“Twilight? What did that mare mean when she said she would see us soon?” Dash was shifting her eyes nervously and cowering. It wasn’t like her to worry.
“Honestly, I have no idea. She didn’t seem to falter or hesitate in her conversation, so that means that we were the intended recipients. What is worrying about all this is I have never seen her before. She knew our names without ever introducing herself before.” Twilight stared out the window of their compartment. Silence reigned in the compartment for some time after that.
Excitement for Daring Do dwindled down harshly after the slight scare Dash had earlier. While normally a tough, hard-to-scare mare by normal means, the way a perfect stranger knew Dash’s name and followed them on the train was cause for concern. She began to pace rapidly back and forth, wondering what to do.
“We should probably focus on something else if we are to retain cheerful attitudes for the others. That mare was somehow invisible to the others. Nopony but us could see her, meaning she is connected to us somehow. We really shouldn’t tell the others, it might cause them to worry,” Twilight analyzed, while Dash joined her on the seat.
“I don’t feel crazy, though. Normally, seeing ponies that don’t exist is a sign of being crazy.”
“Relax, Dash. I saw her too! We may be seeing something that doesn’t exist for whatever reason, but we both saw it. We are in this, whatever it is, together.”
“What are you two talking about?” Both Twilight and Dash jumped at the new voice and turned to the new arrival. They saw Pinkie grinning at them widely.
“I saw you two huddled together talking about something, and I just wanted to know what it was! So, what are you two talking about?” Pinkie’s grin was wide and threatened to break her face apart at a moment’s notice.
For a moment, nopony moved. Pinkie just continued to stare at them innocently. It was Twilight who salvaged the situation. “Pinkie, when we were on the train platform waiting to board, did you see a suspicious mare that you didn’t know?”
Pinkie, perhaps sensing the seriousness of the question, thought for a moment. She appeared to be very deep in thought. Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be going over something in her head. “I see the train station...is there any specific mare that I am supposed to be remembering?”
Twilight shared the “ Pinkie Pie is being Pinkie Pie” look with Dash before choosing to answer the mare. “She had a green mane with red and black streaks. She had two--”
To Twilight’s confusion, Pinkie’s eyes popped open and she stared in horror at Twilight. “Twilight, that mare is extremely dangerous! You need to never come in contact with her.”
“How do y--”
Twilight’s question was interrupted by a very frantic and very scared Pinkie in her personal space. “Oh, this isn’t good! Why would she go after you guys?”
Dash, frustrated with the vague responses, attempted to get some answers. “What the hey are you talking about, Pinkie? Who is that mare?”
Pinkie shook her head, tears leaking down her face. “Oh, of all the times for me to be able to break that wall, why now of all possible times?!”
“Pinkie! What the hell are you talking about?!” Dash lost her composure. She tried to retain a calm, cool, and collected attitude while dealing with the mystery that was Pinkie, but found it impossible now.
“I don’t know! She doesn’t operate on my levels. Nopony knows about her, for she strikes without warning. I am so sorry Twilight, Dashie, but I can’t help you.” Pinkie turned around and left the compartment that they were in, without any of her usual flair.
“That was confusing. What did Pinkie mean by ‘not operating on her levels’?” Twilight honestly had no clue what just happened.
“Pinkie knew something about that mare, and yet she didn’t actually know anything. What’s going on, Twilight?”
Twilight didn’t know how she could possibly answer Dash. This tipped the scales way past what she normally experienced from Pinkie.
There was not another word spoken for the rest of the trip. How could they enjoy themselves now?
Three Hours Later
Twilight breathed a huge sigh of relief as the train began to slow down. She had spent the remaining time in comfortable, albeit slightly tense silence with Dash. The brash pegasus didn’t read or do much else, but she did enjoy the chance to think over what to do next.
The train finally slowed as the ponies pulling it arrived at Canterlot station. Twilight was relieved to leave behind Pinkie’s confusing behavior and the mysterious mare that seemed to know them.
“Are you ready to go, Dash?”
“Yeah. Do you think Luna will join me and Pinkie for a pranking spree?”
“It’s Pinkie and I, and I don’t know, Dash. Luna normally isn’t up ‘till around eleven or twelve at night unless it is an emergency.”
Dash huffed at Twilight correcting her grammar. “I hope that Luna could join us. She managed to scare me pretty good during Nightmare Night. Honestly, a Princess got the drop on me! There aren’t a lot of pegasi or anypony really that can proudly state, ‘I got the shit scared out of me by a Princess!’”
Twilight giggled a little at that. It looked like Luna had become a huge hit after all. Luna really needed to make more friends. She had only wanted the other ponies to like her, after all. Dash had been really annoying scaring everypony with that cloud. Luna beat Dash at her own game at the last minute, something the pegasus wasn’t expecting.
“Do you think Luna’s heard of this mare? She has knowledge of dreams and nightmares in general. Maybe she has knowledge that we can use or something. Maybe she can enter this mare’s dream or something and we can find out that way.” Dash was rambling at a mile a minute.
“How did you know that Luna could dream walk? Not many ponies know, and Celestia tries to keep it a secret so ponies won’t freak out.”
Dash blushed slightly and looked off to the side. “Scootaloo told me that Luna helped her overcome her fear of letting me know that I was scaring the hell out of her. I sorta found out after that, since Luna wasn’t really on the trip.” She grinned nervously and refused to meet Twilight’s eyes.
“That doesn’t really answer how you know about her dream walking ability.” Twilight continued to press Dash.
“Well Twilight, I don’t know if you were paying attention, but you kinda already spoiled it by confirming it yourself.”
“That’s irrelevant. Scootaloo telling you about how Luna helped her doesn’t really answer the question on how you know she can walk in ponies’ dreams.”
“Can we drop this? We are almost off the train, and I don’t want the others to know.”
“Know about what?”
“Twilight, Luna is just a really good pranking buddy. You shouldn’t take this to mean anything. Besides, Luna told me herself that she could dreamwalk. So, just drop it.”
Twilight sighed, realizing that her desire to know what Rainbow was up to was fruitless. She didn’t press Rainbow anymore about it. Soon, the two were walking to the exit.
“There you guys are! We were starting to wonder when you would show up.” Pinkie, who had apparently cheered up since last they saw her, quickly trotted up to them, promptly wrapping them all into a group hug.
Rarity said, “Well, now that Twilight and Dash decided to join us, I dare say we should go to Celestia now. I feel positively dirty after sitting on those dirty seats for all those hours. Twilight, does Celestia have a personal bath or anything that a lady of my caliber can partake in?”
Twilight grinned at Rarity. “She has two. Both of them have a personal jacuzzi attachment and spa jets.”
Rarity choked as she stared at Twilight with disbelief. “She does?”
“Yep, and what’s more, they can be yours.”
Rarity seemed pleased and a bit desperate to hurry along.
“Since I am her personal student, I can get you in there for free when normally she doesn’t allow a lot of ponies in there. I’ve been, obviously, and Luna isn’t barred, but not a lot of ponies know about this sort of thing.”
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Rarity ran off the train, obviously in a hurry to reach relaxation heaven.
The others departed from the train at a normal speed. Pinkie bounced merrily along while Fluttershy shadowed Rarity.
Five of the ponies continued to walk down the road, Twilight trotting happily nearby. She was going to see the Princess and relax at the castle. Her friends were accompanying her, and all was well with the world.
Applejack walked up to Twilight and kept pace with the happy unicorn. “Hey, sugarcube. Can Ah walk wit’ ya?”
“Of course you can, Applejack. Always good to walk with a friend.” For whatever reason, the farm pony’s steps faltered slightly. Twilight didn’t notice though, and continued on walking.
“Yeah, friend. That’s jus’ great.”
“What was that, AJ?”
“Nothin’, nothin’. Jus’ thinkin’. Anyway, what do ya think the first thing ya’ll do on this relaxation vacation thing?” Applejack looked frustrated, for seemingly no reason at all.
“I am glad you asked that, Applejack. I have a whole bunch of things planned. See, Celestia has several relaxation establishments in the castle. To keep anypony that isn’t Luna or myself out, she has it behind a coded door. This door is only programmed to open for one of us. If somepony that doesn’t share our DNA tries to enter, that pony will be sent to the moon.”
Applejack wasn’t sure how to take this, so she settled on silence. Twilight couldn’t remain serious forever, and burst into laughter. “Oh, Celestia was right! It is fun to prank ponies! I’m sorry Applejack, but I just had to say that. You should have seen the look on your face.” A glare was her only response and Twilight had the forethought to look guilty. “Sorry, Applejack. But if it makes you feel better, we do not actually have a coded door. While it is true we have one, it mostly causes an annoying alarm to ring and Celestia usually escorts that pony away. I shouldn’t have joked about something like that.”
Applejack tried to retain her anger, but she couldn’t stay mad at Twilight. “Aw heck, Ah forgive you, sugarcube. Jus’ wasn’t used ta the idea that ya would joke ‘bout somethin’ like that.”
Pinkie was bouncing along, a huge smile on her face. All her friends were nearby and she couldn’t be any more in her natural element. The city of Canterlot was obviously a very big place, and if Pinkie didn’t already know the correct way, she would have gotten lost.
Now that they were off the train, they were well on their way. Pinkie’s tail puffed out randomly and spasmed violently. Stopping to await the reactions, Pinkie frowned. That twitch said to watch out for a train. Her left eye closed, then opened half way. Her expression grew worrisome. Fire. Lots and lots of fire.
Now her left forehoof tapped three times, followed by her right hindhoof. That one was new. She had never experienced that one before. Pinkie continued to ponder the likely meaning behind a new body spasm.
When she looked up, she noticed her friends stopped dead in their tracks, staring at something above her. Screams in the background greeted her ears as the ponies that pulled the train yelled in shock, sparks flying from the train. Various passengers still on the train screamed in terror.
“Guys, what are you staring at?” Pinkie asked. No answer, but to her confusion, she saw Rainbow Dash flying toward her. A shadow soon passed over the confused Earth pony, causing her to look up. Her pupils shrunk and her mouth dropped open.
A loose bolt on a sign must have finally popped out, causing the sign to loosen drastically. Eventually caving into gravity (she never understood the specifics behind that fickle thing) the sign had finally broken apart. She had been standing right under the path of the sign.
Dash was almost near her, tears of adrenaline still in her eyes. Pinkie thought back to the weird tapping. The left forehoof tapping three times meant something would happen to her. Anytime she tapped it three times before a following twitch or so later, she would experience something.
The last one, a back hoof tapping three time, was rare. She almost never got it, and when she did, she usually was around elderly ponies on the verge of.....
Realization dawned on the party pony in that instant. She was going to die. The Pinkie Sense, a mysterious phenomenon that few ponies knew about except for herself, told her that she would die. One solitary tear leaked out of Pinkie’s eye as the sign finally reached her. Instead of killing her, it simply trapped her under its imposing weight.
Pain greeted her as she found that she couldn’t move. Her leg spasmed in agony, trapped under the sign. She must have broken it. Dash reached her then, still with tears. “Hang on, Pinkie! I’ll get you out of there in a jiffy. Please, Celestia, don’t let this happen.” Liquid poured out of the sign, but Dash paid no attention to it. Blood pooled under the sign and ultimately Pinkie’s leg.
The sign was advertising something about health insurance. It was an electric sign, and it took a lot of magic from unicorns to make sure it was functioning properly.
“Dash, get out of here! It isn’t safe. I will be okay.” Rare was the moment that Pinkie was serious. Earlier on the train was proof enough of that.
“No way in hell am I leaving you, Pinkie! I will get this off you. Just hold on!” While Dash began to struggle to lift the sign off her friend, Pinkie struggled to keep her composure.
Twilight, who was stuck and rooted the ground in horror, could only watch as the train burst into flames. The terrified ponies pulling it tried to run away. It burned rapidly, despite the fact that there wasn’t anything flammable on the train and that the unicorns who built it made sure to cast protective spells to ensure this wouldn’t happen.
Fluttershy, listening to the screams of nearby ponies running from the mayhem, cowered in fear. “We have to go, we just have to go.” She whimpered and shivered violently. Nopony heard her.
Applejack couldn’t understand how in tarnation something like this could happen. Something like this never happened. Fluttershy was a wreck for obvious reasons. Rarity was avoiding the flames but tried to guard Fluttershy at the same time. Both of them were surrounded by panicking ponies.
The sign keeping Pinkie rooted to the ground tilted forward, crushing its victim a little more. Pinkie whimpered.
The panicking driver-ponies pulling the train were now trying to unhook themselves as they ran. In their mad rush to escape the tracks, the tension caused them to break from the tracks, running through the town of still panicking civilians. Parts of the train, already on fire, cracked under the heat and loosened.
Dash was making agonizingly slow progress, still trying to remove the enormous sign from Pinkie, who was crying slightly now that she felt a wetness cover her body. “Dashie, please get out of here.” Still, Dash ignored the protests of the party pony. She couldn’t abandon her friend.
The flames from the train, already rising in heat, soon exploded into a raging inferno, reaching the terrified drivers and engulfing them as well. Sparks from the flame broke off and flew through the air by an invisible wind over to where Pinkie and Dash were. The flame ignited the sign.
Immediately, Pinkie screamed in pain and horror. Dash felt the heat bite and lick at her, forcing her back. The liquid from the sign turned out to be gasoline, igniting everything around it. Dash felt part of her wings catch fire, sending her into additional panic as mind-numbing pain spread everywhere. Her friend continued to scream until the gasoline fully ignited and the entire thing exploded.
Then, Pinkie went silent.
The explosion blast caused the jagged point of the sign to shoot off, heading toward a currently-stunned unicorn. Applejack, hearing the blast and the screams of her once dear friend stop, knew what had happened. “Twilight, we have to move!”
No answer. The pole that had held up the sign for all of Canterlot to see was barreling toward Twilight.
Knowing that Twilight was too distracted to actually realize her danger, Applejack did the only thing she knew she could. She galloped over to Twilight, who seemed to awaken into reality and gaze numbly at the farmer.
“Ah’m so sorry, Twilight.”
Applejack shoved Twilight away from her, right as the pole reached them. Twilight, realizing what Applejack planned on doing, screamed. She watched Applejack get impaled by the blunt force, showering her with crimson.
Fluttershy and Rarity, who were nearby, heard Pinkie’s and Twilight’s screams and turned to look. Shock coursed through their systems as Applejack’s impaled body was lying on her side, surrounded by a pool of blood. Twilight was screaming and crying as she tried to revive her dead friend.
Fluttershy attempted to go to them, but before she could, the scrap of metal from the train exploded, sending it flying toward the timid Pegasus. Blood entered her vision. She heard a pained scream from Rarity, and then darkness.
Twilight, realizing the futility of helping Applejack, leaned over her, crying and getting blood on her hooves and face. Applejack was gone. Pinkie burned to death. She’d heard Rarity’s and Fluttershy’s screams of pain. Dash had disappeared.
All her friends were dead.
Why did this happen? What had they done to deserve this? Twilight, after hugging Applejack one final time, limped away. She couldn’t focus, numb with shock. Bodies were everywhere and blood pooled under so much of them.
A hoof met Twilight’s back, causing the unicorn to jump in surprise. She turned around and felt such an overwhelming sense of relief. Dash stood behind her, half-burned but still alive. She was crying and drenched in blood. Weakly, she fell into Twilight’s hooves.
“Everypony’s dead, Twilight! We’re the only ones left! Do you think we should tell the Princess that there are no more Elements except Magic and Loyalty?” Dash was sobbing as Twilight couldn’t hold herself up anymore, falling to the ground. Dash didn’t object one bit, but still clutched desperately to her remaining friend. The two remaining ponies held each other tightly, refusing to leave, united in the same tragedy.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Twilight awoke violently from what she had just witnessed. Several groups of ponies still on the crowded station turned to stare at the sudden movement.
“I will be fine, Twilight.” Spike’s innocent voice greeted the unicorn’s ear.
“Hey Twilight. Are you okay? Why are you crying?”
Rainbow Dash yelling at her from out of the unicorn’s sight caused Twilight to yell in response.
Applejack, overhearing the yell, broke away from where she had been saying goodbye to Big Mac. She rushed over to see what was wrong. “Twilight! Are you okay, sugarcube?”
Twilight stared at the farm pony, relieved. “Oh, Applejack! You’re alive!” She threw herself at the mare, sobbing heavily.
“‘Course Ah am! Why wouldn’t Ah be?” She looked confused but oddly relieved at Twilight’s vice-like grip on her.
“What’s going on? Why is Twilight crying?” Fluttershy trotted up to the traumatized unicorn, putting a forehoof on her back to console her.
“I don’t know, darling, but she looks like she’s seen a ghost.” Rarity didn’t know what to do. On one hoof, she could tell that Twilight had experienced something traumatizing. She noticed Dash seemed to be in a similar position. The pegasus was being comforted by a worried Scootaloo, who had noticed the tears from her beloved idol.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Rarity asked Twilight gently.
Twilight, recovering ever so slightly from her death grip on Applejack, shared a significant look with Dash. Both ponies realized that they had experienced the same vivid dream.
Pinkie was oddly subdued and kept staring at Dash in concern. She didn’t have any bounce in her step this time.
Twilight finally said, “Let’s get on the train. I don’t know what happened, or even what I saw. All I know is that something very bad happened in it, and I am really, really glad that it wasn’t true.”
Smiling sympathetically, the four friends helped pegasus and unicorn onto the train. Neither made any attempt at conversation. Spike, concerned, watched the train slowly pull out of the station and begin to pick up speed. Twilight had began crying suddenly while she was talking to him.
He shared a look with his companions on the station before finally turning back toward the library. Nopony noticed a mare on the station. She had red and black streaks in her head and a green mane. She smiled, pleased that everything was going according to plan, before slowly vanishing from sight.