"How 'bout this one, Twiligh?" Apple Bloom stepped down from the ladder with a dark blue, somewhat thick book clamped in her jaws.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders have picked Golden Oaks Library as the location of their next sleepover. The three rambunctious spirits had already begun to irritate Twilight by snooping through her neatly organized bookshelves, throwing undesired books here and there searching for the perfect one. They wanted to hear some stories of ponies that tossed the meanings of their lives aside, whether it be to change history, to hear how they got their cutie marks, or to just hear an awesome story.
Scootaloo snatched it away and looked at the cover. " 'Eclipse: The Story of Destiny.' Ooh! That DOES sound fun! could you read it to us, Twilight? Please?" The filly stretched out her front hooves to place the book face-first on the violet pony's chest.
Twilight returned a frown as she picked up the story with her magic. "But girls, this is a graphic ponytale. It's got all kinds of wicked fights, blood and gore, murder, and other sinister things that you little fillies don't need at your young ages. You're bound to have nightmares."
But as oblivious as they were, both to long explanations and their minds, the adorable trio just stared up with the biggest pupils Twilight had ever seen. She eventually succumbed to the adorableness of six bulbish eyes fixed on her face. The mare groaned as she flipped through the some 10 title pages, along with an author's note and a prologue which only briefed you on what had occurred up to that point in the war.
While over 30 pages were being flung aside, Sweetie Belle found it necessary to read the description on the back...
" 'Lunar rebirth phases gave welcome to an angel, and the beginning of the end of the cycle welcomed a demon.' Good gosh, that sounds like a tragedy! 'The war waged on between the rival tribes for generations upon generations. This is the story of the young mare named Destiny, who unknowingly had her body destroyed and her soul split in two; the good reincarnation named Mortal Heaven, the evil persona given the title Mortal Hell.' Sounds like a load of hooey if you ask me."
In almost immediate response, Scootaloo stood up. "It does NOT. It sounds exciting to me! C'mon, Twilight, READ IT!"
Apple Bloom had become uncomfortable with her companions' constant fighting a long time ago. She threw her hoof in between them. "Now now, there's no need ta fight over a book. Y'all just sit down an' let Twiligh read it."
But they were both persistent. Sweetie Belle followed suit. "I didn't mean to, Apple Bloom. Old Hot-Head here just always refuses to understand me."
"Shut up, Sweetie Belle! I'm not a hot-head!"
"Oh? Prove it."
With the end of the conversation, Scootaloo jumped into the air to confront the white filly. The two then begin to roll on the floor, sending and recieving kicks and... ... ...well, kicks. Apple Bloom yelled, "Girls! Stop that this instant!" and jumped in to settle the quarrel.
Twilight, who was absolved in her book up to this point, focused on the cloud that swiveled around the room, following in its wake indistinct shouting from three fillies. The purple mare instantly dropped both her levitation spell and her jaw, but quickly recollected her mouth and yelled at her lungs' extent, "SETTLE DOWN RIGHT NOW!!!"
The cloud slowly evaporated into nothingness and left three frazzled ponies exposed on the floor. Each had a unique facial expression; the purple eyes contained fear, the yellow held surprise, and the green gave a message of sorrow. But they were quickly replaced with impatient smiles as they regrouped in front of Twilight Sparkle. With the chaos in control, the mare again picked up the book and begun to speak, "Don't say I didn't warn you when you can't sleep tonight..." After the public service announcement, the embodiment of magic begun to read...
Violence was everywhere you looked in this world. You couldn't even look up at the sky without seeing the destroyed atmosphere. The blue that used to exist had been replaced with a crimson red one, full of flames and cracks. It didn't look like a sky; it looked like another Equestria coming down on us all.
There was no building that stood anymore that didn't have broken cinder walls, charred ceilings, burnt roofs, graffiti, blood stains, etc that made a house appear ugly and incomplete. One home on the very end of this settlement still contained living ponies, however scarred by their current predicament. Despite the war, this family still had hope that some hero would come and save them, such as Celestia if she hadn't fell victim yet. But the days went by very slowly, and everypony was not only running low on rations, but also patience, and each day threatened their peaceful lifestyle more and more.
Eventually, the father of this family, Edged Lightning, became too irritated by the hope that he shouted, "Why don't we all just DIE and get this horrible nightmare OVER WITH!?"
Silver Chime, the mother, retaliated, "Please don't talk like that, dear. Something will help us! We just need to be patient!"
"We are practically out of food, water, firewood, and you want me to be PATIENT!? Our only daughter is risking her life out there getting what little resources she can scavenge every day! Ponies could come here and kill us or Destiny any day, the Royal Guard aren't doing but fighting not gathering refugees like us, and YOU WANT ME TO BE PATIENT!?"
No sooner had he said that when there was Destiny's coded knock on the door. Silver Chime rose and opened the door to their daughter, who contained a small basket of random consumables and other objects that looked to be useful. Mother took the basket from Destiny with her magic, and when her mouth was clear, the mare began to talk...
"I came in contact with another refugee on my travels today. He said that he heard that some Guards are supposed to be scouting this area by this time tomorrow."
"FINALLY, SOME GOOD NEWS!!" the frustrated stallion threw his forelegs in the air.
"I know! The roads are only getting uglier with more aeroheads and bloodshed. Before long, this street will cease to hold life. Not to mention sustain! Everypony that already passed through here practically took everything for themselves from the stores, houses, and dead carcasses that were consumables or items that had substantial value."
"By the name of Celestia..." Edged Lighning's thunderous voice had now dropped to a loud whisper. "...Help us all."
The rest of the night was spent rationing what little supplies Destiny came home with for dinner. As usual, their stomachs still rumbled, anxious for more, but survival requires tactical decisions: Eat good one day, starve the next; or half and half it. If the word is true, however, and the Royal Guards do come to save this family, then there would be no point in conserving. But a word is a rumor, not a certainty. The three went to bed that night, still hungry under a blood-red moon.