The Crisis on Infinite Equestrias

by Redback Spino

It's All Coming Together

True to her name, Rainbow Dash was the first to dash out Kimono's door and onto the pathway. Scootaloo, Kimono and the human Pinkie Pie made to follow her, but stopped in fear as they spotted the shadowy mass standing a few yards down the road, just below the rift in the sky.

A black murky hoof emerged from the mass, followed by a featureless face and a black body as the pony that once was Skywishes broke off from the shadow creature, all remnants of her former appearance replaced by inky darkness. The mass reformed into the vague shape of a pony, though larger than usual, and stood alongside her. And high above them, dozens more of the dark figures swarmed out of the rift, floating down towards the nearby town.

"R-rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo called from the doorway. "What are th-those things?"

Rainbow eyed the two shadows up and down, lowering her head and scuffing the dirt with a forehoof. "I dunno Scootaloo, but somehow I don't think they're too friendly."

Kimono shook her head as she stepped into her front garden. "Now Rainbow Dash, it's not healthy to have that kind of mindset. Just because some creature looks scary or dangerous, doesn't mean..."

She was cut off, however, as the shadow that once was Skywishes lunged forth, stomping down with full force at the spot where Rainbow Dash had been standing mere nanoseconds ago.

"... Well, never mind then."

A cloud of dust went up as Rainbow zoomed into the air, away from her attackers as the dust settled. Whatever these things are, I gotta get rid of them fast. It looks like there's even more trouble in town! She swooped back down, flying full speed at the shadows, eyes closed and hooves outstretched to punch them back.

But her hooves never made contact. Opening her eyes she saw behind her the shadows watching as she apparently sailed clean through them. With her attention on the shadows, she failed to notice her flight path taking her head-first into a hedge.

"Pony-Rainbow Dash!" the human Pinkie cried. "You okay?"

Rainbow grunted as she heaved herself free of the hedge. "Rrgh... I'm fine. But I don't get it, these things can somehow change whether they're solid or not! It's like tryin' to..."

She paused as the shadows leapt at her again, narrowly missing her as she took to the air again. "... like tryin' to fight shadows or smoke!"

"But how are you supposed to fight a shadow?!" Scootaloo called as Rainbow flew rings around the creatures, occasionally ducking low and striking with her back legs, to no avail as each blow slipped through their bodies.

The human Pinkie Pie ducked behind a fence. After the events of the Fall Formal last year, she was not exactly a stranger to battles with magical or supernatural creatures. But at least Sunset Shimmer could almost be reasoned with or spoken to. These shadowy things, whatever they were, did not look like they could be reasoned with. They were just... well, shadows!

Wait... shadows... "Ooh, I got an idea! Rainbow Pony!"

The pegasus looked up as she skidded into the ground, after another failed attempt to divebomb the shadow creatures.

The human Pinkie waved to her before tossing something to her. "Here! Point it at them and press the button on the top!"

Rainbow caught it, fumbling the tiny object in her forehooves. "A... What is this, a flashlight?"

"Just do it, hurry!"

She shrugged. Turning to face the two shadows, she aimed the flashlight keyring at them and pushed the button.

Rainbow barely had enough time to close her eyes before the tiny device lit up with a blinding beam of light. All she could hear was what sounded like a rushing wind, followed by something heavy falling to the ground.

"Skywishes! Oh Skywishes, are you alright?"

Cracking an eye open, Rainbow saw that the shadowy things had vanished without a trace, leaving behind the pink and purple Skywishes lying unconscious on the ground. Scootaloo rushed to her side, searching desperately for any sign of life. She relaxed considerably as she saw the gentle rising and falling of the earth pony's chest.

"Take her inside my house, Scootaloo," Kimono said, "Pinkie Pie, how did you know...?"

"That bright light would do the trick?" the human Pinkie finished. "I read alot of comics back home, and in those kinda stories, monsters that are shadowy or dark or whatever can never stand bright lights. So I figured my pocket flashlight would do the trick."

"A bit bright for a pocket flashlight, don't you think?" Rainbow chuckled. "Where'd you get something that powerful?"

Pinkie shrugged. "Dunno, my mom and dad got it for me when I started high-school. It gets pretty dark during winter, and they're kinda paranoid about me walking home alone in darkness. I guess they went a little overboard in getting a powerful light, huh?"

"Well when you get back to your universe, be sure to thank them, 'cos that flashlight may have saved our lives," Rainbow replied.

"Let's go, we should get into town fast!"

Scootaloo returned from the house. "Into town?! But Rainbow Dash, that's where they are!"

"You lose your nerve all of a sudden Scootaloo?" Rainbow asked as she peered in the direction of Ponyville. Sure enough, more and more of the shadows were emerging from the rift in the sky, descending to the ground as they spoke. "C'mon, your friends might need our help."

Quick as a flash, she took to the sky and flew towards Ponyville. From high up, she could see the creatures were swarming about through the streets. "I'll just gather up as many of them as I can, grab some flashlights and lanterns and..."

Her train of thought came to a crashing halt, however, as she saw barely a single pony on the streets. And the unlucky few that remained outside did not look to be fighting back. Most of the ponies had fled into their houses and barricaded themselves in. Rainbow winced, however, as she watched a few unlucky stragglers in the streets being chased down by the inky black shadows, cornered in alleyways or street corners.

"There's way too many of them for me to go around picking them off one by one," she said aloud to herself as she dodged a falling shadow. "Gotta find some way to take them all out at once... but how?"

She tapped a hoof to her chin as she flew around the town perimeter, occasionally flashing Pinkie's flashlight at any shadow that got too close to her. Come on Rainbow, think! You gotta take all these things by yourself... So how can you make a flash big enough to wipe them all out at once?

The Sonic Rainboom, perhaps? She shook her head. Nah, that might have the awesome boom and the rainbow shockwave, but it's not exactly a bright flash...

And then she remembered. A move she had perfected years ago. Aside from the Sonic Rainboom itself, it was one of her three most impressive aerial manoeuvres. A move she had not performed for ages...

Rainbow gulped. You can do this Rainbow. You know the technique, and you got the awesomeness to pull it off. You just gotta do it...

Steeling her resolve and gripping the flashlight in her teeth, Rainbow flew high up into the sky above Ponyville, the brightness of it vaporising any shadow that fell towards her from the rift, which now began to close, having disgorged its share of shadows. Turning around on the spot, forehooves outstretched before her, she zoomed down towards the town below, shadows all around her.

The move would take pinpoint precision and timing. She put on an extra burst of speed. The ground came rising up to meet her.
Then suddenly, she forced her wings wide, skidding to a halt in mid-air. This was it...

Anypony down in Ponyville who happened to be looking out the window at that time would have been temporarily blinded. The sky lit up with the intensity of a bomb exploding, or a thousand lightning strikes going off at once. The Buccaneer Blaze had that sort of effect.

The shadowy monsters below stood no chance. By the time the light finally died down, not a single one remained on the ground or the sky surrounding Ponyville.

Rainbow landed on the ground in the middle of the town square. Save for the echoes of the Buccaneer Blaze, silence reigned supreme. "Is everypony okay here?"

No reply. The silence was only broken by a faint whimpering. She followed it behind one of the vividly-pink houses, and found an earth pony cowering against the wall, covering her face in her hooves. She was a strange hodgepodge of colours, with cream-coloured fur, a mane of pastel orange, yellow and pink, and a tail of all sorts of blues and purples. She was almost as colourful as Rainbow herself.

But Rainbow Dash had little time to dwell on this, as her sympathy took over. She was never much good at being sensitive or gentle (Except when it came to Tank, of course), but neither was she ever one to stand idly by when somepony was in distress.

"Hey, it's okay," she said in a low voice, kneeling down in front of the quivering pony. "Those shadows are gone now, it's alright."
The earth pony jumped slightly as Rainbow placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder. She looked up through eyes wide as dinnerplates, her pupils little more than pinpricks. "R-R-Rainbow... Dash?"

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah, it's me... well, sorta. I mean, I'm not the Rainbow Dash you know, but that doesn't matter. The point is, you're safe now. What's your name?"

She wiped her snout with a hoof and took a few breaths to steady her voice. "T-Toola. Toola Roola..."

"Nice to meet ya Toola Roola," Rainbow said with a smile. Toola Roola?! There's a name nopony would self-apply back in my Ponyville... "Are you hurt or anything?"

"No... no, I'm alright now... those things, those... shadowy things... I don't know what they did, but one of them was chasing me. I was hiding here, and it..." Toola shuddered, holding her withers in her hooves. "It g-grew around me... everything went black."

Sounds like what happened to that Rainbowshine pony back near Kimono's house, Rainbow thought. "It's okay now. They're all gone now, I made sure of that."

"Really?" Toola looked up at Rainbow through teary eyes. "Th-that flash of light was you?"

Rainbow nodded. "The Buccaneer Blaze, a personal favourite flying move of mine. Not bad, eh?"

The earth pony nodded fervently. "It was amazing! How did you do it?"

"Ah, sorry, it's a secret. Can't explain my signature moves to just anypony. C'mon, let's get you somewhere safe. You sure it didn't do anything else to you?"

"A-actually, it did." Toola Roola stopped a moment, her eyes becoming fearful again. "After everything went black, I saw... things."

"Things?" Rainbow replied. "What kinda things?"

"I don't know... It was like, a lot of strange blurry images. I can't really remember right now."

"C'mon, we should really get you somewhere to rest," Rainbow replied, lending Toola a supporting shoulder. "Do you know a pony named Kimono?" Toola nodded. "We can head to her house. A good long rest, maybe it'll jog your memory of what you saw."

A short walk, a quick powernap and a soothing cup of chamomile tea later, and Toola Roola was on the mend.

Rainbow pulled Scootaloo aside and whispered to her. "Hey Scootaloo. I get that those shadowy things are pretty scary, but Toola here was shaking like a leaf when I found her. She practically looks like she was traumatised or something!"

"I can guess why," Scootaloo replied. "Poor Toola Roola is terrified of the dark. She's probably the only pony her age who still sleeps with a nightlight."

"Seriously?!" Rainbow sighed. "That explains why she was so shook up. I'm not one-hundred percent certain, but I think whatever that thing did to Rainbowshine happened to Toola as well."

"Let's find out." Scootaloo sat down beside Toola on a simple cushion on the floor n Kimono's living room. "Toola Roola? How are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you." The cream-coloured pony nodded with a weak smile. "Kimono, you should really start selling this tea of yours, it's delicious!"

Kimono smiled. "Why thank you. Now then, Rainbow Dash tells me you saw something when that shadowy creature attacked you. Can you remember what it was?"

Toola's smile slipped. She sat back in thought, her eyes closed. "I think so... it's still kinda blurry, but I think... Yes, yes I remember it now!"

Kimono quickly grabbed a pencil and a sheet of paper from a nearby table and wrote as Toola described what she saw.

"I saw images of... ships. Huge ships, except they were floating in the air, and had no sails. They were somewhere... colourful. It was like a huge empty space filled with swirling colour, like the colours in a puddle of oil or something, it's hard to describe. And there were dozens of these ships."

Kimono scribbled down notes. "What else?"

Toola continued. "Then I saw this... creature. It looked like a grey and black unicorn, but bigger, and dressed in armour, with long black hair and a big spiky crown, and a blue cape... There were cities and towns, with holes in the sky, like the one that was above here... But then these places started disappearing. Like they were just drawings, and somebody was rubbing them out, until everything was just whiteness... Then there was the grey unicorn again, with..."

"Hundreds of those shadowy things behind him?"

Everyone present jumped as they heard a new voice among them. Rainbowshine had gotten up from her sleeping spot on the couch, and came to join the group. "Is that what you saw?"

"Yes, yes, that's it exactly!" Toola replied with a nod. "A-and they were all looking at that whiteness. It was coming at them like a huge wave or a wall or something, except there was this thing sticking out of the front, looking kind of like a pony made of... I dunno, light or something, it was all very weird."

"I saw the same thing," Rainbowshine said, sitting down beside Toola. "When that black thing attacked me, I saw all that sort of thing as well."

"This is amazing stuff!" The human Pinkie Pie added. "It all sounds exactly like something out of a comic I read back home!"
Rainbow Dash turned to the humanoid. "Really? So what happened in the comic?"

The human Pinkie stood up, pacing back and forth across the lounge. "Well, there was thing bad guy... the Anti-something, I forget his name... and he wanted to, like, destroy all the world or rule over it or whatever, you know what comic-book villains are like. Anyway, he came from a place called the Antimatter-Universe, where everything was reversed from how it was in other universes. And he wanted to use this antimatter stuff, which looked just like a huge white wave, to destroy all the positive-matter universes, which somehow would make him superpowerful... Y'know in hindsight, it was a weird story!"

"Weird or not, it does sound rather similar to what Rainbowshine and Toola Roola saw," Kimono replied.

"Oh it gets weirder," the human Pinkie continued, "This villain guy even had his own army of shadow-monsters, and they were defeated by really bright lights and everything!"

Rainbow raised a hoof. "So, in the comic how did the superheroes defeat this guy?"

The human Pinkie hesitated before answering. "Well... by gathering together all the superheroes from all the different universes that were left, and all fighting him together... I think, the story got really complicated later on."

"Sheesh, I'll stick to Daring Do books for now, thanks," Rainbow replied. "At least those all happen in one universe! But anyway, back to what they saw. This is just a guess, but maybe what they saw was what this unicorn fella planned to do. Maybe he wants to do something like the guy in Pinkie's comic, and that huge wave of white was some kinda superweapon or something."
Scootaloo gulped. "That doesn't sound good."

Suddenly, the assembled ponies (and human) were bowled over by a cacophony of noise from outside. It was a jumbled mix of screams, roars and explosions, coming from not too far away.

"Gah! Speaking of not sounding good," Pinkie shouted above the din. "What is there a war going on outside or something?!"

Rainbow got up and hurried to the window, pushing the drapes aside. Her eyes grew wide at the spectacle. "Yep, pretty much."

What had once been a bright green countryside, with a hedgerow and a dirt road going past Kimono's house, was now a chaotic village street. White and pink houses lines the cobblestone road, and ponies galloped up and down the street, many of them followed behind by the all-too-familiar shadow creatures. Rubble was strewn all about the place as a battle raged in the streets.

"Hang on," Rainbow said. "... I recognise those buildings. This is stirrup street! I'm back home!"

"But if we're in your Ponyville, then why doesn't my house look any different?" Kimono asked.

Scootaloo nodded. "And why are some of the buildings different, but some of them look like buildings in our Ponyville?"
Rainbow threw the door open. "We can worry about that later. Right now my hometown is under attack, and now I know how to beat these things. Come on!!"

The others following behind, Rainbow stepped out into the streets of Ponyville, flashlight at the ready, and leapt into the fray. She fought tooth and claw, barrelling down any shadow monsters she encountered, blasting them full in the face with Pinkie's torch. But for every shadow she vaporised, it seemed another came hurtling out of the rift in the sky above Ponyville. But she and her friends pressed onward, until they reached the Ponyville town square, where a large group of ponies were gathered, huddling together as they blasted and fought against the ever-pressing waves of shadows. Including a group of very familiar ponies.

"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie cried from the centre of the melee as she slammed down on the button atop a party cannon before her.

A shadow reeled back, batting at the confetti that now covered it. "Where have you been?! I've been worried about you!!"

Rainbow laughed. "Oh I've been places, alright. But I'll tell ya later. How are things going here?" she shouted back as she swooped in to join the battle.

Twilight lowered her head, firing a beam of violet light at another column of shadows vaporising several and driving the rest back.

"Not too good! We got some sort of dimensional rift open above Ponyville, these shadow creatures just keep coming, your universe's Twilight Sparkle has been kidnapped, and we have no idea how to close the rift!"

"You may not have to," Rainbow replied before rolling across the square and huddling up into the mass of ponies. "I'm guessing you know about the whole Multiverse thing at this point? Well in whatever universe I was just in, we had one of those rift things as well, but it eventually closed. It was smaller than this one though, so I dunno if they work the same."

"It closed on its own?" Rarity added, ducking below a small barricade to fix her askew mane. "Well that's a relief. After all if these rifts were made by magic, I'd hazard a guess that they require a lot of energy!"

Twilight's face lit up. "Oh my gosh, you're right! And if this rift is even bigger, then I'm guessing it'll close even quicker than the one Rainbow was dealing with."

"Well I hope that happens soon," Pinkie Pie replied. "Cos even I'm starting to get tired!"

The battle raged on for nearly an hour. The majority of ponies had retreated indoors for safety, and only a small pocket remained behind to help the now very bizarre group of friends. The rest had already been caught and taken over by the shadows. Thanks to Rainbow Dash and the human Pinkie Pie's knowledge about their weakness to light, Rarity, twilight and Rarity the Unicorn had a distinct advantage, sending beam after beam of light into the shadowy masses that threatened to engulf them on all sides. It was as if some invisible fire burned all around them, the smoky blackness was so thick.

"Hey Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo shouted above the melee. "Do you think you could do that trick you did back in the other Ponyville? The Blaze thing?"

Rainbow kicked at a shadow that got too close. "The Buccaneer Blaze? I dunno if I should, I'm still pretty worn out from the last one. Besides, wouldn't I be wasting my energy if more of them are just gonna keep coming afterwards?"

"You won't need to worry about that, look!"

The human Pinkie Pie pointed to the sky, where, at long last, the rift expelled its last waves of shadows, before quivering to a close and vanishing from sight.

"Anytime you're ready, Rainbow Dash!" Connor shouted.

Rainbow motioned to the others to give her space. They pushed out, forming a circle around her in the middle of the fight, holding back the waves of shadows.

Crouching low, Rainbow Dash pushed off with all her might, zooming high into the sky at near sonic speeds. She wheeled round in midair, until she was looking down at Ponyville far below. Apart from the circle of her friends in the centre of the town square, almost all the streets of the town were filled with blackness.

She took a deep breath, making a quick mental prayer to whomever may have been listening that it would go right. She muttered aloud. "Here goes nothin'."

She flew back a few feet, then barrelled down towards Ponyville with all her might. She was almost reach Rainboom levels of speed. Just a bit... further...

Finally, the window was open. The perfect moment had arrived, and she did it.

The searing light of the Buccaneer Blaze shone out across the sky above Ponyville, as if the sun had suddenly gone supernova. Nopony had ever truly seen exactly what the Buccaneer Blaze was, the light it produced was just that bright.

All across Ponyville the streets were cleared, as the shadow creatures vanished under the intense power of the light. Once more that day, Ponyville was silent, save for the last echoes of the Blaze, and the hissing screeches of the shadows as they were banished back to nothingness.

---

"Thanks so much for your help, girls. We don't know what we would have done if you hadn't come when you did!"

Mayor Mare had taken the group aside as cleanup efforts got underway to get Ponyville back to working order. The shadows may have been banished, but the damage they had done was still very much evident. But with both Ponyvilles now apparently merged together, ponies from both universes got to work together in repairing damage, reuniting families and caring for those unfortunate ponies who had been taken over by the shadowy demons.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Aww shucks, it was nothing. What'd you expect, we'd just let our hometown get overrun by those creeps?!"

"Ain't no shadowy demons gonna take over my hometown!" Applejack added with a determined stomp.

The Mayor smiled. "That said, we are once again in your debt. And to your new friends as well."

She bowed to Rarity the Unicorn, Dragon-Rarity, Connor, Littlepip, human Pinkie Pie, Minty, Scootaloo and Kimono.

"Thank you ma'am," Littlepip replied, bowing back. "Though by my guess, I'd say with this whole Multiverse business, we've got more than one version of Ponyville here right now. I'll bet that's gonna get confusing soon."

"Not to worry," the Mayor said. "I've already been informed about this whole Multiverse business, and I have my cohorts working out how to manage two Ponyvilles occupying the same place. But let it be known that whatever... ahem, whatever universe you are originally from, that you are welcome here."

"Aww, thanks miss Mayor!" The human Pinkie knelt down and picked up Mayor Mare in a tight affectionate hug, only breaking it when she opened her eyes again and saw the gobsmacked stares of everypony around her. "Aheheh... sorry."

"That's quite alright miss," Mayor Mare said, straightening her collar. "Now, I understand you and your friends have some business in Canterlot?" The five friends nodded. "Well I won't keep you then. Best of luck with whatever you're up to!" she called as she returned to her entourage of officials helping organise the cleanup effort.

"So you guys have a Canterlot too?" the human Pinkie asked. "So what have you gotta do there?"

Twilight Sparkle stood up on a piece of rubble, elevating her above the small crowd. "I guess this is as good a time as any. As it happens the Twilight Sparkle of this universe has been kidnapped by Emperor Sombra. We need to go to Canterlot to help the Princesses in a spell to get her back."

"Wait, hold on a sec," Rainbow Dash interrupted. "Emperor Sombra?! But I thought King Sombra was destroyed!"

"Your Sombra was. Emperor Sombra is from a different universe entirely. He is a warlord and tyrant, bent on conquering all the Multiverse for his own. And for whatever reason, he's kidnapped the Twilight Sparkle from your universe," Twilight replied. "Princess Celestia says she can create a spell to retrieve her from wherever Emperor Sombra is keeping her, but it requires an incredibly strong emotional connection with the Twilight Sparkle of this universe."

She paused a moment to let the information sink in. Kimono raised a hoof. "So if we don't directly know this Twilight Sparkle, I'm guessing we don't have to come along?"

Twilight nodded, as Spike replied. "Exactly. Only those who directly know Twilight need to come along. Otherwise, you might wanna try and track down anypony you know."

"However, I have a feeling we might need your help in future if this whole crisis continues. Which is why I took the time to make these..."

Twilight's horn lit up, and a small stack of sheets of paper levitated into the air. A sheet fluttered out to each different group of ponies from each different universe. "I enchanted them real quick during the cleanup effort. If one of you writes something on the paper, it will show up on everyone else's paper as well, so we can all keep in touch in case somepony needs help."

"Snazzy!" the human Pinkie said, examining her paper closely. "So I'm guessing you don't have cell...phones...?"

She trailed off, standing slowly up, stock still like deer in the headlights. "Excuse me ponies!"

Without another word, she sprinted off down a street, where a small group of figures were walking up the street. There were four more human girls, around the same age as the human Pinkie Pie. And also like the human Pinkie Pie, with very familiar colour schemes and hair.

"Pinkie Pie!" one of them screamed, running toward the pink-haired human as fast as her fabulous boots would carry her. "We were so worried!"

"Where've ya been, girl?" A blonde-haired girl in a cowboy-hat asked. "And fer that matter, where are we?!"

"We're in Equestria, Applejack!" the human Pinkie Pie replied. "This is where Twilight came from. Y'know, the place with all the ponies!"

"Seriously?!" The one with the rainbow-coloured hair gasped. "So what are the ponies like? What's Twilight up to?"

"Welllll..." The human Pinkie said. "Twilight's in a bit of a pickle at the moment. I can explain later, but in the meantime, how about you meet the ponies for yourself!"

They hurried back to the larger group, where nine jaws simultaneously dropped. The human Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity stared in utter bemusement at their pony counterparts, who stared back just as shocked.
"Now this is just plain damn weird," Littlepip muttered aloud.

---

It was as if all of reality had stopped. The word had frozen in its tracks. Twilight lay perched on the wooden beam, her eyes following Pinkie as she swung, limp and lifeless, from the rope.

But even as the world slowed down, Twilight's mind was already going at a million thoughts a second. The first thought being what to do next.

Do I cut her down? M-maybe she's still alive! But I saw and heard her neck snap, how could anypony survive that?! Oh sweet Celestia, what have I done?! She leapt down from the beam to land clumsily on the floor, quickly shuffling backwards away from the hanging body until she was cowering against a wall.

How could this happen?! This wasn't how it's supposed to be... Oh gosh, what if the others find out?! What's going to happen to me?! I just... I just wanted to help her...

She nearly leapt out of her skin as there came a knock at the door. "Twilight? Pinkie Pie? Y'all in there?"

"We're thinking of having a picnic lunch, care to join us?"

Rarity? Applejack? How did they know I was here? What will they say?! "D-don't come in!" she shouted, hastily cutting the rope and catching Pinkie in her magical grip.

"Twi? Y'okay in there?" Applejack asked, knocking again.

"I'm fine!!" Twilight screamed back, unable to hide her panic. "I'm j-just fine, we're fine... don't come in, I'll be out in a minute..."

"Is Pinkie in there?" came Fluttershy's voice

Twilight lowered the body to the floor gently. "Uh, yeah... sh-she'll be out too. I-in fact, you girls should g-go on ahead. We'll catch up l-later!"

But Applejack persisted. "Twilight what's going on in there? Why isn't Pinkie Pie saying anything?"

"Are you sure you're alright darling?" Rarity asked, daintily knocking on the door. "You sound rather flustered."

"Seriously girls, please, don't come in!" Twilight screamed, cradling Pinkie's body in her forehooves. "Just leave me alone!"

The doorknob turned, and the door creaked open. "Alright Twilight, enough is enough, we're comin' in," called Rainbow Dash.

"Whatever's going on can't be that bad!"

"No, please...!"

But it was too little too late. The door swung open, and the four ponies entered. And as soon as they saw the spectacle before them, Twilight standing over Pinkie Pie's lifeless body, all colour drained from their faces.

You could hear a pin drop, the silence was so thick and heavy. Twilight looked desperately to each of her friends, but their faces betrayed nothing but pure shock.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."

Applejack at last broke their silence. "What..."

"P-Pinkie Pie..." Fluttershy looked on the verge of tears. Or on the verge of vomiting, it was honestly hard to tell.

Rainbow Dash was instantly at Pinkie's side, cradling her head. "Pinkie Pie! Ohmygosh Pinkie, c'mon, wake up!!! Please, wake up!"

But she did not wake up. Rainbow's facade faded and her voice dissolved into sobbing. "H-how did this happen?"

"I'm sorry Rainbow," Twilight said, slowly backing away. "I was only trying to help... sh-she was doing some new party trick and I was helping her, a-and then she fell, so I threw a rope and... oh Celestia, it all happened so fast! Before I knew it, she... she was..."

"Ssshh, c'mon Twilight," Applejack said in a gentle voice. "Let's go, let's get you out..."

"No!" Twilight pushed her away. "Stay away! Please, don't touch me, just stay away!"

"Twilight, please, you're not thinking straight," Rarity tried to reason. "Just calm down and come with us. Everything's going to be fine."

Twilight was backed against the wall. "NO! Stay back! Just leave me alone!!"

"C'mon Twilight, seriously, we need to get you out of..."

"I said stay BACK!" Twilight's horn flared bright. A beam of violet light shot straight at Rainbow before she could lay a hoof on her. Rainbow Dash was knocked back almost six feet.

Her head flew even further.

"Oh no..." Twilight sunk to the floor. Her face and chest were spattered with blood as she loked down at Rainbow's body. "I-I... I didn't mean to... What... Oh gosh, what did I do?!"

"Alright, somepony help me get her outta here!" Applejack leapt forward, pushing Twilight to the floor, her strong earth-pony legs pinning her limbs to the floor.

"Please Applejack, I'm sorry! I don't know what came over me, I panicked!" Twilight wept openly, feebly struggling against her grip.

Rarity's horn began to glow. "Hold her down Applejack, I'll take care of this..."

"Oh no you won't! GET AWAY FROM ME!" But before she got a chance to cast any spell, a beam of magic caught Rarity right in the chest, sending her flying back against the window, and through it, falling with a gutwrenching crunch onto the hard ground below.

Beams and bolts of magic flew all about the room, shattering photo frames, shredding bedclothes and toys, leaving scorch-marks on the walls and ceiling. Twilight screamed and cried as she fought not only to keep her friends away from her, but also to get herself under control. Magical power and panic were never a wise combination, especially for an alicorn of Twilight's power.

"Stoppit! You're making it worse! Leave me alone and get out of here! I-I can't control it anymore!" she shrieked as another beam of energy shot forth from her horn, forming into a violet crescent, like a blade.

"T-Twilight, please! What are you doing?!" Fluttershy screamed, backing away.

But Twilight was beyond reason. Her panic and desperation had given in to madness. "I won't let you take me! Nopony can know!"

The wind was knocked out of her as Applejack leapt onto her back, sending her tumbling to the floor. "You murderer! You killed them Twilight, you killed 'em all. Yer outta yer mind!" she roared, pressing her full weight against her.

"You're...not..." Twilight heaved with all her might, getting back to her hooves and throwing Applejack off. "HELPING!"

Her horn flared, no, exploded with light, and the entire top floor of Sugarcube Corner was engulfed. Twilight closed her eyes and covered her ears against the explosion, only daring to peek after the roaring sound had died down. Her ears were still ringing, but the light of her horn faded at last, leaving only the charred, blasted remains of the top floor remaining.

All around her was death. The broken and bloodied bodies of her friends lay all around, some on the ground outside the bakery, where shocked ponies began to gather to see the aftermath of the cataclysm. Some still lay inside the wrecked building, Applejack impaled through the eye with a broken shard of glass, Rainbow's headless body hanging out a window, all visible except for Fluttershy. The only traces of her Twilight could see, were a few locks of scorched pink hair and a heap of greasy-smelling ash in the corner.

In the moment Twilight at last found the feeling in her extremities, she opened her wings and fled.

Author's Note:

Coming up Next Time:

The party arrives at long last, at a very odd-looking Canterlot!
Celestia and Solaris return, with many new friends in tow!
And will Twilight ever escape this horrific nightmare?

Find out, next time in Crisis on Infinite Equestrias!

Comments

[FUomega]

Great chapter can't wait for the next.
Keep up the good work

[Winter Quill]

I'm really, really enjoying this story so far, and nice to see the reference to the original comic, but I'm not sure it will help them any.

Also, you might want to put together a cheat sheet of all the alternate characters and worlds!

[Redback Spino]

4943009 Heheh, don't worry. Once they all get together, things will, funnily enough, get a little less complicated (They'll start getting proper designations instead of just 'the human Pinkie' or 'Dragon-Rarity').

[Winter Quill]

4943310

Fantastic! And I have to admit I would love to see a gryphon version of the main cast (maybe as a world that gets destroyed) cause it would be cool.

[pinkiepie4th]

"Hang on," Rainbow said. "... I recognise those buildings. This is stirrup street! I'm back home!"

Shouldn't the street name be capitalized?

Can't wait for the next chapter! Allons-y!

[Redback Spino]

5984791 He's from 'Equestria's First Human' by Ceehoff. And the Dragon ponies aren't from any particular fic, I just thought a universe where all the ponies are dragons would be a cool idea.

[kadenthepony]

This is my favorite story ever.

[Crazy the Clone]

...Who was that guy that said he'd mess with Twilight earlier on? I'd like to punch through my screen and strangle him now, please.

[The Fallout Pony]

5984920 are you continuing this story?

[Marcthelightspark2004]

5984920
So, a Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover? Cool.

[Marcthelightspark2004]

Is this dead?

[Marcthelightspark2004]

Redback Spino, is this dead?

[PokeFan583]

That sure was something