--SUGARCUBE CORNER--
Spike shot up and hit his head on something hard. He exclaimed and laid back down grasping it in pain. As he tried to rub the pain away he looked around. He was lying beneath a pile of rubble.
"Ugh. What happened?" He asked aloud.
As he looked around the small pocket of space he was in, he saw a faint light cracking through the debris. He began to claw away some of the smaller rocks until he could fit his arm through.
He made one final push before his arm broke free and he pushed away any remaining rocks. He sat up and looked around. The town center was in ruins. The buildings surrounding the immediate center had collapsed. There was less damage done to those further away. He turned around to see the inside of Sugarcube Corner in ruins.
The last thing Spike remembered was that he was in line to get a snack when the wall exploded and he was knocked unconscious. The 1001st Summer Sun Celebration was scheduled for that afternoon. It was the first time that Princess Luna would be able to attend and everypony in Ponyville was helping to get ready for it. Pinkie Pie had worked nonstop for weeks planning this party. The Cakes were catering. Spike wanted to see if he could get a little sample before everypony else came in.
Spike got himself out of the pile of rubble and began to search for anypony. He carefully stepped over the piles of rubble as he made his way to the counter looking for the Cakes.
"Mrs. Cake? Mr. Cake? It's Spike! Are you okay?" He called.
There was no response. Spike grew more worried by the minute. He ran to the giant hole in the wall and looked outside. He saw a few ponies walking around and sorting through some other piles of debris. A few of the Canterlot Royal guards were also helping. Spike waved his hands around and tried to get their attention.
"Hey! Somepony please help me! Over here!" He yelled.
A few heads popped up to see the baby dragon screaming for help. Two or three Pegasi guards took off toward him, while a couple Earth ponies and Unicorns also ran to Sugarcube Corner.
"What's wrong?" One of the Pegasus guards said as he landed.
" I-I can't find the Cakes! I don't know if they're okay or not!" Spike stuttered.
The Earth ponies and Unicorns arrived. Big Macintosh was with them.
"Don't worry, Spike. We'll help ya find 'em. " He said.
They all went inside and began to overturn the rocks and rubble searching for the Cakes and any other ponies they could find.
--CMC CLUBHOUSE--
The Cutie Mark Crusaders were in their clubhouse making plans and gathering up whatever they could to help. They were busy trying to see if they could get their cutie marks in juggling. They didn't see what had happened, specifically. All they saw was that something really bad had happened.
Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were gathering supplies they had in the clubhouse. Applebloom was out looking for some back at the house.
"Sweetie Belle! Do we have any bandages in here?" Scootaloo called from across the clubhouse.
"Hang on, let me check!" Sweetie Belle ran to one of their chests they had and opened it up. "Nope!"
Scootaloo turned and looked inside a cabinet on the other side of the clubhouse. "I'll take a look in here!"
While they ran around the inside of the clubhouse, Applebloom burst inside holding a first aid kit in her mouth.
"Okay, guys! Ah found one!" she said, dropping it to the ground.
It opened and some of its contents fell out. She gave a nervous chuckle, "Oops..." and began to pick the bandages up.
"Did you find anypony that could help us?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Big Mac was just leaving to see if he could help somepony in town. Ah can't find Applejack!" she said.
"Maybe she's already in town helping out!" Scootaloo said. "Her and Rainbow Dash are some of the hardest working ponies in Ponyville! I know they're helping out somewhere!" Scootaloo said with a smile.
"Yeah! Let's not worry about this at all! Everything and everypony will be fine!" Sweetie Belle said happily.
Applebloom smiled. "Aww y'all are right! Sorry, ah'm just a tad nervous is all. Applejack is just usually right there whenever ah need her."
Sweetie Belle stepped forward. "Don't worry, Applebloom. I'm sure she's fine!"
They finished rounding up whatever they could use and put it all in their wagon. Scootaloo connected her scooter to it and they all head off toward the Town Square.
They were all worried as they approached, but they tried to stay positive. They would help anypony that could use it. They began to think that they could possibly get their cutie marks in helping.
As they made it to the top of a hill that overlooked the town, they stopped. Ponyville was in a state of panic. Everypony who wasn't helping clear debris was running around in circles.
"Oh mah stars! We gotta get down there fast and see if we can help with somethin'!" Applebloom exclaimed.
Scootaloo didn't move. After a moment of silence she spoke. "That's weird..." She wasn't looking at the town, she was glancing toward the sky.
"Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle said. "What's wrong?"
Scootaloo looked back to them with a confused look "There's no wind."
--SKIES ABOVE EQUESTRIA--
Luna's carriage flew over the Equestrian landscape toward Ponyville. Both she and Princess Celestia had seen a magical surge erupt over the skies of Ponyville and were beginning various attempts to assist. Princess Celestia would remain in Canterlot to try and figure out what mysterious powers struck while Luna would quickly survey the damage done to the town before promptly returning to Canterlot to report.
The magical occurrence also affected Cloudsdale. Its normally white clouds were now a sickly gray. And the vibrant rainbows were devoid of all color and were now black.
Making a last minute change, Luna informed the two Pegasi pulling the carriage to go to Cloudsdale first. The Pegasi complied and they were now on their way to the floating city.
They quickly descended until they stopped in front of the Weather Factory. Luna disembarked and swiftly made her way to the doors. She was met by a tall, strong
-looking colt with a gray mane and a blue coat.
"Princess Luna." He said with a bow. "Thank you for coming on such short notice."
"No need to thank me for doing what must be done. What has happened here? Director Hailstorm, is it?" She replied.
He nodded. "Well, the entire factory just shut down after that blast of energy or whatever happened down there in Ponyville. That blast must have sent out some sort of electromagnetic pulse that could be felt all over the place."
Luna listened intently.
"A blast of energy of that or of any size wouldn't usually knock out some of our systems for more than a minute or two, but this time..." He paused. He was obviously worried. "We, uh, we don't know what's wrong. Everything is unresponsive."
Luna's eyebrows shot up. "Everything is unresponsive?"
"Everything."
Luna exhaled. This just added onto her worry but she maintained her composure.
"Tell everypony to continue working on getting the factory up and running again. I shall inform my sister of your situation when I return to Canterlot." She directed.
Hailstorm nodded. "Yes ma'am. Thank you."
He gave another bow before returning inside. Luna returned to the carriage and took off towards Ponyville.
--PONYVILLE RUINS--
Kicking a large boulder aside, Big Mac moved toward the inside of the bakery. Spike rode on his back while three royal guards followed them. Usually, they would have prevented a common pony to assist them in their tasks, but Big Mac's strength was considerably greater than any of theirs. And they could use all the help they could, so they allowed him to stay.
The bakery was a huge mess. Debris was scattered all across the floor. The door to the kitchen was blocked by another large boulder. As Big Mac reached it, he gave it a few good kicks before it rolled off to the side. Spike jumped off his back and ran inside.
"Mrs. Cake?! Mr. Cake?!" He called out.
They didn't answer. He ran out of the kitchen and tried upstairs. The hallway was also clattered with debris, but it wasn't as significant as it was downstairs. The first room he tried was the babies' room. Luckily, he found all four of the Cakes inside. They were huddled together in nearest corner of the room.
"There you guys are! Are you okay?" He asked them.
Mrs. Cake looked up. "Spike! What are you doing here all by yourself?! It's not safe!"
"Don't worry, a few royal guards are downstairs. You guys should come down to the lower level. The floor might collapse!" He urged.
"Oh, okay! We'll be right down!" Mr. Cake said as he tried to calm down Pound and Pumpkin.
Spike was about to turn and leave when he heard a loud booming voice coming from outside.
"CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE!" Luna announced.
Spike walked over to the broken hallway window and looked outside. The Princess of the Night was in Town Square by her carriage and addressing many ponies around the town.
Luna continued. "PLEASE FORGIVE YOUR PRINCESS FOR USING SUCH VOLUME IN WHAT MUST BE SAID! IT WILL ONLY BE BUT A MOMENT! MY SISTER HAS SENT ME HERE TO GATHER WHAT INFORMATION YOU HAVE ON THE CONDITION OF THY FAIR TOWN! IF IT IS POSSIBLE, WILL THE MAYOR PLEASE STEP FORTH SO THAT WE MAY SPEAK?!"
Mayor Mare worked her way toward Princess Luna and bowed. "Here I am, your highness!"
"There you are, mayor." Luna replied in her normal voice. "Now, please tell me what I can do to assist you and your town."
--CANTERLOT--
Princess Celestia had used a secret portal-like device she has to try and figure out what happened. The device was hidden in behind a secret panel in her chambers. She uses it to see what happens all across Equestria whether it's in the past or the present. She used it to get an accurate account of what exactly happened to cause such a catastrophe in Ponyville.
According to the device, she learned that a large wormhole opened over Ponyville. The wormhole had mixed colors of reds, blues, greens, and purples. It emitted a thick blanket of violet fog before a lightning bolt came out from the center and struck the air near the town center.
While the bolt didn't hit the structure itself, the crack emitted a boom louder than anything that was ever heard in Equestria. The sound waves destroyed the structure and some of the buildings surrounding it.
After the bolt of lightning, electricity cracked all around the outside of the wormhole before a flash of light shot out of it. The light covered the town in a blinding blue field of energy. The energy field pulsed a few times before it collapsed on itself and vanished along with the thick smoke as quickly as it appeared back into the wormhole.
After the catastrophe occurred, she inspected the damage done to Ponyville. She saw that it was very severe around the Town Square but the damage was next to none through the rest of the town. It was almost like the energy field was controlled to stay in the Town Square alone.
She looked through the entire town. Twilight and her friends were nowhere to be found. She replayed what happened over and over again from many angles until she discovered that when the field collapsed, it took the six ponies with it into the wormhole.
The world of Equestria had lost its Elements of Harmony.
Celestia paced back and forth in her room. She was unsure of what to do. Nothing like this had ever happened before. The Elements of Harmony maintained balance and order in Equestria. As long as the Elements themselves and the Spirits of the Elements are all right, then Equestria would remain fine. The Princess couldn't help but feel slightly more worried than usual.
Luna knocked on the door to Celestia's chamber. "Excuse me, Sister? May I enter?"
Celestia stopped pacing and opened the door. "Of course, little Sister." She said in her elegant voice. "Have you any word on what has happened in Ponyville?"
"I do." Luna began. "Like you saw, the entire town square is nearly obliterated, but the rest of the town suffered very little damage. Twilight Sparkle and her friends are nowhere to be found either."
Celestia turned away and stared at the portal-device again. "Regrettably, I'm aware of their disappearances. They were taken into the wormhole when the energy field collapsed."
Luna paused, feeling her sister's nervousness. She knew her next bit of news wouldn't help in any way, but she had to continue. "There was something wrong with the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale as well."
Celestia remained silent, but continued to face away from her.
Luna continued. "The director informed me that the entire factory had shut down and everything was unresponsive. They have tried everything they could to get it operational again, but they have failed every time so far."
Celestia stayed silent for another moment before asking, "What caused that to happen?"
Luna gulped after hearing the ever-present worry in her sister's voice. "They believe the shockwave from the energy field somehow disrupted the factory's operation. They haven't the slightest idea of why it isn't working."
"Well, I have a theory of why it isn't working. " Celestia turned to face her sister. Her face was full of worry. "Follow me, little sister."
Celestia walked outside and went downstairs. Luna followed closely behind her. They remained completely silent as they walked through the castle until they reached the room that contained the Elements of Harmony. Celestia stared at the large door, praying that her theory was incorrect.
She opened the lock and the doors swung open toward them. Inside laid the chest that contained the Elements of Harmony. Bracing herself for the worst, she opened the chest.
--CELESTIAS CHAMBERS, 10 MINUTES LATER--
Princess Celestia used the portal-device to try and find where the wormhole led. She knew it was to another universe. As she feared, the chest was empty. She was more worried now than she had ever been in all her time as ruler. She knew Equestria was on its final chapter.
While she worked as fast and as hard as she could, Luna had rounded up six specially made saddlebags, a large box, and a magic book of spells from the Canterlot Library. The book was in a secure wing that could only be accessed by Princess Celestia herself or whomever she directly appoints.
Luna made it back to Celestia's chambers with all the supplies. She set each saddlebag inside the box. Just before setting the book inside, she looked at it curiously.
"Are you certain that Twilight Sparkle is ready for this?" She asked.
Celestia turned to Luna. "I am more than certain. She is the most gifted Unicorn I have ever taught. I know she will us it well."
Luna looked at the book once again before placing it in the box. She returned her gaze to Celestia who had gone back to looking in the device.
"There. That's where they were taken." Celestia said. She paused before continuing. "Oh my goodness. It looks like some sort of penitentiary. A prison."
She stared for a moment longer before walking over to the box. "Is everything they need in here?" She asked.
"Yes." Luna replied.
"Good. Begin leading a group of guards to Ponyville to help them clean up. I must send this to Twilight as fast as I can." She said.
Luna nodded and exited. Celestia turned to her desk and brought a prewritten letter over to her. She set it on the box and wrapped it all together with her magic.
Using all the power at her disposal, she focused on sending the box to a place in this universe where Twilight was in proximity. She hoped that Twilight would receive it. The fate of Equestria was in the balance.
The box floated in the air and magic began to crackle all around the room. Then in one bright flash, the box vanished. Princess Celestia sighed.
"Good luck, my little ponies."