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The sun hadn't risen yet. The moon occupied its place in the sky, usurping the celestial body's role as the star of the day. Most inhabitants of Ponyville would attribute this to Princess Luna or Celestia forgetting to lower the moon or raise the sun, respectively.
Twilight wasn't like most ponyvillians. She knew that Celestia hadn't fallen asleep, however ironic that would have been. The reason for the never-ending night was much more complex than that. It haunted her still, chasing her to the safety of her home and into the pillow her head was buried in.
Above all, it made her angry. Angry that her mother figure had been slain in such a ridiculous manner by an extraterrestrial being. Angry that a creature had simply appeared out of nowhere to claim rulership of Equestria, submitting the kingdom to utter chaos.
It made her want to cry out of desperation. Desperation that there was just about nothing she could do about it now. She had no more leads. Nopony else to help her.
Those she thought were heroes... They had all failed her, one after the other. And now, cornered in her home, she had nobody to turn to.
"Twilight?"
I stand corrected. The unicorn drowsily groaned, her words incomprehensible sounds as they went through the pillow. "Go away, Spike. I'm not in the mood to talk."
"It's Olivia."
Figures, she thought. The door's locked.
"I don't care. I don't want to talk."
The quiet chime of the fairy as she fluttered over was heard even through the cushion. Twilight could feel the fairy floating right next to her forelegs. "This is important!"
"I. Don't. Care," Twilight hissed, pressing the pillow against her ears. "Unless somepony's dying, I'm not-"
She never got to finish that sentence. The room’s only window was completely smashed, allowing the unusually cold breeze to blow into the house. The cause flew directly against Twilight’s flank, effectively startling the unicorn out of her wits. The magic-encased pillow flew straight at it, leaving both objects at the bed’s feet.
Just as she was about to talk again, the cushion lit up in a bluish flame, revealing a dilapidated skull behind it. A swirling orb of red smoke occupied its eye sockets, and two bat-like wings sprouted from its sides while the entirety of the skull was enveloped by a deep cerulean flame.
Twilight wasn’t about to give it any chances, no matter if her action were fueled by fear or by rational thought. She picked up the pair of horseshoes just over the head of her bed with telekinesis as the winged skull floated into the air with its wings, and quickly flung the metallic objects directly at the top of the monster.
Much to her dismay (and, apparently, the monster’s surprise), the horseshoes didn't even strike bone: they just bounced harmlessly off the flame.
“It’s a Bubble! Just lobbing stuff at it isn’t enough!” Olivia immediately cried out from behind her ear, earning herself a glare from Twilight.
“You don’t say?!”
The Bubble let out a high-pitched roar and lunged towards Twilight, barely giving the unicorn enough time to crouch. She managed to do so though, and the foe crashed directly against the wall.
But this didn’t dissuade it from its goal - if anything, it heightened it's resolve, as the skull somehow began to snarl before turning sharply.
Twilight was faster this time: her horn acquired an intense purple aura, and a beam flew straight at her enemy, knocking the bone monster out of its flaming shield.
Without a moment to waste, Twilight planted her forelegs on the ground and kicked the Bubble as hard as she could. The sickening sound of bone cracking echoed across the room, and the monster exploded into pieces.
"Y-You... How did you..."
"Oh, huh, well, you know." Olivia didn't reply, so Twilight let out a long sigh and continued in a matter-of-factly tone, "If something deflects physical offense, then use magic. It was in an issue of Unicorn Power."
"Oh," Olivia deadpanned, shaking herself shortly after. “But that doesn't matter right now! Twilight, the Stalponies are here!"
As if to confirm her statement, the unison roar of countless monsters, their cries carried by the winds, pierced the nightly silence of Ponyville. A cold shiver ran through the unicorn's body - the sound itself was petrifying for her, and the creature that had howled it even more so.
"But... Princess Luna promised..." she found herself mumbling, facing her room's floor. "She promised we would be safe..."
"Forget what that pony said!" the fairy retorted, brusquely bumping against Twilight's snout. "She's worth as much as any of us right now!"
"That's not true! She said she'd protect-"
"Well she's not doing a very good job, is she?!" Her comeback had turned out a little louder than she'd initially wanted, but it seemed to have the desired effect. Twilight's ears flattened against her head as reality finally struck the unicorn. Olivia knew she was on a roll - she couldn't miss the chance. "You dealt with a Bubble all by yourself! I bet Link was clueless the first time he found one of these!" Somewhat overtaken by excitement, Olivia flew up to the side of Twilight's head. "If you did that... Imagine if you could save the whole town! Like you did before!"
"That... That was different... I had the Elements of Harmony..."
"But above all, you had your brain!"
Twilight was about to object, but found no arguments. She knew she had to concede that one to the fairy. In either case when Equestria - and, by extension, Ponyville - was in trouble, she'd solved the problem with her wits. Perhaps with some help along the way, but at the end of the day, she owed it to her genius.
In the back of her mind, a familiar spark came to life.
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To say that Link was lost was to claim that the Shadow Temple of Hyrule was just a grave: a massive understatement.
He gripped his new bow tighter, his mind running at a hundred miles per hour to make heads or tails out of his situation. Left and right, shadows moved, monsters that threatened to ambush him in his moment of weakness. The thick curtain of smoke that cloaked the skies above was of no help either, but about that, he couldn't do anything.
As if to mock him, the shadows literally laughed in a maniacal way, sometimes taking the chance of approaching the boy before quickly retreating to safety. His head ached, his arms were killing him - his entire body was begging for a rest that had been denied earlier. A particular itch in his legs bothered him, but once more, he couldn't be bothered to do anything about it. His mind was too focused on the events that unfolded all around.
Then, in the middle of the cacophony of devilish giggles, he heard something he never thought he'd be hearing soon.
A language he could understand.
Bow ready to use whatever was at hand, he set off into the brush. As he ran, he hesitated in pulling out the wooden sword on his back. The efficiency of either weapon in that situation was dubious. While just about any stick long enough to be thrown was a makeshift arrow, his sword would likely not handle a potential enemy. Deku Sticks also had that problem. He cursed the day he chose to challenge a Deku Baba with one.
The air was becoming unbreathable, and he was beginning to struggle to move as a result. Cough after cough, he pressed forward.
After trekking through a corridor of burning trees and bushes, what was possibly the source of the fire came into sight.
"H-Help! *cough* Please, s-somepony, help me!" The entity begged from the heart of the furnace. Amidst a flaming grove, a singular tree burned brighter than others. On its top rested the burning remains of a wooden house, flames billowing viciously from its ruined windows.
At the tree's base, a unicorn, its coat bleached by ashes and its mane charred on the edges, lay against the trunk. A saddlebag was tightly strapped to its body, adorned with a lock shaped like a lyre. He froze in confusion for a split second, but disregarded the reason why he understood the call; there were much more pressing matters at hand.
He rushed to its side. To his relief, the pony still breathed. "Hey, wake up! Don't fall asleep!"
"I-I... *cough* can't breathe..."
"Just stay with me!" He didn't know why he was talking, since odds were that the pony wasn't understanding any of it.
It was an issue for another time as well. He grabbed the unicorn by the legs and pulled it onto his back. The load was unexpectedly heavy for his frame, but extended use of a gift from the Goron, the friendly rock-eating creatures of Hyrule, had conceded him a share of extra strength.
By the time he reached the boundaries of the grove, Link could barely stand on his feet. The pony slumped off his shoulders, and the boy fell to the ground on his knees, wheezing violently.
The unicorn seemed no better for the wear. He hazarded a look at it (it was a mare, he noted), and despite the more glaring burn injuries, she appeared to be otherwise safe. He allowed himself a long, well-deserved sigh.
"What the- Link!"
As if the call of his name had cured his exhaustion, Link immediately perked up. The voice sounded far too familiar. "Applejack?"
He only needed to raise his head to find the orange earth pony running towards him with Rarity in tow. The end of a rope dangled from the farmer’s mouth, tied in a lasso knot, and the remainder of the long object was wrapped around the end of her tail. The boy appeared to be her first concern, while the fashionista chose to tend to the mare beside him. “T’hay did ya get yerself into?!”
Link tried to answer, but a cough was all that came out of his throat. Applejack groaned and helped him up before facing Rarity. “How’s Lyra?”
“Unconscious,” she answered while clearing the ashes off the fallen mare’s coat. Applejack stomped the ground in frustration, very narrowly missing Link’s foot in the process. “It would be for the best if Nurse Redheart could see her.”
“Dam’it!” she complained with another stomp. “Applebloom’s somewhere out there in the Everfree Forest! Ah can’t just leave her because of-”
“Applejack, darling, I’m just as worried as you.” Rarity flashed a sympathetic grin before resuming a gloomier expression. “But if what Bon-Bon said is true, then Lyra might be the best way to know where they are.”
"We can't waste time, Rares! If there's somethin' out there, then Ah don't want mah lil' sis wandering around!"
"I don't think - *cough* - that's a good idea..." Applejack nearly jumped out of fright when she heard Link's voice. It took her a moment to realize that it had indeed been the boy who had talked, but she wasn't about to argue that.
She had her opinion to defend, after all. "Why the hay not?!"
"Just look around you! You won't stand a chance out there on your own!"
Applejack's fuming snout was almost against his nose."This is MAH sister - OUR sisters - we're talkin' 'bout'ere, boy! Ah'm a grown mare, Ah can take care a'myself!"
She suddenly stopped. The traces of anger that had scarred her features began to fade away; those words were not strange to her. She had heard them before, perhaps worded differently.
'Ah AM a big pony!' the voice of a young filly cried from the back of her mind. She shook her head; Applebloom was just a filly. She couldn't get it, not yet. Just like Link. He couldn't know what she meant, what it meant to have somepony you need to protect at all costs.
"Ah'm goin' out lookin' for'er," she announced in a hushed tone, trotting in the fire's direction. Rarity and Link watched on as the mare disappeared from sight behind a bush.
"Is she - cough - always this stubborn?" the boy asked.
Rarity gave a faint nod, then sighed, "Applejack gets riled up rather easily, I'm afraid. Persuading her is no simple matter."
The high-pitched scream of a monster resonated throughout the forest, and neither one moved for a moment. It was a sound that brought too many bad memories of a certain zombie-infested Hylian well for the young swordsman. It reminded him of just how dangerous the skeletal fiends were.
The purpose of the forest fire eluded him. Stalfos embraced the darkness, to the point where Stalchildren only rose from the earth of Hyrule's fields under the moonlight. In fact, he had never seen a Stalfos in broad daylight.
Come to think of it... That didn't even sound like a Stalpony. Link narrowed his eyes in contemplation. Unless the screech had been caused by a native Equestrian creature, then there was only one other monster that could cry like that.
"HEEEEEEEEELP!!"
"ReDeads!" the boy shouted as he tossed the bow away and instinctively unsheathed his sword. He dashed head first into the bush with his teeth locked together, swinging the weapon at the first thing that stood in his way.
When it turned out to be another bush, he spun in place several times, hoping to track down the source of the zombie's characteristic moan. "Applejack!!"
A futile call, he realized. He prayed to Hylia that he was wrong and that the monsters was anything but a ReDead. With no reply to guide him, the faded orange corona in the sky became his goal.
Just hang in there, Applejack! he screamed in his mind, slashing through the Everfree shrubbery. He felt the creature's wails grow louder, and his resolve strengthened. He held his breath; the air was becoming intolerably filled with smoke.
One last bush was reduced to a branches and leaves. Link jumped forward with his sword raised, unleashed a war cry and completely shattered the wooden sword on the thick hide of an undead beast, effectively cracking its head. The ReDead craned its head up at him and moaned once, mouth wide open to flash all of its sharp, yellowed teeth, the hollow holes of its wooden, mask-like face appearing to stare into the boy's soul. The cracks widened, and the ReDead wobbled in place for a moment, then crumpled to the ground in a messy pile of bone and flesh. As it fell, it exhaled one last, echoing moan.
With his foe immobilized, Link discarded the sword and kneeled to tend to the mare at the monster's feet. There were no injuries he could see, save for the bruises around her barrel, where the ReDead had applied its vice-like grip. She was awake, he noted with relief. The boy took the back of her head with a hand, lightly hitting the side of her snout with the other. "Applejack? - Cough - Applejack!"
"Ah-Ah'm..." the mare only stuttered. Her entire body trembled violently as she struggled to stand. She cast a hesitant look at the downed beast, as though it would suddenly rise again to sink its teeth in her skin. "I-It jus' grabbed me a-and..."
"ReDeads are - cough - never alone! Where there's one, there are more close by! We need to go before they...oh no." The boy’s fears were confirmed as he looked onward. Several silhouettes, human in shape, plodded under the veil of smoke, lit from behind by the flames that continued to consume the woods. “Come on, let’s go.”
“T-They’re…”
“Come on!” With one strong push, Applejack finally budged.
Even so, she only took a few steps forward. She was still engrossed in the advancing zombies and the way they were clearly not targeting her or Link.
They stopped their march at the deceased ReDead’s side, and bent down, drawing their wooden heads closer to the unmoving corpse.
“Applejack!” She quickly turned her head away from whatever gruesome ritual was about to unfold, galloping away. The mourning whimpers of the undead beings she left behind would remain in her mind for a long, long time.
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"Engines?"
"All up and ready."
"Cars?"
"Mounted."
"How many, where to?"
"Two, one to Appleloosa and one to Los Pegasus, as per your request, miss Sparkle."
With a satisfied grin, Twilight magically willed the pencil to tick another item on the list. "That would be all then. Spike, get Mayor Mare to order the evacuation."
The young dragon gave a clumsy salute and ran off. Olivia took the chance and flew down to the unicorn's side. "You're evacuating everyone on trains?"
"It's our best shot," she simply replied, depositing the checklist in her saddlebags. She walked past the Ponyville train depot and stared off to the hills around the town.
There was no denying that there was a sense of foreboding over their heads. She sighed, "If the Stalponies are out to get Ponyville, then we had better be ready for them."
"If you say so..." the fairy's voice evidenced her absentmindedness. "I wonder where Link is..."
"A whole bottle of Sweet Apple Acres cider? That's gonna bite in the morning." She was about to say something more, but a strange vibration beneath her hooves kept the words in her throat. This wasn't right.
Soon after, the same clamor that had shaken the little settlement in its sleep resonated once more, effectively stirring up a considerably greater deal of panic among its inhabitants. Throughout the town, the cries of rudely awakened foals began to fill the air. Instantly, doors and windows flew open. Before long, all of Ponyville was in the streets.
"No... No no no no nooooo! This is too soon!" Another clipboard flew out the unicorn's bags, stopping before her eyes. Olivia only caught a glimpse of its contents, and she understood nothing of it. All over the page were scribbled graphic charts and equations that were simply too long to be solved by the common mathematician. "I-I calculated it! Based on the estimated intensity of the sound plus the intervals minus the overall distance of Ponyville to the Everfree Forest, they weren't supposed to-"
The fact that the pony's mane was somehow getting frizzled on its own was starting to scare the fairy.
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"Just run west as fast as you can, okay?" The pair of squirrels nodded in agreement, and Fluttershy grinned. "Good, now tell your friends and go!"
After another quick nod, the little animals dashed back into the brush. The pegasus sighed. That was the last of her animals.
West... They'd be safe there, she was certain. The Whitetail Woods and the grasslands beyond were sure to provide them the shelter they needed.
She grinned at the thought of how well her mission had gone. Even though leaving her 'pets' to the mercy of the elements left her mind in a wreck, Twilight had made it extremely clear that staying in Ponyville wasn't an option.
Those monsters... The sheer remembrance of the beasts sent a shiver coursing through her body, reflectively snapping her wings for the briefest moment. What kind of creature was so vile that it couldn't be reasoned with?
The bushes shuddered, derailing her train of thought. She faced them expectantly, lowering her head to the ground so as to receive the carriers of the mission's report.
At first, the mare thought she was still suffering a little from the unfortunate recalling of her experience with the Stalponies.
"Jump through?! Are you positively insane?!" Fluttershy's ears perked up, but she dismissed the voice as a product of her imagination. She inwardly promised herself to not think of the Stalponies again.
"Oh!" she exclaimed once the two squirrels she'd sent off appeared from within the shrubbery - and dashed right past her without a word more. "W-Where are you-"
"Ah said-" A muffled complaint was heard, and it was as if time had momentarily slowed down to an infinitesimal rate when two large bodies leaped right out of the bush and over the already frightened pegasus in a flurry of leaves and twigs, landing directly behind her with a loud thud. "JUMP!"
"A-Applejack?!" Fluttershy stuttered, slowly turning to face both the earth pony and Rarity, the latter carrying on her back the 'Hylian' boy. Beside her floated a bundle of sticks, all of which coupled with a rather sharp stone at the tip. Strings of grass held the head and the shaft together, creating what Fluttershy assumed to be arrows for the bow that Link carried in his hand. "W-What are those f-for?"
"It's them Stalponies, Fluttershy!" Applejack answered before the boy could, stepping forward. "And we need to get the hay outta here t-"
The pegasus gasped the moment she approached her. "O-Oh my!" Fluttershy rushed to Applejack's side, obviously to analyze the mare strapped to her back with a rope in a rather uncomfortable way. "S-She's barely breathing! Was she in the fire?!"
"Yup, Link over're saved'er, but never mind that! We gotta haul flank before-" An arrow zoomed right past the side of her head and into the darkness of the forest. A crunch echoed, and a head with that same arrow piercing its top rolled from under the bushes.
Rarity rolled her eyes and retrieved the projectile. "Honestly, why do you insist on gathering these back?"
As soon as the arrow was removed, the head jumped back to life. Applejack didn’t hesitate in leaping forward and cracking the monster in half with a kick, flinging it back to the forest. From the corner of her eye, she found another pair of eyes facing her in the darkness. Then another one. Then dozens of them at the same time. "C'mon!"
Fluttershy felt her body being propelled forward by a mighty headbutt against her back, and before she knew it, she found herself alongside Applejack and Rarity in a mad run in just about any direction but the forest behind her.
The screeching of Link’s bow had snagged her back to reality, and a look to the hill behind her was all the incentive she needed to keep running. She gulped hard, and focused on the path ahead, trying to rid her mind of the image.
Across the fields around her house and before the forest treaded a pack of hundreds upon hundreds of vicious skeletal monsters. From the distance, it was as if the green pastures were now blemished all over by a broad mantle of living white and black dots. No matter how many arrows crossed the air or how many were simply trampled by their own kind, more would always come to make up for the loss, often replacing a single monster with an extra four.
The Ponyville windmill rose from behind a hill, granting them a fleeting moment of relief – they were closing in at a much faster rate than they thought they would.
The village didn’t take much longer to appear, just down a path of beaten earth. It was alive with lights flickering in the streets and the houses, lighting the way for the ponies that frantically ran from one house to the other.
“What… the hay is… goin’ on… Flutters?” Applejack managed to ask between gasps for air.
“O-Oh, huh, Twilight is-”
“Louder, Flutters!”
“TWILIGHT IS EVACUATING EVERYPONY IN A TRAIN!”
Applejack’s expression contorted like the pegasus had never seen before, but whatever infuriated reply the mare wanted to give was denied by several trees fallen rather inconveniently over the trail. It was an obstacle that Applejack still overcame more easily than their unicorn despite the difference in weight. But it was also one the earth pony regretted once she landed from the last leap over the trunks, for her legs complained for the first time in their escape, threatening to collapse under her body.
“Whadda’ya mean, evacuate?! What about Applebloom?!” she finally yelled once they were on their way again. This minor hindrance had constituted an opportunity for the Stalponies to move in – one had managed to make it too close to them, forcing Link to expend one of the very few arrows left before it could touch a tread of his steed’s tail. The projectile hit the monster square between the eye sockets, and sensing that they wouldn’t be reusing that arrow, Rarity promptly crafted another one.
Fluttershy’s head retreated to the safety of her mane as though it was the shell of a turtle. “I-I don’t know, i-i-it’s Twilight’s p-plan…”
Applejack was glad that the pegasus decide to stay airborne after flying over the trees; she feared what could have happened otherwise. The farm pony sharply turned her head forward, galloping with renewed resoluteness. “Ah’m gonna find that mare and give’r a piece o’mah mind! We ain’t leavin’ ‘till Ah I find Applebloom!”
“Applejack! Wait!” Rarity still called, to no avail: the other mare was already far ahead of them, practically entering the town. She decided to solve another problem instead. “Would you please stop doing that with your feet?!”
Link shrugged her off and fired another arrow. He didn’t even get the chance to see if it hit the desired target, as the arrow was literally swallowed by the masses of Stalponies. He realized that fighting back was becoming useless – killing one off would just open way for a new one. Attaching the bow to the belt on his back, he bent closer to Rarity’s mane and held it with both hands – however hard that was, given the way her mane was styled.
“We need to pull back, they're too many-AARGH!!" Rarity very nearly tripped on her own hooves at the sound of the boy's sudden scream. She felt him shifting on her back, one hand tugging particularly hard at her mane, and tried to turn her head around. The Stalponies were relatively far away - they couldn't possibly have struck him.
That didn't stop the boy from unleashing another fearsome cry of pain. "Link! What is happening?!"
"My head... It hurts so bad..." he managed to grunt between clenched teeth. "Damn cider..."
Much to the unicorn's relief, her hooves now clacked on paved terrain. She was now faced with the unusually bustling crowds that occupied Ponyville this night. The cavernous roar of a train horn was occasionally heard over the almost deafening cries of the villagers, a firm reminder to Rarity of her goal as she trekked through the mass of ponies.
“Just… just hold on for a little longer, dear! Fluttershy, please!”
Link replied only with a wounded grunt. The pegasus flew down to his side, but did little more than offer a pat on his back. “He needs medical attention, Rarity!”
The fashionista was used to stressful situations, what with the business she ran. But never had she been confronted with something this grave – especially not with ponies run all around and pressuring her. The worst that had happened to Sweetie Belle had been a stomach ache from too many cupcakes, and even that hadn’t been worth that much concern.
Now, she felt like the boy on her back could topple to the ground at any second.
“R-Rarity… W-We…”
“Hush now, we must get to Miss Redheart, your condition does not please me at all!” Then, under her breath, “Oh dear, oh dear…”
She yelped when Link pulled her mane so he could sit mostly upright. “T-Twilight… It’s important…”
“What matters now is your health, darling! So please let me focus on the road!”
“Twilight’s… brother…” the boy groaned again. “He’s in trouble...”
Rarity shook her head disapprovingly. “Poor colt, what has cider done to you?”
“It’s not… cider!” Link wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled himself closer to her ear. “V-Van Hoover… Shining Armor is in Van Hoover!”
Rarity’s gallop slowed down to a trot. She looked up at Fluttershy to confirm that she had heard it right, only to find the same flabbergasted expression on her face. “What… how do you…”
“The Stalponies… are headed there next! We need to warn… Twilight!” Before he could say anything else, his head collapsed against the back of her neck, and his body went limp. Rarity’s heart raced.
“Fluttershy!” she yelled as she resumed her pacing, now with more urgency than ever. “Get Miss Redheart and meet me at the train station!”
The winged mare gave a quick nod, and Rarity hastened her pace.
Finding Twilight was the priority.
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And find her she would, at a platform not much farther ahead. Applejack seemed to have stayed true to her word – the two mares were engaged in conversation, albeit one too heated for Rarity’s liking. Making her way through the frenzied crowds that populated the station area, she arrived in time to hear a fragment of something Twilight was yelling, “…what’s important!”
She called their names, but apparently neither mare paid her mind. Applejack stomped a hoof on the ground hard enough to pull out one of tiles before shouting, “What in th’hay do ya mean, Twilight?! Ain’t mah sister important too?!”
Celestia help me, or I’ll do something I’ll regret, Twilight thought, grinding her teeth in an attempt to hold back her actions. “Applejack, look around you!” The cowpony didn’t move. “All these ponies are trying to get away from those things! We can’t wait much longer!”
“Ah don’t CARE! It’s Applebloom we’re talkin’ ‘bout’ere, Twi! ‘N she’s out there, alone, in that there forest filled with’em buckin’ monsters!” She lowered the brim of her hat; an action that Twilight was sure to be just a measure to hide the tears that formed in the corner of her eyes. “’N Ah ain’t leavin’ her fer nothin’!”
“We can’t risk Ponyville because one pony is lost!”
Applejack’s head twitched back. “ONE PONY?!”
“Applejack! Twilight!” Any reply the unicorn was about to offer was cut off by Rarity’s call from the other end of the platform. The latter nearly ran off when she became the receiving end of Applejack’s ferocious glare; one hefty gulp later, though, she trotted forth.
“Rarity? What’s that on your- LINK!” Twilight circled the mare in the blink of an eye to prod at Link’s side with a hoof. “W-What happened?!”
“I-I… he just passed out! He was fine, then he just… oh dear, oh dear…” Rarity’s gaze drifted away for the faintest moment before the mare suddenly raised her head and ‘grabbed’ Twilight by the shoulders. “Twilight! There’s something he told me! Something very important!”
Twilight shook her head slightly, taken aback by the other unicorn’s mood shifts. Surprise was slowly replaced by great apprehension when Rarity’s epiphanic appearance ebbed with sadness. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“It’s your brother, Twilight,” Rarity began, shaking her head in dejection. “The Stalponies are headed to Van Hoover right now.”
Twilight’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. She looked past Rarity to find Applejack who, despite her frown, had the evident glimmer of victorious revenge in her eyes. She knew what the earth pony was thinking – she didn’t like it one bit.
“T-That… how do you know? How can he know?!”
“I have no idea, darling, but… he already knew more than he was supposed to.” She turned her head towards the town, watching as the populace moved increasingly closer to the station.
Left and right, long, messy rows of ponies occupied the platform. Where the queues met the trains, other ponies struggled to keep the evacuation as orderly as they could – a feat that was evidently well beyond their skills, given the amount of angered hollers all over the place.
Lifting her gaze just slightly upwards, the hills beyond Ponyville came into sight…
And with it the impending army of monsters.
And… a really fast orb of light?
“Twilight!” The white unicorn wasn’t entirely familiarized with the voice, but it almost became painfully clear who it belonged to when a green fairy nearly crashed against her. She stopped just inches away from Rarity’s face to abruptly turn towards Twilight. “Get the shield up! They’re coming!”
The librarian immediately brushed Rarity’s hooves aside, taking cautious steps towards the end of the platform while Olivia kept the other unicorn busy with questions about Link. She relegated all of that to the importance of a background buzz.
Twilight was at loss for words. It was as if the Stalponies were approaching Ponyville from all possible directions. Wherever she looked, the hilltops seemed alive with movement. The skeletal monsters had occupied the entirety of the horizon, and were just now starting to take over the fields. Upon spotting the unusual movement in the terrains outside the town, any and all tranquility was removed from the hearts of the ponies. In just a fraction of a second, chaos reigned in Ponyville, now with greater power than ever.
They were many more than she’d ever imagined. Far, far too many.
She lowered her head and focused. Her horn erupted with a faint lavender aura, and so it remained for a moment. She gathered her thoughts – the spell had taken a lot out of her brother during the Canterlot invasion – and the luminescence grew more intense.
Then, with a confident thrust of her head, a magnificent purple flare burst from her horn towards the skies, leaving behind a sparkling trail. The villagers held their breath, their mouths agape as they watched the beacon rocket upward. Once it reached its highest point, it exploded in a blinding display of lights before spreading outwards, leaving sparks to rain down upon the settlement.
In that dark night, Ponyville stopped to watch as it was completely contained within a translucent purple dome. The Stalponies rushed towards the magical barrier with the hope of still trespassing it, only to find their efforts quashed by the energy field.
Contented with the results of her spell, Twilight stabilized the enchantment with a grunt and yelled out to the petrified crowds, "Everypony into the trains, NOW!!"
The call was all the crowd needed to jump-start into an uproar. Saddlebags and pouches were dropped to the ground in the ponies' haste, their primary instinct for survival kicking in to distinguish the fundamental luggage from the trivial.
She made out a particular shape in the crowd; Fluttershy, followed closely by Redheart, struggled to make her way through. There was a large, mush green bag on her back. A bright red cross adorned its front, granting it the distinct status of a medicinal utensil.
At least he'll be okay. I hope, she thought, watching the usually meek pegasus assume the role of the guide. Shining... If what he said is true...
The unicorn quickly devised a plan. If there was, in fact, an army on its way to Van Hoover, then experience told her that there was no time to lose. Looking back at the railroads for a moment, she spotted several unused locomotives. Worn down, rusty small ones but locomotives nonetheless.
One detail she was not too keen on, however, was the route that the train would necessarily take. They'd have to backtrack towards Canterlot Castle, and Luna had already proven that the area was off-limits. Going there was, without a doubt, risking one's life.
My brother’s life is also on the line. Her brow furrowed. She’d read enough about the steam powered contraptions to know how to drive one. I’ll do what Applejack couldn’t do. I’ll save you.
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“You’re telling me he just collapsed?! Just like that?!”
Olivia’s high-pitched shrieks weren’t helping Applejack’s already boiling mind, even if they weren’t directed at her. The nurse’s movements grew nervous with every moment that Link spent unconscious. Scattered around the floor were several white sack, some of them evidently ripped open.
Next to her was Lyra, who had yet to awaken from her sleep. Redheart had established that she was out of danger, and that there was little else she could do for the unicorn without the proper equipment. There was a strong, nauseating scent of alcohol in the air, further intensified by its mixture with sweat and the vestiges of charcoal. The farm pony felt like she could just run away, right there, right then. Like Fluttershy had. Celestia knew where that pegasus was by now.
I shouldn’t even be here. Darn you, Twilight, she cursed in her thoughts, stomping a hoof again. She’d done that too many times that night. To make matters worse, she couldn’t find Twilight in the depot anymore, as though the mare had decided to just give up and abandon the whole town.
At last, Redheart stood back on all fours. Everyone surrounding her fell silent, expecting the verdict. Her forlorn expression told them what they needed to know: she didn’t bring good news. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” she spoke, her voice dripping with exhaustion. “I’ve never even so much as treated a creature like him, so I don’t know.”
Olivia let out a frustrated groan. “Well, we already know it’s not lupus then, don’t we?”
“It could have been something he ate, o-or it could have been the smoke from the fire! He’s breathing normally, so that rules out the smoke theory! I don’t know! Why don’t you heal him if you’re so smart?!”
“Do I look like a Fairy Sprite to you?!”
“WILL YA BOTH STOP YER YAPPIN’?!” Both the fairy and the nurse settled down at Applejack’s sudden outburst. The farmer looked ready to beat the life out of someone.
Rarity raised an eyebrow at her friend, raising a hoof to touch her shoulder. “Applejack, please, calm d-”
“Like hay Ah’m calmin’ down!” the mare seethed back, swatting the unicorn’s hoof away. “’N why aren’t ya even the least bit concerned?! Yer lil’ sister is in that cursed Everfree Forest ‘n ye’re here helpin’ out somepony ya don’t even know!”
Rarity gasped – an honest gasp, as far as any of the present could tell. “Applejack! Are you implying-”
“Ya know darn well what Ah’m implyin’ here, Rarity!”
Even the ponies in the queues froze in their spot when Rarity’s hoof flew against Applejack’s face in the loudest slap they’d ever heard. The cowpony’s face twisted to the side upon impact, and she very nearly tripped on her own hooves.
“You,” the fashionista began, threateningly approaching Applejack with the same cold, poisonous gaze the earth pony previously possessed. “You don’t know the smallest, most insignificant thing about me and Sweetie Belle.” The tip of Rarity’s muzzle suddenly met Applejack’s. The latter could almost feel the fire that burned within the unicorn at that moment. “So don’t you dare claim such things! Never. Again.”
Rarity moved her head away, her eyes still fixated on the other, speechless mare. Then, just when the unicorn seemed ready to strike again, Applejack closed her eyes and braced for impact. She could have reacted; she could have easily thrown Rarity aside like a ragdoll and then claimed her revenge.
She could have done all that, but she wasn’t thrown to the ground.
Just embraced. Given a share of a warmth she had longed for more than she had realized.
“I know you’re worried,” Rarity’s voice whispered with unexpected calmness. Applejack’s eyes slowly opened when she felt a hoof running through her mane. “But it’s important that we don’t let ourselves get carried away. Besides…” Rarity allowed herself a short, genuine giggle. “Those three are such a strong group… they never give up!”
Applejack smiled too. She had to admit it; those fillies never did know the meaning of giving up.
“Ahem… excuse me?” a third version spoke from behind them. Olivia groaned in annoyance while Rarity softly undid the hug. She turned to find a fatigued Mayor Mare, her spectacles sitting at the very tip of her snout with scratches marking its lens. Rarity had to fight the urge to correct the disaster that was the mare’s unkempt mane. Tilting her head slightly, she could see a young, purple dragon resting on her back, and she felt a little smile tug at her lips. “Does anypony happen to know where Miss Twilight is?”
“I’m afraid not, Mayor. Though I do believe she was here just a moment ago.”
The mare only seemed to get more troubled by that answer, shifting her head left and right while clopping her hooves in quick succession. "This will not do, this will not do... The first train is full, and the second train is nearly... Nearly..." the chieftain acquired a dumbfounded look as she trailed off. "Is that... Miss Twilight?"
Weirded out by her reaction, Rarity turned around again. The whistling of a train brought her attention to a previously unoccupied track.
Head poking out the side of the cab, Twilight approached them inside an old-looking locomotive. Its wheels screeched loudly against the rails as they slid to a halt, sending sparks flying in all directions. After the tram exhaled a dense cloud of vapor, the unicorn emerged.
"Twilight, what is..." Rarity began as soon as her friend reached the platform. She paused a moment later to connect the dots. "Oh. Do not tell me you're planning on doing what I think you're planning."
"Shining is in danger," the other unicorn's voice bled with determination. She briefly glanced at Link. "and he doesn't even know it. I need to get to him."
"But... Whatever will you do?! Twilight, you'll be going against an army! Of monsters, no less!"
"I want to protect him!" she blurted out in a type of anger Rarity had yet to see from her. "If anything happens, I want to be there, by his side!"
"...Ya want t'save yer brother, huh?" Those words, croaked in such a frail, hurt manner, wrung her heart. In trying her best to hide their impact, Twilight gulped and faced Applejack directly. She could swear that the sadness in the cowpony's eyes could kill somepony by staring. "Guess he's somepony important, now."
"Applejack..." Please, don't do this to me...
"Ah get it, though. Guess we all gotta watch for our own, huh?"
"This isn't just about Shining Armor, Applejack... It's about saving the people in VanHoover..." It was a lie, and both of them knew it.
But Applejack, that pony had always had that way of seeing through a pony's words. "Yes it is, Twi." Something about the employment of her nickname was uplifting for the unicorn, though. Twilight hung her head, attempting to divert her gaze from the earth pony.
The sound of hoofsteps on wood proved that Applejack wasn't finished. She could feel that the mare was standing right in front of her. "So ya'll'll get if Ah don't join ya too, right?"
"W-What?!" Twilight immediately remarked, raising her head. Applejack didn't even bear a stern face - she sported a small, sincere smile. "N-No! Applejack, you can't stay!"
"But this ain't about Applebloom." Applejack briefly turned her to the side, seeking Rarity's attention. "It's 'bout savin' three lil' fillies lost in the woods."
“What ‘bout Applebloom?”
The sight of the immense red stallion stepping out of a nearby train car seemed to be all the mare needed for her confidence to be shattered to pieces. Her hat nearly flew off her head when she pounced at him, wrapping her forelegs around his neck before breaking into tears. His usually passive expression immediately turned sour. “She ain’t back yet, Big Mac! Sh-She’s still in the Everfree Forest!”
“Ye mean… ye mean ye didn’t f-find’er?!” The crack of his voice at the last word had probably been the highest pitched tone any of the present had ever heard from him. He carefully pushed Applejack back with a single foreleg to look at her in the eyes. She shook her head sadly. The mere sight of her tear-stained muzzle broke his normally strong heart.
“A-Ah tried, Ah really did…” She huddled in the fur of his chest, resting her head against the underside of his chin. “Ah couldn’t find’er…”
Big Macintosh raised a hoof and distractedly ran it through her back. His mind was obviously elsewhere, as his gaze was fixated on the floor tiles of the train station. The other two mares could only watch from the sidelines, each with a regret of their own filling their mind.
Ponies rushed right past them into the cars that remained available, completely ignorant of what was ensuing in the platform. With a column of thick, black smoke from the train’s chimney came the vehicles boisterous call for its passengers. Looking past the row of evacuees, they could see Pinkie and Fluttershy draw closer in a brisk gallop. They slowed to a halt once the two siblings came into sight. Both newcomers watched them in silence, occasionally searching for answers in the eyes of Twilight and Rarity.
They say that one of the founding mares of Equestria wore a hat made of Deku Nut butter.
The librarian's jaw nearly hit the ground when a sudden headache robbed her of all the strength on her legs. She held her head in her hooves. Her mind took no longer than a second to realize what the cause was: "The barrier spell is weakening! We need to go, NOW!"
“Ah’ll do it,” the red stallion finally spoke.
Applejack swiftly pulled her head back to look up with disbelief. “What in the hay is that s’pposed to mean?!”
The stallion simply smiled. “Don’t ya worry none, lil’ sis.”
Just as he took his first step forward, he felt Applejack tugging at his foreleg. “Big Macintosh, what do ya think yer doin’?!” His grin widened – she really was as stubborn as they come.
“Miss Twilight,” he spoke, his eyes still locked on Applejack’s own. The latter’s expression suddenly grew surprised as he continued, “do make sure ya keep mah sister safe.”
They say that truth is not synonymous with honesty.
“Don’t ya dare doin’ that, Big Macin-UFF!” No sooner was the warning hadn’t uttered than Big Macintosh locked his head against Applejack’s side. A quick flicker of his forelegs and neck later, the mare was tossed aside, and the stallion bolted off the platform in a brisk gallop into the town – and, by extension, the hordes of Stalponies that drew closer with every passing moment.
"BIG MAC! STOP HIM!" The cowpony shouted, scrambling back on her hooves. She was much too late; her brother had already covered much of Ponyville’s terrain, and there was nopony left in its streets to stop his progress. She tried to break into a gallop, but as soon as she raised her forelegs, her hind ones were held in place by her friends. "Let go'a me!! Can't ya see what he's doin'?!"
"Please, Applejack, stop!"
"NO! THAT'S MAH BROTHER!" The humid trails on her muzzle were freshened by new tears, and she struggled as hard as she could to break free, head shifting back and forth between the mares pinning her down and the shrinking red dot in the distance. "BIG MACINTOSH! DON'T DO THIS! DON'T DO THIS T'ME! Ple-e-ease... Stop..."
"Miss Twilight, the train to Appleloosa is full and about to leave!" Mayor Mare's voiced called from behind them.
"Good! Get out of here as soon as you can!" The chieftain nodded and leaped into the train carriage, slamming the door shut behind her. One whistle of its horn later, the train left the station, quickly picking up speed. It safely crossed the barrier, the Stalponies outside now posing no threat to the machine. Good luck...
She had more immediate problems to consider, however. "Fluttershy! Where's Rainbow Dash?"
"I-I couldn't find her! S-She wasn't home!"
Things just can’t go my way today, can they? Twilight thought, grinding her teeth. She approached the restless mare and hollered to the others, "Forget about Rainbow then! Everypony into the train! GO!"
"N-NO!” Applejack suddenly lunged forward, surprising the ponies who held her. It wasn’t enough to release herself from their bind, and the cowpony simply limped to the floor, desperately dragging her hooves on the tiles. “Big Mac! Applebloom! Ah-Ah'm not leavin' them! Can’t ya see what yer doin’ ’ere?!"
The sound of hooves tapping on wood brought her attention to her side. There, with her horn aglow, stood Twilight, bearing a merciful expression as she leaned down and spoke, “I’m sorry for this.”
Before Applejack could even protest, the tip of the horn touched her forehead. The resulting dizziness of the spell caused the mare’s head to bob for a moment. Ultimately, she fell to the ground with her eyes closed, allowing Twilight to take a calming breath. “I’m so sorry.”
She motioned towards the locomotive with her head, and Rarity and Fluttershy complied, picking their friend up on their backs. A quick glance around the depot revealed that Pinkie and Redheart had likely taken care of Lyra and Link, given their absence.
My plan worked, Twilight kept repeating in her mind as she walked into the train. I saved everypony I could. I saved everypony I could.
The distinctive chime Olivia produced in her flight broke the endless string of reassurances. She took one last tentative look at Ponyville. She wished she had discovered the town sooner. That she had discovered her friends sooner.
I’m sorry, everypony.
The train’s horn roared once again, and the wheels began their rhythmical sounds as they moved over the greasy rails. The lavender cupola overhead began to fade to nothingness, and the Stalponies roared in response.
They had already picked up speed when Twilight decided to stare through one of the machine’s windows. Having been granted permission to enter the town, the Stalponies hadn’t hesitated in spreading destruction like wildfire. While Ponyville disappeared behind the hills, light gray threads of smoke were born from an unseen blaze.
When their colors became darker, a flash filled the night skies and a single, massive column of smoke took their place. Twilight felt a lump in her throat as she beheld the burning end of Ponyville.
“You did all you could.” Fluttershy’s voice had never sounded so soft for the unicorn. She felt the pegasus caress her back with a hoof, which Twilight turned into a hug she readily accepted. “I-It’s alright… everything’s gonna turn out alright…”
Rarity flashed a bittersweet smile at the affectionate gesture. In another other occasion, she would have even joined the embrace, perhaps.
Now, as her gaze drifted away from the two mares and down towards the dirt amidst the patterns of the train’s floor panels, she couldn’t bring herself to such actions. Despite her words and deeds, she knew that she couldn’t hold the possible loss of her sister back forever.
Redheart yawned loudly and rested her head on her forelegs. Lyra and Pinkie were right next to her, with the earth pony lending her back for the unicorn to use as a pillow. A hefty bag of medical supplies rested against the wall, along with an extra pile of coal. The fashionista wasn’t about to question the nurse’s decisions in regards to hygiene.
Instead, Rarity found a distraction in Link. She had chosen to leave Applejack close to the boy, and by extension close to her. Olivia had long since perched herself on top of his pointy hat, while his head was carefully placed against Applejack’s mane. She didn’t know much about a Hylian’s body, but Fluttershy had assured it was a comfortable position for him. Once more, she wasn’t about to argue that.
"Poor dear... Look at you..." Almost inadvertently, Rarity began to pick at the boy's clothes with her magic. Their trek had been as kind to him as it had been to Lyra. Here and there, the green was marred by ugly, brown patches of dirt. Leaves and twigs stuck out of the tunic, which Rarity promptly removed.
They say that the gods will hear the cry of a phoenix.
That is, until she picked a particular type of stem that she hadn't noticed before, due to the way its branch shyly stuck out of his boot, even though it was one she dreaded with all her being: a gleaming, blue flower, with dark streaks running down its petals.
A stem of Poison Joke.
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Rainbow groaned mentally. They couldn't have chosen a better time or direction to fly off, could they? It HAD to have been in the exact same night when the sun would never rise, when a crazy powerful storm would torment Equestria, and towards the Frozen North. Droplets of the fierce rain coursed through her body. Her wings felt numb from the increasingly cold weather, but she pressed forward. "Derpy, you sure they went this way?"
She turned to face the grey pegasus mare flying right behind her. Derpy had hung on rather well thus far, at least in comparison to the tales that her weather reports told. She nodded at Rainbow, whipping the rain off her face with a hoof.
Rainbow wasn't too satisfied with the answer; she'd almost wished that Derpy would admit she'd gotten it wrong.
Alas, she hadn't. Rainbow shook her head and steeled herself for what was to come.
Admittedly, Rainbow wasn't the most cultured pony ever. She hadn't been tutored in the ways of physics or geology or any of the sorts like more dedicated ponies like Twilight had been.
But she had something she could brag about, and that was her sense of direction. She knew Equestria's geography like the underside of her hoof, and anypony could ask her the location of just about any Equestrian city or location; she'd know it. When you have a tendency to get carried by the erratic wind currents, you need to know your way back.
It was therefore with great displeasure that she realized that there weren't that many places in this section of the north for anypony with a grain of good sense to hide. In fact, she could only remember one place where any sort of shady business could be conducted.
And that was the massive agglomeration of clouds that was drawing nearer, standing strong against the violent storms of the north. It was a cloud among clouds, a tower of incalculable diameter that pierced the skies above, its top located in heights no sane pegasus dared reach.
Once called the Cloudsdale Temple due to its proximity to said city, the tower had served as a fortress in the days when Commander Hurricane still led the pegasi faction of the Equestrian armies. Rainbow remembered visiting it during her stay at Flight Camp, in a time when the temple was still considered a museum. Having since been closed, the temple was moved away from the city.
She vaguely remembered the aspect of its spiraling halls, filled with small windows and all sorts of traps to keep intruders from barging in. If Dinky had, indeed, been taken into it, then Rainbow didn't want to imagine what those pegasi could be up to.
"I hope this is worth it, Derpy," Rainbow commented, more to herself than to her companion. I really, really do...