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// Chapter 4: Unbreakable Vertigo 
// Story: Friendship is a Quantum Infinite 
// by angelicoreXX 
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	Twilight Sparkle and Twyla sat aboard the colorful locomotive as it chugged back to Ponyville just in time to be greeted by the rising sun. A few hours still awaited them down the mountainside, and so they got an early start at pouring themselves into the many tomes Princess Celestia had provided for them.
Twilight would’ve preferred to have made it back home the night before, but she had that obnoxious Trixie to thank for them missing the last train out of Canterlot. Although she had to admit, it was rather entertaining to put that bigheaded showoff in her place for once. She smiled at the thought. It wasn’t quite her style, but the bit involving the candy apple was particularly amusing.
Twyla caught the pony’s little giggle, “You know, I don’t think I would’ve been very impressed with ‘pony’ magic had you not showed up last night.”
“I don’t think I’m really stage material honestly.” The unicorn chuckled.
“You certainly could’ve fooled the audience, that’s for sure. Anyways, so does your Princess give you this much material every time you visit?”
Twilight brought out one of the larger books from her saddle pack with a hint of magic and sat it in her lap, “The Princess was concerned about something, something pretty major.” She couldn’t help but feel reluctant in telling her friend what the Princess had mentioned about Twyla’s world, “T-The Princess said that you guys might be in danger. She couldn’t explain why or how, but she definitely had a bad feeling about all this.”
Twyla raised a brow, “Who would have anything against us?”
“Have you guys ever made any enemies in your world? I can’t imagine who in Equestria would have anything against you. You’ve only been here for a couple of days.”
Twyla smirked, “New York City’s filled with a lot of angry and impatient people, but I don’t think I’ve ever made someone angry enough to want to kill me...”
“New York City?”
“Yeah, it’s where we’re from exactly. It’s a pretty interesting place filled with all kinds of people from all walks of life.” Twyla leaned her elbow against the window pane, gazing out at the shifting mountains, “It’s a tough place to live, but I grew up there and it’s my home. I don’t think I could ever live anywhere else.”
Twilight listened intently. She had spent so much time introducing her new friend to Equestria that she hadn’t really gotten a chance to hear about their world.
“Although to be honest… I’m honestly not even sure whether I want to go back anymore.”
“Well why wouldn’t you? It’s your home isn’t it?”
Twyla bit her lip. She knew it was a childish thing to say, but she had no idea what to expect when she got back, if she ever did. This new world felt like such a blissfully ignorant vacation, “Well, i-it’s not that I don’t want to go back. It’s just that-”
“Listen, I’m sure your school will understand what’s happened to you.”
“Oh right, ‘Hey there Mr. Public School Board Director! Yeah, sorry I missed work for so long. I got sent into another dimension filled with magical ponies is all. My Bad!’”
“Well…” Condescension aside, Twilight did understand how silly that might’ve been to other humans.
“And even if I did go back, I’d probably have already lost everything. I’d be fired and I wouldn’t be able to pay for my mortgage or my car.”
“Well, maybe you could get another job…?”
Twyla wanted to shout down such a premise, but knew the pony just didn’t understand, “It just doesn’t work that way… I’ve worked so hard to get to where I am.” She sighed, “Before I left, they were cutting our budget left and right. A few teachers had been laid off just last week alone. I’d be easy pickings at this rate. I still can’t even call in and make up some nonsense as to why I haven’t shown up for class.” Twyla flashed her Android phone, which was still completely dead. She wondered why she hadn’t just thrown the useless piece of junk out of the rail car window by now, “And now I apparently have some stalker who ‘might’ want to assassinate me and my friends?”
Twilight winced, unable to comprehend her friend’s plight. If she could give Twyla the universe, she would, “Listen Twyla. I can’t tell you what to expect back in your world, and I won’t pretend to understand what it’s like there. What I do know is that your more than just a dimensional clone of me, you’re my friend, and as long as you’re stuck here in Equestria you’ll have a place to call home.”
As uneasy as she was, that line was just enough to break a smile out of Twyla, “Equestria just isn’t good enough for you, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Again, we’re terribly sorry about throwing you out the other day, if there’s anything we can do for you while you’re here, just name it.” Mr. and Mrs. Cake were doing their best to apologize while at the same zipping all over their bakery.  There was another big order for the day and the final touches to their client’s wedding cake would have to wait until its arrival.
Piper giggled cheerfully, “Oh, that’s alright, I probably would’ve done the same thing had I seen some extra tall fella’ run into my bakery and start scarfing down all my treats.” It was the understatement of the year, but that was all in the past now, “The least I can do is help out around your bakery to make up for all that.”
“Oh yeah, Piper really knows her way around cake icing! In more ways than one.” Pinkie Pie let out a hearty laugh.
The Cakes’ barely had time to hear the details, but as long as Piper was taking a burden off of the daily workload, then they were even, “Just make sure not to get into any trouble, please!”
“We’ll be back by the end of the night, you two. Have fun! And please try to keep an eye on the twins!”
“Okie Dokie!” Pinkie waved as about a dozen supplies and a fairly large cake box left the bakery. She turned around to Piper, “So! How big should it be?”
Piper was still unsure just how far to go, “It should probably be medium sized at most. Fiona’s a pretty light eater. She really likes apples though, so we should probably go heavy on the cinnamon and vanilla pudding before Applejack arrives with a special batch.”
The little pony couldn’t help but bob in anticipation, her mind darting through the possible recipes as she licked her lips, “How about some chocolate tops too?! Oh gosh I love chocolate. I got such a hankering for chocolate right now!”
“Ooh! That’s a great idea! Maybe a layer of chocolate in between the pudding to hold together all the apple slices. Fiona’s gonna’ love this so much!” Such a delicious idea was the best Piper could do to keep her mind off of what might befall Fiona later that day. Her friend might’ve been out of the clutches of a dragon but she wasn’t quite out of the woods yet. A leg amputation was honestly a tad too nightmarish for Piper to handle, so she hadn’t bothered informing Pinkie Pie about it just yet.

Pinkie Pie cracked a few eggs and threw the yellows into a bowl filled with probably too much flour. She began beating with her favorite wooden spoon. Even during such circumstances, Pinkie couldn’t help but carry a huge grin. Somewhere out there was a frown and she was going to turn it upside down with a delicious treat. 
Piper had begun occupying herself with mixing the vanilla pudding. Her smile didn’t come as naturally as Pinkie’s. At least Fiona was alive, but to face the eventual bone saw was an unbearable thought. However, she knew the others were going to need all the moral support they could find and Piper had to be there to deliver.
The thought of Twyla returning from her trip to see Fiona in a wheelchair almost threw her over the edge, but she beat those emotions into the bowl of pudding below her. This was no time to feel down in the dumps. There would be plenty of time for that later, and it would be up to Piper to provide all the comfort.

The ingredients were beginning to come together, although the kitchen had certainly become a mess.
A few cries from upstairs had caught Pinkie’s ear, “Oh! It’s the twins. Looks like they’re getting a little hungry. I’ll be right back in a few, alright?”
Piper nodded silently.
She didn’t have to say a thing. Pinkie could easily see through Piper’s front and knew the whole situation was tugging on the poor girl’s heart strings. She didn’t know all the details, but understood how serious all of this was. Pinkie glanced over as the girl practically snapped the mixing spoon over her bowl. Pinkie tried her best to come up with something reassuring to say, but cried for food upstairs had her galloping off with a couple of bottles of milk before she could think of anything.
Not even a minute had gone by before the back door opened.
“Heya’ Piper, how’s that cake coming?” it was Applejack and Aprile, who carried in a basket filled with fresh apples.
Piper turned about to greet them with the most gracious smile she’d ever worn. Unfortunately she forgot to close off her tear ducts, “Hey Aprile! How’s it going Applejack?”
Aprile all but dropped the apples all over the floor, “Oh sugar, it’s gonna’ be alright, get over here…” she ran over and gave Piper a big hug, who was still trying to pretend as if she wasn’t crying at all.
“I-I’m okay, really.” She was never a very good liar and Aprile knew it.
“I know this is hard, but we gotta’ be tough for Fiona, hun’.” Applejack gathered the apples and laid them out across the table. She wondered how it would’ve been possible for humans to get around with only one leg. A pony would’ve had at least three more, although it was still considered a death sentence in Equestria. She grabbed a knife and began dicing her apples into crescents. Applejack couldn’t help but tremble as she made the first chop.

Fiona clenched her teeth and groaned in pain. The muscles in her leg hadn’t gotten any real stimulation since the incident, and needed all the treatment it could get if it wanted to remain in tact. The venom had destroyed most of the tissue and by this point her leg had become more of a burden more than anything else.
Ditzy assisted a nurse in trying to encourage the muscles as best they could, anything to promote blood flow at this point. A bend at the knee joint, again at the ankle, a swivel and the process repeated again. The sensation of a thousand needle pricks stabbing into Fiona’s leg came in unending waves.
“She… She’ll be fine right? She’ll walk again right?” Ditzy stammered as she held up Fiona’s ankle.
The nurse had checked her clipboard at least seven times that morning. Hoping somewhere in it there’d be something different, something she’d missed, at least some glimmer of hope, but the inevitable fate remained the same. She just didn’t have any good answers for Ditzy.
Fiona had no idea how she was going to take care of all her pets back home. Simply giving them away was out of the question and there was definitely no room for them at the animal shelter. How would she feed them? How would she clean their tanks and cages? How would she even groom them or give them walks? The thought of actually ‘living’ at very best in a wheelchair still hadn’t crossed her mind, bless her heart.
“I have to get some oils for her leg muscles. I’ll be back in a few minutes, alright?”
Ditzy somberly nodded and the nurse exited the room.
“Well, uhm, at least you’ll be able to take those bandages off your eyes soon…” Ditzy was ready to smack herself over the head for spouting such nonsense, but it was the only optimistic straw she had to grasp at.
Fiona sighed, “My biggest concerns are all my pets. I have so many of them and I’ll probably have to give a good portion of them away. Looking for good homes for each of them is going to be next to impossible at this rate…”
“How can you even think about any of that yet? What about you?! You’ve got your whole life ahead of you and now…”
The girl smirked, “It’s not that big of a deal, my pets are what-”
“Not a big deal?! They’re going to take one of your… legs!”
Fiona was the last person to put herself before anything. The concept of her own livelihood was lost on her, at least for the moment, “As long as everyone else is okay, I’ll be happy.”
“B-But!”
The door suddenly flew open and a tiny purple dragon scampered in, “Fiona! I have a message for you from the Princess!”
“The Princess? There’s a Princess here? Oh dear.”
“Can’t you see she’s temporarily blind? Gime’ that!” Ditzy snatched away the scroll from Spike. She attempted to awkwardly read it until a small vial fell into her hoof, “Hmm, ‘Cheese give wish… to your deer… fried. Have her bake it… as soon as… passable?’ That’s weird, none of that makes any sense.” It wasn’t quite Ditzy’s reading comprehension that was in question here. It was, well, Princess Celestia’s fancy writing? Yeah, we’ll go with that.
“What is it Ditzy?” Fiona asked from her bed.
“It’s a vial of some weird pink liquid. It says… ‘care’…?”
“It says ‘cure’ Ditzy! Just give it to her!” Spike interjected, snatching the container back from the Pegasus. He waddled over to Fiona, “Princess Celestia, the Princess of all Equestria wants you to take this. It’ll probably make you feel a whole lot better if you do.”
Fiona went to grab the vial but for obvious reasons couldn’t quite find it. She needed a bit of help from Spike, and finally got around to thumbing the cork loose, “Well, I guess if the Princess says I should, then it’s okay.”
“Shouldn’t we make sure it’s alright with the nurse?” the gray pony asked.
“But Ditzy, it’s the Princess! The Princess said I should. So it must be pretty important!”
“Oh, well, I guess when you put it that way.”
Spike couldn’t understand how either of them even knew how to breathe, let alone process cognitive thought.

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash kept the hospital doors open as Aprile and Raine shuffled in a cake that at some point had gone far over budget. Regina and Rarity, as well as Pinkie Pie and Piper made their way to meet a completely bewildered hospital administrator.
“I-Is that for a patient’s birthday?”
“Uhm, totally!” Piper blurted.
“But Fiona’s birthday isn’t for another forty-nine days.” Corrected Pinkie.
“Please excuse us. This is for our dear friend Fiona, who’s going through a rough time right now. We’re just here to cheer her up is all.” Regina pleaded.
Aprile and Raine were too busy trying to find a place to rest the enormous cake. The thing was at least a couple of feet tall.
“Wasn’t this supposed to be ‘medium’ sized?” Aprile complained.
“This has to be extra special for Fiona! Don’t you dare complain!” Piper snarled.
Raine was extremely tempted to sneak a finger’s full of cream off the brim, but Piper slapped it away while Pinkie giggled.
The administrator rummaged throughout the lobby for a distraction, “Uh, well, I’m sorry but-”
A pony clad in a doctor’s coat soon barged in, “We can’t find the human anywhere!”
The entire lobby gasped, and a rather wobbly cake almost toppled over.
“What do you mean you can’t find her?!” Dash cried.
“I say! What kind of hospital loses track of their patients?” scowled Rarity.
The lobby was soon overwhelmed with complaints. The doctor would’ve been surprised if a riot hadn’t taken over the hospital.
“Where was she last? Was she in her room? That is, if you don’t mind telling us.” Pardoned Fluttershy.

There was a peaceful breeze about, Ditzy could see most of Ponyville from so high above, “The nurse said we could take the bandages off earlier. You ready Fiona?”
Fiona happily nodded as the little purple dragon finally crawled up to the top of the roof from the open window below, “I got it!”
Spike slowly unwrapped her bandages. Dressing by dressing, her eyes filled with light until finally she could see the blue sky above guided by a dazzling rainbow. Fiona could feel the gritty concrete and a couple of pebbles in between her toes as she walked towards the edge of the hospital rooftop. That’s right, she walked, and perched her arms against the railing as she gazed out over Ponyville. Fiona had the perkiest smile on her wide eyed face as the wind blew through her tangled pink hair.
She was so happy that she wanted to cry, having had already accepted her dismal fate beforehand. She hadn’t expected such a gift from a Princess that she had never even met, but to say she was overcome with gratitude was the understatement of the century.
Spike couldn’t help but feel happy for the girl, relieved he had gotten here in time.
Ditzy fluttered over, “I’m really glad that you’re okay, Fiona. If it wasn’t for the Princess…”
Fiona ruffled the little pony’s blonde mane, “Well, knowing that you felt better certainly raised my spirits too you know.” Assuming was one thing, but finally seeing Ditzy’s smile crawl out of the gloom from the day before filled Fiona’s heart with joy, possibly even more so than getting to keep her leg.
The Pegasus couldn’t help it and threw herself at the girl for a hug.
The door to the rooftop exit cracked and Raine peered out just in time to see her good friend actually standing on both legs. She let out a scream and dashed over nearly taking the girl off of her feet. 	Aprile nearly dropped the entire cake without the stunt pilot’s help.
“Oh, hi there, Raine.” Fiona greeted.
“Don’t you ‘hi there’ me! You’re okay! I can’t believe it! I thought they were gonna’ cut you up?!” She ruffled Fiona’s hair, literally ecstatic.
The others collectively gasped out of culture shock, wondering how such a turnabout was possible.
“How in the world?!” Regina cried.
The other ponies and humans soon flooded the rooftop, along with a couple of annoyed but incredibly confused nurses. Fiona explained the entire thing to the wonder of both her old and new friends alike, and was soon consumed in the embrace of every one of them. By this point, it might have very well been X-mas morning.
Aprile finally found a spot to put down her delicious burden and soon enough slices were going in every direction. What had once been a somber ‘Get well soon’ cake had now become part of a celebration, and a delightful one at that.
Piper and Pinkie Pie’s cake was fabulously scrumptious. A soft blend of creamy vanilla cake filling and crisp apple held up a stratum of thick chocolate cookie mix pancaking an entire layer of vanilla and cinnamon pudding. The pattern had repeated at least three times throughout the chocolate covered guilty pleasure. Adorned against the railing of highest layer was a maw of apple crescents held up by chocolate gums. Sitting like a trophy at the very center laid a batch of caramel covered candy apples. Calories be damned, this monster was going down one way or another.
The two bakers also had a special treat for Ditzy Doo. As per Fiona’s request, they came up with an especially large blueberry cream filled muffin just for the little gray Pegasus.
Ditzy’s crooked eyes glowed, “Oh wow! You-You guys didn’t have to-”
“Of course we did silly!” Pinkie smiled.
“We wanted to make sure you weren’t in the dumps anymore. Couldn’t very well leave you out of this, now could we?” Piper winked.
“You deserved it, Ditzy. The way you saved me from that dragon was amazing! It could’ve been a lot worse if you hadn’t showed up when you did. I only wish that I could’ve helped bake it for you.” Fiona took a tiny bite out of her slice of cake as her taste buds suffered a seizure.
Ditzy gave a warm smile, “Y-You guys are the best!”
“Oh gosh! This is absolutely scrumptious! Thank you all!” It had probably been the best cake Fiona had ever tasted, easily rivaling the one she had tried at Pinkie Pie’s welcome party.
Fluttershy nodded in agreement, gulping down a mouthful of candy apple.
Piper’s cheeks hued to match her pink hair, “Oh, It was nothing.”
“Nothing? This is amazing!” Rainbow Dash cried, woofing a slice of cake down Piper’s gullet, “You and Pinkie did an amazing job!”
Pinkie Pie giggled, “She really is the spitting image of me, isn’t she? I think she’s even better at baking than I am!”
“With all the ways the Apple family’s cooked up apple recipes, I don’t think anything’s come close to this!” Applejack really had to tip her hat to the two bakers, but not before gobbling down another chocolate and pudding covered slice of apple.
“Either way, we’ll definitely need to take home a sample of the leftovers for later.” Rarity added, “I’m sure my little Sweetie Belle would love a slice.”
Piper had to keep a lid on her emotions. She was so filled with joy that she wanted to scream as hard as she could, but understood that it might spoil the mood. She wasn’t used to getting such praise either, but seeing all of the bright smiles on her friend’s faces made it all worth it, especially Fiona’s.
Rainbow Dash floated over to Ditzy with a candy apple that she had made sure to save just for the gray Pegasus, “Hey Derp, I mean, Ditzy. I just wanted to apologize for lumpin’ ya’ over the noggin the other day. I should’ve played it cool. We’re still good right?”
“Oh! Of course, Dashie, it’s no biggie. We’re good.” Ditzy accepted the peace offering and gave the blue pony a hoof bump.
There wasn’t a single frown or hint of neither fear nor worry on the hospital rooftop that day, only chocolate covered smiles, friendly laughs and sunshine under a brilliant rainbow that only Rainbow Dash herself could’ve made.

The same rainbow caught the attention of Princess Celestia herself. She trotted onto the balcony of her personal tower and giggled softly, “I hope they leave enough cake for Twilight Sparkle and Twyla.” Celestia rolled up the letter she had received from Spike and stored it away with an entire series of other manuscripts she had gathered from Ponyville. Although the Princess couldn’t have been more relieved that her reply got to Fiona in time, the ultimate truth was that the future couldn’t afford to not have Fiona around. She immediately regretted the thought, assuring herself that she would’ve done the same either way, but the circumstances could no longer be ignored. Not a single one of her agents had reported since she sent Twilight Sparkle on her way back to Ponyville.

Speaking of eggheads, Twilight and her companion were buried deep within the pages of Celestia’s homework. The train chugged along and a sign caught the corner of Twyla’s eye. It had already been quite some time since they had left the snowy Klondikes of Canterlot, and it wouldn’t be long now until they returned home.
“So uhm, what exactly are these Elements of Harmony anyway?” Twyla’s current study dealt with the last few alchemists and sorcerers of old who had crafted them out of desperation, but there wasn’t actually a whole lot within the text of what they had been used for.
The unicorn managed to pry herself out of the large book over her lap, “Technically, without their powers they’re just amulets, or adornments to be worn by their wielders, but with the power of friendship and magic, they can defeat even the mightiest of foes.”
“The power of friendship…?” It was like something out of a cheap Saturday morning children’s cartoon, “So I’d imagine that not just anyone could use these ‘Elements’ then could they? And what kind of elements are we talking about here?”
“I’ll admit it might sound a bit cheesy… but yes, and only a chosen few can actually use them. Princess Celestia and her sister Princess Luna harnessed their power long ago, and now the task has fallen upon us.” She through a page detailing the exact characteristics of the talismans, “They represent six important aspects of harmony, specifically Loyalty, Honesty, Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, and my personal favorite, Magic!”
“I think I can probably match whose element belongs to whom.” Twyla chuckled, “So have you ponies needed to use them often?”
“On a few unfortunate occasions, yes. Discord was one of the last adversaries we used them against, and even then it was a stroke of luck at that, but now with his powers in the hooves of another pony, I just don’t know what to think. It’s absolutely nerve wracking!” Twilight nearly dropped her book.
“Listen Twilight, if the powers of your ‘Elements of Harmony’ are based on the relationships you hold with your friends and those bonds were able to survive even Discord’s corruption, then you shouldn’t have anything to worry about. Especially if your friends are anything like mine.” Twyla closed her latest book and moved onto another, “Besides, we don’t even know what this imposter’s intentions are. It’s not like anything’s happened yet. For all we know it might just be some crazed pony that was out for revenge.”
Twilight sighed, “You’re probably right, I guess I’m just reading too far into this.” She closed her tome. Perhaps it was just her usual flavor of paranoia getting the best of her again? She certainly remembered what Discord was capable of. The entire affair was just too much to worry about, even if it was something as simple as payback. Either way, there was a spell in these manuscripts made out of dozens of other spells and the Princess needed her to study it. Whatever it was, it had to have been incredibly important and she was going to need as little distractions as possible to comprehend it.
The unicorn reached for another scroll and almost too conveniently, the entire train car shook with an ear splitting explosion. The two shrieked as they were sent flying through the car between shouts of shattered glass and heat.
Twyla landed against a bruised door at the other end of the train car, nearly having had her head taken off by a book. She slumped down against the wall just in time to catch the little unicorn in her lap. The train growled and swayed before finally coming to a screeching halt as dozens of torn pages floated to the floor.
“What in Equestria happened?!” Twilight cried as she leapt onto her hooves, a bit dazed from the rush.
Twyla grabbed the shaky doorknob above and managed to pull herself up to her feet, “Ugh, to think we were nearly home.” She groaned.
The two peered through the rail car’s door way before stumbling down onto the door itself. Smoldering chunks of gingerbread train wreckage littered the grassy road, it was some kind of disaster not meant for this world.
Twyla let out a cough as a talon of smoke stabbed through her lungs. They couldn’t quite believe the sight just a few feet behind them. Twilight nearly staggered off of what seemed like a cliff’s edge. It was a massive crater that had swallowed up the tracks and the rest of the flattened train. In fact, the blast had missed the two bookworms by exactly one car.
Twyla gasped, “W-What happened?! What do these t rains even run on?”
A stereotypical conductor galloped over, unable to fathom just what had happened to his beloved locomotive.
“T-There wasn’t anypony behind this car, was there?” Twilight asked.
“Fortunately not but there was a large supply of hay on its way to Appaloosa.” The conductor sighed, “What could’ve caused this?”
Twyla gazed down into the center of the burning crater as a terrible sensation began to sink into her gut. She gulped and whispered to her little friend, “Twilight, let’s get out of here. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
Twilight couldn’t have agreed more, gathering what was left of her books and scrolls and putting them away into her saddle pack.
Other befuddled and disheveled ponies stepped down from their sizzling train cars to collect themselves as the duo silently passed by. The train had been zigzagged from its tracks against a pile of crumbled remains and glass. It certainly wasn’t going anywhere soon and it was a wonder that no pony was actually killed in the mess. There had to have been some sort of lampoonish natural law that negated such an accident from turning into a bloody tragedy Twyla thought.
“We should probably hurry back to Ponyville… this was no accident.” Twilight whispered as they finally passed the engine. A nearby sign, which had been blown over completely, gave them a few more miles to go.
They had soon completely left the train wreck behind and followed the dotted line of tracks down the divided tree way. The forest around them was eerily quiet. For a stroll in the middle of the day, there wasn’t even as much as a bird’s chirp. The two were surrounded in an uneasy silence, that is, until a faint cackle echoed from the distance behind.
By now, the theory of ‘Pony out for revenge’ had been completely disproven. Twilight warily turned her head but the tracks were bare.
Twyla gulped, “W-What was that?”
Another corroded laugh ricocheted from what seemed like a few steps behind them.
The tone was unmistakable, but this was no Discord. It didn’t sound anything like him. It wasn’t in the chaotic spirit’s nature to enter into assassination attempts, but the thought was becoming more and more of a reality.
Twilight’s hooves shivered as the sick mockery continued, “Uhm, so uh, what was that device you had earlier?” A distracting conversation was the only thing she could think of as they fearfully wandered down the tracks.
Twyla felt like she was going to be swept up in a cow catcher at any moment, “Oh, uh, this old thing?” She managed to fumble out her Android, “It’s just a smart phone.”
“’Smart’ phone? Like a telephone? Wow, only the upper class wealthy ponies can afford those here. I thought you said you had money troubles?”
“These are pretty common. Just about every human on Earth has one.”
“Wow! Erm, but wait, there’s no wire. How does it even work?”
“Well, uh…” Twyla wasn’t sure now was such a good time to explain what satellites were, nor would she have felt right about exposing something like ‘the Internet’ to such an innocent society.
Another deep bellow came laughing from every corner this time.
The empty railroad behind them had long since whittled Twyla’s face pale, “I-I think it might be wise to start running.”
Twilight was already well ahead of her, in both thought and yards, “Come on!”
Twyla ran down the tracks like a mad woman as the cackles grew. She felt like she was being chased by the blackest of Tim Curry’s characters, complete with balloons and a negligee.
Her breathing quickened as she struggled to keep up with the unicorn, and just before she thought her heart was about to burst out of her chest, a set of long fangs burst from the rail spikes around her. Twyla screamed as several more teeth jabbed out of the tracks around her, matching every step she took.
The terrifying tusks jig sawed along each side of the railroad leading far ahead of Twilight’s desperate gallop, “Hurry!”
A loud crack rocked the ground below and the razor sharp tracks behind them slowly arched up high into the air like the uphill climb of a roller coaster. A weary shadow swept over the two, easily matching their pace, and began to double over onto itself as if it were a lizard’s tongue rolling up its prey.
Twyla managed to catch up to the unicorn and tackled her through a gap of fangs just before the jagged maw crashed down like a pair of snapping jaws.
Twyla landed at the base of a nearby tree with the pony in her arms. Dirt and slivers of timber tumbled down over them as the smoke finally cleared.
Another demonic chuckle finally departed back into thin air without even a pause for a villainous introduction.
Twilight had to hold her heart from beating its way out of her chest, “I-I think we need to get back to Ponyville as soon as possible, Twyla. This is getting kind of scary…”
Twyla crawled back against the tree, unable to take her petrified eyes off of the twisted wreckage before her.
“Twyla! Keep it together! I need you for this!” the pony cried.
Twyla could barely keep herself from shuddering, “B-But… I-I’m just a teacher! This is too much!!”
The unicorn’s magic lifted the girl to her feet and shoved her against the tree, “This is serious, Twyla! The Princess warned us about this! We need to warn the others and get this under control before anypony else gets hurt!”
Twyla finally caught her breath and wiped the sweat from her brow, “…Y-You’re right. You’re absolutely right. Okay, let’s go.” Her feet were still a bit shaky, but she took those first few steps for her friends if nothing else.  There was a long road ahead of them and there was no time to sit around suffocating in fear.

Half the day had already sunk into the horizon. Fiona had been let out of the hospital much earlier than expected by a surprisingly good bill of health, besides the tummy ache filled with cake of course. There were plenty of leftovers to go around after the picnic thanks to Piper’s gluttonous creativity.
Fluttershy and Fiona made it back to their cottage with a couple of boxes filled with happiness. The animals were definitely excited to see Fiona home in one piece but there was definitely a curiosity in their eyes over the scent of frosting dancing in the air.
“Well, I ought to get back to work, I’m sure the Pony Express is probably wondering where I’ve been.” Ditzy had escorted the two clones to their lodge under the guise of dragon insurance, but the time was mostly spent over smiles and laughs, “Bye Fluttershy! And take care of yourself Fiona. Thanks for everything!”
Fiona chuckled, “I should be thanking you if anything, but we should definitely do this again sometime. Good bye Ditzy!” they waved as the Pegasus cheerfully flew off.
“It’s been forever since I’ve seen Ditzy so happy like that.” Fluttershy smiled, and so did Fiona.

A soothing breeze crawled over a green pasture. There was not a cloud in the sky that day, to Rainbow Dash’s great appreciation.
Raine lounged on the fluffy grass with her hands behind her head while she gazed up at the beautiful blue above her. She sighed; an enormous burden had been lifted off of her shoulders. She considered Fiona to be her little sister, even though Fiona was a couple of years older than she was. Although Raine may have gotten her little fighter jet destroyed, the fact that Fiona was going to be fine was more than enough to make up for it.
A sudden gust knocked Raine out of her day dream, “So kid, I’m the best flyer in all of Equestria, and I guess I’m also pretty athletic and totally awesome as well. So there’s gotta’ be something you’re good at.” It was Rainbow Dash who had zipped over to scoff at her competition, “So what is it? You gonna’ bark little doggie?”
Raine smirked, “Well, if you got any closer, you’d find out.” She cracked her fingers.
Dash laughed, “You’d have to catch me first, and I don’t see any wings on you now do I?”
Raine sat up and tugged the collars of her aviator’s jacket with an overconfident grin, “I may not have any ‘real’ wings, birdbrain, but back home I’d leave you in the dust. You wouldn’t even stand a chance with those dinky canards of yours.”
“I’d doubt that! I’m one of the few Pegasi in history to ever perform a Sonic Rainboom!” Dash flexed a muscle.
Raine couldn’t help but spit up a laugh. It sounded like a drink at a gay club, not that she would’ve known the selection anyway, “Just what the heck is that?”
The blue Pegasus chuckled, “What? They haven’t broken the sound barrier in your world yet? Let me show you a thing or two, kid.” She darted off high into the stratosphere until she was little more than a speck, turned a bank to face the Earth below her, and floored it. Sparks began to fly as a jet stream shrieked around Dash until an explosion nearly sent Raine into a nearby bush. Dash bounced off a surging wave of brilliant rainbows and soared back into the sky. She painted the wild blue into a sea of colors that seemed to go on forever.
Raine couldn’t believe her eyes. It was the most beautiful radioactive blast she’d even seen, certainly the most vibrant. She thought they only came in well, the color of bone marrow, but apparently Equestria had never suffered through a nuclear winter before.
Raine managed to get up to her feet and dusted herself off, “Sheesh, that was awesome.”
Rainbow dashed back over, “Impressive huh?”
The human had just enough time to adjust her poker face, “Decent, I guess. You’re a tad late though. We humans broke the sound barrier over half a century ago.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure you went pretty fast off your cliffs in your cute little kites there, kiddo.” Dash laughed.
Raine really wanted to ring the throat of the little attention horse.
“Oh, by the way, I found something kind of weird while I was flying around, you know, being all awesome. Wanna’ come check it out with me?”
Raine spit into the grass beside her, “Yeah, whatever. Let’s go, pipsqueak.”
Dash proudly snickered.

Eventually, the two dare devils found their way into a hidden culdesac cordoned off by a row of trees.
“Weird huh? I’ve never seen anything like it.” Rainbow Dash remarked, “At least whoever painted it had some good taste.”
Raine’s jaw dropped, it was a logical impossibility.
“You feeling alright there, kid?”
Standing before Raine, utterly glowing in heavenly lights was her beloved Russian Mig-15 stunt plane. As if it was on stage at the National Museum of Aviation, the aircraft postured in the cleanest and most pristine shape it had ever been in. The intake at the beak of the bird streamed outwards into a flame of rainbows that eventually dulled into a sky blue towards the tail fin, just like the day she had gotten it painted.
“Spitfire!” she scrambled over and gave the fuselage a big hug.
“Spitfire? That’s not Spitfire!” Dash flew over to inspect the strange contraption.
“No, its name is Spitfire. Get it? Because if I was in World War Two, they’d call me Spitfire?” her taste in music was excellent but her history needed some work, “This was my old stunt plane back home. I’m not sure how it got here considering I crashed- Erm, considering I left it back home and all.”
“What was that last part? And just what the hay is a ‘plane’?”
Raine laughed and ruffled the pony’s colorful mane, “Oh Dashie, you’re about to get schooled on what it’s like to really fly. Just give me a second to go over a few flight checks and you’ll see what I mean.” There was no way she was going to let that embarrassing little accident happen again this time. Raine inspected every inch of the aircraft. Surprisingly enough, everything was in top shape. It even had fuel in it this time.
Rainbow crossed her hooves and hmpfed, wondering how such a stupid looking machine could even get off the ground. Sure, it had wings, but it was just too big and was probably inefficient as all hay.
Raine didn’t understand how or why it was here, but she wasn’t about to give up the chance to make that blue Pegasus look like a turkey. She undid the latch and lifted open the cockpit window, “Oh man, it feels so good to get a look at you again, Spitfire. You’re looking as delicious as ever, baby!” 	
The interior was about as spotless as the day it had rolled out of its Soviet production line, to which Dash nearly gagged over the girl’s awkward attraction to the contrivance.
Twyla probably would’ve called this what it clearly was, a trap of some sort, but that egghead wasn’t here unfortunately. What would she know about performing an inverted Lazy Eight anyway?
“So you’re expecting me to believe that this thing can actually fly?” Dash prodded.
Raine climbed into the pilot’s seat, “It’s an airplane ya’ goofball. Of course it can fly. I’ve won hundreds of races with this baby!” She had to hide her stutter just to get that last line out, “We humans don’t have wings after all. So we use these machines to fly through the sky at supersonic speeds.” She took up a pair of goggles and tightened them over her face, “Thousands of years of human dreams and ingenuity have led up to this moment. Oh, and uh, unless you want to know what it’s like to be a fried chicken, I wouldn’t stand anywhere near the front of this thing, or for that matter the back either.”
The fact that the aircraft even came with its flight key in the ignition still hadn’t given Raine a second guess. Without even a thought, she turned it and activated the jet’s engine. The turbine screamed to life, startling every creature in the area. She revved the throttle a bit while a golden flame roared out the fighter jet’s tail end.
Raine hung her elbow outside the cockpit window and darted a lazy brow at the Pegasus, “So you think you’re fast huh?” she revved the Mig’s engines for good measure, and damn did it feel hot.
Dash couldn’t help but feel a bit intimidated by something so incredibly loud, “What?!”
“Aw, sorry, that too much for you?” Raine laughed. She pointed at herself, then at the Pegasus, and then finally ahead of them, to which Dash was just smart enough to figure out what she meant.
The jet shrieked a bit louder until it began to taxi down the grassy knoll. Raine closed the canopy and cracked her neck. Like some overpowered berserker twink about to grief a spawn entrance, this was going to be far too satisfying.
The colorful stunt plane made a turn to face a convenient green runway. Raine stretched the wing flaps and cooked the afterburner. Her heart was pounding just like old times, and she loved the feeling.
The blue Pegasus stood just a few yards away from the jet’s wingtip. She cracked her legs and wings and ducked her head low, ready to dash off. She glanced over to the aircraft’s cockpit to which Raine waved and made a countdown with her fingers.
Three, two, and one.
Rainbow Dash might as well of left the starting line with a Sonic Rainboom, because within seconds she was already miles ahead of the human. The rainbow colored stunt plane rumbled down the field, scrambled with obscenities to catch up to the little pony, but it eventually took off.
All that remained of the Pegasus was a colorful spark in the distance. Raine gritted her teeth and gave it all she got. There was no way in bloody hell that she was going to lose to a flying marshmallow.

Rainbow Dash laughed as she flew effortlessly through the clouds, “Humans must not get around much if they call that flying. This kid’s got a lot to learn.”
All of a sudden she felt a mild heat cooking her wing tips, “What the hoof?” She looked all around her, and finally discovered the culprit just below.
Raine waved from her cockpit window with the cheekiest grin on her face before rocketing off into the blue abyss ahead.
The thrust sent Dash for a few loops, “Why that little-!” The Pegasus managed to catch herself and darted down the contrail, flushing through the water vapor with an array of stunning colors.
For Raine, this was probably the best day of her life. Fiona got to keep her leg and she was back in the air again. Raine may have been dropped by every one of those sponsors after that embarrassing race, but the only backing she ever really needed was the open sky itself.
Raine licked her lips and corkscrewed the little Mig-15 into a barrel roll that punctured right through a big cloud.  The cloud lightly sparked, tangling the fighter jet’s tail fin in a few arms of lightning that Raine was too busy to even notice.
Rainbow Dash, being the expert weather forecaster that she was, knew a bad cloud when she saw one and quickly avoided the rebellious floater. She wasn’t about to lose to some handicapable flying ape.
Raine cranked up the speed and pushed Spitfire to her very limits. There it was, that sexy rumbling G-force that she had missed so much. She held back her joystick, digging her nails back into the scars in her palms. She was at top speed and never wanted to let go of that throttle ever again.
Dash gnashed her teeth and snapped through another Sonic Rainboom which was almost enough to catch up to the jet. She could nearly reach out her hoof and grab a wing tip, but even Equestria’s best flyer just couldn’t surpass the human dream.

The two roared over Ponyville, popping a few windows in the wakes of their individual vapor and rainbow trails.
Ditzy had just been on her way to the Pony Express office when she found herself tumbling into a haystack by the incoming combined sonic booms. 
She cleared the hay twigs out of her blonde mane, “Was that… Rainbow Dash…?”

It was probably the longest time Dash had ever continuously flown at such a speed. She clenched her teeth, unsure of how much longer gravity would allow her to hold her hooves out into the burning ether. It felt as if her wings were about to tear right off her body.
Dash managed to glance over at the fighter jet just in time to see Raine shooting her a raspberry through the cockpit window, only to be cut off by the aircraft taking a hard tumble.
The maneuver had nearly bitten her tongue clean off. Raine struggled to level off the jet but her demands went ignored, “Gah! What’s going on? Don’t do this to me Spitfire!!” The little jet went into a nose dive before correcting itself all on its own.
Rainbow Dash had no choice but to let a cloud stop her Sonic Rainboom. It definitely took more than a few clouds but she eventually came to a halt and finally got a chance to catch her breath. She swept the sweat from her brow and turned her head, “Just what in Equestria is she doing? She’s going to get herself killed pulling a stunt like that!” she didn’t exactly have a lot of stamina left, but took off after the runaway fighter pilot.
Meanwhile, the very cockpit in question had become stifled in curses. The Mig changed course and hurtled itself through a series of apple fields, just barely inching itself over the tree tops.

Applebloom was on her way back to the barn with a barrel of tasty apples for the others, when a shriek sent her batch tumbling in every direction, along with the little filly herself, “W-What in tarnation’s was that?!” She picked herself back up just in time to see the Sweet Apple Acres farm sign yank itself right off of its hinges as the speed demon finally pulled up. Following close behind was a slightly more considerate rainbow.
“Just what the heck is that featherhead up to?” the filly huffed as she looked the collection of apples before her. She was just about to gather them up again until they began to wobble and rolled away from her bucket. Applebloom could barely keep herself standing as the dirt tremored beneath her hooves, “Now what?!” The filly turned around only to witness their precious apple fields becoming consumed by a panicked tide of thundering hooves.
With a gasp, she frantically ran back to the barn as quickly as she could.

For whatever reason, the stunt plane had calmed itself. It took some effort, but Rainbow Dash managed to reach the canopy. She banged a hoof over the fiberglass pane, “What’re you doing?!” she shouted, managing to unhook and open the window. Dash was met by a symphony of expletives completely unknown by Equestrian dictionaries.
“Are you trying to get somepony killed?!” Rainbow shouted.
“It isn’t me!” Raine yelled, “The things totally unresponsive! It’s doing whatever it wants on its own! See? I’m not even holding the stick!” she honestly wasn’t, and the fighter jet agreed by making a hard bank to the left and diving into a barrel roll, doing its best to shake off the little blue Pegasus.
Dash would’ve easily lost her grip and met a fiery fate at the behest of the afterburner had Raine not grabbed onto her hoof and yanked her into the cockpit. The canopy snapped shut over the two.
“Are you crazy?! Where did you learn how to fly?!” Dash shouted, easing herself to the side of Raine’s lap.
“I told you! It isn’t me. It’s flying on its own. I’ve been trying everything I can think of but it won’t respond!”
“How do you lose control of something like this?! Leave it up to a ‘human’ to overcomplicate ‘flight’!”
“Oh shut up already!” Raine struggled to motion something out of the flight stick but there was still no answer. The instrument panel had gone totally bonkers, as if infected by some sort of pre-modern era virus.
The pony noticed a blinking red light with a nob at the end of the console, “Maybe it’s this?”
“Don’t touch anything!!” Raine cried, but Dash hoofed the radio module anyway.
A buzzing white noise wavered for a few seconds until a demonic snicker began to fill the airways.
Raine’s face turned a faint shade of gray and she slammed the radio console with her fist, killing any chance of getting another frequency, “I said don’t touch anything, damnit!”
The stunt plane wandered aimlessly for a few more moments before changing direction. It made a soft pitch to the left and swooped down almost plowing itself into a nearby river path. The cockpit filled with buzzing lights and blared warnings. What lay ahead filled the two with dread.
“Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!” Dash stammered.
“Would you shut your yap already!”
“Look! It’s going to crash into the dam!” Rainbow cried, “It’ll destroy the entire town!”
Raine practically chewed her own lip off, ready to rip the goddamned plane in two, “Damnit! Damnit! Damnit!!” she wailed all over the flight stick and nearly ripped it off of its pivot.

Aprile and Applejack had just entered through the door. Whatever the loud noise was, it would’ve had to wait until after dinner.
“I wonder what that awful racket was.” The little pony wondered.
“It sounded like an airplane from my world… but what would a plane be doing in Equestria? Do ya’ll even have airplanes here?”
“Have what now?”
Aprile shrugged, “Don’t worry about it sug’, I’ll tell you about it later. Right now I need to fill up on some eats’.”
Applejack nodded.
They were just about to sit down at the table for some scrambled eggs and of course a side of apples when the kitchen door practically flew off of its hinges.
Applejack nearly spilled a bottle of milk all over the table, “Applebloom! Have ya’ no manners?”
“What’s the matter, darlin’?” Aprile asked.
Applebloom caught her breath, cleared her throat, and finally exclaimed, “Stampede!!”

Granny Smith Apple had somehow climbed up to the top of the Sweet Apple Acres farmhouse and rang the bell as hard as she could, alerting any and everypony for miles around.
“Come on Wynona! We got some herdin’ to do!” Applejack’s dog barked as the pony grabbed a few ropes between her teeth and galloped off into the oncoming tidal wave.
“Our farm’ll be destroyed if we don’t do something quick!” Applebloom cried.
Aprile couldn’t just stand there outside the barn and do nothing. She didn’t have half the horsepower her pony friends did, but she’d be damned if she just sat there and watched. It wasn’t Aprile’s apple farm, but for the time being it might as well have been.
She picked her leather work gloves out of her denim pocket and slipped them on before cracking her knuckles. She adjusted her hat with a determined eye, and with the tap of a boot tip Aprile turned to the rather large pony standing beside her, “Hey Big Mac, mind giving me a lift?”
The red stallion shook his head, “Nope.”
“Applebloom, get me a rope would ya’?” the filly eagerly tossed the cowgirl a few lassos. She climbed onto Big Mac and heeled his sides, “Giddy up, pony!”
“Hang on to somethin’!” Big Mac knocked his hooves into the air and finally rode off into the uproar of dirt.

Applejack had just nearly missed the thunderous sprints from a herd of startled buffalo. Where they had come from was of little concern at the moment seeing as they had already flattened the southernmost apple field. For a second, she almost wished that she hadn’t brought Wynona along this time. These weren’t just simple cattle, these were the meanest freight trains to ever stampede through Ponyville and it was going to take more than a few reinforced brick walls to stop these bruisers.
Applejack made a turnabout and swung in for the front of the charge. She struggled to keep up with the first few leaders of the herd, “Wynona, stay on their outside flank! I’m gonna’ bring them about!” she leapt onto the backs of one of the many Bison and began hopping from hide to hide. She needed to get to the front of the pack and wrangle the herd away from the upcoming field before any more damage could be done. Much of the trees had already been trampled, but she wasn’t going to give up another apple without a fight.
The earth thundered under the stampede as Applejack fought to keep her balance. She didn’t have a lot of time on her hooves, and finally lassoed a rope over the biggest bison she could see. Terribly, all she managed to latch onto were the tank’s horns, who immediately jerked the rope as hard as the goliath could and yanked the pony off of her footing. She swung in between the wrestling bison by the clutch of her teeth and managed to ride the vine up to the same buffalo’s head. How she wasn’t completely crushed in the motion was some sort of miracle, but those were the odds Applejack lived for.
The tangled lasso dragged behind uselessly in the wind. She grabbed the bull by the horns and held on for dear life, trying against all odds to manually steer the monster, “Come on, big fella’! Just a little more to the right!”
The buffalo bucked and weaved to the left as the herd began to follow just in time for another lasso to tie itself around the beast’s neck, “Yeehaw!”
“What in the-?”
“We got your flank, AJ!” It was Aprile, who although was far more used to riding a dull tractor for a living was just as good on horseback. “Just hang on for a bit more!”
Aprile spun another lariat and flung it over, perfectly wrapping it around another Bison’s head. Two more soon followed and Big Mac began to arch away from the angry mob. Aprile tugged with all her might and just as she felt herself sliding off of Big Mac’s hide the herd finally gave way. They rounded off just in time to miss the first few apple trees of the oncoming field.
A few apples managed to shake loose and became crushed under the stampede, but it was a small price to pay.
Applejack gave a hoot, “We did it! Great job, ya’ll!”
Aprile hollered and cheered while Big Macintosh gave a mild, “Yup!”

Suddenly, the herd of bison came to an anti-climactic stop, having barely even made it past the next apple field over.
“Hey! What’s going on around here?” Aprile jerked an eyebrow as did Big Mac.
“Why’d you stop, big fella’? Cold hooves?” Applejack joshed.
The lead bison who was covered in ropes shook his enormous head, “…H-How did we get over here?” Not a single one of the other mammoth bulls had an answer.
“Ya’ nearly trampled my whole apple farm ya’ big ol’ varmints!” Applejack shouted, “Don’t act dumb!”
The bison gazed up at the little frustrated pony sitting over his head, “Oh! Hey there Applejack! Don’t you remember us? We’re part of the Buffalo tribe here in Appaloosa! Oh, let me tell ya’, ever since you guys helped us reach that agreement with the pony settlers, we haven’t been happier!” the buffalo went on and on about how delicious the apple pies were.
“Now wait just a second here!” Aprile shouted, “You guys just flattened an entire field of apple trees!”
“What? But weren’t we on the pathway?” another buffalo questioned.
“Those darn ponies better not have grown apples trees in the middle of our stampede path! We had an agreement! Right Applejack?” the leader huffed.
Applejack adjusted her hat with a sigh, “You ain’t in Appaloosa ya’ big galoot! You’re in Ponyville. On my apple farm!”
The entire buffalo herd collective just about gasped at the same time, entirely confused.
Before any explanation could even be reached, an earth shattering explosion shook Sweet Apple Acres to its foundation, nearly taking every buffalo and pony off of their hooves.  A terrible rumble came from a distance led by a column of smoke that funneled into the sky.
“Just what the heck’s going on this time?!” all Aprile wanted was to get her fill of eggs and biscuits, darn it.
“The only thing over there is…” Applejack quivered in freight, “Oh no! T-That’s where the Ponville dam is!”

“Twyla, wait! It isn’t safe!” Twilight called out.
Rubble covered what was left of the mighty dam’s vast bridge. A massive gap had cracked open the entire structure and millions of gallons of water buried the river below. The tidal wave swept up everything its path, racking up trees, homes, wildlife, and Ponyville would soon be next on the list.
At the center of the cavalcade of rushing water sat a smoldering blue tailfin, or what was left of it, surrounded in blotchy pools of oil and fire. Alongside it tumbled a decent chunk of the fuselage with the canopy still attached. The fiberglass window had been completely melted in and was still filled with burning flames.
Twyla ran out to the farthest edge of what was left of the bridge and covered her mouth in horror. Twyla had seen that little fighter jet a hundred times in Raine’s stunning air shows. How it got into Equestria hadn’t even crossed her mind but she knew Raine’s colors when she saw them. She might’ve not won many races but that never stopped the teacher from cheering her on anyway, “I-It can’t be…!” Completely in disbelief, she searched through the skies looking for any sign of a parachute. Maybe it fell into the surrounding plateau’s forest line? Anything at all to keep her from going over the deep end, but never got her answer.
Twyla sank to her knees as she grasped the crooked railing, doing all she could to hold back a dozen screams.
Twilight galloped over to get a better look at the unspeakable disaster that had only just begun, “Oh Celestia!” It was quite the welcome home.
“She’s gone, Twilight…!”
The unicorn turned to her shuttering friend, “What?”
Twyla pressed her forehead into the railing as she began to sob uncontrollably, “Please… oh God please, I beg of you, show me that damn parachute…!” The sky above was completely hollow.
Twilight cringed, unsure of what to do. The two lives that had just been lost hadn’t even dawned on her yet, but one thing was for sure. Ponyville was as good as done for unless she acted.
With a dash of magic, she flung open her saddle pack and threw open a few battered books.  Twilight skimmed through them as quickly as she could until a desperate beacon of hope sparked from her horn, “Hang on, Twyla!” She threw a hoof over the poor girl and a stinging beam of pink energy immediately enveloped them and everything above that dam.

Ditzy rushed into the Pony Express station as every other Pegasi behind her scrambled throughout Ponyville, doing their best to warn the town’s citizens of the oncoming catastrophe, “Guys! I think there’s been an accident down by the dam! We need to-”
Letters and important parcels littered the floor. The normally bustling Pony Express station had fallen completely silent.
Ditzy cautiously stepped forward, “Guys…? Is anypony here? W-Where did everypony go…?” The thought that the attendants and carriers had already fled for the hills crossed the gray little pony’s mind until she discovered a nearby pony that had been, for lack of a better word, ‘packaged’.
She gasped, covering her mouth with a hoof, and backed into yet another victim who had been mummified in packaging tape. She shot up into the air, downright terrified by what she had staggered into. Another pony had been covered in stamps, just about ready to be delivered around Equestria five times over. Whoever had done this had a sick sense of humor.
Ditzy bolted for the door in freight but it slammed with a lock before she could escape, “Help! Help!!” she cried, banging her hooves against the wooden door, but the ponies outside were far too preoccupied over the hasty retreat to hear her calls.
She let out a groan and finally sunk back against the door, “Oh Celestia, this is terrible. N-None of this makes any sense! W-Who would-”
A light chuckle fluttered from the back room, to which Ditzy buttoned her lip.
“What was that now…? About making sense…?” a dirty chuckle filled the lobby.
Ditzy backed herself into a corner and trembled. Her only defense was clenching her bobbled eyes as tightly as she could. The monsters definitely couldn’t find her if she couldn’t see anypony.
“Oh, ‘Derpy’. Don’t be so frightened. It’s so unlike you.”
“W-What do you mean…?!”
“You’re too delightfully ignorant and naïve to be scared of anything ‘Derpy’ Hooves. After all, how could you possibly have time to fear what’s coming when you can’t even see straight…?”
Ditzy squeaked and cowered under her hooves in the corner, expecting to be gobbled up at any moment.
“Oh, my dear little pony. Never fear. I’m not going to harm you. I only offer… perspective. At least mines, anyway. So tell me ‘Derpy’. How does it feel knowing that even your friends still see you as the village idiot?”
“S-Shut up! Go away!!” she cried.
“How does it feel knowing the only reason you have any friends at all is out of, oh… pity? How very tragic.”
Ditzy cringed, “Y-You’re wrong! Fiona and the others care about me! T-They respect me!”
The voice cackled maniacally, “You truly are a ‘special’ pony, aren’t you? Come my dear, let me open those ‘adorable’ little eyes of yours.”

The door to the Pony Express finally unlocked and slowly cracked wide. Ditzy staggered out into the market as the ever looming shadow of a tidal wave gradually invaded Ponyville, but she didn’t even bat an eye.
An aquamarine colored unicorn galloped by with as many of her belongings as she could float over her horn, when she nearly smashed an antique harp over Ditzy’s head, “Oh gosh, I’m so sorry Derpy! Come on! We have to get out of here!”
Ditzy hadn’t even felt the blow to her skull, nor did she even blink.
“Derpy! It’s me! Lyra! We need to move quickly or we’re all going to drown!”
Ditzy turned away with a cynical chuckle, “Who cares? Everything's pointless anyway. This world just makes me sick.”
Lyra’s gut churned in dismay. She had never heard such talk from anypony and certainly not from this pony, “Derpy!”
Screams and cries for help echoed throughout the town as every foundation began to rumble and shake, but the little Pegasus couldn’t have cared less.
Ditzy spit into the cobblestone ground and glared down the oncoming rushing rapids without so much as a twitch, “Hey Lyra, how about you go for a swim? That water’s great.”