The royal guards knocked down the door to the throne room, only to find Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, on the ground and unconscious. However, there was no sign of Khaoios: it was as if he vanished into thin air. The guards rushed to their Princesses, assisting them to their chambers for rest. Without Celestia and Luna, a regiment of guards departed separate ways – one regiment rushed to Ponyville and the other to the Crystal Empire.
During that time, Khaoios continued his rampage, flying and destroying everything that came into his path. One by one, buildings, trees, homes, were either blown away or caught fire, creating total chaos throughout Equestria. As Khaoios continued, the Twilight and her friends reached Canterlot, only to realize the city was in ruins, with only a few structures still standing. The six mares were in complete shock as they looked around. They could only imagine the worse, but knew that too much sympathy would slow down there progress. Confident enough, they pressed on.
As Twilight and her friends walked through the city, they could only observe the chaotic aftermath, until an injury earth pony came about.
“Princess Twilight..." he gasped.
Twilight knelt down and tried to calm him. Fluttershy walked over to assist him.
“What happened? Was it the meteor shower?” Fluttershy asked.
The stallion shook his head.
“It was moving too fast, we couldn’t see it,” he replied, shaking in fear.
Twilight tried to hold herself together, for she felt sorry for the injured pony and then saw other survivors, silent. Rainbow Dash began to lose her patience, dying to know what had occurred.
“Ah! Can’t somepony tell us what happened? Seriously? What’s with the silent treatment,” she cried out
Pinkie Pie walked forward.
“These ponies won’t tell us anything because the mood in this place is just too serious! What we need is a... PARRRRRRRTAY!” She yelled out.
Rarity bit Pinkie Pie’s tail.
“Pinkie, you know this is no time for partying! Although, I must admit, everypony seems to be very quiet and afraid."
Twilight turned to Rarity.
“Rarity, can you, Applejack, and Fluttershy stay here and see if you can round up survivors while Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Spike and I see the Princesses?” she asked.
Applejack smiled.
“We sure can do that, Twi,” she replied
“Of course,” Rarity responded.
“Got it, Twilight,” Fluttershy answered.
Applejack turned.
“Well, we ain’t helpin’ anypony by just sitting on our rumps! Let’s get goin’ already!” she said as she began her task.
While Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy went off to find survivors, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Spike hurried as fast as they could to investigate. At the door of Canterlot, guards knelt down, to Twilight.
“Princess! You must come quickly!” one of the guard said.
“Yes. Please take me to see the Princesses,” Twilight answered as she and her friends followed the guard inside.
Walking in, Twilight noticed damages and cracks within the castle, only to fear that the Princesses were injured. Frightened for her mentor, Twilight ran to her chambers only to find Celestia and Luna, in their beds, recovering from their battle.
“Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!” She cried out.
Celestia, still in pain from battle, turned to her former student. She looked relieved for just a moment before grabbing Twilight by the shoulder.
“Twilight. This... creature. You must not fight him. He’s... too..."
Celestia fainted, slumping in bed.
Spike, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie walked into the Princess’ chambers. Spike walked up to Twilight.
“Twilight..." Spike whispered.
Twilight remained silent. Spike tried to touch Twilight shoulder, and he felt a tremble. Twilight began to weep, fearing she lost her mentor, until a guard stepped forward. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie walked from behind to comfort their friend in need.
“The Princesses are going to be okay," the guard assured her gently. "They are just knocked out from battle.”
Twilight turned to the guard, now in anger.
“Who did this?” she demanded.
“We... I...” the guard stuttered.
“I SAID WHO?” Twilight cried out in anger.
Another guard stepped in.
“I was in charge of a recent prisoner, however, she seems to know a lot about this creature. Do you wish to see her?” he asked.
“Yes," Twilight said, "take me to her.”
“Very well,” the guard said, and walked to the dungeons, followed by Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie.
---
Outside, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy managed to gather survivors and safely escort them to the Gardens of Canterlot, where they could settle for the time being. Rarity took the lead, Fluttershy walked beside the crowd, and Applejack walked from the back of the crowd, making sure no pony fell behind. One the way, Fluttershy saw one filly remained in a corner, shaking in fear. She walked over to her.
“Are you okay, little one?” she softly asked.
The filly shook her head.
“I lost my mommy and daddy, and I’m scared!” the filly cried.
“Oh, there, there. You can stay with me, and I'll help you find your family,” Fluttershy said with a smile.
The filly sniffled and brushed her tears away and walked closely to Fluttershy as the other remaining survivors continued their course. Rarity monitored the crowd as she noticed many of them were trembling and scared. Yet she could not understand why they would be afraid, if they had all survived. Something was missing.
Strangely, Applejack, felt the same thing, at the back of the crowd. Something was truly wrong.
“Come on, ya’ll. Canterlot Gardens should be a safe place for ya,” Applejack called out.
The crowd continued to walk to Canterlot Castle. Applejack still felt uneasy, for she worried about her own family back in Ponyville. Their safety, in her eyes, was top priority, but she picked up her head and remained positive that they were okay.
---
Back inside the Castle, the guard continued to lead Twilight and her friends to the last cell at the end of the dungeon. There, the pony, facing out the window, remained calm.
“Madame Archivist. You have a visitor,” the guard said.
The Archivist sighed.
“Yes. Twilight Sparkle, I presume. I was expecting you to visit,” she responded, her voice monotone, as she turned to face them.
Twilight and her friends stared at her, observing the Archivists appearance. The Archivist raised her eyebrow.
“Is there something troubling you, Princess?” she asked in curiosity.
Twilight snared.
“Yes. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are up in their chambers, fighting for their lives and I want to know who this creature they were talking about was!” Twilight barked in frustration.
The Archivist grinned.
“I see your frustration, for you truly care about your mentors. Don’t you?” she replied.
“Madame Archivist! Please. We all need to know what this creature is,” the guard insisted.
“Very well then.” The Archivist understood. “Twilight Sparkle, the creature that attacked your Princesses is an Alicorn, known as Firewing Paradoxes.”
Twilight tilted her head.
“Firewing Paradoxes?” Spike repeated.
“Yes. However, according to my masters, his true name is Khaoios,” The Archivist responded.
Twilight and her friend’s eyes widened.
“Khaoios?” Twilight said. “And he's coming here?”
“Ye--”
The Archivist was interrupted.
“Khaoios is coming? Ooo! When will he be here? What’s his favorite color? Doeshelike balloons? Candy? Balloonsmadeofcandy?” Pinkie Pie screamed out.
“PINKIE!!!” Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Spike out.
The Archivist remained monotone.
“I understand your optimism, Pinkie Pie. However, Khaoios would not be such a nice guest for a party. He would literally “crash” your party, and not in a friendly way, but more of a hostile, party-pooper way.”
Twilight thought The Archivist was trying to be a smart and rude, and all it did was make her furious.
“I have no patience for this right now, Archivist. I want to know how we can stop him and he’s somewhat like Tirek,” she commanded.
The Archivist nodded.
“Khaoios’ power is beyond anything you've encountered. However, he is more powerfully intelligently than physically. That is the most important. However, we have an advantage over him. Even though he’s intelligent, using his magic and power drains him greatly thus forcing himself to retreat. Why do you think Celestia and Luna were easily defeated? That’s because Khaoios took the opportunity to observe his opponents, finding their weakness, then attack them. However, if he were to attack head-on, his power would drain dramatically, making him weak,” she explained.
Twilight tried to record the Archivist’s information, but another guard walked in.
“Report! The survivors have been successfully rounded up and are awaiting your orders, Princess,” the guard said.
Twilight turned.
“Understood. Thank you for the report,” she replied.
The guard bowed and left the dungeon. Rainbow Dash flew towards the cell bars.
“So, where’s this Khaoios now, Archivist?” she asked.
“I do not know. He is quite an intelligent strategist, to be honest, to a point of confusing me. If you wish to stop him, you’ll need guides to assist you,” The Archivist answered.
“Pfft... like Twilight will ever let you out,” Rainbow Dash replied bluntly.
Twilight grinned.
“Rainbow,” she tutted.
“Twilight! How can you trust her? She knows a lot about Khaoios, and she didn’t have the nerve to tell us or anypony here?” Rainbow defensively replied.
“As a matter of fact, Rainbow Dash, I did. Unfortunately, Princess Celestia and Luna believed I might be involved, understandably, and put me here, without affording me the chance to explain who created the meteors."
Everypony jumped.
“WHAT!!!” they all said.
“Khaoios is the one who created the meteors. My master dubbed him, The Extra-Terrestrial Alicorn. And yes, the reason why it stopped and continued again later in the day is because it drained his power. He had to rest and recuperate until he could perform the spell again. Does that answer your question?” The Archivist replied.
Everypony remained silent, and in shock by what they heard.
“Your silence is not assisting the citizens of this planet. Better to react now than waiting for Khaoios to destroy everything you care about,” The Archivist continued.
Twilight turned to the guard.
“Release her,” she ordered.
“Princess!” the guard yelped.
“Twilight!” Rainbow Dash protested.
“If she knows about Khaoios, then we’ll take her along. However, if you make one slip, Archivist, I promise you; you’ll be cooling your hooves in the depths of Tartarus,” Twilight replied.
“Now, you're thinking wisely, Princess. I’ll take your comment under advisement,” The Archivist retorted.