Popped

Part XI - Epilogue

The sun shone brightly in the sky, shining its golden rays down on the cold, dead landscape of the rock farm. The light warmed the grass below sixteen hooves as they marched from the edge of the land to the small cottage where they dwelled.

Unlike that of Rainbow Dash and Applejack, Pinkie Pie's funeral was a small, private affair. While the aforementioned mares' ceremonies had drawn in hundreds of ponies, only four were present at Pinkie's. In fact, the ceremony had already taken place by the time the rest of the country had even been notified of her death.

The Pies were a traditional family, and as such, kept things simple. Pinkie Pie was buried in a secluded area of the farm, next to her late grandmother. Exactly like the Pies before her, chiseled onto her headstone was the acronym "R.I.P.". Below it was her name: "PINKAMENA DIANE PIE."

Three flowers, two blue and one yellow, were laid on top of the fresh pile of dirt in front of the stone slab.

To speak in literal terms, life at the Pie family rock farm hadn't changed much. Pinkie had moved out years ago, and the farm had operated just fine in her absence. The granite was still mined, the marble was still polished, and the quartz was still cut.

Despite this, for the Pies, their lives seemed to be shrouded by a vast emptiness. The outside ambience was a little quieter. The rocks were a little grayer. The food was a little blander. Every little detail of their surroundings only seemed to remind them of the terrible chain of events that had led their dear family member to the great beyond.

But the Pies were a strong bloodline. They would get through these hard times and come out stronger than ever before. Or, at least, that was what they hoped for. Despite what they would have liked, life, as it had for billions of eons before, went on, and it would be up to them to keep up.

After the incident at the rock farm, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike had cut their visit short. They all shortly returned to their regular lives. Rarity continued to sew dresses, and Fluttershy looked after her animals. The only major change was the fact the Spike now lived with Rarity as her assistant.

Sure, things were the same on the surface. But between the death of loyalty, honesty, and laughter, and magic having gone off the grid, only two elements, kindness and generosity, remained in Equestria.

Fortunately, Equestria was not at risk. The elements had already been given up to the tree of harmony a few months prior. If anything, the six mares were only figureheads, the final remnants of an order lost to time. Life would go on.

Despite these striking similarities, however, it was clear that the absence of these four mares had left a void. Equestria would never be the same. The foolish innocence bred by a golden age of peace had come to a jarring halt. The familiar sound of closing doors was now followed by the clicking of locks. As soon as night fell, the streets became empty and barren. Friendly smiles were no longer pure, subtle glances of fear and suspicion instead filling the gap.

News of the horrifying atrocities that had been taking place under their muzzles for years had hit hard, and the scars would remain for a long, long time.

A new age had begun in Equestria. Not of love and friendship, but of fear and hostility.

* * *

Many weeks earlier

The unicorn kept his head low as he walked down the dreary dock, shielding his chapped skin from the freezing winter wind blowing hard in his face. Even in a place like Equestria, where the weather was completely under control, some ponies still found themselves unprepared for the harsh winter air when its time finally came.

Fortunately, he wasn't one of them. The unicorn marched down the wooden surface, covered head to hoof in clothing. A long, gray cloak covered his body, obscuring his cutie mark. His hair and horn were covered by a hood, and most of his face was hidden under a long, blue and yellow scarf.

He picked up the pace once he caught a glimpse of the large sailing ship coming up on the horizon. The sooner he was out of the cold, he thought, the better. Once he finally arrived, he came upon a small wooden booth next to the roped-off gangplank leading onto the ship. Walking up to the booth, the unicorn reluctantly lifted his head up, wincing immediately as a chilly gust swept past the exposed portions of his face.

The old stallion behind the counter looked up from his newspaper. Before his customer could even open his mouth to speak, his horn lit up, sliding open the glass door between the two ponies. "May I help you, sir?" he said, clearing his throat.

The unicorn took a step back from the light inside the booth.. "Are there, ah... any tickets left for the boat going to the...the ah..." He shuffled around awkwardly, "..the Griffon Kingdom later tonight?"

"Let me see..." The stallion replied, turning around to shuffle through a box sitting behind him. After a few moments, he turned back around. "Looks like you're in luck." He nodded, "We've only got three left."

If not for the scarf covering his mouth, the sigh of relief breathed by the unicorn would have been visible in the freezing air. "Oh, thank Celestia." he said, picking a sack of bits out of his saddlebag. "What's the- ah...what's the damage?"

"Eighty bits."

The unicorn looked up again, wallet secured in his magical grip. As soon as his yellow eyes found themselves level with the booth, however, he nearly dropped it.

"You alright, sir?" The stallion behind the counter said, looking at his customer with one eyebrow raised.

"Um, y-yes." the unicorn stuttered, opening his bag. "I'm fine."

The stallion snickered. "What, you scared by that guy's ugly mug?" he said, gesturing to the poster hanging on the right side of the window. "That's the son of a mule who killed all those poor mares over in Ponyville. I tell you what, If I ever saw that Pokey guy, I'd tear him a new one, reward or not."

"Y-Yeah, totally..." the unicorn replied, unsure about whether he should blame his chattering teeth on the bitter cold or the adrenaline pumping through his body. Whatever was to blame, it was making it quite difficult to focus on the task at hand. "Twenty, forty, sixty..." He quietly mumbled, quickly shuffling through his wallet and placing twenty-piece coins on the counter. "...eighty."

"Alright, sir." The stallion smiled, swiping up the four large gold coins and placing them into the cash register. "And what did you say your name was?"

"Po-" He hesitated, "um, I mean, uh...Co-Cobalt."

The stallion hit a few keys and ripped the freshly printed ticket out of a machine beside him. "Alright, Cobalt, you're good to go." The stallion said, levitating the ticket in front of his customer. "Stay safe now! And don't let the Blue Butcher get 'ya!" he laughed, waving him off.

To be continued...

Author's Note:
Thank you for reading Popped! I hope you've enjoyed reading as much as I've enjoyed writing it. :pinkiecrazy:

I started this story in the summer of 2013 with a simple mission. Being such a big fan of fics such as Le Petit Four and Cheerilee's Garden, I wanted to take a stab at writing my own gory story. It started out simple enough, but as I wrote more and more, I found myself re-hashing the plot and adding more details until that idea finally became the story you're reading now.

It took me almost two years, but I'm happy to say that this story is finally finished.

Of course, this is only the end of the first major arc of this tale. As I'm sure you're aware, there are still plenty of loose ends that still need to be addressed. But fear not, all will be explained in the sequel, which you can read here!

Thanks for reading! Make sure to like this story if you haven't already - It really helps me out!