//------------------------------// // Day 2 // Story: Prototype: Black Rain // by Fuberrari //------------------------------// She was on a tower, over looking a city identical to Manehatten in almost every way. Except the bustling sounds of the city were replaced by scattering screams of terror. Beasts of monstrous shape and proportions prowled the streets, hunting the hapless ponies below. The ground and buildings covered with pulsing red masses, looking as if the whole city had become... corrupted. Burning steel chariots littered the streets, the only reminder of the struggle they put up before being overwhelmed. A sense of lost filled her, the lost of someone close to her. A thought that somehow, she had failed echoed in her mind. She felt tired... so... tired... Rainbow Dash woke with a start. Her eyes darted around the basement. Its only illumination provided lit by the rays of sunlight shining through the hole in the ceiling. The lack of sensations in her wings that she now associated with them turning to claws were there again. She looked to her side and saw the remnant of the metal corset Twilight used to bind her wings. A sudden panic shot through her as she carefully examined her surroundings. To her relief, the chain remained unbroken, and the cage looked intact. With a single thought, an act that became almost natural to her, she willed her clawed wings to revert to normal. She tried to make sense of the dream. It felt so real, yet at the same time so... distant. Like viewing at an old, faded photographs. And that feeling of lost... who did she... The creaking sound of door opening and the flood of light broke her out of her thoughts. In the doorway stood Fluttershy, her wings balancing a tray of food on her back. "Oh... you're awake." said Fluttershy as she slowly made her way down the stairs, careful not to spill the content on her back. "Yeah, just woke up." said Rainbow Dash as Fluttershy knelt by the cage door and slide the tray off her back. "I... um... didn't do anything last night, did I?" "Oh no. You slept... fine..." said Fluttershy. "... other than that time when you were stretching your wings..." Fluttershy motioned to the broken pieces of corset in the cage. "Um... can you come out? It's... weird talking to you like this... I mean, if you feel comfortable about it..." "I guess it is kinda weird..." said Rainbow Dash as she undid the collar from her neck. She got out of the cage and stretched. Fluttershy let out a tiny meep as Rainbow's wings momentarily shift to claws for a second. "Um... sorry." "It's... okay. Are you hungry?" asked Fluttershy, pointing to the tray of hay, flower and apples. "Mm..." Rainbow Dash rubbed her stomach. "Not really." "That's strange, you haven't eaten anything for almost a day, and the last thing you ate was... was..." Fluttershy's ears drooped. "... oh... sorry..." "Don't worry about it." said Rainbow Dash. "I don't feel that... freaked out over it anymore. Still a bit freaky, but I can handle that." "Does that mean... that you're a carnivore now?" asked Fluttershy, her voice slightly trembling. "Should I bring some fish instead?" Rainbow Dash leaned down to the tray and sniffed the apple. The red fruit smelled okay. It may no longer arouse her appetite as before, but it doesn't smell revolting. She opened her mouth and swallowed the apple whole, barely chewing more than once or twice. "I don't feel sick..." said Rainbow Dash as she proceeded to swallow the hay in large gulps. "... guess I can still eat pony food." "Well... food sickness generally takes a while to show up..." said Fluttershy. "... I'm fine if you became a carnivore... but it would be nice if you don't need to eat animals..." "We'll just have to wait and see then..." said Rainbow Dash. She stopped eating and looked at Fluttershy. "... you don't mind me eating... meat?" "Of course not. I'm friend with bears, and bears eat a lot of meat." said Fluttershy. "Just... try not to ask me to bring you any..." "I won't dream of it!" said Rainbow Dash, a grin plastered on her face as she gave Fluttershy a poke. "But if I do become a carnivore, maybe you can ask some of your bear friends to hook me up with some nice hunting grounds." Fluttershy's face went pale as she started stuttering. "I... I don't think..." "I was just kidding." said Rainbow Dash, smacking her hoof to her forehead. "Oh... okay..." said Fluttershy. "Um... are you done eating?" Rainbow Dash looked at the nearly empty tray. "Yeah, I think so." "Oh good. Rarity said she's going to come around and make you more presentable for the Princess." said Fluttershy. "AH!" Rainbow Dash looked up in surprise. On the top of the stairs stood Rarity with a distressed look on her face. "This is a disaster!" said the unicorn as she trotted downstairs, carrying a bulging satchel on her back. "Uh oh..." muttered Rainbow Dash as Rarity advanced toward her with a brush and comb levitating beside her. Silver Wing, Private First Class of the Third Royal Solar Pegasus Guard, currently the Second Flight of Princess Celestia's Personal Advance Guard, was one relieved pegasus. For more than a couple of centuries, Equestria had been a peaceful place. Sure there are some border disputes between ponies and other races, but always resolved diplomatically by the Princesses or her diplomats. Because of that, the royal guards had evolved into a more or less ceremonial function. They still train for combat, in the event they ever need to employ deadly forces. But those situations were so rare, that some guards joked that they have a better chance having a threesome with both Princesses then getting into those situations. So unless threesome with both Princesses were common, the past few weeks were definitely out of the ordinary. So far, he had ended no less than a dozen "lives", if you could call those things that: Killer ducks with sharp beaks, killer monkeys with sharp claws, killer rabbits with sharp fangs... or just killer-anything-normally-harmless-with-sharp-something. Fortunately there were no casualties thus far, a few minor injuries here and there, but nothing serious. So no pony could fault Silver Wing for feeling relieved when he landed with his flight mates in front of a normal looking library in a harmless looking town. His captain, Feather Ruffle, knocked on the library door. Seconds later, a nervous looking lavender unicorn answered the door. "Miss Twilight Sparkle," said his captain, "we are the advance guard for her royal highness Princess Celestia. We've been tasked to secure this place for her arrival. May we come in?" The unicorn looked at each of them for a bit before nodding, allowing them entry into the library. "I've never seen nor heard Princess Celestia using an armed advance guard..." said Twilight Sparkle. "... ceremonial guards, yes, but never armed guards." "There had been some... situations..." while his captain answered the unicorn librarian, Silver Wing decided to look around the library. He was walking by the basement door when he heard voices coming from it. As he approached, the voices became clearer and clearer. "Rainbow! Please stay still! You almost scratched me!" came a voice that spoke of sophistication and grace. "Then stop painting it! It doesn't even stay painted! See!" followed by a voice that spoke of neither. "Maybe we just need a different hoof paint..." Intrigued, the private pushed open the door and walked in, and instantly froze at the sight that greeted him. Below, three mares looked up with surprise. A yellow pegasus with pastel pink mane and tail who just sat at a distance. A white unicorn with an elaborately curled purple mane was surrounded by brushes, combs and hoof polish. And a sky-blue pegasus with a brightly colored rainbow mane, with clawed appendages where the wings should be, partly painted with silver hoof-paint. A pegasus... with a pair of very, very sharp claws. "KILLER PEGASUS!" There were three things Rainbow Dash look up to: The Wonderbolts, her friends, and the Royal Pegasus Guards. The latter of which had less to do with the pegasus themselves than the cool stuffs they get, and the pegasus by the doorway seemed to have most of them. There were the shiny, razor-sharp blades that clipped on the front edge of the pegasus' wings. On his hooves were four gold-coated leggings, each with a retractable blades that extends by clicking the hooves together. Right below the wings, low enough to not interfere with the wings, were a pair of tube-shaped saddle bag. She knew that those bags contained more than a dozen spring-loaded flechettes, released by pulling on the stirrup connected to each bag. Finally there's the helmet, where the ceremonial plume was replaced by an ax-like blade. All in all, it made for one impressive looking pegasus. An impressive looking pegasus that dove toward her with a look that said he was out for blood, her blood. "Whoa!" Rainbow Dash scrambled back, barely missing the pegasus guard's hooves. "What gives?" she heard a click, and had to jump out of a way when the guard tried to buck at her with two bladed hooves. "Hey!" "Death to the abomination!" Silver Wing screamed as he lowered his head and charged. His wing blades extended. Rainbow Dash quickly transformed her own wing and parried it. The guard seemed to expected it as he slammed into her with his armored body, sending the two to the ground. Rainbow Dash found herself on her back, slightly dazed by the impact. Looking up, she saw the guard with his front hooves raised above her, the blade on the leggings fully extended. "Oh crap!" she quickly dug her wing claws into the ground above her. And with a quick flap, dragged herself out-of-the-way of the descending blades. "Stop that! What are..." Rainbow Dash scrambled to her hooves, just in time to see the guard putting one of his hooves into the stirrup attached to the bag. "... wait!" Rainbow Dash jumped to the side. A cloud of flechettes buzzed through the air Rainbow once occupied, shattering the few remaining glass-wares Twilight had and embedded themselves in the wall and furniture with a thud. "Careful with that! You're going to..." the guard put his hoof in the second stirrup. Rainbow was about to jump away when she noticed Fluttershy and Rarity behind her. If she were to move away, this idiotic guard's fléchette will impale her friends instead. She made the split second decision to turn to the side, hoping to shield her friends as much as possible. By instinct, Rainbow raised her clawed wing to shield her eyes and braced herself as the guard pushed down on the stirrup. The pain was not as bad as she expected. A few of the fléchette bounced off against her wing claws while most entered her body, sending flashes of dull pain through her. Rainbow quickly glanced toward Fluttershy and Rarity. Both of them looked understandably terrified, judging by the small number of flechettes embedded on the wall behind them. But to her relief, neither of them looked hurt. A twinge of annoyance and anger crossed her mind as she heard the sound of the pegasus guard charging at her. She stood motionless and waited for the guard to get close. When he got in range, Rainbow flared her wings out, smashing the blunt forward edge of her bony wing into the guard's jaw. He went tumbling back and crashed into a table. Rainbow Dash planted her hooves in the ground, making a note not to build up to much forces in her legs, and jumped after the guard. The dazed guard was trying to get to his hooves when Rainbow landed. The shock wave that resulted was a lot weaker than the one she caused last night, but was enough to cause him to lose his footing and landing painfully on his side. Rainbow stomped her left hoof on pegasus guard's wing, pinning him to the ground. With a snarl, she raised her right wing claws high above her. "RAINBOW NO!" came Twilight's voice, moments before she brought the claws down on the terrified pegasus guard. Twilight Sparkle couldn't open her eyes. She had closed her eyes the moment Rainbow Dash brought those claws of hers down on the immobilized guard. The loud crash was followed by complete silence. She's done it now... Twilight Sparkle thought, her eyes still closed, Killed one of Celestia's guard... there's just no way she will... "What... in... Celestia's... name... ARE YOU DOING?!" Twilight Sparkle snapped her eyes opened at Rainbow's shouting. Rainbow was on top the guard, her hoof still pinning the guard's wings to the ground. A sudden relief washed over her as she noticed that Rainbow Dash had embedded her claws in the ground around the guard's head, merely pinning his head and neck to the ground. Most importantly, the guard was still alive, judging by the hyperventilating sound he's making. Oh good... I can still convince the captain to let this... "What's going on here?" Twilight Sparkle spun around with the captain. Behind them stood the regal form of Princess Celestia, her face expressionless yet intimidating. Both her and the captain quickly bowed. We're screwed. "Twilight Sparkle, what's going on here?" asked Princess Celestia. "I... er..." Twilight Sparkle stammered. She had no idea what happened. All she knew was that Rainbow Dash still had a guard pinned down beneath her, and from a quick glance, she's not letting that guard up anytime soon. "Your highness, if I may." said Rarity. Princess Celestia nodded before the unicorn continued. "Your guard attacked Rainbow there without provocation. She was just trying to defend herself and us. If it wasn't for Rainbow shielding us, we would have perished!" She pointed to the wall behind her, where Twilight could make out the tail end of the embedded darts sticking out of the wall. "Captain?" Twilight Sparkle could make out an angry twitch in Captain Feather Ruffle features when he turned around to face the guard below. "Private Silver Wing!" barked the Captain. "Was everything this unicorn said true?" "... yes..." came the high-pitched and strained answer from the guard. The captain audibly groaned before turning to the princess. "Your highness, if I may..." Princess Celestia nodded. Prompting the captain to jump over the landing and glide down to where Rainbow was. "Ma'am..." Captain Feather Ruffle eyed Rainbow's wing claws with some trepidation. "... could you release my subordinate?" "... fine..." without another word, Rainbow Dash yanked her wing claws out of the ground and limped back to her friends. Twilight Sparkle let out a breath she didn't she was holding as the guard got back to his hooves. The guard looked pitiful. His helmet was crooked and he was sporting a nasty bruise on his jaw. The clipped on blade on his wings was chipped and the feather were all bend and crooked. "Was there a GOOD reason why you attacked that mare?" the private opened his mouth before the captain cut him off again. "Beside the fact that her wings can turn into claws." "... no..." answered the private, his ears folded against his head. The captain shook his head and sighed. "You know, you're lucky that this mare..." he gestured toward Rainbow Dash, who was busy pulling the fléchette darts out of her side with Fluttershy's help. "... stopped you from turning this into a major disaster. Else you will be looking at much more than a month of outhouse duty. Understand?" Silver Wing nodded in like a foal that had been badly scolded. "Good, fall back with the rest of your wing-mates." The private limped his way up the stair, muttering some words of apology to Rainbow Dash before making the rest of his way out of the library. The Captain stayed a while longer, making a more formal apology to which Rainbow replied, "yeah, whatever." before making his way out. Now the basement was just her, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and... Princess Celestia. Twilight Sparkle gulped, her eyes glancing the regal form who's surveying the scene with expressionless eyes. "Princess... I..." "I've seen enough." To Twilight Sparkle's pleasant surprise, she saw a smile crept up on Princess Celestia's feature as she floated down the stair. "Princess?" Twilight Sparkle quickly ran down the stairs, where her three friends sat stock still in the presence of the sun alicorn. "I've seen enough..." she started. "... to promise that, barring major changes, there will be no need to banish miss Rainbow Dash." "Really?" asked Fluttershy, her eyes lighting up with happiness. "You're not going to send her away?" Princess Celestia shook her head. "No my little ponies. Rainbow Dash had demonstrated that despite her changes, she's still in control of herself." Fluttershy squeaked happily and pulled Rainbow into a tight embrace, while Twilight Sparkle felt like some pony had lifted a heavy weight off her shoulder. "Some precautions will be required on her part until we can figure out what happened to her. In addition, I may need Rainbow Dash' service in figuring out the strange happening around Equestria." "What strange happening?" asked Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia furrowed her eye-brow in contemplation. "Before I could answer that, I would like to hear the first hoof account from miss Rainbow Dash on everything that had happened to her." Princess Luna stood in a small clearing within the Everfree forest. Her face wore a bored expression as she watched her guards examined every bush, every fallen logs, and every piece of rock they come across. Even with Celestia training on modern etiquette, she couldn't help but paw the ground occasionally in frustration. All in all, Princess Luna was not a happy alicorn. As the regent of the night, it was her duty to investigate these strange objects that intruded on her night sky so callously. True, there were others in the past that deign themselves to be above her design of the heavenly body, but those were few, insignificant in the grand scheme of things. But these... interlopers came by the dozens every night. Tarnishing her perfect night sky like a bunch of hooligans! And she demanded to know what they are! If only her guard would see it that way. "Captain Storm!" barked Princess Luna. Almost immediately a pegasus guard appeared in front of her as in by teleportation. Which surprised Luna somewhat, her mind wondering how a guard weighted down with all those... combat implements could still move that fast. "Yes your highness?" asked the captain following a quick salute. "How much longer, pray tell, dost thou..." Curses, lose the old Equestrian, "... will you take with this... security measure?" "Hm..." the captain looked back toward the forest. "We have finished checking about half of the perimeter... so about... three more hours?" Princess Luna groaned. Her sister may have meant well, asking her to tolerate such over-protective behavior from her little ponies. But they were really wearing her patience thin. "Captain! Why do you persist in such... pointless activity!" "Pointless?" came the captain's gasps. "No your highness! All this is for your safety and well-being!" "Safety and well-being..." repeated Luna, her eyes twitching a bit. "Tell me, captain. Are we... Am I, or am I not, Regent of the Moon, Grand Arbiter of the Night Court, Guardian of Dreams, Ruler of Equestria, AND one of the most powerful pony in the lands?" "Um... yes, your highness." The captain nodded as if to reinforce his replies. "And had I, or had I not, demonstrated that I'm more than capable of taking care of myself against a horde of sharp-fanged, rabid monster bunnies? Even when surrounded." Princess Luna couldn't help herself as her volume started to climb. "Yes. You did." came the curt reply. "Then WHY..." Volume! Volume! "... do you insist on treating me like a helpless foal?" "It's a precaution, your majesty." said the captain, who appeared to be oblivious to how close Luna was to losing her temper. "It will be our disgrace as your majesty's royal guards if we failed in our duty in keeping you safe!" Her eyes twitched some more. "What, pray tell, dost thou... you believe could harm our... my body?" "Like I said, this is a precaution in case..." the captain's reply was cut short by the sound of a pony screaming at the top of his lung. "MONSTER DOGS! MONSTER DOGS!" a single unicorn guard came running out of the thick underbrush. Almost immediately, three diamond dogs came racing out after him. "PROTECT THE PRINCESS!" Captain Storm shouted. And in an instant, Princess Luna found herself surrounded on all sides by her guards. Luna looked at the three dogs that were after the panicking unicorn guard. At first glance, they looked just like any other diamond dogs. But on a second look, it became obvious something was seriously wrong with them. Their teeth had grown to almost half-foot long, each terminated with into a sharp point. It looked like some-pony had decided to replace all their teeth with brand-new, sharpened railroad spikes. Their nails also changed, resembling more like manticore's claws then dog's. More distinct, were the red masses and veins that covered their entire body. More of those cursed by the alien rock. thought Princess Luna as her horn started to spark. A dark cloud formed and swirled above her. When the galloping guard and his rabid pursuers were less than a dozen pony lengths away, she unleashed three quick bolts of lightning. The mutated diamond dogs yelped and collapsed to the ground, black smoke rising off them. "See! I can take care..." one of the diamond dog growled and started to get up. Luna rolled her eyes in annoyance before dropping a more powerful bolt on it, silencing it permanently. "... of myself." The unicorn guard slowed to a stop in front of Captain Storm, his breath coming out in gasps. "Private Light Stick..." the captain started with a growl. "... please tell me you did not run out screaming like a foal over three small diamond dogs..." "No captain!" the private replied in a panic. "There are more of them!" "Ha! Then let them come!" said Luna. Her voice brimming with confidence. "We shall cleanse this land of... their..." The tone of confidence left her voice as the ground began to tremble. Luna's feature went slack when countless number of diamond dogs, all mutated horribly, came pouring out from the underbrush. "Oh... my..." "This... raised a lot more questions than answers." commented Princess Celestia as the diamond dog in front of her revert to a sky-blue pegasus. For the past two hours, Rainbow Dash had told Princess Celestia as much as she could about her strange abilities. Most of the things Twilight Sparkle already wrote in her letter to the Princess, others the unicorn saw for herself yesterday. But Rainbow Dash's demonstration of her ability to perfectly mimic a diamond dog's form and mannerism was... disturbing to say the least. "We know one question that answered." said Pinkie Pie. Her voice carried a tone of seriousness before it bubbled away just a quickly. "What will Rainbow dress up as next Nightmare Night! Wait, is it still considered dressing up if she doesn't need to get dressed..." That's Pinkie Pie. thought Twilight Sparkle, fighting the urge to face-hoof the second time. The first time was when Pinkie Pie suddenly pop out of nowhere to comment on Rainbow's "multipurpose" wing claws. That almost got her pounced on by Celestia's guard. Twilight Sparkle did wonder if the guards could even catch her. Princess Celestia merely blinked at the party pony. "I can see why the Element of Laughter chose you." said Princess Celestia in wonderment. "Your ability to find joy in any situation is... unprecedented." "Well duh! If you don't find the silver in every cloud. You'll be all dull and sad." "Alright." said Twilight Sparkle. "Back on topic... Princess Celestia, you said something about strange happenings before?" "Ah yes. The meteors that had fallen all over the world." said Princess Celestia. "As you might have noticed, there had been an abnormal amount of shooting stars in the past month." Twilight Sparkle nodded. "The rate of falling stars appearing over the past month were orders of magnitudes greater than any other time in recorded history, excluding the Centennial Meteor Shower." "Those are not exactly falling stars. Or at least, they're not from Luna's stars. Naturally, we went to investigate them." Princess Celestia's suddenly looked solemn. "It was... simply terrible." "What happened?" asked Twilight. Princess Celestia's horn glowed, swirls of smoke coalesces in the air and turned into photographs. The ponies inched closer to get a better look at them. "Good heavens! What are those... things?" exclaimed Rarity. The photos showed craters of different shape and sizes. Some almost perfectly circular, while others looked like some pony pulled a plow through it. But all of them showed red, flesh-colored tendrils covering and spreading from the meteor. "No pony knows. The University scholars took some samples, but they still haven't figure out what they are. All we know is that it somehow turns the surrounding animals into some sort of monsters." said Princess Celestia as she conjured up a second set of photos. All the photos have the same theme: Dead animals of various sizes, all mutated into muscled monstrosities. "Those poor critters..." said Fluttershy, her eyes started to tear up. On the other hoof, Rainbow Dash just stared numbly at the photographs. "Just like what happened to that diamond dog..." said Twilight Sparkle. "Yes, and you spoke of these strange red gems that seems to be the cause." said Princess Celestia. "Those were no gems." said Rarity before Twilight could answer. "Oh?" Princess Celestia looked at the fashionista with interest. "How so?" "My special talent is in finding gems, your highness. That said, I can also determine whether a stone was a fake. And those stones were most certainly fake." "And they were in the crater where Twilight found us..." said Fluttershy. "... but they disappeared when she got there." Princess Celestia went silence as she thought it over. In the same manner, Twilight Sparkle's mind ticked along trying to make sense of these information. "Will I... become like them?" asked Rainbow Dash, her voice wavering. "Not... likely..." said Twilight Sparkle. "Judging by what happened to that diamond dog, the effect appears to be instantaneous. So if you are going to become like... those thing, you would have been one already. It looks like its effect on pony is... different." "That will be fortunate if it is so." said Princess Celestia. "However, I am not going to try that on another..." Princess Celestia stopped talking. Her eyes glazed over, staring blankly ahead. Twilight Sparkle was starting to get worried when the alicorn blinked, her eyes returning to normal. Then she got really worried when Princess Celestia bolted to her hooves and ran out the basement. Twilight Sparkle quickly ran after her, with her friends following close behind. Once outside, her eyes went wide as she saw a roiling thundercloud hovering above Everfree forest. Lightning bolts crashed at frequency never seen or heard of before. "Feather Ruffle, evacuate the town. The rest of you, follow me." Princess Celestia broke of into a gallop toward the edge of town bordering the Everfree forest, her guards followed close behind. Twilight Sparkle ran after her with her friends. "Princess! What's happening?" asked Twilight Sparkle, shouting over the noise of thundering hooves. "Princess Luna just informed me that there's a large horde of those... monster diamond dogs heading toward us from the Everfree forest." said Princess Celestia. "She and her guards are buying us some time to set up a proper defense." "What can we do to help?" asked Twilight Sparkle. "Help evacuate the town, and get yourself to safety." "Got it." Twilight Sparkle slowed to a trot and let the guards sped past them before turning to her friends. "Okay, girls you heard..." "Angel! The animals! They're right next to the Everfree forest!" Fluttershy took off before Twilight could say anything. Rainbow Dash quickly went after her. "I'll help her!" called back Rainbow Dash. "Fluttershy! Wait up!" Oh! That's right! Applejack's farm is also near the Everfree Forest! "Okay, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, go help evacuate the town. I'll go get Applejack." said Twilight Sparkle. With that, the ponies went their separate ways. Each hoping that there's enough time to save the town folks. Hurry up Tia! Princess Luna urged in her mind. She sent a dozen more lightning bolts crashing down into the swarm of monstrous canines, turning them into ashes. But she could have sworn that for every diamond dog she put down, three more would take their place. All around her, unicorn guards fought to slow the advancing horde down. Many have already used up all their javelins and were chopping down the monsters with their blades. All her pegasus guards were out of their fléchette pack already. Instead, they swoop down in between the trees, cutting the monsters below with their hoof-blades. But even with their effort, the sheer weight of the horde were pushing them back. To make matter worse, they were getting exhausted, or at least she was. The need to control that many lightning bolts created a great mental strain, and she could notice that some of her bolts were starting to miss their mark. The sheer density of the swarm, however, meant that they still hit something. Thankfully, her sister voice echoed through her mind. Luna! Pull back! We're ready for them. "Fluttershy! Hurry up!" yelled Rainbow Dash. She was standing outside Fluttershy's cottage. The worried look on her face deepened as the rumbling of thunder started to die away. Rainbow Dash went into the cottage and shouted. "We need to go! Now!" She immediately regretted shouting that. "I can't..." Fluttershy's lip quivered. In front of her was two baskets with injured critters lining the bottom of them. Yet, more critters in various states of injury and illness surrounded her. A white bunny sat beside Fluttershy, his paw on her side as if trying to comfort her. "I can't take them all." "We have to go..." said Rainbow Dash in more gentle tone. "I... I can't leave them..." said Fluttershy. Tears started to well up in her eyes. Rainbow Dash looked around at the terrified critters. "Then you take what you can and go, I'll stay." said Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy looked at her in shock as she continued. "I can't promise that they'll be okay, but I'll try to keep those monsters from your animals." "You can't!" blurted Fluttershy. "I can't ask you to do that!" "It's either that or..." "Rainbow! Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy went outside and saw Twilight Sparkle running toward them, with Applejack hauling a cart behind her. "What's the problem? What's taking you guys so long?" "Fluttershy got too many injured animals." said Rainbow Dash. "She couldn't leave them." "Oh good. I suspect that might happen." said Twilight Sparkle. "Good thing I asked Applejack to bring her cart." "Good thinking Twi. Ah was wondering why yah need me cart here." said Applejack as Fluttershy quickly went back to her cottage with Twilight Sparkle. Moments later, Fluttershy came out with the two basketful of injured animals. The rests were carried through the air by Twilight's magic. "Land-sake, dat right there is a lot of critters!" The two quickly load the injured critter on the cart when several unicorn ponies came galloping out of the Everfree forest. Rainbow Dash recognized them as Princess Luna's royal unicorn guards by their distinctive midnight blue armors. One of the unicorn guards stopped when he saw them. "What are you ponies doing here!?" Before any pony could respond to him, two mutated diamond dogs jumped out of the bush. The guard quickly used his sword and sliced one of them in half. But the second one managed to land on his back, the shock of the impact made him lost his telekinesis grab on his blade. The monstrous canine proceed to try to bite through the chain-mail protecting his neck. "Get it off me!" the guard started kicking his hind leg into the air, trying to buck the rabid dog off his back. Rainbow Dash bolted forward, tackling the diamond dog off the guard's back and to the ground. Her wings transformed to claws as the diamond dog's started making scratch marks on her with its struggling. She drove both wing claws into the neck of the monster below her and gave her wings a twist. Rainbow Dash grimaced at the dull crack sound of the diamond dog's neck shattering. Her expression turned to mild disgust as black and red tendril latched themselves onto the diamond dog. The dead canine disintegrated as the tendril pull them into her body, which was rapidly healing the cuts and scratches she sustained. Shaking off the healing of disgust, she transformed her wings back to normal and turned to look for her friends. She found them staring at her with their mouth agape, and a floating sword pointing at her. "What... What are you?" he asked, the sword he was levitating shook unsteadily. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "I am a pegasus... that is going through some issues right now. Can we just run first before more of those things show up?" "Sir, we really need to go." urged Twilight Sparkle. The unicorn guard still looked unsure, but he sheath his sword anyway. The ponies quickly took off toward Ponyville. Applejack dragging the cart beside Fluttershy. The unicorn guard took up position in front of them, his eyes darting side-to-side. Rainbow Dash ran behind them with Twilight Sparkle beside her. "Rainbow. Are you alright? Did you have those... flashbacks again?" asked Twilight Sparkle, her voice low and filled with concern. "I'm... fine. Didn't get it this time." Rainbow Dash bit her lip. "It's like they no longer have their memories anymore..." As the group approach the main-road toward Ponyville, the lines of trees beside them started to thin out. The sight of foliage, however, was replaced by hundreds of thousands of monstrous looking diamond dogs running toward them. "Oh cow-pie." swore Rainbow Dash. For as long as any ponies have remembered, there was never a need to evacuate a town before. So when a group of pegasus guards showed up, telling them that the town was in grave danger, the ponies did the one thing their instinct told them to do. "RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" screamed Roseluck for the twenty-seventh time as she ran around in circles. The town was in pandemonium, with ponies running around colliding into each other. Above the chaos, Pinkie Pie had somehow managed to suspend giant neon signs pointing toward Canterlot on Twilight's balloon. Signs that said "Run Here", "Panic This Way", "Free Candies", and "Thar Be Muffins" blinked over the crowd. "Please just head toward Canterlot... Sweetie Belle! Sweetie... Canterlot, head toward Canterlot, and watch where you're going! Sweetie Belle! Oh... mom and dad are going to kill me... Sweetie Belle! Where are you?" Rarity alternate between finding her own sister and trying to get the town-ponies to head in the right direction. She sincerely hoped that Sweetie Belle had went ahead and evacuated first. However, the sight of a pastel pink and purple tailed filly unicorn disappearing behind a building quickly squashed that hope. "She's SO GROUNDED... DOUBLE GROUNDED!" growled Rarity before she started pushing her way through the crowd once more. "... JUST LOOK UP AT THE DAMN SIGNS!" "Scootaloo! I really, REALLY think this is a BAD idea!" said Sweetie Belle as she followed the running Scootaloo and Apple Bloom up the bell tower staircase. "Rarity is so going to ground me... again..." "Ah haveta agree. This is a bad idea! Applejack is going to lock me in the cellar for this!" shouted Apple Bloom. "And miss all the actions? No way!" Scootaloo jumped the final couple of stairs and reached the top of the bell tower. From there, she could see the boundary between the town and Everfree forest, where lines of unicorn and pegasus guards stood at ready. In the middle of the lines stood a single imposing figure, her horn glowing with the intensity of the sun. "Sweetie Belle! Apple Bloom! Hurry up! Something cool is about to happen!" "Applejack! Can't you run any faster?" asked Rainbow Dash as she tracked another diamond angling in on them. With her wing back in claw form, she back winged the canine into the air before bisecting it with a down-stroke. They were just minutes away from the town, in front of a wave of rabid diamond dogs that numbered in the thousands. Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy rode in the cart with the injured animal. The former was picking up passing rock with her magic and hurling them at the pursuing diamond. The latter was working to keep the injured animals from bouncing off the cart. "Well, just keep them off us!" yelled Applejack, she duck her head a swerved, barely missing a diamond dog trying to jump on her. Said diamond dog didn't manage to get back up before being beheaded by a floating blade. "Thanks Long Sweep." "Don't mention it." replied the unicorn guard, his blade spinning in the air like a saw, slicing through any diamond dogs that managed to catch up to them. "We need to hurry, Princess Celestia is about to clean this place up." Rainbow Dash looked forward, noting the line of golden armor right behind the river. In the middle of them, she could barely make out the imposing figure of the solar princess through the glare from her horn. "I'm guessing we should not be here when she starts." "We need to hurry!" shouted Twilight. "She's going to... AH! HELP!" Rainbow Dash looked back and saw Twilight Sparkle hanging on to the back of the cart with Fluttershy's help. Behind her, a diamond dog had its teeth latched on the unicorn tail. "Hang on Twi!" Rainbow Dash pulled back to the side of the offending diamond dog, and using the momentum of her leap, drove her wing claws into its back. The sudden addition of claws into its neck caused the diamond to topple to the dirt. Unfortunately for Twilight, the diamond dog didn't release her tail, which caused her to be dragged off the cart and into the ground. "Keep going!" she yelled ahead at Applejack, who nodded and continued her way. Rainbow Dash ran to the fallen unicorn, who was trying to pull her tail out of the now dead canine's teeth with no success. She brought her claws up just in time to ram them into a diamond dog charging at Twilight. Lifting up the impaled diamond dog, she spun around and threw them at the pack behind them as hard as she could. The diamond dog carcass plowed into the pursuing pack, knocking them over like rows of bowling pins and creating a gap. To the dismay of Rainbow Dash, the gap was quickly filled in by the massive swarm of diamond dogs behind them. "Twilight! Hurry..." Rainbow Dash found herself momentarily deaf and blinded. Her sight recovered first. With her ear ringing, she looked around and found the ground behind them covered with dozens of char marks. Diamond dog bodies littered the field, many burnt beyond recognition. Twilight Sparkle was wobbling on her hooves, her eyes dazed and confused. Her nose caught a strong scent of ozone, like the smell of an active thunderstorm. She looked up, and found herself staring at swirling black cloud. The impressive form of Princess Luna loomed over them. "Make haste!" came the alicorn's rumbling voice, loud enough for Rainbow Dash to hear over her ringing ears. Rainbow Dash quickly cut off Twilight's tail, freeing her from the diamond dog's teeth. Her wings transformed back as she dove below the unicorn, lifting her on her back. "Twilight! Hang on!" Rainbow Dash felt the unicorn's hooves tightened against her sides. She broke off into a mad dash, catching up to Applejack at an impressive speed as Princess Celestia rose into the air. "Ooh..." From the bell tower, the three filly watched as the bright glowing figure ascended into the sky. All three wore a pair of sunglasses courtesy of Scootaloo by means unknown. As Princess Celestia's ascend slowed, the sun started to grow dim with each stroke of her wings. The sky turned from blue to yellow, before finally turned to a dull red. Nothing else seems to happen for several seconds when Princess Celestia just hovered there. Then without warning, shafts of light, almost tangible in quality from the distance, slammed into the ground in front of the advancing diamond dogs. "Cool!" uttered Scootaloo. Princess Celestia started to fly forward, pushing the beams of light into the diamond dog swarm. The light vaporized anything that didn't get out-of-the-way. Unfortunately for the monsters below, the tightly packed shafts offered no escape. Rainbow Dash had barely clear the bridge into Ponyville when she was forced to shield her eyes from the intense light. The ground trembled. The air itself hissed, crackled and roared from the heat. Twilight Sparkle had tumbled off her when the unicorn had to shield her own eyes with her front hooves. Her exposed back felt like some pony had shined a high power heat-lamp on her back. As fast as it came, the intense heat and light went away. Rainbow Dash opened her eye cautiously. Beside her, Twilight Sparkle was already getting up and looking around, her back and mane looked light burnt as small wisps of smoke rose off them. She looked back toward the forest, or the lack of one. Where the Everfree forest once stood, a large swath of it had turned into a blackened plain. Only a few blackened and charred trees here and there remained. Black pieces of glass covered the ground where the earth itself was fused together by the intense heat. Smoke rose up from the edge of the forest the remained, where trees and vegetation were close enough to catch fire, but not close enough to be instant vaporized. Above the charred landscape, Princess Celestia circled a few times before coming down beside Princess Luna. Both landed in front of their respective guard captains. Rainbow Dash couldn't hear what the princesses were saying. But judging by the loud cheer that erupted, they probably won. Then the ground started to rumble again. "Whoa... that was SO COOL!" shouted Scootaloo as she took her sunglasses. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle followed suite. "Ah haveta admit, that was pretty cool." said Apple Bloom. "I still think..." Sweetie Belle went pale when she noticed a unicorn purple mane trotting up to the bell tower with steam pouring out her ear. "SWEE... TIE... BELLE! GET... DOWN... HERE... RIGHT... THIS... INSTANCE..." shouted Rarity in a strained voice. A part of her wanted to give her sister a very, VERY through scolding, maybe a padding on her flank or two. Yet, the other part of her was just relieved that her sister was safe. The latter part won out when she saw the filly unicorn walked out the bell tower: Her head down with her ears folded against it. "I..." before Sweetie Belle could get a word out, Rarity swept her into a tight embrace. "Don't... ever... do that... again..." Rarity choked out to the stunned filly. "I was... so worried..." "I'm sorry Rarity." replied Sweetie Belle. Her voice cracking as she recognized the distressed she had caused her sister. "It's alright. Everything is alright." said Rarity as she released the filly unicorn from her embrace. She looked at the two other filly behind her, both looked guilt ridden. "Come on, let's get you girls back to your families." Rarity had barely taken two steps before the ground started shaking. The rumbling drew near the ground started to swell in front of her. Her eyes went wide when the ground burst, revealing a massive mutated diamond dog in front of her. "RUN GIRLS! RUN!" "They are inside the perimeter!" To their credit, the royal guards reacted quickly. The instant one of those diamond dogs burst out from the ground, they were immediately pin-cushioned by whatever weapons the guards have. However, these diamond dogs were easily three to four times the size of the ones wiped out by Princess Celestia, or a tad larger then the first monster canine Rainbow Dash killed. Even with the sheer amount of injury the guards inflicted, it took them a good minute just to bring one down. Twilight Sparkle picked up the largest piece of masonry she could find and chucked it at the closest diamond dog, crushing it. From the corner of her eyes, she could make out three ponies that were at least faring better then she was against the monster dogs. Princess Luna was doing what could be best described as lightning whack-a-mole. With the need to spread out her lightning gone, she called down powerful bolts of lightning that simply vaporized any diamond dog that poke their head out. Princess Celestia had her flaming claymore out, bisecting any diamond dogs that managed to get out of their holes. Then there's Rainbow Dash. Twilight Sparkle saw her ran up to a diamond dog, heedless of the fact that it was five times taller then she was. With one fluid motion, Rainbow Dash scaled the towering form and drove her wing claws into its shoulder. She gave the beast's head a few kick and jumped off, using her weight to pull the beast off-balance. The flailing monster toppled on its back, sending a tremor through the ground behind the pegasus. Planting her fore-legs into the ground, Rainbow Dash kicked out her hind-legs. With a sickening crack, she drove the monster's head into its shoulder, stilling the monster instantly. "Three down." said Rainbow Dash before yanking her wing claws out the now deceased monster, the entire event lasting less then ten seconds. That was when Rarity's scream echoed from the town. "Back you ruffian! Back!" yelled Rarity, her horn glowing as a floating pole stabbed at the monstrous canine in front of her. Behind her the Cutie Mark Crusader backed themselves into a corner, having no where else to run. Worst of all, Rarity's stabbing seemed to not phased the monster at all, judging by the ease with which said monster snapped the pole in half with its powerful jaws. Rarity dropped the pole and scrambled back to the three filly. "I'm sorry girls..." said Rarity, hugging the three fillies close. "... looks like this is the end for us. Oh cruel..." "Hey you!" Rarity turned her head to the source of the voice. Rainbow Dash came in at full gallop, her claw wings fully extended. Her shout also drew the attention of the towering canine, who raised its claws and took a wild swipe at charging pegasus. Rainbow Dash quickly ducked, and use the opening to dug her right-wing into the monster's waist. Using the momentum of her charge and her dug in wing claw as a pivot, she spiraled up across the front of the beast and on its back, leaving behind three deep gashes on the beast's body. With her other wing, she started driving her claws into the monster's neck. However, the beast snapping jaw managed to grab it after a few stabs. "Hey!" the beast twisted its head, snapping her left-wing off. "OW!" "Rainbow!" came Rarity's worried cries as the three fillies screamed out in shock. Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, didn't seemed to be hindered by a lost wing. Instead, she simply looked more pissed. "So it's biting now, huh? Two can play that game!" Rainbow Dash bit down on the diamond dog's ear for anchorage. She yanked out her right-wing and proceed to use it to continue stabbing the canine in the neck. The beast leg gave out when Rainbow's claws managed to severed its spine. It toppled backward, and fell to the ground on top of the pegasus. "Rainbow! Are you okay?" asked Rarity. "I'm... okay... just... I got it..." came the muffled reply. Rarity blanched as the monster's body disintegrated and started to merge into the pegasus below. Rainbow Dash scrambled to her hoof, her broken wing rapidly regenerating as the unicorn and fillies watched. "Are you alright?" asked Rainbow Dash, to which Rarity could only nod in response. "Okay, just stay tight. I going to go take care of these... things." with that, Rainbow Dash ran off, leaving behind three stunned fillies. "Ah don't think dat rumor was a figure of speech thingy..." commented Apple Bloom. Well... it's not as bad as I imagined... thought Princess Celestia as she stood over a small hill overlooking the triage area, where dozens of injured guards were being treated. It had taken almost an hour of fighting, and the town itself was pretty much destroyed. Many of the guards were injured, with Princess Luna's own guards making up the largest portion on account of being the first in contact with those... monstrosities. As much as she hated seeing her ponies hurt, she was at least glad that the number of casualties were small. The evacuation had ensured that none of the Ponyville residence were harmed, and only seven guards lost their lives today. Unfortunately, all seven guards were among Luna's. Just two years back... and you already have to tell some family that their foal had died... She made a mental note to herself to help her sister through that difficult process. Princess Celestia watched as the midnight blue alicorn crisscrossing among the injured guards, offering whatever help and support she could. "Your highness." Princess Celestia looked to her side and found her personal protegé raising her head up from a bow. "We just finished delivering some medical supplies. Is there anything more we can do too help?" "Thank you, Twilight. You and your friends have done all that you can. We'll handle it from here." said Princess Celestia, a faint smile on her face. The smile quickly went away when a worried Fluttershy ran up to the. "Twilight!... Oh your highness, I'm sorry... but... something is wrong with the guards!" "Now now Captain Storm. You and your ponies had done very well." Princess Luna said with a smile, her hoof gently pushing the pegasus back on his bed. "I am sorry about your wing thou." said Luna, pointing toward the bandaged stomp on his back. "Nah, the nurse said they got some potion that can grow it back." said Storm. "I must apologize that I won't be able to lead your aerial guard." "Your dedication is noted, Captain Storm, but I must insist that you take a paid rest from guard duty." said Princess Luna. "Just think, you'll get to spend some more time with your family." "Thank you, your highness." Princess Luna did a quick bow to the captain, who returned the gesture. She continued her round, her heart heavy with remorse, seeing the rows of make-shift bed where her injured guards laid. Strangled cries of pain reached her ears. She quickly located the source, and saw a unicorn guard writhing on his bed. Princess Luna quickly trotted over, noting that his bandage was soaked through with blood. "Nurse! He's bleeding again..." "No..." Princess Luna stared at the injured guard who had just interrupted her. It was something the guards never did before in her memory. "... run... your highness..." "What are you talking about?" asked Princess Luna. "Something... wrong..." came the strangled word from the unicorn. "I..." Princess Luna heard a guttural growl beside her. Before she could find the source, a sharp pain shot up from her left-wing. Her eyes went wide when she saw that a pegasus guard had sunk his teeth into her wing. His eyes were bloodshot and wild, with red veins covering them like spiderwebs. Luna quickly flapped her wing, throwing the guard off. "What... what happened to you? Why did you do that?" the guard that just bit her scrambled to his foot. Princess Luna could see a moment of shock and fear flash through the guard's eyes when, to her horror, the pegasus body began to shift. The skin around his mouth pulled back, revealing the muscles and tendons as his jaw opened into a yawning maw. His teeth enlarged and sharpened. The extra bulk caused his teeth to jut out, forming a crooked row of sharp points. His eyes bulged out until it looked like they're about to popped out from their sockets. Their iris turned cloudy white as red veins extended into it. Undisguised by the enchanted guard armors, his normally yellow mane and tail receded and became sharp spines. His brown coat also receded, exposing the skin below that had become a sickly gray color covered by bulging blood-red veins. His feather fell out as his wings atrophied until they're no more then two, short, bony stumps on his back. Screams erupted all over the triage area. Princess Luna looked around in shock as the guards started to transform one by one, each as hideous as the next. The ones that weren't changing struggled to their hooves, trying to get away from those that once considered them to be comrades. "Luna! We need to go!" the stunned lunar princess only saw a plume of white feather covering her before she felt the soaring sensation of being teleported. Princess Luna found herself being deposited on the hill overlooking the triage area, her sister stood by her side. She knew she shouldn't look, but in her state of shock, Princess Luna couldn't look away. Below, the transformed guards chased and hunted down their former care-takers comrades. Terrified screams of mares and colts filled the air as they were eaten alive. Princess Luna didn't hear her sister taking off into the air, nor did she felt the building up of magical energy. She did noticed the bright shaft of burning light that, mercifully, wiped away the scene of terror in front of her. Princess Celestia landed beside her still paralyzed sister. Her own mind was numbed by her own action. They were Luna's royal guards. Princess Celestia knew most of their names, on account that most of them were from her own guard forces. Luna was just starting to make friend with them, and now, she just killed them all. She looked at her sister, who stood motionless on the hill. Her eyes stared blankly at the charred ground that was all that remained of her guards. "Luna..." her voice broke through the paralysis that gripped her sister. Luna turned to look at her, tears welling up in her teal eyes. "Why Tia..." Luna choked out as tears rolled down her cheek. "WHY?" "I'm sorry Luna... I... LUNA!" Princess Celestia became alarmed when Luna yelped out in pain. "My wing! My wing!" yelled the night alicorn as she stumbled to her right. Her left-wing stretched out from her side as if she was trying to get it away from her. The familiar blood-red veins were spreading from the bite wound in her wing. "Luna!" Princess Celestia quickly got to her sister's side. Her right-wing shot out and pulled Luna's head against her side, covering her eyes in the process. Her horn flared up, releasing a burst of magical flame that coalesced into a flaming sword. "Hold your wing out!" Princess Luna did as commanded. The red veins had covered half of her wing already when Princess Celestia brought the burning blade down. "GAH!" screamed Princess Luna as her infected wing flew of in an arc. "It's okay... It's okay..." Princess Celestia kept her wing tight around Luna's neck, gently lowering the gasping alicorn to the ground. Just when she thought the worst was over, a squelching sound drew her attention to where Luna's wing had landed. The wing had turned into a puddle of red mass on the ground. From the center of it, a red bulge started to rise. Both stunned princesses watched as the bulge turned into a front leg of a pony, blood-red and lacking any skin. A second, larger bulge rose up, turning into what looked like a skinned unicorn head. Its eyes were pitch-black, the same color as its horn. The rest of the body rose out from the puddle, a pair of featherless wings on burst out from its back. As the body emerged, the red mass coating the creature started to receded, leaving behind a sickly gray coat. Identically colored feathers started to grow from its wings. Dull grayish red mane spilled from the back of its neck. Her tail, also of the same color, emerged out of the puddle along with her hind-legs. Princess Celestia found herself staring at another alicorn, an alicorn born from the corrupted flesh of her sister. Princess Celestia felt her sister trembled against her as its soulless eyes bore into them. The sun princess got to her hooves, rage burning in her eyes as her sword caught flame again. "DIE YOU ABOMINATION!" screamed Princess Celestia as she charged. She barely got three steps into her charge when the alicorn opened its mouth and screeched. Princess Celestia found herself stopped in her track as the wave of sound hit her like a wall. Her flaming blade extinguished as she dug into the ground to stop herself from being blown back. The unnatural sound ceased after just mere moment. With her ear still ringing, Princess Celestia opened her eyes she didn't know she closed and saw the creature flying away toward the Everfree forest. She was about to give chase when the ground started shaking. Not again! thought Princess Celestia as she ready her blade again. She looked behind her to her sister, who was struggling to her hoof to get ready to fight again. Turning her attention forward again, she focused on the growing bulge on the ground in front of her. Let's get this over with... thought Princess Celestia, her sword at the ready to cut down more of those monster canines. The ground erupted. It wasn't a diamond dog. "WHAT THE HAY!" exclaimed Applejack as a snake-like creature erupted from the ground. Twilight Sparkle simply stared in disbelief. She had thought that the monster looking alicorn was about as scary as it could get after the monster diamond dogs. But this thing was another matter entirely. She could tell that this creature was once a hydra, a creature that lived in a swamp and had attacked them once. Its bulging muscles had increased in size to the point that the skin had burst. Its mouth split open into four flaps, the inside of which were completely covered with teeth. Twilight Sparkle wondered where the other three heads were when the ground shook again. She looked around in a hurry, trying to find where the remaining head will come from. Her eyes instantly caught sight of a rapidly bulging ground at a distance from her. A bulging ground with Fluttershy on top of it. Twilight couldn't even get out a warning before the hydra's head burst out, throwing the stunned pegasus into the air. "Ee..." Fluttershy's squeak receded rapidly as she went higher and higher into the air. Twilight could do nothing else but watch in horror as the hydra's maw opened. She could see Fluttershy floundering in mid-air, trying to right herself up in order to fly, before her scream was cut off by the hydra's mouth closing around her. "FLUTTERSHY!" screamed out Rainbow Dash as she galloped toward the hydra that ate Fluttershy. Her eyes followed the hydra's head as it retreated back underground. She tried to jumped in after it, but only for a blast of dirt to push her back out. Spitting the dirt out her mouth, she looked around and saw two more hydra's heads erupted out of the ground. One managed to knock a few royal guards into the air swallowed them before retreating back underground. The attack always followed the same pattern. A ground bulging a few seconds before the hydra's head popped out. If some unfortunate pony got thrown into the air, the maw opened and swallowed them. Then the whole thing retreats. Rainbow Dash looked to her friends, who had already snapped out from the shock of seeing their friend eaten and were now just trying to avoid being snacks themselves. Near her, she saw Twilight Sparkle scrambling away from a rising bulge in the ground. She took off toward it, a plan forming in her mind. "Rainbow! What are you doing?" yelled Twilight Sparkle as Rainbow Dash stopped on top of the bulge. She gave the unicorn a knowing smirk before the hydra launched her into the air. Rainbow Dash flew straight into the air. She looked down at the rapidly approaching head of the hydra, it's maw opening to swallow her. With a quick flap of her wings, she shot past the closing maw. She quickly transformed her wings into claws, and dug them right into the hydra's neck. "This is for FLUTTERSHY!" The hydra roared in pain as Rainbow Dash galloped down its neck. Spray of blood and chunks erupted behind her as her wing claws carved out two deep gouges down the length of the hydra. The roar of the hydra faltered when Rainbow Dash reached the ground. The entire length started to topple like a falling tree, forcing Rainbow Dash to keep running to get away from it. With a mighty crash, the slain hydra collapsed to the ground. "It... stopped." commented Twilight as Rainbow Dash slowed to a stop in front of her. The comment was less of a grand insight into the working of a mutated hydra than the fact that the tremor had stopped. The more scholar side of her reasoned that the main body must be trapped under the ground of the now slain head. The remaining three head were likely trapped in the vicinity and couldn't risk coming out in case they too were killed. The more personal side of her mourned for the lost of their friend. Out of all her friends, Rarity seems to be the hardest hit of them all. "Oh Fluttershy..." said Rarity. Her voice soft and wavering. Her usual dramatic flair was nowhere to be found. "... why did it have to be you. So innocent, so kind, so pure, and..." "Girls look!" Pinkie Pie bounced up and yelled, her hoof pointing toward the slain hydra head. Rarity looked like she was about to admonish the pink pony for disrespecting Fluttershy's memory, but gasped instead when she saw what Pinkie Pie was pointing at. There, near the base of the slain hydra's neck, a chunk of flesh had tumbled out. Only this one was moving. Blood soaked wings floundered in the pool of blood as a pegasus form pushed itself up right. Blood and mucus slipped off the pegasus, revealing patches of yellow coat. Its eyes opened, and the familiar pair of cyan eyes greeted them. "Fluttershy!" cried Twilight Sparkle, elation filled her spirit as she galloped toward the entrails-covered pegasus. Her cheering friends galloped beside her. As she got closer, her elation faded when she noticed the ground started to tremor again. Without warning, three hydra heads erupted from the ground behind Fluttershy. More cracks appeared behind them as the main body started to appear. "Fluttershy! Run!" shouted Twilight Sparkle along with her friends. But to their surprise, Fluttershy shook her head and actually started back away from them. "Fluttershy! What are you doing?" yelled the perplexed unicorn. "... away..." was all Twilight Sparkle could make out from the quiet pegasus. "What are you talking about?" "... back..." Fluttershy took another step back. The hydra was almost completely out of the ground. "What ever is wrong with you we can deal with later! Just get away from that thing!" "... don't... closer..." Fluttershy suddenly doubled over as if in pain. "Hang on! We're coming!" yelled Twilight Sparkle, willing herself to run faster. "... no... don't... GET AWAY!" Fluttershy screamed out. Twilight Sparkle's eyes went wide as black and red tendrils appeared on Fluttershy, enveloping her whole body. She didn't see what happened next as a flash of light blinded her, followed instantly by a powerful telekinetic force slamming into her. She landed on her side and proceeded to tumble a few more times before coming to a stop. Her head swam as she tried to pull herself up. "Did Fluttershy just... exploded?" came Pinkie Pie slurring voice. At the moment, Twilight Sparkle wondered the same thing as she opened her eyes, trying to blink away the after image. "TIA!" the unicorn immediately regretted doing that. The panic cry of Princess Luna had snapped her back to full attention. Her eyes stared at what she would describe as her worst fear coming to life. Fluttershy had indeed exploded. Her form hovered in mid-air as countless number of black tendrils extended from her, filling the air all around. The tendrils looked like they're woven out of fibers. Yellow and pink threads, the same color as Fluttershy's coat and mane, mixed in among the mass of black. Behind her, the towering hydra was still, pinned by the massed tendrils that drilled through it like it wasn't even there. But her worst fear was right in front of Fluttershy. A few feet off the ground, skewered by no less then a dozen tendrils, was Princess Celestia. A look of surprised etched in her face. She let out an agonizing gasp as the tendrils rapidly withdrew back into the pegasus, dropping both of them on the ground. Fluttershy collapsed to her side, her form completely still. Princess Celestia managed to remain steady, albeit with great difficulties. Streams of blood poured from her wounds, staining her pale pink coat blood-red. Blood dripped from her muzzle as she coughed. Her wings trailed on the ground, their tip turning red as blood soaked through them. Then the hydra, now dead, toppled on top of them both. "Tia! Ti..." Princess Luna's eyes spaced out for a moment before returning to normal. "Guards! Help me!" Princess Luna galloped toward the fallen hydra, her gait unsteady on account of her missing a wing. Twilight Sparkle followed the few guards that remained after her, hoping to offer whatever help she could give. Princess Luna's horn flared and enveloped the hydra in dark-blue aura. Before Twilight or any of the unicorn guards could do the same to assist, the hydra went flying into the Everfree forest. Princess Luna proceeded to siphon up the entrails and fluid into a hovering sphere. Twilight lit her horn and did the same. They quickly cleared a way to the fallen princess, guided by the faint glow from Princess Celestia's horn. Her friends and the guards followed close behind them. "Tia?" Princess Celestia looked absolutely horrible. Her blood-stained wings flapped feebly as she pulled herself up with great difficulties. Her breathing came out as a series of labored wheeze. Her legs shook below her, looking as if she was going to topple over at any moment. Her horn was emitting a soft and constant glow. Twilight Sparkle guessed that it was some form of spell that kept her from bleeding out, judging by the fact that the gaping wounds on her was no longer bleeding. "Your highness! We need to get you back to Canterlot for some medical attention." said Captain Feather Ruffle as he trotted up with the rest of his guard. "I don't..." Princess Celestia drew in another shaky breath. "... think I can travel... that distance... at the moment..." "How about somewhere near? And secure?" asked Princess Luna. "How about mah barn? It's nearby and It has a cella, should be plenty safe." suggested Applejack. "You can't honestly think..." one of the guards spoke up before being silenced by a glare from his captain. "That... will be... fine..." said Princess Celestia. Applejack quickly ran off to get her cart. The guards suddenly pulled out their weapons in response to a squelching noise nearby. Rainbow Dash growled in response, her legs tensed and back arched as if she was ready to fight. On her back was Fluttershy, who was covered in partially dried blood. "No... put away your weapons...." said Princess Celestia. "I... I don't... blame her..." The guards looked at each other, finding no objection and sheathed their weapons. Applejack returned with the cart that was used to carry Fluttershy's animals. Princess Celestia made her way toward it, a dark-blue glow surrounded her as Princess Luna helped kept her up. "Twilight... keep your friends together... I need to talk to you all in the morning... specifically Fluttershy..." said Princess Celestia as she climbed on the cart. "If you will... miss Applejack..." Applejack nodded and slowly broke into a canter. The trip to Sweet Apple Acre was a quiet and uneventful. Applejack pulled the cart carrying Princess Celestia with as much care as she could manage. Only a few guards surrounded them, the remaining have gone ahead to the barn. Twilight Sparkle followed close behind with her friends, with Rainbow Dash carrying the still unconscious Fluttershy on her back. By the time they got there, the sun had stopped just above the horizon, casting long shadows on the ground. Guards were milling about around the barn, with nurse ponies coming and going from Applejack's cellar adjacent to it. Princess Celestia stepped off the cart. Her leg buckled beneath her, and would've fallen if it wasn't for Princess Luna's intervention with her telekinetic spell. A nurse with a cutie-mark of two overlapping red hearts trotted over in alarm, and motioned for the critically injured princess to follow her. Princess Celestia obliged and followed the nurse down the cellar. Twilight Sparkle tried to follow, only to be stopped by the guards. "My faithful student..." Princess Celestia's weakened voice echoed out the cellar door. "... please don't follow. I do not wish for you to see me like this." "Okay." Twilight Sparkle backed away and let the guard close the cellar door. She sat down, her eyes staring at the closed-door of the cellar as the evening light abruptly transitioned into night. "What now?" asked Applejack as she unhitched herself from the cart. "Now we wait." answered Twilight Sparkle.