After making one last screech, the serpent threw its head to the ground and disappeared, and the flames stopped. The air where the snake had been moments ago was wavering and warping due to the heat that had been there just moments earlier. The serpent had dug itself into a large pit on the ground and had vanished into it.
It was Celestia's voice calling, "Guards! Secure the pit!" as the ponies started to pick themselves up. As the guards rushed to the large hole in the ground, their horns charged and ready, Twilight barely noticed them. Having her entire world shattered, she was too occupied replaying what had just happened in her mind over and over again to give much thought to anything else.
She didn't know how to begin processing what she had just experienced. The entire ordeal couldn't have lasted more than a few minutes from start to finish.
She could hear sniffing and hitching from her side. She suddenly remembered that Rainbow Dash had been with her, and she looked over with an empty gaze at her, only to see her staring blankly ahead. She was crying.
Her raspy, shaky voice attempted to speak with Twilight. "Did... Pinkie just...?"
Twilight blinked, which caused the build-up of tears in her eyes to start streaming down her cheeks. She didn't answer. She turned her eyes back to the commotion happening over at the pit. Quite a lot of guards had gathered there, and some had taken off to fly up towards the castle floating up above to investigate.
Some guards were standing over the pit, looking down into it and seeming ready to fight off whatever might emerge from it. Others were trying to rescue wounded ponies from rubble. In the distance, she could see Celestia and a whole squadron of guards talking to a figure on the other side of the giant hole. It looked like a mature dragon, a charcoal-colored one.
Twilight's thoughts were interrupted when she heard Rainbow Dash again. Her voice sounded hoarse.
"This isn't happening." Her voice cracked, and she slumped to the ground, no longer able to keep her legs from buckling. The other elements of harmony came running towards them.
"Twilight! Rainbow! You're safe!" Cried Fluttershy, tears in her eyes as she crashed into Dash and cried with her. From the look they were giving them, they had not missed what had happened with Pinkie.
Twilight's eyes wandered over to the pit, and she was about to say something when Applejack spoke up. "Is she...?"
Rainbow Dash cried harder at this but answered in between hics. "She's gone. Just like that. We couldn't... we couldn't save her."
Applejack looked over to the pit, tears in her eyes, where ponies were still scattering back and forth. "What in tarnation was that?" She asked no one in particular. "What was that thing? Where did it come from?"
Everypony tilted their heads up at that, remembering exactly where it had come from. What met them was a sight of a floating piece of earth, looming above the castle. On top of the piece of earth, they could faintly make out a very distorted-looking castle, with pieces of debris floating around it as if orbiting it. They could see an assortment of pegasi slowly making their way up to the castle.
Twilight felt a chill go up her spine at the sight. It was the strangest and most surreal thing she had ever laid her eyes on. It seemed so out of place. She felt like the entire world had flipped on its side and had suddenly decided that her reality wasn't the right one anymore. And it wasn't.
However, she decided she needed to focus on the matter at hand. Fill her thoughts with the situation going on, and take time to mourn later. They didn't know what had happened to Luna, so that was still something she could hold on to if anything.
The young princess could hear Celestia calling her from where she was standing, beckoning her to come over and join them. She, dozens of guards, and the adult dragon were all looking their way. She felt her mind go numb and her legs starting to move without her telling them to. Everything else around her faded, and the only thing she could focus on was Celestia. Focus on something else, she thought to herself.
"Twilight," Celestia called once she was close enough. "Are you hurt?"
"N-no," she managed to say.
"Good." Celestia's face turned dark, and the alicorn of the sun looked at the dragon next to her. "Twilight, this is Torgand. He is the one who saved us all just moments ago. We were just discussing how lucky we all were that he was nearby when this attack happened."
When she introduced the dragon, Torgand, he looked bashful and quite nervous about being the center of attention, despite looking like a fairly sage and well-matured dragon.
However, Twilight could tell that there was something different about Torgand, but she couldn't quite figure out just what it was. What she didn't notice, was that Celestia constantly kept the dragon within her sight.
She was watching him, closely. The other guards were on edge by his presence as well.
"Oh, erm... thank you," Twilight said weakly as she nodded to the dragon. She couldn't muster the energy to say anything else, so she kept her mouth shut.
Torgand clasped his jaw shut and tightened his fists as he responded sadly. "I'm... sorry I couldn't save your friend."
Twilight winced at the mention of it. It was too fresh.
Celestia spoke up once more. "There was nothing you could have done. If you had not shown up when you did, none of us would be here now. We were very clearly outmatched." She said grimly, as she tilted her head up to look at the floating castle.
"Yeah," Torgand muttered. He looked quite disturbed, stressed, and uncomfortable.
Screams could suddenly be heard from above. Everypony looked up to see Pegasi guards falling out of the sky and clutching their heads in pain. Twilight was able to push her invasive thoughts aside once more.
"What's going on?" she shouted in alarm as she looked up at the pegasi, clutching their heads and crying out in pain. As they got closer to the ground, they could hear the distressed guards yelling out for help.
"Make it stop! Please make it stop!" was the most common plea among their cries. Grounded pegasi flew up to catch their distressed companions and prevent them from hitting the ground. Even after putting them back down on the ground, the affected guards still clutched their heads and whimpered, unable to function properly.
"What's happening, Sargeant?!" asked one of the guards. The sergeant in question clutched his head in pain and looked as if he wanted to smash his head into the ground to stop whatever was happening to him, but he slowly calmed down.
"I... The closer we got to the castle... everything started to hurt..." He whimpered after a third round of questioning.
"What's going on here?" Came a voice from behind Twilight, and she saw a grey pegasus stallion landing next to Celestia. Celestia perked up at the sight of him.
"Lieutenant, I'm so glad to see you." She said as he saluted her.
"Pri- er, Miss Celestia, what happened here?" Said the stout stallion, gesturing to the horrific scene around them. There were dead ponies in a pool of their own blood, some of them completely crushed into the ground by the force of the serpent. Crying could also be heard from outside the ground, where guards had been sent to assure civilians that the immediate danger was over.
Celestia had taken control of the situation, given her many years of service in moments of crisis. She had been put to the test before, where she was forced to remain calm despite horrific things happening. However, this time was different, and she did not judge Twilight for having the reaction she was having.
Several other military ponies landed on the ground and started to assist the guard ponies with treating the wounded and guarding the pit. Some were stationed very near the dragon.
Celestia replied to the stallion. "A massive serpent attacked us out of nowhere, and we were forced to defend ourselves. What you see around you is the result." She paused to think before she picked up again "We were powerless to stop it. Our magic did nothing to this creature, if anything, it seemed to absorb any attack we delivered."
"I see. And that?" He asked, pointing to the hole where the charcoal dragon stood surrounded by guards. The dragon was very watchful of the pit, making sure to be ready if the monster emerged from it. Some unicorn guards had their horns lits in a spell over the hole.
Celestia looked at the dragon, Torgand, and then back to the stallion. "To be very frank with you, we don't know anything about him. He showed up out of nowhere, at the same time as all of this happened. In addition, I have received reports that the snake was not the only thing that came flying from that." She said, pointing upwards, gesturing to the floating castle.
It was true. Several soldiers had mentioned seeing the floating castle appearing from a little distance away from the Canterlot Castle. According to several eye-witnesses, there had not only been a snake but two other creatures had been sent flying in separate directions. Unlike the snake, these creatures fell down the mountain the castle stood upon.
The stallion frowned, as more military units landed on the grounds. "Well then, from the sounds of it, we might have to involve the WMFs in this, ma'am."
Celestia sighed and looked over to Twilight. "Yes... and it seems I have a lot of teaching to do, once more. I have yet to relieve my duties as your general to the new princess."
The lieutenant nodded. "I understand. It would be wise to assign her as quickly as possible. She technically already has command over us, ma'am."
Twilight was now occupying herself to treat wounded ponies with her magic. She was no healer, but her magic was strong, so it got the job done better than most. In total, there were about thirteen wounded guards in critical condition, and seventeen were dead. Bodies that had been retrieved had been covered up.
Princess Luna was found in a residential house near the castle, she had passed out from the force of crashing through the wall, but she was mostly unharmed. Medics were carrying her on a stretcher a little ways away from all the commotion, and Twilight had checked her just in case.
Her friends were comforting a completely broken Rainbow Dash, who was crying loudly. Moans of pain were frequent through the courtyard. It was a complete mess. Yet, Twilight needed to fight the stabbing pain that was tearing up her chest, to stop thinking about her friend, just for the moment. She was the ruler now, and whether she liked it or not, she needed to keep a level head and lead the country through times like this.
Rainbow suddenly ripped herself away from the embrace of her friends and shakily took off towards the hole in the ground. She was stopped when Twilight took notice of this and ran over to hold her back with a hoof. "Rainbow... what are you doing?"
The cyan pony turned around and gave her a wicked look, her pupils were dilated. "I'm following it. I'm going to destroy that thing!"
Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy had caught up to them, and they gave her a worried look. Twilight was about to respond, but the stallion from earlier walked up to them. "You should all stay back. We're going to take care of the situation." He said firmly.
"That monster ate Pinkie! That's not something that can just be 'taken care of!'" Rainbow screamed, and Twilight noticed her hooves shaking.
"Dashie, I understand you're upset. We're all upset, but-" Fluttershy said, trying to calm her down, but she was interrupted.
"I'm not going to sit around while that thing roams around and kills ponies!" She said and ripped herself out of Twilight's grasp and flew over the hole in the ground. Twilight could feel herself panic, and she didn't want Rainbow to do anything stupid, so she did the only thing she could think of, which was teleporting over there and grabbing her.
Rainbow let out a startled yelp as they appeared next to the stallion, and the pegasus guards flocked around her. "Hey! What are you doing?! Let me go!"
Twilight looked at her sadly. "I can't. Not after losing Pinkie like this. I can't risk losing you too. Please, don't."
"But that thing ate her, Twi. It ate her." Rainbow's face scrunched up in anger as she put emphasis on something Twilight wanted to bury into her mind, and tears started streaming down her face. "She's gone... that thing killed her!"
The stallion interjected. "Your Majesty. Me and Miss Celestia would like for you to accompany us to a safe location, at least until we can track down the location of the creature and assess the situation better. Your friends will be joining us."
Twilight looked between Celestia and the stallion with a worried look. "Where are we going?"
Celestia gave her a very stern, but sad look. She had never seen her student like this. She looked empty. Like she was barely hanging on.
"We will explain everything on the way. Please, come with us."
"We're leaving?" Rainbow asked and shook her head. "No. I'm not leaving this place until that thing is dealt with!"
The stallion went up to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. "You might find good in coming with us. We will do everything we can to get this thing and serve it some fair justice, but for now, please collect yourself."
Rainbow Dash looked like she was about to protest again, but the look of confidence the stallion gave her made her rethink. After considering it, she felt tears building up again. "F-fine."
In the next fifteen minutes, time flew by. From all directions, pegasi carrying carriages flew in, loading ponies and sending them off in different directions. There was a large one that landed with Twilight and her friends. Celestia stepped into the carriage, followed by the lieutenant shortly after. Luna was finally awake, and she had been quickly caught up on everything by Celestia, seeing as she missed the latter parts of what happened.
"I see. This is a big deal, sister." Luna said somberly, and she looked at the floating castle. "I'm not even sure how we can begin to address this."
"Me neither. The first step is locating the serpent. More importantly, we need to figure out what in Equestria is going on with that floating castle. If it conceals whoever is behind all of this, we need to get up there as soon as possible. However, it seems our enemy has a contingency for that, too." Celestia said, referring to the guards being cursed on the way up to the castle.
Luna looked up at the castle, now illuminated by an orange hue as the sun had started to lower. Twilight had started lowering the sun too early again. "And what about this Torgand? What is known about him?"
Celestia sighed. "I don't know. He seems genuine and helpful to us, but I have no idea what he could have been doing here. His explanation does not make any sense to me. My gut is telling me there is some sort of connection between all of this. He is... different."
"Different how?" Luna asked.
Celestia pondered on it for a bit before sighing again. "I will explain later. Now, I believe we have some work to do." Celestia said, and she looked over to Twilight, who had just gotten onto the carriage with her friends.
Twilight felt like she had been hit by a train. There were so many thoughts in her head, and none of them were pleasant. She wanted to know what was happening. Where were they going? Who was this dragon that showed up out of nowhere? What is with the castle in the sky?
Celestia and Luna gave her an encouraging smile. "We're taking you all somewhere safe. It won't be permanent, but until we can figure out what our next move is, it's the best option."
Rainbow Dash was staring outside as the carriage started to take off, leaving the horrible scene behind. Her eyes were unfocused, and her breathing was heavy. Her cheeks were matted with tears, she was taking the loss of her friend harder than most. She was staring at the hole where the serpent had vanished into with rage in her eyes as they slowly moved away.
Applejack was sitting next to her and looking at it with her. "I can't believe she's gone." She whispered, and Rarity placed a hoof on her shoulder from behind.
"There wasn't anything we could have done."
"I know, but..." Applejack shook her head in frustration and pushed her hat down over her eyes. She watched as the scenery below them shifted, and the landscape started to change. They were heading further up in altitude and slowly went over the first layer of clouds. After a few minutes, they were informed by the pegasi pulling the carriage that they would be arriving shortly.
"Where are we?" asked Fluttershy, as the carriage moved higher up, and turned a corner to reveal a shocking sight.
"You'll see," Celestia said.
They were met with the sight of a large cloud fortress in the distance. The sky had turned a reddish hue as it illuminated not only a fortress but barracks and training grounds in what looked like a very large base.
"What is this place?" asked Fluttershy as she marveled at the size of the fort.
"This is Skyhold. Headquarters of the WMF." Celestia said as she walked past them, heading to the entrance where military ponies were now lining up to greet them. Fluttershy looked puzzled, and the look the other elements of harmony gave her indicated that they had no clue what 'WMF' meant either.
Twilight stepped off the carriage with her friends and followed Celestia. "You told me about all of this a while ago, but I never imagined it was so... big." She breathed as she looked around.
Celestia gave her a somber look. "Unfortunately it seems the most appropriate for the situation. In the next few days, possibly weeks, you need to get much more familiar with this place, as it will be your duty to rule these ponies. Do you understand, Twilight?"
Twilight's eyes sank. She looked tired. Like she was ready to drop at any moment. Yet, she nodded firmly. "I do."
Many more guards arrived in carriages of their own, along with the Torgand the dragon. He was asked to come along by Celestia to get some peace of mind, although she told him they wanted him just in case. That wasn't exactly a lie.
After some deliberation, it was assessed that the creature was immune against magical attacks, yet weak to fire. Otherwise, it would not flee the way it did.
While Celestia was grateful to Torgand, she couldn't shake off a feeling of uncertainty about him. She looked back to Twilight. "Right now, there are several things we need to sort out. I want you to say goodbye to your friends for the moment, and then come with me. They will be here at the headquarters until further notice, so don't worry."
Twilight looked around at her friends. The looks they gave her were filled with concern and sadness. She could tell that they didn't want to be separated, not after something like this. Not after losing a friend. Celestia knew this well.
Twilight turned around and went up to them, wrapping her hooves around each of them, and she pulled them in a close hug. "I'll see you all soon. We'll make it through this." She reassured them.
After some encouraging words her way, she pulled away and walked off with Celestia. However, Rainbow Dash was not far behind. "I'm coming with you."
Twilight and Celestia shared a look. "Rainbow..." Twilight started.
"No. I want to help." Rainbow said and looked at the two. She had an enraged expression on her face, laced with several other emotions. "I want to fight."
The lieutenant from earlier walked up to Rainbow Dash. "Miss Dash? I am Lieutenant Argon Holt. Would you please come with me, and we can talk about this in a more private setting?"
"What's there to talk about?" Rainbow said, giving him a challenging look.
Argon resisted. "There is a lot to talk about. Please."
As Rainbow reluctantly lowered her head, she glanced at Twilight one last time. Twilight could see she was angry, but she was also trying to direct her anger in the right direction. Watching her friend in this state was heartbreaking. Rainbow Dash followed Argon, who set off toward the west barracks.
Twilight and Celestia watched her leave before Twilight looked over at Celestia. "So... what now?"