Every Nightmare's Caveat

by libertydude

...Dust to Dust

Earth Shine and Nightshade sat in silence, for how long neither could tell. No clocks or even stars existed anymore for them to glance at. Instead, they stared out into the Nothingness on the cool table, the last remnant of their extinct world’s existence. Earth looked down at the table’s edges, the Nothingness beginning to wear the marble away.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “About yelling at you.”

Nightshade didn’t answer. She sat huddled with her legs to her chest, rocking in place.

“I wanted to make sure you were with me when it all ended. I couldn’t…” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “I couldn’t imagine you staying in that castle, fading away into nothing. You were the only friend I’ve had since…” His brow furrowed. “Honestly, I don’t know now. I can’t remember anything from the past few days, let alone years.”

Nightshade sniffled. “Me neither.”

Earth scooched a little closer to her. “I’m sorry it’s like this. Even if it was this world, you should’ve gotten a chance to grow up in it.”

She turned to face him, her eyes red and little droplets dripping off her chin. “We’re going to die. Right?”

Earth’s eyes wavered for a moment. “Don’t think of it like that. Think of it as a sleep that lasts forever.”

“But I like being awake!” Nightshade screamed. “I like walking around and having fun! Why did the world have to end now?!” She buried herself back into her own chest, the tears falling faster.

Earth Shine stroked her shaking back. “I know,” he whispered. “It’s unfair. We never asked for this, and we don’t deserve it.” He took a deep breath. “But it’s here now. And the only thing we have control over is how we’re going to face it. Do you want to spend your last few moments crying? Or thinking about something else?”

Her sobs paused, then a sniffle. She looked up at Earth, doing her best to wipe the tears from her face.

“L-Like what?”

Earth shrugged. “Whatever you want to think about.”

She sniffed. “All the happy things I liked are gone. I can’t even remember anything good to think about.”

“Oh, right. Well, maybe-“

“Nothing but you.”

Earth stared at her, face frozen. She likewise seemed crippled by what she said. They stared at each other for a long time, the table’s edges eating away ever so slightly.

Then, before Earth could react, he felt her whole body collide into his chest. Her legs flew around him, and the sobs began to stain his coat with tears and snot. He quickly wrapped his legs around her and pulled her tight. He tried to hide the tears in his eyes, but they soon started dripping down atop her head.

“Are you scared?” she whispered.

“Very,” he said. The table was now half its original size, the middle the only part remaining untouched.

Nightshade nuzzled her head deeper into his chest. “At least we can be scared together.”

“Yes,” he said, staring out into the Nothingness now mere inches from their bodies. “Sometimes having somepony to be scared with is the best you can hope for.”

Comments

[Jade Dawn]

Wow...this was...wow. What an ending.

I honestly can't believe this story hasn't gotten as much attention as it deserves. It's short, but it also has a lot of really good moments.

Definitely adding this to my favorites. :)

[libertydude]

9755949
The ending was hard to write. A part of me wanted to provide an out for Earth and Nightshade, some way they could escape this reality, but I thought the story's power came from that scene playing out like it does. Sometimes you have to give up what you want to happen in the story for what needs to happen in it.

And yes, I think the story's at its best when it focuses on moments. I'd written an outline that had a lot of jargon speak about how time travel worked and what Earth would do to recreate it, but it all rang hollow. Earth's interactions with Nightshade and Nightmare Moon held the story's power, so I decided to focus on them. I think the result was much stronger than the original draft.

Thanks for the Favorite, too! It's always nice to know someone likes your story.

[Nightsclaw]

An interesting idea.

[Jade Dawn]

9755971
You're welcome. To be honest, I was kind of hoping that Earth and Nightshade would escape as well.

[libertydude]

9755988
Interesting ideas are the building blocks for any story.

9755992
The sole solace I had in my mind while writing this was that the fixed universe Earth Shine and Nightshade are living happily with their families. If I were to write a follow-up (not saying I will), I wouldn't be as cruel to make their present-day counterparts as unhappy as they are here.

[Shadic Midnight Blitzer]

9756076
Honestly this story is so underappreciated. This should've had hundreds of likes and been featured. 11/10 dude.

[libertydude]

10677073
Thanks for the compliment! I was worried at the time I uploaded the story that many folks would dislike it for being so downbeat. Seeing so many people remark on their enjoyment makes me feel much better about the final result.

[Shadic Midnight Blitzer]

10677227
I'd say this story is in top 1% (basically near or completely perfect) in my favorite stories list. Pity it didn't get much reception, but I bet if more people had read it this story would've been featured.

I think at least a 100 likes is what it deserves.