This is something I've been writing and working on for a long time tbh (I have about 25 chapters saved on my laptop of this fanfic)
Mostly just something I work on in my spare time for fun, so I dont particularly care if it's original or not, I do this for fun so if you like it great, if not no sweat off my back.
I will admit I havent watched any of the show after season... 4? Maybe 5? So most of this is based on seasons 1-4/5 and whatever I've read online after. Plus the movie.
I'll upload a new chapter probably within the next 48 hours, depends on how long it takes me to fix some typos as I re'read
In retrospect, everything could have gone so significantly worse for me. I could have died in the fire, I could have been skewered with a spear or horn within the first few minutes of being in that palace, I could have died of starvation or by being attacked by some wild animal days after escaping a bunch of unicorns and ponies out for my blood.
Instead I lasted for months. Or was it years now? Time has lost some meaning to me, since I've been more focused on keeping myself and my friends alive in this hell scape.
I had heard of the show. I mean who hasn't these days? As a little girl I used to collect the original My Little Pony figurines. Garish pastel plastic ponies with a mane and tail that seemed more like plastic than any attempt at functional hair. I think after I got out of that phase and went on to something else, Barbies I think, my older brother strapped them to fireworks.
But I got off track there.
As a child I collected them until I went on to the next big thing. I remember a few shows from when I was a kid but I don't think I ever really watched them. I had heard a few years back of a new show focusing on magic being produced, saw some art I thought was cute. My nieces loved it as soon as it aired and I even watched an episode or two with them. I personally didn't see anything noteworthy of it but I knew the internet exploded with it.
Personally I'll take my horror movies and video games over pastel ponies with squeaky voices any day.
Looking back on those days, maybe I should have watched the show, should have paid more attention to my nieces talking about it. Would have saved me a world of trouble.
Now I was overlooking a battlefield. Ponies, unicorns, pegasi, dogs, dragons, griffons, hypogriffs, serpents, yaks, deer, and creatures I didn't even have a name for all vying for the blood of another. Above I could see even more carnage, three winged unicorns, something that reminded me of a chimera, and one other being all duking it out in a fight for their lives.
All around me was chaos, death, and screaming. It was surreal, and I felt almost weightless as I looked over and saw a dragon snap its jaws down on a unicorn and snap its head clean off.
I raised my staff, preparing the spell, and took aim at my target in the sky.
But perhaps starting my story at the final battle is not the way to go.
After all, I'm sure you'd like to know how I sparked the greatest all-out war between every race on this planet called Equestria, wouldn't you? Especially since, unlike the creatures around me, I am human.
Well, it started a long time ago. Months or maybe a few years ago.
Like I said, time has been a bit fuzzy for me.
My niece's middle school was having their annual themed dance of the year, with the theme being voted on by the students. This year the theme had been agreed to be Disney characters, with the votes being chaperones dressing as villians and the kids dressing as princes and princesses. My nieces begged me to help assemble their dresses, pretty shiny fabric and tiaras, and of course I couldn't say no. My brother of course was too busy with work to chaperone the dance so I volunteered in his stead.
Part of that work involved helping set up the decorations and that morning dressed in a sweater, jeans, and sneakers I stood as far up a ladder as I could as I pinned and taped thin paper streamers to the ceiling of the cafeteria for the dance. From my position I could see the entire room and everyone working. Linda was arguing with one of the mothers about what kind of snacks were to be provided, particularly whether they were gluten free or not. The poor mother she was ranting to seemed like she'd rather be flung into a volcano than chat with her. I could see a couple of the dads, Roger and Rodrigues setting up some of the wooden castle that the carpentry class had spent the last month constructing and the art class painted. The two were joined by another father, Isaac was it?, who looked over the leaning structure and gestured to the toolkit he had brought. Well, the class was all middle schoolers. I climbed down from the ladder as a chubby and bubbly woman ran up to her, her tight curls bouncing as she ran.
"Hey Kathy, thank you again for helping! I really wasn't expecting Hellen to get sick today of all days!" She apologized again for the sixth time that day. I shrugged.
"She does this every dance, not like it's your fault. You guys should really kick her from the PTA already." I said. I inspected the small case of pins in my hand and did a mental count. We were short if we wanted to get all the streamers and banners up, and that looking over I could already see Linda wasting a lot of the minor decorations making sure that one corner was just so perfect for her little starling that night.
Honestly made me want to strangle her and Hellen. Today was my only day off from work after all. Janice gave me a sheepish grin, fidgeting with the sleeve of her turtleneck and averting her eyes. I sighed, holding up the case of pins.
"Well, either way we need more of these. And more streamers and party favors if someone doesn't bring Linda back to earth and realize there are more kids than her little diva. I'll run to Edward's and pick up some more." I handed Janice the case of remaining pins and she shook her head.
"Are you sure? You know how long it takes to get reimbursed! I'm sure we could make do!"
"This is Marie and Leslie's last year in Junior High before they graduate to High School, so I wanna make sure its special. Besides if I have to listen to Linda rant more about her awful gluten free lemon bars I think I'm going to throw this ladder at her."
"Can we make a deal to toss them as soon as her back is turned?"
"I'll buy some lemon bars that actually taste good. We'll swap them when she isn't looking so she doesn't realize."
The agreement set I headed out, wrapping a scarf around my neck and putting on my coat as I stepped out into the chilly autumn air. Well I said autumn but with a thin blanket of snow already dusting the ground it felt more like an early winter.
The town was small, most things within a few blocks no matter where you were at so I decided to walk to Edward's market instead of my car. The walk was calming compared to the inside of the cafeteria of the school with parents upset over stupid things or discussing the proper way to set up the props the students had made. It was only mid afternoon and already I could see some kids running about for their weekend fun, and few car
The ding as I opened the door to the shop was the only thing to great me, the older man Edward himself not even glancing up from his paper behind the counter. There were only five rows of goods, each neatly laid out and smartly placed with like items to make your trip easy and quick. It was one of the few small markets in town, if you wanted a big name store you'd have to make the thirty minute drive to the city. Still, it offered a small selection of fresh goods and a larger selection of packaged goods and household supplies. The office supplies where I would find more pins was next to the children's toy selection and the craft selection, making it a one stop shop for me. I looked over some of the pin options and then turned to the toys as I tossed the pins into my basket.
Colourful packaging displaying their contents with larger than life superheroes or impossibly feminine girlish princesses and animals lined the shelves. I gave them a few quick glances until I grabbed two mystery boxes for the My Little Pony show, one for Marie and one for Leslie. Marie was pretty desperate to get some princess from the batch, and I knew if I didn't get one for Leslie to she'd throw a fit. Then I turned to the craft supplies and examined a few different colour options of streamers. There honestly weren't many colour options available, I just wanted to waste as much time as I could. I settled on a couple of each colour and started to drop them in my basket when I heard something on the shelves above me start to clatter. I looked up just in time for an object to fall directly on my face and make me fall back and into the shelf behind me, sending a few toys clattering to the floor.
I heard Edward curse and start running through the store until he found me and ran over, inspecting me for any injuries. I rubbed my nose and righted to a sitting position as I picked up the object that decided to suddenly fall.
"Everything alright Kath? No injuries?" Edward asked, trying to get a better look without actually touching me. I rubbed the back of my head and stood up, testing my limbs for any soreness or injury.
"Nah, look's like I'm good. Halloween was like a week ago, is this the last of your stock?" I asked, holding the offending object out to him. It was kind of interesting looking, grey with a tacky red fake gem and wings and a unicorn head sticking out of the top. For looking like a cheap cartoon necklace, it was surprisingly heavy and the gem was hard to tell if it was glass or acrylic. Looking at it now made me think it would be perfect for the dark sorceress costume I had hobbled together for Halloween and was intending to reuse for the school dance. Edward seemed confused by the trinket, taking it into his hands and examining it.
"Must be. Thought I had sent it all to the thrift a week ago but I must have missed this one." Edward said. A sudden thought came to mind.
"Can I buy it?"
My brother's house was a bustle of activity as I made my way inside. Careful to hide my present to the two girls in my coat pocket, I carefully stepped over the strewn about toys they left on the livingroom floor and made my way to the kitchen where Leslie and Marie were arguing about who got the acrylic jewel necklace to wear with their costume. I saw my brother's wife, Valeria, watching them from the side with an expression that just screamed like she needed a strong cup of something.
"Hey girls, how are the costumes coming along?" I asked, announcing my presence. The look of relief on Valeria's face was obvious as she made a tactful retreat out of the kitchen while Marie and Leslie both ran up to me and swamping me in a group hug. The two were twins, both twelve years old. They both shared the same brown eyes and black hair as their mother, but got their freckled complexions from my brother. Marie was dressed in a powder blue dress, her hair done in a braid to emulate her latest princess obsession of Elsa, while Leslie was dressed in a pastel pink dress with a tiara to emulate Aurora.
"Not great! Leslie won't let me wear the necklace!" Marie complained, her voice pitching in her whine. It quickly devolved into another argument between the two, their high pitched voices growing in volume as they yelled back and forth. I quickly decided I had no desire to lose my hearing and pulled the two mystery boxes out of my pocket.
"Well, I was planning to give these to my two well-behaved nieces, but I can't seem to find them right now." I said, my voice slightly lilted so it would get their attention, but also be obvious that I was joking around. I smiled, tossing one box up in the air and catching it.
"Well, if they aren't here I guess I will just have to take it back to the store." I said, and was immediately met with a chorus of 'no's and 'we promise to share!'. It was quickly decided between the two that since Elsa didn't wear a necklace that Leslie would get the necklace, and peace was restored as I gave them the two boxes. It was a little disturbing to watch the two princess dressed girls rip into the boxes with a vigor I had only previously seen when watching a documentary about wolf hunting patterns.
Marie let out a high pitched scream as she triumphantly held her little figurine for the world to see. A white pony with a pastel rainbow mane. It had some regal trimmings like a tiara, but it was hard for me to see due to how tiny the figurine actually was.
"Princess Celestia! Finally! Thank you Auntie!" Marie yelled, hugging me again.
My brother came home not long after, finding me helping his two girls out of their costumes so they could get ready for dinner. I declined the offer to stay, but joined him outside so he could smoke before I would head back to my place.
We talked for a little, mostly trivial things about his work at the police station, my job at the local nature preserve, the going ons in town. I told him what happened at Edwards, and how the decorating was going on at school and he told me how he had to help what they thought was a woman trapped in her bathroom only to find out it was a twenty-something dude. All trivial, all just day to day.
Looking back on them at the present time, I honestly couldn't tell you if I actually miss it or not.
I sighed as I applied makeup in my bathroom mirror. Today was the dance and I had to be there in two hours, a half hour before the doors actually opened to the pre-teens. Chaperones were encouraged to dress up as villains, the more disney like the better, to better blend in with the dance and as a sort of irony as kids tend to view us. I couldn't afford to buy another costume, and since Halloween wasn't to long ago I decided to just reuse my costume from then: A simple back dress I had cut off the back and slit up the sides, redone with black ribbon. Black opera gloves with metal fastenings to give them a restricted look, black leather boots I bought at the thrift a few years back, a deceptively thick faux-velvet cape with a hood with a faux-satin inside dyed black on the outside and red on the inside. To complete the look I had a heavy staff styled to look like wood with a glass clear ball on one end and a mask that was painted black and looked like the skull of an animal, probably horse or deer, it was hard for me to tell.
The costume was pretty freaky looking in the right light, but I doubted the party would have the 'right lighting' for it if Linda had gotten her way.
I applied the black lipstick and gave a slight huff, cursing that I had run out of concealer for the sixth time since I started.
I wasn't a pretty woman, or at least I didn't think so. Being over six feet tall already set me back, but I was well built with broad shoulders and distinct muscle tone from working out and the years I've put teaching people the paths up mountains and deep into the forest of our nature preserve just out of town. My face was square, my nose straight and prominent, my hair was mud brown and shaggy. Even with a blow drier it took forever to dry after a wash, which wasn't helped by the fact that it went down to my shoulderblades. My skin was very tan from spending most days outdoors in the sun, and freckles dotted my skin everywhere.
Right now I had my shaggy hair done up into tight french braids, done yesterday by my sister in law after presenting her girl's with more gifts and a dvd set to keep them busy so she could have some time to herself afterwords. I was extremely grateful that the braids managed to hold their shape overnight. Some final touches with red and black eyeshadow and I decided my make-up was the best I was going to get given the circumstances and grabbed my things, locked my door, and headed to the dance, putting on the winged unicorn amulet I had gotten a few days ago.
By the time I arrived, Linda was already going absolutely nuts over something stupid. With her attention away I discreetly made my way to the snack table and grabbed her tray of gluten free lemon bars and replaced them with store bought gluten free lemon bars I had bought yesterday. I discarded hers in the trash and walked over to Oliver, an older gentleman that was the father of three. He was working on some wiring at the wooden castle, trying to get some lights to turn on so it would look better for pictures.
"Everything ok?" I asked. He glances up at me and flinched before smiling.
"That mask is terrifying, Kath, the necklace is a nice touch. The wiring isn't working right. I think this extension cable is shot." He said, holding up the bright orange cable. The lights he was using were standard christmas lights, white and blue to match the color of the 'castle'. The cable was pretty old, but I couldn't see any signs of damage.
"Could the plug in be overloaded? The school kind of has shit wiring." I asked. We both looked over at the plug in, someone had decided to plug in one of those cords that allow for up to six cords to take up power. All six were in use and I idly wondered how safe that was as Oliver went over, unplugged it, and hit the small button between the two standard plugins. I thought I heard a pop as he plugged the entire thing in again, but I was immediately distracted by how the lights on the castle all lit up. Clumsily made and painted as the castle was, with the lights it actually looked really nice and added a perfect backdrop for the dance and for pictures of the kids. Oliver thanked me and soon after the doors were opened and kids started to arrive, dressed in bright dresses and colorful costumes of princess, princes, and even a few warlocks and witches.
I was watching Leslie dance with a boy in a warlock costume when I smelled it. At first, I figured it was coming from the nearby door leading out and some chaperone was on a quick smoke break. It wasn't until the sudden blare of the smoke alarm sounded that I realized it wasn't from a cigarette. Kids started screaming at the noise and the adults started to try and herd them out despite the panicked kids first running in random directions. I looked around, trying to find the fire when I heard a loud pop and a sudden blaze overtake the wooden castle and hit the ceiling, lighting up all the streamers and paper decorations above everyone. Full scale panic hit adults and kids alike as the heat from above bared down on us. The parents that kept their cool did their best to herd everyone to the exits, and I whirled around trying to find Marie and Leslie. I spotted Marie heading to the door, another young girl in a green dress dragging her along despite Marie trying to get further inside the building. I followed her line of sight and saw Leslie huddled under a table, her head over her hands as she cowered in fear. I broke into a dead run, pulling my mask down so it didn't obstruct my view and tossed my staff aside, hearing to glass ball shatter on the floor. I skidded along the floor and under the table as I heard something above us give a sickening crack and without even waiting for Leslie to say anything I grabbed her and bolted under the table towards the door. Something crashed behind us and I felt intense heat on my back. The shaking of the thud made me lose my balance and with what little control I had I threw Leslie as far as I could.
I heard her land with a thud the same time I did and looking up I saw someone grab her before my vision was cut off my something burning landing in front of me. I heard something crack above me, so I closed my eyes and prayed it wouldn't be as painful as some websites described burning to death to be.