“Where’s Wave Rider?”
“Which way?”
“Okay. Watch out for the gray mare. She’s definitely hostile.”
“Soarin’, how’s your leg?”
“Okay. It’ll have to hold until we can get back.”
“I don’t know, Fleety. She just… touched him. No, that’s not right. Her hoof just… went through it.”
“He’s saying he can’t feel it anymore.”
“No, you stay with him. I’ll go find Windy and Wave.”
“Yeah, you too.”
Five minutes of silence.
“Oh fuck.”
“Windy! What happened?”
“Who? Wave?”
“W-why?”
“Shit. Hey, hey! Stay with me! Stay-- Windy! WINDY! SHIT!”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten... Windy! Windy, stay with me!”
“...”
“... FUCK!”
Captain Maverick’s transmitter ceases functioning. Technicians determine that Captain Maverick switched off her device for unknown reasons.
Approximately five minutes later, the device was reactivated.
“Hey, Command. We, uh, we’re in the Canterlot Royal Armory right now. I used my access codes to get in. Don’t have much time to talk, but I’ll try to sum everything up. We, uh… we can’t go back. Through the portal, I mean. If we do, we bring her with us. The note said-- actually, let me read it real quick.
“It says, ‘To whom it may concern: my name is Twilight Sparkle, student of Celestia and Princess of Friendship. Not that it matters anymore. Because I killed my world.
Today a portal opened up in the Everfree Forest. I went through by myself to investigate. I found a dead world. Everything, from the ponies to the animals and plants to the very bacteria in the earth was dead. So was Celestia, Luna, and myself. Everything. Dead.
Then I crossed back over to my world. My home. My Equestria. And everything there died too. Because she followed me through that portal. The Gray Mare.
You’ve probably seen her. Out of the corner of your eye, maybe. Or you hear her music playing in the streets, or see the words ‘Phantoms Forever’ painted on the walls. I don’t know why she’s doing this. But if you go through the portal you bring her with you.
And when she goes with you, she takes everything. Her magic is far beyond anything I could ever conjure. I checked the Royal Archives but can’t find anything on her. The best guess I can give is that the Gray Mare is death herself.
It… it reminds me of a story I once read. Discord was attempting to appease Princess Celestia. Then he showed his true form and said ‘now I am become Death, destroyer of worlds.’
I guess what I said earlier is wrong. When you cross through that portal, you don’t bring death. You become death.
I’m going to try and close the portal. If you’re reading this, then I’ve probably failed. The Gray Mare hasn’t been actively hostile towards me, but I fear that she will. So I’m leaving you my notes and hope that you, whoever you are, will succeed where I’ve failed. Celestia be with you.”
“... yeah. So we’re arming up right now with Guard equipment. Two objectives: first, we need to try and close that portal. Twilight left us some stuff to work with, don’t know how well it’ll go since we’re not unicorns.”
“Second objective… Second objective is Wave Chill. He lost it. Couldn’t take it anymore. He’s going to try and cross through the portal. We’re going to try and stop him. Whatever the cost. He… he killed High Winds trying to escape.”
“If you see him, kill him. You can’t let him through. Just… just kill him. If we don’t make it.”
“So, yeah. That’s that then. We can’t go home, ever. It’s… I… can you tell my mom I love her? And… and that I’m sorry? And tell Rapid and Blaze that I miss them. And that… and that I love them.”
“Tell everypony. Tell their families that we love them. Tell them we’re sorry. Tell them… just… just tell them.”
“I… this will be my last transmission. I can’t fit this gear over my armor, so I’m leaving it here. We’re ready to go now, so… goodbye, I guess. It’s… it’s been an honor serving Equestria. Celestia be with us all. Spitfire out.”
Approximately half an hour after the last transmission, Site Command reported movement on the other side of the portal. Captain Maverick was seen wearing battle armor and carrying an unidentified weapon. Traces of blood were seen on her hooves and in her mane. An unknown noise described by site personnel as ‘muffled singing’ was heard, prompting Captain Maverick to turn around. She tossed a bag through the portal and reportedly said ‘I’m sorry.’
Captain Maverick then detonated an unknown device, resulting in a massive discharge of energy and closing the portal.
The bag was recovered by site members and contained the polaroid camera issued to Captain Maverick with a hoof written note. The note read: “Keter’s team is dead. Soarin’ died on the way here. The Gray Mare and Wave Chill are still out there. Don’t let them through.”
Several photographs were also recovered, although their images were heavily distorted and damaged.
Royal Mages reported no trace of the energy signature from the portal. Royal Guard teams remained on site for four more hours before the situation was deemed over. The Wonderbolts and the Wasteland Explorers were deemed lost.
On March 5th, all Wonderbolt and Wasteland Explorers team members were posthumously issued the Star of Equestria for their service.