World-Ending Catastrophes, and How to Benefit From Them

As the moments went by, the earthquake continued, keeping the four ponies holed up in the barn on the nearly-destroyed Sweet Apple Acres. After a while, the rumbling stopped completely, leaving them in complete and utter silence. They eyed each other closely, as if waiting for one of them to mumble a comforting phrase about the hellish quake to be over, but nothing was said. Instead, Mac turned around slowly and began to unlatch the door, Apple Bloom watching him as she stuck to Applejack, the side of her face buried in the mare's orange coat. Granny sat opposite of Rainbow on a bale of hay, looking around the barn and at the others every once in a while. Rainbow could tell she was a bit shaken by the event. Probably just trying to keep her composure, somepony had to.

Dash watched as Mac unlatched the door and slowly pulled it open with a screech that broke the silence and echoed off of the walls of the barn. The sun poured into the barn, causing the ponies to shield their eyes for a moment before being able to see. The farm still looked destroyed, but at least the rumbling had stopped. Several trees were hanging off of the edge into the large crevice that had split the farm in two, along with a massive amount of apples littering the ground around the orchard.

"Land sakes'... You think this went as far as Ponyville?" Applejack asked quietly, stepping away from Apple Bloom and next to her brother.

Mac shrugged, still staring at the wreckage.

"No idea... Ah just don't know how we can have a functionin' farm with a giant hole in the middle'." he replied distantly.

Applejack sighed, then remained quiet for a moment, her eyes shifting from the broken trees to the massive crevice, and everything in-between. After a few moments, she looked back to Rainbow Dash and nodded towards the outside.

"C'mon, Dashie. Let's go check on Ponyville." she said, beginning to exit the barn.

She was blocked however, as Mac extended his foreleg.

"You're goin' out there? After all that?" he asked in a shocked tone.

Dash stood up from her haunches to her hooves and stepped cautiously towards the brother and sister.

"Ah'm not just gonna not know if my friends are hurt, or worse." she said, pointing to the near-canyon in the middle of their farm. "Things' could'a gotten a lot worse than that."

Mac looked to her, then the crevice again, eventually sighing and pulling his hoof away.

"OK... But then y'all come right back, ya'hear?" he said, looking between Rainbow and Applejack.

Rainbow Dash nodded wordlessly, stepping behind Applejack as the farm mare began walking out of the barn.

"Will do," she said, leaning closer to him. "Take care of A.B, she's still shakin'."

Mac nodded in response and the two mares exited the barn, closing the door behind them. Applejack looked around at the farm one last time before turning towards the it's gate and making her way towards it. Rainbow Dash followed wearily, her nerves itching at her, causing her to almost shake.

"You really think it hit Ponyville?" Rainbow asked as they left the farm and began traveling the dirt path to their town.

"'Course it did..." Applejack said with a sigh. "I just wanna' now how bad it is an' how we can help."

"You don't think we should get home and help ourselves? I mean, Sweet Apple Acres is pretty much totaled."

Applejack looked over her shoulder with an eyebrow raised.

"Wouldn't you want some help right now?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Dash nodded slowly and continued walking in silence.

* * *

As the two neared Ponyville, they both stopped and stared in awe at the destruction that had taken it as well. Several houses and other various structures had been almost completely leveled by the earth's tremors. Several ponies scrambled about, helping others sort through the wreckage, trying to pry ponies from them. Others simply stared and awe just as Applejack and Rainbow Dash did, not able to process how awful the destruction was. A dull roar could be heard from the entirety of the town as ponies called out to their relatives and friends, trying to locate them among the rubble.

"Sweet Celestia'." Applejack said quietly.

She looked back to Rainbow before breaking into a sprint towards the town, Dash following quickly after with a flap of her wings. As the two got closer, the destruction seemed even worse. Almost the whole town seemed to be a crumbling ruin by now, barely any structures left unaffected. Applejack eyed a nearby pony down the street in front of them as the two sprinted through town. A creamy-golden, swirly-orange maned earthpony stood with both hooves on either side of her head, staring at her home.

"Carrot Top!" Applejack shouted, nearing the pony.

She turned around and looked for the source of the voice in confusion, eventually seeing Applejack and waving to her.

"Applejack! Hey! You're alright!" she said, smiling brightly.

The farm pony stopped and skidded a few feet in front of Carrot Top, nodding. Rainbow Dash quickly followed, hovering next to her friend as she continued to scan the town.

"Yeah, how're you?" Applejack asked.

Carrot turned to her house and sighed, shaking her head. She turned back to AJ and nodded.

"Fine. Just- Fine. Glad to know some ponies made it out without a scratch." she replied, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Glad to know you're alright too, Sugar Cube." Applejack said with a nod. "Have you seen Twilight or Rarity around here? What about Pinkie, or Fluttershy?"

Carrot Top looked around in thought, hesitantly opening her mouth to speak.

"I think I remember seeing Pinkie and Twilight heading towards the hospital, but I don't know if they went there or not. Didn't see Rarity or Fluttershy."

Applejack nodded, looking in the direction of the hospital across town.

"Thanks, Sugar Cube. Ah'll find em' an' we'll set up some place were everypony can regroup, then we'll sort this mess out."

Carrot Top nodded, waving to Applejack as she took off, Rainbow Dash following closely.

"Hospital... You think one of them is hurt?" Rainbow asked worriedly.

"Ah sure as heck hope not." Applejack said, running down the side of the street.

Rainbow stopped for a moment and landed on the ground, eyeing the area around them for a moment as Applejack continued trotting along.

"Hey! AJ!" she shouted.

The farm pony stopped in her tracks and turned around, an ear perking up slightly.

"We should split up!" Rainbow shouted.

Applejack quickly trotted back and raised an eyebrow.

"Whatchu' mean?" she asked.

Dash pointed a hoof towards the hospital and nodded towards it.

"I'll head to the hospital and look for Twilight and Pinkie." she said. "You head to Rarity's and from there on to Fluttershy's."

Applejack thought for a moment, nodding as she did so.

"Alright, ah like it. I'll meetchu' at the hospital afterwards." she said, tapping Dash's shoulder as she began trotting in the opposite direction. "Stay safe Dashie!"

Dash nodded, wearily looking to the road in front of her, half-leveled buildings and frantic ponies lining either side of it. With a gulp, she began lurching forward until eventually reaching a sprint. She'd been to the hospital a few times before for various flight-related accidents, so the location was lodged in her mind. Her hooves pounded against the dirt as she rounded a corner and took off down the next road, a few blocks from her destination. Her frantic thoughts only spurred her hooves faster as she thought about the possibility of her closest friends being wounded by the disaster. She tried to calm herself by thinking of the simplicity of the plan; Applejack goes here, she goes there, meet up later. She repeated it over and over again to keep her head from spinning, wanting only to complete her objective and escape the crying ponies and apocalyptic scene.

She was stopped however as she heard a very distinct crying from across the street. Something about the howl of desperation made her stop completely, looking around to find the source of it. Her eyes came to rest on an elderly earth-mare being held back by a royal guard, a nearly-demolished two-story house in front of them. Dash spread her wings and hovered across the street, coming to land a few feet beside the two.

"Ma'am! Please! Just listen!" the armored-stallion said, trying to overthrow her loud volume.

"No! You let me back in there NOW!" she screamed in response, trying desperately to push him out of the way.

Rainbow took a few steps closer, wildly looking between the two and what remained of the house in front of them. It looked to be still crumbling, most of the entrances blocked off by cracked wooden beams and other assorted pieces of rubble.

"Ma'am, the structure is too far gone-!"

"My son is in there, you monster!"

Dash paused, immediately snapping her head to the structure and keeping her view fixed on it.

"We'll send somepony in when things die down, but for now you need to move back!" the guard continued.

Rainbow nervously shuffled her hooves for a moment, glancing to a few spots on the second story she could fly into. Her mind wildly zigzagged between her task of getting to the hospital and the colt trapped in the collapsing structure. A small bead of sweat began to form at her brow as she looked around. Nopony else seemed to be paying attention to the two arguing ponies, meaning that nopony else would help. But every second she wasn't at the hospital meant more time for her friends to get hurt.

"Please! Just send somepony in now!" the mare pleaded.

Dash sighed and spread her wings, shooting off from the ground in one swift move, sending a small gust of wind towards the elderly mare and the guard. They both went silent instantly and turned towards Rainbow. As she ascended and reached the second story, she noticed a large gap in the house on it's right side. Wasting no time, she rushed towards it and landed inside softly, trying not to further the structural damage.

"Hey! Miss, stay out of there!" the guard shouted, rushing towards the side of the building.

The elderly mare's face simply lit up in joy. Her prayers had been answered.

As Rainbow Dash's hooves made contact with the floor of the home, she could immediately hear it creak and shift slightly beneath her. She spread her wings and began to hover a few inches above it.

"Probably shouldn't put anymore weight on it..." she whispered to herself, hovering forward slowly.

She fluttered cautiously through an open doorway leading to a hallway. The walls were cracked and askew, resulting in a confusing representation of what used to be a hall that was now bent out of shape. With gentle flaps of her wings, she began to maneuver through the hallway, her path lit by the sunlight through cracks in the walls.

"Hello?!" she called out, hovering through the hallway.

There was no direct response, but she could hear harsh coughs coming from a nearby door in the hallway. She reached a hoof out and pushed the door open lightly. Instead of swinging open, the door broke off of it's hinges and fell inward, then down to the bottom floor. Looking into the doorway, she could see that the floor had collapsed completely.

"Hello?! Is anypony in here?!" she called again.

A few more coughs echoed off of the walls, followed by a weak voice.

"H-H... Here..." a colts voice called back.

Rainbow hovered into the doorway and scanned the first floor beneath her. Within moments she spotted a few dusty wooden boards shuffling among the destruction. She instinctively dived down to the spot and began surveying the area around it. It looked mostly stable, only one or two of the boards supporting anything else. If her hooves were careful enough, she could get the colt out with no problems.

"Hello? I'm here to get you out." Rainbow said in the calmest voice she could muster.

"O-Ok..." the colt replied weakly beneath the wood.

She began slowly and carefully pulling the wooden boards out of place and setting them nearby. After a few pieces, she could see the colt's face beginning to stare back at her. A light-grey earth pony with a weary expression managed to flash a smile at her beneath the rubble, then elicited a weak cough.

"T-Thank you..." the colt said.

Rainbow paused for a moment and smiled back, then continued to work.

"Don't mention it, kiddo..." she said quietly.

After a few more pieces of wood, the colt began to squirm a bit.

"Hey... H-Hey! I think I-I can move now!" he said, his expression brightening slightly.

"OK, OK, let me just..." Rainbow said, pulling up another board slightly with a grunt of exhaustion. "C'mon, c'mon, go!"

The colt nodded quickly and began trying to push his way out of the wooden prison. After a few seconds, he slid free of the rubble's grasp and limped away from it, signalling to Rainbow that he was out. Seeing the colt was free, she dropped the wood and wiped her brow with a sigh of relief.

"Alright, there we go!" she said with a weary smile. "Are you hurt? Need help getting-"

The rainbow mare was cut off as the ear-splitting sound of cracking wood sounded above her. Her view darted upwards just in time to see a thick wooden beam barreling downwards at her. She quickly gasped and sprang to the side, landing on her back with a stern thud, her wings splayed out on the ground.

The colt watched in terror as the long-end of the beam crashed down on the first floor, landing directly on Rainbow's right-wing. The mare screamed in pain as the thick Huck of wood crushed the bones in her wing with a ghastly crack. In reality, it only lasted seconds. But to her it felt like an entire lifetime of pain. Her wings were the most sensitive part of her body, and now it felt as if the weight of the world had fallen onto it. The crack echoed in her ears as she felt each of her bones snap from the pressure of the beam, tears pooling in her eyes.

After the beam had done it's work, it fell against the wall with a large crash as Rainbow rolled over and clutched her broken wing, still howling in intense pain. The colt frantically looked around. His eyes came to rest on the wall broken by the beam. A bright ray of light was shining through it from the outside, causing the colt's eyes to go wide. He briskly limped towards it screaming.

"Help! Somepony help!"

Rainbow Dash's ears rang as the pain swelled throughout her wing like a hornet's nest, buzzing and stinging her bones over and over again. She rolled over weakly, still clutching her wing as it throbbed. Her heartbeat could soon be heard faintly through the constant mental alarm going crazy. Soon after, her head began to throb with each beat, the light from outside stinging her eyes.

Light...

Outside...

Her heart thumped extra-hard at the realization. She could hardly see from the tears in her eyes that distorted her vision, but there was a source of light not too far in front of her. One hoof kept on her wing, she reached the other one forward and planted it firmly in the ground, pulling her body with it. She did it again and again, pulling her seemingly-limp body from the destroyed home. The shock waves of pain continued hitting her body like a million freight trains, almost forcing her eyes shut as she reached the outside. Once she felt the warmth of the sun on her coat and cool grass beneath her, she let her face fall to the ground and shut her eyes.

"What in Celestia's name were you thinking, ma'am?!" the guard said, trotting around the house towards her.

Rainbow's eyelids lurched open, her eyes bloodshot from pain.

"The kid... Needed... Help." she said, grimacing.

The guard watched with an angered expression as Rainbow wearily made her way back onto her hooves, stumbling a few times as she did so. When she was finally standing with one hoof still covering her wing, she looked to him, dust and tiny cuts lining her face.

"You sure as hell weren't going to do it." she said quietly.

The guard's angry expression intensified as Rainbow limped forward towards the street. As she passed by, the elderly mare smiled brightly, her colt standing by her hooves, also covered in tiny scratches and bruises.

"Thank you... Thank you so much..." she said.

Rainbow smiled weakly and nodded.

"You're welcome..." she replied quietly.

As Dash made her way back to the street, she felt a sense of... Pride. A sense of gratification from the elderly mare, something she'd always wanted. She forced her head up high as she could feel the energy returning to her body, pain still throbbing throughout her shattered wing, and held her smile as she began to make her way in the direction of the hospital once more.

Maybe disasters could have their advantages.