“What the buck! What was that?” Rainbow Dash yelled over the cacophony of screaming ponies.
“I think it might have been some sort of vessel for space travel,” Twilight Sparkle supplied in a tone of unmitigated awe.
It had been a bright and sunny day in Ponyville, until all hell broke loose. Everywhere around them buildings blinked into and out of existence. Terrified citizens were forced to a screeching halt in their efforts to narrowly avoid the spontaneous appearance of a great stone cathedral here and a mile of thick grey tubing there. One pony of lime green complexion took a step forward only to find herself aging ten years. She jumped back in fear and landed in her teens. Dragons, larger than any mortal citizen of Equestria had ever seen, appeared, shimmered into strange floating ships of metal, and then vanished once more. Basically, it was nanners.
“Ah reckon this is more’a Discord’s doin,” Applejack suggested angrily. The rest of the girls announced their agreement. Fluttershy looked straight pissed. Only Twilight remained unconvinced.
“It does seem like it could be his influence, but I don’t know. The last time Discord was sealed by the Elements of Harmony, he stayed imprisoned for centuries. Unless the Elements themselves have weakened, the seal should hold.” This made the other girls nervous. As much as they did not want to admit it, Twilight generally knew her stuff. Having Discord return would be far from a pleasant experience, but they beat him once and they knew they could do it again. Better it be the devil they knew than something, well, new. “Any word from the Princess yet, Spike?”
The young dragon rubbed his stomach expectantly for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, but nothing happened. He tried to force a belch, but as the green fire he expunged rose and twisted within itself on the air, it was clear no letter would follow.
“Sorry, Twilight. I don’t know what’s wrong. It’s almost like the Princess isn’t there.”
That was not an alternative Twilight had wanted to entertain. For as long as she could remember, Princess Celestia, both monarch and mentor to the young unicorn, had always been there to guide and assist her. The thought that, for the first time, she might be on her own, was a paralyzing one. No. Celestia may not be there, but her friends were and together they could do anything. She was not alone.
“Okay, then until we have a better idea of what’s going on, I need everyone on damage control. Applejack and Rainbow Dash: I need you two on the ground and in the air. Help get this panic under control and do what you can to evacuate everypony to whatever safe place you can.”
“Roger!”
“You got it, Twi!”
“Pinkie Pie: See if you can use your Pinkie Sense to predict where anything dangerous might happen. Let’s try to keep any accidents to a minimum.”
“Yes sir, ma’am, sir!”
“Fluttershy: Tend to the animals. Do your best to make sure that they can get to a safe distance as well. We don’t want them to get scared and end up putting themselves or anypony in danger.”
Fluttershy just saluted. Her look was one of grim determination.
“Rarity: I need you to stay here and be on the lookout for any correspondence from Canterlot or the Princess. Spike will come with me in case the Princess gets through, but, if something is blocking letters from going by the usual means, I need you to be here to relay any information that might come through another channel.”
“But Twilight, where are you going?”
“I’ve got a theory about what might be going on, but I don’t have the books in my library to do proper research. We need an expert.” Twilight Sparkle narrowed her eyes in a way that was dramatic as shit. “I’m going to find the one stallion that might be able to help.”