Every city has their secrets; we all knew that. Just as Canterlot has corrupt government, so do we, Cloudsdale. The Era was a time of Prosperity, or so we thought. Cloudsdale had been planning a dawn of Downfall ever since the treaties of the Three Races. We all wanted to be superior; we all wanted to overthrow the Unicorns. Time and time again had they proven us wrong. They controlled the sun, the moon and, if given opportunity, the weather. We all knew it was coming and we wanted to stop it before it became too serious. At this time, we had discovered a document that described our origin ancestors, the Council of Davii Equestria’s traditions and regulations. With their knowledge, we were able to convince Celestia to have our say in everything she does. It was a cleaver plan that our own society developed; we were separate from our government and had plans to take over. I was the one who suggested the Council; I was one of its members until I was ruined. The document I mentioned spoke not only of regulations and mere tradition, but also of prophesies. In the document, it is foretold that a flightless pegasi will take to the sky and bring destruction to all we hold dear. Because of its ludicrous message, we all ignored it and moved on to what we had worked on so dearly. We all confronted Celestia and presented our case, winning in the end. At that point, we represented all of Cloudsdale, thus giving us the ability to overrule any oppositions made by their government. It was a glorious feeling having control over our hometown, but I still had concerns. While the others were celebrating, I decided to read up on the document we had found; it was a diary made by the Survivor, son of the Head. He had done everything he could to record what happened in the past. He would keep every meeting memorized until he could write them down; it was miraculous the amount of detail he went through. But as with everypony, ever so often he would forget something and write it down as an assumption. I noticed these things and took note to them until I began to realize a pattern in the things he wasn’t forgetting. Every time he went to a council meeting he would recall the bickering made by this certain prophecy; I dug further. The poem was, as he described it, cryptic and unclear during their time. Everyday, he would write, the ponies of the council discussed this poem, acting as though the end of days was tomorrow. It was pitiful and I began to see the weakness in their order. Eventually the Survivor spoke of their destruction and the rest of his documentation burned mercilessly in a fire. I was the one to warn my friends of this discovery. Throughout the journal, the Survivor continuously warned against a flightless pony and how he would bring death to all; of course, they didn’t believe me. I tried again and again until someone, my dearest friend, spoke up and proclaimed that perhaps the impossible could become a shocking reality. He also said that we, as a council, should not overlook such outcomes,

“Everything can become reality,” said he.

I thanked him repeatedly until he could do nothing but wave me away. I thought that would be the end of it. I was wrong, of course, one of the members decided that he, too, wanted to investigate. Once he made his progress, he proposed the city be sought for any flightless pegasi. If any were found, they’d be killed on spot. At the time, I didn’t care, my wife and I had been very supportive of each other; I had every confidence our child would be winged.

She had gone into labor late into the night; I began to feel nervous. All that week my friends, and the security forces, would be searching each home for a pegasi with significantly shorter wings. My closest friend, HighShine, the one who defended me in the council meeting, carried my wife, Rainbeam, into the hospital during her labor. I thanked him again for comforting me during these hard times; he smiled and said that everything would be all right in time.

“You can come in, Mr. SoftHeart,” called the Nurse, walking inside to finish the procedure. As I walked into the delivery room, I waved toward my friend who called out to me, “We’ll have to check him too,” said he, putting aside a magazine he’d been reading. I had confidence everything would be fine, but I still had my doubts. Nervous and hesitant, I nodded, walking into the room with a seeping wound in the back of my mind.

My wife held my hoof tightly as the nurses tried their best; I pressed my hoof on hers, speaking softly in her ear,

“Honey, it’s going to be alright,” I smiled, “Everything’s going to be okay.”

With tears in her eyes, she nodded her head, keeping everything as proper as possible. She tried her best not to make a sound; she fought through the pain like a true warrior. I began to sniffle; never before had I seen such a thing happen again. It was the work of true beauty. Everything we had done lived up to that moment; she was the true hero. With a yelp and a scream, a small, crying head came forth. Fascinated, I watched as more and more of the small pony came from his mother. RainBeam placed her head on the back of my hoof, crying silently as the sounds of a crying newborn flooded the room.

“Congratulations, Mr. SoftHeart,” announced the nurse, “You have a new born filly in the family!”

I laughed aloud, pacing around the room in wonder of the new filly. I watched as she was slowly placed into the hooves of my beloved. I got down on my knees and looked at her, examining everything. She was perfect… except for… her wings. My heart dropped a hundred floors; could it be?

“Excuse me?” I asked the nurse, turning toward her with a worried expression, “Is she pegasi?”

The nurse rolled her eyes and laughed, “Too excited to tell one of your own? Yes, she’s a pegasi.”

Frantically, I took a closer look at her, counting the number of feathers she had,

“Where are her wings? Should they be this small at birth?”

The nurse stopped for a second to think and pointed to a poster on the wall showing wing development. I scanned it quickly,

“Your daughter has wings; that’s for sure,” she began, “Hmm… now that I look at her, they do seem a bit… small…”

I shook my head, ”It can’t be; it just can’t be.”

“Ah well; I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. Give her a week or so and then come back. Then we’ll put her on some Benedenozill to help development.”

RainBeam saw my concern and asked, “What’s wrong, honey? She’s perfect the way she is. I’m sure she’ll be able to fly in the Equestria Games someday.”

It was true; I had always wanted a colt to fly in the Games, but this was a different matter. At the rate our society was growing, there may never be another Equestria Games after this date. I nodded my head, “No, love, you don’t understand. We need to talk.”

HighShine knocked on the door and peer through the window calling, “RainBeam! NearFlight! I’m here to see the new foal!”

Rainbeam was still weak from the procedure, but she managed to speak up like the fighter she was, “Come in!” She called, gazing down at the creation she had birthed. I bolted up and ran toward the door, holding it shut,

“I’m very sorry, my dear friend, but I really wish to have some alone time with my new child. Is that alright with you?”

He thought for a second, looked around me skeptically and bowed respectfully, “Fine,” he answered, slowly backing away, still in a bowing position, “but we’ll have to check him when you leave the hospital.”

I sighed, wiping my forehead and turning toward RainBeam, who shot me a look of puzzlement.

“What was that for?” Said she, looking back at the foal, “What did we do?”

I lowered my head and tried my best to explain, “Honey, I’ve done some wrong.”

No one would ever be prepared to say this to their wife, let alone take the actions their words promise. I sighed, closing my eyes so I could not be attached to the child we had created.

“RainBeam, my love, I have created a monster. The order my companions and I have developed are searching for this child. Do you remember the Ones Who Came Before?”

“I know it well.”

“We found a prophecy from one of their archives speaking of a flightless pegasi who will bring destruction to our rule. I am afraid I have made my councilponies aware of this catastrophe. As we speak, they are searching all over Equestria for flightless pegasi; the punishment for a pony matching criteria will be immediate execution. If the suspect is a child, their parents will be executed for holding secrets against my organization. I’m sorry, my love, but we must destroy her before it is too late!”

She gasped, shaking her head for a full five minutes.

“I want to keep her,” said she, breaking the silence, “We made her, NearFlight! How can we abandon her without even getting to know her?”

I shook my head, “I’m sorry, but we must do it before we get too attached to it! Remember the prophecy, RainBeam!”

She, with all her strength, stood up. Wires and vials attached, she stood. Amazed, I took a step back; I could only imagine the pain she was going through.

“The prophecy can go to Tartarus! This is our child and we’re going to keep her; even if it costs us our lives!”

“I love her as much as you do, but we have our own lives to keep!” I yelled, streams of imaginary tears running down my face, “We must get rid of her!”

She continued to shake her head in denial, “No, we are going to teach her love and kindness. Your prophecy is bogus; she would never destroy us. She is going to be our savior!”

I nodded, my hoof firmly placed on my forehead, “No, no, no,” I muttered with disbelief; it was all too much to bear, “I can talk to the board, but you will have to leave Cloudsdale and live in the wilderness. I take it you know how to raise a child?”

Silently, she shook her head, “I do not.”

“See? This is a lost cause! They’ll be riding up on our tails until the day we die! We have to destroy her!”

“But I will not watch my child’s blood be shed upon your unholy drapes!”

Silence filled the room for a few mere minutes.

“You know we can’t keep her, right?”

RainBeam sighed, “I know… but,”

“But nothing!” I yelled; I had to finish this argument somehow, “You know what will happen if we are seen with it!”

As much as I hated it, I had to detach any emotional relation with her; showing her love would only make the separation harder.

“This child will reign above everypony!” Said she, “It is she who will save Equestria! Not destroy it!”

I shook my head, “No! This pony will know not of her destiny! She will be far from it!”

“Then what do you suppose we do? Murder her in the bedding?”

“It would be noble of us to do so!”

“You monster!” She spat, “There are plenty of ways to avoid your ‘murder guild’. She can live in hiding with us!”

“And when ponies start asking about her? What then? Honey, we live on a cloud! How will she get around? How will she defend herself without flight? Not to mention, if she is seen anywhere in Equestria, her death will be without question!”

She shook her head, “We’ll have to live among the Earth Ponies. Perhaps the Everfree Forest will house our troubles.”

“The Everfree Forest? As if there were no safer place!”

I didn’t want it to come to this, but I was afraid it was the only thing we could do. I loved our child; I really did, but there was no other way around it.

“RainBeam, my darling, there is only one thing we can do. I will take the child beyond the Frozen North. I will teach her to love and someday, she will return.”

Her eyes lit up like fireworks, “You would do that?” Said she, lights still flickering in her ruby eyes; they were the signs of hope, “You would risk your entire life to save this child? You would throw away everything you have built to save this filly?”

I sighed; I had no other choice, “Yes, I will do it for her.”

RainBeam raised the unsuspecting filly in the air and chanted,

“My child, you will show Equestria who you are! You will reign over all who oppose you! May those who curse you be cursed! May those who bless you be blessed!”

She smiled like I had never seen before; I placed a hoof around her neck,

“What will her name be? Think carefully; this may be the last time you see her.”

Her smile melted fast, but she took no bother to cry,

“Scootaloo; her name shall forever be Scootaloo!”

“Then it is done,” I proclaimed, “I must remove her from the facility as fast as we can. You will have to stay here, my love. I’m sorry.”

A single tear ran down her face, “No, I’m sorry; I should have never had this child.”

“No!” I cried, “It was never your fault. This is what the future had in store for us. We must take it and move on, even if we must do the impossible.”

She wept softly as I took Scootaloo from her, proceeding to the door while gazing upon her innocence.

“Was she really the one spoken of?

I wrapped her in simple bedding and proceeded to walk to the front door, ignoring eye contact from everypony in the lobby. A nurse screamed murder as the door opened; I fled the scene.

Screams echoed throughout each town as I flew through them. Lights illuminated from each house, introducing a new scream to add to the commotion. Several ponies chased after me as I flew, some of them I knew. Each shouted at me as I flew faster until my wings could no more.

“We know you have him, NearFlight! You know what needs to be done!” They shouted, gaining speed. I held my head low,

“No!” I shouted, my wings burning with fatigue, “I know what you’re going to do to her! I know what you want done! You’re all monsters, I tell you!”

I could see the edge of Cloudsdale drawing near; I held onto Scootaloo as tight as I possibly could.

“Look at what you’ve built, NearFlight!” Called one of the ponies gaining on me; it was HighShine.

“Think about it all! Everything you’ve work for! All the effort it took to convince the stubborn asses back at the council! Do you really want to waste it all on this? She’s nothing to you, but everything to us! Go to your wife! She needs your comfort,” he cried; his voice grew tense, “NearFlight, your wife is in trouble.”

My wings clamped, causing me to fall. My mane dangled over Cloudsdale’s border. I checked Scootaloo; she was safe in my hooves.

HighShine stopped, towering over me with a raised hoof, signaling the rest to stop as he did.

“NearFlight, my dear friend, are you really going to throw everything away for a flightless dove?”

He chuckled and paced around me like a helpless animal; I closed my eyes, cowering in fear. Although he had been my friend for the longest time, I had always feared him since the day we met. There was a darkening aura about his presence; he took his duties seriously.

“NearFlight, don’t you think it’d be easier if you just gave her to us right now? Then I don’t have to pace and your wife doesn’t have to die. Sound like a good plan?”

I struggled to stand, trying to look my best in the face of death,

“Is this how we were supposed to run Cloudsdale?” I shouted, teary-eyed at best, “This is nothing like the original council, NOTHING!”

“How so?” He questioned, still pacing around me, “We’ve followed all their traditions. Well, all but one.”

“That is?” I stared him down, but he smiled,

“We have a weak leader.”

He smirked and chuckled before backing away.

“Follow the traditions, my flank!” I screamed, covering Scootaloo’s tiny ears. I wasn’t sure if she even understood what was going on, “All you did was frolic around while I did the research! While you ponies were partying, I was studying the scroll! While everypony was moseying around, I was the one who discovered the damn thing!”

He stopped and flicked his tail,

“If you spent so much time on this,” he said, not daring to turn around, “then why would you want to destroy it? Why would you take all this time and effort toward building a perfect Cloudsdale, no, a perfect Equestria, just to see it crumble, why not see it to the end?”

I closed my eyes; I had asked those same questions several times in the last ten minutes,

“Because,” I began, holding my breath, “I know when to stop.”

He raised a brow, but I took no notice, “I know when things have escalated too far,” I continued, speaking my mind to the fullest, “Everything we have today is perfect. We are in, what is described, at Equestria’s peak, the Prosperity Era, as scholars have called it. Why would I want to destroy that? A new, organized order would be nice, it really would, but with things going so perfectly now, why continue? Our order, our council, is killing the perfect world we already have. There is nothing more that we need to even consider!”

Once again, he chuckled, muttering the same words under his breath, “Pathetic,” he mumbled, “Absolutely PATHETIC!”

Scootaloo began to cry, drawing the attention of civilian ponies who knew nothing of what was going on.

“You are the one who convinced us that this was the way Equestria was supposed to be! This was the original, or as you called it, Ancient Equestrian way! We lost everything to follow you! We gave up our lives, our jobs, our destinies to follow your teachings!”

He paused, looking down at the clouds below his hooves,

“But you know what?” He continued, his voice growing deeper, “You’re nothing, NOTHING! You set us up; you set all of us up for failure! You knew this was going to happen yet you did nothing to warn us! All of this time, it was you who taught us that this was real, but you were wrong and we were fools to believe otherwise.”

A crowd began to generate around us; Scootaloo continued to cry while HighShine continued to rant, “Your child’s very existence is a defect and your wife is probably dead by now. With that in mind, tell me, who are you going to run to? Who in this wide, wide land of Equestria is going to take in two reject ponies like you? I’ll tell you, nopony. Equestria is changing, NearFlight, and there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s a big world out there, are you going to conquer it all with your lies and deception? I wonder; how many ponies are going to fall for your smoke and mirrors?”

He turned toward the crowd around us, “Would any of these generous ponies be willing to take you in? To protect and defend you on the execution stand? And I wonder, would any of these ponies cry at your funeral? Of course not, this is a new era, NearFlight. I just wonder what they’ll call it…”

The confused ponies of Cloudsdale stared blankly at each other, trying to figure out what the commotion was about. HighShine paused and adjusted his hooves to make it look as though he were in deep thought.

“Oooh!” He cried, finally breaking his comical thought sequence, “I’ll call it the, Downfall Era, do you think that’s a good name?”

I spat out a laugh of disgust, “Downfall? What are you talking about? You haven’t even started your, what I’ll assume to be, reign of terror!”

He looked at me thoughtfully before speaking once more, “Oh, for once, you are right! We’ll have to put Celestia in the can first. We’ll just have to call it the Accusation Era, just to be safe.”

I rolled my eyes, “Call it whatever you will, I’m done with your idiotic rampage! All my work has been corrupted by the likes of your friends! If I had done this alone, we wouldn’t even have this dispute!”

“Dispute?” He spat, “You call this a dispute? If you had done this alone, your work would have meant nothing.”

Once again, he paused and looked out to the crowd, “But this,” he said, “this is something that you should be proud of.”

I began to panic; he smiled,

“I’m taking the organization off your hooves… permanently.”

He backed away, leaving the other ponies an opportunity to finish me. I looked toward the edge and kicked my hooves toward it. HighShine caught on,

“Well?” He called to the ponies, “Go get him!”

I could see the ground from where I dangled; I kicked my hooves faster and braced, closing my eyes. One of the ponies in the audience screamed as I fell off Cloudsdale. I held onto Scootaloo with all my love, trying to open my wings, which were still sore from earlier, but the faster I flew, the harder it became to break. I shed a tear and looked down at Scootaloo. Still a newborn, she had already gone through so much, I wasn’t sure if she could handle the rest of her life. I thought about dropping her for my own sake, but after everything I had gone through to protect her, there was no way I’d let that happen. With every bleeding feather, I spread my wings and broke against the wind. Tears were shed and blood was let, but Scootaloo was kept safe. I dared not flap; I knew I would instantly clamp if I did. So instead, I glided, alone in the dark with nopony else but Scootaloo, the one I had sacrificed so much for.

Nopony dared chase me after I had fallen. They had assumed either we were dead from the fall, or were too afraid of the surface to even consider pursuing me. Pegasi stayed away from the surface, we knew of our treaties, and respected them as such. Everypony in Cloudsdale knew that if a pegasi were to be caught standing on land, they would be immediately put before a judge. The only time a pegasi could walk on land, were during social events approved by Princess Celestia, who, at this time, ruled diligently. That was the reason I quit the Council. It was not only because of my child’s execution, but because I pitied Celestia. She had lost so much during her rule, I dared not upset her longer. She was so reluctant toward letting us watch over her during our few meetings, that I began to develop a conscience. All this time, I thought I was doing the favor; I thought this was the right way to rule Equestria: as a chosen Council. Of course, I was wrong. I had no interest in running Equestria for its benefit. All I wanted was to relive the times spoken of in the Scrolls I obsessed over.

When I predicted my work, my organization, would ultimately destroy Equestria, I hid all of the scrolls. It, very much like this one, was a dark night that became clouded by my own self-guilt. I remember running home and pulling a small sea-chest that I used during my school days, and taking to my work place. I snagged as many scrolls as I possibly could, stuffing each one into the chest and locking it with a pegasi branded padlock. I looked at the box and engraved a symbol that I figured would represent him. He was the writer for many of the scrolls; he was one of the three who soar above that day. Each scroll was numbered and gave details of the past; he was one of the founders of, what I dubbed, Old Equestria. His name was StarSwirl, and he documented that a certain formation of drawn stars could protect anything for thousands of years. He wrote of his encounters with non-unicorn magic users and their methods. With all his research lost to time, StarSwirl only saved one drawing, a horizontal formation of seven, five-pointed stars drawn out over the fourth scroll. He wrote that anypony could use magic to manipulate the world around them using drawn symbols and formations. With this knowledge, I scribbled the formation onto the box and, when night had fallen, buried it within the Gastly Gorge, a crevasse that was mostly abandoned. I documented the location of the chest and stashed the parchment within an illegal leather bag, throwing it into a lake not far from Cloudsdale. I had no interest in uncovering any more mysteries; it would not be long before HighShine discovered the missing parchments.

I braced and held my hooves out, preparing for the unexpected impact that would soon take place. As I closed my eyes, I thought of my beloved RainBeam, who, I had left defenseless. I whispered in the night, “Please don’t. Please, I beg of you, don’t.”

The several regrets that ran through my mind were too many to count; everything I had done was unforgivable. My only wish was that everypony would make it out of this alive. I wanted everything to go back to normal, but I knew deep down, that this could never be. My backside scrapped against the dirt, tearing it completely; I tried my hardest to compress my scream. I checked Scootaloo’s health; she was fine, laughing even. Although teary-eyed, I smiled and whispered, “Come on, Scootaloo. We need to keep moving.”

I struggled to stand; the ground below me was mixed with blood, gravel, and dirt. Trees surrounded us like armies ready for a fight; I backed down. Picking up Scootaloo with my teeth, I pressed on while trying to ignore the forest’s darker intentions. Despite my mouthful, I continued to whisper, “Now, now, Scootaloo. I hear there’s a town on the other side of this forest; we’ll be fine, I’m sure of it.”

Of course, she paid no attention to my distress, she had no reason to. She didn’t know what was going on; I envied her obliviousness. I looked quickly from side to side, watching out for the strange creatures I had read about. The scrolls warned against these woods repeatedly; I began to worry.

”How would I fare without my home? Is it possible to live in the forest?”

These sorts of questions ran through my head repeatedly as I aimlessly wandered the darkness. While the moon’s rays shone brilliantly through the trees, it was hardly noticeable with the dense tree line surrounding us. Twists and turns, I continued to wander, eventually finding a small pool of water, which, I immediately ran to. The moon reflected against its calm surface; it was the perfect place to sleep for the night. Using my hooves, I dug a small hole for Scootaloo; carefully placing her in when I felt it was a sufficient size. I, on the other hoof, slept not. I was too worried to even think of sleep. There were so many creatures in the forest,

”How long would it take to name everything that lives?” I thought, keeping a close eye on Scootaloo, ”Is it even possible?”

I smiled, brushing off the dust. It was a beloved treasure; I had sought diligently. Never had I taken so much dedication toward an item; this was it. I could smell the sweet scents of victory, failure, smoke, and blood all by being in its presence; it was beautiful. I reached out to it, stopping before I could reveal. A moment of silence was all it took to prepare myself; I had fought beside my sisters for such a long time,

”Was this all worth it?’

I ignored the wishes of my family to find this; the keeper of all secrets. Never before I had come so close, a lifetime of research was what it took. The cavern’s darkness pulled me closer to what I had before me. It took everything to find it; I only had to believe a bit longer. Certain radiance emitted from the artifact; I had no doubt it was the protective Pact made by she, the one who delayed Former Equestria’s ultimate demolition.

As my poor filly slept through the night, I stayed awake to watch the shadows that lurked behind the trees. The every essence of darkness frightened me; I picked up a pitiful stick for defense. I listened carefully as my ears played tricks on me; indefinable growls of disgust surrounded my filly and I; I tried my hardest to not cower in fear. As the moon lowered, the sun rose to shed light on all that we were. So thus, Scootaloo and I moved ahead. Through the trees and through the fields, we pushed on. My mind repeated my fears to me.

”Would they return? Are we really safe on the surface?”

A stench flooded the forest, color drained from my face,  

“No, not now,” I whispered, “Please, no. Not today, not ever!”

But my calls of forgiveness could not ease the monsters that sought our flesh. I closed my eyes and gazed upon the beast before me. I said my prayers and placed Scootaloo behind me, shielding her from the monster’s view. I wore a frightened expression on my face,

“Oh dear,” I silently cried, “Please do not.”

The timberwolf smirked and raised a single paw. I closed my eyes and stood my ground; this was my end.

”No,” I told myself, ”Scootaloo needs a home. You will give it to her! You must fight the beast!”

I shook my head and grabbed my child from the trotted soil, sprinting for my life. The timberwolf snorted with anger as his paws pounded against the earth. My legs grew weak and trembled with fear. I knew not of where I was going, only that I needed to leave. A sharp piercing burst came from the sky; they had come.

I was not as safe as I figured I would be. Three pegasi dressed in full black soared overhead, not to mention a furious timberwolf gaining speed by the second. I looked deep into Scootaloo’s eyes, which, longed for love and attention. She screamed, alerting all the overhead pegasi. I looked ahead and through my tears, I saw the edge of a small, but still developing, town. The timberwolf drew near; I began to hear the whispers of an earth pony to my left. I tripped, throwing Scootaloo as far ahead as I could, hoping that she would be able to break her fall, even in the slightest. I knew it couldn’t be, but I needed to stay hopeful. I needed to make sure she was all right; it meant everything to me. A sharp break in my hoof echoed through the forest, I screamed in pain. Blood ran down the face of the timberwolf as he thrashed me about. Through the corner of my eye, I caught glimpse of the pegasi who waited, watching me become torn to pieces. I swung around in the air, helpless and distraught. Immobile, I watched as my hooves were ripped from where they perched; I screamed once more. In an instant, I was launched against a tree; everything went quiet.

“Hmm? What’s this?”

Spit down my face as I watched, in pain, the simple earth pony picked up the injured child.

“Who do you belong to?” She asked the unsuspecting filly, “Where are your parents?”

She stopped to look around at who was present; she saw all but me, the one hidden by the deep forest’s grasp. The timberwolf went silent as well, collapsing to the ground; the three pegasi landed over its remains.

“Well, NearFlight, long time no see!”

The three of them chuckled; two of them kicked at the timberwolf remains. The main pony, who stood in front of me, had a coat of deep purple. His comrades both wore yellow. I glared at them all; one of them smiled and leaned closer. Blood still flowed from my hoofless legs.

“Now, now, NearFlight, that doesn’t look peaceful,” he smirked, “Tell us now, where’s the filly?”

The pony who had lovingly taken Scootaloo already fled the scene. I grinned, “She’s out of your reach. Even I don’t know where she’s been taken.”

The purple pony’s smirk dissolved within an instant, “If you’re not going to tell me what happened, then what use do we have for these?”

He laughed and stomped on my gashed right hoof; I tried my best to hold in a scream. The purple pony clapped his hooves and signaled to the other two beside him. Each one lifted my sides into the air, taking to the skies. I began to feel dizzy, a waterfall of crimson trailing behind me. I closed my eyes; I blacked out.

“Wake up.”

I contorted my face, drowsily shaking my head. The voice called to me again, “Wake up.”

A sharp clap echoed around me. I opened my eyes and tried to make out the figures around me. A bright light glowed in my face,

“I said, Wake up.”

My eyes focused and my arms grew tired; I was tied to a bloodied brick wall. The pony who yelled at me was none other than HighShine, the betrayal and most ignorant of ponies. He sneered at me, standing very close. He raised his left hoof in the air; the other four ponies left the room, leaving him and me alone. HighShine pulled up a chair and sat in front of me,

“So!” He yelled, “Let’s talk about something, shall we?”

The room was dark with the exception of a single torch placed on a hanging candlestick. The walls were dark and, what I assumed, muddy. A small wooden table rested before me.

“What-” I coughed, “do you want to talk about?”

My cuts and breaks had clotted, but my vision was still blurred. HighShine laughed hysterically, “What do I want to talk about? Oh, boy, what do I want to talk about?”

Sarcastically, he acted like he was in awe, imagining the infinite possibilities of conversation. He slammed a hoof on the table and stood up to me, “How about we talk about that little, adorable, missing filly of yours? How about that? You’d like that wouldn’t you?”

I shook my head, “Why do you persist? I don’t know where she is.”

He nodded his head with disappointment, “How could you, the founder of all our work, be so incredibly IGNORANT?”

He paused and took a step back, “Do you really think I am so gullible as to believe you lost your one and only child? What kind of father do you think you are? If she was left alone in hiding, she’ll die and you just did our work for us! You hardly made it out of the forest, so tell me, where is she?”

I shook my head, “What does it matter? You’re a monster just like the timberwolf who caused this.”

I tried my hardest to look down at the damage done. His eye twitched with fury, and clapped his hooves together for a second time, “Let’s do this again, shall we?”

The door burst open with a single red wheelbarrow draped in a white cloth. He nodded to the pony bringing it in; the pony left the room. HighShine began to chuckle, pushing the cart in front of me, leaving the sheet atop it.

“Do you know what this is?” He asked, kicking the side of the barrow. I raised an eyebrow,

“Money?”

He chuckled and paced around the room, “I’m going to say it, perspectives change, my dear friend. Perspectives change depending on belief. You could say it’s money, but in reality, matter can be anything you want. Take this table,”

He tapped his hoof against the tabletop; I continued to eyeball the cart.

“This table is, as we define, a table. It has four legs and a top to place certain items on.”

I nodded, looking at him from the corner of my eyes. He smiled and continued to pace about, “But let’s break it down, shall we? To me, this is wood that was repurposed for something more. It’s really a beautiful cycle! Believe me! The changing of otherwise useless materials into an everyday object we use for fun. It’s amazing!”

I looked at him through my foggy eyes, “What does this have to do with the crate?”

He sarcastically panicked, “Oh! It’s related to everything! What I may perceive as money could mean so much more to you! Who knows what lies under this tarp?”

He tapped on the white sheet; something didn’t feel right.

“So let’s make a trade, this cart, for your daughter. Does that seem fair? To me, this is real gold. It’s a fortune! Sure, your perspective may be different, but what’s the difference? Matter is matter, my friend.”

“I will never give you Scootaloo.”

He stopped, remaining calm and devilishly sarcastic, “Scootaloo, what a simple, wonderful name. Who chose it?”

“My wife who you slew, monster!” I began to weep, “You killed her...”

He gently placed a hoof on my shoulder, “I didn’t kill her; she’s alive.”

A spark went off in my mind, “What? But you said-,”

“A simple bluff; take no notice of it. Now, what do you say? A life to live with your wife for Scootaloo, a simple, flightless pegasi with no future?”

Too much was running through my mind, ”What do I do?”

“Scootaloo may seem special, but really, she’s just a pony. She won’t even remember you. Come on, HighFlight, give her up, we won’t tell.”

I began to cry, torn between two fates. I would never be respected by my wife ever again, ”What was I to do?”

I stopped and hung my head low, “Alright, I’ll so it.”

He smiled with glee, “Well that’s great! Where is she?”

“She’s... near Ponyville... I don’t know where exactly...”

He smiled and rubbed the top of my head, “It’s fine; we’ll take it from here. Don’t worry about a thing.”

I shook my head, confused; I shouted, “Now where is she? Where is RainBeam?”

He started to chuckle and bent over, slowly pulling the white curtain.

I screamed, horrified to see the dripping bloody mess of disfigured parts piled within the sickening cart of terminal death.

“Do you remember when I talked about ‘perspective’?”

Her lovely face stared back at me, skinned with a brutally dull knife. I wept silently, not able to look upon the one I loved,

“I-I,” I stammered, “Y-you said she lived!”

Blood began to seep from my ears and dripped down my face,

“Oh, she is very much alive! Alive in your mind, that is,” His demonic laughter echoed throughout the room, “You should look in the mirror; you’re absolutely pathetic.”

He bent down and picked up a disembodied hoof, decorating me like a Hearth’s Warming Tree. I screamed and thrashed about, “DON’T YOU TOUCH HER!”

But all he did was chuckle and giggle as he picked up every individual piece, placing it atop my head and tying what I assumed to be my love’s intestines around my neck like a noose.

“But don’t you see? Now she’s a part of you! You two are going to have a ball together! I’ll get the music!”

I shook my head violently, a small chunk of liver fell from my shoulder,

“YOU PIECE OF HORSESHIT! I’M GOING TO STRIKE YOU DOWN AND RIP YOU PIECE BY PIECE! DON’T YOU FUCKING TURN AWAY FROM ME!”

His smile shattered as he walked back to me, kicking aside the barrow. He gazed down at the scattered parts sighing, “It’s a shame, you know. That barrow cost me thirty bits,” he stared at me with death in the eyes, “It used to be a brilliant baby blue color. Did you know that’s my favorite color? Such a bargain.”

“SHUT UP!” I screamed struggling against the wall, “SHUT UP! I DON’T WANT TO HEAR IT! ONCE YOU TURN YOUR BACK, YOU’RE GOING TO BE DEAD! YOU HEAR ME? DEAD!”

But he remained unfazed by my juvenile insults, instead, he returned to his sadistic laughter, “Oh really? You are going to kill me? How? Are you going to use magic? Remember your place, NearFlight.”

“NO...”

“Well then, I think it’s settled,” He smirked,

He pulled out a long black dagger from behind his front left hoof and plunged it into my abdomen. I cringed, trying to keep my calm,

“So this is how it ends?”

He happily smiled, “yep.”

He turned the blade deeper and deeper inside me; I screamed. Up and down he ripped, not daring to halt. In his face burned the desire to kill; blood sprayed in all directions. My mind went numb; I could breathe no longer. I cared not; Scootaloo, for all I knew, was safe. I had finished what I started; there was nothing more I could do than to watch. My wife was dead and I, too, wished to join her. He stopped, seeing the damage done. I should have died by then.

“When will you learn?” I cried and looked through the tears of crimson, “When will you find the real truth?”

He shook his head, “You don’t exist.”

He raised the knife above me and brought it down on my shoulder, I screamed. A bright blue pony stood behind HighShine, shaking her head as he had his way with me. I closed my eyes, but she was still there, watching me.

“Why would you take yourself?” Asked the pony, trotting her way to my limbless body, torn in pieces, a large cavity where my stomach should have been.

“Are you really this eager to die? If only you’d know what you’ve caused…”

She wore a face of distress, the blue pony did. Confused, I asked her the most obvious of questions, “What are you? Am I really dead?”

She rolled her blackened eyes and peered deep into my own, “Would I be here if I weren’t? My identity is nothing that concerns you. You have caused a war that will last until the end of time; I have seen it. You may feel nothing now, but just you wait until you burn. Then you’ll feel the pain.”

I began to shake, smoke arose from the cavity. I screamed, gritting my teeth; she smiled and gave me a sweet kiss on the cheek.

“There, a kiss from a demon. Does that sound good to you?”

Small sparks came from the nubs where my hooves had formally been,

“Why are you here? What do you mean ‘you’ve seen’?”

She chuckled, waving her light purple tail, “I’m here to show you the damage you’ve caused. Of course, I, myself am not allowed to be here and I do have limited time before you burn to a crisp. Let’s have fun, shall we?”

She smirked, lights emitting from her deep red eyes. I blinked, finding myself inside a well-furnished room. It was one of the suites in Canterlot. The bed of which I lay was comfortable and clearly meant for royalty. I uncovered myself and looked toward the door of the dark bedroom. Black stained curtains darkened the already ominous room; I reached out to the doorknob, turning it with shaken hooves.

I was greeted with a circular room filled with five doors, not including my own. The pony waited for me in the middle of the room, turned away and dressed in white.

“Welcome to my nightmare,” she spoke with a softening tone, “This is where I have been enslaved for centuries. Time does not exist here; I discovered this.”

She dared not turn around; I began to wonder what was behind the doors.

“You made me this way,” said she, at last breaking the silence, “Your cult disrupted balance and brought a destiny I didn’t wish to follow.”

I shook my head, “What are you talking about? I left the Council! There’s nothing more that I can do to stop it!”

She lowered her head, “I’m not asking you to put a stop to it. I want you to look around at the suffering you have caused. I am here to bring pain upon you.”

Frightened, I looked around the room, black stains flooded the walls, tears continuously dripped from the window ceil.

“What is behind these doors? The doors that call and cry?” I asked, feeling a burning sensation from the bottoms of my hooves.

“What lies behind these doors are my sins, my faults, my punishment,” said she, still not daring to show me her face. Smoke rose from my hooves, I howled, but she smirked.

“Hurts doesn’t it? The sad thing is that you won’t become anything like me. The punishment grows as your crimes do, and mine have reached the limit. There’s nothing I can do about it; I am left here to relive the same nightmares until the timepiece expires,” she pointed toward the large sun painted on the ceiling. I screamed, clutching my head, pulling out my mane; the cavity grew larger as the stench of burning flesh flooded my consciousness. She, with all her nightmares, laughed, “Looks like it’s time for you to go. Have fun…”

One of the doors in front of her cracked in half, revealing a yellow pony with a large gash taken from her neck. Voices echoed throughout the empty room,

“How could you? What did we do? What would have done? You could’ve stopped. You could’ve turned around.”

A second door broke open, revealing a light blue pony with the top of her skull taken clean off. Her wings dangled by mere fibers, “Why did you do it? I had everything and you took it!” She screamed, “What would you have done? You could’ve stopped. You could’ve turned around.”

Another door opened to my right, unleashing a bright pink pony held together by nothing more than stitches, “I feared you! I gave you happiness! What does mercy mean to you?” She screamed, “What would you have done? You could’ve stopped. You could’ve turned around.”

A fourth door opened, unveiling a red-stained pony who cried with constant breaks in her voice, “I gave you shelter! I gave you love! We used to be happy! I helped you out! What would you have done? You could’ve stopped. You could’ve turned around.”

The blue pony fell to her knees as each of the ponies slowly approached her. Whether they hovered, crawled, or dragged their way to her, they moaned and begged her for mercy, but all she could do was shake her head. A fifth door opened behind me, it was the door I had emerged from. A shadow arose from the door to join in on the questioning.

“Look what you’ve done!” She said, “You’ve caused pain for all of us! We were all once a part of you! Why would you do something to these innocent ponies? What happened to the pony I once knew? How could you have been so weak? What should we have done? We could’ve stopped. We could’ve turned around and left these friends alone.”

The blue pony cried louder than ever, calling out for one single pony in particular. Finally, a sixth door from the darkest part of the room burst open in a ray of light. Voices called from within it, but no pony came forth.

“Look what you have done! Look what you have tried! Look at the suffering you have brought yourself! After everything, is possible for a failure such as you to learn? Will you remember the times before? How could you have forgotten yourself? Welcome, my dear friend, to your eternal nightmare.”

A drop of blood ran from my ear, I smiled and yelled to the neon blue pony, “Thank you.”

She finally turned around, tears in her deep black eyes; she said nothing.