Tonya stared at the object her life had been ransomed to create, and now was going to take the life from her. Her foolishness, and reckless quest for vengeance years ago, had indirectly led to its creation. She had escaped judgment so it could be made. There was no escaping the consequences of such horrible crimes, and it was time to pay for them. She wondered how God would judge her now that she was about to use this monstrous device. She might never know, a price had been paid to use this, and that price was her immortal soul. Was it worth it? She believed so. She wouldn't be here preparing her own demise if it weren't.
It was no longer floating. Now it was cradled in between her legs as she sat on the floor of the Chorus room. Poly Glot was back to working on getting the door open. She really shouldn't be hesitating to just put the sphere to use. Time was short, and if he got in before she could activate it, then this was all for naught. Killing one's self was not something any sane being willingly did.
She considered trying to make one last call to Sunset, then sadly dismissed the idea. What else was there to say? I'm about to kill myself, hope you have a good life? Sorry, we couldn't have that foal? I hope you can find happiness again? There was nothing that could ease her wife's pain or her own. Death could be a kindness, but all too often, it was cruel, as cruel as its Warden. This time, it felt particularly brutal, even though she knew she was doing the world a mercy.
"The end draws near,
There is no more fear.
Where is hope, I pray?
I give it to others, for me, it tis flown away."
"Any moment now, Ton-ya. I've almost fixed your little keypad," she heard the psychopath call out from the other side of the door. She sighed. That settled that, no more delays. It was now or never.
Placing her usable hand on the surface of the sphere, she traced her fingers along it in a difficult to follow pattern. The smallest deviation and nothing would activate. The instructions had to be put in perfectly. There were no grooves, no markings on the sphere to indicate where to start or begin; all anyone looking at the sphere would see was the smooth roundness of it in an obsidian black. There was more to it, though, hidden from both the naked eye and any tool known to any living race.
This device might be primitive compared to its archetype, but it was still far more advanced than anything produced on Earth or Equestria. More advanced, even, than what ninety-nine percent of all civilizations that had ever been in this universe could create. The people on Earth liked to dream of super-advanced alien species that were out there traveling the stars in science fiction spaceships. The sad fact was that any race that was significantly enough advanced for efficient deep space travel had no doubt reached their magical awakening. As such, they had perished at the unflinching directives of the Devourers. If traveling that deep into the stars without magic was even possible, the Thinkers themselves, as they had called their kind, hadn’t managed that. The Devourers used the magic they destroyed, not as much as they released, but enough. Or at least, the Wardens thought so; they admitted to not understanding all of their memories of how Devourers worked. The Dreamwarden at the time didn't understand it all, so neither did they.
Even the very race that had made the Devourers had found themselves the first victims of their terrible invention. The Thinkers thought they had no magic. They were, of course, tragically mistaken. The irony of ironies, their magical awakening had already begun, much as Earth's had before Sunset Shimmer came. It was weak, but it was enough that a fleet of freshly launched Devourers had devoured them first. Like so many after, they hadn't seen it coming.
She hated that she had to learn that. Hated learning everything the Dreamwardens knew about these abominations. The Devourers indeed were indiscriminate. They would destroy all magic users on a world, then used the discharge from their collection systems to eradicate all remaining life from that world. Conditions had allowed for magic to arise once there, after all, and they were thorough. The Devourers were not just an affront to magical life, but all life. They were the most evil things in existence.
And now one was sitting in her lap; perhaps it would even be the savior of her world. And she was the one with the unenviable task of activating it.
As she finished tracing in the commands, the machine came to life. It didn't light up in any way; it took the light into it. This was the boot-up process; there was no stopping it now. In a few minutes, it would begin doing the wretched thing it was designed to do. Thankfully it had a much more limited range than its cousins out in space. Enough to take out all the magic in the facility, and anyone who ignored the evacuation orders and stayed in the Bastion. Enough that she'd probably die from it absorbing every iota of magic from her long before it exploded in her face.
"Ah! The keypad is fixed, Ton-ya!" Poly Glot called out from the other side of the door. "I'll hack the code and be in there soon to plaaay."
She turned to the door and considered it. Death by whatever Poly Glot did to her or death by this thing, that was an unappealing choice, but it was all the choice she had left. An hour ago, she would have chosen differently, but after seeing what she saw, her decision went a drastically different way.
"I'll save you the effort, you sick freak," she called out. "The passcode is nine-five-four-two-nine-one-one-eight-seven-zero-one. Do you need me to repeat that for you? Hurry up. I don't have a lot of time."
"Ton-ya?" Poly Glot called out bemused. "Are you playing games, Ton-ya? It sounds like you have a surprise waiting for me… how thoughtful, and it isn't even my birthday."
"Oh, I think this one will surprise you," she answered back. "You'll never guess what it is."
"Ooooh, let me try," Poly Glot said excitedly. "Is it a gun? Are you going to try and shoot me? No… maybe a knife to stab me? A pipe to bludgeon me over the head with? If it were then, I would be disappointed in you, Ton-ya. Thinking I would fall victim to such mundane things."
"Not even close," she replied smugly. She hoped she had the opportunity to see his face when this thing finished booting up and sucked every drop of magic from him. She'd likely die before she could see it register, but it would be such a nice thing to see.
"Such a tease. Could it be a syringe full of some chemical or poison? A venomous spider? A rock?" Poly Glot questioned with a burst of cruel giggles.
"Still coming up empty," she shouted back. "What's taking you so long? Surely you aren't afraid of whatever I might have in here, right? I told you that I don't have all day."
"You're putting up such a brave show, Ton-ya. I misjudged you. You're very good at playing pretend," Poly Glot purred.
She hated him. Legitimately hated him. Being hateful wasn't in her nature. She'd only felt this way once before towards another person, and that had been for Swift Strike. He was a monster with no remorse, that hurt people for his own need to feel power and control over others, and he was the reason she was in her current position. It was petty, but she wanted to hurt him before she went out. As payback for all that he had done, not only to her but for each one of his victims. Unfortunately, she had to be satisfied that he simply wouldn't ever be able to hurt anyone ever again.
"You're a sick, perverted, freak," she growled. "Most monsters out there, I can find something to have sympathy for. Something that the world did to them that made them that way. You aren't like that. You were broken from the start."
"You know nothing about me, Ton-ya," Poly Glot laughed.
"I know you haven't come through that door yet, even though I gave you the code," she challenged. "What's wrong? Too afraid of what a human with only one good arm can do to you?"
"You wouldn't have given me that code if you didn't have some sort of plan," Poly Glot could be heard half-laughing and half-sneering through the door, no longer playful at all. "I'm no fool."
She shook her head. "Poly Glot, come through that door or not, you and I are both going to die down here, and nothing can stop that from happening. If you want to come in here and try to feel power over someone one last time, you're out of luck. Game over, Poly Glot, we both lose."
"Some sort of auto-destruct mechanism then," Poly Glot replied in a menacing voice. A fine-fingered hand silently opened the door, and the monster slowly made his way inside, trailing something she hadn’t smelled in years- the scent of raw meat.
She'd been unable to see him clearly on the monitor or in the halls. The angle of the monitor just hadn't presented a good angle. The type of light and density of the mist outside had obscured her vision as well. Now she had a good angle with less of the enshrouding mists. What she saw was a thing of nightmares.
Four thick, muscular arms carried him to the center of the room, thick, calloused hoof-balls- no, fists holding him awkwardly up. Two more arms emerged from his back, the smaller ones used on the door, a fifth scratching his gray beard, a sixth twirling a combat knife. His grin was awkward, not entirely fitting onto an elongated face bereft of fur. The horn, strobing with light, twisted and deformed as he moved, yet never disappeared completely, always pointing towards her. Worse still were the eyes- human and light brown, small and piggish on a pony head surrounded by tan skin, flickering here and there in worry, juxtaposed with that horrific face. The skin continued back, breaking into tawny fur in patches across his body, and ending in a leathery lump underneath his seventh arm and hand, where his tail would have been. That one was raised, and carrying a duffel bag filled with electronic repair tools- presumably, what he’d been using on the door.
She looked at him impassively. "I've got to hand it to you; you remade yourself to be exactly the monster that you are. Now, can you stop wasting time and kill me? I'd rather be cut up and dissected alive than die to this thing."
Poly Glot approached her cautiously but was obviously far more curious. "What is it that you have there, Ton-ya? Your fuck-buddy never had me work on this. It’s fascinating."
She looked down at the sphere. "This? This is what kills you. It kills me too if you don't hurry. This is a Devourer, and in a few seconds, it will eat every last shred of magic in this facility." Not truly a Devourer, but close enough. He didn't need to know that.
Before the monster approaching her could answer, the monster in her lap flared to life. The time had come. All the magic within her violently started leaving her body. In a mere second, she was back in her pony form, and the bullet that had been lodged in her arm hit the floor. The pain was excruciating, and she closed her eyes and tried to be brave through her last moments. She heard the monster who had just come through the door scream in pain and terror but couldn't find any satisfaction in it as everything went out of her.
She struggled to speak her final words before her end came. "I'm s-sorry we cou-couldn't have the life we wanted together, Sunset."
Then there was no more.
Wild struggled to put one hoof in front of the other as she climbed the stairs. She was still not releasing her magic and was even now reaching out and searching for the shapes of ponies nearby her. She had found four below, no one she knew, and all unconscious. She'd tried waking them, but nothing had made them stir. Her magic had given her a false lead a few floors down when she had mistaken several mannequins in a classroom for ponies, and she lamented her wasted time. There were three more pony shapes on the floor she was coming up to.
She was tired, so tired her vision was fading in and out. Her head swam in a way that felt familiarly like she was drunk, though she hadn't had any alcohol in days. She needed to release her magic and rest, but if she released her magic, she might miss her mama, Rosetta, or any of the foals. She was sweating heavily enough that her fur was damp, and possibly more, based on the metallic scent.
The next landing came up, and she stumbled as she came in it. She picked herself back up and made her way through the door to see who these pony shapes were. The hallway was dark, and the red lights didn't do much to help her vision. She saw fallen lockers and three pony shapes. One of them was stirring, and she hurried over to that one. She released her magic for the moment so she could rest a little as she investigated.
It was her sister's bodyguard, Crystal Dreams. The crystal pony looked as bad as Wild felt, and was struggling, and not succeeding, at freeing herself from the fallen lockers. A night pony a few years younger than Wild lay still nearby that she could just barely see was breathing. Despite her weariness, she helped lift and shove the lockers out of the way. Her fatigue was not of her muscles, and she was still the most muscular pony around.
"Thank you," Crystal whispered, then gasped in pain. "I think I broke a leg, and my vision won't focus. Think something else might be broken too."
"What happened?" Wild asked.
Crystal squinted up at her as if trying to make her out. "Wild Growth? Is that you? Why are you all black?" The bodyguard stopped and coughed out some blood before continuing. "Your mother, and Bill; I tried to hold them off. I was doing well, had Bill down and dazed, and was fighting your mother. She's strong, real strong, much stronger than him, or me. She knocked me back, and I collided with the lockers, then the lot of them came down on me. I think I've been out for a little while."
Wild's ears sagged low. Had her mama done this? "Where's my sister, and the foals?"
Crystal craned her neck back. "They...they were behind me."
Wild's stomach knotted as she looked towards the pony on the far end of the hall. A rush of adrenaline gave her the ability to gallop down the hall towards the still form, and she choked as she saw it was Rosetta. Bending down, she pressed her head to her sister's side and was relieved to hear a heartbeat and breathing. She lifted her head back up and looked her sister over. Aside from some light bumps and cuts, she didn't seem to be in that bad of shape. She was out cold and would need to be taken to a hospital.
"Alexa, call emergency services," she ordered quickly. Then she remembered that her phone had been damaged in the riots. She turned to Crystal. "Can you call for medics?"
Crystal groaned and shook her head. "If we could call for medics, we would have called for help when we realized we had rogue ponies chasing us. We were trying to make it upstairs to get to a phone, but couldn't outrun them with the foals."
The foals, where were the foals! She reached her magic out around the floor to search for any foal shapes and came up empty. They weren't on this floor. She pushed a little harder and felt the floors above and found them, or at least most of them. There were six foal shapes on the roof. Her eyes widened when she realized that just a floor below were two other pony shapes, adults. She didn't have to guess who those were.
She turned and galloped towards the staircase, weariness forgotten. Crystal shouted as she went by. "What's wrong?"
"The foals are in danger!" She shouted with no further explanation, as she crashed through the stairwell door, shattering it like it was made of brittle twigs. Everyone on this floor was alive and could be helped later, but her mama could not be allowed to reach the foals. If she did…
She rapidly ascended the stairs at reckless speeds. She kept her magic going, keeping full awareness of where every pony above was. Now she cursed herself for not waiting an extra few seconds earlier to get the full story from Robby. He would have almost certainly told her that she needed to get to the roof. If she had been thinking at all, she might have already figured that out. If he had been trapped in here, that was the place he had to have escaped from.
As she reached the top of the stairwell, she let off a bestial cry as she realized her mama and Bill had moved up to the roof. The foals had scattered, and we're all towards the edges. This stairwell door met the same fate as the one below as she charged straight on through. Without even thinking, she mapped the floor with her magic and knew where the other stairwell leading to the roof was. The hallway blurred by her as she moved at full speed to her destination. She had said no one else was going to die today, and she meant it. She kept repeating that oath to herself as she moved.
No one else was going to die today.
She found the final stairwell and ran up it as fast as she could. The door up here had already been broken down, and she could hear the foals yelling and screaming for their lives just beyond. As she passed through it, the first thing she saw was her mama trying to chase down Alfie. The little colt was doing everything he could to keep out of her reach and was using what obstacles were on the roof to his best advantage. She caught a glimpse of Bill pursuing another foal out of the corner of her eye but was unable to see which one. She did see that he was limping, and her mama had an odd gait to her as well. Those injuries were slowing both down enough that they were no longer able to keep up with the foals.
Their pursuit of the foals came to a sudden halt as they realized she was there, both turning their eyes on her. They were both filthy and had crazed looks in their eyes. She tried to find her mama in the mare that was looking hungrily at her, but looking into those eyes, she saw no sign of love, only animal need.
"Mama?" She called out softly, stretching out a hoof to the blue crystal pony with the knotted pink mane. She only now noticed her hooves were coated in blood. How had they gotten so bloody? "You know me, right? I know you want some magic. Take it from me. You want a big meal, not them. Leave the foals alone."
She turned her head to look at Bill, just to make sure she had his full attention. She shifted her position, so she was facing both. Alfie, Jackie, and Jordan were all in her field of vision as well. A quick check with her magic located the other three foals generally spread out behind her. Jessie was behind her to her left, but she was unsure which of the twins was which without directly looking, and she wasn't taking her eyes off her mama and Bill.
Why hadn't the pair moved on her yet? She was by far the biggest possible meal. Were they still trying to get away from her? "Everyone get behind me," she ordered. "I want my mama and Bill to have no distractions from me."
"Titi...?" Alfie asked in in whimper. "You're-you're hurt."
She turned her eyes partially towards her nephew. "I'm fine; I need you to get to where I can keep you safe." The colt just cowered down.
"You're covered in blood, Titi. It's scary," Tabby called out somewhere to her right. That at least clarified which of the twins was which.
Her vision faded briefly, and everything started going black.
No! Stay awake! You're going to be needed! A voice yelled out to her in her head.
Her eyes popped wide open, and she took some labored breaths, just now noticing how truly tired and in pain she was. She had to release her magic; it was too much effort to keep holding it.
She shook her head to try to clear it. "Jessie…can you tell me how bad it is? Can you see a wound?"
"Y-you're completely coated in blood, it’s everywhere," Jessie whimpered. "If I didn't hear your voice, I wouldn't know it was you. I can't even smell you through all the blood."
She shook her head. How had this happened? Yes, she had taken a few gunshots, but they had been entirely ineffective. Even then, that shouldn't wholly coat her in blood. Every inch of her body ached and burned, and she couldn't understand it. "You didn't answer me, do you see a wound?"
"N-no, the blood is just everywhere," Jessie replied. "What hurt you so bad? Nothing hurts you."
She refocused on the two crystal ponies. "I...I don't know. I'm fine. Just...every foal needs to get behind me."
None of the foals moved, neither did her mama or Bill. All eyes were fixed on her. On the positive side, at least the foals weren't being pursued anymore. She felt a tiny bit better now that she released her magic. Keeping her vision focused and fighting the urge to fall asleep was hard, though.
No one else was going to die today.
"Come on, Mama…don't you want to give me a hug?" She tried again. Was she in bad enough shape that she was even scaring the two adults?
No one else was going to die today.
No one else was moving, so she took a labored breath and stepped forward. That seemed to snap Bill out of it, and he was on her in a second. A moment later, her mama joined her. Both of them gripped onto her tight and seemed to struggle with their grip through her wet fur. Still, they gripped on as best they could. She could just barely hear the foals screaming. She'd never felt this tired at any point in her life. She'd been holding her magic for so many times longer than she ever had before. She felt so stretched thin and tired, but even now, she couldn't feel the draw on her magic from her mama and Bill.
No one else was going to die today.
She was shaken violently, and it took her a second to realize it wasn't just her. There had been an earthquake or something. The foals were still crying and screaming, and the quake hadn't helped that. There had been some sort of emergency alert earlier, and she struggled to remember what it was, something about the Bastion.
She turned her eyes toward where the Bastion was. From this high up, she had an unobstructed view. Instead of seeing the Bastion, she saw a tremendous purple dome of magic and fire within. The Bastion was gone, and the earth shook again, causing her to drop down on her haunches briefly before pushing herself back up. She stared out in the distance, mesmerized by what she was seeing.
Putting one hoof in front of the other, she moved forward towards the edge of the roof, carrying the two crystal ponies along with her. Her eyes stayed fixed on the unbelievable sight before her. She kept walking until she reached the edge of the roof.
It wasn't just the Bastion, much of the central green had been ripped asunder by whatever had happened. The dome of magic encompassed it all, holding the conflagration within. Even from a distance, she could tell that the dome would not hold. Cracks were appearing in it as if it were a solid object instead of a construct of magic. The fires raged against it from within, and when it finally gave, they would spread out who knew how far. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, might get caught in it. Definitely everyone now on this rooftop.
No one else was going to die today.
There was no thinking involved. No thought was given to her weariness and pain. There were only her promise and purpose. No one else was going to die today, and she meant it. Pulling on every scrap of magic she had, she pushed it down through the building, into the ground far below, and out towards where the cataclysm was taking place before her. She found seeds, and she pumped her magic into them with all her might, commanding them to grow. A new force shook the earth as her seedlings burst forth from the ground.
Her seedlings proliferated into mighty trees, each as large as Skytree itself, and she forced them to grow up around the magic barrier as an extra layer of protection against the flames within. She prepared layer on layer of trees, tightly wrapped around the shield. The lack of oxygen would eventually smother the flames. For every tree incinerated, three more would grow in its place. No one else was going to die today.
The earth rumbled now with the rapid growth of a forest, unlike any other. The central green was utterly consumed in a sea of tree trunks, all curving inwards to reinforce the barrier against the blazing inferno within. She stretched her power out further beyond and felt the unstable soil below much of the surrounding area. She forced the roots of the trees deep and wide. The earth shook with her efforts, but whatever damage it might do was nothing compared to what she was preventing. Today the earth would hold, she had enough of death, and it was not going to claim one more victory. Not while she had breath in her body.
The effort was excruciating, and every fiber of her body burned with the strain. Her vision went red as blood dripped into her eyes, but she didn't blink it away. She understood now where the blood was coming from. Her body wasn’t capable of handling the constant strain being put on it by sustained use of her magic, and she had pushed it beyond her limits. Power such as hers was not meant to be in constant use. She didn't need a doctor or mage to explain these things to her; she could feel the impact of it all in her bones. It may destroy her to do it all, but no one else was going to die today. On and on, she repeated that to herself, and that gave her the strength to keep pushing through the pain, causing her to use her magic long after her body had screamed enough is enough.
The roots met the river, and she drew in water, fast enough to drain it. Her wood would be engorged with water, to help prevent some of the burning. Anything so that when the magic shield went, her shield of life would hold. She kept piling on the trees but allowed there to be an opening in the top for the explosion to funnel upwards when the time came. All that power and energy had to go somewhere, and she intended to push it up instead of out. Her trees would be thick enough that up would be the path of least resistance. There may be debris and cinders that would rain down from her impromptu volcano, but it was better than the city taking the blast head-on. Hopefully, the weather team could act fast to help bring rain to help put out any fires that might start afterward, and disperse the cloud of smoke and ash that would come in that eruption. No one would die, not today.
The mass of trees kept growing in circumference, adding strength to each highly packed line of trees inside, like rings in a tree trunk. The diameter grew to such a distance that the outer edge was now coming right up next to the school, and the branches of the trees scraped and broke off in places as they rubbed the cement sides of the building. At this point, both the crystal ponies yelled out in pain as they released her, having far more fill of magic than they could endure. Hopefully, that would keep them from going after anyone else for some time. She was sure that they were effectively overstuffed by now.
Her vision started to fade again, and her head felt light. She didn't know how much longer she could do this.
You need to stop, you heroic fool! You can't save everyone! You'll burn yourself out! A voice, not her own, screamed clearly into her head.
The shock of hearing it, combined with what was said, brought her back to being fully awake. She ground her teeth and shouted a challenge to the invisible speaker. "No one else is going to die today! Just watch me!"
Not even knowing where she was pulling from anymore, she drew even more magic, forcing it through the earth. She cried out in agony, but she did not stop. This wasn't about her. This was about making sure that others were safe. Nothing would make her stop. Not until she was convinced that her vow was fulfilled.
With her magic, she now could feel everyone in the city. The central green, or what had been the central green, was clear of all people. The buildings on the perimeter of the green were another story. There were, of course, those that were at the school with her, but the main hospital was full of ponies and humans. She forced even more growth near both the school and the hospital, hoping to give additional shielding. The pony residential sector was rapidly emptying, as well as the nearest parts of the other districts. She felt cars and trucks carrying people away. The rioters had all abandoned their area, and we're even now falling back into other neighborhoods. She spared a small glance at the sky and saw it was clear of flyers. They were wise to what was coming and had retreated from it so they wouldn't be caught in the coming explosion. Aside from the hospital and the school, it seemed like most were getting well clear of where the danger was.
Everything suddenly lurched, and she cried out again. The magical shield had failed, and the built-up pressure had been devastatingly released. A quake the likes South Carolina had never seen rocked the city, as flames towered thousands upon thousands of feet straight up into the air. The school shook so hard she felt some of the floors below collapse, and chunks of the side of the building break away. Similar damage happened in a wide radius around the city, the worst being the pony district--in one mighty shake, every building in the pony district collapsed as the shockwave radiated outwards.
Burning tree branches, bark, and ash rained down from the skies as smoke filled the air. She pushed harder, still refusing to stop, to regrow trees to hold the still towering inferno. As one tree gave way, two more took its place. She would not allow it to win.
Now she couldn't just feel forms. Now she was one with everything in Riverview. She felt every heartbeat, every breath, every speck of dust upon the ground. She was the earth; she was the people; she was life. As they screamed in terror, she screamed in defiance and pain at the thing that wished to extinguish her. Her vision became a blur and full of shadows.
A new terror rose within her, though. She could not stop, but for the first time she felt it; her magic was reaching the ends of its limits. There was nothing left to give, yet there was more that needed to be done. She looked forward and saw not the trees and the inferno, but an endless sea of lights. The lights of all the ponies and humans, the lights of every tree and blade of grass, the light of every insect that crawled within the soil. She felt the light of life, and the need to protect it, but there was nothing left.
Then she felt something else, something deep within her core. There was more there, waiting to be harnessed. Something that resonated with her oneness with the lights and her need to keep them safe, an offer of power to go beyond these mortal limits that she had broken. Something that would forever bind her as the protector of the light of life, its avatar, and its steward. She had only to accept it and let herself become one with it, now and forever.
She hesitated. If she did this, there was no going back. Everything would change. There was a heavy burden of responsibility in making such a choice. She was the only one who could make it. The fires raged, the people screamed, and she felt herself weakening at a rapid pace--already too weak to stand as she hunched forward under the pain and pressure of her power. Could she carry this extra burden?
In the infinitesimally short time, it took for her to make the realization of what this precipice was, a light went out, a specific and special light, and with it, shock filled her, and she wailed in anguish at it. She felt blood running down her hind legs as her hold on her magic was finally released. The deeper power faded from awareness, as did her ability to carry on. The world went black as gravity took her forward.
Jessie stared in horror at the empty space that Wild Growth had stood before she had collapsed lifelessly over the edge of the building. The greatest earth pony, the one capable of raising mountains and growing forests, the one that was invincible, had fallen. It was impossible, completely unbelievable, but she had just witnessed it. One of her heroes, and friends, was now gone.
Beside her all the other foals were crying. She sat unmoving, with her mouth agape, trying to process what had just happened. Wild Growth’s magic in those final moments had been so intense that she felt like it was burning her. Ms. Jean and the other crystal pony had certainly reacted like they had been burned by it, and had let her go. In the final moment, Jessie had sworn she had seen the faint outlines of a horn and wings along Wild Growth's body. Then the waves of magic had just stopped, and Wild Growth had tumbled forward. Ms. Jean had cried out Wild Growth's human name and tried to grab her back, but had been too slow. The crystal pony still cried her daughter's name in between sobs now.
Burning and broken branches littered the roof as brightly glowing embers drifted down through the air. Overhead, the sky flashed with lightning arcing through the thick clouds of black smoke. The trees that had held back the explosion that had engulfed the Bastion continued to grow, the trunks creaking and groaning as they reached up towards the dark sky, uncaring that their shepherd Wild Growth no longer urged them on. The sounds of crying from the foals and Ms. Jean deafened out the sound of the still growing trees. She wanted to yell out to Phobia Remedy to end this nightmare, because this couldn't be real life. This wasn’t how things should be. It was too surreal, too otherworldly, too wrong.
She tried to figure out the moment when she must have fallen asleep, to put together how everything had reached this point. She had woken up this morning to go to school, like any normal day. Aside from the fact she had been spending a few days at Phobia Remedy's house it wouldn't have been any different than any other Tuesday. Crystal had driven them to school. Was Crystal even still alive? She didn't know. Looking off in the distance, everything was dwarfed by the ever growing trees, but surrounding the trees was fire, ash, and the broken skeletons of once tall buildings. Behind them the crops burned, though the Skytree still stood tall and unharmed, as if it were the only thing big and strong enough to ignore all that had happened.
Was anyone alright right now? It felt so wrong and unfair that she should be standing here alive and after being in so much danger only to find that everyone else wasn't alright. She wanted her mom, her dad, and Robby. She wanted to know they were safe. What about Dusk? She was supposed to be the big sister that protected him. How could she protect him against all this? If it was too much even for Wild Growth what could she hope to do? She'd felt small and helpless many times in the last few hours, but right now she couldn't imagine feeling more helpless and confused. She wanted her parents here to hold her. She wanted someone to make everything be alright again.
"Mama...Titi!" Charlotte wailed, as the other demons echoed her. As she heard that she realized she was wrong, she could feel even smaller. As awful as she felt, the demons had just witnessed one of their mothers being drained into unconsciousness by their own grandmother, before watching their aunt plummet to her death.
Her eyes drifted out towards where the pony district had been. There was nothing but decimation. Ms. Amanda and Mr. Tom had been out there. Had Jackie and Jordan even realized what might have happened to their parents yet? Should she even say anything about it? No, if the worst had happened, it was best to wait to think about it. Her parents had been out in Old Town, hopefully that was far enough away that they were safe. Her aunts worked in the Bastion though...it- it was best not to think about it. Thinking about it would just make her more upset. She was smart, but right now she didn't want to think about anything. She wanted to be numb and empty, because the alternative was too much right now.
Her ears picked up as she heard a groan. The crystal pony stallion was stirring. He shook his head and stood unsteadily to his hooves, and his eyes slowly fell on them. This couldn't be happening. After everything that had happened, they were still somehow in danger. Why couldn't the crystal ponies just leave them alone? Hadn't they just had enough magic to last them a lifetime? The others noticed the stallion, and started crying louder.
She looked around frantically as he began to haltingly approach. Where could they go? There was no one left to help them, any safe path was blocked by burning branches, doom was coming. She looked out towards the trees and an idea formed; a reckless, stupid idea, but the only one she could come up with. When all good options were gone, they needed to go with something crazy and stupid, just like when she raced Jackie.
"Run and jump into the tree branches!" She shouted as loud as her lungs would let her.
The demons needed no more prompting than that. They took off as fast as their legs could carry them and jumped straight off the side of the building into a branch that carried them upward as it grew. Their expert climbing skills allowed them to quickly scuttle along it towards the trunk and safety. Jackie and Jordan didn't move and stared at her dumbfounded.
"Are you crazy!" Jackie shouted, and looked fearfully back at the approaching adult. He seemed dazed and confused, but he definitely had his eyes set on them. He didn't need to be fully functional to remain a deadly threat.
Jessie turned and shoved the pegasus to make her start moving. "We don't have a choice! Move!"
She took off at a full gallop after this and jumped for a branch. The branch was huge, thicker than she was wide. She landed hard and clutched as tightly as she could with her legs. It was big enough she could likely stand up on it, but not until she felt secure. The fact that the tree was still pushing upward didn't make her feel secure at all. It shook slightly as a second later another body collided with it. She turned her head and saw Jackie gripped onto the edge of the branch, in a far more precarious position, but she at least seemed to have a good grip as she latched all four legs and her wings around the branch in a death grip.
Where was Jordan?
She looked down at the roof, as the tree continued to carry her away. Jordan, the youngest of them, the pony that was always in the rear, the first real friend she had ever had, was sitting petrified with fright. The stallion was almost to her. If he touched her that would be it, her friend would be gone forever.
She cried as she shouted as loud as she could down to her friend. "Jordan, you have to jump! Please! I know it's scary, but you can do it! You have to do it!"
Jordan shook in place as the stallion steadily approached her, and Jessie begged silently for the filly to move. The stallion reached out a hoof and the little unicorn let off a loud cry and bolted blindly to the side and then straight off the building, luckily she was caught by a rising branch, wedging herself tightly within a split. Jessie let off a long breath of relief, but gasped as the stallion took off after Jordan. He jumped off as well. If he had been more steady on his hooves he might be on Jordan already, but since he wasn't, he just barely reached the same rising branch.
The branch they were on was not as thick as the one Jessie shared with Jackie. Jordan screamed for her life as she wriggled where she was being held tightly by the tree. The stallion also had a grip on the branch and was slowly pulling himself towards his prey. Jordan was still in mortal peril.
"Stop it! Leave my sister alone!" Jackie screamed down at the stallion. The stallion continued to inch closer to Jordan, who was unable to move, and she might fall if she managed to free herself. Jackie cried helplessly to her sister. "Jordan!"
Then, to Jessie's shock, Jackie loosened her grip on the branch and spread her wings wide. The filly stared down hawkishly at the scene below, and took a few deep breaths before flinging herself off the branch. The pink pegasus filly beat her wings savagely to try to take to flight, and for a moment hung suspended in the air as a reward, but it was short lived. Jessie watched in horror as her friend dropped down, still flapping her wings as hard as she could. The flaps must have made some impact, because the filly's course changed, and she went crashing down on a branch several feet below her sister. Safe from crashing into the ground, but nowhere near destination.
The failed rescue didn't seem to even go noticed by the stallion or Jordan. At least Jackie was safe, but nothing had been done to change the fact that Jordan was moments away from death. The branch was shaking from the stallion's efforts to inch towards her, and if he didn't reach her he would surely shake her loose at this rate. Something had to be done, but Jessie was out of ideas.
What would a grown-up do in her position? She thought about Ms. Rosetta, Crystal, Layla, and Wild Growth, all the ponies that had tried to protect them, and she came to one grim conclusion. When someone you cared about was in danger you had to do whatever it took to save them, even if meant that you might not come out alright yourself. That was the grown-up thing to do. None of those grown-ups wanted to be put in the position of having to do that, but being a grown-up meant doing things that were hard. Right now, she was the oldest. She had to be the grown-up, and do the grown-up thing for those she cared about. Her friend was in danger, Jackie had made a big gamble to try to save her, and come up empty. Now it was only her who could make a difference.
"Stop! Leave her alone!" She shouted down at the stallion. He didn't seem to hear her. She hadn't expected him to listen, but it was worth trying before she tried her other remaining option. Now she knew she only had one. It was logical to explore all her options...at least that was the best excuse she could come up with for her delay from doing what she had to do.
She carefully pulled one hind leg up onto the branch and then one of her forelegs, breathing hard the entire time. If she slipped it was all over, and for nothing. This branch was thick enough for her to stand on, and earth ponies had the sturdiest stance of all the tribes. At least that was something she had heard. She'd never really had to put that to the test before. Carefully, ever so carefully, she brought each leg up on the branch till she was cowered down on all fours. The task completed, she just as carefully stood up.
There was a problem; her back was technically turned to the stallion below. That meant what she needed to do was going to be much harder. She was already terrified of doing this, and she wasn't even a hundred percent sure she could pull it off. If she failed, then Jordan would die. The scary part wasn’t that whether she failed or succeeded; it was how likely her death was. Not a hundred percent chance, but she didn't have enough information to actually run the math on what her chances were. They were low, that was something she was capable of estimating off the top of her head. Knowing her actual chances of survival would probably only make this harder.
She squared up her body as she looked at her target. She didn't know what the wind speed was, she only had a rough estimate of his weight and her weight, an even less rough estimate of the distance, and was utterly clueless about her athletic prowess to even be attempting this. None of the factors she really needed to know were known to her.
This was insane. This was illogical. This was flat out stupid. But it was what she was going to do for her friend. She was going to do this for Jordan. Jordan who liked to read books with her. Jordan who wanted to be a teacher when she grew up like her mom. Jordan who raced her heart out, even though she knew she was slower than everyone else. Jordan who was better at drawing than her. Jordan that had declared it the best Thanksgiving ever when she found out they could be friends.
She was just so scared. She gulped and repeated the things Phobia had told her.
It's okay to be afraid, because there is danger. But I shouldn't be at the mercy of my fear. Being at the mercy of my fear doesn't just hurt me, it hurts everyone around me. Right now it’ll hurt Jordan. Don't be at the mercy of fear.
Looking down, she took a few tentative steps back, trying to line herself up better. Between the stallion's continued advance and her steps backward she was lined up well. He was getting dangerously close to Jordan too. If she waited any longer there wouldn't be any more time.
She wanted to close her eyes, but she couldn't afford to. She took one last deep breath and braced herself to do it. "Don’t worry, Jordan. I’ll save you." That said she leapt off the branch with all the strength she could, aiming straight at the stallion. She shouted the only battlecry she had. "FUDGE!"
Down she hurtled and within a second she hit her target. The stallion yelled out in shock as he was struck, and tumbled off the branch. He flailed his legs trying to catch himself, one of them striking her hard, sending her spinning out of control to follow the stallion down towards the ground.
She fell back first, watching her friends race away from her upwards. Jessie saw that Jordan was still safely on a branch and she let herself smile, happy that her friend would be safe, and that was all that mattered. Even if she couldn’t help but wonder how much this would-
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