Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto


Chapter 119

"I was out on a scouting mission. There was a storm approaching. A big one. I couldn't risk staying outside and getting caught in it. I found a farm, with a large shed nearby. I managed to force the shed's door open and hid inside."
The doctor nodded. "What happened then?"
"I spent the night there. The storm would wake me up on occasion. I could hear the wind howling around the shed and the rain pouring down. It was louder than an army marching." Tempest swallowed. "I was scared. But the walls and roof held, and water didn't get in."
"And then?"
"I walked out the morning after. The Sun was shining. There were a few broken branches around, some pretty large. Lots of leaves." Tempest's jaw clenched. "The farm had chickens. They were outside that morning. The storm had killed a sparrow, and they were eating the corpse."


"I dreamt of her tonight." Lemon Zest sat in her chair with her arms crossed over the table, her head on top of them.
"Her?" Indigo Zap sat down to her right, after setting down her cup of coffee.
"Sugarcoat."
"How was I supposed to know you were talking about her?" Indigo began to drink her coffee.
Lemon Zest answered with an indistinct sound of knowingly unjustified frustration.
Sunny Flare arrived at the small round metal table, carrying her own breakfast on a tray. "What's the matter?" she asked.
"Lemon here was telling me about her dreams of Sugar." Indigo pointed to the girl with her coffee cup.
"She was singing on a stage," Lemon went on, as if she hadn't heard the other two.


Twilight stood on top of the hill. Far in the distance, the purple light of the fissure shone bright over the wreckage and rubble.
The entire second laboratory was gone. Its rests scattered around the contaminated area.
Twilight felt nausea assaulting her, and she wasn't sure if it was the radiation or the sight.
Everyone had made it out in time. Everyone had made it out alive and well. But all the research and equipment was still there, somewhere. Someone would need to look for it. The scans had still been running when they'd lost control of the reaction, and if the shields had held they'd kept running while the fissure opened. They needed that data.
They knew things might have gone wrong. That was the reason they'd built the lab there. But they hadn't been expecting them to.
And Twilight thought back to that night with Starlight. To what could've happened to Ponyville back then.


Non era affatto difficile tenere a bada l'edera che cercava d'arrampicarsi sul muro. Bastava farci attenzione abbastanza spesso e rimuovere quelle sezioni della pianta che s'avviavano alla scalata quando ancora erano piccole. Però era noioso. Terribilmente noioso. E il vecchio unicorno finiva per ignorare il problema per mesi, anni alle volte. Finché l'edera non aveva tronchi più grossi delle sue gambe, ed altra edera più piccola che le cresceva sopra. Al che la cosa diventava non solo noiosa, ma anche difficile. Ci volevano un paio di giorni per sistemare il tutto, di solito.
Ed aveva quasi finito, quella volta. Stava quasi per ripromettersi che ci sarebbe stato attendendo in futuro, sapendo benissimo che non sarebbe stato così. Ma una lettera arrivò proprio poco prima che finisse. Una lettera urgente, pareva. Da un tale Sunburst. Era sicuro d'averlo già sentito da qualche parte quel nome.