Autumn: Next Generation

by Hazel_Hester777

Consequences of the Past

“One…two…three…” Hazel counted with her eyes closed before she looked down. “What’s the matter, Sweetheart? Can’t go any further that in the ones digit? I’ve sat on rookies that had more umps!”

“How are you so heavy?” Autumn groaned as she tried to do push-ups while Hazel sat on her back. She fell down from the weight.

It had been a day since they got out of the Anti’s Castle and escaped with the Quillette Blade. Still, there were a few more days before the due date and they had to prepare for such. Autumn was very inexperienced in terms of actually fighting so she had to have someone to train her. Hazel was assigned for the task, and she making sure the girl had a hard time.

“Hazel, don’t you think you’re being a little bit harsh?” Snowdrop asked while she watched.

“Hey, if she doesn’t man-up to the level the rest of us have here, she’s going to be dead meat in a heartbeat. She needs to be pushed to her breaking point as the others here have. Besides, Typevader here was the one who assigned me to her”

The said Brony nodded. “Be careful, though, okay? It seems our Princess here is very delicate”

“Do you treat everyone in the army like this?” Autumn whined underneath the Captain.

“No, just in their training, but I need to be strict. I’m not Captain for nothing, Dervila”

“Since when have you gone strict? And why do you keep calling me Dervila?”

“Hey, stop talking. Just follow my regime and taking down the Jabberwocky will be easier than shooting fish in a barrel. Now give me another set!”

---

“I trust then that your training today went well?” Snowdrop asked awkwardly. Autumn had gone through Hazel’s regime for the day and was dismissed as the Captain had to attend to ‘other businesses’. Now, she was sitting on a couch opposite of Snowdrop in the living room.

“If you mean by back-breaking, then yes” she stretched slightly to fix her back.

“Right, I apologize for her attitude lately. She hasn’t been like her old self in quite a while”

“No kidding. How did this happen?”

Snowdrop looked down with a frown as she didn’t want to speak. Her face was rather solemn.

“Snowdrop, how did this happen?” she asked again, this time more urgent.

The snow filly sighed before she began to speak. “You noticed how much she’s changed? And I mean also physically”

“I noticed. She’s grown up and wearing armor”

“Yes, but have you noticed something else? Something missing?”

Autumn thought for a bit as she tried to remember what changed in Hazel. Let’s see, she’s still wearing a black dress and boots. She’s wearing armor. She’s wearing a hat, that’s new. But…then it hit her.

“Hester!”

Snowdrop nodded solemnly.

“Why? Where’s Hester?”

Again, the Alicorn refused to respond.

“Where’s Hester, Snowdrop?”

“I could take you to her” Typevader spoke up as he entered the room.

The Alicorn with them grew alarmed. “Typevader, please don’t”

“She wants answers, I’ll show her”

“Type, you know how much it upsets Hazel”

“She’s away, training herself at the Army Training Room. I mean, come on, Snowdrop. Twilight said it herself that Autumn needs to know and befriend all of us otherwise she really won’t be strong enough to fight even a dog”

The snow filly looked rather nervous and unsure. “But her OCs…”

“Are with their Mom. Everything will be fine”

“I would love to meet Hester. Mom said she was nice” Autumn spoke up before anyone else could.

Snowdrop sighed before nodding. “If you get caught and kicked out of the room by her Partner, don’t say I didn’t warn you”

---

Typevader soon led Autumn up to one of the rooms in the Castle. It was a very private area from what she could tell and was heavily guarded. They soon managed to reach the room by the end. Inside were six coffins, each having the name of a Brony or Pegasister on the front, along with their aura’s photo. In the middle was one body lying on a white bed. One the bed was a familiar figure.

Autumn slowly approached Hester lying on her bed. “Um, hello, Hester. I’m Autumn. I’m sorry for disturbing…” only when she got close did she notice it: Hester was dead. She was pale and lifeless. Eyes were black orbs. She had several cracks in her body. Her hat was also gone, but then again it was seen worn by Hazel.

“Yeah, she can’t hear you” Typevader then casted a faint spell. It did nothing at first, but then, Hester suddenly bounded up.

“Hello, Autumn. I’m Hester. Would you like to know what killed me?”

Those very words made Autumn nearly faint as she fled from the room. When she did, Typevader let go of the spell as Hester’s body dropped dead and lifeless again.

“I’m sorry, old friend” he apologized softly as he fixed her blanket and left the room.

---

“Now you see why?” Snowdrop asked when Autumn came back, all horrified at what she had seen.

She nodded.

“Tell me, how did that happen?”

She sighed. “When you thought we didn’t exist. Everything here is a reflection of what happens out there in the real world. While you were struggling to believe we were existing or not, Hazel and Hester had gone into the battlefield. Without Lauren to hold the barrier up, it broke down. The King was going to kill us all. He already killed so many, and others were taken as hostage. Among the dead were Hazel’s brother Trey and her sister Spring. Among the hostages, her adopted father Shadow Kirby”

Autumn was starting to get it. “That’s terrible”

Snowdrop nodded. “With almost all family members gone, she could’ve broken down from pressure. She still had one more that helped her”

“Hester”

“Yes, but it didn’t last long. They had to go for one last resort that would hold off until you came of age for Twilight to find you”

She then picked up a book from the shelf nearby and flipped it to a specific page before showing it to the girl. “Hidebrits have this ability that would allow them to create several mini-barriers of refuge all alone without any help from either me or Twilight. But it always came at a cost”

Autumn read the part. “It would slowly tear them apart, forming cracks in their being”

“Indeed, it was dangerous, but they had to take it. They slowed the process down by taking on the cracks together. But when their power had to be used, it was already the end of the line, supposedly for both of them”

Autumn peeked up.

“Hazel knew what would happen, and she hated for it to be. Hester had to be the one in control since she was the actual bearer. But once used, it would kill her. Hazel couldn’t save her. The next thing we knew, we had several barriers around us and she was walking home with a dead Familiar in her arms”

Autumn covered her mouth from shock.

“She took a long while to mourn. She didn’t speak, or eat for several days. When she left the house, she wasn’t the same anymore”

“Poor girl”

Snowdrop nodded. “That wasn’t the worst part”

Autumn listened for it.

“Ever wondered why she’s acting so hostile to you?” she paused for a moment before speaking. “The moment Hester died was the moment you assured yourself we don’t exist”

Autumn gasped in shock. So that was why Hazel hated her so much. She let her Familiar, her only family left, die. She was hurt badly and still mourning.

---

Hazel walked past the desk next to Hester before looking at her dead Familiar. She was so at peace now. She was completely free from the pain and horrors going on. She still remembered that day she died. It was too much.

She noticed a small tear and wiped it off her. Hester didn’t move at all, but if she were alive, she could’ve smiled at her. How she missed her smile. She held her close as small tears came to her eyes. She then carefully laid her back down. She wiped her own tears off. She felt the essence of the Hidebrit Gene circulate in her. Hester died, but a part of her managed to live on now in her.

“I’ll make them pay, Hest” she spoke to her softly. “I’ll make sure they pay”

---

Autumn looked to find that she was in nothing more than a dark room. It was an endless abyss. Nothing was there. No one was there. It was just her. She was feeling scared at what was going on, but she tried to remain calm.

Sob

Her head lifted when she heard that. A faint sound of crying was heard, echoing in the emptiness. Someone else was there. She walked steadily around, following the sound until she came across something weird.

“Hester?”

Hester Hide sat crying, her back turned to her. The Familiar did not stir. She steadily put a hand to her back after kneeling beside her. The Familiar perked up and looked over to her.

“Lauren?”

“No, Hester, I’m not Lauren. I’m Autumn, her daughter”

“Autumn…” she then glared. “Why are you here?! After so long only now you show up! Why?! Did you leave us there to die?!”

“I’m sorry. I really am”

“You should be! Now look where we are! I’m dead, and Hazel’s poignant! Do you hear me?! Or did you not care?!”

The girl flinched at her anger. Though small in form, she was definitely tougher. She only noticed she was barely keeping it together. Her voice was cracking. Her tears were flowing.

Steadily, she reached out and enveloped her in a hug, ignoring her protests. The Familiar angrily kicked and flailed around but to no avail. She soon wore herself out and broke down in a torrent of tears. The girl did her best to comfort her.

“I’m sorry” she spoke when she calmed down.

“Don’t be. I practically deserved it”

“Autumn, can you do me a favor?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Help Hazel”

The girl was surprised at that. “What?”

“Please, I need you to help my sister. She’s angry, yes, but she’s very heartbroken inside. She never was the same after I died, but I don’t want her to be stuck this way forever. I tried to tell Twilight, and Snowdrop, but they couldn’t do it. You, on the other hand, may have a chance. All she needs is some care and comfort. She will be difficult at first, but you will be able to reach her eventually”

The girl stared at the Familiar for a bit before deciding so. Hazel was very cold and always seemingly on edge. But she knew that it was probably to hide her pain. She could’ve left her there to run alone, but she didn’t. She could’ve let her be captured, but she came. Perhaps there was some hope for her.

“Okay, Hester. I’ll do my best”

“Thank you” she then rested beside her. “Can I stay here a bit, until you wake up? It’s so lonely here in this limbo”

“Of course”