The Garden of the Gone

"Dont Cry"

"Don't cry... It won't solve anything, it's all gone," were the last words she told her family, and the few people she was able to call friends.

Forest Fire's hooves pounded against the ground, her heart racing. The rain poured down around her. Violent winds blew her red and orange mane with black tips every which way, giving the appearance of a bright burning fire as she ran. Forest ran as fast as she could, keeping in mind her reasons she couldn't stay in Ponyville, and trying to forget all she had left behind.

  "Nopony would ever want somepony with a cutie mark like mine in that town. I'm a danger to them wherever I go..," she said to herself, trying to keep herself from crying.

    "Nopony whatsoever wants me there... So why s-s-should I..,"her voice trailed off as she began to cry.

Finally she stopped running.

"What is this place..?," Forest whispered.

Before her stood a tall black gate. The gate was made up of metal made to look like different kinds of flowers and leaves. All the pieces were intertwined by metal vines with thorns, much like a rose's stem.
Forest Fire put her hoof to the gate. Around her it began to glow a faint green color, then the glow faded to a black and dissolved before her one reddish-orange and other gray-blue eyes.
The gate opened, and Forest stepped inside. Inside were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Moss covered the ground with patches of flowers woven into it. A huge willow tree stood, its branches covered in glowing lights. Flowers and exotic plants sprung every which way as far as the eye could see. There were statues of all different kinds of creatures. Mostly they were ponies, but a few were gryphons, draquanaquists, and dragons. A stream of glimmering water ran through the garden with a golden bridge hovering over it. Birds flew around everywhere, and tweeted as if trying to create a song.
It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her entire life,  which, although it had not been that long of a life, she was still amazed at the incredible sight she saw.

                                                NIGHTFALL:

Forest Fire cautiously walked around the garden, inspecting everything she could see in the dim light. Suddenly, she saw something move.

"Who's there?," Forest asked, out-loud,"hello?"

A figure stepped out of the bushes. It was a cream colored dragacorn (a pony, and a dragon hybrid) with an orange stripe down her face, and orange splattered hooves. Her mane was a bright green color and curly all over.
The dragacorn began to sing.

"It began on a lost winters' night... She found just what love means...he was the one...he was the one of her dreams...the one she loved, her only love, the only colt that she could love... They used to sing so well together. Before the day would fall...they wished to run away forever, they could have had it all... But one cold night they ran all too long...and they ended up at the gates of the gone...she was amazed at the beautiful sight...but he was unsure everything was all right... Love wasn't to work...the king's wicked smirk...will always remind her that... Things that are lost will forever lurk..."

Her voice sounded as if there were more than one of her, and it kind of reminded Forest Fire of Princess Luna's voice when she had returned from being banished... But this voice sounded cold and haunting. Forest felt like she was listening to a ghost's song.

"Um...excuse me Miss... But what are you talking about..?"

The mare turned towards Forest Fire.

"SAAAAAVVVEEEE USSSS!" She hissed,"BEFORE IT'S TOOOO LAAAAAATTTEE AND WE ALLLLL DIIIIEEEE! YOU WILL GO DOWN WITH US! YOU WILL DIE!"

Forest Fire raised one hoof, and then turned away from the creature. She ran as fast as she could...the young filly's scream was enough to wake all of Ponyville, but she didn't care. That mare had scared her half to death, and she didn't plan on staying calm about it.
                           SUNRISE:
Forest Fire had fallen asleep at some point during the night. Around midnight. Soft rays of beautiful golden light shone across her cream colored coat, turning it a color much closer to gold. The sun was rising, but the only thing she saw was the terrifying nightmare playing in her mind. What she couldn't see was the stallion approaching the tall, leafy tree that she had fallen asleep by.

"Hey..." He whispered, his voice rising with every word out of the concern he felt towards this filly,"Wake up...you shouldn't be here."

He rest his hoof on Forest's shoulder, and she woke up, her face pale with fear. Before her stood a stallion with a glowing silver coat. His blue hooves had a glimmering water appearance to them. His mane was messy and jagged, with  all different shades of blue, but rather than going down his mane in stripes, like most pony's would, the darkest shade began at the top and got lighter going towards the tips. Forest Fire thought he reminded her of a reflection in a pool of still water.

"W-w-who are y-you?" She asked the glistening stallion.

"My name is Reflection," he answered quickly,"you really must get out of here! It's dangerous!"

She closed her eyes, concentrating, trying to figure out where exactly she was. When she opened her eyes again Reflection was gone, and the stream rippled in, and out, as if something had climbed in.

              AFTERNOON:

Forest Fire walked around the garden once again.  She was almost scared enough to leave but her curiosity got the better of her, so she felt the need to explore further. During her walk through the garden, she heard singing once again. Oh great, she thought, another creature.

  Forest approached the mare slowly. To her surprise she noticed Forest Fire immediately, but did not turn to face her.
"Hello there... I'm Rose.. I believe I heard from Reflection that you're name is Forest Fire?"

Forest fire didn't bother asking how reflection would have known her name. Instead, she decided to ask about the song she heard the mare singing earlier on.

"Um... Excuse me... Rose.. What was that song you were singing?" She asked.

"Don't ever ask about my song. It would take too long of an explanation... And I don't wish to explain it to ponies like you anyways... Now go away please," the mare with a dark colored coat with purple eyes, and a mane to match, didn't seem like the kind of pony to answer like that, but Forest left her alone...

                    SUNSET:

The sun was setting, and Forest Fire returned to the tree that she slept by the previous night. Suddenly the ground shook. Earthquake!, she thought.
Then, the plants began to wither, and the tree she leaned against began to die. She was almost sad to see such a beautiful garden die just so suddenly, but she was too much in shock that it had died so quickly to feel any kind of sorrow for it. If that wasn't weird enough, out of the blue several completely gray ponies, dragons, Gryphons, and dragacorns flew and ran past her.

"The statues!?," She yelled.

They ignored her. Forest Fire decided to run.
When the strange phenomenon finally ended, the whole garden was dead and gone. She heard two voices, one male, and one female, singing a sad melody.

"We used to feel so elated... While we were here... I suppose it was fated... That it would all disappear... Our undead eyes...weren't meant to see...this lovely sight...it used to be" and with that the creatures began to die, just as the garden did.

Rose withered and crumbled to dust and flower petals with her words being complete silence. Before the final moment, Reflection grabbed Pumpkin's hoof and pulled her closer to him. She looked younger now... With Reflection by her side, she looked innocent and young. Reflection looked at Pumpkin, his silver eyes filling with tears.

"I love you," she told him through tears of her own.

And with that a white glow formed around them both and they disappeared forever, most certainly dead. Forest Fire had hope that it wasn't over for her as well, but of course, she was wrong. Vines wrapped around her hooves, and began tangling her whole body. The filly stayed calm. What could she do? Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw somepony. Somepony she knew quite well.
   Before the vines engulfed her, she uttered a few words.
" Don't cry... It won't solve anything...It's all gone."