Time to Dream of Crystals and Gems

A young unicorn pony faltered as she hit the ground hard. Her legs finally gave out under her weight as the last of her strength left her body. The young mare knew that her life was at the end, and she couldn’t give no more. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t pull herself off the forest floor. She squeezed her eyes tightly as what remained of tears fell to the red-stained grass beneath her. She was going to die, and she had to accept it.

“Whatever happens, happens. Right, Ponies? We can’t just stop here!”

The young mare gritted her teeth. The sound of an old friend’s voice echoed through her head. “Ribbon…” she weakly mumbled under her voice.

“We’re still breathing, right? We aren’t dead yet!”

The unicorn cried out in pain. Trying to find her resolve, she struggled to get to her footing. The disease that was coursing through her body felt like her soul was tearing itself apart. She cried out again as she tried to fight to get off the blood-stained grass.

“We can’t just sit around in our last minutes! We can’t just sit around and just die now!”

Tears streamed down the sides of the young mare’s face. “MOON!” she cried out, calling forth all the strength she could muster she forced herself upright. “MOON! RIBBON! PLEASE!” she called out to her friends. But there was no answer.

“Do you ponies see this? It’s a Crystal Memory. It’s going to record our last moments. And I don’t want it just recording us lying around feeling sorry for ourselves. I want it to remember our happy faces-“

“Moon…”

“And I don’t know who is going to be watching this in the future, but I want them to remember us. That we lived in our final moments. I want them to see our smiles on our faces. So, I want to play. I want to play until we can’t play no more.” The unicorn pony named Moon smiled to her friends.

“Moon…” the young mare’s mind was etched with the smile of her friend. Despite the blood that poured from Moon’s mouth, she continued to smile through her blood-stained teeth.

Everypony agreed. Despite the pain of death, the group of five ponies started to play. The disease that coursed through their body was stealing everything from them, but they decided that death wasn’t going to take away their happiness. The five of them, through the searing pain, played until they couldn’t play no more.

The young mare’s neck fell. What little strength she mustered finally gave way. She couldn’t even bring herself on all her hooves. “…” her eyes were getting heavy as her head just hung down.

“I-I’m…I’m getting sleepy, Moon.” A young unicorn colt voice came up just above a whisper. Perhaps it was because he was the youngest of the group, but it seemed that this young pony was the closest that was on death’s door.

It was another pony that turned her attention to the young colt. “Then how about a song?” the pony named Ribbon brought up.

Moon, without losing her smile, turned to look over at Ribbon. “I like that idea.” Then she weakly turned her head to look at young colt. “Then how about we sing a song?”

Despite it could have been the colt’s last, he took a deep breath. “I would like that very much, Moon.” He smiled.

Ribbon smiled. “Then how about the Sleep over sing-along, would that work for you?” she asked the young colt.

The young colt eased himself into the ground, not by choice but from the lack of energy to keep him sitting upward. “Yeah, I would like that.” He smiled as puss started to drip from his lips.

Ribbon weakly looked around the group. They were once a group of five ponies, but now they were down to four. She turned her head to look at the friend that had passed away while playing a game of tag. He had died with a smile on his face.

Ribbon turned to look at those that remained. And then she smiled softly. “Would you like to sing-along?”

“Ribbon…please…” the young unicorn lifted her gaze upward; it was all she could do not to fall face first into the ground. “Ribbon…please…please sing… sing for me…” her voiced trailed as if she was begging her memories.

“Sing now sleep over friends, time to dream of crystals and gems.

When night has come, and games are done, unicorns hold their crystals and sing-“

“He is sleeping soundly.” -Moon spoke up as she looked back over at the young colt member of their group.

Ribbon turned to look down at the young unicorn colt. She smiled. “Yeah.” Now they were down to a group of three.

The young mare cried out in pain. She struggled to lift a hoof as it felt like her flesh was peeling off her bones. But she couldn’t die right there. She knew she couldn’t die right there. She wouldn’t. She didn’t want to. She struggled to move, even if it was just a little bit. “Moon…”

“What’s wrong?” Moon turned to look her last friend in the eye. They had dropped down to two ponies. Ribbon had died while wrapping a foreleg around the youngest of their friends.

“I’m scared, Moon.” The young unicorn lowered her head in defeat.

“Of course, you are.” Moon said reassuringly. “I wouldn’t want to meet a pony that wasn’t afraid of dying.”

The younger mare shook her head. “That’s…that’s not what I’m afraid of, Moon….” As she shook her head, a chunk of her skin plopped onto the green grass.

Moon tilted her head in confusion. “Then what are you scared of?”

Weakly, the young mare lifted her towards her friend. “What I’m most afraid of is…”

“I…I…” the young mare’s voice choked in between her sobs. “I don’t want to die….” When faced with death, many won’t be able to accept it. But to ease into the eternal abyss, it may seem selfish to others, some ponies would rather - “I DON’T WANT TO DIE ALONE!” – pass away with loved ones by our side. The young unicorn continued to sob. “Please, I don’t want to be alone.” She cried out, hoping that anypony would answer her. But there were only the sounds of quiet death that accompanied her.

The young mare faltered as her legs gave out. She hit the ground hard, but she didn’t feel any pain. Her weakened body had already become numb. Tears fell down the side of her face. “Please…any pony…” she begged. “Please, stay with me.” But there was no pony else. “Please…” she begged again as she turned her chin to look to her right. “D-Dipper?”

Laying next to the young unicorn was the body of a much larger red colt. He may have been large and intimidating at first, but he had the kindest soul. Dipper was the kind of pony that would have given you the saddle on his back if you ever asked. He was the kind of colt that would always give it his all and never ask any pony anything in return. He had the kindest smile that the young mare had ever seen. He could brighten up even the darkest of souls with it.

Barely able to lift her leg, the young unicorn pony nudged at the colt’s body. “Dipper…wake up…” she asked trying to shake the pony awake. “Please, wake up, Dipper.” She continued to try to nudge the large pony, hoping beyond hope that would open his eyes. But they would not. He just laid there smiling, but that shine she longed for was now covered in its own putrid bile. The young unicorn wondered if the reason that he died first was so that the others wouldn’t be left alone if they were to pass. The young mare’s body shook to the core, she longed to see that warm smile.

“Ribbon…Violet…” She turned her head away from the colt’s body and looked over her shoulder. “Dipper…Dipper is…” But she already knew what she was going to find.

There were two corpses behind the young mare entangled in one another. The first, and the youngest, was a small violet colt unicorn named Violet Dew. Violet was always a young colt that had energy to spare, but he didn’t have the stamina to go along with it. He was always the first for adventures, but he was always the first to tire himself out. He was going to grow up into an amazing colt.

The young unicorn’s face grimaced. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Violet shouldn’t have been there with them. He shouldn’t have joined them on their adventure. He wasn’t supposed to die this young. He was supposed to grow up like a normal pony and become a great unicorn in his own right. But right now, it was almost beautiful. As he laid there dreaming in another world, he looked like another foal being cradled by its mother.

The young mare’s eyes traveled up the legs that wrapped themselves around Violet’s body, “Ribbon…” Velvet Ribbon was like the mom of the group. Sure, she may have bumped heads with some of the plans they made, but she only did it because she cared. There was a warmth to the young mare that almost made the unicorn jealous just how Violet was being cradled.

The young unicorn envied those two bodies. It was like looking at a parent holding it’s child. She wanted that. “Ribbon…Violet…” she lowered her head towards the two corpses. “Please…c-can I join you?” she said trying to use her horn as if to pry one of the leg’s off the young colt so that she could slide in between them both. But she stopped as she heard a sickening rip.

The Unicorn Pony pulled back just slightly just so she could look at what just happened. She had lost some of her coordination and instead of placing her horn in between the forms of the two ponies, she had apparently stabbed Ribbon in the leg – there was no resistance, as if she had stabbed into spam. As she tried to pry the leg off the young colt, it instead cut into Ribbon’s leg and started to separate her flesh from her body. The young mare could see the insides of her friend’s limb as the other half had seemed to melt into the colt’s body.

The young unicorn felt sick to her stomach. “…” she vomited. She didn’t know what she had to vomit, but she puked it all up. As she opened her eyes to look at what she threw up, she saw that it wasn’t bile but a puddle of blood. And she was certain she saw a piece of her esophagus in the little pool.

The young mare looked back up at the two ponies and lowered her head in defeat. She didn’t have the right to separate those two. She turned her head away from the picture-esque of “mother and son.” “Moon?”

There was only one hope left for the young unicorn. “Moon?” she turned her head to her last friend. “Moon?” she tried calling out.

Laying on the ground was the leader of their group, Moon Glow. She was a pony with hopes and dreams that always faced things head on. But now she just laid there on the green grass silently.

The young unicorn stumbled as she crossed her legs “M-moon…” she struggled to make her way over to her last friend. “Please, Moon…” she called out. “I-I don’t know…I don’t know how…” she struggled over her hooves. “I don’t know how long I can stay awake…” she made her way over to the body on the ground.

“…” Moon didn’t respond.

“Moon, please…” The young unicorn dragged her body over, “I don’t think I can last…” tears, mixed with blood, fell from her eyes as she pleaded to her friend. “Please…I don’t want to-” then finally her legs gave out. She fell face first into the ground next to her friend. Then there was only darkness.

After a few agonizing moments, the young unicorn’s eye fluttered. But it was only the right one. She didn’t know what had happened, but she no longer had control over her left eye. In fact, she could no longer feel the left side of her face at all anymore. She was certain that her head had shattered on impact with the ground. She was just certain that her body hadn’t realized that she should be dead. All she could do was lay there on the ground looking at her last friend.

“M-moon…” the young mare’s voice, barely a muffle, called out to her friend. “Please, Moon…” she called to the pony that was face to face with hers. “Please, wake up.”

Moon Glow didn’t respond.

“Please…Moon…” the young mare continued to cry out to her friend. “I don’t want to die…not like this.”

But Moon didn’t respond. She had already passed on and was probably already playing with the others on the other side. No, what was left behind was just a body. The young unicorn was simply pleading to a sleeping body that only had a smile on its face.

“Please…” the young unicorn sobbed to herself. “I don’t want to die alone.” She cried silently as she was surrounded by the corpses of her loved ones. Her last moments were going to be of that of which she feared most. “I don’t want to be alone…”

“Hello little one.” A haunting voice came from above.

Sitting in the middle of the forest, a small beastie’s ears perked from the sound of a familiar voice. She turned away from the large crystal in front of itself as it looked behind and into the dark over-looming trees. It’s lips twisted into a huge toothy grin. “MOM!” her tongue clicked to life.

The pair of predatory eyes looked down at it’s offspring with warmth. “Good evening, dear.” She said. But before she could say anything else, she took notice of something in front of the child. “So, what’s caught your attention, sweetie.”

The young creature turned it’s head away from its parent and look back at the crystal. “I don’t know.” She said tilting her head in confusion as she eyed the ponies that were being reflected at her.

The mother’s eyes looked at the large crystal studying it carefully. “I wonder…” a large slithery tentacle came to rest on its chin as it was lost in thought. “It could be a Crystal Memory.”

The young beastie turned it’s head back to it’s mother. “A Crystal Memory? What’s that?” she asked.

“Well…” The mother thought about it for a moment. “In Bridlewood, with the unicorn ponies, there is a legend about large crystals that can hold memories. Ones that can only be unlocked by using magic.” The mother recalled from the stories it heard. I wonder if it reacted to this little one’s magic, she thought to herself.

The little beastie looked at it’s mother for just a moment, “…” then it turned it’s head and looked back at the Crystal Memory in front of it. “Oh…” her voiced trailed off as she watched the ponies on the crystal.

“Your father has dinner for us.” The mother spoke to its child from above.

The little beastie didn’t turn to look at it’s parent, it’s eyes were just glued on the crystal itself. “Okay…” she said staring at the huge magical geo. “I’ll be there soon…”

The mother eyed the child. “Okay.” It responded. “Don’t stay out too late.”

“Okay, mom.”

The larger creature hesitated to leave it’s child for just a moment before it turned around. It’s predatory eyes disappeared into the darkness; it’s footfalls fell into silence as the thunderous sound of falling trees signified its leaving.

“…” Now that the young creature was all alone, she just stared into the surface of the Crystal Memory in front of her. She didn’t know why she was so mesmerized by the large rock, but she couldn’t take her eyes off it. Ever since it came to life, she couldn’t look away.

The Crystal Memory showed the young beastie five unicorn pony friends. The five of them had gathered near the rock and started playing with one another. But then they all started to die one after the other. The little beastie was unsure, but it had seemed to be some terrible disease that ate them from the inside.

And now the young creature was watching as the last of the unicorn ponies was crying it’s last breath after having half of it’s head shattered against the green grass.

Something felt off to the young beastie. As she watched the images of the crystal play before her, she couldn’t help but feel that this was something different. She had only really learned what a Unicorn Pony was within the last couple of months, and she knew that there was a difference between the living ones and the dead ones, but this was different.

As she watched the last unicorn pony take her final breaths, she couldn’t help but feel sympathy with her. Sympathy? The little beastie shook that out it’s mind. It wasn’t sympathy that it was feeling, but it was something else. Perhaps it was familiarity. The little beast tilted it’s head as it watched the last unicorn cry like a foal so desperate to cling on to some pony. She felt something resonate inside of her with the last pony.

The little beastie felt sick to it’s stomach watching the pony call out for some pony that wasn’t there. She didn’t like that feeling. It hurt the young creature, but she couldn’t tell why that it was. Then her eyes traveled to the leader of the pony group, then to the large red one, the pink one, the young violet one and finally back to the last of them, a young purple unicorn with a blue mane.

The young creature felt hollow seeing those faces. She didn’t know why she felt this way, she just knew that she didn’t like it. She hated seeing those faces like that, but she didn’t know why. They seemed no different from the dead ones she and her parents would eat, but this was different.

The young beastie watched as the last unicorn’s only eye fluttered one last time. She could feel a sense of emptiness start to take form inside of her. Why do I feel this way? She asked herself as she looked at those ponies again as if thinking they would give her an answer. Of course, the memories of the past couldn’t reply.

The little beastie lowered her head as her ears drooped, then her lips started to quiver. “Dipper…Violet…Ribbon…Moon…and-” her eyes shot open in confusion. Why did she remember some random dead ponies names? She never did that before. So why now? She turned her attention back to the purple pony on the screen.

The last pony had already died. That hollow feeling in the young creature’s gut felt like it suddenly grew several times larger. She didn’t like that. She didn’t like this feeling. She felt cold. She felt lost. She felt… alone. She hated it. She hated that feeling. She didn’t want to feel that feeling ever again.

Ribbon…Moon… the young unicorn’s voice echoed in the back of the little beastie’s head. Moon… Ribbon… she just couldn’t get those names out of her mind. She couldn’t get that feeling out of her stomach. She hated that. She hated all of that.

She looked at the Crystal Memory one last time, but it had stopped playing anything. Apparently, the memory that it had recorded had long since stopped playing as she was lost in her own thoughts. And now the little beastie was left with her own thoughts. She was now all alone.

All alone… the little beastie lowered it’s head. I don’t…I don’t like it. Now that she was all alone in the forest, she realized that that was what her life was like outside of her parents.

The little beastie turned it’s head to the left, it turned it’s head to the right. She was all alone. It sickened her. She lowered it’s head one more time. She hated this feeling. I never want to feel this way…again. The young creature found itself piddling with the green grass at her hoof.

After a moment, the little beastie’s voice started to trail off on it’s own. “When night has come, and games are done, unicorns hold their crystals and sing…” she didn’t know why, but the young creature found herself crying.

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