Links in a Chain

by Touch the Sky

Silence In the Library

Twilight found Pinkie's pathetic form collapsed on her bedroom floor. She could tell by the glazed eyes that the pink earth pony was dead. Her skeletal body showed that she had perished from starvation, a fate Twilight could never have imagined for the pony with the seemingly bottomless stomach.

Pinkie was buried in her Gala dress, like Fluttershy, but her body had to be padded out to get the dress to fit properly. Rarity, despite her misery and slight revulsion at being near her friend's corpse, was encouraged by Twilight to re-fluff Pinkie's mane and tail, so that when she was buried beside Fluttershy, she looked almost like the Pinkie Pie they had all known and loved, but without the lively spark of laughter in her eyes.

Twilight made arrangements to travel to Canterlot straight after the funeral; she wanted to talk to Celestia about how the Elements would work without two of their bearers. She took the Elements with her, noticing as she packed them up that the butterfly crystal and balloon crystal on Fluttershy and Pinkie's Elements had grown grey and dull.

Later that day a royal coach arrived to take her to Canterlot; waved off by her three remaining friends she was carried towards the huge city.

Twilight entered the throne room to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in serious conversation. Celestia suggested something, but Luna shook her head sadly. Celestia turned towards Twilight as Luna stalked away.
"Hello, Twilight Sparkle." said Celestia regally. "I sense there is something worrying you."
"Yes, Princess. My friend Pinkie Pie died two days ago."
"I heard." Celestia looked sad. "You're here to ask if the Elements will still work."

Twilight nodded, taking the six Elements out of her bag. "Kindness and Laughter seem to have faded."
Celestia stood studying the Elements for a long minute. "I don't think they have. It appears the auras of Kindness and Laughter have simply divided into the other four Elements. You should still be able to use them- not to full effect, but enough to defeat any foe you might face."

"Thank you, Princess. But I had something else to ask- you see, even though there have only been two deaths, I can't help thinking they're linked."
Celestia blinked. "Linked in what way?"
"To the Elements. Like... the Element bearers are deeply linked.

Celestia raised her gaze to Twilight's sharply. "Do you think there will be another death within the Elements?"
"I think there will be four more. I can't help feeling that me, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Applejack might end up dead too."

Celestia's expression became solemn. "If this is truly what you believe, you must make sure you and the other Elements take extra care. I do not wish to lose you, my faithful student."
Twilight nodded, packing the Elements back into her bags and left the throne room, unaware of the troubled look on Celestia's features.

When she arrived back in Ponyville after staying the night in Canterlot, Twilight threw herself into researching the Elements, investigating her suspicions of some sort of deep bond between the bearers. She spent all day scanning book after book after book, before taking a pile of books up to bed with her, leaving the candle on her desk lit and the (blank) piece of parchment for any useful information lying next to it.

Twilight read through every book she brought up, yawning, finding nothing, but then, in the last book, she found something. With the book held in her magic, she raced towards the stairs, only to skid to a halt as hungry flames leaped at her. The entire library was ablaze.

The candle Twilight had left on her desk had slowly melted, molten wax oozing out of the candle holder onto the desk and parchment. The fire had followed the wax, igniting the parchment and the desk. The fire had very quickly engulfed the room, thousands of books crackling merrily as their covers and pages burned.

Twilight coughed in the smoke, backing into her room as the fire advanced. Twilight pulled a sleeping Spike onto her back then, the book still grasped in her magic, looked for an escape route. She spotted the window and dashed towards it, then suddenly there was a splintering sound and she was falling...
The floor beneath her had collapsed, sending her plummeting into the heat of the fire on the lower floor.

Twilight crouched down, fire on every side, Spike still asleep on her back, blissfully unaware of the danger. Twilight could hear shouting outside, and suddenly Rainbow Dash smashed in through the window, flying around the leaping flames.
"TWILIGHT!" she yelled. "SPIKE!"

Twilight coughed, and wheezed, "Rainbow!"
But Rainbow Dash didn't hear her over the roar of the flames. Luckily, however, the pegasus scanned the floor and saw the purple unicorn. Rainbow hovered over Twilight, unsure what to do. Twilight, however, knew exactly what Rainbow should do.

"Take Spike!" she coughed, levitating the dragon into the air. Rainbow took him over her shoulder, but didn't move.
"What about you?" she called down.
"I'll be fine! Just get him out of here!"

Rainbow didn't look happy, but she flew back out of the window with Spike.
Twilight pulled the book close to her and was about to make a run for it through a gap in the flames when the whole ceiling collapsed. Burning rafters were everywhere, and Twilight could no longer see a way out.

With a desperate scream, she threw herself at the place where the gap had been, and felt a last moment of terror as orange tongues of flame rose to claim her.

Twilight's scorched body lay in the flames, the book lying where it had fallen when her magic had failed. Fire licked around it, and even as Twilight opened one eye and whimpered, it began to smoulder before bursting into flames.

Twilight's eye glazed over as her last breath shuddered through her body and her spirit fled.

Comments

[Crystal Moon]

[Crystal Moon]

I am speachless and I feel like scolding twilights grave. Didn't she learn never to leave a flame unattended.