Singing. Twilight Sparkle was surrounded by brilliant arcs of lightning-like magical energy that sliced at random through zebras, ponies, and buildings alike. Half of Ponyville was on fire, and corpses or half-corpses of burned, eviscerated, or dismembered ponies and zebras lay everywhere. The ponies left alive were screaming and running in all directions; the attackers were retreating in the face of Twilight's spell while another group attempted to circle around behind her. And the youngest Princess of Equestria, her eyes glowing with power and her magic running wild as she trotted casually after the zebras, was singing.
"And some sunny day, it'll all be okaaaaayy..." The entire town sang with her - every mailbox, fountain, statue and small animal - under her modified Royal Voice spell.
It would be okay. Everything would be okay. She just had to let the magic do its work. The zebras would flee, and she'd get all of her friends back and the Princess would help them. Or... maybe, if she helped them too, the zebras would be her friends! Everypony could be her friend! With that thought, a blast of magic reached down the streets, lovingly caressing her next friend. She trotted up to the charred back half of him, where it rested against somepony's door.
"Don't worry!" she said. She was as oblivious to her volume as to her twitching eye and the magic lashing out of her control in all directions. Nearby, a stallion screamed as he was eviscerated by a lance of lavender lightning. "When this is over, we can all be friends! Just you wait."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
On their hill overlooking Ponyville - one they'd had to drive a zebra longbow squad from - Luna turned to her older sister. Just as she was clad in full armor wrought from plates of midnight ore and starmetal, Celestia was protected beneath layers of sunforged steel. Both suits were heavily enchanted, primarily with immunities to low-level magic - properties that would be useless in battle with zebras. Neither would they afford protection against Twilight, whose power and mastery combined to make her the most dangerous sorcerer on the planet. Draining away the excess power generated by her wild emotional surges would stop her, but also leave her defenseless before the zebra armies. She couldn't be tended to just yet.
"This is as bad as thou hast led us to expect. We apologize for our anger when thou awakened us. Where is Discord?"
"I don't know, sister. I don't have time to look. We need to find the other Element Bearers. If we can assemble them, we might be able to stop Twilight then, and use the Elements of Harmony to defend Equestria."
"We will assist thee, Celestia, but it is our earnest hope thou hast a backup plan. Thy Royal Guard and our Night Guard, even combined, are no army." Then, Luna observed, "We are out of time. Smoke rises outside Ponyville. Go to Kindness - she fears us. We shall find Honesty." Celestia nodded, gave a quick instruction to her guards to hold the hill, and headed to Fluttershy's home.
When she landed, a few animals still lingered in the yard, missing limbs and dead or dying. The cottage was otherwise quiet - the attackers had been and gone. Celestia stepped through the open front door.
"Leave," said a high-backed armchair. She knew the voice, and kept her own neutral.
"Discord." The chair turned around on its four legs to face her, the Spirit of Chaos holding a yellow heap in his lap. A few matching feathers trickled from his eyes, and Celestia realized he was crying.
"I want to be alone," he said. "I... have never found anything less entertaining."
"I'm sorry, but I need you."
"The last time I said that, you and your cuter sister turned me to stone. It would be pretty funny if I did the same to you." The Princess sensed no real will behind his words, and shook her head sadly.
"I am sorry, Discord. I know who she was to you. I need your help to make things right again." Discord snorted, blowing soap bubbles everywhere.
"Who do you think I am? War? Vengeance? I am the spirit of Chaos, little princess. Neither of those interests me, and your only bargaining chip..." He hesitated. "She died, crying, on my shoulder. Go away! Before I turn Equestria into a newt!" The chair turned away again, and Celestia took that as her cue to leave. The last thing she needed was to add an angry Discord to her list of problems.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"So Honesty and Kindness both have passed," murmured Luna, on hearing Celestia's account. "Must they always be the first casualties of war?"
"Sister, this is not the time to lapse into metaphor." Celestia closed her eyes. She knew she would immediately regret the jab, but there were few other ways to draw Luna's attention outwards again, and most of them involved letting her sleep. There was no time for that. "I know of your loneliness, but every passing moment is another little pony who will never learn the beauty of your night. We must act now."
"Do not dare!" Luna began, her hoof connecting painfully with Celestia's face just as expected. She opened her eyes and held Luna in a calm, sad gaze despite the pain and the trickle of blood marring her pure white coat, and its effect was almost instant.
"I ... I am sorry, sister. I cannot bear to be reminded of... " Luna stiffened abruptly. "Thou art correct. We must act. Without the Elements, what is thy backup plan?"