> The End of Ponyville
>  by TheOnly
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Epic War Inbound
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not much happened within the wooden walls of the library.  Almost every single day was the same.  Organize the books, clean the shelves, and give the customers the books they wanted.  Other than that, the day consisted of reading and studying.  Outside the walls, Twilight could partake in the crazy day-to-day antics that her friends cooked up, but inside the walls it was quiet.  Twilight didn't mind it too much, she enjoyed the company of the books and the silence.  She enjoyed the company of Spike, and her soft bed, and the musty smell of books.  

Today was one of those days.  Rainbow Dash was busy practicing her tricks in Cloudsdale, Fluttershy had left to go visit a relative, Applejack was away to Appleloosa for business, Rarity was at Canterlot for a fashion showcase, and Pinkie Pie was somewhere.  Twilight never really knew what Pinkie did in her spare time, but it didn't really matter to her.  She assumed that Pinkie just cooked.  None of them would be back before later that afternoon.  

Twilight had nothing to do with all her friends away, so she resorted to reading and studying.  Spike went through his usual routine: Cleaning the shelves, reorganizing the books, and running errands throughout Ponyville.  At the moment, he was out buying some supplies for the library.  Some more ink, quills, parchment, and other things.  Twilight had made him a list of errands to run, and the list ran on for quite a long time.  Needless to say, Spike would be out for a while.  

The library was quiet.  Business was slow and not a single pony trotted in to borrow a book the whole day.  With Spike away, the books already organized, and the shelves dusted, Twilight only had one option left.  Read.  Most of the books in the library had already been read by her, but there were still a few left.  Twilight was gifted in that she could read and comprehend books within seconds.  Reading the entire library wouldn't take her too long.  Usually she just reread books, looking for information she missed the first time.  Lucky for her, books never got boring.  Unlike most ponies, Twilight could read books for countless hours and still remain interested.  

It was only afternoon, but Twilight was already feeling tired.  She had woken up early to say farewell to her friends for the day.  Applejack had to leave the earliest at around six o' clock.  After reading so many books, Twilight could feel herself becoming drowsy.  Each page made her eyes droop a little more, until finally she decided a nap was in order.  She trotted over to her bed, sliding under the covers and resting her head on the soft...mattress?

Twilight jerked her head up.  Sure enough, the pillow was gone.  Scratching her head, Twilight looked under the blanket and around the room.  There wasn't a sign of it anywhere.   Where did I put it.

Every pony had their quirks, and only being able to sleep with a pillow was one of Twilight's.  If she wanted to take a nap, she'd have to find it.  Her organizational nature almost forced her to find the pillow.  The fact that she was tired only added to the cause, and forced her to begin the search.  First, Twilight checked the immediate area.  She checked near the bed, above the bed, under the bed, far away from the bed, and all the other places around the bed, but couldn't find anything.  

Twilight checked all the bookcases, the fireplace, and even the balcony.  The pillow was nowhere to be found.  She removed all the books from the shelves, pulling them out and tossing them to the ground.  All that she got were empty shelves and no pillow.  Inside her kitchen, she removed all the pots and pans from the cabinets, and checked in every drawer, but there was nothing but kitchen utensils.  In her basement there were only boxes.  She checked every single box, but all she found were old knick-knacks and pictures.  She checked inside and underneath ever single vase she owned, and she even looked behind all the paintings and clocks.  Nothing was there.  

There was only one explanation, the pillow was not inside the library.  Twilight left the library and trotted off to Ponyville central.  She couldn't think of any reason that it would be outside the library, but she would search for it.  

Twilight checked Ponyville Square, looking for anything that resembled a pillow.  She knew it had to be somewhere, pillows didn't just disappear.  She asked every pony in the square if they had seen a pillow with a stain on it, but only got a shake of the head.  


She decided to check Sugar Cube Corner, because she knew that Spike would be there getting lunch at this hour.  Sure enough, Spike was sitting at a table waiting for his drink.  He had brought his own lunch of some gems.  

"Spike, did you take my pillow?"  Twilight trotted over and stood next to him.

"What?" 

"My pillow.  I can't find it, did you take it?"

"No, I didn't touch it.  Maybe you left it somewhere in the library?"

"No, I checked everywhere and I couldn't find it."

"Well then, maybe somepony borrowed it.  Or stole it."

"You're right!  I'm going to go find the theif, thanks Spike."  Twilight turned to trot out of the store.  

"Wait!  Twilight, it's just a pillow.  Why don't you buy a new one?"

"Because Spike, that pillow was a gift from the princess.  She gave it to me when I first came to Ponyville.  It's very special."

"What's so special about a pillow?"

"That pillow was Celestia's favorite pillow, and she gave it to me.  I need to find it."

"How are you going to do that?  There's tons of pillows in Ponyville, how can you tell which one is yours?"

"Because Spike, my pillow has a stain on the bottom.  Celestia said it got there when she accidently poured a drink on it."  

"Whatever Twilight, I still have some errands to do so I can't help you.  Good luck, though."  Twilight turned away from Spike and left the shop.  Now that she had a plan, she could begin her search for the pillow.  The only problem was, she didn't know where to start.  Twilight knew that everypony had a pillow, and going through all of them would be way too much work. 

She needed a way to get all the pillows in Ponyville into one area so she could search them.  There was only one solution.  Pillow fight.  

Twilight walked into Ponyville central.  Ponies were going about there business, buying things from the shops, chatting, and admiring the statue.  Some ponies were just sitting on the benches and admiring the weather while other rushed through the square on some unknown errand.  Twilight cleared her throat and initiated phase one of her master plan.  

"Hey!  Everypony, can I please have your attention?" she yelled.  Twilight was quite renowned to the ponies, seeing as how she had saved Ponyville multiple times and vanquished an Ursa Minor.  Due to her fame, the ponies quieted and faced her.  

"Hello everypony, today is a very sunny and bright day, and I think it would be a great day to, " she paused for dramatic effect, "Have a pillow fight."

The silence from the crowd made the wind sound like blaring music.  All the ponies looked at Twilight skeptically, trying to figure out whether she was insane or not.  Twilight surveyed her viewers, trying to think of a way to incite their interest.  

"Um, winner gets seventy bits?"

Suddenly, the ponies nodded their heads and murmured about the idea.  The crowd cheered.  

"Okay then, tell everypony!  Bring all the pillows!  It starts at four o' clock."  The crowd dispersed to go tell everypony in town about the event.  Twilight stood still in the central, remembering that she didn't even have seventy bits.  All she could do was hope that she would win.  

Within an hour, all the ponies in Ponyville had been notified about the event, and the prize.  Seventy bits was quite a large amount, and was enough to bring any pony to the central square.  Each pony brought their own pillow, ready to engage in the largest pillow fight known to ponykind.  

A free-for-all pillow fight wouldn't work out so well, so the ponies decided that there would be teams.  There would need to be a fair amount of unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies on each team in order to level the playing field.  There were about four hundred ponies gathered in the square, and more were coming.  They would need a larger area.  

Lifting it with their collective magic, the unicorns brought the massive pile of pillows to a field just outside of Ponyville.  The area was littered with trees and rocks, with a small stream nearby.  It was the perfect place to hold the event.  As the ponies populated the area, Twilight began to take a count.  

In all, there were 432 ponies that had come to the event.  It had been decided that the prize money would be increased to three thousand bits, a number that seemed obscenely large.  However, the teams would consist of 144 members each, and the losing teams would put their money together to come up with the prize money.  Then, it would be divided among the winning team.  In theory, each team would have an equal amount of each type of pony on each team, but the imperfect ratio of unicorns to pegasi to earth ponies didn't allow it. Some teams would wind up with more of one kind.  

The sun was still high up in its perch when the teams were finally chosen.  Twilight led one of the teams, Lyra led another, and Cheerilee led the final one.  Each team was given a side of the field, where they would begin from.  As the teams formed together, one of the participants brought up a problem.  

"How are we going to tell the teams apart?" he asked.  The ponies thought about it for a short while, but Twilight was able to figure out a solution.

"We can just use the vests from this year's Winter wrap up.  There are enough for everypony and they're different colors!"  

Within a couple minutes, all the teams had their vests on.  Twilight's team wore the blue vest, Lyra's the green, and Cheerilee's the brown vest.  With all the teams distinctively separated, the masses of ponies made their way to their respective sides.  Each pony could bring one pillow with them for their team to start with.  Twilight, however, didn't bring a pillow, so she did not take one.  

Remember why you're here Twilight, look for the pillow.  Her team had arrived at their side with their stack of pillows. As her team discussed strategy, Twilight searched through the pillows, looking for the stain, but the ponies ushered her to the middle to begin the event.  Standing in the middle of the field, being stared at by almost all of Ponyville, Twilight cleared her throat. 

[At this point, listening to this song will only enhance your experience: Listen for enhancement ]

"Hello everypony, and welcome.  I'd like to thank you all for coming and-"

"Get on with it!" somepony shouted.  

"Alright, alright.  When I yell 'begin', we will start.  The objective is to use the pillows to cause the opposing teams to surrender.  Good luck."

Twilight trotted back to her team.  The air lay still.  Not a pony dared to speak as they awaited Twilight's voice.  The sun beat down on the field, causing ponies to sweat.  Through the silence, only the murmuring of the nearby stream could be heard.  Twilight's team was closest to the stream.  The pillows stood in stacks at each corner of the field, waiting to be thrown.  Even the birds refused to tweet, afraid to break the stillness. 

"Begin!"

The shout echoed through the field, and it began.  There was a moment of stillness, where nopony knew exactly what to do, but it was over quickly.  Unicorns rushed out into the middle of the field, bringing pillows with them using magic.  The pegasi took to the sky, carrying pillows to provide support from the air.  The earth ponies used their powerful back hooves to buck the pillows from their starting point into the center.  This was for two purposes, to hit opposing ponies and provide the unicorns with more pillows.  The ponies were giggling, and having fun.  

At first, the unicorns were just rushing, but then the first pillow was thrown.  A blue vested unicorn had thrown a pillow and nailed an enemy directly in the face, sending her toppling to the floor.  Then it was chaos.  Pillows flew back and forth between unicorns as the pegasi circled around the scene in the air.  Each pegasi held a pillow, looking for an enemy to strike from the sky.  Earth ponies shot pillows high into the air from the outskirts of the fight.  One pegasus took a pillow to the side from an earth pony's attack, and went spiraling down.  He stood no chance within the center of the fight.  The unicorns had him begging for mercy within moments. The soft, fluffiness of the pillows was too much for him.  The laughter of ponies could be heard throughout the field.  

But with the prize in mind, some ponies were ruthless.  The laughs started to die down, and the screams began to increase.  Twilight had found her way into the center, looking for the stain.  Pillows zipped past her face as the unicorns exchanged fire.   Next to her, one unicorn used her pillow to bludgeon an enemy to death.  At least, to submission.  Twilight kept her head low, hoping not to be spotted by the enemy. Around her, she could see her teammates falling to the ground, struck by a pillow.  It would take more than just one pillow to defeat a pony, however, and they were right back up.  

Twilight looked around her, angry ponies of all colors whipping pillows at each other.  From above, the pegasi threw the pillows downwards, bombarding the fights, and then went back to base to get another pillow.  Twilight could only hope she wasn't targeted. 

Pillows laid idly on the ground, having been thrown and not picked up again.  Twilight lifted each of these pillows to check for the stain, but she was having no luck.  

Whack!

From the side, Twilight felt a pillow slam into her.  A massive pain surged through her body, and she fell to the ground.  Pillows aren't supposed to hurt that bad!  Nearby, she heard a pony yell out, "Team Green is cheating!  They're putting rocks in their pillows!"

Rocks?  That's dangerous!  Twilight stood to her hooves.  "Stop putting rock in your-"  She was struck down once again, this time from the front.  A unicorn had thrown a pillow from a couple yards away, and was able to nail Twilight in the face.  Now she was galloping toward Twilight.  

Twilight lay on the ground, her eyes close, trying to recover from the pain she felt in her face.  She rubbed her nose with a hoof, making sure it wasn't broken.  When she opened her eyes, she saw a unicorn standing above her with a pillow raised.  Forgetting the pain, Twilight rolled to the side, dodging the pillow as it came crashing down.  Twilight picked up a pillow of her own, and using her magic swung it as hard as she could in the direction of the unicorn.  It was a direct hit.  The unicorn fell to the ground, her body landing with a thump.  Her eyes closed, mare down.  

Now Twilight realized that she was in the center of the fight, and if she wanted to survive she'd need to fight her way through.  Pillows rained from above, coming from all directions.  Twilight had to keep a constant eye on the sky if she didn't want to be hit.  

She heard an explosion from nearby.  Explosions!  Are you kidding me?  Ponies were flung in all directions from the blast.  Luckily, Twilight was out of range, but the affected ponies laid on the ground.  Twilight looked up.  More pillows were raining down from the sky, but these pillows had magic enchanting them.  The unicorns must be using spells to make them explosive.  Twilight had no time to lose, she ran back to the base where the earth ponies shot pillows into the sky.  The explosions were too dangerous.  

"Team Blue retreat!"

A mass of ponies turned and left the skirmish in the middle.  Team Green was winning, having taken out a large chunk of Team Brown with explosions.  They were on the advance.  

"Keep them off us!"  Twilight commanded.  The earth ponies bucked the pillows in a more linear fashion, aiming to hit the ponies directly.  The pegasi stood behind their mass of pillows as Team Green advanced.  Team Green was providing their own fire, throwing pillows at the base. Most of the pillows were either caught by the massive pile of pillows that Twilight's team stood behind, or missed to the side.  All the while, Twilight desperately looked for the stain.  

"Hello Twilight!  What's going on?"  Rarity had trotted near Twilight, observing the chaotic scene. 

[Once again, listening to this will only enhance your experience: Enhancement 

"Rarity!"  It was too late, Twilight's warning wasn't enough.  Time seemed to slow down as a pillow zipped through the air, aimed directly for Rarity.  It was all over.  Rarity turned just in time to see the pillow make impact, and then she fell to the ground.  

"Rarity NO!"

Twilight rushed over to her friend, checking to make sure everything was alright.  She was still breathing, but didn't look too good. 

"Rarity, are you okay?" 

Rarity barely opened her eyes.  The words she spoke hardly escaped her parted lips.  "I don't think...I'm going to make it."

Twilight felt tears coming to her eyes.  Rarity's eyes closed, and she lay on the ground, motionless.  

"Rarity... Rarity... No... NOOOOOOOO!"  Twilight cried out to the heavens.  She bowed her head and began to sob.  They shall pay.  Twilight dragged the unconscious Rarity behind her team's pillow stack.  With a newly found reason to fight, Twilight took charge.  

"Alright, that's it.  We're taking them down."  Twilight and the other unicorns began to enchant the pillows, giving them explosive properties.  She then ordered the pegasi to fly out and bombard the enemy.  As they flew over their protective pile of pillows, many of the pegasi were shot down.  The unicorns flung pillows into the sky, nailing the pegasi and causing them to spiral out of control.  The fallen pegasi landed with a crash, their explosive pillows exploding in their hooves.  They didn't stand a chance.  After the explosion the fallen pegasi lay motionless on the ground, covered in feather.  Some of the pegasi were able to carry out their task, dropping the pillows onto the enemy lines.  With a massive explosion, feathers went everywhere.  Team Brown had been subdued, their advances halted.  

Team Blue saw an opportunity to make their move, so the unicorns rushed out from behind their base, pillows carried next to them.  Victory was near.  The explosions had caused multiple casualties on enemy lines, but the attack from the unicorns nearly wiped them out.  Team Green had to retreat.  Twilight called for her team to follow them and finish them off, but Team Brown had other ideas.  They had organized an aerial attack.  Pegasi flew through the air, all carrying enchanted pillows.  

"We need anti-air support!"  Earth ponies changed the direction of their fire, aiming for the mass of pegasi that were coming their way.  Pillows flew through the air, hitting some of the brown vested pegasi.  But it wasn't enough.  Team Brown began their carpet bomb, pillows falling from the sky in rapid succession.

"Take cover!"  Twilight jumped behind a rock, covering her head.  All the other ponies jumped behind trees, and some even ran for the river.  

"Hey Twilight, what are you doing behind this rock?"  Rainbow Dash had spotted Twilight, and decided to fly over.  

"Rainbow get down!"  Twilight didn't want to see another one of her friends lost.  

"Why, what's going on?"  She looked out over the area, pillows being dropped by waves of pegasi, exploding into millions of tiny feathers.  The battlefield had been cleared, only the motionless bodies of fallen warriors remained in the center.  

"Twilight, what is going on?"

"Long story, now get down!"  Rainbow Dash stopped flying and joined Twilight behind the rock.  They heard explosions from the battlefield and screams of ponies who hadn't gotten to cover in time.  Due to the explosions, the ponies were running out of pillows to throw, but some ponies began to go back to town and take pillows from the stores.  There was a constant supply.  

After the explosions had subsided, Twilight decided it would be safe to poke her head out from the rock.  Sure enough, the battlefield was empty, and each team was regrouping at their respective side.

Twilight galloped to join her own team, bringing Rainbow Dash with her.  Upon seeing Rarity's body, Rainbow Dash nodded and realized why she had to help.  

"How many ponies do we have left?"  

"Around eighty," responded one of the ponies.  Twilight tried to think of a plan to defeat the opposing teams.  There has to be an easy way.

"Captain Twilight," said one of the ponies. 

"Yes?"  

"The leader of team brown wishes to speak with you."  Sure enough, Cheerilee was standing near the base, surrounded by Twilight's teammates.  Twilight called them off, and trotted over to have a diplomatic discussion with her foe.

"Hello Cheerilee." 

"Good afternoon, Twilight."

"Lovely weather we're having."

"Yes.  Simply divine."

"What did you want to see me about?"

"I have discussed with my team and we have decided that it would be best to outlaw the use of explosives from the rest of this fight.  We are looking for your agreement to these terms."

Twilight thought about it for a moment.  No more explosives.  I guess that sounds reasonable.   "Alright, no more explosives allowed.  Is Team Green in on this?"

"I was going to talk to them next."

"Well, I'll see you on the battlefield."

"That you will."  With that, Cheerilee turned and trotted back to her base.  Twilight trotted back to her own team, where she saw them discussing something.  When she arrived, a member turned to her.  "Twilight, we've been talking and if we were to combine all our unicorn magic we could make an ultimate pillow bomb.  Then we could wipe out the other teams."

"No way.  That goes against our foreign policy."  Twilight pondered her options.  She could take the teams from the side, or a direct attack.  An aerial attack seemed most effective to her.  Without explosives, it would be difficult to push through large enemy lines.

"Incoming!"  Looking up, Twilight saw a pillow high up in the air, at the peak of its arc.  It was aimed directly for Twilight's team.  Without hesitation, Twilight ran for cover behind her rock. The rest of the ponies did the same.  A couple didn't know what was happening, and could only stand and watch as the pillow came crashing down.  With a massive explosion, the wall of pillows Twilight's team used for defense was blasted away.  The unlucky ponies that had stayed where they were lay on the floor now, unable to move.  There goes another five.  She looked out from behind her rock but saw nopony in the battlefield.  I thought we agreed no explosives.

Twilight called her team back to base, where they gathered up all the pillows they could.  Now Twilight would show no mercy.  She enchanted pillows one after another, but gave them a little something extra. 

"Okay, these pillows will fly through the air without losing velocity as quickly as before, and can keep momentum for great lengths."

"Come again?"  asked some of the ponies.

"These pillows will fly farther."

"Ohh."  The unicorns lifted the pillows into the air with their magic.  Each pillow had explosive properties, and had to be handled with care.  

"On my count.  One... Two... Three!"  The unicorns flung the pillows forward, and sure enough, they tore through the air like rockets.  They didn't even begin to arc downwards until they were only a couple yards away from Team Green's base.  Before they could react, the pillows had hit their defenses, sending their pillow stack flying.  Anypony that had been near the stack was thrown to the ground and injured from the explosion.  

Twilight shared hoofbumps with her teammates on a job well done.  But there was still a problem.  Team Brown, realizing that the other teams had broken their "no explosives" rule, sent out yet another pegasi fleet, all carrying pillow bombs.  Twilight saw the impending danger, and this time she was ready. 

"Don't fire till' you see the whites of their pillows."  They began to fire, it was very easy to see the whites of a pillow.  Pillows shot from Twilight's base high into the sky with extreme accuracy, sending the pegasi to the ground.  Not a single pegasi was able to drop their pillow, they all fell to the ground where their pillow exploded in their hooves.  The explosion sent them flying backwards, and then left them motionless on the floor.

Pillows were bucked by the earth ponies with power that was matched only by Big Mac himself, and the force exerted by the pillows was enough to make any pegasi fall to the ground.  Each time a pegasus was hit, the scream could be heard, and then the thud and boom as they hit the ground ended the scream.  

Rainbow Dash had taken to the sky with her own pillow, whacking the more adept fliers and sending them crashing down.  Once the skies had been cleared, Twilight and her team let out a victorious cheer.  They had defeated Team Brown's air force.  

Now the battlefield was littered with fallen unicorns and pegasi, and soon the number of them would grow.  Team Green had taken to the field, all their pillows in hoof.  They were galloping straight for Twilight's base.  

"Fire when ready."  The battle began.  Unicorns from the opposing side flung pillows at the base, but this time conserved ammo.  They only fired when they could see the face of the enemy.  Twilight's team returned fire, using their supply of pillows to knock out the enemy.  

"Hey Twi, what's happenin?"  Applejack had just come back from Appleloosa.  Twilight only had time to glance at her friend before she took a pillow to the face.  Applejack was strong though, she stood tall.  

"Twi, what in the hay is going on!"  Applejack ran to take cover behind Twilight.  

"Long story, help me defend!"  Applejack began to buck the pillows, and needless to say her expertise in the field of bucking came in very handy.  Without the inaccuracy of an inexperienced bucker plaguing her, Applejack was able to use the force of a bucked pillow and the accuracy of a flung one to cause massive amounts of casualties.  Ponies fell at the hooves of Applejack, one by one. 

"Twilight, remind me why I'm doing this again," she said, kicking a pillow from behind her and knocking a unicorn onto the ground.  

"I'm looking for my pillow, see if you can find one with a stain on it!" 

The fight continued, each team equally matched and unable to advance.   Team Brown made its move.  Charging into the battlefield, the team carried every last pillow they had.  They carried explosives and rock pillows, ready to put an end to the fight.  Twilight's team was too busy fending off Team Green to notice, and when they did notice it was too late.  Explosive pillows came from the sides of the fighting teams, throwing ponies all over the place. 

"Hey Twilight!  What's going on here?"  Pinkie Pie had just arrived, but it was a short visit.  She was killed swiftly by a pillow, it was over within a second.

"Pinkie NO!"  Twilight didn't have time to go help her.  

Another pony trotted up behind Twilight.  

"Um, Twilight, I was hearing a lot of noise so I came to-"  Fluttershy never saw it coming.  An explosive pillow hit her in the side, sending her directly into a tree where she lay unconscious.  

"Fluttershy NO!"  Twilight wasn't sure if she was dead or not.

Twilight saw a pillow coming directly toward her, and that was the last thing she saw.  She heard the explosion, she felt the force, but her eyes were squeezed shut.  She flew backwards, slamming into a rock.  As she fell off the rock, she couldn't help but hold her side and pray that her hearing come back.  All she could hear now was a small buzzing noise.  There was a moment where she felt it was all lost, that she couldn't go on.  That she had been defeated, and that this was it.  But she remembered her pillow.  She needed to find it.  This conviction built strength inside her, and she lifted herself from the ground.  Although she was struggling to trot, she refused to give up.  The explosion had injured quite a few of the ponies, including Applejack and Rainbow Dash who were lying near Rarity.  Applejack tried to lift a hoof, but was too weak.  All three of them lay motionless, covered in feathers. 

Twilight knew she had to end this.  Her team members were trying their best to keep both the other teams away.  Pillows flew through the air, feathers littered the sky, and explosions ringed in the ears of the ponies.  There were barely any ponies left standing.  The final survivors threw pillows back and forth weakly, losing the strength to continue on.  Their friends littered the ground, still motionless.  The pillow fight had to be ended.  

Twilight was only able to stagger a couple feet before collapsing.  Near her, she saw a lone pillow.  Time to end this.

Using whatever energy she had left within her, she enchanted the pillow.  Unlike the normal explosive pillows, this one was overpowered with magic, and the explosion would be devastating.  Twilight decided it was for the best, to end the fight and give her some peace to check all the pillows.  Hopefully hers hadn't exploded already.  Once all the ponies stopped fighting she could search for her pillow.  She needed to do this.

Using the last reserves of her energy, she lifted the pillow and flung it into the air.  Afterwards she laid her head down, unable to watch what happened next.  

The fight between the three teams was raging on.  Pillows took out the final members of each team, and as the numbers slowly diminished and victory came closer, each team fought harder.  Pillows were being bucked and thrown harder, and the remaining pegasi were throwing the pillows from the air as hard as they could.  

Before anypony could stop it, the pillow Twilight had thrown was upon them.  There was a moment where all the ponies stopped fighting and watched their soft, fluffy doom fall down upon them.  The fighting came to a halt, it was all over.  The light from the blast consumed the field and flung all the remaining ponies to the ground.  Screams were cut short by the explosion.  It could be heard from Canterlot. Echoes of the boom could be heard in the field as the sound moved farther and farther away.  The light caused was blinding to anypony watching from a distance, but was gone within an instant.

Luckily, all the animals had left the area before the fight, or else they would've been devastated.  The sheer power of the explosion was enough to shatter all the windows in Ponyville.  Any loose paper or light object was sent flying through the air. Feathers littered the air, and formed a mushroom cloud above the explosion.  Any pony that had been standing was now lying on the ground, groaning or completely silent.  

As the feathers and dust settled and the sound died out, Twilight finally opened her eyes.  Instinctively, she had protected herself with a small force field.  The only thing keeping her from the same fate as the ponies that lay on the field was that shield, and she was glad she used it.  She picked herself up from the ground and trotted over to the dismal scene. 

Ponies that had once been her friends, ponies off all colors, unicorns, pegasi, earth ponies, they all littered the ground.  Their motionless bodies cold in the heat of the sun.  They were everywhere, the ponies that had once been alive and jovial were now in front of Twilight as fallen warriors.  She let a tear drop from her cheek for those lost.  Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack especially.  But now was no time to mourn, she had to finish what she came for.  She searched all the pillows that were still intact, looking for the stain.  It had to be there.  She spent the rest of the day, walking among the bodies and looking for the pillow.  

It was to no use.  All her efforts had been futile, her pillow was not there.  As the sun came down, she had finished checking the final scraps.  Every piece of pillow that littered the ground had been checked, but Twilight couldn't find the stain.  All her efforts, all the loss, all the fallen ponies, and she had nothing to show for it.  She left the field solemnly, bowing her head.  It was quiet in Ponyville, most of the ponies had been in the battle earlier.  Twilight entered her library, where it had all started.  Her bed remained pillowless.  It was over.  She had lost.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's okay, I'll never let you go again.  It was silly of me to give you away in the first place.  And now you're here to stay."

Princess Celestia laid her head down on the pillow, cherishing its softness.  It's okay, she'll just think she lost it and buy a new one, thought the Princess.  
> Castle Crasher
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was quiet.  Nothing moved in the deserted town.  Only the soft steps of Twilight could be heard, trotting through the town.  Loneliness.  Nopony was around to make idle chatter, there were no ponies galloping through the central square, or buying things, or even simply sitting and enjoying the weather.  It was complete desertion.  

After the war and the devastating explosion, Ponyville had met its doom.  Only Twilight had survived a battle of that proportion, and now she was all alone.  She looked around, Ponyville looked different without its inhabitants around.  Twilight was strong, she knew she had to keep moving forward.  Without her pillow, she was unable to sleep the previous night.  Soon, the lack of sleep would become a pillow.  She needed to find her pillow.  

The only problem was, she had no idea where to find her pillow.  She had checked every building in Ponyville, every scrap of pillow on the ground, and every corner of the battlefield in search of the stained pillow, but found nothing.  Every room of every building had been ransacked in search of the pillow, but the effort was futile.  Twilight felt like she only had one other option.  Her eyes drifted toward the large castle in Canterlot.  It was her last option.  She didn't know why, but she could feel that her pillow was in Canterlot, and she would stop at nothing to get it back.  With Canterlot in mind, she trotted to the train station.  

Surely enough, the empty train station had a train ready on the tracks.  Before getting into the train, she thought it would be best to bring along a few pillows.  She galloped back to Ponyville, where she found a couple stray pillow laying on the ground.  She looked out to the field, the site of the battle.  A tear dropped from her eye as she relived the horrors, but now was no time to mourn.  The pillows floating near her, Twilight ran back to the train station, leaving a tear on the ground as her final mark on Ponyville.

Twilight trotted inside the train, dropping the pillows around her.  She hoped the books she had read taught her enough to drive it.  The gears looked foreign, but all of their purposes had been described in the books.  Using her magic to maneuver the different levers and mechanisms, the train began to move forward.  Within a few minutes, the gears were turning and the train was moving faster.  Twilight was on her way to Canterlot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Princess Celestia!"

"Yes?"  The princess looked down at one of her royal guards from her throne, he seemed distraught.  

"We have gotten news that Ponyville underwent a devastating explosion.  We aren't sure of the cause," he said.  

Celestia's eyes widened, something like this hadn't happened in a thousand years, and she had spent months burying the evidence the last time it happened.  "Send a group of guards to scope out the area.  Also, we don't know if whatever caused the explosion is coming here next.  Put every guard on high alert."  The guard nodded, and galloped out to notify the others.  Celestia trotted up the steps of her castle, arriving at the balcony.  From here she could see all of Equestria, Canterlot's ideal position on the mountain allowed it to loom over all the other cities.  She looked for Ponyville, and sure enough there was nothing stirring.  At least, almost nothing.  In the distance, Celestia could see a small speck moving through the trees.  

A train was coming.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Trees passed by in blurs, the sound made by the tracks was louder than it should have been.  It was the only noise Twilight could hear in the silent train.  Canterlot came closer and closer as the moments passed, and Twilight was planning her search.  First she would check the Canterlot Square, then the outskirts, and finally Canterlot Castle.  Maybe Celestia will have an idea as to where the pillow is, thought Twilight.  

Twilight had brushed up on her spells before leaving, learning some new enchantment spells in case she would need them.  She hoped that she wouldn't need them, but it's better safe than sorry.  Canterlot definitely would have heard that Ponyville had just been in a devastating war, and if anypony found out that Twilight had caused it she would be ruined.  The princess might even banish her for such a thing.  

Now was not the time to worry about that, what really mattered was retrieving the pillow. Canterlot station was in view, the train ride was coming to a halt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All of Canterlot had heard of the war by this point.  They were afraid, afraid of the force that could cause such a thing.  The city was placed on high alert, guards positioned at every corner.  If anything suspicious was to happen, the guards would take care of it.  Celestia herself stared over the town from her high balcony, looking for any signs.  She hoped that the guards she had sent would come back soon.

The ponies had went back to their houses, shutting the windows and locking the doors.  Many of the doors were boarded shut in anticipation of a war breaking out.  Nopony was wandering the streets besides the guards, all stone-faced.  They heard a train, screeching wheels.  Something had just arrived.  

The ears of the guards perked at the sound, and with a nod to one another, they galloped to the train station.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wheels screeched as they brought the train to a stop at the station.  Twilight looked out at Canterlot, all its tall buildings and elegant architecture.  She had always admired it.  Now at a complete stop, Twilight stepped out of the train, bringing her small stack of pillows with her.  Before she knew it she was surrounded by guards, but they recognized her.  Realizing that it was just the princess' prized student, they trotted away back to their positions.  

Twilight, slightly confused, walked toward the central square, bringing her pillows with her.  Once arriving in the square, she immediately knew something was going on.  Nopony was seen trotting or selling, it was just like Ponyville.  

I need to see the princess, immediately.  Twilight galloped off to the castle, pillows close behind her.  Having lived in Canterlot for quite some time, Twilight knew her way around.  Within a minute, she was outside the castle doors.  Something was different, the castle was locked up and all entrances were being guarded more than usual.  Three or four guards stood outside each entrance, and even more at the main entrance.  Twilight hoped that her fame as the princess' pupil would allow her access inside. 

Surely enough, the guards recognized her instantly and, on request, opened the doors.  After Twilight had entered the castle, they closed them shut quickly, afraid that whatever was one the loose would get into the castle if left open too long.  Of course, that fear just became a reality.  

Twilight had been in the castle multiple times, visiting the princess or looking for some scroll or book.  She knew her way around, and the guards knew her, too.  Had it been anypony else galloping through the hallways of the castle carrying pillows with them, they would've been restrained and kicked out.  

Twilight entered the throne room, where Celestia usually was.  The throne was vacant, raised up so that the princess would be above anypony who trotted into the room.  Twilight frowned, she'd have to keep searching.  The next place the princess spent her time would be the bedroom, so Twilight trotted off to search there.  

More guards watched her, confused as Twilight galloped through the halls with pillows following her.  The royal bedroom was located on the other side of the castle, as far away from the throne room as possible.  The doors blew by Twilight as she galloped through the hall, dodging guards and making sure she didn't lose any of the pillows or hit anypony with them.  She had galloped for a long while, and then she saw a room with three guards standing outside a single door.  Twilight approached the door, certain that it was the royal bedroom.

"Halt, nopony is allowed in here.  The princess is sleeping."  The guards moved closer together to block the door.  

"I am the princess' prized pupil, and I have a very urgent matter to talk with the princess about." 

"You can wait until she awakens."

Twilight thought for a moment, wondering if it was the best idea.  Should I mention the war?  After contemplating, she decided it was imperative that she talk to the princess right away.  "It's about the incident in Ponyville."

The guards looked at each other, then they stepped aside.  Twilight smiled at each of them before entering the room.  It had been a long while since Twilight had been in this room.  She had only been in it once before by accident when she was lost in the castle.  The room was large and a very deep shade of pink.  Not the bright shades that caught the eye, but the mellow kind that soothed.  It was more white than red.  There were unlit candles around the area, and a lovely rug with an intricate pattern in the middle.  Most of the room was empty, as it was made only for resting and sleeping.  Against the far wall was the bed.  It was large, with a canopy looming over it.  Thin, brittle slivers of silk hung from the canopy, giving the bed an elegant feel.

In the middle of the bed laid the princess, resting peacefully.  Twilight's gaze softened; sleeping ponies were always so peaceful.  She watched the princess' stomach rise and fall for a few moments before remembering the task at hoof.  

She called out to the princess, but not too loudly as to startle her.  

"Princess Celestia, I must speak with you."

The princess' eyes opened at the sound of the voice and she lifted her head slowly, yawning.  She stretched out her legs and turned to face the voice that had awoken her.  Upon seeing her pupil, her own widened.  The one pony she didn't want to see.  

"Twilight!  What are you doing here?" she said, trying to block the pillow from view.  Years of experience had taught her how to keep a calm face, but that didn't stop her mind from being nervous. 

"I just came to check on things.  I'm sure you've heard of Ponyville."  She stopped talking abruptly, a tear forming in her eye.  

"Yes, I heard about it.  I've sent out a team to figure out what exactly happened."

Now it was Twilight's turn to be nervous.  She could feel a shiver run down her body and sweat starting to form.  She decided to change the subject.  

"Well I'm sure you'll find out.  Anyway, I just came to the castle looking for my pillow.  I've been looking everywhere for it and I can't seem to find it.  Since Canterlot is under lock-down the only place I could check was the castle."

"Well, no pillow here but mine, you should check the other side of town."  Celestia's horn lit up as she opened the door behind Twilight.  "Off you go!"  She continued to hold her calm face, but her mind was racing.  

"Well, alright.  I must say however, I love the bed.  It's quite elegant."  

"Yes, yes it is.  It's very comfortable, too.  You should go lay down on yours, I'm sure that will make you feel better about the Ponyville situation.  Now off you go in search of your pillow!"  Celestia gestured to the open door.  

"Wow princess, you're bed seems so lovely.  I haven't slept in a day, do you think I could lay down for a few minutes?  Please?"

"No."

"Please?"  Twilight wasn't lying, her eyes were red from the lack of sleep, and couldn't fall asleep due to the lack of her pillow.  

"No."

"Well, I guess your word is final."  Twilight lowered her gaze, looking at the ground, trying to put on her saddest face to get into the princess' bed.

[Enhancement music for an epic experience: Listen to make your experience better than it already is.]

"Yes it is.  Now out you go."  Celestia used her powerful wings to help her out of the bed.  She trotted over to Twilight, nudging her toward the door with her head.  "I really need to get some sleep, Twilight. Terribly sorry."  Just before Twilight exited the room, she looked behind her toward the elegant bed.  

In the center of the bed was a pillow. With a stain.  On Celestia's bed.  Twilight's eyes widened.  "You stole my pillow!" 

Celestia looked behind her, realizing that the pillow was in full sight.  She galloped back to the bed to try and block the pillow from view, but the effort was futile.  Twilight stared in disbelief at the princess, and the princess stared back.  They locked stares for a while, neither of them moving.  Then, Twilight's brow furrowed.  

"Give it back."

Celestia looked at the pillow and then back at Twilight.  Both of them loved the pillow, but Celestia couldn't give it up again.  It was the reason she had taken it back in the first place.  

"No."  Celestia stood her ground with certainty that Twilight would listen to her superior.  

Twilight thought of all her friends lost in the war because of the pillow.  The lack of sleep, the journey, everything that had led to this moment.  She wouldn't just give up now.  

"Then I'll take it back."  Celestia realized that Twilight wasn't going to back off.  She narrowed her eyes.  She never thought that it would come to this.  

"You're going to have to go through me first."

"That won't be hard."  Twilight levitated one of the pillows she had brought with her.  Truth was, Twilight didn't think it wasn't going to be hard, she just said that to sound tough.

Celestia levitated one of the pillows from her bed to her side.  Both ponies stood still, eyes interlocked.  

The pillows floated close to their bodies, their power ready to be unleashed.  Both ponies could feel sweat rolling down their face.  Neither of them had prepared to fight, but this was what it had come to.  

"Guards!"  Celestia smirked, she had Twilight outnumbered.  The guards filed into the room at the sound of the voice, surrounding Twilight.  There was at least ten of them, and more were on the way.  

Twilight looked around her, guards everywhere.  All she had was a pile of pillows, and they had a group of armored stallions.  

Twilight looked at the pillow lying on the bed in the distance. She looked back at the guards.  Memories played in her head.  Rarity's painful death, Fluttershy's death by tree, Rainbow Dash and Applejack dying in the effort to fend off Team Brown, Pinkie just randomly dying, matching her personality.  All the ponies that had come to the event falling victim to the evil pillows, all because Twilight needed to find her pillow.  She wouldn't let her friends die in vain, even if that meant fighting her way through hundreds of guards to get to her pillow.  

It was more than a pillow though.  Now it was a symbol.  More importantly Twilight was really tired and just wanted some sleep.  Her mind was racing, she wasn't sure of her abilities.  But now was not the time to second guess herself, now was the time to get the pillow.   

"I never thought it would come to this, but here we are.  Now Celestia, I've looked up to you ever since I was a filly, but now I view you only as a thief.  This is for justice.  This is for my friends.  This is for Ponyville.  This is for," she paused.

[I recommend you stop listening to the previous song at this point and listen to this now: Listen]

"THIS IS FOR MY PILLOW!"  Without warning Twilight whipped her pillow at one of the guards, hitting him directly in the face.  
As the guard fell to the ground, the other guards froze in fear.  Twilight wasn't hesitant though, another pillow flew through the air and hit another guard.  He let out a scream as the plush pillow hit him in the face, causing him to fall to the ground. 

"Tell my family...I love them.  And that the milk is in the cabinet."  His face hit the ground, eyes closed.

Seeing their friend drop to the floor, the guards rushed forward.  Twilight lifted a pillow, using it as a held weapon.  She smacked the nearest guard across the jaw, sending him flying into another guard.  They both hit the floor with a thud.  Another guard jumped over the fallen pair, leaping for Twilight.  He was done for, Twilight swung the pillow upwards, uppercutting the poor guard into the ceiling.  He hit the roof hard, leaving a crack in it before falling back to the floor.  Another guard lashed out from behind her, trying to use his hind hooves to kick her.

He missed, and the result was a pillow from underneath into the gut.  He flipped once in the air before hitting the ground.  Twilight quickly threw the pillow like a throwing star at another guard.  The corner of the pillow hit the guard directly in the forehead, and his eyes were wide as he fell silently to the ground.  

More guards were upon her now.  Twilight swung the pillow with skill using her magic, landing a hit on the guards and sending them to the ground.  

Another guard tried to jump for Twilight, but he received a pillow to the stomach.  The pillow pushed into his gut, lifting him over Twilight's head and smashing him on the ground on the other side.  He hit the ground with a loud metal clang.  

Twilight continued to bludgeon the guards, sometimes hitting them so hard the pillow that it would burst into a thousand feathers.  She simply levitated another pillow and continued her work.  

She thought that they had all been defeated, but more guards were filing in.  The pile of pillows was diminishing. 

A guard galloped toward Twilight, his head leaned forward.  Another guard stood behind him, ready to back him up.  Twilight flung a pillow, hitting the running guard in the head.  She then jumped toward the guard, and used his head as a springboard.  Pushing a hoof off the top of his head, Twilight jumped high into the air, a hoof cocked back.  The other guard stared at the flying Twilight, unable to react in time.  Her hoof came forward as she descended from her jump, landing a devastating punch to his face.  Both guards fell to the ground.  

More guards were coming.  Twilight levitated another pillow, enchanting it.  Five guards were in the hallway, about to enter the room, but Twilight wouldn't allow it. 

"THIS IS FOR RARITY!"

She flung the pillow at them, and they could only watch as their fluffy doom came toward them. A flash of light and a deafening boom, and then feathers were floating everywhere.  The blast knocked Twilight back, but it sent the guards flying out a large hole made in the side of the castle.  They fell down, off the mountain, their screams becoming less and less audible as they came closer to the river below.  The explosion had created a small crater in the middle of the hallway and a large hole in the wall.  

Another guard came galloping into the room and stood before Twilight.  She levitated a pillow, swinging it low at the legs.  The guard's legs went out from underneath him, and as he fell to the ground, Twilight raised the pillow high above her head.  She swung it down like an axe, delivering the finishing blow to the guard.  

She took a deep breath and looked at all the fallen guards.  

Celestia couldn't believe her eyes.  "Twilight, where did you learn to fight like this?"

"I read a book."

Twilight turned toward the princess.

It was her turn.
> The Fall of Canterlot
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

[As always, enhance your reading experience: Music enhancement ]

Celestia stared at the pony that had once been her student, but all she could see was an enemy.  Twilight was breathing heavily, having just defeated twenty or so guards.  She was skilled in the art of pillow fighting, she had read a book.  

"Celestia, I'll give you one last chance.  Give it back."

Celestia looked at the stained pillow, and then back at Twilight.  She remembered the nights that she had spent away from the pillow because Twilight was using it.  She remembered the emptiness she felt inside her, and she made up her mind. 

"No."  

"Well then."  Twilight levitated a pillow into the air, keeping it close to her body.  "Let me show you what I've learned about friendship.  And brutal pillow combat!"

Twilight galloped forward, charging towards the princess and letting out a battle cry.  Celestia did not want to, but for the sake of her pillow she readied herself for impact.  Thousands of years ago, Celestia had practiced the art of pillow fighting for the sake of Equestria.  She hoped that she would remember how to do it again.  A pillow from her bed levitated close to her, and Twilight was about to jump.   

Celestia's eyes closed for a moment, and just before Twilight pounced, she snapped them open.  Twilight swung her pillow at the princess, but she was ready.  She used her pillow to block Twilight's, pushing her back and sending her to the ground.  Then, Celestia brought the pillow down like a hatchet cutting a stump.  Twilight rolled to the side and stood on all fours again, dodging the attack.

The two ponies went back and forth, trying to swing but only being blocked.  It seemed as though they were evenly matched in the fight, but Twilight made the first mistake.  She had let her guard down for only a second after a swing, and Celestia didn't miss the opportunity.  She swung her pillow, hitting Twilight in the jaw and sending her flying into a wall.  The force of her body hitting the wall created a small crack, and the light around her horn went out, causing her pillow to drop.  The princess trotted forward, she had Twilight now.  Twilight attempted to lift herself off the ground.  

"I'm sorry Twilight, but I won't be needing a letter this week."  As Twilight picked herself up, Celestia swung the pillow horizontally, hoping to hit Twilight across the head once more for the finishing blow.

Twilight ducked and took a step backwards, her tail against the wall.  She levitated a pillow that was on the other side of the room.  As Celestia recovered from her missed strike, Twilight levitated the pillow across the room, directly toward Celestia's side.  The pillow made direct contact, knocking the princess over.  Twilight took a step away from the wall to give herself some room.  

Meanwhile, Celestia had picked herself from the ground and spread her wings to fly upwards.  From above, she levitated the pillows that lay all around the room, bringing them next to her.  Then, she fired, flinging the pillows in Twilight's direction.  With a roll and a jump, Twilight was galloping away from the onslaught of pillows.    

She remembered the pillow that was following her.  Without stopping her gallop, she tossed the pillow at Celestia.  The princess took the pillow to a wing, which immediately closed itself.  She fell from her perch in the air and hit the ground.  Twilight had no time to lose.  She ran forward, another pillow levitated near her.  As she approached the princess, she pulled the pillow back and swung as hard as she could.  The princess took the pillow directly to the face and went flying backwards, smashing through the wall of the castle.  As she fell downward, she took the stained pillow with her.  She made a large hole in the wall, and Twilight was already galloping toward it.  She jumped out of the hole, Celestia flying a few feet below.  

With expertise, Twilight landed on Celestia's back and whacked her across the head with the pillow.  The blow caused her to lose focus, and her wings shut.  Now both the ponies were free-falling into Canterlot's central square.  

The pair crashed into the ground, Celestia taking all of the damage.  She lay on the ground, groaning with pain.  Twilight got off the princess' back, and trotted in front of her.  The princess ached all over, but looked relatively fine.  She held the stained pillow on her stomach, covered by all four of her hooves.  

"Well Celestia, it looks like this is where it ends."  Twilight was panting along with the princess.  "And before I finish you, I'm going to write my last letter.  It goes like this:  Dear Princess Celestia, today I learned that if you steal Twilight's pillow, you pay for it.  Dearly.  Isn't that a great letter?"

The princess didn't respond, she was gasping for breath between groans.  "I'll give you one last chance Celestia.  Give me back the pillow."  

The princess looked up at Twilight, defeat in her eyes.  There was no way that she would give up the pillow, but she was too weak to fight Twilight.  She knew there was only one option left.  

"Help!"  Twilight's eyes widened, she looked around as the doors of the houses opened at the sound of the princess' voice.  Celestia smiled as Twilight took a small step backwards.  "Seize her!"  The princess pointed at Twilight, and without hesitation the Canterlot ponies rushed from their houses.  Twilight was amazed at their loyalty to the princess.  

The untrained Canterlot ponies were easy for Twilight to handle.  Each one ran toward her, only to receive a pillow to the side or the head.  But these ponies were only diversions as Celestia gained her strength back.  Slowly, Celestia pushed herself off the ground and was standing again.  Canterlot ponies flew left and right, being hit with the pillow and sent flying back into a building.  

One of the ponies yelled out, "Why do these pillows hurt so bad!?"

"I have no idea!" responded Twilight, swiftly swinging her pillow at a stallion, sending him flying backwards until he smashed into a wall.  Soon they began to learn, and ever though the princess had called upon them, they retreated into the safety of their homes, but this didn't matter anymore.  Celestia levitated the stained pillow in the air, and galloped toward Twilight.  Twilight had her back turned, bludgeoning some Canterlot pony to the ground, but she was not oblivious.  

[Musical enhancement: Taste the music]

The sound of metal hoof guards hitting the ground entered her ears, and she turned just in time to see Celestia swing.  With a massive amount of force, Twilight was sent flying into a building behind her.  She hit the wall with such force that large cracks formed in the bricks.  Now it was Celestia's turn to approach Twilight.  

"I guess the teacher will always be the teacher, and the student will always be the student."  She lifted the stained pillow into the air.  Twilight's mind was racing, but the pain she felt made it difficult to think.  "I'll give you one last chance Twilight.  Forget all about this pillow, and we can pretend this never happened."  

A small chunk of the wall of the royal castle fell, smashing into the ground.  Celestia looked over her shoulder.  "We can pretend..."  

Twilight took the opportunity to save herself.  Ignoring the pain she felt in her back, she lifted herself off the ground and used her hind hooves to kick Celestia.  Her head was turned, so Twilight's hooves met the back of Celestia's head, and the result was a loud yelp from the princess.  She turned back towards Twilight and snorted.  "I see how it is."

Celestia took a few steps backwards.  She found a pillow nearby and lifted it into the air, enchanting it.  Twilight still stood near the building she had crashed into.  "Goodbye Twilight."  Celestia flung the pillow towards Twilight, but using her feeble legs Twilight managed to jump to the side.  The explosive pillow hit the cracked wall with a bang, and amidst the feathers dust filled the air as the wall came crumbling down.  The explosion was so powerful that the building lost its support.  After the wall had already come down, the entire building crashed to the ground, a large cloud of dust filling the air.  

"Two can play at that game."  Twilight levitated another pillow, enchanting it.  Without losing a second, Twilight flung the pillow at the princess, but the pillow hit the ground a little in front of the intended target.  Celestia was flung into the air and onto her back, losing control of the stained pillow.  The pillow flew upwards, and found its way onto a steeple of the castle that was nearest the central square. Celestia pulled herself off the ground, trying to get her hearing to go back to normal.  Still disorientated from the explosion, Celestia looked for the pillow and then saw it high up on the castle.  After levitating a pillow nearby to bring with her, she spread her aching wings and flapped them.

"Oh no you don't!"  Twilight galloped forward as the princess slowly took to the sky.  With a leap, Twilight managed to grab onto one of the princess' hooves.  Twilight still had a pillow following her, levitating below her as they ascended into the sky.  Celestia noticed the extra weight and shook her hoof.  Twilight held on to the hoof with her mouth, refusing to let go.  Slowly, the hoof guard that Celestia wore was slipping off.  They were about halfway to the top of the castle when the hoof guard finally came loose.  Twilight screamed as she fell backwards towards the ground.  She looked around, but the only thing near her was her pillow.  A pillow!

Twilight recalled another spell that she had learned a long time ago, and enchanted the pillow that was falling with her.  Unlike the other enchantment, the pillow didn't gain explosive properties, but rather combustion and propulsion properties.  Almost at the ground, Twilight brought the enchanted pillow and pressed it on her back, grabbing it with two hooves.  As if by some magic trigger, one end of the pillow ignited and shot flames past Twilight's tail.  The force exerted by this flame pushed Twilight back into the sky.  The pillow provided speed, and within a few seconds Twilight was back near the princess.  They were both about to reach the pillow.  

The pillow on Twilight's back pushed her through the sky at top speed, and at the last moment she zipped past the princess and reached for the stained pillow.  Using her hind hooves, she managed to trap the stained pillow in between them.  She continued to fly through the air, stained pillow hanging beneath her between her hooves.  Celestia roared in anger, but remembered she had a pillow with her, too.  

Twilight went farther and farther away, but Celestia knew she had to be accurate.  She squinted her eyes, waiting for Twilight to get just far away enough so that the pillow would hit her directly.  When Twilight reached that distance, she was still over the castle. Celestia flung the pillow with all her magical might, and watched as it soared through the air.  Twilight never saw it coming.  The flung pillow hit Twilight, causing the rocket pillow on her back to come loose and lose it's flame.  Twilight spun around in the air as she quickly descended toward the ground.  The princess flew directly toward her, staring at the stained pillow.  Twilight saw Celestia flying towards her, and using whatever energy she had left she tossed what used to be the rocket pillow at Celestia.  The princess was too absorbed in watching the stained pillow to notice, and took the flung pillow to the side, right below her wing.  She lost control of her wings, and wasn't able to balance herself in the air.  Both the ponies went spiraling downwards towards the castle.  

With a loud crash, Twilight landed in the dining hall, breaking the long table into two pieces.  Plates flew off the table and cracked as they hit the ground.  Celestia fell into the room next, landing on a cabinet containing the more elegant plates.  The entire cabinet was crushed and all the plates instantly shattered as Celestia crashed onto the floor.  Shards of glass littered the floor.  

Three pillows lay around the room.  The stained pillow and two others.  One that had been on Twilight's back, and the other had been thrown by Celestia.  The dining hall was a long room with doors on either side.  Celestia had crashed near a door, while Twilight was near the middle of the room.  Twilight struggled to stand up, her legs hurting from the impact.  Celestia had a little more ease, being bigger and stronger than Twilight.  Celestia slowly stood up, her legs trembling.  She staggered towards the stained pillow.  

Twilight refused to give up.  She had come too far and lost to much.  The pillow nearest her was lifted into the air, and with the last bits of Twilight's energy it was enchanted.  Twilight's vision was blurry, and she couldn't think straight.  All she could see was the outline of Celestia trotting slowly over to the stained pillow.  Twilight could barely keep the pillow in the air, but managed to give a weak throw.  The pillow missed Celestia completely, flying through a door behind her.  

Feathers went everywhere as the explosion deafened both the ponies for a short while.  A large blast of light came through the door and both of them were thrown onto the ground, and the door had been blown off its hinges.  As they regained their hearing and tried to stand up, a small cracking noise was heard.  Forgetting about the stained pillow, they both silently waited as the cracking noises became louder and louder.  Suddenly, the loudest of the noises sounded, and without warning the room tilted sideways.  The explosion had enough force to create a crack and break off an entire side of the castle, and now it was falling down the side of the mountain that Canterlot was built upon.  

As the large structures that had once been the castle tumbled down the mountain, they broke and became crushed.  Twilight and Celestia were thrown around the room like bouncy balls.  Both Celestia and Twilight slammed into the walls of the dining hall as they fell down the mountainside.  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Get up!"

The guard picked himself off of the ground, staring at his two colleagues.  One of them extended a hoof and helped him up.  They were all considerably bruised and scratched up after falling down the mountainside.  The last thing they could remember was a pillow being thrown at them and a flash of light.

One of the guards rubbed his head, trying to reduce the pain he felt.  He had landed awkwardly on his head after the fall.  The other guards landed on their backs, and luckily they had armor to protect them when they made impact.  Although the other guard had a helmet, it still hurt extremely bad, he was just grateful that he wasn't a unicorn.  

"That Twilight is insane."  

"You said it, she's crazier than... um... actually she just creates her own standard of craziness," responded one of the guards.    



None of them were pegasi either, so they couldn't fly back up to Canterlot.  

"Well, we better get moving if we want to get back to Canterlot," said one of the guards.  They all nodded, and looked up towards the city.  

"My kids are going to starve if I don't get back home quickly, they have no idea where I put the milk!"

"Well then we better get goi--"

The guard looked up.

"What the buck!?"  A huge chunk of the castle came tumbling down the mountainside, and before any of the guards could react, it crushed them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the castle hit the ground, Celestia and Twilight were flung abruptly to the floor, smashing into it at dangerous speeds.  Both of them groaned as they tried to recover from the bumpy ride.  Most of the castle was crushed, and the walls of the dining hall had been torn apart by the jagged rocks.  Large holes speckled the walls of the dining hall. Twilight felt as though every part of her body was bruised and Celestia felt the same way, except her wings ached painfully.  Neither of them could get up, all they could do was groan and hope the pain would subside.  After a few moments, Celestia spoke.

"Twilight, maybe we should just stop this.  Stop fighting over a pillow."

"But, then who gets it?"  

"Nopony, we should just get rid of it."

Twilight thought about this for a moment.  She didn't want to give the pillow up, but the pain she felt in her body forced her to concur.  "Fine, let's get rid of it."

After a few minutes, Celestia and Twilight had both stood up and could trot again.  Although they still ached with pain, they were able to move.  The stained pillow lay a couple feet away, and was still in good shape considering what it had just gone through.  Celestia trotted over to it and levitated it.  Twilight could only watch as the princess spread her wings to rid the world of the pillow.  She wasn't sure where the princess was going to take it, but it didn't matter.  

Musical enhancement: I know, lots of music this time]

Celestia smiled, but she smiled to soon.  As she flapped her wings and took off from the ground, Twilight was able to see her mouth form a smirk, and knew that she was being betrayed.  She yelled for the princess to stop, and galloped toward her. Celestia was already in the air and ascending quickly, but Twilight galloped onto a broken piece of the dining table and leaped.  She managed to grab the princess' unguarded hoof with her mouth.  Celestia attempted to shake Twilight off, but she wasn't letting go.  The pair flew up towards the half of the Canterlot castle that remained.  

As they flew over one of the battlements that was still intact, Twilight let go of Celestia's hoof.  She landed on the battlement, her weak legs barely keeping her from collapsing.  Her horn lit up, and before Celestia could fly away the pillow was grasped by her telekinetic magic.  Both ponies held the pillow in their magical grasp, and each pulled away with equal force.  Celestia flapped her wings, trying to pull herself away from Twilight and take the pillow with her.  Twilight stood her ground, her back to the city and her head turned slightly to pull the pillow in her direction.  It seemed like a magical game of tug-of-war.  

Both of the ponies were evenly matched, and they were both evenly tired.  Neither of them could figure out where they were finding the strength to continue on with the fight, but they both stood strong.  Neither of them wanted to give up, but they desperately wanted to get rid of all the pain and bruises.  The pillow was absorbing all the magic that was being put toward it by the two experienced ponies.  Massive amounts of magical energy was being transmitted from the ponies to the pillow, and slowly but surely, the stained pillow was becoming more and more powerful.  

Without any energy left, Twilight closed her eyes.  Her body was screaming at her to let go, but her mind would not allow it.  She had come too far to give up now, and instead of lightening her pull she strengthened it.  Celestia did the same, and slowly the pillow moved towards the princess.  Thousands of years of experience in magic had made her the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria, and now was the time to showcase that.  

"Twilight, you can never defeat me.  What made you think that you could defeat the ruler of Equestria?" She pulled back harder, causing Twilight's hooves to scrape across the floor.  Twilight's eyes were squeezed shut as she tried to battle the princess, but she couldn't find the energy.

"You may as well give up."  The princess gave another tug, and Twilight inched closer, losing her magical grip on the pillow.  

"If there is one thing I learned from friendship, it's to never give up!"  Twilight gave a tug of her own, but Celestia was too powerful. The princess didn't budge.  The only thought in Celestia's mind was, Well that's cliche.

Twilight could feel the energy slowly sapping from her body.  There wasn't much magic left in her.  Her mind was screaming at her.  I just want to go to sleep!  Twilight pushed her hooves against the ground, pushing herself back.  She could feel herself gaining ground, pulling the pillow back towards her.  The princess snorted and her horn lit up even more.  The power of the sun was pulsing through her, but the fight beforehand had tired her out.  

Twilight remembered all the friends that she had lost.  "This is it Celestia!  The pillow is mine!" 

With a final push, Twilight's horn reached its maximum luminosity, and the pillow came closer.  Celestia wouldn't have it, and she knew that she had enough magical power left to finish the battle.

"Have it your way Twilight."  The princess stopped flying and landed on the battlement.  Both of the horns of the ponies were giving off massive amounts of light.  The pillow was also glowing much more than it should have, absorbing that massive amounts of magic being thrown at it.  Celestia knew it was time to end it.  She smiled as she prepared to give her final pull.  

"Celestia!"  

The familiar voice caused Celestia to lose focus, and the light surrounding her horn went out abruptly.  The release of so much force at once caused Twilight to fall over, the pillow flying overhead.  The light around her horn went out, too, and the pillow went flying backwards towards the city.  It still contained all the magical energy that had been put into it.  

The pillow flew through the air, going farther and farther while Twilight and Celestia were forced to watch.  Everything seemed to move slowly.  The stained pillow that they had fought over and almost died for was flying out of reach.  Silence consumed the city for the moments that the pillow was in the air.  

Within a few seconds, the pillow was descending.  Neither Celestia nor Twilight could do anything to stop it as it made impact with the ground.  

All the magical energy that the pillow had absorbed was released, creating an enourmous explosion that emanated from the outskirts of the city.  At first, there was only a blinding light, but then the deafening boom and explosion swept over the area.  Both Twilight and Celestia were thrown back by the force of the explosion, but they couldn't see anything as their eyes were tightly shut.  After the deafening boom, all they could hear was the sound of buildings crumbling.  

The massive explosion carried enough force to cause every building nearby to crumble to the ground.  Luckily, the castle was far away enough to stay intact, but the other buildings didn't experience the same luck.  Ponies screamed as the walls came tumbling down, and soon the buildings lay in a pile of debris.  The unlucky ponies that resided in the buildings were crushed beneath the falling stones and wood.  Luckily, none of the ponies died, they were only knocked unconscious by the falling rubble.  

Twilight and Celestia's manes flew back as the explosion reached its peak and ended.  Dust from the crumbled buildings covered the air, and as it settled the two ponies looked out upon what had once been Canterlot.  Now it was just a large collection of ruins.  The stained pillow was now just thousands of feathers floating through the air.

Twilight felt a tear roll off her cheek.  All the work, all the pain, all the loss, and there was nothing to show for it.  Even after she had fought her princess, the leader of Equestria, and her mentor, it had come to this.  Twilight closed her eyes, the pain she felt in her body was no more.  All she felt was the pain of knowing that she would never have the pillow again.  Now the pillow was gone forever.  

Celestia turned toward the voice that had made her lose her concentration.  It was Princess Luna.

"Celestia!  What are you doing?"  Luna landed on the battlement.  She was wearing saddlebags.  Celestia looked at her sister, trying to hold in her anger.

"I was trying to get my pillow back."  She snorted at her sister, who took a step back.

"Oh, yes, that is why we came to see you."  Luna put on a smile to try and calm her sister, but it was no use, Celestia stared directly in her eyes, waiting.  Luna bowed her head and explained. 

"You see..."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


One day ago...

Luna had just finished her royal duties, and the night sky was bright with the full moon.  She decided that it was time to sleep, and made her way to her bedroom.  Her bedroom was located in a separate castle, as far away from Celestia's as possible in order to give each sister their own space.  

After a hard day at work, Luna removed her hoof guards and her crown and slipped into the soft bed.  She let out a sigh of relief as she rested her head back, but only felt the mattress.  She sat upright, looking at where her head had just been.  There was no pillow.  I must have lost it, she thought.

Luna checked around the bedroom, but her tired limbs couldn't bring her to search for very long.  Soon after beginning the search, she gave up and flew to Celestia's bedroom, her black body hidden in the night.  She entered Celestia's bedroom using a spell to unlock the window.  It was a spell that only Celestia and herself knew, in case of emergencies. 

Quietly flying into the empty bedroom, Luna spotted a pillow on Celestia's bed.  Without thinking, she took the pillow from the bed and brought it back to her bedroom.  She assumed that Celestia had plenty of other pillows to sleep on, but being on the moon for a thousand years had put her out of the loop.  

The pillow was one of two that were ever made.  Both of them had belonged to Celestia until she gave one to Twilight.  Celestia was reluctant to give the pillow away at first, but eventually gave it away anyway.  

That night, Luna slept on Celestia's pillow, soaking in all the softness and fluffiness it contained.  Later that night, Celestia had finally completed her duties and went to sleep, but found that her pillow was missing.  After searching for it all around her room, she gave up.  It was apparent she had lost it, and she didn't have the energy to search all around Equestria for the pillow.  

Luna's door burst open, and Celestia stood behind it.  She called out to her sister.  

"Luna, have you seen my pillow?"  

Luna's eyes snapped open, and she rose her head to look at Celestia.

"No."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Celestia stared in disbelief as her sister related the tale.  

"I stole Twilight's pillow because you didn't tell me that you took mine?"  Her brow formed a 'V' as she took short steps towards her sister.  Celestia had only stolen Twilight's pillow because she couldn't find her own that night.  Upon sleeping on it, she remembered how much she loved the stained pillow.  

Luna cowered in fear as her sister approached her.  

"Yes, but that is why we are here.  I have brought you your pillow."  She reached into one of the saddlebags and pulled out a perfectly white pillow.  This pillow was the second copy of the stained pillow, and was virtually the same.  All it was missing was the stain. Luna held it out for her sister to take.

Twilight and Celestia looked at each other, and then at the pillow.

Without hesitation, both of them were galloping toward Luna.  






> The End
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Music Enhancment

"Come here Luna!"

Celestia's wings flung open as she jumped after her sister, who was already frantically trying to get away.  The sudden advance from both Celestia and Twilight had frightened her, and she had jumped into the sky, pillow in mouth, flying away.  She did not wish to be the cause of separation among friends, and she didn't want to get hurt.

Before Twilight could react, both Celestia and Luna were well into the air, the chase had begun without her.  Quickly surveying her resources, Twilight realized that there were still some ripped pillows lying upon the castle roof.  Her horn glowed dully, her energy was weak.

The fragmented pillows quivered in their spots, slowly being lifted into the air and then meeting in front of Twilight.  With terse breaths and a heaving chest, Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, and in a blast of light the pillows mended together, forming something new.  

The ultimate pillow.

Trotting up to it, relieved that she was able to get through the spell, Twilight took the pillow and put it on her back.  Using magic, she took the two flaps she had created on bottom of the pillow and tied them together underneath her stomach, and two other flaps to tie around her neck.

The pillow secured in place, Twilight stomped her hoof, signaling the wing mechanism.  Two pillow wings shot out from the sides of the pillow on her back, locking into place with a resounding click.  Twilight smiled, it worked.  With two drags of her hoof on the dusty ground of the castle roof, Twilight readied herself for take off.  The two princesses were off in the distance, their silhouettes barely visible through the haze.  Twilight went through a silent countdown.

3...2...1...

"Lift off."

The pillow jet pack sprung into life, pillars of flame shooting out from the back and the wings.  Twilight galloped as fast as her legs would take her, the jet pack accelerating her forward.  As she approached the edge of the castle, there was nothing on her face but sheer confidence.

Her front hooves barely touched the edge of the castle, and her hind legs reared up.  Like a spring, Twilight propelled forward, the pillow jet pack launched a ball of fire and smoke behind her, sending her skyward.  

She was flying.

"Let the chase begin."  Twilight smiled as she accelerated, the pillow-pack easily carrying Twilight's weight.

Her eyes squinted as the wind ripped past her face, tearing at her cheeks.  Celestia and Luna were coming closer.

"I have to get this just right," muttered Twilight, the wind whipping away her words as she spoke.  Using her body weight, she shifted her position in the air.  The pillow was visible now, the corner grasped in between Luna's teeth.  

Suddenly Twilight shook violently, almost losing control of the jetpack.  She whipped her head back to look at the wings.  One of them was creaking and smoking.  The turbulence from the struggling wing caused Twilight to shake about.

"Come on!" screamed Twilight.  Pulling her weight upwards, she was lifted higher into the sky, above the two princesses who rapidly came closer with each passing second.  

"This has to be just right."  Twilight stabilized her trajectory, nursing the injured wing and flying directly above the two princesses who continued their chase.  The other wing started to smoke.  

"Hang in there, just a few more seconds!" yelled Twilight.  Celestia and Luna were completely visible now.  Twilight's stare was focused on the pillow, however.  Celestia and Luna noticed her, and attempted to pull away, flapping their wings as fast as they could.  It was no use, Twilight's pillow-pack thrust her through the air with unprecedented speed.

"Ten more seconds."  Twilight readied herself, counting down mentally.  Luna and Celestia were directly in sight, and Twilight's gaze was locked on to the pillow.

10... 9... 8...-

There was a ripping sound.  The push of the pillow-pack abruptly ended.  Twilight swung her head back, only to see the wings of the pillow-pack tumbling down towards the ground, moving farther and farther away.  Her momentum kept her flying forward, but she no longer could control her direction.  She floated through the air, spinning slowly from the pillow-packs sudden destruction.

Struggling to gain control of herself, Twilight streamlined her body and did everything she could to keep from curving towards the ground.  She needed this to be perfect.  She was about to pass over Celestia and Luna.

All at once, Twilight flung her head down and shifted her weight to arc downwards.  Her previous momentum and gravity brought her to an extreme speed, her snout pointed directly at the pillow.  Like a bullet, Twilight shot towards the ground, Celestia and Luna almost under her, about to be just specs far away from Twilight.

It was over in less than a second.  Twilight exploded by the two princesses, her mouth agape, and snatched the pillow from Luna's mouth.  The precision was unrepeatable.  Both of the princesses were stunned, but there was no time to float around in the air and watch as Twilight receded further and further away from them.

"Look what you have done!" screamed Celestia in fury.

"What we have done?  Look what you have done!  You have destroyed Canterlot over a simple pillow!" replied Luna.  

"Over a pillow?  I think you are underestimating the importance of this pillow, Luna.  You can sleep on it."

Luna's eyes bulged open.  "We want it," she said.

Celestia snorted and shut her wings and twirled into a perilous drop, allowing her to fall and gain momentum.  Luna did the same.  

Twilight looked behind herself, only to see the too princesses skydiving directly for her.  Their larger bodies and heavier weight meant that they would be accelerating faster.  Twilight began to sweat, adrenaline coursing through her body.  The ground was approaching fast, there was no time to think about her actions, there was only time to act.  Twilight could see a small cone form around her, and she felt as though her ears were being pushed down by a force stronger than she had ever experienced.

All three ponies blasted past the clouds, the vapor barely speckling their face before they were already hundreds of feet away.  Behind their bodies was the large mountain Canterlot was built on, and the majestic waterfall that fell.  The scenery flew by in a blur, brown and blue colors mixed.  Twilight's eyes were barely open, allowing her to see close to nothing.  Luckily, she was able to spot the terrain in the distance.

Swinging her body to the left, Twilight swerved out of her previous trajectory, aiming for a mountainous region nearby.  Looking behind herself once more, she saw that Celestia and Luna had both followed her lead, their bodies streamlined and quick.  With every second they inched closer, but Twilight had quite the lead.

It was only at this altitude that Twilight could truly see the destruction that they had left behind.  Most of Canterlot had burned to the ground, smoke billowed from the castle, and all that was left of the buildings was rubble and dust.  Farther away, she could barely see the smoke rising from Ponyville after the war that had occurred.  She felt a pang of remorse, but it was too late to quit now.  She had possession of the pillow, now all she had to do was keep it.  As she rocketed toward the mountains, her horn was aglow, keeping the pillow from ripping out of her mouth and flying back towards the princesses.

After a minute or two of free fall, Twilight activated her pillow-pack's parachute function, ripping on the cord with all her might.  The parachute sprung from the pillow, and Twilight felt a huge heave on straps that kept the pillow attached to her body.  She felt as though her hooves would be torn off.  After the initial blow had been suffered, the parachute caught the wind and pulled Twilight back.  Now, she floated gently toward the mountains.  Looking behind herself once more, she saw that the princesses had decided to do the same, using their wings to slow themselves down lest they hit the rocky mountains at a lethal speed.

As Twilight gently floated towards the ground, she noticed something moving in the mountains.  A dragon. Inside Twilight's mind a new plan formed.  Those are the wings I need.

Swinging her weight, Twilight changed her direction once more, and the princesses followed.  As Twilight entered the atmosphere of the mountains, the temperature raised considerably.  Lava.  

The hot air hit Twilight's parachute, causing it to slow down even more.  The princesses were catching up, their wings barely slowing them down a bit.

Twilight was unfazed by the heat, too intent on landing perfectly onto a dragon's back.  She had a particular green dragon that was resting in the middle of a crater in mind.  She continually had to adjust her direction due to the winds.  Celestia and Luna, however, saw no sense in the path Twilight was taking.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Twilight's fall came to an end.  Her hooves touched down directly on the large dragon's back, the parachute draping over her.  Her touch caused the dragon's huge eye to shoot open, its curved pupil moving from side to side.  The dragon was awake.  

Twilight tossed the parachute off of her head and looked into the sky.  Sure enough, Luna and Celestia were on their way, almost there.  The dragon's head lifted off of the bent legs that made its resting spot and craned backwards to look at Twilight.  It looked angry.

With a sheepish smile, Twilight bargained with the dragon.  "If you help me out here, I'll give you a lot of money."

The dragon was unmoved.

"A pillow?"

No reaction.

"Ten pillows?"

The dragon snorted.

"Okay, okay, fine, I'll give you, um, a belly rub?"

The dragon was not amused.  He brought his snout close to Twilight, his hot breath blowing her mane back.  

"Oh forget it, now isn't the time to bargain," said Twilight.  With a flash of her horn, the dragon's became dazed, his eyes losing all emotion.  Twilight had used a spell akin to the powers of what Fluttershy called "The Stare".  

"Sorry, but I had to," said Twilight.  The dragon was under her control now.  Twilight smiled as she flexed the dragon's wings, spreading them to their full length.  It was truly majestic.  Saddling herself in the middle of two spines on the dragon's back, Twilight started to flap the wings.  She had never felt a sensation such as amazing as being able to control wings.  With powerful flaps, dust blew away from underneath the dragon as he slowly lifted into the air.  Luna and Celestia watched wonder as Twilight flew away on the back of the dragon.    

There was no time to lose.  Luna and Celestia found their own dragons.  Celestia chose a sleek, red dragon, whilst Luna chose a dark purple one.  The princesses were well aware of the spell that Twilight had used, and knew it themselves.  

Music Enhancement

Within seconds, both Luna and Celestia were chasing after Twilight on the backs of dragons.  Twilight held her pillow close to her body, making sure to secure it from the wind.  

As the dragons pulled away from the mountains, Twilight realized that she had no idea where to go.  There was only one place to go.  Back to Ponyville, where it had all begun.  There were probably still pillows left on the ground that she could use to finish off her enemies and walk away victorious, pillow in mouth.

Twilight leaned forward on the dragon and flapped his wings faster.  She was going to end this, once and for all.

As Ponyville came close, Twilight couldn't help but notice the large field in the distance that was covered in white feathers.  The remnants of the fallen.  Some of the pillow forts still stood, tattered by enemy fire.  Most of them were obliterated by the tactical pillow that had gone off.  Trees were covered in feathers, the fabric that made the pillows hanging off of their branches.  It was a gruesome scene, yet all the pillows made Twilight sleepy.  She hadn't slept in forever.  Maybe she would just close her eyes for just a second...

Twilight eyes shot open, a roar from Celestia's dragon piercing her ears.  She threw her head back to observe the spectacular sight, the dragon shooting flames into the air around it.

Behind Twilight, the dust of the collapsed buildings created a haze that hovered above the city.  Some buildings gave off smoke, others simply lay still and forgotten.  

Twilight pulled the dragon up higher into the atmosphere, gliding at an easy pace.  The clouds whisked by, small wisps of vapor brushing Twilight's face every now and then.  Behind her Luna and Celestia pushed their dragons to the limit, going as fast as possible to catch up to Twilight.

As Twilight looked down from her perch in the clouds, she saw the battlefield from above.  In the field lay the bodies of the ponies who had been lost in the great pillow war.  Who would have guessed a pillow fight would have ended so tragically?

Twilight saw her friends, motionless in the white speckled field.  Ponyville looked... broken.  The survivors stumbled through the debris, looking for their lost possessions and their friends.  The fillies simply stood frozen in front of the buildings, looking at the broken glass and burning wood.  Most buildings still stood, and very few had sustained heavy damage from the explosion.  

"Let's do this," puffed Twilight into the thin atmosphere.  Veering diagonally, Twilight's dragon began to fall to the earth.  Luna and Celestia did not know what the pony was up to.

Twilight thought about the pillow that she held close to her.  Was it really worth it?  Was all this destruction necessary for just a simple pillow?  Twilight felt pangs of guilt shoot up her spine. 

Voices bounced around in her head, voices of those who she had fought with.

"I need backup!"

"We're not going to make it out!"

"Please, please Celestia I don't want to die."

"Ooo, this pillow is soft!"

"Pinkie Pie, stop feeling the pillow, throw it at somepony!"

"Ouch!  Throw it at somepony besides me!"

"Okie-dokie!"

"I'm hit, I'm hit!"

"Save me!"

The voices haunted her, eating away at her soul.  She couldn't oust them, they just kept playing, fragmented phrases of ponies who were probably lost in the pillow war.  Twilight couldn't help but tear up.  

Maybe giving Celestia the pillow, just to end it, was the right thing to do.

Twilight thought long and hard, her eyes flicking from the pillow to the wreck of a scene that Ponyville was.

"Nah."  

The pillow was too awesome to give up.  It was just the right mixture of soft and firm, making it the perfect pillow.  And Twilight couldn't sleep without it.  Her beauty sleep was valuable.  

Twilight closed the wings of the dragon, allowing her to pick up speed.  She closed her eyes as she fell.  With the pillow held by a spell, Twilight's legs started to bend.

With shaky balance, Twilight pushed herself cautiously into a standing position on the speeding dragon.  Her knees shook as she locked them into place, her mane whipping about in the wind.

"What is she doing?" said Celestia.  Luna gave a simple shrug from her position on her dragon.  Both the princesses closed the wings of their dragons, not wanting to let Twilight slip away.

Twilight, standing erect on the back of the dragon, felt her heart pounding.  Although she could not see, she knew how fast she was going, and how fast the ground was approaching.

She felt the world around her.  

"Now!" she yelled.  The dragon's wings snapped open, catching the wind.  Twilight's trajectory began to level out.  She had timed it just right.  With a crash, the dragon landed atop a building, claws dug deep into the walls for support.  The dragon remained perched on the building as Celestia and Luna landed on their own buildings.  The three ponies all stared at each other.  

Nopony spoke for a long time, the town was silent except for the crackling of burning wood.  All the fillies and survivors had taken refuge in the nearest house, too fearful of the dragons to make any noise.  

Finally, Celestia spoke, breaking the silence.

"Twilight, this has gone on long enough.  Relinquish the pillow, it is for you own good."

Twilight furrowed her brow.  Celestia was right, this had gone on long enough.  Time to end it.

"I think you underestimate me.  You were once my princess, Celestia, but this is the battlefield, where there are no princes or princesses, only warriors, and if you think that you can take this pillow from me, you'll have to pry it from my cold, dead hooves." 

"I'm sorry to see you feel that way, Twilight.  However, prying it from dead hooves shouldn't be a challenge at all."  Celestia smirked, this was a side of her Twilight had never seen.

"Yeah, well, you're dumb!" yelled Twilight.  With a battle cry, Twilight's dragon lept into action.  Celestia and Luna did the same, pushing off of the building they were hanging on.  Ruthlessly, Twilight let loose an inferno from the dragon's mouth.  But the blast was too late, Celestia and Luna were already in the sky, and the fireball simply burnt the building they had been on.

Twilight growled.  Celestia's dragon fell from the sky, claws spread, headed directly for Twilight.  Acting quickly, Twilight used her right wing to push herself to the side, barely dodging Celestia's claw.  Controlling a dragon was harder than Twilight thought.

Reacting quickly, Twilight lashed out with her dragon's jaw, grabbing hold of Celestia's dragon.  However, Twilight had forgotten about Luna, whose dragon fell behind Twilight's.  With a whip of her dragon's tail, Twilight smacked Luna's dragon across the face, causing them to recoil.  Meanwhile, Twilight used the dragon's powerful jaw to throw Celestia to the ground.  Just before she could stomp on her, Luna's dragon came from behind, biting onto Twilight's dragon's tail.  Twilight let out a cry.  She didn't realize that the dragon's pain would be hers, too.  Celestia, seeing an opportunity to escape, spread her dragon's wings and took off as fast as she could.  

Twilight turned her dragon's head around and blasted another stream of fire at Luna, causing her to release her grasp on the tail and dodge the flame.  Twilight spread her own wings and flew into the sky in hot pursuit of Celestia.  Luna, not wanting to be left alone, followed after, yelling, "Wait up!"

As Twilight approached Celestia's dragon from behind, she devised a plan to separate the dragon from the pony, causing the connection made by the spell to be broken.  With a powerful flap of the wings, Twilight shot below Celestia's dragon, invisible to Celestia's vision.  Without warning, Twilight slammed her dragon's head into the stomach of the dragon above her.  The dragon was thrown off course, and Twilight could hear Celestia scream.  In a defensive measure, Celestia stopped flying straight and pulled upwards, flying straight for the clouds.

This ends now.

Twilight veered out from underneath Celestia's dragon and pulled up, following close behind.  Celestia's dragon was clearly slower than Twilight's, and within seconds Twilight had caught up, Luna behind both of them.  With immense force, Twilight bashed into Celestia's dragon's side.  Celestia was shook once more, almost losing her balance.  

With a final effort, Twilight pulled away and then back, hitting Celestia's dragon with all the force she could muster.  Celestia lost her balance, her hooves separating from the skin of the dragon, falling backwards.  In a desperate attempt, Celestia had her dragon flail its head out towards Twilight's, and with a powerful bite it grabbed one of Twilight's wings.  Her flying patterned disturbed, Twilight lost control of her dragon, and with one wing clamped down by Celestia's dragon, their ascent stopped and they abruptly fell.  Luna, noticing that Celestia, Twilight, and both their dragons were tumbling down towards earth, tried to turn around, but it was too late.

The dragons collided in the air, and all six of them tumbled toward the ground.

Twilight shook her head, still rattled from the impact.  She looked around her and saw Celestia nearby, trying to get her wings open as they fell.  Luna was doing the same, but in the entanglement caused by the three dragons, it was hard to do anything but fall.  Celestia threw her weight to the side in an attempt to collide with Twilight.  Seeing her from the corner of her eyes, Twilight turned and threw out all her hooves.  The ponies' hooves collided, pushing on each other with equal force.  Both of the ponies grunted as they tried to overtake the other one.  

"This is all your fault!" yelled Celestia, "You couldn't have just let me have my pillow back!"

"You mean THIS pillow?" screamed Twilight. Her horn lit up and she swung the pillow as hard as she could at Celestia's face, a lethal blow.

Suddenly Twilight's eyes bulged.  She didn't have the pillow.  Frantically craning her neck to try and get a glimpse past the dragons, Twilight looked for the white pillow.  Sure enough, it was falling to the ground along with the ponies and the dragons.  There was no hope of salvaging it, and their was no way to break her fall.

Twilight looked at the ground that came closer with each second.  It looked like this was the end.