'If you're feeling good, don't worry; you'll get over it...'

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It was a quiet, typical suburban afternoon. The birds were singing their song in the branches of near-by trees, the colts and fillies of the neighborhood galloping around, laughing and playing in the afternoon warmth. The sound of airborne Pegasus chariots could be heard, a faint whining sound. A Vertibird of the Grand Pegasus Enclave passed low over one of the distant suburbs.

All was nice and calm in the peaceful city of Hoofington.

“Honey, aren’t you going to get ready for the Ball? I’m almost ready, and you haven’t even started getting dressed yet.”

“That’s mainly because it takes me five minutes to get ready, rather than five hours, my sweetheart. I’ll wait until the news is fin-“

“No, darling, now! We have to pick up Lynx on the way too, remember?”

I sighed in resignation as I stood from my usual sitting position – on my haunches in front of the television – and slowly trotted over to the bedroom. The news played in the background as I sorted through my closet, looking for my public-dress uniform. I spotted the familiar insignia of the Ministry of Awesome’s military force, the Grand Pegasus Enclave, its shiny silver gleam catching my eye. I pulled the uniform out of the closet, and walked to the bathroom with it where my wife, Valentine, was still applying makeup using her magic. She was a Unicorn, after all.

“Scooch over, sweetie, I need to brush my teeth.” I said to her, already buttoning my uniform up. I envied her magic, but being a Pegasus had some advantages that Unicorns didn’t. Like speed. “It’ll only take a second.”

“Okay, but be quick. Don’t hog the mirror,” she said before giving me a quick kiss and quickly trotting to the other side of the room to do only Celestia-knows-what. I quickly brushed my teeth. I brushed my Cyan mane and tail, styling my mane a little whilst I still had the time, and neatened my wings, whilst also straightening out my Uniform over my white coat. I was nearly ready; all I needed to do was attach my Enclave nametag. I fetched it, as well as my rank insignia, from a small glass cabinet in the bedroom. These things had to be in pristine condition. I trotted back into the bathroom, where my wife was still fiddling with her hoof-wear. I attached my nametag and my rank insignia to my Uniform, and voila.

Citrus Spark, Captain of the Thunderhead-Class Ship, Dawn of Hope. Ready in record time.

“Valentine, my darling, are you nearly ready? Because I already am,” I said with a smug look upon my face.

“Ha-ha, very funny. Yes, I am very much ready. Is Ginger asleep?” she asked, putting away her make up.

“I thi-“ I was interrupted by the soft crying of a baby foal. Our baby foal, to be exact. “I guess that answers your question. I’ll go and calm him down.”

I trotted to Ginger’s small bedroom, painted baby blue with birds of all kinds. I made my way to the frost white crib in the center of the room, spying the little gray foal with a ginger mane – the obvious reason as to why we named him so. I looked down, nudging the crib with my nose, causing it to rock slightly back and forth. I smiled as he slowly closed his eyes and fell back to sleep.

“And how are the two most important stallions in my life fairing?” Valentine stood in the door way, an adorable smile spread across her face. “He absolutely loves it when you rock the crib.”

“I can tell,” I said, walking up to Valentine and deeply kissing her. “I absolutely love you, my darling wife.”

“And I love you too, my-“ Valentine stopped as somepony knocked loudly at our door.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if that was Admiral Winter herself,” I stated as I headed for the front door.

I was met by something I really hadn’t expected, however. Two fully-suited Steel Rangers armed with double-sided battle-saddles bearing two BI57 Gatling Lasers stood side-for-side with a third, much smaller pony who was wearing the standard Stable-Tec uniform. “Captain Spark, sir, the Ministries and Stable-Tec has ordered the public to head to their nearest Stable immediately. These are orders directly from up-top, so it’s mandatory. Please get whoever is in your house and head for Stable 124.”

“Wait, wait, what’s happening? I thought that Pegasi and their families were meant to head sky bound? I can’t-“

“Sir,” the Stable-Tec worker interrupted, “Admiral Winter has ordered that you among a few select members MUST head for the Stables. As for what’s happened, the Zebras have launched Megaspells towards us. Look, you’ll get all the details later but right now, you need to move.”

My eyes went wide as my brain went blank. The Zebras launched Megaspells? At us? The whole of the Equestrian Defense Force outnumbered Zebrabwe three to one. How did they think they could beat us? Well, it must’ve been serious; otherwise Stable-Tec wouldn’t be herding everypony up to the Stable. I kicked into action, sprinting to my wife, who’d already collected Ginger and put him on her back.

“Alright, honey, let’s go,” I shouted as we stepped into the neighborhood. Neither I nor Valentine had realized just how noisy it had become. A Vertibird, the same one as before, flew above our heads, Enclave Pegasi mounted on the Gatling Lasers. Ministry of Tech vehicles cluttered the roads, effectively blocking them. Steel Rangers, the MoT hard-hitters, were running around with Stable-Tec officials, evacuating everypony and getting them to the Stable.

“C’mon, we gotta go faster!” I shouted, Valentine already a few steps ahead of me as she galloped past. We ran along the road until we reached a large metal gate, complete with a wire fence. Two more Steel Rangers stood guard, quickly scanning everypony for entrance to the Stable’s path. We were both scanned, and cleared for entrance. We could hear the Stable door closing, however.

“Faster, sweetheart, c’mon! They’re closing the door!” I screamed, my legs burning as I sprinted as fast as I possibly could. I powered up the hill with my wife, leading to the only safe haven from the Megaspells. Other mares and stallions of all shapes and sizes sprinted with us, desperate to save their own lives.

A million thoughts were running through my mind at once. How long ago were they launched? Why hadn’t the anti-megaspell shield emitter been activated yet? And where else had been targeted? I knew for sure that Canterlot, Manehatten, Las Pegasus, Cloudsdale and Baltimare were targeted, as they were the main focus of both the MoT and the MoA. Other places, smaller places, had less of a chance of being targeted. But if they hit Hoofington… We had a big thermo-spell reactor belonging to the MoAS placed near the center of town. Why anypony thought that was a good idea, I have no idea. It wouldn’t just wipe out Hoofsville, but the entire southern east of Equestria.

Valentine, Ginger and I finally reached the Stable. The big, thick hatch leading to the Stable was closed, forever locking my wife, my child and anypony else that was heading there out of the only salvation they had against the Megaspells.

Valentine looked to me, tears in her eyes as she dropped to her haunches, “We were too late. Too late…”

“Sweetheart… I love you. And Ginger. Celestia and Luna above, I love you both… So much…"

My wife was silent with shock as everypony around us was crying, screaming for the hatch to open, or simply waiting for their deaths, looking up at the warm, afternoon sky. Dozens of Vertibirds passed over us as we all waited.

Afterwards, we could all hear the birds singing their song in the branches of near-by trees. The brush of the trees as the soft wind blew against them, leaves floating in the sky. I followed one leaf in particular, calmly floating through the breeze, before it led my eyes to the massive glowing spot in the sky, shooting down at astronomical speeds. Once it made contact with the Equestrian earth, the ground rumbled violently and the sky lit up into a fiery burst of colours, blindingly bright in appearance. I closed my eyes, thanking Celestia, Luna and all of the gods above for the wonderful life that I’d been given. I prayed that, even though impossible, Valentine and Ginger would somehow escape the fatal side of this and live on.

The shockwave didn’t take long to reach us as it sent us all flying, some ponies impacting trees and other vehicles, the sound of their snapping bones and crushing skulls louder than anything else. Then my world turned into an abyss of darkness, the last thought being of my wife and child, Valentine’s sweet peach-pink coat and white mane, and Ginger’ soft grey coat and scruffy ginger mane. And both their eyes, a strong, confident blue. So beautiful…

Celestia, I loved them so much…