My Little Crisis Core

by Mudkipman98

Revenge

Author's Note: I should mention that in this chapter, there are some very gory descriptions. Just a fair warning to those who may be affected by it.

Zack and Twilight began to pick their way through the destroyed crops, barn, and Apple Family house in an attempt to find any sign of life. When they got to the destroyed house, they thoroughly searched it. Tables were destroyed or on fire, the whole top floor was missing, and the family room had been reduced to a few dying cinders.

Twilight and Zack dug through the remains furiously to find any of the Apple Family that happened to be trapped inside. Finally, Twilight uncovered a large, red work horse under a pile of debris. "Big Mac!" she yelped, slightly startled before she began to help him up. "Where's the rest of your family?"

Big Macintosh coughed several times before answering. "Apple Bloom is on a trip to Manehattan, *cough* and Granny Smith was visiting the town. Applejack, she was out in the orchard..." Twilight's heart dropped and she rushed from the remains of the house, followed soon by Zack.

"Where is everyone?" he asked.

"Everyone's okay except for my friend, Applejack. She was out in the orchard before Sephiroth destroyed everything." She spat the last few words in disgust as she kept running, jumping and dodging her way through and around fallen trees and splintered wood.

Twilight suddenly stopped and her horn began to glow. She shut her eyes and stood still, not moving or, from Zack's perspective, breathing. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm using a detect life spell. If Applejack is," she gulped, "still alive, then this spell will help us find her." A bright purple glow popped into existence over the next hill. "There."

Twilight and Zack ran over the hill and found more destruction in the small, natural valley. It seemed that despite the crest of the hill, the destruction had spread beyond. Carefully, they picked their way down the hill and into the bottom of the valley.

After searching and digging through debris, Twilight heard long, wheezing breaths coming from a few yards away. "Zack! Over here!" she called. Zack joined her as they inspected the sound. Twilight and Zack simultaneously cringed at what they saw.

Stuck into a tree, impaled by a piece of wood, hung Applejack, her blood draining onto the ashen grass. She was barely breathing and the wooden spike had impaled her through her midsection. Twilight stifled a sob while Zack ran over to Applejack and, making sure not to pull the wooden spike out of her, pulled her out of the tree and set her down. More blood spilled onto the grass when she touched the ground, eliciting a cry from Twilight. Applejack let out a weak wince as she touched down. "Twilight?" she managed weakly, her eyes flickering and weak.

"It's okay, AJ. I'm here," she said as she knelt beside her friend.

"Twilight, that... thing. He-he-h-" Applejack coughed up a mess of blood and it fell on the wooden spike. "He came from the forest,... and he *cough* said that he was gonna kill everypony. I tried to stop him, but..." She slowly motioned for Zack to lift her up. He put his hand on her back and immediately pulled it away. It was stained with blood in a long streak across his hand. "He got me, Twilight."

Applejack started to shut her eyes slowly. "No. Applejack no," said Twilight desperately. "Don't shut your eyes. Stay awake. Stay awake, damn it!" she screamed. AJ's eyes shut and she fell limp, her blood continuing to pool around her in the grass as she lay in Zack's arms. "No," said Twilight through her sobs. "I won't give up, and I'm not letting you give up either!" She focused her magic into her horn and activated a hastily crafted teleportation spell.

Zack's head began to spin as a purple vortex engulf him. It slowly cleared and he found himself in the lobby of what looked like a hospital. Twilight started yelling for help and a group of doctors and nurses rushed into the lobby with a stretcher. They carefully took Applejack out of Zack's arms and set her sideways on the stretcher before carrying her off to the OR.

A nurse returned with a large towel for Zack to wipe his hands off on, and left when he had finished. Twilight was crouched in the middle of the floor and Zack knelt down to comfort her. "Twilight," he began before being cut off.

"Don't even speak to me right now," said Twilight coldly. "You have no idea what I'm going through and if you don't shut your damn mouth, then I'm going to-" She was cut off as Zack's fist connected with her face, knocking her onto her back and eliciting a gasp from the few ponies that were taking shelter in the lobby.

"I have no idea what you're going through? Did you forget who you're talking to? I've had friends that have lost their lives defending others." He briefly remembered Angeal as he yelled at Twilight. "I've watched them die my arms when there was absolutely nothing I could do to help them. If you really want to fight for those who can't protect themselves, then you'll have to get used the fact that you'll suffer losses!"

Twilight laid back on the ground in shock at the lecture that she was receiving, but her face didn't show it. Her expression was blank as she listened to Zack shout at her.

"That's what being a soldier is. Sacrifice. If you can't handle that, then I guess I'll have to deal with Sephiroth and the changelings alone."

He suddenly stopped his rant and walked past her towards the door, stopping for a second as if he was going to say something more, but instead walked out into the street where changelings were still trying to attack the houses. He rushed out and put all of his anger into his assault against the changelings that remained, cutting them into ribbons as they flew at him.

Meanwhile, Twilight picked herself up off the floor of the hospital's main entrance. She began to think about what Zack said. Sure, she could lose Applejack right now. It was tearing her apart inside. But what about Zack? She knew he'd been part of a group called SOLDIER. That should have made it obvious that he had suffered losses far greater than her. She'd never lost anypony before, yet she was so quick to snap at him for 'not understanding'. I'm a fool, she thought to herself.

"Um, Miss Sparkle," came one of the surgeons from behind her. Twilight turned to him and did her best to compose herself before responding.

"Yes?"

"We've done all we can to help your friend. She should live, but it could take next to a year for her to recover physically and maybe even psychologically, depending on what she saw. She hasn't spoken much, but from what we can gather, she must've seen something horrible."

"Thank you," responding Twilight, doing her best to hide her emotion. She drew her sword from her back with her magic and turned to the door of the hospital.

A stallion spoke up from the civilians that were taking shelter. "You're not going out there, are you?" he asked, his voice shaking. "You'll get yourself killed."

Twilight ignored him and started walking, pushing right through the doors and out into the fray. What she saw chilled her to the bone.

Gore lined the streets and burning buildings, the town covered in the remains of hundreds of changelings. Dead ponies were sprawled in the streets, their blood still flowing onto the dirt. Ponies knelt over the corpses of their loved ones and agonized wails filled the air. Few changelings were left flying, though they continued to drop things on survivors and attack shops that hadn't been completely destroyed.

From a few blocks off, Twilight suddenly heard the screams of several changelings pierce the dust and smoke-filled air. Immediately, she charged off in the direction of the screams at a sprint, surprised at her sudden burst of energy, but running none the less. When she arrived, she found a horrific sight.

Zack stood in the middle of the street facing away from Twilight, his clothes and sword covered in dark green blood and what looked like chunks of changeling. All around him lay the bodies of the changelings he had killed, most of them in pieces with blood still leaking from them. Twilight could see his shoulders rising and falling as he breathed heavily.

But neither Twilight nor Zack moved. They both just stood there.

Silence fell over the streets like a shroud as the remaining changelings left, their destructive goal met. The town had been completely destroyed. Few houses remained, on fire or rarely still standing, and the bodies of fallen ponies and changelings alike lined the streets. Citizens of Ponyville who not a day earlier were buying and trading, breathing and living had now died in coldblooded murder. They had died doing what was right; defending their homes against an invasion from an unstoppable threat, one that they could not hope to match. This realization struck Twilight as she stood in the gore filled street and continued to stare at who she thought had been one of the nicest people she'd ever met, despite him being an incredibly powerful and skilled alien.

And now, she saw what Zack truly was. A killing machine, bread for combat and brutality toward his enemies. As the SOLDIER turned to face her, Twilight found the coldest look of hatred in his Mako-infused eyes. The longer she stared, the more certain she became that she was looking into the seventh ring of hell itself, a neverending inferno of pain and suffering just waiting to be released.

She also began to realize that she was much the same.

Back in the Everfree Forest, she had killed changelings. Granted, she'd done it to save Spike, but she had never killed anything before that. Despite how horrible and evil Changelings were, they were still ponies. They still had only one life to be lived, and she'd taken that from them. Twilight suddenly dropped to ground, looking off into space as she ran her actions through her mind, not wanting to believe what she'd done. She almost choked as she thought:

I killed somepony. So many are dead because of me.

She drooped her head in shame as she continued to think about what she'd done when she suddenly felt fingers touch her shoulder. When she looked up, she saw Zack staring into her eyes, but gone was the absolute hatred and lust for death she'd just witnessed. In its place was a look of sympathy, of understanding, and most of all, of compassion.

"I've put you through a lot, haven't I," he spoke in a soft tone. Twilight didn't move, but continued to stare into Zack's eyes.

They were suddenly torn apart as a golden beam of light blasted Zack away from Twilight, sending him hurtling through the air and into the dirt down the road. Twilight immediately spun to confront Zack's assailant, appalled at what she saw.

"Princess Celestia?!" she gasped as she stared at the princess of the sun, her horn sizzling from her recent magic discharge. Accompanying her were five royal guards wearing gold and silver armor. Celestia herself was dressed in golden armor while her wings had blades attached to them for close quarters combat.

"Go to Canterlot and take shelter with Luna, now!" ordered Celestia. Her guards stepped back as she flared her wings and the blades with them, which now shone with various kinds of elemental magic. Among them, Twilight recognized magic that was designed to poison, cause near immediate death, and even turn to stone what it came into contact with.

"I don't understand," stammered Twilight as she continued processing what had just happened. "Why did you attack him like that?"

"I said, GO!" yelled Celestia, her rage reaching its boiling point. Twilight shrunk back, filled with a fear she hadn't expected to be caused by her mentor. When Twilight didn't move, Celestia nodded to her guards who moved towards Twilight and began to drag her off.

The whole time, Twilight remained stunned, unable to formulate a response to anyone. As the guards pulled her away to a golden chariot farther down the road, she could make out Zack struggling to his feet with his massive sword, covered in dirt and blood.

Author's Note:

Okay, well that's that chapter. Sorry this took over two full seasons to release, but I've been occupied with another story and have been at a loss for ideas for this one. However, I'm back on track and will be putting out another chapter shortly. :)