What Might Have Been

by GreenFrogRibbit

Chapter 5: The End of The Beginning

Disclaimer:
Once upon a Thursday dreary, while I typed out, weak and weary
A story of ponies knocking on adventure's door
As I sat, engaged in tappin' on a keyboard, my will was sappin'
by the thought that ponies happen to belong to Lauren Faust and more
They belong to Empress Faust, Hasbro, the Hub and what's more,
I hope they sue me nevermore!

What Might Have Been

Chapter 5: The End of The Beginning

It was dark. She liked it dark. She needed it dark. Darkness was her master and her slave, and it would rule by her side. It was also quiet, and this unnerved her. For too long, silence had been her jailer and her foe. Her mortal enemy and only companion. It haunted her, teased her with its beguiling presence whenever she was still. Reminding her that no matter how far she were to run, silence would be waiting for her once she was spent.

The hated silence was slain by another. A being she recognized.

Or did she?

No. She was sure she had never seen this pony before. A deep blue coat played host to bright turquoise eyes, brilliant with youthful zealotry. Youthful invincibility.

She scoffed at her intruder. Such a fool that little filly was to believe that she could be victorious. Did she not realize that even a living goddess had to fight for her victories?

Was that why the foal had hope? It didn't matter really. All she needed to know was, that was why the bright-eyed filly would fail, and she didn't need her prophetic sight to know it either. This creature would fail, just like her mentor had failed not hours ago.

Wait. It was her sister who had failed wasn't it? Yes. Her older brother who had tried to stop her and... and what? Why was it so hard to remember events so recent? It didn't matter. The intruder was making her move, time to put youthful invincibility to the test.

The navy coated interloper lowered herself into a battle stance and pawed the ground aggressively. Did this little filly really think she could challenge the living incarnation of Twilight? She lowered herself in turn and lined the needle sharp tip of her violet horn up with her adversary's heart. This would be quick, and she was going to enjoy it. They charged each other and the blue filly spread her wings and charged her horn with magic, face set in determination.

In a rush the two combatants closed and with a flash of light it was... Wait, why wasn't that foal skewered on her horn? There was a pop of magic behind her, and she turned to see the midnight blue filly surrounded by the Elements of Harmony. The blue mare lowered her horn to the Elements and began feeding her mana into them. That had to stop.

In a rush the living goddess blasted her foe out of the way and took her place above the five legendary stones, but the artifacts were already responding. Glittering bolts of power shot between the stones, and she felt panic grip her mind. She was so close, too close to her final triumph to have it yanked away at the last moment by an upstart girl and her stupid magic rocks. IT COULD NOT END LIKE THIS!!!

It didn't.

As quickly as it had come to life, the magic of the elements died away again, leaving the relics inert stones. For just a moment she could only stare in wounder. The only power that could stop her, the only weapon she needed fear was useless. She had won.

A wicked and malicious laugh surged up and out of her chest. She had won. The realm was her's and no power remained that could challenge her. The look on the blue filly's face made the victory all the sweeter. Shock and despair and loss panted her young foe as the goddess triumphant reared up and slammed her hooves down on the wasted elements, shattering them with the strength of her spite.

It was done. Her victory was complete. The land would be remade in the image of its goddess and a shadowed new world would take its place. A different world where her foe was broken and where there could be no salvation for the young mare with the turquoise eyes. There were no allies the blue alicorn could call upon, no followers to protect her, no friends to come to her aid. All of those things were lost to a world in the past, and she wasn't in that world any more.

She didn't have any friends.

This wasn't her world.

She was alone.

Her laughter was high and reedy, and sounded strangely like screaming.

She awoke screaming. Her mind was twisted and clouded from troubled sleep and refused to engage her senses. Reflex took over in her mind's absence and she reached out to the orange and yellow pony making soothing noises. Her coat smelled of earth, apples, and faintly of sweat and Twilight lost herself in tears. The horror and stress of all her trials and dreams came flooding out in the warm embrace of a friend.

Her breakdown only lasted a moment before Applejack's hug soothed her frayed nerves. Without pulling away from the embrace, the violet mage apologized for her lapse in composure.

“I'm sorry Applejack, I've just had the most terrible nightmare.” She spoke, giving the farm mare a little squeeze in gratitude. Rather than return the gesture, Applejack went stock still and rigid. A clearly masculine voice vibrated out of the pony's chest.

“How do you know mah name?” It asked with great trepidation.

Startled, Twilight leapt out of the now foreign embrace and fell squarely on her plot. The first thing she noticed was that she had been brought to Carousel Boutique and placed on Rarity's fainting couch to sleep off her emotional trauma. The second thing she noticed was that she was in the middle of a group of six other ponies, all of whom looked like fun-house reflections of her friends.

The pony she had just balled her eyes out on bore a striking resemblance to Applejack; same orange coat, same green eyes and blond mane, he even had the same cutie mark and hat. But he was also clearly a colt. Well... a stallion really. Twilight would have blushed in embarrassment from such close contact with a stallion had the circumstances not been so strange.

Standing next to this masculine reflection of the Applejack she was familiar with was Red Gala, who was appraising Twilight with a calculating glare. Seeing the two ponies side by side finally snapped the violet unicorn's brain into recognition. Red Gala must be Applejack's big sister, and Twilight had just thrown herself on him.

Woops.

Once she made the connection between the Apple siblings, the identities of the other four ponies quickly fell into place. They were her friends, but not as she knew them. Her thoughts were cut short when her vision was filled with the rose colored gaze of a blue pegasus with a spiky, rainbow colored mane.

“Yeah! Who are you anyway?” The colt demanded.

Recoiling from the invasion of personal space, Twilight pushed her would-be interrogator away. “Ack, Rainbow! Give me some room to breath.”

“Wow she really is a prophet!” gasped a bubely pink colt with bright blue eyes before leaping in front of the overwhelmed mage. “Oh oh! Do me next! Do me next!”

A pearly blue aura enveloped the bouncy colt and not so gently hauled him to the side. At the same time, Rarity's stylish counterpart spoke up. “Gentlemen please! Give the lady some room. For whatever reason she seems to be the only one who has any idea of what is going on right now and invading her personal space is not the way to get her to talk!”

He turned to Twilight. “Please forgive my friends dear. They can be quite energetic, and I must admit this whole 'eternal day' business is wearing a little heavily on all our nerves. My name is Elusive, and this...” The alabaster unicorn gestured to the room at large. “...is my home. I hope you won't find it too forward of me, but after that fiasco at town hall I couldn't bear to leave you all alone. If there is any thing I can do for you please don't hesitate to ask, but I must say we're all quite curious about you. Would you care to introduce yourself?”

Still slightly bewildered, she answered “Uh... I'm Twilight Sparkle.”

“Are you really a prophet like that creature said?” interrupted the small voice of a timid yellow pegasus.

“What? No, that's silly. There's no such thing as prophets or prophesies. They're just made up superstition.” She scoffed.

“Then would ya mind tellin' me how how you knew both our names,” Applejack chalenged, indicating his rainbow maned friend “when I don't ever remember meetin' you before in my life?”

“Yeah.” The pegasus added “And what was with you and that freaky Solar Flare lady anyway?”

There it was, the question of the hour. What indeed?

“I... I don't...” 'know' was how she intended to finish the sentence, but that wasn't true. Twilight had little choice but to acknowledge the facts of her situation. She was now thankful that her misadventures in the space-between-spaces had gone the way it had. Had she not stumbled upon those cold and dark other-worlds she would not have had the knowledge or perhaps even the courage to understand what had become of her.

The inevitable conclusion was equal parts sickeningly obvious and blatantly horrifying, and a large part of her mind simply did not want to accept it as true. However, Twilight's irrepressible logic steamed right through her hesitation and demanded she see the situation as it was. She wasn't in Equestria anymore.

At least not her Equestria. When she had lost herself in the void between worlds, she really had been separated from her home. The swirling green orb she had crashed through in her rush to get back had looked just like her point of origin, but appearances were deceiving and now she really was lost.

Twilight might have wept for her hopeless situation, but she had already done that. Now what she needed to do was to confront her new situation head on. She did know Solar Flare. She knew it was Celestia.

“Her name's not Solar Flare. And I'm really not a prophet, I'm...” I'm actually from another universe that is strikingly similar to this one and you are all my friends or at least you would be if you were all mares and Solar Flare is obviously Princess Celestia who seems to be taking the place of Nightmare Moon where I'm from which means that you guys haven't recovered the Elements of Harmony yet which raises the HUGE question of where my analogue is in this world or if 'I' even exist in this world at all and let's not even start on how I'm lost in an infinite sea of worlds and have absolutely no way of finding my way back!!! No really, I'm not crazy; it's all true!'

“... I'm, uh...” Maybe it would be best keep the specifics on the down low for now. “I'm just lost. And very far from home.” Not at all a lie, and Twilight could maintain an appearance of sanity for her new / soon-to-be / already-but-not-yet / whatever friends.

“Well I must say I'm sorry to hear that dear.” Elusive soothed. “I suppose then that a round of introductions are in order.” The alabaster unicorn indicated the shy pegasus colt with a wavy pink mane. “Twilight, I'd like you to meet my good friend Buttersc...”

“Wait just a minute. She still hasn't told me how she knew my name!” Applejack interrupted. Elusive gave the orange farm colt a glare that could curdle milk and the Fluttershy analogue, Butter-something, shrank into silence.

“Well... um...” Think Twilight, think! You need to keep this whole thing under wraps or all the ponies in this town will think you're crazy! “I, uh... I walked to town hall with Red Gala. She must have mentioned you. You're her younger brother right?

“Yeah, right.” The farmer replied hesitantly, his skepticism hardly sated.

“And what about me!” Insisted Rainbow Dash's masculine counterpart.

Twilight stared pointedly at the chromatic pegasus's distinct mane for a moment. “Just a lucky guess.” The mage deadpanned.

Rainbow looked up at his own mane. “Oh.”

“Boys!” Elusive scolded. “You could at least pretend to introduce yourselves like gentlemen.” He turned back to Twilight in a huff. “I'm Elusive, this is Butterscotch, I see you have already become acquainted with Red Gala and her brother Applejack. Rainbow Blitz is our local weather colt...”

“Weather stallion” the brash pegasus interjected. Elusive rolled his eyes.

“And this is...”

“HI-YA, I'm Berry Bubble and you and I are going to be the very bestest of friends I just know it! Oh, you know what? Since you're lost and new in town we should have a 'welcome to ponyville' party so you can make lots of new friends! We can play music and dance and eat cupcakes and play pin the tail on the pony! It'll be great!

Twilight couldn't hep but giggle at the colt's enthusiasm; worthy of the Element of Laughter for sure. “I'd love to Pin... er Berry, but...”

“But you know something about Solar Flare, don't you?” True to form, Red Gala used her words sparingly but made every last one count.

The violet mage looked down at her hooves and nodded. “I do.” she confessed. All right Twilight you can do this. You need to tell them the truth, just not the parts that make you sound nuttier than an outhouse at a peanut festival. Ok, here goes. Twilight gazed back into the eyes of all the ponies that were looking to her for guidance. They needed her. What they could not have known was just how much she needed them in turn.

“Where I'm from, something like this has happened before. That time, the evil goddess's name was Nightmare Moon, and she vowed to bring about nighttime eternal. But the sad part was that Nightmare Moon wasn't really evil, she was just hurt and confused and possessed by the dark magic of her own madness. It took the courage and friendship of six ponies, and the power of the Elements of Harmony to free her from her curse. I think something similar is happening to Solar Flare and if I'm right, then our best hope for freeing her is to find the Elements and wield them against her.”

As she finished her story Twilight was met with a somber stillness. Everypony present was processing her words, each to their own conclusion. Notably, Applejack and Elusive appeared somewhat confused by the tale, but before either one could speak up Butterscotch broke the silence.

“Sometimes when an animal is scary and aggressive, it's really because it's hurt or scared. If Solar Flare is hurting like that, then we have to help her. I won't leave any creature in that kind of pain if there is anything I can do to help it.”

Judging by the expressions of his companions, the shy colt's resolve was quickly adopted by the others. Red Gala sidled up next to the yellow pegasus and gave him a friendly nuzzle.

“That's very brave of you, Butterscotch.” She murmured.

Surprised by the sudden attention, the colt in question had to fight valiantly to hide the bright blush that was quickly overtaking his features.

“I'm with Butterscotch.” Declared Rainbow Blitz. “We cant let this Solar Flare lady keep the sun up forever, it would ruin the climate. I don't know if she's good like you say or if she's just plain evil, but if we can help Equestria by stopping her, I say let's do it.”

“Ooh Ooh me too! I can't stand to see a pony who isn't happy, and that mean meany-pants needs a serious attitude adjustment. I bet if we can get her to smile again she won't want to take over the world as much!” Berry Bubble was on on board.

“Count me in as well.” Elusive insisted. “A true gentleman does not shy away from protecting his friends, and I won't let some wannabe royal in a tacky tin suit threaten my home.”

“Nor will Ah.” Applejack stated firmly. “With unending sun, our whole orchard and every other farm will dry out and wilt. Ah can't rightly let everypony starve if there's anything Ah can do to stop it.”

Red Gala looked with concern toward her younger brother. “Are you sure you want to do this Applejack? As the oldest, it should be me who goes.”

The orange farmer looked looked up to his big sister and idol. “Not this time Big Red. You've looked after the farm, Applebuck, and Ah for so long, Ah think it's 'bout time I took up my share. 'sides, Ah just have a feeling; like I'm meant to do this.”

The tall red mare considered this carefully before leaning in to give her brother an affectionate nuzzle. “Just be careful 'liljack” She said.

With that, the five stallions stepped forward with purpose. “We're with you Twilight.” Said Rainbow Blitz. “Now how do we get those Elements?”

Twilight chuckled to herself as she realized that all her friends had volunteered themselves without the slightest idea of what it was they were signing up for. It reminded her of her first adventure with the other Element Bearers back home. Then as now, she couldn't have gone it alone even if she had tried.

“I'm glad you asked Blitz.” She said. “The last resting place of the Elements of Harmony is in the ruins of the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters which is deep in the Everfree Forest.”

Her statement was met with wide eyed stares and worried looks. None of the assembled stallions had anticipated that particular outcome and now the prospect of recovering ancient artifacts with which to save the world wasn't looking so appealing. Hesitantly, Butterscotch tried to bargain with fate.

“Are...um... are you sure, Twilight? I mean if there's some other way to help Solar Flare that doesn't involve going deep into an trackless, unforgiving, dangerous, dark, and scary place like the Everfree Forest, maybe we could try that first?” Just thinking about that cursed place was giving the timid yellow colt the willies, and his rather detailed description of the forest was doing no favors for the resolve of Elusive either.

Twilight saw the fear in the cerulean eyes of the pegasus, but she also knew that Fluttershy, and therefore Butterscotch, was capable of great feats of courage. If only she could get this colt to see the same bravery in himself that Twilight herself saw.

“I'm sorry Butterscotch, but it really is the only way.” The yellow colt looked away in despair, but Twilight continued. “I may be...uh, new, around here, but please believe me when I say that I know, and I really mean know, that each of you can help me.” She turned to Butterscotch and addressed him directly. “I have a very strong feeling that you're stronger than you give yourself credit for.”

The yellow colt returned Twilight's gaze with a mixture of uncertainty and doubt but also, Twilight was pleased to see, a tiny spark of hope.

“Come on y'all.” Applejack demanded. “We may not like what it is we've all agreed to, but a promise made is a debt unpaid, and more than that, Equestria needs us. We can't back down now.”

“Sing it brotha'!” Cheered Blitz. “All the way!”

“All the way” Elusive declared, stamping his hoof in emphasis.

“Yeah, all the way” Affirmed Berry.

Butterscotch rose from his usual shy crouch to stand tall and proud for just a moment “All the way.” He said softly but firmly.

Comments

[Bellex]

Yay update
The Raven's one of my favs of Edgar Allen Poe

[GreenFrogRibbit]

1058416

I think it's one of my favorite poems of all time. I'm glad to know at least one person reads my querky disclamers. I'm glad you like it!

[LittleSallyDigby]

Did this chapter feel a bit short to anyone else?

In Twilight's dream, in the sentence starting with "A different world", each instance of "were" should be "where".
You're missing a period after "scoffed" and a space between “'... I'm, uh...'” and "Maybe".
When Berry Bubble introduces himself, you use "your" where "you're" should be, and "tale" where you should have "tail".
"any thing" in Butterscotch's first line of dialogue should be one word. Same for "night time" when Twilight explains about Nightmare Moon, and before that "what ever" when Elusive interrupts Berry.
"plane" in "just plane evil" should be "plain", and you're missing an apostrophe in "can't" in the previous sentence.

I like that the explanation Twilight gives here of who the pony trying to ruin the day/night cycle is and why she's doing what she's doing provokes a different set of responses than the one she gave in the series premiere. Butterscotch's reasoning is exactly what I would expect to hear from Fluttershy if she'd known Nightmare Moon's real problem from the start, and it's good to see that that also drives him to pursue the Elements.

[GreenFrogRibbit]

1073687
Sorry about it being a bit short, but I really couldn't figure a strong way to end it. I actualy have that problem a lot. I college the conclusions of all my papers, regardless of total legnth, almost always began with "in conclusion" and were never more than three sentences long.

Thanks again for pointing out the bugs. I hope it's not to annoying that you find such flaws in my work because I really appreaciate your keen eye for detail and willingness to point those thing out.

I'm also glad that I'm not writing the mane 6 OOC. It's somthing I really worry about and I'm glad my 'Fluttershy' came across as authentic. Thanks for the feed back!

[FinalFan]

Hmm ... it'd be embarrassing if she's wrong due to differences. Also I'm wondering how she's supposed to meet up with Dusk Shine, but that, at least, is all part of the experience.

Not so the typos! (But there were fewer that I noticed while reading, so yay)
buy the thought
"by"?

I couldn't bare
"bear"
(Unless he's also stripping )

that Twilight saw herself saw
"saw" or "herself saw", not both.

[Hawkx1]

Just a note in Rainbow Double Dash's Lunaverse alt Celestia there didn't die just got horribly weakened so just because you blast Solar Flare with the elements doesn't mean the threat is gone

[Redric Carrun]

Rainbow looked up at his own mane. “Oh”

*missing a period

Interesting dream sequence there.
Was the whole "sister - no, older brother" thing intentional? Is Twilight remembering multiple alternate perspectives, mixed with her original one?

So many questions. Guess I'll just have to read on to find out if they have answers.