Rainbow shot awake. Something was wrong. Everything felt off as she sat up in bed and looked at the clock. It was far too early to naturally wake up. There was still dew outside for one thing. Then she felt it.
It was only slight at first, a small tremble through the floor. Then the sirens blared across the city.
In a panic she stared out the window. So many drills had still not prepared her for the eventuality.
“We need to get out,” Jet ordered from his side of the bed, becase yeah, he moved in at some point.
Rainbow nodded as she sprang into action. To the room next door she bolted, barging through the door.
“Mummy?” Swirl asked. “What's happening?”
“You know that thing I was supposed to mention a lot earlier in your lives to make it seem much less of a contrived plot device than it is? Well, it's happening!”
The fillies gasped. “A CLOUDQUAKE!”
The cloud was beginning to shake more and more violently, almost as if it was building up to something. “Quickly now. Outside and fly high above the city. It's safest there.”
Jet and Rainbow ushered the filles out of the house and launched them into the air, knowing they hadn't much time.
High above the city they watched as the cloud base moved so violently. It was unnerving to see the incredibly stable shake so fragiley. This was their home but now it seemed weak and as though it should never have been built.
Jet was darting about nearer the surface, helping those feeble to get up quickly, but soon he joined them in the sky, surrounded by the inhabitants of the city, all waiting for it to stop, dreading to think what will become of the precious homes. Some buildings were already showing signs of weakness. Cracks tore their way through the ground and up walls. Buildings began to lean and break apart. Fortunately it was all cloud, so the damage should be minimal, if still not horrendous to those it affected.
A huge gust of wind past over them.
The cloud base was caught in it, resonating with the tremors. It was deafening, the sounds of their world ripping to shreds, the explosions of the pipes, the shattering of glass.
Rainbow saw it coming. She spun round and shielded her children from the blast. Flecks of glass pierced her skin and muscle, digging its way deep into her. It was agony, like hundreds of tiny needles boring into her with every flap of her wings. She could feel the blood dripping down her back. But it didn't matter, as long as her precious little fillies were okay.
The sirens quietened as the cloud settled down. It was safe to land, although no one did for some time.
“Are you okay?” Rainbow asked as she loosened her grip around them.
“Yeah.” The words fell out of Dash's mouth. The shock of what happened was still sinking in.
Swirl hummed in agreement, tears streaming from the fear that still gripped her.
Shine said nothing. She wasn't there.
“Shine?” Rainbow asked. “Shine?” she asked again louder, looking around in a panic.
Then came a thud.
It wasn't loud. It was nothing heavy. No one else seemed to notice. But Rainbow locked up, breath ripped from her lungs. She didn't want to look down, but slowly she did.
Shine was laying there on the dirty white floor, slowly staining it red.
“Shine?” Rainbow whimpered. Slowly she dropped down.
“Shine?” she whispered. It couldn't be true. She landed next to her.
Rainbow felt a void open in her. Something impossible in her heart and mind. Something that should never have happened.
Swirl, Dash and Jet landed next to her, and many other ponies as well once they noticed what had happened. But they didn't matter. None of them mattered then. It may as well be nothing but black around her. She had no idea what to do. No idea how to feel. So she sat there, on the ground, and stared at her child.
Shine lay there, no breath in her body, nothing but pain in her eyes. She lay still on the ground. A long shard of glass sticking from her chest.