> Tragedy Is A Matter Of Perspective
>  by Im a B O X
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> A Tragedy Only In Your Perspective
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gray-filled clouds filled the air as you look out the open balcony of your office. You held a pipe in one hand as your other lazily glossed over the fine craftsmanship of the railing of the balcony. You can’t help but chuckle, despite this somewhat bleak-ish scenery, you had grown to accept such things, as you knew deep down, there was found simplicity in this vast economic empire you ran.

The silence was the only voice present, persistent in always reminding you of what you have done in this world. Unlike back home where humanity never got over their obsession with conquest and change, here, you set the standard for everything. It’s been a long time since you went back home, but you didn’t want nor care to arrange for such a thing, for all intents and purposes, you were a lesser man there than you were here.

After all, you gave the inhabitants of Equis something they would have never achieved, gave these… sentient creatures, a truthful fact of life and living. The simple prospect of success, and the coldblooded and honest path to it. Your hands weren’t clean from all the work you had to do, plenty of… sacrifices had to be made to give rise to the success you had now. You’ve lost count of all the numbers you had to go through, you were simply content with where you were in life, in a position of success, a position everyone would dream off.

“You do what you’ve got to do…” you mutter to yourself, inhaling a whiff of your pipe as the occasional wildlife flew by. From this height, few animals get to fly for long, well, there used to be a lot more, but you try not to think about it.

Your peaceful moment of solitude was however interrupted by a knock on your door. No one had access to the upper floors except your private guards, and even then, they didn’t have permission to knock nor come close to this room so long as you breathe, you knew the stairway and elevator were separated by at least two rooms filled with your guards. Your mind wandered on who it might be, but then you remember magic wasn’t completely outlawed here, despite your best efforts to do so, and there were only so few unicorns who could even cast a complex spell like teleportation, much fewer who actually knew how to cast it and to be that precise with where it lands them.

“Come in.” you nonetheless reply, interested to see if it’s Celestia or Twilight, as those were the only two ponies you knew who had come into your office, thus, could teleport and sneak past the stationed guards outside. 

The doors opened to reveal the distinct purple coat of the one and only, Twilight Sparkle. You prepare yourself as you began to inset your other hand into your coat, trying to reach for your inner pockets. You weren’t delighted, she wouldn’t come here unless she had a good reason. But, you can’t help but throw a little insult in her face as some recent memories resurface. “And here I thought the next time you’d come to see me you’d have thrown all formalities out the window. What is it this time? Cuz I thought when you said you’d handle your own subject matters, you'd actually stick by that claim.”

Clearly pissed by your remark, you took another whiff of your pipe as you let the moment settle in. “But for real, why are you here?”

Now seeing her calm down a bit, she went directly to the point. “We, and I do mean we, would like to propose some changes in how you run things… in specific, to give us, citizens of Equis, the autonomy we once had, or else…”

You weren’t surprised, they’ve been asking for the same thing over and over again. Each time you denied such things. It wasn’t a delightful thought, but should you let these ponies of Equestria have their autonomy, it would only be a matter of time until someone else took advantage of them, and if one is to be an example, sooner others would follow suit. So it was better to keep them under your leash for the time being. You’ve built an economic empire following the rules and playing by the game. And here there trying to overthrow your rightful place in life? By merely following the path most would not dare venture in this world, you think they're honestly being biased.

“Or else what?” You nonchalantly asked, trying to keep your temper at bay.

“Or else we’ll have to take it back by force.” She hesitantly responded, clearly unsettled and bewildered by what she had just said.

Allowing the moment to drag itself on, the tense silence was clearly defining for Twilight as clear signs of nervousness began to pop up. You were trying to hold your composure, but this is just insulting. They really did dare tell you they’d use force? That wasn’t new, but it was a first, so it was clear there was possibly an ulterior play at hand, cuz they wouldn’t be this forward with you, especially with what you could possibly do to make their lives a living hellscape.

“No.” you simply reply, taking another whiff from your pipe to ease your nerve. “I won’t allow some random creature to lead part of my economic empire. I built everything. I had followed your rules, and despite your vainest attempts, you were simply just ignorant of just how far some of us are willing to go for success. I sacrificed my own time, blood, sweat, and other aspirations for a chance of success, to be something. And even if I was able to maintain such a position after such compromise, it would only be a ticking clock until more follow suit, which isn’t something I am willing to attend towards.”

“And we don’t mean to undermine that fact, but we simply ask that yo-” But you let her finish that line of thought as she clearly didn’t understand what you were trying to say.

“DON’T YOU ‘BUT’ ME!” You bellowed as you began to point accusingly at her with the hand that still held your pipe. “I don’t think you understand what you’re even saying, miss Sparkle. But I'd sooner rather die right here, right now, than let this insult go any further.”

Again, Twilight tried to speak up. “Y-yes and we know you might see this as insulting, but we really do want you to listen to us because we believe you'll find our point to be very convi-”

“I HAVE DONE NOTHING, BUT COMPLY TO THE ACCORDS!” you finally shouted, letting your voice deliver just how enraged you were by this apparent insult. Now fully convinced that Twilight wasn’t simply insulting you, but also bordering complete ignorance of your plight. Even if it was a feint, the silencing of the mare told too much of the unspoken. “I had never wronged, in my time here as a businessman, nor had done anything remotely worthwhile for the conviction, you accuse me of everything in the light of intentional malice, yet I had never done such thing. I choose the path of success, A ONE TIME ENDEAVOR! I alone stood on this path and I alone followed through with it, day in, day out. And then THIS!?”

But before you could continue on your rambling, you suddenly jittered a flinch as a loud *Bang* came out of now where. Instinctually, you started to look around, nearly forgetting that Twilight was still there. But when you found nothing and the moment slowly subsided, you now checked yourself, you felt fine for the most part, but it felt a little bit hot, like the uncomfortable sort somewhere at your right breast pocket.

You took in a deep breath as you took a whiff from your pipe, but, as you slowly exhaled, at the tip of your tongue you felt the distinct taste of… blood. A sudden moment of realization hit you as you reached to check over yourself again, letting your pipe hold its weight in your mouth as you breathed in and out the smoke and the repeated taste of blood that slowly made itself much more prevalent with each breath you took. And once your vacant hand hovered over your right breast pocket, your worst fears seemed to come to light.

What greeted your hand was the feeling of hollowness, it was subtle at first, but once you look down over where your hand hovered over, you saw blood slowly dripping and painting your hand red. Trying to see if this was an illusion or not, you tried to focus your sense on feeling a sliver of pain, hoping to dear god that it was an illusion. But your wish was for naught because as your hand drew closer to feel it, you suddenly found it harder to breathe, and so you involuntarily coughed up, but what you saw next haunted you as more blood began to drip as a result of your coughing.

Now, the first signs of panic began to set in, but not before you turned around outside the balcony window. In your earlier blind rage and clearly pissed outburst, you failed to notice the flapping wings outside, and you turned, you came to see the distinct white coat of Celestia herself, the former princess of Equestria, encapsulated in her magic’s hue, a gun to her side, still smoking from what you assume to have been a recently fired shot.

Your eyes widen at the dawning realization, that you didn’t want to die, and you had unfinished business to deal with... w-what about that anonymous bastard who kept on screwing over your expeditions? What about that Glimmer fella who seemed to be able to be a fine cherry pick? You still had so many things to be done in such a vast economic empire. And you didn’t want it all too suddenly up and end in your most powerful of moments!

So while you had your little and sudden midlife crisis, at the corner of your ear you heard Twilight say something to you. “I- I'm sorry, I didn’t want it to come down to this… but you’re too blinded by your own success! You could have made it simple for all of us!”

But you didn’t know how to respond to that, your strength was slowly leaving you as you could physically feel your innards, your lungs slowly drown in your own blood. This was at the same moment as you began to notice your vision began to shrink, it started small at first at the far edges, turning darker and very slowly closing into the center, threatening to blind you forever. At this time, you had managed to keep most of your emotions in check, but as it became harder to breathe and your strength slowly left you, base instinct panic slowly starts to set in, despite that, you still persisted in trying to reach in deeper of your inner pockets.

“I’M SORRY! Is that what you wanted to hear!?” Twilight exclaimed, you however still remained silent. “You had thousands, if not millions killed. Ruined an entire nation's economic stability, and had the guts to dismantle its governing body. SIMPLY HORRID! Too blinded, TOO IGNORANT in your pursuit of change or something. T-this was the bes- no, the only way to get what was fair…”

At that moment as she finished, you saw something at the edge of your dying vision. Unmistakable as it may be, they dawn uniforms and forms you’ve seen plenty of times before your time in power, humans… dawning the uniforms of your personal guards. At first, you expected them to shoot down Twilight and the hovering Celestia outside, but as the moment dragged on, they simply just stood there, doing absolutely nothing, by their side…

‘Why?’ It was your first question, but then another dawning realization hit you... Were they traitors? Were they just double for espionage against you? You didn’t know their reasons, and it slowly dawned on you that it was the first time since you rose in this position of power where you were in the dark, as this revelation unraveled itself, you started to notice that they began to raise their carbines and pistols, pointing directly down range and on you.

You slowly back pedal in fear, fear for your life. With one hand still in your pockets, you suddenly notice you still had your pipe in your mouth, inhaling and exhaling despite the increasing difficulty and commotion surrounding you, you knew it was only a matter of time until your concentration breaks and base instincts and emotions come to guide your hand.

“Don’t shoot… not yet,” Twilight commanded, and to your surprise, all those who aimed their guns at you relaxed their postures a bit, and from where you were, most seemed to let off on the trigger pull.

And that was when it dawned on you… they were all in it. They were all in the game and they’d take away the right you had earned for yourself, they’ve probably been… conspiring against you.

With that realization, you finally felt the pistol you had kept in your inner pockets. Presenting yourself with two choices, either kill yourself and deny these traitors the privilege of killing you, or try and kill as many of them whilst likely dying in turn. Either way, you’d end up going out with a bang, a fallen and shambled empire, and dead with no salvation in near sight.

“Don’t make this harder for us!” Twilight shouted suddenly, “We’re here to help you! Just… grant us the leeway we deserve! And soon, you might just see the light of tomorrow!”

‘Deserve… deserve… deserved.’ That word circled itself in your mind, what do they know about the word deserve? They didn’t sacrifice time or anything of value. The world provided for them, whilst you had to live in a world where the only way up is through a mountain Alps with constant falling debris.

Hate-filled within you, your eyes clearly showing that vivid expression as everyone who looked at you seemed to flinch as a response.

“AND WHAT DO YOU KNOW!?” you exclaimed, visibly upsetting the little unicorn. “I worked to build an empire. I spent time on it, my life’s work… time I will never relive nor have a chance to earn back… unlike you creatures of Equis, humans could only live a fraction of your lifespan, less so when the human body is both mentally and physically challenged on a constant basis. You didn’t live in a harsh world, the world provided plenty, and made you what you are today… incompetent. Humans… no, I could only live for long before my time comes… less time to make a name, unlike the fortunate of these worlds.”

“And killing off an entire species of crystal ponies is justification for that ambition!? YOU SEE!? That’s your problem, you see the end justifying the means! It doesn’t work like that here… it simply doesn’t. Even if it was for the ‘better good’, I simply don’t believe you.” she was heartbroken, more out of the fact that she couldn’t convince you, who was in all honesty, a hard worker who did deserve everything, even if what you deserved was something she wouldn’t advocate.

You had enough, you didn’t want to hear her, you wanted her to shut up… and in that moment of indifference towards not only her life but also your own, you made a gamble, were you quicker than the men who still had their guns pointed at you? You didn’t know, you didn’t care, because as much as it was dirt cheap… killing her would sure as hell make short work of ensuring that book horse had no mouth to talk with.

You were careful, your hand had a firm grip on your gun, and slowly without drawing it out, you pointed it towards the general direction of where Twilight was. You noticed the other humans in the room, at least those who had holstered pistols, hover over it with their hands, preparing to do a quick draw should you try and get a shot off. The same went for those who didn’t relax their posture with their carbines, their fingers clearly hovering over the trigger.

The blacking void slowly consumed your more vision, with the only thing slowing it down being you’re breathing, at least you thought it was your breathing.

And all of a sudden, you pulled the trigger three quick consecutive times without drawing your gun out, letting to bullet travel through your expensive as hell suit.

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

And as quickly as those three shots were fired, Twilight flinched in place, but it was clear something was wrong, as everyone looked around in confusion, and all eyes laid on her as she stood silently with a broken mouth. Your aim stayed true as you saw her slowly slump down seemingly lifelessly. You weren’t sure if she was dead or if your aim was a bit off, but it was enough to send the white alicorn into a frenzy.

“TWILIGHT!” Celestia screamed, dashing into the room to the dying Twilight, having no interest in you as she tried to go to her dying pupil. “D-don’t worry, Twilight. I-I’ll, SOMEONE GET A MEDIC!”

In that moment of shock for all of them as the purple unicorn was silent in her slumped state, you backed up as you suddenly realized you were backed into a corner, you were outside on the balcony. You could see everyone inside your office was in shock as Celestia tried her best to heal Twilight’s mouth wound, but since the damage from the bullet was extensive, she was helpless in doing anything but slow down her blood loss.

Amidst all the confusion, you swore Celestia said something in her murmuring state, “we only wanted to negotiate…” but you shrugged it off. Even if what you heard was true, it was clearly a lie with the forwardness of Twilight, besides, what’s done is done.

And so, amidst their confusion, you decided it was time to do the quick draw, and in one motion, you withdrew your pistol and pointed it to where your heart desired, which was the mourning Celestia. You planned on expelling the remaining ammo you had on her, but you weren’t fast enough, and just at the tip of pulling the trigger, you felt another bullet hit you, this time, straight at the face through your left eye. You didn’t know where the hit came from, but judging by the sudden loss of vision in one half and still being conscious, the shot proved to be anything but fatal… for the moment. You saw that your head was violently pushed up from the force of the bullet hitting you, and by sheer luck, forced your good hand to aim a bit upwards of Celestia, resulting in a miss by the hair.

That was the shot that shook everyone in the office, and as quickly as their confusion had risen earlier, that single stray bullet knocked everyone to their sense and as a result, around a dozen guns let loose down range. In reality, it took only three shots to completely shove you over the balcony’s edge.

Unfortunately, none proved to be fatal, which simply prolonged your impending fate.

From being shoved off the balcony from all the gunfire, you lost grip of your gun and dropped it before you could take it and do a quick shot to your own head.

The moment had finally passed, and with one final breath in the pipe, your mouth let loose as you exhaled. You saw your pipe fly off away as you fell to your death. At that moment, your entire life flashed before your eyes.

The good, the bad, and the ugly things you’ve done, from dismantling the Canterlot Council to inadvertently contributing to the extinction of the crystal ponies and others… you could only look back, you didn’t know if it was all worth it in the first place, but you did know your empire was for nothing. It was likely to crumble without your cold, but honest, leadership.

And all you could do was wait as your final moments drew closer. The only scenery was the very same gray cloud atop, but as you fell you saw that where they came from, a chimney spewing such smoke, likely from the production of crystal shards…

The irony of your situation finally comes full circle. These ponies, with the assumption that they had some help from some other humans, had earned, even though it is through force, their right to autonomy from your empire. An economic empire… shattered and likely wasted in the advent of your death. To be devoured by those who competed against and with you…

You didn’t know if you deserve it, you merely chased your dreams of success. Maybe that was the Banality of Evil, but you didn’t know as your breath slowed to a crawl.

It was a Tragedy, to have all your work go to waste. But… it was a matter of perspective, is it not? Your final thought does no justice to just how desperate you were in convincing yourself to lighten your impending fate.

With strength slowly leaving you, and with fatigue showing its full effects, you could only close your eye as you accepted death’s embrace….

In silence, your entire world had ended in the blink of an eye.