The Day that Changed Everything
“What happened at Littlehorn?”
SteelHooves and Xenith both started at the question. They looked at each other before SteelHooves answered me simply, “Disaster.”
I shivered, knowing I didn’t really want to hear this. But part of me needed to. “Tell me.”
-Fallout: Equestria, Chapter twenty-seven
What is a hero, exactly? Autumn Mist had a pretty good idea, and it had been taking shape on her paper over the last twenty minutes. Her heroine’s horn was long and slender. Black. The sharpened pencil tip moved across the paper as Misty carefully traced the spirals of its fluting toward her forehead. Loosely curving violet lines made her thick mane appear to blow in the breeze. The clear, elegant lines of her powerful muscles flowed gracefully along her back, over her flank, and down toward her hooves.
Long, slender legs defined her impressive stature. But not too long—she was not quite as tall as Celestia. Her jet-black coat sharply contrasted with her blue cutie mark. Long, black feathers that would make even a griffin envious extended from powerful wings at her sides. Her stance was strong and confident. A pony of purpose and unshakable determination.
Her fearsome, dragon-like eyes glinted with hidden warmth. The eyes weren’t quite right, though. Misty rummaged around in her saddlebags for her turquoise colored pencil. There it was. This might have been a simple sketch, but it needed to be worthy of the great pony which it depicted.
Now, if only learning to become a hero was as easy as drawing one.
Around her, the growing number of children chattered away while Misty focused on her sketch. It was the start of her second semester at Princess Luna’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and the air of excitement this morning was already building. She glanced at the computer display built into her desk. Three minutes left before class.
A groan escaped her lips. “Why can’t art class be first period?” she mumbled.
“The earliest art class is third period, Autumn. But I think you’d be rather disappointed with missing most of your friends in your other classes if I rearrange your schedule to fit. If you’d like, I could—”
“No… no, I didn’t mean—nevermind, Dex.” Stupid AI.
“As you wish.” The AI returned to Standby. Why couldn’t these things have an off switch?
Misty studied the photo she had pulled out of her saddlebags and placed on the corner of her desk. It was the best photo ever—one which she treasured. Though its edges were worn, she took care that it never ripped or creased. The photo was from a company lunch picnic where her dad worked.
‘Bring your daughter to work day’, they had called it. On the left side of the photo was her dad, a war hero and arcane technology researcher. On the right was his boss, one Princess Twilight Sparkle. Misty had seen the photos from when she was just a unicorn. She hadn’t aged a day since she got her wings twelve years ago.
Both of these ponies, as fate would have it, had brought their daughters. In the center of the photo, wearing a smile that would have required power tools to remove, was a little slate-blue filly with a pale-yellow mane sitting right next to the most amazing alicorn she had ever seen.
Misty’s tongue stuck out as she carefully corrected a few pencil lines. Almost done.
“Whatcha drawing?” came a voice from behind Misty. It was Peach, a pinkish-orange filly with a cutie mark of a flask and test tube.
Peach leaned in close over Misty’s shoulder. Did she not understand the concept of personal space?
“Ooh, that’s Nightmare—”
Misty gave Peach a dirty look. “This is not Nightmare Moon. It is Nyx. Nightmare Moon doesn’t exist anymore.”
“Saaw-ree,” Peach said as she rolled her eyes and put her hooves to her cheeks in mock horror. “Hey, she’s the one who saved all those ponies that one time, right?”
Two times. It had been twice. For someone who could understand all the complex interactions between chemicals, Peach was flat-out oblivious when it came to important ponies. Misty stared at her. “That’s… very descriptive of you, Peachy. But yes, that’s exactly what she did. She practically killed herself in the process, but she was a real hero that day… The best kind of hero.” Misty continued to put the finishing touches on her sketch.
“Too bad none of those ponies are alive anymore.”
Misty set her pencil down and glared at her. “Not ali— They most certainly are alive. Why would you say that?”
“I mean, the Crystal Empire is gone, so…”
“They’re alive. They’re just not… here, anymore. They’ll be back, though. My dad said they’ll be back. We just don’t know when.”
Peach smiled and tousled Misty’s mane with a hoof. “Well, if your dad said it, I guess that makes it true.”
Misty facehoofed. Why do I even…
“I’m just joking, Misty.” Peach spotted the photo on Misty’s desk. She levitated it closer to take a look. “So you met Nyx in person, I see.”
Misty telekinetically snatched it back, setting it gently back down on her desk. “Just the once.”
“She does look kinda scary.” Peach craned her neck over to get another look.
“She’s only scary if you’re a bad guy. Or a child.”
“You’re a child.”
Misty turned around again. “Haven’t you heard about her Nightmare Night presentations? She puts one on every year in Ponyville. Scares the little kids half to death, pretending to be Nightmare Moon—”
“But she is—”
Misty shushed her. “Then she tosses out candy for everypony and gives hugs all around. Trust me, she’s not scary if you know her.”
Peach thought for a moment. “Sounds like you’d really like to get to know her, then.”
Misty sighed. “I’d like to be just like her when I grow up.”
“You can’t be just like her, Misty. You’re not an alicorn.”
“I can still be a hero! Someday. You don’t have to be an alicorn to be a hero.”
“Why do you want to be a hero? Getting shot at. Risking burnout. Not to mention you’d have to be pretty darn strong in magic. Alicorns can—”
“Hey! I’m strong in magic. Princess Luna said my horn’s throughput is the highest on record since Twilight Sparkle was my age.” Misty’s horn flickered as she swatted Peach on the side of her head with telekinesis. “You should see my assessment scores.”
Peach fixed her mane with a hoof. “Well, it’s your life. I mean, I’d rather work in a lab, myself.”
“Of course you would. I wanna get out there and really make a difference. I want to save lives. To be a hero.”
Peach shuffled her chair forward and plonked it alongside Misty. “That’s very noble.” She leaned closer to Misty. “You do know most unicorns don’t even get interesting research positions much less get enlisted for war magic, right?”
Misty groaned. “Look around, Peachy. Do we look like ‘most unicorns’ to you?”
Peach put on a sly grin. “Not at all!” She suddenly sat straight up, holding her hoof out dramatically. “I can just see it now—Autumn Mist, the world-famous avenger of ponykind, and Nyx, her faithful sidekick. Just like you said. And I’ll be a famous arcane-chemical engineer, designing a cure for zebras!”
Misty looked at her sideways. “I never know when to take you seriously, Peachy.”
Peach gave her shoulder a playful shove before draping her foreleg around Misty and giving a little shake. “Always, Misty. Always. So, Nyx is a soldier in the war now, right?” She scratched at her head. “Someone with that kind of strength is kinda important as a fighter.”
“No, she’s not a soldier,” Misty replied. “Dad says she tests stuff for StableTec.”
“Oh, come on. That doesn’t sound very heroic. Anypony can test stuff. An alicorn has real power. You don’t waste that kind of power testing things. Why wouldn’t she fight?”
A tapping sound came from the front of the room, and all the kids quickly quieted down and took their seats as their teacher got everypony’s attention. Misty had just finished her sketch and admired it for a few seconds before tucking it in a folder on her desk. As she stared at the image of the black alicorn, she pondered what Peach had said.
“Why aren’t you out there defending ponies, Nyx?” she whispered, then tucked the sketch away.
“Good morning, class. I trust you all slept well last night.” Ruby Rain addressed her students from the front of the room. Her rich blue mane flowed down over her fiery red coat—an unusual, but totally cool color combination for a pony. She was a fun teacher who always made Misty feel welcome and special. Something about her was just different from the other teachers. It was as if she could reach inside a student’s soul and see exactly what they most needed to hear.
“If you could please pass up your papers from yesterday’s assignment, we will begin shortly.” Papers rustled around the classroom as everypony searched through their saddlebags for their homework.
Misty looked to her left just in time to see a white filly with a light-grey mane slide into her seat, panting heavily. She and Sugar Bit had formed quite a bond since they had first arrived at the school. While not possessing as much raw talent as Misty, Sugar Bit was an exceptional scholar. They gave one another a hoofbump.
“Running late, are we?”
Sugar Bit smiled weakly. “Overslept.”
Misty raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you set your alarm? That’s not like you.”
“Couldn’t sleep last night, so I cast a spell to help me out.” Sugar Bit blushed. “When the alarm went off, I accidentally turned it off instead of hitting snooze.”
Misty suppressed a laugh. “So, are you ready for the new semester? If you’re half as excited as I am about the new classes, you’re about to bust out of your skin.”
“I know, right? We’re about to make history. I heard we’ll be learning some secrets that haven’t been taught to anypony since before Luna was…” Sugar Bit glanced around as if she was about to say something forbidden.
“It’s okay, Bitsy. Everypony knows she was banished for a thousand years. And everypony knows that's all in the past now.”
“Yeah. It’s still hard to imagine, is all. Anyway—”
The teacher tapped a hoof on her desk, drawing everypony’s attention. Levitated chalk danced across the board, leaving the words “Principles of Magic” for everypony to see. The teacher drew the chalk along beneath the words, underlining them, then pivoted around to face her students.
“Who can name the four basic principles of unicorn magic?”
Hooves raised across the classroom. Ruby Rain looked over her class of twenty. Her eyes searched back and forth as Misty patiently waited for somepony to be picked. Ruby’s hoof pointed at her.
“Misty?”
Yes! She cleared her throat and spoke up so the class could hear. “The four principles of unicorn magic are as follows: First, a source of power. Second, power storage capacity. Third, skill. And fourth, throughput.”
Ruby Rain nodded toward Misty with a subtle smile. “Excellent. Next, everypony will be doing an exercise to demonstrate their knowledge of these principles. I’ll be using this to gauge each of your skillsets as well as your ingenuity.”
That sounds fantastic! Misty sharpened her pencil in anticipation.
“Who here likes playing… hoofball?”
What? She can’t be serious. There’s a reason why most unicorns hate—
Only three ponies raised their hooves. Murmurs spread through the classroom. What was going on?
Ruby let out a warm laugh. “It’s okay, you can relax. We’re going to play hoofball ‘Littlehorn Rules’. Now, if you’ll all follow me outside to the field, we’ll get started.”
Twenty of Equestria’s brightest young unicorns filed down the hallway of the school toward the back where the hoofball field was set up. They walked past the other classrooms, glancing inside to see the other students studying or listening to a lecture. It always impressed Misty how attentive the students at Littlehorn were. Like they truly wanted to learn, and the teachers truly wanted to teach. She smiled at the thought of how privileged she was to be here, as the clip clop of tiny, excited hooves filled the hallway toward the exit.
Once outside, Misty and her classmates gathered at the edge of the grass hoofball field. The school was a fortress. Things had changed so much since the war heated up over the last year. It used to be just a simple chain-link fence separating the school grounds from the surrounding grassy hills and forests that went up to the edge of the crescent-moon shaped valley. Now… well, it reminded her more of the military compound her dad used to be stationed at. The chain-link fence had been removed, but the ground bulged in places, covering the high tech defensive gun turrets that were now scattered along the border. Celestia wasn’t taking any chances with the war, given the school’s remote location.
Ruby Rain stood in front of her students. Twenty tiny cups filled with blue liquid were lined up along the table in front of her. Behind the cups were two stacks of jerseys—half red and half blue. Beside the jerseys, rested a hoofball. It was faintly glowing.
Ruby clapped her hooves together to get everypony’s attention “Before we explore the principles of unicorn magic, who can tell me some forms of magic not restricted to unicorns? I’ll give you a hint. Two of them are represented at this table. Anypony?”
Ruby pointed toward an indigo colt who was waving his hoof back and forth with excitement. “Card Trick?”
That was his name. Misty felt her insides stir as she saw his face light up at being called upon by the teacher. There was something about him that Misty couldn’t quite place. Something almost… delicious that made her heart skip a beat.
“Enchantments!” came Card Trick’s answer.
“Correct.” Ruby picked up the hoofball and twirled it about in the air before catching it. “And what are enchantments, exactly?”
Card Trick continued. “Enchantments are when an object is infused with magical properties which enhance its normal function. Sometimes enchanted objects behave in strange ways nopony might expect.”
Enchanted. Yes, that’s exactly how she felt. Good answer… Misty’s eyes rested half-lidded upon the colt for a split second before—
“Excellent. Another?” Ruby pointed to a pink filly.
Pay attention, Misty, she chided herself, returning her attention to the class.
“Potions?” Flower Petal had answered. She was one of the youngest in the class—only ten. The teacher nodded for her to continue. “Liquids brewed with magical herbs and enchanted so that it gives a magical effect to anypony who drinks it.”
“Very good. Who here knows the symptoms of applying more energy to a spell than you have stored?” She pointed to a dark-green colt with his hoof raised.
“It hurts a lot. You get a headache and feel like you’re gonna throw up. It takes hours before you can even lift a pencil again.”
“Thank you, Emerald Breeze. You’re absolutely right. Normally, you want to avoid burning out at any cost.” Ruby gestured to the items on the table. “Now, what we have here is a buffer potion for each of you. It only lasts an hour before it wears off. It’s designed to make it safe for you to burn out. You need to learn where your limits are and be able to feel that point just before you burn out. So today, I want you to give it your all.
“The rules are simple; first team to score three goals wins. Use whatever you can to get the ball in the net. Any and all forms of magic are permitted as long as nopony gets hurt. Teams have five minutes to discuss strategy. Go!”
Misty stood in the field, wearing her red jersey. The teams had taken a few minutes to decide everypony’s role based on their natural strengths. Misty was their secret weapon.
It was a literal reversal of the usual rules of the earth pony sport which officially barred any form of magic. The hoofball’s enchantment made it so that whatever spell anypony applied to the ball was cancelled after ten seconds. This was going to be really weird. Ruby blew the whistle.
The ball had been floating just above the ground in the center of the field as one pony from each team charged toward it. Peach was the first to reach the ball, and she gave it a solid kick to one of her blue teammates, casting a spell on the ball as it sailed away. Her teammate caught the ball with telekinesis and ran toward Red’s goal.
A red colt jumped to tackle the ball from Blue’s levitated grip, succeeding for a moment, but he couldn’t hold on to the suddenly frictionless ball. Things looked bad for Red as as the ball slipped out of his grip, but another red filly swooped in and shrank the ball down to the size of a gum ball. She popped it in her mouth and bolted toward Blue’s goal.
Just before Red’s spell wore off, she spat the ball out and kicked the now full-size ball hard for a sure score. The ball bounced off a shield that had been set up over the goal. Oh, that was dirty! Misty intercepted the bounce and noticed Card Trick nearby in his red jersey. He looked so cute. Focus, Misty! He cast a spell, and everypony on the blue team started running away from Misty toward Red’s goal. Misty laughed. She passed the ball to Card Trick and trotted to Emerald Breeze, who focused on Blue’s shielded goal.
Emerald’s magic capacity was the best on their team, but that shield would require more cutting pressure than his horn could manage. Misty focused and created a link to Emerald. She used her own talent linked with his energy to boost his throughput and quickly cut into the shield. By now, the blue team had realized they had been chasing ghosts and were running back toward them with a vengeance. Misty and Emerald finished cutting through the shield, and Card Trick kicked the ball through. Score one for Red! Misty gave Emerald a hoofbump. She shot a wink and a smile to Card Trick.
Half-way through the third round, the score was tied. Sugar Bit was on the blue team and had scored a tricky trajectory shot against Red, bouncing off somepony’s shield dome straight into Red’s goal. Now, Red had pushed close to Blue’s goal again, and Misty had the ball. She was galloping forward when she noticed a yellow filly with a red mane between her and the goal.
It was Lightning Blaze. She had transferred from Celestia’s school in Canterlot after learning some pretty amazing skills as a multi-talented unicorn. Most unicorns specialized in one or two areas of magic, but a multi-talented unicorn was a wildcard. Misty knew that they usually had less raw power, but you never could know what to expect from them.
Misty gripped the ball tighter in her levitation field, then launched it past Lightning with startling speed toward another red teammate. Lightning activated a spell as she watched the ball sail past.
Seriously? A chicken?! Misty slowed to a trot and stared as the chicken-ball began racing around the field randomly, causing chaos and confusion as the red team tried to catch it. The chicken dodged all the red ponies then sprinted toward Red’s goal. A red colt made a brick wall appear in the field right in front of the chicken.
The startled fowl transformed back into a ball just as it impacted the wall and bounced high into the air. Another red colt caught the ball and cast a spell causing a portal to open on the side of the brick wall. He kicked the ball through the portal, and it popped out of the ground on the other side of the field near Blue’s goal. Flower Petal was standing nearby and kicked the ball into the goal. Score two for Red!
The fourth round looked like it was starting to take its toll on everypony. Two on the red team and four on the blue team had already burned out and were trying their best to play despite the lack of magic. These were not ponies who were accustomed to playing sports, so the handicap was hurting Blue.
Misty felt like she was close to burning out as well. She could feel it aching in her horn like a strange hunger mixed with exhaustion. She could tell that the Lifestream around the hoofball field had already been depleted. With so many unicorns tapping it at the same time, there was only so much energy to go around.
Finally, Emerald Breeze scored the final goal, taking advantage of his higher capacity to outclass even those with better skills or magical strength. Misty cheered as he laid down a path of slippery ice along the grassy field toward Blue’s goal and slid straight into it while levitating the ball beside him. It was a fantastic victory for Red! Three to one, and everypony collapsed into the field in laughter and sheer exhaustion.
After the game, all the kids were filing back into the school when Misty heard her name called.
“Could you stay a moment, please?”
Misty stopped in her tracks as her heart raced. She turned to see Ruby Rain motioning for her to come closer. Misty smiled and trotted over to the table where the teacher was folding the jerseys to put into a box. “Yes, miss Ruby?”
“I won’t keep you from your friends long,” her teacher said with a smile. “Your performance today was impressive. It’s rare that somepony remembers that unicorns themselves can provide a source of power for another unicorn’s spell.”
“Oh! Yeah, that’s because of my special talent.” Misty let out a squee of pride as she showed off her cutie mark of two stars tied together by a thin beam of light.
“So I hear. That’s very unique, Misty. We’ll have a good time teaching you how to make the most of that ability.”
Misty’s heart soared. This was fantastic! She had often been accused of cheating off other ponies’ abilities when she linked with them like that. Some felt like it was a kind of personal violation if Misty could perform their abilities often with even greater strength. And her teacher had just praised the talent?
“Miss Ruby? Can I ask you a question?”
“Of course, dear. What’s on your mind?”
“Do you feel the Lifestream over the hoofball field right now? The closer I get to where we were playing, the harder it is to recharge.”
“You all used quite a bit of power today. It’ll come back to normal in a day or so.”
“Yeah, I know. But doesn’t it make you wonder how that works? Something else must be feeding it. And what about alicorns?”
“Alicorns?” Ruby echoed.
“Yeah. How do alicorns perform those really impressive magical feats? Moving the sun and moon about in the sky would require a lot more energy than the Lifestream can provide. They must be getting their power from someplace else. Also… why aren’t there more alicorns?”
Ruby regarded Misty for a moment before answering. “You know, I’m not really sure how alicorn magic works. Why don’t you give me a hoof here, and tell me what you’re thinking.”
Seriously? Misty felt a warm rush of excitement. This was one of her favorite topics to daydream about, and her teacher had actually asked her to share her insights! She felt like she might float away if she wasn’t careful. “Well, my dad says that alicorns are supposed to be able to do things that nopony else can do. Crazy powerful stuff. Things we’ve never seen any of today’s alicorns do. The kind of power that levels mountains and boils the seas.”
“You mean the legends? The stories of the ancient alicorns?”
“Yes, but for real!”
Ruby chuckled as Misty helped her fold up the table and finish packing up the sporting supplies. The pair walked back toward the school with the folded table floating along behind them. “My dear, those bedtime stories are meant to spark the imagination of young colts and fillies just like yourself. And in that, I suppose they have succeeded.”
“I… Well, no, I mean my dad says he’s sure that… Hold on.” Misty stopped for a moment to fish out her sketch and show it to her teacher.
Ruby Rain studied the paper. “It’s a lovely drawing, Misty.” Her eyes touched on the cutie mark. “This is Nyx. You were thinking about what she might be capable of?”
“Yes, miss Ruby. Nyx is… Nyx is my hero. I just…” Misty glanced off to the side. She didn’t want to say it.
“What is it, Misty?”
“Well, she’s an alicorn. And alicorns seem like they can do such amazing things. Nyx saved over two hundred ponies in the Crystal Empire. But that was years ago. Now… Now, she just tests stuff. I guess I just don’t understand. So many terrible things still happen in the war.”
Ruby’s voice was soothing, like salve on a wound. “Misty, sweetheart, we all have our roles to play. You’ll understand Nyx’s role when you’re ready. Just as you’ll understand your own.”
Misty straightened her posture and held her head high. “Oh, I understand what my role will be, miss Ruby. I want to learn to be a hero! I know I’m not an alicorn, but I want to learn hero magic.”
Ruby let out a soft laugh. “Hero magic? What might that be, Misty?”
“The kind that saves lives! Some of Princess Luna’s generals are really good at it.”
Ruby stopped at the entrance to the school. She set a hoof on Misty’s shoulder. “What you refer to is war magic, Misty. Magic to destroy and kill. You know what that is.”
“Yes, I know. But I like to call it ‘hero magic’, cause they’re trying to save the lives of other ponies. My dad says that Nyx might someday end the war if she learns enough hero magic. I’d like to be right there with her and help, if I can.”
Misty walked with Sugar Bit down the hallway toward her locker before Lunch Period. She was digging through her saddlebags as a familiar indigo colt walked by. Her insides fluttered again. No time like the present!
“Hey, Card Trick,” Misty said with a bright smile.
Card Trick stopped and turned toward the pair of fillies.
“Morning, Misty. What’s up?”
“Uh, just saying hi. Great um… trick today in the game.” Misty put on a cheesy grin.
Card Trick looked her over, then glanced at Sugar Bit. “Thanks. I love doing that one. Say, would you two mind if I sat with you for lunch?”
Misty glanced at Sugar Bit, who started to speak. “Well, we’re gonna go to—”
Misty kicked at her leg with a rear hoof. She darted her eyes toward her friend, then returned to the colt, clearing her throat. “Sure, that would be great! I’d love that, thank you for asking.” Misty blushed slightly.
The trio sat at the lunch table, enjoying their food when Sugar Bit spoke up. “So, who all saw the chicken coming?”
Card Trick and Misty both shook their heads. “Nope.”
“Yeah, same here.” She laughed. “How about the one where Glitter turned the ball into lead? It didn’t help our team much, but your team couldn’t get it to move either. I think it was about to turn into a wrestling match!”
Misty laughed. “I liked the portal. I need to learn how to make one of those!” Misty munched on her carrots. Heavenly.
Sugar Bit pulled out a paper to show her friends.
“Check this out.” She set the paper down on the table next to her meticulously organized lunch. A lunch which—Misty chuckled inwardly—looked like it was sorted in order of all the food groups lined up on the table.
Misty looked over at the paper. It was her introductory essay for the Equestrian History course. Not exactly her favorite subject. What purpose did studying history serve when there was magic to be learned? She tolerated it, of course; it wasn’t completely useless. It just wasn’t her… thing.
Misty did a double-take. In red pen at the top, the teacher had written “A+” She glanced back at her friend, who was beaming.
“You’re such a nerd, Bitsy,” Misty joked. Card Trick laughed.
“Well, some of us have high academic standards, my good friend. Not all of us gained our acceptance via raw magical talent.”
“Speak for yourself,” Card Trick said with a wink.
Misty perked up. “What’s your thing, Tricky? How’d you get the other team to run away like that?”
Card Trick glanced up and behind Misty, and a shadow passed over the table. She looked over her shoulder to see Princess Luna standing behind her. Misty’s eyes went wide as the princess leaned down.
“Boo.”
Misty startled. She blinked, and the princess was gone. Misty glanced around, and everypony else was eating their lunch as if nothing strange had just happened. She turned back to Card Trick.
“Was that…”
“Perfect illusion. That’s my thing.” Card Trick puffed out his chest with pride. “In the game, the entire blue team and a few of our own were convinced that somepony on Blue had the ball and was sprinting toward our goal.”
“Oooh. I like it!”
Sugar Bit facehoofed, shaking her head.
Misty glanced back to Sugar Bit’s paper. “Hey, mind if I read this over? I have my first Eq-His class after lunch, could use the refresher.”
“Be my guest,” Sugar Bit said after swallowing a mouthful of fruit.
The table of contents read… Misty rolled her eyes. Sugar Bit’s paper actually had a table of contents.
1. Pre-Unity Era / Lost Tribes
2. Unity Era / Hearth’s Warming Holiday.
3. Expansion of Equestria
4. Royal Sisters’ Castle Capital
5. Discord / Dark Age / Loss of Historical Records.
6. Sombra / Crystal Empire
7. Nightmare Moon
8. Canterlot / Prosperity
9. The Zebra War
Misty leafed through the paper. Nine pages… She glanced back at her friend. “Bitsy, did I mention you were a nerd?”
Sugar Bit laughed.
Misty sat in the Focused Spellcasting classroom with nineteen other unicorns, listening to the teacher give yet another lecture on a topic which she had already mastered. She was bored. There were four other classes this size in the building, and Misty would have preferred to be in any of them at this moment. She glanced to her left, tempted to pass a note to her friend, but thought better of it. She was above causing trouble in classrooms. She just wished they would get on with teaching something she didn’t already know.
Misty absentmindedly looked out the window. Somepony was driving some wagons up Littlehorn Valley toward the school. A pony from the school was walking out to meet them. It looked like Nightwatch, the head of security.
“Hey,” she whispered to her friend as she nudged her shoulder with a hoof. “Check it out.”
Sugar Bit looked where Misty was nodding. “I don’t think those are ponies, Misty.”
Nightwatch started running full tilt back toward the school as the wagons continued approaching. Suddenly, the school alarm blared to life, startling everypony to their hooves.
The teacher stood from her desk. “Okay, class. Everypony stay put. I’m going to see what’s happening.” She trotted to the door and went into the principal’s office, which was directly across from their classroom.
Just then, the school matron galloped down the hall, nearly plowing straight into their teacher. She was headed toward Administration in a hurry. Misty heard her shout at the Admin terminal.
“Dex! Security protocol twenty-one!”
The entire class ran to the windows to see what was going on outside. Sugar Bit was right; it wasn’t ponies. Those were zebras. Not soldiers, though. There were kids with ‘em. They had nearly reached the front lawn of the school where the alicorn statue stood. Misty saw three stallions, but beneath the shade covers, she made out the forms of maybe twenty or thirty other zebras.
“What do you suppose they’re doing here?” Misty asked her friend.
“Maybe they’re lost. They look—”
The sound of heavy gunfire echoed through the classroom. Sugar Bit’s face went pale. Half the students covered their ears in reflex. Many ducked down to the floor below the windows. Misty looked back outside toward where Sugar Bit was staring. There was blood everywhere. But it wasn’t the zebras who were attacking. They were being cut down by a stream of bullets coming from the school! Misty looked off to the side and saw the school’s automated gun turrets swiveling around, belching fire from their muzzles.
Yelling erupted from Administration. “Shut it off!”
“I tried. It won’t respond!”
“Unplug the damn thing! Smash it if you have to.”
Misty was dimly aware of Sugar Bit trying to say something, but she couldn’t make it out over the sound of the guns. She looked back outside and saw zebras lying on the ground, unmoving. Mares. Foals. All covered in blood. Misty started to cry. What was happening? The sirens. The guns. It was too much. She curled into a little ball on the floor and closed her eyes tightly.
The guns eventually stopped. Most of the other kids were still watching out the windows in the eerie silence. Misty stood and looked down again toward the devastated zebra caravan. A single zebra stallion was holding an unmoving mare in his hooves. It was less than a minute, but it seemed to stretch on forever. The zebra looked up toward the school. He stood. Misty glanced at Sugar Bit. She had no words. Her friend put a hoof to her lips, her teary eyes wide with shock. Misty looked out the window again, but the zebra was gone.
Another minute later, Misty heard the sound of a large glass object breaking. It sounded like it might have been the front door. Screams echoed from the hallway. Everypony moved to the far corner of the room, staring toward the doorway. The screams… so many! Misty’s blood ran cold in her veins. What was going on in the other classrooms?
Everypony sat deathly quiet as they waited. Most were trembling. Some had wet themselves. The screams eventually faded.
“What was that?” Sugar Bit whispered, pointing to the open classroom door. It was a flash of pink light, reflecting off the far wall of the hallway just for a moment.
Misty crept close to the doorway and peeked out into the hall. Strange sounds came from some of the other classrooms, followed by new screams. Misty’s ears flattened against her skull. She could hear hoofbeats running down the hall toward her. She watched to see who it was; someone was yelling with grief and rage. The hoofbeats thundered right past her and kept going, but there was nopony there. It was like a ghost had just ran past the door. There was a bright flash of pink light and an odd sound almost like a muffled energy implosion. The hallway began to shift and distort. Misty ran back into the classroom.
Just then, a strange, pink fog rolled in behind her. Everything turned into a nightmare. The fog licked at her hooves, and the pain was worse than anything Misty had ever believed possible. Thinking quickly, she threw up a shield bubble around herself. Some of the fog was in the shield with her, but it was much thicker outside with everypony else.
All the children were screaming in agony. Misty coughed and tried desperately to breathe—tried to focus on her shield. She saw her friends and classmates stumbling about the room… bleeding. Some beat against the windows, trying to get out. One filly’s hoof struck the glass, and the hoof came right off. She fell over, and her entire body seemed to melt into a crimson puddle on the floor.
Misty closed her eyes tightly, crying out from the pain. If ever she needed her hero, it was now. Any moment now, Nyx would crash through that window and save her. Any moment now. Just hold on.
The sound of hooves on wood got her attention. She opened her eyes to see Peach standing on her desk, trying to get her head above the dense fog that stayed close to the floor. Her hooves seemed to merge with the top of her desk as if the desk and the filly had become one. She lost her balance and fell back into the fog.
The base of Misty’s horn began to bleed as she tried to keep her focus. The strength in her legs gave out, and Misty fell to the floor within her shield, unable to stand. She coughed, tasting blood.
Where is she? Alicorns can do nearly anything. Right? She would know, somehow. She would come.
Within a minute, almost everypony had stopped moving. Misty saw her friend Sugar Bit lying nearby. Her head had fallen off her shoulders and was staring blankly back at the rest of her body.
No!
Tears streamed down Misty’s cheeks. Her heroine wasn’t coming. She had failed. Misty’s heart sank as the crushing disappointment hit her.
Misty’s body screamed for the pain to stop. The pink mist inside her bubble was slowly eating away at her flesh. She felt like her lungs were on fire. A short distance away, she saw Card Trick. He had a shield up, but he looked like he was in such terrible pain.
Misty focused hard, and a thin thread of white energy branched out from her own shield to connect with his. She probed around within his shield with her mind, tapping into her special talent. She found him and opened a connection.
Card Trick looked straight at her, sensing that she was feeding him energy. His horn glowed, and the entire school vanished. Misty found herself sitting in a sunny meadow of soft grass on a picnic blanket. Tricky was beside her. The pain was still there, but somehow, she could almost set it aside. Almost.
Card Trick looked at her with fear in his eyes. “I’m scared, Misty.”
She held him tight, tears streaming down her face. “I am too, Tricky.” Misty focused, reaching out with her senses. There were three others still alive. Threads branched out from her shield to theirs. Within seconds, they too appeared in the serene meadow with her and Card Trick. Flower Petal was with them. She was crying. Emerald and Lightning were there as well. They looked exhausted. Misty pushed out with her strength, trying to keep them alive.
The three newcomers held one another while Misty fiercely embraced her indigo friend. It was maybe thirty seconds before Emerald vanished from the meadow. Misty’s heart sank. The fillies were terrified, and within seconds, they too faded from view.
“I don’t wanna die.” Card Trick looked into Misty’s eyes. He was trembling.
Misty kissed him. For ten beautiful seconds, the pain was completely gone. Then, she held nothing but air. Her heart broke, along with her connection to the colt’s illusion spell.
Everything was darkness. She had gone blind. The only thing Misty had left was the pain and her thoughts as her body continued to fall apart. Why had her hero not come? Then, Misty remembered how much she herself wanted to be a hero to others. And yet, what had she been able to do for her friends? She couldn’t save them. But she gave what she had to help ease their pain.
Misty wept from her sightless eyes as understanding finally came to her. Heroes. True heroes were not some fantasy pony able to overcome any challenge. Sometimes… sometimes, there’s simply nothing that can be done except to give what you have. Misty got her greatest wish.
She opened her mouth to speak in a hoarse whisper. “Nyx… I’m sorry I doubted you. I still believe in he—”
Finally, she lost all her magical strength, and her shield collapsed. The fog rushed in and claimed her. She felt the warm blood running freely down her face. The last thing she thought of was her parents, and how she wished she could see them one last time. Autumn Mist was twelve years old when she died.