At long last, the group stepped out into the rotting morass that covered what had once been Ponyville. The twisted black vines gave slightly under their hooves as they stepped around carefully... not enough to hinder them, but enough to notice. The stars above shimmered heartlessly, their light illuminating not one thatched roof, not one broken girder, not one ruined statue. The seven of them served as the only splash of color against the darkness beneath them.
Applejack took her hat off slowly and held it to her chest. "Ah knew things would be different, but... Ah never thought Ah'd see mah home wiped off tha map completely."
"What happened here?" Rarity murmured. "If the library is in the same place it was... there are enough of these vines to bury the town. I'm not sure that's not what happened--"
Pinkie Pie gasped. "Wait, are you saying Sugarcube Corner might still be here, underneath all this?!"
Twilight bit her lip. "It's... not impossible, Pinkie, but if it's like the library--"
The group fell silent again, across the plain of dark vines.
"...Besides which," Twilight finally pointed out, "our priority is to find civilization. Once we make contact, we can... figure out what to do from there. And it doesn't look like there's much civilization here, unfortunately." She turned. "Maybe we should head... to..."
Her voice trailed off.
"Twi?" Applejack followed her gaze. "What's... oh... oh wow."
Rainbow managed a low whistle. "I could see Canterlot maybe being destroyed, but the whole mountain? What happened there?"
Spike said nothing, only sidling over to Twilight and gently wrapping a claw around her shoulders. She didn't even react, still staring dumbfounded at the shattered rubble visible from miles away. A chill wind whispered around the group, as their preconceptions slowly decayed away, leaving only empty confusion.
"...What do we do now?" Fluttershy murmured. "Do we... can we go back? To the other world?"
"...it would... take... time." Twilight sighed. "It would take time, and maybe resources we don't have. I'm not sure. I'd planned to make a request to Celestia, but..." She trailed off.
Applejack took a breath. "Alright. Alright, so... list of what we need to do. Survive. Find out who's still livin' and where. Open a path 'tween Equestria and the other world. Probably get lots of therapy, but that ain't likely ta happen soon, so let's just wait on it."
Spike nodded. "Right... Twilight? Where do you think ponies would be?"
"I... I don't... know. I never memorized census data..."
Rarity cleared her throat. "I did look into expanding my business back in the day, demographics was a part of that. Do you have a map? Even an out of date one would be helpful--"
Their conversation was interrupted by a dark-winged flurry of forms bursting forth from beneath, assailing them with fang and claw. Spike swept his wings out as they all reared back, trying to fight back the swarm of tiny creatures with powerful flaps.
"What are these things?" Rainbow demanded, taking to the air and hovering around them.
Applejack hissed as she was scratched up. "Ah dunno, but they're right dangerous! We need ta find shelter!"
"The Everfree!" Pinkie suggested, barely dodging a wave. "Large predators!"
"Dangerous predators!" Rarity objected. "OH THEY'RE IN MY TAIL!"
"Better the devil you know!" Rainbow pointed out. "Between Shy and Spike we can handle them!"
Twilight nodded, blasting a few of the creatures off. "Everfree! I'll teleport us!"
With a flash of her magic, the seven vanished from the swarm of creatures, reappearing a good distance away.
"Uh, problem!" Spike pointed at the ground. "The vines go into the Everfree too! What if those creatures are under all of them?"
"We can still hide in the trees!" Rarity insisted. "Come along, I don't want to get caught in another swarm of those beasts!"
The group galloped into the forest, the branches of the trees brushing against their coats and scales as they rushed away from the confused screeching of their assailants. Even as they rushed headlong, they were aware of a strange sense of unwitting familiarity to their surroundings, as though the path beneath their hooves had been trod before, though all the landmarks had changed. The starlight glimmering overhead seemed to stream through the battered branches, guiding each step of their journey as it had so long ago.
Eventually, as the screeching faded into the distance, the seven of them slowed to a trot, then a walk.
"...It's strange," Rarity murmured. "I mean, this whole situation is strange, of course, but it feels a little familiar, doesn't it? Like... like when we tried to stop Nightmare Moon."
"Ah know whatcha mean. No idea what to do, on tha run from some dangerous mojo..." Applejack chuckled. "Wanderin' tha Everfree under tha stars."
Rainbow huffed. "Back then we knew the Elements could fix things, we just had to find them. Now... I dunno." She rubbed the gem set around her neck. "It'd be awesome if they could, but... they need a target, right?"
Fluttershy hummed thoughtfully. "What would happen if we pointed them at Equestria? Would the entire planet be harmonized?"
"You know, I like that idea," Pinkie said with a grin. "The orbital friendship cannon! I mean I don't know how we'd get up that high--oh wait! Duh, we have Spike now!"
Spike rolled his eyes. "What, you want to hop on my back and have me fly into space so you can zap the rainbow of light down at everything? I'm sure absolutely nothing will go wrong with that plan. Not a single thing."
"Okay Spike." Twilight put a hoof on his shoulder, smiling wryly. "We get it. You don't want to be used as a weapons platform. We'll just keep you to ordinary secretary work, okay?"
"Sure thing." He gestured at the trees and vines surrounding them. "You want me to file a complaint to the home-owner's association? Somebody here really let their yard get out of control."
The ponies laughed and, for a moment, the bleakness of the situation drew away.
Eventually, though, Twilight sighed. "...maybe the castle of the two sisters survived. The princesses could have left us something in there... and if not, maybe we'll find magical artifacts or something to get back to the other world."
The others shared quiet looks.
"...You want to lead the way, Twilight?"
"Mmm..." Twilight glanced up. "Southeast of Ponyville... probably this way."
Quietly, they started trudging through the forest again.