When backed to a corner, fire becomes the final resort. But what survives the flames?
A long, long time ago, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters that ruled in harmony. But in time, the younger became resentful... Only one of the sisters emerged from ensuing conflict, but what became of the land they had once ruled?
While it is true that Celestia seized the Elements with intent to defeat her sister early on in the War of the Eclipse, it is also true that she failed to carry through with the act. In the Princess’ clash at the royal gardens, Celestia was able to subdue Nightmare Moon, (then Luna,) but did not take any further action.
As a result, Luna, now under full influence of the Nightmare, retreated in safety. But rather than departing from Equestria, she merely changed her field of battle. By infiltrating dreams, she influenced, brainwashed, and by this seized control of a great percentage of the populace before Celestia or her council could take definitive measures.
The result was what is known as the Siege of Everfree – although the Palace in the Everfree Valley was only a small part of the loyalists seeking to hold out against Nightmare Moon’s tyranny. Nightmare, seeking to press her advantage, struck directly at Celestia there. Out of time and options, Celestia, bolstered by the Elements, tried yet again to vanquish the Nightmare that held power over her sister. She was defeated, and nearly killed in the process.
After the fall of the Everfree Palace, Nightmare Moon consolidated her power, believing Celestia's threat destroyed with the Elements. However, Celestia was not dead – coming to the realization that Nightmare Moon and her former sister could no longer be separated, she sought forbidden magics once sealed away with the tyrant, Sombra.
Returning with the power of the ancient Empire’s greatest crystals, the Eclipse culminated in the Sun's Weeping. The day of the Sun's Weeping is a day held in infamy. Great fiery tears rained from the sky, and the very stones ran like butter in the final clash between sisters. And in the aftermath, the few survivors looked across this land of apocalypse and witnessed the victorious Celestia, standing alone in this calamity she had wrought, giving her a new moniker: Ash.
Her once brilliantly-white coat turned grey with the dust of a dead Equestria – her eyes wept dark and foreboding magics. As she gazed upon survivors, she saw not the love she had once felt from her little ponies, nor the hope she shared with them during the war, but fear, pure and unbridled. Heartbroken by the loss of both her sister and her subjects, she hid herself in the caves of the high mountains, and remains there to this day…
It was hot. The sun beat down on the dusty landscape as it lazily arced across the sky – far too slowly. Looking Glass was panting, mouth dry and tongue tasting of cotton. Pulling a canteen from his side, he shook it from side to side – nothing. Sitting dejectedly on a protruding rock, he offered a quick prayer to Luna’s moon, permanently affixed just above the horizon.
“I don’t suppose…” He panted, “…there’s a lake around here somewheres?”
Shoes just glanced at him and shook her head. Putting a hoof to her horn, the unicorn shielded her eyes, glancing at the sun above – just beyond halfway across the sky; it was the warmest part of the day.
“Come,” she beckoned the panting stallion, “we need to find shelter from the heat.”
As the day dragged on and on, they sheltered in a dry creek bed. Looking Glass was sprawled out in the shade – tongue lolling and limbs in all directions. Shoes sat gingerly against the cool embankment and undid her cloth robes. Taking a dainty sip from her own canteen, she considered the stallion. It was true she chose to escort ponies across the great desert – but this stallion came from too far north. He knew nothing of survival here. She wryly smiled as she suspected he wouldn’t even be able to survive even in the mountains he called home.
“Here,” she offered her canteen.
He reached for it eagerly, and she drew it back.
“Just. A sip.” She said evenly. At his nod, she extended it again, floating it gingerly in her magical telekinesis. “You need to use water sparingly out here – you can’t afford to run out when you need it the most.” He nodded, hesitantly hoofing the canteen back to her. “Now get some sleep – we have to move again before the winds come,” she said with finality.
As the two resumed their travel, the sun was finally creeping close to the wavering horizon. Dust eddied about their hooves as a stiff breeze began to cool the cracked earth. While Shoes deftly navigated across the desert, Looking Glass weaved a bit, looking faint. Sweat matted his far thicker winter coat of hair.
Glancing at the miserable stallion, she requested, “Tell me about the mountains. The Crystal mountains.” It was something she had heard from many hapless would-be adventurers before him, but if it kept him focused, then so be it.
He glanced curiously at her, than replied: “Alive.”
“It’s… Hard to explain completely, but it’s just so very vibrant. Green sprouts everywhere, and even at the very tops, nestled in amongst the rocks, something finds a way to survive.” A pause. “…somehow, it makes them feel…more natural than these.”
After a long pause, Shoes turned to see him standing still, gazing at the sharp mountains to their east. “Do you…” He considered, “Do you suppose the Queen of Ash is still up there?”
“You should take care not to use that title,” Shoes warned. He looked at her, confused. “This… Is Celestia’s land. No other’s.”
She began to trot away – quicker than before. Glass spared the mountains one final before following.
By the time they reached the town of Ponyville, the wind had increased to a howling storm. Wind ripped at Shoe’s loose robes, dust and sand sticking to Glass’ matted coat. Buffeted, they slowly made their way past embankments of sand packed up against ancient homes of dried timber and cracked plaster.
Slipping over a raised earthen lip, they descended into the massive ant-lion pit that was the Ponyville well. Though the wind coiled violently in the deep pit, the rim mercifully shielded them from the most of the dust. Deeply breathing the wonderfully moist air, Shoes approached the wrinkled pony tending the well.
“Evening to you. We have need to fill our canteens,” she greeted. The elder stallion muttered in kind, taking an offered hooffull of brass coins. Slowly, he pulled at the aged and frayed rope, raising a bucket of murky water. With a glow of her horn, Shoes freed most of the dirt from the water before filling their canteens – scowling as the elder pony drew a hoof across his chest in a large, inverted T.
She spoke evenly: “We need lodging – all night.” A nod. “…And, I don’t suppose you can help me find someone?” Questioningly, “Is Mirror still in town?”
As Glass slept, Shoes slipped into the cool night. She shivered in the rapidly-cooling air, than silently trotted through the moonlit streets. When she knocked on a particular door, it opened, and she shared a brief embrace before slipping into the lantern-lit room beyond.
“It’s been too long,” Shoes smiled.
“Far too long,” Mirror agreed, offering a small box of green reeds. Shoes took one, nibbling at the end of it. “Sit, let’s have a game,” she insisted.
Moments later, the unicorns lay beside a raised block on the floor, opposite eachother, each deftly levitating a series of colorful pewter tiles. “It has been some time since your escorts got you this far,” her fiend commented – a question underlying the statement.
“Most treasure hunters give up,” Shoes admitted as her friend placed a tile down. “But this one’s different,” placing a tile to the side of the first.
“Oh? Do tell,” Mirror asked, studying her tiles.
“An academic,” Shoes continued. “A fool, but dedicated to his curiosity.” Mirror began to reply, but she cut her off: “He wants to go into Everfree.”
Mirror’s eyes widened. “Pissing fool,” she muttered – a tile snapping down, punctuating the insult.
“But he intends to pay well.”
“Much brass?”
“Gold. And he’s good for it, too.”
Shoes’ companion glanced up, surprised at this. Then with concern, “You won’t actually… Go in to Everfree, will you?”
She scoffed with a smile, “Of course not, I’m not that stupid!”
“HOW COULD I BE THAT STUPID?” Shoes screamed as she barreled down an empty street, a massive leonine creature bounding after her. The manticore had lain disturbingly still in the sands surrounding the ancient city of Everfree. By the time Shoe had noticed it, it had been far too late – and it now proceeded to chase them deep into the empty city. “Right!” She cried, following as Glass ducked into the indicated building. She passed him in a dash for the stairs to the roof. “Follow me!”
The door didn’t slow the manticore, and it didn’t even hesitate for the stairs. Snapping at tails, it went so far as to leap off the rooftop after its prey – but then spread its leathered wings to avoid impaling itself on the dead tree just below. The beast circled about, coming down to land in the center of the long-dead park space, but the delay was more than enough. Shoes scrabbled into another building, dragging along Glass, who was bleeding from a number of scrapes inflicted by his dive through the tree. Once inside, she slammed and barred the ancient – but still formidable – oaken door.
“And that,” she panted, leaning against the door. “Is why… I don’t go into Everfree.”
Looking Glass was not listening however, forgetting momentarily about his injuries as he inspected the home’s simple stone construction. Above the bedroom doorway, an inscription was carved. “Asleep and awake, I am my own. Always I am ever free,” Shoes read. Sadly, that title that had once meant safety for the ponies that lived here twisted into a warning – as the manticore outside proved, this land was now wild and free of pony meddling – and far more dangerous than the rest of the desert. The home of the ever free had become ever free itself.
“Funny twist of fate I suppose,” Glass chuckled weakly.
“I suppose,” Shoes replied on her way in to the next room. She didn’t feel like letting her fate rest with the free manticore outside. “There should be a back door…” There was a thump somewhere behind her. “…Looking Glass?”
Looking Glass was lying on the floor, terribly still as a fine cloud of dust settled onto his coat. “Glass!” Shoes slid in next to her charge. His eyes fluttered open as she lifted his head. “’M fine, really.” He rasped, “But…” There was blood dripping down his hind leg. One of the scratches was much deeper than the others – it hadn’t come from the tree. “…I’m afraid his stinger may have got me.” “No, no, this is not good,” Shoes cursed.
“I… Didn’t think it was that bad. It didn’t hurt too much.” Looking Glass winced sheepishly. “Of course, I don’t feel much of anything now.”
“By the Alicorns’ bathhouse!” Shoes hastily calculated in her head – the wound was significant, but it could have been much worse. Paralysis had already come into play. If Glass was numb now… How long had it been since the sting? How long before he went into cardiac arrest? If he were hardy, he might pull through, but… She looked down at the scrawny academic. Not likely, she thought. His only chance was a long one, at best.
“Wait here.”
Glass murmured something in return; eyes closed, and head lolling back to the floor.
The manticore had been waiting. Shoes had barely cleared the back door before it came crashing down behind her, and it hadn’t given the dashing mare an inch as she wove through every alley the city could offer. She skittered around a corner, and the beast crashed through the gap, roaring. It was not giving up, and Shoes couldn’t last much longer.
Up ahead… The building to the left was damaged. If she could maybe apply some telekinesis to the wall, then maybe…
The manticore pounced, breaking her concentration, and sending her careening through the air. She bounced, rolled, and slid to a stop in the open. Aware of the manticore hungrily approaching, she scrambled to her hooves, looking about. The impact had thrown her into the center of one of Everfree’s main thoroughfares. A dusty cobble street some six carts broad. There was no cover within reach, nothing to dash around, and the manticore knew it.
Panicking, Shoes levitated a rock to throw at the beast. It just huffed at her act of defiance in disdain, and continued to steadily draw up to the cornered pony. Shoes swallowed, and closed her eyes.
It took a moment to untangle the screams from the howls of pain. The screams were Shoes’, but the howls were of the manticore in pain, not herself. In fact, she didn’t feel the stabbing teeth or rending claws at all.
With the scream dying down to a whimper, she cautiously opened her eyes and saw the tail of a whining manticore bound down a street and away. It was only when she heard the click-click of hooves on stone that she recognized that there was something very bright - and considerably warm – behind her.
Looking up, she squinted through the rays of light at a figure. Matted grey, with white streaks running down from the eyes, it… No, she stood twice as tall as a pony. With long, elegant wings and a horn rising up from her billowing, burning mane, this was an alicorn. The likes of which had not been seen for some centuries.
The light dimmed slightly as the figure spoke. “The land of Everfree is not fit for any pony these days.”
Stunned, Shoes chose to remain in silence. After a pause, the alicorn inquired, “Why are you in the city, little pony?”
Slowly, hesitantly, “…There was a manticore.”
“Yes, I saw that.”
Shoes cursed her stupidity. Of course the alicorn knew of the manticore. It was she who had scared off the beast, but that didn’t explain why Shoes was playing tag with it in the first place. Wait, she halted mid-thought. The manticore… “GLASS!”
The alicorn was taken aback at the sudden outburst, as Shoes’ mind and body had sprung back into motion. The manticore may have gone, but she was still in the Everfree. The chase had taken time. How much time? Was there still a chance to drag Looking Glass out of this dusty ruin, and to safety?
“Cease your pacing.” The strong, calm voice of the alicorn arrested her. “You will take us to this other.”
Frantically, Shoes trotted into the park, looking for any landmark to show she was in the right place. Her eyes alighted on the dead tree. The arched door. “There!”
She dashed up to the solid wooden door – it was still barred, from the inside. “No…” she moaned. But before she could move to go around to the back of the house, the door was wrapped in magic, and it - along with part of the frame – was swept aside.
Looking inside, Shoes saw Looking Glass lying where he had been unceremoniously left, and her face, briefly lit with hope, descended into resignation. It had been too long, she was certain of it now. Not even breath was disturbing the fine dust atop him. Even if the manticore was gone, even if she could carry his body out of the city, it was too late to save him.
She became aware of the alicorn’s presence once again right behind her. Bowing her head, Shoes let the majestic figure enter the small abode. Gracefully, it stalked about the silent academic, inspecting him. Then, wrapping him in a veil of magic, the alicorn lifted him off the floor. The light of the magic blanketed Shoes with a comforting, warm glow. Awestruck, she watched the stallion’s wounds seal themselves before he was ever so gently laid, curled up, onto the floor.
Immediately, the alicorn made to leave. Shoes thought to question her, but was stopped as Looking Glass groaned. Miraculously, life was returning to his no-longer-still form, twitching and groaning. Shoes made a start towards him, but stopped short. Whirling about, Shoes looked for the alicorn, already making her way across the empty park. “Wait!”
When the alicorn paused, Shoes realized she at once had nothing to say, and too much to say. She had many questions for the powerful being, but they seemed trite compared to the miracle she had just witnessed. After a long pause, she managed to simply call out: “Thank you… Celestia.”
“…Thank you… Little pony,” came the quiet reply. And then she was gone. With a great groan, Looking Glass’ eyes creaked open. “What happened?” Affixing his gaze on Shoes, still silhouetted in the broken doorway, he wondered, “Did you find help?”
“…Yes. Help.”
Glass looked quizzically at the mare as she paused a bit longer, still in wonder. Then she turned to face him, her composure reset. “Get up. I don’t want to wait for the winds to trap us here tonight.”