Chapters It was a warm morning in Ponyville. A bit too warm actually, and the humidity made the new day uncomfortable right off the bat. Sunlight gently streamed through the porthole shaped window of a certain ponies bedroom. She stirred, the sheets uncomfortably sticking to her as she moved. She stretched her wings out, pulling the sheets off of her in the process.
The mare quietly got out of bed, not wanting to wake the small sleeping dragon by her bed.we had a long night . She thought to herself, looking fondly at him. He can sleep in today, after all we are on vacation . As she thought this Spike stirred slightly, rolling onto his back he began snoring lightly. Twilight laughed to herself softly before proceeding downstairs to the library with a smile on her face.
“Today is going to be a good day.” She affirmed to with a light nod.
Rainbow Dash lazily flew low over the just waking town, yawning deeply every so often. She hated being up early, and this was way too early for the fastest flier in Equestria. Giving a slightly dramatic sigh she picked up the pace.
Only a few minutes after sunrise, she had been jolted from her comfortable sleep by a knock at her door. It had been from the weather team. Some emergency about a weird heat wave from the Everfree forest, updrafts and something about the possibility of an out of control tornado. Half asleep at the time, she hardly remembered anything specific, but she didn’t care, after all she was the toughest, fastest flier in Equestria! So she continued her flight towards the Everfree forest, just wanting to get it over with.
"Why does weird stuff always happen when Twilight is around?” She grumbled to herself as she sighted the tree house library the princess was staying in. She's only going to be able to stay for a week this time before going back to her “royal duties .” The pegasus rolled her eyes as she quoted her friend. She slowed down a bit as she reached the library, leisurely dropping her elevation to see if the alicorn in question would be up at this hour. Sure enough, Twilight was not in her bedroom. As she passed the library she looked back through the window and noticed that her “number one assistant” was still fast asleep. Dash chuckled to herself as she passed the library.
“She's probably getting some early morning studying in before Pinkie Pie's party”. She snickered while she picked up her pace. Now feeling slightly more awake knowing her friend was awake as well.
“Got to make sure today is a good day.” With those encouraging words, she was off.
She rocketed through town, toward the forest, passing a few of her friends' places. Most notably, Sugar Cube corner, which was lively despite how early it was. Pinkie Pie was setting up for Twilight's party, excitedly bouncing around outside the shop setting up decorations and wheeling around a cannon. As she passed by the shop the pink pony took notice of the rainbow blur and waved to her vigorously.
“Hi Rainbow Dash!” The enthusiastic pony shouted before quickly covering her mouth realizing that some ponies were still sleeping. One even glaring at her from his balcony.
Smiling, Rainbow Dash shook her head. Pinkie Pie, you are so random .
She was almost there; the edge of the Everfree forest. Dash was coming up on her oldest friends' cabin.
Fluttershy turned towards Rainbow dash. Her mane was unkempt, as though she had woken up and come outside in a hurry. This, coupled with the news of something going on in the forest caused her to worry.
“Oh Dashie, I’m so glad your here.” The ever present concern in her voice was much more potent than usual.
Rainbow Dash became increasingly concerned upon hearing her friends voice. “Whats wrong Fluttershy?” She said trying to keep her voice from sounding worried so as not to cause greater concern to the panic prone pony.
“Its the animals, they are acting strange. They all ran out of the forest and are hiding. I'm doing my best to keep them from going into town but it only seems to be getting worse, I just don't know how long I can keep them calm. Even Angel is frightened!”
Now Dash was fighting to keep her cool, but Fluttershy knew animals, and could calm down an angry manticore. Something must have been seriously wrong. She shook her head, attempting to overcome her growing sense of distress. She needed to know everything she could before going into the forest.
“Shy, have you noticed anything else strange? Anything at all?” The Rainbow Dash pressed her friend for information.
Fluttershy looked down at the ground, avoiding her Dash's gaze so she could think. After a moment she looked back up at Rainbow Dash. “Well, my well seems to running dry, in fact steam was rising out of it earlier. Also, the river is running low.”
Dash turned her head. She hadn’t noticed it when she flew in but she definitely saw it now, the river was low and also the air had been getting warmer the closer she had gotten to the forest. Something was definitely up. She brought her attention back to her friend, who's face had gone from concern to fear. I cant let her see that I’m worried, but I don’t think I can let her stay here any longer . She forced her expression into a light smile.
“Ay Fluttershy!” Dash quickly darted over to her friends side.
“Y-yes?”
“I saw Pinkie setting up for Twilight's party down at Sugar Cube Corner. I'm sure she could use a hoof, why don’t you head on over there and help her out?” She was a bad actor and she knew it, but she hoped it was enough to convince Fluttershy.
“Y-you mean right now?” Fluttershy wasn’t fooled. She didn’t know why everypony thought she was so gullible. Dash was was worried about whatever was going on and was trying to protect her, but she just couldn’t leave her animals.
“Sorry Dashie, I would love to go and help set up the party but the animals need me right now.”I don’t even know whats going on . She thought to herself. Deciding that it would be worse to make her friend panic, Dash simply shrugged her shoulders.
“Suit yourself then.” She said trying to be as nonchalant as possible before taking off again leaving a rainbow trail in her wake.
Fluttershy looked up as her friend flew off towards the Everfree forest, wondering if she should have stopped her from leaving. It was too late, she would never catch up to her now. She turned back to the tree to calm the terrified family of squirrels hiding on a high branch.
Rainbow Dash zoomed over the forest, but it was too vast to fly low. She shot upwards to get the best view, but what she saw stopped her in her tracks, Her wings nearly locking up. There in the Everfree forest were two dark spots, about a kilometer wide each, made up of dead trees. Water vapor was rising off the ground all over the forest and if her wings had locked up she would have been held up by the powerful updrafts. Hovering there for more than a few minutes, staring in disbelief, she noticed the most frightening part. The circles of dead trees, they were growing!
“I have to tell Twilight.” Dash whispered to herself. She turned around back to Ponyville, Back to her friends, Nearly breaking the sound barrier in the process.
Rainbow Dash sped through the air try to work out for herself what in Equestria was going on, and what she should do next. I got to tell Twi, she always knows what to do . The pegasus slowed her flight, all but coming to a stop, her eyes heavy with dismay. No, I cant leave Fluttershy so close to the forest. She won't leave her animals .
“Darn it, Fluttershy! Why do you pick times like these to be stubborn!” Dash exclaimed in frustration. She needed somepony to tell her what was going on, not only to convince Fluttershy, but also to quell her own worries. Isn’t there anypony else who knows about weird ... Her thoughts came to an abrupt end as the answer exploded its way into the front of her mind.
“Zecora!” She shouted excitedly as she deviated from her straight path back to Ponyville. Dash had a good sense of direction and remembered where the wise zebra's home was. This is perfect ! she thought to herself as she descended in the general vicinity of Zecora's home. Not only does that zebra know as much about weird things a Twilight, but she also lives in the Everfree Forest! If anyone knows whats going on she will.
Dash deftly dodged the trees branches as she penetrated the forest canopy, darting left and right, unfazed by the sudden change in G-force. Spreading her wings and giving a few short but powerful flaps, the pegasus gently landed on the ground. However upon her hooves touching the ground there was an audible, “crunch”. She looked down. The grass beneath her was mostly dead and dry, and the air was so hot on the forest floor, it was uncomfortable to breath. Another realization struck her, The forest was completely silent. An ominous silence, that made her fur stand on end and her heart rate pick up. Padding through the trees heading for the zebra's tree house, Dash offered herself some reassuring thoughts and thought back to her and her friend's previous adventures in the Everfree Forest. These thought calmed her down though she would never admit to being scared alone in the forest.
Finally ! She thought to herself as she bolted for the door. Even from the outside Dash could smell foreign herbs and spices, it smelled almost like Twilight's library when she was doing some sort of experiment, but more earthy. She knocked on the door.
Once.
Twice.
Third time.
Still no response.
Dash, growing ever more unnerved, hovered over to her window. A quick peek in reviled that no pony was home.
“Pony feathers!” She cursed, floating backwards away from the window. She positioned herself in front of the door, before giving herself a mighty thrust of her wings. The rainbow blur shot forward, smashing through the flimsy door with ease. However, Dash over estimated the speed needed to break the door and just kept going, right into an empty bookshelf on the other side of the tree. The impact let off a might 'Thud!'. After dizzily getting back on all fours she looked around for any sign of the zebra. However, upon taking in the entire room she found that not only was the zebra in question missing, but also most of her things!
Dash meandered around the room, still slightly dizzy from the impact. “Zecora!” She called to no avail.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash's investigation was cut short as the ground began to shake, although lightly, beneath her hooves. The shaking was strong enough at least to tear Dash away from her thoughts, as the tremor caused a near by mask to fall, making the pegasus flinch. She brought herself off the floor, looking from left to right. She knew the tree would hold under this minor shaking but she instinctively felt that being off the ground was the best thing to do. After several moments that seemed to drag on for minutes, the quake subsided, allowing dash to feel comfortable returning to the ground. At this point she couldn’t wait for Twilight or go looking for Zecora, She had to get Fluttershy into town regardless of what her kind friend wanted. She ran through what was left of the door and took off into the sky, opting to go straight through the branches instead to avoiding them. Once above the trees she wasted no time in propelling herself straight towards Fluttershy's cabin. Between the unusual behavior of the animals, the strange events in the forest and Zecora's disappearance, Dash felt that something really bad was about to happen. With that in mind she zoomed to her destination.
“Ah, see? There she is now, I told you she could handle it!” Fluttershy's soft tone had become quite chipper upon seeing her oldest friend, confident that her worries were now over. Her head followed the blur as it quickly descended, then landing effortlessly in front of her. Before her was the usually confident looking Rainbow dash, however her face seemed more distraught than confident, but she wrote it off merely as it still being morning and unusually hot. Her friend was a lot of things but a morning pony was not one of them. Regardless she happily approached her friend.
“So did you find out what was the matter?” She inquired calmly. After getting closer she could see that her friends mane had become a bit more tattered than it was earlier. Knowing Dashie, she was probably trying out some neat new tricks on her way here. That would explain why she looks a bit worn out . She thought to herself as she awaited a response.
“Fluttershy.” The rainbow pegasus said coolly. Her expression unchanging.
“Yes?”
“Are you sure you don’t want to help Pinkie with the party?” Dash said calling back to what she had hoped Fluttershy would say yes to last time, but with much less optimism this time around.
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at her friend. Why does she keep asking? I told her I have to take care of the frightened critters . She then shook her head before responding.
“Sorry, but I can't. Just look as how worked up they all are.” She gestured to the cave with her front hoof.
Rainbow Dash sighed.
“I'm sorry Shy.” The rainbow pegasus closed her eyes.
The now more nervous, Fluttershy took a step back looking towards the ground . “W-what do you...”
Dash didn’t wait for her friend to finish questioning her before she lunged at her, the speed of her take off shearing grass and dirt from the ground. As soon as her friend was firmly in her grasp she quickly rose over a hundred feet before her shocked friend could protest.
“Dash! What are you doing! Let me go!” The pale yellow mare struggled but Dash was strong and determined.
“I’m sorry Fluttershy, its for your own good.” She took off towards Ponyville, somewhat encumbered and slowed by her mildly heavy and panicked captive.Ah-ha ! Rainbow Dash smirked as she flew down enlist the help of the most energetic pony in Equestria.
“Ay pinkie!” She said as she landed with only three unoccupied hooves, sliding towards Pinkie pie while supporting Fluttershy off the ground with only one hoof. Though Fluttershy was anything but thrilled by this feat.
“Ooh, are you guys playing tag!?” The exited earth pony bounced in a circle around the two, Never breaking her nearly indestructible smile. “Can I play?”
Dash smiled slyly. “Ya, of course you can play, but Fluttershy really wore me out. The object of the game is to keep Shy here as far away from base as possible.” By this point her smile had gotten even bigger, feeling very proud of how clever she was. Meanwhile Fluttershy, still suspended in Dashes hoof was scared where this was going.
“Wow sounds like fun!”-Pinkie squeaked in excitement- “So where is base?”
“Well I'm glad you asked! In fact, base is Shy's house!” Upon hearing this Fluttershy face hooffed.
“Dash I need to get back to my animals!” She tried her best to sound angry but it didn't come out with the effect she wanted it to have. Partially because she was starting to feel that something must have really scared Dash when she went into the forest.
“Pinkie, I need you to promise, pinkie promise that you will keep her in the center of town.”
“What do I get if I do?” Pinkie said moving her hoof down her chin as if she had an invisible mustache.
Dash was slightly taken aback by the demand, She didn't expect to have to bribe Pinkie Pie . She half rolled her eyes, stopping at the top, leaving her looking up,looking contemplative for a moment.
“If you win I will do anything you ask for an entire day!” Though she may regret it later , it was more than worth it to keep her friends safe
Pinkie looked uninterested for a moment. “Ummm, Well...” She started sounding as though she would reject the offer. “Okay!” She finished excitedly.
Dash nodded, dropping Fluttershy, then taking off for the library. She really didn’t have time for the whole, "cupcake in the eye", thing. What she had to worry about now was getting to Twilight. So Dash flew towards the library, despite her soreness hoping that this would be the end of it.
“Twilight can fix it. She can do anything!” said Rainbow Dash, hoping over and over again in her head that this would be the case.
Good morning Twilight.” The purple dragon said warmly as he descended the stairs into the library.
“Hey Spike, finally awake I see.” Twilight giggled as her number one assistant joined her at her desk. Of course Twilight understood his sleeping in, it was after all their vacation and they had left Canterlot pretty late.
Spike stretched out, giving a very deep and relaxed yawn that almost made Twilight want to go back to sleep.
“So what are you working on?” The baby dragon inquired as he peered over the alicorns shoulder.
“I’m Just reading over this checklist I made for the week. I’m going to maximize my time with the girls as much as I can. After all...” Twilight trailed off thinking again about how infrequent her visits to her beloved Ponyville had become. Her face betraying her sadness to the point where her faithful assistant easily picked up on it despite her not wanting to worry him.
“Come on, cheer up Twi”- Spike said as he rubbed just above her wing, giving her comfort.- “It'll get better, for now just enjoy your time with your friends.”
Twilight smiled. Sometimes she forgot just how wise the little dragon could be. “Thanks spike.” She said as she pulled him into a hug. The hug was short lived as the heat made the hug uncomfortable her.
Twilight began walking towards the library window.
“Why is it so hot today?!”- Twilight said annoyed.- “I didn’t hear anything about a heat wave in the forecast.”
Her horn began to glow as she reached the window and the window, in response, also began resonating with the same purple glow as her horn. Suddenly just as it opened a large rainbow blur flew only inches away from Twilight's face. She gasped, only inhaling hot dry air that flowed quickly in from outside following the blur.
The tree house library was now in site. Quickly scanning the fast approaching side she found no open windows. How the hay can she have all the windows closed in this heat?! The pegasus thought to herself as she simultaneously thought about stopping and using the door when suddenly she saw a window begin to glow.
“Perfect timing egghead!” Dash said to herself affectionately as she grinned. There was no time to stop now, she was less than a meter away from the widow when it started to open. Narrowing her eyes she brought her front legs forward and closed her wings, barely making through the still opening window. Rainbow Dash burst into the library seeing only for a brief moment a lavender blur, presumably Twilight, and hearing a faint gasp. She Was about to hit the bookshelf as she had done several times before, leaving her friend to pick up the mess, but she had been practicing. In a motion that happened in less than a second Dash let her wings drag behind her straightening them out, then with one powerful flap she came to a complete stop. Though the sheer force of the gust created be her wings did dislodge quite a few books anyway. She sighed looking at the mess she made then, shrugging it off she reasoned that it would have been a bigger mess, not to mention more painful for her if she had simply crashed. Besides did you see what I just did!? Dash smiled, feeling particularly awesome before realising that she had more important things to worry about, and that the pony behind her was probably not as thrilled about the mess she made.
“Rainbow Dash!”-Twilight scolded as her horn once again light up, levitating all the disheveled books back into their proper place.
“Twilight!”-Dash ignored her friends obvious displeasure, doing a complete one-eighty, zooming to Twilight. She jumped slightly, more from the rainbow pegasus’s frantic tone than from her sudden movement.- “Twilight something strange is happening in the Everfree Forest, I've never seen anything like it!”
Twilight was taken aback. Rainbow dash, the bravest and most headstrong pony she knew actually sounded... scared. Twilight was hoping it was an over reaction but the tone of Dash's voice made worry.
“Calm down Dash.”-Twilight said calmly, looking her friend in the eyes. An assertive trick she learned from being royalty, she exuded a sense of calm and authority. It seemed to work as Rainbow dash took a deep breath, then released.- “Okay, now tell me whats going on.”
Rainbow Dash stood for a moment, gathering her thoughts and wondering where to begin. She concluded brilliantly that the best place to start was at the beginning. She explained how she got up early to check out the Everfree forest, because there was a strange heat wave that could potentially cause a run away tornado, but when she got to Fluttershy's all the animals were freaking out and her well and river were drying up. As she went on, Twilight's expression became more and more grim, by the time she had finished describing the two giant circles of dead trees and Zecora's disappearance, Twilight needed to enact the trick princess Candice had taught her to stay calm. This worried Dash greatly.
“Come on Twi, tell me you know what this is and how to stop it!?” Dash implored, but the look twilight had on her said that what ever was going on, it couldn’t have been good.
“Rainbow, almost everything you just described. Well, it sounds like you described a super volcano!”. Twilight turned away from Rainbow Dash, and towards the bookshelves. After examining the shelf she levitated one book out.
“A super volcano!”-Dash was beginning to panic again.- “That sounds really bad!”
Twilight brought the book in front of Dash. The title read 'Geology and Seismology of Equestria- A Reference guide'. She magically opened the book to page sixty-one, chapter 4. It went into great detail about the so called “Super volcanoes”, but Dash knew Twilight would explain anyway so she just waited for her instead of reading.
“A super volcano is a massive pool of lava and pressurized explosive gasses deep underground, many times bigger than an ordinary volcano and many times more destructive!” Twilight spoke as though she were giving a seismology lecture despite the looming threat.
“So wait, your saying there is a big volcano in the forest and I just missed it?” Dash said, feeling slightly offended.
“No Dash, first off, a super volcano is underground. You would need special equipment and magic in order to locate one. Secondly, I have read every geological and seismological survey done in Equestria for the last fifty years! I ever participated in one neat the Everfree forest. If one was there, we would had noticed.”
“So your saying we have no idea whats going on?” Dash knew Twilight was the most thorough pony she had ever known, except maybe for Rarity, but you wouldn’t catch her doing a geological survey unless there were gems and a spa involved. Anyway, if Twilight Sparkle said there wasn’t a volcano then there wasn’t.
Twilight solemnly shook her head.- “No, It means what ever is going on, if it has even close to the power of a super volcano, not only Ponyville, but all of Equestria will be in danger!”- She looked gravely at Rainbow Dash.
This was what she was afraid of, but now that she at least had Twilight on her side it was time to set her fears aside and take action.
“So what should we do?” Dash spoke up sounding serious but confident, hoping that it would help easy her friend as well.
“I need to see first hand whats going on. Can you take me to where you saw everything?” Dash's strength was indeed contagious, her can do attitude helped her focus. Now she was ready to face this problem.
Spike, who was standing by listening to the whole thing, was now slightly mortified.- “W-what should I do?”-The dragon spoke up.- “Should I send a letter to the princess or..” He was promptly cut off by Twilight.
“No Spike.”- She stopped, after a second of thought she continued. “You need warn everyone to keep as far away from the forest as possible, but don’t go into too much detail. We don’t need a panic.”
Spike saluted and walked out the door.
“Okay, lets go!” She said letting Rainbow take the lead.
“Got it!” She smiled as she took off out the open window, getting past the next two houses before turning back to see Twilight just exiting the window. Dash face-hooved.
“This is going to be a long flight.” She grumbled as she waited for Twilight.
After what Twilight felt was far enough away from the forest, the two descended. It had been a hard flight for her, listening to Dash's groans of pain despite the pegasus's best efforts to conceal them, made Twilight want to stop and heal them but she could not keep us so many spells at once. If the shield protecting them from the wind had weakened there was no way Rainbow dash was in any shape to save herself, let alone somepony else. She spotted a grassy clearing and went in for the landing. Upon touching the ground the cloud that had been supporting her injured friend disintegrated, it had barely held up through the flight due to the extremely dry hot air. As the cloud gave way underneath Dash, Twilight used her magic to cushion her impact with the ground to avoid more pain and damage. She trotted over to her friend and examined her wings. It was bad! Blood had flowed down her flank from the wounds and clotted to her cyan fur. Just the amount of blood alone was enough to worry her, but the wost had to be the bones jutting out of her wings, how she had manged to flap her wings in this condition almost defied logic. Looking at the damage Twilight became nauseous and tears again began to flow as she tried and failed to stifle her sobs. This is all my fault !
“Don't worry Twi.” She gave an encouraging laugh trying to convince her friend that it was nothing, but she knew the egghead was smart enough to see for herself that it wasn’t. “This is nothing, you should see some of the crashes that the Wonderbolts have walked off.”
“Dash, I'm so sorry. I shouldn’t have flown out there by my self.” Her sobs we completely unbridled now as she resisted the urge to cry on her friends shoulder. “I-I never tried it on a pony, but I learned a healing spell last week.”
“Well what are you waiting for an invitation!?” Dash immediately regretted getting worked up as the pain surged though her body like a lightning bolt, she gritted her teeth against the pain still trying to retain her cool, tough demeanor.
“It's not that simple Dash. The spell works with the body to heal wounds extremely fast, but if it speeds up healing by a factor of ten, then the spell will increase the pain by the same factor, and even worse if
This was a very old spell, healing magic was rare because it requires studying a pony's body inside and out, very very few ponies would volunteer to be studied like that so spells were few and far between. This was the most effective spell she could find, she didn't know its side effects until she tried it on an injured bird. It's wing was broken much like Rainbow Dash's, She found it while walking through the royal gardens just the day after she learned the spell. It was just laying on the ground, it was all dirty like it had been struggling to fly despite its injuries, it was too exhausted to react to the approaching pony. Twilight craned her neck down to the poor creature and examined it. Upon analyzing its injuries she began to perform the spell. The bird was surrounded in a translucent, glowing purple aura. She concentrated intensely on healing thoughts pouring magic into the bird when suddenly it let out a blood chilling screech and struggled to get away, kicking violently at the ground, Twilight immediately stopped the spell what little the wing had healed from the spell had reopened and it even worse than before. She took the bird to the best vet in Canterlot. After the vet took some magical x rays he concluded that the bird would never fly again.
Rainbow dash contemplated this, weighing the pain she would feel against the time she would have to spend in the hospital, all of this was very hard to do in the haze of pain she was already enduring. In the end she trusted Twilight's magic implicitly.
“Go ahead Twi, I can handle a little pain!” She said boastfully.
Twilight nodded, the last thing she wanted to do was hurt her friend but on the other hoof she kept thinking back to that bird. That bird, that failure, she knew she couldn’t afford to mess up this time.
“Rainbow Dash, promise me. Promise you wont scream, no matter how painful you can't scream.” If her spell gets interrupted she may never see Rainbow Dash fly again, Her best friend will never get to fulfill her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt.
Dash gulped. 'How bad will this hurt?!' Dash's pulse and blood pressure shot up from the fear. The bleeding which had finally stopped started again due to her blood pressure. She steeled herself. 'No, I'm Rainbow Dash! The toughest Flier in Equestria! And she's Twilight Sparkle! The princess of magic! Everything will be fine!' She took a deep breath, then exhaled.
“Okay, I'm ready Twilight!” Dash's face was serious and determined. The face burdened by pain had been replaced with confidence.
“Alright, here' goes!” Her horn lit up, just like with the bird she focused all on healing, comforting thoughts. She thought of her time in Ponyville, of Pinkie Pies parties. She thought of the time last time Dash had hurt herself, and how she refused to read saying it was for “eggheads”, but then ended up breaking into the hospital just to finish “Daring Do.” After that she would always come to the library to read the latest book in the series. She closed her eyes tight and thought these thoughts, lest she see the sheer agony one of her best friends was in because of her. She wouldn’t dare open her eyes, she would withdraw so deep in her head that even if Dash were to scream she would not hear it.Wait, it's not hurting so bad ?
“Twi you’re a genius! It Worked! Twi?” Dash looked at her friend who couldn’t seem to hear the good news, magic still pouring from her horn. She flew over to her. She had never been so happy to hear her own wing beat.
“Twi!” Dash prodded her with her hoof causing her to flinch in surprise.
Twilight opened her eyes, to her astonishment Rainbow Dash was hovering beside her.
“Y-you're okay!” Twilight tackled the pegasus out of mid air into a crushing hug
“Oh my Celestia, I'm so relieved it worked!” Twilight almost began crying again.
“I told you I would be fine!” She wiggled out of Twilight's embrace and flew confidently up, putting her fore-hoof to her chest confidently. “I'm Rainbow Dash! Of course I'm alright, It didn’t even hurt!”
Twilight watched smiling as Dash gracefully glided back towards her. The spell worked, Dash was alright. She felt as though an entire mountain of weight had been removed from her shoulders. Dash landed on the soft grass beside Twilight, flexing her wings a couple of times before retracting them.
“Wow Twilight, I have seen you do some amazing magic but this definitely takes the cake! I would have been out of commission for month if you hadn’t used your magic! Seriously Twi, you're awesome!”
Twilight blushed at the adulation. “Well I'm just glad it worked and didn’t hurt.” The two stood there for a moment taking in the moment of relief, smiling. However the peace was short lived as the ground began to shake. The two looked at each other, the looks of of relief were quickly being replaced with concern. They weren’t far from Ponyville, if they could feel the shaking this far from the forest then whatever was going on was getting worse fast! The shaking subsided, Dash looked towards the Everfree forest, then back to Ponyville.
“We need to get going!” Twilight nodded in agreement as the prepared to take off, then Twilight heard a rumbling in the distance, it wasn’t coming from the Everfree forest. Her ear moved trying to pinpoint the sound.
“Um, Twi. Whats that?” Dash raised hoof pointing the opposite direction of Ponyville, the direction of Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight turned and saw a large dust cloud and the ground again began to shake.
“It's a stampede, and it's heading right for Ponyville!”
“Sweetie Belle please! Why would you want to attend Twilight's party?” The white unicorn said in exasperation to the excitedly bouncing filly following her.
“Because she's a princess!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, having expected her sister of all ponies to have understood.
“Sweetie, you never had an interest in Twilight's parties before, and insisting on going simply to meet royalty is unfair to Twilight.” She scolded her younger sister, knowing full well that the exact thing she was being chastised for was something that she was herself guilty of. 'She has to learn these things lest she end up with a character like Prince Blueblood.' She thought to herself with a shudder remembering the night of the grand galloping gala.
“But Rarity.” Sweetie Belle plead before her sister cut her off.
“No buts!” She said finally. She looked over to Sweetie to give her a stern look to quell any furthur arguing but instead found herself subject to Sweetie Belle's own “Stare”. Her Large green eyes pierced Rarity's attempt at sternness, she felt her resolve melt as the fillies began to glisten with forced tears and her lips quivered. With a sigh, Rarity gave in.
“Oh very well!”
“Yay!” She leapt with excitement
“But!” The sudden break in her excitement left her hovering in mid air as Rarity finished. “You must ask Twilight first.” Sweetie landed as she finished explaining the condition.
“Okay! I'll go ask her!” Sweetie Belle took off to the library before her sister could stop her, leaving her there shaking her head. 'How does that filly have so much energy in this heat?' With that thought she turned back towards Sugar cube corner. However, as she lifted her hoof to take a step she stopped as only an inch or so away a pink and yellow blur sped past then came to an abrupt stop. The pegasus looked around frantically as she panted.
“Rarity! have you seen Pinkie?!” Fluttershy said between heavy breaths, her eyes darting back and forth.
“I simply cannot understand how everypony has so much energy in this dreadful heat, and no, I'm on my way to Sugar cube corner to help with the party. I would assume she is there as well.” Fluttershy's strange behavior worried Rarity as in response to her answer she looked over the unicorn as if she were hiding the pony in question.
“Thanks Rarity, sorry to bother you. I have to get going, sorry.” With that Fluttershy began running in the direction of her home. When suddenly a gust of air rushed by her accompanied by hoof beats then a bright pink flash. The blur very quickly got in front of Fluttershy, causing the startled pony to scream.
“Found you!” Pinkie pie smiled excitedly despite the look of near horror her friend wore. “Your not very good at hiding are you? I even gave you a head start this time!”
“Pinkie Pie please, I need to get home. Those poor animals are scared! They need me!” Tears of frustration pooled in Fluttershy's eyes and she beseeched. Eliciting a frown from Pinkie who stood over her. Rarity had seen enough.
“Pinkie Pie! What do you think you're doing to poor Fluttershy!” Rarity said angrily as she trotted over to the two. She stood beside Fluttershy, who looked at her in much the same way Sweetie Belle had done moments ago, though this time the look was very much more real.
“We're just playing hide and go-stop-Fluttershy-from-reaching-her-cabin go seek!” She responded trying to sound as cheerful as possible when faced with two unhappy friends. “I'm winning.” She added proudly.
“Oh Rarity it's awful! There was something wrong with all the animals, then Rainbow Dash grabbed me and flew me by force to all the way to the center of town and then told Pinkie Pie to keep me from getting home to them!” Tears rolled down her muzzle as she explained. Rarity's jaw dropped at the story. This was going way too far for a prank, and on poor Fluttershy!
“Pinkie Pie, I demand that you let her go at once! I expected better of you and Rainbow dash than to pull such an extreme and hurtful prank on a pony like her!” Rarity rarely lost her temper, it was unladylike, but seeing how absolutely distressed Fluttershy was, she couldn’t help but feel protective.
“No way Jose! I Pinkie promised Dashie that I would keep Fluttershy safe and that's just what I'm going to do!” Pinkie Pie folded her forelegs in front of her and her face took on a determined look. It was clear she would not move easily.
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Keep her safe? From what?”
Pinkie Pie's eyes widened as she realized her slip. She began to sweat as she tried to think of a response. Her mouth opened but was cut off as she felt the ground begin to shake. She looked up to her friends and it was clear from the way they were both looking at the ground they were feeling it as well.
Rarity squinted at the horizon. a cloud of dust was fast approaching along with a thunderous roar. She could make out a fast moving trail of rainbow in front.
“Stampede!” A random pony screamed causing the other bystanders to run in panic into they're homes, quickly followed by the sounds of doors locking and curtains being drawn. Leaving the three standing in the middle of the now seemingly vacant town.
“Dash! You fly in front and try to startle the lead cow away from Ponyville!” Twilight shouted over the roar of hundreds of hooves. Dash brought her hoof to her forehead in salute before speeding off to the front of the herd. Twilight banked, gliding down to Apple Jack, who was atop one of the rampaging cattle.
“AJ! I see a small valley not far from here! If you can get them to stampede there I can conjure a fence to corral them in!”
Applejack grinned. “You got it partner!” She unfurled her lasso as she acrobatically hopped from one cow to the other. She expertly landed her rope around the lead and tugged the rope with all her might in the direction of the field. Dash darted back and forth, hoping that the fast moving rainbow blur would scare the cattle into turning, but to no avail. She shrugged and flew higher into the air, doing a loop to gain speed she flung herself at the cow in front by which time her friend had already lassoed. She rammed it, the speed of her impact nearly knocking the cow off balance, but it seemed to work as it changed it's course, followed by the rest of the herd. Winona, Applejack's faithful work dog, made sure to put any stragglers back on course. The whole herd began running in a circle in the field, Twilight's horn light up as she began the spell. Wood beams and wire encircled the cattle, and an iron gate formed in front. She sighed, as her glow faded, the intensive spell now complete. They had managed to stop the stampede only minutes away from town. Disaster averted the three mares regrouped just outside of the fence.
“Thanks bunches for the help y’all. That was some mighty quick think'n there Twi.”
“I'm just glad we managed to stop them in time.” She smiled as she looked over to the town.
Dash chimed in, hovering next to her friends. “So what caused the stampede?” A strangely concerned tone made Applejack eye her friend curiously before answering.
“Well, there were some timber wolves on our farm, thing is though, they didn't seem interested in us or the cattle. It actually seemed like they were running from something.” Dash and Twilight looked at each other, worry in they're eyes as they both came to the same conclusion. The worry was not lost on Applejack as she spoke up.
“Do y'all know something I should know?” Her voice came out a bit irritated.
“Yes, do tell. While you're at it apologize to Fluttershy for the cruel prank you put her through!” Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie all strode up. Rarity almost glaring at Rainbow Dash. All Dash did in response was give a sigh of relief.
“Thanks Pinkie, I knew I could count on you. I owe you one.” Dash smiled at her pink friend, however before she could respond Fluttershy stomped over to Dash, startling the daredevil.
“Rainbow Dash!” she began angrily, glaring directly into Dash's eyes. “How dare you keep me away from my animals when they need me! Then you get Pinkie to keep me from getting home! Then the first thing you do when you see me is thank her for giving me a hard time!” Fluttershy was really angry.
Dash expected this, and she was about to retort when Twilight spoke up.
“Fluttershy, Dash did the right thing.” Everypony looked at her startled, except for Applejack who just looked confused and Dash herself. “Your home isn't safe Shy, I went with Dash into the Everfree Forest. I don't know what's going on there but whatever it is it's not good.”
“Will somepony tell me what the hay is going on!” Applejack blurted out with a tone of annoyance from being the pony most out of the loop.
Twilight cleared her throat, her friends turning their attention towards her. Dash remained silent knowing Fluttershy would probably list to Twilight better than herself after what she did to her.
“Something is going on in the Everfree Forest! You may have noticed that it's unusually hot and dry today! Some of you may have been close enough to the forest to feel the ground shaking.” At the mention of the ground shaking, Applejack's face light up in realization, followed quickly by a hint of worry. “There are two massive areas of dead trees expanding at an alarming rate, and giving off enough heat to feel throughout Ponyville. Given the signs I can say that it resembles a super volcano in terms of power and may pose a threat to all of Equestria!” Her declamation caused gained several gasps from her friends as well as an absolutely terrified look from Fluttershy. Without warning the ground began to shake violently, mush stronger than before, buildings all over Ponyville swayed and trembled with the quake. Rarity and Applejack instinctively crouched to the ground while The winged ponies hovered just feet off the ground looking around nervously hoping all the buildings would withstand the tremor. Then, just as suddenly as it began the quake subsided, leaving an eery silence in its wake. Twilight took a deep breath as she landed, turning toward the Everfree Forest. A large plume of smoke rose steadily from the center of the forest, strangely lightening flickered within the smoke.
“Pinkie pie. I think your party is going to have to wait.” She said ominously
“You knew about the party!” her face became pure shock as she looked at her friends. “Okay who told Twilight about the?” she was cut off by a massive booming sound.
“Everypony get down!” Twilight ordered as her friends hit the ground behind her. Her horn erupted into light as a giant glowing, violet wall shot out in front of them and much of the town just a moment before an immense shock wave of wind slammed into it. Trees were flattened and large branches and other debris showered the force field, causing cracks to begin forming. The impact on her shield forced Twilight backwards as she grunted against the pain, desperately trying to keep her focus. In a few moments the shock wave ended. Twilight collapsed on the ground from exhaustion, her barrier crumbling away. Her friends gathered around her, making sure she was alright, and to their relief she opened her eyes staring at the site of what was once the Everfree Forest, her gazed in amazement as they followed her stare. Where once stood the Everfree Forest, was now a ghastly, pitch black serpent of haze, stretching kilometers into the sky. It gave an earsplitting shriek before flying off into the distance. The six ponies watched dumbfounded, none of them having any idea how to react at the moment. It was Applejack who broke the silence.
“M-my family! I have to make sure they're all right!” Without another word she bolted for her home. Dash lifted herself off the ground.
“I'm going with her! Twilight, make sure everypony else is okay!” She took off after her friend, as fast as AJ was running, Dash was the only one who could keep up.
“Twilight, Sweetie Belle was going to your library before all this mess happened, I have to go make sure she's not hurt!” Rarity was absolutely frantic, and Twilight understood how she felt. Besides she needed to check on Spike. She nodded to Rarity.
“Alright, I'm coming with! Fluttershy, please don't go back to your home without us okay. Please.” With that, The pair ran for the library, leaving Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie alone.
Fluttershy turned and began walking.
“Where are you going Fluttershy?” Pinkie called as she caught up, walking side by side with the pegasus.
“I'm going home, And there is nothing you can do about it Pinkie!” She growled as she sped her pace. Pinkie Pie stopped and watched her walk away.
“Of course there is something I can do!” She began as a look of anger spread across Fluttershy's face. “I can come with you silly.” She smiled as she bounced up to her friend who had stopped in her tracks upon hearing that. She turned around the anger completely gone from her face.
“You really mean that?” She said feeling slightly guilty at how angry she was at her friend.
“Well of course! I'm not going to let one of my best-est friends walk into danger alone!” Tears of happiness began to build up in Fluttershy's eyes.
“Thanks Pinkie, that would mean allot to me.” She affectionately nuzzled her friend. “I'm sorry I was so upset at you.”
“No problem, now let's hurry. I'm sure your animal friends are worried sick about you!” She said cheerfully. Fluttershy nodded as the two made they're way to her cottage.
Twilight and Rarity galloped towards the library. The stampede had scared most of the ponies in town into their homes, which was just as well. Debris that had gone over her shield spell littered the ground along with broken glass from sever windows that had been shattered. There was a small area of town that she could not cover in time. The few houses that were there had been completely demolished. Small rescue teams sorted through the rubble. Twilight watched as she ran by, praying that nopony was hurt. The library came into site, as Twilight thought it was in one piece. A sturdy tree could easily withstand such a minor quake, and the shield she had casted should have been large enough to protect it from the blast, Twilight reasoned. They came to a screeching haul just in front of the door, Rarity's horn light up and it magically flung open.
“Sweetie Belle! Are you alright?!” She ran into the library, quickly followed by Twilight. There they saw Spike and Sweetie Belle crouching under her desk looking startled at the ponies. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. 'I'm glad Spike payed attention when I went over earthquake safety procedures.' Sweetie Belle bolted out from under the desk with spike following right behind her. She lunged at at sister, nearly knocking her off balance as with her embrace.
“Twi what was that whats going on?” He began frantically. “First there was that earthquake, then that huge explosion. Does this have anything to do with what you and Rainbow Dash were talking about earlier?” Before she responded she wrapped her hooves around the baby dragon, pulling him into a warm hug.
“I'm just glad you're safe.” Spike relaxed from the reassuring gesture, once Twilight was satisfied that her would be okay mentally she released him.
“We don't know Spike. There was something in the Everfree forest, something immensely powerful. It caused the explosion and the quake. I almost didn’t get to use my brothers shield spell to block the explosion. If I hadn’t.” She trailed off at the grim thought. It quickly dawned on her that if she had waited even one more second, Spike and Sweetie Belle might not be alright. All of Ponyville and all of her friends, and even herself could have been taken out in an instant. She began to tremble. What was that! The adrenaline had worn off, and the implications of what might have been sunk it. Spike watched as Twilight drifted into her mind, her face becoming more bleak with each realization.
“Twi!” He pushed on her front leg, trying to snap her back to reality, it worked. She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts of what if.
“I'm sorry Spike, I'm better now”
“Oh Sweetie Belle! You poor thing, you must have been terrified!” She hugged her sister in with suffocating force. After a minute she wormed her way out of it.
“I wasn't scared! Spike was the one freaking out. I had to pull him under the desk 'cause he was running around trying to catch the falling books.” Spike blushed. Twilight looked around the library surveying the damages, books lay strewn across the floor but little else was amiss thankfully.
“Spike, We went over earthquake safety! Why didn't you find cover?”
“Twi, we went over that once! When we first moved into the library, and that was after going over fire, flood, hurricane, tornado, blizzard, meteor impact, chemical spills...” The list went on for another minute, twilight simply stood there with an unamused look on her face. What was wrong with being prepared?
“Okay I get it!” She shrugged causing Spike to chuckle.
“I guess we just have to do drills every month now for that entire list.” Spikes jaw dropped, his teasing backfired on him yet again.
“Twilight.” Rarity turned her attention to her bookish friend. “You really have no idea what that was? And what was all that about you and Rainbow Dash knowing something about it hours ago?”
“Rarity, I had no idea any of this was going to happen. Dash was sent by the weather team early this morning because of the heat disturbance coming out of the Everfree Forest. When she saw what was going on there, she rushed over here.” Twilight went into detail about what they saw. Rarity simply stared in disbelief. “We almost died when we got caught up in the turbulent winds and Dash was badly hurt trying to save me. I had just enough time to use a healing spell before we got caught up in that stampede. Then, well, you saw the rest.”
“We must tell the Princess!” Rarity said with finality. Twilight knew she was right, though she wanted to avoid contacting the princess at first the situation had become too dangerous. She nodded solemnly.
“Spike take a letter.” The dragon was already ready with a quill and parchment. “Dear Princess Celestia.” She began as she trotted to the window, looking out she could see ponies making their way out of they're homes, making sure their neighbors were okay. It was clear who had seen what came out of the forest simply by the looks on their faces. “I regret to inform you that there has been a tragic event. Ponyville is in danger and needs your help. Please respond quickly as the situation is dire. Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle.” Spike rolled up the letter before incinerating it in a burst of green fire.
“Now we wait.” At the moment Twilight had finished her sentence her horn ignited in green light and a scroll shot out of it. She faced her friends as she read it.
“Twilight Sparkle, Gather your friends and meet me in Canterlot as soon as possible. Stay away from the Everfree Forest at all costs! Equestria is in grave danger, It needs the elements of harmony. See you soon, and be careful.”
The room went silent, Twilight looked from the letter to her friends who looked as worried as she must have. Celestia herself seemed in a panic as she wrote this, forgoing any formalities or pleasantries. The only glimmer of hope in the letter was that the princess seemed to have an idea of what was happening.
“We need to meet up with the others, now! Sweet Apple Acres is closest, come on!” She ran out the door.
“Sweetie Belle, I need you to stay here with Spike.” She nodded as her big sister followed Twilight.
Applejack raced for her home, jumping over scattered debris without so much as slowing down. Dash followed from above, taking in the carnage left after the mysterious explosion. They both hoped fervently that the Apple's home was intact. Ponies who's homes were not fortunate to have been built within the radius of Twilight's shield had not fared well however. Suddenly a glimpse of a tuft of purple mane caught her eye. She stopped mid air and did an abrupt turn. Applejack came to a screeching halt, the look of horror in dash's eyes told her Rainbow must have had a good reason to stop. She followed her friends gaze to a small, demolished house. There in the rubble lay an unmoving young pegasus.
“Scootaloo!”
Dash flew over to the wreckage in a panic, Scootaloo was half buried under stone and wood, her upper body exposed. Dash brought her nose to the fillies mouth. She could feel soft, shallow breaths. Scootaloo was alive. Dash considered pulling her out but without knowing how injured she was that would have been dangerous. She turned to Applejack, eyes pleading. Without giving it a second thought she ran to her friends aide. Working together they slowly lifted the remnants of the house off her limp body, but the debris was beginning to crumble, if they held it for much longer they would risk it collapsing on the filly again. Applejack lifted with all her strength, grunting under the stress.
“Pull 'er out, I got it!” Giving a quick nod she released the wight onto AJ, but the shift in weight caused the pile to collapse. Thinking fast, Applejack threw herself into the space opened up around Scootaloo when they lifted the rubble, rearing her back legs she took the full weight of the house leaving Dash just enough room to pull Scootaloo out. She did a quick once over to make sure there were no obvious wounds then, satisfied that she seemed alright turned her attention to Applejack.
“AJ! Are you okay!?” She placed Scootaloo gently on the ground then darted over to her friend.
“I'm fine, just give me a hoof out 'a here.” Dash wrapped a hoof around Applejack's and gave a strong tug. Stronger than necessary as she easily slid out knocking both of them to the ground. Laughing off the fall they got to they're hooves.
“Is Scoots alright?”
“I think so, so doesn't look hurt anyway but she still needs a doctor, I... AJ, your bleeding.” She pointed a hoof to her friend's flank. There was a deep gash on her upper hind leg, blood ran down her fur, too much blood. She simply smiled reassuringly at her Dash, though it was clear she was avoiding putting weight on it.
“Don't you worry none sugar cube, I'll be alright.” Dash shook her head.
“No, you need to go see a doctor, or at least Twilight or even Fluttershy. Your bleeding way too..” Applejack cut her off before she could finish.
“Lookie here Rainbow, I need to make sure my family is alright, and you need to get that young'n there over to the hospital.” Dash couldn’t argue that, she was torn between her loyalty to her friend and to the filly that she thought of as a younger sister. Wait! I'm the fastest flier in Equestria! I can fly Scoots to the hospital and be back before Applejack gets to sweet apple acres! But, what about her leg? I can't let her go off like that, but, even injured I cant just grab her like I did with Fluttershy. Her friends inner turmoil did not go unnoticed by Applejack as her eyes quickly darted from the unconscious filly to her injured leg.
“Just go sugar cube, she needs you more than I do.” She smiled softly through the searing pain in her leg, Dash was stubborn but Applejack could be downright unmovable. Knowing this, she gave in.
Applejack watched as the rainbow trail flew away, confident that she was out of the pegasus's sight she looked back to her bleeding leg. It was bad, a deep gash tore from flank to her rear end. Taking a deep breath she looked away and slowly lifted her hind leg. She gasped, a wave of pain shot through her body, and she could swear hear the sound of flesh tearing. Shutting her eyes tight she struggled against the urge to cry out, her teeth strained against each other. Applejack stood motionless until the pain went down. Letting out a sight she looked to the sky. Looks like you won't have much trouble catchin' up RD. With that thought she slowly began liming back to Sweet Apple Acres.
“This is can't be happening.” Dash hovered just feet of the ground, baffled at the chaotic sight before her. The hospital was swamped. Injured ponies and there families, as well as doctors, nurses and volunteers frantically moved in all directions tending to the injured. A long line stretched out of the hospital, with smaller lines branching off of it into tents set up for those in critical condition. She looked down at Scootaloo, gently placing her on the ground as she landed.
“Sorry AJ, I don't think I will be able to catch up in time.” Dash lifted the Scootaloo over her shoulders and placed her on her back, steadying her with her wings to keep her from falling off. She took her place in the line. Screams and crying could be heard from every direction.
“R-Rainbow Dash?” A small voice weakly spoke near Dash's ear.
“Scootaloo! Are you okay?! Are you hurt anywhere?! What were you doing out there?!” Dash fired a barrage of questions at the still shaken filly. Scootaloo struggled to her hooves, falling against Dash's soft wing. At this point it would be safer to put her down, Dash reasoned, crouching to the ground. She extended her wing, angling it to the ground that Scootaloo used to slide down. She again stumbled to her hooves and began to speak.
“Apple Bloom and I found Zecora. She told us something bad was going to happen. Apple Bloom ran home and I came to find you.” Rainbow Dash was filled with hope, not only was Zecora alright but Apple Bloom went to warn her family, they may be safe after all. She rubbed the fillies head affectionately.
“You did a good job squirt, I'm proud of you.” Even through her haze of dizziness she smiled at the praise.
“You don't need to stay here with me, the others need your help right? You're going to save Equestria again like you always do right?” She looked around, now getting her bearings, she could see now that it was as bad as Zecora said it would be.
“You bet we will!” She said confidently, before realizing what she was being asked to do. Her face softened with a hint of worry. “Are you sure you'll be okay by you're self?”
“Of course I'll be okay! I am Scootaloo after all!” She attempted to mimic her idol's trademark cockiness, rearing up on her hind legs and putting her hoof to her chest. Though all she managed to do was nearly topple over, her balance not yet fully recovered. Dash managed to catch her just in time.
“Okay Scoots, but you have to promise me you'll stay here and have a doctor take a look at you. I don't want to hear any arguing!” Dash felt like a mom talking to her filly, it made her feel nervous and proud at the same time.
Scootaloo nodded. “You got it Rainbow Dash! Now go kick some butt!” She smiled enthusiastically.
“Right, take care Scoots, I'll be back!” With that she flew off, despite her best bravado she could not stifle her reluctance to leave her behind. She knew she had to though, her friends needed her, so she flew to Sweet Apple Acres.
Dash flew across town as fast as she could but after they day she had she was sore and weak. Her body ached and protested each flap. However, she pressed on. It didn't take her long to catch up to her injured friend, who was still slowly limping towards her home.
“AJ!” Gliding down, she skidded on the ground coming to a complete stop in front of her. The blood on her leg had clotted for the most part but her constant movement had opened the gash further, causing fresh blood to spill out. Even upon Dash's arrival she had continued to walk. Applejack looked up from the ground, grinning through the pain.
“Hey RD, glad yer here. Is Scootaloo alright?”
“Yeah, she seemed fine but I had her stay at the hospital just in case. She told me that Zecora told her and Apple Bloom that something bad was going to happen. Apple Bloom went home to warn your family, I bet they're okay!” Despite the news, her face now only seemed more worrisome. She stopped, lifting her hind leg just off the ground.
“Rainbow, can you give me a lift?” A wave of soreness and exhaustion pulsed through her entire body, her body knew she was in no shape to carry a full grown mare. All her body wanted to do was collapse right there or on a comfy cloud and nap it off for the rest of the day. That's what her body wanted, but Dash was not about to let her friend down, and heart knew that. She shook off her tiredness.
“You got it Applejack.” She hovered herself just above Applejack, analyzing her for the best way to grab her without touching her injured leg. Carefully she wrapped her hooves around her chest, just under her front legs. With a few strong flaps they were airborne, her lower legs dangling. Free from the stress of her weight, her body went limp in Dash's hooves.
“Applejack, you seriously need to lose some weight!” She grunted as she willed herself through the pain.
“It ain’t my fault yer get'n out of shape.” Despite everything that had happened, they still managed to laugh.
After a very slow flight they finally made it to Sweet Apple Acres. It was a disaster. The barn lay in ruins. The trees had been devastated, the few that had not been flattened by the explosion had been striped bare.
“No.” Applejack spoke in a barely audible whisper.
Dash's body was giving out. Using the last of her strength she gently placed her friend on her hooves, every muscle shaking in protest. As soon as she was safely on the ground Dash went limp, she collapsed on the ground, panting hard. Her mouth was dry, her body ached and the only thing she could hear was her blood rushing through her ears and her heart beating out of her chest. Without a second thought Applejack ran over to the ruined barn, adrenaline temporarily taking away the pain in her leg. She frantically began throwing pieces or rubble aside digging for her family, tears began pouring down her face.
“Why? This can't be happening!” She was hyperventilating. Rainbow dash shakily trotted up behind her and gingerly placed a hoof on her shoulder.
“What's all that cry'n for?!” Applejack and Rainbow Dash spun around in the direction of the familiar old voice. Three ponies were standing at the entrance of the cellar.
“Granny Smith!” Applejack ran and hugged her grandmother and the rest of the family joined in a group hug. “I'm so glad y'all are okay!”
“Zecora told me and Scootaloo that something bad was going to happen, but I guess she came here first and warned Big Mac and Granny Smith. When I came back they pulled me into the cellar and then there was a huge explosion! What in Celestia is going on? Is Ponyville alright? What about Scootaloo?” Apple Bloom took a deep breath as she finished. Rainbow Dash walked over to the Apple family.
“Scoots is at the hospital, a house fell on her. Don't worry, she woke up and seemed fine but I told her not to leave until she get's checked on. Ponyville is not in good shape, Twilight did her best to protect the town but it was a big explosion, and you know about as much as we do about what the hay is going on, just that it came from the ever free forest.” Apple Bloom's face became more and more grave as Rainbow Dash explained the situation. Dash couldn’t blame her, it was all she could do not to loose it when she saw Scootaloo underneath all that rubble.
“Girls!” A voice called from a distance, the ponies turned. For a moment they saw a flash of purple light,
“Girls!” Rainbow Dash almost fell over as Twilight and Rarity magically appeared then Twilight yelled two inches from her face.
“Oh, sorry Rainbow Dash... I must have miscalculated the distance.” She looked around at the carnage that was Sweet Apple Acres, what few trees were standing had been stripped bare. The barn was beyond repair, they would have to make an entirely new one. Twilight felt a powerful guilt was over her. As if reading her mind Applejack spoke up.
“Now don't you go thinking that any of this is your fault, you saved most of Ponyville from that explosion.”
“But Applejack, your farm is completely destroyed! Your family could have been seriously hurt because I couldn’t cast a bigger shield! This is my fault!”
“Twilight darling you don't really believe that do you? Just think of how much worse a mess everything would be had you not been here.” Twilight nodded, but she was clearly unconvinced. Dash tried a different approach.
“So why did you run all the way out here? Did you get a hold of the princess or something?” Twilight's eye's lit up with focus.
“Right! I got a letter from Princess Celestia, she needs us in Canterlot with the element's of harmony, she also says to stay away from the Everfree forest at all costs.” Rainbow Dash scanned the area quickly, fear swelling in her chest.
“Where is Fluttershy?!” She exclaimed, fear apparent on her face.
“You think she went back? I-I asked her to stay away!” Twilight began to panic, Fluttershy wouldn’t go off on her own would she?
“No!”
Fluttershy sprinted over to where her cottage was. Though, It was hard to be certain she was in the right place, and she really hoped she had just gotten lost. There was nothing left of her home, not even the trees or stream. Being the closest to the explosion, it would have taken the most damage but there was just nothing left. Tears poured down her face.
“Angel bunny, all my animals. Why did this happen. Oh Angel.” She broke down and wailed on the ground into her forelegs. Pinkie Pie sat beside her rubbing her back in an attempt to comfort her. The air was dead still, the smell of smoke and ozone lingered overbearingly. Suddenly Fluttershy felt something hit her side. She squeaked in fear and clung to Pinkie Pie. Pinkie looked over her friend's should and smiled.
“Fluttershy look! It's Angel!” She turned her head and there she saw the small white rabbit. She gasped and lunged at him, wrapping her forelegs around him.
“Angel! Oh I'm so glad you're okay!” The bunny squirmed out of her grasp, and ran to the only standing object, a rock protruding out of the ground not far from where her home was. He jumped up and down in front of it, pointing. Fluttershy followed, then she remembered what was on the other side of the rock. She zoomed over to the rock at speeds Rainbow Dash would be proud of. On the other side of the rock was a cave!
“Oh, are you all okay? You can come out now, everything is all right.” She cooed gently, one by one all the animals made they're way out of the cave. She was surprised so many animals could fit inside, though she had been too scared to go inside it herself she assumed it was a smaller cave, she was happy she was wrong. She glanced over all the animals and sighed in relief.
“All safe.”
“Oh Fluttershy I'm so glad all your animals are safe!” Pinkie happily bounced over to her friend.
“So am I. I have never been so worried before, I thought you were all...” She trailed off, then shook away that unpleasant thought. “I'm just happy your all safe.”
“Fluttershy!” She looked into the sky where she expected to find the source of the familiar voice, sure enough and rainbow blur was descending quickly towards her. Rainbow Dash skidded on her hooves coming to a screeching stop in front of Fluttershy. Her wings hurt almost as much as before Twilight healed them, she felt nauseous and her throat and mouth felt like she swallowed a desert. Despite being in incredible shape, she had pushed her body way too hard. She collapsed on the ground and began dry heaving, everything seemed to be spinning. Fluttershy rushed over to her side.
“Dashie are you okay?” She didn't respond, she could barely hear a thing. As a top athlete she knew what her symptoms meant. She had become extremely dehydrated and over exerted herself. Her wing trembled as she used it to block her friends from view as she vomited. Fluttershy, gently stroked her back. The vomiting spell lasted nearly a minute before Rainbow Dash passed out.
“Dashie! Dashie!” She shook her friend trying to wake her up. When that didn't work she turned to Pinkie.
“Pinkie Pie, do you have any water?!” Pinkie shook her head as she stared shocked at the unconscious Rainbow Dash.
“Fluttershy!” She turned around, Twilight and the other girls had appeared behind them. Fluttershy stood silent. Twilight eyes were met the pegasus lying on the ground, she gasped and ran to her side.
“Rainbow Dash! Rainbow what happened?! Are you okay?” She shook her vigorously, tears beginning to pool in her eyes. Fluttershy pulled Twilight away from her.
“Twilight, She is severely dehydrated and exhausted. She needs to get to the hospital and..” A weak and shaky voice interrupted her.
“I'm not.” She coughed. “I'm not going to the hospital.” Dash rolled over facing her friends, but was still too weak to stand. Applejack padded over to her, and reached into a bad hanging over her shoulders. She pulled out a bottle of water, and uncapped it.
“You need to drink something sugar cube.” She gently lifted her head up and held it with her hoof and grabbed the other end of the sports bottle with her mouth. Dash weakly opened her mouth as Applejack put pressure on the other end, squeezing out life sustaining water. Dash eagerly chugged it down, before she got half way finished AJ pulled the bottle out of her mouth.
“Don't go too fast now, you don't want to throw up. Breath for a sec.” Dash nodded and took a few deep breaths. AJ nodded and placed the bottle back in her mouth. Dash sucked the rest down and Applejack helped her to her hooves.
“Thanks AJ, Sorry for making you worry.”
“Think nothing of it sugar cube.”
“Oh Dashie! I'm so glad you're alright!” Fluttershy enveloped her in a warm hug, Rarity, Pinkie and Applejack joined in. She smiled and returned the hug. 'I really do have the best friends don't I. Wait?'
“Where's Twilight?” They looked around in confusion, Twilight was nowhere to be seen.
“Where am I?” Twilight stood in the middle of what appeared to be a crater. Is this what's left of the Everfree Forest? How did I get here?
“Girls!?” She shouted, getting only her echo as a reply. The ground was completely bare, and the once lush forest around her was completely devoid of life. She turned around towards the center of the crater, then stopped dead in her tracks. A single figure stood at the center on a mound of dead scorched earth only a meter away from her.
“Who are you?” She said in little more than a whisper. It turned slowly, as it moved the completely dead wind kicked up, lashing hot sand and ash at her. It stared into her eyes, with and expressionless face.
“I'm Zander. I'm a human.”
“Are you the one responsible for this?” Her voice trembled, she didn't know why but this beings presence made her uneasy. Instead of responding he turned his head without uttering a word, he looked to the far horizon. He wore what appeared to be pure white a lab coat with matching white pants. The wind once again came to a dead stillness. He stared silent for almost a minute before he hopped down from the mound of earth and began walking towards where he had been staring.
“Stop!” Her horn light up ad she teleported in front of him, despite her wariness she stood her ground. He analyzed her with cold silver eyes, then smiled.
“I'm not the one you want. Now get out of my way, I have something important to take care of.”
“Not until you tell me..” She stopped mid sentence as his hand and eyes began to glow with a translucent white aura. He can use magic?! The moment she finished that thought the field of magic enveloped her, she became weightless then with a small motion of his hand she was sent flying. Just moments before she would have hit the ground she teleported, the momentum from being thrown stayed with her as she skidded across the barren, dry dirt, coming to a stop right in front of him. My turn! Her horn glowed and the ground shook. Roots and Vines shot up out of the ground all around them and shot at him, while vines from directly under his feet bound him in place. Without changing expression he took a deep breath and held it for a moment. His eyes and hands ignited with white light, then he exhaled, all the vines burst into flames and disintegrated into ash. He grinned manically, and flames erupted all around him and exploded towards Twilight in five jets of fire. She closed her eyes and engulfed the fire in her magic and inches before the flames hit her they collapsed into puddles of water. She breathed a sigh of relief.
“I'm impressed, you transmuted the fire in real time. You're pretty good with magic.” She was about to reply but Zander didn't give her a chance. He suddenly appeared behind her, a flame alight in his hand. She spun around as he swung the ball of fire at her, she teleported away a moment before it hit appearing behind him she ripped rocks out of the ground and hurled them at him. Following her lead he teleported behind her avoiding the rocks, the puddles of water beside her grew sharp tendrils of ice and shot out at her but they shattered as they made impact with her force field. Twilight surrounded him in her magic and levitated him off the ground then threw him as hard as she could at the ground but he teleported just before he made impact appearing over head. Balls of flame proceeded his as they rained down towards her. With immense precision she turned each ball of fire into water that splashed around her like giant rain drops. Zander teleported in front of her, a cocky smile on his face as the water turned to steam Twilight's eyes suddenly widened with panic as her horn lit up just one second before a spark of lightening ran through the water causing fire bomb of hydrogen and oxygen. The force of the explosion sent Twilight tumbling across the ground, her shield had taken most of the force for her but fell apart as she made impact with the ground, her body skidding across the dirt. Zander held his hand out and white translucent hand shot out of the ground, pinning her to it. One hand grasped her horn. She struggled against the hands but the duel had left her weakened. I've got to get out of here and get back to my friends. Her horn began to glow but only sparked and faded as the hand around her horn drained her magic.
“Let me go!” She continued to struggle to no avail as he stood over her.
“You're good, but only using passive magic is no way to win a fight with a human. You need to learn some combat magic. If you did you might be able to help me, I can tell you have a lot of potential. Listen, like I told you before I'm not the one who caused that explosion, but I am the only one who can help you stop the one who did. Can we calm down and talk about this?” The hands holding her down faded. She slowly stood up, eying Zander cautiously. She opened her mouth, but was cut off before she could speak.
“Twilight!” Both her herself and Zander turned to the source of the voice, It was her friends. Pinkie Pie was in front followed by Rarity and Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were in the rear leaning against each other for support.
“Girls!” Twilight ran to her friends, who one by one fell into a group hug around her. It was Rainbow Dash who first noticed the state she was in.
“What happened to you Twi? Why are you all beat up?” She had scrapes, her fur and been burned and feathers ripped out. It didn't take long for them to notice Zander walking up to them.
“Girls get back!” She jumped in front of her friends, protectively brandishing her wings out, and her horn light up. Rainbow Dash joined her, standing by her her side she bared her teeth and growled.
“Is this what beat you up like this?” Applejack said taking up Twilight's other side, the others joined behind them. Zander rolled his eyes and shrugged. He lifted his hand. Twilight's muscles tensed as she prepared to fight him once again, but instead of his hand lighting up with magic he simply pointed to the horizon he had been staring at.
“Look over there, You'll see what the real threat is.”
“Yeah right! Like were going to fall for that!” Rainbow Dash said as she scrapped her hoof against the ground, preparing to charge, but Twilight had seen him taking an interest in that area earlier. She slowly followed the direction he was pointing. Sure enough, there was something there.
“Girls...” Twilight pointed with her hoof in the same direction as Zander. The other five followed her gaze. There in the distance, pitch black storm clouds were beginning to form. They were far away but Twilight could sense massive amounts of magic in them, and it was not good magic.
“It's a storm. So what?”
“That is not just a storm!” Zander lashed out in frustration, the change in his calm demeanor surprised Twilight, even when they were fighting he seemed more like her was having fun rather than angry.
“Who are you anyway?” Rainbow questioned.
“And what are you? I have never seen anything like you before in Equestria, have you Twilight?” Rarity asked, Twilight shook her head in response.
“If you're not an enemy then you should tell us who and what you are and what you are doing out here. You know what's going on don't you?” Zander looked contemplative for a moment, resting his chin between his fingers and thumb. Then he nodded.
“Very well, I can tell you all about me. In return I want you to help me save your world.” His cryptic words almost made Twilight shiver. What could be worse than what's already happened? She took a breath to calm herself then nodded.
“That depends on what you have to say. Let's start with what you are. You said you're a Human right? What is that? I've never heard of such a thing in any of my books.”
“Okay, I guess that's as good a place as any to start. I'm willing to bet you haven't hear of us because the last of us went extinct about seven thousand years ago. There are only two of us left now. Myself, I am Zander by the way, and the one who is responsible for the explosion. His name's Klain, and he is very dangerous.”
“Wait. Seven thousand years! That would make you older than Princess Celestia!” Twilight exclaimed, there was no way he was older than the princess right?
“I have been asleep down there for over eight thousand years along with Klain.” The six friends stood staring in disbelief at Zander.
“How can you use magic? And, how did you do those spell? You mentioned combat magic but I have never heard of anything like that before?” The sting of loosing a magical duel hurt worse than her injuries and the idea that he knew more about magic than her hurt even worse.
“I guess you aren't used to loosing are you?” He said with a cocky smile.
“What did you just say?!” Dash prepared to lunge at him, but Twilight held her back with her magic. She looked downcast at the ground.
“He's right Dash. I lost.” Her friends looked at her with surprise and sympathy. Zander continued speaking unfazed.
“It's only natural that I won, after all humans are the ones who created magic. The system was set up specifically for humans so it's only natural that I would have an advantage.”
“Wait humans created magic? That's not possible! Magic is.. It's..”
“It's a system of nano, femto, and planck length technology connected to the minds of individuals who can access it. Humans created it twelve thousand years ago, and after that our species was doomed. All of that is ancient history now though. The real threat is Klain, he is more powerful than me, and that storm is the manifestation of millennia of magical energy formed into a spell that will destroy the minds and souls of every sentient being that the rain from it touches instantly. The spell is called the “Purge” and it is the end of the world. But he isn't going to stop there. He intends to unlock the seal of Tartarus, that is where the residual consciousnesses of humanity are kept. Imagine billions of beings as strong as me, and all that power focused on destroying free will of every living thing. That is what is happening right now! Don't you get it?! If you don't help me then the world will actually end! Now if we are done playing twenty questions will you help me?!” By the end of his speech he had very much lost his composure, he was hyperventilating with anger. Twilight and her friends looked to one another, worry sweeping over them.
“W-why should we trust you?” Rainbow Dash asked nervously.
“Would you rather wait until it's too late to find out if you can trust me? Does the world matter that little to you?” Twilight closed her eyes, sorting through her thoughts. Her friends looked at her expectantly. After a moment she opened her eyes, she had made her decision.
“You'll coming with us to see the princess, we will decide then after we hear what she thinks.”
“How are we going to get to the princess? I doubt the trains are run'n and not all of us can fly or teleport.” Applejack spoke up, she knew neither her or Dash could make the journey in their state. Twilight smiled.
“We don't have to. Princess Celestia gave me a spell to only be used in emergencies. It will retrieve the Elements of Harmony from the Tree of Harmony, with the magic of the Elements I can teleport us all to the palace.”
“Is that really safe though? What about the tree?” Fluttershy said meekly
“The forest was destroyed, I doubt what ever will happen will cause any more damage.” Zander spoke up.
“I don't think we have a choice.” Twilight closed her eyes and her horn glowed brightly, Zander was taken aback by the sheer amount of magic that the Alicorn possessed. Suddenly the Elements of Harmony appeared over their respective wielders and attached to them. A bright rainbow light enveloped them. He blinked and when he opened his eyes he stood in the middle of an ornate palace.
“Why is that monster in my palace!” A voice boomed. Suddenly chains of magic shot out of the floor, wrapping around Zander's arms and legs. They retracted pulling him down to the floor on his knees. Then in a flash of magical light, appeared a regal alicorn with a flowing rainbow mane. She glared at Zander, who stared back at her coldly at first, then he grinned at her as though he were trying to provoke her.
“Princess Celestia, wait he's not..” Twilight tried to explain but Celestia wouldn't give her a chance.
“I specifically warned you to stay away from the forest Twilight Sparkle. You have no idea what this creature is capable of!” Twilight was taken aback by the princess's anger.
“Oh she knows well what I am capable of Princess of the Sun. She put up a decent fight but I'm guessing you never even told her about combat magic am I right?”
“Silence!” Her horn light up and the chains pulled him flat on the ground, with more appearing and binding his back and neck.
“Princess wait, I think we need him! He knows what's going on and he wants to help.” Twilight implored.
“Princess, what do you know about him? About all of this?” Both Twilight and Princess Celestia were taken aback by Rainbow Dash, it was not like her to question the princess but Twilight herself had the same question burning in the back of her mind. Dash shakily walked up to the princess, still exhausted from the events of the day. She had watched her friends be put in harms way, Applejack got hurt and she almost lost Twilight because of this “Klain” and the princess knew something about it. Dash had no patience now, she wanted an answer. The princess eyed her with a complicated expression before she finally sighed and nodded.
“Very well. It was millenia ago, long before I was born. There were a species of beast that ruled the earth with hate and paranoia to each other and all things. They had attained an immense, god like power. This power was magic, and they used it to ravage the world and kill each other. Eventually, they became to corrupt and evil that reality it's self turned on them. They died by the millions for a reasons that they could never understand. Even so, the most powerful of them remained unharmed and were free to reign destruction on the world. Soon, alicorns came into being and used the beasts magic against them and sealed their very souls in Tartarus. The last of them were hunted down before the three tribes period, but their story was passed down in our family line so that they should never be released.” They all stared, completely baffled, though none more so than Twilight Sparkle. Then a laugh came from behind them, It was Zander.
“Is that how much of the story has been retained? To be sure most of it is true, though much is conveniently left out.” His hands and eyes began to glow as he stood up, the chains of Celestia's magic snapping like yarn. Instinctively, Twilight stepped between him and the princess. Her horn lit up, readying for another confrontation.
“Princess, I mean little disrespect but I think you are forgetting that no pony could hope to defeat a human like Klain. There is a reason he was not sealed away in Tartarus with the rest. It is because he is the most powerful human being to ever live. His magic greatly exceeds your own. You need me.” Before the princess could respond however the ground began to shake violently. A bright light appeared beneath the princess. She fell to her knees in pain as a runic circle appeared around her cutie mark.
“Princess!” The six fillies yelled simultaneously, watching helplessly. Then just as suddenly as it came the shaking stopped. Celestia looked at her cutie mark.
“My sister, come! We have a emergency!” She called out to the air, suddenly, in a flash of dark blue light, appeared the Princess of the Night, Luna.
“Yes sister, I fear a seal has been placed on myself as well. He to has been sealed, I believe it is spell to keep us from leaving the castle.” The girls looked at Zander suspiciously.
“Hey, I had nothing to do with that! It makes sense that Klain would trap the bearers of the sun and moon as well as the embodiment of chaos here. Even for a being as powerful as Klain, the three together could pose a threat.”
“Wait how do you know about Discord? In fact how do you know about any of this if you've been asleep for eight thousand years?” Dash said accusingly.
“I don't know if you have a word for it, but we humans called it 'The Great Computer.' It's a separate layer of magic that uses quantum computers floating around in the air and in the minds of sentient beings that records everything, forever. I accessed it shortly before Twilight here found me.” Twilight looked up contemplatively, then had an epiphany.
“Wait! You mean that's what happened when I took that potion from Zecora when we first found the tree of harmony? I saw into the past and saw how Princess Luna became Nightmare Moon and how the princesses first fought Discord.” Zander looked genuinely surprised for a moment before smiling at Twilight.
“You actually accessed the great computer? I knew there was something special about you. It takes a powerful mind and strong magic to keep the computer from overloading you synapses and destroying your mind.” Twilight gulped. You mean that could have happened!? Zecora said it was dangerous but she didn't say it was that dangerous! Zander approached the princesses.
“I'm afraid now that you are trapped here you have no other options, I must go and stop Klain. I ask that you send Twilight Sparkle with me.” Twilight and her friends looked up at him in surprise.
“And what will you do if you defeat Klain? Wander around the land until your corrupt soul turns you into a monster and you wreak havoc on the world? You humans are all alike, impure and dangerous and you know this to be true.”
“No, I have no intention of returning after this. I will drag Klain to the deepest depths of Tartarus and do battle with him for all eternity so that he may never escape.” They stared each other down as though it were an old fashioned gun fight. Each waiting for the other to give, even and inch. I the end Celestia gave in.
“I will not ask Twilight and her friend's to join you, I will leave that choice to them.” Zander turned to them expectantly as Twilight did the same to her friends.
“Girls, this is going to be dangerous. Probably the most Dangerous thing we have ever done. But if I do this I want you all to be by my side so I'll leave the decision to you girls.” Rainbow Dash was the first to respond.
“If you go, I go. You know I would never leave my friends hanging.”
“Y'all can count me in.”
“I as well, we can't simply let you wander into some dreadful business alone.”
“I'll come to if you don't mind.”
“Ooh! You can count me in to!” Twilight's eyes filled with tears of happiness.
“Oh, girls.” They all joined in a group hug, Celestia and Luna smiled at each other. Even Zander could not help but smile softly at the display of friendship.
“Very well, If you are all sure you want to join me I'm afraid you can't go as you are, otherwise it will go from dangerous to suicidal. I mean, one of you is injured, and another is exhausted beyond the point where she can fly and none of you know any combat magic. I know I can't do this alone so I offer to you a sort of up-grade. I recommend you accept.”
“What do you mean, up grade?” Twilight said wearily. Zander held his hand out and a ball of sparkling white light appeared in his palm. He approached Rainbow Dash.
“For you Rainbow Dash, I offer to you a magical program that will enhance your flight speed, endurance, and precision. It will also make your body free of the negative effects of G-forces. You will be able to fly like no other has before.” She stared mesmerized at the glowing orb. Many things ran through her mind but one thing stood out the most. I almost lost Twilight because I wasn't fast enough. How can I protect her or any of my friends in what we're about to get into if I couldn't even handle some wind? Her expression became one of determination as she nodded.
“Good, close your eyes and lower your head.” As she complied he reached his free hand into the orb he pulled out a small wisp of light. It lingered on his index finger as he touched it to Dash's forehead. The light absorbed into her body. All the exhaustion and muscle pain vanished but otherwise she felt...
“I don't feel any different?”
“Just wait until you fly.” She flexed her wings in and out as he moved on to Applejack.
“I can give you the strength of one hundred ponies and give your body increased durability and healing.” She glanced over to Rainbow Dash. Well she seems fine, I guess it doesn't hurt none. She closed her eyes and bowed her head. He repeated the process and she absorbed the magic light into her body. She felt a sharp burning pain in her leg for a moment then it was gone. She turned her head to her injured leg but the wound she had received had been completely healed.
“Whoo-y, That's some impressive magic ya got there. But other than my leg I don't feel any different either.”
“You will.” He moved on to Rarity.
“For you my lady I give you access to transmutation magic, you will be able to instantly know the make up of a material, and change it's properties and shape at will. Do you accept?” Rarity closed her eyes and bowed her head. Zander placed the small wisp of light directly on the tip of her horn. She to felt no different. Next was Pinkie Pie.
“Pinkie Pie, you already have unusual access to the great computer. You have the ability to receive information about future events, though it's more or less random. I offer to you unlimited access to the great computer. Your mind will be safe because of the amount of exposure it's already had.”
“I knew there was a logical explanation!” Twilight blurted out excitedly, to which her friends looked at her with raised eye brows. She blushed and gave a nervous laugh.
“He-he, um, never mind.” Zander rolled his eyes.
“Do you accept?”
“Okay!” She replied enthusiastically, squeezing her eyes tight. He touched her forehead with the magic light. He turned to Twilight.
“Twilight Sparkle, the power I offer to you is an immense one. I can give you the sheer magical power that only humans have known. You will be on an entirely different level, you will have a perspective unlike anything you have even known.” The ball of white light suddenly changed, it was now pitch black with dark violet bolts of magical lightening arcing around it. It looked nothing short of menacing.
“Wait! Twilight, I must advise you to think carefully on this.” Princess Celestia spoke, Zander nodded in agreement.
“Your princess is right. The power I am going to give you would be lethal to a normal unicorn alone, though that is not your concern as you have ascended beyond that. Your concern is that this magic is absolute corruption. For each magnitude it increases your power it will grow any impurity in your soul by the same degree. Any darkness in your heart will be amplified and it may very well overwhelm you.” Twilight looked fearfully at the menacing ball of magic. Rainbow Dash padded over and stood by her side.
“Twi, I know I don't know much about magic but I know you. You're the purest pony I know, you don't have anything to worry about because there's nothing bad to amplify.” Her friends joined by her side, smiling comfortingly at her. She took a deep breath, then exhaled.
“I accept!” Zander grinned, impressed by Twilight's courage. She bowed her head and closed her eyes. Unlike with the others it was no small spark of the sphere that he took, rather it was the entire ball of magic. He touched it to her horn and she girted her teeth in pain as she absorbed it's full power. The pain faded but her mind raced with knowledge of thousands of spell she never knew existed. This is human magic... it's... incredible. She definitely felt different, she felt, empowered.
“You alright sugar cube?” Applejack spoke, her friends looking at her with concern.
“Y-yeah, I feel... great!” She said excitedly, brimming with energy.
“I'm amazed you took to it so well. You are indeed special Twilight Sparkle.”
“I knew she could do it all along!” Dash spoke boastfully.
“Have y'all noticed that Fluttershy's gone and disappeared?” Applejack said, causing everyone to look around. Indeed the shy pegasus was nowhere in sight.
“W-where am I. Girls?!” She said softly. She was still in the castle judging from the décor and architecture.
“Fluttershy, we need to have a little chat.” Fluttershy spun around, standing behind her was her friend, Discord.
“Oh, It's just you Discord. Why did you teleport me away from my friends? What's going on?”
“You see Flutters I know more about humans than Celestia, and I know that where you're going is dangerous. If I could, I would go with you but I'm afraid I'm trapped here with the princesses. Fluttershy, I want you to take this.” He held out his paw, balled up into a fist. He opened it and a hooflet appeared. It was a deep, exotic purple that seemed to resonate with magic. She looked at it curiously.
“It's pretty. Uhm, what is it?”
“It's something myself and Princess Luna have been working on. It contains the concentrated essence of my power. I want you to take it with you.” Fluttershy smiled and took it from him.
“Aww, that's so nice of you Discord. Thank you.”
“Be warned Fluttershy, It's never been tested and that much power has it's side effects. Wear it, If you say my name it will give you my power, the power of chaos. Only use it in an absolute emergency, I don't know what will happen to you after you use it.” Her happy expression quickly turned into one of nervous fear. But, I know I'll just get in the way if I go. I'm not as strong as Twilight, Dashie or Applejack and I'm not as resourceful as Rarity or as.... Pinkie Pie as Pinkie Pie. With this, maybe I wont be so useless. She slipped it on to her hoof, though loose at first it magically tightened it's self around her till it fit perfectly.
“Thank you Dis... Discord?” He had vanished as she was putting on the hooflet.
“Fluttershy! Where are you?!” She heard Rainbow Dash call from another room. She looked back around the room. Discord was nowhere to sight.
“I- I'm here!” She walked out of the room to her friends.
Be careful Fluttershy, I don't want to lose my only friend. He thought to himself, watching from the ceiling as she left the room.
“Whew-y!” The orange pony said as she wiped her brow with her hoof, sweat clinging to her fur.
She had just finished bucking the last tree of the day, her chores finished up early despite the heat. Smiling with satisfaction at her hard work she wheeled the cart of freshly bucked apples back home so the could be made into a great variety of delicious apple based treats. The strong, country pony, effortlessly pulled the rather large haul of apple over the bumpy terrain. She looked up to the sky, her slime dissipating, as there were no clouds in the sky. The air, which had started out humid earlier in the morning was now just hot and unusually dry, the peril of the environment did not escape the experienced farmer. This weather could easily escalate into a fire, destroying generations of work in a single day, not to mention putting her family and friends in danger. All it would take was a spark, and she knew this well. However, fire was not the only threat posed by this unusual weather.
“Hey Applejack. Wait up!” An enthusiastic voice drawled from behind her.
“Oh, sorry Applebloom.”-She spoke in a much less enthused voice than the pale filly who was all but panting after catching up to her. Applejack tried to keep her voice in check so as to not worry her little sister but with out much success.-“I was lost in thought, that’s all.”
Applebloom, who was now walking side by side with her big sister, raised an eyebrow at her uncharacteristic reaction.
“Now Yer start'n to sound like Granny Smith! Are you sure yer all right?” The young pony inquired dubiously.
AJ forced a convincing smile before replying. “Aw, don’t you none sugar cube”-She managed to pull off her cheery affect. Not stopping to see if her little sister was convinced or not, she deftly switched the subject.-“Speaking of Granny Smith, how is she doing?”
“She's all right I guess. Just relaxing in her chair like usual.”
To Applejack, that was just as great a concern as a fire, this weather was no good for old pony folk. As far as she could tell it was somehow getting hotter almost by the minute. Even if a fire didn’t happen, she worried this could be the onset of a drought. A rare occurrence, but if the weather team messed up somehow or maybe this was some freak runway weather from the Everfree Forest, but if this kept up her farm's crops would be in danger. She pondered these things again forgetting her sister was walking right beside her watching her expression darken. 'Maybe I could ask Rainbow Dash if she could give us some cloud cover, at least till the heatwave dies down. I'm sure she'd understand if it was for Granny Smith. '
As she pondered asking her rainbow maned friend for help she became oblivious to her sister and just about everything else. if she didn’t know the lay out of her farm by heart she might have tripped on the couple gofer holes she casually walked around, but suddenly something shook her from her train of thought, literally. Her head shot up as she scanned around her. The ground was shaking. Only slightly, but still shaking. However, the usual cause of this was nowhere in sight.
“Applebloom, did you feel that?” Applejack turned to her sister, only to see she had a look of fear in her eyes. She was about to ask what was wrong but the filly cut her off.
“Ya, I felt it, and I see that!” Applebloom shot a hoof up, pointing slightly behind her sisters field of view.
AJ spun her head around to see what was getting her little sis so worked up. There in her west field, not more than two barns away, was a pack of three timber wolves!
“Applebloom you stay here!” Applejack ordered her sister as she unhooked herself from the cart she ran to the side opposite her sister and grabbed her lasso that was hanging off a metal peg jutting out the side of the cart. She prepared herself to sprint after them but by the time she turned around the had gained quite a distance. She stopped and watched them. They were running, almost like...
“Aren’t you gonna go after them?” Applebloom pressed anxiously looking quickly between the timber wolves and her sister.
“It almost looks like they're running from something.”- The timber wolves, despite their proximity showed no signs of interest in the two ponies.-“They aren’t running towards the house and they must have already passed our heard if they are coming from that way.”
'Wait!?' Applejack's face suddenly turned grim. Almost as if on cue, the ground began to shake again, but it was different this time, it was an all too familiar shaking. Accompanying the tremor the air roared and as the farmer turned towards the source of the noise she saw a fast approaching dust cloud.
“Stampede!”
After an, as she predicted, all to long a flight, the pair were nearing their destination. Fluttershy's cottage was in sight.
“Finally!” The rainbow pegasus said in exasperation. She looked around her friend's home and to her dismay saw none of the animals she was working fervently to ease before Dash marenapped her. She did a mid-air about-face turning towards Twilight who was still behind her. After the lavender alicorn shot her a, less than amused, look for her overly dramatic statement she quickly digressed and instead gave her a nicer alternative.
“Well I guess you have been really busy, probably didn’t have much time for flying practice.” Dash sad nervously rubbing the back of her head. Twilight was now caught up with her friend, her look changing from one of sarcastic anger to a bit regretful as sad, her eyes looking down following her mood.
“As a matter of fact your right, I haven’t had any time to practice between my studies, my duties as a princess, and trying to spend time with all of you, or trying to, that I haven’t had the chance to practice properly.” Twilight's sad expression only grew stronger as she spoke, as did her friends expression of guilt. The last time that Twilight Sparkle had visited Ponyville, Dash had been busy with special flight training for the Wonderbolts. She felt a little guilty for not being there but she didn’t think the element of magic, the princess of friendship would hold that against her. Now She was really feeling the guilt of disappointing her closest friend.
“Look, I'm sorry Twi.”- In a comforting gesture, the pegasus put her hoof over her friends shoulders, being careful not to bump her wings.-“After we get this whole thing sorted out how about I personally give you a lesson?” The ever confident speedster puffed out her chest as she spoke. The gesture seemed to have had the desired effect as Twilight's face light up a bit.
“I'll hold you to it.” Twilight's smile returned. Dash relaxed as her friends disposition returned to normal.
“So where is Fluttershy?”
Dash froze at the question, never quite thinking how she would word her traumatizing the shy pegasus. Though Twilight continued without noticing as she looked around for signs of her animal loving friend.
“I mean, if there is trouble in the forest shouldn’t we tell her so she can stay in town and... Dash are you listening?” She waved a hoof in front of the spaced out pony.
“Oh, um... I-I took care of it?” Dash said as though she were asking Twilight.
“Oh, okay?” Twilight furrowed an eyebrow in confusion.
“Anyway lets go, we're close” Rainbow Dash flew towards the sky. Coming to a sudden halt she looked down to her friend who was hovering where she was just left. “Come on.” She smiled in her characteristic confident mischievous smile. Twilight smiled and followed her friend over the Everfree Forest.
The two flew for only a few minutes before they could see first signs something was amiss. The air was stiflingly hot and so dry it was hard to breath, the wind was disturbingly still, or at lest the experienced weather pony could tell it was. Worst of all though the air carried a frightening smell, the smell of smoke! A short while later they were there. Then, they saw it! It was much worse than when Dash had been there just an hour earlier.
“Twilight, be careful the winds could kick up any...”-But her warning came too late. A powerful updraft had knocked twilight into a falling tumble. She screamed and flapped her wings frantically trying to fight the now highly turbulent winds. Dash sprung into action, diving for her plummeting friend, but the updrafts were strong, even she could barely keep herself straight, meanwhile her friend kept falling further. Dash beat her wings with all her might, but the hot winds seemed bent on holding her back. Dash's heart was racing. No! I cant make it in time, She's falling. I Have to do something! Her thoughts raced, then, an idea.
Dash flew up, following an updraft. A second later it subsided, then, she dived. She flew as quickly as she could, once she had picked up enough speed she opened her wings and with a mighty heave thrust herself into a spiral. An Explosion of rainbow and sound was left in her wake, a drill like spiral of rainbow flowed behind her. At these speeds and with her spin the updrafts didn’t matter at all! She almost felt like there was no air as she effortlessly bored though the powerful updrafts! The earth beneath her was a dizzying blur of green black and an ever growing splash of purple. Her vision blurred, her head became light and fuzzy and her lips were going numb. She was blacking out.
No! Not now! Not until she's safe! The now ballistic Pegasus willed her body to stay conscious as she was now only a few meters from her target. Only have one chance! Got to get this right. Using her tail she managed to flatten herself against the wind by a couple degrees putting her on a perfect course to catch her friend.
Three. Two. One! Exactly as she had finished her count she made contact with Twilight pulling her into her stabilizing spin they both shot straight towards the ground now even faster. The ground was fast approaching. Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth against not only the friction of the air but also for the pain she was about to be in. She waited, then another updraft hit her, thanks to the fact she was holding Twilight in essentially a bear-hug she was a bit less aerodynamic and could easily feel the changes in the wind. As soon as the gust hit her face she threw open her wings quickly decelerating the plummeting ponies, however the wind and shock painfully ripped at Dash's wings, shearing feathers, and flesh off her wings, she could feel several bones fracture under the stress, despite her bracing for the pain the intensity of it made her yelp in agony. It was enough to both stop their fall and pull them both out of the spiral. Twilight was still reeling from first the fall and then the spinning, so despite the damage she endured she kept flapping her wings, wincing at ever muscle contraction.
Everything was still spinning, She felt sick and the experience left her shaking. All she could recall through the ordeal was seeing a sonic rainboom then being hint with something that felt like a boulder then a lot of spinning. So where am I now? Twilight thought still in a daze. She felt somepony's hooves around her, Dash's. She looked up to see Rainbow Dash suspending her in the air with her forelegs wrapped around her waist. She was crying, her face contorted from pain.
“Twi”-She grunted painfully-“Can you fly yet?”
Twilight began flapping her wings just before Dash's gave out, she began falling but Twilight caught her by the hoof. Dash hung there, really hoping another updraft wouldn’t hit. Twilight looked at the cyan pegasus's now disfigured and bloodied wigs, a piece of bone even protruding out from one of them.
“Oh Celestia, Dash your wings!” Twilight said shakily as she held back tears and her horn began to glow.
“Heh, is it better or worse than the time you got me hooked on Daring Do?” Dash laughed through the pain trying ease Twilight's worry. Though even the act of laughing intensified her pain. Out of nowhere a white fluffy cloud formed under Dash surrounded by a purple magic glow.
“This isn’t funny Dash, you seriously hurt!” Tears started pooling in Twilight's eyes.
Dash let her weight rest on the magically formed cloud. Her hoof sliding out from Twilight's grasp.
“Don’t worry egghead, this is just a scratch, you should see some of the wipe-outs the Wonderbolts have walked away from”
A rope appeared magically in front of twilight, it to wrapped in her purple glow. She unwound it then tied it off so it made a loop.
“Hold on to that end okay. I'm going to fly us out of here”
“Wait what if there is another updraft?” Dash said looking around as if to see if any we hiding.
“I have that covered.” Twilight retorted as she cast another spell that cast a large pink, transparent sphere around them that quickly disappeared.
“It's a spell to protect against the wind.” She began levitating the rope towards her mouth before dash interrupted.
“Wait! Why didn’t you use that before we fell?!” Dash blurted before she recoiled from the pain of her outburst.
“You didn’t tell me about the winds and I need focus to cast so it wasn’t something I could do while falling.” Dash wanted to shrug at that answer but she was afraid it would hurt too much so she compliantly took the rope into her mouth. With that twilight towed the pegasus to safety both, relieved to be leaving the Forrest. Despite the pain Dash took a look back, and it looked as though the circles had gotten even bigger and closer!
