At the End of the Rainbow

by FenrisianBrony

The World's Fair

Twilight took in a shuddering breath as she went over the plans for the Fair for what felt like the millionth time. In truth she remembered every detail of the itinerary and could repeat them back with almost effortless ease, and yet concentrating on the task served to calm her nerves and slow her racing heartbeat.

It had been six days since Manehattan, six days since she had laid her eyes on her first ever dead pony, and five days since Spitfire was proven sickeningly right, another body found in near identical condition to the first in Trottingham, Twilight and her friends again called to the site to aid the Everwatchful Eye, though returning home empty-hoofed. Then four days ago, the third body had been found in, or rather beneath, Las Pegasus, the brutality of the murder robbing the victim of her residual pegasi magic, sending her plummeting to the ground below. It was only thanks to a nearby camera that the falling body was seen and investigated, though the sight of her demise was, as had been the case with the other two deaths, in a blind spot.

What followed was a fourth, then a fifth, culminating in the sixth body being found just yesterday in Ponyville itself, a sickening pattern now plain to everyone, a line starting at Manehattan and snaking towards the heart of Equestria; Canterlot itself.

Despite the best efforts of Twilight, Celestia, Luna and the Everwatchful Eye, news of the murders had leaked to the press which had only served to fan the flames, but it was the news of the killer's path that had ignited true panic across the country. More than panic though, ponies were afraid. No, that was too soft a word. Ponies were terrified as the murder rate in Equestria soared by orders of magnitude beyond even the darkest days of recorded history, certainly well outside living memory. Such death was known to only eight beings on Equis, at least to her knowledge.

Unbidden, Spitfire’s suspicions hit her like a ton of bricks, Twilight’s eyes darting back and forth as she re-read the itinerary yet again. There had been no new material evidence found since the Manehattan investigation, not so much as a strand of hair or dislodged feather, yet far from leading to a lack of potential suspects, Spitfire seemed to only grow in surety that these deaths lay squarely at the talons of either Gilda, or Rainbow Dash. After the fifth murder had been examined and had fallen to a knife's blade, rather than a talon, Kas had joined that list of suspects despite even the barest hint that there were multiple killers, and that the idea of the sole human on Equis could pass unnoticed was laughable at best.

Despite her convictions however, and the preparation of the Everwatchful Eye across the country, especially around Ponyville and the Everfree Forest, Spitfire had not yet given any orders to apprehend the trio, or even try to find them with anything more than lone scouts, all of whom had returned without sighting the temple of the Swooping Pegasi, the entire building seeming to have moved from where Spitfire, Lightning and even Scootaloo had believed it to be.

Spitfire was clearly not willing to act without hard evidence, and it was this inaction that was setting Twilight’s nerves aflame. The Everwatchful Eye possessed enough power to wage a sizable war, so why was she so deathly afraid of a human, Gryphon and Rainbow herself? Once again, Twilight tried to imagine what Rainbow could possibly have done to engender such hatred and fear from her teammate and one-time idol, and as always, her mind failed to conjure up anything that even came close.

“Twilight?” Spike’s voice finally snapped Twilight out of her mental spiral, catching her by surprise as she whirled to face him.

He’d grown so much in the last few years, yet he was and always would be her number one assistant and, alongside Star Whistle, was the reason that Magi-Tek^TM had taken off as well as it did.

“I’m fine, Spike. Really, I am,” she faked a smile that did little more than cause Spike to fold his arms and raise a disbelieving eyebrow.

“Riiiiight, fine. Sure,” he rolled his eyes before approaching with a data-tablet. “News from Spitfire.”

“Is it...” she began, looking pale.

“No, no word of another incident, thank Celestia,” Spike reassured her. “Updated security for the grand opening tonight, Spitfire isn’t taking chances so has ordered a company of her troops to join the Canterlot Guard and our own security in keeping the peace. She’s even leading them personally.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed in suspicion at the seemingly magnanimous act, taking the proffered tablet and scanning the contents. “And there was nothing else with this request? No ulterior motive or something she wants from me?”

“Nope,” Spike responded a little too quickly, Twilight now mirroring his earlier features and raising an eyebrow at the squirming dragon.

“Nope...nothing that she wants from you, he amended. “I may have asked Spitfire to help with security.”

“And in return?”

“I’ll...sign on as a part time member of the Everwatchful Eye,” Spike admitted after an uneasy pause.

Twilight wanted to gasp, or to try and talk Spike out of joining Spitfire’s crusade, but another part of her couldn’t fault Spike for wanting to do something. Since the first murder, Twilight had aided as much as she could in the investigation, as had all her friends, and yet besides Pinkie finding the talon fragment in Manehattan, they had turned up nothing of use, nothing that would stop yet more ponies from experiencing an agonising death. If Spike felt like joining Spitfire would put him in a position to actually accomplish something, she wouldn’t stand in his way.

“So...when do you start?”

“Not until after the World’s Fair, I agreed that much with Spitfire, but afterwards, I’m going to need to put in some holiday leave and then discuss reduced working load with you.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Twilight smiled, sniffing and wiping away a tear from her eye. “My Number One Assistant, all grown up and saving Equis.”

“Hey now, I haven’t saved anything yet,” Spike chuckled. “And besides, once this whole thing is over, I can’t imagine I’ll be doing much more than admin for two companies instead of one. I may be a dragon, but I’m a dragon raised by the Twilight Sparkle, no one can organise like I can.”

Twilight couldn’t help but laugh at that, Spike joining her as the two embraced, Twilight squeezing her oldest friend tightly, before finally letting Spike get back to his duties, leaving her alone once more.

***

“You look fabulous, if I do say so myself,” Rarity smiled, taking a step back and admiring her handiwork. It had been far too long since Twilight had been gifted one of her friends dresses, and yet it was as beautiful as the dress she had worn to the Grand Galloping Gala all those years ago.

“Oh Rarity, it’s perfect!” beamed Twilight, admiring herself in the mirror.

It lacked none of the rarity flare, a dress cascading over her hind legs and hugging the base of her wings, yet possessing something more akin to a suit further forward, a far cry from her royal gowns, befitting the CEO she was tonight.

“Well, I do try my best,” Rarity smiled, leaving Twilight to admire herself as she went to five other mannequins, each bearing a dress for one of the other Element Bearers, each of whom were Twilight’s guests of honour.

Despite everything, Twilight couldn’t help her gaze lingering on Applebloom’s and Sweetie Belle’s dresses. It was strange to think that the two mares who she’d watched grow up would become such firm friends, but the loss of Applejack and Scootaloo had helped to bind the remaining Element Bearers and Cutie Mark crusaders together, for the good of Equestria as it had turned out.

Before she could sink back into the pit that seemed to be widening in her heart with each passing day, Twilight bid Rarity farewell and trotted from the room, glancing outside as the sun dipped ever lower, mere hours before the opening ceremony.

“Spike,” her horn glowed briefly as she activated the communicator bead in her ear. “Do you know where Star Whistle is? I want to do a final run down before the off.”

“I’ll let him know to get in contact with you when he can,” Spike replied. “I haven’t seen him for a few hours but I’m sure he’ll be ready soon. That pony does like to spend time on his appearance.”

“As all good showponies do,” Twilight laughed. “Very well, I’ll be in my lab, I still need to make some final adjustments to the prototype before the unveiling.”

“Spitfire is about as well, she hasn’t said she wants to speak to you but I’m sure she will at some point. Brace yourself if she does, she’s...not in a good mood.”

“I’m not surprised. Thanks Spike.”

With that, the line went dead, Twilight continuing her brisk trot towards her personal lab, giving the still covered object in the centre of the room a quick glance before heading to one of the computer terminals and sitting down before it, her horn glowing as she interfaced with the techno-arcana directly, her hooves flying over the mundane interface panels.

For one glorious moment, everything slipped away, the murders, their potential perpetrator, the stories and horrors she had heard and seen since that first Double Rainboom. For a moment, Twilight wasn’t a princess or a CEO or even an Alicorn, she was just Twilight Sparkle, Unicorn and faithful student to the most glorious pony in existence, surrounded by the greatest friends a pony could ever ask for. Simplicity reigned in an intoxicating drip down memory lane.

“Twilight.”

With a single word, the moment was banished, crushed under the uncaring hands of time that marched ever onwards. Trying to hold onto the memories did nothing as they slipped like sand through an hourglass, and finally she ceased her attempts to hold onto them, her horn flickering out as she rose to face Spitfire.

If it was even possible, Spitfire looked even more harrowed than she had when she had first returned, deep greyish bags around her eyes speaking to the lack of sleep she had been getting, and while her armour may have still been polished to an immaculate sheen, no amount of effort could cover up the unkempt strands of her mane and fur.

“Spitfire.”

Her own word was laden with venom and pity.

“Spike approached me, and him joining in return was his idea,” even Spitfires voice sounded tired. “He had initially said full time, I suggested part time.”

“And I should be thankful for that?” Twilight snapped. “It’s his choice if he wants to make the offer, but it’s your choice to let him accept it!”

“It’s his choice,” Spitfire parroted back. “He’s not a child anymore, Twilight. An entire generation of dragons has been born since you hatched him, he’s old enough to make his own decisions.”

Twilight grumbled but didn’t push the issue. Deep down she knew Spitfire was right, that Spike was old enough to forge his own path, and she also knew that most of her venom was spawned from her own bone tiredness, not the actions of the pair.

“What can I do for you, Spitfire?” she finally asked.

“I came to wish you luck,” Spitfire shrugged, before reaching into a pack and drawing out a small, blocky object and profering it to Twilight. “And to give you this.”

Twilight recognised it instantly, afterall, she had had a hoof in the things design; a type three arcane energy pistol, smaller than the type twos or fours, its standard silver casing replaced with a matt black one and bearing the single eye of its owners.

Normally Twilight would have refused to touch a weapon outside of a design setting, but one look at Spitfire made it clear that this was not the sort of gift she could reject, instead taking it gingerly in her magic, slipping it into a small saddle bag beneath her dress.

“I don’t know what to do,” Twilight admitted softly. “Everything I have here, none of it has helped one bit. The killer is still out there and...”

“We’ll get them,” Spitfire reassured her. “I pray to the goddesses that we’ll catch a break sooner, rather than later, far too many ponies have died already.”

She shook her head for a moment, before regaining her composure.

“Lightning Dust has been assigned to your personal protection this evening, each of the Element Bearers have their own guardians and there’s a flying squad specifically to extract any of you if needed. The rest of my soldiers will disperse with the Guard and your security forces.”

“You really think they’ll try something here?”

“I don’t know, but they’ve been making their way towards Canterlot since the start, there’s not many targets of value here, so we can lock those down. Unless they’re just planning another bout of senseless violence, the chances of them being here or at the palace is high.”

“The palace? You don’t think...” Twilight began.

“I don’t discount,” Spitfire corrected her. “I know you don’t like me saying it, Twilight, but if this is Rainbow, Gilda or Kas...if any or all of them have well and truly gone off the deep end, then there’s nothing they won’t do, and no line left for them to cross, they stepped over all of them a long time ago.”

“I can’t believe that,” Twilight didn’t even believe those words anymore.

“Twilight...she took my wing. She tortured Lightning and I, and what she put Scootaloo through, the less said the better. She massacred goddess knows how many in the Pa’Laa Sept, and what she let the Dark Eldar do to her...She’s not a pony anymore, Twilight, and I don’t even mean that in an exaggerated way. What Eetheron did to her, it changed her. She’s not a pony, she’s a Dark Equine, Eethron even coined the phrase to describe her. You saw her for less than a day on her return, in that time she almost killed Scootaloo, and she damn well might have killed you.”

Spitfire sighed, all the tired and hurt from the long years and longer past week on full display.

“I’m truly, truly sorry, Twilight. I wish it wasn’t the case, I looked up to Rainbow more than I think she realised, and seeing her fall hurt more than I can convey, but she did fall. She became a monster, and right now we’re dealing with a monster. I’m trying to get evidence, but if I can’t and this keeps going, we’re going to have to confront her regardless. She’s the prime suspect and we need something of a break. I didn’t want to dump this on you, I know tonight is important, but you have the right to know. With what you’ve seen, you can stomach at least a bit of the knowledge.”

With that, Spitfire turned and left the room, leaving Twilight hyperventilating and pale as she peered just a bit more behind the curtain that separated Equis from the hellish and uncaring galaxy that lay beyond.

***

Twilight stood with her friends in front of the large assembled crowd for the opening ceremony, months of planning all leading to this moment. She had practised her speech countless times, rehearsed and re-rehearsed every part of the show she was about to put on, and yet now it was time, her heart felt like it was going to explode out of her chest, the weeks events and Spitfires recent words exacerbating any nerves she may have had to a painful degree.

“You’ve got this,” Fluttershy leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Just breathe and remember, they’re all here because they want to hear you, no one has forced them. They want to see you, Twilight.”

The fact that it was Fluttershy giving her advice of speaking in front of a crowd drew a smile from Twilight, and taking one final deep breath, she walked forward, clearing her throat before flicking the microphone she wore on, the lights illuminating her a split second later as the din of the crowd died away in an instant.

“Fillies. Gentlecolts. Bulls. Cows. Gryphons. Gryphonness. Those who bear no names, and those whose names have not been spoken. Welcome. Thirty years ago, Equis was considered to be in a peaceful golden age, and yet looking back, we were divided, not by tribe, but by nation. Gryphon’s were entrusted by the Minotaur’s, tensions between the Buffalo and Ponies ran high, the Kirin were all but a myth, while the Yak’s and Dragons were independent and isolationist. We did not speak as one world, but as nations, squabbling and posturing rather than embracing both our similarities and our differences.”

Twilight paused, allowing her words to wash over the crowd, even as she marvelled over how much of the world had changed in 30 years from her time in Ponyville.

“But all of that has changed now. Twenty seven years ago, Equestria’s eyes, and the eyes of all of Equis, were opened to a galaxy far larger and more advanced than our own, and we took our first juddering steps forward. We were like foals, not knowing what powers our minds had been opened to. Mistakes were made...”

Again, she paused, though this time out of shame for her actions that had banished Applejack, before continuing.

“Mistakes were made, but we forged on. Then three years ago, our eyes were opened wider still. Stories, technology and cultures beyond our wildest imagining were made available to us, and led us to where we are now. One world, so many people, each a radiant spark that together form the light of true friendship. Magi-Tek^TM is proud, I am proud, to stand before all of you two years after our founding to present what you are about to see. None of this would have been possible without the cooperation of all the citizens of Equis, all of the technology you see here crafted by them, for them. None shall want, none shall miss out. Together we can continue our march in this golden age and so, in the words of a dear dear friend...”

Who still isn’t here Twilight grumbled to herself, before stepping to the side and throwing her hoof out to draw all attention to the near pitch black space behind her.

“Welcome to the future!”

As soon as the aetheric matrices powered on, Twilight knew something was terribly, terribly wrong. A week ago she had seen what Star Whistle had created, the near perfect, if giant, facsimile of her own head to welcome ponies into the World’s Fair. What sprang into life before her was not that, instead showing a hideously lifelike rendition of Star Whistle. Terror shone in his eyes as speakers that were meant to broadcast a message of hope for the future crackled into life an instant before the screaming started.

The howls were not just from one voice, multiple overlapping cries of pure agony slamming into the stunned crowd like a physical object and with sickening surety, Twilight knew that there were six voices, the last recordings of the slain parroted back for the perverse pleasure of whatever, or whoever, was behind these atrocities, and just as surely, she knew what was about to come next.

“T-t-turn it off,” her voice was not even loud enough to be considered a whisper, more of a sub-vocalisation that did nothing beyond sending the words echoing round her own head as she fumbled lamely for the communicator in her ear.

Before she could turn it on, her nightmare became a reality as a seventh voice drowned out the six as on the hologram, rendered in exacting detail, Star Whistle began to come apart, invisible blades slicing into his flesh while he seemed helpless to do anything more than scream and scream and steam.

“For celestia’s sake, turn it off!” she screamed, finally finding the switch even as her eyes were fixed on the screen.

“It’s not on!” Spike roared back. “Nothing is showing as powered, it shouldn’t be...”

“It bucking well is on!” Twilight screeched, her own aversion to swearing forgotten as her eyes became pinpricks, unable to look away as one of her best friends was flensed apart before her in facsimile, and yet there was no fooling herself that this was just a sick and twisted mockery of computer generation. No computer could render screams like that.

A laser beam suddenly arced across the courtyard, striking one of the aetheric matrices in a crackle of lightning and sparks as a Pegasus clad in the armour of the Everwatchful Eye streaked passed. No sooner had he fired then another two beams struck the same point, fired from a pair of Gryphon’s toting heavier weapons and with a soft pop, the emitter exploded, the hologram fading, but not dying.

As if a damn had been broken, laser fire erupted from wings of fliers, while on the ground, Everwatchful Eye, Royal Guard and Magi-Tek^TM security seemed to regain some semblance of sanity, pushing the crowd back, even as the silent horror gave way to screams of terror, and what had been a near impossibly still group of ponies became a stampede as they fled the awful sights and sounds.

Twilight was not amongst those who fled, her eyes still transfixed as her friend was rendered down further and further, his skin flayed away, his eyes popped, his guts opened for all the world too...

A hoof connected with her jaw, Twilight reeling from the blow as she saw Lightning Dust in front of her.

“Stop looking,” she ordered. “We need to get you someplace safe.”

Twilight dumbly nodded, but it was too late for that, the macabre performance moving to its next stage. With a forth pop, the hologram flickered and died, yet as it did so, more lights came on, illuminating the entrance into the World’s Fair properly, the long passage designed so that until you reached the end, you couldn’t see into the Fair beyond, a single pool of light at the end of the tunnel making it impossible to miss the pony shape that dropped, strung up by ropes as the screams on the speakers died away, replaced instead with a moaning sound of defeat that was just as harrowing as the agonising cries of torment.

Twilight didn’t know if Lightning didn’t try to stop her or if she simply didn't hear, taking to the air and streaking down the tunnel towards the stricken pony. She may not have been renowned as a fast flyer like Lightning was, but she was an Alicorn, her magic an advantage all of its own as it pushed her faster than any could catch.

“No, please Celestia no!” Twilight screamed as the figure came into ever greater focus with each beat of her wings, the body clearly a unicorn, though what colour his coat or mane had been was lost in a see of blood red muscle, the ‘ropes’ that dangled him above the floor protruding from his own ruined stomach.

Twilight lost control of her stomach as the unfortunate moved, the act bringing forth a rattling sob of pure pain, the voice hoarse and distorted by ruptured vocal cords and more screaming than anypony should ever make.

Twilight hit the ground hard, skidding in her own vomit as Lightning finally streaked by her, taking hold of the pony and shooting upwards, unlooping the cords of gut from where they had been suspended before laying him on the ground. Almost as soon as she had done so, other ponies appeared, most wearing the armour of the Everwatchful Eye, marked with the white and red of the Equestrian Medical society, though Twilight was stunned to see that it was Fluttershy who was at the forefront of the group, the usually demure mare’s hooves flashing across the near lifeless body.

Twilight shouldn’t have looked, but she couldn’t help herself, pushing herself to her hooves and looking into the crowd just as the dying pony looked back at her, their eyes locking as Twilight recognised who she knew this had to be.

“R...r....r....a...i...n...” he managed through a lipless and tongless mouth, before his eyes rolled back in his sockets and the last vestiges of life fled his ruined corpse.

Fluttershy let out a cry of anguish as she saw the same fade, but before she could do anything, all of the lights in the Fair flared into painful life, casting everything into stark relief before exploding in a shower of sparks that plunged the world into pitch blackness. As instant later, pinprick lights shot out from laser rifles and Unicorn horns, but they did little beyond serving to underscore the total blackness that had engulfed them.

“Twilight, Lightning?” Spitfire’s coarse voice echoed down the tunnel as the mare cantered towards them, her own rifle’s light marking her journey.

“Is...is it over?” one of the ponies asked, Twilight not knowing, nor in truth caring, who it was, but cursing the foalish question, the finale playing out as if on perfect que.

At the far end of the tunnel that they had all just vacated, the hologram flickered back into life. It was grainy and the picture wavered from the damaged and destroyed matrices, but Twilight recognised her own head nonetheless as the speakers crackled into life once more, emitting a parody of the recording that Star Whistle had so painstakingly put together.

Welcome...to the...end...of....Equis.

The words repeated over and over, somehow more chilling than even the horror that had just unfolded before them, though it was not the words alone that caused everyone, even Spitfire and Lightning, to freeze in place. Instead it was the pony shape within the holographic head, the backlight making identification all but impossible, but the silhouette was clear enough, Twilight not even realising she had drawn the pistol that Spitfire had given her as she laid eyes upon it.

Leathery, thestral-like wings kept the creature aloft, front hooves ending in vicious talons and in the flickering light of the dying hologram, flashes of cyan and rainbow brilliance could be half glimpsed before they were snatched away once more.

As if sensing that it had been seen and its final part played, the figure flapped its wings once, shooting upwards and into the pitch blackness almost faster than the eye could see, Twilight staring after them even as the harrowing words continued to repeat over and over again, growing louder with each recurrence.

Welcome...to the...end...of....Equis.

Welcome...to the...end...of....Equis.

Welcome...to the...end...of....Equis.

Welcome...to the...end...of....Equis.

Welcome...to the...end...of....Equis.

Comments

[Oh dammit I am back here]

Welcome... to the grimdarkness of the future, where you are not allowed to have nice things.

And, I am still standing by my belief that this is still all some chaos-god fuckery, because I distinctly remember a disciple of Tzeentch purposefully directing Rainbow towards Commoragh, so I totally think this is all one of his keikaku doori's

[AgentKorpsman]

11662218
Wait is that a dark eldar on the cover?

[FenrisianBrony]

11664389
It may be Eetheron from Descent into Madness...

[DnDBrony]

not so much as a sliver of fair or dislodged feather

“Hair” not “Fair”, also the use of sliver feels wrong here. A sliver is a long thin slice of something, which hair already is. I think a better word to use instead of “sliver” would be “strand”

[DnDBrony]

“And I should be thankful for that?” Twilight snapped. “It’s his choice if he wants to make the offer, but it’s your choice to let him accept it!”

2nd clause does not make sense, I think dropping “let him” would convey what you intend.

[DnDBrony]

As if a damn had been broken

Wrong form of “dam”

[Chillean]

Man what a way to kick this back off! I need to go back and do some rereading, id forgotten how much I enjoyed this series