The friends hastily boarded a train to get to the Pie family rock farm, before disaster could befall Pinkie's family. Fearing, that the train ride would take too long, Rainbow Dash and Twilight decided to fly there, in hopes of warning them sooner.
"Come on, Twilight! Can't you fly any faster?" Rainbow complained.
Twilight was exerting as much power as she could into flying faster, but even with her best efforts, she could never come close to the blue pegasus's speed. "I'm trying! Not all of us are Wonderbolts, you know!"
Rainbow looked further ahead and spotted a silo in the distance. "There! I can see the farm! Come on!" All Twilight could see was a flash of colors, as Rainbow bolted towards the rock farm faster than Twilight could calculate two plus two.... and that's really saying something.
Rainbow touched down in front of the Pie house and knocked on the door as fast as she could. When no one answered after two seconds. she knocked again.... and again.... and again. Quite literally, she wasn't wasting any time. After about what felt like a whole minute of knocking, the door opened. In the doorway stood Cloudy Quartz with her typical serious expression. "Can I help thee?"
Rainbow still couldn't believe that this rather serious pony was Pinkie's mother. "Look, we don't have a whole lot of time, so I'm going to make this quick. We need to get you and your family out of here now!" She was straight to the point.
Cloudy raised her eyebrow at the multicolored pony. "And why exactly should we leave?" She questioned unconvinced.
Rainbow's eye twitched impatiently. "An evil pony set up bombs in the mountains not too far from here! They are set to go off at any moment! You will all be crushed by a massive landslide!" Rainbow exclaimed frantically.
Pinkie's mother refused to believe her. "My husband, Igneous Rock Pie, was up in those mountains, not even an hour ago. If there were any other ponies up there he would have mentioned them by now." She explained bluntly.
Rainbow remained persistent. "Where is he now?"
"He is over yonder, in the silo." Cloudy responded.
"Can I talk to him for a sec? I have some questions I'd like to ask him." Rainbow had to be sure for herself.
"He mustn't be interrupted, child. He is immersed in his labor and must be permitted to complete it without delay." Cloudy Quartz insisted firmly.
"Look, I just want to make sure he didn't see anything unusual! Please?" Rainbow pleaded.
Cloudy saw the desperation in Dash's expression, and though she seemed a bit pushy, her intentions seemed genuine. "Very well, but do so with haste."
Rainbow's eyes lit up. "Thanks! I'll be quick I promise!" With that said, she turned to make a run for the silo, only to slam into Igneous Rock, who was walking towards them. Rainbow moaned painfully. "Ugh. Sorry about that, I didn't know you were coming behind me." She apologized, while rubbing her head.
Igneous stood up and dusted himself off. "Apologize not. I should have alerted thou of my presence. It is I, who apologize to thee." He stated heartily. "Now how may I be of assistance?"
Rainbow once again focused on the task at hand. "Your wife told me that you were up in the mountains earlier. Did you happen to see anypony suspicious up there or notice anything out of place?" She inquired eagerly.
Igneous gave his wife a confused look, before turning his attention back to Rainbow. "I haven't the slightest idea of what thou art speaking of. I have been in here for most of the evening. I haven't been up those mountains at all today." He claimed with certainty.
Cloudy Quartz was confused now as well. "What? But, I saw thou go there with my own eyes."
A look of panic quickly crossed Rainbow's face. "It was Anarchy! We need to get everypony out of here right away!"
Twilight, covered in sweat from trying to catch up, finally landed beside Rainbow. She struggled trying to catch her breath. "I.... am.... here...." Twilight managed to let out between breaths.
Rainbow nudged her alicorn friend. "No time for resting, slowpoke! We have to get Pinkie's family to safety. Double time!" She dictated hastily.
Twilight wanted to object to her teasing, but was too tired to retaliate properly. Instead, she nodded in agreement.
__________________________________
Igneous and his wife ran inside to retrieve their kids. Limestone Pie was in her room, when her parents rushed in. The moment she saw the looks on their faces, she immediately knew something was wrong. "What is it, father?" Limestone asked concerned.
"We must leave, posthaste!" her father responded.
Limestone usually did whatever was asked of her by her parents, but she was worried by how nervous her father was acting. "What's going on?"
"Now!" Igneous raised his voice, not in a mean tone, but in the way one would to get others to move, instead of ask questions.
Limestone's eyes widened in shock. Her father had never used that tone of voice before. Whatever was going on must be serious. Without another word, she ran through the doorway and outside of the house.
Igneous looked around the house trying to find her other two daughters, Marble and Maud. There were no signs of them anywhere. His wife ran into the room. The nervousness apparent on her face. "Hast thou found our other daughters?" He asked. She shook her head fearfully. He puts his hoof on her shoulder. "Fear not. We shall find them."
__________________________________
Rainbow Dash was searching the open field to the north for any sign of Pinkie's sisters. The frustrating part of this all was the fact that her sisters all had a bland color scheme that blended them in with these kinds of surroundings.
Rainbow's eyes lit up when she saw a gray pony standing out in the middle of the field. She descended and ran toward the figure.
"I'm glad I found you! There's no time to explain, but I need to get you out--" Rainbow Dash paused abruptly as she realized that she was talking to a rock statue of a pony. She growled with irritation at her own foolishness, before taking off into the sky again.
___________________________________
Twilight began looking in the rock fields. She tried calling out to see if she could get any response. "Hello? Marble? Maud? Anypony out here?" She continued scanning the area, while keeping her ears open. Her ears perked up when she spotted Maud Pie sitting out near a tree. She was examining something with a magnifying glass. "Maud! I'm so happy to have found you!"
Maud turned her attention from what she was doing to greet the alicorn. "Hello, Twilight. It's good to see you too." She said in her typical monotone fashion.
"What are you doing all the way out here?" Twilight asked raising an eyebrow.
Maud handed Twilight the magnifying glass and pointed to some sort of stone sitting on a black cloth on the ground. "I am studying this specimen and analyzing its properties." She stated, her face still showing no emotion.
Twilight took the magnifying glass and looked at the stone carefully. It was very unique to say the least. "What is it?" Twilight questioned curiously.
Maud looks at the rock. "It's an uncommon lead tin iron antimony sulfide called cylindrite. It is a very rare mineral found in Ponivia." She explains.
Twilight is a very intelligent pony. She knows just about everything there is to know about academics and magic. In fact, she was a straight A student at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. A 4.0 student, to be precise. Point being, she's extremely smart. With that being said, she was completely dumbfounded by Maud's explanation. "Uhhh.... sounds interesting." Twilight replied uncertainly.
Maud nodded her head. "What makes it a truly fascinating specimen is that it is the only naturally occurring mineral species with cylindrical crystals." Maud added with enthusiasm (well, her version of it).
Twilight shook her head, realizing that she still had a job to do. "Listen, Maud. We have to get you out of here! The farm is about to be struck by a terrible rockslide! We have to find your sister, Marble! Do you have any clue where she could be?" Twilight quizzes anxiously.
"I saw her go towards the crystal caves." Maud answers.
"Let's go get her, then! There isn't much time!" Twilight exclaims determined.
__________________________________
Igneous, Cloudy, and Limestone are all inspecting the areas around the house, in search for the other two missing family members. Despite their desperate efforts, none of them could find any signs of the girls.
Rainbow Dash lands in front of the family. "Any luck finding the others?" She inquired fretfully.
Igneous shakes his head dolefully. The others look distressed beyond belief. "Hast thou made any progress?"
Rainbow wished she had better news to give, but her search yielded no results as well. "No. I looked all across the big field. There was no sign of anypony. I'm sorry." Rainbow sighs woefully.
"Look over there!" Limestone interjects, causing everypony to turn in her direction. They looked to where she was pointing. Twilight and Maud were racing towards them. The family quickly unites with Maud, wrapping her in their embrace.
Twilight walks over to Rainbow. "Rainbow, I need you to get them all out of here! They need to be as far away from here as possible!" Twilight instructed sternly.
Rainbow looked at Twilight uneasily. "What about you? What about Marble?" the pegasus interrogated.
"I'm going to get her. I just need you to make sure they make it out of here safely." Twilight replied.
"I'm not just going to let you go by yourself. If your going, I'm going!" Rainbow declared loyally.
Twilight shook her head. "Rainbow, listen. I don't want to risk anypony else's lives. I will go in, get her out, and meet up with you all as soon as I can."
Rainbow was hesitant. "Fine. Just.... be careful, Twilight." She cautioned perturbed. Twilight nodded before bolting to the crystal caves. Rainbow looked in Twilight's direction one last time before instructing the family to run to the hills beyond the rock farm.
__________________________________
Twilight flew as fast as she could. Had she not been in such a hurry, she may have patted herself on the back. But she was focused and determined. She had to find Marble as fast as she could. Anarchy could not be allowed to win this time. She spotted the caves and quickly made a landing. She looked into the blackness of the cave in wonder. It was huge! This was not going to be easy. She entered the cave, and quickly lit her horn, so that she could see in the darkness. There were certainly a lot of rocks in this cave, but this was referred to as the crystal caves. So, where were all the crystals? Well, no sooner did Twilight have that thought did she spot an ominous purple glow coming from around the corner. She quickly rounded the corner, and what she beheld was.... awe-inspiring. Massive violet crystals stood all around the cave, complimented by clusters of smaller crystals scattered throughout the space. She stared with wide eyes and her jaw dropped. No words could describe such a sight. She quickly returned from her daze. She had to find Marble.
Just then the ground started to shake, followed by a huge 'BOOM'. Then another.... and another.... and another. Twilight's heart started beating faster. Her eyes wide with horrific realization.... Those were explosions, which means at any moment, this cave was going to be flooded with rubble. She looked around frantically. "MARBLE! Are you there?!" Twilight shouted. She went around another crystal structure to find another open area. She scanned the area quickly, but carefully. Still no sign of anypony. "MARBLE! If you can hear me follow my voice!" No response... wonderful. This cave was about to become a tomb for them both. She could always teleport out of here, but she was not going to abandon Marble. Even if it means her own end, Twilight was not going to leave without her. "This is hopeless." Twilight muttered to herself. "We're done for."
Just as she had almost given up and accepted her tragic fate, she spotted an orange glow coming from the room up ahead. She began to approach it... but then the cave began to quake. She could hear the sound of the cave beginning to collapse behind her. This was it! The cave was being crushed by an avalanche of boulders and rocks. Twilight turned to see a wave of rocks quickly coming right for her. Twilight turned back and made a run for the faint orange light. At this point, Twilight hoped to Celestia that Marble hadn't already been crushed. She raced forward as fast she could. The glow was coming from around the next corridor. She briskly made the turn and saw the source of the light. It was a lantern. Somepony was definitely here, but where could--
That was when she saw her. Marble was laying flat on her stomach. She looked up and saw Twilight, who was merely thirty feet away from her. Tears filled the gray pony's eyes as she cried out in pain. Her legs had been buried under piles of big rocks. She couldn't move! Luckily for her, she won't have to. Just as Twilight had analyzed the situation, the ceiling above them began to crumble. Twilight looked up in horror as stones began falling to the ground. She quickly dodged one by leaping forward. She looked back... big mistake. The wave of rocks was only twenty feet behind her. Out of pure instinct, Twilight bolted for Marble. If she could just grab her, she might be able to teleport them to safety. Twilight was less than fifteen feet away from Maud, dodging falling debris in a way that would impress even the Wonderbolts. The ocean of rocks behind her was beginning to close in. With one last burst of adrenaline, Twilight flapped her wings faster than they've ever gone before, as a purple streak of light trailed off of her. She swoops over to Marble and quickly grabs her. She fires up her horn and.... they teleport out of the cave just as rocks collapsed onto the spot where Marble was pinned down.
__________________________________
Twilight opened her eyes, unsure if she had gotten out of the cave safely, or if she was dead. She looked around for a moment. Her eyes widened when she saw Marble Pie limping towards her. They made it out! Thank, Celestia. She walked over to Marble and sat down in front of her. "Are you okay, Marble?" She asked concerned.
"Mmhmm." Marble nodded bashfully. Twilight had heard that she was a shy pony from Applejack. She was used to having Pinkie speak for her. Twilight smiled slightly. "Don't worry. We just need to find the others, and then we can get you to a hospital."
Marble smiled timidly, hiding behind her hair. She nodded once more in understanding. With that, Twilight used her magic to shoot a signal up into the sky. Hopefully, Rainbow and Pinkie's family will see the signal and rush to their aide.
__________________________________
About ten minutes pass, as Twilight begins to get exhausted from keeping the signal lit up. She might have lasted much longer, if she hadn't used all of her energy trying to save the family. Twilight turned off the signal. "I need to take a break. I'll try again in about five minutes." Twilight assured Marble. The two ponies nodded to one another as they looked at the moon. It shined especially bright tonight, regardless of all the bad dealings that have occurred throughout the entirety of the day. Twilight was relieved to have saved Marble. She would not have been able to forgive herself, had anything happened to her. What's more, she actually foiled Anarchy's plan. There was only one more thing that could make this moment better.
"Hey! Over here!" Twilight could hear a voice calling to them from a distance. Twilight squinted in an attempt to see who was shouting. It was Rainbow!
Twilight shined the signal once again. The light immediately caught their attention. Pinkie's family began sprinting in their direction. Rainbow bolted over to Twilight immediately. Twilight smiled as her friend tackled her with a hug. "Are you both, okay?" Dash asked worried.
"We're alright. Marble hurt her leg, but we're alive. That's what matters most." Twilight said relieved to have been reunited with her friend.
Igneous Rock and his family were all hugging one another. They were so glad to have been reunited. Marble was crying having just been through such a terrifying experience. It definitely took its toll on her.
Twilight turned to the group. "Come on, everypony! Let's make our way to the train station. The others should be arriving at any minute, if they aren't already there already." Twilight stated. Everyone nodded in agreement as they began the trek back to civilization.
__________________________________
After a long three hour ride, the train finally arrives at its destination. Pinkie bursts through the door. Her head frantically darts around the station, searching for her family. She was feeling just a tiny bit nervous for her family.
"Where are they?!" Pinkie exclaimed timorously. "What if they didn't make it in time? What if they were caught in the rockslide? What if--"
Starlight put a hoof to the pink pony's mouth. "Calm down, Pinkie. I'm sure they made it. This is Twilight we're talking about here. Everything will be fine!"
"Girls, look! There they are!" Fluttershy interjected happily.
The girls livened up at the sight of the group approaching them. The girls hugged one another, elated to see their friends were safe. Pinkie embraced her family in a group hug. She had tears of joy, flooding down her cheeks.
"Way to go, y'all!" Applejack congratulated the girls on a job well done.
Pinkie stopped sobbing for a moment. "Thank you both soooo much!" Pinkie squeezed Twilight and Rainbow tightly.
Everyone was happy to be alright, and that was all that mattered at this moment. With the Pie family saved, they all boarded the train back to Ponyville. Time for some much needed rest. They certainly earned it.
__________________________________
"Sir, the rock farm has been destroyed." Anarchy's henchpony informed him.
Anarchy smiled deviously. "Very good, and what of Twilight and her friends?"
"They managed to save the whole family, sir." the white stallion choked nervously.
The villainous pony's smile grew even wider. "Ha ha! I knew that Twilight had it in her! She certainly keeps making this more and more interesting!" He exclaimed joyfully.
Another one of his crew steps forward. "Pardon my bluntness, sir, but don't we want Twilight out of the way?" the pale mare questioned puzzled.
"Patience, my dear. There will be plenty of time for that later." Anarchy reassures her. "Besides, this was never about killing the princess." He walks up to one of several crates sitting in the middle of the large storage building. He removes the lid and gazes inside the crate. "This mission was about erasing evidence!" He looks up at his henchponies. "We couldn't have anypony knowing what we were up to under that farm. Now that we have what we were after, we couldn't just leave our little excavation sight for them to find, now could we?"
Firefly, the captain of his crew, looks into the crate. "What is that?" She inquired curiously.
Anarchy grinned wickedly. "This.... is what will bring about Celestia's demise."