August 5th, 997
"And then Granny tells the poor colt that if she ever hears him serenading her outside the window again, the only reason she won't shave his coat off is because her dam beat her to it!" Applejack bucks another tree, the apples cascading down into the buckets the two placed. She smirks, harnessing herself to the cart, finally finished with another row of apple trees. Doug grins as he grabs one of the baskets and taking it to the cart, Applejack continuing, "Not that it stopped him. Grandpappy always said that if it weren't for Granny insisting that he was never supposed to come see her, he wouldn't have tried so hard to sneak into her bedroom window every night, try to figure out what the secrecy was all about!"
Doug's laugh is cut short as a loud, blaring sound emanates from Ponyville. He looks towards the town, confused as to the meaning of the sound while a look of horror comes over Applejack's face. Doug glances over, his eyes widening as he sees her expression, "Um, Applejack? What does that mean?" He points, starting at Ponyville but wavering as the clouds over the Everfree start building, eventually pointing towards the rising darkness.
Applejack is trying to get out of her harness as quickly as possible, Doug moving over to help. The two leave the wagon, full of baskets of apples, in the middle of the road as they race back to the farmhouse, the klaxon continuing its warning call to all around. They see Granny Smith ushering three fillies - Apple Bloom, Applebaum, and Lemon - inside while Big Mac gallops up from the southern fields. Applejack yells, "Granny, where are the rest of the foals?"
Apple Bloom stamps a hoof, "Ah'm not a foal!" as Granny Smith does a quick head count.
"Let's see, Ah think that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were down at the pond. Fluttershy had Hedge, Ah remember now, Ah think she was with 'em."
Each head turns to the pond, seeing the pegasus carrying Hedge, following the two fillies, both on Scootaloo's scooter. Behind them, the Everfree Forest looms, looking darker and more frightening than normal. Above the forest dark clouds are rapidly developing, opaque masses roiling as they spill out from itself. Apple Bloom asks as they get close and gather up, "Mama? What's going on?"
Applejack shakes her head, "Nothing you three need to worry about." The trio stares at her, obviously unhappy with the explanation. "Look, Ah'll tell you when it's done, okay?" Three unwavering stares. Applejack stamps a hoof, "We don't have time for this. You three, inside the farmhouse, Now! Fluttershy, you're coming with me."
"But, Sis, we can help!" Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo nod along to their sister's assertion, their faces pleading. Fluttershy also looks unhappy at being asked to come along, but nervously moves towards the direction of Ponyville.
Doug says to Applejack, motioning towards the town, "Do you really want to leave them alone with Granny, trying to get to us to help? She's going to have plenty to do just looking after three of the foals."
Applejack shakes her head, "And we're going to need every pony we can for this, can't just leave them with Fluttershy." She looks sternly down at the three fillies, "All right you three, fine. But, if there isn't a safe job for you three to help out, you are going to sit quietly in a corner until this is all over, got it?" She ends with a glare at each filly in turn.
The three fillies nod their heads, gulping a little at Applejack's expression, before looking eagerly at each other, though their enthusiasm is quickly curbed by the grim expressions on each pony's face. The seven start towards town, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom on the scooter while Doug carries Sweetie Belle. Doug asks between hard breaths, "So, what is going on?"
Applejack gives Doug a stony look, "You know how I never told you how my parents died?"
Doug nods, a grim look on his face.
"Well, we're going to make sure no other fillies needs to never hear the story." She looks back towards town, a determined look as they canter into the town center. A flurry of activity greets them, pegasi flying this way and that as the klaxon goes quiet, many ponies approaching from the south, some of them carrying bags of belongings. They see a crowd of ponies at a hastily assembled stage, the seven moving forward to the edge of the crowd.
Mayor Mare stands on the stage, addressing the crowd, looking like she is going through a speech she has given several times already, "Everypony, stay calm, the beast is still a ways out. An emergency letter has been sent to Princess Celestia, and royal reinforcements should be arriving shortly. Until then, we need to remain calm, continue evacuating the southern side of town, and wait to receive our assignments until more information is available." Mayor Mare slowly takes a few steps backwards, looking up at the sky. Many heads turn up as well, watching as the rising clouds seem to hit a ceiling, the anvil of the storm spreading to the edge of the Everfree.
Off to the side two earth ponies are pushing a few tables together, a pegasus draping a tablecloth over the entire thing. A second pegasus rolls out several large sheets of paper, spreading three of them out on the table to show an enlarged and very detailed map of Ponyville and the surrounding area. The fourth sheet is a somewhat nebulous depiction of the Everfree Forest, with approximation of noted landmarks. Two other ponies begin hastily constructing a tent to shield the maps from the coming storm.
Princess Celestia blinks in twenty feet above Mayor Mare, silently descending and standing off to the side. Mayor Mare looks to the other side, watching as a rainbow blur moving closer; she announces as Rainbow Dash swoops in, "Attention Everypony! We Have News!"
Rainbow Dash moves up to the front of the stage, a loud voice, "Alright, at first glance we have at least two large forms, one moving towards Ponyville, the other heading further west, maybe a quarter mile, half mile from town." She swoops down, taking two gray figurines and placing them on the Everfree map. Another figure joins the two, further back, "A third was potentially forming close to where they were first spotted. Both seem to be forty feet tall, plus or minus ten. Um, they are fairly gray, stank to the heavens of chaos magic."
"Got it." A voice comes from the large planning table, the ponies turn to see an elderly mare, the town librarian, poring over a large tome labeled 'Monstrous Manual', the second volume open next to her. Storied Pages says, pointing a hoof at the picture of a large gray monolith, "Going with the earlier description, we're looking at a Catapillt. Large, towering pillar of corrupted energy, has similar chaos magic to timber wolves but on a much, much larger scale. Believed to be restricted to unstable magic areas, such as the Everfree, but attempts to bypass this limitation by catapulting sections of itself. Nothing else but a warning to stay as far away from the creature and remains as possible, as the chaos magic is eventually fatal to ponies, increasing in dosage as you get closer. And it must be cleansed as soon as possible to avoid the area corrupting and destabilizing the magic in the area."
Princess Celestia steps forward, "I will move to deal with the infestation that is creating these abominations. My royal guard will move to intercept the one to the west. I will be back as soon as I am able to assist with exorcising this creature; until then, you must keep it from the river, as the corruption will spread too rapidly if it reaches the water. I must be off."
Princess Celestia spreads her wings, raising a few feet in the air before teleporting just outside the Everfree Forest and galloping inside, the trees wrenching to the sides to create a clear path through the otherwise unnavigable forest. Eyes turn to above the Everfree, sections of the storm starting to break through an invisible wall between the Everfree and Ponyville, small sections of black quickly seeping out and spreading further over the town.
Spoiled Rich steps up, "Everypony! In order to contain the masses that it launches, we will need every available pegasi to form in pairs. You will take canvas, sheets, anything that you can safely hold while staying twenty feet, or more, away from your partner. You will then need to catch the corrupted missiles the catapillt is launching at the river. They need to be immediately dumped as far from the river as possible, as the material will quickly eat through anything organic. Any missiles that fall short can be ignored by the pegasus team."
The pegasi start pairing up by speed, the fastest pegasi in the front of the group. Spoiled Rich points a hoof at Rainbow Dash, "Rainbow, hang back, I need you for something else."
"Got it." Rainbow nods at Cloud Chaser and steps forward, her previous partner moving to find somepony else.
"Unicorns." Spoiled Rich looks over the crowd, "You will need to put together as many of these nets as possible. They need to be able to be grasped by two pegasi flying in the air, opening to get as wide a surface as possible. At least ten sheets thick, one sheet by two sheets, securely sewn together. Rarity, you take charge of that."
Rarity nods, looking to her Boutique and stashes of fabric, "Of course." She turns, moving to her Boutique, shouting instructions to the unicorns following after her.
"Earth Ponies." Spoiled Rich looks at Filthy Rich and Applejack, "I need materials for the unicorns to use; if you have to tear down walls, so be it. Remember, we need things that will serve as nets that a team of pegasi can lift. Anything in town can be replaced. The water cannot." Filthy Rich nods, a few of the more industrious ponies including Big Mac following him. "Applejack, the missiles that hit the ground will start spreading their corruption. I do not know how best to contain it. I suspect dirt will not be enough, that we will need to contain them with metal. You need to find a way to scoop the corrupted material out of the ground without anypony touching it. Being infused with chaos magic, I suspect our magic will not work either, within five feet of the material, forcing us to do it by hoof."
"Um, Ah'll do my best." Applejack looks to the earth ponies congregating around her, "Alright, we'll need to construct the largest digger we've ever made. And fast." The group moves towards the other earth pony group, quick instructions passing back and forth.
The spreading clouds above rumble, a low, ominous sound that rattles windows and hearts. The storm clouds claim more of the heavens, the dark masses slowly blotting out the sun, lightning flashing between the Everfree storm and the clouds directly above.
Spoiled Rich turns to Rainbow, the pegasus snapping to attention. "Rainbow, we need to organize our fliers as soon as possible. The strongest at the front, getting the missiles that are closest to them, using shields I hope will be finished soon." She stumbles a bit as they watch a small white blur rise into the air above the Everfree Forest, an orange glow around the mare beginning to get larger and larger. Spoiled Rich shakes her head, continuing, "I need our strongest fliers, those able to lift the most, on the front line, able to block any missiles in reach. The fastest are going to be our second line of defense, right over the river. I need you as somepony to coordinate our fliers, to tell which teams to move where, to cover the entire arc of the river. You might need another pony to act as a spotter and helping coordinate, letting the teams know which pair of pegasi will need to go after each missile. If you can cover the town as well, great, but that is a luxury. Do you understand?"
Rainbow snaps a salute, "You got it!"
Spoiled Rich turns to Pinkie Pie, "I need containers that can hold the missiles the pegasi catch, or after we dig them up and need to dump them somewhere. They need to be solid metal, large, and bright enough to be seen in the coming storm. Got it?"
"Okie Dokie Lokie!" Pinkie Pie pronks towards the warehouse many of the other earth ponies are heading towards.
Spoiled Rich turns to another pony, more instructions snapping out. All heads turn to look as a massive light erupts from the Everfree Forest, a gigantic column of pure white scouring away the dark, disappearing into the roiling storm above. Lightning strikes over the Everfree, the clouds releasing a torrent of rain that blocks ponies view of the column of light, now a distorted haze barely visible from Ponyville. A giant gray pillar ponderously rises from the edge of the Everfree, dwarfing the nearby trees. Thousands of feline faces stare back at them, a deafening yowl echoing among the buildings.
"That's way more than forty feet!" comes a terrified shout from Spoiled Rich as the first missile erupts off the pillar of cats, a small gray blur rapidly approaching the southern end of town.
"Incoming!"