Heart of Destruction: Part 15

Part 15: Destruction
>Fluttershy’s Cottage.
>The animals are running wild. They’re attacking each other, killing each other. Fluttershy’s pleas for them to stop fall on deaf ears. They can’t understand her anymore.

>Sweet Apple Acres
>Granny Smith won’t wake up. The sudden disappearance of magic was a shock to all of the ponies. Granny’s heart isn’t very strong. Applebloom keeps shaking her, asking why she won’t wake up. Big Macintosh and Applejack don’t know what to do.

>Ponyville Library
>Spike is on the ground, clutching his stomach. The magic fire inside of him briefly turned to regular fire before burning out. It scorched his insides. He’s crying, calling out to Twilight. She can’t help. She can’t help anyone now.

>Carousel Boutique
>Rarity and Sweetie Bell are screaming, their beautiful voices intertwining to make a harmony of pain and terror.

>Sugarcube Corner
>Pinkie is panicking. The only thing worse than Pound Cake’s screams is that Pumpkin Cake’s has stopped.

>Rainbow Dash’s Home
>Rainbow Dash is falling. She beats her wings, but it does little to slow her descent. Amidst her fear and confusion, she can make out Cloudsdale in the distance. The city is dissolving, literally vaporizing, as shocked pegasi plunge towards the hard ground. She closes her eyes as she nears the ground.

>As the circle of magic nullification spreads, so too does the pain and terror. Throughout Equestria, every creature with a voice is screaming. And at the center of it, at the heart of the destruction,
>is you.

> “Wake up!”
>Your eyes snap open and you gasp. What the hell just happened? You’re on the ground, your heart is racing, and there’s guardspony poking you with the butt of his spear. You push it away and raise yourself off the ground. You hear moaning at the other end of the barn, and you see Twilight, her brother, and the princesses being pulled away by other guards.
“What happened?”
> “You tell me!” barks the guard, poking you again, “What did you do to them?”
“I-I don’t…no, wait, I remember now. They were charging me with magic, and then my head started to hurt, and then-” Fragments of the dream flash in your head, “Oh god, are the others okay?”
> “We’re fine,” says Celestia, as guards help her to her feet, “We’re fine. Don’t hurt Anonymous, it’s not his fault. It’s mine.”
“What?” both you and the guard exclaim.
> “Your magic nullifying field expanded. Very rapidly, in fact. I should have expected this,” she says, shaking her head, “I was so concerned with how to get rid of the field, I didn’t question why it was there.”
“What do you mean, Princess?”
> “It’s a defense mechanism. Just as we cannot survive without magic, it seems humans are harmed by large concentrations of magic. We forced in too much in too short a time, and your body responded by enlarging the nullification field.”
>You sigh and try to calm down your racing heart.
“So I’m fu-…screwed, then, aren’t I? All our plans hinged on me being able to absorb and use magic. If I can’t do that, then the only other choice is death.”
> “No, not necessarily,” grunts Shining Armor, rubbing his head, “Right before your field expanded, you sort of…flickered.”
“What do you mean?”
> “It was just for an instant, but you disappeared.”
> “Partial teleportation?” says Twilight, “That proves it! Anon, you can do magic! You don’t have to die! You can stay here!”
“No. I can’t.”
>Twilight’s smile slowly fades.
> “What do you mean?”
> “His magic nullification is a defense mechanism, Twilight,” Celestia explains gently, “Removing it would kill him, but leaving it makes him a danger to all of Equestria.”
> “Then…then he can change shape! We’ll transform him into a pony!”
> “Twilight, you know as well as I do that all transformation spells are temporary,” says Luna, “Any transformed being or object will automatically absorb background magic until it can revert back to its natural shape. It’s one of the magical laws we’ve never been able to find a way around.”
> “Anon would be a pony for a day or so,” Shining Armor adds “but then he’d change back, and we’d be right back where we started.”
“Worse than when we started,” you say, looking at the barely visible edge of your circle, “my magic nullification field grew about three feet in an instant, I’m guessing as a result of being overloaded with magic. The more you charge me, the bigger it will grow.”
> “It’s…resting growth rate, I suppose we should call it, also appears to have increased,” says Celestia, “He’s right. The only way to save Anonymous is to send him home, and we’ll have to work carefully if we want to avoid a repeat of today. He’ll need to be charged slowly, and he won’t have many opportunities to practice.”
> “There has to be some other way!” says Twilight, “C’mon Anon, you can’t just give up!”
>You shake your head slowly.
“I’m sorry, Twilight. I can’t think of any other options. Either I leave Equestria, or I die. Either way, I have to go.”

The next day:
>You sigh. You’ve been staring at the same page of one of the books Twilight loaned you for the last ten minutes. You just can’t concentrate, not with everything that’s been going on. Finally, you hear hoof steps near the entrance of the barn.
> “Hey Anon!” says Twilight, in that overly cheerful voice she uses when she’s worried but doesn’t want to show it, “Did you have a good night?”
“Yeah, pretty good,” you lie. You could hardly sleep a wink. “So, are you ready to get started?”
> “Mmhmm. We’re going to take it slow at first. Low-level spells with frequent breaks at first, until we know your limits. Remember, if you start getting a headache, say something and we’ll stop.”
“I remember. We went through all of this yesterday.”
> “Alright. Let’s go outside. If you have another outburst, I want to have space to get away.”
“Yeah, good idea.”
>You follow her, at a safe distance, outside. The guards glare at you warily. The guards have been more…well, guarded, since yesterday. Who could blame them? You nearly killed two princesses, their captain, and one of the element wielders.
> “Are you ready, Anon?”
>Her horn begins to glow as she charges you with magic. As it enters your body, you can feel a dull throbbing in your head.
“Ease up a little, Twilight. My head’s starting to hurt a little.”
> The glow disappears. “Sorry Anon, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I just need to sit down for a bit,” you say as you lower yourself to the ground. As you do, something slips out of your pocket. You scramble to pick it up and return it to its hiding place.
> “Anon? What was that?” asks Twilight.
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
> “Anonymous. That was a knife. Why are you carrying a knife?”
“I asked Applejack if I could borrow one. Nothing wrong with that. Knives are useful. You never know when they might come in handy.”
> “In handy for what, Anon?” Twilight demands.
“You know. Stuff.”
> “Anon!”
>You sigh.
“If you must know, it’s a safeguard.”
> “Safeguard for what?”
“I almost killed you yesterday. Again. I’m not going to let it happen a third time.”
> “And how is a knife going to prevent it?” she cries.
>You pull the small paring knife out of your pocket and stare at it for a moment. Then you tap it against the side of your neck.
“The carotid artery. It’s pretty close to the surface, so a small, sharp blade like this should sever it easily. The blood loss would be rapid. I’d be unconscious in seconds. Death would follow soon after.”
>For a moment, she says nothing. Then, like a dam bursting, the words begin to flow.
> “What the hell is wrong with you?” she shouts, “How could you possibly think I’d be alright with this?”
“Why do you think I didn’t tell you!” you snap.
> “Do you think I’d want to see you die in front of me?”
“Do you think I’d want to be a murderer?”
> “Give me the knife,” she demands, but you make no move. “Anon! Give. Me. The. Knife.”
>You hold out your hand, the blade lying across your palm.
“Take it.”
>Twilight glares at you.
> “Throw it on the ground over there.”
“No. If you want the knife, then take it.”
> “You know I can’t do that, Anon.”
“Exactly. You can’t. You cannot take it from me with magic. You cannot take it from me by force,” you say, as you put the knife back in your pocket. “Do you think I’ve been staying in that barn because you told me to? I could have left any time I wanted. Even with that pair of guards at the door. I’ve gone along with your ideas so far because I agreed to their logic, so don’t think for a second that you have power over me. Don’t you dare presume to tell me what to do now. Not for something this important.”
> Twilight tries to fight back the tears, but it’s a losing battle.
> “Well, if you don’t get rid of that knife, you can forget about me helping you!” she shouts.
“That’s fine,” you say, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible, “I’ll find some other unicorn to help me.”
> For a moment, she’s speechless.
> “Fine!” she cries as she turns to go, “I’ll just leave you to get on with it!”
>As you watch her leave, the anger inside dissipates, and you are left feeling hollow.