Teleportation: The act or process of moving the caster or another object (or groups of objects that can include the caster) by magic.

There are many, many types of teleportation. The simplest is the basic teleportation spell. This is normally short range (10-50 hooves) and involves a direct line-of-sight to the end destination.

From there it goes up in difficulty.

Indirect line-of-sight teleportation involves simply knowing where your destination is and having an idea of it in your mind. While this is normally short range, it can be done over greater distances. The greatest risk is your ending location being occupied by another object. As such, it is not recommended

Unintentional teleportation can occur from ponies that lose control of their magic. This is normally harmless and simply teleports the caster to a random nearby location. In this form of teleportation, there is little risk, as the magic released by the caster will naturally find them a safe location to end up. The longest unintentional teleportation ever recorded was by Twilight Sparkle when she lost control of the alicorn magic given to her by the other princesses some forty-seven years ago. On that day, she teleported from Ponyville to Appleloosa to the Crystal Empire.

In desperate times, a caster can use a teleportation spell to escape a life-threatening situation. This sort of teleportation carries the same risk factor as unintentional teleportation. As the caster’s magic will naturally find the safest place for them to end up. However, this will normally send the caster far away, making returning home a challenge if you are not ready for it.

There is one more teleportation spell worth mentioning. it is also, barring none, the most dangerous form of teleportation: Blind teleportation. With a blind teleport the caster sends themselves over a long distance to an unknown destination. This is very different from an unintentional teleport in that it is not controlled by the caster’s magic. Rather the caster simply directs their magic to teleport themselves to wherever.

It cannot be stressed enough; this should never, ever be attempted by anyone. The risk here is the greatest as there is no telling where you will end up or if you will even survive the trip. One is more likely to end up in a mountain than on it.

Starswirl the Bearded once calculated the odds of surviving such a teleportation unscathed. He is quoted as saying; “You have a greater chance of passing through the digestive tract of a dragon unfazed than succeeding at such an attempt.”

Ataxia did not beat the odds.

…………………………

It hurt.

She hurt; she hurt everywhere. Her head hurt, her left back leg hurt, and her heart hurt. She did not know where she was, she could not see. It was dark, too dark.

She thought about what she should do, she came up with nothing. So she thought about what Twilight would do. ‘One issue at a time,’

She could not see. That had to be first.

Part of her did not care. It did not matter that she could not see. She did not want to see. Seeing hurt, the events of the past hour… she saw those, those hurt.

‘Maybe it’s better if I don’t see. Why would I want to see… why would I want to see ever again? There’s nothing worth seeing anymore…’ She thought to herself.

Well, there was one thing she wanted to see, her leg… why did it hurt?

There was pain there, yes, lots of pain. However, given everything else, she did not care; part of her welcomed the pain. It was… refreshing, for the lack of a better word. That pain took her mind off the other pain, the other thing she did not want to think of… the lies… the deaths… the heartbreak.

She tried standing again. She could not. Whatever was wrong with her leg, she could not put any weight on it.

Her curiosity finally got the better of her. Ataxia gave up any pretense of not wanting to see; she had to know why her leg hurt.

It was a simple spell, a simple light spell. Foals could do it; small unicorns afraid of the dark would often be caught lighting their room at night with the spell, much to the dismay of their parents who simply wanted a good night’s sleep.

For Ataxia, that one spell took everything she had, everything she could dig up. All the concentration in the world, even then… it only dimly lit the surrounding area. She only managed that after six different attempts. The transformation… the fight… the teleportation, they had all taken their toll on the mare.

She was in a cave.

Ataxia did not care where she was, it did not matter. She had gotten away, gotten away from the lies, and from Night….

Ataxia wanted to cry… she could not.

There were no more tears to cry, she had done enough crying to last a lifetime. Of course, that did not change the fact her leg hurt.

She turned her head and looked back at it.

“Ah, that explains it.”

It was half in a rock. She supposed, logically, she had gotten off lucky. Even she knew better than to cast a blind teleportation spell. Twilight had lectured her many, many times about such an action. Remembering that, Ataxia almost grinned. It seemed as if the mare knew that Ataxia might, one day, be tempted to do it.

“I guess she was right.”

She did not care. It had gotten her away from there, so it was a job well done. Although, this did mean she was not going anywhere. Not without cutting off what remained of her leg.

On the other hoof, she could take the rock-leg with her….

Images played in her head, walking through some town with one leg as a rock.

She laughed; it started small, nothing more than a slight chuckle. The cave echoed the laughter back at her. That caused her to laugh louder and louder. The echo only grew as she increased her volume.

She laughed at that thought, she laughed at this situation. She laughed at the absurdity of it all, she laughed at thoughts of her friends seeing her like this, she laughed at thoughts of Twilight lecturing her about proper magic responsibility for the millionth time, and she laughed at thoughts of Nigh-.

She stopped laughing.

It hurt again, only this time, it was not the leg, it was not her head, it was the other thing. The thing that really hurt. Her heart… it hurt.

She forgot the leg. It did not matter.

Why cut it off at all? There was nowhere to go, nothing to do.

There was no one left, no one to call her daughter, she had no family anymore, there was no one that loved her.

She had no one; there was nothing for her anymore. Besides, she did not have the strength to cut her leg or the rock free. She could barely keep the light spell going, much less cut off a leg. The transformation and the teleportation, it had taken everything from her

She would die here.

She did not care.

‘What is the point of living if there is no one left who loves me?’

As the last of her magic left her, the cave went dark again.

She did not care.

Ataxia lay her head down as thoughts began playing through her head, trying to understand how everything had gone so wrong so quickly.

‘My mum’s dead… she… she was sick, they kept it from me. They didn’t tell me she was sick. I could have… I could have…’

‘My dad… he’s gone too. Because… because I missed. I failed to save him… I failed.’

‘Night, I… I… she…’

“You said she loved me!!!” Ataxia raised her head and screamed it out at Rarity's ghost as loud as she could. The sound vibrated all throughout the cave. Coming back to her several octaves lower.

“You said you would always be there for me!!!” Ataxia screamed at memories of Spike.

“You said… you said you would be with me…” She could not scream that last part. Even now, she was unable to yell that. That hurt more, that increased the pain in her chest.

Ataxia’s head collapsed in the dirt. Exhaustion and fatigue came to claim her. Today’s events… even with the pain of her leg, they were too much, her body was ready to pass out. Her fatigue would not be denied any longer.

Had she noticed, she would have been shocked about what occurred next.

As she fell asleep, Ataxia started crying again.

…………………………………………………….

Twilight looked around, everywhere she looked ponies were going back to their houses. The crisis was over, for now at least. It had taken longer than she wanted. The process of reversing the effect of sapping the water from the clouds that made up the structures in Cloudsdale turned out to be relatively easy, it just was not quick.

Removing the dark magic from Spitfire, that did not take any time at all. Once Twilight found it, she easily pulled it out of the mare and destroyed it. Whatever, whoever, put it there… Twilight could not say. It was advanced, very advanced; however, it had no markings of its caster. No sign of who was responsible, or more importantly, why they put it in her.

Still, Twilight could not call it a job well done, not yet anyway. Only she was able to hold the whole city up in the air while they reversed the process. They told her it would take eight minutes to fix it. Twilight did not believe that, she ran the numbers in her head and recalculated their estimate. It would take ten minutes to fix. Ten minutes, one second to be exact. For something like this, Twilight wanted to be exact.

All in all, not a lot of time, unless you have a deep suspicion that something is very, very wrong back at home. Something that required you to get back as soon as possible; then ten minutes is a long, long time. An almost unbearable amount of time.

Twilight was in such a state. She suspected; she knew that something was wrong back home. First, it was Spike letter… Rarity, the last of her old friends. She was dying….

That alone was enough for her to want this over and done with. However, it was not the only thing, she felt… she knew it was something more. Something else had happened, something bad. She just did not know what had happened, and she could not leave to go find out.

That part made this unbearable.

She considered just sending Rainbow ahead. Letting her find out what was going on. At Rainbow’s top speed… well at her safest speed (Twilight was still unsure if she had a top speed and the last time Rainbow pushed it that fast she almost cut the world in half), Rainbow could make it to from the Crystal Empire to Ponyville in forty two seconds. Any faster and there was an extreme risk of her doing serious damage to Equestria. The nation had seen enough tragedy in the past year for Twilight to dismiss that off hoof.

Of course, that would be if Twilight could actually convince Rainbow what was wrong, let her know what to look for (something she was not sure of herself), and Rainbow just going with it. While there was every chance that Rainbow would simply go along. Twilight quickly ran the probability calculation in her head. Taking in the odds of Rainbow demanding an explanation before leaving, her getting mad about not immediately being told about Rarity’s condition, and her simply accepting everything Twilight told her at face value. Calculating those and the time each event would take. Twilight came to a new weighted average time for Rainbow to make it to Ponyville: Eleven minutes.

The odds told the story better than Twilight ever could; it was faster to simply wait. Sure, it put the odds of Rainbow getting mad about not being told to ninety-five percent, but Twilight could soothe over a mad Rainbow easy enough. She knew plenty of tricks to do that.

…

It took ten minutes and four seconds to reverse the process. Twilight scowled at herself, her calculations were off somewhere.

‘What did I get wrong?’ She started rerunning the numbers in her head. She stopped; there was not time for that. ‘I’ll figure it out later.’

“Rainbow!” Twilight shouted at her wife.

“Twi! What did I say about yelling! That hurts.”

“Oh, sorry.” Twilight forgot about that part of the mind link. “Where are you?”

“Just checking in on Spitfire, they moved her to room five twelve in the hospital. Needless to say, Firestar is not happy about her mom being right next door.” The sound of laughter could be heard as Rainbow chuckled at that.

“Hey, I need you by my side. Like five seconds ago.”

“What’s wrong?”

“That’s just it… I don’t know, but we need to get home.”

Twilight was not surprised when she felt Rainbow press her side up against her. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” Rainbow whispered into Twilight’s ear.

“Hang on.”

“To what Twi? You don’t exactly have handlebars.”

“Rainbow, you’re lucky you’re cute, you know that.”

“I think you me-“ Rainbow was unable to finish that sentence as Twilight teleported them both directly in front of Ponyville General Hospital. She suspected whatever was going on, it would have something to do with Rarity, and by extension, Spike and Ataxia. Rarity was in the hospital, and as such it was only logical that this would be the best starting point to look.

Twilight was right. In this case, she hated that she was right.

What they saw caused them both to gasp in horror.

“What… what the buck…”

It was not an elegant reply, but Twilight could not find fault with it, as the words summed up the situation quite nicely. The building looked like it had been involved in a war. Several craters peppered the side. Each one had magical residue all over them. A mark of two very powerful spell casters going after each other.

No doubt the result of the battle that went on outside. All around were the after effects of the battle, a war, a massacre. Twilight was not sure which description best summed all of… of this. Craters lined the ground, from the looks of them something long and heavy slammed into them. Burn marks where all over the place, the results of magical fire.

Twilight could see… off in the forest, the largest bonfire she had ever seen in her life. That was a concern that needed to be taken care of now. Whatever else happened, that needed to be priority number one. A fire of that size could burn down Ponyville overnight.

“Rainbow, go check that out.” Twilight gestured with her hoof.

“On it!” In a dash, Rainbow was gone, a rainbow and gold trail left in her wake.

Twilight continued looking around, her mind playing through the natural progression of… whatever had happened here. ‘They fought over there, someone was knocked over here, a powerful spell was cast there… it was broken, a spell was sent over the-‘

She did not finish that thought, one look in that direction and Twilight saw something… something bad. A pony was lying in the dirt, unmoving, dead.

She recognized that pony, that form.

“Spike…”

Twilight teleported directly by his side. She looked down at the body, tears in her eyes. Spike’s corpse lay in the dirt, unmoving, and a huge hole in his chest.

She collapsed in the dirt. Her eyes did not want to look at it… but she could not look anywhere else. Her mind took in every detail at a glance: The state of his body… it was recent, he was no more than ten minutes gone. The wounds around his neck, he was strangled. The hole in his chest, someone… something blasted him. The magical residue, it was a very, very powerful spell… this could have only been done by someone very gifted in magic. The lack of blood, it was because of the spell….

“Hey Twi! That fire is pretty much contained already, it looks like someone dug a big hole underneath it and dropped it in there. It should burn itself out by mor-“ Rainbow stopped talking. She saw the body; she knew who it was. The mare fell out of the sky; shock written all over her face.

“Spike… How? Who? Why?”

“I don’t know Rainbow… It was someone powerful… very powerful… these wounds, they couldn’t have been caused by just anyone.”

“You mean like Luna, or Cadance?”

Twilight shook her head. “They… they were with us.”

Rainbow did not want to say the next two; it was too horrible to contemplate. “So that just leaves…”

Twilight shook her head cutting off Rainbow from saying it… saying it, it would make it real; they did not need to say it. There were only two known suspects they knew of that had the power to do this and she did not believe for a second that either of them was capable of this...

However, she did need to find them; she needed to talk to them if just to let them know what happened. She needed to talk to Shimmering Night and Ataxia. That need, that had to come first. Too much was still unknown; she could not simply stop here. She had to go on. Even if it did hurt.

Picking up the body in her magic, Twilight began walking back to the hospital. It was only a few dozen hooves away, but to a mare that just lost her brother, it felt like a journey of miles.

Memories of the dragon began playing in her mind: Hatching him from an egg. Raising him, caring for him, helping him to grow, to learn. Twilight just about fell over from the weight of it all, from the tragedy of it.

She almost did fall over.

Almost, if it were not for the golden wing wrapped around her and the blue pony that pressed herself up against her. Twilight looked to her right, at the face of her wife. That cyan blue fur-covered face… those magenta eyes.

Rainbow did not say a word, she did not cock a smile, and she did not grin her normal grin. Not now… now was not the time for any of that. It was too… it hurt too much. She felt the same pain her wife did, but she knew Twilight would take this hard. Twi needed someone to lean on, and she needed someone who could be strong. Rainbow could do that; she could do that for her wife.

Rainbow would mourn later but first she had to help her wife.

So Rainbow pressed herself up to Twilight, when she looked at her Rainbow simply nodded. That one gesture said it all. ‘I’ll be here for you, right by your side for however long you need.’

Twilight nodded back. ‘Thank you, Rainbow.’ She started walking forward again, Rainbow in lock step with her. After forty-plus years together the two had gotten quite adept at walking in unison like this, so much that it was second nature for them. In no time at all, they had made it into the hospital.

“Where… where is everyone?” Rainbow asked.

“It’s fresh… they must still be in the shelters.” Twilight replied to her wife. She started looking around, spotting several clipboards hanging from behind the desk and a few lying on the floor, Twilight picked them all up and levitated them to her. She began reading them, looking for the room listing.

“What are you looking for?”

“A room…” Twilight replied, “Rarity’s room.”

“What?! What happened to Rarity?”

Twilight mentally facehoofed; after finding Spike, she had forgotten that Rainbow did not yet know about Rarity.

“I… Spike sent me a letter, about an hour ago. She’s sick…”

“Nothing you can’t fix though, right?”

“She did not want me to…”

“What?”

“Found it, room five-eleven.”

“Why would she…”

The two started walking down the hallway to the staircase. “I… I think she made up her mind a while ago. I suspected something at Aurora’s wedding. The clothes she made for her.”

“So what? Rarity has always made Aurora’s clothes.”

“That many? She made her enough clothes for fifteen years. We filled up three storage units in the palace with her outfits alone and she still has four huge closets full of them.”

“I just thought that was Rarity being Rarity.” Rainbow shrugged.

“I talked to… I talked to…” Twilight was unable to finish that sentence. She glanced behind her at the body that was floating delicately behind them. Rainbow just nodded, she fully understood whom Twilight meant. “He confirmed it… she hasn’t been doing well for a while.”

“So she wanted to go?”

Twilight nodded. “She was always so concerned about others, about helping others… I don’t think she ever wanted to be a burden on anyone.”

“But… but…”

“It was her choice, Rainbow. Even if we don’t agree, we can at least respect it.”

“It’s still stupid.”

Twilight would not argue with that… “C’mon, I would like to see her before…”

“What do we tell her about?” Rainbow nodded behind them.

“Nothing… it wouldn’t change anything.”

“I don’t like lying. But… but I get it.” Rainbow laid her head against Twilight’s side. She was torn, they both were. Rarity deserved to know… but… it would be cruel to tell her right before she… she died.

When they got to the fifth floor, Twilight spotted the door almost instantly. It was completely destroyed, with a vengeance from the looks of it. Her throat went dry… her legs started buckling under.

She did not have to look, she just knew, she knew that was the room Rarity was in. whatever happened, it already happened, and it somehow involved Rarity.

Rainbow wanted to run in there, she wanted to fight whoever might still be there, whoever might be threatening one of her oldest friends, but she also wanted to be by Twilight’s side.

The latter easily overcame her more impulsive nature.

Twilight lay Spike’s body down on the floor and started walking forward. ‘Maybe the doctors just moved her down into the shelter… maybe Ataxia brought her down, that would explain the door being like it was.’

'Yeah, when do we ever get that lucky.'

Twilight walked forward, slowly, Rainbow by her side. She could feel the muscles in Rainbow’s body tense up. She was ready for a fight.

When they turned the corner, they both visibly relaxed. Their daughter, Shimmering Night was sitting in the room. Her mouth agape. She had not even noticed the new arrivals.

“Night, what ha-“ Rainbow’s question was cut off as soon as her eyes fell upon the pony in the bed. She did not need her enhanced senses to know that she was dead.

Rarity was dead.

Twilight saw it too.

Shimmering Night finally noticed the two newcomers, they were both the ponies she wanted to see the most in the world and the last ponies she wanted to talk to right now. However, they deserved to know. Besides, if anypony could solve this… if anypony could make this right, it was her mom, Twilight Sparkle.

“Mom… I… I…”

Twilight walked up and hugged her daughter. It did not matter what she said, it would not even matter if she were somehow responsible for all this… she was still her daughter, that would never, ever change.

Night started crying, it was too much, it was all too much. Rainbow walked over and hugged them both, all the while Night cried into her mom’s coat.

They stayed like that for a while, unmoving, not a sound passing between them except for the sobs coming from their daughter.

It was Shimmering Night who broke the silence. “Mom… you should know, Spike’s dead too.”

“I know. I saw his body already…” Twilight said. The hurt in her voice was like daggers to Night’s heart.

“We… I… I left him outside. We should, we should bring him inside. It’s… it’s not right to leave him alone.”

“I already did.” Twilight reached out with her magic and found where she had placed the body. She teleported the dragon next to his wife. It took a second, simply a quick adjustment and his hoof was wrapped around Rarity. On any other day, at any other time, one could be forgiven for thinking that they were just sleeping.

It happened in an instant, faster than the blink of an eye. Logically, Twilight knew it was impossible, but she could have sworn she saw Rarity smile.

Shimmering Night glanced over and saw the placement of the bodies. “I think… I think she would have liked that.”

“I know she does.” Twilight smiled.

“Night… What happened? Where is Ataxia?” Rainbow asked the obvious question. “Weren’t you two together? I can’t believe she wouldn’t be here; after all, she has been going on all week about your date.”

Her mind started playing through the evening, the club, the museum, the almost first kiss… “Date? I… she…” Night tried to answer the question; she just could not find her voice. Not right then.

Twilight tightened a hoof around her daughter. The sudden increase in pressure caused Night to look back. Twilight’s face… it was the face of understanding, and love. “Take your time.”

“Thanks…”

Night breathed in and out. Twilight chucked a little as she recognized her foal sitter’s old breathing exercises. Cadance had taught her well.

“I… I suppose I should start at the beginning.”

……………………

Shimmering Night recounted the entire evening’s events. It was a mark of the situation and her desperate desire for some form of fix-all that she did not change or omit anything. She told her parents everything, everything she knew, everything that happened between her and Ataxia, and everything she had been told when she got here.

Twilight sat there and listened to everything, she did not judge, she did not interrupt (other than for clarification), and she did not criticize anything she was told. She let her daughter finish her tale without interruption.

The same could not be said for Rainbow Dash. Who visibly facehoofed when Night got to the end.

“Night! What were you thinking?! How could you tell her that?! At that moment! Are you tha-“

Twilight surrounded her wife’s muzzle with magic. Rainbow gasped as she suddenly lost the ability to speak. She broke the spell with a quick swipe of her feather and glared at her wife.

Twilight simply responded with ‘the look’.

Rainbow shook her head and backed off; she opened the window and jumped out. “I’ll see if I can find Ataxia!” Rainbow shouted as she flew off. Rainbow wanted to say a hell of a lot more to her daughter; however, Rainbow also wanted no part in pissing off her wife, but she did have some venting to do. So she left, she could work that out of her system while searching for the heartbroken mare.

Night… if Twilight had one word for her at that moment, if she could only use one adjective to describe how she looked, it would be awful. The things Rainbow had shouted out… it was obvious to Twilight that Night had been saying the same things to herself ever since it happened. She did not need someone beating up on her right now, not now.

Rainbow would apologize later, Twilight would see to that, but first, she had to deal with her daughter. “You know she didn’t mean that.” Twilight nodded at the open window.

“Yes, she did.” Night began sobbing again.

“Ok, she did, but she didn’t mean it that way. She does love you, it was just… frustrating to hear that. Rainbow likes to vent her frustrations when they show up,”

Night nodded. She knew about her mom’s behavior. Still, she was at a loss for words.

Twilight brought her daughter into a tighter hug, once again allowing her to cry out in her coat. Night found her voice. “Mom… what, what do I do? How do I make this right?”

“I don’t know.”

I don’t know, such a simple phrase, its meaning simply that the speaker does not have the answer. An easy concept for most.

At that moment, it was completely lost on Night. Not because the phrase was somehow complicated, it was simple enough, but that it came from her mom, Twilight.

Twilight Sparkle, the smartest mare Night had ever known, the mare that rebuilt an empire in less then three months. The mare that has solved every major disaster Equestria had known the past forty-seven years. The go-to mare for any and all problems any pony might have.

The mare that had the answer for everything.

She did not know.

“What?” Night asked, unsure if she had heard her mom correctly.

“I said, I don’t know.” Twilight hugged her daughter tighter.

“But… but… but…” in Night’s brain, ‘does not compute’ kept circling. It was impossible, Twilight knew everything… but she does not know, but she knows everything, but she does not know…. On and on it went.

Twilight smiled as she sensed all of this. “Night, you have to understand something. Your friend, Ataxia. She just lost her entire family. If that battle outside is any indication, someone… something, killed Spike right in front of her, violently. She ran up here to find her mom passed away, and in a moment of desperation, she kissed you.” Twilight raised a hoof to Night’s chin, lifting it up to look her daughter in the eye. “You need to understand, I’m not here to say what you did was right or wrong, there are no such rules when it comes to the matters of the heart. Believe me, with everything Rainbow and I have been through over the years that is one lesson I have memorized.” Twilight chuckled a little at that. “However, at that moment, she was at her most vulnerable. She had just lost her entire family. She put it all on the line with that kiss.”

“But… but I’m not a fillyfooler…” Night said weakly.

“Shimmering Night!” Twilight replied forcefully. Night shrunk down, Twilight only ever used her full name when she was mad at her. Twilight took two deep breaths before responding in a much more soothing tone. “Why do you put so much emphasis on labels? Haven’t I taught you better than that?”

“But… but…”

“Listen, I don’t care what you are, I don’t care who you end up with. I just want you to follow your heart. Don’t be concerned about labels, about what others say you are. I just want you to be who you are. Let others label you all day long, but do not try to fit yourself in some box others might want you in. You’re too special to too many of us for something like that. Be yourself, be who you are, who you truly are. There are many labels out there, many boxes, but there is only one of you. That’s the only label you should never be concerned about wearing.”

“I… I…” She stopped trying to talk and shrunk further into the floor. Had she been in the right mind, had things been slightly different, she would have laughed at this situation. Here she was, an alicorn princess of Equestria acting like a foal in her mom’s hooves. Of course, she was in no situation to laugh right now. Too much had happened and she needed to fix it, but she also did not want to leave her mom’s embrace, ever again. She felt safe there.

Twilight seemed to sense this in her daughter. “I think you’ve been through more than enough for tonight. Let’s go home. Just… promise me you will think about what I said. Ok? And whatever you do, whatever happens, ask yourself. ‘What does my heart say, what does it want?’ That’s how you know if you are being you, or if you are simply being what others want you to be.”

Shimmering Night held her mom even tighter. She closed her eyes and asked herself that very question. ‘What does my heart want?’ It did not surprise her to find no answer to that question. It had been awhile since she last listened to it.

“Don’t worry; I’ll have Spike send a let-.” If it were possible, Shimmering Night would have sworn she could feel her mom’s heart almost break at that. The hoof holding her squeezed harder. “I’ll have a pegasus deliver a message to Princess Luna letting her know what happened….” The monotone voice coming from Twilight felt like daggers being plunged into Shimmering Night’s chest.

Twilight took one last look at the bodies in the bed. Rarity and Spike… they looked so peaceful. A tear fell from her eye as she teleported her and her daughter home. It was so hard being strong right now, but for her daughter… for Shimmering Night, Twilight would find the strength. After all, she had someone who needed her and in the end, that was what really mattered.

…………………………………………………

Ataxia woke up.

That alone made it a bad day.

It was another day, another day of pain, another day of hunger, another day of thirst.

She did not want to be alive anymore. She should not be alive anymore. It had been days… weeks… months since she last had anything to eat or drink.

She lost track of what day it was, of how long she had been here. She used to make tally marks in the dirt, each one for each day she was awake. She stopped that though. She could not see them. They all had to be done in the dark. The other day, she swore it was changing on her. Two days ago, she distinctly remembered there being seven, yesterday there were four.

She gave up after that, each day it changed, each day was a different, random number. Nothing made sense. Of course, making sense itself stopped making sense after a while. Making sense involved remembering, it involved getting back, getting out of this cave. Most damning of all, it involved moving on.

She did not want to make sense, for sense was overrated.

“Maybe I am losing my mind.” Her voice came out dry and raspy. Too long without water… it made speaking almost impossible. Soon, she would be unable to speak at all.

Her echo continued to repeat her words all around the cave.

“Maybe I am losing my mind; I am losing my mind, losing my mind…” She would not miss that when she could no longer speak.

It continued for a while until it finally faded away.

‘Well, being right of mind was never that fun anyway.’

Her magic had not returned. She knew, had she been able to eat and drink, had she some opportunity… some way of replenishing her energy this would all be easy for a mare like her. Yet she had no chance for any of that. That last transformation and blind teleportation, it… it left her weak. It drained her magic.

It would not return on its own. Not without food and water. Not with her trapped like this.

She was stuck here.

She would die here.

She did not care.

She just wished it would happen soon. If the pain did not kill her, if the starvation and dehydration did not kill her, if the infection that was no doubt spreading up from her rock-leg did not kill her, than the waiting would. As funny as it was for her to think about, Ataxia was bored.

Fortunately, fatigue would not let her be bored for long. She soon found herself passing out again. Her body shutting down as many functions as it could to save energy. It was trying to preserve her life, of course, but if you asked Ataxia it was not preserving her life at all. it was simply dragging out her death.

A thought played through Ataxia’s head right before she fell unconscious. She was not sure if it was her thought or if she dreamed it. However, she did remember what it said.

There’s no one left that loves you.

……………………………………………………

When she returned to the hospital the day after the event, it took Twilight all of two minutes to figure out what happened. She almost did not say it… what Ataxia did, it was stupid, it was dumb, and it was incredibly risky. It was also, exactly what she knew Ataxia would do in such a situation. Exactly what she had warned her against doing many, many times.

“Night… she…” Twilight did not want to say it. After the events of the last night and Rainbows inability to find her despite a one night exhaustive search of all of Ponyville (something the town ponies were not happy about), she had come up with nothing. This… this was the reason why.

The look on Night’s face. It was begging, pleading to know what happened… what happened to her friend, for some shred of hope she could cling on to.

Now?

Now Twilight knew and that news would break her heart.

Twilight looked down at the floor. She gathered her courage and looked her daughter in the eye, Night deserved that much at the least. “Night, Ataxia teleported away… it was a blind teleport.”

Her reaction was exactly what Twilight suspected it would be.

There it was; the look of heartbreak. Night’s face, the last time Twilight had seen that look was when Applejack died. Rainbow would not go outside for weeks after that. It seemed Night had inherited that from Rainbow.

Twilight had to do something; she could not bear to see that look on her daughter’s face any longer. “However, I cannot track where she went.”

Night started crying again.

Twilight wiped away a tear with her hoof and raised her head. “No, you misunderstood. I cannot track where she went. The only way that is possible is if the caster disperses their residual magical emanations after the teleport.”

“You… you mean?” Shimmering Night did not want to get her hopes up.

Twilight nodded, “Yes, she is alive.”

Night jumped up and hugged her. “Thank you!” It was the first time in a week that Twilight had seen her daughter smile.

Of course, just because they knew Ataxia was alive, that would not make it any easier to find her.

That was thirteen days ago.

………………

Two weeks... for two weeks they searched everywhere anyone could think of that Ataxia might have gone to. It was trying to find a nine-centimeter needle in a mountain of ten-centimeter needles. There were no tricks, no short cuts that could be used. Everything Twilight and Night thought of proved to be useless.

It was a blind teleport. She could be anywhere, literally anywhere. There was nowhere they could not look; every house had to be examined, inside and out, in the walls and under the basement.

They knew she was alive. They had confirmation of it. She hid her signature.

Of course, that means she did not want to be followed.

That meant she did not want to be found.

Which could only mean that she was hiding.

Twilight kept that last part to herself. If Ataxia did not want to be found, if she was hiding herself. They had no hopes of ever finding her.

Twilight did not know what that news would do to Night, but it was not what she needed to hear. She needed to see her friend. She needed to see Ataxia again, if just to verify that she was alive with her eyes.

It was a rare day to not see tears falling from her daughter’s eyes. Truly, Twilight was not sure such a day had passed in the past two weeks.

Not even Rainbow could stay mad at Night. Seeing the pain her daughter was in… Rainbow’s resolve broke down in less than a day. She took to the search like a mare possessed. For every town that a search team visited, Rainbow finished three. For every cave that was mapped out, Rainbow did six.

Of course, she also caused seven times as much destruction doing those searches. Often ponies would tear their houses apart for her upon hearing that she was in town. Just so it could be rebuilt.

Still nothing. No pony has reported so much a sign of her.

Their search was not simply limited to Equestria either, Aurora and Icarus helped out too. However, no griffin in the empire reported anything of their savior.

It was the largest pony hunt ever, and it came up with nothing. To Twilight, that was more proof that Ataxia was hiding. That she did not want to be found.

It was time to break the news to Night, wherever Ataxia was, they would not find her. Not until she wanted to be found. There was no other choice and today was Twilight’s chance. Shimmering Night would be in town for today, they all would.

As today was not a normal day.

Today was the day of the funeral.

……………………….

Princess Cadance, the Alicorn of Love. Born a pegasus, Cadance achieved princess status early on in life. As a foul, Cadance was found abandoned in the woods by earth ponies, who took her to their village. When she grew up, she reversed a love-stealing spell cast by a pony called Prismia. This action caused her to be transported to the magical plain where she met Celestia for the first time and soon after, was taken in as her adopted niece.

Cadance began foal sitting for Twilight while in school. Ever since, the two have always been the best of friends. This bond only increased when she married Twilight’s brother: Shining Armor. She has always been a mare of great compassion and love, willing to go out of her way to help anypony that might need it.

When Twilight asked her to arrange the funeral for Spike and Rarity, she did not hesitate to say yes.

The guests of honor would arrive late, well, later than the other guests. No pony could ever accuse Twilight of being late to anything.

When Twilight and Rainbow arrived, what they saw made them both smile and frown at the same time. Every pony in Ponyville had come out for the final farewell to their dear friends.

It was not just Ponyville either. The who’s-who of the Canterlot elite all had their own assigned seats. Designers from all over Equestria and beyond were here. Anyone who ever had anything to do with Rarity. They were all here, here to see off one more of Equestria’s heroes. One more fallen element.

Despite some very stern objections, not a single one of them had a front row seat. Those seats were for family only.

On the fly over, Twilight spotted Rarity’s sister, Sweetie Belle.

That mare… if Twilight would ever be attracted to someone other than Rainbow... Sweetie Belle was what Rarity could have been, if she devoted herself to the spotlight instead of her fashion. That, combined with her voice… it was little wonder she was the number one singer in the world and she sold albums in every country that had any sort of trade with Equestria.

Twilight even heard that Sweetie Belle’s reach extended beyond that. Even into the dragon kingdom if such rumors could be believed.

Of course, anywhere Sweetie Belle went, Scootaloo was right there beside her and today was no exception. Those two… It had started off as nothing more than friendship. They each went their own ways in life. Yet, even then, they were a perfect match.

Nopony could beat Scootaloo on the dance floor. She rose to fame the hard way, going from bar to bar, performance to performance, until, at last, she was put on the stage. Where her natural talent shone through like a beacon in the dark. She was soon the lead dancer for an entire performance. Until somepony caused five sonic rainbooms over her studio.

That same stunt also ruined Sweetie Belle’s performance. With a lot of time to kill both ponies came back home, back to Ponyville. Twilight would always remember that day with a smile on her face. After all, that was the day she told Rainbow that she was pregnant with Shimmering Night.

Well, Rarity managed to convince Sweetie to put on a little performance for all the locals while she was in town. For the old CMC gang it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Applebloom immediately took to building the stage, and Scootaloo volunteered her expertise as a backup dancer.

It was the first time Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were ever seen together in any real performance.

It was instant gold.

Scoot’s grace and natural ability on the floor, combined with Sweetie’s angelic voice, everyone loved it. From that moment on, the two of them did everything together.

Every concert Sweetie Belle had was choreographed by Scootaloo. She would always take the lead as the main dancer. They sold out seconds after tickets would go up for sale. Together, they were greater than the sum of their parts.

It was only a matter of time, one day Scoots grabbed Sweetie on stage and began dancing with her. She twisted and turned the singer into several high profile moves. For Sweetie Belle’s part, she loved every minute of it. Her natural ability caused her to never miss a note.

When it was over, when Scootaloo held Sweetie in her hooves on stage, both of them panting and sweating from their performance of a lifetime. The crowd cheering so loud that not a single voice could be heard.

It was Sweetie who kissed Scootaloo.

Somehow, despite the impossibility of it, the crowd got even louder.

Scootaloo told Rainbow later that she almost dropped Sweetie right then and there. Simply because of the surprise. Nevertheless, she did not. If asked, Scootaloo will still say that ‘that’ was the greatest achievement of her life. Cutie mark be damned.

Three years later the two were married.

Three months after that they adopted a foal.

Little Shining Grove. She was so much like her parents; ponies would often ask how they got Twilight to help them reproduce. Of course, that never happened. Twilight and Rainbow never quite knew if it was just fate or luck that got them a foal that was so similar to them. It was just one more mystery in life.

Unfortunately, her interests were a lot like her mothers as well. She would not settle down, even after she had a foal. This of course led to a lot of ponies foal sitting for her. Twilight had tried to talk to Scootaloo and Sweetie about it, but they did not see a problem. To them it just meant more time they could spend with their grandson after all.

That little black earth pony was sitting right now in his permanent spot between his two grandmothers. While they never did find out whom his father was; that did not stop Scootaloo or Sweetie Belle from loving him all the same.

In Twilight’s expert opinion, Astelan, The Crusading King, was bored. This did not really surprise her; he was too young to know what had happened. What this all meant. Some things are simply too difficult to understand at that age.

The Crusading King, a title he earned from years of leading crusades for the new regiments of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. It was ironic; he had personally helped over forty fillies and colts get their cutie mark, yet he was still a blank flank.

Twilight thought about telling him that maybe his special talent might be helping others find their special talent. She dismissed that idea. As with every pony, he would figure it out for himself, eventually.

Next to the famous pair sat Emperor Icarus and Empress Princess Aurora. From the look on her face, Aurora was doing everything she could not to cry. Something Icarus was very sensitive too. She was well along now, almost as big as she was before… before Blood Dawn…

Twilight moved on, she did not need to relive that memory.

The next three open seats were reserved. She could tell from this distance that those belonged to her, Rainbow, and Night. That meant Night had yet to arrive.

Twilight was worried about that. When she told her daughter that the funeral was today Night had almost bit her head clean off.

“NO! We can’t do it now! We can’t have the funeral without Ataxia! She would… she would want to be there…”

It still sent a chill down Twilight’s spine to think about that, but there was no choice. They could not delay the funeral any longer. There was a limit to what magic could do to stop the decomposition process and if they wanted an open casket, like Rarity asked for in her will, this was the longest they could wait.

Although she did agree with one thing, Ataxia should be here. It was not right to do this without her.

Quietly, Twilight hoped that she was in fact here. That she simply masked her presence so no pony would notice her. Twilight dared hope that, but after a few high intensity scans, that hope was dashed. Not even a mare like Ataxia could hide herself right in front of Twilight. No pony was that good.

Twilight shook her head and moved on.

Luna occupied the next seat. Rarity and Spike, they were heroes of Equestria. They each were responsible for helping save Equestria from countless threats. That alone would guarantee her presence. However, she also owed her freedom from the clutches of Nightmare Moon to them. She would never miss this.

The last seat in the line was empty. It belonged to Princess Cadance. When she was done with her eulogy, she would take her seat and let others talk.

Twilight did not need to ask why there was no seats open for Radiant or Firestar. That went without saying. Although, if the rumors are true, she had no doubt that they would both rather be here than with Spitfire at the hospital. Twilight made a mental note to go check on them when she could.

“You ready for this, Egghead?” Rainbow looked at her wife expectantly, this had been their third flyover.

“No…”

A blue hoof was placed on her shoulder. Somehow, that one gesture always seemed to calm her down. “Thanks… but I’m still not ready.”

“Yeah you are. Come on, let’s get down there.”

Rainbow began flying lower, forcing Twilight to join her or be by herself. To the mare’s credit, she did it slowly, in small increments. For a while Twilight was not even aware she was getting closer to the ground.

Her hooves touching ground were kind of a dead give away though. “You tricked me.”

“So?” Rainbow smirked.

“Thanks…” Twilight said sheepishly. The two walked to their seats. A respectful nod from Cadance told Twilight that everything was ready, that all she had to do was be here. Of course, the unanswered question still permeated in the air. ‘Where was Night?’

Twilight looked up; there was no sign of the alicorn anywhere. A glance at Cadance confirmed it, she had not yet been here and it was getting time to start.

“Where is she?” Twilight asked under her breath.

Rainbow knew whom she was talking about without even having to ask. She had seen it too and a lot sooner than her wife had. She did not reply, there was no need, as she did not have the answers that Twilight wanted. Instead, Rainbow wrapped a wing around Twilight and pressed her side against her.

That one action almost brought a smile to Twilight’s face; almost.

There was not much to smile about today. The coffin at the end of the isle killed any chance of that.

As the pair made their way to their seats. Twilight stole several glances at it. She could not look at it for any real amount of time. It was… it was too painful.

The search for Ataxia had helped, it focused her attention on something else, gave her a task to complete. A saying about ‘idle hooves’ and all of that came back to Twilight’s mind.

Now? Now it was time to pay the piper. This day, this moment, it was time to say goodbye. Now she had to focus on this… this tragedy.

They never found out who did it. However; judging by the magical fire that raged in the huge hole in the ground for three days, that was not surprising. It had only taken a minute for Twilight to put those pieces together. Even if they never knew who was the cause.

So yes, they never found a body. Ataxia’s fire burned everything. Twilight never expect to find the body.

She stole another glance.

The coffin it was, in a word, beautiful. If she did not know better, Twilight would have sworn that Rarity herself had designed it. It was pearl white with sapphire gems embedded all along it. A golden lining highlighted its contours in all the right ways. A white silk sheet lined the inside, and it was huge.

It had to be, for it held two bodies.

Inside, Spike and Rarity’s remains lay. They were each dressed in their best. Spike wore his best suit. The one Rarity designed for him for all the weddings they went too. He first wore that to Rainbow and Twilight’s wedding.

Twilight smiled, once, a long time ago, she asked Rarity why she never made him a new one. She simply laughed. “You can’t improve on perfection darling.”

She was right. The suit was perfect on him.

Rarity’s dress… Sweetie Belle went through her closet and picked it out. From what Twilight had been told, it took the mare three days to find the perfect dress for her sister’s final farewell.

It lived up to the hype.

The dress was a lavender purple with dark purple strips down cutting horizontal across the body. A night star pattern decorated the edges. She had on a head wrap with a pure white gem in the center. Around her neck was a golden necklace with the pure, flawless, fire ruby Spike had given Rarity all those years ago.

The two bodies lay side by side. Rarity’s right hoof was held by Spike’s left claw. Their faces were not turned up, but at each other. That they may spend forever looking at the one they loved the most in life.

Twilight suspected that was Cadance’s doing. She did not disagree. It just… fit. In life, Spike only ever had eyes for Rarity. After their marriage, it was the same for the mare. It was fitting that even in death it would be the same.

Rainbow glanced over; she was not surprised to see Twilight crying. She merely wrapped her wing even tighter around her and led them both to their seats.

The clock in the distance struck two; it was time to begin.

……………………………..

It was another bad day.

Then again, for a day to be bad that means it must be below the normal, below the standard day, or the average day if you will.

After all, if every day is a bad day, if it is always ‘bad,’ if it always ‘sucks,’ then it is not a bad day; that is a normal day, that is a standard day.

Ataxia did not care about the technicalities of good, average, bad. It was a bad day.

Why?

Because she woke up.

When you are waiting to die, every day you live is simply a bad day.

It had rained outside.

When? She could not say. She knew it had rained because of the dripping noise echoing throughout the cave.

Drip

Drip

Drip

It was… it was maddening; she was so thirsty.

Yet she was trapped. The water, wherever it was landing, it was not near her. It was simply taunting her. Telling her, “Here I am, but you can’t have me.”

Drip

Drip

Drip

Her leg did not hurt anymore.

She did not know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She went with bad. There were no good things anymore.

Briefly, she considered chewing through her own leg and getting free that way. She dismissed that idea.

It was gross to even think about.

Also she did not have the energy.

Drip

Drip

Drip

‘Why can’t I just die?’

Why do you wish for your own death?

It was starting up again. She would often have these fights with herself. She knew it was just her minds way of dealing with everything that had happened, trying to keep her sanity. However, another part of her detested this… it… it felt more like an intruder, almost as if they were not her thoughts.

She did not have the time, energy, patience, smarts, or motivation to figure out that puzzle.

‘I want this to be over.’

Why?

‘There’s… there’s no point in living anymore, I’ve been here months now… I should be dead.’

Yet you’re not…

‘I want to die.’

Is that really, really what you want?

‘Yes…’

You can’t find, anything, to live for?

‘There’s no one left.’

What about Twilight? Isn’t she your friend?

‘She was my mom’s friend… mom’s gone. She… she will not put up with me anymore, neither will Rainbow.’

I guess that is true. What about Cadance? Weren’t you two friends?

‘We had a mutual respect… I don’t think she was ever my friend.’

Aurora might miss you?

That… That simply brought up memories of before, of her and Dayspring. Ataxia remembered that fight all too well. It was the first time her and the twins ever really got into it. Maybe she did go a little overboard and maybe, just maybe, having to rebuild the school from the ground up was a lot and maybe she did deserve to be expelled (although if asked she will say she dropped out). Still… the things Dayspring said… Yes, they could be in the same room without issue… now… but for all intents and purposes, they were not friends.

‘She sided with Dayspring. She always took his side.’

What about Ni-

‘Don’t! Don’t say that name.’

It’s a bad sign when you are yelling at yourself.

‘Just don’t, not right now… not now.’

Let me ask, why are you still alive?

‘I don’t know.’

Maybe you still have something to do?

‘No I don’t.’

Oh, we must be mistaken.

Ataxia wanted nothing more than to fall back into sleep. At least that would pass the time. She simply waited for the one time she would fall asleep and not wake up.

Memories began replaying in her head. She could… she could almost see them. She was not sure if that was a good sign or a bad. Normally, in any other circumstance, she would say hallucinating was a bad sign, that having internal conversations with yourself is a bad sign.

Now?

Now she would say it was a good sign; that it meant she was close to death.

She wanted that.

She saw her mom.

Rarity, she looked gorgeous, almost as if it was ten years ago. Her mane, it was perfect but only because there was not a better word to describe it.

“So, darling, how did it go with Night? Did you take my advice?”

Ataxia nodded her head, she was too dehydrated to speak.

“Oh? That’s good to hear. So I take it you two are a couple now?”

Ataxia shook her head.

“Really? Well you must have screwed something up then.”

Ataxia’s eyes got wide at that. ‘Did… did she just say?’

“Unless, of course I lied to you.”

Ataxia jerked her head back at that.

Rarity smiled and walked forward. She placed one hoof on Ataxia’s chin. “C’mon darling, why would I ever want you to be happy? You stupid, stupid mare. All you’ve done my whole life is make me miserable. I saw the way you were pining after her, the way your heart would flutter whenever you looked her way. Do you really, really think Shimming Night, a princess, the first alicorn ever born, that she would ever be interested in you? If you did… you’re even dumber than I thought.”

For Ataxia… every word was a dagger into her heart. She had thought it was forever broken, when the pain subsided, that it was numb, that she could no longer feel anything.

She was wrong.

This… this hurt.

“Oh, that look was so worth coming back from the dead to see. Thank you for making me happy once in my life, well un-life anyway.”

Rarity walked away.

Ataxia was never so grateful to be alone in her life.

It did not last long.

She saw her father next.

Spike walked up, proud and confident, brimming with strength. “Sorry about your mom. She’s just in a bad place right now, you know she didn’t mean it.”

He sat down on his flank right in front of her. Ataxia rested her head again. His words were a soothing towel on her open wounds.

“She’s just mad because you let me die.”

A Salt covered towel in her open wounds.

“I know; I know, you think I should apologize for not being there for you, that I somehow ‘broke my promise.’ The thing is, I didn’t. You see, you’re the one that missed. You, the great Ataxia, ‘Equestria’s Monster Hunter Extraordinaire’. The Mare who can only be matched by the likes of Twilight Sparkle, you’re the one who failed, dear girl.”

Spike stood up, “This is the price of that failure, you’re all alone now and you only have yourself to blame. All you had to do was aim, yet you couldn’t even do that correctly. That mistake cost you your entire family. Tell me, is there one thing you have done right in all your life?”

Ataxia tried to answer that, she tried to speak, to yell, to scream. Her voice was long gone.

“Didn’t think so.”

Spike walked away.

Rarity joined him; Spike looked back one last time. “What a waste.”

“She always was, Spikey-wikey.”

The two faded away.

Ataxia began banging her head against the dirt. If this was the final thoughts her mind wanted to show her, then she wanted no part in it.

It took a minute, but she was finally able to knock herself unconscious.

…………

She awoke to pain.

This was a new pain, this time; it was her head.

Her head hurt and not just from the magical pull of a teleport.

It made sense; she did bash her head against the floor.

Of course, that also meant she was still awake. It was another bad day, well, another day. Good and bad were losing their meanings.

Drip

Drip

Drip

The water was not done dripping yet.

Drip

Drip

Drip

In a way, Ataxia figured that the dripping was her, that it was her life. A life that was slowly dripping away.

Drip

Drip

Drip

She hated that noise, she hated the dripping water. It represented the promise of something cool and refreshing, something she would never get to.

Drip

Drip

…

That was new; the dripping did not come as it should.

She could not see it, not in this pitch-blackness anyway.

There was no drip. It stopped. It was over.

She missed it. She missed it more than she missed anything ever before. There was a dripping noise and then there was none. Ataxia did not know why, but she wanted it back.

Drip

She breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn’t alone, she still had the drip, it just… slowed is all.

‘Thank you… thank you for not leaving me.’

It took a minute but soon another drip came.

‘Thank you!’ she would have cried if there were any water left for something like tears.

Clunk

That was new.

She had not heard a clunk before, only a drip. What was the clunk, what made a clunking noise?

Clunk, clunk

Two noises, she had heard it, it was not just in her imagination.

Ataxia looked up, she wanted to see, and she wanted to see the clunk. It was impossible, she could not see anything, but she really, really wanted to see what made that noise.

The next noise raised all her hopes higher than anything else ever had before.

The cave wall in front of her collapsed. Light shined in and blinded her.

“I found her!”

She knew that voice. That was Cadance’s voice.

“Girls! Over here!”

“You found her?!”

She knew that voice too, it was… it was Night’s voice.

Ataxia had never been happier to hear that voice in her entire life. While she still could not see, her hearing worked perfectly.

“Ataxia!” Night shouted. “Cadance, get Twilight and Luna!”

“Ataxia, I’m so, so sorry, I didn’t mea-“She cut her words off.

Ataxia wanted her to continue, she wanted her to finish that sentence more than anything else.

“Oh… what the buck happened to you?” Night commented, the tone of disgust was unmistakable.

“You got her Night?” Luna asked.

“Yeah, but you two should see this.”

Ataxia heard hoof steps. Three more ponies had joined Night in the cave.

“Gross.” Luna stated.

“Wow, that… that’s bad.” Twilight added.

“I know right?” Night spoke.

“Hey Twilight, can you fix this?” Cadance asked.

“I can, but…”

“But what?” Cadance asked.

“Should we?”

“Huh?” Night grunted.

“Well, look at her; she’s so close to death. Is she worth saving? How much damage as she done already? How much will she do in the future? Luna, you know what I mean, right?”

“We think we do. Ataxia is a huge threat to all of Equestria and this is a unique chance…. We agree with Twilight here.”

Cadance looked back and forth, “Well, I guess.”

“You three can’t be serious?” Night spoke in shock.

“What? You think we should free her?” Cadance asked.

“Of course!”

“Why? So she can pine after you all the time like a love sick puppy, so she can kiss you again? You really want to clean up her messes for the rest of your life?” Twilight asked.

“Well… but… no…”

“Did you change your mind Night? Do you love her now? I haven’t felt anything different from you.”

“I… I…” Night could not find the words to answer that.

“I say we leave it to her. Night whatever you want, that is what we will do. If you think you can ever love her, we will let her go.” Twilight stated.

Night thought about it. She thought about it long and hard. Until, at last, she reached her conclusion.

“I guess you girls are right, after all, I could never, NEVER see myself loving a mare, and if I did, I could do way better than her anyway. Sorry Ataxia, like I said earlier, I’m not a fillyfooler. To bad you weren’t smart enough to figure that out on your own.”

Ataxia could only listen to them leave. Her mind, it refused to accept what her ears had heard.

‘That did not happen, that did not happen, that did not happen, they would never…’

The sound of a cave-in confirmed it.

That did just happen; they found her and left her.

Ataxia tried to bash her head against the ground again.

It did not work.

She did not have the energy.

It did increase the pain from her head, and… something else. She felt something new, something she had not felt in a while.

Hate.

She hated them; she hated all of them.

‘I hate you! I hate all of you!’

Maybe you still have something to do?

With the voice, a memory came back… it happened over half a year ago. She was shown something, something she since dismissed.

It was an impossibility, it would never happen.

Or would it?

“It will be its destiny to end the life of every alicorn on this planet.”

Discord… Chaos said that.

Do you still want to die?

‘No.’

What do you want?

‘I want to fulfill my destiny.' There was no doubt or hesitation in her reply.

Even against the mare you love?

‘Yes, and I do not, love her anymore.’

Then do it.

As if that was some switch that had just been flipped, Ataxia transformed, almost as if she was reborn into the world anew.

The world itself shook from her rebirth.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Night never showed.

‘Like we don’t have enough to deal with. In one bucking night, we lost both Spike and Rarity. Now… now our own daughter doesn’t even bother to show up to their funeral.’ Rainbow thought to herself. She was livid, beyond livid.

“C’mon Twi, let’s call it a night.”

“Rainbow, I’m not in the mood.”

“I wasn’t referring to that.” Rainbow chuckled a little, she really had not thought of that. “I just want to rest, after…”

Twilight nodded. The funeral had been taxing. Not physically taxing, yet they both felt like they had run a million miles.

It was the tears… the eulogy… the pain of putting dear friends in the ground, again. It was all too much.

As soon as she could; as soon as it was socially acceptable (Well, a little sooner than that thanks to Rainbow). Rainbow led her wife away from the mob of ponies with their apologies and went to take her wife home.

Twilight needed it; she needed time to herself. Honestly, so did Rainbow.

Of course, what you need and what you get in life are often two very different things.

Rainbow saw her; Twilight did not.

Shimmering Night was sitting on top of their house. She looked pissed.

Rainbow was even madder. She just did a better job of hiding it.

“Hey Twi, why don’t you go ahead, I’ll catch up in a minute. There is someone I need to talk to real quick.”

“Oh… ok.”

To Rainbow, that indifference hurt worse than the entire day’s events. She grabbed her wife and hugged her with all her might. “Remember, you’re not alone. I promise; I will be there as soon as I can. What do I always say?”

“Rainbow Dash always keeps her promises. Thanks Rainbow, I needed that.”

Rainbow smiled as she watched Twilight open the door. She smiled as Twilight turned around and nod to her. She smiled as Twilight closed the door.

As soon as the door was shut, she stopped smiling.

She did the opposite.

In a flash, she was gone, as was her daughter from her porch on top of their house.

….

“What the buck, mom!” Night shouted when Rainbow dropped her off on top of the mountain. In the blink of an eye, she had taken them both a hundred miles away.

“You and I need to have a talk Night and I don’t want any distractions.” Rainbow glared angrily at her daughter.

“Yeah, I have a few words to sa-“ Night never got to finish that sentence, Rainbow interrupted with more force than Night was prepared for.

“What the buck is wrong with you?! You think you have any bucking right to do what you did?! Do you not care?! Do you not know what you put your own mother through?!” Rainbow began stomping around. “You knew it was today! You knew it was at two! I know you knew because I told you myself! Twice!”

Night looked up, anger in her eyes. “It wasn’t right! You two shouldn’t have stopped looking for her like that! We can’t have the funeral without Ataxia there!”

“We didn’t have a choice, Night! You know that. It had to be today.”

“We could of just done a closed casket.” It sounded weak, even to Night.

“That’s not what her will said she wanted.”

“She’s dead mom, isn’t it better to care about the living, about what Ataxia wanted.”

That was the wrong thing to say. Rainbow’s anger came back to the surface. She had intended to let Twilight break the news, but after that… it was time for her daughter to face some hard truths. Even if it came from someone who did not know the definition of tact.

“Night, Ataxia doesn’t want to be found! She’s gone until she chooses to come back! You need to accept that now!”

“Wh-“

“No, shut up. Listen, she teleported away, correct?”

Night nodded her head.

“She hid her signature, correct?”

Night nodded again, she had verified it herself, four times.

“That means she arrived wherever she went and did not want to be followed. That means she does not want to be found.”

“But… but…”

“NO BUTS! It’s over Night. There is not a pony in Equestria that did not know the funeral was today, if Ataxia wanted to be here. If she wanted to see her parents before we buried them she would have.”

Night fell speechless.

“She wasn’t there; she didn’t want to see them. We know what her choice was. All you did by pulling this stunt was upset your mother.”

“I… I…”

“The search is over Night. I personally have explored every mile of this entire planet in the last two weeks. We cannot keep searching for her forever; you know that. It’s time to move on.”

Night began crying at that.

“You got a job to do. It’s time to get back to that.”

“You’re right…”

“You also need to apologize to your mother. She missed you today.”

“Ok…” Night said between sobs.

Rainbow grabbed her and squeezed with all her might. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry I yelled at you like that. I shouldn’t have.”

“No… I think I needed it.”

“Let’s go back.”

“Can… can we stay like this for a minute.” Night choked out as she cried into her mom’s coat.

“Sure, but just a minute, ok?”

“Thanks mom.”

Rainbow Dash, the fastest flyer in the entire world, a mare imbued with the magic of the God Gaia, held Shimmering Night as tight as she could while the mare cried out into her coat.

They both felt a mass rumbling coming from the ground. Looking around, Rainbow and Night’s eyes went wide at what they saw in the distance; a mountain was collapsing in on itself.

……………………………………

Grim Night laughed, he laughed until he thought his sides would burst open. Although, it did not come without risk, he almost did not make it away before Ataxia’s fire killed him. Switching out his own body with that of another pony had been tricky, but he timed it just right.

Still, it had taken much less than he thought it would to get to this moment, but it was finally here. He never expected Shimmering Night to do what she did. He supposed he should thank her. Without that, without that last blow, this would have taken several more months to get too.

“I guess, sometimes we just get lucky.” He said with a smile as he teleported away from the cave the dragons of old stayed in before they left Equestria all those years ago. The cave, sealed off by the ancient alicorns of old, collapsed from Ataxia’s transformation.

Author's Notes:

Looking for a sadistic a-hole? Need to buck someone over in the worst possible way? Tired of having any shred of morals left? Than you have come to the right place. Call 18GrimNight. that number again is 18GrimNight. He will make sure your enemies wish they had never been born!

All at the low low price of never being able to look yourself in the mirror again!