponyville for a long time, and I can't say that I ever saw any of your structures."

Anthony sighed. "The Everfree Forest took over our buildings in the years after we died out," he said. "Nothing was spared."

"Oh, right." I coughed. "Sorry."

"It's all right." Anthony started walking again. "Come, the camp is this way; exactly where we built it all those years go."

I followed him, looking around at my surroundings as we went. I could see ponies of all kinds, talking and laughing together as though they had never died in the first place. Foals – presumably those who had died during the famine Celestia told me about – ran around in the sunshine, playing games of tag and hide and seek. The whole place seemed to be peaceful; even the Everfree Forest seemed to be a lot smaller – and further away from town – than it was in the present day. It goes without saying that the land of Paradise was indeed living up to its name.

We reached the camp, at which point the other humans stood up. They seemed to be in awe of me, the first one of their kind to set foot in the afterlife for over a millennium. The fact that I wasn't even one of them didn't seem to phase them in the slightest.

"Friends, gather round." Anthony beckoned everyone over to him; the whole camp was soon standing in a semi-circle around us. "This is Geo, a human from another world, who has spent the last few years living in Equestria. Sadly, though, the land we once called home is under attack from an old foe." He placed an arm around my shoulders. "Geo here was one of the victims of this enemy, giving his life to defend those who mattered to him the most."

A young woman stepped forward and took my hand in hers. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Geo," she said. "My name is Sandra, and we have been awaiting your arrival here eagerly." Her expression changed to one of concern. "Except, we only wish it hadn't been under such harrowing circumstances." She bowed. "May your children never forget you, and your sacrifice be remembered."

"Thank you for your kind words," I replied. "I did what any parent would do in order to protect their children, and I would do it again if I had to. I can only hope that bastard Tirek is defeated once and for all, lest my sacrifice be in vain."

"From what Celestia and Luna have told us, your wife is one of the six ponies in Equestria who wield the Elements of Harmony," Sandra said. "We have witnessed first hand how powerful they are, when Celestia used them against Luna, so Tirek will not succeed."

"Yeah, I have every faith that Twilight and the girls will kick Tirek's arse all the way back to Tartarus." I smiled. "What I don't know is how she'll cope without me; the last time we were separated for any period of time, she didn't handle it very well."

"She will be able to visit you here, that much is certain," Anthony replied. "I'm pretty sure Luna won't mind her accompanying Applejack when she comes to visit her parents."

"It won't be the same, though." I sighed. "I'm gonna miss sitting with Twilight under the stars, listening intently as she eagerly explains all the constellations she can see through her telescope. I'm gonna miss watching Azure and Evening squirting each other with whipped cream and maple syrup every morning."

I started pacing back and forth; Anthony and the others watched me with sympathetic looks on their faces.

"I'm going to miss sitting with my friends under a tree in the sunshine, enjoying their company with a nice, cool cider. I'm going to miss the feeling of my wife's warmth when I wake up holding her each morning. I'm going to miss... everything and everyone."

I stopped pacing and let my shoulders slump, wiping away tears from the corners of my eyes. Anthony came over and patted me on the back, but there was a moment of silence before he spoke, as though he was searching for the right words to use.

"I know it's hard," he said. "Goodness knows it was hard for me when I first got here. You already know that I was the last Equestrian human to pass on, but what you probably don't know is that I was the last one of us alive for twenty years."

I was shocked. "Really?" I asked.

Anthony nodded. "Yes, really." he pointed at one of the other men nearby. "Graham there was the second-to-last one of us to go, at the age of fifty; I was seventy-four when I finally died."

"That... I can't imagine how that must have felt," I replied. "Being the last one of your kind must have felt like a huge burden."

"It did, and for a while it was," Anthony said. "I felt as though it was somehow my fault that everyone else had died; it wasn't, of course, but I still felt like it was. Thankfully, Celestia and Luna were able to console me, like the wonderful individuals they are. They told me that I still had a chance to live a full life, and that I should do so in honour of the friends I had lost." He chuckled. "Needless to say, I did exactly that; when Death finally came for me, I welcomed him with open arms and a smile on my face." He sighed. "Sadly, my death came a few days after Luna's descent into darkness. Celestia was crushed that she was losing two of her dearest friends in such a short period of time, but we both knew there was nothing that could be done to prevent the inevitable."

He looked at me. "The point I am trying to make, Geo, is this: you have accomplished much during your time in Equestria, and you will be remembered for all that you have done. Your wife and children are in safe hands, for they have at their side some of the most magnificent ponies in Equestria. You lived a full life, just as I did, and those you have left behind – especially your children – will live their own lives to the fullest in your memory."

"You're right." I nodded and straightened my shoulders. "I should be proud of who I am and what I have done, and should not worry about my family; they've got all the help they need." I looked at him gratefully. "Thank you, Anthony. Celestia was right when she told me that you have a way with words."

I reached out to put a hand on his shoulder; a collective gasp arose from everyone present when my hand passed right through him.

Anthony looked perplexed for a moment, but soon raised his eyebrows knowingly. "It would appear as though the mortal world isn't quite ready to relinquish its hold on you, Geo," he said. "Remember what I have told you: live a good life, and be very careful indeed; I highly doubt that Fate is going to give you any more opportunities to cheat death again."

Suddenly, I felt myself being dragged sharply backwards, as though someone had tied a rope around my waist and was pulling on it as hard as they could. Anthony and the others faded away, only to be replaced with the library as I saw it on that day...

Complete with Tirek's magic once more heading in my direction.

Comments

[Skye787]

Well that's a relief.

[DiamondBrony99]

Thank goodness