Last Hope

by GMBlackjack

Last Hope

A white unicorn mare walked through the desert, sand blowing past at high speeds. She wore goggles that had once been of the finest make in the land but were far too old to even be identified as such any longer. Cracks lined the edges and one of the lenses was fractured down the middle, somehow maintaining cohesion despite the battering grains.

She did not need to see to walk through the storm. She knew this place like the back of her hoof. And, like her hoof, even a dramatic change would do nothing to tear her awareness away.

She passed a shredded piece of stained wood. Perhaps the stain was blood, perhaps not, but it didn’t really matter. There would be bloodstained splinters elsewhere, no doubt about it.

Light could be seen to her left. A fire raging. She had stopped a similar fire elsewhere, but at this point there was no reason to waste effort. It was just a fire somehow burning in the middle of a sandstorm. Sadly of mild concern to her.

Was anything of major concern to her anymore?

She didn’t know. She just knew she needed to make it.

When she felt the sand under her hooves give way to cobbled stone, she knew she was close. She gingerly held a hoof out, feeling the sand scrape against her sole. The pain was minimal, though she would need to watch her hoof for splitting later.

Then she found it. The Runic Pillar. Rising several meters into the air, the amber glow of the Runes reacted to her presence, flashing a soft white. Her attention fell upon the largest Rune on the pillar: five circles connected in a pentagon shape, each circle with a line that led to a larger central circle.

That symbol mocked her… but she couldn’t look away.

~~<<WHO IS RAINBOW DASH!?>>~~

Rarity woke up with a panicked gasp. “Who is… what?”

She felt the need to remember her nightmare. She was convinced that it was… important. But for the life of her she couldn’t remember the other half of the question.

“Who is…?” she put a hoof to her head, trying to rub out the headache. After a moment, she looked to her horn. “Are you creating visions now, or something?”

As usual, her horn gave her no answers.

With a sigh, she looked at the immense hourglass resting at the side of her bed. It told her she had slept nine hours, which was good enough for her. She pulled the immense purple blankets off herself and trotted to her dresser, considering which dress to wear today.

Before she could get very far, there was a knock at her door. “Sister?”

“Yes, Rust?” Rarity called, glancing at the door.

“Mother and Father have requested an audience with the two of us at your earliest leisure.”

“Oh! I haven’t kept them waiting by sleeping have I?”

“Nah. They just asked me to come talk to you. I can tell them you’ll arrive soon?”

Rarity nodded. “I’ll go easy on the mane today and just wear something simple.”

“You know, not even Princesses have to wear fancy dresses all the time.”

“And Princes should still dress up occasionally.”

“Touche, my sister. See you then.” Rarity could hear him trotting away from the door, his hooves clacking against the stone floor of the palace.

Rarity kept her word. She put on a simple white dress with no frills to speak of and quickly combed her mane. She trotted to the door – but then remembered her goggles. Her parents had gotten them for her recently, lenses of the finest craftsmanship money could buy and frames studded with precious gems. She carefully placed them on her head, above her horn. It’s almost as though I have a crown, Rarity mused. I hope father will be pleased to see me like this.

She slipped into her bronze royal shoes and trotted out into the grand hall. As usual, there was a pegasus butler waiting to tend to her every need, but she dismissed him with a wave of her hoof – she could be doted on later, her parents needed her.

As she passed down the royal hallway, her eyes were drawn to one of the larger tapestries with a familiar symbol to her – five circles in a pentagon with a sixth in the center. This symbol was common in the kingdom of Ponsia, though the royal version had symbols within the circles. At the top, a violet starburst inside a horseshoe with wings and a triangle in the center. To the sides, a blue lightning bolt and a butterfly with a sword instead of a body. At the bottom, a gear with a leaf in it and a pen with magic explosions around it.

In the center was her symbol – a diamond with a brilliant all-seeing eye. Usually she spent most of her time studying that, but today she felt drawn to the blue lightning bolt. She had no idea why. The symbols just represented aspects of magic, after all, and she wasn’t experienced enough with her horn to identify which symbols meant what.

Most ponies would have to wait for hours to enter the throne room, and that was only if they were important enough to warrant an audience with the royal couple. Rarity, being not only the Princess but also the Enchantress, could walk in whenever she wanted, save for private moments and she knew that wasn’t a concern right now.

She trotted right in, taking up position next to her elder brother, Prince Rust. He wore nothing, as was his custom, but he managed to keep a dignity about himself that few ponies could. His features were chiseled, his eyes always observant, and his stance powerful. If only he weren’t such an ugly brown he might have luck with the noble mares of the kingdom. Rarity had offered to help him in the arts of charming a lady many times before but he had refused, saying it wouldn’t be genuine if she did.

His loss. His tragic, tragic loss.

Rarity and Rust bowed as one. “We have come as requested, your majesties.”

The King and Queen of Ponsia nodded in the curt way only old royalty could – which was mildly depressing, considering they were hardly past middle age. Already both of their faces were lined with wrinkles, a sign of many troubling and difficult times ruling. The King was of a rich hazel color, while the Queen was a dark black.

“Rise,” the King said, lifting a hoof. His children did so, at first smiling in his direction. The smiles vanished when they saw he was not only in a serious mood, but a dour one.

“Rarity,” the Queen began. “Your name is a literal one. You are the only unicorn in the world, the Last Enchantress. We are the last known lineage with any unicorn blood in us.”

“I am aware,” Rarity said with a solemn nod. “I am also aware that it is my duty to master spellcraft and restore magic to the world.” She thought of the mark on her flank that matched the center of the tapestry. It is my destiny.

“It is good to see you taking your role seriously,” the King said. “Many would balk at having such a burden placed on them, but you have done nothing but strive as hard as you could.”

“The world needs healing,” Rarity explained. “What would I be if I did not give my all to uncover the lost arts? In another generation or two, the world would be nothing but desert. I must give all I have.”

“You have taken to your role perfectly… proving that you were meant for it.”

The Queen sighed. “We would love to be here to see it… but your father and I are not long for this world.”

Rarity put a hoof to her mouth while Rust simply let out a depressed breath.

“The drain afflicts all ponies,” the King continued. “We have poured ourselves into ruling this nation, and we are being punished for it. Only you, Rarity, are resistant to the drain. When we are gone, you will need to have every tool at your disposal to fix this world, and this kingdom will need a stable future in that world. Which is why we have come to a difficult and… unorthodox decision.”

“Rarity.” The Queen spoke with a motherly but firm tone. “We are giving you the birthright for the throne.”

Rarity gasped. Rust sputtered. “Mother!”

“Prince Rust, you will hold your tongue,” the King demanded. “This is our decision and it is final. Do not question us. Rarity will be crowned Queen upon our passing and lead Ponsia to a restored world. Do I make myself clear?”

“Y-yes father.”

Rarity looked from her mother to her father – and knew she didn’t have a choice. Just like she had been born a unicorn and been declared the savior of the world, she would have to become Queen of Ponsia. There was nothing she could do about it, even if she wanted to help Rust.

She had to respect the will of the Crown.

She bowed her head. “I humble myself before you, for I am not worthy of such office. But as I have been declared the heir, I will strive to become worthy.”

The Queen’s expression softened. “Rarity, you are the best possible pony to lead Ponsia. I can rest knowing I leave it in good hooves.”

Rust tried not to wince, but Rarity heard it anyway.

“You flatter me, mother.”

“You flatter us by gracing our lineage,” the King said. “The last unicorn has come from the line of Thorn. And so shall magic itself.” He paused. “That is all. You are dismissed.”

Rarity and Rust bowed and left the throne room. The moment they were alone in the hallway, Rarity turned to Rust with a concerned expression.

His responding glare told her speaking would be unwise. They wordlessly went their separate ways.

~~~

Queen Rarity held her scepter in her hoof and sat down in her throne. She had chosen the larger throne of the King as her seat – for now she was Ponsia’s only ruler and it simply would not do to have her regulated to the secondary throne.

If she had been any other mare, the people would have demanded she get a husband to become the actual king, because of tradition. But she was the Enchantress. Her ponies were more than happy to let her be in charge simply because of her destiny. She would save them all.

No pressure.

To be fair, she didn’t really feel pressured; she had lived her entire life with the knowledge that she would be called to return magic to the dying world. She wasn’t stressed any more than usual about the hope of her ponies. The grimace on her face had another reason for gracing her features.

“Send for my brother,” Rarity said.

“Right away, your highness.”

It did not take long for Rust to shakily tread into the room, head down.

“Oh good, you didn’t run,” Rarity said, letting out a sigh of relief. “I don’t think I could have saved you if you did that…”

Rust looked up at her in confusion. “Ex…cuse me?”

“You are aware of our history and tradition. Any King who rises to the throne is expected to do away with his brothers one way or another. Even though I am Queen, naturally I should take care of the one threat to my reign.” Her grimace softened. “I’m not going to do that, Rust. I want you at my side.”

Rust looked up at her in surprise. “Are you… sure?”

“Yes. Absolutely.” Rarity smiled. “I cannot make you King, for that would be improper, but with my unique situation I can refrain from getting a King so you can have a suitable title of rule. I hear the old societies had a role called Prime Minister?” She stepped out of her throne to meet Rust on equal terms. “You can be second only to me. In theory, I would prefer equals, but our parents’ wishes must be respected, and the kingdom needs an absolute ruler.”

Rust’s fearful look had become a slack jaw.

Rarity giggled. “Do fix your face, that expression is unbecoming of a Prime Minister.”

“What exactly is becoming of a Prime Minister?”

“Looks like you get to decide that. Even if it means…” she twisted her face in mock disgust. “Not wearing regal robes all the time.”

“Oh, so it’s significantly better than being King?”

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Of course you’d think that.” She pulled her brother into a hug. “…Thank you for staying and trusting me.”

“To be honest, I had partially wondered if taking the throne turned ponies into some kind of heartless monster.”

“If it does, my magic keeps me immune, as it does with so many things.” Rarity released Rust from the hug. “Now, dearest brother, I believe we have policy to discuss. How are we going to get the nobles to accept this?”

“Royal decree should do it.”

“Well, yes, but we need to word it in such a way that it won’t light their fancy little parliament on fire.”

“Strange, that was my second suggestion.” Rust grinned and raised his eyebrows.

Rarity laughed. “I missed being able to just talk to you.”

“I missed not fearing for my life. But, you know, your struggles are important too.”

Rarity nodded, going back to your throne. “You can have the Queen’s throne, if you wish, though I find myself wondering if you can suffer the indignity of such a frilly cushion.”

“My first decree as Prime Minister will be to have it replaced.”

“Priorities in order, I see.”

~~~

“Ah, sister!” Rust called, galloping across the palace halls to greet her. “The skirmishes with the northern tribes have gotten worse, we sh-“ he paused when he realized there was a pegasus filly on her back. “…Rarity?”

Rarity levitated the filly off her back with her magic. “This Flit Bit. Isn’t she just the cutest?”

“Hi Prime Minister Sir!” Flit said, bowing in midair. “You’re even cooler up close!”

Rust ignored her. “Why have you brought another filly into the palace? We talked about this.”

“Rust, please, we’re the royal family, we can bring whoever we want into the palace. Plus, this filly’s family has been going through some rough patches lately. I met them in the lower city when I was restoring some of the gardens, had lunch with them, gave them some assistance. Flit here is j-“

“You gave more of the treasury away to random farmers.”

Rarity nodded. “Of course I did. It’s not like we’re using it for much.”

“We might have a war soon!”

Rarity sighed, setting Flit down. “Flit, why don’t you go with Aero here? He’s a great butler and can show you to the kitchen.” Turning to the pegasus butler, she added, “give her some ice cream or something.”

As soon as they were out of range, Rarity glowered at Rust. “You know as well as I do that we have excess money to run the army should it be required. We also own seventeen estates in different cities we never use. In an emergency those can be sold.”

“But if you travel abroad…”

“There are such things as hotels, Rust. Cheaper to maintain too, if you can believe it.” She waved a hoof dismissively. “Look, the point is, I’m restoring the world around us. And to do that I need to be around the common ponies.”

“I understand that, and I can see the increase in food production since you started returning power to the earths. But you’re disgracing our royal lineage by associating as… equals.”

“I associate with you as an equal,” Rarity pointed out.

“We’re kin.”

“Rust… I’m not stupid.”

Rust cocked his head. “What?”

“I know it’s possible to have hidden racial traits within a bloodline, but I’m a graceful white mare with thin, delicate hooves and bright blue eyes. Mother, Father, and yourself range from brown to black, have sturdy builds, darker eyes, and don’t even have remotely the same face. I consider you family, but there is no way I was actually born of mother.”

Rust blinked. “W-what?”

“You really didn’t figure it out?” Rarity sighed. “…I thought it was obvious, but maybe that’s because it was just what surrounded me… I suspect I was born into a low-class family by freak accident, and the moment that family brought me before the courts to be heralded as the new Enchantress, they were killed. Then it was said I was the daughter of royal lineage, raised as a Princess. After all, it wouldn’t do to have the Enchantress come from a bloodline that wasn’t royal, would it?”

Rust looked like he wanted to argue, like he wanted to affirm that she was his sister. But he couldn’t.

Rarity hugged him. “Rust, I’ve known this for years, since before mother and father’s passing. It does not and never has made me treat you differently. You are still my brother. Family is more than blood ties.” She released him. “We will discuss the problem with the northern tribes in court tonight. For now, how about we have lunch?”

“…I have a previous engagement, my apologies,” Rust said, bowing. “I will still arrive at court.”

“Oh… well, I shall be sure to get you to lunch some other time. Until then, brother.”

~~~

Rarity walked through the streets of the city of Clipper, a mixture of joy and sadness overflowing from her. This far out of the capital, the world was almost completely desert – sand blowing everywhere. The cobbled stone of the streets were covered in the grains, making it awkward to walk, and even harder for farmers to push their carts. Here, life was endlessly difficult. Crops struggled to grow even when farmers gave it their all, and Rarity’s magic could only help so much.

But whenever she visited, the smiles on everypony’s faces… the joy they felt upon seeing her. All the baked goods and gifts they would offer her for simply spending time to grace their distant city with her power.

They were so happy, despite it all. They were happier every time she returned.

And now, at long last, she had uncovered how to restart the fountain crystals. She had been waiting in agony for the opportunity to visit Clipper and give it the refreshment it deserved.

A small crowd of ponies gathered behind her. Mostly earth ponies, as was to be expected given the population ratio, but there were a decent number of pegasi as well. Some of them were flying overhead, having had their magic restored by Rarity during her prior visits.

She saw a few other pegasi walking along the ground, and a handful of earth ponies who looked weak… How she wanted to stop and give them the spark of life they were missing. But she couldn’t, not yet. She had a bigger mission first, a mission the entire crowd desperately anticipated.

With sturdy hooves and a billowing royal cloak, she strode up the marble stairs to the pedestal in the center of town. It was a simple marble podium with a series of bowls rising out of it. All of them had been dry so long there were cracks and dust lining the edges and sand had filled them. With her telekinesis, she threw all the sand out, dashing it on the streets below. She kneeled down as far as she could, looking at the base of the bottommost bowl.

A small, blue crystal laid on the bowl’s underside, devoid of any magical spark. It was time to fix that. She pushed magic through her horn in a pattern she had come to know intimately over the past few weeks, blasting the crystal with an intense beam of white energy.

The Eyes of the Enchantress radiated with the pristine light of life, and once again the crystal surged with magic. Water shot out of it, cascading into the air like a geyser, quickly filling the bowls with the clear, life-giving substance.

Rarity lifted her head, breathing heavily. “There you go.” She turned back to them. “May you never be thirsty again.”

The crowd erupted into cheers as Rarity stepped down the stairs. She began using what magic she had left to restore personal magic of pegasi and earth ponies all around, touching her horn to their heads and letting out a soft pulse of energy. Soon, ponies were flying, dancing, laughing, drinking.

“Your Highness! Urgent message!”

Rarity turned to the royal pegasus messenger, looking at her with concern. “Yes, Relay?”

“The northern tribes have executed an organized attack on our border! We… we’re at war.”

Rarity’s pupils shrunk to pinpricks. She turned to the other pegasi. “I do not have enough magic to teleport all the way back to the Crown City! Please, assist your Queen: get your strongest fliers, hook up a carriage, and take me there as soon as possible!”

“Right away!” the pegasi shouted, rushing away in a burst of air.

“War…” Rarity said, shaking her head. “Ponsia has been the only nation for centuries, we haven’t had a war since Griffonia fell…”

~~~

Rarity furrowed her brow, looking at a map of Ponsia. The entire northern fourth of the kingdom was covered in red pawns representing northern tribe armies. Blue pawns were spread across several Ponsian cities, holding nothing resembled a unified front.

“We need to get something more organized,” Rarity declared. “We’re scrambling to protect the cities as it is… The tribes always seem to come from where we least expect them when we least expect them, and none of our cities have enough forces to defend when they come down all at once.”

“They really are unified against us,” Rust said.

“They are suspiciously unified for a bunch of incoherent tribes…”

“Their curious and sudden unity is not our concern, our concern is survival.” Rust pointed at their blue pawns. “We need to redistribute our armies.”

“I agree,” Rarity said. “Create a wide front and push them back to the north.”

“They’ve proven too savage for that. If they break through…”

“Split it up into two lines, then.” Rarity strolled around the table. “If one gets through the first line, we’ll know about it and can reallocate the second line of defense.”

“But they’ve proven to get past our defensive lines before. We need to think in more reserved terms. Our armies need to pull back, let them march forward for a while. We’ll lose a few cities…”

“Rust!”

“Rarity, we must make some sacrifices!” Rust shouted, slamming his hoof on the table and upsetting a few of the pawns. “I know how much you care about the peasantry up there, but we shouldn’t risk the entire kingdom for them! It’s a huge risk trying to save them all. We need to pull back, protect what really matters.”

“What matters more than these people?”

“You! You are the Enchantress, the bringer of magic!” Rust waved his hooves. “We can’t afford to lose this war not only for the sake of Ponisa, but for all ponies in the world! Including the tribes!”

Rarity bit her lip. “I…”

“Rarity, you give so much to the ponies who don’t deserve it. You need to be able to keep giving. You can’t do that if you’re dead.” He put a hoof on her, frowning. “Take back some of what you’ve given them.”

“I… I can’t ask for their lives.”

“They’d give them to you in a heartbeat.”

Rarity paused, looking at the encroaching red pawns on the map. With a sigh, she relented. “We will withdraw to a stronger position, focusing on protecting the Crown City. But we are sending out pegasus messengers to the cities on the borders first, give them a chance to flee. We must save as many as we can from the barbarians.”

“Naturally. I shall order the messages myself.” Rust bowed. “Thank you for seeing the way, Rarity.”

“This is war. I’m not sure there is a way,” Rarity growled with distaste in her mouth. “Nothing but pain and suffering for all involved. …Rust?”

Rust stopped at the door. “Yes?”

“The world is dying. Why do they insist on fighting us?”

“Resentment at our success.”

~~~

Rarity was enjoying a simple banquet in the deepest dining hall of the palace. She’d been planning this for weeks – the war had been taking a significant toll on her mental fortitude and she needed at least a few hours to herself where she didn’t get some news of a city falling or a minor victory marred with ridiculous loss numbers.

So much death…

She shook her head – she wasn’t going to think about that. Right now, she was having a feast. With… well Rust had been here, but he’d left a few minutes ago to make sure everything was fine outside. If he wasn’t back in a few minutes Rarity would have to assume it wasn’t and then her banquet would be over.

Annoying, but she couldn’t bring herself to be mad at the prospect. She was the Queen, after all. She honestly felt slightly guilty being down here, but she did need to make sure she didn’t snap. If she snapped, the entire kingdom would go down in flames.

She cared too much for these ponies to let herself be the breaking point. She was their last hope.

A pony tried to stab her. Her telekinetic aura easily caught the knife and bent it in half, tossing it to the side. She sighed. “An assassin…” She turned, lifting the tribal mare into the air by the neck. “I was wondering when one of you would actually get close enough to make an attempt. Took longer than I was expecting, honestly.”

The assassin growled. “Your kingdom falls today…”

“Dear, you failed. I have a shield raised now, any other attempts on my life will fail miserably.”

“Your city is burning while you feast, Witch.”

Rarity blinked. “I have virtually the entire army surrounding the Crown City, there’s no way. I would have been informed.”

The mare looked at Rarity in confusion for a minute – and then she understood. “Oh! You’ve been betrayed! Ahahahaaha-GAH!”

Rarity had smacked the mare upside the head with a magic plank, knocking her out. With a flash of her horn, Rarity teleported to the palace balcony…

…And what she saw chilled her to her core.

Smoke was rising in several areas of the Crown City, and many of the larger buildings that had made up the skyline were simply gone. The sky, once blue and pristine, was darkened with the presence of smoke. She could hear the screams of hundreds of ponies being burned. She could hear fights breaking out at the walls… was the army fighting itself?

How could this have happened? Why had nopony come to tell her? The only pony with the power to keep her in the dark was…

“Rust, why?” Rarity asked, sensing her brother behind her.

“Several reasons,” Rust admitted, padding the ground.

“Just give me the biggest.”

“You are supposed to be a servant, not a leader. A Queen is supposed to be better than their subjects, demand respect, uphold the way of royalty.” He walked right next to her, looking at the fires burning in the distance. “As the Enchantress, you cannot be a good Queen. You are meant to serve, to be generous. You should never have been given the throne, for you disrespect the legacy of my ancestors with your traitorous ways.”

“Excusing treachery by calling me a traitor?”

“This is not what Ponsia should be, not anymore,” Rust said. “The peasants don’t know their place. Ponies walk up to you like you’re they’re mother. I am not treated with a modicum of respect! The royal bloodline has come to mean nothing!” he stamped his hoof on the ground. “You have destroyed this kingdom!”

“No,” Rarity said, glaring. “You have.”

“I have made a deal with the tribes,” Rust declared. “I will bring them into the kingdom, make them leaders, give them power… in exchange for taking the throne. There will be no more enemies for Ponsia to face under my rule.”

“…But the tribes… the barbarians… we’ve met their leaders, we’ve tried to talk peace. They’ll be cruel.”

“To the peasantry.”

“To the ponies!”

“That’s your problem!” Rust shouted, pointing at Rarity’s snout. “You think the peasantry are like us! They are NOT!”

“I AM A PEASANT, RUST!”

“You do not know which bloodine you come from. I suspect your bloodline is separate from all others regardless – the servant of all.”

“And what are you going to do to me?” Rarity asked. “Kill me?”

“I would not doom the world to death,” Rust declared. “You will continue your work restoring magic. But you will not be Queen. You will not be a leader. You will be the Enchantress, the servant, and you will do as is required of you.”

“…I know exactly what that means to you. I will not take magic from others and give it to you. No matter how much you ask.”

“I am your King.”

“Rust, I refuse,” Rarity declared. “This world you want to build, it is unstable. It will fall, and there will be nothing left.” She glared at him. “I will fight you. The ponies love me, if I tell them what has happened, they will fight back. They will hate you.”

“I do not need love. I need respect.”

“You no longer have mine,” Rarity spat. “I will never go along with this… this… destruction of life! You are a fool, Rust.”

“It is you who are the fool!” Rust shouted. “Don’t you see? The world will crumble if I do not take control! If you do not serve me everything will die! If you care at all about restoring the world you will not resist.”

“Rust… your way will destroy the world in a different way. Under you I would not be restoring magic. I would be killing it.”

Rust stamped his hoof on the ground. “To tartarus with magic, then! Maybe we can live without it!” He took out a blade Rarity had enchanted for him several years ago. “I want you under me, Enchantress.”

“Not sister?”

“My parents made a mistake raising you as one of them.” He charged.

Rarity grabbed the blade in her telekinesis and stabbed him through the chest with it, tears rolling down her eyes. “I’m sorry…”

Rust gurgled, crumpling to the ground.

Rarity swallowed hard. “If… if you’re still here, I… the tribes will take over and…”

“Th… Ponsia has fallen…” Rust managed.

“Yes,” Rarity admitted, kneeling down and stroking his mane. “It has… but I will go to one of the remaining cities. I will rebuild. The world will not die with you, Rust.”

“You… disgrace…”

“…I am a disgrace to a way of life that needed to die long, long ago.”

With a final breath, Rust breathed his last. Despite the war going on in the city, she walked back to the palace, his dead body in her telekinesis.

She found one of the pegasus messengers. “Find the commander of the army. Tell him Prime Minister Rust betrayed us and that the Crown City is no more. He should take all his forces to the city of Fetting.”

“Yes, your majesty.” The pegasus flew away.

Rarity teleported herself down to the royal tombs, where numerous stone caskets lay, all filled with the bones of royal ponies. Earth ponies. Every last one of them. Not even a single pegasus.

She walked to the back, where there were two open caskets. She laid Rust down in one, covering him with the stone cover. Traditionally, when a royal died, a prayer to the gods was spoken over them. Rarity did this – invoking the name of Jupiter.

Even though she knew full well that the gods had abandoned ponies long ago.

Before she left, she looked to the casket that was intended to be hers. A lavish thing, decorated with crystals and magic ornaments, made to be a final resting place for the mare that saved the world.

She used a surge of her magic to destroy the casket, rejecting her position among the royals. But not as the Enchantress.

I haven’t saved it yet… she thought, trotting away. She teleported her goggles to her face and left – leaving all her regal dresses and riches behind without a second thought. But I will. One way or another, I will rebuild.

~~~

The unicorn that had once been Queen laughed at the memory. Rebuild… Right. Oh, if only it were that simple.

She removed her hoof from the Runic Pillar. The sandstorm had stopped, leaving only clear skies and suffocating heat.

And now she could see the devastation around her. Charred buildings half buried in sand, dead ponies sticking up out of red patches, and bloodied weapons thrown everywhere.

The worst part?

The ponies had done this to themselves. She had built them up, brought them out of the ashes of the desert, and made a small society. She had led them to heights none of them had ever dreamed…

But their greed had been too much. Simple, petty greed and a lust for power. It consumed a select few individuals and that was enough to bring the entire society crashing down.

Rebuild… Rarity told herself. Rebuild. You are the last hope, you must rebuild.

The thought didn’t fill her with the determination it once had. It just sat there, lethargically poking her. Barely able to suggest that, maybe, this time it would be different.

If rebuilding society directly was going to work, it would have worked already! She angrily gestured out at the carnage before her. This is the fifth time! The FIFTH time! Fetting worked, then it fell. The Tribal Lands worked, then they fell. The Oasis was great, beautiful, and it FELL. And here, now, again, FALLEN.

I’m a constant failure.

The world doesn’t want me to restore it. It wants to die.

So much pain…

Rarity shut her eyes tight, squeezing out a few tears into her goggles. She turned back to the Runic Pillar, causing it to flash white once again.

“I just… I just want it to end. I want it to be done.” She laid her hoof on the Runes. “Can’t you… can’t you just let me pour myself into you? End the curse? Then… then it could be over. I could be done. I could end.”

The Runes made no response.

“Maybe I’ll just end it anyway. Doom the world. What do you think about that!? Your last hope, gone! You, dead!”

If the Runes understood the threat, they gave no indication.

“I’ll do it! Don’t think I won’t! Simple, really, all I have to do is grab a sword…” She drew a sword and pointed it at her neck. “And cast a spell.”

Silence.

She threw the sword to the ground. “…I can’t… I want to, I want to so, so badly…” tears flowed freely from her face. “But I can’t. I’m… I’m all there is. There are no gods, there are no kings, there are no nations. There is only me and an endless desert…”

After a few moments of silence, she sheathed her blade and tossed her mane back. She looked at her horn, expression blank.

With a quick application of magic, she flung her mane over the protrusion, hiding it behind a tangled mess of purple hair. She wrapped herself up in tattered, brown fabric and adjusted the goggles over her eyes.

She pointed in a random direction and started walking.

She would have loved nothing more than to stop. But she could not – would not. For the moment she stopped was the moment the world’s doom became certain. She would continue to spread magic wherever she went, for that was her purpose, her destiny.

Maybe, one day, she would find out what the curse actually was, and break it.

At this point, she doubted it. Given her track record of failures, it was just as likely she’d die the moment she’d found the answer.

But she wouldn’t stop. She never would. The world wanted to die? So what!? It didn’t get to. Not if she had anything to say about it.

That would be the easy way out.

~~~

How many years had it been since she started wandering the desert?

She didn’t know. She didn’t count anymore. Part of her suspected time itself was dying along with magic, so it might have been futile to begin with.

When was the last time she’d seen another living pony?

Had to be a few weeks, at most. She was on a road though, so that meant she might see some soon. She wasn’t sure how she thought about that.

How had the mission progressed?

No closer whatsoever to breaking the curse. Every time it looked like there was something, it had ended in failure. The story of her life.

Why all these questions?

Because I’m trying to keep myself sane, she told herself. So just go with it! Or… Something!

There was no question in response this time.

Rarity let out a tired, old sigh. As she crested the next sand dune, she looked up at the sun. You’re going to be the death of me, one of these days.

And then, suddenly, there were five other suns surrounding the center, each with a slightly different color. Purple, yellow, blue, orange, pink…

Rarity had long ago learned to stop getting hopeful at anything, so her heart did not stir at the sight. But her mind did, remembering the symbol she had seen all over the world in the course of her life.

This’ll amount to nothing. But it’s worth investigating, if possible.

Then, as soon as the lights appeared in the sky, they burst – vanishing from her sights. There was no sign of them ever having been there.

Not possible then. Oh well, better luck next time. Not that I’ll get it.

She continued walking… unaware that the game had changed.

Author's Note:

This is not the end. There are more questions to answer.

Who is Applejack?
Who is Pinkie Pie?
Who is Fluttershy?
Who is Twilight Sparkle?
Who is [ERROR]?
Who is Rarity?

And perhaps another secret of the Amber Ashes

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Rarity levitated the filly off her back with her magic. “This Flit Bit. Isn’t she just the cutest?”

"She counts my steps for me. I'm training to calculate how many calories I burn."

Curious. Most curious. Especially <#LOYALTY not found>. I'm really not sure what to make of this right now, but I suspect that considering the components individually won't provide many answers. Looking forward to seeing what comes of this.

[Quinch]

Very interesting. Entirely different setting, entirely different timeline, but Rarity remains entirely Rarity. Lots of questions I am curious about the answers to.

[Cosmic Potato]

I've noticed Jupiter has appeared in two stories, but in fluttershy's it says only Jupiter has died while in this one it says all the gods have died. This is just a theory here, but I predict that the immortals from twilight's story are the gods, and that the machine is maybe after the death of magic or whatever, so my theoretical timeline is twilight, fluttershy, rarity, applejack, and isk where pinkie is.

[Pseudonym1]

Read the first two chapters of amber ashes, now I've decided to read the origin stories of characters as they're introduced into amber ashes. Hopefully that lets me keep track of who's who and what they came from. This seems like a really cool concept for a group of stories, though.

[Isshiki Kotonashi]

9722303
I thought it was Saturn that had died in Fluttershy's story?

[Ethae]

If a world ever gets past it's self destructive flaws, it could not be in safer hooves. You fight well inside and out and inspire me, after all I have my own world to save.

[My name is R]

Rarity nodded, going back to your throne.

her

holding nothing resembled a unified front.

resembling

We can’t afford to lose this war not only for the sake of Ponisa

Ponsia

[RoboRed]

Okay, I'm definitely interested. I vibe with the desert world/wasteland sort of stuff and a love a good Rarity-as-a-hero story. And of course it turns out to be a tragic, not very nice place. I'm looking forward to getting to the rest of the stories of the others and seeing how they will come together.