Equestria: The Afterlife

by Timzocker201

CH57: A Belated Heath's Warming Present

Silence. The most dreadful thing that could possibly be heard. Only a moment ago, the halls were filled with the sounds of fighting and the screams of ponies being slaughtered, but now… silence.

The ritual had almost been finished. They were so close! And yet, only moments before the spells could be cast, the door had burst open and their whole hideout was suddenly engulfed in carnage and bloodshed.

Cannon Fodder was leaning against a pillar, her dagger in hoof. She knew that one day she would definitely meet a cruel demise. Heck, her name literally was Cannon Fodder! Still, she had hoped that she would at least find her end in battle, alongside the rightful ruler of Equestria, fighting to undo the injustice that had been done upon her.

She glanced around the pillar and there she saw it. The bipedal being that had slaughtered her brothers and sisters, which now lay on the ground, their once-white frocks now stained red with blood.

Cannon Fodder retreated back behind her pillar. She was breathing quickly, almost hyperventilating. Had she only fought alongside the others, maybe she was the one pony that would have turned the tide? No, she couldn’t think about ‘What ifs’ now! Now, she had to-

Oh no, he was gone! Where did he go?! She didn’t hear steps or anything for that matter! She quickly pulled back behind her pillar, the dagger clutched tight between her hooves, when she noticed a shadow beside her, that wasn’t there before.

“Indecisiveness on the battlefield will inadvertently lead to your death.” Suddenly spoke a synthetic and hollow sounding voice beside her.

Cannon Fodder only barely had enough time to turn her head and utter a confused ‘Huh?’ before she felt something penetrate between her right shoulder and her neck. A searing pain flooded her mind, as she saw one of the ritual knives being thrust into her. A red stain of blood formed itself around the blade, as it was thrust deeper inside of her.

She didn’t scream. The shock prevented her from it. All she could do was watch, as her, now unresponsive body slowly tilted forwards and slumped to the ground. Breathing became a difficult and laborious task and the pain dulled down, as she saw her whole life replay itself before her mind’s eye.

From the corner of her fading vision, she saw the creature that had killed her step from the shadows and gaze down at her, with a look that almost seemed pitiful.

Right in that moment, she was at peace. She didn’t know why and she didn’t know how. It was, as if this very creature held the sole right to kill as it pleased and as the black walls that confined her vision crept closer, her thoughts drifted to the one pony she could think of that was worth this sacrifice. The one, whom she had devoted her life to and whom she would do everything for and with these last thoughts in mind, she took her last bit of consciousness and uttered one last name.

“P-Princess… Luna…” And her vision faded to black.

---

Markus stood beside the mare he had just downed, looking at her. She had blacked out only seconds after he had stabbed her, but her body was still alive, mobilizing every last bit of energy to keep itself running. And yet, it was a futile effort. He had cut through one of her arteries, so without any medical help she will die of bloodloss within the minute. Still, Markus wasn’t one to let his enemies suffer, so he took the knife once again and aligned it with her neck, preparing to give her the coup de grace.

“WAIT!” Suddenly sounded Luna’s voice behind him.

Luna quickly rushed beside him and cast a quick healing spell on the mare, healing and stabilizing her. Markus, still in his disguise, looked at Luna with a questioning gaze.

“And why should I wait? Have you taken pity on this particular one just because her last words were your name?”

“Well… yes. But before you say any more, I shall point out that the last words a pony speaks are of great importance, not only for those listening, but for the ones saying them as well.” She looked down at the unconscious mare, lowering her tone a bit. “This mare chose to say my name as her last words. She must hold me dear in some way. Maybe, she can still be redeemed?”

Luna looked back up to Markus with pleading eyes, but her words seemed to have had little effect on his opinion. He still seemed hell-bent on eradicating every single cultist he would see.

“Markus, please come to your senses! If you were to just go out there and kill without mercy, you would be not a bit better than them!”

“So be it.” Markus said. “If that’s what’s necessary to avoid what has happened to my world, then I’ll gladly become the bad guy.”

“It is true that sometimes it is necessary, but not now! She has shown that she still has faith in us, which makes her one of our ponies and you know that we would never let one of our ponies die before our eyes!”

A few tense, silent seconds ticked by, before Markus broke the silence. “Fine. If you say that she is one of yours then I no longer have a reason to kill her.” He turned around and walked to the middle of the room again, where he took a corner and went into a smaller room off to the side, where a familiar amulet sat on a pedestal.

“The alicorn amulet?” Luna asked to no one, as she followed Markus.

“It would seem so. Apparently, it has found its way into the wrong hooves yet again. We should take it with us and hide it properly this time.” Markus said.

“Indeed, but where would that be? It would need to be a place, where its dark magic could not be detected as easily and preferably, where it’s guarded.”

“I think I know a place that meets those requirements.”

Markus took the amulet and its container under his arm and left the room. He took the still unconscious mare under his other arm and, together with Luna, then left the hideout.

---

Markus had successfully snuck into Twilight’s castle undetected and made it into the map room. He carved a small hole into the map table’s base, one which was barely large enough to squeeze the amulet with its container in and seal it again without leaving much of a trace.

He had chosen this place mainly because he hoped that the powerful harmonic energies from the table were enough to shroud the amulet’s darkness and because he knew that it was well-guarded in there, with his company being around and such.

Just as he re-sealed the hole, however, he heard steps and voices outside, coming for the map room. He panicked and quickly forced the magic out of the chandelier, in the hopes that he wouldn’t be noticed in the darkness.

The doors swung open, revealing four mares he very well recognized. Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Twilight stood in the doorway and looked into the dark room.

“Huh, that’s strange.” Twilight said absentmindedly, as she made her way into the middle of the room, where she gave a short pulse of her magic, which ignited the crystals yet again.

As soon as the lights were on again, Markus was – of course – immediately spotted by the other three, causing them to immediately fall into fearful shudders.

“So, now, as you can see, it’s not even… ac… tive?” Twilight trailed off, as she saw her friends standing in the entrance and shaking in fear. Rainbow was pointing somewhere directly behind her and when Twilight followed the point, she nearly went into early labour as she laid eyes on what it was that caused her friend’s reaction.

“Oh, great… Well, as much as I’d like to just hug her fears away, I’ve got to keep up the role for now…”

“Greetings.” He said.

Twilight recoiled, scooting back on her rump, trying to gain distance to him. It hurt Markus to see this, but he kept going on anyways, knowing that she couldn’t know that he was standing before her.

“Oh my. There is no need for such a reaction. I am not here to harm.”

“W-W-What – w-who are you?” Twilight stammered.

“I am but a messenger. I was sent by my master to deliver a message.” He answered.

“W-who is your m-master?” Rainbow asked.

“Oh, you have met him already. He was a… special guest. At your wedding.”

“Special guest? He… He might not have been a red Alicorn, has he?” Twilight asked.

“A red alicorn? Hm… yes, that was certainly him.”

Applejack abruptly came out of her stupor with a slight outbreak of anger. “So yer working fer this varmint that shoved us harder than ah can applebuck mah trees? Ah swear, if ah get mah hooves on him again, I’ll-“

“AJ, please! I know that he did that, but it was only to rescue Twilight!” Rainbow tried to calm her.

“So… what’s the message?” Twilight asked tentatively.

“The message… is that my master has accepted the offer of your princesses.” Markus said, barely able to think of something in time before it would’ve become awkward.

“Offer? What offer did the princesses make to him?” Rarity asked.

“Why, they offered him a position of royalty, of course. Now, if you will excuse me, I have already stayed longer than my contract allows.”

Quickly seizing the moment, he made his way out of the room, but stopped when he remembered what he had heard them talking about outside of the doors. From what he could understand, Scootaloo and the CMC had gone missing. This was something that Markus could not ignore.

“Oh… and don’t worry about your sisters… I will inform my master about your problem and I am sure he will see to their safety… if they aren’t due yet.”

---

“So… why did we come here again?” Sweetie Belle asked, as she and Scootaloo followed Applebloom through the Everfree Forest.

“Ugh, how often do ah need t’ tell ya? Ah found somethin’ in there an’ ah need y’all t’ see it!” Applebloom answered in annoyance.

“But… euh, how did you find it anyways? I mean… we’re in the Everfree!” Scootaloo demanded, nervously looking around for threats.

“Ah’m gonna tell ya, when we’re there. Will be easier to explain that way.”

The three fillies moved on in silence through the snow-covered woods. It was the day after Hearth’s Warming Eve and all three fillies had received a rich helping of presents from their (foster)parents and older sisters. Though, with that in mind… when did Applebloom have time to slip away and find whatever she was going to show them?

They reached the Castle of the two Sisters and entered into its ruined corridors. Scootaloo and Sweetie still had no clue where they were going, while Applebloom seemed to navigate the hallways as if she had been here thousands of times.

She stopped in front of a wooden door and signalled her friends to come closer. “Look, behind this door is something absolutely AWESOME!” She said, lightly pushing against the door and opening it only a small crack. “Go on, Look!”

Scoots and Sweetie looked at each other nervously, before opening the door wider and stepping inside.

“Euh, Applebloom… there`s noth- OOF!”

Suddenly, they both felt a kick into their hindquarters, sending them falling forwards into the room. The door slammed shut and they heard the metallic squeaking of a bolt being locked.

The two fillies found themselves trapped in absolute darkness, with only a cold stone floor beneath them and the chilly air around them.

“Ow… Scootaloo, are you okay?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Ugh… no… I landed directly on a pile of… rocks or bricks or something.”

“Sweetie Belle? Scootaloo?!” Suddenly a familiar voice asked from the darkness.

“Applebloom?!” the other two replied in unison.

“But… How? Didn’t you just lead us in here a moment ago?” Scootaloo asked in confusion.

“No, Ah thought Sweetie wanted t’ show me something and then she kicked me inta here!”

A moment of silence ensued. If they could’ve seen each other at that moment, they would’ve seen each other deadpanning.

“We were tricked, weren’t we?” Sweetie Belle said what everypony was thinking.

“Yep.” Replied Applebloom and Scootaloo.

“Well… that’s just great! What better way to spend hearth’s warming than to be imprisoned by… who are they anyways?” Sweetie rambled.

“Ah dunno. Ah think a heard a name though… Sugarcoat ah think it was?” Applebloom told her.

“Sugarcoat?!” Scootaloo immediately exclaimed. “Dash told me about her! She’s with the Bloodmoon!”

“Bloodmoon? What’s that have t’ do with anything?” Applebloom asked.

“Didn’t you hear? That cult that took over Canterlot?”

Both other fillies gasped. “What?! But wasn’t that cult destroyed when Markus… eh, you know…”

“Yeah…” Scootaloo confirmed glumly. “… Twilight and Dash were really upset about that one…”

“Our sisters!!” Applebloom exclaimed. “We need tah warn them!”

“And how do you think we should do that when we’re stuck down here?” Sweetie pointed out.

“Eh, don’t worry. I bet Mystic is already sending search parties out here. I bet they’ll find us any moment now!” Scootaloo assured.

“Great. More waiting.” Applebloom remarked sarcastically as she slumped down into a corner and did what she had done all day.

Hours went past without any sign of much happening, except the occasional steps in the hallway outside, which always had the fillies perking up in hope, only to realize that it was probably just another change of guards.

“So… when do ya think they’ll get here? Applebloom finally asked.

“I don’t know. Can’t be too long anymore. The castle should be an obvious place to look.” Scootaloo answered.

“If it’s so obvious, shouldn’t they already be here? It’s been hours!” Sweetie Belle commented.

“… Maybe we should try an escape?” Scootaloo thought aloud.

“Yeah… but how’re we gonna do that? We’re jus’ three fillies!” Applebloom pointed out.

A moment of silence followed, while Scootaloo tried to think of something.

“I think I have an idea.” She said after a while. “Applebloom, how good are you at bucking?”

A tense silence followed and one could hear Applebloom nervously shuffling about. “Uh, Ah don’ know why you want t’ know tha—“

“APPLEBUCKING, Applebloom! APPLEBUCKING!” Scootaloo quickly corrected, having her orange coat flush red for a moment.

“Oh… uh, ah think ah can buck pretty hard already. At least ah can make some apples fall down from th’ trees.”

“Uh… good enough, I guess?” Scootaloo said uncertainly.

“What’s the plan anyways?” Sweetie asked.

“Well, it’s simple. The door opens inwards, so when we make some noise in here and the guard peeks in, Applebloom’s gonna stand on the off side and buck the door, slam it into the guard and knock him out… hopefully.”

“Ah. Well, we can try…” Sweetie Belle said.

---

“HELP!!!” the prisoners screamed from inside the cell.

“Nopony’s gonna hear ya, lads. You’re fifty hooves underground, for moon’s sake!” The guard grumbled.

“HELP!!!! THERE’S SOMETHING INSIDE AND IT’S EAT—AAAAHHNNNNGGG!” He heard gurgling sounds and something falling to the ground inside and then… silence.

“What in the world is going on in there?!”

He quickly pushed the bolt aside and rushed through the door. However, the moment the door was fully open, it came flying back at him, slamming into his head.

“OW! WHAT THE BUCK?!” He screamed.

“Quick, Sweetie! Plan B!!!” Scootaloo screamed, throwing one of the bricks she had originally landed on into the air at the guard. Sweetie mustered as much magic as she could and accelerated the brick, slamming it directly into the guard’s muzzle and knocking him out.

“Wow… that worked.” Sweetie remarked in astonishment.

The three fillies stepped out of their cell and looked at each other, the corners of their mouths slowly creeping upwards, before they screamed together:

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ESCAPEES, YAY!!!”

“The prisoners are escaping! Quick, get them!!” Suddenly somepony shouted from down the hall, which was quickly followed by the sounds of hooves coming towards them.

“Uh-oh.”

Scootaloo and her friends quickly turned and ran in the other direction, trying to somehow gain some distance to their pursuers.

They took sharp turns and somehow managed to hide in a room and let their pursuers run past them. Seizing the opportunity, they quickly ran in the other direction, somehow slipping past the other guards into the entrance hall, where they quickly rushed through the main doors.

The cold air of the winter night hit them like a slap to the face, but they pushed through anyways, as they could already hear hooves behind them again. They ran into the forest as quickly as they could, but the snow made it difficult to manoeuvre. The wind that was blowing into their faces didn’t make things easier either and soon, they even found themselves caught in a snowstorm! Scootaloo pressed on as much as she could, but she knew that if they didn’t reach Ponyville quickly, they would freeze to death out here.

Suddenly, she heard a thud behind her. She turned around and saw that Sweetie Belle had collapsed and was now lying in the snow, unconscious.

“Sweetie!” She called, before she heard Applebloom collapse as well. “Applebloom! Come on, we can’t rest now! We have to go on!” She shouted, even though she could already see the world swimming before her eyes.

“Scoots… ah… ah can’t walk anymore… ah’m… ah’m tired…” Applebloom’s eyes drifted closed and her breath became shallow.

“N-No… Applebloom… you can’t sleep now!” Scootaloo protested weakly, but her own legs betrayed her. “N-No! We… we have to… carry… on…”

She struggled as much as she could, but in the end, her fatigue won. She fell over onto her side, directly beside her friends. From the corner of her fading vision, she could see a set of red hooves approaching and so, she put her last remaining energy into a final plea.

“H-Help…”

---

“’If they aren’t due yet.’ What the hell was I thinking?!” Markus muttered to himself, as he and Luna were stalking through the snowstorm in the Everfree Forest. “That sounded as if I was planning on letting them die out here!”

“Maybe that was for the best. As much as we may hope, we cannot guarantee that we find their sisters.” Luna said from beside him. “Besides: didn’t you say that you were back to your old self? Because as far as I can remember, the old Markus was always calm.”

“Being calm and second-guessing myself are two different things, Luna. I have always been second-guessing almost everything I have done. If I hadn’t, I would’ve probably ended up like that idiot Pillbox, stubbornly ramming my head into a wall instead of just going around it.”

“True enough I guess. But still, I—“

“Shh.” Markus quickly silenced her. “I think I hear something!”

They both listened closely, and indeed, they could hear voices somewhere in front of them.

“Applebloom! Come on, we can’t rest now! We have to go on!”

“That’s Scootaloo!” Markus recognized, hurrying to get to her. He came to see her just as she, too, collapsed beside her friends and, just as he reached her side, he saw her eyes flutter shut, with a final plea from her.

“H-Help…”

“Yes! It’s them!”

Markus quickly wrapped them into the blanket he had brought along and placed them onto his back, shielding them from the snow with his wings. Meanwhile, Luna seemingly found interest in the hoofsteps they had left in the snow.

“Come on, let’s bring them back.” Markus said, turning around and heading back to Ponyville, however, Luna did not follow him.

“Luna? Are you coming?”

“Go ahead without me, I will go and see where these fillies have been in the first place.” She pointed in the direction where the fillies seemed to come from. “If my sense of direction serves me right, these hoofsteps should originate at our old castle. I want to know what they were doing there or rather, what it was that they were fleeing from.”

“Very well, but be careful, Luna. I know you are powerful and such, but that still doesn’t make you invincible.”

Luna smiled and rolled her eyes, walking off to back-track the trail while Markus made his way to Ponyville.

As soon as he left the Everfree, the snowstorm mysteriously disappeared, leaving only a light snowfall behind. He stepped through the snow, careful not to disturb the three fillies that were resting on his back.

He reached the front door of Twilight’s castle and knocked on it. Only a few seconds later, the door was opened and a very obviously pregnant Pegasus stood in the doorway.

“Princess Celestia?” Rainbow questioned, however recoiled as Markus answered.

“Unfortunately no, I am not.” He said in the deeper voice he had first utilized at the wedding.

He slowly stepped forward into the castle, while Rainbow retreated at the same pace. Behind her, the rest of the elements, as well as Mystic were filing into the entrance hall and seemed to go slightly rigid, when they spotted Markus.

“Good evening. I hope I do not come at an inconvenient time.” He said.

“Yeah, as if you could ever come at a convenient time.” Applejack hissed. “What’cha come ‘ere for? Tell us that our sisters are ‘due’?”

Seeing Applejack so hostile definitely hurt him, although not in the way that he felt insulted, but more that he could understand what she was going through. After all, he had already truly lost a sister and knew how that felt.

He strode further forward and placed himself directly in front of the group of mares. “There is no need to be so hostile, dear Applejack. Be assured that I have not come to tell you of the untimely demise of your sister. In fact, I have come to tell you quite the opposite.”

He stopped and retracted one of his wings, revealing the blanket on his back with the crusaders underneath. He angled his right wing downward, using it like a ramp on which the sleeping crusaders slid down to the ground. Immediately, their sleeping forms were greeted with tight embraces by their sisters/mother-in-law.

“After my servant has told me of their fate, I have sought out for their lifetimes and found that they indeed still have plenty of time left. As such, I went ahead and searched for them myself and I found them on the north-eastern edge of the Everfree. I do not claim to know their means to get there, but seeing the result, I doubt that this information is of importance.”

“Yeah… I-euh… thank you.” Twilight said. However, something seemed to be amiss, as she started looking downward and circling her hoof on the floor.

“There is no need to remain silent, Twilight Sparkle. If there is something that bothers you, then I am willing to listen.” Markus assured her.

Twilight breathed a small sigh. She looked up, hesitantly, but eventually, she began to speak. “The-The time of Markus’s return… the time those three have left… how come you know such things?”

Markus knew that this question would come sooner or later and so, he luckily already had a few answers stored in the back of his mind.

“Well… I’ve got to admit that I can’t seem to phrase it properly… Perhaps, showing you would be the better solution.”

He turned his side towards the group and then lifted his wing slightly, so that his flanks were freed of the feathery appendages. Beyond the black mass the ponies laid eyes upon his Cutie Mark for the first time and, of course, mildly misinterpreted it.

“So… you balance good and evil?” Twilight asked curiously.

“No… not quite. Albeit your formulation seems quite fitting, it is not good and evil that I balance, but life and death.” Markus corrected.

“A-ah…” Twilight didn’t seem like she had awaited such an answer and as such likely felt slightly unsettled, now that she’d heard it.

“Now, I think I’ve stolen enough of your time.” Markus said, before giving Twilight a respectful bow. “Farewell, Twilight Sparkle. We shall meet again.”

He turned around and went to leave the castle, but stopped when Twilight cried out to him. “Wait! You’ve never told us your name.”

“CRAP!” Markus thought “I’ve never thought of a name! Oh, come on… Latin! Yeah, I just take the Latin word for Death!”

Markus looked over his shoulder back at the group. “Indeed. That is because I do not carry a name. However, if you want me to tell you one, then I believe ‘Mortis’ to be quite fitting.”

Satisfied with his own answer, Markus left the Castle and, as soon as he was outside again, warped back to Canterlot Castle.

---

When Cannon Fodder awoke again, she found that the room she was in was brightly illuminated and that she was not lying on the cold ground, but in a soft and warm bed beneath an even softer and warmer blanket. She hesitantly cracked her eyes open a bit and saw what looked like a five-star hotel room, as far as she could tell.

“We see, thou art finally awake.” A calming voice said from beside her.

Cannon Fodder slowly turned her head over to the source, where she could barely make out a flowing mane that looked like the night sky. She ripped her eyes open fully, when she finally spotted the form of Princess Luna sitting beside the bed she lay in.

“P-Princess Luna!” she exclaimed, hastily trying to get out of bed to bow before her, but found herself held back by that same princess.

“Thou dost not need to bow before us. Thou needs to rest. Thy wounds have yet to heal fully.”

She looked at her upper body and indeed spotted bandages running over the cut at the base of her neck.

“You… You spared my life? But… why? I thought that I was meant to die.”

“’Tis true that the life of Cannon Fodder has ended back then.” Luna said.

Cannon Fodder did not understand what she was saying, however before she could ask, Luna continued. “The mare sitting before me no longer holds the name of ‘Cannon Fodder’. Instead, she now goes by the name of ‘Nightshade’, my personal servant.”

It took a moment, before her mind registered what had been said, but when it did, Nightshade’s eyes started to water. She held her muzzle, as tears of joy were flowing from the corners of her eyes.

“Princess, I… I…”

“However, let us tell you right away, that this gift has its price.”

Nightshade quickly gathered herself again, not willing to let this chance slip away. “O-Of course! You can have everything! My belongings, my life, m-my b-bo—“

“’Tis not some materiel payment that we seek.” Luna interrupted her. “Rather, we need information. Tell us: What is the goal of the Bloodmoon Cult?”

Nightshade let her head hang. She could’ve guessed that even with this new chance, her past sins wouldn’t be forgotten like that. Still, she was more than willing to seize the opportunity, to finally be by the side of her true goddess!

“The Bloodmoon’s goal…” She began. “It is to… bring back Nightmare Moon.”

Author's Note:

Heya! Sorry for the long wait, I had a bit of stuff going on regarding CoVID. Building tents and all that crap they're using the army for these days. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter as much as I did and are tuned for the next.

Comments

[Munro]

of cource what else a could it be. imbascill's that cult

[Fireeaters]

Nice

[Timzocker201]

10604633
Äh, was?

[Munro]

10604668
jup now luna realy has a reason to crack down on them

that entire eternal night consept is just so rediclues, realy shows what a idiot spycho nightmare moon was