One week after the Starfall
The crowd gathered before the podium, waiting for the Princess to speak. “We have assembled here today, to honor and thank those young Ponies who risked their Life for the Fate of Ponyville and Equestria” Celestia started to speak in her royal voice, looking more serious than ever before; Not only serious but sad at the same time. The monotony of the grey clouds reflected on the city. “Those, who went together through everything; those who faced every enemy with courage in their hearts, never giving up on each other and even sacrificed themselves because they cared and wanted to protect US.”
Silently, rain began to fall, tapping on windows. Raindrops fell on Celestia’s face and mingled with her tears, hiding them from the eyes of the audience.
“They never surrendered. They held off those mysterious creatures. Their friendship was this one thing that kept them strong. It was this one thing that made the sun shine in even the most rainiest and cloudiest of days.”
Celestia paused. She glanced at her grieving pony folk. Most of them had their heads lowered. Little fillies were holding a rose in their maws, carefully putting them on a small table with a little framed picture on it. When the fillies left, only Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were at the table, staring at these lifeless pictures. Apple Blooms ribbon was drenched by the rain and the bright, red color of it seemed to be washed away, drop by drop.
“I miss her…” Sweetie Belle silently admitted.
They were joined by several other Ponies.
“We all do, Sweetie. We all do” said Rarity and gently stroke her mane.
2 Hours before the Starfall
“Come on, Spike! Today we will be able to see the comet "Celestia’s Sparkle" on the Sapphire Hill! You know, the one that I found first! And I don’t want to miss it for the world!” said Twilight eagerly while opening up an old, brown chest with her magic. The chest was full of telescopes, tripods and other tools for telescopes like 42-different kinds of lenses. Just barely a second later, these things were flying all around Twilight and sorted single parts out by simply throwing them back in the chest, or more at it.
“What’s with this name “Celestia’s Sparkle”? Spike commented, picking up some things from beside the chest and dodging more incoming stuff. “It’s not like you already are Celestia’s personal and favorite Student… Besides, you should rather have called that comet the “Spike-tastic-toid” or “Rarity’s Spike”! This way, you would have also helped me to earn some bonus points for Rarity! I bet she would be head-over-hooves in love with me in an instant!” Spike fantasized and got hit by a metallic tripod in the face. The tripod bounced off of it, flipped several times and landed fold up in the chest. Spike on the other hand, fell to the floor, dizzy. When he got back up to his little, scaly feet, he rubbed his nose and narrowed his eyes, still feeling the pain all over his face.
“Heeeeey… Pay some attention to little, poor dragons that are just trying to talk to you! What are you looking for anyway?” he asked, scratching his head. “I thought you were just searching for a telescope and a tripod to watch the stars and I am certain that you just threw more than just one at me!”
“I’m looking for a special telescope made of different kinds of gems.” She answered. “It was a present for my birthday from princess Celestia last year.”
She stopped rotating the telescopes and put everything back in the chest; also helping Spike cleaning up the mess she made.
“Silly me!” Twilight said smiling.
She walked to her bed and lifted up some pillows. A rainbow colored, sparkling telescope came to view and she carefully took it and placed it in her saddlebags; together with a fold up tripod made of pure gold.
“I always keep forgetting that this is my lucky charm when I’m asleep. It gave me the best of dreams ever since I put it under my pillows”.
“Sounds like getting hit in the face by a tripod to me…” Spike hissed. “Oh well, whatever… You should leave now! Otherwise you will be late and miss the comet.”
“Nah, I still need to pack so many things! I can’t leave just now!”
“Celestia will be very disappointed of you.”
“Bye Spike! See you tomorrow morning!”
Twilight ran off to the Sapphire Hill as fast as her legs allowed her to. When she arrived there, hundreds of ponies were already sitting on blankets, watching the sky. It was a cloudless night. The stars on the firmament were shining brightly and everypony was just waiting for the comet to appear.
“My faithful student Twilight Sparkle!” a very familiar voice said behind her. When she turned her head to the source, she saw Celestia, Rainbow Dash and the others already waiting for her on a not-so-crowded spot at the top of the little hill.
“Princess!” she responded, running towards them. Just in the moment she reached her friends and the princess, the sky was dyed in a bright cyan blue. Everypony gasped in amazement.
“It seems like you just made it in time. Quick! Let me help you with your little telescope!”
With help of the Princess magic, the single parts of the telescope were attached to each other quickly and in less than 10 seconds it stood ready to use in front of Twilight. Without hesitation, she directly looked through it and was astonished. She saw a big, blue, bright fireball cutting through the stratosphere, entering the atmosphere. The air started to smell like sulfur, the earth shook lightly and an almost not audible rumble could be heard in the far distance.
“It’s so beautiful and majestic!” Twilight said with anticipation. “It should become visible any second! Then it will go around the world and leave the atmosphere and back into space right at this place!”
And just barely a minute later, the giant, fiery boulder flew only hundreds of meters above their heads and disappeared on at the other side of the horizon.
“Wow… THAT WAS JUST AWESOME!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
“It was truly magnificent!” Rarity agreed.
“But why’s the big, blue, flying muffin gone?” a deep voice complained from somewhere above their heads. When Fluttershy looked up to check where the voice came from, she stared in the happy, derpish eyes of Derpy Hooves, who sat on Fluttershy’s back. Fluttershy was startled and squealed, immediately hiding behind Apple Jack while Derpy just fell to the ground, sitting.
“Haha. Nuthin’ to be afraid of, Sugar. It’s just… Derpy… being herself? Wait a sec… Talkin’ about bein’ herself. Where tha hay is Pinkie?” Apple Jack asked.
Fluttershy hesitantly got up when the 5 friends looked for Pinkie.
“Actually, she said that she had to use the-“
“I had to use the little fillies’ room!” Pinkie continued with her cheerful, high pitched voice from above Fluttershy’s back. Again, Fluttershy was startled and squealed, this time hiding behind Rainbow.
“But those Queues were annoying me, so I went to my house where I didn’t had to wait in a queue, since everybody was here on the hill to watch the comet. Have you guys seen that comet? It was so BIG and BLUE and-“
Rarity stuffed Pinkie’s mouth with an apple.
“My, my, my. Now, I accidentally slipped this apple into your mouth while you were speaking. I’m so sorry darling. So, where did we stop?” Rarity said, grinning mischievously.
“Look! MY flying muffin comes is there again” Derpy pointed at the same giant boulder at the horizon which flew across Ponyville some seconds ago. “And now, it comes back to ME!”
“What!?” Twilight was shocked. Her eye size was going back. “This can’t be. The meteor should have taken longer to get around the world and shouldn’t fly so low over the surface!”
The meteor moved rapidly towards the Sapphire hill. Rainbow, who still didn’t get the situation, asked
“And what is that supposed to mean?”
“RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!” Twilight screamed in panic.
Celestia used her Royal Canterlot voice
“Everypony, Run! The meteor is heading straight for the Sapphire hill!”
“What about you? When this giant boulder hits you, you are doomed!” Fluttershy said worried.
“Do not fear, little ones! I will make it. But you should get away from the hill now.” Celestia said calmly.
“You heard the princess! Now, let us get movin’ before we get crushed by that thing!” Rainbow Dash bawled, getting up in the air and sliding under Derpy, who still just looked into the strobing lights of “her muffin”. She soared down the hill with Derpy on her back. The rest followed her without any hesitation. Just Twilight held on for a second to look back, watching Celestia literally standing almost face to face with the enormous blue fireball and her whole body was shimmering in shades of white.
Everything then happened so quickly. First, an earth-shaking explosion followed by dazzling rays of light. Dust got whirled up and the shock wave that was triggered on the impact let Twilight roll down the rest of the hill. The ponies which were already back in town watched as the giant rock bounced off of the hill, hovering right above their heads and into the Everfree Forest, causing more earth-shakes and a luminous play of light at the horizon.
Twilight, who still felt a bit dizzy, got back to her hooves. Her first views were for the still unharmed Hill on which the princess stood seconds ago.
“Celestia!” they shouted in unison, running towards a giant wall of light, a kind of shield which was as big as almost the whole hill and slowly fading out. When they finally reached the peak of the small mountain, Celestia only stood amongst blue flames and medium sized rocks, panting heavily.
“P-princess…? Ya’ alright?” Apple Jack asked carefully.
She just stood there, not moving and only breathing faster. She, then, took one last deep breath and trembled before her exhausted and lifeless body just fell to the ground.
2 Hours after the Starfall
Celestia was immediately brought to the nearest hospital. She was lying in a sterile white bed. Her mane was the only thing which disrupted this monotony. Twilight and her friends were watching her through a window in a separated room.
“Doc’, do ya’ think she’ll make it?” Apple Jack wanted to know.
“I’m not sure.” The doctor responded. “She seems to be in a stable condition now and her condition improved rapidly since you brought her here. But something just does not want her to wake up. We even tried it with magic but still she’s lying in Coma!”
He turned his head to the door, a nurse was waving him out
“If you may excuse me for a minute, I’ll be right back.”
“So… Any ideas what we are going to do now?” Fluttershy said whispering.
“I got one!” Pinkie Pie said happily. “Maybe, she just needs a “Wakey-Wakey” Party! Oh, I know what we will do! We are going to do the best and first Wakey-Wakey-Party for Princess Celestia! We will party so hard and loud that she just HAS to wake up and when she does, we will all be there and celebrate even more! That will be so much fun!”
“That!” Rainbow Dash started. “Sounds like the most stupid idea we had so far… And we had just one, yet. Yours.”
The group sighed and let their heads down. Just Twilight kept her eyes on the unconscious Celestia; her thoughts revolving around the events of the past two hours. The doctor came through the door again.
“Girls, we have a serious problem!” the doctor said frantically.
“What’s the matter?” Rarity replied.
“Is it about Celestia?” Twilight continued.
“Indeed. The results of her tests are in and it seems that she lost all of her magic.”
Everypony just stared confused at the doc.
“Furthermore, we believe that the comatose state she’s in at the moment was not just triggered by the sudden loss of it. Alicorns possess great regeneration skills and should easily recover from such a grand use of magic. But to be honest with you, there’s nothing we can do for her at the moment. I’m sorry.” The doctor explained and left the room, leaving the little group speechless.
“So… no Wakey-Wakey Party?” Pinkie broke the silence.
“Can’t you think about anything but these moronic parties!?” Twilight turned to Pinkie and argued in anger, making a step forward to her. Tears gathered in her eyes.
For a moment, they just stared into each other’s eyes.
“I’m out of here!”
“Twi, wait! I didn’t mean to…”
Without any other word, she left, slamming the door behind her shut.
“I-I think we should go after her and see if she’s alright…” Fluttershy suggested after some seconds in quietness.
They nodded and ran after her. Just right outside the hospital, they found her. Her back was turned to the entrance and she seemed to look right through the dark of the alleys.
“Ah, there you are!” Apple Jack said, making a few steps to Twilight. “Hey, look, Ah think Pinks didn’t meant to hurt ya feelings or such…”
Twilight didn’t answer.
“Hey… Everything’s alright?” added Apple Jack, going closer to Twilight.
“STAND BACK!” Twilight yelled, making Apple Jack stop.
“Why? What’s all the fuzz about?”
Twilight stepped to Apple Jack’s side and pointed at the dark street in front of her.
“Don’t you feel that…? Something feels strange here… I sense… danger.”
Out of the dark, pairs of red eyes appeared.
“What… in… tarnation…” Apple Jack said, seemingly speechless.
The red eyes got closer, bringing their owner in the light and into the view of the Ponies. It was a beastly creature. It looked like a starved dog. Bones protruded out of his abdomen and his skull was visible at some parts. Its skin chipped off more and more the more steps it took and the scent of decay contaminated the air. A strange blue slime dripped from where its jaw used to be.
Fluttershy was scared. She had never seen such a monster and whimpered in fear. Rainbow, on the other hand, was prepared to fight.
“Apple Jack…” Twilight whispered, keeping her at eyes at the dog. She didn’t want to lose eye contact. “Take the others and try to warn the rest of the town…”
“But what’s going to happen with you?” she wanted to know. Her eyes were now looking at Twilight.
“Don’t worry about me. You know I am Celestias personal student! I think, I showed you many times that I am capable of defending myself.”
“Yeah… but-“
“NO BUTS!” Twilight shouted, readying her horn. “Listen, I am as scared as all of you probably are. But I am the only one that surely won’t get wounded or killed in a fight because of my magic! Try to warn everypony. I will be here, protecting the hospital”
“Alright… Ah hope ya know what’ cha doing!”
Apple Jack turned around.
“Everypony follow me. Twilight will hold ‘em off. We got to alarm the town or there won’t be any town left by mornin’!”
They immediately agreed, nodding in unity. Apple Jack ran ahead, the rest followed. Just Twilight was now standing face-to-face with this abomination. The creature made a step backwards before dashing with bared teeth at Twilight. She kept calm. Her horn started glowing in a bright purple.
“So… The little doggy wants food. Then it should get some food!”
She fired a laser beam at the monster.
“Here take this!”
The beam and dog met halfway, letting the creature fly backwards in the dark. Twilight war astonished. She didn’t thought she could beat this thing with just one Spell. But it wasn’t over, yet. More and more eyes popped up in the dark.
“Oh my…” she said to herself. She knew that if she won’t get any help soon, it was all over.
Apple Jack explained the situation while running through the city.
“Listen up, guys. We gotta defend the town. Any Suggestions on how to achieve that?”
“Maybe, we should wake everypony up.” Rarity said panting. “I am sure, if they are all awake, they are more than willing to help us.”
“And we should also inform Princess Luna in Canterlot! She is now the one who is in charge of everything and will definitely send us help!” Pinkie proposed, finally catching on the situation.
“What about the lights?” Rainbow Dash asked. “We can’t fight something we just barely see! It was just a lucky coincidence that there was light near us! And if it wasn’t for Twi, we all would have get killed by them!”
“Hmm… what about the pegasi in Cloudsdale? Maybe they can lend us help with the light.
“Kay, then it’s all settled.” Apple Jack said, making the group stop at a crossroad. “Rainbow, ya need to tell the Princess Luna what’s happenin’ here! Fluttershy, ya try to get help from Cloudsdale, maybe they can brighten up our day. Rarity and Pinkie, try to wake everypony! We need just anypony we can get! Ah have to go to the farm and check if everypony’s alright!”
“What!?” Rarity complained. “Darling, I know this is a serious situation and I don’t want to question your plan but you want moi to go together with Pinkie!?”
“Got any problems with that?” Apple Jack countered.
“Yes, I most certainly do. If such a nasty beast, dog, thing… whatever it is, attacks us, we both won’t be able to defend ourselves! We haven’t got the strength or the magical capabilities you or Twilight have, you know?”
“So, whadda ya suggest instead?”
“Big Macintosh is at the farm, right? And he is a big and strong stallion, isn’t he? The farm isn’t far and I can’t fight anyway, so send me to the farm! I will tell them what is going on in town. And, to be honest, we need somepony as strong as you here and not somewhere else.”
Apple Jack thought for a while.
“Maybe, yar right. Well, ok then. Ah go with Pinks. Now, move out! Take care of yourselfs!”
And in a matter of a second, they walked and flew in different directions.
When Rarity arrived at the farm, the smell of rotting flesh was already in the air again.
“This can’t be good…” she thought, nervously looking around. “I need to hurry!”
She tried to open up the locked door of the farmhouse. Suddenly, she heard a terrifying loud noise from around the corner of the house. It sounded like a screech followed by sounds of hammering on something. Nearly in an instant, she turned around, weak-kneed. She was terrified, her blood freezing in her veins. Silence. Then again, those knocking sounds. This time, they got closer; closer by every new knock. Paralyzed as she was, she looked at the corner. She waited for a monster dog to appear right in front of her and feast on her. Just when she thought her time had come to an end, she found a confused looking, bulky, red, Stallion with a hammer in his mouth in front of her.
“Eeeesup?” he asked wondering.
That was too much for the white unicorn and with a loud “THUB” she fell to the ground and passed out.
“RUN, PINKIE, RUN!” Apple Jack bawled in fear as 4 mutilated dogs chased her and Pinkie down the streets.
“I DO, I DO, I DO!” Pinkie shrieked back scared.
Lights started to get switched on in the houses. Puzzled ponies were looking out of windows, trying to figure out what was going on.
“Hey!” Pinkie started to realize. “We actually DO wake ponies up!”
“LISTEN UP, EVERYPONY! WE’RE UNDER ATTACK BY THOSE CREATURES BEHIND US! GET THA HAY OUT OF YOUR HOUSES AND FIGHT!” Apple Jack ordered. She thought, they would listen to her but the citizens began to freak out. They were frightened of these “dogs” and started throw things down the street, big wooden boxes, carpets and even a fridge.
“Pinkie! Watch out!”
A dog caught up to her. He leapt forward, closing the distance and just before his claws dug into Pinkie’s flank, his head got smashed into a brick wall by the hooves of a turquoise unicorn, letting his skull shatter in pieces.
“NOBODY’S GOING TO MESS WITH MY BONBON!” she yelled, after setting her hooves back to the ground. The limp corpse hit the ground, pieces of his skull and strange fluids steadily flowing down the wall.
The rest of the monsters stopped as they faced a group of numerous ponies, standing together like an insuperable wall. Apple Jack turned around and joined the group. Pinkie was still shocked, resting behind them.
The monsters growled. Blue slime dripped from their maws or what was left from it. Carefully, the remaining red-eyed dogs stepped back, disappearing into the dark.
Apple Jack skewed and looked down to a whimpering leftover of a pony
“Hey Pinks… Ya alright?”
Pinkie jumped up and hugged her tight, putting her hooves around AJ’s neck. Her hair had flattened and tears were running down her cheeks. She never was so scared. All the time she laughed in the face of danger, feeling the inner happiness and joyfulness, she never felt so unprotected and left alone like she did now.
Apple Jack haltingly hugged her back. She never saw her like this. It was like a stranger, somepony she met for the first time, was just hugging her
“Hey… Ah’m here. There’s no need of cryin’.” She sootheringly whispered into her ear, trying to give her a piece of composure. “As long as Ah’m there, nothin’ bad will ever happen to you, Ah promise.”
She gently stroke across Pinkie’s back. Pinkie’s sniffing became quieter and in the end it disappeared.
“For now, jus’ try to think of somethin’ else. Ah need to speak with the others.” She calmly said; looking in her blue eyes and caressing her flattened mane.
Pinkie hesitantly let go of Apple Jack, and so did she. One last time, she looked into Pinkie’s face and wiped away the last tear that rolled down her cheek, giving her a cheering smile before turning away from her.
“So, I wasn’t able to thank ya for yer help.”
“I would do anything to take revenge on those… abominations for what they did to my treasure!” the cyan unicorn replied. Her turquoise mane and white streaks were illuminated by the light of the houses. “By the way, the name’s Lyra.”
“Apple Jack, pleasure to meet ya. So, what did they do to “yer treasure”?” AJ wanted to know.
“To be honest with you, I don’t really know. I was just sitting on the couch in the living room and ate something while Bonbon was still sleeping like a stone. I just couldn’t find any rest because of the meteoroid and this terrible hunger. So, when I just sat there, I heard these awkward snarl sounds coming from the bedroom. I rushed to her and all of my worst fears came true. Three of those… things were already crowded around her and one of them poured blue goo from its maw into her mouth. I attacked and managed to kill 2 of them by kind of crushing their heads with my hooves. The third one escaped through a window. After a tiny rest, I focused on Bonbon and did everything to wake her up. I shaked her, talked to her and even screamed at her. But it was no use. She didn’t even respond in the slightest. I got her on my back and intended to carry her to the hospital when I met these guys.” She walked to the side to reveal her companions.
“These 2 are Vinyl Scratch and Octavia. I met them near the town hall coming from a party or club or something and when I told them what was going on, they gladly decided to come with me. We then found Derpy together with a stallion who calls himself Doctor Whooves at something that looked like a small, blue, public toilet. He said he was… traveling and didn’t know Derpy.”
“And where’s Bonbon?” Apple Jack wondered
“When we heard that somepony was coming this way, we hid her under a barrel” she explained, walking to a barrel with a “Fragile” seal on its front. “The seal was Derpy’s idea.”
She kicked away the barrel and revealed a sleeping, yellow pony with similar mane to Lyra’s. Just that the streaks on the sides were toned in a dark blue while the middle was colored pink. She heaved Bonbon onto her back.
“We better should get going.” Lyra said dry.
“What about tha citizens. They-“
“They can take care of themselves.” Lyra interrupted. “And besides, you already woke up so many. Soon the whole town will be up on its hooves, either fleeing from here or joining us to defend our town.”
She turned her back on Apple Jack and Pinkie, running through the lights of the buildings. The rest of the group shortly followed her, leaving the both earth ponies alone. AJ tilted her head to Pinkie who hadn’t taken her eyes off of her.
“We should follow ‘em.”
Pinkie just nodded in agreement, running off with Apple Jack.
Still a bit dazed, Rarity woke up. She opened up her eyes and found herself looking at the blurred faces of three young ponies.
“Is she alright?” one asked with a distorted voice.
“Hey. Ya alright?” the second wanted to know.
“Sis, are you okay?” the third joined.
“What…? Where am I…? Is this pony heaven?” she babbled, steadily regaining consciousness.
When she finally could see clear again, she looked into the worried faces of Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.
“Pony Heaven? Nooo! This is the Sweet Apple Acres Farm!” Sweetie Belle said worried.
“Sweet… Apple… Oh my, the MONSTERS!” she confusingly said, making weird movements with her hooves.
“Monsters!?” they gasped and stared at her in disbelief.
Scootaloo winded her head to the others and whispered while Rarity gibbered more odd stuff.
“Hey, I don’t want to hurt ya feelings… but I think your sister has gone mad!”
“Yeah. Maybe she had a nightmare or is too tired from work.” Sweetie Belle admitted.
“Hold on for a second guys! Ah think Ah just got a new idea on how to get us our cutie marks!” Apple Bloom grinned. “We just need a bathtub, mud and A LOT of towels. “
Scootaloo joined grinning. “I think I already like where this is going.”
Just Sweetie Belle was rather planless.
“Soooooo, would you guys mind and tell me about this “idea”?”
“Ah was jus’ thinking. What if our special talent is to help other ponies relax?” Apple Bloom explained. “Maybe we can ease up Rarity with the “speshul recreation program” Ah have in mind and earn our cutie marks this way!”
“Well, sounds like a plan to me!” agreed.
“Then we’re good to go! Ah will get the towels! Sweetie Belle ya have to ready the bathtub. Scootaloo ya get the muddy mud.” Apple Bloom instructed.
“Alright! But why do I have to get the Mud?”
“Because Ah said so! Now, Cutie Mark Crusaders; GO, CRUSADE!”
They swarmed out. None of them had a concrete idea what they will do once they got all the stuff together. But for now, they just tried to help Rarity who began to realize what happened and reluctantly got up from the couch.
“Ok, Rarity, get yourself together. You need to have a clear head. What time is it? Is it still night? Phew, good. You are at the Sweet Apple Acres farm. You need to find Big Macintosh. What? Sweetie Belle and her friends are also here… This can’t be good.” She thought, stepping rapidly with her hooves on a spot.
“Wait a minute! Sweetie Belle!?” She said surprised, stopping right on the spot.
She began to search for her in every room and every corner until she found her in the bath room together with Granny Smith.
“Granny! You need to get out of the tub! We need to fill it with mud and we don’t need you in there!” she protested, trying to pull Granny out of the tub.
“Ah, Sweetie Belle! There you are.”
Rarity was relieved.
“He, Sweetie Belle… Could ya help me with these towels?” Apple Bloom stumbled into the room. “I can’t see a thing and wowowowowow-“
She fell to the floor and let dozens of towels scatter in the room.
“Ow…” She looked up to the white unicorn. “Oh, hey Rarity… Did ya regain sanity… eh, Ah mean, did ya finally wake up completely?”
Rarity nodded.
“So… you two are here. Tell me, where are Scootaloo and Big Macintosh?”
Apple Bloom thought for a bit.
“Scootaloo is outside and collectin’ some mud for… a surprise and Big Macintosh should also be outside. He said somethin’ about fixing some holes at the barn.”
“We need to find them! There are monsters outside who are attacking the town! And if they are in the town, they already should be-”
A deafening scream cut the air. It was Scootaloo!
“You girls stay in the house and barricade every window and door!” Rarity ordered! “I’ll go out and… check what’s going on”
They couldn’t even nod. They only watched Rarity leaving through the door.
Outside, she looked for Scootaloo or Macintosh. Fighting noises came from the backside of the barn. Rarity gathered all of her courage and ran up to where she heard the noises. When she walked through the dark warily, the noises got louder and as she almost arrived at the backside of the barn, she hesitantly peeped around the corner. It really was Scootaloo together with Big Mac. Scootaloo clasped around a bucket full of dirt while Big Macintosh protective before her. Just the light from a lantern full of fireflies brightened up the surroundings. She was sure that these monsters must be the reason.
Then she got an idea. She readied her horn, making it glow and charged into the dark which brightened up with every step she took.
Big Mac swiftly reacted and when two of these monsters became visible and turned their heads to the incoming Rarity, he lifted his body up pushed their heads to the ground, crushing them with sheer pressure.
“Phew. I almost passed out again. I was never so scared like I am at the moment, hehe…” Rarity gulped. “But nonetheless, we need to hurry back in the house!”
Back in the house, Rarity explained the whole situation.
“So, We don’t know where they come from or what they are. We just know that they are not friendly towards us.”
“And what do you suggests us to do now?” Scootaloo asked, still a bit shuddering
She opened the front door again and looked back.
“Well, since you know in which position we are standing at the moment, you better barricade everything and stay in the house. I got to go and join the others in town. You got Big Mac here, so it’s safer for you to be here.”
And without more further chit-chat, she ran into the dark again.
When the group of 7 ponies arrived at the hospital again, the whole area was dark. The lights,that should shine through the hospital windows didn’t shine at all and the scent of decay was stronger than ever.
“Hm, not good…” Lyra said and pointed to the entrance door or where it used to be. “Seems like some of those things forced their way through it.”
“Ah dun care, let’s get in there!” Apple Jack said.
“Are you out of your little pony mind?!” Lyra hissed. “They already broke through the door! They could have already killed the whole hospital staff!”
“A friend of mine’s also in there and she surely knows how to protect herself!”
Lyra was still a bit suspicious of the whole situation.
“Ok. We are going in, BUT I will take the lead!”
Minutes later, they found themselves wandering through dark corridors. They didn’t talk; only clop noises echoed through the buildings, when they unexpectedly heard familiar growling sounds.
“Psshhht! You hear that?” Lyra said, aware of the situation. “I think, it comes from this direction…” and pointed to a corridor, close to her left.
Apple Jack decided to peep around the corner. She saw a dim light, coming from one of the hospital rooms. In front of it two monster dogs, throwing their bodies at the door.
“Ah spy two monsters in front of a door. Somepony’s must be in there!”
For a second, the both mares looked at each other and knew exactly what to do. Apple Jack revealed herself to the zombie monsters while Lyra did the same just on the other side of the hallway. They ran at the monsters and before they could react, their heads got smashed together with such an intensity that they started to burst.
“Hey ya all, it’s alright. We cleared the situation out here. Everything’s dandy now” Apple Jack said, knocking on the door.
The door slowly opened up and Twilight stood right in front of the two; behind her dozens of scared Ponies.
“I didn’t expect you to come back so soon.” Twilight said, looking at the turquoise unicorn. “Now, do you care to introduce me to your new friends and tell me, if someone’s coming for help?”
Apple Jack walked with Twilight to the entrance of the hospital and explained the situation on the way, the everypony’s following her. Amongst them was the princess. She still lied in the same, white hospital bed.
“Hmm. Well then. Is Pinkie alright again?” Twilight’s eyes began to search for her.
“I don’t know. Ah tried my best to calm her down. But Ah’m afraid that it will take some time to get back the normal Pinkie.” Apple Jack said, watching as the medics and nurses passed by with some hospital beds in their mid. When Twilight saw Pinkie, she picked her out of the mass,.
“Hey. It’s me, Twilight.” She looked at a very depressed Pinkie who tried to avoid eye contact. The once so brash pink had paled. “Do you want to talk about what happened back there?”
Pinkie didn’t respond for a while.
“I-I’m fine… I think I just… need some time by myself I guess.” She said with an unconvincing grin and staggered off, leaving Twilight worried.
Lyra suddenly appeared and carefully laid Bonbon down in front of Twilight.
“What’s the matter? Was she one of the patients in the hospital?”
“No.” Lyra replied. “But I was just curious to know if you could help her. The doctors didn’t give me any kind of useful help or information. If this helps you, she is like this since these monsters poured something into her mouth.”
“Hmm” Twilight thought for a bit. “I once learned a spell to purify one’s interior. Usually, it was used if somepony was possessed by something. Lemme’ try!”
The Apple Jack and Lyra stepped aside. Twilights horn started to glow and it steadily gained more brightness. She then touched Bonbon’s head with her horn. Nothing was happening at first.
“… Damn…” Twilight said. “I’m sorry. I can’t-“
With a loud yawn Bonbon rose up.
“BONBON!” Lyra said, happy to see her friend awake again.
Before Lyra could thank Twilight, Fluttershy appeared right in front of Twilight and just a split second later, dozens of pegasi stallions in golden armor appeared, some were wielding lanterns, and landed on the courtyard of the hospital and with them; Rainbow and Princess Luna did, too. Just in the moment they put their hooves to the ground, they joined the group of six.
“U-uhm… I’m sorry. Nobody wanted to listen to me in Cloudsdale… I’m so sorry that I’ve failed…” Fluttershy said with shame. “I just saw Rainbow and thought she could help me…”
“Well, Fluttershy. It’s alright.” Twilight said smiling. “We got the royal guards here. That should be enough.”
“Yeah. Good thing Luna was awake when I arrived and that she believed me from the first minute on.”
“Indeed. When I heard what was happening in Ponyville and that my sister was in coma, I recognized the potential threat and mobilized forces in an instant. I also brought you the elements!” she explained, setting down a majestic golden box down to the ground and opening it up with her magic.
They put on their necklaces; Twilight her crown.
“Well, but there’s nothing much we can do at the moment” she sighed. “Let have to wait here until-“
“I show up?” Rarity said out of the saluting royal guards. “My, my, my. You didn’t have to come up with so many good-looking and muscular stallions… Uh, oh, I forgot, sorry.” Rarity blushed and made her way through the guards, swiftly grabbing her necklace.
Suddenly, thousands of eyes appeared in the dark all around the courtyard. The scent of rotting flesh almost made Lyra throw up. Luna quickly reacted.
“GUARDS, PROTECT THE CITIZENS! WE WILL HANDLE THIS PROBLEM!” Luna instructed.
The citizens stood in a circle behind Luna and the others. The guards formed another circle around them.
“Now, let’s get this over with!” Twilight said, preceding with caution.
Apple Jack, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash followed. They were cut off from any kind of back-up and there was no way to run now. Twilight stood in the middle and gulped. The others formed a pentagon around her.
“You think this is a good idea?” Dash whispered, seeing herself confronted with numerous red eyes.
“We will find out soon” she answered, not sure of how this will end.
The six, young ponies closed their eyes and their necklaces began to glow. Twilight slowly floated up in the air. Her crown was covered in a white light. The monsters were impatient and charged at the seemingly easy prey. It was like a stampede. The earth slightly started to shake. Several monsters jumped into the air and tried to attack from above. Other monsters just leapt forward and attempted to dig their claws into the throats and flanks of the young ponies. Just when the monsters were almost in range, a protecting shield encased the ponies. The monsters which touched the shield immediately turned to ashes.
“Now, it is time to get you all out of our town!” she said and opened up her eyes. Her sparkling, purple eyes have turned into glaringly white ones.
The shield started to expand in a rapid pace. Even the monsters which just waited in the dark for their chances couldn’t even react as their bodies turned into nothing more than dust. Soon, the once so small shield covered whole pony town and beyond. Every monster, don’t matter where in or around Ponyville it was at this moment, got evaporated into dirt.
Twilight levitated down to the earth. Everypony was exhausted. The necklaces stopped glowing and when Fluttershy catched her breath for a second, she asked confused:
“Did we… Did we win…?”
The earth started to rumble.
“Eeenope…” Apple Jack assumed, trying to stand straight on her hooves.
“PATHETIC FOOLS!” an earsplitting voice said out of every direction. “You just delayed the inevitably! Your demise will come and in the end I will swallow up all of your worthless souls.”
Apple Jack immediately ordered the guards to escort the ponies they should shelter, out of the town. Luna made some steps forward.
“And with whom do we speak?!” Luna wanted to know.
“I am what you would call the eternal nightmare of the universe; the butcher of countless lives; the executioner of souls. I. am. THE HARVESTER!” the voice growled.
In the matter of a heartbeat, a pillar of light shot up into the air, where the comet impacted. The earth near it started to crumble. A part of the forest disappeared into a dark hole and a dreadful and huge monster rose out of the remaining comet. It could have been a creature right from the most horrific nightmares. From his bulky head to its small, boney tail, horns protruded in size of his claws. The bones of his enormous rip-cage protected a glowing, moving, purple mass. A disgusting, purple boil was located on the left side of its neck. Immeasurable arms became visible and so did its claws of pure metal.
The monsters magenta eyes investigated its environment and just seconds later it headed for ponyville with bloodcurdling footsteps, crushing everything beneath its feet.
“Apple Jack… I want you to-“
“NO!” Apple Jack interrupted. “Ah… no, WE won’t leave ya here.”
“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash agreed. “This time, I am not going to run. I will stand here with you ‘til our very end.”
“But…” Twilight tried to find reasons that they should leave.
“I got to agree with the both of you” a familiar voice said. It was Lyra. “We have talked about it. Even if we don’t know you, we will stand at your side facing that thing, sending it back to wherever it came from.”
“I mean, look at us. We got you. We got us. We got a princess AND the elements of harmony on our side. We can’t lose!” Lyra tried to convince Twilight. “You even woke up my little Bonbon, so it’s the least thing I can do.”
Twilight’s worried expression turned into a relieved smile.
“Ah kno’ that you always want to do everything by yourself ‘cuz you care about us and want to protect us. But this time, we ALL are involved in this. Together.”
“And we will stand together or fall together. This way we will always be close to each other!” Rainbow Dash added.
A tear rolled down Twilight’s cheek.
“Thank you, guys. I’m so happy that I got you and I’m glad that I can call you my friends!” she said, wiping away the tear.
And just in this moment, the colossus arrived at the edge of the town, making its way to the town hall.
“Well, then.” Luna said, using her royal Canterlot voice “Tonight, we shall either face glorious victory or the end of hope for all of ponykind!”
Fearless and with courage in their hearts, the 13 ponies charged at the monster. The monster lunged out.
“Watch out!” Pinkie screamed.
The band of ponies already had split up on two sides when the claws of the monster dashed into the ground. Suddenly, the swelling on his neck busted open and revealed hundreds of purple, transparent tendrils.
“When I won’t gain the essence of your souls through your death, then I have to extract it right from the source!” the deep, creepy voice announced.
He slightly turned to the side where Lyra and her group were running.
“Now, the feast shall begin.”
As soon as he finished talking, the tentacles quickly shot up into air and then into the group.
“INCOMING!” Doctor Whooves shrieked.
But it was too late. The tentacles already wrapped themselves like chains around him and Octavia. They lifted up in the air and were brought right to the face of the monstrous thing. In a matter of a second, two luminous tentacle pierced through each of their bodies. The groups watched in shock as the souls of their friends got drained right before their eyes. Twilight closed her eyes.
“You are weak. Why don’t you comprehend? There is no use in resistance.”
He let the numb bodies fall to the ground but just a second before their bones would get smashed by the impact, Luna let them levitate to the ground.
“Good Job princess!” Fluttershy said.
“We need to strike back…” Rarity said panting.
“You’re right” Apple Jack approved. “Let’s use the Elements!”
They nodded. Again, the group was covered by a bright white light before a rainbow colored beam shot at the monster.
“Haven’t you learnt a thing? I am, what you call, IMMORTAL!”
True enough, the laser beam hit the monster right in the head but didn’t harm him at all.
“What… Not even a sign of damage...?” Twilight tried to analyze the situation. “This can’t be possible! The elements never failed!”
“I encountered so much magic, so much technology on my journey and learned how to reproduce and use it. You will never be able to hold me off!” it taunted, letting its tentacle head out for another hunt. “Let’s make this more quick!”
The tentacles were now heading directly for the ponies and as a storm of thousands of tentacles rained down on the remaining 4 ponies. Derpy tried to dodge but when a tendril hit the ground right before her, she slowed down. Another tendril immediately shot through her body and to the ground, sucking her whole life essence out of her. Vinyl tried to cut her way through the thick twines which succeeded at first. But then, in a split second, her heart literally stopped as she trembled over some remnants of destroyed houses. Her purple glasses fell to the ground, letting it break in two, as her body was impaled by three glowing tendrils.
Bonbon and Lyra could make it to the others, joining them where the town hall used to be. The rest of the city was annihilated and just ruins remained, holding off their advance as the monster got closer and closer. When they wanted to turn back, the harvester threw a house behind them which crumbled down upon the impact and blocked the way.
“This is a dead end!” Fluttershy cried.
“Alright then…” Twilight smiled as she was ready to face death. “Then this will be our last battlefield.”
Shocked, Rarity stared at Twilight.
“But this just can’t be it. We can’t win… We tried to use the elements of harmony. It was no use! Maybe we can make it over these wreckages there” Rarity said and pointed at a wall of debris to the left of her.
The monster slowly bowed down, bringing its face closer and closer to the group.
“Don’t get any closer!” Luna demanded, leaving the colossus unimpressed. “I WARNED YOU!”
Her body started to glow and a beam of dark light shot up, hitting its face. No sign of damage. Instead, it responded by firing tendrils at her.
“Luna; Princess of the moon. Banished by her own sister. . Your sister “told” me that. I took her soul when I first met her at the “Sapphire Hill” and soon, you will tell me all of YOUR secrets!”
There was no chance of dodging and dozens of tentacles made their ways through her body, leaving her lifeless.
“So this is it…?” Twilight thought, staring deep into the eyes of the monster.
“I’ll make you regret that!” Rainbow Dash howled, heading straight for the monsters face.
Tentacles tried to catch her mid-air but failed. She kicked out and hit the beast right into the face. She kicked, and kicked and hoped she would hurt him in any way. A tendril shot up from the monster’s abdomen and penetrated her, letting her fall to the dusty ground.
“Is this supposed to be the end?”
“Noo… AHHHH” Apple Jack blindly charged at the monster when she saw Rainbow Dash’s body falling numb to the ground.
“This is where we all die…”
Pinkie lied on the ground crying. She thought this was ending in a happier way, hoping that the elements would defeat the monster in no time. But now, her closest friend rested somewhere, where no parties were celebrated. A place, where Rainbow Dash and Apple Jack already waited for her.
“Is there no hope…?”
Bonbon lied behind Lyra.
“I won’t let you get my Bonbon another time!”
She gathered leftovers from the ruins with her magic and built a wall around the two. Bonbon cried loudly and her sniffing was heard through the wall.
“Hey… Don’t worry… I’m here… We will get out of this… together!” she spoke softly. “We will make it.”
“O-ok…” Bonbon said, cuddling up in Lyra’s hooves. “I just want you to know… I love you.”
“I know... and I will always love you the same way.”
Hundreds of tendrils tried to get through the wall. Again and again, they pushed into the barrier of wood and stone. Inside, Lyra and Bonbon were hugging each other tightly. The light from Lyra’s horn illumined the small place. The eyes of the turquoise unicorn and the yellowish earth pony met for the last time.
“Please… never let go of me.” Bonbon whispered, bringing her mouth to Lyra’s.
The wall gave in more and more. The tendrils slowly broke through the sides of the wall and perforated it. Shortly afterwards, the magic-crafted barrier collapsed.
“No Love…”
Fluttershy fell down to the ground. Her body was paralyzed in fear. She felt useless… She wanted to be someone her friends could rely on. But she failed. Failed in Cloudsdale. Failed here. She was weak and she knew it. She didn’t even saw the attack of the monster coming.
“No Friendship…”
Rarity got herself together.
“I was scared of fighting long enough. If I go, then I want to go with grace and no shame left in my heart.”
She prepared to charge, her horn glowing in a blurry white.
“FOR EQUESTRIA!”
But even she had known that it was a desperate fight they just couldn’t win.
“Nothing… to lose…” Twilight thought.
“So…” The creature spoke with a mocking undertone. “You are the last one of these clowns. I have to say that it was brave from all of you to face me. To say, that you can defeat me. But in the end, we both knew that it would come to this!”
“Friends…” she quietly said.
“Yes, those fools! They were worthless and weak. They didn’t deserve any pity!” the monster said.
Twilight remembered back. She reminded herself of her former attitude when it came to friends. She remembered the first time she met Rainbow, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity and Apple Jack. What they experience together. The warmth inside when they were around, helping her out whenever they could. The fights against Nightmare Moon and Discord. NO! She couldn’t let it all end here.
“Friends…” she started again. “My friends were… no, they are the most valuable things in my life!”
“Huh?” The monster was surprised.
“I remember the time when I had no friends. No one was there for me. No one cared about me when I was feeling down back then. But when I came to this very town, to Ponyville, I felt something more in my heart. It was the feeling to follow it and listen to it closely! When we fought Nightmare Moon, I thought it was just about getting some stones and leaving town right after victory.” Twilight paused. The necklaces of Rainbow, Apple Jack, Fluttershy, Pinkie and Rarity began to glow.
“I couldn’t have got it any more wrong… You know about what it was? It was about something we call “FRIENDSHIP”. When we fought Discord, we got separated and betrayed by each other. But in the end, we got ourselves together and defeated him.”
“And what do you want to tell me? Just look around you! All of your friends have turned into lifeless corpses!”
Twilight smiled.
“You didn’t understand a thing, do you? All your knowledge is nothing…”
The purple mass in its stomach started to glow in different colors.
“COMPARED TO THE ETERNAL BONDS OF FRIENDSHIP!”
Twilight soared up in the air; her body was glowing in shades of white and black.
“What, you little… DIE!”
Tendrils shot out from its neck again but as soon as they touched to glowing body of Twilight, they turned to ashes.
“GENEROSITY!” Twilight screamed.
The monsters left leg started to glow in a mixture of purple and white.
“What is this…?” the harvester seemed to feel scared.
“KINDNESS!”
Its left arm began to glow in shades of yellow and pink.
“HONESTY AND LOYALTY!”
His right arm began to glow in the colors of a rainbow; his right leg in different orange tones.
“LAUGHTER!”
His head glowed with in Pink.
“And as the day needs the night; Friendship also needs Love to truly exist!”
In the purple mass of its stomach, a heart began to appear. The one side was black, the other’s white. Nine different rays of light shot up to Twilights crown, filling her with energy and power.
“NOW! I WILL END THIS ONCE AND FOR ALL!” she shouted boldly, lifting up higher in the air.
“This kind of magic… I can’t move…“
“AHHHHHHH” She howled and soon she found herself diving at the monster.
“You don’t know what you are doing! If our forces collide, it will not only perish me!” he tried to make her stop.
“Then so be it. FOR EQUESTRIA!”
When she collided with the monster, another light pillar shot up into the air. It then exploded, illuminating the dark night sky with thousands of lively colors. It could be seen all over the world. It was a spectacle. Little blue fireballs were wandering back into space. Some stayed, flying around the Pillar, and entered different lifeless bodies. Slowly, they all found their selves back to life, waking up from their little naps.
“W-what happened…” Pinkie rubbed her head.
“It’s all over now.” Twilight answered.
“T-Twilight… Is that you?” she looked at a white, glowing Twilight.
“Yeah. It’s me. Well, it was me I guess.”
The ponies got up to their hooves, crowding around Twilight. Tiny orange sparks seem to come from her hooves and flew into the sky.
“What do ya mean with “It was you”? What’s goin’ to happen to ya?” Apple Jack asked surprised.
“I think… My body’s dissolving.” She said smiling; watching as her hooves turned into millions of sparks.
“Why…? Why is this happening to you…?” Fluttershy said, tears gathered in her eyes.
“When I realized how important you were to me, I put all my power into one, forceful strike. It let the Harvester perish. But it had a side effect. When the two of us collided, I got overloaded with magical power. And now, I am nothing more than a ghost; a being made of pure energy waiting for the wind to take me to another place.”
The group couldn’t believe it. One of her best friends was about to leave just like that?
“You just can’t go!” Rainbow complained and put her hooves around Twilights neck, hugging her. “From whom can I borrow my Daring-Do books if you’re not there anymore?” She blubbered out.
“Please, understand it was not my decision. Wherever I’m floating to, I will always keep you in my heart” she said, only her face was visible anymore.
Everypony tried to hide their tears. Rainbow was pulled back from Twilight by Apple Jack and Rarity. It touched even her heart and she bit her lip and looked away.
“Well then… Ah’m sure we will meet each other soon!” Apple Jack said with a sad smile, trying not to cry.
Rarity also smiled and nodded. Pinkie and Fluttershy cried. Just Fluttershy was able to at least wink. Rainbow Dash gave in to her emotions. She sobbed uncontrollable, tears running from her eyes, but managed to at least salute Twilight.
And just before the rest of her face and with that her whole body, disappeared, Twilight said:
“I will always be thinking of you! I promise!”
And so Twilight vanished. The morning sun slowly climbed up from beyond the horizon. The night was over. Dreams of the future were shattered and a whole town lied in ruins.
One week after the Starfall
Celestia recovered over the following days and decided to give a speech of thanks in the rebuilt city of Ponyville. The crowd gathered before the podium, waiting for the Princess to speak. “We have assembled here today, to honor and thank those young Ponies who risked their Life for the Fate of Ponyville and Equestria” Celestia started to speak in her royal voice, looking more serious than ever before; Not only serious but sad at the same time. The monotony of the grey clouds reflected on the city. “Those, who went together through everything; those who faced every enemy with courage in their hearts, never giving up on each other and even sacrificed themselves because they cared and wanted to protect US.”
Silently, rain began to fall, tapping on windows. Raindrops fell on Celestia’s face and mingled with her tears, hiding them from the eyes of the audience.
“They never surrendered. They held off those mysterious creatures. Their friendship was this one thing that kept them strong. It was this one thing that made the sun shine in even the most rainiest and cloudiest of days.”
Celestia held her breath. She glanced at her grieving pony folk. Most of them had their heads lowered. Little fillies were holding a rose in their maws, carefully putting them on a small table with a little framed picture on it. When the fillies left, only Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were at the table, staring at these lifeless pictures. Apple Blooms ribbon was drenched by the rain and the bright, red color of it seemed to be washed away, drop by drop.
“I miss her…” Sweetie Belle silently admitted.
They were joined by several other Ponies.
“We all do, Sweetie. We all do” said Rarity and laid a hoof on her head, gently stroking her mane.
“But, today.” Celestia continued. “We also want to thank a Pony with a heart as big as her brain. A pony whose name shall never be forgotten. She was not just only a friend; she was part of the family of everypony. She was the one who took the burden of facing death to save millions and billions of lives. I can be happy to say, that she was my student.” Talking got harder and harder for her. “Twilight Sparkle… Wherever you are… Just let it be known that no one will ever forget the sacrifices on that particular day.”
The audience applauded in sorrow, no one was searching cover from the rain.
“With that said, I will now reveal the statue to honor this young heroine!” Luna added and pulled the curtain off of the statue beside the new town hall. It was Twilight Sparkle together with her friends immortalized in pure gold. Something was written at the foot of the statue:
In Honor of a young heroine
and our Friend, at the same time
Twilight Sparkle – Savior of the Stars
END
