//------------------------------//
// First Breaths 
// Story: Ghost Town 
// by Dash The Stampede 
//------------------------------//

A loud gasp echoed through the Mayor's office, followed by a loud cough. Celestia's eyes lit up with glee at the sight taking shape before her. Three of the Element Bearers' bodies were restored to their organic states, lying haphazardly in the middle of the room, chests slowly rising and falling as their long-erased organs began their tedious work once more. Hearts were beating, and tears were streaming, and Celestia couldn't shake the unmovable feeling of utter euphoria as Rainbow Dash took her first breath as a reformed pony. 

Princess Celestia swept her gaze about the room, before coming to a rest on the remains of Rarity, her shreds piled neatly in her shape, awaiting the magical needle to sew her back together. Celestia allowed herself a moment of morbid humor as she contemplated how many types of outfits she could sew Rarity into. The seamstress had made hundreds of grand designs, many of which had adorned the Royal family, but she hadn't been made into an outfit. With a sigh, Celestia filed the thought away before returning her attention to the many miniscule details of the shreds before her. Each shred had the finite details such as the hair patterning, and she could tell where a flower had sat in a mane, or where a bracelet sat on a hoof, the many colorful splotches staining the rubber. 

Ushering forth her magic, and her weary soul, Celestia set the spell up once more, her exhaustion showing as her legs shook and her eyes fought to stay open. Celestia felt as though her life was draining from her body, and too late she realized it indeed was. The spell was using her life force to power the matrix that restored the organic substances, and each successive cast was draining the alicorn more and more. As her horn glowed a vibrant gold, Celestia wove the spell through the fashionista's shreds, her limbs beginning to reform. The spell continued, merging the unicorn's torso together with her limbs, the sound of squeaks from the rubber echoing through the room. Celestia coughed, her breaths coming ragged, like trying to breathe through a wall of lead, as the spell took its course with her frail body. With a cough and a wavering breath, the spell shorted out, the half-assembled pony before her falling to the floor with a meaty thud as the reformed limbs began to slowly ooze blood. Rarity's body had reformed to the point of producing circulating blood vessels, but the spell hadn't completed the cycle, and now, the unicorn bled out slowly onto the rug, the crimson soaking into the remaining alabaster shreds. Celestia fought the wave of bile surging up her throat at the sight, and she coughed before struggling to her hooves.

Staring agape at Rarity's half-assembled corpse, Celestia called upon her years of experience, and upon the Sun for its strength, as her horn re-lit. The spell began to shape once more around the battered body, the wounds sealing over as her body began its steady reconstruction once more. Bearing power unbound, Celestia forced the magic through her horn, racing to complete the spell before she lost too much progress. The golden aura swept over Rarity's remaining shreds, pressing them together rapidly as the pony's mane came into being, the hairs set about wildly, more forest than mane. With her mane came her face, the horn on her forehead coming together with a spark of purple, reacting to the presence of a link to magic. The spell subsided, Rarity's body sat amidst a pool of her own blood, staining her coat a deep red, and filling the room with a rusty scent. Celestia's eyes were closed, the glow from her horn dulling as she brought the spell to a close. Grimacing, she moved Rarity's body out of the puddle, setting her on a couch in the room. With a sigh, and a loud thump, she fell to the floor unceremoniously, and allowed herself to drift off into rest to recuperate from the casting. 

With a loud gasp, and a soft cough, Rarity's heart began beating anew, life coursing through her veins, and magic coursing through her horn. 

Night had fallen in Ponyville, and at long last, Celestia held more than a sliver of hope in her hooves. She could only pray that it stayed with her this time.





"Princess Luna! A situation most dire has arisen!" Night Guards flocked into the room, followed by their commander, Evening Mists. Evening strode up to the throne and produced a scroll for Luna to gaze upon, the alicorn's brow furrowing in thought. 

"I...see. Gather a small detail, Evening, and meet me in one hour at my chambers. We will depart for Cloudsdale posthaste." Luna frowned. 'Surely Celestia hadn't given herself away...' she mused, contemplating the meaning of the events supposedly transpiring in Cloudsdale. 

Her elite guard had overheard a couple delegates from Cloudsdale earlier that day, talking about "The Event", and had followed to ensure it was not a threat. However, that was what it came across to Luna as. The letter had been dropped by one of the two pegasi as they had been spooked by one of the servants bumping into them. The page had the calculations for an epic storm, one that would produce wind strong enough to blow down trees, and tornadoes large enough to swallow homes whole. The rain was a different story-eighteen inches over a day. The storm's plans bade terrible things for its target, highlighted in three different colors: Ponyville. Luna 's mind kicked into overdrive, her hooves carrying her faster than ever toward the resident Weather Manager's office on the second floor of the palace. Arriving before the door, which was cracked slightly, evidence of its owner's presence, Luna rapped on it three times, face set in determination. She heard the faint reply through the crack.

"Come in!" A cheery Pegasus stallion sat behind a large cloud-desk, toying with a smaller cloud, pressing it in like a stress ball and watching the substance roil about in his hooves. Looking up, he noticed Luna, and swiftly bowed, head traveling straight through the desk, causing it to dissipate. "No, no, dammit!" the stallion whined, his possessions falling to the floor with a clatter. Picking up his nameplate, bearing the words 'Jet Stream', he looked up sheepishly, beginning again. "Eheheh, sorry, Your Highness. What can I do for you, milady?"

Luna conjured up a wooden desk, which fell with a clatter to rest between her and Jet. walking up to the desk, she pressed the plans she had recovered onto the desk face-down, and slid it towards Jet. Jet took the parchment, and, with widening eyes, hurriedly shoved the paper into the drawer closest him and coughed. "I, uh, don't have a clue what that was about..." Jet began to sweat, his eyes darting about for some form of salvation. Seeing none but his doom, Jet removed the parchment from the desk and flattened it out with a sigh. Luna watched with bated breath for a sign that Jet was behind the plans, but his reaction gave her all she needed. "I, uh, suppose you want me to explain this." Jet began. 

"That would be most favorable to you, Jet Stream. Start from the beginning, and leave no details hidden, am I understood?" Luna queried, her eyes set in cold determination. 

"Y-yes, Your Highness...Y-you see, when we first caught wind of Ponyville's...plight, we decided that nopony should have the reminder of such a great mistake sitting in the middle of the nation. We decided that, uninhabited, Ponyville must be cleansed. Washed clean. Destroy the evidence of a tragic mistake!" Jet was practically yelling at this point, his voice raising in volume as he became devout in his explanations. "We decided to wash it all away, the homes, the trees, everything. Start anew with a blank slate, shape the land into something more productive, and cover over the terrible memories and thoughts we would get by viewing that...that...abhorrent town! This storm will be Ponyville's perfect storm, and there's nothing you, or anyone else can do to prevent it!" Jet Stream raved about fanatically, his words beginning to slur together as he slaved through his speech, his eyes gazing everywhere at once. "As we speak, there's a gigantic shipment of thunderheads on its way to the Formation Field, where we'll shape it into a supercell the likes of which Equestria has never seen!" Jet took to gazing out the window, maniacal chuckles emanating from his throat. "Nothing can stop the Flood, not you, nor anypony else!" Jet gestured to the clock, then out the window before coughing. "It's only a matter of time before the Great Wash begins, Princess, and you'll be forced to witness its true glory knowing you cannot halt it." Jet began mumbling incoherently, but Luna had already risen to her hooves. She darted out of his office, ordering guards to detain Jet and search his office. The guards saluted, but she had already disappeared around a corner. 

If what Jet had said was true, and by the way he had been raving about it, it almost certainly was, then Celestia had a day, perhaps even hours before the storm erased the effort that she had gone through. Luna made for her chambers, where she grabbed a quill and parchment, before jotting a quick note to Celestia and whisking it away with a flash of magic. Moving to her balcony, Luna marveled at the expanse of stars, peeking through the occasional cloud, but disappearing behind a looming shape in the sky miles away. With a gasp, Luna realized it was the thunderhead, but it appeared to be larger than Cloudsdale itself! The mass floated there, light emanating from the occasional lightning bolt, showing the supercell in all its glory. 

Luna gulped down a hefty lump in her throat, her nerves straining to figure out a solution to her issue, before the storm took Ponyville's memory to its grave. She thought about taking on the supercell herself, but she remembered the last time she had attempted storm-breaking, and its effects on her ethereal mane. She shuddered, and gazed in the direction of Ponyville, the town darkened as it had been for a week now. Hundreds of lives had been lost, and were being painstakingly recovered, and yet, fate saw to it that their grand restoration be halted at every corner. From pesky zebras to fanatic pegasi, Celestia's burden only grew with each day. Luna could only hope that Celestia had received her letter, her thoughts drifting to calmer times as she awaited her guard detail's arrival. 





In the darkened rooms of Town Hall, a small note fluttered to the floor, landing amidst a slightly-dried puddle, the crimson liquid seeping into the parchment and erasing the fateful warning held within. A gentle breeze wafted through the window, its intensity picking up as the air shifted to a more unstable pressure. Animals were beginning to burrow and take shelter as the sky grew steadily darker, brief rumbles of thunder echoing across the mountain valley as the skies clouded over. 

Four ponies rested on the floor of Town Hall, their chests rising and falling as their bodies readjusted to living once again. Their hooves nearly touched each other, their bodies lay haphazardly on the carpet as the breeze shifted their manes. Rainbow Dash and Rarity lay on Celestia's left, while Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy lay to her right, the alicorn making up the focus of their circle. The five ponies slept peacefully, whilst the skies outside roiled about in frothing anger. 

The winds increased, followed by the pitter of raindrops on the roof. A stray drop fell through the open window, making its way to the face of Twilight Sparkle, causing the mare to shift about in discomfort. Another drop landed upon her nose, and she sniffled a bit. The rain picked up, a third drop alighting on her eyelids, the splash of the cold water shocking the nerves into responding. Twilight's left eye cracked open, the raindrops falling consistently onto her head, rousing her from her dreamless slumber. Her right eye followed, bringing the mare her vision after she had removed it forcibly a week earlier. Her vision restored, and brain beginning to signal her synapses to respond, Twilight took in the sight around her. She lay in a darkened room, her body tingling as though her circulation had been cut off, and directly in front of her lay the shredded remains of Pinkie Pie, her muzzle's deflated shape and soulless black eyes staring directly at her. The newly-reformed mare blanched, before letting out a veritable screech. "AAAAAAHHH!"

Celestia shot awake, the storm's rains beginning to reach her as they traveled through the window. Her heart was racing, and her dreams had just been ruined when Twilight screamed. She sat there, processing the thought, before her mind caught up and her heart stopped. Twilight screamed. Not a cough, or a gasp, a full yell. She lit her horn, the sudden light blinding her as she struggled to regain sight. When the spots cleared from her vision, two things became clear to the Princess of the Sun. One, her faithful student was awake. Two, said faithful student's face was staring right back at her. The Princess felt her heart struggling to beat as she faced what she had only dreamed of. Reaching a hoof out tentatively, Celestia touched Twilight, the feeling of her hair and warmth filling her with delight. The unicorn responded by reaching out a forehoof and touching Celestia back. Silence permeated the environment as the two stared each other down under the glow of Celestia's magic. Suddenly, the alicorn flung herself at the unicorn mare, taking her wings and wrapping them around her, threatening to never let go again. Her student's warmth filled her with a sense of hope and a feeling of accomplishment, her tears running freely into Twilight's mane as she cried. Tears of joy rained down Celestia's face, but she was interrupted by the feeling of Twilight's hooves trying to push her away. Looking down, she saw a look of utter horror on the unicorn's face as she beheld her 'attacker', wide-eyed and shivering. The poor dear was terrified, and Celestia froze up, her heart sinking as she made a realization. The restoration applied to the body, not the mind, and Celestia noticed Twilight's apprehension to direct contact that she hadn't had before. Pushing herself away, Twilight stood shakily, before opening her mouth, only for a small grumble to come out. She tried again, heaving and pushing, as though to evict some foreign body, but only grunts and sighs came from her efforts. No matter what she did, Twilight Sparkle could not talk. Her mind attempted to access the language she had known for years, but it could not, and she, as such, could not speak, only point fitfully at her throat, then at her mouth as the grunts came out angrier and angrier. 

Celestia remembered to breathe, taking a deep breath and letting it out, before trying to bridge the gap. "Do...Do you know who you are?" Celestia asked. Twilight shook her head, and held a look of apprehension about her. "Do you know who I am?" A shake of her head, and Celestia's worst fears were confirmed:

Twilight's body lived, but her memories and mind had died that fateful day with the rest of her, and no spell could restore a soul to its body once torn asunder. For all intents and purposes, Celestia's grand restoration had run aground. This time, however, Celestia couldn't see a solution in the future that didn't condemn her subjects to living in empty husks, wandering about aimlessly, minds blank as the scars that bound them together. She couldn't think straight, and Twilight began to shiver in fear. "You are Twilight Sparkle. You are the Element of Magic, and my personal protégé. You condemned this town to a fate of rubbery shreds, and as such, I have restored you. You are the sister of Shining Armor, and the daughter of Night Light and Twilight Velvet. Do any of these sound familiar to you?" Celestia explained, hoping that one of the names would spark her memory, but to no avail, the mare sat clueless. Placing a hoof on her forehead, and gazing out at the storm that had begun to blow over the town, Celestia began to recount the life of her faithful student, in hopes that she regained memory. Minutes became hours as Celestia explained, and Twilight listened. The pair sat through the night, the alicorn regaling over fond memories as Twilight sat looking perplexed, as though trying to piece together a puzzle. Soon, the night found the two laying side by side, Celestia's wing draped over her protégé like years past. 

The dawn would break over two ponies, their hearts warm with companionship, and smiles full of compassion for the other. The two slept, unaware as to the storm looming overhead, its clouds as black as the hearts of its creators. 

The Flood had arrived, and its cleansing had begun.