Applejack lowered herself slightly, preparing to pounce when Rarity touched a hoof to her withers. “No,” she whispered. “They don't speak, remember?”
“They never used to gather in groups before, neither.” But now there was doubt in the earth pony's eyes. She glanced back at the sleeping ponies behind her then returned her gaze to Rarity with a frown. “Here's what I think we should do. Keep listenin' an' when it's close enough you an' I jump out from either side of the fire.”
“But that's another thing,” Rarity argued quietly. “They don't like the fire.”
Applejack sighed through her nose, her jaw stubbornly set as she reevaluated her plan. “All right then. We go out now, quiet like, an' see what we find. But the first sign of danger you know what to do.”
The unicorn nodded then walked around to the left side of the fire. She waited until Applejack gave a nod then thrust herself out into the night. The cold rain was a shock to her body after being by the warm fire for so long and it confused her for a split second, enough time for her to walk right into another pony. But just as her eyes adjusted to the dark to allow herself a view of the stranger Applejack shot from the side and tackled the pony into a rolling tumble. “Applejack!” Rarity hissed, still trying to remain quiet.
“Ow!”
“Hey!”
“Get off'a me!”
“You get off of me!”
“You're on my tail!”
“You're on my wing!”
Rarity hurried over to where the two managed to roll to, a tangle of limbs, and had to resist the urge to giggle. She helped the two ponies extract themselves from one another and as soon as she was free, Applejack turned to get ready to attack again. But just as quickly she drew herself up, surprise on her face. “Luna?”
The princess of the night got to her hooves looking as undignified as any pony had ever seen her before. Her mane and tail were sopping wet and dragging on the muddy ground, no longer blowing in the breeze or sparkling with magic. Her entire frame sagged as though she had been awake for days with no respite ever given. “Why,” she asked, “did you attack me?”
“I'm sorry,” Applejack stammered. “I thought you were-”
“Did you not hear my voice? Could you not tell it was me?”
“The rain,” offered Rarity, no longer feeling the urge to laugh. “We couldn't be certain. All we heard was a complaint about the mountains.”
“I have never liked them,” the alicorn muttered. “They are wild and desolate in my opinion. And they remind me entirely too much of the moon.”
“I'm sorry,” Applejack said again, half her face hidden by a mop of wet mane.
“It is all right, Applejack,” Luna finally said. “You are right to be cautious.”
“Come in out of the rain,” said Rarity. “Let's get you dried off. I'll wake the others.”
Though they were all tired the revelation that Luna was with them filled everyone with a renewed energy. Pinkie Pie especially, who wrapped her hooves around Luna despite the fact that the older pony was still soaking wet. “I knew you were alive!”
“Of course,” smiled Luna tiredly. “I couldn't go anywhere without knowing my bestest best friend was all right.”
Pinkie beamed as she always did when Luna used the term Pinkie had long since attached to Luna. Out of the six close friends it seemed they all had someone they felt the closest to, a pony they could share anything with. Applejack had Rainbow Dash, Rarity had Fluttershy, and Twilight had both Spike and Princess Celestia. When Luna arrived in Ponyville looking for some semblance of normalcy and a life away from all the trappings of palace life it had become Pinkie's goal to make her feel at home. In doing so the pair had grown quite close and Pinkie found the best friend she'd always wished she had.
“Where have you been?” asked the pink pony. They were all settled inside the cave, the heat of both fires and Pinkie's own blanket helping warm the alicorn.
“The better question might perhaps be where have I not been?”
Pinkie blinked. “Okay then! Where have you not been?”
Twilight gave her friend a dismissive scowl and looked at Luna with concern. “Is Princess Celestia all right?”
“I have not seen my sister since the day of the invasion.”
“Is that what we're callin' it now?” asked Applejack. “An invasion?”
Luna nodded tensely. “These creatures are like insects. They find vessels to make their homes in and feed off a pony's weakness much as the changelings feed off of love. And as they multiply the grow stronger. If they are not stopped soon they will destroy Equestria. And then they will move on to other nations.”
“What are they?” Spike asked. “Zombies? Spirits? Vamponies?”
“And more importantly,” added Rarity. “How do we stop them?”
“We have never known their true name, neither have we ever seen them in our lifetimes. But Tia and I were told they were omens of sorts. They are not spirits in that they are not souls of the dead because they were never alive. They are the harbingers.”
Twilight stared at the princess, wide-eyed. “Harbingers?” she repeated. Everyone looked to her for explanation. “It's a foretelling, a portent. It means that they have come as a precursor to what comes next...to what is worse.”
Luna nodded gravely. “You are correct, Twilight. What we are experiencing now is just the beginning. Before this war has ended our world will have greatly changed.”
“War.” It was the first time Big Macintosh had spoken since awakening. He looked at Luna with a carefully blank expression. “You're sayin' we're fightin' a war?”
“Of course we are,” Twilight said before Luna could speak. “The very definition of war is an act of aggressive hostility. The moment they came into our village it became a war. We're fighting every day to survive and they're fighting every day to destroy.” She looked at Luna. “What else can you tell us? We know how to kill them now, at least we think we do.”
“It can only be done by magic.”
“Then we're on the right path,” said Applejack. “We figured out how to kill em' an' then when they go they make this weird sorta suckin' noise before they pop an' disappear all together.”
“That means they have truly been terminated, yes.”
“I saw ponies get sucked into their dying pull,” said Merry May. “What does that mean?”
“It means they are no longer, I am afraid.”
“But we can kill them,” Raindrops said hopefully. “That means something, doesn't it?”
Once more all attention was on Luna, but the alicorn merely shook her head. “It is impossible to say. This enemy was not something dwelt upon in our lessons as children. It was an evil our parents were certain was long since conquered and would never reappear again.”
“But there's somethin' bigger comin',” Applejack pressed.
“Most certainly. This enemy will be bigger than Discord or Chrysalis. Bigger, even, than Nightmare Moon.”
Silence filled the cave as this information sank in. Yes, they had faced enemies before and they'd overcome in the end. But all of the Element bearers had been together and Princess Celestia had been there. They knew what they were fighting and exactly how to defeat it. But now? Was a victory even possible?
“You said you haven't seen the princess since this all started,” Applejack said, breaking the silence. “Who's been raisin' the sun every day?”
Luna smiled tiredly. “I have. Tia has never been late in her duties and I knew most assuredly that something had happened to her when the sun did not go down when it should have on that first day.”
Pinkie looked at her friend with deep sympathy. “No wonder you look so pooped!”
“I have also been looking for my sister. My worst fear is that she is in the hands of the enemy. Or worse.”
“The princess has to be alive,” Twilight insisted stubbornly. “I mean... she's the princess!”
Kindly, Luna looked at the young unicorn. “That does not make her infallible.”
Merry May flicked her tail thoughtfully. “So what this is going to boil down to is a good old fashioned battle between the forces of good and evil. Is that what I'm hearing you say?”
“Unavoidably so, yes.”
“Fabulous,” said the pegasus sarcastically.
Luna looked at the Element bearers and asked, “What will you do now?”
“We have to find Dashie and Fluttershy,” said Pinkie definitively.
“An' then we're headin' for Appleloosa,” finished Applejack.
“I think that is a wise decision,” offered Luna. “I have not yet been to Appleloosa myself but it appears that the smaller villages and towns, the ones farther away from the bigger ones suffered fewer losses and are quickly recouping.” She looked down in thought. “I was the one to send Rainbow Dash away. If I had the time to think more clearly when it happened I would be able to remember where I sent her. But my only concern was saving as many of you as was possible.”
“Don't feel bad, Luna,” said Twilight. She looked at her friends and shared a small smile with them. “We know Dash and Fluttershy are still out there somewhere, alive. It's just a matter of finding them.”
“And I am certain you will.”
“What about you?” Pinkie asked. “Can you come with us?”
Luna smiled fondly and nuzzled her. “I wish I could, Pinkie. But I must continue with my search for my sister. But now that I know at least the four of you are safe and where you will be, I will send as many as I find who are still themselves your way. You will need to amass as many as you can to fight with you when the time for the final battle comes. And I promise you, I will be there beside you all.” She yawned tiredly and shook her head. “For now, if you do not mind, I would like to rest.”
“I imagine you haven't had much of it,” said Twilight. “Sleep well.”
As the princess fell asleep beside Pinkie and the others, Applejack and Rarity resumed their places by the fire at the cave entrance, not at all surprised when both Twilight and Big Macintosh joined them. The others may have been able to sleep but the four of them, after hearing Luna's news, wouldn't be able to sleep for awhile.
“This stuff just doesn't happen,” said Twilight quietly after a time.
Rarity raised a brow. “Darling, this sort of thing has happened before. Three times, actually.”
“But not at this level,” the lavender unicorn argued. “Compared to this Discord was a misguided trickster, Chrysalis was a desperate leader trying to keep her children fed, and Nightmare Moon was a very confused and hurt pony gone astray. This? This is all of that put together in a pot mixed with an entire flask of crazy and a pinch of unbelievable for good measure!”
“But we'll get through it,” Applejack promised. “We always do.”
“This isn't some Daring-Do book where the hero wins in the end, Applejack. This is real. We've seen our friends and family taken over by these harbingers thinking nothing could possibly be worse than what they've turned into and what we have to do to free them, and now we learn it's just going to get worse? We have no clue where Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy is, where Princess Celestia is, the Elements of Harmony were probably destroyed in Ponyville, and you expect me to think we're going to win in the end because we happen to have won before?”
“Calm down, sugarcube. We'll find our friends an' I'm sure the princess is out there somewhere.”
“And even if the Element symbols were destroyed,” added Rarity, “they haven't simply ceased to exist. They still live inside of us.”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Please, Rarity. Save it for a Saturday morning cartoon.” She looked up with a scowl at Big Macintosh. “You haven't said much. What do you think about all of this?”
“Don't like it much,” he said simply, eyes lost in the flames. “But there's not much can be done about changin' it.” He blinked slowly and finally pulled his gaze away from the fire to rest calmly on Twilight's annoyed face. “Simple truth of the matter is we're gonna fight 'cause we have to. An' we'll keep doin' it till it's over or we're dead. Not much else of a choice.”
“Well you're a real ray of sunshine,” mumbled Twilight.
“You got any other bright ideas?”
“Yeah,” she said curtly. “Going back to sleep and praying the morning brings an end to this nightmare.”
Morning did come, and with it a fresh new day. Sometime during the night the rain had stopped. Luna had gone after a few hours rest and the sun was already up by the time everyone had eaten and was ready to go. It felt so strange being surrounded by nature and the promise of a warm sunny day, yet the natural sounds of bugs flitting about or birds singing was eerily absent. It immediately set Applejack and Big Macintosh on edge. They both realized and quickly pointed out that if the animals were too scared to make a peep then something they should be wary of was nearby. After some strange sounds from deep down inside the cave near dawn they all agreed it was not a place they wanted to explore, which meant continuing upward on their chosen path until it was time to descend down into the back end of the Everfree forest.
Applejack led the parade with Big Macintosh bringing up the rear again. They all stayed silent and watchful as they hiked even though Raindrops and Merry May took turns constantly flying ahead or back to look for potential problems. Every odd sound startled at least one of them and once, when Pinkie Pie sneezed, Rarity startled and nearly lunged at her with her horn for fear of a sneak attack.
The crest of their path was not much higher than where they'd stopped to spend the night, and by the noontime they were already heading down to the dark and mysterious forest below. Together they decided to stop for awhile at a cool mountain stream to refresh and get something to eat. Despite the day of uninterrupted travel, everyone was still on high alert. Twilight cast shielding spells whenever she got a funny feeling, which was at least every ten minutes or so. She was wearing herself out but walked with determination when they all headed out again.
“I wonder if Zecora's all right,” said Apple Bloom as they approached the edge of the forest.
“I wish we had time to look for her,” Twilight added, glancing east toward the direction of Zecora's cottage and ultimately Ponyville. “But that would add another two days to our journey. We told Luna we'd be heading to Appleloosa after we see if our friends are in Fillydelphia. We can't afford to take more time.”
“I'm sure she's fine,” comforted Big Macintosh. “She's a real smart zebra. I'm sure she got out real quick. Who knows? We may even see her in Appleloosa sometime.”
Apple Bloom nodded sadly. “Maybe.”
It was cooler in the shade of the forest. Though a softer, more even road was welcomed by all this new territory meant higher levels of stress for the already worried ponies. There were more places to hide here, more ways for their enemies to have the element of surprise. The only thing that worked in the Ponyville ponies favor was that the harbingers appeared to lack the capability of tactical thinking. It seemed they had the mission of destruction in mind and that was all. That meant they wouldn't think with intent about hiding places or ways to sneak up on those they wanted to kill. Their only objective was to destroy and nothing more.
“Hold up, ya'll.” Applejack's whispered command carried far enough back to get everyone's attention. She couched and crawled her way forward on her belly to hide herself in a thick clump of dark green bushes. Looking back, her eyes went to Merry May and she nodded, beckoning the pegasus mare to come forward in the same way she had. When she was no longer alone Applejack stuck her front hooves into the brush and parted the leaves very slowly and carefully. “See what I see?”
Merry May narrowed her eyes to peer through the opening Applejack had created. She nodded once. “There's just one. Friend or foe?”
“Hard to say with her back to us.”
“You know her?”
Applejack nodded grimly. “Nopony could mistake that cutie mark.”
Up ahead by no more than fifty feet was a white unicorn mare. Her two-toned blue mane and tail were disheveled as usual, and her coat was stained red and dark brown in places. But the beamed quarter notes cutie mark on her flank was still easily discernible. “Aw, man,” Merry May breathed. “Why does it have to be Vinyl?”
Applejack looked around, brow creased in thought. “I've been listenin' real carefully an' I don't think there's any others right close by. So we gotta figure out if she's still on our side or if we gotta get rid of her quick an' quiet. Not that Raindrops can't fly well but you're faster an' smaller, an' you blend in better with the trees.” Applejack's eyes flicked up slightly. “Well, mane an' tail aside.”
“You want me to get closer to see if she's one of them or not?”
“Think you can?”
“You got it, boss.”
Before Applejack could say another word the pegasus was gone into the trees. Applejack glanced back to make sure no one else had moved before turning back to watch Vinyl from her hiding spot. She had to give Merry May credit; every once in awhile her pink mane or a bit of her tail peeked through the leaves but she was quick to move again and blend right back in. Vinyl stood fairly still, occasionally scratching at the ground or nosing around like a lost dog from time to time but for the most part was fairly stationary. Applejack lost sight of Merry May and nearly jumped out of her skin when the pegasus landed in a quiet thump beside her.
“I think we have a problem.”
“She's turned, isn't she?”
“I don't know. It's weird. Her eyes are still hers. I mean, they're still magenta and everything but she's either really hurting or she's fighting one of them off.”
Applejack swore. “That means there could be others around just waitin' for a chance to attack one of us an' we wouldn't even know it. All right, let's go back.” The two ponies slithered back to the group and Applejack quickly filled them in on the situation.
“We're gonna have to go that way to get out of these woods,” she explained. “I know none of us knew Vinyl real well but I can't stand the thought of leavin' her here like this.”
“What do you propose?” Rarity asked.
“Either you or Twilight talkin' to her an' getting' a feel for the situation. An then, if it has to be done, handlin' it.”
The group was silent as Twilight and Rarity looked at one another. It was clear neither of them wanted to do it but Rarity lifted her chin and looked at Applejack. “I'll be right back.” Without another word, Rarity disappeared into the bush. Morbid curiosity had Applejack, Merry May, and Twilight following after to watch.
Rarity approached the white unicorn with caution, giving her a wide berth to start. She could feel her heart beating fast and took a deep breath to try and calm herself. Then she spoke. “Vinyl, dear? Is that you?”
Like a frightened child the musical pony gasped and whipped around to face Rarity, eyes wide but cloudy.
“It's all right,” Rarity soothed, taking a slow step closer. “It's me, Rarity. I know we've never been the best of friends but surely you recognize little old me. Well, not old. Not yet anyway.”
“Rarity.”
Her voice was strained, like it was taking every ounce of strength she had to speak. Rarity understood what that meant and her expression shifted into a sad smile. “That's right, darling. You know who I am. We've lived in Ponyville together for awhile now, haven't we? It seems a shame that we've never gotten to know one another.”
“Rarity.”
She took another slow step forward and could see the crease between Vinyl Scratch's brow deepen. “It's all right now. I'm here to help you.”
Vinyl blinked quickly and several times over before shaking her head. “No,” she said in a tremulous voice. “Run. Please run.”
“It's all right,” Rarity repeated, moving closer still. “You won't hurt me. I see it in your eyes.”
“They...”
“They can't hurt me,” Rarity laughed. “I'm too stubborn and strong willed.” One final step had them almost nose to nose, though Vinyl was clearly thinking about bolting. “What happened?” Rarity asked. She could now see the other side of the unicorn's body and what the other two had failed to see. Her pelt was almost completely gone from her right side withers, a bone stuck out from beneath the fur of her right back leg, and blood oozed from a deep hole in her ribcage. “Oh you poor dear,” Rarity whispered in horror.
“I can't...fight.” Vinyl Scratch panted with anxiety. “Can't.”
“I know, darling. I know. Everything is going to be just fine.” Rarity fought the urge to get sick and wrapped her forelegs around Vinyl's neck in an embrace. “It will all be over soon.” She let go swiftly and lowered her head in a lunge, plunging her horn between the unicorn's breastbones. Vinyl gasped in pain as Rarity pulled back and looked at her. Sweet magenta eyes cleared for a split second before they went completely blank. Calmly, Rarity stayed where she was and watched until she saw the motion to her side. With another lunge forward her horn was encased in a burning cold. When the vacuum started she pulled herself free and jumped back in time to hear the pop.
“If I have to kill anyone else today...” said Rarity as the three watchers came up behind her. She sighed and shook her head. “She wasn't even fully gone.”
“But you kept her from being turned into one of them,” Twilight offered gently. She looked down at Vinyl's body sadly. “We don't have time to bury her. We have to keep going.”
“When I went around to try and get a better look at her I could see the edge of the forest,” said Merry May. “We're almost through to the other side.”
Applejack nodded. “Okay then, let's get a move on. We'll lead the group around the other side so they don't have to see this,”
“Ugh, all this blood is doing terrible things to my mane!”
Stepping free of the Everfree forest made everyone pause to get a good look. The sun was still fairly high above the horizon, making them guess it was close to mid-afternoon. Before them was nothing but open planes with no place to hide and no place to run but the cityscape that loomed ahead in the far distance.
“Think we can make it before nightfall?” asked Pinkie. “I love camping as much as the next pony but I think we'd have to worry about more than bed bugs if we stayed out here all night.”
Applejack looked up at Big Mac. “What do you think, big brother?”
He was looking thoughtfully ahead, eyes going from the sun to the cityscape. “I reckon if we run all out we should be able to make in an hour or so.” He crouched down to let Apple Bloom climb up onto his back, then looked at Pinkie. “How you feelin'? Think you can make it?”
She shrugged but smiled. “Guess we're about to find out.”
“All right then,” said Applejack. “Let's head 'em up an' move 'em out! Yeeeee-haw!”
With the possibility of finding one or more of their friends driving them on, the group ran across the open grass as though there was no fatigue in them or fear that Fillydelphia would turn out to be just like Manehattan. Halfway through they had to pause so that Apple Bloom could ride with Merry May and an aching Pinkie could catch a ride with Big Macintosh once again. Spike, on Twilight's back, acted as lookout as they went, and when they drew up close to the city gates he let out a loud cheer. “We made it!”
“Don't jinx us, Spike!” Twilight shouted over her shoulder.
“Aw, come on Twilight. You don't really believe in that do yo-aaah!”
Something fell from the sky and nearly hit the pony and the baby dragon. There was the sound of a sort of explosion from inside the city and more things started falling from the sky. “We're being shot at!” Rarity screamed, dodging and weaving to avoid being hit.
Careful not to fall off, Spike turned around on Twilight's back to get a look at what had fallen. “It's corn! They're shooting corncobs at us!”
Sure enough there was another explosion, louder this time as they got closer. The corncobs sailed to the ground like yellow missiles leaving a sweet smoke in their wake. Merry May was hit in the side of her neck and Apple Bloom screamed as the two of them careened toward the ground.
“Pinkie!” The pink earth pony looked up as Big Macintosh adjusted his course. She reached out her forelegs to catch both the filly and the pegasus but the added weight and the constant motion threw her off balance and sent all three of them tumbling to the ground. Big Macintosh skidded to a stop and doubled back, getting a corncob to the middle of his back in return. “Don't stop!” he yelled to the others.
“HEY!” Applejack saw a pegasus wearing a hat fly up over the wall. “Quit shootin' at us! We're on your side!” The pegasus put her hooves to her mouth and called down but another round of corncob missiles had already been fired. The ground before her exploded in a hit and sent Applejack tumbling head over hooves.
“Cease fire! Cease fire! Friendlies on approach! I repeat, friendlies on approach!” The heavy makeshift metal gates at the front of the city swung open to allow the ponies access to the inside. But they stopped and either looked back for Big Macintosh or to help Applejack to her hooves.
“Is everyone all right?” Rarity asked, the closest pony to the gate. But before she could get any sort of answer her entire body was wrapped in magic and she was yanked, floating, inside the city and pressed up against the wall by a very angry looking unicorn with an aquamarine coat.
“You idiots!” she hissed. “Do you have any idea what kind of trouble this is going to cause us?”
“Lyra?”
“Lyra, let her go!”
Lyra growled but backed off and released her magical hold on Rarity. Able to move again, Rarity looked past the angry unicorn to the pegasus wearing the hat. Before she could help herself, a sob passed her lips. “Rainbow Dash!”
Dash flew forward, careful to keep the Stetson she wore on her head, and hugged Rarity tightly. The others came barreling in, then froze in shock upon seeing their friend. Everyone embraced her while asking questions, and when Applejack hugged her last it was with great emotion. As they parted, the earth pony smiled at the tears in Dash's eyes, knowing there were tears in her own. “Don't fret, sugarcube. Everything's gonna be okay.”
“It's not that.” The rainbow maned pony looked at her friends. “It's Fluttershy. She's dying.”