A mysterious spirit appears and destroys the world as we know it. Now only cloudsdale remains, and it's survivors will have to struggle to survive.
Everything was peaceful, everypony was happy and going about their lives like normal. But then a mysterious Spirit appeared out of the blue and destroyed everything. Then as quickly as it appeared, it vanished, leaving the few survivors to struggle for both survival and for the hope of rebuilding their world. But sacrifices will have to be made.
And some sins can't be washed away by the sea of time....
Author's Note: The sex and non-con tags are for events that happen in later chapters. Those chapters may or may not contain graphic detail. This is not a Porn fic, but some chapters will contain sex and of the like, but it is not the focus of the story. The Gore tag is there for a reason, and you can expect some dark and twisted events to unfold. The Mature Rating is there for a reason. You have been warned.
The earth trembled slightly as the Spirit appeared, but nopony noticed. There was nopony around to notice, as the Spirit had appeared in a far off field, away from any towns or cities. The Spirit took a single step, the earth trembling as it moved. It could sense that what it was looking for was here, but it seemed to be hiding. No matter. The Spirit knew just to coax it out. It lurched forward in a crouching position.
Then it began to run.
It was slow at first, but it kept gaining momentum, becoming faster and faster, but never capping out at a maximum speed. It just kept going faster. The ground trembled and shook at its every footstep, it's earthly body becoming more and more blurred as it went. It's sheer mass and size seemed to do nothing to hinder its speed and movement. It's pure red eyes reflecting the furious nature held within.
Up ahead, it noticed a mountain with a castle curiously perched on top. But that didn't matter. Putting its shoulder forward, the Spirit plowed straight into the mountain, obliterating it in its entirety, destroying the castle along with it. But this did not slow the Spirit down. Thousands of screams could be heard from behind it as the debris scattered about, but the Spirit paid them no heed. The destruction it would cause was only just beginning.
The Spirit continued to run, it's speed and momentum ever increasing, as it plowed through more mountains, forests, hills, towns, and cities, reducing everything in its path to nothing but rubble and debris. Soon it became fast enough that it's sheer speed evaporated the water around it, and it began to circle around all of Equus, lapping it several times, destroying every land formation, structure and building in it's path. It's sheer speed evaporating all of the oceans and annihilated all sea life within, causing several tumultuous storms to appear, only to be quickly quelled by the spirit's rampage. The screams of the many ponies, griffins, yaks, and other denizens and creatures of Equus silenced as quickly as they appeared. Their deaths occurring before they could even process what had even happened. The world became eerily silent and dark as the evaporated oceans formed clouds above, blotting out the sun in it's entirety. There were no more screams. No more chatter of birds. Just dead silence. The world as anypony knew it, had ended.
Then, the Spirit spotted it. What it had came here for, and without a moment's hesitation, it seized it with all it's fury, all of its purpose and wrath.
Then it simply vanished without a trace, as if it was never there....
With the Spirit gone, Equus was left with naught but ruin and death.
Yet, despite the Spirit's efforts, there was life that yet remained....
Shaded Lilly slowly climbed her way back onto the cloud, having almost been nearly blown off by the unbridled winds that had suddenly blasted Cloudsdale and all of its inhabitants. She was lucky she still had the Cloudstep spell, or else she was pretty sure she would have been blown away and fallen to her death. Being a unicorn in a city built for pegasi sure didn't make it easy. As soon as she felt like she was safe from falling, she collapsed onto the cloud, giving herself a moment to recollect the wind that had been knocked out of her chest. Her entire body felt sore, and her heart was pounding from the terror she had just experienced. After a few minutes of collecting her breath, she took a look at her surroundings. Cloudsdale was in shambles. Several of its buildings had been destroyed, (which wasn't so bad, they were mostly made of clouds, after all), but she could see that the Weather Factory had been completely annihilated. And by the looks of the remaining citizens, it was clear that not everyone was as lucky as she was.
Foals cried out for their parents, parents cried out for their foals. Many ponies young and old called out for their friends and families, many of which never returned their pleas. And on the ground, (well as much ground as cloud can be) were dozens of dead pegasi, crushed by the torrents that had blasted the city. Their blood seeped into the clouds, turning into hues of pink and red.
The sight was so horrible that Shaded Lilly puked right then and there, tears pouring from her eyes. Unable to stomach the sickening and deformed bodies of some of the dead ponies she saw, she puked several times, and only stopped when her stomach had nothing left to throw up.
Why did her coltfriend ever bring her up here? Then, suddenly her eyes darted wide opened. Thunder Spark....where was Thunder Spark?!
Suddenly memories began to flood back into her mind as her mind had recollect all the moments of the past week that had led up to this point...
---
"I don't know about this," Shaded Lilly said, rimming her hoof around Thunder Spark's cutie mark. His cyan mane complimented his golden fur quite well. And those wings....it was those wings and his eyes that made her fall in love with him in the first place. His goofy personality is what made her stay with him. "Oh, come on, Lilly-boo! I've already met your parents, it's only fair that you met mine," he said, booping her on the nose with his hoof when he said his nickname for her.
"But Cloudsdale? But that's so....high! And also, i'm a unicorn! I don't have glorious wings like you do! Besides, what if i fall...?" she asked, lowering her ears in worry. Thunder lifted her head with a hoof. "I won't let that happen, i promise. Beside you have magic, i pretty sure you can figure something out." For a moment, they stared into each other's eyes. Her at his crystal blue eyes and him at her soft, bright green eyes. She finally broke the silence, "Okay." And with that, she leaned in and kissed him.
The next day, she and Thunder rode the balloon to Cloudsdale. Thunder could fly, but he stayed with her as Lilly refused get on the balloon without him due to a slight fear of heights (Not really a fear of heights, though, as what she really feared was falling). The ride up was actually pretty calm, and not nearly as scary as she feared it would be. Granted, it helped to have Thunder by her side. When they finally arrived, Lilly casted the Cloudstep spell on herself, allowing her to walk on the clouds as the pegasi do. She had learned it when she was young, but she always felt nervous about going anywhere high up. She never liked the thought of stepping on clouds. But she learned the spell out of necessity, as she had to learn it to pass one of her exams back in Magic Kindergarten. She aced it, but that paranoid fear never left her.
Lilly took a cautious step forward and took a deep breath. "You can do this. You are good at magic, and the spell will keep you safe...." she told herself before finally walking off of the platform and onto the city. She felt a large relief as the stress left her shoulders as she walked. The fact that she wasn't falling was enough to ease her nerves. "See? What did i tell you?" Thunder inquired with his usual smirk. "Yeah, yeah, don't get your hooves up in bunch..." Lilly said, sticking her tongue out at him. "Not all of us are born with wings, you know." They both chuckled as he lead them towards his parent's place.
It was only by sheer coincidence really that both Lilly and Thunder had cyan colored manes. Though, her coat was black while his was golden yellow. She'd been told many times that their colors compliment each other very much, but that never really mattered to her. Thunder Sparks could have had a green mane with a polka dot coat, and she'd still love him.
His parents were actually pretty great. They seemed slightly uncertain when they found out their son was dating a unicorn, but, they warmed up really fast, and where nothing but nice to her. They had a lot of fun next few days. Then this morning, she Thunder informed her that he had to Ponyville for a bit, to order some that famous Apple Family Cider for his parents. "Hey, i'll be back at noon, shouldn't take too long," he said with a kiss on her lips. "Okay, but be safe, okay?" giving him one last peck on his cheek. "Ah, you know me. I'm the safest stallion in all of Equestria!" he said in his usual bravado. "Uh huh, is that right, 'Blunder' Sparks?" she chided teasingly. "Hey, come on! It was only one time, i swear!" he protested. "Uh-huh..." she said giving him an incredulous grin. He sighed, "Hey, don't worry about it. I'll see you at noon, okay? Bye!"
"I love you!" she called as he left.
"Love ya, too!" he called back.
And then a few hours after that, that huge freaky storm blasted Cloudsdale, and destroyed half the city, killing several innocent ponies. Thunder Sparks was still down below, perhaps he was safe and--
She peaked over the edge and looked below. What she saw mortified her. Even from this high up, she could tell. Everything was gone. What was once lush green forests and hills below, with tranquil streams flowing on by, now was nothing but brown dirt and rubble. And it just went on and on for miles. "What? What the hell is happening?!"
She pulled herself up to prevent herself from succumbing to vertigo. "What? What is it?" asked one of pegasus that was nearby. He had noticed she had looked over the edge, and was curious to see what she saw.
When he looked over, his jaw went slack. Another pony called to him, "Well, honey, what is it? What's wrong?"
"The Forrests, the trees, the grass....the oceans. it all just....gone!"
"What do you mean it's gone?
"I mean it's all gone! Equestria, maybe even all of Equus....it's all nothing but rubble and dirt down there!"
And with that, the remaining citizens of Cloudsdale all flew into confusion and panic, including Lilly.
"THAT IS ENOUGH!" a voice suddenly shouted, and everyone froze. Then Lilly watched as a cyan mare with a rainbow colored mane descended before them.
"EVERYBODY NEEDS TO CALM DOWN!" yelled Rainbow Dash. When everypony stared at her in silence, she continued. "I know this looks bad, but you will only make things worse if you start panicking. The Wonderbolts and I will take a team and investigate what's going on down below, but what you guys need to focus on is cleaning up and repairing the city. A lot of ponies died to day. It's only right that we gather the dead so that we may bury them later. Anyone who has any kind of medical experience needs to start helping the injured. I am sure that once we find the princesses and the other bearers of the Elements of Harmony, that we will be able to fix this. But we have to work together!" There was a moment of murmuring as the the citizens talked amongst each other, then a grim silence as they got to work.
LIlly watched as Rainbow Dash and a few of the other Wonderbolts began to make their way towards the outskirts of the city. She galloped after them. "Wait!" They didn't seem to hear her. She took a deep breath, and yelled with all her might.
"WAIT!"
They thankfully paused and turned towards her. Rainbow Dash seemed very agitated. "What do you want? Can't you see? We need to get down there, and fast! I need to see anypony is okay. I need to see if my friends are okay!" Rainbow turned to leave.
"Wait! Take me with you!" Lilly pleaded.
Rainbow turned back to her and frowned. "You realize we are really high up, right? You're a unicorn, it's not like you can exactly fly, you know. And i certainly ain't carrying you."
"PLEASE! I beg of you! My coltfriend, Thunder Sparks, he's still out there somewhere! Please, let me look for him. He's my world! Please!!" she begged as unbridled tears fell down her cheeks in between sobs.
Rainbow Dash frowned and looked at her for a moment, before a look of a defeat appeared on her face. "Fine. If you are worried about your friend as much as i am mine, there is no way i can say no..."
Suddenly, Lilly felt her self be lifted up as Rainbow Dash swooped down and grabbed her.
"Please don't drop me," Lilly said, wiping away her tears.
As they descended towards the ground, the scenery became bleaker and bleaker. It was hard to discern one location from another. There were no hills. No mountains. No trees. No grass. At least none that they could immediately see, but even a glance at the horizon in every direction didn't seem any better. The only saving grace was the debris. It was the only way they could identify anything. Pieces of shattered shards of logs and sticks were the only things that even hinted there was ever a forest here.
"It's...so awful..." Lilly said, gazing at the scenery below them.
"There is still hope....there's gotta be..." Rainbow Dash muttered, though whether that was towards Lilly or herself, she wasn't sure. "So what's your name?" she asked, deciding to distract herself by striking up a conversation.
There was brief moment of silence before she answered, "I'm Shaded Lilly, But most people just call me Lilly."
"I'm Rainbow Dash, surely you know who i am, right?" Rainbow Dash asked in her usual confident tone.
Lilly could tell she was trying to lighten the mood, though it felt wrong to laugh at the moment. "Of course, who doesn't know the Element of Loyalty, and one of the six Heroes of Equestria?"
Rainbow Dash chuckled and gave a fading smile. If this were any other situation, Rainbow Dash would have gave a reply. But for now, she had other things to worry about. Making sure she had a good grip on Lilly, Rainbow Dash flew forward, towards the direction of Ponyville. She needed to know. She needed them to be safe.
Lilly screamed when she felt Rainbow Dash lurch forward and gain speed. They flew like that for a only a few minutes until they stopped. The ruins of Ponyville laid before them. Everything was quiet and unmoving. It no longer resembled the quaint little town it once was. Everything was gone. Rubble and debris scattered across disheveled dirt plains. Ruin and rubble could be seen for miles on out. It was evident that whatever it was that caused this had blasted through, scattering, demolishing and pulverizing everything in its path. Scattered spots of blood could be seen along with the miscelleaneous limb or organ strewn about, from both pony and animals.
Rainbow Dash put Lilly down for a moment, and continued to flit about, calling out, praying for anyone to answer her. "APPLEJACK?" Rainbow called, "RARITY? PLEASE SAY SOMETHING! IT'S ME, RAINBOW DASH!!" Panic continued to fill her voice as no answer came. "TWILIGHT? FLUTTERSHY? PINKIE PIE?" tears began to pour down her eyes, "SPIKE? ANYONE?" there was no reply but her own voice echoing across the desolate ruin.
It was then that Soarin and the others finally caught up to the two, and they began hollering out names as well, searching for any survivors. Lilly was about to say something when Rainbow Dash suddenly froze. Her body stiffened, and her eyes dilated back in both shock and horror.
There, on the ground by the crumbled remains of a chimney, was the disembodied head of Fluttershy, with half of her face crushed by a rock. Her remaining good eye hung out of its socket, and her brain and blood seeping out of the cracks left by the wound. Her mouth was agape, missing all the teeth of the front and left side, and her tongue was a bloody, shriveled mess. Her hair drooped, showing shades of both pink and blood red, as it laid shambled on top of what remained of her skull.
There was nothing else of Fluttershy to be seen or found. Lilly began to gag again, wanting desperately to puke, but her stomach still had nothing left to vomit. Rainbow Dash, however, remained there unmoving, tears pouring from her unblinking eyes. "F-F-Fluttershy...?"
Soarin finally flew over, "Rainbow Dash! What is it? What did you--" He stopped as he noticed the head. He almost gagged, but he caught himself. He walked over to Rainbow Dash and put a hoof on her shoulder, but she remained unresponsive. "Rainbow Dash....I'm sorry. Fluttershy is...was the kindest pony i ever met. I'm so sorry." He pulled her into a hug. "I promise, we will find whatever, or whoever did this, and we will make them pay." Rainbow Dash gave no reply.
"Now come on Rainbow Dash, we have to keep searching, we'll have time to mourn later," he said, tugging on her hoof. She remained unbudged. "Rainbow Dash." No answer. "Rainbow Dash!" Her ear flicked, but no reply. "RAINBOW DASH!" Soarin finally hollered, jolting Rainbow Dash out of her shocked state. "Huh? What?" Rainbow asked in a confused tone.
"We need to keep searching. We need to head over towards Canterlot and see if we can find the Princesses. They should be able to help figure this all out, okay? Who knows? Your other friends might still be alive somewhere out there. But we aren't going to find them if we just sit here, okay?"
Rainbow Dash blinked a few times before nodding. "O-Okay..." she said in a voice that was barely more than a whisper. Rainbow Dash then took flight without a word and began heading off towards where Canterlot used to be. Soarin turned towards Lilly, "You need a ride?"
She nodded.
---
It took them a bit longer to find Canterlot, or at least the ruins of it. The drastic change to the entire world scenery was enough throw even the more experienced navigators for a moment. However, they finally spotted the rubble and moved on forward, to continue their search. It didn't even look like Canterlot anymore. The only things that even hinted it ever was were the scattered bits of castle debris strewn about, and a sign or two of various stores that were lively and bustling not a little more than hour ago. But that was before this cataclysm. Before some mysterious force came and ended the world as they knew it. Like with Ponyville, the scattered debris also held patches of blood and body parts, even more than what was in Ponyville.
Soarin and the others began to holler out Princess Celestia and Princess Luna's names. Rainbow Dash simply kept hollering out her friends names. But for Lilly, there was only one pony she wanted to find. One pony whom she hoped with all her heart was still alive. She searched the among the scattered body parts, praying not to find his. Nothing so far. Please. Please let Thunder Sparks be okay.... she prayed.
Suddenly, there was a noise in the distance, which caught everyone's attention. It was followed by the distant sound of coughing. "Survivors!" Soarin called as they all dashed to see who it was. A segment of debris suddenly shifted over, clattering about as it rolled away. From the hole behind it emerged a single white unicorn, adorned in gaurds armor. Lilly's heart dropped for a moment. She had been hoping it was Thunder.
"Is it just you in there?!" Soarin called, flying up to the pony.
The pony coughed for a moment as dust blew out away from him. "No!!" He managed to say in between hacking coughs. Lilly's heart jumped a bit, eagerly watching. Hoping. Praying.
Three more guardponies came out, though these were all pegasi, and they seemed to be dragging somepony behind them. "Who do you got there?" asked one of the other Wonderbolts.
"It's her Majesty, Princess Luna! She's alive!" Despite it not being Thunder, Lilly felt relieved. At least they found one of the Princesses. She began to look around again, desperately looking for any sign, anything to give her hope that--
She paused. Her eyes deadlocked on the sight before her. On the ground, next to a rubble segment of castle wall, about twenty ponylengths away from her, laid a small trail of golden feathers. The lead just behind the debris of another demolished building. Without hesitation, Lilly followed the trail.
She stopped, tears falling from her cheeks as she stared unmoving at the sight before her.
Not seven hoofsteps in front of her laid the broken hind half of a golden pony. With a Cutie Mark she knew all too well. The front half was gone, completely mangled beyond recognition. And a single, beautiful golden wing laid next to the cyan blue tail, no longer attached to its body. The fresh stench of blood and decay was everywhere.
This was it. It was too much for her. She closed her crying eyes, and a long, mournful, weeping wail escaped her lips. And she just let it all out. Her light, her world, her heart. All of it had been stripped from her in a single day. A single, Tartarus-cursed day.
As she bawled and wailed, in her mind she prayed and begged the gods above, any gods, any that would listen, she begged and prayed for her to wake up from this awful nightmare. She prayed that she'd wake up and all would be well, the world back to the way it was, and all this blood and death be nothing but a dream.
The Cataclysm. That is what many ponies have begun to call the horrid and mysterious event that ended our world. They still knew not why or how it had all happened, they only knew the loss and sorrow it had wrought to us. The following days went by at a grueling rate. After bringing Princess Luna and the others back to Cloudsdale, the full ramifications of what had happened started to kick in. Eighty percent of all of Cloudsdale's food supply had been destroyed in the Cataclysm, Making it so that they would not have enough food for the following week. Worse yet, there is nothing that grows upon clouds, so a farm within Cloudsdale itself was out of the question.
Lilly wiped her eyes, there was no time for crying now. She needed to do her part to help rebuild what was left of Cloudsdale. Of Equus. Brilliant Spark, Thunder's father, had taken the news just as hard as Lilly, but he remained strong and had comforted Lilly in her tears. Trinkling Wind, Thunder's mother, had taken a vow of silence. She would speak no more, the loss of her dear son heavy upon her heart.
As Lilly walked towards the center of town, she hung her head low, her heart still aching. She tried to push it out of her mind, but that scene of finding his body kept repeating itself over and over in her mind. How will she ever---
"Hey!" a voice called out to her from behind. Lilly jumped, startled out of her thoughts. She turned to see a brown and white spotted pegasus with a short blonde mane approach her. "Whoa! Sorry there, i didn't mean to scare you. You heading to the town hall? Mind if i tag along?" he said with a friendly smile.
"Oh....you are that pony from before..." She recognized him as the pegasus from before who had asked her what she had seen when she had peeked over the edge of Cloudsdale to see what had happened to land below.
"Yeah, the name's Reed Shallows. You can just call me Reed."
"Um, sure. I-I'm Shaded Lilly. Nice to meet you. Most people just call me Lilly."
"Sweet. So what are you heading up there for?" he asked, taking a casual stride next to her.
"To help," Lilly replied.
"How so?"
"Any way that i can."
"I guess i can't blame ya there. I'm on my way to put forward a petition. I heard the that Princess has finally awoken, and who better to make it happen than the princess of the moon herself?" Reed said, his voice holding an optimism she couldn't explain.
"What? The Princess is awake? It's been three days! This is wonderful news!" Lilly exclaimed, her eyes lighting up once more. Many ponies feared she wouldn't make it. For the past three days, both the Sun and the Moon had sat still in the sky, unmoving, unchanging.
"Yeah, i thought so, too. Things may be messy here, but we'll pull through, you'll see," he said smiling.
"So....what are you petitioning for, exactly?" Lilly asked, now a little more curious with her mood now in a better point.
"Well, since we can't grow nothing here in the clouds, i figure that, after we finished burying the town's dead, that we should think of starting a farm down on the surface, to preserve and keep our food supplies up. It'll be months before we get our first harvest, but at least it would be better than nothing."
Lilly nodded in agreement, "That does sound like a good idea."
"Let's hope they think so too."
---
The plaza of the town hall still looked like a half-way destroyed mess, though it looked a lot better than it did three days ago. The debris that was in the streets had been cleared up, and reconstruction of some of the buildings were on the way, but it was slow going. There was quite the crowd of people there. Apparently word had been sent that every pony left in Cloudsdale was needed at the town hall. The Princess had wished to speak with them.
Lilly looked around, "So....where's the princess?" Lilly asked, not seeing her anywhere.
Reed merely shrugged. "Give it a moment, i think there are still a few ponies arriving."
They waited a few more minutes as a few more small crowds joined in. Lilly frowned. "Is this really it? Is this really all that is left of us? There's probably not even a thousand ponies here!" Lilly said in a hushed whisper, panic gripping her voice. This was her first time seeing what was truly left.
Reed grimaced, "I know. That worries me too. But that does make the food situation a little better..."
"How can you say that?" Lilly asked, anger swelling in her voice.
"Hey, i'm just looking ahead, okay? I ain't anymore happy about this than you are," Reed said with a frown.
Lilly fought back a retort. She wanted to argue with him, but in her heart, she couldn't. In a way he was right, but she still hated it. She hated that this had happened. She hated that they had lost so much. She hated that there was so few of them now. And she hated that it could even be considered a positive thing.
Suddenly there was the sound of a horn blowing and the crowd went silent. A Guardpony, (a pegasus, of course,) began to speak. "Pay heed! The Princess wishes to speak!" It was then that the ponies watched as the Princess emerged from the town hall, with another pegasus at her side, supporting her weight.
That is when everyone gasped at the sight that they saw. Princess Luna was missing her right two legs. In their place were two wounds, stitched together with magic, bandaged, and still in the process of healing. As the ponies continued to gawk in horror, Luna laid down in front of them, dismissing the pony who was helping her walk. With a bow, the teal pegasus took a stance by the town hall door, ready to aid if need be.
Many ponies began to whisper among themselves, but were silenced when Luna began speaking. "I know..." she began slowly, gazing across all the ponies within the plaza, "....that my appearance frightens you, but worry not. I will survive. The fact that i still have my life is something i am grateful for, even if it did come at the cost of a few of my limbs."
A few murmurs were heard before she spoke again, "I know that everyone is confused, frightened, and mourning the loss of their loved ones, and that you do not know what caused all of this. I will tell this: It was a creature who did this. A creature who appeared out of nowhere. Why, how, and for what purpose, i do not know. I only know this simply because i caught a glimpse of it before it destroyed Mt. Canterlot. We also know that the creature is gone now. With no trace of where it went or where it had came from."
There were several frightened gasps, followed by a growing number of angry voices from the crowd, but Luna silenced them with a raise of one her wings. "But now....Now is not the time worry of such things. Now is the time to bury our dead and rebuild what has been lost. It will not be easy, but as long as we work together, we will survive. We will rebuild, and we will have our vengeance."
Reed and several others in the crowd cheered, but Lilly's mind had wondered back to her memories of Thunder at the moment. However, she looked back up when she heard Luna begin speaking again.
"The rumors are true. Cloudsdale has lost eighty percent of its food reserves, but worry not. We will begin sending teams to the surface to scavenge for food. We will find away to endure. And perhaps we will even find more of our brethren who have survived as well. Celestia, Twilight, and the others are still missing. Their bodies have not been found. There is still hope."
Lilly caught a glimpse of Rainbow Dash making a determined face. Lilly could feel a well of confidence filling her own chest. There was still hope.
"Now, we need to take an accounting of everypone who remains. I would like to ask for all of you to seperate into three groups. Unicorns on the left. Pegasi on the right. Earth Ponies in the middle." Without a complaint, the crowd complied. There was a few minutes of shuffling about. A few foals wondering in confusion before being brought to their proper groups. There was a few murmurs of chatter as everyone set into place.
Then, the crowd went silent. The full gravity of the situation now baring its ugly teeth. Even Luna gazed upon them in horror.
"There's no more Earth Ponies?" hollered a panicked pony in the pegasi group. Many ponies began to panic, but everyone was silenced by Luna's Royal Canterlot Voice. "ENOUGH!"
All of the ponies, including Lilly, stared up at their princess. "Yes. This is a tragedy. To lose a whole tribe of Ponykind is a heavy loss that weighs on us all. But do not fret. We still do not know who has all survived down there. Not all bodies have yet been accounted for. And there could be survivors. My guards and I are proof of this. Things may be grim, but panic and fear will get us nowhere! We must focus our efforts, rebuild what we can, and give proper burial to those who fallen to this great Calamity."
She then turned to the small group of five unicorns. All of which were possibly the last of their kind. "Stalwart Hoof, even though i know your name, i know not the names of the others around you. Please speak your names and professions, even you, my loyal guard. It is important for all to know."
"General Stalwart Bane, of the Royal Equestrian Army at your service," saluted the old stallion guard. Though he was old, feeble was far from what he was. This white stallion with a firey red mane was built like a warrior, and had the scars to prove it. His Cutie Mark bore the symbol a Shield and Spear, with a hoof branded onto the shield. At a distance, he could even be mistaken for a younger stallion, if it weren't for his beard, and his eyes. His eyes showed his age the most. They were not young and vibrant, but instead seemed withered with experience and wisdom. They also seemed just a tad gentler than most soldiers Lilly had seen.
"Vivid Spring, traveling scholar," Spoke a forest green mare with a crimson mane. She was around the same age as Lilly, as far as she could tell, and the only other mare in the group. Her Cutie Mark was that of a closed eye surrounded by rainclouds. She had a seemingly eternal stern and exhausted look on her face. But given what everypony had just witnessed and been through, Lilly didn't blame her.
"Fading Stone, Enchanter Extraordinaire! Or, well, i was until everything i owned on the surface was pummeled into nothing. You will reimburse me for those damages, yes?" Spoke a handsome, if not arrogant, dark blue stallion with an orange mane. Lilly didn't like him, he had "Asshole" written all over him, figuratively speaking. His Cutie Mark was that of a rising pheonix, a fact she was sure he held in high regard. Even though she was not normally one for violence, a part of her wanted to punch that stupid smug grin off his for some reason.
"Subtle Hoof, Construction Worker," spoke a handsome, well built black and white spotted stallion with a short, lavender mane. He had a shy, if not sad, expression on his face, and though he was almost equally as sturdy in build as Stalwart was, he seemed far less intimidating. He seemed well mannered and kind, despite his current mood. His Cutie Mark was that of a shadowy hammer swinging from the side. It was notable only because the hammer was a darker shade of black than the black parts of Subtle's coat.
Lilly then realized it was her turn. She took a long, shaky breath to calm her nerves before she spoke. "Shaded Lilly, Spellweaver." Lilly glanced down at her own Cutie Mark. A beautiful white lilly surrounded by gleaming stars. Memories flashed back to when she first got it, back to when she mastered her first spell. Lilly shook her head. That was a long time ago. And it didn't matter now.
Luna nodded, "Thank you. Now, onto reparations. We should work on rebuilding what we can of this city, and finding and burying the rest of those who have perished. We will also have to start rationing food, and start setting up teams for salvaging, both for food and resources. I--"
"Princess Luna, your majesty, i have a propostion that i'd like to put forth!" said Reed suddenly, interrupting the Princess. Luna did not seem to mind though, "You do? What is it?"
Reed took a breath to steady himself, "I want to propose we use a portion of whatever food remains to start a farm down on the surface. It'll take a few days to set up, and it'll likely be a few months before the first harvest, but it'll help in the long run."
"What our food? Do we even have enough for such a ridiculous endeavor?" chimed in a dark lavender stallion pegasus. Reed scowled, "I'm only asking for a portion of it, so that we can food in the future! You like to eat, yes? More than just for tomorrow?"
The other pegasus grumbled but otherwise remained quiet. Luna thought on this for a moment. "It is indeed wise for us to start planning ahead. We shall give you a small portion, say about twenty percent of what we have left? You and a small team of helpers will begin building this farm, but you will have to wait until after we finish burying and mourning our dead."
Reed bowed in compliance. "Now, back to what i was saying. We will need teams for scavenging, salvaging, and search and rescue," Luna explained, shifting in place, wincing for a moment as she was reminded of her two missing legs on her right half. Lilly frowned in worry, Princess Luna must be in a lot of pain.
"Me and the Wonderbolts can handle that!" called Rainbow Dash, flying forth with a few of the Wonderbolts at her side. Luna gave a curt nod of agreement. "And so you shall, but first, a few things have to be addressed."
Rainbow Dash and the others gave a small look of confusion as Luna suddenly turned to the small crowd of five unicorns. Lilly suddenly felt nervous as she noticed all eyes were on them. Thankfully, Luna finally spoke.
"First off, all teams that are dispatched to the surface from now on will require at least one unicorn in the group. Magic is an indispensable ally for us, especially in these circumstances. We know not what dangers or hazards we might face out there, and having somepony with magic at your side will be invaluable. All that i ask is that you protect them with your lives. We cannot afford to lose another tribe."
Faded Stone rolled his eyes, and muttered something to himself, however the rest of them simply nodded. After all, what else could they do?
Rainbow Dash nodded, "It's a deal." Luna merely smirked.
"Second off, since the Wonderbolts are our only surviving military branch that we can effectively use, i am putting General Stalwart in charge."
"Wait, what?! But I--" Rainbow Dash began to protest.
Luna cut her off, her eyes dead cold serious. "This is not up for debate."
Rainbow Dash gave a defeated sigh, "Yes, your majesty...."
Luna then turned to the crowd, "Everypony is now dismissed. We have lost much these passed few days, but we will persevere and overcome this, as long as we work together, and don't give up." There was no cheer or rally. Nopony was in the mood for it, but at least they seemed ready to work.
As Lilly and the others were about to leave, Luna spoke up, "Wait. I need to speak with you five," she motioned to the group of unicorns with her hoof, "And you too, Rainbow Dash. The rest can go."
Luna waited until the Town Plaza had been cleared before speaking. "I'm sorry to put so much burden on you five, but as the only five remaining unicorns we have left at the moment, we will need your abilities now more than ever. Perhaps we can alleviate such a burden once we find my sister, or Twilight, or perhaps other unicorns that have survived, but until then, you are all we have left."
"T'is a burden i shall bear with honor, your highness," General Stalwart said with a bow. Subtle Hoof simply nodded. However, Stone frowned, "You are going to reimburse me for my lost wares yes?" Before Lilly could make a retort, Stone then smiled with a wicked gleam in his eye, "Wait, so everypony will have to depend on me for enchanting wares and services, and my magic in general? This will be good for business, i might not even need the reimbursement. Maybe..."
"You are going to charge ponies for your help? Are you serious?! We've already lost our world, now you want to rob us of our every last bit too?!" Lilly scolded, angry that anypony would even think of such a thing.
Stone scoffed, "Do you think all semblance of civility should just be discarded as well? That we should all turn into barbarians just because the fucking world ended?! Besides, rob is such a strong a word, little lady. Business is a benefit for all involved. Besides, i'm not heartless. I'll offer a....discount....considering the current circumstances. Let it not be said that i'm unreasonable."
Lilly did not like his disgusted tone when he said the word "discount". She was about to go off on him, but Luna intervened. "I think keeping some semblance of civility will help calm everypony's nerves. I have no problem with you starting a business. However the terms of that are that your prices be fair and reasonable. Is that clear?" Stone begrudgingly nodded, "Yes, Princess."
Luna then turned to Lilly, awaiting her answer. Lilly sighed, "You have my services as the resident Spellweaver, my liege." Lilly then bowed in respect.
Luna then turned to Vivid Spring. She didn't seem happy about the idea, but she begrudgingly agreed. "You have my services as well, your highness."
Relief seemed to swell in Luna's face. "Good. Now, will all of you please come forward, please?"
With a bow, they all stepped forward. "All of you except for Rainbow Dash are all currently using the Cloudstep Spell, correct?"
They all nodded, and Stone added, "Obviously, we would all be falling to our deaths if we weren't."
"Rainbow Dash, please come and kneel before me," Luna asked with a curious look in her eyes. Rainbow Dash gave her a questioning look, but she complied.
"All of the rest of you, put a hoof on Rainbow Dash," Luna commanded.
"What for?" asked Stone.
"Just do it," chided Vivid Spring. And with that, they all put a hoof on Rainbow Dash. Suddenly, Luna put a hoof on Rainbow Dash's forehead, and magic began to surge through her horn. Then a pulse of a magic washed over Rainbow Dash and then surged up into the five unicorns. LIlly gasped as a jolt of magical energy surged through her, making the air in her lungs escape her for a moment. Then it was over, and she could breathe again.
It seems the others had experienced the same thing. "What...What did you do, your highness?" asked Stalwart, taking his hoof off of Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash took flight and then did brief self check, but seemed satisfied when she didn't seem to find anything different. "What did you do? That felt kinda tingly..." Rainbow Dash commented with a frown.
"A gift. In a time like this, i can't have you all wasting your magic for simple things. I have gifted the Magic of the Pegasi to each of you."
"She's right!" cried Spring. "I turned off my spell, and i can still walk on the clouds!"
Lilly hesitated. She was surprised by how much trust Spring had in the princess that she would test something like that so fast. But then Lilly also knew the Princess would never lie to them about something like that, and so, with a nervous sigh, she cut the magic to her spell.
Indeed, Luna's words were true. They could all now walk upon the clouds, without the aid of a spell.....
Lilly sat next to a small stone grave in a field of countless others. The sky was darkened by the endless sea of clouds above, giving a grim lighting to an already grim scene. Upon one of the stones, painted, was the name of the stallion she had once thought to spend her future with. The grim and bloody memory of when she found his corpse replaying itself over and over in her mind. "Oh, Thunder..."
Off in the distance, Rainbow Dash, too, stood above a grave, mourning her friend, Fluttershy. A member of the wonderbolts came to comfort her. Lilly turned away, "....what am i going to do without you?" She placed a hoof upon the stone with his name on it. She was about to drift down further into the happy and yet painful memories of her past when suddenly she felt a hoof upon her shoulder. With a gasp of surprise, she turned to see Reed by her side.
"Sorry, didn't mean to spook ya," he apologized, "Just wanted to talk is all. I take it you knew him?" He pointed to Thunder's grave.
Lilly nodded, "Yes...he was....my coltfriend."
"Ah...then I am sorry for your loss."
Lilly sniffed and wiped away her tears, not wanting to succumb to her emotions just yet, especially not while in company of somepony else. "Did you lose anypony? We can pay them a visit if you like, or make a gravestone if there isn't one already," she offered.
A wry yet grim smile appeared on his lips as his eyes grew distant. "You mean to the Cataclysm? No." He let out a long sigh before continuing, "All my friends and family have been dead for a few years now. It's just been me for a while now."
"Oh, I'm so sorry..."
"Don't be. They died happy. And i have said my goodbyes. A part of me is even glad that none of them lived to see this. I don't think my little sis would have been able to accept or handle such a thing. No, it's better this way."
Lilly lowered her ears, she was about to ask him about something, but a grumbling noise from below interrupted her.
Reed chuckled, "You hungry?"
Lilly blushed in embarrassment, "Yeah, but i've already had my rations for the day, as little as they were."
"Don't worry, this won't last forever. Eventually we will have the means of making our own food again, and eventually have food for everyone," Reed said with a smile, "It'll be hard work, and a little tough sometimes, but it will be worth it."
"Speaking of which, how is the farm coming along?" Lilly inquired.
"It's making progress, we've already planted the seeds, now we just need a little water to get it going, but rain should take care of that," he said stretching, an audible sigh of relief could be heard after a few pops. "And it's decently sized at least. It's smaller than we would like, but bigger than we had feared."
"You look tired and sore," she chuckled.
"Well, yeah. I don't know how those Earth Ponies did this for a living. Farming is hard. It'd be great if we can find a few still alive somewhere to teach us better, but for now, we will simply have to make do with what we got."
"Aren't you the optimist?" she chuckled.
"Well somepony's gotta be. Can't be sad and drab all the time, can we?" They both laughed for a bit. As the laughter died down, Reed gave a curious look, "By the way, i've been meaning to ask you something..."
"Yes?"
"Back when everypony was listing off their names and professions you said something peculiar."
"And that would be?"
"Well you said you were a Spellweaver? You could have just said Spell Caster, or Mage, or hell, even Unicorn. You didn't have to make it sound all fancy, you know."
Lilly scoffed, offended, "Well, i'll have you know i am a Spellweaver, and there is a difference! Spellweaving is a lost art that many unicorns know little or nothing about! It's different, as it involves weaving smaller spells together to make bigger, stronger spells. It's a lost art as it's always been a difficult practice. In fact, from what i've heard, only the Princesses and a mare named Starlight Glimmer are the only other ponies in the world other than me to achieve such an art!"
She puffed her chest out in rebellious pride. Reed gave a small chuckle before replying, "Woah, woah! Hold back the poison, please! I didn't know, i swear! I'm not really that knowledgeable about magic myself. Geez. If I knew it was that big of a deal, i wouldn't of said anything, i swear!" He then did a mock skit of dying in agony from her angry gaze. She couldn't help but chuckle at his antics.
He then peeked at her with one eye open, "Do you forgive me yet?"
A small smile touched her lips, but before she could give a reply, shouting could be heard from behind them.
Rainbow Dash punch the other Wonderbolt in the face, knocking him to the ground. "NO! THEY ARE NOT DEAD YET!! WE STILL HAVEN'T FOUND THEM YET! THEY COULD STILL BE ALIVE!!"
The other wonderbolt got up, rubbed his cheek, and said one last thing to her before he spat a glob of blood at her feet and walked away.
Lilly decided to approach. As she did she could here Rainbow Dash muttering, "Stupid Thunderlane, I'll show you..." Reed quickly rolled to his hooves and followed her.
"Hey, are you okay?" Lilly asked cautiously.
Rainbow Dash turned angrily to face them, but paused when she seemed to recognize them. "Wait i know you...you're...you're...."
"Lilly, and this is Reed."
"Right, Lilly....What do you want?" Rainbow Dash asked, her temper dying down for now.
"What was that all about?" she asked, motioning to the stallion who was still walking away.
"Nothing. Just some stupid pony that thinks i should make graves for Twilight and the others. We haven't found their bodies yet! There is still a chance they could still be alive! I know my friends! I won't give up on them like that!"
"It's okay, we believe you," Reed said, offering a calming smile.
"I-I....you do?" Rainbow asked, a little surprised.
"Of course, it's like Luna said, anything is possible. If she survived, surely there should be others that have as well," Lilly replied.
Rainbow gave a relieved smile. "....Thanks."
"You'll see, we'll find your friends, surviving Earth Ponies, and heck, even Celestia! You'll see!" Reed said with a beaming smile, "Just gotta have a little faith."
Rainbow's smile grew a bit, "Thanks, i needed that."
"No problemo! I am sure whatever comes, LIlly and I will have your back, right Lilly?"
"W-What? Um, uh, I mean yes, of course!" Lilly replied, caught of guard by Reed's sudden proposal and giving her most awkwardest smile.
Rainbow Dash laughed, "You look like a goof. I like you, let's be friends."
Reed took her hoof and shook it, "Deal."
Lilly did the same, this time with a more confident smile, "Deal."
"Deal!" Rainbow cried with a return of her boisterous attitude. Only for it to then be cut down by the growling of her stomach.
"Have you eaten anything today?" Reed asked.
Rainbow frowned, "N-No...i forgot."
"Come on, let's go get you something to eat," he said as they started to take flight.
"Hey!" Lilly called out, "Don't leave me here! I don't have wings like you guys!"
Suddenly she felt herself be grabbed and lifted into the air, "You worry to much, don't worry, i got you." She turned her head up to see the grinning face of Rainbow Dash as they flew towards Cloudsdale. It didn't feel quite as scary this time...
