#prompt 199

[writersisland]

I see your 'character working hard to finally break the cycle that brought nothing but pain and suffering, to make sure no one else will ever experience the same thing' and I raise you 'character succeeding in breaking the cycle but creating a new one in the process, dooming many more innocents, until one of them is ready to finally break the cycle that brought nothing but pain and suffering...'

[promptsbytaurie]

prompt #199

“I’m still waiting for the world to love me back.”

[notyouraveragewritingprompts]

Prompt #199

Eartling: Are you telling me cats are aliens?

Extraterrestrial: If by aliens you mean not from earth, then yes. You didn't know that?

[wonderful-prompts]

Prompt #199

A trip to a character’s roots results in land-seasickness and eating tiny, tiny fish.

[thirtyminuteponies]

Prompt #199 compilation: "The Abyss Gazes Also"

The Prompt: (S)He who fights monsters…

Stories are listed in the order in which they were received, and I am telling you this because I haven't had my coffee or breakfast yet and am not awake enough to be clever or original. But that's my fault, not the stories', so you should totally read them.

“To Prevent All Other Breaking” by Cynewulf

“Cleansed” by Versulia

“Never Ending Fight” by Shingo

“More” by TheLastBrunnenG

“A Better World” by Rawtooth

“A True Monster” by Shoe

“Because no one else would” by nintendoaddict1

“Hurricane Run” by P.O.W

[thirtyminuteponies]

Prompt #199: "Hurricane Run" by P.O.W

"Slice!" 

Hurricane pulled up at the last moment, calling for his solider to do the same. The young stallion, with all his medals and high praise, had been following close behind the commander as wing pony when the duo was forced into a dive. The white tempest that they had been trying to outrun had snatched Cake Slice's protective goggles off and the private met with his fate at the side of a mountain. 

Hurricane was helpless to do anything as the mangled form of his remaining army cascaded down into the snowy abyss. That was it then. He alone was left to set the course without a pony to turn to. He fought to stay hovering over the spot Slice had fallen, dead hope in his eyes as he studied the blurred blood patch through the storm.

Unable to wait up for a corpse any longer, Hurricane banked west in the direction of the Crystal Pass, the only opening in the Frozen Alps that would give him a straight path home. Pressing onward, he was suddenly alarmed by a sudden decline in altitude. Beating his wings to regain height was futile, however. The desperate flailing was only succeeding in bringing his already exhausted body nearer to its breaking point. And it broke. 

Helpless at that the whims of a monstrous storm, Hurricane spiraled downward like a lead weighted leaf. The last of his luck was spent on the fortune of plummeting into a high snowdrift. 

Stunned at first, adrenaline quickly focused his attention towards digging his way to the surface.  Spitting blood from his bitten tongue Hurricane cursed any deity that might have still cared about his life. His right wing dangled limp in its socket but he felt no pain. Only spite and cold nerve remained in the pegasus. He gave a few test steps. Satisfied with functioning legs Hurricane started off in a full gallop still intent on making it to the pass. He made little progress this way though, for every three steps he took he was shoved five back by bitter, icy wind.

At last, for all his fighting, the bleeding and battered commander could barely recognize the twin peaks that marked the opening. Renewed in spirit, he gritted his teeth. Warm mares and welcomed friends awaited him just beyond.

Hurricane howled and the blizzard seemed defeated at the hoofs of the superior storm. Slowly the curtains of blinding white begin to lift the closer he got towards the hope of home.

The Crystal Pass was gone.

Wiped out by an avalanche 

Dropping his jaw, Hurricane skidded to a halt. His pupils widen, his heart shattering sending a scorching, acidic lump to his throat. Everything…

His army….his soldiers……Private Pansy….Cake Slice…. all gone.

He screamed. Tearing his armor off, he bucked the crystal uniform. The more it refused to dent under his hoofed fists the more violent he became till his last remaining strength finally left him.  

Still in the silence, Hurricane took the time to look up and realize night was in beautiful bloom.

“Commander Hurricane…” He laughed, taking in the sight of the pallid, distant full moon. “Stand down.”  

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Bookman's Comments

Very good story, POW. The descriptions were top notch, and Hurricane's fury leaped off the page. The last sentence was extremely impactful.

[thirtyminuteponies]

Prompt #199: "A True Monster" by Shoe

They were all dead; every single one of them. They were all gone.

I let out a laugh and looked around, the fire burning ever higher. It was good to be me; free and loved by all... until I destroyed them.

I laughed again and took a step forward, my ash-covered hoof blending in with the red-streaked sky and the black grass. This was the highlight of my life.

They told me I'd never get my Cutie Mark... they said I'd never amount to anything...

But I did, I did. I did something that nopony else did.

I killed them all.

I started running, no, prancing quickly along; I wanted to see my art. It was so beautiful... the wonderful symphony of fire alarms mixed with screams of agony and terror.

Oh, the beauty of it all. It brought tears to my eyes; Sis would be proud.

I remember my foal-hood friends and laughed; they both got their Cutie Marks before me. They all did; even the Cake Twins got their marks before me! Well, they were always faster than us in a lot of stuff. 

Err, that sounded wrong.

I laughed again. Laughing seemed to make me feel better no matter what I was doing.

I slowed down into a nice, comfortable walk. The water of the lake outside of Ponyville was as black as everything else, it never ceased from being a black pool of misery and death.

Oh, the irony. I remember when it was a pool of friendship and happiness; the girls and I would hang around here all the time looking for our Cutie Marks...

I started crying; I didn't understand why. This was... new to me. I wiped my face with my hoof, leaving a black trail on my face. I sneezed and blood poured out again.

Faust-damnit. Oh wait, I'm already Faust-damned for killing all her ponies. Nevermind.

I looked into the murky black water and let out a contented sigh, recalling all the screams... my beautiful music...

I coughed and wiped my bleeding nose, falling down on my side. Well, this is the end for me. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

I started crying again, little baby me.

I looked up at the sky - well, more like a cloud of ash - and started thinking back on the days of the Crusaders... the happy, golden days where nothing went wrong except our plans. I let out a cough-laugh, blood dripping out of my mouth. 

Then I thought of home, Sis was always getting mad at me. So I left. Left the whole family behind and just started again in Filly. Everything in Filly is bad...

So I became bad.

First it was simple, a quick robbery here and there, prostitution now and then... but then it became worse.

I became an impulse killer, if I felt like killing somepony I would. A little bit of robbery became mugging... just for the feeling of their life slipping away.

Then I realized how wrong that was... I got better... I only killed monsters, then.

Oh, but there were so many monsters everywhere. So I killed them all... and now there is but one monster left.

The monster who killed all the monsters.

I could still hear my sister's words in my ears when I got to her, the monster that she is. She was the one who raised me... she was the true monster.

"Apple Bloom..." she had croaked, her face bloody and her eyes swollen shut.

"You are a monster."

And then I realized what I was... realized all I had did...

And now I'm dying, here with the sky blood-red and the grass black as sweet Luna's night.

I finally killed all the monsters.

Even myself.

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Bookman's Comments

A delightfully dark story, Shoe. After the kind of insults Apple Bloom went through, it's not too hard to see her ending up like this. And the ending lines were perfectly executed.

[thirtyminuteponies]

Prompt #199: “A Better World” by Rawtooth

My sister never understood my role.  She never even tried.

I attempted to education her, through action and word, through sword and pen, over long centuries and bloody battles.  But in the end, all of my efforts were forever in vain.  Many think that jealousy and greed stole my heart away.  And it is true, those emotions were ultimately what led to my fall into the endless nightmare.  They were not the start however.

I can still remember the occasion, as best as one truly can recall a memory that one's mind instinctively shies away from in pain.  It was the aftermath of a great battle, against whom I do not know, nor consider it particularly relevant.  The earth had been watered with blood and salted with bones that day, and at the time I questioned whether the land would ever heal.  But, I had won, again.  Another glorious victory for the empire my sister and I were building, brick by bloody brick.

For you see, my sister for all of her wisdom and power, never led our armies on the fields of battle.  At least not until my rightful exile.  Nay, that task fell to my shoulders.  It was one I had gratefully shouldered over the years, for I knew that I would bear it far better than my sister.  The world she had envisioned, the world she created in my absence, was a far better world than the one we were born into.  Trust me little pony, you do not understand the magnitude of suffering and pain that was perpetuated in those bygone years.

But I digress.  I had won again, and my armies laid bent, but not broken, from the hardships they had endured.  To celebrate this great victory, my sister had ordered a mighty feast.  I will ever admit that my sister is far more gracious than I shall ever be, ever more mindful of the little details.  I merely had accepted each sacrifice as the due owed by that soul to our great cause.  Do not think I am heartless though, for I believed that this celebration would pass down the ages from one generation to the next in commemoration of my soldier's success.

I was mistaken.

There, surrounded by many a pony who would never see home again, I was informed that this... incident was to be stricken from the records.  That nopony would ever know of the brilliance of Surefoot, whose quick thinking held my flanks strong.  That nopony would ever read of the courage of young Hardnose, the mare whose bravery inspired my own.  These, and a thousand other tales just like them, were to be erased from history, as if they never occurred.  My sister's explanation was logical and sound of mind.  If younger generations were to truly live in accord with the virtues of harmony, they needed to be sheltered from dangerous influences.  I agreed with her that it was the correct decision, but within my heart of hearts, I wondered.

What world, what better world, were we crafting, that did not recognize the sacrifices that went into it's own creation?

To this day, I do not know.

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Bookman's Comments

Great story, Rawtooth! Luna makes a good point. If they forget the sacrifices and mistakes that the last world made, what's keeping them from repeating it? But you can see where Celestia is coming from as well. You've crafted a wonderfully morally ambiguous situation, Rawtooth.