Them

Two months had passed. twilight was in her office, levitating a few books and scrolls, studying reactions of chemical components. She was startled by the sound of the alarm.

"The alert alarm? What's going on?"

Her horn started glowing a faint pink and Trixie's voice spoke in her head:

"Twilight, come quickly!"

"What happened, Trixie?"

"Manehattan was attacked. A group of survivors just arrived!"

"That's terri-- Wait, did you just said Manehattan? That's where Rainbow Dash and Applejack were. Are they ok?"

"I don't know, all the survivors were sent straight to the hospitals and medical tents."

"Right. Thanks for keeping me informed, Trixie! Over."

The pink glow vanished. Twilight placed the study material on her table. "Please, don't be dead!" she thought as she left her office in a hurry.

* * *

Applejack was lying on a bed, her body covered in bandages and connected by wires to machines. Her eyes were closed, but she was still breathing. Rainbow Dash was holding her hoof, fighting back tears.

"What a great captain you are, Rainbow Dash." she scolded herself. "You let almost all of your batallion die and almost let the pony you care about the most meet the same fate. Spitfire must be regretting her decision right now!"

"Rainbow Dash!" called a voice she hadn't heard in a long time. She turned around just in time to see Twilight hugging her. "Thank Luna, you're alright."

"Too bad you can't say the same about Applejack."

Twilight looked at the bed and gasped. She'd never seen a friend of her in such bad condition.

"What... What happened?"

"Celestia."

"What about her?"

"She is not dead."

"Wh-What?"

"She is one of them!"

"WHAT?! Oh, this is not good..."

"She is too strong to be defeated by mere warriors. We need the Elements of Harmony! But it's no use with Fluttershy being Luna knows where and Applejack like... Like that!" she hugged Twilight as tight as she could, finally letting the tears flow. "It was horrible, Twilight. Horrible!"

* * *

Rainbow Dash was standing on the wall, looking down at the city she was protecting.

"Alright! Everything looks awesome, the way it's supposed to be."

Suddenly, everything went dark. She slowly turned around and looked up; there was something blocking the sun. Something big, black, with weird-shaped wings and a broken horn, which had a faint, red glow.

"Chrysalis?!" she thought. "No, it cannot be her."

Something clicked in her mind and the memory returned. The memory of a missed alicorn princess.

"Ce-Celestia!!" she shouted.

A red beam of magic was shot from Celestia's horn and destroyed part of the wall. If Rainbow Dash had taken off a second later than when she did, she would have been hit. Soon there was another beam. And another. And another. Soon it was like that part of the wall was never there to begin with. The apparently burned alicorn now focused her attention on the bowponies and spear throwers attacking her, even though the attacks caused no apparent damage.

There was a reason all the attacks were not effective; the infected Celestia had some kind of invisible shield erected around her body. They stopped the attack as soon as they noticed the infected entering the Safe Zone through the big hole in the wall. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened.

"RETREAT!" she shouted, but it was too late. The infected charged forward and the carnage started.

"Don't give up!" Applejack shouted at the other bowponies standing on top of buildings. "We can still stop them!"

The former monarch turned her attention to the shouting mare. She pointed her broken horn at her, charged another beam and shot. The roof of the building exploded, sending Applejack and other bowponies flying. Applejack reached a high height before gravity pulled her back to the ground. She hit the edge of a roof before falling to the ground, in the middle of a street, unconscious.

Celestia flapped her twisted and burned wings and took off. Soon, she was gone.

"I have to protect the city." Rainbow Dash said, grabbing a spear. "I have to protect my batallion." she charged toward the infected. "I have to protect Applejack!!"

* * *

"She can use magic?!" Twilight almost shouted. "This is not good. Not good at all!"

"We need Fluttershy here." Rainbow Dash said. "She will know what to do about Applejack!"

"There's somepony else we need here. Well, the correct term would be somedragon!"

* * *

Spike was sitting in front of the campfire, sharpening his blade while looking at the moon. His body had matured in the battlefield; he was as tall as an average stallion right now. His muscles had grown as well and his body was covered in scars and bite marks, scales were missing in a few spots. His eyes were now focused on his team; three stallions and two mares, all of them warriors fighting the infected.

The teenage dragon was about to get up when he felt something weird going on in his stomach, as if his lunch was fighting his dinner for domination. The sensation climbed his throat, but he didn't puked; instead, he belched a ball of green fire that soon transmuted itself into a scroll. he smiled.

"What's that, Spike, buddy?" one of the stallions asked.

"It's a letter." he said with his voice that was deeper than the one he had when he was smaller, but that still resembled a lot that same voice. His smile grew wider. "From Twilight!"

* * *

Four days later, the royal guards opened a hole in Shining Armor's shield spell around Canterlot and Spike stepped in. The first thing he did was take a deep breath.

"I missed that smell." he said, smiling. "The smell of civilization and progress is much better than the smell of blood and dirt."

"Spikey-wikey!" he heard a mare shout. The dragon looked around and saw a white unicorn mare running toward him.

"Rarity!" he said, opening his arms. She pounced on the dragon and hugged him.

"Look at you, all grown up, strong and handsome."

"Heheh, you're making me blush. But thanks! And where's Twilight?"

"Busy, working. This is why she asked me to welcome you and take you to her."

"Then let's go, we have no time to waste. The content of the letter was... Worrying!"

"Right." Rarity let go of him and walked toward the castle. "This way, Spikey-Wikey!"

"Oh. And, Rarity."

"Yes?"

"You're still as pretty as always."

Rarity brushed her mane with a foreleg, smiling. "Thanks, Spike."

* * *

Fluttershy walked in the tent and straight to Applejack's bed.

"I came as soon as Twilight sent me the letter." she said, placing her saddlebag on the ground. "How's Applejack?"

"She's not good." Rainbow Dash said, holding Applejack's hoof. "Wait, Twilight sent you a letter? How?"

"She must have learned the spell Princess Celestia used to send her letters through Spike. Angel Bunny is still angry..."

Both mares looked at the saddlebag. Angel was sitting on it, holding a picture of Twilight and a pen, drawing all over her face.

"He hates puking..."

"Thought so. Hey, where's Blind Sly?"

"It's 'Bright Sky'. And he's exploring the city right now. It's his first time in Canterlot. And thanks to the shield, he can finally stretch his wings a little bit without worrying about being attacked!"

"Oh, so you're still together."

Fluttershy blushed. "Yes, he's... He's a good assistant!"

"And you like him."

"And I like hiWHAT?!"

"Shhh. We're in a medical tent, Fluttershy."

"So-Sorry..."

"Anyway, enough chit-chat. Applejack needs our help!"

"Right!" Fluttershy adjusted her glasses and grabbed a pair of pink gloves from her saddlebag,

* * *

Bright Sky was flying very high, almost reaching the limit of the shield.

"Wow, Canterlot is really big!" he said, amazed. He then landed in the middle of a small street, stretching his wings. "It's so good to be able to fly again!"

"Excuse me." said a female voice coming from behind him. Sky turned around and saw a white unicorn mare with a messy mane. There was a purple dragon standing behind her.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"It seems that you are blocking our path."

Sky looked at his stretched wings an noticed that they were indeed blocking their path. Blushing of shame, he folded his wings. "I-I'm sorry."

"It's okay, dear. Have a nice da--" she stopped mid-sentence. "Wait! Are you new in town?"

"Yes, I am. Why?"

"And what's your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

"This is not the time to flirt, Rarity." the dragon whispered at the mare, but thanks to the proximity Sky was able to hear (what made him blush).

"I'm not flirting, Spikey-Wikey! This is important."

"My-My name is Bright Sky?"

Rarity's eyes widened, just like her smile. "Oh, my stars! Spike, you know the way to the castle, right?"

"Of course! This is my hometown, after all."

"Right. Go to the castle and ask a guard to take you to Twilight's Office. Mr. Sky, please, come with me! This is urgent!"

"Alright." both males said at the same time. Spike walked toward the castle and Rarity ran (or, due to the excitement, pranced just like her marefriend used to), being followed by Bright Sky.

* * *

Cloud, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Silver Sppon were playing together a game of hoofball in the backyard, smiling and giggling. Rarity came out from the back door of the orphanage with a huge smile on her face.

"There you are, Dark Cloud."

"You were looking for me, miss Rarity?"

"Yes, can you come in here for a second?"

Rarity walked in, Cloud following her.

"Where are we going, miss Rarity?"

"It's a surprise!"

Rarity then opened the front door; a pegasus stallion was waiting for them there. Cloud gasped.

"Bri... Bright... Sky?"

"Dark Cloud?"

Tears fell from the eyes of the siblings as they hugged each other.

"I was so worried about you, Cloud!"

"I missed you so much, Sky!" the colt looked at the mare. "Miss Rarity, how did you...?"

"The picture under your pillow! Recognized him almost immediately."

"Figures."

"Thank you, miss." Sky said, wiping his tears. "This is the best thing that happened to me since Dr. Fluttershy saved my life."

"Oh, you know Fluttershy! Is she in town?"

"Yes, she's taking care of a friend."

"Oh. Applejack. Poor thing, hope she can recover soon. I can't tell her sister about her condition. I just can't!"

"I understand. I wouldn't want Cloudy worrying about me either if I was in the same condition."

"Yes, I have a sister too, I understand. Oh! Talking about sisters, Cloud!"

"Yes, miss Rarity?"

"Don't tell the girls about Applejack. They don't need to know about that!"

"Okie dokie lokie."

She giggled. "You're spending too much time with Pinkie Pie!"

* * *

Twilight head a knock on the door of her office.

"Come in!" she said, her back turned to the door. A pair of hands covered her eyes.

"Guess who?"

She smiled, moved the hands away and hugged her #1 assistant. "Spike! It's so good to see you again."

"Heheheh, it's good to see you to, Twilight."

"Look at you, so big and strong! I think you're not a baby anymore, huh?"

"I missed you so much, Twilight."

"I missed you t--" she finally noticed the injures and bite marks all over his body. "I-I guess your life wasn't easy out there."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me."

"But I do worry about you! You're my first and closest friend, for Luna's sake! I hatched you, you're like my son. I don't want to lose you." she sniffed, fighting back tears. "I can't lose you!"

He hugged her tighter. "I'll be more careful for now on, Twilight. For you!"

"Thank you, Spike..."

"So, you said Celestia is one of them now, that's why you wanted me here, right?"

"Yes and no. Canterlot needs additional protection, since the waves of attack are getting more frequent and our guards are moving to Safe Zones with less guards! I'd be glad if you could stay here a while to help us."

"Anything for you, Twilight!"

"Thanks. But there's something else."

"Yes?"

"I might have found something. Something big. I can't work in that by myself and everypony else is busy with their own departments."

"And let me guess: you want the help of your #1 assistant!"

"Correct!"

"When do I start?"

She nuzzled his neck. "Thanks, Spike! You can start right now, if you're not busy."