The ponies of Buckington had barely made it a quarter of the way to Canterlot when the last light of day faded below the horizon. Hopes rose when they saw buildings in the distance; perhaps this village would be willing to accommodate them for the night. As they got closer, those hopes deflated.
The village had been deserted, all of the buildings in some form of disrepair, many of them missing walls or their entire roofs. Thick dust caked many of the walls that were still standing.
"What happened here?" the pegasus Dustin Wind asked.
"Did the dragons do this?" Autumn Gale wondered, shivering as she remembered events that had sent them on this trek in the first place. The memory of dragons destroying her home was one she knew would stay with her for the rest of her life.
"Not likely," came an immediate reply from mayor Paula Tishian. "If the dragons had done this, there wouldn't even be this much left standing."
Jigsaw, an Earth Pony carpenter, rubbed the stubble on his chin as he inspected the outer wall of a dilapidated one story house. "The mayor's right. This wood hasn't been smashed, it's been eroded from exposure to the elements and a lack of upkeep, and look how the dust is caked onto the walls. This village has been abandoned for some time. We're looking at a ghost town."
A tiny gasp of fright came from Sunset Breeze as she nestled closer to her mother. First dragons and now ghosts? "There are ghosts here?"
Despite their predicament, Autumn couldn't help but laugh as she lifted a hoof and rubbed the top of her daughter's head. "No. A ghost town means nopony lives there anymore."
"How come?" Sunset asked.
"That's a good question," Paula replied. "We should spread out and look for clues why this village was abandoned. We may wind up needing to stay here for the night, and I think we'll all rest easier knowing what happened. Let's meet back here in fifteen minutes."
Everypony nodded in agreement and broke off into groups to inspect the empty houses. Sunset Breeze followed her parents through the broken down front wall of a small one-story house. Sunset's best friend Snowberry, a little Earth filly with a white coat and green mane, stuck close by her as Sunset's parents scanned the opposite end of the room.
Inside the living room was a single couch, a coffee table in front of it and a nightstand against the far wall. An empty vase rested on the nightstand. The plant, if it once held one, had long ago wilted and decayed. A framed picture, so clouded with dust the image of the unicorn couple and their young colt could barely be seen, hung on the wall.
Sunset took a deep breath and, with all her strength, lifted the couch up enough for Snowberry to peer underneath it.
“See anything?” Sunset grunted.
Snowberry looked for a few more seconds, then answered, “nothing.”
Sunset let the couch dropped with a thud, kicking up a massive cloud of dust. Autumn and Dustin jumped a bit at the sudden noise and wheeled around to see what had caused it. Noting the dust cloud and the coughing fillies' swift departure from the couch, they allowed themselves to relax.
Assessing the situation only confirmed what Jigsaw had concluded: the village wasn't attacked. The vase hadn't been knocked off the nightstand, the picture still hung neatly on the wall and none of the furniture had been upset.
The ponies moved on into the kitchen and spread out to look for more clues. Dustin Wind opened up one of the cupboards above the sink, revealing that it was still full of dusty old dinner plates. A mass of messy cobwebs had been constructed in there, but revealed nothing else.
A lot of stuff left behind, he and Autumn realized. The village might not have been attacked, but the former residents had left in a real hurry.
While Snowberry checked the lower cabinets, Sunset crawled underneath the dinner table, stopping at a familiar rectangular shape laying on the floor. It was a piece of paper, stiff and yellowed with age.
“What's this?” the filly wondered out loud.
"What is it, Sunset?" Snowberry asked.
"I found a note!"
Snowberry joined her friend under the table for a closer look. "What's it say?"
Sunset squinted close at the paper. She was only up to 4th grade language studies and between the darkness and the faded, sloppy writing, it was a struggle to form the words. "It just says, 'Parasprites. Palamino Creek. Send help."
Sunset crawled out from underneath the table and shook the dust out of her fur as her parents took the note to confirm what she'd read.
All the dust, the empty vase, the cobwebs and the yellow, brittle sheet of paper confirmed something else Jigsaw had mentioned: the village had been abandoned for a long time.
“Atta girl,” Dustin said, giving Sunset Breeze a gentle noogie. “Come on, the others will want to see this.”
***
"So this is," Lucky Charm began when the other ponies met up in the village square to share what they'd learned. Lucky quickly corrected himself, "was Palamino Creek. I'd heard the parasprites devastated this village about thirty years or so ago."
"If that's all that happened then we shouldn't have anything to worry about if we stay the night here," a unicorn mare said.
The ponies all murmured in agreement, except for Autumn Gale, who stared hard into the countryside. She was sure she could see movement in the blackness of the night sky. Something heading towards the village. A v-shaped formation of winged creatures. Geese? It couldn't be, it was too early for their migration and they lacked the telltale honking flight. A few more seconds of watching confirmed this; they were far too large to be geese, had long tails like dangling snakes and their wings weren't feathered; more batlike.
Autumn Gale gasped at the realization. Batlike! It could only mean one thing. "Mayor!" she yelled and pointed at the fast approaching forms. There were only five dragons in the squad that destroyed Buckington, but Autumn counted at least twenty in this flight.
Paula Tishian's gaze followed Autumns hoof and she too gasped in alarm."Hide!" The mayor whispered. "And stay quiet."
Nopony needed to find motivation. They scattered among the houses, hiding in closets that were still standing, huddled in corners where roofs were still intact, squeezing themselves into crawl spaces or under stairways. Everpony cringed and waited, daring only to breathe. The dragons passed through for what seemed like an eternity, but they finally vanished into the darkness of the horizon. Only after a few more minutes of waiting to be certain the dragons weren't going to turn back did the ponies emerge from their hiding spots and gather back in the village square.
"Whew. They're gone," somepony in the crowd said.
"I wonder what that was about?" Dustin Wind asked.
Gabby Carp, the elderly mare who had chastised Spike and Sapphire earlier that day snorted. "Probably looking for more villages to smash."
Autumn Gale rolled her eyes and turned to face her. "Would you stop complaining about how bad dragons are already?"
"I don't see those 'heroes' of yours here helping us out. Sending us to Canterlot." Gabby clicked her tongue and scoffed. "More like sending us into a trap."
"Sapphire and Spike? No way!" Sunset Breeze protested. "They're my friends!"
"I stand by what I said earlier. Spike and Sapphire are good dragons,” Autumn agreed. “They were trying to help us! They didn't know all these other dragons were going to show up."
"That's probably exactly what they want you to think."
"Did those dragons just now come after us?" Dustin Wind asked, growing impatient.
Gabby rolled her eyes. "Great, that's what we need. A family of dragon sympathizers."
"That's enough!" Paula Tishian shouted loud enough to cut through the tension, stepping between Autumn and Gabby for good measure. "This arguing is pointless. As mayor, I say we stay here for the night. It'll provide us at least some shelter, but if any of you want to continue on towards Canterlot, more power to you."
There were a few skeptical moans, a couple of nods, but not much else. Nopony particularly wanted to spend a night in a ghost town, but also knew their options were thin.
Gabby Carp huffed, scrunching her face in a scowl. “We should keep moving. In case you didn't notice, there were a lot more than just five of those dragons this time. We're sitting ducks here.”
“I'm tired,” Sunset moaned, rubbing her eyes.
“Me, too,” Snowberry added. “And hungry!”
Autumn Gale and Dustin Wind exchanged knowing glances and both nodded. “We're all tired and hungry,” Autumn said.
Jigsaw shrugged. “I'll get a fire going. We can eat a nice meal and figure out what to do in the morning.”
The village square quickly bustled with activity. Some ponies added wood to the fire and brought out what food they'd salvaged from the ruins of Buckington, others nestled in close to the bonfire and hoped silently to Celestia that this nightmare would soon be over.
None of them, not even Gabby Carp, would have guessed the nightmare was only beginning.
****
Applejack galloped along the road that lead to Golden Oaks Library, feeling like an apple under her own hoof with the dozens of dragons that had suddenly appeared in the sky above Ponyville. Relief washed over her when she stepped through the doorway and shut the door behind her, though her heart still thumped painfully.
"Applejack!" Twilight shouted, running up to give her friend a hug. "I'm glad you're safe."
Applejack embraced Twilight and then looked around the room. As she expected, the others were all there, even Fluttershy had somehow found the courage to venture outside with the swarms of dragons flying about. "And I'm sure glad y'all are here."
"Me too," Fluttershy said with a shudder. "Those dragons are everywhere."
"I know," Twilight said, her voice trailing off in thought. "I wonder what's going on in Canterlot right now. Hope Rarity's okay."
"I'm sure she is," Applejack said. "She's a might tougher than she looks. 'Sides, Celestia's close by. She won't let nothin' happen."
Twilight let out a nervous moan. Rarity was indeed tougher than one might think, but she was expecting her foal any time now. She needed to relax. Worrying about the dragons would do neither her nor her baby any good.
"I know," Twilight sighed. "It's just that she's in the final stages of pregnancy. She's not exactly at %100."
"What in Equestria is going on out there?" Rainbow wondered as she gazed out the window at the swarms of dragons crisscrossing around Ponyville's sky.
“Maybe they're just here to make friends and bridge the gap between ponies and dragons!” Pinkie Pie shouted, that indomitable smile pasted on her face. “We should throw them a welcoming party!” The smile vanished and Pinkie rubbed her chin as she remembered an encounter with a cranky dragon they'd had years ago. “Wait a second. Do dragons like parties? I know Spike likes parties, but he's more of a pony than a dragon, dontcha think? Maybe I should bake them something.”
“Pinkie,” Twilight said, shaking her head as Applejack facehoofed at the idea, “I don't think they're here with friendly intentions.”
Applejack swallowed a nervous knot in her throat. "I don't like it, y'all. I don't like it one stinkin' bit."
"I'm scared," Fluttershy added.
Twilight looked out the window, regarding the squadron of dragons circling Ponyville. "I don't like it, either."
"What should we do?" Applejack asked.
"We wait."
"Wait?" Rainbow Dash spat. "Equestria to Twilight: there are dragons everywhere, and who knows what they're up to?"
"I'll say it again. We wait until morning. Who knows, the dragons might be gone by then."
A breath of courage swelled within Applejack's chest; she'd long ago learned to trust Twilight's plans with confidence. “You're right, sugarcube. We'll see what happens in the morning.”
A loud clatter came from the kitchen, sending Fluttershy darting with a squeal underneath one of Twilight's reading tables, and the others charging into the kitchen, only feeling their hearts beat again when they saw the pink pony next to a pile of baking pans that had fallen from an open cabinet to the floor.
“Um, anypony know what kind of cake dragons like to eat?”
The others facehoofed again. This was going to be a long night...