After a few seconds of shock, I heaved myself to my hooves. Dragging the crate behind me on the cobbled road, I headed swiftly towards Dusty Tome’s library. I had to see if he was alright. Quickly, I realized that taking the crate with me was not a good idea. I struggled with the harness for a bit before I was able to slip out of it. Now free of burden, I cantered around the flames, feeling so hot it was making me dizzy. I wheeled down a side street and found myself at Millie’s shop, which I took a shortcut through. Most of the flames in this side of town were dying. I picked my way through the charred piles of fabric, stepping over a singed Clover the Clever doll and out into the snow.
I headed quickly towards Mr. Tome’s library. I tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. Turning around, I kicked at it with my hind legs, but still nothing. I tried once more before using my wings to boost myself to the window. I climbed in, over the already shattered glass and into the smoldering remains of the house. Everywhere the books lay in shambles. I felt tears in my eyes, and not just because of the smoke. Coughing, I searched around. Hopefully, whatever had happened, Mr. Tome had gotten out alright. I couldn’t see anypony around so I left the smoky building.
I panted, throwing myself into the snow. Was I the only pony left in town? What had happened to the rest of them? I could barely breathe. There was smoke everywhere. My coat was covered in ash and all around the snow was grey, even the new flakes that fell from above. This was just too much. My eyes slipped closed. Everything was dark.
“Hey, Starlight Rose! I think I’ve found a live one!” I could tell I was face down in the snow. I rolled my head to the side and coughed, the sooty snow in my mouth and all over my eyes.
“Hey, buddy, you okay?” asked a pretty sounding mare. I rubbed my eyes with a hoof and sat up a bit. I felt a warm hoof wrap around my shoulders.
“What’s going on?” I asked, “Who are you?” The pony pulled me into her chest, making me feel awkward and confused.
“Shh, sh, sh,” she soothed, “It’ll be okay.” She was dark red with a crimson mane and tail. Pink ribbons strung with colorful beads were woven into her hair. I felt sick, my head throbbed. I heard hoofsteps approaching.
“What’s your name?” a new mare asked, standing beside the first.
“In due time, Rose.” The one holding me said firmly.
“Whatever, just make sure he’s okay.” The hoofsteps faded away. We remained like that for about a minute. Then the mare pulled me away from her chest for a moment and I got my first glimpse of her gorgeous face. She was stunning; with long lashes, silvery blue eyes and a nice warm smile.
“Hey, honey,” she said, “you have a name?”
“Spark,” I replied dumbly, “You?”
“Velvet Charmer. It’s good to see you’re okay.”
“Where’s everypony else?” I asked.
“You’ll know when you’re ready.”
“What does that mean?” She stroked my cheek with a hoof and gave a crooked smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
“You’ll see.” She stood and dusted the snow from her haunches, revealing a cutie mark of two orange horseshoes and a pink sparkle placed on top of a blue circle. I stood as well, a bit shaky at first, and she led me down the road to the charred remains of the town center. I gazed up at the statue of our young princesses, Celestia and Luna. It was mostly intact, but it was leaning to the side in a way that just seemed unnaturally off putting. Beside the statue stood a bulky grey earth pony stallion with a sword belted to his flank.
“Who is he?” I whispered.
“Steel Flame,” Charmer told me, “He’s our muscle.” I glanced around.
“Who are you guys?” I felt so lost and cold. I had never really felt cold before.
“We’re just a group of adventurers,” she told me, “We saw the smoke and decided to see what was the matter. There’s five of us in all: me, Starlight Rose, Steel Flame, Smoke Plume and Magic Mirrors.”
“Who?”
“You’ll meet them soon enough. They’re just tidying up the town.” My head throbbed. I raised a hoof to my temple and groaned.
“You okay, honey?” asked Charmer.
“I’ll be fine,” I said with a grunt. Steel Flame seemed to notice me for the first time. He trotted over and raised one eyebrow at Charmer. She nodded and he turned away.
“What was that?” I asked.
“Oh, Steel just doesn’t talk that much,” she said. She opened her saddle bag and pulled out a blanket. Tossing it over my shoulders, she brushed away the top layer of snow on the ground with her hoof so that there was room for me to rest. Appreciatively, I did so, tucking my muzzle under the tip of one of my slightly small wings. Shortly after I got comfortable, Charmer called a greeting to Starlight Rose. When I glanced up at her, I was shocked to see that she was a bat pony. Her wings were leathery and she had little tufts on top of her ears. I swallowed and tucked my head back under my wing.
Starlight Rose laughed. “No need to be afraid of me, Kid,” she chuckled, sitting down on the side of the statue. I didn’t care for the tone with which she addressed me, but there wasn’t really a lot I could do. Besides, I wasn’t one to pick fights.
“Where are Smoke and Mirrors?” asked Charmer.
“Just finishing cleaning up the, uh…” Starlight Rose paused as if trying to think of the right word, “the project.” Charmer nodded, clearing her throat.
“What project?” I asked, peeking out from under my wing. The strange ponies exchanged a glance and then Charmer rested a hoof on my back.
“You’ll know when you’re ready,” she replied. That frustrated me. What wasn’t I ready to know?
“Ooh, you found one!” a stallion called from my right.
“Good to know there’s at least one of ‘em!” said a second stallion. I turned to see two unicorns trotting up, their hooves in perfect synchronization with each other. They were both white with matching black, pinstriped vests. One had a red mane while the other had sort of a royal blue.
“There you are,” smiled Charmer, “This is Spark.”
“Hey’a, Spark,” the one with the red mane said, dipping his head, “I’m Smoke Plume.”
“And I’m Magic Mirrors,” the other said with a similar gesture.
“Hello,” I said, waving a hoof subtly.
“Well, now that we’re all here, we best get going,” Rose said, fluttering down to stand beside Smoke and Mirrors, “It’d be best to get as far away from this village as possible before night fall.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because come sunset, this place will be crawling with monsters,” she told me, “C’mon, let’s go.”
“But what about everypony else?” I asked, standing up.
“There isn’t anypony else,” said Smoke.
“Not a single one left,” added Mirrors.
“So everypony escaped?” I asked hopefully.
“From this life,” Mirrors joked, shoving Smoke’s shoulder playfully.
“Mirrors!” Charmer cried, pulling me into another hug which, though in an awkward position, wasn’t uncomfortable.
“Wait, what?” I was so confused. Escaped from this life? They couldn’t mean-
“Well it looks like he knows,” Rose sighed, “Nice going, idiots.” The two blushed and looked down at their hooves.
“Is everypony... dead?” I asked, my voice cracking.
Charmer sighed, “I’m afraid so. We were going to tell you, but I thought it best to wait.”
“Where are they?” I asked.
Rose shook her head, “Oh, you don’t want to-”
“I do!” I told her, heaving myself to my feet. “where are they?” No one spoke. They seemed to be thinking of a way to keep me oblivious. I thought back to our conversation, trying to find clues. The project! Smoke and Mirrors had just finished cleaning up a project. I took a step towards the two of them.
“Where are they?” I asked. They glanced at each other and swallowed in unison.
“Listen, kid, let’s just go,” Mirrors said.
“Yeah, we gotta go before the monsters get here, remember?” said smoke. They both took a step back. I knew they were hiding something. I trotted up to them, the blanked Charmer had placed on my back sliding off. After looking into their eyes, I pushed past them and headed down the road they had came by.
“Wait, come back!” Charmer cried. I kept walking. I had no idea where I was going, but I turned down the the alley ways as if I did. Something inside me just knew. I turned one last corner and was suddenly assaulted by the smell of charred flesh. Up until this point, the snow had muffled it, but now it seemed to bite my nose. Before me was a large pile of what smoking, burned bodies. I gagged. My knees buckled and I found myself in the snow again. I had thought I was prepared for this, but I wasn’t even close. I felt nauseous. I recognized Mr. Tome’s specks, cracked and twisted, lying a few feet from the pile. I heard the others gallop up to me, felt Charmer kneel down and rest her head on my shoulders.
“So it’s true,” I said, “they’re all dead.”
“I’m afraid so,” she sighed. Tears stung my eyes. I began to sob. I felt one of Rose’s leathery wings stretch over my back.
“Hey, man, you got this,” she said. But I didn’t. I let it out, crying harder than I ever had before. Everypony I knew was dead. My parents, Mr. Tome, Brom, little Cindy and her mother. Everypony gone. I was still crying as the other ponies pushed me to my feet and guided me back to where Steel Flame was waiting with their supplies.
“Come on,” Rose said, “Let’s leave all this behind us.”