Red Sky

by MrMusicalPony

Chapter 1: Seeking Memories

A bipedal figure walked through a forgotten town of bones and lost souls. Alone, the figure took slow steps as they looked from side to side, seeing nothing more than lifeless bodies and left remains. The unforgiving light from the eerie red sky shone down on the figure.

When the light wasn’t casting shadows all along the character, it was revealed to be a pony. A pony that stood bipedal, but each hoofstep never faltered. Her hooded cape fluttered in the soft breeze that swept through the town. The only thing that kept her cape on her body were her open wings, expanding from carefully cut holes in her cape. Although she was a young mare, looking at her flank it lacked a cutie-mark.

She pulled off her hood to better look around at the decimated town, her sad, purple eyes gazing towards the destruction that lay before her, as she had to fight back the tears that threatened to come. Her long, magenta mane hung over her left eye and she pushed it away with one of her hooves. Most buildings were halfway burnt down or falling apart; the rest remained in ruins, unattended for what seemed to be eons. The mare felt like crying from the sight of memories having been destroyed, but she rubbed her eyes somehow hoping to stop the tears from flowing.

The mare started to walk through the town on her hind legs, lifting small clouds of dust into the air with each step. She gloomily looked at a large, old tree that seemed to be home to somepony long ago. The vines grew from the ground and covered the entire lower half of the house, blocking the door and penetrating the house through some of the broken windows. She shook her head, dismissing it from her mind, continuing on. All of the buildings matched each other in damage and abandonment.

She kept walking up the road until she reached the broken gates of an apple farm. The mare crawled through a break in the gate and walked up a dirt trail, passing a barn that was falling apart, and reaching back deep into the apple trees. She went off the trail until she decided to verge off of the path, and walked into an open clearing with only one tree in the middle. A tree house rested on its branches, the mare looking at it warily as she noticed that it looked different from the rest of the town; this tree house was being tended to.

She quietly climbed up the steps to the tree house, and crouched down as she stepped in through the door. The room was different than what she remembered it to be. The old podium was there still, but there was a round wooden table in the center that she had never seen before. She hadn’t seen the small furnace in there before, either. Why there was one in the tree house to begin with she wasn’t sure.

She gazed around the room and something suddenly caught her eye and, for the first time in a long while, made her smile. A picture frame hung on the wall, portraying three young fillies, all without their cutie-marks. She took the picture off of the wall and looked at it closely. A single tear rolled down her cheek as she reminisced in old, faded memories. Without thinking twice, she took the picture out of the frame, delicately folding it before stuffing it into one of her pouches on her belt.

“I see you have found what you were looking for,” a voice said, looming from the doorway. Without hesitation, the mare turned around to see a pony in a long, worn out robe that covered most of her body, including her face.

“Who are you?” that mare asking in anticipation; she didn’t look like she would put up a fight, but she couldn’t be sure.

“You may call me Madam, young one,” the pony said, walking over to the table, not caring about the mare’s defensive demeanor. “I assume that this used to be your home once a long time ago?” Madam asked, looking towards where the picture once was. The cloaked mare nodded apprehensively, cautious of the older pony. “Well, I’m sorry that I have intruded into your home, but this is where I have lived for a while now.” Madam reached into her coat, making the mare reach back for her sword to prepare herself if she presented a weapon from under it; Madam, however, only brought out a few herbs, making Loo relax her grip. She then looked in a cupboard and brought out a large bottle of water, and started to pour it into a pot.

“Would you like some tea Ms…?” Madam clued the mare into telling her name, but the mare hesitated to do so and, after a few moments in thought, the mare answered.

“Loo. They call me Loo,” she said finally, relinquishing her defensive stance. “And I would love some, thank you,” Loo accepted apprehensively, sitting down at the table and letting her fears of the Madam wash away a bit.

“Loo? It is an unusual name for a pony,” she stated. Loo didn’t say anything else about it, instead turning her attention from Madam to look around the tree house once again. Madam placed the pot of tea onto the furnace.

“Tell me, Loo, when did you start walking upright? You also carry a sword; what for?” Madam asked, breaking Loo from her sudden daze. “It is quite peculiar after all.”

“And what’s with all the questions?” Loo snapped, but Madam showed no change in mood or mind set. Loo caught herself afterwards though. “I mean… It’s not something I talk about.”

“Ah, young mare, your mind is filled with doors you wish to keep locked after somepony has entered without a single knock,” Madam said. “It is alright; you do not have to share.”

“Don’t speak to me in riddles,” Loo snapped yet again, but she caught herself, retreating from the harsh demeanor. Again, Madam showed no signs of emotional change. “Sorry.”

“I suppose you do not wish to tell me why you are here either?” Madam asked, and Loo thought about it for a moment. She was apprehensive to answer, but by now she knew that Madam meant no harm.

“Well I was just looking for something,” Loo merely stated.

“And I assume you have found what you were looking for?” Madam asked, raising one brow to the upright mare, but Loo showed no change in her demeanor to say one way or the other. Madam looked over to the empty picture frame, and although Loo couldn’t see her facial expressions, she guessed that Madam seemed somewhat sorrowful. “I know how you feel,” she said. “Sometimes memories are not enough to sooth one’s aches. You come searching for the other inhabitants of your home?” she asked, and Loo slowly nodded.

“They’re gone now, though. I knew they wouldn’t be here… I just hoped… maybe…”

“It is alright, young one,” Madam said, putting a hoof up to Loo’s mouth to shush her, acknowledging a bit of gloom in Loo’s voice. She left her to her thoughts when she heard the whistle coming from the kettle. She retrieved the pot carefully with a mitten, and started to pour the tea into a couple of cups she had brought out from the cupboard, placing one in front of Loo and picking up the other with her hoof.

“Do you know what happened to this place? I mean… All I know is that nobody lives here anymore. It seems that no one has for a while now,” Loo said, gesturing with her forehoof to the silence and emptiness around her.

Madam took a careful sip from her tea, deciding it was still too hot. She put it down, giving it a few blows allowing strands of vapor to escape before she answered Loo’s question.

“The damage to Ponyville looks to be something that happened long, long ago, but this is not the case. Ponyville was thriving with life only a few months ago, and the tragedy happened only about a week before the sky turned red. A stallion with a large group of soldiers behind him rode into town, and they raided homes looking for something; something important.”

“What were they looking for?” Loo asked. Madam blew on the tea a few more times before taking another sip of it, deciding it had cooled enough before continuing the story.

“They were looking for the Elements of Harmony. They first raided the home of the Princess’ prized student, but she was able to escape with her advanced knowledge of magic. She grouped up with the rest of the Elements of Harmony and their families left Ponyville swiftly, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to fight off the entire army.”

“But why is the town destroyed?” Loo asked, pointing out of the window where the faint view of the broken barn was. Madam nodded at Loo’s question, as if predicting Loo would ask.

“The stallion’s rage brought on a power that not even the Princesses might have possessed. He brought natural disasters for several days and nights onto Ponyville, before riding towards Canterlot, his armor following closely behind him. By the time the disasters had stopped, the inhabitants of Ponyville were either dead or had fled to other cities in Equestria. Everypony thought that the Princesses would put an end to the turmoil, but they soon found out that both had disappeared,” Madam said, taking another sip of her tea.

“And that was the day when the sky turned red,” Loo added to Madam’s tale, to which Madam merely nodded. “But what happened to the stallion?”

“I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head dejectedly. Loo sighed, and took a sip of her tea to relax herself before continuing.

“What happened to the Apple family after they fled?”

“I don’t know.”

“What happened to Rarity? Rainbow Dash? Twilight?”

“I don’t know.”

“What happened to… Applebloom… and Sweetie Belle?” Loo asked, with a glimmer of hope in her voice. Silence filled the room, with not a single word from Madam being said, indicating to Loo the same answer: she didn’t know. Loo stood up, leaving the untouched cup on the table.

“Thank you for the tea, Madam, but I can’t stay,” Loo said.

“Don’t be so quick, young one; you haven’t even taken a sip of your tea. And where do you intend to go?” Loo didn’t answer Madam at first, but the hesitation already gave away the answer.

“I… I don’t know.” Madam nodded slowly again.

“Then maybe you should stay until you do. It is alright, Loo. Do not be afraid of overstaying your welcome. This is your home after all, is it not?” Madam asked, getting up from where she was sitting and placing a careful hoof on Loo’s shoulder. “Do you have another home you could return to?” Madam asked, but Loo knew that it was a rhetorical question; she already knew the answer. Loo reluctantly sat down, and took another sip of tea.

***

“Applebloom! Sweetie Belle! It’s time for supper!” Rarity called out from the cottage. “Now where did those two go?” she wondered, placing a thoughtful hoof to her chin.. “The food is getting cold.”

“We’ll just keep it on the stove for ‘em,” Applejack said, walking up next to Rarity. “Who knows what them fillies are doin’.”

“Sweetie Belle asked me not to call her a filly anymore,” Rarity said suddenly, the comment prompting Applejack to snicker. They decided to go back into the cottage, seeing as it was getting a bit cold outside.

“Those two may be grown up, but they still act like fillies,” Applejack said, rolling her eyes from remembering things they had done in the past. “Besides, callin’ them fillies makes me believe Ah’m still young,” she added, her happy smile turning to a bitter one.

“Oh darling, you’re still young,” Rarity assured her -and possibly herself- waving a hoof for emphasis.

“Oh, yes, very young.” They both turned around to see Fluttershy smiling warmly at them. The trio was startled when they heard a loud voice calling from above them.

“Would ya’ll quiet down? Ah’m trying to sleep.” Big Macintosh called from his bedroom upstairs.

“Sorry!” they all yelled back up to him.

“So… Applebloom and Sweetie Belle?” Fluttershy asked worryingly.

***

“Shouldn’t we be getting home soon?” Sweetie Belle asked, the young mare running with a hang glider on her back.

“We’ll be fine,” Applebloom said, jumping off of a cliff with her hang glider. Sweetie Belle followed after her.

“This may not be our cutie-marks, but this was fun when we last did it!” Applebloom yelled over to Sweetie Belle as the wind hit their faces, ruffling their coats as they soared through the air. Sweetie Belle just nodded in reply.

“Applebloom! Sweetie Belle!” They heard a faint sound from far off into the forest of trees they were flying over. “Time for supper!”

“Aw man,” Applebloom rolled her eyes and grunted in frustration. She shifted her body down and started to glide along the forest’s canopy, Sweetie Belle following closely behind. “Can’t we have one afternoon to ourselves and our hang gliders?”

“I suppose not,” Sweetie Belle said as they flew over the trees, heading towards the voice they heard a bit aways. Soon enough they came over a clearing in the trees where a cottage was. They landed perfectly on the ground, running with their hang gliders to prevent a sudden stop and slowed down. While they were landing Applejack came outside after spotting them through the window.

“Ah, there ya’ fillies are,” Applejack said. “Come on inside; dinner is on the stove for ya,” she said.

“Were you girls… hang gliding?” Rarity said, poking her head out the door. “And it looks like you made them yourselves. Didn’t I tell you two those kind of things are dangerous?”

Applebloom rolled her eyes once again. “Yeah, yeah. We kno-” Suddenly, without warning, the ground started to shake, and the loud noise of something shattering followed by a voice screaming in pain filled the air. After a moment or so the echoing sounds dissipated and the ground stopped quaking, but once it was done the sky grew a darker shade of red. All of the mares looked up at the sky in awe.

“What… just happened?” Sweetie Belle asked, but they couldn’t answer her question, not knowing themselves.

“Whatever it was, it didn’t sound good,” Applejack said staring wide-eyed into the forest before her trying to find the source of the noise.

“I concur…” Rarity continued to look up at the sky. “What a hideous color.”

“Like it wasn’t ‘hideous’ before?” Applejack retorted.

“Whatever it was… it wasn’t good,” Fluttershy said, bringing the attention back to the phenomenon that had just occurred.

None of them could place what had happened, and after a while they had to put aside the occurrence when they heard Big Macintosh coughing immensely.

“I’ll… go get ‘im some water,” Applejack said, as they all returned inside after her.

***

The moon had risen to the peak of the sky, even without the lunar princess to guide it there. The night was without a single star, and the sky was pitch black besides the radiance from the moon’s glimmer.

A stallion in a black robe walked up the hill to the cottage where the mares and their sick stallion resided. He cautiously looked around, making sure no one had followed him, as he knocked on the door and took a step back, waiting for an answer. He heard a rustling from inside of the cottage, but it quickly subsided. The stallion knocked on the door again, and heard a groan. He waited, and soon an orange mare opened the door.

“What do ya’ll want in the middle of the night?”Applejack asked, her tired eyes blinking slowly.

“I apologize for disturbing you at this hour, Lady Honesty, but I have urgent news for you and the other Elements,” he said, not wasting a moment for small talk. “I request audience with the other elements whom are present. May I come in?” he asked. Applejack took a second to yawn.

“Yeah… sure… whatever.” The stallion took the invitation inside, and once the door was shut he lowered his hood, revealing his snow white coat. “You said somethin’ bout the others?”

“Yes, please, I request audience with all of you. Even the ones who aren’t Elements; anypony that you trust.” They were both quiet for a moment until Applejack took in a deep breath.

“Everypony wake up!” she yelled. “We got some urgent news! Or somethin’…” Applejack yawned. The stallion took a moment to calm himself after the startling loud voice.

“That really wasn’t necessary,” he said, sitting down on his haunches as they waited for everypony to come down the stairs. In a few moments they were all present except for Big Macintosh, who was too sick to move, and Rarity, who had insisted that she looked ‘presentable’ before introducing herself to a guest.

“She’ll be a while,” Applebloom said. “Why don’t you just tell us what this is all about?”

“I need all of the Elements that are present to hear this,” the stallion said. Applebloom sighed, wanting to go back to bed.

“Why couldn’t this wait until morning? I’m really tired,” Sweetie Belle groggily said as she rubbed her eyes.

“I apologize, young lady, for the intrusion at this late hour, but it was the only time I could come.”

“I’m sure whatever he has to say is worth it,” Fluttershy assured. Sweetie Belle simply yawned in reply.

“Alright! I’m ready!” Rarity came down the stairs looking like she had woken up from the best night of sleep of her life; obviously she had prepared herself to look that way. “Now, what is it you have for us this evening, Mr…”

“My name is not important, Lady Generosity. What is important is the fact that you are all in danger.”

“Danger?” everypony echoed.

“What kind of danger?” Fluttershy asked, starting to shake.

“Do not fret, Lady Kindness; that is what I’m here to prevent, and if all goes as I plan there will be no reason for you to shake. Did you all hear the cry that shot through the sky late last afternoon?” he asked, prompting everypony to nod. “It was the cry of Lady Loyalty,” he added grimly.

“Rainbow Dash?” Rarity presumed with a gasp. The stallion nodded, leaving the room in a state of gloom and anxiety. “How do you know?”

“That is not important. What is important is that I fear that Lady Loyalty has suffered a fate worse than death. A fate that only bearers of the Elements may face, and one you all have faced once before, but to a greater degree.” No pony asked a single question, but listened intently in fear of missing a single word.

“I know of the occurrences of Discord’s ways and how he caused the Elements to fall prey to the ways of chaos and disharmony. He corrupted your pure souls, but your elements were not truly lost. It was Lady Magic that brought back the life to your elements. What has happened to Lady Loyatly just late afternoon is I fear is to the same effect, but her element is now truly lost.”

“What do you mean… lost?” Fluttershy asked.

“Her element has shattered along with her very soul. If I am correct, she is no longer the bearer of the Element of Loyalty, and with it she has lost what made her Rainbow Dash. I know not what she is truly like now, but I know she is in a constant state of turmoil, much like the Element of Laughter was.”

“Pinkie too?” Rarity gasped.

“Was it not apparent? She has not been heard from since your escape from Ponyville. I know not of both of their locations, or what has happened to them. All I know is my theories of the happenings to the Elements cannot be far from the truth. The scream of one who is in true pain echoed through the sky. It was not a physical pain that she cried out against, but one that reached her inner core. The shattering was of the Element, and the shaking of the ground is…” He took a moment to collect his thoughts. “Well, I do not know what it represented. All I know is that it could not be good.”

“And the sky?” Fluttershy asked, but the stallion shook his head.

“All I know is that you are not safe anywhere, but do not fret; I do believe your saviors stand within this very room.” The stallion pointed down at the floor for emphasis and looked over to Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. “I presume that both of you are sisters of the Elements?” he asked, and they both nodded. “Just as I suspected.”

“Are ya’ll saying that these fillies are supposed to do somethin’ about all of this?” Applejack asked. The stallion was hesitant to answer.

“Applejack! I ain’t a filly anymore!” Applebloom retorted. “Ah’m a big pony now.”

“Ah just don’t think that it’s safe for you to be ‘saving all of Equestria’. Are ya sure, mister?” Applejack said.

“I know not for certain,” he said. “But if the other Elements had no sisters…” He contemplated the thought.

“I don’t think any of them had siblings.” Rarity said. “What about brothers?”

“No brothers; it must be sisters, that I know for sure,” he concluded. “That means they are the two that are supposed to be your saviors,” he said, pointing at Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. “Yet there is a problem.”

“What problem is that?” Fluttershy asked.

“There should be a third,” he said. “From what I recall from the ancient scroll, they tell of three heroes who will destroy all evil with… something.” The stallion tapped his forehead with the last word in frustration. “The scrolls didn’t say what it was. They only said it was the ‘Broken Key’; what that truly is I do not know. What I do know however is that there should be a third.”

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other, their eyes telling each other they knew the answer.

“Do you think…?” Applebloom said, and Sweetie Belle hesitated to say anything.

“Scootaloo…”

“You know of the third?” The white stallion took a step forward and stuck his head closer to them to emphasize the question. “Well… Where is she?” Applebloom and Sweetie Belle looked at each other with eyes that suggested uncertainty.

“We… We don’t know,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Now hold on just a second!” Rarity exclaimed, cutting into the conversation. “I don’t know what they have to do to be our ‘saviors’, but I’m sure it’s not something safe. How can you expect these fillies to do this?”

“Lady Generosity, I know ‘tis a hard idea to fathom, but there is no time to discover other methods to keep the elements safe,” he assured her.

“It’s okay, Rarity,” Applebloom said. “If we need to do this to keep ya’ll safe then I say we do it, right Sweetie Belle?”

“Right.” Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement.

“But…” Applejack began, but couldn’t come up with the words.

“It’s alright, big sis, we’ll be okay,” Applebloom assured.

“Lady Honesty and Lady Generosity, I know it is hard to let go of your kin, but your safety, and possibly the fate of Equestria, lies in their hooves,”

“Are you certain?” Rarity said, but the stallion was hesitant to answer.

“I am certain. I cannot reveal my sources, and that is not important,” the stallion said.

“Then how can we be so sure that ya’ll are being truthful?” Applejack asked with a stern look on her face.

“I believe him,” Fluttershy said. “Why else would he come and tell us about these things? Why would he warn us?”Applejack pondered this for a few moments.

“I believe him, too,” Rarity spoke up in the silence.

“Well, if ya’ll believe him, then so do I,” Applejack smiled at her friends, whom smiled back.

“Please understand, Lady Honesty,” the stallion began, “there are some things that I cannot reveal. The matter at hand, however, is where Scootaloo is.”

“Well, we haven’t seen Scootaloo... for years,” Applebloom said. Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement.

“She ran away one day when she got frustrated that she couldn’t get her cutie-mark, when both of us had ours for a while...” Sweetie Belle trailed off. “We searched for her, but she was gone. We got all of Ponyville to search, but we never found her.” The room was quiet for a few moments.

“But don’t worry… We’ll find her,” Applebloom assured him. “We failed searching for her years ago, but... we won’t this time.”

“Then do be swift, as I fear the perpetrator against Lady Loyalty will not stray from his rampage any time soon. Find Scootaloo and come back here. I will return once all of you are here. That is all I can tell you. I apologize; I have nothing more on the matter until all of the heroes are present.”

“It’s alright,” Rarity said. “Thank you for warning us.” The stallion nodded.

“I must be off,” he said, walking towards the door before a lantern floated in front of it.

“Please take this. It is dark and cold outside,” Rarity said, the stallion taking it in his hoof.

“Thank you, Lady Generosity. I see that you fit your Element well. May we meet again.”

“Wait, but how will you know when we’re all here?” Sweetie Belle asked. The stallion looked back at her as he reached for the door, smiling.

“Do not worry, I will know.” With those last words he lit the lantern and left the cottage.

“What now?” Applejack asked. Applebloom hesitated to answer, thinking for a moment on the question.

“I guess in the morning… we look for Scootaloo,” Applebloom said. Everypony agreed, even though Rarity and Applejack were reluctant to accept it. None the less, they all went back to bed after coming to an agreement.

The stallion had left the cottage, but waited until the lights in the cottage went out and no rustling was heard, making sure they did not chase after him to ask him anything else. He blew out the lantern and left it on the porch, disappearing into the night.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proofreaders for this chapter: Lucefudu, Kayeka, Mist, and Letedwend

Comments

[Exaecatio]

Seems like I've seen this somewhere .-.
Also, First.

[The mike]

how many stories have I seen that start with: ""XX years after the show events, the princesses disapear, apocalypse arrives to equestria and is up to XX to restore the peace"?

an ode to originality...

[Barbecue Sauce]

557777 In his defense, at least, pretty much everything has been done, making actual originally nigh-impossible.

[MrMusicalPony]

557777 I'll probably remove this once I find a better way to represent it. Thank you for voicing your concerns. In my defense, there's not really other ways to present apocalypse without removing the magical demi-god princess'. There's only so much 'originality' you can produce before it becomes illogical.

[Barbecue Sauce]

557918 At this point in time, it's about one-upping what's already been done.

I do look forward to seeing where this goes.

[MrMusicalPony]

558019 Chapter 2 I'll upload here in about 30 minutes. I had to submit the story a little immaturely to get the sweet spot on submission timing, but it wasn't too early, seeing as I'm on the last drafts of Chapter 2 and 3.