The heavy fog building over Ponyville obscured her location, made it hard to guide herself towards her destination. Fluttershy knew the restaurant was at the corner of Ponyville, but she didn’t know where, exactly. Behind her, Rarity and Applejack followed. The two didn’t know where they were going. They were only informed that they were meeting Twilight at some sort of restaurant in Ponyville, and to follow her lead. Even so, they trusted Fluttershy with where she was taking them.
The heavy fog and roads, devoid of any ponies, made the group of friends nervous. It was unnatural, and they couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. In all the time that they had lived in Ponyville, they had never encountered a fog this heavy before. It was like someone had thrown a gray blanket over the globe.
Fluttershy scanned the buildings around her, and soon recognized where they were. She took the nearest right, and through the wall of mist, she saw the wooden structure.
“I hope this works,” Rarity said. “She didn’t look well at all this morning. It would be a great help to know what’s wrong with her, I mean, did you see her mane?!”
“Ah agree. Somethin’s been off with that pony lately,” Applejack said, remembering when Apple Bloom had told her about Twilight peeping into the classroom through the window.
“As much as I’m worried about Twilight, look how empty the town is…” Fluttershy said, looking around at the desolate, mist consumed town. Usually the town’s roads were packed, bustling with ponies during this time of day, but instead, everything was so quiet. It wasn’t the way any of them remembered Ponyville.
“Yeah, and the fog,” Rarity began. “You’d think that the weather ponies would have done something by now to fix this dreadful weather.” After some thought, it occurred to her suddenly: Discord was capable of doing this with his magic. Maybe he was behind this horrid scenery. Whatever the case, she didn’t like it, and neither did her friends.
The restaurant crawled ever closer, the whole structure visible through the relentless mist. A blob of purple began to emerge from the murk, growing clearer as the three friends approached the wooden structure. Applejack, recognizing who it was, called out her name.
Twilight let out a loud gasp, and rushed away from the window she had looked through, to greet her friends. She still had the same disaster of a mane and messy features, but she seemed to make an effort to calm herself, even though she was still visibly shaking.
“Hi girls. I’ve been waiting here for you a while,” she said.
“Sorry, Twilight,” Fluttershy apologized. “It was hard to see, the fog is really heavy today.”
“It’s fine, what are a couple minutes if you’re here now? Let’s get something to eat, I’m starving!”
Fluttershy smiled. She was glad that her plan had started on the right hoof, and hoped that it would stay that way. She was only worried that, with how Twilight had acted in the past month, things could turn ugly. She was looking forward to her meal though, which started things off well. That gave Fluttershy some relief.
Twilight trotted over to the front doors and pushed them open, light lapping across the floor inside. The diner was filled with ponies. The ratio of ponies in the restaurant to outdoors surprised them. None of the dining ponies took notice of the four friends entering the establishment, and continued chatting with their friends. Twilight examined the room for an unoccupied table, but as she did so, she noticed somepony over at the far left side of the diner—a mare—eyes glued on her. She didn’t recognize the mare right away, and knew who it was once she spotted her lyre cutie mark.
Among all the filled tables was one at the center of the room, chairs unoccupied, and enough to seat all of the friends at the same table. Happy with her find, Twilight led her friends towards the table. Through the corner of her eye, she noticed Lyra’s gaze following her intently. She pondered why Lyra kept staring at them. Something occurred to Twilight, and her breath stuttered. Lyra knew something…
She pulled a chair outwards, the chair audibly scraping across the floor, and slowly, she sat down. The rest of her friends began to do the same, sitting down one by one. As her friends began to chat, Twilight glanced towards Lyra once again through the corner of her eye. Lyra was no longer focused on her, and instead stared at the mare across from her. Bon Bon. That was her name. Twilight sighed silently in relief, and picked up on the conversation her friends had started.
“—the first free day we’ve had on the farm since ah can remember. Granny Smith said it ain’t a good idea to buck apples in a fog this heavy.”
Twilight assumed what was said before that. So, how have you girls been? Good. Just dandy! Applejack, you seem rather excited today. Yeah, today is actually the first free day we’ve had on the farm…
“It must be nice to finally get a day off after years of work on the farm. You definitely deserve one,” Twilight said.
“Thanks, and it really is. Workin’ on the farm is fun and all, but it does get tirin’ once in a while, with all the chores and constant apple buckin’.”
Alright, this is going well so far, Fluttershy thought. Twilight was calm, and enjoying herself. With luck, things would stay that way. She then noticed a loop of Applejack’s eyes darting towards her and back down to the table. She assumed Applejack was trying to say something to her, but she didn’t understand what, though. She tried to think. She was obviously communicating something about Twilight, but she couldn’t tell what exactly Applejack was trying to convey. Was she wondering whether to talk to Twilight about what was bothering her? In that case, her answer was no, so Fluttershy nodded her head, unnoticeable to Twilight—hopefully, at least.
A silence reigned at the table. Any sound they made was drowned by the loud, collective chatter in the room. Each pony waited for the others to say something, until Applejack spoke up.
“Listen, Twilight. We’ve noticed that recently, you’ve been all stressed over somethin’. What exactly has been botherin’ you? We’re your friends, you can tell us.”
If Fluttershy could produce the screams she made inside of her head, the windows of the building would shatter instantly. Applejack, no! You’re supposed to ask her about that after the meal! Fluttershy nodded her head gently, but Applejack didn’t take notice.
Twilight furrowed her brow. “I don’t know why you girls keep asking me if there’s something wrong with me. I’m fine.” Those last two words came out cold, which startled Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity.
At this point, Fluttershy forgot about the plan. “Twilight, look at yourself. You’re a mess. For the past two weeks, you’ve been under so much pressure, and if you don’t tell us why, we can’t help you!”
“Fluttershy’s right,” Rarity agreed. “I know you say you’re fine, but you’re clearly not. Please tell us what’s wrong; we don’t like seeing you this way.”
“I—” Twilight paused, and gulped. “I can’t say.”
“Why not?” Fluttershy said, glad that Twilight finally admitted that something was wrong.
“I—” Twilight repeated. “I wonder what’s on the menu today, I’m starving—”
Fluttershy suddenly did something none of the other friends expected. Fluttershy angrily slammed one of her hooves on the table, an act that made everyone else at the table jump. The impact made a loud bang that caught the attention of some of their neighbors. “Twilight, don’t change the subject. Why won’t you tell us what’s wrong? You’ve been worrying us with how you’ve been acting, and you’re scaring me.” The fierceness in her voice shocked everyone at the table, and seemed to have a greater effect on Twilight.
Twilight opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a small spark at the end of her horn. Twilight gasped and suddenly closed her eyes, like she was pushing something that weighed a ton.
In that moment, the whole restaurant went dark. The walls, ceiling, and floor were shaded in dark-orange, and in unison, everyone in the restaurant went quiet. There was a sudden rise of nervous mumbling in the room before the diner returned to its original shade of color.
Fluttershy and Rarity exchanged puzzled looks, unsure of what had just happened. Applejack, however, was looking down at the table, in thought. She was piecing stuff together in her mind. As soon as Twilight’s horn sparked, the whole room changed color... Did Twilight cause that? She wondered, and proceeded to draw a connection with Twilight and the strange occurrences in Ponyville. It was highly possible that Twilight was doing something, and hiding it from her friends. Whether it was good or bad, she didn’t know. If that was, however, the truth, and Twilight really was up to something, she was losing her sanity and strength because of it. That was what worried Applejack the most.
“Twilight, listen. Whatever you’re doin’, you don’t have to hide it from us. We can help you. You’re not the Twilight we remember and love right now. You’ve been keepin’ us outta the light, and there ain’t any need for that. Just tell us what’s goin’ on!”
“Please, stop! I can’t tell you.” Her expression made it seem like she was fighting herself not to do something.
“Twilight, please,” Applejack reached a hoof out, but flinched once Twilight’s horn sparked again. The whole room dimmed into a dark orange a second time. Twilight shut her eyes again—tighter this time, and sweat streaming from her forehead—and the room returned back to its original state. This time, Applejack was sure Twilight caused that.
Twilight looked scared. The edges of her eyes were brimming with tears as she looked at each of her friends. She closed her eyes and sighed, a tear traveling down her cheek.
In that moment, Twilight’s horn lit up, and she faced Fluttershy. A beam of energy shot from the white glow of her horn and hit the Pegasus. She screamed, before her head fell forward and hit the table. Rarity jumped back and gasped in reaction to what Twilight had done to her friend, but before she could do anything else, she felt something powerful hit her chest. Twilight had shot another beam at Rarity, her head hitting the table before falling to the ground. Twilight faced Applejack and readied her horn, but as she fired another beam from her horn, Applejack slid off her chair and ducked beneath the table, out of the way. The beam flew right over her head, and traveled towards the other side of the room, targeting a table where two mares sat. The magical blast connected with the table, and it exploded in a shower of sparks and pieces of wood, sending the two mares out of their chairs and onto the floor.
A collective gasp echoed throughout the room as a group of concerned ponies gathered around Lyra and Bon Bon, who were both lying on the floor, having lost consciousness. One by one, each pony looked towards the table where Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Twilight were. All eyes were on something specific. Or rather, somepony.
Everyone was staring at Twilight.
The alicorn felt the weight of all eyes bearing down on her. Her breathing quickened, heart hammering at her ribcage. Applejack cautiously peeked her head from underneath the table, and rose from the floor. Rarity and Fluttershy weakly opened their eyes, and put their hooves to their head.
“Twilight! What the hay have you done?” Applejack furiously shouted.
“What… happened…?” Fluttershy muttered, trying to support herself on her hooves.
Applejack spun to see that her friends were okay, and let out a sigh of relief. “Are ya two alright?” she asked.
“I don’t know… we were just sitting down and now…” Fluttershy examined her surroundings, gasping once she saw a destroyed table and the two unconscious mares at the far corner of the room. Rarity groaned as she got herself back onto her hooves.
Twilight’s horn glowed, and the white ball of energy at the tip expanded, until it engulfed her entire horn and even hid part of her forehead. Everypony in the room, including the walls, ceiling and floor, were suddenly encased in a purple aura. Several ponies began freaking out, not knowing what Twilight was doing, or what she was about to do. Applejack took notice of the fact that her own body was also covered in a purple aura, as well as her friends.
Once the purple aura around everypony began to glow white—indicating the ignition of the spell—Applejack leapt over the table, and she collided with Twilight. The glow of her horn disappeared, and at the same time, so did the purple aura around the restaurant. The two mares fell to the ground, and Twilight hit the floor, landing on her back, before Applejack landed on top of her. She let out a grunt of pain, having been winded by Applejack’s weight on her stomach.
For a third time, the diner was shaded in a dark-orange color before returning to how it originally was. This time however, Applejack saw, through the windows by the front doors, that the sky had changed from gray to the dark orange color that was shaded on the walls of the restaurant, like slides being changed on a projector. She knew for sure this was Twilight’s doing.
She looked down at Twilight, who was recovering from the pain. “Twilight, what are you doin’ ta Ponyville?”
Twilight lit her horn again, and Applejack was suddenly impacted by the floor. Looking up, she saw that Twilight had teleported over towards the front doors, slowly backing up and out of the restaurant. Ponies had begun to pursue the alicorn, and Twilight broke into a gallop away from the diner as a mob had followed in pursuit. Applejack thought about running after Twilight as well, but remembered what she had done to Fluttershy and Rarity. Applejack came to her friends’ aid, helping Fluttershy and Rarity onto their hooves.
“What’s happening? What happened to Twilight?” Fluttershy said.
“Twilight is doin’ somethin’ ta Ponyville. Ah don’t know what yet, but all ah do know is that goin’ as far as ta hurt her friends is somethin’ that can’t stand. Come on, we need ta catch up with Twilight.”
The other two didn’t respond, clearly worried at the situation, but didn’t protest. Fluttershy and Rarity had regained strength in their legs, and were able to follow Applejack out of the diner.
Upon stepping outside, she was immediately confronted by the thick fog that wafted idly above the ground. Although she couldn’t see where everypony had gone, she could faintly hear a distant commotion to her left. She followed the road, which led into a gray oblivion. The distant sound getting louder told her she was on the right track. She glanced back. Her friends were keeping up. Looking forward, she noticed distinct colors through the built up wall of mist, and once she got closer, she saw Twilight, backing away from the horde of ponies after her.
Twilight’s eyes darted from one pony to the next. Each pony’s brow was furrowed, all eyes glaring daggers at the alicorn. She heard different voices. How could you do that to Lyra and Bon Bon?! You hurt your friends! You should be ashamed of yourself! She was terrified, but as the crowd continued to approach her, she seemed to have a momentary look of relief. As the mob of ponies neared however, it disappeared.
“W-What? How is this possible?” Twilight stammered in disbelief as she continued to back away from her pursuers.
Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy attempted to scream over the combined angry shouts from the rest of the ponies. “Everypony!” Applejack called as loud as she could. “Calm down! Hello?! Please, calm yourselves!”
Fluttershy wasn’t much help, due to her naturally quiet voice. Rarity wasn’t nearly loud enough, and unfortunately she didn’t know how to cast a voice amplifier spell.
"Hey! What in the hay is going on here?!" The three friends heard from behind them. They turned around and spotted Rainbow Dash hovering above them, confusion etched onto her face. Followed by her appearance, Pinkie Pie emerged from the dense fog, galloping toward the friends before screeching to a halt.
"Rainbow and Pinkie," Applejack said, acknowledging the two newcomers. "Glad you're here."
Rainbow glanced at the scene in front of them. "Well then, what parade did no one bother to tell us about?"
"Now ain't a time for jokes, this is serious," Applejack affirmed sternly. "Long story short, there was an incident involving Twilight and now practically everypony in town is on her tail. We're trying to calm them down but for some reason we can't seem ta grab their attention!"
Pinkie's eyes scanned the angry mob of ponies in disbelief. "What in the world did she do to rile everypony up like this?!"
"I'll explain later, but for now, I need y'all's help. Rainbow, ah need you to fly over this crowd and try to get their attention. Pinkie, you're loud, so you can help us try to knock some sense into everypony."
The two nodded and were about to proceed with the tasks Applejack had given him, but in that moment, the sky appeared to briefly flash the same deep orange color as earlier. The five friends' eyes suddenly turned blank and lifeless, and they remained frozen in place with a dazed expression for a short period of time.
Then they turned around and began to mimic the mob of ponies after the lavender alicorn.
Twilight... she needed to pay!
Twilight continued to back away, and turned back, breaking into a gallop. Everypony else mimicked her, sprinting after the alicorn, a few of the Pegasi taking flight. Eventually, Twilight reached town hall, and slowed to a trot. She was blocked by the front steps, and turned towards the left to run around the structure, but gasped when she saw that a line of ponies had blocked off that path. She turned behind her to run in the opposite direction, but ponies had blocked that way off as well. She was pushed towards the front steps. Everyone had formed a circle around her, pinning her in the spot she was in. She breathed heavily, sinking slowly to the floor, like that would hide her from the angry citizens.
In that moment, she could have teleported away. Far away, maybe somewhere in the Everfree forest. She could have even taken off. Used her wings to escape town and go somewhere where nopony could find her. She had opportunities to get away from these enraged ponies. But she didn’t. She sat there, as the angry shouts filled her ears.
“I—” Twilight choked out, her throat burning up as a revelation hit her. Hard, like a sack of bricks. “I can’t do this anymore…”
As her ears filled with the hate filled statements from the pony folk, it eventually became too much. She lifted herself from the ground and let out a scream as her horn burst into purple flames, sparks falling from the rapidly growing glow.
A white orb began to form around Twilight, expanding around her. Everypony began to back up, but too late, as they too were also caught in the glowing white sphere. It swelled further, catching houses and other buildings in the area.
An ear-splitting crack echoed through the air, and all of Ponyville was invaded by a blinding white light. A moment later, the world became visible again.
Twilight was curled up in a ball, sobbing on the ground by the broken steps of an obliterated Town Hall.
What was once a foggy town became a completely desolate version of Ponyville. All the houses were destroyed, walls blown apart and roofs caved inwards. Trees were ripped off their roots and lying on the ground, dead leaves sprawled about on the ground. The grass was dead, as well as the flowers, and the crops of gardens. Gusts of dirt-filled air whirled about. The sky was no longer the light-gray it was before, but now a dark-orange color, with tiny, faint clouds in the sky.
Ponyville was completely destroyed.
Twilight slowly lifted her head, looking in despair at the ruins that were the town.
“I can’t do it anymore… it’s just not the same. I want my real friends back…”
She slowly got to her hooves. She wanted more than anything to be with her friends again, and she knew exactly how she would do that.