Always Already

by Problemsin

Void

Clear Firmament and Haze Kicker flew through the sky in silence.They both felt their magic fading. The kids enjoyed their time, for they had returned to a home they never knew they had. The world was empty, and that made it open and free. There was only Clear and Haze, and together they had their own kingdom.

The sun was soon to rise, and it was during this hour that the air was at its best. Clear loved the wind running through her feathers, and it felt heavenly when she dashed through the sky. She couldn't help herself, she had to go a fast as her wings would take her. Haze watched in awe as she performed daring acrobatics, to which he tried so hard to modify into safe yet visually impressive stunts. Together they would race through the sky, and when a pony won, they would break off with their favorite trick. Clear didn't care about winning, she only enjoyed the wind in her feathers. She suspected Haze felt the same. She gracefully stopped this game when she could no longer ignore her slowing down.

Haze didn't seem to mind. Clear laughed as he started flying upside down. She wasn't sure if he realized their gradual loss, but she wasn't going to ruin the moment. Clear flew alongside him, and they played a game of I-Spy as their bodies descended. It was easy to beat Haze because he was slow to realize just how good Pegasus sight was, but as the sun started rising, he started winning more and more.

When they neared the ground, they were both laughing. Clear put her hoof out to brush past the Evergreen branches, but even at her humble speed the spiky leaves still hurt. Haze laughed, and that made Clear laugh as well. On the ground he nearly fell when he took his first step, then managed to eke out an awkward shuffle while laughing. Clear nearly fell, too, then took a minute to familiarize herself with the ground.

It was morning now. Then it hit her. This will never happen again. It was over, now a memory. Just as the future is anticipated until, in one instant, it becomes the past, their kingdom existed until it didn't. It is already a memory, and it was always already a memory.

The entire night, last night, existed a few hours ago. Mere hours ago, Clear was convinced that she would die, and was scared of an end to her future. That lost future no longer existed. Instead, Clear had a new future, and one day that too would no longer exist. Haze knew this too. Their lives might as well have already gone by.

Clear heard rustling in the bushes. Then she heard panting. A staff shot out of a thicket, which Clear just barely dodged. It pierced the ground past her and Haze. She looked over to the thicket, and saw a glowing horn come into view. At the corner of her vision, she saw Star Gazer's head poking out behind a tree.

Gale approached. Her eyes were locked on Clear.

“Hey, did you know that this is your fault.” Gale said with a fake enthusiasm. “You ruined everypony's night, and you hurt King Lightning Oak. You are criminals now.”

Haze spoke. “Why did you come-”

“Quiet. Shut up. Just sit there and nod. I will kill you two. I will kill you, understand? Do you have any idea how difficult it was to prepare the ritual? This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and you threw it all away. I don't understand. Do you understand what you just did? Because I sure don't. You threw away the opportunity for magic to return because...because you don't like us? Because I was forceful with you? Do you understand how many possibilities ponykind would have had? Because I sure don't.”

Clear felt nothing.

“The past is over. The magic is gone. Equestria has moved on, and so should you.”

Gale was screaming “Are you kidding me? This is literal magic we are talking about!

“Gale, I miss it too. All I want right now is to fly again. I want that moment back, but one day that moment would fade into memory again, and I can't spend my life chasing this.”

Hatred flared within Gale. “So everything is worthless? Why bother with anything? Is that what you are saying?” It hurt Clear to see Gale this way.

“Please, that is not what I am saying! If you chase the past, you will lose your future! Everyday ponies wake up and look for new ways to create a better future. This drives us forward. It hurts to give up magic, it really does, but the King didn't want it to help us, he wanted it to rule forever.”

“You threw it all away! You did this! It;s your fault Equestria will never have magic again!”

"I don't know what you were planning, but I heard your conversation with Ascension. If you ponies really wanted magic, you would have listened to what I said."

Gale charged at Clear with her horn forward. Clear dodged, but in doing so she twisted her injured hoof and fell to the ground. Pain shot through her body, and when she looked up, Gale was right above her, ready to stomp on her neck.

Haze was next to her, twisting his body. In one swift movement, he spun on his forehoof and kicked Gale right in the chest with enough force to push her over Clear and onto the ground.

“Everything comes to an end someday.” he said. Haze stepped between Clear and Gale and made himself imposing. No, that came naturally, he didn't do anything.

“So you are going to kill me?” Gale said, to which Haze shook his head. For a second her face was one of confusion, then it morphed to relief, then back to a cold anger.

Clear spoke with sadness. “Do you really want us cut your life short?”

“Go ahead, you said it yourself, if one day everything will just be a distant memory that will die with me, then so be it, get it over with. It doesn't matter if I die now or later, and I know you want vengeance.”

Clear said “Gale-”Her speech was cut short by a crashing sound behind her. Gale's face contorted into pure hatred and she began shouting. When Clear looked behind her she saw Star Gazer wrapped around the metal staff, wrestling against Gale's magnetism. In a fluid motion that Clear couldn't follow, he twisted and threw it into the trees. Then the colt sprang in a few beautiful strides past Clear and towards Gale, then sunk his teeth into her neck. A deluge of blood came out, enough to drown a child in. Gale barely moved, but after a moment it was obvious that she was dead. Star Gazer avoided eye contact.

He spoke. “Did you really mean all of that?”

Clear was at a loss for words. If she spoke, she thought that she wouldn't be able to hold herself back. What she was holding back, she wasn't sure, but she was scared that it wasn't tears.

“You have your vengeance now. I am sorry that I got it, but you won in the end.”

Those words hurt Clear. This sight hurt Clear. This isn't what she wanted. Gale was dead, now just a memory and a dead body. Clear felt her own body tear itself apart. Her heart was trying to burst out of her chest. She felt her body try to move away, anywhere that was away from here. This was so horrible.

He did this for her. He took a life in her name. A few hours ago, that blood might have been on Clears hooves. Maybe it still was.

She and Star Gazer looked at each other. What she saw was a resolute and stern pony, and he was covered in blood. Clear had no choice, she had to let it all out. Star Gazer had to feel her sadness, fury, and pain. He had to understand what he just did.

But she refused. Star Gazer was a pony, just like them, and he understood full well what it means to take a life. He understood better than anypony else here, and that was the problem.

“Don't do that ever again.” she said. “Gale is dead. Now, we can actually escape, together. But make sure you don't ever try something like that ever again.”

Star Gazer said “Together...” then smiled. “You tried so hard, but I am not a hero. That is why I could help you, but no matter what happens, I am not a hero. I am Lightning Oak's son. Canterlot is a day's walk south of here. I'll tell them Gale tried to kill me for hesitating earlier. I can not tell you what Lightning Oak will do now. Now go.”

Clear was unsatisfied. Haze nudged her to leave, but she couldn't leave like this. Star Gazer can't be left like this.

"Hey, what did your father mean when he asked if I believed in free will? He was speaking earnestly and not stalling for time, wasn't he?"

Star Gazer wouldn't meet her gaze. "I am not sure. Yes, he was speaking honestly. Oh, yes. Its a deal. I promise.” Star Gazer said.

Clear knew exactly what he was referring to, and so she agreed to leave. A weight was lifted from her mind, but she was still unsatisfied. She never told him that yes, she meant all of that. Even worse, she never corrected Gale. Everything will end someday, and that is why she couldn't hurt Gale.

Author's Note:

This story was supposed to have been published not too long after the show ended, but life got in the way. Feedback is appreciated. I feel like the pacing was weird, but at this point I have done so many revisions that I just want to publish this.

The castle was loosely based on a real one, and this story is very loosely based on a much larger story I wanted to write.

Comments

[Odd_Sarge]

A pretty solid read overall!

This is a very quick fic, but I feel like that pacing works wonders here; everything built up nicely. Especially good was the world building at the start, though that did falter off a little, and that's fine.

Characterization holds particularly well here, but likely because of the short length of the story in its timeline and word count, some of the characters just didn't sit well and came off quite stiff; Gale's personality in particular seemed off at times.

Narrative-wise, I can really see where you struggled with pacing; you definitely got the story you wanted to tell out, but it is very small and compact, and just oozes at the corners with hints at a greater world. My main gripe with the story was this lack of time to build up the world, but I don't blame you at all for it.

This is a nice little adventure that deserves expansion.

[Problemsin]

10204285
Thanks a ton, this is exactly the feedback I wanted. Regarding the worldbuilding, there were some ideas that were important early on as well as two big scenes that were removed for various reasons. Originally Gale kidnapping Haze when he was alone was included, but I cut it out because the perspective switching was a bit jarring. Maybe that is why she came across weird. Also Clear was supposed to find out in much more detail what the ponies were planning by sneaking around the castle, but tbh I got bored writing it.

[Problemsin]

10221428
No, I just used a multilingual keyboard and that happens sometimes. I will make sure future stories don't switch.