//------------------------------// // The Cloudsdale Dive // Story: Moon Fall // by 007Delta //------------------------------// Celestia walked through the empty Canterlot streets. Just about everyone had been evacuated, and the only ponies left walking the streets were her guards. As she walked, a letter appeared overhead. She began to open it, but another one came down before she could. She tried to grab that one as well, but two more letters came in place of that, and three in place of those. She ducked her head as letters continued to rain on top of her like a storm of parchment and ink, when finally, they stopped. She magically grabbed a scroll from the large pile at her hooves and opened it with her magic. It was a status report form one of her guards, and by the look of the handwriting, it must have been urgent. In sloppy, rushed looking letters, it told of Nightmare's explosive entry on Vanhoover, which was now little more than a large pile of broken bricks and shattered glass. Luckily, there were very few casualties, as the citizens were well outside of the city when Nightmare Moon hit, but they were still fearful of being located by her. The guards have managed to sustain an invisibility spell around the ponies, but they aren't sure how long they will be able to keep it up. As she opened each letter, she realized that several guards had written their reports all at once, trying to warn the princess that Nightmare Moon was much stronger than anyone had anticipated, but this worried the sun princess none. Destroying a city was a small task compared to the... regrettable things Celestia had done in the past. Before the world knew her as the princess of the sun, she was a much darker entity, and her hunger for power leveled far more than just a singular city. Though no one knew, Celestia was more than capable of killing Nightmare Moon with a single bolt from her horn. The only thing that kept Celestia from ending it all, was the fact that killing Nightmare meant killing her sister. However, it looked as though it would all have to boil down to that. She couldn't let Nightmare Moon destroy any further. Celestia began to think. Nightmare Moon must have been pretty eager to kill if the first thing she did after reawakening was destroy a city. Surely she would continue on this rampage, and the closest city to Vanhoover was Cloudsdale. The princess took flight and headed towards the floating city. o.0.O== Meanwhile ==O.0.o Rainbow Dash knocked loudly on the front door to Applejack's barn, which was situated on the side of the house. She heard the sound of someone trotting around the house and up to the door, before a high pitched voice called out. "Who is it?" Scootaloo recognized it as Applebloom's voice, and immediately responded. "It's me Applebloom, can we come inside?" Applebloom began to talk before she even opened the door. "Scootaloo! Whatcha doin' here,". She opened the door all the way. "With... Rainbow Dash?" Applebloom paused as she noticed the gloomy look on Dash's face. "Come on in, y'all,". She said softly, Scootaloo had been here hundreds of times with the Crusaders, and felt no different than when she did at her own house. She was comfortable here, and the Apple's practically thought of her as family as well. Dash however, had rarely ever been inside the Apple family barn, and despite being best friends with the residents, she couldn't help but feel slightly out of place. The barn itself was spacious, though cluttered at the same time. Zounds of family photos littered the walls and covered countertops wherever Dash looked. It seemed as if the living space had been built around the actual barn area, with stairs leading to the bedrooms upstairs. The front door opened to a large living room, with a concerned looking red stallion sitting thoughtfully on the couch. There was a round rug in the center of the living room and a few antiquated lamps sitting around the room. "Hey sis!" yelled Applebloom. "Come downstairs! We have company!" Dash could hear Applejack's voice from upstairs. "Ah'm sorry Applebloom, but your gonna have to tell your friends to head on home, things don't look all that peaceful outside," "It's Rainbow Dash, ah think she wants to talk to ya!" "Dash?" Applejack called back. Everyone could hear hoof beats in the ceiling as Applejack trotted downstairs. "Hey," greeted Applejack, who was obviously caught off guard. Rainbow Dash was the last person she expected to show up at her house, and Scootaloo's presence only stirred questions in her mind. "What's with the weather? You have any idea what's causin' all this ruckus outside?" Dash bit her lip nervously. "Well, that's why I'm here..." Applejack paused to let her friend continue. "Uh, could we talk about this upstairs?" Dash finally said, "This may be a lot to take in," Applejack nodded slowly and headed back upstairs. Rainbow Dash started following her, when she noticed Scootaloo getting ready to climb the stairs alongside her. "Uhh, stay down here Scoots, Applejack and I need to talk alone," Scootaloo's face looked saddened. "Don't worry,". Reassured Rainbow Dash quickly, "I'll be back down soon," Applejack led Dash to a long hallway upstairs. She opened a door on the left, and motioned for her friend to enter. Dash trotted inside and assumed they must have entered Applejack's room. "Alright Dash, what's going on?" the teal Pegasus forced herself to be strong. "Nightmare Moon," Dash finally said. Her words were quiet, but they echoed around in the silence of the room. "She's back, and we don't have a plan." Applejack smiled worriedly. "What about the elements,". She said through a small laugh. "Don't tell me you forgot about the-" "Elements stopped working," said Dash, her face contorting with sadness. Applejacks face grew serious. "Well, Celestia could just banish her to th' moon again!" "She can't!" Yelled Dash involuntarily, tears beginning to well in her eyes. "Celestia told me about it. We only have a few hours left before she reaches Ponyville, and I...". She breathed in a shaky breath. "And I don't think that everyone's going to make it out alive this time," "What...?". Said Applejack, her voice a strained whisper. "I came here to make sure Scootaloo was in safe hands," "And where are you goin'?" Yelled out Applejack disbelievingly, "I have to make amends... Just in case I don't make it. Please, make sure Scootaloo is safe,". Rainbow Dash wrapped her hooves sadly around Applejack. "Please..." Applejack hugged back halfheartedly, her mind still trying to wrap itself around Dash's news. "If we don't make it Applejack, know that I always revered you. Though I may have denied it in the past, I always thought you were the better pony out of us both." Dash wiped her eyes and walked towards Applejack's bedroom window. "Tell Scootaloo I'll be back for her,". She called back before opening the window and flying out. Applejack hadn't moved since Dash hugged her. "A few hours,". Applejack muttered to herself. If what Dash said was true, than she had a tiny amount of time to live the rest of her life. She couldn't believe it. She walked out of her bedroom slowly, before going downstairs. Nightmare Moon soared through the air. She had regained consciousness a few minutes after fainting, and had decided her next target. As she approached Cloudsdale, she hatched her most evil idea yet. She was a few minutes away from the city and noticed that there were still Pegasi flying around. Nightmare smiled at the soon to be graveyard, as she folded her wings back and lit her horn purple. She landed in the middle of a highly populated plaza, and soon, several hundred eyes were on her. She prepared her Canterlot voice and spoke with a stentorian bellow. "Come one, come all!" She announced. "I, Nightmare Moon, am here to present to you a show, the likes of which you have never seen!" Nightmare Moon spoke as if she was running a circus act. The plaza was completely silent, everyone was frozen with fear at the figure that stood before them. Suddenly, an orange pegasus in the back took off, crying and yelling desperately as she prayed to escape. Nightmare Moon smiled as she watched the mare zig zag sporadically in the air, and with a small bolt from her horn, the Pegasus exploded. Blood and chunks of red flesh rained down on the few ponies unfortunate enough to be beneath her. Gags and coughs could be heard as the ensanguinated Pegasi panicked and tried to wipe the blood off of their coats. Crying could be heard in multiple spots around the plaza. If there were any notions of running away in anyone's mind, they were dispelled instantly. "For my magnificent trick, I will take the glorious, flying city of Cloudsdale, and sink it through the air like a rock through water." There were gasps of panic reverberating around the area. No one moved for fear of Nightmare Moon turning them into flying meat grenades, and they instead watched as the murderous pony's purple glowing horn pierced the puffy cloud floor. Nightmare Moon withdrew herself from the cotton like surface, and watched as the soft white pillow of condensation became gray and hard. The dark area on the cloud expanded outward as more of the surface was infected by the grim looking stain. As the spot grew larger, the whole black section began to sag beneath the surface of the city. The cloud was slowly but surely, turning to stone. Nightmare Moon hovered in the air as Cloudsdale began it's slow descent, and the grey virus began to spread more rapidly. A few ponies winced as the stoney area spread to their respective patches of cloud, however, they never had the chance to scream, as they too had been turned into lifeless lumps of stone, their facial expressions forever frozen on their rock like facades. The virus was capable of spreading to ponies as well. As everyone realized what had just happened, the hundreds of Pegasi in the plaza took off at once, desperately trying to escape he grim fate of the city. Nightmare Moon took off and laughed joyfully as she flew around and blasted whoever crossed her path. The dead bodies rained onto the sinking city floor, before being turned to stone by the infectious virus beneath. The stone area had increased tenfold, and was expanding at a frightening speed. Buildings made of lightweight cloud were turned into heavy pieces of granite, adding to the increasing weight of Cloudsdale, and within a few minutes, the entire city was an enormous rock plummeting to the earth, with thousands of petrified bodies littered on the surface. Nightmare Moon cackled and laughed loudly as the city became smaller and smaller in her field of vision, doomed to hit the ground. The bottom of the city began to catch fire as the bow shock from the sheer immensity of the falling object shot towards earth. Soon, the city was engulfed in flames as Cloudsdale became nothing more than a streaking ball of rock and heat. The bottom of the city exploded against the ground, sending a huge shockwave of deafening sound rippling from out beneath, just as a huge pillar of dust engulfed the once floating city. The amount of deaths was tragic, and the time and effort spent into creating the vast city had been wasted. Nightmare Moon smiled and watched as the city was bathed in dust. The next thing she planned on destroying would be Canterlot... But it would be different. She would do it as her 'dear' sister looked on in helpless horror. No matter how powerful Celestia was, Nightmare knew that her next surprise would be too much for even her sister to handle. As Nightmare Moon looked around, she wondered why Cloudsdale hadn't been evacuated. She was sure that Vanhoover was desolate before she blew it up, but she was going far to fast to know for sure. Nightmare Moon shrugged. The reason was beyond her, but she simply didn't care. Look at all the wonderful bodies she had created! They were everywhere, and it was beautiful. She lustfully licked her lips as she thought about Celestia's own corpse joining the morbid parade. Nightmare Moon smiled and zoomed towards Canterlot. o.0.O== Meanwhile ==O.0.o Derpy Hooves flew happily on her way to Cloudsdale. The guards had entrusted her with a special letter to deliver to the mayor there, and she couldn't wait to see the look of satisfaction on her face when she recieved her extra-special note from the princess. Derpy looked around the sky searching for Cloudsdale, but it was nowhere to be found. She could have sworn that the city was around here somewhere, but it seemed as if the whole place just disappeared! "Hmm,". Said the gray mailpony as she took out the letter. She wondered what could have been so important for her to deliver, and out of curiosity, she opened it. In large red letters, it said EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY.