“SWEETIE BELLE!!” Rarity screamed in anguish, rushing for the hole as Twilight followed her. As soon as they were back outside, they looked frantically around for where the zompony had gone. A few seconds later (which felt more like minutes), Rarity pointed to the sky. About 10 feet above them was the pegasus zompony, gripping Sweetie Belle, who had passed out from shock. It was flying towards the nearest tree, possibly intending to hide amongst the branches to eat its meal.
While Twilight and Rarity followed it from the ground, Applejack came out from the other side of the barn. Running as fast as she could, the orange earth pony was like a raging bull, huffing and puffing towards the tree. Applejack was much faster than Rarity and Twilight, as she was stronger from working hard on the farm. Suddenly, Twilight had an idea.
“Applejack, get ready to buck the air!” she screamed.
“What?!” Applejack yelled, confused, but refusing to turn around to face Twilight or she would slow down.
“Get ready to buck like you did when fighting and I’ll transport you close enough to hit it!” Twilight explained, already lowering her head to point her horn at Applejack.
“Okay!” Applejack yelled back, slightly confused, but trusting her friend. Twilight concentrated with all her might, knowing that without this magic spell, Sweetie Belle would be lost forever. She had to do this, she couldn’t allow this spell to not work like the forcefield on the barn. It was now or never, kill, or be killed.
ZZZZSSHHPTTPOP!
Light from Twilight’s horn raced with lightning speed towards Applejack, who was already mid-jump and leg outstretched to kick. With a loud pop and a bang, Applejack was transported directly in front of the zompony, who by this time was next to the tree and flying up the trunk towards the branches. Applejack’s hooves landed perfectly against the zompony’s head, slamming it against the trunk of the tree with a loud crack. As the zompony’s grip on Sweetie Belle relaxed and its body started to slowly descend from its airborne state, Applejack smirked in triumph. But the victory was short lived as she stared in horror at what lay before her. The zompony twitched slightly, curled up on the ground in a defeated manner, but that wasn’t what Applejack was looking at. Inside the arms of the zompony was a silent mass of white, purple, and pink.
Sweetie Belle wasn’t moving.
“Sweetie Belle!” screamed Rarity, who had finally caught up behind Applejack. The farm pony did not respond, instead continuing to stare in shock at the lifeless body of her friend’s sister.
“Sweetie Belle?!” Rarity asked in desperation, rushing forward to pull the filly’s body from the wreckage.
“Rarity! Applejack! Is she okay?” Twilight asked, the third to appear on the scene. She glanced from Sweetie Belle’s body to Rarity, and then to Applejack. No one spoke a word. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath as everypony’s mind was catching up to reality. It was a painful silence. Rarity moved a hoof through her sister’s mane, beginning to tear up. Applejack was still stunned even when Twilight finally stepped forward to assess what happened. There, at the front of Sweetie Belle’s left ear was a swelling bruise. From what it looked like, when Applejack bucked the zompony, she also bucked Sweetie Belle on accident. Twilight tried to think back to what she witnessed had happened. The zompony, its grip on the filly, flying up the tree... How was it possible? The only way that would have worked was if the zompony had raised Sweetie Belle up in its arms to protect itself. Did the creatures have enough conscious for that? From what she had learned, they were mindless eating machines, did they have enough understanding to defend themselves?
Twilight shook her head. This was not a time to think of such things. Looking over at Rarity, the purple unicorn walked forward and put a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. Twilight looked down at Sweetie Belle’s resting body. Her hair was matted, there were dark marks on her sides from where the zompony had held her, and then there was the bruise.
“Rarity...” Twilight began, tearing up as she spoke. “Oh...” There were no words to be said. There was nothing she could do but wrap her arms around the white unicorn’s shaking form and cry into her shoulder. Rarity pulled Sweetie Belle to her chest, too caught up in her thoughts to notice that Twilight was even there.
“I..”
Applejack, trying desperately to shake off her frozen reaction, could only manage to say one word before she too was tearing up. Guilt flooded through her body like icy water. It filled her veins like a slow moving drug and soon her legs began to wobble.
“I...”
She couldn’t move. Watching Rarity’s pain was torture, and staring at Sweetie Belle’s body was impossible. Applejack finally was able to lower her head in shame as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“I’m so sorry...” she said shakily, her knees finally giving way and forcing her to sink to the ground in despair.
Twilight looked up at Applejack with sad eyes. She knew the orange mare would never have meant for a thing like this to happen but at this moment she couldn’t comfort her. Her mind wished that she could rush forward and hug Applejack too but Twilight found herself unable to move. Rarity was trembling, sobbing into her sister’s mane. How could Twilight let go?
From around the other side of the barn, Big Mac suddenly appeared. He was followed by the other ponies from the fight including the Apple Family and the pegasus’, who were walking rather than flying. They looked tired, a few limping on sprained hooves, but for the most part unwounded, and while their appearance most likely meant victory in the battle, this was no time for celebration. They walked forward slowly, some unsure of what had happened, others knowing without looking, but all respectfully staying quiet. Upon getting closer, a few ponies gasped, others began to cry.
Zecora stepped forward from the crowd, her eyes full of concern, and put a hoof upon Rarity’s shoulder.
“Oh, my dear, you are in such pain, your agony we can see quite plain. Without her you have anguish, true, but come inside and we’ll help comfort you.”
Big Mac and Braeburn stepped forward as Zecora attempted to gently pull Sweetie Belle away, but Rarity clutched her sister closer, not wanting to let her go. Zecora nodded to Big Mac and Braeburn, and Twilight moved away from Rarity’s side as the two stallions helped steady Rarity onto her feet and walk her towards the barn. As the crowd began to split to let them through, Twilight looked over to Applejack. The earth mare was still looking at the ground, her shoulders bouncing whenever she sniffed.
“Applejack...” Twilight began, stepping towards her friend. Applejack didn’t look up, instead turning her face further away. Twilight frowned, standing next to Applejack. She said nothing, understanding that there was nothing she could say to comfort her poor friend. The guilt was obvious, and Twilight’s words would not be able to heal such a deep and painful wound. So instead of talking, Twilight put an arm around Applejack’s shoulders and forced her friend to stand. Stepping through the crowd, everypony looked at Applejack. They were unaware that it was her fault, and assumed that she was crying over the sadness of Rarity’s loss, not the guilt from killing her sister.
The ponies followed Twilight and Applejack to the front of barn. They were headed back inside but Twilight took a moment during their walk to look over at the field where the battle had taken place. Zompony bodies littered the area. Twisted forms of mutilated ponies so horrible that she couldn’t tear her eyes away. Broken bodies of ponies she knew, and as Twilight’s throat forced her stomach to not become sick, the unicorn gave Applejack a small push to lead her into the barn.
Once everypony was inside, it was an awkward silence. No pony knew what to say to the other as Rarity sobbed in the furthest right corner of the barn next to the body of her sister. Even Rainbow Dash, who was normally an arrogant loud-mouth, remained quiet in the rafters, looking up at the ceiling rather than focusing on her friend’s agony. Applejack refused to let anypony touch her as she buried her head into the opposite corner of the barn. A group of ponies were trying hard to console Rarity, but the white unicorn only seemed to cry harder. Sweetie Belle’s friends Applebloom and Scootaloo were looking at her through the wood of the next door pen. They were but young fillies, hardly old enough to understand what death was, let alone have it forced upon them in such a heart-wrenching way, and seeing their friend’s lifeless form was hard to understand.
Twilight Sparkle stood by the doors of the barn. While everypony else was sharing the same feeling of gloom, Twilight wished to clear her head of what she had just witnessed. It was clear that everypony needed time to mourn and that this was the perfect opportunity to step away for a moment and think.
Walking outside, she stood in the wind, allowing it to caress her mane and tail. This gentle act of nature was relaxing and allowed Twilight to focus rather than letting her mind drag down to melancholy thoughts. Looking up, Twilight noticed the stars slowly disappearing. The darkness of night was still upon them, but dawn would be approaching soon. She could just make out the start of pink and purples hues peeping out from the horizon. The sunrise would be beautiful, no doubt.
Stepping forward, she looked out at the battlefield. So many ponies lost. So many friends gone forever. Twilight wondered for a moment if the zomponies truly were mindless. She tried to imagine being trapped in a killing machine’s body, unable to stop it from happening. A chill ran down her back and she shook off the feeling. That was enough of thinking like that.
Her eyes fell upon the zompony closest to her. It was a pegasus stallion with blue fur and there were so many wounds covering the rest of the body that Twilight couldn’t tell who it was. Even the cutie mark had been mutilated and she couldn’t make it out. As she stared, though, something started to seem amiss. The zompony body bothered her but she wasn’t sure why. Squinting her eyes, Twilight glared at the stallion, allowing her eyes to scan the wounds closely. Something wasn’t right, but she couldn’t put her hoof on what. Nothing appeared to be a problem given the circumstances, but still she was bothered. What was so strange about it? Twilight thought hard, trying to think if she could remember anything. Did it have to do with her lost memory? No, that wasn’t it. Was it her dream? The dream of those strange papers and...
Wait.
Twilight’s eyes widened. Turning around sharply on her hooves, she sprang forward and ran towards the barn. But instead of running inside, she ran around it towards the back. She spotted the tree where the zompony which had caused the death of Sweetie Belle still lay motionless. Running up to it, Twilight stopped in front of it. Just as she thought.
This zompony looked exactly the same.
During the chase for Sweetie Belle, Twilight hadn’t paid any attention to the coloring of the zompony. She didn’t care what it looked like so long as they saved Rarity’s sister. But that body in front of the barn simply had to be the same as this one. And while it was true that twins did exist in Equestria, this zompony even had the same wounds as the other one in the same exact places. The cutie mark was mutilated in exactly the same fashion. What did that mean? And come to think of it, this zompony even flew! All the zomponies outside the barn regardless of type walked, and even the unicorns didn’t use magic. If they could fly or use magic, why didn’t they? Certainly they would take advantage of these skills if they were conscious enough to realize they had them, so long as they weren’t damaged, right? None of the zomponies in front of the barn used these abilities and there were plenty of them that appeared unwounded in those areas. If, as Twilight was now guessing, zomponies were unable to fly and use magic, then how did this one do so?
Twilight stared at the zompony in complete confusion. She was driving herself to a headache trying to come up with an answer but she simply didn’t have one. There was no information to be found on the subject of these creatures that she knew of, so how would she find out the truth? Was this normal for zomponies? Who would know? Who would she ask?
Princess Celestia was the first pony to come to mind. But if the Princess already knew information on them, wouldn’t she help her people? If Equestria was in danger, which it certainly was, then the Princess would surely find a way to defeat these creatures, no matter how odd the circumstances. Why hadn’t she done so yet? Was it possible that even the Princess didn’t know anything about zomponies? And if she didn’t, and Twilight asked her what to do, what would the Princess tell her? Twilight thought hard. What would the Princess have her do?
Elements...
Twilight gasped. Elements of Harmony? The papers from her dream! Was that what the dream was telling her?
Look behind you...
Twilight gasped again. How did it know? Somehow her mind had told her to look behind her, clearly relating to the barn and how they hadn’t set up a defense in the back. Bewildered by her strange dream’s foretelling she fell backwards onto her tail and sat down, staring straight ahead. Regardless of how it happened, her sub-conscious had told her what to do. Would it work? Would the Elements of Harmony help in this situation?
Twilight stood back up. It was certainly worth a try. Any hope in this existence was worth it. She looked to her left where the sky was starting to turn pink and orange from the rising sun. The Elements of Harmony had helped in desperate times before, it only made sense that they try it again. The memories of Nightmare Moon and Discord flooded back to her. In those cases it was only one pony and thing to worry about it. This time it was hundreds, possibly thousands of creatures. What if it failed..? Well. She wouldn’t worry about that right now.
Twilight raced back to the barn. If she was going to try this idea, she would not only have to inform the others, but plan it carefully as well. They would need to find Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, as well as get the Elements from Golden Oak Library. It would take time, but hopefully the idea would prove fruitful.
Back at the barn, the other ponies were still in mourning. Staying respectfully quiet while Rarity released her tears.
“Everypony!” Twilight announced, breaking the silence and bursting through the door. “Listen! We need to find the Elements of Harmony!” She knew very well that it was quite rude of her to interrupt a well needed rest and reflection, but she was desperate to end the tragedy before her. Everypony turned to look at her aside from Rarity, but no pony spoke a word. Most seemed agitated that she would interrupt while others stared in confusion.
“We need to find Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, and then get the Elements of Harmony from my library. It’s our only chance to defeat these zomponies. I’m sure all of us agree that we don’t want any more pain and no more deaths to come from this. The Elements have saved us before, it will save us again!”
There was awkward shuffling. Everypony glanced at each other in an attempt to see what the others were thinking. It was a hard time to try and be hopeful. And it was an especially hard time to find morale after having just lost a filly. Even if the idea seemed like a good idea, the timing was strange and nopony appeared to know how to properly deal with it.
Twilight waited for a response, praying that they would understand. Then an unexpected voice was heard.
“Get the Elements, Twilight.”
Everypony turned their heads with open mouths to see Rarity. Even Applejack, who was still hiding in the corner, turned her head to face her friend with wide eyes. Rarity’s tearstained face and bloodshot eyes were painful to look at. Mrs. Cake looked down at her with concern, but backed up a few steps to allow her more space for her to speak. Rarity still clutched Sweetie Belle in her arms, refusing to let go. As everypony stared at her, the white unicorn seemed to glow brightly with inspiration. “Go. Find Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Sweetie Belle won’t ever come back to me, but there are other fillies out there that need our help. I refuse to have anything like this happen again. Those... those zomponies won’t hurt another filly, if I can help it, and I swear that by Celestia’s name! Get the Elements and destroy those things! I will avenge my sister if it’s the last thing I do!”
Startled, the crowd could do nothing but turn back to look at Twilight, wondering what the unicorn would say.
Twilight was just as shocked as anypony else. She stared in awe at her friend who only stared back with powerful eyes. Twilight nodded.
“You have my word, Rarity. I’ll do my best.” she said. Twilight walked forward to the middle of the barn, looking up and around at everypony surrounding her. They still looked tired from the fight, but in all they were willing to continue their struggle. Rarity’s words had refueled their spirt. They each nodded to her in turn as Twilight circled to face them individually. Their strength meant hope, and Twilight drank it in, feeding off the commitment all of them gave to each other. Knowing that they had each other was the most important part of their survival.
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, her voice filled with the sound of a leader.
“Let’s get the Elements of Harmony.”