Red, the entire world had turned red. Rarity was reminded of the time Twilight Sparkle had tested a spell for boiling water. Pinkie Pie predictably interrupted Twilight, causing her to miss her intended target. Instead, the spell struck a tomato with enough magic to flash boil a pot of water. Spike had insisted on listing the results as a new spell, Detonate Tomato.
The viscous red mess currently spraying everywhere was neither as harmless nor humorous as the atomized tomato had been. The sound of Fluttershy's screaming voice, punctuated with a gargled choking, did not help matters. The purple-maned mare reminded herself that it was not her dear friend, but a twisted copy that corrupted all life it came in contact with. The living wooden walls shook, rippling and buckling as they tore apart, spraying meat, all manner of fluids, and plant matter. The previously white unicorn was not having a good day, even by the standards of the nightmarish future world she found herself living in.
Surprise, the deranged blonde pegasus, blinked several times before pointing a hoof past Rarity's head, "Heartburn!" she cried. At times like this it was entirely believable she was the umpteenth generational descendant of Pinkie Pie. At other times it was hard to believe she was even a pony.
The time-displaced mare grit her teeth, "Surprise, this is absolutely the wrong time to be making some sick joke about–" Rarity stopped, noticing that both Megan the two-leg and whomever was in charge of Firefly's body at the moment were staring the same direction the … usually white pegasus pointed. With some trepidation she turned to see what all the fuss was about.
A fountain of iridescent liquid with a golden-tangerine hue sprayed up through the hole they had torn escaping from the factory's stomach. "Heartburn is where stomach acid spills up the esophagus, there's a ... valve-thing that normally prevents that, or something." Firefly spoke without moving her eyes from the bizarrely beautiful spectacle, even as some of the more unfortunate chimera were unmade by the onrushing hyper-corrosive juices. The former fashion pony noticed that some of the pegasus's original coloring was starting to show under the blue fur dye… where her fur wasn't a soggy crimson red at the moment. Random muscles in the pegasus's face twitched, the external sign of the furious battle taking place in her psyche between her brain's native-born personality and a magically implanted copy of Rainbow Dash's mental imprint. A reminder that this was another pony Rarity wasn't able to do anything for.
Half of the remaining chimeric monstrosities seemed content to either stand motionless or to collapse where they stood. There was no time to comprehend their behavior, for the remainder had decided to destroy Rarity and her friends at all costs, correctly identifying them as the source of their tragedy. One chimera fought on their behalf, Sapphire, the half-dragon half-pony. Supposedly his genetic structure was a mixture of her own and Spike's. She had never had a chance to sort out her feelings for the one-time baby dragon, whose devotion to her was obvious when one considered that he spent the remainder of his considerable lifespan guarding Rarity's sleeping form during her thousand year slumber.
Thinking on that, the white unicorn turned to watch … her son? Who and what-ever he was, she watched the blue dragon-pony fight side by side with her allies. 'Of course, the monsters saw him destroy the tree's heart, so he's in as much danger as the rest of us.' As much as she wanted to attribute better impulses to a being she was related to, it was not a conceit she could afford to make. Her instincts were often at odds with the way things worked in the 'United Lands of Equestria'.
Megan was pinned by an ox with octopus tentacles ending in razor-sharp crab claws. "A little help, please, Rarity!?" she shouted, ducking as the monstrosity tried to take her head off. Glittering razor sharp knives flickered in her hands, slicing off tentacles that regrew as fast as the human could strike.
The former fashionista narrowed her eyes, blasting the oxoctocrab –'Nice name!' Surprise's voice echoed through Rarity's head, surpris … startling her. 'Not now, Surprise' thought the white mare, once again reminded of how abnormal the pegasus was– away from the human, into a patch of panther-shark-goats, and off the rapidly dwindling non-acidified ground the group desperately defended. Memories of being swung like a weapon burned in the back of her mind – she would have a reckoning with Megan later, but this was neither the time nor the place to worry about such things. 'Wait, what was that about–'
"Rarity we need–" maybe Firefly began...
"Mother, you need to get out of–" interjected Sapphire, before...
"It's getting hard to breath in here–" Megan commented.
"Jinx!" cried Surprise, giggling as she lobbed explosive candy shells at mutant monstrosities.
"Hey! Stop trying to talk over me–" the split pegasus shouted
"There isn't time for this–" growled the dragon-pony.
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Megan snarled, habitually snapping her fingers in order to freeze the annoying and aggressive amalgamation in time and space by means of the same technological marvels that let her create matter from stored energy. Sapphire glared at her, but otherwise nothing very much happened. The human groaned, beginning to wonder what the point of having godlike techno-powers was if every blasted magic user in this world could counteract everything her computer could do, "The only thing we all agree on is that we need to get out of here. Alright?" Getting the last word in was some small comfort.
The blue draconic hybrid moved toward his surviving genetic donor just as the white pegasus made to pick her up. Sapphire opened his mouth to speak, and was knocked flat by a ten foot tall snail with a rhinoceros horn. A moment later a beam of coherent rainbow turned it into the world's second largest dish of escargot. "Really? What was the first one?" Surprise asked, apparently speaking to herself as she hoisted the white unicorn onto her back. "*Ksshht*, this is Marshmallow One, we are clear for takeoff."
Rarity did her best to tune out the blonde pegasus's prattle, instead calling on the band's dubious new ally, "Sapphire, can you clear us a pathway to the closest outside wall?" The dragon-hybrid nodded, unleashing a torrent of blue fire ahead of the four friends, which managed to take down most of the chimeric fliers in their way. The remainder had traded maneuverability for armor such as iron-plated butterflies, bat-winged molluscs, armadillo armored arachnid wasps, and stone skinned rocs, all of which were slow enough to be avoided.
A quick glance at Megan and Firefly was all the purple-maned mare needed to see that they understood the plan: concentrate their fire on a single point in the wall and, hopefully, break through.
Rarity's tail twitched a few times, but otherwise behaved it's horrid self, for now. Aside from losing her friends, family, and hometown, what she resented most about the future was the loss of her tail. The twisted imprint of Fluttershy had tried to twist the white mare into a monster, and had succeeded in making her tail an abomination that required continuous effort to keep from harming anyone around her.
The unicorn hadn't recovered enough energy to unleash another round of annihilation magic like she had when facing a false Sweetie Bell earlier, but she could still contribute more conventionally offensive spells. She shied away from how easy it had been to rain destruction upon the hateful impostor. True it had been an insult to her real sister's legacy and had relentlessly tried to destroy Rarity's psyche, but… she shook her head, there was no time to even think about it yet.
The group's efforts met with more success than they had expected, the connective tissues of the tree degenerating rapidly with the loss of the gargantuan structure's vitality. Nevertheless, they had to blast through three fleshy wooden walls before reaching blessed daylight and relatively fresh air.
A stupendous swarm of confused conglomerate creatures crowded confoundingly beyond the bark barrier. The beasts didn't seem to be doing anything so much as helplessly watching their creator and homeland expire horrifically. Rarity shook away the sense that she and her friends had just destroyed an ecosystem – for it had been a horrible monster that wanted to warp and destroy everything it touched while reaching out to touch everything. The white unicorn used her magic to fling monsters out of their path with, perhaps, more force than was strictly necessary.
In an action that was becoming far too routine, Surprise unceremoniously dumped her equine cargo into the flying life-raft Megan's marvelous technology created. The former fashionista frowned, her awareness returned to the never-ending task of staying alive just a little longer in the ULE. Firefly grabbed the ropes on the front of the craft that would let the pegasus pull the vessel and everyone inside. The exhausted unicorn took a moment to marvel at the Rainbow-Tech machinery that had replaced the flying pony's original organic wings. The new, jet-like wings seemed like a metaphor for this brave new world: amazing wonders at the cost of what used to exist naturally.
With a loud groan the gargantuan treelike monstrosity's branches began to buckle under their own weight, dropping leaves that could have covered whole city blocks to plummet where they would. And a great many of them would have landed on and crushed the fleeting friends.
Rarity called on her dwindling remaining energy reserve to catch incoming leaves with telekinesis, shoving them to the side. Overhead, Sapphire incinerated more of the leafy menace, the largest leaving behind ash, the smaller leaves vanishing in puffs of magic smoke that were achingly familiar to the unicorn. For a moment she imagined the leaves arriving over Princess Celestia's desk, burying her under enough mulch to cover Ponyville fifty feet deep, twice over. She couldn't help snorting at the absurdity. Surprise shot her a bemused look, but didn't say anything.
What felt like hours later, Firefly made a skipping, stumbling landing. The boat vanished in a flash, depositing the passengers rudely onto the ground, none of whom bothered to get up for several minutes. Rarity watched as Surprise bounded to her hooves and began a vigorous stretching routine. The pegasus's renewed energy was more unbelievable than her once again sparklingly white coat.
Something nagged at the back of the unicorn's mind. "Er, Surprise, dear, what has you up and moving again so quickly?" She had the most terrible feeling the pegasus would say something–
"...about going back to the base of the Fluttershy Fabrications Factree to retrieve the pink book that my great to the umpteenth grandmare Pinkie Pie wrote? That's a super-good guess, Marshy, how'd you know?" there was a distinct edge of sarcasm to the bubbly winged pony's voice, for all that she sounded upbeat and bouncy.
"You can't be serious, darling. I don't ever want to see that horrible place again…" despite her words Rarity struggled to her hooves, groaning.
Surprise watched the white unicorn struggle, her expression softening a little. "Marshy, stay down. Ya' don't have to come with me, even if you did promise to help me find it. I'll be ok on my own."
"Ever since I awoke in this time I have been pushed, pulled, prodded, and generally flung about by the whims of fate. I've barely been able to help myself, and have continuously failed the few ponies… and other," Rarity nodded at Megan who tipped a non-existent hat in return. "That I have managed to befriend. I am tired of failing to meet my own expectations, let alone those of others. So if you would be so kind as to not condescend to me, I believe I shall be ready to accompany you in a moment." Huffed the mare with a purple mane, taking deep breaths.
Despite her speech, she was surprised to see the others slowly standing as well. She bit her lip to keep from saying anything sappy or cynical, let alone insulting her friends by suggesting they stay behind when she wasn't going to. If their show of solidarity didn't involve going back to the steaming, liquefied remains of the most horrid place Rarity had ever been, she'd have said said she felt encouraged.
By general agreement the party made their way back by land. A trip that had taken twenty breathless minutes of flight out became a two hour hike the other way.
Fifteen minutes into their walk, Rarity couldn't contain herself anymore, rounding on the human. "Megan, we need to talk about what you did to me."
The biped nodded, not quite making eye contact, "so talk. Explain to me how trying to save everyone's lives was a bad thing – I'd love to hear it." She folded her arms over her chest, frowning.
"There were other options, and you deliberately made me use that… that thing." Unfortunately, mentioning her tail seemed to waken it from the relative quiescence it had enjoyed recently. Still the unicorn was becoming accustomed to restraining it's alien impulses. The segmented length of it writhed, causing the sharp stinger at the end to slice through some of the underbrush they navigated. Thankfully none of it seemed to crystallize.
"What were these 'other options' you're talking about, huh? You'd just spent a huge amount of energy frying a copy of your sister– as a matter of fact, what was up with that?"
"I do beg your pardon. What. Was. Up. With. What?" The unicorn's eye twitched as she enunciated each word.
The biped counted off on her fingers. "There's adequate force, and then there's overkill, and then there's what you did to destroy one filly."
"That was no filly – you saw what they did in the 'Hall of Life', I'm glad that blast was enough."
"Rarity, you vaporised half the horde of chimera and part of the chamber we were in, in addition to the little monster."
"You don't understand, she made me not want to live anymore. If I hadn't needed to get you, Firefly, and possibly Surprise out of there, I would have let them kill me in that moment." The white-coated unicorn realized she was shouting when she noticed the others staring at her. She began again, in a hushed tone, "I thought my own sister had died despising me, only to be reborn as a spiteful abomination of everything equine. And that it was all my fault."
The human female nodded, wiping sweat from her brow. "Yeah, I know a bit about guilt." She made a noise part-way between a chuckle and a sob, "And that's exactly why I'm going to tell you to GET OVER IT!"
The unicorn stopped, unaware that her tail had risen behind her, remarkably like the threatening posture of a scorpion. "What? You dare to compare the absolute massacre you committed to anything I have done?"
Megan felt her heartbeat and adrenaline rise, but this had to be addressed, "Yeah, I guess you're right… in my case I was thinking about the fate of countless other people, whereas you're wallowing in a personal tragedy and only thought about the rest of us as a burden and an excuse to do what you wanted."
"Oh? Ohh? What I wanted? The only thing that I have left in this blasted heath of a world is the ability to chose my own course of action." Rarity spoke in a very quiet, deliberate tone. "So I find it rich that someone who… violated that so thoroughly feels qualified to talk about misuse."
"Rarity, that is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard you say. Are you going to tell me you've never done something to someone 'for their own good'?" Megan waved in the general direction of a moderately-sized flying white horse-like creature.
"That isn't even–
"YOU BLEW A HOLE THROUGH THE TREE, Rarity! How can you claim you're worried about the sanctity of life or whatever piety you're spouting when you were willing to fry everything in sight because you 'had a bad day'. What do we do if your ex-boyfriend shows up and one of us is in the line of fire – dive for cover and hope for the best?" The human threw her hands up in disgust.
"You are grossly over-exaggerating the situation, and that has nothing to do with you making me use that horrid sting. What that does is unspeakable, robbing living things of their free will and turning them into slaves! And you MADE me do it."
"Your little tantrum has everything to do with that. If you had not gone nuclear you could have been helping us. Failing that, if you had aimed your sparkly blue death ray, maybe you could have taken all the monsters out. Instead you did something hugely wasteful, and then proceeded to whine about providing any help that would have actually made a difference."
"First of all, I would never do that. I suppose it's good that I discover now that you think I'm a blithering idiot, rather than thinking I can depend on you for anything. And secondly, as hateful as killing someone who wishes me harm is, I rate that as far better than robbing them of their free will. I would rather be dead than someone's mindless puppet."
"Are you deliberately ignoring my point? I don't know how your horsey hoo-doo works, but I have known enough unicorns to recognize that you guys are using up some sort of energy reserve. When your freak-out drained you… right when the rest of us were having trouble –
"I wasn't having any trouble *mfffm*!" Surprise's outburst was quickly muffled by Firefly.
"...When we could really have used your help, you wasted the resource you depend on for your 'better choice'. So, you weren't going to be able to blast any of the baddies, and if we got caught we were going to be mutated into … what did you call them, mindless puppets? Yeah, well if it's either me or the other guy who's going to go down, guess who I'm going to chose?"
"I could have found another way!" Rarity shouted, frustrated that the human didn't seem capable of seeing her point.
"There was no more time for delaying or hand hoof wringing. Look, I'm not happy that I had to do something that made you feel bad, but I didn't see any other choices. And if the only good choice is the 'least bad' choice, well it seems better than laying down and dying. I will not apologize for that, and if you don't seem better able to manage yourself, I won't promise not to use the resources available to keep my friends and myself alive."
"How very pragmatic of you." The mare spit the word like something distasteful.
"Thank you." The human smiled, as though receiving a compliment.
"Could you really not–
The noise that followed could best be written as *BLOORP!*, however, this completely ignores the resounding resonation of the sound, which could be felt near as much as it was heard. An onrushing wind brought a sour smell and a sting in the air, reminiscent of the aggressive acid that had menaced the travelers earlier. The hikers became aware of their surroundings, barren topped hills, the undulating outlying roots of the deceased dire tree crumbling around them. The fallen leaves had begun to break apart into a chunky loam-like substance, with the occasional plate of waxy surface and long strands of veins like discarded plumbing. With the dust kicked up into the sky obscuring the heavens, everything was brown, brown, brown.
"Well that was–
A rectangular mass the size of a pony's head crashed down, steaming slightly. Closer inspection revealed it to be a bound in a particularly pink leather.
"I don't believe it!" Surprise cried, jumping into the air and pouncing on the improbable publication. "Well, actually, I kinda do, but that was amazing! It was all 'bloop', 'fwoop', 'wham'." The prancing pegasus gently nudged the massive tome before picking it up and spinning around in midair, coming to rest on the ground she held it over her head for a moment, before frowning. "Hey, Marshy, how're you going to carry this thing? It's not exactly light reading."
With a growing sense of dread, Rarity realized what the skyborne book must be. "This is the 'Pink Book'?"
"Well duhhh, what else would it be? Oh! Unless you mean we should call it the 'Orange Book' so that nopony will know what it really is – wow, you're a really clever unicorn, aintcha?"
The purple-maned pony contemplated the mass of paper. 'If I were truly clever, I would figure out how to get rid of that horrid thing.' It would probably be fairly easy to levitate, but being around that much dead flesh was hardly an appealing proposition. She was about to speak when another, much quieter, sound caught her attention.
An liquid hiccupping noise, barely audible even in the sudden calm was coming from behind a small hillock. Megan raised an eyebrow at the white unicorn. Rarity frowned, mouthing the words 'this isn't over yet' before nodding and heading around the opposite side of the mound. Firefly and Surprise were silent as they floated cautiously over.
Rarity couldn't believe her eyes. One moment she saw a small blonde wood sapling blooming out of season, the next her brain filtered some of what she was seeing and the unmistakable outline of a nature-loving pegasus. 'Or, more accurately, the horrid twisting of an impression of my dear departed friend.'
The figure stopped, turning a distinctly pony-shaped muzzle to scan her surroundings with flowery eyes. "H-hello? Is… is somepony there?" stammered a voice that managed to replicate the shy pegasus's voice with an even breezier tone.
The unicorn stepped forward, blue sparks shivering off her horn. "I will give you one sentence to explain why I shouldn't burn you to ash this instant." Rarity spoke with neither fear nor malice. She was tired, just plain tired of the violence, the unreason, the mutilation, and the killing.
The faux pony took in her potential assailant's appearance. "R-rarity!?" the tree-pony's expression lit up, and then she seemed to crumple. "Oh... ohh no, what did I do?" Tears ran down her face, although they were a translucent amber color and ran like sap. "This is unforgivable… I'm… I'm already dying, but if it helps you at all, go ahead, I deserve it for this, and everything else she made me do."
Rarity hesitated. 'Is this a trick? She can't be serious.' But, there was a sense of sincerity and remorse being expressed that the white mare found unlikely to be faked. "What do you mean 'already dying'?"
"I h-had to separate my self from the f-f-factory. That's how I became free of the corruption. But… I can't last long like this..." The sapling shivered, several pink leaves from her 'mane' falling away.
"Corruption? You mentioned a 'she' earlier as well. What are you claiming? Who is She?"
"I … please, before I go, I would like to do one truly kind thing." The imprint shivered, a large lump traveling up its throat. She spat out a seed the size of a peach pit. "*Hughh*, there… that will undo the alteration of one life-form, restoring its original form, mind, and heart. I can't possibly apologize enough for what was done to you, but this will at least let you return to what you were."
A field of shimmering blue light enveloped the small object. Rarity contemplated it for a moment, wondering how in the ULE she could possibly evaluate this fake's claims. She wanted so badly to believe the imprint, but…
"Thank you, for the gesture if nothing else. But please, while there is still time, who? WHO made you become the monster I had to confront? I can't possibly believe you if I don't know."
The impression of Fluttershy turned her head aside, leaking more sap. "She isn't Pinkie Pie, not anymore."
"Pinkie's Impression? That's preposterous, you are trying to tell me that the one genuinely helpful entity I have met in this world has been plotting my corruption or destruction the entire time? Why should she be the evil one, it doesn't make any sense."
"N-not, it… Pinkie's impression was the first to fall. She… got to the rest of-of us." The tree pony had shed nearly all her leaves, and was beginning to pale, her bark 'skin' crackling and sap escaping in several places.
Rarity bit back her next question. She had read enough dramatic novels to know what came next, she would demand the name of the real culprit, and the impression would die with the name on her lips, never able to reveal the dastard. It would be such a waste. And there had already been far too much of that.
"It's okay. I … I … forgive you." The unicorn nearly choked on the words, but if it could give this passing life one last moment of peace, it was worth the struggle.
"Th… thank y–" the remainder of the impression seemed to not so much dissolve as dissipate into the very air.
The others, who had been staying back not to interrupt the conversation, came forward. Surprise stepped up and began examining the pile of dust left behind, before sticking her hoof into it and licking a bit off. Rarity was about to scold her when Firefly spoke up.
"Can… how can we possibly trust anything it said?" The still mostly blue pegasus frowned, clearly remembering the treachery of another impression.
"I have no intention of taking her word for any of that. I am going to ask Pinkie's Imprint if any of it is true."
"Hold on, you're going to ask the supposed mastermind if she's gone bad? You don't see any problems with this plan?" Megan raised an eyebrow, trying to find the logic in this idea.
"If I do not, I must either assume she is a threat and lose a powerful ally, or place blind trust and potentially set myself up for a horrible fate." Rarity frowned, considering what the three 'mad imprints' had tried, to varying degrees of success, to do to her.
"Are you going to eat the seed?" Surprise asked.
"No, I am not." She levitated the seed, moving it toward, "Firefly, if there is any chance this will work, I want you to have it."
"Rarity! I couldn't possibly, I mean what about your tail and the eyes, and …"
The white unicorn smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes, "I can live with what's been done to me. Your affliction is eating you from the inside out. How could I possibly stand to watch you die, just for a few… mere… cosmetics?"
Tears ran down the split pegasus's muzzle, "you… wow. That is the most generous thing I think I've ever seen somepony do. I wish I'd had a friend like you." The blue-ish pegasus crouched, Rainbow Tech revving as she leapt, "Sayonara su–
*SNAP!* The pony froze, not ten feet off the ground, completely immobile, down to the last hair. Megan chuckled, running her fingers through her hair. "Still got it…" she gloated.
Rarity nodded at the human, once again levitating the seed, this time placing it out in front of the fleeting pony. She rotated her head so as to catch Surprise's attention while not losing the potential cure-all. "Surprise, dear, will be kind enough to catch Firefly in a moment? I doubt she will be in any condition to land safely."
The blonde mare nodded, "on it like a bonnet."
The unicorn hid a grin, 'goodness, where does she come up with these silly phrases from?' Everything was in place, "NOW!" she cried.
"Now!" cried the white unicorn, sending another surge of magic into her telekinesis, willing it to go down Firefly's esophagus. She wondered if enjoying this made her a bad pony. Oh, not force-feeding magic plant medicine of dubious origin to one of her friends, the teamwork – specifically the satisfaction of seeing a plan come together.
It was rather heady, she wished it was possible to ask Twilight how she had managed it. On top of all her other reasons for missing her unicorn friend, the rest of her friends, her family, her home, Ponyville… the train of thought rather took the edge off her excitement, leveling her out if not bringing her low outright.
Megan snapped her fingers and the pegasus with an aggressive split personality disorder rejoined the timestream, already in progress.
As momentum was released, the blue-ish/pinkish pegasus rocketed forward, finishing her taunt. "Suckers! –*urk*–" The walnut-sized lump had made it past her mouth, now it was a battle between the Rainbow Impression's desire to spit the object out and the body's instinct to swallow. From the way Firefly's body began to spasm and jerk, one could tell her native personality was fighting to regain control as well. With nopony keeping her in the air, Firefly fell.
Surprise swiftly snatched the plummeting pegasus pronto. "Easy does it … huh, I never gave you a nickname, did I?" The blonde pegasus contemplated the oversight as she brought the two of them back to the ground. "Firey? Fly-girl? FF? Ummm, nope. Sheesh, this is embarrassing. I even gave Meggers a nickna–"
"Don't ever call me that, Surprise." The human growled.
Rarity smiled. Even the bickering reminded her of– she lost the smile, trotting forward to watch Firefly for any signs of complications. The good news was that the pegasus had stopped choking, yet the seed couldn't be seen anywhere. The mare out of time frowned when she realized that the pegasus wasn't making any noise. While Rarity tried to remember what little she'd learned about artificial respiration, Firefly violently jerked upright, coughing forth a cloud of glittering particles that shimmered in all the colors of the rainbow before evaporating.
"Firefly?" Rarity asked, hoping against hope that everything had worked correctly.
The (formerly?) split pony turned, tears streaming from her eyes, "it's … it's gone, my head is clear, I can–"
The others rushed over as Firefly began screaming and thrashing about. A blue liquid dripped from her pores, leaving behind only pale pink fur. With a *thunk* her prosthetic rainbow-tech wings fell from her body.
Megan gasped, "Is she falling apart? Is… is she dying?" She knew that if Firefly died, the curse of the 'Peacemaker' meant the human was sure to follow soon after.
The unicorn mare frowned, "no… I don't think she is… everything she's losing – I think the seed is purging all the modifications Rainbow Industries made to remake Firefly in Rainbow Dash's image." Rarity shuddered, remembering the revelation of how twisted her acrobatic friend's imprint had turned out to be. Had they already foalnapped another filly to torture and mould into an imitation Rainbow Dash? Her frown intensified to a glare… she and her friends had already taken one imprint down, and surely the sins of Rainbow Industries were as unforgivable as those of Fluttershy Fabrications… it was up to her to clean up the legacies of her friends, to prevent the perversion of their visions.
"Hey, Sapph, why aren't these jokers dead yet?"
Heads turned to note the new arrivals, two half-dragon and half unicorns; like chromatically shifted reflections of Sapphire, the self-proclaimed genetic offspring of Rarity and Spike's DNA. These were his siblings, whom she and her friends had last left beaten and disabled… was it only an hour ago? It felt like months had passed.
"Wait, Emerald, you don't understand– " Sapphire began.
"You're darn right I don't understand. They killed Fluttershy, after they killed you." The green one snarled.
"Sapphy was crushed." Confirmed the Red drake.
"No, you're missing the point. Rarity is our mother–"
"Really? Because from my memories, if we had anything like a mother, it was the CEO of Fluttershy Fabrications. You know, the one whose heart they blew up?" Emerald snarled, nose to nose with Sapphire.
The blue hybrid lowered his eyes. "Rarity didn't do that."
Emerald rolled her eyes, "I don't care which one of them di–"
"I did it. The Fluttertree was lying to us, manipulating us. She wanted to make us torture our own mother."
"Stop calling her that!" Shouted the green sibling; its a voice, Rarity noted, was an octave higher than the other two.
The third one, Ruby, caught up with the argument. "Sapphire, you killed Fluttershy?"
"Ruby, look at Rarity. Look at her… can't you tell?" Sapphire pleaded. There was no way he could take on both of his siblings if they attacked at the same time, and he wouldn't have the heart to hurt them even one on one.
Rarity did her best to hold still as the red half-dragon circled her, peering at her and sniffing the air. Up close, she began to see the subtle differences there hadn't been time to notice before. She almost choked when she realized this 'Ruby' had her father's solid frame, and a touch of the innocence she remembered in Sweetie Belle's eyes.
Emerald scowled, "Rube, you can't be falling for this, can you? It's. A. Trick. It, it has to be."
Ruby slowly shook his head back and forth, "Same smell."
Rarity choked back any number of retorts… blushing as she heard Surprise muffling laughter behind a hoof.
The green semi-drake tossed her head, "W-well it doesn't matter, even if she did donate genetic material. She's still not my mother."
As a sister, daughter, friend, businessmare, and salespony, Rarity recognized the turning point in an argument. "Well now – Emerald, was it– that is a matter of perspective, is it not? Would you, for example, discount Spike being your father?"
The half-pony reacted as though struck, "That is not the sa…" The retort died in her throat 'but it is, isn't it?' She shook her head. Was this the realization that had shaken Sapphire – was this what had driven him to switch sides, to betray everything he had been created for – to betray his own siblings? She turned to her errant brother, hissing. "When did you realize?" The answer would not please her, but she had to ask, had to know.
Sapphire hung his head, "Fluttershy's Imprint told me shortly before we were sent out." He hunched his shoulders at the outtake of breath from his siblings, eyes resolutely on the ground before him. "She told me not to tell you, that it would only confuse you and make the mission harder. I…" his voice caught, "it was foolish – but I thought I could at least spare you the–"
"The pain of finding out our entire existence is a lie? A gambit to unnerve an unwitting target – and one we failed at, to boot?" The gorge rose in the back of Emerald's throat, a feeling she associated with a message about to be delivered – except this time the only message was that her previous meal wanted to come back out the way it had entered.
"So what would have been a good time, Emerald?" Sapphire asked taking a step.
"How about right after that you found out?" Emerald raised her wings, the tips of her teeth showing.
"You mean after I was ordered not to tell you?" The blue dragonoid rubbed his chin, looking off.
"Considering you later decided to murder our creator, I don't see why that would have stopped you!"
Ruby's head swung back and forth, loyalties straining between his siblings. "Please, don't fight."
Both his blue and green siblings glared, "We're not fighting!" both blurted.
"Excuse me," Megan spoke up, eyes fixed on the horizon. "I'm really not one to interrupt a good family scuffle, but…" The others started turning their heads in sympathy, "Um, is that gigantic rhino-piranha-plant thing supposed to be eating all the other monsters?" She pointed.
Emerald, Ruby, and Sapphire all looked at each other – there didn't seem to be anyone else left to keep the other chimeras in order during the confusion. Recriminations and mourning would have to wait. Turning, Sapphire looked at Rarity, she shook her head and pointed, 'go', she mouthed.
"How rude of that pirhanocerros to interrupt Rarity's not-family non-reunion." Surprise wiped her brow of imaginary sweat.
"Surprise!" Megan scolded the pegasus, pausing as she realized the laughter she heard was coming from...
Rarity was doubled over, laughing so hard tear were squeezed from her eyes. That was certainly the case, no other possible explanation, certainly. "Ahahahaha… hahh, oh dear, heh, I must be in trouble if Surprise's jokes are becoming amusing." She sniffed once and summoned a cloth to wipe her face… eyes turning back to the unconscious member of their band.
"We need–" The unicorn began, stopped before she started.
"We," Surprise pointed her forehoof between the human and herself, "Need to look after Firey, sure. Youuu," the blonde pony once again demonstrated her lack of respect for personal space, resting her forehead against Rarity's. "Need." She reached into her bags, "To," tossing out several items, including a pineapple, rubber chicken, and a boomerang,"READ." She pushed something into Rarity's muzzle, "THIS." Something very … pink.
Rarity caught the heavy object in her magic, and started. It felt … not heavy,per se… but at the same time it had weight. "W–" but she knew what it was, the Pink Book. She eyed the prancing pegasus pony's perambulations. "Can I trust you to look after Firefly?"
Surprise grinned, vigorously shaking her head back and forth, "Nope, but Megan will, as though her life depended on it."
The human rubbed the back of her neck, "She's … heh, I suppose Surprise has got me there."
Casting one last worried glance at Firefly, who had at least quieted, she turned her attention to the tome. It was certainly ... pink. Frowning, she pulled the cover open and began to read...
A blue pegasus mare gazed out over a city of clouds. Pristine and sparkling white, several dropping streams of concentrated liquid rainbow. Some of the furthest buildings looked transparent. "You know, I used to have friends like that. Hay, Rarity used to be my friend."
Firefly scoffed, "You mean Rainbow Dash was one of Rarity's friends, don't you?"
The copy hung its head, "Hey, c'mon, I'm the one dying, can't you at least let me keep a few illusions?" Thunder sounded in the distance.
The pink pegasus snarled, "You wanted to destroy me, to take over my very being, I don't owe you a thing."
The copy's rainbow-hued mane shook as she laughed, "Yeah, and you were just as willing to destroy me back… you just had better backup."
Firefly nodded, watching the ancient city crumble to clouds and then vapor. "So what happens now?"
The dashiform eyed the young mare, "No idea, I thought this was your show."
Shaking her head, Firefly considered the matter. "I think… the seed was supposed to remove all foreign elements. So the enchantment that was imprinting you on my mind was broken. So… I guess my mind is repairing itself?"
"Good," The copy nodded sharply. When the pink pony eyed her skeptically she shrugged, "I lost, that doesn't mean I have'ta be a spoilsport about it." Her voice held a vibrato that questioned her bravado.
"Can... Then can I ask you a question, before… ?" Firefly felt simultaneously guilty and resentful, 'This is ridiculous! I didn't even take the seed on purpose; and, need I remind myself, she was willing to erase me?' It didn't help.
"Sure kid, shoot." The Rainbow imprint made the same gesture as the trigger function on an RI Spectrum Blaster.
The pink pony searched for the right words, "Do you really have all of Rainbow Dash's memories? Are you a complete imprint?"
The blue pony shrugged, "Far as I know. I remember all the radical things she did, have all of the memories I can remember. Anything I'm missing is an unknown unknown."
Firefly had to be sure, "Even, even the … not good stuff?"
Frowning, the copy answered, "Yeah, I remember a bunch of stuff I wouldn't be proud of, if I weren't only a copy, as you keep reminding me."
'So close… c'mon...' "Ssso, you remember the uh…" Firefly wracked her brains, "Um, 'Young Fliers' Contest' ?"
The mental mare grinned, "Do I? Hay, that wasn't a bad memory, that's a darn good one." She frowned again, " All those... moments... will be lost in time, like tears... in…"
The pink pegasus grit her teeth, head lowered, "They… they don't have to be."
The Imprint looked at the young mare, "I … look, thanks for trying to cheer me up, but it's over. Even if you were insane enough to want to give me your spot, you couldn–"
"Heh. See, that was Rainbow Dash's problem. No ability to think laterally. Everything has to be straightforward or she couldn't even conceive of it." Firefly looked up, grinning. "My mind is reknitting itself right now. Rejecting what's foreign and restoring ME."
The rainbow-maned pony nodded slowly, mostly lost.
"I'm sure I could spare a chunk of my mind to keep you around, as a passive voice in my head. It would be survival of a sort." The pink mare's confidence began to solidify, her idea made sense, "IF I can trust you."
Water brimmed at the edge of the imprint's eyes, "Wwhy would you do that?"
"Two–" Firefly shook her head, "Three reasons. First, I think we both got a raw deal from Rainbow's Impression… you didn't ask for this any more than I did. This is all my head now, so I know what you thought and felt before… calm down, I'm letting you have your privacy right now, but the fact is, I know you didn't exactly feel great about it when you were winning."
The imprint avoided eye contact while nodding.
"On top of that, killing you would only be a question of survival. That occupied so many of my thoughts these last few years, became all I could worry about… I don't want to just survive." She stomped on the cloud, which was now the only 'ground' visible. In the distance the sun set, stars already visible on the far side of the horizon. Firefly frowned, "I-I'm not saying I won't ever take a life… but if I do.. it's going to be my choice."
The visage of Rainbow Dash shivered, "A-and the third thing?"
The pink mare grinned, head canted forward until her blue bangs covered her eyes, "You have knowledge that can help me achieve something … radical." As the imaginary moon rose, the dreamscape vanished.
...and thus was the land blighted, not even a blade of grass would rise from that fallow earth for a span of a hundred generations.
It is unwise to spend long in such places, though it should be noted that yeast cultures seem to react positively to the residual energy. See Rolls, Cinnamon (pg 413)–
"Hey Rarity, double-good news!" Surprise wiped the side of her barrel; she grinned, fit to split her head in half.
The unicorn raised an ear, not looking up from the tome which stubbornly refused to make any simple sort of sense, "Yes, darling?". Her nostrils wrinkled, something acrid at the edge of her awareness.
"Well, first of all, Firefly's awake again..." The blonde pegasus jumped in place, wings fluttering.
Rarity and Megan both looked up, standing to get a better view–
"Aaand I think she's done throwing up as well!" Surprise chirped, pulling a towel out of her saddlebags.
The white mare blanched, "How, er, wonderful…"
The pink pegasus groaned, bleary eyes focusing on her gathered friends. "Ugh, hi."
"Firefly?" Rarity asked, not quite willing to accept good news at face value. Not in the ULE.
"Yeah, the one and … only." Firefly smiled, weakly but fully. Tears brimmed in her eyes, "It's finally over, the whole nightmare." She reached to wipe her eyes, Megan intercepted the hoof and applied a kerchief. The pink pony glanced at her leg, more interested in the pinkish color of her fur than the accumulated effluvia.
The moment Firefly seemed to be considering it, Surprise pushed the other two into a group hug. Rarity was surprised to discover that under the circumstances she was so relieved that everything seemed okay for the moment that she was almost okay with the yuck. Almost. 'Well, for a few minutes, anyway.'
The moment passed in silence, save a sniffle or two. Finally Rarity had to speak, "Firefly, we are all so very happy for you. But… perhaps we could celebrate by getting clean?"
Firefly relaxed out of the hug, taking a chance to examine herself, and immediately wrinkled her muzzle. "Ugh, yeah. That sounds like a really good idea."
"There's a stream over that way," Surprise pointed, hovering a few feet in the air, her coat as sparkling clean as usual.
Rarity frowned, "Ah, thank you, Darling. But tell me, just a moment ago, weren't you–"
"Oh yes," the blonde flier nodded solemnly, "I've been around for a whooole lot of moments. Whole minutes even, and bunches of those too."
The unicorn eyed her frizzy friend, nodding, as she turned to accompany her other two friends in the odd era as they went to wash.
Surprise's left ear twitched to the sound of three pairs of leathery wings cutting through the breeze. She rolled over on her back, waving hooves errantly in the sunlight.
The basso rumble of a deep laugh followed, vague sounds of conversation coming clearer. Surprise's other ear joined in, her aural orientation fixing the location of the three noisemakers.
"...then the acid spitter tried to eat your head, that was awesome."
"Uh, yeah, I remember that, I was there after all."
"I know, the look on your face before I slammed the little twerp into the ground was priceless."
"Ha hah, prizeless."
"Ruby, that's not what…" Sapphire sighed, landing with a clomp. "Ok, I guess it was pretty funny."
The ground shook as the red draconid landed; the green sibling circling for a smoother, more controlled landing still chuckling.
Sapphire was startled when the blonde pegasus pushed herself into the air with her wings and rolled to a standing position in midair. "You're back!" She cried, grinning at the three hybrids.
The blue draconid scratched his neck scales, "Um, are you one of Rarity's friends? Can y–"
"Why she's only my bestest and most long-lastingest living friend in the whole wide United Lands of Equestria." A wide grin seemed to follow the trio wherever they moved.
Sapphire looked for support from his siblings, but they seemed content to let him deal with the madmare. "I don't…" He shook his head, "May we please talk to Rarity?"
"Sure!" Surprise nodded, frizzy hair exaggerating the motion. She stopped, frowning, "Thought ya might want to wait 'til she gets back." Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, "A lot of ponies think it's weird if you talk to someone who isn't there."
The red pony-dragon rubbed his horn ridges, "Uh, where is she, if she's not here?"
"Washing up," The pegasus arched her back, stretching vigorously enough to audibly pop several joints. "She'll be back pretty soon, in the meantime you don't need to worry your scaly head, Auntie Surprise'll take care of you."
"Who?" Emerald asked flatly, dreading the answer.
"Why, me, you silly filly!" The mare hugged the green-scaled hybrid, lifting her off the ground and causing the dragoness to squeal in a rather undignified manner. Moments later she was released, and wasted no time turning around, snarling bloody murder… only to find nopony there. "Over here, dear." Came a call from all the way over where Surprise had been seen when they first landed.
'How the… oh,' Emerald's eyes narrowed, 'I've got your number now, just try that agai–'
"Hey look, here they come!" The blonde mare chirped, hopping toward her friends as they returned, damp but clean. "Rarity, the children that it would have been genetically impossible for you and … uh, Spike to have had are here again!"
Rarity had just about decoded the comment when she caught sight of the trio. Apprehension and optimism formed a brittle balance in her heart. "W-well, fancy meeting you again, so soon."
The green hybrid turned her glare to the unicorn, "Save it. How soon are you leaving?" She saw
"I was hoping to–" Rarity found herself interrupted, again.
"We kind-of need to get back to … uh…" Megan scratched her forehead, "Just what is the name of the continent we came here from? The only thing I can think of is 'Equestria'."
Firefly nodded, "That's right."
"Hold on, the continent is called 'Equestria'? I thought that was the name of the Country."
"It's that, too." The pink pegasus frowned, was she explaining this badly?
"... ok, what do you call the planet?" The human frowned at the blank stares she was receiving from all around. "Um, the 'world'?"
"Oh, oh, oh!" Surprise chirped, "I know this one, it's …" she leaned in close, "Equestria!"
I was the last straw. "You can't DO that!" Megan didn't realize she had stomped her foot until she felt it jar against the ground. "It makes no sense to use the same name for everything."
Firefly frowned, "But there aren't any cities called Equestria. And besides, we know what we mean when we say it."
"Well that's smurfing smurfy, but how do you smurfing smurf to smurf a smurf to a smurf-smurfed non-Equestrian?" The human rubbed her temples.
Ruby frowned, "What's a smurf?" It sounded tasty.
Emerald rolled her eyes, "It doesn't matter. If the alien is done criticizing Equestrian culture, we're trying to help– er, to get rid of you lot."
She tried to let the statement go without commenting on it, but… "Why are you willing to help us, to help me?" Rarity just couldn't let it pass.
Sapphire grinned as Emerald tried to avoid eye contact with the perplexed purple-maned pony, "I… guess I don't completely hate your guts." Mumbled the dragon-mare.
Rarity didn't say anything, but she couldn't help smiling. 'Maybe… maybe if there is an after I can come back here and truly get to know these lost children.' The thought tempered her smile, but didn't kill it.
Firefly spoke up, "Um, for my part I'm willing to accept help." She flexed her wings… her natural, completely non-cybernetic wings. She shied away from examining the idea too deeply. Eventually it would be necessary to exercise them, but starting with a trans-continental flight didn't sound like a good first step.
"If you're headed back to Equestria," Sapphire pointedly ignored the biped's grumbling in the background. "We can arrange a ride for you."
Surprise's eyes lit up, her mouth curling into another enormous smile, and she bounced up and down, giggling while hugging herself.
Ruby smiled, "Can I do it?"
Sapphire opened his mouth, closed it again, and then nodded. "Sure, Ruby, go ahead."
The pegasus's smile continued to widen.
The red dragon/pony drew in a deep breath, and continued inhaling for several seconds. He held the breath for a moment, straightening out his back, and partially unfurling his wings. For a moment it looked like he was simply standing with his mouth agape, but then the ponies and human began to feel their ribcages resonating, and a deep rumbling noise became audible as Ruby's call swept up the scale. The sound dipped back into subsonics to more times, rising and falling like the waves of an invisible sea.
The red hybrid's chest swelled as he inhaled, wings beating once, twice, just enough to lift his front paws off the ground. As he returned to a standing Ruby hunched his shoulders and brought his head down. Eyes closed the drake began to exhale, mouth wide open. Nothing could be heard at first, but everyone could feel a deep vibration in their ribcages. Finally they heard a low droning that rose in pitch to a roar which echoed through the forest. Rarity imagined she could even hear the sound echoed back from the clouds above.
Surprise flew in a tight circle over the unicorn's head, laughing aloud, "That's not an echo, silly filly. There's whale of a difference."
'Does she mean skywhales?' Rarity wondered, disturbed to be gaining insight into the mad mare's musings.
"Correctamundo mi amiga." The white pegasus pony preened.
"Stop doing that." the unique unicorn ululated.
"What, speaking in a foreign lang–"
"No, stop reading my mind." Rarity huffed. "It's … rude."
The green drake looked over, "Wait, what?"
Further discussion was tabled by the arrival of immense flying cetaceans. Megan reached up to shade her eyes and realized it wasn't necessary, the flock – 'pod? Eh, who knows.' – blocked out the sunlight, turning noon to dusk. She whistled, lips curling in a grin as she changed pitch. 'Re, Mi, Do, do, S...'
"Please do not do that." Sapphire interrupted the human's recital. "If you get them started, the best you can hope for is to be stuck here for several hours."
The human hunched her shoulders, her grin becoming a wince. When her gaze fell on Firefly, Megan's expression became more thoughtful. "Hey, Firefly. Um, are you going to be ok… ah, flying up to those thi–" She caught sight of the drakes and Surprise frowning, "...the sky… whales?"
The pink pegasus stretched her wings, flapping them several times before donning a cocky grin. "I haven't felt this good in years." She wobbled slightly getting airborne. "Buuut, I probably shouldn't try to carry anyone until I've gotten a little remedial practice in."
"Not a problem." Megan replied, calling on her computer to lift her off the ground.
The finality of their departure caught in Rarity's throat as she tried to find something to say to Sapphire, Emerald, and Ruby, 'Those are even names I would have considered...' The unicorn lifted her chin, determined to say something. "Thank you… I wish…" it was difficult to find words to describe–
Surprise laid a hoof on the unicorn's horn and hissed in her ear, "Don't. Wishing is a terrible habit. And-hay, ee've-way ot-gay oo-tay am-scray."
Sapphire frowned, "What?"
"They need to scram, Sapphy." Ruby replied, nodding sagaciously as he waved at the receding white ponies.
The three siblings watched the skywhales vanish into the distance.
Emerald eyed her brothers, "So what happened to F– ... to the Director's remains?"
Sapphire shrugged, "They collapsed into dust. There's nothing to get sentimental about."
The green pony-dragon smacked him upside the head, "I meant where is it. Ruby and I never got to see." After a moment's consideration she smacked him again, "And where do you get off calling me sentimental, you goof?"
Sighing, Sapphire surrendered to the inevitable, leading his siblings to the depression near the river where Fluttershy's imprint had passed away. A brittle and withered sapling lay surrounded by a thick layer of yellowed loam. If one squinted very hard it was almost possible to see the branches of the tree as the skeleton of a pony–
"What's she hidin?" Ruby asked, frowning. He glanced at his siblings, who didn't seem to know what he meant. Frowning, the larger hybrid carefully reached into the dusty duffy detritus. "Looks like she was protecting… um," he focused on his claw-tips, feeling around, before suddenly withdrawing his paw and backing away, surprise writ large on his muzzle.
"Ruby, what are you…" Emerald's curiosity got the better of her and she reached in where her brother had been rooting around in… roots. There was a hard object, mostly oval-shaped and about as long as her foreleg. She pulled it out of the pile and gasped.
It had the wooden consistency of a seed, but its shape suggested a foal curled upon itself, with just the hint of a wing nub visible.
The travelers spent much of the trip lost in their own worlds. Rarity continue to read the Pink Book with an intensity her purple friend would have approved of, determined to tease out some manner of sense from Pinkie Pie's random rambling writings. Meanwhile, Firefly had convinced Megan to summon up a stack of blank paper and a pencil, and had begun her own scribblings.
The human, for her part, had despaired of finding any source of distraction… until Surprise had offered to point out some of the constellations of the Equestrian sky.
"Those three over there used to be the center of Porko the Boar, umm… I thiiink that one there, no, the blue-ish one, to the left. Yeah, that used to be the start of Carrotus Majoris. And is there still… oh, nope, none of the stars are left'a the little carrot, sorry." The pegasus became increasingly quiet as she scanned the sky for more stars.
Megan bit her lip, "Um, hey, that's … uh, it's ok. Why don't we … er … do … something else?"
Surprise nodded, "Y-yeah. Tell you what, you start and I'll catch up, kay?" and turned back to the sky.
Rarity turned back to the Pink Book, feeling vaguely voyeuristic for having watched.
...by tightly wrapping mana flows of opposing spin around a subject, their connection to gravity can be lessened.
Side effects can include nausea and acrophobia. Ginger may help alleviate the prior.
Unfortunately you're not going to have much time to practice this one before you need it, so just give it a shot. Remember, the trick is to throw yourself at the ground and miss.
Rarity frowned, closing the book. 'Really, these pranks are getting to be too much. Why would I–'
"There are fewer stars..." Surprise commented, sounding agitated.
Rarity regarded the sky, a deep velvet cast with far fewer of the beautiful sparkling lights she remembered from her own time. "Yes, they are terribly depleted, aren't they?" she sighed.
"N-well yes, but NO, that's not what I was… WATCH OUT!" The white pegasus shouted as bright light filled the sky and a crackling roar could be heard.
Alerted, everyone looked up as four blazing orbs shot out of the sky, the arc of their descent intercepting the skywhales' flight path.
The first star fell twenty yards to their left, its own passage making remarkably little noise, but the ear shattering scream of the whale, combined with the scent of burning flesh and the concussive 'pop' as its ballast burst distracted from that.
By the time the group had stumbled to their feet, two more stars had fallen, one missing the whales entirely, though it badly startled a cow and calf. The other struck directly amidships on one of the largest of the beasts, and the burning orb seemed to explode outward, shattered fragments of the creature shooting in every direction.
What Rarity would remember most about the moment was the peculiar squeaking quality of its death scream as the cry was cut off by the destruction of its lungs. That really seemed to be the moment the unicorn realized this was truly happening, and that she and her friends were in grave dang–
"INCOMING!" Megan cried, diving to knock both Rarity and Firefly off the back of the whale they had been standing on, stupefied. The ground, which had looked so far away a moment before, came rushing up to greet them with alarming speed.
It took Rarity several moments to realize the screaming she heard was her own.
