Hellfire
Hellfire: Choose Me Or Your Pyre
Starlight Glimmer couldn't believe what she was seeing. It had to be an illusion. Not even a Princess's friendship, or lack thereof, could cause something like this. It had to be magic. Twilight was urging her to stop, because something like this would happen, or worse. That had to be a lie, it just had to. Starlight snarled in rage.
“You filthy, pathetic excuse for a Princess! This is all an illusion. I don't know what you did to the real future, the one I hoped to create, but this can't be the future without your friends. You. Are. Not. THAT. IMPORTANT!” The unicorn lunged for Twilight, forgetting completely about the scroll and her own magic.
Spike made a grab for the scroll, but it slipped out of his hands. Twilight teleported behind Starlight with a bright spark of magic. Starlight whirled, teeth bared in rage.
“Starlight! Stop! This isn't an illusion. You are many things, but stupid isn't one of them. Can't you feel it? Can't you tell this isn't an illusion?” Twilight begged.
The unicorn, gasping, heaving, trying to suck in as much air as possible, lit her horn. She cast an illusion-revealing spell. Nothing. That still meant exactly that to her. Nothing. Who knew all of the powers an alicorn princess had? This could simply be a future Twilight made up to get her to change her mind.
Starlight shook her head and wiped a hoof across her forehead. The heat here was unbearable. Whatever this future was, the cool weather and short days of winter did not exist.
“What is this, you idiot? Do you WANT to be stuck here? Just let me create the future I want, and all this will be over. You won't have to waste your magic trying to convince me that you're right, that the 'fate of all Equestria' is in your hooves.” She sneered.
“Starlight, please! I swear to Celestia I did NOT do this!” Tears stung at the edges of Twilight's eyes. She pulled Spike close with a wing. The little dragon was panting heavily and sweating even more than the mares were.
“Come on, I don't care where we go now, I just want to leave this future. It's so hot here! I would kill for Luna's moon right now!” Spike gasped, fanning himself with the little spade at the end of his tail.
“Well too bad! Both of you. If you want to go anywhere else, it will be by my power alone!” Starlight ripped the time-travel scroll apart, without ceremony, and threw it to the cracked, heated ground.
Twilight and Spike screamed and lunged for it. Starlight grinned smugly at them. Now they would have no choice but to give her what she wanted. Only she could recreate that spell. Not even the precious princess could! She watched as Twilight, tears streaking her face, tried to seal the pieces of the scroll together again, to no avail. Laughter welled up in Starlight and burst out, uncontrollably. She almost fell to the ground, she was laughing so hard. She was victorious! Her town would never be defamed by the stupid Elements and the Princess!
Twilight was lying on the ground, sobbing. Spike nuzzled her a bit before saying, “Twilight...we'll fix this, we can do it! We just have to find the other princesses here! If Starlight can do it, I'm pretty sure Celestia or Luna could do it with ease! And what about Cadence? She and Shining Armor...their love can do anything! Especially with the Crystal Heart! Don't cry, Twilight, please?”
The alicorn pulled Spike into her embrace with a large, lavender wing. She coughed a few times, trying to find her voice. “You're right, Spike. You have to be.” She turned to Starlight, who was still standing a few feet away and staring smugly at her.
“You still haven't won. When I tell Princess Celestia everything, she'll fix this, even if she doesn't know me in this timeline. She loves all her ponies and would never want a future like this if there were another choice.”
Twilight stood up determinedly and spread her wings, taking to the air with Spike on her back, in the direction of what she hoped was Everfree Forest. In almost every timeline, the chaos of Everfree had kept it safe from too much change. She probably had the Tree of Harmony, and possibly even Discord's chaotic Plunderseeds, to thank for that. Despite his less-than-noble intentions, the Plunderseeds had made the Everfree forest more powerful. Very little was capable of affecting the Plunderseeds. Discord had known exactly what he was doing. She didn't look back to see if Starlight followed.
The heat was overwhelming. Nothing grew to provide shade from the blistering sunlight that baked the land. No trees, no buildings. Dust rose from the cracked ground, obscuring vision below a certain altitude. Ponyville, the ponies, the animals...all gone. Burned to death in sweltering, unrelenting heat. She noticed something white and almost gleaming beneath her. With horror, she realized it was a pony skeleton. Bleached white, as if it had been lying beneath a midday sun for years.
Twilight felt a soft rustle of wind behind her. Starlight was flying after her, the unicorn's body lit with blue-green magic. Twilight was still in awe of Starlight's magic ability. She was the only pony she'd ever known that could fly without wings, an air balloon, a copter, or the benefit of being Pinkie Pie and defying the laws of gravity.
A tingle of fear gripped the alicorn. What if this was a future where STARLIGHT had become a princess and had forced her ideology on all Equestria? No one to farm the land, no one to bring cooling rains, no one to build shelters...because everypony was reduced to the lowest common denominator of skill. In effect, they were all blank flanks...without the possibility of ever becoming anything more.
Starlight raised an eyebrow when she noticed Twilight staring at her. “What?” she demanded, “Pretty Purple Pony Princess having trouble accepting that my magic is more powerful than hers?” Starlight laughed.
A sigh escaped Twilight's already sun-burned, blistered mouth. “No. I was just thinking...what if this timeline is...the way it is...because YOU became a princess instead of me? An insane princess forcing equality on everyone...it could ruin Equestria.”
The unicorn shook her head and flicked a strand of sweat-soaked mane behind her ear. “Idiot. Even as equals, MY ponies could still build shelters, could still fly and use magic...it simply made them all equally talented at what they did. No one unicorn was more magically powerful than any other. You SAW my perfect village! It wasn't a desert wasteland! Moron.”
Twilight turned, wings flapping tiredly and practically soaking with sweat, “No unicorn...except you. You might really believe that everypony is equal...except yourself. You never once saw yourself as equal to any of those ponies in your town. If you have, you would have stripped your own cutie mark once the town was whatever you consider happy.”
“You stupid princess! Sweet Celestia, I am so tired of insulting you! I never thought I would say that, but dammit! You don't get it. You don't see things the way they should be! I needed my cutie mark to make everyone else equal. I held on to the burden and grief a cutie mark brings because I had to in order to help other ponies. I am not selfish. You never realized that I just wanted to help my town! It wasn't for me, Twilight!” Tears pricked the edges of the unicorn's eyes.
“It was for them, Princess! I didn't want any other pony to go through what I went through. I was saving them heartbreak and years of emotional damage. You were lucky enough to have friends who got their cutie marks at the same time you did. Not everypony is as lucky as you, Twilight Sparkle! Some of us...some...” Starlight trailed off and wiped her eyes, blinking back further tears.
“Forget it. You'll never understand. Never.” She flew through the air, faster than Twilight ever could with wings, and stopped as she crested the large hill ahead of them.
“Everfree. You said this place was...the same, more or less, in each supposed future, yes? Then let's see what this future is. Or, at least what you want me to see.”
Twilight flapped tiredly up the hill, Spike still clinging to her back. The little dragon seemed to be getting heavier by the second.
Blessed shade enveloped them as they flew into Everfree. The cool air in the forest made Twilight feel better than she ever had, and the water in the nearby river flowed down her throat in what she thought was gallons. She didn't care if it were dirty water, it was ice cold, and her entire body ached with burns and the blisters on her muzzle felt as if they were bleeding. Never, not once, had the sun ever felt like actual fire.
Whatever this future was, it was the worse yet. At least ponies were alive in Sombra, Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon, Flim Flam, Discord and perhaps even Tirek's futures. This...this was pure devastation. Even the destroyed land of the Tirek future held hope and potential for life. Ponies would have even been able to live in Tirek's land, as long as they followed his rules. Not here. There appeared to be nothing and no pony.
She noticed Spike drinking as well, but not nearly as greedily as Twilight had. He had been hot, but being a dragon, heat didn't do much beyond just make him hot. Spike was never in danger of burning to death or dying of dehydration. Twilight blinked, a thought coming to her. Dragons. Dragons! That had to be what happened here. This was a future where dragons ruled. Perhaps with Spike, she could at least ask a favor of the most powerful dragon...she sighed sleepily and looked at Starlight.
Starlight Glimmer was bent over the slightly stagnant, yet cool, river. She was gulping down as much water as she could manage. The unicorn's panting and sweating, heaving sides finally came to a stop. Starlight stumbled back from the river and slumped to the soft grass making a happy moaning sound.
Twilight followed her example and sank into the lush grass. Her belly and spread wings were tickled by the cool, dew-covered blades of beautiful green. Twilight couldn't help herself and she closed her eyes, tears pricking the edges. Not tears of sadness or loss, just tears of comfort and joy. The world outside Everfree was so bad it was like stepping into a smoldering volcano.
Spike was already curled up and snoring softly. Starlight watched the princess and dragon, their eyes remaining closed. Starlight called up a blasting spell. Her horn lit blue-green. One spell, and she would have Twilight gone for good. The unicorn bit her lip. What if she killed Twilight and this WASN'T an illusion? What if...it were real? It felt real, but an alicorn's powers were great.
Her horn stopped glowing and Starlight allowed herself a small moment of peace and tucked her legs under her and closed her eyes.
Spike slowly opened his eyes, rubbing sleep from them. Starlight and Twilight were still asleep. The ponies' sides slowly moving up and down contentedly. How long had they been sleeping? Spike looked back to the entrance, or exit, of Everfree that they had come through. That same firey sunlight still lit the burned, dusty land. It was still day. Meaning they hadn't slept long at all. Or this was one of those weird Tirek or Discord futures where the celestial bodies changed randomly.
Spike prodded Twilight gently. “Hey, Twilight. Wake up. You really don't want to be asleep when Starlight wakes up.”
Twilight groaned and coughed. Blood streaked her muzzle where her blistered lips had burst apart. “Sppppiike. Ugh. Please tell me it's night.” The alicorn stood shakily and stretched her wings. She turned to look for herself and felt rage and horror well up inside her.
“No...this can't be. It isn't right.” Twilight started walking backward, only stopping when her back hooves hit the cool river, “It's supposed to be a little before midnight! The moon should be up! This shouldn't be-”
“There is no moon. No longer.” A harsh voice spoke from behind Twilight. She spun around, noticing, but not caring, that Starlight had also woken up. The equality-obsessed unicorn was staring at the new pony in horror.
Twilight's horror was so strong that a scream escaped her. The new pony was a tall, black-and-blue alicorn with a wavy mane that Twilight knew once contained all the stars in the sky. Now it was simply dark blue with no twinkling stars. The rusted armor the alicorn wore marked her as Nightmare Moon. This made no sense. Twilight smashed a hoof against her forehead.
Nightmare Moon had wanted eternal night, not...what?...eternal day. Surprisingly, there was no look of anger or hatred on Nightmare's face, just sadness and what looked like pure loss and eternal grief.
“The moon...the beautiful starlit darkness...gone. Forever. I even embraced Nightmare Moon and threw aside Luna to try and obtain the power to stop this. I couldn't. The Queen was far more powerful than I. The Elements of Harmony are her throne ornaments, for sweet Cadence's sake!” Nightmare Moon shook her head.
“Please...I can tell you are not from here. You used time travel magic. Please, give it to me. So I can stop this. Please.” The tall alicorn begged.
Twilight was stunned. She'd never heard Luna beg, ever, not as Nightmare Moon, not even when she first returned to being Luna and asked Celestia for forgiveness. It was terrifying. What could be so powerful that it had Nightmare Moon begging and pleading?
“Luna...no, Nightmare Moon...I can't...but trust me, I will fix this! Maybe you can tell me just what in Tartarus happened here. Why is the land so...scorched? It looks, and feels, like a thousand dragons did nothing but spit fire at Equestria for years. Did...did the dragons take over Equestria?” Twilight shook her head.
The lavender alicorn blinked as she recalled something Nightmare Moon had said. 'Sweet Cadence'...her sister in law was still alive! She hadn't been killed by Chrysalis in this world! With the powers of Nightmare Moon, Cadence, and herself, surely the scroll could be repaired! If not, when they found Celestia, surely the power of four alicorns would be more than enough to recreate Starswirl's spell, especially if Starlight agreed to help with the modifications she'd made.
“Nightmare Moon! Is Cadence...where is she?” Twilight asked, “Is she okay? What about Shining Armor? Please-” Twilight halted as Nightmare Moon held up a hoof to silence her.
“The Prince and Princess of Love are as well as any who still live. They are no more powerful than I, however. There is little room for love in this land of hellfire.” Nightmare shook her head and looked up, through the dense trees of Everfree, to the blazing sun above, the burning light dulled slightly by thick Everfree clouds.
“Shining Armor almost got himself killed when the Queen murdered his little sister...hmm. Come to think of it, you look a bit like her. Twilight Sparkle...she had potential, and I think that's why the Queen killed her. Her Cutie Mark meant a talent for pure, raw magic. The Queen couldn't have someone like that living in her kingdom.”
Twilight was aghast. In all the futures she'd been taken to, this was the first one where she actually found out what happened to her alternate self. Killed. Killed because of her...cutie mark. Tears stung the alicorn's eyes again. Why did Starlight have to be right? At least about one thing. Twilight glanced sideways at Starlight Glimmer.
This was a future where Starlight would have been hailed a hero for being able to remove cutie marks that this mysterious queen found threatening. Oddly, Starlight was still staring in open-mouthed horror at Nightmare Moon rather than boast that she'd been right, that cutie marks only caused pain.
The unicorn blinked several times. Twilight suspected she was blinking back tears. “I know that Cutie Marks are nothing but trouble, but...to murder someone over one? I can't imagine such a thing! I would never...this isn't what I wanted!” Starlight sank to the cool grass, sobbing.
Despite herself, Twilight nuzzled Starlight and wrapped a wing around the crying unicorn.
“Princess Luna...Nightmare Moon...whatever. We can stop this. With this...” Twilight's horn lit and levitated the two pieces of the scroll to Nightmare Moon, who took them with her own blue glowing horn and read them over.
“Starswirl's spell...who could be this powerful? Not even the Queen can create spells like this! Yes, create. Whoever this scroll belongs to...that pony didn't simply modify Starswirl's spell. They created a brand-new form of time travel magic. This pony should be an alicorn! One even more powerful than Nightmare Moon!” Nightmare Moon said in awe as she continue perusing the torn scroll.
Starlight Glimmer's eyes widened. “I created it...but no, never. I would die before agreeing to become an alicorn. I just...want everypony to be equal. No one should be treated differently because of wings, a horn, or lack of them, or...a cutie mark.”
Nightmare Moon stared at Starlight, openly appraising her and looking her over. “That must be why you aren't. An alicorn, that is. You reject being special with your entire body and soul. Not many ponies would turn down the opportunity to be immortal and in charge of such powerful magics.”
Nightmare Moon still bowed to Starlight, horn touching Starlight's hooves. “You are the Princess of Magic, whether you want it or not. Alicorn or not. Magic chose you. I saw you...flying, without wings! With nothing but magic. Even I can do no such thing!”
The dark alicorn sighed. “I don't even know your names, princesses. Please, if you will. I am former Princess Luna, now simply Nightmare Moon, one of the protectors of Everfree.”
Twilight and Starlight simply gaped at her before finding their manners. “I-I'm Starlight Glimmer. Just a unicorn. No matter what you say, I am not and never will be a princess. And this...this is all my fault. Forgive me.” Starlight pressed herself further into the grass, shaking.
Twilight stared at Starlight Glimmer. She finally believed. She finally knew. This happened because of her. There was no stopping it, because of her. Everything destroyed, because of HER! Starlight must be hating herself right now, Twilight thought.
She turned to Nightmare Moon. Should she tell her that she was the dead Twilight Sparkle from an alternate timeline? No, it would be best to avoid the confusion it may bring. “I-I'm Princess Sunset Shimmer. Princess of Friendship in my...my world.” She hope her friend, the real Sunset Shimmer, would forgive her for using her name.
Starlight glanced at Twilight but said nothing. Twilight hoped neither one of them had called her Twilight in Nightmare Moon's hearing range. If they had, the dark alicorn didn't seem to notice. She touched her long black horn to Twilight's hooves.
“Princess Sunset...I knew another pony named Sunset Shimmer, but she died long ago and looked nothing like you.” Nightmare Moon smiled sadly.
“And you, Princess Starlight. Perhaps, together, we can do something. Fix this...if it can be done again. Such magic is...finicky. I have tried time travel quite often, to no avail. Nothing like what's on the scroll, but enough to stop the world from becoming a graveyard.” Nightmare Moon sighed and rose to her hooves. She turned and started walking into Everfree.
Twilight and Starlight followed. Apparently, Luna was in charge of protecting whatever safe house they had in this version of Equestria's Everfree. The forest was eerily quiet and empty. No Timberwolves, no odd animals, nothing.
The thick trees and black vines from the Plunderseeds were the only things living here, and even then, she noticed Luna...no, Nightmare Moon, she corrected herself...occasionally use magic to revive a dead or weak vine. The vines supplied magic to keep the trees alive, it seemed.
They stopped at a large, dark covered hole in the ground. Nightmare Moon knocked several times, in a pattern Twilight tried to quickly memorize. The dark hole opened with a flare of green magic. The alicorn glanced at Starlight. What was the unicorn thinking? Was she as scared as Twilight right now?
Starlight flipped her mane behind her and followed Nightmare Moon down. Twilight followed.
“Are you sure this is a good idea, Twi? It looks like...I dunno...that magic cocoon stuff the changelings did at Shining Armor's wedding.” Spike said, biting his lip in concern. He had been riding on Twilight's back and had said nothing until now, letting the Princess deal with everything.
“Spike, I don't know. I just know...can it really be any worse than this?” The alicorn shook her head, sighed, and followed Starlight into the dark cavernous-looking hole.
They walked on, fear struck Twilight at first, when she saw the pale green holes in the wall, leading to rooms occupied by sleeping ponies or changelings, and even some griffons. The Queen. Chrysalis. This was a trap. At least, that was her first thought.
As they walked on through what she now assumed was a large hive, she'd noticed some of the ponies working with changelings, and even accidentally glimpsed a mare and a changeling stallion (she guessed it was a stallion) being intimate.
If Chrysalis did rule this world, at least she wasn't a monster and a tyrant. Ponies and changelings got along famously, unless they were being mind-controlled. No, Nightmare Moon wasn't under mind control, and the pony and changeling couple she'd accidentally seen...well, the mare definitely wasn't mind controlled. Unless all the ponies, including Nightmare Moon, were actually changelings, this was real. They were allies here.
Starlight was holding her head high and determinedly not looking anywhere except at Nightmare Moon's swishing tail as she lead them further down into the hive. Spike was the total opposite. Gaping open-mouthed at every single occupied room with changelings, ponies, or griffins going about their lives. Twilight was just staring at the dark green chitinous ground as walked, waiting for Nightmare Moon to guide them to...where ever and what ever awaited them at the end.
Finally the dark alicorn stopped. Starlight, who had been so intent on Luna's flank, almost ran right into her. Twilight halted and stared past Luna. The room was large, with a silky green canopy bed seemingly grown into the wall. Other various items were about the room. A fridge, a couch, chairs, bookshelves, filled with books, and in the very center of the room...the Crystal Heart.
Glittering with it's sparkling blue light, giving off an air of peace and contentment...filling the room with love. She looked around for Cadence, but her sister-in-law was no where to be seen, nor was Shining Armor. It seemed that the changeling queen controlled the Heart now, in this world.
Nightmare Moon walked toward the bed. For the first time, Twilight's eyes finally registered on the creature lying on the bed. Queen Chrysalis was lying on her side, her half-lidded bright green eyes gazing lazily at the Crystal Heart. She had a peaceful, almost loving smile on her face. Her insect-like wings buzzed slightly at Luna's approach and her eyes brightened. The Crystal Heart flared.
Love. Could it be? She couldn't imagine the changeling queen ever truly loving anything or anypony, especially not Luna...Nightmare Moon. One of the princesses who would have normally opposed her. Still, Twilight and Spike watched, stunned, as Luna walked up to the queen and nuzzled her gently. Chrysalis reciprocated and stroked one of Luna's dark wings with a hoof, and gently kissed the dark alicorn's cheek.
It was definitely an act of love, not just lust or feeding. She'd seen changelings feed off love, and Chrysalis wasn't doing so. She was simply enjoying Luna's presence. Starlight looked appalled at their display of affection, an expression of disgust obviously apparent on her face.
“Disgusting! A changeling and a pony in love? This truly must be the most awful timeline!” Starlight spat. “It is repugnant! I care not that you're both mares, but, Princess Lun-Nightmare Moon! She's a changeling! How can you even let her touch you?”
Twilight rounded on the unicorn. “You say everypony is equal. Why not changelings?”
Starlight laughed, “They aren't ponies. They're bugs! They should be exterminated, not equalized!”
The unicorn screeched as green magic slammed her against the wall and enveloped her in a cocoon. Chrysalis was standing, a furious look on her face, striding toward the two time travelers. Nightmare Moon put a hoof on the changeling queen's shoulder and whispered something in her ear. Chrysalis twitched an ear but stopped and released Starlight from the cocoon.
Starlight Glimmer fell to the floor, gagging and coughing, wiping the green ooze off herself. She used magic to cleanse the parts she couldn't reach. The unicorn was silent and said nothing more to or about Luna and Chrysalis, just staring sullenly at them with a look of pure hatred on her face.
“Little one, do not test me again. I have not the patience. The river is beginning to turn stagnant, so my sweet Moon tells me. I doubt even the Lord of Chaos can make it pure again. His vines are the only things keeping my family alive. My precious children, and my precious Moon.” Chrysalis said, and rubbed her head against Luna's.
“Wait...Discord is helping with...whatever this is?” Spike blurted out.
The changeling queen nodded at Spike. “Indeed, little dragon. Dear Discord...I'd thought our friendship ended thousands of years ago, but apparently he still thought enough of me to help keep this sanctuary safe and happy. As happy as we can be, in this world of fire.”
The queen sighed and sat on a nearby couch. Luna joined her, laying her head on the queen's flank and closing her eyes. Chrysalis stroked Luna's mane. The alicorn had already fallen asleep, her sides moving regularly.
“Okay, enough damn stalling! WHAT IS THIS!?” Starlight snarled, finally standing and marching directly to Chrysalis.
“What is what, ignorant little unicorn?” Chrysalis chuckled a little. “This place? It is the only safe haven in all Equestria, if you don't count Discord's little pocket world, that little world of eternal chaos. Everything else...dead. Dead from the power of hellfire.”
Chrysalis went to the Crystal Heart, gently lifting Luna's head off her flank with a green sparkle. She stuck her horn to the Heart. There was a flare of brilliant pale blue magic.
“See. See the Queen of Equestria. The Queen of this wasteland.” An orb appeared where the Crystal Heart had been, a picture appearing within like a photograph.
Starlight and Twilight actually looked at each other before moving in. Twilight gasped and put a hoof to her mouth in horror. Starlight's mouth dropped.
A tall, brilliant alicorn sat on a throne of pure gold, the Elements of Harmony wedged in the gilded metal beneath her hooves. Twilight's own cutie mark, and the Element of Magic, took the place of honor, directly in the middle.
The alicorn mare was pure white, wings tipped with metallic-looking gold, her mane flowing like Luna's but sparkling with what looked like a mixture of gold, red fire, and thousands of stars. She wore a crown of gold, encrusted with sapphires and what looked like two Tirek-like horns extending from the brilliant crown, giving her a beautiful yet truly demonic look.
Two tapestries hung behind her, flanking a stained glass window depicting a firey sunburst. One tapestry depicted an alicorn destroying the moon and stars and standing above a conquered Equestria. The other was even more chilling, depicting the same alicorn standing atop a mountain of pony skulls with a leer of triumph on her face.
She wore red-gold armor and was draped in necklaces of rubies strung on rose-gold. No creature from Tartarus could look so beautiful and so evil at the same time. It wasn't her apparel and mane that terrified Twilight, however. It was her Cutie Mark. A Cutie Mark she'd seen thousands of times in her life. A Cutie Mark she'd seen on the flank of the pony she loved as much as her mother.
A golden sunburst, brilliantly beautiful, against the alabaster coat of the demonic Queen Celestia.