Chapters Prologue
The night was strangely light. The grey clouds glowed, signaling the dawn. The clouds were moving swiftly, although there was no wind.
" Form your ranks! Hold together!"
A bulky Pegasus was slowly circling a rather large cloud. For being so big, it was moving incredibly fast. Small tufts of cumulus flew off of it, slowly dissipating into the summer air.
" We're almost through!" The pegasus's voice was gritty, the voice of one who has seen much war. He was wearing a helmet, that had a great many scars. His a grey suit of flight armor was dull, meant to blend in with the clouds.
He looked down, at the trees that were quickly going by.The vast forest beneath him was blurred, his brain barely recognized that this WAS a forest.
But still he looked. Searching. Searching for the sign.
He pulled out a whistle, and blew it, but no sound came out. The large cloud slowed, until he could see the land more clearly.
There.
Icicles. Icicles were everywhere, bathing the clearing in a eerie blue color. They just seemed to glow, as if some power was insisting that this clearing, was the sign for something unnatural.
The bulky pony smiled grimly. He blew his whistle again, and the cloud was gone. In its place were several other pegasi, donned with the same armor and helmets, though none were as scarred as their leaders.
He slowly descended to the ground. The other pegasi followed suit.
When he reached the ground, he made a wide motion with his front legs. all the other pegasi dove into the foliage of the trees. He did not want them to be visible to the creature, for they were his escape.
The leader remained. He waited. He didn't dare move. He could feel it, watching him. He didn't want to look, but he couldn't control himself. He saw something, or, he thought, just beyond the treeline. Just out of sight.
Suddenly,the slight summer breeze turned frigid. The leader knew what was coming. He watched as a thick mist started to flow through the trees. It circled him, until it had made a fulll rotation. Then it whispered.
Just as I'd hoped...
The sound was soft, yet full of malice. The large pony's mind instantly thought of sharp, wicked glass.
Or ice.
He looked at the ground. Ice was indeed slowly forming across the grass.
Go figure, the leader thought.
He heard a terrifying noise that sounded like somepony being strangled. The shrill sound echoed, and would have frightened animals, if there were any left.
He turned around slowly to see a vaguely horse-like figure standing amidst the mist. Its form was incorporeal, bending and twisting with the fog. Its eyes glowed with blue fire, its mane twisted and dissipated. There were no back legs that he could see.
The creature stood, as if waiting for something.
Its eyes suddenly flared, and shards of ice flew up into the trees. He heard screams that were terrifyingly short. As he started to turn to look, he heard a different sound. The sound of hoof-beats. The creature reared and screamed. The usually soft voice was puncturing.
" DEPART! THE SIGN WILL COME WHEN I HAVE NEED OF YOU." And as mysteriously as it came, it vanished, taking the mist with it. The leader watched the ice recede.
He slowly turned, and walked over to the trees, the massive shafts of ice remained. He looked up, to see each of his pegasi impaled, blue with cold. He flew up to search for survivors. Every single pegasus was frozen. The leader reached out to fell the pulse of his second in command. As his hoof contacted the the body, his soldier shattered, along with the rest of his men. He turned as the sound off hoof-beats grew louder.
He flew up into the clouds and watched as the search party arrived. He could hear the voiced quite clearly
"What happened here?" A rather large grey earth pony stallion stood in front of the largest shafts. He walked around it.
"Strange. Ah' have neva seen an icicle this big befoa. Much less growin' up." He scratched his head with a hoof.
" Look at the size of it!" a blue unicorn mare exclaimed.
"Ive never seen anything like it!" said a yellow pegasus.
" Well we've gotta' get them outta' here or they'll kill the trees!" the grey earth pony said. The rest nodded assent.
" We'll move them to-.... Do y'all' hear that?" The ponies stopped moving.
"Sounds like whispering to me." the unicorn mare said.
They turned to see a slight fog coming from the trees. The small group of five grew close together.
"Great.... Now we got fog ta deal with! Hurry everypony, We gotta get that ice outta here pronto!"
"You know what I think.." the pegasus started. There was a loud crashing sound, as a path of ice shot out from the trees, impaling the pegasus in mid-flight.
The mare screamed. The earth pony whirled just in time to see his friend's body shatter on the earth.
Everypony froze, minds still trying to grasp what just happened. The mist, however,continued to roll in.
The silence was shattered by another deafening crash. The red unicorn stallion peered through the mist, but to no avail. He heard hoof steps, fading quickly into the distance.
He began to hyperventilate.
OmygoshOmygoshOmygosh!
His panicked thoughts were pierced by a scream.
"Help me! "
"Snowflake? Snowflake!" His brain matched the sound to the blue mare in his head. He ran into the mist, blindly trying to find the source of the shriek.
He stumbled and fell, landing hard on his shoulder.
The shrill sound echoed, continuing until its owner could hold it no more. He lifted his head, and saw several piles of broken ice. This was lost on him however, as he saw his mare.
Drenched with sweat, lungs heaving, she sat, still staring at where the shafts had broken on her shield. Her horn was sputtering, until its spark went out.
Another defining crash sounded, followed by a hiss.
Suddenly, a the ice at her feet reformed, broken peices melting and reconnecting into a deadly projectile. It lifted, and pointed directly at her.
"Snowflake!" he screamed, scrambling to get up.
She hadn't seen it, through her matted mane.
He ran, flinging himself between her and it, as it flew toward her.
She screamed as it stabbed him, freezing him instantly.
Even though a body was thrown to stop the shaft, it didn't stop. It kept coming. The mare did what instinct told her. Her horn flared, placing a protective shield in front of her, bracing for the impact. The projectile hit it and shattered.
Her horns glow sputtered and went out, as her body fell onto the ground.
* * * *
The grey earth pony stallion was tearing across the clearing with his strong workhorse legs, but even at top speed the ice was faster. It writhed and coiled as if alive,chasing him like some unearthly snake.
He could hear it coming closer. His desperation fueled mind searched for a way out, but to no avail.
His stamina was running low. He may be an earth pony, but even they cant run forever. he put all of his will into searching for a way of survival.
How do you deal with ice? Break it, melt it, avoid it, break it..
His mind stopped, focusing on one thing other than running.
Maybe.....
He waited as long as he dared, while still running, He turned around and bucked the tall ice shaft with all his might. It cracked, then buckled, showering him with small ice pieces.
As soon as they had shattered, they had re-formed. They came from all directions, hissing in the air.
He braced for impact, but instead of the shards stabbing him, they enveloped him instead, encasing him completely.
He couldn't move. Couldn't yell for help, couldn't breathe. He began to writhe, and strain, trying to get some air.
The coffin around him, weakened by the warmth of his body, suddenly split, the crack ending at the top of the block, allowing oxygen to reach him.. He greedily sucked in some of the life granting vapour.
He could move his head, but nothing else. He looked around him.
I don't know where I am.... I have to get out of here!
He suddenly froze, not daring to look to what he could see in his peripheral vision.
He could see a form through the mist. He could see a body, a head, and front legs.
Gathering his courage, he turned to look, and screamed.
Those eyes!
He could feel the hate pouring out from within those terrifying spheres, and screamed again, as it moved closer.
It whispered.
You..... will die... It reared as it said this, but no mouth was visible.
You will feel our hate.... You will become.. one of us....
The eyes flared again, and the earth pony screamed. He felt a agonizing pain deep within him, he could feel it tearing, something out of him, he continued to scream as the pain intesified, then was cut short, still echoing in the summer forest.
*** *** *** ***
The blue mare laid alone in the clearing.
She couldn't feel, couldn't think. All she could do was breathe. And she did, for hours. But, fate had other plans.
The dark blanket of un-consciousness was lifted from her, she was met with a terrible pain.
Her whole body ached, but her soul was cut.
She cried. Cried for her friends, cried for herself, for the future. She was blaming herself for Vibrant's death. The red stallion had always been nice to her. She cried and cried until she could not.
We came to see if anypony needed help.. now everyone is dead.....
This thought only darkened her thoughts, save for one, which thrust itself to the top of her mind, insisting that it was the best thing to do.
Survive.
Survive, and warn others about this nightmare. Warn the Princesses, warn the neighboring town of Ponyville, warn all of Equestria.
She stood up, still shaking, for her body was depleted. She looked around. The entire search party had been either frozen, or impaled and frozen.
If her special talent hadn't involved ice magic, she would've been killed.
.
She stopped. She looked down at a pile of growing ice at her feet. Her tears were freezing solid as they fell from her face.
She forced her body to run.
She ran until she dropped, out of the mist. The mist was content, to leave her. Let her spread the word, of what was coming.
Author's Note
Sorry, I know I keep changing this, who is reading this other than me? So, The reason I COMPLETELY re-vamped this chapter, is because, lets face it. It was AWFUL before. So, yeah, sorry to the poor me for reading this story.
Scootaloo
" C'mon Scoot! We're gonna be late!"
The voice could barely be heard over the sound of thrumming wings. Sweetie Belle yelled again.
"Why cant we just go the fastest way there? Were gonna miss the Summer Sun Celebration!!" Her voice squeaked." I bet AB is already there!"
Ugghh.... Some ponies. Sheesh. , I thought. Sweetie Belle could be amazing, but sometimes she was just annoying. Like today for example.
She would never know the thrill of speeding on a scooter. I thought to myself. Of course, no one could go as fast as I could.
" Calm down. We'll get there soon enough!" I yelled over the motor of my wings.
I saw a piece of plywood that was leaning over a dumpster, and turned to hit it.
I smiled to myself as I heard Sweetie Belle squeal.
As we tore towards it, I braced to hit it right, hard and fast.
Time seemed to slow, as I felt my wheels leave the safe ledge of the board. I could feel the wind in my mane, slowly blowing it , obscuring my vision for short instants. I could hear everything, the slight creak of the wagon, the wheels thrumming, but my ears told me it was silent.
Its like I can FEEL it.. I thought. I tried to imagine my friends face at this moment. I giggled.
The sides of my vision were pulsing, from the adrenaline pumping through my body. The ground was blurred, as I braced for impact.
The instant we hit, time regained its power over me. We sped so fast through the alleyway, I could barely dodge the various trash cans and other neglected things left in the small side street.
I beat my wings slower with every pass, until we were stopped.
"Whooo!" I whooped, telling the world of my great feat.
Sweetie Belle slowly climbed out of the wagon, legs wobbly. She took a step and fell over. I laughed as rushed to help her stand up.
Some ponies just cant handle it. I thought.
As soon as she was on her feet again, she sat down, breathing hard. I realized that I too was panting.
We sat there for awhile, trying to get our breath back.
" Do you know why the Summer Sun Celebration is in Fillydelphia this year?" Sweetie suddenly said.
I was taken aback.
" Its been bugging me all day. I always remember going to Canterlot to see it."
She was right. It was strange. Almost always the Summer Sun Celebration was held in the capital. Maybe it was because....
I stopped. I could hear trumpets! We were missing it!
"Get on!" I yelled. I clambered onto my scooter. I could hear the seat belt click in the wagon behind me. We had Twilight help us install them after we broke some stuff we'd borrowed for our performance in the talent show last year.
I flared my wings, turning down a side street.
I felt the same surge of daring as I saw a sharp turn coming up on my left, I knew right where we were, having lived her for the start of my life. Id tried to take a longer, but more fun route back to our friend at the Fillydelphia Fairgrounds.
We sped towards the small chance we had of getting there on time, and I felt my scooter shaking.
Right as we hit the end, I stomped my hoof on the ground, feircly turning us to our destination.
Time didn't slow, but I felt the same effects as if it had.
"Wow Scoot! Your even better than I thoug-.."
OOF!
She was cut short by a massive chunk of ice that slammed down right in front of us, shattering my scooters handlebars. We tumbled and rolled. A loud moan told me that Sweetie had landed hard.
I didn't fare too well either. My wings had been beating, and I had landed on one at an awkward angle. I struggled to my feet.
"Are you okay?" I asked my childhood friend. I walked slowly over to her. She had landed on her side, and was trying to get her breath back. She was going to be fine.
I turned to look at this huge hail that had hit us. It was about the size of an exercise ball, but it had dimples all over it, like a golf ball. I walked around it. It was perfectly round, and smooth, with no difference in the deepness of the holes, or the consistency of it. I turned around, to see Sweetie Belle struggling to her feet.
"Hey, come look at this thing!" I said, beckoning her over.
"Scootaloo.... What is it?"
"I don't know, but its HUGE! Way to big for any ordinary cloud to produce. And besides, its the middle of summer! How is their hail in the middle of summer?"
"Why are you asking me?" She looked up, to see the sun rise above her head. "Aww we missed it!" She whined, holding a hoof up to shield her eyes from the glare.
"C'mon Sweetie Belle, its nothing new. We see it every year! And besides, those rides that we used to love as kids, get boring after awhile."
" Scootaloo... We arent even in the same town! Everything is different here!" She yelled.
Maybe for you... I thought, an angry feeling in my stomach.
"Its just so magical!" She said with enthusiasm. She turned away form me.
I remembered a little bit over a week ago where Sweetie Belle had stayed in our clubhouse for hours trying to get even a spark from her horn.
She walked over to the hailstone.
"Its all YOUR fault!" she screamed, voice cracking.
"Me?" I exclaimed. "If you haven't noticed, Ive been dragging you all around town, all day!"
"It is too! We would've got there if you hadn't done that jump! You made me miss my favorite holiday!" She huffed.
Favorite holiday....?
" And then, if things already weren't bad, THIS had to come and make my day even worse!" She vented.
"DUMB ROCK!" She kicked it. It shuddered.
I blinked, my brain trying to process what I just saw.
How did she...
"Sweetie wait! That thing must weigh at least 10 times as much as you! How did you move it?"
She paused in her mumbling. Her eyes lit up. "Did something go from my horn? Huh? Did it?" She asked, assaulting me with questions.
"Not this time, I think it was more from your voice not your-" I paused.The ice shuddered again.
"Sweetie Belle, look!"
Her look of rejection turned to a look of curiosity.
"What?"
The hailstone continued to shake, getting more and more violent, until suddenly, with a violent noise, spikes appeared where the dimples were.
"Whoa!" We both jumped back.
Looks like that things going to.....
I picked up my fallen scooter holding it up as a shield.
Might give SOME protection..
"Hey, get behind me!" I shouted. Sweetie Belle squeaked and dove behind me.
The piece of ice made a hissing sound, shaking more and more violently.
With a shattering sound, the rock exploded, sending shards right at us. The sheer force of the explosion, not to mention the force behind the spikes, threw us back. I screamed as I felt a few of the spikes through the body of the scooter.
Ice thudded into buildings all around us, some shattering on the cobblestones. Sweetie Belle screamed as some rushed past us, to bury themselves in the woodwork behind us.
Clambering to my hooves, I looked down at my right fore-leg, where the ice had punctured. The skin was already turning blue, as if it was trying to freeze. I yelped, and dropped the scooter.
"Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle's voice was full of panic. "Look up!"
I hesitated.
After what we just saw.. Do I really?
, My skin was rippling, and the blue tint was spreading. I slowly turned my head skyward.
The sky looked like a bunch of dotted lines, visible only where the clouds were.
Wait, clouds? I thought. I remembered back to a few minutes ago.
Aww, we missed it! She said looking at the sun
The sun.. We could see the sun! Where did these clouds come from?
I felt a sick feeling in my stomach as realization dawned on me.. I looked at my friend. I could see the worry in her eyes.
Were we under attack?
Applebloom
The sunrise is a normal thing. Sometimes, we all take it for granted. But every time I see Celestia raise the sun, it's all the more magical.
But something was wrong about today.
My two best friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, weren't here! They should've been here forever ago!
I stood in the middle of a large crowed on the viewing platform, that rose high above the rooftops, so every-pony could see the sky clearly. I was close to my sister, and her friends Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie, and Twilight were there. Fluttershy couldn't be there with us, because her parents called her back home. For some Pegasus holiday I guess. Fluttershy was from overseas anyway.
" Applejack, where d'you think Sweetie and Scoot got to?" I looked up at my sisters face.
"How should Ah' know?" She didn't even look down. I sighed, dragging my hooves as I sullenly paced.
I was getting impatient. There HAD to be some way to find them.
I felt a surge of hope as Rainbow landed next to my sister, eyes on the sky.
I trotted over to Rainbow Dash, who was still watching the sun. I paused, trying to gauge her reaction.
She could flip out on me.. I thought. Wouldn't be surprised. She was pretty mad when we made her look bad in our paper...
I decided to try my luck anyway.
"Rain'bow, d'you sp'ose you could take a quick flight around town and see if you can see mah friends?" I asked. She looked down at me, annoyed look on her face.
Well, that worked... I thought sarcastically. Could've been worse I guess.
"Yeah just a second kid, Celestia's not done!" She said quickly, looked back up at the sun.
I sighed. I was getting worried.
Anything could've happened to them! They couldve fell down a giant hole! Or caught in a gang fight! There are gangs in Fillydelphia right? I remebered the stories Spike had told me about his dragon gang when he left. Said they tried to kill phoenixes and jump into lava and stuff.
"Get it together!" I said aloud. No pony even noticed.
I broke away from my morbid thoughts.
I also looked toward the sun. Celestia had a way of making the sun just dim enough not to hurt your eyes, while still being radiant. I looked just ahead of the sun, and could barely see the white speck that was Celestia. She was dissipating the clouds around her, makeing way for the glory of the sun.
Good thing she's getting rid of those mean looking clouds, I thought. I'd hate to get rained on...
I jumped on Applejack's back to see if I could spot my friends.
After gazing at every inch of the crowd several times, I sighed. Nope, they were nowhere to be seen.
The ponies around me started to cheer. The Raising was over.
I trotted back to Rainbow.
"Now cn' you check?" I pleaded.
" Now?"She had a look of annoyance.
"Well, this aint Ponyville, and Ah'm startin to get worried! Please please please please!!"
"Alright Alright!!" She took off, leaving a small trail of rainbow in her wake.
She didnt get far though, for right when she left the ground a few feet in front of her, a massive ball of ice crashed into the cobblestones, shattering a few, and stopping Rainbow with a loud slapping sound.
I gasped."Rainbow!" Me and Applejack exclaimed.
"Gals, come over here quick!" AJ yelled. Twilight looked down from her mentor, gasped and ran over. Rarity, who was engaged in small talk with some sophisticated ponies, slowly trotted over.
"What happened?" They all asked
Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared on top of the ice ball, wobbled for a bit, and fell, land right on top of Rainbow Dash.
Oof! We all heard Rainbow's breath rushing out of her. At least she wasn't unconscious. Pinkie was instantly back on her feet, and started bouncing around the ball.
"What is it? What is it? WHAT IS IT!?" She shouted to no one in particular.
They all looked at Twilight. Her eyes grew wide.
"Why are you all looking at me? How should I know what it is?"
Rainbow sat up, gasping. "Maybe....because.....you are..... an....egghead?" Despite being out of breath, Rainbow busted up laughing, which just sounded like a gross hacking sound, that turned into coughing.
"Just because I'm well read doesn't mean that-" She was interrupted by a sound that sounded like hissing.
Twilight reared, eyes scanning the ground, looking for even the smallest hint of scales.
But there was no snake. The ball started to shake, getting Pinkies attention(who was still bouncing around it)
"Look everypony! Its dancing!" She was suddenly flung back by a concussive wave. I jumped behind Applejack. When I dared to look, I noticed that there were no longer dimples, but large jagged spikes, looking as sharp as broken glass
"Just back up y'all. I think that things fixin' to explode!" AJ said.
The massive chunk of frozen rock continued to shake more and more violently.
Now other ponies had started to gather around it. Whispering could be heard.
I looked up at the sky, trying to discern where it had come from. I gasped.
Cloudy?
I was positive that Celestia had gotten rid of the clouds!
O wracked my brain for a natural reason.
Too far from Clousdale..... No weather team.... The only way would be...
My thoughts were interrupted by a voice.
"Whats going on here?" We all turned around from the strange shaking ball, to see Princess Celestia herself.
Everypony bowed.
"EVERYONE BACK AWAY!" She yelled. We all cringed. Either she had just used the ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE, or we had just never heard her yell before. We all instantly backed away.
Her horn flared, encasing the ball in a sphere of golden light. The ball continued to shudder, until suddenly, it exploded, sending its shards in all directions, earning some startled yelps from everypony there. But they bounced harmlessly off of the Princesses shield.
However, they did not lose momentum.They continued to ricochet, bouncing across from their first contact point.
They smashed into each other, until all that was left of the ball was powdered snow.
We all looked at the Princess. Flapping her pearl-white wings, She rose above the crowd and started to speak.
" I have ruled Equestria for one thousand years" she said."And I have never seen a stranger thing than I did today."
My ears twitched.
What is that? I wondered. Whistling? I shook my head, in a futile effort to clear my head of the annoying sound.
" This was a hailstone, but no ordinary hailstone. This was a abioticly-reengineered. "
"This was sent to kill."
Several in the crowd gasped, including my sister and all of her friends, except Rainbow, who was still trying to get her breath back.
My ears twitched again. I tried to focus on what the Princess was saying, but couldn't stand it anymore, i looked around, glaring to see what awful pony would interrupt something so important.
" We must be careful, and report any more of these falling to me via the dragon stationed near you." She stopped.
The whistling was coming from everywhere now. The ponies in the crowd started to murmur, no doubt trying to identify with what Celestia was saying.
Celestia looked up. We all followed her. The sky was turning black with tiny dots, rapidly growing larger. Celestia gasped, and flared her magic, putting a shield around all of us.
The loud whistling turned into a roar, like an angry wind spirit, sending its vengeance to us through a gale.
Loud crashing sounds followed the roar, as more of the balls landed around us.
But these were as benevolent as the last. Immediately as they landed they exploded, thudding into the walls around us, and the ones coming at us shattered on the Princesses shield.
I gasped, and jumped onto my sister and held onto her neck. I could feel her shaking.
As I quivered, i thought about my friends. These thing must be falling all over Fillydelphia! What about Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle!?
I relayed my thought to my sister. She gasped, followed by a look of determination. She told Twilight, as I ran up to Celestia.
Normally, no one approaches the Princess, but she has met me before, so she didn't mind.
"Princess! My friends are somewhere in the city! I need to go with Twilight and see if we cn' find them!"
" Its to dangerous. These thing will kill a pony, and probably the next three after that." She said with a steely look on her face, not looking down.
"I cant let any more of my subjects perish."
After she had said this, she turned to look at me.
The Princess regarded me for a second. "All right." She finally said." Go with Twilight, but have a shield on you at all times."
I ran over to Twilight and my sis. I jumped onto her back.
Applejack scooped me up with her head and we ran into the city.
Scootaloo
“Run!” I yelled. I could see the shadows on the street growing larger. I turned over my fallen scooter back onto its wheels. It had no handlebars, but I could still ride it.
“Come on!” I said dragging the in-shock Sweetie Belle into the wagon that I pulled behind me. I jumped on the scooter/skateboard, flared my wings and took off down the street. The shadows of the hail were growing rapidly.
That’s when they hit. The first crashed into the ground in front of me, with a violent explosion, nearly knocking me of my skateboard. I kept going as fast as I could. They were falling everywhere, shattering roof tiles, cracking the street, slamming into walls and razing buildings.
We turned into the Fillydelphia town square. There were ponies everywhere, trying to escape the icy barrage. Some ran into houses while others made for the outskirts. We sped to the nearest house, and dove inside. I could still hear them falling. I looked at my friend. For a white pony, she sure looked pale.
“We’re gonna be alright.” I said. She looked up at me with those huge green eyes. We both jumped as the door was smashed to pieces. I jumped in front of Sweetie Belle, until I saw the familiar cowpony hat.
“Applejack?” I said.
I was suddenly bowled over by a yellow body with an enormous pink bow.” Scootaloo! Sweetie Belle! Y’all are ok!”
“Not really.” I said looking down at my foreleg as Twilight Sparkle entered the room. There was something different about her. I heard a buzzing noise as the clear shield she had projected dissipated.
“Wow… AJ you couldn’t have just USED the door, instead of demolishing it?” Twilight said with a giggle.
“We got bigger problems than that right naow. We gotta get these young uns’ out of here pronto.” AJ had a steely look on her face. She scooped up AB and Sweetie Belle with her head and looked at me.
“Ya think you can keep up with that thing?” She eyed my scooter. Or what was left of it anyways.
“In my sleep!” I said with confidence. I kicked it over, and mounted it, which just involved me stepping up onto it.
“If you say so...” Twi looked at my fore-leg. “We got to get you to see Zecora as fast as we can.” We all jumped as the house shook from another impact.
Twi looked around. “Hurry!” she said. “The others have already gone! Let’s go!”
We all took off out the door. I could see the shield forming around us from Twilights horn. We dodged several hailstones that fell around us. I heard a loud crunching sound. I looked up and saw a hailstone thud onto Twilights shield, shattering around us. The force of the impact dove us all to the ground for a moment. I heard Twilight grunt from the weight of it. The sound must’ve been loud I thought, because my wings were buzzing. We sped through the city as things exploded around us. The noise was deafening. Houses were destroyed as we ran.
One fell right next to me, just outside the shield. The shield blocked the shards, but did not block the shockwave. I was thrown off my scooter, and rolled to a stop. The others kept running. I scrambled back onto my scooter. I could hear the whistling of the death ice coming.
I sped to my peak. I swerved and dodged several, barely missing the deadly shards of ice that flew at me.
One fell directly in front of me; I barely had time to react. I popped my scooter up, gripping it with my forelegs, holding it downwards as I cleared the ball. When I was midway across, the thing exploded, sending spikes in my direction. But I knew it was coming. They thudded into my scooter harmlessly. I grinned as I landed, on top of the shards, shattering them. The adrenaline fueled my body, pushing my wings faster that I had ever gone. I sped through the town, maneuvering to miss them. As I sped by a demolished house, I snagged a piece of plywood from the siding. Good thing I did too. Almost right after quite a few landed in a row. They shook violently and blew. I dropped prone on my scooter, holding my shield up in front of me, and felt several spiked lodge in the wood. A lot more came after; they thudded into my makeshift shield until it snapped in my hands. I jumped up and took off.
“Look!” I exclaimed. “We are being invaded by Pegasi!” They all looked up and gasped.
“Where did they come from?” Twilight asked to no one in particular. She looked around. “They must’ve been concealed within the clouds!”
“That’s why they all came back after the princess got rid of ‘em!” AJ exclaimed. She stomped a hoof down, cracking the earth beneath it. “They put thousands of pony lives in jeopardy! Ah’ll make them pay for this…” She was panting heavily. We all backed up a few paces.
“Strenu-what?” AJ said with a grin. We laughed again, and soon fell asleep to the bouncing and the roll of the train.
Apple Bloom
It is nearly impossible to sleep on a train. The constant bouncing, and whirr of the engine just kills it for me. I got up, and opened our train car, and walked down the aisles.
Strange... there was almost no-pony on the train. I reached up and straightend my bow, because it was falling in my face. The train was eerily silent. I looked out the window and saw nothing but deseret rushing by.
Looking down, I sighed. What shouldve been a good day turned out to be horrible. Not only was Equestria under attack, but one of my best freinds got hurt! Fillydelphia was under seige, and we didnt even know who was doing this! And we STILL don't have our cutie marks!
I sighed again. All of this worry was making me feel sick..
I curled up on the floor. The moonlight fell on the railing outside. I tried to remember the days of when nothing bad happened... "Like last year?" my mind stated. I gave a weak chuckle at how short that time had been. Of course, it wasent really that peaceful. Everyday, gettting together with my friends and trying a bunch of rediculos things that almost got us killed several times.
"Cant sleep either?" said a farmiliar voice in the doorway. i turned to see my sister walking toward me. She sat down next to me. "Beutiful night aint it?" She said, looking out the window.
"Yeah.." I replied. " Ah just wish...." I stopped. Applejack looked down at me.
"Whats that sugar-cube?" she said soothingly.
" Ah just wish there was somethin Ah could do to help! Ah'm so small, and dont have any talents, and dont have a cutie mark! Ah'm sick of all the big important ponies doin all the work! They need help too! Ah just-" I was forced to stop my rant because my sis shoved her hoof in my mouth.
" Whoo.. slow down there. You do a lot to help! Dont sell yourself short. You do a lot more than you think."
"Like what??" my voice was trembling.
" You help me every day honey. Help me with all of the stress of running the farm bah mahself. You also help your friends coming up with very.......um.... interesting ideas to find y'alls cutie marks." At that I chuckled. " And you have lots of talents!" She stated this with enthusiasm." You can catch an entire trees worth o' apples with a bucket. On your head no less!!" She smiled down at me. " So cheer up. Who knows? Maybe there is a way for you to help in this whole thing."
"Thanks sis." I smiled. We hugged.
We were suddenly thrown to the side of the car as the train rocked on its side.
" What in tarnation!?" we both said at once.
The train luched back on its wheels again. We ran to the other side of the car. I gasped.
Several pegasi were flying close to the train. The were covered head to toe in body armour. Only their wings protruded. They had red visors that I couldnt see through. A big pegasus had some sort of cannon attached to his back. He turned, aimed the cannon at the railway beneath us, and fired some sort of white ball at the tracks.
Almost instantly the train rocked, flinging both of us across the car. We struggled to our feet just as the door flew open, and Twilight and my firends ran in.
"Whats going on!?!" Twilight yelled over the screech of the train wheels.
"We're under attack!" AJ yelled back." Twilight help me to the emergency exit!"
The emergency exit was at the top of the train car. A small trapdoor led to the roof, so passengers could abandon the train if neccisary.
Twilight flared her horn just as Applejack jumped, giving her a boost that got her out of the trapdoor easy. She then lowered down a rope. She called out" Young'ns first!" Twilight help them to hold on!" Me and my firends dashed at the rope. Me, being the strongest, put my leg around Scootaloo's shoulder, since she only had one leg to hold with. Sweetie Belle was on her own.
"Ready!" Twilight yelled over the wind.
The rope started accending, and we were lifted off the ground. We were almost out as the train was hit again. We swung as Applejack lost her balance, then regained it. As soon as we were out of the car, the wind hit us like a brick wall. We were thrown backward, as the noise threatened to destroy our ear-drums. We crawled back to my sister, Scootaloo slightly whimpering. Applejack lowered the rope back down to Twilight, and soon had her out as well.
As soon as the purple unicorn was with us, she exclaimed "The train shouldnt be going this fast! Something must have gone wrong with the engine!"
We all turned to look at the frint of the train, squinting to partially sheild our eyes from the winds onslaught. And sure enough, a steady colmn of smoke was rising from the front of the train.
I was amazed at how much smoke there must be. At this speed, the wind should have blown it away. 'Something must be seriously wrong with the engine', I thought.
I saw a bright flash and shut my eyes. When I opened them, Applejack was standing at the edge of the train, head down. 'She must be looking at something off the train' I thought. Then I saw that she was not looking down, she was looking out, in a very agressive posistion. I could see four pegasi flying in just over the roof of the train.One was looking at her, with the cannon aimed right at us. We all froze.
He kept eyeing us for a moment. Then his cannon fired, right at my sister.
"NO!!!" I screamed. But I shouldnt have worried. This was my sister Applejack remember?
In the instant he had fired, she rolled out of the way, and was instantly back on her feet. She ran at the enemy, slowing only enough to turn and buck in his direction. I heard a disgusting crunch, as the armour around the pegasus buckled. He fell, screaming, until the rest of his armour shattered off of him when he hit the ground.
She turned to the other three. They eyed her for a moment, and fired.
Apparantly, pegasi dont learn. They had just seen what happened when you angered an Apple. They had just seen the power those orange back legs housed. Yet they fired anyway.
Of course, by this time Twilight had recovered, and threw up a sheild the instant they fired. As soon as they contacted the shield, the orange cow-pony was leaping at the nearest one. She landed on its back, and clapped her hooves together, on both sides of its neck, snapping it. She landed on the train with the body. And, picking it up with her magic, Twilight flung it into another soldier. He vaporized it in midair with his back cannon.
That was all the time AJ needed. She ran underneath his floating hooves, and sliding underneath them, she unleashed a visuios kick, that threw him off the train.
The last one, hesitated for a moment, then turned tail and fled.
"Oh no you....DON'T!" AJ yelled. She jumped, catching him when he was off the train.
They both disapeared.
"C'mon!" Twilight yelled. I looked at her like she was crazy.
"You want us to..... jump??" Sweetie Belle's voice cracked.
Twilight moaned. I saw a sheild materialize in my peripheral vision, as Twilight ran, and tackled us of the edge.
I braced for impact. at the moment we were floating, but the second the sheild hit the ground, we were all goners.
But the moment never came. I slowly opened my eyes to see us rolling. Twilight was at the bottom of the sheild, trotting, rolling us in the direction that AJ had landed.
"Help me move this thing!" She yelled, droppping us. We scrambled up, and ran with her to find my sister.
Scootaloo
Have you ever felt pain? I'm sure most of us have. But have you experienced extreme pain, like losing a loved one? Or losing a limb?
The latter was what I was experiencing. I had been stabbed by some unearthly ice. I could feel my skin moving, rippling every time it encountered warmth. It was just as uncomfortable as I was.
At some point in our trek to find our friend, Twilight had levitated me on to her back.
I yelped as my foreleg touched Twilights coat. The warmth of her body seared my flesh.
We were thundering down a riverbank in the direction that we thought Applejack to be. Most of what happened on the train was a blur to me. My mind could only focus on the pain. I vaguely remember being lifted out of a train car, and I remember snips of a fight between sompony and Applejack. The rest is just a blur.
We continued trotting. Each bump set fire to my leg. I yelped when they came. Every bump made me hang on to Twilight that much tighter. Eventually, Twilight had to make me let go to prevent me from choking her.
I writhed as my skin burned. I fell off of Twilights back to the ground. I saw Applebloom and Sweetie Belle run to me. They said something I couldn’t understand, as my vision faded.
I awoke beside a campfire. I could see nopony, partially because it was night. Even though the fire gave light, it was as if the night was swallowing the light up. I curled up in my blanket.
Wait.... A blanket? When did we get a blanket?
I turned to the sound of clopping hooves. I saw Twilight and Applejack and...... Zecora?
I jumped up, only to be thrust down by the ever present pain in my leg.
"Stay still little one." Zecora said."The pain you've endured is second to none."
"W-w-what?" I stammered." How did we get here? When did we find you? Where are the others?" I pointed a hoof at AJ.
"We discovered her shortly after you passed out." Twilight said. "She carried you here. Your friends are back in Ponyville."
"Whoa..... How long have I been out?" I asked.
"For just a few hours." Twilight replied. "As soon as we found Applejack, we rushed here. We explained to Zecora what happend, and we took the others home while Zecora did her work. But the good news is, your leg has started to heal." she continued.
"The nasty bite you recived, at first I could not belive." Zecora said in her rhymy way. ''A creature I thought long vanquished, has caused you this anguish. "
"Come again?" I said. I was still groggy from being asleep for so long.
"We know whos attackin' Equestria." AJ said, a steely look on her face.
"Are you farmiliar with the Hearth's Warming Eve tale?" Twiight asked me, turning toward the fire.
I nodded. "We go to it every year."
"Well what may have sounded like a story, is actually true. A visious tribe of pegasi from our native land are invading." She began to pace. "When we found AJ, she had the pegasus she chased tied to a tree. I used a Truth spell on him, and he confessed."
She paused, then looked at me. "How is your leg?" She asked.
'What did she use for rope...?Wait....What?' I thought. Talk about out of the blue.
"It still hurts." I pulled up the blanket to see my leg for the first time.
There was a massive red scar where the blue had been. Parts of my skin were scabbed over, leaving a really nasty wound.
My head reeled.
"What was it?" I asked.
"Hmm..... How do I say this nice?" Zecora said." A reaction to the ice. The frost of the hail, would have surely made your body, and heart, fail."
"What she's tryin to say sugar-cube," AJ said, stepping forward." When the shards of ice peirced your skin, liquid ice was injected inta your system, causing your skin to writhe, and move. When y'all encountered warmth, the frozen skin would melt, sendin’ all kinds of pain signals to your brain."
"So... It would’ve slowly frozen my body?" I asked. I didnt realize how close I was to dying.
"Eventually, yes. And if you encountered any warmth at all, your body wouldve liquified, leaving nothing." Twilight said.
"I managed to slow the pain, but I fear you will not receive gain." Zecora said.
"Zecora's right." Twilight replied." We need to get you to Canterlot Hospital as quickly as possible."
"What’s wrong with Ponyville General?" I asked, confused.
"We aren’t just going to Canterlot for the hospital," Twilight said with a smile," We are going to see the Princesses as well."
"Why would they want to see us?" I asked in confusion.
"We were there." Twilight stated." At Fillydelphia I mean." She turned to face me.
"You are the only pony living who has felt the ice." She said with a grim look.
I felt a lump in my throat.
"How many...?" I asked,voicing my thoughts. My voice shook.
"About a quarter of the population of Fillydelphia.." Twilight said with obvious strain." Equestria has been at peace for so long, they didn't know what to do..."
"Thats enough of that!" AJ said, stepping up." There is no need to scare the poor filly!" She gave me a kind look. "Y'all just get some sleep naow. We'll head for Canterlot in the morning." She gave me a warm smile.
That made me feel better. I just had one question.
"Twilight?" I asked timidly.
She stopped, and turned.
"Yes?"
"Do you think..... you could take me home to my family? I'll bet they are worried."
Her eyes widened.
"You mean..." She started."..... teleportation?" I nodded.
"I don't know.. ..That's a long ways away..."
"If you don't want to... that's ok." I said with a dejected tone.
She smiled at me. her horn started to glow, and a bubble started developing around us. I shut my eyes in the instant before it happened. With a bright flash, we were gone.
Apple Bloom
" Whats wrong with her?" Sweetie Belle asked.
I looked down at Scootaloo. "She's real pale. and she's sweatin like a pig wrangler on a summer day!"
"Um.. it is summer.' Sweetie Belle replied, a smug look on her face. I gave her an irritated look. Then I turned back to my unconscious friend.
" That aint' funny! Get up!" I said loudly.
Scootaloo coughed, and groaned, but did not wake.
"There is no time to wait!" Twilight said, rearing. With a glow of her horn, Scootaloo was on her back and we were running again.
That gave me time to think of the events that had happened. I tried to remember everything as it happened, trying to pick out I something I missed.
We were under attack! Some kind of pegasi, that much was certain. They had somehow made the hailstones from the clouds be overly-large, and detonate upon collision.
But I knew that already! I groaned as we continued trotting.
But how did the Fillydelphia weather team not see them?
Another thought struck me.
'Were they hiding in the clouds?' No that wouldn't make sense! The weather team was there....
We rounded a corner, passing along a river.
I thought back to the day they attacked. I tried to remember a time where I saw the weather team. I came up with nothing.
So where were they?
As I turned to ask Twilight the same question, when she suddenly stopped. She shuddered.
"What is it Twi?" I asked.
"Did you feel that?" She said looking around.
"Feel wut?" I said, confused.
"Never mind." She said and we continued on.
I started to drift again.
But pegasus only have control over the weather right? Like clouds and stuff. I racked my brain to see if I could remember Rainbow ever making hail.
" We make the clouds, but the hail forms on its own." she had said. " The rain kinda freezes into little balls......"
I came to my senses as I saw my sister standing next to a tree. Her head was angled downward, like she was yelling at something.
"Sis!" I yelled. She looked up at me with a surprised face. But only for an instant. She screamed something else at something I couldn't see.
We slowed, and trotted to the tree.
" Applejack! We got bigger problems!" Twilight said. She knelt, slowly rolling Scoots off her back.
AJ paused.
"I've tried everything I know! But shes in more pain than I can stem! We need to get to Zecora's pronto!"
"Twilight!" AJ said. " You talk to him. Haven't got 'im to say anything." She paused, rummaging through her saddlebag.
She pulled some herbs and some other odds and ends that I didn't recognize.
"Ill do what I can for this one." She started wrapping Scootaloo's leg with some herb. I was worried the whole trip for her, But I knew she was in capable hands for now.
I turned to see Twilight staring at the armor suit. It sat so still that i thought it was just armor. But i could see eyes through the blue visor, open wide with interest.
"Mind telling us why your invading?" Twilight said softly. I knew Twilight Sparkle very well, and i knew that she could be very intimidating when she wanted to be.
The suit said nothing.
Twilight sighed. Her horn glowed, enveloping the head of the armored pegasi with her light. The light slowly faded.
" I said.." Twilight stopped, breathing in.
"TELL US WHY YOU ARE HERE!!!" she screamed.
Now I've heard her scream before, but this time was different. She had amplified her voice somehow, not making it louder, but making it hit harder. Like it had some kind of power you know?
The armor cringed at the sound.
Then it started to speak.
" We were scheduled to attack last week. It was supposed to be covert, we had everything planned. The General was ready, we were ready. But then something happened. We were put on hold for the invasion because the General had something to do. He gathered all of his most seasoned warriors, and departed."
We were all listening intently.
"But only he came back. There was frost all over his armor, but he refused to see anyone that night. He never came out, until today. Our Infiltrators had already done their job,taking care of the cities scouts."
My brow furrowed. That's what happened to the Fillydelphia weather team!
"We have something... Something like no-pony has ever seen. It can...." he trailed off. His body started to shake and quiver, and he started breathing heavily. He began to shriek, He started hoofing his armor, trying to get through it to something beneath.
With a loud bang, his encasing exploded, disintegrating at our hooves. The body lay, frozen, and cracked.
We all gasped, and then stared.
I heard Scoots groan, snapping me out of my daze.
" Forget about him!" Twilight suddenly said. " Scootaloo needs help, and she wont get it if we just stand here! Be ready to go in less that five minutes."
She turned and, using her magic, lifted my friend on my sisters back.
I looked at the body again. It had started to melt, the suns rays were thick on it, and I barely recognized that it had been any sort of creature.
Then something caught my eye.
One piece of the armor had survived, an insignia of some sort. It displayed a helmet, with three spears beneath, laying in a triangle, all encompassed within a circular mark, which continued in a swirl outwards, until it reached the end of its line.
" AB lets go!" I heard my sister call.
