We stand together

It was starting to get dark as Bowdler walked back to his house, which was strange. He felt as if he had only been up for a couple of hours. He saw that other ponies obviously felt like this too, closing their windows and doors, nudging their foals into their houses. He ignored it though, he was too happy to think of anypony other than Twilight. He wondered how far this relationship would go, how long it would last.

‘As long as possible’ he said to himself as he finally arrived back home.

He noticed that his broken window was miraculously fixed, as if nothing had happened and when he walked in, the mess he’d woken up to in the morning, had completely disappeared.

‘Gee’ he thought, ‘I guess Dallas was right about Pinkie Pie’. He looked at the clock. The hands showed that it was half past two in the afternoon. ‘Must be broken’ he muttered, but then he looked out of the window and saw that the clock on the bell tower showed the same. He got worried all of a sudden, what was happening? He burst out of his house and started running towards sweet apple acres to join Big Mac, the Doctor and Dallas. At least he’d feel safe there.

~

By the time he arrived at the farmhouse, it was pitch black and he couldn’t even see his hoof in front of his face. The moon was not out, nor were the stars. A bad feeling washed over him, had this got something to do with him? From what he gathered he’d fallen from space, could this be something coming to collect him? He ran, he didn’t want anything to take him away from his new home, his new friends, his new life. Something hit his flank, hard. He toppled over and looked around frantically, then he heard Big Mac’s voice.

‘Whoa! I jus’ hit something!’ he said, sounding somehow unfazed about the pitch blackness.

‘Yeah, me’ Bowdler replied, extremely relived that it was just Big Mac.

‘Bowdler is that you?’ came the voice of the Doctor, ‘Where are you?’

‘Over here!’ he shouted, hoping they’d come to his voice. He wondered whether he could use magic to cast a little light on the situation. He started thinking really hard.

‘Light’ he thought, but nothing happened. ‘Light’ he said out loud, still nothing.

‘Light?’ came the voice of the Doctor, ‘where?’

‘Uh...’ he said quietly, thinking about what to say, ‘Let there be light? No...’ and then it came to him. ‘Lumos’ he said sternly and a dim, purple light floated just above his head.

He could see Big Mac and the Doctor, hanging on to each other. The Doctor was looking worried, but not shocked about the light, as if he’d known all along. Big Mac however, started to get freaked out.

‘How in the hay are you doing that?’ he spluttered, spitting out a blade of grass which was hanging out of his mouth.

‘There’s no time to explain’ Bowdler replied quickly, he’d just seen something else in the darkness, something big, ‘We have to get to the farmhouse’. They started running towards the door and quickly went inside. The first thing they saw as they walked in was Applejack and Rainbowdash, sitting there looking utterly stunned.

‘What’re you doing here?’ Rainbow said quickly.

‘We were about to ask the same thing’ replied Big Mac, who was also looking confused. The subject was dropped.

‘Why is it so dark outside?’ Applejack asked. The stallions all shrugged.

‘No idea’ said Bowdler, feeling confused and shocked. The Doctor bolted the door shut.

‘If this is what I think it is then we should stay here for as long as possible’ he said sternly, as if their lives all depended on it. Bowdler was about to agree when he remembered something. Something he really didn’t want to leave out there in the dark with all those things.

‘Twilight!’ he yelled and ran for the door. The Doctor jumped in his way.

‘I’m sorry but I can’t let you do that’ he stated, all his heart going into it.

‘I have to get to her’ he yelled, ‘I can’t leave her!’

‘If she has any sense she’ll still be in the library!’ he replied, at that, Rainbowdash and Applejack jumped up too.

‘Ho’ shit!’ Applejack yelled worriedly, ‘Our Twilight ain’t one for stayin’ out of danger! You have to let us go!’ They ran up and stood behind Bowdler.

The Doctor sighed, ‘I thought you’d have more sense than this Bowdler...’ he moved out of the way of the door, ‘Go, if you don’t value your lives.’

Bowdler strode forwards, not caring about how dangerous it was, all he could think about was getting to Twilight. ‘Lumos’ he said, before he, Applejack and Rainbowdash stepped out into the dark.

~

The darkness was total, other than the faint light coming from Bowdler’s horn. He could see some of the shapes making towards them.

‘Run with me, quickly!’ he yelled to Applejack and Rainbowdash. They sprinted down towards ponyville, nearly running into the shapes several times. The light seemed to keep them at bay. All the houses in town were utterly silent, the ponies obviously scared out of their minds. They never really got a good look at the the things that were chasing them, not daring to turn around and look. When they got to the library, they noticed that the door was ajar. Bowdler looked at the other two ponies nervously, they seemed to not mind the total peril of the situation, acting as if it was just another day in their bloody exciting lives. He however, was scared, more scared then he had ever been, not just for himself, but for the one he loved, for Twilight. He opened the door to the library and walked in. It was a tip, there were books everywhere, as if the place had been looted.

‘Shit!’ he yelled and started throwing the piles of books away, seeing if Twilight was under any of them. Applejack and Rainbowdash got the picture and started to join in.

‘Spike?’ he heard Rainbowdash say. He ran over and saw that she’d just uncovered Spike, who was lying unconscious under a pile of books. Applejack joined him and poked Spike.

‘He’s out cold’ she said worriedly, ‘Ah’ll take him back to the barn, for safety’ she picked him up and slung him over her back, then walked over to the door. She stopped just before she got there though, because a huge force had just slammed into it. Luckily, they had remembered to lock the door behind them, but nevertheless, the force nearly threw the door off of its hinges.

‘Bowdler!’ she yelled at him, ‘You’re obviously a unicorn or sumthin’, telly port us outta here!’, but he just stood there, unmoving, flames beginning to erupt in parts of his mane. He could think of nothing but the sheer hatred he had began to have against the creatures outside, it burned through his mind like some sort of tsunami of pure rage. The red markings on his body began to glow brightly and his mane set fully ablaze.

‘Unbolt the door.’ he said firmly, ‘let them come.’

‘Are you outta your mind?’ Rainbowdash yelled, her voice cracking several times in panic.

‘Let them in here now’ he stated, his words filled with fury. He was going to destroy these creatures like the vermin they were. Applejack started to unbolt the door when the thing outside smashed into it again, knocking the door off of its hinges and sending Applejack flying off of her hooves. It walked into the room and stared at them, with drool emerging from the sides of its mouth. For a moment, Bowdler considered whether taking this thing on was a good idea, but that was pushed to the back of his mind by a single thought. They had taken Twilight. They had taken his love.