//------------------------------//
// The Cleansing 
// Story: An Unstoppable Force 
// by Iliketoreadandstuff 
//------------------------------//

"They're all gone," Twilight reported, solemnly. The Princesses stood to attention, and were clearly shocked at the news.
"Gone?" Luna said. "As in...?" The group nodded. Celestia took a deep breath, attempting to remain calm. It had been a while since ponies had suffered such a fate under her careful watch and rule.
"There's hardly a village left," Rainbow said, "it's just dirt and a few pieces of wood, now."
"And bones," Twilight added. Luna covered her mouth, her complexion displaying pain and horror. Celestia respectfully closed her eyes, tilting her head down just a bit.
"I'm...sorry that you all had to see that," Celestia said, "I wouldn't have sent you had I known."
"At least we know now, I suppose," added Luna. "Thank you for doing this. Even if it wasn't what we had hoped." The group was about to respond, yet the silence introduced a rapid sound from the hallway outside. The sound of galloping hooves. Cadence suddenly burst into the room, short of breath and clearly terrified.
"THE END IS COMING!" Cadence shouted. Twilight's blood ran cold at these words, and a wave of lightheadedness washed over her. "T-The Empire! A blizzard! It's so...please! Help us!" Cadence's legs began to shake, and she collapsed on the floor, exhausted. Twilight rushed over to her, helping her up. She felt so brittle.
"A blizzard?" Luna asked. Cadence nodded weakly.
"It just...! And the wind! It has to be the end!" Cadence shouted. Twilight repositioned Cadence's head to look at her.
"Slow down, now," Twilight said, softly. "Breathe." Cadence did so, at first panting, before breathing through her nose and out her mouth. She tried to stand on her own, able to do so, though with tremendous effort.
"A terrifying blizzard rolled in last night," she began, her voice still shaky. "At first we thought it was nothing to worry about. It's the North, y'know? But then everyone started freaking out about the wind and the dark skies surrounding the Empire. Ponies started thinking that it would be strong enough to break through the barrier! And the lightning!" Her eyes went wider, as though she was reliving a traumatic memory. "It's a bright green lightning! It's distant, but the thunder is enough to shake your bones! Shining and I have tried to calm the ponies down, but it hasn't been working out. They always expect the worst."
"What about Flurry Heart?" Twilight asked, concerned.
"We're going to have her stay with you, if that's okay," Cadence said. "I don't want her to be caught up in this mess."
"Of course that's okay! I promise she'll be safe with us," Twilight replied. Cadence smiled, a bit relieved.
"Though the lightning is an odd thing," Luna said, "we cannot assume it is anything more than a bad snowstorm."
"I agree," Celestia chimed. "The best thing that you can do is remain calm and ease their worries with sound logic and reassurance. The Crystal Heart will surely be able to protect you."
"Okay," Cadence whispered. "Okay, yeah. Okay." Twilight and the others were much more suspicious, though. They would love to be able to write it off as some common storm, but they were no longer sure that's all it was. "I'll head back to the Empire to pick up Flurry Heart. Thank you for your time." Cadence looked around, weakly waving goodbye before exiting the throne room hurriedly. 
"I'm not sure we should underestimate this storm, Princesses," Twilight said. 
"What more can we do?" Celestia asked. "We don't quite know how we can prepare for...whatever else it could be."
"Especially since we don't know whatever else it could be," Luna added. 
"Look," Rainbow said, "that thing has a path. I saw it. The dirt in the village was big and straight, and it was headed north. I don't think this is just a coincidence anymore, and I don't think this is a usual storm, either." Rainbow stood firm in her assertion, and Applejack stood beside her, backing her up. Twilight joined as well. 
"We're still not sure what we can do," Celestia said. "We're open to suggestions if you have any." 
"I'll see what I can figure out," Twilight declared, turning for the door. The others were reluctant to follow.
"Why just you?" Applejack asked. Twilight stopped at the door, not turning around. 
"I feel like I have some sort of responsibility in this," she replied.
"But you don't!" Applejack reminded. "This isn't your fault that there was nothin' you coulda done to stop it." Twilight wanted to think that, but she just couldn't do it. She left through the door. Spike was the first to follow, while the rest remained stationary.

She had gone through countless books on storms and destructive forces, yet still Twilight could find nothing. Until she reached a book by Starswirl, written over a thousand years ago. It was titled The Bringers of Apocalypse, and had five chapters explaining different ways that the world could end. There was a great war that could sweep the nations of Equestria, the emergence of a great evil from within the ground, and the rampage of Tartarus. Yet, it was chapter four that caught her attention the most. There was little described for it, but it was known as 'The Obitus Storm.' It details a storm that only grows in size, wiping all life from the land beneath it with streaks of lightning and chilling winds. Twilight's heart sank at how eerily accurate this description was. Yet, what lead Starswirl to write about this? Why this specifically? How could he know? Perhaps this isn't the first time this has happened, Twilight thought. Maybe he even lived through it and was able to stop it! Although her hope was a bit flimsy, it was one of the few things she could hope for. According to the book, most of the information he gained was from old runes to the southwest, between Los Pegasus and the Ghastly Gorge. She packed the book in her saddlebags, and began heading out of the castle. 
"Where are you going?" Spike asked, innocent as a child. Twilight looked at him for a moment, thinking of what to say.
"I'll be back. Don't worry. Just...don't follow me, okay?" Twilight said. "You'll be holding down the fort for a bit." Spike was a bit disappointed, as his question still hadn't been answered.
"What do I do when Cadence drops off Flurry Heart?"
"Just tell her to drop her off in my room. Starlight can help out, too. I'm sure she'd be fine with it."
"Okay. Be careful." Twilight smirked sincerely.
"I will be. I always am." Twilight walked through the two front doors, the warmth of the sun from earlier now weakened by the cloudy skies and time of day. Spike felt a certain kind of heartache as she left. Though he didn't want to say it outright, he knew that she was his closest friend and the only mother figure he's had. He waved weakly as the door closed, subtly mouthing the words 'I love you' before they shut completely, echoing through the open room. 

It took about half an hour for Twilight to finally arrive at the runic site. The winds had become much more turbulent and were blowing to the north, especially at such a high altitude. The air was quite cold, though still being surrounded by the warmth of summer. Twilight was happy to have an objective and a focus, as it was something to keep her mind off of their mission to Gallopool. She landed steadily in front of a stone, having only six runes carved into it. It was much windier there, but she barely noticed. She translated those runes using another book she had brought, finding it to be very old. 
"You came here as well, I see," said a deep voice to her left. Her concentration broken, Twilight looked to find the source of the voice. 
"Starswirl?" she asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Same as you," he replied, "I have come to put an end to the storm."
"Haven't you done it before?" Starswirl scoffed.
"Not in the slightest! I didn't even know it existed until I came here more than a thousand years ago. In fact, I'm still not sure it does exist. Regardless, the storm to the north worries me."
"If you're not sure it exists, then how did you know about the wind and the lightning?"
"Educated guesses, mostly. But that's not how I discovered its possible affects." He scanned the horizon, stopping once he saw a clearing of trees. "Over there," he pointed, "should be the entrance to a cave. It's rather deep, so I ask that you be careful." Twilight, still a bit unsure of all this, went over to investigate. The landscape slowly dipped down into a hill, and dropped off a few feet away. There, she could see the entrance to the cave. Carefully, she descended and shimmied towards it. It was very dark and freezingly cold within the stone mouth, and she could tell that it went down like a ramp. She emitted light with her horn to help guide herself through. The cave was still quite damp, and patches of ice and snow could be found along the walls. It kept going deeper and deeper; Twilight was unsure there would even be a bottom. It was like the Arctic, now, and she shivered from the cold. She began to wonder if there was even anything down here. Just then, though, something caught her eye on the wall to her right. She got closer to it. Upon further inspection, she found it wasn't on the wall. It was in it! It was tough to make out what it was, but it was dark and rough. Like burnt wood. In fact...the patterns...that's exactly what it was! She looked around the rest of the cave, seeing that some of the stalactites were actually old, splintered planks and boards. There was even a sheet of paper, mostly burnt, hanging from the ceiling. It was in a language she couldn't understand and didn't recognize, but could tell that the paper itself was ancient. Beyond ancient! She descended further, where she began to see old, yellowed bones stuck in the walls. Bones of something strange, akin to that of a primate's. Especially the skulls. Pieces of fabric and cloth still hung from their disintegrated arms. Further down, she saw a pit that dropped down for miles. Metal beams and dirtied bulbs jutted out from the walls, bent and broken. How long had they been there? She had never seen anything like it! She tried to increase her luminescence, finding it hard to concentrate. There was a skeleton lying on one of the stone platforms, still dressed in torn clothes and a helmet. Like a construction worker or a miner. Perhaps that's what they were? Twilight, the cold beginning to numb her limbs, stepped back from the edge. She felt sick. She had to get out of there immediately! She rushed through the tunnels, frantic. So many things rushed through her mind as she thought about those things. The posters. The beams. That skeleton! She didn't know what they were! Who they were! Where they even came from! A light was softly reflected by one of the walls ahead, and she followed it until she was upon the cave entrance once more. Forgetting the steep decline, she propelled herself into the air, gliding and screaming. Her wings deployed, and she swooped back up towards the ridge, where Starswirl awaited. She didn't quite stick the landing, stumbling and faceplanting into the ground beside him. She was hyperventilating, trying to calm down. Starswirl tried to comfort her, putting his hoof on her shoulder.
"Who...w-who were they?!" Twilight asked loudly, tearing up.
"Nopony knows," Starswirl said, grim. "Nopony ever will, I don't think. One of my associates from long ago was able to tell that the burnt wood and some of the bones were burnt by lightning rather than fire. This led me to think that it was some sort of storm that had placed them there."
"Do we know how deep it goes?! What were those beams?! And that skeleton! What were they doing there?! How did they--"
"Ssh ssh..." Starswirl hushed. "Calm down and think one at a time." Twilight was just so overwhelmed by all of this. If that skeleton had some sort of advanced technology and they still suffered, how could they hope to stop this?! Slowly, she reminded herself. Deep breaths. Tears streamed down her face, but she was calming down, at least. "I'm not sure how deep that pit goes, exactly, nor do I intend to find out. It is a resting place for souls older than any of us, and I doubt they'd want to be disturbed. Other than that, however, I know about as much as you do. Where they came from, what they could do, it's all a mystery to me."
"That's...n-not very comforting," Twilight said, sniffling. Starswirl looked down, guilty.
"I know. I'm sorry." There was a pause as Twilight finished her crying, straightening up.
"This storm...the 'Obitus' storm...what is it, exactly?"
"From what I can tell," Starswirl stood up, walking back toward the runes; Twilight soon followed, "it is a force that goes through a process I call 'The Cleansing.' It roams across the land, wiping out all life. However, once all life is eradicated, it merely begins anew. It is a cycle that I doubt will ever end. If I'm right, we're merely catching the end of this cycle."
"How many times has this happened, do you think?"
"There's no way to tell. Could be four. Ten. Perhaps even hundreds. That cave is merely where the messes that weren't very well cleansed ended up. Where history is layered upon itself in countless repetitions." 
"Is there a way to stop it?" Twilight asked, that one question burning in her mind. Starswirl knew this, and responded the softest way he could.
"I don't know." Twilight felt another wave of panic surge through her body, pushing it aside. Just because he doesn't know doesn't mean there isn't a way. 
"We don't have much longer, do we?" Twilight asked, a mixture of sadness and determination puppeteering her tone.
"Not sure on that, either," was the reply. "I'd be willing to guess another week at most, but I'm not sure how accurate that is." So deal with it as soon as possible just in case, Twilight thought. "Twilight," Starswirl said, looking at her with a hint of fear in his eyes, "if you can't fix this, I might be able to place us in limbo until it passes."
"How would we get out? How would we fit the entire population of Equestria into that? We can't do it at Ponehenge, anyways."
"I know, I know. That's what I'm trying to work out. But, even if it takes quintillions of years, I'm sure there will be someone who can bring us back." I wouldn't count on it, Twilight thought.
"I'll be able to fix this. I promise." Twilight spread her wings once more, walking in the direction of Ponyville for her return. She stopped, though, looking at Starswirl again. "But," she said, "if this is the last time we see each other, I just want to thank you for everything. The spells, the teachings, you've truly been one of the biggest inspirations throughout my life. I'm glad to have met you."
"As am I," Starswirl said, humbled. Twilight nodded, taking off towards home. On the flight back, she kept thinking of ways around this. She didn't have a lot to go off of, but she knew that it was a storm of some sort. A storm with clouds. Pegasi control clouds. Maybe they could do something about it? But if lightning is it's biggest weapon, maybe it's best that they keep their distance. They didn't have very many options, but they had to do something and soon. There had to be a way to stop this. There always was. She just had to figure out what.