The Heroes of Equestria

Back in Equestria, ponies were running around Ponyville. Vinyl Scratch was still disintegrating the monsters with her Bass Cannon. Buildings were on fire, which were spreading to other places. Several bodies of ponies laid in the streets, some of them being consumed by the invaders. Many ponies that barricaded themselves in the buildings fed the flames.

Royal guards ran around the town, killing the monsters with magic and spears. Spike was cowering in Twilight’s library, hoping none of the monsters would breach the house. He was terrified of dying alone. For all he knew, Twilight and everypony else he knew was now dead.

The portal in the Everfree forest was gone but reappeared where Jon camped. Several hundred shadows came out of the ground and dragged ponies into the floor as they screamed and attempted to get out of their grasp.

Princess Celestia was looking out her castle window down at Ponyville, staring at the chaos. A single tear rolled down her cheek.

“Please hurry, Twilight.” She whispered to herself, looking up at the stars.

Jon woke up in a cot he was unfamiliar with. In fact, he woke up in a room he was completely unfamiliar with. Twilight was holding his hand, asleep in a chair beside the cot. He attempted to sit up but was too weak and groaned, falling back down against the mattress.

“Where… where am I?” He asked calmly.

Twilight opened her eyes and looked at him, looking really grateful. “You’re awake!” She said loudly.

Jon let go of her hoof and rubbed his head in pain. He had a horrible headache. “Yeah, but where am I? What happened?”

She paused. “You were attacked by your ‘imposter.’ We managed to escape but you were about to die. There was no medicine on the aircraft, which is where you are now.” Twilight’s smile vanished. “Rainbow Dash and Applejack were badly hurt… you had to cut Rainbow’s wing off…”

“But I don’t remember doing that.” Jon said, still rubbing his head.

“Well, it wasn’t really you. It was the AI but she took control of your body to save you.”

“How would she save me by taking control of me?” He asked, putting his hand down onto the blanket that covered his lower body.

“She had some sort of energy that heals all organic life forms.” She thought it would be best to leave out the immortality part.

Jon spotted Rainbow Dash on her stomach. Her bandage was really bloody, as well as her back.

“Damn, I actually did cut her wing off.” He looked shocked. “What did I use?”

“I summoned a hacksaw with my magic but got rid of it when the job was done.”

Jon managed to sit up. “Where is her wing then?”

Twilight pointed her hoof behind her and Jon took a peek to see the pegasi’s severed wing on a table, covered in blood. “Oh gross.” He said quickly looking away. He attempted to get up and Twilight helped him. “Thanks.” He said.

“No problem.” She responded with a smile.

He stretched and felt really relaxed. His stomach felt wet and he looked down to see a blood-stained shirt. He lifted the shirt up and saw a chest and stomach drenched in blood. “Why is there no wound?” He asked, looking up at Twilight quickly. “There’s not even a mark.”

“She must have repaired the scarred tissue.” Twilight assumed.

Jon was quite impressed she even knew what that was. But then again, she is a talking pony who can fly and use magic. “Smart thinking.” He responded.

“If you haven’t noticed, I’m a nerd.” She smiled. “My house could’ve given that away.”

Jon remembered the several hundred books that were on the shelves all around her house. He gave out a small laugh, which made his stomach hurt a little. He released a slight groan and said, “looks like the damage isn’t fully repaired.” He gave off a small grin.

Applejack woke up and looked at Jon. “How ya feelin’.” She asked in a weak voice.

Jon and Twilight looked over at her. “Well,” Jon continued. “My stomach hurts a little but I’ll live.”

Applejack chuckled but quickly stopped and held her own. “I reckon that makes the two of us.” She said, managing to give off a weak smile. “I’m just glad you’re alright.” Jon looked over at Rainbow Dash, who was still passed out and on her stomach. Applejack looked over too and said, “I reckon she ain’t gonna be happy when she finds out about her wing.”

“I’m sorry that happened to her.” Jon said quietly.

“You… er, the AI did what had to be done.” Twilight said. “The wing was beyond repair and would just cause her pain.”

“I think she’ll feel pain when she wakes up.” Jon quickly assumed.

“Yeah but it will probably be temporary. The emotional pain however…” Twilight looked away and closed her eyes tightly. “… Will last forever.”

“Flyin’ was her favorite thing to do.” Applejack said. “Is cuttin’ limbs off people the way y’all humans solve medical problems?”

“That’s one of the ways we solve things if there is an infection or the limb is just useless and dead. No point in keeping dead weight around.” Jon looked at Applejack. “They also cut limbs as a form of torture when they want answers of something. My home world is a dark place. I’m surprised that the government managed to keep an apocalypse from starting back on Earth.” Applejack looked disgusted. He looked around. “Where is the rest of the group?”

“Fluttershy is crying, Rarity and Pinkie Pie are trying to cheer her up, and your AI is probably back to controlling the ship.” Twilight said.

Jon rubbed his head again due to the headache. They made their way to the loading bay of the ship, where Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy were. The AI’s voice appeared on the speakers of the ship. “I’m sorry for the pain you are suffering with at the moment, Jon.” She said. “But I had to save you… and the only possible way of saving you was by entering your mind. I had a look into your thoughts by the way. That’s how I know your friend’s names and know about the magic Twilight and Rarity carry in their horn. Sorry I left that unexplained, Twilight.”

“It’s fine.” Twilight replied.

“I have bad news however.” The AI continued. “We are running extremely low on fuel. We didn’t get enough fuel before we took off. We have traveled a total of 5,000,000 kilometers.”

“Looks like we have 495,000,000 kilometers left.” Twilight said. “We’re making so much progress.” She sounded sarcastic.

“How fast was this thing going!?” Jon asked.

“I can’t really give an estimate as to how fast we were moving.” The AI answered.

“How come we weren’t affected by the speed? We didn’t feel any rush.” Twilight asked, looking up at the speaker on the ceiling.

“Every aircraft has a type of gravity enhancer. They make it so you don’t fall if the ship shakes or if it’s going at a very high speed. As long as the gravity enhancers remain online during mid flight, you won’t feel any weird feelings or sicknesses.” The AI paused for a moment. “We will have to land. There is no way we’d make it to our destination with this much fuel.”

The aircraft lowered to the ground gently and the large ramp at the loading bay lowered to reveal an empty desert. The electric hum of the engines died and became mute. The light appeared out of the ship’s systems and into the large machine known as Emberbeam. The eyes of the machine glowed red and she looked at Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie.

“We must be going now.” She said. “Jon, Twilight.” She was looking down the hall of the medical bay. “I need you both to grab Rainbow Dash and Applejack.”

“I got Rainbow Dash. Twilight, can you get Rainbow Dash?” Jon asked.

“Yeah.”

They both walked into the medical bay. “Hey, we’ll need to travel by foot now.” He said, approaching Rainbow Dash and wrapping his arms around her waist, trying his best to not touch her wound.

“I heard.” Applejack said.

Twilight was about to wrap her hooves around her orange coated friend until she pushed her away gently.

“I reckon I can still walk.” She said, getting off the cot. She seemed to be correct.

Jon lifted the passed out pegasi up and carried her over his shoulder. She made a small whimper of pain and he stopped moving.

“Sorry, Rainbow Dash.” He said.

“Not the wi…” the last word was replaced with a whinnie but Jon and the two mares understood what she meant.

They all walked in the loading bay of the ship to see the whole group was here. Twilight looked out into the empty desert and sighed.

“Are we all ready?” Emberbeam asked.

Jon nodded his head, as did everypony else. They all walked out of the ship and stood out in the sand.

“Why is there no temperature here?” Rarity asked.

“Cold temperatures, as well as hot, don’t exist in this world’s atmosphere. You have this towards your advantage.” The AI answered.

They turned around and walked in the direction that the ship was pointing at. There was just desert in every direction. No domes, no portals, nothing of interest whatsoever. An hour of walking passed and Rainbow Dash was starting to wake up.

“Why are you carrying me?” She asked, catching Jon by surprise. “Why do I hurt so badly?”

Everypony and Emberbeam turned to look at her. Jon grabbed her and lifted her up to set her on the ground. He crouched down and looked directly into her eyes. “Promise me you won’t get mad…” He said in a worried tone. “… But I kinda… cut your wing off.”

Rainbow looked at him, first confused, then enraged. She quickly turned her head to see a blood stained bandage covering what used to be her wing. She looked back at him. “Why!?” She breathed heavily through her nose. Jon felt the rage she had as her breath she let out hit him in the face. A single tear started rolling down her face.

“Your wing was couldn’t be repaired whatsoever!” Jon yelled. “There was nothing I could do! It wasn’t even me! It was the AI!”

Rainbow Dash looked at him for several minutes, trying to hold her tears back… and failed. Tears ran down her face and she cried horribly. She laid on the sand and wouldn’t stop crying.

“I’m so sorry…” Jon said calmly. He felt like crying himself.

Her wing spread out and covered her face, shielding herself from everyone, as well as the light from the sun. “Just let me die.” She said after releasing a sob.

Jon caressed the visible side of her face. “No.” He said in a strict tone. “We all need you to stay strong. I’m not leaving anyone… anypony behind. If you want I can carry you but we need to get moving. Your home is being destroyed by the same person that destroyed your wing. Don’t you want pay back?”

Rainbow Dash removed her wing from her face and looked at him. She wiped away the tears and sat up hesitantly. “It hurts to move.” She said in a whimper.

“As I previously stated, I can carry you.” Jon moved his arms out to her.

She allowed him to hold her and he did so. He placed her over his shoulder like he did earlier and looked at his friends, who just stared at him in a depressed expression, except for Emberbeam, who just looked in his general direction. There was no possible way to see a facial expression with her in a war machine’s body that always had the eyes of rage.

“We must go.” Emberbeam said. “The sooner we get there, the better.”

“Let’s move out.” Jon said, agreeing with her.

They all continued walking across the empty wastes until several hours later, when the sun was meeting the moon in the sky. An eclipse formed, darkening the land for several minutes. They decided to set camp here for the night. Since they had no fire wood, tents, or blankets, they just sat clumsily on the sand, except for Rarity, who gently sat down on her haunches.

Emberbeam was looking at Jon. “What?” He said.

“AI’s don’t sleep. They don’t need it. I will keep sentry duty as you and your friends get their rest.”

“Alright, thanks.” He replied, setting Rainbow Dash gently on the ground.

She was exhausted and must have fallen asleep during the journey. He kept any sand from getting close to her wound. Even if infection didn’t exist in this place, it would still hurt. Emberbeam looked at him.

“There is no infection here.” The AI reminded him.

“I know. But once you get sand somewhere, you’ll never get it out.” Jon replied, giggling a little.

The sun vanished in the horizon and the ground started glowing a bright gold color. “Sweet Celestia!” Rarity said in excitement. “This is absolutely beautiful!” She dug her hooves into the sand and held a small pile, raising it closer to her face and examining it. The golden light shined upon her face and she laughed in excitement. “I will be sure to take some of this with me as a souvenir!”

Emberbeam looked over at her. “The sand only glows in this atmosphere. No other will make it light up like it is currently.”

The glowing sand slid out off of her hooves. “Oh…” She said quietly.

Jon lied down on his back and closed his eyes. The sand felt surprisingly soft and comfortable. He wasn’t the only one who thought so. Rarity seemed to like the feeling of the sand as well. Twilight laid down next to him and he kissed her gently on the lips.

She smiled at him, kissed him back, and snuggled up to him. “Goodnight Jon.” Said Twilight. She sounded exhausted.

“Goodnight.” He muttered. It felt like weights were hanging off his eye lids and he closed them, falling asleep within a few seconds, holding Twilight close.