Chapter 1
The End
We never know when The End is near. It could be next year, or next week. It could even be tomorrow. It’s strange how so many of us never realize what we would do if The End ever came. What would The End even be like? In a world of ponies, no pony ever considers the possibility that there could even be an End, especially not our six little friends who are about to have their world turned up-side down.
First, there is Twilight. She is the head librarian in the palace, as well as the magic instructor. There is Applejack, who runs her family’s business, and Pinkie Pie who is happily running her quaint little bakery in Ponyville. Rarity owns the style in Canterlot. We also have Rainbow Dash, who started her own team of superb flyers to challenge the Wonderbolts, and finally, Fluttershy, who owns the biggest pet shop/nursery in all of Equestria. The ponies parted ways several years ago, and now only meet once every few weeks to share the gossip. Everything was quite peaceful, and had been for quite some time. Of course, that was all about to change.
“Oh no, where is it?” Twilight Sparkle was looking for a book for one of her students. “I really wish Spike were still here…”
The dandy little dragon finally tired of the assistant life and moved out to live the life of a real dragon. Twilight had been devastated, but Spike soon forgot everything as he grew from his rapid hoarding of everything he could find.
“Oh, there it is! On the floor, like usual.”
Twilight really had her hands full trying to run the library along with teaching a class full of unicorns. She had helpers, but naturally Twilight preferred to work alongside her associates. Although stressed, she was quite happy about everything. That was not going to last.
“C’mon now Apple Bloom, we have some apple buckin’ to do.” Applejack took over the farm when Granny Smith died and Big Macintosh moved away to start his own farm. Apple Bloom had earned her cutie mark too; it was a solitary green apple. Apple Bloom decided that her life should be spent helping Applejack on the farm. The two were determined to make the farm even bigger and have the most prosperous land in all of Equestria. That was never going to happen.
“Okie Dokie Lokie!” Pinkie Pie handed one of her finest cakes over to a small filly that was planning a surprise party for her brother. “And there is your Pinkie Party Pack right there!”
Pinkie’s signature parties had become so popular that Pinkie decided to start selling her specially chosen party sets to ponies who wanted a Pinkie party. If she didn’t Pinkie would never get to stop partying. The pink little pony enjoyed being wealthy too. She had dreams of making a candy city when she could buy enough candy. Soon, those dreams would no longer exist.
“Oh the glamor! The sophistication! And it is all MINE!” Rarity barely had time for her personal life since she was so busy making dresses and ordering her servants to make dresses. She had a ten pony workshop and everypony who was anypony wanted Rarity’s outfits. Rarity also owned a small mining business that kept her stocks on gems quite full. Rarity’s own dress included some of the most expensive diamonds ever known to ponies. None of it would matter pretty soon.
“The Wonderbolts are in the lead, now the Rainbolts, Wonderbolts, Rainbolts, Wonderbolts! Wait, Rainbow Dash is at the start line! She is about to join the race! And she’s off! The Wonderbolts are taking the lead. They actually seem faster now that Rainbow Dash has joined. That’s a Sonic Rainboom! Uh oh, now the Wonderbolts definitely look scared. Let’s see if Rainbow Dash can pull off her signature move this time! She’s gaining speed, and gaining on the rest of the pack! And she did it! She’s at the finish line! Rainbow Dash, yet again, has completed a Supersonic Rainbow Jump! Who would have known that it is possible to go so fast that you could teleport! The Rainbolts have won!”
Rainbow Dash wasn’t even surprised. She had beaten the Wonderbolts so many times that they looked like a comedy act compared to her. She still let them keep their pride by not competing with them anywhere except in Cloudsdale.
“That was a good race!” Rainbow Dash told the Wonderbolts.
“Yeah!” The head Wonderbolt said, “Maybe if you give us a minute and twenty seconds head start, we could beat you!”
“Hah! In your dre-“ Rainbow Dash was cut off as a boom sounded out over the land. This was the loudest boom she had ever heard. It was at least ten times louder than a sonic rainboom.
“No, no, no, don’t be scared. It was just a big noise, that’s all!” Fluttershy had lost her fear of most things, except public speaking. However, a super loud noise had scared every single animal in the nursery. Fluttershy had been frightened by the noise, but it didn’t have nearly the effect on her as it was having on her animals.
“Why won’t you come out?” She wasn’t used to the animals not obeying her. She finally decided to move over to one of the animal homes that she could open up. It was a mouse house, but the top was designed to come off so that Fluttershy could tend to the older mice that lived there. When she opened up the roof, she let out a huge gasp and immediately started crying. All of the mice in there were dead.
“Oh no, oh no, oh no, no, no, no.” Fluttershy felt that she knew why none of the other animals were coming out either. She did the only thing she could do: run. She took off and immediately went for Pinkie’s bakery. When she arrived, Pinkie Pie was bawling.
“Oh no, what’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked.
“My cake tastes HORRIBLE!” Pinkie Pie couldn’t bear the thought that one of her own deserts could taste less than great, but she was horrified that one of her deserts actually tasted bad.
“Well, um, it’s not that bad, I mean, um…” Fluttershy started crying too.
“What?” Pinkie Pie stopped crying all at once. “Why are you sad? It’s just a cake”
Fluttershy took a step back. “I’m not sad because of the cake, I’m sad because… because… all my animals are dead!” Fluttershy let out that last phrase with a huge sob.
“Well this sounds serious! Hey, I know! We should go see Applejack!” Pinkie was being optimistic almost to the point of stupidity, as usual. Fluttershy was too distraught to say much, so she just nodded. The two of them were soon off to find Applejack. It was only a few minutes before they were at the gate to the orange pony’s farm.
“What are yall doin’ here? It ain’t time for our next get together is it?” Applejack asked.
“Nope!” Pinkie said, “We just wanted to visit because Fluttershy had an accident in the nursery and I had an accident in the kitchen.”
Fluttershy was still teary, and Applejack finally noticed.
“An accident in the nursery? What happened?” Fluttershy looked up at Applejack with pained eyes.
“All my animals are… dead.” Applejack’s mouth dropped.
“Dead? Why, that’s just how my apples are. Deader than a door nail. They all just rotted up after some big bang.”
Fluttershy nodded. “That’s what happened to me too. The noise, and then the hiding, and then… and then…” Fluttershy couldn’t contain it anymore, and she burst with tears for the second time that day. Applejack walked up beside the hurting pony, and just nudged her.
“Come on” she said, “I think it is time for our next get together. Let’s get up to Canterlot. We’ll fetch Rarity and then Twilight can get us all to Cloudsdale in a jiffy.”
The three of them all boarded the train to Canterlot and soon found themselves in the fabulous city. Signs everywhere pointed to the different shops, and Rarity’s clothing store was at the top of every one. It didn’t take long for them to find their friend tidying up her store.
“Hey Rarity!” Applejack called out. Rarity turned around, and everypony flinched. The pony had a gruesome look on her face.
“What do you want? Can’t you see I am in the middle of a melt down?” Rarity was obviously upset. An “uhh” was that came out of Applejack. Rarity fumed.
“A pony came into my store and had the nerve to say that my clothes were out of style! Can you believe that? My clothes out of style?”
Pinkie Pie hopped over to one of the manikins and inspected the strange assortment of cloth on it. “Well duh! This looks ridiculous!” Pinkie started laughing. Rarity looked like she was ready to kick her in the face.
“Uh, look here, Rarity” Applejack started. Rarity turned her evil gaze to Applejack. “We were all headin’ off to see Twilight an-“
“NO!” Rarity cut Applejack off. “I don’t care! My business is ruined and you come here to mock me! Leave at once!” The three ponies rushed out of the store.
“Well, that went well.” Fluttershy sighed.
“Aw, don’t worry about her. Pfft, when has she ever cared about something other than her outfits?” Applejack reassured Fluttershy.
They continued on to the palace, where the guards gracefully let them in. They hurried to the library where they found Twilight Sparkle in a panic. She was running around, glancing at books, and mumbling all kinds of non-sense.
“Oh good, you’re here.” Twilight said as she noticed her friends.
“What’s going on?” Applejack asked.
“It’s just terrible. Where’s Rarity and Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked.
“Rarity was being a meany hot head, and we need you to get Rainbow” Pinkie said.
“Oh, right” Twilight remembered that Rainbow was all the way in Cloudsdale. The unicorn’s horn started glowing and, after a grunt of effort, a sleeping Rainbow Dash appeared in the room. Rainbow let out a shriek as she fell onto the floor. “Hey!” she exclaimed, “what’s the big idea? I was in the middle of my nap!” Twilight’s horn continued glowing, and soon Rarity popped into the room as well. Rarity let out an angry scream at Twilight.
“I don’t want to be around anyone right now! Leave me alone!” Rarity cast her own teleportation spell and was gone in a flash.
Rainbow Dash seemed confused. “Will somepony please tell me why I am here, and what is wrong with Rarity?” Twilight just shook her head.
“We all have a major problem.” She started, “I was looking through some of the old archives when I found this book.” Twilight showed them a massive book. When she opened it up, it revealed a numbered chart with symbols every here and there. The pages started flipping towards the end of the book. After far too many pages had flipped even for a book of this size, the flipping finally stopped. “Look” Twilight pointed, “at that square right there.” The other four ponies looked, and suddenly Applejack gasped.
“It’s a calendar! And that’s the day we defeated Discord!”
Twilight nodded. She flipped the page. “Now, look there.” She said as she pointed to another square. It was Rainbow Dash’s turn to gasp.
“That’s the day I did my first Supersonic Rainbow Jump!” she exclaimed. Again, Twilight nodded. A few more pages turned, and Twilight pointed at yet another square. This square was the last square on that particular page. “That’s a few days from now” Pinkie said.
“Right” Twilight agreed, “But this is what is bothering me.”
Twilight turned to the next page, and the other four ponies all gasped.
“It’s blank…” Fluttershy said.
“I know, and right here, I found a note.” Twilight said as she showed them a piece of paper.
“Survival is the key” Rainbow read aloud.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Applejack said.
“I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s good.” Twilight replied.
“Have you talked to Princess Celestia about it?” Rainbow asked.
“I have,” Twilight replied, “but she was just as confused as I am now. It would seem that this book was never recorded as being in this library, so even my finding it is a mystery.”
Applejack studied the book. “I wonder if this has anything to do with my crop dying, and Fluttershy’s…” Applejack trailed off as she noticed Fluttershy getting teary again.
“Anyways,” she continued, “we need to get to the bottom of this.”
“What about that loud boom I heard back in Cloudsdale?” Rainbow asked, “Does that have anything to do with it?”
“You heard that too?” Applejack was surprised that a single noise could be heard by two ponies that had been so far away.
“So it wasn’t just in Cloudsdale, huh” Rainbow said.
“It was right after the boom that all my…” Fluttershy broke down in tears and couldn’t finish her sentence.
The five of them just stood there thinking for a moment, but they were all startled as Rarity appeared between all of them. “I forgot how to sew!” she screamed. She teleported over to a book shelf, grabbed a book, and then teleported out again. All the ponies in the library just stared at the spot Rarity had been, confused as to why she was so frantic. It was right then that Princess Celestia walked into the library.
“Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student, I need you!” The princess had just spotted Twilight and her friends. “Oh good, bring your friends along.” The five ponies bowed quickly, and then followed the Princess out of the library.
“Where is the spirit of generosity?” Princess Celestia asked.
“She’s busy with personal problems” Twilight responded. They all remained silent until they reached a room in the castle that none of them, except the Princess, had been to before. It was a large room with a pool of water in the center, and a mirror facing away from them beside the water.
“This is one of this castles many secrets.” Celestia spoke. “It is called the windows of personality. The water shows how true you are, in spirit and in heart. If it is blurred, then you are not as you should be. If it is clear, then you are exactly as you should be. The mirror shows you what you want the most. When Discord ruled, he would often use this room to his advantage. I have stayed away from it until now, but I feel that it may reveal something important to one of us if we try to use it.”
The five little ponies all stared in wonder at this magical room. “Twilight” the Princess addressed, “I want you to go first.”
Twilight nodded, and then stepped in front of the pool. She looked down into the pool, and saw a slightly hazy reflection of herself. “It’s a little fuzzy…” she said. The Princess listened intently. Twilight turned her attention to the mirror. “I see… a cave. There’s a dragon in it, I think it’s Spike! Oh Spike, he’s all big and scary now!”
The Princess dropped her head a little. “Maybe I should try” she said. Twilight moved from in front of the pool and let the Princess take her place. The Princess looked into the pool.
“Clear” she stated, before looking into the mirror. “Oh, I see all of Equestria! And everypony is happy! That doesn’t help much though” The Princess seemed a little sad, and then stepped out of the way. “Who wants to go next?” she asked.
“I do!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she eagerly ran up to stand in front of the pool. She looked down, and saw that her reflection was really blurry. “Hey! I can barely even tell that it’s my own reflection!” she announced. She looked into the mirror, and let out a squeak of delight.
“What is it?” Twilight asked.
“It’s my team, the Rainbolts! And we’ve just won a trophy for being the best flight team in the whole world!”
Celestia looked a little troubled as Rainbow Dash moved so that Fluttershy could look into the windows.
“I am clear,” she looked into the mirror, “and I see…” Fluttershy eyes grew wide, and cried harder than she had any time before.
“It’s ok sugarcube. We understand.” Applejack nudged Fluttershy over to where the others were standing, and took her place before the pool. “I am also clear, and I see my farm. Wow, it’s huge! And looky there! I have my own bank” Applejack chuckled at what she saw. Pinkie Pie plowed Applejack over to look in the mirror. She never even bothered looking into the pool, as she was so ecstatic about the candy city she was looking at.
“That’s what I want, oh yes that is definitely what I want!”
The Princess simply shook her head in disappointment. All of the ponies felt a little down that they couldn’t learn anything, but then another loud boom shook the entire room. This time, the boom was even louder than before.
At the same time, everypony noticed a change in the room, almost as if everything had become a shade or two darker. Immediately afterwards, rocks started falling from the roof.
“Everypony out!” Celestia yelled.
The six of them all dashed for the entrance to the room. One by one they made it out, and turned to encourage those who were still in there. Apple Bloom was last, but just as she was about to step through the door, a huge boulder landed on top of her.
“Applejack!” They all screamed, but as the rocks stopped falling, all remained silent. “Applejack!” Twilight screamed again. Both she and Princess Celestia used their magic to lift the rock, but all they found under it was a bent, broken piece of metal with an apple shaped gem in the middle.
“The Element of Honesty” the Princess gasped, “but where is Applejack?”
They all stared at where Applejack should be, and the realization that she was gone started to settle in. They left that spot soaked with mournful tears after several long minutes of remembering.
Princess Celestia stayed in the castle while the remaining four ponies went to look around Canterlot. Everypony had vanished, and all of the buildings appeared old and rotted. They made their way to Rarity’s shop, only to find it occupied by a single lone manikin with the Element of Generosity mounted upon its neck. “Oh, not Rarity too” The four ponies shared a moment of weeping yet again.
“I don’t understand any of this” Fluttershy said. “What is happening, and why?”
Rainbow Dash huddled up with Fluttershy as the last few tears streamed down their faces. The four ponies finally moved on back to Ponyville. It was easy, as Twilight only had to teleport them, but she was already exhausted from all of the grief, and so the spell took a lot of her energy. Night had fallen, and the lot of them slept in Pinkie Pie’s house.
The morning was not welcomed at all. Just like Canterlot, Ponyville had been abandoned, and only rotten food and crumbling buildings remained. Princess Celestia had visited in the night and informed them that she would be leaving for a while to try and find the cause for this problem. She instructed the ponies to make do with whatever they could, and to do whatever it took to find their missing companions.
“I don’t even know where to start.” Twilight said. The grief from the previous day still lingered over the ponies, and although they all knew something had to be done, they didn’t really know what could be done. Even Pinkie Pie’s normally hyper mood had vanished and been replaced by the ache of loss.
“How are we supposed to get Applejack and Rarity back?” Rainbow asked no pony in particular.
“The note said to survive,” Twilight said, “but I guess we have already failed at that.”
The four ponies walked around Ponyville for a while, all searching for some clue as to what they could do. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy began searching by air after all the buildings had been searched, while Pinkie Pie and Twilight began looking for food. Rainbow and Fluttershy were both unsuccessful in finding anything, and so they joined up with Pinkie and Twilight in Pinkie’s bakery for some hay that Twilight had found. It wasn’t nearly enough for any of them, but it was all they had.
“I think we should try the Everfree forest. Zecora might still be there, and even if she isn’t, we might be able to find some food.” Twilight said. The other three agreed, and they all started along the path to the Zebra’s house. Dusk had already fallen by time they reached Zecora’s house. They knocked on the door, but Zecora obviously wasn’t inside.
“Considering what all is happening, I don’t think anypony would mind if we broke in.” Rainbow Dash said.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea” Fluttershy whispered.
“I don’t think we have much choice.” Twilight added.
Rainbow Dash smiled for the first time that day, and couldn’t help uttering a little cheer as she smashed down the door to the Zebra’s place. The inside was just as the four of them had remembered. The big masks were everywhere, as were all of the potions and plants. The only thing different was the huge excess of dust everywhere. Pinkie Pie immediately took to rummaging through everything, and her nosiness was rewarded when she pulled a huge basket of hay.
“Alright Pinkie Pie!” Rainbow cheered. The ponies all ate up as much as they could before settling down on a rug.
“I bet we could find some useful potions if we looked around.” Twilight suggested. They all started examining the vials, flasks, and various assortments of bottles for anything that they could use. After several minutes, they had pulled together several cures to a number of ailments, as well as a book of recipes that Twilight could use to make even more potions. Once they had it all packed away in their bags, they decided to stay there for the night.
The next morning brought a severe chill. Nightmares had kept the ponies from getting much sleep, but they were all a lot happier to be traveling in the daylight.
Pinkie was the first to speak. “I wonder if Princess Celestia has found out anything?” she said.
“I hope so” was all Twilight could say back. The two Pegasus ponies just nodded. They started walking along the road.
The ponies took their time to take in the new sights of the forest in the light. It all seemed so much scarier now that most of the plants had shriveled and died. The smell of death and decay was so strong in some places that it caused the ponies to gag. They kept on walking until they reached the edge of the forest near Fluttershy's house.
"That was a lot worse than I remembered" Fluttershy said. The other two ponies nodded. It was then they noticed something was wrong. There was only three of them now.
"Where's Pinkie Pie?" Rainbow said in alarm. They all looked around nervously, hoping that the pink little pony would show up. Rainbow trotted over to the edge of the forest, "I am going after her." she said. She took off down the path they had used, dodging trees and rocks as fast as she could. It wasn't long at all before she spotted what she had feared she would find: the Element of Laughter laying in the dirt. She picked it up, sadness filling her heart, and took it back to the other ponies. None of them shed a tear, but instead were filled with a rock-hard determination to end this series of catastrophes.
"Whatever is going on, we have to stop it." Twilight said.
"But how?" Fluttershy whispered.
"First, we need to find Princess Celestia," Twilight replied, "and I know exactly how to find her."
Twilight felt a surge of power flow through her, much like when she was taking her test to get into magic school. Her horn started glowing, as did her eyes, as she used her anger-fueled powers to hunt down her former mentor. She searched everywhere, with no luck, until she came upon the palace. There she saw it, the spark of a presence that was her mentor's signature.
"There you are" Twilight mumbled. Her horn grew even brighter as a sphere of light encased her and her two companions. When the sphere broke only a moment later, they were all standing in front of Princess Celestia's throne. They all gasped with horror at what they saw. The Princess was frozen in a block of ice, and a look of pure fear was upon her face.
"I don't think so!" Twilight screamed through clenched teeth. Her horn glowed yet again, and a beam of light erupted from her head and pounded on the ice. It was to no avail, for when the attack ceased, the ice was just as before.
"I- I don't understand." Twilight bowed her head in defeat. "Why is this happening?" she asked herself. Her powerful feelings were quickly being replaced by fear and dread.
Rainbow came up beside the distraught unicorn and laid her wing across the pony's shoulder.
"Maybe Cloudsdale is doing better than here?" Fluttershy said as she joined the other two ponies. Twilight nodded, and her horn began to glow. Only moments later, she sprouted a pair of perfect Pegasi wings, and only a moment after that, they were hovering over a swath of sickly clouds.
"Wha- what happened?" The scene that had been laid out before Rainbow Dash was miserable. Cloudsdale was not like the ground, but in fact, it was way worse. The three ponies slowly flew down to one of the bigger clouds and started looking around. Many of the structures were fading, and the ghastly grey clouds that made up the ground seemed to be slowly evaporating.
"I can't believe how wrong I was..." Fluttershy whimpered. Even though she had never truly enjoyed the Pegasi city, it was still quite painful to see her hometown in such a grisly state. Rainbow Dash seemed to be taking it harder than any of them, for she was gasping as though she were being crushed. Crushed was exactly how she was feeling too. So many memories lingered here. All of her major firsts took place in this wonderland, and now it was barely even a wasteland.
Now it was Rainbow Dash's turn to ask "Why is this happening?" The other two ponies just gazed at the scene, feeling a gap being torn in their hearts.
"It all seems so pointless." Twilight started. "All of our adventures, us growing up, all of it. What was the purpose of defeating Discord, or rescuing Luna from her transformation into Night Mare Moon? What was the purpose of anything, if it was all just going to end up like this?"
For the first time since this terrible event had started, the three ponies started to feel totally lost. Suddenly, Fluttershy had an idea. "What if we collected all of the Elements of Harmony and brought them together? Maybe if we try to use them, something will change?"
Both Rainbow's and Twilight's eyes popped wide open. They hadn't considered that, and it was crazy enough that it just might work.
"Hold on everypony!" Twilight said. Her horn glowed as she prepared her teleportation spell. In a flash, they were all back in front of the cave room where they had lost Applejack. Fluttershy quickly snatched up the Element of Honesty, and was back by Twilight and ready to teleport again. In only a few short seconds, the three of them had visited Rarity's shop and the Everfree forest, where they collected the Elements of Generosity and Laughter. In one last flash, they were all standing before the frozen princess. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy arranged the three elements into a circle, and then stepped in themselves. Twilight let her inner spark ignite, and instantly her Element of Magic along with the Elements of Loyalty and Kindness appeared with their owners. The familiar sizzle of energy looped around them as they were all lifted into the air. All of the Elements glowed like fire, but then exploded furiously, sending the three ponies and the three unworn Elements flying off in different directions. Twilight stood up and examined her charred mane and pelt.
"What went wrong?" Rainbow called after composing herself from crashing into the block of ice that held Princess Celestia.
"Probably the fact that we are missing half of our group!" Twilight responded in a rage. She threw her head back and screamed with the fury of a lion. "Why won't anything work?" she yelled.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took a cautious step towards their friend, who had now collapsed onto the floor. Her sobs were heavy, but the tension radiating from her was even heavier. The two Pegasi ponies made their way over to the little purple unicorn and embraced her with their wings. They both laid down on opposite sides of her and nuzzled into her cheeks. There they all allowed a sleep full of pain and agony to overcome them.
Shivers had overcome the three little ponies when they aroused in the morning. It had grown so cold, that a thin layer of frost had covered most of everything. The icy prison that held Princess Celestia had grown to encase not just the Princess, but a large portion of the space around her. Without even thinking, Twilight teleported the three of them into the palace library, where she began stacking many of the less important books into a pile in the middle of the room. She also placed the calendar book on a podium.
"What are you doing?" Fluttershy asked. Her voice was drained and pathetic.
"I am making a fire." Twilight replied. Her voice had dwindled as well.
"With your books?" Rainbow Dash uttered in surprise. "I thought you loved reading?"
Twilight shook her head. "I do love reading, but it doesn't matter any more." she said. "All that matters is staying alive, and I will burn every book in Equestria if it means keeping all of us alive."
Rainbow Dash smiled weakly at her friend, and then started helping her stack books nearby the pile for easy access. Fluttershy went over to look at the calendar book. Her quick intake of breath alerted the other two that something was amiss.
"What is it, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. Fluttershy just pointed. Both Rainbow and Twilight felt their hearts drop as they looked at the little boxes. The last day was tomorrow.
"I don't even want to know what's going to happen tomorrow" Twilight muttered. The other two turned away to continue re-stacking books. Twilight joined them after one last glance at the calendar. Once they were done, they decided to go and look for some food before they started burning. Twilight teleported them all into the middle of Canterlot. They began walking around to each store looking for anything edible. The main stores were all empty, and so the ponies began searching the backstreets. They found many little stores that none of them had ever heard of. Most of them were empty as well. They continued on down one particularly small road when something caught Fluttershy's eye. The little yellow pony froze.
"Wait!" she whispered to her friends. "I see something!" Twilight and Rainbow both followed Fluttershy's gaze to where a small creature was huddled at the end of the alley. "It's ok, little guy" Fluttershy said as she took a tentative step forward. The little creature instantly disappeared. Twilight was about to say sorry for the bad luck, but Fluttershy quickly shushed the unicorn. A few moments later, the creature returned. It was a little closer this time. Fluttershy kept her soft gaze on it. It slowly started approaching, but it stuck to the shadows and so no pony could tell what it was. It stopped again about twenty yards away. All three ponies were staring at it. Fluttershy eventually asked her two friends to turn away, hoping that less attention would ease the creatures nerves. They both turned just in time to see a hideous dog-like creature leap at Fluttershy from behind. At the same instant, the first creature revealed itself to be another one of the dog-like animals. Both of them attacked Fluttershy viciously. Twilight used her magic to trap and levitate the monster that had attacked first, but the other one that had originally distracted them managed to fasten its jaws on one of Fluttershy's wings. Rainbow Dash hurried and tried to pry its jaws open, but to no avail. The creature then started chewing, and Fluttershy let out a blood curdling scream. Rainbow Dash waited until the monster's jaws were relaxed, and then she pulled with all her might. The dog-thing came off, but a sickening tearing sound told that it had taken something with it. Fluttershy's screaming stopped as she fell into shock. Her horrified gaze was fixed on where her left wing used to be.
Twilight, in a furious rage, levitated both of the little monsters into the air. Slowly, their heads started tilting backwards. The creatures flailed madly as their heads continued tilting to an unnatural angle. Twilight screwed her eyes shut as a loud crack came from the necks of the two creatures, and they both went limp. Twilight dropped both of them into the alley and then ran over to where Fluttershy had collapsed. A blood pool was forming around her. Rainbow Dash was stroking Fluttershy's soft pink mane and whispering words of encouragement into the little pegasi's ear.
"It's ok, Fluttershy. You're ok, stay with me!" Rainbow was shaking as she tried to suppress her tears. Twilight teleported them all back to the palace library, and then located Zecora's house and teleported the stash of potions they had made back to the palace as well. Twilight continued to work her magic by setting the pile of books ablaze and searching through the potions. She also used her magic to perform one of her most advanced spells: medical conjuration. The effort left the purple unicorn exhausted, but it was only a matter of moments before she was applying bandages to the injured pony and forcing her to drink a numbing potion. Fluttershy was deep in shock now. Her eyes were wide, her pupils tiny. Her breath was short and rapid, and her blood was still flowing freely.
Rainbow just huddled up with her life-long friend in an attempt to keep her warm. She continued whispering into Fluttershy's ear, but Twilight couldn't make out what she was saying through her muffled cries. Rainbow eventually just gave up and buried her head into Fluttershy's mane. Her weeping echoed throughout the entire library. Twilight fastened some more bandages over the nub of Fluttershy's wing, and then brought out a soft carpet for them all to lay on. It was only just getting dark, but the three ponies were soon asleep after such a hard day.
Twilight woke up the next morning to a howling noise. She got up and walked over to one of the library windows. The howling, as she saw, was coming from dozens of the little dog creatures that were now all over Canterlot. She could also see that many of them were not so little, but that some were as big, if not bigger, than a fully grown pony. She almost didn't notice that it was snowing. She looked around the library and saw that ice had formed everywhere except where she had kept the fire burning. She turned her gaze back out the window, but was startled as a loud scream came from behind her. Twilight quickly ran back to where she had slept at and found Rainbow Dash crying louder than she had ever heard a pony cry. In front of her was the Element of Kindness, laying in a mass of dried blood. Tears came to Twilight's eyes, and a sick feeling swept over her.
"Rainbow" she said. Twilight was surprised that her voice was barely even a whisper. Rainbow Dash hadn't heard her. "Rainbow!" she called out as loud as she could, but still her voice was barely a whisper. Rainbow Dash heard her this time though, as she looked up with a tear soaked face.
"What?" Rainbow whispered back. She had a very angry tone in her voice, but Twilight couldn't blame her. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had been like sisters ever since they were born. It was only natural that Rainbow would be taking this loss so hard.
"We need to find food before we starve" Twilight said. Her voice was a tiny bit stronger now, but just barely. Rainbow Dash turned away. She wasn't willing to go anywhere any more.
"Rainbow, I'm sorry about Fluttershy, but we have to eat something before we end up just like her." Twilight tried to reason with the cyan pony. Rainbow shot an angry glance at Twilight, but then her eyes softened as she realized that Twilight was right.
"Ok" Rainbow Dash whispered. The two of them made their way towards the library door. Twilight conjured up a flame to light the way and keep them warm. Every other light source, Rainbow noticed, had gone out. Even the sun was being blocked by dark snow clouds. As they moved through the palace, they could hear the occasional scratching and huffing, telling that the dog monsters were in the palace as well. It wasn't long before they came to the throne room. Princess Celestia wasn't even visible in her icy prison, which had almost doubled in size since the two ponies had last seen it.
"Is this really how it's all going to end?" Rainbow muttered. Twilight stopped and wheeled around to face her friend.
"It is NOT going to end!" she said with such forceful defiance that Rainbow fell onto her rump. Twilight pressed her hoof into her forehead and sighed. "I'm sorry, but I refuse to just give up."
Rainbow Dash stood back up and just kept on walking. She knew Twilight was right, but she couldn't help but feel that giving up was the only thing left to do. The two of them kept going until they were almost into Canterlot. The dog things were everywhere. They stared at the two ponies with hungry eyes, but they seemed hesitant to get too close to Twilight's fire. The dim light ensured that only the most open places could be seen, and so Twilight and Rainbow did their best to avoid enclosed spaces. Eventually the two of just in case there were any more of those dog things around when she did.
"Hey Twilight, can I ask you something?" Rainbow questioned. Twilight was caught a little off guard. 'What could she possibly want to ask?' she thought.
"Sure" She said, after only a moment's hesitation.
Rainbow Dash seemed nervous. After a deep breath, she spoke. "Have you ever been in love?"
Twilight eyed her friend suspiciously. "No..." she replied. "Why do you ask?"
Rainbow had a pained expression. "Because I am" she said.
Twilight's eyes went wide. She never would have guessed that Rainbow had a love interest. "With who?" Twilight asked.
"Soarin" Rainbow replied. She let out a huge sigh, as if a weight had just been lifted off of her chest. "I never told anyone," she continued, "but ever since I bumped into him at the Gala, I have been madly in love with him." Rainbow looked at Twilight with a gaze that said 'Please be ok with this!' Twilight just gave her a confused look, and Rainbow Dash instantly felt nervous again. "I just wanted to tell you, you know, in case we..."
Twilight's gaze hardened. "Don't you dare say what I think you are about to say." Twilight said through gritted teeth.
Rainbow gave her an apologetic look. "It's just in case. I wanted somepony to know."
Twilight and Rainbow continued on without another word. They passed a few side roads, but it was on one particular one that Rainbow suddenly halted.
"Twilight! There is a wheat farm down this road! It's where the Mr. and Mrs. Cake got their flour from!"
A smile spread across Twilight's face, but it was turned upside down when a huge growl erupted from her stomach. "Heh, guess we should go check it out" she said.
The two of them went down the road. Twilight Sparkle had noticed that a mass of the dog creatures had been following them, but they all scrambled to hide every time either her or Rainbow glanced back at them. It wasn't long before they reached the wheat farm. Twilight had to decrease the size of her flame in order to fit it through the little factory door. As soon as it was through, the mass of dog monsters all rushed at them. Twilight and Rainbow quickly stepped into the little building and shut the door behind them. Thankfully, the building seemed to be free of any of creatures. A quick glance around showed that flour was very abundant.
"Aw yeah!" Rainbow cheered as she ran up and grabbed one of the sacks. It opened up to reveal the fine white powder inside. Twilight went and searched through a small kitchen off to the side. She found a bit of sugar and plenty of cooking utensils.
"Do we have any water?" Rainbow called from the main room.
"No," Twilight called back, "but I know how to get some!"
Being the magic instructor at the palace had proved extremely useful to Twilight. She knew spells for everything, and already she had used many that she had never thought she would need. One of the ones she had actually laughed at was conjuring water. "Why would I ever need to do that?" she had asked the Princess. "I guess this is why" she chuckled at the irony.
Twilight took up a large baking sheet, a bowl, and the little bit of sugar she had found, and set them out. Rainbow Dash brought in the flour, and poured some into the bowl. Twilight used her water spell, and water poured out of her horn and into the bowl.
"Huh, that pretty cool" Rainbow complimented Twilight on her water spell.
"Thanks" Twilight said. She began kneading the dough in the bowl until it was uniform, and then broke it up into small balls, which she placed onto the baking sheet. She then used a small knife to cut slits in the bread, where she sprinkled some of the sugar. After that, she placed the whole thing in the oven and used her flame that she had been supporting to light the furnace.
Twilight and Rainbow decided to see what else they could find in the factory. The scratching and howling from the creatures outside had grown pretty loud. Twilight knew she would have to be pretty crafty to get out of there. They spent about twenty minutes exploring, but to no avail. The entire place was empty except for flour and piles of dead wheat. They went back to the kitchen to find their bread rolls were perfectly done.
"Mmnomhmn" was all Rainbow could say as she wolfed through her share of the rolls. They truly weren't that good, but that didn't matter to a hungry pony. Twilight felt exactly the same, and soon both of them were quite content with their full bellies.
They only had a few moments of happiness before a loud boom shook the ground. It was the same sound that had started this mess. As the sound echoed, Twilight and Rainbow heard what sounded like a house collapsing. The sudden increase in volume from the dog monsters told the two ponies that their sanctuary had been breached.
"We have to get out of here!" Rainbow shouted in a panic. Her shout was pretty pathetic as their voices were still low and scratchy, but Twilight heard the fear in that voice. Quick as she could, Twilight cast her Pegasus-wing spell and took flight beside her friend. Together, they made for the door, but they were too late. The dog things were everywhere. Up, down, and to every side, the creatures were crawling. The two ponies were surrounded.
"We will have to make a run for it." Rainbow whispered. Twilight was holding on to her magic flame as best as she could, but her panic was causing it to go out. She knew it was the only thing keeping the creatures at bay, but no matter where they went, they would have to bash their way through a wall of these monsters. Twilight couldn't teleport either, becasue if she did, she may end up teleporting them into even more danger. Rainbow Dash decided to take the initiative.
"I will crash though them, you follow right behind me. Got it?"