Chapter 5:
In the following years the alarm bells and sirens rang out across Equestria and its surrounding countries, confirming the danger that they were in. Millions of mares and stallions ran around the cities, panicking and looking for shelter or escape from the doom that was raining upon them. Among the panic and chaos were the occasional criminals and looters taking advantage of the situation, obviously breaking into TV stores.
The first to die were the ones in the orbital stations, one of which was clipped by a small meteorite directly in the orbital stabilizers. This took away their ability to stay and orbit and they were sent down on a crash course with the massive city of Manehatten. To minimize the civilian casualties, they steered it at an angle where it only crashed down on the Pony of Liberty. The copper statue did not brace the station's impact enough though, for when it splashed down into the water, a 2-story tidal wave made it's way through the outermost sections of the city. It washed away most of the populous caught in the chaos on the streets. (It was a big satellite)
As one might imagine, there were survivors, sitting on the rooftops of small buildings and in the higher levels of taller ones. However, the one who died in the flood were the lucky ones. There was still a barrage of meteorites pounding the city, rupturing fuel depots and toppling buildings. The Equestria State Building was one of them. To top it all off, Manehatten didn't get hit the worst.
Las Pegasus and the other cities in the western section of the country were bombarded with tidal waves, courtesy of the meteors striking the west coast, with no end in sight. That area of Equestria became flooded with salt water for the next few months. Canterlot, Ponyville, and The Crystal Empire were relatively safe because of a few powerful shielding spells from Luna, Celestia, Cadence, and Shining Armor. The residents of nearby towns took shelter in theses places, with thousands of displaced mares and stallions among these three cities. Occasionally, there would be the odd meteor that would cause significant damage to the shields. Some of them burst the spells, and they had to be reset.
Eventually, the nation and those surrounding it rode out the storm of rock and metal from beyond the sky. When the last one fell to the ground, they all thought that they were safe. The meteor shower was over, but they weren't out of the woods just yet. A few short days later, Smokey Mountain erupted. It was not just smokey, but a dormant volcano letting out some pressure. One day, it eventually blew, and that day was soon after the devastating meteor shower. This was quite the stroke of bad luck Equestria was having.
The volcano's eruption sent out a plume of ash and rock that covered the western half of Equestria. The survivors endured a living hell. Crops stopped growing, thousands were buried by falling ash, and the Neighvada desert's main power source, solar power (obviously), was rendered useless. Cloudsdale managed to get out of the way of the ash cloud in time, being a flying city. Lucky weather producers.
Thankfully, that was all. For now. The "natural" disasters had stopped causing chaos, but in it's wake, there was panic, death, anarchy, and thousands of citizens misplaced. Canterlot, Ponyville, and Appleoosa became places where the displaced went, seeking refuge from what was left of their land. The Crystal Empire was reached by some, but many others died from the sudden shift from burning cities to blizzards.
Some good actually came out of this. Luna's popularity in the west skyrocketed through the ash when she helped them through this dire time of need. She didn't need the sun, only the Darkness, her servant. Her unofficial title there became the Guardian Angel of Darkness, and they adored her more than Celestia herself. At last, someone favored her over her sister. They not only survived the ash, they thrived without dependence on the sun. It is easier to accomplish things when you don't have to wait 12 hours for the day to arise. Some radical voices even demanded she have more influence than the solar princess.
The ash would probably not fade for years, even with the help of all the Pegasi in Equestria. This was irrelevant to those under the cloud, for Luna was all they needed. She was their provider.
But while Luna prospered, Celestia suffered. The death of her former student still weighed heavily upon her. If only Twilight was still here. If she was still here, she could help everyone. She could help her.
She also had a sore throat, but that's beside the point.
Is that what you wish, Celestia?
"What? Who's there?"
You don't remember me?
"I have a lot of enemies."
An enemy? After all we've been through? I'm insulted, but also amused.
"You find me amusing? How dare you!"
Oh, you've always been amusing, I've just never had the strength to say it! Before, I was just some modest little creature that you thought you could control. Well guess what? You have no control anymore. Your prized student is dead, and your sister has began to sap your power, hasn't she?
"I don't know what you mean."
Don't play dumb with me, Celly! I know you feel it, even if you don't! That one little thing in the back of your mind, hidden by everything else. The thing you don't even know you are hiding.
"What could I possibly be hiding that you would know about? You're bluffing; I am an Alicorn Princess, and you are a coward!"
Now that's just hurtful. After everything I did for you, I thought myself and my friends unstoppable. Silly me! But I know what you are feeling, and I will tell you now. You are jealous of your sister, am I right?
"You lie! She is my family! You don't know anything about me!"
I know you are at least 1,500 years old. I know that when the sun rises, so does your power, but you wither during the night. I know you are addicted to cake. I know you eat it two times a day, every day. I also know that you are allergic to almonds, and that there are some in the cake you consumed a minute or two ago. Have fun with that, by the way.
Celestia realized why her throat was sore, and began to panic.
In about 10 minutes you'll suffocate, so I'd get help. Well, I would get help if I wasn't a seriously overpowered, basically omnipotent being. Speaking of omnpotent, I wonder how Discord is doing. Well, as he would say: Toodles!
"You won't get away with-"
Then it really kicked in. Now she was having trouble breathing. The bodyless voice and the presence it belonged to left the area, leaving Celestia to suffer in silence. She burst through the door to the hallway, clutching her neck. She coughed out in a weakened voice: "Hospital. Now." One of the guards nodded and flew off to get the hospital to work, and the other escorted Celestia there.
"Come on, we won't let anything happen to you. It's our duty."
But Celestia didn't receive his reassurance. She was already trying to figure out who could do such a thing to her, and why.
Though hundreds of thousands of lives were lost in the disasters spanning the years, and it seemed like all hope was lost, there was in fact a bright side to this storm. In the Sunless West of Equestria, research was done to aid in development of plants and crops that required no sunlight to survive, and efforts were made to remove the massive cloud hanging over them.
With Luna's continued assistance to the west, and Celestia's recent hospitalization, citizens of the west became conflicted, supporting Luna more than they had Celestia nowadays.
In short, everything was going accordingly to plan.