Day 5
The method with which I was awakened wasn’t the best. It seemed like Rainbow Dash had found Skillet’s “Monster” on my iPhone and was jumping around the library when she tripped over my head and crashed onto the other two girls near me. This caused a substantial kink in my neck and several shouts at and a quick apology from Dash. Also, out of nowhere, an alarm was rung, and what felt like the entirety of Canterlot shook and shuddered.
Suddenly, the unthinkable occurred – Canterlot began to fall from its’ mountain mooring! Rainbow and I quickly sprang into action. I tried flying and succeeded, grabbing Applejack with a levitation spell, while Rainbow grabbed Twilight. We both flew through the falling remains of the city searching for our only remaining friends in the castle – Rarity and Spike.
Rainbow Dash was the first to spot them. They had leapt clear of the castle and were making their way along the shattering roads of Canterlot to leap clear of the city. With some deft flying moves, she made her way away from the city in time, picking up Rarity and Spike along the way. I tried to follow her as best I could, but I was slow. Applejack was terrified, screaming and hollering for me to save her. I dodged three fast-falling stones, manoeuvered my way into a small room, and dashed for the window. Continually flying downward, all I had to do was direct my trajectory away from the core of the city. I slid underneath the window frame and was finally free of the castle.
I looked up and was instantly struck in the back with a stone. I screamed in pain, dropping Applejack and my flight simultaneously. In one of my flips, I caught sight of another falling stone. I caught that stone with my levitation spell, brought it to me, and used that as a stable point to launch myself back into a controlled flight pattern.
The shadow of the city on the ground grew bigger and Applejack’s body grew smaller. I knew she was about to hit, so I dove. I flew as fast as I could, as hard as I could. She was not dying on my watch! I kept my focus despite my fear of heights and falling and discovered I was gaining ground. I desperately tried to catch up to her, fighting the very air I breathed to catch her before she hit. It didn’t look like she had long to go now.
So I pushed harder. Slowly the force of the air began to crack. I wasn’t going to make it. Wasn’t going to make it… she was going to…
BANG! The air itself broke around me. I began plummeting to the earth at a rate of speed I had no idea existed. Within seconds I had caught up to her and swept her out of the sky and away from danger. Canterlot collapsed to the valley floor mere seconds later, the edge of the city brushing my tail, as we joined our friends on the ridge where it once stood. I landed, collapsing to my side as the adrenaline left me and the exhaustion hit.
“Th-thanks…” Applejack stammered, blushing redder than anyone had seen her blush ever.
Between heaves, I managed to spit, “No problem.”
“No…” Rarity said, astonished at the ruins and all the innocent blood below. “No!!”
Twilight was screaming over the edge of the cliff, “Celestia! Princess Celestia!! Oh, God, No!!”
“It’s okay Twilight, I’m okay,” a heavenly voice said from behind us.
“Princess!!” Twilight screamed. “It’s horrible… Horrible!”
Celestia looked over at me. “Are you okay?”
My heart was racing and my back was sore. I had never been drained of so much energy in my life. Whatever I did, I could now barely move.
My voice was hoarse. “I can barely move…”
“A sonic rainboom on your second flight…” Rainbow Dash said. “That would blow your energy, for sure.”
“I don’t think I’ll be able to do that again,” I said, chuckling through (or maybe because of?) the pain. “Not for a while, anyway. That felt like a one-shot deal.”
I lay my head down on the ground and coughed.
“Zytharros!” Applejack shrieked, rushing to my side.
It seemed like everyone except Applejack was looking over the edge of the cliff, weeping for their fallen capital. Even the unshakeable Princess Celestia looked lost.
Then, slowly everything went dark. The last thing I heard was Applejack’s voice calling for her friends in the background.