//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: The Last Alicorn // by FoxySkittles //------------------------------// Screaming. Everypony was screaming, as a battle raged above them. Most could barely tell what was even happening at this point, as they were all focused on the massive pulses of magic flowing through the air. It didn't feel good, either. Even the armored guards standing nearby to watch seemed helpless compared to the beasts fighting above. One particular mare knew what was happening, and she didn't like it. She was stuck. She couldn't do anything. She and her friends could only look on as a darkness began to cover the world. The pulses only got stronger as time went on. All of them looked on in horror as one, last collision of energy sent a massive blast of magic in the air. Along with this, there was a flash of light, a whisper, and the mare's entire world went black. There was a light. A light shining behind the mare's eyelids. She opened one, and immediately closed it due to the sudden light. Eventually she did blink them both open and gently pulled herself into a sitting position. Right away, she looked around for her friends, hoping to find them behind her as they were just moments ago. Was it moments? Perhaps it was hours? She couldn't tell. "Princess Celestia? Princess Luna?" It was dark. It was dry. Where was everypony? Where was anything? It was just dirt and dry land. "Girls?! Shining, Cadance?! Where are yo-" The source of the voice, a small Alicorn mare, cut herself off as she finally got herself a good look around. It was gone. All of it. "Girls...P-Please...This isn't funny anymore..." The young mare, known to her friends as Twilight Sparkle, lowered her head as she began to move for the first time since...what had happened. What had happened? It was hazy, she couldn't quite remember all the details. Everypony was there, she knew for sure. They were in her own hometown, she also knew for sure. But...where was it? What happened? She couldn't remember. So, naturally, she did the one thing she could think of to get her mind working. She walked. She walked... and walked... and walked... She couldn't quite recall how far she had actually walked. It felt like weeks. Months. Years. She hated it. She wanted to cry. She wanted to die. She couldn't feel anything. There was no magic in this world, aside from her own. There were no cities. No ponies. Was there anything at all? There were hardly any other animals about either, if any, but she hardly took notice by this point. She couldn't go on anymore. She could feel her whole body and mind giving up. Then she felt a breeze. A breeze that came suddenly. It wasn't there before, but it was...comforting, for some reason. She couldn't place how, but it reminded her of home. With this in mind, she continued on, if just a little bit more. At least, she would have, if not for taking notice of the massive amount of dark clouds looming over her, which were already pouring down rain. "It...It was clear and sunny just a moment ago...Ow!" She yelped in a little pain when she felt something solid hit her right flank. She turned to look at what it was, and found a melting piece of hail on the ground. Followed shortly by more and more. "Ow...Ow ow ow!" At this point, she began to run, hoping to find any sort of shelter. Especially when she heard the roaring thunder coming from behind her. Shelter, she could not find. It was wide open, aside from the lake up ahead of her. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't think of anything. Twilight Sparkle, for the first time, could not think of anything. A moment of panic set in when it suddenly began to blizzard, and all she could do was dive. She dove right into the ocean, her horn immediately lighting up to form a magic air bubble around her head so she could breathe as she dived deeper to escape from the strange storms going on above her. She had never seen weather like this. From simple rain, quickly to an intense blizzard. She could feel it getting louder up above the surface, as well. It was almost like a hurricane. She was thankful, now, that she was alone. She would never wish something like this on any of her friends or fellow ponies. The water started to feel very cold now, and her panic quickly returned as she saw the surface of the lake begin to freeze above her. She knew very well there was no surviving this without magic, and even then...she wasn't sure if she could protect herself properly. Fire magic would be nice, but of course she knew very well that wouldn't work under the water. Her next thought scared her. She'd never done this before, and had only read about it in stories. She knew it was a real spell, but nopony ever had the guts to attempt it. "Please...Somepony help me..." She could very well die. Everything could pass her by. "Princess Celestia...Princess Luna...Somepony who is out there, help me..." There was a chance she would never see her home or anything again...but she had to try. She would have to freeze herself. But not with the ice. That would almost certainly kill her, and even if she survived she would be permanently damaged for sure. She would have to use magic. She took a moment to gather her thoughts and focus properly. A moment she nearly didn't have, as she let out a scream when she felt her hooves hurting from the cold. That was the force to finally make up her mind, and without hesitation, she broke her air bubble, lit up her horn... ...and everything was gone.