"Hey, guys, I think you better take a look at this," said Derpy in an unusually serious tone.
Rarity, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie walk over to where Derpy was standing. The four were currently at a party hosted in Canterlot, while Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy had stayed behind. Twilight had to study more than usual (if that's even possible), Rainbow Dash figured out that the Wonderbolts had gone to perform in Manehattan and lost interest, and Fluttershy had to go to a big talent show that starred some of her pets on the same day.
"We are flying just outside of what used to be a town called Ponyville, which was just recently attacked by a suspected nuclear ICBM," the news reporters were hovering outside of the blast area in a helicopter fitted for all kinds of high-tech recording equipment. "The footage you are seeing is real. Thousands of ponies were killed in the explosion, and we've only heard of three survivors. Nopony has heard from Celestia on this--" the TV screen went black as Applejack smashes the on/off button on the remote. Tears streamed down her face. Derpy walked over and hugged her, whispering comforting things in her ear. Pinkie Pie's hair had straightened out, and she began to mutter hateful things under her breath. Rarity was even whiter than usual, and sat down on the sofa, trying to catch her breath.
Derpy seemed to be the only stable pony in the room, and called attention to herself.
"Guys, I know you're scared for your friends, but we need to keep it together and try to figure out what's going on; crying won't help them," Derpy said in a voice nopony had ever heard from her before.
"She's right," Applejack replied, "We should find out some more information on what's happenin' down there." She winced as she decided to turn the TV back on, which sparks to life, continuing the report.
"This mysterious attack threat has had nopony to blame, leaving even Celestia herself baffled," the breaking news report had interrupted every channel, forcing people to see the disturbing video captured in Ponyville. "People of Equestria, please do not panic! We are working on finding out who did this, and we will fight back with all of our strength," Princess Celestia's serious face appeared on every Television screen in Equestria. "Safe havens have been set up in every city, and soon you will see military officers in the streets. Please follow their orders, it will only aid in your safety.
The ponies were simply flabbergasted by the reality of what was going on. Nopony paid any attention to the knocking on the door. It quickly turned into banging, and soon the door was kicked in. Rarity screamed, and was dragged out along with Pinkie Pie, who shouted obscenities at the officers. Applejack and Derpy were lucky to remain sane, and followed the armed stallions in urban camo out the door.
~~~~~
Twilight was in heaven, gaping at all the gadgets inside the vehicle, giddy with excitement. The pilot was the complete opposite. Twilight was asking questions here and there, driving him insane.
"Alright, that's enough for now," said the agitated pilot, hoping it would be for the rest of the trip. He was wearing a tight-fitting urban camouflage suit, with a high-tech headset on.
She clearly has no respect for what happened this morning...
It was already dusk, and the glow of the multicolored lights outside the helicopter appeared very sleep-inducing for the two mares, while Spike had already dozed off.
Twilight finally decided to get some rest, and leaned on Rainbow Dash while she started to fall asleep. This made Rainbow Dash forget her irritation with her. She then smiled and cuddled up to her, wrapping her wing around Twilight's warm, fuzzy, body, and quickly falling asleep.
The passengers were awakened abruptly when the helicopter made a sudden lurch.
"Sorry guys, looks like we're going to have some minor turbulence," the pilot said, unfazed by the rocking and shaking while the inexperienced passengers gripped the sides of the seats nervously.
Dark storm clouds swooped in around the chopper, quickly enveloping the machine in a caliginous mist.
"What the heck?" said Rainbow Dash and the pilot at the same time.
"Hawkeye, this is black bear actual," the pilot began, speaking into his headset.
"Black bear actual this is hawkeye, we read ya loud and clear," the radio sputtered out.
"We're about fifteen clicks outside target destination and we've run into some unexpected weather out here. You got any updates on suspicious activity in the area?" the pilot asked.
"That's a negative, sir," the operator replied. "Our radar's not picking anything up."
There was a violent shudder throughout the vehicle, eliciting surprised yelps from the passengers.
"Well there's definitely something going on here!" said the pilot, raising his voice.
"I'm so—" the radio began to cut out. "—We can't s—" static had taken over as the dark clouds swirled faster around them.
"No, no, NO!" The pilot was furious at the chaos beginning to unveil.
Just then, a pegasus hit the side of the chopper with a loud THUD. Twilight screamed, and blood streaked down the window from the center of impact.
"What the hell is going on?!" Rainbow Dash yelled over the ruckus.
Another pegasus flashed by outside, and disappeared back into the fog.
"I've lost my bearings!" the pilot was panicking, and had a good reason to, for every one of his monitors had gone haywire.
A terrible THWACK was heard from outside, and blood splattered all over the windshield, along with a few bloody body parts ricocheting off the sides of the helicopter. If they weren't before, everypony was screaming now. The blades collapsed from the impact, and every siren in the vehicle went off. They was falling out of the sky, and fast. The pilot was trying to control the descent of the aircraft, but his efforts were futile, as the chopper fell faster. The rest of the blades flew off, some ripping burning holes in the sides of the helicopter.
Why isn't my magic working?!
A patch of trees were barely visible outside as the chopper descended even faster. Everypony onboard said their prayers as the last few feet between them and the ground depleted. Branches hit the front of the helicopter, and the front of the fuselage caved in, while they continued to fall diagonally through the thick forest canopy.
The helicopter lurched forward with incredible force, making Twilight faint, and sending Spike flying through the windshield.
The hunk of metal finally came to a halt, hanging in a tree about twenty feet off the ground, and leaking fuel.
Rainbow Dash released her grip on the seat as she realized she was still alive. She took her seatbelt off and carefully climbed over to Twilight, since the fuselage was turned almost completely perpendicular to the ground.
"Twilight?" she nudged her purple friend while she felt a drop of blood drip out of her nose.
This again…
She shook her awake, and helped her with her seatbelt. Twilight fell forward, into the back of the pilot's seat. She stood on it, regaining her balance, before she peeked over the edge to find the pilot's body. He had been crushed between the seat and the front of the helicopter when it caved in on impact. He was laying on the control panel while blood seeped out of his mouth, dripping into a growing pool beneath him. Bones were also visible, penetrating the flesh, and protruding out of his legs.
"Come on Twilight, we have to go find Spike," Rainbow Dash said, putting a hoof on her shoulder.
"Alright," Twilight said, following Rainbow Dash to the exit.
Rainbow Dash gave the door a tug, and when it didn't budge, she took the fire extinguisher and broke the glass in the door. She climbs through first, flapping her wings to steady herself when she gets through. She then hovers outside the window while helping Twilight through.
What's that...?
She notices the leaking fuel, and panics.
"Come on Twilight," she said as she quickly pulled the rest of her body through the window. She then flew down and left Twilight on the ground, while heading back up to find Spike.
"Spike? Where are you?!" Rainbow Dash called out around the wreckage. She saw a dragon tail on the ground behind some bushes. She bolted over to him, finding him on the laying down with a steel bar sticking out of his abdomen. He had been impaled when he fell onto it, puncturing his kidney, and the pool of blood suggested he was not long from bleeding out. He moved his head in her direction, and she began to feel sick as she knew what was to happen to him.
"You'll have to go on without me," he said in an overly dramatic tone.
"Don't make me laugh now," Rainbow Dash said, feeling bad for the poor dragon.
"No, but really, I'm dying, and you need t—" his voice was cut off by a terrible cough, and blood trickled out of his mouth. "Just go, you know what happens when jet fuel spontaneously combusts."
Rainbow Dash looked back at the wrecked helicopter, still dripping fuel.
"I just..." Rainbow started when the helicopter suddenly shifted.
Shit...
"I'm so sorry," she said as she started to fly back towards Twilight, and Spike's head rolled to the side. The fuselage shifted again and branches snapped under its weight, beginning to fall to the ground.
"Let's get out of here!" Twilight yelled at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow Dash flew at top speed and picked up Twilight. Just then, the helicopter had met the ground with a loud crash of breaking glass and crumpled steel. A huge explosion followed, separating the two mares, and sending them flying into the bushes. The ball of flame shot up about thirty feet in the air, setting the trees ablaze, and turning into a small mushroom cloud.